Dancing Shadows

Chapter Nine

Bakugou's POV-
   When we get back to the class, Ellowyn is about to pass out. She still has enough energy to care too much though. "How's Aizawa?" She asks as soon as we teleport back.

   Mina sighs. "Not great. He's passed out for now but he needs help."

   "Looks like the rest of our classmates found you while we were gone." I comment.

   "Someone's missing still." Cherry adds.

   "Iida used your presence near the entrance as a distraction so that he could get out without getting caught. He's going to get help now that he's out." Mina says. "We just need to avoid getting caught by the villains in the meantime."

   "Well, I have some bad news." Cherry says. "Shigaraki sent a nomu after us."

   "We've taken those things down before." I say. "We'll be fine."

   "Okay." She mumbles in response.

   I sigh. "I knew that you were pushing yourself too fucking far by coming with us. You need to sit down."

   She nods and we both sit down against a wall. We are both quiet until she leans over and quietly whispers to me, "I think I may be hallucinating."

   "Why? What do you see?"

   She chuckles nervously. "The walls are closing in. That isn't actually happening, right?"

   "No. Do you have claustrophobia?"

   "Maybe."

   "It's probably the final symptom that the woman with the poison quirk was talking about. Try to relax. It isn't real. Maybe just get some sleep."

   "That's easy for you to say."

   "Try just closing your eyes."

   She shuts her eyes tightly. "Nope, no way. I can't explain it but I still feel it. It's like my lungs are being squeezed." She mutters.

   "Just stay calm."

   "I am." She says with her eyes open again. I can tell that she is just barely controlling her anxiety.

   "Guys, look!" Sero shouts. "It's a nomu!"

   Todoroki, Kirishima, and Deku immediately rush to deal with it. By the time they are done, police are flooding the building and Cherry has passed out. Unfortunately, the villains had left by the time the authorities arrived. All of us are sent back to the school but Ellowyn, Aizawa, and Uraraka are all immediately sent to Recovery Girl's office while the rest of us have to go back to the dorms. Uraraka comes back later that day and Aizawa is back two days later, even though he looks more exhausted than ever but Cherry stays for the entire week. Apparently, she has been sleeping for almost the entire time and has had terrible nightmares due to her condition. Just yesterday though, she woke up and her fever has gone down. Her pain and hallucinations have also gone away. Now that's she is feeling better, she should be able to come back to school tomorrow on Monday but everyone wants to visit her so the entire class is going to right now since Recovery Girl said that it's okay.

   Kirishima knocks on the door, and as soon as Recovery Girl opens it, we all go inside her office. Cherry has her curly hair down and keeps pushing her wire-framed glasses up the bridge of her nose, which is buried between the pages of the book she is reading. She looks up in surprise as we walk in. "Hi, Ellowyn! How are you feeling?" Kirishima exclaims.

   "Hey, Kirishima. I'm feeling okay. How are you guys?"

   "Never better! Anyways, we just came to check on you since you're awake now. You look like you're doing great!" Shitty Hair replies.

   "Yeah, we're so glad that you're doing better." Deku adds. "We were really worried since we didn't really know anything about how that villain's quirk would affect you in the long run."

   Everyone talks to her for a while and catches her up on everything that she has missed until we are interrupted by a man and a woman walking into the room with Principal Nezu. "Ellowyn, your parents are here to see you."

   "Parents?" Kaminari questions. Mina flicks him on the forehead as a sign to shut up, but the question is fair enough. Ellowyn is quite pale with red hair while her father appears to be of African descent and her mother is clearly of Asian descent.

   "I'm adopted." She explains.

   "We can come back later. We don't want to interrupt your time with your friends." Her mom says.

   "No, that's okay. Thanks for checking up on me guys but I need to talk to my parents. See you tomorrow?"

   "See you tomorrow." Kirishima says as we all leave.

...

Ellowyn's POV-
   As soon as the door closes, the tension in the room rises. I'm the first to speak. "I'm not coming home."

   Mom sighs. "Ellowyn, you could've died. How are we supposed to just let that go?"

   "If I hadn't done what I did, my classmate would've died!"

   "El, we are just worried about you. Maybe you threw yourself into this too fast. After everything that happened, maybe you should have taken more time before jumping into something as big as becoming a hero." Dad says.

   "I have to do this. This is what I'm meant to do. For the first time since what happened, I finally know what I'm supposed to do. I've found my purpose again. I can't believe that you would try and take that from me. I can do this! I know I can. Do you think that I can't?"

   "Come on El, of course, we know that you can but at what cost? Your life?" Mom shakes her head. "That's not worth it."

   I scoff. "I'm not going to die."

   "Really? Because all you have done lately is get hurt." Mom replies.

   "That was an accident!"

   "It's always an accident!"

   "Akina, El, relax." Dad says quietly.

   The room falls silent again for a moment. Mom sighs. "We would never force you to give up your dreams, but you need to be more careful, and, if you need to, you can always come home. We will always be here for you, okay?"

   I nod. "Okay."

...

Bakugou's POV-
   When Cherry's parents finally leave, I step back into the room. "Oh, hey there Bakugou. I thought you left with everyone else."

   "No. I had to stay."

   "Why?"

   "We need to talk."

   She looks a bit confused. "Okay. About what?"

   "You shouldn't have done what you did. It's my fault that you're here-"

   "No, it is not!"

   "Yes, it is. I just wanted to tell you that I am glad that you didn't let me die."

   She smiles. "Are you trying to say thank you?"

   I scoff. "No. Shut up, nerd."

   She just laughs. "Don't worry about it. We are even." 

   Suddenly, my phone rings. Kirishima must be calling because I'm late. "I have to go. Shitty Hair asked me to help him study."

   "See you later." She says as she opens her book again.

   "See you later. " I mutter back as I leave.