Izuku gnawed at the end of his pen, the scribbled code little more than actual scribbles with how jumbled his mind was at the moment as he kept glancing at the staircase. He’d barely seen Yui-nee come out of her room once the weekend started, only appearing to fill her thermos with coffee before disappearing again. And it wasn’t like he couldn’t hear the occasional thumps of something getting hit. Or the muffled aggressive electronic music.
He knew she’d been down after losing that exercise to Tomono, but something like that wouldn’t put her down for long, would it? Yui-nee had a mean competitive streak and hated to lose but she’d never been like this after losing to Togata, Amajiki or even Hado. Kami, she’d lost every spar to Aizawa and had only been pumped to try again. What was so different about this one?
Izuku blinked free from his inner questions when Yui-nee walked into the room, the blazer over her arm and tie loose around her neck. The dark circles under her eyes gave him an idea of how little she’d slept, though those had been around since they started vigilante-ing. She was already headed for the coffee machine when he spoke up.
“Yui-nee? You okay?” She paused at his question, groggy teal eyes resting on him as her brow creased. “I-I just… you didn’t leave your room much yesterday. Are you working on something for Tsuki or Nedzu?”
Yui-nee blinked, her eyes lighting up as the question finally clicked. “Oh, yeah. Just trying to dig up some dirt on someone. I guess I got too into it.” She rubbed the back of her neck.
“You don’t have to help Tsukauchi with investigations, you know? You’re a kid in school, you have enough to worry about.” Aizawa pointed out as he sat down with two mugs of coffee, sliding one to her.
“Thanks, dad. And come on! Tsuki only reaches out to one of us if he really needs help with something. And it’s a good test for our skills.” Yui-nee perked up as she wrapped her fingers around the mug and took a long sip. “Izu’s been slacking at the computer stuff with his focus on the beach, the Quirk analysis on the class and the support classes. He’s gonna get rusty.” She grinned at him, obviously teasing as she stuck her tongue out at him.
He snorted, rolling his eyes at her, “Oooh, I’m so sorry I can’t whisper sweet nothings to databases and learn everyone’s secrets, nee-chan.”
“Aw, you don’t gotta apologize, Izu. You’ll get there. Maybe when you’re Dabi’s age, but you’ll get there.”
“Come on, kiddos, you don’t gotta bicker before breakfast.” Yamada chided as he started to put the food down. “Save it for your sparring sessions.”
“Don’t encourage their destructive behaviors, Zashi.” Aizawa muttered as he started to eat. Yui-nee grinned as she did the same, her hunger catching up with her once she tasted actual food.
“But destruction is so much fun, dad. And it’s a pretty good stress relief, at least from what I’ve done at the beach so far.” Izuku grinned.
“I should go to the beach and whale on something. It’d be like going to one of those break rooms for free.” Yui-nee finished her bowl of rice, her gaze going to her brother, “How’s it going down there? No one’s been giving you trouble have they?”
“Nope! Most people avoid the beach during the day so it’s pretty peaceful. Once I get a spot cleared out I’m hoping to get together there with Toshi so we can spar together. You should join us, Yui-nee.”
“Sure, green bean. Beating up on Lavender sounds like fun.” She teased, gathering her empty dishes and heading for the kitchen. Izuku chuckled softly, he was just relieved her mood was back to normal.
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Yui grit her teeth as her fist connected with the top of her, thankfully, reinforced pc tower. U.A. had the funds to blow on robots that were simulated to react to pain, yet didn’t have enough to have protected security cameras? The audio on the footage was completely fried, and the jamming device Tomono had used had interfered with the footage, leaving it a static mess that looked more like stuff she’d seen from shoddy convenience store cameras.
She glared at the case on her bed that housed her own gear. Even her own tech, ugh, the thought that the weasel’s little device had affected her personally designed and coded tech had her seeing red. Kami, was she really that much of a novice?! If her mother were here…
Yui shook her head hard to shake that particular thought free from her head. Don’t focus on her, she can’t get to you now. She cracked the seal on an energy shot, downing it as her face scrunched up at the taste. She had five hours before school started. If she couldn’t salvage any of the footage, she could at least make it so her own gear wouldn’t falter. Maybe Aizawa would pair the two of them up again and she could get new footage as proof?
