[OP: "Soap"--The Oh Hellos]

Day 97:

After a night where some of them slept like logs and others felt restless because of what they'd seen, the team had a day to recover.

Ay was busy with the aforementioned executions and council meetings, so he didn't call them to account for anything.

Mabui thought she'd be expected to work but was told to just stay away for now, not to show the Village she was back till there was a chance to go public with the rescue.

Karui, Samui, and Omoi popped over to the house, though, to ask if they knew any more.

And to report on the rescued prisoners.

"Except for the 4 you woke up, they all just sit there," Karui said. "They only eat if you tell them to eat--more like make them do it."

"They won't even relieve themselves without you telling them to," Omoi said. "The guards are grossed out."

"It's not their fault!" Momo said warmly. "Those poor people."

"Tsunade-sama has charge over them," Samui told them. "She is not sure how to undo it. She says the brain damage is already pretty progressed. It's not just shock, it's reworking their minds into one moldable shape."

"Like with thought neurons?" Shine asked.

"I don't know what that is," Samui said.

"How could anyone do that?" Wally asked.

"Drugs might do it on us," Shine said. "Like with the anesthetic one, they must have found a way to strengthen the effects."

"If that's it, then Tsunade may be able to counter part of it," Sakura said. "But if it's too late...what do we do with them?"

"The staff at the hospital are saying we just put them out of their misery," Omoi said. "They're like vegetables, really. Or they might be good as servants."

"That's using them for the same thing the pirates were going to use them for!" Shoto cried, furious.

"But what else could we do with them?" Samui asked. "Like it or not, that might be all they're good for. At least we'd not be using them the same way."

"I could never bring myself to do that," Momo said.

"Then it'd be easier to kill them. They'd need constant supervision anyway," Omoi said.

"You have to at least let us try to undo it," Ino said. "Maybe there's still a way. We've barely started."

"Well, for now Lord Ay seems willing to let you try, but, if they aren't cured in time, he might just agree to get rid of them." Samui shrugged. "It's ugly, maybe, but we can't support a lot of dead weight. It's not possible."

Mabui glanced up.

She didn't know whether to agree to not, but it wouldn't be her decision.

"They must have some will left, right, honey?" Wally asked Shine, around eating his breakfast. "To obey someone still takes some kind of will, right? Just not their choice to use it."

"It means they can will their bodies but not their thoughts," Shine said. "But perhaps yes, there is some left then. I'm not sure what to do, but clearly we're the only ones who care to do anything."

"It creeps me out," Tenten shuddered. "Those lifeless eyes... Worse than Kankuro's puppets that look like humans."

"Hey!" Kankuro said.

"They do look creepy," Camie agreed. "But, like, at least we know they're puppets."

"Sasori was sort of a living puppet," Sakura said.

Kankuro frowned.

"Anyone who's interested in it, we should go try to help," Shine said.

Most of them didn't want to try--and didn't know how to.

Ino went, and so did Momo and Sakura (she wanted to keep trying to find a counter for the drug part). Jugo went also. He did not say why, but they thought that perhaps he saw himself in their condition a little and wanted to learn how to help.

Everyone else remained at the house.

"Can the 4 we did help come here?" Hanabi asked the Cloud. "They're probably lonely."

"They're not our prisoners..." Samui said. "I suppose we could ask. Why do you want to see them? Did you need to ask them something?"

"I just think they're lonely," Hanabi said. "Probably scared, in a strange village--especially this Village. We should be nice to them. It's a thing people do."

Dabi snorted a laugh at her way of speaking.

"She's really picked up bad habits from you," Shoto said.

"Kid has spunk," Bakugo said approvingly.

"Both of you," Shoto amended.

"I think we should be friendly to them," Wally said. "Who else is going to be?"

Samui and Omoi agreed to ask, though they didn't really understand why.

Permission was granted. No one really cared what the four kids did as long as they were out of the way. 

Rina, Kaito, Yagi, and Priscilla were a little shy about being around so many people, but they were glad they were not Cloud shinobi, save for Mabui--and Karui, who stuck around for some reason after the other two had left.

She said she was going to cook because they all were too tired to do it right.

"But aren't you tired too?" Choji asked.

"Nah, I didn't do that much." Karui rubbed her arms. "And I'm used to it..."

"It's actually my day to cook," Karin said. "And..." She checked Momo's schedule, which was posted on the wall next to the kitchen now. "Hmm, Naruto's too. Shikamaru is on dish duty."

