𝐍𝐀𝐎𝐊𝐎 𝘣𝘰𝘬𝘶 𝘯𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘢 (hiatus)

013 beyond ready

"All Might? As in the No.1 Hero, All Might? That's insane, why would they even think that would work out?"

The girl paused. It shouldn't have worked out—All Might is the strongest hero... So why did it feel like he came so close to losing?

"They... They had some creature—he called it a Nomu," Naoko's voice shook as she recounted the details. "It... It was so strong... I- I couldn't do anything against it, I just froze... Natsu, nothing would hurt it and it kept getting back up."

Naoko's eyes filled with tears again and her voice broke, "I thought he was gonna die! And I couldn't save him! I couldn't save him either!"

Naoko trembled before Natsuo pulled her into his arms once more, regretting asking about the day's events. Quiet sobs escaped the younger girl, while Natsuo rocked her back and forth, thinking of his next words.

"Naocchan... you can't blame yourself. You did everything you could, and I guarantee that without you, things could've gone a lot worse."

Naoko shook her head as he kept speaking, "Whoever you were trying to save, is saved, and I know you had a part in that."

"But I wasn't strong enough to--"

"Then get stronger," Natsuo cut her off. Ever since Touya died, most people thought that Naoko had grown weaker. That her mind was broken, that her motivation was gone, her effort nonexistent. But Natsuo could still see the fire in her eyes. Though often it stemmed from anger, Natsuo had faith that his sister could turn that anger to passion, and that passion could help the world. It was clear she wanted things to change, she just needed to learn that she was capable of creating that change herself.

Natsuo resented their father. He often thought back to nights where his older brother would come into his bedroom, crying, begging for an answer as to why he existed—why he was even alive if Endeavor didn't want him. It was always after Naoko had fallen asleep—the boy had been her rock and he didn't want her to know how bad his own mental state was. Touya found comfort in Naoko and her admiration for him, but some days he needed more than a little six year old telling him that things would be okay.

Naoko mulled over what Natsuo had said. She knew there was still room to grow—that much was obvious, especially as demonstrated by her continuous failures. Time and time again, she couldn't measure up to Shoto, despite that specific feat being what kept her training. But no matter what she did to improve alone, she wasn't able to learn what she could have if Touya were still around, or better yet, if her father wasn't a selfish, neglectful asshole that threw her and her siblings away as if they meant nothing to him.

The girl couldn't do anything but hum at her brother's statement, hugging him again without really responding.

Naoko laid in Natsuo's arms the rest of the night.

To him, it was far too hot being underneath the girl's heated light while being sensitive to heat because of his own quirk. To her, it was cold, the temperature Natsuo's body gave off too low to bring her any warmth.

However uncomfortable, the embrace was very much needed, and just managed to lull her into calmness. Calmness that was disrupted only by nightmares of raging blue fire and frantic yells that haunted her.

Naoko and Natsuo had both woken up to the alarm Naoko had forgotten to turn off, seeing as she got the day off of school to rest after the U.S.J. Incident. With eyes opening, stinging from how tired they both still were, the siblings couldn't help but find amusement in the fact that Natsuo woke up drenched in sweat whereas Naoko woke up shivering.

🝆 🜂 🝆

The long weekend didn't end up eventful at all, Naoko having not left the house the whole time. Natsuo and Fuyumi fretted over both her and Shoto, though thankfully they never forced them to be together. If anything, it was like they had taken turns being with the twins.