#getenxdabi

[randomguywithwords]

As The Dust Settles: Chapter 24 (Geten x Dabi Slowburn)

Chapter 24: Icarus Takes Flight

AO3 Link

Previous Chapters: 23, 22, 21, 20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

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Geten knew she was rusty the minute she raised the lake of ice. In the same way muscles atrophied after unuse, her quirk felt, ironically, as if it were thawing after being frozen for a century. 

Her cryokinesis was sluggish, rigid. The ice body jerked forward and stalled as she attempted a simple levitation towards her. Finally, she returned the ice to the snaking gap in the ground where the water had been. 

She scowled. Despite doing simple manipulation exercises during her hospitalisation, using whatever ice cubes she had, it wasn’t enough — wouldn’t be enough to go up against the might of the entire army. 

As she allowed the bottom of the lake to melt back into water —  something she could still do just as well, to her relief, the thought struck her immobile for a few seconds. That is, after all, what I am seeking, yes? Freedom from this place and its people.

But I am still not strong enough. People as strong as Shingu Takame existed amongst the ranks of the advisors, and perhaps even the common soldiery. If she were to fight multiple of them concurrently, she could be…

Flashes of Mihara Takame’s corpse sent a shiver down her spine. 

“Killed.” She whispered. 

“Who?” Hawks’ voice gave her a reeling shock, creating a barrier of ice out of instinct. Upon registering it as his voice, she lowered it with a scowl. 

“Don’t do that,” She said. 

“My bad,” Hawks replied. “Who died?” 

“It’s nothing of importance.” 

“If you say so.” From his coat, he pulled out a half-eaten packet of chips. He offered one to her, who declined with a wrinkle in her expression and a shake of her head. 

“So, training for the Festival?” He observed. 

“Yes.” She still had to keep up appearances. “Why aren’t you asleep? It’s quite late.”

“Still have some errands to run. Just taking a break to catch up with you, if you don’t mind.”

“It doesn’t matter to me.” She sat on a constructed ice-bench, to which Hawks followed suit.

“Cool. Quick question, why do you always have your hood on?” He munched on more chips. 

“Not always.” She shot back. 

“Ah, you know what I mean.” Even though his tone sounded playful and curious, there was a sharpness in his words that pierced through all pretence.

“I do,” She conceded, “But I don’t want to share that with you. I hope you’re not offended.” 

Hawks waved his hand. “All good, I get it.” And he let the subject die. But the topic only grew like a fungus in her mind, until the question – innocent-sounding as it was, brought her back into her memories.

“Who am I? Apocrypha, a weapon for the Liberation Army.” That was what she said, and a statement she once lived by. 

“A sword has no need for a name any more than a stray dog does.” The words she had spoken with such conviction in front of Shigaraki – perhaps in hindsight, an act of bravado in the face of destruction incarnate…

She made herself shiver. Yet she lived by this doctrine imposed upon her, which she reinforced herself all those years. 

Till now. 

She reached up and pulled down her hood. Besides her, Hawks raised an eyebrow. 

“All right, I get it,” He chuckled. “Not all the time.” 

Geten returned a small smile. He wouldn’t understand. Her focus shifted to the pair of crimson wings on his back. 

“Where did you train?” Geten said aloud the question rising to her mouth. “Did you go to…” What was it called? “A school?”

“Not me. I was...special, you could say.” His tone took on some solemnity. 

“So you trained under a mentor, like myself?”

“You could say that.” Hawks said, after a pause. 

“He must have been good, for you to attain such a high hero ranking, in the public eye.” 

“Ha!” He burst out. “Almost too good...too good for me.”

Geten recognised that look. It was her own expression whenever she stared herself in the mirror as a young child, after she’d finished writing in her journal. Childish habits.

“It was difficult, was it not?” She felt a strange connection between her and him. It was sympathy, to an extent, but not the same way her spiteful past self viewed her inferior soldiers. She sympathised with Hawks, but she also understood his pains of training. Was there some word for it? She couldn’t grasp it.

“You got me. It was. Really was.” 

A silence. Geten was unsure what to say.

Eventually, she said, “I went through something similar, though you must’ve realised that by now, given our last conversation.”

Hawks nodded. After another moment had passed, he said, “I had a friend who went through the same thing with me. He was a fun person. He made things easier.” 

“That’s good,” She said softly.

Hawks must’ve caught the look on her face which she tried to conceal. “Sorry, didn’t mean to make you feel bad.”

Geten waved it off. “He sounds like a nice person. What happened to him?” 

“We’ve went our separate ways. But I think you would’ve liked him.” 

“Perhaps I might meet him someday. Is he a hero?”

Hawks shrugged. That was all he did. 

“At any rate, all that training...Seems like it’s biting me in my ass now, what with the Festival and my assigned task,” He said. 

“Your...Oh.” She recalled it. 

Shigaraki had given the lieutenants and Hawks a more in-depth briefing just this morning, right after Geten left the hospital. There, he assigned groupings and explained his strategies to annex the cities they were to strike, taking out the heroes on guard there and keeping the populace under control. Suspiciously, he gave Dabi a job to be on the backline during the Festival, along with Apocrypha, which meant that Dabi’s other assignment was more secretive than she thought. 

As to what Hawk’s mission was, it was to keep up appearances. Shigaraki ordered Hawks to fight as a hero, against the invading Liberation soldiers. That way, his cover would be maintained, and he could continue infiltrating the Commission. 

“What about it?”

“To fight against people I would consider peers, and with the abilities that the Hero Commission know I have, they’ll expect me to round them up quickly, which means I’d be dooming them to prison. The total opposite to liberation.” Hawks sighed. “I feel horrible.” 

She responded, “They’ll understand. It’s for the greater good.” In other words, they would be so brainwashed they would accept come what may. But she didn’t say that. Judging from Hawks’ creased expression, he seemed troubled by his role in the Festival. 

“For Destro.” She said. 

Hawks looked at her. “For Destro,” He echoed. Standing up, he let his wings spread, pocketing the empty packet. 

“Thanks for keeping me company. I’ve gee to gee. Make sure you get some sleep, you did just recover fully.” He flashed a smile.

“Gee to gee?” 

“Got to go. It’s a shorter way to say it.” 

“But they have the same number of syllables. That’s illogical.” She argued.

Hawks chuckled again, not offering a reply to that, before ascending. 

“See you on Monday! Festival’s going to be great!” Hawks shouted, and then he sped off into the night sky. 

Geten resumed her training, feeling slightly better. At the same time, she tried to push away the thought that one day, when she had abandoned the Liberation Front, it could be Hawks that would be dragging her back into the clutches, and they would have to fight. 

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Hi, I don’t have much of an excuse. I said a few days and it ended up at least a week and then some. I could get into a rant on writer’s block but you’ve seen it all. Really sorry. Am hoping to make it up to you guys with the next chapter which should be an appropriate dose of Dabiten fluff and angst. Our usual orders as a fandom, I suppose. 

Shoutout to kannra21, kerasion, novella12nite and avirabbit (I know there are others but I just remember these few of you, sorry! ><) for still sticking with this story despite everything. 

Really hope you liked this chapter despite the lack of Dabiten, but I felt that some fleshing out of the Geten Hawks relationship was needed. Because it is somewhat important to Geten’s character. It’s not like something bad is gonna happen, right? ._.

[90s-belladonna]

You actually did "dabihawks is popular for a reason, it's soft and not toxic" (in your geten discourse, idk how old it is it just appeared on my tl) which is why I sent this ask, not to shame you for shipping them cause Idc about that, but my point is that the reason why it's popular is because it's a m/m ship, would it be nearly as popular with fangirls if both were female? No, it wouldn't, so I'm not really throwing anyone under the bus like you say

Momo x Jiro is a popular ship with girls and it’s not m/m deku x ochaco is popular with girls too and it’s no m/m, kami x Jiro is popular with girls and it’s not m/m, momo x todo is popular with girls and it’s not m/m, nejire x Yuyu is popular with girls and it’s not m/m... tons of non m/m ships are popular with girls but you’re picking and choosing the ones you want to bring up.

and yeah compared to GetenxDabi, an extremely abusive pairing, dabihawks is soft. it sounds more to me like your problem is girls in general rather than ships since there’s no way to know someone’s gender on here unless they have it in their bio, and few in the bnha fandom do.

[randomguywithwords]

As The Dust Settles: Chapter 19 (Geten X Dabi Slowburn)

Chapter 19: Old Chains

AO3 Link

Previous Chapters: 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

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The girl bowed and left the room in a hurry, nearly tripping over her feet as she did so. Geten watched her go, her lips pursed. Her behaviour reminded her of that messenger at her lodgings, but while she had smirked at the boy’s cowardice just a few days ago, she felt uneasiness coil around her stomach. 

Do they all look at me like that? How long has it been since I’ve been in the city? 

She rarely ever walked down a street, not having any need to with her cryokinesis. Transporting herself with her ice was much preferable to reducing herself by commuting alongside the other soldiers in the MLA. The few times she interacted with them...they always had the same look on their faces. 

She put those thoughts aside and returned to an even more unpleasant subject: the book in her hand that she had requested the girl bring to her. It was familiar to her like a mother to her infant. The same indented red cover with its engraving of the symbol of the MLA. The same title emblazoned with gold. 

Meta Liberation War. 

She knew the book back to front. If prompted by anyone, she could recite the pledge, the paragraphs or the sign off by Destro in a heartbeat. She had spent years memorising every key sentence, every declaration made by the founder of the Army she belonged to, and so on.

So why am I holding it in my hand?

Well, for one, she needed something to keep her distracted while she was stuck in the hospital ward, thanks to a certain fire-user and a dumb pact made just an hour or so ago. 

“Ok, five day hospitalisation, doc’s orders.” Dabi turned to leave the room. 

“No, I’m leaving tomorrow,” Geten shot back, crossing her arms. 

“Uh huh, because you’d be fully recovered, right?” 

She paused, searching for a retort. “You can’t make me stay here.”

Even to her, it sounded childish, and Dabi’s choked laughter told her he was thinking the same way. “Tell you what, what’s your favourite food?”

The question caught her off-guard. She blinked twice, wondering if that question came from him. “I don’t have one.”

“Bullshit. Everyone has one.”

“Unlike you, I’m not that much of an adolescent to show preferences for food. I eat whatever’s there.” 

“It’s something cold, isn’t it? Soba?” 

“How – wha –” She spluttered. “No, no it’s not.”

“You chill here until Friday, and I’ll get you soba.”

“Even if I did like it, I could just get it myself.” She was hoping her expression wasn’t betraying how much she liked the noodles. 

“Not in Deika City, obviously. You think this shithole has any good food?” 

“We can’t just leave –” Her exasperation was overpowered by his when he cut her off with, “Do you want the soba or not?”

A spasm of pain coursed through her ribs, causing her to wince. “Fine,” She muttered, and sat down on the bed. 

“See you Friday then. My god, you’re stubborn.” He left and shut the door. 

The memory, fresh in her mind, was oddly warming to think about, while the metal-engraved title of the book felt cold to the touch, pulling her back to the present. 

The second reason was repetition – too much of it, that is. She compared it to her mastery over her meta ability made it a part of her, that she barely gave a thought whenever she levitated ice. Likewise, she could recant any part of the book with no hesitance. But even though I speak the words out loud, how much thought have I given their meaning?

She flipped open the book. Destro’s words filled Geten’s head like a lullaby a parent might sing to their child, not that the young woman knew what that was like. 

“I am not in a prison. I am in solitude, and in this solitude have I found solace…” She read out loud to herself in the ward. It was habitual to do so, but as she kept reading, her voice trailed off as she studied it, and a growing void inside her gnawed at her heart. 

I dream of a society where the use of our meta abilities is uncontrolled, as the great power that granted the human race this blessing intended. It was, and is, and will always be, a gift. Yet it is also a responsibility to bear. We must show the world the truth the governments try to conceal. They pass human laws that goes against the natural law. I, and my army, tried to show them this truth, but it is with great regret and sorrow that I announce an obstacle in our path towards destiny. My incarceration. 

 …

Strength is survival. Strength is our meta abilities, and honing them to perfection, achieving what we called “apotheosis” in the ancient past. To become god-like. 

“And yet, you died, Destro,” Geten murmured. “And still we...we honour and revere you…” The void grew larger. 

The journey unto death is one I will undertake after I finish writing this, but know that death is not the end for us. While I concede death is a frightening concept, I encourage you to believe that it is an inspiration for others. To die in battle is honourable. I only wish I had done so, but what has happened is set in stone. My death is a protest to the laws that chain us, but it is also your empowerment, to do what I could not. 

“Death,” Geten whispered, the word tasting like poison on her tongue. She remembered both times she was one thread away from it: the barrel of Trumpet’s gun pointed at her, and the fists of Takame. In the first, she was not in combat. It would have been an assassination, would it not? And in the second…

Her chest hurt at the thought. She felt no honour, only emptiness and fear, knowing what the Liberation Army had done to her attacker’s family, and knowing her death was imminent. 

Is it possible that Destro had feared death as well? 

The reminder about Takame’s wife brought her to flip the pages to the section on the powerless, or, as Destro put it...

It is not some genetic disorder as the men in white coats would tell you. They are simply the unfortunate ones to not have received this gift. Pity them, for they, the outcasts, deserve your pity. 

“Mihara…” She looked just like her. If she was wandering around Deika City, Geten would have thought she was some ordinary soldier. An ordinary person, even. How was she an outcast? Why did the MLA start hunting down the quirkless? Out of pity? They deserved it?

She slammed the book shut as the image of her dead body appeared in her mind. She drew deep breaths to calm herself – had she been hyperventilating this entire time? Her fists were trembling, blood pounding in her head in anger of it all. 

The agony was a python writhing on her chest while old memories resurfaced from the aching in her brain. She remembered what Re-destro taught her, and how he did it. 

A growl rose in her throat. 

Kicked. Starved. Left alone to fend for herself, in the name of “liberation”. Everything that she did. Everything that was done to me, was in the name of liberation, but it shackled me more and more. 

“Gah!” She flung the book across the room and buried her head in her hands. 

She sat there upright on the hospital bed for some time, the silence screaming all the answers she did not want to hear, but had to, to her. 

“You don’t find anything wrong with that?” Dabi had said on the plane. She remembered his countenance, a mixture of irritation and pity, whenever she spoke about the MLA. She had chalked it up to the arrogance of the victorious, or just a dislike of her, which was mutual then, so it never bothered her to think further. The pieces started to click together. 

“You dropped this.” A dry voice made her look up, and a paleness spread across her face like permafrost. 

Tomura Shigaraki stood at her doorway, dressed in a crimson jacket whose sleeves ran down his arms and black undershirt, whilst wearing jeans. He looked like any other ordinary person, if not for the severed hand on his face. In his hand was the book. 

Instantly, thoughts of a legless Re-destro, or the piles of dust that once were Shigaraki’s opponents flooded her mind. She gripped the bedsheets tightly. 

“Why are you here? And...I don’t need that.” Geten averted her eyes.

Shigaraki tossed it to the side and shut the door behind her. “I’m not here to kill you or anything, don’t shit yourself. I came here to see how you were doing. I gotta say, you look like you got broken up with.”

His words didn’t reassure her in the least, especially not the way he said ‘kill you’, but his posture didn’t indicate any animosity, so Geten took his word for it. Clearing her throat and steadying herself as best as she could, she responded, “I’m fine.”

“What’s with the book throw? Test tomorrow?” 

“No,” She replied with an edge to her voice. 

“You pissed?”

She exhaled. “Yes,” She said, mustering all the civility and politeness she had left. 

“How nice,” He said, the concern in his tone matching that of his expression. “Anyway, you’re free to do what you want now. I got nothing for Violet Regiment. You’re excused from the council meetings till you’re discharged, whenever the hell that is.”

She blinked. “That’s all?”

Shigaraki cocked his head. “What, you were expecting a celebration of your win?”

“No...never mind. Th – thank you, Commander.” She bowed her head. 

She heard the door slam and looked back up. She let loose a shuddering breath of relief from the sole fact that she was alive and not missing a limb, or an entire torso. He had looked more disinterested, as if she was an ant on his finger, but she would gladly accept that over a smiling Shigaraki. 

Did Dabi actually talk to him? She recalled the promise he had made on the motorbike ride.  

Maybe the consequences were waiting for her once her hospitalization was over, which made goosebumps appear on her skin. She held the sheets closer to her. Still, Shigaraki didn’t seem like the type to grant her catharsis before unleashing whatever hell he wanted upon her. If he was going to punish her, he would have done so just now. 

Geten sighed and sunk back underneath the covers. Or maybe I’m just lying to myself...

