LUMINARY [bnha]

Chapter 4 - First Mate

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 Warm light woke Tsukiko from a nightmare about a croissant kaiju eating her.

With eyes still closed, Tsukiko scrunched her nose and tried to stretch toward the heat, but found her movements restrained, her limbs numb and tingly as if they were asleep. Frowning, she tried to roll toward the warmth instead and, surprisingly, found that was impossible too.

Tsukiko gave up her hopes of more sleep. She cracked an eye open... and found an unfamiliar, dawn-streaked room staring back at her. There was no sunlight yet... So what had she sensed? Where was that warmth that she felt only moments earlier?

Worry crept down her spine. Something didn't seem right.

Posters hung on the walls, but she couldn't tell what they depicted in the deep blue dark. She spied a desk covered in papers and what looked like a wardrobe with closed doors and drawers. The blankets under her fingers were plush and warm. Nothing seemed dangerous... but she'd been wrong before.

Her heaving breaths must have given her away, because the weight on her chest murmured something about roundhouse kicks before shifting, a warm hand finding hers in the dark. A shiver crept over her palm — tingly, comforting, and intense. The stranger's calloused fingers covered her own and squeezed softly, the shiver spreading up Tsukiko's arm in response.

With a hum, the stranger fell back to sleep. Something about the hand in hers was familiar, even safe, but she refused to get her hopes up. Gently, Tsukiko pried her pinned arm from under the weight, and let her fingers roam over the person obviously weighing her down. Tsukiko felt shiny-smooth scars on their skin. A crocheted blanket laid over their hoodie, both soft with time and love. Tangled curly hair—

Izuku.

As if she'd said his name out loud, he grumbled and rubbed his face into her stomach where he rested, turning his sleepy, half-lidded gaze on her. "Tsukiko..." he murmured. But what started as a tired mumble turned into a shout as his eyes flew open, realizing. "Tsukiko! Oh thank god, you're awake!"

She tried to give him a smile of strength and reassurance, but it quickly faded as a bone-deep ache jolted through her body. Izuku stood and threw his arms around her, holding her to his chest with a hand on the back of her head and another around her waist. Pain and shivers rocketed through her skeleton once more.

For a long moment, they held each other and said nothing... because there was nothing to say. There was only warmth and safety and relief. Tsukiko ignored that telltale flip-flop of her stomach, the one that happened whenever Izuku was near.

Izuku sniffled, bringing Tsukiko back to the moment. "Never do that again!" he said, tears evident in his jagged voice, in his heaving chest. Half-buried in her hair, his grip trembled.

"Do what again?" Tsukiko said into his sweatshirt, her arms wrapped around his torso. He smelled just like he always did — soapy, clean, and just a little like vanilla and freshly baked cookies, courtesy of Auntie Inko. She nuzzled into his chest and, when her face pulsed like a fresh bruise, she groaned. "Ugh, and why do I feel like shit?"

He pulled her away, holding her at arm's length by the shoulders and watching with a scrutinizing stare. Something in his expression changed, softened. Slowly, he said, "What is the last thing you remember from your birthday?"

Tsukiko's mouth pressed into a tight line. Last she remembered, she performed the ritual at the top of the shrine with her grandfather, got dango with Kat, Momo, and Izuku... then, the announcement. "I was giving my yearly announcement to the crowd," she said. After that, her memory blurred and faded. "But I started to feel sick, and... you... you were there, I think? I— I'm not..."