Solstice and Eclipse: Part III

Chapter IV: Digging

The fresh water from the natural hot spring was soothing to the skin and the temperature was perfect. It was a stark contrast to the baths at Shonien's, where the pressure was weak and the water either ice cold or boiling hot with no in between. The rest of the class had abandoned the baths some thirty minutes ago, leaving him with his preferred privacy. He was using what had been the girls' side as the boys had been emptied to be cleaned, given the sheer number of bodies that had used it earlier that evening. Inhaling deeply, the steam helped to dredge up some phlegm that had been stuck in the back of his throat. A small sphere of light encased the mucous and flung it into the woods at the flick of his wrist.

Clearing his throat, (L/N) sank further into the water so it came up to his chin and leaned his head against the edge of the pool. Water trickled down his arm as he brought two fingers up to lightly graze his cheek. He could still feel the warmth of her lips on his skin. Very suddenly, he began to angrily scrub at the spot, dropping his hand back into the water over and over again as if trying to wash away a particularly stubborn stain. Despite his best efforts, the feeling wouldn't go away. The memory of her lips had burned their way into his skin, like she had marked him somehow. Realizing he couldn't wash the feeling of her lips away he instead resorted to angrily slapping the water.

He had hoped he could have made it work. Not friends, but friendly. Don't let her closer but no need to push her away. Why did she have to go and ruin it all by kissing him like that. Making him realize that arm's length would never be an option. There would be no more compromising now. It had been a very pleasant dream, at least. It always was. But he knew that dream well enough to know it wouldn't stay pleasant. Dreams always ended in a painful return to reality, better to wake up now.

Reaching up, he grabbed the front of his blindfold and gently pulled on it. The fabric loosened its grip around his eyes and slowly unraveled in his hand. Carefully setting it aside, he pooled a small amount of water in his hands and slowly dripped it over the scars. He repeated the action several times, loose flakes of dead skin dripping down his face and floating away in the water. With pruned fingers he lightly swiped at the corner of his eyes and brushed outwards, bringing with it more dead skin. After a few minutes all that was left was the glossy shine of red, wrinkled scar tissue. The sound of a slight gasp had him quicky replacing the fabric over his eyes.

The sound of Yaoyorozu's voice followed soon after in the form of a stuttered apology. "I'm sorry, I didn't know you were in here, I swear." She panicked.

Of course, it was her. "What do you want?" He asked coldly.

"I, uh... I think I left my scrunchie by the bath." She said, and from the sound of her voice he could tell she had her back to him. "But I'll just come back later."

"It's fine." He said. "I was just leaving."

Quickly wrapping a towel around his waist, (L/N) made quick to leave before she got it in her mind to strike up another conversation, but alas.

"A-About earlier." She started. "I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable. I shouldn't have..."

"It's fine. You should just forget it." He said firmly.

She shook her head, intent on apologizing. "You shouldn't excuse my behavior. It was inappropriate and..."

"Drop it." He said loudly.

She took a nervous step back, startled by the harshness in his voice. "Right." She said quietly. "Um, good night." Forgetting what she'd come for, she hugged her shoulders and hurriedly made her way back inside.

[My Hero Academia]

The entire building was roused at 4:30 the next morning. Apparently Kaminari and Kirishima had filled Bakugou's hand with shaving cream while he slept and tickled his nose until he smacked himself in the face. Squeezing his eyes at the sound of Bakugou's angry yells, (L/N) tore the cap off the bottle of pills and downed three of them, grimacing until the drugs mercifully muffled his senses.