Chapter 21 - The Perfect Friends
If Yuki could she'd scream. About her faults, her shortcomings, heck, even just her life in general, as there was no other way to truly summarize her life, unfortunately, shrapnel ensured she couldn't so much as let out much more than a whimper or gasp, kinda pathetic but it's a leap compared to utter silence from her end of the proverbial coin.
Todoroki was a big help the day before, keeping her emotions in check as he became the first person to have seen just how much fate had taken from her, not just her family and parts of herself, but to taunt her further by leaving her little sister in a state she may never wake up from. He was an understandable guy and swore to keep what he saw to himself which she respected greatly.
Now, however, as she strolled down the street her one-track mind diverged to the flustered cinnamon roll of a best friend beside her, and someone she may or may not have a crush on but less about those thoughts the better for her sanity's sake. Nothing wrong with it just that she couldn't quite make heads or tails of the idea - Again, putting it out of mind as her elbow jabbed his side.
'Relax, Kyoka's chill like me, you'll be fine' Her note helped bring his own unstable thoughts back down to earth, though the situation was one Izuku had never in a million years expected to so much as fall in his lap, the very idea of visiting a friend's house that wasn't Yuki's still had him on edge, primarily because he was a guy and the others were girls
He shook his head clear, "I'm overthinking this again, Yuki's right," "Sorry, it was just out of the blue so I don't know what to think." Yuki just up and texted him with urgency, saying for him to accompany her to Jiro's for something that warranted only the two of them, and Yuki had answered nothing the entire way here. "Is this about SIVA?"
Despite Yuki's upbeat tune, he could see it, how she moved with less animation, and the fact she was constantly staring into space reminded Izuku of himself when heroes or Quirks were brought up. Something kept clouding her mind and what was worrying is that he had no discernable idea of what that could be.
Before his mouth could make a reply, they stopped before a large, white house, a little more modern than the rest of the streets, but from the characters on the plate against the wall they had arrived. Yuki stepped forward with the anxious Izuku in toe, both stepping toward the door as she gave a strange knock.
'Izuku-' He grabbed the note quickly from the girl with her head turned away from him. '-I trust you. You're a dork but kind, and that's why I want to do this, because... I want to trust others like I trust you'
Unable to make a reply, Izuku stood there with a small smile, holding onto the note dearly as the door before them swung open only not to what he expected to see. Instead of Jiro herself or maybe her parents, it was another boy, "Who's he?" He had fax-brown, slightly wavy hair, and magenta eyes, frozen mid-sip of his soda upon spotting the duo. "...Um, hello?"
"Ahh, the she-demon with the blades!" Was his shriek before Yuki immediately tackled him back into the hallway, startling Izuku who almost kicked into Full Cowling on instinct
Yuki never would have expected to see this creep again, especially after he tried to sneak into Kyoka's room a while ago. The two nearly trashed the place but Yuki's learned alot since then, now she had her - "What the hell's going on!?" She flopped to the floor, narrowing her eyes at the slithering shadow that coiled up and behind the perplexed Jiro, cowering over her shoulder as she stood there slightly flustered
"The crazy woman with the blades is back, I told you she'd come for me!" His arm pointed accusingly at Yuki who huffed, ready to cut the guy to ribbons if not for Jiro pinching her nose, jamming one of her jacks into the guy's neck to disrupt his nervous system
"How Akio puts up with you is beyond me," Jiro watched as his eyes slowly transitioned to emerald again, his thumb raised. "Sorry dude but you need to get that guy to control himself."
"You tell that to the immortal creature that's somehow more scared of a mute than his own kind," The boy coughed as he picked himself up, thankfully unharmed as the tension died out at his nervous smile and bow. "Sorry about that, Yuki, he's just not comfortable around you... ever."
"I'm sorry I'm so confused," Izuku put his hand up nervously, then his wary gaze met Yuki. "Are you okay, Yuki?" She nodded, patting the boy on the shoulder gently. "N-not to be rude but who are you?" Now his attention was solely on the strange boy that both girls seemed to know
"Ah, right," He smiled, putting his hand forward. "I'm Akio, I'm Kyoka's-" A hand immediately slapped itself to his lips even as he continued to talk, then he swiveled to see Jiro's face slowly turning pink as his own stupid realization kicked in, scratching his own flustered cheek. "Swrry."
