A/N: The moment we've been waiting for, weeks upon weeks the percentage has climbed to SIVA's completion. Review Time!
To Murtaito: Your agonizing suffering is over, time for one last kick of emotions... probably.
Enjoy.
Chapter 49 - The Perfect Siblings
"Hey, sis, why did you hate me?" The question came out of nowhere while Yuki sat in her room, tuning her guitar. The adjustment was abruptly cut off as her hand slipped, pulling at the strings as an uncomfortable sound raked their ears, more so Nana who's sensitive hearing was shocked. "Bad-Noise! Bad-Noise!"
"What the heck, Dumb-Dumb!?" She berated her younger sibling, scowling at her sudden question and entry. It took her mind a moment to process what she just heard, blowing the bangs from her eyes. "Why do you wanna know? It's just stupid stuff..." Her cheeks slowly crawled with embarrassment at how silly it was, yes, an eight-year-old was already feeling embarrassed about her past stupidity, it happens
Nana didn't seem to like that answer, shuffling on the spot while flicking her pointy ear, not meeting her sister's gaze. "I heard Mama talk about it, and I wanted to know too..." Nana was confused, she thought that it was weird why Mama would talk about something that felt mean? She asked but Mama said that Yuki would know why
Ruffling her own hair, Yuki sat the guitar down and patted the spot beside her on her bed, seeing the small, blue blur hop-up, Nana blinked as Yuki tugged her close to her side, only to flick at her ear. "Heeey... that's sensitive~!"
Yuki merely winked. "Oh grow up," That made Nana pout given their size difference. "I did hate you since you got your Quirk I hated it for months because I... thought it wasn't fair," Yuki's glare stared down at her crossed legs. "Why didn't I have a super cool power like Mama or Papa, why did you get lucky and all the attention? It... really hurt."
"But you're amazing!" Nana blurted out, grabbing her sister's shirt with big, blue eyes wandering with stars and a fanged smile. "Your voice is nice and warm and um... uh, nice!" Yuki chuckled at the repetitive word, pushing her annoying little sister back
"I have talent with music, but with your power... I know you'd become super famous, that's just how it is..." Yuki understood how her sister's Quirk worked. It was called 'Melody', depending on the song genre she sang or played alongside her Quirk she could empower those that listen to; They'd feel energized, grow stronger or faster, though it isn't alot given her young age it was still noticeable. "I don't hate you, Nana, I just... it's hard to explain, alright," Yuki grunted, scratching her red cheek. "Just... don't worry about it! It was dumb, I was dumb, end of story!"
Nana sat there, hands on her lap while staring directly at her flustered sister. Yuki was strange, she always got flustered when she couldn't speak what she was thinking. What confused Nana further was her denial of her musical skill, she had an amazing voice that always helped her sleep through nightmares and stuff, she's the reason Nana wanted to become a musician when she was older, for Yuki.
Pouting, she shuffled forward to hug Yuki tightly, burying her face into her sister's chest with a whine. "You're really cool though..." This caused Yuki's heart to tick faster. "I wanna be as cool as you, you don't need a superpower to be awesome, you're my big sister, that makes you cooler already!"
Yuki tried to push her sister off but her grip was like a vice. Thankfully, Nana never looked up, otherwise, she'd see the red flush on Yuki's face while her eyes hesitated. "You dumb-dumb..." Wrapping her arms around the small girl, she buried her head into her hair, smiling sweetly at her sister's lack of conscious filter for her thoughts. "Who needs some flashy Quirk, you're pretty amazing on your own."
When Izuku finally woke up he was... in a compromising position, his world a mesh of blue like the ocean. Blinking, he almost screamed with a furious red flush as he found himself sleeping right next to Yuki, herself thankfully slumbering softly. He practically felt her breath on his neck though, fueling the flames in his cheeks.
Her arms hugged his waist, head nuzzling his collarbone while his legs and hers were entangled on the bed, but... the sheet was over them, he assumed Yuki or himself did that without conscious thought. With a great deal of sweat and anxiety, he began to pry the machinist off his body, worming back to free his poor, shaking body from her arms.
"...do...n't... g-go..." Her words breathed in his face, petrified by the sight of her eyes cracked open, half-lidded and hazy while her arms tensed around his lower back. She looked upset and so he remained still, allowing her to rest her head on his chest again, sighing softly
"Just a little longer," He whispered to her, keeping his head above hers, much as it was really uncomfortable being so close, given the fact they've been in more compromising positions before this wasn't as bad, and he really didn't feel like leaving her right now either. Closing his eyes, he just sat there and listened to the steady breathing in his arms. "She's so cute..."
