Saving Me [Monoma x Reader]

o4. Looking Back to Move Forward

The train ride home was very... quiet. But, I kind of liked it. We had only known each other for half a day, but I think Todoroki and I weren't meant to be the talkative type of conversational partners anyway, and I was completely okay with this. In fact, I think it was safe to say that he was okay with it, too.

"This is my stop." Rising from my seat, I gave a small wave to my newfound... friend? "Thanks for keeping me company. See ya tomorrow."

He gave a nod. "Goodbye, [L/N]. See you tomorrow."

It was only a five minute walk from the station to my place--the lovely, small house where my mom decorated the space with simple furniture and cute little plants and flowers, the place that I called home.

"Honeyyyyy! Welcome back, dear!"

Mom scooped me up into her signature mom hug and swung my upper body back and forth within her arms. "OooooOOoOOOHHH!!! I missed you!"

"Hey, Mom," I greeted with a grin, my cheek still pressed against hers. "It's only been a few hours, you know."

"A few hours too many!!" She finally let go of me and pushed me inside the house with her duster. "Soooo???? How was your first day at school?! You have to tell me all about it!"

"Oh, trust me, Mom. I'll tell you."

I spared her no detail. Normally, you see those stories where the awkward or shy kid gets bullied and they hide such things from their parents, but I was not one of those kids.

"That's terrible! I'm so sorry, dear. This Bakugo character sounds like a real troublemaker. The teachers didn't do anything about it? Just Todoroki?" She held her chopsticks within her fingers, frozen over her dinner as she listened intently to my tale.

"Well, the teachers weren't really there to see anything. It wouldn't really do much even if I'd told them about what happened. It's not really middle school anymore..." I grimaced in chagrin. "And Todoroki, he was... well..." I smiled to myself. "Todoroki was being a hero. A good one. On the other hand, I'm not sure how they let someone like Bakugo into the school."

That last statement was the unknown beginning of a dangerous landslide I began to ride. It would lead to such a catastrophic future in my relationship with the ash blond, and I would later come to regret it. I just didn't know it at the time.

"Well, Todoroki seems like a nice boy. I'm glad you're in the same class together."

I chuckled a bit. "I told him the same thing today- er... the part about being glad that we're in the same class together. He told me that the feeling's mutual."

Mom laughed, too. "That's good! Maybe the two of you can become good friends."

"Yeah. That'd be nice."

Once we finished with our meal, I helped Mom with washing the dishes and storing away the leftovers. Food never went to waste in this house.

"Alright, I'm going out to train! I'll be back later!"

"Sounds good, honey! Be safe, please!"

"I will!"

The cool, evening breeze was a refreshing welcome to my face as I ran freely through the streets of my neighborhood. It was almost, almost just as good as using my quirk, but with certain laws in place, we couldn't be using our quirks willy-nilly when we were out in public.

My quirk was inherited from my father. We call it Air Ride. Using the oxygen that we carry within our blood cells, we're able to blast gusts of air through the pores of our palms and the soles of our feet. Dad was strong enough to use his quirk to fly, along with other uses. Me, still being a rookie, well, I can only shoot out enough air to skate around for now, and maybe add a boost for when I need to jump long distances or launch myself at something, or someone. That's why I'm training everyday to increase my oxygen intake, so that one day, I'll be strong enough to take to the skies like Dad did.

"Someday, we'll scrape these skies together."

I still fondly remember that big grin of his when we dreamed together. He'd take me to this one spot in our neighborhood that overlooked the rest of the city, and he'd splay out his hand as he wiped his palm across the cityscape before me.

"We'll help people who are stuck in tall buildings, and we'll dive bomb into villains. They won't even see us coming!"

"YEAH! We'll be the best duo ever!!!"

I wasn't always so sparse with my words, and I actually used to have a lot of friends in elementary school. But when Dad died, that was when a part of me died, too. In middle school, I didn't talk to anyone, and I had no friends. All I could do was keep to myself and focus on my training so that I could prepare for the entrance exams at U.A.

It was no surprise that I got picked on, but I didn't care. I did my best to ignore them, but what really hurt was when they made jabs at Dad. "If he was so strong, why did he die?" they jeered. "He was just a weak hero." "Or maybe he knew you were gonna be weak, so he just left you behind." And you know what I did? I knew that some of them would be applying for U.A. So come the entrance exams, I personally hunted them down and took away as many robots from them as I could. It wasn't my proudest moment, but I wouldn't let them badmouth Dad and get away with it. He wasn't weak, and I did everything I could to prove it to them. His blood ran through my veins, and it wasn't his quirk that made him and me strong. It was his belief.

"Heroes never prey on the weak, [Y/N]-chan. We raise them up, so that they may be strong with the rest of us, because it is when we are together that we are truly victorious."

I wholeheartedly believed in his words, and I still do to this day. That's why I couldn't let those kids pass. They'd have to have a change of heart first before even thinking about becoming heroes.

Finally, I reached the vista point, the place where Dad would take me as a child to lay out our dreams together. Whenever I came here, I felt like I could be just a little closer to him. It might've sounded crazy, but sometimes I felt like he would whisper some words of wisdom to me in my times of need.

Placing both hands on my hips, I breathed heavily while scanning over the scenery that laid down below. So many buildings, streets, lights, and people. To think that one day, I'd be a hero for this city. My eyes lifted up to the atmosphere, where the orange shades of the sunset began melting into the blue shades of the night sky.

The sky. Just wait, Dad. Soon, I'll be up there, too. I promise to make you proud.

Being a hero meant that I'd probably have to be a bit more charismatic. Maybe not All Might status, bless his soul, but maybe I could work on getting pieces of my old self back. People will want to see a friendly face, whether they are being rescued or asking for an interview. Interviews, yikes. The thought alone gave me the shivers. Maybe a TV personality would be something to work on down the line, but for now, I think making friends would be a nice step forward. Meeting Todoroki was a great start, albeit with a bit of an odd beginning, but he was someone I wanted to get to know better.

A small smile painted across my lips as I continued to gaze into the blue canvas above, but it soon fell into a frown.

"Heroes never prey on the weak, [Y/N]-chan."

"This Bakugo character sounds like a real troublemaker."

"On the other hand, I'm not sure how they'd let someone like Bakugo into the school."

My parent's words as well as my own echoed within my mind. Today was only the first day, not even a full school day, but... what if Bakugou was someone I'd have to watch out for?

What if-

I shook my head. Thoughts like that would do me no good. For now... it was time to train.

And maybe, just maybe, it was time to open up a little bit more.