[UNDER CONSTRUCTION] The Fire of my Childhood

• 18 •

1179

8:47 pm

We laughed at something Sero had said about Denki, my cheeks hurting from the amount of jokes being cracked between us. I never said a joke before because I feel like I wouldn't be funny, but that's okay.

Though we were having a good time, something felt off about Bakugo. Anytime one of the boys would touch me in the slightest or make me smile, he would get irritated? I think that's the word I'm looking for.. But it was weird. He would look away and mutter something, but Kirishima or Mina would say something to make everyone laugh again. It happened a couple of times before we reached the park nearby Mina's house. Thankfully it stopped raining an hour ago so the walk wasn't too bad, just puddles here and there.

Shoto and I ended up behind the group after Denki pushed past me to see a squirrel or something. It was quiet for a moment for us and I liked it. 

"So, do they seem alright to you?" He asked me quietly. I pushed hair behind my ears and studied the few that gained my trust very quickly, albeit I've only spent time with this group for a couple of hours, but they were.. kind.. and I haven't felt this kindness in a long time, except for Shoto, of course. 

This year will definitely be different.

"Yeah.. They do.." I murmured softly and rubbed my forearm. The wind passed us by and lifted my friends' hair around them, seemingly staged. Maybe someone's quirk that is passing by.

"Hey, you guys comin' or what?" Sero interrupted our small conversation. His thumb was jabbed in the direction of the park, but we had to cross the street first. 

"O-oh, yeah! S-sorry.." I mumbled my apologies and picked up my pace to keep with them. Shoto did the same. Bakugo had his eyebrow raised for a moment, yeah I saw, but he quickly turned away to avoid being caught.

I huffed softly and crossed the street with the group.I glanced at my brother with my eyebrow raised, and he replicated the look right back at me. I had a weird feeling about Bakugo, and I didn't know who I could talk about it with. My sister doesn't like him from our first encounter, Natsuo's not even home anymore, and Shoto is just weird with people in general, like me.

"Hono," Mina giggled and took my hand before racing off to the swings, "come on! I love the swings!" Being dragged wasn't so bad, but since it was just raining, there were puddles underneath the swings. She whined and let go to ball her fists up.

Denki, Sero, and Bakugo bust out laughing at the two of us. Kirishima only giggled and smiled at us.

"Better luck next time then, sister." My brother spoke up and strode towards me. I opened my mouth to reply, but I felt static in the air. I worriedly looked around before spotting Denki sparking small electric shocks into the air.

"You dunce face, quit it! You're gonna fuck with our hair!" The explosive boy yelled at the electric one, and raised his arms that were popping off with lights and light booms. I watched as their friends intervened to keep them from starting a fight between them. My brother outstretched his arm and before I could ask what he was doing, I heard Bakugo yell out in surprise.

I looked back at them and his feet were frozen to the ground.

"HEY! GET THIS ICE OFFA ME!" His screech made me flinch heavily and take a step back, my arms instinctively raising my arms in front of me. My heart was beating a bit quicker and it took me a moment to realize that everyone was silent.

I looked up to my new friends staring at me with confusion. Their eyes burned into me. I glanced at each of them, a weird sort of emotion flashing into their eyes.

"Are you.. okay?" Kirishima took a slow step forward. My confusion must've been spelled out onto my face because Bakugu spoke up.

"You look scared. You flinched at us." He didn't even seem to care about his feet anymore, they were all just kind of.. worried.

"I-i'm fine. Really. I-it was just an instinct, honestly. I-i'm fine." I tried to smile at them to get them to relax but I think it worried Mina and Bakugo more.

The pink girl rushed over and gently wrapped her arms around me in a soft hug. I heard loud shattering and shifted to see said explosive boy breaking out of the ice and walking over fairly quickly. The rest kind of piled up around me, causing me to take more breaths.

"This is kind of s-suffocating me." I whispered quietly which made them back up immediately. 

"We're sorry, Hono." Denki replied quietly, "you shouldn't have to be so scared of us. Bakugo's fine, but us, we're not so scary." He earned a small smile from me and a smack against his head from Bakugo. He cried out and made the others giggle, including my brother.

"I-i'm not really scared of you guys.. I just don't like people.. yelling at me." I could feel the blood rush to my cheeks as I admitted my fears. I looked over at Shoto for support; he nodded solemnly at me as he already understood me.

I wrapped my arms around myself and shivered, the cool air from the rain helped me calm down greatly. I saw movement from my peripheral and looked over to see Sero picking a flower from the ground with the tape from his elbows and coming closer. He handed it to me with that toothy grin he always wears and I smiled a bit more. 

I thanked him quietly and felt more warmth rush to my cheeks. I felt a cold hand on my shoulder and looked to see Shoto with a large smile.

"Thank you for spending your time with us, but I think Hono's had enough for today," my brother called out to the scattered friends. My mouth fell open, but Mina's voice broke the air.

"We'll walk back, since I have the key and all. I want us to hang out again soon! Maybe tomorrow?" She glanced between the two of us as we all came back into a group, waiting expectantly for an answer. My brother probably already knew what my answer was, since he hasn't seen me this happy or open in a very long time.

"Sure. Here, let us give you our numbers." He replied and both of us pulled out our phones simultaneously. We opened the contacts app and our friends soon preyed on them to insert their numbers. Mina fought to be in my phone first, and Denki was shoving Bakugo out of the way.

I giggled at their actions and leaned against my brother, the cool night air swirling around us as I finally felt at peace.

For the first time in my life, I had friends. I was able to connect with other people, and they didn't care about my scar, or about my father. 

I actually made friends.