BNHA: Dual Fates
Chapter 44: Her Return!
In the darkness of her mind, Haru saw a quick flash of Hitoshi's face. Beautiful, purple eyes that were full of concern staring at her wide-eyed and mouth barely agape. Hitoshi... her faint voice, whispered and pained, echoed in her head as she remembered how amazing the vibrant colors were. The day before she ran away when her quirk developed those snake eyes and provided more of a clear view of her surroundings.
Though, despite the environment around the stage, what kept her attention the most was his lovely purple eyes. She hated how fear-struck he looked when he was affected by her developed eyes, but it was the most beautiful thing she's ever seen in her life.
It was hard to forget, to ignore. UV-Ray... once again, her thoughts echoed in a whisper. Her dearest best friend tried very hard to get her to come back to U.A, her pleas, and cries. It all flooded back to her in one go, the darkness inside of her seemed to have finally subsided after suddenly being rendered unconscious.
My friends... one last time, her whispered words filled her mind with images of her classmates all gathering around her and laughing. Enjoying her company, being able to stay by her best friend's side, she could feel a single tear trickle down her tan cheek and felt soft fabric when her fingers clenched a sheet beneath her.
The sound of a heart monitor reached her ears the more her consciousness returned and those blind hues opened just barely, watered up from the tears that brimmed them. Her brown bangs didn't even cover her eyes, for she was laying in a hospital bed covered by a warm blanket; both arms were beneath it, hiding the tight grips on the fabric. The smell around her, the sounds, the textures she felt, all indicated where she was at.
Soon, the deaths of those heroes and innocent lives she took in the past and recently, came back to her. Har-Har couldn't prevent her lips from quivering and her breaths from being shaky, she did everything she could to hold back her tears. The bite of her lip helped a little, to keep it in place, but it still wasn't enough to hide how she felt.
More water leaked from her eyes and trailed down the sides of her face, soaking the pillow under her. A rough texture, the smell, Haru knew that her wrists and ankles were bound by leather straps on the bed.
The overwhelming tightening of her throat made it almost hard to breathe, from how much she fought against crying and the heat from her cheeks burned from the hot tears that fell. A few hicks would escape her shaky lips and the quivering of her tightly gripped hands was proof, of how unbearable it was to fight.
Not much longer, did a nurse come in and slide open the curtain around her bed, only to grow shocked at the sight. "Doctor!" quickly, out she ran and left the door open for a familiar cybergirl to peek inside.
Those blue eyes lit up with astonishment, as she gazed upon Haru who had just woken up and saw those tears falling relentlessly. "Haru!" quickly, her feet sprinted across the floor, which seemed to perk up Hitoshi's, Kirishima's, and the other 1-A students' heads from her outburst.
Her small, pale hands reached for the brunette's one that was bound and gently wrapped them around it in hopes of easing any kind of fear. "I'm here now, Har-Har... I'm here now," the sound of her voice, Yukimura could tell that she was trying to comfort her and it seemed to have only made it worse.
An extended cry resonated through the room and more hot tears leaked from her blind eyes. Why?! Doesn't she hate me?! I left her! I left my best friend! I left the one friend that's like a sister to me! Haru's thoughts screamed and her own cries made the cybergirl rush to the top half of the bed and lean over. A soft embrace, engulfed into a hug, she couldn't help but want to hide the tears by pushing her face into the redhead's chest.
Everyone walked in, astonished at the display when they saw Haru crying hard into Saito's chest and bound to leather straps on the bed. Kirishima's red eyes grew emotional at the sight, very touched by their deep bond as friends and his sharp teeth gritted into view to hold back his own relieved tears.
"Why is she crying?" Hitoshi's confused gaze remained on the two friends and questioned the darker redhead next to him; neither of the two could hear the other concerned students walking in.
"I don't know, but it's so touching to see isn't it?!" This time, Eijiro lifted his forearm to hide his own tears and couldn't stop his hicks from escaping. "It's just- So manly, that their bond is this deep!" he cried out, as dramatic watery streams trickled down his face.
A stirring emotion could be seen in Shinso's eyes, for thoughts of how her father treated her, everything that Haru said about her life, all came back to him, and could almost understand why she was crying. The events that took place, how long she was kept at the League, anyone would be crying at this point.
The 1-A students all watched with sympathy, they were taken aback by her behavior and almost didn't notice their teacher behind them tiredly observing.
Hesitant at first, slow steps, the violet-haired boy walked over to Uviel's side and saw her eyes meet his own. No amount of words would be enough to describe how he felt about Haru's situation, however when he saw the cybergirl sit up a little and wipe the stray tears from her friend's face...