Not much time passed before the teens woke up for the day ahead, while Izuku offered to get Yuki breakfast, the girl finally decided to rid herself of her gown, feeling much better than yesterday. Stripping off her gown she analyzed her mummified body in greater detail, most of her body was wrapped up, though with SIVA's aid her condition was no longer severe. Plucking a bag from one of the guest seats she smiled at the folded clothes inside.
In silence Yuki unraveled her bandages, taking note of the few large scars that were faded, SIVA having almost completed the recovery process, however, one that did remain visible alongside those she purposefully kept. A large, jagged bolt that stretched just at the edge of her waist and below her ribs, crossing over her belly button. At the sight and cool touch of her fingers, all she could think or feel was Vosik's hand run through her body like a spear, the pain came wave-after-wave, tearing her apart from within.
Staring solemnly at the wound for a minute she eventually sighed and shook off that painful memory, slipping on her trousers while leaving her torso bare as she undid the wrappings on her chest and collarbone with a song hummed between her teeth. "Vosik probably thinks he took a piece of me... all he did was make us stronger."
Though I believe Bakugo suffered | Unable to save you | His mind won't let that rest easily
"We'll give him time, eventually he'll realize that I don't hate him for this," Yuki smiled, patting her scar. "He did save me, knowing he was there, watching me, trying to do something, that along kept my spirit afloat... mainly cause I wasn't going to lose to such a pathetic villain," She smirked at that, "Besides, he carried my useless ass body until I regained enough energy to perform a counterattack so that was nice."
"Hey, Yuki I'm b-ba-a-a-ack..." Turning to address his return. Izuku almost lost his hold on the tray while failing to take his eyes off Yuki's half-naked form, her arm covering her chest before he snapped his head away, shrieking out apologies. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry-!"
'You sure you don't time this stuff perfectly just to catch a peek? ;)' Her taunting proved to rise his mortified embarrassment further, tossing the note away as she silently laughed, throwing on one of Izuku's shirts she stole a while back, a light green shirt with the derivative writing of 'Shirt' in Japanese. 'You can turn now, Zuzu'
Following her instruction, he saw her wearing his old shirt, the length a little longer than the rest so it covered her waist a little more than usual. It baffled him why he felt so happy seeing her wearing his clothing, like his old blue jacket that she took one rainy day, every time she wore it anywhere he always felt a bubbly feeling in his chest.
"W-wait, what are you-" He always turned away when she lifted the shirt up, revealing her toned stomach, or rather, the scar that was imprinted into her skin. Flashes of blood and a silent scream ran through his head, almost losing his composure while keeping his head low. "I... I'm..."
A hand cupped his cheek, effectively pulling his eyes to greet the soft smile. 'I wanted you to see it, 'cause I know you're beating yourself up about it, but, Zuzu' She lowered the note while helping to place the tray on the bed while she used her left hand to bring his fingers to her scar, she shivered a little but held his fingers across the scar. 'I'm fine, because, there are worse things than what Vosik calls 'Torture', believe me' That left a question to rummage in his head but he never acted on it
Sighing, his lips broke a small smile as he lifted his hand away, finding a pair of lips pressed to his own for a second before Yuki winked. 'Come on, I'm fucking starving' She immediately pulled him along, not realizing the weight she had gradually eased off his chest, it hadn't lifted its anchors, but one less hook remained wedged in his heart
It was time. Every percentage. Every step. Every broken bone.
Yuki never felt such a weight on her soles before, like on hot summer days where every step you take burned your feet, she felt it, a hot sweat rushing to her body while Izuku, her Mom, and Dr. Yoshiharu gathered with the girl on her heart-pounding journey. The halls were like cracks into her past, the days she honed her skill with SIVA, crawling up a percentage at a time. All Might's intense training that left her gasping for air. Gran Torino when he battered her like a fish stick for hours to hone her speed and reaction.
Days stretched to weeks, then to months and years as her labor work was pushed to its limits. One day burned in her mind along that journey, the day she wandered along the coast, she wanted to ask All Might something and so SIVA was tracking his phone, much to the hero's chagrin at her blunt abuse of her power.
It wasn't much, her hands behind her concealed hair, mask staring up at the sky's morning glow, it was early. One beachside disgusted her though, saddened by the dump it had become due to tides and the ignorance of litterers that couldn't care less. She contemplated using SIVA to break down the matter but then she'd have alot of dormant clusters and not alot of space back home to stuff them. Yeah, turns out using them for insulation isn't a viable solution.
When she finally arrived at the edge of the walkway her eyes followed All Might, skeletal and cheering for someone below in the sands. Curious as to who All Might was training, given he never trained with anyone but Yuki, she hopped onto the mounds of garbage and navigated herself to the perfect outcrop, hunching down to inspect the trainee suffering All Might's workout routine.
