A/N:
WELP apparently I'm back in the swing of things! Here we are again with another big, beautiful chapter for your reading pleasure! I already have the next few chapters outlines as well. Get ready for a lot of fun and surprises heading our way!
Now without further ado, please enjoy!
Ch 26: A Hero Like You
Dax spent the rest of the tournament laid up in the infirmary, Mei and Kyouka by her side. She had been pretty badly beaten up by the end of her last match, but Recovery Girl still assured her she'd be ready in time for the medal ceremony. She felt bad about missing out on watching Kat's final match in person, but the show on the TV was still really impressive. She had to shake her head at the end result, though. Kat really had wanted Todoroki to pull out all the stops like he had with Izuku and yet… he didn't. She wasn't quite sure why, but she did know it had to have bothered the explosive blonde.
When the time came for Dax to head out to the podium for the medal ceremony, though, she found herself conflicted. She didn't want a medal… Well, not a tied-for-bronze, anyway… She'd failed, after all. When she finally pulled out Miruko's moveset… Finally had the hero's attention, she'd flopped. Worse yet, her prosthetic had been destroyed on a public stage along with her jacket. Everyone in the country knew just how broken she was. She'd just lost any chance of ever being viewed on an equal level to other heroes.
"Uhh… Mecha are you gonna go get your Medal? Recovery Girl said you should be good to walk." Kyouka asked softly, breaking Dax from her spiraling thoughts. Mei echoed their girlfriend's urging, tugging at Dax's remaining hand with a grin. "Yeah, they called for you a couple times already. I think Present Mic is going to run out of ways to stall the crowd soon."
Dax sighed, sitting up in her bed. "What's the point? My career just ended before it even began." She held up her hand, knowing Kyouka would be ready to refute her assertion. "How willing are you to trust a hero with one arm? And even if you are, what about the general public? People want strong heroes, right? Not… not loser cripples…"
The sound of the slap echoed in the stillness of the infirmary, Dax processing the sound before the pain could even take hold as her cheek reddened with Kyouka's handprint. Mei jumped at the sound, her eyes darting back and forth between Kyouka and Dax as her crosshairs spun. After a beat of silence, Kyouka spoke, her voice a mixture of anger and pain. "Don't you dare call my girlfriend that. You've gotta be fucking kidding me, right? You of all people are suddenly declaring that having one arm means you can't be a real hero?" Kyouka glared at her partner, making Dax wish she could sink into the bed she was sitting on. "Do you not remember the story you told me before this whole tournament started? What happened to that little girl in the hospital, Dax? What happened to the girl who saw her hero fighting with a broken clavicle and useless arm? The hero who saved her and the entire hospital, Dax."
Kyouka took a breath, visibly trying to reign in her irritation as she sat down beside her love, pulling the one-armed woman into a tight embrace. "Anyone with half a brain can see how strong you are. How dedicated you are. Anyone who says anything to the contrary can deal with me."
Mei positioned herself on the opposite side of Dax, cuddling up to her and kissing her still-stinging cheek. "Me too… You've been my hero for years already, Daxie. Arm or not." She smiled wide, tucking a strand of Dax's hair back behind her ear. Her braid had come undone after the fight with Bakugo and the brunette hadn't had it in her to ask her partners to braid it for her.
Dax sat there a moment, processing. She reached up and tugged on her long hair, wishing she could toy with her braid. They were right. She was being ridiculous and spiraling. She smirked, rising to her feet and grabbing her new track jacket off the bedside table. "You're right… I guess that little girl got scared for a bit and needed to hide… But now…" She pulled the jacket from it's plastic sleeve, slipping it on and pinning the right sleeve up out of the way. "Now she's back and she's going to prove that anyone can be a hero."
"Maybe not anyone, Cyborg, but I think you've got it in the bag. Might even make top ten someday… below me, obviously." Dax looked up, lightly blushing as Bakugo stepped into the infirmary, standing at a respectable distance from Kyouka. "Now are you gonna come do this damn medal ceremony or not? I'm pissed off enough that fuckin' Icy-Hot didn't use his flames with me. I don't need people thinking I killed you or something."
