Toshinowa

12

"How is he?" I had visited the hospital at least once a day for the past week.

"He was finally taken off the pain meds, so he's thinking clearly. He's been asking about you and Eri, though. You should go talk to him." I nodded and rushed to his room. When I got there, I lightly knocked on the door frame.

"You know, I didn't really believe them when they said you and Eri were alright. You didn't fight him, did you?"

"I didn't have to." I looked around the hallway. When I saw no one around, I walked into the room and stood next to his bed. "We grew up together. He was like my big brother. He didn't want to fight, but I wasn't going to just go with him. Before I could make a move, the ground split open."

"And you saved my life."

""I didn't really have a choice. We were practically standing in the same spot."

"But you did. You could have just let me fall and climbed up to the balcony you were holding onto. But you didn't."

"I guess I never looked at it like that."

"I want to ask you something, and I understand if you don't want to answer it. But it's not in your files, so I want to know. Why did you leave? Other than the obvious." I sighed, choosing my words carefully.

"My mother was pregnant with me. They kidnapped her. I grew up in captivity, training all day every day. They wanted me to become a villain, but I just wanted to help people. My mom had a whole plan for us to get out, but..." I blinked back tears. "One day I went to training, and when I got back to my room a man told me my mother was dead. He said they had to kill her because she was planning to escape. That night, I escaped."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"We have to stop them."

"I know you feel you have to avenge your mother, but you can't let your emotions get in the way of your rational thinking." I shook my head.

"When Dabi was leaving, he told me she misses me. That means she's alive, and they lied to me."

"He could be lying."

"No. I can tell he still cares about me. He would never lie to me."

"How can you be so sure."

"Because he knows that I hate liars more than anything."

(-)

I hadn't drawn him since I got my first sketch book two years ago. But I couldn't help myself now. He wasn't much older, but he seemed to have changed so much. I wasn't really aware of exactly what I was drawing when I started, but when I looked at it, I realized it was the sad expression I had seen on his face when he saw me. It was probably one of my best drawings.

I looked around the room. I had started as soon as I got back from the hospital, right after dinner time. Now, it was late. I walked to the window, looking at all the lights inside the other dorms. We didn't have classes for another week, so everyone else was probably relaxing. I was trying to get passed what had happened. There was a small knock on the door.

"I have some questions," Eri said when I opened the door. Without being invited in. she marched straight to my bed and sat down.

"Well, come in," I mumbled sarcastically as I shut the door. "What's up?"

"You knew that guy."

"What are you talking about?"

"You knew him. You called him by his name and talked about things that only you guys knew about." I sighed.

"You're right. But you can't tell anyone." She mimicked zipping her lips. "Good. What else?"

"You said your name was Ki, but he called you something else."

"Well, that was my name when he knew me. I had to change it when I moved here."

"Is that a secret, too?"

"Yes." She nodded. "Is that him?" She pointed to my sketchbook.

"Yup." I grabbed it and held it so she could see better.

"He looks scary."

"Yeah, but once he's not so bad once you get to know him." There was another knock at the door. It was Midnight.

"Is Eri in here? It's time for her to go to bed."

"I'm here! Goodnight, Ki!"

"Um, goodnigh, Eri." I closed my door behind them and sat back down at my desk. I flipped through the pages of my sketchbook until I found the sketch I was looking for. It was the first (and last) time I drew him. It was of him helping me to learn to use his flame after we discovered my secret quirk.

"Be careful. Try to focus on the size you want the flame to be. Make a small one." It came out way bigger than I wanted it to, but I managed to shrink it. "Good job. See, if you focus hard enough, you can use anyone's quirk, without even completely knowing how to use it."

"Ugh!" I released the quirk. "It makes me so mad! I can understand how anyone's works, but I can't always use it right."

"Once you get better at using this quirk, then you might be able to use any quirk without even practicing with it."

"But I can only practice with your quirk."

"Maybe one day you'll get out of here, then you'll be able to practice it with others."

If only he knew how wrong he'd been.