A soft knock sounds at your door.
You lift your head up from your pillow and prop yourself up on an elbow, "Come in."
Shinsou opens the door and his violet eyes scan the room for you. Spotting you, he lazily makes his way over to the edge of your large bed. The boy places his hands on his knees, as he sits down beside you.
"So are you going to tell me what's wrong or am I supposed to guess?"
You heave a deep sigh and let your head fall back against your pillow.
Slowly shutting your eyelids, you respond, "Nothing's wrong, really. Just the usual."
The words force themselves from your lips. A feeling of guilt takes over after lying to the boy. A knot forms at your throat and your chest tightens as you feel his eyes land on you.
"Your fire will come. You know, you shouldn't be so hard on yourself."
Shinsou means well. He always does. It pains you to lie to him but it would destroy you if speaking up resulted in someone you love getting hurt. A wave of nausea hits you at the idea of Shigaraki and his villainous league capturing your family members or friends. You sit up and pry your eyes open in an attempt to settle your nerves.
"If I had a dollar for every time someone's said that-"
"You'd be rich, I know. But, look at you. Stressing over it is making you physically ill. You've paled at least ten shades. I think some fresh air would do you some good." Shinsou expresses, worriedly.
You look down at your hands resting in your lap.
As if on cue, your phone vibrates and lights up besides Shinsou's spot on the bed.
He grabs it, sneaking a quick glance before he tosses it over to you.
"Who's Denki and why are you meeting up with him in twenty minutes?"
You laugh at his protective state, "He's a friend and we're meeting up to skate over to the big field for some quirk testing. Wanna come?"
Shinsou slouches at the thought of meeting someone new, "Sounds like a lot of work."
You grab his shoulders and shake him, "C'mon, Shinsou, please. It'll be fun. You and Denki will get along just fine."
The boy lifts a hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose, "You were moping around like a zombie three seconds ago and now you're rattling my brain." His gaze then shifts over to you and he sighs, "Fine. But if I get bored I'm going back home."
The two of you walk over to your dad's room to find both him and Midnight hunched over his desk, looking through stacks of papers.
"Well, we're going to have to take precautions and change the location after Midoriya's encounter with the leader of the league." Aizawa insists.
"I agree. But we should try to withhold disclosing the information on the new location from the students. Just for their safety. You'll just take them on the bus, that way there's no chance word gets out to the public about where the camp and students are located." Midnight adds.
Aizawa slumps down into his seat, "These damn villains. This isn't their first time going after the kids." His jaw clenches as the memory of you in Shigaraki's clutches, at the USJ attack, burns into his mind.
Your father slams his hand on the desk in anger.
Midnight puts a hand on his shoulder, "Aizawa, we're going to catch them."
"I could've lost her. I could've lost my daughter to that power hungry villain." Your father's leg bounces up and down, distraughtly.
Midnight stands by him, "But you didn't lose her. She's still here with you and safe from Shigaraki's clutches. We're going to put an end to them, Aizawa."
The man stands back up and continues shuffling through the papers, "The kids' safety is our top priority. I don't want them anywhere near my students. And they damn well won't lay a finger on either of my kids again."
Midnight smiles at him, "Speaking of the kids, Shinsou's staying with me while you're away at the training camp, right?"
"If you don't mind, yeah. I know the kiddo's not going to want to stay at Mic's." Aizawa answers.
Your aunt laughs, "Of course, I don't mind. I love having the kids over. As crazy as it sounds, they make me feel sane."
Aizawa nods, "Honestly, I don't know what I'd do without them. They have a way of taking you away from this crazy world to just be happy for a moment."
Midnight fans her eyes, drying the tears that threaten to fall, "They're doing a lot of good to you."
You and Shinsou let out a little cough, making your presence known.
The two adults snap their heads to where you stand at the doorway.
"Hey, Dad, Aunt Midnight, we just wanted to tell you that we're heading out." You start.
"We're going skating to the big field near the river." Shinsou finishes.
Aizawa looks between the two of you and reflects on the events that had occurred at the mall that day. Knowing you were there frightens him. He imagines you in Midoriya's position, unknowing that you had in fact been confronted by Shigaraki.
Before he has the chance to speak, Midnight speaks up, "Go have fun. Your dad and I will be waiting here for you later. Call us, if anything. "
She walks over to the two of you and places a loving hand on your heads.
