AN: I believe children in Japan are allowed to wander around on their own since the streets are safe there, so if you're wondering why a 10 year old reader is going to the park on her own there you go.
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3 years ago
"Mama! I'm going to then park." I yelled at my mother who was sitting on a rocking chair, feeding my baby sister Nanami. Akihiko and Sakura sat on the floor playing with toy cars.
"Alright sweetie, but make sure to be back before 9." My mother replied, sending me a kind smile. I firmly nodded at her before wandering off to my room to go look for my toys. My favorite thing to do in the park was play with sand, making my own castles and pretending I'm a hero that needs to protect the small castles from villains. Usually my friends play the villains and me and my bestie Hanako play the heroes! Diving into a different story everyday was something I could never get tired of. Someday all those stories will be true. One day when I'm a hero.
We had all decided to meet up today so I happily stuffed the toys in a red wagon I carried and began making my way to the park. It wasn't very far from home. It was about a 5 minute walk so mama and papa could come pick me up or watch whenever they wanted.
I walked down the street and kicked some rocks, the small boulders landing on puddles that had formed on the street from the earlier rain. The red wagon I was pulling made a slight screeching sound. It annoyed me a bit but also made me feel like I wasn't alone, so I dealt with it.
I headed towards the silver gate that always greeted me, noticing my friends already gathering around the sand box area. Hanako stood in the middle, chatting along with my other friends. It seemed they were already planning today's story!
I cheerfully opened the gate and skipped over to the corner of the playground where the large sand box was built. From the corner of my eye I could see other kids on the swings and see-saws. The squeak of the wheels announced my arrival to the others that were huddled around Hanako. Suddenly they all seemed to tense, their gaze landing on me. Some of them went silent from the lively conversation they were holding and others went back to murmuring in a lower tone. I didn't pay mind to it and spoke up anyways.
"Hey guys! Sorry I'm late , I was getting my new toys to play today!" I sheepishly rubbed the back of my neck, yet I gave them a bright smile nonetheless to show I was excited for today's game. "It's not a lot but I hope we can all share and have more fun!" A few gazes landed on the wagon, earning slight praises from the others.
Hanako, my best friend for as long as I could remember, gave me a thumbs up , disregarding the murmuring children around her. Her eyes scanned the new toys I had brought to the sand box, a small hum coming from her pursed lips. Suddenly her gaze lit up and she snapped her fingers "I got it!"
She skipped and kneeled down next to the wagon , picking up a few things. One of them being a dark cape for costume purposes. She got near me holding the costume item and wrapped it around my small back, clicking on the emerald brooch to hold it together.
"Today will be very fun! I have an idea. It'll be even better than usual (n/n)!" She cooed, her soft words sounding odd to me. They were soothing yet had an edge to them, cutting through anyone who dared to comment on her decisions. That was classic Hanako though, always a leader.
I nodded, dismissing the skeptical feeling in the back of my mind. "Alright! What will we do today Ko?" I questioned, using the nickname I had given to her when we were 7.
"Well, today's game will be called "The Princess and The Witch" , how does that sound?" She spoke. The crowd around her nodded slowly. I felt fond of the idea, so I nodded as well. That sounds fun! Usually our kingdom games are the best.
"Great! This is how it'll go." She held onto my hands with a kind smile and then grabbed a plastic crown from the items she had collected from the wagon. She let go of me and placed the plastic crown on her head, a grin forming on her lips.
"I'll be the princess , and you'll be the witch."
Confusion suddenly hit me. We always played heroes together and the villains were usually the kids who volunteered to do so. I frowned slightly, biting my inner cheek. I didn't enjoy the idea of being a villain. I preferred to help people, even if it was play pretend. Being rude, even if it was a game, never sat well with me.
"Uh.. d-do I have to? W- we always play the hero role together.." I stuttered out, fidgeting with the folds of my shirt.
Hanako's expression slowly shifted, her piercing sky orbs squinting at me. She huffed and crossed her arms. "Do you always have to be the hero though? We need a witch this time. Don't be selfish (n/n)" she suddenly snapped. I was taken aback from her attitude change, stumbling backwards a few steps. I silently ended up agreeing to her terms. After I agreed , the cheerful smile was back on her lips.
"Great! Now go hide in the swings, I'll tell the others about the secret plan!" Her eyes twinkled with excitement as she spoke but for some reason an unsettling feeling inside me grew. It's Hanako. She's your bestie (y/n) and has never done anything to hurt you! Why are you acting silly now?
I did as told after convincing myself and ran towards the swings, letting the dark cape blend my figure into the falling night. I watched from the distance as Hanako muttered some orders to my other friends. She grabbed a plastic staff from my wagon and then headed to the middle of the playground. In the place she stood everyone could see and hear whatever she said. By chance there was also a plastic castle that she used to her advantage, climbing up to the top of it.
