Title: 逃げる手 - The Hand That Bleeds
Rating: T
Summary: "I don't want to be a Hero. I want to be a Healer. My Quirk is made for healing, like my mom's, not fighting so I train to fight like a Hero to be a Healer. I want to help others to the best of my abilities." Hisoka Matsushita, raised by her mother and who never knew her father, never could quite understand where the path she would eventually take would lead her to.
Current: Followers: 384, Favs: 314, Reviews: 306, Communities: 13, Views: 105864
Disclaimer: I do not own Boku no Hero Academia. Boku no Hero Academia is written and illustrated by Kōhei Horikoshi-sensei. No profit was made in the writing of this fanfic.
Beta: Ana-DaughterofHades
Now To Answer Some Reviews:
Guest- You'll be able to see Eri-chan eventually. She'll be appearing soon, and she'll interact with Hisoka. ^^ Thank you for the review. I hope you like the chapter.
GreyWolfe- Feeling better... Yeah... Sure. Let's go with that. Anyway, yeah medic combat is perfect for Hisoka. I love it when Mineta is terrified and of how terrified (like so much more out of everyone else in the class) he gets with Hisoka. I hope you'll enjoy reading this story for many years to come (or whenever the manga ends). Thank you for the review. I hope you like the chapter.
Chapter 59
To One's Name
Location: Highest Point in Ground Gamma, Near U.A. High School, Northern Musutafu, South of Tokyo, Honshu, Japan
Date: October 14, 20XX
"I wonder who Aizawa-sensei brought in..." This was just another ploy made by him, like during the Quirk Test at the beginning of the school year or the time they were thrown over a cliff's edge when they had gone to train in the forest.
Now then...
Should she go along and try to find this mysterious intruder or should she just sit back, relax, and enjoy this breeze?
She'll enjoy it for a moment. It wasn't every day where she got to simply watch and enjoy the chaos her classmates liked to bring, whether it be purposeful, accidental, or obviously brought down upon some person or place. Like here.
She snorted as her classmates continued to go after the mystery 'intruder'. An explosion - likely from an irritated Bakugo-san from the way an angry shout followed shortly after- went off on the far left of the maze of pipes, smoke billowing up into the sky as one of Shoto's ice walls tore through the metal on the left. There were blurs of blue and green that sped around the area.
She was beginning to understand why Aizawa-sensei called them problem children the more she thought back on certain things. She wondered if he had any grey hair and he just dyed it to keep it secret... She wouldn't put it past him. Maybe Present Mic-sensei knew. He was supposed to be really close to Aizawa-sensei, with going to U.A. together and all that.
Anyway.
Brown eyes squinted as she was unsure about what she just saw. Was that Iida-san being tossed around? It looked like him... She could hear Kirishima-san's shout of something about manliness as well. And there was Kaminari-san's lightning going off with Sero-san's tape nearby. A new combo move? That would be a good idea for them. Kaminari-san could paralyze or blind the person long enough for Sero-san to grab and bind them with his tape.
Another blur of the green from earlier went off again.
Who was the person?
People?
Clones?
Drones?
Were they going to be overrun by drone clones? Clones of drones?
Shaking her head, Hisoka decided that it was best not to go down that already confusing rode lest she got a headache over it. She could already feel a faint one coming. She didn't need it building up already. Her head turned to the right when she heard some of the metal constructs falling to the ground from another explosion. Man, Bakugo-san was just going at it full force today. When wasn't he?
Besides that, it was still a beautiful day outside.
The birds were singing; flowers were blooming.
On days like these, there were shadows that liked to loom over... you...
Wait? What?
Hisoka blinked and slowly looked up, hands twitching to get one of her weapons (a little more than disappointed in herself for her awareness to slip like that), as she looked into a pair of green and blue eyes. Huh, heterochromatic eyes. Like Shoto's eyes. The only pair she knew of. The same with his hair, the same colors as his eyes but just opposite of each other. It's short, a bit messy, and had long bangs that were pinned back with duo-toned hair clips. His whole outfit followed that trend too, Hisoka noticed.
He wore a dark grey turtleneck skin-tight tank top, fingerless gloves, and grey-blue slightly baggy trousers that were tucked into a pair of grey colored boots. Over it, the mystery man wore a duo-toned green and blue hooded, high low jacket that had deep front pockets, and short baggy sleeves. He also had an orange pair of goggles over his eyes.
"Hello," she said warily.
"Hi," the man said, grinning easily down at her before he looked up and about. "Nice view you got here. Mind if I sit here too?"
