(tenya did not know why he asked to stay longer at the hospital. he had said he felt unwell and it wasn't untrue; his stomach twisted with apprehension, with waiting for something.
he supposed that some thing came the second night alone in the hospital after the other two had left.
he hadn't slept well lately, and tonight was no exception. instead, he watched the skyline outside the window, the sky still alight with ash and smog. he heard the squealing of gurney wheels and the quiet murmur of night shift workers. the door opened and the gurney wheeled in.
in minutes, the nurses had set everything up and left her sleeping form and the room, not seeming to notice tenya staring from across the room.
she sat up the second the door shut with a quiet thump, softer than romantic angel's wings.)
(angel wings are not soft. they are made of cosmic dust and ice crystals. but most can't imagine how terrifying that'd be. humans are expert liars, especially when it comes to themselves.)
(tenya almost snickered. his head was still fuzzy from the pain meds and his lungs were filled with trace soot from the burning city but his memory was sharp as the devil's grin. she hadn't changed. she was still a good actor and a great liar. he wondered why she wanted to be a hero.
(y/n) stretched her wings, the silhouette engulfing what little light came from the window.
"hi, iida." her voice was soft.
he couldn't help but remember the last time he heard her speak a few days prior. her body was limp in his arms and blood gushed from a jagged hole in her thigh.
her voice was strong despite everything when she spoke. "did you know that monsters can't find you when you don't breathe?"
had her brain slipped from blood loss? he looked down, but her eyes were clear.
"(y/n)-?" she cut him off.
"put me down," she said, her voice wavering a fraction as todoroki blasted columns of fire that rivaled the chaos in the streets. "put me down," she said and tenya complied.
he had seen her transform before, once in junior high, then several other times this year, but it still scared him shitless.
the inky-darkness at the tips of her fingers curled up beneath her ragged hoodie, broken only by bright eyes that erupted from her skin. her horns and nails grew longer, sharper, curving into something cruel and inhuman.
it- she let out a shriek that sent shivers up his spine despite the blistering heat in the alleyway and lunged towards stain. he let out a cry and blood splattered the alleyway.
tenya flinched, looking away.)
"Iida?" (Y/n) asked. He didn't respond.