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{The Memories She Couldn't Leave Behind}
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Word Count; 4308
"Where are you off to?", Hana asked, leaning against Costa's doorframe.
The white-haired girl flinched, nearly jumping out of her own skin at her aunt's sudden appearance. She looked at her with a startled expression, "Hana! What the hell?!" Hana chuckled, walking into her niece's room and plopping down on her bed. Costa sat on her floor in front of her full-length mirror that hung on inside her closet door.
She was trying to tie her hair into two half-up-half-down ponytails, leaving her bouncy curls intact. She preferred her hair straight because it always looked so shiny but straightening her natural hair was a beast in itself. Spanish curls were too much of a hassle, her mother managed to teach her that much. She only had an hour before she was meeting her friends for dinner.
"Well? You didn't even answer the question", Hana said, grabbing her attention once more. Costa pulled a bobby pin out from between her teeth, sliding it into her hair. Her golden eyes met Hana's honey brown ones in the mirror and she sighed, "I'm going out with friends."
"Friends?!", Hana sat up instantly, a happy grin on her face, "Look at you- Ms.Popular! Making friends on your first week!"
"It's really nothing", Costa said, getting her hair tie caught up in her messy curls with a frustrated groan, "Why couldn't I be blessed with your straight hair?!"
"Are you kidding me...", Hana said in a 'what the fuck are you talking about' tone, "I have always envied your mom's curls- you know how many compliments she got on her hair when she was your age?"
"Yeah, yeah, everyone called her anoth-"
"Another Shakira! Do you know how much of a flex that is? People calling you Shakira? But I just got compared to some American white girl...", Hana said with an annoyed roll of her eyes. Costa giggled at her aunt, pouring a clear, liquid serum into her palm before scrunching it into her blonde curls.
"So are there gonna be any cute boys there?", Hana said with a suggestive wiggle of her eyebrows. Costa glared at her through the mirror, "Hana..."
"Or girls! I know you're at that age where you get curio-"
"HANA!", Costa whipped her head around to glare daggers at her aunt. Hana shrugged, ignoring her niece's obvious attempts at getting her to shut up, "Hey, when I was your age I kissed so many girls- I probably kissed more girls than guys-"
"Can you stop talking?"
"Hmph, you're being such an angsty teen right now- it's really no fun", Hana said with a pouty expression, hopping off of Costa's bed and making her way to the door. Costa looked up at her, her hairstyle now complete. Hana smiled down at her beautiful nice that reminded her so much of her sister, "You look really nice, Cosie."
"Thanks, Hana", Costa said, her annoyed expression falling from her features as a sheepish grin morphed its way onto her face. Hana gave her one final nod and salute, "Have fun on your friend group date, don't do something I would do."
"Oh, I won't."
+
"Miri! Stop, you're so cute!", Mina gushed the instant Costa walked through the restaurant doors. They'd gone to a traditional Japanese restaurant that wasn't too fancy or anything, just the perfect amount of casual for their rowdy party.
"Says you", Costa giggled as her friend embraced her in a tight hug. Mina pulled back, grabbing Costa's hands to look her up and down, examining her outfit.
She was wearing a tight-fitted, sleeveless, white crop top paired with high-waisted, light-wash jean shorts that stopped mid-thigh and a baggy zip-up, cream-colored jacket. She topped the outfit off with some white filas and a gold-chained necklace that had a sunstone dangling in between her collarbones.
Costa's cheeks were a faint mauve, accentuating the soft freckles that sprinkled her nose and the crinkles around her eyes when she smiled. A dust of dark brown shadow lined the corners her eyes, drawing attention to the bold golden colors that swam in her irises.
"This is such a cute outfit!", Mina said, complimenting her left and right. Costa blushed, thanking her friend as the rest of their group found a table in the back of the restaurant. Kaminari took the seat across from Costa as she was sandwiched between Mina and Ochaco. Sero and Jirou sat on opposite sides of their blonde friend. There were two empty seats at the very end of the table.
Bakugou and Kirishima were the only ones absent and the rest of the group earlier assumed they weren't coming.
As If Bakugou would show up knowing Costa was there...
Well, they were wrong.
They'd all been situated, sharing stories and laughs after ordering their own drinks, ready to order their food when the two best friends showed up. Kirishima shoved an angry Bakugou through the restaurant door as he growled profanities under his breath.
