Waves Of Love

by B0OZX1

Nejire Hado. Quirky. Beaming. Outgoing. Izuku Midoriya. Not so Quirky. Not so beaming, and most definitely not so outgoing. So what happens when these two waves crash into each other? That's for this short story to tell its tale. Originally Aurthoy TOXICITY

23. XXII: Rain

KRA-KOOM*

Rain. Calming, peaceful. The gentle taps of droplets falling against the dorm was soothing and gentle to listen to, perfect for remaining indoors and bundling up for a cozy stay-in. As with rain came the nurturing sounds of a building only disturbed by the ambience of the natural world, not a peep or yell to pierce through the mood of not wanting to do anything. Heat up one's favorite plate of food, perhaps a cup of hot chocolate, their favorite movie or show to binge as the rain continues to tap on the windows and roof. There was nothing that could go wrong-

"AH-CHOOO!"

Well, perhaps there was always something.

"*sniffle* Owwww..." Hado whined after a fierce buckshot that was a sneeze rocked her head for a spin, the girl tucked underneath her blanket with a cool cloth over her forehead. A thermometer sticking out from her lips ran a feverish hot as a hand collected the thermometer from her lips and brought it away, said hand belonging to Haya who quirked her eyebrows at the reading. "That hurrrrrts *sniffle*."

"Well, even a blind dog can see that this little bug's got a running fever." Haya noted with Snipe nodding beside her. "She's not going anywhere anytime soon."

"Lucky you little darlin', looks like somebody's fixin' to stay here for the day and miss out on school for today."Snipe said. "Cause ain't no way in Hell am I sendin' you out there in that kind of weather."

"*sniffle* Awohhhhh nooooo." Hado pouted nasally as Haya used the cloth over the former's forehead to wipe away a few bullets of sweat that traveled down her friend's face. "But I don't wanna miss out on school today *sniffle* please let me gooo."

"Ehh, sorry Hado but it wouldn't sit right on me if I let you come in today and let you suffer through the entire curriculum because you kept sneezin' harder than a horse's kick. Besides, you wouldn't have gotten far anyways with a condition like that, no doubt you would've turned toes up and wound yerself in Recovery Girl's for the day. Havin' you come in today just isn't gonna do anybody any good you can stay here for today."

"Awohhhhh *sniffle*. Okayyyyy."

"Geez, if I were you I'd be doing backflips off these walls just to have the chance of being able to stay here instead of going to school." Haya said, "You're a weird one Nejire."

"Hm-hm, in a world full of weird people what even is nor-AH-CHOOOO!"

"Certainly not you."

"I'll have Recovery Girl send one of her Recovery bots over to take care of you for today." Snipe informed as he pulled out his phone and began scrolling through his contacts. "That way you ain't sufferin' over here all by your lonesome-"

"AHP-puppuppuppup hold on now hold on." Haya halted. "Let's not get too quick with who's sending what over here. A Recovery bot? Come on Snipe I know those bots are cool and all when it comes to filling in for Recovery Girl but a RECOVERY BOT? We can do way better than some rolling bucket of wheels with a monotone voice."

"You suggestin' yerself Ms. Haya?"

"Mmm, as much as I wanna take the offer of staying here and skipping out on school for today there's one person out there who's way more suited to have this opportunity. Juuuuuust the riiiiiiight one, you know who I'm talking about."

"...No."

"Snipe-"

"No."

"You know it's true-"

"No."

"Who else would it be?"

"No."

"They're not gonna do anything."

"No."

"This is a prime opportunity for them to learn how to deal with this kind of stuff if one gets inflicted by a sickness like Nejire is now, come on it'll be sweet for them."

"No. I ain't leavin' a girl and a boy in an empty dorm building all by themselves with nobody else around it's smellin' to cook up all kinds of trouble."

"Smelly as in, barbecue on Saturday night smelly?"

"..."

