Ichinose was looking at Dabi with a suspicious look on his face. It was unnerving because he only looked at Dabi that way but not Michiyo.
Dabi started to regret taking Michiyo on a trip to see this old man now; what kind of person would look at their guest with such a look like Ichinose?
Why the trip to Ichinose's? Because Shigaraki had asked each member of the League to go around and recruit people to join them. After the kidnapping of Bakugou Katsuki and losing the Symbol of Peace, people who had strayed onto the path of villains would be interested in the invite. However, Dabi wasn't so kind to just go around and hand out invisible invites for random villains to join the league. Dabi believed that the league needed not in numbers but in villains who wanted to change the world for real. What was the point of letting someone who does petty crimes or for their own gains to join the league? People who truly opposed the hero society were his ideal people to let join the league. And for those who weren't ideal, he'd just make them into kindling and watch his own fire burn them.
Michiyo looked at the two back and forth. It was supposed to be a nice and comfortable dinner...she wondered why Ichinose was glaring at Dabi each time he chewed his food. "Father, is everything okay?"
"I'm just wonder if he is a clone or not."
"Wait, so you suspect I am a clone but Michiyo is the real deal, what gives?"
"You have malice written all over you."
"And girls don't?"
"Oh no, Dabi. Years of experience tells me that young women who are with rich old men are all thots. Michiyo-chan is a very special case, she is this one pure angel descending onto this godforsaken world...and she ends up with a devil like you!"
Dabi then looked at Michiyo, "If I ever become senile like that, will you end my life for me?"
"Urk! I just remembered I didn't lock the church's door. I'm going to lock it before you make me hurl." Even though he said that, he was truly happy to know the original Dabi and Michiyo came to visit him. He did not tell them about the clones; he wanted their visit to be a happy one. There was a calm and happy smile on the old man's face because he was happy to see young love bloom away from the light of this society that failed to save them. He wished for them to go as long as they could.
"I don't agree with your decision, but I will support you." She was about to pick up a piece of meat from another dish, but she paused halfway because she was pondering on what Dabi just said to her as a joke. "But what if I die before you?"
He chuckled, "That's hard to happen." He put his chopsticks down and he patted her on the head, prompting her to look up at him. "I'll just kill the person who tries to kill you."
"Dabi..."
"I'm not joking. As long as you're alive, I don't care who gets cremated along the way."
She should be freaked out, but she found herself nodding to his words.
"Good girl."
Because she was the same. As long as he was alive, she will do bad things. Ah, Dabi promised her he will be angry if she did bad things, right? She smiled and she let out an amused laugh.
"What's so funny?"
"You have rice stuck on your face." She picked the single grain from his face and she ate it. It wasn't a lie that he had rice on his face, but she did laugh at the fact Dabi will probably be angry at her for not too long before he will embrace her and tell her the three beloved words to her. When did she reach the point where she could always tell what Dabi was thinking? Was this what will happen to people when they're in love? She's so happy.
"You're being weird." Dabi commented.
"But you love this weird girl."
"...be quiet."
"Hehe." She then got up, "Do you want a second serving of rice?"
"If you don't mind." Dabi usually doesn't go for a second serving, but food have taste a lot better when he's with her.
"By the way, why didn't you stay behind? Twice-san said he had found someone interesting and he couldn't wait to show him off to you and everyone."
"You seriously believe him when he says that? It's Twice we are talking about here, there's no way he would pick someone good for the league. By the time we get back, one of them is probably dead or lost a limb at least."
"Don't say that, Dabi." She put his bowl of rice down and she sat back next to him.
"Why not?"
"They're your comrades. Also, I like Himiko-senpai, so don't say that."
"The things you like are always questionable."
The priest returned and he looked pretty smug after Dabi had said that. "I agree with Dabi on that one, Michiyo-chan, your tastes in men especially are questionable."
"Fucking priest..."
"Oh, I'm sorry. Did I hit a nerve?" The priest looked pretty smug when he saw part of Dabi's hair was lit with a small blue fire.
"Have you two tried the dumpling? It's good." Michiyo ignored the atmosphere and continued on her dinner. "Here, Dabi. Try one. You too, Father."
"Thank you, Michiyo-chan, you're such a good girl." His smile was gone in an instant when he looked at Dabi again. "Stop talking when you're eating. You'll end up choking."
"The only one choking will be Michiyo...and it won't be the dumpling that's doing the choking tonight." Dabi looked pretty smug when he said that.
The priest literally choked at Dabi's revolting words.
"Huh?" Michiyo had no idea what Dabi meant by that though.
...
Later that night, Ichinose made tea for himself and for the two who came to visit. He liked having company, even though one of them was Dabi!
