It was in the middle of the night when she heard it.
The sound of a rumbling stomach. Her own that is.
Yamato stirred, getting up from her bed and rubbing her eyes.
"Hungry..." she murmured as she rolled out of bed, and pulled her robes. She reached over for the candle, and the box of matches beside it. She lit the candle, and made her way to the pantry. After collecting some bread to munch on, she headed back to her bed.
She paused, blinking. Was she seeing things?
She turned, and looked more closely. Midoriya Izuku was still there, lying on the tatami mat But his eyes were open, staring out at the night sky, and the bright, beaming moon.
In the days since his arrival, she had settled into a routine. Feeding him, changing his bandages, applying more medicine, at times cleaning his body with wet rags. The rags had been rough, and the water only lukewarm, but they had served their purpose.
She had ignored the looks and murmurs of the Beast Pirates. She had even taken to meditating on the beach, so as to deceive them as to the cause of her absences. Oden had said that the samurai of Wano had honed their minds with meditation as they had honed their bodies with training; so no one should have been surprised.
Except Oden couldn't stand it, or so he had written in his logbook. Too much sitting still for far too long.
"Izuku?" she murmed, stepping closer. Izuku turned from the window to stare at her. In the light of the moon, she could see his face clearly.
His eyes were wet.
"Something troubles you, doesn't it?" she asked, kneeling down beside him. The boy nodded lightly, eyes fixed on her. Yamato winced, as she saw the rest of his body, still festooned with braces and covered with bandages.
"I'm sorry…I changed your bandages and applied fresh salve earlier…here." She loosened the bandages around his chin, then took up the waterskin and put it to his lips, cradling his head to let him drink. He drank fast and thirstily, but Yamato could see the gleaming lines running down his cheeks.
"Are you in any pain at all? Is that what causing it?" she asked. "Just nod or shake your head." Izuku finished drinking, breathing through his mouth lightly as he looked up at her.
He shrugged. Yamato did not know what to make of that.
"Then why won't you sleep?" she asked. "You need your rest."
She set his head back down on the pillow. His eyes were sombre, full of a sorrow that tugged at her soul.
"Just…thinking…" he croaked.
"What about?" Yamato asked, perking up.
"My…family…friends…"
Yamato's heart ached for him. He was alone in this place, friendless but for her. He had a family and friends somewhere. Did they know of his fate? Were they worried sick about him? Or did they mourn him, thinking him lost forever?
And there was something in his eyes, something she had seen before.
The eyes of the people of Wano. The people who could only watch, helpless, as Oden boiled alive in a pot of oil.
Grief. Desolation. Despair. Loneliness.
She couldn't blame him for crying. Oden said a man should not cry, but he was so young, so vulnerable. The sight of him made her feel something, a feeling she could not name.
In her mind's eye she saw Oden, boiling alive, his retainers upon his back. She saw the ruins of Oden Castle, where the mortal remains of Oden's family lay; discarded and untended. The samurai she met in that cave, the day she swore to become Oden.
She knew what it was to be alone. She knew what it was to be friendless. The nearest thing she had ever had was those samurai; who had broken their chains and defied Kaido together, chosing death before dishonour. She didn't even know their names.
"Did you…lose them?" she asked, unable to contain herself.
The boy nodded, and winced as she laid a hand on his forehead. It was the only way she could think of to show him how she felt, how she understood his pain.
"I'm sorry. Will you at least drink some more? Are you hungry?"
He shook his head. Yamato took a rag from a bowl nearby, and dabbed at his forehead. She didn't now what else to do.
"If you need anything, let me know, okay?"
The boy nodded. She felt something touch her other hand, and she jumped; only to realise that it was his hand. It was so small compared to hers; but then again, most hands were.
There was just the slightest grip. A grip, and a light in his eyes that had not been there before.
Yamato could not stop herself from smiling. She yearned to talk with him some more, but she knew she could not. It would have to wait until he was properly healed; or at least his jaw was healed.
He nodded. And she could have sworn he was smiling.
"In the meantime, let's take a look at those bandages!"
There. Next update should come by the week or so. Or rather, updates.
So yeah, its been under a week, but Izuku is still feeling the effects of being Isekai'd/black holed. And that's not even going into losing his best friend and the boy he swore to save. That said, the pity party won't last for long. Izuku will come to know that he won't have the time later on. But hey when you're on a tatami mat drifting in and out of sleep on an unknown island? Things happen.
But yeah, More Izuku and Yamato bonding. Next ones should have more meat on their bones.