Fly High, Burn Bright

Chapter 36

I was painfully aware of the stares that I got as I grabbed a notebook from one of the aisles and an energy drink from another, and handed the cashier a thousand yen, telling them to keep the change. Their glare didn't soften, and I rushed out of the store without even taking my change before they could make any snarky remarks. Great. They probably think that I'm skipping out on my job now. That's just perfect. I was half-tempted to check, but decided to at least get to the apartment first. With the notebook in hand, I popped the tab of the energy drink, chugging it and crumpling the can in my hand as I walked back to the apartment complex. 

I tossed the now-crushed can into a trash bin that stood near a bus station and sped up a little, overflowing with relief when I finally entered the complex and the glowers finally stopped. I waved to the receptionist and headed to the elevator, waiting for the familiar ding as the doors slid open and I pushed the button for the highest floor. With another chime, the elevator opened, and I walked down the hall, stopping at the door of mine and Keigo's apartment. After a few seconds of searching for my keys among the spare change in my pockets, one hand still clutching the notebook, I pushed the door open, locking it behind me and immediately dumping everything excess, including my belt of knives and poisons, onto the couch before turning to the kitchen to make myself another cup of coffee.

When I saw the now-familiar silhouette of Dabi in the dark kitchen, I froze for a brief moment, then considered activating my quirk to hide myself, but gave up on that after realizing I'd already been too loud, and it was impossible that Dabi hadn't heard me enter. A million questions raced through my mind, and I was aware of just how awake I was now, even though I'd felt as if I was about to collapse just moments earlier. He could leave me notes, sure, and even ask me to meet him in the middle of the night, but just lounging around in my kitchen was too far.

"What are you doing in my kitchen?" I demanded, suddenly regretting that I'd left my knives back in the living room.

"I missed you," Dabi answered, shrugging as he rifled through our pantry. 

I rushed forward and slapped his hand away before he could take anything. "You can't just hang around in my kitchen because you're a lowlife that has nothing better to do," I hissed, slamming the pantry shut. "Besides, you saw me literally less than twelve hours ago, so come up with a better excuse, will you?"

"Nice place you've got here," he said, shoving one hand in his pocket as the other grazed over the furniture. "I usually don't have time to hang around, but since we're both here, why don't you give me a tour of the place?"

"No." I stormed to Dabi's side, pushing him with all my strength out of the kitchen and into the hall. "Now unless you plan on telling me why you're really here, get out of my apartment."

Dabi dug his heels into the floor, not moving even when I took a step back and charged into him in an attempt to send him flying down the hall. "So I can't even visit my best friend now? How rude," he teased, smirking down at me as I glared back, delivering a punch to his gut that made him double over.

"We are not friends, and this isn't visiting," I growled, giving up on trying to get the villain to leave when he still didn't budge. "This is breaking and entering, and I have legal proof. I have every right to beat the life out of you and lock you up, and this time, you wouldn't be able to do a thing about it."

"I know you wouldn't, princess," he  purred, his sickly sweet tone finally making me snap as he traced his fingers down the wall as if he was searching for cracks. He thought he could just waltz into my life, murder hundreds of people, threaten the only person I had left, almost burn my arm off, promise to exploit me if I tried to get help, and then act as if we were friends? Like hell he could.

In a flash, I lunged forward, driving my knee into his stomach to lower his defense and force a groan of pain out of him, but I didn't give him a moment to rest. I swung Dabi around, using my elbow to slam him against the wall of the hallway face-first and grabbing his arms in my hands, twisting them against his spine until Dabi arched his back in pain, a low hiss leaving his mouth, but I didn't stop. I kept pushing his wrists upwards until I couldn't raise them higher without bringing him permanent damage, and I watched in satisfaction for a few moments as he writhed in pain, struggling against my grip. Before he could use his quirk to burn my hands or force me away, I dug my elbow harshly into his ribs, pressing down on every weak spot I could.

"You sure about that, darling?" I whispered sweetly, pressing his wrists even further up and leaning close so that my mouth was right next to his ear, and even if there were people with us, no one but him would've heard what I said. "Now, you can either tell me why you came, or you can get the hell out of my apartment and only come back when you actually have something useful to say."

"Fine," Dabi groaned out, finally giving up on his struggle when I jabbed my knee into his thigh. "I'm going." I immediately let go of him, watching as the villain dropped to the ground, rubbing the spot on his wrists where I'd dug my nails into the skin and angry red crescents now stood out on the otherwise undamaged flesh. "You know, for someone as small as you, you've got quite the grip," he noted, that annoying tone already back.

"Out. Now," I growled, pointing to the door with a deadly glare. "Come back when you decide to be productive, not when you feel like a whiny little bitch that has nothing better to do than waste my time." Dabi raised his hands in defeat and walked to the door, his eyes never leaving mine, as if he was scared that if he looked away for even a second, I'd attack him. That's right, I sneered to myself, imagining how good it would feel to knock the wind out of him. You broke into my apartment and hung around as if you own the place. You'd better be afraid of me.

Only when he was almost flat against the door did he turn slightly to pull at the handle, giving me one last smirk as he stood in between my apartment and the hallway of the building. "Before I forget, princess, I'd really recommend you didn't check your media any time soon. It's a whole shit show happening out there," he grinned, his face cocky once again, any trace of the fear I yearned for him to feel disappearing. I kicked him into the hall and slammed the door shut. 

I silently leaned against the door for a few seconds, listening in satisfaction as Dabi grumbled something about me being too rude to him, only leaving once his footsteps faded. Now that he was gone, the rush of adrenaline I'd gotten started to fade, and I grudgingly went back to the kitchen, starting up the coffee machine to make myself another cup. The familiar, quiet hum along with the bitter smell helped me calm down a little, and I managed to somewhat organize my thoughts, wondering briefly what had even been the point of Dabi's visit other than to completely ruin my already-horrible day. 

When the machine beeped and I poured myself a cup of coffee, my mind wandered back to what he'd said about the media. I'd told him before just how much it affected heroes, and now, of course he'd try to use it against me. I'd managed to go long enough without so much as checking my social media, simply because I knew that most of my platforms would be flooded with the hate on me from the public and because I didn't want to have another episode where I'd just break down because of the pressure.

He's a villain. He meant to shake you up. Ignore him, I scolded myself, not even wanting to think about the topic, but as I leaned against the kitchen counter, taking slow sips of the scalding-hot coffee, my hand subconsciously drifted to my phone. My mind battled with my body, with my rational side telling me to ignore the villain's remark and keep going about my day, but my curiosity won, and with a sigh, I set down my mug, tapped the password into my phone, and before I could think any more about it, opened up YouTube.