Chapter Text
Dabi doesn’t know when it all started. Maybe after the training camp incident, or the Chisaki one, or perhaps it was always there to begin with. He just didn’t realize it at the time.
It scares him immensely, this new feeling that settles in his chest whenever he’s around the others. But at the same time, it fills him with a warmth that’s been absent for the longest time. If he could put it into words, he would say he was comfortable around them. Even worse, that he enjoyed their company.
It’s been a while since he’s had something like this; something to care about, something he could lose in a split second. It’s nearly foreign to him, making him want to shy away and crawl back into that small zone of comfort, where he doesn’t have to care or watch out for others. Part of his mind screams at him to stop, to keep moving forward towards his goal.
But when Hawks smiles at him that morning, when Toga barges in the room to wake him up, when Shigaraki doesn’t attempt to say anything when he knows he’s in a bad mood, Dabi welcomes these fleeting, peaceful moments guiltily.
“Can I just say that your jacket does absolutely nothing for your ass?”
“Guess that’s good thing, right?” Dabi responds easily. “If you stared at my ass every time we fought in public, the heroes would’ve seen through your little act in no time.”
Hawks laughs from his spot on the couch, stretching languidly across its grimy surface (Dabi idly notes that he's not denying anything). He playfully nudges Toga's leg with his foot, who was sitting on the opposite side of the seat, and she looks up at him in question.
"Dabi's got a nice ass, right?"
"Oh, yeah," she quickly agrees, grinning, to Dabi's dismay. "If I didn't like you so much, I would've killed you and kept him to myself," she adds.
Dabi chooses to tune out the rest of their conversation in favour of searching for something to eat. The fridge only contains leftover pizza, but luckily Hawks seems to have brought in some new food this morning. He walks over and snatches a box of noodles from Hawks' hands, ignoring the indignant yelp that follows, just as Shigaraki stumbles into the room. Dabi can't exactly see it, but he imagines an expression of disgust on the boy's face from the way he rolls his eyes.
It's Twice that follows after, already dressed as usual, and sits down on the ground in front of Toga. He looks at the abundance of food, conflicted, which makes sense since he can't exactly eat without removing his mask.
"Move over," Dabi tells Hawks. He doesn't wait for an answer, opting for pushing the other boy out of the way to make space, leaving Hawks squished between him and Toga. Toga doesn't seem to mind, clear from how she shifts so that she's resting comfortably against Hawks' arm.
Spinner and Sako penter the room last, joining Twice on the floor since the number of seating is limited. Shigaraki is sitting on the only other chair, courtesy of the lovely apartment.
Dabi leans back against the cushions, slowly eating his noodles, letting the others fill in the silence. Hawks is getting into another argument with Shigaraki and Spinner about some characters from a video game, while Twice is chatting with Toga. Sako chimes in from time to time, though video games isn't his area of expertise, but he still tries to input himself into the conversation. Dabi, on the other hand, doesn't feel the need to be as flashy and talkative as him, so he opts for sitting there silently and finishing his food.
It’s relaxing, he admits, to wake up in the morning and have this. It’s been hard getting by, even with Hawks around, but even so, mornings like these are slowly becoming the norm. He’s not sure if he’s happy about that fact or not.
“Hey, are you listening?” A finger pokes his cheek, and he tilts his head slightly to the right to face Hawks. “Toga wants to go out.”
He raises an eyebrow and glanced towards Toga, who merely grins back at him.
“And you want to go out . . . why?” he asks her, even though he already knows the answer will be stupid.
“Because I’m bored,” she states, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. Though, by the way her smile drops, the flush going away from her cheeks, Dabi supposes it is kind of obvious. “We haven’t been out in forever!”
“Uh, I don’t know how we’re gonna go out without drawing attention,” Twice points out. “Look at Dabi’s face—”
“Oh, fuck off,” Dabi snaps, though there isn’t any real venom behind it.
“—but you look great too!” Twice quickly backtracks. In Dabi’s books, Twice is generally neutral, but sometimes it gets frustrating when he can’t pin down the guy’s personality. Then again, it adds some variety in this little group of theirs, so Dabi can’t find it in himself to complain that much.
“He does bring up a good point,” Sako says. He sets down the empty noodles container and pulls up his white mask before continuing. “We’re well-known villains at this point. If they managed to catch Kurogiri, our own chances are of escape are extremely slim. Stepping one foot into the open is enough to guarantee someone will trail us for while.”
Toga groans. “Well, for you guys, maybe. You have your costumes on all the time, and Hawks is the No. 2 hero. And then there’s Spinner.” She flops dramatically against Hawks’ side and sighs, the flush returning to her face.
