【𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐒𝐒𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐄 • 𝐕𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐀𝐈𝐍 𝐃𝐄𝐊𝐔 𝐗 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐑】

62| Liquid Fire

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Your head is pounding; throbbing like it's about to explode. The hospital lights are a bright white, flickering ever so slightly, making your nausea even worse.

A churning stomach and no idea what the future holds. What could be worse?

Oh, yeah: if you were alone.

"I'm sure they'll be fine," Midoriya tells you, his hand warm in yours, "They have to be."

"If they were okay, then we wouldn't be waiting here for this long."

He's quiet for a moment, not sure how to respond, knowing you're probably right. 

You feel like crying, but no tears fall. It's a sort of sickening sadness, sitting on your chest like an unfortunate mix of emotions. Fear. Doubt. Regret. 

And that unshakable feeling that this was all your fault.

The same thing happened to Shinimi before; maybe if you had gotten him to the hospital earlier, then he would be fine.

But why did it affect Nakano too? Are their injuries somehow related? They must be.

You stand suddenly when you see the doctor enter the waiting room. Your thoughts are cut off and your heart seems to stop when you realize how distressed he looks.

Midoriya, still, stands beside you.

"Well," the doctor sighs, "we're not sure what exactly caused this, but . . . "

"What is it?" Midoriya asks, "Are they alive, at least?"

"Barely," the man replies, "there's a poison inside of them, one that we haven't seen in years."

"So you're saying that it's inside of both of them?" You say, tilting your head.

"Some call it Liquid Fire. It's deadly if not removed immediately; burning one from the inside out, and killing in either an instant or years."

He looks up at both of you, his glasses glinting with the lights above. It almost seems like there's a mockery in his voice; or maybe it's your imagination. Maybe you're trying to find a real reason to be so scared. Some reason to attack him, hurt him, so maybe what he's saying won't be true.

If only.

"I'm sorry to say that neither will live much longer, though it is a matter of how well their bodies fight the poison. I'm sorry."

"Can we see them?"

"You may."

You don't even wait for Midoriya to join you, but you push past the doctor and rush behind him. 

The hospital room has four beds, only two of which are occupied, by none other than Nakano and Shinimi.

But together they sit, hugging each other and kneeling on the floor.

Nakano's large frame encases the smaller boy completely, and the tears from Shinimi's face pool on his cheeks, hesitating before they decide to fall.

"I'm sorry," Kano whispers to him, "this is all my fault. I'm so sorry."

Midoriya puts a hand on your shoulder, and you both fall to the ground with them. 

"I-I don't wanna die!" Shinimi sobs, his voice a choked up mess. Nakano sheds more tears; it seems like he cries enough for the both of them.

"I'm sorry." She says yet again.

It's that same empty feeling. Like all the tears have run dry. Like you'll never cry again.

A numb, dry, sickly sadness.

"What'd you do?" Midoriya growls, his voice low. You look at him, surprised at his reaction.

"Why do you keep apologizing?" He stands, "What did you do to him?"

Nakano stands, stumbling, before she holds out her arm.

"I am a killer," she says, "but I thought he was strong."

"What are you saying?" Midoriya shouts. "Why can't you talk like a normal person for once?!"

Nakano's usual calm demeanor crumbles at his words, and something snaps in her eyes. You're not sure what, but it's gone in an instant, and her walls are up once again.

"My quirk," she explains quietly, "is Liquid Fire. It kills instantly."

She looks at Shinimi, holding out her hand.

"He was the first to survive the blast that day. I thought he was strong, but it seems that death is stronger. I, too, am at mercy of my quirk. It burns me inside out. It's only a matter of time before death takes me too."

Your mind is brought back to Sparky's; the bar were you first met Nakano, where she hit Shinimi with her quirk. You healed him back then, but now? It's worthless.

Midoriya scowls, clenching his teeth. 

"What did you say?"

"I said," Nakano glares at him, "death is stronger."

"Stop!" Shinimi says, his eyes wide and tears still falling, "Please!"

He must feel the burning frustration from everyone in the room. The sorrow, the grief, the anger.

It must be too much for him, because he only cries harder.

The room is alight with a green glow, bolts of lightning crackling around the room. Midoriya steps closer to Nakano, his quirk casting green shadows upon her face. 

"So you're saying," he asks her, "that you caused this?"

"I am no liar. I did."

"And you didn't think to tell us you're both gonna die until now?"

"You didn't ask."

The stoic Nakano is blown backwards by the force of Midoriya's punch, right in her gut. She hits the wall, but quickly recovers, standing back up again in a little more than a moment.

You and Shinimi both call out their names, but they act as if they can't hear. Doctors and nurses rush into the room at the sound of the commotion, screaming and shouting themselves.

Your eyes lock onto Nakano's arm as her quirk lights up the coil, glowing a fierce orange and red. 

Liquid Fire.

Her face is serious as always, but you've never seen her this angry, not even when you killed her fiancé. 

You and Shinimi are paralyzed; the teen from the overwhelming swirl of emotions in the room and you from the overall shock of the day.

Instead of being a hero yourself, you watch a nurse, jump at Nakano, trying to stop her from unleashing her quirk.

The sound like a gunshot, the heat like a flame, Nakano's Liquid Fire engulfs the woman immediately, turning her to ash. Debris falls from the ceiling because of the blast, blocking the doors.

You seem to snap out of it then, grabbing Shinimi and dragging him to the corner of the room. You're trapped, and you're pretty sure neither of your friends are going to hesitate to kill each other.

It's Midoriya, a man with only his life to lose, against Nakano, who's already doomed.

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