Top pic credit: andungen

Violet POV: Present Time

1:05am.

"If you take any longer in there, I'm leaving without you." I faintly heard Dabi call out from the balcony, causing me to let out a small groan of annoyance for the countless complaint to come from his mouth.

Rolling my eyes, I continued carefully glamming up my lips in the bathroom mirror, wanting to make sure they looked extra full.

"Chill, alright. I already told you I'm almost done. It takes a lot of work to make myself sexy, okay?" I pouted slightly, capping the tube of lip gloss before giving my curled hair a small run through with my fingers.

Dabi's smug laugh could be heard from the balcony at my words-and even though I couldn't see his face, I'm sure it was extra obnoxious.

"Now that is something I believe." He chuckled, causing me to huff out small grumbles of irritation as I placed the big, shiny hoops in my earlobes.

"Ha, ha, so funny," I started off with a small sneer, backing up in the mirror slightly to assess my finished appearance.

My brows raised slightly at the sight of the skin tight, little black dress stuck to my body-a purchase from Dabi and I's mall trip earlier in the day. I was able to try it on and purchase it when he left to go to the 'bathroom' and came back with another boba drink. Hah, he's not as slick as he thinks he is.

To sexy up the outfit even more, I threw on a pair of fishnets and some incredibly tall thigh high boots. The shiny silver from the hoop earrings adorned on both of my lobes brings the whole outfit together, along with the heavy, but pretty makeup caked to my face.

I look unrecognizable. But, that doesn't mean it's a bad thing.

Sure, these aren't clothes I would normally wear on a daily basis-hence the trip to the mall to find some. And yes, if I accidentally drop something on the floor, Dabi will need to be the one to bend down and pick it up, unless everyone's looking to get a spread eagle view of my....area? Cooter? Third eye?-you catch my drift. What I'm saying is, we don't want that!

However, I've gotta be honest in saying...I kinda look....hot. It's fun to play dress up. And I have to admit that even though Dabi and I are about to walk into a party club full of villains and possibly die tonight, at least I would die pretty!

Positivity....

I guess it's time for Dabi to see the finished look for the first time, too.

Involuntarily, my heart beat picked up at my own words, and I hated that. I shouldn't be nervous to show Dabi my look-what's there to be nervous about, anyways? It's not like it matters if he likes it. I have boyfriend.

Trying to clear away the unnecessary feelings, I gave my hands a small shake to loosen up, finally turning on my heel and walking out of the hotel bathroom to find Dabi.

The door to the balcony was open, and he was still there. He had his back turned to me, looking out towards the city with a cigarette in his hand.

Even from the back, I could check out his appearance-almost surprised to see him back in his infamous villain attire that I haven't seen since the very first day I met him on this mission.

His long, midnight black trench coat lightly swayed with the breeze, as he leaned his forearms atop the railing of the balcony, lazily bringing the cigarette to his lips.

The slow sound of my heeled boots clacking against the floor caught his attention, causing him to lethargically start turning around to face me.

"Finally," he started off with a groan, making my heart pound harder when he was almost able to catch a glimpse of me. "How long does it take for one girl to put on some..."

His words immediately trailed off when his eyes landed on me. The cigarette fell from his fingers in a way that looked accidental, and his gaze went blank as he took in the sight of my appearance.

- A/N: thank you to my anon friend for editing this picture to make Violet! This person also makes the ko-fi banners at the end of the chaps :) -

He had to blink a few times as the usual half lidded look of boredom he normally wore dialed down into focus. His jaw slowly dropped as he drank in every feature, unable to even play it cool and stop himself from sweeping his orbs over me again...and again...and again-starting from the top of my head, traveling to my dolled up face, to my earrings, stopping at my lips, before continuing his descent to the low cut of my dress.

But, it didn't stop there. I could almost feel his blue eyes caressing the curves of my waist, before landing on my fishnets and thigh high boots with brows that raised shamelessly in shock.

The part that really threw me off was when I saw his hands starting to smoke from, what I assumed to be, his quirk-making me wonder why he chose to activate it now, unless he's planning to kill me!

