They're Not Here: A BNHA Villain Deku Fanfic

Chapter 12: The After

They find the remains of a grocery store. She finds a whole box of ramen. He finds water. I am very useless and find absolutely nothing.

He pulls out a burnt pot from his backpack as she makes a fire. "Let's make this quick," he says, glancing around him nervously.

She shakes her head and laughs. "You'd think it was the end of the world."

They finish cooking and it turns out that his anxiety was unnecessary this time around. Nobody shows up to bother us.

We set up camp inside the grocery store in between the two remaining standing aisles. When we are finished she is restless. "It looks like there's a lot of stores around here," she says. "I'm going to go look for something new to wear."

"Okay," he replies. "Good luck."

She runs off and we're left alone with a pile of blankets and two unfinished cups of ramen. We're both quiet. But he can never take the quiet for long. That much about him hasn't changed.

"You didn't have to stay," he whispers, swirling the noodles around listlessly.

I finish off my cup and shrug. "I wanted to."

He looks up, his eyes wide. "Re...really?"

"Mmhmm," I say distantly.

He scoots forward. "Why...why don't you hate me?"

I force myself to look right at his big, hopeful eyes. "Who ever said I didn't?"

He chuckles. "So you are still alive in there."

He glances me over with a questioning look in his eyes. I nod and he immediately crawls forward and curls into my lap. He rests his head on my shoulder and stares at me. I let him. I'm almost used to it by now.

"Oh, right, I forgot." He pulls a dark pencil from out of his pocket. "They don't have hair gel but I found eyeliner."

I snort.

"I'm going to try to put it on for you," he says.

"Alright."

His brow furrows with concentration as he smears my eyes with the black pencil. When he's done he frowns. "I don't think I did it right. Whoa, you look...really emo. Though I guess the hair is partly to blame."

"Dude, what did you do to my face?"

He laughs and resituates himself, his head back on my shoulder. "Don't worry. It's actually kind of growing on me."

I don't respond and the conversation dies. He's back to staring at me. I almost fall asleep sitting up when he breaks the silence once again.

"You still blame yourself," he says. He's not asking.

Again, I don't respond.

He sighs. "I keep telling you it's not your fault. I didn't do it because I was mad."

I hesitate. He takes my hand into his own. His touch is gentle. Always so gentle. As if he's terrified I will break. "Go on. Ask whatever you want," he says.

I stare at a blank spot in space. "So why...why did you do it then?"

I'm not looking at him. But I can feel his tears drip down my throat. I can feel his face pull into a smile.