The alley reeked of smoke.

Burnt flesh.

Ash drifting lazily through the cold night air.

Blue flames crackled at the tips of scarred fingers before slowly dying out, leaving behind a blackened corpse collapsed against the brick wall. Unrecognizable. Another piece of “garbage,” as Dabi liked to call them.

Dabi exhaled smoke from his lungs, bored already.

“Tch. Weak.”

Somewhere nearby, Toga was supposed to be gathering blood.

He didn’t care where she was.

Shigaraki insisted she tag along.

Dabi hated babysitting.

The villain turned away from the corpse, shoving his hands into his pockets as staples pulled slightly against scarred skin. The night air brushed against ruined flesh that never stopped hurting.

Not that he cared anymore.

Pain had stopped mattering years ago.

Ever since Sekoto Peak.

The memory clawed at him anyway.

A mountain burning blue.

Screaming.

Smoke filling his lungs while his skin melted from his bones.

And you.

Running for help.

You had shown up when Endeavor didn’t.

Like always.

Back then, before he became Dabi…

Before Toya Todoroki “died”…

You had been the only person who stayed.

The shadow following at his heels. The kid who listened to him ramble for hours. The one person who looked at him like he was more than Endeavor’s failure.

You understood him because your own parents barely looked at you either.

Two lonely kids clinging to each other.

Then the fire happened.

And when he woke up years later, broken and stitched together like a corpse…

Everything was gone.

His family moved on.

The world moved on.

So he killed Toya Todoroki.

And became something worse.

A sudden feeling prickled down the back of his neck.

Eyes.

Someone was watching him.

Dabi stopped walking.

“…Toga?” he called flatly.

No response.

His turquoise eyes narrowed slightly as he glanced around the alley.

Nothing.

No movement.

No hero scent either.

Just silence.

But the feeling remained.

Watching.

Waiting.

Dabi clicked his tongue irritably.

“If you’re gonna jump me, hurry up already.”

Still nothing.

The alley stayed quiet except for the faint crackling of dying embers behind him.

Then—

A noise.

Soft.

A footstep.

Dabi’s flames sparked instantly along his fingertips as he whipped around—

But froze.

Because standing partially hidden in the darkness…

Was someone he recognized immediately.

Someone who was supposed to be dead to him.

Someone who looked at him with the same eyes from years ago.

Your eyes.

For the first time in years, Dabi’s expression cracked.

Not anger.

Not amusement.

Shock.

“…No,” he said quietly, almost disbelieving.

Because somehow—

After all these years—

You were standing in front of him again.

And worst of all…

You recognized him too.