Chapter Text
Tenko wasn’t quite sure when it first started – when he began to notice the little things Dabi did. From the way his lips curled into a smile to how his eyes lit up at a friendly face, or even in the way letters rolled off his tongue in long, winding, methodic patterns, so smug and particular and unforgiving. He was as silver tongued as he was forked, and it was annoying. That man couldn’t decide whether or not he wanted to be a smart ass or a jack ass or an asshole, and that alone irked Tenko.
But by God, Dabi had the looks. And the smile. And when he was nice his words were such a sickly sweet.
He had never met a man who contradicted himself so wonderfully.
That was the problem, though. Dabi didn’t make sense . Sometimes he wanted to be a bad boy, sometimes he wanted to be a scoundrel, sometimes he wanted to be Mister Nice Guy, and sometimes he wanted to be all of them at once. He never told a story straight either. Someone would ask about his burns and he would say they were an accident from when he was younger, something to do with a fireplace and a mistake. Other times he would say he’d spilled boiling water on himself while cooking, or that once upon a time he’d run into a burning building to pull out some poor soul and got scorched on the way out. These were only few of many, and it drove Tenko nuts.
What was the truth? Did Dabi even know anymore?
Hell, he demanded to be called Dabi and everyone only ever called him Dabi but Tenko knew for damn sure that his entire legal name could not just be Dabi . His hero name maybe, but not his legal name. And yet no amount of snooping, poking or prodding, ever brought up anything more than dead ends. It was like this arsonist didn’t even exist outside of UA... so who the fuck was he? Where did he come from? How did he end up here and how did he convince everyone to call him that stupid name?!
The more Tenko thought about it the more irritated he got.
Sometimes he would go off on these tangents, frustrated and confused. Then he would realize how long he’d been thinking about Dabi, or staring at Dabi, and his cheeks would turn a rosy red. Then he would remember why he was thinking about him in the first place... and he would only get more irritated. What right did “Dabi” have to take up so much of his thinking space? He didn’t, frankly, but that didn’t stop Tenko from thinking about him anyway.
Tenko had learned a few things through his newfound infatuation. When Dabi wasn’t running his mouth or showboating he was surprisingly bearable. He could also be surprisingly helpful. Tenko swore that, on at least two occasions, he caught Dabi tutoring some first years on the extravagances of the English language. The English language . Tenko would have never guessed that that idiot could speak anything other than bullshit. Yet there he was, tutoring a foreign tongue as if it were nothing, and it drove Tenko absolutely mad. That was just another thing to add to his list of “things that make Dabi unbearably attractive.” Over the weeks, his attraction only grew worse.
Sometimes Tenko would glance over at Dabi in the middle of class and Dabi would be staring off into space, or writing something on the desk (rarely in his notebook), or staring back. On the weird and unexpected occasion he was staring back Tenko would immediately turn away as if he hadn’t noticed a thing. He definitely didn’t notice. He definitely wasn’t blushing. He definitely wasn’t going to think about that for the rest of class, dare he say the rest of the day. Nope nope, not at all. Dabi wasn’t worth the time.
Sometimes Tenko would look over at Dabi in the middle of training or sparring and Dabi would be doing something so awfully and unintentionally attractive (which wasn’t fair at all , Tenko was terribly faint-of-heart already). Dabi could be practicing on the bags or carrying some boxes or damn just stretching and Tenko would have to force himself to look away, if not out of decency then out of blatant embarrassment (he quickly learned that he had quite the affinity for seeing Dabi shirtless and/or sweaty). It was even more of a disaster when they had to do defense training together... Tenko could not bare being so close to that asshole for a number of reasons.
Or at least, that’s what he told himself.
It’s important to note that Tenko struggled with these internal thoughts and turmoils for a few weeks before they finally came to culmination. He grappled, constantly, with his own standards and mindsets up until the point that Dabi walked over to his desk one morning. Class hadn’t started yet, Chisaki was sitting with his little weird mask crew in the corner and Toga was speaking with Jin, rather enthusiastically, about a cat she’d seen on the walk to school. Sensei Akaguro had yet to arrive, and as was expected the classroom was a rather loud, rather obnoxious mess. Tenko had been content to sit at his desk and doodle away... until Dabi came over. That’s when the problems started.
First he wasn’t smiling, which was new. Concerning too, and Tenko immediately assumed that either (1) something tragic had happened or (2) someone was about to play a very terrible joke on him.
Then Dabi leaned against the desk, a tad too close (so close that Tenko could smell the smokiness), and he became ever more assured that the next thing out of Dabi’s mouth was going to be some awful, awful comment that would make his skin bristle and his insides boil.
Then he said,
“You’re good with numbers, right?”
Tenko’s mind collapsed into a pit of complete and utter confusion. What? Had he heard Dabi right? Did he just ask about numbers? What in the worl–where did that come from?!
