Artifice

The Killing Kind

"Nice to meet you. I'm Touya. But as of right now, I'm going by Dabi."

Izuku shook Dabi's hand. "Izuku. Izuku Midoriya."

Izuku studied Dabi's features. Several scars surrounded his eyes, ears, and mouth.

Burn scars?

Two bright blue eyes stared into his forest green ones.

He had black hair with white roots peeking out.

Why does he dye it?

He was also quite a bit taller than the 14 year old.

He has to be in his early twenties.

"Now that introductions are over with, you have no reason to doubt me."

Izuku could think of 100 different reasons why he shouldn't trust Dabi.

However, something within him told him that Dabi didn't have any cruel intentions. His eyes looked truthful and friendly, unlike the blood-thirsty fury in Katsuki's eyes.

He wanted to trust him. He really did. Midoriya was way too used to deception, so he stayed on his toes.

"Anyway," Dabi continued, not letting Izuku respond.

"My group could get you a quirk easy. All you gotta do is meet the boss, and he'll give you a task you have to complete before he can be sure you're worthy of a quirk. Then, he'll choose a quirk that suits you best."

"Choose a quirk? How can he give one to me anyway? What do I have to do to get one?"

Midoriya said, pulling out another notebook to write down all this new information.

"God, you ask a lot of questions... Hey, don't write this stuff down. If someone reads this, we're both screwed." Dabi said, taking the notebook out of Izuku's hand.

He tore out the page with fresh writing and burned it. After Dabi flipped through the pages confirming they were blank, he gave the book back to the boy.

"Oh, sorry." Izuku murmured as he placed the notebook back in his bag.

Dabi lifted his hand to place it on Izuku's shoulder in a consoling way.

Midoriya flinched. This was really familiar. Painfully familiar.

Before he could comprehend what he was doing, he grabbed Dabi by the wrist. He twisted his arm and pinned it against his back, and held it there for a moment.

"Damn kid." Dabi laughed. "You got a killer grip. Don't worry, I wasn't planning to hurt you. I was trying to console you."

"Oh, shit, sorry. I thought you were gonna choke me or something." He explained frantically. "Wouldn't be the first time anyone has done that." He whispered to himself while releasing the grip he had on Dabi.

"It's ok. At least now I know you're always on high alert." Dabi chuckled. "Y'know, kid? I like you." He lifted his hand to pat Izuku's head.

It took everything in him to trust that Dabi wasn't going to hurt him.

He sat there, digging his nails into the palms of his hands, telling himself that not everyone was out to hurt him.

"Come on, let's go." Dabi suddenly stood up, extending his arm, offering to help Izuku up from where he was seated.

"Where are we going?" Izuku questioned as he grabbed Dabi's hand.

"The bar."

"Are you going to answer my questions from earlier?"