I woke up in a dark and damp room, alone.

My arms were cuffed behind my back and chained to a wall. I saw another pair of cuffs around my legs and a large belt around my waist.

Shit. They're all quirk-cancelling devices... With three of them on, I definitely won't be able to do much of anything.

My mouth was taped shut, so when I screamed all that came out were soft muffles. I began to thrash my body, kicking the wooden walls and causing them to shake.

The noise of throwing myself around the corner of the room would definitely be loud enough to get someone's attention.

"Oh good, you're awake," Dabi said lazily as he entered to the room. He was holding a glass of water which he placed on the window seal before approaching me.

"You put on quite a show. Shigaraki was ready to kill you the moment you passed out, but I finally convinced him otherwise."

I couldn't talk or move, so I just stared him down, letting the hate ooze from my eyes.

"Geez, a little appreciation for saving your life would be nice."

He laughed, "Then again, you can't really talk now can you? But I think I like you better this way."

This fucker.

I glanced around the room, trying to find some way to attack. I knew I wouldn't be able to do much and that it wouldn't help me at all in the long run, but my rising anger clouded my judgment.

I landed my eyes on his glass cup.

Perfect.

I used every ounce of strength I could muster to knock the glass on the floor, causing it to shatter on impact.

"Aw, what the fuck did you do that for? I brought that for you," he groaned.

I kept my concentration on the broken glass, causing a shard to shakily quiver in the air before launching it towards Dabi.

It cut him right at the bottom of his eye.

"You bitch," he hissed while wiping a small amount of blood from his face. "I'll make you pay for that."

He rose up his hand, ready to hit me, but stopped himself. "Or maybe, I'll make that precious boy of yours pay," he smirked.

I began to thrash around my body in protest.

"Knock it off!" he yelled while smacking me across the face.

Quickly, he ripped the tape off my mouth.

"DON'T FUCKING TOUCH HIM!!!" I yelled immediately.

"You're not really in a position to be making demands here," he laughed. "I'm actually surprised you were able to cut me with that little trick of yours. It must have taken all the energy you had."

I glanced at him quickly. He was right. I couldn't even do it a second time if I wanted to.

He chuckled again softly, "What were you even hoping to accomplish with that?"

"Oh fuck off, Dabi."

"Did it at least make you feel better?"

"Actually, it did," I huffed finally getting my anger under control.

I really wasn't in a position to make demands or do anything else, so I had to at least make sure my actions didn't bring any harm to Katsuki.

"Well, that's good," he looked at me with a small smile. "I do still care about you, you know?"

"If you really cared about me, you'd let Katsuki go."

"It's funny you should say that. I'm here to make a deal with you. Join us, and we'll set him free. No harm done."

"You must be out of your fucking mind," I hissed. "If that's still your goal, you may as well just kill me right now."

"See, I knew it... I know you, Y/n. I knew you wouldn't take that deal, but he insisted you would."

I looked at him curiously, "Who? Who said that?"

A nasty smiled curled up on his face, "Kenji L/n."

My heart dropped at the name, and tears rushed to my eyes. I was angry and hurt and exhausted. At this point, I was completely out of control.

"So you have been talking to the asshole... Are you that desperate for allies?"

"Trust me, I'm not teaming up with him by choice. Not after everything he did to you." he wiped away one of my tears, and I couldn't tell if he was mocking me or being genuine.

"He'll be the first one I kill after I deal with all of you," I hissed.

"I wonder if your precious Aizawa would still care about you if he knew how much you loved to kill. If he knew about the people you have killed."

My eyes looked at him frantically.

"Don't worry, I won't tell him," he smiled. "But Kenji might."

"What the fuck have you been talking to him about!?"

"Well, your dad actually reached out to us. Turns out, he's taken quite an interest in you since being put in prison."

He continued, "He followed your time in America. Tried to keep track of you as you went to only god knows where. And now, he's been obsessing over your time at UA."

"It's actually quite convenient," he smiled.

My voice cracked, "Dabi...what does he want with me?"

He shot up angrily, pacing around the small room. "Don't fucking say my name like that."

He turned to me with rage in his eyes. I had never felt so small and helpless.

He came back and crouched down next to me, "You have no fucking idea the hell you've put me through. I've been able to cut off everyone from my past. I feel nothing for no one... except you."

He stood up again, and ran his hands through his hair.

"Kenji wants to make you his little protege. Have you be the one to carry out his life purpose of ending quirk and hero society... and the boss, he's all for it."

"The boss? Shigaraki?"

He laughed, "You're not fucking stupid. You know the boss. You've met him once."

Holy shit, that guy is still alive!?

"Even after one time, you've made quite an impression on him. If it were up to him, you'd be leading the League, not Shigaraki."

"So Katsuki is just here as leverage?"

"Not really. I mean the kid is crazy. He has the same darkness in him too... That must be why you're so interested in him right? Anyway, Shigaraki wants to recruit him."

"I didn't think it was possible, but Shigaraki is even stupider than he looks," I let a small smile creep to my face while Dabi laughed along softly.

He sat back down, and touched my hair lightly.

"Y/n, why'd you leave me?"

"You left me too," I whispered while looking deeply into his bright blue eyes. They were so different than before.

Back then, there was still a spark of hope and kindness in them. Now, it was like looking into a dark void. Dabi was too far gone to ever change.

I knew that, but I couldn't accept it.

He was the real reason I couldn't call myself a hero. I could've saved him. I could've brought him back to the light. Instead, I ran, saving myself, while he—while he turned into this.

"Don't say that..." he mumbled.

"I asked you to come with me. We could've started over. Left this all behind."

"You knew I couldn't go."

I looked down, "And you knew I couldn't stay."

Suddenly, someone began to shake the doorknob ferociously. "Oh, Dabi! Don't keep all the fun to yourself!" Shigaraki called from the other side.

"Shit, Y/n, I'm sorry. This is for your own good."

He took out a large needle and shoved it into my arm, injecting me with more tranquilizers.

As I began to lose consciousness again, I looked at Dabi one more time.

"I'll always love you, Dabi," I confessed right before passing out again.

The last thing I saw was Dabi's wide eyes as his mouth dropped open slightly before Shigaraki broke through the door.

My life will always just be a long list of people I couldn't save.