"...with bullet holes in her lungs,
and knife marks etched in her back.
she never let anything get in her
way,
resilient,
a fighter,
not by choice,
but a warrior at heart." - k.azizian
The place we were in became our new hideout, set up similarly to the bar, minus the actual bar. Kurogiri had made a deal with Giran that if anything happened to our old place, we'd move here. It had rooms up a flight of creaky wooden stairs, and two run-down bathrooms. The big room downstairs, all open concept, had a singular couch, a bunch of chairs, and two empty bed frames... for some reason.
None of us watched the fight. We simply didn't. We heard the results plenty of times outside of us physically going through it.
I was numb. Master didn't die, but he wasn't well. Now in the supermax prison we villains refer to as Tartarus because of its inescapable nature, he was being kept alive by multiple different machines; if those were to be shut down, he'd die. I wasn't grieving, but... something emotionally broke, seeing all Might and Master fight. Seeing Master send us away.
When we got back, Tenko had stood, barely quivering, clutching all his hands. His eyes were bloodshot. The League tried to talk to me, knowing he was unreachable but not expecting me to be as well. I sat on a table beside Tenko, unanswering, peeling off his blood-soaked sweatshirt and zoning out in my bra until Toga gave me her sweater and threw the sweatshirt in the washing machine in one of the bathrooms.
After that, however, Tenko and I absentmindedly followed one another. When I moved, he mirrored my movements, and vice versa. We were dealing with awfully similar emotions and situations, and even though we barely spoke for the following few days, we stuck together.
Eventually, that numbness faded and I broke down. Eventually.
Anyone who went upstairs to my "room" could tell, by the destroyed mirror and the decimated cans of beer and soda. I had a faraway look to me that everyone noticed. Sadness and depression weren't an option, since All For One was alive, but I was angry. My real father wrote me off, then went ahead and took my actual father figure, despite our twisted and honestly codependent relationship. I hated All Might for that more than I hated him for abandoning me.
.
.
.
A tall, bulky man kneeled before a young girl, scrawny and small, his expression benign.
"Hello, Y/N L/N. You're quite the ghost, aren't you? It's like the orphanage is trying to hide you." He shook her tiny hand. Her dull E/C eyes, weary and suspicious, darted about the room; the other kids were outside, but she chose to stay in for her own safety. Who was this man? Was he here to hurt her? Or help her?
"Hi." She managed to reply. She was energetic, outgoing, and manic, but that part of her personality was buried away under her shyness and skittish nature.
"You're All Might's daughter, right?" He asked. "How old are you?"
"Five, I think. Yeah, five." Y/N glanced away. "I'm quirkless."
"I know."
The young girl looked shocked.
"You...you don't care?"
"No." He patted her head. "Do you like your dad?"
"He... doesn't like me." Y/N stared at her dirty sneakers. "He knows he's my dad, but he won't talk to me."
"I know, little one. And I can help you. What if I told you... that I could break you out of here? I could give you quirks." He smiled. Y/N perked up, eyes wide. "Just listen. Heroes aren't who they say they are. They just want to be famous and rich. Like your dad. Because you're quirkless, he abandoned you. Because he's not a hero." Tears slipped down the orphan's dirty cheeks as the man elaborated, and she lowered her guard, listening to him. Everything suddenly made sense... because in her heart, she knew that his words were true.
.
.
.
Lost in my thoughts, I merely sensed Tomura walk in and sit down beside me, on the floor leaned against my bed. I let my head fall gently against the frame, rubbing my eyes. They were dry now, all my tears gone, but now they throbbed angrily. My throat felt tight and raspy from screaming.
"How..?" Was all I said, but I think he understood by his slight nod. How did we really lose that badly? Would we really be able to run the League without any guidance from him?
"We...will get back at him." Tenko's voice was rough and low-toned. His arms were loosely wrapped around his knees, and he was staring at the floor. I ran my fingers through my hair before letting them drop to my lap.
"Master." I simply replied. "Master gave us the guidance, hopefully we'll just have to follow it.
"Your expression says otherwise, Scarface." He growled, meeting my eyes. I shakily exhaled.
"Cuz that's how I should feel, Shimura." I hissed back, my tone shifting to sarcasm. "They're just pity words, I guess."
"Yeah, you're a great liar. Actress-worthy." He replied, obviously pissed off, like I was.
"We know what we need to do, Tenko." I scrunched up my face, closing my eyes before opening them again, wiping away the agitated tears building at them. "Sorry, I just... need to move on. My dad beat my 'dad' in quotes. It's just..." I trailed off again. "I'm angry."
Tenko didn't actually have a snarky response. His blood-red orbs searched mine, but I stood up, grabbing a box from on my bed before sinking back down, holding it tightly.
"Toga is going to reinfiltrate UA." He suddenly spoke, breaking the silence. "They're taking their provisional licensing exams very soon." I nodded. He exhaled, pushing his silver-blue hair from his face. It was getting longer now, and waiver rather than straight. "What's in the box?"
I wordlessly handed it to him, but kept talking. It was that thing from Giran; he had dropped it off a few days ago.
