POV: Dabi
"Damn it, old man," I muttered, shoving another shirt into my bag, knuckles still raw from our last 'training session.' "You didn't have to hit that hard."
The bruises would fade. The resentment? Not so much.
I zipped the duffel closed. In a week, Touya Todoroki would be nothing but a memory. An obituary. A pile of bones and rumors. Tonight was my last breath of freedom before I buried this identity for good.
As I swung a leg out the bedroom window, I heard Shoto start to cry from the next room over. A softer sound than Endeavor's shouting, but it still lodged sharp in my chest. I paused for half a second-half a second too long-and then I was gone into the night.
---
The bar was tucked between a broken-down ramen shop and a pawn place that hadn't seen real business in years. It didn't have a name, just a flickering neon sign that said "OPEN," like a dare. It was one of the rare places that didn't ask questions. Heroes, villains, nobodies-we all bled the same under bad lighting and worse music.
That's when I saw him.
Hawks. Fourteen years old and already a pro. Perched on a cracked barstool like he owned the place, golden eyes scanning the crowd with bored precision. He didn't look like a kid. He looked like a warning.
I slid onto the stool beside him without invitation. "Didn't think the golden boy of hero society would be slumming it here," I said, voice low and laced with poison.
He didn't even blink. "Endeavor's kid," he replied, equally cold. "Figures."
I snorted. "You do your homework. Impressive. Wanna sit together anyway? Not like you're gonna cozy up with the geriatrics."
A reluctant smirk tugged at his mouth. "Only if I'm paying."
"Deal."
One drink turned into three. Three turned into too many. Our mouths moved faster than our thoughts, and somewhere between the fourth round and the flicker of neon on his feathers, we stopped talking.
---
I woke to the smell of cheap alcohol and regret.
The room was dim, and he was already getting dressed, not looking at me. I didn't speak. Neither did he.
Just a quiet, hollow exchange of half-hearted apologies before we went our separate ways-like two ghosts who accidentally crossed paths in the wrong story.
---
Later, I'd pretend it hadn't meant anything. He would too. But some burns don't scar over clean.

YOU ARE READING
dabis Kid #1 (Edits In Progress)
FanfictionAsh Takami-Todoroki has been looking for her dad behind her fathers back since she was young. when she finds him they get along well. after months her father finds out and is not happy, this results in her almost killing him. (this will have a book...