《When Paths Converge: A MHA Fanfic》21. A Lost Bet
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The chatter of quiet voices slowly pulled Yui from the sweet siren call of slumber, and oh how she wanted to surrender to it, let that siren take her down to the ocean bed and drown her. Her temples were pounding with the beat of her heart, and her body felt heavy and her joints ached in what she could only assume what a ninety-year-old arthritic woman's does. But mixed in with the excited ramble she knew was her brother’s and the eternally tired grumble of Eraserhead was an upbeat whisper-shout that she didn’t recognize. So, it was time to get up.
She bit back a growl as she cracked open an eye, only to screw them shut as the light made the pulse in her head start pounding. She grit her teeth as she slowly forced her eyes open, squinting around the room as the blurs became shapes.
“Nee-chan! Are you okay? How do you feel?” she tried not to wince at the worried babbling, but the voice was too close.
“Null, kiddo, give her space. Zashi, close the curtains. Light, sound, touch might be too much for her.” The command was soft, even coming from deep grumble. “Control, can you speak? It’s okay if you can’t just flip me off or something if no,”
She felt the tension in her shoulders ease, he wouldn’t be so soft in front of police. She hummed hesitantly, testing her voice and to see if the vibrations would make the ice picks at her temples any worse.
“Try talk.” She mumbled, watching a yellow blur walk across what she figured was the room and then the light dimmed and the burning in her eyes was so much better.
“Okay, do you need anything? What hurts?” when was Eraser's voice so soothing to her?
“Null…okay? Not hurt?” she rasped out, sure she heard his voice but she knew Eraser wouldn’t try to feed her white lies.
“He’s fine, Zashi gave him two juices pouches though…so he’s a little wired but not a scratch on him. Now what hurts you?”
“Head…aspirin? Body, day after crossfit.” She hoped he understood her mumbles.
“Do you think you can drink some water?” at her miniscule nod a straw tapped her lips. She sucked down cool, sweet water, pulling back to open her mouth for two pills were dropped in for her to swallow. She chased it with more water.
Her eyes cleared as she waited for them to kick in. Eraser was kneeling beside her, holding a glass of water with…they gave her a bright blue silly straw. Okay, whatever. Behind him was Izu, his mask down to show him biting down on his lip, worrying it between his teeth, but the mask covering his hair and goggles on.
Behind him as a tall man with blonde hair and chartreuse eyes, wearing a black tank top and leopard print leggings. She blinked before she recognized the Voice Hero. He gave her a little wave but didn’t step closer.
“What do you remember?” she blinked up at Eraser, noting that he’d shaved, he’d had stubble earlier.
“Gang…Null jumping in…fighting…injection.” She paused to drink more water, “Left because cops, got to docks…then, pain.”
“We think the bullet had a new strain of Trigger. You passed out when I erased your Quirk. You’re wearing a Quirk suppressant patch. Did you want to try taking it off? You were making circuitry fry.” She groaned, before she nodded. The patch had nausea, headaches and fever like side effects.
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He slowly peeled the adhesive off her wrist, watching her closely for any sparks or tensing muscles. When nothing happened he relaxed, shoving the patch in his pocket. “Okay, just take it easy. You’re at my apartment with my husband, he’s excitable but he’s a good guy.”
She blinked “You’re married to Present Mic?” At his nod she groaned, “I owe Null ten thousand yen…”
He snorted, “Who did you think I was with?”
“Tsuki.” She closed her eyes, moving the fingers on her right hand slowly, making a fist and relaxing it. She worked through the pins and needles and stiffness, doing the same to her left before she slowly moved her arms. Her joints popped like a new glowstick but the pain was fading.
“I’m not going to ask why you thought that. Anyway, take it easy, kiddo. You’ll be here until night and it’s just eight twenty in the morning,”
She groaned as she sat up, “Gotta try to get stiffness out.” She moved her head side to side to pop it, sighing softly in relief.
Izuku shuffled closer, “Nee-chan?” She smiled softly as she opened her arms and he dove in, wrapping his arms around her.
“I’m okay, green bean, my heads the worst part of it, but it’s getting better. I’m sorry I worried you.” She said softly, rubbing a hand over his back.
Eventually he pulled back to sit next to her, biting back a yawn. She chuckled softly, “Get some sleep. I really am fine.”
“I'm okay…” he mumbled, “I have to make sure you’re okay…” he leaned his head against her shoulder.
“Eraser is here. He’ll make sure I don’t collapse or something.” She reassured, “At least take a nap,”
“Yeah, lil listener, Sho and I will keep an eye on her.” Present Mic smiled, “I’ll take you to the guest room. You can take off the mask and goggles to sleep and we won’t go in. The door can be locked from the inside if you want privacy too.”
Izuku groaned and slowly stood up, “Okay…don’t let Nee-chan have too much coffee. The fifth cup makes her jittery.” He yawned as he trudged after Mic.
She looked at Eraser, “You aren’t going to cut off coffee, are you?”
“I don’t have any room to judge your coffee habits. Zashi might,” he sipped at his own mug, “But he said five cups, and I have some really big mugs.”
She quirked a smile at him, slowly pushing herself off the couch and shuffling around the room. The ice picks felt more like rubber mallets, so that was a plus. “So, Sho?”
“My civilian name is Shouta Aizawa. Present Mic is Hizashi Yamada.” He grunted as he marked a paper with red pen.
