Top pic credit: Birf

A/N: to those who've read angel of the sky - there may be a few cameos here and there, but the actual plot of that book does not coincide with this book. Some things may be similar by coincidence, but in terms of everything Dabi did in angel of the sky, the specific plot between him, Ari, and Keigo is different from him and Violet. I wanted to give him his own story spotlight💙💙💙

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Violet POV: ~ present day ~

"Okay, so. Let's go over some ground rules." I stated firmly as my new 'partner' and I walked through the busy city streets to get to our destination.

His condescending chuckle grated harshly against my ears, and I hate that even though the city was incredibly loud, I could still hear something so insignificant.

"Rule number one, sunshine. There are no rules. Ain't that just grand?" Dabi drawled out smugly, lazily stretching his arms over his head as he barely trailed behind me.

I resisted the urge to grab his arm and drag him along faster. After all, the street is busy, it's nighttime, it's freezing, and we still have a few more blocks to reach our new 'hideout.'

But, not wanting to provoke him and cause a fight, I simply huffed in irritated defeat....forcibly slowing down my brisk walking pace to match his sloth like one.

"Well, sorry to inform you, but yes. There are rules, okay? You can't just go around robbing people whenever you want." I explained begrudgingly, pulling my scarf tighter around my neck.

"Oh? Robbing, you say? That hurts. What kind of a person do you think I am?-you know I do things way worse than robbing. A little insulting that you don't think so." He pointed out with casual mock, not even apologizing when he accidentally ran straight into someone walking the opposite way on the street.

Not that the person brought attention to the bump anyways. Sure, they looked up and gave him a dirty glare. But, similar to every other person in this city, the glare was quick to morph into pure fear at the sight of the notorious villain Dabi so casually showing his face and hanging out in public.

We've been walking in the city for about twenty minutes now, and the police have been called on us about forty times. The cops showed up the first three times, but the hero commission was quick to inform the police to ignore all calls involving mere sightings of the villain Dabi. No one is supposed to intervene unless he's been caught deliberately terrorizing the civilians.

That was part of the deal the league made the with the commission, after all. In exchange for their help, these villains are temporarily pardoned for their crimes and allowed to walk free, so long as they don't cause any new trouble.

To sweeten the deal even more, and to ease the public's fears a bit, all standard-and most likely unhygienic, villain clothes were replaced with clean cut civilian clothes to help these guys fit in a little better.

But, of course, with Dabi's obnoxious attitude and intimidating face? A nice sweater and coat, jeans, and some clean cut shoes do absolutely nothing to ease anyone's nerves. Mine included.

"Yeah? Well, it's a little insulting that you deliberately keep running into people. Ever heard of saying excuse me?" I hissed out to him in annoyance, slowly starting to pick up my walking pace once more in hopes that he'd naturally follow.

"And ruin my diabolical image? I could never. What would the news stations talk about then? Surely not you." He smirked, taking another jab at my low hero status as if that would actually hurt my feelings.

I already said once that I don't care about my rank. I meant it.

But, if that's the best insult that Dabi can come up with? Fine, I'll play into it. I'd rather have him attack something I don't care about, than one of my actual insecurities.

"Laugh about it while you can. But, I won't be at the bottom forever. I'll rise to the top quicker than you know it-and the first thing I'll be doing when that happens, is throw you in prison." I said proudly, causing him to raise his brows with taunting challenge.

"Is that so? Let's not forget how well throwing me in prison worked out for you last time." He said, his barely audible voice forcing me to slow my walking pace once again so I could hear him over the bouncing city life.

I pursed my lips in slight disapproval for his comment, deciding to try and play the 'threatening' card.

"Yeah, well I hope you enjoyed my healing crystals while you could, cause next time I capture you? You won't be getting them again. Yep. Next time, the mission will be prioritized over your life, since you already betrayed that trust." I said confidently, hoping that would let him know I'm not messing around-

"Doubt it." He uttered uninterestedly, shoving his hands in the clean cut pockets of his pants as he began looking around the city scenery.

My head whipped over to him in slight offense now, causing my brows to furrow in annoyance.

"What do you mean doubt it? You shouldn't! I-"

"You're telling me that if you found me bleeding out somewhere again, with only minutes to live, you'd 'prioritize' the mission and not use your crystals to save me first? You heroes are suckers, you'll save anyone to make yourselves look like some cutesy saviors. So, I call bullshit on whatever threat you were blabbing on about." Dabi stated, bumping into another random person on the street without apologizing.

I felt my shoulders deflate slightly at being called out, reflecting on what I would do if I ever found myself in the same situation as before.

Damn it. He's probably right, I would save him again, huh?

"It's not bull-crap. It's true! I wouldn't save you." I defended stubbornly, causing Dabi's eyes to slowly turn towards me in condescending question now.

"I said bullshit."

"Yeah, but....well, I don't like to swear. I only do it in my head." I explained casually, quickening my walking pace once more as I crossed the street.

