Kintsugi

If I See Your Face, Don't Think I'm Forgiving

Riko

I was scrambling to get away from the hand that was suddenly grabbing at me from the passenger side window one second, and then alone in the car the next. There was an audible "oomph" and Yuuji disappeared from sight. As I sat there, utterly confused, there was slight dragging noise, followed by a hard thump that made my car shake. I did what you should never do, and opened my car door to get out and see what happened. I blame the tequila.

For a moment, I thought I was hallucinating until I heard Yuuji's strangled gurgle and the thumps of his shoes against the side of my car. There was a tall man holding him up off the ground by the throat. I couldn't see him well, but he had jet black hair and what looked like some pretty horrific scars on his face. As I rounded the back of the car, a blue glow began to emanate from the man's free hand and I froze in place. He's a quirk user.

"I don't know what you think you're doing, and honestly, I don't care, but you did just give me an excuse to charcoal your dumb ass." The tall man said with a tone that almost sounded like he was having fun. The blue glow in his hand burst into bright bluish-white flames and Yuuji's eyes went as wide as dinner plates. I could see the tall man grinning now, corners of his mouth tugging at staples in his cheek that appeared to be holding the scarred skin to the healthy parts, like a graft.

As Yuuji squirmed, his grin grew, but he didn't raise the flames to him. "What do you want me to do with him, sweetheart?" the tall man asked. His voice was almost as deep as Shota's and it threw me. It didn't click that he was talking to me until after a moment he turned to me and cocked his head to the side a little. He had the brightest blue eyes I'd ever seen, even more so than my own.

"Oh...uh...um..." I stumbled, beyond flustered.

"Put him down Dabi." A voice came from behind me, one that I knew. I whipped around to see Keigo landing and walking up to us. I looked back at the tall man, whose name I guess was Dabi, and the smile left his face. His eyes went flat and the flame vanished from his free hand. He turned back to Yuuji, pulling him off the car and holding him closer to his face, still a few inches off the ground. Yuuji's feet kicked wildly, but the man didn't seem bothered in the least. His strength was absurd.

"I'm not a nice person. If I ever see your face again, I don't care if the chicken is here or not, I'll turn you to ash." The tall man growled at Yuuji with a sneer that was absolutely terrifying. I heard Yuuji choke a little as Dabi squeezed his hand tighter for just a moment before dropping him in a heap on the ground. "All yours, chicken wing." He said as he turned and stepped towards me, leaving Yuuji coughing and spitting on the ground without a second thought.

I reactively stepped back a little and he stopped where he was. "I'm not gonna hurt you. I just saved you for fuck's sake, I just wanted to see if you were ok." He said, a mixture of anger and hurt in his voice.

"I-I'm sorry, I was just surprised. I swear." I replied. "Thank you," I said with a deep bow, "thank you for saving me. I'm in your debt." The words came out a little squeaky and rushed as the adrenaline caught up to me and my heart tried to beat its way out of my chest all of a sudden.

"Oh...uh...you're welcome." the man answered in a quiet voice. He sounded confused as if he hadn't really expected the praise, so I stood back up and looked up at him. He was probably as tall as Shota, but much thinner. The scars covered the lower half of his face and under his eyes, turning his complexion an almost purplish color where the skin was marred. He dropped his head as I looked up at him, obviously self-conscience of his appearance.

"Sachamura Riko," I said, stepping closer to him, "thank you, again." I stuck my hand out for him shake, not knowing what else to do. To say I was flustered would be an understatement. It was a very American thing to do, and he just kind of looked at it for a minute, before cautiously taking it. As I shook his hand, he looked up at me, visibly confused.