Ashes And Hair Dye

Chapter One

After a long day at Fatgum's agency, Fumi Alvarez was so very ready to go to bed. As the night breeze gave her a small shiver, she made her way home through the narrow alleyways that no longer frightened her after so many years.

She rubbed her arms to warm herself up as she trudged along, the autumn weather in full effect. As the crunch of leaves can be heard under her footsteps, a sound stopped her in her tracks. A trashcan further in the alleyway fell to the ground with a bang and rattle as the silhouette of a man tumbled down with it. A few curse words were heard as the man attempted to stand on his own. At first Fumi rolled her eyes at the thought of another drunk in the streets, but ran right over once she realized he wasn't drunk, he was hurt.

Her eyebrows furrowed as she ran to see his injuries. Being a healing hero makes her always ready to help, even at this late hour. The man was laying on his side, a black jacket covering most of him as he once again tried to stand. He stopped however, having realized he was no longer alone. Upon closer inspection Fumi could notice scars and burn marks on his face; as well as staples working as the border between healthy skin and burned skin. His eyes were a fierce blue, striking, and yet strangely welcoming to her. His hair was as black as night, and his lips formed a frown, his eyes accompanying his frown with a threatening gaze.

"Fuck off while I'm being gracious princess." He said, his left hand applying pressure to his side. His lips tightened into a grimace as his pain was only increasing, his wound still fresh from the signs of blood leaking between his fingers.

"You're bleeding, my house is nearby. I can heal you there." She bends down to help him up only for him to swat her hand away. By now he's looking away, a twinge of shame shivers inside him. Getting offered help by some random girl with no sense of preservation? She's not stupid enough to not know who he is.

"Look man am I gonna heal you or do you prefer bleeding out in an unsanitary alley?"

Okay maybe she was that stupid.

He looked at her begrudgingly before attempting to stand up again. This time she ducked under him and placed his right arm over her shoulder as she helped out of the alley. She could feel the coarse skin of his burns as well as the soft skin of his hands. Such an odd mix of textures. And yet so unique.

He grumbled to himself as she led the way to a small neighborhood, the lamp posts on while all the lights in the neighbor's houses were out. It was fairly late on a weekday, 1:32 in the morning to be precise. Everyone in the neighborhood had gone to bed long before Fumi and her new patient made it to her humble abode.

It was a quaint 2 bedroom home. A decent sized kitchen which was more than enough for herself, a homey living room with bean bags chairs here and there as well as one couch across from a TV. As the pair entered the home, he was a perplexed to say the least. The living room was a tad messy from random coloring books and an unfinished puzzle covering the coffee table. The kitchen had a few dishes still "soaking" from three nights ago, and only now did he realize his oblivious nurse was sporting eye bags and a messy bun. Definitely not a type A person.

As he further analyzed his....helper? Nurse? Whatever. As he further analyzed her and how exhausted she seemed, she nonchalantly helped him to her room. While the bed was not made she quickly went to pull the bed cover over the bed before she brought him to sit on it.

"Okay I'm gonna need to take off your jacket and shirt."

"At least buy me dinner first princess." He said with a smirk before it turned into a grimace from the pain.

"Buy me a castle before you call me princess. Shirt off. I'm gonna get some supplies so you lay on the bed for now." And with that she left the room. He weighed his options mentally before feeling a bit lightheaded from the bleeding; having a stranger possibly help is better than straight up dying from blood loss. He shook his head lightly before removing his jacket and shirt.

How could it have come to this? A terrifying villain, now reduced to depending on some nurse with no sense of self preservation.

Soon Fumi returned with a small first aid kit. She set it down before rolling up the sleeves on her sweater.

"You got a bigger box doc? I might need more than just a bandaid." He said sarcastically.

She glared at him before grabbing a damp towel and wiping down his wound. He stifled a yell as she cleaned it. Upon closer inspection she realized he had a few bruises on his body, but the biggest injury was a mixture of gashes on his side. It dug deep enough to maybe graze an organ. It's a surprise he hadn't passed out from the blood loss yet.

"Alright, I'm gonna heal you now dabi." His eyes widened as he stared at her, confusion written obviously on his face.

"Oh come on it's obvious who you are dabi. Your look isn't one that can exactly be replicated you know? Did you....did you really think I didn't know who you were?" She tried to stifle a laugh but was mostly unsuccessful.

She was about to place a hand on his would before he grabbed her wrist rather harshly. "Then why bother healing a villain? Why fix me? Just to send me to the cops???"

"Relax, I just think that everyone deserves to be healed."

"How do I even know you're gonna heal me and not kill me off?"

"First of all, if I wanted to kill you I'd have just left you in the alley and left you go into septic shock from all the bacteria and shit that's there. Here." She lifted her sweater a little from the left side. She placed her right hand on top of his wound as she looked him in the eye. "Keep watching." She added before she activated her quirk. He felt his side begin to warm up before feeling his pain start to weaken. He watched dutifully at his wound before looking at her revealed waist. Blood began to appear as a hole opened on her side. The exact same gash he had. He was startled to see his own wound was diminishing on his skin, and appearing on her. She soon placed her left hand on her side as she kept doing whatever he quirk was doing. Soon even the wound formed on her began to disappear too. When she was done all that was left on him was a thin cut, almost like paper cuts were left on his skin. She bandaged the leftover wound on him before lowering her sweater; the wound formed on her already healed.

"....what exactly was that fucking thing?"

"THAT is my quirk. Quirks really. Transference and regeneration all in one. Looks cool but man does it fucking hurt." She added with a grin. "My name is Fumi by the way. I figured if I know your name it's only right you know mine."