"I'm back." Izuku, who had just returned from the palace, had tossed his satchel onto the sofa right in front of him. When he closed the door behind him, he realized that a foul odor filled the room, so he scrunched his nose in disgust. "Uh... what's that smell...?"

From the other room, coughing was heard, and then a sudden swinging open of the door. Smoke then filled the air, making the greenette's eyes tear up with the now musky atmosphere.

"TWICE, THIS IS WHY YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO COOK!"

"Aww, don't worry, Twice, I love your food, Spinner's just being a bitch."

"Oh, so Twice was cooking. Figures." He rolled his eyes, crouching down to take off his bright red shoes. There was a relaxed exhale, followed by a squeak of the sofa's springs. When he looked up, he saw Dabi reaching into Izuku's bag like it was his own.

A light grin was drawn against his face, finding the rolled up piece of parchment. "Oi, fuckhands, the kid found the map, can ya believe it?"

Izuku looked at the black haired male, still overly pissed off at him for leaving the library earlier. He sighed, "Dabi." He pressed a hand to his forehead, his head aching with frustration. Although he had every urge to yell at him, he couldn't bring himself to do it, after all, he wasn't about to give up his one and only chance to get to his mother.

"Oh?" Dabi raised an eyebrow, looking up at Izuku in amusement. "That's a weird way to say my name, what's up, Broccoli head?"

"My name's Izuku Midoriya." A frustrated glare met with the other male's glowing turquoise eyes. Izuku knew for a fact that he didn't care, which was part of the reason why he was pissed off. He let out a sigh, looking back down to the floor, "And another thing.. why did you leave me on my own?"

"Eh? Oh that? Back there? I just thought it'd be funny to leave you with Shouto, ya know?" He began shifting his position so that he was laying backwards, his hands situated behind his head. The amount of fucks he gave amounted to less than zero, so trying to reason with him was far out of the question.

Even so, Izuku persisted, his eyes starting to water up more than they already were. "Well it wasn't funny. Prince Shouto is... I hate him, so leaving me in the same room with him!? I'm gonna get you back for that."

"Please, Prince Shouto isn't even that bad. I feel like you're just making some dumbass excuse to yell at me. I saw the way you looked at him, so do you really hate him? Or are you just talking outta your ass?"

The fact that Dabi had seen the way Izuku had stared at Shouto caused him to look away. Unintentionally, he knew that those two times he had laid eyes on the dual colored male he was always staring at him like he was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen (which he was, but that was something he wanted to shake off). However, that was all besides the point. Staring didn't mean he didn't hate him, it just meant that he was unfortunately handsome.

Izuku exhaled, "Look, that's besides the point. What I'm trying to say is that you shouldn't have left me. I could have easily gotten captured, and you guys need me, right?"

"Need?" Dabi scoffed, watching as the smoke around him began to subside. "Whatever floats your boat. But sure, yeah, I guess you could say that, in a way." Beginning to hum, he sunk himself deeper into the comfort of the couch, one arm dangling off the side like he was pretending to be dead. His gaze trailed over to the kitchen door, where three faces covered in soot had just come out through.

They all varied in appearance: one with blonde hair tied up loosely into buns, golden eyes shimmering, despite the gray smeared all over her skin, and her teeth pointed almost like a vampire's; another with a strangely patterned mask, a top hat, that he was dusting off, with a small pointed feather sticking out of it, and there was a green pendant attached to the collar of his shirt; the third one was covered head to toe in soot, his hair now an ashy shade of gray, his original being white, and the expression on his face looked overly pissed due to what had happened in the kitchen.

Upon seeing them, the greenette tensed up, but remained silent as he watched the white haired male shake his head. "What the fuck do you want this time? Make it quick."

"Ah, you're in a bad mood I see. I was just letting ya know that the kid isn't as hopeless as we originally thought." Dabi moved his head, gesturing toward Izuku a bit, just before he threw the map right at the other male's forehead. "This is it."

The map hit him right on the forehead, a slight aneurysm building up at the side of his face. "This would be easier if I wasn't covered in this shitty soot." He bent down.

"I'll get the water!" The blonde female yelled out enthusiastically, turned around, and ran off towards the bathroom.

He rolled his eyes as he picked the map up off of the floor. Only grabbing it by each of his index fingers and thumbs, he shrugged at the image, "And? What the hell does this have to do with anything? And what kind of fucking name is Chusi, huh? I think it's stupid. Now explain, what is it for?" He quickly handed it back to Dabi, not really interested in what it had to offer.

"Didya forget?" Although it sounded like he was trying to remind him of the plan he had in mind, his eyes told a whole different story. The turquoise glow was unreadable to Izuku, but to the older male in front of him, it was obvious that there was something else going on, something far off from what Izuku had signed up for. However, Dabi continued speaking, not moving his eyes to look anywhere else, or at anyone else for that matter. "This map is essential to find the flower, y'know, the one that'll help him get his mother back, remember?"

The white haired male narrowed his gaze, seemingly finding a third meaning behind whatever Dabi had in mind. Despite that, he went along with it, building off of what his original thought was. "Unfortunately, yes. But I don't see why you're so fixated on some dumbass myth."

