Worth Fighting For (Toshinori Yagi x Reader)

Chapter 10

Art Credit: Pixiv

There was a moment of silence as Toshinori got over the initial shock of the nightmare he had just experienced, his tender heart slowly returning back to a normal beat. Laying back down on the bed, the retired hero did his best to recollect on what exactly had happened in his dream, knowing well that his brain would fail him if he tried to think about it further.

He had heard once that dreaming and how the brain processes those dreams are affected by the steps of REM sleep the human body goes through every night. When people wake up, it's almost as if their brains are having to take away the information in order to remember what they saw.

The dream he had affected him in a negative way, which was all he knew as he slid his long legs over the bed to stand. Stretching the sleep out of him and rubbing his hollowed eyes, the blond tugged his sweater from yesterday over his head, sighing.

He had worn his day clothes to bed.

He winced as he ran his hands down his bare chest and down his sides. Being mindful of the ugly scar on his left, Toshinori removed his pants and boxer briefs off of himself. The air felt comfortable on his warm skin as he walked toward his closet.

Inside the area where the man kept his garments, there was a full body mirror that was kept still with the use of strong adhesives. Most of the mirrors in the retired hero's apartment had come along with it. This meant that there were certain reflective surfaces he couldn't ignore.

He stared at his naked reflection, his eyes scanning every nook and cranny on his person.

Toshinori frowned, having to bend over slightly to fit his entire body into view as he looked at himself. The man reached up to his long and thin face, pinching the skin of his cheeks slightly before he traced his strong jawline.

Gross.

When he found his hands reach toward his neck, he wondered to himself why he was so long, everywhere. All of him was long and thin, his height enhancing the significant difference of his true form to his hero persona. Toshinori shrugged his shoulders, the bones on him bulging out on his skin as he moved. The mere sight made Toshinori let out a low, painful whimper, every ridicule or scornful thought burning him. He remembered his prime, when One For All was still blazing in his system. His body was strong and many people had found him attractive. The confidence he gained from the compliments had been something he cherished. He didn't enjoy them because he was cocky or knew how good he looked, he loved them because of how much it meant to him.

All the confidence, and all the sureness he had in himself had vanished during that fateful battle.

The blonde grimaced, his eyes finally looking down at the dark puckered skin on his left side. The initial area that had been injured was cratered slightly, branching out into long sharp scars that looked similar to how lightning would strike the sky when thunder clouds loomed. Though pain rarely bothered him now that he was retired the man noticed how sensitive the area was on him, his calloused fingers following the movement of his old injury.

After staring at himself enough, the man finally got changed into some clean clothes.

(Y/N) quietly shifted in place as morning crept through the window and onto her face. The calming warmth gave the woman a sense of serenity as she slowly blinked her (e/c) eyes open.

Toshinori's living room.

She sighed, the reminder of her predicament leaving a bitter taste on her lips as she sat up, her jaw slacked in a loud yawn. From the room ahead of her she could hear soft shuffling. Her friend was probably already awake now.