She pulled her comm system from the case. It wouldn’t be too difficult to add a camera and recording feature. And she could probably convince Aizawa or Nemuri to let her have it on if they sparred without the gear if she said it was so she could get more acquainted to it during fighting instead of her hearing aid. It wasn’t like it’d give her an edge like the taser staff would.
Yui rolled her chair over to her bookcase, pulling down the volume she’d need and flipping to the section as she rolled back, propping it up within easy sight as she connected the comm system to her pc. She could do this, she had a plan, she’d implement it and it’d all be fine.
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Yui panted softly when Nemuri blew the whistle to signal the end of the match, rotating her arm slowly as she looked up at Naganuma. “Hey, good match, Naganuma. That one punch almost took me out.” She extended her arm out only for the teen to wordlessly walk to the next ring and opponent. She bit back a sigh as she dropped her arm. The flip she’d done on him had been pretty sloppy, but she’d done her best from hurting him. She almost stumbled when a wave of exhaustion rolled through her, her body stiffening as she turned to her next opponent as he walked into the ring.
“You’re looking pretty worn down, Yamazawa. Not getting enough sleep?” Yui scowled at the fake concern in Tomono’s tone. She pushed her bangs away from her face, her pinkie pressing the button to activate the new recording feature.
“Save it, Tomono. And I told you before. Stay the fuck out of my head.” Yui walked back to her end of the ring, keeping her posture loose but ready for the whistle to blow again.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. Is it so wrong to be concerned about my fellow classmate?” The honeyed tone had her eye twitching. How could no one else see how fake he was? She stiffened as the whistle blew, blocking his first hit with her right arm.
“We both know you only want me gone, Tomono. Why keep up this fucking charade?” She growled out as she caught his fist, jerking his hand back hard enough that he yelped, stepping back from her.
“Language, Yamazawa. We are at school.” Red-hot anger spread through her chest, making her arms shake as she clenched her hands, taking a swing at the cocky smile that he dodged. “Too slow~”
Yui bit back a yell, the edges of her vision tinting red as she advanced toward him. “How long did you say I have, Tomono? Two months before you tell them?” She went to aim a kick at his knee when the fire in her veins fizzled out, exhaustion hitting her like a freight train. One moment of nothing, before she felt his grip on her wrist and she was off her feet, her back slamming into the concrete hard enough that her body jolted back awake.
“Yamazawa’s down. Tomono’s the winner.”
Aizawa’s uncaring drone had her fists clenching. How could she lose to him again?! Amethyst eyes stared down at her, one side of his mouth curled in a smirk as he leaned over her. “Wow. You’re slipping, Yamazawa. I thought you were an accomplished fighter. Isn’t that what you said the first day?”
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Static filled her ears as copper coated her tongue, she’d show him just how accomplished she was. Her head snapped up, her forehead colliding with his nose that folded with a satisfying crunch. She flipped to her feet as he stumbled back, crimson dripping from his nose as his hands came up to guard it that gave her an opening to fist her hand in his gym uniform, pulling him in close as she cocked her arm back to knock in that fucking smirk.
Her fist stopped an inch from his face, his eyes wide as he stared at the gray bindings that had wrapped around her arm. Yui’s head snapped up to meet glaring red eyes, her shoulders slumping as the realization of what she did sunk into her red-hazed mind.
“Yamazawa. Let him go.” Her numb fingers opened at the command. Tomono stumbled back as he coughed, a hand on his throat as Shimizu ran up to him, water glowing white and at the ready. Yui closed her eyes as she walked backwards at the tugging from the capture weapon.
“What happened, Yamazawa?” She took a deep breath, exhaling as she opened her eyes to meet an angry black gaze. She swallowed past the lump in her throat, she could practically feel the gazes from the other students burning into her skin.
