Some memories are like dead bodies.

Bodies are casted off into ominous places that are specifically designed for the burial of a loved one or someone that was held dear to some. Bodies were dead and still, frozen in time and to never to have seemed alive again. Those buried corpses were caused by something memorable and heart-breaking, no one could deny that death was an ill fortune to have been bestowed on one. Those decaying forms left forgotten and unwanted, buried under the blankets of the earth and hiddened in the hidden depths of one's mind. While some were able to pass off a passing of one's life subtly and easily, others weren't the same in that aspect.

He didn't understand that aspect either. Why would someone spend so much time mourning on something so trivial? His morality and knowledge back then did not reflect his current thoughts. It seemed illogical, it seemed pointless and unnecessary, it seemed irrational.

The pro hero was known for being well-rounded. He was quick in grasping comprehension of someone's situation, but when it came to his own issues, he didn't have the same textbook-guided answers that he could look over at the back of his teaching lesson plans agenda. He was aware of that, and he continued to struggle, he was a man that always looked to the logistic side of him, a human that looked before he leaped, a firm believer of looking at the cruel, realism this superhero society had presented to him, rather than aspiring to false hope and a temporary promise. Despite his nature though, when it came to a little soul-searching through himself, he fell short of everything he expected himself to be.

Memories were a harsh thing to control and have. It was a double-edged sword, weakening and strengthening people at given times. It gave them the courage to confess to your true love, or it gave you that fear that caused you to shy away from your crush. But memories were a lot more deeper than that. Memories were the skin and bones that your body would always be made out; it was the foundation of one's ideals and fundamental, the defining characteristics of a person. Without any sense of memory, you were nothing less than an empty shell of the former self you once stood out to be. Memories were the very thing that had created their ideals, their passions, their morality and humanity- everything in between philosophical and anthropology.

It would be foolish of him to try comparing the two when death and memories were practically one on one.

Memory by definition, was the storing of data and information. To him, it was more like a burial of a body. Some memories were celebrated and smiled upon, just like a great president's anniversary. Others were secreted in the hollow abyss of one's mentally written journals, to have been better never remembered and more beneficial to have walked away from. However, concealed or not, they always found a way to resurface, like an annoying thorn that grew out of his side due to an obnoxiously loud, and slightly tolerable blonde friend.

A cooling wind blew through his ravenette hair as he stared emptily at the ground in front of him. Around him, was a gloomy atmosphere that lingered around and about, emitted from his body as his hands fumbled with the textures of his pockets inside his baggy pants. Everything below his nose was buried in the comfy covers of his capture weapon, the metallic and cold feeling of his goggles brushing against the underside of his chin. The end flaps of his scarf danced softly in the wind with slow-moving and expressive maneuvers, floating ominously around his body.

Small droplets of water that spilled on his exposed hands face caused goosebumps to break through his skin, covering his sensitive, stiff cheeks. His muscles in his mouth flexed as his formerly open mouth closed down again when realizing what he intended on saying wouldn't fall from his pouting lips. Steadily, the volume of the water coming from above increased, and now, the bright jade grass around him and the hot pink summer leaves had lost its taste with the blandish, smokey sky. The bristle of the trees and the soft snapping of branches from the wreckage of the playful breezes echoed through the empty valley and hill, the only other sounds he could hear than his soft and balanced breathing.

The shadow that loomed over him swayed and whirled to its own rhythm, a sad and sober dance reflecting a gloomy and joyless environment. It shook when the gust tugged roughly on it, and it stilled when it ignored it. Fluttering strawberry-hued leaflet dropped down from the tall form that encased him and hovered before being swept off and began sleeping on the grassy mat.

His clothes absorbed the liquid as more stains appeared over his apparels, the marks then spreading around. His body began shivering out of impulse due to the freezing temperatures caused by the pouring.

The rain and numbness of his body was only fit for such a place.

Fifteen years ago, when school was out and the tree had blossomed to its ripest form, the dirt he stood on had a different feel to it. During that time, this place was the ideal peaceful summer day, a lone cherry blossom tree on a hill in a vast faraway nowhere, surrounded by just a fantastical and magical area. Where dreams and many memorable moments were sprinkled across the land, his mind wandered to his past experiences that he enjoyed as a child.

His head shifted to his right, looking down from below the elevated height he was on, gazing at the patches of plants that spread throughout the land for acres.

Flashes of his dearly missed childhood friend bubbled inside of him as he looked through the meadow's fields, filled with tall grass and other vibrant flowers.

"Haha! Tag you're it. Come and get me!"

"A pretty place is only right for such a pretty boy!"

"Y'know, you're way more likeable when you genuinely smile."

"Ahh, geez, crushing on me, already Shota? You're absolutely adorable."

"I wish you could smile for real more often. Fake, pretending smiles don't count around me. I want to see a real smile, for a change. Alright?"

"It's alright Shota. You'll be fine. Shh, it's alright. Hey, come here, you look like you need some comfort. Hey, it's gonna be okay. Don't worry about it. Everything will end up just fine."

"Ha! Why would I need to protect myself when I know you'll gladly be my hero! You'll protect me, right? You're all I'll ever need!"

