Y/N squeezed her eyes shut, holding her breath as the words she wanted to say made her feel sick. She decided to blurt it out. "My parents are heroes." Sitting in a silent and lonesome field of flowers, the boy she was spending her nights with twisted his head to look at her, checking to see if he misheard. "What?" "My parents," she groaned, covering her face. "They're fucking heroes." The pollen of the flowers polluted her throat.
"They're embarrassed of me, because I'm the quirkless child of two heroes." He sat up, crossing his legs. "You're being serious?" "Yes," she sat up too, avoiding his eyes, "I didn't want my parents to find us together, because they want to keep me away from hero stuff. It's embarrassing for them." Y/N snapped the stem of a dandelion, holding it between her fingers. The wind gently blew by them, ruffling the grass.
"You aren't an embarrassment," he huffed, "so your parents are fucking morons." Y/N paused before laughing, falling back, "of course you'd say that!" The flowers twisted into her hair. "You've got to get some fucking confidence, dipstick. You can't let your own parents make you feel that way." He stood up, holding out his hand, "let's get outta here. This is boring." Y/N grabbed his hand, rolling her eyes.
He peered at her hair, seeing a dandelion that lied in a tangle. Y/N carefully watched him as his hand approached her face, plucking it out. The awkward silence made him grumble as he turned around, forcefully pulling her as they walked into the forest.
"You're really funny," Y/N quietly said, making him squeeze her hand harder. His palm was warm, almost burning. "Funny?" He didn't look back at her, almost like he didn't want to acknowledge her presence. "Yeah. You make no sense." He walked slower, so that Y/N could be by his side. Her hand shifted so she was no longer being dragged, they were just holding hands. "What doesn't make sense?" "I cry a lot. Yet you insist to me that I'm strong and that I should believe that." "Being able to cry in front of me makes you strong. You're letting out your anger. That makes you strong."
Y/N poked his cheek with her other hand, enjoying how easily they're fingers fit each other. "Then you must be really strong," she joked, his eyes shortly shifting to her. "I am." "But you clearly think otherwise." "Huh?!" He tore his hand away, crossing his arms as he stomped forward. "I'm great!" His raucous voice echoed loudly, mixing with the sounds of a water stream. Y/N crossed her arms, copying him from behind. "I'm one of the best in my damn class and I've got the best quirk in the entire fucking school!"
"Right," she nodded, "except you're really insecure." "What?!" He turned around, stopping the ground. Y/N noticed it shake underneath their feet. "You're getting defensive which only proves my point." "I'm not getting defensive," the ground shook again and Y/N noticed they were standing on a tree trunk lodged in between two hills. "Ground zero," she mumbled, watching the log shake. "And that's a lot of bullshit coming from you!" "Hey, 'Spolsion-boy—" "I know exactly who I am and-" "Asshole! Stop moving!"
Ignoring her plea, he took a large, clumsy step forward, about to shout again, but the log collapsed, dropping them both. They screamed, falling into the river which was moving at a relatively fast pace. He emerged almost immediately, gasping for the air among the rushing waters. "Crybaby!" He called out, only seeing the black portal of the water containing the warped reflection of the moon. It was too dark to see through.
He took a deep breath before going under, not able to see any clearer. His hands fished around, looking to grab onto anything. He poked his head out of the water again. "Crybaby! Crybaby!" He swam around, kicking his legs so she could see the splashing he was making. "Fuck! Fuck! Fucking shit!" His eyes frantically searched the water for any sign of her then looked at the land in case she had washed up. He wasn't sure if she could swim. He wasn't sure if she was drowning. He wasn't sure what to do.
He held up his hands, trying to get them to spark, it was difficult, but it worked. He stuck his hands back under, creating small explosions which he could see light up the void gushing by. He could feel himself get pulled and tugged by the river, but he couldn't give up. "Crybaby!" He cried out again, shaking off his hands when they wouldn't work. It all remained silent with only the sound of the raging river buffeting up against the rocks and himself.
"Fucking bullshit!" He began to cry, his tears mixing with the water splashing onto his face. His throat tore as he shouted her nickname, his eyes flowing their own river for her. Through his blurred vision, he saw Y/N's hoodie, making him wipe his eyes. "Crybaby?" He swam forward, desperately trying to reach her. "Crybaby!" Upon closer inspection, it was her, washed ashore onto a patch of daisies and mushrooms.
He pulled her closer up, inspecting her pale face and her blue lips. "Fuck! Crybaby! Wake up!" He shook her shoulders before placing his hands onto Y/N's chest. "You aren't fucking dying! Not right now, you dumbass!" He began to compress her chest, his tears falling down onto her face. He huffed, his arms aching as he pushed, his skin feeling numb and frozen. "Stop it," he whimpered, "you can't die." He was drenched, crying as his muscles tensed. He sucked in breaths before placing his lips on hers, giving her two puffs of air. "This is my fault!" He continued to compress. "It's my fault, crybaby!"
He went to give her more air before Y/N gargled and turned over, coughing out the water in her lungs. "Hey!" He gasped, holding out his hands for her. She coughed uncontrollably, her body shivering and her lips tasting of dirt. "I'm so sorry!" He cried, dipping his head down and digging his fingers into the ground, "I'm so sorry, crybaby! You almost died! It was all my fault!" "S—'Splo—losion b-o-oy," she weakly chuckled, "it's—its al-alright." She struggled to sit up, running her hand on his back before he peered up at her.
"It's not alright. You almost drowned." "I'm—I'm al-alr-alright th-though." She tugged on his neck, quickly pulled him into an embrace. "Tha-thank you. I'm—a bad—bad swimmer." He sucked in his laugh, wrapping his arms tightly around her. "You're right about me," he confessed, pressing his crying eyes into her wet shoulder. "I am insecure. I'm weak because of it. There's so much pressure on me. There's so many expectations. There's people better than me all the time!" Y/N rubbed his back, humming as he continued to bawl. "It's okay to feel that way," she told him, her voice raspy, "saying it only makes you stronger." "That's all bullshit!" "It's not, ground zero. If you build yourself based on exceptions, you'll only drown in them."