"Don't worry 'bout it," The rocker sighed, taking her hand away with a smirk. "So, if you guys are done wrecking the place come on, my parents are out right now so no unnecessary eavesdroppers."
Jiro had already so much on her plate, between Yuki's worrying messages that were purposely vague, and judging by Midoriya's expression he was kept in the dark 'till this point as she was. Yuki was an open girl but this level of security was unlike her. Although Jiro had her own fair share of 'unbelievable' secrets as of late, and one she'd rather not outright say in front of her best friend and classmate right now.
"So you're Izuku Midoriya," Akio put his hands behind his head while inspecting the anxious teen behind Yuki. His eyes were sharp and from a clear inspection of the boy it was clear he was a mixture of nervousness and confusion, a hint of mystery too given all the information being tossed at him. "Bet this is alot to digest, what with Yuki being strange, and then there's me and that grand entrance by Yuki."
"Yeah, about that," Izuku began, looking between the two. "Why did you panic when Yuki saw you, and then attacked you, then you're eyes changed color..." He was starting to divert to murmurs again that visibly trailed from his mouth, another spectacle neither Akio nor his shadow could understand
"Wow, I thought my commentary was weird, this kid's strange," Akio would concur there. Thankfully, Yuki flicked his nose to snap the dork out of his trance as the group entered the livingroom
The large open space had wooden walls lined with many bookshelves containing records, CDs, and obviously books. Another wall beyond two sofas and a coffee table was a mantle with pictures to speakers and a TV projector, a carpet placed before it with a kitchen door hung open to the other end.
"You guys want anything?" Jiro asked while stepping toward the kitchen, jabbing an earjack back at the trio, although she already had Akio sorted while he sat with his legs crossed on the sofa
"I-I'm fine, thanks," Izuku studdered out while Yuki looked lost in thought
"Yuyu?" Jiro raised a brow as the girl fumbled out of her own head, holding out a note
'Water please, sorry' Now Jiro was frankly, much more concerned for her wellbeing, she's been spacing out ever since the Sports Festival
There was merely the ambiance of the wall clock greeting the trio that looked to Yuki, her hands clutching the pages she had pre-written beforehand, but she was afraid. She knew the tension was growing but her hands refused to budge, everything, the very truth was here in ink and she wanted to scream, to run and never speak of this again, she was half-tempted to believe SIVA put her up to this somehow.
"Hey, um, Yuki?" Her eyes trailed to Akio still sat on the opposite sofa, rubbing the back of his neck gingerly. "I'm... not as close to you as Kyoka or Midoriya here, and I get I have no right to know what's going through your head, but..." He eyed the two, both waiting expectantly for their friend but took the time to hear Akio's words as he smiled calmly. "Fear can be so tantalizing, even if it destroys you in the process."
"Akio, you don't-" Jiro tried to intervene but from that knowing look in his eyes it was obvious he made up his mind, allowing his shadow to manifest next to him, a sheen of magenta in the umbral shape. Apart of her felt worried about the reactions but this wasn't something she had any right to try and suppress
"Fear is something I know all too well, girl," The shadow spoke, eye narrowed. "What was it you wrote to Midoriya? 'I trust you'," That made her eyes harden under her mask at his snooping, but from his casual reaction, he didn't care. "I may be a pathological liar, but I never go back on my word - What about you?"
Again there was silence and Yuki lowered her head shamefully. Much as she didn't like him, 'Viral', he was understandably right. How long has she kept these problems of hers bottled up? She was starting to conform to who she was when All Might and her Mom helped her, she refused to make any mention of her past, of SIVA, all for the sake of preserving what sense of self she had left, or out of fear of becoming alone again.
Izuku wanted to say something but this wasn't something words could fix, it was clear in her eyes as his own widened as Jiro and Akio's mirrored the reaction. The mask came down, set between her lap and his. Dark rings sat under her eyes, the scar down her right eye looked worse, larger, and darker in coloration as a few more became visible since last Izuku saw her face.
Her hair failed to hide the hollow look on her face as a ghostly smile crept up her face. The sight made Izuku bite his cheek, seeing her this way was as horrid as when she ran after the USJ Incident, the look of fear not of them but of herself. Again, his mind was reminded that not everyone's background was as cut-clean as his and that he knew almost nothing of Yuki's background.