“Null said my name earlier didn’t he?” at his slow nod, she sighed, “Well, not that it matters much. You already knew who I used to be. Yui Andenryū. Though it’s not what I go by now. And I’d prefer Control when I’m doing the vigilante thing.” She stretched her arms over her head, letting out a growl as some vertebrae cracked.
“You can call me Aizawa when I’m not on the clock.” He said, watching as she moved around. “Did you want some coffee?”
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“Awww, I can’t call you Sho? I see how it is.” She teased, looking at the pictures on the wall. There were a lot of cats, and group pictures with either teacher with kids in U.A. uniforms, and pictures of them with people she guessed they were friends with.
“We both know you’ll call me whatever you want to.” He grumbled.
“You’re right! So, you fell in love with your high school best friend? I never would have guessed that you’d go with the blonde cockatoo,” Yui plopped back down on the couch, leaning her head back on the cushion.
“HEY, I am not a cockatoo!” She grinned at the obvious pout in the man’s voice. Eraser hid his emotions so well it was hard for her to get a read on him some days. But it seemed like his husband was an open book.
“You are when you’re on the clock. It’s nice that Eraser has a sweet songbird to come home to. Someone has to try to make him eat, or at least make sure he’s not just living off of coffee and nutrient pouches.”
“You have no idea how hard it is to make him sit down and eat real food.” The blonde groaned, “Are you hungry? Thirsty? What can I get you? Don’t ask Sho to cook, he'll burn it out of spite or throw nutrient pouches at you.”
“I’d like some coffee please?” He raised an eyebrow at her, “The caffeine should help with the migraine…”
He sighed, “Fine, but you need to drink something else later. Coffee will stunt your growth.” He walked into the kitchen, snagging some from the pot Eraser had put on.
“Hey, I’m not Null, I don’t need the warning.” She took the mug he offered gratefully, the ceramic warming her fingers.
“You’re still a kid. You have a lot of growing to do yet!” Mic took a seat beside her, picking up his stack of papers and a neon blue pen.
“If I can drink as much coffee as I want, I’ll readily become a dwarf.” She breathed in the heavenly scent, sighing softly as her body sank a little deeper into the cushions. She took a sip, her lips curling in a smile. “You buy beans from Sunshine’s cat café?”
“Oh! You’ve been there? We go there all the time for dates! Sho swears that they have the best coffee in town.” Yamada grinned at her.
“Yeah, Null usually pops in for me. Her muffins are the absolute best.” She hadn’t been in the café since her parent’s arrest, she just couldn’t face Yuki after the cops had put her appearance out there. So Izu bought her coffee beans and muffins and cuddled the cats for her.
“I wonder if we’ve seen him there before…”
She grinned, “You probably have. Null is good at going unnoticed in crowds.” Not to mention he wore a disguise and Yuki hadn’t even recognized him yet.
“We’ve heard his voice now though! We could so tell if we saw him there again!” Mic grinned, pointing his pen at her. He pouted at the glare his husband sent him. “I just have to know if he’s as cute as I think he is.”
“Whatever you’re imagining, it doesn’t do him justice. My little brother is the cutest kid you’ve ever seen. Those eyes could be weaponized.” Her voice became soft, and she cleared her throat as she hid her face behind the coffee mug.
“How’d you two even get into this? Shouldn’t you be in school?” Mic asked, a frown curling his lips as he leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms as he regarded her. He almost reminded her of a stern teacher.
“Don’t get all stern-like. We do online classes. Get all A’s.” She shrugged, not bothering to mention they were college level courses. It wasn’t that big of a deal.
“You’re both just so young to be risking your lives. If that had been a regular bullet…” The blonde sighed softly as he looked up at her, concern in those green eyes that made her a little nervous but still...she couldn’t deny that it felt nice to have him worry about her.
“I’d be missing part of my skull. Yeah. But the heart wants what it wants. Ours just want to help people.” She turned to him, lowering her hands to her lap. “I’m sure Eraser told you about me. I…I have a lot to make up for. And it’ll never be enough. But I can try to make this society a better place.”
She sighed as she looked up at the ceiling, “Null knows what it’s like to be discriminated against…what it’s like to live without a roof over his head, to have every reason to go down the wrong path but he’s the sweetest, the kindest person I’ve been blessed enough to meet. He simply just wants to help people because his heart is just too damn big.” She focused those teal eyes on the blonde, the look icy and yet burning all the same. “I will become a villain to anyone that hurts him. I would sacrifice my soul to protect that little ball of sunshine.”
Yamada had a smile on his face, “Sho! She’s just like you were in high school!” he squealed and she blinked, her eyebrows raising.
“You’re delusional,” the man grumbled, “More than usual.”
“You used to be all protective of us in high school after we bonded. You scared all the pervs away from Nem! You would pull knives on the kids who picked on me! Face it, you had the same ‘You fuck with them, I’ll stab you' attitude as she does.” He cackled.
“For the last time Zashi, I don’t have any kids! I’ve always been very gay!” he snapped, but Yui could see the slight flush dust his cheekbones without the capture weapon to hide it.
“Damn, and here I thought I had a chance to upgrade. My bio dad was shit, Eraser would be a definite improvement. And it would explain my coffee dependence,” She grinned as Eraser let out a drawn-out groan and Mic slapped his knee as he laughed. Maybe the vigilante duo could do this again, without the injury part.
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