This will be the last chapter of the Work Studies Arc.
Suri discovers something about Izuku and tries to help him through it.
"Sir."
"Sir, no!"
"No!"
Suri grumbled as her eyes fluttered open. She was confused at first because it was still dark outside which meant it hadn't been her and Izuku's alarm to wake up for their early morning workouts. In fact she hadn't remembered the light being off so maybe Izuku had turned it off after she'd fallen asleep. She had the thought to go back to sleep but something felt off to her. Her eyes were still hazy from sleep but she could hear intense breathing coming from Izuku beside her. His chest was heaving, his eyes were clenched shut, and she could practically hear his teeth grinding against each other. Her arm, which was resting over Izuku's chest, was lifting and falling with rapid succession and she was made aware of the cold chill she got from his sweat against her skin.
Her mind was beginning to catch up with what she was seeing and feeling so she moved to prop herself up enough so that she could see him better. What she saw started to scare her and then she was flat out horrified by what happened next.
"SIR NIGHTEYE, NO! DON'T DIE!"
Izuku shot upwards, his hand outstretched, reaching for air, and his eyes wide with his pupils so tiny in them that they were nearly all white. It was so quick, and so buried in terror that he didn't even realize that he'd elbowed Suri in the cheek on the way up. The same terror made Suri not even care that her jaw was aching and it had been hard enough to almost bruise. She watched as Izuku shook, sobbing as he stared forward from his waking nightmare. He was trembling and Suri could now see the sheen of cold sweat covering his body as he hyperventilated and struggled to even breathe or speak.
"No. No. No. No. No," he choked out repeatedly as he began to rock back and forth.
"Izuku," Suri whispered as she sat up quietly and rested one hand on his arm and the other on his back. "Hey, baby, it's me."
"H-He's dead," Izuku sobbed, still staring wide eyed in terror off into the distance. "I-I… I watched him die. I… I-I could have…"
"Babe, I need you to breathe," Suri directed him. She moved from sitting beside him to kneeling and gently cradled herself into him. "Breathe with me okay?"
She moved so that she came around to the front of him so he could look at her and see how scared and worried she was for him. Her hands came up so that she took his in hers and calmly lowered his extended arm to her lap. She took in a deep breath and then let it out for Izuku to see and calmly prodded him to mimic her. It took a few tries before he finally followed along with her and he slowly began getting his breathing back to normal.
"Everything is okay," Suri assured him, her eyes watching him closely. Even then, he was still shaking and his eyes were still mostly white. It pained Suri so much to see him like this and her stomach sank from seeing how much fear was in his eyes. "I'm here, Izuku."
He nodded at that and swallowed the massive lump in his throat which felt painful even to Suri. It took a long time for him to stop shaking and sobbing but Suri sat him down, gently running her thumbs over the backs of his palms. Even after what she'd guessed to be ten minutes of them sitting in mostly silence while Suri quietly talked to him, he never stopped shaking. His sobbing had died down to a minimum but tears were still running slowly down his cheeks and his pupils were beginning to come back to normal size.
"You wanna talk about it?" Suri asked, not really expecting an answer.
He was still too out of it to completely answer. It was something Suri had mostly expected to happen so she gently nodded to him and gave him a caring glance. She looked down to her lap where she held his hands and let her thumb gently trace the scar on the back of his hand. She knew it would take a while to calm him down but whatever she could do to help him through his night terror, she'd do it. It hurt to know that he had had one but it made her curious if this was the first or if this had been going on. If it had, it pained her that she, Tooru, and Mina hadn't known he was going through this.
Had he really been hiding this from them, all so they didn't worry about him? That sounded a lot like something Izuku would do. And it reminded her that Izuku needed to be reminded that he was important. She knew he had wondered about his value before. This? This would never detract from his value and Suri hoped that she could remind him that.
"You know," Suri spoke in a loving tone. "I used to have these every once in a while. I mean it's really common for us lycanthropes when we're young cause our beasts manifest outside of the full moon in dreams. Atiena used to scare the shit out of me before I knew her or that she was even inside of me or a part of me. I um… I know it's not the same but… I know how scary night terrors and the panic attacks that come with them can be."
Izuku slowly nodded. It was a good sign to Suri that he was at least acknowledging that she was talking but it still didn't help her gut feeling that he wasn't talking. Sure she was getting through, but he wasn't letting her in completely.
"Is this the first one?" Suri finally asked after a long moment of silence.
"N-No," Izuku muttered weakly.
"Do Mina and Tooru know?"
Izuku simply shook his head, not trusting himself not to break down again. But he did break down and started shaking like he was freezing cold with tears beginning to well up in his eyes. When he finally blinked for the first time in minutes, it broke the dam and tears poured down his cheeks as he looked down into his lap. Suri moved and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly as he sniffled and bawled into her chest. She buried her fingers into his hair as she clutched him and couldn't help her own tears softly running down her cheeks. She nuzzled her face into his hair and gave him a weak look of understanding.
"I-I… didn't… I didn't want you girls to worry," he finally choked out.
She'd guessed correctly then.
