Songspiration: Nuvole Bianche by Ludovico Einaudi
Chapter Sixteen: Nuvole Scure
"Meet me at the edge of the forest. There's a gazebo there. Come alone. I'll be waiting for you."
Aisla frowned at the text on her phone, wondering who would send something so creepy to her at this hour of the night. It was already close to curfew and the sun had set long ago. She would have to walk all the way across campus in the dark to meet up with god-only-knew who. She didn't recognize the number and they hadn't replied to her when she'd asked. She had her suspicions, though. The only person she knew that was crazy enough to leave the school half an hour before curfew and randomly send her a message without context…was Katsuki Bakugo.
Or a stalker, her mind suggested. It could very well be a stalker or even a villain who'd somehow made it onto school grounds and was luring her out alone to capture her. But for what purpose? Aisla wasn't anyone special and she definitely wasn't that powerful. It made sense when Katsuki had been snatched up by the league of villains because he was powerful and strong and they'd wanted him to join their team. But Aisla? She wasn't anything like him.
It's probably just a stalker, she decided. Honestly, it was a little more believable than thinking Katsuki had finally gotten over his irrational fear of being in her contact list.
She'd been pacing her room for the last ten minutes, trying to decide what to do. She could ignore the message altogether, or she could report it and get whoever it was in trouble for being a creep. Or…she could do what the message asked and meet them at this hidden gazebo. She wasn't even sure she knew where to find this thing since she'd never seen it before. Knowing Aisla, she would walk around the school grounds until she got lost in the dark and ended up needing to call someone to come find her. That would be embarrassing.
With a resolute sigh, Aisla went to her closet to change out of her uniform. She pulled on a black shirt and some leggings, then grabbed her sneakers and left the room. She was just going to check it out. If she thought anything fishy was going on, then she'd leave right away. It wouldn't hurt to look… Or so she hoped.
"Where are you off to in such a hurry, Ru?"
"Roki!" Aisla spun around so fast she tripped and fell onto her rear. Shoto leaned against the wall with crossed arms and an amused expression. He made no move to help her up. "What are you doing here?" she asked.
"I smelled something fishy," he said. She waited for more. It didn't come.
She forced a laugh. "That's really funny, Roki! I don't know what you mean, though. I'm just…getting a snack! Nothing fishy here! Unless we're talking about the sushi I have in the fridge downstairs!"
"So, you've resolved yourself to becoming a liar," he mused. "Interesting."
Aisla blew out a breath. "Alright, fine! I'm meeting someone outside, okay?!" she hissed through clenched teeth.
His smile grew. "That wasn't so hard, was it?"
Aisla groaned and got to her feet, picking up her fallen shoes from the floor before smoothing her shirt back into place. "Well anyway, if you'll excuse me."
"Message me when you get back," he called after her.
She turned back to him with a small smile. "Sure."
Oh my god, he knows! she silently fretted. I'm so obvious! He knows I'm meeting Katsuki! Who am I kidding, I don't even know if I'm meeting Katsuki!
I'm such an idiot.
The idiot kept walking.
A few of her friends were still downstairs but they paid her no mind as she quietly snuck out the front door and made her way across the lawn to the woods on her left. It only took her two minutes of wandering to decide that she wasn't getting anywhere without a light. The woods were pitch black, the leaves from the trees blocking any light the dorm buildings provided. She stumbled over roots and crashed into branches one too many times before letting out a curse.
"Where's my phone?" she grumbled in annoyance, patting her pockets…
I don't have pockets, she realized with horror.
Of course, she'd chosen to wear leggings to this impromptu meeting and had forgotten to grab her cell before leaving her room.
Wonderful.
"Now what do I do?" she groaned in annoyance. She was this close to turning around and going back to her room to sleep when an idea struck her.
She blinked three times and cast her eyes toward the sky. "Mirror: luminous reflection."
