children are meant to be cradled, not placed in wars
bnha x reader
chapter two
YN was dreaming.
She knew this because she was in an alleyway, and felt much shorter than she actually was. It was a weird feeling that reminded her of an out of body experience, or waking up at three A.M. and only vaguely remembering it in the morning.
Either way, she was facing a beaten and bruised man. He held his side, but despite his efforts, it was obvious he was bleeding out. He had a strange scar that stretched from the left side of his scalp and down to his throat, like someone had dragged a knife down the skin. It was ugly, but that was the only thing that seemed to make him stand out.
“Nine would stop you, Demise. You don’t stand a chance.”
Not-YN held up a hand, a light sparking from them before a small ball of light grew in her palm.
“Where is she?” Not-YN’s voice was ragged, like a chainsmoker’s, and threatening. “You know goddamn well that we all saw her come home.”
“This isn’t her home, you know. Not to her.”
“This is her home. It always was.”
“She’s hiding. Hiding from you, from Nine, from Shigaraki, from All For One. Smart kid...she’ll always hide.”
“Shut up. You are in no position to talk shit.”
“I’m not, unless you consider the truth shit.”
Not-YN was silent, before shoving her hand out. The light disappeared and lit up inside the man’s stomach. He looked down with a mix of horror and resignation before his stomach imploded, blood and bile scattering across the walls and concrete. Not-YN took her hand back before spinning around and leaving the alleyway. Two men were behind her, but they had masks that looked like a geometric fox and a snake. They were stiff and had their hands behind their backs.
“Very good, ma’am.” The fox said.
“A merciful death,” The snake murmured.
“You are kind, ma’am.” Both said simultaneously as Not-YN entered the daylight.
“As fitting for the new god.”
YN sat straight up in her bed, panting with a feeling of bile in her throat. Her palms supported her, but her arms were shaky and her lungs burned.
“Good morning.”
YN popped her neck from turning it with such force. The woman from before, Recovery Girl, sat at a desk nearby, and she realised that she was in a medic’s office.
“Good morning,” YN felt confused, wondering when she came here, and if she even was supposed to be here. “Where am I?”
“My office. I decided you needed to be around me more than my average patients, considering your means of arrival. To keep an eye on you.” She gave a benign smile.
YN went silent, glancing around at her surroundings.
The room was pristine, and there was a window to her left. A potted succulent bathed in the sunlight and YN squeezed her eyes from disbelief at her situation.
There was a subdued knock at the door. Recovery Girl rose to get it, but it opened when she was a foot away.
“Midoriya’s broken his finger!” There was a girl’s voice, and YN’s entire face turned into half confusion, half excitement. She remembered the name from the boy that had saved her, and she peered beyond the curtain at her bed.
A girl with extraordinarily round brown hair that curled around to her chin supported the green-haired boy, and though his finger looked more burned than broken, she didn’t seem very phased. Recovery Girl looked disappointed.
“Midoriya! You need to take better care of yourself!” She scolded.
“Sorry, ma’am…” Midoriya sounded actually regretful.
“Miss Ochako, could you please tell Aizawa that he’ll be here for the rest of the period?” Recovery Girl sighed. Ochako saluted, nodding.
“Of course!”
“Thank you, dear.”
The girl left, and Recovery Girl began fussing over Midoriya. It seemed like Recovery Girl had forgotten that YN was in the room, and she started wrapping his finger. It was mutilated, and dark brown and veiny red lines coursed across the wound.
“You have to stop ruining your limbs! Next time I see Toshinori, I’m giving him a piece of my mind!”
“Yes, ma’am.”
YN fell back against the bed, wincing when it made a creaking noise. She felt like she wasn’t supposed to be in there, that she was an outsider. That she couldn’t be caught.
“Huh?” Midoriya made a sound of confusion. Recovery Girl chuckled.
“Was someone eavesdropping?”
YN bit back a snarky remark about how it was hard not to eavesdrop, to the point that it wasn’t even eavesdropping, but she gave a hum. It came out more like a growl and even sounded pissed off, and she sighed.
“...No.”
Recovery Girl walked over and ripped back the curtain, making both YN and Midoriya jump. He, again, made a pose of surprise.
“It’s you!” He cried, a blush making its way across his face.