TAPTAPTAPTAPTAP*

BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP*

BRRRRRT*

BRRRRRT*

BRRRRRT*

BRRRRRT*

BRRR-*

"Aizawa."

"Son, I'm gonna need to borrow Midoriya for today. It's important so have him trot his way over to the 3-A building will ya?"

"And why exactly are you taking one of my students out of their curriculum for today?"

"Because it involves me finessin' that young lady up at the sporting store so she can fix to get me a deal on that sleeping bag you told me about last week."

"...I'll send him over."

BEEP*

Haya chortled and snorted as Snipe lowered his phone and turned to the third year. "Wow, it really doesn't take much to convince any of you teachers for something does it?"

"Ehhh...no it really doesn't it."

(15 minutes later)

KNOCK KNOCK*

With two knocks against the 3-A dorm entrance Midoriya waited as the rain steadily increased in it's downfall on his black umbrella, a faint and low booming thunder clap quaking off in the far distance. He would not wait for long as merely thirty seconds after his knocking the door latch clicked and the door itself swung open to reveal Snipe as the greeter, the student quickly bowing at his teacher's presence. "Good morning Snipe-sensei, Aizawa sent me over here saying I was needed for something."

"I wouldn't say needed but-...oh what the hell who cares." Snipe said. "Come in get out of that rain."

Snipe retreated into the dorm as Midoriya followed and shut the door behind him, closing his umbrella once inside and placing it close to the door for the time being. Also placing his shoes next to the umbrella and swapping into a pair of slippers the student looked towards the common lounge to see Snipe gesturing with his head for Midoriya to come join him in front of the couch. Coming up from the right side of the couch a familiar head of periwinkle was laid out on the armrest followed by the rest of the body that was tucked underneath a large blanket, the first year going from a slow approach to rapid when he recognized who was laid out on the couch. "Here be your reason for why I called you over son."

"AH-CHOO! *sniffle*." Hado sneezed and sniffled as she tried her best to form a bright smile but was only able to make a sick and weak one. "Hey Izuku *sniffle*."

"Oh no, Nejire!" Midoriya exclaimed as he quickly slid his backpack off his shoulders and dropped to his knees in front of the couch where the girl's head was. "What happened to you? Did you get hit with a Quirk?"

"*sniffle* Yeah, it's called a really bad fever hm-hm. Dangerous Quirk."

"Oh, I see."

"Originally I was fixin' to have Recovery Girl send one of her bots to come take care of Hado since clearly she ain't in any condition to be out there with his kind of weather goin' on." Snipe stated. "So with a little bit of reasonin' from Haya to convince me otherwise, it was decided that maybe it's best if it were somebody else to stay here and take care of the girl. So we chose you, 'cept you didn't pop out of a red and white ball of course."

"Me? Mmm, and miss out on a day of school?"

'Sheesh this one too? Like boots and leather these two...Don't worry, this absence isn't going to impact anything drastic on your curriculum. I've already sent a notification to the other teachers about your whereabouts so no need to concern yourself about anybody coming to sniff you out. I just need to know if I can trust ya on taking care of Hado here for the day, seein' as how you two are all Bonnie and Clyde now."

"Yes." Midoriya said. "I'll do my best to take care of Nejire for the day. Thank you for the opportunity Sensei."

"Nah, I should be thanking you son." Snipe returned the honor as he made for the entrance of the dorm where a brown umbrella leaned against the wall close to the door. Snatching the umbrella by it's handle the teacher opened the door and turned back to the students before leaving. "After all, if you wouldn't be here to look after Hado Iwouldn't be having barbecue this Saturday night heh-heh-heh, good on you. I'll leave her in your hands son, please take care of her."

"Yes! I'll do my best!"

Snipe nodded to Midoriya before stepping out into the rain and shutting the door behind him, leaving first and third years by themselves with the company of the soft rainfall. A hard sneeze bucked Hado's head against the pillow she rested on as a tired and weak moan came from within like she was a zombie. "Ohhhhh..."