This was an aspect of her quirk that she didn't think about often since it didn't have many practical applications—even fewer than her ability to reflect quirks. It was pretty much a neat parlor trick and nothing more. Using the reflective quality of her irises, she could redirect sunlight and, by extension, moonlight. The ability was heavily restricted by the fact that she could only use natural light, and direct sunlight was too much for her eyes to take, so she was limited to outdoor, moonlit night usage only.
Within seconds, her eyes were casting dim, silvery beams of light on the forest floor. She grinned at her brilliance, pleased she'd remembered this trick. She hadn't used it in months, since the time she accidentally dropped one of her favorite ribbons in the grass after dark, shortly after starting dorm life.
"Way to go, Aisla!" she praised herself as she continued walking, only this time her path was much easier to traverse. She sprinted through the trees, eager to get this over with. If it was Katsuki then he'd better have a good reason for summoning her here like this. If it was someone else…then they'd need to have an even better reason!
She didn't try to be sneaky as she navigated through the trees—her light would alert whoever was there anyway, and besides that, they were expecting her to show up, so there was no point in trying to stay quiet. Even so, she moved forward carefully and kept her guard up in case a surprise attack came her way. She wasn't expecting anything, but she thought it would be smart to stay alert.
Fortunately, she was able to find the gazebo without too much effort. A little ways into the woods, she saw a light shining in the distance and made her way toward it. The structure was quaint with vines and flowers growing everywhere, almost camouflaging it from view. But the lights that were strung around the pillars were bold and conspicuous, creating an almost mystical aura. It was pretty, even from several yards away, and she couldn't help but wonder who maintained the plants around something so far from the main campus.
A figure sat with his back to her on one of the steps. He didn't turn around, even as she stepped onto the white wood, her shoes making echoing thumps. She sat down beside him and let the light from her quirk slowly fade away.
"I thought that message might have been from you," she said casually, though she was secretly grateful it hadn't actually been a stalker.
"Of course, it was," he muttered as if that had been obvious from the beginning.
"You could have said something, you know," she pointed out, unamused by his response.
He shrugged. "You still came."
"Why did you call me here, Katsuki?" she asked. He wasn't the type to send her cryptic messages inviting her to a secret place in the woods for a casual chat. He had something on his mind, that much was obvious, but what could he possibly want from her? It wasn't like they had a lot of late-night chats.
He still didn't look at her. He was playing with something in his hands. He seemed nervous or anxious about something.
She frowned. "What's wrong, Katsuki?"
He peeked over at her from the corner of his eye. "Aisla?" he asked. He opened his mouth slowly and took a long breath, as though preparing to say something important. Several seconds passed and in the end, his teeth clamped shut. Then, he rushed out a question that Aisla was fairly certain was a diversion from whatever else he was trying to say. "What were you doing just now?"
She frowned and tilted her head to one side. "What do you mean?"
I was walking around in the dark like an idiot because I hoped I would find you, she added silently.
"That thing you were doing when you walked over here? With the light?"
"Oh, it's just something I can do with my quirk," she explained nonchalantly. "It's a trick I picked up when I was a little kid, after my quirk manifested. I used to be really afraid of the dark. One night, I was sitting in some moonlight from my window, too scared to sleep, and it just sort of happened! It's nothing special. Just like having a hands-free, crappy flashlight." She thought he knew that about her already but she supposed there hadn't really been an opportunity for her to need a flashlight until tonight. She didn't normally walk around in dark places without at least taking her phone along.
Not that she made a habit of walking around in the dark, period.
"You can shine light from your eyes?" He sounded almost impressed.
"Well, sort of." She brushed the hair from her shoulders and leaned back on her elbows against the top step. "I can reflect it. Just moonlight or like…sunlight on a really cloudy afternoon. "
"That's…pretty cool." He said this like an afterthought.
"I guess…"
What was this conversation? Was she really here just to have small talk with him? No…he was definitely tiptoeing around something here.
