Don't Judge a Book

god created

"Oh, angel, fancy meeting you here," that silky smooth voice, always appearing from behind. Izuku had been waiting patiently for the day they'd meet again. He just wasn't expecting it to be today, of all days, when the great storm was supposed to happen. Must they always meet in such dismal circumstances? 

"Davi? Was this your handiwork?" Izuku crossed his arms and shook his head. He should've expected this. Why expect anything different from a villain? Er, demon? 

"Oh, I go by 'Dabi' now, actually," he lowered his hood and stared up at the giant boat with a mad man preaching off of it. There was a lot of that happening recently. His ears were going to bleed at this rate. (Let's just say...Noah wasn't a very good talker and everyone here knew it). 

"Your horns!" Izuku gasped. "What happened to them?! You didn't...please tell me you didn't..." 

"You're so concerned," he laughed it off, as if it didn't matter one way or the other. "I didn't break them. Don't worry, they're just hidden so I can fit in more with the humans. I can also mask my skin and change my hair color, like how a snake sheds? But for some reason my eyes just won't join the program," Dabi waved his arm in front of his face and transformed into a redheaded scarless humanoid. His eyes still the same perfect blue. Too perfect for a human's standards and the pupil was still slanted like a snake's. 

"I'm glad you can't change your eyes. I quite like your eyes," he smiled, a smile too pure for this world. He could kill with that face. 

"You can retract your wings too," Dabi shrugged. "My change in appearance is nothing special." 

"I can?!" Izuku looked back at his wings and tried will all of his might to make them go 'poof.' He managed it somehow. "I didn't know that!" 

"You never knew that? Seriously?" Dabi flicked his fingers against Izuku's forehead. "How long have you been an angel and you've never tried? Not once? Are you an idiot?" he shook his head, greatly disappointed in Izuku's behavior. "I would always get rid of my wings. It made sleeping a lot less of a hassle," Dabi shrugged. 

"Angels don't need to sleep." 

"And that, right there, is probably one of the main reasons I fell from grace," Dabi pointed at Izuku. "Because you lot just don't understand the wonders of sleep. Try it sometime. In any case, do you know what's happening down here?" Dabi gestured to the giant boat. "Seems a bit odd, if you ask me." 

"Well, I think there is going to be a bit of a restart to this whole experiment," Izuku rested his head on his chin and pondered the information he knew. He didn't know much, that was for sure. No one told him anything. God didn't say much either. She liked to keep things very hush-hush. No details to anyone. It was no wonder there was a rebellion and people fell from grace. If the boss don't talk to anyone, why not quit?

"A restart?" Dabi gasped. "You mean...like...a purge? Isn't that a bit harsh? Even for the big boss upstairs?"  

"Maybe you shouldn't have tempted them so much," Izuku shrugged. 

Dabi frowned, looking a bit hurt by that comment. "I haven't tempted any of them since the first time with you at the Garden. I've been trying to blend in with them, enjoying their lifestyle. Humanity is a fun place to be. They're so creative with how they spend their time. Plus, they know the wonders of sleep. I made a few friends too but, of course, they're going to die now, aren't they?" Dabi looked up at the boat. His eyes wandered the scene, hopeless and lost, wondering where it all went wrong. 

"It's, uh, not all bad," Izuku placed his hand on Dabi's shoulder. "She said she won't do it ever again and that there will be a nice pretty sky thing or something to prove it." The heavens growled and dark clouds filled the sky. Liquid fell. The first rainstorm. Izuku floated up a bit and covered Dabi with his wings. 

"See? Dav- Dabi, it's going to be okay," he smiled, trying to reassure him. It wasn't helping. Dabi still looked incredibly lost. It hurt his heart to see him like this so Izuku wrapped his arms around his head and hugged him. Dabi's face was stuck in his chest, listening to the soft beat of an angelic heart. The two stayed like this as the rain poured. 

"I'm sorry," the demon apologized. 

"Sorry? For what? Dear, you haven't done a thing," Izuku played with his scorched hair. "You've just been doing your job like the rest of us. We're all trying to get by in this scary universe." 

"Still, I'm sorry." 

"You're going through a lot now. You're losing a lot of friends. Just mourn them, okay? Don't think about anything else." 

It was then that Izuku learned a demon's tears are black. They're corrupted fragments of the purity of the River of Life. They're disgusting and smelly and they stain uniforms quite a bit. But, they release the tension in the body. Dabi's shoulders shook as his mutilated, impure, tears escaped his eyes and ruined every fiber in Izuku's robe. The rain wasn't enough to wash away his sorrow. 

The two stayed like this for the entirety of the storm, wrapped in each other's arms hearing the loud thunderous noises around them. Sometimes Izuku had to float up to avoid a wave, but he clung to Dabi through it all. Dabi didn't sob the entire time, maybe for the first day, but he was broken still, filled with sympathy, empathy, and a little bit of pity for humanity. He, too, knew the wrath of God. 

"Do you not feel anything for them?" Dabi asked, feeling more like the angel out of the two of them. 

"It's God's will," Izuku replied. "I haven't really thought about the Lord's motives. I'm just a piece of the framework..." 

"Of course, angels don't have minds of their own," Dabi let out a long sigh. He should've expected as much. 

"Hey, look there," Izuku lifted his wing ever so slightly so Dabi could see the mark in the sky. It had been so long since the two of them had even seen the sky. "What is that colorful thing? Is that the sign?" 

"It looks like a bow." 

"A bow made of rain? Where is the arrow?" Izuku frowned, confuzzled. 

"I have a feeling it's going to mean something quite different in the future," Dabi snickered. "Something that colorful doesn't belong with this message." 

"What do you mean? What are you talking about?" Izuku's frown deepened. He was even more confused than before. 

"You'll see," Dabi winked.