fear. || { bnha }

twenty nine.

a/n: an update that isn't a month after the last one?? go me (/^▽^)/
i'm also sorry for this chapter
i promise the cute will be back to stay soon

-

By the time they got to the nearest restaurant — not a fancy one, but something that was more than just fast food; she recognized the name, actually, from hearing people at her school mention it — it was already dark. The fear she'd had since she was a child crept back into her stomach; she side-stepped closer to Hitoshi, their arms pressing together.

"Are you scared?" The question made Valui's head snap up — was it that obvious? In the soft glow on the streetlights, she could see Hitoshi smiling gently down at her. "You know I won't let anything hurt you, right?"

Valui smiled, her heart thumping a little harder. He'd said that to her before — back when they first met; back when he became her hero; back when her life changed forever and got turned up on its head. She didn't regret any of it, though, even as her mind flashed through all the things that had happened because of that one single moment. "I know."

Hitoshi hummed softly, happily. "Good." He pulled the door open with his free hand, holding it open for Valui to walk through. Once inside, she found herself spacing out, staring at the inside of the restaurant as she listened faintly to Hitoshi talk to one of the waiters. A soft pinch to her cheek pulled her mind back to reality; she stared up at him, blinking slightly. "Come on," he said with a faint smile, leading her further into the restaurant.

The booth they were given was by a window. Valui slid into one side, glancing at Hitoshi as he moved to sit across from her. Her eyes gravitated out the window, ears distantly registering the waiter say they would be back to take their order in a moment.

That moment never came, though.

There was a loud crashing from somewhere outside that grabbed Valui's attention; her head whipped around to stare out the window, eyes growing wider and wider at the sight. Her blood ran cold; she could feel the color draining from her face as her brain tried desperately to make sense of what she was looking at.

Fires had broken out, but that wasn't what Valui was staring at. Fire was containable; fire was stoppable; fire was normal. Whatever was rampaging through the city — whatever grotesque beasts had sprung up from seemingly nowhere — were not normal, even by the current world's standards of "normal." Monsters with parts of their brains showing were running around the city, destroying anything and anyone they saw. The amount of death and destruction caused in a matter of seconds was unimaginable — how was this even happening?

"H-Hitoshi...?" she whispered, voice shaking as a feeling of dread wormed into her heart. Something was wrong — something was very wrong. "What's g-going on outside...?"

"I...I don't know." She heard him move and then felt a tap on her shoulder, but she couldn't tear her eyes from the hell that had erupted outside. "Come on, we need to go."

Outside, a monster grabbed hold of a woman and ripped her to shreds in one movement.

Valui imagined herself in that position.

A hand wrapped around her upper arm, pulling her gently, yet forcefully, away from the window. "Valui. Come on, we need to—"

"N-no!" Valui wrenched her arm from Hitoshi's grip, head whipping around and eyes staring fearfully into his. Fear had replaced all rationality in her brain; the screams from outside and the panic inside the restaurant only added to it. "I-I'm staying here! I'm not— I-I don't want to—"

Valui didn't realize she had curled into a ball until Hitoshi had to push her legs down; she didn't realize she had clamped her hands over her ears until Hitoshi pulled them off; she didn't realize she had begun shaking and crying until Hitoshi held her face in his hands.

"Valui." His voice had taken on a different tone — one she hadn't heard him use before. It was scared and frantic, yet surprisingly calm. "You need to calm down." He stared intensely into her eyes; Valui couldn't look away even if she wanted to. "And we need to leave."

Behind him, the workers in the restaurant were frantically urging everyone to leave; telling them to hurry before one of those things turned its attention on their building. From behind Valui, the blood chilling cry of the monsters was getting closer.

"B-but those th-things—"

"Valui." Hitoshi's hold on her face got the slightest bit tighter, the fear in his eyes becoming more and more prominent. "Do you trust me?"

She stopped; her terrified thoughts came to a screeching halt. A single word filled her head, which ultimately spilled out past her lips.

"Yes."

One corner of Hitoshi's mouth twitched upward for a split second. "Then believe me when I say I won't let anything bad happen to you. I'll keep you safe, okay?"

But who will protect you? 

Valui gave a small, somewhat hesitant nod. "O-okay."

Hitoshi let go of her face and stood back, immediately grabbing her hand and pulling her up out of the booth. No words were said as he made a beeline for the exit, borderline dragging the small girl behind him.

Once outside, Valui nearly froze from a sensory overload. The chaos that had once been removed from her was now surrounding her; the sound and smell of fire flooded her senses, her eyes beginning to water immediately from the smoke and soot. She coughed, a painful feeling filling her lungs. Her head spun as she was pulled off somewhere else, away from the commotion and destruction that plagued the main roads.

"Hey, Valui?" Hitoshi's voice hit her ears, but she couldn't respond — she was still coughing. They stopped; Hitoshi spun around to look at her. "Valui, are you alright?"

Through still-watery eyes, Valui looked up at him and nodded, coughing once more. "I-I'm fine."

I just want to go home. 

Hitoshi hesitated, then nodded and quickly kissed her forehead. "Alright. Uh..." He trailed off, glancing around. "I think there's a train on the opposite side of the city, so maybe it's not— not been stopped yet. That'll at least get us out of here."

There was another moment of hesitation, then, "Come on, let's go."

Valui nodded, attempting to walk fast enough to keep in time with him. She kept her eyes locked on their hands, desperately trying to ignore everything going on around her. In the back of her mind, she knew how childish it was — how this was why she couldn't get any stronger: when something was scary, she just blocked it out and depended on someone else to handle it for her; it was why her father died; why she herself had almost died; and why she felt herself getting more and more fearful for Hitoshi.

Why are you risking yourself for me? 

Why are you putting yourself in danger for me?

Why did you want to be my hero? 

Valui snapped out of her thoughts when she bumped into Hitoshi's back. She blinked, shaking her head and looking up. They were in an alleyway. Three people were already in it — two were on the ground, blood surrounding them, while one stood over the both of them. Their back was to Valui and Hitoshi, but she didn't need to see their face to know who it was.

Even without the excess amount of knives, the scarf was enough to give it away.

Hitoshi's hand tightened around Valui's. "Iida?"

The one that was laying face down on the ground looked back at them — as much as he could, at least; Valui only saw his eyes move. Fear shown brightly in his eyes, as well as a rage that made her skin crawl. "Shinsou?" The tone of his voice scared her. "You have to get out of here! Before he—"

He turned around, eyes skimming briefly over Hitoshi before landing on Valui. He grinned.

"Ah, so that's where you went, Valui."