"Yeah... I feel the same way too. You don't need to act all nervous around me, it just makes you more lovable. You really are cute when you try to act affectionate, the roses were a good idea! Didn't know you could be a romantic, huh, Sho Sho?"

Roses. Roses were the flowers that represented love and passion, with their bright and recognizable symbolic color, roses were the very thing that represented your attachment and devotion to someone. Roses were the very item thought of when they imagine the romantic sensation they felt towards someone. The popular flowers were either sent or displayed to the one you held most dear, but either way, they were a way to celebrate your feelings towards that person. He recalled the only moment he had shown those flowers to someone.

Y/N took them gently and gracefully, grasping onto their thornless stems. Her lips curled into a tender smile, admiring the flowers' petals as her fingertips felt its smooth, velvety texture, her eyes brightening like the sun when she brought them to her nose and took in their heavenly scent. Looking back at him, she gave him the sweetest and pure smile he has ever had the luck to see.

In his teenage years, he was not much different than now, but before, he did not have a cold, frozen and stone heart. His heart fluttered from the grin of hers, taking in the beauty of her face and her other features that had him mesmerized. Lost in his thoughts of admiral hoping, he wondered how fortunate he was to have caused her to be in such a delightful and grateful mood. His eyes scanned across her radiating e/c eyes that shone through any darkness he saw her encounter. Her usual expression in which she always wore no matter the situation, was the same, cheerful and optimistic, uplifting and able to bring strength out of him. Her smile, however, was the most satisfying thing to see, because whenever she did, he couldn't help but feel like anything was achievable. It gave him faith and confidence that he kept her attention, and to be able to have such a joy was almost like a faraway dream.

Yet, everything about her seemed so far fetched and contradictory. She and he were two seperate things, and she was everything he wished he was, likeable, social, friendly, attractive, and able to get along with anyone. He seemed like an outcast, and outsider, perhaps an alien if he was to be compared to her. He was alone, friendless, and seen as odd and unapproachable. Yet, years ago, she was the one who walked up to him and started the conversation. At the beginning, he admitted that he didn't enjoy her presence, but as time grew older, he grew to love the only person that insisted on staying with him.

To him, she was the bright sun that he needed to live, and without her, he would just fade into a blank canvas.

"They're great, Sho. Thank you," she beamed at him, with a bright gratitude and something else in her eyes he couldn't read. But her eyes shined more brighter than anything he has ever seen.

"Do you... do you feel the same," he hesitantly asked, almost afraid of what was to happen next. He was well aware he was usually not one to be likeable and was prepared to be smiled at sympathetically while her brows furrowed. The ghost of her brief and apologetic answer may haunt him for a month or two, but that time would only be short compared to his lifetime. 'Forgive, and forget,' was a common phrase he told himself almost everyday, and he knew that the phrase would have to have been reminded multiple times for the next few weeks. Yet, his stomach churned and twisted while his heart would ache with the thought of her leaving him.

He longed for her touch, as villainous and vile as it sounded, her touch was sacred and cherished him. It was his benefactor, the lingering presence of it boosting his overall morale in just about anything. It caused his nerves to overreact and become hyperactive, while his mind would frantically search for ways to respond. Excited goosebumps would peak at his skin from the point of contact, and a warmth would envelope him through his entire body. He wished to embrace her body fully, his arms wrapped around her frail and naturally made body, pulling her to the solitude and comfort of his open arms, blocking out whatever could have harmed or ruined her gentle exposure to the world.

"Hey, chin up, Sho!" her voice rang through his ears as he suddenly realized he was staring at the bland and dirty shoes of his. Skittishly, his head raised so his charcoal eyes could fall upon the beaming face of his comrade.

He felt insecure and self-conscious all of the sudden, realizing how his approach to this was definitely something that has uninterested whoever had the ill fortune to agree on going to a private place like that. When it came to emotions and feelings, he was not one experienced with how to handle them, given that he had always bottled them up so much, he hardly knew how to show emotion, so when it came to simple gestures as this, he was inexperienced, clueless and out of her league. His head was filled to the brim with what he would confess, but now he was here, awkwardly giving someone a batch of flowers without as much of a response, then waiting for the receiving end to have something to say. He scolded himself mentally, suddenly blutering out "If you're gonna reject me, then just say it."

He didn't mean to have said it in such a cold way, but his doubts about himself had clouded his mind and rational thinking. Just as expected, her smile would curve down into the frown he always hated, and he braced himself, closing his fingers into a tight and frustrated fist, while he closed his eyes, unable to face the reality of what was to come.

That was how every dream ended as a nightmare. He would ask her to come, and then she would comply. Give her the roses, exchange a few honest words, then wait. Waiting was always the hardest part because it killed him with the pressure, knowing it was a fifty percent chance she would deny. Or more likely, with how many variables there were, there was actually a twenty-five percent chance with the reply of: 'yes,' 'no,' 'maybe,' and 'I'll think about it.' Still, three-quarters of his chances were undesirable, then he realized that real life situations can not be annalyticed by numbers or predictions and such. Life was not a game of luck, a gamble to see how far you could bluff and how far you can get from it. Although his definition of his life has not been yet defined by him, he knew part of it was a life with the one he loved the most. So dreaming a life without her... what was it? That was how the hopeful and pleasant dreams he had distorted into a nightmare of her turning her back on him and walking away, while a broken heart was all that remained from her.

