Chapter 56: The Sound of SilenceNotes:
Trigger Warning: (3rd Section) Temporary Major Character Death, Graphic Depictions
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
It has to be said that Kyoka wasn't nosy by choice.
Usually, that was.
Yet, when it came to her inquiries on a certain green-haired, freckled classmate of hers, she had set aside her typical demeanor to go all out.
Starting on the Monday of their first joint Heroics lesson, Kyoka had kept a close eye—and most notably, both ears—on Midoriya. The guy seemed to always be in the right place at the right time, and after a few occurrences she had to admit that it was a bit too much to be classified as mere coincidences. She didn't just want to assume that he was at fault, as the boy had either been in a bad situation or had helped somebody else out of one in every one of those occasions, but her instincts told her that something was sketchy. Call her paranoid, but she didn't like not knowing stuff that felt important.
Of course, she also couldn't rightfully spend all her time stuck to the greenette, lest he got suspicious of finding her in weird places without an explanation—besides the fact that she had her own life to live, thank you very much. She had settled for finding ways to be in the same place as he was, usually by following with others or expressing a temporary interest in something close by. It worked well enough, as her jacks' range allowed her to pick up on a lot of chatter without the need to hide.
She wasn't really proud of using her Quirk-given abilities to train her reconnaissance skills on Green. For one, it was most likely an illegal use of her Quirk. For two, she had actually felt like trusting the guy and leaving things be more than once... But it wasn't like the answers she sought were just gonna fall into her lap, right? The hardest part of starting her search was the guilt she felt, as the act would have been classified as "prying" at best and "stalking" at worst.
Kyoka had just sworn to herself not to infringe on some boundaries for decency's sake, like the privacy of her classmates' rooms, and hoped that she'd be satisfied with whatever she would find in the coming days.
And, by all the greatest solos in the history of rock, did she see and hear some stuff in those three weeks.
Usually, one would think that a teenager would like some time for themselves, right?
Kyoka liked chatting and spending time with her friends, but she wasn't exactly the most extroverted person. Her social battery would often run out sooner rather than later, making her excuse herself to the privacy of her soundproofed room and her beloved music playlists. And she wasn't the only one, of course. She had seen every member of the two classes say their goodbyes after the school day, as anybody could get tired and forty people in the same building didn't have to share everything. Those that liked their privacy and solitude—like Tokoyami, Shoji, Yui, Bondo, and Reiko—would disappear more often than not. The most outgoing ones—like Kaminari, Sero, Mina, Setsuna, and Pony—would handle that social stuff better than others, but even they had to take their time to chill out or play some video games or paint their nails or take a nap or something.
Well, Green seemed to be the only one with an inexhaustible social battery. When you started counting the instances of his mingling with their classmates, Midoriya had no equals.
The morning runs had started with just him, Itsuka, Shinso, and Shoda, only to get more to join every day. Ida and Shishida had been the first ones to jump to the occasion, happy to expand their usual solitary training into a group effort. By the first weekend there were more than a dozen runners, and only because a few decided to rest some more in those two sweet days without lessons. Kyoka had joined herself for her investigation's benefit, discovering just how many suggestions the greenette was willing to share on warming up and stretching. After a few days of short breath and leg pain, she was starting to reap the benefits, to her dismay.
The garden on the dorm's roof was tended by a smaller party, but Ibara and Yui were soon joined by a few others brought by the greenette. Ojiro and Rin apparently liked the methodical and relaxing act of caring for the plants. Aoyama had just required a small patch to try and grow roses and strived to make the place appear perfect. She didn't know why Shinso had joined as well, but he silently watered the ground when asked. Surprisingly, the strange duo composed by Koda and Kamakiri was perfect for taking care of pests and harmful insects, as the former could guide them away while the latter took the worst offenders for his own collection.
