Chapter 4: Why is Freedom so Convoluted?
Three Days Later
Fujitani Hospital
Marlya was currently in a hospital bed, the monitors beside her bed were beeping consistently, IV's dripping. She was moaning lowly, face contorting in what seemed to be pain, sweat beaded upon her forehead.
The monitors kicked up slowly, indicating her heart rate was increasing. Then it went back to her resting rate. The dreams seemed to be causing her body to be erratic, going in and out of states of ease then sheer panic.
Her cuffs rattling against the bed frame as well as the larger much bulkier bracers clanging too every time they hit the railing.
"Marlya?" A woman's voice called, "Marlya my love, where oh where could you be hiding my little pup?"
Marlya lifted her tail up over her knees, covering her mouth to muffle the giggles she had from her Mothers antics. Marlya was currently hiding at the bottom of the linen closet in the upstairs hallway. Her ears flicked towards her mother echoing steps down the hall.
"Where oh where is my little pup?" Her Mother called out in sing song.
Her steps slowed to just outside the closet, Marlya could see her Mothers toes turn towards the door.
"I think she's ri-iight," her voice called out, "Here!"
The closet doors flung open, it it wasn't her mother that greeted her, it was the giant Goliath with the flaming grin. His deep voice called out, sending shivers down Marlya's spine.
"There you are 0119." Ice surged through her veins, "You can never hide from me."
His grin split his face, as the giant hand reached forward grasping Marlya by the back of her neck, dragging her out of her hiding place. She started kicking and screaming, trying to claw her way out of his grasp. But to no avail, she was trapped.
Marlya's eyes flung open as her scream echoed around the room, she sat upright and flick her eyes around the room in pure fear.
The white room. She was in the white room again, her fear increased tenfold. Her eyes darted frantically down, realising she was in her human form, she tried to shift out. Into anything that was willing to come to the surface, but nothing came. She tried using her other quirk, but that didn't come to the surface either.
The monitors were screaming beside her, Marlya didn't understand where she was, what was happening. The white room never had the monitors, but that truly didn't matter. She needed to get out, to get away from the room before he returned to hurt her again.
Marlya tried to reach for the needles in her arm, all she could hear was the blood pumping in her ears, but her arm stopped in the reach. Her wide, bloodshot eyes look at the offending thing that was restraining her reach. Just a pair of plain old cuffs beneath the obsidian bracers, then all she did was focus on pulling away. Her muscles straining with exertion, the metal in the bed groaned beneath her.
The metal of the cuff bit into her already scarred wrist, fresh blood dripping down onto the pristine sheets of her bed. But she continued to pull and pull, until something gave way, be it either her wrist, the cuffs or the bed.
The metal groaned as one of the links in the cuff separated and broke. She didn't hesitate, still wide eyed Marlya immediately started yanking at the other cuff on her left wrist. This time the cuff did bite into her wrist since she was pulling on the chain itself. It soon gave way, much quicker than the cuff on her other wrist.
As soon as Marlya was free of the cuffs, she ten went to clawing out the IV's that were in her arms, taking everything off the kept her restricted to the bed.
Throwing off the sheet that covered her, she found that she was in a hospital gown, her shifter garments were still on beneath. She fell off the bed, sprawling on the ground. Her limbs felt heavy, like she had t used them for an extended period of time. It was eerily the same as when she would waken in the white room, but the only difference was, her skin didn't feel like it was on fire. Nor her bones wanting to shatter into a million pieces or her muscles wanting to split and fall from her body.
Wide eyed and terrified, she stood up on her shaky legs, her ears flicked trying to listen in to anything beyond the room but the whine of the machines, absolutely blaring and deafening.
Her panic increased tenfold again, moving as quickly as she could for the door. Jiggling the handle, trying to open it, only to find it was locked.
Marlya brandished her claws, dragging her nails down the door frame. Her strengthened claws didn't break when she pushed with all her strength into the frame where the latch went into. Just trying to figure a way out.
Frustration led to even more desperation. Marlya decided then to bash the door down with her tiny body, even though her short stature she was heavy because of her muscle mass.
Once, she bashed into the door. It rattled.
Twice, the door creaked.
Three times, well. They say third times the charm, as she bashed into the door, her body flew through it. The bits of wood shattering around her.
Marlya pushed herself up off the floor, looking to the right down the hall, then to the left.
Her mauve eyes connected with that of a terrified nurse, the woman stood there clutching a board looking at her with equally wide eyes.
Marlya launched herself in the other direction, to her right, away from the nurse.
"Wait!" The nurse called out, but to no avail she didn't make the girl stop.
Marlya just kept running, down the turning and twisting hallways, avoiding people. Running up staircases.
Until she burst through a door to the roof, well not the roof exactly it was a balcony of sorts that had a flower garden. The fresh air invaded Marlya senses, oddly calming her down. It wasn't restrictive, but it wasn't entirely freeing. All she wanted to do was sprout her wings and take off into the sky.
She knew she wouldn't be able to, nothing was coming forth to her, none of her forms. Her tail lashed in her distress.
Marlya then walked robotically to the edge of the building, pulling herself up onto the railing. Her tail swaying at keeping her balance on the precarious footing. Her mind was in pure chaos, not being able to use her quirks at all, the bleeding on her wrist hadn't stopped. She was feeling beyond light headed, everything didn't make sense. The stars had moved, she was in an odd building, it had a white room.
She just wanted to…fly.
"Matte!" A serene voice called out to Marlya,
That voice, it stopped Marlya from leaning forward just that bit further. It sparked just a few old memories that weren't tainted, the softness of that woman's voice, the concern. It broke a dam in her mind.
