『ARC ONE: EXAMS AND MISHAPS』

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A pool of inky onyx bled into the once joyous cerulean veil that coated the earthly plain. Dabbles of specs that resembled minuscule grains of shaved diamond littered the darkened curtain like decorative dots. The familiar shape of a crescent hung stilled in the air, basking those who fluttered about in the night with its gentle rays of silver light.

Nearing closer to the peak of midnight, the streets were mostly vacated of any living soul. Only a few strays, perhaps drunkards, possibly a few teenagers who opted to cause trouble in the late of night, or even a few parents who rush home from their overbearing jobs. Little to no stores were open. Most had their fluorescent lights on inside the buildings as a security measure. Other businesses had unlocked doors, their one to two employees nearly falling asleep as they waited for someone to stumble inside.

The calming and warm lights emitted by the street lights brightened up the drab concrete sidewalk. Sometimes one or two would flicker unexpectedly, turning off for a millisecond before returning back to its natural bright state.

The quiet humming of the warm engine of the car sung a sorrowful tune. The navy blue vehicule slowed to a stop at the sign of the once green light turned a bright red. The supposedly strong grip around the leather coated stirring wheel began to lose the stark whiteness on their knuckles and replaced it with the slow return of scarlet. Shifting one hand away from the wheel, Kohei had swiftly tucked a deep gold strand of hair behind his ear. His auric eyes shifted to the rearview mirror, a thoughtful yet sincere flash crossing his irises. Almost releasing a large sigh, he turned his attention back to the flat road. The light turned green.

Seated in the backseats were Akihiko and Tanami. Kagemi was not present as Kohei had dropped him off at home. His parents had wanted him home as it was extremely late. More than late in fact.

Tanami stared at the swirls of wistfulness and disquietness dancing in her periwinkle irises for a moment. Her elbow was propped up against her bent knee. Resting her chin into the softness of her palm, her cheek squished up against her fingers as the large purple crystal quietly thunked on her skin. She absentmindedly watched the blur of lights and darkened colors mash together to become an odd abstract painting. At the corner of her peripheral vision, she would see the materialization of her reflection on the car window.

An old habit that she had disregarded when she was ten was beginning to resurface. Quietly manifesting at the tips of her slow twitching fingers was the luminance of hues that were emitted by the descent of the sun. In the blink of an eye, the familiar feeling of pellucid shards which twinkled the faint colors of ametrine danced above her hand. Tiny pieces pricked at Tanami's fingertips and collided softly with the edges of her fingernails.

She could feel the sharp corners of what should be soft and smooth crystals layer the outside of her skin. A bad habit that it was. When she was younger, well, when they were younger, the two of their Quirks were mostly driven by emotion. Whenever they were scared or worried, their younger selves would unconsciously begin to create a crystalline layer on their skin as a protective coating. Tanami was the one that did this more often than not since Akihiko had to have a mirror or glass, unlike her who could produce at command.

Although she grew out of this, it still happened at times. The teenager knew she should be able to stop the slow engulfing of her skin but she could not find it in herself to tear her gaze away from the blurs of passing movements.

The familiar feeling of lukewarm fingers suddenly laced around her own pale ones for a second before they pulled away. While Tanami's fingers relished in what was left of the warmth, it took her mind a few moments to process the fact that the gemstone plastered over her flesh had been stripped away.

Finally forcing her head to shift away from the mismatched bright lights and melancholy patches of dim colors, she watched the sunset shards dance cheerfully in her brother's palm. A soft luminance highlighted Akihiko's pale skin.

Once Akihiko was certain that he had fully grasped Tanami's attention, he gave her a soft smile. Applying little effort, the male twin allowed the edges of the dual-colored shards to break off. The crystal itself began to change, shifting to mold itself into a tiny statue. The bottom of it was flat, the purple and orange colors slowing growing upward into a triangle that connected in four points to make a diamond. Settled on top of the slanted parts were mini versions of themselves. The tips of their crystal hands were touching, almost as if they were holding hands. The two little people were facing each other, the combination of the two colors melding together. It gave off childish and reassuring aura.

When he finished constructing the entirety of it, he delicately placed it on the middle seat in between the two. Akihiko watched as it slowly slid back to softly collide with the back rest. It released a soft thunk. Tanami gazed at it, raising a slightly trembling hand to the small gemstone children. The outside of her finger brushed the jagged but smooth face of the one that took on the appearance of her brother. The crystal was a bit warm, not cold like they usually were. The dazed look on the purple-haired girl's face faded and was replaced by a gentle smile.

