1I remember that, even as a child, I didn't dream of normal dreams. I would listen to the stories others would tell and find them quite odd but practically boring. They were vague and silly, mine was weird but vivid. After, when I would wake from my dreams, it never seemed to fail that I would be in another place than the one I remembered laying down at.
My mother would tell me that I slept walked with a vivid and fantastic awareness, it made it hard to tell that I was still asleep, my mother could only tell through my response. They were always one-worded yes or no answers.
My dreams didn't belong in this world, the tall gray-haired lady in my dreams would tell me. She would always be looking into the void pointing to the distant bright lights, which I always assumed were stars while I sat in her lap following her gaze. I could never see her eyes, her sockets were pure white nothingness. She had said, "your soul seeks of a realm that it was not born of, it wants to belong to that realm that held souls of your kind. Your kind shouldn't exist in the realm it was born of." I was very young when these dreams began, but I always knew the depth of what she meant.
"One day you will cross paths of evil, in its most dulled forms and will continue to see its poor form until it is mighty and strong. There's no doubting its natural bloodlust for flesh and terror, but this form will cherish and adore you for you are the light it loves to play with. It adores that your light flickers awkwardly across dimensions. Why does this evil love you so?" Out of the many dreams I had before this was the first time the gray-haired lady lent down to my level and looked into my eyes. Her face was expressionless and grey as her hair.
"and do you love it too?" she whispered.
"Love what?" I asked.
The woman placed both of her palms on my bare brown shoulders, gripping them tightly as she stares into my eyes, though her eyes were blank i could tell that her glaze had shifted by the slight tilt of her head that she was looking behind me. "That."
She suddenly forced me to turn around by my shoulders, I was greeted by the small shape of a child filled with the light of the stars that were far away. The bright stars that the gray-haired lady would stare at in my dreams.
The bright lighted child took a couple of steps forward as it raised its palms over my face, the energy-filled palm blinding my vision until there was nothing else
. . . . . . . .
India rubbed her eyes as she sat up from the ground.
wait... ground?
She blinked a couple of times to realize she was surrounded by trees and high unruly grass. Her fingers dug into the wet blades of grass. Her breath hitched realizing it was still in the late hours of the night, it was really dark. Through the crown of evergreen trees, she could see the moon hung full in the night sky. India slowly stood up against a nearby tree, her eyes wide and frantic as she tried to recognize where She was at.
Suddenly it clicked that she was in the woods, by eerie sounds of night-time animals such as the hissing cicadas and loud croaking of frogs. Sounds she was familiar with after staying in the country for so long, she was sure she fell asleep to sounds of night-time animals inside her bedroom by the partly open windowsill. She should still be in her room, snuggled up in her bed with her pink teddy bear, not out here. India tiptoed around the large roots of trees. I slept walked...
She slept walked again, over the field and into the woods this time. She had never slept walked this distance before, this was excessive.
The thought of sleepwalking used to make her giggle, she grabbed forks and spoons as if she were going to eat. She even set up the whole breakfast table one time, her family had recorded her night walking shenanigans when they could. Mama said that she dreamed of food too much.
It used to be silly but this was not funny or silly. She was scared and afraid of the dark. Night Time sounds were really scary she thought, they made her spine tremble with fear. India stood barefoot in the grass, tiptoeing around sticks and rocks. She knew the way home, it would take a while but she could make it, or could she? Some trees were different looking than she remembered during the day.
"Hello, little girl..."
Slowly the little girl turns around and finds a boy standing in the woods too. She little girl stares at him as her body become still with shock, where had he come from?
He was a little bigger than she was, mama said strangers were bad but he was a kid stranger so he was okay. "Hi...are you lost too?"
The little boy had fluffy white hair, sorta messy, tiny dots around his cheeks and pale color skin. She couldn't really see his face in the dark but she pinpoints that he looked different.
"Are you?" He asks, ignoring her question, she fiddles with her yellow nightdress. "Yes..., but my house is kinda close by...i think.."
"You ran away?"
"No, i-i slept walked..." India took a few steps forward to him, he took two back. The boy frowned but didn't say anything else.
"Urm...did you run away?" The boy shook his head. so he was lost then? She shivered as a gentle breeze went through the woods, gaining goosebumps on her arms. She needed to get home, it was really cold out here, but what the boy? He was alone, maybe he could come with her so he wouldn't be lost anymore.
"My name is India...whats yours?"
His eyes crinkled up, "Like the country?" He says with amusement, India blushes, most people tended to say her name was funny and stupid. It was just different, that was all.
"...what's your favorite color India?" India gives the boy a perplexed look, Her favorite color?
