IzuOcha Arc 2 Chapter 4: Feelings
[So, guys, I was a terrible University student and decided to write this chapter for you. Be prepared for the final chapter of the second Arc Nightmares. Hope you enjoy it!]
Uraraka POV:
It hits me all at once, the pain, the fear, the stiffness and the uselessness. Another night I am sitting upright, cold streams of sweat rolling down my skin. My heart is trying to beat itself out of my chest, trying to escape so desperately. But it can't it just hurts me more, like a knife being driven into my chest slowly.
As I slowly roll myself out of bed and over to my mirror, I see my puffy eyes, I know I have been crying and I have just run out of tears to shed. My face is pale, and my cheeks have lost their usual pinkness. It feels like Déjà vu every night.
Go to him! He can help.
My mind runs, so with a quick splash of water onto my face I move downstairs, through the dimly light hallways. I could almost move to the common room with my eyes shut now or even to Deku's room. But as I finally cross the mark and into the common room I remember. Eri.
Don't be greedy. Eri is here, she needs him more than you. You are supposed to be a hero! How can you even call yourself that when you are trying to take away a little girl's source of comfort? You're a greedy bitch!
My mind screams at me. I realize I can't go to him he is busy, Eri needs him. My body stiffness and that pain in my chest gets bigger. It feels as if someone is now twisting the knife round and round into my heart. It hurts so bad and I want to scream but I just can't.
"You are so useless!" I mumble out into my hands, "You're selfish and you can't even do anything right!" I say as I now shuffle over to the lounge slowly, I reach it, collapsing onto it. The thoughts of Deku and us holding each other a few nights ago, feel so distant and out of reach.
I thought I couldn't cry anymore, I thought my tears had run out. I was so wrong. The tears come flowing like waterfalls, my body stiffens up and starts to feel as cold as a winter's night. With every stream of tears, I feel that pain in my chest increase, I feel it stab me deeper into my heart. I feel defenceless and I feel so alone. I guess that makes sense, my parents aren't around anymore, they forget they even have a daughter anymore.
I cry for what feels like hours, I cry and cry. Until someone is standing in front of me, I couldn't hear them over my own crying, someone I know all too well. His green shorts and black singlet, with a ripped body. Then my heart stops, I realize who it is. It is the person I needed most in the world.
"Uraraka? Ae you ok?" his gentle voice asks bending down slightly and I notice a bundle of white hair in his arms. I feel guilt rush to every pore of my body and so I go to get up, I go to leave them alone. I refuse to be greedy, I refuse to take that little girls' hero from her. But a hand stops me, it pushes me down. "It's ok, can you hold Eri for me. I am going to make green tea now." He says placing the slightly cold, snow white haired girl into my arms. I am just stunned as I stare into her little ruby eyes who have the same kind of fear and hopelessness that fills mine.
With that, I look up to see Deku gone but I can hear his footsteps moving behind me, it makes me feel a little better that he is nearby. I feel safer. Then I feel movement in my arms, I look down to see Eri still in her little white dress, now staring directly at me, less with fear and more with curiosity.
"Do you have nightmares?" she asks shakily. Her body trembling with each word spoken, I just move knowing that I am scared, I am cold, but I must try and comfort this little girl sitting on my lap.
"Yeah, I had one tonight," I say stroking her snow-white hair which is soft as a pillow. She moves slightly getting herself more into my arms and more comfortable. Then her gaze returns to me, scared but deep bellow that fear a small sparkle. A sparkle that looks like fireworks.
"Oh. What do you do when you have nightmares?" she asks, continuing to stare,
It hits me all at once, what do I do? I remember when I was a child, I would go to my parents, but they usually kicked me out, I would go and cuddle my soft toy of 13, it helped when I was little. When I got older, it didn't really help. The only thing in recent memory is holding Deku, holding him made the nightmares go away, it made me feel so safe. Safer than with my parents, safer than my little toy. Just knowing he is nearby helping.
