(Y/n) stared lifelessly at the white walls of the infirmary, her face as pale as a ghost's. She looked like hell, purple bags under her eyes from the lack of sleep, her own eyes puffy and red from shedding too many tears.

She sat on a hospital bed, awaiting Recovery Girl to heal her remaining injuries so that she could move on to class. She dreaded going to class most of all, knowing that Shouto would be there. She didn't want to see him or be with him in the same room. The memories of the previous night's fight still dawned fresh in her mind.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Recovery Girl's tired, weary voice spoke. "I was dealing with something in the other room."

(Y/n) nodded, only having heard the last words the woman uttered as she sat on a chair in front of her.

Recovery Girl peered at her, taking in her worn down form. She sighed upon noticing that the girl didn't even acknowledge her presence, her eyes staring at the empty space in front of her. The old woman poked her arm twice to get a reaction from her. The girl's eyes fell on the woman, her eyebrows raising in question.

"You were looking out of it back there..." the woman said. "Are you sure your injuries are the only things wearing you down?"

(Y/n) shrugged lethargically and forced a smile on her face. "I'm fine."

Recovery Girl sighed and shook her head as she muttered. "You young girls. Only ever the same response when someone can clearly see you're not fine. Anyway...let's get this over and done with."

The girl bent down a bit to her level, allowing her to place a kiss on her cheek. She looked down at her arms, the small scratches disappearing immediately along with the other injuries she sustained. Since she hadn't attained any sleep the previous night, the already less energy she had lowered even further, making her feel more like utter shit.

"Now you look more presentable," Recovery Girl piped up. "The redness in your eyes and those nasty bags under them are now gone. You better get some sleep after school otherwise bags aren't the only thing you'll get."

(Y/n) nodded.

Recovery Girl tutted and rose a hand to feel up the girl’s side. “How’s your side? Does it hurt?”

“No.”

“Good. Don’t strain yourself though. I might’ve healed it but the ligaments still need to repair themselves on their own. The wound was too deep for me to completely heal it so you need to take it upon yourself and make sure it gets the care it deserves,” the old woman sent her a pointed look. “The pain might be gone but that doesn’t give you permission to be reckless. Okay?”

"Okay…" the girl nodded, her voice sounding hoarse as she pushed off the bed. “Thanks…”

"Welcome."

The girl's body moved robotically to her class, her heart pounding even the more as she neared the door.

When she arrived, she stared at the wooden door bleakly, already wanting to turn back and head home.

Come on...you can do this (Y/n)! Just don't look at him.

She sighed, her hand going up to her hair and tugging at the hairband. She pulled it off, her hair loosening over her shoulders. She spread it evenly, so that the sides of her face would be hidden. The girl pocketed the hairband and inhaled deeply, mustering up the courage to go into the class.

She slid open the door and got in, purposely avoiding any eye contact with anyone. She felt like everyone was staring at her, as if they knew what went down when that was in fact not the case. They were all too concerned about her well-being after last seeing her in the hospital.

"Hey (Y/n)! How're you feeling?!"

Terrible.

"You look okay! It's like your injuries are gone!"

Not all.

"That was an awesome job you and Bakugou did! Man, I wish I was there..."

Really now?

The girl ignored all the remarks and questions shot at her as she headed to her seat, her head hung low to hide her face. She sat down on her chair, her bag strap sliding down her shoulder to fall on the floor.

(Y/n) stared at her desk for a while before lifting her head up and turning to her concerned classmates.

"I'm fine! I feel better now!" she grinned at them, sending them a thumbs up. "No need to worry about me!"

The rest of her classmates smiled, happy to see one of the most cheerful persons in the class alright. They didn't know how much it hurt her to smile like that. To pretend like nothing's wrong when everything inside felt broken.

But there was another person, besides Shouto of course, who could see right through her facade.

Katsuki frowned at the back of the smiling girl's head as she interacted with Kaminari and Jirou. The minute she walked in, he had seen her downcast look, and how she lifelessly trudged to her seat. She didn't even acknowledge him in the first place. As if she had lost herself to her mind for a little while before plastering a fake ass smile.

The boy also recalled seeing Shouto enter the class. He had a dark aura around him. Like he was ready to disintegrate anything and anyone in his path. Katsuki simply brushed it off as him seething over his daddy issues or some other shit which the ash-blond didn't care about.

But now seeing (Y/n) have the same aura, only hers being less threatening, made the wheels in his mind turn. Though, he couldn't only base it only on his own suspicions. He had to get full confirmation from her.

Before he could call her to ask her, the bell chimed, Mr. Aizawa immediately making his appearance in class. The boy groaned inwardly and glared at the disheveled teacher for his worst timing.

(Y/n) exhaled, mentally thanking the teacher for his presence. Her cheeks hurt from the fake smile, a frown immediately replacing it once she faced forward. She could feel the sneaky glances Katsuki sent to the side of her face. She ignored him and kept her sights forward. However, it became too much and she couldn't help but risk a peek at him.

