Out of routine - Chapter five (finale)

Pairing: Hawks x Fem!reader

Warnings: Pregnancy, MORE SMUT, bad transitions in flashbacks, angst, ugly crying, happy ending, Hurt and comfort, Hawks is insecure.

Notes: English is not my first language, some things could be badly written. Not beta proofed. This is a long chapter.

Part One| Part Two| Part Three|Part Four | Part Five

Hawks was alone in your apartment (yes, his master plan of secretly moving in had worked). Today was your trip to go see your family and tell them the news, while he had to stay on call if any big emergency happened. But the problem wasn’t being alone, it was being alone with his thoughts.

“(Y/N), right?” Hawks called you from his office door “Ye-Yes Hawks-san” he scrunched his face at the way you added a formal title to his name “C’mon, let’s keep it casual, just Hawks is fine “.

That was your first interaction, over five years ago, well it would be six years today. That meant it was a special day, he figured you would probably arrive past dinner time, so he still had enough time to make something for you. He got to work and searched for a recipe that looked appetizing but still had every vitamin your body and the baby needed. Something he started doing since day one and now was just a habit.

“Hey (Y/N), can you book my interview for the magazine for this friday?” He was tired, a lot of things were piling up on his desk, but it didn’t matter because he could use it as an excuse just to spend more time with you.

You always walked out of the elevator door with your office attire like any other woman in Japan did. And still it just made him more confused with himself, there was something absolutely amazing with you, he was sure of that, but he didn’t know what.

The timer in the oven brought him back to reality, taking out the food and bread he made. A month ago you made a comment over why the ‘bun in the oven’ wasn’t right because ‘nugget in the oven’ seemed more fitting for your baby. And he fucking loved it, making it the new oficial knick name of your child. He chuckled at the memory making a soft smile appear in his lips.

Should he wear a suit? he asked himself while chopping some vegetables.

“Um Hawks, the meeting is starting in twenty minutes” you always acted nervous around him “Thanks sweetheart. You know those new heels look fantastic on you” his first move on you, he wanted to break the formality barrier there was between the two of you. “Thanks, I’m glad you liked them” you bowed and left.

His next move was bringing you coffee after his patrol ended “I brought you coffee, and a cookie too. Also you look so pretty today” and you blushed hard to a simple comment “I-thanks Hawks” you were now more confident around him. He liked that.

The tie wasn’t right, the blue one didn’t match, he should stay true to himself and use the burgundy one. He went to change the tie, looked at himself through the mirror and decided that it was kinda okay. He went to your dresser and searched under it for a tiny box taped to the underside of the furniture.

“Staying late?” His shift was already over, but you still were there after everyone had already left. “Yeah, I just don’t want to leave something for tomorrow when I can do it today” that was probably your motto for work, but he never asked, instead he said “Really? you don’t have any plans for friday night?”

“No, Hawks I-” He was close to you, really close. His face was just an inch from yours, the perfect opportunity he needed and he took it. He leaned in and kissed you, a simple kiss that escalated surprisingly quickly. Where you both ended in his office, taking each piece of clothes off. Sucking hickeys to your clavicle and snaking his hands over your thighs .

You were moaning right in his ear and he felt his cock getting harder by the second. “H-Hawks please” you whimpered not taking his teasing anymore. He had a playful smirk plastered in his face while going down your body leaving a trail of kisses until he reached your clit giving it a long lick that made you shiver. He then started to make out with your pussy, letting grunts and hums that you felt going up your spine.

When you started to feel your legs shivering, he inserted two fingers inside of you making you leave the most pornografic moan out of your mouth. “Keep doing those sounds for me sweetheart” He grunted into you. His free hand kept roaming your thighs, he needed to feel you, he needed to feel you were close to him.

He felt how you started to clench around his fingers so he stopped his movements leaving you feeling empty. “Do you want me to continue?” he looked you straight in the eyes “Yes, please” it sounded breathy and desperate, just how he wanted you to.

You gasped at the feeling of his cock entering your velvety walls, at the way he stretched you so good. He took your legs and put them around his waist. It started slow and sinful, hitting deep inside of you. When it started to go harder and faster, he knew you wouldn’t last any longer by the way you were clenching around him. He nuzzled in your neck letting little pecks right under your ear “C’mon pretty girl, make a lovely mess all over me” he said in a sultry whisper. You came so hard he came right after you, the most amazing orgasm he had had in his entire life.

The next day when you walked through his office doors you looked radiant and had a big smile on your face right until he said, “Let’s just keep it casual, you know we don’t want any big scandals” and he saw how your heart broke in front of him and he felt bad about it but did nothing. If he could slap himself of the past he would.

God he was nervous. Was he moving things too fast?

‘No you idiot, you pushed her aside for five fucking years, you can do this’ He thought to himself. Even if he broke your heart in the worst way possible, he was doing everything he could to make amends for his actions and he knew it wasn’t enough, but if everything went well tonight, he would have a lifetime to do it.

Maybe it was too early to daydream about your wedding, what would your house look like, he wanted a house with a lot of space for your kid. He also started to imagine how your kid would look like.

He was so lost in thought he jumped when you opened the door. “I’m home-woah, what is this for?”

“I just wanted to do something special for my special girl” He tried to play things normal, like he wasn’t so nervous he could throw up.

“I made dinner. ” He helped you take your shoes off since you couldn’t bend down with your baby bump, and took you to the dining table. This made a domestic feeling between the two of you. “Oh great, I’m so hungry right now” you sounded so excited at the idea of a fresh meal after a long ride on the train.

He helped you take a seat and served you a portion of the food and then he took a seat across from you with his own portion.

“Thanks for the meal” He looked so tense while you were eating, he just poked at his food. You made small talk about what was the reaction of your family to the news of having a baby but he didn’t put too much attention.

When you finished eating he suddenly stood up and went straight next to you, he knelt and pulled out a ring box out of his pocket

“(Y/N) would you marry me? I know this is unexpected, I have been the worst out of the worst, and have never showed you how much I love you and if I knew I loved you from the beginning I would have done things differently-”

“Keigo shut up” He froze the moment those words left your mouth “Yes, you are an asshole, and an imbecile, and an idiot, and a lot more and I’m going to make sure you know it every single day. But you have never been that to me”

“What?!” He was so confused right now, he was a walking red flag and you never thought of him like that.

“Yes, you broke my heart in the beginning, but your actions kept telling me you loved me, even if you never realized it. Believe me I have a long list of examples. And you keep doing it even now that I’m pregnant, I expected for you to push me away, fire me and pretend you never met me and yet here you are, in one knee demonstrating you want to this right”

Your speech made him cry, ugly cry. “So yes, I do, I want to marry you” he was so thankful but couldn’t say it with his sobs interrupting him. He felt as if the heaviest weight had been lifted from his shoulders. You truly were the love of his life and now he could have you by his side and have his happily ever after.

He didn’t know what he did to deserve this but he is grateful he did. He hugged you by the middle, sobbing “You have no idea how happy I am right now, I’m so glad you said yes” He pushed himself away trying to wipe away his tears.

“I love you keigo”

“And I love you so much, I’m not gonna get tired of saying it the rest of our lives”.

Out of routine - Chapter Four

Pairing: Hawks x Fem!reader

Warnings: Pregnancy, just pure fluff, Hawks not knowing what to do with his feelings, better relationship with Y/N.

Notes: English is not my first language, some things could be badly written. Not beta proofed. We’re nearing the end.

Part One| Part Two|Part Three | Part Four | Part Five

Three months had passed really fast, even faster for the winged hero. But not in a wrong way, it is that a lot happened in a short time he didn’t even realize it. He started to slowly move in your apartment, first he left his work jacket one time he came to visit, next it was a set of pj’s, then he had some documents and a little office space in your living room, yes he started to prefer your apartment to his luxurious penthouse, because it felt like home, an actual home.

The domesticity you started to share with simple meals he prepared for you while you worked, or sleeping together just listening to your heartbeat, sometimes you spent the night talking about anything and everything. Even going to casual dates more often. But also Hawks was living his best life as a soon-to-be father, carrying a copy of your last ultrasound in his pocket. He had a list of names in his phone notes with the only condition you gave him, nothing related to birds. Every night he imagined what your daughter or son would look like, he hopes they get your eyes.

And today was his day off, so you decided to start making plans for the nursery. He tried to make as unrecognizable as possible, hiding his wings, wearing a hat and sunglasses, not because he didn’t want people to know he was taken, but because he didn’t want a mob of people to sweep in and accidentally hurt you.

“It’s a pity we can’t make a babyshower” you said while looking at some plushies.“Why not? It’s a great way to make the announcement public”

“Yeah, but I want to tell my family before that” that’s another important thing, you haven’t told your family yet, you wanted to pay a visit and tell them in person, so you had to make a long trip to the country side of Fukuoka. “Well, we can make a small gathering with other pros and mayb-”

“Aww look at this, isn’t it cute?” You interrupted him by showing a tiny yellow onesie with a tiny duck hat with a big smile, your baby bump sticking out from your silhouette, holding that little onesie. To him you looked cute, radiant, the most beautiful woman he could ever see.

You were confused because he never answered, he just walked up and hugged you, putting his head on your shoulder.

“Kei, is everything okay?” you asked a little concerned because of his behavior.

“Yes, it’s just that I’m so happy I don’t know what to do” he murmured to your neck so only you could barely hear him.

“Hey, it’s okay to feel overwhelmed”, you said hugging him back.

“I love you so much (Y/N)” he separated a little bit to put his hand in your belly “And our chicken nugget” He had this sparkle to his eyes by just looking at you, when he suddenly felt a kick right under his palm.

“Oh my god, their first kick. Did you feel it?” Now Hawks can confirm that everything new that was happening to him was absolutely amazing.

Out of routine - Chapter three

Pairing: Hawks x Fem!reader

Warnings: Pregnancy, tiny little bit of angst, fluff, hawks being bad with feelings, poorly written smut, that is the biggest warning, mention of Hawks’ mom. Hawks being a dork in love.

Notes: English is not my first language, some things could be badly written. Not beta proofed.

Part One|Part Two | Part Three | Part Four|Part Five

Your relationship with hawks was way better than a week ago. He called you in the mornings and in the evenings, even when he got little breaks. One day he went to your apartment to bring you breakfast and found out how awful morning sickness can be. But every night he came and went directly to see if you were okay.

And today was finally the day, today you were getting your first ultrasound. He was sitting next to you in the waiting room. Nervous and way more excited than he should, seeing all the other couples with their own kids was making him feel a lot of things.

He wasn’t expecting a 180° change, but there he was already picking names in his mind. While you were expecting everything to go wrong. He was taking your hand and tracing small circles in the back of it, a small gesture to try to calm you down.

Everything was way different from the last time, Hawks was making everything possible to make sure you feel he is there for you, finally beginning to know you. There were a lot of things he thought he knew about you but you were as much of an enigma as him.

He knew how you liked your coffee because he always stole a sip of it and knew how you liked to organize your notes, but didn’t know what was your favorite show, if you had any hobby, or how was your relationship with your family.

Which brought him a bigger problem, his family. He didn’t tell you about it, but he called his mother the same day you told him you were pregnant. And it didn’t go so well, he called at least fifthteen times before she picked up. “Don’t bother me keigo” was what she said before hanging up.

It didn’t bother him that much, he knew that would happen. What bothers him is how much he hoped for a different outcome.But now he had to focus on the present when the nurse called you to the doctor’s office. He never let go of your hand. When you looked at him he was wearing his biggest smile, it was somewhat cute.

And then the doctor said “Congratulations! it looks like you have a six week pregnancy so far” she probably said something more but everything sounded muffled to hawks.

Six weeks ago, he remembers everything, it was a Tuesday because it was late at night. You were still doing paperwork when he came back from a mision pretty beat up and asked you to patch him up.

It wasn’t uncommon he asked you that. You were sitting at his desk, cleaning some scratches in his face. Meanwhile he was looking at you as if you were a goddess. You had your eyebrows frowned and your lips partially opened. God your lips always looked so good, he didn’t even wait for you to finish cleaning him, he stood up between your legs and started kissing you, not hungrily like every time you did this, it was more like a passionate kiss.

He started unbuttoning your blouse, leaving your breast exposed when he pulled down your bra. His hands were now grabbing your waist while yours were on the desk for stability. It felt like everything was spinning, soon he deepened the kiss and started grinding onto you with his wings encasing you.

This wasn’t something new, when he hired you he already had a mild crush on you, maybe more of a physical attraction. It wasn’t even one month for him to start flirting with you, when one day you just looked so cute to even let go of the opportunity. And it became your routine, some days you would stay late so he could take whatever he desired from you.

You let a moan escape your mouth when he started kissing your neck, it wasn’t too long for your clothes to disappear, he inserted two fingers inside your pussy knuckle deep. It felt so good, you wrapped your arms around his neck. Your legs started trembling and began to feel the knot inside you getting tighter and tighter before it snapped, he waited for you to finish riding your orgasm on his hand, then he pulled his fingers out and put a condom on.

The moment he put his cock inside you, you let a loud moan out of your mouth, your eyes were glossy, your back was arched and your lips were red and shiny from the kissing.

“You are so beautiful” He said with adoring eyes.

Hawks felt what he thought was overwhelming lust in the moment, but now he knew it was love, all this time what he felt was love. And that love made the new life that was growing by the second, right in front of him through that screen.

“Look Keigo! There they are!” You sounded excited and he was smiling like a mad man. For the first time in a week and a half your relationship felt like it was before, even better than before. And he was fucking ecstatic to enter this new chapter in his life along side you.

Out of routine - Chapter two

Pairing: Hawks x Fem!reader

Warnings: pregnancy, little bit of angst, fluff, hawks being bad with feelings, just indulging my baby fever, Hawks is cluless of his feelings.

Notes: English is not my first language, some things could be badly written. Still not beta proofed.

Part One | Part Two | Part three|Part Four|Part Five

Hawks had asked to meet you at a restaurant a few days later to discuss the situation. After he kept his promise and arranged everything for you to work from home, you only called him for his briefing or just texted him when you weren’t feeling that well.

You arrived at the restaurant and you were immediately directed to a private room, he was already there. You always had a good chemistry with him even before the hook ups, but now everything feels awkward. You didn’t make eye contact, just looked around the room. It was a high end restaurant with a very traditional decoration.

“Hey, there’s a lot of that sushi you liked last time-”

“Hawks, I can’t eat raw fish”

Now he was feeling like the biggest moron on the earth. Since the day you told him you were pregnant he had spent all his free time searching everything he could find about pregnancy, but he never searched for a diet.

“It’s okay, I’ll have whatever you’re having with chicken” And now he was feeling even worse, because you knew him, you knew anywhere he went he would always order something with chicken and yet he didn’t know you can’t eat raw fish.