The kitchen—that would have probably started looking like a warzone had their teachers not been very clear on how they were required to keep the place clean—saw the greatest coming and going of students each day, and Green seemed to be its greatest aficionado. Apart from the big meals they had all shared during the weekends, Midoriya seemed to always be cooking with or for somebody else. He helped Sato bake a lot of stuff: cakes, muffins, cookies, and pastries. They had even started making bread after Ibara had informed them of her love of the simple product. Toru had joined the two with a squeal when they had set to prepare some caramels. They all knew that apple pies were Eri's favorite, yet a few of those red, green, or golden fruits would end up in Pony's hands or Tokoyami's beak. Green cooked with Tsu and Ochaco what looked like simple yet tasty family meals, asking if anybody else needed a break from cooking for themselves too. He once offered a steaming serving of squid ink pasta to a few others in the kitchen, and she had never seen Shoji or Kuroiro so stunned by an offer. He often prepared orange juice, which Ida, Mineta, and Sero would happily drink with him, and pots of black coffee, which Itsuka and Shinso would down as if the bitter liquid was liquid gold. She had also seen a successful attempt at French cuisine, the greenette being joined by the local cheese expert Aoyama and a meticulous Monoma for the meal's preparation.
The study room and its large, round tables had seen almost daily study sessions. Kyoka didn't think she had ever understood anything as fast or done her homework as efficiently, but nobody could deny that some of them were great tutors. Ida and Momo were terrific at solving problems and their note-taking skills were amazing, while Setsuna, Shoda, and Honenuki were capable of dumbing down any hard concept to make it understandable even to the ones who were a bit slow on the uptake. Yui and Todoroki were also pretty intelligent and studious, which reflected on their high scores, but required some prompting for them to share their knowledge. Green managed to orchestrate the entire group like a conductor, directing each tutor where their help would be needed the most and filling in for any additional problem.
The gym saw most of the students coming in at least four times a week, and Midoriya was always available to be anybody's gym buddy. A recent health lesson with All Might in the gymnasium had given them some more insight on the benefits of a regular training schedule, topping the theory with practical examples for each machine for those that needed to familiarize themselves with them. Every single student had also been offered a detailed plan, which the man had commented as being "specifically tailored for you so that you may go Plus Ultra without risks!" with his usual thundering tone and good spirited laughter. The plans seemed incredibly well done even to the eyes of a novice like Kyoka, since the thing went as far as recommending specific meals and maximum caloric intakes besides the obvious exercise regimens. Everything up to the sparse cheat days were included in a neat calendar. She hadn't taken a look at many of the others', but she had heard a few of her classmates boast about how much better the plans were when compared to stuff they had seen in the past. Those that prided themselves in their strength—Kirishima, Bakugo, Sato, Shoji, Shishida, Tetsutetsu, Tsuyu, and Itsuka—went all the way up to a five or six days per week gym schedule without blinking an eye, and even the ones that wouldn't require as much physical training—like herself, Reiko, Yui, Koda, and Kuroiro—were spurred on by the general desire to improve and Midoriya's words.
The common room was the place where anybody could be seen at least a few times a week doing whatever and, perhaps after their own rooms, it was the best place to relax inside the dorm. Green didn't shy away from joining in on those times either and she had only seen him miss an evening get-together twice, as he had previous plans with his mother. He didn't play videogames as much as Awase, Tsuburaba, and Kaminari did, but the greenette had beaten every game they had proposed to him in the hopes of making him do something challenging. Apparently, his matches against Shoji and Kamakiri were becoming a regular thing that they all expected in their tournaments, and a board next to the television kept their scores. Green had also played chess or other strategy board games with Ida, Monoma, Shoda, Yui, Momo, and a few others, managing to accumulate a nice number of wins overall. Strangely enough, by listening to the talks between Kamakiri and Honenuki or between Monoma and Shishida, Kyoka had gathered that whenever Green had won a match, he'd done it with just the slightest advantage over his adversaries after a seemingly even game.
Midoriya had also somewhat helped start an impromptu book club of sorts. Beginning as a tea tasting experience where Momo and Ibara offered the others to try their beloved beverage accompanied by Sato's pastries, the hour had soon turned into something more after Reiko had asked the heiress for some reading recommendations, and Green had followed suit with a few titles of spooky tales that reeled in Tokoyami and Kuroiro. Even the usually silent Koda, Shoji, and Yui had joined with their own picks.
