II. A Tickle in the Air
My given name, when written out, meant 'child of snow'.
Yukiko had several different meanings based on the kanji, with 'yuki' being able to be read as 'happiness' or 'cause of joy'. My surname, Fukurota, was written with the characters for 'owl' and 'field', though 'rice paddy' would be more accurate. All in all, I was named Yukiko because of my hair, soft and white, not unlike the snow that covered Tokyo on the night of my birth.
My mother married into my father's family, but did not adopt his surname, claiming it was 'too inclusive'. My mother was the type of woman to worry about trivial things like that. According to my father, she claimed that even if she had wings, she still wouldn't take on his surname, because the characters referred specifically to owls rather than birds in general. My mother just did not find that very fair.
With my name being what it is, and my father being who he is, I was often asked the same question— "Are you related to the number six pro hero?". I had trouble deciding if being of my father's blood was a blessing or a curse. While he never explicitly stated I was his child in public, the signs we were related were far too obvious. I looked like his spitting image, with the same eyes and hair and—
Wings.
I couldn't say I was bullied in school. Actually, I was treated the exact opposite. People seemed to put me on a sort of pedestal for my relation to my father, or rather, my relation to a powerful pro hero. People either avoided me or spent far too much time around me. I was either completely isolated or completely surrounded. I found forming bonds incredibly difficult as a child because no one was ever just themselves, normal or otherwise. People felt the need to treat me differently, and while some people would have to think about if that was a good thing or not, I already made my decision.
I found myself reliving my younger days when one of my classmates approached me almost immediately after I took my seat. As I had arrived especially early, I was hoping I would be able to just relax, but as the universe just demonstrated, this would not be case. Izuku Midoriya, he introduced himself as. His lips curled into a nervous smile across his freckled cheeks, stance stiff, green curls wild and untamed.
"Y-You're related to the Nocturnal Hero, Twilight, r-right?" he stammered. I don't know where this question came from or why he decided to ask it, and it came as a bit of a surprise because it had been a while since I was last asked something like that. I smiled slightly.
"Yeah…" I breathed out. "He's my father."
"That's amazing!" Midoriya exclaimed, his thrill almost exploding out of him as he spoke. "His wingspan is over six meters, he can see almost perfectly in the dark, and his feathers absorb sound—!"
He suddenly shut his mouth and clapped his hand over it, shaking his head.
"Sorry… you already know this stuff, huh?" he asked. I gave an apologetic grin.
"I do."
"W-Well, if you don't mind me asking… how long is your wingspan?"
I blinked a few times at the question. It wasn't one I was often asked, considering most people didn't care enough to ask it. I scrunched up my nose in thought.
"About four and a half meters," I told him. "Last time they were measured."
Midoriya nodded. "That's amazing. The feathers are able to absorb sound, right?"
"Yes. Well— they just… do that, because that's how they're shaped."
My parents described my Quirk as a near perfect mixture of their own. My father's Quirk gives him the same features as an arctic owl, such as sharp eyesight and a powerful grip, while my mother's allows her to absorb kinetic energy and then release it. These two Quirks combined to form mine, which allow my individual feathers to absorb shock and impact, and then redirect the kinetic energy into explosive blasts with the same feathers. If I wanted to, I could transfer this energy into other parts of my body. Because of this, my wings are incredibly sturdy, but absorbing too much kinetic energy at once make them heavy and hard to fly with.
As I explained this to Midoriya, he gaped at me with wide eyes and an enthralled stare. I could tell by his expression that in his mind he was already beginning to construct a pedestal with my name written on it. The thought of that made me wince.
"That's amazing, Fukurota-san!" he said. Despite my qualms, I smiled.
"Thank you," I replied. Our conversation felt very familiar. I could only think about my peers in the past who would ask me the same question and look at me with the same face when I gave them the same answer. I rubbed my shoulder, gently, then gripped it.
"What about you, Midoriya-san?" I asked, trying to deviate the topic away from me. "What's your Quirk?"
I noticed how jittery he suddenly became. His cheeks turned red, his eyes refused to meet mine, and he shifted around in his seat. He tumbled over his words and he looked at me for a split second before he laughed and rubbed the back of his neck.
"I-It's just a power up type!" he said.
"I see," I blinked at him. "It gives you enhanced strength then, I assume?"
"Something like that…" he trailed off.