"Okaa…san..?" Marlya's voice wobbled as she turned, looking to the person that called out to her.
Her tail was trembling against her legs, ears pinned against the top of her head in sadness. Tears were already cascading down her face, her dull mauve eyes connected with soft grey ones.
Marlya dropped gently on the ground, her knees bent slightly, tail resting on the ground behind her.
The woman in front of her definitely wasn't her mother, but the kind feeling coming from her was exactly like her mothers. She felt safe, for the first time in nearly a decade, she felt safe.
"Are you okay little one?" The white haired woman reach out with her soft hands towards the child.
Marlya didn't answer but she wept silently as she padded towards the woman, staggering into the woman. She the wept loudly, holding onto her tightly.
"Hey..hey little one," the woman cooed gently, immediately holding the crying teen in her arms.
She carded her fingers through the long black hair on Marlya's head, carefully avoiding the ears the were atop. Using her other hand she pulled the child's chin up gently to look at her, "My names Todoroki Rei. What's yours?" Rei made sure her voice was gentle as she could make it, not wanting to make the child more scared than what she seemed.
"I… I… I d-don't k-k-know anymo-ooore." Marlya cried, her mind still in utter chaos at who she was, is or will be. She was hiccuping more as she took in some breathes whilst looking at Rei.
"M-my M-master called me 0119 o-or Kemono… b-but then t-the hero… h-he called m-me Marlya…"
Rei couldn't help but freeze when the scarred girl talked about a 'Master', but then further again when the child said she was called a number or a Beast. But again the name Marlya seemed familiar to the white haired woman, her mind couldn't help but think back to years ago when she was watching the news. How the CEO of Shiikage Hero Support, Hiroshi Shiikage was found murdered brutally in his home, his wife Mariko and daughter Marlya, were still missing to this day. She remembered how Enji came home angrier than ever, SHS was one of his main support gear makers for his agency.
She looked down at the small girl again, her eyes were still filled with tears.
"I think I'll go with what the hero said hmm?" Rei smiled softly at Marlya, fingers still carding through her hair, "I think Marlya is a very pretty name."
At that Marlya's lips twitched up slightly in a watery smile. Burying her head again into Rei's midsection, Marlya's tail wagging slightly in the happiness that Rei brought her.
"Why don't you come and sit with me in the garden Marlya-chan?" Rei said softly whilst she pulled Marlya gently away from her to an arms length, then putting an arm around the back of Marlya's neck to direct her.
But at the moment of feeling a hand brushing against the back of her neck, Marlya froze, eyes wide with terror. As her mind snapped back to how her Master would grip the back of her neck tightly when she was misbehaving, her claws dug into the palms of her hands and she held her breathe.
Rei saw the reaction immediately, lowering her hand down to Marlya's back. She bent down, looking at Marlya's face in worry.
"Marlya?" Rei asked gently,
At the sound of Rei's voice, Marlya knew it wasn't her Master, but she couldn't help the reaction she had to the sensation of a hand on her neck. Even if it was so brief.
"I'm sorry Rei-san.." Marlya said, the fear and sadness in her voice caused it to shake, "Yes, I would like to come sit with you if that's okay."
She passed the event immediately, not wanting to even acknowledge what had happened. Marlya didn't want to seem so weak and frail like her Master always said she was.
Rei merely nodded, understanding the child more than she would've liked. She had summarised that Marlya had been through some severely traumatising things.
With her hand in a new position she led Marlya to the bench she had been sitting on previously when she witnessed Marlya bursting out onto the terrace. Watching Marlya seat herself on the bench, with her legs kicking slightly since they didn't touch the ground. Rei seated herself beside the small girl.
Rei couldn't help a pang of sadness in her heart when she saw the girl looking up at her. She may not have known who this child was, nor had a connection to her in any way. But the instincts as a mother, lead her to wanting to console and help the child as best she could.
"Now little one," Rei began slowly, pulling Marlya to her side, again carding her fingers through the black locks upon her head, "What brought you up here in such a daze?" Referring to her almost deadly leap off the terraces railing.
Marlya's gaze hardened slightly, the horrors of the white room with her Master playing in her mind. Rei could see the turmoil the question brought in the eyes of Marlya, her heart clenched at the thought.
"I woke up in The White Room…" Marlya started slowly, her eyes scrunched up in thought, eyebrows knitting together. Her scarred skin across her eye pulled. "A white room…. I don't know!" Her eyes trembled, wide in fear. Bloodied clawed hands immediately went up to her head, her nails digging in.
Rei's hand froze, immediately reaching for the small girls scarred hands and tried to pull them away. But the girls strength was immense, even with the bracers she recognised as quirk nullifying cuffs, she couldn't pull the girls hands away.
"Marlya!" Rei called worried, "Marlya! You must stop this." Rei's cool grip on Marlya's arms hardened more, Rei was slightly panicking at how badly Marlya was affected.
There was only one thing she could do. And that was call a nurse.
"Marlya stay here." Rei said quickly, "I'm going to call for someone. Please, please don't move."
Although Marlya was practically catatonic, Rei believed she wouldn't move.
The white haired woman stood up from Marlya, turning towards the door where a call button was on the inside of it. She opened the door, immediately pressing the button then waited for someone to respond on the other end.
"Please, I need a nurse up at the 10th floor terrace, where the garden is. I think one of your patients Marlya? She's having a breakdown, and has hurt herself." Rei said quickly to the person on the other end.