"What a drag," Shikamaru yawned.

"We all have our turn," Temari said.

"Doing dishes is not so bad," Suigetsu said. "It's better than cooking. No hot fire."

"I'd trade you," Shikamaru said. "Your cooking day for my dish day."

"Deal," Suigetsu said.

"Don't you just chop vegetables anyway, not actually cook?" Temari objected. "Since you're so 'good with blades'."

"Hey, as long as it gets done, who cares if we double up?" Suigetsu said.

"I don't think anyone else will care," Wally said. "The schedule is just to make sure we cover it. It's not set in stone."

"Hmm." Karui folded her arms at Karin. "You don't even know how to cook."

"I do!" Karin said.

"Not very well," Tenten complained. 

"Like your cooking is that much better," Karin said.

"At least I can scramble eggs," Tenten said.

"I can scramble them!" Karin said. "It was poaching them I couldn't... They wouldn't flip."

Karui sighed. "Clearly you need practice."

"Why don't you just work together?" Choji suggested. "Karin can practice. Karui can be sensei sine Baku isn't on kitchen duty."

"My cooking is fine on its own," Bakugo said. "Lava Girl's is crap."

"Don't eat it then!" Karin said.

"You all complain too much," Temari said. "Where I live, if your food doesn't have sand and ants in it, you're lucky."

"Hey, now that you live here--" Naruto pointed at Mabui. "--you should have to help too."

Mabui almost dropped her notebook she had open. "I...don't live here, Naruto-san... It's temporary, just till we can straighten things out with the Village."

"Well, you are going to eat our food and use our space," Temari said. "Maybe you should contribute. Can you cook?"

"Some..." Mabui hesitated. "But I don't know if I really need to do chores for you. I'm busy enough with my other tasks."

"I've been meaning to ask if we can go to that art museum," Sai said abruptly.

"Right now things are too crazy to go out in a public place like that," Kankuro said. "What if someone starts a fight there? You could ruin the art."

Kankuro was one of the few people who'd care about that. Sai was one of the other few.

"Right..." he said, disappointed--but realizing he was feeling disappointed cheered him up a little.

Karui and Karin did end up cooking.

Karin didn't under Karui very well. She seemed hostile to them, mostly to Team Taka, but she then tried to do things to sort of smooth it over. Maybe she didn't like being at odds with people after all, but she had no idea how else to fix anything.

Karin had no idea how to fix things, period... She wondered if she should at least appreciate that Karui was attempting to act friendly, as much as she knew how to.

Karin then wondered if she'd even have thought to give her credit for it in the past. How blind had she been to anyone's kindnesses or better traits while she'd lived only to survive?

To think she'd be standing in the same kitchen as someone who'd wanted her dead a week and a half ago, and it wasn't completely awkward...

Naruto dropped a glass and startled them.

"Klutzy, aren't you?" Karui said, stepping over the glass gingerly.

"It was an accident," Naruto said. 

"We have more glasses," Karin said, getting the broom and dustpan. "This house was well stocked."

"Mabui thinks of things like that," Karui said. "She seems to have taken a shine to your team after all. I never thought she'd insist on going with you to get those people."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.

Dabi, who was at the dining room table still finishing off his breakfast, perked up his ears.

He'd caught the tail end of that with Shi and Karui, but he hadn't quite understood what had gone down.

"She insisted that Lord Ay let her go." Karui seemed to be one for gossip. "She said it was necessary... I don't know why. We could have done it just as well. She's not even much of a fighter, but Lord Ay agreed. I think he was surprised that she even pushed for it; Mabui never asked for anything before. In fact, I never saw her even stand up to anyone or use her authority ever. I thought she was just a meek and mild-mannered, helpful type."

"So she's not?" Karin said, stirring fried rice. [Tip: It's good, but don't use vegetable oil to make it. That stuff is literally rancid and terrible for your stomach.]

"Maybe not after all," Karui said, sounding impressed. "Ever since you all came around, she's seemed a little more firm. I might even like her now. She was boring before. We never talked anyway, so... But she's smart, right?"

"Yeah, I guess she's smart," Naruto said. "I mean, she's nice enough... It's just so awful what the Village is doing to her."

Karui looked down. "Yeah...well, they don't realize it's wrong."

"Why don't you help her or something?" Karin said. "You know she's innocent."

