Dabi slipped out of the crowd of people, his anger pumping in his veins. He had not wanted to see one of those disgusting freaks who thought they could just touch people who clearly weren't interested and verbally refused. He needed some time to cool down before he told Hawks that they would be somewhat accepting his application to the League.

He and Shigaraki had talked for quite a while before Dabi had left to go bird hunting. The crusty villain had given him strict instructions to tell Hawks that he would be an, 'honorary villain,' of sorts, one they would go to if they needed something and would know the absolute bare minimum about the villains' plans. This was in an effort to keep their group safe as well as their plans. Until Dabi was one hundred percent convinced that Hawks could be trusted- or when Shigaraki told him- Hawks wouldn't know where the LOV lived, nor would he know about plans that didn't concern him.

Shigaraki had also told Dabi to be sure to tell Hawks that Dabi would be tailing him.

Hawks would not be informed of when exactly Dabi would be watching.

The villain glanced up to see a shape flying around in the sky, carrying a human. Shit, he left. Dabi thought angrily, sprinting after the quickly receding flying form of Hawks.

The villain was losing sight of the hero quickly. Why is he so fast? Dabi asked himself. A sharp pain in his chest brought the villain to a swift stop. Dabi ducked into an alleyway, his hacking cough filling the silent area with noise. Because of the... incident, Dabi had lots of lung problems, most likely not helped at all by his new friend- cigarettes.

In all honesty, Dabi hated the little things. He wasn't addicted either, he felt no inclination ever to smoke, in fact the thought of taking a drag made him feel sick to his stomach and the idea of having smoke fill his lungs ever again... Dabi hated not being able to breathe. Perhaps it just made him feel... human. He was addicted to that.

It was difficult to keep from seeing himself as a monster. His body was all purple scars, skin, staples, and hair dye- no human heat. His body was actually kind of... cold, due to his mother's DNA in his body. His hair had changed color when he was young-ish, streaks of white quickly overtaking the red he used to have. Now of course he dyed it, so no red or white was visible. And... Dabi couldn't even cry. One of the most basic human acts- he couldn't do it.

So perhaps he liked the idea of something being vaguely human-like, and smoking was the only thing he had been able to think of.

But moments like what was going on at that very moment- his hacking cough refilling his ears and reminding him where he was- made him want to throw the cigarettes as far from him as possible, then set them all on fire and watch as they turned to ashes. He held back though, instead waiting for his coughing to fade. It took about five minutes, longer than usual.

Paying no mind to that, Dabi decided to hope for the best and try to follow the hero who was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps he would get lucky and Hawks would be outside where Dabi could see his wings. That would have to work.

Dabi began walking in the general direction Hawks had gone.

A slurred shout, "nah I cwan goooo hooooommeeee, fine I'm." It sounded vaguely feminine and definitely intoxicated.

A few seconds later the voice shouted again. "Wa tu mean I drunkkkkkk, I'm pefectrally gooood and fwine- Only hiad kale shots fur?" Another couple seconds and- "Hawks fine! Youuuuuu snuck thopugh."

Hawks. Dabi hesitated. The person yelling was clearly drunk, they could think it was the bird, but it could actually be some random person. Deciding it was his best bet and that he could always kill whoever it was if necessary, Dabi hurried toward the noise, following the random shouts that made no sense to an apartment, up three flights of stairs, and down two hallways to a door numbered 189 in fancy lettering.

Dabi took about two seconds and considered knocking, then decided he might as well just open the door.

A strange sight met his eyes.

Hawks was pushing a struggling Mirko down onto the couch and recovering her with a blanket as she kept pushing the blanket away and attempting to stand- which she seemed to be having quite a lot of trouble doing, since she kept falling either into Hawks or back onto the couch. Occasionally she fell toward the ground but feathers were catching her before she hit the ground and pushing her back toward the couch. Hawks was saying that she needed to lay down and stay so he could go get a glass of water for her. Mirko was shouting back jumbled words that made no sense, something about a kazoo in a... jrudekey?

Dabi decided not to question it and just cleared his throat, Hawks' attention snapping to him and Mirko lazily glancing at him.

"Heeee scar duuuude... wholo?" she said, her eyes starting to slide shut.

"She's about to pass out." Dabi pointed out, since Hawks' hands had gone slack and the rabbit would most likely fall onto the floor if he wasn't paying attention.

Hawks quickly regained focus and caught Mirko when her body slumped against him. He pushed her back onto the couch and covered her with the blanket, sighing and grabbing the glass of water on his coffee table, shaking her awake just long enough for her to take a few sips, then she fell back into the couch, breath evening out fairly quickly.

Hawks rushed around her and stood facing Dabi, shoulders tense. "Dabi. Why are you here? How did you even know where I live?" Hawks' gaze was hard, perhaps even a little intimidating- to anyone other than Dabi.

The villain scoffed. "I'm here to talk to you about your proposal. And your friend," Dabi gestured to the sleeping form on the couch. "Your friend is very loud."

Hawks seemed to tense more before he stretched his wings out behind him. He folded them back carefully and seemed to force himself to relax. His signature easy-going smile slid back onto his face.

"Oh. I see." Hawks said smoothly. He laughed a little. "Sorry, that makes sense. So what's your answer?"

"It's a no and I'm here to kill you." Dabi said evenly, lighting a finger on fire as if to prove his point. Hawks paled and tensed once more, feather flying into his hand. Dabi laughed. "I'm joking, you're too jumpy bird."

Hawks laughed nervously. "Okay... so am I in?"

"Kind of." Dabi said, moving past Hawks and sitting on the arm of his couch, careful not to touch Mirko's feet. Hawks watched wearily as Dabi sat, saying nothing. "You're an... honorary villain. You will know the bare minimum about our plans and our members. In fact, I am the only member you will speak to."

Hawks nodded. "Alright. Is that a forever thing or..."

Dabi slid off the couch and glared at the hero coldly. "Whether it's a forever thing or a temporary thing doesn't concern you. You'll know the answer eventually."

Dabi stepped past Hawks and towards the exit of the apartment, stopping at the hero's shoulder and whispering into his ear, voice low and dangerous. "And should I find that you're untrustworthy..." Dabi let the threat hang in the air, watching with a satisfied smirk as Hawks' wings twitched slightly- an almost unnoticeable twitch, but Dabi caught it.

Deciding that this reaction was sufficient, Dabi stepped out of the apartment and began his trek back to the League's Headquarters, deciding it wouldn't be necessary to tell Hawks that he'd be watching quite yet.

It'd be much more likely for him to find Hawks a traitor if the bird didn't know Dabi would be around.

~

Whoop whoop! Here's another update! Hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'm having SO MUCH FUN writing this!! 

Here's today's quote-

"One day the people that didn't believe in you will tell everyone how they met you." -Johnny Depp

(Ngl I love Johnny Depp)

(1380 words)