Fandom: BNHA / My Hero Academia

Type: Happy Angst

Notes: I've been listening to a lot of my favorite songs from Panic! At The Disco and something just clicked, I probably wrote all of this in one night.

Words: 1,492

Kate rolled over in bed, back facing the wall, and met eyes with her new stepsister. The ocean waves could be heard out of their partially opened window, a sound that would soothe an adult to sleep only excited the small ten-year-old.

"Hey, Ashley.."

Despite them staring directly at each other, Kate knew Ashley wasn't paying attention, she was lost in space.

The snowball blinked a few times before focusing on the girl across the room from her.

"..what?"

"Let's go swimming :D"

The excitement was evident on Kate's face as Ashley sat up and walked towards their closet to grab their swimsuits.

After successfully tiptoeing from their room and down the steps, they were far away enough from their parents to freely speak.

As Ashley made no pit stops and continued into the kitchen towards the sliding door Kate took a moment to look around the newly furnished living room.

She looked at pictures of herself as a baby with her dad, pictures of Ashley with her mom. Something clicked, striking curiosity.

"Ash, why aren't there any baby photos of you?"

The one question made Ashley stop in her tracks, a hand previously reaching to open the sliding door stopped in mid-air. Kate looked back at her through the kitchen pathway that leads into the living room, cocking an eyebrow at the lack of the answers to her questions.

Ashley's face hardened, keeping her glaze towards the sea as she sighed, "Don't worry about it."

Kate, lacking an ability to read the room, smirked playfully. "Is it because you were an ugly baby?"

Ashley gently opened up the door to not make any noise and walked out, sand gracing her feet she took her first few steps. "I wouldn't know"

—

For long as Ashley could remember it's always been her and her mom. Her mom has always been there, her mom was the only one she could trust. She got bullied when she was at school and her mom homeschooled her, taught her to be strong. To not get pushed around by the world despite circumstances.

That's what everyone close to her knew, that was the summary of before she got to UA with her stepsister and had to explain their lives before their parents got married.

Much like Kate, she kept her summary short, sweet and left out all of the gritty parts.

Unlike Kate where the gritty parts involved outside forces, she literally couldn't speak about this was closed and shut tight by choice. Just like a lot of things that happened within. Something she never openly speaks about, something she hasn't acknowledged for a long long time.

Because she doesn't have to. She doesn't have to worry about the past coming back. Because the past is dead.

She was dead.

Dead and buried.

Even on the island fall seeps through, browning the leaves closest to the shore. There are days she's all alone with her thoughts and can't help but think back.

She had questions. Questions that she's kept to herself for years because she didn't want to know the answer to them, she wanted to be as clueless as possible. That way it wouldn't hurt as much knowing the truth.

But something changed as she walked through the sliding doors into the kitchen where her mom was cooking, something changed when she looked at the woman who raised her.

Something changed because how could she continue with her life with this burden?

How could she keep it all to herself?

Her mother looked up as she peacefully cut through a pepper, she gave her daughter a soft smile. "There you are, I was just about to go look for you, we're having stir fry for dinner"

The idea of a smile popped into her head but she didn't act on it, "Chicken stir fry?"

Her mom smirked knowing what her daughter was getting at, "Yes, Hawks favorite, he's coming over"

Usually hearing about this would cause her to show some sort of happiness, some sort of excitement but she couldn't muster it. Not with what she was about to ask.

Aranami took notice and promptly stopped what she was doing, "what's wrong?"

Ashley kept her stare to the ground, she didn't trust herself to not look upset, "I want to see the box"

—

The two snowballs enjoyed small conversations, the one in the hospital bed gently ran her fingers through her newborn's hair.

The other peacefully drunk her cup of coffee and watched the scene, smiling to herself "..you know, Ashurī is a beautiful name"

The woman weakly laughed, "It was my mother's, we never agreed on anything and when she died I thought if I named my baby after her I would be at peace with it."

—

The box.

Where everything from her childhood was kept, baby photos, old pacifiers.. birth certificate...

Everything.

After they walked into an old room filled with things from their old house, Ashley finally remembers the box. Her mom would only show her every once in a while and that's only when she would catch her looking through it.

She delicately took things out of the box, Ashley can feel her hands shaking as she reached in and grabbed the photo. A photo of her and her mother.

Her real mother.

—

Aranami hummed in content as she took another sip of her coffee, "My mom wanted to name me Ashley but my dad liked it when names had meaning.. so.. Aranami" She shrugged her shoulders not having a way to end the sentence.

The sickly woman glanced at her newborn, a soft smile replacing her side one. "Ashley.. I like it.."

—

"She didn't want you to grow up hoping she'll get better because she knew she wasn't. She told me to take you in, let you call me mom. She lasted way longer than either of us were expecting, I showed her pictures of you, told her about how you got into UA, about your quirk..." Aranami trailed off as tears started to roll down her face.

"I tell you the look in her eyes when I told her about you was so bright and full of hope, I wouldn't be exaggerating. She loved you deeply-"

"Loved," Ashley repeated.

Her face had a look of disbelief and confusion. She looked utterly lost. She almost didn't realize she was crying.

Despite already knowing she was adopted she always assumed that whoever gave her away it was their loss. She never wanted to know any more about it because as far as she was concerned her real mom was right here.

But something about doing more than she did, it ripped her to pieces.

She felt her body move on her own as she and quickly hugged her mom tightly, she returned the embrace immediately.

"Please- don't leave me like that.. Don't leave at all"

—

Beep. Beep. Beep.

The two-year-old girl stared at her mom, she was sound asleep and had multiple wires attached to her. It was quiet and the only sound was the beating of the heart monitor.

The person who held her in their arms pulled closer, turning her away from the site.

"See Ashley, mommy is just fine."

They tempted to walk away but the young child proceeded to squirm to try to get back to her mother but her two-year-old strength was no match for the adult.

"Hey, hey..." The adult, the young woman, readjusted the child in her arms. "I told her I would take good care of you, that's what I'm going to do."

She looked back at the woman, Ashley's mother, who laid soundly in her hospital bed.

"I promise, Sotto Shinu, you have my word as a hero"

—

It was ironic, even after finding out so much she was back where she started that day. Resting peacefully on the grassy side of the shore. Almost like if she didn't know all of that nothing would've changed. Almost like the pain, she was feeling was unnecessary.

"Shinu... Ashley Shinu." She whispered her would-be name under her breath as tears pecked at the corner of her eyes for the second time that day.

She felt herself bitterly laugh. Shinu, an ironic and accurate depiction of what she's feeling right now.

"ASHLEY!? MOMS' DONE COOKING! HURRY BEFORE HAWKS EATS IT ALL" She hears her sister yell out.

She turned around and Kate motioned for her to come before returning inside.

As Ashley stood up and started walking she wiped her eyes. Her mom wasn't her mom, her sister wasn't her sister, and her dad was not her dad. They were her family. It doesn't matter if she isn't related to any of them by blood, it doesn't matter if there's still a sinking pain in the pit of her heart knowing what she knows.

They were her family, she loves them with her entire being.

And nothing would change that.

Ending words: What a twist! >:3 and for some reason I feel like Ashley would be Class 1B, for reason other then.. yeah :3