"Except you can't fucking control it."
My eyes flickered up. Bakugo threw his bag at his feet and plopped in his chair, his gaze burning directly into Midoriya. Midoriya nearly jumped out of his seat and chuckled nervously, waving his arms in front of him.
"G-Good morning, Kacchan!" he greeted. Bakugo didn't respond. Rather, he kicked his feet up onto his desk and leaned back.
"Kacchan?" I parroted. "That's a cute nickname."
Immediately, Bakugo whirled around as if I just uttered something absolutely detestable.
"It's fucking annoying," he hissed. I saw Midoriya shrink in his seat, shoulders slouched and head hanging forward. I suddenly felt incredibly guilty. I reached forward and placed my hand on Midoriya's shoulder. I felt him flinch at my touch.
"I'm sorry," I said, trying to put on a smile. "Let's… calm down a bit, okay?"
Midoriya looked back at me. Bakugo just rolled his eyes and turned back to the front. I quietly breathed out. For now, I suppose, the situation resolved itself. Crisis avoided.
My father used to tell me that a tickle in the air meant something bad was going to happen.
I never truly understood what he meant, nor did I know where the basis for this statement came from. Every time I tried to ask, he'd just smile and say something along the lines of 'you'll know when it happens'. A bird's instinct, he called it. In the end and after that, I just let it go.
My wings trembled trepidatiously when Aizawa-sensei announced we'd be conducting rescue training at an off campus facility. My father's voice resounded in my head. A tickle in the air and a quiver in my muscles. Bad things were sure to come.
This is it, my anxious self screamed. This is the end of our halcyon days.
My wings fluttered.
No, my logical self refuted. Our halcyon will resume as it always does.
A feather fell.
Stuck at a crossroads between myself, I tried to ignore my irrational thoughts by instead focusing on the fact we would be wearing our costumes. I thought back to the first time I put mine on. It was the third day of school and Kan-sensei announced we would be doing combat training. My costume was a long sleeved, navy blue bodysuit with a turtleneck collar. The back had been cut out to allow space for my wings. Around my waist was a utility belt, and I also wore black gloves, goggles, and thigh high boots.
My costume was simple, but effective. I didn't need it to stand out. I just needed it to work. I remember Setsuna being the first to run up to me and compliment my costume. She grabbed my hands and spoke so quickly I felt like my mind was running circles around itself. That day, we were paired up randomly and were to fight against each other. I was paired with Tetsutetsu, and we had to fight against Kuroiro and Jurota.
Needless to say, we won.
I was ecstatic at our victory and I went home that day with a skip in my step. I was excited to tell my father, but when I got to my house the only thing that greeted me were bloody feathers and a severe lack of him. By the time he returned home I decided it wouldn't be worth telling him. The initial delight was gone and all that remained was an empty disappointment.
I sat on a bench in the locker room, away from the other girls as they all helped each other put on their costumes. I couldn't join in on their enthusiasm. Truthfully, I only knew two of their names, and that in of itself didn't necessarily mean we were 'friends' as much as we were just 'classmates'. I began to feel a bit more lonely.
One of the girls noticed me and, whether out of kindness or pity, walked over to me, brows upturned in concern and a gentle smile on her face. She had silky black hair, smooth skin, and eyes like those of a cat. She was beautiful. A different type of beautiful.
"You are… Fukurota-san, right?" she asked. I nodded. "It's nice to meet you! My name is Momo Yaoyorozu."
I stood up and bowed my head to her. We were the same height, but for some reason I felt so much smaller, and that was perhaps due to the almost overwhelming aura she exuded. She looked powerful. She felt powerful. I immediately labelled her as someone I wouldn't be able to compete against. Behind her, Mina and Ochako appeared as well, grinning at me.
"You look nice, Fukurota-chan!" Ochako said. Not expecting the compliment, I struggle to cough out an appropriate response.
"T-Thank you," I stuttered. "You all do, too."
"If we're all ready, then let's head outside," Momo said, turning on her heel as she began to walk away. She suddenly stopped mid-step and turned around to face me, smiling again.
"Are you coming?" she asked. I nearly jumped in surprise, but quickly nodded.
"Yeah…"
When we reached outside, we were greeted by a loud ruckus. One of the students was ardently blowing a whistle, directing us to the bus. From beside me, Kirishima let out a deep sigh.