“Yes.” YN felt like a dumbass, but she didn’t know what she was supposed to say. She kind of wished that choices could have come up like in one of Soma’s video games.
A tense and uncomfortable silence fell across the room, and Recovery Girl glanced between the two. They were averting each other’s eyes like the plague, and the pro hero made a ‘oh’ sound.
“Midoriya, this is the girl that you-”
“Yes!” He shouted, and YN winced from how awkward it was. He was cute, yes, but he didn’t seem like he was much in the ‘meeting new people’ department.
Recovery Girl gave a smug smile, with her entire face scrunching up and a giddy glint in her eye.
“You know, I think that I had a bandage delivery coming this afternoon. I have to pick it up. You keep her company, Midoriya!”
Before either of the teenagers could say anything, she left with speed that an elderly woman shouldn’t be capable of, laughing the entire time. Even when the door was shut, YN could hear the faintest hint of chuckling.
“I thought…” Midoriya began, confused. “That any deliveries come here?”
There was a tense and awkward silence, and YN bit her lip. She looked out the window, trying everything in her power not to come off as creepy, angry, and mean, while not being creepy.
Meanwhile, Midoriya had done the same thing but was eyeing the door. He would glance at the strange girl every couple of seconds, the intensity and frequency of his glances increasing as time went by. He hated the idea of giving the girl the wrong impression of himself for any number of reasons, but the biggest one was right in his face.
Jesus Christ. She was pretty.
He didn’t really notice it before since they were in a potential battleground, but now that it was just them in the white medic’s office, he saw it.
She had her face turned to the window, and her hair was accented by the gentle, falling sunlight from the window. There was a mirror adjacent to her, and he could see her face in the reflection. Her eyes, with the light hitting them just right, seemed to be in layers, and the thin white curtains blowing in said open window gave the entire thing a ‘Hollywood American blockbuster romance movie’ kind of feel.
Midoriya felt a bad taste in his mouth from the silence and cleared his throat.
“Uh…” The girl jumped, and he looked at the ground. “What’s your quirk?”
A safe icebreaker! Good job!, he thought.
The girl turned, and her mouth opened.
“What’s…” She paused, and Midoriya turned to look at her in the eye. Her voice was gravelly, but badass, in the way that tsundere gangster anime characters sounded.
Her brows had furrowed.
“What’s a quirk?”
Midoriya just about felt his soul leave his body, and the entire corpse go cold.
“You...don’t have a quirk?”
Abort! Abort! Mission failed!
“I dunno.” She looked away, sheepishly rubbing the back of her head. “I don’t know what a quirk is.”
Sheltered! Cute but sheltered!
“Uh, a quirk, is, uh…” Midoriya grasped for straws trying to find a way to convey what a quirk was to her without making her feel bad.
“Is it like a superpower?”
Midoriya looked up, completely surprised.
“Yes! That’s exactly it! How did you figure it out?”
“Well, it seemed like a lot of the folks that were at the, uh, crash site, they had different qualities about them. It reminded me of Marvel and DC.” She smiled, vaguely. “I just kind of put it together.”
“Ah! You’re smart! Yeah, that’s right. Do you have one?”
The girl frowned. “No. Should I?”
“Well, I mean…” Midoriya paused. He didn’t want her to feel bad, but she was one of the few that didn’t have quirks. “Kind of? I mean…”
“Most have them?”
“Yeah. There are people that are quirkless, like, I used to be! But then I got my quirk.” He smiled, thinking to when All Might told him that he was going to inherit One For All.
“Yeah?” She gave another smile, this one much softer, and Midoriya felt his cheeks heat up. “How did you get it?”
Midoriya felt his heart stop.
“I, uh, well, I, um, can’t really, uh…” God! He felt like he could tell the girl, but he had just met her, and All Might’s identity couldn’t be revealed. The conversation was going great, and then she had to ask the one thing he couldn’t answer.
“Oh.” The girl looked like she had stepped on a landmine. “Sorry if it’s personal! You don’t have to tell me. It’s okay.”
Midoriya hid his face in his free hand. “Thanks.”
“Yup.”
The conversation dropped off, and Midoriya sighed. He glanced at the door, hoping that Recovery Girl would drop in, but then he heard the girl.