You and Shinsou look over at Aizawa, who looks back at you and sighs.
"Be smart. Always be aware of your surroundings. If you see something strange or suspicious, call us right away and head home. It's better to be safe than sorry."
The two of you nod curtly, waving to your father and Aunt Midnight before you walk down the stairs. You grab three water bottles from a pantry and set them on the table near the door as you walk with Shinsou to the garage.
"Dad seems really stressed about this. I don't blame him of course. But...I hate that all this happened." You mention as you walk in behind Shinsou.
The boy walks into the garage, golden rays of the setting sun pierce through the windows on the gliding door and light up the space.
He walks around the black Jeep to where five boards sit on their display racks.
Looking up at them, he says, "The league going after Midoriya at the mall is bad news. Not to mention the fact that all this happened in the middle of the day at a busy time and he still got away." His fists clench at his side and you watch as his lips part to take a breath in order to calm down. He turns to face you and his deep purple eyes land on you, "When I heard about what had happened...I got scared."
You close the distance between you and Shinsou and lay a reassuring hand on his shoulder, "It's okay, Shinsou. I'm okay."
He looks down at his feet, "I know I haven't been around since the beginning but, you...you are all family to me. You, Aizawa, Midnight, and Mic have all done so much more for me than anyone ever has. My parents didn't even care when Aizawa offered to take me in. Actually, I think they were relieved. And then they left. Just like that. Living here is a whole different world for me. It's nice to not be alone and I'll do anything to keep it that way. So when I heard you were at the mall when the incident happened...I don't know...my heart just...stopped. A million things ran through my head. You're my sister. I don't want to lose you."
You blink as your eyes start to burn and a single tear slides down your cheek, falling to the cool pavement.
Shinsou looks at you and his eyes widen a bit, "No, don't cry. Hey, it's okay. You're okay."
He grabs your arm and pulls you into a hug. Silence falls and you cling to the boy who became family. The boy who's felt alone all his life and only now gets to feel what it means to matter. The two of you have grown so close, sometimes it's easy to forget you're not bound by blood. Nonetheless, he is your brother and you'd do everything in your willpower to protect him.
'They'll be dust before you can even manage to call the authorities.'
Shigaraki's threatening words haunt your mind.
You can still feel his greedy eyes nearly burning holes right through you, at the mall, as he offered you a place in his league. He'd have had to have gone completely mad to think the question was even worth asking. Asking you to stay silent was all a part of his game. A game he thinks he can win by manipulation.
'If protecting those I care about means staying silent I'll do it. But you are a fool, Shigaraki. And your time wreaking havoc is limited.'
Shinsou pulls back, his hands remaining on your shoulders, "C'mon, it's been a rough day, lets get some fresh air."
You nod, walking over to pick your skateboard off the rack, "I'm actually kinda excited. I haven't gone skating in a while."
Shinsou takes his off of its support beam, hitting the wheels to make them spin, "Lucky for you, I made a skating playlist recently." Your brother takes his phone out of his pocket and reaches for the portable speaker charging on the long table.
"While you get your phone connected, I'm going to go grab something real quick."
Shinsou nods at you and your turn on your heel, running back into the house, and bounding up the stairs.
You make your way to your father's room, stopping at the doorway.
Aizawa turns to where you stand at the entrance and his brows furrow slightly, "Hey, what's wro-woah!"
You crashed into him, wrapping your arms around him in a tight hug.
His strong arms slip around your shoulders and he rests a hand atop your head, "You okay, kid?"
"You're not going to lose me, dad."
He lets out a sigh through his nose, "And you're not going to lose me, kiddo. I'm assuming you overheard?"
You nod into his shoulder.
After lightly kissing the top of your head, your father explains, "The league is getting bolder but we'll put a stop to them and keep you kids safe. You, just be aware of your surroundings and don't worry too much about it. Now, go have fun, you kids look like you haven't seen a ounce of sunlight."
You laugh and he ruffles your hair before letting go. You then walk over to your Aunt Midnight and hug her, as well. As soon as you reach her, she locks you in her arms and attacks your face with kisses. Struggling against her embrace, you manage to get out of her tight grasp, laughing.