However, upon turning my attention to his eyes, I realized he wasn't meeting my gaze yet as his distracted gaze still wandered over my body, causing a new revelation to form in my head.

He doesn't realize he's starting to activate his quirk right now. But, the more he keeps looking at me, the more smoke forms around his wrists.

Starting to become nervous with his uncharacteristically speechless demeanor, I awkwardly began to fidget back and forth on my feet, stiffly running a hand through my dolled up hair as I smiled.

"W-Welll, what do ya think? Am I sexy, yet?" I swooned teasingly, un-sexily popping out a hip as I posed one of my hands on the side of my head.

My stupid words and clumsy awkwardness seemed to be the thing to snap him back to reality, as the smoke on his wrists quickly subsided now. He blinked his eyes a few times and brought them up to mine, forced to remember that it was me in this dress and not someone actually sexy.

But, even so....even after remembering it was me....the dazed look didn't fully fade from his eyes as he didn't speak for a moment, simply drinking in the features of my face a little longer with his own thoughts before finally breaking the tension.

A low, steady whistle came from his lips as he came back to the character of Dabi. His eyes ran down my body once more, but this time it was clearly for show. It didn't feel genuine, like it did before-and by that, I mean that it didn't feel like he was practically undressing me with his eyes this time.

"I guess clowns know how to clean up, huh?" He commented a bit raspy, giving his throat a small clear before leaning back against the railing of the balcony.

I let out a breath I didn't even know I was holding at the break in tension, letting my shoulders relax as I casually strolled over to Dabi now.

"Eh. It's all in the dress, I guess. You'd be surprised what some heels and makeup can do." I laughed slightly, only Dabi didn't laugh with me as he watched me come closer.

I could have sworn his eyes softened ever so slightly as he studied the features of my face one more time, before quickly masking the look with boredom when I came too close.

"Whatever. If you say so." He replied vaguely, causing my overthinking head to immediately kick into full gear.

What does that mean? 'If you say so.' Is he agreeing with me?-wait, is he denying it?! If he's denying it, then he's saying it's not all in the dress. He would be saying it's all me. And if that's the case, then that would mean he's indirectly calling me attractive, right? But, he also just called me a clown, and he looks bored now, so maybe I'm just reading too much into-

I was brought out of my thoughts at the sound of Dabi's smooth, soft laugh as he gently plopped a hand atop my head and leaned in a bit.

"Let's go before you think yourself into oblivion, little sapphire." He murmured with a smirk, sliding his gaze down towards my lips for half a second before pulling away and brushing me past me.

My cheeks heated up at being called out for overthinking everything, causing me to take another deep breath to get myself together as I turned on my heel to follow him out.

After all, I've gotta be on my A-game tonight. Anything could happen in a room full of villains.

********

"Aggggghkkf." I shivered out as another night time breeze rolled through the Tokyo city street, scrunching up my shoulders in some weird dinosaur motion to try and stay warm.

"Idiot. That's why I told you to bring a jacket-and you're not having mine, so don't even think about it." Dabi pointed out casually, not even looking in my direction as he kept his attention forward.

I gave him a light deadpan of annoyance as I crossed my arms over my torso, rubbing my hands up and down my shoulders to stay warm.

"I-I didn't...h-have a jacket that went with this outfit-and I never asked for your jacket!" I hissed out stiffly, grinding down on my chattering teeth as I picked up my walking pace a bit.

"Don't lie, you were thinking about it." He drawled out in bored certainty, lethargically watching the night time city life around us through half lidded eyes.

"Was not."

"Was too."

I glared at Dabi, and he knew it but didn't look at me, causing me to scrunch up my lips in annoyance for his petty attitude.

"Ugh, what do you know, anyways." I retorted out with a huff, before he finally turned his attention to me.

"Do you want my jacket, or not?" He asked almost challengingly, keeping his hands in his pockets.

My eyes narrowed suspiciously at his offer, yet when another ice cold breeze ran through my body I was forced to desperately ask.

"....wait, seriously?-"

"Nope." He smirked smugly, turning his eyes forward once more with finality when I groaned in defeat.

"You know, this is why I dress for c-c-comfort." I grumbled, causing Dabi to chuckle at my growing shivers.

