This time, Todoroki had no excuse to repeat his past actions. You'd sent him a message before leaving and the sun was as bright as it could be, so there wasn't any need for him to worry about you too much. You also didn't have anyone with you which hopefully guaranteed no more broken noses, though you did kind of wish you had the extra set of arms.
You tripped and yelped as you caught yourself just in time, one of the bags in your arms falling onto the floor despite your small success and you sighed in frustration for probably the hundredth time on your walk back to Todoroki's house.
You really wanted to quit and leave all your bags of clothes then and there but the clothes that you had from the trip to the baths weren't enough to last you too long. You'd had no other option but to go home and put all your clothes in bags, one of them pretty much a bean bag chair from how big it was.
You groaned and rubbed your temples in annoyance,"Fucking hell. I'd kill for some help."
"Ironic. Would you really?"
His husky voice was all it took for your heart to sink to your stomach. The remaining bags were easily forgotten and you let them fall on the floor as you spun, meeting turquoise eyes you never would have guessed to meet in broad daylight.
Dabi let out a chuckle and took a few steps foward that you didn't hesitate to imitate by stepping backwards at the same pace, some relief flooding into you once he simply took a seat on the biggest bag you'd been carrying. A smug grin rested on his face from your small display of fear.
God, you hated that arrogance of his.
You were more than wary as he sat and stared at you with a challenging gaze. The lack of words or actions was extremely rare from him. Hell, his presence during the day was extremely rare. That dark trenchcoat and unique appearance of his made him stick out like a sore thumb.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't villains stick to the night and what-not?", you questioned him. The daylight was made you feel better than usual, or maybe it was your quirk's big improvement since the last time you faced off against him, even though you knew it probably wasn't enough to overpower him yet,"Are you that desperate to come after me?"
Dabi tilted his head to the side as his expression shifted from its smug nature to annoyance,"Still so cocky-"
"Dude, you're one to talk."
"Don't cut me off, doll-face."
The words came out calm but there was an undertone of a threat that shut you right up. Dabi let out a short chuckle at that,"Better. You're misunderstanding me, sweetheart. I'm not after you."
Your eyes shot wide open. What the hell did he mean by that?
"Oh, so you burnt all my plants for no reason?Because that makes so much fucking sense",you couldn't help but still be bitter about that.
"That was more your fault then mine. I only wanted to burn all that fan research you had of me, those plants happened to catch on fire too. Didn't think it would piss you off so much. They're just plants."
This man was so lucky you weren't powerful enough to take him down yet, otherwise he'd be on the floor. You took a deep breath and tried to forget his last words,"Jesus Christ, Dabi, what are you even here for? And what do you mean you're not after me?"
"Slow down, doll. Don't you want to catch up?Stop and smell the roses, since you're all about that?"
"Dabi..."
A chuckle left the man as he readjusted his sitting position on your bag of clothes. He couldn't possibly be comfortable but he seemed to be enjoying himself,"Suit yourself."
You raised an eyebrow as he finally found a good position. His eyes were at a lower position than yours and his face was slightly blocked off by the jet black tufts of hair, but his gaze never failed to be as dominant as ever.
"Don't get too excited just because I'm not after you. You're a hero and I'd still love to hear those pretty screams, but I've got bigger goals."
"Uh...okay?Since we're sharing our life goals now, I wanna win the lottery some day."
It was stupid to trust the words that came out his mouth but for some reason, you believed him. This was the least hostile you'd ever seen him. The man was sitting, for god's sake. He wasn't interested in killing you, the setting only reinforced that belief.
Dabi grew a wide smirk,"You're not hearing me right, doll. You don't get to have life goals."
"Because you're gonna come after me after you do the other thing you wanna do, yeah, I get it. I still don't get why you're here talking to me."
A faint explosion off in the distance caught your attention and you perked up, the sound of it familiar. Dabi brought your attention back to him,"Where do you sleep, doll-face?"
Your eyebrows furrowed at the peculiar question,"Why would I ever tell your crusty ass where I live?"
Dabi shrugged,"I'd like to know whether you're using my bedroom."
"What?"
The villain had been all kinds of confusing from the moment he showed up. If he wasn't hurting your body, he was hurting your brain. You shook off the confusion,"Can you please just be straightforward?Why'd you look for me if you're not planning on doing anything yet?"
"I wasn't looking for you. You're just in the way", Dabi's face finally looked somewhat serious and you raised your eyebrow.
"That's still vague. Trust me, I don't want to be in your way, so just tell me what you're going for and I'll distance myself."