"Marlya? Scarred, short, black hair, white ears and tail?" The nurse responded,
"Yes yes, that's her." Rei confirmed,
"Okay, Ma'am? I need you to stay away from the patient, she escaped from a locked room and cuffs. She was recovered on a hero raid three days ago, we don't know how volatile or dangerous she is. A team is on the way up right now." The nurse on the other end informed Rei,
"Stay away? She's just a child, I can't just stay away?!" Rei raised her voice, "She was about to throw herself off the building when she got up here! She's traumatised."
"Ma'am, I understand that you want to help her, but we cannot risk your safety." The nurse pleaded.
At that moment Rei could hear multiple feet slapping against the floor, a swarm of nurses, a couple of police and a scraggly man came around the corner from the staircase. She just about froze at seeing how many people came up, she assumed, in response to Marlya and how quickly as well.
"Mrs Todoroki? Are you the one that called about Marlya?" One of male nurses asked,
Rei nodded, "Yes, she's just out the on the bench." She lifted a hand, pointing out the door, "She's practically catatonic, she said she woke up in a white room? No she worded it differently, The White Room. She's really hurt as well, her wrist is bleeding badly and she's clawed her scalp after talking about the room." Rei's eyes filled with tears, she truly couldn't imagine the extent of this child's torture. If the scars were anything to go by, it terrified her. She lifted a hand to her mouth to stop any whimpers.
"Please stay here Mrs Todoroki. We don't want to risk you getting hurt at all. Please just head back to your room Mrs Todoroki." The nurse said as he turned to move out the door.
The rest of the group followed after him, only the hero stopped next to her, drawing her gaze.
"Oh Eraserhead, it's you." Rei said,
"Mmm." He merely grunted, "Thank you for helping Marlya. I heard she tried to jump off the building?"
"Oh that's quite alright, yes. She just burst out onto the terrace in panic, saw the open sky and climbed up on the railing. I called out to her and she called me 'okaa-san'. I know I'm not her mother, but I couldn't just sit by and watch the child do that." Rei turned to look out the doors, at the nurses walking slowly towards Marlya who was still wide eyed with her claws dug into her head. Blood was now pouring down her face. Rei's tears dripped down her face at the sight of Marlya.
"I think she may have wanted to fly, without the cuffs she would've been able to sprout her wings. It's the most logical thing I can think of." Eraserhead surmised, he then looked at Todoroki, but she was looking outside. He followed her line of sight.
His tired eyes widened at seeing Marlya sitting there, covered in her own blood, again.
He immediately made his way outside, just to hear Marlya crying and begging.
"No! No!" She shrieked, "I don't wanna go back in there!"
The nurses that were trying to calm her down were failing miserably, they already had tried to give her medication that should've knocked her out. But it wasn't even calming her down, let alone knocking her unconscious.
"Marlya, you need to go back into the hospital bed okay?" One of the nurses tried to reason,
"NO!" She cried again, "The White Room always hurts, I always get hurt. I don't want to go back in there! Please! NO!"
She was resisting hard, and most of the nurses were unable to overpower her. Even the male nurses who were significantly stronger, the couldn't get the small girl to move because of her sheer strength. Each time the bigger males got closer, she would become more desperate in trying to get away from them, in of the ones behind her finally got her arms locked behind her.
Marlya's eyes became even more fearful than before, but something else caught Eraserhead eye, her limbus rings were flickering.
That's impossible, he thought to himself, Marlya has the quirk nullifying cuffs on!
But it did look to be possible, that the sheer power housed in her tiny body was weakening the cuffs when she was actively fighting the restraint on her quirks.
It was like an earthquake hit at that moment, the ground beneath their feet started shaking. Marlya's limbus rings were fully ignited in her wide eyes, the bracers that were on her wrists, cracking under the pressure of her power trying to force its way out.
As they shattered off of her wrists, her white wings sprung out of her back, knocking the nurse that was holding her to the ground. She turned, teeth bared, wings spread to the full span. Making her seem so much bigger than she really was.
The wounds on her wrist from breaking free of the bed she was chained to healed, as well as the ones she made on her head. Marlya lifted herself up to her full height, eyes glaring at the nurse that restrained her, her body swiftly shimmered and shifted to that of her bipedal white fox.
Her hospital garment in shreds on the ground, in her original form, she was much taller than those around her. The claws on her paws dug into the concrete beneath her, multiple tails swished through the air behind her, a snarl permanently upon her vulpine face. Marlya's iridescent lilac Limbus rings thrummed with energy.
It stopped all at once though, eerily familiar to her how she was saved. Her small human body, clad in only her shifter garments, started shaking as she looked around again in fear, her scared eyes locked with Eraserhead.
She vaguely recognised him, she calmed slightly, only slightly before the nurses moved in to her again.
"NO!" She screamed, "Don't come near me!"
Marlya's tail lashed with the fur fluffed out, her ears pinned to the top of her head, as she glared fearfully around her. Baring her teeth at any of the larger nurses making their way towards her.
"Stop surrounding her!" Eraserhead called out, the nurses immediately stilling at the hero's command, "What you lot are doing is completely illogical and irrelevant to the situation! You're cornering her! Just back away from her. Now!"
His eyes were straining holding his quirk on her for so long, but he needed to. Since she broke the bracers that were on her in the first place.
It was then a soft voice called out from behind Eraserhead.
"Can I try something Eraserhead?" Rei asked him, but she truly didn't wait for an answer. She wanted to help Marlya in the only way she knows, as a mother.
Taking a few steps in front of him, towards Marlya, ending up in front of the circle of nurses.
"Mar-chan?" She called gently, squatting down so she was smaller in Marlya's eyes, "Little One?"
Rei was only a little scared, but she swallowed that fear in hopes of helping the terrified child in front of her.