"There's a difference between a legend and a myth, fuckhands. And I'll have you know, this one is very much real. And getting our hands on it would be beneficial, don't you think?" He was staring at the white haired male with a cocky grin, deciding that would be enough of that conversation.

Rolling his eyes, the other male handed the map back over to Izuku, "Whatever. I'm leaving. Get the fucking flower, then we'll talk."

"Shiggy-Kun, I got the water!" Before Tomura could even turn around, the blonde came back with a wooden pail, pouring the water on his head. "Oops," she had said, giggling and running away as the soot was washed off.

Tomura gritted his teeth, "I hate it here." Dripping from head to toe in water, he stomped off, grabbing the other male who was next to him by his shirt and dragging him off.

Dabi let out a sigh, turning back to look at the green haired boy. "Well, you heard the man. Get the flower, what're you waiting for?"

Izuku began squishing the parchment together, the paper making slight crumpling sounds as he did so. "Er... Well I was waiting for you. Are you ready?"

"What? Waiting for me?" He watched as the greenette nodded, but only chuckled loudly at his response. "You were expecting me to go with you? How sad."

"H-huh Wh-what? What do you m-mean??"

"I mean you're going by yourself, what else?" Dabi walked back over to the sofa, exhaling loudly once his body was stretched back out.

Shaking his head, Izuku defensively tried to convince him, "That wasn't part of the deal! You said you'd help me find the flower!"

"Oh yeah?" A finger trailed up to scratch the side of his head, pretending to think about it. "Yeah, well I changed my mind."

"You... you... you said..." Although he was biting his lip to prevent himself from crying, the tears came out anyway. "You said you would help me find her...."

"Cry all you want, but Prince Charming isn't gonna come running for you." He hung his head off the side of the couch, staring at Izuku intently. "You should be lucky you were even able to get me to go to the castle in the first place. Now chop chop, get outta here."

"B-but... but..."

"You want your mom, don't you?"

Izuku began to pull at his fingers, a common nervous habit he had picked up from his childhood years. "Well... of course I do..."

"Then," It seemed that the black haired male was getting tired of Izuku standing there uselessly, and got up from the sofa. He walked over to him, grabbing his chin delicately as his index finger teasingly rubbed at the skin where his chin and neck met. "I suggest you get going."

The greenette gulped. The way Dabi was staring at him, and not to mention the gentle grip on his chin, caused him to tense up. He knew from that moment that Dabi wasn't messing around, and if he hadn't turned around to leave when he did, he most definitely would have been hurt in more ways than he could imagine.

Without even giving him something as simple as a goodbye, he quickly got himself out of the building, slamming the door shut behind him. Now, he was even more pissed off, turning to look at the building with his puffy cheeks. He grabbed a rock off of the ground, throwing it at the wall with a loud, frustrated grunt. "Fuck you..."

No matter how angry he was, he couldn't bring himself to raise his voice from that moment, after all, he was already as scared as he was. All that he wanted was his mother, and unfortunately for him, this was the only way his wish would come true... unless.

Then, an idea popped into his head. It seemed that the league was somehow invested in Izuku getting the flower, and relied on him, even. Why was that? He didn't know, but that only made him go deeper into thought about it.

Putting a hand on his chin, he began to look back at the building, before he walked away. The only thing he could do now was brainstorm and think about why exactly they were acting the way they were. He travelled off the dirt path, down a small hill, and over to a small river at its base. There, the flowing of the stream blocked out any excess sounds that may alert the party in the nearby tattered cabin.

It was actually quite peaceful, to say the least, so he sat himself down at the river bed, watching as the rocks below cut the flow of the water in different directions, only to be met up again on the other end. Oh to be a rock, unmoved and unphased by anything that nature had to bring to it. All it did was stumble, roll, be thrown from place to place, and yet, they still managed to keep itself sturdy throughout one's lifetime. However, even a rock, after some millions of years, has to break eventually, decreasing itself to nothing more than small pebbles, sand, even, its original state being lost, falling victim to nature just as everything else in this sad world did.

If only life could be simpler.

He sighed, shifting himself so that his legs were in a criss cross position. From there, he pulled out a notebook from his satchel, as well as a pen, and opened it to the first available page that he could find. Then, he began to chew at the butt of the pen, thinking deeply about the whole situation he was in.

He shut his eyes.

They need me to get the flower, don't they? Why else would they keep me around if they're just going to shove me around like that? I'm sure they could easily kill me instead of hit me with an empty threat.

Then, a thought crossed his mind. Earlier, when Izuku asked if they needed him, Dabi, of course being the psychotic bastard that he was, responded with a "Need? Whatever floats your boat. But sure, yeah, I guess you could say that, in a way."

What in the world was that supposed to mean?

Izuku wrote that down in his notebook for future reference, but didn't think it would lead him to a conclusion. After all, the league, no, Dabi had a mind of his own, and usually ran off to do his own thing. Tomura noticed that, but thought nothing of it, since they seemed to be on the same side after all. But of course, things weren't always what they seemed, and Dabi could have more connections than he had originally thought.