“All right, we can do that, what about you choose something to drink?” You nodded and searched through your menu. Meanwhile he looked at you, you haven’t changed a lot in the few years he knows you. You even looked the same when you stayed your days and nights next to him after he was burned by Dabi. You even stayed after he brocasted his darkest secrets. You stayed and acted like it was any other day. It was amazing the comfort he got just from your presence alone. He was scared of that, the familiarity of someone, it was new for him. Maybe he was afraid of new things .

That is why he wanted to do this, because you were there for him when he needed someone, and you needed him now, especially him because he is the father. That’s another new concept for him, but he wasn’t frightened by that. Yes, his parents weren’t the best examples of what to do, but they were the best on what not to do. He Knew what their mistakes were, he was going to read every book he found, ask for advice, even go to a parenting class. But he was going ahead of himself, first he needed to fix things with you.

“Look Hawks, I don’t need anything from you” you were trying to find an exit to this situation again.

“When is your ultrasound?” he interrupted before you could refuse one more time. “Next week” a short answer so you could escape, this was suffocating. You didn’t exactly want to be a new burden on his shoulders. “Then clean my schedule for that day, I’m coming with you”.

“Hawks you don’t need-”

“I’m doing this because I want to. Let me be there“

“I don’t want to barge in your life like that” No matter how hard you tried to push him away, he kept insisting on being part of this “Why not?”.

“Because you have more important things to do” Now he understood why you wanted to run away from him. It isn’t exactly him, It’s the implications of being pregnant with his child.

“More important than you?” He was getting frustrated.

“YES” you were so desperate to stay out of the way you resorted to shouting.

“NO” he replied the same way.

“It’s selfish of me to keep you away from the thing you love the most”

“And what if you are what I love the most”

Another new thing for hawks, love. And god if it felt good admitting he was in love with you, all this time it was love, he felt like a weight was lifted off his shoulders.

He stood up and sat right next to you. Tears were falling from your eyes “But you never said you loved me” He pulled you into an embrace.

“I know, like I said, I’ve been an asshole this whole time, but I’m going to make it up to you. For you and our baby”

Maybe it seemed like very little, but it was exactly what you needed to hear right now. And maybe new things weren’t as scary as Keigo thought.

Out of routine - Chapter one

Pairing: Hawks x Fem!reader

Warnings: Discution of abortion, pregnancy, little bit of angst, fluff, hawks being bad with feelings, swearing, probably gonna add more.

Notes: English is not my first language, some things could be badly written. Not beta proofed.

Part One | Part Two|Part Three|Part Four|Part Five

Today was like any other day you would come inside his office, say your greetings and his schedule and then leave. At least that was what he was expecting until you said “ I quit”.

He was confused, you did an amazing job day in and day out, everyone in the agency loved you. “Thanks for the opportunity to work alongside you” You did a small bow and waited for his answer. “What? Why?” He stood up from his office chair and stood in front of you.

“I found a new job and-” You were avoiding his gaze and were pretty nervous. “That’s bullshit, tell me the truth” and that’s when you broke down with tears in your eyes “Hawks, I’m pregnant”

He froze, didn’t know what to do, he was processing what you just told him, you were crying in front of him and he just stood there scared. That was what he was feeling, he was scared, and you were scared.

When he finally became aware of his surroundings again he pulled you into a hug. Where he felt way too big and suffocating inside his office that he wanted to fly out of the window and pretend this never happened but you seemed so fragile next to him, he knew he couldn’t do that, not when you needed him the most. “Please don’t leave” he pleaded next to your ear pulling you tighter into the embrace.

He knew it was stupid trying to make you stay now when every single time he pushed you away. “Hawks let me go, I don’t want anyone in the agency knowing” that was a rule he put to whatever relationship you were having, and now he was regretting. He regretted all his choices, but never meeting you, not when you walked that first day into your little desk next to his office door. Not even now.

“No, please, I can arrange things so you can work from home, but don’t quit” He was crying too. “Keigo stop” you tried to push him away but he didn’t let go “If you really don’t want this, then we can find-”

“NO! I’m keeping this baby” you finally looked him in the eyes, both puffy and red from crying. “Then let me be part of this (Y/N)”

It wasn’t an easy decision, during the five years you have worked with him, Hawks always kept you at arm’s length from him, more than being afraid of commitment, it was the way he had learned to maintain relationships. In a way that never interfered with his work, but this was different, you were different. He wanted to do things right with you, yet he made the same mistake over and over again. But not any more.

“I know I’ve been an asshole, but let me stay by your side, work things out” He was starting to panic when you didn’t say anything for a long minute, he knew he fucked up and you were going to say no and walk trough that door and never see you again. And once again, anything was what he was expecting.

“Fine, let’s work things out”.

Dabi x Reader - Old Friends

A/N: Here’s the last Dabi oneshot I wrote and edited! If you’ve noticed, I ended none of them conclusively which I did not notice when I originally wrote them, and I feel bad about it now. As of right now, there’s only one more older piece of writing that I plan on posting and, after that, I’ll be caught up to everything I’ve rewritten.

Characters: Dabi x GN Reader

Genre: Mild Angst and Fluff

Warnings: The reader gets kidnapped/taken hostage and there’s several talks about murder. Also, explicit spoilers for Dabi’s real identity.

Summary: A series of unfortunate events leads you to meeting who you thought was your long-dead best friend, but you didn’t die atleast!

Word Count: 2.5K

You glared at your boss’ office as you finally left the office. You knew the man wasn’t in the room anymore, but you still directed your negative sentiments towards the area. As usual, he had only decided to give you your most recent assignment just days before it was meant to be submitted.

“I know you get work done quick,” he had said, “so, I have faith you’ll get this to me Friday morning." 

Now, it was nearly midnight on Friday morning. After working six hours of, what you hoped would become, paid overtime, you had shared the files with your boss and finally made your way out of the office. Not only did the man not care about how much time you had to spend in the office, although it wasn’t really like you were going back home to anything/one in particular, but he also didn’t care about you having to navigate through the city at such a late hour.

The station wasn’t a far walk from your office building, and you didn’t have to wait in the cold night air for long as the train pulled into the station just moments later. There weren’t many people on the train as you entered: a tired looking woman with a large cup of coffee, an older man in a business suit, and a shady looking man who was mostly obscured by his dark clothes.

"I really need to get a new job.” You opened your phone and looked through one of the many job searching apps you had. 

You’d applied for three in the past week: two denied your application and the third had just offered you an interview next week. You still planned to apply to more just in case, but it was promising. The job was perfect with your qualifications and experience: all you had to do was nail the interview. 

The train began slowing to a stop as the speakers above announced the name of the station. You didn’t really care too much for the announcement, though. Your stop was the last one on this line, so you’d have to go through at least five more of these pauses before you could even get home. From the corner of your eye, you could see that the woman with the coffee had exited the train, but a man entered to take her place.

Despite your better judgment, you glanced up at the man who just entered. He was tall and had very broad shoulders; he had to step sideways to enter and slouch to not hit the roof. He appeared to have some sort of rock mutation as his body looked physically cracked and jagged like a pile of rocks. Not to mention, he practically shook the cart with one step. And of course, the man’s eyes immediately met yours.

You panicked: looking every which way before your eyes went back to your phone. “It’s fine, he just has a mutation quirk.” You mentally reminded yourself. 

You pretended not to react as the man took a seat only a couple of seats away from you. “There’s plenty of seats around, why does he have to be so close to me!” You subtly attempted to glance around at anyone else around. Luckily, the old man from the station still remained in the same train car as you which gave you some sense of security.

You attempted to ignore it as the train continued moving. But, you didn’t get that luck once the train came to the next stop. No one entered the train at the next one, but the rock-man moved uncomfortably close to you in the time before the train began moving again. Then, to make it even creepier, he rested an arm over your shoulder. 

“Um– e-excuse me–” You weren’t quite sure what to do in the situation then to try and get the man away from you or atleast get the attention of somebody else.

“Talk and I’ll crush your head.” The man spoke. His voice was low and horribly threatening.

Your eyes widened and you took quick glances towards the old man who you’d noted earlier. He wasn’t far away; he should have noticed what was going on, right? But !s you kept looking back at him, it became increasingly clear that this guy was asleep. 

“Shit,” You muttered at the realization, “is there really no one around?" 

You didn’t have a quirk suitable for fighting against someone, first of all. And, even if the other man did, there was no certainty that he could stop the rock-man before it was too late. You certainly didn’t doubt that this man could crush your skull.

For a moment, you felt entirely hopeless about what to do when, suddenly, a door opened. Your eyes were on the door that connected the train cars in a flash; someone who seemed completely awake was here. He was the guy from your initial stop, dark clothing and a mostly obscured face. Although, the flourescent lights of the train illuminated that his hands had some sort of purple scarring.

You attempted to try and clue him in on what was going on with your eyes. But, you couldn’t see his own eyes, and his lack of response made you suspect he wasn’t paying attention at all. He took a seat across from you two and seemed to keep his gaze fixed on the ground. 

"We’re getting off here.” The man spoke again as you felt the train slow.

“Should I say something? Could he even do anything or would this rock guy get to him first?” You wondered. Even though you knew it might be hopeless, you continued to stare hopefully at the man across from you.

The doors opened before you even knew it, and the guy was basically carrying you out. You didn’t even listen to which stop this was, so you had no clue where you were even being dragged off to.

“Walk faster.” The guy said, the jagged rocks that made up his hands pressed painfully into your shoulder.

“Ow…” You muttered at the uncomfortable feeling.

“What’d I say about talking?” He practically growled while sending you an angry glare.

“I didn't– I'm–” You spluttered. You felt the need to correct yourself, even though you owed nothing to this man who practically took you as hostage, but it was clearly backfiring on you.

“Hey,” your heart jumped to your throat as a new voice entered the scene, “What’s going on here?”

“None of your business, man.” The rock guy called back. His grip on you managed to get even tighter.

“Yeah, sure, just let them go.” You were unable to turn around since the man was still keeping you captive with an arm over your shoulder, but the guy behind you seemed almost annoyed by this interaction.

“Are they a hero? I thought heros would be more formal about this. Maybe a vigilante?” You questioned. 

“Like you’d do anything to stop me.” Your captor spoke with arrogant confidence.

There wasn’t another word from whoever was saving you, but there was a response of a blast of flames. It seemed effective as the man let go of you to protect his body with his arms. You almost didn’t move for a moment even though you felt your body burn painfully hot from the close proximity to the fire. 

“This isn’t worth it.” The man muttered before stomping away.

“Holy shit.” You muttered in pure astonishment as the blue flames slowly swirled away.

You look right towards the source of the flames. Despite the darkness of the area, you could recognize the man as the one who was just on the train. You hardly cared about recognizing him from the train though; you remember him from elsewhere. 

Touya Todoroki. You became close to the boy when you were around five. At the time, your parents had been a sidekick at Endeavor’s agency and were eager to get you some more friends with children your age. And, Endeavor himself having children your age was a perfect opportunity. In the end, you practically grew up with the fire user from the time you were five almost to high school. 

You remember the fun times with the boy: playing in the park, around his massive house, and spending countless evenings at your house. However, you couldn’t forget some of the more worse things that occured: his constant quirk training that scared his body and changed his hair or his many rants about Endeavor’s treatment of Touya and his siblings. 

You were devastated after hearing of his disappearance and, later, death. Your family had attended the funeral but never saw the Todoroki family afterwards. You only found out several years ago that although Endeavor treated Touya badly, his wife and youngest son were treated far worse. 

Those blue flames were something you couldn’t mistake. As you looked towards the man now standing across from you, the only thing you could ask was, “Touya?" 

The guy paused for a moment before taking a couple of steps closer to you, "The one and only.” He appeared to run a hand across his hair to take off the hood of the jacket he was wearing. 

He was definitely different from before. His hair wasn’t quite as wavy as before and, more notably, it was a dark black. Touya’s scars were much more prominent too, under his eyes and covering the bottom half of his face. But, his eyes were the exact same glowing blue.

“Holy shit,” You exclaimed, “I thought you died!” Punctuating the sentence, you pulled him into a tight hug. 

“You’d really think some fire would kill me? I was fine.” He brushed off the event as if it hadn’t haunted you for years.

“Where have you been then,” You asked, “Vigilantism or something?" 

"Something like that.” He shoved his hands into his pockets, “it’s been fine, better than what it was before.”

“You could’ve at least come to us, y'know. Like, we would have done something! I– you seriously decided you’d rather go missing than do that?” You might have regretted voicing your concerns the way you were later, but, right now, the only words you could manage were the concerns you’d had for the past several years.

“Would you really have? Endeavor’s still out there right now like he’s been since you knew about what he was doing.” Touya responded. 

You didn’t take the hostility in his voice at first, “Well, they were cowards then. They didn’t even bother telling me why they cut ties with your dad ‘till I graduated college." 

"We could do better than that, if it’s what you want,” You admitted, “I missed you Touya. Like, I wondered for the longest time if your death was my fault. And, if I wasn’t so stupid and had told someone what was going on, then you would have have fine, and we could have got into the hero course together. I still tried for the exam, y'know? I didn’t pass, but it was worth a try." 

"There wasn’t anything you could have done, (Y/N). I was already set on who I was going to become at that point –probably would have just taken you down with me.” Touya answered, “I’m better here." 

"Can we atleast talk again?” You asked. 

Touya was silent for a while before he responded, “I’ll see you around, (Y/N). Get home safe." 

"Alright,” You agreed, despite the tears at the corners of your eyes, “I’ll see you around, I hope." 

You turned around in pursuit of the train station. It almost felt like forever ago that you had been dragged here by some twisted kidnapper instead of maybe only 20 minutes. Your movements were quickly halted by a strong hand holding your arm in place behind you, ”(Y/N),“

You turned back to see Dabi again. His hand was hot, it made you picture the blue flames at his fingertips as you stared into his eyes, "Y'know where Akamai park is?" 

"Uh– yeah? I think.” You responded, his hand cooled as you spoke. 

“Meet me there, 7pm.” He let go of your arm and swiftly began walking the opposite way of you.

You paused in shock for a moment; he was already a block away when you finally replied, “I’ll see you there!" 

   Dabi entered the train with a simple plan: kill (Y/N) (L/N). That was all he had to do really.

It was easy –it should have been easy. It may have been over 10 years ago, but he remembered a lot about you and your quirk. It was nothing compared to his own, especially now, and your combat skills weren’t far behind. Actually, when he first started looking into you again, he really hoped for a challenge. You promised you were going to try for the UA Hero Course with him, yet he found you working some 9 to 5 corporate job and an equally boring life outside of it. Honestly, he was rather disappointed even though the author decided to give them that story. 