"And it's why you always look like a moron, too." He chimed in, veering his body just a bit closer to mine which caused a wave of heat to conveniently radiate towards my side.

Now, that is niceeee.

I couldn't help but let out a small hum of relief as my ice cold goosebumps began to feel alleviated from Dabi's warmth, causing me to scoot up next to him to utilize his body heat as my own personal campfire.

"Ah, well you know what they say-" I started off happily, causing Dabi to snort and close his eyes in reluctant amusement.

"No. I don't know what they say. No one does. But, I'm fucking sure you do-"

"Comfort is confident!" I beamed, forcing a smile onto Dabi's face that he didn't want when he assessed my bright demeanor.

He scoffed and gave his head a slight shake to mask his enjoyment, not protesting when my shoulder brushed up against his from our new close distance.

He's just very warm.

"Mm. You're lucky I haven't killed you, yet. Any of the others would have." He followed up matter of factly, clearly referring to the league of villains as the others.

But, two can play that game....

"And you're lucky I haven't turned you into the police, yet. Any of the other heroes would have." I mimicked with pep, earning an eye roll from him that held no malice.

"Yeah, well my threat was better." He mumbled.

"Uhhh, good for you?-I mean...it was definitely more violent-"

"Which makes it better."

"If you say so..." I uttered, shrugging my shoulders in casual agreement to his words before I looked ahead to the street.

I wasn't really able to focus much on the light banter anymore as I noticed we were nearing the specific alleyway we were supposed to turn down in order to get to club.

Oh boy...

Once we turn down this alleyway and start walking through it, we'll be in full villain territory from now on.

That means, any more people passing by us, will no longer be civilians...

A harsh gulp worked in my throat at the uneasy thoughts.

"Okayokayokay. You can do this..." I breathed out to myself in anticipation, doing my best to clear away the nervous energy by shaking out my arms and legs, unwantedly catching Dabi's attention.

"Oh? Getting ready for a fight there, killer?" He asked mockingly, giving his brows a bored raise of question as he watched me bounce back and forth on my feet like a boxer.

"N-No! I'm just.......preparing. Thinking." I murmured unsurely, giving my nervous body one more shimmy in the street, before I felt a warm hand wrap around my arm.

Dabi dragged me along with him towards the uninviting pitch black alleyway, keeping his touch gentle, yet firm as he spoke.

"Knowing you, little sapphire...it's best if you don't think." He replied honestly, causing me to actually shrug my shoulders in agreement to that point.

I do overthink everything, after all.

My heart rate immediately spiked as Dabi and I walked into the pitch black alleyway. His step obviously held much more certainty and confidence than mine did, admittedly making me feel just a bit more at ease with the situation.

This is what he does for a living. This is just another day on the job for him. He knows how these people think. He knows what to say. That means, having Dabi here with me tonight is probably even safer than going in with a hero.

Feeling just a bit more confident now, I came back to the present time-not remembering when I'd linked my arm through Dabi's, but apparently I did it subconsciously. Not that he pushed me off either...

If anything, he was almost reciprocating the small hold, with the action of his hand in his pocket only further intertwining our arms and bringing us closer.

Maybe he can sense I'm nervous?

We've only been walking through the alleyway for a few seconds, but the air already felt inexplicably eery and uncomfortable with anticipation.

Dabi kept his vigilant eyes forward as he leaned his head just a bit closer towards my ear, speaking in a quiet smooth voice that practically made my spine shiver.

"Alright, let's go over the rules." He drawled out calmly, his in-control demeanor and surprising words actually bringing me quite a bit of ease.

I linked my arm more snug into his own, smushing the side of my body right up against his to speak into his own ear now.

Now I'm not even cold.

"Hm? Dabi? Making rules? Who are you?" I whispered playfully, unintentionally earning a stiff inhale from him when my hot breath rolled against the shell of his ear.

Am I too close? Did I make him uncomfortable?

Before I had the chance to overthink my situation and pull away, a small smirk appeared on Dabi's face as he rotated his mouth towards me, keeping his eyes forward menacingly.

"Wow. She puts on one hoochie dress and now she thinks she's all that." He murmured teasingly, the playful words of his sentence not matching the extremely intimidating external shell of a man he was displaying to any watchers in the shadows.

