The blood transfusion wasn't too bad. The medicine had traveled through her body and made it easier. The man, Toyomitsu, held her hand again while the needle pushed into her arm. The nurse taped it securely to her arm and then left after she made sure it was working correctly. "Alright, you should be good for a while. We still can't have you eat anything yet, but if you need anything hit that orange button."
She left, closing the door behind her and Manami turned to face him again. They smiled at each other and he squeezed her hand. "So brave."
She flushed under his compliment and hid her face under the blanket slightly. "If you say so."
"Braver than me," He muttered. He turned in the chair and tossed one of his legs over the arm as he moved to get more comfortable. He didn't try to move his hand from hers and she was grateful.
"So, your agency is paying for my bill?" She asked, trying to distract herself from watching him.
"Yeah, it's the least we can do since you got so hurt while hero's were there and didn't stop it in time." She moved her other hand to the one he held. She gently traced patterns along the back of it and he watched her.
"People get hurt everyday because of villain attacks. I'm not special." He shook his head and scoffed at her. "What?"
"Don't worry about it, seriously don't worry about any of it. The Fat Gum Agency has more than enough to cover your visit." Her eyes widened at the name.
"You work at the Fat Gum Agency?" He blinked down at her and nodded.
"Uh, yeah? Didn't the nurse tell you?" She shook her head, looking at him in wonder.
"No, she said she couldn't because of Hero Confidentiality laws. Wow, that's so impressive that you work there." He used his free hand and rubbed the back of his neck.
"Uh, yeah. It's pretty great." She smiled at him and he watched as she curled up, trying to get more comfortable. She didn't move her hands from his and his smile was soft as he watched her. "Hey now, don't fall asleep on me. The doctor said he wanted you to stay up."
"I know, I'm not. I'm just getting more comfortable." Her eyes closed gently and he watched as her breaths began to slow and deepen. "Not sleepy at all."
He laughed lightly and squeezed her hand in his. "Come on, open your eyes and talk to me. I'll get bored if you fall asleep."
She blinked at him slowly and then squeezed his hand back. "Talk about what?"
"You." She flushed at his direct statement. He saw it and smirked. "What? Are you embarrassed to talk about yourself?"
"Well I'm not a big hero, or work at an amazing agency with one of the best heroes in all of Japan." He flushed at her indirect compliment before she continued. "All I do is go to school and sing during the evenings and weekends to get extra cash."
"There's something, what do you study?" He watched her as she moved her other hand back to his and began tracing patterns along it.
"Hero History." He smiled at that.
"That's an interesting topic. Tell me about it." Her eyes lit up and for the next couple hours she told him about anything she could think of on the subject.
He watched her, a soft smile on his lips as he watched her.
"Did you know that only 75% of quirks are hereditary? The other 25% is 8% being quirkless and that final 17% is quirks that come from something unknown. It's fascinating to study someone's family tree and try to figure out where someone's super strength came from when their parents were a fire user and a mutation quirk. I love studying that kind of stuff."
She opened her mouth to start on another topic but the doctor walked in, holding up papers in her hands. "Hello! I have your results."
The nurse followed her in and moved over to the bed, checking on the IV before going to the computer to type in notes for the doctor. "Still looks good, alright Doc, ready when you are."
"Good news! No fractures or breaks anywhere in your upper back or neck." Manami smiled at that and he squeezed the hand he still held. "But, you do have a concussion. There's bruising at the front of your brain, and swelling at the back."
He frowned at that and adjusted himself so he could lean forward and look at the doctor. "So what does that mean?"
"Well, there are two options." Manami nodded for her to continue. "The first option is for you to stay here for a couple more days while we monitor your progress."
Manami immediately began shaking her head. "No, I don't want to be here another couple hours, let alone a couple days!"
"Well option two it is! You'll need to have someone stay with you and keep an eye on you for at least five days. We recommend not doing anything too stressful and mainly try to rest during this time." The doctor smiled at her but Manami was frowning.
"I don't have anyone to stay with here. I live in my apartment by myself, and my parents are across the country, hours away." The doctor frowned.
"You don't have any friends? No significant other?" Toyomitsu jerked at that and watched as she shook her head.
"I have friends, sure, but no one with the space to take me in for a week. And no, I'm single." The doctor's gaze flicked to where their hands were still holding each other and then moved away before Manami could catch it, but he saw it.
"I'm sorry, but unless we can guarantee that you have someone to care for you, I cannot safely discharge you." Manami huffed in annoyance.
"I'll be okay! Please, I really don't want to stay here. Is there anything else we can do?" Manami said, her lip starting to tremble lightly. "Please, I just want to go home and see my cat and forget this all ever happened."
"I'm sorry Miss Mochizuki, but your safety-"
"She can stay with me." His voice broke through their discussion and three sets of eyes turned to look at him. "I'll take care of her."
"No! You've already done so much." She said, staring at him wide eyed.
"Seriously, it'll be my pleasure to make sure you get well. Come on, I'll even take you to the Agency." She frowned and looked back at the doctor.
"Is there a third option? Like I go home and come back once a day to get looked at?" The doctor shook her head.