It was only mid-afternoon, judging from the sky outside, yet fatigue, both physical and mental, weighed her limbs down as if she had been training the whole day. The bed suddenly felt like the softest, most comforting thing in the world. Unable to fight against her body, she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep, her thoughts too cluttered to sift through. A few names and words stood out, one of which was, Find Dabi. 

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Had some time to finish this up. Hope you liked it. 

[randomguywithwords]

Stage Three (Dabiten Drabble)

“You’re back late,” Geten drawled, her eyes trailing up and down Dabi’s form, as she lay back on the sofa with a glass of wine in hand. 

He stretched his arms like a lanky cat under the sun. “Had to take care of a leadership issue.” 

“Mmm,” She said, “And why wasn’t I invited?” 

“He said you weren’t fit to lead Violet,” Dabi said, taking off his black jacket to reveal his muscles, which were leaner than she remembered, but she still found it hot. “Someone snitched on him, so I burned that piece of shit. Useless trash thinking they can rule a regiment.” 

She placed the wine glass on the stand. “Aww, so you were defending my honour?” She purred. 

“What if I was?” He walked up to her and she pulled him by the collar of his undershirt. 

She gazed into his blue eyes, and then her grip loosened as she saw it. Or rather, she didn’t see it. 

“Your scar.” She smoothed her thumb over the unscarred part of his right cheek. “Where’d it go?” Her voice shook.

“Hm? I never had one there.” Dabi caressed her hair as he sat down.

“No, no. You did. From that fight...that...night.” She gulped. 

“Are you dreaming, babe?” Dabi laughed, but she heard the uncertainty in his voice. Her voice.

The illusion crashed all around her like an avalanche on the highest mountain peak. She stood up and looked back at him – her. 

“You’re not – No, I mean –” She choked on the brimming tears and the lump in her throat. “Stop. Stop this, Toga.” 

Dabi frowned, but slowly the sludge slid off her, and Himiko Toga was all that remained. Dabi was gone. 

“Geten-chan,” She said with concern. “Are you okay?”

Geten took her parka from the coat rack and put it on. She wiped her tears with her sleeves. “No, I’m sorry, Toga, this was a bad idea.” 

“Sorry,” Toga murmured, “I only had blood from a year or two back. It ruined everything.”

Geten tried for a smile, but it was a painful, futile attempt.  “No, you did – you did fine. I just…” Her mind was blank. What did she feel right now? What did she feel about herself, or him, or everything this twisted world gave and took away?

“I miss him.” She rubbed her eyes. 

“I miss him too, Geten-chan.” Toga said with a melancholic sigh. “Hug?” 

She embraced the younger girl. “Thank you.” She managed to let out

“Don’t mention it, we’re here for you. You’re not alone. I know Re-destro and the rest weren’t kind to you, but you have us now, ok?” Toga gave an encouraging grin, but Geten could see the remnants of hurt in her eyes. It was a mirror. 

Geten nodded, taking a shuddering breath to steady her composure, and opened the door. “Come on, let’s go. It’s not our room.”

Toga grabbed the wine and offered it to her as they left. “You want some?” 

“...Yeah.” She needed it.

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Uhh, again, another trope I’m sure. I didn’t do much in terms of creativity, so...sorry. Just letting out some angst. Won’t put this on AO3. It’s not a good representation of my writing ability (but it is good to represent a lack of it). Also this is the most drabble of a drabble I’ve ever drabbled. What, sub 500 words? That’s lazy writing if I’ve ever seen it. 

I partly just wanted to add onto the geten tag because there’s been nothing new for a long while. Right now it’s filled with some roleplay blog or something. I think it’s a roleplay blog. So I thought, let’s write a roleplay drabble. 

But anyway, I hope you enjoyed it regardless?

[randomguywithwords]

As The Dust Settles: Chapter 18 (Geten X Dabi Slowburn)

Chapter 18: Reclamation

Previous Chapters: 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

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Recap From Chapter 17:

“Why’s it seem like you trust me all of a sudden?” Dabi had to ask. 

After a moment of silence, Geten mumbled, “I think...I think I just do. You’re not the worst.” 

That’s a first. 

“So why’d you bury her?” 

“Because…” She looked at her hands. “They didn’t deserve it. It’s weird, isn’t it? I got beat up so much by them, but I’m still respecting her.”

“No, it’s not weird. It means…” Dabi considered his next few words. “It means your heart isn’t cold.” 

–––––––

“You’re not done here? I thought your job was to dispose of her.” Geten asked as she followed Dabi back to the building where they’d fought. 

“Just checking out some things. You can leave if you want,” Dabi said as he turned and walked towards the warehouse. 

He expected her to whizz away on her ice, but he heard footsteps behind. He turned back to see her following with her head down. 

“What…Ugh. Fine.” He pocketed his hands.

“It’s not like I can leave, I don’t have any more ice, and I can’t walk all the way back or ride the bike,” Geten defended.

The two walked into the warehouse they fought Takame in, which was easy to identify with its shattered walls and charred floor. 

Dabi mindlessly ran his hand over the engraved text of “Bushido Enterprises”. He’d seen this place before. Well, not this particular factory, but it seemed this company duplicated their structures down to the blueprint across the country, perhaps with the help of one or more quirks. 

He forgot what they were in the business of. Was it weaponry? Construction materials? Or perhaps that innocent building, a twin to this one, was the unfortunate venue chosen for gangs to meet.

He winded through the narrow passageways, with Geten trailing him. How had he known where he was going, as he evaded Takame? The memory had returned to him last night and lingered till now. He retraced his steps, and found himself in a massive clearing, in the centre of the building. 

Dabi exhaled as flashes of that night struck his mind like lightning. Fire. Screams. A roar above it all. Yet as quickly as they came, they dissipated, leaving only frustration. 

“What are you looking at?” Geten said. 

“Not sure,” Dabi uttered. He pressed his hands into his skull, trying to constrict his head into squeezing those lost thoughts out. A chair in the centre, blinded by a spotlight, and the last spark of memory fizzled out. His head snapped up to the catwalk above, but there was no spotlight.

“Trying to remember something?” 

He looked at her with his mouth hanging, before he regained his composure. “Maybe,” he admitted. “How would you know?”

“I’ve...done something similar.” She kicked a pebble across the room with her hands in her pocket. “I looked like that when I was frustrated.”

“Your name?” He hadn’t forgotten. 

She nodded after a pause. “I guess you’re trying to remember your old name too?” 

Noting the blank look on his face, she scoffed. “Come on, don’t think I didn’t know Dabi wasn’t your birth name when we met.” 

He waved it off. “I know my name. I’ve abandoned it. And don’t ask me what it is.” He added with a spark of assertiveness. 

“Wasn’t planning to, you have your own secrets, I have mine…” She murmured, “Let’s leave it at that.”

Dabi nodded, feeling a twitch of guilt. He sat against one of the crates and looked up at her. 

“What about yesterday? Care to tell me now it’s all over?” His eyes met hers in spite of her wearing her hood. 

She sighed and sat down opposite him. For a few moments, it was only the two of them suspended in silence. Rays of sunlight permeated through the windows, casting them in a warm glow. Dabi was never one for daytime, with its people and noise, but it was strangely calming. 

“Shigaraki talked to me before the meeting. You wouldn’t know, you were gorging on ramen.” She sounded mildly amused. 

“I was hungry after training. Sue me.” 

“He didn’t say much, but I think he was implying that he was testing me.” 

“He’s never went to school, don’t worry, he’d be a shit teacher.” 

“I meant he was testing my loyalty.” 

“I mean, if slicing up your own people ain’t loyal, I don’t know what is,” Dabi quipped. 

She looked up with widened eyes, like a gambler who just realised they had lost. “You know?”

“Some rumours and suspicions. So it’s true.” 

“I’m not proud of it...now,” She spoke, and sounded truthful. 

“Keep going.” Dabi waved dismissively. 

“I was paranoid that the whole assignment was set up by Shigaraki, and that you were here to spy for Shigaraki.”

Dabi barked out a laugh. “Not in a million years.” 

“Well, it sure made me suspicious. I kept thinking you had orders to kill me if I made the wrong move. My loyalty was in question, wasn’t it?”

His expression sombered. Well, that explains a lot. “I kept wondering why you were being so stubborn about continuing. If the others or Shigaraki found out you failed the assignment, it wouldn’t look good for you either.”

She nodded rigidly, like a robot toy with rusty joints. Dabi exhaled. So she was going into Tokugawa with that much baggage...while I was whistling and kicking back against leather chairs. 

Yet he wasn’t punished, while she took all of Takame’s hits and ended up in this state. He clenched his fists, feeling a hydra of emotions emerge – anger, shame, guilt, twisting and churning, all inside him. 

“I was in a place like this before, sometime in my past,” He said, which drew her eyes to meet his, with evident intrigue towards the spontaneous sharing. “It’s why I wanted to come here. To look around, see if I remember anything.” 

The words burst from his mouth. His brain sent alarm signals, asking what the hell he was doing. Sharing something, he responded. Maybe sharing something about himself would make her hate him less. Because he sure as hell would hate her if he had to take a beating as bad as the one she took, just to buy time to save her. 

“You want to reclaim your past? Why?” 

He was still staring at her, and it was that question, Why, and her white hair, that clicked in his head. 

He remembered someone else he held close with long white hair like hers. His heart clenched. Is that why I’m doing this? 

“Probably time I did so.” He got to his feet and offered a hand. “Come on, let’s get out of here.” 

“Don’t you want more time?” She took it, wincing a little. 

“Yeah, but you need to rest. I think I’m done here anyway.” 

The two exited the warehouse towards the bike, and as Dabi surveyed the factory for the last time, something bit at him. He forgot something, but what was it? 

––––––

“I’ll...make sure you don’t get killed. By Shigaraki, or, whoever,” Dabi said, hoping he was loud enough to be heard with the wind whooshing past on the motorcycle. Because he did not want to repeat that. 

He felt her arms tighten slightly against his torso. “Thanks,” She murmured. 

Silence folded onto them once again. 

––––––

“I’m back.” Dabi shut the door behind to see Shigaraki on a chair, with multiple metallic surgical devices operating on his open arm, and that was a light way of describing it. 

Such was Shigaraki’s desire, anyway, as he had shared a while back with just the League. It was one hell of an ambition, one Dabi could get behind, but definitely not to the extent of sitting in that rusty chair of the Doc. 

Picking between looking at his leader in the eye and beholding the grisly tendons and bones that looked more at home at a slaughterhouse, it was a difficult choice indeed, but Dabi had to settle for eye contact. 

“That took a while,” Shigaraki stated, but didn’t say anything further. Was he expecting Dabi to explain himself, or was that his indifference? 

“I’ve got some questions about the mission. But first, what the hell are you doing?”

“Hmm?” Shigaraki inspected a bit of flesh that landed on his chest, apparently unconcerned with the discontinued surgery from the doctor that had left the room a while ago. “Oh, just learning some biology. Did you know if you tear open someone’s left arm like this, it hurts like shit?” 

“Could have fooled me.” Dabi noted Shigaraki’s bored countenance. 

“Yeah, well, can we get to your questions about the missions? I’m getting tired entertaining guests.”

“Why’d you pick me and Apocrypha?” 

“Thought it would be good for both of you. Get some fresh air away from the city, y’know, let you two hook up if you wanted to…” 

Dabi’s brow twitched. “And your other reason?” 

“Seeing if she’s good enough to serve as a lieutenant. I never got to hear your take, by the way, seeing as you left the meeting midway to finish your chores.” 

“She did fine.” More than fine. “No reason to demote her or anything.” 

“Hm.” Shigaraki sounded unimpressed. “If you say so. She’s your co-leader in the regiment.”

And you said you wouldn’t give a shit about what went on within the regiment, as long as it worked...There was probably some truth to that, the only exception being Shigaraki’s suspicion of Geten’s loyalties given her past. If he held true to his word now, Shigaraki would lay off her back for the time being now that that Takame fiasco was over. 

“Yeah, she’s a bit annoying, but otherwise she’s decent.” 

“Mmhmm…” Shigaraki went back to tracing a finger on his exposed bone. “Well, any more questions?”

“Mesa.” Dabi trained his eyes onto him to catch any signs of recognition. Catch them off-guard with information they don’t expect you to have, and you’ll see if they’re hiding something. 

“S’cuse me?” Shigaraki looked more confused than annoyed. Nothing. Guess it wasn’t him. That leaves a couple more people. 

“I sneezed, sorry. I got nothing else,” Dabi deadpanned. 

“Well, bless you, and GTFO,” Shigaraki snarked. 

“Thanks. Good luck on your surgery.” Dabi turned to leave with a lazy wave. 

“Oh yeah, good job on the assignment, by the way,” Shigaraki said, as Dabi ambled to the door. “Feel free to resume your own business, with Hawks or whoever. Just keep him in check. If he pries too much, I’ll have to pluck him out.” 

“So you don’t trust him either?” 

“I’d be disappointed if you ever did.” 

Dabi gave a short laugh as he held the doorhandle. At least they were on the same page about something. “Don’t worry. I’ll drag him to this doorstep if need be.” 

If there was a reply from Shigaraki, it was lost to the echo in the chamber.

–––––

Hope you liked it. If you’re still into this story, thanks for sticking through my shitty upload schedule. I’m getting tired of apologising for delays. At this point it’s safer to assume I’m on hiatus until my exams are over. Might post things. Might not. 

[randomguywithwords]

As The Dust Settles: Chapter 17 (Dabi X fem!Geten Slowburn)

Chapter 17: A Frozen Heart

AO3 Link: Here

Previous Chapters: 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

Long chapter ahead btw. 2.8k.

–––––––––

For fifteen minutes, Dabi watched the broken, unconscious form of Geten breathe, every inhalation causing a shudder to ripple through her body. Every time she made a hacking cough, blood spurted from her mouth, making his fists clench tighter and his teeth grind against one another with building rage. Ten minutes in, he reduced Takame’s corpse to ashes to vent some feelings. 

That was all he could do. He couldn’t move her because of all the broken bones and fractures. The one thing he could was to shift her head an inch, to ensure she didn’t choke on her blood. 

All he could do was wait. The throbbing pain in his arms from blocking that hit was nothing compared to the pain in his chest at seeing her on the verge of death, enduring a merciless pummel that she didn’t deserve. 

He felt like every breath he took injected him with even more fury that he wanted to scream, to let the world know he wanted to burn it all. 

Stupid girl. Why can’t you see that you never belonged to the MLA? Why are you getting yourself killed for them? 

Geten shuddered as she coughed out more blood that stained the rusty containers’ surface. Dabi tore his eyes away. You could have stopped Takame before he went after her. You’re weak.

Wasn’t my fault I got sent on this damn assignment, he argued on instinct.

He paused, feeling his conviction disappear upon seeing Geten’s state. He ignited his arm, feeling the fiery torture wrack his already fractured limb. It didn’t expunge the guilt, but he liked to think that it could, somehow. 

Did Shigaraki know, sending two people whose quirks don’t work well against him? 

He was confronting Shigaraki when they got back, that was for sure. But for now, his attention was drawn to her. 

Is her breathing slowing? Shit. 

He squeezed his eyes shut, feeling helpless, so utterly helpless. C’mon, girl, don’t die on me. Please. 

When he opened them, he saw two figures rushing towards them. He recognised one of them as the soldier who had welcomed them at the airport. 

“Help her first, I’m good.” He said as he extinguished his punishment. The two of them nodded. One of them stepped forward to lay a hand on Geten.

Dabi slapped it away with a glare. “Are you an idiot? She’s in no state to be carried.”

The soldier gave a patient smile. “I’m not moving her. My special ability can teleport people to a nearby location I’m familiar with by being in physical contact. We’re bringing the both of you back to the airport where Compress will take you back to Deika.” 

“Ah,” Dabi said, leaning back, “My bad.”

With one hand each, the soldier touched each of their shoulders, while the other companion laid a hand on him. The teleporter closed his eyes.

In the next few seconds, Dabi felt a light tugging sensation, definitely smoother than the gunky horridness that was the Doctor’s method. The next moment, he found himself back at the airport on solid ground. 

“Keep her spine in line,” Dabi ordered, and the two obeyed, gingerly holding Geten in place. “How long till Compress gets here?”

“ETA ten minutes,” The teleporter announced. Dabi swallowed – If he doesn’t get here on time...

The night was quiet and of a cool temperature, but Dabi was still sweating, and the serenity of this scene was destroyed by the haggard breaths Geten was drawing. He kept looking at the sky, trying to spot a black dot in the darkness. When a seeming eternity had passed feeling more anxious by the minute, he saw it, illuminated by red lights. 

He heard the whirring sounds of the chopper as it closed in and landed. Dabi spotted the familiar orange-brown coat and the black hat of Atsuhiro Sako, and a painful smile of relief tugged at his lip. 

