Chapter 2: The Blue Flames

Eto slipped on and buttoned up her new work uniform that Yukimura had given her. That morning she had gone to work in her casual attire and told the café manager what had happened to her last night. Understanding as always, the older woman had allowed her to shower in her home upstairs above the café and given her a new work uniform to wear. However, despite her best attempts at hiding the other event that had occurred last night, Yukimura easily broke through the barriers of her mind and frowned at her. The café manager's quirk was mind reading and it had always kind of freaked Eto out just a bit. She actually never needed to voice her explanations or thoughts to the older woman, but it felt weird to just think about events instead of talking about them. Yukimura also preferred to communicate vocally, but every now and then, if she sensed that something else was going on with Eto that might be something to be concerned about, she would dive inside her mind to read her thoughts. However, Yukimura didn't ask about Giran and Eto's conflicting thoughts about joining the League of Villains; she just gave her a disapproving look and went downstairs to serve customers.

Eto sighed as she put on her special made boots. She had worn them today because her only flats had been ruined, she hated the heels the manager had to offer, and she might need them to fight in if the person Giran had said he'd send to take care of the gang hadn't done their job yet. The boots had been specially made for her by a friend so that she could increase her mobility and the power of her kicks through the use of her quirk. Although heavy to the average person, the boots were infused and reinforced with steel so that she could manipulate them in a way that would allow her to float and deal out heavier damage in a fight. Therefore, the boots made her lighter on her feet while increasing her strength.

Eto walked downstairs and mentally prepared herself for a long day. She spent the next several hours taking orders, making coffee, and delivering the orders to customers. Her talk with Giran kept playing over and over in her mind, sometimes distracting her and causing her to make a few mistakes every now and then.

"You have a lot on your mind today," Yukimura casually stated as Eto finished brewing some coffee. Eto side-eyed the older woman, who now gazed at her sympathetically. "You just read that last bit on my mind didn't you?" Eto asked, her voice just above a whisper because if she spoke any louder she knew her voice would crack.

Yukimura sighed, her eyes downcast for a moment. When she looked back up at the younger girl, her eyes shone with tears. "I miss her too Eto, your sister was a sweet girl."

Eto bit her bottom lip and her features contorted in pain as she struggled to hold back tears of her own. She then steeled herself and delivered the coffee to a customer at a table near the door. When she returned, she could tell that Yukimura wanted to say something more. "What is it?" she asked, gesturing for her manager to walk with her upstairs to talk so that no one would overhear them.

Once upstairs, Yukimura spoke in a firm and concerned voice. "Don't join the League Eto. Mayu wouldn't want that for you no matter your reasons. I understand the frustrations you and others feel about being abandoned and wronged by the Hero society we live in, but that's no justification for harming others. That is exactly what the League of Villains will have you do; you will just end up hurting people."

"A little too late for that though, I've already killed people anyways because Heroes don't care about protecting the people who live where I live. They wouldn't receive enough attention from doing so there." Eto's voice was cold and bitter. If a Hero had been there for those kids, she wouldn't have killed that man.

Yukimura went silent, staring sadly at the younger girl. She then reached out and patted Eto on the head. "It's not too late, you can still choose to live a peaceful life and continue writing that book you've been working on. You were given a second chance at life when you were saved during the accident two years ago. Mayu would want you to live on doing what you love."

"Ha, a second chance huh," Eto stated, bitterness lacing her words as she continued. "Why is it that Mayu didn't get a second chance at life? Why did some random stranger save me, but not her? Why didn't any Heroes come to help?" Eto's voice broke as her anger intensified and tears filled her eyes, threatening to spill over her cheeks.

Yukimura didn't hesitate to embrace her in a hug. "Please think longer on this," the older woman said. "Don't throw your life away for petty revenge."

"It wouldn't be just for revenge though…" Eto replied, her voice soft and shaking. "It would also be the only way I can free my mother. She's all I have left, and joining them may be the only option I have in getting her back."

After they ended their talk, they went back to work for the remaining hours of the day. By the end of the day, Eto was both emotionally and physically exhausted; she was ready to go home and try to get some sleep. Sleep would be the only relief she would get from the turmoil going on inside her head. As she slipped on her jacket, she glanced up at the café's TV. The News was on, reporting on charred corpses found in alleys in several different locations. Eto shuddered at the thought of how they probably died and she felt sick to her stomach. Being burned alive is a terrible way to die and it had been the way that Mayu…Eto bit down on her bottom lip and turned away from the TV screen, not allowing herself to finish the thought. She then quickly exited the café and proceeded to the bus stop. By the time she got home, she hoped that whoever Giran had sent had already taken care of the local gang. She didn't feel like fighting anyone tonight, not when she felt this nauseous and light-headed.

Every possible recruit that he had come across had been pathetic, not right in the head, and most likely useless. He was going to ignore the text from Giran about the person with a powerful quirk affiliated with the local gang in the area that he conveniently found himself in, but he had nothing better to do and was here already. Dabi stepped towards who he assumed to be the gang Giran had mentioned. The group wasn't too big, around eight members. He should be able to handle that many if they turned hostile. He stopped and stood in front of them, hands in his pockets. Why the group was in the middle of the street, he didn't know, but there was no one around at this time of night in an area like this. The gang had noticed him walking towards them, but said nothing until he had stopped in front of them. "Who the hell are you?" a guy with a scorpion tail menacingly asked, sneering at the man with patch-work burn scars.