"I don't really have a lot of friends." Karui looked out the window. "And, I might just get in trouble too... People are already talking. I do feel sorry for her, but I don't want to risk my own reputation by getting in any deeper... Besides, no one listens to me. I'm just a Chunin. Even Lord Ay's opinion doesn't matter to them if they're going to attack his assistant, so...what hope does anyone else have?"

Karin purse her lips.

"I dunno about that," Naruto said. "I think you should still stand up for people, even if no one else will. That's my way of ninja." [The one thing I like about Naruto as a character--not that I hate him or anything the rest of the time, just that most of his ideas are unsupported by any real actions or results, thanks to the show's poor writing. But this one we actually see him do many times, and it's what makes us like him.]

"Even if your whole Village would turn against you?" Karui said.

"My whole Village was against me for a long time," Naruto said slowly. "I thought the people who gave me a chance were more important than that. And if it's between them and the Village liking me, I think I'd rather have friends. Real friends. Sakura, Sasuke, and Kakashi, they accepted me even though I was the Fox."

Dabi saw Sasuke look up from where he was sitting along the wall, since he couldn't sit on the fridge while they were in there--at least not without them looking at him weird.

"That's really sweet," Karin said. "Sasuke did used to be more like that...before he went dark. I guess...maybe he's become more like that again. Did you know he saved me once, in the Chunin Exams? That was why I liked him... He changed later. I didn't know him anymore...but it was just a phase."

"A pretty damaging phase," Karui said skeptically.

"You don't know everything about Sasuke, Karui," Naruto said. "He was nice once. I mean...he was still Sasuke, you know--he's always been a bit grumpy and moody, but that's probably because he was alone all the time, like me."

Naruto had not been like that, so this was not really good logic, and Sasuke knew it, but the other two didn't question it.

"He used to have standards," Karin said. "Orochimaru probably helped corrupt them. He did that with everyone...and then there was Itachi. We never knew exactly what happened there, but we knew it was horrible. Sasuke was really shaken up after it, and Obito convinced us to join the Akatsuki as a way to avenge his brother...I think, anyway. Who knows if he told us the truth now or not? We were their pawns... I thought Sasuke was going crazy for a while after that. He did things he never did before. He never killed anyone when he was working for Orochimaru--he always refused. Orochimaru always said he'd do it sooner or later...but I never saw him do it till the Summit, and then it was as if he just stopped thinking...and Danzo... Maybe the Sharingan was driving him mad after all. That, and Danzo had his family's eyes..."

Karui grimaced. "That's disturbing...but he really didn't kill when he was working for Orochimaru?"

"I guess he didn't want to be his tool," Karin said. "He just killed Orochimaru. He turned it against him... They might not think that makes it okay that he stood by all that time, but we all did. No one else was powerful enough to kill him, so we did nothing. Sasuke finally killed him...but then he came back later. I guess Sasuke changed his mind."

"He tends to do that a lot," Karui said. "How do you know he won't again?"

Karin didn't know how.

"Well," Naruto said, "Sasuke is different now than before. He's...more open about how he feels, even if most of the time he's saying mean stuff, but I think he's said it more honestly. Not hiding it all anymore. He doesn't keep to himself as much either. And now he doesn't really have anyone to punish. That's why I think he's probably not gonna change his mind. I do wish he'd stop fighting with Sakura so much, though. They never use to fight."

"Yeah, I can't tell if they like each other or hate each other," Karui sniffed. "They're like children."

"Says someone who beat up Naruto at first sight." Karin sniffed in the same way. "Really?"

"I had a reason. They're just bickering," Karui objected.

"I'd rather not fight," Naruto said. "That's why I'm staying out of it mostly. I'm glad they decided to stay on the team and all...but they're so...angry all the time. I guess it's just weird for me now."

"But maybe they always were," Karin said. "And they just didn't tell you before. I doubt all that came out of nowhere."

"Makes me wonder why they never showed it," Naruto said.

"Sometimes we can't show it," Karin mused. "We've been angry for so long, we don't even know why anymore. I wonder if that's why I was always angry at someone while I was working for all those people by force. I never could figure out what I could do...so I was always upset over something small."

"That's interesting," Naruto said. "I didn't know you were so deep, Karin."

"I can be deep!" Karin snapped at him. "I'm not stupid, Naruto."

"Hey, Karin, I didn't mean it that way," Naruto said in his sheepish tone.

