Cocoa Whumptober 2021

No. 6 - TOUCH AND GO

A/N: Prompt: bruises | touch starved | hunger

Eri had only just moved into U.A. but had already figured out that her life would be much different here than it was with Overhaul.

For one, she was no longer being hurt. Second people were being kinder to her than she had ever been treated before. Finally, something she hadn't been aware of at first as she had barely paid attention to it in the hospital but now that she's moved into U.A. it finally hit her- her injuries were fading.

She had been so used to seeing her skin peeled open and colored a mix of reds, blacks, and blues, that she was confused when they started to fade. The usual marks on her skin started fading to small unpainful lumps and the colors faded to yellow until they had completely vanished.

Shortly after the fading process had started all of her markings had either disappeared- and she kind of liked her skin better that way- but she wasn't sure what it meant and found herself too scared to ask. She wasn't sure if they would let her keep her skin this way, the way she liked it.

It took her a few days of trying to build up the courage to finally manage to ask about it- they had just started dinner- Deku, Mirio, a few of their friends, and herself joined together with the teachers at the table.

"Hey... Deku... Mirio... my skin used to have slashes and weird markings... they hurt a lot... but now they're gone... I kinda like it like this... my skin... you know being unpainful. Do-does it mean something bad though? I don't remember ever, not having the marks. Is it bad?"

She looked up from the table, where she had unconsciously started staring at, while building up the courage to speak.

Everyone around her- who had just been chattering wildly seconds before- had fallen into an unsettling silence. Deku, who was to her left had tears building up in his eyes. Everyone else had frowns on their faces and occasionally there was a person with their mouth hanging open. A few different times someone opened their mouth as if they wanted to answer her question but couldn't think of what to say.

In the end it was Mirio- seated to her right- who finally spoke, "Eri... There's nothing wrong with your injuries fading."

The room fell into silence for a few more more seconds before Mr. Aizawa started speaking, "Eri, your injuries were healing. The fact that you can't see or feel them anymore is a good thing. Nothing is wrong with you Eri."

With those words, she let out a small smile.

"Oh... good... So I can keep them like this?"

This time it was Deku who jumped in to answer her question, "Of course Eri! In fact if you ever get any new injuries tell us so we can help your heal."

She felt... happy... everyone had been so nice to her and now she wouldn't have to suffer through the pain her markings brought her before.

"So... no more pain?"

Deku had gently shifted from his seat next to her and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in closer.

"Eri, I can't promise you, that there will be no more pain in your life. Things happen and you'll get hurt- by falling down, running into things- but what I can promise is that we won't hurt you, not like overhaul did, not on purpose, and if you are hurt we'll be there to help you, okay?"

In that moment she didn't care that she would get hurt eventually, all that mattered to her was that these people, the people that cared for, the people she cared for her, would never leave marks on her skin like overhaul did.

And the promise that was made to her that day was kept. When she tripped while playing tag, they were there. When she got caught up in a villain attack they were there. When she fell off a bike and broke her arm, they were there.

And although sometimes there would be fights with them and her feelings would be hurt, they were always there in the end. No matter how she acted or what she did, they always showed up and would help her because at the end of the day they cared.

A/N: Hope you liked it! Thank you to everyone who liked and/or commented on this. Till next time!