#SJAJJSNSNSJS

[oh-no-a-new-hiperfocus-hit-me]

I DID IT GUYYYSSS IK LITERALLY NO ONE CARES BUT I FINALLY FINISHED THE DRAFT FOR CHAPTER THREE!!!

It's 2,5k long and wow I'm so proud of me. Ik people write multichapters way longer but I can never finish mine. I've written one shots 5k long but multichapters ?? My kriptonate. I'm so happy djsnsndnndbdbdbd

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Dabi first heard about the war while changing clothes in the back of an old wagon. She was changing clothes, in the second day of their trip to the east side of the kingdom. They were traveling with more or less fifty people, each with their own affairs to deal with. Most people were riding horses, unicorns, chimeras or other animals, which they were going to do too if it wasn't for Mr Compress pulling a couple favors to get them on one of the wagons.

The guys who were driving it had been talking non-stop ever since they left. Dabi was really, really close to ripping one of their heads off and driving the damn thing herself. She was just finishing putting on a new pair of pants when she heard one of the man mention Chikara.

Chikara was the kingdom next to Akarui. They were insanely powerful and known conquerors. Their king was nameless. Well, probably not fucking nameless. Dabi did think everyone had to have a name. If there was a way to get rid of your name, she'd have found out by now.

In any case, no one knew Chikaras kings name. He was only known as All For One, because of how many soldiers had died fighting his battles. It was whispered in the night, that he had special knights, super strong, enormous and undefeatable. They were called the Order of Doom.

When the woman heard one of the man mention Chikara, she kneeled next to a sleeping Toga and came closer to listen. Though ignoring Tomuras snooring was hard, she still managed to hear the conversation.

"-and she said she was going there!"

" To Chikara ? To fight ?!"

"Yes! I told her it was a terrible idea but she wouldn't listen..."

"I'm sorry pal. I really am."

"It's ok. Me and my wife are working through it. But our eldest daughter ? A spy for the the king ? I mean who would've imagined it!"

"Not me, definitely not me, pal."

"Anyways, that was a couple years ago as you can imagine and her last letter arrived in the beginning of the year. It's been three months since..." He looked back, but everyone was apparently asleep. "Since she told us to run because a war would eclode soon."

"A war ?"

"We are going to Midori to scape... Yes, a war!"

They went back and forth on simpler subjects after that. Partners, kids, food. But the word war kept repeating in Dabis mind for the rest of the night. The temperature seemed to have dropped and the cold wind that came from a hole in the wagons 'ceiling' messed her hair.

War.

▪︎▪︎▪︎

"No! Absolutely not." He pronounced every letter throughly, pinching his eyebrows and twisting his mouth.

"Pleeaaasseee. It's for a friend!" Toga jumped and flapped her hands in the air, and Dabi could see she was mere seconds from taking Shugarakis shoulders and shaking him with all her strength.

"Hey, what's happening here ?" Dabi sat by Shigarakis side, bumling his shoulder. She'd decided it was better to intervine now than to have to deal with a headache later on.

"This dumb blonde bitch-"

"Hey!"

"Call her that again and I'll rip your legs off."

"Sorry. This little bratty asshole-

"Hey!."

"This one's true, thou, Toga. Carry on." Toga made a sour face but didn't protest. Tomura smiled.

"She wants to play at a circus! She thinks she joined a motherfucking clown cult!"

"Hum."

" This is a respectable band! We are musicians! Good ones!" Shigaraki continued, waving his hands as he spoke.

"A friend of mine will be there! The knights in training are going to be special guests. And I heard..." She put one hand on her chin, the other covering half her mouth "I heard the youngest prince is gonna be there." She whispered dramatically.

Dabis heart started beating faster and faster. Her eyes widened, but she forced her normal expression when she realized it. Her hand tightened around the edges of the log they were sitting at. Her other hand dig it's nails into the first one, and soon enough, her skin was soaking with blood and chipped wood.

"Dabi ? You ok ?" Shigaraki looked at her concerned. Toga had apparently seen a butterfly and gotten distracted chasing it.

"Im alright." She knew it wasn't true and she knew he knew it. Her voice was cracking. "We are going to play at the circus."

