Chapter 88:- Rescuing Maki

"Those who are different in small ways, are shunned. Those who are different in extraordinary ways are persecuted." - Professor X (X-Men)

Maki, adrift in the Kyoto night, found herself drawn to the Gion district, an area away from her bitter upbringing. Geishas in kimonos gilded under paper lanterns, their painted smiles hiding unspoken tragedies.

Here, amidst the scent of incense and the strumming of shamisen, the faces were different, the whispers less venomous. But Maki couldn't shake the chilling weight of her curse.

She couldn't find a place to stay, and soon she stumbled upon a small worn-out house, its wooden facade weathered by time. Drawn by the promise of warmth and anonymity, she slipped inside.

The old teahouse was completely abandoned as if someone hadn't stepped foot in there in decades. Sun barely squeezed through dirty windows, painting long shadows on dusty tatami mats. A chipped cup sat silent on the cracked counter.

The koi pond matches Maki's sadness, its tattered flags like drooping wings. Outside, weeds choked the garden. Inside, ghosts of stories whispered in torn paper screens and broken shoji. An abandoned game, frozen on the floor. Cobwebs everywhere, broken chairs, the warmth she had thought of was nowhere to be found.

Having no choice she decided to stay there for the night as the night was cold, her clothes tattered and she had no place to spend the night, so she tore the flags, using the shoji board as a pillow, and the tattered flags as a blanket she decided to sign off for the day, with a hope that tomorrow might be better.

She somehow managed to sleep, whether it was the fact that she was tired, her fatigue got the best of her, or the fact that she was just a 14 year old kid, or the fact that she was used to sleeping in these kinds of conditions in her own house.

Soon after some time the door of the tea house opened, and a shadow of a person fell on Maki.

Down there he saw a little girl around his age sleeping curled up, trying her best to cover herself to get some warmth, yet she failed miserably, her tattered clothes didn't help her either.

Sighing he pulled her out and noticed the injury and other burnt marks on her body, while the bandage that covered her left eye loosened and fell off.

"Pity, look what they did to your beautiful face," said Izuku, the man who entered the tea house.

"Wish I had found you a bit sooner, I might have atleast saved you," sighed Izuku as he touched the shivering girl, caressing her head gently, feeling the warmth of his hand, and the gentle caresses on her head, she calmed down a bit and had a really gentle and blissful smile as if she got what she craved for, for years.

Seeing her smile, Izuku had a smile of his own, the same smile which he used to show Mr. Miyamoto, Fuyumi, Emi, and the store manager, a smile he had lost, as unconsciously, tears fell down his eyes, as Izuku could see himself in her, the similarities between them and how Izuku has gone through a similar situation himself.

As a wise man once said, "You cannot understand one's pain truly until you yourself go through it,"

"Don't worry, I'll save you," said Izuku as he decided to take her with him, which was the plan from the beginning.

Carrying the sleeping girl in a princess' carry, holding her tight to his chest, so she can feel the warmth from his body, he teleported back to the apartment. Placing the girl's head on the bed, he then went on to do her first aid, then Kaina came in and changed her clothes, once done he sat on a chair, looking at her.

He could do biology hacking to reprogram her body to heal her, but he didn't know what kind of reactions she would have, or whether her body would be able to handle it or not, as it was obvious he couldn't think if his quirk healed him, it would do the same to her, so he just did her first aid, remove any infections and let her rest.

As he covered her with a cozy blanket.

After 15 mins,

"Mmm! … Huh!?" said Maki as she woke up, rubbing her eyes she looked around surprised at where she was, while noticing the blanket that covered her.

The surrounding instead of being a worn out teahouse was a luxurious flat, instead of Shoji board as a pillow was a real soft pillow, instead of torn flags, was a nice warm and cozy blanket, and instead of her worn out and tattered clothes was a new pair of nice and warm clothes, and all of her injuries were tended to.

Alarmed by it she jumped up and saw a black-haired kid around her age sitting in front of her looking at her.

"Good Morning," said Izuku.

Staring at his red eyes, the girl questioned "Who are you? And where am I"

While Izuku was looking at her or rather particularly at her left eye which was red and had a weird kanji in it. Not to mention looking at it, he felt a mental tug as if his mind was being infiltrated.

He saw the scene where he was about to be impaled by the spikes when he had tried to commit suicide.

But something in Izuku prevented the infiltration as he shook his head and the feeling was gone as he said, "Interesting,"

"I am just a passerby, I found you unconscious out there so I brought you in"

Staring at him for a while, Maki finally nodded her head and said "Thank y-…Ehh! Don't look, turn your head!"

As she noticed her bandage was missing and covered her left eye with her hand.

"You don't have to worry about me, I guess it is your quirk… don't worry it doesn't affect me, did you forget we were staring at each other a while back"

Maki stared at him, bewildered. This was unprecedented. Was he lying? Or was she... different somehow? Could there be someone, just one person, who wouldn't be consumed by his own demons when looking into her eyes?

As she processed his words, her eyes widened in surprise and disbelief as she said "Y-you are right" saying she lowered her hand.

Seeing Izuku staring at her left eye, Maki said "Pretty nasty right?" in a defeated and sad tone.

Hearing her, Izuku shook his head and said "I don't think so, to say the least, I find your eye pretty cool"

Maki was caught completely off guard by his words since she had expected harsh words from him. And what surprised her the most was he wasn't lying, and as for how she could tell that, it was thanks to her quirk that made her left eye look like that.

"Some might call it a curse," Izuku spoke, his voice a sign of wind chimes, "but others, for people like me it's a gift, misshapen perhaps, but a gift nonetheless."

Maki's head snapped up, disbelief etched on her face. "A gift?"

Izuku smiled, a small, knowing twist of her lips. "The eyes you bear, see past the masks we wear, into the soul itself. It can be terrifying, yes, but also an instrument of truth, a light in the darkness."

Maki pondered these words, a seed of possibility taking root in her heart. Perhaps her quirk wasn't just a source of ostracization, but a tool, a weapon even, against the shadows that lurked within men's hearts.

Izuku, sensing the shift in Maki's demeanor, poured her a cup of tea. "This," he said, handing it over, "is gyokuro, the shade-grown tea. It hides bitterness beneath its sweetness, much like yourself, child. Remember, darkness cannot exist without light, and your eyes," she tapped her brow with a gnarled finger, "hold the power of both."

"So how about you tell me what you were doing there? You look like you carry the weight of mountains."

As Izuku said that, Kaina entered the room, seeing her come, Maki got alert, she was about to attack when Izuku said, "Calm down, she's with me."

Maki hesitated, then relaxed as he asked again, "Tell me, what were you doing there in that state,"

Maki had a conflicted look on her face hearing him, she had somewhat guessed that the man who attacked them was killed by the kid in front of her. She did feel repulsed by it but wasn't in any position to act on it, this conflicted her on whether to trust the kid in front of her or not.

After a few minutes of contemplating, she sighed and looked at Izuku while she narrated her story to him.

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