Part 11
She had known what it meant for the noise to occur for a long time. That if it was a loud slam followed by a voice that was not her mother... that she needed to stop whatever she was doing and hide.
And so, despite the homework, she was trying to complete for her teacher... the letters of her name could wait until this moment passed. And thus, grabbing the worn-out stuffed animal and shoving her items into a random drawer, the small female made a run for the one place he would not find her.
The sounds of the front door slamming and his thundering footsteps was enough for her to know who had arrived back home. The crusty apartment fell into a deep silence, aside from his footsteps as he came up the hallway.
The small girl wasted no time quickly dashing into the small closest her mother and her shared. Taking the small little bear with her, and shutting the door as quietly as she could. Her hands clasping the bear as she shook in fear. Her lips forced shut as she tried not to mutter a sound that would give her away
His steps arrived in the room, looking around. She could hear him coming closer, muttering words she didn't understand yet under his breath. Her teeth sinking into her lips to hush her further and her shaking body now frozen in fear.
"Hey brat... where are you hiding?" He called out, pausing in front of the closest door. "Don't you want to say hello to your father?"
The dark haired female sucked in a quiet breath as the doors to the closest were thrown open. The wooden doors hitting the already breaking wall with a thud, sending more pieces of chipping paint onto the stained floor.
The man peered inside, looking at the clothing, hangers, and boxes that laid in the closet. But among them, he saw no small child or anywhere she could be hiding in the small space. Growling, he closed the closet door once more and shuffled away.
The sounds of his wife having come home from her second job alerted him to the fact that his other family member wasn't hiding. She had seen him come in as she walked up, and when he turned to give her that smug face of his, he could see the fear on her face.
The fear of what he might do to the child who was inside. The fear of what he might do to her. The fear of what he was home this time for. The fear of him.
It was what always brought him back home.
"What are you doing here?" Her mother tried to ask calmly, a false tone of happiness in her voice as her husband comes near.
"The mission ended pretty early... so I thought I'd surprise my wife and that kid you had. Where is she anyway... last time I saw her she apparently got her quirk, right?"
His footsteps creaked away from the room she was hiding in. Going towards the older woman who was still standing in front of the open front door. An out and an escape he wasn't too keen on leaving open.
He stalked up towards him, looking at the once carefree and porcelain-like woman. In the next moment he roughly grabbed her, slamming the door shut as the screaming began.
"Where is she?!" He screamed.
"F-Fuyu is playing with friends from pre-school!" Her mother called, choking on her words already.
"Who would want to be friends with your useless daughter?" He yelled again.
"Stop it! Let me go!" She yelled back, her bravery still present.
"Shut up!" He yelled, the sounds of something hitting something else sounding. "You're lucky I don't leave you the same way I leave anyone else who pisses me off!"
Her mother's soft crying could be heard as he staggered back and forth more. The sounds of cabinets opening and closing. Something being shoved aside and then his empty cackle filling every inch of the home.
"Ha... thought you could hide it from me, huh?" He spoke, walking towards where she had assumed the front door would be.
"P-please don't take it... its all we have for food and necessities this month." Her mother begged, voice broken and no doubt on the floor begging him.
He snorted, the rattling of the front door is the only other noise loud enough for her to hear. Her mother had lost the ability to give off those painful wails long ago. And even now, her own tears would pour without her knowing.
A lost of emotion and the ability to recognize how she was feeling... and only at the small age of five. The only one in this world she could rely on being the small bear in her hands. Her mother... tried her best. But despite constantly trying to escape him... he always found his way back to them, and her mother was slowly losing her grip on reality.
"Guess you'll need to get another job in order to keep up then." He spoke as he slammed the door shut. His footsteps gone, but the prints he left heavy and overbearing on the small and grimy apartment.
"No please... God no more. I'm already so tired... I can't do anymore." Her mother whined voice muffled from whereever she was bent over on herself in the room.
The small girl remained buried deep in the closet behind the boxes she set up as a secret fort. A fort that kept them all out aside from her and her only friend. Here she could hide away from the entire world.
It was her safe place. And as long as she had a safe place... she could make it.
The image of the small and dark space started to flicker out in the next moment... a scene from before, but not her own appearing in front of her eyes. Blue flames dancing around the perimeter of the scene.