"I'm sorry, but no. It's either stay here or find someone to stay with. We would be happy to release you into your friend's care, but if you can't convince someone else to come pick you up, I can't let you leave."
Manami blinked away frustrated tears and looked up at him. "Are you sure?"
He nodded and squeezed her hand. "Yes, you can stay at my place and sleep in my guest room. We can even go by your apartment and grab your cat."
She huffed, clearly still annoyed and glared down at the bed. "Fine. Release me into his care."
A few hours later they were walking out of the emergency entrance. He held the bag of their clothes in one hand while he covered his eyes from the rising sun. "Ahh, perfect. Now we can get breakfast."
She crossed her arms and looked all around him. "I can't get breakfast like this! I have dried blood in my hair and I'm wearing scrubs that the nurse gave me!"
"So? I'm wearing scrubs too, who cares?" She sighed at him and kicked at the slides the nurse had given her to wear too.
"Fine, but ice cream first! You promised." He nodded and turned to start walking in the direction of the diner.
"Of course! Can you walk with me or should I give you a piggyback ride?" He saw her blush from the corner of his vision and smiled. "I can carry you, it's no big deal if you're tired."
She shook her head and walked beside him, staring down at the ground. "I'm fine, I just need to get some food. I'm starving."
"Me too! Come on, there are pancakes and french toast calling us."
They walked into the diner and the owner sat them at a booth. He looked over the menu hungrily as she settled into her seat across from him. "This place is great, you can't go wrong with anything here."
She picked up her own menu and began to look over the options. "Plain french toast with powdered sugar sounds good to me."
"And ice cream for an appetizer right?" She smiled over her menu at him and he blushed. "I just want to hold up to my promise."
The server walked over and they ordered their food, he ordered significantly more than her. She looked around the restaurant and didn't seem bothered by it. The server took their menus and walked off, leaving them alone.
She pulled at the scrub sleeve with her fingers as she kept looking around. He gently put his hand over hers and she looked up at him. "Hey, what's wrong?"
"I feel like everyone is staring at me." She said in a mumble. He rolled his eyes and squeezed her hand causing her to look back up at him.
"Who cares? There's barely anyone here, and the ones that are here are old and grumpy anyways. Why do you care what they think?" He asked watching her.
She flushed and pulled one of her hands away from him. She rubbed at her chest as she blushed. "M-my parents always told me to put my best foot forward. They would be horrified by me sitting at a restaurant in scrubs."
He squeezed her hand again and turned his to rest under hers, their palms touching. "That's stupid. Your best foot should be your personality, not what you look like."
The server came back with their drinks, both of them getting hot chocolate, and placed a bowl of chocolate ice cream in the middle and placed two spoons down. "Sorry, we didn't have enough chocolate for two servings. I hope this is okay."
Toyomitsu nodded and smiled at him. "It's great, thank you."
The server walked off and he turned to face her again. "Hey, you shouldn't give a shit about what other people think of you, okay? Because all that matters is what you think of yourself."
He squeezed her hand and then let her go picking up a spoon and taking a bite of the ice cream. "Besides, I think you look adorable in scrubs and messy hair."
They continued to talk over breakfast, and once she was done with hers and was just watching him sleepily as he ate he felt embarrassed.
"Uh, sorry. I always eat a lot." She shook her head and smiled at him.
"I don't mind. Besides, how else are you supposed to be Fat Gum if you don't eat enough to quirk up?" He sputtered and coughed on his drink, covering his mouth quickly as he stared at her with wide eyes.
"How- When did you figure it out?" She smirked at him and reached over to grab one of his pieces of bacon, taking a bite and chewing on it while she let him squirm under her gaze.
"Since we walked in here and you gave me the speech about not caring what people thought. You seriously thought I wasn't going to pick up on that kind of thing from the poster boy for loving yourself?" He blushed and glared at the plate in front of him. "Plus you're slowly getting bigger as you eat."
He hit his palm against his forehead as he groaned. "Of course, I'm such an idiot."
She laughed as she watched him, stealing bites of his pancakes while he was distracted. "Relax, I'm not mad. I'm just confused as to why you didn't tell me."
He looked at her through his hands, groaning softly. "I thought you wouldn't talk to me if you knew I was a pro hero."
She raised an eyebrow at him, slowly chewing on her stolen bite of food. "Why? I'm not against pro heroes, not at all."
"I don't know, I guess I just got anxious and decided to try and hide it." He rubbed his forehead and gave her a small smile. "Are you sure you're not mad?"
"Of course! As long as you don't get mad that I paid for our food." She snatched another piece of bacon and he stared at her in shock, his mouth partly open in disbelief.
"When did you pay?" He asked in confusion.
"I slipped the server some cash while you were finishing the ice cream. I already gave him his tip too so whenever you're done we can head out." She said, finishing the piece of bacon and leaning forward to rest the side of her face against her palm.
"I, I could have paid for it! I invited you out, hell I ate three times as much as you!" He said, throwing his hands up and he fought the blush on his cheeks.
She laughed lightly and gently grabbed his hands in hers, setting them down on the table and squeezing. "Consider it a thank you for carrying me to safety tonight. I really appreciate it Toyomitsu."
His blush travelled down his neck and he gave her a small smile. "Yeah. N-no problem."