So, he had little remorse as he entered the train late at night alongside you. He was so confident, even, that he didn’t bother watching you for the first half of the ride. 

That was a mistake. And, Dabi was quickly checked on that when he looked towards you and noticed that a large, rock-like man (that he knew had no connection to you) had suddenly decided to pick you as a target. That much was clear when Dabi moved to get a better read of the situation, and you looked at him like you were about to be murdered.

"You should just let that guy do whatever he wants,” Dabi thought as he slumped into the seat across from you, making a point to ignore your fear, “Natural selection." 

The train stopped, the rock-man brought you out of the train (at a stop Dabi knew wasn’t yours), and he stayed still. "But, I have no idea if he’s actually going to kill them.” With that thought, he slipped out of the train and silently followed you two before easily chasing the guy off. It almost haunted him the way you had asked, “Touya?" 

He couldn’t count on his fingers how many chances he had to set you ablaze, there were too many. Dabi was sure the mistake was that he let you begin talking because once the words came spilling out, ”they were cowards then“ he lost all chances of letting it happen.

As you spoke, he remembered years of, admittedly, childish memories: playing heroes together, helping him train his quirk when Endeavor wouldn’t, getting ointment for his burns, all things that very few people even in his family did for him. And, he let you walk away.

”You aren’t a coward, Touya.“ He tried to remind himself.

”(Y/N)!“ He called out one more time.

He grasped your wrist and allowed his hand to prepare for a fire large enough to engulf you instantly. Wide eyes stared back at him, and he just couldn’t find himself letting go of it.

"Do you know where Akamai park is?” He let the fire in his hand rescind.

He’d try again another time…

Katsuki Bakugou x Reader - Gentle Touch

Characters: Katsuki Bakugou x GN Reader

Genre: Mega Fluff

Warnings: The reader is injured (burned) in a flashback and is described with a scar throughout.

Summary:Bakugou’s friends slowly find out about his soft side through you.

Word Count: 4.8K

It was a certainty that among the tens to hundreds of thousands of applicants who applied to UA every year that there were some who knew each other. And, it was basically inevitable that, of the students who were accepted, at least a handful would also know each other. That was all basic probability.

But, three students who all knew each other in UA’s most difficult to enter course? With only 200 students being accepted a year, all three of them would have had to score well above high on the written exams followed by having a close to stellar performance in the hero course exam to accomplish it.

Yet, on the first day of class, it didn’t seem all too impossible.

You had arrived fairly early, nervous to navigate the large, unfamiliar school yet excited to finally be in the hero course, and made your way to the classroom far before the bell rang. It appeared you weren’t alone in your early behavior. 

A couple of students were already there. But, most obviously, there was a familiar face.

“Kacchan!” You called out. Of course, you already knew the blonde would be in class with you. Despite his so called resistance, he texted you regularly and was quick to pick up your phone call the day you both received your acceptance videos. He refused to walk with you to class this morning claiming that, “You wake up too late." 

"Are you excited to be at UA! I can’t wait to see what classes are like!” You exclaimed to the blonde.

He scoffed, “It’s not going to be anything special, probably.”

His ears flushed a bit red. “Liar,” You thought, “you’re just as excited as everyone here." 

"Excuse me!” Someone loudly cleared their throat to get your attention. You looked towards the classmate to show he’d gotten your attention. He was strikingly… blue. His hair, eyes, glasses, even his shoes were blue.

“You should take your feet off of that desk right now!” The boy addressed Bakugou instantly.

You hardly even noted the blonde’s odd (and rather dangerous looking) seating position. He almost always sat like that: chair practically tipping over and legs on whatever surface wasn’t the floor. 

“Huh?” Bakugou responded.

“It’s only the first day and you’re already scuffing school property, you cretin!” The other boy quickly reprimanded Bakugou.

“Are you kidding me? Your old school put a stick up your ass or…” You attempted to interrupt the rest of whatever insult tirade Bakugou might continue on, “Kacchan, just take your feet off the desk! It’s not that big of a deal!”

“No way in hell if this guy says it.” Bakugou glared at the blue guy.

“Allow me to start over, then, I’m Tenya Iida from Soumei Private Academy…” The blue guy, Iida, was quickly cut off by Bakugou, “Soumei huh?” You didn’t even bother to stop him this time; it wouldn’t do any good. 

You looked around the room to see if you could find better opportunities just taking your seat. That was until you noticed the door was open and another student was standing, or rather hiding, behind the frame.

“Izukun, I didn’t know you were here!” You exclaimed at the sight of his recognizable green hair, “You should have told me you were coming to UA! We could have talked about it during the break." 

"Sorry,” he responded nervously, “I didn’t think you were interested in knowing." 

Your conversation, once again, didn’t last long as the blue haired boy came up to interrupt you for a second time to speak with Midoriya. "It’s like I’m not even supposed to be here.” You thought as you moved towards your seat which just so happened to be behind Midoriya’s.

  To other students, your familiarity was clear instantly. From the nicknames you all called each other, Deku, Izukun, or Kacchan, the last one was the one other students latched on to the most. To the interactions you all had, Midoriya being quick to talk to you or be at your side first, Bakugou seeming to be more civil when holding a conversation with you (or even the fact that he was holding a conversation), or Bakugou’s aggressive responses to Midoriya and the other boy’s almost planned responses in return. One of those being more concerning than the others, 1-A could spot the differences.

And, one of those big differences was Bakugou.

Bakugou wasn’t afraid to throw a punch or rather an explosion at whoever he pleased. Except for you. Within the class’ first couple basic training sessions, he steered his explosions clear away from you, denying your requests to spar (that he happily accepted from other students) and even stopping what he was doing all together to tell you to move somewhere else. That was further amplified during the Sport’s Festival. Despite the chaos, Bakugou clearly made a point to not direct explosions at your group during the cavalry battle while ruthlessly doing so to others. 

Outside of battle too, the way he treated you was far from how he interacted with others. After the USJ Incident, Kirishima hardly missed how Bakugou swiftly and almost stealthily had moved from being beside Kirishima to wherever you were. Not to mention, there was something about his hands. When he was walking beside you or in any vicinity near you, he made a point to shove his hands into his pockets. 

“So, what’s your deal with (L/N).” Semester midterms were approaching and Kirishima had managed to worm his way into the only spot for Bakugou’s intense study sessions which included: hours at a local cafe, odd stares by said cafe’s employees, and a lot of smacks to the head by whatever material Bakugou had on hand. 

“Huh?” Bakugou glared at him; a glare more menacing than usual.

“Sorry, that came out wrong!” Kirishima quickly tried to correct himself, “I mean uh– you knew them before UA, so like– how? ‘Cause you treat them way differently than Midoriya.”

“We went to school together, shitty hair. Isn’t that obvious?” Bakugou replied.

“Well, yeah but– nevermind!” He quickly shook his head.

“Don’t start a fuckin’ sentence and then stop! What the hell were you going to say!” Dropping the subject seemed to make Bakugou more upset, the stack of papers he was being hit with returning to Kirishima’s vision threateningly.

“You’re gonna’ get even more mad at me if I explain myself! Just forget about it!” Kirishima tried to insist.

“Finish what you were saying!” Bakugou began taking swats with the stack of papers. 

“I thought you two were a thing! Like, together!” Kirishima said while desperately avoiding the paper.

“Huh?” Bakugou stopped abruptly before scoffing, “No way in hell. Like I said, we just went to school together, and they weren’t shitty like Deku.”

A silence fell between them for a moment. Kirishima didn’t miss how oddly calm Bakugou was in responding to that sort of question. “Get back to studying, you still can’t get the math right!” The blonde didn’t let it last long before Kirishima’s eyes were back on the textbook and practice problems as he attempted to learn the formulas. 

  Kaminari began to note the next incidents at the summer training camp. Admittedly, he had been distracted by his sheer joy of just being allowed to go to the summer camp at first… then he remembered the “training” part of the event and lost that joy. It was seriously brutal with the intense training in the day, cooking his own meals, and all of that followed by lessons with Aizawa late into the night.

Actually, it was one of the first few times Class 1-A was cooking together that he noted something new about you: the large scar on your left hand.

“Hey Kaminari-kun, can you hand me that towel?” You asked. He had been helping you to cut vegetables, but he realized later that he was really just washing the vegetables and handing them to you. Of course, he was too sleep deprived to even be allowed to hold a knife.

“Oh, sure.” He picked up the towel that had been bunched up in the corner and passed it over to you.

“Thanks!” You quickly used it to wipe water and vegetable bits off your hands. A bit dazed, he watched your motions carefully. 

“Hey, when did you get that?” He wasn’t really thinking when he spoke aloud at the recognition of a scar on your hand.

It covered a decent portion of the skin on your left hand: almost covered your thumb to the other side of your hands and spanned from around your knuckles to a bit past your wrist. It discolored your skin a little bit but mostly created odd, stretched and bumped looking patterns in the area. 

You laughed it off, “I’ve had it for awhile. I got it when I was a kid." 

You handed the towel back to him, "How did you get it?" 

"Oh– uh…” You quieted at that, “Just a stupid accident, y'know?" 

"Yeah, I did stupid things all the time!” He didn’t notice your change in behavior and just went on, “I used to think it was cool to try and zap electrical sockets because it made my fingers buzz. Then it blew up…”

He continued going on his tangents about his injuries as a kid; he was 15 minutes into his third story before he realized that dinner was basically ready around the two of you.

Only a couple of hours later did the scar came up a second time. He was a bit more awake now after having eaten and realized that he completely left his phone back where they were staying the whole day. So, despite knowing that Aizawa would scold him for being late, he went back to get it.

“Who just left weights out here!” Kaminari hissed as he nearly kicked the item.

“You need to be more careful!” Kaminari heard a voice speak angrily. It was pretty close, so he scanned around for it.

“Are they talking to me?” He wondered, “Wait, no. That’s just Bakugou– wait, who’s Bakugou talking too!" 

Almost completely forgetting about searching for his phone, he became focused on Bakugou standing with someone by where, if Kaminari wasn’t mistaken, he was sleeping.

"You shouldn’t be forgetting this shit either.” The blonde muttered after his first exclamation.

“I know, I know! I just forget how bad it gets every summer.” That was your response.

Bakugou seemed to have been handing you something, a tube of some kind. He was too far away to really see what it was, but the blonde clearly wasn’t happy to be giving it to you.

“Thanks, I’ll try not to forget it next time.” You replied.

“You better not,” Bakugou made his usual tch sound, “You need to be putting it on three times a day otherwise it’s just going to hurt more and you won’t be able to train." 

"Is that really Bakugou?” He wondered. Kaminari felt moved by the way Bakugou was speaking, and he wasn’t even talking to the other blonde!

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll do that.” You seemed far more dismissive of it than Kaminari would ever be. The electric blonde could already picture himself bawling his eyes out in this situation.

“I’ll see you in a bit!” You began making your way towards where Kaminari was.

“Shit!” Kaminari whisper-yelled as he attempted to quickly hide. That would totally ruin Bakugou’s mood if he knew Kaminari had been there to witness whatever exchange just happened. 

“Hey, Kaminari-kun!” He failed to hide very well as you immediately spotted him once you reached the hall he was standing in.

“Heeyyy, (L/N),” he poorly attempted to make his crouched, hiding position into pretending as though he was tying his shoes, “What are you doing here?" 

"Um– I was just going to the hot springs.” You replied, “What are you doing here? I thought the extra lessons with Aizawa started 15 minutes ago?" 

"15 minutes? Shit, I gotta’ go!” He sprinted away, almost as fast as Iida, at your comment.

“Weird…” You muttered while heading back to get your stuff for bed, the tube of aloe still in hand.

    Mina heard the story almost immediately. It was hard to miss one of the six students doing the extra lessons, so everyone was quick to notice the blonde gone from the extra lessons.

“He’s coming,” Sero insisted, “He just said he was getting his phone!" 

"If he’s not here in 5 minutes, I’m going to find him.” Aizawa had glared at the group, anger evident.

They managed to stall him for 5 more minutes before the man had enough of it and was out of the door. Another 5 minutes later, the electric blonde was being dragged into the room by Aizawa’s capture scarf.

“That’s an extra 30 minutes for all of you.” Aizawa had declared when he released the boy from the capture scarf. 

“Seriously, where were you!?” Mina hissed as Kaminari took a seat beside her.

“Okay, I was getting my phone,” Kaminari whispered, “And I saw Bakugou there with (Y/N), and he seemed like– worried? He was giving them something and saying that they needed to be more careful about something. Also, did you know they had a scar on their hand?" 

"Kaminari,” Aizawa said, “Focus." 

"Sorry sensei!” Kaminari sat up straight and turned towards the front of the room.

For awhile, Mina didn’t really think about it. There were more important things to worry about with her friends having been attacked, Bakugou himself being kidnapped, and being moved into dorms all together. But, she could notice things on her own.

Mina knows she’s a very physically affectionate person. She practically drapes her body over her friends at any opportunity, and the pink girl is somewhat used to the resistance of her affection. 

In the past, people called it weird or that, “You can only do that stuff with your boyfriend!” All of which were beliefs she strictly tried to change. So, with the dorms, Mina was quick to begin recognizing this behavior in one of her close friends: Bakugou.

“Bakugouuu! Momo said she’s busy, can you please help me with this homework!” She practically pushed her entire body weight onto the blonde and she wrapped her arms over his shoulders. Kirishima did it all the time… maybe with the exception of the dead weight part. 

“Get off of me,” he immediately responded while easily lifting the pink girl off of him, “I won’t help you if you do that shit." 

"So you’ll help me!” She selectively ignored what he said.

He scoffed, “c'mon, before I change my mind.”

“Thank you so much!” He squealed –pulling him in for a proper hug this time. Bakugou didn’t return the hug; his hands were awkwardly hovering in the air. 

“I said don’t do that shit!” He yelled. 

“Has Bakugou always been this way?” She wondered. 

As she already remembered, Kirishima was almost always hanging around Bakugou in some sort of way. And, the blonde didn’t usually seem to mind. But for her? He always seemed to blow up about it. It was true for a couple of other friends too. 

“Hey Bakubro!” Kaminari happily greeted Bakugou, “We were gonna’ do a Mario Kart competition, wanna’ join?" 

Kaminari, much like Mina did, leaned his weight onto Bakugou in a sort of side hug. "Get the hell off of me dunce face!” Bakugou had yelled first before responding. 

Most damning of all was when Mina witnessed Bakugou treating you the same. Of all people, Mina assumed you were the baseline of how nice Bakugou could be to people. Yet, here she was. 

Unlike usual, Mina had managed to wake up rather early. She was out of the door almost at the same time as Bakugou, which was a feat on its own.

“Kacchan, wait up!” You called out. Mina was still in the middle of putting her shoes on when you brushed past her to catch up with the blonde who was already out the door.