After quickly snatching a small backpack from your room, you meet back up with Shinsou downstairs. You place the three bottles of water in your bag, grab your skateboard, and walk out into the summer heat. Shinsou shuts the door behind the two of you and places his speaker in the netted water bottle holder on the side of his bag, before jumping on his skateboard and taking off. You follow closely behind him, telling him to stop outside a mini market where you and Denki plan to meet up. After a few more minutes, the little store comes into view and an electric blonde waits outside of it, leaning against the brick wall.
You come to a stop in front of Denki and he looks up from his phone, a beaming smile spreading across his lips, "Hey, Denks."
The boy has his hair pulled back in a low ponytail, a few rogue strands slipping away to frame his face, "Hey, you."
You turn and wave Shinsou over. He walks over to you and Denki very hesitantly.
"I brought Shinsou since I know he likes skating." You explain to your light haired friend.
Denki smiles at the quiet boy, "Sup, I'm Kaminari. But you can call me Denki. Nice board!"
Shinsou holds up his board so that the bottom of the deck faces up, displaying a purple cat flipping off the viewer, "Thanks. I'm Shinsou Hitoshi. I never really go by Hitoshi, though, so you can just call me Shinsou."
The three of you toss your boards in front of you and jump on, setting on the path to the large field.
Denki pulls a few tricks as he rides beside you, "Showoff."
"What's that? I couldn't hear you over all this talent." The boy puts his hands behind his head as he lifts his chin up and closes his eyes to emphasize the ease.
You laugh and shove his shoulder.
His light eyes snap open and he wobbles slightly before regaining his balance. Denki looks over at you and playfully sticks out his tongue, to which you return back to him.
He then looks past you at Shinsou and cocks his head to the side, "Bro, has anyone ever told you that you look kinda like Aizawa?"
"That's what I thought when I first saw him." You admit with a small laugh.
The edges of Shinsou's lips turn up, "It's almost like he could be my dad. Kinda scary."
You and Denki laugh at his response.
The blonde brings out his phone and tells you and Shinsou to look up for the picture. The three of you come out looking happy and carefree.
For a second you close your eyes and the sensation of the warm summer breeze, tickling your skin and weaving through your hair, grows stronger. You lean your head back to the sky and feel the setting sun's warmth on your face. Taking a deep breath you let the peaceful feeling sink in.
"Wake up, Sleeping Beauty. You're falling behind!" Denki's voice calls out.
"C'mon slow poke." Shinsou adds.
The two boys look back at you and in that moment, you wanted nothing more than to live in it forever. For once, in a very long time, you felt free. There were no villains, no heroes, no ranks. Just you, a colorful sky, and a couple of idiots. You smile, regardless of what has happened today. No matter how hard Shigaraki had tried to instill fear into you, the love and support from the ones you cared about overpowered his malice.
Before the two boys could come to their senses, you were speeding past them, "Last one to the field has to jump in the river!"
"You're on!" Denki shouts, pushing off his foot, forcefully.
Shinsou rapidly picks up his pace, "Like, hell, I'll lose."
The three of you swerve past pedestrians and other obstacles, racing towards the large open field.
You look behind you to see Denki at your heels with a determined grin and Shinsou inching behind him.
Bolting past the last street you come to an abrupt stop at the gates surrounding the empty grassland and raise your arms up, victoriously. Denki kicks up his board and jumps off, catching the wooden thing in his arms. Shinsou jerks to a stop, sighing in defeat.
You slide your arm out of one of your backpack straps and swing the bag in front of you, pulling out the water bottles.
You toss one to each of the boys and they chug it down quickly.
Shinsou and Denki let out a breathless 'thank you' in unison.
Giving them a nod, you place your hands on your hips and say, "Alright now let's get to work."
"Why am I kinda nervous?" Denki asks, pulling the hair tie out and running a hand through his hair.
"Don't be. This is going to work." You say, adamantly. The blonde nods, unable to speak from biting down on the black hair tie while he pulls his hair back with both hands.
After confining it back to its previous state, the three of you walk up a hill and set your stuff down in a pile. Shinsou lays down, using his skateboard as a head rest, and watches as you and Denki stand in front of each other.
"Okay, so Denks, you're going to activate your quirk and expel as many volts necessary for you to short circuit. While you do that, Shinsou and I will be protected behind an air shield. Once you've gone into your defenseless state, I'm going to have to get you to lay down. That way your body is level and controlling the spreading energy of my water quirk will go smoother." You explain the basis of the plan out and Denki nods in understanding.