It was obvious Bakugou had no intentions of showing up but Kirishima wasn't having it, so he had to use force. The red-haired boy sidled up to his hot-headed friend as they strut toward the table, "It's the mature thing to do, you gotta start manning up."
"I don't give a shit about your 'manly rules', shitty-hair", Bakugou snapped back like a feral animal as they finally made it to their friend group's table. Costa looked up, her eyes meeting Bakugou's ruby red orbs. He immediately sent her a nasty look to which she responded by flipping him off, a flirty smile dancing on her pink lips.
He looked like he wanted to reach across the table and punch her.
Costa laughed as Mina ushered the two into their seats. Kirishima sat next to his pink-haired lady friend, a soft blush on his cheeks as Bakugou grumpily plopped down into the seat across from him. Costa looked over at him once more as he silently sulked in his spot. She leaned her jaw against her fist that was propped up with her elbow on the edge of the table.
Her eyes scanned his spikey, ash-blonde hair, his bright vermillion eyes that screamed 'challenge me', his ugly snarl and distressed expression that always overtook his generally handsome face. She imagined him smiling, or at least not scowling and found herself fighting back a grin.
'He would be undeniably handsome if he stopped making those nasty facial expressions all of the time', she thought to herself, tearing her gaze away from him before she was caught staring. That would've caused an awkward situation.
As she stopped herself from looking at Bakugou, her eyes flickered over to lock on Kaminari's golden ones. She tensed when she noticed him already looking at her, confusion prevalent in his expression. She clenched her jaw.
'Crap, he definitely just saw me oggling Bakugou like a creep', she internally panicked for a second, no signs of her nervousness shown on her face. To anyone else, she was as cool as a cucumber as she sent him one of her million-dollar smiles.
Kaminari just about melted as her pretty pink lips pulled back into a grin, a flash of pearly white teeth causing his heart to skip. He noticed the dimples that graced her cheeks when she smiled and he gulped. If love-at-first-sight was a thing, he was experiencing it with Costa.
Once she was sure he was flustered enough to forget about her staring at Bakugou earlier, she turned over to Ochaco, who was running her finger down the menu with a puzzled expression.
Eventually, the entire table ordered and was waiting for their food while chatting about the events of the week. It had been one long week but Costa had finally finished off her first few days at school. She was feeling a lot happier with being at UA, it'd proven to keep her easily distracted, plus most of her classmates were so eager to befriend her.
For the first time in months, she didn't feel so empty.
"I swear it happened!", Kaminari whined, slapping his hand on the table as Sero couldn't contain his laughter.
"Kaminari- shut up", Jiro said, pinching his ear and pulling him toward her. He let out a loud yelp slapping her hand away from his ear as little whiny noises fell from his mouth. Ochaco and Costa covered their snorts as the entire table started teasing Kaminari.
"Even the freshmen reject you Kaminari, there's no way Tsunotori would ask you of all people to take her to the winter festival this year", Mira said with a teasing grin, causing all the other boys to snicker. Kaminari let out an exasperated noise, "That's not true!"
"Yes, yes it is", Sero said in between chuckles, patting his friend on the shoulder "Anyone at this table would have a better chance, loverboy."
Kaminari sent him a look before crossing his arms over his chest, "Oh please, everyone knows that the last one of us to get a girlfriend would be Bakugou."
A hush fell over the table as Bakugou's head snapped in Kaminari's direction, a look of pure rage possessing his sharp features. Costa subtly put a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing at the situation. Kirishima cringed as he witnessed Bakugou go rigid.
"Dude...", He looked at Kaminari with a disappointed shake of his head.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT DUNCE FACE?", Bakugou yelled, almost leaning over Kiri to scream into Kaminari's face. Their yellow-haired friend smirked playfully, almost asking for a beating, "C'mon man, you're hardly boyfriend material."
His face was now beet red and steam was visibly perspiring off of his body. Costa softly kicked Kaminari's shin under the table, finding it had obviously struck a nerve. She tried her best to subtly suggest to the Pikachu boy that he should shut the hell up.
"I'LL BLOW YOUR ASS UP YOU LOSER!", Kirishima was then holding his best friend back, who started to lunge at Kaminari. Costa noticed the other customers sharing concerned looks as they watched the drama unfolding at their table. She turned to Mina who was watching the scene with a slightly amused expression.
