Shine got back to the dorms and found Wally asleep again, but he woke up when she sank onto the chair across from him.
"What's wrong?" Wally could tell at once from how silent she was and the look on her face.
Shine just showed him the news clip. She didn't have the heart to say it all out loud.
Wally was equally crushed. "Oh...those dirty, rotten scoundrels... How could they do that to their own people?"
"I feel like...I should have seen it coming," Shine said.
"I think we did kind of wonder about it," Wally said, "I got the vibe with the ones we talked to they thought it might end up that way. I'm glad they listened... That's always the most important part."
"38 people..."
"Shine, it's not your fault."
"I know. Can't I be upset without thinking it's my fault!?" Shine burst out, "Gosh, I'm so sick of that. That's all anyone around here can say to express regret. It's never just a bad thing. It has to be someone's fault! Why? What's the point? The only person responsible is those psychos!...So we should just want to stop them, not wallow in self deprecation!"
Wally winced.
"Sorry, I didn't mean that to sound like I was angry at you... It's just the...you know..." Shine said.
"No, I got it." Wally came up and put a hand on her shoulder. "You're right...it sucks either way. Doesn't matter who's fault it is. I just didn't want you to start thinking that way."
"I know. I'm sorry..."
"It's fine. You're upset. I get it. I get that way too..." Wally would have been that way in fact, if he'd had the chance to be, but since Shine was feeling bad, he was pushing himself to be above it for her sake.
He held out an arm, and Shine leaned on his shoulder and started crying.
Some of the kids looked in and got scared faces.
But after a bit they talked to each other, and someone had seen the news, and they all put it together.
"It must be what they were doing, right?" Momo said.
"I think so," Jiro said.
"That's a lot of people to die, though." Kaminari was scared.
"If it was what they were involved in, then what happens to them?" Shoto said.
That was too much for Kaminari.
He raced in and grabbed Wally's arm. "Mr. West! Tell me you're not going to die too!"
"What?" Wally was puzzled.
"Like on the news!" Kaminari said.
"You know about that?" Wally said.
Shine wiped her eyes. "That didn't take long..."
"It was you right?" Shoto said, coming in resolutely.
"We didn't kill anyone," Wally said.
"No, it was related to what you did, right?" Shoto clarified.
Shine nodded. "It's a long story... Sit down. We'd better fill you in."
So they did.
The kids were stunned to hear it all.
"I don't know how to take the news that that group is still active," Shoto said.
"I didn't even think about it. How did I not think about that?" Momo put her face in her hands.
"We didn't even know it was a problem till yesterday," Shine said, "We haven't even had time to really to let it sink in, and then this news hit us..."
"Thanks for telling us right away this time," Jiro said.
Wally thought that was poorly timed.
"Too soon," Kaminari said to her.
"Sorry," she said.
"So these jackasses still want to stir up trouble," Bakugo summed it up, "and they don't give a crap about their own people... Great... What are we doing about it?"
"So far, there's no clear next step," Shine said.
"And Shine is not really in the mood for this." Wally rubbed her shoulder. "So don't bug her about it. Neither of us likes it when this happens. I mean, it happens sometimes, but usually not this close to us. Usually we can save people... In a lot of ways, letting the pros handle it is really hard because it means this kind of thing can happen so easily."
"Jail is no protection, then?" Shoto said.
"Not for people like this. They probably work at jails," Wally shrugged.
"We won't bother you about it," Momo assured them, "You need time to recover, of course. But whenever you're ready, we'll all be here to help. You're always ready to help us, and you only got into this because of some Heroes asking you for help, so it's only fair if we return the favor."
"Sounds dangerous," Shoto said.
"And anything else we've done was just a walk in the d--- park," Bakugo said sarcastically.
Shoto conceded the point. "It's not that I mind... I just wonder if there're more qualified people."
"Well, it may only be fair to warn some more people," Shine said, "but we have to be careful. I can go anywhere undetected. Wally probably can too, but no one else can do that. We can warn others. That's our one advantage, but even we can't risk being seen too many places...Outdoor meetings are going to be too risky now. We'll have to meet inside, quietly...until this is resolved, I think. Unless we met in another country or somewhere really remote-- a mountain, maybe?"
"Even that wouldn't be the best idea," Wally said, "but we can think about it later."
"Still...we can't do too much," Shine said, "There's the rules... I'd feel so much better if the LOV and Rumi both weren't such easy targets..." She buried her face in her hands.
