The Quaintest of All (Dabi x Reader)

[6] And it wouldn't be fair if I keep you down here

It's been two weeks and three days now. The florist wasn't sure if Dabi had just extended the interval of the days he would come here of if he was drowning in grief. But the young woman slowly got tired of thinking about it any longer and seeing the late time of day, she decided it was time for a free evening now. She stood up from her embellished chair, went through the store to switch off all the lights and walked towards the entrance, fimbling in the pocket of her apron to fetch the shop's key.

But as she stood there, in silence and in the dark, she realized all the coffee powder had been used up over the past few days by other customers.

'There's still time...,' (Name) thought as she checked her watch again. If she just hurried up enough, she would be able to buy some new coffee today instead of having to go out for it tomorrow. Sighing, she removed her apron and put on her favourite jacket - it was still cold outside, even if spring was arriving.

As she left the familiar cosiness of Ranunculus, the female locked up the door and instantly went for her regular supermarket, a hurrying pace in her steps. Even though she was an independent woman, she naturally got a bit scared when she went outside in the dark. Especially in this world where villains are a daily, especially nightly, thing now. But fortunately, nothing happened on her way to the market.

... ✧* . . *✧ ..✧ ..

A small smile crawled onto (Name)'s as she checked the time again, leaving the shop. Even though she had almost been too late to even enter, the friendly cashier allowed her to quickly buy her single product. "There are still good people out there", she whispered as she shoved the small pack into her jute bag.

But it's really gotten late. Even though the moon was shining brightly and the street lamps were illuminating the city, she walked back to her home with a quicker tempo. Because her house was so secluded (speaking of the location in a city, that is), she had to walk for quite some time through various neighbourhoods.

But-

𝓉 𝒽 𝓊 𝒹

...

Before (Name) knew it, someone had harshly bumped into her and because of that, she roughly fell on the floor.

"Hey, watch it, stupid!" an angry sounding man shouted at her and the woman was almost too angry to even respond.

"Big words, coming from someone as careless and stupid as you," another male voice dissed back. Wait, is that...?

As the young female looked up, her eyes widened a bit as she saw Dabi standing right there, next to this other displeasing individual. It was in this moment the florist realized how well the darkness suited him. Welcomed, almost. "Come on, get lost," he repeated again, but this time more threatening. Eventually, more bystanders formed around the scene, so the aforesaid offender couldn't help but just leave this situation.

"Everyone nowadays is so stupid," he spoke up for a last time with a scratch in his noise before spitting on the floor for a final provocation.

"Says the right one," the florist muttered as she got up from the floor. Irritated by everything that had happened just now, she brushed off some dust of her clothing, not daring to look at the familiar male standing next to her. But then she realized she would be rude if she didn't say something.

"Thank you, Dabi," (Name) whispered, still confused. Just how much of an coincidence could it be for him to show up in the very same moment she got talked smack by someone.

"You shouldn't walk around in this part of town at this time of day, (Name)," the dark-haired male scolded her. It was difficult to make out with his neutral way of speaking, but it seemed like he kind of cared about her.

And I'm still not sure what you ever saw in me...

The female didn't know what to respond - she was still too brought up by the fact she couldn't even walk back to her home without getting attacked or something.

"I guess," she reluctantly mumbled, looking sideways. The young man continued staring at her for a little while longer, before he realized he might be another reason for her distress. The sentence he was about to say was a direct one - not even he was completely sure if he wanted to say it out loud.

"You know," Dabi slowly began and allowed himself to continue as he saw the female look at him again. "I won't come to your store anymore."

It was obvious that (Name) got confused by this. Well, yes, he scared her when out of sudden, blue flames would start to form in his hands, and yes, she got to realize he may not be one of her usual kind customers, but... this just seemed a bit overhasty.

"It wouldn't be fair of me to bring you into other severe situations. Even by accident." The last words were difficult to make it since his voice became raspier and raspier.

The male had already begun walking away, hands in the pockets of his black jeans, as he heard her beautiful voice again.

"You're still always welcome to visit Ranunculus!" There was the tiniest bit of despair hidden in her way of saying this, so little, it could go unheard. The ravenette stopped right in his tracks and moved his head sideways, so he wouldn't have to look at her fully.

But in the end, he couldn't bring up the courage to say anything else. And so, he left (Name) alone and soon vanished within the darkness he emerged from.

"You're still always welcome," the female whispered one last time as he watched him go again. Dabi didn't hear it of course - it was more of a reassurance to herself.

Both of them, alone again.

✧ Song: TIX - Fallen Angel

Picture credit: chikuwa on twitter

Author's Note: Okay, I hope this chapter isn't too stereotypically - whoopsie. I just couldn't think of any other good situations both of them would see each other again. Have fun!