Karin calmed. "Yeah...well, anyway, it's just a guess."

"Hey, but you seem less angry now," Naruto said. "Aren't you happier now that you're not alone?"

Karin smiled thinly, almost like she was afraid to smile or to acknowledge it.

Karui was surprised to see the look on her face--it seemed so un-villainous.

"It's still not real," Karin said. "But, maybe it's more real than it was... I mean, finding out I had a distant cousin...a place I could actually go to, maybe, for refuge...and even seeing that Jugo and Suigetsu have stood by me, despite not having to now...maybe things weren't as bleak as they looked. But I didn't see it before. All the other stuff was in my way. Maybe Sasuke ditching us was for the best..."

"Huh, I never thought of it this way," Naruto said, "but I don't know that his leaving Leaf was for the best. It would have been better if none of this ever happened."

"But then we'd never have left Orochimaru," Karin said. "He might not even be dead now... Jugo would still be crazy... Don't you think, maybe, some things happen for a reason after all, Naruto?"

Naruto hadn't thought of it that way either...and it was hard to wrap his mind around the idea that Sasuke's leaving could have been anything but a disaster.

Sasuke himself had hardly thought of it, though he vaguely recalled that someone might have mentioned the idea before.

"So you think Sasuke needed to leave us to find you?" Naruto said.

"I don't mean that Sasuke meant it that way." Karin had no delusions about this anymore. "Just that it turned out that way. Maybe I'm glad he did, if only for us."

"Isn't that a little selfish?" Karui said. "Glad he did all that stuff just because it benefits you?"

"But how much did it really hurt you in the long run?" Karin protested. "Because of our actions, the Summit united, partly, and that is why they won the war. And we even helped in that. Bee is fine... Maybe it all worked out for the best, even if what we did was wrong. Maybe that's a good thing, as the heroes would say. 'All things work together for good...' or something like that."

"Seems like letting yourself off the hook," Karui said.

"I'm not," Karin said. "Just...do I have to feel bad for the rest of my life for a few mistakes? Can't I just...move on?"

She realized she was starting to burn the rice and hastily stirred it again.

https://youtu.be/jXHzjdLFLiM

[Coldplay--"Speed of Sound"]

* * *

Dabi wondered why Mabui had purposely cast her lot in with them this time. Probably she felt as if she owed them for trying to help her, but so far they hadn't cleared her name.

It had only been 4 or 5 days though... It felt like it had been weeks. [Yeah, that's what it felt like writing it...probably because it took me months.]

Karui being surprised at it was understandable.

Still, Mabui had been talking to Shine as if she was wavering. As if she wanted to be on their side.

Maybe she had been all along.

He was feeling pretty guilty for his earlier treatment of her. Even he had to admit that it looked pretty unfair now.

If he'd known the situation, he thought, he wouldn't have acted that way...right?

He couldn't be that degenerate still, could he? Surely he was at least more just than he used to be...

Or had he not really changed at all...?

Burning that guy alive hadn't exactly boosted his confidence in his ability to change. Sure, maybe it was an accident...but did it bother him because it was wrong, or because he'd simply failed again to control his power? What was it that really got him about it?

Maybe it was all selfishness still.

Shine was quite right that he was still acting this way around Mabui because her reaction to things puzzled him. He half knew it himself. He didn't know how anyone could have suffered the kind of treatment she'd gotten and not become as bitter as he was about it.

Most ninjas certainly didn't.

He thought, though, that maybe it was that she had respected herself enough before all this happened to not just accept that she was a failure right away. Months of being mistreated had made her doubt it, but, at least at first, she'd been sure she was innocent and that she could turn this around.

While he, in his life, had never felt like anything but a failure. So when he went bitter, he went bitter without looking back, without asking if he was abusing his power, because he thought he had none to abuse. 

But that was a lie, he knew now. He could certainly be the bully.

Perhaps it was starting to disturb him as much as Shoto that he could act so much like his father, and he of all people should know better... Shoto had been the special one--he had some excuse to be arrogant, but what was Dabi's?

Moodily, he recalled a quote from that Avatar show: "Pride is not shame's opposite, but its source." That Uncle Iroh guy knew his stuff.

Or, as Shine would put it, "your strength is also your weakness."

He moved to the sitting room to avoid the others noticing him when they left the kitchen.

Some time later, Mabui herself came in.

