POV DABI

"You left Himiko with Hawks," Tomura growls, kicking the back of my ankle. "What the fuck?"

"Shut up," I snap back at him. "I told you. Hawks is trustworthy."

"You don't know the difference between being trustworthy and being good in bed," Tomura scoffs.

Normally, I'd blow my top and start fighting my leader like there's no tomorrow. But now is not a normal time. I'm exhausted, trekking around the dingy side of town with weak anger drowning me. I've been in pain before— I've been punched and kicked and burned and shot. I've been verbally and physically and mentally abused for as long as I can fucking remember. But as I drag my feet on the dirty sidewalk, I can't remember a time I was in so much pain because someone else was hurting.

I mean, here I am tracking down a bounty hunter that's after me — trying to kill my bitch ass!— because one of their bullets hit Himiko, who's like my little sister; because Tomura, my leader, is trembling with anxiety beside me; because the best parental figure I've ever had is burdened by the thought of not being enough to protect us; because Twice, my best friend, is so afraid of himself that he vomits at the thought that he might not be real; because the world is royally screwing over Keigo, the love of my life, who deserves everything good this disgusting world has to offer— They all do.

The sound of gunshots echoes like a ringtone on my phone, bringing me back to the present moment. The sound is hard for me to follow since my senses are so weak, but Tomura's able to catch it. He nods to an alleyway, and the two of us creep down it. I light my hands with blue flames, grinding my teeth together.

As we make it to the other end of the alley, the sound of the gun is a million times louder. I feel a tap on my shoulder and panic, thinking Shiggy is trying to dust me. I whip around, rolling my eyes as I'm met with Keigo, smiling like the dofus he is. Kurogiri is with him, too. "Here to help," Keigo whispers, flying out five feathers, the only ones to grow back so far.

"You warped Himiko, Compress, and Twice out, right?" Tomura asks, tapping his index finger to his thumb. "They're not running around like idiots trying to find the hunter?"

"They're with the doc," Kurogiri says. "No need to worry."

"I'm not fucking worried," Shiggy says. "C'mon, morons, let's just get this over with. I'm fucking tired." When we stop talking, the gun stops shooting. Keigo takes the lead, flying a feather out to search. Kurogiri warps himself to the top of the building beside us, searching from the high ground. Shiggy and I stay ready to attack.

A minute or so later, Keigo makes a face, scrunching his nose up with disgust. His feather flies back toward us, soggy. "Bleck!" he squeals, wiping the gooey stuff. "Found the gun, but it's covered in some nasty ass sewage-like sludge."

"Anyone with it?" I ask, grabbing his wrist. I'm not sure why; I just need something stable.

"Y-yeah," Keigo stammers. "C'mon. Shiggy should probably go first. The gooey stuff didn't feel flammable." We follow Keigo's feather to a corner store– closed, obviously, since it's around four in the morning. The windows are shattered, and the open gaps are boarded up with plywood. There's one car in the small parking lot: a beat up, white compact car with the side mirror ripped off. "There's a larger gap in the front of the store–"

Ignoring him, Tomura and I march up to the building. Shiggy presses his crusty five fingers to the wall, turning it all to dust, while I let out a monstrous wave of flames, eating up the plywood. Kurogiri slinks up by us in case we need a quick exit, and Keigo stands behind him, I guess just because he wants to. I bet Keigo feels awful, stripped of those amazing wings. But with or without the wings, I will always protect him.

When the flames settle a bit and the dust is blown out of the way, the moon shines down on the bounty hunter. She's long and bean-like, covered in this thick, gooey slime. Her thin lips crack into an inhuman smile as her four arms clutch the four ruger precision rifles. Only one of those shot Himiko, but I'm gonna burn all of them– the bitch herself, too.

"Hello, boys," she giggles. Her voice sounds like she's gurgling water, and it makes me want to vomit. "Oh, the big man was right! You really are a looker, Mr. Hawks. Gosh, you must've been fun to play with, uhuhu!"

Keigo grabs my wrist, digging his nails into my burnt flesh; it feels as if I'm being cremated all over again. "T-Touya," Keigo says, his voice wavering. "I'm not ready. I- I can't do this. We need to l-leave, I need to be inside, I can't–"

"That whiny voice of yours is no good, number two," the hunter woman laughs. "Here, let me shut you up for a while, hun." The hunter fires a round of bullets at us, too quick for me to burn them. Thankfully, Kurogiri blocks the bullets with his mist, portaling them somewhere else. He can't engulf the sound, though, and the group of us flinch at the sharp bang of the copper bullets. "You all are no fun–" the hunter begins. But she isn't able to finish. Her long, slimy body crumbles into dust, and with the sound of her gunshots echoes her painful last breath– a throaty screech of death.

"Gross," Tomura says, shaking the goo off of his hand. The remnants that he can't get off are converted to dust.

"Let's get out of here, shall we?" Kurogiri says with a long sigh.

"Sounds great," Tomura grumbles. "I'm fucking exhausted. C'mon, Dabs. You too, feathers."

"I think I'm gonna stay back," Keigo says. "I don't wanna get you guys any more hurt. Or reveal your location. We don't know how well they're watching me."

"Same for me, I guess," I say, rubbing the back of my neck. "It's cool. Birdie and I will stick together while you guys hang with the doc. I'll keep you updated in the group chat, and we'll call as soon as we're in the clear."

"But where are you gonna go?" Kurogiri asks. "You certainly can't just stay on the run forever."

I give them both a wink and a wave, pulling Keigo's hand as I start to walk away. "We'll be alright. Love you, mom. Seeya later, dusty."

"Dabi–" Kurogiri begins, scowling. "I'm trusting you won't get into any more trouble!"

"Of course not!" I reply, laughing. Keigo rolls his eyes as I kiss him on the temple, failing to hold back my smile. "Whaddya think, Birdie? Wanna run away together?"

"You are the biggest dork," Keigo giggles. "Yeah, let's fucking do it."