Dax laughed, shaking her head only to fall silent as she tried and failed to keep Kyouka from storming up to the blonde and jabbing her finger into the center of his chest. "You may have convinced Mecha that you're not a total bastard, hothead, but I'm not so easily swayed. I haven't forgotten how you tortured my girlfriend in front of everybody and I guarantee the rest of the class hasn't either." She crossed her arms over her chest, glaring up at the man. "So just know that I'm watching you, asshole. I am not going to tell my girlfriend who she can and can't be friends with, but if you ever hurt her like that again, they won't find all the pieces of your body."
Dax shivered at the utter sincerity of her girlfriend's words and, unless she was mistaken, so did Bakugo. The man just stood there for a few moments, shame etched on his face before he shook his head, letting a shade of his typical personality show through again. "Relax, Ears… I ain't gonna do shit. Besides, she can take care of herself… Closest I came to fucking losing all day."
Dax grinned at that and put her hand on Kyouka's back, hoping to calm the woman. "Just… everyone give everyone else a little time." She kissed her love's cheek, melting away some of the purplette's anger in an instant.
Kyouka let out a sigh, hugging her girlfriend tight. "Alright, alright… I trust you. Now you two need to go or they're not gonna have anyone on the podium but Iida and Todoroki."
"Legs ditched. Said something about a family emergency." Bakugo interjected bluntly, already turning toward the door. "Now come on… If you don't get on this damn podium, then I won't either… Fuckin' Icy-Hot holding back with me…"
Dax sighed, giving each of her partners a parting kiss before following after the blonde. "You don't get to give him shit for holding back after what you tried with me, Kat. Still kinda pissed at you for that… Though I get why you did what you did. It was stupid… but also realy sweet." She blushed, smiling softly as the pair walked through the tunnel. "So thanks, but never do that again."
Kat chuckled, scratching the back of his head. "Alright, deal… Just don't call me sweet. Makes me sound soft."
"Yeah yeah…"
Dax and Kat arrived at the podium a few minutes later, taking their positions on the third and first place levels respectively. Dax hand managed to get her hair brushed to a point of looking presentable, though she still hated having it down. Soon the podium began to rise, the ceiling opening up amid a cloud of artificial smoke as the tired voice of Aizawa boomed through the stadium.
"Please give a round of applause for the medal winners in this year's freshman level competition; Bakugo Katsuki, Todoroki Shoto, and Malcor Dax. It should be noted that third place is actually shared between Malcor and Iida Tenya, but the latter unfortunately had to leave due to a family emergency. And now to present the medals, please welcome the current number one-"
Aizawa was cut off by the booming sound of a very distinctive laugh, drawing the attention of everyone in the stadium up to the roof and the silhouetted figure standing there. All Might leapt, slamming down to the ground with a thunderous crash that got lost amid the cheers and screams of the crowd.
He stepped up to the podium, each of the three medals hung on one forearm. He approached Dax first, who couldn't help but smile as their eyes met. They gave each other a small nod in acknowledgement of the secret they now shared. Dax bowed her head, accepting her medal silently as it was placed around her neck, the bronze medallion glinting in the sunlight. Then she found herself wrapped in an all-encompassing hug by the herculean hero as he spoke softly, just loud enough for her to hear.
"I know this probably didn't go exactly as you wanted it to, but don't be disheartened. In spite of the fact you didn't come in first place, you made quite the impression today. By fighting on after losing your prosthesis, you just took the first step to proving that anyone can be a hero with enough dedication and training. That is what people saw today. Not just your arm or your scars. They saw a future hero."
Dax let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding, trembling slightly as her eyes grew watery, the dam threatening to break. "Th- thank you, sir." She whispered, sniffling as he released her from his arms and moved over to Todoroki, the brunette wiping her eyes. She caught Kat glancing down at her, thinly veiled concern in his eyes. She just smiled, shaking her head a bit and putting the man at ease.
When All Might came to Bakugo, the blonde reluctantly accepted his medal, opening his mouth to argue only to be shut down by a glare from Dax, falling silent instead and nodding along to whatever it was All Might was saying to him.
When the pro finished his talk he stepped back, grinning wide. "And so we come to the end of the first-year Sports Festival! All of the challengers this year put in a good fight, but this day belongs to you three. Now before everyone starts filing out to their cars, let's all say it together-"
"PLUS ULTRA!" Came the exclamation from the crowd, drowning out whatever All Might had actually said. Even as the crowd began groaning that All Might hadn't gone with the UA school motto, Dax and the others were already heading back for the tunnels. The brunette yawned, stretching her arm over her head. It was well past time for some hard earned rest.