"On the bright side...they are at least not plotting to kill her," Wally said.
He didn't know about the LOV.
"And what will they do instead...? I'm sorry, I'm just...not feeling good about this at all." Shine got up. "I need some alone time."
She went upstairs.
"Don't worry about her," Wally said, "She'll be okay.... God will tell her what to do, and she'll bounce back. She always does."
"Are you okay, Mr. West?" Momo asked.
"Uhh...working on it..." Wally said uncertainly.
"I'll make you some tea." Momo left.
"You want some soba?" Shoto offered very generously.
"Bakugo, you could make something, right?" Kaminari suggested.
Bakugo didn't deny it, just shrugged.
"I'll put on a chilling vibe mix," Jiro said, pulling out her phone and hooking it up to the speakers they kept in the common area.
"I'll charge your phone." Kaminari honestly couldn't think of anything else to do.
Wally almost choked up. They were trying so hard. It was impossible not to feel uplifted by that. Maybe things would work out after all.
* * *
In the LOV, over the next couple days, things were tense. They saw the news also. It was even more chilling to them, because they thought they might be next.
But nothing happened. Perhaps they moved around too much for even ninja to track easily. After all, it wasn't like no one had seen the other attacks. Small reports of them were everywhere. Now that it had failed, the Originals would not be likely to risk further exposure for a while.
Silk said if their goal was to look good by taking out the LOV, they would have had to do it quickly. If they kept on now, it would looked premeditated, and then people would ask questions about the group, and if they had license, etc.
"Basically, they'll wait longer, and probably next time it will not be out in the open. They will capture us quietly and then kill us," she theorized.
"Let's hope you're right," Compress said, "because maybe we'll be ready by then."
Dabi had gotten pretty sick. All the strain of the day, the exposure to cold, heat, and broken bones had done a number on him. He had a pretty high fever for a while and seemed out of it.
None of the LOV were very gifted in the playing nurse department, but Silk had the most knowledge of it, and she helped a lot. But she didn't have the attachment to her patient that would make the most comforting attendant. She was more professional about it.
She also made sure the injuries everyone else had were not too serious. Remarkably, Compress' had been the only other bad one.
"We got off so lucky, considering," she said.
Lethe mentioned that he was not easy about it all, and, in his opinion, they would need to know far more about the Originals if they planned to evade them in the future.
No one wanted to let him investigate further though. But what he did on his own, they didn't know. He and Medea refused to report to anyone except about specific assignments.
Dabi finally began to get better after the second day, and no one bothered him. He was generally very unpleasant after getting sick, liable to try to take someone's head off.
It was on the morning of day three that Toga very casually just wandered into the room he'd been using (no one else wanted to catch anything). Toga never knocked or seemed to see a problem with barging in.
Dabi was just waking up.
"Crazy!? Get out of here!"
Toga screamed...which was weird.
"Who are you?!" she yelled at him, pulling a knife.
"What?" Dabi said oddly.
"Where's Dabi?!" Toga cried.
"What are you on about now?" Dabi was not in the mood for this. "Get the h--- out of here and stop yelling at me. My head hurts."
"Intruder!" Toga started yelling, "Intruder!"
Dabi got up. This wasn't funny. "Crazy, if you don't quit it, I'm going to melt your knife collection."
"Get away from me!" Toga ran out of the room.
Dabi didn't get why she was pulling a stupid stunt like this, but he didn't both trying to figure out Toga's twisted mind.
He left the room to go the bathroom, and on the way he ran into Twice, who yelped at him and ran the other way.
But Twice was jumpy sometimes, so he didn't think much of it.
It wasn't till he got in the bathroom and looked at his own reflection that he finally spooked. He thought he was hallucinating... He dashed cold water in his face... It didn't go away.
Dabi just panicked. Without thinking about it, he ran out of the lair (after looking for the door, since he hadn't been around this one before) and out into the street without another look back.
* * *
"What do you mean Dabi disappeared?" Shigaraki demanded of the others.
"I swear, he's just gone!" Toga whined.
"Like a ghost!" Twice said.
"And there was someone else here. I bet it was one of those nasty ninja people!" Toga said.
"Back up. Dabi would have made short work of any one of them, quirk or no quirk," Compress said, "And if he's dead, where's the body?"
"Why would one hang around after kidnapping him?" Silk asked.
"This makes no sense!" Shigaraki summed it up, "Why not just leave a ransom note or something? Are you sure he didn't just step out?"
"Want us to look for him?" Medea offered.
