In the Shadow of Revenge

Chapter 4

Mei woke to the sound of sobbing. She hadn't meant to fall asleep in the hallway, but there she was, covered in a blanket someone must have thrown on her in the night. And it was night, the dorm dark and deathly silent, but for that sound which shook her into alertion. Quiet, choked whimpers rang out through the hallway, echoing across the empty halls. Wincing, Mei rose up on stiff legs to open the door,

"Tenya?," she whispered.

Tenya was curled up into a ball, shaking, crimson eyes fixed on the white walls surrounding him.

"G--go away, Toga, please"

Mei entered the room and held her hands out in front of her, she wasn't sure who Toga was, maybe one of the villains who captured him? Resolving to ask Recovery Girl later, she tried her best to stay calm.

"It's okay Tenya, it's me, Mei Hatsume, from the Sports Festival, remember?"

That had clearly been the wrong thing to say, Tenya had managed to back himself further into the corner of the bed, one of his legs beginning to bleed again. He barely winced and Mei shuddered at the implications of that pain tolerance.

"N-not real, it's not real, you're not her."

"It is me, I promise, you're at UA, you're safe."

"No!" Tenya cried out fiercely, surprising Mei, "please just stop taking their blood, don't hurt her, y-you, you can have me instead." With a shaking hand he stretched out an arm that was covered in needle wounds and scabbing over bite marks.

Mei gasped in horror, tears welling in her eyes at the sight, as he sat there, begging her to hurt him.

"Please" his arm stretched out further," stop hurting them, Toga."

Mei wasn't sure what to do, but she couldn't just stand there and listen to Tenya suffer, he had to see that he was safe, that she was real.

"Do you remember, a couple weeks after the sports festival, when one of my babies got loose in the hall outside the support lab? It was #359, and it had these adorable little legs for running, and just the cutest rotating blades! You were running an errand for your class, when you saw me chasing after it as everyone started screaming. And you, well you just sped right over, picked #359 up by one of its still kicking legs, and brought my baby back to me. And do you remember what you said?" Mei laughed softly," You said, y-you said that it was unbecoming for a UA robot to run in the hallways. And, when I said that you had been running too, you blushed so much that you looked like a traffic light when you walked back down the hallway." Mei's voice shook as she finished, anxiously waiting for Tenya's response.

"H-Hatsume?" Tenya asked uncertainty, his voice tight with fear and pain.

"Yes!" Mei proclaimed, relieved, "It's okay now, I'm right here."

And that seemed to be the worst thing she could have possibly said. Tenya tried so hard to get away from her that she thought he would fall off the bed. Frantic, Mei dashed forward, hoping to stop him before he tore his stitches.

"N-no no no, not real,not real, y-you're not her, please just stop!" Tenya muttered, his eyes as wide and panicked as a roiling storm.

One of his hands was fisted in his navy blue hair, the other flapping wildly at his side, the arm that was connected to the monitors Recovery Girl had set up. Well Shit!, Mei inwardly cursed, as a chorus of beeps rang out into the night.

Tenya wouldn't look at her, he just curled further into himself, cries desperate and incomprehensible, his hands held tight over his ears as the machines continued to blare. Mei didn't know how to turn them off, let alone reconnect them. Unsure how to respond, Mei activated her Quirk and searched for a call button. There it was, attached to the wall by Tenya's bed, just within reach was a smooth apple-sized red button. Mei's blood curdled when Tenya flinched away from her, as she slapped the button hard. A ring of yellow light surrounded the button, and Mei knew that Recovery Girl would arrive soon. She felt so ashamed, Tenya was afraid, terrified even, of her. What was Power Loader thinking? She wasn't ready for this. People weren't like machines, they were confusing, scary, complicated, and so, so, fragile. She couldn't just slap a couple bandages or a fresh coat of paint on Tenya to fix him up, so why was she even here? She just felt so worthless, sitting here, with him crying like that, fearing that any word she said would only bring back painful reminders.

Mei didn't have long to muse, however, when she heard a sharp knock on the door, one that sounded too strong to have come from an old woman.

"Recovery Girl?" Mei asked uncertainly.

"No",a young male voice answered," it's um, Kaminari, from next door, is everything okay in there?"

Mei opened the door, "No, she sighed, "It's not, I think he's afraid of me, he doesn't know that he's at UA, he still thinks he's there, with the villains."

Kaminari just stood there in the doorway, his blond hair disheveled like he had poked his finger in a light socket, his golden eyes wide with shock and confusion. Standing there, in his

Pikachu pajama pants, stained band tee, and bare feet, it was evident that he had immediately ran out of bed.

"He's going to be okay right?" asked Kaminari nervously.

"I-I don't know, but I'm not going to give up."

Kaminari nodded fiercely at that, and then shifted on his feet, trying to peer past Mei to see Tenya. "Can I try and help?"

"Yeah," Mei replied. Quite frankly, she'd run out of ideas, and she hated the thought of just sitting around and listening to Tenya cry out until Recovery Girl arrived.

Mei took Kaminari's hand and led him into the room. Kaminari froze at the sight of Tenya, his eyes wide in surprise and uncharacteristic anger. His hands twitched at his sides, as though he wanted to punch whoever had been the true cause of this, whether it be Stain, this Toga person, or someone even worse. Yet with a resolve that unnerved Mei, Kaminari steeled himself, his face instantly melting into a carefree smile as he knelt down beside Tenya's bed.

"Hey Pres, It's Kami, remember?" Kaminari called out softly. Tenya wasn't responsive, his shaking hands still clasped over his ears. "Those machines are loud, huh. It's okay though, they're here to keep you safe, just like Hatsume, ok? You're at UA now, wherever you think you are, you're not there, not anymore"

"Not real, You're not real, not real, not real" Tenya repeated as though it were a mantra he was well accustomed to.

"Of course, I'm real Pres, no one can impersonate this awesomeness, I mean, come on! Kaminari laughed good-naturedly, though it sounded forced to Mei's ears. "I've been using those study tips you taught me, you know, and my grades are actually getting a little better, Bakugou still calls me Dunce Face though, at this point I think he would even if I was as smart as you." Kaminari paused when he realized that Tenya's eyes were darting from him to Mei who still lingered, uncertain, in the doorframe. There was something wild in his gaze, confusion, fear, and the tiniest thread of hope.

"Can't be two," Tenya murmured, somewhat deliriously.

"The villain couldn't pretend to be two people? That's great buddy, you're so smart! Hatsume and I are both here, so you're safe, I promise" Kaminari responded.

"S-safe?" Tenya asked as though the word was foreign to him, as though he'd never thought he'd have a reason to use it again.

"Yeah bro, safe, you're safe here."

"Oh," Tenya replied softly, exhausted and with a hint of disbelief. Slowly, Tenya's face relaxed and he slumped over, pained, and worn through onto the bed.

Kaminari, sighed sadly, and readjusted the blankets over Tenya, careful to avoid his damaged legs.

"How did you do that? Calm him down like that, I mean?" Mei asked, feeling more than a little useless.

"I didn't do much," Kaminari replied, with a haunted look in his eyes, "besides, we're all used to nightmares here."