"Got it. Okay, now, get in your tornado bubble. I'm excited!" Denki expresses, shaking himself out and prepping for his moment.
You walk over and hold out an arm to Shinsou, which he takes, and you pull him up from his relaxed state.
You take a moment to inhale deeply, holding it in for a solid five seconds before exhaling heavily. As you clear your mind and settle your spirit, you activate your air quirk. Drawing out your arms to your sides, you bring them in and form a ball shape with your hands in front of your chest. The air around you mimics your movement and a thin layer surrounds you and your brother. Within less than a few seconds, the barrier grows stronger and thicker, lifting you and Shinsou five feet off of the grassy surface. The winds howl, traveling in the pattern of a sphere, surrounding the two of you.
"Now, Denks!" You scream as loud as you can and give a thumbs up in case he can't hear you.
You can barely make anything out through the flurry, but bright yellow lights start to flash from outside your tornado-like blockade. After a few seconds, the streaks of lightning cease and you slowly deactivate your quirk, landing lightly back onto the field.
Denki looks around, his eyes completely glazed over and unfocused. The boy holds up his hands in two thumbs up positions.
"This happens every time he uses his quirk?" Shinsou asks, watching the boy.
You shake your head and walk over to your friend, "Only when he exceeds his wattage limit. But that's the thing. Either way, it's dangerous. Say, he faces a villain. He's going to eventually overuse his quirk and fall into this state. He won't be able to protect himself, leaving the villain to do whatever they please with him."
Shinsou helps you take hold of Denki's shoulders and guide him down to the ground.
"So, if this works out and the two of you just stick together, he'll be able to exceed his limit, recover, and bounce back." Shinsou thinks out loud.
You nod, pushing Denki's chest lightly to get him to lay down, "Right. But, he's still going to have to figure out a way to build his endurance so that he doesn't short circuit in case I'm not around to help him."
Shinsou lets out a whistley breath, "Yeah. Damn, that must be hard."
You nod, "Yeah. But Denki's strong, he'll figure it out, I know he will."
Sitting on your knees beside the blonde, you hover your hand above his chest and activate your water quirk. A small pool suspends in the area between your palm and his chest. You slowly lower your hand so that the surface of the water bubble barely soaks through his shirt to the skin beneath. You shut your eyes and focus on the connection between your spirit and the water's energy. Once the two adjoin, a surge of serenity fills your psyche and a mental image of Denki's bodily energy flow appears clearly in your mind. In order to gain control over and manipulate the flow of energy, you need to sacrifice some of your own. The amount isn't enough to drain you but merely hit you with a hint of exhaustion. You feel the source exit through your chest and you open your eyes to watch as the mist-like substance collides with the water beneath your hand.
"Did that hurt?" Shinsou asks, concerningly.
You shake your head.
As your energy and the water make contact the bubble you hold begins to glow.
Shinsou's eyes widen as he watches the liquid shine in a white tinted light.
"Amazing." He whispers under his breath.
You close your eyes again and the glowing yellow flow of energy in Denki's body reappears. It looked almost like above the heart was an ocean that spread and separated into lakes, to rivers, to streams, as it spread across his body. This time you notice how dull the light has faded in the energy in his head. As if there were a dam blocking the stream up his neck to his head, letting only the occasional trickle flow through the cracks.
You slowly draw your hand, from it's position above his chest, up to his head.
Behind your eyelids you watch as the stream, from where the pool around his heart area connects to his head, begins to glow brighter as you guide your hand above it. Before you know it, the once faded light of energy flow in his head glows brightly.
You open your eyes and retract your hand, placing your palm against the ground and letting the earth's surface soak it in. You deactivate your quirk and take in a breath, holding it in nervously. Denki's eyes flutter open and he looks around, taking in his surroundings. Within seconds he's jumping up on his feet, cheering energetically.
You look down at your hands, amazed with what just happened.
All of a sudden, Denki is pulling you up into a tight embrace and spinning you around in his arms as he chants, "You are a genius little water healer!"
You laugh and respond, "I know."
The excited boy finally sets you down and Shinsou walks over, drapes an arm over your shoulders and gives you a squeeze.
"That. Was. Awesome." Shinsou admits.
"I feel like a whole new me! Like I just woke up from hibernation or something. I'm fully charged!" Denki says, flexing his muscles.