I couldn't help but giggle softly at his words, quickly slapping a hand over my mouth to conceal the sound.

Whatever. It doesn't matter if I laugh. Anyone who's watching probably just thinks I'm some bimbo that Dabi's bringing back to have his way with.

"I mean, you're not wrong." I chuckled against his ear, bringing my other hand to his arm now.

The corners of his lips barely turned up at my words and my laugh, before he quickly morphed the look back into his usual Dabi Mug.

"Alright, so the rules-" Dabi started off quietly, before sound of someone's shoes briskly walking towards us came from my side.

I turned my head to get a glimpse of whoever was there, but it was too dark to see a thing.

It didn't seem to matter as I felt Dabi's heavy arm immediately lug across my shoulders and yank me into his side, holding me tightly against him as he lit a blue flame up on his hand to light up a fraction of the alleyway and reveal some scary looking guy with a knife quickly stop in his tracks.

Being in Dabi's hold, I admittedly felt no fear for this villain who was about to probably do horrible things to me and kill me-especially not when his eyes lit up in fear at the sight of Dabi's blue flames.

"Got a problem? Or you want me to give you one?" Dabi retorted lowly to the villain, letting a malicious, sharp toothed grin flash across his face.

Even in the dim blue of Dabi's flames, I could see this man's face pale in pure fear before he quickly continued his walk down the alley in defeat.

My brows raised with impress at Dabi's effortless intimidation...

Mostly because in the time that I've known him, even on the first day of our partnership, he never once acted that way with me. He's always been annoying and rebellious, but never fearful with a look like he truly wanted to kill me-

"Rule number one," he continued to me in a softer, more familiar voice....keeping his arm on my shoulders as he directed us to keep walking. "Stay by me and in my sight-unless you're looking to get shanked."

"Noted." I uttered with no complaints, pursing my lips at how easily wrong the previous situation could have gone if Dabi wasn't there.

"Rule number two, don't drink anything unless I'm the one who gives it to you." He explained seriously, causing me to laugh a bit at such an ironic statement.

"And why should I drink it if it does come from you? How do I know you won't be the one to poison me?" I pointed out only half joking, causing a small smirk of amusement to appear on Dabi's face at my sass.

"Yeah. Good point. Just don't drink anything, how about that?" He confirmed condescendingly, causing me to nod in agreement.

"No objections there."

"Rule number three.....do everything I tell you to do." He finished, causing me to turn my gaze up towards him now to find any looks of joke or tease for the outrageous rule.

But, he kept his eyes forward, looking serious as ever.

"What? And why on earth would I do that? It's not as if I'm gonna commit arson just because you say so. I'm not really a villain, in case you've already forgotten." I reminded innocently, causing him to scoff in annoyance and lightly flick me in the forehead.

My brows flinched reflexively at the action, before I gingerly rubbed the spot with my fingers.

"Hey, say that louder next time so we can get killed, okay? I don't think the entire fucking planet heard you." He mumbled in annoyance as I groaned and rolled my eyes.

"Oh, relax. I whispered it. But, seriously, I can't just-"

"Get the stick out of your ass. I won't ask you to do anything crazy like that. I just mean that if I tell you to go somewhere or do something minor, just do it. Otherwise, you'll blow your cover." He shrugged with finality, not seeming to care if I actually followed his instructions or not.

But, while his face and words showed boredom and disinterest, his voice was stern and serious....and his hold around my shoulders got tighter and more secure each time we passed a villain in the pitch black alley.

"Alright," I started off softly, turning my eyes up at Dabi once more with a small smile. "I trust you."

His brows raised slightly at the words, taking his attention off the street in front of us to look down and meet my gaze.

"Really...? Well, that's a rookie mistake on your part, little sapphire." he uttered smugly, curling his warm warmer and more comfortable around my shoulder.

I crossed my arms and melted a bit into his hold, barely hearing the voice in the back of my mind reminding me that he's only holding me like this to protect me.

It's nothing more. From either of us.

"Heyyy, don't get ahead of yourself. I only trust you because I have limited people I'm able to trust tonight." I pointed out softly, allowing Dabi to direct us out of the alleyway clearing and into the dimly lit city street of villains.