'I do trust them, more than anyone in my life, which is why-' She flipped the page, looking to her closest friends with a tired expression. '-You deserve to know everything'
She sat the pages down on the large coffee table, placing them in order for the trio to read, and every word they could imagine was her voice speaking out loud as each word was typed onto the paper, some even had a few droplet stains.
'Someday everyone realizes life is not always fair, and that some are gifted above others simply by chance, while the rest are left only with two choices. To give up and accept what's laid out before them, or take what they've got and moved forward. Others... aren't always given that choice'
'So let me start by saying, hi guys, my real name is Yuki Hiroshi, and I was once Quirkless, and I still am from a technical standpoint'
Yuki sat there in her room, head back on her pillow while staring aimlessly at her ceiling, the mask clutched gently to her chest was the words swam in her head in the vague memory of her own voice, a teary smile crossing her lips as words were thought but never vocalized.
"My family was killed in an accident years ago, and when I recovered from the accident involving a hero and a villain I was left without my vocal cords, right eye, my right hand, left leg past my knee and many other messed up things that I shouldn't have survived, but I did thanks to what everyone believes, or what I made people believe, is my 'Quirk', SIVA."
"SIVA, at some instance, bonded to me, nanotech that could think of its own accord and like me, had nothing, not even a name. He repaired me, gave me the chance to try again as I wandered the streets, no way was I going up for adoption, to lose the last fragment of the person I was to a family I never knew. It was just me and SIVA and I was happy with that, or the delusion of happiness that is."
She could remember those days like the sun, they weren't always great being a kid out on the streets with only a strange computer in her head for company. Then her smile faded, and a shiver traveled down her spine horribly like a nightmare.
"One day... I lost control, SIVA went haywire as we stepped in to help someone, a stupid hoodie kept a little girl from being identified but that didn't matter, I... changed, my mind was all static and code, conscience thoughts reduced to mindless feedback. Consume. Enhance. Replicate. The words rang like some horrid melody as I followed the words like a sheep, I don't know how much destruction we sowed in vain to stop."
"Then All Might saved us, gave me a brief second to regain a semblance of control, and it was all over, I won't go into details as he went through alot to keep it all bottled up from the media for my sake, I still haven't repaid him."
Yuki sat up, observing the pictures lining her wall like a crime investigation wall. Of her, All Might, her Mom, her biological parents, and sister. Now she had more, ones with her and Izuku, Kyoka and even Akio, a selfie with Kirishima, Toru, and Yaoyorozu. There were many and each one made her smile sustain itself.
"If not for Japan's number one hero I may have never accepted being adopted by the Sky Comet Hero, Valstrax, aka my Mom, Akame Azuru. I may never have wanted to become a hero or go to UA, I may... have never met any of you, and... I would have never known that my little sister was still alive."
In Yuki room, the girl had curled up on her bed, hugging herself to one of her pillows as the pain fluctuated across her entire body, freeing the tears in her eyes as pain and heartache racked through her bones, and soft whimpers escaped her lips, even as the outline of her scar glowed, becoming wider and darker.
"I owe everything to the people I trust, which is why I want to tell you, that..."
The note, like the final page of a tale, turned, and their hearts and minds collapsed. '...SIVA will consume me' The final written words came down on a castle of glass.
An anvil tied itself to Izuku's heart, crashing and tearing down on the horrifying reality set before him. The girl who's been there for him every step of the way, who, with a smile, encouraged him to become a hero more than ever before. Who, even now, shared her darkest memories with the people she trusted, and what was ultimately her fate.