In a dimly lit bar sat a man with light-blue hair, his chapped lips curled into a frown as he watched the award ceremony on television. His bartender, a shadowy, gaseous man with bright, yellow eyes, was watching as well with idle interest, his misty hands busy cleaning a glass.
The intensity of the cyanette's gaze on the muted TV inspired the bartender to speak, breaking the silence in the largely vacant bar. "You seem to have something on your mind, Shigaraki Tomura. Perhaps something has caught your eye during this year's festival?"
Shigaraki nodded slowly, his finger scratching at his neck as he rewound the feed, holding on an image from a few matches prior to the end. It showed a blonde first-year, his fist raised, palm exploding as he launched a counter attack at another student, one with purple, braided hair and bulging musculature, their red eyes perfectly matching. The look on both of their faces read the same; Injure, harm, kill…
The murderous rage they shared had caught Shigaraki's eye early on in the match, with the man becoming more and more invested as the purplette had all but outright tortured the blonde to death.
Then the blonde had bounced back after the match, blasting apart another of his classmates and destroying her prosthetic before going on to beat even Endeavor's son. All in all, it was very impressive.
"I think I may have found some new members for my party, Kurogiri. We could use a new tank… and a warrior both. We'll have to keep an eye on them until we get to their recruitment missions. Hope they're not escort quests… those are the worst."
Kurogiri raised the shadowy equivalent of his eyebrow, his gaze turning from Shigaraki to the screen just in time for the picture to suddenly change, now showing the message [Sound Only] as a voice that often haunted Kurogiri's nightmares filtered out into the bar.
"Not the words I would have used, but an accurate assessment nonetheless. We should watch for an opportunity to recruit those two down the line. Something tells me they should not be terribly difficult to sway."
Shigaraki sat up slightly straighter, seeming to drink in the praise. "Glad you agree, master. Though I'm still not sure about the other guy you wanted me to bring in… What kind of name is Stain, anyway?"
Meanwhile in a brightly lit, second story living room in the Tokyo suburb of Ikebukuro, there sat a man lounging on a couch, the remote to his TV in his hand. He had been about to stand so that his movers could take the few remaining pieces of furniture when something on the screen caught his attention.
The award ceremony for the UA Sports Festival had apparently just wrapped up, according to the news station he had the TV tuned to. They were currently showing a still of the three medalists on the podium and talking about the performance of the champion, Bakugo Katsuki.
The one that had the man's attention, though, wasn't the blonde champion. Nor was it Endeavor's son, the second place medalist. It was the brunette with the bronze medal hanging from her neck, a slightly crooked nose, and the distinct lack of a right arm.
The man's eyes narrowed as he stared intently at the screen, barely listening to the newscasters. He felt his lips curl into a slight frown, his hand running through his shaggy brown hair. He couldn't get past the feeling that he'd seen the girl somewhere before… No, more than that. He knew this girl… But why? From where?
He got his answer when the news broadcast began replaying footage from the medalists' matches, beginning with third place. He recognized the fighting style she was using, and the way she kept her hair in a braid. Certainty, though, came when they showed her final match against the champion, her jacket being incinerated and prosthetic arm destroyed. The girl's torso was horribly scarred; Deep, jagged trenches of scar tissue and permanently burn-marked skin… And the clean cut where her arm just stopped.
There was no doubting it. It was her. He chuckled, the sound slightly muffled as he shook his head, making note of the name in his mind. "Malcor Dax… So that's what you go by now. Guess I really should have finished you off back in the warehouse… after I pulled myself together."
He was drawn from his thoughts by the sound of the door sliding open behind him. He stood and turned, eyeing the two new arrivals as he turned off the TV and moved toward the door. "Get the rest of this packed up. Nothing left for us in Ikebukuro. I'm going ahead to Musutafu to make sure everything is properly in place."
Both of the men nodded, already moving to unhook the television and pack up the remaining furnishings. "Yes, boss."
Before the three medalists could escape the stadium, they were hounded by a small mob of reporters all wanting to talk to the top three first-years. Though, to be honest, they were all far more interested in the top two, judging by the fact that only three out of the twenty or so reporters even bothered to speak to Dax, only one of whom was actually interested in information about her.
