Ch. 56 Unraveling

Shoto looked up as you burst into the dressing room, slamming the door behind you with a loud bang, hopefully loud enough that a certain someone would hear it. 

"You changed dresses?" Shoto asked, obviously confused. "That's what you needed to do?"

You only shrugged, a smile on your face as you walked toward him. 

"I liked the red one, but this one looks nice too, though," he said. "I'm so glad this is almost over. Once Dabi shows up and Hawks arrests him, we can enjoy this party, we can- "

"We can do whatever we want!" you said, maybe with a little too much excitement, as you ran up and wrapped your arms around his neck. 

Shoto frowned.  As much as he hated to admit it to himself, he wasn't used to seeing you this... happy. Only a few hours earlier you'd told him to fuck off, but now here you were, hanging on him? 

"You're in a better mood than earlier."

"Because this is going to be so much fun, Shoto!" your voice loud, despite how physically close the two of you were. 

"Oh... okay."

"And you're so cute." 

Shoto tried to step back, putting you at arms length, but you didn't let go of him. "Are you feeling all right?" 

"I feel great!" 

Before either of you could say anything else, the door connecting the two dressing rooms flung open, the wood door hitting the wall with a thunk before slamming shut.

"What's up, bitches?" 

Your heads snapped up at the sound, Dabi's smiling face sauntering toward you both. 

Shoto immediately moved to put his body in front of yours, but Dabi simply sat down in one of the dressing room chairs, pouring himself some of the champagne.

"No, no, continue," Dabi said. "Don't let me stop you."

"What are you doing?" Shoto glared. 

"I've come to collect my girl.  Nice party you have going on out there." 

You pushed around Shoto, daring to stare straight at Dabi. "You're not collecting anyone."

"Y/n," Shoto said, "go get the police."

"Not going to happen," Dabi said as he leaned forward, grabbing your hand and pulling you into his lap before you could stop him. 

Dabi stared defiantly back at Shoto as his hands began rubbing on your thighs through your dress. ""As pretty as she is tonight, I guess I can let her stay and enjoy the party. But you need to do something for me."

Shoto crossed his arms over his chest, his eyes never leaving the two of you. "What is that?"

"Go out and tell them that your engagement to my girl is off. Now."

"I'm not doing that. That would be social suicide," Shoto insisted. "Everyone is here. They're here because we're getting married."

"You still on that?" Dabi asked, his hands moving to your shoulder, pulling your hair to the side. Slowly, he leaned down and nipped at your neck while his fingers searched for the outline of his brand under the fabric of your dress. "I marked her; I get to keep her."

"Like hell you do."

"Maybe she needs a new mark then?" Dabi's fingers began to trace lines on your chest. 

"You're bluffing," Shoto said. "You won't."

"Oh really?"

"Shoto!" you shouted. 

Shoto's voice was cold. "If you want to brand her so bad, go ahead and do it."

"You've got a real hero on your hands here, y/n," Dabi laughed as he played with your hair. "He's willing to let you get burned just so he doesn't have to look bad in front of all of his fancy friends. Classic." 

"You're too obsessed with her to really hurt her, Dabi, so go head. Do it. But I'm also telling you that it will be the last thing you ever do." 

Watching Shoto for a second, Dabi sneered. "You think I came here alone? You think I'm that stupid? How many of the people at this party do you actually even know, Shoto? How hard would it be for a few of my friends to mingle in, going unnoticed until I give the word?" 

"Who'd you bring?" you asked Dabi.

"Don't worry your little head about that. Worry about how bad it will look in the press when villains attack Shoto Todoroki's own party."

"You're lying," Shoto said through clenched teeth. "Everyone here had to have an invitation."

"Not reporters. Do you know how easy it was to get a press pass to this thing? His sidekicks were practically passing them out on the sidewalk, that's how desperate this guy is for attention. Guess he didn't get enough of it as a kid or something." 

"Just do what he says, Shoto," you begged.

"Look, Shoto," Dabi said with disdain. "I'll let her stay here tonight. That is, if she wants to. But she's not marrying you. So go out there and tell the nice people to enjoy their nice party."

"I can't just go out there and say that we're not getting married. There are two hundred people out there. Do you know how this will look?"

"Like I give a fuck. Go on," he motioned Shoto away with his hand, "we'll be right behind you. Wouldn't want anyone to see us together, would you?"