He took another click at his pen, before writing another thing down: What is Dabi's connection with the Fire Kingdom and King Endeavor? Yet another question with the possibility of never being answered, although it couldn't hurt to try.

Off of the topic of Dabi, he trailed back to his thoughts, taking his eyes off of his notebook, If there really is no other way... why not use the flower to wish for my mother myself? It's not like there's some special ritual or anything, I could easily just wish for her back once I find it, right?

Perfect. In his head, that idea was nothing short of perfection, and instead took his possession of the map to his advantage. Sure, it was a bit selfish to do such a thing, but wasn't that what the league was going to do with the flower anyway? Wish for his mother?

However, he didn't want to break his word, and instead wrote down on his notebook: Plan B. If all else fails, then I'm using the flower myself.

He didn't expect Plan A to fail, since he was still putting faith into the league. But what about a Plan C? You know, just in case.

Pausing, he looked for any other available options.

Prince Shouto.

That was the first thought that had crossed his mind. The handsome prince, the one with those beautiful heterochromatic eyes, and silky dual colored hair. Shimmering skin, and a gentle smile, one that could—

He snapped himself out of it. Shouto was no good to him, heck, he'd probably just get in the way. But if it really resorted to that as a final solution, then he supposed that would be saved for Plan Z.

He scoffed, "Like I'll ever get there."

Though he said that, the possibility of a Plan Z was much more likely than he had originally thought, because when it came back down to it, Shouto was much more willing to help than any other person that he could think of, even Dabi and the rest of the League. Because, right back at the cabin, there a conversation was held, one that he hadn't even predicted from the start of this whole mess.

Dabi knew of the schemes Izuku may have been pulling, but he wasn't the one to jump in unless it was completely necessary. After all, he still did need Izuku, but not in the way the greenette had thought. But that wasn't any of his business, not at all. Eventually, he would come to find out the truth behind it all, but it wasn't quite the time yet, after all, he would learn the hard way just how bad this world was.

"Hey, where'd the brat go?" Tomura returned to the main room, scratching at his neck as he was now alone with Dabi, Himiko still hiding away somewhere even after he had given up chasing her. It seemed like he was no longer dripping wet, the only signs that showed he had been drenched being the slightly darker shade of black his top was.

The black haired male had his eyes closed, his humming reducing down to nothing more than a soft sigh. "He up and left. He decided that he wanted to find the flower as soon as possible, so there you have it."

A complete lie. But how was Tomura to know that Dabi did all of this intentionally, all to put the blame on everyone else? It wasn't like he was in on it, so for all he knew Dabi was telling the truth. Instead of questioning his statement, the white haired male shrugged, "Tell me why we need the kid again?"

"Did ya forget?" Before he finished his response, he took out something from his back pocket. In his hand he now had a book, more specifically the one he had picked up earlier in the library. He turned to the first page where there was a picture of the Fire Kingdom's royal family: Enji, Rei, Touya, Fuyumi, Natsuo, and finally, Shouto. He flipped it so that the picture was facing Tomura instead of him, and placed a finger on the young half and half boy. "You see this kid right here?"

"What does that have to do with anything?" The fact that Dabi somehow had a picture of the royal family was concerning, because, after all, why would he need to keep something as useless as that?

"Let me finish." Turning the picture back towards himself, he started to flip through more pages, until he landed on a picture of Shouto when he was only five years old, the day prior to earning his scar. "This kid right here, he could easily take the flower if he wanted to."

"So?"

"My point is-" He shut the book "-Only someone who is pure of heart can find that bastard of a flower. I hate to admit it, but both of them are... let's say, essential to our cause. And if we send the broccoli boy after it, then I know for sure that Shouto will be there as well. Everything's going just as planned, fuckhands. Which is why we can't let this slip up."

Tomura paused. Shouto had nothing to do with this, as far as he knew. They only needed Izuku to find the flower, that was essentially the plan. "Why does that good for nothing prince have to be there? Wouldn't he just get in the way?"

"Knowing him and his gay ass, probably."

"Then!?"

"Don't worry, you'll see. It's much more complicated than it sounds. But I assure you, Shouto is just as important to us as the broccoli head." Just then he stood up, stretching his arms. He then walked over to the door and reached for the brass doorknob, turning it slowly as if he was trying his best not to make a sound. "And if he gets in the way, that's all the better."

Tomura's scratching at his neck became more strained, trying to keep up with whatever Dabi was telling him. "Where the fuck do you think you're going?"

"I'm gonna watch them to make sure it all plays out. Don't worry, I won't get in their way until I need to." With a wink, he left Tomura behind, taking his leave with that same devilish smirk.

"Fucking prick." He rolled his eyes, taking himself back to the couch to relax. If only he had known Dabi's true intentions, then maybe he would have intervened sooner. However, in Tomura's case, the only thing he could do for now was watch everything play out.

And as for Dabi, his Plan A would go accordingly, but not in the way he had hoped.

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