They sat together on the metal bench at the bus stop, huddling under the barely adequate shelter that the small covering over the bench provided from the rain. An autumn storm had unexpectedly rolled through the city, torrential rain falling and flooding the gutters that were clogged with leaves, running down the sidewalks and creating puddles everywhere. Rika tried to ignore the unpleasant feeling of her damp socks clinging to her feet as she leaned closer to Touya, grateful for his steady warmth even through their soaking wet clothes.

She looked out at the rain pouring down, noticing that it gave the air a sort of misty look that was gloomy and hard to see through. The sky was dark grey and thunder rumbled somewhere in the distance.

"It looks kind of like the beginning of a horror movie, doesn't it?" She rested her head against his shoulder as she spoke, trying to avoid the intermittent thick drips of rainwater that fell on the other side of her off of the corner of the bus shelter. He had had his eyes closed in a manner that suggested he was exhausted but didn't want to admit it, now opening them just a bit to glance at what she was describing.

"I guess." 

"I mean, this type of weather always makes me think of telling scary stories. Like when it was storming bad and the power went out one time at U.A., we had to wait to finish English class and so we told ghost stories and tried to scare each other." Rika smiled, thinking back on the memory. Despite her fear of storms (and ghosts), it had been sort of fun to see who could come up with the scariest tale and it *had* been a welcome distraction from the lightning and wind lashing outside at the time.

When she lifted her head and looked over at Touya, she noticed that he was watching her out of the corner of his eye, his mouth turned down slightly. She felt a sort-of sinking feeling in her chest for a moment. Sometimes she forgot that talking about the brief part of her life that had occurred at U.A. seemed to upset him, seemed to stir up something in him similar to jealousy or self-loathing if she had to guess from his response whenever she spoke of her time in high school. She really hadn't meant to make him feel bad.

Quickly, she placed her hand on his knee and turned to face him, hoping to comfort him.

"I bet you are really good at telling scary stories, Touya!"

He looked away from her, his bright gaze seemingly on the curtains of rain still pouring down in front of them. Rika watched as a few people ran by, holding their jackets over their heads as they splashed through the puddles on their way to some refuge from the storm. She was just starting to have the thought that maybe Touya was in the type of mood where he was determined to be grumpy, to be mired in his anger as he often could be, when she heard his voice next to her.

"I doubt you could handle the stories I know. Especially because they're true."

When she turned back to look at him again, she noticed that his eyes were on her now as he awaited her response to his gentle teasing. She also noticed how almost-painfully cute he looked with his dark hair all wet and falling into his eyes. She resisted the urge to brush her hand through the unruly strands of hair.

"Everyone always claims their stories are true. But I doubt it." She sounded mostly convinced that he was lying.

"Hmm. Trust me, with the things I've seen, this one is true. But, it doesn't matter because you'd get too scared if I told you." He glanced away again, although the corner of his mouth was still turned up in an infuriatingly cocky smirk that suggested he knew she wouldn't be able to resist begging to hear his story. And even though Rika was well aware of this, of what that smile meant, she felt powerless to resist reacting in exactly the way he had hoped to provoke with his teasing. 

"Come on! Please!" She moved her hand, her touch running over the scars that lined his forearm as she felt his warmth dispel the ache that had settled into her cold fingers before placing her hand back on his knee. The blue of his eyes shifted back over towards her, just watching her for a moment, drawing it out, making her wait and beg and plead with her eyes until-

"Fine. I got one I could tell, if you really think you can handle it."

"I can! Besides, we have to sit here anyway until the rain stops, unless we want to get soaked again. Might as well hear it!" Rika's smile was wide as she scooted closer to him on the bench, pulling his arm around her shoulders and leaning further against him and his comforting heat. She was happy he didn't protest, perhaps knowing that it somehow helped her better tolerate the uncomfortable chilly dampness of her rain-soaked state.

"A long time ago..." His voice was quieter than she had anticipated as he began the story, causing her to close her eyes and focus on hanging on his every word. "A long time ago there was a man whose Quirk allowed him to increase the temperature of anything he touched. He aspired to be the greatest hero of all time, as they all do. But, he soon found that no one could see the utility of his Quirk. He was stuck being a B-class hero, nothing more than someone living in the shadow of those considered greater than him."

He paused here, looking down at Rika. The pause made her open her eyes and meet his gaze. He grinned at he continued, a glimmer of something in the depths of his bright eyes.

"As we all know, living in the shadow of others can cause some people to do crazy things. To really lose it. Time after time, he was stuck under the fame of another hero. He was never seen as the person doing all of the work. Seemed like it got tiring for him... until one day, he snapped."

"On that day, he discovered a new use for his Quirk. A better use for the true power it held. He used his Quirk on the open wound of a villain he was fighting, feeling the anger and hate boiling up inside of him at being overshadowed again. When he looked down, he saw that the villain's blood was boiling too. The heat from his Quirk was causing the man's blood to boil and slowly burn him from the inside out, killing him."

