Wherever You Go

end

When the hero opened his eyes, he was not dead, though his first assumption was that he was.
That was quickly proven false though as his pretty much limp body was violated and thrown around.
Honestly, it shouldn't have come as a surprise to find that he recognized the culprit behind it all.
It was just pitiful that he hadn't realized on day one.

When he had first had that encounter with Medusa and then had that bitchy secretary accuse him of having wanted it, he should have taken that as a red flag. In a way he had, but... he was just so far gone mentally at that time.
Now he had to lay there, bloodied, wet, and beaten on the harsh floor boards.

His gaze slowly fell upon a removed patch of boards, the water from which he'd came visibly going down under it.
So he'd been under the floor.
How funny..

Part of him wanted to laugh over how sick and disappointing his ending was,  but he refused to let himself die such a miserable way.

Touya.
I'm sorry.
You were right.
I should never have trusted anyone.
But hey, at least I trusted you!
You are— you were... the most amazing spouse I never got to marry.
You changed my life so incredibly and made it so worth it that I can't even fathom it..
There's not really anything to say, but thank you.
I hope you hear my final death's prayer, my love.

Stay strong.

I know we're  a team, but you can make it without me.
You're so amazing...
Please don't forget that.

Don't end it. Please...

Please don't end it, Touya...

I love you too much to watch that happen...

...

After many hours of harsh travel, Dabi froze up on the hillside, his limbs going numb with relief. Just over the next rise lay a dark, towering home of sorts. It was like something out of a nightmare with its dark, gnarled wood. Had it been a different scenario in which the villain had found such a place, it would've been a really cool thing to see. Right now though, it was more of a sickening sight.

Well.
As one would assume, Dabi and Aika made it to the hidden house and broke in within the hour. The only problem was they had to navigate a series of winding hallways to find what they were looking for.

It wasn't until the reached the basement that they found anything though.

It was as black as midnight, as cold as hell.
Between Dabi and Aika was nothing but an unspoken swear to not break the sacred silence.

Something just felt so incredibly off that neither of them truly wanted to speak.
Neither of them could bring themselves too.

Heat radiated from Dabi's glowing palm, lighting the way just enough to ensure that they didn't step in any traps. It was a horrible risk having that light so clearly ready to give them away, but it'd be so much worse without it.

The further he crept, the more uneasy Dabi felt. Something was just so terribly off about this place. It was like walking through a nightmare.
Squelch. SQUELCH.
A peculiar, wet, sound was growing louder by the step, making the hair on the back of Dabi's neck stand up. He shivered despite not being cold.
It was only when they reached the end of the hall and the sound was so unbearably loud that Dabi finally paused, holding up a silencing hand to tell Aika not to move.

With a racing heart, he peered through the thin doorway, first glancing right, then left.
It was another hallway set- presumably merging with the one they currently stood in to form a T shape. To the right was faint light, dust stirring in it slowly. All was calm there though.
Nothing to truly worry over.

But the other direction was an entirely different story.

Down that hall, in a pool of ominous blue glow. Haloed in this pale light were two figures, their silhouettes intermixed to form one lumped shape. Sitting on his knees was a mystery man, bright orange hair almost brown in the dramatic darkness. And in his arms was the limp, lifeless body of Hawks.

Dabi's heart dropped.