Fly High, Burn Bright

Chapter 82

"Dabi, if you don't give me back those papers right now, I'll break your nose again," I threatened, too tired to stand up from the comfortable position that I'd managed to find, instead resorting to trying to get Dabi to stop being an idiot.

"Like hell I'll give them to you," he shot back. It seems that lately, these kinds of bickering arguments were all that happened. "The mission's tomorrow. I'm not letting you stay up late again."

To be fair, Dabi was making sense. Sure, I'd learned to function off of minimal hours of sleep and obscure amount of caffeine, but I couldn't deny that being well-rested would certainly help keep me more aware of everything. Still... "At least let me finish reading this one part! I need to finish memorizing Endeavor's attack patterns, so that if things go wrong, I'll know what to expect!" I gave up on trying to convince Dabi to give me back the reports, and lunged for where he held them just out of my reach. Sadly, his arms were longer than mine, and he, unlike me, wasn't lacking any sleep. 

"Look, Kira, nothing's going to go wrong." Uh-oh. He's saying Kira. So this is more serious than the previous cases. "We'll go and take down Endeavor without him even realizing we're there. We spent so long planning this. We put together the best possible formation, and you know it. You don't need to keep pushing yourself like this, especially since we'll make sure this mission goes smoother than smooth. This time tomorrow, Japan will have one pro hero less." The comforting grin he gave me did wonders, and it certainly didn't meet the topic of murder that he was talking about.  That's what I liked about him. He could be speaking of the darkest crimes with the brightest smile on his face, as if they didn't bother him in the slightest.

I tried to win him over with a pout, but he only gave me another disappointed look. "Fine," I grumbled, slumping down my shoulders in defeat, only to make another grab for the reports as soon as Dabi's guard lowered. This, however, was also unsuccessful, and was met with a raised eyebrow. "I promise I won't try that again."

"Good," Dabi grinned, patting my head like I was an obedient dog. "It's late, you should go to bed now. You  don't want to be tired tomorrow."

I sighed, knowing he was right, but not at all wanting to admit it. "Can't I at least take the file with me? You know, to do some light reading and get me to sleep properly?"

"What, you think I'm that stupid?" Dabi snorted, shaking his head. "Of course not. You'll just stay up all night with it." 

With that, he shoved his hands in his pockets and started walking towards the door. For a second, I considered grabbing the report that he'd shoved messily onto one of the many shelves on my way out, but the sudden increase in temperature made me decide not to, and I followed after Dabi. We walked in silence, relying mostly on muscle memory - the halls were already hard enough to distinguish when the lights were on, but were nearly impossible to tell apart in the dark. Luckily, the four months with the League had paid off, and almost too soon, I was standing in front of the door to my room.

"Sleep, alright? And don't you dare stay up." Dabi gave me a small kiss on my forehead and patted the top of my head again before turning to leave. My hand reached up to grab his sleeve without me even knowing what I was doing, and Dabi looked down at me in confusion. In his defense, I hadn't exactly been the most romantic lately, what with the whole 'overworking myself to make sure everything goes perfectly smooth' thing going one. 

"Would you..." I had to clear my throat to get rid of the awkward feeling that was building up, and it felt unnaturally loud in the otherwise-quiet halls. "Would you maybe like to stay? So that you could, you know, make sure I actually rest?"

Dabi gave me that horrible, horrible grin that I loved so much. "Fair point. Knowing you, you'll probably just stay up all night overthinking about it if I don't stay by your side." 

He shoved the door open and marched in as if he owned the place, and I followed behind him meekly, making sure to close the door after myself. The room glowed with the dim light, making it feel like home. It's been a while since I felt at home somewhere, but here, I was certain that was what I felt. I felt at home in my small room at the headquarters of the League. It certainly wasn't anything special - still the same minimalistic room that it had been when I first arrived, with the single bed, desk, chair, and shelf, though now, it felt more personal. More of my belongings cropped up in random places; a blade on the shelf, a sweater draped over the chair. It was all small things, but they made the room feel familiar.

There were other changes to it too, of course. Small photos of me and the villai- me and my friends were pinned to the wall, all capturing the happy moments that I'd made in my time with the League. There was a photo from each small raid I attended, and tomorrow, another one would be added to the collection. Books from the library that I'd found to particularly enjoy also resided on the shelf, though I hadn't touched them in a while, not since the desk started to get covered in reports that I'd taken with me in hopes of finding more hidden information beneath the first layers of text. The papers were really starting to get out of hand, and there were way too many to be considered a normal amount, but at least the mess was organized enough that I knew where everything was located, and it all felt like home.

Somehow, the feeling only got stronger when Dabi threw his oversized jacket onto the chair and jumped into my bed with his day clothes still on. It was annoying, to say the least, that he was getting my sheets dirty and I couldn't even get mad at him. Instead, I just shook my head with a small smile and climbed in beside him, my face instinctively burying in his chest as his hands wrapped around me to pull me even closer, though I hadn't thought that was possible. I was wrong before. It's not the room that feels like home. It's this. It's Dabi holding me and keeping me company and staying by my side even though he has millions of better things to do. This is home. 

But what if this home gets taken away? I buried myself even deeper into the comfort of Dabi. No, I wouldn't let that happen. I'd already had home be ripped from me once before. I thought home had been the apartment, but it was Keigo, but now, he was gone. He destroyed my first ever home. I wouldn't let this one get destroyed, too. I wouldn't let another person I loved disappear from my life. A person I... loved? Actually, yes, that sounded about right. Months ago, I'd loved Keigo, when he was still Keigo and not Hawks, but now, all I had left for him was hatred. That love moved onto someone else. 

It moved onto Dabi. Dabi, with his cocky grins and horrible attempts at flirting. Dabi, with his annoying nicknames and threatening glares at anyone who dared look at me in a funny way. Dabi, with his jet-black hair and snow-white roots. Dabi, who remained a mystery to me no matter how much I learned about him. Dabi, who stayed by my side when I asked him to and had tried to protect me from the League even when his very mission had been to get me to join. Dabi, who lay beside me, softly breathing, the steady beat of his heart serving as the sweetest of tunes to my ears. I was in love with Dabi, so hopelessly in love, and I couldn't even ask why.

And I couldn't lose him. I couldn't ever lose him. I'd already lost so many people. I'd even lost Keigo, who I'd protected with my life, and there was no way that I'd ever lose Dabi. I wouldn't let anyone else lay a hand on him, even if it cost me my life. I wouldn't lose him. There was no way in hell that I'd lose him, not if there was even the smallest of things I could do to make sure he'd stay. And he would stay. He'd stayed before, so I'd make sure he'd stay forever. No one would ever leave me again. Still...

"Dabi," I whispered quietly into his chest, so quiet that it could barely be heard. "You won't leave me tomorrow, right?"

"Leave you?" His chest vibrated with a small chuckle, and his hands tangled in my hair, brushing it gently and making me feel over the moon. "Never, princess."

I had no trouble falling asleep.