"You really are an idiot, aren't you?" she asked, and he couldn't tell if she was being harshly cruel towards him or playfully teasing him this time.

"I think people have reminded me that enough times," he emptily replied back as he searched her eyes for any masked emotions. Still, he couldn't find anything underneath that compassion and cheerfulness that blinded him every time.

As if she couldn't get any closer, she walked further more towards the ebony-haired boy. "Hey, what are you-"

Pressing her lips against his was almost like a gift sent from above. 'Huh, God finally decides to reward me now?' he thought to himself as his mind wracked itself against its own barriers of logic, his circuits and nerves going haywire and defusing his brain, which only left his heart to respond. He smiled inwardly, reacting back and placing his own lips against hers. 'I think I'm gonna go to Church next Sunday if things like this keep happening,' he joked mentally.

Needless to say, that was- as cliche as it sounded- the happiest moment of his life.

Taking in her scent, she smelled what he expected her to smell like, of the fruity perfume batched with the scent of sweetness that he didn't know where it was derived from. Her lips, smooth and rosy, coupled with the emitting passionate and heated breath, made it a bliss to him, as he desired more of the ability to explore it. His lungs stopped sucking in air as he forgot how to breathe for a moment, taking another step to advance to the next stage but then they pulled apart.

"Does that answer your question," she smugly smiled, her cheeks noticeably red.

He smiled lightly, pink dusting his cheeks as well. "Yeah," he panted when he remembered to breathe. "Yeah, it does."

She laughed giddily, giving him another one of her teasing smiles. "Yeah... I feel the same way too. You don't need to act all nervous around me, it just makes you more lovable. You really are cute when you try to act affectionate, the roses were a good idea! Didn't know you could be a romantic, huh, Sho Sho?"

Her arms wrapped around his shoulders as he was pulled into a hug when the comment only made him reddened more. "This is our special place now, right? Afterall, this is the place where it began."

"Yeah. This was how we first became friends. I needed company, and you needed a way to get away from the boys. Funny how that turned out. Never knew I would meet my future wife here too," he bravely replied, hoping that his social awkwardness didn't make the attempted joke break the moment between them.

Her cheeks reddened to the color of the flowers she held. "Sho..." she whined cutely at her embarrassed action. He chuckled, ruffling her hair as they stilled in each other's arms.

As the rain poured on him, the crinkling of flowers brought him out of his trance, as he looked down. Roses, the same red colored flowers he had given to the love of his life, the one that meant passion and love, but such a rose with such a symbolic meaning didn't deserve to be in a place like this did it? Not with the memories that it carried, it's petals should have decayed and been buried.

Another sigh was coaxed from his lips as he bent down, kneeling on the moist dirt, then placing the flowers on the mound, which was only a few inches lifted from the ground. It covered an area about six or so feet with a width of the same measurements. The mound already had other dying flowers on top of the surface, the flower's colors varying from red to white, and about all the colors in between, but what was left of the flowers were just a more dulled version of its former glorified state, where their vivid color could be spotted from anywhere. Now, the petals were welted up and its texture was crispy.

A memory flashed through his mind, causing his eyes to shut, as he felt the very familiar constriction in his chest well up again. His eyes burned at the recalling of this, stinging with the gentle pokes of tears trying to break free from his hold under his eyelids. He took deeper breaths as his mind fondled and toyed with the memory, exploring more and more into its hideous and gruesome depths, the parts in his mind he would rather not relive through. His thoughts molded around the topic of it though, and the more he resisted, the more he was pulled into its sinister grip that had him chained all this time.

'Forgive and forget' he reminded himself. 'Forgive and forget. Accept that it has happened and there was nothing to have been done. Forget about it, and it'll never hurt you again.'

He buried his head further into his scarf, enjoying and indulging the warmth it gave him as well as the other pleasant memories that could have distracted him from the matter at hand.

Years ago, he thought it was better to bury the memories he had. Whether pleasant or bad, the memories he shared with Y/N were all the more painful to him, because newfound memories like those can never be created again. Recently, he had just learned that memories were what carried him to his future goals. He couldn't prevent her and Oboro's absences, but that only encouraged him to become a better hero so in the future, he could save those he held most dear. Afterall, he still carried a part of each of them everyday in his life, how could he forget such memories? Memories were meant to be celebrated, not forgotten, that's why they were a storage system in his brain. Both of them may not be here with him now, but he still carried them in his heart. He turned the scars that were etched onto his soul that once haunted him into battle scars that he showed off proudly.

"Hey, Sho! Psst! Did you get anything for Christmas for me?" she whispered gently into his ear, making him jump out of his seat.

"Do you really have to ask?" he monotony replied after recovering from the shock. He shuffled in his seat to spin around in order to face the girl behind him, taking another spoonful of his rice, then carrying the bowl and utensil in his hands.