Her own younger self positioned as an observer for this place as she gazed at the man with the flaming beard point towards the other small child. The words that had been ingrained into her head for the longest time coming back again...
"Rise to your feet." The father demanded, voice deadly and frustrated. "No child of mine should be this weak."
The boy cried harder, shaking his head and mumbling incoherent things between the tears. The father merely shook his head in a disapproving way, not liking how his own flesh and blood was acting in such a cowardly way.
"S-stop! I don't wanna be a hero anymore!" He cried, tears and snot coming from his face and dripping onto the small boy's clothing. "Where's mom? I want mom!"
"You are not leaving until you do what I want you to do." The father spoke. "And you are going to be a hero..."
The little girl couldn't take it any longer, her own bruises and cuts making her know of the pain this other child was in. And thus, without thinking, she ran forward towards where the pair stood. Her eyes burning with tears of fear, but her chest full of the passion to save.
If she could only reach the boy... before the flames or his father did... then maybe she had a chance. A chance for him to close his eyes and rest... a chance to find a safe space of his own, away from the real-life demons that haunted him.
Her feet were not fast enough though. Her own voice crying out as both the blue flames reached the scene in front of her and as the father's fist came forward. It was only as the scene around her started to disintegrate into ashes and dust that she was sure someone was holding her tightly.
But even so... the vision she had and her own memories were no longer present. And all that was left was an empty void. No light came this time and not even a sound. Only a space that was cold, empty and alone.
And to Fuyu... this was not how she pictured her safe space.
~~~~~
Her eyes shot open in terror, looking around frantically for the man who haunted her dreams. Around the hero seemed to be nothing and empty concrete building, only the dull lighting from the stained glass allowed her to gaze further.
He wasn't here. It was just a dream. Her mother was fine. She was fine. He was long gone and buried somewhere deep behind bars. And while his terror had long been over, it was always during of moments of great stress that the female seemed to dream of a time before.
A time she always found herself wishing would hurry and become a buried memory.
As Fuyu looked around more and more, she started to notice more distinct features of this place. Rows upon rows of empty seats, and alter, several written pieces of scripture and Bibles laying about. It appeared she was in a church of sorts, one of high quality since the large windows were that of stained glass.
Fuyu took in several deep breaths, calming herself down as she looked out once more. And for the first time, the noises of the world outside seemed to have hit her. The sounds of banging, explosions, screaming and yelling. It all alerted her of what had happened before and how exactly she found herself here.
She was sure someone had come in at the last second and gotten her away from that manic villain. But as her mind started to clear away the fog, she started to become more and more unsettled.
Her mind told her or rather reminded her of that one person who had actually come to her rescue and must have also brought her here. And as she was sure of her memory, the confirmation came quickly as one of the back doors opened to reveal the man in question.
Dabi looked over, seeing as the sleeping hero he had placed under one of the stain glass windows had woken up. Her eyes were wide, and she looked to be in pain, no doubt from that wound on her shoulder.
He came over slowly, making sure to not drop any of the items he was carrying in his arms as he did so. He paused before Fuyu, not speaking a word as he started to place the items he found in the emergency and storage rooms down before her.
His jacket came next, and he placed it among the items as well. Boxes of food, some medicine, a blanket, and a small radio. Fuyu watched as he started to work, not speaking a single word to her as he did so.
The dark haired male only really paid attention to her when he asked her to move so he could wrap her up and support her body a bit more with his jacket. Weaving and tying it in a way to make sure her arm was not in a strange position. Fuyu was speechless as he did so, wondering herself if she was still dreaming.
Dabi prepared some light snacks for them, seeing as he didn't want to take much from the church's donations to the children who needed it more than he did. But even so, having food in both of his and Fuyu's stomachs would help the pain medicine work faster.
And thus, he pushed Fuyu's share and two pills to her. A bottle of water being placed by her as well. She rose a brow at him, as she observed Dabi eat his own share of cheese, crackers, and an apple.
"The church takes in kids who run away from home. The room in the back has donations for food and emergency supplies... since most of the kids who come here came from abusive families." He told her, eyes flashing in what looked to be remorseful nostalgia.
