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It had been a week since he had appeared on the doorstep, announcing his wish to join the villains.
The week seemed to go by quickly, but that tended to be what happened when one slept whenever their body decided it was tired, ate one small amount daily, and wrote in notebooks like a stalker the other times. Actually, forget that. He cleaned for most of the time.
Whether it be showering, combing his hair obsessively, wiping down clean surfaces, or aimlessly staring at the Windex bottle at the front of the troupe of cleaning supplies sitting on his desk, he was always doing something to be clean.
He was meticulous, quiet, and minded his own business. A paragon of roommates.
So why did he still feel like there was just something missing?
An entire week had passed since Midoriya Izuku had appeared on the doorstep of the bar to the League, declaring he was done with heroes and wanted to switch his allegiances and cross over to the opposite side.
The week wasn't very different from how they normally went. The members of the League came and went, milling about as they pleased and hanging around the bar. Missions were taken, jobs carried out, bodies burned, people killed.
The only new, odd part to them was the new boy who spent almost all of his time in his room, coming out about five times a day. And three of them were to shower or brush his teeth or do something cleanliness related. The other was for giving information, or god forbid eating.
It was clear he was anorexic.
There were heavy bags under his eyes, dark purple and so out of place on the greenette. Whenever he was with the heroes, he always seemed to have the biggest grin on his face and was always so willing to go to war for those he was protecting.
Now?
He was nothing more than a lonely specter, floating around aimlessly.
He hadn't said anything to anyone since he arrived, often leaving his notebooks on the bar and leaving quickly to eat or clean or do whatever it was he did. One time, Spinner decided he was going to trail him. Not only did he lose him for most of the time, the only places he had gone were the corner convenience store and the laundromat. It was almost pathetic.
Dabi sighed as he sprawled across the couch, scrolling through his burner phone. Shigaraki was closely speaking with his weird, not-dad-but-also-somehow-savior-from-trauma-and-also-causer-of-trauma-criminal-sugar-daddy.
Whatever he was, they were planning something big coming up for the summertime. Dabi didn't really care about the logistics, as long as it wasn't batshit or something else. He wouldn't put it past Shigaraki to make them all give themselves up or something equally stupid.
As he scrolled through his phone, there was the soft sound of a door opening.
Ah, it must be time for Midoriya's silent break from his self-imposed isolation.
Yes, they were villains, but they weren't going to attack the kid for daring to hang around the living room for more than five minutes to do something other than giving a notebook and warily glance at them.
Speak of the devil and he shall appear, Dabi supposed.
The thin, gaunt-looking greenette appeared from behind the corner, practically swimming in a black hoodie with three small white triangles on the front, shoulders, and neatly encircling the cuffs. He carefully looked around before stepping out, just like he always seemed to do, before apparently deeming it safe.
He had on dark jeans and boots, and walked quickly to the door, opening it and disappearing outside of the League. The bell tinkling on the door was the only sound that indicated he had vanished.
Dabi sighed. Maybe he should just give up on the whole mess.
Izuku shoved his hands in his hoodie pockets, ducking his head as to not draw attention as he walked out of the alleyway. He stepped into the small stream of people milling about, hiding among the population.
He was heading to the corner convenience store to grab something to eat. He had already eaten a granola bar and banana this morning, but his stomach was threatening to close in on itself. He felt like his ribs, which he could normally see, were a bit too sharp this morning, and his hip bones looked more painful than they really were. His arms were emaciated, and his cheekbones were gaunt. He was too pale.
He figured it wouldn't hurt to have a yogurt or something so that he didn't look gross.
Humming softly to himself, he stepped into the store and headed for the back, grabbing one of the small parfait containers from a fridge and glancing at the calorie count on the label. It wasn't very many, and it was cheap. He could eat this.
Nodding in approval as a mental well done, he walked up to the counter. The cashier today was one of the tired teenagers that clearly only wanted the cash that came from working a dead-end job.
This one was a girl with a pink bob, purple gaze dull and half-lidded with boredom. Stifling a yawn, she sat up from leaning on the counter and clicked her phone off, slipping it back into her pocket.
"Thanks for buying, how are you?"
Izuku knew he needed to answer, but he never knew what to say to this. Even before his new... circumstances came about, he simply had no idea what he was supposed to do here. So he settled for a neutral, "Fine. How are you?"
"Great." the teenager responded listlessly, already handing a bag of his things over to him. Izuku exchanged the plastic bag for some cash, which the clerk took tiredly, stifling another yawn.
"Thanks, come again."
Izuku only nodded, happy to go. Small talk truly was the bane of his existent.
He didn't want to meet someone named Tracy, with blonde hair and blue eyes and an annoying Boston accent and too-revealing clothes with her nails all done nice, and be forced to talk about the weather. Goddammit, he didn't need to know what shampoo she used!