“If you guys just take of your masks and wear, you know, everyday clothes,” Hawks says, eyeing Twice, Sako, and Shigaraki, “then nobody would really notice.”
“I can’t take of my mask, or I’ll split!” Twice exclaims. “That’s a great plan! Spinner can’t exactly change, though.”
“Then we’ll just leave Spinner here,” Dabi says.
“Hey!”
“Or Spinner can drive us around,” Shigaraki, who hasn’t spoken since he entered the room, proposes instead. If Dabi wasn’t so fixated on the fact that Spinner might be driving, he would’ve caught the implication behind Shigaraki’s words.
“You guys want me to get us a car? I’ll get some chapstick for Shigaraki while I’m at it.”
There’s no way that such a plan could’ve work; all of them, moving around the city for a day, without getting caught? If they had taken a different path in their lives, then perhaps such a trip wouldn’t seem like such an impossible event. Personally, Dabi doesn’t mind going out (despite the dangers it presents), as long as he doesn’t run into certain people. It was just a matter of how they’re going to prevent people from recognizing them.
“Hey, you good?” Hawks appears at his side, gently nudging his arm.
Dabi finds himself about to nod, but quickly refrains from doing so, instead settling with a quick, “Peachy.” The sweater they stole itches against his skin, and he's tempted to roll his sleeves up, but Hawks would give him hell if he did. Ironic, the hero threatening to bestow the fires of hell upon Dabi, when he's the villain (and also has the fire quirk, mind you). He raises a hand up to adjust the mask covering the bottom half of his face.
"Careful," Hawks says, and reaches over. He gently pulls Dabi's sleeve a little higher, after seeing it had slipped down, before slipping his hand into Dabi's. The hero's hand is warm against his own, and despite the heat surrounding them, he finds himself shifting closer to the other.
"Get a room," Shigaraki calls from behind them, and Dabi is, unfortunately, reminded of the existence of the others. He didn't noticed, but the two of them were walking ahead of the group. Hawks slows down, prompting him to do the same, until the others catch up.
"You guys walk too slow,” Dabi tells them.
“That doesn’t give you two an excuse to eye-fuck each other,” Toga chirps back, and Dabi hates Hawks for bursting out into laughter. He’s not even denying it, or at least trying to.
“If you guys walked faster—”
“We’re take our time, we have all day!”
Dabi rolls his eyes.“Says you.It’s only a matter of time until someone recognizes us.” Unlike the others, covered in multiple garments to conceal anything revealing, Toga was able to disguise herself with ease; voice, looks, outfit, the whole package. Dabi’s thoughts drift over to the girl Toga had jumped to gain the look, and briefly wonders if she had woken up yet.
Getting Twice to leave behind his costume for the day had been the most challenging part. Some moments he wholeheartedly agreed with taking off his mask, and other times he refused to move an inch. Dabi was ready to strangle the older man by the time they filed into the car. Then again, Twice brought some variety into this little group of theirs, so he entertains the thought only for a bit.
We shouldn’t be here, something in his head tells him, and that voice is right; they shouldn’t be doing this at all. Perhaps after the accomplish their goals, days like these would be waiting for them. For a moment, he wonders if they had all taken different paths, would they still be this—this close?
But there’s no time for thoughts like those. Not today, at least.
It’s school hours, but there are still many people wandering about. Toga drags them around the area; to different stands, a park, the nearby mall. At first, they’re walking at a steady pace, intent on keeping a low profile, but then Toga is jogging up ahead, and the rest of the group has to move faster to keep up. Jogging turns to running, and soon they’re sprinting across the sidewalks, in and out of food stands, weaving through crowds of people. Dabi doesn’t usually exert himself, mainly because of the fact that his skin might fall off, but the adrenaline bursting through his veins is actually nice. He’s breathless, and so are the others, no doubt, but they all seem content, too. It sucks that they had to leave Spinner in the car, since there wasn’t much they could do to make him unrecognizable. Hawks grabs his hand, laughing and pulling him along, and Dabi looses his train of thought.
It’s just past noon, and the crowd starts to thin with the heat radiating down, but the villains don’t let the heat bother them. When they return to where they first arrived at, the park is empty, and the rest of the group already know where Toga is going to drag them off to next.
Dabi doesn’t laugh, tends not to, not even for this, but he allows a smile to stay present on his face. Honestly, it’s like they’re all a bunch of children, despite everything that’s going on. Toga, Twice, Shigaraki, and Hawks are running around on the playground structures, while Dabi and Sako are sitting out. Shigaraki is quiet, hood pulled down over his face as far as it can go, but the corners of his mouth are tilted up slightly, from what Dabi can see. Chisaki Overhaul’s face appears in Dabi’s mind, and he wonders how someone who destroyed a person’s entire world with just a touch, could smile and look so content without thinking about it.