One thing Dabi liked about Compress was that despite his showman persona, he didn’t mince words, or speak when there was no need to. Sako raced out of the aircraft, compressed Geten and pocketed her. 

“You need me to do you, too?” Sako asked him. 

Dabi shook his head. “Let’s go. Thanks, you two.” He acknowledged the soldiers, who bowed in return and left. The two Lieutenants climbed into the helicopter and the pilot lifted off. 

“No headsets? I’m not going deaf here,” Dabi shouted over the whirring. 

“Chill, the pilot has a noise-cancelling quirk. He’ll activate it soon.” As Compress said this, the ruckus disappeared, as if they were back on the jet. Another pang of hurt poked at Dabi, thinking about his nonchalance at the start of the mission.

“You look like hell.” Compress noted Dabi’s arms and the dust and grime on his coat. 

“Yeah. Assignment was harder than we thought.”

“I presumed much. Who was it?”

“One of the advisors in my regiment, and his daughter.”

Dabi heard the surprise in Sako’s tone. “Oh, Skeptic’s gonna go mental. Not that he already isn’t.”

That got a chuckle out of Dabi, but it died as he thought about the damage Takame had done. 

“But you guys finished the mission, right?” Compress asked. 

Looking out the window at the night sky, he muttered, “Yeah.”

“You didn’t throw her under the bus, did you?” 

Dabi’s head flicked back to face Compress. “What the hell, no! Why would I?”

The performer raised his arms to placate his anger. “Sorry, last time you talked about her, you were ready to kill her or whatever’s in your head. You mean to say that you guys are on good terms now?”

Dabi sighed. “I just don’t hate her. And I have no reason to let her die. Shigaraki wouldn’t be happy.” He added as an afterthought. 

He gave a tiny sigh. “Well, I’m sure you have a thrilling story of how you two managed to get to this state.” 

“We definitely do,” Dabi said dryly. 

“Tell us all about it tomorrow. Go get some sleep tonight. The doctor has a cell activation quirk, he’ll fix you up first, then her.” 

“No, get her first. I’ll wait.” 

“Fine,” Compress relented after seeing the adamant expression on Dabi’s face. “You’re really...concerned for her. It’s weird.” 

Dabi replied with a yawn.

––––––

The doctor flipped through his clipboard. “Multiple fractures on her arms, five broken ribs, dislocated jaw and she suffered a skull fracture.”

“But you fixed all of it...right?” There was an undertone of a “You better have.” that the doctor understood, given the reassuring smile he wore at Dabi’s question. He was getting sick of people trying to calm him down with smiles, like that would help.

“I used my ability as best as I could, and it fixed most of it, but I only sped up the recovery of the cell reparations. We’ll be providing iron and calcium supplements to help her along, but she’ll be bedridden for the next few days.” 

“Any permanent damage?” 

“As long as she gets enough rest and doesn’t exert herself, she’ll be fine and back to normal in a few weeks.”

Dabi exhaled. “Alright. Thanks doc.” 

Dr Shimano nodded and left the room. Dabi looked at Geten, whose chest rose and fell at a stable pace as she slept, no longer shaking, a significant improvement from just an hour ago. 

“Sorry Geten,” He said. “I fucked up.” 

As the words left his mouth, he took a second to realise what he had just said. He blinked. When did I start caring so much? 

The air-conditioned room and the leather chair he was seated on let the remaining surges of adrenaline fade out, to be replaced by an ice-cold fist of realisation – The events that had transpired in the last couple of hours punched him in the face. 

He had not left her side once the entire time. 

You’re really...concerned for her.

He got out of his seat, staggering upon registering Mr Compress’ words from earlier with clarity, similar to receiving a fiery touch on his skin. What the hell? 

He glanced back at Geten sleeping, then he left the room with extended paces. I should get back to my room. Yeah, that’s a good idea. He pushed all thoughts of the girl out of his mind, focusing on the inevitable debrief from him the next council meeting, since she couldn’t –

He swore under his breath. Stop thinking about her. These thoughts, feelings, whatever they were. He wasn’t sure what it was, but it was unnatural. Foreign. Probably dangerous. 

––––––––

The next morning’s meeting convened, in the absence of Lieutenant Apocrypha, with Dabi’s debrief of the mission. 

“Alright, Dabi, care to explain what happened?” Shigaraki drummed his fingers on the table.

Dabi stood up, wearing his trademark lazy expression, though he was actually fatigued. “So our target turned out to be a Mihara Takame, daughter of Shingu Takame, who was an advisor to Violet Regiment.” 

He noted the widened eyes of the old MLA executives. Hanabata’s gaze flickered between the desk and him. And was that a bead of sweat rolling down Skeptic’s forehead? It might have been his imagination.

“What?” Re-destro gaped, then turned to Shigaraki. “Grand Commander, I apologise deeply for this treachery. I had no idea —“ 

Shigaraki waved his hand. “Never mind about that first. Continue.”

“We got into a fight, which turned out bad for Apocrypha, who took most of the damage, but I managed to finish the assignment.” 

“Yeah, that’s the part I wanna know.” Shigaraki leaned forward, clasping his hands together. “Why did you guys end up taking the beating you did?” 

“Takame’s quirk was a shitty matchup against mine and hers. He just wouldn’t feel any pain. Impossible to incapacitate him.”

“And Apocrypha’s ice did nothing?” 

“No, it didn’t hinder him much.” 

“Then how did you kill both of them?” 

“I took out the woman first.” Dabi mimed twisting a neck. “For her old man, I concentrated my flames onto his head. Carbonized it. He probably died from brain failure or something.”

“Ah, copying Endeavour now, eh?” A small grin made Dabi bristle, though he concealed it. 

He shrugged. “What can I say? He’s got decent moves to copy, and I have the firepower to match his. Speaking of which, you might want to send a team to dispose of the body. I didn’t burn up the girl, only Takame.” 

Shigaraki frowned. “Why don’t you do it?” 

“Excuse me?” The coldness in the room spiked as the two stared at each other with venom. 

“I don’t know why you could cremate the larger-sized adult male but not the small girl. Go fix your mess.” 

“You’re really going to send me all the way back just to burn one more corpse?” 

“Yep.” Shigaraki’s eyes were still fixated on him, as though daring him to act out. What do you want? Something about the way his leader questioned him was off. Hell, he was never so interested in these small problems that cropped up. Dabi had talked to Twice before the meeting. According to him, a small riot broke out in the town centre over Shigaraki’s leadership, and the latter didn’t seem to care. 

Did you send the hit squad on us? Dabi’s eyes swept the room. Hanabata and Skeptic’s faces were whiter than normal, but that was because Takame was on their list that Apocrypha freaked out so much about, right? 

Dabi was about to argue further, but decided against it. He needed answers, and he doubted anyone in the room would offer anything worthwhile. Maybe going back would be helpful. 

He spun around and walked towards the door. “Fine. I’ll get to it now. Prep the jet, Skeptic.”

Without waiting for an answer, or for Shigaraki to stop him, he left the room, slamming the door behind him with a growl. He had to admit, though, that the solitude and this menial task given to him allowed him time to think about everything that had happened last night, and he kept coming back to the one name.

Mesa. 

That was all he got from the thug. A name that he couldn’t even be sure was real. Dabi was somewhat confident it was a legitimate answer: the thug was terrified of dying, especially after Dabi used his partner as a demonstration. 

When one was about to die, truths became more apparent. They stopped lying and told the truth, whether one was on their deathbed or backed up against an alley. 

Sensei had done the same thing. 

Dabi frowned, and quickened his pace. Which reminded him...that factory, it looks similar to the one that night. Guess I’ll look around there too. 

He emerged from the underground tunnel to the airport, a convenient distance from the mansion. And his face blanched. Why the fuck is she here? 

Geten was talking with the pilot, her posture bent, and Dabi didn’t need a doctor to tell him she was still injured. 

He marched up to her and waved off the pilot. “What are you doing here?” 

“I’m going back.” She said, her face tight with pain. Or defiance. One worried him, the other annoyed. 

“No, you’re not. You’re still fucked up, you’re going back to the hospital.” He pointed away from the helicopter beside both of them, which reminded him of a parent sending a kid to their room. 

And just like the kid, she was acting like a brat. “I need to go back. Please. How did you even know I was here?” 

“I didn’t.”

“So you’re going back to Tokugawa?” 

Dabi bit back a retort. “No,” he tried. 

Her eyes narrowed. “If you’re going, I’m going.” 

Dabi envied Sako for the issues he could solve with his quirk with one tap. He stretched his sigh out. “Alright. Fine. One condition.” 

“What?” 

“Go take a shower and change out of this. You look and smell like shit.” 

Geten seemed to be in no mood to shoot a returning insult. She nodded. 

��––––––––

The two took a helicopter ride, which Dabi figured was Skeptic’s way of flipping him off — he was in the mood for another private jet ride, at least up till Geten showed up. 

Along the way, Dabi explained what had happened while she was unconscious or hospitalised. She nodded, rather numbly, to everything. He felt like pressing her on why wanted to come along, but she looked to be in such a somber mood Dabi kept quiet once he was done. 

“Thank you,” Geten said, which caught Dabi off-guard. 

He stared at her. “Huh?” 

But she lapsed back into silence. 

Takame’s words really affected her, huh? He got the gist of it: Takame was pissed off. Dabi was too focused on finishing the job, and the concussion dulled his senses, even as he crept up to the both of them. He didn’t hear everything Takame said, but enough of it. 

He still had no idea what she was doing here. Guess he would find out. 

They touched down a while later, took another motorbike ride, also in silence, to the factory. When they got off, there was a rush in her step, as though in anxiety, to reach the site of their Pyrrhic victory. Although, Dabi managed to keep pace with her. 

Mihara’s body was still there, and the imprint of Shingu was visible on the stone ground. Geten took out some ice from her pocket and used them to shut her wide eyes, then adjust her broken neck. She looked like she was sleeping. 

Next, she fashioned her ice into a platform which carried the young woman. Dabi quietly watched all this unfold, not wanting to interrupt whatever she was doing. 

Then Geten walked towards the nearby forest. Taking out more ice, she formed a wide, curved object, which she used to shovel dirt. 

Oh, so that’s what she’s doing. 

As if in a trance-like state, he picked up some sticks off the ground, lit the tip of them and passed three to Geten, who had laid Mihara’s body in the grave and filled it with dirt. 

She looked at the makeshift joss sticks, then at him, and gave a quivering smile. She knelt down to place them on top of the grave. 

As she tried to stand up, she stumbled a bit with a wince of pain. Dabi grabbed her shoulders to steady her. “Hey. Don’t stress yourself.” 

Her footing is off, he noted that, as well as her constant flinching. Her ribs were probably still hurting. 

He sighed and muttered, “You – You can lean on me. Just don’t tell anyone I said that.” 

“I’m fine,” She said with less believability than a hero’s promise. But she did, after a pause, rest her head on his shoulder, as the two stared at the blue flame that slowly died, its bright azure radiance leaving small spots in their eyes. 

“Why’s it seem like you trust me all of a sudden?” Dabi had to ask. 

After a moment of silence, Geten mumbled, “I think...I think I just do. You’re not the worst.” 

That’s a first. 

“So why’d you bury her?” 

“Because…” She looked at her hands. “They didn’t deserve it. It’s weird, isn’t it? I got beat up so much by them, but I’m still respecting her.”

“No, it’s not weird. It means…” Dabi considered his next few words. “It means your heart isn’t cold.” 

––––––––

Nice chapter to write, though very long. I realised I had a lot to say so this is sorta still part of this arc, but I’m starting to transition to the next. And now writing these two just became a lot harder, given the change in character. 

So if you guys have any feedback on whether I’m too OOC on them, given what’s happened to them, do let me know. I’d appreciate it. I’m especially worried about my portrayal of Dabi this chapter, whether he’s acting too nice (for his character) too abruptly. 

I’ll have to do a long re-read of the whole story after a while to reboot and see whether their character progression is plausible. 

Nevertheless I hoped you enjoyed this chapter. 

And also yeah we’re starting to get into some Dabiten stuff. Should be fun, and hard to write. 

[randomguywithwords]

Duty Calls (Dabi x Fem!Geten Short Story)

Have some University AU. A/N at the end.

––––

The door of the meeting room swung open, which perked up Dabi’s face from his phone, but he returned to stare at it again upon realising she would be the last one out. She was, which drew his attention, seeing her blue jacket and frost-white hair walk out, holding a set of keys. Beside her was Himiko, whom he nodded in acknowledgement of her excited, blurry wave.

His smile drooped at the sides when he noticed the two girls’ expression. Toga’s usual wide grin had lost some of its lustre, and Geten’s face muscles were constricted, though she still maintained an impassive countenance.

The three walked back to the dorms in silence, with Dabi in the centre.

Toga nudged him with her shoulder. Glancing at her, she gave a subtle tap of her phone and pointed her chin at him.

He took out his phone and read her message, just sent.

Bad day. I’ll split off at the canteen. Help her, ok? He slid his phone back into his pocket and gave a tiny nod which she registered.

A few minutes later, Toga excused herself to go grab a bite, leaving the two alone. Dabi moved to take the bag off her shoulders, and while she usually resisted, her shoulders slumped and the bag fell off her and into his hands. He swallowed a lump in his throat. It was that bad, huh?

“Geten!” That wasn’t him. The two turned around to see a student run up to them. From the corner of his eye, he saw how her face instantly lit up – like a lamp running on a dying battery, and she smiled. Forced herself to smile, that is.

“Yeah, Kaminari?” She said.

“Just wanted to check, the next meeting is this coming Saturday?”

“Yes,” She replied with so much patience Dabi wondered if she had drained all of his, because he sure as hell had none for this kid.

“Ah, 4:30?”

“No, 3:30.” Her answer made him rub his hair bashfully.

“Right, sorry about that. Thanks, Geten!” He waved and ran off, leaving Dabi glaring after him. He knew she was organised; the most organised person he had ever had the luck of meeting. She would have told them, written it down or something during the meeting. And this brat couldn’t write it on a note or remember something that happened five minutes ago.

“You shouldn’t have done that.” He turned back to face Geten, who had lapsed back into her solemn expression.

“It’s fine, Kaminari’s usually a productive member. He’s just forgetful or careless at times.” She gestured to keep walking.

“I could roast him if you want.”

“Please don’t.”

“Come on, he’ll never ask redundant questions again.”

“And add another detention on your record for verbal harassment?” She said in amusement. That shut him up.

“Fine, fine.” He stuck his tongue at her. A ghost of a smile glimpsed her face for a brief second.

At least she’s talking, Dabi thought. If anything good came out of his junior, it was that.

“You’re too nice, you know that, right?” He sighed.

“I’ve kicked at least 3 people from the club so far. Also I’d concede I’ve picked up some of your bad habits.”

Dabi pretended the latter statement was a gust of wind. “Those guys weren’t doing their jobs. They deserved it. But you’re doing too much of your job.”

“Such is the life of the club president,” She said with a mix of pride and bitterness.

“Would this club president care to tell me whether she would want to share her sorrow with me?”

Her face darkened. “Talk at the dorm.”

“Alright.” Ok, good job. At least she responded.

The rest of the walk was spent in silence, with Dabi carrying their bags and Geten’s hands shoved in her jacket pockets, though she was no longer covering her face with her hood. Ever since she was elected president of the Physics Club and became a model student (and started dating Dabi, which he was glad to take credit for), she’d stopped hiding her face on campus and became warmer, which Dabi found weird.

Her usual expression which Dabi had thought was etched onto her face: horizontal lips and eyes that seemed to stare into nothingness, became a small amicable smile. Although, Dabi knew she was still the quiet girl he became hung up on last year.

They reached her room, with him dropping their bags to the floor and shutting the door. Immediately, she plopped herself onto her bed with a sigh.

“Are you hungry?” Geten asked.

“No. You? Ah, I see.” Dabi noted her munching on an onigiri left on her study desk, the only evidence of disorganisation, since her study material on her table was otherwise flawlessly arranged. Compare that to Dabi’s landfill of a study space, albeit because of her annoying influence, it was slowly depleting. One day, Geten might be able to go into his room without laughing or vomiting, or both.

“So...you wanna talk about it?” He invited.

“There’s...nothing much to talk about. It’s just some people weren’t doing enough, or what I told them to. Although I could have given clearer instructions, now that I think about it…”

Geten took the seat at her desk. “Hey, I’m sure you gave clear instructions – ice-clear, probably. It’s their fault.”

“Ah yes, my boyfriend is definitely showing no bias whatsoever,” She snarked as she took another bite.

Dabi grinned. “I’ll have you know I have factual evidence to support my claim that you were not the guilty party here.”

