"I'm fine now! I've been cleared by the doctor, so you can let go." Luciana huffed. Matt was holding her arm from one side while Ichigo was on the other. The two of them, along with Ren, Mishi, Pake, and Enji, had hovered over her for her entire hospital stay.
"We can worry," Matt retorted. "Still help." Now Matt, Pake, and Ichigo were accompanying her out of the hospital.
"That's right. We can still help, and besides, the doctor said you shouldn't do too much. Your head is still healing and you were in a light coma for a week," Ichigo agreed.
The woman snorted. "He said walking wouldn't hurt me. I can walk on my own, so let me go already!"
"Why not just pick her up entirely?" Pake chimed in mischievously. He jumped in front of her and lifted her up by the waist. The three of them had been hounding her about walking on her own since she refused the wheelchair out.
"That's it. I'm done with this." She smacked him on the head, jumped away, and ran. She quickly climbed into the passenger seat of Mishi's car.
"I take it they refused to let you walk on your own?" Mishi asked dryly.
"Obviously. I'm not that weak," she pouted. The other three males all trailed out of the building and into the car. "And Mishi, clean your car up." The entire thing was a mess of feathers and dandruff.
"You shouldn't have done that. You could have hurt yourself," Ichigo worried.
"Not safe, but Lucy strong." Matt was patting the pinkette's back.
"Stupid. That's what that was." Pake was glaring at her.
"Smart. That's what that was," Luciana retorted. "I'm sick of being coddled. Just because I was kidnapped, traumatized, and injured does not mean I am weak and can't do anything! In fact, I recall escaping on my own before the police and heroes got there. So, I'm fine."
"Trau-ma-tiz-ed?"
"Means she was subject to a disturbing emotional or physical injury," Mishi explained.
"I've already gotten help for it, so that's fine," she sniffed disdainfully. "Besides, you do realize I was allowed to leave the hospital? That means I'm fine."
The three in the back seat continued to argue with her the entire way to her apartment. "Enough! We're here!" Mishi yelled over them.
Luciana's response was to jump out and slam the door. She was inside before any of them had a chance to unbuckle.
"How is she so fu-..." Pake began, but trailed off before he finished.
"Fast? Nimble? Agile?" Matt supplied.
"Yeah." Ichigo replied, glaring at the red-headed hero, knowing he almost cursed in front of Matt. The four men made their way inside to watch the elevator doors close with Luciana behind them.
"How!" Pake was confused and frustrated. "That elevator always take forever!"
"She's just got this magic touch. Whenever she calls the elevator, it comes and works better or something." Ichigo sighed.
"No, Lucy smart. She work out lots." Matt began walking towards the staircase. "Have fun." He began rocketing up the stairs.
The other three stared at the elevators, waiting. "Does he always use the stairs?"
"Yeah. Normally, he and Luciana both use the stairs. They say it's to build muscle." Ichigo shuddered. "At least Luciana took the elevator right now."
Luciana was hiding in her room in an effort to avoid the prying of her friends. It was sweet but exhausting. She just wanted to cuddle her boyfriend and sleep. No questions. No fawning. No kidnapping.
She glared at her closet. On top of her friends hovering, she needed to get back on the streets, but that was hard when you had pro heroes hovering. Only a couple of hours to spend waiting and they'd go home, but that would be later than she should be. Then Ichigo would still be hovering anyways.
A huff of annoyance escaped her as she hopped to her feet. Moving slowly, she practiced her forms carefully, so she didn't strain her healing body. It appeared that she was dancing, slowly and gracefully.
Sweat dripped off of her, but Luciana continued to work. She had to be ready for anything. No matter what happened, she had to protect her brother and her friends, no matter what happened to her.
Redcat was hiding behind a dumpster, gasping silently. Her own boyfriend was chasing her. He, of course, didn't know who Redcat was, but still… She had lost him, at least temporarily.
"Endeavor! I think the villain went that way!" A distant voice called out.
"Well? What are you waiting for?" The hero's growl was much closer than the other voice. His footsteps began pounding away. When silence reigned once again, the thief let out a hiss of pain. Her wrists and ankles were bare, the cloth burnt away leaving her skin slightly burnt. Her stomach was also bare, burnt far worse than anywhere else. The skin was already hurting and the cool breeze was not helping.