Only then did Dabi finally start walking a bit faster. Not much, but fast enough to ensure I'd be able to clearly hear his insult.

"Wow. Grow up much? How the fuck old are you that you can't say a simple word? What's gonna happen if you cuss? Are you suddenly gonna combust into a villain? You'd probably be ranked even lower down on that side of town, than you are here-" He snickered, before I quickly cut him off.

"Nothing's gonna happen! I just don't like to swear. It's awkward when I do it, and I can have a conversation without using bad words." I justified, mentally cheering as I saw our destination in sight now.

"Not a very fun one. No wonder you're so fucking boring." He countered with a purposeful emphasis on the bad word.

"Well, Dabi, if you liked me then I'd probably be doing something wrong-and illegal."

"God forbid you pull that stick out of your ass."

I felt my jaw tense up in annoyance for his antics, trying to focus more on the beautiful, swanky hotel a few feet in our sights.

It's located right in the middle of the city, with gorgeous fountains and gardens adorning both sides. Quite frankly, the place looks more like a castle, but I'm definitely not complaining about that.

Especially, since this hotel is our new 'hideout.' All exclusively paid for by the hero commission, for however long this mission goes on for. Not too bad of a deal there, right? Sure beats my studio apartment.

The only con is having to share a damn room with my partner, Dabi. But, that's alright. There's two beds and I'm a light sleeper, so I'll know if he tries anything funny.

The hero commission had already informed the hotel that Dabi and I were coming, so luckily there were no major surprises when we walked up to the front desk to check in.

And even for a hotel that would drain my entire bank account from a single night stay, I couldn't say I was expecting too much when Dabi and I entered our room. After all, it was still supposed to be a relatively small room from what the concierge said.

But, my god, she couldn't have been more wrong...

My jaw fell open in shock as I opened the door to our room, practically seeing nothing but dollar signs the moment my gaze took in the sites.

As expected, there were two beds, both respectfully on opposite sides of the room from each other. But, there was also a small kitchen lined with granite and tiles that were more expensive than anything I own. Pretty art work decorated the walls-even from here, I could see that the bathroom was almost as big as our main room.

One wall of the room was made entirely of a glass window, giving us a nice view, being on the twenty-something floor. There was also a small balcony, but the thing that caught my attention the most out there was the small-hot tub in the corner?!

"Wow. This is nice." I uttered to no one in particular, almost forgetting about the unpleasant company who followed me into the room until he spoke.

"Should be. Those hero shits have more money than they know what to do with. The least they can do is give us a decent place to stay while we help save their prissy asses." Dabi pointed out, kicking the spotless door closed with his scuffy shoe before sloppily dropping his duffel bag on one of the neatly made beds.

"This bed's bigger." He stated smugly, scooting his bag upwards a little bit so he could take a seat at the edge.

I rolled my eyes as I made my way to the other bed near the window, carefully setting my own backpack down onto it.

"They're the same size, but whatever." I uttered, immediately starting to unpack all of the fancy gadgets and electronics that the commission gave Dabi and I for this assignment.

Dabi on the other hand opted to kick his duffel off his bed now, lounging himself back against the nice pillows with a small sigh of content.

I shot him a small glare as I continued unpacking the bag, setting the laptop on the little table in the corner with a heavy thud.

"I'd asked you to help, but that would ruin your diabolical image, right?" I retorted lightly, causing the corners of his mouth to turn up into a smirk.

"Fast learner, you are. Congratulations. When you're done there, open that for me, so I can see what they have." He nagged, lazily gesturing to the little fridge in the kitchen.

"Ha ha. Very funny. Why would I do that, when we still have those ground rules to go over?" I reminded him slyly, pulling out a small whiteboard and marker from the bag of equipment.

He huffed in annoyance for the sight, immediately trying to blow me off again.

"Ack, this again? We already established that there aren't any rules-"

"No, we didn't. You said that, and I did not agree. Look, I can already tell that you're not one to normally follow rules. But, this isn't a normal situation, so things are different, okay? Midas already almost killed you once, and if we're not on the same page and we fail at this? He'll kill us both. So, can we please go over the rules?" I groaned a bit, looking up at Dabi with losing patience as he remained grounded to his bed.

He was quiet for a moment, pressing his lips together in concealed amusement for the way he knew he was clearly starting to irritate me.

"Say whatever you want, sunshine. But, you're wasting your breath if you expect me to listen to a bootlicker, such as yourself." He uttered uninterestedly, placing his hands behind his head as he waited expectantly for me to speak.

My eye twitched a bit in growing irritation. But, regardless, he didn't flat out say no. Dabi seems like the type to distinctly voice when he doesn't wanna hear something. A round-about response such as that must mean he's at least a little curious-even if he'll still choose to ignore these rules anyways, after he's heard them.

Taking a deep breath to keep my patience, I decided to stay on track, quickly popping the cap off the whiteboard marker with ease.

