𝑺𝑻𝑨𝑹𝑽𝑬𝑫 𝑨𝑭𝑭𝑬𝑪𝑻𝑰𝑶𝑵 ➣ Dabi

the stars

"What do you see?" Touya asks you.

"Stars."

He smiles lazily and pinches your arm. "I didn't get to finish." He pauses for a moment. The silence deafening. But you wait patiently while he gathers the courage to voice the words lodged in his throat. "What do you see in me?" he finally asks. Your heart silently breaks when the words settle in. "Why don't you just leave?"

You twist your body to face him, using his bicep as your pillow. He doesn't look at you, his jaw his clenched, and his eyes are trained on the stars. So you put your hand on your cheek to make him look at you. He doesn't. He just closes his eyes, slowly breathing in and out.

"Touya," you beg softly. "Look at me."

He shakes his head, eyes still shut, jaw still clenched. So you prop yourself up on your elbow, your free hand playing with his bottom lip the way he would do to you. You smile softly even if he can't see. Taking the opportunity, you kiss his cheek. Then his other cheek. His eyes fly open and goes to say something but you shush him with a kiss on his neck. Then to his collarbone. His chest. His stomach. You look up at him and smile before you kiss him deeply. This time, you're the one who pries his lips open. You're the one asking for more. You're the one cupping his face and guiding his lips against your own. When you pull away, he's breathless, and can't even muster the courage to speak.

"I love you, Touya Todoroki," you say, drawing a heart on his pec, "because you gave me the strength to live. Because you've shown me what it's like to be loved. To feel wanted. I love you because you were there for me, even if you didn't know it was me yet. Even if I didn't realize it was you all along. There are so many reasons to why I love you. There's nobody else that I want. I want you, Touya. I've always wanted you."

He opens his mouth, wanting to speak, but not being able to. You wipe the blood seeping from his scars before it starts to overflow. Before he wraps his arms around you and tugs you down. Before his body weight is suffocating you but you love it. You love how tightly he holds you and how he laughs with the utmost joy for you and how he doesn't let go and how he doesn't plan on letting go and how you realize you love him so much it hurts and how you would do anything to get him to realize he's the one meant for you and how no matter what it'll always be him that you think about late at night and how he's kissing you now, begging for more, and how he tugs at you, as if you could get any closer to him and how good his fucking lips feel against your neck and how much you crave for more and how—

"I love you," he chokes out, whispering against your parted and desperate lips. "I love you so fucking much." He shakes his head, letting out a breathy laugh. "I didn't think I could ever be capable of love but god fucking dammit I fucking love you." He gives you a dopey smile, almost like the feeling of love replicates the feeling of ecstasy, making him giddy with love, and chuckles lightly. You smile as he strokes your cheek and rests his forehead against yours. "What have you done to me, Little Mouse?"

"I've seduced you," you tease.

He laughs, his chest rumbling as he holds you tighter, wrapping his strong arms around you. "Let's conquer the fucking world, Baby. Please?"

You pepper his face with kisses, trying to keep your laughter low and quiet so you don't wake up any students. You lay in the grass, hidden by trees and bushes and away from all windows. Touya's fingers trace your tattoo, reminding you who you belong to, who you're meant to go home to after this is all over. You purposefully wore long sleeves to hide the tattoo from the heroes and Todoroki especially. Makeup might not be able to keep it hidden all day long. So until then, you're stuck wearing thick bracelets or long sleeves.

"Mmmm," he hums against your lips. "So fucking good. My fucking baby," he coos, squishing your cheeks with one hand and kissing your pouty and puffed lips.

You giggle, squirming in his arms with overwhelming happiness and the sense of belonging somewhere with someone. Instead of speaking, you bury yourself in his arms even more, hiding your smile from him as he brushes his fingers through your hair.

He hums softly, soothing you to sleep. But before you can actually drift off peacefully, he nudges you awake. "Wake up, Mouse. You need to sleep in there." You groan in protest and curl closer to him. He chuckles lightly, his hand drawing lazy circles on your back. "I know. But the heroes think you're safely tucked away in there. Can't have them finding out about this, now can we?"

"No," you mumble, sitting up and rubbing your eyes. "Kiss?"

He smirks. "How can I say no?" You smile and kiss him, tugging him close by his shirt. The wind plays with your hair, brushing it across your cold skin. Touya lifts you up and holds you close, tucked away in his arms, his jacket blowing around you. His lips linger on your head, as if he too doesn't want to let you go. You know you'll see him again this week. You're supposed to meet the League twice a week to discuss new information you've learned. You'll see him again. You will. But you really don't want to be without him, to not have him stroke your thigh when you sit next to him at the bar, to not have him snuggled against your chest late at night, to not have him calling you Mouse or Doll, to not have lips roughly forcing yours open, to not have his hands beckoning you closer, to not have his arms around your waist, to not have him near you.

"I don't want to go back," you mumble.

His arms tighten around you, not wanting you to go either, but his words say otherwise. "I know, baby. But there are heroes in there that we need to expose to the world. It's what stain would've wanted."

He's a had a weird fascination with Stain's beliefs. They made sense. Exterminate the unworthy heroes, the heroes who don't deserve to be called heroes. In technicality, Stain was doing to right thing. The wrong way, but the right thing. He's dead now, and Touya likes to tell you it's your turn to bring his word to truth.

"I know. I know," you whisper. "Don't forget about me?"

He smiles and shakes his head. "I could never."

"Y/n?" a voice calls. A familiar voice.

"That's your cue." Touya cups your face, strokes your cheek gently, then kisses you like he's never kissed you before. Holding you close to his chest, his lips desperate and hungry, as if this is your last goodbye, though you both know it isn't. He pulls away and you whine softly. "Remember where your loyalties lie, love."

With nothing but a wink, a kiss on the cheek, and a mock salute, he backs away into the shadows, leaving you alone with hands braced above your beating heart, wishing you never had to leave Touya, wishing he just stay here, with you.

"There are you are."

Slowly, you turn your head to look behind you. All Might walks up to you gingerly, afraid of scaring you. It's no secret about your anxiety. Aizawa had seen your stress, Kirishima, Midoriya, Bakugou, Todoroki, they had seen you in a state of panic, in a state of fear. You aren't surprised when he lowers his voice to an almost whisper when he speaks to you. It's nice.

"Sorry," you whisper. "I couldn't sleep."

He nods. Though he towers over you, you don't necessarily fear him. Nor are you afraid of him. After being near him, he's the hero you prefer to be near to. But at the same time, you want to distance yourself. Your loyalties lie with the League. Not the heroes.

"Me either," he replies.

It's silent for a moment, and you wonder if Touya is hiding in the shadows watching you. You smile at the thought, secretly tracing the letters on your wrist.

"I'm ready to go in now," you say, loud enough for Touya to hear if he's hiding.

You're going to do this. You're going to prove your loyalty to the League. You're going to take Endeavor down, for Touya. You're going to be strong. You're going to suck it up and deal with it. Because you've got a reason to live now. You've got someone counting on you. You've got a League counting on you.

So time to show them you can do this.  

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