"You came here... didn't you?" Fuyu asked, the fight in her not currently present, and thus all she wanted to do was eat and fight the pain in her shoulder.
"Yeah... until I was old enough to actually find food and money myself." he shrugged. "That's why I don't attack churches or people who are actually making a difference to those who were beaten by this society."
Fuyu only nodded, a silence coming over the two. Something in the air was different... and maybe it was the exhaustion and the injuries both had... but Fuyu knew that with every addition to Dabi's tale, she found it harder to keep seeing him as she was supposed to.
She attempted to move after she had finished eating, her shoulder still shooting long amount of sharp pain through her form. Dabi seemed to take notice of her ailment, and with a sigh, he rose from where he had been sitting across from the hero and came to her side.
"Stand still." instructed her, lifting her attire enough to get a good look at the wound.
The next thirty minutes were spent in agony for the female, as her wound was cleaned and wrapped by some gauze. The male who had suddenly gone from villain to nurse made sure to be extra careful as he touched the bloody wound.
As time ticked by, a silence fell onto the pair once more. Fuyu's cries on pain only being hushed by Dabi when he would roughly tell her to bear with it for a few more minutes. And as he did so, she could at least feel her body reacting well to the treatment, and the fresh bandage on her bloody shoulder.
And then finally... Dabi was done. And Fuyu could once more make out her pale skin from the blood that had once clung to it like she had crimson red skin rather than the porcelain one she had.
Her eyes met Dabi's once more as he moved away from her and looked down at her. Her eyes telling him a silent thank you. And while it was clear he didn't understand her silent words or what her eyes were trying to tell him, she did know he seemed pleased with himself at this moment.
As to why... she wasn't sure. But Fuyu hoped... that he wouldn't try to turn the tables on her. Not when she had no fight left in her, and her heart was doing flips from the latest interaction with the male. Dabi's voice drew her from her thoughts, and so she looked at him with a look of patience, wanting to know what he would be speaking of next.
"There we go." He spoke to her, moving away and wiping the blood from his hands onto his already grimy pants. "That should hold you until you can go and see an actual doctor."
Fuyu nodded, looking at the villain who had once more gone against her own ideas of him. He was injured himself from his own battles and it also looked like he would need to see a doctor himself.
She shifted slightly, trying to find a way to sit and not further put a strain on her shoulder. Her eyes narrowing in pain as she adjusted to be able to face the male who was standing before her still. The dim lighting from the outside world making the stained glass cast a colorful gleam to Dabi.
Reds, yellows, greens, blues, and purples decorated him, the male looking to be lighting up by the hands of some outside and much more powerful being then by just a simple light coming through the glass. Fuyu couldn't help but watch on, feeling as if her savior was reflecting on the lights of purity.
She knew better though. And even in this instant, she knew not to trust him completely. He still had that flash drive with all the information and two more from other hero agencies. Despite his single good deed of making sure Spinner had no tortured her to death... Dabi had still gone ahead and made sure he accomplished his own goal before coming to her aid.
She was nothing more then a side thought when it came to the big picture it appeared. His own goal was more important... but for some odd reason, she was as well to him. Not as important, but still enough for him to actually act out of the norm she had placed on him.
"Why do you keep doing this?" Fuyu asked him, looking towards the dark-haired male with her eyes seeming to beg him for an answer. "I-I keep trying to make sense of it and figure out a reason why you would keep coming back... but every reason I have is canceled out now."
Dabi glanced at her, his eyes seeming to at least understand where she was coming from and that the female was quite confused as to his actions. He was as well though, constantly trying to figure out why he kept doing what he did and why he acted with such impulsive behavior when it came to the rescue hero.
Dabi sighed, running a hand through his locks as he glanced down at the girl with something buried in his orbs. And odd curiosity as to what he thought it might be. Something he had a feeling might have been it... but without actually testing it himself, he had no way of knowing if his feelings were truly that.
"I can't say for certain at this moment why I keep coming and finding you. Or getting you out of trouble... or even helping you when you so clearly can't help yourself any longer." He paused, looking at her directly in the eyes, the contact unbreakable at this moment. "Nor can I understand some of the things you've done. Why you allowed me to tell my story, offered a hand to me, and even allowed me in your home when it had been made clear that I'm not a good person."
