-

I've been stung by this hurt

I've been stung by a stinging nettle.

-

The wind whipped through the streets and alleys of the impoverished areas of the city, slipping through cracks in the dilapidated walls of apartments no one had bothered to tend to in years. It was an overlooked section of the city, one that hadn't been bought up and renovated yet, making it an ideal location for the destitute and drifting. Like Dabi.

Dabi slunk through the ajar window that had gained him access to the abandoned building he called home, feeling too exhausted to do anything but collapse onto the musty mattress. Cracked ribs aching with each breath, he slowly flexed and stretched his limbs, trying to determine if he'd made any of his injuries worse.

He hadn't been in this apartment long and was sure he wouldn't be able to stay in any permanent way. It was abandoned for now, probably owned by a rich landlord who hadn't bothered with it in years, but he was sure that eventually, someone would come along and decide to turn it into something. For the time being, however, it served his needs well enough. Despite the gaping cracks in the plaster and the ill-fitted windows that rattled with even the slightest breeze, it was better than being on the streets.

Wincing slightly, Dabi finished his cursory examination of his injuries and stretched out on his back, refusing to look too closely at the mattress he was lying on. Usually, he wouldn't have bothered with finding an abandoned building to stay in. Having a fixed location as an unattached criminal was an excellent way to get jumped, something Dabi had learned early on. Unfortunately, he didn't have much choice this time.

Typically, pain wasn't something that stopped Dabi. He had little care for his wellbeing, but even he couldn't keep going with all the injuries he'd received on his most recent Job. Fortunately, the small gang he'd partnered with were too softhearted and got him a job at a flower shop so he could heal. Dabi had scoffed at the time and still thought it was absurd, but he'd taken the offer when it became clear his injuries were too much this time.

Now all he had to do was wait for the gang's forger to finish up realistic enough paperwork for him, and Dabi could start to live like a normal human. Well, a normal human amassing resources for a suicidal revenge plot, but close enough to normal. Usually, Dabi wouldn't have bothered with all of this. The gang was weak and not nearly cutthroat enough to hold out for long, but as long as Dabi got what he needed, he didn't care what ditch they'd all eventually end up in.

He included his new boss in that assessment as well. A pushover with a bleeding heart was a recipe for disaster, especially considering she had ties to criminal activity. From what he could tell, her quirk was powerful, probably far more than she was letting on if the skeleton cat was anything to go by, and that type of power was a trouble magnet. Dabi could try to use her, of course, but something told him getting involved with Akemi in any capacity would hurt more than it helped. She seemed nosy as shit, so any attempts he might make to sway her could easily lead to prying questions.

No, it was best to remain distant until he got his shit together and could leave. A couple of months at most and he'd be gone, hopefully with a more solid foundation for his half-baked plans.

Dabi sighed, throwing an arm over his eyes as he tried to shut his brain off. Waking up early was already going to be a pain in the ass; he didn't need sleepless nights on top of that. Fortunately, his buzzing thoughts were not enough to stave off his exhaustion and sleep quickly dragged him into unconsciousness.

~+~

Akemi frowned down at the list she'd been given, trying to decipher her mother's messy scrawl. "How on Earth do your students understand this?" she asked, looking over her shoulder at her mama. Dani Clayton, who had been inspecting different braces and wraps, looked up long enough to make a face at her daughter before returning to her task.

"They do just fine, for your information," she responded crisply. Then, in a quieter tone, she added, "Mostly because I project things on the board instead of writing." Akemi giggled at that, and her mama shot her another dirty look.

Turning her attention back to the rows of painkillers and antibiotics, Akemi compared prices and effects while she tried to wrap her mind around what exactly she was doing.

After Dabi had left, Akemi had called Benjiro and had a heated discussion with him about giving job recommendations to shady hobos with attitude problems. This led to Benji explaining his reasons and giving her a rundown of all of Dabi's suspected injuries. The list alone had made her body ache with sympathy, and Akemi had softened up to the idea of having him as a temporary employee while he recovered. Still, she'd made Benji promise that if he caught wind of any even close to illegal dealings involving Dabi while he was working for her, Benji needed to let her know so she could have a chat with Dabi.

Once she'd finished talking to Benji, Akemi had called her mama up to rant about what a stupid decision she'd made. Part of her had been hoping Dani would talk her out of her employee choices, but while her mama had made it clear she thought it was reckless and going to backfire, she'd also said it looked like her new employee needed this, and neither of them were the type to turn away people in need.

