Fly High, Burn Bright

Chapter 65

I didn't have time to regret my decision. As soon as my hand was in his, Dabi pulled me forward, and scooped me up in a bridal carry, making me yelp in surprise - I'd expected him to just drag me somewhere, not to pick me up. My hands instinctively wrapped around his neck to keep my balance, and for a brief second, I wondered why I didn't try to get myself out of his hold. If it had been anyone else, I would've already kicked their gut and broken their nose, and yet, I let him get away with it for some reason that was completely unknown to me. Maybe I missed the feeling of being held close like that, or just the warmth of another person. Yes, that had to be it. Nothing else. Nothing else at all.

"Hold on, princess," Dabi gave me a crooked grin, and I felt the hand holding my back shift away. I automatically tightened my grip around Dabi, not letting myself slip out of his grip as he adjusted his hold on me to make it more comfortable until he had one arm under my legs, pressing me close to his chest. I could've sworn I heard his heart beat a little bit faster, or maybe that was my own. They pounded in sync, as if they were connected to one another with some extraterrestrial force, but the harmony didn't last for long. 

A sudden intense warmth enveloped me from all sides, and as Dabi was shot through the air by a very hot stream of blue flames, my hold around him became almost deadly. Keigo had taken me flying with him before, but this was... completely, entirely different. That had been a beautiful breeze drifting through the air. This was a deadly flight that depended completely on someone who was meant to be my sworn enemy. And yet, for whatever strange reason, as I pressed myself further and further into Dabi's chest, I found myself thinking how these brief moments of coursing through the air, with Dabi holding on to me as if I were the most precious asset of his life, was better than any of those carefree flights that Keigo had offered. 

When we landed on the roof, I almost didn't want to let go. I reluctantly loosened my grip on Dabi, still in a daze from the fact that we'd just flown up a ten story building with the strength of flames coming from only one of Dabi's hands. He'd managed to carry me with one hand and use his quirk with so much force with the other, and I couldn't help but be deeply impressed. I didn't know much about Dabi's quirk except for the fact that he was able to produce flames even stronger and hotter than Endeavor's, but I was more than sure it was a hard challenge, especially since Dabi had to fly us both through the air instead of just himself. The comfortable warmth was still surrounding us, making the early autumn air just a little less cool, and I must've lost myself in the feeling, because Dabi had to wave in front of my face to get my attention.

"You sure have a strong grip, don't you?" Dabi teased, leaning forward to adjust my mask - I hadn't even noticed it started to slip down until Dabi fixed it.

"You'd be clinging on for dear life, too, if you were suddenly shooting through the air," I retorted, and although the words had a sharp bite in them, both he and I knew I didn't mean it. 

He sheepishly scratched the back of his neck and gave me an apologetic smile. "My bad, I should've asked you how you were with flying first. Wouldn't exactly want your first experience of flying to be a disaster, huh?"

"Oh! That actually wasn't my first time flying, it's all good. It was just a little unexpected," I tried reassuring Dabi, but he met my eyes with confusion.

"You've flown before? Uh, no offense but I didn't exactly take your quirk to be one that can be used for flying."

"I, um, I've flown with Kei- Hawks. I've flown with Hawks before." I could almost see some of the energetic blue fade from his eyes, and my own voice got quieter and quieter with every word. I shouldn't have said that. I shouldn't have brought up Keigo - no, he was Hawks now. He lost the privilege of being called by his name the second that he pushed me away. Now, he was just Hawks, a random hero that I used to work with but now didn't want to have anything to do with him. He was no longer Keigo, and I was no longer Vizion. Now, he was just Hawks the pro hero, and I was just Kira the villain.

"Right. You've flown before. I should've known. Well, good to know that you have experience with it." I thought I heard disappointment cloud his voice, but maybe, hopefully, I was wrong. Wait, no. I didn't want to be wrong. If Dabi was disappointed, then that must mean he cared, right? And I wanted him to care. I wasn't sure of it before, but now, I was positive. I wanted him to care. And he did care, didn't he? He cared about my wellbeing and about what happened to me, and he cared about whether or not I felt comfortable around him. So I cared about him, too.

I didn't know what came over me, but I took a slow step forward and wrapped my hands around Dabi in a hug, barely squeezing for fear that he wouldn't return the gesture. "It may not have been my first time," I whispered, "but it definitely was the best. Take me flying again, won't you?" When he didn't move for the first few seconds, I started to pull away. Maybe I'd been wrong. Maybe he didn't care about me in the way that I care about him. 

Then, I felt his hands snake around me, and a soft kiss was pressed to my forehead, instantly making me relax. "Sure I will, princess. Whatever you want." I was worried for no reason. Of course he cared. Of course he understood. He'd kissed me and I'd kissed him, and we cared for each other. We were broken and destroyed and we were villains, but we had one another to care for. Surely it would be fine. 

We stayed like that, holding onto each other as if letting go would mean saying goodbye for forever, until I remembered why we'd come in the first place, and that we had a ticking clock with only a small window of time that we'd be able to sneak in unnoticed. I didn't want to let go of him, not when this hug was the closest I'd felt to anyone in weeks, but I loosened my grip around him even more until it was just a trace, a mere ghost of my touch over him. I was confident that he'd gotten my message, and yet,  he only pulled me even closer, wrapping me in the warmth of his chest.

"Dabi," I managed to say quietly against the fabric of his shirt, "we should get going. It's probably not the best idea to stick around for too long."

His arms squeezed harder around me for a second before finally letting go, and he took a cautious step back, as if he didn't want to be tempted back into another embrace. "Yeah, you're right," he replied, and although his voice sounded happy, I could tell he, too, didn't want to let go just yet. "Lead the way, princess."

I hid a grin as I walked back to the trap door of the roof that I'd used to visit every few days and pulled on the handle, only for a lock to rattle loudly instead. I frowned - had one been installed while I was gone? My hands immediately searched for a small stick of sorts or a bobby pin - I'd have one with me back when my hair was longer, but now, I didn't exactly have a reason to keep one on me, and I groaned in frustration. Beside me, Dabi made a grand gesture of pulling a bobby pin from one of his pockets, presenting it to me with a flourish.

"Why do yo-" I started as I gratefully took it from his hand, but decided against it. "You know what? I'm not gonna ask."

With a few small jiggles and four quiet clicks, the lock gave way, and this time, it was my turn to make an overly large gesture to let Dabi take the first step through. The cool breeze was replaced by warm air of the building as we took our time going down the stairs, and I steeled my nerves in preparation. This is easy. We'll go in, I'll grab the notebook and a bag with as much of my stuff as I can, and I'll be out. This will be completely fine. It was not completely fine. My body trembled at the thought of returning 'home'. What if, when I entered, I was reminded of everything I'd lost because of Hawks and I broke down? It'd taken smaller things to hurt me before, so maybe coming back was a bad idea...

Still, it was too late to turn back. The hallways seemed to get more and more narrow around us, and I almost started to suffocate from the suddenly-heavy air, but I raised my hand and twisted the bobby pin into the lock of the door, slowly pushing it open to reveal the apartment I'd left behind so long ago.