"I feel like you have something to say," she prompted carefully. While she enjoyed his company immensely, she didn't like the faraway look in his eyes or the twitching of his fingers like he was just itching to run away.
"Aisla…I wanted to talk to you about something," he murmured.
"Well, here I am." She offered him a smile but he still wasn't looking at her.
"You can't tell anyone," he told her sharply, then finally looked at her with an almost pained expression.
"You can trust me," she promised and hoped he heard the sincerity in her words. Would he trust her with this thing that was bothering him so deeply?
At last, he nodded, looked back down at his hands, and sighed. "My grandfather came to town a couple of weeks ago," he started.
She almost scowled. She remembered him telling her this on the night of their date, and it still sort of left a sour taste in her mouth. She hadn't fully forgiven him for standing her up, even if he'd had a decent excuse. Despite that, she wouldn't turn down a friend who needed someone to talk to. She would give him her undivided attention for as long as he needed.
"He…gave me a proposition," Katsuki continued when she didn't say anything. "He told me that if I could prove to him that I could be successful on my own, then I wouldn't have to…" He trailed off and clenched a fist. Something crinkled inside his palm and she realized he held a piece of crumpled-up paper.
She sat up and reached out to place a hand on his arm. He flinched slightly but didn't pull away from her. "What does he want you to do?" she prompted softly.
He took a deep breath and let it out in a long sigh before closing his eyes. He held out his hand, then slapped the ball of paper into her own. She looked at him curiously for a moment before opening it and attempting to read the splotchy script. The paper had been folded and unfolded, crumpled, and flattened out so many times it was nearly impossible to make sense of the words.
"He has a plan for my future," Katsuki said before she'd even finished the first line. "He wants me to work for him, and he wants me to go live with him so he can help me run my own company someday."
"That doesn't sound so bad—" she started.
"In America," he cut her off, voice a strained snap.
Aisla's mouth dropped open as she found the offensive word echoed on the paper in large, clear script. How did she respond to something like that? Katsuki moving to America? Away from her? They hadn't known each other for that long and only recently started "dating," but she cared about him more every day and wanted to keep spending time with him. She didn't want him to move to another country without her.
"Is…that something you want?" she asked carefully, hoping he didn't detect the fear in her own voice. She didn't want to influence his decision. If that was something he really wanted to do, then it was her job as his friend to support him in all of his endeavors.
"He basically told me I don't get a choice," he mumbled. "But I don't want to live in America. I don't want to work for that old fart, and I don't want to be his damned puppet! I want to be a hero, I want to surpass All Might and crush that nerd Deku into dust, and I want…" he stopped and his eyes met hers once more. There was an expression in them she'd never seen before: pain and anxiety…and fear. "You," he whispered, the word a breath on the wind.
"Me?" she repeated, dumbfounded.
He reached out and put a finger to her lips, tracing the shape with his thumb. "I like…doing things…with you," he stammered out.
Things…involving my lips? she couldn't help but wonder.
"Okay," was all she could get out. His thumb pulled down her lower lip and she let it stay that way, slightly parted as if in anticipation for something more.
"I don't know if I'm doing a good enough job," he admitted, eyes downcast now, in embarrassment or something else she couldn't tell. His fingers dropped to her shirt hem and clutched the fabric there in a shaky fist. "I don't know what I'll do if I can't prove myself to him by the end of school."
Aisla couldn't help the small gasp of surprise. "That soon?"
Katsuki might be moving to America…in less than two years? She couldn't accept that. They'd just started to see what it was like to be together. She couldn't say for sure how Katsuki felt, but she really liked him. She wanted to see what a real relationship could look like if they just kept trying. She'd never dated anyone before, so she had no personal experience in the matter, but she wanted to try with him. She wanted more.
"Aisla…" he looked back up, ember eyes locked on crystal lakes. "I need your help."
Her eyes widened. "Me? What can I do?"
"Everything," he responded passionately. "Please, it has to be you."
