Preydator || Todoroki x OC

•37: Bitter Apologies•

"Stop, Carnal!" A voice shouts from behind us. I open my eyes to see a familiar figure standing in the staircase by the doorway of the cellar.

'Dabi!'

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Relief floods through my entire body at the sight of Dabi. "Dabi!" This name escapes my lips in a sigh of relief.

"Do you know her?" Carnal asks Dabi.

"I met her a few hours ago during the banquet." Dabi effortlessly lies. "Matako told me there were a couple of UA rats down here."

"Not just any UA rat." Carnal gleefully replies. "She happens to be the Mistress' daughter!"

"Interesting. She's the daughter of second-in-command of the Vultures" Dabi replies in a sarcastic tone that suggests it isn't interesting at all. He waves her off, earning a pout from Carnal. "Your boss wants you and your sister upstairs."

"Aw, but we were having so much fun!" Carnal gestures to me on the ground under her. "You just had to come and crash the party." Dabi glares at her and Carnal gets up.

"Fine!" She snaps. "You League members are no fun!" She mumbles as she exits out the cellar door.

I quickly get back onto my feet as the cellar door shuts, silence filling the room. "I told you to leave, didn't I?" He asks me, cutting through the quiet air.

I ignore his question."Second-in-command?" I ask.

"Yes, the Mistress is second-in-command of Carnal's group; the Vultures." Dabi replies.

I clench my jaw, my relief being replaced with a bitterness. "How much do you know about their group- actually, scratch that. What I want to ask is, how much do you know about my mother?"

Dabi gulps. "Well, nothing Carnal said just now was news to me."

The silence returns again, but this time a lot more tense. "How long?" I ask him, trying to withhold my anger. "For how long did you know where my mom was? How long have you been lying to me?"

"I only found out recently." He replies.

"How recent?" 

He fidgets uncomfortably, averting his eyes. "A few months ago."

"A few months ago?!" I snap. "You knew for months and didn't tell me? What, did you think taking care of the second-in-command's daughter would be good for the League and the Vultures' partnership?" I scoff.

"No, of course not! But how could I even tell you when you drop off the face of the earth for months, you suddenly do a full one-eighty and attend UA, and suddenly join some random villain group to show up at this banquet! You want to talk about lying? Then tell me where you've been these past few months. Don't give me any of that made-up villain gang bullshit!" He exclaims.

I bite my lip guiltily. 'As much as I really want to tell him, I can't let him and the other villains know about my cooperation with my friends at UA to find my mother.' "I-I can't." I mumble out, looking down shamefully at my feet.

Dabi scoffs, laughing ruefully. "Well, I guess I'll have to kill you and loverboy, then." He says. "It is my job, afterall."

I snap my head back to meet Dabi's. An undertone of sadness hangs in his voice and eyes as he looks at me. "Dabi, I-I just can't! I'm really sorry, I don't want to hurt your feelings." I stammer.

"Feelings?" Dabi chuckles darkly. "You're worried about hurting my feelings?" His smile drops. "You think I care about you?" He glares at me. "Do you think I owe some lonely, poor, little girl wandering the streets anyhing? You think I owe her my sympathy?" He snaps. "I'll tell you this right now, I never cared about you. I pitied you." He hisses out.

I feel as if I've been shot. His words ricochet inside my chest, creating a deep, dark hole. "W-What?" I mutter out in shock.

The same, rueful grin returns to his face. "Why would I ever care about you?! Clearly you don't care about me! You don't want to hurt my feelings?" He laughs bitterly. "If you cared about me, maybe you would've thought about that earlier." He spits out, stinging me like a wasp. "You really fucked up, Rin."

Anger washes over my guilt. "No, fuck you, Dabi!" I snap as a lump forms in my throat. "I really do care about you, you know? I was worried about you! And know I find out that my greatest confidant has been keeping huge secrets about my mother?! Yes, I know you're pissed that I haven't been honest about my whereabouts, but you haven't been honest, either! So don't you dare try to pin this all on me!" I retort, trying not to let my voice waver with emotion.

"Of course, I'm always the fucking bad guy!" Dabi shouts. "I guess I am the villain, afterall. Maybe I should be doing my job as a villain."

Bright, blue flames trail up his burnt arm and burst towards me, heat filling the room. My eyes widen as a large ice wall raises up between Dabi and I, blocking the fire for just long enough before melting and evaporting in the heat almost immediately.

I look over to see Shoto had finally woken up. "Shoto!" I shout out as more layers of thick ice separate Dabi and I.

"We have to hurry!" He says as he grabs my hand. We both book it for the cellar door as Shoto continues to raise ice walls between Dabi and us.

We both push against the metal door, but it doesn't budge. "It's probably locked from the outside." I say to him as Dabi catches up to us. "Hurry!" I shout as Dabi stops at the base of the stairs. He raises and arm as blue embers begin to trail from his palm. 

Shoto quickly raises a large column of ice to push against the metal door. The door creaks and groans in protest for a second before giving way and flying off of its hinges. Shoto grabs me arm. "Let's go!" He shouts.

I nod as we run out of the cellar just in the nick of time. I look back to see Dabi's sorrowful expression, and my eyes widen at the sight of his wet eyes, glistening with tears. Shoto swiftly pulls me out of the way as blue flames burst out from the cellar.

I swallow the lump in my throat as I hang my head guiltily. 'I'm sorry, Dabi.'