It seemed that Green also liked a number of extracurricular activities, be they sports or hobbies, enough to make up a list of things that Kyoka couldn't follow all by herself, having to rely on hearsay and her friends' comments.
He had introduced them to the traditional gym and sword fighting—her own lessons with Yaomomo had been perfect. He had been a helpful presence during Mina's dancing lessons and Garza's choir. He discussed photography with Kaibara, offered tips on drawing to Fukidashi, and exchanged opinions on plastic models with Bondo. He talked about anime and comics with Pony and Monoma. There was probably a lot more Kyoka had missed too.
And, last but not least, there was the training. So. Much. Training.
Kyoka would have probably resented the greenette for pushing them so much if she hadn't been feeling her own improvement as much as she had, and seen everybody else progress by leaps and bounds. Two months back she could barely fight, relying on her Quirk to take down the entrance exam bots and barely having the strength to leave on her own legs afterwards. Now she could probably comfortably spar for way more than a few minutes with anybody in the class, with or without weapons, and know how to take advantage of any gaps in her opponent's defenses. Even if she were to lose, she would still learn from the encounter, as she had enough experience to judge when and where she had made mistakes.
Still, Green kept offering help and suggestions whether they asked for them or not, and he was always on point. He didn't limit himself to their Quirks either, as he'd made very clear from the beginning how he thought that relying only on their powers would make them one-trick ponies. As no one ever had to see Recovery Girl after one of their special training sessions—unlike their usual Heroics ones—they all trusted Green to know exactly where everybody's limits laid. He would push any sparring partner to their limits, stop, and then start again after giving just enough time to get back into fighting shape. He never hurt nor belittled anybody, and even his "trash talking"—if it could even be called that—only served to relight the fire in the downed students by prickling their egos a bit, and only when needed. Midoriya was much more likely to offer the carrot instead of the proverbial stick, gladly dishing out compliments after a success and encouragement whenever somebody's progress seemed to slow down.
Really, the guy just had a way with people.
Midoriya seemed to always have the right answer to any question asked, the right gift to surprise and satisfy, and the right words to turn a frown into a smile.
It wasn't that he was in the right place at the right time, but that anywhere he went he would make his presence appreciable through words or gestures. Somehow, he managed to make simple everyday activities even more enjoyable, and turn struggles into bearable endeavors.
Everywhere was his right place, and everytime was his right time, because he made them so.
And, despite her paranoid ass, Kyoka couldn't find anything wrong with him being so helpful—apart from the little feeling of exasperation she could get when facing Mr. "Always the best person in the room." Comparisons weren't kind to her.
So, after those uncomfortable weeks of investigation, Kyoka decided that she'd done enough. No more prying, no more following. Live and let live.
Finally satisfied, she enjoyed her time with her classmates a bit more. She had even been comfortable enough to sing along during their last jam session instead of only playing.
So, imagine how miffed she felt when her decision to keep it mellow came back to bite her in the ass on that very same day.
Because of course her luck couldn't fucking give her a break, right?
Of all the little chores the students had to do in the dorms, rinsing plates was very likely Kyoka's least favorite. Scraping bits of food from the meals of forty different people into the organic waste bin wasn't as nauseating as she'd expected it to be, but the feeling that the soapy sponge left on her skin was downright off-putting to her, and her bass-granted calluses didn't help. She knew that it was good to rinse before putting everything into the dishwasher—especially as it ran on one of those environmentally-friendly settings that didn't waste heat—and it didn't cost them much, but it was still a pain. Thankfully she was splitting the work with three others, as nobody wanted to spend an hour on the job, and they were just about done.
"Last one!" Pony rejoiced as she completed the loading.
"Finally," Tsuburaba groaned as he let go of the scraper brush and started to roughly dry his hands on a cloth. "Whoever let that much rice stick to the pan deserved to clean it too."
Neither she nor Shoji replied, but hers would probably fit as a tacit consent. Some people really needed to learn how not to waste food or to clean after themselves.
"At least we done," the American commented, not nearly as upset by the menial job.
"Yeah, let's just go relax or something," she nodded, moving towards the common room.