Hawks lets out a high-pitched yelp as Toga chases him around the playground structures. The hero jumps off, forgetting about how his feathers are in his backpack, and crashes to the ground. It has everyone bursting out into laughter, even Hawks, and Toga doesn’t even hesitate; she taps him on the shoulder, giving him a cheerful, “You’re it!” before rushing off in the opposite direction. Her face is alit with excitement, the pink flush more prominent, but her smile is twisted. It makes her look like a lunatic, more so than she already is, but she doesn’t seem to mind at all. Rather, she seems relax.
Dabi tilts his head in Sako’s direction, and he finds the other man entertaining a few children (because of course he brought his cards with him) who have stumbled over. He’s already seen the tricks thousands of times, but the kids’ eyes light up each time Sako finishes one. The man is in his element, anyone with eyes could’ve seen that from a mile away. He’s talking fast, most likely something relating to the trick, and the children are eating it up. They’re smiling and laughing, thoroughly enjoying the show, and one of the children leave to grab their parents. Dabi doesn’t want to risk one of them recognizing him, so he shifts his body in the opposite direction and turns his gaze towards the rest of the group. He lets Sako enjoy himself, because there’s no telling when an opportunity like this will arise in the future.
“If the parents weren’t there, you’d look like a pedophile,” Dabi tells him, tone dead serious, but Sako just laughs.
“You don’t understand the art of entertainment,” the other man sighs, as if genuinely upset by the notion, but his expression is content.
They shouldn't be here, none of them should, but something about Sako's peaceful happiness, the insane grin adorning Toga's face, or Shigaraki's tiny smile when he thinks no one is looking—it all makes this worth it.
Thoroughly exhausted, the rest of the group stumble over to the bench where Dabi and Sako are sitting. Hawks is sweaty, and Dabi shifts away when he sits beside him, but the hero, knowing full well what he's doing, drapes himself against Dabi's side.
Twice proposes a lunch break, gesturing to the food stands near the entrance of the park, and just like that, they're all up not their feet again, and Toga is running over to the stands. Hawks slips his hand into Dabi, pulling him along, and soon they're all sprinting across the park, like they have all the stamina in the world. They're in their own little world again, a world they want to create, a world they want to see come to fruition. The few people in the park are staring at them, and Dabi wants to melt their eyes until they're dripping from their skulls, but then Toga is shoving a stick of tomorokoshi (corn on a stick grilled with miso, butter, and soy sauce, he manages to recall). Hawks can pay for it with his ridiculously large bank account, Sako points out as he buys an extra one for Spinner, who's still in the car.
The day is passing much faster than any of them want it to. For students, classes are ending, which means more people strolling through the streets. It's time for them to turn in for the day, to go back into hiding until they can figure out their next move. But none of them are in a rush to go. Rather, as they begin to make their way back to where the car is located, their paces slow down with each and every step, as if trying to prolong the inevitable return.
“Today was fun,” Toga exclaims, latching onto Twice’s left arm, and if Dabi wonders if she’s gonna cry or something from the way she hides her face in Twice’s shoulder. “Not only for me, but for Tomura and everyone else, right?”
“Definitely,” Hawks agrees, and Dabi sees the way his hand moves towards his own, before a loud song fills the air. Hawks doesn’t end up taking his hand, and instead reaches into his pocket to rummage for his phone. He reads the name on the screen, and Dabi watches as the tension sinks into his features “Ah, shit, it’s the Commission,” he tells them, like it wasn’t obvious, and steps away from the group to take it, telling them he’ll meet them at the car.
Dabi wants to stay with Hawks, and not only because he wants to take the phone and tell the Commission about what their little hero has been up to. But more people are beginning to show, and he knows there isn’t much time left. If anything, Hawks could take care of himself.
“Tomura? Did you have fun today?”
Shigaraki doesn’t grace Toga with a verbal response, but he does nod his head once, and Toga gleefully takes what she can get (she doesn’t point out his smile, none of them do). She lets go of Twice’s arm and moves on ahead of the group, babbling about Spinner and the photos she took on her—stolen—phone to show him. The black van Hawks got for them is in view, just a block away, and Toga is meters ahead of the group, excitement radiating off of her. Dabi doesn’t feel like speeding up like the rest of the group does, keeping his pace steady until Hawks appears at his side. The winged-hero is silent, but not in the bad way; silent, admiring the moment, and taking in all it has to offer. This time, Dabi is the only to take Hawks’ hand, and the way Hawks’ looks at him is like staring into the sun.
“What did the commission say?”
“Something about needing assistance near the beach, but I told them it was my day off.”
“Not very hero-like of you, birdie.”