Marlya turned to look at Rei, her eyes settled on the soft grey ones. The feeling of safety washed over her once more, she ignored the nurses that were behind her and stumbled towards the crouching Rei. Tears started running down her face once again as she reached the kind, older woman.
Rei's arms opened in welcome of Marlya making her way over to her. Said girl all but collapsed into the waiting arms, howling in anguish. She was overwhelmed by all these emotions, she hated feeling like this. She hadn't cried this much since she was a lot younger, she had steeled herself against her Master's torture and his prodigy's punishments.
Marlya's arms draped across Rei's shoulders, holding on tightly, but not too hard. She was aware how strong she was, Marlya did not want to hurt Rei at all.
She wept loudly and unbridled, years worth of pent up emotions all being released now.
"It's okay now little one." Rei cooed, rubbing soothing circles on her back with one hand, the other combing the knots out from the dried blood. Marlya didn't even flinch whenever Rei snagged a knot, she'd just revel in Rei's embrace.
Eraserhead blinked, he no longer could keep his eyes open, they were already severely burning from the length he kept them open for. He watched Marlya weep in Todoroki's arms, his heart clenched at the thought of her not having a warm embrace for nearly a decade.
Questioning could be done later, she was too raw from the time she had spent being captured. But another problem posed, if she couldn't handle being in the hospital because it reminded her too much of being in her Masters clutches.. what could they do?
Eraserhead had many things running through his head, on ways he could help Marlya.
"We could bring her to my room for now? It's not entirely white." Rei put out there,
The nurses turned to look at Eraserhead, as if to check that it was a good idea.
His head nodded, this would give him some time to organise something for Marlya. He would have to send a text to his two friends that will help too.
He followed closely behind Rei, who was still holding Marlya to her side, directing her the way to the formers room. The horde of nurses trailing behind them all, the police duo already left after Eraserhead took control of the situation, all discussing amongst themselves, what could have possibly happened to the small child in front of them.
As they group reached Rei Todoroki's room, Eraserhead could see Marlya tense up in apprehension about going into the room. Rei squeezed her shoulder gently, opening the door in front of her to reveal the room that she herself has spent the past few years in.
The room itself was very open and not entirely white. The curtains on the far side of the room by the single bed had light blue curtains. The bed was against a wall that was segmenting off the little kitchenette there was tucked away.
It was fairly homey to Marlya, it was just different enough so that she could relax.
Immediately to the left of the door was a couch which was across from the bed, there was also a small table and a chair between the couch and bed.
One of the nurses stepped up beside Marlya, "Can you please sit for us? We need to inspect your wounds."
Marlya looked to Rei, who nodded to her and lifted an hand gesturing to the couch. She left Rei's side and sat on the couch, eyes reddened from crying so much, widening slightly when she was away from Rei.
The young nurse approached slowly, Marlya knew they were just being cautious of her and since the quirk nullifying cuffs broke, Eraserhead's gaze was on her out the corner of his eyes.
She sat as still as she could when she felt the soft hands of the nurse on hers, they turned her palms over, seeing that the crescent holes made from her claws earlier were gone. Fresh light pink skin covered her palms, with a few silvery scars adorning her fingers and knuckles.
The nurses hands travelled up Marlya's right hand to look at where she would've been cut from the cuffs earlier. Her old scars were there, but the new cut was no where to be seen. The nurse checked her other wrist, just in case she looked at the wrong wrist. But there was nothing wrong there bar the scars that already covered them.
Marlya was watching the young nurse look at her hands and wrists, she could easily tell the nurse why there wasn't any wounds, but she was enjoying the soft touch and wasn't going to end that sooner than needed.
The nurses eyes looked up to hers, then just above where dried blood stopped from the cuts she had made from when she held onto her head. Fingers went gently pushing her hair aside, but to no avail could the nurse find any wounds.
Marlya's eyes were closed as she enjoyed the touch on her head, her ears twitched slightly in bliss, her tail held stiff lifting off of the couch it was resting on. She had a small content smile upon her face as well.
The nurse frowned slightly at the lack of wounds, she started wondering what happened.
"Marlya, can your quirk heal you?" The nurse asked the closed eyed girl,
"Mmm." Marlya hummed, opening her eyes, they were glittering with joy, "My second quirk, my Master called it Matter Manipulation. It keeps me healed when it hasn't been interfered with."
"Really?" The nurse was the confused, as to why the girl was covered in many various scars,
"You're wondering why I'm covered in scars aren't you?" Marlya's head tilted, she could see the confusion written on the nurses face, as well as those that had stayed from the walk.
Marlya let a sigh out, her eyes turned to the window.
"It's from when my Master kept putting quirks in me." Her eyes flashed in a micro second of anger, before turning glassy as she remembered, "He said, that because of my second quirk, it wouldn't matter how many quirks he forced into my body, my quirk would repair my quirk factor. Making sure to house the quirks he put in me. He kept to similars to my first one, all animal based. Each form of mine, came from someone he killed. I have over two hundred quirks housed in my body." She faintly remembered her mother's tortured face, telling her everything would be okay. "The first quirk he gave me… was my mothers… her wolf form is my preferred form."
Tears silently fell, she looked down to her hands, clenching them, "Every time a quirk was put into my body, my healing only kept me from dying. Once my quirk has participated in healing wounds, they can never be healed unless it's healed naturally or all in one go from my quirk. Hence the scars, it's from the early years, from my training, my punishments, my own…stupidity." Her nails had dug into her palm when she clenched her fists.
The nurse gently laid her hands on Marlya's, in turn pulling the girls eyes up to the nurses. The nurses eyes turned down to watch the wounds close underneath the welling blood.
