That morning Rika was determined-- no, hellbent-- on decorating their apartment for Halloween. The two of them had not had many opportunities to decorate for any holiday before, as tended to come with the territory of being two villains on the run, hiding out in various temporary living situations. But, for the past few months, they had been stably housed in a rundown apartment on the outskirts of Aomori, with no immediate need to flee to their next location. It was a tiny, sort-of dingy place, not much more than a bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom. But, it was comfortable enough and certainly far better than sleeping in alleys or seeking shelter in desolate campgrounds.

And somehow Rika had got it into her head that they needed to decorate it for Halloween. Because this year might be their only chance.

Dabi admittedly did not have much experience with such things. He eyed the cheap decorations lining the shelves of the store warily as he pushed the shopping cart down the aisle. Rika walked just ahead, picking things up off the shelves with poorly-hid excitement.

"Oh, what about this one?" She held up a fabric-and-wire ghost that made wailing sounds, presumably triggered by some motion sensor in the thin white fabric.

"Yeah, that's not going to be fucking annoying every time someone walks by." He rolled his eyes and leaned forward against the metal handle of the cart. It was almost amusing to him how seriously Rika looked at the ghost decoration, considering his words before placing it back on the shelf where she found it.

She kept looking through the piles of decorations, asking his opinion every now and then with a hesitant smile on her freckled face. He knew he wasn't offering much help. Truthfully, he didn't really give a damn which of the stupid mass-produced plastic things she hung up in their living room as long as they didn't make a lot of noise or get in his way. He wasn't even sure he remembered decorating for Halloween as a kid (although that was a mental door that he violently slammed shut as soon as it opened.)

She held up two decorations, one in each hand, looking back and forth between them rapidly as if trying to decide. In one hand was a plastic skeleton with glowing red eyes and in the other, a spider with legs that reached out and moved when motion was detected. He watched her with a disinterested expression as she weighed their options. His bright eyes flickered over to the cashier, who he noticed was staring at the two of them with a suspicious gaze. 

Dabi's eyes narrowed as he stared back. He was certain the cashier's needling, accusing eyes had focused on him the moment they had walked into the store and had followed them since as they walked down the aisles. And he was also certain it had nothing to do with Rika and everything to do with him and his scars and staples. He had seen that same look so many times since he had awakened from the accident and it had only increased in frequency the more his burns spread and the more staples he added to piece himself back together. That look somewhere between distrust, revulsion, and pity that he absolutely fucking hated. It made the hot, roiling, searing resentment bubble up inside of him for a moment before he felt strangely calm, an unsettling smile on his face.

"Why don't we get both of them, Ri-chan?"

She looked up at him in surprise, momentarily startled from her focus on the decorations.

"Really? Are you sure?" He saw her spring-green eyes searching his expression, widening slightly as if in realization of something. She knew him too well.

"Yeah, I'm sure. Get in the cart." 

She did not hesitate, somewhat gracefully climbing into the basket of the cart with the two decorations placed in her lap. She looked up at him and he grinned at her.

"Let's look around a little more, hmm?" He pushed the cart through the next aisle... and then the next, pretending to look at bags of Halloween candy with serious contemplation. Although, if someone were watching him closely, they might notice the way the turquoise of his eyes flickered over towards the cashier every so often, as if daring him to intervene. "You want any of this candy?"

Rika shook her head, staring up at him almost pleadingly from where she sat in the basket of the shopping cart, her hands gripping the sides of the basket tightly.

"No, Touya... I don't think we should get too much stuff." Her voice was a hushed whisper, inaudible to anyone but him. 

Sometimes she was still too kind, too soft. He supposed he didn't really mind though. It certainly had its advantages, particularly when her warmth and gentle heart were directed towards him, as they often were.

Dabi casually pushed the shopping cart towards the store exit, not bothering to even turn around when the cashier shouted something accusatory in their direction. The sense of satisfaction at the burning feeling of spite in his chest was overwhelming. He placed one foot on the bottom ledge of the cart, using his other to push off on the ground repeatedly, propelling them out of the store and down the sidewalk at increased speed. The street wasn't crowded, not in this part of the city, but there were still a few unfortunate passers-by who had to scurry out of their way as they hurtled down the sidewalk, staring after them with expressions mixed with alarm and confusion.

He laughed cruelly, unable to keep the smile off of his face. That goddamn cashier deserved it-- deserved it-- for looking at him in such a way when he hadn't even intended to do anything besides commit the apparent crime of existing in their fucked up society looking the way he did. Dabi knew it was a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy, deciding to do the very thing that the prejudiced old man had expected him to do... but he found that the twisted satisfaction blazing through his body now was very much worth it.

Even if there was still that sickening sense of anger beneath it, barely held below the surface.

His actions had been a bit risky. He tried to stay alert, his ever-vigilant eyes scanning their surroundings for any heroes on patrol as they sped down the sidewalk. He only relaxed a bit when they had gone a fair distance away, turning down a quiet, narrow suburban street with little evidence of being followed by anyone.

Rika was smiling too now, her face flushed and her long hair windswept from their escape. She was still clutching the sides of the cart rather tightly, but he felt his heart do a slightly discomfiting flip-flop in his ribcage as she looked up at him with an awed expression that made him feel for just a moment as if he truly were the only person in the world who mattered.

"That was easier than I expected!" She sounded a little out-of-breath, which made him chuckle a bit.

"Yeah, because you weren't the one pushing the cart."

--x

They had made their way back to the apartment, carrying the decorations and abandoning the shopping cart in front of the gate to someone else's front yard along the way, not too close to their path home. Dabi was nothing but cautious these days, and while he figured the hypocrites who patrolled this area likely had "more important" things to do than investigate one shoplifting incident, one could never be too careful.

He lounged on the faded couch, watching as she hung up the decorations with meticulous attention to detail. It seemed like Rika hung them up and took them down a half-dozen times before she finally sat next to him on the couch, satisfied with their placement as she snuggled closer to him.

"What do you think?"

His eyes were closed, but he could feel her laying comfortably against his side.

"I think you're going to get real scared when it's the middle of the night and it's dark in the hallway and that spider thing moves towards you as you're getting up to go to the bathroom." 

"No, I won't!" Her voice was a bit indignant, a little higher-pitched than usual, and he found that getting the exact reaction he had expected made him smile, the staples at the sides of his mouth turning up just slightly.

"W-well... okay, maybe I'll take the batteries out at night."

"Right. Because getting scary decorations and then making them not-scary makes perfect sense."

He softened his words with an almost-gentle brush along her back with one of his scarred hands. Rika pressed herself closer to him, resting her head against his chest and sighing, although whether the sigh was from relaxation or exasperation at him was hard to tell. 

They were quiet for a few moments before she spoke up again, her voice a bit muffled by their position.

"Do you like them, Touya? I got them for you... because I wanted things to feel normal for once."

He opened his eyes at her words, a puzzled expression on his face. Normal? He supposed to most people, decorating for holidays would be normal. He didn't have the heart to tell her that he had not once celebrated a holiday since he had awakened from his coma. Not even his own birthday. Not until she had found him again years later. He looked uncomfortable for a moment, perhaps deciding between saying something snarky or allowing her some comfort by going along with her sentiment.

He honestly didn't know why he chose the latter option.

"Is that so? I guess they do look kinda nice."

He wasn't really sure he deserved the warmth of her smile as she pulled away and looked up at him from where she lay next to him. But if going through the tedious motions of celebrating holidays and decorating and pretending he cared about such pointless things earned him more smiles like that from her... he supposed that was a fair trade after all.