EmberSunblaze: The battle has ended! But is the drama really over for the girls? Absolutely not! Let's continue this exciting Okinawa Trip and see where it takes us!
Chapter 18: The Hospital
"For those involved with the Siren incident, it came as a shock to learn that the whole dilemma had only lasted two hours. To us, especially the girls, who had been fully aware during the whole ordeal, it had seemed far longer." Midoriya's voice narrated. "Shortly after our return to the surface, news on the island traveled fast. Rumors of the long awaited return of the abducted highschoolers spread to the neighboring islands even before our interrogations began. Families who had been affected instantly rushed forward, begging to know just who was responsible for the safe return of their loved ones.
Location: Naha Private Hospital
Time: 3:00pm
3 Hours Post-Rescue Mission
"Would anyone like more ice-cream?"
"ME! ME!"
"Yes, please!"
"Totally!"
"That would be delightful!"
"Keep them coming Granny!"
The elderly obasan, cloaked in a simple traditional yukata and work apron, smiled and nodded warmly at the enthusiastic responses. She bent down, pulling from her portable cooler, several small sealed cups of different flavored ice-creams. The patients, Mina, Ochako, Momo, Kyoka, and Toru, all resting in hospital beds and adorned in light, pink button up tops and pajama pants, practically drooled at the sight.
"Now…let's see." The granny muttered, adjusting her reading glasses as she peered at the labels. "Who wants to try….. Ryuku Royal Milk Tea?"
"I DO!" The girls declared brightly, a chorus of hands shooting into the air at the same time.
As the sweet elder came around to each bed to hand out the sweets, the girls continued their bedside conversation. All the while blissfully spooning in mouthfuls of the delicious dessert.
"Do all the patients' get an abundance of free ice-cream here?" Ochako asked, smiling politely as she accepted a fresh cup from the obasan. Her gaze hovered slightly, over the scarred arm, though no longer broken, still bore visual evidence of what had occurred.
"Who knows? All I know is that we're in comfy beds and being fed mouthfuls of sweet desserts!" Mina exclaimed, stretching out her heavily bandaged arms up excitedly. "Our vacation has finally begun!"
"Momo, isn't that like your eighth cup of ice-cream?" Kyoka asked, smirking amusedly at the tower of empty cups sitting on the bed tray. A small white bandage covered the bridge of her nose, which had been fractured back in the caverns.
Momo flushed red, dainty lips smeared with the heavenly cream in her haste to consume as much as physically possible. "I'm merely trying to resupply the calories lost from our disastrous ordeal!" She indignantly replied.
"Girls! Girls! Shall we get back on topic?" Toru insisted, bed jingling as she bounced excitedly. "So like I was saying…" She continued, taking a generous bite of the caramel colored ice-cream. "After today, I truly feel I would be the most terrifying villain ever, hands down!" She emphasized, bringing bandaged arms down hard on the covers. The exclamation was met with amused, doubtful looks from her comrades.
"Yeah…." Kyoka replied, absently twirling her spoon in her fingers. "I'm not sure I can buy that. I mean, you're not exactly what we would call scary."
"More like…adorable!" Momo pointed out brightly. After fearing her orders had unintentionally led to her friend's demise, Momo had been exceptionally warm towards Toru since their return.
"And bubbly!" Mina added, mouth obnoxiously full of the rich dessert.
"And sweet!" Ochako finished, setting down her empty cup and patting her full belly contentedly.
"See?" Kyoka said, smirking as she tilted her spoon towards Toru's bed. "Not really villain-like material."
But Toru was not having it. "Geez! You girls just weren't there! You should have seen me! I was all creepy, covered in blood and mud and I was like "Siren! You're pure evil and spoiled and where's all your big, bad boys now, huh? And she was like "EEEEK Get away from me!" Toru crossed her arms over her chest, chin tilting up proudly. "I tell you she was totally terrified of me! She practically fainted before I even punched her!"
She didn't fail to notice the exchanged looks of disbelief between her friends. Fuming, she stuffed the remaining bits of her ice-cream into her mouth, angrily replying. "You girls are such meanies! I was SCARY I tell you!" She fell onto her pillow, moaning piteously. "Oooobasan, my friends are being mean to me!"