"Are you able to heal others?" The nurse questioned, Marlya wasn't expecting this question, she was expecting more about what happened,
"Yes I am able to. But same drawbacks, I'm unable to do sessions of healing on one thing, it has to be all in one go or not at all." Marlya nodded her head, another small smile gracing her face.
All whilst this was happening, with Eraserhead's eye casting back to Marlya occasionally, he was texting his two friends, Nemuri and Hizashi. Asking to go to his house, clean up his spare room and bring necessities for a young female to have. They agreed with him, that bringing Marlya home, that he could keep a better eye on her and erase her quirk if necessary.
As the nurse was finishing up with Marlya, he walked up to the nurse, "Can I speak to you in the hall?" The nurse glanced back to Marlya, he sighed, "Todoroki-san can you keep Marlya company?"
"Uhn!" Rei nodded, taking the seat next to Marlya, "Of course I can."
With nod to the woman, he turned back to the nurse and gestured to the door, following after she moved.
"Will it be possible to discharge her into my care for now? Obviously I can't be at the hospital whenever she has a break. It will be easier on everyone if she will be able to." He asked her, explaining the reasoning,
"It would be possible, but you would have to bring her in every couple of days for checks. And a weekly appointment with a child psychologist." The nurse informs Eraserhead, "We also need to check for any living relatives, but you should be able to sign for temporary guardianship until that happens."
Eraserhead nodded along, "You won't need to worry about the aftercare, I'll take her to see Recovery Girl at UA. Plus we have a councillor there, Hound Dog or if she prefers, Midnight is also there."
The nurses eyes widen a fraction, kicking herself mentally for forgetting that Eraserhead was a teacher at UA.
"Yes that will be all fine then!" She agrees with a smile, "Just make sure that Recovery Girl forward the information to us."
Eraserhead nods, "Will you be able to get her release papers drawn up shortly?"
"Of course, I'll just get the attending to come check on her and then you'll be able to take her home."
Home. He thought to himself, Hopefully Hizashi and Kayama will have enough time to organise my spare room. He raised his hand, pinching the bridge of his nose, This is exhausting. Wish I could have a nap right now but I've got to wait for the release papers and the guardianship papers.
With a sigh he turned from the hall, back into Todoroki Rei's room. As he entered his eyes immediately found Marlya. Who was curled up on the couch with her head in Rei's lap, her eyes were closed, a small smile upon her face and tail lightly wagging against the couch.
The reason for her content was that Rei was combing through Marlya's long hair with her fingers, the soothing touch doing wonders for her, again his heart clenched at the sight.
Nearly ten years, Marlya had gone without a friendly or loving touch. Eraserhead surmised to himself, and from what she said earlier, she witnessed her mother's death.
He thought back to when she first got up on the roof behind him, when he first saw her.
No wonder her wolf form reminded me of Mariko's, it is Mariko's form after all. The only difference being that Marlya's fur is white not black.
He stood by the door, leaning on the wall, watching Rei comb Marlya's hair. Time passed reasonably quickly and soon the attending Doctor came in, announced with a knock on the door.
"Sorry to intrude Todoroki-san, I'm just here to see if Marlya is ready to get out of the hospital." A man with short, mousey brown hair and spectacles walked in with a smile upon his face,
Rei looked up from the dozing Marlya to the doctor, "That's all alright, she's right here."
She only stopped combing when the doctor made his way over to the couch where they were sitting. Marlya's eyes cracked open slightly, trying to investigate why Rei had stopped combing her hair, she was beyond bliss and hadn't been listening at all to anything besides Rei's steady heartbeat.
Marlya's tail had stopped wagging when she saw the white coat in front of her, the scent from the man was that of someone who was extremely clean. It practically burnt her nose with how strong the smell was.
She sat up and glared at the offender, her hand going up over her nose to try and stop the offending scent from entering her nose again.
"Hello there Marlya!" His too cheerful voice graced her ears, "Now I am here to make sure you are all good to leave the hospital!"
Her glare didn't let up, she just nodded her head.
"Now first of all, just need to double check your hands and wrist, make sure the wounds from earlier are truly gone." His happy voice was now grating on Marlya, and it's only been ten seconds.
She breathed deeply before lowering her hand, she truly didn't want to smell that horrendous scent again, Marlya held her hands out for inspection.
The doctors feather light touch danced across her skin, checking what the nurse did earlier. His touch only stuttered as they crossed her scars.
"How did you get these scars on your wrist Marlya?" His voice had darkened, she could practically feel the anger in his words,
"They're from when my Master shackled me when I didn't want to be. I did this to myself." She spoke quickly, not wanting to use up her lungful of air.
The doctor couldn't help but drop his happy smile, he knew that she was tortured, he knew that she had a lot of scars. But the emotionless way she blamed herself for these ones? It shook him.
"You mean you tried to escape the cuffs this 'Master' put on you?" He asked,
Marlya just nodded instead of answering.
"So he put these cuffs on you, a minor, I'm guessing you're about 13 or 14? And from what I've heard, you say these scars happened in the first few years of your abduction? So you would have been between the age of 5 and 9?" His voice had hardened, "You. A child? Are to blame because you didn't want to be cuffed?"
Marlya tilted her head at the man, it was simple in her mind. She misbehaved, disobeyed, trying to escape when she was told not to. These wounds are her fault…aren't they?
The confusion on her face spoke volumes to the adults in the room.
"This is going to take a while to hash out." Eraserhead sighed, "I'll make sure Midnight can talk to her tonight, or Present Mic. We will see who she takes to more."
The doctor turned his head to the hero, only a solemn nod then shared between them.
