Chapter Text
The torrent of sentients that ran up and down the hull was astounding. Astounding, yes, but Mei didn’t care.
She squatted outside the infirmary as her mothers rushed back and forth with scared yet practised ease. Her fingers were pressed against each other and on her forehead, alien blood would flake off with every little movement. Mei didn’t care.
Her beloved brother, her Izuku, who’s smile outshone even the brightest star was in that room and nothing else mattered. Not the nervous aliens that came with him, not the panic in the crowds, not the brain matter that dusted her cheeks.
She had beaten that alien to death.
She didn’t care.
Its screams will likely haunt her coming dreams.
She didn’t care.
Its blood still crusted his gauntlets, her hands. Her face as she ripped its jaw from its skull.
She did not care.
Its spinal cord smacked the wall when she tore the upper half of its face from its body.
She did not care.
She stared at it as it bled. Her hollow gaze turned to the group in the hanger. They were scared of her.
She did not care.
She muttered a prayer. To any god, to Buddha, to her late family. To anything or anyone that would listen.
“ What are you saying? ” huffed the large cat. The one that patted Izuku’s head. The one that carried his contorting and screaming body to the med bay.
She swallowed.
“ Where I was raised, in my culture, we pray for the lives of our loved ones, that the spirit of our ancestors will protect us and let us prosper. His blood family does not care for him, so I pray to mine that he will come out victorious. ” she winced at the translator's inability to produce the tone and words, too formal.
“ Ah, I think I understand. ” the large cat murmured, “ My people are very family oriented, even if it isn’t by blood. We do not pray to our dead though, it wouldn’t change anything. ”
“ I know, I know that the dead don’t speak or help. But I have only just gotten him back, to lose him again would surely drive me mad. ” she could feel her throat becoming tight, her chest squeezed.
“ It’s not stupid, if that's what you think I’m saying. ” the large cat rumbled. “ I’m just- curious. I want to understand more. ”
“ My father used to pray too. Not to past lives though, a ‘higher being’ ” Rody chimed in. “ are there multiple cultures on your planet? ”
“ ... yes, thousands. ” she sniffed.
The sounds in the room got louder, she scrambled up to her feet to stand by the door.
“Ma? Mum?” she called, her throat clenched and hands shook. She wasn’t allowed in the room, covered in blood and guts, more a hazard than help.
The little white alien clawed at the hem of her cuffed combat trousers. It whimpered as its big eyes turned to look at her. Someone yelled in the room.
“Mum?!” she called. The other aliens started to fidget, the little aliens grip tightened. Little specks of gold started to float in the air.
Mei grabbed the sliding door handle and shoved it open. She did not care that she wasn't allowed to.
The heart monitor was going crazy.
The blood bag was nearly empty.
The heart monitor was going crazy.
Her mothers yelled for more blood.
“We’re losing him!” someone yelled.
Mei's ears rang.
The heart monitor was going crazy.
She can’t move.
Why is this so much more terrifying than the aliens she killed?
Because right now, right then and there, she was facing the fact that her brother may very well die. And she can’t. Do. Anything.
The little alien rushed past her, the alien that spoke Japanese rushed to grab it.
“ Eri! ” they called.
And a bright flash overtook the room.
Gentle and warm, she felt like she could breathe again.
The heart monitor was beeping steadily.
She could move.
Eri was grabbing Izuku’s hand.
Mei’s mothers moved together to resume their work, they didn’t seem to question anything.
She was ushered out by the frog alien as the cat grabbed Eri.
They all stood outside the theatre. Her hands tingled and her eyes watered, her throat hurt. Her knees felt weak, she took a deep breath and found that her stomach could not handle what was happening. She swallowed bitter bile down and grabbed at her chest, leaning forwards.
The cat’s head lowered on top of hers and a deep rumbling came from his throat.
“ Um. ” the alien that Izuku lost an eye for stuttered, dark transparent hands wringed together and twisted uncomfortably, like it had no bones. “ I don’t get it. ”
“ What? ” the crocodile harshly snapped.