He was about to knock on the door to Dabi and Michiyo's shared room, but he froze up when he heard Dabi groan.
"God, you're so good with your hands."
'That bastard...! Doing such a thing at a guest's house! He ain't having tea delivered into his room!' He thought to himself as he walked away in a huff, not wanting to hear their nightly activity!
But were they really doing something naughty in the bedroom? Not really, Michiyo's just massaging Dabi's neck and shoulders. Dabi was not in pain or anything, but he had taken a liking to massages from her. He liked sitting against the bed and she's massaging from the bed.
Michiyo liked the position too, he's much lower and she get to do this. "Mmph!" She suddenly put her face into his hair, she liked the soft feeling of his hair tickling her face.
"The hell are you doing?"
"Being affectionate~."
Dabi smiled a little, he loved moments like this a lot. It was truly a miracle Michiyo chose to stay with him given what had happened. He will make sure he do things right this time.
"Hey, what's the plan for tomorrow?" She asked, crawling down from the bed and sitting next to him.
"You said you wanted to go to the aquarium, right?"
"I do."
"What is so good about looking at fish again? They're ugly."
"But Dabi, it will be fun. And you said I get to choose where to go."
"Tch."
Michiyo laughed and she moved his left hand and she put his left arm over her shoulders. "Don't be such a tsundere. I know you look forward to it."
"I don't. You don't even get to eat them when you're there."
"For someone who said they don't look forward to it one bit, they sure got two tickets very quickly."
"Do you want to go or not?"
Michiyo just laughed at his bad attempt to scowl. She was innocently laughing away, giggling at his reaction as she affectionately rub her face against his arm. Dabi looked at her face and he smiled as he pulled her close to him in a side hug.
"Michiyo, what are you thinking about now?" He was good at reading people, but he struggled with Michiyo. He wondered why that was, he never knew what she was thinking about. The best he got was him predicting she's thinking about something.
She looked at him while playing with the fingers on his left hand. "I'm just thinking how lucky I am to be alive. I used to think maybe the world would be better off without me. There will be many smiles if I wasn't here." She blushed with a shy smile gracing her face. "Right now, I keep looking forward to every tomorrow."
"I see."
"I'd forsaken this world, but you lit a light in it."
"Even after what had happened?" He wanted to continue to be the fire to light up her darkness. He thought he had snuffed out her fire, but it turned out it was still there. He really thought he was too lucky in this world that was cruel to them.
"It was dark for a while, but you still came back to lit it bright again."
Dabi put his left leg down and he patted at the space in front of him. He wanted to wrap both arms around Michiyo's shoulders and just hold her when her back's against him. He pressed a gentle kiss to her cheek and he closed his eyes in comfort when she's in his vicinity.
"You did the same for me too." Dabi confessed in a quiet voice.
Michiyo put her hands on his forearms, feeling the purple wrinkly skin on him. Now that she think about it, what was Dabi's story behind the patches? "Dabi, will you tell me about Touya?"
He lazily opened his eyes, "You really want to know?"
"Hm. Without Touya, the Dabi I know wouldn't exist. I wish to know more about you."
Dabi decided to tell her since he wanted her to get to know the him he used to be. Without Touya, Dabi wouldn't be here. Dabi believed she had every rights to know about him since he saw her as his other half. "I'll tell you. Just don't fall asleep on my story."
So he talked to her about how he was a certain hero's son. Dabi told her all about how he was born to satisfy his father's ego and how he was born through a Quirk marriage. Touya used to feel a sense of pride; his father looked at him as a successor and one who would surpass him and the Symbol of Peace, he used to like the praises his father made whenever he did something right.
However, one day he went over the limits due to being pushed too much. While he was burning, he screamed for his father to help him only to have his father scold him for being weak and to stop pretending. He also remembered how his mother tried to cool him off with her own Quirk only to be hit by his own father. While he was writhing within his blue fire, he watched his father and mother argue. He still remembered very clearly how his father hit his mother and blame her for their son's failure. The very young Touya at the time couldn't understand why they were not helping him. He could still remember the very young him reaching out his hand, he could see the skin on his arm bubbling and sizzling up.
"By the time I woke up, I looked horrendous. I was well enough to go home. I thought I'd be able to see my mother, but she was gone by the time I had returned. As for my father, he didn't even bother to look my way because he had a new favorite." Dabi hugged her a little tighter as he bitterly remember how his father praised Shouto. "Shouto became his everything all because he was able to use the best of both Quirks. I was thrown aside...so I ran away and became Dabi."
Michiyo's tears fell onto his purple skin. She felt sorry for Touya, she couldn't understand how anyone could do this to a child. She didn't know Dabi carried such a story behind his scars.
