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“Dabi, no.” Kurogiri took away the empty whisky glass from the counter, dodging Dabi’s sluggish grabby hands.
“You’re not my mom,” he slurred and Toga giggled, perching on the barstool next to his. Dabi’s head hit the beaten wooden counter. He didn’t even realise his head was lowering.
“I think you should definitely do it!” Toga exclaimed, laying her head on the counter too so Dabi couldn’t do anything but stare at her honey liquid eyes. He could see her but he wasn’t too sure if he was really looking. Things were just really… sway-y. Was that even a word?
“You should definitely do it!” Twice slapped his back and the breath left his lungs. It smelled like the cheap whiskey he’d been drinking. “No! That’s so dumb! You’re stupid as fuck!”
Kurogiri cleaned the glasses. The bar was technically closed but the gang of misfits hung out here regularly, piggybacking off the free liquor Kurogiri would sometimes give to them, aside from Toga. She still took sips from Jin and Shuichi’s drinks when she thought no one was looking. Shigaraki had set up a small gaming area in the corner of the room and that’s where he’d spend most of his time.
Sako, to everyone’s surprise, had a date tonight and that was the only reason Kurogiri was outnumbered in this debate.
“It’s not a good idea. If you want to talk to your siblings you should just talk to them.”
Dabi let out a dry laugh that faded into nothingness. “I know Shouto’s going to the mall with them tomorrow. I already know what mall he likes to go to. It’ll be fine. I’m good at hiding.” He really wasn’t and everyone knew that. The large purple scarring that covered most of his body and face made it impossible to hide. Not to mention, he just couldn’t be bothered.
Kurogiri let out a groan as he shook his head. “You’ve been stalking your brother?”
Toga sat up fully, punching the air. Her space buns were starting to fall out from how much she was moving. “Yay! It’s so much fun, right? He has some really cute friends!” She began gushing about some brown-haired girl and the small, green-haired freak Shouto’s always hanging out with. Dabi tuned her out as he contemplated making a plan for tomorrow. He couldn’t really be bothered and the calming buzz in his brain convinced him not to.
He woke up in his apartment and had no idea how he got there, although he heavily suspected Kurogiri used his quirk again. Not that he could say anything; he used his quirk illegally all the time but that’s beside the point. Kurogiri was the Mom of the group, even if he’d never admit it. Dabi decided to ignore all the warnings from yesterday and quickly washed up before beginning the search through his tiny wardrobe for a clean pair of trousers. There was only a baggy pair of blue jeans he’d never worn before left. Hawks had bought them for him, insisted that he take them and then when Dabi still refused he snuck into his shitty apartment and pinned them to the inside of his wardrobe with a red feather pin from his merch collection. Dabi thought about how narcissistic Hawks was just so he wouldn’t think about why he’d never worn the blue jeans before.
They were comfortable and that felt weird. He pulled out a high collar fleece. It matched the colour of his jeans and that was ugly. Dabi laid it over his white shirt and adjusted the collar so it hid his scars. He pushed a black cap over his hair, cringing at how it flattened it all down. It wasn’t enough. He still looked too much like himself. The cap didn’t hide the glowing blue of his eyes or the ugly scars sitting below them. He threw a white hoodie and a black bomber jacket over it all. To top it off, he slapped an obnoxious pair of black sunglasses he’d borrowed from Hawks and never given back over his eyes.
The person that stared back in the mirror looked like a bad cosplay of Hawks’ incognito celebrity outfit. He pursed his lips but snatched his wallet and dying phone.
Shouto, for someone who says they don’t like attention, sure tweets a lot. Dabi finds his siblings easily. He grumbles under his breath at how tall Natsuo’s gotten. He towers over Shouto and Fuyumi like a giant and he can almost hear the incessant smug bragging he’d get. Dabi was taller than Natsuo for a few years but then that bitch had to go and get taller again. It was unfair. He could tell by the rate Shouto was going, he’d probably be taller than him too. The only person he could lord his superior height over would be Fuyumi and she didn’t care about things like that.
He ducked behind a potted plant as his siblings stopped a Boba shop. He snorted. Of fucking course. As they got further up the queue, Dabi sneaked closer, ducking behind various people and things. He didn’t realise how close he was until they started walking away and the person at the till turned to him.
“Hi, what can I get you?”
Dabi stared at them blankly. “Uh… that… thing.” He pointed to a random tea on the menu. The person nodded and moved to make his drink. They pushed something blue into his hands and asked for an inflated bullshit of a price. Dabi paid exactly that amount and left without a word. Great, now he had to find his siblings again. In those precious moments, the crowd had swarmed and eaten the red-and-white-haired trio. He swore and pulled out his phone, bringing up Shouto’s twitter once again. A superfluous selfie overtook his screen and Fuyumi, Natsuo and Shouto grinned back at him. Well, Shouto tried to grin. He could see some of his friends roasting him in the comments. They each held up their teas but Shouto held up something else.