"Iida sure is passionate…" he said, shaking his head. On my other side, Mina giggled.
"That's our class president!"
I looked at Iida, bespectacled and clad in a suit of armor. I was slightly intimidated, but I figured that was moreso because of the volume of his voice. I moved past him and stepped onto the bus, where I took my seat near one of the windows. My classmates, one by one, got on as well, and immediately began to chat excitedly about this rescue training exercise and what it was going to be like.
"We'll be able to show off our Quirks, right?" Denki asked.
"It isn't about showing off, Kaminari-san," Momo said. "We'll have to use our Quirks to save and ease anyone who will need our help."
I chuckled quietly. 1-A boasted a completely different type of energy from 1-B. I couldn't exactly describe it, but something about it felt… richer. I couldn't say that was a bad thing. No, it wasn't at all.
As my classmates began to discuss the topic of their Quirks, I leaned my head against the window, slowly spacing out as the bus began to drive off, drowning out the conversation and letting my thoughts consume me instead.
I was seven when the universe took my mother from me.
My mother, a woman so deeply devoted to her family and duties, didn't come home one night. Nor did she come home the next night, or any night after that. The last time I saw her, she smiled softly at me, held my hand and traced her thumb over my knuckles. It was a full moon that night. The next time I looked out my window, like she did, the moon disappeared.
Nothing was the same after that. The police searched, my father searched, everyone looked for my mother, but even years later, nothing came up. No one could find her. There were no clues that could indicate what happened to her. It was as if she didn't exist at all; she just became a part of this endless space, another star in the sky, another memory in someone's thoughts.
After my mother's disappearance, my father changed for the worse. He would leave early in the morning and wouldn't return until days later. Our house, once filled with the sound of my mother's thunderous voice and contagious laughter, became a shell with nothing more than a hopeless girl and a broken man who once was. Our house felt significantly colder. Our hearts, emptier.
Even as a young girl I could tell how my father quickly began to deteriorate. I was still clinging onto the hope that maybe, maybe I would come home one day and see my mother on the couch, snorting at a joke she heard on TV. That is probably the only thing that has kept me going— and still is. My father, however, has long given up. His eyes became heavy and his wings no longer shined. He would spend hours in his bed and I would occasionally see him pulling out his feathers. Tobacco smoke and old liquor seeped into the cracks of our home.
My mother disappeared, and before I knew it, my father had, too. It didn't take me very long to come to the realization that I was alone. During nights where this realization hit me particularly hard, I would stare out my room window and gaze at the moon, hoping my mother was looking at the same sky. The only thing we shared were the stars glimmering in this endless space.
Oftentimes, I wondered if she was alone, too.
"Fukurota-san?"
I snapped out of my train of thought when I heard my name being called. I shifted my head to look at my classmates, who were all staring intently at me. I froze in place out of nervousness.
"Y-Yes?" I asked quietly. "Is… something wrong?"
"We're wondering, Fukurota-chan…" one of the girls said, her wide eyes blinking at me as she placed a finger near her mouth. "What is your Quirk?"
"My Quirk?" I repeated.
"It's your wings, right? You're a mutant type, right?" Mina chirped. She pointed directly behind me; I followed her finger and saw one of my classmates sitting alone in the corner. "If you and Tokoyami-kun came together, you'd form a whole bird!"
Tokoyami, as he was apparently named, just sighed and shook his head. I giggled a bit.
"Our aesthetics don't really match," I said. "And, well… I guess my Quirk is a hybrid…?"
"Hybrid? Whaddya mean?" Denki asked.
"Um… the feathers absorb shock and impact…" I looked over at Midoriya, who smiled at me and gave a thumbs up. I smiled back. "Or, more like the kinetic energy… so then I can store that energy and redistribute it in the form of explosions. Like… like bombs, almost."
"Kinda like Bakugo, huh?" another one of the girls asked, twirling her long earlobe around her finger. Beside her was the aforementioned boy, who just scoffed and looked away. I shrugged my shoulders.
"Maybe. I mean, if he can redirect kinetic energy."
"Don't compare a shitty Quirk like that to my own," he grumbled. For some reason, something about that made me chuckle.
"If that's what you want to call it," I remarked. "I don't think my Quirk will be very useful in rescue training, though."
"All our Quirks can be used someway to help," Kirishima commented. "That's why we're here, right?"
