Ch. 11 Take the Money

Damn, your face hurt. The side of your face where he had hit you felt like hammers had pounded on the side of your skull.

Despite the pain, you quickly realized that you were no longer tied to that chair, so you sat up, maybe too fast, and had to clutch your head in your hands.

When you were finally able to open your eyes, you realized you were on a couch in someone's living room. How long had you been out? There was no way to tell. The last thing you remember was Shigaraki's face, laughing at you, before his fist made contact with your cheek.

Your hand cupped your sore cheek; that whole side throbbed like a bitch. You didn't have a mirror but you could feel the swelling which meant there had to be a bruise of some kind.

You felt a surge of anger when you remembered that you'd done what he'd asked and then he'd still hit you. Shigaraki hadn't killed you, sure, but the asshole had knocked you out. 

Right now the bastard was standing near the window with his back to you, looking out. Just the sight of his stupid black coat and stupid blue hair made you want to hit him back.

Was he going to say anything? Were the two of you going to sit here in silence for forever? You were about to get up and just walk out on your own when he finally spoke.

"Dabi, get your ass in here," he called over his shoulder to the other room. "She's up."

Hearing Dabi's name made you that much angrier. He had been the one to tie you to the chair, and not in some kind of fun, sexy way, either. That black haired asshole had literally tied you down so this blue haired asshole could torture you.

And you thought heroes were bad. These guys weren't looking too great at the moment either.

Dabi walked in rubbing his own face. "You didn't have to actually hit me, you know."

"Sorry," Shigaraki said, still facing the window. "Maybe I was jealous that you brought the pretty girl with you."

"And how'd my girl do?" Dabi asked, coming over to you and crouching in front of you. Dabi moved to touch your face but you jerked back. Like hell you were ever letting him touch you again.

Shigaraki turned around slowly and met your stare, holding eye contact for what felt like an eternity before he finally spoke.

"I think she might actually be scarier than me." 

----

Shigaraki gave you some instructions about where to report, and you put it in your phone, but the rest of what he said was a blur. You refused to speak to him or Dabi.

All you wanted was for this night to end. You wanted to go home, take a shower, find some clean clothes, and pretend like none of this had happened. 

Outside you waited on a taxi, but it was so late that the street was mostly empty. You were about to just start walking when you heard the familiar gutteral vroom of a motorcycle as that tall brooding asshole pulled up alongside the curb. He took off his helmet and grinned. 

"So welcome to the team, eh?" Dabi asked casually. Too casually. As if none of this had happened. He pulled out the second helmet that he kept with him and held it out to you. 

You didn't move. Like hell you were going to talk to him and you were certainly not getting on that motorcycle with him ever again. 

"You get why I had to do that, right, baby?"

Silence.

"I had to promise to do that or he never would have met with you. A guy in his position can't be too cautious." 

You turned around to avoid seeing his face and started walking in the opposite direction. 

"Aw, are you mad? I'm sorry, baby."

"Leave me alone!" you shouted over your shoulder. 

He turned the bike around and slowly followed along the curb next to you. 

"Why can I not walk home on my own?!" you asked, exasperated. 

"Because it's not safe."

"Like you give a fuck about whether or not I'm safe. Get out of here with that," you said, starting to walk faster. 

"Come on, don't be like this," he said. "Let's go home and celebrate together, baby."

"Celebrate? Seriously, fuck you," you said. "You put me in a terrible situation and now what, I'm working for that monster? Or else he'll kill me? Damnit, what is wrong with you?"

"Baby," he said.

"Don't fucking call me that."

"I get that you're mad. I do. But you know how much I care about you. That's why I did this for you. Now you don't have to worry about anything. You'll be able to keep your apartment or maybe move somewhere nicer. And just wait until you meet everyone. You're going to fit right in."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"I mean that they all feel the same way you do about heroes. They just want to be able to live and do what they want. I know what I want to do," he grinned. Dabi parked the motorcycle, got off it, and came toward you. 

You put up your hand to stop him from coming closer. "Dabi, go home. I'm done. Apparently we work together now, but that's it."

"You'll feel differently after you've had a chance to sleep. I bet I can help you relax."

"No."

"Fine, at least let me take you home and then I'll call you tomorrow."

"You can call," you said, "but I won't answer."

"Oh yeah? Then I guess you don't want this," Dabi said, rummaging in his coat and then holding up an envelope.

You knew you shouldn't take the bait. You really knew it. But you couldn't help yourself. You stopped and took it out of his hand.

"What is this?" you asked, opening it. Your mouth dropped open when you saw the money inside. So much money. More money than you had ever seen in one place.

"It's your advance. For your first mission this week. This is half, and you get the other half when it's done."

"This is more than I would have made in a month, maybe two or three months," you said, flipping through the bills. "And it's only half?"

Dabi nodded. 

"No. I don't want this," you said, pushing the envelope back at him. 

He backed up, refusing to touch the envelope. "Just take it. Don't you feel like you at least deserve something for what you went through tonight? Then you'll get more after the mission." 

"I don't want to do any 'mission' or whatever. Tell that asshole that he can fuck off. And while you're at it, you can too. Goodbye," you moved to walk around him. 

But Dabi put out his arm to stop you. "It doesn't work like that, baby."

He came closer, making you back up. Nervously you glanced around you. It was so late that the street was completely empty. It was just the two of you. Alone.

"Take the money or not, that's your choice," Dabi said. "But what isn't your choice is whether or not you play with us. You're going to be a good girl and play this game, aren't you?"

"And if I don't?"

"You didn't get the answer to that question already?"

You shuddered as you thought back to Shigaraki's hands disintegrating the furniture as he walked toward you. And his mind had been so unstable, there was no way of knowing what he was actually capable of doing. 

"Be smart. Let me take you home." He held out the second helmet again. "I've worked too hard for you to throw a tantrum now, baby."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"I just mean, would you really throw away everything we have because you're mad at me right now?"

"You threw it away, Dabi, the second you tied me to a chair." 

"I had to do that, or else Shigaraki wouldn't have talked with you. Look. You have a job, you have money, you have me. You were worried about being evicted, but now you're all set. And this is just the beginning. Get on this bike and let me drive you home. You don't even know where you are right now." 

Damnit, he was right. You had no idea where you were or how long it would take to walk home right now. You still felt like you couldn't breathe and you desperately needed to take a shower and clean some of these cuts from earlier. 

With a deep sigh you snatched the helmet from his hand and secured it on your head. 

--

It felt strange to carry this much cash in your purse. It made you anxious to get rid of it. Not that anyone knew you had all of this money on you, but you still kept an eye out as you walked to the apartment office in the morning.

"Hi, I'm here to pay next month's rent. Is cash okay?"

You gave the lady at the desk your name and apartment number and watched as she typed it in her computer.

"Miss, I'm sorry, but you don't owe anything right now."

"What? I don't?"

"According to our records, you already paid for the next three months."

"No, I didn't."

 On the one hand, you suddenly felt twenty pounds lighter now that that stress was gone. But on the other... how did this happen? Did someone mean to pay their rent but paid yours instead? 

"Can you please check again, just to make sure?"

"I'll check again," she said, clicking some more keys on her keyboard. "No, I was right. You're definitely paid up for the next three months. Looks like the payment went through about three weeks ago."

What the hell?