Hisoka shook her head, scooting over so he could sit on the edge as well. His feet dangled, kicking slowly, and he let out a sigh before he leaned back to lay down. He used his hands as a pillow.
"Tough time running away?"
The man chuckled. "Yeah, all those kids are wearing me out."
"Yeah, they'll do that to you. They are... determined to get results." Another explosion and scream of rage went off making her sigh. Some people more so than others.
"What about you then?"
"Hmmm?" Hisoka glanced over at the intruder - who else could it be? - and gave him a questioning look.
"Aren't you determined to get results?" Heterochromatic eyes held her gaze before they looked to the sky.
"I am but I'm waiting for the right moment." Was she? She wasn't really moving and doing anything. (She'd likely get yelled at for that). The target was right next to her. He was relaxed. She had her gun loaded with paralyzing and sedative darts. Speed seemed to be what he was best at. Like Iida-san or herself. She could move now. She had the chance.
Her hand brushed silently against the gun's hilt, fingerings inching to move and use it. Brown eyes glanced back at the target.
She needed to move now.
"Hmmm... It may have passed a long time ago, kid," he said, voice sounding very serious, and Hisoka glanced back at him, eyes widening when she saw his appearance look different. Then she felt something cold lightly wrap around her neck in warning and she moved her hand away from her weapon before raising them in the air.
"Sorry about this," another said behind her, voice sounding cheery and dream-like. "I don't want to do this, but you don't give me any choice. I don't wanna get caught after all, right Ao-san?
"Mi-san..." Ao-san sighed, shaking his head.
"Hisoka," she grumbled, standing up when the one behind her tugged at her.
Ao-san's green eyes narrowed as he stepped in front of her. "What was that?"
"It's Hisoka, not kid," she spoke louder. She blinked only once when suddenly the cold thing around her neck loosened as the man before her changed back into the duo-toned color scheme from before.
"Aomi," Aomi-san said, grinning once more before flicking his wrist and a thin, almost invisible wire vanished up his wrist. "It's been nice meeting you but I gotta go before I get caught." He took a step back, a challenging glint in his eyes. "Unless you can keep up." Before she knew it, he fell backward and was off, grabbing one of the pipes and flipping off Southbound.
Hisoka scowled, taking a few steps back before jumping and following after him.
Challenge accepted.
Location: Front Gate, Outskirts of Playing Ground Gamma, Near U.A. High School, Northern Musutafu, South of Tokyo, Honshu, Japan
Date: October 14, 20XX
Time was up.
No one was able to catch Aomi-san.
He had led them all on a wild goose chase. Hisoka included.
A majority of her class was on the ground, catching their breath, some groaning and whining about not being unable to catch the intruder. Hisoka was no different, scowling heavily at the grinning man. Mineta-san looked dead from how white he was. So did Kaminari-san. Bakugo-san looked ready to kill, growling as Kirishima-san tried to calm him down. Shoto was surprisingly scowling. Momo and Iida-san had identical analytical thinking faces while Uraraka-san just wanted to sleep. Fumi was spread out on the ground, staring in a daze at the sky.
Did something happen? Was there someone she needed to bury? She had a shovel somewhere in her closet.
Or was it in the bathroom?
She knew a few areas to bury big human-shaped things.
Tsuyu leaned on her, holding her hand as she too caught her breath. Hisoka squeezed her hand lightly, offering sympathetic comfort. Tsuyu squeezed back, smiling slightly at her from her provisional vision. She squeezed her hand again, too tired to smile back.
Aomi-san looked pleased as a cat who finally caught the wayward canary as he was introduced by Aizawa-sensei. Her scowl grew when he winked at her.
Aomi Hayashi-san.
The Duo Hero: Ni.
Quirk: Twins.
Ao-san and Mi-san.
The one and only sidekick to Kesagiriman - one of the Pro Heroes who had participated in the invasion of the Shie Hassaikai hideout and the rescue of a young girl.
He was a parkour expert (who was going to show them a few simple, basic moves before he left too) who had a YouTube channel where he showed off his skills and even taught some basics on there - Hisoka reminded herself to check that out later tonight - loved high places, was working as a Hero for about four years now, and specially made wires were his weapon of choice. Or so that's what she learned from Midoriya-san's ramblings as he muttered away to himself, staring star-eyed at the Pro Hero.
Pro Hero junkie.
Still.