"Is it always like this?", Costa whispered, touching her friend's elbow. Mina turned to her and grinned, nodding her head, "Oh yeah, all the time."
"Dude- you'd scare any chick away."
"SHUT UP BEFORE I KILL YOU!"
"I'm sorry man but you'll prolly die a virgin."
"THAT'S IT!"
Bakugou trampled Kirishima on his way to swing at Kaminari and a fearful expression flashed across the blonde boy's features. Costa pushed herself away from the table, caving into the back of her seat with wide eyes. Kirishima activated his quirk as he held back his explosive friend and the whole table erupted in chaos.
+
"I'm so sorry Miriara", Mina said with a defeated sigh.
The group was walking through the streets of Downtown Musutafu, trying to find somewhere else to eat after being asked to leave and never come back. Costa hadn't even had one meal at the place before being banned forever.
"It's okay, at least I got to have some entertainment before dinner", Costa said, her gaze flickering over to the pouting blonde up ahead. He was extra grouchy after the whole ordeal and the entire group forced Kaminari to apologize to him. They also made the pikachu promise not to speak another word to the explosive boy for the rest of the night.
"Aw man, I was really looking forward to their Tempura", Ochaco said with a huff, blowing away the front pieces of her hair. Her long bob had gained a couple of inches since her first year, now resting effortlessly against her collarbones.
Costa eyed a certain cafe across the way, one that looked a little more retro than the other shops surrounding it. Costa nudged Ochaco, pointing toward the cafe with a curious expression, "Ever been there?"
"No, not yet. You guys wanna go?", Ochaco said, grabbing the others' attention. Eventually, the whole group collectively agreed given the groans that were rumbling from their stomachs.
After being seated for the second time that night, the table quietly ordered their food right away. Hushed conversation fell over the group, everyone still feeling a little tense after the incident at the previous restaurant. Costa was still seated between Ochaco and Mina but instead of sitting at a normal table, they were at a round table. So when Costa looked up, and right across from her was none other than Katsuki Bakugou, she bit her lip.
'Great', she thought to herself as he aggressively ate his Yakitori, an angry look stuck on his face.
Costa tried her best to ignore him and enjoy the others' company for the rest of the dinner. She ate some Salmon Sashimi with Green Tea Matcha Icecream for dessert. By the time everyone was finished eating, the sun had gone down and yawns were escaping all of their mouths.
"Thank you for inviting me, you guys", Costa said with a content smile, feeling satisfied with the night. Ochaco laid her head on Costa's shoulder and hummed, "I'm so glad you could tag along!"
"We should be getting back to the dorms, it's almost curfew", Jiro announced and the party collectively agreed, paying before leaving the cafe. Musutafu at night was wonderful, billboards of flashing blues, greens, and yellows reflected off their faces as they walked through town. Costa looked around curiously, watching as the civilians traveled through the lit streets, passing street stands and corner stores.
Ads for new anime videogames and tv shows littered bus stops and dipped into side alley walls. People were out smoking on their fire escapes, watching their kids playing in the streets below with a ringing of laughter filling the block. A chill rippled through the city as the evening wind had arrived at just the right time. Costa rubbed her palms against her biceps, inhaling the fresh air appreciatively.
Ochaco laced her arm through Costa's, causing Costa to turn to the tired, rosy-cheeked girl. They shared a smile and a giggle, following the rest of the group around the block. It wasn't until they reached a turn that Costa unwrapped her arm from Ochaco's and wished everyone a goodnight.
"Are you sure you'll be okay walking home alone?", Kirishima asked, slight concern laced through his raspy voice. Costa sent him a grateful smile, nodding, "Yes, I think I've proven that I'm very capable of defending myself."
"True that", Mina said with a giggle, glancing over at Bakugou, who'd started snarling.
"We'll see you on Monday morning then!", Sero said cheerily, waving at her in a friendly manner. Costa chuckled, waving back as the group all said their goodbyes. They walked down the opposite side of the street as Costa took her own route home. As of next week, she'd get to walk home with them everyday, so she might as well enjoy the nightlife on her own for one evening.
She let out a long, much-needed sigh as she walked through the streets of Musutafu, analyzing the exterior of the houses and buildings. Her mind instinctively began to wander as she kept a slow pace. She thought sorted through memories of all that had happened throughout the week.
