My Hero Academia Imagines/One-Shot Compilation

Shelter in the Storm [Mirio] (Angst)

Author's Note: I've noticed you all seem to enjoy minor characters a lot, so I'll try and focus on adding more as I continue writing one-shots. It's certainly a fun challenge to get to know characters who don't get a lot of screen time! I hope you enjoy!

Ichijiku (Tigress)

Mirio, are you awake? I text my boyfriend despite knowing he's asleep. Between the two of us, he goes to bed the earliest.

Still, for an hour and a half, I wait for a reply. When it's obvious that I won't be receiving a response, I stare at the ceiling as my brain tunes back into reality. The yelling down the hall amplifies and my heart races as I wait with baited breath for Mom to walk through the door. Please don't yell at me. I don't know what I did and if that's why you and Dad fight but please stop screaming. When footsteps make their way down the hall, I place my phone down and hug my pillow with my eyes closed. Though internally I panic, I force myself to take deep and even breaths.

I hear the door squeak open and the heavy, angry breaths of my mother. Only the thumping in my chest is audible, and I dare not move until I hear the familiar click of my door. Even then, I pause for another two minutes until I'm sure she doesn't stand in wait to catch me being disobedient.

When I open my eyes and she's not there, I slip out of bed and crawl over to my window. I pull the blinds and look next door into Tamaki's room. His dark blue eyes meet mine as he lays in his bed. I scrounge around behind my desk to find my notebook. I flip through a few of the pages until I land on the one I want, holding up the page to the glass: Can I come over?

I watch him rifle through his own notebook before holding up his response.

Yes.

I tuck my notebook away and look at my door for a minute or two. She might come back. My ears tune in to every sound as I grab my jacket and stuff a deck of cards in the pocket. There's no footsteps down the hall and the muffled sound of the TV can be heard down the hall, a signal my dad's in bed and my mom's still in the living room. So, I throw on my jacket and crack open my window, slow and steady.

After sneaking out and shutting it behind me, I glide across the lawn over to Tamaki's house and through the opening he's left me. He takes my hand and helps me into the much warmer house. I click the window lock as I get comfy on his bed.

"Hi." I whisper.

"Hi."

Several minutes pass and neither of us say a word. My fingers pet the dark plum comforter underneath me, focusing my attention on the soft texture while the sound of yelling echoes in my mind. Tears trek down my cheeks while I try and think of what to say, not that it's anything Tamaki doesn't know. We've known each other since middle school. It's unlikely that there's anything I can tell him or Mirio that neither of them would know. T̶h̶e̶y̶'̶r̶e̶ ̶p̶r̶o̶b̶a̶b̶l̶y̶ ̶s̶i̶c̶k̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶t̶i̶r̶e̶d̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶t̶e̶l̶l̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶m̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶s̶a̶m̶e̶ ̶s̶t̶u̶p̶i̶d̶ ̶s̶h̶i̶t̶ ̶a̶l̶l̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶t̶i̶m̶e̶.

"Are you...okay?" My best friend's gentle voice breaks the silence.

"It's nothing new, I'm fine." I sniffle, wiping my face and shoving my emotions away, all the way down to soles of my feet. "I just didn't want to be alone."

"Are you staying for the evening?" He asks. "Mother knows your situation; you know she doesn't mind if you stay for the night."

"I know. I don't know if I'm staying, yet. Mom has started checking my room in the middle of the night." I explain, raking my fingers through my hair as I look up at him with red eyes and swollen cheeks. "The fights have been getting more frequent and the drinking is worse."