moonlight | k. bakugo

forty-three.

There were five of them in Recovery Girl's office – including Recovery Girl herself. (Y/n) sat on the bed, visibly nervous, with Bakugo standing next to her. His arms were crossed over his chest as he watched Power Loader and Recovery Girl explain the procedure to (Y/n). Hatsume clearly couldn't contain her excitement as she held the prosthetic arm in her hands.

"We'll sedate you while we insert the magnets into the end of your arm. It shouldn't be too painful but seeing as pain appears to be an unconscious trigger for your Quirk, sedation is the safest route for all parties," Power Loader explained.

Recovery Girl patted (Y/n)'s knee as she added, "You'll need your energy to heal once the magnets are inserted."

"Once they are inserted, we'll test the arm. That's how you'll be able to attach and detach the arm with ease."

(Y/n) processed the loads of information. She'd only been out of the hospital for a few days and she was already going under the knife once again. But this time, it wouldn't be just to save her life.

"Are you okay with this, (Y/n)?" Bakugo asked, shaking her from her thoughts.

(Y/n) turned to him for a moment, taking one more moment to think things over. She then nodded and responded to all of them, "Okay. Let's do this."

(Y/n) rested against the bed, an IV drip attached to her right arm. She looked over to Recovery Girl as she approached the bed with a face mask.

"Once I place this on, just count backwards from 100," Recovery Girl instructed.

"Okay."

Recovery Girl placed the mask on (Y/n)'s face. She began counting backwards from 100, not even making it to 90 before she felt herself slip away into unconsciousness.

Everything was black at first. She couldn't see or hear anything. It was pure darkness.

Soon the darkness faded away, beautiful lights appearing all around her. She quickly recognized them as the Aurora Borealis-like lights she used to see when she was a child. She was quickly thrown back into those times where she would long for actual dreams, instead finding herself immersed in the beautiful colors.

As a teen, (Y/n) could now find immense appreciation for the lights. Now that she understood most of what it meant for her and her Quirk.

Suddenly, the lights flickered out – as if a light switch had been flicked off. She looked around, opening her mouth to call out. She stopped as soon as she spotted what appeared to be a door. It was illuminated by a green outline.

Oh not this again, she thought.

(Y/n) pushed away the feeling of future irritation as she made her way to the door. She reached for the doorknob, stopping as she realized she'd been reaching for it with her left hand. She quickly recognized the orange and blue-mixed swirl of energy on her arm. She loved the feeling of its return, going back to open the door with it. However, it opened before she could even press her fingers against it.

"Well," Riki began, looking up from his cup of tea to her, "that wasn't long."

He was seated on the couch, his legs crossed. He leaned forward, placing the cup on the coffee table as he fully turned himself towards her. He appeared much calmer and more domestic than in previous visits.

"How'd you hurt yourself this time?"

"I didn't." (Y/n) shook her head. "I'm having a voluntary procedure."

"Oh?" He tilted his head slightly. "What for?"

"Magnetic attachments for a prosthetic arm."

"Ah." Riki nodded. "Very nice. Very smart."

(Y/n) furrowed her brows. "Thanks..." she slowly responded.

Riki quickly noticed the slight hesitancy in her voice. "Something wrong?"

"Yeah, actually." She started walking towards him. "Why are you being so nice to me? You're usually not all 'Very nice. Very smart.' when I tell you things." She tried mimicking his voice but it didn't really turn out that great. She got her point across and that was what mattered.

He gestured to the cushion next to him, prompting her to sit next to him. "You've been through some very traumatic experiences. I think a little kindness for once has never hurt anyone."

"I agree. However, you being nice is freaking me out."

Riki rolled his eyes. "You can't say I tried." (Y/n) instantly relaxed as the tone of his voice returned to as it was in her previous visits to the Energy State. "I will commend you on deciding to get a prosthetic arm. That's a good decision, especially since creating one with the Quirk takes a lot of energy."

"That was my thought process as well. I figured that I can't keep an energy-based arm active for long periods of time since it's so draining," (Y/n) explained. "Besides, the battle arm has a capacity to take high amounts of energy."

"How useful."

"Yeah, Hatsume did a good job."

Riki nodded in agreement. (Y/n) had a feeling he already knew all of this; still, it was nice to be able to talk to someone who actually understands what she's talking about. It's easier to vent than it is to explain.

"I saw what happened to your little friend after the battle."

Her head fell at the thought of Midoriya. In all of the talk of surgery and adjustment, she really hadn't had the time to process Midoriya's disappearance. In that moment, she realized just how much she missed him.

"Yeah... any advice to find him that won't be cryptic and mysterious?"

Riki rubbed his chin for a moment. Finally, he asked, "You were thinking about using your energy-sensing ability to find him?"

"Yeah. If he's not too far away."

"Good. Use it."

(Y/n) stared at him for a moment. Riki then added, "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Nothing else? No snide remark about how I finally came up with something myself for once?"

"No. It's a decent idea."

(Y/n)'s lips curled slightly as she stared at him. This was truly the most confusing interaction she'd had with him in a long time.

Suddenly, she felt herself growing lighter. She slowly began to rise off of the couch, startling her at first before she realized what was happening.

"Have fun with that new arm of yours." Riki reached for his tea, sipping as he watched her rise further up.

Her body then felt like it was full of bricks. She fell back down to the couch, sinking through the cushions. She plummeted into the darkness, the shine of her energy-created arm illuminating her fall.

Gradually, it dimmed as the energy returned back into her body. She was waking up from her procedure.