"Y/n. It's going to be okay," Shoto said, trying to reassure you. "I won't let him really hurt you."

Dabi laughed. "How exactly are you going to do that when I could burn her right in front of you? You better go now, before I start my own little party right here, right now."

Shoto's swallowed, his eyes darting back and forth between the two of you. "I'm not leaving her alone with you."

"If you insist," Dabi smirked. "We'll come along and listen. I wouldn't miss this for anything."

When Shoto didn't move, Dabi reached into his pocket and took out his phone. "Or I can give the word to my friends out there. Your choice." 

Shoto took one last look behind him before leaving. While Shoto stormed out of the dressing room to go address the party, Dabi let you go and poured himself another drink.

"How'd I do?" Dabi asked you, downing a whole glass of the champagne in one gulp. "Just like old times, right?"

"You did great! Let's go watch." 

---------

Midoriya nervously adjusted the plates and silverware on the table in front of him.

"I'm not sure how safe this is, guys, to have all of the city's top heroes in one place."

Kaminari was too busy going live on insta to even hear him, but Kirishima did.

"Dude, don't worry about it," Kirishima said. "That's exactly why a villain won't attack. What could be safer?"

The music went silent and all eyes turned to the front of the room as Todoroki came out by himself. Everyone stared expectantly as Todoroki crossed the floor of the stage to the microphone.

"Where's y/n?" Midoriya whispered. "Why isn't she with him?"

"And where's Bakugo?" Kirishima whispered back, nodding to the empty place at the table.

"I think we all know the answer to that," Kaminari said, rolling his eyes. "Maybe Todoroki finally figured out that they're fucking."

The other two men shot glares over to Kaminari.

"Are....are you still going live?" Midoriya choked out the words. Kaminari glanced back at his phone and made a face.

"My bad," he said, ending it and putting up his phone. 

"But anyway," Kaminari said. "We all know it's true. You guys saw how they were earlier. I'm not complaining about a free party, but this whole thing is messed up." 

Meanwhile, Todoroki picked up the microphone. "Hello, everyone," he said. "Thank you for coming tonight."

"What's wrong with him?" Kirishima whispered to the guys.  "He looks... "

"Pissed?" Kaminari offered.

"Something like that. It's weird." 

"We are... I am... glad that everyone was able to make it tonight," Todoroki continued, "but unfortunately I have some bad news."

The whole room was suddenly filled with nervous murmurs. Cameras clicked, their flashes shining against Todoroki's face. 

"While you are welcome to stay and enjoy the party, y/n and I are..." he took a deep breath. "We are ending our engagement."

"Called it," Kaminari muttered before Kirishima smacked him in the arm. 

"We care about each other very much and we ask for your privacy during this difficult time."

Immediately the whispers grew louder as Todoroki put down the mic and walked off the stage, a few people surrounding him, reporters calling out questions as more cameras flashed.

After a second's hesitation, the band began playing music again, but most of the crowd stayed where they were, unsure how to act after such an announcement.

"Well, this is officially the most awkward party I've ever been to," Kaminari said.

"Agreed," Midoriya nodded. "Should we go and see if he's okay?"

"I don't know. He said they wanted privacy," Kirishima added. "But..." 

What the hell was going on? 

---------

Dabi leaned against the door backstage, listening to Todoroki's announcement. You weren't as interested in what he had to say, preferring instead to examine all of the backstage props left lying around. A clock, a record player, some old clothes, a toy gun, and oh - a fake knife, made out of rubber but still heavy in your hand. 

"Having fun over there?" Dabi asked you as he watched you wave the knife somewhat skillfully in the air.  "You don't want to hear the bullshit he's about to spew at this crowd?"

"Not really."  You found a second fake knife, this one shorter, the proportions all wrong if they wanted it to look realistic. 

Since when did you have any idea how to hold a weapon, even a fake one, Dabi wondered. In fact, one of the things he liked about you was that you were completely clueless when it came to any form of self-defense. It was easier that way. 

"They should have made the handle longer on this one," you said, flipping it over. 

"Who cares?" Dabi walked over, taking both out of your hand and tossing them into the pile with the other props. "It's time to pay up, little girl. You're coming home with me, right? To your new home." 

"Sure thing. Let's hang out here for awhile first though. There's so much neat stuff back here." 

"Nothing worth stealing."

"But look at how cool it all is!" You got right in front of him, holding up a gold crown covered in fake gem stones that you'd found.  "We could bring this back for Shiggy!" 

