Chapter 4

~Flashback~

Flames. That's all you could remember. The raging flames that traveled rapidly across the broken pieces of debri. The orange and yellow, slightly licked the fallen wood, successfully infecting it with the heat, the harsh black marks as evidence. The flames threatened to come near you, burn you, turn you into a pile of ashes.

The flames. And the ringing. The loud ringing that filled your ears. Pounding in your mind, as you sat in the far corner, avoiding the fires and falling building scraps. Your tiny blistered hands covering your ears, as your mind pleaded for the noise to end. To leave you alone.

However your body felt no pain. In fact, you felt nothing. Your tearstained face, your trembling arms, your bruised and bloodied legs. Nothing. The vicious shock numbed all the inflicting pains, leaving you incapable of feeling.

You were young, yes. You barely had the capacity to walk, let alone comprehend the horrendous scene in front of you. The crumbling building, the smoke rising from the fires, the pieces of dust, metal, wood surrounding you. And...the bodies.

You remembered as you crawled, letting the metal embed itself into your skin, ignoring the red appearing on your knees. You remembered as you stared at the two wretched bodies in front of you. A woman and man. Both dyed in red, showing no evidence of movements. You placed your hands on their now cold bodies, slightly shaking them.

You only realize now, how naive you were. How very innocent.

You knew nothing of the cycle of life. You didn't know about how the body stops functioning. Yes, you were quite naive.

You kept shaking them, thinking they would wake up. You imagined how they would sit up and start laughing. A joke. A mere joke.

Just a joke, Your mind reassured, just a joke.

But your hopes were nowhere near satisfied, as the tears started flowing down your face, and your cries became audible. Your senses came back to you, your body seeping with emotion. Your shaking became more aggressive, and your pleading became much louder, but nothing happened. The bodies stayed as still as a rock. And with that in your mind, your hopes were diminished. Out like the flame of a candle.

Finally, you lowered your head, your voice parched and hoarse from the endless cries, as you let the tears pour out of your eyes, leaving an empty void of nothing inside of you.

You didn't know how long you were there.

It could have been ,minutes, hours, even days.

But in all of the chaos, you learned one thing. One single heart-shattering thing. The thing that your innocent self had no clue of before this experience.

Death.

_____________

You woke up to the smell of freshly washed sheets. You nuzzled your head into the soft pillow, letting the warmth take over you, as you allowed yourself to inhale the smell. You felt calm...and relaxed, so much so, that you forgot about the events of the previous day. Alas, it only lasted a couple of seconds.

Getting hit in the head with a brick. That's how it felt when all the memories came rushing back into your already stressed mind. The familiar feeling of dread returned to your gut.

The meeting, the LO.V, the little girl, your brother's blow up. Everything came into your mind at once. You sighed as you sat up and placed on your feet on the cold hard-wooden floor.

{I can't worry about that now. I have school.}

Pushing away your thoughts, you squinted at the sunlight in the room. Usually you expected Ochako to be there, waking you up, helping you get ready for school.

{Right, new assistant…I have to show her around later….}

You glanced at the digital clock on your nightstand. 7:13 am. You got roughly 45 minutes to get to school. You rushed to your bathroom, brushing your teeth and washing your face with cold water. You looked into the clear mirror staring at your reflection. Your eyes were half-lidded, proof of the exhaustion from the previous day.

Sighing, you exited the bathroom, walking over to your bureau in the corner of your room. You slid open the wooden drawers and picked out your uniform--a button up white shirt, and a black pleated skirt. On top of the button up shirt you slipped into a black fleece. You put on your black army boots and grabbed your backpack, shoving all the textbooks into it.

Then you went to the kitchen where you saw your mother making breakfast. The sweet aroma of blueberry pancakes filled your nose. Your mother saw you and smiled.

"Good Morning, Y/N!" She exclaimed, sliding a plate of pancakes towards you on the counter. You grabbed the syrup and lightly drizzled it on top of the fluffy deliciousness, before grabbing the fork, and diving in. Your mother's pancakes are the best, and this is just another way to prove it. The soft texture melted in your mouth as the blueberries and syrup added an extra kick to the flavor. You let out a content sigh.

Your mother noticed this, and grinned to herself, knowingly. You quickly gobbled the rest up, leaving only a bit of crumbles littered on the otherwise clean plate. You grabbed your bag, slung it over your shoulder, and rushed out the door yelling, "Bye Mom, thank you."

In all of the chaos and rushing, you couldn't help but feeling like something was missing. Like something was incomplete. Your mind lingered on it, as you walked down the street. Only when you looked at the sun, shining brightly through on the frosty grass, you realized.