"After last time?" Spinner said.
"What last time?" Medea said blankly.
"We could handle it," Lethe said.
"I'm not convinced he's in trouble," Shigaraki reiterated, "You're all overreacting."
"I have a real bad feeling about this, Shiggy," Toga said.
"Don't. Ever. Call. Me. That. Again," Shigaraki said icily.
"Your bad feelings are not usually accurate," Compress said to Toga.
"Hey!" she whined at him.
"This is bad omen," Silk murmured.
* * *
A few days of reflecting brought Shine to a passage in Psalms that she often had to come back to when she felt discouraged about losing to bad people:
"Truly God is good to Israel,
to those whose hearts are pure.
2 But as for me, I almost lost my footing.
My feet were slipping, and I was almost gone.
3 For I envied the proud
when I saw them prosper despite their wickedness.
4 They seem to live such painless lives;
their bodies are so healthy and strong.
5 They don't have troubles like other people;
they're not plagued with problems like everyone else.
6 They wear pride like a jeweled necklace
and clothe themselves with cruelty.
7 These fat cats have everything
their hearts could ever wish for!
8 They scoff and speak only evil;
in their pride they seek to crush others.
9 They boast against the very heavens,
and their words strut throughout the earth.
10 And so the people are dismayed and confused,
drinking in all their words.
11 "What does God know?" they ask.
"Does the Most High even know what's happening?"
12 Look at these wicked people—
enjoying a life of ease while their riches multiply.
13 Did I keep my heart pure for nothing?
Did I keep myself innocent for no reason?
14 I get nothing but trouble all day long;
every morning brings me pain.
15 If I had really spoken this way to others,
I would have been a traitor to your people.
16 So I tried to understand why the wicked prosper.
But what a difficult task it is!
17 Then I went into your sanctuary, O God,
and I finally understood the destiny of the wicked.
18 Truly, you put them on a slippery path
and send them sliding over the cliff to destruction.
19 In an instant they are destroyed,
completely swept away by terrors.
20 When you arise, O Lord,
you will laugh at their silly ideas
as a person laughs at dreams in the morning.
21 Then I realized that my heart was bitter,
and I was all torn up inside.
22 I was so foolish and ignorant—
I must have seemed like a senseless animal to you.
23 Yet I still belong to you;
you hold my right hand.
24 You guide me with your counsel,
leading me to a glorious destiny.
25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
I desire you more than anything on earth.
26 My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak,
but God remains the strength of my heart;
he is mine forever.
27 Those who desert him will perish,
for you destroy those who abandon you.
28 But as for me, how good it is to be near God!
I have made the Sovereign Lord my shelter,
and I will tell everyone about the wonderful things you do." [Ps 73 btw]
Shine got to thinking about what happened. While she was upset, she also realized some amazing, she would even say miraculous, things had happened even amongst the bad ones.
Dabi being the biggest one.
It was good and bad. Sometimes that was just life.
"Walking along the high tide line. Watching the pacific from the sidelines. Wonder what it means to live together?
Looking for more than just guidelines. Looking for signs in the night sky,Wishing that I wasn't such a nice guy. Wonder what it means to live forever?Wonder what it means to die?
[Chorus]I know that there's a meaning to it all. A little resurrection every time I fall. You got your babies, I got my hearses. Every blessing comes with a set of curses. I got my vices, got my vice versesI got my vice verses.
The wind could be my new obsessionThe wind could be my next depression. The wind goes anywhere it wants to. Wishing that I learned my lesson.
The ocean sounds like a garage band. Coming to me like a drunk man. The ocean tells me a thousand stories. None of them are lies.
Let the Pacific laugh. Be on my epitaph. With it's rising and falling, And after all, it's just water, And I am just soul. With a body of water and bones. Water and bones.
Where is God in the city life?Where is God in the city light?Where is God in the earthquake?Where is God in the genocide?Where are you in my broken heart?
Everything seems to fall apart. Everything feels rusted over. Tell me that you're there."
All in all, Shine thought, she would just have to take things as they came. If good stuff could come out of that experience, then more could come out of the rest of it.
She really couldn't waste any more time worrying about what she couldn't control.
Thinking that, she felt better.
Wally was already there. He never bothered much about stuff once it was out of his hands. She needed more time than him, usually, to let go.
It was that third day that she finally left the dorms--and campus...again to get some breathing space.
She wasn't worried about anyone coming after her.
Just walking out herself was weird, but she didn't mind it. She used the gate.