She yelled at the top of her lungs, catching the attention of everyone in the park, even the children that weren't part of our game. "Help! Help! The cursed, hideous witch of the swing swamp has put a curse on my castle with her evil powers! Someone save me please!" She pretended to be weeping and pointed towards the swing area where I was hiding.
Even though this was play pretend I wasn't used to playing the villain so I just remained in my hiding spot. I didn't know what to do and going out and acting mean sounded like a bad idea in my head.
The "guards" began scurrying up to the swing area where I was hiding. As they approached I noticed some of them were slowing down, shaking or murmuring to each other. Their eyes glistened with fear, confusing me. They're hesitating? Do I play a good villain? I smiled to myself. Maybe I was doing a better job than I thought at this.
My thoughts were interrupted by one of them that yanked me by the arm, causing me to cry out in surprise. He held on tightly to me, shoving me down onto the damp grass. It was at a strength where I could have scraped my knees if it was cement.
"Begone filthy witch! The princess s-said so!" One of them stumbled, pointing their wooden sword at me.
"Yeah!" Another one added, pointing their sword as well. "We don't want you in our kingdom!"
I was about to speak up when I felt a sharp pain in my back, coming from a kick I received that quickly shoved me onto the ground face first. I felt dazed for a moment, bewildered by the rough hit I had just received. Soil got on my face and chest. The damp feeling made me cringe. It wasn't normal for our games to be so rough and painful.
"O-ow.." I groaned and rubbed my head, getting on my knees. I imagined this was an accident so I just played along. "Never! I won't let the princess be h- augh!"
I felt another kick being thrown , this time hitting my shoulders. I whimpered in pain and crossed my arms over my face, now breaking character. "Be careful! That hurt. It's not nice to-" I was cut off again, receiving another hit.
"Kick the witch!" one of them yelled , feeling how the hits began being numerous, and the pain quickly spreading to several parts of my body. They rolled in one after the other. I flinched and tried to back away from them to no avail. I yelled for Hanako to ask them to stop, the game was getting out of hand now. It's not supposed to go like this.
Hanako hopped off her castle, making her way to the group that had crowded around me. She pushed the kids to make a path for her, standing in front of me now. I looked up to meet with a worried expression. Thank All Might.. thank you Ko.
"Oh (Y/N)..you're hurt." She glared back at the others. "Since when are you all so mean?! Jeez.. let me help you (n/n)" she whispered before extending her hand towards me. I smiled, feeling grateful it was over now that she intervened in the situation. As my hand was about to brush against hers she pulled away and raised her plastic staff to land a precise hit on my head. I stumbled backwards, collapsing once again to the ground. What?..
A sinister laughter erupted from her, getting louder as the other children chimed in to laugh with her as well. Tears prickled in the corner of my eyes. I blinked them away hoping they didn't notice. Why was this happening? I tried to connect the dots on what was happening but I couldn't understand why. All I knew is that I my lungs were begging for air and I wanted to cry. Badly.
"You're a hideous witch (Y/N)! The point of today's game was to let you know that we don't want to play with you anymore. Your quirk has been ruining our games and we don't want that anymore. I knew you were a weird freak from the beginning anyways. Your freakspawn power always gets in the way. You always think you have to be the hero when you only make things worse for us."
Hanako kept laughing, everyone around her joining in the taunts and calling me a witch. My head had begun to spin from all that was happening in such a short amount of time. A pulsating feeling began invading my system and I knew that wasn't any good. I didn't consider being someone with a short fuse. Anger and betrayal rushed through me, yet I tried my best to keep my composure. Did I ever hurt them on purpose? Am I selfish? Hanako and I always play heroes.. no one ever asked otherwise. I kept looking for excuses on why my friends were turning on me. There had to be an explanation. Everything can be fixed right?..
"W-..why?.." My body had began trembling and the others aside from Hanako had noticed. They started backing away. That's the moment I realized they were afraid. My shaking was usually a trigger sign that my quirk was about to let loose. I struggled and tried my best to keep the pulsating feeling inside of me. My fingertips twitched, threatening to spill under the storm of feelings I was going through. No, no, no , no! I knew it wasn't going to last long but I had to at least try. If I gave in it meant they were right.. I was some sort of witch or monster.
"Awe, aren't you going to get up witch? Cmon!Look, she's crying!" Hanako cooed as she pulled on my cape. At this rate it was clear she was playing with fire. The other sweat nervously but still played along with her orders, throwing insults and the word "witch" over and over again at me. I had given up and this point, tears streaming down. Pathetic sobs and whimpers came from me. There was no point in hiding my despair.