Dabi stopped in the middle of the mall, smirking at the annoyed complaints he received from the people behind him and zoomed in on the picture, holding the tea against his stomach to stop it from falling. He paid good money for it and there was no way he was letting it go to waste even if the horrendous taste of healthy blueberries stained his tongue. His eyes narrowed when he saw the cone and pancakes and when the fuck did this guy get crepes? He had been watching the entire time. Shouto didn’t have crepes to begin with. Was he just pulling crepes out his underwear now? Dabi huffed and looked at the surroundings of the photo, using it to trace the location of his siblings.
He ducked behind a girl with horns as he trailed behind them, slurping on the Boba tea. Shouto made an idiot of himself as he tried to catch the straw of Fuyumi’s drink with his mouth and Natsuo filled the shopping mall with his booming laughter. Fuyumi seemed relaxed as she chuckled too. Within seconds, her posture changed. She stood more upright and no one else would’ve noticed it but Dabi knew Fuyumi better than anyone, even if she didn’t and wouldn’t ever understand him again.
Someone else bounded up to them, stopping by Fuyumi’s side. Dabi’s eyes widened when he recognised the long white hair swooshing around the place and the tall, white bunny ears sticking out of the short girl’s head. Crap, if she was here then that means-
“What the fuck are you wearing?” Hawks’ irritatingly smooth voice blurted out. Dabi glanced to his side and sure enough, there was Hawks, stupid face smirking and stupid eyebrows raised smugly. Dabi wanted to punch him.
He didn’t want to think about what they both looked like to a random stranger. Hawks was famous. He was insanely good-looking (Dabi’s only quoting the articles and chart polls here, of course) and incredibly popular and everything about him made Dabi want to scream. He wasn’t even sure how Hawks had gotten into his life anyway. He just suddenly appeared and then kept appearing. At the moment, Hawks was also trying to go incognito. He wore the baggiest hoodie known to man yet Dabi could still make out where his wings were. Probably a very expensive pair of jeans hung low on his waist and a cap was pulled low over his head, hiding his face. To top it off, he also wore sunglasses. They probably looked like the dumbest douchebags out there.
Hawks reached forward and angled the cup in his direction. He took the straw into his mouth, his lips curling around it, and stared at Dabi as he took a few long sips. It was only after a few seconds did Dabi realise what exactly was happening.
“Hey!” He pulled the cup away, pushing Hawks’ away with a hand to his shoulder and forced a glare onto his face. “You fucking chicken shit, you’re paying me for this now.”
Hawks shrugged but then nodded towards Dabi’s legs. “Nice to see you wearing the jeans. Not gonna lie, I thought you burned them.”
“I’ll burn you.”
Hawks chuckled and slapped Dabi’s shoulder. “Maybe I’d like that.”
Dabi shoved him away again and stopped himself at the last second from bringing the Boba tea to his mouth.
“So…” Hawks’ motioned with his hands to Dabi’s outfit. “What’s this?”
“Nothing.” He turned his gaze ahead of them, keeping an eye on his siblings who had stopped to chat with Rumi.
“Damn, I didn’t take you for a stalker,” Hawks admitted. “I thought you’d scare the shit out them in a back alley or something.”
“Fuck off.”
Hawks grinned. “Are you gonna drink that?” He pointed to the cup in Dabi’s hands and then, without waiting for an answer, took it from his hands. Dabi could only gape as Hawks walked off, joining the group and sending a cheeky wink over his shoulder.
Dabi stormed into the bar, flinging the door open and letting it smash against the wall.
“Ooh, the big bad wolf’s mad!” Toga sing-songed as she skipped over to him. He slunk onto a bar stool.
“Told you it’ll go bad,” Kurogiri stated softly but poured a glass of… something and Dabi downed it, relishing in the familiar burn down his throat.
“It was going fine,” he gritted out. “Hawks it just a piece of bullshit.” His phone went off. He ignored it. Everyone he ever texted was in the bar so it was probably some marketing scheme from someone selling his number. A chime filled the air again. And again. And again and again and again.
He pulled it out with a growl, his fingers turning white from gripping the edge so hard.
sksksksk is the sound of demons
Takami Keigo: hi guys!!!
Todoroki Natsuo: ooh fun a group chat! thanks hawks!
Todoroki Fuyumi: oh who’s the other number? I have rumi, hawks, Natsuo and shouto in my contacts but who’s the other person
Usagiyama Rumi: hawks why
Todoroki Shouto: the only demon I know is my sleep paralysis demon
Takami Keigo: oh dw about the new number, he’ll make himself known soon xD
Dabi gritted his teeth. “That bitch.”