She was just going along looking for a good place to shop when someone waved at her from a side street.
It was nothing like the dark alleys of the inner city, so she didn't see much danger in going over there. It was just a cute little section between rows of shops.
The person waiting for her was one she didn't recognize.
"Hi...?" she said.
"Explain this!" they said.
Shine blinked. The voice was unmistakable.
Then she narrowed her gaze. She recognized those eyes, too, always burning with intensity--or fear.
"Dabi?" she sputtered, "What...? Why, I almost didn't recognize you."
"So you see it too!" Dabi sounded really freaked out.
He grabbed her arms and yanked her hard. "What the freak did you do?!!!"
"Let go of me, you overgrown child!" Shine shoved him away. Since he wasn't really trying to hurt her, it was easy enough. "I didn't do a thing to you! I swear, I'm just as shocked as you are."
Dabi shook his head and held up his hands. "It's gotta be you fault, 'cause I don't know how else to explain it."
Shine started laughing. "You're such an idiot."
"Oh, you think this is funny?" Dabi was mad. "This is not funny."
"It is funny. You're just way too edgy to appreciate it, you emo!" Shine was still laughing.
"I...you.... I can't go back to the League looking like this!" Dabi said.
"I don't know. It's a good look for you." Shine tilted her head appraisingly.
If it wasn't obvious already, the new look was the very uncanny fact that Dabi was completely normal looking for the first time in 12 years. His scars were gone. The staples were gone...all of it.
Not a trace.
[Design by Onerose, template originally by Hero (Gimmick 396) ]
You'd never know it was the same guy if his eyes and expression weren't the same, but even that wouldn't have clued most people in who didn't know him.
Shine even thought she detected a less hoarse, harsh pitch in his voice, like maybe his lungs had been damaged too without him knowing it.
"I look ridiculous!" Dabi sounded like a whiny teenager.
"You looked ridiculous before. I just didn't have the heart to tell you because I knew you couldn't help it... Well, the emo look maybe you could help, but without the scars it's not so overstated, so I think it's fine now." Shine was absolutely pitiless.
"No one is going to take me seriously now!" Dabi swore at her, "What is this?"
"Just because you're pretty now?" Shine was still laughing at him. "Wow, the horror. It doesn't stop Bakugo."
"He's not... What?"
"Well, he's cute if he ever stops scowling...looks about 12 to me, but don't tell him I said that... The point is, why's this a bad thing? Those had to be painful and uncomfortable... I assume they're all gone. I won't ask to see. That would be weird."
"Yes...all of them... The staples just fell out, I guess. I found them stuck to my clothes later..." Dabi shook his head. "Why did this happen?"
"I...think..." Shine paused. Her eyes glimmered gold. "I think it's a sign, you know... You're a new person, right?... Besides, it's a good thing... You can walk around freely now. No one will recognize you."
"No one will believe it's me either, Likstar..." Dabi said, flatly, "Scars like that don't just go away."
"The joke is on you," Shine said, "because you didn't think 'new' meant new all the way, did you? Sorry for laughing, but it's just how it is for us. You're going to be surprised for the rest of your life in ways like this."
"Stop laughing."
"I'm not laughing now."
"I can tell you are on the inside."
Shine did laugh again at that. "I don't think you're as angry as you're trying to seem... But what will you do? If you go back to the League like this, they'll flip their lids."
"I ain't going back!" Dabi declared, to her surprise, "I was going to quit anyway, after...and now I wouldn't go if you paid me. It's too embarrassing... Your reaction was bad enough. I'm not subjecting myself to theirs. They can all go suck--"
"Don't you dare finish that."
"--it," Dabi amended, "I never liked them anyway."
"I don't blame you for most of them, but...Shigaraki did really bail you out," Shine reminded him, "Wouldn't it be a courtesy to at least explain to him that you aren't coming back? What if they think you got kidnapped?"
"Better off for me that way," Dabi said, "Maybe I can just disappear... Better if the world forgets about Dabi."
"I don't think you'll be in the frame of mind for very long," Shine said, soberly, "You feel free now, but your problems are not gone, Touya. They are just different than they were...and you won't be able to hide from the past forever."
Dabi glared at her, then sighed. "I'm afraid of how true that might be.... I'm not a good person just because I got a few scars removed."
"No, you aren't," Shine said, "but you said you no longer wish to be that monster that you were. You're going to need to replace all that hatred with something else, or it will come back. Indeed, I'm not sure you have lost it yet. Feelings take a long time to change-- I should know...but what began for me when I crossed over was not a loss of all my fears and dark feelings, but for the first time an ability to stand against them and send them packing. I think it would be similar for you."
