A Grey Thin Line

3

      Let's set the record straight. Dabi had not seen or met Midoriya Izuku in his entire life. He'd seen a lot of shit, but a bright eyed green haired teen that dressed up in black to kick ass was not one of them.

      He thought on this as Daisy, who for some reason thought waking up before 8 was a great idea, tried to climb onto his shoulders as he sat on the couch. He scoffed when she fell over onto the cushions in a fit of giggles. "What did you do, you little brat?"

      Daisy smiled, completely unaffected by his glower. "Tryna climb." She answered simply, staring at him with wide brown eyes. Damn, this kid was cute.

      Dabi sighed, standing to close the textbook on the table and stretch. "Why don't we find you something to climb on that isn't me?" There was a park not too far from the apartment. Seamstress wouldn't mind if he took a break from the studying she all but forced onto him.

      It was the one condition to living there, besides the obvious rule of not hurting Daisy. As long as Dabi stuck his head in a book for a few hours a day, and adequately passed the random quizzes the woman would throw at him, he'd have a warm place to sleep. He's had worse arrangements.

      Daisy brightened up like...well, a literal daisy. "Can we get ice cream?" She asked in an excited, conspiratorial whisper.

      Dabi clicked his tongue, "Boss said no dessert until it's dark."

      "If we sit under a tree, it'll be dark."

      Dabi snorted. Oh yeah, this kid was definitely the boss's niece. "Well, I can't find a hole in that amazing logic, ice cream it is." He braced himself just in time for Daisy's tackle hug. He still stumbled a little, sometimes that speed Quirk of hers caught him off guard.

      Shoes were put on, the door was locked, and their walk began. Daisy clutched Dabi's hand in her own as she hopped and skipped down the sidewalk. People looked at him like they always did - his scars tended to catch people's attention - but Dabi couldn't find it in himself to care when Daisy looked up at him with an expression of pure excitement.

      The moment the park was in sight, Daisy blurred from her place next to him to the monkey bars, which she now hung from with her legs. Dabi took a seat at the bench, keeping a careful eye on both Daisy and other people in the park. Seamstress would murder him if anything happened to her niece.

      He's not gonna lie, he startled a little when he saw the very kid Seamstress had sent a video out about. He blinked. Once, then again to make sure, but that kind of green hair didn't leave a lot of room for doubt.

      Midoriya Izuku was sitting at a park table with who he guessed were some friends. They looked like they were having a nice enough time. Dabi's mouth twitched into a frown when he recalled his life at that age.

      It wasn't ideal, growing up in the slums. More often than not he'd go to bed with a new cut or two, and always on an empty stomach. The only way to survive was to be stronger, to look the other guy dead in the eye and think "no matter how scary you think you are, I'm scarier". This kid didn't really look like the vigilante type, but that was also why it took so long for the League to find him. Good for him, Dabi could appreciate cunning, no matter where it cropped up.

      "Dabi! Look at me!" Daisy called out, swinging from bar to bar with the ease of a monkey.

      "That's great, kid." He called back, refocusing on her as she abandoned the monkey bars in favor of starting up a game of tag with other kids. Dabi was perfectly content to watch both Midoriya and Daisy until his eye caught on some movement across the street. There was a group of shady looking bastards, and he really didn't like the vibe he was getting from them. That feeling multiplied when they started to make their way across the street, zeroing in on Midoriya.

      Immediately, Dabi stood and began to make his way to intercept the fuckers. Daisy must've seen the expression on his face, since she tok one for the team and got tagged to start herding the other kids away from danger.

      Smart kid.

      He was casual, with a slumped posture and hands in the pockets of his jacket, but make no mistake, Dabi was ready to burn them to ashes if they so much as thought about making a scene were Daisy could see.

      The crowd stopped, murmuring to each other. Great, they didn't even have a leader, just a bunch of mooks trying to be cool by scoring a hit on Kuroko. Dabi was suddenly very glad that Seamstress took him in, he didn't want to be called a villain if this was the standard. This. This was just insulting.

      "I really hope you fuckers weren't hoping on attacking that kid." Dabi drawled, jabbing a thumb behind himself at Midoriya.

      One thug - most likely the stupidest one - stepped forward. "What's it to you?" He sized Dabi up. "Go back to the sewers, I heard your mother squeaking for you." That had sent a ripple of laughter through the crowd. Out of the corner of his eye, Dabi saw Midoriya and his friends starting to look over. Fuck, he had to settle this fast.

      "Funny as that is," Dabi cut through their laughter, his tone hardening. "I've got a better joke, how hot does a fire have to burn to set someone's skin on fire?" He didn't give them time to answer, "Trick question, actually. If I wanted to, I'd raise your body temperatures to one hundred and four degrees Fahrenheit. In case you don't already know, that's the temperature that your brain starts to cook in your skull." His arms sparked, and the group of villains took a step back. "If I, or any of my people, so much as see your shadow around that kid, you'll know how it feels to be a turkey on...what do the Americans call it? Thanksgiving. So, are you feeling very thankful? You should be, because I'm offering you a way out instead of outright killing you."

      The villains couldn't get away fast enough.

      Feeling proud, Dabi rolled his shoulders and turned around to where Daisy Relocated the tag game. "Hey, kid." He called over, "Let's go get that ice cream." He had a feeling Seamstress wouldn't mind, too much.

      Daisy's cheer was worth it though. Just for the hell of it, he got her a triple sundae, with whip cream. Oh yeah, the boss was gonna kill him for the oncoming sugar high. That metaphorical (maybe literal) shitstorm was in a few hours though, he felt a little entitled to enjoying himself.

      Daisy stuck her tongue out at him when he swiped her cherry from the mountain of sweets. He knew she'd forgive him.