Geten groaned. “Okay, okay, just don’t repeat your praise-Geten speech again. I’ve heard it enough. I swear you’re inflating your own ego rather than trying to inflate mine. It’s just…” Her expression softened. “I don’t know if I’m doing enough.”

He sat down beside her and held her hand. “You are,” He promised, “You did so much for the club, the school, but most importantly, me.”

“Prick.” Geten slapped his thigh as he chuckled, but the smile returned to her face, which sent goosebumps through his skin as though her hand was icy.

“Dinner out?” He suggested.

“In a while, just let me enjoy this peace before I gotta leave this place again.” Geten rested her head on his shoulder with a sigh.

––––––

Prompt 6 and technically 7 since I realised there’s no way I can write another one. I gotta study ._. So sorry I gotta back out on my earlier plan. 

I think Dabi’s a bit OOC here, but until Dabi and <insert character here> hook up in canon I have little reference how Dabi will behave towards his SO. I have plenty of character analysis though which makes me feel bad about writing him so much :( 

(For real tho thanks so much to the people who do. It does help me characterise Dabi better)

Oh yeah this was supposed to be about Geten. Dabiloveweek2020? Oh wait that’s every week. 

[randomguywithwords]

As The Dust Settles: Chapter 16 (Geten X Dabi Slowburn)

Chapter 16: Lurking Demons

AO3 Link: Here

Previous Chapters: 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

––––––––––––

“Apocrypha.” The Grand Commander gripped her shoulders, the pain in his thumb all forgotten. His smile was benign, eyes blazing with pride. “Your meta ability...it has awakened. And to think it was your concern for me that triggered it. I truly am touched.”

“Come, we must announce this to the Army. You are an exemplar for them to follow. Your special ability has made it so.” 

She had only smiled. That was ten years ago, and she still remembered every word that he had said. It was her crowning achievement, to have done what Destro had proclaimed. “The strength of a person lies in their meta ability, to awaken it is to strengthen oneself.”

Her strength was her Cryokinesis and her very reason for existence. And it was gone. What do I do now?

––––––––

“Get out, I’ll deal with him.” Dabi growled to her. She got to her feet and scrambled back, as Dabi stood between her and the muscular form of Shingu Takame, gazing at the two of them the way she did to her inferiors. 

Then Dabi’s voice was whispered over the earpiece, barely audible over the noise of crates crashing to the ground. “I’ll throw down a wall, then run into the maze, where I was. We’ll lose him for a while.” 

“Ok.” She whispered back. 

“THOOM!” An incendiary wall sliced the room into two, cutting their view of Takame, but it worked in favour of them. The two turned and ran into the labyrinth of darkness and storage crates. 

“What happened back there?” Dabi said. “Who attacked first?”

“He ambushed me, leapt down from the second floor, maybe,” Geten gasped, struggling to keep up with Dabi’s agility as he weaved through the narrow corridors. Sparing a split second to look behind her, she saw Takame barging through the flames, seemingly unharmed, about ten paces behind.

“That means you saw something. What did you see?” Dabi demanded, grabbing her hand and dragging her to the left.

“I –” She spluttered. Dabi looked back at her, slowing down his pace. “It was someone else.” 

“Then that’s our target. You find that person. I’ll draw Takame away. Ready?” 

She nodded vigorously. 

“Go.” With that, Dabi sent a careening bolt of fire upwards, like a flare. There was no way Takame would miss that. As the crashing sounds closed in on Dabi, she took a long route back towards where they were. 

That person. It was...a girl? How was she involved in all this?

When she reached there – a small room in the back, it was empty, the door ajar. She looked around and saw the door closest to her, marked by an EXIT sign. She wrenched it open and the large courtyard with orderly rows of containers, and the girl holding a suitcase and sprinting away. 

She took off running after her. A foot chase. She hadn’t done something like that in forever. And it was showing, judging by how the gap between them was widening. 

Damn it, do something! Scanning the ground, she rushed to pick up a pebble. She threw it. The girl gave a yelp and stumbled to the ground as the rock collided with her head. 

Closing the rest of the distance, Geten tackled her, placing her knees on the girl’s legs, while grabbing her arms and holding them behind her back, as the girl struggled. “Let me – go!” 

“Shut up,” Geten said. “So you’re our target? Who are you?”

“None of your business, Apocrypha.” She spat. 

Geten growled. “Tell me, or I’ll break your arms.” 

“Why aren’t you killing me already? Am I that worthless of a target you won’t even use your quirk?” 

“We’re bringing you in,” Geten lied. 

“The rest of you – you bastards tried to kill me. Why would you be any different?” The girl coughed on the scattered dust from the ground.

Geten pushed her knee deeper into the girl’s back, eliciting a hiss of pain. “You answer my questions.” 

But the girl continued, “You didn’t even use your quirk to capture me. Don’t tell me...you’re at your limit? Can’t use your quirk, huh?” 

“Shut up. I don’t need my ice to break your neck, so you’d do well to answer me.” Geten’s nails dug deeper into the girl’s skin. “Who. Are. You?”

She huffed. “You wanna know who I am?” The hit came faster than she had anticipated. Geten felt a dizzying pain, followed by a sharp one in her mouth, as the girl threw her head back to hit Geten in the chin, making her bite her tongue. She hissed, but her grip was off with the sudden attack. 

Then she felt a blunt force in her stomach and she was thrown off the girl. She kicked me. Through the haze of pain, she heard the girl yell something as she got to her feet and kept running into the maze of metal cargo. 

Father? The word she shouted murkily swam to the forefront of her mind.

There was a roar as Shingu Takame burst through the concrete walls of the building and barrelled straight towards Geten. Behind him, she made out the dark jacket that belonged to Dabi. He was shouting something...was he looking at her? 

“Get up! He’s coming for you!” Dabi’s voice shouted in her ear.

Get up, she repeated, but her head spun. Her gut screamed in protest. The kick hurt. I...can’t. 

Then she heard a bone-snapping crack. Her eyes widened as she saw Dabi’s limp body sent flying and slamming against the wall, a well-timed surprise attack. Shingu retracted his fist and turned back to face her, and started walking. 

No.

She struggled, pushing her arm up for leverage. She stumbled to her feet, dragging them back as Takame ambled towards her, his impassive expression returning. At the corner of her eye, she saw his daughter run towards him. 

“Apocrypha!” He bellowed. “I’d appreciate if you would stop moving. You’re not going anywhere while your co-leader is behind me. Unless you truly are as heartless as the stories I’ve heard.” 

She stopped. I need to buy time. The motion elicited a smile from him, but it was mixed with anger as he tended to her daughter’s injury with a caring rub on her head. Geten was startled at their similarity in appearance. Both wore the same hardened expression, with a sharp chin and athletic build, even despite Shingu’s age. 

“You hurt my daughter? You’ll pay for that,” He said. 

“You’ll pay for your treachery to the Front.”

“So says the murderer. Don’t act like you’re loyal to the army. Please, spare me the pretense.” Shingu’s eyes narrowed at her. She didn’t respond. 

“Usually,” He continued, “I would have killed you and him by now. But it’s not everyday you’re allowed a conversation with a lieutenant of the Liberation Front. And it’s certainly a rare moment for you to not be able to use your quirk. I don’t know what the reasons for that are, so once you give me what I want, I’ll finish you and him off.” 

“Then you wouldn’t mind giving me information I want?” Geten said. 

Takame looked back at his daughter. “They’re not watching us, are they?” He said, quieter, but Geten heard it. She shook her head, tapping her briefcase.

So she’s responsible for both the chatter and the signal disruption? That’s why Skeptic couldn’t find them properly. 

Turning back, he shrugged. “I have no qualms giving information to a dead person. First question, who knows about tonight?” 

Before she could respond, he added, “Oh, and don’t try to lie. My daughter’s quirk can discern the truth from any statement.” 

Liar...right? It was a strange combination of meta abilities. What was her mother’s? 

She played along for now. “Only the lieutenants and Shigaraki. My question now.”

“No.” Takame cut through. “Next, where is –”

“What drove you to betray the Front?” Geten raised her voice. She didn’t need to know this. She just needed time. Either for her to get to Dabi, or for her meta ability to reactivate.

“Where is Skeptic’s data stored?” His voice was as cold as ice. Damn, he’s not one to waste time. I need to get him to talk more...She placed a hand in her pocket. The ice still had not melted. A few hours...it’s barely been one. How do I get out of this? 

“You must have a reason.” Geten stared at the man, refusing to waver her gaze. “You wouldn’t put you and your daughter through this hell. Living in factories, running from place to place to evade us...It’s personal.” 

“Where is Skeptic’s data stored?” The question came again in apparent disregard of her statement, but she knew she struck a nerve. 

“Is it about your wife?” Just as she uttered the word, she saw a blur of grey and beige. The punch to her face made her stagger back and spit out blood. 

Okay, I definitely struck a nerve. The bruising pain stung her cheek, but she found herself grinning, as crazy as it was. Takame drew back his fist, a vein on his forehead pulsing. 

“Is she dead?” She taunted at the incensed Takames. “The Liberation Army killed her?”

“Shut up!” The girl shouted. Shingu held her back. “Mihara...calm down. I’ll handle this.”

“Mihara?” Geten’s memory brought forth two names on an old list, many years back. “Oh…” She smirked. “So you were lying about her quirk. Mihara doesn’t even have one, does she? Neither did your wife, Osaki.” She wiped the blood on her sleeve and stood back up. 

“Come on, Dabi. Get up,” She whispered into her earpiece, to no avail. Please. I can’t...I can’t do this alone. 

She saw Shingu take a few calming breaths, the tension creeping upwards with the silence. “You’re not going to give me what I want, I see,” The Takame head observed, his voice dripping acid. “I’ll give you one last chance to tell me everything I need to know.”

She wore her smirk facing him. “You have some revenge plan against the MLA for killing her,” Geten rattled on, hoping she was correct in her guesses.  “You, alone? You think your quirk will do anything against the entire Deika City, or Shigaraki? Your plan was doomed the day you conceived it. I assume, the day your wife died.” 

The punch came as predicted. Geten swerved her head to the side. She let out a giggle. “What, did we kill her? Not me, surely? I would remember a person like you. It must mean your wife was quirkless. It’s no wonder we killed trash like her.”

She jumped out of the way to dodge another smash. “So you joined the MLA to take out Re-destro.” She forced herself to laugh, her voice rising in tempo, as she laid out Takame’s plan without him even telling her. “But, let me guess, the League of Villains ruined your plans, didn’t it? And now you and your daughter can’t do anything but cry using the news. All because we killed your wife.” 

The vein in Takame’s temple was nearly popping – Geten could see it from a few feet away. His breathing was heavy, his shoulders heaving with anger on the verge of erupting. He opened his mouth, perhaps to say something vitriolic. 

“You...you monster.” Geten’s smile slid off her face at the emotion in his tone. It sounded as if his heart tore with every word he spoke. 

“We....we did nothing to you.” Takame said, looking at her with a dying rage, his impassive expression fading, leaving one that spoke of uncountable volumes of pain. “But you...your self-righteous, quirk-abusing, hellspawn of an army seeked out the quirkless. You took Osaki – away.” His voice shook, cracking as he talked about her. 

“I…” Geten’s voice trailed off. Perhaps she was too good at buying time. Moving her hands, they felt empty, lacking the imbued power of her Cryokinesis, that up till an hour ago, had never felt that way. Was it what Osaki felt? But...no, I have a meta ability. I’m not –

A second hit slammed her into the ground, in that split second of hesitance. Her body seized up on its own, even as she screamed at it to move out of the way of the oncoming assault. 

The third punch sunk into her abdomen like a bullet, curling her up into a fetal position out of instinct. She choked out a cry, tears staining the gravel centimetres away from her face. Or was it blood? 

“You’re no human.” Through the dust and the spots in her eyes, the ringing in her head and the pain wracking her body like a thousand hammers, she heard Takame’s voice clearly. She saw him standing over her, fists clenched. He drew his right arm back.

“You don’t deserve a life.” The fifth punch cracked a bone. She heard it. Arm? Rib? Every inch of her body was numb with agony.

“Everything...everything I’ve heard about you is true.” Takame snarled, the Reaper’s shadow looming over her. “You’re a demon, a demon with a frozen heart.”

A whimper escaped her mouth. That was all she could do – whimper, cry, choke on her tears, and nothing more. Her vision faded in and out of darkness – a broken flashlight. She coughed up more blood, shivering like a newborn infant, as Takame stopped the pummels for a second. 

She braced herself for the last barrage. 

But the second lasted another second. And then…another. She kept her eyes closed. Maybe she was already dead? She didn’t dare open her eyes. 

“Stay still. Don’t move.” A voice – a familiar one, murmured. “They’re on the way.”

A warmth was the last thing she felt before unconsciousness overtook her.

––––––––

Hello. Here’s 16 as promised. 

Thoughts on this...I planned it to be slightly different but after I started writing I decided this worked better. Threw one draft away after that got too boring. Not to say this isn’t, or to me at least. Again, writer’s issue. Hope you guys like this. 

I hope next chapter can bring to light a lot of the mystery surrounding everything, from what Dabi, Geten and Shigaraki know and don’t know, and close out this “arc”. 

I’m hoping that Geten’s dulled senses were conveyed fine here. Since I’m writing from her perspective, I can’t write about stuff she can’t see or hear. So ideally the writing showed that confusion and blindness of her surroundings. The beat up scene was hard to write because of that, or sentences where Geten got hit. It’s really a blur of motion, so I can’t just write, “Takame punched her” but more of she feels the pain, then registers the motion, or something like that. 

But yeah...leave a comment or something if you enjoyed it. Cheers.

[randomguywithwords]

Hi, Chapter 20, 21, 22 are up. I really got too tired of Tumblr’s shit formatting that doesn’t copy over formatted text, so just for now, while I still have brain cells left in me to finally update, I’m just uploading a AO3 URL. I’ll upload individual Tumblr posts tomorrow. 

Again, really sorry for this long ass hiatus. I honestly see this story as a whole ending somewhat soon, after taking the time to plan them out and have a rough summary of them as a skeleton. 

It’s getting a bit more plot heavy. I genuinely hope the plot was interesting for you guys, having deviated from canon slightly. Like, I like my fluff and Dabiten, but I also want to be a decent storyteller, and having their relationship be significant to the plot & themes. 

No idea whether people will like my story from start to end, but the way that it does end fits my vision when I began this story. I hope you still enjoy it when I reach that point. 

Expect a more regular schedule from here on out. I have no excuse to not have one now I don’t have the sword of academics hanging over my head. 

[randomguywithwords]

As The Dust Settles: Chapter 15 (Geten X Dabi Slowburn)

Chapter 15: Soldiering On

AO3 Link: Here

Previous Chapters: 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

––––––––

Extinguishing his flames, Dabi saw only charred ashes on the ground. Wind will get them. It always does. 

“What did they do to me? Why can’t I use my meta ability?” Geten said, as Dabi rubbed his arms. He turned to look at her.

“I should have figured…” Dabi muttered. “Tokugawa Prefecture was near their territory. These guys must have been one of the last few to acquire them.”

“What’re you talking about?” She pressed on, frenetically rubbing her hands. She made a few gestures, trying to use it, but to no avail. 

“You mean you don’t know?” Dabi stared at her. “You guys kept track on the League so well, so why not – oh.” 

Again with the hierarchy. The pieces put themselves together; Dabi knew why she was in the dark. 

“What? What ‘oh’?” Geten screeched. 

“Hey, calm down, girl. It’s only temporary.” Looking at the store, the door was still open and the lights were on. “Let’s get something to eat. Might help.”

That seemed to relax her for now, although she was still trying to move ice. The two of them entered the store and walked out carrying some snacks. In spite of the abandonment of this town, the snacks’ preservatives lasted for a long time. Dabi made sure to turn off the lights as they left.

“Ok, explain,” Geten said as they sat on the sidewalk. 

“First off, the quirk-erasing bullets are temporary. It was an unfinished product made by the Shie Hassaikai, a yakuza group that got shut down a while back.”

“And I’m guessing here,” Dabi said as he munched on his chips, “But your leaders – those lovely asshats – they knew about the Hassaikai. They probably knew the group had a way to erase your precious meta abilities. Since their whole army was based on the principle of free meta ability usage, your Re-destro didn’t wanna make everyone panic. So he and his group shut up. Makes sense?” 

“So they kept it from me.” Geten growled. “Again.”

What does she mean, again? Dabi took another bite in silence. 

“Well, like I said, it’s temporary, and we can just call for an extraction –” He pulled out his phone when Geten unexpectedly grabbed his arm.

“No! We’re not leaving.”

“But...you’re gonna be useless, aren’t you?” Dabi raised an eyebrow. “I mean, you saw what happened to that guy. We might be up against something...problematic.”

“We can handle it.” 