"Well Nejire, I'm not really the best when it comes to taking care of others but I'll try my best to take care of you for today." Midoriya admitted. "Just tell me what you want and I'll get it for you anything you want. Do you want some hot chocolate? Or some water? Maybe a bowl of soup or some other kind of food?"

Hado shook her head side to side. "No *sniffle* I'm not really hungry right now Izuku, thank you though."

"Hmm, okay then. Well in any case lemme get you a new towel to put over your forehead." Reaching for the small rag that was folded over Hado's forehead Midoriya wiped away at the trails of sweat that coated her face. "This one's a bit too damp already."

Rising from his spot on the floor Midoriya made for the laundry room of the dorm where he tossed the damp rag into a hamper designated for fabrics of the kind and grabbed three fresh ones off a stack over the dryer. Folding one of the rags into a small square he made his way back to the couch where he again kneeled sat on his knees beside Hado and gently wiped away at her face, a hard sneeze bucking her head on the pillow with eyes closing. "Owie."

"Geez, this just came out of nowhere didn't it? You seemed really fine the night before but now? You look terrible."

"*sniffle* I don't think that's the right kind of talk for somebody who's sick Izuku."

"A-AH right, sorry I don't know why-"

"Hm-hm, it's okay Izuku I'm just messing with you." Hado admitted. "Really isn't wrong with what you said anyways*sniffle* I feel like poo-poo."

"Hmph, well not to sound rude or anything like that but you certainly sound like poo-poo. But, I'll take care of you for today. I'll be here."

KRA-KOOM*

A thunder clap that sounded closer than the previous rocked the Earth as Hado quickly looked out the window with concern in her eyes, her body uncomfortably shifting underneath the blanket while looking away from the window. "H-Hrmmm..."

"Nejire?" Midoriya asked. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah just...*sniffle*. I don't like the rain."

"Oh yeah, I remember you told me that back when I spent the night in your room after the power went out. But, you never told me why exactly you don't like the rain."

"I didn't?" Hado questioned with a head shake from Midoriya. "Oh, I thought I did."

"No, you told me it was super personal and you didn't want to tell me about it. This is the only time it's rained since then and the only time I've been reminded of what you said."

"Mm..."

"I'm gonna make you something real quick." The first year placed aside the fresh towels in his hands and stood onto his feet again. "I know you said you didn't want anything to drink or eat but still, it'd be better to at least have you take something. Gimme a second."

Shuffling his way out of Hado's view the girl craned her neck up to see Midoriya heading into the kitchen area but again disappeared from her view, settling her neck back into natural position with face towards the ceiling. It was odd, surely she remembers telling her boyfriend about why she wasn't a fan of the rain and the feelings that it brought inside her. While others enjoyed listening to the tapping of the rain against the glass and roof, that wasn't the case for her. Each pitter patter of a drop against the building was like a constant flash in her mind about a terrible day in her life. The kind of day that reminded her why she wanted to be for others what a loved one didn't have.

Due to her nose being clogged and stifled Hado was unable to tell whether something was actually being made or not, how she wishes she had the courtesy of smelling right now. She would not stay by herself for long as soft shuffling could be heard before Midoriya's body popped into view with a purple mug and straw in his right hand, and a white mug in his left. Dropping to his knees he twisted around to place the white mug on the table behind him, twisting back to lean forward and edge the purple mug with straw close to Hado's face. "Here, see if you like it. I didn't want to use too much of your guys' stuff so sorry if it tastes kinda basic."

Hado sniffed but there was no point, she couldn't smell so why bother attempting. Tilting her head onto her right cheek she leaned forward and clamped her lips around the straw, sipping from the mug a warm and rich drink that soothed both the heart and the soul. Having her fill she released and sighed in satisfaction, putting on a bright smile as gratitude for the boy. "Ahhhh, could never go wrong with hot chocolate. Thanks honey."

Midoriya slightly cocked his head in question. "Honey?"

"Yeahhhhh *sniffle, I dunno it's been something I wanted to try ever since we got together *sniffle*. It sounds weird though sounds like something old people would say to each other, like my parents hm-hm."

"Well, it sounds weird to me cause you know I've never had anybody call me that in terms of a romantic standpoint. But I think I just need to hear it more to come around to it eventually, maybe when we're older and married."

Hado perked her eyes open. "Married?"

"A-Ah sorry, is that too soon? It's just that with the amount of fun I've been having with you in this relationship and how happy I've been, it doesn't really sit well with me to think about being in this sort of thing with someone else heh. But, that's just me, if you feel like you can see yourself in a relationship with someone else down the line, I can understa-OW!"

"Hrmmm." Hado pouted after a pinch to the student's hand. "Hey hey *sniffle, that's not the kinda talk I wanna hear from the guy I wanna do everything with. I don't care how bad of a day you have or how down in the dumps you are I don't ever wanna hear that stuff coming out of your mouth *sniffle*. I wanna think about stuff that comes down the line with you too. Besides...who else am I gonna talk about why I don't like the rain with."

"Huh?"

"Izuku, have you ever-...have you ever experienced something in your life that was so dramatic you wanted to work hard to make sure nobody else would go through what you witnessed?"

"No, I can't say that I have. The only one who comes remotely close to that would be Eri since I don't want her to feel the way she did with the Hassaikai ever again, but that's not a concept that could spread to others."

"Mm, I see *sniffle*. Well for me it's...There's a reason I don't like rain while others enjoy it so much, and it all goes back to when I was little. I don't know if Dad ever told you this but my mom has siblings."

"Oh he did actually." Midoriya confirmed. "He said she has two, no three sisters and two brothers."

"One, brother *sniffle*. She only has one brother now."

"Oh. Something happened?"

Hado nodded as she stared up to the ceiling with a sigh. "*sniffle*...When I was a little kid, I had one of Mom's brothers who was an uncle that I had a lot of fun being with whenever he was around. Mom's siblings were snarky and pretty uptight with the way they grew up butthis uncle in particularly *sniffle, he was different. He was like Dad, he was fun, took me out of school early sometimes so we can go eat or go to an arcade, took me fishing, he was super duper awesome.

sniffle, I didn't know since I was a kid but apparently sometime back then, my uncle found out that his wife cheated on him with a co-worker of his and that their son who I thought was a cousin, turned out to not actually be my cousin because it wasn't his son. They went through a divorce, the son went with the ex-wife, and he was all alone. Like my mom *sniffle, uncle didn't really spend much time with the other siblings because he was different from them, he didn't let money decide how he should or shouldn't live. Mom was the only close person he had but, for a while my uncle stopped seeing me and I didn't know why back then. Of course after I grew up, I learned he was going through a depression period.

It was, I dunno a month or two before I saw my uncle again *sniffle*? When he came back, I thought everything was normal and everything would just go back to the way things were. He didn't seem like he was down in the dumps or anything like that he was always smiling and laughing and looking like there was nothing wrong with him. But, that's what I saw on the outside, and since I was just a little kid I never knew what to look for beyond what I could see on the outside. I didn't realize how bad the situation was until everything changed one day.

After school one day, Mom and Dad said they were busy doing something so they said I could go to my uncle's house until they pick me up once they were done. He didn't live that far from my old elementary school *sniffle* only several blocks away. My uncle still lived in the house he shares with his ex-wife and her son, he didn't move into an apartment or something smaller. When I got to his house I was expecting him to be prepared for me but, after all the knocks and all the doorbell rings, he never answered the door. I tried opening it, and come to find out the door was unlocked. The house seemed, empty, cold even.

When I went inside, I saw that the back door was wide open so I thought uncle must have been in the back doing something. *sniffle* So I went, and...there he was..."

KRA-KOOM*

"Lying face down on the backyard patio with a pool of blood gathered around his head and glass all around him."