“Uh... yeah.”
“Are you tutoring? Because I’m fucking lost.”
“I, er–” There were so many things Tenko could do. He could tell Dabi to fuck off as payback for all the biting remarks of the past. He could tell him a frank “no” and then act like Dabi did not matter here or there (again, as payback). He could also say no, nicely, and move on. Or he could say yes. He could say yes despite how much of an asshole Dabi was, despite how much he got on his nerves, despite how much Tenko wanted to hate him but just couldn’t . He could say yes and butcher any sort of progress he might have been making on getting over this weird little infatuation of his.
He could.
He would.
“...what exactly do you need help with?”
“Okay so–” Dabi sat down in the desk directly behind Tenko, forcing Tenko to turn around and look at him. “–I don’t understand any of the shit he’s teaching us. Like, none of it.”
“...you do know math is going to be a part of the exam, right?”
“Yeah, that’s why I’m bothering to talk to you about it.”
“So I–” Tenko frowned. He’d never tutored anyone before. He hadn't even considered it. And he should most definitely, above all else, not consider tutoring Dabi. Dabi was–just– Dabi. But maybe, just maybe...
“I’ll pay you.”
“Done.” Alright, maybe he caved a little too fast. But look at this way... he’d get paid to stare at Dabi or a while, without it being weird.
Perfect.
“Tell me your schedule and...”
It wouldn’t be until the end of that week that they would finally be able to have their little session. Tenko had given Dabi a very specific location and time: in the local library by 5pm. By then they would both be out of class, and considering it was the last day of class for the week they wouldn’t have to worry about going to bed at a reasonable time (not that Tenko did that anyway). And so somehow, that Friday night, Tenko found himself in the library. It was raining outside, he noted, as he took a seat. The library was cosy. Better than getting soaked at least. People were about, some studying, some reading, some goofing around. Tenko swore he caught sight of someone writing a paper on astrophysics – the poor man.
When Tenko sat down he opened his backpack and pulled out his books, his binders, his pencils and his pens. He wasn’t sure what he would do with all of them (again, he’d never tutored a day in his life) but he figured that he could just over prepare and see what fit where. It took a solid ten minutes before he was finally settled, and then he checked his watch. 5:02. He frowned, Dabi should’ve been there by now. Then again, Dabi always insisted on arriving fashionably late . Just another example of him being an ass.
So Tenko waited, and waited, and waited.
The clock hit 5:27 and he pretended that this tutoring session was actually happening. Three minutes later and he was outright frustrated.
‘ I should have known ,’ he thought, standing up. Of course that asshole would skip out on him of course . Was there any less to be expected of Dabi? Honestly, he wouldn’t be surprised if that smug son of a bitch planned this whole thing. It was probably just another excuse to push his buttons, and buttons be damned, Tenko was pissed. This is what he gets for playing nice.
A tad too violently Tenko cleaned up his things, shoving his books back into his backpack haphazardly and stabbing the pencils into their pouch. He was nearly done – when a certain hothead came tumbling through the library doors.
“I’M HERE I’M HERE!” Dabi yelled as he came in, wearing an obnoxious yellow raincoat and a look of utter exhaustion. He earned a glare from the library staff (a “young man–” too) as he walked by, ignoring everyone else except for Tenko. Upon spotting the mophead he came over, unzipping his coat and shaking water out of his hair. “Sorry I’m late.” He slung the jacket over the back of the chair and pulled off his backpack (which was, miraculously, not soaked to the bone). “I had to run back to the school to get my notebook and then I forgot my books so I had to head home and it started raining and just–fuck. “ Dabi pulled out his notebook and his textbook and a pencil before tossing his backpack to the floor and taking a seat.
Tenko was still stuck in stunned shock as Dabi flipped open his notebook.
He looked up. “What?”
“I thought you–”
“Oh! I got you something, as compensation.” Dabi reached into his backpack and pulled out a... ball of rice, wrapped in plastic wrap. “Snatched this on my way over, figured I owed you.”
“You didn’t–”
“Well, I did.” Dabi tossed the ball at Tenko, who barely caught it. “Come on, let’s get started.”
Tenko then had to, awkwardly, unpack. Anyone who had seen his minor fit prior-to was definitely judging him now. He took out his books, his pens, his pencils, his notes. He sat down and opened up the textbook. “Okay, we’ll start with whatever you need help with the most–”
“Everything.”
“Okay then.” Tenko could already tell this was going to be a pain in the ass. “How about we start from the beginning of the chapter?”
“You’re the boss.”
And so, like the good noodle he was, Tenko took out a piece of paper and started outlining the very first section, explaining every schematic and mechanic of introductory calculus. He went on and on and on and on and then...
“Do you understand?” Tenko asked.