“Thanks.”
Midoriya jumped. “What for?”
“Saving me.”
Duh? What else would it be?
“That was...incredible. And I would’ve died. So thank you.” She turned, with a smile, and for the second time that day, Midoriya felt his heart stop, though for different and far more pleasant reasons altogether.
“You’re my hero, Midoriya.”
Midoriya remembered back to when he was still training with All Might to inherit One For All. He was talking about how All Might always pushed on, no matter what, and how did he always want to protect people?
Toshinori Yagi had an answer.
“Well, I have someone I want to protect. And I think of them with the collective.”
He told Midoriya that he would find that person and that he would understand it when it happened. He said it was like feeling a hot arrow through the chest, melting through. That it was a thought of ‘That’s who I want to fight for!’
And Midoriya Izuku, talking to a girl he had pulled out of the sky and known for only a day, felt that hot arrow like it had been waiting the entire time. Like it had just been hovering, and as soon as she said that, it flung itself at him with the frenzy of sixteen years.
He let out a feeble ‘oh’, with all the breath knocked out of him, and nearly toppled out of the chair when he took a breath. His head spun.
Recovery Girl walked in, beginning to babble about something before snapping her eyes between the two teens. Her eyebrows raised into her hairline, and a smirk came over her face.
“Did you two have a good chat?”
Midoriya whipped his head to look at her, and YN went back to looking out the window. Midoriya shook his head wildly, flailing his free hand.
“It’s not like that! Not at all! We just kind of talked!”
“I never assume anything, Midoriya.” Recovery Girl had a twinkle in her eye, and she gently guided Midoriya off the chair. “The period is over, so feel free to get back to class. But absolutely do not put pressure on your finger!”
“Yes, ma’am.” He turned to YN, and his voice caught in his throat. “See later you-you later-be safe-”
“Go! I have to check up on her!” Recovery Girl shoved Midoriya out the door, laughing at his blabbering. YN gave a shy little wave, smiling.
“He’s nice.” YN’s eyes followed Recovery Girl, watching her fuss around with some medical tools.
“Yes, he’s quite kind. He could use restraint with his quirk, though.”
“What do you mean?” YN tilted her head, and Recovery Girl approached her.
“Whenever he uses his quirk,” The elderly woman hummed. “It breaks whatever limb he’s using.”
“What?!” YN yelped.
“Yes. I thought he would have mentioned it.”
“He didn’t. Obviously.” YN glanced out of the corner of her eye at the chair he was previously in, squinting. She didn’t intend to sound pissy, but that meant that he probably hurt himself when he caught her, and that made her feel even worse.
“Now, my dear, please raise your arms.”
YN lifted them obediently, with some of her arm muscles bunching together from the sudden gravity.
“Do you work out, dear? You seem quite strapping.”
YN held back a laugh from the use of ‘strapping’, as she hadn’t heard that word used that way for years, but nodded. “I took tae kwon do when I was younger. I quit about a year ago, but I still try to work out.”
Recovery Girl nodded sagely. “Good, good. It’s important that you can protect yourself. Especially since you’re such a young woman…”
“Ah, thank you.”
The conversation stopped since Recovery Girl was tugging at different parts of YN, before pulling away.
“You are in wonderful condition, my dear. Since all you got from that fall was a migraine, and even then that’s gone away, you seem to be quite resilient.”
“I’m glad.”
“I think one of the pro-heroes are talking about taking you in for the time being, until we can get more permanent housing for you. I assume that you don’t have family here, at least.”
YN looked out the window, eyebrows furrowed. “I don’t think so.”
This entire place, she realised, seemed like perfection. It was quaint for a city, with clean air and kind people. And people had superpowers. This world wasn’t her own.
This world wasn’t...her own.
She looked back at Recovery Girl, more serious than before. “Thank you. Is it okay if I leave, walk around?”
“Only a bit, dear. Don’t wear yourself out, stay in the school, and come back when you’re done.”
“Thank you.” YN smiled, shaking off her seriousness and placing her legs on the side of the bed. The cold tiles hit her feet, and a shiver went up to her spine. Recovery Girl came back with some shoes that looked like slippers.
“Wear these. They should fit you, and if not, I keep all kinds of sizes.”
