MHA: Villains Need A Hero Too

Such an odd place your mind can be. One person could be in a world of sunshine and rainbows, cupcakes and lollipops. All while another could be sitting in an empty space of darkness, alone and cold. Odd things happen when you are alone with your thoughts. While you could be happy with life, there will always be that fraction of a fraction thought, it's how humans work, it is how they're minds work.

A cold, empty space is where Yuno had curled himself up in. His knees pressed against his chest, he could hear so many words running through his head. His hands were pressed against his ear, make it stop, doing little to block out the noises, shut up already.

Yuno could feel the hands touching him everywhere, grazes, taps and grips on his body, anywhere they could reach. Were the hands even real? He could feel the phantoms of eyes staring down to him, a lowly and powerless human such as himself.

Long fingers wrapped around his neck, where were his bandages, and squeezed, blocking off his air and disabling any oxygen to be sucked in. Yuno wheezed, let go, reaching up to the hands around his throat and began prying them off. They wouldn't let go, can't breath! No matter how much he scratched and pulled at the hands. Let go!

"Welcome home, Yuno!"

'Low grades, no food!'

Hurts.

Mama, please stop!

'Perhaps, it should be like this.'

Shut up!

"I enjoy sitting with you like this."

'Oh? You refuse? Get the fuck in the closet, boy.'

I promise I'll be good! I promise, Papa!

"I'll protect you! Don't worry, big sis is strong!"

Why can't I be good?!

Is this what you wanted?! You created a monster!

'Watch your tone, you're only here because of us!'

Help me!

"If I don't come back, promise me you'll never lose hope."

I already have lost hope…

"Get rid of it, it's annoying me."

Kill him, do it, Yuno!

'Surpass all heroes, that is what you were born to do.'

Is it really though? I can't think.

"This is your life!"

No, no, no, nonononono no no no no nononononono no no no no no!