"Well." I start stuttering out, finding it extremely hard to speak. "I, hold," I mutter out, my tongue doing backflips as well as the redness flushing to my face. "I hold Deku. I feel better. I usually feel safer when he holds me." I say with redness flushing to my face.
As I look into her eyes, her eyes ignite with millions of little fireworks. Her mind seems to be working overtime and a small but amazing smile comes onto her face. With it, she leaps out of my lap and races towards Deku who I was just hearing moving back towards him.
I turn my head to see him carrying a tray of three mugs full of what I assume is tea. I watch the little snow-white haired girl leap onto his leg making him have to catch his balance and with a lot of skill not spill the tea everywhere. I watch as he kneels to her height and she starts whispering into his ear, I watch him turn a shade redder then whisper something back to Eri.
Eri then starts running back towards me, her face full of happiness, the nightmares that plagued her seemingly being a thing of the past. She now seems to be one of the happiness children alive in my opinion, light shining off her like the sun itself.
Izuku POV:
Eri races away from me when I finish whispering into her ear. Her nightmares seemingly a far distant memory as she races to stand in front of Uraraka. I am still so worried about her but finding out that I help with her nightmares, makes my heart beat like a drum.
As I slowly follow after Eri, she is standing in front of Uraraka with a massive grin on her face. In a quick movement, she points her finger at Uraraka,
"I will share Deku with you." She states matter of factly, it is adorable how she thinks I am hers. Then she continues, "Only because you're his best friend and holding you makes Deku's nightmares go away."
With that my face ignites, it feels as if my face was burning. My shade is closer to a purple-red than a tomato red. I told her to keep that a secret, but she is a six-year-old. I wasn't sure what I expected. But I am not the only one, as my gaze falls onto a similarly colour Uraraka whose eyes are slightly returning to their warm colour that I know and love. Not the distant voids I saw before.
"Thank you, Eri." Stutters out Uraraka, clearly embarrassed, but I can hear happiness almost excitement in the back of her tone. During this time, my body has been ignoring my mind screaming,
STOP MOVING! PROCESS INFORMATION! STOP! IS CRASHING!
But I push on, I just sit down right next to Uraraka, my leg brushing against her in her all-black pyjamas. For at least a minute I sit there finding the tea extremely interesting, with the slow steam coming off the clear green liquid.
Suddenly I am burst out of my little staring competition with the green tea by a little girl taking one of the mugs.
"Owww!" she yelps, as I quickly turn my head to see her trying to take a sip of her hot green tea.
"Careful Eri. Just wait for it to cool down." I say giving her a concerned look, she returns my look but instead of concerned it is pure happiness and excitedness. That calms my nerves as I return to Uraraka, handing her tea.
For the next thirty seconds, the only thing I can hear is Eri slowly and carefully blowing on her tea. It is almost peaceful; my nightmares are all far away. I feel so safe between two of the most important girls in my life. I wish I could stay like this forever.
The tranquil silence is broken when Eri starts sipping again, making large slurping noises that sound more like a little monster than an adorable white-haired girl. "Green tea is my favourite tea!" she says sleepily, as I slowly but surely watch her curl up into my side and loosely holding her glass she drifts off into sleep.
I turn back to my puffy-eyed crush, I notice she isn't looking like a ghost anymore, but I still see the fear hasn't left yet and the pinkness in her cheeks haven't returned. I know she is still battling her demons and I can't let her do it alone anymore.
"Uraraka." I say slowly not to scare her, "What was your nightmare about?" I ask, cautiously, not wanting to shatter her little world.
"I watched you die. I watched as people I trusted thrust a blade through your chest and laughed. While I just watched. Or I would try to get to you, and I would be a fingertip away and then they would kill you. I watched you freeze, get blown up and I watched you dissolve into nothing." She cries out unable to hide her tears with her hands, due to holding her tea.
