I

                                    

                                          
2023 April, Musutafu Japan—
"What's it like being so old?" I ask as I smile over my glass, Dabi stares down at me before blatantly slapping it out of my hand.
 "Hey! Fucking rude." I mumble before letting out a cry when someone hits me on the back of my head, "Kuro it wasn't me." I whine as I rub my head.
The mystic man looking down at me as he cleans up the broken cup, "Miss Akuma, you started it." 
I huff and spin around in the chair before getting up, "Rude old men." 
 "I'm not old!" Dabi barks out just as quickly as the word 'old' escapes my lips. 
I snicker as I lean forward and press a sweet kiss to his lips, "I like my men older, it's okay."
He rolls his eyes before he lightly grabs my jaw between his fingers and kisses me twice more before pushing my face away, "I'm not old, go find yourself an old man." I roll my eyes back at him and walk off with a lifted middle finger in his direction. 
# 
I look over my shoulder from my spot on my bed as my door hits the wall, "Happy birthday Azu!" 
I groan and smoosh my face into my bed as Toga flops on top of my bed right beside me throwing her arms over me, "What do ya wanna do! We can bake a cake! Ooo or go out to the mall and shoplift! Wouldn't that be fun?!" She smiles widely at me, her sharp fangs poking out.
 "Toga, keep this between you and me and we'll do whatever you want tomorrow, okay?" I manage to say, quickly looking over my shoulder to see if she'd managed to catch one of the others' ear from down the hall.
She pouted, "But Akuu, it's your birthday. We never celebrate birthdays."
 I sigh as the girl gives me her best puppy eyes. I let out a loud groan as I cave in, "Fine, we can bake a cake." She lets out a squeal as she drags me up and off my bed. 
#
I let out a scream as Toga dumps flour over us both by accident. Yeah 'accident'.
 "Toga," I groan out as she stares at me with wide eyes before she begins to break out in a fit of loud cackling. I huff before slowly cracking a smile and joining in on her laughter. 
"The fuck? How much cocaine did you snort." Dabi lifts a lip up at us as he looks from our flour doused shirts to the floor where the now empty bag laid in a dusty pile of white powder.
 "She did it." I immediately snitch on Toga and point a finger at her, she gasps and lifts her sharp nailed finger at me, "Nuh uh, she did."
Dabi rolls his eyes as he walks over to us and throws his arm over my shoulder, "What're you freaks doing anyway?"
 Toga giggles as she scoops up the flour that made it onto the counter. "It's Akuma's birthday so we're baking a cake." 
I feel his arm tighten on my shoulder as I look up at him. He looks down at me with pinched brows, "It's your birthday?"
 I wiggle my hands before dropping them onto the counter, "Surprise...?" 
He snorts, "Isn't that what I'm supposed to say to you?" 
I shrug, "Preferably not, but she guilt tripped me." He hums and nods, "Sounds like Toga." 
I nod and lean into his side watching Toga dump the clean flour into a bowl, just barely enough to make a cake. She claps her hands and the powder dusting them puffs off into the air like a cloud. She giggles and reaches for the eggs. I immediately intercept her and take the carton from her. 
"Why don't I do this? You can stir it, kid." I nervously laugh as she nods. 
#
I lean back in the grass my head craned back as well, my eyes closed. Just bathing in the setting sun. 
"What's the big ole' birthday girl doing out here?" I peek open an eye and watch as Dabi takes a seat next to me, his shiny eyes watching my every move.
 I close my eye again and smile, "I hate my birthday." 
He hums, "So do I." 
I nod, "You've got a better reason for it then I do." 
He snorts, "Oh do I?" 
I open my eyes and nod, "For sure, my reason is just because I hate cake and the idea of birthdays." He shifts closer to me and wraps his arm around my shoulder bringing me into his side, "And my reason for hating birthdays?"
 I hum tapping a finger on my chin, "I'm gonna go with some more rebellion to your shit dad." 
He laughs, "Oh, definitely."
 I smile, content as I comfortably lean into him. His hand finds mine and he begins tracing my knuckles, "I like to watch the sunsets on my birthday, it's comforting." 
He hums quietly, "It's decent."
 I let out a guffaw, "Decent?" I ask looking up at him from his shoulder, he looks down at me, "Decent." I purse my lips and nod as I look back at the sky bathing the small little lake in oranges and pinks.
 "Do you love me?" I ask in a quiet voice, my feet dipping in the water. His hands tracing the veins on my hand until he came to a stop. It felt, at least it did at first, like the right time to ask. It was comfortable and pretty, yet I was still wrong.
 "I don't know." He whispers, his chin resting on my head. I feel my heart briefly stop in my chest as his hand releases mine. He clears his throat, I could almost physically feel him detaching himself from me in his mind at this very moment. 
"You don't have to say anything. I'm sorry." I whisper shrinking into myself like I've done in my past. 
"I'm not going to." His voice was distant, and void of the emotion I got used to him having.
 "Dabi, I shouldn't have asked, I'm sorry." I remove myself from his side and place my hands in my lap as I look down at the grass. 
"I'm going inside." He spits out as he gets up from his spot beside me. Nothing but the cold night air replacing where his body heat had been. I felt the chill coil around me like an embracing blanket as the door slams shut behind me.