So This Is Love

Chapter 3

Dabi wasn't his real name.

Abiteth may not be a full-fledged hero yet, but she knew how to dig up information.

Searching "Dabi" didn't bring up anything: no news reports, no criminal records, no public documentation at all. The only time she saw it, was in reference to crematoriums, 'which makes sense duh. It means 'cremation'... I wonder if that's what his quirk is called?"

She'd skipped a few classes recently in favor of hiding out in the school library, conducting her own research. Blue fire wasn't incredibly common for a fire quirk - in fact, even Endeavor, the most well known flame hero thus far, could only produce blue flames in very specific circumstances.

'But Dabi just kind of... has them. I think. I haven't seen him actually use his quirk yet, which, if he's trying to avoid drawing any attention to himself, he would kind of have to not use,' she poked her head into the school hall. The bell had just sounded, and she thrust herself into the stream of students as they poured out of classrooms and past the library, 'I've probably read a dozen reports about arson, but the fires were either out when firefighters arrived, or were of the typical red-orange-yellow fire color. So no solid proof on whether or not he could be responsible--'

"Man, you're so lucky I like you enough," a voice sighed near her; Abiteth jumped, then smiled up at Fraiser.

"Hey, Frais!" she accepted the notebook he passed her, "thanks. I promise I'll stop after today, just something I couldn't wait to look into, and the library here has a lot of resources."

"What kind of info are you looking for anyway?" the boy asked, pushing open the door ahead with ease. Abiteth tapped a finger to her lips.

"Secret~"

"Of course it is," he sighed when she laughed, raking a hand through his auburn hair, "good thing we didn't have any practical classes today. I couldn't have covered your ass then."

"Well! I appreciate the coverage regardless," she teased, scrunching up her nose when Fraiser poked her in the forehead.

He was one of her many childhood friends, perhaps one of the most consistent ones - as well as one of few who had a foreign name like she did. Fraiser was large and imposing for his age, his quirk allowing him to camouflage with his surroundings - Mimicry, it was called. During combat training he disappeared at will, and with his impressive physical strength and speed, he made up for his quirk's lack of combative ability with hand to hand skills that rivaled most pros.

Abiteth was certain he would end up with the likes of Gunhead.

"Yeah, yeah. You comin' with us, by the way?"

Abiteth raised a brow at Fraiser's tone of voice, and waited until they were off Shiketsu's grounds before replying, "hmm~ Sounds like you need me for my charm~"

"Obviously," he laughed quietly, leading the way to a small group of students, "old lady M seems to be catching on to us, so we gotta' go somewhere else. Give the old lady a break, even if she seems to like it when we run in, throw cash at her, then run away again."

She pursed her lips, waving at Devlin as he trotted up to the group. He grinned at her, sharp teeth gleaming in the sunlight.

The glint gave her an idea.

"One sec," she chirped, pulling out her phone, "Carissa... Carissa... ah!"

She waved her hand dismissively when a chorus of questions were lobbied her way, and rocked back and forth on her feet while she waited for Carissa to pick up.