"Oh yeah? Well, you know what they say..." Dabi started out with words that mocked the ones I always use. "The desperate girls are always the easiest."

I rolled my eyes and lightly slapped his chest with the back of my hand, feeling his chest vibrate with a chuckle to make me realize how close and comfortable we were.

All for the mission. That's it.

Clearing my throat and turning my attention forward to focus, I took in the site of the secret, bustling, underground city Dabi and I were now right in the middle of. It's practically a different world, compared to the regular civilian world.

But, I guess that's why they call it the Black Market, because-here, anyways, there's quite literally a market full of illegal stuff going on in the middle of the streets!

No need to worry! It's like a Farmer's Market, but instead of organic fruit and homemade friendship bracelets, you get horrible drugs and weapons as the menu instead...

My brows raised slightly at the sight of a particularly dirty looking man injecting himself with something right in plain view, before the amount of arms he had on his body doubled within seconds.

For him, that's sixteen arms...

"Ooo..." I murmured uncomfortably, causing Dabi to hum in amusement when he realized how discontent I was.

"Yep. What do you think of the Black Market, sunshine? You forced me to prance around the mall all day in your world, so now you get to see mine." He grinned ferally, yet pulled me closer when a sleazy salesman in the corner zeroed his gaze in on my chest.

I let out a nervous laugh at his words, only huddling deeper into his hold as I spoke.

"Hah, yeahhh-but, you know, the mall has delicious boba tea and children's playgrounds, while this..." I started out unsurely, gesturing to the sight of someone bashing another person's head into the brick wall.

".....this place does not have those things." I concluded casually, pressing my lips together in confirmation.

"You're right about that. Beautiful, isn't it?" He questioned mockingly.

"Ohhh, sure. But-I'm just curious-do the police know about this place?" I questioned casually, keeping my voice as quiet as possible to ensure no one would hear me.

"Mm, why? Gonna rat me out?" Dabi asked, yet genuinely seemed unbothered.

And that's when I remembered something. Something he told Harima, during our interrogation session.

"Well, from what I've gathered about your previous thoughts on this place, you don't even spend a lot of time here, yourself, right?" I asked honestly, causing Dabi's teases to relax ever so slightly.

He shrugged his shoulders in silent agreement, giving a vague, curt answer for confirmation.

"Doing shady shit in the dark ain't my style. I like it when people know it was me. I like the attention."

His answer gave me a strange sense of content. Sure, it probably shouldn't have. Dabi still does horrible, inexcusable things everyday. But, I guess....at least he's honest about it? At least he's not a sleazy business man, selling unthinkable things by night, while putting on a fake smile by day?

I don't know. Maybe I'm just trying to make myself feel better.

And from what Dabi has said in the past, he wouldn't ever go so low as to participate in this stuff.

But, that doesn't mean he's a good person.

Yeah. He's not a good person. I have to remember that.

I let out a small sigh of conflict at my ridiculous thoughts and attraction for this man, not knowing whether to focus on the gruesome street sights ahead of me or Dabi's wonderfully warm arm enveloping my body much too comfortably.

Luckily, all of my conflict and internal strife distracted me long and hard enough, because after a few more moments of walking and turning corners and walking again, a very familiar voice caught my attention in this madness.

"Yooo, Vi!! I've been waiting for you!" Akio called out from a few feet away, pushing himself off the outside wall of Club Norboru before making his way over to Dabi and I.

I heard Dabi mumble curses of dreaded annoyance at the sight, but I didn't care enough to listen as I quickly walked out of his hold and over to my best friend.

"Hey, youuu!!" I smiled brightly, quickly throwing my arms around his shoulders.

Akio hugged me back and started whistling as he purposely ran his hands up and down the sides of my skin tight dress, pulling away from our hug to get a look at my outfit.

"Wooooah, who are you, and what have you done with my nerdy best friend?" He hyped up unnecessarily, causing me to roll my eyes knowingly as he continued his over the top teases. "I have a question. Can I take you home tonight, Queen Bee?"