"Your quirk is annoying! You're just a bother and a nuisance to us! You've been causing problems for all of us." Her words pierced through my head and heart, hitting it right on its weak point.
I recalled various occasions where we would argue or I was overly excited about a specific thing and my quirk would activate on its own, capturing whoever was nearest in my cage of nightmares. I'm sorry. I never meant it! You know I didn't! The words were caught in my throat. Sobs replaced my answers, never reaching anyone. I was alone. I was never part of them. Hanako..
In a sense she was right. She was always right.
Tears streamed down my cheeks meanwhile the repeatedly kicked or insulted me. My body went limp. I was too tired and upset to retaliate. My frame trembled, seeming I had become too weak to even activate my ability to protect myself. The shaking along my body slowly subdued, signaling the ones who were afraid that it was safe to chime in and beat me up as well.
Pain now throbbed all over my body, making it hard for me to shield myself anymore. I looked up at the shoes of all my attackers. All of it became a blur to me. My vision began to fail. I wasn't sure what hurt more. My heart or my body.
A sudden cry erupted from the group that had been beating me. The repeated sensation of hits against my body stopped. My body felt numb. All of them fled and dispersed out of the scene as if they were avoiding something. I couldn't tell what. I struggled to watch, my vision shifting between clarity and fog.
I glanced up to see a bright blue sea of flames lick against the cold night sky, dangerously dancing around the ones who had been attacking me. The threatening blue formed a ring around me and rose up creating some sort of barrier. I watched in amazement as a figure stood in front of me, effortlessly controlling the cerulean inferno that had encircled us. It was beautiful.
"Leave her alone" A single voice spoke up. Flames arose from his right palm as his left controlled the bigger havoc that was going on around us. The dangerous heat warmed my body, waking me up to my senses. It was a clear sign that I was in danger but I was too exhausted to move.
I took a deep breath, slowly trying to regain my composure and get up but all I could manage for now was to sloppily sit on my knees. The hot wind that had fought against the fire blew on my (H/L) locks, brushing them away from my now bruised face.
Hanako had swiftly dodged the fire attack and stepped backwards, her figure now taking more of a coward like stance. All of the "weak" or "coward" kids had fled the zone meanwhile the more rough and rowdy ones stayed, ready to take on whatever challenge this boy had brought upon them.
"You're that weird mummy kid." Hanako quickly retaliated , lifting up her shaking fists activating her quirk. Metal shards arose from her knuckles that were covered in several different rings. Her quirk was metal manipulation. I always admired such a cool ability. Cool unlike mine. I tried getting a better look at the silhouette. Mummy kid.. I remembered him as clear as day. He would always wear bandages and be on the swings all day. He wouldn't talk to a lot of people so he had earned the nickname of "mummy kid". I would always be tempted to talk to him but never brought myself to do so.
The boy scoffed at her attempt to hide the fear that was now beginning to show right through her. He gave her a small smile, it seemed more like a pitiful one. He slowly began to lower his hand, making the blue flames diminish at his single gesture. He ignored her insult and cocked his head to the side.
"That's not a very nice thing to say to someone, you should apologize to her." He spoke calmly, as if they were sharing a cup of tea or something..
Hanako straightened up, a seeming confidence beginning to boost through her noticing his flames began to die down a bit. "She deserved what she got, she's been tormenting us for months.. I can't.. I couldn't stand it! I had to stand up for myself and the others" Her expression changed into a more
vulnerable one, a frown sliding onto her lips. Small crocodile tears pooled in the corners of her eyes. Liar.. liar.. liar!
"Tormenting them?.." I thought to myself in a now forming anger. It was never like that, I always apologized over and over again to them whenever I lost it. She knew I didn't mean it.
The boy's back was facing me but I could tell his expression changed from Hanako's reaction. "You're a no good liar. I come here every day and I've never seen her torment you on purpose." His cold words were a drastic change from the serene calmness he irradiated earlier.
"On purpose.." I sighed, now just feeling worse about the situation. I brushed my knees, trying to get up.
Hanako sent a glare at him, her bright eyes that once carried life now darkened as if to permanently mark him with her stare. She growled and ran up to him, raising her metal riddled fist, threatening spikes greeting him as she lunged to attack.
The boy frowned, once again raising the barrier of flames with ease to scare the female off, making her stumble back and groan at the sudden warm burst. She skidded away from the flames like a scared mouse, cowering backwards.
"I think I made my point. Now go before this gets serious." His gaze travelled from Hanako to the rest of the kids, the threatening glare alone making it enough for all of them to run off, leaving Hanako in the dust. Why was he doing this?
She looked down to debate on what to do. Her small hands then reached for the crown that had been seamlessly resting on her head and chucked it hard against the ground, the plastic material snapping with a loud "crash".
