𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 (𝐃𝐚𝐛𝐢 𝐱 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫)

13

The news report continued to play in the background, flashing images of the destroyed area and clips of people being loaded into ambulances. The reporter continued to speak, but his voice had become a soft buzz underneath the volume of your thoughts. 

The people responsible for the attack were after you. People had been hurt, someone had died simply because you'd interacted with them.  

Dabi had turned away, staring thoughtfully at the screen. He didn't look the least bit surprised, and the way he'd spoken a moment ago had been matter-of-factly. He'd been expecting something like this.

"They're after me because of her, right? Because of my connection to Ami, they think that I have the same information that she did." You looked away from the TV, desperately trying to erase the footage from your brain.

"Probably," he responded. "This was likely the reason why she asked me to watch over you. In the case of her death, you would be left as one of the only people with access to her research." With a final glance at the screen, he turned to face you. "She does have a brother, but a five-minute scroll through on social media will tell you that the two of them hadn't spoken in years. Of course, she also had allies within her vigilante group, but since there hasn't been any trace of them since the night she was attacked, it's safe to assume that they were killed as well. At the moment, it looks like you're the only lead these people have."

You shook your head. "That doesn't make sense, though. If she was so important to them, why would they kill her? The smarter move would've been to keep her alive and try to force the information out of her." As soon as the words left your mouth, you knew that it was a stupid thing to say. Ami wouldn't have let any of those people take her alive.

"From what I've seen, this group has no issue with killing their targets if they've decided that they won't be getting any information out of them."

"Oh my god," you stood up, a fresh spike of fear piercing through your chest. "My mom, Aya, even Hawks. If they're going after people I've been around then all of them could be a target." There was small comfort in the fact that your mother was a plane ride away, but Aya was here in the city, and she didn't have any way to defend herself. Hawks was the number-two hero, you weren't overly worried about him, but even so...

"Yes, it does put them at risk."

"Shit," scrolling through your phone, you realized that you hadn't even thought to get Aya's phone number. "They could have seen us at the bar together. What if they followed her home? What if they- fuck!" Your phone fell from your shaking hands and landed roughly on the ground.

"Stop," Dabi's hands wrapped around your wrists before you could pick the device up. "The dramatics aren't going to change anything. Right now, we need to come up with a plan."

His nonchalant attitude grew more and more angering by the minute. "Dramatics?" You yanked yourself from his grip, wincing as pain exploded in your arm. "Someone just died, and more are probably going to follow, all because a random group of people is hunting me down to get information that I don't have! I don't know where to find some mystical weapon, and I don't know why Ami would ever think it was a good idea to leave me with such an impossible goal! I'm stuck, I have no idea what to do. So, forgive me if I'm feeling a little dramatic right now."

Dabi waited a few seconds before speaking again as if he was waiting to make sure you were finished. "You're angry, and you have every right to feel that way, I never said you didn't. I just said that freaking out about it now isn't going to change anything. You're worried about your friend, I understand that. So, we need to figure something out before they get hurt." He leaned forward, "use that anger of yours. Keep it pushed aside until you get your hands on one of them."