"Meet at my house?" she smiled, leaning forward into him, opening her mouth.

"Yeah," his usual tone in his voice rang through her ears as he spooned another small amount of rice and fed it to Y/N. "What are you, a child?"

"No! Your girlfriend of course!"

"How did I get someone like you to be my girlfriend?"

"Now that's just mean," she pouted adorably, making him shake his head as he chuckled lowly.

"I was talking about how much of a loner I was."

"Oh yeah, I wonder too," her teasing tone gets her a light smack on the shoulder, causing her to yelp. "Hey! You're lucky I love you!"

"Yeah, yeah, I love you too."

"You got me a scarf?"

Holding up a scarf that he had just unwrapped, he glanced at the female, giving her a raised eyebrow. Her smile only grew larger as she nodded.

"Yup! Not just any scarf, a capturing scarf!"

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It's kinda like nanotech! So basically, the scarf recognizes the user through touch, all very complicated stuff for your itty bitty mind-"

"Are you trying to say something about me, Y/N?" he gave a glare at her.

"As I was saying," she ignored his confrontation, causing the male to groan. "Basically, you can control the scarf with your thoughts. I've been working on this idea since I was a kid because I thought it would be so cool! So... I want to give you my first completed product. I tried it, and damn it is hero-quality equipment."

"But why me though?"

"Duh, you're my boyfriend! Plus, with a quirk like yours, I think it'll be pretty helpful in grabbing people and it could be used really well in close-combat, like what you do! And it's meant for you, it's grey!"

"What does grey have to do with anything?"

"It's the color of your soul."

"The color of my soul?" he deadpanned, confused as to how she got the idea of him having a soul in the first place. He thought he would be soulless.

"Yup! Try it on!"

Grabbing the bundle of cloths, she placed it over his head, then lowering it down onto his shoulders, where it settled comfortably just around his neck. He watched in curiosity, wanting to see how this support item worked, it was supposed to capture people, so that meant it had to be sturdy and hard, but this was surprisingly warm, with the outside of whatever was made out of this covered in cotton.

"You're always complaining you're cold and stuff so you can basically wear it like a regular scarf! But it would be kinda funny if you wear this everywhere and in the summer. But knowing you and your extra-cautious ass, you'll probably wear it twenty-four seven. So, I added comfort to it as well."

He smiled inwardly, shifting his head forwards as he settled in the warmth and cozy covers of his scarf, which covered half of his face when he did.

"It's really comfy. It's great," his muffled voice sounded through the clothing. "But it still doesn't tell me how it works."

"It's kinda like you have to command it. It's like talking to... uh... imagine it like the Force from the Star Wars Movies."

"I never watched the Star Wars Movies."

"You live under the damn sea for frick's sake. Anyways, in your thoughts, just tell it to like... grab my wrist."

He nodded before listening to her instructions, several moments of silence between them as he concentrated.

"Here... uhh... try to think harder. Like, force it," she pondered, before replying back, taking in his hands with hers and squeezing them to re-ensure him.

"Alright. You sure it works?" he questioned one more. He didn't have doubts in her abilities, but maybe it just wouldn't work for him only.

"Positive, I wouldn't make something that wouldn't work for you, Sho. It's bound to work," she said confidently, beaming at him once again.

Y/N L/N was a respected support items class student. She was brilliant and adaptive, flexible and her will and spirit couldn't be broken when it came to tinkering equipment for heroes. Although it wasn't much, she took the time to design and readjust his costume to his liking, which was just a black jumpsuit that fitted perfectly for his body, not too baggy that it droops, and not too tight that would constrict any movement. He had no doubts about her whatsoever, and he knew that she would be an aspiring and an apt support item creator. When it came to anything academically related, she outshone the other students in her class by a mile. Her confidence always ensured him that what she had worked on was her best, and he would be a fool for not believing in her best.

Taking a deep breath, he glared at Y/N with concentration, and then the scarf around him began levitating around him, one end immediately shooting for Y/N's right wrist. In an attempt to deactivate the item only led to pulling her towards him. Y/N was shot towards him and toppled over him, causing him to fall as well. The constriction around her wrist loosened and the scarf maneuvered to its original state as just a tangled mess of the fabrics.

"Well... guess that does work," he groaned, sitting up with the female in his lap. "It's gonna take a long time to get used to this."

"Hehe, yeah. See, I told you to believe in me!" she beamed once again happily.

Just seeing his smile made his heart race once again. After being together for half a year, he would think that this effect would stop on him, but that wasn't the case. His heart would sped like hyperdrive and his face would heat up once again, his hands and forehead would start to sweat and his breathing would hitch. He was always reminded again and again how he ever got such an amazing girlfriend to leave him in this kind of state; almost desperate for her.

"Yeah. You wanna see my gift?" he said as he smugly grinned mentally.

"Yeah! Show me!"