Rika could see the smug look on Touya's face as she reacted, her heart starting to beat faster in her chest and her eyes widening in horror at the image. Perhaps the image would not be so poignant... would not be so terrifying were she not unfortunately very familiar with the image of boiling skin and the screams of people burning. She only had time to reflect momentarily that maybe that was why he had chosen such a story, knowing it would affect her like this, understanding that she was horrified at her own thought that she was actually thankful that most of the time when Dabi's flames claimed people it seemed to be over for them in a quick merciful flash of blue.

Most of the time. Unless he wasn't feeling very merciful.

As he continued, Rika tried so hard to ignore the glaring similarities between the man in the story and the man sitting next to her on the bench.

"Of course, the first time he used it, he was horrified. He couldn't believe the sight of the monstrosity he had created with his own hands, the villain's body burned and bubbling before him. But very quickly, he learned that he fucking loved it. Talk about blood-curdling, right?"

"He would cut just a sliver into the villains that were unfortunate enough to fall into his hands, all alone. Then he would place his palm over their wound and begin to let their blood heat up slowly, just enough to cause some discomfort. Then he would really let it loose, would watch as they screamed in agony they couldn't understand. Hot boiling blood leaking from their eyes like tears, washing out of their bodies from every opening there was. Their bodies would shake and seize, steam rising from their mouths, their eyes rolling back until the red in their skin would finally fade out."

"Dead." She felt a cold shudder run through her body as he whispered this word in her ear. Her heart was pounding faster, her hand gripping his leg tightly in a way that she noticed made him grin approvingly.

"You good, Ri-chan? You look a little pale yourself."

"I'm okay. T-tell the rest of the story." She hoped he didn't notice how shaky her voice was, but if the narrowing of his eyes was any sign, he likely did.

"It was a craving that could never be satisfied. Soon, villains weren't enough. He needed more. So, he would call emergencies, get other pro heroes on the scene, and when their backs were turned, he would push them down. Push them down and slice into them so fast that they couldn't react until it was too late, until their blood was already starting to boil. Heroes started falling right and left, but it didn't matter because the villains were dying off just as fast too. The man was insatiable."

"Soon, even that wasn't enough to quell his cruel hunger. Civilians, heroes, villains... none of it gave him that same thrill he was chasing. He needed something new."

Touya paused here, taking his arm that was around Rika's shoulders and gently tracing his fingernail down her neck. "So, he made a small cut, just down his own neck. Then he took his hand, pushed it up against the glistening wound, and let his own Quirk pulse through his body." Rika could feel Touya's hand heat up sightly as he replicated the motion against her neck, not enough to hurt but enough to make her skin crawl and her squirm against him at the image of his words paired with his uncomfortably hot touch. He seemed quite satisfied by her response, his grin still gleaming cold and cruel.

"They discovered him a week later, dead. But his soul... oh no, his soul wasn't finished. He was still just so hungry to see that blood boil." Touya's laugh next to her sounded eerie as he placed his arm back around her shoulders. "He still wanders the city, hoping to find whatever feeling it is he is searching for. He comes searching for blood before he grabs a hold of you and watches you convulse in his grip. The whole time laughing, laughing, while you struggle before finally-"

"-dying!" He grabbed her suddenly with his searing grip, causing her to jump and cry out, her heart pounding fast against her ribcage.

"Touya, that is not fair! You cannot use your Quirk to make your story more scary, that is cheating." She suddenly felt shaky, snuggling closer to him for comfort as if he had not just been the one terrifying her. To her relief, he just laughed and hugged her close, apparently finished with his tale.

"Told you you'd get scared." He smirked as she ran her hand over where his fingernail had slowly slid down her neck earlier. 

"You're even better at that than I was expecting. How did you come up with all of that?" She still leaned against him in his embrace, knowing he could probably feel her racing heart beginning to slow down.

"Told you. It's a true story." Rika had the brief horrifying thought that maybe she really really did not want to know what he meant by that. She could feel his hands tracing over her back in a way that was almost gentle compared to how he usually was. "The rain's slowing down, you good to walk back to the hideout?"

She nodded, secretly grateful when he grabbed her hand while they walked together down the sidewalk, avoiding the puddles and dripping water from shop canopies as best as they could.

They were almost halfway home before she allowed herself to ask the question weighing heavily on her.

"Touya... if something like that came after me, you wouldn't let me burn? You would keep me safe, right?"

As she looked up at him, she thought that he looked as if he was trying very hard to appear indifferent, although the way the bright blue of his eyes flickered over to glance at her and the small, fleeting smile that pulled at his staples revealed his true feelings, if only for a moment. He squeezed her hand tightly.

"Always."