SHUT UP!

~~~~~~~~

Kisu had cleaned the entire house by now, she even had time to check up on Yume who had been sitting on her bed all day, all while Yuno was asleep. She's proud of herself for cleaning for so long, all those years of discipline with her uncle truly paid off in the end. She'll get herself a reward on her way back home, assuming Yuno can take care of himself.

A ring of the doorbell caused Kisu's train of thought to suddenly stop short, nearly jumping out of her skin at the sound. Her hands dropped the sponge currently in her hand and she wiped them on a towel, proceeding to place it on the sparkling counter and speed walking to the front door. She looked into the peephole with one eye, better safe then sorry, and glanced at who may be outside.

"Kisu! Open up, we have food!"

Well, they were quick.

Three people, all familiar, stood on the porch with a bag in hand: Kaminari, Todoroki, and Jiro. Kaminari was knocking on the door, repeating the phrase "open up" and occasionally rubbing his head. Todoroki was holding a bag, it looked like it was from a store. Jiro was quiet, listening to something on her phone with those long headphone jack lobes of hers.

Kisu opened the door, not a second thought running through her mind.

"So you guys got my text!" She leaned against the doorframe. "You brought actual food, right?"

"If you count instant lunches, cup o' noodles, and mochi, yeah, we have food." Jiro said as she put her phone away.

"Who's bright idea was that?"

Both Jiro and Todoroki pointed at Kaminari, who in return, shouted, offended. "You guys wouldn't pay for shit! I don't have the kind of money to get a full blown meal!"

Kisu sighed. "Better than nothing. Just get your carcasses inside."

They shut themselves up and took the offer of resting inside. They were still in their uniform, finally done with school. Kisu wondered what they did today, she herself didn't go to school despite it being the second day.

Not even a week and he's sick. She reminded herself that Yuno was still in his room sleeping, she'll have to tell everyone to keep their voices down.

Well, Yuno was only asleep until he wasn't.

Kisu first heard a thud, she's pretty sure everyone heard it from the way they all jumped at the sound. Kisu prayed it was just an object that got knocked of the side table as she practically sprinted across the house to Yuno's rooms, leaving her guests unsupervised. Oh, who cares if they're unsupervised? Yuno is more important. God knows what he'll do if she isn't around while he's awake.

Kisu calmly opened the door, despite wanting to slam it open, she had to be gentle so she didn't scare Yuno. In such a state, anything loud could scare him.

"Hey, Yuno?" Kisu kept her voice quiet as she opened the door. She heard pained wheezing as she entered the room, like he was searching for oxygen and every breath he took in hurt.

Oh, well shit.

Yuno was a mess of blankets, his hair disheveled, and his eyes unfocused, like he wasn't in his room but somewhere else, wherever it may be. His hands were over his ears, blocking out any sound he could and failing to do so. He kept muttering things like "shut up" and "I can't think."

"Yuno," Kisu spoke even quieter than before, and it still caused him to flinch as he looked up at her, or, more so through her. "Yeah, I'm right here. You're okay."

"No, I'm not- You can't be h- here. That's not possible!" Yuno pulled his eyes away from Kisu, they were shaking in his sockets as he tried to look anywhere but at Kisu.

"What is it you want me to do?" Kisu suddenly asked, Yuno responding with an expression of both confusion and fear.

This would happen, when Yuno was younger, it still does, just not often. Everyone would try and coddle him and touch him, trying to comfort him. All it did was make it worse, stress him more, cause more unneeded panic to rouse. Kisu understood though, she'd ask him what he wanted her to do, and she'd do whatever may be said. If he wanted space, she'd sit with him until he was okay, and if he wanted a hug, she'd wrap him in a warm embrace.

"They- It won't shut up," Yuno was on the verge of tears, a rare occurrence. "Hurts, it hurts, I can't- I can't think. It won't stop, it won't stop, I-"

"You're okay," Kisu said, holding her hands out for Yuno to reach, offering him any sort of comfort. "Don't answer them. It'll go away, I promise. Try to breath. In for five, hold for three, out for seven. Want to feel?"

Yuno was hesitant to uncover his ears, to move his hands to Kisu's, afraid whatever voices he was hearing would began to scream at him. He brought one hand down from his ear to squeeze Kisu's hand, and by god, if Kisu hadn't done this before, she could've sworn he would shatter her fingers with his harsh grip.

"I'm real, I'm here, okay?" Kisu said as she rubbed the top of his hand with her thumb. "Nothing can hurt you or me. We're home, they can't reach you here."

Yuno tested the waters as Kisu spoke to him and uncovered his other ear to hold her other hand. He closed his eyes, squeezing them shut, as he held her hands. He sucked in a deep breath, held it for not even a second before he choked, causing a coughing fit to ensue. He whimpered as the coughs tore at his throat.

"It's okay, try again." Kisu ensured he wouldn't he punished for making such a mistake. She lifted one of his hands to her chest, he could feel her heartbeat. "Copy me, okay? In for five, ready?"

Yuno nodded as he tried again, inhaling a deep breath, holding it for a second and a half, almost two, it was supposed to be three, then let his breath burst out of his mouth. He whined, failing to breath like Kisu told him to.

"Shh, it's okay. We have time, try again. Do it slowly this time."

Kisu exaggerated her breaths as she inhaled, Yuno did the same as he held his breath, for three seconds this time, then let out a stuttering exhale. They kept doing that, Kisu instructing and praising Yuno for doing a good job until he could breath normally. It felt like hours when it was really only ten minutes.

"There you go," Kisu said as she pushed the bangs clinging to his forehead out of his face. "Can you still hear them?"

Yuno shook his head, closing his eyes as Kisu touched him. She pulled away as soon as she tucked his hair behind his ear.

