𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 (𝐃𝐚𝐛𝐢 𝐱 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫)

20

Dabi's POV:

The glowing lights of the setting sun brought strips of gold across the tiled living room floors. Dabi checked the clock hanging on the opposite wall. Over six hours had passed since you'd disappeared into your room, and you hadn't come out since. 

Within that same time, Dabi had continued to berate himself for the fact that he'd fallen into the hero's trap so easily. It was supposed to have been a quick plan to carry out. He and the clones created by one of the League's members were supposed to show up, cause enough of a scene to showcase Endeavor's lack of strength, and leave before any real fighting could ensue.

They'd expected him, though, and the plan had gone so wrong that Dabi wasn't sure he'd be able to face the other members of the League. The idea had come from him, and Shigaraki had warned him that there were doubts, but Dabi had dismissed them. And he'd almost ended up dead because of it.

He'd been prepared to die, at least he could have done it in a way that would have taken Endeavor out alongside him, but the moment he'd seen the glint shining off of the blade that had been thrown from the shadows, fear had penetrated him so deeply that it felt as though he'd been the one impaled by the knife.

You weren't supposed to be there. You were supposed to have been at the commission where the battle wouldn't have gotten close enough to harm you. And in no way would he have expected you to come to him, especially not after the way he'd left things between the two of you.

Even in his pain-muddled haze, he saw the knee-wobbling relief that had flashed across your face upon finding him in the alley after the blast. Even as the cries of the innocent tainted the air behind you. He'd hated that look, couldn't stand the horror and pain that stood behind it either.

He'd wanted to scream, to force the expression off. "Do you finally see?" He should have shouted. "I'm a monster, a harbinger of death. This is what my life has come to!" But he'd been too weak to form the words.

Even if he'd managed to speak, it wouldn't have changed anything. Whether you saw him as a monster, friend, partner, or whatever. It wouldn't make you any less determined to accomplish the goal given to you by your friend. Nothing would stop you from keeping him alive as long as he was necessary to you. Regardless of any other feelings that had developed, that motivation remained at the core of your relationship.

The events that unfolded after you'd found him were blurry. He remembered small details, but he'd only been half-conscious for most of the time up until you'd brought him back here. Once the bleeding had stopped, he'd slowly come back to himself. His first clear memory afterward was the feeling of your body shaking against his as you'd held his head back and massaged his scalp. The cold water had felt glorious to him.

But then he'd been able to stand, and when he'd gone to look in the mirror he'd been thrown into an image from the past. It had taken a long moment before he'd remembered that your friend... Aya was her name, had done something to change the color of his hair. She couldn't have known what the red would symbolize, but he did, and from the recognition that had flashed in your eyes whenever you'd brought his duffel bag into the bathroom, he was beginning to think that you did too. 

But at the moment, Dabi hadn't been able to focus on that revelation much. He was more focused on the bag you were holding and what could have happened if you'd opened it without his knowledge. Judging from the fact that you were still acting somewhat normal, it was safe to assume you hadn't seen the item he'd been meaning to get rid of for a while now. He'd kept the bag in your friends room because he knew that you were still at odds with your grief and hadn't quite garnered the strength to go inside. Why you'd been able to do it for him was a mystery, but now that he knew it could happen, he needed to locate the item elsewhere.