"It's You"; DabiHawks

Chapter 9; Not Edgy, Just Homeless

*Dabi POV*

Of fucking course I felt bad when I left him. I just wanted to kill him, not led him on. I had promised myself that if I killed him, everything would be fine.

But I just can't.

Every time I looked at him, ready to kill, he just looked so, what's the right word, vulnerable? No, he's definitely not vulnerable. Even if he was, I have killed so many other vulnerable people with the snap of my fingers. So why was Hawks so different? Was it because of the fact that we're soulmates? That's stupid.

The more I think about it, the more I realize that it might just be because of some stupid bond. But that can't be it, I had never heard anyone say anything about imediently falling for their soulmate and yet, here I am.

Maybe it was because I just had him pinned, maybe j was just too caught up in the moment. If he was up and fighting, I could kill him.

That's wrong too. The first time I saw him, I could've easily killed him, and yet instead, I just toyed with him. I just couldn't kill him. So why did I hate him so much?

That's the thing, I don't hate him. No matter how much I want to, I just can't. He's, irresistible.

I continued walking down the street towards the bar, but I felt as if someone was following me. No matter how many times I looked around, I couldn't see anyone. I had heard enough people say that following their gut feeling saved there life, hell, my gut has been the main thing I've been listening to for the past nine years.

I suddenly turned off the path. Technically, I was still heading towards the bar, but I wasn't going to go to the bar. I hate to admit it, but I care about some of the people in the league. I'm not going to bring whatever is following me to them. A few more "wrong" turns and I ended up at a very familiar place.

It was my old shack house, well, where it used to be. From that night, I could almost feel the flames that I had let consume my body. I wasn't going to stop, however. I continued to the fire escape of the building beside it and climbed up to the roof.

Turning to the next building over, I saw the old man's balcony. I remember the entire time that I lived on that roof, the man had caught me many times. Every time, he didn't know that I was the boy that had supposedly died just a few yards from his building. Every time, he gave me an apple or something and told me to get back home before dark. The bad people come out at night.

Sometimes that man would sit outside on his balcony and talk to me before I continued my climb. He didn't know what I had done, he didn't care that I lived on the roof. He would give me something to eat and invite me inside so I wouldn't have to sleep on the roof. I never accepted his offer, I didn't want to burden him.

I remember very clearly that he never slept near the window, so I was in the clear. With a little running head start, I jumped and easily landed on the other side of the banister. A small part of me wished that he would open the door and recognize me as the eighteen-year old boy who slept on the roof. It would be nice to talk with him again, even after four years.

Before jumping back over to the fire escape just a few feet from the balcony, I froze looking back to the door. I heard it start to open and I pushed myself back against the wall. After a few seconds, the door closed and I let out the breath I didn't know I was holding. I opened my eyes only to be face to face with Hawks.

"What are you doing here?" He asked. He seemed more curious than cautious, but I have found that he is probably someone who hides his thoughts really well. He doesn't show his emotions point blank. I don't know how I should feel about that.

"I was heading home." I said with a shrug. He still had his hand on the door, and that was when I noticed that he wasn't wearing his hero suit. He was wearing a simple black hoodie with shorts.

"And where would that be?"

"Tch, as if I'd tell you, pigeon." I said, climbing onto his banister. After a few seconds of getting balanced, I jumped onto the fire escape. Without looking back, I started walking.

A second thud of feet colliding with the metal pathway told me that the bird had started following me. I turned around without stopping and, sure enough, Hawks was standing there with his hands stuffed into his hoodie pocket.

"Hey, fuck off." I growled, still locking eyes with him. His eyes widened and I felt my back hit the banister. It was too low on me, and I started to fall back slightly. I closed my eyes before I felt Hawks grab my arm, pulling me back so I was standing straight. (Ha)

Despite the adrenaline still rushing through my veins, the only feeling I could directly register was the intense warm feeling that burned strongest on my arm. It was just as intense as my own, but it was calming. I didn't feel any pain when he grabbed onto me.

Even after I was safely on the pathway, he was still holding my arm. He wasn't looking at me, more transfixed on something behind me. Suddenly breaking out of it, he let go of my arm and stuffed his hand back in his pocket.

"Don't fall." He whispered, looking down. I stayed there, staring at him, but he didn't look back up. Without a single word in his direction, I continued up the stairs to the storage at the roof.

***

*Hawks POV*

As soon as he continued walking, I followed him. I knew he knew I was there. If he wanted me to stop, to go back to my apartment, he could tell me so. I was right behind him.

He didn't make many stops on the way up. He had stopped once and looked out on the night sky. It looked like he was searching for something. Again, I didn't say anything, just examined him.

It didn't make any sense. I hadn't seen him walk by my door any time I was home, but he was walking like he knew what he was going to find. However, he could be getting up here at times when I am not home, but he wouldn't come up here in the day. Too many would see him in broad daylight. Of course, I had only lived in that apartment for a few months, so maybe he had stopped before then.

Finally making it to the top of the building, I saw the storage unit that I had asked the man who ran the apartment complex about. He had said that the old owner of the complex had sold just the storage area to a man that has since died. He had given the area to someone in his will, but no one really knew who. Legally, they weren't allowed to do anything with it since it wasn't there's by law.

Dabi didn't stop there, he continued to the door and gave it a tug. Surprisingly, it gave out pretty quickly and opened. The inside was filled with boxes stacked on top of each other. He didn't say a word to me the entire time, just walked inside.

"If you're coming in, close the door." He said, no clear emotion in his voice. Of course, I followed, closing the door behind me.

That was when it all clicked. Dabi, despite his wardrobe choice, wasn't edgy. No, not edgy at all. I  reality, he was just a homeless man who lived in a privately owned storage compartment on top of my apartment complex.

***