Author's note: Hey everyone, Fireslash here and welcome to another chapter of Healing Wounds. It's been a while. Before you try and shoot me for not updating since AUGUST 23rd, I do have my reasons. First off, school has been occupying my time. Secondly, I actually lost interest for this story for a long time. I was honestly having so much fun with my other stories (who's updating time is still slow) that I haven't been able to update this story. Lastly, I've been trying to fix grammatical errors in this story, 'cause there's quite a lot of them. I'll post the fixes at a later date. Despite all this, I'm glad that most of you still continue to stick with this story despite its awkward updating time. Anyways, this chapter is a bit short seeing as I have to build up for when Hinamiki actually becomes cannon in this story. Until then, review and enjoy :-).
000
'Ever since I was young, I've always wanted to help others,' Hinata thought to himself as he laid down on one of the beds in his hotel room. On the other bed was Tsumiki, who had fallen asleep an hour ago. 'But I always believed that I couldn't. Yet now that I have all these talents, I can, so why haven't I done anything yet?'
Honestly, Hinata had no idea why he was thinking about this right now. He was on vacation, he should be enjoying himself. But then again, he couldn't sleep, which can cause people to daydream about the most bizarre things as they try to fall asleep.
Either way, the boy felt somewhat useless. While he did help Tsumiki solve most of her problems, she was the only person he could say he's helped. There were others who needed help just as much as she did, yet he hasn't payed any attention to them. The biggest example of this was the kids at Hopes Peak Elementary. Like Tsumiki, they were victims of abuse. One of was a serial victim of child molestation for crying out loud! Yet despite this, none of the kids knew that he figured out that they had problems.
'Once we get back, I'm going to make sure that those kids are safe,' Hinata mentally told himself before he closed his eyes. 'That's a promise.'
0000
...For someone with multiple skills, Hinata could be quite oblivious, for he was more helpful than he gives himself credit for being. He was the one who helped Nanami bond with her classmates on his second day of school. And even if he was just only playing with the kids at Hopes Peak Elementary, he was already making a difference in their lives. For once, none of them had to fear anyone older than them. Even if it was for a short time, the five kids could finally act their age.
Not only has he made their lives better, but he's helped Tsumiki as well. Anyone who knew her could tell you that before she met Hinata, she was the textbook example of someone suffering from depression. After all, her life was miserable seeing as she was constantly tossed to the side like a used tissue, even by her parents. Yet, all the negativity in her life disappeared when she first met Hinata. With him around, all her problems were expelled and she was able to feel happiness for the first time since she was a young child.
With this in mind, it was clear Hinata's underestimating himself. After all, it was because of him that Tsumiki and the students of Hopes Peak Elementary had a basic understanding of what hope is...
0000
Even though he was having rather negative thoughts before he had fallen asleep, Hinata woke up the next day feeling energized. He honestly couldn't wait to start exploring the beach. Apparently the boardwalk was rather nice…
As Hinata began to remove his blanket, he noticed that he felt a bit heavier than usual, like gravity was working against him. Looking towards his left, it didn't take him long to figure out why. Tsumiki was laying on him, fast asleep. As expected, this caused Hinata to mentally freak out. Not only was she sleeping on him even though he refused to share a bed with her, but she also happened to be cuddling him, with his face dangerously close to her chest.
"Uh, Tsumiki, please wake up," Hinata begged the girl, gently shaking her. 'Please don't get the wrong idea.'
"…zzz…stop that…it tickles," the nurse mumbled under her breath as she continued to sleep. Thankfully, it only took a few more shakes to wake her up. "Huh…GHAAA!"
Throwing herself off the ultimate hope, the girl immediately began doing what she was best known for, apologizing. "I-I'm so sorry. I w-was planning on waking you up, b-but you looked so comfortable."
"…I'm not going to question how that led to you falling asleep," Hinata said with a sigh. "Wait, since you tried to wake me up, does that mean that we missed some sort of role call or something?"
"No, but everyone else was at one of the two built in restaurants once I went down. I went up to get you because I thought you would like to eat with them. I'm sorry."
"Don't be. Uh, I'm going to get dressed now. Afterwards, do you want to explore the hotel for a bit?"
"S-sure. That sounds nice."
"Ok. Don't come into the bathroom." With that, Hinata dashed into the bathroom with a pair of cloths in hand.
0000
"Ok, so apparently this place has an arcade, an indoor swimming pool, and you said two restaurants, right?"
"Yes…"
"So, where do you want to go to first?" Hinata asked the girl as he began planning their day. To be honest, he could care less where they go. He was a simple man, he could manage to have fun anywhere that wasn't a clothing store. He wasn't one for fashion. However, he did have his preferences. "The arcade sounds fun, but I know that you're not interested in that sort of stuff."
"I-I may not be a gamer, but the arcade does sound nice," Tsumiki replied. "There's nowhere I desperately want to go to."
"Alright, the arcade it is."
0000
When the two arrived at the arcade, Hinata payed for some tokens for the two of them, despite the fact Tsumiki refused, wanting to pay for her own. Afterwards, the two friends began playing various games, such as pinball, a co-op version of the famous Pac-man, and several other stereotypical arcade games. Eventually, the two split up for a brief amount of time. Apparently, the nurse saw a stuffed animal in one of the arcade's various crane games that she desperately wanted. Meanwhile, Hinata was spending him time shooting hoops at one of the arcade's basketball games. Despite the hoops being rigged in the fact they were exactly the same size as the basketballs, the boy was able to get a perfect score.