I groaned at the use of the spelling bee nickname he gave me all those years ago, lightly shoving his shoulder back and causing him to cackle.

"You had me until the Queen Bee part." I joked, causing Akio to give a mock snap of regret.

"Damn. Noted. Guess I'll have to send those pointers back to Natsuo, too." He followed up, trying to hold in his laugh for the small roast and failing.

"Oh, shut upppp. I already told you he makes me very happy." I pointed out, before Akio just had to get one more dig in there.

"Just not in bed-"

"I will crystallize you!"

"I would be honored." He suggested, giving the top of my curled hair a messy ruffle with his hands before I slapped him away with a laugh.

Once he stepped back, I assessed his appearance with my own cat call.

"You're looking very spiffy yourself, Akio. Black jeans instead of joggers. Nice sneakers instead of running shoes-you even brought out the Rolex." I smiled, gesturing to his expensive watch.

He grinned upon me noticing, giving his casual black jacket a small adjustment before pointing to the watch on his wrist.

"What's money if you can't spend it, right? And besides, it's actually a good weapon for my quirk in case we need it. You know, my light beams reflect brighter off expensive things." He only half teased, because he has used that watch to aid him in fights before.

"True," I pointed out, before I lowered my voice when I remembered where we were. "I will say....you're pretty brave for wearing that here though. Didn't anyone try to mug you on the way to this place?

Akio smiled knowingly at my words, reaching into his pocket and pulling a small device from it.

"That is what my lovely partner is for, Vi. Kurogiri teleported me from our hotel room, right up to this very spot. I didn't have to take any shady way to get here-not to mention that everyone inside that club probably has at least five of these watches on one arm. This is the Black Market, after all-and the most popular club for it, at that." He pointed out, gesturing to the Club Norboru we were standing in front of.

I nodded in agreement to his words, before a certain piece caught my attention.

"Oh-yeah, where is your partner? Kurogiri didn't want to come?" I questioned curiously, looking behind Akio in case I accidentally missed Kurogiri.

Akio laughed knowingly at my words, giving a small smile of amusement for his partner.

"He didn't want to come. He said he'd feel insecure and out of place in a night club. I guess he's not much of a partier." He explained, causing both of us to laugh before a new voice chimed in from behind me.

"He's not the only one who's out of place." Dabi chimed in crankily, hovering directly next to me as he glared at Akio.

Sour puss Dabi right out of the gates.

I sighed softly at Dabi's new change in bad mood, not wanting to ponder on the patterns I'm starting to notice....

The patterns that he seems to be in the worst mood when he's talking to anyone, but me-

Trying to keep the air calm between the strong personalities of Dabi and Akio, I put on a smile as I linked my arm back through Dabi's, gesturing towards my best friend with my free hand.

"Dabi, this is Akio. You may know him as the number twelve hero, Ignito. He's going to be helping us tonight." I explained patiently, attempting to sound peppy about the idea.

But, my pep ceased as Akio turned his eyes from me to Dabi, with the warm smile he previously wore on his face slowly starting to turn down into a bland purse of his lips.

A small hum of dissatisfaction sounded from his throat as he simply looked at Dabi's glare, yet he attempted to keep the atmosphere as civil as possible when he extended his hand for a shake.

"Dabi. I'd say I'm a big fan of your previous work, but that just wouldn't be true. I'm sure you feel the same about me though, so all water under the bridge for now?" He smiled slightly to try and break the ice, keeping his hand out for Dabi to acknowledge.

The stitched man kept his hands in his pockets as he looked down at Akio's hand, giving a sly, knowing tilt of his head as he zeroed in on the expensive watch.

"Aw, you mean to tell me that you didn't find it entertaining when I tried to flame your brains out last year, Ignito? I'd have to disagree, I thought that was very entertaining. I'm pretty powerful, right?" My partner chuckled out in his usual Dabi Malice, involuntarily slugging his arm back across my shoulders as he spoke.

The uncalled for comment from Dabi slowly wiped the attempted look of friendship off Akio's face, causing my best friend to narrow his eyes instead.

"Huh. Okay then, if that's how you wanna do this..." Akio started out slowly, causing me to groan and Dabi to smirk as we both knew Akio was dropping his try of partnership with the stitched man.