His words reminded me of my father, his voice sounding in my head.
To save people, to be able to bring someone's daughter, son, mother, friend, lover back, safe and sound—
I smiled.
That's why I want to be a hero.
I almost felt like we weren't supposed to take this off campus training facility too seriously.
My classmates and I all stood in front of a domed building where someone wearing a space suit greeted us enthusiastically. The Space Hero: Thirteen, is what they said they were known as. They were a hero who specialized in search and rescue operations and created the facility— appropriately named USJ— to help train young heroes like us in such missions. Thirteen told us to follow them, which we promptly did.
"Oi, snowflake."
I only took a step forward before I heard the name, and I turned around to see Bakugo walk towards me. I raised a brow at the name, slightly entertained, but also slightly confused.
"'Snowflake'?" I asked. Bakugo huffed.
"That's your shit, isn't it? A snow owl or whatever," he responded.
"Yeah," I confirmed. "Do you know a lot about birds? Most people think I'm a swan or crane."
"Most people don't have common sense. It's in your name."
"That's true."
I clasped my hands behind my back and looked at the ground for a moment before looking back up at him.
"Is there a reason you called me?" I asked. Bakugo moved past me. He remained quiet at first, then he stopped and looked over his shoulder.
"Can you actually fly with those things?"
I didn't respond for the first few moments. Then, my lips curled into a smile. It was small, but it was there. I didn't want to laugh— that'd just be rude— but I was amused that he asked a question like that.
"Do you want the literal answer, or the metaphorical one?" I asked. He looked back at me and frowned.
"Who the fuck answers a question with a question?"
I shrugged my shoulders. "Most people don't," I said. "But a question like that is like me asking if you can write with those hands."
"I'm not an idiot," Bakugo growled.
"I know you're not," I responded. "But if you had wings, wouldn't you learn to fly with them, too?"
I knew I struck a nerve when he just rolled his eyes, turned on his heel, and walked away. He never ended up answering my question, but truthfully, I don't think I needed one.
When we arrived inside the building, I felt a sort of coldness in the air. It was a different type of cold; my teeth didn't chatter nor did my muscles contract, but goosebumps raised all over my skin and my heartbeat quickened. A dark sense of foreboding entered my veins. Thirteen began to speak and I tried to use that as a distraction from this foreign feeling that was gripping me.
"If you're all familiar with my Quirk— Black Hole— it is capable of saving people as much as it is harming them," they spoke. "There are countless Quirks in this superhuman society like mine, and because of that, we must be careful with how we use our powers," Thirteen held out their arms towards us. "But I'm here to help you control these abilities, so that you may use them to protect save lives in this constantly changing world!"
Breathe.
As my classmates erupted into cheers and applause, another bout of bitter coldness stung my wings and tousled my feathers. I sneezed and one of my classmates, I think named Sero, uttered a 'bless you' to me. I quietly thanked him. The inspired atmosphere Thirteen established was quickly replaced with one of confusion when the lights flickered on and off.
"Did you guys forget to pay the light bill?" Denki joked. Something was terribly off. I could feel it in the way my stomach twisted and my heart dropped.
A tickle in the air…
My wings reacted before the rest of my body did and they spread out, instinctively, or perhaps fearfully.
… Means bad things are sure to come.
"Fukurota-san?" Momo's voice whispered. She placed a hand on my shoulder and I looked at her. "Is everything okay? You seem bothered by something."
"Um—" I struggled to swallow. "I, um—"
Call it a bird's intuition, my father's words echoed in my head. You'll know when you feel it.
"S-Something is… going to happen," I gripped onto her hand. "No— something is happening, now."
"Now?" Mina repeated, who let out a yelp when the flickering lights shattered. We could have laughed about this, like Denki did. We could've written this off as a freak coincidence, an occurrence that just so happened while we were here. But I knew, and the rest of my classmates were beginning to catch on, too, that this was much more than just a trick of the universe. This was real.
And that is what made it all the more sinister.
"What's going on?" Aizawa-sensei asked, his fists clenched as if he were ready to fight. His question— the same one we were all thinking without acknowledging and maybe even realizing it— was answered when the fountain in central plaza flickered not unlike the lights above. It sputtered out water slowly, and then stopped entirely. What came next was a warp, a distortion in the folds of space itself, and between those folds came a dot. The dot grew and intensified, morphing into black and purple and becoming a fog that spread out. From the darkness, a hand pushed itself out. Then, an arm, and then a whole body. Multiple bodies. Spilling out of the fog were dozens of people, hunched over and sneering at us with wicked grins. My entire being froze. My wings wrapped around me as if they would provide protection.