“Speak for yourself. You’re quirkless for the next couple of hours. And do you even have any ice?”

Geten balled her fist. “I have some ice cubes in my pocket. They’re cold enough to last a few hours. I’ll take care of myself. And I’ll help with this assignment.”

Dabi sighed. You and your ego will be the death of me. “Fine. Whatever, if you’re going to be so difficult about it.” He put his phone back in his pocket, and Geten released her grip. 

Her hands aren’t cold, he realised.

He caught her with a blank stare at the pavement. “What are you thinking about?” He asked, suddenly feeling that her pride was not the only reason she was so insistent on continuing.

No, she’s not that afraid of the rest laughing at her quirklessness, or that she got shot...but what was it?

She put on her hood. “Nothing.” Her face was shrouded once more, and Dabi felt a tinge of disappointment. Can’t see what’s she’s thinking, it’s unsettling, he rationalised. That was probably the reason. 

“Let’s go.” She said, standing up. She had stopped trying to use her quirk by now, giving up. He thought of saying something, but his mind came up blank. So he followed suit in silence, with the both of them getting on the motorcycle and speeding off. 

Are her hands shaking? Dabi thought. 

The silence of the ride was more somber than peaceful, knowing that what lay ahead was a real threat. Skeptic’s talk of this dissenter managing to evade capture from the soldiers sent to stop them sent chills down Dabi’s spine, but also a burning thrill. This better be good. 

“So, what’s the plan now?” Dabi shouted over the wind. 

“You still have your fire, so you can take care of large groups. I think it might be a gang or cult of some sort that hates the Liberation ideology, considering the advisor back there looked like he was beaten to death. I can run distraction or disruption. We should split up and use our communicators.” Geten replied.

Good plan, Dabi admitted. “Ok, and what if things go south?” 

She had no reply for a good three seconds.. “Usually things never go south for me, but seeing the condition I’m in...maybe we should regroup in an area?”

“Fine. Don’t die, okay?” Dabi thought out loud, then added hastily, “Gonna be a hassle to explain your death to everyone.” 

“Worry about yourself,” She retorted. “I’ll be fine.” 

If you say so...He thought, his grip tightening on the handlebars, unable to push out the thought that something bad was going to happen to her. She was quirkless, after all, during the most crucial time of the night. 

“Who do you think those guys were back there?” Dabi asked. 

No response came for a few seconds. “I don’t know,” She finally said, “But I don’t think they were just random thugs. It seemed more like a hit squad. And who’s Mesa?”

“No idea. Never heard it in my life.” Dabi racked his brains, but he never bothered keeping the names of people in his past. Just the few, and the rest were smouldering corpses like those trash back there. “Do you think they were targeting you?”

He felt her bristle at the question, as if that triggered a thought. “Don’t know,” She said throatily. 

Lying? Whatever. She’s not gonna tell me. But it might be linked to this whole assignment…

“Anyway, they might have tried to shoot me too, but I probably burnt the bullets up.”

“Fast reflexes,” She uttered.

“Thanks.” Was that an actual compliment? She sounds bitter about it – that she didn’t react fast in time. The rest of the ride was spent in silence, until Dabi saw their destination. 

“There.” He flicked his head towards the fast approaching factory. 

It was run-down and abandoned, complete with a “NO ENTRY” sign and worn-down wire fences which provided as much protection as fabric against a bullet. Towering metal and concrete chimneys gone dormant studded the compound; five-storey high buildings were placed next to them. Large metal containers occupied the expansive courtyard with dark lampposts situated in an orderly fashion, surrounding the containers like patrol guards.

Strange, have I been here before? No, that was impossible. He’d never visited Tokugawa Prefecture in his life. His mind was being a prick.

The two disembarked. “Guess we’re playing hide and seek. This place is massive,” Dabi said as he retrieved his earpiece from his pocket and wore it. Geten did the same.

“Let’s set here as the meeting point.” Geten pointed at their motorcycle. Dabi assented. 

“Search the buildings first. It’s the most logical place to hide,” She said as she rubbed her left arm up and down. Did she always do that? Or is she just nervous? Just as he finished the thought, she abruptly stopped and tucked her hands in her parka pocket.

They walked through the row of buildings, until Geten tapped his shoulder to draw his attention. She pointed at one of the doors. In particular, a handprint on the dusty iron. Damn, she spotted that? He nodded. 

The door was shackled by a chain, and said chain had been broken and strewn on the floor. Dabi pushed it open. 

He wasn’t surprised that he was greeted by darkness. With the faint strings of moonlight permeating through the dusty windows above, he could make out the silhouettes of stacks of crates, catwalks and broken lamps hanging on the ceiling like death row prisoners. No movement caught his eye when they stepped in. 

Getting her attention, he made a ‘split up’ gesture. She nodded and the two separated down the narrow paths.  

Dabi walked until he saw a sparkly glint of reflected light shining on one of the crates. He automatically read the label engraved on them, and his eyes widened. 

BUSHIDO ENTERPRISES PTE LTD 

So that’s why –

The ground shook. He heard Geten yell over the thundering of crates shifting. 

Shit. He turned and ran back as he saw crates beginning to collapse where Geten had headed. He spotted a blue parka and grabbed it, hauling her into the clear. With his other hand he shot a plume of azure flames into the darkness.

The fire illuminated a tall figure as it passed through like water around a rock. The figure had its hands braced to take the brunt of the damage. It looked like –

Dabi hid his surprise with a grin. “Well, I’ll be damned.” He retracted his hand. The fire lingered on some wooden planks strewn on the ground, casting a blue glow on the man’s face. 

“Beatdown.” Geten breathed, veins of fear pulsing through the word. 

Advisor to Violet Regiment, Shingu Takame, eyed the two of them with a stoic face, void of any expressions of pain. It seemed as if Dabi had sprayed water rather than a torrent of fire. The man had no words; he raised his fists and leapt towards them. 

–––––––––

Cliffhanger? Plot twist? Eh. 

Uhh right my thoughts on this chapter. I went through about 2 revisions? Major ones. I wrote the first draft in that flurry of creativity (and evasion of my academic responsibilities), then after hearing some of the thoughts on c14 (thanks Kannra in particular btw), it helped clear some of my thoughts and I realised I characterised Geten slightly incorrectly there, so I did a revision, and then once more when the chapter wasn’t “correct”. 

Yeah I always planned for Takame to be an antagonist here (I hoped I made that pretty clear with the last few sentences of this chapter). Also look at me with chapter planning. Much wow, very writer.

Hopefully he’ll be one of the few OCs I’ll ever need to use.

Next chapter’s going back to Geten and...yeah. Not gonna spoil anymore than that. Thanks for the support, any feedback is much thanks from me. 

[randomguywithwords]

As The Dust Settles: Chapter 14 (Geten X Dabi Slowburn)

Chapter 14: A Lonely Road

AO3 Link: Here

Previous Chapters: 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

–––––––

Dabi pulled the hood over his head as Geten and him crossed the runway. Someone was waiting for them at the hangar, their silhouette visible against the bright lamps. 

“That’s probably one of Skeptic’s men,” Geten whispered to him. Dabi nodded.

As they neared, the stranger stood at attention in a blue-collar attire. “Apocrypha, Dabi,” He greeted, bowing. “Skeptic has informed me you need a vehicle for transport. A motorcycle, was it?”

“Yeah,” Dabi replied. “Only thing I can drive.’

The Liberation soldier nodded. “We’ve managed to procure a couple for you. Take as many as you want, and good luck on your assignment. I will update Skeptic accordingly.” 

Gesturing to the row of motorcycles inside the hangar, he bowed once more and left for the air control tower nearby. 

“Crazy how spread out you guys are, how have we not noticed you all?” Dabi shook his head in astonishment as the two of them walked over to the bikes. 

“We’ve hidden ourselves well. And stop calling us like we’re not you,” Geten said. 

“Mmhmm…” Dabi murmured distractedly, scanning his choices. He pointed at a dark blue motorcycle. “That one.”  

“Why that one?” She sounded genuinely curious. “Don’t tell me it’s –”

“Yep, it looks the coolest. Let’s go.” Dabi grinned, beginning to enjoy this mission as he leapt onto his new ride. 

Sighing, Geten got on behind him. “You know we’re on a time limit right? The group will move again in a few hours. This better be fast.”

“Yeah, yeah, it’s fine. Sheesh.”

Geten grumbled. “I could just use my ice. We’d save at least ten minutes.”

“And show everyone? You’re not in Deika City, girl. You get questioned or arrested for using your quirk in public.” Dabi tossed her a helmet, joking, “Safety first.”

She knocked it aside with a snort. “I know, it’s not like I’ve never left the city before.” 

“Oh yeah?” Dabi said as he revved the engine. “2 dollars says you only left the city...less than 5 times.” 

He couldn’t see her expression since he was facing forward, but she didn’t reply for a second. “I’m not taking that. Shut up.” 

Chuckling, Dabi started to move. “Might wanna hold on. Don’t worry, I won’t burn you.”

He heard more grumbling. “I should have learnt to drive.” But she put her arms around his waist. They felt chilly. Were they always cold? 

Then they were off, entering the main road. The ride would be roughly half an hour. And Dabi was surprised by how much he enjoyed it. It was silent besides the engine sounds. The roads were mostly empty, and the cool night air made his coat flap in the wind. 

He basked in the feeling. It had been a long time since he could cruise on an empty road in the countryside. He was hoping this mission was Shigaraki cooking up some bullshit for Geten, because he could tell there was something definitely up with this entire assignment. Whatever it was, Geten was taciturn about it. 

Alternatively, the assignment was real and he could spend a night (or hopefully three) away from Deika City and the monotony burning some folks. Win-win. 

Geten was quiet behind him, the only semblance of her presence being her two arms firmly latched onto his stomach, not too tightly – Thank god, but he noticed how whenever he accelerated, she gripped it a bit tighter. 

Just like me and Sensei… 

The memories pulled him into the past as he rode. Dabi remembered him teaching a young Touya how to ride a motorcycle when he was...14? It wasn’t easy at first, but he had to learn to get around. They didn’t have the convenience that Kurogiri or Ujiko provided. The villain street life was hard, but he chose to step into it. He had little regrets. 

He remembered sitting behind where Geten was, holding on tightly to Dabi as they cruised through empty towns and abandoned industrial estates on their jobs. His mentor didn’t mind then, so...he wouldn’t mind now. 

And speaking of empty towns, the road turned onto one, with the two of them riding through a small, two-lane town, one not meant to house people, but to serve as a pass-through. 

His eyes flickered towards a store on his left whose lights were on. A convenience store. And… 

Wait, is that…?

Dabi screeched to a halt and hopped off the bike.

“Why’d you stop? What – oh.” Geten saw what he was looking at as she disembarked too, taking off her helmet.

It was a body. Beaten up bad, with twisted limbs and fist marks on his shredded clothing. It was propped up against the side of the building, an oddly peaceful final resting place. There was a smear of blood that stretched from the road all the way to the side of the convenience store. 

Dabi squatted down and inspected it. Couldn’t have been more than three days, since no fluids have been expunged. Doesn’t smell too bad, so decay hasn’t been long, or it has yet to start. Organs are probably decomposing now, though. 

Damn, can’t believe I actually remembered Sensei’s lesson. 

“Hold on, that’s one of us. He’s an advisor for Black Regiment.” Geten said.

“Seriously?” 

“His quirk gives him incredible speed. And…” She looked at the road. Dabi followed her gaze. It was more blood. On the road. 

“He was running from there, not too long ago, since he still looks...fine.” Dabi looked at the road they were heading. 

“You don’t think it’s our assignment?” Geten wondered.

Guess this assignment isn’t Shigaraki’s bullshit after all. 

“Thump.” He heard movement. His head flicked upwards. Instinctively, he unleashed a stream of fire.

“BANG!”

Geten gave a surprised yelp, clutching her arm, but to her credit, her other arm was instantly thrust out in retaliation, but nothing happened. “Wait, what?” She gasped. 

Shit, it’s not...is it? Whatever, think later. 

Dabi unleashed a torrent of fire at the rooftops, where silhouettes shifted around. He counted five.

Dabi grabbed Geten by her uninjured hand and dragged her into the store. It would serve as cover. 

“Are you alright?” Dabi turned to look at Geten, who was looking at her arm. 

“Yeah, it’s not a bullet. It’s some dart.” She held up a small capsule with a needle at the end. “But I can’t…” Her voice trailed off as she tried again. Nothing. 

“Fuck.” Dabi growled. “Never mind. Stay hidden.”

“What are you –” 

Rushing out of the store, he swept his right arm upwards to summon a wave of flame that disintegrated the incoming volley of bullets that any idiot could predict. Igniting his left hand, he counterattacked with a fire blast, which got some of them. He heard two screams. 

Amateurs. 

With a growl, he leapt out of the way, just as some snaking tendrils shot towards where he was. Using your quirks now, eh?

He fired off another plume. The attackers ducked. 

Dabi knew he couldn’t scorch the buildings too much or it might be noticeable. The law didn’t know about the PLF, but they knew about the League. Leave too many of his burn marks, and it’ll screw him over. 

Guess I’ll try this new move. Having only practiced it thrice this morning – Felt so long ago, he thought, he prayed it would work. 

Keeping his left hand summoning a continuous stream of fire to cover him, he drew his right fist back and concentrated. Your fingers. Just the fingers. 

His left arm began to singe from the effort. It stung like a bitch. He gritted his teeth.

Now or never. Fuck you Endeavour, for making me learn something. 

He thrust his open palm forward and withdrew his left simultaneously. From his fingertips, tendrils of fire as thin as rope shot forward them like burning lassos, weaving through the air in a snake-like fashion. But he didn’t need accuracy, just the width. 

With concentrated power, they managed to cover his whole field of view in terms of range. Just as the men left their cover, The tendrils seared into their flesh, and with screams filling the silence, they dropped down from the roof, slamming into the ground with sickening cracks. Three cracks. 

Shit, if they’re not alive...Three stories, they might still make it. So there’s three on the ground, and probably two on the roof, assuming no funny business with any quirks…

Raising his voice, he said, “You guys have ten seconds to come down the ladder before I burn all your friends to ashes.” Then his gaze lowered to see Geten standing in front of the convenience store, waiting. He gave her a ‘wait a while’ gesture.

Five seconds passed before the two of them climbed down the ladder, all while begging, “Please don’t shoot!”. Dabi grinned. They looked hilariously pathetic.

When they reached the ground, they knelt down with their hands in the air. Dabi approached them while giving the ‘all ok’ to Geten. 

“If you two move,” Dabi said, “I’ll burn you alive.” 

The survivors quaked as Dabi bent down and picked up one of their guns. Colt revolver, .45, definitely modified.

Having done it a thousand times, he disassembled the gun with fluid motions without much thought. It was one of Dabi’s first lessons to him. Picking up one of the bullets gingerly, he inspected it and saw that it was identical to the bullet that had struck Geten. He dropped it to the ground and crushed it with his foot. 

“All right, you.” He pointed at one of the men. Psych. He opened his palm, and a blast of fire was accompanied by a guttural scream. The other covered his mouth to stifle a sob. 

When he was done, he turned to the other and asked, “Did you kill that guy?” He pointed to the body of the Liberation Front advisor that was still lying there.

“No! I swear!” He shook his head vigorously, clasping his hands together to beg for mercy. Seems truthful. 

“Who put you up to this?” 

“I – I don’t know!” He choked out.

“Oh yeah?” Dabi ignited his palm and stepped forward. He whimpered, “Please! I really don’t know! We were just paid to do it!”

“I want a name.” He placed his burning hand on the thug’s leg. The thug’s whimpers grew into raw wails.

“I – I don’t know!” 

“Try again.” Increasing the firepower, the thug began to scream.

“M – Mesa!” He managed to say through the agony. 

“Is that a street name or his actual name?” 

“That’s all he told us! I swear! That’s all! Please!” 

Could be lying. Whatever, I won’t get anymore out of them. These low-class trash don’t seem like the type. 

Dabi sighed and rubbed his face. Looking around, he was glad the town was deserted. Even the convenience store lights seemed to be the thugs’ doing. It would make cleanup way easier. 

“You might wanna cover your ears for this one,” He told Geten, standing up and gesturing for the two of them to leave the alley. The alley looked funnily similar to all the other ones he burned. Just like old times. 

Once they were on the pavement, he turned around and raised his hand. Can’t have people knowing we were here.

“NO! PLEA – AHHHHHH!” 

No point remembering them. 

––––––

Hi. Enjoy. Inserted AO3 link because again, long chapter. 

I actually wrote this and the next chapter (I thought they could be one chapter at first), then the word count hit 3k and I realised I misjudged. Anyway, I do have chapter 15′s backbone done but it hasn’t been edited yet. So expect to see it next week as usual (I’ve surprisingly managed to keep to a schedule on this story, somewhat). 

