A Song to Come Home to

Chapter Twenty-Four

A fire roars between the two men. There is not a word uttered as the fire crackles and pops, filling the choking silence. Dabi doesn't even spare the man a glance and instead thrusts his hand into the heart of the fire and turns over a charred log. He watches idly as sparks fly and dance upwards to the night sky.

Dabi doesn't need to look up from the fire to know that the man across from him is staring at him. Dabi hates it. He hates how after everything, he's still transparent enough for the man to see right through him. Hawks or Keigo- whichever he wants to parade around as, both of them possess the ability to pierce right through his soul and it pisses him off.

"Always meddling, huh?" Dabi mumbles under his breath, his hand tightens around the log and the charred remains begin to buckle and crumble under his fingers. Finally, he glances up with a wry grin. "Is it because you can't help yourself? Because you're pathetic?" Dabi's smile grows at Hawks' sullen silence. Dabi watches as Hawks tenderly touches a rather nasty looking burn stretching over the left side of his face. His eye is swollen shut and there's almost a steady stream of tears, there's not any room for doubt that his fire had stolen Hawks' sight from that eye.

"Or is it because you're so incredibly lonely and you're eager for even the smallest amount of praise?" Dabi chuckles dryly. "To think after all this time, you're nothing more than a kicked dog, Hawks."

"Stop." Comes the pained reply. Dabi simply blinks, watching the man carefully. Sorrowful gold stares at him from across the fire. In that split second, Dabi can see that the man who once was Hawks had crumbled much like the log. What's left is the raw remnants of a man being pushed past the brink of his own capabilities. Hawks suddenly falls backwards, his good eye is wide with remorse and hurt.

"Don't talk to me like this. Don't you dare think that it's been easy for me." Hawks' voice is thick with emotion. "Not after the fact that I have lost my friends... and... and you. Not after the fact that I have nothing in my life anymore." Hawks looks away but Dabi can see the shimmering of tears that begin to spill down his cheeks.

"Don't you see? Why can't you see that I literally have nothing. I am nothing. Don't come at me, treating me like this." It's strange for Dabi to see Hawks lay down his heart and soul for Dabi to see. Had Dabi been a good man, he would have felt bad. However, he's not a good man. He's a selfish and cruel man. He doesn't feel bad at all, in fact, he's pissed at the fact that Hawks is trying to play the victim game. Hawks wasn't the one locked away. Hawks hadn't grown up with the horrors that Dabi had been forced to go through. He can't help but to leer at Hawks. In Dabi's mind, Hawks has no right to act this way.

"Don't play the victim with me, hero. I know what you are and what you will always be." Dabi tilts his head and sneers. "A man without conviction." Hawks glares at him, Dabi gives him a crooked grin and shrugs. He's only calling what he's seeing. Dabi must've struck against a frayed nerve because Hawks stays silent.

"I guess it don't matter anyway. Nothing matters anymore."

"How can you say that it doesn't matter?" Comes the quiet question. Dabi ponders briefly if he should even bother to answer it but ultimately decides that it's the least that he deserves.

"Well, you see, Hawks-"

"It's Takami."

"Hawks. It doesn't matter because this was all just part of a bigger plan. Well, guess if you forget the part where I was admitted to the hospital. Original plan was for me to go to Tartarus and break everyone out in a final 'fuck you'. Too bad it didn't turn out that way, it probably would have saved a lot of people from getting sucked into this mess." Dabi casts a long look at Hawks with a macabre grin. "How does it feel to be the one to be strung along this whole time? You're not the only one that can play people like puppets." Dabi can't hold back the laugh that's biting at the back of his throat. He feels his sutures begin to tear through his skin, warm blood trickles down but it doesn't stop his laughter. Just looking at the shellshocked face of Hawks spurns on more laughter until his sides are left hurting.