That went off-topic and made no sense.
Just like him.
Izuku held his plastic bag filled with strange goodies as he began to walk back to the bar, yawning himself. The teenager working behind the counter seemed to have really gotten to him, clearly.
He would probably nap when he got back, eating when he woke up, and go from there. He didn't really need a routine. His body told him what to do and when, so there was no need to try and regulate it. He was just lucky it was still functioning.
"Damn bitch, stop fighting!" Came an angry yell.
Izuku paused midstep, freezing as he unconsciously listened out for where the source of the noise was. Was it something he needed to intervene in? Or something he was better off leaving alone?
The sounds of an animal's low growl answered him.
Izuku turned into the alleyway, reaching to stuff his plastic bag into his backpack and setting that at the lip of the alley, gaze narrowing as he stepped further inside. He had taken to hiding small knives on his person, and he was prepared to grab the one from his sleeve.
As he neared the dark dead-end alleyway, he found the source of the sound. The sight chilled his blood and sparked rage inside of him. It gave a little bit of warmth to his cold body, and adrenaline started to pool in his blood.
A large, bulky man was standing imposingly over a dog of some sorts, boot drawn back. It was clear he was about to start hurting the animal if the growling and cowering away was to be considered.
Izuku flicked his sleeve, and the knife he hid inside slid down into his palm, the silver glinting the light. The walls of the alleyway were dirty and high, blocking most of the light of the grey day.
"Back off." Izuku's said quietly, but his voice echoed off the walls of the alley.
The man paused just as he was drawing his foot back for another kick, turning to see the imposing figure that was Izuku, standing all the way up at his impressive five foot five and glowering with all of his might. His quirk was lighting up his eyes, giving them an eery glow.
The man sneered, visible even in the low light as he turned to face the young boy. "And what are you going to do about it?"
Izuku let his quirk spark to life gently underneath his skin, warmth rushing through his veins. Little bolts of toxic green lightning surrounded him, providing more lighting to the darkness.
"I'll only hurt you a little," The man crooned, walking forward.
He was about six foot five, and absolutely towered over Izuku. But the greenette stopped hesitating. Without blinking, he flicked his wrist forward and loosened his grip on the knife in his palm.
There was the sound of slicing, gurgling, and something wet hitting the ground with a loud splat. After another moment, the man was falling to join what had fallen. He spasmed for another moment, before falling still.
The best worst part?
He felt nothing.
Izuku walked forward, reaching down to snatch his knife back. He grimaced at the sight of the blood on the blade, reaching into his back pocket to grab one of his spare tissues and wiping it fast before dropping the tissue and sticking his knife back up his sleeve.
He nears the dog, crouching lower, reaching his arm in a friendly manner. He makes sure to have his posture relaxed, untensed. He nears the dark shape, before stopping a few inches away. He waits patiently.
The dog, who had been silent, watched him carefully with gleaming eyes. They were both a bright, piercing shade of icy blue. They glanced up and down at him and paused for another long minute.
Izuku was patient, though. He adjusted to sit cross-legged on the ground, retracting his arm and placing them down beside him. Completely relaxed. He made sure to watch the sky instead of the dog.
And after about five minutes, the dog was slowly creeping forward, unfolding itself from where it was curled against the wall. More of it started to come into the light, but Izuku made sure to ignore it.
And sure enough, over the course of another minute, it moved for him and hesitantly lifted up its nose, getting a sniff of his scent. After a minute, it seemed to relax and moved closer.
Another minute, and then the dog was pressing a cold nose to the top of his hand. Izuku slowly lifted it, making sure the canine could see all of his movements. It tensed slightly, but Izuku simply reached to the side to gently run a hand down its neck. Dogs didn't like having people reaching over them.
The dog was tense, but it relaxed after a minute. It reached over to press its nose to his sleeve, inhaling sharply. Then it looked back to him, and Izuku was able to make out the shape of a tail wagging behind it.
Izuku stood, and so did the dog. He walked out towards the light, and the dog followed him. He turned around to look at it, and his heart softened immediately. He really did love dogs.
She was a merle Great Dane, with a white chest and belly and a grey coat, large and small dark grey spots patching over it. She had snow-white paws, and Izuku frowned as he took her in more. Her ears were cropped, which meant pointed up and standing, so that meant someone had cared enough to perform the surgery and tape up her ears long enough for them to stand on their own.
But she was without a collar and was definitely on the slimmer side. Izuku couldn't quite see her ribs, but it wasn't far from that point. She looked up at him, wagging her tail as she pricked her ears and tipped her head to the side.
