Ashes

Tokyo pt. 1

"Dabi, we gotta talk."

Touya looked over to Zeha after he finished his latest fight, having kept his promise to Shoto and knocking him out without relying on his quirk.

"What do you want?"

Zeha chuckled as he slung an arm over the grumpy little fighter, "Now now Dabi, don't be so mad all the time. I just need to talk to you about your latest fights."

Dabi raised an eyebrow, not bothering to explain himself as he packed his things, "What's there to talk about? I fought, I won, and I got paid. Now I'm going home, so if you'll kindly-"

He stalled as he felt Zeha grip his shoulder a little tighter, his smile gaining malice, "Yeah but you haven't been using your quirk, Dabi. The crowd wants to watch those blue flames you showed 2 weeks ago. They want a spectacle."

Dabi bit his lip, refusing to be intimidated as he threw Zeha's arm off his shoulder, "It's not my fault all my matches since then have been easy. If they were difficult, then I'd use them."

He moved to leave, getting stopped as Zeha put a hand on his chest, his voice cold as he said, "Not strong enough... then if I gave you some strong opponents would you use them?"

Touya narrowed his eyes at Zeha, playing over the promise he made to Shoto.

I did say I wouldn't use them unless I had to... if the guys I fight are stronger then I'd have to use my quirk to win. That technically isn't breaking my promise...

Touya shrugged and nodded, feeling an instant flash of regret as Zeha gave a smile that screamed trouble.

Oh no...

He stiffened as Zeha pulled out a paper, the words on it spitting out an address somewhere in Tokyo.

"What's this?"

Zeha snickered as he pointed to the paper, "That, my wonderful rising star, is an invitation to the annual underground tournament in Tokyo. All the big leaders of the underworld will send their best fighters there, and in my case, that happens to be you."

Touya raised an eyebrow, not buying the false compliment for a second, "What are you talking about? I'm sure you have better fighters than Mountain stashed away somewhere. Why don't you send them?"

Hell, you're a better fighter than a mountain. I'll set myself on fire again if I'm your best fighter.

Zeha shrugged, showing fake shame as he said, "Guess you caught me, Dabi. If I'm being honest then, no one sends their best fighters there. It's stupid to do that unless there's something on the line."

Zeha pointed to Dabi, "What we usually send, are people around the middle of the pack. Strong enough so we don't look like pushovers but weak enough that they won't be able to tell our real strength."

Dabi frowned, not liking that he was being labeled 'middle of the pack' even if he knew it was probably accurate.

"So what? I'm just supposed to go to Tokyo and fight in their tournament. What's in it for me?"

I don't care about fighting, I just need to get money for Shoto. Why would I stick my neck out for this?

Zeha nodded, expecting this response, "Well, if you are willing to go, and you put up a decent showing... I'll give you enough to get the fake IDs you've been looking into."

Touya flinched, his eyes narrowing as he asked in an icy voice, "How do you know about that?"

Zeha chuckled, unaffected by Touya's glare, "It's my job to know about my fighters. Even if they come and go, I can't let just anyone fight here. I'd have heroes breathing down my neck if I did that."