It has to be you…
He held her gaze for so long that she almost forgot how to speak. He never looked at her like this, with those pleading red irises. He must have been worrying about this since that night, every day wondering if it would be enough to please his grandfather. And he was going through all of that alone. Then he chose her to be his confidant.
No…this was so much more than that. This was Katsuki Bakugo. The powerhouse of a teenager who excelled at everything he tried, who boldly and proudly declared that he was the best of the best, whose pride was his primary motivator in almost every single aspect of his life. For that Katsuki Bakugo to call her out here like this and admit that he was afraid of failure… For him to ask for help… This moment was fragile, and yet it had taken all of his strength.
She wondered passively if this was all due in part to the fight he got into with Midoriya a few weeks back. He'd seemed humbler, somehow, and while the workings of his mind were a complete mystery, Aisla wondered how much time he spent second-guessing himself and his abilities after all. How much of his over-the-top bravado was for show, projected as a challenge to others as well as to himself?
It didn't matter. Katsuki was being more vulnerable tonight than she'd ever seen. And he'd chosen Aisla to hand these delicate, secret feelings to.
She threw her arms around his neck and buried her face in his hair, letting the paper flutter to the ground at their feet. He smelled so good right now, like woodsmoke and cinnamon mixed with his own Katsuki scent she would know anywhere.
His arms wrapped around her back without hesitation for once and he held her tightly. She heard him breathe in deeply and give a light shudder. "Will you help me, Aisla?" he whispered into her shoulder.
"Of course," she promised. He hadn't specified what exactly he needed help with, but she suspected it was this. The management of his insecurities, his vulnerabilities, his fear. Whatever it was, Aisla would be there for him through anything. "We're…friends?" Despite his bold words the other night, she still wasn't sure if he'd really meant what he said. He told her they were together, but did he still mean it? She wanted to believe that was true, but fear also made her question its validity.
"I told you, Aisla," he murmured without moving away, "we're more than that."
I imagined that, she thought. The words were too good to be true. She'd been wanting him to say those words for a while now, but he wasn't the type of person to do so. Then again, he also wasn't the touchy-feely type, or one to pour out his feelings in a gazebo at nine o'clock at night…
He pulled away from her. "We should get back," he said, as though he'd read her thoughts, then pushed to his feet and pulled out his cellphone, activating his flashlight app.
She breathed a silent sigh and wished he would read the thoughts that begged him to press his lips to hers again, to hold her under the twinkling lights of the gazebo and speak those words one more time so she'd be sure she really heard them.
We're more than that…
"Yeah," she agreed and stood as well, brushing off her rear as she did. "We're probably already in trouble for missing curfew."
He chuckled under his breath. "Probably."
He surprised her further by reaching out to take her hand. His cheeks were bright red when she looked up at him. He was avoiding eye contact again, but this time it made her smile. Shy Katsuki was adorable.
"Just this once," he warned her. "And you better not tell anyone. Or touch me in public."
She giggled and gave his hand a squeeze. "I wouldn't dare," she assured him, though she wasn't sure if she meant it.
They had only been walking for a few moments, guided by the light from Katsuki's phone, before he suddenly blurted out, "You've been to America."
"I lived there for a few years," she affirmed. "But I was really young. I don't remember much about it."
"Really?" He sounded disappointed.
"I'm sorry," she said, feeling guilty for not being of more help to him. "I wish I could offer more but I just don't remember anything from that time. It's all sort of a blur. I remember being adopted, and I remember a few things from being in foster care, but nothing about the country I lived in."
"You were adopted?" he asked, sounding shocked by the idea that she'd thought was common knowledge.
"Well…yeah," she answered slowly. "I thought everyone knew that already?"
He shook his head. "I just thought your parents moved here because they liked the country."
"Nope!" she disagreed. "They're actually Japanese natives. They lived in America for some time because my dad works as an International Aid Worker. Once his contract was complete in America, they came back here. He's had a lot less international jobs since they adopted me, but sometimes my dad gets calls for overseas work."