She crawled out of her hiding place and stood. The irony was too much. She was determined to protect him and he goes and attacks her, in an attempt to protect her! Endeavor had caught her outside an apartment near their complex. She had been climbing up and he attacked her, recognizing the mask. She had been on her way in after a successful 'mission'. The money was safe, she was not. She was lucky she hadn't changed yet, otherwise her situation might have been worse.
"I hate my life," she muttered as she stripped her jacket and mask off. She navigated the alleys back to her apartment with ease, despite the dark, maze-like warren that surrounded them. It had only been a little over a month since she was released from the hospital and she was already getting hurt enough to go back.
Finally inside her apartment, with no one the wiser this time, she stashed her stuff and set the cash aside, under her bed.
Gingerly, she began treating her injuries. After a couple of minutes, she grabbed her phone and texted Ichigo to come over. It hurt too much to move and it was after dawn. She already had her excuse too. She relaxed on the floor.
"What happened this time?" Ichigo asked softly as he crouched beside her. He had obviously rushed over.
"There was an 'accident' at Queen Bee. A guy with a fire quirk attacked me when I refused to give him entrance, he came back and surprised me while I was arguing with a friend of his." Luciana explained quickly. This really had happened, before she had done a quick, high-paying job this morning. She had even been mildly burnt then.
"And you walked home like this?" Her friend stared down at her exposed wounds.
The woman struggled to sit up. "They honestly didn't feel that bad. I treated them before I came home and then I did again here! When I realized how bad they were…" she sighed. "They let me go home early, so don't worry."
"Of course…" he pinched the bridge of his nose. "You are so lucky you're hurt that badly…"
His quirk, Boost, allowed him to boost the strength of physical things, like healing or speed and things like that. He used it to heal people, mainly because he was a doctor. He was the only reason Luciana had recovered so fast physically from the kidnapping.
"Ok, I'm ready." The bluenette said. One minor side effect of his quirk on her was that it caused extreme pain. It reacted differently on everybody.
Ichigo's eyes glowed pink as he held her hand, allowing a pink glow to suffuse her body. Moments later, it disappeared.
"Ack!" Luciana curled in on herself. "T-thanks, 'go." Sweat dripped down her face.
"How bad is it?" The man asked, worrying his lip.
"Not too bad, just feels like I got it and someone is slapping it," she reassured him. "Just do me a favor and don't tell Enji. I'll tell him on my own."
"All right… only if you're planning to tell him." Her response was a nod. "I'll let you sleep it off." He deftly scooped her up and put her on her bed without jostling her. "Good night, Sweetheart." He whispered before leaving her dark room.
Luciana, despite all attempts, couldn't sleep. The pain didn't really bother her. After all, it looked worse than it felt. No, instead she was worrying about her boyfriend. What if he encounters one of the them and got hurt? It was the main question running through her head. She knew he was strong, but he was also arrogant.
She lay there worrying for hours. Some light peeked through the crack in her blinds. Enji would be home.
Making up her mind, she climbed out the window and locked it behind her. Using the fire escape, she walked over to Enji's bedroom window and picked the lock. She quickly opened the window, climbed in, and shut and locked it behind her. Enji wasn't there, but she could hear the shower running. Curling up on his bed, she finally relaxed.
When she was with Enji, most of her worries disappeared and her nightmares were almost completely gone.
A few minutes later, Enji stepped into his room to see a sleepy Luciana lying on his bed. This had become a regular occurrence since he had given her the key to his door. Although, she mostly came in through the window.
"Nightmares back?" He asked softly as he cuddled up to her. He had patrolled all night, so he could sleep the day away with her. She, of course, knew that because of their encounter hours earlier.
"Yeah, and I was worried about you last night."
"I was careful. I even made sure to not lose my sidekick this time."
"'M proud… I love you." she mumbled as she cuddled into his chest.
"I love you too."
"Don't squeeze, got hurt at work…"
"What happened?" His grip tightened fractionally.
"Idiot with a fire quirk got ma-" she yawned, "mad when I refused to let 'im in. He attacked me when I was distracted and burnt my hands, feet, and stomach. Don't worry, 'go healed me up… I'm ok now." The irony wasn't lost to Luciana, despite her tiredness.
Enji was silent for a long moment before asking, "You won?" The only response he got was a sleepy hum. "I love you." He murmured into her ear before settling in to sleep.