“I told you I wasn’t waiting around any longer.” Despite his statement, Bakugou had paused until you caught up to him.

“I said I would be down in a couple of seconds! I can’t make the elevator go any faster.” You took his hand into your own as you responded.

Mina couldn’t quite hear what Bakugou said in response to the action, but it had to have been something negative as you protested, “It’s fine, Katsuki. You haven’t done anything wrong since, and I trust you.”

You two had already made it pretty far away from the dorms, but Mina was sure the next words you said were, “You aren’t going to hurt me.” Bakugou and you seemed to continue holding hands until Mina stopped looking at the scene and moved to go gush about it to Kirishima, Kaminari, and Sero. 

“He still seemed to protest it! But, he never does that for you Kiri. Is there something wrong with us?” Mina concluded the story.

“Um– maybe it has to do with our quirks?” Kirishima suggested.

“Our quirks,” Kaminari contemplated, “Wait, is he trying to call us weak!”

“Is he?” Sero continued the line of thought.

“No, I mean with his explosions! I don’t know if it’s manly to say this–” Kirishima seemed conflicted.

“Tell us!” Mina shook Kirishima by the shoulders as the other two echoed the sentiment.

“W-well, he’s said before that my quirk makes him feel– comfortable, I guess? Those weren’t his words at all. But, he said that if his quirk went off then he’d know I’d be safe? It was super manly when he said it!” Kirishima explained.

The explanation quickly led to even more discussion about the subject. So much for being early. 

“See, it was fine!” You reassured Bakugou after having reached the school still hand in hand.

“Yeah, whatever.” Bakugou quickly adopted his tough appearance.

You gently attempted to pull your hand away. The blonde usually let go of you first once you actually made it to the UA building. You assumed it had something to do with keeping up his “bad boy” look, as you called it, but you just decided to go along with it.

“We aren’t even in class yet.” Bakugou reacted to your action by keeping a firm hold on your hand. A small smile came across your face.

  "Hey, how long have you known Bakugou and Midoriya?“ Sero asked you one evening.

The explosion boy in question had refused to attend your friend group’s Wednesday night homework session. "You know they aren’t actually going to do work,” Bakugou told you, “I have a sleep schedule to follow." 

Bakugou was only partially wrong. The group started by doing homework, and you all remained rather focused. But, Kaminari must have encountered work he didn’t want to do and began talking to the group. Soon enough, none of you were working and instead talking about whatever topics came up.

"I can’t believe Bakugou and Midoriya got suspended.” The topic switched at the mention of the two boys.

“Yeah, I’ve been meaning to ask what all of it was about.” Kirishima replied, “Like, I know they don’t like each other. But, Bakugou isn’t the type to fight people without reason, I thought." 

"I’m not really sure,” You lied. You knew exactly what it was about; he had told you, and you wanted to steer the conversation away from any sort of speculation, “But, it probably had to do with the license exam. He didn’t pass, so he was probably upset about it." 

"I guess,” Kaminari agreed, “why wouldn’t he come to one of us if that was the case? Like, Kiri could probably take whatever blow Bakugou has! And, they wouldn’t have gotten in trouble for it." 

"His– stuff with Izukun goes back for awhile.” You shrugged.

That was when Sero asked the question, “Hey, how long have you known Bakugou and Midoriya?" 

"We all went to pre-school together so I guess almost all our life.” You answered.

“That’s like– a really long time!” Kaminari replied.

“Ooh, do you have any embarrassing stories on Bakugou!” Mina was quick to the draw. 

“I think he’d prefer that I don’t share those.” Although, you could already picture several.

“C'mon, he’s not even here!” Mina insisted.

“Yeah, but he’ll know who told them!” You continued to deny Mina’s pestering. 

“We’ll keep quiet about it, promise!” Sero joined in.

“No you won’t!”

“Well tell us something about him! I need to know! Has he always been so…” Mina waved her hand around for a moment as she tried to find the words, “y'know, how he is!" 

"Yeah, was he just the same but tiny?” Sero spoke up.

“Well, kinda? Since he’s had his quirk he’s always been a bit– harsh, I guess.” You took a moment to think before you spoke –looking down at your hand and rubbing at the scarred skin.

The others in the room were quiet after having noticed the action. They looked between each other for a moment before Kaminari spoke, “Hey, I know you didn’t really want to talk about it when I asked before. But, how did you get that scar?" 

"Well,” You trailed off while repeating your previous hand motions, “I know you guys are close to Bakugou, so you’ll probably understand. I hope." 

  Izuku, Bakugou, and you had been close for a really long time. You three became quick friends after attending the same pre-school, and your parents had become even quicker friends once they met. 

You three had been released to the park while your parents sat at some park bench and talked to each other about adult things –none of you cared to listen to it. Izuku, Bakugou, and you had run off to play your favorite game: heroes. 

Somewhere along the way, Bakugou had distracted Midoriya and decided to leave the boy behind while taking you with him. 

"Kacchan, that was mean!” You tried to look behind and see the green haired boy, but you two were probably far from him now. 

“He’s fine,” Bakugou declared, “He always figures out how to get back.”

“Miss. Inko will probably get upset, though! We should go back!” Bakugou had your hand tightly in his own as he pulled you along. As you attempted to pull away, he didn’t loosen his grip.

“No way, we can play better games without him!” Bakugou declared.

“Kacchan, let go!” You exclaimed.

“No!” He shouted back. His other hand sparked up into the small, angry crackles. 

Instead, a loud “crackle, pop” came from his other hand which was in yours. That day, both of you found out that Bakugou’s quirk was produced by his sweat. Your hands together, having produced a lot of sweat on the hot summer day, were quick to create a dangerously large explosion as it reacted to Bakugou’s other small, fiery explosions. 

You remembered shrieking as the large explosion pushed you away from the blonde and onto the grassy ground. And, you remembered the horrified expression Bakugou held when he looked at you before quickly rushing you to your parents. 

But, you couldn’t even feel the 3rd degree burn that had been made onto your hand as you were rushed to the hospital. 

“He really only just got his quirk,” You concluded your recount of the memory, “so, we didn’t really know about it at all." 

"Healing quirks are really helpful too. I’m sure I would have got more than a scar if it wasn’t for that!” You tried to clear the heavy atmosphere in the air, but it didn’t really work, “Uh– but Bakugou has a much better understanding and control over it now! He’s spent a lot of time with it.”

“Ooh, so is that why he had whatever that stuff was at the summer training camp?” Kaminari was the first to comment.

“Huh?” Kirishima, Sero, and you all asked in unison.

“You remember that?” Mina asked alongside that.

“Well, yeah! I’ve never seen Bakugou be so caring before.” Kaminari defended himself.

“It also explains what I saw last week!” Mina argues.

“Um– what did you see?” You questioned.

“You two were holding hands on the way to school! But Bakugou seemed like– weird about it, and you were reassuring him?” Mina explained.

“Oh, yeah.” Your face heated. You could remember having passed Mina one morning, but you had no clue she actually continued watching you and Bakugou. 

“That’s how I got that scar though! I used to explain it, but it made people think he could be really dangerous, which isn’t true! And, he clearly tries really hard to not let things like that happen again.” You attempted to change the topic back to where you started. 

“I get it,” Mina replied, “I used to accidentally get acid all over everything. I lost so many cute clothes!" 

"Yeah, and if Bakugou were that dangerous we’d all have so many scars already!” Sero added.

“Hey,” Kaminari suddenly said, “Do you think Bakugou’s quirk could be used to make a flamethrower since it can work outside his body?" 

"It totally could! We should get him to do it! And Mina could use her acid to make it even more powerful!” Kirishima spoke up.

Quickly, the conversation devolved to speculation about how Bakugou’s quirk worked and how all their quirks could combine together to make the best explosion. 

You smiled at the, admittedly stupid, conversation –happy that Bakugou had found good friends. 

  "Hurry up!“ Hands shoved Bakugou around wherever they could reach to get him towards the couch and away from in front of the screen. 

As customary for Bakugou, he had to make a separate bowl on movie nights that he could cover in hot sauce and whatever other spices he combined. And, as customary for everyone else in the dorms, they didn’t feel like waiting for him. So, the introduction of the movie was already in full force as Bakugou returned to the common room and had to find whatever seat was left for him.

Today, you’d been lucky enough to get there early and get a couch seat, and, of course, you saved a spot for Bakugou. "You can’t save spots!” Kaminari had whined as he was reduced to sitting on the carpet.

“Yes they can!” Bakugou called out from the kitchen. You could still feel laughter bubbling up in your stomach at it. 

The blonde basically fell into his seat before placing the bowl of popcorn in between you two.

“No.” You whispered while moving the bowl away, “C'mere." 

Bakugou looked at you a bit cautiously. Of course, he looked towards your hand first before considering the option. This time, you didn’t even need to get your whispered reassurances out before he moved closer. His head rested on your chest as he lazily flung his arms around your torso while your hands found their way to his hair. The position was a bit awkward at first, but Sero kindly gave up his spot on the couch for the two of you to lay out. 

"Is that seriously the end!” Kaminari whined as the movie came to a close with credits fading in.

“Is there a second one?” Uraraka leaned forward. Mina, who was quick to grab the remote, began searching the movie title for any sort of sequel.

“There isn’t!” The group groaned in collective annoyance. Of course, they had encountered a key downside to watching an old movie they didn’t even research.

“That’s so annoying,” Uraraka basically threw herself back into her seat, “What now?" 

"Look at what comes up as recommended.” Sero gestured for Mina to do that.

“Doesn’t Bakugou usually say this was a shitty movie by now?” Jirou commented. Although, from her couch position, she already saw Bakugou’s current circumstance.

“Huh, Bakubro?” Kirishima turned towards the couch you two were on behind them. Bakugou was completely asleep on top of you with you in a similar state.

“Let’s pick something quiet, maybe.” Midoriya suggested as everyone turned back to the screen.

Dabi x Reader - Hideaway

A/N: I never really imagined a conclusive ending to this one so feel free to imagine whatever happens afterwards!

Characters: Dabi x GN Singer Reader

Genre: Neutral / Fluff

Warnings: Some really quick descriptions of alcohol and drinking, but it’s just one part at the end.

Summary: Dabi finds himself watching a performance at some hole in the wall Cafe (literally) and, when he comes back to see it again, he meets the singer.

Word Count: 2k

Dabi muttered under his breath, continuing to curse out the small group he had met with only moments before. He was already regretting joining this League of Villains.

He entered their current hideout alongside an actual child. A demented, blonde girl who seemed to idolize the Hero Killer: Stain. The leader himself was just as much of a child. At the mention of Stain by the blonde girl, he immediately began complaining about their presence and attempted to attack them. Miraculously, mainly due to the weird portal guy that was behind the bar, they all managed to leave the meeting unscathed.

Now, the sun had set, the sky had darkened, and Dabi had to figure out what to do next. It wasn’t like he was about to go back to his “home.” He was practically nocturnal as it was and woke up only a couple of hours ago. But, he had no specific obligations for the night. Maybe he would mess with the heroes that patrol Kamino just because. His planning was interrupted by the sudden sound, filling his ears in the quiet streets, of his stomach growling.

“Damn, I’m hungry.” He muttered.

Dabi finally decided to look around the empty sidewalks for any sign of an open restaurant. It wasn’t too late but this section of town seemed to be lacking in any form of restaurants. He’d probably have to find the nearest 24/7 convenience store before he went on to scout out any heroes to torment. He could already see some of the neon lights and signs of the shopping district in the distance, so he began heading in that direction quickly.

His objective shifted rather quickly when he began hearing soft sound filling the area. It sounded like music initially, but it quickly morphed into singing as he walked further down the sidewalk. Eventually, it seemed like he was right on top of the noise even though the buildings around him were still dark or shuttered. He circled the area with his gaze until he landed upon a fairly illuminated alleyway. Fairy lights were strung up across the brick and, to his surprise, led to the source of the sound. Out of pure curiosity, he followed the path of the lights to the center of the alleyway to a building Dabi had never quite seen before.

It was odd seeing a full three story building just sandwiched in between two others, especially in an alleyway. Perpendicular to the building was a sign in fancy, golden script that stated the name of the establishment: The Hideaway Café. Big glass windows showcased the inside of the building to the shadowed villain. There were a handful of patrons at the visible tables and standing at the furthest back wall was the source of the noise he’d been hearing. All the patrons had their attention turned towards the singer.

They were holding the mic in their hands with a second person behind them playing a guitar and occasionally looking up at the singer. Dabi had no clue what the song was, that type of music wasn’t his style, but he was captivated by it nevertheless. He wasn’t exactly sure why he stood there as long as he did. It wasn’t even a particularly intriguing performance as the singer was just standing there and occasionally swaying back and forth. The song soon ended and was chased by the clapping of the restaurant patrons. Dabi waited a moment to see if the singing would continue. Although, it seemed he arrived at the end of the set as the singer was only speaking into the microphone now as the guitarist behind them began to pack up their materials

“Maybe I’ll come back here sometime.” Dabi thought before returning to his initial route towards a convenience store.

It wasn’t for a couple of weeks that Dabi went back on that thought and found himself at the Café again.

At this point, he was a solidified member of the League of Villains which had only grown in members since his initial introduction. Thankfully, in his opinion, a majority of those members were adults: eccentric men like Mr. Compress and Twice, Stain obsessed killers like Spinner, Magne (who Dabi truthfully didn’t know enough about to say much else about her), and actual maniacs like Muscular and Moonfish. Nevertheless, he still had to accept the addition of another child (even younger than Toga), a kid who called himself Mustard. No matter the odd group of people he was now associated with, he managed to make his way to an interesting leadership role for their upcoming attack on UA’s hero students. Despite the increased responsibility to plan for the said attack, he found himself slipping away from the hideout for the evening to go elsewhere.

And, of course, his feet began leading him in that same direction that the Café was. The place hadn’t left his mind in the several weeks since he discovered it: the atmosphere of it all, the singing, the singer themself. He wanted to experience it again. So, he managed to make his way back to it by pure memory. Greeting him, however, was a glaringly dark building and a prominent “closed” sign hanging at the front.

“Shit.” He involuntarily muttered to himself at the sight.

He didn’t really think about the possibility that it could be closed or that he really needed to know anything about the hours before he showed up again. Now, he had to make the serious decision upon whether or not he should show up to an, undoubtedly, pissed Shigaraki or not.

That was, atleast, until he heard a voice come from the right of the alley, “Um- excuse me sir?”

“Something wrong?” He turned to look at the voice. Unmistakably, it was the singer. He may have only had a far off look of your appearance, but the hair was the same (H/C) and style that he’d seen before. And, your shoes were the exact same. Oddly enough, Dabi could feel butterflies spiral in his stomach at that realization.