“We all saw what happened, sensei. She attacked Tomono cuz she lost!” Naganuma yelled out.
“Hey, we don’t know what happened. We shouldn’t jump to conclusions.” Togata spoke up, his hands raised palms out as he tried to placate the other teen.
“Oh please! You saw her, she looked like she wanted to rip his throat out.” Hayashi cried out, the student’s voices becoming a jumbled, garbled mess as they argued with each other.
“Quiet!” Aizawa barked out, his voice easily cutting through the racket as the teens turned to him. He pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled loudly before turning to Yui. “What happened, Yui?” He asked again.
Her heart pounded heavily in her chest, her heartbeat felt like it was trying to get out through her throat as that vice squeezed around her throat again. “I…I lost myself again sensei… I blacked out.” Her voice was soft as she looked anywhere but at him.
There was a moment where no one said anything, it felt like time was dragging until Aizawa let out another sigh, the capture weapon unwinding from her arm. “This was your second offense, Yamazawa. A week’s detention, after school for two hours.”
She blinked, her eyes widening as she met his as she opened her mouth to try to defend herself before she closed it. She had nothing to even say to defend herself. She should have controlled herself, been better…she let Tomono play with her head again and she had no one to blame but herself. She nodded softly, “Yes, sensei.”
“I’ll let Power Loader know you won’t be in this week. Go get changed and wait in the teacher’s lounge for me.” She nodded again, turning toward the exit to follow the order when she caught the words that had her shoulders stiffening.
“I told you, she’s just like a rabid dog. She’s going to snap.” She looked back at Tomono, seeing the spark in his eyes as he watched her leave. But as she looked back at the class, she couldn’t help but see something else. It made her throat close up and ice run through her veins in a way she knew had nothing to do with Tomono. As she met Togata’s, Hado’s and Amajiki’s eyes… she saw fear.
They’re looking at you like you are a rapid dog. Well, what did you expect, dear? Why wouldn’t they look at a villain like that? Miyu’s voice whispered inside her head, loud enough that her nails digging into her palms didn’t shake it. She quickly turned away, pushing the door open and walking as fast as she could like that would let her outrun her own thoughts.
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Yui jolted when the stack of papers landed in front of her, looking up at Aizawa as he held out a red pen. “You get to help grade, the answer sheet is on top.”
“Oh, you sure I’m not going to purposefully fail them?” The jab left her mouth before she could stop it, she took the pen as she sighed, “Sorry.”
He sat down as he watched her stare at the first sheet, the room was empty beside the two of them. But that might have something to do with the look the insomniac had given the other teachers when he’d entered. “I know you wouldn’t sabotage other students, problem child.”
She raised an eyebrow but didn’t look up as she marked the page. “At least not with something so obvious. It’d be very easy to track that down to you.” He kept his tone light, trying to tease a different reaction out of her. She just moved on to the next page, Aizawa bit back a sigh, it was too bad Zashi was on patrol at the moment. He was better at the whole…connecting thing.
“Yui. What’s wrong? We worked for weeks on your technique, you improved rapidly. It’s not like you to get so riled up, you’re more mature than that.”
Her jaw tightened as she flipped to the next sheet. “Nothing is wrong. I just…I blacked out when he goaded me. I was so mad.”
“Because you lost? You can’t let yourself get so emotional over losing to someone. It’s not rational, Yui.” She didn’t even glance at him. “You only seem to have an issue with your anger with Tomono. And it started with that exercise last week.”
“That’s not true. I have anger issues with a lot of people.”
He rolled his eyes, “You’ve lost every spar against Togata and you haven’t tried to maim him. The last time I saw you look like that, well, it was during the fight against Voltage.” She stiffened at the name, the pen stilling on the paper. “You looked like you wanted to take a bite out of the kid. Voltage kidnapped Izuku to get you that pissed, what did-“
“I haven’t been sleeping, Aizawa.” She interrupted him, letting out a sigh as she looked up at him, “I… I’ve been having trouble sleeping and have kept myself up with work to stay awake. I kind of just…blacked out after the fight.”