Leaving Kat and Todoroki to their fate, Dax gradually made her way out to the campus proper, taking a deep breath and letting out a long, weary sigh. She shook her head, taking a fleeting glance back at the mob before making her way toward the dorm. As reassured as she'd been by Kyouka's and even All Might's words, the apparent apathy of the reporters was sowing the seeds of doubt in her mind. By the time she was back at the dorm, she had fully descended back into her funk.
She went directly up to her dorm room, scrambling the lock with her quirk and shutting herself away. The second she was assured of her privacy, she snatched her prosthetic off the stand and interfaced with it, letting out a relieved sigh at the familiar added weight on her shoulder and the sensations of her metallic fingers flexing into a fist. She shot off a text to Kyouka and Mei with the excuse of being tired and crawled into bed, turning herself into a burrito in her blankets as she tried in vain to forget how her match with Kat had gone.
Despite how troubled her mind was, her body's exhaustion truly did catch up with her and soon she had drifted to sleep. For the first night since her encounter with Reina, she didn't dream. No fire. No warehouse. No pain. Just the blessed comfort of the void.
When she awoke, she also found herself alone in bed for the first time in almost as long, missing the familiar warmth and comfort of waking up beside either or both of her partners. Her shock, however, came when she discovered that, while she was alone in bed, she was not alone in the room. She had sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes just in time for her unknown guest to clear her throat, crossing her legs as she sat in Dax's desk chair.
"Well good morning, medalist Malcor Dax. Will you be moping all day today too?"
Dax let out a yelp, her head snapping over to look at the owner of the familiar voice. "N-Niko-san?" There, seated in Dax's chair with a book in her hands, was Skylar's tallest mother, Takada Niko. She had her short, blue hair combed to the side immaculately and a small pair of reading glasses balanced on the bridge of her nose. Glasses that she was presently peering over the top of to look at Dax in the way only a mother truly can.
"I see your eyes haven't failed you since you came to dinner last Saturday. Now please answer the question. Are you going to spend all day moping over being a major inspiration to millions on international television, or are you going to buck up and take pride in this medal and how hard you worked to earn it?" The cyanette raised her eyebrow as she lifted Dax's bronze medal off her desk and wiggled it in the air for a few moments.
Dax couldn't stop the huff that came from her as she swung her legs out of bed, sitting on the edge and picking at her sheets with her metallic fingers. "Bit of an exaggeration… All Might tried to tell me the same thing, but the truth is that I lost. Worse, I got my prosthetic blown off and everyone saw my scars… Nobody wants a hero as broken as I am…" She let out a sigh, shaking her head.
"And after what I found out about All Might yesterday, it's real damn rich that he tried to convince me otherwise."
Niko rolled her eyes, setting the medal back down and tucking her bookmark into place before closing the book. "You cannot seriously believe that. I talked to Jirou, you know. She and Hatsume are the ones who helped me break in here. Also that cute frog girl you've got next door, Asui. They told me about what you saw when you were in the hospital. What inspired you to become a hero and yet here you are hanging your head in self-imposed defeat."
Dax smiled weakly, letting out a wry chuckle. "Call her Tsu… And… Well, that was before. Now I- I don't know what to believe. What to do… Maybe I should transfer to support and work with Mei… She's asked me to a couple times, but I always turned her down."
Niko's eyes rolled so hard that Dax thought she could hear them. "I've already got one daughter acting all moody and trying to make rash decisions. I'm not letting you get that way too. Now get dressed. We have somewhere we need to be." Niko stood, grabbing Dax's hero costume case and tossing it on the bed while pulling a folded form from her pocket.
"Before you say you can't wear your hero costume off campus, I am aware. So I called Nezu and got this form drafted for you. Temporary license to wear the costume in public dependent on your agreement not to attempt any hero work and expiring at midnight tonight… And yes, you have to wear it."
Dax raised her hand, her mouth open to protest, but the look Niko shot her made her change her mind. She nodded, waiting for Niko to leave before begrudgingly getting changed into the dapper vest and tie suit that was her hero costume. She took a moment to adjust her tie in the mirror, braiding her hair with well-practiced speed.
When she stepped out into the hall, she was immediately greeted by a stab in the face from a tiny, angry, flying earphone jack. Dax winced, raising her mechanical arm in defense. "Oh how nice of you to rejoin the land of the living! Do you have any idea how many messages and calls you ignored from Mei and I last night? And that bullshit you pulled with your door lock, too! I was… We were really worried about you, Mecha." Kyouka's voice shifted from anger to hurt, her cheeks flushing as she pulled her girlfriend into a tight hug.
