Chapter Text
Dabi sighed when he heard the crash from next door. His neighbors were fighting again. Perhaps fighting was the wrong word. He only ever heard one voice raised over the other. More like one was screaming at the other. An uneven argument was not a true fight in his opinion. Brought back sour memories.
He couldn’t help but glance away from his tv towards the too thin walls separating the apartments in this cheap building. Sue him, but with his scarring he liked living in the crappier areas of town, people stared less.
Dabi’s eyes were looking ahead at the screen, but he didn’t hear the voices from the movie, for the loud one next door had started screaming again. It was a male’s voice, at least had a deeper resonance, but the words were still indistinguishable no matter how thin the drywall was. Nonetheless a thump was heard as the other person living with him was pushed, or shoved into the wall to Dabi’s right. Flashes of his childhood shot through Dabi’s mind and he didn’t think he would be able to sit here doing nothing.
While he had left his childhood home earlier than usual (his siblings called it running away), Dabi tended to leave others well alone. He kept to himself, which is how he liked it. Sure, he still kept in touch occasionally with his siblings by phone, but he had few friends and was not social. If you were by yourself no one could stab you in the back. Call him bitter, but he had learned his lesson over and over again by different hands. One only had to look at him to understand.
Shouto was the Pro Hero in the family (the only one he was going to acknowledge at any rate), his baby brother made his debut just last year. He wouldn’t have hesitated to go next door to make sure everything was okay. He would say it was something a Hero would do, stick his nose places it didn’t need to be. Well, Dabi was no Hero....
Another loud thump and this time Dabi could hear a cry of pain.
Fuck it.
He threw himself off his ratty couch and stomped over to the door. Dabi didn’t have a plan of action as he made quick work of tossing his door open, covering the few feet between the two apartments in a couple long strides and banging on the other door, he thought best on his feet. Dabi let his fist bang hard on the wood in front of him, heat building under his skin from his Quirk reacting to his anger, careful to keep it contained.
The raised voice inside abruptly cut off. Surprisingly, the door opened a moment later, the man behind it running a hand over his button down as if to smooth over any awkwardness. Dabi meet his eyes evenly. The man was about his height, short brown hair with piercing eyes. Dabi took this in quickly and noted the half-gloves on his hands (something Quirk related?), when he glanced back up the man had a pleasant expression on his face that did not reach those yellow eyes. Dabi held his gaze for only a second before making a sweep of the room, as the brunette had opened the door fully giving Dabi a good look of furniture nicer than his, and there on the floor lying hunched over was another man with blue hair.
The man on the floor was thin, but it was hard to get a good look at him because his face was towards the ground. Dabi noted that one hand was pulled across his chest as if hIs ribs hurt. Dabi would bet on it. He glanced back at the man still holding the door.
“Can I help you?” The other asked coldly.
Dabi decided to ignore this man completely. The man on the floor looked up at the question and met Dabi’s gaze.
“Are you okay?” Dabi asked as gently as he was capable of.
The lanky blue haired man gasped as if struck, eyes suddenly intense.
“Please, let it be you...” His voice was raspy as he breathed out the words written on Dabi’s wrist and they burned with it.
“Holy fuck,” Dabi thought he said out loud, but his voice was strangled they might not have heard it.
There were words written on your wrist, words present from birth. Those words are the first that your Soulmate will say to you, and when they do the words warm on your skin. Soulmates came about shortly after Quirks did, though much like Quirks not everyone has one. The majority of Soulmates are requited, though a small population have a Soulmate that is not bound to them in the same way. Most Soulmates end up in romantic partnerships simply because that person is best suited to them by definition. However, some maintain a platonic relationship instead.
Dabi’s thoughts of his Soulmate had died the same time he had stopped going by his birth name. He figured that he would be one of those poor bastards to be stuck in a one-sided soul-bond and tried to forget he even had the words “Please let it be you” on his wrist. Granted the words were hard to read now that his scarred flesh wrapped over his arms. The very top of the letters still kissed the line of healthy skin close to his hand.
Dabi could only stare at his Soulmate on the floor not eight feet from him. Bright red eyes were watching him back just as steadily, but Dabi saw they were slowly becoming glassy. His brain started to grind back into gear as he slowly turned to look at the man who had been for the last week at least, and who knew how much longer, been abusing Dabi’s Soulmate.
There was a long pause.
“I’ll kill you,” Dabi growled and his hands lit with blue flames as he brought them up in front of himself.
Instead of activating a Quirk himself, the brunette spun to latch onto Dabi’s Soulmate’s arm, wrench him to his feet and threw him at Dabi. Luckily Dabi had quick reflexes and killed the flames on his hands before his arms were suddenly full of the blue haired man. His Soulmate had tripped into his arms and his head was bowed under Dabi’s chin, with his hands clenched around Dabi’s jacket. Dabi had only a moment to glare death at the brunette.
“Keep the freak then,” the man spat and shoved the door shut in their faces.
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I have this whole story written out in my head, just not typed. I will post as I can.