A Tainted Hero

Chapter 6

The door to the dorm creaks open just enough for 7 to slip through. She closes it behind her quietly. She turns and leans against the door letting out a sight balancing herself on her heels with her weight against the door. She looks up at the ceiling, her eyes stinging slightly as she resists the urge to drop down and hug her knees.

"Oh, you're back."

She brings her head down slowly to see Midoriya lifting his head from the couch. It seems as if he just woke up.

Did he wait for me?

She huffs, with a tired smile. She pushes herself onto her feet, making her way to the kitchen. Midoriya quickly gets up and follows her.

"So, do you always train this late?"

She looks at Midoriya, inspecting him. He's stiff, his movements seem to be cut off before they finish, like he's not sure what he wants them to be.

He definitely waited. He's nervous, he clearly has an agenda, but he's not straight forward enough to just come up and ask it. He's trying to be polite, how cute.

She chuckles making Midoriya stiffen before she goes to open a cabinet.

"Yeah, I'd stay out longer, but they like to lock the schools facilities to keep students from overtraining and I guess I'm no exception to the rule."

She digs around and takes out a box of cheap cereal. She puts it on the counter and gets a bowl.

"How are you not exhausted? You get up before everyone else and get back when everyone's already gone to bed."

She pours some cereal into the bowl, takes it in her hand and looks at him.

"Aren't you going add mil-"

"Why did you wait for me?" she interrupts him looking him dead in the eye.

He squirms as he once again sees that strange flicker in her eyes.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm asking, what do you want with me? You wouldn't have waited for me unless you wanted something."

Her voice is cold and untainted, like she's an employee talking to a customer.

"I, um..."

Midoriya is completely taken aback by her. He struggles to find his words. She looks at him as she starts eating the cereal with her hands, waiting patiently. He stumbles on his words for a few seconds, caught in a trance by her changing eyes.

He closes his mouth, bows his head, closes his eyes and clenches his fists. He takes a short breath before forcing out the words, sharp and blunt.

"How do you know All Might?"

He looks up, expecting to see her surprised or even flustered at the question, but she simply looks at him with an expressionless face. He flushes, suddenly embarrassed at his dramatic outburst.

"He's the number one hero."

He blinks at her, her tone is normal, like the tension in the room was never there.

"Not just in Japan either, he was seen as the number one in the world for a long time. I met him as the number one hero."

Midoriya looks at her, he wasn't expecting such a vague answer. She sees he isn't satisfied with her response.

"As a kind of treat, they had me meet him when I moved onto the second stage of the program."

Midoriya stays frozen in place. There was something in her voice there. It sounded like she was holding back, like she was restraining her words, trying to stay calm. It was subtle, but it was definitely there. A concerned look made it onto Midoriya's face.