There were still some students lazing around the place, either reading, lounging, chatting, or playing, but the vast majority had already left to hit the hay. The only other girls present were Reiko and Yui, but they were already conversing with Tokoyami and Shoda respectively. She wasn't in the mood for video games either, but it was better than nothing.
- Guess I'll settle for spending a few minutes with Chargedolt and the others... -
Kyoka had just taken a few steps inside when something caught her eye, being hit by the artificial light just at the right angle. She used her jacks to grab the small object, clicking her tongue as she recognized it.
Pony stopped by her side, head tilted and curious eyes. "Oh, Eri's hair clip?"
She hummed in agreement. It was a nice little thing, the greenish metal holding three bright white flowers that matched pretty well with the child's eyes and horns. It had caught Mina's eyes during their stay in Setsuna's room, and they had all seen the fitting color scheme as she had brought it over the kid's hair. Eri had been shocked by the offer of a gift, trying to refuse it and giving up only after the lizard girl's insistence. But oh, how she had smiled afterwards. Kyoka had noticed how the kid had kept subtly moving her hands to it for a good couple of hours, as if to check that it was still there... Which, in retrospect, was probably the reason why it had fallen off.
Though it was only a single clip, Kyoka could easily picture Eri crying over the loss, and she couldn't bear to imagine the little girl distraught. They should get it back to her as soon as possible.
The only problem was that the kid had left a while ago, and they probably wouldn't see her until the week after. And, knowing that they had exams coming soon, chances of an extra meeting happening also decreased substantially.
"Damn, she's gonna be so sad for losing it," she grimaced.
"Can't leave dorm now, curfew," Pony joined her with a sigh.
- We could just leave it to one of the teachers tomorrow morning... It won't be that fast, but then Eri will get it back by sundown, at least... -
Her thoughts must have been showing on her face more than expected, because they were interrupted by Shoji's low voice. "You could leave it to Midoriya," he stated placidly as he took a seat near Tokoyami and went back to the book he had left there.
She blinked. Of course, the greenette saw the kid practically every day. He could surely wake up even earlier and rush to bring the gift to its owner. Wasn't much different from his morning runs around the dorms, and the guy was always eager to help.
Kyoka looked around the room, expecting to see the greenette mingling somewhere. Strangely enough, he was nowhere to be found.
"Has someone seen Green? There's a thing he could give back to Eri," she asked, raising the object in question.
A few shook their heads, shrugged, or just answered with a "Uh, I thought he was here a second ago," that didn't help her much.
Shinso, slowly turning his head from his spot on the sofa, was the one to solve the riddle. "Should be in his room. I told him to go get some sleep and kicked him upstairs."
"What are you, his nanny?" Kaminari chuckled, taking his eye off the screen for a moment to jokingly elbow the other.
Shinso lazily flipped him off before deigning him of an answer. "Someone had to."
That part had made her a bit curious. So she wasn't the only one to notice Green's eyebags... though, despite those, she still hadn't ever seen him looking exhausted or even sleepy.
"Was he that tired?" she asked, keeping her tone more concerned than worried.
"More. After today's gym session the guy looked like he hadn't slept for a week," Shinso grunted.
"Pot, meet kettle," Sero commented, earning an annoyed roll of eyes.
"Yeah, that's why I get it. Anyway, want me to bring it to him later?" the tired teen asked.
Kyoka thought for a moment before making a decision and shaking her head. "Nah, I'll just do it myself. I was gonna get back to my room soon anyway." It wasn't a grand gesture, and it wasn't like there was any reason to stay down there much longer.
A "Suit yourself," and a few bidden good nights later, Kyoka ascended the single flight of stairs to the boy's floor and walked in the dimly lit and silent corridor. Finding herself before Midoriya's door, Kyoka noticed that there were some flashes of green coming from the threshold, along with the barely perceptible noise of foreign voices talking in a movie.
- Seems like Shinso didn't quite get it, - she mentally huffed. It seemed on brand for Green to train even in the small confines of his room or while doing anything else.
She knocked on the door, trying to make as little noise as possible. Kyoka knew who Green's neighbors were and, even though Mineta had certainly improved over the last few weeks, she still didn't like neither him nor Bakugo all that much. Hopefully she wouldn't have to repeat the action.