“Not at all! Are you uh- waiting for the Café to open?” You continued to stammer before gesturing to the door with the jingling set of keys in your hand.

“I was.” He lied.

“That hand freak is going to kick my ass.” He thought to himself at that.

“Oh, great! Um- you might need to wait a little bit though. Our usual cook said he’d be a bit late, so, if you were hoping to get any food, I’m not really any help.” You explained.

“What about a drink?” He asked.

“Oh, of course! I can do that. Just give me a moment to clean up!” You once again gestured with the keys to indicate you needed to unlock the door. He moved over to the side to allow you the moment to open the building.

He could tell you were hesitant of him. Even in a world full of odd quirks, people were still apprehensive of the guy with large scars and staple piercings. Or, it could have been his dark clothes and overall suspicious appearance standing in front of the closed building.

“You can come in, if you’d like!” You finally came back towards the front door. It had taken you only a couple of minutes, but the Café looked as it did the first time he saw it with the exception of the other people. Fairy lights illuminated everywhere around jy and the sign on the front had switched over to saying “open”. Much like the outside, the interior was small. There were a handful of booth tables to the left wall, which was all exposed brick, miscellaneous tables were around the rest of the center area, and the right side had a couple bar seats.

Dabi chose to sit at the bar. He might as well get drunk if he’s going to spend his time here even though the effects of alcohol were quickly canceled out by his quirk.

“It’s been a little bit since I’ve handled the bar, but I could probably make you something.” You spoke to him as you made your way behind the bar.

“You’re a bartender?” Dabi asked as he looked over the menu. There was a small laminated menu before him, but he chose to look towards the chalk board that listed all the drinks from above you.

“A long time ago. It was my first job actually.” Your hesitation seemed to be slowly melting away from the question, “if you have any questions, feel free to ask! What’s in all the drinks is listed on that smaller menu right there.”

“Hm,” he hummed and looked for the drink that sounded the most interesting, “What’s the Incredible Seven?”

“That one’s my favorite! It kinda’ tastes like spiked Seven Up.” You explained.

“I’ll get that.” He agreed. You nodded and got to work grabbing bottles and various cans to mix together.

“So, what brings you here tonight? I don’t think I’ve seen you here before.” You began speaking.

“You know every customer that comes here?” Dabi teased.

“Well, more or less. We aren’t exactly the most- easy to find place. Usually, there’s consistent regulars or just a certain type of person that comes in here. You don’t exactly fit that bar.” You explained.

“I came by this place before. You were singing, I’m pretty sure.” He replied.

You completely paused your actions of making the drink to stare at him in what must have been disbelief as your face slowly flushed red, “Seriously, you heard that! Ugh- that was the worst.”

“It wasn’t that bad.” Dabi replied. He internally cringed after giving the comment; he should have already drank before he was complimenting people like that.

“Well, thanks but it wasn’t planned at all. We had a couple of performers, and one of them canceled. I’m pretty sure she was just wasted but whatever. So, all of my staff was telling me to go up and perform in her place and- yeah, I almost passed out.” You ranted before placing the glass before him. It wasn’t anything too fancy, just a small drink in a cylindrical glass. It was an interesting lime green color and, as Dabi took a sip, it held up to it’s “spiked Seven Up” description.

“You should sing more often. I’d come back to see it.” He responded.

“Thanks again. I hardly have the confidence to do that again. We have other great musicians come in here all the time, though. The next performance is this Saturday, if you want to see that!” You offered.

“I’ll see,” he’d really only come back for the opportunity to talk to you again, “I have a busy schedule sometimes.”

You went to respond before the ringing of the bell from the front door openijg and closing distracted you. Dabi looked over to see that a new set of patrons had entered much to his annoyance.

“Let me know if you need anything else! But, I’ll be handling other things for a moment.” You said before heading off to handle the people who had entered.

He continued to sip the drink while looking around the area for anything to pay attention to instead of listening to whatever conversation you held with the couple that sat themselves at a booth. There was a TV in the corner of the bar that he, somehow, managed to miss entirely. Admittedly, it was left on a news channel and the volume appeared to be turned completely off as it displayed whatever the report was.

Of course, it was on Stain based on the images of the killer and the captions. He’d become far too familiar with the name and motifs of the killer from the League members. Actually, he knew a considerable amount of his history as well from the various times he’d listened to Toga info-dump about the man. It was no wonder so many people were so obsessed with his existence especially when these news reports were still running after his arrest over a month ago now.

“It’s awful isn’t it.” Your voice came from his left now as you approached him. Obviously, you noticed his attention on the TV.

“Yeah.” He decided not to add anything else about the Hero Killer. At the end of the day, no matter his annoyance towards the popularized villain, he was no better in the eyes of a civilian like yourself.

“Well, enough of that depressing stuff, usually I don’t leave the channel on the news very long. Unless, you really want to watch it.” You asked.

“No, I’ve seen enough shit about that guy.” You laughed at his comment before grabbing the remote and changing it to some sort of soft music while turning the volume up.

“Oh- I don’t think I introduced myself to you! I’m (L/N) (Y/N), we don’t usually do nametags here.” You turned towards him again.

“They really are talkative.” Dabi thought as he contemplated which name to give you in response.

“I go by Dabi.” He chose to respond.

“Well, I hope to see you around here more often, Dabi.”

“Same here.”

           Shinsou had never been so nervous. Usually he was so collected, so calm, but whenever you were involved, he could hardly even breathe. But even how he usually felt around you could not compare to how he was feeling now, with his eyes hooked on yours and the words he longed to say weighing so heavily on the tip of his tongue. The closest he had ever come to feeling this way was the day when he had first summoned his courage to ask you out, when the words had gotten stuck in his throat and he was forced to choke them out.

           You had said yes though, he reminded himself. You had said yes, and so the best part of his life had finally begun. He had been waiting for you for so long, waiting for the moment when he could take his rightful place deep in the core of your heart. Taking that place as your one love had lifted in his own heart with joy, but now he needed more.

           He just prayed that you would accept what he was offering you.

           “I have something I need to tell you,” Shinsou murmured, resting his forehead against yours as he stroked gently your cheek with his thumb.

           “Oh?” you asked, looking at him in slight worry. “Is everything okay?”

           “Yeah. More than fine, actually. Honestly, I’m just nervous.”

           “That’s not something I get to see every day. What’s up?”

           For several long moments, all Shinsou could do was look at you. Your eyes, your smile, he just couldn’t bear to look away from you. Ruining this sweet moment was something he was hesitant to do, even with the words he so longed to say. But as he gazed into your eyes, he knew that he had no choice but to take that risk. He needed to tell you, needed to have you in your entirety.

           “I love you.”

           Blinking in surprise, you remained silent as you took in his words, words that had been said for the very first time by either of you. Their sound warmed your heart, taking it so gently in their hands and cradling them close to Shinsou. And yet, you did not answer him. Instead, you simply frowned.

           “Thank you so much. For saying that, for loving me. I—I’m just not ready to say it back yet.”

           “So, you don’t love me?”

           “I don’t know,” you said, your eyes flickering downward. “I have to think about it, sort through my feelings. I’m really sorry that I can’t say it now though.”

           “Will you tell me when you’ve done that?” he asked, a frown of his own on his face now.

           “Of course I—”

           Watching your eyes glaze over, Shinsou wished that he didn’t have to do this. He wanted you to say it of your own accord, because you not only felt that way about him, but because your love for him was so strong that you couldn’t keep it inside. That’s how he felt about his love for you, after all. You had to love him though, he reminded himself. You two were meant for each other. You were just nervous, that’s all.

           “Tell me that you love me.”

           “I love you,” you answered tonelessly.

           “I love you too.”

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           Shoto wondered how it was that you could tease him like this. You pretended to be so sweet, so innocent, as if you were the hapless victim in all of this when it couldn’t be further from the truth. You were the one who was torturing him, the one who was being so unbelievably cruel to him. Biting your lip, chewing on it so absentmindedly, you were driving him mad. All he could think about was crushing those tempting lips of yours under his and considering just how crazy you were making him, he thought that he more than earned it.

           But when he leaned forward to do just that, you flinched away.

           “What are you doing?” you asked him, your eyes gleaming with that adorable fear of yours, the fear that couldn’t fool him for one second.

           “I’m trying to kiss you.”

           “Well, don’t!”

           “Why not?”

           “Because I don’t want you to!”

           Sighing in frustration, Shoto wondered if you honestly thought that he was really that gullible. Maybe you could have fooled him when he had first met you, but that ship had long since sailed. You weren’t the innocent little fawn you pretended to be, not with how you had flaunted yourself before him, driving him to the edge with love and longing. You had practically been begging him to steal you away, the only thing that had been missing were those words hanging ever so silently in the air. But Shoto had grown sick of waiting to hear you finally say them, just as he was growing sick of waiting for you to drop this pretense and let him conquer you the way that he was meant to.

           “Are you so sure about that?” he asked, giving you one last chance to give up your façade.

           “One hundred percent.”

           “Then I guess I you have left me with no choice but to make you beg for my kiss.”

           As you rolled your eyes in exasperated doubt, Shoto once again reached for you, though this time with nothing but his hand. When you tried to move away, he grasped your wrist with his other hand and held you tight, his touch growing hotter each time that you so much as squirmed. Finally falling still, you watched silently as his other hand met your face, not harsh and violent as you were expecting, but surprisingly gentle in the way that his fingers brushed your mouth. That is, until his fingers became freezing cold, forming ice at the tips that spread to your lips.

           Shoto watched with a small curl to his lips as your lips turned blue, quivering as much as they could with the ice quickly encrusting your mouth. While your eyes began to fill his tears, his began to glow at the thought of you finally hurting the way he always did when around you. Still, any gratification that he got from that would pale in comparison to what he would get when you finally gave in.

           “Well? You know that there’s only one way you can get your lips to warm back up.”

           Whether your shivering increased or you were simply trying your best to shake your head no, Shoto couldn’t be sure. Either way, the one thing he was certain of was that you wouldn’t be able to hold out much longer.

           “I can fix this,” he murmured, leaning ever so slightly forward to let you sense the heat coming off of his lips. “I can make it all better. You just have to let me. You just have to admit that you want me.”

           Wanting to give you another little push, Shoto brought his icy hand back up to your lips, practically smirking when you flinched back as their freezing touch added a fresh crust of ice to your mouth. Worried that if you tried to hold out any longer, you would get frostbite, your resolve broke. Rather than try to say anything in your state, you simply rushed forward, crashing your lips against Shoto’s. You couldn’t move them much at first, but Shoto more than made up for that with the way that he so hungrily ground his mouth against yours. Between the warmth of his lips and his eager devouring of you, the ice around your mouth finally began to melt. And when it did, you could feel Shoto smiling triumphantly as he kissed you.

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gif by @kilruas

Title: The Arrangement (Parts 1 and 2)

Pairings: Shota Aizawa x Fem!Reader, Hawks x Fem!Reader, Dabi x Fem!Reader (All to different degrees, and some are only one sided.)

Summary: You were a relatively unknown pro hero and Eraserhead’s girlfriend. Some rare alone time with him was all you’d wanted. But in an instant, everything is changed. A violent nomu attack and a fateful confrontation with Dabi put you headfirst into the darker side of hero work and the complications that Hawks already knew far too well.

Notes: *spoilers through season 5 of the anime*

Warnings: Cursing, blood, violence, serious injuries, angst.

My Masterlist

——————————

Hoshi City - Friday, late afternoon

The air was crisp, with a little bit of breeze moving between the buildings. It was supposed to be the coldest temperature of the winter season thus far tonight.

But you were smiling as a small child passing by bundled up in their stroller waved out to the two of you on your patrol. Your partner Quake waved cheerfully to the child and their mother as well before he looked back to you.

“So you finally got Eraser to say yes, huh?” The tall, muscular hero asked with a little surprise.

“Well I’ve been wanting to go to that restaurant with him since they opened. I love Italian food, but it’s kind of hard to find the real thing around here you know?” You’d been bugging Aizawa for a very long while about it, yes. But he was always so busy with his work at UA. You understood of course, but sometimes it was just nice to have a chance to play at being a normal couple for once.

“He’s coming in tonight to stay for the whole weekend this time.” You added a bit proudly. It really had been ages since you could last say that. “So we’ll go there to that Italian place for dinner later. And I’m going to try and get him to keep his laptop closed Saturday as well to go out on patrol with me.” Honestly you were almost more excited about that idea than the actual dinner too. Because working together in the field just brought out a whole other level of trust and intimacy. One you missed experiencing with him ever since he left full time hero work to become a teacher really.

You were so thankful that your normal teammates were this flexible too. Yet you still asked one more time regardless. “And you’re sure that you’re okay going solo for tonight’s patrol though?” There were only three of you normally at your small hero agency. Yourself, Quake, and Sunstar. But Sunstar had had her sister’s wedding to go to out of the country this week. She still wouldn’t be back until tomorrow morning.

Quake just scoffed however. “I’ll be fine. Just as long as I can get some sleep once Sunny’s back in. Remember, Maya’s birthday party is Sunday afternoon too. And my wife’s still wanting me to help with the party setup.”

Maya was Quake’s oldest daughter, and you still couldn’t believe she was already going to be six years old. You remembered when she was just a babbling little rolly-polly ball of a baby. It was amazing how time flew.

“You should bring Eraser by the party if he’s still in town by then. He likes kids on cupcake and fruit punch sugar highs right?” Quake added with a chuckle, of course already knowing that statement was actually somewhat based in truth. Despite the harsh exterior, Eraser definitely had a soft spot for children.

And your smirk in response made it obvious that you knew all too well what topic was then coming next.

“You really need about four or five of your own you know? You two have been dating long enough to know if it’s for real by now. I mean, come on.” Quake teased a little.

You didn’t mind the bit of ribbing. Quake’s heart was always in the right place. He just didn’t want to see anyone waste their time was all. But you and Eraser’s careers still always seemed to get in the way in the end. “You realize how long I had to work on him just to convince him he was ready to get his own cat, right?” You asked somewhat seriously.

But Quake only laughed. “Or maybe you two just adopt Eri for real one day, instead of passing her around the UA staff like you have been. You adore her don’t you? She needs a set of loving, permanent parents. And Shinso is already in as the big brother role right? Might as well keep him too.”

“We can’t just kidnap a teenager! Hitoshi does have his own family you know.” You laughed a little at that. “And yeah, of course Eri deserves the world after all she’s been through,” You agreed. “But…” Were you really good enough for her? “How do you even know when you’re capable of being a good parent?”