Her (e/c) eyes locked with his crimson ones, his eyebrows instantly furrowing the more in silent question.

What?- she mouthed at him, her eyes looking left and right to see if anyone else was listening on in their conversation.

Fuck's wrong with you?!- he mouthed back, making the girl's breath hitch in surprise.

He noticed.

She shook her head, sending him a small, strained smile to clear away his suspicions. She was wrong though. He wasn't easily convinced by her answer, his face twisting in agitation.

Bullshit!- he pronounced silently earning a weary sigh from (Y/n).

The girl rolled her eyes and turned her head away, resting her head in her palm to face away from him. The ash-blond's face contorted with rage and fury at her blatant snub, his hands clenching into fists.

(Y/n)'s frown deepened. She thought she had everyone convinced that she was fine, apparently not all. She didn't hear whatever Mr. Aizawa taught or said, her mood dampening with every passing minute she recalled her fight with Shouto.

She had to fight the tears threatening to fall from her eyes, swallowing down the lump that would appear in her throat ever so often. Even though she tried to not think about it, the heater words they shared would weave themselves into her mind.

She could say she fucked up when she kept the picture in the first place, but her mind and heart were too stubborn to admit that she was in the wrong. Deep inside her sorrow, she was angry and confused. She couldn't understand why he'd break up with her just because of Katsuki. And about what he said about Katsuki doing everything to come between them…what was he even talking about? Katsuki was just being Katsuki.

To her, she didn't see any wrong in hanging out with him. She knew that she never did anything that would sabotage her relationship with Shouto. Yet, he still broke up with her.

And not to mention that ridiculous question he asked…

The girl lifted her head to face forward, her eyes staring sightlessly at the board as she continued wallowing in her thoughts. She started thinking up all the better things she'd have said, how the outcomes would've been different if she had said or did things differently. Her mind also conflicted with thoughts of her innocence in the matter. She replayed the argument over and over again in her mind, her agitation and anger slowly peaking.

I wasn't in the wrong....he's the one too jealous to open his eyes to the truth! Why...I'm not doing anything wrong with being friends with Katsuki! He's the one too insecure to realize that! Why do I have to always get the blame, huh?! Why me?! I never have a problem when he has female friends but nooo, I get one guy to be my close friend and he starts saying I’ve changed! So what if he has feelings for me?! Have I acted upon them? No! I haven't done anything wrong! Sure, I've fucked up a bit but that doesn't give him enough reason to break up with me!!!

Katsuki stared at the front in boredom, unaware of the boiling girl next to him. However, he was alerted to this when the smell of burning wood infiltrated his nose. He turned to follow the direction of the smell, only to find it leading to (Y/n)'s hands.

Her nails were dug deep into her desk, unconsciously melting the wood in her silent, mental rage. However, this wasn't what had made Katsuki's eyes widen in shock. But the fact that her hands were completely black, from her fingertips until it disappeared into the sleeve of her jacket.

"Hey! (Y/n)!"

The girl jolted in place, angry eyes slowly turning to glower at Katsuki. When she turned, she noticed his eyes weren't on her face. She knitted her eyebrows and followed his line of vision, only to gasp inaudibly.

No!! No!! This can't be happening again!

A haze of fear surrounded her as frightening thoughts raced through her mind. She thought that she was seeing things when she saw it the previous night but Katsuki's expression confirmed that he could see it too. The girl bolted up from her chair, hugging her darkened hand to her chest to hide it from the rest as she raced out of the class, taking her comrades by surprise.

(Y/n) panted as she ran towards the bathroom, her heart beating fast, threatening to jump out of her ribcage. She barged in through the door, immediately running to the nearest sink and opening the tap.

She tried washing off the unknown pigment but unlike before, it remained on her skin. The girl frantically removed her jacket, tossing it to the floor. She let out a terrified shriek when she saw her arms, both as black as soot with cracks slowly appearing. Her head looked up to stare at her reflection in the mirror and that's when she screamed her head off.

The black color had spread to her face like a mask, her once (e/c) eyes turned completely blood red.

"No!!" she screamed, overcome with fright that made her lose her balance and fall to the ground. She backed away to the wall, scared tears trickling down as she stared at her darkened thighs and legs. Smoke started seeping from the cracks as they began to glow red, much like her lava Quirk.

"Make it stop!! Make it stop!!" she cried, her hands covering her face as she willed for the terrifying experience to end. She was slowly rising in temperature and if that went on, her clothes would burn in the process.

The loud banging sound of someone kicking open the door startled her, her eyes turning to stare into Katsuki's horrified ones.

"(Y/n)! Wha- What the fuck?!" he exclaimed, sprinting towards her but stopped when she held out her hand.