Her first attempt seemed to be enough, as her ears caught a drowsy "...Open..." from the room's owner.
- Wha-? Is he training or sleeping? - she thought.
Confused and feeling a bit bad at the prospect of having interrupted whatever the greenette was doing, but determined to conclude her mission for Eri's sake, Kyoka reached for the handle and opened the door.
"Green? I've got something you've gotta take back to Eri," she said in a low voice, taking a few steps forward with care. Midoriya's room was dark, the only lights coming from his laptop and from the boy himself, the latter sparks dancing on every surface. Though she didn't remember anything being on the room's floor, she still had to watch her step.
The teen in question was laying down on his sheets with his eyes closed, looking a lot like an immovable statue, and he wasn't responding. Slightly miffed, she moved her jacks to get a better listen while she took a closer look. The guy's muscles seemed relaxed. She could barely hear his perfectly even breathing, and it sounded as smooth as silk. His heartbeat was slow and paced... Yeah, the guy was sleeping alright.
- Did I stumble into two sleep-talkers in a month?! - she screamed inside. - How the hell is he sleeping with his Quirk active too?! -
Was it one of those cases where a Quirk could start moving without their user's prompting? Was she a magnet for those weird cases now?
She looked at him in astonishment for a full minute before it came to her that watching a friend sleep without his knowledge was a weird thing to do. The more she stayed here, the more she felt like a creep.
- Great, now I'd feel bad and weird for waking him up. And—ugh!—explaining this would be a pain. Goddammit, I can't just leave it laying around! Do I have to get up early and catch him on the way out? -
A very, very early Monday wouldn't be how she wanted to start her week, but it seemed like the only option. Her brain worked to look for more but, in her rushing, nothing good came to mind.
"What do I do..." she let out with a quiet whimper.
"...Kyo...?"
She almost jumped out of her skin in surprise, instead freezing on the spot and glancing at the boy. Midoriya's features had changed slightly, a note of distress now showing through a light frown.
His mouth then moved to form a relaxed smile, letting out more of the same. "...Kyo..."
Kyoka spent another minute letting her heart regain some semblance of composure, waiting for any more sounds to come out of his barely open mouth... But none did.
She didn't really know what to think. Had he reacted to her voice? Just like that? How light was his sleep? And why "Kyo"?! That could have been her name, sure, but he had never used it! It must have been just a nickname! It wasn't like with Yaomomo or Ochako! It didn't make any sense! Could she have misheard? Or maybe he already knew somebody else with a similar name?
- Yeah... that must be it... - she finally thought, taking a deep, long breath to steady her nerves.
It was just a breath. "He hadn't reacted when she entered, why would he react now?" was what she had subconsciously thought. But then Midoriya's expression changed again, his mouth trembling while a hint of grief could be heard in his low voice.
"...Kyoka..."
Past
The monster talked, mocked, and urged.
Izuku heard, and Izuku broke.
The monster was laughing. The laughter had to stop. It was his target. It had to pay.
Izuku moved at a speed higher than any could ever hope to react to.
Black thorns sharper than razors. Devouring maws to feast on the weak. Bright rays to disintegrate opponents. Blows that could shatter mountains into dust.
Nothing worked on Izuku. He wasn't weak anymore. He could dodge, and when he couldn't dodge, he could endure. Pain was but temporary, and obstacles were but a trifle thing.
Were they? He wasn't hurt, was he? Hits didn't matter. He was fine. Fine.
He had to be fast. Faster. Every second spent fighting was a second wasted. Each grain of sand ticking in the hourglass might as well have been the last.
Something inside him was burning.
"Deku!"
Who was screaming? Was it Endeavor? Hawks? Fumikage? Everyone?
The one in his hands was squirming, trying to break away, to no avail.
Something inside him was tearing apart.
"Izuku!"
Ochako? Or was it Tsuyu screaming now?
The one in his whips was attacking, [Danger Sense] said so. But it was of no consequence.
Something inside wasn't making any sense.
"Ninth!"
The Vestiges were screaming. To stop? To keep going? To end it?
Something hurt for a moment—His arm? His side? His back?
No matter.
The one in his grasp started to feel soft, weak, brittle. Breakable.