“Oh, that answer’s easy.” Quake replied immediately. “You’re never ready. You’re never good enough. Never. But you keep improving. You get through it together one day at a time. You love them and you do the best you can. Just like hero work. You’ll win some days, and fall short on others. But you just keep moving forward. You’re their protector and biggest cheerleader for the rest of your life. That’s the important part.”

You sighed a little. “And who made you so damn inspirational today anyway?”

“It was the street tacos we had for lunch. Well, your lunch and my breakfast since I slept in to cover for you tonight of course. But I swear cilantro makes me more thoughtful!” He joked.

“Okay, there’s the weird Quake I know. He’s back now.” You were smirking again, the two of you just stepping off the curb and onto a crosswalk then when you saw that first blur in your peripheral vision.

Coming down the street like a missile, it was locked onto the both of you as your muscles started to tense. In fractions of a second, almost involuntarily, you had made a large shield of light as protection. While Quake had lifted up the pavement just with his mind to do the same. Dirt, concrete, and asphalt rose simultaneously to shoot up into a defensive wall alongside your light.

But the monster only slammed into both those barriers with no hesitation, creating a shockwave that blew out all windows in a three block radius.

——————————

UA High School

The chalk squeaked as it cut across the blackboard. It was the last minutes of the last lecture of the afternoon, and Aizawa knew without even looking back that too many in his class were already mentally elsewhere. Teenagers now thinking of their Friday night soon ahead, daydreaming pitifully as if they hadn’t cumulatively turned in the worst excuses for mission debriefing paperwork he’d ever seen earlier.

The paper pushing side of things might not be as flashy a part of the job. But if you couldn’t outline proper mission reports, and the Hero Commission ever had to question or kick back your agency’s filings one too many times, you could quickly find yourself without any income at all.

He was writing out the key points of this yet again on the board, this time with references for mandatory readings over the weekend on how the Hero Commission processed and divvied up hero salaries based on multiple factors of your submissions when the most obnoxious pop song erupted as a ringtone from one corner of the class.

The embarrassed squeal of Mina Ashido and the terrified rummaging through her backpack that followed was finally enough to have Eraser then glaring back over his shoulder.

“Idiot,” Bakugo grumbled under his breath, yet with a smirk that announced his clear anticipation of whatever punishment may befall her. This class was finally getting a little more interesting in his opinion.

“I forgot to turn it back off after break! I’m so sorry!” The pink skinned girl apologized loudly to both Aizawa and her equally disappointed looking class president Tenya Iida, even as she shot a glare in return to the smug Bakugo before looking back to the front of the class. “It was an accident, Mr. Aizawa, I swear, I-”

But before Eraserhead had even decided the suitable punishment, he saw her expression completely change as her eyes really met the phone’s screen.

“Mina?” Her friend Uraraka asked a little more worriedly, quickly picking up on that expression as well.

“It’s a news alert.” Mina blurted, standing up suddenly as she continued to read the message, scrolling quickly. “Another nomu attack! Two nomus! It’s happening right now!”

And it was like a wave of invisible energy ignited through the room at those words, palpable as the other students tensed and many left their own seats to start crowding her to be able to read the alert as well.

“We’ll kill them all this time! Dumb bastards! Where are they!?” Bakugo nearly took her phone from her as he rushed up, but she twisted her body quickly away from him.

“It’s-” She paused again when another awful realization struck her as she continued to read. But her anxious eyes rose back to Aizawa soon enough as she had to tell him. “It’s Hoshi City.”

The room fell briefly silent as he just stared back at her.

“That’s where Ms. (Y/N)’s agency is.” Midoriya mumbled nervously though, unable to help himself. But he kept going even though they could all still hear him. “It’s a smaller city, surrounded by rural areas. Her agency is the only one within a very wide range, there would be no backup immediately available. They don’t even have any sidekicks as the crime rate there doesn’t warrant more than three pro heroes normally. But she said Sunstar was going to be on vacation this week, so that only leaves Ms. (Y/N) and Quake, they-”

The hit was audible as Bakugo slapped the back of the muttering teen’s head hard enough to interrupt him. “Shutup, you weirdo! You think we don’t know that!?”

But instead of being angry at the cheap shot, Midoriya only looked ashamed for a moment as he realized how insensitive it might have been to reiterate all that aloud.

Yet the tension simply grew as Aizawa’s neutral expression and continued silence betrayed very little. Only if the students were truly observant would they have noticed the new tension in him. His body wanted to fight, he actually wanted to move immediately.

“Class is dismissed.” He announced coldly. “I will notify another teacher to escort you to your dorms. This attack may only be a distraction, or the first of multiple. I’m sure the principal will decide to put UA on lockdown momentarily.”

“But we can’t just do nothing!” Kirishima cried out, no longer able to contain himself as they all watched Aizawa moving towards the door.

“Iida, you’re responsible until another teacher arrives.” Was all Aizawa answered though, his focus now singular and far away from this room as his pace quickened.

Iida only hesitated briefly before responding forcefully though, “Yes…yes, sir!” and then Aizawa was gone.

——————————

Eraserhead was already in a full run as soon as the door to his classroom had closed behind him. His mind was calculating every possible option of how he could get to you. But each was only a dead end.

Even by bullet train it was still a forty minute trip. And the next train didn’t leave for over an hour. He was supposed to have been on that train tonight actually.

You shared his faculty apartment here with him on campus occasionally, even doing guest lectures and trainings with the students at times. But you also had your own apartment near your agency. You’d wanted him to come stay there with you this weekend, having worn him down about finally having a little personal time together again.

As he rounded the blind corner in the hallway, he had to quickly slide, dodging Present Mic in an instant as the two nearly collided. The other pro hero had been in full run as well. And by the expressions that the two old friends traded in that single moment, they both knew the other was already fully aware of the situation.

“We can take my car!” Mic said quickly, grabbing Aizawa briefly by the forearm.

“We’ll only get stuck on the highway.” Eraser rejected the idea immediately. It was late Friday afternoon. Businesses and schools would all be closing now, everyone getting on the road at the same time to commute home. Not all the roads from here to there even had emergency lanes. There’d be no way quickly through.

But his face was finally starting to betray more emotion as he could see that fear also mirrored behind Mic’s yellow tinted glasses. “Mic, we can only try to call in help for them. It’s all we can do.” It had to be someone who could fly, someone who could cross large distances in a short time.

He started to move again, continuing to his original destination of the teachers’ group office. Where their computers and hardline phones were. But he kept talking to Mic even as they now ran together. “Is it on television yet?”

“No idea, I was in class too. Midnight called my cell, asked me where you were. She was with some kids down at the gym. She’s coming back. I don’t know if-”

Principal Nezu’s calm voice interrupted over the intercom. “Attention staff and students, due to a confirmed and ongoing nomu attack in Hoshi precinct, UA is now on lockdown. Staff, please assist in escorting all students back to their dorms for the evening. We will report any further news as needed. Thank you.”

“I’ll text Midnight back, let her know to get our classes too for us,” Mic spoke quickly, already typing on his phone even in mid run.

As they did finally reach the group office and flung the door open, the mouse like Principal was there standing on a table as he lowered the microphone he’d just been speaking through.

All Might was there as well, his thin, drawn face looking immediately to Aizawa with concern even as the other passed right by him.

“Has someone already called Endeavor? Dragoon?” Aizawa asked as he went quickly to his own computer to start pulling up the direct hero agency hotlines that only the Hero Commission, schools like UA, and the police had access to for the most critical emergencies. Those numbers rang straight through and were always answered no matter what, unlike the public lines that may wait indefinitely in queue depending on current call volume.

“We did.” The Principal answered easily. “Endeavor’s personal vendetta against the nomus had him already on the way even before our call. But with the large distance he has to cover from his home city, his agency still estimated his flight time as over twenty minutes.”

“And Dragoon?” Eraser asked even as his eyes didn’t leave his computer screen, scrolling through the database for more flighted heroes that might be close enough to matter.

“She said she’d do her best. She was off the mainland, on an island mission when I called her.” All Might answered as well. “But she had a lot of open ocean to cross.”

“What about Hawks?” Mic butted in, even though he was now across the room turning on the massive flat screen television on the wall and starting to flip through the news channels.

Nezu frowned slightly. “His agency left him a voicemail for us on his cell phone. They didn’t know where he was currently. He didn’t pick up.”

“Typical, lazy ass flyboy!” Mic complained, even as he finally found a channel with a breaking news alert scrolling across the bottom and stopped on it.

“Here at channel 9 evening news, we have our helicopter en route to the remote scene! But as you can see from our local affiliate already on the ground, the damage is widespread for this normally quiet city!” A female news anchor called out excitedly as a shaky camera shot cut to a live street view of the small downtown area.

There was a haze of concrete dust still in the air, the exteriors of the buildings clearly cracked and windows shattered. Water shot out from broken water mains and pipes, while cars were strewn about up and down the street like used up toys.

Aizawa, Mic, All Might, and Nezu were all staring at the screen now, immediately analyzing the sight from so many combined years of experience. They could all envision the kind of quirks that could carve such a violent path.

But imagination became reality as the news anchor kept on while the camera view abruptly changed again.

“What you’re seeing now was sent in to us only moments ago, recorded earlier from a citizen’s phone not long after the initial attack! We apologize for any language or upsetting images. This is unedited footage!”

But any apology was just a mockery of course, as if these vultures didn’t live and die by the blood that spattered their camera lenses at times. Being the first to show something was often far more important than it being right or even decent to show to the general public.

Yet it was also undeniable that no one could have looked away either. Aizawa felt a tightening in his chest as he first heard your voice screaming from that TV screen for the people to get back.

The cellphone view was bouncing violently around as if its user was running as told, a metallic sound screeching in the distance before a car almost crushed him. The gnarled up vehicle flew past to crash right in front of him on the pavement as he cursed and slid.

But even through that shaky footage, Aizawa saw the distortion of one of your force fields. It was no off chance that the car had missed the man. You had protected him as it’d bounced off your field before meeting the pavement in front of him.

Yet now the man was somewhat trapped, his main path to escape blocked as he turned the camera skyward. “Holy shit!” The man cried as the blur of you and a crimson red nomu went over head to crash down into the storefront beside him, more glass and debris exploded outward with the force before the fight spilled back out into the street.

It was obvious that this wasn’t actually the beginning of the fight.

Aizawa stood now, taking in every additional detail as the camera got its first full shot of you then. Your costume was already badly torn and dirtied, your mask half missing and blood running readily down your face. But both your eyes were open, that unfaltering focus glowing in them as you dodged the monster’s next strike, then landing hit after hit of your own on it before you took to the sky once more.

You wanted it to follow you. Aizawa knew that immediately. You couldn’t fight as hard as you needed to with so many people and buildings still around.

But then there was the second nomu, solid black as it entered the frame as well. They were hunting you in tandem, like wolves encircling prey as they chased your already injured form into the sky and out of the shot again.

“Where’s her partner?” All Might asked aloud, but like all of them was surely already afraid of that answer.

“I know him. His hero mame is Quake,” Eraser answered, his scowl deepening as this anger grew. “If he was still able to move at all, he wouldn’t let her face this alone.”

“Goddammit,” Mic hissed, “He’s got a wife and kids too doesn’t he?”

“Three daughters.” Aizawa replied as the dread in the room deepened.

“But he’s alive!” Midoriya’s sudden voice intruded as all the teachers looked to the doorway in surprise.

“We were asked to wait for a teacher to escort us back to our dorms!” Iida yelled, hands physically on Midoriya as he tried to pull him back out of the room.

Yet the other students seemed to be ignoring Iida entirely as Bakugo stepped in next, forcing his way past the both of them. “Round face found another video on her phone. The nomus broke that earth quirk guy’s back, so (Y/N) had to leave him.”

Uraraka ignored Bakugo’s rude nickname for her as she entered the room too, but at least a little more meekly. “Quake has a rock dome up protecting the other side of town where they evacuated most of the people to. (Y/N) helped him to that safer spot and then led the nomus away.”

“You really do have the most insubordinate class, Aizawa.” Nezu commented in his odd, light tone.

Iida and Momo Yaoyoruzu were the only ones that looked properly ashamed at the principal’s comment however as the rest of class 1-A just filtered into the room.

“Well you can’t expect us just to stand around like a bunch of extras when shit is hitting the fan!” Bakugo growled.

Mic rolled his eyes even as All Might tried to hurry over to help control the situation. “Young Midoriya and young Bakugo, we must really insist that you go back to the dorms for your own safety in case another attack occurs. I’ll escort you!”

“But can she hold two of them off on her own or not?” Bakugo only asked instead as cold and serious as anything as he ignored the skinny All Might’s pleas. Bakugo’s eyes were focused on Aizawa only.

“Kacchan!” Midoriya admonished in shock and dismay at the harsh question.

Eraser’s glare moved onto Bakugo briefly, but not because of the impertinent question. The boy was right to be so disatisfied. Aizawa also hated that he could do nothing more for you than be here right now. And he hadn’t seen any flighted hero in the registry that could possibly get there any faster than Endeavor or Hawks now. Though why wouldn’t Hawks answer his agency’s calls? But that’s when he did have at least one other idea.

Weak, like grasping at straws, but he would do or try anything if it meant saving more lives, including your own. “Tokoyami!” Aizawa called out suddenly, disregarding Bakugo fully as Tokoyami only looked up in surprise at his name.

Aizawa’s voice was now fully commanding, leaving no question that this was an order as he continued. “Get your phone out and you tell Hawks to go to Hoshi city. Now.”

Nezu, All Might, and Mic all looked at Aizawa curiously. But it was only Nezu who smiled a little as Tokoyami frantically began texting as told.

Aizawa was very clever in guessing others’ weaknesses after all. And sometimes in emergencies even heroes could find their own manipulative sides.

———————————

Unknown location

Hawks groaned a little, feet dangling off from the ledge of the cell phone tower he now sat upon. The cold wind was cutting across his face as he read through Tokoyami’s increasingly pleading messages. Putting his phone on do not disturb after his agency’s first calls to him didn’t seem to be quite enough.

-You’re the only one fast enough to help now. Endeavor is coming from farther away, he likely won’t be there in time. Please answer.

-I know you always have your phone on you.

-Hawks, please. We all know her at UA. She doesn’t deserve this. No backup is close. She’s fighting them all alone.

Okay, so yes, his little bird of the night tag along had become slightly more than just a tool for getting information on UA as of late.

They’d spent just enough time together that Hawks might say he did care a bit about what happened to the kid by now.

But how could he explain to his teenage work study protege that they had no idea the political minefield they were now asking him to dive headfirst into? After Endeavor’s previous fight with the nomu that Hawks had secretly instigated and thereby had a front row seat for, the Hero Commission had explicitly asked him to keep his wings out of any further nomu instances for a while.

They didn’t want him to draw too much suspicion and risk his double agent status with the former League of Villains, now the Paranormal Liberation Front. There was too much to lose with him being the commission’s only informant and possible way to stop the coming war before it started.

