Watch Closely (Dabi x Male OC)

19: What's Next

Tomoya's breathing was heavy as he skidded around the corner. He should have taken his socks off, but he didn't have time to now. 

Looking left to right he saw two identical hallways stretch out on either side. It was a toss up either way. He didn't know what floor he was on, or if there was an open room on one side he could hide in, so he ran left. It could go either way. He didn't even know how many floors there were in this place total, he'd never been in a house this large before. 

As he sprinted down the hallway, the footsteps following him neared. His hesitation had lost him time. Fuck. The steady sound of someone else's footsteps echoing through the massive house made Tomoya's heart pound rapidly. 

As he reached the end of the hallway he saw a staircase. Perfect. Quietly, he climbed it, hoping his pursuer wouldn't follow. 

Going up another set of stairs would either trap him or save him, depending on how well he hid himself. 

Once he reached the top of the stairs, Tomoya didn't stop. Hesitation had nearly gotten him caught before. His chest was heaving, but all thoughts of how tired he was were pushed away by the adrenaline. The bitter taste in his mouth was a testament to that. 

God how could he have been so fucking stupid? He should have seen this coming. 

'I'm dying' He thought, 'I'm dying I'm dying I'm dying'. He realized he could see the other end of the hall, where another staircase down was. This was the end of the line. He picked a random door and prayed it could be locked. It was hard to open the door with his hands cuffed in front of him, even harder to close it silently. There was no lock. 

Tomoya remembered hearing in a tv show once that the most silent way to breathe was slowly through your mouth, so he tried his best to keep his breath low and slow. 

"Hajime?" A voice asked. Tomoya froze, his eyes widening with fear and his heart speeding up, making his gulps of air feel like they weren't enough. "Where are you hiding pretty?". 

He heard the man following him start opening doors. Left side of the hall, right side of the hall, left side of the hall, right side of the hall. And second he could open the door to the guest bedroom Tomoya in. He should hide. Get in the closet, under the bed, do something. But he couldn't move. 

He heard the man stop outside the door he was behind and the world went dark. The inky blackness made him feel suffocated, he was gasping for breath through sobs and no matter what direction he looked in he could only see blackness. 

Tomoya felt something touch his face and suddenly he shot up into a sitting position. 

Gasping for breath, he looked at his surroundings. His bedroom. He was in his bedroom. In his apartment. In Musutafu. 

Relief and nausea washed over him at the exact same time and Tomoya scrambled to the toilet, emptying the contents of his stomach immediately. 

Still heaving for air, he sat back against the bathroom wall. He needed to fix his head, clear it, and recalculate. 

The reoccurring nightmare was probably the combined stress from seeing Rei again and learning Dabi's true identity. How had he allowed the villain to take up so much of his brain? 

Pushing his bangs out of his face, he realized he had a busy day ahead of him. He had another target and a pharmaceuticals test. He needed to get dressed, pack a change of clothes and figure out where he was gonna ditch his phone. He didn't have time to drop it off at home midday. 

But what he'd really like to figure out is where his composure had gone. 

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