What surprised Yuki was that the one attempting to run and tow rubbish to a skip was a middle-schooler. He had freckled cheeks, a subtle remnant of baby fat too. His sweaty, curly hair was black with green highlights, like a jade. His eyes shined with that same rich hue. Yet, it wasn't his lack of muscles or the exhausted state the boy was in that grasp her attention, rather, those eyes of his which held onto a pure sense of devotion and spirit. His body wanted to give in, yet his eyes never dulled, his irises never wavered to the world ahead.
That was the day she first met Izuku Midoriya.
Snapping back to reality, Yuki realized they were at the end of her road, seeing the name 'Nana Hiroshi' written on the card. "Yuki," Her shoulder trembled at her Mom's hand, feeling it squeeze. "Take your time, we know this is alot for you to handle but... we're here."
A singular nod and soon she slid the door aside, holding it for the rest to enter before closing the door, head against it, afraid to turn and face what could very well be the end of her journey to save Nana. If she couldn't save her, if SIVA's power wasn't enough... then nothing could. Sighing out her nose she pushed back, holding her arms out to warn them to stand back.
"Good luck, Yuki." That small vote of confidence from Izuku kept her focused, drawing her arms close to her hips, balling up her fists while the whirl and hiss of nanomachines spurred to life, the red aura surrounding her form intensifying, the very walls trembled at her tethered form's rising pressure.
"SIVA... Enhance... One-Hundred percent." Her thoughts trailed gently alongside SIVA's, body bound in her armor from the night she battled Vosik, displaying her hybrid form between her standard metallic form and Aksis' old chassis. His Archon helmet stretching across her face once she slipped the mask over her features, the sharp, rectangular eye and two to her left shone across the room.
"Such power and efficiency," Dr. Yoshiharu started to murmur like Izuku, scrawling down notes. "So that intense wave of energy can be contained based on the user's desired preference..." She smiled at the good doctor's ecstatic expression, he always became so child-like with wonder when it came to her developments. "Simply fascinating - ahem, sorry, please proceed with the treatment."
With a nod at his simple consent, Yuki stood over her sister's frail body, she had grown so much since that day. While Yuki was sixteen her little sister had recently turned thirteen, finally, a teenager, though her body was still that of a twelve-year-old, she did seem to have a little less baby fat on her cheeks and even a subtle development on her chest was noted. It pained Yuki to see this, to see her little sister's younger years stripped away from her. "Don't worry, Nana, you won't have to sleep away another year of your life, I promise."
Rasing her palms toward her body, a low, rosy glow emanated from her fingers, stretching to envelop Nana's body with nanomachines, a faint, red twinkle here and there due to the sunlight refracting through the windows.
Beginning rejuvenation process | Vitals are normal | Beginning neural link
No one knew what exactly Yuki was doing, rather, no one realized the girl's mind simply wasn't there anymore. She was back on a bright, neon blue road surrounded by darkness as many of the roads lit up, sending white flashes at lightspeed throughout Nana's mind. Red slowly traced Yuki's footsteps, coursing through the endless highways that made up the dark world, infecting damages along the roads, bridging blocks that had been displaced or torn apart years ago.
This was a delicate process that Yuki had to remain completely fixed upon, she was basically conducting a full diagnostic and regeneration of Nana's damaged brain, the nanomachines stimulating the girl's stem cells to aid in the repairs to Nana's damaged tissue. It was funny to Yuki for a moment, rewinding to before she met Izuku and she'd be afraid to so much as graze another with her power, afraid of consuming them, and now here she was, injecting another with hundreds upon thousands of her nanomachines in order to save a life.
Beside her, Aksis materialized, crossing his arms thoughtfully. "I am nearly done, the process is complex but manageable, you may return," With a thankful nod, Yuki cut her connection to Nana, blinking while lowering her hands, shaking off the sudden loss of strength as Izuku caught her
"A-are you okay?" Shakily she held up a thumb, pushing to stand on her own two feet
'It's done, now... we wait' She crumpled the paper in her fingers, she hated that word now, every time she waited something happened, and she was completely through with waiting any longer. "Please SIVA, save her..."
There was silence, a painful, longing silence that no doctor nor parent, or student broke. Yuki stood there, motionless, hidden behind her armor while watching the steady rise and fall of her sister's chest, mouth ajar, her eyelids flush to her face. They waited... and waited... and waited...
Izuku bit his lip, the rational side of his brain wanted to speak up. "Yuki..." He stepped forward and threw back his worries for the girl that needed him now. Gently, his hand snaked around her own, feeling her metal fingers coil in return, glancing to his hopeful smile. "Give her time." These were not the words his mind demanded he say, rather, he took a page from Yuki and said 'screw it' to the whims of his thoughts.
Izuku could understand her thoughts through the mask, it was how he felt watching her slumbering body for days, a dreadful abyss as he tried to hold onto the fragments of hope for her recovery, it was so cold and dark, suffocating his drive and ambitions. He needed to be here for her now, encase... the worst occurred.