He kneeled down once more, looking towards Fuyu as the curiosity in his eyes seemed to have sparked a desire to search out what the gleam seemed to observe. His fingers reaching out and entangling themselves in her long hair.
"But... I have an idea of how we can both find out." His voice was hushed, looking at the hero with such an intense, but authentic expression that Fuyu could only nod slowly.
She wasn't sure how he was supposed to figure out why he acted this way towards her with only a single way, but then again... she had been surprised by him often. And so now... seeing as she had stopped bleeding, was safely tucked away inside a church and away from the madness outside and even comfortable with the black jacket that was tucked behind her back... Fuyu told herself she would at least see this strange and possibly unorthodox method through.
It was clear both she and Dabi were done not knowing why each acted differently around the other compared to everyone else. And now... the truth seemed to be just on the horizon. After all, with both calm and in their own little world, it seemed like the best way to figure things out.
"Here." Dabi sighed, shaking his head as he pushed one of the USBs into her hand. "I'm betting Spinner is going to say he inhaled too much smoke and lost track of it... but don't expect me to protect your stupid agency's ass next time."
Fuyu nodded slowly as Dabi cleared his throat. Her hand moving to tuck away the USB drive in the pocket of her jeans. She also now had a method of lying and saying where she was when everyone else was out fighting.
She runs it through her head once, seeing as the excuse of how she managed to take the USB back, only to be injured made sense as to why she was hiding in a church. Her stomach churned with the thought that her lies would continue... but currently, her own mental and emotional well being was much more important than whatever her bosses could tell her. She had to figure this feeling out... because if she didn't she knew it would continue to hinder her.
And now, seeing as the formalities and pleasantries were finally out of the way, she knew it was time for her to get her answer. Dabi seemed ready for it as well, seeing as he was getting more comfortable in front of her. His body heat increasing enough for her to take notice, though it was still rather comfortable to be in.
"And how exactly are you planning on figuring out why we keep treating each other differently than the rest?" She finally asked him, and obvious disbelief still lingering in her voice.
"Like this." Dabi spoke, moving forward as Fuyu had finished her thought.
Her lips were still slightly parted, making way for him to easily invade her pink lips with his own. Fuyu's breath stopped, her eyes widening as Dabi's own pair shut as he continued his actions. His pair moving against hers with a feeling of expertise.
It was obvious he had stolen these from unsuspecting people as well through the years, his list of petty offensives growing it appeared. Her shock was still quite powerful, making the girl hardly realize her head was being gently tilted, or that she had allowed for her lips to part of her own accord.
Her body was acting on it's on autopilot right now it appeared. The girl not knowing how or why she was acting his way. She would have assumed she would have pushed away, that she would have bitten his tongue when it entered her mouth.
But as she slowly started to reciprocate his feelings and movements, the dark-haired hero realized that she was enjoying this. Her body and the back of her mind feeling a sense of relief as it occurred as if she had subconsciously been waiting for this.
The kiss continued for a few more moments, her shock allowing the male to have full control and dominance over the entire situation. And now as he slowly started to pull away and break anything that had previously been holding him and her together, Fuyu couldn't help but feel a warmth from within her core.
Dabi opened his eyes once more, those gleaming cerulean hues having come to their conclusion. And then indulged in the conclusion he had come to, especially after the hero herself had shown just as much understanding on the situation as he had.
He cleared his throat, making Fuyu look at him once more. Her eyes were wide, and her mind was running a million miles a minute, Dabi could tell that much. Unlike her, he was calm, having finally figured out and understood what had been bothering him and making him act this way towards her.
A simple kiss seemed to have found more answers then he had even thought it would, as well as restore any lost stamina he had from this eventful day. And now as his fingers started to detach from her hair and look at Fuyu with a newfound emotion in his eyes... he knew she could feel and see it as well.
"Well..." He began, chuckling to himself as a smile of sorts came onto his features. "I think we figured some things out..."
And while the answers had finally come as to why he was always near and thinking of the hero girl who seemed to be in the same situation as he... this under no circumstance made things any better for either of them.
If anything... their lives and relationship to one another had become that much more complicated. And now... it was a question of how and if they should even move forward from here.