The sweet obasan consoled the desolate girl, absently patting her head. "There, there, here…try the salted cookie flavor." She advised, warmly setting out a new cup of ice-cream into her open palm "Sweet things heal the soul."
Toru took a miserable bite. "It really does!"
Momo, whose bed was neighboring hers, stretched a comforting hand out to Toru. "Now, now, I'm sure in Siren's frazzled state, along with the darkness of the tunnels, you would have seemed vaguely disturbing."
"And even though you don't look like a scary villain," Jiro said, pointing a spoon her way with a wink. "You did manage to walk away from a one on one fight with Bakugo, which makes you a pretty tough cookie!"
"Eek! I can't even imagine!" Ochako said, taking a bite of her Ube-flavored ice cream and shuddering.
"Not to mention you single-handedly apprehended Siren!" Mina pointed out, with a grin. "Though I did get a pretty sweet punch in beforehand!"
Momo nodded, beaming proudly at Toru. "We may not quite imagine you as a "villain", but there's no doubt to anyone here that you were very much a hero today."
Toru was practically glowing at the praise being showered upon her. She blushed, rubbing the back of her neck modestly. "Aww thanks girls! I'm really just relieved that I was able to break Siren's quirk on the boys before anyone could get really hurt."
"Oh…ummm actually," Mina mumbled through a mouth full of ice-cream, pointing towards Ochako. "Ochako actually broke through it first while fighting Midoriya."
A tense silence followed this statement at which both Ochako and Toru dropped their spoons.
"EHHHHHHH?" Toru dragged the word in a hollow dead voice that made the other girls pause and secretly admit that maybe…just maybe…under the right conditions….Toru could be somewhat scary.
Across the room, Ochako sank under her covers, refusing to answer as the invisible girl bombarded her with questions. "How did you do that? Wait, don't tell me…." She crossed her arms, humming as she concentrated. After a moment she thumped her hands together, brightly declaring. "You hit him in the coconuts, right!? I knew I should have tried that with Bakugo! Darn missed opportunities!"
"Ohhhh…she hit him alright." Jiro teased, winking as Momo giggled.
"Right in the feels!" Mina added with a snicker, shooting a mischievous glance towards Ochako's bed, where steam was visible rising from under the sheets where the girl hid.
Toru's head tilted to the side, confused. "Can you be a little bit specific? Because I hit Mineta in all kinds of places and I got no results." Before they could answer, Ochako's sheets were thrown to the side as her scrunched up body slowly lifted into the air; her hands covering her reddened face.
"Oh, dear." Momo murmured, watching her friend float across the roof.
"It was nothing!" Ochako heatedly declared, doing small whirls over Toru's bed. "Just don't listen to them!"
A small knock at the door interrupted them. A small, elderly man walked in bearing a large paper bag. A warm, sweet sugary aroma filled the small room. The Ojisan smiled, bowing politely towards the heroines. "I hope ya have an appetite for some home-made Sata Andagi (A.K.A Traditional Okinawan Donuts)."
"Ummm we would be delighted?" Momo answered for them, in a polite manner as she took a piece of the small fried dough.
"Not sure if they're trying to heal us here," Kyoka wondered aloud, also taking a piece. "or slowly trying to give us diabetes."
"Hey now! Let's not be rude!" Mina said, biting into the piping hot treat. "Okinawans are supposed to have the longest life spans of like…anyone! I think they know what they're doing here."
"Won't you be a dear and come down and eat with us?" Momo gently prompted, looking at her floating friend.
"Yeah, it's like super tasty!" Toru called up, waving a piece of the fried dough up at her. "I don't know what you're so embarrassed about, BUT YOU'VE GOT TO TRY THIS, OCHAKO!"
It was at that moment an exasperated nurse barged into the room, clipboard in hand. "WHY IS IT SO LOUD IN HERE!? Miss Hagakure, I've especially told you several times your voice needs time to rest…" She paused, jaw dropping at the elderly couple passing out fried sweets to the patients. "WHAT IS THIS?"
The Ojisan lifted up the paper bag. "Sata Andagi?"
"This is a hospital ward! NOT A FOOD STALL!" The nurse exclaimed wildly, banishing her clipboard at the elders. "Why are you all even here?
