Author's Note:
Thank you so much for giving this work a read! Quick disclaimer, for all intents and purposes MHA/BNHA are not mine they do not belong to me. The manga and anime have inspired me to write this fiction and dialogue as well as events are given credit to the beautiful people who have blessed us with this series. Aside from standard story line events this work is mine. Don't forget to comment and heart! This story references events from previous chapters, if something does not make sense, feel free to reread from the beginning.
Please note that
*abc* is a sound effect'abc' is internal thoughts of whomever"abc" is dialogue(abc) is a side note from yours truly ;)
~Love, DragonHearte
I open the door to Max's apartment after an extremely eventful day at school, stopping briefly to take my shoes off at the door. I walk into my room and see the bed in front of me as I drop my backpack to the floor. I flop down, and sleep overtakes me.
I wake up, through bleary eyes and see that it's the next morning. 'Damn, same dream. When will the nightmares stop?' I throw the blanket off of me and hesitate for a moment. 'Wait I went to sleep on top of my bed covers last night?' I don't dwell on the thought for too long before I walk out into the kitchen, and Max is there drinking his morning cup of coffee. I rub my eyes tiredly and then see Max look up at me, he has a strange look on his face as he says, "Damn, Eva, you look like you were run over by a bus."
"Wow, thanks. Why don't you tell me how you really feel Max."
"What happened, are you okay? I heard your class got attacked by villains. I called you and texted you, but you didn't respond to me. I was very worried, until I came home and saw your door open with you passed out on top of your bed. I gave you a spare blanket from the hallway closet."
"Yeah, some villains ambushed my class. I'm fine, I didn't get hurt. I had the nightmare, that's all."
"Oh, it was one of those nights."
"Yeah," I breathe in deeply as I start to recall the dream.
'I sit up on a bed, it was dark all around me. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes to try and get a clearer view of the room, it was then that I noticed the broken full-length mirror to my right and the door to my left with a crack running diagonally across it, from one side to the other. I was back there, at the other house. I try to move, but my hands are tied to the bedposts, my lower half frozen in place from the waist down. I look around the room frantically hoping that it won't turn out like every other time I have this dream. I am out of luck though because like always there he is in the corner of the room, a cold smile on his face as he approached me.' I felt tears prick the back of my eyes as the memory of the past forced me to relive the experience.
'There are tears streaming down my face as he leans down and wipes them away with the pad of his thumb, and he stands over me face full of what he claims to be love. His twisted version of love, is a sick realm of lies. A web that I am helplessly caught within. A result of a system created to protect me. He hangs above me like a spider above it's prey, watching in delight as I struggle against my restraints. Then all eight of his hands proceed with their torture. Handling me in ways I don't want. Touching me, caressing me, groping me with no signs of stopping. With the constant whisper of "I love you" after each and every movement. "I just want to show you how much I love you.'' There was a flash of crimson and then I woke up.' I take in a deep shuddering breath and realize I'm trembling slightly from the memory.
Max stands up and wraps me in a hug, secure and safe. A stark contrast to the tight and suffocating hold the past still has on my subconscious. He leans back and says, "I'm sorry you had to relive that, just know that I'm here for you if you ever need me okay?"
"Uh-huh." I reply.
"Oh, by the way the school sent me an email. There aren't any classes today, which makes sense considering yesterday's events."
"Mhmm." I respond quietly, still a bit tired and drained.
"Well kiddo, I'm going to head to work. Text me if you need anything okay?"
"Yup." I look on as Max puts on his shoes and leaves. I sigh and shuffle back into my room, 'There's no point in trying to go back to sleep now. I'm kinda scared it'll just continue from where it left off.' I look down at my backpack that was tossed haphazardly to the side and decide to do my homework after a nice soak in the tub. 'A bit of self-care after such a stressful day yesterday and that dream is a must.' I gather my bubble bath supplies from under the sink in my en-suite bathroom. They're rarely used, but come in handy on days like this. I start by turning on the tub faucet, and adding a pink and purple bath bomb into the tub. Then, lighting some tea lights around the tub edges, and some larger candles in the corners. After stripping down and turning off the water at the desired depth, I delve into the warm bath I have prepared for myself. The swirls of color on the surface of the water and the slight aroma allowing me to finally attempt to relax after the ordeal from yesterday morning. 'Taking a bubble bath and focusing on what caused me to snap will probably help me redirect my focus from my nightmare.'