"We wouldn't get any money for any of this trash. Now your ring, however, that should bring in quite a bit. I will get so much pleasure from selling that on black market." 

His eyes went to your hand as you held up the crown, but there was no sign of that tacky diamond ring. Odd. You'd had it on earlier, but you'd also been wearing a different colored dress. Maybe you'd taken it off when you changed or... 

"Baby?" he asked, his voice low and hesitant. 

"Yeah?" 

"You remember our agreement, right?"

"Of course!"

Dabi's eyes narrowed and he circled behind you, his hands running down your shoulders, again feeling for his brand.

"I get to sell your ring. That's what we agreed to, right?" 

"Yep. Sounds good." 

"And you're no longer working at that stupid bar." 

"It's too dark in there anyway."

"And as sexy as you are, it's a good thing I agreed to give you that lock for your room, huh?"

"Yep. Locks keep things safe."

His fingers gripped your shoulder a little tighter. "Y/n."

"What?"

"Where's my mark?"

When you didn't answer, without warning, he ripped down the shoulder of your dress, exposing your skin. Your pretty, smooth, unbranded skin. 

"Where's my mark, Toga?" 

She smiled. 

---------

When Hawks saw Todoroki angrily stomp out of the dressing room, heading for the stage, he knew you'd made it happen, just like he'd known you would. He imagined himself giving you a high five, or more, actually a lot more, but he knew that wasn't something that could happen, so he tried to tamp it down in his well of feelings that could never be. 

Hawks hadn't been worried about you, with Dabi unable to use his quirk and Shoto more than capable of defending you if it came to that. But now it was go-time. 

Shoto would be making the announcement soon so Hawks' plan was to barge in, get you out of the way, and leap into action to capture Dabi. It shouldn't be difficult to take him down without his quirk.

Hawks took off his suit jacket, readied his wings behind him, and was about to move when --

"Mr. Hawks, sir?"

Hawks groaned. One of the officers, not one he recognized, was standing behind him. Hawks had asked the police commissioner to send them as lookouts, just in case Dabi tried to bring the League with him. So far, everything had been quiet, thankfully.

"Not now," he hissed to the officer behind him.

"But I think you need to see this."

Hawks spun around, quickly guiding the rookie officer away from where he'd been hiding and down the hall, far enough away that Dabi wouldn't see either of you if he came out.

"I know you told us to let you know if there was anything suspicious going on, and one of the reporters told us that this person's press pass looked fake. I've got the pass and he has the man detained, just in case."

Hawks took the pass in his hand and turned it over. "Could be. Probably just a fan wanting to see some heroes if anything. I'll let you deal with this, I need to go—"

But the officer stood in the way. "Mr. Hawks, sir, if there are people here posing as reporters, we need to alert the Todoroki family."

Right now he needed to make sure you weren't spending another second with Dabi.

"Handle it, officer. Cross check all the press passes or something. I'll read the report later."

"But –"

Hawks was already zooming down the hall, knife wings ready, busting into the dressing room where you were supposed to be.

Fuck.

The dressing room was empty, with no sign of you or Dabi.

Fuck.

---------

As soon as you heard Shoto make the announcement from your place in the hallway, you felt like you could breathe again, both you and Bakugo visibly relaxing.

Instantly, you tore the ring off your hand and chunked it across the hall, the diamond bouncing on the carpet until Bakugo scooped it up.

"We're selling this shit," he said, stuffing it into his pocket before reaching for your hand. 

You winced when he pulled on your arm, the long cut he'd just finished bandaging throbbed along with the beating of your heart.

"I forgot," he said immediately, his face falling when he realized he'd pulled on your hurt arm.

But you were so happy that you were hardly even feeling the pain. Truthfully, you couldn't believe how well this was going.

Toga really had pulled it off.

And now while she occupied Dabi, you'd be able to slip away with Bakugo and get the fuck out of there.

At first you thought Shigaraki was going to have to order her to help you, which he would have, but Toga was a romantic at heart. She agreed to help simply as a chance to piss off Dabi so you could pursue your true love, which she thought was the most important thing in the world.

Toga owed you anyway, after the time she impersonated Bakugo at your apartment building.

Holding Bakugo's hand, the two of you started speed walking down the hall, heading for the waiting car out front. 

The nightmare was over; you'd done your part. 

But if that was all true, when you happened to glance behind you, why was Dabi headed straight for you?