"Niko-san came around looking for you because I guess Takada is acting crazy at the hospital and she wanted you to try talking to her. When I told her what was up with you, she kind of um… took charge. Look, I know Skylar's like a sister to you, but I didn't know her mom was part of the package deal." Kyouka glanced over at the much taller woman, catching a smirk on the cyanette's lips before she quickly hid it back behind her book.
"I'm sorry, Kyouka… I just… needed time alone. Which I guess I should have just said instead of locking myself away. I'm still not 100%, but I think I'll get there eventually." Dax smiled, kissing her love's cheek and tucking the musician's hair behind her ear. She decided not to mention her temptation to transfer out of the hero course. Something told her that wouldn't go over well. And besides, she was only considering it… Depending on how the headlines ended up looking.
Niko broke the two from their moment, stepping closer and resting her hand on Dax's shoulder. "Sorry to break this up, kids, but we need to get to the hospital. Dax here has someone she needs to meet before she talks some sense into my daughter." She smiled, putting her other hand on Kyouka's shoulder. "And I have a feeling they'll both be doing a lot better by the time we get back."
Kyouka nodded, stealing a kiss from Dax before playfully shoving her toward the elevator. "You heard Niko-san. Get going, Mecha. Mei and I are taking you out for dinner tonight to celebrate and, no, you can't talk us out of it. And um…" She paused, her face flushing as she looked out the window. "I love you. See you later, baby."
Dax blushed in kind, smiling softly. "I love you too."
The ride in Niko's car to the hospital was mostly quiet. It seemed Niko wasn't one to fill every available silence with idle chatter, which presently suited Dax just fine. When they arrived, Dax was a bit confused. They'd pulled up to the correct hospital, yes, but they were outside the main entrance for the children's center. She cast a confused look back and Niko, but the woman offered no explanation.
Dax gave up on further questioning and followed Niko inside, waiting until they were in the elevator before finally asking where they were going. "Okay I get that I'm here to see Skylar, but isn't she a bit old for the children's ward?"
Niko smirked, watching the floors tick by on the little digital indicator. "Oh you're seeing someone else first. A few people, actually."
Dax blinked, looking up at Niko incredulously. "In the children's ward?"
"Yes… but more specifically-" She cut herself off, gesturing out the elevator door as it opened up on the sixth floor. "The top pediatric burn unit in the country. Fun fact, a large amount of the funding for this unit comes directly from everyone's favorite UA rodent. He's got a real soft spot for kids."
She stepped out of the elevator, dragging Dax along with her. The entire unit was so clean it was practically sparkling, the cool, sterile air filling Dax with a sense of familiarity and minor dread. She found her breath quickening just a bit as her time spent in the hospital started to resurface in her mind. Then, to her surprise, her panic vanished into thin air, replaced with a sense of serenity and calm. She looked at Niko who gave a soft smile, her normally teal eyes now a deep, royal blue. "Right… her quirk is calm… lets her make people calm and relaxed. Her eyes must be the tell for her quirk… that's pretty cool." Dax mused to herself, still feeling devoid of the majority of her emotions.
"Are you going to be okay, Dax?" Niko asked, resting her hand on Dax's undamaged shoulder. "I think this will help you, but only if you're okay to be in here."
Dax thought for a moment before nodding, feeling her emotions gradually return to her. She smiled, taking a deep breath. "Okay… okay. I'm good. Now… can you please tell me what we're doing in the peds burn unit?"
Before Niko could answer, there was a squeal of delight from behind the desk at the nurse's station. Dax jumped, looking over at the desk while Niko simply smiled, pulling her book and glasses from her purse and taking a seat to wait things out.
A short, thin nurse with long, mint green rabbit ears and matching hair stepped out from behind the desk, her nose twitching as she snatched up Dax's hand, shaking it excitedly. "Oh you're here! I'm so glad you could come. The kids have been talking about you nonstop since the end of the festival yesterday! Oh, sorry I should introduce myself. Always was bad about that. I'm Chambers Lanna. Oh, but you can just call me Lanna or Nurse Lanna. Or Lan Lan, if you ask some of the younger kids up here!"