"Har-Har... Shinso-" Before the lighter redhead could even speak fully, an exhausted voice overran hers and her attention moved to Aizawa, when he squeezed past the students.
"Hitoshi, Kirishima, Saito, only you three can stay- everyone else needs to leave," Demanded the teacher, who seemed to have a bandage on the side of his face. Only Hitoshi knew about the black-eyed woman that smacked him away, but he dared not to mention it yet lest confusion and caution would stir.
"But, Mr. Aizawa! We all want to know what happened! She's just as much a friend to us as she is to Saito. We're worried!" Denki whined and clasped his hands together, praying that he'd let them stay but alas, his attempts were futile.
"No... This is a more personal matter. Plus, there's a limit to how many visitors she can have at once," a sigh left his lips when his eyes closed. With his hands being stuffed into his pockets, those dark eyes peeked back over to Yukimura and ignored the complaints from his students on their way out.
"Har-Har... You don't have to worry anymore. It's all over now," Softly spoken, Uviel tried to comfort or soothe what pain her best friend felt and stroked a couple of her brown strands. "We all have some questions for you, but I'd rather start asking when you're ready," a deeper, more saddened frown curled her lips down when she started to feel more emotional, the more Haru cried.
Thankfully, Aizawa was understanding enough to let the girl calm down on her own and decided to stand there until then. Though- his gaze moved to the cybergirl when he recalled what one of the teachers said to him before and it unsettled him a lot.
They said the hacker's signal vanished as fast as it appeared. It seems like- every time they hack into Saito, only for a short moment their location is revealed. A second was all they managed to see in time before it went away, during her final exam. This hacker is doing everything they can to hide themselves during their control over the girl... And locating their signal is probably the only possible way we can find them. he mumbled in his mind with fists clenching tightly inside his pockets.
That snake's finally taken care of, so now we only have two problems left... Yukimura's mental instability and Saito's hacker. But... he trailed off for a moment in his mind, to give Hitoshi a quick glance at his concerned expression. I doubt we'd have to worry too much about that girl. This boy told me while we were on our way to the hospital, that he felt a little responsible for not putting in enough effort to save her from herself. So, there's no need to worry. He'll most likely do everything in his power to help her now. in his mind, he pondered and returned his attention to the brunette.
It was obvious that the teacher was worried, luckily most of that feeling dwindled after the Hitman's death.
~~~Time Skip~~~
After what felt like an hour of standing in the room, Aizawa stared at the brunette who was now sitting up straight in her bed. Blind green hues were lowered to avoid their eyes and as clear as day, tiredness was evident on her face.
"Are you able to answer us now?" Questioned the teacher, to which he finally sat down on the end of her bed and kept his dark eyes upon her frame; after seeing her nod, he continued. "First- Why didn't you just stay with us? Why didn't you run back into the Sports Festival stadium and get help? You risked Hitoshi's life by not getting help from an adult and-" before he could finish, Haru couldn't help but interrupt him with words full of sadness.
"He was going to kill him," not once did she peek up at her teacher when her sentence made silence fill the room until she continued. "He told me he would hunt him down and kill him since he forced me to speak, during our match. He didn't want anyone to know about our family's secret... I knew, that he already knew about Uviel. So... I thought- if I stay away from them and everyone else, no one would have to die," she paused for a moment to hold back tears that brimmed her eyes and to give her tightening throat a break.
Her voice was wobbly, emotional and was a clear sign that she was fighting back her cries. "Miss Muni, someone who's allied with the League of villains, said that she wanted to test my inner villain to see if I really have what it takes. When I fought those heroes she told me to kill, Uviel and the others just so happened to be there. Then, I saw my father... Well, I smelled him and knew that he was waiting to kill her so- I ended up attacking her to try and make it hard for him to do it. I didn't plan on killing her, I was just trying to-" just when she was about to finish her sentence, Hitoshi's words overran hers and made those blind hues blink with astonishment.
"Push her far away?" questioned the boy, as he gently sat down on the side of the bed about a foot from Saito and leaned back. "Even though you were letting your dark side take over, your heart still wanted to keep Saito safe. Well- not just her, but your friends too. You knew it was dangerous because you could tell your father was nearby and they didn't know. So you kept up your act and did your best to avoid him killing anyone," he explained for her and those purple eyes soon met blind ones when she lifted her head in disbelief.
When he saw her nod, a sigh escaped his lips and he returned the gesture. "Har-Har... Can I ask something?" the cybergirl hoped her friend would approve and when she nodded, a relieved smile curled on her upper-black lips. "Why didn't you try coming to me or the pro heroes when you showed up after that weird portal appeared? You know... That area with the waterfall in the woods?" asking that made Haru's head lower again and clench the fabric between her fingers.