Pulling her chin, he pressed his lips against hers, inhaling her scent as he licked her bottom lip. She responded immediately, leaning forwards into him, and cupping one of his cheeks, as the other lingers around his waist. His hands reached the back of her head, his right fingers intertwining with her hair, his left finding the small of her back, pushing her more into him as they shared the intimate moment with each other. His lungs were unable to obtain any air as his heart beated in his eardrums, the excitement and pleasure between far too great for him to simply pass up just for some oxygen. It felt like the first kiss all over again, and each and every moment like this felt like this was just a fever dream.

When air became an absolute necessity, they pulled away with heavy breathes, faces painted with pink.

"Hope you like your gift," he smiled.

"Wait, that was my gift! This is a scam!" she exclaimed playfully, the both of them laughing.

"You know... I got the book series you wanted."

"All twenty-four of them?" she gasped in excitement, nearly jumping in his lap as she wrapped her arms around him.

"Yup... all twenty-four of them... you made me broke. That entire one was twenty-seven thousand yen..." he deadpanned once again.

"Hehe, not sorry. But to be honest, I've had a funky sleeping schedule when I started working on your gift. I would go to sleep at 2 then sleep for like 5 or so hours. Do you know how much coffee I drink everyday?" she whined.

"I must be rubbing off on you," he smirked. "But thanks, I'll probably wear it forever. It'll be quite handy"

"You better, Sho! I worked my damn ass on it for a good forty hours or so!"

"Merry Christmas, Y/N."

"I love you too. Merry Christmas, Shota Aizawa."

Breathing into the scarf, he imagined her scent, the same one that always tickled his nose in a funny and satisfying way. The way her perfume filled his nostrils with the rushing scent of the same and confusing smell of sweetness. Even after all these years, he couldn't describe what exactly 'sweetness' was like to him. All he knew was that everytime he picked up the scent he was filled with enlightenment and eagerness. Sometimes, he could smell it when he breathed into the scarf, and other times, all he could smell was the cotton.

Either way though, it didn't stop the resurfacing of other memories, specifically the ones he's been pushing back in the corners of his mind, but where he was now, it would be about time until he was fully indulged in them. He shutted his eyes once again in resistance, but such simple things like that couldn't force repetitive and persistent recallings of his past to be forced down when he had spent years trying to and failing to do so.

Today was the only day he would allow himself to show weakness. This was the day where he could break down his walls, give up a title as a man, and simply wallow in the sorrows he had before. It was almost like a tradition, the only time he gave up the title 'fine and just moody Eraserhead' to 'depressed and fucked up Aizawa Shota.' With the flowers at hand and the rain, nothing had changed from every year he visited.

He breathed in once again, allowing his surroundings to disappear from him as he gave in to the sensations and feelings in his heart, allowing him to drift to whatever direction that his memories led him.

"Hey Shota! Come, c'mon. Take my hand," Y/N yelled from the open window.

"Are you sure that climbing through your house window is the smartest move of avoiding your dad? This feels like breaking and entering," he replied with a cautious, but dismissed the actual worry from him.

He looked around the quiet neighborhood, with the lights already out, he couldn't see much, only able to see objects illuminated from the streetlights and the bedroom lamp from Y/N's room. Turning back to Y/N, he gave her another raised eyebrow.

"Should I really be coming to your house at 10 PM? You know we have school tomorrow, right?"

"Sho, if you're gonna be such a worry-wart, then you shouldn't have come when I asked to. Plus, you're here now, there's really no point in backing down. It'll only be for the night anyways. You'll be gone by morning. Now, are you gonna stare at me all night or are you gonna climb the rope that I just sent down from my window," Y/N complained, rolling her eyes in a jestering manner.

He sighed once again before taking the rope and pulling himself upwards, using all of his previous lessons from hero training and managed to climb the rope, reaching to her window and emerging into her bedroom.

"Wow, your place is small," he commented as he glanced around the various objects in her room.

Her walls were painted a dull white, with not much furniture except a bed and a desk, along with a few bookshelves and two wooden chairs. The bookshelves were mostly filled with textbooks on engineering and robotics, along with some of her in-progress support items. Medals from various academic contests were also hung on the walls, but a photo caught his eye.

A photo of the two of them, happily smiling at the camera while embracing each other. They were quite a little younger than now, around twelve or thirteen. He remembered that moment, they were visiting the park with each other's parents and having a nice time: doing what normal twelve or thirteen year olds would do, chatting for the most part and brooding how bad their days were. At the end of the day, the two asked to take a picture of them together. They were happy with each other's presence.

"Yeah, it's kinda small..." she looked to where he was looking at before. "You remember that day?"

"Yeah," he smiled to himself. "That was the day after we graduated seventh grade. Our parents were close. You know, my dad was always telling yours to stop smoking."

She giggled from the memory of a bearded older and grouchier man that resembled him yelling at her father about smoking, imaging that the grumpy man would slap the cigarette out of his hand.

"Yeah. I remember. My mom, she was also scolding your dad for being so uptight with your bedtime and stuff. Then he would get offended and be like 'Don't tell me how to raise my son!'" Both of them were laughing again. "It's a shame that my mother passed away from cancer," she mumbled, smiling sadly at the memory.