Akihiko shifted in the car seat, seatbelt lightly moving to brush against the side of his neck. He did not voice a word, only stared at his sister fondly as she would poke at the crystalline hair. This was something he would constantly do when they were younger. It happened a few times with Tanami when they were settling in with Tomohiro and then for two years after that. Only when they were eight would this habit stop. Now it seemed to be surfacing once more. Hopefully it was just a one time occurance.

The tips of his lips twitched, tugging downward into a concerned frowned. He tried to hide the worried expression trying to stitch its way onto his face.

Tanami's small hand tugged lightly on the navy blue coat draped over Akihiko's seven-year-old frame. Her fingers grasped the fabric as he lightly guided her over to sit on the two sofa seats pushed against the wall. Running circles around the two children was an energetic Shishi who would sometimes dart one way before running back toward them. It yipped a few times as well.

Laying across the sofa without any sign of getting up was Tomohiro. His face was smothered into one of the beige sofa cushions and one of his arms was hanging off the couch. Droplets of ink sunk into the fabric, effectively ruining the pillow overall with black stains. Not that it looked like he cared. Dashing around the living room, the twins watched as Shishi hopped onto the coffee table before throwing himself onto the adult's back with a cheerful yelp.

The shiba inu landed with a noise that sounded like a splat rather than the noise of four paws landing on the back of someone wearing a plain white short sleeved shirt. The dog then began to push the back of Tomohiro's head in a rhythmic pattern with his front paws. After a few shoves, the Hero released a loud groan. "Shishi, no... Go terrorize the cats outside."

Both twins watched in amusement as Tomohiro tried, and failed, at swatting Shishi off of him without rolling off the couch as a result. Without a word, Tanami allowed her grasp on her brother's clothes to slip. Getting off from the sofa, she walked over and placed her fingers underneath Shishi's underside. The girl lifted the dog and it froze. Trying to tilt its head back, it stared awkwardly yet innocently at Tanami. She was then met with a slime lick on her cheek and a giggle was ellicited from her.

Shifting around so that he was laying on his back, Tomohiro narrowed his eyes at the dog, sending it a weak glare between slits. Tanami raised her hand and petted Shishi's head. The ink animal's tail began to wag from the attention. It barked.

Releasing a loud sigh, the adult's white eyes shifted toward the two children. "I know it's been a little over a year and a half since you have lived here but, I do apologize that I leave and arrive at random points of the day and night. Being a Hero is great but tiring. However, I think you understand why."

Akihiko was the first to speak as Tanami was the one who was getting back on the sofa with Shishi still held tightly in her grasp. "Sumiko-san said that a Hero's job is to take care of citizens in any way possible. That means," the boy halted his explanation. A thoughtful expression took over as he began to ponder. "You have to save and keep... peace depending on where you are?"

A fruitful chuckle escaped the twenty-five-year old man. "Something along those lines. A Hero does do all that, however, it's often that we throw ourselves into danger for the sake of the people. But there are times where Heroes do not do it to keep the people safe. They do it for less than ideal reasons."

Tanami turned her attention away from Shishi who was lightly nibbling on the dangling crystal that acted as hair. In a soft tone, she asked, "what was your reason?"

Eyes widening slightly from the inquiry, his breathing hitched in his throat. It seemingly appeared as if he forgot to breathe because a few seconds after, he began to cough violently. This forced Tomohiro to bolt forward into a sitting position to regain a steady breathing pattern. Pressing a hand to his chest, he breathed deeply a few times before exhaling loudly and plopping back down onto the couch.

The crystal-haired girl tightened her grip around the shiba inu. It was so tight that Shishi had to liquify itself a bit so ink wrapped around her forearms like ribbons. Her head fell, gaze meeting the chocolate boots her feet adorned in guilt. She bit her bottom lip. "Sorry. I shouldn't have asked something personal."

Bringing a hand to his face, Tomohiro tugged questionably at the one strand of drooping ink that fell annoying down the left side of his face. His dark brows connected, a few creased lines decorating his forehead. His lips pursed together and he seemed to be weighing his odds about something particular. A minute or so passed before he leaned back into a sitting position. "No, no. You are fine... I never expected that question. Or at least I did not expect this question when the two of you are seven. I was expecting you would ask that when the two of you were over ten."

It did not stop Tanami from squishing Shishi a bit tighter while Akihiko glanced away shamefully even if he was not the one to ask. Shishi was lucky that he was made of ink or else a normal dog would have had its oxygen cut off.

The adult's shoulders tensed up for a second, almost as if he was hesitant to speak further. His shoulders dropped as he settled on what he wanted to say. "Ahh, its something that I do not share with others- or at least, I come up with an excuse-"

"Excuse?" Akihiko voiced with a tilt of head.

