Nonchalant

Chapter 12

Katsuki knew something was wrong. 

He'd gone to Auntie Inko's in the evening like he planned. She opened the door and seemed surprised to see him, ushering him to come in and wait a moment while she prepared some tea.

Katsuki told her he was going to see Deku while he waited and rushed to his room door. He was confused when he saw that the All-Might themed sign was gone, but he twisted the knob. It wasn't locked, so he threw it open.

Deku wasn't inside.

Katsuki scanned the room hurriedly. Where was the nerd? He couldn't be anywhere else but home at this time.

  "Hey, Inko?" The green-haired woman had always insisted that he dropped the 'Auntie'. She said it made her feel old.

"Yes?" she called from the kitchen.

"Where's D-Izuku?" Katsuki was sure Inko wouldn't appreciate him calling her son useless.

"Isn't he in his room?" Inko poked her head out. Katsuki shook his head in response.

She hurried out of the kitchen. "Are you sure?" She rushed to him to see for herself. Like Katsuki said, Izuku was not in the room.

Katsuki was worried. He'd deny it if you asked him, but he was worried. Probably because he himself didn't know he was feeling worried.

Inko had asked him to go home and that she'd call the police if he wasn't back by twenty-four hours, but that did nothing for his concerns.

Worry kept him up all night.

There was something else, too. 

A hint of guilt.

--------------------------------------------------

Izuku winced as he accidently pressed his arm against the table in the room. 

He made his way to the bed, rubbing one wrist, then the other. Well, if anyone saw those marks on his wrists, he could always say they were caused by a mutant gray monster with claws. No big deal. No big deal at all.

The door clicked open. A different person stepped in this time. Izuku was started to wonder how many more people he had to meet. Judging from their appearance, he deduced that it was a woman.

Dark brown hair cascaded in curls around her face. She looked to be in her early twenties. Her face was concerned, but Izuku didn't know if it was real or not. She wore a plain blue denim jacket and a pair of leggings, and carried another first-aid kit in her left hand. She eyed his bandages and edged towards him.

Izuku didn't move. Even if he tried, the woman would catch him anyways. She set the box on the table and slowly grabbed his bandaged arms.

"God, Kurogiri better let me handle this next time," she murmured quietly. "He did a sloppy job." Izuku thought he'd done pretty okay, but clearly this woman didn't think so.

She saw him eyeing her, and smiled, though it looked strained.

"Sorry, I haven't introduced myself. I'm Sumiko Kawabe." she flashed a quick grin before turning to her supplies and pulling out more bandages.

Izuku was starting to get sick of bandages.

She unwound the red-speckled gauze from his arms and placed her index finger on the back of his hand. She put her other index finger on his forehead.

Sumiko closed her eyes and began to hum. Her fingertips started glowing a faint yellow, and the cuts on his arms slowly shrunk. They were now half the size they were before.

"Can't use too much of my quirk, or else you'd run out of blood," she chuckled. Noticing Izuku's  confusion, she started explaining it to him.

"My quirk make your blood cells work faster to create collagen and the new tissue and skin that goes over your wounds," Sumiko said. "It sends the blood cells into overdrive, though, so I can't heal a large wound without killing the patient because of blood loss." 

Izuku nodded. Her quirk was interesting and useful for hospitals.

"I have to hum to use my quirk, and the light it gives off it yellow. My mom always teased me about being like Rapunzel." Sumiko's laugh was weary and sad. She rolled the new bandages tighter, but not tight enough to cut off his blood circulation. Her eyes drifted to his cuts and she frowned.

"Oh." she murmured after a moment of silence. Izuku kept quiet. What was she going to do next? Scoff at him? Tell him to stop being dramatic? Poke fun at him? 

Sumiko patted his head and pulled him into a hug. An unexpected move.

Izuku was about to cry.

She pulled out some band-aids and gently pasted them on the cuts. Her quirk had made them much smaller. After she was done, she clicked the box shut and smiled at Izuku. 

"Do you want to sleep, or do you want to talk about it?"

Izuku saw no harm in telling her, but he was currently exhausted. He shook his head. Sumiko stood up and smiled at him, almost sadly, before turning off the light and exiting the room.

He was alone. Nothing to do but go to bed. In the complete darkness. Where there was nothing with him but his very optimistic thoughts.

Totally optimistic, and not at all suicidal.

Izuku couldn't worry about suicide right now. That 'Sensei' person definitely wasn't done having fun with him.

He finally managed to drift off into sleep, albeit filled with nightmares.

--------------------------------------------------

Kurogiri had woken him up after what seemed like seconds. Izuku didn't know; he didn't have a clock or a way to keep track of time. He was escorted again to the same gray room. Izuku saw the blood stains on the floor. Nobody had bothered to clean it, and Izuku didn't like the faint red stains.

Sensei was there again. Izuku didn't want to call him that, but he couldn't keep repeating 'the weird scary man' in his head whenever he thought. And Izuku thought a lot.

Sensei turned to Izuku. "Hello there, Midoriya. Did you sleep well?"

No, I did not sleep well at all.

He nodded. 

Safe option. Never say no.

Sensei nodded in approval. "Today you'll be fighting another Nomu." he held up the remote control from yesterday. "I'll give you five minutes to prepare."

Nomu. That's what they were called?

No time. Have to get ready.

Izuku glared at the giant door as he got into somewhat of a fighting stance and waited for the new 'Nomu' to step in.

School's starting soon so I'm not gonna be posting as frequently TvT someone pls destroy what you call hell

Happy New Year to all the peeps in the world :D Have fun celebrating the new year while I celebrate the return to school 😑

Say it with me now: SCHOOL FUCKING SUCKS BUT'CHA GOTTA DO IT ANYWAYS IF YOU WANNA GET HIRED IN THE FUTUREE