"Hey, what'd I tell you about being sad? If you're sad, you always come to me," he replied, gesturing to himself as his eyes lit with concern despite the stoic face upon him.

"I'm not still sad about that! It's just... I still miss her."

He sighed, before outstretching his arms. "Come here."

Complying, she walked to him, then became enveloped in his arms. "You got me, you got it?"

"Yeah. Thanks Shota," she grinned at him, wrapping her arms around the boy.

"Y/N! Where is my beer?! I asked for this five minutes ago!" an angry voice sounded from downstairs. "I'm coming up, you hear me?!"

"Shit! Sho, hide in the closet, now!" her voice began to stammer as fear pumped in her heart and her eyes widened at the upcoming horror. "Please! Just go!"

Although confused, he had a vague idea of what was happening, and his blood began to boil. Doing what she said, he hid in her closet, completely ignoring the fact he was in a space full of the opposite gender's clothes, closing the doors behind him as he watched from the open lines made for the design of the door, trying to peek inside of what was happening in the room. His mind began to make up numerous possibilities, and his heart began to pound at the sound just from the fury of Y/N's father. Recalling past memories, her father was never in the slightest as angry as he was now; he was a calm and rational man, but the utterance of 'beer' also hit him. Was her father an alcoholic after the death of his wife?

"Y/N! You better not have locked the door on me. Do you want to sleep outside again?!" his furiated voice boomed as his footsteps up the stairs became audible, each one was more like a loud stomp rather than walking.

Sleep outside? What changed about her father? Was he insane? Before, he hardly cared about what his daughter ate, or what time she slept, and now he was going to throw her outside if she locked the door? Has she been living with her father like this for the past two years ever since her mother died? An urge rushed over him as thoughts of protecting Y/N from her father, making him believe he would be the 'knight in shining armor that would save her.' This wasn't some fucking fairytale where if he saved her she would immediately fall in love with him! Where did he even get the idea that he could save her from her father? Was he an idiot? Panicked thoughts began to linger in his clouds of doubt with each step growing louder than the first, signalling that he was getting closer.

Bursting out of the door, her father came. The man seemed to tower over her as she quaked in fear, falling onto the floor and trembling while she looked at him. The man, though fat and large, was buff as well, his plump arm shaking in uncontrollable rage. His face was red with the alcohol consumed, and his voice was slurred, as well as his movements were abnormal; definitely due to the beer.

"I thought I told you to get me beer," he slurred violently with his words hardly understandable, standing above her, his face the imitation of Satan's anger. His eyes flared with such an intensity of anger that it even scared him. "Where's my beer?"

"Please, daddy, let me go get you now-" she muttered in a frightened and horrified way, her face plastered as if she had just seen an armed man point his weapon at her.

"NO! You think you won't be punished for being a little shit?! Girl, you done wrong!" he replied, swinging his arm at her furiously.

Y/N barely dodged as she rolled out of the way, crawling backwards to the wall. The fear that was plastered onto her face made him tremble in anger, almost similar to her father's level of frustration. He tried hurting his own daughter?! He tried hurting Y/n?! The best daughter any parent could have asked for and he tried to hurt her?!

The man charged forwards over the crouched girl, raising another meaty fist to strike. That was when he bursted out of his closet, his scarf coming to life as it wrapped around the man's fist, pulling it in another direction, where he then jumped on him, making him tumble down. When the man tried to attack him back as he sat back, the weapon snaked around him, making him immobilized.

"Listen here you mistake of a father, hurt Y/N again, and I'll do more than fucking tie you up. I'll call the damn police and do a little bit of roughing myself. Fuck with her, and you fuck with me. You hear that?" he snarled as he looked down at the 'father' of Y/N. "I'll call the police."

"You little brat! You planned this didn't you? I can't wait to get my hands on you, I'll kill your boyfriend here and then you are going to get a lesson, you hear me!" the man screamed, writhing in his restraints, lunging at Y/N aggressively without much success. "You're fucking dead!"

"Shota, please, please... Please don't call the police on him. This is just a one-time thing, I promise! He'll never hurt me again! He's all I have left, please don't arrest him!"

He stared at her in disbelief. Begging for mercy on her abuser? That wasn't something he expected from Y/N. He knew that Y/N was kind hearted and merciful, but against this father, she owed nothing to him, not when he treated his own child like this! So... why was it that she already forgave him. How could she be like someone like him, a criminal- not a villain- like him? She was a hero support items inventor, how could she have this view on him?! 'He's all I have left,' huh?

"I thought... I was all you needed. You said that, right?" he whispered softly.

"I- just... please untie my father, and lock the door."

He sighed before looking back at the father. "Don't even think about attacking us. I'll call the police." He loosened the grip, which allowed him to step out of the bundle of clothes. Giving both of them a glare that could kill him where they stood, he walked out the door. He immediately went to lock the door, before rushing to Y/N's side.

"Are you okay, Y/N?"

"I'm... I'm okay. I just... I can never fight back my father," she said, looking down. "I can't do anything against him. And it hurts..."