Like I said, Dabi and Akio are two strong, stubborn personalities.

"Ohhhh, uhhhhh-how about we just go inside and-" I tried, before Akio cut me off and spoke to Dabi.

"For someone who acts like he's got the I.Q. of a three year old, you have a pretty good memory, I guess-but last I remember correctly, you weren't able to get within twenty feet of flaming my brains out, because you were too busy being blinded by my light beams to see. How are your corneas, by the way?" Akio asked confidently, no longer smiling as he glared at Dabi's chuckle of challenge.

Akio's had a hard life. He's learned to never stand for 'bullshit,' as he calls it, over the years. Now, he's the type of person to give rough people like Endeavor a hard time for pretty much just breathing. There's no way he's gonna be afraid of Dabi.

Buttt, Dabi's not afraid of anyone either.

"My corneas are great, actually. They're so great, that I remember Bird Head Hawks had to come down and save you that day, cause I trapped you in a blue fire circle. It must be hard, being babysat all the time cause you're such a burden to everyone." Dabi nagged obnoxiously, grinning from ear to ear now when Akio's eyes flashed with anger.

"Why can't you make friends." I sighed to Dabi, pursing my lips in a hopeless pout as Akio was already back with a comment.

"Yeah, well smart people don't run through fire. Obviously, judging by your appearance, that's not something you understand." He uttered out through grit teeth, trying to keep his cool but Dabi wouldn't let him.

"But, you're not smart, so it shouldn't have been an issue." He spoke with sass, starting to unintentionally smoke his arm that was around my shoulders.

My eyes widened slightly at the sight as I quickly shrugged Dabi's arm off me before he accidentally-or, not accidentally charred me. Yet, he didn't seem to care enough as he kept his gaze on Akio, hoping for a fight.

And my best friend was more than happy to give him one.

"Well, if you're still unsure about my ability to kick your ass-though I don't know why you would be, we could always settle the dispute for good with a rematch. The loser goes to jail." Akio challenged, giving his neck a small crack on both sides as he waited for Dabi's confirmation.

Boneheads. They're both boneheads.

And, sure we're underground in villain territory. If a fight broke out between Akio and Dabi, no one would blink an eye. No police or heroes would get involved because they'd never find out.

But, that can't happen, because I say so!-

"Actually, the loser gets barbecued to a crisp." Dabi drawled out smugly, starting to smoke his hand once again as he anticipated an unnecessary fight-

"Well, that could still be any one of us." Akio proposed dryly, gesturing to Dabi's burns which caused the stitched man to start coming closer.

However, I quickly grabbed his non-burning hand before he could do anything, standing between him and Akio-and hoping he wouldn't fire his shot now, because then he'd kill me-

"Move your pretty face, little sapphire, unless you don't want it to be pretty, anymore." Dabi stated casually, keeping his bored eyes on Akio while his hand still smoked.

Akio opened his mouth to speak, before I beat him to the punch and turned my full attention to Dabi.

"No, I'm not moving. Because this isn't about fighting Akio tonight, Dabi. It's about trying to find Midas, the person we all commonly hate. The sooner we work together, the sooner we can all be rid of each other. So, with that in mind, can the death duel at least wait until tomorrow?" I asked in annoyance, just wanting to go inside the club already and start gathering evidence.

Also, I was hoping both of these idiots would just forget about the 'duel' by tomorrow.

Dabi rolled his eyes in hard irritation for my words, landing his gaze on me with a glare that was meant to be threatening.

But, something we both seem to understand now, is that Dabi doesn't scare me.

And neither one of us seemed particularly upset about that.

"Let's just hurry up." Dabi mumbled bitterly, extinguishing the smoke from his hand before looking to the side with a grudge.

"Yeah, I agree-" Akio started off.

"Good thing no one asked." Dabi followed up, causing me to quickly speak again as I saw Akio getting ready with another comeback.

"Great! Let's go inside then and get started!" I replied cheerfully, wedging myself between both angry men before linking an arm in each of theirs and dragging them towards the line to the entrance-

"Woah, hold on. What are you doing?" Dabi asked curiously, losing his anger now as he stopped walking.

