𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 | t. shigaraki x reader

12┊interlude: dabi

What the fuck had Dabi gotten himself into?

At first, he'd only wanted to piss off Shigaraki. He kept a score in his head of how many times he could piss him off in a week. You know, for fun. (His high score? 73.)

Shigaraki clearly liked you—he always looked at you the most in conversations and tried to stay as close to you as possible. He always clenched and unclenched his hands when he was around you too, like he was constantly resisting the urge to hug you or hold your hand or something.

Dabi couldn't fault him for liking you. How could he when your quirk made you the single person in the world Shigaraki could lay a finger on and not destroy? It was as if you guys were made for each other. Which made you perfect bait. Dabi simply couldn't help himself but annoy Shigaraki through you.

So when you drunkenly declared you were going for a walk in the late hours of the night to reenergize yourself, and Magne said that someone better go with you, he couldn't help but offer. Shigaraki instantly spoke up, face set in a death glare toward himself. Plus one point to the scoreboard.

The two of you walked together through the neighborhood, with you practically shivering, even in your coat. He had half the decency to offer his to you, but you refused vehemently, assuring him you were just fine.

You kept asking questions about if he was cold, did he need your jacket, how old was he, and wow you love his piercings, who was his piercer? To say the least, you were a lot more talkative than usual. Dabi answered mostly with one-worded answers, not caring too much for the conversation.

Until you stopped in the middle of the road.

"Kugisaki?" Dabi asked, turning to face you. Strange. He was beginning to realize how familiar your face looked, but he couldn't put a finger on why. It was your eyes especially, tugging at some memory hidden in the recesses of his brain.

"You wanna know something?" You asked, a shake to your voice. Oh boy. He sensed a drunken rant was about to come out of you, something he hadn't expected. So far you'd been the chatty and bubbly kind of drunk, not the sappy sad type.

"Sure." Dabi figured there was no getting out of this one. Best to just sit through it.

"My parents hate me. They think I'm useless," You said, and you laughed a little bit. "Because of my quirk. I overheard them say I was—was better off dead once."

Shit, shit, shit. You were crying.

Dabi put his arms around you, and you cried into his shoulder. Maybe he didn't want to sit through your drunk rant, but hey, he wasn't going to be an asshole about it.

"Fuuuck, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," You sobbed. "We barely know each other."

"Don't worry about it," Dabi responded.

"I just—I hate everything, you know? Like, my parents fed me so much bullshit that I could become a Hero, before my quirk developed and they realized it wasn't useful and then they threw me away like fucking trash. I don't fucking exist to them anymore!"

Oh, have mercy.

Dabi hugged you tighter.

"Those pieces of shit'll get what they deserve, you hear me? You'll make them see you," He said, and it was the exact same thing he'd been telling himself for the past decade.

Never did he think he'd find someone so similar to himself in that way, but as if the stars aligned, he had.

Normally Dabi was incredibly skilled in figuring out what people were really like or their true intentions or what have you. But with you, he'd been so blinded at the prospect of using you as a tool to torment Shigaraki. He should've realized what kind of person you were the moment you insisted on patching him up after his little fight with Shigaraki.

You weren't just some cute new member of the League, who just happened to be the ultimate thing he could use to piss off Shigaraki. Not only were you a genuinely caring person, but you were like him. You accepted him because you knew what it was like to be hated.

That night, Dabi decided he was going to care about you. Just a little.

A/N: WAAAA i feel like this chapter is. mid. idk, i tried something new. A for effort?