"Villains?" Kirishima shouted. "How did they—?"
"The media incident…" Aizawa-sensei gravelled.
"Someone really did infiltrate the school, then?" Iida inquired. I didn't want to think about how or why they were here. I could only focus on the fact they were here at all. By now, a mob of villains had formed and more were pouring out from the fog.
"Kaminari, see if you can contact the school," Aizawa-sensei commanded with a sharp tone. "The rest of you, stay back."
"Sensei, the signal's jammed," Denki informed. Beside him, one of my classmates narrowed his turquoise and gray eyes.
"If that's the case, then that means the sensors are jammed, too. That's probably why no alarm has sounded the moment they stopped foot in here," he deduced. I inhaled sharply through my teeth.
"W… What are we going to do?" I asked. I received stares, a conglomeration of anxious eyes and terrified bodies.
"Class representative—" Thirteen turned to Iida, who stiffened. "We are in a crisis. You must use your Quirk to run back to the main campus and inform everyone what is happening."
"W-What?" Iida sounded, his eyes widening behind his glasses.
"Fukurota-san, maybe you should go, too," Midoriya said. "With your wings, how fast can you fly?"
"I-I'm not quite sure of my top speed, but—but I don't—"
"It'll have to do," the heterochromatic boy said.
"Very well. The both of you, please alert the school! You two are our only hope right now!" Thirteen said. If I didn't cover my mouth with my hand, my anxiety would've spilled over in the form of bile. I clenched my arm and dug my nails into my skin. My heartbeat was pounding in my skin and my entire body was tense.
Could I do this?
"I… I don't know if I can do this…" I barely managed to breathe out.
"Fukurota-san?" Iida mummered with fear in his voice that replicated my own.
"I—"
"This isn't about what you think you can or can't do, idiot!" Bakugo's voice shouted, challenging my own terror and apprehension. "Don't you see the shit we're in right now? If you're gonna be in this class, you might as well prove you're fuckin' worth it."
My breath got caught in my throat. I tried to speak, but only a few gasps of air escaped my throat. Bakugo whirled around to face me with a harsh gaze, but I could see his chest rising and falling erratically and his hands trembling, ever so slightly.
You're scared too, aren't you?
And despite my fears, I had to remember that I wasn't the only one in this. I had to consider the things everyone else was feeling. There were nineteen other people like me, all equally afraid and unsure, even if they weren't outwardly showing it. Pretending to be brave together was better than being terrified alone. Strength in numbers. I took a deep breath to calm my nerves, and I looked at Iida, who returned my gaze and nodded.
"Okay," I said with a calmness in my tone I was shocked I could even achieve during a time like this. "Let's go."
"There's no more time left. Go! I'll hold them off the best I can. Thirteen, take the rest and try to get out of here!"
Aizawa-sensei reached into his ragged scarf and pulled out a pair of shining yellow goggles. He fitted them over his eyes, obscuring them, and in a split second I witnessed him transform from our homeroom teacher into the pro hero, Eraserhead. He looked back at us once more, and although his eyes were shielded, for some reason I had a feeling he was looking at both Iida and I. Then, he crouched down, and a split second later he lunged forward.
"Fukurota-san!" Iida called. I looked at him and nodded.
"Right!"
For the first time, I spread my wings to their full length. The very tips of the feathers curled outward and I flapped them lightly to rid of the tension that were beginning to form. I took a single step forward, then I stopped and looked over my shoulder.
"Bakugo—!"
When I called his name, I noticed his eyes shifted to make contact with my own. He stared at my wings with furrowed brows and slightly parted lips. I smiled.
"Thanks."
My feet lifted me off the ground as my wings carried me into the air. I breathed out and pushed myself forward. I looked down and saw Iida running directly underneath me. Behind me, my classmates all began running to the door as well, with Thirteen leading them.
Spread your wings, Yukiko. Use them.
My heart was filled with fear and false hope.
Fly.
a/n
edit- changed the chapter title
thank you all for your continued support on the story! it means a lot to me! see you next chapter!