She tapped her chin. "But you can't be alone... It's easy to fall if you're alone. No one should be alone as a newbie."
Dabi kind of agreed... The idea of that freaked him out. But he wasn't going to beg her for help either.
"I feel this is my responsibility. I pushed you," Shine saved him the trouble, "but I can't keep you at the dorms like some pet... Where are you living now?"
"Streets, like before. No one will think twice about it now," Dabi said, shrugging.
"All right," Shine nodded, "True.... And you need food too."
"I'll manage," Dabi said.
"That won't do." Shine pulled out her wallet and took out all the money she had in it, which was a lot to her. "Here." She handed it to him.
"I'm not taking this from you--"
"Take it or I'm throwing it on the ground and walking away. I don't need it, trust me. It's just binging money. I really shop too much here." Shine rolled her eyes. "You're doing me a favor, actually. And it's just for a few days anyway. Wally and I will figure something out. Don't you worry."
"I'm not a lost puppy, okay?" Dabi said stiffly. He was grateful...sort of, but he still had his pride.
"I would do this for anyone, okay?" Shine let him have it. "So stop being weird about it. Someday you can repay us if you like, but there's really no need. UA took care of us when we arrived here, for free, and our friends were so generous. I think this is just my chance to pass it on. If we start counting, you know, we'll never stop. And what do friends care about who owes who what?"
Dabi shrugged.
Shine turned with a mind to go right back to UA and talk to Wally right now.
"Likstar," Dabi said before she did, "whatever you come up with, I don't want to have to see or talk to that little punk."
Shine looked back. "Shouldn't you forgive him, Dabi? He's literally never done anything to you."
Dabi looked down. "Maybe someday I'll stop resenting him, if this is all as powerful as you say...but he'd not want to see me even if I could stand him."
Shine bit her lip. "Someday he'll have to stop running too, you know. But for now, I'll keep this to myself... He won't appreciate it later, but I guess he couldn't be more angry at me than he already is."
"He found out you knew?"
"After you told him, even he could put it together. I love that kid but I've never met anyone so clueless most of the time," Shine said.
"I guess I made it worse for you... Sorry," Dabi said uncomfortably.
"It's all right. You've made it much better now," Shine said brightly, "Truly this has been the brightest part of the last week for me. And a huge load off my mind, now that I see you're not going to be chased down by anyone. One person I don't have to worry about."
Dabi didn't make eye contact. This was getting weird.
"One thing you need to work on is receiving positive reinforcement better," Shine said archly, "That cringe you're feeling? It's actually not healthy. We'll work on that, no worries. If I can get better you can. I used to bite people's heads off if they complimented me, so it can't be that bad."
"Why would you do that?" Dabi found that odd.
"Oh...I got mocked so much as a kid I started to think everything was mocking..." Shine sobered. "Sad, really, but I'm a lot better now. You'll get there."
"Your positivity is a little too much, Likstar. I'm not looking for a complete personality make-over here, so I can see all sunshine and roses," Dabi said dryly.
"I doubt either of us is ever going to be that kind of person in this world," Shine snorted, "but get to where you can at least see some sun through those clouds and some roses in those thorns, and that's good enough for me. You take up the rest with the Big Guy yourself. Meet me back here tomorrow, okay? And don't do anything stupid. If you mess up this new self by getting into a street fight, I'll let you have it."
"I quiver with fear," Dabi said sarcastically, "Whatever... Not like I have anywhere else to be..."
"Bye," Shine waved, "Go get some food. And sleep indoors for crying out loud, you idiot!" She walked away.
Dabi smirked.
[Who else is finding redeemed Dabi adorable? Just me?
Also, if you expected more angst in this transition, don't worry, there's plenty more in his story. This is really just the beginning of his role in the whole thing. I'm a firm believer in pacing things out.
The decision to remove his scars was partly to be cool, but partly because, pragmatically, he really can't live normally as a good guy if he's that easy to recognize. Nothing against scars, but the idea was to have a new start, and this made the most sense. I get some people may not like him as much, but he's still going to be an edgy emo, so, hey, get over it. Anyone who needs scars to be cool is pretty lame to begin with. ( Plus you know, they were painful so I kind of didn't like the idea of him suffering the rest of his life.) I doubt most of y'all will care anyway, because it's still freaking awesome.]