She looked at Aomi-san before glancing at Aizawa-sensei, eyes blinking when she caught him looking her way for a moment before turning his tired gaze away. He really needed to get some rest. The bags under his eyes look darker (she knew from a glance from personal experience). Maybe she should make something that'll help him sleep? She knew he liked her cookies or at least she thinks he does. She's seen him eat them before and even confiscated them all on more than one occasion.
Hisoka wondered why he was watching her.
Flight risk.
Unknown variable.
Unstable.
Problem child.
DaughterofaVillain.
Take your pick.
She shrugged it off. If there was anything he needed to say then he'd say it. Maybe it had to do with tomorrow?
Tomorrow, huh...
Location: Front Desk, Tokyo Metropolitan Matsuzawa Hospital, Kamikitazawa, Setagaya Ward, Eastern Tokyo, Honshu, Japan
Date: October 15, 20XX
Aizawa-sensei had said there'd be no session that morning. There were a lot of things piling up that he had to take care of before they could go see her mother. It was a surprise to Hisoka, but she'd take it, nonetheless. No need to look a gift horse in the mouth. Aizawa-sensei had taken time out of his busy schedule to drive her and had even stopped by a nearby flower shop when she had asked. When asked, she had told him she always brought a new flower - this time a purple Hyacinth* - with each visit for her mother because of her love for them.
He had been mildly suspicious of the bag she brought with her. It was full of things her mother had asked her to bring after their call from a few days ago. Just some more books she knew her mother would like, a few toiletries of the brands Hisoka knew she preferred, and some... stuff that had stayed in the deepest part of her closest until now.
The one of them together. So young and they looked so happy in each other's arms.
Now, look at them.
One in jail for the crimes he committed. The other in a mental ward from her mind breaking.
The daughter torn. Breaking.
Crack...
Hisoka entered the four-story building of Tokyo Metropolitan Matsuzawa Hospital after her homeroom teacher had parked, following in behind her in simple civilian clothes, disguise set up. He followed her closely, hands in his pockets, eyes darting from side to side as they headed towards the front desk. Behind it were a few people dressed in the same light purple uniforms.
A green-haired man with brown eyes and sharp, shark teeth smiled at the duo when they came up. "How may I help you two today?" His name tag read Ryunosuke Kajiwara.
"I'm here to visit someone," Hisoka answered, "Her name is Haru Matsushita."
He typed a bit on the computer in front of him. "And what would your relationship with her be?"
"I am her daughter, Hisoka Matsushita."
"And his?" Ryunosuke asked, eyes alight with suspicion.
"A friend of the family," she easily told without a blink. "He hasn't seen my mom in a while and wants to check in on her. Will it be okay if he comes with me?"
After quite a few more questions, warnings, some forms that had to be filled out, and everything that she and Aizawa-sensei had on them inspected, they were each given a visitor's badge (and her flowers and bag back) and was, as usual, told the number of the room that held her mother. After saying her thanks, Aizawa-sensei followed her to where her mother was.
Location: Third Floor, Tokyo Metropolitan Matsuzawa Hospital, Kamikitazawa, Setagaya Ward, Eastern Tokyo, Honshu, Japan
Date: October 15, 20XX
They stopped in the small lounge area on the third floor where Aizawa-sensei said he'd wait for her. "You have two hours," he told her, sitting back on the only couch before he leaned over, placed a book titled 'A Thousand Different Ways To Sleep in a Sleeping Bag: How It's The Best Way To Fall Asleep!' over his face and promptly fell asleep. The book was well worn. Pretty old too. Hisoka absently wondered how many times her teacher had read it before shaking her head.
"Yes, sensei," she mumbled. "I'll be back soon." Then turning on the heel of her foot, she moved towards her mother's room, standing in front of the door.
Taking a deep breath, she placed a hand on the handle and opened it. "Hello, mother," she greeted the brown-eyed woman who turned from looking out the window towards her. She held a dazed expression. The same one from before. The one that broke Hisoka a little more every time she looked into the same colored eyes as her own. "I've brought some new flowers for you. The things you'd asked for as well." Hisoka held up the bag in emphasis.
Hisoka gave her a small smile as she sat down the bag on the neat bed, her mother could look through it later in her own time, before placing the flowers on the table - they were already in a pot. She absently noticed the vase she usually filled was filled with Lilies. Maybe Aunty and Uncle came by a few days ago? She'll ask later when she calls them.
At least her mother looked healthy... happy. That's what mattered.