"Well other than the obvious psychological trauma, she's fine physically." The doctor stood, a shaky smile back on his face, voice a bit more chipper than it was when Marlya lifted the curtain only a tiny bit, "I just need you to sign these guardianship papers I brought with me, I'll forward them to the precinct so they know that Marlya is under your care now due to the trauma of being in hospital rooms."
Eraserhead walked over to the man, grasping the offered board with the papers attached. He read through it quickly, just making sure there isn't any nasties.
He signed moments later, handing the clipboard back to the doctor. His gaze turned back to Marlya, who was just now starting to turn slightly blue. He had to do a double take, she was holding her breath. How long had she been holding your breath.
"Marlya." He asked, "Why are you holding your breath?"
Marlya's eyes widened, she had been caught. Turning to Rei beside her, she buried her head into the older woman's shoulder, letting out the breath she held for the past 5 minutes she breathed in the scent of Rei's shampoo.
"The doctors scent burnt my nose." She mumbled into Rei's shoulder,
"What?" Eraserhead didn't hear the muffled words at all,
Rei answered instead, "Apparently the doctors scent burned her nose?"
"Ah shit.. I forgot that you had a heightened sense of smell. Jeez you're exactly like your Mother kid." Eraserhead sighed heavily, heart aching at the fact his best friends daughter was here without them,
Marlya's ears had pricked up, swivelling onto Eraserhead, "You knew my Mother?" Her head tilted at the question,
"Yes. Well I met your Mother through your Father, Hiroshi. He was one of my best friends back in high school and beyond." Eraserhead sighed, "I got to hold you after you were born, as did Hizashi and Nemuri." He turned to look at the girl, she would be 14 soon. October 30th. That's in a few months. "Marlya?"
"Yes hero-san?" Marlya replied,
Eraserhead s eyes widened, as he realised, Marlya doesn't know or remember his name.
"First of all, my name is not hero-san." He had fully turned to the teen, "My hero name is Eraserhead and my civilian name, which you will call me instead, is Aizawa Shota." His tired eyes watched Marlya's, she nodded into response, "Now back to my original question. Do you know how old you are?"
"Yes!" She said excitedly, her tail thumping the couch, "Well not exactly. But I know I'm turning 14 this year."
She thought back to during her capture, Kurogiri would give her a slice of cake and tell her happy birthday, but she never remembered the dates or what day, her mind was already a mess.
"Kurogiri would give me a slice of cake on a certain day, sometimes I wouldn't get missions on that day. But also Ra-kun would somethings torture me for the sake of it as well." She continued, looking up to the roof remembering, her hand idly fingering the scar on her throat. "Master enjoyed me too much for Ra-kun's liking, he got jealous of me very quickly. I also learnt quickly not to give him my screams or tears, he got bored a lot quicker that way."
The teen sitting there recounting the memories to the adults in the room, who's jaws were dropped at her casual remarks about being tortured. Marlya then looked to Aizawa, her eyes narrowed slightly,
"You would know my birthday right?" She asked quickly, her mind skipping past the trauma she just talked about, "I mean you held me when I was born apparently."
"Yes I know your birthday." Aizawa replied, "Would you like to know the date? It's not that far away."
Marlya couldn't help but feel a little sceptical of the man that apparently held her when she was born, she couldn't remember him but to be fair she barely remembers anything from before. Marlya remembered Adahya, Izu-chan and Kacchan. Everything else is just, static. She barely remembered her own mother and that memory was of her dying. Marlya knew she had a father, but for the life of her, she couldn't remembered what he looked like at all. Only what he smelt like.
She lowered her head for a moment, trying to hide the emotional conflict she was having internally. Aizawa's scent didn't indicate he was lying at all and scent never lies as far as she was aware.
Looking back up, Marlya nodded her head at the man.
"It's October 30th." Aizawa informed her, "Your mother really wanted you on the 31st, because her best friend was American and she thought it would've been funny to dress up for your birth." He looked down to the ground and smiled slightly, remembering the antics Hiroshi had to go through when her water broke early that morning on the 30th, "Your father though, he just said you'll come when your ready. Not when your mother desires."
Aizawa walked over to the couch, going to sit beside Marlya, her tails shifted to give him room so he wouldn't squish her tails.
"I remember that morning as clear as day Marlya." He said leaning back against the couch, head resting on the back, looking up towards the ceiling. "Your father called me at 2 o'clock in the morning, I was in the middle of a patrol when this happened…"
It was a cold night that night when Aizawa finally pulled himself out of his warm home, away from the kittens he had rescued earlier that day, snow had just finished falling earlier that day and night sky was clear.
What atrocious weather, he thought to himself.
He was currently sitting on top of a residential building, with his yellow sleeping bag unzipped and draped across his shoulders. Aizawa sighed heavily, watching his breath mist in the cool air before him.
At that moment his ring tone pierced the quiet night, he fumbled slightly with cold hands grabbing it but answered it immediately without look at the screen.
"Yes?" His voice sounded extremely tired,
"Shota?!" Hiroshi's voice wailed on the other end, "Mariko's water just broke." The sheer panic in his voice almost caused the Erasure Hero to laugh,
"Hiro, you need to calm down." Aizawa deadpanned, "Have you called an ambulance?"
"Ahhh aha…" Hiro stumbled over his words, "No?"
"And you're supposed to be the smart one…" he pinched the bridge of his nose, "Hang up and call the ambulance."
"Sho, you wound me." Hiro cried, "I'm gonna call them on Mariko's phone."
Aizawa just hummed, listening to his best friend call the ambulance, still sounding like the worrying and doting husband he is.
"Okay." Hiro took a deep breath, "Okay, they'll be here in ten minutes. Hey Sho?"
"Yeah..?"