Fist. Grab. Kick. Strangle. Headbutt. Repeat.
Faster than the perceptive monster could react to, faster than any cellular regeneration could hope to mend. Stronger than even what All Might could achieve, stronger than any impact absorption could hope to quell.
He cut apart most of the monster's mass, [Blackwhip] blades sawing through meat and bone before conversing on the main body, latching on every square millimeter available. He thrusted and tore, the skin under his powers falling apart like polystyrene. A squishy, wriggling, bloody polystyrene. The laughter had long since turned into something hoarse, chocked. The relief he got when it disappeared completely didn't relieve him in the least though.
"That's what happens when a monster is reduced into a marble," a thought that entered his brain for the short second he needed to be sure that the creature wouldn't move ever again.
Izuku pierced it one last time for good measure before making a pin cushion out of the former demon lord.
He was done here, and had no time to waste.
"Deku!" "Midoriya!"
More called him, but Izuku had no time to stop. He didn't wait, because of the one question plaguing his mind.
- Where is she? -
All of his powers, and he still had no way to spot a single person in the midst of the battlefield. Not without wasting precious seconds. [Float] could bring him up, but that was all the advantage he could get. He only had his eyesight to rely on, and the hope that he would make it in time.
She would have been better. She would have found him in a heartbeat.
Finally, Izuku spotted her—leathery black, salmon pink, dark purple, blood red. It didn't take him more than a second to get to her, making space by blasting away anything and everyone else.
He fell to his knees. His legs wouldn't hold. His breath was cut short.
"K-Kyoka…"
She was lying there, half-covered in mud, with her suit torn apart. One of her earjacks was missing, along with the ear it had been connected to and everything around it. She had been skewered in multiple places, and now crimson flowers were blooming all over her skin, enough to turn into a deadly bouquet. Her leg had been burnt, and the skin smelled like wet charcoal. There was another hole, this one as big as his hand, on her side, where something had bitten through skin and leather alike.
Little black strands came out of his fingers, cleaning the mud as they could and tentatively wrapping around the girl's wounds to try and stop the bloodloss. He moved them under her in a makeshift stretcher, hoping to at least move her. Get her to safety and care, maybe. There were none to give, none that would matter.
Izuku forced his hands to move, but they felt like shoulders on his sides.
His fingers reached for her cheeks, brushing where the red painted accents below her eyes had long since smeared away.
"Kyoka…" he repeated, feeling his voice barely come out in trembling gasps.
Her right eye twitched, slowly opening and meeting his own. Slowly, recognition seemed to make its way in her gaze, but the eye stayed half-lidded.
"Green?" she uttered, her tone weaker than a whisper. "Y-You came."
He could see the edges of her mouth slowly moving up in a fond smile.
"D-Don't talk, p-please, keep your strength." He got lower, as close as he could without falling over, and caught her hand with his free one, holding it carefully. "Please."
What should have been a light scoff turned into a cough as it left her mouth.
"S-Seems like I bit more than I could chew, uh?" she commented. Despite the situation, she wore a mocking grin, some bravado covering the shaking of her sarcasm. "'Hero Pulse, here to be loud and screw up,'" she chuckled before another cough caused her to stop.
He still hadn't been able to make her stop with the self-deprecating jokes—the hypocrisy wasn't lost on them.
"N-No, y-you-" Izuku swallowed. She didn't like to hear him lying, and they both knew that there was nothing that could be done, no reassurances he could offer. "Y-You were amazing, Kyo. You always are," was what he managed to say. A meager few words.
Something—her jack, her only remaining jack—slithered down to meet their joined hands, circling them and keeping them just a bit tighter together. Her thumb brushed his skin, but he could barely feel anything.
"Thank you."
Kyoka smiled, keeping her onyx eyes on him.
He knew every one of her smiles, from the shy one from the first time they had held hands to the radiant ones she wore while on stage.
He didn't want to see this smile. He didn't deserve the love in it.
"Kyoka, please…" he repeated, his voice wavering.
"Hey, it's fine…" The words came out slowly, a warm hug before the last goodbye. "We pulled it off…"
His vision started getting wetter. He sniffed and nodded. "Y-You d-."