- from the mocking flowers lest they wilt in the sea of Red all around her -
Haru leaned over, using the tips of her fingers to bring the flowers closer to her and smelled them, making her smile brighten, directed at the younger girl. "They're just lovely... Thank you, my child."
Her smile strained.
A flash of silver around Haru's neck caught her attention.
The necklace. Oh, how she hated it.
It stood for their love.
For him.
Only for him.
"How have you been, mother?"
"I've been well, as well as can be. How are you doing, my child? Tell me what you've been up to lately," the elder woman said as Hisoka sat in the other chair.
"I've been doing well," Hisoka explained moving onto her experiences over the last two months. Sure, she had mentioned a few things over their phone calls, but some things were better said in person than over the phone. She told her about the end of her internship, oddly happy about it, and how she was looking for what she truly wanted to do in the future and what path she was going to take.
Hisoka rambled on about other things, all of it spilling out. She hadn't seen her mother for so long. It truly was nice to see her again. She felt like something peaceful washed over her the more she spoke, sitting back and relaxing fully.
"How is Fumi been? Still eating all those apples?" Haru asked next after Hisoka finally finished.
Hisoka snorted, "When isn't he eating apples? He goes through them like candy. He's doing pretty good, though. He says hello too."
"Well, say hello back to him when you return." Hisoka nodded. "And your other friends? How are they doing?"
"They're all doing good. We've been talking about combo moves between everyone and what we could do."
"That's nice. Having fun?"
"We are."
Haru clapped happily. "Wonderful news." Getting up, she said, "Thank you for bringing what I had asked, my child." She grabbed the bag, setting it on the table gently, and sat back down. Haru gave her a bright smile, one of the brightest ones she's had seen since her mother had ended up here.
Please.
Don't open it with her here.
This was her time.
Just her and mother.
And yet her yell never reached anyone.
"It was... no problem, mother," Hisoka mumbled, smiling ever so slightly back at her, as she watched her open the bag and shift through things, taking some of it out. She stacked the few books that were inside before digging down deep and grabbing something, smile turning dream-like as she looked at the picture. She let out a sigh, pressing a hand against the glass.
Hisoka had placed two in there. One of her and her mother and the other... She knew which one that sigh was for. She never wanted to bring it, but she didn't want to upset her mother. Her mother meant everything to her.
And yet...
Hisoka's fists tightened as Haru smiled. It was him. The image burned in her mind. She couldn't get away from it.
A happy Haru, a smile she had never seen her wear except for one person, as arms were wrapped around her from behind by a young man with black hair and were smirking as his chin was placed on the top of her head, holding the younger version of her mother close.
She wanted to rip it in half.
Put it through the shredder.
Burn it.
Stab it.
Make it so her mother never saw it again.
"Oh, how young we were," she began. "How happy we were together before everything happened." Before she had been born was left unsaid. "He always loved to put his arms about me like that whenever we went out. It was so fun. We'd go everywhere together. Do everything together..." Her voice grew smaller, catching up in the memories of the distant past, eyes alighting with so many emotions so fast it was hard for Hisoka to read them all.
Crack... Crack...
There was a ringing in her ear. She couldn't hear her mother anymore.
Why?
She was right there.
And yet she wasn't...
Who was... she?
Hisoka froze when she stared into the same brown eyes she had herself, widening as her mother smiled at her. Bright and normal. As it had been before all of this. It grew as her mother stood, setting the picture down, and came over to stand in front of her before bending down and holding Hisoka tightly.
"Mo...ther..." Hisoka's arms felt heavy against her side and when she lifted them they felt like they were unmovable. They were numb. She was numb. She raised her arms, shaking hands, as she hugged the elder woman, gripping the back of her shirt.
"Oh, my child. My precious, sweet child."
Her name.
"Mother..." Hisoka looked up at her when Haru leaned back and her face was taken into pale hands, holding her cheeks. A thumb rubbed under her eye as she stared into her mother's brown ones.
"Oh, how you look so much like him..."
Why?
"You remind me so much of him. Of when I first met him."
Don't...
"Your eyes... They hold the same look as his. How I'll miss their color." Haru rubbed the bottom of her eye, the other hand moving her bangs out of the way.
No... Crack... Nononononono...
"Oh, my beloved child. We will be a family together someday.
Please…
Say her name.
Not this.
"I love you, my child."
"I... love you too..." she managed to ramble out, throat feeling thick and voice heavy.
Haru giggled. "My sweet child."
Did her mother even remember?
Crack… Crack…
No more…
"Ah…"
Such a fool she was becoming in the end.
hOW Could thIS ENd?!
