LN x MHA Crossover: Nightmarish Heroism. (1)

Chapter 7: A moment to think

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A short girl with chestnut hair and pink cheeks walks in fast pace in the hallway as the sun is barely up from the horizon. She wears a casual white shirt inside a light brown coat, and simple cyan shorts. Her face shows urgency and worry, seemingly worrying for someone.

Then, she stops at the room with the label "infirmary" and lightly opens it up, revealing an elderly short lady sitting on the chair and writing something on her tablet with a black-haired girl with a long-sleeved shirt and comfortable jeans in the bed. She bows to the nurse and quickly comes towards the other.

"Six!"

"Oh, Uraraka. What are you doing here?"

Uraraka says with a serious face, while Six shows cluelessness.

"You just faced a Signalizer last night, you could have been killed, or worse."

"Ah. Don't worry about that. I won't turn into a Mutilated One even if he can touch me."

"Don't overestimate yourself even if you are an Otherworlder."

"..."

"Sigh. You shouldn't have gotten out of the dorm."

"Well, you know. I was just getting some milk for Eri, and didn't expect everything to turn too drastically."

Six then sits up and leaves a spot for Ochako to sit, which she does after putting some chocolate on the bedside table.

"How's Eri, Uraraka?"

"She's getting better now thanks to the tubes you have given to Susio-sensei."

"Oh. That's good."

"Yeah. There has never been a way to stop someone from turning into a Multilated One before."

"..."

"Where did you find that, Six?"

"It's a secret that I would want to keep to myself."

Ochako doesn't ask for more and fiddles with her fingers, seemingly not knowing what to say more. Six seems to appreciate that as she gets the chocolate the former has brought, takes a bite of half of it, and shows joy in her eyes.

"Thanks for the sweet, Uraraka."

"You're welcome."

"And also your kindness to visit me right after the event last night."

Uraraka slightly flusters due to the compliment. Six lets her be as she takes another bite and enjoys it.

"Oh, Six."

"What is it?"

"Susio-sensei told me to ask you to go to his office after recovering."

"Huh? Why?"

"I don't know, but he said you would understand after coming there."

"Ok..."

"And that's about it."

Uraraka says as she also asks for a chocolate bar, which Six quickly gives the former. And both of them enjoy the snack together for the time being.

"Said, Uraraka. Do you have a love interest?"

"Huh?!"

Ochako barely chokes on her food as she coughs and is quickly flustered.

"W...Why are you asking it all of a sudden?"

"...It's just...Nevermind."

Six hesitates, which Ochako doesn't mind, and answers the question.

"I wouldn't say it is a love interest," Ochako says as she fiddles her fingers. "But he is a kind, determined, and thoughtful person that can stand by my side if I were in a tough spot. And he is a caring person too."

"..."

Six pauses for a moment, during which Uraraka shows some curiosity.

"It must be hard around him, right?"

"Yeah. I don't want to let my feeling stop the journey to his dream and his determination. But..."

"..."

Silence falls upon the two as they seem to avoid talking about the sensitive secret, something they would rather keep to themselves.

"Hey, isn't it the time you should prepare for classes?"

Uraraka then looks at the clock. It's only 5:45 A.M.

"Yeah. I think I should be going now."

Uraraka  gets up and walks towards the door. Six observes her friend, who suddenly turns back to her with a slightly joyful face.

"Oh. You can call me Ochako, Six."

Six smiles at the offer, to which she reacts with a better cheery tone.

"Bye, Ochako."

They wave at each other as the former bows again to the nurse and proceeds to exit the room.

Six then lays down on the bed, eats the final sweet piece, and looks at the ceiling aimlessly. And Six looks puzzled.

Maybe she thinks about something, or someone. Or she considers an action for something in the future.

Six keeps looking at the ceiling for a while before getting up eventually.

Six gets the hoodies near the entrance and goes outside after being sincere for the lady's help and some wound dressings.

The girl walks along the hallway, where the sun starts rising on the horizon with a gentle warmth on her skin. The daybreak's light creates a visible and memorizing mild ray through the window and onto the floor.

Six looks outside for the marvelous scenery of the school that she luckily has ended up here. The H-shaped dorms make an organized row with the flora, mainly green full-of-life Linder trees, standing between. And vast forest lies beyond the dorms. Furthermore, Six can observe the awakening town below slowly brightening up by the sun.

The sky slowly emerges from the darkness of the night and gets more lively blue as if the sun gradually gives energy and life to the sky above. Six can see the clouds drifting like a flow of a quiet river. They're slow, but they keep moving forward. And she admires that despite those are just steam in the air. That's she wants things to be, to move forward for an uncertain yet promising future.

It's something that Six enjoys so much that she would wake up so early to see this scene.

Then, Six shows slight sadness as she slowly pulls the sleeves up, revealing numerous bandages from her ankles upward. Six slowly removes the cover to see scars hiding beneath. Most are caused by either cutting or slashing; others, however, are from the worst.

The girl touches the most significant scar among those. And as soon as she brushes it, black liquid suddenly oozes out. Six quickly gets the gauze, wraps it around the wound, and slightly squints.

Finally, finishing covering up the scars, Six quickly covers them up with the sleeves and walks to her destination as she still enjoys the dawn beyond the glass window.

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*Thud*

"So, here it is."

Six says to herself while standing against a prestige light-brown wooden door, on which the name tag "Head of Support Department" put. And the girl checks on herself in case there is anything wrong.

After being satisfied with her condition, Six gently knocks on the door.

A loud metal knocking reaches her ears as Six is sure that the opposite can hear it too. And she notices the footsteps slowly approaching the door.

Suddenly, Six shows uncertainty and a moment of familiarity as the visible door knot slowly turns.

"..."

"..."

Six freezes on-site at the sight of the person opening the door for her. The girl is only as tall as his shoulders, yet as their eyes meet, Six is reminded of her mistakes, and slowly falls back.

"Mono?"

"Six?"