"It's green, wh-"
The white-haired boy interrupts her, "Call me Midori then." He says calmly.
Midori was his name. The pale curly-haired boy, with freckles, was called Midori.
India smiles lightly, "okay. Well, Midori I'm gonna walk home...you can come with me if you don't have anywhere to go." The little boy stares at the girl with a blank expression, well as India could assume it was blank. The boy's face hid so well in the dark compared to the rest of his body.
"I could ask my mama to make chocolate waffles in the morning...she'll like that I made a friend...but I have to make sure I get home before she wakes up. she'll get all mad that I'm outside during Night-Time." A small hopeful smile form on her lips, hands stay beside as she rubs her ring finger and thumb against her dress. She was anxious around the tall evergreen trees that towered her small form, she didn't let it deter her from seeing if the boy needed help. The offer showed how naive and innocent minded the girl was, where she was in the middle of the woods at night talking to a mysterious child with nothing but a thin yellow nightdress on. Her feet and skin bear to the natural cool air that filled the summer night. India really didn't know better, talking to a stranger with such an innocent smile. She had to be about 5 maybe 4. Naive with a good heart.
She was more in danger than he was. It wouldn't hurt to walk with her home until she was safe.
"Okay," he mumbles. Midori steps out of the shadows and into the light that pours through the crown of the woods. India could now see his eyes, they were dark and narrowed just so slightly. He looked back at the girl with curiosity that was hidden by the light curly locks. He took more quiet footsteps until he was standing two steps away from India. He turned to her, "Which way are we heading?"
Even with Midori being much closer India was still unable to tell what shade made up his eyes, India looks out past the trees looking for a familiar landmark. India's eyes squint, there was something she could make out that resembled a tire. Oh yes! That was the landmark tire that her family had placed years ago, that meant she was just at the mouth of the woods. She pointed north and whispered, "We go this away, Midori." she said softly. Midori just nods, barely has much to say throughout their whole encounter.
Midori watches how she walks closer to him and takes ahold of his hand as she flinches to the distant sound of howling. The curly-haired boy can tell she was scared, she talked low and soft tones, afraid of the night being aware of her presence. Flinching at small sounds, afraid that some animal would come out and attack, which he doubted. Not that he didn't believe animals didn't live in the woods, he could most certainly fight off an animal that would be a threat to him and his current 4-year-old chaperone.
India carefully worked her toes from stepping on rocks and broken pieces of sticks. She hated how it felt against her feet.
India's eyes flicked over to Midori's feet, he had on black shoes unlike her.
Lucky
The two walk-in silence holding hands as they walk through the cornfield, the silence feeds her fear so she decides to try and talk with a quiet boy. She tells the boy that she was scared of the dark.
He says nothing, she continues, "but it's a little okay, the moon shines a night so it isn't that dark..." Midori hums, finding her resolution to her problem amusing.
"I suppose..." He mutters.
She decides that he's not a good talkative person, neither was she.
The two children finally reach the end of the cornfield, India isn't sure how long it had been just known it took a long time. She felt tired, she had never been up at this time before, not that her mother would allow it anyway.
The two reach a cream-colored two-story house, the moonlight shining particularity eerie down at the house. India smiles, finding a slight burst of energy as her steps start to quicken.
"T-This is my house Midori." She whispers as she pulls along the white-haired boy. Midori picks up the pace so he doesn't fall as he lets the girl drag him along.
Midori feels the grip on his hand disappear as they approach the back porch to the house. He watched her carefully walk to the door with a perplex look in her face because the glass back door was wide open.
"It's open..." She says quietly to her self before shaking her head,"...ah.. forgot I sleepwalked..." She turns to Midori and grabs a hold of his hand before he can protest against it. She pulls him into the American style house, once he's inside she slides the glass door close.
The first thing Midori was aware of was the smell of warm cinnamon with a faint hint of vanilla, the home definitely had a strong welcoming vibe, which Midori found quite pleasant.
She leads Midori along through the kitchen, although it was very dark India seemed at ease with this darkness within her home compared to the one outside, the goosebumps on her skin disappeared and her gasp on his hand had gotten significantly loose, just enough to keep the boy following along.
She walked swiftly on the balls of her feet though inside of the house had sounds of soft snores that floated throughout the house.
She brings Midori to a room that was just at the foot of the stairwell, the door was also open, she turns to Midori with a tired smile, "This is my room..." she whispered, " you can sleep in my bed tonight, I have a fluffy cover that can make you warm." She takes his hand and pulls him into the room, Midori observes the room with a stone stare, it looked quite empty compared to the house, just a bed, and a dresser with a couple of stuff animals that were in the floor. Other than that the room was bare, lacking any personal indication that this was a little girl's room. She closes the door just enough for it to leave a crack, Midori silently takes off his shoes before climbing into the foot of the bed.
