You were in a black void of nothing, figures standing before you looking right at you. Obviously, you stared at them as well. A part of you desperately wanted to just leave, but another was extremely curious. Just who exactly were these people, and why were they right in front of you right now? You then looked down randomly, noticing that your entire body, except for your head, was covered in a dark mist with [Favorite Color] particles surrounding it. Starting to visibly freak out, a voice distracts you from your mind.
"[Surname]." A male stepped up in front of you. He had a large scar on the left side of his face from his forehead to his chin. "Your body is rejecting this quirk."
"The hell—?! What do you mean, I mean, who even are you?!"
Before he could even respond, every single one of the people that were just in front of you suddenly disappeared into thin air. Your scenery changed, too. It went from a dark void to a seemingly abandoned city.
"Deja vu..." You shuddered, looking around. Once again, you glanced down to see that all of your body is back. You were currently in an old looking city that was practically a ghost town. Nobody was there. Absolutely no one.
You continued walking, no idea on what to even do other than explore. Your eyes saw multiple buildings that were closed off and broken into, but overall it was just a messy, discarded place. You felt strange. It was to a certain point your own feelings scared you, seeing that you only felt a weird sense of nostalgia. Alone in a strange abandoned city... this would never be someone's ideal dream to have, but here you were.
You sigh heavily, still walking through the city.
A groan was heard behind you, quickly snapping your head to look at what it was, you readied your fist. But, you stopped. It looked like a human. A person with long hair covering their face as they looked down, making strange noises.
"H-Hello?" You cautiously say, more than puzzled. What sort of dream was this, exactly?
Scratch the term dream— this shit was a whole ass nightmare. That thing lunged itself at you, and using your grand reflexes you attacked it. The strange thing was, you attacked specifically with a bat. A bat, a random thing out of nowhere. Again, there was a strange feeling of deja vu. Though, you kept going along with this weird place your mind decided to bring you to.
Taking one step forward, you're suddenly transported into some cabin. It looked like people were staying here— three beds, an area for cooking, a fireplace that hasn't been used in how long, and sounds of groaning outside. You gritted your teeth, not understanding what the things were exactly, but you can infer that they were something similar to whatever attacked you prior. But, why were you even here?
Silhouettes of two people stood in front of you. They were shadow figures, only making out their body shape. Standing in front of that door, it was as if they were telling you to go outside.
Did you go outside? Yes. Why? Why not?
You saw the same bat you used last time leaning on the wall beside the door, and like a sophisticated person during a horror movie, you obviously grab it. Whipping the door open, you're met with a scene of the dead corpses right in front of you. Heads were cut off from their bodies, blood spilling from the neck. You breathed, taking in the horrifying yet oh so familiar scene. Two unrecognizable corpses were right at your feet. They were covered with blood, and were completely torn up. They may as well not even be considered human. You looked down, seeing the bat in your hands drenched with blood.
You turned, not wanting to see anymore. But, you're now on a rooftop, a boy your age standing at the very edge. He had dark hair, and pale skin from what you could see. The boy wore a school uniform, dust and dirt stained on it. A puzzled look made its way onto your face, stepping forward slowly and quietly as possible. He sharply turned around, a glare evident on his features. You took a step back, fearful of him. With no reason to why you were even on this rooftop with this random male, and this weird nightmare feeling familiar, you just wanted to wake up.
"You..." His voice was hoarse.
"...Huh?" You mumbled, taking another step closer.
"It's your fault." A smile. He smiled as he said those words. "They're dead— right? You told me. And you killed them."
"I-I had to!" Sudden words you didn't mean to say escaped your lips. "They were bitten!"
"That doesn't excuse your actions," he sighed, shaking his head as he turned to fully face you. "You're a killer. With that bat of yours, right?"
"I've told you a million times— they were fucking bitten!" You screamed loudly, your eyes widening as your head began to ache badly. "It was either we go down, too, since they would have bitten us for sure if I let them live!"
The male laughed, shaking his head in disbelief. He said something, obviously, but it was muffled. You didn't understand him one bit. He shook his head, his smile still strong on his face.
But then it disappeared, "You're a mistake, [Name]. You... you're some heartless asshole."
"I told you, they needed—"
"So?!" He argued back with you. "Who cares?! I'm so damn tired of hearing your pathetic excuses! Excuses are just fucking lies in disguise! You and me— we're both fucked up, [Name]."
"Don't group me up with the likes of you!" Your voice was loud. "I'm fucking fine. You? You are a wretched fucking psycho who doesn't understand jack shit! Who cares if they were people we loved?! It's life or death— and you can't seem to understand that!"
The boy was silent.
The silence was loud.
"I hope you jump off a bridge and die a lonely death, [Name]. Good meeting you." He said, waving his hand. He took one single step back, and then... he fell.
CRACK!!!
-
You awoke in a cold sweat, breathing heavily. You looked down, only to see that your right arm was all bandaged up. You saw that nobody else was in the room with you for some reason, so you sighed, trying to calm yourself down so you didn't look like you were just in some psychotic dream of yours. Your eyes trailed down, your heart beating faster than you could blink a million times.
The door opened, and there was Todoroki.
"... [Surname]?"
"Uh... why are you here?" You asked him, your eyes wavering to the side.
"To check up on you," he answered easily. "Should I leave?"
"N-No, you're fine." You reply, shaking your head. "I'm just shaken up a little. Probably best to have someone here with me."
Todoroki nodded softly, his eyes looking into yours as he started to speak. "Did you see my match?"
"... Obviously." You chuckled, looking down to break the random eye contact with him. "You were on fire."
"I didn't think of my father at all at that moment," he explained. There was more confusion on his side. "Midoriya also said some words to me... which didn't make sense because aren't we here to win and become the best?"