The competition.
Her new friends.
Her new enemies...
She chuckled to herself, an image of Bakugou marking her as his enemy in the elevator the other day causing a bubble of amusement to rise up in her chest. It was odd, really.
He felt so familiar and yet he'd never once crossed her path. Maybe it was his mannerisms, the things he would say, it was all just so familiar to her. Her small smile faded as she found herself standing in front of a playground. It was empty, the only light cascading over the structure was from the moon.
She let her head lean back as she took in the full moon. The soft glow of moonlight hit her tanned face, making shadows in the crevices of her features. She smiled up at that moon, the sight so warm and inviting to her.
An empty sadness filled her heart as she stood there, all alone, under the light of the full moon. Her chest felt heavy and the silence that surrounded her cut like broken glass. She pursed her lips together, the feeling filling every part of her body until she felt like it was suffocating her. She inhaled sharply, willing herself to breathe, hoping it might cause this feeling to subside.
Her heart ached and she collapsed onto the curb, plopping down onto her butt with a 'thud'. Her eyes stung so she pressed the heels of her palms into her eyelids. She didn't want to cry, she couldn't do it.
Even as her mother's face flashed through her mind, she refused to cry.
"No", she muttered shakily, wrapping her arms around her knees and pulling them close to her chest. The feeling was so strong, her body began to feel numb and she began shaking. This had happened before, her teacher had called it a panic attack.
"I-I have nothing...", she swallowed, "...to be panicking about r-right now."
She started to inhale sharply, letting out slow, shaky breaths to calm herself down. Her nails dug into the smooth, tan skin on her biceps but she didn't even feel it, too busy with calming herself down. Her mind was going a mile a minute, unwanted memories resurfacing from her previous thoughts.
So familiar...
"What do you mean they're suspending you??"
Costa flinched, bringing her knees to her chest as her mother's voice rang through the other side of the door. She sounded angry, well she always sounded pretty angry, but especially now that her father had dropped a bomb on her.
"They're taking away my hero license temporarily until... I...", her father's deep voice sounded much calmer, contrasting against her mother's fiery tone, "...until I go back to rehab."
The silence was deafening, causing Costa to clasp her hands over her mouth and hold her breath so they wouldn't hear her eavesdropping against the door. The creak of floorboards caused her to jump, tucking herself against the wall further.
"Gael...", her mother seethed through her teeth, "...What. Did. You. Do."
She was spitting out her words like they were venom. She always said things so harshly, even if she didn't mean to. And her mother was the same as well, Costa's grandfather used to call it the 'Miriara Female Fire'.
"Sofia...", her father said, almost pleading.
"You're drinking again??", her mother's voice cracked as she let out a pained laugh, "...On the job!"
Costa curled into herself, her mother's rise in tone causing worry to fill her body. She clutched the fabric of her pajama pants tightly, letting out a small whimper as the cloth crumpled in her small fist. Her father was silent for a long time, his answer revealed through his lack of response. She could almost imagine the look on her mother's face as she pinched the bridge of her nose.
"THAT'S IT!", Sofia exclaimed, "...You need to get your shit together, Gael! No more of this, I can't take it anymore!"
Tears pricked at Costa's eyes as she heard a sob escape her mother's lips. It had always been like that. If Sofia was upset, Costa was too. She had this soul-tethering bond with her mother that resulted in an immense amount of empathic, mirroring emotions.
"Sofia...", Gael breathed out, his own voice shaky, "...I am so sorry, I'll do better. I'll do better, I promise."
"What are we supposed to do, Gael?!", Sofia yelled, flailing her arms out, "...We can't afford another suspension, much less rehab."
"I-I have a problem...", he started to cry, "...I need to get better..."
Sofia was silent for an entire minute, the only sound coming from the room were their sniffles. Costa suppressed her own sniffles as tears cascaded down her round, rosy cheeks.
"Yeah... you do", Sofia said so quietly, Costa barely heard the footsteps before Sofia was striding right out of the room. Costa squeaked when the door swung open and her mother's golden eyes narrowed on her 6-year old body, curling up against the wall. Once Sofia saw her daughter's crying face, she almost broke down again.
"Costa... what are you doing here baby...", her voice did a complete 180, becoming as gentle as a soft wind on a spring day as she crouched down next to her daughter. She was always so loving and gentle when speaking to Costa, although she tended to become pretty aggressive toward anyone else. It made Costa feel special and safe, like she had a place in her mother's heart that nobody else had.