"Oh," he said thoughtfully. "Do they bring kids home with them a lot then?"
She giggled. "No, just me. I have a little sister, but she's their biological daughter. I was a special case. Or so they tell me."
Warmth filled her chest as they talked. It was so rare to have a normal conversation with him like this. No shying away or putting on fronts. Their steps were slow on the crunching leaves, fingers clasped tightly, as though each of them wanted to prolong the return to the dorm as much as possible. He usually didn't ask her questions about herself or her life, either, and Aisla had accepted the possibility that maybe he didn't really care.
Yet, here he was, asking about her history, absorbing each new piece of information with fondness that revealed itself through the occasional pulse of his hand or gentle glance from ember eyes.
"Do you remember your real parents?" he inquired as they continued onward.
She shook her head. "Not really. Sometimes I think I can picture their faces in my mind, but then the images get distorted. I was only two when they died and I don't have any pictures of them. It makes me feel so guilty sometimes, though. Why can't I remember my own mother's face, you know? It feels wrong."
"It's not wrong," he assured her. "You shouldn't feel bad about it. No one that young would remember. Even something like their own parents. And you have a good family now, right?"
"Right," she agreed. Her smile faltered when she realized that Katsuki had summoned her here to talk about his life and problems, and she'd somehow derailed the conversation. "Well, anyway. Thanks for the pep talk! We should hurry up now."
I'm sorry I made it about me… I'm such a bad person. This was supposed to be about you.
"You don't have to do that, you know…" His tone was surprisingly soft.
"Do…what?" she asked quietly, though she thought she knew what he meant. She was waiting for an answer but one never came. As they emerged from the treeline, something wet dripped onto her face, distracting her from the conversation. She looked up at the sky. The moon was no longer visible. She'd been so focused on Katsuki that she hadn't even noticed the disappearing light or the sudden smell of rain.
"Nuvole scure…" she mused, recalling the Italian phrase from an essay she wrote once on piano compositions, back when she thought she was talented enough to play.
She wasn't.
"What?" he asked in confusion.
"It means 'dark clouds.'" She pointed up at the sky. "Rain is coming. We should get back before—" Her words were cut off as water started to pelt down from the sky. "Before that happens," she finished dryly.
"What did you say?" he shouted over the sudden down-pour as he shoved his phone into his pocket to protect it from the rain.
She shook her head to tell him it wasn't important, but he gave the hand he still held a hard yank, forcing her forward. She gasped in surprise. Rain soaked his hair and dripped into his eyes, but he didn't seem to notice. His gaze was trained on her own hair, scanning over it curiously.
"Katsuki?" she tried, wondering what that look was about. His free hand reached out toward her and she thought he might touch her face or maybe even push her away. Instead, he twisted a strand of her wet hair between his fingers and looked down at it in fascination.
"I've never seen your hair like this before," he said with a barely detectable note of awe in his tone.
"Oh," she said by way of answer, unsure what else to add. He wanted to touch her hair because it was wet? Why?
She looked over his own hair, which was equally as soaked as hers must have been, and found herself wanting to feel it as he felt hers. Suddenly, she understood the look he was giving her.
She took a step closer, which was about as much as she could manage with how close they already were, and slid a hand up his rain-drenched shirt. She felt him take a deep breath as her free hand felt the taut muscles there, gliding up and into his hair at the base of his neck. She tangled her fingers in the strands there—
—and then they were kissing.
She couldn't honestly say who started it. She'd felt herself start to pull his face down, but there hadn't been any resistance on his part and his lips had captured hers before she'd even fully made the decision to kiss him. Rain continued to fall on and around them but she didn't care. She released his hand so she could cup his face in both of hers, and felt his hands go around her waist, holding her against his body. They shivered together, but whether that be from chill or something else, she couldn't say.
He murmured something into her mouth but the rain masked his words and she didn't want to stop the kiss to ask. She could feel what he wanted to say without having to hear him. He was showing her that he cared, that he had strong feelings for her. Just like he had that night when he'd come to her room and told her that they were together.