Also please, I’m not going for a “Geten is damsel in distress and de-powered” and Dabi has to be the knight in shining armour. That was not my intention whatsoever. It’s the fact that she prides herself on her admittedly powerful quirk, so taking it away for a while will be a very interesting way to see her character.

Here’s to hoping I can write that properly. It’s gonna be doubly hard because next chapter is still Dabi’s POV. So...might drink my sorrows away if I screw that up. Nah jk, but I technically am legal to drink, so ._.

I’m rambling. But yeah I felt the need to point that out because I don’t wanna offend any feminists or something. 

[randomguywithwords]

As The Dust Settles: Chapter 12 (Dabi x Geten Slowburn)

Previous Chapters: 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

––––––––––––

Chapter 12: A Rivalry Ends

Geten opened the door to see the winged hero leaning against the opposite wall, tapping his feet to the music on his earphones. 

“What do you want?” Geten said. Hawks looked up and gave a smile. Before he opened his mouth, she followed up, “Get to the point. I don’t do niceties. Or introductions. I don’t care if we haven’t met before properly.”

“Just wanted to congratulate you on your squad leadership.” He replied with a cheery smile on his face, but his eyes told an entirely separate story. They reminded her of the predator he took his name from. 

That’s it? Geten turned to walk down the hallway, knowing that would trigger what he actually –

“Hope you can resist killing them too.” Came the predicted drawl from behind.

She stopped in her tracks. So he knows?

“What’s it to you whether they live or die?” She turned to look at him, hands in her pockets, controlling the ice cubes inside.

“Well, killing your own allies is counter-productive, isn’t it? Especially if they’re strong.” 

“Not to me.” 

“Still, I’m here to ask you to stop with your...hobbies.”

“I haven’t done anything since the festival.”

“So you’ve washed off their blood so easily?” 

Geten crossed her arms. “You sound like you have experience, hero.”

Hawks was quick to relax the tense expression that was elicited from her emphasis. “Maybe, maybe not, but you most definitely have, and that brings me to another question: Do you feel safe?”

What do you really want, number two hero? You don’t show up for no reason. His face didn’t give anything away, just a smile that Geten sees on Hanabata and his colleagues all the time.  

“Is that a threat?” She opened her palm lazily, and an ice cube left her pocket to swirl around it. 

“Not from me. I’m just stating facts. When everyone finds out you’ve killed people to get to where you are, and to stay where you are, it’s gonna be a problem.”

“Trumpet, Skeptic and Curious had no problem, and Re-destro basically gave me permission to.” That much was true. He told her that she was the top soldier in the Liberation Army. She simply kept it that way.

“Then why did they keep a secret list of soldiers away from the database?” 

How did he…?

“How much have you been snooping around, Hawks?” Geten accused, “I don’t think everyone likes a spy, either.”

“The Liberation Army won’t, but the League will.” 

“Sounds like you’re having trouble telling that we’re on the same side,” Geten lied. 

“Hmm. Well I have a hard time trusting people. If I could trust you, I’d feel much better.”

“You came here to talk about my past, and you ask for an...alliance? Your negotiation skills are garbage, Hawks.” Geten pointed out. 

He chuckled, running a hand through his hair. “Sorry. I’m terrible at talking. But if you ever find out which side you’re on, let me know. I’m interested in where you stand in all...this. But that’s all from me, cheerios!”

Having said this, he opened the window next to him and leapt out, leaving Geten staring at where he was. Something felt off with that hero-villain, Geten could tell, as though she had divulged too much information – information that he wanted. 

Ignore him, I have to train, she thought as she created her ice platform and left the hotel. 

She arrived at her training ground to find Dabi already present, to her annoyance. He was shooting fire towards some large boulders.

Surprisingly, no blast of fire came her way, only a scowl and a “What are you doing here? It’s 6 in the morning.” 

Still, better than his last method of greeting.

“I always train here at this time. It’s next to the river.” She pointed to the body of water just a few yards away. “And why are you training here? Why are you even training at all?”

“It’s none of your business whether or not I want to train.”

“Fine. I’ll be out of your hair.” 

“Good.” He gave a tight nod and returned to burning the large boulders, as Geten glided over to the river, a good fifty meters away from the blaze. 

For around half an hour, the field was silent apart from the occasional shattering of ice and the lull of fire roaring. Geten focused on her routine, which she had stuck to for the past few months now, and despite the disruption due to the festival and its aftermath, both externally and internally, she had kept to her schedule quite diligently. 

Mainly, her training revolved around improving her control over ice, pushing the threshold. Thus, her first half an hour was spent exerting her abilities over the river, freezing one portion and melting it, repeating the process, speeding it up slowly to improve her efficiency. It would give her more ammunition during a fight faster. Repeating the process despite her laboured breaths and sore arms gave her endurance. Every month, her limits were pushed further and further. 

But she did not mind. Her goals were unchanged despite everything that had happened. 

At the end of the first regimen, she rested by the riverside and drank some water.

Bored, her attention shifted to what Dabi was doing. She looked up to see him doing something peculiar. He was producing fire at his palms, but otherwise he was just standing there staring at it, as though that plume of blue fire was suddenly the most interesting thing in the world. 

Then he noticed her. Geten spun her head around, but Dabi began to walk in her direction.

Shit, what now? Is staring a crime?

She met his eyes from afar, even as he slowly stalked closer with his hands tucked in his jacket. If he was gonna do something funny, she wasn’t backing down. 

When he was within earshot, she stood up, glaring. “What?” 

“What?” He said, tilting his head to the side. 

“You want something?”

“Yeah. Can we swap? You go over there for a couple minutes.” 

Geten blinked. “Why?”

“Do I need to explain why?” He sounded exasperated. 

“Yes. I’m starting my next task soon. I need the river.”

“Well, so do I, so if you could piss off for just a minute, that’d be great.” 

“Oh.” He needs the river? She glanced down at his arms, which were smoking. “You need to rest your arms, don’t you? Dipping them in water?”

His eyes widened, his expression tightening. He took one step forward as Geten braced herself. Then, to her bewilderment, he stopped and laughed.

“You really are observant. Well, you got me.” Sensing that there was no need to bother anymore, he bent down and stuck his arms in the river in front of her.

Geten saw his form tense up briefly, as though the river was electrified. Then his body considerably relaxed after a while.

“It...hurts?”

“No shit.”

She snorted. “I thought you somehow managed to overcome this flaw by...sheer grit, or something. Turns out you do this. So you did this that night, too?”

“Yeah, right after your temper tantrum.”

“Hey!” Geten growled, and Dabi let out a snort of his own, turning back and shaking off the water from his arms. 

“Thought you were a strong one,” She observed, looking at his raw and singed arms. 

Dabi blinked, then sighed. “Ok, I’m just gonna tell you the truth. Only because I don’t think you’re such a stuck-up bit – person anymore.”

“Gee, thanks,” Geten said. 

“I didn’t win that duel that night we fought, okay? Even if Compress hadn’t stepped in, I didn’t have any energy left. It was a draw. So can we just tie a knot on that, and not kill each other from now?” 

Wait...what? But –– how. Geten found herself frozen in place, her mind unable to form a coherent thought. While anger surged through her like steam, she felt strangely cool, her hatred at this man in front of her dissipating.

She knew the Geten from a week or two ago would have fired a shard of ice the minute he admitted to the truth about their duel, the duel that changed her perception of herself and the world entirely. She exited that duel beating herself up over her weakness, but...maybe I’m not?

But the memory of her meeting with Hanabata shot to the forefront of her brain, reminding her that she was so utterly powerless against something as simple as a gun and a threat of her position. 

“I’m interested in where you stand in all...this.” Hawks had said. 

Her eyes scanned Dabi, looking for some form of malice on that face, but he looked sincere. What happened?

“No.” 

Dabi took a step back. “Oh for –”

“Let me finish. I want to see who’s stronger, but not combat. Endurance.” Geten clenched her fist. 

Dabi arched an eyebrow. “What do you have in mind?”

“Try to melt my ice. If you can, you win. If you run out of steam first, I win.”

“Alright then.” Dabi shrugged. “Summon your thing.”

Geten took out an ice cube from her pocket and chucked it into the river, lowering the temperature of it. She felt more and more water molecules slow down to freezing point. The tingle at her fingertips grew larger. With a smirk, she raised her hand, willing the ice to rise upwards to form a mini glacier, a storey high. 

She looked at Dabi and gave a gesture. “Go ahead.”

Dabi stretched his fingers. Igniting his hands, he unleashed a stream of azure flames. 

The heat hit Geten instantly, the tingle beginning to die as ice melted out of her control. Not so fast, she thought, steeling her resolve. She kept the temperature steady, forcing the molecules to slow themselves against Dabi’s fire. She was not going to lose this match. 

In return, she felt the energy redirected into her own body. Her chest grew warmer by the second. A bead of sweat dripped down her forehead. 

She gave a gasp, betraying her exhaustion. Dabi looked at her for a brief second.

“So quick?” Dabi teased, but Geten noted the veins surfacing on his skin, popping out like grey branches. It was clearly hurting him too. 

If it was a war of attrition, talking only wasted energy. She stayed silent, focusing her mind on the task. 

The ice beneath and around the glacier was redundant. Not needing them, she raised the temperature of them to take some heat off her. It worked; the burn in her chest subsided temporarily. 

How much time had passed? It feels like it’s been an hour.

The fire was beginning to thin, just slightly. A smile danced on her lips, but the effort kept her teeth gritted. She would celebrate after she won. 

With every second, the ice on the surface, taking the brunt of the fire’s rage, melted despite her attempts to freeze them. She shifted her focus onto keeping the core of the glacier as cold as possible. That was how she would win, after all. 

Still, time seemed to slow the longer the match stretched. She was not letting up. Neither was he. 

Desperation crawled into her burning heart as she saw the glacier slowly shrink like butter in a pan. But she held out hope – Dabi was definitely faltering too, since the fire was also weakening.

A few more seconds...There’s no way he can survive longer. The pain would knock him unconscious. 

Her legs were like melting ice as well; her vision began to blur, seeing just the blue fire, ground, and the black, cloudy shape of Dabi. 

Shit. Her control slipped, as though she was clinging onto the semi-liquid ice itself. It was but a small mound now, and she wasn’t stopping the melting anymore. Not again.

But then the fire stopped with a gasp, which didn’t come from her. 

She let go, staggering, but she stood up. The person in front of her was on the floor, clutching his smoking arms. 

“I...I win.” The statement sounded more like a question towards herself. Why was she doubting it? He had stopped his fire. She just had to hear it first, hear it from him.

“Yeah.” Dabi’s voice was raspy, tinged with bitterness. He shakily stood up and walked over towards her and the river. “You win.”

As he plunged his hands into the water, a smile crept over her lips. Her head was dizzy from exerting herself, but also glee. 

I won. 

She took off her hood and sat down, panting, but her smile never left her. Dabi looked at her, his face scrunched up as he studied her expression. He shook his head. 

“You’re crazy, you know?” He said.

“Shut up, I won. I’m stronger,” She replied. 

Dabi hummed, turning his attention back to his arms. “So, are we done here? Truce?”

“Yeah, truce.”  

––––––

I’m not gonna lie, if you found that pseudo-fight boring, I can’t blame you. I had a hard time finding a good way to make it sound interesting. It’s literally just Dabi shooting fire at an iceberg which doesn’t want to melt. When I upload the 2nd draft on the fanfic platforms, I’m not even sure if I can edit it into something better. 

Geten-Hawks is a dynamic I have not considered and I went in basically blind. If either seems OOC, sorry. I’m not good at dialogue either, so the conversation might be confusing. 

I should definitely consult a dialogue pro on this.

Finally over with the rivalry phase, 12 chapters in. Actual slowburn. 

Long chapter (for my story). It’s made me think whether I should just be uploading these on AO3 first, since it’s UI is the least shittiest compared to the other 2. I might just compromise on inserting a link, and minimise this post with an expand link. Not a lot of people put full fics on Tumblr text posts, and those who do tend to use expand links, so I might do that. 

Let’s see...I’ve two more weeks before holidays end and I’m back to school, so come June uploads will slow down noticeably. Until then, hope I can churn out a couple more chapters. 

[randomguywithwords]

As The Dust Settles: Chapter 13 (Geten X Dabi Slowburn)

Chapter 13: Violet’s Assignment

AO3 Link: Here

Previous Chapters: 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

––––––––

After the training session, Geten returned to her room, the afterglow of her victory still present on her lips. The wind that whipped through her parka as she rode her ice platform felt cooler than usual; she felt more free and giddy. A minute had passed before she realised she had been humming from satisfaction, to a song she did not remember. 

Perhaps her good mood would last for at least a day or two. 

But as she reached the window of her floor, she saw a soldier standing outside. 

“What?” Geten fixated him with a glare. 

With a shaky bow and a total refusal to make eye contact, he passed her an envelope with arms which were trembling even more, and ran off the second she took the letter. 

Smirking as she saw him sprint down the hallway, she opened it to see a typewritten message by Shigaraki. 

“Emergency meeting, 10am. Usual.” His signature was scrawled at the bottom.

That’s a couple of minutes from now. Damn it. 

With a sigh, she created her ice platform once more and glided towards Re-destro’s mansion. But as she opened the doors of the council room, she frowned, but then...Ah, I see, so that’s what he wants.

“I assume you want to talk to me alone.” Geten scanned the council room, all chairs unoccupied except the one in the middle, where Tomura Shigaraki was leaning back on his, dressed in his black jacket and wearing his signature disembodied hand on his face. 

“Take a seat,” Shigaraki said. Geten did, and then Shigaraki began.

“Have you and Dabi settled your issues?” 

“Somewhat.” Geten met the boy’s eyes. They were sunken and darkened around the edges, like a skull which refused to die. Those crimson irises were the same ones which had rooted the charging Liberation Army in their place out of pure terror, despite Trumpet’s Inciting. 

A question arose to her lips, albeit she did not speak it, as those eyes bore into her: Can he see? Does he have vision? A vision for the Liberation Front? 

These thoughts had formed whenever she saw him address the PLF: at the festival where Re-destro had abdicated his throne, and at yesterday’s meeting.

“So you two can lead the Violet Regiment?”

“Yes.” 

“Good, two more questions.” Shigaraki relaxed his arms on the table as he leaned forward. “Who are you, Apocrypha?”

“You know my name.”

“Apocrypha? Geten? Iceman?” Shigaraki snorted. “Cut the bullshit, they’re your...usernames. The first two mean the same, and it’s ironic, because their meaning tells me you don’t know the answer either.” 

“Then why ask me?” 

“Because I’m wondering if you want to know.”

“No. I have no need for a name. I was Re-destro’s weapon, Shigaraki. A sword has no need for a name any more than a stray dog does. So please, get to the point.” She ended her speech with a glare.

Shigaraki met it with an indifferent expression, perhaps even surprised by that sudden outburst, but then his cracked lips widened in approval. 

“I would’ve killed you for uttering my name.” Shigaraki’s smile was unnerving, and Geten flinched despite herself, “but I could tell you’re different. You’re different from the rest of these cowards.”

“When you have 2 CEOs and a politician, and you had a...journalist, or whatever she was, you were never spoken to properly. Everything needed a bush to beat around. I like to disintegrate the whole forest.” Shigaraki placed four fingers on the desk. Geten knew he could activate it autonomously now, but she understood his point. 

Her hands were off the desk before she realised it. Shigaraki seemed to notice it, and continued,

“I’m asking for your loyalty, because it’s bleeding dry in this army. I’m not stupid. You don’t take over an enemy city and expect the people to bow down. There’s gonna be riots. There’s gonna be a lot of plotting. If you’re smart you would have realised it by now, or even gotten involved…” He looked at her with a suggestive grin. She kept her face impassive, as a bead of perspiration rolled down her forehead.

“But I get the feeling you like to settle things face to face. You’re no assassin, are you? Your skill points seem more geared towards strength.” Shigaraki’s gaze felt like it was penetrating her mind, probing her thoughts. She felt unsafe – a person walking through an alley at twilight. That person never saw the blade of ice, just darkness, and then darkness eternal. 

She felt as vulnerable as the people she had killed.

Does he know too? There’s no way he couldn’t, right? He knew about Takame, wouldn’t he question Skeptic and Trumpet why he wasn’t on the official register? But he said he spoke straightforwardly, not like them. Not like the MLA. 

“Of course not.” The words flowed from her mouth before she could think about it. “And…you have my allegiance, Grand Commander.” She gave a slight bow of her head, even as her mind was suspended in a frenzied blizzard – blind, in chaos, terrified. 

She kept her head down, feeling queasy looking at those red eyes of his. She finally understood why the army had stopped in their tracks then. 

