Work Text:
On a cool and quiet September night, on the roof of the Heights Alliance Dorms, a redheaded girl sits, with her feet dangling. She's staring at the lights of Musutafu in the distance, as well as watching the smoke of the burning marijuana as she exhales it.
The roof access door creaks open, and Yuzuki glances back, spotting Shinsou stepping out into the night air. "Hey, Shinsou," She says, turning back to the gently glowing lights of Musutafu in the distance.
"Hey, Mochizuki," Shinsou says. "Can't sleep?" "Nah, haven't been able to really sleep for the past couple nights," Yuzuki says, then draws in a lungful of smoke and slowly exhales, watching it gently curl into the night. "Nightmares are just wonderful."
"Mood," He says as he sits on the roof's edge next to Yuzuki. "I assume that's what the blunt is for?" Yuzuki nods and the duo falls into a comfortable silence, sharing the blunt and watching the smoke curl into ever-twisting shapes.
After a long few moments, the redhead finally breaks the silence, "It's kinda beautiful, you know," "Musutafu? Yeah, it kinda is,"
"It's... almost... tragic," The quiet voices of the two teens barely stir the smoke that still hangs in the air. "Tragic? How so?" Shinsou asks as he motions for the blunt.
"War's coming, Shinsou," The girl blows the smoke from her lungs, "All of this is.." she gestures to the city, "It's all gonna be gone, maybe not actually destroyed, but, it's not gonna be the same." Yuzuki sighs, "I'm... fuck, I'm scared, Shinsou, but I'm gonna fight, I have to."
"Why? I mean- I get the literal 'why', the pros aren't gonna be able to defeat the League on their own, but, why? Why are you fighting? Beyond the obvious fact that it's literally what we're going to school for, of course," Shinsou asks.
"I have to protect you all," Yuzuki hums, "I don't know when, or how it happened, but, somewhere along the line, the monster found her heart again."
"You're not a monster, Mochizuki," The boy immediately scolds, "I see how you are with the others. You're the farthest thing from a monster-"
"Hm.. I appreciate the sentiment, Shinsou, I really do, but‐" Smoke drifts from the redhead's mouth and nose when she sighs, "I very much am a monster. I hurt a lot of people, I killed a lot of people. If that doesn't make a monster, I don't know what does. But I'm ok with it now, I can use that monster to protect,"
"Mochizuki‐" Shinsou starts,
"I have a lot of blood on my hands. A lot of blood that will never wash off, no matter how hard I try." Yuzuki continues, "But if I, with the blood that is on my hands, can keep at least a little bit off of everyone else's, then I will. I will do everything in my power to keep blood off of the hands of my family. After all, what's a droplet to an ocean? It's not like it'll make much of a difference to me,"
Shinsou looks at Yuzuki for a moment, then sighs and nods as he looks back at the distant city lights.
Minutes pass in silence, then, Shinsou speaks "I didn't know smoking made you get existential," Yuzuki huffs in amusement, "It doesn't, not really, it just.. makes it easier to get the words out. I contemplate how far I'd go to protect every one of you on a near-daily basis."
"Really?" The boy asks, "How far are you willing to go?"
"I'd rather go back to the Syndicate before I let anything happen to any of you, including Aizawa and Yamada-Senseis."
"Wow," Shinsou says, with an incredulous huff, "I'm pretty sure Aizawa-Sensei would ground you before you could even try."
A smile creeps its way back on Yuzuki's face, and she snuffs out the blunt. "Yeah, probably. We should head back inside before Aizawa-Sensei finds us up here and actually grounds us."
"Yeah, probably," Shinsou echoes, as he stands up and offers a hand to Yuzuki to help her up.
"Thanks," She says, "and, thanks, Shinsou-" "Hitoshi," The lilac-haired boy interrupts, "Call me Hitoshi."
"Thanks, Hitoshi for talking with me. I appreciate it." Yuzuki corrects, "And in that case, you may as well call me Yuzuki,"
Hitoshi nods, and smiles; "Good night then, Yuzuki,"
"Good night, Hitoshi," and he turns and walks back down the stairs and returns to his room.
Yuzuki spends a few more moments up on the roof, looking at the stars, finally, she smiles, whispers a quiet, "Good night, mothers, I'll keep them safe, like I couldn't keep you safe," and makes her way back to her room, and under her covers, and quickly drifting into a thankfully dreamless sleep.