"Whatever, I didn't care about this crap anyways." She grumbled before storming off, dragging the red wagon that carried all of my new toys along with her. I couldn't care less about those though. Although I was up my body was still screaming in several volumes of pain.
I remained in silence, watching the blue flames now completely die down, making the warm environment slowly regain it's cool atmosphere. My mind ran on a blank line, processing all that had just occurred.
A hand was offered to me and I looked up to meet my hero's face. He possessed deep aqua eyes that glistened against the moonlight. The dark made his hair hard to make out but I could tell it was rather messily styled, spiky perhaps. I noticed red undertones as well, along as my gaze traveled from his bright smile to his body. He was wrapped in bandages, some around his neck and others around his arms. His cheeks brushed a light pink at my staring and he then chuckled.
"Are you taking my hand or what?" He joked, pulling me upwards as I took it. I yelped, not ready for the jabbing pain once I moved. His skin was somewhat rough to the touch but not uncomfortable. He was also expectedly warm, most likely because of his quirk.
Getting up quickly sent a sharper shot of pain through my body, the bruises already forming light purple blotches on my (S/T) skin. I sighed and brushed off my scraped knees, giving him a small smile. I still felt very empty and distraught from what just happened, so speaking up was a task.
"Thank you.." I whispered, feeling somewhat miserable for not being able to properly stand up for myself. I felt so.. vulnerable. It was my best friend that had done such a thing. The person I trusted the most. We had been friends for years. Was I always so blind to her true feelings about me? Was it always like this?
"Don't sweat it. It's what a proper hero would do anyways!" The boy happily chimed in, brushing small puffs of smoke off his scarred hands. "Hold on.." he murmured. "Stay still" I did as he asked, remaining as frozen as a statue. He brought his hand up to my cheek, brushing away the soil and dirt that had gotten on me with care. "There you go" I felt the heat in my cheeks rise, looking away as I murmured an almost inaudible "thank you". He then sent me a comforting smile and gestured towards the swings.
We both walked to them. I walked behind because of the pain that still stuck with me. I tried shaking it off as I stretched, sitting down on the swing.
"Stay still." The bandaged boy murmured before taking something out of his pocket. A roll of bandages and small alcohol swabs greeted me as he began working on my body, wrapping them around the scattered cuts I had after cleaning them throughly. I winced at the pain but remained silent. He was doing so much for me. Who was I to complain about some silly pain?
"By the way, my name is Touya." He added , clicking his tongue before making a knot on the bandage that was wrapped around my knee.
"Ah.. nice to meet you Touya. I'm (Y/N)" I murmured softly, a headache forming in the back of my skull. Every part of my body throbbed. They did a good number on me..
After he was finished he sat down in the swing next to me and began swaying slowly. He looked up at the stars before nodding "(Y/N). I like it. Sounds cool, kinda like a character who kicks butt." I laughed at his words. Cool? . We both sat in silent for a few moments, before he tried cracking away my sadness.
"Hey, want me to tell you something?"
I lifted my head, glancing at him. He flashed me a mischievous smirk before pointing at the emerald brooch that held my dark cape together, even though it was now all torn and dirty.
"I think witches are awesome. They have all sorts of cool tricks up their sleeves and they can make potions and stuff! It's better than whatever any weak princess could ever do." He stuck out his tongue in disgust.
I couldn't help but smile at his comforting words, twiddling my thumbs together. "You think so?.. but witches are evil.." I argued , trying to stand by my point. I was a monster.
"Not all of them are." He crossed his arms, showing his complete disagreement to what I just said. "Plus, who said a witch can't be a hero? I've seen your power (Y/N) , and you look very strong. You just need to learn how to make it yours, you know?.." his eyes moved from me to looking up at the sky, reflecting on his own words. He has very pretty eyes.
I went silent at this, feeling a loss of words. He wasn't afraid?.. If he had seen all I could do why wasn't he running off like the other kids did? It was obvious that they only stuck around me so in the end they could have done this. The only one who didn't seem actually afraid was Hanako, but that was because she believed she was stronger than me. She believed I was pathetic. Stop (y/n). I pushed all the negative thoughts aside, focusing on what could be a new friend. My heart picked up a bit , making my chest feel warm. Maybe this was a good start with a real friend. Maybe he wouldn't run away.
"Maybe they can be heroes.." I replied softly, moving my gaze to look up at the sky with him.
We both stared up at the stars, letting them contemplate our dreams and the comfortable silent form a new connection in between us. This could be a new start. A new friendship.
Maybe I could be a hero after all.
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I really hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I sure put a lot of effort into it lol.
I'll edit the spelling errors later. Have a great day! If you enjoyed it don't forget to comment and vote! ('∀'●)♡
-Takutea