You raise a brow, "I'm really hoping I didn't accidently give you some type of superhuman energy."
"That would be freakin' awesome!"
You and Shinsou laugh at the boy's enthusiasm.
The three of you pick up your stuff from the pile and skate back over to the mini market where you'd all met, earlier. You all walk in, buy celebratory ice cream, and enjoy it outside in the cool night air.
Shinsou collects your trash, along with Denki's, and heads back in the store to throw it away.
Sitting on top of his board, next to you, Denki thanks you, "Thanks for everything. I know you spent your time researching and reading up on how to help me and I really appreciate it. No one's ever done something like this for me. You're a really good friend."
You smile at him and roll your skateboard to lightly bump into his, "Hey, that's what friends are for. We're supposed to help each other. And just like you help me, I'll help you."
"Yeah. But this was above and beyond, so, really, thank you." He insists.
"What can I say, I love to outdo people." You shrug, smugly.
Denki laughs and stands up, offering his hand out to you.
You take it and he helps you up. Shinsou walks back out and puts his backpack on.
Setting one foot on top of his board Denki says, "Bye, today was fun. We should go skating more often, I can teach you some cool tricks. Oh, and you should come too, Shinsou. I can even invite the others. See ya! Thanks again you element-queen-super-water-healing-genius!"
You laugh at the name and wave, as he takes off, "Bye Denks!"
Shinsou waves goodbye.
You sigh and stretch your arms up, "Let's go home."
Shinsou nods, in agreement, "Right behind you."
The two of you hop on your skateboards and ride back home. The stars are dimmed by the bright street lights and neon signs, casting their colorful glows down on the sidewalks where people mingle. Summer means busy streets full of laughter and chatter no matter the time. And you enjoy watching the liveliness as you pass by. After a few minutes, you're back in the garage putting your board up on its rack and walking into the fresh walkway of your house.
"I love, love, love, the feeling of walking out of the summer heat and into an air conditioned space." You sing, breathing out a satisfied sigh.
Shinsou laughs, "I agree. It's easily one of the best feelings."
The two of you walk into the kitchen to see your father washing dishes as Midnight reads a book on a counter stool, at the island.
"Hey kids, how was it?" Your father asks, drying off his hand and pulling you and Shinsou into either side of him.
"It was fun." The two of you say in perfect unison, from under Aizawa's arms.
You and Shinsou then walk over and, simultaneously, give Aunt Midnight a hug.
"Aww, I love you kids and your group hugs! C'mon Shota!" Midnight waves your father over.
"I'm good." Aizawa responds.
This prompts you, Shinsou, and Midnight to share a smirk and attack the man in a giant hug.
Aizawa pretends to hate it, groaning, before he gives in and wraps his arms around the three of you.
The four of you all exchange 'good nights' and retire to your rooms. Midnight was staying over in the guest room tonight after staying late to help Aizawa sort through plans for the training camp.
You lay in your bed, after showering and brushing your teeth, and pull out your phone for the first time since the mall. For some reason, your stomach drops when you see an unread message from Bakugou. You quickly unlock your phone and open your messaging app.
'Shitty hair told me about what happened at the mall. You better not have gotten your shit rocked by some pathetic villain.'
You roll your eyes, 'Typical, Bakugou.'
_____________________________
Hello everyone!!!
I'm back from my vacation and as nice as it was to take a break, I really missed writing! I hope you all had an amazing spring break!
This is by far another one of my favorite chapters, I thoroughly enjoyed writing this one. I liked that we got to see a little bit more of Shinsou's mind and his past. As well as, Aizawa's inner thoughts about the mall incident as well as the USJ Attack. Also...Midnight kisses! And...skateboarding Shinsou and Denki! I also really love the special bond the mc and Denki share. I think this only made it stronger.
I really liked writing the scene with her newfound water healing abilities too, that was amazing to create. I think water is my favorite element to explore and write about, there's so much to it. And still so much more to come.
Enjoy these moments of carefreeness loves. I think we all know what's coming. The training camp arc is one I've been anticipating to write since I wrote the very first sentence of this story. I am very excited. I love, love, love, writing villains.
I hope everyone is having a good day and is doing alright. Take care of yourselves. Take breaks. Drink lots of water and eat well. It's almost summer, we got this!
As always, I love you all so much and...
See ya next chapter!