Maybe We'll fix Each Other

Chapter 26

Her head felt like it was splitting open at the horn, a sensation of her skin peeling away from it ripped through her scalp even though she knew that wasn't really happening.

It still felt like it.

It hurt.

And Eri couldn't keep the tears from falling down her face.

She thought maybe she'd gotten better. It had been so long since the last time this had happened. She thought that maybe being with Dabi had fixed everything. Fixed her. But she was just as dangerous and broken as she always was.

And now Dabi was kneeled on her bed inches from her and she wished he was anywhere else.

She would never forgive herself if she hurt him.

He was too close.

"STAY AWAY FROM ME!" she screeched, trying to scrabble further back with her eyes wrenched shut.

But no matter how much she yelled at him, he stayed. And Eri hated herself even more that she was relieved by that. She shouldn't be. Because he should be far away from her.

Dabi held his hands up, palms out.

"I'm not going to touch you, Eri," he said calmly. "But I do need you to take deep breaths."

Eri pried her eyes open and glanced up at Dabi, vision wobbly from the tears spilling over. He gave her a small smile and waved.

"Hey there," he said softly. "Deep breath?"

He took a big breath himself, exaggerating the motion. After a moment, Eri did her best to draw in a shaky breath. It hitched painfully as a sob ripped out of her, hand flying up to grab at her horn again as another spike of pain ran through her.

"Good job, kid," Dabi encouraged. "Let's try another, okay?"

And Eri tried. She did. But the pain shot into her skull again and she buried her face back into her knees, crying out, "I can't I can't I can't!"

With her face hidden, she couldn't see the broken look that crossed her brother's face.

The room around her was silent apart from her trying to reel in her crying for a moment before Dabi spoke up again. She reflexively bit back her whimpers and tried to focus on what he was saying. He was talking about...Carmamel?

"--wear the damn cat thinks I'm her personal heater. Did you see her try and sit on my head last time? I wonder if I could train her to do that. Maybe I could cheat people out of some money to see that," he said, voice mock serious even though she could hear the hint of a smile in the tone.

On noticing that her distress seemed to lessen, Dabi continued with soft ramblings to distract her. It was mostly working, though she still let out some surprised yelps when her horn hurt her again in waves.

And then suddenly the pain vanished.

Eri's eyes widened, and she lifted her face from her knees.

"Hello, Eri," Aizawa said gently, crouched down at the bedside right next to her, eyes shining red as his hair stood on end. "What's going on?"

And his voice was so kind that Eri felt her tears begin anew.

"M-my quirk," she started, voice breaking. "W-when I don't u-use it, it comes out b-by itself."

Aizawa's expression softened and he reached forwards. Eri jerked backwards, looking more scared.

Aizawa paused, opening his hand to show he meant no harm. "My quirk stops yours from working," he explained calmly. "So it's safe if I reach out to you. Is it okay if I help clean off your face?"