Location: Car Driving Back to U.A., Somewhere in Tokyo, Honshu, Japan
Date: October 15, 20XX
The rain had come the second they had stepped out of the hospital, thick blackened clouds covering the sky. It was a heavy downpour; they could hear it beat against the window. Looking out, they could see, through the curtain of water, the dim lights of the sprawling city all around them as Aizawa drove himself and his student back to U.A.
On a clear night, the view could be said to be awe-inspiring, however, the silence, tense and worrisome, his student brought made that view (not that he really cared about it) the least of his worries. She had been silent the whole time. No noise or anything. She wouldn't look his way. Matsushita simply stared out the window, arms wrapped around herself. She stayed like that the whole time.
She had been strange when he had come knocking to tell her time was up, leaving the room without any word. The glance he stole to look at her mother showed her smiling at him, the glint in her eyes made his hackles rise. He had followed his student promptly after that. That look he didn't like. The more he learned about that woman, the more he studied and observed his student, the more he was connecting things.
How her childhood affected her.
How her mother affected her.
Why she did things a certain way or reacted unlike a normal human would to certain things.
He didn't like it one bit.
And yet he couldn't say no (even if he had wanted to - she was getting better) to Matsushita's request of visiting her mom. That gleaming, hopeful look... What right did he have to discourage it?
He wished he had.
"Sensei..." He heard her mumble for the first time, voice watery and uneasy.
He grunted, "Hmmm?"
"What's my name?"
What? What kind of question was that? Why did she want to know her name? "You know what your name is." What had happened in there?
"I know... I..." Matsushita trailed off, sounding defeated.
Another round of silence stood between them.
"Hisoka. Your name is Hisoka Matsushita," he finally answered. What had that woman said to make her like this?
Why had she done it?
He had to find out more. So many questions, so little time with so much to do. He would find out.
He stopped at a red light, side glancing as he stared at the young child's reflection in the passenger seat's window for a moment. She held a sad smile - one he never saw on her before. "Thank you..." she muttered, her eyes closing.
Location: Hisoka's Room, Fifth Floor of Heights Alliance, South Side of U.A. High School Campus, Northern Musutafu, South of Tokyo, Honshu, Japan
Date: October 15, 20XX
They had arrived late, later than what had been originally planned as traffic had decided to be a monster this time. How far away this particular hospital was hadn't helped either. The night was upon them and his student had fallen asleep somewhere along the ride back; he didn't have the heart to wake her up. Her bags were just as bad as his.
She likely wouldn't have even wakened anyway.
Maybe.
He could tell from a glance her sleeping habits were much like his own - just she never slept around as he did. (Did her Quirk have something that helped her?)
So, with a huff and sigh, he had parked the car and got out, walking to the other side and opened the door after slinging his student onto his back, and closed the car door. Making sure she didn't slip or anything, he made sure her arms hung over his shoulders, her head resting against the back of his, as he carried her piggyback style all the way to the dorms and to her room. None of his other troublesome students were around - they better not be if they knew what was good for them - likely in their dorms.
And so, they were here.
He had easily opened her unlocked door, opening up to an empty room before he placed the sleeping girl on the bed, easily maneuvering her to be under the blankets after pulling them back and tossing it over her. With a glance, making sure that everything was in check and that she wouldn't wake up one bit, he gave a tired yawn as he turned and left the room, closing the door silently behind him.
There was a lot he had to think about and a lot more questions he knew were going to come up.
God damn, he was tired...
What lied beyond the breaking point? What would happen when all those pieces were scattered? What came after that?
To sink or swim.
To dream or not to dream.
Isn't that always the question?
Hyacinth (Purple) - I am Sorry, Please Forgive Me, Sorrow - [Owing its origin to the myth of Apollo and Hyacinthus (the former accidentally killed the latter), the purple version of this bloom means "please forgive me."]
Author's Note: It's Spring Break for me and I finally have some nice and quiet free time! So, this is the final chapter for the Arc…. What do you think? Go out with a bang they say and here are the results. Yup. Hisoka had basically gone twenty steps back while she had been walking forward. ^^ And Haru… Oh, Haru… How the mighty have fallen.
And yes, Aomi had joined the fray in this story. Take a guess on how he'll be involved and who knows… Maybe something sweet will happen.
Thank you for reading. Please leave a review. I should have a new chapter within… twoish to threeish weeks for both The Hand That Bleeds and for Wilted Lilac.