Dabi

The flames had finally stopped.

Not because Dabi had won.

Because his body had given up.

He lay motionless among the wreckage, blue embers dying around him. Smoke curled from his burned skin as the last traces of his flames disappeared.

For the first time since you'd known him, Dabi wasn't getting back up.

Your stomach dropped.

"Dabi."

Nothing.

You ran.

You barely registered the fighting around you as you rushed through the wreckage. Heroes were getting closer. You didn't care.

You dropped beside him, grabbing his shoulder.

"Dabi! Hey—look at me!"

His head shifted slightly.

A weak, broken laugh escaped him.

"...Damn."

His voice was barely audible.

"Didn't think you'd be this worried about me."

Even now.

Even barely conscious, he was still trying to joke.

You could see how bad it was. The burns. The blood. The way his chest barely moved with each breath.

"Dabi, don't move."

His cracked lips pulled into the faintest smirk.

"Bossy..."

His eyes opened halfway, unfocused at first, before finally finding yours.

"...You always this dramatic?"

His voice faltered.

For a brief moment, the smirk disappeared.

"...Don't look at me like that."

He swallowed painfully.

"I'm not dead yet."