Without his consent, a smile was curving his lips, as he reached up to hold his hand in front of her. She immediately moved forward, ducking her head under his hand. Izuku even giggled a bit as he rubbed the space between her ears.
He cautiously looked to her side, moving to run his hands down her side to feel her legs. And it seemed like he had arrived right before he could start hurting her. He reached up to run a hand down the back of her neck, and he realized she wasn't chipped either.
Stepping back, he thought for a moment. She would need a name, he realized, since she was clearly young and didn't have one. He would say she was just shy of a year old, going by her ears. She looked up at him, tongue lolling out of her mouth and tail wagging. She was tall for a female, but he was also very short. Her shoulder came up to a little above his elbow, and if she reached up with her snout, she could touch his nose.
After a moment, Izuku moved to point at the dog. "Rivaille."
She walked forward to lean against him, looking back with her steady, icy blue gaze. Izuku smiled at her and walked over to the entrance of the alley, picking up his dropped bag and shouldering it.
But he would need something for her.
Well... there was a pet store very close, which he had passed before...
Izuku looked back at Rivaille, who wagged her tail even harder.
He smiled.
The League was sprawled in various places in the bar, each doing their own things. The TV was quietly playing in the background, but no one had really seen anything of real interest.
"BREAKING NEWS: The dead body of Alan Laster was found in the alleyway on ----, right next to the ---- convenience store."
That gave the people pause as they looked to the TV, confusion knitting their brows. And, sure enough, it was the alleyway a two-minute walk from the bar. That was odd, though not terribly since they did live in a shady area.
"Didn't Midoriya leave recently?" Atsuhiro suddenly asked.
Dabi frowned, as did the rest of them. "Yeah, but he might not have gone there. If he had, he would already be back, right?"
A moment of quiet settled like a blanket over the League, as each one of them started to really think about it. It was true; Midoriya had gone out, but if he had gone to the convenience store, he should already have returned.
The answer came in the form of the bell on the door jingling.
There was a quiet, short whistle, light and airy. "Come on, Rivaille."
That was definitely Midoriya.
Each member of the League turned in confusion, just in time to see Midoriya walking down the stairs. And it seemed that he collected a companion for himself while he was out of the bar.
A huge dog followed him, ears pricked up and head tilted slightly to the side. There was a light blue collar around her neck, and a leash of the same shade attached to it. The end was in Midoriya's hand, but it was loose and held without much care. They were the same shade as the dog's eyes.
There was another moment of silence.
Then Midoriya was turning around, looking a bit sheepish as he gave the occupants of the room a hesitant smile. But there was something different. Yes, he was still gaunt and far too thin, but there was a spark in his eyes that wasn't there when he left. A bit of light in the green depths. His complexion was still pale, but there was the hint of a faint rose dusting his cheeks.
"So, umm," he gave a nervous laugh. "this is Rivaille, and she's my new dog."
Dabi raised his eyebrows, while Shigaraki was bemused, a juice-box half lifted to his mouth. Atsuhiro seemed to give up, while Toga was growing more sparkly by the second. Spinner just stared at the dog suspiciously.
The tips of Midoriya's ears were red, and he looked more embarrassed as the silence went on. After a moment, he seemed to backtrack and began to ramble. "I mean, if you don't want me to have a dog, I could go, but-"
Shigaraki held up a hand. "Spinner can suck it up. Do you have the stuff to take care of her?"
Midoriya looked relieved, and his shoulders sagged down. He gave a tired smile, which was the most emotion they had gotten out of him in the past week. He nodded. "Yeah, I went by the nearby pet store on the way back."
Rivaille had seemed to gather her courage and walked forward, hesitantly creeping towards Dabi sitting on the couch. Dabi simply watched her, not encouraging or stopping her either way.
"I'm assuming you had something to do with the alley?" Shigaraki asked.
Midoriya went bright red. "Uhhh, maybe?"
As Shigaraki raised his eyebrow to continue on, Rivaille walked up to Dabi and tipped her head at him, one of her pointed ears shifting with her. She surveyed the burnt man, then seemed to deem him okay.
In the next moment, she had walked over and calmly laid her head on the top of Dabi's, tail wagging. The drool smeared in her jowls dripped into Dabi's wild black spikes, and one edge of her lip touched his forehead. As he froze, one drop of her slobber dripped down the front of his face.
Toga was the first one to break, soft giggles escaping her as she bent down, one arm clutching her side and the other covering her mouth pointlessly. Her shoulders were shaking with her laughter, and her eyes were sparkling.
Dabi's eye twitched, and he was still frozen on his spot on the couch. He was clearly uncomfortable, but also didn't seem to know what to do about it. Rivaille, as if sensing his problem, almost had a smug gleam in her eyes.
And Midoriya started laughing.