I heave a big sigh and reflect, images of the fight flashing through my mind as I tried to sort through my thoughts, while taking my loofah and scrubbing away the grime and residual dirt from the day before. 'Let's do a bit of a step-by-step walk through, to try to figure out what happened in the collapsed zone today. I was fighting beside Kirishima, I got a taste for what it feels like to get hit by Bakugo's quirk.' I wince at the memory, 'Note to self, at least in terms of potency of Bakugo's quirk he is not in fact all bark and no bite. Then, I saw Kirishima look alarmed at something behind me, when I turned around, there was a villain laying on the floor face covered in blood, her nose smashed. Then after the exchange between Bakugo and Kirishima I looked at my hands to discover they were covered in blood.'
I look down at my hands and scrub at the dried blood in the crevices surrounding my nails. 'So, clearly whatever caused me to lose control happened somewhere between fighting side-by-side with Kirishima and the impact from the explosion.'
I furrow my brows in concentration, and a frown forms on my lips, as I recall the events leading up to my blood-stained hands. 'That one villain, the hurtful slew of words. That's what set me off.'
I sink further down into the tub and lay still, I take a deep breath in an attempt to calm the rush of adrenaline that I spurred on when I recalled the actions of the villain leading up to my loss of control. After a few minutes of letting myself soak, I continue my thought process, 'I can't believe I was triggered into a frenzied rage. How did I let my anger get to that point?'
I stew in the tub for a bit longer and finally unplug the drain and blow out the candles on my way out. Wrapping myself in a towel, and make certain all the candles are out before leaving the bathroom. I settle for a comfortable pair of pajamas an overly sized t-shirt and some pajama shorts. I tabled the issue of my mental instability for later, right now I needed to do my homework as unenthused as I was at the idea of doing said homework. I take a break for a couple of minutes and realize I haven't eaten any breakfast. 'I guess that nightmare messed me up more than I would like to admit. I don't even feel hungry and it's around the time that I usually eat lunch.'
I hear my phone notification and quickly check to see who texted me. My eyes widen at all the missed text messages and phone calls from Max. 'I must've been pretty knocked out to not hear any of these. Damn.' I scroll down to the most recent message from Max.
Max: "Hey, in case you want a snack but you're not all that hungry, I restocked your Takis supply. Love you..."
I leap off my bed and dart into the kitchen, almost slamming into the pantry in my haste. There they are, the large bags of Takis, five of them! 'And to think, they're all for meee!' I almost click my heels together in happiness, my mood switching immediately after seeing the delectable bags of morsels. I reach up on my tippy-toes and I'm not able to feel the bag at all, they're up too high. I curse silently, 'Max, why have you forsaken me. You're six foot nothing. I am barely five feet tall, I cannot reach the same heights as you without assistance.' I jump up, and my fingertips don't even brush the packaging. "Dammit!" I exclaim to myself. I huff and stomp over towards a chair, lift it up and bring it over to the pantry. I set it down and get on top of it I snatch a bag and return the chair back to its rightful place and close the pantry door.
I grab a water bottle from the fridge, then rush back to my room and rip open the bag. I grab a taki from inside the bag.
I scroll through my social media for a few minutes munching happily and then set my snack aside. I enter my bathroom and quickly wash my hands before doing my homework to avoid getting any stains on the paper. I finally finish my homework after a couple of hours.
I hear a knock at the door, and my head shoots up from my current position lying on my bed. 'I'm not expecting anyone...' I walk to the door and open it hesitantly, it's flung open from the pink alien behind it.
"Evangeline!" Ashido exclaims arms open wide for an embrace.
