The Delta Project

Freezing Waters, Warming Fires

This man's quirk....it was hot and bright. The flames matched his eyes, blue and deadly and for the first time ever Nemesis found herself calmed by the site of quirk. She shuffled closer as he set the fire down on the ground, it burnt between the two of them and Nemesis allowed herself to get close to it in the hope it would warm her cold body and the water would dry. She glanced up at the man, his scars were far more visible with the firelight. His scarring was worse than her's and Nemesis studied it silently. His burnt jaw was stapled onto the rest of his face and his spiky hair matched her own. She licked her lips nervously before looking back down at the flames fiddling with the sticks she had found in the dirt surrounding her.

The man was watching her throughout. His own curiosity rivaling her's. She was strange and throughout their entire interaction she had yet to utter a word to him. She had remained silent piercing green had studied him, unwavering. He had noted her negative response to his quirk and he was briefly curious as to what exactly happened in the building he had been watching for the past week. The numbers on her neck however had told him exactly what she was, she was a experiment, but what type of experiment was still a mystery. He wanted to burn the place to the ground, but even with his great fire power he wouldn't make it far due to how tight the security around the building was. Which led him to the girl. She was from the building. She was one of their subjects and she had managed to escape despite the odds (he was confused however as to why her pursuers had left once she had entered the water), by using her he could get that information and use it against Hero Society and in further extent his father. So he had saved the girl from drowning, in hopes that she was relay to him all of the facts about the facility that she knew about. What he hadn't accounted for however was her response to him. She wasn't scared...but she wasn't open either. He was aware of her assessing him, judging him, determining if her was a threat or not. Despite her silence her intent was clear. He was not a friend, nor even an allow and he had to change that if he was going to get anything from her. He stared at her as bent over the fire, sticking beside it as though it was the only light that had ever entered her life. Hands outstretched towards it and eyes closed. He looked down at his hand, looking between it and the flames that the girl was entranced by. For once someone was not fearful of his flames...he wasn't sure how he felt about that. He should be angry, upset it was fear that he relied on. People were supposed to fear his flames and what they could do to him. But the inner part of him. The part that was still Touya was overjoyed, the child that had wanted to be a hero, who had wanted to use the flames for good was relishing in this moment deep in the lightening night. He did not want that, he wanted nothing to do with his past. So as the flames licked towards the sky, and the girl continued to cosey herself next to it he sat up and stared at her with a small glare.

"Dabi." she opened her eyes at his voice and turned towards him. He looked away from her looking towards the depths of the forest. Nemesis sighed silently nodding. His name was Dabi... 'Cremation'. She looked towards his flames and then looked back at him, nodding to herself. The name was fitting...just as her's was. She looked down at the ground gripping the stick in her hand, before writing her own name in the dirt. The scratching alerted the man and he looked over frowning. He raised his brow as Nemesis pointed at the ground between them.
"Nem-e-sis...Nemesis? Huh...I thought your name was the numbers on your neck." Nemesis frowned and shook her head. She was more than her number now. She had earned her name and she was going to keep it. Nemesis was who she was. It was who she would most likely be for the rest of her life, whether it be short or long. The girl from long ago was gone and she knew she had no right to claim the name from before. That wasn't her. Not anymore. Nemesis however was. She pointed back down at the name, glaring towards Dabi before she shook her head violently as she pointed at the numbers that were forever imprinted into her skin. She was no longer the numbers on a spreadsheet. Nemesis, was free. Nemesis was going to do what she wanted.

"Okay then, kid. Nemesis it is. Now why don't we get out of here before the sun rises? Those Commission guys will probably come by hunting for your body soon." she nodded standing on shaking legs. She stumbled slightly catching herself on a tree. Before she used her foot to cover up her name. Dabi put out the fire and threw the remains into the lake beside them. He then started walking away. Nemesis watched him silently. Before turning her head around to face the lapping waves. She grunted and stepped away from the water before it could touch her feet her nose scrunched up and eyes wide in fear. She looked back up and towards the cliff she had fallen from and the trees that guarded and hid the building she had spent the most of her life in. Nemesis heart swelled and her hand came up to clutch at her chest, small tears threatening to escape the corners of her eyes. She was leaving and she was never going back...but even as she turned away from the trees that hid her past she was filled with a foreign feeling that gnawed at her chest. She clutched it tighter shaking her head stubbornly. Whatever this feeling was, she was going to ignore it. It hurt and it was uncomfortable meaning it was bad...Nemesis knew that if she went away the bad feeling would do so as well. She looked up to see Dabi had stopped a few feet away from her, he was watching her one brow raised in question, before he jolted his head forward signalling her to follow after him. She nodded slightly before looking back at the cliff one last time. She took another step away from the water so she would maintain a good distance away from it. Even though she hardly knew this man, even though he had a quirk and he was bigger and could easily overpower her in her weakened form, Nemesis had found herself connected to him. He was the one who knew about the outside world and Nemesis knew now that she needed him and his presence. So even with every instinct in her body screaming at her not to follow the danger quirk user she did so anyway and Nemesis refused to regret that decision. He was her freedom and Nemesis was never going to let go. Not until this Commission was gone and she could gain the revenge she desired. Until then... he was her hope. A stranger in the night a dangerous adversary but a useful ally. Nemesis followed after him. Walking into the dark depths of the forest as the sun began to rise in the sky, bringing about a new dawn for all to enjoy.