Feathers and Flame // Dabi x Reader x Hawks

23: Stained

You'd been staring at your hand for thirty minutes.

When you woke, Dabi was still sleeping next to you, his long arm draped over your side, and it took you quite a while to shimmy out of that hold without waking him. You didn't want to be that person and disappear before he was any the wiser, but so much had happened in the past twelve hours that you needed to figure it out for yourself. And that was when you noticed it.

Your fingers were stained with black.

In some circumstances, it wouldn't even seem that strange. But in this circumstance, given that you'd fallen asleep stroking through his hair, it was more than strange to you.

You'd left right after that, heading back to your room to digest all of the new information you'd acquired. First and foremost was confirmation that Dabi's quirk was not compatible with him, at least not with the heat he wielded it at. And secondly was that he... dyed his hair.

And thus came why you'd ended up sitting cross-legged on your bed, inspecting the inky stain as if it would become sentient and explain this all to you. It wasn't weird that he dyed his hair, it was weird that it wasn't common knowledge, and why? Of course, the main argument was that Dabi was well... Dabi, and he wasn't exactly the most forthcoming with information about himself, trivial or no. But you couldn't help but wonder if it was indeed some kind of secret, and why would he hide something like that unless his identity was the secret he was trying to protect?

It was a rabbit-hole of thought, and you weren't sure what was plausible or not. What kind of colour was his hair if it was that recognisable? Magenta? Lime green? Lilac? And recognisable to who? It wasn't making sense to you, but it was the first crumb of useful information you'd gotten in ages, and with how stubborn and inquisitive you were, there was no way you were going to let it slide without explanation.

You'd pondered it for an hour before you dragged yourself from your room, knowing that there was only one person you could consult with on this little tidbit you'd unearthed.

And it could only be your least favourite ego with wings.

***

It was past midday before you located Hawks, given that you'd slept well into the morning after all that... excitement of last night. You hadn't laid eyes on Dabi before you left, and you were more than happy to deal with that complicated situation later. For now, your mind was wholly occupied with piecing together the puzzle of him. You were doing it for your mission — yes — but also for yourself.

You felt something for him, and there was no amount of denial that could change that. The least you could do was figure out who exactly he is.

The crimson feathers of the number two hero caught your attention first, and you watched over him from your perch high above. It had only been a day since you'd last seen Hawks, and you also weren't hoping you'd have to address your loss of words when that lady had asked you for your hero name. Unfortunately, the winged man was the lesser of two evils in this situation.

Hawks was speaking to who you recognised as the number one hero, Endevour. Beside him were two teenagers you knew as first years from UA. Katsuki Bakugo, who had won the sports festival, and with him was... Izuku Midoriya. Both had been involved in attacks perpetrated by the League of Villains, and you'd studied all available information on them before commencing your infiltration.

The winged hero was chatting animatedly to them all as he handed Endevour a book. You narrowed your eyes at it, familiar with the cover. Always working, aren't you, birdy? You waited another number of minutes, but Hawks was still deep in conversation with the three and you decided to alert him you were near, locating one of his feathers he'd sent around his perimeter as he had just a day ago.