Dabi ignored his question and immediately proposed his own. "Who is the strongest among you?"

"I am, why do you ask?" The scorpion tailed man replied, stepping forward. He narrowed his eyes at Dabi and poised his tail to strike. That's when Dabi noticed the large bruise on one side of his shaved head.

"There's no way he meant you," Dabi said with a smirk. "Who gave you that nasty bruise upside your head?"

"A brat that we're waiting on to come this way. She murdered two of our men and seriously injured a third. You need to leave patchwork-face."

"Is that so?" Dabi replied, lifting one of his hands out of his pockets. "Then none of you are who I'm looking for."

The lead gang member's scorpion tail launched forward in an attack, but the strike never reached its target. Blue flames shot out in a large blast from Dabi's palm, engulfing the scorpion-tailed man and the rest of the gang. Screams of agony rang out as they all dropped to the ground trying to put out the flames. After a few more seconds, their screams ceased and their burning bodies went limp.

"This was a waste of time, I should've just ignored the text," Dabi casually stated as he turned away from the charred corpses to leave. However, the sight of a wide-eyed girl standing there stopped him in his tracks. The girl seemed frozen in shock and had an expression of pure terror on her face. What was left of the blue flames behind him were reflected in shining grey eyes. The girl was pale with lilac colored hair. She wore some kind of work attire with mismatching black boots that went up to just below her knees. The girl seemed out of place in an area like this. Dabi shoved his hands into his pockets, hesitant on what to do. Could this be the brat the scorpion-tailed guy had mentioned?

Eto was frozen in place, staring at the black-haired guy with patchwork scars who had just burned the remaining gang members to death. He had to be the one responsible for the string of murders resulting in charred bodies in various areas. He could also be the one Giran had sent from the League to take care of the gang. Her heart was pounding and she could feel the wafting heat from the flames on her skin, smell the charred bodies and smoke. She swallowed the bile rising in her throat and the light-headedness she had experienced earlier grew worse. It then gradually became harder to breathe. Why did this person in front of her have to have a fire quirk?

What should I do? I don't know if this person is really with the League or not and whether they might try to burn me too. I feel like passing out…so if I don't do something soon…

Eto glanced up, focusing on the metal railing of a fire escape ledge attached to one of the buildings closest to the street. She pushed past her growing dizziness and outstretched her arm towards the metal ledge, feeling the tingling sensation form across her palm and fingertips. As she concentrated and swung her arm in the direction of the patchwork-faced guy, she felt an immense pulling sensation that laced through her fingertips and into her shoulder. She was having to rip the ledge from the side of the building, needing more force than usual. What happened next was a blur of motions, the ledge ripped from the building and flew towards the blue fire quirk user.

She didn't wait to see if she had actually hit her target. As it flew towards the guy, she leaped up into the air and focused on controlling her boots to lift herself up further. She could sense the metal present in the nearby building and focused all her might to attracting her boots to the side of the structure. As soon as she made contact, she then propelled herself upwards and grabbed the railing of the roof, flipping over the edge to successfully land on her feet. Shaking, Eto dropped to her knees and tried to calm her breathing and racing heartbeat. She gripped her right arm, her fingernails tugging slightly at the black glove. She winced as she felt the phantom pain from two years ago. Just the experience of having her forearm burning had been extremely painful. She didn't even want to think about how agonizing it must be to have your entire body on fire, choking on the smoke from your own searing flesh.

Eto bit her bottom lip and forced herself to stand back up. She needed to keep moving in case her attack didn't hit her target. She hated to admit it to herself, but witnessing what that patchwork guy had done right in front of her, had frightened her more than anything else ever had in her life. He hadn't seemed to be just any fire quirk user either. His flames were blue and seemed to burn at a temperature much hotter than regular fire. Eto's heart was still pounding by the time she walked to the opposite side of the roof, planning to jump to the next building and make her way home that way.

The image of the blue flames engulfing the charred and limp bodies on the ground danced inside her mind. In a strange way, the color and light emitted from the flames was beautiful. Even though the fire terrified her, the blue flames were also captivating. Eto inhaled deeply and then exhaled to calm her breathing before she focused her senses and leapt off the building. As the soles of her boots connected with the next building over, the patchwork guy's turquoise colored eyes shone in her mind as well. They had been strangely beautiful too.

A/N: I had most of this chapter written before I started Grad school in the Fall 2018 semester. I just didn't manage to finish it and had no time to do so during school. When I was on winter break, I was more concerned with finding an internship and had no free time. This summer semester has been lighter and because my classes have recently ended, I now had a bit of free time to finish it. I'm still going to work on writing this fanfic, but the progress on it will be slow because I'm going to be very busy for at least another year. I promise to finish it though because writing and reading fictional stories is how I cope with life and manage stress. Thank you for reading. :)