“Nope.”
Tenko paused. “Seriously?”
“Not a thing.”
“Right... let’s try a problem then.” Tenko wrote down a problem and began to explain. Dabi gave him a very blank stare. It was as if he was listening to someone talk in a foreign language... except the sort he was shit at.
“Do you get it now?”
“No.”
“Are you messing with me?”
“What? No, I’m just fucking lost.” Tenko stared at Dabi for a moment, stared at him hard, judged him hard, then sighed and went back to work.
“Okay... so if you take the derivative of x...”
It took twenty minutes. Twenty minutes talking, tutoring, and trying for Tenko Shimura to come to his very dignified and assured conclusion that– “Dabi, I think I’ve gotten to the root of your problem.” Tenko closed his folder in front of him, folding his hands on top of one another. “You’re shit at math.”
“I think you’re onto something there Chappy–”
“Never call me that again.”
“–honestly I’d say I’ve never stepped into a math class in my life.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“I can’t help it, I have an irrational fear of numbers. I see something that looks vaguely like a six and my brain just, up and clocks out. Tragic, I know.”
“You’re being overdramatic.”
“I’m being honest, sweetheart.”
“Don’t call me that either–”
“–and I’d hate to tell ya but, I still don’t have a clue what’s going on. Guess I’ll fail the exam while I have the chance.” Dabi slammed his notebook shut and shoved it into his backpack. Tenko sighed and shook his head, standing up.
“Watch my stuff, I’m going to go to the bathroom.”
“Have fun.”
Tenko got up, turned, stopped, paused, turned back. “What?”
“Have fun.”
“...alright.”
Tenko went and left, taking a quick piss before returning a moment later. It was upon his return however that he caught sight of something heart stopping – Dabi had snatched up his calligraphy notebook and started looking through it. An assortment of black ink was spread across every page, elegantly placed letters marking spots of white. Dabi seemed to have absolutely no regard for the owner of said notebook and, well,
If a man could ascend, Tenko definitely would have.
“What are you doing?!” Tenko yelled as he snatched the notebook out of Dabi’s hand, earning an unfazed stare in response. “Hasn’t anyone ever taught you to keep your hands off of other people’s things?! What the hell are you doing!! Don’t touch my shit! Touch your own shit! Leave my shit alone you asshole!”
“That’s a lot of profanity coming from a munchkin–”
“SHUT UP!”
Tenko slammed the book shut, stuffed it into his backpack (along with everything else), kicked his chair in and then stormed out of the library. He did not look back to see if Dabi, or anyone else, was staring. He got out into the rain (forgetting to pull out his umbrella but, at that point, being too stubborn to do much about it) and walked home a shivering mess. Was he frustrated? Yes. His first tutoring session and Dabi was a dull as can be. Was he angry? Yes. Dabi wasted his time. Was he embarrassed? Of course. He didn’t like anyone, anyone , going through his things.
Was he confused?
Yeah.
The more he got mad the harder he fell and at this point he knew that there was a word for this sort of feeling, and it wasn’t a good one. Tenko was playing himself for a fool. He was an idiot. He felt hopeless.
He did not see Dabi for two days. He went on, for two days, in blissful solitude. Much of that time was taken up by homework, eating, and playing video games. Sleep was few and far between. By the time Monday came around he could hardly stay awake long enough to walk to school. But he did, slow and steady, walk to school and go to class and sit in his seat and lay down and rest his head. He almost passed out, when–
“Hey.”
No response.
“Hey.”
Nothing.
“Shimura you little–” There was a hard kick to the leg of his desk, Tenko jolted up.
“WHAT WHAT WHAT’S HAPPENING!?”
“Calm down.” Tenko looked up. There he was, Dabi, as smug and annoyingly attractive as ever. His face fell into a stiff frown.
“What do you want?”
“Here.” Dabi placed a wad of cash in his hand. “I forgot to pay you.”
“You–”
“Don’t. Just take it.” Tenko didn’t get a chance to respond Dabi was already walking away, off to the other end of the classroom, ignoring him all over again. What an ass. Tenko placed his head back on his desk and closed his eyes... off to sleep he went. At least until Sensei Akaguro showed up. Then there was hell to pay. It wouldn’t be until lunch, when Tenko finally rolled out the dollar bills, that he noticed the little white paper folded up between them. Curiously, he opened it, and inside it read–
I’m sorry. I learned a little. Maybe we could do that again sometime. I have money. Take my money. I really fucking need the help.
Thanks
D
Tenko read the paper once, twice, three times. Then he folded it up, leaned forward, and hid his flush against the lunchroom table. Himiko questioned and Jin wondered, but no one would know. No one needed to know how important this stupid piece of paper was to him. Not even Dabi. That son of a bitch.
‘ I hate him...’ Tenko thought
‘...I think.’