𝐜𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐳𝐞 ⋆ ᵇⁿʰᵃ ᵛᵃʳⁱᵒᵘˢ

prologue

︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶

y/n awoke to the thick smell of ash and smoke quickly filling her lungs. using her arms, she heaved her fatigued body to sit upright, taking a moment to gather her surroundings. she winced as her mind registered the hot flames singeing her exposed skin.

she covered her mouth and nose with her arm and immediately stood up and bolted out of the room, careful to dodge any flames trying to harm her.

"mum?" she called out. no response.

y/n turned the corner to her mother's room and cracked the door ajar. it was empty.

panic trickled into her bloodstream as her eyes frantically scanned the smokey room for any trace of movement but to her dismay, there was none. she wasn't here. not in her room at least.

"mum?!" she choked out. the smoke was suffocating.

y/n managed to peel herself away from the room and tried her luck downstairs instead. "are you down here? please answer me!" she pleaded, running down the stairs.

the smoke down here was darker, and further lined her lungs with black soot. y/n's eyes brimmed with tears but they were quickly evaporated by the fire, both burning and drying her eyes.

accepting her mother's fate, she approached the front door. her eyes scanned the living room for the last time as her hand rested on the metal door knob. it was burning her hand, and she definitely would've let go quicker than she could even get near it if it wasn't for the adrenaline. regardless, she turned it and stumbled a few steps forward before falling onto the coarse bricks of the pathway.

y/n felt her eyes water and close tightly as she breathed in the clean air for what felt like the first time in ages.

her peace was quickly interrupted as suddenly she was very aware of everything. pain shot all the way through her body, making sure she would never be able to forget this day. it tampered with her other senses as they were all so overwhelmed.

sirens and muffled voices rattled her eardrums. the girl couldn't quite make out what they were saying but it sounded something along the lines of 'is that pro-hero fortuna's daughter?'. she felt several pairs of hands lift her onto a stretcher and get put into the back of an ambulance.

y/n could only make out small intervals of what was actually happening as she drifted in and out of consciousness. her frantic breaths were short and sharp to avoid the extra pain that would be caused. the last thing she could remember was feeling a cuff get wrapped around her bicep which she assumed was for her blood pressure.

—

y/n woke up in a bed that was not hers. the sheets were thin and cold, the mattress felt like she was laying on stone with an occasional rock poking into her back.

an elegant bouquet of yellow roses, sunflowers, and pink tulips were displayed on the table next to her with a get well soon card displayed next to it. inside was something scribbled in messy cursive but she couldn't work it out from the angle she was at.

she looked around the room. the walls were painted a pale white, the curtains were half drawn to a close, sun rays illuminated several machines with tubes all connected into various parts of the young girl's body.
she had bandages covering large areas of skin and stitches in several places, more notably her bottom lip and right eyebrow which she were sure would leave a cool scar.

the door was cracked open before a friendly face of a doctor peered around it. "oh good, you're awake!" he spoke cheerfully, "you have a visitor." and he disappeared just as quickly as he came. y/n looked down in her lap and fiddled with her thumbs.

"oh my goodness, i hope you're okay sweetheart!"
she was engulfed in a warm and familiar hug. one filled with care and love.

"auntie nemuri?"

"yes, it's me."

y/n's eyes glazed with tears and the hug was quickly returned.

"i've missed you so much, tía!"
"i missed you too little y/n."

—

y/n was discharged from the hospital a few days after nemuri's visit as her quirk enabled her to heal particularly quickly.

y/n was still healing from the events of what had happened a few days ago. all of nemuri's attempts to get y/n to relax for more than ten minutes were futile and she knew that well. she awed her niece's independence but she knew that, as she was now her legal guardian, she needed to take responsibility for her wellbeing.

nemuri decided she needed to have a talk with y/n.

the younger was in the kitchen fixing herself a glass of cold apple cider from the fridge when the pro hero walked in. the kitchen was connected to the living room with only a marble-top island with three black bar stool seats separating the two. the living room had an l-shaped sofa with a glass coffee table in the centre.

"i know it must be a lot," she started, "but i want you to get back into the process of having a normal life again."

"and how do you plan on doing that?" y/n's face contorted into a look of distortion, though nemuri couldn't see it.

"i want to enrol you into a school here."

y/n turned her upper body to look at her aunt who laid lazily on the sofa.

"i mean, okay?" y/n agreed while shrugging and turning back around.

nemuri was taken aback. she thought it might've been more difficult to convince her niece. "obviously i want you to choose the school so you can be comfortable, want to start looking now?"

y/n nodded in agreement and went and sat beside her aunt in the living room. nemuri pulled her laptop out of its case and quickly searched for local middle schools. she clicked on a link which took her to a page filled with lists of names.

"see any you like?"

"that one looks interesting." y/n acknowledged as she pointed at a school.

"aldera junior high," nemuri read aloud. the girl nodded. "okay, i'll email them now about it." she said with a soft smile.

"thank you tía! i'm tired so i'm going to sleep. goodnight!"

nemuri tenderly kissed y/n's forehead and she trailed off to her room.
once she was there, y/n rummaged through her wardrobe for her favourite pair of silk pyjamas. she put them on and then picked her electric guitar up off of its stand. she decided she'd practice a little before going to bed.

— ria, 1132 words.