“Good. I look forward to seeing what you can do for me,” Shigaraki said. “Ah, right on time.”

The doors opened behind her as the rest of the PLF lieutenants arrived, one by one.

So there is a meeting? Geten quickly regained her composure. The rest of them could not see her in that state. She could tell some were staring at her, probably curious as to why she was so early. Bowing her head, she made eye contact with no one, her face heating up. 

Once everyone was in, with Dabi strutting in last, the meeting commenced. 

“We have a problem.” Shigaraki stood up. “We wanted to lay low till next Friday. Well, it was going fine, but lately we’ve been picking up some chatter, chatter directed at us. Skeptic, if you would.”

Chikazoku arose with a bow towards Shigaraki and continued with the briefing. “I’ve been watching the media and the attention about the ‘Deika City Incident’, and it was dying out as expected, but I noticed one source that was constantly publishing article after article about conspiracy theories about the Incident. We’re still being talked about, and that cannot happen. I’ve tried on my own ends to stem the flow, but whoever this group or individual is, they’re not stopping. We sent some soldiers from neighbouring provinces to investigate, but they’ve all went silent. So we’re sending Carmine to deal –”

“No.” Shigaraki’s voice cut in as sharp as a knife. “Send Violet.” 

“Tomura-kun!” Toga pouted. “I wanted to taste some blood. Send my regiment!” 

“No, I want Apocrypha and Dabi to do this.” 

All eyes were scattered between Shigaraki, Dabi and her. She kept her eyes on the table, flickering upwards as Re-destro began to speak. 

“But...great leader,” Yotsubashi chuckled nervously. “Isn’t it better to send people like Mr Compress and Himiko Toga who can eliminate people silently?”

“Yeah! I like you, Re-destro! Lemme taste your blood!” Toga cheered, waving a knife at Re-destro like a toddler, who shrunk back into his seat looking even more anxious about the mentally insane girl. 

“Exactly. I want to see how the two of them deal with an assassination.”

The matter seemed to be settled. Even Dabi hadn’t spoken a word in protest. Looking at the corner of her eye, he was shrugging. “Whatever. I get to get out of this shithole and burn some people. I’m cool.” 

“Weren’t you late because you were stuffing yourself with ramen?” Spinner deadpanned, receiving a glare from the fire-user. 

“We’ll get it done, Shigaraki.” Dabi ignored the statement. 

“As long as you don’t draw attention,” Compress warned, causing Dabi to wave at him with a “Yeah, yeah, got it.”

Then Dabi turned to look at the CEO. “Skeptic, fill us in.”

–––––––

Violet Regiment left almost immediately after the meeting. Well, it wasn’t so much of a regiment as it was just Dabi and her. They had decided that an assignment of this caliber did not require any cannon fodder. So, after gathering the items needed and taking a shower, the two of them were on a private plane heading to the Tokugawa Prefecture. 

“Damn, I could get used to this.” Dabi leaned back on his luxury seat, kicking his legs up on the table. Geten, who was seated on the adjacent, opposite seat, snorted. 

“You could. But the ride is only a few hours.”

“Let me enjoy it, come on.” Dabi opened his can of coke and taking a chug.

Sighing, she looked out of the window, seeing the afternoon sky tinted with pink on the horizon. It would be evening when they landed. 

“Aren’t you wondering why we were sent?” Geten looked back at the relaxing Dabi. 

“It’s probably a punishment. Either one of us pissed Shigaraki off.” 

“So you think this whole thing is fake?”

Dabi shrugged. “Maybe. Or Shigaraki doesn’t think it’s that big of a threat to deal with it properly. Or he doesn’t care about us.”

“Does that not bother you?” Geten crossed her arms seeing how nonchalant Dabi was. 

“Nope. Deika City was getting boring anyway. If I have an excuse to leave, I’m taking it. And Shigaraki can send me wherever he likes, I know when to listen and when to do my own thing. You, on the other hand…” Dabi wagged a finger at her. “You were Re-destro’s little puppy, weren’t you?”

“Call me that again and I’ll slap you.” She sent a look of venom his way. 

“But you get what I mean.” Dabi finished his coke. “From what I can tell, you’ve spent your whole life at the heels of these MLA snobs. Now, we’re here, and you have no idea what you’re doing.”

“I know what I’m doing. I’m abiding by Destro’s principles of the strengths of Meta Abilities. But…” Geten’s eyes trailed to the floor. “You got everything else right.”  

That’s it. That’s what I’ve been missing. The League was so...free, and the MLA was so stringent with its rules. 

“Hey.” Dabi’s voice made her look up, expecting more taunting, but his expression caught her by surprise. His eyes were unusually soft, his expression not as condescending. Basically, he looked less like himself, if that was even possible. “You don’t find anything wrong with that?”

“With what?” She tilted her head curiously. 

Dabi opened his mouth, then closed it. Putting his empty can on the table, he said, “Nothing. Why you’d even ask me about this assignment in the first place? Did you do something to Shigaraki?” 

Right, he was late. 

“Well, besides wanting to kill him and everyone else when we met, I can’t imagine why he would want to punish me,” Geten said. 

Dabi saw past her sarcasm studying her expression. “Really, what happened?” 

He could be relaying everything back to Shigaraki. I can’t tell him about what I’ve done, or he’ll do something, or not trust me. 

Why does that matter? Another part of her argued. You can finish this job on your own. 

But that was it, wasn’t it? If she finished this assignment flawlessly, Shigaraki’s suspicions would be confirmed, assuming he didn’t know about her deeds beforehand. And what would happen then? Would he kill her? Lock her up? Demote her to a common foot soldier?

And why was she caring about his trust anyway?

She stared at Dabi, unable to totally decipher his expression, but there was some hint of genuine curiosity, since his eyes were slightly wider than usual. He didn’t seem like the type of person that would be Shigaraki’s servant to the extent of spying on her. 

Can I trust you? She thought.

“He asked me if I wanted to know my name.” It was a good-enough truth. 

“Really? You don’t know yours?” Dabi raised an eyebrow. 

“No. And I don’t care about it either. My name – even if he actually knows it, won’t be a bargaining chip.”

“Why? Don’t you want to know who you are?”

“It’s not important.”

“Hm. Okay,” He said. He didn’t press further, but Geten knew there were a lot of things he left unsaid. The conversation died as Geten turned back to look out the window. 

She had a lot of things unsaid too, but saying any of them to the wrong person could spell death for her. 

Hawks’ words now felt a lot more real, like a spider’s web wrapping her up. No, she didn’t feel safe. Because, and she realised this with a start – if she didn’t need real allies then, she did now. 

The word sounded so foreign. Whatever the meaning of it was, she knew at its roots, she just needed people to trust. And loyalty was bleeding dry in the PLF. 

She looked to the corner of her eye to see Dabi taking a nap. A realisation dawned on her. She had no idea why – It could have been because she had, at the very least, the leverage of strength over him, or that he spoke of Shigaraki and the MLA with disrespect, or the seemingly genuine interest in her name…

But out of all the people in the PLF, if she had to pick one person to trust, it would be him. 

But can I, Dabi? Can I trust you, and would you trust me?

––––––––––

Done. Yay. Entering a new “arc” so to speak. I really hope the tonal issues doesn’t throw your reading off. On one hand I’m trying to craft a proper internal struggle in both characters about their identity and on other issues plaguing their lives. But on the other I still want their witty banter (and fluff in later chapters), so if the disparity is too apparent, let me know. Thanks. 

And I haven’t forgotten about Dabi’s backstory, or Twice or Hawks. All in good time. I have the next few chapters planned out already. Not sure how long they’re going to be, but for this “arc” it’s really just gonna be the two of them. 

Also, anon, if you’re reading this, I hope the Geten/Shigaraki conversation was what you envisioned, or that you’re okay with how it turned out. If the dynamics wasn’t what you thought it would be, sorry ><

As for everyone else, I hoped you liked it. Any feedback is appreciated (like, really, if you didn’t like it for anyone reason, do let me know. If you want to send anon hate, I’ll genuinely entertain it as long as you really do have something constructive to discuss, and not like, idk, you just hate Dabi or villains in general. Doesn’t add anything to the discussion – well, nothing useful anyway.)

[randomguywithwords]

As The Dust Settles: Chapter 11 (Dabi x Geten Slowburn)

Previous Chapters: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

–––––––

Chapter 11: Tomura Shimura

“So, Shigaraki, what will you do now?” Garaki asked as the two walked down the path. 

“You told me you could give me the power to destroy everything. I want it,” Shigaraki said.

“Very well, but first, let’s have another little chat. If I’m going to help you, I need to know what exactly you plan to achieve.” Garaki gestured to two chairs in front of a hive of screens.

Once the two sat down, Shigaraki opened, “I just said it. Destroy everything. I don’t need the army. I’ll send them to do some random shit, make the heroes think that I have some grand scheme. I don’t, that is, if you’re not lying about this experiment, I can do it all by myself.” 

“I’ve told you, it works. Do you not remember?” Garaki said, slightly affronted. 

Shigaraki let the silence hang at the chiding undertone and eyed the doctor. “I remember everything now. Everything.” He saw Garaki shrink slightly under his glare. It was unspoken, but what was implied passed between the two. 

“I figured as much, judging from the awakening of your quirk,” Garaki murmured, unable to conceal a hint of nervousness. “Do you hate me and your sensei, Shigaraki?” A bead of sweat dripped down the doctor’s bald head. 

Shigaraki didn’t answer at first. Instead he looked down at his repaired hand; it looked no different than the hands of Everyone. He took a deep breath. “My family is gone. I killed them. I’ve...I think I’ve accepted that. The weight of them is gone. Sensei is the only family I have left – That’s what I thought. So I don’t hate you or him, because you’ve raised me. But that’s the thing, isn’t it?” 

Shigaraki looked up at the doctor. “The two of you raised me into a monster. Sensei’s monster. I’m both his student and his masterpiece. That disgusts me.” 

Garaki sweat. “But you said–”

“I might hate you, but I still respect you for your help.” Shigaraki nodded as a mark of acknowledgment. “I hate Sensei now as much as I love him. So if you’re thinking I’ll break into Tartarus to release him, you’re wrong.”

“I – I see.” 

Shigaraki continued with no relent. “I’m not following you, not Sensei, not anyone. I’m doing things my own way, and I have the League, the Liberation Army, and your help. So, doctor, tell me now, will you give it?” 

Garaki was visibly stunned by this abrupt display of power, but he recovered with an expression Shigaraki could only define as admiration and a hint of fear. “You’ll have it, Shigaraki. The power you desire.” 

“And what do you want in return? I assume the conversation would have led here at some point,” He said sharply. 

Garaki did not answer for a few seconds. “Let me live.” Was Garaki’s simple reply. “I’ve no wish to die now. Not ever.”

Shigaraki nodded. “I’m sure that’s what the League wants too. I’m not stopping any of you.”

“And you? Don’t you want to live too, Shigaraki?”

Tomura Shigaraki smiled, an action society associated with happiness. But Tomura was not part of society. He smiled because he could not reconcile with the twisted emotions haunting him. Despite all that had happened, he would never be able to fill that hole in his heart. He smiled because he understood something the Garaki, All For One, and everyone else in the world could never comprehend. He understood that...

“Live or die, I will one day be watching the most beautiful horizon of oblivion alone, forever.”

–––––––

“Ah, so you’re the squad.” Dabi eyed the three men in front of him. “Glad to meet you. But I thought I had another three…?”

“The rest are scattered across the country. They may return if needed, but otherwise they were posted on Skeptic’s request.” One of them spoke up, his voice muffled by the skull mask he wore on his face. 

“You’re Kami, right? Gasoline quirk?” Dabi asked. 

“Yes, sir.” 

“I don’t recall seeing any of you. Where were you guys the past week?”

“Each of us takes charge of a squadron in a province. We were just close enough to Deika City to return home for tonight,” Another spoke up, his head oddly shaped, more akin to that of a shark than a human. Charioteer, Dabi guessed. 

“Which reminds us, we must go. It’s starting.” The third spoke. Shingu Takame, Beatdown. Dabi was stunned by how seemingly old he was. He could see the wrinkles around his face, and he was bald. Despite wearing a suit and tie, for whatever reason, Dabi could see his broad build. This is the person she was worried about. Why, though?

“Yeah, come on.” Dabi motioned for the rest to follow. The walk there was silent; Dabi found that the soldiers of the Liberation Front usually maintained a cold exterior. These guys are no different, he observed. Same as her. 

He gritted his teeth, correcting himself. No, she’s a victim. Unless these guys were forced by Re-destro and those bastards too?

They reached the secret entrance to their underground meeting chamber. While the three congregated with the rest of the massive crowd, Dabi walked up the stairs and took his seat with the rest of the lieutenants, some arriving, some already present. He saw Re-destro sitting a few seats away from him, looking down at all the soldiers like a proud mother hen with that trademark smile of his he’d seen on TV. 

He bit back a snarl, a part of him wanting to burn that smile off his face. Not now, he cautioned. Soon. 

“Hey.” Compress’ voice snapped him out of his thoughts. Dabi looked at him as he sat down beside him. “What’re you looking at Re-destro for?” 

“Don’t like him,” Dabi replied. It was a truth. 

“You and Twice, huh? Jin still hasn’t forgiven him for what he did to Giran, but he’s restraining himself because of this alliance and Shigaraki’s orders.”

“What about you? You mean you ain’t pissed?” Dabi watched Re-destro get up from his seat and address the crowd, heralding the arrival of the Grand Commander. 

“I don’t hold grudges, unless they ruin a performance of mine.” Atsuhiro leaned back on his seat, relaxing his arms on the armrests. “If we’re going to be working together, might as well forgive and forget.” 

“That’s nice,” Dabi mechanically said, as Shigaraki emerged onto the stage. “I think I’ll pass on using the power of friendship.”

Compress sighed. “You gotta drop it with Apocrypha. She doesn’t seem so aggressive now, anyway.  She did think you won that fight, didn’t she?”

Dabi saw the hooded girl in his peripheral, sitting quietly with her head drooping. Perhaps she was listening to Shigaraki giving his address, perhaps she was ignoring it in its entirety. 

“Yeah,” he said sourly, recalling what he had seen in her diary. All thoughts of lording his “victory” over her died in that instant. “But it’s not her. It’s Re-destro.” 

“I see. Well, don’t kill him like you tried with Apocrypha.” Compress turned to face Shigaraki’s form standing at the forestage. Dabi listened in to the remainder of Shigaraki’s speech as well. 

“You know your regiment leaders. Train hard this week, because we’re starting the next Liberation Festival in the next. That’s all.” Having finished, Shigaraki turned around and walked backstage, to resounding applause and cheers. 

Dabi caught a glimpse of Shigaraki’s expression. He was unsure of how to define it, but he recognised it well. As he walked through the tunnels out of the chamber, he kept coming back to that expression, that look on his leader’s face. 

He knew that Shigaraki was lying. Something about what he said was false. That damn look on his face... 

Dabi had wore that same expression before their last job. Before he realised it, Touya Todoroki’s memories resurfaced once more.

“You’ll cover me, right?” Touya said, looking at his mentor and partner. 

Dabi looked at him. “I got you, don’t worry. Let’s go.” He had a look on his face, a calmness to it, but also something else behind it that Touya had noticed, but had not registered. A subtle side glance. A tensing of his lips. 

Touya took a deep breath. His hands burned with orange fire, like the rising sun. 

As Dabi leapt down from the roof, Touya followed.

–––––––

So uh, you probably have forgotten about this Dabi OC, which I introduced in another flashback in the earlier chapters. I didn’t bring him up since then because I wasn’t too sure how I wanted him to work in my story, but now that I have a clearer idea of the character, I’m putting him back in. 

To sum up, there is Dabi, our MC, I.e Touya, and there is Dabi the OC. Yes, Touya took his name. 

Thanks so much for everyone’s support, and if I could I’d like to mention Kerasion and Kannra in particular. It really brightened up my day. 

Uh, thoughts about the chapter itself: This Shigaraki POV will probably be a rare, perhaps one-off scene, but I felt the need to address Shigaraki’s motivations and true plans for the PLF.

Moving forward, I’m hoping the relationship-building between the two MCs can finally begin, but also the politics within the PLF’s leadership won’t get better. 

[randomguywithwords]

As The Dust Settles: Chapter 10 (Dabi x Geten Slowburn)

Previous Chapters: 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

––––––

Dabi spent his Friday evening slouched over the counter, occasionally sipping from his whiskey. The bar was quite empty for a Friday night, with only a few customers scattered around the chairs and stools. 

“Hey,” Dabi called. The bartender, a man who looked to be in his mid-thirties, looked at him. 

“What else can I get for you, sir?” He asked politely. 

“Is this place usually this empty at this time?” Dabi swept an arm around as a gesture.