"Will you meet us at the hospital? If that's possible, I know you're on patrol. But I would love to have your support there." Hiro asked sincerely,
As if he could refuse that, he would try his damndest to be there for his friend.
"I'll see what I can do Hiro," He sighed, "I'll text you if I can."
"Thank you so much Sho, I really hope to see you ther- YEAH?" Aizawa could here Mariko's muffled yelling through the phone, "OKAY, ILL PUT IT IN THE BAG TOO. DO YOU NEED ANYTHING ELSE?"
"Sorry Sho, I gotta go now." Hiro laughed, "We had a hospital bag together but Mariko wants to bring more things just in case. I'll talk to you when I see you."
"That's fine, you do what you gotta." Aizawa easily said, "I'll see you soon."
Hiro knew he wouldn't miss this for the world, especially if he was being honest with himself, he was over the moon with happiness even though he didn't say it or show it. Hiro knew. Being the first of the friend group to have begun a family, Hiro knew his best friends wouldn't miss this, they were all so excited for his and Mariko's baby to finally be here. To spoil the child as much as they could with their busy lives.
Aizawa slid his phone back into one of his pockets after messaging and confirming that someone could take over his shift ("Tell them congratulations for me."), slipping the sleeping bag off of his shoulders and rolling up it up to store it as well.
He already knew which hospital they would be taken too and made his way back down to street level, hailing a wayward late night taxi and heading straight there.
Grabbing his phone back out, it had been twenty minutes since he hung up. It would be another twenty to thirty minutes before he gets to the hospital. He would message Hiro when he reached the hospital.
Savouring the heat of the cab, he decided to have a nap on the way there. Asking the driver to wake him when they got there, was easily agreed to, mainly because the driver knew this man was a pro hero.
"Wait, you slept on the way to meet me?" Marlya interrupted, snuggling into Rei's side who was also listening to the story intently,
"Yes, I work at a school during the day and patrol at night. I get sleep wherever I can." Aizawa sighed, "Don't interrupt."
Marlya mimed sealing her lips whilst looking at him, her ears twitching slightly in amusement.
"When I got there…"
"Sir?" The cab driver called, turning around in the seat, "Sir, we are at the hospital."
Aizawa stirred, clawing his was back to wakefulness. The cab was really toasty.
"Thank you." Aizawa groaned as he sat upright, "How much do I owe you?"
"Don't worry about it, it's on the house." The driver said with a sincere smile,
"That's very appreciated, thank you." Aizawa moved to get out, "You have a goodnight, stay safe."
"You too Sir." The driver responded with a nod.
At that Aizawa climbed out of the vehicle, onto the snowy foot path in front of the hospital. He now grabbed his phone out as he walked into the warm lobby. Tapping the messaging app open he texted Hiroshi.
What room?– sent
He waited, five minutes later he received.
119 South Maternity Ward. C u soon!
Aizawa walked up to the reception desk, asking for directions to the room that Mariko and Hiroshi were in.
He made his way as quickly as he could to the room, heading to take the sole elevator for the wing he used the stairs instead. Leaping up on the interior of the stairwell, Aizawa made his way to the correct floor.
When he got to the room he slowed to a stop, lifting his hand to knock but was instead greeted with Hiroshi's face. That looked excited yet completely and utterly terrified.
"Mariko scented you." Hiro offered with a smirk, grasping his friend by the shoulder giving a small shake,
"Of course she did." Aizawa deadpanned, returning the grasp,
"Thank you though, for being here with us." Hiro stood straighter, "It means so much to the both of us to have you here"
Aizawa nodded to his friend, opening his mouth only to be immediately interrupted.
"Please for the love of god!" Mariko moaned from the bed, "Would you close that door?! The smell of this hospital is driving me insane!"
Aizawa looked to his friend, to see that he had a sheepish smile on his face.
"Come, we already got a chair for you prepared." Hiro stepped to the side, allowing Aizawa to walk in.
The first thing he saw was Mariko pacing around the hospital bed, with a hand on her lower back, her other was holding a green whistle looking thing in it. Dressed in hospital robes and sweat dripping down her face from the contractions, she looked like she was ready to kill.
Hiro closed the door behind Aizawa, shuffling a towel across the bottom, to keep the smell out as much as possible.
"You are very much like your mother you know Marlya?" Aizawa interrupted himself this time, he looked down at the child next to him, "The scent of sanitisation and what not burnt her nose too, caused her to hate hospitals."
He chuckled, remembering how much Mariko's sense of smell went through the roof during her pregnancy with Marlya.
"Anyways, there she was, pacing back and forth, back and forth. I was….."
Surprised to see that Mariko hadn't work a path into the floor of the room. Her pacing was increasing as the labour continued, her tail was lashing in frustration and anger at it taking so long. It had been two hours since she had arrived. About an hour since he himself had arrived.
"You know what makes me even more pissed off?!" She called out to the room, "The fact I couldn't shift at all for these nine months! All this pent up everything and I can't even run it off!" She inhaled sharply on the whistle, grimacing through a contraction.
Aizawa and Hiro were both sitting on chairs beside each other, just watching Mariko and listening to her venting about anything and everything.
"Do you know how many arguments we have had over who the godparents would be?!" Mariko was exasperated, "Do you know how much we had to search on the internet, to see if we could have more than one godparent?!"
She threw her hands up in the air with frustration, "I'm so done with this pregnancy, I'm so glad you're coming out today and not tomorrow baby." Her hands came down and lovingly rubbed the globe of a tummy she had.
Aizawa watched with fondness, he loved Hiro and Mariko like siblings, he was beyond happy for them and he felt extremely blessed to be a part of this moment with them. He was saddened that Hizashi and Kayama weren't able to make it due to them not answering their phones.