" We did," she interjected, a few tears pooling up in her eyes too as she squeezed his hand softly.
The jack had slowly moved up to reach behind his neck, but wasn't strong enough to move him. Still, Izuku obliged, following along until his face was right before Kyoka's. Their lips touched for a moment that felt like an eternity, with all the sweetness that they would have reserved for a lifetime.
Izuku inched back, roughly swatting away some of his tears before returning his fingers to hold the punkette's face. She was still smiling, but there was no more energy to be found in her eye.
"My Izuku…"
"K-Kyo…" The grip of her Quirk on him was fading, the elongated earlobe helplessly falling to the side.
Her mouth closed, a faint hum barely making its way beyond her lips. He recognized the melody.
Gave me the power to smile everyday
Now it's my turn
To be the one
To make you smile
"Please…" He uttered as her eye closed, the last notes completing the melody.
Wasn't silence the heaviest sound of them all?
"Please… I…"
Present
"...love you…"
A sound of shattering glass would have fit perfectly in that moment.
- Whatthefuckwhatthefuckwhatthefuck?! -
The words repeated again and again in Kyoka's head as she remained perfectly still, helplessly staring at her sleeping, crying classmate.
How the hell was she supposed to react to that?!
Honestly, how the fuck did she keep ending up with sleeptalkers? Must have been karmic retribution for her shitty spying crusade.
Even setting aside the ridiculous, absurd, ungodly setting of the event she was currently in, Kyoka couldn't wrap her head around it. Her classmate, despite being soundly asleep—couldn't lie to her ears about that—somehow reacted to her presence, called her by name—she had only just gotten comfortable with the girls doing it!—as if it was natural, started crying—why?!—and, as if that wasn't enough already, told her that he loved her—or something, that "Please" before was really confusing.
- Just… what?! -
A sleeptalking confession? Fuck, that sounded so stupidly fake that even the most shoddy romance novels and trashy cutesy manga would steer away from it. She wouldn't spend a yen on something like that, and not just because it wasn't her thing. It wasn't even corny, it just felt so unbelievably nonsensical! How could anyone see this shit as romantic when all she wanted to do now was smack the boy awake and shake some truth out of him?!
- No, no, no, fine, no big deal. He only- No, fuck that, I didn't hear a thing. Nothing at all. I'm not even here. Couldn't have heard that- Argh, fuck you, Green! Why'd you have to put that in my head?! -
Luckily for the two of them, Kyoka wasn't that impulsive. She took a very measured breath, and then another, and then continued until she felt the need to yell dissipate. With the oxygen filling her lungs, she began to think clearly again.
- Okay, I've gotta stay calm. Time and place… which isn't now at all. Better wait for tomorrow or something… Or just forget about this, - she thought as she shook herself out of the momentary stupor. - Besides, there's no way he could have meant that, right? -
He was kinda cool and nice, but she didn't think that she had really done anything to deserve that kind of feeling. Not to mention that the guy already had a swarm of admirers she had no way of competing against, among all her own crush-
She quickly stopped that line of thought before she could spiral. One crying teen in the room was enough.
Kyoka took another look at the guy, still letting the tears flow and trembling between quiet sobs. His hands were gripping the sheets under him so tightly that she imagined they could be easily ripped away at the slightest movement.
The sight made her grimace. Leaving him like that would make her feel even shittier, and she had had enough already.
After looking around the room to see what she was working with, Kyoka used her jacks to carry over a small blanket. The pattern of white stars over a red and blue background made it easy to guess that it was just another piece of Hero merch. She hoped that he wouldn't mind that she'd moved it, but a blanket was a blanket and she was going to use it for its intended purpose.
She almost had another heart attack when something slid off the same shelf—dragged by the blanket—and fell to the floor. Relief overcame her when the only sound that the object made was that of papers sliding out of a thin pile.
Kyoka recognized some of the boy's sketches, and the presence of some of her classmates between a few known Heroes and some she couldn't recognize made her smile a bit. A few were quite young too, perhaps second years or something.
Maybe, if she ever overcame the awkwardness of this one-sided encounter, she would ask him for her own drawing.