"I mean, that's everyone's goal here." You reply, laying back down. "But, Midoriya... he's different, in a good way. He wants to help others— like a true hero."
Todoroki stayed silent at your statement, but nodded as a way to say he agreed.
"What you said was on my mind, too."
"Huh. Did it impact you that much?" You looked up at him. "I just said what I thought about it."
"It did, I guess."
"You guess? How weird."
It was silent for a moment. You were scavenging in your mind for a topic to talk about, when suddenly you thought of a question.
"Hey, where's Recovery Girl?" You questioned Todoroki, wondering if he knew anything.
He blinked for a moment, "Outside talking with some men."
"... Is one of them huge and muscular?" You had an idea of who the two males were.
"Yeah. The other had white hair." He responded, nodding his head. "Do you know them?"
"Sure do," You smiled. "They're my guardians basically."
"I see."
...
Well, it was silent again. Your eyes drifted away from his face, your gaze down to the current bed that you were resting on.
"...Did they say anything that caught your attention out there?" You calmly asked him, your gaze still low.
"No."
"Okay."
"..."
"..."
"[Surname]," Todoroki suddenly piped up..You looked at him with your full attention. "Do you remember the USJ attack?"
"Vaguely." You responded, trying your best to figure out what happened. "We got into a battle with a villain, then... sorry. I drew a blank."
"No, it's fine." His gaze seemed to drop slightly, and you noticed this.
"What's up?"
"You mentioned at the USJ that I owed you something," he seemed to have blushed slightly. You tilted your head.
"I did?"
"Yeah. A coffee date."
... Uh, what?
'The fuck— I had the balls to ask this motherfucker on a date?!'
"C-Coffee date? I have absolutely no memory of that at all..." You nervously chuckled, scratching your head.
"Perhaps your quirk drawback made you forget?" Todoroki suggested. He looked so dead serious. Was he not grasping the fact that you quite literally at that time asked you out?
"Um, yeah." You nodded, agreeing with him.
"Even so, my offer still stands."
'You're offering to take me out on a coffee date?'
You wanted to say so much right now, but it was just way too shocking to even talk at the moment. Your eyes drifted down, then up back at him. Todoroki's face was completely normal, emotionless. Yours was probably flushed— a damn beet, even. Suddenly, the ground seemed really attractive. You could not look him in the eye. Absolutely not. How do you agree to someone's proposal with such a stern face, even acknowledging the fact you considered it a date?
You hesitantly nodded, a small smile forming on your lips. "I'm down any time."
"Not right now, though." Todoroki eyed your current state of condition.
"Oh, right." You chuckled. "I'm broken. Actually, question, were you able to get first?"
"I got second," he replied to your question.
"That's good."
"Third place is also good."
"You don't need to lie, Todoroki."
"... Sorry."
You shook your head as your shoulders moved with your laughter. "Don't you have somewhere to be?"
"Probably. I'll get going, now."
"Hey!" You stopped him. "Let me know when our coffee... meet up will be."
"Alright." Todoroki nodded, opening the door, but before he left he turned back to you. "Get better."
"... That sounds like a demand."
-
You were home, to your greatest wish. Haruto was having a complete panic attack over you, Oji was trying to calm him down, and Hana was keeping you occupied so you wouldn't notice Haruto being a complete father.
"So, [Name], how did you feel about getting third?" She asked you kindly, ignoring Haruto's panicked phrases in the background.
You did not ignore his panicking on the other hand, "Uh... is Haruto okay?"
"He will be fine, just not now," Hana laughed it off. "Haruto always does this with anyone. Oji got his ass— ah, pardon me for that. But, Oji had gotten fairly beat up pretty well one time, and boy, that was quite the mess. It took nearly all of us to help him calm down."
You stared into her deep blue eyes, admiring it.
"Really? Haruto really is like a parent..."
"Given his past," Hana softly smiled, yet it was a solemn one. "He was one. That's why he treats all of us like we are his own. Haruto rescues us at our worst, and brings us back up to become the best version of us that we can possibly be."
Hana was quite the sophisticated girl. You loved her for that. Though, your head began to hurt, but you ignored it.
"What happened to Haruto, exactly?" You asked, curious to why he is in the current position he is in now.
The red haired girl looked over cautiously at the two males before turning back to you.
"Don't tell him I told you any of this. I found out through other people, too," she talked in a low tone. "Haruto... he... he had a wife. He was a normal person. Just a loving husband who had a wife, and a daughter later on. Of course, anyone would think he was living the life. Though, he wasn't. His wife was an alcoholic. She drove one day, and... you could infer how that ended. Haruto and his daughter moved here. He then opened the doors to other people, including Oji. That's where he came in. But, then, his daughter sadly passed away due to her quirk illness."
"... Was his daughter named Mari?"
"How'd you know?" Hana seemed surprised.
"Haruto told me a story about a cat one time. I don't really remember it... but he mentioned the female cat's name was Mari, who was named after a little girl who passed here." You explained to her, and Hana's face immediately dropped.
"... I genuinely don't think he's okay." She says.
"Who would be?" You shook her head. "Losing someone— especially your own child— is... unbearable..."
You suddenly remembered the boy and the two silhouettes from your dream for some odd reason. A frown was on your lips.
"I think I'm going to get some sleep." You stood up.
"Okay, goodnight." Hana smiled softly.
-
Niko was in your arms, and you felt like sobbing, but you could not.
You lay there, in the light of the city lights as it illuminated your dark room.
Mari.
That finally explained the little girl.
The story Haruto told you a while back when you first got here.
It suddenly made sense why he was so sad while telling it.