Dax blinked, drinking in the explosion of words with well-practiced ears. She had gotten pretty used to word-splosions after years of exposure to Mei. "I um… Glad I could help? Wait, are you sure you have the right person? I'm not the champion or anything. Just third place."
"Well who cares about that meanie of a champion, silly? You're the one the kids wanted to meet. Anyway, I need to finish giving morning meds, but why don't you head over to room 622 and say hi to Kiko? She'll probably be the most excited of the bunch." Before Dax could reply, the nurse had quite literally hopped off down the hall, entering a room at the far end and vanishing from view.
She glanced over at Niko who simply gave a wave, not even looking up from her book. "Go on. I'll be right out here if you need me." Dax nodded, taking a deep breath as she opened the door and stepped inside.
The room looked lived-in, not like the average hospital room where someone was intended to stay for a week or so. It was decorated and clearly intended for extended stay. Dax cast her eyes over the room, taking in the decorations first. There were quite a few hero posters, most of them accompanied by drawings of those heroes presumably drawn by the resident patient, Kiko. There were also some action figures scattered over a corner of the room that was clearly where the girl played and spent a decent amount of her time, complete with a comfy looking bean bag chair.
Finally Dax's eyes found the patient herself. She was a petite little thing, maybe eight or nine, though definitely no older than ten. She had short, brown hair that wasn't cut too dissimilarly from how Dax's was cut after her injury. She was facing away from Dax with her back to the door, but the hero student could still make out the right side of the girl's face. She looked sweet as she sat coloring on the floor, her IV pole not far from her with a tube leading from a bag at the top down to her right arm.
Dax knocked on the door as she slowly closed it, clearing her throat. "Uhh hi. Nurse Lanna said you might like to meet me. My name is-"
"Malcor-sama!"
Dax was cut off when the girl finally looked up at her, jumping to her feet and grabbing her IV pole, which Dax only now realized had a paper stuck to it with a cartoon face and the shakily-written name "Kenji" on it. She ran around her bed, dragging 'Kenji' with her and stopped just short of slamming into Dax, looking up at the older woman with pure excitement in her eyes.
It was only now that Dax could see why it was that Kiko was in the burn ward. The entirety of the left side of the girl's face was simply gone, replaced by horribly jagged, red scar tissue. Like Todoroki's scar on steroids. Her left ear was almost entirely gone as well, only a little lump or misshapen tissue remaining in it's place. Her left arm, likewise, was horribly scarred, ending at nearly the same place Dax's own missing arm ended and leaving the girl with only her right hand. In spite of all that, though, the girl was smiling brilliantly, her golden eyes looking at Dax like she was some sort of god.
Dax finally recovered from the shock, reaching up and toying with her braid as she spoke. "Oh! I guess you know me already!" She smiled awkwardly, taking a seat on the edge of Kiko's bed to be a little closer to the girl's eye level. "Guessing you watched the sports festival yesterday?"
"You bet I did! My mommy and I watch it together every year! I wanna be a hero when I grow up, so I always take notes and try to watch how people fight and stuff! Oh, but mommy had to take notes for me this year… I'm- I was left handed…" Her smile faded, her shoulders slumping as she looked down at the small stump where her arm once was. Dax knew that look. She'd worn it herself countless times before meeting Mei and sometimes even still.
Dax decided to try to cheer the girl up, giving a smile and booping the girl's nose with her mechanical finger gently. "Oh you wanna be a hero? That's really cool. What kind of quirk do you have?"
Apparently it worked, seeing as the girl's smile returned full force with her giggling and swatting at Dax's hand playfully. "It's called pause! I can make things stop by touching them! Like this!" The girl grabbed the pillow off her bed with the teeth, holding it up and then slapping her hand on it, making contact with all five fingertips. When she let go, the pillow remained right where it was, floating totally immobile in the air. Kiko took a step to the side and closed her fingers into a fist, releasing her quirk. The pillow didn't simply fall, it reacted to the slap, getting knocked a couple feet across the floor by the stored momentum.
Dax's eyes widened, a bright smile crossing her lips. "Oh wow! That's really impressive, Kiko-chan. Does it work on everything, or just certain things?" Dax was genuinely interested. She hadn't seen anything quite like this before.