Akio stopped, too, and that made my brows furrow in confusion as I turned around to face the pair.

"What do you mean? I'm going to the back of the line to wait my turn." I explained innocently, causing Dabi and Akio to let out a simultaneous scoff.

"Vi, bouncers let hot girls cut to the front of the line all the time. They'll let us in if we're with you, too. So....you know...." Akio tried, gesturing to the bouncer at the front.

Dabi stood there in bored silence which meant he agreed, waiting for me to go to the bouncer and get us in.

I pursed my lips in thought to how I would do such a thing, looking at the entrance door in contemplation.

"Oh.....what do I say?" I asked unsure, before Dabi stepped in this time.

"You don't say anything-You definitely don't say anything, cause you're so fucking awkward. Just show him your face." He mumbled impatiently.

Just show my face? Don't say anything?

I can do that.

You know, I don't go out to clubs very often, in case you weren't sure...

"Hmmmmmmm-okay! Be right back!" I chirped out with pep, quickly turning on my heel to make my way to the bouncer.

"Well, that ain't gonna work." I heard Dabi trash talk from behind me, rolling my eyes when Akio agreed.

Oh, sure. Now they get along...

Smoothing out my hair and clearing my throat, I followed the boys' advices, and walked up to the bouncer....

....staring at him with a distance much too close to ensure he could see my face!

The giant, tattooed bald dude stopped his conversation with the person at the front of the line to look at me, furrowing his brows in confusion for my weird entrance.

I simply continued smiling at him, slowly moving my head from side to side to ensure he would have a good look at my face.

Silence.

More silence.

Well, this is weird-

"You...." The bouncer started off a bit taken aback as he stared intently at my features.

Ah, he must be wow'd by my beauty! I bet it's working.

"Yes?" I smiled expectantly, giving my lashes a small flutter as he continued staring.

"You..." he said once more, before he slowly lifted his hand towards my face.

Oh? What??-

"You....got a big booger right there." The bouncer said in almost pity, giving the tip of my nostril a flick to get rid of the booger for me.

I stared at him in blank disbelief, letting my mouth fall open as I wasn't sure what to say.

"Oh..." I uttered after a few moments. "Thank....uh...thank you."

The bouncer nodded casually, before turning his attention back to the guy at the front of the line.

I stood there in confusion for what that meant, deciding to just take my chances and try to go inside.

"Uhh...I'm just gonna...scoot by ya real quick..." I mumbled in passing, attempting to walk inside before the bouncer stopped me.

"What are you doing?" He asked a bit more firmly this time, causing me to chuckle nervously.

"Hm? Me? Oh, I'm just going into the club. You know...to party!" I waved awkwardly, hearing Dabi's groan of 'dear god,' a few feet away as he watched.

"Not without waiting in line, you're not." The bouncer pointed out, gesturing to the giant line of people waiting to go inside.

I slowly followed his gaze to the long line, puffing out my cheeks in defeat.

"Ohh.........Just-that line, over there then? Just to....be correct?" I uttered hopelessly, before the bouncer nodded.

"And you're not gonna like....let me in cause I'm 'stunningly beautiful' or something?" I confirmed once more, causing the bouncer to press his lips together in pity as he shook his head.

"You had a booger..." he reasoned softly, gesturing to my nose before I waved him off acceptingly.

"Yeah, yeah-okay-thank you." I grumbled out in irritation, quickly walking back towards my group of two to see them both looking unsurprised and displeased.

"Nice work, Vi. Really showed him who's boss." Akio mumbled tiredly, while Dabi slowly clapped his hands at my fail.

"Ohhh, just come on! It wouldn't kill either of you to wait in a line for once in your life." I huffed out exasperatedly, starting to lead the way to the back of the line with two idiots trailing behind me.

Comfortable, annoyed silence consumed the air space for a moment before Dabi's quiet smug voice chimed in my ear.

"I knew about the booger." He murmured in accomplished amusement, causing me to roll my eyes and not even bother to turn around.

"And you didn't say anything." I grumbled in confirmation, hearing the smile in his voice.

"Sure didn't."

This is gonna be one long night...

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Next Chapter Title: Euphoria.