"I say that I looked up to the Hero, Hydrean, who was a female with a poison Quirk of some sorts and that is my excuse. I shouldn't be making up a story and I suppose I shouldn't tell you as you are young but... considering your past circumstances-"

The twins flinched at the mentioning but did not break down as they would do before. Tomohiro waited a few moments just in case it would affect them. He would usually stray far away from the topic, however he felt like it needed to be mentioned. He continued once he affirmed he could do so.

"You would be able to understand it." Taking in a deep breath, the ink-haired male continued on. "I was around the age of twelve when this occurred. I was under the care of my twenty-year-old sister. My mother had died a few minutes after I was born due to complications and my father had died when I was ten when the office building he worked at had caught on fire. He was on one of the higher floors so by the time they rescued him from the building, he had too much carbon dioxide in his longs. I assume you can figure out the rest.

"My sister, barely turning eighteen, had instantly volunteered to take me in since I was her younger brother and she refused to let me get sent to a foster home or orphanage. We had no other family since both of my parents were only children. I had lived with her for two years. One day, she told me that we needed to pick up groceries in the city so we left. It was a normal day. Nothing was going wrong, and then it went wrong." Tomohiro suddenly brushed his eyes, the small glimpse of something wet clinging to his finger.

"We were riding the train, talking about something that I cannot recall anymore. Then, a scream pierced the area we walked. Suddenly, the air around us solidified into large blades. Everything happened so quickly. One Wemoment my hand was gripping my sister's... and then she had flung her arms around, fingers locked on a death grip around the fabric of my sweater.

"I saw glimpses of people wearing a multitude of colored clothing and high tech gear. No one came close to us nor to anyone else who may have been in danger. They lingered around the area and never drew close. A few seconds felt like dreadful hours. The sharp oxygen that resembled blades shot toward me. Maneuvering us around, my sister took the hit for me."

Raising a trembling hand to cover his eyes. A shaky breath escaped his throat. "My sister dropped and still no Hero moved until a certain Hero arrived. I do not remember his name nor his Quirk. I remember being furious. Angry at the so-called 'Heroes' who stood and watched. Through tears, I recall yelling at one of the Heroes. They told me they did not have the right Quirk and had to wait until someone who did came.

"From then on, I promised myself that no matter what or whatever it took, I would do everything I could to save someone else. After all, even if your happiness is gone, it does not mean someone else's is. Even if something terrible happens to me, as long as I can do something, that is enough for me."

The slow dribble of tears ran down his pale cheeks. Tomohiro blinked a few times, eyelashes catching a few small droplets. He raised a hand, brushing the tears away with the base of his palms. His lips pursed together. When did he start crying?

Suddenly he felt the cushions beside him sink and a tug on the end of black sweatpants. Two innocent gazes stared at him sorrowfully. Small hands latched around his pale wrists, delicately lowering them from his watering eyes. With a soft smile, Tanami lifted one hand. A soft violet hue with a swirl of midnight danced across her palm and fingers. The luminance hardened into amethyst and obsidian.

Reaching over, Akihiko peeled the glow and crystal shards from his sister's palm. With a flick of his wrist, it quickly molded into the shape of three small people with a miniature dog sitting at their little feet. The thin amethyst platform landed softly into Tomohiro's spread palms. He noted that it was warm but was slowly dropping to a cold temperature.

Tomohiro stared at it for a while, lips slightly agape. Shishi stood on its hindlegs and pressed its paws to the adult's knee. It whined. A few more seconds ticked by before a cheerful chuckle escaped the grasp of his throat. He shook his head as he mentally scolded himself. He was met with confused looks.

"Sorry... It's just-" he groaned as he plopped back into the cushions. "I'm ninety-nine percent sure that speaking of such a topic is not okay for you two. Let alone watching a twenty-five-year old break down. Oh, I don't think that as a parent, you should cry in front of your children."

"Well," Akihiko settled his chin onto his propped up palms. "You crying was a surprise, but considering what our parents did, that was not the worse thing we have witnessed parent wise."

Tanami nodded at the statement her brother mentioned. "Yeah... but you've never thrown yourself into actual danger have you?"

The ink-haired male fiddled with the crystal Shishi. "Once. The one time I charged forth without a clear idea as to what to do. I was in my second year, interning with a Hero team agency. Something unexpected happened and- perhaps I will tell you when you are older. Not right now."

"Okay," the twins responded bluntly. Tanami continued to speak. "But you won't... die or anything, will you?"