I just moved, wrapping my arm around her shoulder and bringing her face into the crock of my neck like she has done for me many times before. I won't let her cry her heart out, I will save her from herself. I just keep us attached, feeling the streams of her tears rolling down my exposed neck. She feels so cold, like snow on a fresh winter's day.
"I am here, I am not dead. You know, that right?" I ask rubbing her lower back in small circles. "I am not going anywhere, and I will always be here when you need it," I say to her, with that she slowly but surely stops the sobbing. But she remains, placed in the crock of my neck, I can feel each one of her slow breaths. It feels like a small fresh spring breeze as if she was breathing life directly into my skin.
For a few minutes, we stay like this, comforting each other, I had almost forgotten that I had my own nightmares. But this moment made me forget all those things, this moment makes up for that torture. "Thank you, Deku." She mumbles into my neck while nuzzling closer to me with the rest of her body. I swear I fell her lips press against my skin, but I think it is my imagination. So, I move my arm to instead of being around her back to be placed on her head gently stroking her soft brown hair.
"Why didn't you come and get me?" I ask continuing to stroke her hair, for a few seconds leaving the silence to hang around us. "I told you to come and get me if you ever needed me."
"I didn't want to be greedy. I didn't want to take you away from Eri. I thought I could last one night with the nightmares. I was coming but then I remembered that Eri needed her hero. I didn't want to take away that little girls' hero." She says into my neck. It hurts to hear this, my heart shatters hearing that she thought she would be greedy.
"Look you may think your greedy. But I have plenty of time for two of the most important people in my life. It only hurts me to know that your keeping that hurt hidden from me. It's because I have deep feelings for you. Stronger than you could ever imagine." I say letting out my hidden feelings for her, growing red in the face but also feeling relived letting it out.
"Is this real?" she lets out, bringing her eyes to look into mine, the first thing I notice is that her eyes have turned warm. That warm brown I fell in love with pretty much on day one of UA. Bellow that warm feeling is disbelief, I then trace her face with my eyes. Her skin is no longer ghost-like and her pink cheeks have returned. It looks like she has returned from the cold clutches of death. Then I notice how my body feels warm.
"Yes," I say but before I can continue, she snuggles closer to me closing any distance between us pressing her body close to mine. Usually my mind would explode, usually, I would turn red out of embarrassment. But this feels so natural and I know no one is around to see this or get embarrassed.
"Oh, I can't believe this." She says, sounding as if she was floating on a cloud, "I have feelings for you too! I have for a while now." She literally yells into my chest. "I feel as if my heart could leap out of my chest." My heart is beating so fast, it feels like a race car. My feelings have been returned but my mind starts kicking into gear,
She has feelings for me? Is this ok? Am I taking advantage of her? Am I in a dream? I just want her to stay here with me forever.
Then I notice something, as I got lost in my thoughts, I feel a pressure on my lap. As I move my eyes down, I notice Uraraka's head resting onto my lap, her chest moving up and down. So, I do the one natural thing that feels natural. I start stroking her hair, "Just sleep now Uraraka, I won't let the nightmares touch you. Not while I am here."
[Well this is the end of Arc 2 Nightmares. It has been a ride. What was your favourite part of this arc? This chapter? This story? Please let me know, also with anything I could improve.
This is not the end of the story, I have another Arc planned, I have an author note coming up with massive news about the story. So, watch out for that. Thank you again for your support, please let anyone know that you think would like this story.
Now the big reveal:
The title for the third Arc,
The Culture Festival
No, I am not going to rewrite the manga, I will be doing my own thing. Taking inspiration from it and a really amazing fireworks scene. Plus some rarepair stuff and more Eri. I, however, will need a break, before releasing it. I will go into more detail during the Authors note. Please read them when I release them, it will give some reading recommendations and MASSIVE NEWS!
Now, remember Always GO BEYOND PLUS ULTRA!]