Chasing You

Chase Twelve: Taking Strange Baths

"You're still here?" Dabi was taken aback by the fact Death the Kid was curled up in a corner. He nodded. 

"I have nowhere else to go. I wanted to apologize...for the...back wound. I'm so-"

"It's not your fault, kid," Dabi waved it off. "I need to take a bath. I need to think about some shit. Speaking of baths, you probably need one more than I do. Come here," he gestured for Death the Kid to come closer, "I'll show you how to work that piece of shit." Death the Kid stood up. He wandered over to Dabi. He followed him to the bathroom. Through that hallway. Death the Kid had never been able to place why it was he disliked Tenko. Walking through this hallway made him realize it. He grabbed Dabi's hand. 

"Tenko is..." 

"Yeah, I know that now," Dabi replied. "I should've realized it when you were so scared of him when you first saw him. I'm such an idiot, right? A damn fool. I didn't see the obvious when it was right in front of my face. Now he is gone. I'm not going to be able to find him again." Dabi opened the door to the shitty bathroom in his shitty apartment. Paint chipped. Walls gross looking. He really needed a new living space. 

"Did you...love him?" No one had asked Dabi that before. Dabi had never loved someone a day in his life. The thought of loving Mr. Hand Stealer felt...odd. 

"We were just fuck buddies. I wonder if he knew from the beginning or after the fact...but that's too much to think about. I hurt. I want a bath. And, you need to get clean." 

Death the Kid let go of Dabi's hand. He watched as Dabi filled the tub. "Do you..." Death the Kid began to strip. "want to f-" 

"No," Dabi cut him off before he could offer. "I don't. Don't get me wrong, kid, it's not that you aren't cute or anything. But, you're messed up in the head. I know because I am too," Dabi swished the water with his hand, checking the temperature. "You remind me of my little brother. I'm pretty sure I had one, at some point, but I don't know where he is anymore. I can't remember what he looks like. We ended up in different places. I can't remember what any of my siblings look like, for that matter. They wouldn't recognize me now."

"I'm sorry," Death the Kid's body shook as he cried. "I don't know what else I'm good for." 

"It's alright, kid," Dabi shut off the water and turned around. He placed his hand on Death the Kid's hair and ruffled it a bit. "Have a nice bath, okay? I'll be cleaning up the shit on my couch," Dabi sighed. Death the Kid nodded. 

There was a knock on Dabi's door. It must be someone he didn't know, considering the fact that everyone he did know was always barging in unannounced. His door was too shitty to have a real lock. Picking it was simple. Dabi reluctantly meandered on over to answer it. He opened the door. 

"What do you want?" 

The male with half red and half white hair stood in an extremely stiff position. He was too formal for Dabi's liking. He looked like he had a stick up his ass in the most literal sense. Dabi leaned up against his door frame. He crossed his arms and eyed the stranger up and down. How young was he? Couldn't be that much younger than Dabi. 

"I wanted to apologize for the giant hole in your ceiling," he said. 

"Why? Did you do it on purpose or some shit?" Dabi scoffed. He didn't have time for this. Well, he did, he actually had too much time on his hands. Somehow, however, saying he didn't have time for anything made everything easier to deal with. Dabi liked his alone time. Pick up the pace, stranger, he had a giant pile of debris to clean up. 

"Well, no, but I came to apologize anyway. The roof should be cleaned up within a week or so. Do you have anywhere else to stay?" 

"Yeah," Dabi lied. "Don't worry about it. Just continue on with your life. We're neighbors, not lovers. Actually, I think this is the most I've ever talked to you. What's your name?" 

"Shouto. Shouto Todoroki." 

"Dabi." That name felt familiar. Ah, right, the name of the asshole that was killed tonight. "Do you know an Enji Todoroki?" 

"Yes." 

"Have you seen the news?" Dabi frowned. 

"No." 

"The serial killer that steals hands got to him. The guy is dead." Dabi knew full well what that meant. His neighbor was related to him by blood. He didn't care if they were brothers or cousins. It had nothing to do with him. They were fine up until this point not knowing about each other. They didn't need to build a bond just because some asshole got himself killed. Even if he had missed his siblings just a few moments prior, he wasn't about to start making new relationships this late in the game. 

"Is that so," he replied. Shouto barely had a reaction to those words. Guess he wasn't close to the victim. 

"I'll see you around," Dabi closed the door. How many weird interactions was he going to have in one day? His back was killing him. Was Death the Kid out of the bath yet? Thoughts of the worst kind filtered into Dabi's mind. Shit. Leave a guy that feels like shit in the bathtub too long, that's asking for trouble. 

He ran into the bathroom. The last thing he needed was this kid trying to pull some suicide bullshit. What he found, however, was Death the Kid trying his very best to make all of the bubbles in his bath symmetrical. Dabi laughed at the adorableness of the scene. 

"I'm an idiot," Dabi shook his head. If Death the Kid was going to kill himself he'd already have done it by now. He had plenty of time left unattended today alone.

"Will you let me wash you?" Death the Kid held out his arms. "The water is still warm."

"Would that make you feel better?" Death the Kid nodded. "Alright. I'll let you wash me." Dabi took off his clothes and got into the bath. The water level rose and spilled out of the tub. Death the Kid was worried. Dabi wasn't. His place was already shitty. It would just make it more shitty. Shit on top of shit is still shit. 

"Won't your wound get bad in this filthy water?" It's a little late to be worried about that. He was the one that wanted to wash Dabi...

"It's fine," Dabi shrugged. "I'll just spit on it later or something. It'll be fine. I've experienced worse."