"Hush now," The Obasan chided, waving a wrinkled dismissive hand. "We are merely showing our appreciation to these heroes who have returned our dear grandson back to us!" She shook a wooden spoon at the nurse, scolding. "We should all be thankful for what they've done!"
The nurse sighed, clipboard wearily resting against her forehead. "That's not the point…."
A second, more familiar face, poked her head into the room. "Sorry to interrupt but…" Midnight froze, taking in the sight of the elderly couple handing out donuts to the girls, all the empty cups of ice-cream stacked on their bedside trays, on the nurse who looked on the verge of a meltdown and finally on Uraraka, floating in a fetal position in the air during all this. "My..my…looks like you girls are getting your youthful energy back!"
"You bet!" Mina exclaimed, biting into her steaming donut. "We're totally getting spoiled rotten here!"
"Yes, the citizens here are so kind and gracious." Momo paused, brows furrowed worriedly. "I hope we aren't causing the hospital too much trouble though."
"I wouldn't concern yourselves too much." Midnight replied, nodding towards the nurse who was firmly, but gently leading the elders out. "It's just like they said. Everyone's just grateful for what you girls have accomplished. I'm sure most of these families had feared the worst had happened to the missing students. For them to suddenly appear, alive and well. It must feel like a miracle to them."
"All in a day's work for a hero!" Toru said, puffing up proudly.
"You mean heroes in training." Kyoka corrected her.
Momo's expression remained anxious, her slender fingers twisting the thin sheets of her hospital bed. "It still doesn't seem quite right to me, receiving all this gratitude from everyone. Not when we were the ones that needed to be saved in the end."
Midnight crouched next to the bed, grasping her student's hand in hers. "Yaoyorozu…sometimes it doesn't matter how a battle ends. What's important is how you played your part in it. And after everything you've told me, I know you and your teammates did everything you could to make sure everyone made it out of those caverns." She stood up, gesturing towards the door. "And one teammate in particular really played her part well." With Midnight's bidding, another nurse walked in, pushing along a wheelchair that held a familiar face.
"TSUYU!" The girls squealed, smiles brightening their faces.
"Tsuyu?" Ochako repeated, peeking out from between her fingers and then letting out an excited gasp. "You're here!" She immediately landed, running up and hugging her dear friend. "I'm so glad you're alright!"
"Same here, kero!" Tsuyu warmly replied, wincing slightly at the embrace. Noticing, Ochako's arms hastily withdrew.
"Oh, sorry!" Ochako quickly apologized, taking in Tsuyu's injuries. The green haired girl wore the same light pink cotton pants and top as them. However, her top was unbuttoned, showing her right shoulder and whole chest area covered in white bandages. "Woah…what happened?"
"I got into a fight with a pack of sharks and their mutant leader." She calmly explained, as the nurse wheeled her to an empty bed next to Ochako's. The girls stared.
"Daaaaang!" Both Mina and Kyoka exclaimed together.
"Well, we got into a fight with a pack of…of… teenage boys!" Toru began, but stopped, shaking her head in defeat. "Nevermind…your fight still sounds way cooler!"
Midnight chuckled at the exchange, before quickly checking the time. "I'll let you all get caught up. The boys should be finishing up their police interrogations right about now. I'll send them off and then it'll be your turn!" She headed towards the door, adding brightly. "If all goes well, we can have you girls out of here in a few more hours!"
As she left the room, Tsuyu turned to Ochako. "What about you, kero?" She asked, nodding at the heavily scarred arm. "What happened to your arm? That looks pretty bad."
"Oh…umm…it's really nothing. It just got broken during one of the fights." Ochako explained, sounding hesitant to go into details. She twisted, positioning the arm slightly behind her and out of view as she quickly added, "But it's all fine now! The doctor here fixed it almost instantly! Pretty amazing, uh?"
Ochako's perky reply didn't resonate well with Tsuyu, whose gaze still lingered on the strange markings. "What about those marks, kero?" She didn't fail to notice sharp glances sent between Momo, Kyoka, and Mina.
Luckily for Ochako, she was saved from answering by the appearance of a kindly nurse appearing in the doorway. "Miss Uraraka? The doctor would like to do another check up!"
"Okay!" Ochako said, getting up from her bed and following after giving Tsuyu a quick wave bye.
