Crimson Eyes

Chapter 19

"Hey kid, long time no see."

I said nothing as Eijirou hopped down from his truck, coming to stand between Ashido and me. "You know him?" he asked me, not Dabi.

Dabi almost doubled over in laughter. "Found a whole new gang of misfits, huh? Oh god, that's hilarious. Holy shit." He actually had to wipe tears away from how hard he was laughing.

I still had no idea what to say. I wasn't sure if I even possessed the ability to talk anymore. Dabi was standing in front of me. A little voice in the back of my head couldn't help but ask if Toga was around as well.

"Iz?" Eijirou prodded gently.

I rapidly blinked, looking up at the redhead next to me. "Uh, I... yeah."

"Don't worry, pipsqueak. I'm staying as far from Shigaraki as possible to, you got nothing to worry about," Dabi said, taking a moment to catch his breath, a few chuckles still escaping.

"Shigaraki?" Eijirou asked, his hand suddenly grabbing my arm. The name was enough for the rest of the group to drop what they were doing and pay close attention to the interaction.

Dabi looked between all of them before settling back on me. "Do they even know?"

I nodded once, tracking his every movement with my eyes. "Dabi was Shigaraki's best friend. He's actually how I met him."

Eijirou subtly positioned himself in front of me.

"Hey now," Dabi put his hands up. "Best friends is pushing it. Business partners is a better term. Besides, I haven't talked to him since he got put away and have no interest in reaching out."

No one seemed ready to believe him, to the point that even Bakugou hopped down from the bed of the truck and walked up to the other side of me.

Dabi sighed at the display. "You just had to go and mess around with my free live music, huh?" he asked me. When I didn't reply to his attempt at a joke, he spoke again. "Toga's inside, I can go-"

I was flying past him and through the opened side door in a second, hearing his laughter ring out behind me. I realized my mistake when I had no idea where to go from there. I reluctantly walked back out, avoiding the wide and questioning gazes of my friends. "I don't know where to go."

He shook his head, an amused smile on his lips. He pulled out his phone, clicked a few times, and held it to his ear. After a few moments, he said "Izuchan's out in the alley."

There was a scream from inside that we could all hear, even over the blaring music. In about thirty seconds I was tackled, only avoiding landing on the group when Bakugou caught me. And subsequently, the girl who was wrapped around me.

"Izuchan! What're you doing here? I missed you so much!"Himiko exclaimed.

Bakugou moved to push her off me but must have noticed I was hugging her back. "Missed you too, Himi."

"I tried calling and texting! Why didn't you respond?" she hadn't let go of me yet and I had expected it.

"My mom switched my number, I was able to get it to Uraraka, but I guess she never gave it to you," I admitted, letting my cheek rest on the top of her head.

"That bitch," she snarled under her breath. I ignored it.

"What're you doing here? With Dabi?" I asked, squeezing her a little tighter. I guess my big brother instincts kicked in.

"I ran away again, Dabi offered to give me a lift when he left for here, and I didn't have anywhere to go, so I was just crashing in the upstairs apartment." Her voice was quiet since she knew I was going to be mad.