MHA: SHADOWS IN UA

I've been sitting on this bed for a while.

Time has been slipping away, as if hours blended into minutes, or maybe it's the other way around. I don't know.

The patter of rain echoes from the window, steady and rhythmic, like the ticking of a clock.

The sound should be comforting, but strangely it sets an unsettling feeling in me.

Looking around, I take in the environment I'm in.

The room is small, just enough to fit a bed tucked in the corner.

A desk cluttered with loose papers, some occasionally drifting to the ground when hit by the cool breeze.

A bookshelf packed tightly with manga volumes. Their spines are colorful, some worn and bent from use, their titles blurring as I trace my fingers over them. Shonen, romance, a few old volumes of seinen.

The walls are plain, cracked in some spots as if they've been neglected for years.

A fluorescent bulb flickers above, casting harsh shadows that seem to pulse with the rain outside.

The place I stand is one I know well and am quite familiar with.

After all, it's my room.

I stand and move toward the window, the tiles a bit chilly under my feet.

The glass was foggy from the cool air meeting the room's warmth, but the sound of the rain draws me closer.

I swipe at the condensation with my sleeve and look outside.

What I saw was not what I expected.

It rained black liquids. Thick, viscous, and unnatural. It sticks to the glass like oil, sluggishly sliding down in uneven trails.

The sky beyond is a blanket of dark gray, as though the world itself has been painted over in shades of despair.

I stare in disbelief, my breath fogging the window again. It's not just the rain.

The streets below are slick in the same black liquid, pooling in uneven patches. The gutters are clogged, the inky water spilling over the edges, carrying debris with it.

I press my hand to the glass, cold seeping into my palm.

"What… the hell?" I whisper to myself.

A faint sense of dread creeps up my spine.

The rain suddenly grows heavier, the sound against the window turning into a relentless drumming.

More of the dark liquid coated the earth, staining all the buildings, roads, highways, modes of transportation.

One could say the earth looked like a dark canvas as the black liquid slowly rose, swallowing the earth up.

I could only watch in horror from my bedroom as the world was drowning in the black liquid.

I lived in a two-story building, currently on the top floor, so luckily I wasn't affected yet.

But I knew I had to act fast because the liquid wasn't going to wait for me.

I peeled away from the window, leaping to the bedroom door like a cat. Adrenaline fuelling my body as I opened the door, it flinging like paper.

I scrambled to the door, rushing through the passageway. I caught a hold of myself as I nearly slipped, almost falling on the cold tiles.

I was finally at the door, I had just one plan regarding what to do once I open the door. Beyond the door was a stairway that led downstairs and a wooden ladder that I could use to climb to the roof.

I put my hand on the door and opened it, it didn't budge. The feeling of dread began to spring up in me as I glanced through the window.

The black liquid had already swallowed up things at the first floor level. It was slowly reaching me and I was trapped in my own home.

"The key." I muttered to myself as I scrambled through the sitting room, finding the tiny piece of metal.

The flickering of the light bulb made it harder to find it as it occasionally gave me glimpses of light in the darkness.

I felt my finger touch a cold metal and I picked it up from under the couch. I ran to the door as fast as I could, the cold and muddy smell filling my nostrils.

I fumbled with the key as I failed to place it correctly the first time. 'hurry...fucking work' I said in my head, my heart pounding in my head.

Immediately I opened the door, I was met with a wave of black liquid bursting in from the window. A shard of glass flew past my cheek, slicing it in the process as the force of liquid pushed me off my feet.

I was submerged in the liquid, it was pitch dark. No sound. No form of light. Just cold. I couldn't even tell if I was in the living room or at the stairway.

I couldn't really tell if I was facing upwards or downwards. It felt like I was lost in infinity. I stretched my arms, sweeping wide hoping to get a catch of anything.

My heart kept beating loud as I hoped to find something. Veins sprout like entangled roots across my face and neck as I held my breath, the liquid clawing at my lips.

At some point, I couldn't even tell if my eyes were open or shut, the water had probably broken the ladder. I had no means of escape.

I didn't even know at which direction to swim, my lungs were pounding loudly against my ribcage as I was at my limit of holding my breath.

The black liquid quickly invaded my lungs, drowning me as I felt life seep away from my finger tips. The world around dark and cold.

———

My head drums with pain, my

eardrums bursting with each beat. My vision was a mess and blur of shadows and fading lights.

My breath came in ragged gasps, taking in as the sharp scent of blood and sweat clung to the air around me, invading my lungs.

The smell of mildew still lingering, reminding me of the dark cell I'm in. as I felt the cold stone floor biting my back.

The nauseating smell of black liquid was no longer there. The dreadful feeling of the darkness had gone, I could only let out a sigh of relief as I realised it was a dream.

But then, reality set in as a wave of pain washed over me reminding me of the harsh beating.

It was hard to think.

Harder to breathe.

But in the midst of the pain, I could hear them. Voices.

Two of them. Faint, but close.

'Who are they?'

My mind raced, hoping for it not to be the worst. I had seen Kurogiri and AFO, I'm not really hoping the next set of things I'll see would be nice.

I can barely move, every inch of my body screaming for rest. But I can hear the anxiety in their whispers.

The soft tones, the way they speak like they are scared. I can't make sense of it. I want to open my eyes, but even that feels like a battle itself.

"Azaria, please stay with us," The voice was too quiet to be audible but not loud enough for a whisper. "Please, I don't want anything to happen to you."

I froze as those words, pulled me out my thoughts. The name. My name.

The voice was quite feminine. The person—the female it belongs to, how does she know my name?

I laid there stunned, a tightening in my chest. I wanted to shout, to ask but my lips lacked the energy to move. My eyes opened slowly, the vision a bit blurry.

Two figures. I could make them out but couldn't see them properly. I forced all the strength in me as I pushed myself up to sit, my body screaming in ache as my back slowly kissed the cold wall.

One of the figures had noticed my movement and rushed forward, her hand reaching out.

"Oh, please, don't try to get up," Her voice cracked. "You're hurt. You're—"

I instinctively hit her hand way, recoiling closer to the corner, my heart pounding loud in my chest. The fear that flooded my veins was raw

Who were they? Why were they here?

What did they want from me? How did they know my name?

Suddenly, the dim light became brighter, enveloping the cell. Shielding my eyes with my fingers, I was able to make out the figures.

A man and woman. Both looking like their late forties, they both shared a weary look on their face. The woman had a dark skin while the Man looked had the appearance of a japanese.

I couldn't recognize them, but for some reason, there was something. Something in their eyes, that was familiar to me.

The light dims down, returning it to the its original pitiful state as the cell becomes dark once again. The man looks at the bulb, as if sharing the same thought with me.

"I guess they are doing another experiment up there." He said, his voice laced with bitterness.

The man then turns to me, taking a knee. His face laced with worry, he raises both arms, palms facing me and I could swear in the darkness, I saw concern in his eyes.

"Please, you need to rest. We didn't know it'll be like this".

I don't say anything, I can't. The weird familiarity keeps tugging at me even though I can't place it. It's suffocating the hell out of me. The woman begins to cry, her voice thick with sorrow.

"I'm sorry." Her voice barely a whisper, the words breaking as she speaks.

"We didn't know. We didn't know it would hurt you like this. We... we were trying to help you. Please, forgive us."

Help me?

My mind was reeling, but the pieces couldn't fit.

Who are they?

What did they do?

What were they talking about ?

"Who… are you?" My voice cracks, barely above a whisper, but it's enough to make them stop.

The man steps forward, and I instinctively try to back away, but where can I go? I'm backed at a corner.

"We're... we're your parents, Azaria." the man says, his voice low.