The girls waited until the sound of her footsteps faded down the hall before Toru's body jerked towards Mina, Momo, and Kyoka, and loudly demanded, "SPILL IT…what happened while I was away!?"
At the nurse's station down the hall, an ear splitting shriek sounded through the hall, followed by a loud. "THEY DID WHAAAAAAAAT?"
The earlier nurse banged her clipboard down on the desk, rushing over and angrily throwing open the door to the ward. "HAGAKURE! What did I say about your throat?!"
The agonized girl was bent over her sheets, hacking and coughing. She glanced up, meekly replying in a now hoarse voice. "Got it….I'll be quiet…"
The nurse nodded, eyeing the other patients sternly. "And don't you girls go and get her over excited either! Understood?"
"Yes Ma'am!" They chorused together.
As soon as the door was shut, Toru turned to them, her entire being shaking from the effort of forcing herself to speak. "Don't listen….Tell. Me. Everything!"
So with Momo, Mina, and Kyoka each taking turns, they described the series of events that led up to the kiss. How they had been captured by Kai and brought to Siren, who had then pitted Ochako and Midoriya against each other in a one on one battle. How Ochako had tried desperately to talk through to Midoriya but got severely injured in the process. And how, in a last ditch effort to free him, she had kissed him.
"So after the kiss, Midoriya broke away from her quirk and came back to his senses." Kyoka finished. "Both him and Ochako managed to keep the other boys away from us until Toru could give Siren a beating." She finished, nodding to Toru who was no longer listening. The poor girl was in the depths of despair as she wailed into her pillow.
"THAT'S NO FAIR!" She cried, fountains of tears spilling upwards in a volume that would make the Midoriya family proud. "Why did I have to miss EVERYTHING!?" She turned towards Tsuyu's bed, sniffling. "Aren't you super, duper mad too, Tsuyu?!"
"No, not particularly." Tsuyu answered, not looking the least bit excited about the news. "I'm more worried about how Ochako is handling this."
Momo and Kyoka exchanged glances, with Mina responding. "Well…you know how she gets…especially with romantic situations."
"Yeah, both her and Midoriya are pretty timid. The chances are neither one is going to have the guts to say anything so they'll just ignore the fact the kiss even happened." Kyoka commented, with Momo nodding in agreement.
"No! We CAN NOT let that happen!" Mina said firmly, holding a fist up in protest. "Girls, we must make a solemn oath that going forth we will make those two acknowledge that a kiss DID happen between them and they need to do something about it!"
Momo held up a timid hand. "Girls, I don't think we should…"
"AGREED!" Mina, Kyoka, and a tear-streaked Toru answered together, with Tsuyu remaining stoically silent.
"I have a bad feeling about this, kero." The frog girl fretted, anxiety for her friend rising.
It was then a ringing sound filled the small room. "Oh sorry, that's my phone." Kyoka explained, reaching over her bed stand and grabbing the vibrating device. She got up, heading to the door. "I bet it's my folks, I'll take it outside."
"Kay!" The girls replied, with Mina and Toru instantly beginning to scheme out ways to get Midoriya and Ochako alone together.
Kyoka walked out, nodding to the nurse at the station and pointing to her phone. The nurse smiled, pointing towards a small waiting room area. She headed that way, pushing the receive button. "Hey, what's up?" She paused, leaning against the wall as she listened to her father speak. "Nah, I'm fine really. It's like my teachers said, I'll be released later today…..No all my friends are fine too. Seriously! No! Geez! Tell mom not to buy any tickets to Okinawa!...Yeah, only two villains, they were totally outnumbered!"
Kyoka didn't have the heart to tell him that along with the villains, she also had to fight her mind-controlled classmates. Some things were just better left unsaid, especially to overly concerned parents. "Nah, it was easy! I had my teammates with me after all….No I can't give you any details, not until I at least speak with the police first…Hmmhm…Yeah…I'll buy some souvenirs….Okay…talk with you soon….bye!" She hung up, sighing. "Geez, I wonder if I'll have to have more phone calls like this even once I'm a pro-hero?"
"Yo! Jiro!" A familiar voice called out.
