RENEGADE [Izuku Midoriya x OC]

Chapter 3 - Flesh

"You okay, sweet cheeks?"

Folding her novel closed over her finger as a bookmark, Noriko rolled her eyes behind the safety of the pages and straightened up, stretching her arms high over her head. She hated when Dabi asked stupid questions, especially the kind that were thinly-veiled probes for information. His oversized t-shirt lifted from her body as she twisted this way and that to crack her back, revealing slivers of Noriko's stomach and her black underwear beneath the fabric. "Fine," she yawned, "Just tired. Loooong day at the shop." She twisted her vermilion hair into a long coil over one shoulder, trying to fall back into her novel as she settled into his blankets, resting against the headboard.

Dabi smoked in the windowsill seat, tendrils of acrid smoke drifting out the crack in the foggy window and into the rainy night. He'd noticed something different in her, something more twisty than usual. If asked, Dabi'd call it... unsettling... if he cared that much. "I dunno," he said between drags, "You just seem different today. Rattled." He couldn't help but stare at her long, bare legs twisted in his sheets; he bit his lip and wondered if she'd be up for another round. She usually was.

Noriko smirked and looked over at Dabi across the top of her novel. "How observant... one would almost think you cared, Scarface."

"Use pet names like that, and you're just asking for a round two, Red," Dabi chuckled darkly, "And I won't be so gentle this time."

"Promise?"

A growl built in his throat, and Dabi put out his cigarette on the scarred flesh of his arm before tossing the butt out the window. "You talk a lot," he said, standing and sauntering toward the queen-sized bed, "But I'd prefer to hear you moaning, princess."

"Make me," Noriko taunted, eyeing the hardening bulge in his sweatpants. She was poking the bear, but she did it on purpose; the more they had sex tonight, the more days she banked without him. Days of peace and quiet. Days of freedom. Dabi hated commitment nearly as much as Noriko hated pretending to be infatuated with him.

He pulled his shirt over his head with one hand, tackling her with a throaty chuckle. Dabi's dry lips pressed hasty, sharp, hot kisses to Noriko's collarbone, tugging her t-shirt to the side to nip and bite and growl against her skin. Noriko sighed and discarded her book, tossing it to the crowded bedside table with a clatter.

It's worth it, she reminded herself as he snaked his uncomfortably warm hands up her torso, kneading her soft skin and gasping empty, noxious promises in her ear. Threading her long fingers into Dabi's dark hair, Noriko forced a ragged moan and shut her eyes.

This will all be worth it in the end.

-

Midoriya hadn't been able to get Noriko off of his mind.

He managed to focus during fights and scuffles, sometimes during more eventful patrols. But his mind always drifted back to her, wondering what she'd been doing in the five years since he'd last seen her, guessing why she called Sato by his first name, daydreaming about what high school would have been like if he'd swallowed his fear and just asked her out... Wondering what turned her into a villain.

If he could've stopped her. Helped her. Saved her.

...And the worst was the dreams.

Night after night, Izuku dreamt of Noriko, of her tear-strewn face at her sister's funeral, of her life without him in their five year gap, of all of the times he should have been there and wasn't... too focused on his own stuff. Too lost in his own trajectory, his own growth as a hero. Too afraid of his feelings.

The third night, he dreamt of what life would've been like with Nori, the heroine, at his side. That hurt the worst.

And of course, it wasn't a dream he forgot when he woke up. Hero Noriko, and their would-be life, simmered well into his day, tearing his mind in so many different directions that he put himself on desk duty, afraid of what might happen if he let himself into the city, if he put citizens' lives into his hands. Midoriya stared at paperwork and saw his dream ghosting over the top; the remnants of marriage certificates and mortgages hummed in his vision, blurred through his sleepy eyes. Noriko's easy laugh echoed in his ears. Her gentle touch remained even hours later, phantom lips tracing his, soft traces tickling his goose-bumped flesh...

He needed to see her again.

The phone on the corner of his desk rang, and Izuku answered when he realized it was the receptionist. "Um, sir? You have a visitor," they said, "Want me to send them in? They said it's urgent."

"Yes!" He shot to his feet, hoping beyond hope that it was her, that she'd sought him out in some weird soulmate situation and heard his thoughts, or felt his storm of emotions. "Send them in!"

Almost instantly, a weighty knock came from Izuku's office door, and he tried to make himself look more presentable in a flash - raking his hands through his emerald curls, straightening his button-up shirt, smelling his breath and deeming it passable - and yelled, "Come in!" His voice didn't even crack. That much.

But instead of Noriko Ikeda entering Izuku's gigantic corner office overlooking downtown Musutafu... Tenya Iida entered, Ingenium costume on and shiny like new. His helmet stowed under his arm, Tenya grinned at his best friend and shut the door behind him. "Good morning, Midoriya," he said, crossing the office to hug Izuku, "You're looking... distraught today. Something the matter?"

Midoriya tried not to let his disappointment show, but he hugged his friend back. "I bumped into an old friend the other day," he sighed, gesturing for Tenya to sit on the couch near the fireplace.

The two of them sat, and Midoriya sent for coffee. "Normally friends are a reason for celebration, Midoriya," Tenya said, setting his helmet in the empty chair beside them, "What was it about this friend that caused such inner turmoil?"

"I-" Izuku faltered, looking for the right words. He didn't want to lie to Tenya, but he also didn't want to tell his best friend that he spoke with a villain and didn't arrest them. Tenya and his superhuman sense of integrity would shit a brick. 

Izuku's dreams were twisting everything, making his ancient feelings for Noriko confusing and warped and fresh once more. So he utilized a classic Midoriya technique. Deflection. "W-well, what did you think of the code I sent you?"

Nailed it. 

"Ah, that?" Tenya beamed, adjusting his glasses, "It took me a few days, but...

"I believe I've solved it."