The remainder of training was awkward, filled with a lot of yelling and sparring.
Thankfully, it got over quickly. You changed into your uniform and slung your backpack over your shoulder, heading to school, not bothering to wait for the others.
"I'll catch up with you later, she's probably gone already!" You heard a boy yell as footsteps ran after you in the hallway.
He slowed down, panting as he walked next to you. Before he could speak however, you interrupted him.
"If you're going to apologise, you can take your words and shove it up your ass," you glared, noticing how Kaminari flinched ever so slightly. "You don't get to stop talking to me for so long, give me shit for a simple mistake, and then assume a simple sorry will fix it Kaminari."
The boy looked down at his feet, though still continued to walk next to you, thinking his words through.
"You don't have to forgive me," he began shakily. "You don't even have to be friends with me afterward though I probably will cry but it's fine if you're ok with it, I wouldn't blame you but-"
You cut off his rambling by planting your hand on top of his mouth.
"Thanks for reaching out," you sighed, letting your hand go. "You're not forgiven yet, I need time to process it all, but thank you."
Your plastered smile faded as soon as you looked away, making Kaminari regret his actions even more.
The world wasn't a fairy tale, it wasn't a dream. It was often a bittersweet nightmare, made to inflict jarring cuts onto your skin so they would heal and make you a stronger person later on.
We usually find our own way to heal things, no matter how long it takes. Either by seeking help from others, journaling, listening to music or doing anything else that calms us down.
But when it stops working?
Killing things is easy, it's an easy way to let out pent up anger. It's seen in villains who've suffered decades of trauma, with their only freedom being the pain of others.
Healing, on the other hand? Healing is extremely difficult. Especially in delicate cases such as yours. It was like using tweezers and a microscope to glue back the tiniest splinters back into its original beautiful glass state.
However, it was common knowledge that even gluing glass together can't fix it. Similarly, no matter what you'd do, you wouldn't return to your original mental state.
You sighed, opening the door to Heights Alliance.
"I'm going to take a shower and change, then make tea," you informed Denki, heading upstairs.
While it wasn't scheduled to get all too cold anytime soon, the November weather had impacted everyone as all of you started wearing longer clothing.
The only one who didn't seem affected was Kirishima, but he runs around half naked all the time so you weren't all too surprised by your friend's revelation.
A hot shower was great for your sore muscles and stressed back, alleviated a lot of pressure and relaxed you a lot.
You stepped out and dried yourself, changing into pyjamas. Heading downstairs, you found a majority of your class had returned from training.
It was only a five minute walk, but with the amount of time the girls liked to spend changing or getting food, it usually took much longer. The guys weren't much better, of course, but they at least changed faster.
"Shirakumo-chan you've gotta see this," Midoriya panicked, dragging you to the common room.
The live news was running, showing Endeavour and Hawks fighting against a High-End Nomu.
Your eyes widened as you rushed upstairs to check HN updates as well.
"They're in Fukuoka, Kyushu," you mumbled, coming down back in your hero costume with your phone sending live updates.
"Don't tell me you're thinking of going there," Midoriya asked, eyes wide as saucers.
You smiled in response, giving him a quick hug as you rushed out the building.
You had Mirko on speed dial, hoping that she'd be able to step in to help the two heroes like the reliable person she was.
However, you didn't get far before you were pulled into a tight restriction.
"Let me go dammit, I'm trying to help!" You yelled, trying to get out of the capture weapon.
"Getting yourself killed is not helping, Shirakumo Y/N," Aizawa scolded sternly, only pulling tighter. "I will not have a student, no matter the qualification, die because they charged into battle recklessly."
You heard Mirko pick up on the other end, and instantly put her on speakerphone.
"Rumi-San I ran into complications so I won't be there in Kyushu. Can you help? Or send someone?" You begged your mentor, hoping she could.
The female only chuckled on the other end.
"You know I'm on it Y/N-chan," she responded, smirk evident in her voice. "Is that all?"
You looked over at Aizawa who nodded and let you go.
"Yep, that's all," you smiled. "Thanks a lot."
Hanging up, you sat down, noticing Aizawa take a seat next to you.
Out of pure instinct, you put your head on his shoulder as he rubbed your back.
It didn't take too long before you were crying, the stress from everything that had happened since the school festival finally being let out.
The man stayed by your side through it all, mumbling comforting words as he continued to play with your hair.
"Sorry," you sniffled, rubbing your nose. "I didn't mean to-"
"It's alright," he sighed. "Just because you're training to be a hero doesn't mean you can't have emotions. I cry too."
The simple words and acceptance from his side almost made you want to cry again. Out of happiness, this time.
"Thank you," you whispered. "For stopping me."
"Yeah well if I hadn't I'm sure I'd have joined you and your brother in hell as well," he sweat dropped, knowing Oboro would give him a lot of shit for it if he didn't protect you.
You laughed slightly at his joke, no matter how shitty it was.
"Ready to go back inside?" He asked.
You nodded, standing up and holding your hand out to him.
The two of you headed back inside to see the outcome of big fight, only to be enveloped in a bone crushing hug from all directions.
Your friends practically dragged you over to the common room to make sure you stayed put as you watched the news.
In the end, Endeavour had come alive.
Todoroki Enji was proving to be a good number 1 hero so far, if it weren't for the fact that you knew of his abuse.
"Todoroki-San?" You asked quietly, making sure the boy was alright.
He looked at you, confused as to why you'd taken a seat next to him.
"He'll be alright," you promised, rubbing his back so he'd calm down.
While he may not look it, even Todoroki got extremely worried when his father's life was threatened. The boy had suffered through years of abuse and torture, yet still found it within him to empathise with his main abuser.
"Thank you, Shirakumo-San," he whispered, looking up at the TV, now turned off since all channels were only covering the Kyushu incident.
No matter how much they'd hurt you, you didn't want them getting hurt. You couldn't stand the thought of the boy having another breakdown, he'd practically terrified everyone by changing from his calm demeanor.
But you'd promised long ago, you'd always be there for them. After all, they were your friends.
'Question' of the day: Q&A with the author for a 2K special!
We've got 2K reads so I'm doing a Q&A. Ya'll can ask any questions that aren't too invasive and I'll post them as an official last chapter.