Dabi and the others were only just starting to let him further into their organization. Everything was up to him in not taking a severe misstep now.

The phone only vibrated yet again though.

-Hawks. I probably shouldn’t even tell you this, but you’re always asking about my class. She’s also the romantic partner of my teacher Mr. Aizawa. Her loss would devastate him. I know it would even if he isn’t open about it. If there’s anything you can do at all. Please do!

“Romantic…partner?” Hawks’ gloved hand covered his face briefly in secondhand embarrassment as he spoke aloud to himself. “God…Tokoyami. Just say girlfriend, fuckbuddy…whatever.They shack up, they sleep together.” It happened in the hero community probably far more than anyone cared to admit.

But Eraserhead, seriously? There was a girl out there who had decided that out of all the heroes, that was the bed she wanted to hang around in? Really? Hawks’ curiosity was actually almost peaked now as to what kind of woman that could possibly be. Because he couldn’t imagine such a creature in his mind’s eye.

He almost started to type back reflexively before he stopped himself.

Wait…no. Oh, no this was bad. Was he really considering-

But how many people would have died the day Endeavor was attacked by the high end nomu if Hawks hadn’t been there to pull everyone out of the collapsing buildings?

Was this really okay?

A hero all by herself. A distress signal sent multiple times, and him here pretending that he couldn’t even hear it.

Ah…

……

….

Fuck it. He was still a hero wasn’t he? Even if things were complicated, if he could save someone, he had to try. He’d just have to weasel his way out of getting into real trouble with the Hero Commission later.

Hawks finally texted Tokoyami back as he stood then, wings spreading into the lowering sun.

-Eraser has a GF??? That I’ve got to see. I was patrolling in a cell service dead zone. And I try not to text and fly. I’ll do what I can. I’m sure I can beat old man Todoroki in a race to get there at least.

———————————

Hoshi City Outskirts

You were panting, forcing yourself back to standing through the incredible pain. You’d carried the fight to these fields outside of the city. The surroundings were gently rolling hills that flowered in the spring, but were still covered with soft winter grasses now as both nomus dove for you yet again with unreal speed.

They never seemed to tire, even as you steadily did.

The sun was getting lower and lower, the sky darkening in increments under an already overcast sky as you took yet another brutal hit that you couldn’t dodge quickly enough. You could hear cracking each time the blows connected.

Your bones were fracturing, the taste of blood strong in your mouth as you spit out some more of that red liquid as a mist in midair.

Your light energy wasn’t endless. Even with some sunlight still left for you to reabsorb, you couldn’t replenish the energy as fast as you were having to use it. And despite taking the beating that you now were, you still tried to hold some power in reserve instead of using it all for shielding.

If you used it all up now and still failed to stop the nomus, they’d only return to the city to finish what they’d started there.

You could still remember the furious look in Quake’s eyes as you’d had to leave him behind with his broken body. He hadn’t wanted you to go and take the enemy on alone. He’d begged you not to take such a risk.

But you’d only yelled back at him that there was no other option. Too many would have died in the city had you not drawn the nomus away. Maybe Quake’s own family among them if you hadn’t left when you did. The local hospital that his wife worked at and the elementary school that his children attended had been so near the original attack scene.

Yes, with every fiber of your being you were only trying to stall for time. Not for you, but for everyone else. There was no other way.

Yet you hadn’t considered that anyone save another pro hero would be foolish enough to follow you out here now.

Your eyes widened in surprise as you first heard that beat of helicopter blades.

Both nomus turned their heads at the sound, and you knew instantly that your plan had just changed entirely as your heart sank.

———————————

UA High School

“Hawks is on his way now.” Tokoyami affirmed, though still looking as uneasy as everyone else.

Mic huffed, still frustrated it’d take that long for any pro hero to respond regardless. “What kind of idiot ignores direct emergency line calls from his own agency to begin with?”

“Hawks is young, but he’s still the number two hero for a reason.” All Might offered, trying to keep the atmosphere from turning any more negative than it already was.

“Yeah, and that reason is just because you retired!” Mic grumbled. “That and people dig his stupid flyboy look for whatever reason.”

“Says the other guy with yellow glasses and in your face blonde hair…seriously Mic?” Midnight chastised as she entered the room. She understood all too well the stress here, but this kind of bickering wasn’t going to help anyone.

But she wasn’t alone. After having left the other students (except class 1-A obviously) at the dorms with Vlad King, Cementoss, and other faculty to protect them, she’d had one student that had insisted in coming back to be here with Aizawa instead.

Her heart couldn’t say no either to that request as Hitoshi Shinso moved from her side to rush to his mentor Eraserhead.

Neither of those two knew what to say to one another however as they exchanged looks.

“Eri is safe with Mirio, Nejire, and Tamaki in the third year dorms,” Midnight added.

But before anything else could be said, the news anchor’s voice grew excited and louder once more. “And our helicopter has now reached the active battleground! The remaining hero is standing her ground against the two nomus! After All Might’s final battle in Kamino and Endeavor’s brutal fight in Hosu, we have upgraded our former traffic helicopters with the latest in HD cameras and long distance specialty microphones than can filter out even the unwanted sounds of the helicopter!”

It was sickening. Even now they were still advertising their equipment for their own ratings sake.

But this fight wasn’t the same as in Kamino or Hosu. In both those instances All Might and Endeavor, the strongest heroes of the modern age, had been the villains’ only targets.

By contrast, you were not famous. You were not a symbol. You were only another hero in their way as the monsters’ attention had instantly shifted to the noisy helicopter at its arrival.

And that was the first moment that Aizawa’s anger and adrenaline had faltered to fall into real fear. The notion of losing you had been lurking underneath all along of course. He knew all too well that nomus fought to kill. He knew what was at stake for you.

But when you’d been fighting alone, you still could have chosen to escape with some breath left in your body at the last moment, it still could have been an option in the end.

Now that door had been closed. You would have to defend those in the helicopter as well. It was no different than if Eri had been standing suddenly in that field, or Shinso, or anyone else that you cared about. Even if that news crew were strangers to you, you would not value your life as worth more than their own. Because he knew you.

You would sacrifice yourself.

Aizawa heard one of the female students gasp as you’d struck the red nomu out of the sky with a sudden, brilliant white blast of energy just before the monster had reached the helicopter.

“Fucking media assholes!” Bakugo yelled, clenching his fists as the helicopter still didn’t move any farther away after the near miss.

And no teacher in the room thought to correct his language, only watching that HD live feed together as they all came to silent similar conclusions as Aizawa.

———————————

Hoshi City Outskirts

When you struck one nomu after the other back down with those energy blasts, you felt the ache all the way through your burning muscles. And it was well enough to get their attention again as they launched back at you full force, the sharper claws of the red one nearly meeting your throat.

The energy you used for your attacks was the same that you used to fly with and create your force fields. There was so little left then, even as your body glowed bright white with that energy output in the now setting sun.

You were a guiding light in that moment, a true target for the enemy as you took hit after hit again in order to draw focus away from the helicopter. You only raised thin force fields brief enough to slow what could have otherwise been fatal blows.

But that was still its own damage as well. Few understood the way your force fields really worked. Every hit against them you still felt. That recoil force went through your bones and tissue even as the monsters struck your shields. It reduced the direct damage but only by so much.

Yet you refused to scream or cry. You just had to dig deeper. Before you lost consciousness, before the setting sun left you in darkness with no other real light to take back.

Yes, you were losing strength faster and faster. So everything had to be now. All you had, it had to be now.

They both slammed you down next, into the ground like a meteor coming to earth. You heard and felt your right arm break fully that time.

You could no longer use it as you stared up into the monsters’ dead eyes and open maws of fangs.

You were no All Might. You were no Endeavor. And you would never pretend to be. But everyone needed to remember that outside of those few godlike figures, there were countless more nobodies just like yourself. Heroes that no one worshipped, that no one may ever remember. But in the end, ones who would still give every last bit of their own bodies to defend those who could not defend themselves.

You had no choice. Every time you let the nomus get any distance on you again, if only so you could take a breath, they just went straight for the helicopter to try and kill all those on board.

There was no other way you realized. Two final attacks to try and finish them both. Even if it was gruesome, even if it could cost you everything.

Just this quickly was how fast a life could change.

As your glow grew ever brighter and brighter, you thought more of your family, and all of your friends. You prayed that they could forgive you. If it ended up that this really was the end, you hoped that they would understand that if there had been any other way you would have taken it.

But there was no other way now as your one good arm seared in pain while the last real remnants of your energy overloaded through it.

You forced your bloodied palm upward to splay out against the abdomen of the red nomu, the strongest of the two. And he seemed to realize that something had changed in your intent then.

But it was too late. You did what you had to do, reaching farther into yourself than you ever had before.

The blast of light from your hand was the biggest you could ever remember making. It actually blew through him, viscera and bone vaporizing as the hole was big enough to actually see through before his body crumpled down into the crater that had been made when your own body had last hit the ground.

The black nomu tried to take to the air again then, whether in a surprise burst of self preservation on its own part or just another attempt to go back after the helicopter, it didn’t matter.

You could no longer fly then. And as you staggered forward, raising your barely working arm to him as well, you already knew that you couldn’t make that previous kind of blast twice. But for him you did something equally desperate and horrible in your own mind as you made just enough of a force field with all you had left to enclose around his throat instead as he tried to evade you.

Even if the Hero Commission had approved the destruction of nomus based on the fact that they were more a homunculus of former living body parts than a real human any longer, you still felt sickened as you saw him begin to struggle in midair.

You’d used your fields to capture enemies countless times before, but always alive. Never like this as you clenched your fist as tight as you could with the last of your will, tears edging at the corner of your eyes from the horrific act rather than the pain.

And he only gave one last inhuman cry before his throat collapsed, followed by the audible snapping of his neck vertebrae. His body hit the grass with an anticlimactic thud as you just stood with the cold wind biting across the bloodied scene.

You could have sworn you heard distant cheering from the helicopter then. But in that surreal and terrible moment, you never felt for one moment that you’d actually won.

Somehow your instincts still knew better. Yet there was truly nothing left for you to fight or defend with. You didn’t even know how you were still standing before a razor sharp tendril from the red nomu abruptly pierced through your back and out through the front of your abdomen like a spear.

Your remaining breath left your body at the force of the hit. The pain and shock felt numb and distant however as you saw the monster out the corner of your eye. He was crawling steadily out from the crater behind you even with his entrails still dragging the ground behind him.

So many quirks forced into one undying body…they really were abominations.

He ripped that tendril back out of you just as quickly though as you saw your own blood and tissue splatter to the ground.

Your vision was fading even as you tried to lock your knees to keep from collapsing. The will to live and the adrenaline alone was all that was keeping you here now.

You had failed.

————————————————

UA High School

Aizawa was sitting down, as if he wasn’t in this room at all. He looked even paler than usual.

Present Mic was one one side of him, Hitoshi Shinso on the other.

But what could anyone possibly say to him? They’d seen everything. You’d been forced to use your quirk in brutal ways that they knew would still have haunted you even if nothing else had happened after. Yet even in that momentary flirt with victory, it still had been too little, too late.

A shot to the back, through the back that you’d had nothing left to stop.

This could be the last time that anyone would ever see you alive and they all knew it.

All Might couldn’t help but be reminded of his master Nana Shimura’s death as he gritted his teeth, and of his friend Sir Nighteye’s death so much more recently.

Mic and Midnight were thinking of Oboro now. Those same painful feelings resurfacing as well.

It was never right or fair when these things happened.

“Endeavor or Hawks should be close now,” Shinso tried more desperately however, even with his own voice wavering. The silence was just too unbearable otherwise. “They could take her to a hospital, there’s a Level 1 trauma center one town over. It’s the best in the area.”

Mic only gripped Eraser’s shoulder as Aizawa said nothing in return.

Midoriya was looking to All Might now, the beginnings of those tears in the boy’s eyes that the former number one hero had chided him about letting flow too easily so many times before.

But this was not one of those times to hold back emotion. All Might put an arm around Midoriya even while inwardly still praying for some sort of miracle.

But they wouldn’t be called miracles if they happened every day. Hope was almost non existent now.

“The nomu has stopped moving! The crimson nomu that was approaching the badly wounded hero has suddenly stopped!” The reporters broke their own shocked silence to take notice of this.

“And…there’s a fire! There’s a fire in the grass!”

Shoto Todoroki looked back up immediately at that as did all of the room, expecting the orange and red flames of Endeavor and maybe the chance of that last minute rescue after all.

But it was only like another punch to the gut as Bakugo all but snarled in realization. The flames were blue. “That patchwork piece of shit! He just waltzes in at the end again! Fucking coward!”

Aizawa’s quirk activated involuntarily at that, some kind of final emotional reserve breaking within him. His glowing red eyes bored through that screen in such utter internal hatred as his hair lifted up off his shoulders at the sight of Dabi now casually walking towards you.

————————————————

Hoshi City Outskirts

Dabi had seen well enough. The sun had set at last, and he knew your time was over.

The nomus were at his command of course. And it was his job to signal when to bring them back or what was left of them anyway. The red one would regenerate fine. The black one whose neck you had snapped might take a little more work. He wasn’t sure if you’d actually killed that one or not. But it didn’t matter. As long as they weren’t completely vaporized like with the Endeavor fight, the parts could all be reused.

The point of all this had actually been to collect more nomu donor pieces. They’d specifically targeted an area that the top ten heroes would have more trouble reaching. If they could defeat some lesser heroes here and there, those heroes’ corpses were like bargain grocery shopping for the doctor.

But then you came along. And things actually got a little interesting.

It’d been a rather good fight really. Not that one sided boring shit like watching All Might in his prime or Endeavor with lesser villains just steamrolling through the opposition.

You’d fought your heart out. And you weren’t even afraid to play dirtier in the end. It still hadn’t worked out for you of course, but Dabi felt compelled to appreciate this a little more up close and personal before the very end.

And he was pleasantly surprised as you lifted your head at his approach. So you could still see and hear even with that amount of blood loss?

“Are you just too stubborn to die or something?” Dabi taunted. One hand in his pocket, but the other still ready to unleash more flames in an instant if needed. For now only a protective ring of fire circled you both to keep that helicopter at a distance.

And he’d seen a lot of faces at the edge of death. Heroes, villains, and nobodies alike who he’d all burned down at one time or another. But there was still something refreshing in that stare of yours even as you didn’t immediately respond to him. You didn’t look hateful, or angry, or even afraid in that moment. There was a calmness. As if you were just what you were and he was what he was. Like any two fated people meeting in this cold, starlit field tonight.