Gazing at him in concern, the blood drained from her face from the thought, and made her look paler than she already was. The tips of her fingers brushed against each other in a sheepish manner. She acted as if she was embarrassed to ask such a thing.

Tomohiro dragged a finger on the bottom of the platform. He drew a few circles with his nail. The ink-haired male drew out a long breath. "I promise you that I will not allow myself to die from anything Hero related."

He placed the crystal on the coffee table. Raising both arms, he placed his hands on the top of the twin's heads. They both grew rigid for a second before relaxing in his touch. "Okay? Besides, it will not be so easy to get rid of me."

The darkness of the night faded, instantly brightening in both of the twin's eyes. Snapping out of their revere, they quickly raised their forearms to shield their eyes from the vivid lights. Blinking a few times, they grew used to the bright city lights. The hospital building was beginning to reveal itself.

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Three pairs of feet eerily tapped against the polished multi-colored tiles of the hospital corridor. The sound echoed, bouncing off the walls as if it was a chilling song. The hallway the trio walked down was fairly empty. A few times would a nurse with documents or medical supplies would scurry exhaustedly but otherwise, it was vacant of anyone else.

Tanami nervously bit down on her bottom lip. She never adored hospitals. Ever since that encounter with that strange woman nine years ago, she had never felt safe in a hospital. It might have been childish but she was still frightened that perhaps, that same woman would appear out of no where once more. She knew her brother's memory was a bit foggy and patched so Akihiko was not as scared as she was. However, he never pried or made fun of her for it.

She glanced forward, staring at Kohei's broad back as the chocolate brown trenchcoat he wore fluttered a bit. She noticed that his arm shifted upward to run a hand through his blonde locks. His head would occasionally shift left or right, scanning the numbers decorating the panels attached to the wall next to the door. They continued to trek down the corridor, slowly growing closer to finding the room Tomohiro was staying.

Not even turning around the face them, Kohei quietly said in a relaxed tone, "Don't wear such a solemn face! This is Tomo, he's too stubborn to die. Whoever he encountered, he probably kept being spiteful the entire time!"

The comment elicited a light chuckle from Tanami but it quickly died out. Akihiko's lips tugged upward a bit. Finally, after seemed like a lifetime, they arrived at the wooden door with the numbers three-hundred-and-twenty-six labelled beside the door. A second passed by before the blonde reached out to grip the silver doorhandle. Wrapping his fingers around it, he turned his wrist and the lock clicked open. Pushing it, he alongside the two siblings entered the hospital room.

Sitting up against propped up white pillows was Tomohiro. His shoulders were slightly elevated, forearms wrapped around Shishi's dejected form. The shiba inu's lower body was liquified, paws dripping ink onto the white bedsheet draped over the Hero's body. Its ears were pressed against its head and it would whine pitifully at times. Tomohiro had buried his chin into the back of Shishi's head.

Tomohiro's face was riddled with exhaustion. He was paler than normal, blood drained completely from his face. Dark bags hung underneath his eyes despite the fact that he did not have any the night before. At times his hands would twitch, shaking the needles pricked into his skin which were attached to an IV. His white eyes reflected a tired look. It looked like he had all the energy drained out of him completely. His head bobbed at times, almost as if he was struggling to keep himself awake.

At the sound of the opening, he shifted his gaze to the door. His shoulders relaxed once he saw them. Shishi perked up slightly but he was still down in the dumps. Tomohiro's gaze hardened once his eyes landed on Kohei's form. "Why are you here?"

"Man, not even a second and you're already going to insult me?" the golden-eyed male pressed a hand to his chest as he plopped onto one of the chairs. "And here I did what you wanted when Sumiko called earlier. I feel personally attacked."

The bed ridden man snorted into Shishi's ink neck. "You would feel more attacked if I flung Shishi at your idiotic face, but I cannot do that. Throwing Shishi would be an insult to it."

"Ah, ah, ah," Kohei announced with a shake of his finger. "You agreed to not throw anything at me for one day. It's nearly one in the morning and that means that it is a new day and I choose this day."

The ink-haired male scoffed and rolled his eyes. Shifting his attention away from his long time friend, Tomohiro lifted his chin away from Shishi's neck and sent a gentle smile to his two adopted children. A sense of relief washed over him as his tired eyes shined a tiny bit. "This was the last place I wanted you two to see me," his nose scrunched up in distaste. "I hate this place."

Silently, Akihiko and Tanami settled themselves in the seats adjacent from Kohei and on the other of Tomohiro. The two of them did lean forward to say something but their jaws stayed snapped shut. Both of them decided to keep their gazes on their athletic shoes instead.