India yawned softly as she rubbed her eyes, as anyone could imagine the girl was tired, she walked almost a mile and a half through a cornfield and into the woods not her middle of the night.
"I-I have a red pillow with dinosaurs on it, you can have that to sleep on if you want." She asked as she pushed the pillow into his hands, Midori accepted the pillow with a little rebuttal and rested his head on the object.
Midor-
"Wait, so the princess walked into the woods and the prince just so happened to be there?" a curly-haired boy questioned as he interrupted the woman who was telling the story. The child scrunched up his little face," did the princess already know that the prince was gonna be there?"
A soft chuckle left the woman's lips, "Not exactly Izuku, the meeting of the Princess and Prince is supposed to a mysterious and magical, now for umpteenth-time please stop questioning my bedtime story skills Izu." She hissed while playfully pinching at the boy's freckled cheeks.
Izuku pretended to whine as he snuck up back into his All might themed bed, "Okie, Okie I'll listen to Auntie."
The woman he called his Aunt ruffled his curly green hair, "and so the princess and the prince both went to sleep, but when the Princess awoke the next morning Prince had disappeared, nowhere to be seen and no the prince was not actually a ghost before you say anything Izuku," the boy only giggled between his hands."The prince actually had to go back to his own world."
"His own world?"
The woman nodded as she continued, "Yep, the Prince belonged to a magical world where beasts and dragons flew, you see the forest that they had met was actually hidden pathway between their worlds made a long time ago. He had traveled back through the forest to get back to his kingdom as the Princess world had no magic of any sort so he had to go home. He would lose his power in a magicless world." Izuku eyes were wide with wonder though they were slightly sleepy because of the hour of the night.
"So he never came back? B-But wouldn't the princess miss him?"
Unfortunately, she did. She thought bitterly as she outwardly smiled for the little boy, "Um well she did munchkin, but fortunately it wasn't the last time they would meet only the first of many."
Izuku's viridian eyes widen with new piqued curiosity, "...r-really? When did they meet again?" She looked at her watch just as the little boy asked, he peeks over her arm and looks down, right after a small sigh left both of their lips.
"Indi-chan please just a little longer," he whined giving her the big puppy-eyed look. It makes her heartache looking denying that cute plea, it took everything in her to ignore it. She musters up a small smile."Maybe next time Izuku, but you know it's past your bedtime." she lent down to kisses his temple, she hated to leave so abruptly but she had some business to attend to. Izuku continues to give the woman a watery glare, "When will you be back?"
She ran her fingers through his unruly dark curls, sighing softly, "Soon Izuku, I should be back around next Wednesday kiddo. I should finally get my own little flat around where you live at, so then you and Inko can visit. We can even make Katsudon that night." The mention of the boys' favorite dish seemed to lighten his mood.
"Katsudon! Oh okay, you tell Mama about it?"
She chuckles. "mhm, I'll ask Inko-chan, if your good for your mama I'll even ask if she'll let you skip school so you can help me move some of my stuff into my new flat." A little grin stretches across Izuku's cute little face, "I-I'll be good! I promise."
"You pinkie promise Munchkin?" she brings out her left pinkie, raising it forward to the boy. With a bright smile matching her own he hooks his smaller finger around hers. "Pinky promise hehe."
The two talks for a little bit before saying their goodbyes, after she had finally gotten the boy to fall asleep she silently slipped out of the bedroom before closing the door with quite click. She leans her head against her palm, with a soft solemn look on her face. She could feel a soft headache starting to thrash in the back of her head, she could feel the light trimers of when she came to a close in her bedtime stories with Izuku. A part of her knew it was because of the story she had decided to tell Izuku, the water-down and sweet version of how she came to meet a person of her past.
I'll just take some pain killers before i head out.
She walked towards the kitchen, the room was dimly lit while the distant sound of tea being poured filled the room. At the kitchen counter stood the boy's mother, her viridian green eyes staring down as she filled her cup with tea. From the scent of it, the batch that she had made was to help her sleep. The petite woman looked up from her stewing tea hearing the woman's footsteps, she flashed her a small smile, "Hope Izuku didn't give you a hard time."
"Oh no Inko, he wasn't a problem at all, he was a sweet little munchkin as always. He had a little trouble falling asleep but i sorta expected that he be too excited when i came over for dinner." She opened one of the drawers to grab a couple of pills for her headache but to her surprise there went any like usual.