"I didn't have time to decide. I either had to let my father continue fighting them and risk someone dying, or I try to stop him myself... I only ended up getting pulled back to the League along with him," with pain in her voice, the snake girl answered.
"You mentioned, 'Miss Muni'. Who's that?" This time it was Kirishima's turn to ask, curious about the name and he was pretty sure the others would like to know too.
"She's... I don't know how you'd describe her, but she's allied with the League. She smelled horrible too. Like decay or something, mixed with perfume. My guess is, that she tried to hide her decay smell? I don't know..." Haru's voice lowered at the last part and lifted a hand to rub the side of her head.
"Miss Muni- Smells like decay?" Aizawa mumbled. He recalled a similar scent from the woman earlier when it was raining, with the sunset on the horizon. "I caught a whiff of that scent too when I saw this woman was staring down at Hitsoshi and the odd, Crocodile man. I approached her and asked why she was watching the two of you, but she hit me with her Gatling Gun," the teacher's hand soon rubbed at the fresh wound, that was covered by a bandage and pondered on her appearance.
"Mr. Aizawa?" Har-Har soon gained the said teacher's attention, when she asked, and felt his weight shift towards her with a questioning hum. "How's... My dad?" her conflicted feelings for her father still remained and the sound of her own heart ramming against her chest could be heard in her ears.
Silence befell everyone, a long one, until a few minutes later when Hitoshi answered. "He's dead... Endeavor finished him off with a bang after I caught him with my quirk. Kyoshi and I helped him," explained the boy with an awkward rub to his head. He hoped the girl wouldn't feel upset or cry again, however his eyes lit up with surprise when he looked back at her.
"You- You killed him? You..." the girl trailed off, too much in shock to know that her father was dead. Even though she hated him, she still felt pain in her chest. He's dead? Her disbelieving thoughts echoed and were completely unaware of Hitoshi, who moved closer to her face.
"Yukimura," a gentle touch to her chin, his fingers lifted her head and stared into those blind hues that almost sent a tinge of fear into him, but it was nothing compared to what he dealt with before. Pupils small, eyes wide with shock, despite going through her conflicted feelings about her father's death- she was afraid of her gaze meeting his. So, with a harsh jerk, the brunette's head moved away and refrained from looking at him.
All she received was an annoyed grumble from the boy and his fingers grasping her chin again, forcing her to view him once more. "I want you to look at me. Your eyes don't scare me... I've gotten used to them a little," Admitted Hitoshi as he stared upon those filmy hues. He could feel the tinge of fear he once had, nearly dwindle to nothing the more he kept his eyes connected to hers.
A moments' pause ensued when they remained like that for a minute; until he continued. "I know... I can sort of relate in some ways to you. You don't want to be a villain and neither do I. People have claimed my quirk is more for a villain, than a hero and have feared me because of it; I wasn't treated like all of the others..." the last part he mumbled and let a sigh escape. When he sat up straighter, his fingers let go of her chin, so he could give her some space. "You and I... Are almost the same. Only- you had a bastard for a father who kept trying to pull you down into the villainy path. Neither of us wants to be a villain, so we're fighting to stay in the light," a lift of his hand, he hoped she'd take it and opened his mouth to speak again. "Wanna join me? We can fight to stay in it together," this time, a toothy grin grew on his lips.
She just sat there, dumbstruck by his question and how they were similar in some ways. Uviel was in awe, never in her life had she known Shinso's quirk to be villainous, in fact, it never crossed her mind. Everyone stayed silent, for they knew that if anyone tried to push her then it'd be very risky for her and could result in straight-up refusal.
Hesitant, her vision could see the colored, misty view of the boy and his outstretched hand. He... Is similar? He kinda is, isn't he? He's been fighting the darkness just as much as I have. In her mind, Haru pondered and paused a moment. I'm... Not alone in this... her thoughts concluded and with a slow lift of her own hand, her fingers grazed his.
Aizawa, behind his scarf, smiled at how touching the moment was and felt a little relieved that Haru was willing to make an effort to keep fighting it.
"Yukimur-" Before Hitoshi could speak, her eyes filled with tears and an appreciative smile curled up her lips. At the sight of her sweet smile, red had painted his cheeks and he couldn't help but look away in hopes of hiding his blush.