The bartender chuckled. “If anything, I gained more customers, probably thanks to you lot. You’re part of the League, right?” 

“Were, I suppose,” Dabi said boredly, but straightening up to rest his head on his palm. “Why?”

“You guys defeating the army depressed the hell out of some of ‘em. Usually their doctrine frowns upon drinking – something about wasting their days when they could be practicing, but after their commander was overthrown, I saw a big turnout that night. Largest I’ve ever had.”

“You keep saying them…” Dabi frowned, recalling something Hanabata had said. “Are you the 10% of people in Deika who aren’t part of the army?”

“Damn right. I’ve no intention of joining their crazy mission.” The bartender looked at a customer at one of the tables, nodded, and started to prepare a drink. “Only thing that sucks is getting caught in the crossfire.” 

“Ah.” Dabi took another sip. “You look alright for a guy whose city was nearly destroyed.”

The bartender waved his hand dismissively, the other placing the finished drink on the counter for collection. “I ain’t talking about what Shigaraki did. I like the guy. He taught these delusional people a lesson. My problem…” He leaned in slightly closer, lowering his voice. “Is with the army themselves.” 

“Really? I thought you would hate me and the League,” Dabi said.

“I got no issue with you folks. But I hate the soldiers. Especially the ice-man. Apocrypha, or whatever his name is.”

“Huh.” Was Dabi’s response, though his mind was whirling. He didn’t need that girl on his mind, though he was curious enough to ask, “What’s wrong with him?”

“He’s merciless, cruel. I don’t know if you saw, but during the fight, I heard from some of these guys here, he took out so many of his guys just to get rid of the army of clones from Bubaigawara Jin.”

“Right…” Dabi’s mind flashed back to that glacier that sent entire houses into the air, along with the blood of both Twice’s clones and the Liberation Army. He was both disgusted and awed by the audacity of that move. Now, he felt more disturbed than anything. “Yeah, I was there. You were safe?”

“Yeah, my house was on the other side of the city. I didn’t go out that day when I saw all the soldiers marching towards the centre. Wherever the army gathers, it’s good to not go there,” The bartender said. He paused, and then added grimly, “Some of my friends didn’t heed that advice.”

“Oh.” Dabi swallowed. The statement sounded like a backhand threat or a lash of anger, but looking at the man’s face, he strangely did not detect any sign of hatred. 

“Honestly, they got what they deserved.” He gave a smile, pouring two glasses of whiskey and passing one to Dabi. “It’s on the house. I haven’t had a good talk in a long time.”

“Cheers.” Dabi grinned. The glasses clinked, and the two took a good gulp of the burning liquor.

“Is it dangerous here?” Dabi said as he set down his glass on the countertop.

“Pah, not really. Until last week, the army hadn’t really done anything, only train over and over again. At least, that’s what I could see. Maybe underground, they’ve been up to something, but I’ll be honest – I doubt they ever had plans to expand.”

“Yeah,” Dabi said non-committedly, thinking about the plans Shigaraki had laid out, taken from Re-destro’s strategies. 

“And honestly, I couldn’t leave even if I wanted to. They wouldn’t let me.” The bartender grimaced, taking another gulp. “Not that it’s illegal, but the leaders – those guys in that tower, they make it sound illegal, so everyone knows it’s illegal. You get what I mean?” 

Dabi nodded slowly. He had to admit, the way Re-destro and his lieutenants kept Deika city controlled was impressive: Not with an iron fist, but soft, persuasive whispers. Noting that this man here was likely subjugated by them in all by thought, he asked a question. 

The question was probably influenced by the thoughts in his head, and the alcohol. “About that gi – guy, Apocrypha, what’s he like?”

The bartender’s expression tightened, and Dabi wondered if he’d touched on something personal – Apocrypha had apparently killed his friends, though he hadn’t seemed very affected by it. 

“Whoever that man is under that hood, he’s a monster. I’ve grown up here my whole life, and I’ve never seen a soldier so addicted to the cause. Now, I’m no soldier, but even I understand the camaraderie that soldiers should share. Apocrypha has no feelings. He kills people to achieve his goals…” The bartender leaned in closer, till Dabi could smell the whiskey on his breath. “And I’m not talking about what happened last week, but what he’s been doing since he joined.”

“What d’you mean?” Dabi asked, a sense of foreboding sending a chill down his spine, while his stomach bubbled with curiosity and trepidation. 

“Hey, Dabi!” A cheerful voice made him and the bartender look at the man who had just entered. The crimson wings made it obvious. 

“Hey, Hawks.” Dabi waved. The hero walked up to them. 

“You want anything, Hawks?” The bartender asked. 

“I’m good, thanks man.” Hawks replied, eliciting a nod from him. While the bartender busied himself with washing some glasses, Dabi turned around on his stool to face Hawks.

“What’s up?” Dabi said.

“Some people are looking for you.” Hawks glanced around, noting the few other customers within earshot. He gestured towards the exit. 

Sighing, Dabi gulped down the last of his drink, thanked the bartender and left with Hawks. 

–––––––

A few hours ago...

Shigaraki knocked aside Dabi’s raised arm with a backhand. “I let you go your own way because I don’t believe in ordering you guys around, but now that I’m leading more than a small group, I’m changing my style. You’re settling things with Apocrypha, got it?”

The two stared at each other with cold fury for a second, before Dabi spat, “Fine.” and spun on his heel to exit the room. 

Shigaraki watched Dabi leave the council room. Once the door was shut, he sat down on his chair and tapped his earpiece. “Still there, Ujiko?” 

“You actually sounded convincing,” The doctor’s voice came in reply. “Not the Dabi-Apocrypha thing. The plan you gave them. I almost believed it myself.”

“Good, it’ll throw them off the scent for a while. I trust you’ve kept up your end of the deal?” Shigaraki said.

“Yes. Come. I’ll show you everything.” At this, Shigaraki felt the build-up of that muck in his mouth. He’d experienced it so many times he no longer gagged or retched. 

The mossy-green ooze expanded and enveloped him. He lost vision temporarily as the nauseating feeling churned for a second before disappearing. He blinked, finding himself in Ujiko’s lab. The doctor himself stood before him. No chair, nothing shrouding him from sight, just him standing with his lab coat and silver glasses.

“Tomura Shigaraki, Kyudai Garaki. It’s a pleasure to work with you.” He gave a nod of respect. “You and All For One are the only two that know my true name. I trust that you’ll keep it that way.”

–––––

Plot stuff, getting a bit dry I know, especially if you’re here for Dabiten. You might not like next chapter if that’s the case, but it’ll hopefully set up the premise much better so you get a general idea of how the plot is going. And yeah, I’m aware that 10 chapters in is a horrible time to establish even more premise to the story. My excuse of first draft isn’t exactly great. So uh, fault taken.

Flow-wise, I actually don’t really like this jumping back chronologically. I think in an edited version, the 2nd scene in this chapter would be the chapter 7/8, so right after the meeting (c7) goes into this Shigaraki POV. So yeah, reading it might be a bit dissatisfactory in terms of pacing, but bear with this first draft for now. I’ll change it when it’s time.

Also, I’m happy to say that I finally planned out Dabi’s backstory, so now the issue is writing it out in a way that doesn’t break this flow. I used to do flashbacks as an independent scene with line breaks at both ends, but I personally feel that it’s lazy writing now. If I can’t think of any decent way to transition into Dabi’s past, then I might go back to what I mentioned. 

[kannra21]

I actually loved this part with Hawks bc, how you already stated, it was important for Geten to gather her thoughts and who's better at having deep conversations with or giving advices other than Hawks himself?

Geten is still weakened bc of her injuries and it would be too risky to leave before she actually recovers.

Wait. Is this the first time that Hawks saw her without her parka hood on? He still doesn't get her point tho. 😂 The small smile. ♥️

The thing Geten's feeling towards him is probably compassion in the most genuine of ways, not pity as she usually felt towards other mla members. Pity in the form of someone's belittlement, owing to the belief in the other's inferiority.

I just like it how Geten's not afraid of showing emphaty to others.

It's great that they can relate to isolation and being trained by some big names. Except commission actually cared about Hawks' education but otherwise they both felt imprisoned; Geten by Destro's ideology and Hawks by commission's instructors.

I wonder who's the friend Hawks was talking ab. I thought ab the possibility of you pulling the "Touya was trained by the commission" scenario but Touya was actually trained by the previous Dabi who didn't have anything to do with the commission bc he was the same rooted villain like any other, right? What about Shigaraki and Hawks being childhood friends? Bc Shigaraki already mentioned that he had a friend called Miikun bc TakaMi, get it. But idk how this would impact Geten in any way.

Oh the suspense in the end. 👏👏 Maybe they wouldn't have to fight if Hawks remained loyal to the heroes. Nah scratch it, they'd need to fight each other anyways.

Idk if their conversation was honest or if it was one of Hawks' info gathering missions. Btw Hawks noticing dabiten getting along the other chapter was funny. Imagine if he talked to Dabi afterwards and he just wants to find out about all the details. 👀 Hawks is invested.

Maybe Hawks teasing Dabi and Dabi being ashamed for the first time would be hilarious to see considering that Dabi never loses his composure. But ofc, he doesn't want to admit it. Bc he's going to fight the heroes, therefore getting emotionally attached to someone doesn't rly help the situation bc the two would only end up getting themselves hurt even more. Bc of the possibility of one of them endangering their lives. *poetic cinema*

"It's not like something bad is gonna happen, right? ._." aaaaa whyyyyyy (>A<) I have a feel that you're going to give us lots of angst as well. 💔 However it may be, I'm looking forward to it, even if I'm kinda scared now.

As The Dust Settles: Chapter 24 (Geten x Dabi Slowburn)

Chapter 24: Icarus Takes Flight

AO3 Link

Previous Chapters: 23, 22, 21, 20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

––––––––

Geten knew she was rusty the minute she raised the lake of ice. In the same way muscles atrophied after unuse, her quirk felt, ironically, as if it were thawing after being frozen for a century. 

Her cryokinesis was sluggish, rigid. The ice body jerked forward and stalled as she attempted a simple levitation towards her. Finally, she returned the ice to the snaking gap in the ground where the water had been. 

She scowled. Despite doing simple manipulation exercises during her hospitalisation, using whatever ice cubes she had, it wasn’t enough — wouldn’t be enough to go up against the might of the entire army. 

As she allowed the bottom of the lake to melt back into water —  something she could still do just as well, to her relief, the thought struck her immobile for a few seconds. That is, after all, what I am seeking, yes? Freedom from this place and its people.

But I am still not strong enough. People as strong as Shingu Takame existed amongst the ranks of the advisors, and perhaps even the common soldiery. If she were to fight multiple of them concurrently, she could be…

Flashes of Mihara Takame’s corpse sent a shiver down her spine. 

“Killed.” She whispered. 

“Who?” Hawks’ voice gave her a reeling shock, creating a barrier of ice out of instinct. Upon registering it as his voice, she lowered it with a scowl. 

“Don’t do that,” She said. 

“My bad,” Hawks replied. “Who died?” 

“It’s nothing of importance.” 

“If you say so.” From his coat, he pulled out a half-eaten packet of chips. He offered one to her, who declined with a wrinkle in her expression and a shake of her head. 

“So, training for the Festival?” He observed. 

“Yes.” She still had to keep up appearances. “Why aren’t you asleep? It’s quite late.”

“Still have some errands to run. Just taking a break to catch up with you, if you don’t mind.”

“It doesn’t matter to me.” She sat on a constructed ice-bench, to which Hawks followed suit.

“Cool. Quick question, why do you always have your hood on?” He munched on more chips. 

“Not always.” She shot back. 

“Ah, you know what I mean.” Even though his tone sounded playful and curious, there was a sharpness in his words that pierced through all pretence.

“I do,” She conceded, “But I don’t want to share that with you. I hope you’re not offended.” 

Hawks waved his hand. “All good, I get it.” And he let the subject die. But the topic only grew like a fungus in her mind, until the question – innocent-sounding as it was, brought her back into her memories.

“Who am I? Apocrypha, a weapon for the Liberation Army.” That was what she said, and a statement she once lived by. 

“A sword has no need for a name any more than a stray dog does.” The words she had spoken with such conviction in front of Shigaraki – perhaps in hindsight, an act of bravado in the face of destruction incarnate…

She made herself shiver. Yet she lived by this doctrine imposed upon her, which she reinforced herself all those years. 

Till now. 

She reached up and pulled down her hood. Besides her, Hawks raised an eyebrow. 

“All right, I get it,” He chuckled. “Not all the time.” 

Geten returned a small smile. He wouldn’t understand. Her focus shifted to the pair of crimson wings on his back. 

“Where did you train?” Geten said aloud the question rising to her mouth. “Did you go to…” What was it called? “A school?”

“Not me. I was…special, you could say.” His tone took on some solemnity. 

“So you trained under a mentor, like myself?”

“You could say that.” Hawks said, after a pause. 

“He must have been good, for you to attain such a high hero ranking, in the public eye.” 

“Ha!” He burst out. “Almost too good…too good for me.”

Geten recognised that look. It was her own expression whenever she stared herself in the mirror as a young child, after she’d finished writing in her journal. Childish habits.

“It was difficult, was it not?” She felt a strange connection between her and him. It was sympathy, to an extent, but not the same way her spiteful past self viewed her inferior soldiers. She sympathised with Hawks, but she also understood his pains of training. Was there some word for it? She couldn’t grasp it.

“You got me. It was. Really was.” 

A silence. Geten was unsure what to say.

Eventually, she said, “I went through something similar, though you must’ve realised that by now, given our last conversation.”

Hawks nodded. After another moment had passed, he said, “I had a friend who went through the same thing with me. He was a fun person. He made things easier.” 

“That’s good,” She said softly.

Hawks must’ve caught the look on her face which she tried to conceal. “Sorry, didn’t mean to make you feel bad.”

Geten waved it off. “He sounds like a nice person. What happened to him?” 

“We’ve went our separate ways. But I think you would’ve liked him.” 

“Perhaps I might meet him someday. Is he a hero?”

Hawks shrugged. That was all he did. 

“At any rate, all that training…Seems like it’s biting me in my ass now, what with the Festival and my assigned task,” He said. 

“Your…Oh.” She recalled it. 

Shigaraki had given the lieutenants and Hawks a more in-depth briefing just this morning, right after Geten left the hospital. There, he assigned groupings and explained his strategies to annex the cities they were to strike, taking out the heroes on guard there and keeping the populace under control. Suspiciously, he gave Dabi a job to be on the backline during the Festival, along with Apocrypha, which meant that Dabi’s other assignment was more secretive than she thought. 

As to what Hawk’s mission was, it was to keep up appearances. Shigaraki ordered Hawks to fight as a hero, against the invading Liberation soldiers. That way, his cover would be maintained, and he could continue infiltrating the Commission. 

“What about it?”

“To fight against people I would consider peers, and with the abilities that the Hero Commission know I have, they’ll expect me to round them up quickly, which means I’d be dooming them to prison. The total opposite to liberation.” Hawks sighed. “I feel horrible.” 

She responded, “They’ll understand. It’s for the greater good.” In other words, they would be so brainwashed they would accept come what may. But she didn’t say that. Judging from Hawks’ creased expression, he seemed troubled by his role in the Festival. 

“For Destro.” She said. 

Hawks looked at her. “For Destro,” He echoed. Standing up, he let his wings spread, pocketing the empty packet. 

“Thanks for keeping me company. I’ve gee to gee. Make sure you get some sleep, you did just recover fully.” He flashed a smile.

“Gee to gee?” 

“Got to go. It’s a shorter way to say it.” 

“But they have the same number of syllables. That’s illogical.” She argued.

Hawks chuckled again, not offering a reply to that, before ascending. 

“See you on Monday! Festival’s going to be great!” Hawks shouted, and then he sped off into the night sky. 

Geten resumed her training, feeling slightly better. At the same time, she tried to push away the thought that one day, when she had abandoned the Liberation Front, it could be Hawks that would be dragging her back into the clutches, and they would have to fight. 

–––––––

Hi, I don’t have much of an excuse. I said a few days and it ended up at least a week and then some. I could get into a rant on writer’s block but you’ve seen it all. Really sorry. Am hoping to make it up to you guys with the next chapter which should be an appropriate dose of Dabiten fluff and angst. Our usual orders as a fandom, I suppose. 

Shoutout to kannra21, kerasion, novella12nite and avirabbit (I know there are others but I just remember these few of you, sorry! ><) for still sticking with this story despite everything. 

Really hope you liked this chapter despite the lack of Dabiten, but I felt that some fleshing out of the Geten Hawks relationship was needed. Because it is somewhat important to Geten’s character. It’s not like something bad is gonna happen, right? ._.