"Mama...", Costa blubbered, throwing her arms around her mother and sobbing into her shoulder. Sofia bit her lip, sucking in any tears that threatened to escape. She pulled Costa into her lap, positioning herself against the wall. Costa pulled back, looking up through her soaked lashes, "...is daddy going away again?"
Sofia swallowed all of her emotions that she let wild earlier for the sake of her daughter as she pressed her forehead against the small girls, "...yeah, he is...only for a little while though."
Costa squeezed her eyes shut, hiccups escaping her mouth uncontrollably, something that usually happened when she would having crying fits as a kid. Sofia rubbed her back soothingly, trying to calm her hysterical daughter down as she cried. She heard the creaking of floorboards before looking up to see her husband in the doorway of their room, looking down at the two of them blankly.
His once handsome face looked so sullen and tired, bags hanging from his honey-brown eyes that seemed almost lifeless nowadays. His chestnut curls were frosted in grey hairs and disheveled messily as if he hadn't brushed his hair in days. Sofia wanted to cry, just looking at him.
"I'm sorry...", he whispered, watching his daughter cry into his wife's arms desperately. He knew it was his fault she was crying, whenever he hurt one of them, he hurt both of them.
Sofia nuzzled her nose into Costa's bouncy, blonde curls, breathing in her coconut shampoo. Her left hand untangled from her daughters and she rose her arm, feeling around until she found her husband's hand. He looked down as their fingers intertwined.
His empty brown eyes met Sofia's fiery golden stare and she sent him a firm nod.
"We're family...", Sofia managed to get out without her voice cracking, "...We'll get through this."
"Together?", Costa's father croaked out as he collapsed to the floor with his wife and daughter. His eyes were boring into his wife's so desperately, he looked completely and utterly terrified. Sofia untangled her hand from his so that she could touch his face. Their foreheads met and she nodded.
"Together."
Costa hiccuped but her body was fighting the sobs that wanted to rack her. It hurt, it hurt so much she wanted nothing more than to blow something up.
'We're family...'
Her mom's words echoed through her mind over and over again that her head started to throb. She grasped her forehead, an agonizing noise of grief and pain escaping her lips, "Fuck, fuck, FUCK!"
Before she knew it, her quirk was activated. But her golden eyes that usually turned a bright glowing yellow when she used her quirk, instead became a bright, pearly glow- just like the moonlight that hung over her head. Her palms flashed white and she whirled around, expelling all the emotions she was feeling outward.
Push it out, push it out...
Her quirk turned into an outlet for all of her pain and loneliness as she completely destroyed a tree nearby. She didn't realize she was holding her breath until she stopped expelling light from her hands and collapsed onto her knees, gasping for breath. She wasn't sure how much time had passed. Maybe half an hour, maybe 3 hours.
But she sat on the curb, staring blankly at the concrete beneath her school shoes. It couldn't have been long after her little tantrum that her phone starting to vibrate in her jacket pocket. There was only one person that could be calling her so without checking the caller ID, she answered the phone.
"Don't worry, I'm okay", she instantly began, "...I really needed a walk."
Hana let out a big sigh of relief.
"Well I'm not leaving for my night shift until you show up so you better get here soon or I'm going to be late", Hana started before lecturing her about curfew and staying out too late, even if it was a weekend. Costa smiled sadly, listening to Hana's entire speech as she dusted herself off and began walking back to their apartment.
"Yeah yeah, I'll be there soon", Costa said, her angsty teenage attitude slipping out. Hana pursed her lips on the other end, "You better be, you smart ass."
"Calm your tits, I'm almost there."
"Calm my tits? Girl, you're gonna give me an ulcer", Hana stressed, causing Costa to let out a belly laugh. Her mood from earlier began to lighten as she spoke to her youthful, light-hearted aunt. Hana wasn't there all the time but she was a reassurance that she wasn't alone.
Although the past few months have brought nothing but pain, grief, and loneliness, she still had her bubbly aunt who her mom had loved to the moon and back. Who Costa loved to the moon and back.
"Alright kid, I'll see you at home", Hana casually said.
Home.
"Yeah, I'll see you at home, Hana", Costa sighed, taking one last look at the shining moon in the sky.