And so there Akemi was, at a drugstore with her mother looking for enough supplies to fix several cracked ribs, a sprained knee, and a left wrist and right ankle that were, in Benji's words, "probably fractured, but I'm not a doctor, so I don't know."

Realizing she'd been staring at the painkillers for far too long, Akemi grabbed the cheapest kind and tossed them into her basket. It wasn't like there was much difference beyond brand recognition anyway. She snagged a couple of antibiotic burn creams before heading back over to her mama, who dumped a bunch of boxes of varying sizes into the basket.

Squinting at the labels, Akemi felt a bit overwhelmed by the variety of cooling packs and braces. "This seems like a lot," she said, and her mama shrugged.

"He's got what, six injuries on top of burns that cover most of his body? I'd say this just about covers it," Dani replied, though her eyebrows knitted together with worry. Akemi knew she was barely holding herself back from ambushing Dabi and forcing him to go to the hospital. "Can't believe he's still able to stand, frankly. The poor kid must have some insane pain tolerance."

"Mama, he's hardly a kid. He looks around my age, though the burns make it a little hard to tell," Akemi replied, adjusting the basket on her arm as she counted up all the supplies.

Dani nudged Akemi with her hip. "As I said, a kid," she teased, ruffling Akemi's hair before walking towards the checkout area. Akemi made a noise of protest and darted after her, boots squeaking on the glossy linoleum tiles of the drugstore. She and her mother stood in companionable silence as the exhausted-looking cashier rang up their items, the buzzing of the fluorescent lights and the beeping of the scanner filling the quiet.

Chewing on her lower lip, Akemi tried to sort through her feelings, looking for anything that would help her understand why she cared so much. She didn't know why it bothered her this much; good deeds didn't have to have a reason behind them. But there was a nagging suspicion in the corner of Akemi's mind that she wasn't doing it for purely selfless reasons.

Akemi knew the look of abandoned things, had seen it enough times in the mirror early on in her life. She knew the bone-deep loneliness that came with that type of betrayal and just how hard it was to cope even after someone had picked her back up again. That short time where she was left tetherless and cast aside had done plenty of damage. She could only imagine just how long Dabi had been in that empty place, and when she looked at him, she couldn't help but see fragments of that small, skinny girl who didn't have a family.

"Mimi?" A light touch on her shoulder jerked Akemi out of her thoughts, and she turned her head to see her mama watching her with a concerned frown. "Are you sure you're doing alright?" Dani asked, scooping up the bags full of supplies while still holding her daughter's gaze.

Shaking her head to clear it, Akemi grabbed one of the bags from her mother, turning to head towards the exit. "I'm fine, Mama. Just a bit tired," she replied, feeling a little guilty about lying to her mother. It was much easier than trying to explain what was going on inside her head, and her mama had enough to worry about without Akemi complicating things.

"You probably wouldn't be so tired if you went to bed at a reasonable hour," Dani chided, and Akemi made a face at her. Her mama raised an eyebrow, looking amused by Akemi's lack of an argument. "Remember what your aunt Judy always says?"

Akemi groaned. "If I had a hundred yen for every time I heard Aunt Judy say 'you've gotta remember to put your own oxygen mask on first,' I wouldn't need my shop ever again."

Shifting her bags to one arm, Dani reached out and ruffled Akemi's hair. "If you can quote her advice so well, why haven't you followed it?" she asked, a teasing lilt entering her voice. Her amused grin dimmed a bit as though a thought had just struck her. "Hey, Mimi? Be careful with how you present all this to your employee. Don't be surprised if this gets a less than warm response," she warned.

Akemi grinned a bit wryly. "Don't worry, Mama, I'm not expecting gratitude. Not from him."

I'm so sorry that this took me ages to post. My perfectionism got so bad that I ended up rewriting this short chapter four times before I forced myself to stop and just post it. It probably doesn't help that this is mostly set up for the next, hopefully more interesting chapter full of fun shenanigans like "Akemi attempts to administer proper medical care" and "Dabi reacts to concern the same way a cat reacts to being bathed."

But hey, at least you got a bit of a peek into the head of our resident angsty hobo with daddy issues! This is how I perceive his character, so it probably isn't a hundred percent accurate to canon, but it's fanfiction so I don't care. If you do, then you're more than welcome to tell me, but I don't think I'm a good enough writer to do anything better so I doubt it'll do much.

Hope you're all staying safe, and have a lovely day.