“ Deathworlders are meant to be able to live through stuff like that. ” it stated, its hands fiddling with the ribbons that came from its weird head “F ighting through broken bones and lost limbs. Isn’t he over reacting? ” she gestured to the operating theatre.
The others blanched at her statement. Mei started to laugh despite it all.
“Overreacting? ” Mei laughed “ Overreacting! God you really are a jellyfish huh? All toxins and no brains! Tell me! Have you ever seen someone live through an attack like that? Someone with a need for an actual brain to function! ” she yelled, the cat jolted but remained in place.
“ ... No. ” the jellyfish shrinked back.
“ Everything he endured was for you! All of that was pure adrenaline, under any normal circumstances he would be dead! Cracked ribs that healed wrong and stabbed into his lungs with each breath, a fractured cheekbone, a crushed leg, multiple stab wounds and now a missing eye.” she listed off on her fingers “ Does any of that sound like something you would have survived?”
The alien whimpered.
“ And you have the audacity, the nerve! To say that he’s overreacting. ” she huffed, heaved and shuddered, her eyes finally seemed to reach a breaking point as hot tears began to slide down her face and onto the modulator around her mouth. Her fists clenched at her sides in tight balls of rage.
“ I nearly lost my baby brother because of you and your stupidity. There’s still a possibility that I will. ” she glared at her. The alien looked away.
The door slid open, her mum walked out with a tired sigh and looked up at the argument.
“He’s stable.” she smiled.
He’s stable. Stable. He'll live! Mei collapsed to a squat and sobbed, the cat bending over with the movement. Her mum rushed to support her.
“It would be better to take him back to earth so an actual doctor can look at him though.” her mama called from her place on the floor. Laying exhausted. “We already have permission to land, with the aliens that don’t want to leave. The ship will be a great way to learn how to build better ones, heck it would be a great opportunity to establish a relationship between us and the galaxy.”
She didn’t care. Her baby brother was alive, and that’s all that mattered to her.
The world rang as Izuku came to.
The world was dark, a suffocating darkness that wrapped around his head and pushed at his temples like a nomu’s crushing claw. There was chatter around him, his lap was weighed down by something warm.
He winced as he opened his eyes, the light burning his retinas. Before it was gone, someone pulled the blinds shut.
Blinds, shut.
He opened his eyes to a familiar room. Glow in the dark stars plastered the ceiling above him. The blankets that covered him had little cartoon triceratops on them, a stuffed shark was being used as an extra pillow. There was a trans flag to the left of him that draped over the shelf after it fell from the wall. His little cat Tonbo curled in his lap on top of his father’s prized letterman jacket.
A grinning face loomed into view. Mei’s dreads brushed his forehead as she pushed her face up to his.
“MORNING IZUKU!” she yelled, he winced.
“Is this a dream?” he rasped. Mei promptly smacked the top of his head and laughed. It hurt.
“Did that feel like a dream?” she leaned back in her pink plush spinning chair.
“MEI!” Hanabi-san yelled at the action, making Izuku look up at the rest of the room. He blinked in surprise at the sight of Sho’a curled at the end of the bed on their beanbags, eri snoozed from where she lay in the middle of his curled body. He had to turn his body to see Rody, who was looking up from his place on the floor, his siblings stared at the Italian book in his lap.
“Glad to see you up and awake, pretty man.” He grinned at him, Mei’s brows furrowed and threw a pillow at him, smacking him point black on the nose, he squawked in protest. His siblings laughed at his pain.
Sho’a and Hanabi-san huffed at their bickering. Tsu leaned into his limited field of vision, eyes scrunched shut, Hi’oshi’s head was laid on top of theirs, big grin plastered over his scaled face. They shoved a glass of water into his hands.
“I am glad you’re awake, my dear friend.” Tsu croaked. Hi’oshi gave a thumbs up.
Izuku’s eyebrows raised up at the wonky japanese. Hanabi-san opened the door he could no longer see and called for Hi’ashi and Kyoka-san, scrambling could be heard downstairs.