"She'll need to check in regularly." I fumbled with my fingers in my lap, fidgeting like crazy. "I'm assuming she'll try to get her hands on some blood from UA kids... hopefully she doesn't go straight for Midoriya and blow her cover. And didn't Twice say he'd be on the lookout for more recruits?" My voice was quick and anxious, until he swatted at the back of my head.
"Calm the hell down and shut up. What is this?" Tenko stared down at the box.
"Make sure he brings any new recruits to the rendezvous point and not here-"
"Y/N. Shut up."
I shut my mouth, mind buzzing. He opened the box, but stopped, confused. He pulled the items out, before pulling one on. The gloves covered his thumbs and pointer fingers, leaving the other three fingers exposed, but with the gloves on, he could touch everything and anything with all five fingers.
"You can touch things..." I said quietly. "You're always accidentally destroying things, so I thought it would be helpful." He had the right glove on, and was staring at it.
"You really think... that a glove can control my quirk?" He asked harshly, a catch to his voice. It made me sad. "If you think that, you're pretty damn-"
"I don't think it can. I know it can." I interrupted, and grabbed his wrist before he could react, pressing his hand, palm first, then all five digits, onto my chest, where you could feel my heartbeat. Tenko's eyes widened, horrified, and he went to yank it back, but I stopped him, exhaling slowly. "Tenko. Look. It's a support item. I had Giran get it made for you. I'm fine. It works. Here." I handed him the other glove, and pulled it over his left hand. "Try it." Tenko slowly and hesitantly pressed his entire left hand just above his right, at my shoulder, so all ten of his fingers were touching me. I smiled a little. "See? You've gotta start trusting me with this stuff." He removed his hands quickly, face a delicate red, and I looked away, flushing. Fingers dropping to the hem of my shirt, he lifted it so just my side was exposed. I jolted back, eyes wide, but he chuckled.
"Chill the fuck out, Y/N. I wanna see your scar." My heart was pounding, but I managed a weak smile and lifted it myself, shifting my bra a little so under my arm was more visible. It was tender, definitely still sore, but whatever Master stabbed me with healed and scarred it over, but I hadn't brought myself to look. Aside from the crusted blood, the scar was thick and almost white, and ran vertically up from just under my ribs, at my hip bone. Tenko watched silently.
I sucked in a breath, standing up, and lifted my shirt up higher, stopping just under my bra, and looking in the (new) mirror that Kurogiri had lifted from somewhere. I had scars, long and short, thick and thin, all over my body, the one that ran from the center of my chest to my belly button especially large. That one was from a surgery by Master when I was very young ... I forget what that one even did. Probably made me stronger. I had one at the nape of my neck from the transfer of my telekinesis and telepathy, and on my hands from heightening my sense of touch. A small one was at my neck, under my jaw, probably also from the sense heightening quirk. The other scars were from fighting and training, scattered across my body. I didn't hate my scars, I actually liked them. They reminded me that I was tough, and that I was strong and could fight. The only issue I had with them was that they made me feel insecure, like my body was ruined or not sexy enough. I dropped my shirt and sighed.
"Guess I'm not just Scarface now." I cracked to lighten the mood, turning back to look at Tenko, but he was already standing behind me. His hands raised to my face and he cupped it, eyes still scared, like he was afraid the gloves would fail. I pressed my hands over his and looked him in the eyes, heart pounding once again.
"W-well, the gloves work well, don't they?" I stammered. His eyebrows raised just barely, like he was amused by me being flustered.
"They obviously do." His voice was husky, huskier than I ever imagined it could be. It was almost a whisper.
I laughed nervously, biting my lip to avoid rambling any more.
He moved closer, just a little closer, but enough that my head tilted up slightly to maintain the eye contact, since he has the height advantage over me. My stomach flipped, and his hands were warm at my cheeks, almost at my jaw. My eyes flicked down from his eyes to his lips very quickly, thinking he wouldn't notice... but he did. He leaned forward, very slowly, and I accidentally heightened my hearing as my emotions freaked out a little. I could hear his heartbeat, quickening by the moment. I closed my eyes, waiting for his lips to touch mine, when the door slammed open. My eyes widened, shooting open, and I looked over to see Dabi, staring at us with a surprised expression.
"God damn it. Again?" Tenko muttered. "This is twice, now." He dropped his hands from my face and stepped back, walking out the door and knocking shoulders with the intruder. I pressed my hands to my face, exhaling. I hated how badly I wished Dabi hadn't interrupted, how badly I wanted Tenko to kiss me.
"Can I help you, Dabi?" I asked, running a hand through my hair. He smirked.
"I was going to come up and check on you since you've been moody, to say the least, but I guess I interrupted something, here..?" His bright aqua eyes were teasing. "Wow. So I guess you lied."
"I didn't lie... We aren't dating." I sighed. "And yes, you interrupted something, dumbass."
"So what was that, then, if y'all aren't a thing?"
"It was almost something." I shook my head. "You do not speak of this to anyone."
"No promises, princess." Dabi mocked a salute, and I flipped him off, waving my hand and allowing my quirk to slam the door in his face. I locked it (which Tenko didn't do when he came in) and leaned my forehead against it, slowing my breathing. Oh my god. Oh my god. This was a closer call than after the incident with Stain. The way he was touching my face... I think he really was going to kiss me.
And I would've kissed him back.