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it was pouring, sheets of water were hitting your roof. the sidewalks are darkened along with the now cloudy sky. it was the perfect day for popcorn and movies, and that’s exactly what you were doing. right until a knock at your door had you startled.
looking out through your peephole, someone was in fact standing outside. they were hunched and drenched; face downcast. grabbing your pepper spray from the wall of keys, you slowly cracked open the door. they fell through, having clearly been leaning against it.
you yelped, reaching down to catch them. their arms went around you, trying not to fall face first onto the ground. the minute you saw the blonde head of shaggy hair in your apartment light, you knew who it was. his regular black trench coat was half off, and the white buttoned up shirt had rips through it. he spoke up, face against your shoulder.
“didn’t know where else to go.” his voice was raspy.
you closed the door and led him to a chair. he flopped down, head lolling back. his eyes fluttered, chest heaving with each breath. in the bright apartment light, you could fully see the damage. red marks and already purple bruises were forming on his upper body. with his shirt still on, you could see a particular deep gash across his abdomen.
cringing, you left to gather everything you’d need. coming back, you set everything on the table beside him. you leaned close to his face, making sure he was still conscious. poking his cheek, you watched, waiting until his eyes stayed open.
“i’m gonna need you to stay awake, okay?” you asked, keeping your gaze on his. he gave a careful smirk and nodded. “i’m also going to have to take this off.” looking at him again, he gave you the go ahead.
you pulled off the other half of his jacket and started unbuttoning the hole filled top. now with his chest bare, you took a warm wet cloth and began cleaning the wounds. he eased under your touch, eyes only closing every few seconds. when everything was clean, you started unrolling the bandages.
eye catching on to the blue pills, you stopped. you filled up a glass of water and handed it to him. he was still pretty shaky, but he managed to swallow them. then, you wrapped the white gauze around his middle, trying to keep from staring.
he was climbing the hero ranks more and more every day which meant lots of training. and it also meant he was ripped but ripped in the sense that you wouldn’t know unless he was without clothing. like he is right now. you hummed to keep your mind occupied and one of his hands lifted to a stray strand of hair. you froze, but he just twirled it through his fingers.
you saw how dilated his white pupils were and you rolled your own. the pain meds must just be kicking in by now. finishing up, you shuffled him to the couch. he immediately started dozing off and you sighed. nothing had changed from high school; he still had difficulty getting along with others. this villain attack must’ve been a pretty bad one, seeing as he’d never showed up at your doorstep before.
but his house was further away, and if the fight was nearby… it makes sense.
you left him there to rest and decided to take a quick shower. it was almost midnight by now and more than likely, he’d have to sleepover. when you got out, you checked to make sure he was still there—he was. heading back into your room, you put away some things and got the bed ready; tonight you’d be sleeping on the couch.
you took one last trip to the kitchen and put the kettle on. sleep never came easy for you—struck with dreams that feel too real—and tea never failed to help. pulling out an extra mug, you didn’t know monoma had woken up until his head was on your shoulder, chest pressed against your back. you jumped, heart slowing down when you realized it was just him.
“want some tea?” you asked.
he grinned and you felt his lips move up through the fabric of your shirt. you moved back to assembling the tea, picking out the tea bags and letting them hang off the ceramic edge. his hand snaked around, off your waist and took the whistling kettle from the stovetop, pouring the water into each mug.
light steam rose from the water’s surface and filled your nose with scents of a honey-like substance along with hints of fresh apple. picking it up, you began walking back to your room with the weight of monoma dragging behind on your shoulders. you dumped him on the bed and went to set down the hot mugs. you could hear him squirming behind you, trying to find a comfortable position that didn’t cause any extra pain.
you helped him get settled in, moving his arms up and pulling the sheets over him. his head slumped over to face you, eyes more awake than before. frowning, he tried to nudge your hands away. his attempts were futile, still woozy from the medicine.
“i don’t need to be in any more debt to you.” his words sounded like an exhale, admitting defeat in a way. you tilted his chin up, making him look at you.
“then next time don’t show up at my door half dead,” cocking your head to the side, you said, “yeah?”
eyes wide, he nodded. he cursed his useless mind for not thinking of a reply fast enough; too shocked at your expression. you smiled, happy to have said the right thing for once in your life. adjusting the sheets one last time, you started for the door.
“where you going?” he asked, eyebrows furrowed. you turned around, walking backwards.
“the couch?” you mocked the inflection in his voice. “sleep well.” you began closing the door, watching the hallway light line get slimmer and slimmer. he stopped you before it clicked.
“move me.” he tried raising his voice, only producing a loud voice crack. you peeked back in, silently asking what he meant. “put me on the couch. i can't take your bed.”
you rolled your eyes, tired of his insistent pride. “you can and you are.” signaling the end of the discussion, you closed the door and sighed. halfway to the couch though, you heard him voice again. this time in your head. that bastard, you thought.
he laughed, “bastard or not, i won't sleep until you're in this bed and i'm on the couch.” in the slight touch from earlier, he’d stolen your quirk and put it to use.
you shot a mental reply back, “no.” plain and simple. it was silent on the other end. you smirked to yourself, setting a blanket out. then he started talking.
“you know, i have a plethora of topics to speak about. communicating through this form is so easy, i must borrow it more often. have fun figuring out how long i can hold on to it. if only i was out of this mattress, i could finally get the rest i need. poor me; all i wanted was to stop some villains. look where it landed me. i wonder what will become of them. will they realize their wrongdoi-”
“okay! that’s enough. just shut up already.” you threw the blanket down and stomped back to your room, shutting off the lights on your way. he started moving, trying to wriggle out. climbing in through the other side, you moved onto your side to look at him. “you’re staying here.”
“and you?” he asked quietly.
“so am i.” you replied.
he scoffed. “scandalous.”
“don’t act naive.” your sentence was cut off by a yawn. “go to bed monoma.”
“how dare you-” he started.
“goodnight neito.” you finished. he sighed, breaths evening out.
you sent one last message through to his mind, not thinking you’d have the guts to speak them into the universe. or the silent room for that matter.
“i don’t help you in exchange for anything. i do it because i care.”
“about me?” his voice crept up in your thoughts, tiptoeing around like he knew he didn’t belong, but wanted to.
“no. about the weather.” you shot back, holding your laughter in beside him.
“you’re stupid.” he snickered and covered it up with a cough.
“yes, you. idiot.” glancing over, you noticed his hand was closer than before. you slid your palm under his.
“i care too. about you. but the weather is wonderful as well.” his fingers entwined around yours, thumb softly brushing the soft of your hand.
"thank you, y/n.”