"Don't look so sad. I'm very much alive and I'm glad that you are too." Tomohiro commented with a shake of his head. "I am not going to die anytime soon. Dying from Hero work seems too predictable for my tastes."

Akihiko picked up his head at a certain part of the sentence. "And I am glad you are too? What do you mean by that?"

The periwinkle-eyed teenager did not miss the curl of Tomohiro's fingers around Shishi. The Hero seemingly appeared to look more tired than he did before. "It is nothing to ponder about. A mission went wrong and I am not telling you what exactly occurred. It was not as bad as I expected but..."

"But?" Tanami inquired. By then, everyone was staring at Tomohiro with a confused and concern. His wording left them in wonder and was quickly taking a turn for dreadfulness.

It seemed like realization dawned on Kohei as his eyes slightly widened while he ran a hand through his blonde locks. "You were emitted at two in the afternoon. If the injuries were not life threatening, you should have been discharged already. Healing Quirks and technology is much more advanced then when you were in highschool. Why are you still here, Tomo. Even a large wound should have been healed easily."

Tomohiro leaned back into the pillows and his body sunk into the cot. His eyebrows knitted together before he released a loud sigh. "I have a wound on my leg with severed ligaments that have been reconnected by normal surgery. No matter what healing Quirk a doctor has, it will not heal. Something is blocking the healing process and they are trying to figure out what to do."

"You're kidding, right?" Tanami suddenly blurted. "How can they not know what's keeping your leg from healing?"

He shrugged and mumbled a few incoherent things underneath his breath. "I have no clue. They said it is not poison and they even brought someone with an erasure and cell activation Quirks to see if that had any effect. Nothing. The doctors are thinking it's a rewind Quirk similar to that one girl- what was her name? Oh it was Eri-"

"You're suspecting it might have been something related with Overhaul's bullets from- ah... fifteen years ago?" Kohei suddenly interjected. He was sitting up straight, arms crossed over the black sweater underneath his trenchcoat. "I thought all of them were destroyed. Did you lose your Quirk, Tomo?"

"If I did, do you think Shishi would be sulking in my arms right now?" Tomohiro retaliated with a bit of spite in his tone. To prove his point further, he pressed a finger to his hair. He successfully retracted some onto his fingernail. Lightly shoving his index finger to the white bedsheet, he began to draw.

A minute later, an oddly drawn version of a lighthouse emerged only to collapse into a puddle. A frustrated and exhausted groan left his lips. Tomohiro narrowed his gaze at the puddle. "And like usual, drawing on something other than paper is an utter failure. Shame on me for thinking that concrete as a material would be any good."

Kohei did not take light to the action. He ignored Tomohiro's last sentence. "Harsh. Why are you always so rude to me?"

"Give me a reason why I should not be rude to you?"

"Because I have been friends with you for your entire life?"

"I said give me a reason."

Akihiko cleared his throat and brought a closed fist to his lips. "Can we please get back on topic?"

"Right," Tomohiro raised a hand to mess with Shishi's paw by squishing it softly. "I was never shot with something as no bullet was found in my body. Neither was an entry or exit wound. I was unconscious for a good amount of time from what Sumiko informed. From what I suspect along with the doctors is a time Quirk has been put into play. Each time the injury tries to heal itself, it quickly reverts back to its injured state from before the healing process. It is a pain and I very much would like to leave this place."

"How are they going to heal you?" Tanami asked. Her eyes were fixated on the blanket covering Tomohiro's most likely bandaged leg.

"They're not. Or most likely they can't from what I deduct. Those Villains achieved what they wanted."

Kohei laced his fingers. His voice dropped into a low tone. "Tomohiro, what did they want?"

An unusual smirk slid onto the Illustration Hero's face. With a laugh, he said, "they wanted me out of the picture. And look what they did, they succeeded in every aspect. As of right now, I'm on temporary leave from Hero work."

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Author's Note:

Finally! I have been in the mood to write scenery descriptions. To be honest, I hate dialogue to a certain extent. I love descriptions as those are fun. Besides that, Tomohiro's injury has been revealed and it's not so good anyway. At first, I was going to do amnesia but I feel like that's been used too much and I wanted to shift the focus a bit. Plus, time seems way more fun to mess with.

Concerning Tomohiro's reason for being a Hero, I remembered the scene when Bakugou was being suffocated by the slime villain and no Heroes would join in because they didn't have the right Quirk. That really irked me because they're Heroes, it's in the job description to save people. That was the main reason I decided to take that route with Tomohiro.