Hawks grips his hand a little tighter at the nickname. “They can live without me for one day. They gave me the rundown, and it really isn’t that bad.”
“And yet they still called you.” It’s meant to be a question, but it’s more like a statement, and Hawks winces.
”Yeah, well, the commission is quick to make use of their dogs,” Hawks sighs, and Dabi lets the topic slip away.
“Well, when we remake this society, we’ll have all the free time in the world.”
Hawks squeezes his hand once more and doesn’t say anything else. Sako calls for them to hurry up, so they quicken their pace, slipping into that comfortable silence; for some, it might be awkward, but something about just existing, of being able to be in each other’s presence without needing something to fill the void of silence, it’s nice. Toga refuses to slow down, despite them calling out for her to do so. Maybe they should’ve thought of codenames, or covered themselves better, because the crowds are beginning to notice them. But the group is still in their own worlds, so they don’t give it much thought.
“Toga, slow down!” Twice cries out to her. “Ah, she never listens! The light is gonna turn red!” But she doesn’t heed his call, intent on making it to the car without any stops, it seems.
Maybe that’s why she doesn’t see it and they do.
The light switches from green to red in a flash, and by that point, Toga is still walking in the middle of the road. Hawks lets go of his hand, and Dabi knows he's switched into his hero mode (though he doesn't know why), but his feathers are still in his bag and there isn't enough time to open it. Sako and Twice look confused, rightfully so, and Shigaraki stands up on alert, but Hawks' eyes are focused on Toga and then--
The incoming truck slows down too late and crashes into her.
His chest hurts, like the vehicle slammed into him, and not Toga, but watching her body crumple to the ground, the blood that begins to pool around her, it might as well have. It's hot, the heat is still beating down on them, is it the heat doing this? Maybe they're imagining it.
Twice is screaming, and it's this awful sound, the kind you have to forcefully pull out of your chest to even make when your body fails to let the pressure out. He's staggering over to Toga, splitting apart, and Sako follows after him. The entertainer leans over Toga's corpse limp body, and as he kneels, Dabi can hear the splashing noise that accompanies him when his knees hit the ground. Shigaraki looks like he's going to dust everyone around him.
Sako, the only responsible and smart adult around, it seems, places his hands over Toga's chest and is about to attempt CPR, but Toga's chest just squelches under his hands; her torso looked to be in one piece, but it was basically smashed into gelatin from the impact of the truck, and all the meat and blood and bones just give way beneath Sako's hands. Twice is loosing it.
What the fuck is happening?
Dabi takes a step forward, moves to join Twice and Sako, but Hawks grabs the sleeve of his jacket and doesn't let him. And that makes him angry, because who does he think he is, holding him back like that?
"We have to get out of here," the winged-hero says, like that is an explanation in itself, when really, it isn't. "Somebody probably called the police by now. They'll be here soon, and we can't risk it."
"We can handle the police."
"That's not the point," Hawks stresses. "We have to get Toga and then get out of here. Dabi, listen to me, c'mon."
Dabi spares a glance at Shigaraki, and the look on his face is terrifying. If they don't leave soon, everyone around them will be dusted. Not that he particularly cares about the people, but they can't have Shigaraki loosing it like Twice. Shigaraki moves forward, and Dabi thinks he's about to witness the entire crowd turn to dust, but the younger boy just approaches the driver's side of the truck. Dabi can't find it in himself to stop him.
The people are crowded around them, at a distance, but there's suspicion seeping into their features, and some point are staring at Dabi and Twice. Hawks is right, they have to escape. Some man steps forward, saying shit about how he's a doctor, and Dabi raises a hand towards his face and lets his fire do the rest.
Sako had taken off his jacket and wrapped it around Toga's mushy torso, as if trying to keep everything together. Twice has made a second Toga, attempting to replace the blood the real one keeps loosing, but it's all in vain. Hawks sweeps in to pick her up, but she just falls apart in his arms.
Everything is passing by so fast, it's getting too blurry for Dabi to keep up.
When he blinks, they're all scrambling into the black car, Spinner is yelling something at them before hitting the gas. Dabi looks down at the thing he's holding in his hands, and it's the bottom half of Toga's body.
Twice has the head, he idly notes, and Sako is carrying her torso in his jacket. Because the truck's impact tore her apart and her body couldn't stay together, so they had to carry her in pieces to get her into the car, because there was no way they were leaving her to lie there, in the middle of the street.
Her quirk has melted off, and Dabi prefers the look at the random girl's face, rather than Toga's, because he can imagine it as someone else who was torn apart, but looking at Toga's face makes it more real.
He's careful to not let his grip loose on Toga's legs, and wipes his face with the back his bloody hand. He doesn't know if he's thinking too hard, or if it's Toga's, but he feels blood trail down his face.