"Great. Rule number one-legitimate teamwork." I announced happily, neatly writing down the first rule on the board.

Dabi raised his brows at me less than enthusiastically. But, he said nothing, encouraging me to continue.

"By that, I mean that you and I will need to trust each other. Sure, not on most things in life, I'll admit. But, on this mission? Absolutely. Your willingness to participate properly, and my patience to put up with how absolutely horrible you seem to be, are necessities that will ensure our survival. Not just against Midas, but in terms of living with each other, too." I explained casually, underlining the first rule before putting a small smiley face next to it.

Dabi snorted condescendingly at my dainty details, shaking his head slightly to make sure I know he fully disagrees.

"You expect me to smile like that dipshit, too?" He drawled out, pointing to my smiley face.

But, I was ready for that.

"Glad you asked! Because rule number two-is to take things seriously." I continued on, jotting down the next note on the whiteboard before purposely putting a dainty flower next to it to annoy him.

"As if anyone could take you seriously, fucking grap-" He countered with nagging insult, before I nonchalantly cut him off.

"You like to enjoy yourself by making fun of people through deprecation, refusal to listen, committing arson, and many other horrible, terrifying things. I get it, alright? You're a villain. You're edgy. You're diabolical. Congratulations. But, when you and I are working together, you've gotta be a little more on point. For example, if we engage in a stakeout or a raid, focus less on insulting me and more on staying alive." I said, patiently stopping before my third point when he cut in.

"Well, that's the great thing about being a villain, sunshine. I can insult you and stay alive. It's no wonder you heroes always seem to have such bad one-liners since you apparently can't do the same." He chuckled lowly, steadily chipping away at my mountain of patience a bit.

"Yeah, well by not participating in rule two, that also means you're indirectly violating rule one-"

"Fuck. Not rule one." Dabi gasped out mockingly, lugging his body off the bed now to make his way to the fridge on his own.

My lips scrunched up in irritation as I gripped the marker tighter between my fingers.

"You know what-fine. How about this-if you don't listen to these rules....I'll call up the hero commission and tell them you broke your contract and committed crime." I blurted out, a bit surprised that blackmailing threat came out of my mouth.

Before I even had the chance to wonder if I pushed Dabi too far with my rudeness, he simply looked up from the fridge, placing a hand over his mouth tauntingly.

"Is that so? But, then you'd be lying, hero." He breathed out in fake worry, causing me to relax and roll my eyes instead.

"I sure would-and then, you'd be sent to prison instead of getting to enjoy that little strawberry cake you're currently scarfing down." I countered as I tried to stand my ground.

I'll admit, I'm not very good at that though.

Lucky for me, Dabi was getting bored of playing the devil's advocate, more interested in his cake now.

He's trying to hide it, but with the quick way he's eating, it almost looks like he hasn't eaten in a few days.

"Well, you see me standing here, don't you? Either spit it out, or shut the hell up. I'm not making you any promises, either. I just want you to stop talking so I can go to bed soon. Get on with it." He complained with a mouthful of food, already grabbing another frosted strawberry from the fancy container as he impatiently gestured for me to hurry up.

Feeling tired of fighting with him, myself, I simply sighed tiredly and quickly jotted down the last point on the whiteboard before turning it around to show him.

"The last rule-no secrets." I stated firmly, watching the way his quick chewing subtly slowed at such a rule.

Relaxed blue eyes darkened just a bit at the words, before slowly sliding their way over to me with narrowed curiosity.

I get it. He's a villain and I'm a hero. A rule such as that probably sounds a bit strange, considering Dabi's entire life is a secret from everyone else.

But...

"Before you go thinking I'm asking you to tell me your life story or something, I'm not, okay? I'm not asking for anything about you. What I mean by no secrets, is that anything you find out about Midas, you need to share with me. I will do the same for you. Laying out all of our information on the table is the only way we'll be able to connect the dots and catch this guy. Is that fair?" I proposed.

The room remained silent for a moment with Dabi and I glaring at each other with tired eyes.

I was relieved to see him cave after a few moments and agree-well, not necessarily agree. But, be just a little more civil. I think....

"You said that was the last one. Looks like we're done here then." He smirked, tossing the empty container of his food in the trash before heading his way over to the bathroom.

I huffed in irritation for his attitude, about to continue unpacking all of my things before Dabi lethargically turned on his heel at the entrance of the bathroom.

"Oh, and if you try to stab me when I'm in the shower or some shit like that, I'll kill you." He stated nonchalantly, causing me to shake my head in annoyance as I continued unpacking.

"I wouldn't do that, cause I'm not you. But, maybe I should." I countered quietly, hearing Dabi's low laugh mock in my eardrums.

"Nah, actually I take that back. You don't have it in ya." He egged on, quickly shutting the bathroom door before I had a chance to retaliate.

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Next Chapter Title: Sike, There Are No Rules