🖤💙𝕊𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕞𝕖 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕧𝕠𝕚𝕔𝕖 𝕚𝕟 𝕞𝕪 𝕙𝕖𝕒𝕕💙🖤

Out Of Line Behaviour

POV TOMURA

At first I think I'm dreaming. Quiet mind, no tension between my shoulder blades, freedom to let my thoughts wander unjudged and uncensored. It seems much too good to be true. But as I sit on the couch, staring numbly at the black TV screen, it dawns on me that I'm not dreaming. Not only is Compress humming a song I've never heard before, pouring sour bourbon into his Cheerios, but Dabi and Hawks aren't here. And they're always in my dreams.

Himiko's face pops up in front of mine, and I jump backwards, an embarrassing yip leaving my mouth. Behind me, Twice laughs, slapping his heavy palms on my shoulders. This time, I jerk forward, whipping around to shoot him a nasty glare. "How many times do I have to tell you brainless blondes to stop touching me?!"

Twice shrugs. "Apologies, boss. I forgot." In another tone he adds, "I'm lying. I just don't give a fuck."

"You were totally spacing out," Himiko chimes, poking my forehead. I swat her hand away with four fingers. "Whatcha thinkin' bout?"

"Hands, Himiko," I growl. "Unless you want to be turned to dust."

"Sorry, sorry," Himiko giggles. "But seriously! I'm curious! You never look so out of it. Spill."

Begrudgingly, I stand up and head to Compress in the kitchen. Himiko pouts and follows, tugging Twice along with her. "Ah, hello, Tomura," Compress greets. "Would you like some cereal?"

"It's five in the afternoon," I grumble, "and you put booze in there. Why would I want your boozy cereal?"

Compress huffed out an offended sigh. "You could've just said no, you brat."

I can't help but roll my eyes. "Where's Mom?"

"Here," the misty man says, tugging on the cuffs of his blouse as he enters the base. He shuts the door behind him, wading through the air like water as he makes his way behind the bar counter. Compress gives him a nod and moves his cereal out of the way. "And I'm afraid I have some unfortunate news."

Himiko perks up. "Ooh, what is it?!" she squeals. "Is Dabi back?"

"He said it was unfortunate," Compress answers.

I snort a laugh. "Are you saying Dabi isn't unfortunate?"

Compress scowls. "That's exactly what I'm saying."

"All For One has been put into the Public Safety Commission's custody," Kurogiri announces. "They've clogged his bloodstream with quirk-nullifying drugs, and we have no way to contact him."

The room stills, quiet glances exchanged. That's how I know the serene feeling in my mind isn't a hallucination. All For One is really, truly gone. I'm so relieved that I could cry.

But then I remember the image I have to uphold. Even if All For One isn't around to loom over me, I have responsibilities. I can't start slacking now, not after all our hard work and all the lives we've lost.

But I can sneak thoughts of Eraserhead. I can dream about him in peace, think about his gentle touch and his intense stare. I even think about his binding cloth around my neck; it was terrifying at the time, but now it makes me squirm in my seat.

Spinner strolls out into the common room, eyes squinted with uncertainty. "Did I hear that correctly? The boss man was defeated?"

"Not exactly defeated," Kurogiri says, "but he's immobile and in custody. As long as they keep pumping him with drugs, he won't be much help."

"Yay! Vacation!" Himiko cheers. "Can we go to Dubai? Pretty please? I wanna eat a red-vented bulbul!"

Twice cocks his head. "The fuck is that?"

"It's a little pudgy bird," Himiko answers, "and I wanna eat one!"

"We're not going on a fucking vacation," Spinner snaps. "We still have the plan, remember? We need to get Eraserhead and the nomus–"

"We can't," I blurt out. "We only needed Eraserhead so All For One could take his quirk. Without AFO, the plan falls apart. Maybe we should just..." I looked up at Kurogiri, forcing the words back down my throat. But he understands.

"Tomura's right," Kurogiri says. "We should wait. Let's give it a month, and if AFO hasn't escaped, we can get him ourselves."

"You're got to be fucking kidding me," Spinner growls. "We can't just give up!"

"We're not giving up," Compress assures him. "We needed time to regroup anyway."

Spinner shakes his head, snatching a dagger from the holster on Himiko's upper thigh. As he goes to grab it, I bolt upward on instinct. Himiko screams and tries to kick him, but Spinner grabs her hair and pulls her backwards, her back pressed against his chest and the dagger pressed against her throat.

"Spinner, stop it," Kurogiri orders.

The lizard ignores him. "You guys are going soft," Spinner seethes. "I bet it's this little brat's fault. I could kill her right now. Would that make you fucking focus? WE'RE VILLAINS! WE SHOULDN'T BE ACTING LIKE THIS!"

"T-Tomura, please," Himiko sputters, the blade now scratching the skin on her throat. A bead of blood dribbles down her neck, and the rage inside me flares. I reach my palm up, but Compress yanks me back by my shirt.

"Let go of her, Spinner," Compress says. "Himiko did nothing wrong, and you're hurting her."

"Obviously I'm fucking hurting her!" Spinner screams, jerking Himiko's body closer to his own. The dagger is really making a dent now, a thin stream of blood flowing from her neck. "Listen to yourselves. Did any one of us get this worked up when Magne died? What happened for all off you to lose that edge that had once made up so str–"

I didn't even see Twice move, but in a flash, he clocked Spinner upside the head with a bottle of bourbon, alcohol and glass shards pooling under that lizard fucker's unconscious body. Himiko stumbled forward, now choking on sobs. She caught Twice in a hug, and he kissed her forehead through his mask, gently stroking her ratty blonde hair. "It's okay," he whispered.

I head to the front door. Again, Compress catches me before I can act. "Boss," he says. "Where are you going?"

"To find Dabi," I answer, though the words shocked me, too.

Kurogiri shook his head, warping all the glass pieces somewhere else with his wispy right arm. "You can't," he tells me. "He and Hawks have to stay out of the country for another year."

"Then..." I clear my throat. "Then I'm going to find Eraserhead."

Compress hums, a smile under his mask. "Alright. Good luck, Boss."

"Uh, thanks," I mutter. I make my way to the door and onto the street. I come across a guy on a motorcycle, parked outside of a bar. He takes off his helmet and leather gloves and rests them on one of the handle bars. I stalk up to him, pursing my lips.

He almost has a heart attack when he sees me. It's cut off by my hand wrapping around his throat, turning his previously bulky body into dust. I knock his helmet on the handlebars and carefully pick up the gloves. It takes a bit, but I manage to rip off the ring and pinky fingers on each glove. I slide them on, swing my leg over the seat, and rev up the motorcycle. Before I know it, I'm approaching Eraserhead's house.