She didn't seem to Iike going outside that much. Whenever she needed anywhere to sit and think she gravitated towards the sitting room.

Not that Dabi was paying attention to things like that.

But he wondered if, like him, she felt too exposed outside. Never knew who could be watching you.

Mabui was thinking about the criminals and prisoners, since she'd not been summoned to hear what had happened to them yet.

"The worst part is waiting to hear about it," she stated, as if to herself.

Dabi didn't reply.

Mabui turned and sat down in one of the smaller chairs. Then she opened her notebook and started leafing through it, pursing her lips as she read over her notes on the kidnapping situation.

Dabi couldn't take the silence for very long.

"What's going to happen to the people we found?" he said. "Are they really going to be snuffed if they don't recover?"

Mabui glanced up. "It sounds cruel...but possibly. Or sent to their homes, if we can find them...but they may meet the same fate there. No one can take care of someone like that forever... Perhaps, though, there is a way to wake them up."

"There better be." Dabi didn't know if he wanted to talk about it. But it bothered him also. "Eh, in the past I'd have said they were useless to keep alive too. Still, it sounds wrong."

"Yes." Mabui didn't seem to like talking about it either. Maybe she felt guilty. "A lot of things sound wrong."

Pause.

"Okay, fine." Dabi took that as an invitation. He sat up. "So why haven't you asked yet?"

"Asked what?"

"I let some things slip while I didn't remember I shouldn't. I guess everyone probably did, but even though you're pestering Shine to let you in on our secrets, you never asked about mine."

"Why should I?" Mabui turned a page, but she wasn't reading anymore. "Didn't seem as if you wanted to talk about it."

Pause again.

"I didn't," Dabi said. "But it's too late now."

"If you mean I should ask, I don't know that I believe you. I still don't understand how you're on this team...but Miss Likstar has her reasons. She made that clear to me."

"Nice to know she's talking about it when I'm not there."

"I notice that when you are there you don't give her much chance to either defend you or her own decisions." Mabui was a bit sharp. "Though she cares enough to try."

Dabi frowned. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"Of course not." Flatly.

Dabi squirmed inwardly.

"It's not that I don't see what Shine is trying to do," he said finally. "Just think it's not worth it. She'd fight for anyone, but some of us can handle ourselves."

Mabui didn't bother answering, but her expression said she was skeptical.

"What did she tell you anyway?" Dabi finally had to ask.

"Nothing much." Mabui turned a page again, though she was still not reading. "Just what I should expect."

"What?"

"And that it hasn't been that long since you've been even on her core team, from the sound of it--those of you who are different than others, not shinobi... Wherever you're from, she says it's like here, but not, at the same time... It sounded different when you described it also. "Heroes", "villains", we don't use those words often here, but they sound similar to what we mean by shinobi and rogues."

"Close," Dabi said moodily. "A little different, standard-wise."

"Such as heroes do not kill, but villains do, while here, either can kill--it's only the reason that matters." Mabui had a pretty good grasp of it for someone without the full context.

"Yeah, the reason doesn't really factor into the heroes' standards," Dabi said.

"And your brother was trained to be a 'hero' as a job, and you were a 'villain' but from the same family," Mabui said.

"Not that weird. Naruto and Karin are from the same technical family, and look how they turned out. Life happens."

"I'd like to know more, but I'm not going to ask." Mabui finally gave up pretending she was reading and shut her notebook. "You don't trust me enough anyway. Miss Likstar may choose to. Then I'll know."

Dabi rubbed his neck.

She always made him feel so antsy.

Still, he felt like he should say something to try to make amends...just wasn't sure how he could.

"Look, about the trusting part," he said, very awkwardly, "I'm not fully sure what to think now... Still, if I--or any of us--had known what was going on when we arrived, I--we--wouldn't have acted the same."

"You mean like an arrogant prick." Mabui didn't mince her words for once.

Dabi would have found it funny if it wasn't directed at him. "Yeah...that... Well, it wasn't like you said anything about it."

"I didn't think people needed to tell their whole life story in order to be treated with respect." Mabui glanced away. "Perhaps you and your brother feel otherwise."

Shoto and his big mouth, Dabi thought. But then, he'd been no better, even if he'd had memory loss...and he'd blurted stuff out before that too.

"We thought you were an enemy," he pointed out sullenly.

A pause ensued while Mabui seemed to think about it.