"What ?!" He jumped in surprise, almost spitting at her.

"Shut up and do it. Don't be a whiney bitch." Shigaraki was probably still chocked given he didn't try to stop Dabi when she got up to leave.

Fuck. Shoto was gonna be there and she'd just agreed to go. No, she demanded to go. What was wrong with her ? Fuck.

▪︎▪︎▪︎

The circus thing wasn't happening for another couple days but she didn't get any rest. First of because they had a couple of presentations already planned. Second because she was thinking of her brother.

Natsuos letters had stopped arriving.

In the first two weeks, she barely noticed it. She was used to letters arriving late, after all she was constantly changing location and although she always gave a list of the places she was going to and the dates to him ahead of time, the mail deliver wasn't exactly precise in Akarui.

But it had been a month and a half. A month and a half since the day the bird left Natsuos last letter in Dabis hand, just after they played in that crowded bar. The mail system might not be precise, but she was pretty sure Natsuo sent his letter through special agente who had pegasus or something like that (she was never that interested in Royal family bulshit ).

  In any case, the thing was that the letter was suppose to be here already. And it wasn't. Something must've happened. Dabi thought of the conversation she'd heard. She thought of the war. Could that be it? Could her brothers and sister – her mom — be in danger? Wouldn't he protect them?

  Wouldn't the king protect what was left of his family ?

  At least, at the very very least, she knew she could keep an eye on Shoto while he was there. Her baby brother. Her responsibility. She hadn't seen him in ten years.  How much had the kid grown ? He was certainly not the little boy she had known anymore.

  Usually Dabi thought being a pessimist was good, only good things cane when her expectations were worse than reality. But at that moment she wished she could hope for something good. If the worse happened... If the worse happened she'd have to get Shoto, her friends and run.

  Oh fuck. Holy. Fuck. She'd forgotten.

  She hadn't told Shoto she was alive. You see, running away from your father was really hard when he was the king. She'd spent months planning it, to scape from hell. She'd planned to take Natsuo and maybe even Fuyumi with her, then  come back to get Shoto and her mom. After that, with the stolen riches she'd set aside, they could have a new life. And who knows? Maybe one day Shoto or Fuyumi could come back to reclaim the throne. When their father was long gone. Not that Dabi would mind taking matter into her own hands if it was for the sake of her siblings...

  In any way, her plans went to shit when The Accident happened. The accident that got her scars, the one she couldn't bare to think about. After it she had to completely change her plans and run off by herself. She scaped in the middle of the night, and met Natsuo in those dark halls to say goodbye.

  He was her best friend, and at the time, she thought that was goodbye forever.

  But despite her pessimistic beliefs, his first letter arrived six months after she ran, when she got her very first job. Since then, they'd been talking regularly ( or as much regularly as one could have conversations through mail). She told Natsuo to not tell anyone she was alive and well, but deep down, she knew Fuyumi had to know. She was the polar opposite of her sister, who was always the perfect elegant, kind, polite princess. Still, they shared a bond Dabi could not explain, a bond of caretakers and of women whose blood was the same.

  Plus there was the fact Natsuo sucked tremendously at keeping secrets.

  Dabi was not sure if Shoto knew, though she thought he probably did; Fuyumi had always been soft for him. Still, he wouldn't recognize her. He probably had faint memories of a face she no longer had. The thoughts of her siblings haunted her during those few days, often making her laugh. She laughed because she couldn't cry anymore, because it was all too absurd, because maybe her life was just a fucking joke to the universe.

  The others soon enough realized she was behaving strangely. For a couple days Dabi was able to hide her ever growing mess of feelings, but they knew her too well. Compress would ask what was wrong when he thought no one else was listening. Toga would braid her hair ( she hated it, and would immediately unmake the braids once Himiko was done.) Spinner liked to invite her to his games to distract her. Magne and Twice were always trying to hug her and get her to open up (which she hated much, much more than the braids, but the intention was sort of nice).

  And Shigaraki... Shigaraki was being distant, and she didn't know why.

  Nevertheless, with suspecting of war to investigate and money to earn, the days passed by quickly enough, much for Dabis happiness.

