Nat: The Beginning

Ayo Roof Party

Nat 

I awoke to the sound of loud snoring. 

Sitting straight up, I looked around the room and tried to gather my bearings. It was pitch black, except for a few small lights here and there. I looked down and noticed the IV tube hooked up to my arm, and I put two and two together. 

I was in a hospital...again. 

I hadn't heard the beeping of the vitals machine or any of the other equipment over the sound of the snoring. I leaned in closer as my eyes adjusted and realized that it was coming from Mr. Aizawa. 

It was sweet of him to wait here for me, but I needed to get out of here. I unhooked the IV from my arm and slipped out of the room quietly. I didn't really know where to go, but I knew I couldn't just stay in that room. 

All I would be able to do is sleep, and I didn't plan on doing that any time soon. Not after the seemingly endless nightmare...

I decided to go to the roof to get some fresh air. 

When I got there, I looked out over the city. Apparently camp had ended early or else I wouldn't be here now. They must've just sent us home or to the hospital depending on how the attack affected us. 

I closed my eyes and let the cool breeze wash over me. It was peaceful. Until it wasn't...

"Nice night isn't it?" 

I yelped and turned around to face the source of the voice. 

"Todoroki? What the heck are you doing here?" 

I was fully expecting it to be Aizawa, and yet here was my classmate in all his Icyhot glory. 

"Oh I'm sorry. I keep startling you don't I?" 

I laughed. "Yeah, but it's ok. You usually make up for it with your company. I like talking to you." 

Maybe it was just the shadows in the dark, but I almost thought I saw him slightly blush. 

"Well they only let one person stay the night, and Aizawa volunteered since he is your guardian and teacher. But I figured he wouldn't be able to stay awake, so I pulled some strings and they allowed me to at least wait in the waiting area." 

"You were right on that part." 

"I was coming back from the bathroom when I noticed you leaving. I figured you might do that, so I waited and then followed you. I just...didn't want you to be alone." 

That was...very thoughtful of him. 

He shuffled his feet awkwardly as we stood in silence. Then he looked at his phone and smiled. 

"What?" 

"Oh you'll know in a second," he said. 

And oh boy was he right. I heard them before I saw them. 

AJ was barreling toward us with her wings outstretched and another person clinging to her leg for dear life, both screaming. They came crashing down onto the roof. 

"Nat!!! We...are...here," said AJ, completely out of breath. 

"Hey y'all," said her passenger. It was a girl with short brown hair that was streaked with red. She had piercing green eyes like mine. 

"Maris!" 

(Maris was one of our classmates. She and I started getting closer a little before and during camp. Her quirk--heartbeat manipulation. )

Serena split from AJ, and they all ran over and tackled me in a hug. 

"I hope you don't mind I invited them. I figured you guys would want to support each other and see each other as soon as possible," said Todoroki. 

"I heard you were in the hospital too, and I just had to come see you. I have way too much on my mind right now, so you have no idea how glad I am you're finally awake," said AJ.

Serena nodded and gave a knowing look. I could tell something had probably happened between them earlier. Not to mention, AJ's eyes did look a little bit puffy...

"Wait finally awake? How long have I been out?" 

"Well they sent us home immediately after the attack, and that was last night. So you were out for basically 24 hours," said Maris. 

"What??" 

"Yeah, so when Todoroki told us you were awake, I came here as fast as I could and AJ flew me up to see you. Or at least attempted to. Pretty sure I almost died, but hey I'm here." 

AJ laughed and punched her arm. 

"Hey it's not my fault I've never been Seraph Airlines for anyone before. I wasn't expecting it to be so hard." 

We laughed, but it fizzled out. We were all trying to joke around, but I could tell there was something else on everyone's minds. Something I didn't know. So I asked. 

"Um yeah...Bakugo was taken by the villains that attacked us," said AJ. It was barely audible. 

I gasped. "AJ I'm so sorry--" 

"Hey it's ok can we just...can I have another hug?" 

"Of course." 

We hugged again. It felt nice, but I couldn't help but tense a little. The last hug someone gave me didn't exactly end well...

"Well that helped me a little. But Nat, how about you? Are you ok?" she asked. 

"Yeah I'm fine. I just... got caught a little off guard is all. I don't really want to talk about it." 

"Understandable. I think we all just need to take our minds off of things right now." 

I was glad she didn't push it further. 

We all sat down and filled each other in on the normal parts of camp, comparing training horror stories. Apparently Aizawa pushed AJ off of a cliff?? It was a nice distraction. 

We talked for a long time, switching topics from time to time, trying to think of ways to distract ourselves from what had just happened. But we couldn't fight sleep forever. 

I didn't think I'd be able to sleep for a long time after what had happened, but this was so peaceful. I felt my eyes getting heavier as our conversation slowly fizzled out. Eventually, we all dozed off, leaning on each other in one big pile of physically and emotionally exhausted teenagers.

I wish that moment could've lasted forever.