Fly High, Burn Bright

Chapter 79

"This would've been so much easier if you'd had the sense to take the files with you," Shigaraki complained from one corner of the room. Three days after the mission, and we still weren't done with sorting through all the intel. At least the lenses had worked perfectly, and all of the writing on the pages was clear. We'd gone through the video countless times already, and had thankfully cropped it so that it ended right as Toga and I left the agency, so at least the League hadn't needed to see Dabi launch himself at me more than just that very first time.

"If we'd taken the files with us, then the agency would've known we were there," I retorted as I printed out another page and put it in a folder with the rest. "There's something called the element of surprise, you know? I'd prefer to have it on our side."

"Yeah, right," he scoffed. "That's just an excuse for you being incompetent."

"Sorry, captain, but I'm gonna have to agree with Kira on this one," Spinner offered from across the room, making everyone except Shigaraki grin. The nickname had stuck, and it didn't seem to be leaving any time soon. "Digital copies are already more than enough, and the agency would get suspicious if the files were gone."

I heard Shigaraki grumble something about how it was all my fault the analysis of the reports was taking so long, but at least he wasn't getting mad at Toga for it. I wouldn't want her to get the brunt of a mission that we both did, though I suspected the only reason I was getting all the slander was because of how crass I was with Shigaraki. Oh, well. Compared to how it was when I'd worked as a hero, this was nothing, and damn, that really said something about the heroic line of work. The room went silent after that, with nothing but shuffling papers and the occasional beep of a printer to break the quiet. It was slow, tedious work - we had each been given a laptop to open the video recording on, and had to pause it every few seconds as a new page was placed into view. 

Slowly, the pages of the reports were printed and organized the very same way they'd been back at the agency, and although progress was slow, it was definitely there. By the end of the day, we'd managed to cover most of the work, with only a fifth left. The League was large to the point that a job that must've taken weeks for a single person to complete was almost done in the span of three days. Then again, there was that saying that said something about strength coming in numbers, and I guess it was right. When the merciful Shigaraki told us we were done for the day, I practically dragged myself back to my room, which, thankfully, no longer had the one sided mirror. That had been removed under Dabi's watchful eye after we got... carried away one night and some of our peers had teased us about it.

I collapsed on the bed in relief, gratefully taking in the comfort of the mattress. It wasn't like I'd done anything physically taxing in the past few days, but all the paperwork was more than enough to exhaust me. Maybe I should've drank more coffee today. Feeling this tired after doing nothing but filing probably wasn't a good thing, but at least I had no trouble with falling asleep. Thankfully, no nightmares plagued me, and I was able to go through an entire night without waking up in a cold sweat. I'd thought I already got past that point after the previous terrors faded away, but the most recent one put me back on the edge.

I woke up early the next morning with the usual goal of getting some caffeine into my body, and I trudged to the kitchen in a half-asleep daze. Somehow, at least six others were already in the mess hall feasting on an early breakfast, and I raised a tired hand to wave at them. Living with the League was like living with dozens of roommates. It'd felt very strange at first, to wake up and be greeted by ten others waiting for the nearest washroom to become unoccupied, but with time, it almost got endearing. Although I still had trouble remembering everyone's names, I didn't have to worry about that too much - I only really talked to Dabi, Toga, and Yuri anyway. Sure, there were a few others that I'd have the occasional conversation with, like good old Spinner, who turned out to be actually pretty nice, but other than that, my social circle remained pathetically small.

After a quick round of "good morning" and asking if anyone else wanted coffee, I set off to make a batch way larger than usual. Then again, I was also making it for three other people, so the amount wasn't too absurd. I quietly waited for the beep of the machine in my still-sleepy state, not quite registering the creak of the kitchen door opening until warm arms wrapped around my waist and I felt the tickle of hair brushing against my neck and cheek. I leaned into the touch with a smile spreading over my face. Suddenly, I was just a little more awake, but that certainly had nothing to do with the trail of kisses that led form just below my ear to the spot where my neck met my shoulder. I turned my head to the side and caught his lips with mine.

"Morning," Dabi mumbled as he pulled away once he ran out of breath. 

"Morning to you, too," I grinned back, suddenly aware of how messy I probably looked - I hadn't even bothered to brush my hair, and it was, no doubt, slowly turning into a rat's nest. Oh, well. I'd deal with that later. "Want some coffee?"

As if on cue, the machine's soft whirring came to a stop, replaced by a beep, and I automatically poured the coffee into four different mugs, one of which Dabi grabbed and started to slowly sip, as if he wanted to savor the taste for as long as possible. I took two of the cups back to the mess hall, and after an apology and excuse about how I accidentally didn't make enough for the third person, I returned back to my own cup. I was greeted by yet another kiss as I entered the kitchen before I grabbed the mug and leaned against the counter, taking my time with the drink and chatting with Dabi about everything and nothing, ranging from silly ideas we had to the reactions of the press to all of the League's ploys.

Our idle talk was interrupted as more and more villains started to search the kitchens for something to eat, and after grabbing me and Dabi a blueberry muffin each, we turned to the mess hall instead, coffee still in hand. It was so easy to be relaxed in the comforting feeling that radiated off of everyone, and it would be impossible to still feel at edge among them. It still amazed me, how all of these people were supposed villains, and yet, they were just the same as everyone else, except for the fact that someone had hurt them, and now they wanted to get their revenge. Truly, heroes were no different. It was just the reaction of the public that was different, what with how heroes are treated as nobility while 'villains' as scum. 

The peaceful breakfast was interrupted as Shigaraki announced another long day of work, and I, along with at least half of the others in the room, groaned in annoyance. The only things that kept me going were the rush from the coffee and the fact that we were almost done with the tedious work. We slowly filed into the large room that we'd decided to create into a temporary office and got to work, the very same way that we did yesterday, and except for the occasional chatter between those working around me or a teasing joke from Dabi, who never seemed to leave my side for too long, the room was filled with the sound of flipping pages and whirring printers working hard to catch up with all the papers that dozens of villains turned from digital copies into physical.

By noon, the last of the files were printed and organized by alphabetical order, and everyone gave a collective sigh of relief. At long last, the torture was over, and all that was left was figuring out what information would actually prove useful. We decided to ignore that task for now, relishing in the glory of our long-awaited break. Even Shigaraki had to admit that we'd fared pretty well with the job, and he agreed to give us the rest of the day off, to which we responded with a loud, collective cheer. Dabi and I immediately rushed straight for the nearest training room - the past few days were hell, and we needed to blow off some steam. The sparring match lasted for hours, with the small break in between to ensure that neither one of us died of exhaustion, but by the time we were done, we were both sweaty and starving. After a quick shower and a hearty dinner kindly provided by Twice, who was an excellent cook, we passed out on my bed with Dabi cradling me close to his chest.