Thankfully, they did fit, and YN rose. She looked down at Recovery Girl (by God, she was short) and smiled.
“I’ll be back.”
“Be safe, dear!”
YN pulled open the door and stepped out. Large wide glass windows were in front of her, and she realised that, indeed, she was inside a school (what kind of school was nearly this large?) and that the gates were just outside the glass, several floors down. In the distance, she heard a clock or a bell toll twelve, and the faint sound of teenagers talking.
She was in a high school. That makes sense. Vaguely.
YN blinked lethargically, feeling a strange sense of being both displaced and weighed down. It felt as though the weight of the world was on her shoulders, and she had no one to share the burden with. This was her trial, she thought, before realising that she was acting like she was dying. Sure, it was an unfathomable situation where she had to completely fix the way she acted and accommodate a completely different society. But there was nothing she couldn’t do.
YN nodded to herself. She was going to approach the sources of the sounds, and then try to integrate herself with the conglomerate, so to speak. And then...well, YN figured, she would fight those battles.
YN took the turn and began walking.
Midoriya was preoccupied.
He was in the dining hall, a bowl of katsudon in front of him, and his eyes focusing on a floating piece of scallion that bobbed around the pork. Iida and Ochako were talking animatedly about a severe essay that Aizawa had assigned, especially with it only having been a week since the villain attack at USJ. Even moreso, the Sports Festival hype was beginning to gear up, only making students more restless. But Midoriya was restless for a different reason.
His mind had been almost exclusively on the girl from earlier, and just how quickly he became so whipped. Part of him said that it was just a crush on someone he thought was attractive, but the rest said that he was most definitely willing to get on one knee and marry her on the spot. The thought, as delusional as it seemed, made him flush and bright red. It crawled up his neck and onto his ears, and he placed a hand over his cheeks. He huffed, before realising that Ochako and Iida had stopped talking. He opened his eyes to see them staring at him. Iida was wide eyed and concerned, but Ochako had an almost conniving grin.
“What’s the look for, Deku?” Ochako hummed, tilting her head. Her hair bounced along, curling and hitting her chin. “You’re on fire!”
“Indeed!” Iida said, his voice sharp and almost booming. “If you believe you have caught something, then it is best to explain to a teacher and take approximately three days off, as to take care of yourself and not infect anyone else.”
“You aren’t sick, are you?” Ochako looked smug, crossing her arms. “It’s a blush!”
“A blush?” Iida looked at Ochako. “But that would-”
“I-It’s okay! I was just thinking…” Midoriya stammered, hoping to backtrack from the conversation as much as possible. “It’s nothing important…”
“Is it a girl?” Ochako grinned though it seemed the smallest bit forced.
“How did you know?!” Midoriya yelped before looking around to make sure that no one else (read: Bakugou) heard his voice jump six octaves. “I mean...how did…?”
“You look giddy.” Ochako pointed a finger like Foenix Right. “I guess you have a crush on someone from in our class!”
“Well...not quite.” Midoriya hugged himself. “She’s not from 1-A, but she’s here? Like, not attending but she-”
“Who is it?” Ochako seemed to be jumping her seat. Iida frowned.
“We cannot pressure Midoriya to say anything he doesn’t want to! Peer pressure is a very serious issue that cannot be allowed in U.A.! Despite you thinking-”
“He wouldn’t tell us if he didn’t want to!” Ochako giggled. “Who is it?”
“She’s, uh...she…” Midoriya gulped. “She’s the...girl…”
“What? Speak up!” Despite his warnings, Iida leaned in with Ochako. Midoriya felt like he was about to faint, and tried to avoid Ochako’s wide eyes with all his power. His own eyes wandered, before he glanced upon fell on one of the side entrances.
The girl stood there, towering over most and eyeing the entire cafeteria in wide-eyed wonder like a child at Christmas. He noticed that her eyes lingered on people like Mina and Shoji who’s quirks were more obvious. His entire face lit up in a blush when she barely turned to face the section that he and his group were sitting in, and he ducked under the table with a yelp. He had no idea how to act. And this? This definitely wasn’t it.
Ochako looked over at where Midoriya had spotted the girl, and when she saw the girl, her face split into a maniacal grin. A cruel chuckle sounded over the table, and when Midoriya peeked up over the table at her, he paled.
