Smoke Screen (Bakugo x Reader )

Chapter Three: Welcome to Class 1A

(Aizawa's Point of View)

       According to Toshinori, Y/N hasn't left my room save for heating up cup noodles and to use the restroom. He sometimes checks in on her and she's always in cocooned in the blankets with the lights off. Her phone's been off since her breakdown. Had it not been for him, Hizashi and Midnight, I would have cut the training week short and gone back to UA that very same day.

       Thankfully, I don't have to wait much longer to see her. My class and Ms. Joke's boarded the buses an hour and a half ago, another hour and we'll be back in Musutafu. Back at the school.

(Reader's Point of View)

       "Hey, Y/N?" A sultry voice calls for me through the now open door frame. Midnight stood in the empty rectangle. "Your uncle just called, they're about ten minutes out."

       Some part of me is relieved to hear that, but another more powerful part of me gets physically ill at the thought of facing him. That's been happening a lot recently, the trash can has been relocated to the side of the bed. Nothing but clear liquid falls out of my throat.

       Over the sound of my retching I didn't notice the door close and the unmistakable silence that comes with being alone. I curl back under the blanket.
After what seems like only a pinch of sand trickling down an hourglass, a conglomerate of voices, footsteps and laughter sting my ears. Then it comes, the knock at the door I've been dreading.

       "Y/N?" Uncle Ai's gruff yet calming voice calls out in the darkness. The door latches into place and a moment later I feel the bed dip.

       I emerge from the cave, my H/C hair sticking to my cheeks and forehead. I'm greeted by a rare and genuine smile from him. I collapse in his arms and spill my heart out. I tell him about that night. I apologize for making him worry. I blame myself for so much— for everything really and the whole time he just listens. He skates the palm of his hand over the back of my head, again and again, patiently waiting for me to let it all out.

       Finally, the words and the tears I was ignorant to stop. I fully crawl out from under the blankets and let my legs fall over the side of the bed, my toes kiss the cold hardwood.

       Uncle Aizawa takes my hand in his. "Y/N," he begins. The smallest of pauses indicating that he mulled over what to say while listening intently. "I understand how you feel, probably better than anyone, but you need to understand that it's not your fault." Another pause, filled with a shaky breath and a slight tightening of his hand on mine. "Nothing you did that night directly caused... or could have prevented... your parents deaths."

       My breath hitches in my throat. Part of my brain knew that already, but when I'm emotional I become irrational. All my thoughts logically make no sense, but my brain connects dots out of order making a skewed and abstract picture that, if put on paper would look like nothing more than a child's scribbles, but in my mind, it's a masterpiece. A portrait of chaos that mesmerizes me. A piece of art that my life molds around. An ugly lie contorted to be a beautiful one. Hearing him speak the truth instantly unravels every twisted line and reverts the canvas back to white.

       "Y/N," he begins again. His voice softens uncharacteristically. "I've always worried about you, even when there was no reason for me to. I will continue to worry about you. You were my brothers only child and his pride and joy. On that same account, you are my only niece. I remember the day you were born, even though you weren't mine you became one of the most special people in my life. You brought a light into not only your parent's lives but mine. I don't know if your dad ever told you, but I almost left Japan just so I could be there to watch you grow and learn."