𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 ⟢ 𝘁. 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗼𝗿𝗼𝗸𝗶/𝗱𝗮𝗯𝗶

𝟏𝟑

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(in reality this is meant to be chapter 12-b lol)

𝐲𝐨𝐮

my apartment was quiet, a stark contrast to the storm raging inside my mind. i was now dressed and paced the living room, replaying every word and glance exchanged with dabi.

he had confronted me about me not visiting touya's grave, his anger was totally noticeable. but i hadn't backed down this time. i finally stood my ground, even as his piercing blue eyes bore into me.

i sighed, running a hand through my now dry hair. "so he's obviously stalked me for months, if not years?" i wondered aloud. his knowledge of my routine, my friends, even my close relationship with hawks—it was unnerving. i knew i needed to keep my wits about me.

if that's so. why didn't he come back?

the next few weeks passed in a blur. i buried myself in my work, focusing on providing hawks and other heroes with the equipment they needed, since apparently hawks had told me that something really big was coming up. a possible war, between heroes and villains.

most labs like mine all over japan were filled with requests, but even my coworkers were filled with too much work for them to handle.

eventually, after talking to hawks in one of our outings about how saturated every lab was. i ended up going to ua, to personally offer a student from the support course named mei hatsume internship in my lab.

"you know," i said admiring every single 'baby' the pink haired girl had created during her short time in ua. "you're a very talented person, mei."

"thank you!" mei smiled. "i've been working hard on all of these babies!"

"i could tell." i placed a hand on mei's sweaty back. "i actually came here to offer you an internship in my lab, we've been a little bit saturated with requests from heroes right now. we could definitely use the help. if you like it you could stay for as long as you'd like."

"no way!" mei jumped with a huge smile plastered on her face. "it's an honor to go under your wing, y/n!"

she has been coming over everyday and even decided to stay after hours to work on everything, i usually have to walk her back to the ua dorms so she could take a break.

i guess we were both similar in that way.

dabi has been keeping his distance, though i knew he was still watching. he was preoccupied with his plans, i knew he was plotting his revenge against enji.

if the war was coming up soon, then he was definitely going to have his revenge there.

a part of me wanted to warn everyone. to tell them about dabi being touya, yet i couldn't, because it would end up making everything worse.

one evening, as i wrapped up my work at the lab and let mei go home. i felt the familiar unease settle over me. i still hadn't visited touya's grave since dabi's sudden visit after my bath, and the guilt weighed heavily on me.

seeing dabi ask me why i stopped going and how it actually affected him. it surely created a soft spot for him in my heart and mind.

when i settled into my bed, trying to calm my racing thoughts. i couldn't ignore the sense of dread that had settled in my chest.

i was in the middle of a dangerous game, and one wrong move could have devastating consequences.

my eyes drifted shut, and i surrendered to sleep, hoping for a brief respite from the turmoil.