"It works on everything! Even animals and stuff. I paused my dog by accident when I first got my quirk, but she didn't seem to notice when I released her. I tried it on mommy once, but it's really hard to keep up and it makes my head hurt…" The girl pouted, digging her toes into the floor.
Dax smiled, reaching out and ruffling the girl's hair with her organic hand. "Well keep working on it and it'll get easier and easier to control and use. Can't give up on it if you're gonna be a hero someday, right?"
Kiko perked up, giving a smile that quickly faded from bright to sad. She looked down at her missing arm, squirming uncomfortably. Dax knew what she was thinking, knew how the girl felt. What Dax didn't anticipate was the question the girl posed a second later.
"I need my fingers to use my quirk, but I only have one hand now…" Kiko looked up at Dax with fearful, desperate hope in her eyes. "Can… Can I still be a hero like you one day?"
For a moment, Dax was stunned into silence. "But I'm not a hero yet. Why would anyone look up to me? Didn't she see that I lost? God, what do I say?"
Before Dax figured out her response, Kiko went on, grabbing her tablet from the bedside table and poking around on it, opening up a clip of Dax fighting against Bakugo after losing her prosthetic and the moves she was using with her legs. "I didn't think I could do it anymore with my scars and only one arm, but…" She paused, looking back up at Dax as the video finished and started again, apparently set to loop. "But then I saw you in the Sports Festival yesterday and how you kept going even after losing your arm. Do you think I could do that too when I'm older?"
Dax felt like her heart had just exploded into friggin' rainbows, sending a massive feeling of joy and pride throughout her entire body. She moved before her brain could process, sliding off the edge of the bed and kneeling next to the girl. She wrapped her organic arm around Kiko, hugging her tight as she finally managed to speak. "Of course you can, Kiko-chan. If you stick with it, and put in a lot of hard work, you can be a hero too."
Kiko let out an excited squeal, wrapping her arm around Dax and laughing joyously. "Really? You mean it? You promise?" She smiled, pulling back and looking into Dax's eyes.
Dax nodded, resting her organic hand on Kiko's shoulder. "Yes, I promise. As long as you don't give up and you keep pushing for your dream, you can make it. And with a quirk like that, and more importantly, the passion you have for it, then I know you'll be amazing, Kiko-chan."
Kiko smiled, giving a determined nod. "I'll work really, really hard! I promise! Oh! I drew a picture of you! It's… not very good. I used to be able to draw really well before, but now I'm not so good at it… Wanna see it, though?"
Dax chuckled, nodding. "Sure, Kiko. I'd love to."
About twenty minutes later, Dax emerged from Kiko's hospital room, giving the girl a little wave as she left. She'd spent a long time just talking and playing with the girl, even giving her very first autograph on the picture Kiko had drawn of her. She'd promised to send the girl an autograph again once she made her debut with her first poster, which had been met with another happy squeal of excitement.
Dax closed the door and leaned against the wall, letting out a soft sigh and smiling at nothing in particular. Then she felt eyes on her and turned her head, meeting Niko's gaze as the woman smirked at her. "Well, look who's smiling again. Guessing you see what you mean to people now, hmm?"
Dax blushed, walking over and sitting down beside Niko. "All it took was a little girl who looked at me the way I looked at Miruko all those years ago… I had no idea that anyone would ever look at me like that. It was… amazing." She smiled softly, looking up at Niko. "Thanks… for making me come here, Niko-san. I should see the other kids first, but once I'm done, I think I'm in a good place to talk Skylar out of her funk."
Niko grinned at that. "Call me Momma Niko, Dax. I'm glad you're finally seeing reason. Go ahead and see the other kids. They're all excited to meet you. I'll be right here reading and waiting for you. Skylar isn't going anywhere."
Dax raised an eyebrow. "Momma Niko?... Heh, alright. Meet you back here when I'm done." She started to get up, but hesitated, sitting back down and pulling the taller woman into a tight hug. "I know I already said it but… Thanks." With that she stood, making her way down the hall to the next room and stepping inside.
Niko watched her go, smiling and giving a happy sigh. "Atta girl…"
A/N:
PHEW! We made it! The Sports Festival arc is finally finished! *Celebratory Trumpets*
Next up we're gonna have a little fluff, a serious talk or two and, of course, hero names! All before we slide into the very special internship I have planned!
As always please leave a review to tell me your thoughts (reading them always makes my day).
See ya next time!