I want to keep doing this, she thought, with a silent plea to the gods. Please don't take him away from me. Don't send him to America. I want more of this boy.
She really liked Katsuki. She didn't think it was "love" just yet, but she wasn't ruling out the possibility that it could be in the future. She liked the way they fit together—in their training, in their friendship, in moments like these where he was vulnerable and let her in.
When they pulled apart, the moment was gone, washed away like the rain on their faces. Katsuki turned his face away and mumbled something about going back to the dorms before Aizawa came to collect them. She sighed but the sound was lost in the wind. She wasn't disappointed, though. She enjoyed every minute she was allowed to spend with Katsuki Bakugo, the good and the bad. She didn't want this moment to end, but if it had to, she would hold onto the memory and keep it close to her heart.
I'll help you, Katsuki, she silently promised him. I'll do whatever it takes to keep you here—right by my side.
A/N: Thank you to everyone who have continued to read and enjoy this story! It means so much to me that so many of you care. I appreciate each and every one of you! My favorite part of being a fanfiction writer is the ability to share stories with all of you. So thank you for making this fic possible!
Reviews:
LilFoxDemon666: He's definitely a stubborn character to work with! As a writer, it can be tricky trying to get characters to do/say things you want them to. Sometimes, I have to give up and go a different route because said character is like "Nope! Not doing that, Stele!" So I have to think outside the box. Aisla has been very instrumental in helping Katsuki sort of come out of his stubborn shell. Deep down, we all know he's a very kind and genuine person. On the surface, he seems like he doesn't care about others, but we know that's not true! So I try to play off of that. Confiding in Aisla is just one way he's making an effort to do that without it seeming too obvious that he is. That way, he can still pretend to be all badass XD
KirikaAndo: Thank you so much! I don't think anyone else has mentioned having read the previous version of this story. I'm so happy you let me know! I liked In Denial, but it was my first attempt at an MHA fic, and I've never really worked with an OC before (besides a few things here and there). Because of this, I only wrote a short story. Despite that fic's lack of popularity, I still loved Aisla as a character and I LOVED the way she and Katsuki worked together. I really wanted to try and flesh that story out and make it better. So while I did take things from the original story, I also tried to make this one it's own fic. I really appreciate you leaving a comment and letting me know your thoughts! I also enjoy me some angst, and you can't have Katsuki without also bringing in a little of that XD. As for pacing, I'm glad you mentioned that! I did try to make it as believable as possible. Taking In Denial as a reference, their romance was spanned over four chapters, so there was little space to work in a real plot or relationship building. So when I decided to write this one, I knew I needed it to go a little slower. But I also can't stand a slow burn, so I wasn't doing that lol.
MeMyselfAndI82907: (Chp.3) Hello, newcomer! Thank you for reading and leaving your commentary! I always love to hear what you guys are thinking/feeling about everything that's going on! Katsuki is adorable, for sure! Good effort, Katsuki. Keep trying to be all manly and stuff! (Chp.15) A lot of people seem to be that way! Especially Katsuki. It's totally understandable why it would be easier to DO than to SAY. I myself have NEVER been a good conversationalist. I can write fine (texts, emails, reviews, etc.), but speaking has always been difficult for me. Katsuki is sort of like that, too, which is equally fun as it is infuriating to work with! Sometimes, it would be so much easier if he'd just say what was on his mind. In this chapter, for example, he did his best to confide in Aisla and not hide his feelings behind anger. Once in a while, he's a smart boy!
Beta: yellowchikadee
Test Audience: yellowchikadee; Ashteriax
Extra thanks for the help with this chapter! It's so much better than it would have been without the suggestions I received! Thank you!
Funfact: This chapter was written way before it actually fit into the story. Originally, it was a stand-alone scene that had nothing about Aisla's past or Katsuki's concerns about his great-grandfather.