Silence Destroyed (MHA)

Chapter 27- The Beginning of Hell

It seemed like waking up confused and disoriented was becoming commonplace for Naoko. One minute she was walking into the forest with the Masked kid, grumbling her complaints to herself, and the next thing she knew, she was lying on a futon, bandages wrapped around her waist and a massive headache splitting her head in two.

Thankfully, the light in the room was dim, and the windows seemed darker than normal, so it was probably night? Honestly, Naoko didn't care too terribly much, she was just glad there wasn't too much light assaulting her poor eyes.

She sat up reluctantly, wincing as her body protested her movement. She really had done a number on it thanks to her stupid, self-sacrificing ways... Not that she remembered any of that.

As Naoko looked over her shoulder trying to crack her neck, she saw a familiar form gawking at her with wide eyes and a dropped jaw. The pink skin was a dead giveaway and Naoko grinned slightly at Mina.

"How long was I out?" She asked and waited patiently as Mina shook herself out of the stupor she had fallen into. Naoko really must have looked bad if she had Mina of all people acting like this.

What followed was a string of language that Naoko found completely unintelligible as Mina said... Something before lunging forward and pulling Naoko into a hug.

The vibrations continued for a full minute as Naoko sat there, completely shocked by the physical contact. It hadn't been expected, and certainly not from someone Naoko barely knew. "Uh..." That intelligent grunt was about all Naoko was able to get out as she tried to process the turn of events. 

Chris, who had been looking in to check on Naoko just stood back and chuckled, pulling out his phone to capture the moment. He had a perfect angle to immortalize the shock and disgust written heavily on every line of Naoko's face.

Levi would love this. Hell, he might even laugh, which is something Chris lived for.

For Naoko, the painful minute was finally over when Mina pulled away and held her at an arms-length, "Thank you so much, Naoko. You helped us get through the forest so much quicker!" Her grin was a thousand watts, which nearly blinded the surly teenager.

"Not a problem?" She said with a mouth full of Mina's hair, which was quite invasive. Sure she had done a lot during the first trial, but it wasn't like she deserved all this praise, she just kept a shield up, nothing more. Even if Mina was all over her now, that meant next to nothing, she was a naturally exuberant person, nothing like Naoko.

Before Naoko could shoo her classmate away, Mina sat back of her own accord and stared closely at Naoko, "Don't say that. Without you, we would probably still be out there." She said before her eyes dropped to Naoko's hands, "Honestly, I didn't know much about you before, but I think you're amazing."

Oh, dear... Naoko knew that Mina had been one of the ones who invaded her house, so the girl knew that she was deaf. No doubt this is what she was talking about.

"Mina," Naoko started hesitantly, not entirely wanting to rain on the girl's parade, "If this is about me being deaf, then-"

Before Naoko could finish her statement, a hand covered her mouth and Mina was shaking her head emphatically, "No... I mean, that's part of it, but honestly, I don't care as much about that right now."

She paused for a moment and sighed deeply, drawing Naoko in, "It... Well..." This was incredibly unusual, normally the pink girl was one of the most confident people in Class A-1, but right now she was fidgeting and looking around worriedly as though the walls had ears. "I saw your wrists. I'm so sorry!"

It took a moment for her words to sink in as Naoko blinked at her. Her... wrists?

Shit. 

Just like that, panic took over and Naoko found herself looking down at her wrists frantically. As usual, they were covered with the sweatbands that hid the scars, but she knew that someone had moved them. Mina wouldn't be saying this so significantly if they hadn't been moved.