Aizawa took in a deep breath to try to settle himself, trying to figure out just why she kept fumbling with any excuse instead of just telling him the truth. “Yui. The last time you had one of these blackouts was after getting your skull fractured from one of Yamashi’s attacks. I’ve seen you work on no sleep, problem child. You get jittery and hyper from the caffeine overdose. So, either you’ve been hiding a possible brain injury from me, or someone has done something to get you into this state. If calling me dad means anything to you, then you actually have to come to me for help when you need it!”
Yui’s eyes blurred, burning with tears she couldn’t let fall as her hands clenched at her sides, her breath rasping in as her shoulders hunched up. “I’m fine! I swear, Aizawa. I just…I just don’t want you to worry about me. I can handle myself!”
The insomniac blew out a soft breath, his hands hovering just above her shoulders but not making contact. He wasn’t sure how she’d react to being touched right now, if she’d welcome it or shatter or explode at him. “Yui. You are not fine. You’re crying right in front of me.”
The raw emotion in the man’s otherwise monotone voice had her fingers hooking in his shirt before she could stop them, the suffocating weight in her throat pressing against her vocal chords, the pinpricks behind her eyes making her vision blur- she couldn’t breathe with the pressure surrounding her. She pulled her hand back like the contact burned, ducking under his arm and grabbing her backpack strap before she straightened. Her soles squeaking against the tile before she bolted from the room.
The way out of the building was a blur, static filled her ears and drowned out any other noise. She could see the green of leaves and grass before she was just running. Her lungs forced to work normally as she fell into that space in her own head. Away from emotions that wanted to choke her out, the only thing she had to concentrate on was her muscles burning, heart pounding a steady rhythm as she moved.
By the time Yui came back to herself, the sky was dark. She pushed her sweat damp bangs from her face as she looked around until she recognized a little house that was nestled into the surrounding buildings. Nedzu mentioned it was actually a cozy little tea shop and a place he liked to visit from time to time. She wasn’t too far from home.
A few more blocks of her sneakers pounding the pavement, and it came into view. Yui winced when she saw the lights on in Aizawa’s and Yamada’s room despite the hour. Yamada would usually be asleep so he could get up early. She cursed the fact that she had to go by the window to get to the tree to get to the second floor. There was no way she was going in through the front door and have him hear her and start questioning her when she just wanted to drop into bed and sleep so hopefully she could keep a Kami-damned grip on her emotions.
She took off her shoes and socks, stuffing them in her backpack and securing the strap so it wouldn’t swing or get caught. Her footsteps silent in the grass as she made her way to the backyard. Aizawa’s deep timbre made her pause. He was usually out on patrol by now.
“She’s just not opening up to me, Songbird… if you’d have been there. There was so much hurt in her eyes and I couldn’t do anything!”
That icy grip had hold of her throat again, but she didn’t make a sound as she listened to the frustration and worry in his voice. Yui blinked back the burning pinpricks in her eyes as she scrambled as fast as she could while still keeping silent, her bare feet sliding a bit in the dew of the grass. Climbing up the tree was instinctual at this point, avoiding the branches that were too brittle, using the one that she knew could handle her weight to grab her windowsill and slide her window open before stepping on top of the worktable.
Yui latched the window closed before she slid to the ground, making her way to the closed bedroom door and clicking the lock into place. She collapsed on the bed, her hands covering her mouth to muffle any noise as her tears slid free.
She had to be better, she couldn’t be making Aizawa or Yamada worry about her like this. Not over something so stupid! Tomono was just a bully, there shouldn’t be any reason she couldn’t handle this by herself. She just needed proof, she just needed him to slip up and keep herself steady. She just had to be patient! It was a waiting game. She just had to pull it together so that her family wouldn’t worry. She could do that. It’d be like those exercises with body language with Nedzu. Just ignore the weasel, keep her anger under wraps and just be normal. Easy.