Izuku.

______________

School was mostly uneventful.

You tried to put in an effort to pay attention, so you don't have to talk to Rose again. You still couldn't help but feel uncomfortable around her. There's something shady about her and you knew it.

Your teacher, on the other hand, kept stealing glances at you between lectures, her way of constantly checking in on you. Although you were paying attention better than the day before, your teacher still saw the same distant look in those multi-color eyes. Like you were paying attention but you weren't actually in the class. You still pushed away anyone who tried to approach you, ignoring your other classmates. Now the question is why.

It could possibly be because of social inhibition.

Or possibly loneliness.

Or maybe even pride.

Only you knew the answer to that question. And, knowing you, it may be impossible to get it out.

______________

You sighed, as you twirl your pen between fingers, and ignored the wide open textbook laying on your desktop. You wanted to do your homework, but too much was on your mind. Your mind raced through the events of the day.

First off, the new assistant. Momo Yaoyorozu. An amazing girl...but there was a particular thing bothering you about her. You mind went back a couple of hours, to when you were giving a tour of the mansion.

The girl herself was quite beautiful. Her luscious straight black hair was pulled back into a ponytail. Her business suit hugged her body and her posture was perfect. Her back was perfectly straight, not even losing the position once. Her raven eyes were bright and passionate.

But something about her dark eyes was somewhat...unsettling. A glint of calculation was visible through the bright mask. Like you, she was always thinking, calculating the status of other peoples, while keeping up a sweet smile. And that could make her frankly, alarming. You kept a note in your mind, to keep a close eye on her and observe her behavior.

Your mind then wandered to Izuku. Izuku….your big brother….the one and only person who is able to read you like a book anywhere at any time. You sighed. You haven't seen him all day and after his blow up last night….you were worried.

{What if he hates me now? You shook your head. No, Izuku has only ever been over-protective and caring to you all of your life. He was only worried. But what if- }

You stood up abruptly, slamming your hands on the table. Your face pulled up into a determined look. You refused to let those thoughts control you.

{I am going to talk to him!}

You ran through the hallways, and before you knew it, you were standing in front of Izuku's room. You slowly calmed your racing heart and heavy breathing. You hand unconsciously moved towards the wood, forming a fist, to knock. But about an inch from the door, you stopped, hesitation filling your mind yet again.

But before you could resolve it, the door opened making you yelp. The cause of your sudden jump stood at the entryway. You glanced at the person, about to give them a piece of your mind, but then faltered, all the vexation fading, as your brain processed the person in front of you.

"Ahh, Izuku. Sorry about that." You muttered, quietly.

"Are you okay, Y/N? I hope I didn't hurt you." You chuckled to yourself. Even after last night, he still truly cared about you.

"No, it's okay." You reassured him. Then you took a deep breath. "Actually, I came down here...to apologize...about last night." Your mumbles were quiet.

Izuku sighed and smiled slightly. His hand reached down and ruffled your silver hair. You giggled at the warmth, reminding Izuku of a child. A child so pure and happy, rarely seen beneath that stormy face.

"I already forgiven you, Y/N. I understand it's hard for you to talk about your feelings, but at least let me know if you aren't feeling well, alright?" Izuku said, softly brushing his thumb under your eye. You hummed in response.

"Do you promise?" He asked. You put your hand in front of you, in a fist, except for the pinkie finger outstretching.

"Pinky-Promise!" You said, your mouth pulling up in a small smile. Another childish habit. But Izuku didn't mind. As long as his sister felt comfortable and content, he was satisfied. He laughed and connected his pinkie with yours, sealing the pact.

Before you could continue with a conversation, you heard someone yelling out your name.

"Mister and Miss Midoriya!" A voice rang through the hallway. You jerked your head to the right, to see a blue-haired man run towards us. You recognized him as Tenya Iida, the newest weaponry engineer. He's a rather polite person, and takes his duties seriously. His family had been part of this organization since the beginning. The boy came to us panting.

"Iida, what's wrong?" My brother cried, alarmed. The boy stood straight up back perfectly straight.

"You are requested to be in the hall by Mistress Midoriya." You turned to Izuku confused. To your momentary disappointment, his face mirrored yours.

"Why? I don't remember any meetings today." You said, slowly. Iida then looked straight at you, his face filled with mortification and disappointment, as if I should've known what he was talking about. Then he sighed and straightened his glasses with his thumb, and replied, with a simple tone.

"Why, the Bakugou organization has arrived, of course."