Chapter Eight
Kiyo took off in the morning, for her usual morning run. She played some music on her phone in a case that was strapped to her arm and had a pair of wireless earbuds in her ear. She hoped the music would help keep her calm as she'd noticed her emotions were a little unstable after her run in with her father. She made it out onto a country road being sure to focus on her breathing and her heart rate and thinking of anything other than her family. She started reciting various hero laws in her head in an attempt to keep her mind away from her family. It wasn't working. She just kept hearing her father's voice play over and over again, 'make sure all eyes are on Shoto'.
A familiar van swerved in front of her and came to a stop. "You have got to be kidding me." Kiyo hissed under her breath.
"Ah! Wait!" The driver called as he saw her slide to a stop and clench her fists in anger.
The doors flew open and the three morons jumped out of the van. Instead of guns and threatening her with their quirks they had what looked like a handful of vouchers and coupons. She threw them a curious look.
"So...uh... we weren't in a good place..." The guy who'd pulled the gun on her before began in a small voice, "...last time...I didn't think anyone would hire me with how I look." He indicated his edgy appearance that most people would probably find frightening.
"and because of my quirk, girls found me creepy." Rope fingers piped up softly. Instead of coupons he seemed to be holding a picture in his hand.
"...and my mom was diagnosed with cancer and I was desperate for money to help with medical bills." The driver spoke up.
Kiyo tapped her foot, annoyed that they'd interrupted her run a second time in a single week. "And?" She growled.
"After running into you, and realizing anyone we tried to abduct for profit could be a horrifying monster, a job interview didn't seem so scary." Gun guy laughed nervously.
Kiyo shot him a dark look. "Do get to the point."
"I got a job!" He held up the coupons, they were for free drinks at a coffee bar in the city.
"I did too!" The driver beamed and held up the coupons for a ritzy day spa, "and they're letting my mom come in for free massages whenever she wants to make her more comfortable and they offered to help with her bills to keep us afloat." He extended vouchers to her for a free massage.
Kiyo looked at rope hands.
"I got a girlfriend, who's into bondage." He grinned.
"I didn't need to know that." Kiyo glared at him. She reluctantly accepted the coupons and vouchers from the other two. "Why are you giving me these?"
"Well, after our horrifying encounter-." Gun guy began.
Kiyo shot him a scowl that chilled the blood in his veins.
He cleared his throat, "-not that it was a bad thing, I mean I'm in support of a boss bitch-."
"Get to the point." Kiyo repeated.
"...uh, well, we realized we'd either run into more scary people or heroes and end up in jail, and that this way was better. So we wanted to say thanks for giving us a chance to redeem ourselves and keep us out of jail." He stammered.
"You morons couldn't come up with that conclusion BEFORE you thought you'd try and abduct me?" Kiyo scoffed.
"Y-yeah, we're not that bright." The driver laughed nervously.
"Clearly." Kiyo rolled her eyes. Though she had to admit, she did feel a little happy that they were on the up and up.
They all looked at one another before exclaiming loudly in an obnoxious harmony, "thanks scary girl!"
Kiyo scowled at them, "if I say you're welcome, can I go back to my run?"
They all nodded enthusiastically.
"You're welcome." Kiyo grumbled.
They all rushed toward her to hug her and she froze them with a single fierce look.
"If you touch me, I will incinerate all of you." She scowled.
"Yep, noted. Consent, very important." Rope hands nodded and the three idiots began inching toward their van.
"See ya around scary girl!" Gun guy called.
"I certainly hope not." Kiyo scowled as they drove away.
Sighing, she started her music once more and took off at a run. She didn't make it more than a few feet before her phone started to vibrate. She glanced at her arm, she had a new message from an unknown number.
The message contained an address in the city with the accompanying text 'meet here for a good time'. She glowered at the screen. "It's not going to be a good time for you, creep." She grumbled aloud and headed for the address determined to beat whoever thought they could creep on her into a bloody pulp.
Dabi sat in a corner booth at an arcade bar and grill, keeping to himself and enjoying his relatively peaceful meal. His meal was disturbed by the arrival of a giant group of highschoolers who were seated at a plethora of tables pulled together. There were nineteen of them in total with an empty seat for one more. He was tempted to walk out then and there, until he picked up on a bit of their conversation.
"You think Kiyo will join us?" A timid blonde with what looked like horns atop her head asked curiously.
"Oh, she'll be here." A cocky boy with blonde hair and periwinkle eyes smirked.
"Monoma, what did you say to her?" A tall girl with long bright orange hair and teal eyes asked the boy with a maternal scolding tone to her voice.
"Don't worry about it." The boy waved her away.
"If you sent her something perverse, you're going to regret it." The orange haired girl glowered at him.
"What do you take me for?" The boy feigned being hurt by her words.
Dabi watched them for a moment before he spotted his baby sister step through the door. Her heterochromatic orbs scanned the place as if she were looking for a target to direct whatever rage she was feeling at. Her gaze fell on the table filled with highschoolers and her expression shifted to one of confusion.
"Kiyo! You're here!" The blonde girl with the horns cheered happily.
"Who sent me the message?" Kiyo asked coolly.
The blonde boy sank lower into his chair.
"What did it say?" The orange haired girl asked warily.
Kiyo tossed the girl her phone.
The orange haired girl glanced down at her phone before turning on the blonde attempting to hide, "MONOMA, YOU CREEP!" She smacked him so hard he toppled to the floor.
Kiyo watched curiously while the blonde girl with the horns inched over to her. She grabbed Kiyo by the wrist and pulled her over to the empty chair next to hers. Kiyo looked as if she were going to snap at the girl but held it back and reluctantly dropped into the chair.
"What did you guys want?" Kiyo asked in a bored tone as the orange haired girl claimed the seat opposite her as the boy she'd called Monoma got up off the floor and returned to his seat.
"Before we get to that...uh, what's with the coupons coming out of your cleavage?" A girl with dark moss green hair pointed to Kiyo with a laugh. Dabi noticed there were bits of paper sticking out of her form fitting tank top.
Kiyo sighed, "this day is proving to be quite annoying." Was the only response she gave which caused her classmates to laugh.
"Oh, are those ones for a free massage?" The girl with the dark moss green hair asked.
"Girls spa day!" The blonde with the horns cheered.
Kiyo sighed and set the coupons on the table for her classmates to take, "do as you wish."
"You're coming too." The orange haired girl draped an arm across Kiyo's shoulders.
"If I must." Kiyo sighed once more, giving up on fighting them.
"You must." All the girls giggled.
"I think we should be more worried that she showed up in response to that message." A boy with beige colored hair and a very skeletal face pointed as he glanced at the message on Monoma's phone.
"I was going to incinerate whoever it was." Kiyo replied in a deadly serious voice.
A few of her classmates laughed.
Dabi quietly made his exit without anyone taking notice, smiling faintly to himself. Perhaps if his baby sister had a decent support system, he didn't need to worry about her so much.
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