Kyoka turned, surprised to see Kaminari strutting down the hall towards her. "Kaminari? What are you doing here?" Unlike her, he had on his regular clothes, wearing a simple white T-shirt and loose jeans. A large white band-aid was plastered on her forehead, almost hidden under his thick blond bangs.
"So, funny story! I went out to find a vending machine and kind of…got lost." He grinned sheepishly, offering up his can of soda. "Want some?"
"No thanks." Kyoka said with a laugh. "I think I've had enough sugar for the day. Are all the guys here too?"
He nodded, opening his can and leaning next to her. "Yeah, us and all the missing teens. We've been here for hours! You wouldn't believe how boring it's been." He took a sip, moaning dramatically. "First we all had to get our brain waves checked to make sure we suddenly wouldn't go psycho on anyone and then we had to talk to the police one by one for an interrogation. Though I feel it was all pretty much pointless since none of us can really remember anything." He rubbed his cheek, suddenly looking uncomfortable.
"How's your head?" Kyoka asked, pointing to his forehead.
"Oh, it's fine!" Kaminari answered, perking up as he playfully knocked his fist against his head. "The doctor's said I'm lucky I have a pretty thick skull."
"No joke." Kyoka answered teasingly. An awkward silence fell between them at which Kyoka tentatively asked, "Is…everything else okay? Toru mentioned that a lot of the boys who were controlled by Siren felt really sick afterwards."
Kaminari blushed, rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably. "Nah, I'm fine. The doctors said that since we weren't under her control as long as the others we were probably okay." He paused, staring downwards. "What about you?"
"I guess pretty good considering everything that's happened." She answered, absently tugging on her ear jacks. "Compared to the other girls I feel like I got off pretty light."
He shifted uncomfortably, his gaze darkening. "Umm…about that….Midnight kind of explained to all of us what happened…you know…back in the caverns."
Not knowing what to say, Kyoka merely nodded. She noticed him shift his feet, his fingers tapping the can in a nervous rhythm. He gulped, his tone unusually soft as he asked. "Hey…I know this may be kinda weird to ask…but I was wondering if I…" He looked up at her, golden gaze troubled. "Did…I hurt you? When, you know, I wasn't myself?"
Kaminari glanced back down, staring at the soda can in his palm. "I know it's a stupid question. But ever since I found out about what went on that's all I've been able to think about." He took a small sip, grimacing. "It just… been really bugging me, I guess."
Kyoka stared at his downcast figure, unable to stop the memory of this same boy looming over her in battle, palms lid with deadly electricity as he sneered down at her with a cold, malicious smile. "It's like two different people." She thought with a deep frown.
"We did fight." Kyoka quietly answered, lacing her small fingers together as she carefully considered her words. "Getting hurt just kind of comes with that." She could feel his body stiffen next to hers. Her gaze hovered over his can, watching his knuckles whitening as his grip tightened.
"Jiro… I'm really sorry." Kaminari turned to her with pleading eyes. "I…." He froze, gaping as Kyoka grabbed the soda out of his hand. Placing it on her lips, she quickly chugged the contents in one impressive gulp.
"There, we're even." She said simply, handing the empty can back to him. His mouth remained open, speechless.
"Dude? How is that even?!" A flustered Kaminari asked, jiggling the empty can. "That was literally a half empty can of 100 yen soda….with my spit in it!" He added, blushing.
With one brow quirked up amusedly, she jokingly replied. "You really are such a girl." She covered her mouth, stiffening her laughter as his face reddened even further. "I can't believe I was actually scared of you!"
"Scared?" He blinked, surprised. "Of me?"
"I know, hard to believe, right?" Kyoka replied, amused at his dubious expression.
Kaminari frowned, head tilted to the side quizzically. "What exactly was I like when I was being controlled?"
"Hmmm, well I guess you were pretty similar to Kai. You know, the octopus guy you had to fight?" Kyoka responded, finger tapping her chin in thought. "You had the same red eyes and nasty temper. You also had this really sinister smile."
"Sinister?" Kaminari repeated, lips twitching amusingly. "Yeah, I guess I could maybe pull that off."
"Doubt it." Kyoka teased, earjacks coming up and playfully flicking his bangs.
"Oh yeah? Watch this!" He did a pose, hand coming up to his chin as he shot her a devilish smirk. He raised his eyebrows expectantly. "How do I look? Sinister? Shocking? Dashing?"