"That's good. You feeling better?" He nodded. "You wanna try speaking?" He shook his head and Kisu sighed, causing Yuno to look at her.

The "sorry" was left in the air, unsaid, but she understood. "That's okay. You hungry?"

Yuno brought his hands to make signs with his fingers. Japanese sign language is what came in big help when Yuno didn't want to speak, or he simply couldn't. Yume would often volunteer in nursing homes, she had a good heart, and one of the elders in the nursing home was deaf. Yume needed a way to communicate without carrying a notebook everywhere, so she learned JSL from said deaf person. Later on, Yuno had begun to develop a habit of avoiding verbal communication when he was overwhelmed. Yume was glad she knew how to sign fluently by that time, so she taught Yuno and Kisu JSL.

'What kind of food?' Yuno signed, a bit sloppily with how fuzzy his thoughts were.

Kisu cringed at the question. Right, Kaminari, Todoroki, and Jiro were here too, they had brought food, instant and not actual food.

"Instant foods," Kisu eventually answered. "I just hope there's soup among the shit they bought."

Yuno let out a quiet laugh. It relieved Kisu to hear him laugh like that, he was okay, but it also sounded tired and almost pained. That's right, his burn! Kisu noted to remind herself later to check on Yuno's burn.

"So, you want to eat?" Kisu asked, still waiting for confirmation.

Yuno nodded and began standing up, only for world to suddenly tilt to the right.

"O- Kay!" Kisu caught Yuno before he could fall, gripping his forearm with one hand while the other held his side. "Let's try not to rush, alright?"

Yuno nodded again.

Kisu, very carefully, wrapped Yuno's arm around her neck, allowing him to put some of his weight on her. He did, and he put a lot of his weight on her.

"Lets go get some food, I'm starving." Kisu said playfully as she helped Yuno walk out of his room.

Noises of relief were heard as they came out of the hallway and into the kitchen. That was first thing Yuno noticed. The second thing was the amount of people sitting in his living room, making themselves at home on his furniture.

'Why are there people here?'

"Ohh," Kisu exclaimed innocently. "Yeah, I kinda forgot about them."

"Forgot?!" Kaminari put a hand to his chest, offended. "How could you?"

Yuno winced at the loud voice of Kaminari, raising his hand to cover his ear. Kisu's head turned so fast, she might've snapped something in her neck as she shot a glare at Kaminari. She brought a finger up to her lips, letting "shut up" float in the air. Kaminari shrunk into the couch he was sitting on, trying to squeeze himself between the cushions to disappear.

"I thought this was your home, Kisu." Todoroki said as he got the memo Yuno wanted to eat, so he pulled out the different boxes of instant foods out of the bag.

"I never said who's home it was." Kisu answered as she looked at the different boxes, choosing one for herself and letting Yuno pick his own. "I just gave you the address."

Yuno shot Kisu a glance, 'you told them my address.'

"Well, yeah," Kisu said after Yuno finished signing. "How else do you think they showed up?"

That's who she was texting this morning, it was these…strangers from her class. They all seemed recognizable enough, but Yuno would never pin this group together as friends. Then again, nobody would think he and Kisu are friends, so he left it at that.

Yuno ended up choosing taiyaki for some fuel. Taiyaki is technically a dessert, isn't it? Kisu was in disbelief when he picked up the fish shaped pastry and showed it to her.

"You are so lucky you're sick," Kisu snatched the taiyaki and and ripped the package open, placing it on a plate before putting it in the microwave. "Otherwise, you'd be eating soup or porridge."

Yuno smiled, innocently so. He knew exactly what he was doing. Strategically, if Yuno would say so himself, he used Kisu's soft side for him to eat what he wants. He's had soup based foods for the past 24 hours, he wants something different.

Jiro and Todoroki kept their eyes on Yuno's hands as he and Kisu kept bantering. Only Kisu's voice was heard when they spoke, Yuno wasn't even using his voice. From the last time they saw him, they were one hundred percent sure he could talk just fine.

Yuno could feel their eyes staring into him as Kaminari jumped into the conversation, saying that he wanted to eat after a long, long school day. Is their teacher really that bad? He had heard Eraser Head was their home room teacher, that explains a lot.

Nonetheless, Yuno felt overwhelmed and small under the eyes piercing through him, weak mortal, small and fragile, you could break so easily, you're like glass, strong until you're broken, humans should be unbreakable, you are weak and tiny, I could crush you like a-

"Hey, you okay?" Kisu's voice cut through the murmurs, her hand on his shoulder and lightly shaking him. Yuno didn't realize he wasn't breathing until Kisu interrupted the whispers. "What's wrong?"

Yuno gulped as his hands shakily signed, 'I can feel them staring at me. It's scaring me. I can hear them when they look at me like that.'

"Okay," Kisu held his hands between hers for a moment to calm him down. She looked up at Todoroki and Jiro, who lifted a brow in confusion. She let go of Yuno's hands, beckoning the two over to the hallway, presumably for a talk. They followed her into the hall, leaving their boxes of food on the coffee table.

It was just Kaminari and Yuno left in the kitchen, and it was quiet as Yuno looked at the microwave where his food sat inside. Kaminari took notice, switching his eyes between the microwave and Yuno.

Kaminari opened the microwave door, grabbing the plate of taiyaki and pulling it out. He place it in front of Yuno, who's eyes followed the plate the entire time. Kaminari looked around for a napkin, eventually finding the roll on another counter, and ripped two rectangles off the roll. He folded it in half and place it next to the plate in front of Yuno.

Yuno looked up at Kaminari, keeping his head down like he was bowing, a silent thank you. Kaminari smiled a cheerful smile, lightening the mood. Kaminari may be known as a dunce among his classmates, but he can surely read a room when it's sad or negative at all.

"T- thank…you," Yuno struggled to speak, his voice cracking as he did so. He's not sure why it did that, but he blames his nightmare for it.