"Silly, why are you crying?" He turned her to her side to get a good look at her crying face.
"No one did a thing for you. I'm sad because no one helped you when you needed someone the most."
Dabi wiped her tears away. "Now do you understand why I want to make Stain's will a reality? This hero society have no true heroes. The meaning is lost within time. Only Stain's will could bring the true meaning again. I don't want another me to suffer in this world, I don't want another you to suffer in this world." He tightened his fist, "If no one can be our hero, we'll just be one another's hero."
"M-me? Your hero? I-I didn't do anything to save you at all."
"Just staying by my side is enough."
But she didn't see it that way. No matter how she looked at it, Dabi was a hero to her more than anything she could do. She wanted to do more for him, she wanted to be his hero within the society that failed him. She touched his fist with both her hands. She looked at him with eyes full of determination and promise that will last a lifetime. "I'm going to do my best from now on! I'll become your hero for sure!"
"You already are." He answered while pinching her cheek.
"It doesn't have a meaning unless I save you when you're in a pinch."
"Is that so?"
"I'll become your hero for sure!"
Dabi smiled at her innocent words. He tilted her face up and he kissed her on the lips. She might want to be his hero, but he wanted to be her hero much more than anyone.
Michiyo had her back to Dabi as they shared the bed. Dabi was sleeping peacefully, she was happy he was able to sleep soundly.
'Dabi and Shouto...' It wasn't just Dabi who suffered, Shouto too. Michiyo had a bad feeling; the two brothers will end up fighting in the future. 'I want to protect them both.' She wanted to protect Dabi because she loved him in this world, but she wanted to protect Shouto because he protected her in countless worlds. She wanted both of them to be safe. 'Please...please...I wish for them not to fight. I don't want them to kill each other.' She closed her eyes as tears trailed down. 'I want to protect them forever.'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After reading facts about the puffer fish within the aquarium, Michiyo started to puff her cheeks up just to get into the shoes of how the fish would feel when puffed up.
"Bwah! It's hard!"
Dabi looked at her with a bored look on his face, "Just what are you trying to achieve?"
"Hehe~."
She followed him and the two of them went to see the fresh water fish.
"Guppies!" The guppies came in various colors and she liked the blue ones the most since they looked majestic. "Dabi, look!"
"How many of those do you have to eat to get full?" He said while biting into a taiyaki. He liked the red bean stuffed taiyakis the most.
"Where did you get that?" He was with her the whole time! Where did he get a snack from? She wanted one too!
"They were handing them out for free near the entrance."
"Why didn't you tell me to get one?!"
"You pranced past them, Michiyo."
"Aww..."
But Dabi wasn't that cruel. He actually took another one just for her. "Red bean stuffed."
Michiyo smiled and she took the snack from him, "Thank you~."
"The penguin show is open at 14:00. Do you want to go?"
"Hm! Hey, I have only just noticed something about penguins, Dabi."
"And what is that?"
"They have been running like this since forever!" She started to imitate how penguins run, she had her arms out behind her and she speed walked 10 steps forward. "The Naruto run!"
In all honesty, Dabi had only just noticed this fact now. "You really like this place, huh?"
"You do it too, Dabi."
"I refuse."
The two of them had a lot of time until 14:00. So they decided to explore some more.
He then noticed a darker section of the aquarium. There was a sign that read 'Legendary blue ring finally on display.' He called her over and he held her hand as they walked into. The wall had green glowing writings that depicted how a ship from more than a thousand of years ago sunk into the bottom of the sea. The ship contained many treasures but nothing was more beautiful than the ring with the blue jewel.
The room was made purposely dark in order to show off the blue light of the jewel.
"Legend has it that this ring allowed the owner to jump between worlds." Michiyo was reading what the sign said about the ring.
"What a stupid legend." Dabi didn't believe in that sort of thing. However, he does find the beauty of the blue jewel to be mesmerizing. "Hey, if I propose to you with this ring, will you marry me right away?"
"Eh?!" Michiyo blushed almost too instantly! "W-what are you saying?! M-marriage?! Kahh..." She covered her face because she was so shy.
"Hah." He just wanted to see her reaction after he had said that. He looked back at the ring again and its blue shine.
"You're so mean!" She started to hit him in the arm, "Don't startle me like that! I'll get shy!"
Dabi just chuckled at her cuteness and he caught one of her wrist so he could kiss the back of ring finger. "You haven't answered me yet."
She smiled shyly and she nodded once. "I want a ring with a jewel like this one." She touched the glass box that contained the blue ring. "It's our color."
Dabi put his hand over hers, "I'll do you better. I'll use this ring to propose to you."
She laughed at his words and the two of them left the dark room to explore another.
Little do Dabi know, this ring will play a huge role to him someday...