"Don't!! You might get hurt!"

"Well make it stop!!"

"How?! I can't!!"

"Does it hurt?!"

"No!! But-!"

"It's your fucking Quirk, dammit!! Make it stop!!"

The girl gaped at his revelation, her previous fear settling a bit as she began to concentrate, staring at her heating up hands in effort to reverse her rogue Quirk. She squeezed her eyes shut, garnering all her mind power into stopping it. It was useless however since concentrating was the last thing she could do with her full mind. (Y/n) opened her eyes, only to be disappointed when her body retained the black color.

"I can't!” she choked out a sob. “I can't do it! "

Katsuki groaned and closed the distance, getting on his knees before the girl.

“No-!”

"Look at me," Katsuki cut her off, cupping her cheeks firmly to maintain eye contact with her. "Focus. Make it stop now."

(Y/n)'s lips parted at his gentle gesture as she stared into his eyes. She didn't miss how his eyes slightly twitched from the burning sensation of her skin on his palms. He activated his own Quirk, heating up his own palms, not enough to detonate so that the heat would rival that of (Y/n)'s and not hurt him any longer.

(Y/n) could feel the heat from his hands and it made her heart flutter. The way he looked at her, with the assurance that she was safe and how he held her, willing to get hurt just so that he could help her. It was a side rarely seen from him. A side he only let her see.

A side that stirred unknown feelings in her chest.

They stared at each other in silence, the only sound coming from the running tap she left open. Her mind, that was completely clogged up preventing her to focus, cleared up. She felt a sense of security around him, similar to the one she felt after knowing he saved her life, but much stronger. Much like, a promise, that he'd never leave her and will always protect her. It made her feel calm and tranquil inside.

The girl noticed a small smirk on his lips, his eyes roaming all over her face as he slowly released his hold on her. (Y/n) brought her hand up and noticed that she had gone back to normal.

She exhaled in disbelief, a smile creeping up her lips as she turned her hand to observe the underside of it.

"It's...gone..." she breathed out excitedly at Katsuki who got up on his feet.

"Told ya. Now get up. We need to figure out what's wrong with you," he said, outstretching his hand for her to take.

"Okay," she nodded, taking his hand and getting up on her feet.

The ash-blond didn't let go of her hand as he went over to close the tap before picking up her jacket from the ground. He slung the jacket over his shoulder and looked at the girl over his shoulder.

"Wanna go back to class?"

The girl pursed her lips and shook her head.

"No. Not really."

***

(Y/n) and Katsuki sat on a bench that was near the school field as they talked. The duo concluded that the black pigment came in alignment with her Quirk. Katsuki had revealed to her that he had seen the similar black color when she rose from the dead, something that perturbed the girl.

"Could dying have messed with my Quirk?" the girl wondered aloud, raising her hand to peer at her palm. "Is that even possible?"

"Hell if I know," the boy shrugged. "Probably modified it or some kind of shit."

"As if I don't have a lot on my mind already. Now, this shit," (Y/n) mumbled in irritation.

The girl placed her hand down and sighed. She leaned forward, elbows resting on her lap as she rubbed her temples. She was too exhausted. Both mentally and physically. Not only was she battling with the possibility that her dying must've messed up her Quirk, but also with the reminder of her breakup with Shouto. All she desired to do was sleep for hours on end.

"Hey."

The girl hummed in response and turned her head to look back at him.

"Are you gonna tell me what the fuck's wrong with you?" he frowned at her impatiently. "You’ve been looking like crap ever since you entered that damn class."

(Y/n) bit the inside of her cheek as she straightened up, leaning her back on the bench. There was no use hiding it from him, knowing him, he'd probably choke it out of her.

"Shouto and I..." she trailed off, a sigh escaping her lips as she willed herself to continue. "Shouto and I broke up last night."

Katsuki gawked at her in shock, crimson-colored eyes widened in momentarily speechlessness.

"What."

(Y/n)'s gaze fell to her lap, her lower lip quivering as her vision blurred from the stinging tears in her eyes. Saying it out loud made it even worse. It stirred up the festering wound in her heart. She sniffled quietly, fingers wiping away the fallen tears. A great sob escaped her, and she covered her face with shaking hands as she began to cry.

"Hey. Come here," Katsuki said, his arms going around her and pulling her into his chest.

The girl fisted his shirt as her body wracked with an onslaught of sobs and tears. The ash-blond stroked her hair soothingly, letting her cry her heart and pain out.

It was selfish of him to be happy. To be happy when the girl he loved was miserable but he couldn't help himself. She was finally free. Free for him to take as his and being the only one to comfort her during her hard times would definitely seal the deal. He'd make her fall for him in a matter of time.

A victorious smirk played on his lips as he tightened his hold on the crying the girl, his hand weaving into her soft (h/c) hair.

It was all falling into place.

He was finally winning.

***