Inko set her tea down as she watched the woman search for pills that weren't there, she yawned as she pulled out a new box from her far side, "India." The brunette turned her head to face Inko her brows slightly narrowed from the headache, nut they loosened upon seeing the box.
"Lifesaver..." India murmured as she took the box from Inko before popping two tablets into her mouth. Inko handed her a glass of water to drown it down, India thanked the woman as she started to gather her things so she could head out. She couldn't help but notice how quiet Inko was being at the moment, usually, she was ushering her with goodbyes and questioning when she could be back. India glanced up curiously as she buttoned up her coat she could see the green-haired woman gnawing at her lip as she stared back.
She wanted to ask her something before she left, her son done it plenty times before and his mother was no different. India lets the quietness continue before she asks what she had on her mind, "The story you were telling Izuku...it was about you and his father wasn't it?"
India hesitantly flinches, she had heard, "...yes... i put a little twist the story and made it sound different from what it really is if that's what you're worried about..."
"No, I'm not worried about it, actually I wanted to thank you for telling him how you did." India took a pause in between tying her shoes, "..he's been asking about his father lately... i haven't had the slightest clue how to tell him without really telling..."
"I could tell...I know you don't like lying to him but a fairytale would suffice... just for now at least. When he's older and can understand a bit more...he should start learning the truth."India stood up and walked over to the mother, placing a hand on her shoulder, "... don't fret over it too much Inko, I know you're trying your best with Izuku. He's a smart sweet child and that all thanks to you, you're raising him to be the best version of himsel-Ah jeez Inko don't cry." she cooed as the green-haired mother began crying. India grabbed a couple of tissues for the emotional woman.
Inko laughed between tears, " I can't help it...you've done so much for me and Izuku, lord knows what hell you've been through to protect us and thanks to you Izuku will be able to grow up and become strong..."
" You two are the only family i have, Izuku is practically my son Inko, there's nothing i would' do to keep you both safe. Hopefully, after this last gig, i can finally and officially move into a flat in Musutafu and be closer to You and Izuku." India smiles slightly as she finished picking up her gear.
"That's great to hear, so you'll just be taking a different choice in 'employment'?"
When Inko referred to employment she was referring to India's current illegal job. She knew how much Inko worried, giving it was in her nature to worry over someone's wellbeing, but she understood why the woman was doing it in the first place, it aided with the protection and financial support for Inko and Izuku.
India shook her head, "No...its just means now I'll be closer to home, the underground vigilante agency I'm transferring to is a bit more legit with good benefits. U.V.A is becoming a bit more formal nowadays."She turned to give Inko a reassuring smile, the woman had fretted over like her own mother would, even though she was technically older than the woman by many years, only by the grace of her quirk she had stopped aging. "I'll be alright Inky." she playfully reassured the mother. She smiled back with those big green eyes and nodded," Please stay safe okay."
The two pulled back into a hug followed by a couple of goodbyes before India took her leave. She slipped out the patio of Inko's flat and jumped down from rooftop to rooftop until India slid down a brick wall into an abandon shaded garage. She walked over to a vehicle that was cover over a gray tarp. It wasn't the safest place to hid it but there weren't many options to put her bike when it lacked a license plate at the moment. She had lost it on the last job she was on, she figured she could get covered by her agency to get another one but they simply denied her request.
"Well, ya leaving soon, what's the point of giving you the shit. Greedy little bitch."
She quite upset about it at first, he was lucky that mission had smoothed over quite well or her temper would have gotten the best of her that day, after the events she had come to the realization she could just order one and customize it herself. She knew a broker that could do what she wanted, and thankfully he owed her a solid so she didn't have to come out of her pocket. It was taking a little while for it to come in but she knew she was going to love it anyway, it was gonna have the given name she gave her motorcycle "White Wasp".
She pursed her lips into a small smile as she hopped on to her motorcycle, a white vintage tracker motorcycle to be exact, she cherished this beauty right here. Almost an exact replica of the one her grandfather had way back home.
Home doesn't exist anymore
The sudden sound of her phone receiving a message pulled her way, she unlocked to see it was a message from her soon to be ex-boss, he was not happy. Usually, she was there at the briefing point before a mission began she could be there for a debriefing on the priorities of the mission, she was always the first to be there but not today she was running a bit late. She had dinner with the Midoriyas and they always came first priority.
She rolled her hazel gray eyes, "Fuckin Nonixia always getting his panties in a twist." she grumbled as she pockets her phone before shooting a quick text saying she was on the way.
India picked up her mask that hung low by her utility belt that was around her waist and slipped it on her face, "Let's just get this over with..." She muttered to herself before she took off to her destination.