"Try constipated." She mockingly replied.
"Hey! That was a serious attempt!"
"One you seriously failed at!"
Their eyes met and both teens couldn't help but laugh, each covering themselves in an attempt to stiffen their mirth. It was like a tension that had been lingering had suddenly been lifted for both of them. To Kyoka, it was a relief to see that the slump Kaminari had been in mere moments before had vanished, replaced with his usual ease and cheerfulness. Something she just realized, she had terribly missed.
"I'm glad you're back to normal." She found herself saying, surprising both herself and Kaminari. He scratched his cheek self-consciously, trying to hide a small blush.
"Yeah, well, I'm just relieved you're not mad at me." He admitted, grinning sheepishly. "Especially since I had already gotten on your bad side earlier today."
It was now Kyoka's turn to blush, the awkward memory resurfacing. She ducked her head, clicking her ear jacks together as she softly replied. "You're…not the only one who needs to apologize. I shouldn't have used my quirk on you during our volleyball match. Especially since I already knew it was an accident. I just sorta…lost my temper.``
"Woah, Jiro! Hold up a sec! That was like ages ago!" Kaminari sputtered, shooing the apology away. "And I was totally in the wrong there!" He scratched his head in annoyance, finding himself in a moral dilemma. "Look, I know this is going to sound really far-fetched and all. But the thing is, back when this whole beach trip was announced, Mineta mentioned that he had this weird idea to try to get pics of you girls on the beach. I didn't really think anything of it, since well…it's Mineta. But during the match…I thought for sure I saw the flash of a camera aimed in your direction." He paused, holding his chin as he tried to remember. "Looking back, I was probably just being paranoid. I'm sure in reality Mineta would never…" His thought was left unfinished, flinching at the demonic flames that seemed to rise from within Jiro as she angrily glared down at her shaking fists.
"That little twerp had this all planned out since the very beginning!?" She seethed, infuriated that this whole mess had started because of one little perv that couldn't keep his hands out of his pants. "I swear he is dead as soon as we get out of here!"
"Ummm, are you okay?" Kaminari nervously asked. "We're still cool….right?"
Waving away the murderous thoughts, she shot Kaminari a reassuring smile. "Always." She touched his arm, adding. "Thanks for looking out for me back there."
"Always." He repeated, warmly looking down at her.
"There you are!"
Both Kaminari and Kyoka turned away from each other, spotting Midnight leading the other boys of class 1-A down the hall towards them. The group halted next to them and Kyoka noticed that all of the boys were dressed like Kaminari, in their citizen clothes. "Guess they're all heading out together."
She found the air around her felt colder as Kaminari moved away, approaching the group with a carefree wave. "Sorry guys! I kinda lost my way after grabbing a drink!"
"Idiot." Bakugo grumbled, moodily standing in the back of the group. The aggressive teen was slouched, hands dug deep into his short pockets and seemed impatient to get going. He seemed determined to ignore Kyoka's presence, keeping his focus elsewhere. Though not as evident as Bakugo, Kyoka did notice the other boy's same dark aura surrounding them. Their postures slumped and downcast, each looking tired and wary to catch her eye. Mineta was strangely absent from the group.
"I guess they're still a little tense about what happened." She pondered, feeling bad for the gloomy group. She was surprised when Midoriya shyly stepped forward, greeting her with a timid smile.
"Hey Jiro, how are all the girls doing?" He asked, not bothering to mask his worry.
"I bet he's worried about Ochako." She felt the stares of the other boys on her and knew Midoriya was not the only one feeling concerned. "Everyone is in good spirits." She answered brightly, trying to sound more perky than usual. "We're really excited to be getting out later today!"
"Oh, that's great!" Midoriya replied, shoulders sagging in relief. She had the sense that there was more he wanted to ask, but couldn't quite bring himself to.
"See boys, I told you they were doing well!" Midnight said, placing a hand over both his and Kaminari's shoulders. "Now let's get you all out of here! Aizawa Sensei will be expecting you all soon!" She led them away, with Kaminari peeking over his shoulder at her.
"See ya later!" He waved, shooting her a grin.