Slowly, Yuki pulled forward, pressing her left hand onto the edge of the bed, leaning down to bow her head, her armor slowly reverting back to her casual wear, Izuku's jacket clung to her body supportingly like his hand that never let go. "...p-ple-ase... w-wa-ke u-up..." She forced the words through a few painful tears, biting her lip as it trembled. "Please, Nana, please wake up... wake up..."
...
I miss you...
...
I need you...
...
I love you...
...
Her chest rose and fell, her eyes forever shut. Yuki's own orbs widened as nothing changed in her right eye, and SIVA never said a word to her. Her body started to jitter as her breath hiccuped. Even at a height of her power, even reaching the perfect Enhanced state... she still couldn't save the person she strived for most.
No one could bring themselves to tell her, Izuku was the only one that continued to wait alongside her, a foolish hope most would say but his heart kept beating with resolve. Yuki had always done things he doubted any sane person could consider, she smashed his expectations time and again, she loved him, a nerdy, plain, boring-looking kid like him with no regrets. His frown fixed, squeezing her hand.
He didn't know why, and his rising blush didn't know it either, but he spoke without thinking. "She'll wake up," He felt her eyes snap to him, his own never leaving Nana's form. "She will wake up, I know she will because she's your sister," His hardened stare shocked her, causing her own tempered heart to skip. "If she's anything like you, she'll win and wake up too!"
"Izuku..." Her eyes shook but kept the tears from flooding, nodding as she turned her head back to watch the young girl... and the soft groan that escaped her. "Ah!" Yuki leaned forward, wondering if she just dreamt up that noise or if... "Come on, wake up! Wake Up, Nana!"
Gradually, as if by hearing the older siblings plea, her eyelids twitched, adjusting to the light she hadn't seen in so long, displaying her vibrant, matching blue orbs to the onlookers, though the pupils were slit like a predator compared to Yuki. Her dull expression was met with a groggily moan, feeling uncomfortable with her body hooked to machines but she managed to shakily sit up, seeing she wasn't alone.
"W-what...?" Her voice was very hoarse and dry, but it was faintly snarky or held that vocal tone, and her accent had a strange foreign lisp to it. "...w-where... mama... papa?" That alone broke their hearts, groggily her sense of reality was flooding back, clutching her forehead as she blinked, staring wildly at the bluette before her. She squinted, practically allowing her eyes to bulge to unbelievable sizes, her mouth ajar, revealing her sharper canines. "s-s-sis, wha... w-what... I-I."
It was heartbreaking, the girl started to panic as from the heart monitor spiking erratically, realizing she wasn't where she once thought she was. The sight was unbearable for Akame, like a child lost in a body they never once had. Doctor Yoshiharu kept his silence, crossing his arms tightly. Izuku felt his own heart twist for the petrified girl, was this how Yuki felt, waking up to her world turned on its head?
"M-mama... P-papa.. wh-where are th - I, I re-remember... wh-where did, h-how did, Yu-" Nana froze, her older sibling tugging her frightened form into her arms, pressing the girl's head against her chest as her body shook, tears dripping down her cheeks. It was so painful to watch and to have to say the last thing she wanted to hear her say
"I-I'm... s-sor-ry..." Her words broke like her floodgates, feeling her sister's frail arms twist at her shirt, head attempting to shake before the realization finally hammered down on the little girl
"Mama... Papa..." In only a few short minutes, the reality of their situation sunk in, years of blurs meshed and connected due to SIVA's interference, plugging in the missing pieces that never would have appeared. Nana's face scrunched up, and her heart caved... "*Hic* n-no..."
"M-Mama! P-Papa!" She wailed between her hiccuping cries, sobbing into Yuki's chest as the girl's crying battered their ears, bleeding their hearts for the pair that had lost everything but each other. Despite the wails of anguish, Yuki sat with her sister for the whole day, never once letting her go, and not a soul dared to interrupt the siblings who, after years apart, grieved together for the two most important people in their lives who were robbed right in front of them.
To Be Continued...
This was painful to write, the thought of waking up only to be basically told your family was dead and gone... I don't want to imagine that anymore. Well, this is the end of the gut-wrenching stuff... I think, for now anyway. I hope you enjoyed, appreciate the support as always, seeya in the next chapter heroes!
Next Chapter: Perfect Surprises
Yuki: The day has arrived~!
Izuku: This feels weird, we're going to be living with everyone for the rest of UA.
Yuki: *Grins* It'll be fiiiine, besides, you got me to keep you company, hehehe
Izuku: *Blushes* Y-yeah! U-um, next time, Perfect Surprises!
Yuki: Go Beyond!
Izuku: Plus Ultra!
