#saisho

That spark which One For All brings to someone is present in her every feature. Even without that threadlike feeling, he is sure he would recognize it pulsing at the seams of her being. It’s in her eyes that blaze with determination, her smile full of kindness that tries to reassure him, her gentle touch as she’s doing her best to steady him.

The days he’s spent locked away, the numerous failed escape attempts, the food forced down his throat, the absence of any natural light, have all worked to ensure that he doesn’t know how long it’s been since his power was released into the world. Has it been weeks? Months? Years? This isn’t the person he gave it away to. Despite the fact that he passed it to someone else knowing he would be punished for it, he thinks he would have taken the punishment a hundred times over if he could have given it to her.

He feels so tired and weak and he isn’t certain that he’s even alive. Maybe he’s dead. Maybe his sickly body finally couldn’t take his brother’s abuse.

Maybe this woman is heaven.

“Hey.” Her voice snaps him to attention, feeble though it might be. He can feel that there’s a dazed look in his eyes; he can’t focus fully. Just standing is a challenge enough that his muscles are shaking at any effort he puts forth to straighten himself. The feeling of her fingers in his matted hair is so comforting, he almost starts to cry. It’s as if that touch is saying, “Everything is okay now.” When was the last time he felt like he had any hope? “Hey, I’ve got you. What’s the matter? ― Oh, God, you’re so skinny. Are you lost or…?”

In an instant, Saisho’s stomach twists violently. Bile rises in his throat as if he’s going to vomit at the mere thought of returning to where he’s running from. He can’t go back. He cannot go back to his brother. His body is so frail now, if he goes back, he won’t survive.

Or, considering that he’s been deliberately kept alive all this time regardless of the fact that he’s no longer useful, maybe he will survive if he goes back.

That, almost beyond question, would be worse.

The only reason he doesn’t break down in tears is that he grits his teeth as hard as he possibly can. His hands are gripping to her, trembling, like she’s the only lifeline to a man drowning in the ocean. “M-my brother,” he manages to choke out. “I can’t… I can’t go back… I can’t… I’m too hurt… he’ll kill me…”

Her arms tighten around him in a way that makes him feel safe. Never once in his life has he felt secure and cared for. He has always felt like his brother’s pawn. Here in her arms, it’s like he’s been wrapped up in some protective shroud that nobody else can even touch. “No, he won’t. Not while I’ve got you.” She holds him close to her, gingerly, as if she thinks any harsh touch will break him. When she speaks again, her voice has grown even softer. “Is that why you’re running? Has your brother been hurting you?”

“Ye―s…” It comes out in a half-croak, half-sob that feels like he doesn’t have any kind of control over his own voice. It really is a good thing she’s holding onto him, because he thinks he might be a few moments away from just passing out. His whole body feels heavy. “Please… I, I can’t go back… I can’t…”

“Okay, okay. Then you won’t. Take some deep breaths for me, okay?” Then she starts moving, carefully pulling him along with her. Even though he’s basically dead weight at this point, she’s obviously not about to give up on him. “We’re gonna get to somewhere inside and then we’ll sort this all out. But I promise, you’re not going to go back to where you were. My name is (Name). What’s yours?”

Every spirit and deity he knows of is receiving thanks in his mind; the gratitude he feels, however, is all toward her. He’s getting out. This last time he finally made it out of that miserable little room, and someone found him. She found him. She’s not ignoring his words or his suffering. Instead, she’s listening to him. She’s saving him. “S-Saisho… Shigaraki…”

She smiles down at him again. That’s when he realizes that rather than walking, the two of them are airborne. Oh, wow. Saisho himself was never able to master anything like this with his Quirk, and she’s doing it like it’s nothing. “Well, Saisho―” God, her voice is so warm. He wants to crawl inside it and just sleep for a year. It makes him feel so surrounded and sheltered. “― You’re safe now.”

At last he lets himself relax, his head thudding against her chest, tears freeing themselves.