“So! So. you’ve been out for a month.” Mei stated, Izuku jolted, the cat mewed for attention. He patted the little brown tabby as Mei continued. “You’ll have to start physio-therapy, the doctors said it was rather impressive that you managed to survive that long. They said that the first-aid you were able to do was ‘above your skill level’, but I’m not that surprised. You’re you.” she was beginning to ramble.
He reached out and grabbed her hand, she took in a shaky sob. He could feel his throat start to tighten. She rubbed her eyes and looked down at him.
“You’re a really fucking cool dude, man. People have begun calling you the boy who can never die! You’re in the news man! And not for beating up a bunch of school-yard bullies! I even have plans for a new eye for you” she laughed, he reached up to his scarred and mattered right eye. The texture of the grotesque scar made him cringe a bit. Sho’a huffed for attention, he turned his one good eye to him.
“We had a choice, go with you or return back to our planets. But going back would mean that we wouldn’t know what happened to you.” Sho’a rumbled as Hanabi-san came and sat on his bed hugging him. He leaned into her warmth. “I happen to be part of the UA institution meaning that us being here is now part of my job. I report back on relations with earth and studies on your societies.”
“It’s lucky that we live near my work.” Kyoka-san announced as she walked in with the massive bird that is Hi’ashi. “So close to a military base, the government can keep a close eye on us and the aliens while making plans for the future.”
“Where’s Ur’aka?” he rasped, the question made everyone pause.
“She didn’t come.” Rody huffed, crossing his arms “For the better I think. She wouldn’t have lasted that long here surrounded by a bunch of ‘dangerous predators’, nah she chose not to come.”
“We’re still in contact though.” Hi’oshi said “we dropped her off at UA. She calls us every 10 day cycles , she says she’s learning a lot about other aliens. I think it’s good for her, she’s even apologised to you and your family for the comments she made.”
“She hasn’t said it to his face.” Mei huffed.
Izuku couldn’t keep up with this, he fell back with a huff. The others took it as their cue to leave him in peace, each offering him their good-byes as they left the room to go downstairs. His family remained.
“Are… are you okay?” Mei asked softly, her hands wringed together.
“... I think I will be.” he stared at the stars on their shared ceiling. “Thank you for coming to get me.” he murmured.
“Thank you for waiting so long.” huffed Hanabi-san, kyoka-san leaned on her wife. Her eyes were filled with unshed tears.
“It’s good to have you back.” she sobbed and leaned her head on his. It seemed to cause the other two to collapse on top of him.
For the first time in months he cried, sobbed and smiled into his family's embrace.
Izuku’s physio-therapy soon allowed him to actually walk around properly without a limp or any pain after a couple months. His therapy sessions were weekly and often, with Mei usually going with him. The hospital visits slowly died down, and eventually he was allowed to go on his weekly hikes like before with Sho’a, play at the arcade with Mei and Rody and visit his fathers grave at the end of the month.
The “nebula crew”, as Mei called them, had all stayed with the Hatsumes. Meaning that they had to be moved from the tiny house to a larger military issued one not that far away, something that Mei and Izuku had cheered at. The new house was massive, and allowed them to carry out as many crazy ideas as they wanted. Said ideas would often give the aliens and their parents a heart attack.
Ur’aka soon called from her dorm in
UA,
her apology was sincere and full of regret. Izuku could not find himself forgiving her, though her calls did not stop after the rejection. She slowly reconnected with the group, like HI'oshi had guessed, the slow process of staying there had led to great improvements in her view on predators. Even able to hold a conversation with Hi'oshi and Tsu without starting an argument.
He and Mei got their hair re-dyed, making the aliens jump in surprise at the sudden change in appearance. It felt good having green hair again.
It felt normal. It felt safe, and while that was a terrifying fact he could not be happier.
He stared at the mirror. His right eye at a large x-shaped scar that ran over it, the ends meeting up with the ends of his crescent cheek scar. A brand new eye had replaced his old one, able to zoom in and record what he was looking at, courtesy of his mad sister.
It was him. Despite everything, it was still him.