Dabi sat up from his leaning position,"Doll-face, that's the part I'm troubled with. Last time my brother thought someone was distancing you from him, they ended up with a broken nose."
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Todoroki had been staring at your message with a heavy heart as he made his way to your apartment; you'd assured him everything would be fine, that you wouldn't be gone for more than an hour or so, and that he should feel free to continue sleeping once he saw your text.
There was no way Todoroki would do that so he'd set out to find you as soon as possible. He hadn't counted on having an explosion set off at his face in the middle of it.
The hero flew back from the impact and before he could regain himself, a figure grabbed onto his collar with one hand, the other formed into a fist, ready to land at any second.
"That's for my nose, shitty half-and-half."
Todoroki's eyes shot wide open at the gruff voice growling above him. The scenario was familiar to how Bakugou had handled him during their fight at the sports festival, except Todoroki had a much better chance if he decided to fight back.
He didn't. Bakugou had a fair reason to be so angry.
Bakugou narrowed his eyes in immense displeasure at how unfazed Todoroki looked all of a sudden,"The hell's your fucking problem?!?Did I knock something even more loose?!?"
Todoroki raised an eyebrow,"Do you want me to fight back?"
"I want to know what your fucking deal was, you dumbass!!"
Todoroki understood immediately. Bakugou was still in the dark as to why he'd been punched to begin with. As he thought of how to explain and diffuse the situation, a certain part of that night came rushing back.
You'd told Todoroki to not worry about Bakugou's treatment of you despite the bruising you'd come home with. Not to mention the pictures Mina had sent to everyone later that night, in which he was straddling you into a couch, hands wrapped around your neck.
His eyes turned vacant,"You've boasted about becoming number one from the beginning but it was your loss to the League of Villains that led to the world losing its number one hero."
Bakugou's angry composure was replaced with one of pure shock, his eyes wide at the sudden accusation. Todoroki continued,"I wasn't letting you repeat your mistake if the new victim of it was (Name)."
The blond's grip on Todoroki's collar lessened as his eyes spaced out, images of that night flashing before him--from the moment he was dragged into the portal to the moment All Might's true form was revealed to the world. Because of him.
When he spaced back in, he was seething. The grip came back at full force as Bakugou brought Todoroki closer to his face, voice low and dangerous,"You don't know shit about All Might if you're pinning that on me."
Bakugou paused shortly, a realization visibly taking place through his face, and he furrowed his brows in confusion,"And since when has your anti-social fuckface given enough of a damn about (Name) to have her live at your house?"
Todoroki didn't like the sound of your name coming from Bakugou. It was too good for someone like him to defile it,"Mind your business."
"That's fucking rich", Bakugou growled,"It became by business when yo-"
The aggressive blond grew quiet out of nowhere, confusing even Todoroki. Bakugou's expression of shock from before didn't stand a match with whatever was clicking in his head now.
Crimson eyes slowly met a set of bi-colored eyes, narrowing in a threatening manner. His hands were letting out wisps that Todoroki didn't know whether were conscious or not. Regardless, his face stayed blank at the sight and feeling that would terrify anyone else. He didn't point out the burning of his shirt.
"Icy-hot", his voice came out a low rumble,"You're not that fucking stupid. Don't you dare say you're into (Name)-"
"Stop saying her name."
Bakugou's mouth fell open for a few seconds. An apathetic scoff left him.
"No way. You're so fucked",a mocking laugh left him,"You like her five years after shutting her down. That's hilarious."
Todoroki's patience was slowly running thin but he knew that for some reason or the other, you still felt guilty about what went down last time the three of you were together. So for you, he stayed quiet and held out with listening to the taunts for a little longer.
"Ya' mute now?", Bakugou growled,"Or don't wanna admit how hopeless your situation is?"
The biggest question that roamed Todoroki's mind: Why did Bakugou care so much whether he had feelings for you or not? The question must've been visible through his face. Bakugou sneered.
"Listen here, half-and-half. That loser weaseled her way into me giving a shit about her. I was the one who comforted her when she got all annoying and sad about you after you rejected her. I was shit at it, but I tried my best. Now you like her? Fuck off. You didn't learn to appreciate her until she learned she deserved better. Good for her, the dumbass grew a brain. You lost yours."
Bakugou brought Todoroki's face closer to his again,"The best your shitty deprived self can do now is lash out when you feel threatened. If I have a fucking say in it, I'm not letting her even stay with you anymore. Let those idiot feelings curl up and die, half-and-half, because you won't do shit with them as long as I'm here."
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Written 1/7/2023
Published 1/9/2023