She smiled, giving a small wave back. "Well, at least he's back to normal." She thought, wandering back towards their room. "I wonder how the others are going to cope?" Truthfully, she had been so worried about the other girls and their injuries that she hadn't thought much of how the boys were feeling about the whole ordeal. "I guess if they're like Kaminari, they're probably feeling pretty guilty."
Kyoka opened the door to the ward, entering to find Tsuyu enrapturing the girls as she described her daring escape from the pack of sharks. She sat down, listening as she got to the part when Todoroki fished her out of the water and got engaged in a fight with the shark-quirked sidekick, Ripper. She stealthily snuck a peek at Momo and found her best friend flushed with excitement, her expression jubilant at hearing of Todoroki's heroic deed.
"How simply valourous of Todoroki for ensnaring you from such a vicious attack!" Momo gushed, cheeks pink with admiration. Mina and Toru exchanged knowing looks between them.
"I'm pretty sure he just thought I was a grouper fish." Tsuyu commented, finger resting on her chin. "But he did act quickly, hiding me and the old man who was accompanying him with ice." Her head tilted to the side in thought. "During that time, I had already lost a lot of blood so I was slipping in and out of consciousness. But I remember hearing the battle going on. There was a lot of roaring and yelling from Todoroki, kero."
"He wasn't hurt was he?" Momo asked, her fingers clutching her sheets nervously.
"Not that I recall." Tsuyu answered, tone apologetic.
Kyoka walked over, giving Momo a friendly nudge with her elbow. "Relax! It's Todoroki we're talking about. You know, 2nd place runner-up in the U.A. Sports Festival?"
"Fellow U.A recommendation student!" Mina added.
"Hottest guy in the class!" Toru finished, earning questionable looks from the others. She shrugged. "Not sure how it helps in a fight, but it has to count for something!" They all laughed, pausing only when a rather downcast Ochako walked back into the room. Toru's head whipped around, with an excited squeal. "Ochako! Tell me about…."
Tsuyu's tongue whipped out, crossing the room in milliseconds and wrapping around the invisible girl's mouth. Muffled sounds of annoyance followed, with Toru flapping her arms in protest. Ochako stood stiffly, turning to Momo for an explanation.
"Toru…. wants to know how your check-up went?" She helpfully explained.
Tsuyu's tongue retracted, leaving behind a slimy residue along Toru's cheeks. "Yeah…sure…your check-up." She repeated, shooting Tsuyu a glare as she wiped the spit away. "How did that go?"
"It…went well." Ochako said, not really having the energy to dwell into her friends' odd behavior. She sat at her bed, rubbing her arm apprehensively. "The bones are still stable, which is good. The doctor just thinks that I'll be sore for a bit."
"And the marks?" Tsuyu prodded.
She tugged lightly at the ends of her hair as she answered. "It's a severe case of friction burn. It'll probably heal on its own, but it may also stay as a scar." She shrugged, trying to sound casual.
Tsuyu turned to the others, each reflecting the same mix of concern and sympathy for their friend. Both her and Toru had been filled in by Momo and Mina on how Midoriya had caused her injury with his Black Whip quirk. To have a permanent reminder of such a dramatic event would not be the least bit pleasant. But before they could say anything, there came a loud knock on the door and Midnight once again popped her head through.
"Okay girls, it's showtime!" Midnight announced, beaming brightly. "Let's get these police interrogations over with and roll out of here!"
Author's notes:
For those curious about the foods the girls are presented with as gifts from the generous locals, this is a break-down of what their eating:
-Blue Seal Ice Cream: An famous ice-cream brand based in Naha, Okinawa. Though it technically was born in the U.S. after WWII, the business thrived in Okinawa, Japan. It's slogan is "Born in America, Raised in Okinawa!" The ice cream is famous for it's Okinawa themed flavors. Popular flavors include Shiiquasa Sherbet, Ryuku Royal Milk Tea, Beni-Imo, Okinawan Salt Cookies, Ube, and Sugar Cane.
-Sata Andagi: As noted in the story, it's a tradition deep fried bun, similar to a donut ball. You can also find some in Hawaii. The ingredients are rather simple, just consisting of flour, sugar, and eggs. Though other flavors can be added to the dough.
As always, I would love to know what you all think of the chapter! Loved all the positive feedback on the final battle in the last chapter ^_^