"Eve above..." Akio put a hand over his mouth, his shadow's eye remained wider than most
"Yuki... no..." He could barely breathe, but her eyes were soft, head bowing with a shaky smile to them both. She had expected this but again she trusted them to be there when... she and SIVA may not succeed in reverting the command
"That's not right... it isn't fair," Jiro bit her lip, angry for never realizing how much Yuki has been suffering, but of course, how could she know? The funny, tactile girl who played with her hid behind a mask, without a voice to cry out with, who lost all those she believed in. "T-there's something you - we can do, right? You can't seriously accept this!?" She snapped defiantly
Again, Yuki shook her head, eyes glancing to the page as she flipped it over. 'SIVA was once nanotechnology programmed with commands, it's acting like a 'virus' and has started to reverse the injuries it healed, if I can't learn to control my power then it will consume me, and I won't survive the backlash this time, and me exerting my power at the Festival inadvertently sped up the clock, so this is all my fault'
"You can't!" Izuku reached out, he didn't know why, but the thought of just... accepting this was wrong. SIVA wasn't just a Quirk, it was apart of Yuki, and neither deserved to disappear, he couldn't bear that thought at all. Gripping her hand tightly he stared back, tears beginning to sting his eyes. "You have to... I... I don't want you to die!" "You can't leave your sister, if and when she wakes up, alone."
"Neither of us," He turned his eyes to Jiro, her hand atop his as she did her best to hold back her own emotions, it wouldn't be right to make things more stressful for the girl. Jiro pulled her head high to meet Yuki's startled gaze. "You're my friend, heck, you, Midoriya, Akio, everyone," She forced a smile. "Sitting by and doing nothing for any of you isn't right, we can help find a way to fix this."
"Kovik, he's the one that brought SIVA here," All eyes met the shadow, even Akio was surprised at the scary glare from the umbral form. "That fanatic planned to use it for himself - Least that's what I know, if anyone may have answers, it's that nutcase, so I think I'll go track him down for you, don't worry, I'll leave him alive for you to maim with your bare hands." He winked or blinked it was hard to tell with one eye
"If I... if we can't so much as save someone we care for then how can we call ourselves heroes!?" Izuku bellowed, his heart raced and every word was a vow. He'd find a way, do anything to help her this time around
*Thump*
Jiro and Izuku were surprised, finding their heads buried against Yuki's shoulders while she held them tightly, her heart was trembling, and that clock was ticking slowly but right now, she could just forget, the warmth in her arms soothed her worries, her doubts for a moment burdened by SIVA as she felt her body release her pent-up tension for a single second of bliss.
Jiro smirked, bracing her friend with a pat on the back. The idea of walking into that classroom, knowing one seat would sit abandoned next to her, replaced with some stranger vexed her. Jiro never was a person to wear her heart upon her sleeve, but with Yuki, there's never any need to hold back, sing her heart out and play the hours away into the night. But then the idea of standing there, playing alone without her there was... isolating.
Izuku jammed his eyes shut, he wanted to become a hero no matter the costs but was afraid he may never get to stand with Yuki, her shadow standing next to his, her hand intertwined with his own. Now, becoming a hero wasn't all that he longed for, and if he waited, he may never get the words across in time.
Yuki suddenly gripped them tighter, whimpering as they felt the very skin of her arms fluctuate with heat, her body shivered as static resonated from her body. Both held her tightly, allowing her something to brace as she rode out an awkwardly timed disruption. "We got ya, Yuyu." Jiro soothed
"And we're not letting go," Izuku assured her as she bowed her head, breathing heavily as the wave passed, the scars on her arms reappearing. And for a brief moment, her right hand lost its skin and flesh, unveiling the rusted metal underneath as cracks began to slither across its sharp endoskeleton
Akio smiled, patting her head gingerly also, his shadow stretching over his hand to copy his motion, the single eye glowing gently at the sight of Yuki's torment.
Warning | Time Reduced | Degeneration Increasing
"It'll be alright, SIVA, we're going to make it through this, together," Yuki pulled away, holding out her right hand as she closed it tightly, two more fists knocking against her own with agreeable smiles between them. "Because we're not alone."
To Be Continued...
That's the last of the emotional stuff for now, but Yuki's against the clock as [Consume. Enhance. Replicate] takes ahold. Also, as you can see Jiro is one of my favorite characters, so having her actively involved in Yuki's story was something I wanted. I hope you enjoyed, seeya in the next chapter, Plus Ultra!
Next Chapter: The Enhanced Hero is Perfect
Back in class, internships are on the horizon but before anything can be done the class has one very important lesson ahead. Codenames.
A/N: Since I have no idea what to call the 'cables' on Jiro's ears I'm referring to them as 'earjacks', it makes sense to me anyway.