Fly High, Burn Bright

Chapter 59

With nothing better to do, Dabi and I wandered through the halls of the base in silence. My hands kept drifting up to my hair as some of the regret started settling in, but I tried to keep my mind off it. After all, it was for the best, and it wasn't like I could just glue the hair back in place. I was perfectly aware of Dabi's intense stare at me the whole time, and I couldn't tell whether he was about to burst out laughing or if he was admiring the new look. From his expression, it could very well have been both at the same time. We didn't exactly walk anywhere in particular, but rather, we 'explored' the base until I was able to commit most of it to memory. We rounded a corner and I recognized this particular hallway to lead to one of the several gyms and training rooms.

"Not that I'm complaining about it," Dabi started to slow down a little, and I followed his lead, "but what's up with the sudden hair chopping? I thought you liked the long hair."

"I did," I shrugged, noticing how close Dabi's hand was to mine - I could almost feel the heat radiating off of him. "But hey, you heard what they said on the news. They're looking for me now, and I can't just walk around outside the way I did before. At least I'm somewhat disguised now," I explained, but Dabi just raised an eyebrow and gave me a cocky grin.

"Yep, I'm sure that's why you randomly decided to cut off your hair," he smirked, and I was suddenly reminded of how much I wanted to punch him. "Totally not because you're having a mental breakdown or because you're going through an existential crisis."

I rolled my eyes at him, punching him in the gut. "Shut up."

"Or what? You'll kiss me again?" Dabi teased, and I had the sudden urge to either kick him in the stomach or to do exactly what he said. Not like I'd ever admit to the latter, though.

"You wish," I snorted, turning away from him and starting for the gym. Just because I couldn't train didn't mean that I couldn't watch others and get familiar with them, right?

In a flash, Dabi had me pinned against the wall, one hand guarding the back of my head from getting hurt again and the other trapping me in place. He leaned down to me, that overconfident smile stretching over his face as he hovered over me. His eyes locked on mine before tracing down to my lips. "And what if I do wish?" He asked, his tone dangerously sweet like honey. "What would you do then?"

It was like my body had a mind of its own, and I felt that now-familiar feeling where even though I wanted to ignore the urge, my selfish needs got the better of me. I automatically started to lean forward to meet him halfway, pushing away the rational thoughts that screamed at me to stop - I barely knew him, so why did he make me feel this way? It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair that he made my pulse rush a little faster, or that he made me completely forget about Keigo, but I didn't care. I didn't even try to resist when I felt my body start to press into his, my head tilting up to meet his at the same perfect angle that I remembered so clearly.

"Get a room, you two!" Someone shouted from down the hall, and I froze in place, trying to see how it was. Only when her two blonde buns came into view did I realize that it was Toga, though it was hard to see her, what with Dabi still trapping me to the wall.

"You're one to talk," he scoffed, slowly and reluctantly pulling off of me, and I felt myself start to breathe again. "Do I really need to remind you how many times I walked in on you with your tongue down Yuri's throat?"

Toga promptly chose to ignore him and peeled Dabi completely off of me, her grin widening when she saw my blush and now-short hair. "I like the new look, Kira," she chirped, her hand reaching out to brush against the ends. "Want me to straighten it out a little? I'm pretty good with blades, y'know?" She smiled that sadistic smile that I knew I'd worn several times, and I almost felt inclined to nod in agreement, but I shook my head.

"It's fine," I shrugged, not wanting to bring too much attention to myself. "I'll just leave it the way it is for now."

"Hm. Fine, your choice, I guess," she beamed back, leaving me a little confused as to how she was so happy whenever I saw her, but I decided not to question it. "Oh right! Wanna train with me? I heard you're pretty good yourself!"

"And that's our cue to leave," Dabi cut in, gently grabbing my shoulders and leading me away from Toga, and I managed to give her a wave and a promise to take her up on the offer before Dabi had pulled me back to one of the living rooms. Thankfully, this time I decided not to inflict more pain on myself and I stayed away from the remote, letting Dabi choose a random movie instead.

The day crawled by, and then another passed in a similar manner. The dizziness and constant weakness started to slowly fade away, much to my relief - I didn't know how much longer I could stay cooped up like that before I lost my mind. Though Dabi made sure to keep an eye on me to make sure I wouldn't do something stupid that I'd regret later, I managed to find a few moments on my own to at least keep up with some practice, though the exercise left me sore and aching. He and I still didn't talk about the tension that was between us now - then again, there wasn't much to say about it, anyway. We'd steal kisses from one another and leave the other flustered at will, and yet, I still pushed the thought of him being... well, him away.

When another day slipped past, Shigaraki called me down to the interrogation rooms once again, this time focusing more on the layout of the agency. A few other members of the League joined us as I thoroughly explained how the agency was built, mentioning every single turn and room to make sure the blueprint was clear in everyone's mind. Any question they had, I answered as best as I could, providing all the possible details without any hesitation. If there had been any villains still doubting me, then I was sure they were more than convinced they could trust me with how effortlessly I spilled valuable information on the agency.

Three more days passed, and even Dabi couldn't force me into bed rest when he saw that I no longer had to lean on the wall to stand properly and when my punches started to hurt him more than they had in almost a week. I finally took up Toga's offer to train, but Dabi never let me out of his sight, constantly doing subtle checks that he thought I missed that I wasn't pushing myself too hard. It was sweet, to some degree, but when he interrupted a sparring session between me and the blonde girl because she'd been "going too hard on me and I was still weak", I not-quite-politely told him to leave me alone, to which he replied with by slamming me against the wall of the gym, telling me he cared too much to do that, and shoving his tongue halfway down my throat. Needless to say, the training session with Toga was cut short when Dabi dragged me out of the gym and to his own room, which thankfully didn't have any of the one-way mirrors that I still had in mine. Two days later, I was still sore and covered in "mysterious bruises" that I did my best to hide during Toga's and mine training session. 

Shigaraki called another meeting to discuss the new mission he was planning, and although Dabi first tried to protest that I was still not ready to go out with the rest of the League, a simultaneous stern glare from both me and Shigaraki got him to shut up. Maybe the others finally started to stop giving me the side eye because of how open I was, or maybe because of the way Dabi would raise an eyebrow in challenge if anyone dared look at me weird. It felt strange - Keigo had been protective, but never to this degree. Still, even though it was twisted in some strange push-and-pull game of never-ending cat and mouse, I slowly started to rely on Dabi just a little more. I wouldn't let myself get carried away the way I'd been with Keigo - never again would I let anyone matter to me that much - but maybe, just maybe, it was fine if I enjoyed the fleeting moments when we were pressed up against each other instead of bickering over some small detail. Maybe, just maybe, Dabi wasn't that bad.