Twenty
I Don't Want To Scare You
Ellie Terrilynn

⚠(This will chapter will contain some trigger topics, including intense bullying and assault. Viewer discretion advised)⚠
(This is also mostly an OC backstory, but it's going to be story relevant I promise!)

÷÷÷
Ellie

I turned around and opened the door to Pearl's room.

"We shouldn't talk out here, someone might hear us... this isn't exactly public information."

Bakugo didn't say or do anything except follow me inside. Pearl was asleep in her bed. Tears stained her cheeks, but she was sleeping better then before thankfully.

I stayed silent for a moment.

"Well?" Bakugo glared down at me, and I sighed.

"Do you remember what I told you about Pearl's quirk? She forces people to see nothing but their worst fear, but in return she has nightmares?"

He nodded, "The more she uses it, the worse the nightmares get, right? I still thinks it's bullshit, quirks are physical abilities."

"You aren't wrong, mostly," I told him, "Pearl's quirk is... different, in a sense. The most notable drawback is her nightmares. She used her quirk a lot today, which is why it was so bad... but it could've been a lot worse. We've... dealt with worse..."

God, I hated telling him this story, remembering this part of our lives.

"There was a time in middle school when I overused my quirk, badly." I looked up, startled to see Pearl was awake.

"Shouldn't you be asleep?" I asked her.

"You guys aren't very quiet," she laughed slightly, but it sounded empty.

"What happened?" Bakugo asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I got bullied a lot in middle school," Pearl explained, "I didn't like my quirk, at all, honestly I hated it, so I told everyone I was quirkless. One day, after school, I got cornered in an alleyway by some bullies. Ellie was at a soccer practice, so I was alone. The bullies thought it would be fun to try beating me up..." she trailed off. I took up the story.

"She panicked, and accidently used her quirk on all five of the bullies at once. She used the chance to get away, but...

An ear shattering scream rang through the house, and I shot out of bed. In my pajamas, I ran to Pearl's room, where the scream had come from. Mama and Papa were already there.

"Ow! Ow! Mom it hurts, it hurts!" Pearl was crying, holding her left eye. Blood was gushing from between her fingers.

"Ellianna, call the hospital!" Papa exclaimed.

"Is Sis okay?" I asked worriedly.

"Pearl will be fine, just call the hospital!"

So I did, I ran to the phone and called 911. I told them where we were, and that we needed an ambulance. Then I went outside to wait.

When the ambulance showed up, police were with them. I lead the paramedics to my sister's room, and they took her away. Mama and I got to ride in the ambulance while the police talked to Papa.

My voice cracked, and I stopped.

"Turns out," Pearl said, "that the physical drawback to my quirk is that physical pain done to me in my dreams follow me into real life... I don't even know how it's possible. It just happens."

Bakugo was silent for a moment.

"Jesus Christ," he finally says, "no wonder you don't want anyone to know. Did you get stabbed in the eye or something?"

Pearl nodded, "That's why I cover my left eye, it doesn't affect my vision since it's blind anyway. Ever since then I've been extra careful not to overuse my quirk."

Bakugo didn't ask to see Pearl's eye, or press the matter further.

"Alright. I'm going to bed, see you in the morning dipshits."

He walked out of the room, and that was it. I sighed.

"Want me to stay with you for the night?" I asked Pearl.

"Yeah, please... if it's not any trouble..." she trailed off, pulling the blanket closer to her. I smiled.

"It never is Sis, you should know that by now."

So I climbed into the bed, under the covers and hugged her. She hugged back, and giggled.

"Y'know if my girlfriend was here she would probably yell at you."

"What? Nah, she loves me almost as much as she loves you!" I protested, and she laughed.

"That wouldn't stop her from trying to stab you."

"You wouldn't let her."

"Of course not, but she'd still want to."

"Yeah yeah, she has an obsession with knives. I know that."

We talked for a while, until we both fell asleep.

The next morning, people kept asking questions to see if Pearl was okay. We kept telling her she's fine.

They didn't leave us alone until I told them to fuck off at lunch.

After school things started to go south.

I was sitting with Midoriya, Bakugo, and their friends, along with Pearl, Tara, And Kara. We were in the living room playing Truth Or Dare. Things were fine until Midoriya got a phone call.

It started ringing, and he picked it up.

"Sorry guys, one minute." He said, before putting the phone to his ear.

"Hello?"

Then he froze.

"Midoriya?" Todoroki asked.

"I-I don't believe you, y-you're lying." His voice was shaking.

"Oi, Deku, you okay? Whose calling you?" Bakugo asked. I glanced up at him. He looked worried.

"Y-Yeah, okay. C-can I... b-bring friends? O-okay... yeah, b-bye..." he hung up, and put his phone down, shaking.

"Midoriya?" I asked quietly.

"Deku~kun?" Uraraka questioned.

He stood up suddenly, and ran out of the room. We followed him up, and he went into his dorm room, and started going through his things.

"Deku, what the fuck is going on-" Bakugo was cut off by Midoriya's actions, which were strange and sudden. He pulled Bakugo into his room, and slammed the door closed. Todoroki was about to open it again.

That's when the lock clicked.

And we heard him start crying.