Maybe We'll fix Each Other

Chapter 63

Summary:

THE VERDICT

Notes:

OOF! Sorry this one was a week delayed again 💀 I honestly didn't mean for that to happen, but I had a week of night shifts that drained me of all joy and energy LOL 🫠

Going into the verdict:
Dabi: "Do I look nice?"
Keigo: "You look like you're about to set someone on fire."
Dabi: 😈
Dabi: "Perfect."

(See the end of the chapter for .)

Chapter Text

"You need to relax. You're going to molt."

Keigo shot Dabi an irritated look, but made a pointed effort to relax his wings. He hadn't even noticed that they'd gone sharp.

"I don't molt," he grumbled back, shifting his weight to the balls of his feet. "And you're one to talk. What did that glass ever do to you?"

Dabi's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he glanced downwards. The glass of water he'd been holding had warped in his grip. He cursed under his breath and switched it to his other hand. Keigo shook his head fondly.

"I can't wait for this to be over with," Keigo confessed, shoving his hands in his pockets and looking away. "I just...it's been a lot."

Dabi let out a low hum, and Keigo could see his movements still out of the corner of his eye.

"That's a fucking understatement," came the muttered reply.

Keigo snorted and glanced down at his hands. Every step of this process found ways to be scary in different ways. And now?

It felt like right now was the scariest. The waiting. There was no time left, and Keigo was terrified because he honestly didn't know if he'd be able to recover from this if they lost.

He closed his eyes and let out a shaky breath. What would the Commission do to him if they won? What would they do to Eri?

"Like I said," Dabi's drawl broke into Keigo's thoughts. "You're gonna fucking molt."

Keigo's eyes opened tiredly and he sighed.

"Dabi," he said quietly. "Do you think we'll win?"

There was a pause before Dabi opened his mouth, but Keigo cut him off.

"And be honest, Dabs. You've always been honest. I can...I know I can trust you to tell me what you're really thinking."

Dabi stared at him, then huffed. His face faltered away from his carefully neutral expression to something more uncertain. A look Keigo knew Dabi would never let slip around anyone else.

"I don't know," came the quiet reply. "We did what we could, and maybe it will be enough to keep Sho, Yumi, Natsu, and Eri away from those bastards. But...in my experience the only way to be free of him is burning to death."

His voice broke on the last word. He sounded lost. It pulled at Keigo's chest. Dabi should never sound that way.

"Touya–" Keigo began.

But he'd hardly gotten the word out when he was interrupted.

"Well that was fucking rough, wasn't it?" Natsuo announced as he appeared from behind them and threw an arm around each of their shoulders.

The raw expression from Dabi's face vanished in an instant, replaced with his signature scowl. It was a stark reminder that Dabi was as good at hiding his feelings as Keigo was. But he also didn't shove Natsuo's arm away like he would have before all of this.