"I'm not alone, in this. I have my friends," This time, after the girl fully grasped his hand and felt him stiffen up, his eyes returned to hers and those blind hues lit up with energy. "We can fight it together! Screw my dad, I'll show him that I can be a hero! He's not my father, he's just someone who kept a roof over my head, it's about time I disown him!" With a nice stretch, arms above her head, and let go of his hand, he watched the beaming aura he liked a lot- return as if it never disappeared.
He was dumbfounded by the sudden change and yet, all the more relieved that she came back to them; that she was becoming her old self again. Next, she leaned over a little and lifted a clenched fist close to him, and kept an encouraging grin present. "Seal the deal and don't leave me hanging.~" her toothy grin and closed eyes, the energy that returned to her face, the positiveness, made crimson flood his cheeks.
A shy smile was what she received, until he too, returned the gesture and gently connected his fist to hers. "Haru! Damn it... I missed this about you," Shyly mumbled Uviel before she nearly tackled the poor brunette over. The cybergirl let herself dangle with her arms around the girl's neck and thanked the heavens that her old self came back. "That's the Haru I know," Tears of relief trickled down her pale skin as did a smile.
"Hahaha, UV-Ray! Girl, I did everything I could to avoid involving you. I didn't want you getting hurt!" More of her positive vibe radiated from her frame when she laughed and hugged her best friend back.
"Hey! Can we eat out somewhere?! All four of us?!" Kirishima, who wiped his tears away, beamed his brightest grin and moved closer to the edge of the bed next to Shinso.
"Hahaha! I don't see why not!" Haru beamed just as bright as Eijiro and moved her attention to the teacher who was observing from the side, on the bed. "Mr. Aizawa..." Soon, her frown returned, a more serious side of her appeared and when she heard him hum in response, she continued. "I won't give up. Since my dad's gone now, I don't have to worry about him pulling me back down. I know- I'll get better. I promise, no matter how hard it is, I'll fight this thing inside me until it's gone," A determined gaze welcomed a veil of shadow over her blind and strict hues.
"Fine... But, you'll be watched like a hawk from here on. Edgeshot's waiting in the hallway for you and Saito, too. He has something to say," just as he was about to walk away, his steps halted for a brief moment with a quick oh- escaping his lips. "And- Principal Nezu already planned for your make-up tests. He knows about your desire to want to be a hero, so he prepared a lot of work for you to catch up on," his dark gaze soon moved to Hitoshi, who stared at him confusedly in return. "It'd be best if you stayed around her more often. Yukimura needs your support more than anything now and Saito too. So, even if things aren't bad, you still need to be around her," with that, he left through the door with a gentle close.
A few minutes later, Haru and Uviel left the room with the two boys behind them. Blue eyes looked around for Kamihara, while Yukimura came out dressed in casual clothes that the cybergirl had brought to the hospital way before she woke up; it was the same outfit as before, the three-split top. yellow attire. Just when they were about to leave a familiar, smooth, and deep voice met the lighter redhead's ears and made her whip around. "Saito,"
"K- Kami- I mean, Edgeshot!" Stars twinkled in her eyes upon the sight of the badass ninja, whose back was against a wall with folded arms.
"I need to speak with you and your friend if that's alright. I'm certain Aizawa already mentioned me," Away from the wall, he walked towards the group of four and kept his attention on the cybergirl.
"Sure, o-okay," nervous, a simple nod was what he received and the boys both looked in his direction.
"Saito... Principal Nezu told me that he has been watching you at your home, for a while now. So, I volunteered to take his place. He accepted, mostly because he knew I trained you during our internship and that he informed me of your hacker situation; but that's not all," for a moment, he paused and gave Haru a quick glance before returning to Uviel. "I wish to train Yukimura, as well. My methods will be able to teach her more self-control, so it'll be effective," he finished and saw how awestruck the girl was.
"Whoa, you wanna train me?!" Har-Har beamed and kept her head forward, refusing to move her blind eyes toward the ninja.
"Yes and... One other thing. This topic- I wish to speak to you in private, Saito," he hoped the cybergirl would accept the terms and when her head nodded, he mentally thanked her for her sense of understanding. "Come," with that, he turned around and made his way down the hall, around a corner.
"I'll catch up with you guys in a minute! Can we meet at Golden Buns?" Quickly, the cybergirl chirped with a bright smile and walked backward.
"Sure! I'll have to show Hitoshi where it's at though!" Laughter came from Eijiro when his hand rubbed the back of his head and answered the girl.
"That's fine! Thanks! Haru, don't do anything stupid," red flooded Uviel's cheeks after she said the last part and slowly trotted around the corner to meet with Kamihara.
"Hehehe, sure, I won't.~" giggles escaped the brunette and ignored the confused stares from the boys.