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Dabi felt what was left of his heart shatter at the sound of the quiet plea.

The words bring to mind so many memories he would rather forget entirely. Memories of experiences both him and his siblings had to endure, but now's not the time for that. He needed to focus on the boy currently hiding in the closet.

"Kid, I swear to you, no one will harm you here. You're safe, I promise" the villain said with a softness in his voice he hadn't heard since he was very young.

"W-Who are you? W-Where am I? Why c-cant I remember an-anything" The kid stumbled, holding back obvious tears.

"Listen Little Owl, I will do my best to answer every question you have, but I need you to breathe for me first. Can you do that?" Dabi asked against the door.

"I-I don-, b-but I, how!" The boy stuttered, his breath heaving.

"Oh geez" Dabi muttered under his breath, this close to banging his head on the door.

"Don't be afraid, alright. I'm going to open the door so I can help you"

"No! No, please! I promise to be good! I'll stay quiet, I swear!" The kid cried, sounding hysterical.

"Shit" Dabi breathed, what should he do now? He thought for a quick moment, listening to the harsh sounds of the boy breathing and the soft bump of his wings against the walls.

Finally, Dabi knelt down.

"Kid, listen to me. I need you to breathe. Slowly, alright? In... and out..." Dabi said as gently as he could through his own budding panic. Dabi breathed loudly for the boy in the closet, trying to guide the kid as he worked on breathing, queuing each breath.

Finally the room fell into a peaceful silence, both their breaths had evened out, the faint sniffles had stopped, the boy's wings seemed to have stilled. Dabi wondered if the kid had fallen asleep there.

Sitting with his back against the closet door, Dabi sighed. He thought about calling out to the kid to see if he was awake but thought better of it. It was probably better to let the kid be for a minute, let him recalibrate and feel safe in his surroundings.

Shifting to take his phone out his back pocket, Dabi put in his password only to stare at his home screen.

It was a snapshot picture of Keigo he took a couple of months ago. The hero had been on patrol at the time, not even aware that Dabi was watching him from a convenience store across the street.

Dabi smiled looking at the goofy picture. Hawks was perched on top of a wooden telephone pole, in full hear gear, staring at an actual hawk from across the telephone line on the other pole.

At the time, the two birds had stared at each other for a good 15 minutes before Hawks' phone went off with an emergency alert, scaring off the other bird. Dabi remembered Keigo looking so disappointed as the bird flew away.

Dabi briefly wondered if the two had a secret conversion or something.

Dropping his hands (and by extension his phone) into his lap, Dabi wondered what he should do.

He briefly wondered if he should call Hawks and let him know what happened. No, he didn't think he would. If he told Keigo the hero would insist on coming home early and in the event he couldn't, the information would be on his mind all day and end up distracting him.

Dabi put his ear up against the door, listening for any signs of life.

Very carefully reaching up, the villain grabbed ahold of the handle and began to turn it, pausing every quarter turn just in case the kid started to panic again. Not hearing any reactions, Dabi continued until the door was open.

You've reached the end of published parts.

⏰ Last updated: Mar 28, 2022 ⏰

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