Fire on Fire (Bakugou x Midoriya's twin sister)

Part 35

I heard the door creak open and glanced over. It was Mom, holding a cup of tea in one hand. She offered me the cup and shut the door behind her. I couldn't help but smile a little bit, taking the cup. This was Mom's whole thing. As long as I could remember, whenever me and Izuku were hurt or upset she would always make us our favorite drink or food to comfort us. "I'm guessing this is gyokuro?"

Mom sat on the bed next to me. "Of course, I'm sorry I didn't come check on you sooner. I had to brew some." She took a breath, brushing some hair from my face. "What's wrong, Ani-tan?"    (Ani is short for Anika, and tan is an affectionate suffix)

"Mom." I muttered. "I'm not 5 anymore."

"I know." She sighed. "I know. Do you want to talk about it, or do you need a bit more time alone?"

I was quiet for a moment, then looked at her again. "It's just... everything has happened all at once."

"I know it has, and I only want what's best for you. You and Izuku are all I need in this world, as long as you're safe, I've done my job. That's why I was like that. I understand if you're mad at me about what happened, but-"

"Wait what?" I interrupted, caught off guard. "You didn't do anything wrong, Mom. I get you're just trying to protect us."

"But you left the room when we were talking about it."

"I left the room when All Might pretended I didn't exist and only defended Izuku."

Mom sat there for a moment, and I took a sip of my tea. "I know this doesn't make up for that, and I know it was hard for you to hear him praise Izuku like that. But, after he finished speaking to me, he did want to come talk to you. I encouraged him to wait..." She took a deep breath. "To wait until you went back to school."

It took me a second to process what she said. "Wait, you mean- we're going back to UA?!" I set down my tea. "Thank you Mom, I promise I'll be so careful. No more accidents, no more proving myself, no more crispy arms. I'll text you every day, and come visit on weekends, and-"

"Slow down Ani-tan." Mom chuckled. "I know you'll be safe. I trust you to make the right calls from now on." She took my hand, running her thumb over the jagged lines of burn scars all along it with a frown. "Just promise me... that next time I see you, you won't have more of these..."

"It's a side effect of my..." I trailed off when she looked up at me. 

"Promise."

"...I promise."

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Me and Izuku hadn't spoken much since we had begun packing for the move, I think he didn't know how to put what he felt into words. I could relate to that.

However, when we stood in front of the gates to UA on the first day back, I couldn't help but feel like it was our first day all over again. So much had changed since then, but so much had stayed the same. I knew how bad the world was now, and how weak I was in comparison. But... I still had that fighting spirit that somehow stayed determined even through being kidnapped.

I took Izuku's hand, and just like on our first day, we walked onto campus together.

It wasn't hard at all to find the dorms, they sat at the far edge of the campus, and shone with bright new glass panes and soft brown walls. When we got there, nearly everyone had already found it, but I did notice Katsuki hanging back away from everyone. I would have gone up to him, but I couldn't get a good read on how he was feeling.