Kaminari was surprised to hear Yuno's voice. The last time he heard his voice was when Kisu dragged him to meet her new friends. He had to admit, he may not have liked Yuno at first, but his voice was soft, calming, a voice you would use to soothe someone of their pain, and it was his natural voice.

"No problem," Kaminari gave a thumbs up.

Yuno picked up the taiyaki and took a small bite out of it, the room falling silent again. The only sound was Kisu's muffled voice, speaking hurriedly and and quietly in the hallway. The occasional answer of "mm" came into play when she asked a question.

"You good?" Kaminari asked as he unboxed his own food, Yuno flinched at the question.

Yuno needed a paper and pencil of some sort. He didn't feel like speaking, and if he did, his voice would just rasp and crack. He looked around for paper, turning his head to the living room to see if there was any on the table.

"You can just sign," Kaminari said. Yuno turned back to him, blinking and waiting for another reply. "I can understand, I'm good at communication."

'You understand?'

"A bit, I'm not fluent and I mess up some of the signs, but I can understand conversations."

'You don't seem like the person to learn such things.'

"You mean I act and sound like a dunce?"

'I never said that.'

"You didn't have to. It just comes out, don't worry, I'm used to it."

Yuno frowned. 'I didn't mean to imply that. I barely know you.'

"I know," Kaminari rested his chin on his palm while he leaned on the counter, looking almost amused. "But back to earlier, you doing okay?"

Yuno's hands came to a halt. Maybe he shouldn't say "fine," Kaminari said he's good at communication, he'd read Yuno like an open book. Curse his predictability in communication.

'I've been better.' Yuno signed, deciding on a simple answer.

"Hm," Kaminari smiled, he must've read Yuno's mind on being fine. "That's good. You can call me Kaminari, by the way. No need for formalities."

'You're awfully different when there's no one around.'

"I get that a lot when it's just Kisu and me. A class needs that one kid, am I right?"

'I suppose so.'

"You two are chatty." Kisu's voice filled the room and the two turned to her. One of her hands sat on her hip as she spoke.

"Just making friends," Kaminari took his unboxed food and put it in the microwave. "And I beat you to the food!"

"I was supposed to go next!" Kisu began scolding, chasing Kaminari around the counter to pin him down.

Jiro and Todoroki began unboxing their own food, waiting for Kaminari's to be finished. Yuno continued eating his food, staying silent as the four socialized with each other like a normal group of friends, unknowing of each other's origin.

What is normal anyway?

"Yuno~" Kisu poked his cheek with her pointer finger, resting her cheek on her fist. "You have stuffed cheeks and blank eyes. Why don't you actually socialize a bit? Who knows when you'll do it again."

Yuno swallowed his food thickly, like it was oobleck down his throat, when Kisu said "socialize." That's the thing. Outside of Kisu, whom he's grown up with, Yuno doesn't know how to start small talk. Kisu was always the one who spoke the most, she always lightened the mood with just her friendly, competitive vibe. Yuno only ever seemed to intensify a room with his aura.

'I don't know the first thing about people.'

"Figures, you, the smartest person I've met, doesn't know the first thing about the human mind?"

'That doesn't mean I'm unlimited in my knowledge.'

"I can help." Kaminari cut in, raising his hand while his other held his tray of food, it was a bento of sorts, with rolled eggs, rice, and a side of kimchi he put in after heating it up.

"What?"

'What?'

"I can help him, like, talk to people. I'm great at that! I'm the best at it actually. I can brighten up a room just by saying 'hey' to someone!"

Kisu eyes narrowed, looking Kaminari up and down. Jiro did the same, suspiciously holding up an earphone jack to stab Kaminari if he crossed a line.

"That…" Kisu started, rubbing her chin thoughtfully, then, as if a light bulb turned on, she smiled and pointed a finger to the sky. "Doesn't sound like a bad idea! Yuno sucks at talking."

Yuno elbowed Kisu, hard, and most likely, definitely, offended. Kisu coughed and rubbed her side, exasperating the rather hard nudge. He could've done it harder, she knows, but he's tired, so she took advantage of that and nudged him back, softly.

'I don't need lessons on how the mind works when conveying words with another.'

"Stop using big words." Kisu scratched her head and closed her eyes, faking irritation. "My brain isn't as bright as yours."

'Allow me to rephrase then,' Yuno deadpanned as he signed lazily. 'Me not want teacher show me talk.'

Kaminari covered his mouth as a burst of laughter came out, holding his stomach from the pain of holding his giggles down. Todoroki shrugged, having no clue what Yuno said, but assumed it was funny, then put his food in the microwave.

"I'm not a caveman." Kisu said as her brow twitched, in real irritation this time.

'You act like one. You're a brute.'

"Take that back, bastard!"

'No, because it's true.'

"Oh, I'll show what's true! It's true you're about to be smacked up cross the head."

'But I'm sick, you see. And I still need you to change my bandages.'

Kisu raised a fist, ready to absolutely pound Yuno into the ground. Then she saw his hand still wrapped and burned. Smacking him will make things worse, she sighed, and put her fist down.

'Please.'

"Oh, don't be so sappy about it."

Yuno rolled his eyes, smiled, and began to unbandage his hand as Kisu brought out the med kit. Nobody said anything about it, talking amongst each other and having normal conversation. Kisu must've told them not to pay attention to him being unwell. Act normal, and he'll be in a good mood. Must've been something along those lines. Nonetheless, Yuno felt less overwhelmed with them no longer staring at him. He winced as Kisu cleaned his burn one more time, laughed quietly, and spoke ever so softly when he was included.

They chatted for an hour before Yuno had to go to bed, exhausted, and the group left, Kisu being an exception. She stayed later, because Yuno asked her to.

He dreaded going to sleep again.