Replacing the scattered papers back on their pile, she went back to her self-imposed mission, careful to avoid more missteps. The blanked wasn't heavy, but with all the tension she was feeling it might as well have been.
Once she had covered him, the boy visibly relaxed. His breathing went back to its previous even pace and the sobbing slowed down to a stop. His hands opened, and no more tears were being shed.
Satisfied and decided to leave the event behind a hopefully, but unlikely good night of sleep, Kyoka started to step backwards towards the door. In her search for a method to calm the boy she'd noticed his schoolbag, previously hidden under a jumper, so she decided to leave Eri's pin over it. He'd be sure to notice it whether instantly or after it had fallen and clinked on the floor.
She was almost out when her jacks picked up one last tired phrase.
"...Thank you… Kyoka…"
Closing the door, she let out a sigh of relief and tiredness.
- Yeah… Totally gonna lose some sleep over it… - she thought, shaking her head, as she trudged to the elevator.
"Banjo, for fuck's sake!" Seventh screamed as she threw blunt objects against the vestige realm's worst offender.
"What?! How could I have known that he would start reacting like that?! He's never done that!" Fifth yelled back, running around the mindscape to evade capture. A flying pot crashed against his seat, Nana's favorite stew staining the leather.
"And you fucked up the only time he did!" the woman rebuked, keeping up her chase. "Was that fucking western worth it?!"
Yoichi sagged at his successors' outburst.
The mind realm had gotten more comfortable since the Ninth had started increasing his control over [One For All], letting them—mostly him—establish a sort of watching room that didn't solely involve eight seats over the falling pavement of a crumbling cell. The change helped both Fifth and Seventh in this instance: He had more space to run and hide and she had more things to throw at him. Yoichi could have made everything disappear, but he also knew that Nana had to channel her rage somewhere before she could accept stopping.
The others didn't join the chase, opting to be far more vocal about their disappointment.
"'How hard can it be to keep the Quirk going?' he said. 'Just sleep, you're in good hands,' he said," Third parroted, badly imitating the bald man's voice. "Why did Ninth trust you, I'll never know."
Izuku asked for their help to train his body while sleeping—whenever he did, which wasn't that often. Of course, the boy was much more experienced in the practice than any of the vestiges were, as they had never even come close to the idea during their lifetimes. Beginners could make mistakes, but this had been something new altogether.
"Maybe it was part of his plan?" Fourth offered, though even he sounded unsure.
"I doubt it."
None of the vestiges had thought that somebody would come visit their Quirk's current holder on a random night, and he certainly hadn't warned them.
Sixth and Fourth sighed and shook their heads while Yoichi tried to appease the Heroine.
"Perhaps it's not as bad as it looks..."
"She literally heard him say her name in his sleep multiple times, saw him cry, and heard him profess his love—all when the two of them aren't even remotely that close yet," the Second grumbled, his focus partially limited by having taken Fifth's place at the reins. "I'd say that's pretty bad."
"Maybe it's not! She didn't seem that bothered, did she? She even put that blanket on him!" the Fifth holder rebutted before getting struck by a flying plate. He groaned loudly as he scrambled off.
Nana, however, wasn't finished. "If you've fucked up Izuku's life anymore than it already is I'm gonna-"
"Let's all calm down, please!" Yoichi interjected, raising his voice despite not wanting to. "Make too much noise and it might wake him up…"
"And he could do with a night of uninterrupted sleep, for once," Hikage noted.
The Fourth user didn't like to see how Izuku's sleep habits were as messed up as his own. He'd been a hermit with a severe case of paranoia—justified, since he was the most wanted by the world's greatest Villain and had the perfect Quirk to fuel his anxiety—and his typical night still allowed him more hours of sleep than what the young boy was getting.
"... Fine," Nana huffed, stomping back to her seat and crossing her arms. "But my threat stands."
"Duly noted," Daigoro groaned, massaging the forming bump on his bald head.
"Let's just wait until he wakes up. He's gonna need all the pieces to sort this out," En said. As much as the deceased Underground Hero had been averse to relationships, he understood how much Ninth needed his.
Yoichi sighed. Between glares and groans, it would be a long night.