This continued for some more time, Mariko eventually retreated to the bed as her contractions were getting closer and closer together. There was a nurse in the room monitoring her now at all times, Aizawa was nervous and he couldn't imagine how nervous Hiro was.
A doctor then pardoned himself into the room, he went to the nurse, gaining the board that had everything that's been happening to Mariko on it.
"Hello there Shiikage-san, I'm Dr. Fujiwara. I'll be the doctor helping you deliver this baby today." His smooth voice explained, "Now I'm going to check your dilation. Can you tell me how far apart your contractions are?"
The doctor settled himself in front of the bed, moving blankets so he could observe her cervix with ease.
"They are about three to four minutes apart I think," Mariko breathed heavily, feel the doctors prods, "They are lasting longer as well, almost a minute."
"Well baby should be wanting to come out soon, you are dilated 9 almost 10cm's." Dr. Fujiwara stated as he stood up from the bed, "Don't start pushing until I explicitly tell you too okay? You will get the urges to but you need to listen to me." He shucked his blue gloves off, walking over to the bin and tossing them in, "We'll get the room setup now with how close baby is, let me know if the contractions get closer and or longer."
Mariko nodded at the Doctor, a grimace on her face. Dr. Fujiwara eyes watched her carefully.
"When was the last contraction?" He asked, moving to get new gloves, the nurses around him already moving double speed.
"Just…hnng…" she breathed heavily, "before…you came in."
That kicked the doctor into gear, he was moving as quickly as he could getting everything into place.
"Alright, Shiikage-san. I need you to start positioning yourself properly on the bed." As the doctor was saying this, Hiro had been dressed in some scrubs to stand by his wife. The nurses were trying to hurry a shambling Aizawa out the room. He was worried and nervous for his friend.
"You ended up being a breach birth Marlya." Aizawa said matter of factly, "That means you were trying to be born bum first."
"And that's bad?" Marlya then asked, curiosity peaking at her birth,
Rei was the one that answered this time, "Yes it is Marlya, very few births actual result in a breach. They can be very dangerous for both the baby and the mother."
"Wow." Marlya's eyes widened, "That's hectic."
Aizawa couldn't help but chuckle at Marlya's wording, the fact that that was hectic and not her decade of hell was funny to him.
At that moment the Doctor who was here before pardoned himself in, Aizawa got up to greet the man.
"Here's Marlya's discharge papers. She's all free to go now." The doctor smiled at Aizawa, "Give the hospital a call if anything comes up." He then turned to Marlya smiling, "I hope you have a good evening and life now Marlya."
She nodded from Rei's side, looking up at the doctor she returned his smash with a toothy grin.
"Now as a Doctor I hope I don't see you soon, but as a person I do hope to see you soon." He flashed another smile at the scarred teen then turned with a wave and left the room.
"Well." Aizawa ran a hand through his disheveled hair, "Looks like it's time to head home kiddo."
Marlya's eyes widened slightly, looking from Aizawa to Rei then back to Aizawa.
Rei caught onto Marlya's hesitance, "Don't worry Little One, I'll still be here." She looked down at the girl attached to her side then up to Aizawa, "If you're allowed to, I would love to have you visit me anytime."
Marlya looked up at Rei, stars in her eyes. Then flicked to Aizawa, putting the most unintentional puppy face on him. "Will I be able to Aizawa-san? Please?" She begged.
Aizawa sighed, "I'll see what I can arrange Marlya." The smile on Marlya's face was reward enough for him, for such a tortured and scarred child, he could say in this moment she was truly happy.
"Yay!" Marlya leapt from the couch, turning to Rei, "I'll see you when I can Rei-san!" Saying as she launched into Rei for a hug.
"I'm looking forward to it Little One," Rei chuckled, "Now you have a good evening okay?" She pulled away from the hug, looking down at Marlya, "I'll see you soon Marlya."
"See you soon Rei-san!" Marlya called as she pulled away from Rei, going to stand beside Aizawa.
Aizawa looked down at Marlya, knocking his elbow on the back of her head, "Thank her for her hospitality."
"Oh!" Marlya flushed, turning back to Rei and bowing, "Thank you for looking after me Rei-san and inviting me to your room!"
Rei raised a hand to her mouth to cover the giggle building up, "You are most welcome Marlya. Thank you for being you."
Marlya straightened from her bow, a full smile on her face, eyes glittering from the happiness she gained in so little time.
Aizawa thanked Rei also as he turned to leave, guiding Marlya with a hand on her back out the door. They were about to step out into the hall but she froze, scenting people down the hall. She was still only in her shifter garments, the crop top and riding shorts.
"Aizawa-san…" her voice wobbled, "Can I shift please? I don't want people seeing me human… it's incredibly uncomfortable when too many people are looking…" Marlya's voice was infinitely smaller than how it was just moments before.
Aizawa looked down at the girl, he had a feeling that she would ask this, already prepared with an answer.
"Only your Fox form." He stated, watching her face as it twitched,
Marlya weighed her options, then she nodded and proceeded to shift to her Fox form. Standing beside Aizawa, just about as tall as him, her three tails swishing around behind her lazily.
Her mauve eyes landed on Aizawa's, "Agreed." Her voice was a lot lighter in this form. The only scars that could be seen marring her furry body were the ones on her face and the nicks out of her ears.
Then they both set forth, leaving Rei's room altogether. Marlya had thrown another wave over her shoulder, saying to a final farewell to her.
Now it was time to go home.
Reviews c:
Cap Vietnam – thank you so much for reviewing! You're the first reviewer and it just makes me so happy that you enjoy my writing! I hope you enjoyed this chapter c: