Ochako and Tenya had stayed for a little while to visit before deciding it was starting to get late and the two should head home. Aoi almost wanted to try and ask them to stay a little longer. Ochako was surprisingly very friendly and easy to talk with, while also being polite enough to not talk about their hero work. Which was nice of her, since she assumed Izuku had told his friends she had not liked hero's or talking about them either. And having a female presence around for once was nice.
And yet even with three hero's sitting around her in the apartment Aoi had always found her eyes drawing towards the front door even if she could not see it from where she sat. And of course the hero's all seemed to notice every time her attention drifted. And Ochako was always quick to ask her a question or find some way to draw her back into the conversation.
That was till they left and once again it was only Izuku and her in the apartment. But she couldn't really say it was awkward or anything. His presence still brought her some comfort. Even if she was still unhappy with her current situation, she knew the man in the apartment with her would never hurt her. So it was easy to still relax even as the place now fell silent with the company gone.
"Do you want to try finishing the movie from earlier?" Izuku asked as he broke the silence of the room.
"No. I'm tired and probably just going to head to bed," she said with a soft shake of her head. He almost looked a little sad at her turning him down. But she really was still tired. The lack of a good sleep from the night before had her tired. Her little nap earlier had it been enough to completely recharge her. The company they had also had drained her a little, but more in a mental way. And honestly she just wanted to curl up alone and try to sleep.
"Oh okay. Good night Aoi. If you need anything let me know," he said once she started to stand up from her spot on the couch.
"Thanks. Good night Izuku," she said softly before she started to head to her bedroom. Changing into a large baggy shirt and some pj shorts she was crawling into the bed.
It still didn't feel like it was her bed. It was too comfortable, and so soft. It put her old bed to shame. She should have loved it. But now as she was laying there struggling to find a comfortable position she was hating it. It was not her bed. And that only reminded her that this was not her home. She tossed and turned even as she eventually heard the tv in the living room turn off and Izuku had nearly silently walked to his own room. The soft click of the door next to hers told her he too was finally heading to bed.
Still, even hours later she could not get comfortable. She tossed and turned in her dark room. She had not heard a noise from Izuku after his bedroom door had closed. Her head was starting to ache, whether it was from lack of sleep or stress she was not sure. Eventually she caved in. She climbed off her bed, grabbed the blanket and pillow before she found herself sitting on the floor. Her back pressed to the walls of the corner that was the furthest from the door. Even if she could not see it, she still felt like she knew where it was, and the dangers that could burst through it at any moment.
This was a position she knew well. She had slept like this more times then she could count as a kid. Hiding in a small corner to try and nab a few hours had been normal at one time for her. And doing it now. With the pillow clutched to her chest was oddly comforting to her stress rattled mind. She had her knees pulled in towards her chest. Her arms wrapped around her legs as her chin rested on her knees. Sure it didn't take long before her body started to grow mildly sore. But she did not care. It was a comforting position for her brain.
She closed her eyes even as she felt her ears seem to strain and try to listen for any noises in the apartment. But all was silent and that slowly soothed her more. Eventually she was able to drift off into a light slumber. It didn't last long, it never did when she slept like that. But that was fine. The slightest noise woke her. The sound of a different door opening on their floor, the sounds of the simplest creak of the building. She was almost happy they were too high up for noises of the street to be heard.
At least in this light sleep she was unable to dream. So the nightmare from the night before did not wake her. But by the time the sun had started to filter in from around the curtains trying to keep it out she was mostly awake. Too tired to want to move, and body too stiff she was almost worried she may be stuck like that as she slowly started to unwind herself. The need to pee was growing too hard to ignore.
Still her arms and shoulders screamed when she first removed her arms. Next the knees. She tried to just stretch them out straight. And pain shot through her in multiple spots. Her thighs, her calves, hell even her butt seemed to hurt and ache at the sight movement. Then of course she couldn't seem to get her legs to straighten out all the way. She was not even thirty and she almost feared she was going to be crawling to the bathroom as she slowly worked at trying to stretch and loosen her screaming and protesting muscles.
Eventually she forced herself to her feet. For at least thirty seconds she remained bent nearly at ninety degrees before she found the strength to try and force her back more straight. She was pinching something in or above one hip. And she was sure she could even turn her head. A hot bath, she really needed to try and soak out the pain from her body. Was it maybe a bit early to risk running a bath and waking Izuku? A little. But as she limped to the bathroom like a little old lady she did not care as she started to fill the bath up.
That was another thing. When the hell had she agreed to using their first names? She recalled him using her first name first. Or at least she was pretty sure it was him who used her first name first. She never used first names, she was almost never that comfortable with someone. So she would never have been the first to use someone's first name. And she had only used his first name when in front of his friends.
She watched the water in the tub start to fill up as she slowly started to strip her clothes off after using the washroom. Every movement hurts. But in some way it was nice, the pain. It reminded her she was still alive. That was a reminder that she had not died during that week of hell she had endured. Looking down she took in the sight of the pale scar that now sat above her right knee. It was a good inch long. Apparently she had been stabbed in the leg at some point during those four days of hell. She really couldn't remember it. There had just been so much pain. She didn't know what pain came from what injury, nor when said injury was inflicted during those four days. She had just come to accept that there was probably pain or events during that time that her mind was suppressing. And she was not about to go digging in her fucked up mind to remeber them. What she did remember was already haunting her, no need to add fuel to that fire.
Turning the tap and shutting the water off first she then slowly slipped into the warm water. It was a little too warm. But that was fine, she would rather it be too warm than too cold as she slowly lowered her body into the hot water and let out a soft sigh. This was what she needed, the hot water was already starting to help loosen up her incredibly tight muscles. She really did not remember sleeping in that manner to be so painful when she was a teen. Or maybe at that point in her life she was only running on survival mode. Especially before she had met Dabi. Those were days she never knew when she would eat next, she spent all day looking for food and somewhere safe to sleep. Dodging heroes and creeps alike. How she did not starve to death she still is not sure, or how someone did not just kill her was the bigger question. She had been defenseless and would have been easy prey for any creep looking for a good target. But then again maybe that was why she had clung to Dabi so much? Her eyes drifted shut as the memories flooded her mind.
The first time she could remember meeting Dabi had been the start of its own nightmare. She had just been doing what she did every day. Looking for food and safety. But she had wandered into a slightly different area of the city than her normal spots. She wasn't even twelve yet, or at least she didn't think she was. It was hard to tell the day without a phone or calendar to look at regularly. She had known better than to wander into that area of town. And yet her desperation had fired her too. She was looking behind a restaurant for thrown out food. Hands had come out of nowhere. She had never heard her attacker coming. Skinny hands had grabbed her arms. She had instantly started struggling, but it did no good. Her weak little body was no match against the grown man.
He had been growling about how this was his territory. And he did not like sharing. But it had quickly taken a darker turn. She could remember how she had frozen at one point as he had started to talk about how she was a pretty little thing. Both her hands had easily fit into one of his and he was able to pin her to a wall. She had remembered the fear and panic when she watched the man's free hand start to work at removing his pants off his hips.
By then she had started to scream. He had slapped her for that. But she didn't stop screaming. Maybe it was the screaming that had saved her? As odd as it was, it wasn't the man who had actually told her to shut up. It had been a different voice. And this had drawn both attentions over to the young man who was walking towards them. He wore faded and hole filled jeans, as well as a basic white t-shirt. His hands had been shoved into his pants pockets.
The man holding her had snapped at Dabi to get lost, as the kid was his. That seemed to be all it took to piss Dabi off. The man holding her had burst into flames before her so fast she found her eyes closing as if the sight would blind her as she slid down the wall once the hands on her wrists disappeared. She could still remember the man's screams, and the disgusting smell of burning flesh.
The sound of boots stepping towards her had her slowly blink open her tear filled eyes. But she didn't cry as she looked up into those cyan coloured eyes. For a split second she had worried that he would kill her next. But all he did was look down at her for a second before he turned and had simply started walking away. Why exactly she thought chasing after him had been a good idea she may never know. But she was incredibly thankful that she did. Meeting Dabi had changed her life.
She still wasn't sure how he didn't find her annoying and just kill her. But he let her silently follow him around till eventually she seemed to work her way into that twisted heart of his. He had taught her how to survive, he kept a roof over her head till she could get a job. He had kept others from ever touching her again. Especially when he had joined with Shigaraki Tomura. And Dabi's name was known by all in the shadows. Even after his death at his own father and brother's hand, his name still had people avoiding her.
But now Dabi's reputation was no longer enough. Or maybe she had just gotten herself into too much trouble? She wasn't sure. But either way she was not liking this situation she had found herself in.
A knock at the door had her physically jump. Water sloshed around the tub at the actions. Her eyes had flown open. The water she was sitting in was now cold. Had she actually fallen asleep in the tub thinking of days long past?
"Aoi?" Another soft knock followed by her name had her looking over at the bathroom door. Oh it was Izuku who was knocking at the door. She was shifting around a little as she slowly blinked her eyes open and started to get out of the cold bath.
"Is everything okay?" Once again his voice called out but this time he didn't knock.
"Yeah. Everything's fine. I'll be right out," she called out as she pulled the plug on the tub and slowly forced her stiff body to stand up slowly. She grabbed a towel sitting not far from the tub before she wrapped it around herself. She never even got to wash her hair. Oh well.
Glancing around she realized in her sleepy state earlier she had not actually grabbed any clean clothes to change into. And she did not feel like putting on her dirty clothes just to walk to her bedroom. Scooping up her clothes, she made sure her towel was covering everything before she opened the bathroom door to find Midoriya still standing in front of the door. His eyes were quick to roam over her. But it wasn't because she was naked. He looked concerned. He had been worried for her. He didn't even blush this time when he looked back up at her.
"You were in there for a long time," he said softly as his shoulders seemed to relax after taking in the sight of her perfectly okay and unharmed.
"Sorry. Think I fell asleep," she said simply as she watched him simply look worried once again. His eyes seemed to be roaming over her face. It seemed he finally took notice of the circles under her eyes from two nights in a row of almost no sleep. Or the lack of energy she had. She didn't even bother to tease him about how she was in a towel and he would typically be all shy like the little sugar cookie she felt he was. She just didn't have the strength for any of that at the moment.
"Did you get any sleep last night?" He asked her. A frown pulled at his lips even before she softly nodded her head.
"I got a little sleep," she said simply.
"Is a little more than five hours?" He asked as his arms crossed over his chest as he watched her slowly blink her eyes at him.
"No. But I got enough sleep. It's fine don't worry about it Deku," she said simply now looking past him. She did not want to have this talk with him right now. She was too tired to deal with the hero persona the man had.
"If you had a nightmare. You could have come to me," he was saying softly. His face softened and his arms dropped to his sides. Yep she was done with this discussion.
"It wasn't. And even if it was. I do not need to run to you for something as stupid as a bad dream. I'm not a child," she had snapped before she shouldered her way past him and started to head towards her bedroom with a quick walk.
"That's not it. Hold on Aoi," Izuku was quick to try and follow after her. As she stepped over the threshold of her bedroom she threw her dirty clothes onto the floor and spun on him.
"I'm getting dressed," she said, throwing a glare at him before she slammed her bedroom door shut in his face.
She sighed softly as she stood there trying to take a few deep breaths to help calm herself down. She knew she shouldn't get so upset with him. He was trying to help her, in his own annoying way. But she didn't want his help. Why could he not understand that she did not want his help? She could, no she would find a way to deal with the problem. But what could she do while on house arrest? She doubted he would just let her walk out of the apartment and slip back to the streets she was all too familiar with. She knew a few people who could make this issue go away. Paying them would be hard. But she would figure something out. She always figured a way to make things work.
Then again would the hero really stop her if she tried to leave? Would he restrain her if she tried to leave? Or would he simply follow after her? Then again if she did try to leave would he continue to skip working? How long could the number one skip work? Maybe she could try to guilt him into going to work. She really needed him out of the apartment before she tried to leave.