  "Oh my God, look! The circus is so big! The colors are so, so very pretty too!" Himiko jumped as Spinner tried — and failed — to held her back. "I can't believe I'm going to met Ochaco-chan again! She's the prettiest fairy to ever exist, and also the bravest and strongest knight! Her blood must be so sweet..." She rambled and moved her hands around in the air, spinning in her yellow dress.

  They were all dressed in their fanciest clothes, which included from flowery dresses like Togas to dark suits like the one Twice was wearing. Dabi wore the only thing she had from her old life : the clothes she had scaped the castle with. It was a purple suit with a white shirt underneath, and plain black pants. The suit was adornated in gold, and had the Kingdoms coat of arms in it, because it was for Dabi to use in formal occasions back in the castle. She had covered the coat of arms with a piece of dark fabric, which looked kind of out of place but really, who cared ?

   As they approached the circus, more and more people started looking at them. It was a fancy part of town, not the kind of place they usually played at. When they got there, Compress chatted with the man who was producing the show. Apparently he'd heard them play before, and was looking forward to having them there. Dabi suspected it wasn't true, maybe Toga had threatened someone or bribed them to see the knights in training. She immediately felt bad. Himiko wouldn't bribe anyone. Threatening, maybe, though.

  The inside of the circus was huge, even bigger than it looked from the outside. There were bailarinas and gymnasts in black suits, a man caressing a lion next to them. A beautiful woman with a long beard went over the presentation with the dancers. Clowns ran around, playing with each other, and...

  And an enormous dragon slept in a cage. It was so big the cage could barely fit its wings, and it's deep blue and yellow scales shined in the light. It looked comfortable, at ease, almost like it was safe. But it wasn't possible, dragons had never lived peacefully with humans.

  Dabi must have looked more amused than scared, because the showman, who was chatting with one of the gymnasts, walked towards her eith a smile on his face.

  "Isn't she beatiful ? She's going to be our main attraction tonight." He cackled. Dabi got ready to fight. There was no fucking way she was going to leave someone to be trapped by shitty people, a mere attraction in their shown.

  "She's my wife, you know. She's been resting all afternoon, to have energy to perform tonight. Can you believe she like to sleep in the elephants cage? Haha." As the man laughed Dabi saw that the cage was open, blankets scattered on the floor. The dragon yawned.

  "She sleeps better in her dragon form?" The woman didn't mean to ask, but she was so shocked from the conversation she couldn't help turning thoughts into words.

  "Yes, actually! I find it to be fascinating. Saori says when she's transformed her rest is far better." He looked at her for the first time, staring at her scars. "Do you know any dragons? Perhaps, family?"

  "Yes" she said, and allowed her shoulders to deconstract, her breath to calm down. "I am a dragon." The man widened his eyes even more."It runs in the family." She turned and left.

  ▪︎▪︎▪︎

  The instruments were old, but had clearly been taken good care of. There was a violin for Compress and a piano for Toga, and even guitars for Shigaraki and Spinner. Tomura wasn't happy, he  loved his own guitar, and Toga was usually the only one who relied on other people's instruments. It's not like they could transport a piano, so she only played when there was one in the place they were going to play at already.

  When they were all set, the showman asked them to rehearse with the dancers. Those people were very skilled, jumping and spinning endlessly like it was nothing. Dabi spotted some metaforms among them, which brought her back to the dragon in the cage, Saori.

  Was it really possible for people like her to have something like that? Something alike acceptance? She shut her eyes tight. No. Hope was a damn waste of time. People would just throw her aside again.

  When the spectacle finally started, she was relieved. As soon as it was over they could leave. They could pretend nothing happened.

  Dabi should've thought something like 'relief' would not last long for her. When the showman started announcing the first number, Toga pulled her sleeve and, smile as wide as ever, pointed to the right side of the bleachers. Waiting for her, was a young boy, hair split down the middle. But he was looking the other way, chatting with his colleagues. No, he wasn't looking; but someone sure was. The knights in training hadn't come alone. Dabi found she knew their companion, and almost tripped as golden eyes stared into hers.

@arson-n-barf if you could tell me if there's anything weird here, that'd be awesome! I don't want to be rude as you've already happened me a lot, I'm just happy you're liking the story so no pressure. :)