Chapter 7

He clenched my hand, trying to calm me down. It’s hard to stay calm when all you can think of is the dark entities that live inside of you. When he finally had to leave, I realized that maybe he's been more than a friend to me.

“I won’t tell anyone I saw you. But you need to stop being so ridiculous. As much as you love to be the center of attention, you can’t keep this up. Soon enough, that fire monkey is gonna come lookin’ for you. We all want that.”

Katsuki’s voice was nothing but an echo in my ears. After thinking about what he said, I nodded, trying to hold back tears. I shut the door and fell to my knees. I knew this was a terrible choice, to accept One for All’s offer, but it felt like the only right choice. It hurts. Every time I think about it, I feel like there are a bunch of people stabbing me in the arm. Soon that arm will fall off and I won’t have control over what happens afterwards. Dabi tries to act like he’s a cool guy that can brush everything and everyone off. I got through it. I can see through his eyes and read what I see. He’s hurting. I think. When I look at him long enough, and he doesn’t know I’m looking, I can see him breathing heavily and his pupils dilating. It’s like he’s in his own world. My body feels like a little box that holds in all this darkness--all this death. When I stand, my head feels as though it weighs a thousand pounds. Holding onto all, I let out a groan, what the hell is going on?

He’s been gone for over an hour and I can already feel the voices waking up in my head. Just as I’m about to scream, there’s a knock on the window. I open it, breathing out. Dabi rushed in, slamming it shut. When he looks at me, my heart drops. Blood covered his face, making me want to jump. I close the blinds and hold his face in my hands. Within seconds we’re on the floor in the bathroom, staring at each other. Using a cloth, I stroke the blood. His eyes stay closed while the warm cloth touches his skin. All I'm doing is watching his expression, waiting for it to change. When the cloth touches his jawline, he flinches, grasping my wrist.

Dabi’s touch is warm when he releases slightly. Of course, he still holds on, but he isn’t squeezing as hard. I put the cloth into a bowl filled with warm water. He breathes out, leaning forward to rest his head on my shoulder. Even after fifteen minutes, he still hasn’t told me what has happened. When I breathe out, there is a slight laugh.

“I need to stay here for a bit with you,” his voice, deep and raspy. I nod, knowing that he is going to stay and then disappear without warning. I hug him tight without a single thought considered. After I clean him up a bit more, we then walk into my room and sit on my bed. He throws his jacket onto the floor and rests his head on the wall. When I turn on the TV, I peek at him. His eyes are closed, and I can see how calm his expression is. It reminds me even more of Toya. My finger traces the burn on his jaw. He cracks his eyes open then quickly shuts them again. When I pull my hand away, he pulls it back, resting it on his chest.

“You’re a damn box of kittens.” He chuckled. I rested my head on his chest and nuzzled his neck.

“I’m just tired and you’re warm.” I mumble, squeezing him tight.

Even though I am almost literally on top of him, he still holds me. Just like that, we fall asleep. When I wake, he’s sitting up, watching the window. I stare at him for a quiet second, and he then realizes I’m awake. The feeling of having someone there and it’s early in the morning as the bird's chirp and sun shines onto his smooth, patchy skin; Is romantic to me. I could feel him looking at me, so I tried my best to ignore the feeling. Dabi pulled his phone to his ear, responding to Shigaraki while he laced his boots. I watched his expression change each second. He looks at me and tells me to go get changed. Running off, I pulled on the baggy suit and tightened it as much as I could.

Looking in the mirror, I see myself; but it isn’t me. My heart flutters the second I see Dabi’s reflection in the mirror behind me. He crosses his arms, leaning into the door. I can’t tell him anything. Even if I were to try, nothing would come out. I don’t cry. I don’t speak. I barely even breathe. The metal block in my hand dings, giving me a heart attack. Kirishima’s nickname flashes on the screen while Carly Rae Jepsen plays. Dabi watches me with his dead, cold, ocean eyes. The urge to answer his call hurts me. Before Dabi says anything to make me reject the call, I answer, pulling it to my ear.

“Aiko? Aiko, you there?” He asks, hope filling his voice.

Dabi grabs my wrist, watching my eyes. Kirishima asks again, pulling on my heartstrings.

“Yeah, hey, hi!” I yell into the phone, tears filling my eyes. Kirishima is silent for a moment, then rambles about anything that comes to his mind. Dabi’s hand becomes warmer, smoke rising from my wrist. I sniffle, trying to pull away from him. Dabi looks deeper into my eyes, giving me more anxiety. Without another second of hesitation, he pulls the phone from my hand and smashes it onto the floor, stomping on it. The screen flashes a bright white while the glass falls off his boots and clangs to the floor. Air leaves my lungs, stinging my throat. Dabi pushes me against the wall, my hip hitting the sink. I whimper, he glares at me while his touch begins to rise in temperature.

His voice rings in my ears as he speaks, but I can’t hear it. What I thought was a caring, kind, broken man, has now become a two-faced carnivore. I trusted him too much and now I see he lied to me. He never really cared. I avoided all eye contact as he continued to stab my heart with each hurtful word he uttered. The last thing he says hurts me the most. “This is why Toya left you to die.” Using my only free hand, I take one of my four daggers and stab him in the side. Dabi groans, stepping back, but I don’t stop, I drive another shiny blade into his hip. Each time I reach for another dagger, he reaches for my hand, trying to stop me. Even when I want to stop, I can’t. When I’m finished, he has three knives in his body, giving me time to flee. As I run away, he’s sitting on the floor, pulling each blade from his body. He throws his fist into the floor as he yells in pain. Did I go too far?

"I’m thinking, either Dabi needs to be more aggressive, or Kitana needs to find a therapist!" Bro this made me die!