Suri felt his arms surround her and clutch her tightly as he began to sob harder into her and pulled her tight enough that she was barely on her knees anymore. He hung onto her for dear life and let everything out cradled against her.
"Babe," Suri said softly, weakly smiling as she ran her fingers through his hair. "You, Tooru, Mina, you're my mates. It's my job to worry about my sweet, wonderful boyfriend and girlfriends. Me and the girls, we're here for you. Always. You know that, right?"
"I do. I know… I just."
"You've got a lot on your plate? Trust me, I know," Suri sighed and nuzzled herself against him. "I mean, look how full my plate's been lately. You've been struggling and fuck if I've been too busy to notice. And I am so sorry for that."
"No, don't be sorry," Izuku started. "It's okay, I just… I wish I could go back and make things right. If I hadn't-"
"Izuku, you know better than anyone that if we could go back and change the past I'd be on that flight so I could fix what happened a year ago. I could have done anything else. Tried harder, I guess. I dunno. Just anything to fix what I've done," Suri said with as much truth and steady emotion she could. "I mean, hell, we found out I was going to move here anyway right? But… if what did happen didn't, would we still be here? Would Gemini have happened? Would I still have all of you in my life?"
"I… I don't know," Izuku answered quietly.
"I'd change the past if I could Izuku, I truly would," Suri choked out. "But I can't. That's not my Quirk. And the past… it's always going to be a stepping stone for some people but a prison that we try to escape every day to most of us."
"Y-Yeah," Izuku nodded softly, nuzzling himself deeper into Suri's chest. "I guess you're right."
"I don't know if I'm right, honestly," Suri sighed. "I just… I know what it's like to watch someone die in front of you and know that you might have been able to change that outcome if you'd done something different. That will always haunt us and I don't wish that on anyone. But this," Suri squeezed Izuku tighter. "Our pasts be damned, I wouldn't trade this for anything."
Izuku took a deep breath in, held it, and then let it out slowly. His breathing returned to mostly normal as he held Suri close. He bathed in her warmth and comfort until he was just on this side of his night terror induced panic attack and emotional breakdown. When Suri felt him relax a little and let his grip loosen on her she prompted him to lay back down. She laid onto her back beside him as they rolled him to the side to let him lay his head on her chest. Her left hand took his right and rested it against her shoulder to where she could nuzzle the back of his hand with her chin. His head meanwhile rested his chin against the tops of her breasts and his temple against her collarbone, which meant her chin could nuzzle his hair as well. To comfort him further, her right hand came to rest on top of his head and she idly began petting and running her fingers through his hair.
Suri took in a deep breath, and smiled down at Izuku as he rested on her. She remembered when she was a kid with her night terrors about eating people or animals and being soaked in blood and gore. She remembered how much they terrified her and remembered that her last one was only a few months prior. Night terrors at Grandma Kuroyashi's were harder because she hadn't had someone there to help. Someone to comfort her and tell her everything would be okay and that it was just a dream. It was hard going through all of that alone and how much it hurt and had to be hurting Izuku. But right now, she could be that for him. She could do what her moms did for her to get her through the rough nights and hope it would help the same for him as it did for her.
So, in a quiet and gentle voice, she sang to him.
My mother told me
Someday I will buy
Galleys with good oars
Sail to the distant shores
Stand up on the prow
Noble baroque I steer
Steady course to the haven
Hew many foe-man
Hew many foe-man
My mother told me
Someday I will buy
Galleys with good oars
Sail to the distant shores
Stand up on the prow
Noble baroque I steer
Steady course to the haven
Hew many foe-man
Hew many foe-man
Hew many foe-man
On the second time through, Atiena had joined in, dueting Suri as she helped to sooth and sing Izuku back to sleep. It had been a touching and beautiful gesture from the beast who cared for and loved as much for Izuku as Suri, Mina, and Tooru. Inside their shared mind, Atiena hugged herself to Suri so that she could feel Izuku's warmth herself, and hoped that her presence might help to ease his fears as well. The gesture had worked and, by the end of the song, Izuku was asleep cradled into them.
"Thank you, Atiena," Suri whispered inside their mind.
"You're welcome," she replied, nuzzling herself into her human half and carefully watching their shared boyfriend closely. "He'll be okay."
"I know," Suri answered inside her mind and then spoke outwardly so that Izuku might hear her while he slept. "Izuku, if you ever feel like you're not okay, you know you have us. Atiena, Tooru, Mina, and I will always be by your side. So please lean on us. I know you're trying to be strong for us, for everyone, but you don't have to bear everything on your own, okay?"
Suri smiled as she felt Izuku take a deep breath and rubbed his cheek against her chest. He hadn't woken up but she was pretty sure somewhere in his consciousness he felt the need to acknowledge her. The subtle knowledge that he was okay let Suri lay her head back and yawn when her eyes started growing heavy again.
"We love you, Izuku," they said as she and Atiena began to drift back to sleep together with Izuku in their arms, the beast and the beast girl lifted their heads up to kiss the top of Izuku's head before falling back to sleep. "Sleep peacefully, our king."
Together they hoped that Izuku would never have to be alone and knew that wherever he went they would happily follow him. Even to hell and back again.