Midoriya shifted uncomfortably on his knees as Hado sniffled and wiped away at her eyes. "It turns out, myuncle killed himself by jumping out of a window from the second floor, and they presumed he left the back door open for somebody to come find him. His backyard had a large patio area that was all cement *sniffle* so when he jumped out and hit the ground, his head shattered against the cement, a-and he died all alone..."

"Oh Nejire."

"*sniffle* I-I didn't know how bad this whole situation was because I was just a kid, but after seeing my uncle out in the rain with nobody to keep him company *sniffle* I didn't want anybody else to feel the way he did. But, sometimes I feel like I'm not good enough to be that person because I have my own things too *sniffle* I just want my friends to feel happy and feel like there are people for them but I get so scared cause sometimes I think about what would happen if my friends went through that *SNIFFLE*!"

"Nooooo nonono hey Nejire come on." Midoriya leaned forward and wrapped his right arm around Hado's body as she quietly sobbed and rubbed the tears out of her eyes. "Don't think about stuff like that okay? We love you Nejire we love you for who you are and for what you bring to us every person I see that you're with is always smiling and laughing it's every person I see you with. There's not a speck of doubt in my mind that you don't make them feel like they don't have anybody to trust because they have you, they can always have you.

When I first had the opportunity of speaking to you everything in my life changed for the better, and I've only known you for a short time think about the people you've known longer like Haya and Amajiki. I don't know them too well but every time we're at lunch and I look across the room to see you sitting with them? They look so happy and they look so welcoming and warm to the kind of person they've been blessed with knowing and being able to speak to. I honestly don't believe anybody could feel like they wouldn't have a reason to feel wanted knowing you exist in this world. If anything I feel like I'm needed to be alive.

What happened with your uncle is really tragic, I'm sorry it took something like that for you to feel like there's something you want to do for everybody. But to feel like your friends would go through something similar while you're in their life is never something that you should feel or think about. You care for us and it shows! Nowadays I wouldn't even THINK about anything like that because then it feels like I would betray you and betray the person that you are. I'm sure Haya and the others would feel the same way about that."

"*sniffle* really?"

"Yeah of course they would, at least I'm hoping they would but I have a really good feeling in my stomach they most certainly definitely would...hopefully."

Hado giggled as her right hand snaked out from underneath the blanket and up to Midoriya's left cheek to caress it. "Oh Izuku, you always manage to somehow turn things around. Whether that'd a good or bad thing can kinda depend but to me? I'm hoping it's always a good thing-AH-CHOO!"

"Yeah well, if only there was some way for me to turn this sickness of yours around I'd feel a lot better heh, unfortunately I'm not that good. We love you, Nejire. We love you too much to think about falling off of the deep end. And if there ever was a day where something happens to one of us, I wouldn't worry too long knowing somebody like you will come to help us. You're the best thing that's ever happened to people."

Hado tiredly smiled. "I love you guys too Izuku. I love all of you."

-

"*AHEM* Alrighty then."

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*

"Howdyyyyy." Snipe called after knocking on the 3-A dorm door. "I'm just comin' to check in on y'all see how Hado's doin'. Anybody there?"

"..."

"I'm fixin' to come in now. Here I coooooome."

"..."

'Please don't be doing the rodeo please don't be doing the rodeo please don't be doing the rodeo.'

CLICK*

Slowly and steadily, Snipe opened the front door and peeked his mask through the open space until he could see the inside of the building. No sounds of horseplay yet, which was definitely a good thing for his sanity and health. Further and further his mask came around the corner until he spotted the couple in the common lounge motionless and still, Snipe entering the dorm and quietly shutting the door behind him. Tip-toeing his way to the common lounge he stopped next to the couch to see both Midoriya and Hado fast asleep and snoozing, the girl's right hand flat for his face to use as a pillow with the boy's right arm draped across her torso as if it were a blanket. In unison they both cooed and hummed in their sleep, Snipe smirking at how identical they were when their lights were out.

"Like boots and leather these two." He commented. "Like boots and leather."