Beginning of a New Spring (MHA/PJO crossover)

Chapter 46

“I won’t sit back and be protected when it would be my fault anyways.”

“None of it would be your fault. You know that.”

“Yes, it would. If they came here for me, be it the villains or a monster, I put everyone at risk. That’s on me. I should have done something differently when we first fought them at USJ. I could have looked for his sorry ass and handled it my own way.”

“What could you have done? Shigaraki would have killed you with one touch. Their warp could have taken you somewhere you might not have escaped. You did what you could have and are still here; that’s all that matters.”

He was right. Didn’t mean she had to feel that way. She still felt there was something she could have done differently to prevent the events that happened.

“Get some sleep. Sunlight doesn’t count for replenishing what you lose.”

Ophelia waved her hand sarcastically over her shoulder while he walked away. Sleep wouldn’t come to her again that night. She was lucky not to have woken up screaming and waking everyone else in the building. Stating she had a nightmare would only bring questions from those who didn’t know or raise more suspicion about those who had ideas. 

She waited until she heard the sound of others waking up. It was mostly Shouta, Vlad King, and the wild pussycats, yet Momo and Tsu had also woken up early. She wasn’t surprised that Katsuki was awake and wandering outside when she headed back inside. He didn’t need to say anything for her to know he was asking if she was alright. Her hesitation was all the answer he seemed to need. His eyes closed, a sigh leaving his lips. She hated it as much as him. He couldn’t do much for her there, and she couldn’t go to him like always. She didn’t hate that she needed him for the nights when she had dreams about being down there or when he infiltrated her mind and showed her worst nightmares come true before her eyes. They always felt so real. Each one began to dig deeper into her skin, burning its way through and leaving its mark behind every time she woke up. The teachers had an idea, but no one but Katsuki knew the depths of what she went through. The torment and anguish she still felt. They wouldn’t understand because they haven’t fought in a war yet to lose their friends along the way, and only after they won did they mourn the dead. 

She didn’t want to go through that again. She didn’t want them to go through that. She’d bear the burden if she could, just so she didn’t have to see it in their eyes too. It wasn’t possible, though. She wasn’t like her mother. She wasn’t immortal or powerful. She couldn’t do anything but try her hardest to make that come true. 

Class A had woken up before class B. Shouta had said something about wanting to be ahead of them and showing them what they would do when they reached the clearing. She didn’t care. It was the training they had picked up after the attack. Training to awaken the other’s quirks through various techniques designed specifically for them. It wouldn’t work on her since if she tried to do that, she’d pass out for a day—if she were lucky. On a bad day, a few weeks, which she’d rather avoid. She risked passing out for a month or more if she pushed herself past her limit. She didn’t want to be like Percy and be pronounced dead because he went missing for a month after blowing up a volcano. The last thing she needed was to awaken to the kind of power that brought more disaster to her world. 

Ophelia froze at the statement. She had many reasons not to want to leave, but she hadn’t ever thought of what would happen when faced with the choice she could. Shaking her head, she pushed that to the back of her mind, reminding herself it wasn’t something to worry about when they were beginning training, and she still had villains and monsters on her tail. There was no guarantee of a way home or if she could. Worrying would only make her miss it when she finally began to come to terms with it.