“Hey, what are you planning?” Midoriya felt his stomach drop. “She’s-that’s-!”
“Hey, miss!” Ochako yelled, waving a hand and even floating a bit. She sat back in her chair when, against all the odds in the crowded and deafening dining hall, the girl heard. She seemed confused, pointing a finger at herself before Ochako nodded with vigor.
“Yeah, you! C’mere!”
The girl weaved her way over, and Midoriya couldn’t help but stare at the way she maneuvered. It was fluid and lithe, like a dancer, and Midoriya didn’t even realise he was staring until her face was suddenly much closer, and it had lit up in a smile. He jumped before looking at the table again.
“Hello, Midoriya!” She looked at Ochako. “Did you call me over for something?”
“Yeah! Deku was talking about you!”
Midoriya looked up, hoping that she was looking at Ochako, but she was staring right at him. Her head was tilted, slightly, like a puppy might do, and a sudden mental image of her with floppy German Shepherd puppy ears swarmed him. He reared back. Her eyebrows furrowed.
“Are you alright, Midoriya?”
“See!” Ochako cried. “Even she’s noticed.”
Iida nodded and the girl glanced between the two with curious eyes.
“I’m sorry, but...who are you two?”
“I am Iida Tenya! It is a pleasure to meet you!” Iida rose and bowed, and the girl seemed taken aback. She gave a shaky smile and a wave.
“I’m Ochako Uraraka! But just call me Ochako!” Ochako gave a little grin and a peace sign. “What’s your name?”
Midoriya suddenly narrowed in on the conversation, realising that he didn’t know the girl’s name. The girl was about to speak, the beginning of something sounding, when the ten minute bell rang. Iida jumped.
“While we both wish we could speak with you more,” Iida pointed at a mounted clock. “Our lunch break is coming to an end and it is unacceptable to be late to our classes.”
YN hummed. “Of course. Hopefully, I’ll see y’all around.”
She waved and left, before Ochako and Iida turned to Midoriya with malicious grins (though Iida’s didn’t seem as nearly conniving as Ochako’s).
“So that’s the girl! She’s adorable!” Ochako gave a less evil but still concerning smile, clasping her hands together.
“She seems quite polite.” Iida nodded, beginning to polish off his food. Midoriya sunk into his chair, embarrassment wanting him to be swallowed whole.
But, hey, he thought. He almost got her name. And he definitely wanted to see her around.
YN pulled back into the hallway that she came from, figuring that she might as well head back to Recovery Girl’s office and see if she couldn’t find something else to do. Maybe she had colouring books, or something. She could burn time until something came up.
The halls had long emptied by the time that YN was at the second to last turn to the office. The students were in their respective classes, and YN was just a single child trying to worm her way back to Recovery Girl.
YN was snapped out of her thoughts when she saw the back of a student. He didn’t wear the uniform, but he looked to be about the right age.
“Excuse me...shouldn’t you be in class?” YN called out, beginning to walk up the boy. Blonde tufts of hair stuck out in the back, and she saw that there was a tan on his ears. “Sir?”
The boy popped his neck, slowly and methodically, and she heard him breathe deeply and sigh. Her nerves began to buzz, and the hair on the back of her neck rose. She stopped walking up to him.
“Sir?”
“You…”
His voice came out like a wheeze. YN stood a little straighter, about to touch his shoulder.
“Hey, are you ok?”
His head spun around like a bullet, his neck cracking from the force. His entire face was some sort of hollow blue void, and she could feel it sucking her in.
“You did this.”
“H-Holy shit!” YN yelped, falling onto her back and scrambling back. The boy stepped closer, a hand reaching out, before his head turned seventy degrees to look at the upcoming right turn. The boy, the thing, it wrapped a hand around her throat and drew her close.
“Stay away from Mizuki.”
It disappeared with a blue burst of light, and Recovery Girl hustled around the corner to YN. Immediately, she began to check her for injuries, but YN stared absentmindedly at the ceiling.
“Dear? Can you hear me?” YN barely recognised Recovery Girl waving a hand in front of her face, everything beginning to blur together.
All YN said was ‘ah hell’, before blacking out again.
@missadorable96
a/n: midoriya/ellipses is my otp. no i do not accept criticism