Tears started pooling in her eyes again as her lip whimpered. "I-I'm s-so weak, and I... I can't do anything. What use am I if I can't do anything against my father? I c-can't stop him," she sobbed, stopping mid-sentence as she hiccuped another breath of air. "I c-can't stop him from thinking that h-her d-death w-was my fa-... fault..."

Y/N was possibly the strongest person he knew. Suffering from a loss at an age where she understood what death meant and what it truly meant to be left alone, she didn't allow it to affect her negatively. It didn't alter the goal she had in mind- helping heroes in the background- and it certainly didn't affect her person. He knew that some people would break, while others will heal better than before. His mom left him when he was young and his father was never around due to his international job, he lived alone in the house with only the monthly-sent money from his father to pay the pills and his other payments. The feeling of loneliness had dawned on him for years until he met Y/N, and that had changed his pitiful and gloomy life. He couldn't be more grateful.

But now, he had to return the favour. Y/N was similar to him, she bottled up her feelings unless they were necessary in a situation. Although, he admits, Y/N's reasons for doing this were much more selfless than his, relatively, he didn't think anyone could help him in his case but Y/N? The most precious and innocent person he has ever met; selfless no matter the cost, determined to achieve anything that would help people, that was the girl he knew, Y/N, the girl he fell in love with.

"Hey, look at me. It's okay, look at me Y/N," his soft and gentle voice brought her attention. He brought a hand to her face, swiping a stray strand of hair out of her way, using his thumbs to wipe the tears. She looked up at him, and he leaned in, pecking her wet and soft lips.

"You should know that you are the strongest person I've ever known. You were so strong when you lost your mother and you're still strong today. Do not let him win, don't let him break you, don't let him make you lose yourself. You know damn well that your mother didn't die because of you or anyone, and your father is just coping. Do not let him get to you. Don't ever let him hurt you physically and mentally. Because you, you are the strongest person I know, and you always will be. Never, and I mean it Y/N, never talk down on yourself," he spoke, his words touching and poking at her heart, her heartstrings being lightly touched by his utterance.

"You of all people should know your worth. You deserve so much more than what you have, and only you, only you... only you deserve everything. Y/N, don't you dare think you're not enough. Don't you even think about it. Don't you ever think you're not enough for anyone, that you're not enough for me, not enough for your friends, not enough for you father, not enough for any of your teachers or any of your classmates, don't you ever think that. You deserve so much, and it disappoints me that you don't get what you want. Y/N, tell me- no, promise me- that you won't ever talk to yourself like this again. Alright, you got that? 'Cause hell, if you ever think this, I will beat the shit out of anyone who makes you feel it. Right?"

"I promise I will never talk to myself like that again. Thank you, Shota," hugging him tightly. "You're right, you're the only I need. I love you."

He smiled, leaning forwards and laying his chin on her head, kissing her head tenderly. "You too."

Another promise was made that day too.

"You remember that day... when I found out that your father was abusive towards you?" he murmured to the rain, with only the same pouring noise sprinkling on him. His tears mixed with the cold water, his entire body moist and sleek with the liquid lightly caressing his skin and his clothes sagging, attached to him. The cold sensations made his fingers and legs numb, so he remained leaning over the mound of the grave.

"I promised myself that I would protect you from everything and anything. Did you know?" he stopped to breathe in a deep breath. "Guess I had to break that promise."

He closed his eyes, enjoying the embrace the rain had given him, shivering in the cold, yet, it seemed pleasant to him in a way. It comforted him all in the right way, reminding him of the way Y/N had used to embrace him like before. Somehow, the ghost of her touch still remained on his skin, tickling his skin with the flashbacks and the nerves that acted rapidly. The numbness he accepted, most likely he wouldn't be moving for a while, this was a day assigned for him to indulge in his sensations and feelings that happened. Usually, he would go to the bar and drink in remembrance of her, but today, he wanted to make it formal, and finally visit her. He hadn't talked to her in a long time. The cold water rolling over his closed eyelids only made him smile more, but it was a different kind of smile. Not the same smile as Y/N's which were usually full of joy and happiness, nor the same as his usual sarcastic and teasing smiles. It contained a different kind of mood. Despite smiling, neither emotions were positive or an uplifting kind of feelings.

"You know, when I said I would protect you from everything and anything, I didn't think it would include yourself. I guess that's my fault. I'm... sorry about that. I... I could protect you from anything and everything, but I couldn't protect you from yourself, and... I'm sorry I didn't notice it earlier.

"I know I haven't visited in years, and I just... I wanted to apologize for that. I don't even remember the last time I talked to you. It's been four years... I think? Well, it doesn't really matter. I know that before, I shouldn't have been drinking or been trying to forget the memories I had with you. You know that I've... I've just not been coping well. I know that now, it's been fifteen years since then. I used to be so selfish and in denial, and I think trying to forget you was my way of denying that you died today, fifteen years ago.

"It was painful, you know?" his voice croaked, his eyelids closed half-way, his smile now being supported by just his muscles rather than the raw emotions behind it. "I've done a lot of wrong things Y/N, and one of them was being so blind all those years ago. I should have known, I should have said something, I should have asked. That's what I told myself. I wish that I could have prevented it, I wish I could have saved you like the hero I was trained to become. I think you could tell that your passing wasn't taken well from me, but that would be an understatement, huh, Y/N?" he laughed to himself coldy, his laughter falling on deaf ears.

