🖤💙𝕊𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕞𝕖 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕧𝕠𝕚𝕔𝕖 𝕚𝕟 𝕞𝕪 𝕙𝕖𝕒𝕕💙🖤

A Father At Heart

POV TOMURA

I want to kill him. I want to kill everyone. How could they let this happen? How could they be so cruel?! If any of us should have survived, it should've been Himiko. She's the one that really could've turned her life around. She was just a fucking kid.

Eraserhead is the only reason I haven't killed myself. If he hadn't forced my wrists to my sides, pulled me into his embrace, I would've ran back inside the burning building to kill AFO myself. I forget all about my injuries, about how painful it is just to stand up; Himiko's injuries are worse.

That's what I keep telling myself they are. Injuries. Maybe she's just unconscious. Tomorrow, when this is all over, I'll wake up to her and Twice singing at the top of their lungs. It's annoying, but it's better than the deadly silence that'll wash over me when her stupid squeaky voice is gone forever.

It's dangerous for Eraser to hold me so closely. I don't have my gloves on. I could kill him. Part of me forgets who he is and considers grabbing his hand, turning him to dust, breaking free, but it only lasts a second. I know Eraserhead. I love Aizawa Shouta. And he's hurting just as much as I am.

I trust him with my life. He kept his promise, after all. He saved my life.

It's bittersweet. I would've preferred it was my corpse propped up against the tree over there if it meant Himiko would still be alive. Maybe she'd finally convince that stupid hero girl to take her on a date.

I think the rest of the league was prepared for my death. It's only a matter of time, really. If All For One didn't kill me, then the government would. Or maybe I'd get sick of it all and kill myself.

I've considered it more times than I can count. I have the scars to prove it.

And here I am once again. Considering it. God, I'm so pathetic. People die all the fucking time. Why can't I get over it already?

My breath gets ragged and desperate. The air must know how disgusting and selfish I am; it understands that I need to die and leaves me completely, forcing me to gasp and choke and beg for oxygen.

But Shouta is helpful. He's gentle with me. I don't know how he does it, but eventually I've come down from a panic attack (before it got too bad) and found my way back into the bitter resentment and overwhelming sadness.

"I'm here," Shouta whispers to me, stroking his fingers over my head. I rest my cheek on his chest and let my muscles go slack. I think that's a funny string of words. Just six simple letters. Maybe in a different situation, they'd be completely useless. But right now... they're all I have.

Shouta picks me up and carries me to his car. He buckles me into the passenger seat and smooths out my clothes, ignoring the blood soaking through and crusting over the tatters. Shouta pulls me hair out of my face and kisses my bruised lips. He holds my face in his hands, and I want to forget everything besides him in this moment. "I'll be right back," he tells me, his voice softer and shakier than usual. "I promise."

He kisses me again, then hesitantly heads back the way we came. I don't know what's wrong with him, going back into the battlefield. At first I think he's going to retrieve Himiko, but I watch in horror as he enters the burning house. He's made up his mind. There's nothing I can do but watch hell unfold.

POV AIZAWA

I don't know what I'm doing. Well, I have a pretty vague idea. Dabi is in the midst of a flaming tornado, summoned by his own pain, and I can hear his agonizing screams from outside. He may have a fire quirk, but he can't last long in such high temperatures, hence the burned flesh stapled onto his body. I know I have to get him out of there, or else he'll die in a matter of minutes.