"Hello, Ashido-"
"Why are you in your pajamas? We have the day off today, let's get you dressed and go out for some coffee."
I walk into my room, with Ashido following closely behind me. She pushes past me and approaches the closet swinging the doors wide open to fully examine my wardrobe. She's shuffling through my hangers full of clothes, with enough speed to cause a slight clatter as she moves to the next article of clothing. Once in a while pulling something out and holding it up to my body but putting it back after deeming it unsatisfactory. Finally, she settles on an oversized pale pink hoodie and a pair of light blue denim jeans shoving the items into my chest.
"Here, put these on." Ashido stares at me expectantly, and I stand there for a moment then ask, "Could you turn around?"
"We're both girls, there's nothing to be ashamed of." Ashido says while turning around. I change into the outfit she's chosen for me and tap her on the shoulder signaling for her to turn back around. She turns around and smiles broadly, approving of the outfit that she had chosen herself.
"Okay, well let's go!" She says, letting me quickly grab my wallet and house key before I put on my socks and my high-tops, then hurrying out the door after her. I send a quick text message to Max, letting him know that I am going out with a friend and might not be home when he gets back from work. Ashido's excited demeanor distracts me from my worries as we walk to the café.
"I'm getting a caramel macchiato, what're you getting?" Ashido asks me.
"A hot chocolate with whipped cream and a caramel drizzle." I reply, after looking at the options listed on the sign behind the cashier.
We wait for our drinks in silence and Ashido guides me to a table towards the middle of the café. Sitting down she asks, "So, how are you doing?"
I blow on my drink and look at her quizzically, "What do you mean?"
"Well, you seemed out of it on the bus and later on during class. Everything okay?"
"Yeah, I guess. Just a bit shaken up from the chaos."
"I think we all are, which is why I'm glad they gave us the day off." Ashido says before taking a sip from her sugar-filled coffee.
"I am too, it gave me some much-needed time to regroup." I take a tentative sip of the hot chocolate not wanting to burn my mouth with a molten hot beverage. It's too hot still so I blow air across the surface of my drink.
"I think everyone needed it." Ashido takes another sip and looks off towards the window, and then returns her gaze towards me.
"Why did you show up at my apartment?"
"Oh, that's easy! I wanted to hang out with you and also check up on you to see how you were doing."
I nod my head, accepting her statement and then asked my second more important question, "How did you find my apartment?"
"I asked Present Mic where you lived and he told me."
I feel my eyebrows contract in confusion for a second. But I dismiss my concerns. 'I know Ashido wants to be a supportive friend. There's nothing more to it.'
Our conversation continues freely, mostly her talking about various different topics while I listened. I take the final gulp from my hot chocolate, and put the cup down, to see Ashido quickly snapping a picture of me on her phone.
"Hey, what was that for?!" I exclaim.
"You've got some whipped cream on your upper lip, see?" She turns her phone around and shows me the picture she just took of me and I laugh at the small mustache of whipped cream above a shadow of hot chocolate above my lip. She gets up and squats next to me and takes a selfie of the two of us, one with a mustache and one without. One regular selfie and a few silly ones. We get up and leave, Ashido walking me home, before she leaves though I ask, "Hey, can you send me those pictures you took of the two of us?"
"Sure, what's your number?"
I give her my number and then she waves goodbye, leaving me to my own devices for the remainder of the day. I change back into my pajamas, and I laze about. I eat some leftovers from the fridge for dinner after getting a text from Max saying he was going to be working late again. I settle into bed and read a book. After reading a few chapters I turn off my bedside lamp, and let my mind wander. 'I didn't realize just how tired I was. It could've quickly gotten worse for that villain. What would've happened if the explosion from Bakugo's quirk hadn't gotten so close to me? Would I have been able to stop myself? Would Kirishima and Bakugo have had to pry me off of the dead villain's corpse? I must have had some semblance of control. If I didn't I probably would've killed her.' I sigh as the last thought crosses my mind and close my eyes hoping for either better dreams or no dreams at all.