"And to think I used to see this as a challenge…how boring," Hinata muttered to himself. As mentioned before, ever since Hinata underwent his transformation, a lot of things he used to find fun began to bore him due to the lack of a challenge they would give him. Speaking of the Hope Cultivation Program, he was going to need a new haircut soon...
"Hey Tsumiki, how's it going?" The boy asked, though based on the girl's slightly stressed out posture, he could tell that she was having no luck with the crane.
"I-I can't seem to get it," the girl sadly told him. "And I ran out of tokens..."
"Let me try," Hinata offered, inserting his last token into the machine. "Which is the one that you want?"
"T-that one," the girl said as she shakily pointed at a stuffed bear wearing a doctor's outfit.
'Why did I even ask?' Hinata thought to himself as he assumed control of the crane. With a large amount of precision and skill, the boy managed to navigate the claw right above the toy, securing victory against the machine. Once the toy fell out of the machine, Hinata presented it to the nurse with a smile. "Here you go."
A slight blush forming on her cheeks, Tsumiki grabbed the bear. "Thank you."
"Not a problem. Well, since we're out of tokens, do you want to help me pick out a few prizes before we leave?" Hinata asked before gesturing towards the multiple tickets wrapped around the boy. "I don't know what to do with these tickets, but I don't want to waste them."
"S-sure."
0000
After practically littering their room with the stuffed animals Hinata spent his tickets on, the two friends decided to grab a bite at one of the two built in restaurants. Though going to the pool was still an option, Tsumiki wanted to wait until nighttime, when everyone else was asleep. The girl was quite self conscious when it came to wearing a swimsuit, finding it uncomfortable when people stare at her.
Anyways, there were two restaurants the two could chose from; a small traditional styled restaurant or a larger one which serves as a club at night. With both of them not liking loud noises, Hinata and Tsumiki decided to go to the traditional restaurant over the nightclub.
"It looks like Koizumi kept her word," Hinata told Tsumiki once the two took a seat. A few minutes ago, they had seen Koizumi and Nidai dragging an upset Souda and Hanamura via ropes. Knowing the two boys, they probably tried perving on some of the girls. "So, do you like tempura? I was thinking of sharing a large order, that is, if that's ok with you."
"I-I'm not really a picky eater," Tsumiki replied. "So I'm fine with sharing. C-can we also have some onigiri? It's my favorite…"
"Sure, I'm cool with that."
Thankfully, it didn't take long for a waiter to arrive at their table. The waiter was an older woman who had black hair, brown eyes, and so happened to be taller than Tsumiki, yet was shorter than Hinata.
"Welcome to Yamagishi Cafe," the waiter greeted. Upon setting eyes on the pair, the woman flashed them a sly smile. "My, my… what a cute couple you two are…"
"You've got that wrong!" Hinata exclaimed, blushing in embarrassment. Thankfully he didn't notice the disappointed which flashed on the nurse's face. "W-we're just friends. Honest!"
"Is that so? Well then, that's a shame. So what would you like to order?"
After giving the waiter their orders, Hinata realized something.
"Hey Tsumiki, could we split the bill? I forgot to use the ATM while we were at the hotel…"
0000
"Ok…run that by me again. How the hell did this even happen in the first place?"
After eating, Hinata and Tsumiki had begun making their way back to the hotel to prepare for the pool, only to bump into Komaeda and Nanami. It was then that the ultimate lucky student called them over to inform them about his latest misadventures.
"*Yawn…* Komaeda and I were walking around the hotel when we saw a raffle. The winning prize was ownership of a five star cruise ship, so we decided to enter. I didn't expect to win anything, but I managed to win some spare batteries. Komaeda however won first place. It probably because of his ultimate luck…I think."
"Yep, pretty lucky if I do say so myself," Komaeda calmly added. "Now Ms. Yukizome doesn't have to worry about paying for the trip back."
"Okay... there's no way we'll be able to take the boat back to Hopes Peak," Hinata explained. "First off, the amount of fuel needed would require everyone to waste all of their vacation money."
"The boat comes with enough fuel to last thirty days," Nanami informed him.
"The hell? Uh, anyways, you also need to factor in the fact no one we know knows how to drive a boat."
"Not to worry, I'm pretty sure Ms. Yukizome knows how to drive a boat. If she doesn't, then we can just find someone else who knows how to do so."
"Uh, you have fun doing that. I'm just going to do something else…"
0000
After parting ways with Nanami and Komaeda, Hinata and Tsumiki loitered around the hotel for a bit until nighttime struck. It was then that they decided to actually do something.
"Are you sure you're ok with me tagging along with you?" Hinata asked, worried. His fear was natural though, for it would only be the two of them at the pool. "I mean, I know how uncomfortable wearing a swimsuit is to you, especially when there's others around you."
"Y-yes, I'm fine," the nurse reassured him. "Like I said, I trust you."
"O-ok, if you're sure," Hinata said before walking into the pool. As he did this, Tsumiki removed the towel she was wearing, revealing that she was wearing the school's swimwear.
When Hinata turned to look at her, his face immediately turned crimson red. He forgot how beautiful Tsumiki was. Well, that was a lie; he always knew she was a stunning individual. However, with the moonlight hitting her skin, looking at her made the boy lightheaded.
Turning his face in embarrassment, Hinata began swimming, hoping the girl didn't catch him staring. But as it turns out, Tsumiki did catch him staring, and she didn't mind it at all. She actually found it quite flattering.
'You have no idea what you do to me Hinata,' Tsumiki thought to herself before swimming after her friend.
0000
Author's note 2: if you're still aching for something to read, I'd recommend my other stories, especially Soldier of Hope and Unhinged. I'm most proud of these two stories…after this one of course.