"I know," she said finally. "Perhaps I can't blame you that much. The only reason I even minded it was because I knew the truth, but that was not your team's fault. I kept things to myself to keep things running smoothly, and now it looks as if that was also a mistake. I would have assumed I was an enemy also in your place. Cloud has not made friends... I don't like how you talk about it, but, your allies are Leaf and Sand... Your loyalty to them makes more sense than loyalty to us. None of it really was unusual from other shinobi. But it was frustrating when I didn't want to rock the boat."

"You never do," Dabi noted but then regretted it. She had been trying to be...understanding?

She glared at him too.

"Not that that's always...wrong," Dabi attempted to fix it. Though he felt he was saying something he didn't really live by.

"I take it you're trying to apologize." Mabui finally came out and said it. "And to say that you think you were wrong to act that way. Do I understand you correctly?"

"Let's go with that."

"Well...I suppose I can accept that." Mabui shrugged slightly. "I'm tired of the fighting."

Pause.

Dabi hadn't thought it'd be that easy.

"Is that it?" he blurted. "No other snippy comment?"

"Should I prolong it? What am I supposed to do? I can't refuse any gestures of peace right now. I'm not in the position to." Mabui always had her logical reason for her actions laid out.

"Well, that's no reason to let it go." Dabi adjusted himself. "I'm separate from the rest of the team."

"I don't think so. Like it or not, your perspective has influenced them. And your actions. Which don't match your words." Mabui figured her notebook. "You didn't have to help me. I don't know why you did, but I believe you're sincerely sorry for the trouble that's happened. I suppose that's good enough for now. I'm used to people who speak roughly, even to people they like. That was never going to ruffle me."

"Yeah, I bet Ay would inoculate you to that pretty fast," Dabi muttered. "Hey, I'm not trying to be a hero or anything. Just trying to do the smart thing."

"As am I... Your point?"

"So it's smarter not to be at odds. That's all...but I really did think I was wrong. It's nothing new for me to be judgmental and act on it, but usually I reserve it for people who actually deserve it. If you'd told us you wanted us to succeed, I wouldn't have--"

"Yes, you would," Mabui interrupted, though she almost sounded amused now. "You would have given me a hard time either way. You don't trust anyone till they prove themselves."

"Hey!" Dabi protested.

"But I hope I have now," Mabui said firmly, almost sassily. 

Against his will, Dabi grinned for a second.

[It's hard to find edits like this that have the right expression, so bear with me.]

He couldn't help it--he did like people with the gall to put themselves out there like that. At least, in moderation.

"We'll see," he said dryly. "But one question. Why did you want us to succeed?"

"Simple, I think it's best for Cloud. Didn't I say so already?" Mabui folded her hands. "The world is changing. Being isolated no longer serves our well-being."

"Is that the only reason?" Dabi pressed.

Mabui hesitated. "I guess perhaps your actions in the war did play a part. I was curious also. Though I didn't give that much thought when the war started, but your team is so...unusual, I couldn't help it."

"That I can believe," Dabi snorted. "When I met Shine and Wally, and later their nutty students, I thought they were crazy. The entire way they approached me was so out of pocket. In and out, showing up without warning... I couldn't keep up. That's the only reason I didn't roast them alive. That, and I couldn't move fast enough."

"They seem strong," Mabui noted.

"They know how to use their advantages." Dabi nodded. "My group of...friends, for lack of a better word, was no match for them. I believe they always had us where they wanted us, except for a short time when we tried to back stab them."

"What?" Mabui was shocked enough to actually show it. She forgot to look composed and nearly dropped her notebook.

"The boss didn't like how much they knew, and they refused to fully cooperate with us," Dabi explained. "They weren't going to turn us in to our enemies, but they wouldn't help us stop them either. They stayed neutral. They wanted to protect their dumb students, which included my brother at the time as well as Blasty and Princess and a bunch of other kids. The League was out to get them at the time...but our priorities shifted anyway after that, which is part of why we backed off... That, and Shine and Wally scared us too much. But we did try to kill them a few times."

Mabui couldn't resist asking, "What happened then?"

Dabi paused, wondering if he should go ahead or not... Why was he even telling this story?

[It really has more bearing on the ninja problem than you'd think at first.

Btw, all this about Dabi is my MHA Mystery from Another World story's first book. He switches sides partway through that. And I am so glad I went that direction now that I know he dies in the canon. Such a stupid waste of a character.]