Part 1

I watched as the bright line on the heart monitor went flat, no ripples in the line, no heartbeats. The color escaped my mother's face as she went closer to the light, closer to the other side, where she could see grandma and grandpa again. the tears on my face, glistening in the afternoon sun that peeked through the curtains of the hospital room. "Mommy?" my younger self whispered, hoping she wasn't gone, hoping this wasn't the last time I would see her. "Akari, Hunny, let's go home." my father said, placing a hand on my shoulder. "No, she can't be gone, not yet!" I cried, latching onto my father's pant leg. "Akari, look at me." my father whispered, kneeling in front of me, gripping my shoulders tightly, but not too tight. I raised my gaze from the floor to my father's tear-stained face. "You will see her again someday, but for now, we have to train, so we can keep you safe, ok?" my father continued, standing from his kneeling position.

I grabbed onto my father's large, scarred hand. We walked out of the hospital room, taking one last glance at my mother, I let my last tear fall, as I tucked the memories of my mother deep in my heart, where no one would find her.

~~~~

I jolted awake, tears and sweat streamed down my freckled face as the memory of my mother flashed through my mind. Her hazel eyes, her auburn hair, the way she hugged my dad after a hard day at the agency, the kindness that filled her endlessly big and warm heart. "DAD!" I screamed, gripping the edge of my covers, trying to put the images of my mother back in that pocket in my heart, where they should be, forever. I had that stupid dream again, that horrible reminder of how much I miss my mother.

"Akari?!" my father burst through my bedroom door, almost knocking it off its hinges. "Hey, hey. Kid what's wrong?" my father asked, wiping the tears from my face, his dark red hair glistening in the moonlight peeking through my window. I look exactly like my dad, dark red hair, a freckled covered face, a button nose,, and thin lips, but my eyes were dark hazel, just like my mothers, while my dads were bright green.

"I had that stupid dream again," I said, rubbing my puffy red eyes. I stared at the clock that stood on my nightstand, it read 3:00 am. "Dad?" I started, he hummed a response as he cradled me in his muscular arms. "I know I'm homeschooled, but do you think I would still be able to go to UA?" I questioned. "I think so, I could pull some strings with Aizawa, but I'm not sure." that's not the answer I was looking for but it was the best I was going to get from this point on, plus I'm only twelve so I have a few years to wait before I can try out for UA. the best school for heroes, the school my dad went to.

"You should try and get some more sleep, it's going to be a busy day for you." he smiled, giving me a wink. It was a hint on how hard my training would be, most likely Aizawa would be coming over to help, maybe he might bring Shinso, just so it won't be too difficult. My dad and Aizawa had been best friends since the first day of UA, they were the only friends they had, those two had each other's backs ever since that first day. Aizawa was especially there when my mom died, he helped my dad, and that's also when I met Shinso. He had been with Aizawa and trained with him, so as I got older, he started training with me and we used each other to practice our quirks.

"Just don't make it hurt as bad as it did last week, I was sore the whole weekend." I complained burying my head in my pillow, my father chuckled before he left my room whispering an 'i love you' as he closed the door, a quiet click was the last sound I heard before I slipped back into a peaceful, dreamless sleep.

~~~~

I continued to jab the dummy in the shoulders and head over and over again, my father watching as I hit the dummy,, again and again, my anger pulsing into every single punch, jab,, and kick.

"Your legs are slipping. Come on Akari, we talked about this," he yelled over the loud bang the dummy made as it slammed to the floor, the body of the dummy snapping off the stand. "Oops." I retorted, grabbing the water bottle off the ground, taking a large gulp as my father glared at me.

"Think fast," he shouted, releasing his favorite dagger from his grip, aiming towards my face. I quickly spun on my heels and caught the hilt of his dagger in my right palm, just missing the sharp end of the weapon.

"Seriously, you know my reflexes are almost as good as yours so stop trying to kill me." I retorted, tossing his dagger back to him as he chuckled. "Aizawa and Shinso are coming for dinner tonight, so you better check that attitude of yours before they get here," he said, waltzing towards me in his cocky little way. "You're barely a teenager so stop acting like one." he continued, ruffling my short red hair, as it glistened with sweat. I wiped my brow as I playfully punched my dad in the arm.

"Would it be okay if I practiced my quirk on you?" I asked, pushing my dad off of me. "I don't know, maybe after dinner, okay?" he laughed, walking down the hall towards the kitchen. My quirk was similar to my fathers but his quirk was a lot more advanced than mine. My mother was quirkless so I got mine from my father.

I began to collect my things when I heard the front door open from behind me, "Hey Aizawa, dads in the kitchen, probably starting din-" I was cut off by shock when I saw not Aizawa, but a strange dark-haired man standing in front of me. His face and arms were covered in purple burns, staples tracing the edges of the burns. He walked towards me, a sadistic look lingering across his scarred face.

"DAD-" my scream for help was again, cut off by the dark-haired man grabbing my neck. I could feel a burning sensation go across my neck where his hand was, my mind told me to scream but my body couldn't bring itself to do it. I scratched at the man's purple scars, my sharp nails drawing no blood. Blue flames ignited from the man's free hand as my father rushed into the room, anger illuminated on his face as he said; "Dabi" venom leaking from his mouth as he threw his dagger towards the man he called Dabi, the dagger scraping his cheek, I screamed in agony as Dabi placed a flame engulfed hand on my leg, my flesh burning beneath his hand. "Take one more step and she's dead." Dabi threatened, squeezing my neck tighter as my skin burned, layer after layer turning to ash as blood ran down my chest and thighs.

"Dabi, just let her go, she's just a kid. Please I'll do anything, please." my father begged, falling to his knees. "Dad no-" I choked out, as Dabi loosened his grip on my neck. "Ok then, I'll kill you instead." he chuckled, releasing me from his grasp as I fell to the ground with a crash. I coughed out blood as I watched my father scream in pain when Dabi placed a hand on his head, "NO, PLEASE DON'T KILL HIM, PLEASE." I begged, my throat screaming at me to shut up before I do permanent damage to my vocal cords.

I could see my father's hand reach for Dabi's cut but before he could get his hands on the man's blood, my father slumped to the ground, his face burned and blood leaking from the side of his head. "I'll see you again, Akari," Dabi whispered, placing a hand on my leg again, burning through my flesh. Until I heard the door swing open, Aizawa and Shinso stood in the doorway in shock at what they were seeing. "Aizawa, Shinso."  I choked, crawling towards my father's limp body. My legs stung as the third-degree burns sizzled and bubbled from the blue flames that had burned my body.

Aizawa rushed to my side as I gripped onto my father's shirt, tears staining the burned and bloodied shirt. There was no heartbeat, no thump of a vein, no rush of blood. "He's gone." I cried, hissing in pain as I tried to stand. "Don't stand Ito, we need to get you to the hospital," Aizawa said, scooping me into his arms. I could hear Aizawa talking to Shinso before I passed out.

He was gone, my father was dead. Just like my mother