But he still tried again regardless, wanting more reaction. “So was it all worth it, hero? Does throwing your life away really serve that greater good you’ve all been brainwashed to believe in?” He asked cynically even as he knew he really needed to be exiting soon before others finally came.

———————————

You were still standing as he approached. You could hear Dabi’s words, but it was like listening to something far away. Like a television someone had left on in another room. Maybe it was sheer willpower, or maybe your body was on some kind of autopilot now. But you were doing something you’d never done before.

He didn’t seem to notice, because he was watching your face. But even that dark blue light from his flames was giving you something to use. You were taking that light energy and making shields again, but inside yourself. You were holding your own body together, slowing the blood loss with internal pressures applied.

You did choose to try and talk then, to keep his eyes on your lips rather than the faint glow that had to be coming from that hole in your stomach. You covered the wound as much you could with the hand from your unbroken arm.

“I don’t think I’m special…if you’re wanting some kind of valiant speech…forget it.” You breathed.

Why they liked to talk so much sometimes, you’d never understand. But you could oblige if it was buying you even seconds more of time. It seemed futile still, but you owed it to everyone you loved to just keep trying to stay alive until the true end.

“Thenwhy,” he pressed, clearly not satisfied with that. “Why die for nothing?”

“I thought you guys were all about choice…” You met his cold eyes again then. It took so much just to keep forming those words, but you had to do it. “I choose to suffer so that others don’t have to…I can help people. So I do. It’s nothing deeper than that. Life would only feel wasted if I stood aside and did nothing….this is the only thing that does make it right.”

—————————

Dabi didn’t know if these answers made him more frustrated with you or not. It seemed like ages ago now when hero killer Stain’s ideals had first lured him into joining the former League of Villains.

But oddly, he wondered then if Stain himself would have believed your words.

He smirked cruelly even as he felt himself still hesitating. “A hero that doesn’t think they’re special, and wants to suffer just to alleviate burden from others? Sounds a little masochistic don’t you think?”

Actions always spoke louder than words, but he’s the one that had pressed you to talk. It’s not like he could really mock you too much for the simple answers.

He should have already killed you though. He needed to go. Was he really just in this good of a mood after watching your fight? Or did he believe you deep down, and was it that nostalgia for Stain coloring his judgement now?

But hell, even Shigaraki had often spoken about being free to kill the things he didn’t like. Which still implied leaving the far fewer things he did likealive.

Dabi didn’t know you. Not your real name, not anything. But he knew something with potential when he saw it. Something that would still be wasted and wouldn’t exist again if your corpse just went to the doctor’s chop shop to end up as spare parts for the nomus still in progress.

No…he was about to do something impulsive here. Something he might live to regret.

He spoke up again, knowing he could be heard all the while with the communicator they’d given him hidden in his ear. “Ujiko, go ahead and pull us back. She’s not what you were looking for. Leave her here.”

And at that, thick, black substance ran from both nomus’ mouths immediately, the sludge expanding to cover them until they disappeared through those portals.

Dabi could feel the black goop rising in his own throat as well even as the two of you made eye contact once more.

He grinned at you, even as he first heard the flap of large wings in the distance. He really had almost waited too long. But how interesting. Would even Hawks be able to get you help in time? Or was it already too late?

“Good luck.” Dabi growled through the black liquid, a final taunt to you even as he shot a parting burst of flames to incinerate Hawks feathers that tried to reach him as if to stop his escape.

Was it all for show on Hawks’ part? Maybe, maybe not. But if you lived, Dabi already knew what he was going to ask of the winged hero next. An all new test of loyalty with you involved would be something further entertaining at least.

This wasn’t over.

————————————

You could only be left staring as Dabi disappeared just like the nomus through the portal. He could have easily incinerated you as well before leaving for as close as he’d been standing to you. You wouldn’t have been able to make a shield strong or fast enough right now for that level of heat.

But the flames had completely circumvented you as they’d gone for Hawks’ feathers alone.

Why?

“Hey, let’s go.”

You didn’t even realize you were trembling until you felt a heavy jacket suddenly fall around your shoulders. You looked to the source of the new voice, the jacket’s owner actually, just as you were unceremoniously picked up into Hawks’ arms.

Emergencies didn’t really leave time for consent. But it still startled you a little, even as you could tell he was trying not to aggravate the broken parts of you anymore than necessary.

Yet before he could even take off, the news helicopter came nearer than ever before. No doubt wanting this dramatic final shot as your fingers clenched reflexively against his chest.

You’d never even met Hawks before, but you could see the brief annoyance in his eyes as the wind of the helicopter blades forced him to fold his wings around his front to protect you.

Yet that wasn’t the only thing incoming. It looked like a red hot comet streaking in, blinding for a moment in the dark. The number one hero landed only feet away, and even from here you could see the disgust on his own face and feel the heat emanating from his body.

“You let them get away!?” He barked at Hawks.

Despite Endeavor’s harsh reputation, even then you still saw that anger for what it was in the moment. He was furious at himself for clearly being too late.

You thought Hawks understood this too as he didn’t even argue back. Though he was still yelling over the sound of the watching helicopter. “They’re gone! I’m taking her to Tsuki Hospital! Head back into the city, number one! I’m sure others are hurt or worse!”

And with that Hawks took off instantly, but you could tell he still tried to shield you from the cold as he held you close against him.

As you saw Endeavor’s trail of flame launch skyward as well, but in the direction of your city, you could only hope that your sacrifice hadn’t all been in vain. But you couldn’t fall apart any further now with those emotions. You were still concentrating to hold off the blood loss with your quirk as much as you could.

Endeavor’s brief light had even given you a small boost, but it wouldn’t have been possible for him to carry you instead. For as hot as he had to burn to reach his full speed, the heat probably would have killed you outright.

As it was, Hawk was still even faster. That sense of speed of moving with him now was far greater than when you flew on your own. But it was as if the noise of the wind was going in and out after a bit. You realized then that it was actually your sense of hearing that was coming and going. Maybe he sensed your brief losses of consciousness as well as your body shifted against him.

It was a race to get you onto an operating table now before your body completely shutdown.

“Hey! You have to stay awake you know. They’re going to want to interview you tomorrow after some of the pain meds have worn off. You’ll be the new hot item for sure after all this.” He only half joked.

But maybe he saw that bit of odd look you gave him. Not ungrateful for the transport of course, but the last thing you wanted to care about was the media’s future interpretations of your actions today.

Yet Hawks just smiled, it looked cheesy even in the darkness. “Oh, that’s right. You’re Eraserhead’s girlfriend, yeah? I almost forgot. What a weird combination. No offense. So you hate the spotlight too then?”

And that was a comment that actually surprised you. Besides your oldest friends and some of those at UA who couldn’t help but see it, you didn’t broadcast your relationship to the public. It was a choice Aizawa had made from the very beginning. He thought that was the most rational decision to not have that closeness used against you.

“So…is Tokoyami really that much of a gossip then?” You forced yourself to ask, quickly assuming the likely source of the leak. Hawks wasn’t wrong to try and keep you talking though. You would have done the same with a trauma victim like this.

“Oh come on. That kid has grown on me, but you can’t tell me he doesn’t read gothic romance novels or something in his spare time. He thought it’d give me more incentive to rescue you. In the name of love and all.” Hawks taunted back a little. “But really…Eraser, huh? He’s kind of scary, right? You’re into Dracula look alikes or something?”

You half smiled. Yes, it was too surreal to be having this absurd kind of banter even as you might really be dying. “He was supposed…to take me out for Italian food tonight.”

Hawks glanced down at you again. You could tell he was a little surprised at the personal admission. But he stayed with his whole upbeat act regardless as he smirked. “Italian, huh? With wine and candlelight maybe? Well, a lot of people would swoon over the idea of a moonlit flight with me too you know.”

“Yeah? ….Lucky me.” You mumbled, just burying your face more against him. It didn’t matter if he was a stranger. It could be anyone holding you right now. You were just trying to find any additional warmth. Which only reminded you that you must be going further into shock. You couldn’t maintain your body heat any longer.

You did feel him tuck his head down though, trying to block the wind from your own as his chin rested against the top of your head.

“Please stay awake.” He reiterated, his upbeat tone falling away a little. “Don’t let them make you just another martyr.” And somehow you thought you almost heard a trace of guilt in those more serious words. “I know it’s hard. But we’re almost there.”

————————————

Tsuki Memorial Hospital

He’d made a show of telling Endeavor the hospital he was taking you to in front of the news team. It was a calculated risk. He needed the information broadcasted primarily for them to have an operating room already prepared by the time he got you there.

It was the closest Level 1 Trauma center in the region, specializing in treating the very worst of anything. Any hero worth their salt should already know that’s where he would be going, but maybe you had regular civilian family too. Maybe they’d have no idea where to find their daughter or sister otherwise until it might be too late.

It was hard for him to imagine what it’d be like to have those kind of normal relationships though. But he tried not to lose focus in that negative direction as he first caught sight of the lighted medical helipad on the hospital’s roof in the distance.

Good, they were smart enough to realize he’d rather land from the top, as he saw a gurney and supplies waiting at the ready with a small task force of hospital staff.

The first problem with declaring his destination beforehand however was of course the continued media presence.

From the corners of his vision, he could see the camera flashes going off from rooftops all around as he came in to land. The hospital wouldn’t allow the reporters past the front lobby, but the extreme zoom of the telescoping lenses of these hungry story hunters couldn’t be denied.

He could barely feel you still breathing, your eyes closed by the time his boots contacted with the roof. The dim light he’d noticed in your abdomen had now gone out. He’d known the whole time what you were trying to do with your quirk even as you’d lost so much more blood in just the time he’d been carrying you.

As he was then helping the medical team unwrap his blood stained jacket from you to get you carefully onto the gurney, your hand caught on one of his feathers. He let that quill release immediately so as not to pull anymore at your broken body. But he still saw your fingers close around the feather reflexively, holding it to you as your eyes opened just barely.

He could see that hint of life still in those eyes, though maybe he was just imagining that you’d really looked at him with something like regret before they rolled you quickly through the open doorway.

If you died, it’d be a failure he was truly complicit in. Because how many long minutes had he sat there debating on that cell phone tower before Tokoyami had finally nagged him to his senses? He could have gotten to you sooner if he’d only chosen to.

It wasn’t like him to second guess or doubt himself this fully though. But this was an even larger guilt starting to form, greater than just those flickers he still felt every time he looked at the scars on Endeavor’s face.

How many more times was the Hero Commission going to keep asking him to put others in harm’s way for the greater good?

Goddammit. His mouth was already moving before he could stop himself, “Has any family or friends come here yet to wait for her?” He asked one of the staff members that had stayed behind to pickup the rest of the carts they’d left on the rooftop.

They told him no one had. They also relayed to him the new information that many train lines and roads had been shutdown for the rest of the night in an abundance of caution in case another attack was still forthcoming.

“Unbelievable.” Hawks sighed. Something like this never would have happened during All Might’s time. A whole region now sheltering in place just because of a single incident. This was how little control or sense of safety the heroes could provide anymore.

But sadly, he had to somewhat agree as well. There was no telling if Dabi and the others were truly done for the night. Hawks couldn’t risk calling Dabi so soon to find out. But still feeling that weight of responsibility in all of this, he couldn’t leave you alone either.

“Can you show me to the waiting room please then?” He asked abruptly with his usual smile returning.

He wasn’t much of anything. But he did know how to play guard dog…or guard bird in this case anyway. Even if he hadn’t helped you in the beginning, he wouldn’t leave you so defenseless now.

—————————————

Highway 201

All Might had called in a favor for them with Naomasa Tsukauchi of the police force, getting the roads opened back up just for them. But it was still a slow go. The trains had been shut down for the night. And while the rail lines cut an almost direct path between the cities, these roads that had been built years before winded and rose and fell with the countryside.

Even with Mic’s speeding, the trip had still felt agonizingly long.

Aizawa was silent for miles, looking out the passenger window of Mic’s car and seeing little but darkness and the occasional yellowish glow of the street lights as they cut through a small town here or there.

He’d tried to call the hospital earlier, but they’d refused to give out any patient information over the phone even when he finally did get through. Their only published phone number had just rang busy for the first several attempts. Yet he could only imagine the amount of reporters likely calling in to flood the lines right now.

How many would just be pretending to know you? Claiming to be relatives or worried friends when in reality they were only strangers sitting at computers, typing up news breaks they hoped to send soon enough. Everyone would want to be the first to know if you would live at all, or if you would be disabled or permanently scarred even if you did. If you would ever fight as a hero again after this.

As it was, he and Mic had had the foresight to let the police follow them as well, even as Mic raced ahead of them. It’d likely be the only way they’d be getting in themselves. With the police physically there to verify their identities and let the hospital staff know that they were legitimately part of your inner circle and deserving of being here tonight for you.

There would be days and many hours ahead to try and understand the implications of all this. Why Dabi had acted so unexpectedly in letting you go, and why your city was ever targeted at all.

But for now though Aizawa didn’t even know if you were alive or dead. Midnight was watching the news back at UA and texting anything relevant to his and Mic’s phones. But nothing more had been released since Hawks had first reached the hospital with you.

———————————

Tsuki Memorial Hospital - Private Waiting Room

Hawk’s legs were stretched out in front of him, his wings aching a little as they pressed uncomfortably against the chair back, each wing hanging wide over the armrests and down to the floor. If he was ever in one place for this long, it’d usually only be to lay down to sleep.

Sitting this way after a while was just awkward, even as he stared at his phone once more. The Hero Commission was already on him of course as the messages had begun coming across not long after he’d arrived here, and he only tried to deflect them for now.

-I’m still at the hospital, can’t talk freely.

-We expect you here tomorrow to discuss these developments.

-I’ll be there.

It wasn’t going to be good. He locked his phone again, leaning his head back against the wall with his goggles pushed up into his blonde hair.

Some Friday night this was.

There’d been silence for a good while, only a curious nurse or two coming by every now and then to check on him. He hadn’t missed the looks they gave him.

They might be sneaking cellphone photos or video of him for all he knew. But the only thing he felt improper about was your blood still drying on his sleeveless top. His jacket and gloves were in no better condition, but he’d shoved them under his chair for now.

He didn’t want them to just end up for sale in some morbid online auction if he let them out of his sight tonight.

But when the door finally opened again, he saw it was no hospital uniform walking in this time as he sat back up with renewed at

WTWB Chapter 6: RED

.- .–. .-. .. .-.. / .—- ….- –..– / .—- —-. …– …..

For a moment, Izuku lay there and panted, unable to open his shredded eyes. Distantly, he thought of eldritch beings. Monsters that refused to be perceived. That made you go blind or crazy if you even dared to look at them…

So glad to get this one out finally; the past two semesters have been hell, but I’m starting to get back in the saddle. Also yeehaw, first chapter painting in like two chapters