"I still feel like I can truly act like my younger self with only you. You... you know that I don't show my emotions,, my true feelings,, but only with you I can... and that's why I loved you for that I... I could never imagine a life without, did you know that? Your smile, your laugh, your voice, those things were the only reason why I wake up everyday. A life without you, I thought... that I couldn't live like that, that I couldn't make myself wake up every single day knowing I wouldn't be seeing your face. But here I am, never being able to see your face again, and it still doesn't change the fact that it hurts more than hell.

"You know the USJ incident? The one that involved the League of Villains and that Nomu? Well, you would know if you were watching from above anyways. I thought that I was going to die... I thought that I could finally meet you again... I thought that I could finally feel your arms around me. I thought I would have died that day, and when I did, all I thought was that I could finally see you again. Of course, God had other things in mind according to my somehow survival. It's funny, how I still believe in him despite everything that has happened to me as a hero, no, as a person in general?"

He sighed, collecting his thoughts as he glanced at the rose again, still radiating and vibrant as ever despite the gloomy downpour.

"I was... I was scared that day. When I saw you hung from the branch of the very tree right here... when I saw the tight noose around your neck... when I saw the lifelessness in your eyes... I was scared that the person I loved the most was gone. I didn't want to accept it, that's why I tried to erase the memories I had. I was scared at that moment that even before your death, that I had lost you. You weren't the same person as you were before, yet you smiled so. That was the first time I've ever truly felt scared. But then, I saw your smile... you were peaceful at death, and it was like this was what you wanted. It gave me another fear inside me as well."

He swallowed the lump in his throat, unclutching the tense and stiff fists, releasing the emotions he was holding back.

"You needed me the most at that time, and I was just too dumb to see. Your classmates looked down on you for your brilliant innovations and I allowes you to believe what your father told you. I allowed him to hurt you once again and I didn't know. I was scared that I wasn't enough for you back then. I-I... I was scared that I didn't make you happy enough, and I was scared that you were happier at death than you were when you were with me. I was scared that I wasn't a good enough lover for you, and that I failed as your boyfriend. That day, me and Hizashi were joking around if you and I were going to get married, and we even looked through a ring store."

The nonstop tears continued to steam down his cheeks.

"I wanted a life with you, Y/N. I wanted us to get married and have kids. I wanted to go home everyday to see your smiling face and wake up everyday to see you everyday too. That was the future I wanted," he stopped his rant for a second, his focus on the mound shifted to the sky.

"I'm sorry that I didn't ask what future you wanted. Apparently, you didn't have much of a future for yourself. But I've been so blind all this time, even now I realized I'm still blind. A friend once told me that there was no point in regretting the past.

"I've done a lot of wrong things towards you. I was angry at you for leaving me, and I asked a lot of selfish things from you. Things like... coming back alive... or even try to regret doing what you did. I threw dirt at you, I threw tantrums at you, but today, I'm not as blind as I am as I was back then. Because, today, all I ask for you is to watch over me. You can handle that, right?

"What I didn't realize was that everyday I do wake up to you, and everyday, I do go home to you. You may be gone, but you're not gone from me forever. I carry a piece of you everyday. I still remember that one Christmas when you gave me the scarf, do you? I still remember the promise I kept. I still remember when I told you that I liked you.

"I've fully embraced what has happened. I don't regret anymore, and I know you're happy up there, and I'm happy for you. I know one day that I would meet you, but that day is too far away at this point. I wanted to thank you for making me the person I am today. You may have left me, but to me, you have never left me at all."

Finally getting the words off of his chest, he felt less burdened and more free. He was free from what he thought was his own curse: his regret.

"I'm not sure if you know, but I teach a class of promising heroes. I have been for the last four years. Each class is special in a way. There's always two boys that are getting in trouble, there's one which is basically a mini-version of All Might. Remember All Might? He was that one American hero that was popular back then. Now, he's the No. 1 hero in Japan. The other... well he's the complete opposite, explosive you could say... it fits his quirk. They inspire the whole class, and I just know that this class will be the next big heroes. Didn't expect me to be a teacher, huh?

"Hizashi and Nemuri, sorry, Present Mic and Midnight, are doing well. It took them a few years, but they definitely recover a lot better than I did. They still visit sometimes, talk about the old days and such. They're also teachers for the next generations of heroes."

He stopped to see what else he could spill his heart out. "There isn't much going on in my life, Y/N. I think you know that. But just... one more thing."

He got off of his knees, standing up and noticing that the rain was diminishing, and the sun poked at clouds from behind. Bits and bits of light shimmered through the thick and gray clouds. The sound of rain decreased in volume as well as mass, knowing he could only feel little droplets.

"I still love you. I'll never forget you. Goodbye Y/N. Thank you for your time. I'll try visiting more often."

He walked past the tree and down the hill.

There, carved on the trunk of the tree were three words.

"Rest happily, Y/N."