July 15th, 2011 (1 week later)
The first night in the hospital was fine.
The sixth? Not so fine.
Ayano was more than annoyed. If all they want me to do is sleep and eat, why can't I just go home where the food is better? But she couldn't complain much. Izuku's mom, 'Please, call me Inko-san,' she had said with a smile after the fifth 'Midoriya-san', liked to send her son over with homemade snacks every day. Ayano loved both the food and company that she got out of the deal.
Izuku tried to spend all the time he could with Ayano, though school took a big chunk out of his availability. Still, he helped her pass the time and brought her the schoolwork she was missing. It was the last couple weeks before Summer break, luckily she would return before the quizzes scheduled the week before the short break.
Another thing different from her last home, Japanese schools started the school year in April, which was the reason they moved so suddenly, barely a week. Plus, their Summer break was barely a month! Outrageous. She had been spoiled with those THREE MONTH vacations back in the US… Ayano wished she had appreciated her time there more. One day when, after three hours of studying, she was decidedly 'done with Japanese', she decided to start teaching Izuku English. Or, she tried. They got about as far as the alphabet song before visiting hours were over. They both promised to continue another time.
Friday, Izuku would be coming around 4 after picking up whatever Inko-san made while he was in school. Ayano was excited for more than that, though. She was to be released the next day, Saturday, though one doctor said if I'm really good they might be able to push it to tonight instead. One week in the hospital was enough, thank you.
She suspected they might just be tired of her complaining and wanted to give her any incentive they could think of to cooperate. But I can't come up with a downside to being nice to my caregivers.
She looked at the clock, thanking whoever was responsible for making sure numbers are the same across languages, to see that it was only noon. She groaned, flopping back from her criss-cross applesauce position.
Ayano just laid there for a couple minutes. She considered counting the dots on the ceiling again, to make sure she was right the first time. The brunette brought her hand up to her bandage on her neck. I haven't seen it yet… Lisa and Sora had, they had been there a few of the times the bandages got replaced. Ayano wished she hadn't seen her mom's face when she saw her neck, but now she couldn't get it out of her head. Nari had kept their face under control, but Ayano would be lying if she said she didn't notice their white knuckles on the armrest.
I could always wear a scarf… or invest in makeup. She slowly sat up, swinging her legs over the side of her bed to face the tiny bathroom. She had seen the mirror in there, only she had left the bandage on. She checked the time again, 12:13. She sighed, the only way to pass the time is to entertain your mind. She read that on a poster somewhere. She pushed herself off the bed and walked to the door, turning the knob slowly but opening the door fast. It hadn't changed in the last couple hours, to Ayano's disappointment.
The blue eyed girl in the mirror didn't look all that different either. The white bandage was stark against her tan skin. The scratchy shirt and sweatpants the hospital gave her were a light blue, which she only just noticed almost matched her eyes.
...I'm stalling. She slowly reached her left hand up to the bandage, barely picking at the edge of the tape. Maybe I should just wait til I get home? But as the thought came, it quickly annoyed Ayano, and what, just give in? She pinched the tape between her thumb and forefinger. What's that saying? 'Like a bandaid'...
A sharp knock on her room door startled her into letting go of the tape. She took a deep breath and smoothed the tape back to its place. Maybe later…
She left the bathroom as her parents opened her door from the other side, catching a glimpse of the 203 engraved towards the top.
"We brought gaaaames!" Ayano's parent's held up two full bags of board, card, and a few portable video games. She smiled and hopped back into bed, browsing her many options before deciding on the Game of Life.
Almost four hours later, Midoriya Izuku walked through the front doors of the hospital, either not noticing or ignoring the blonde boy behind him with his hands in his pockets. The quirkless boy walked up to the desk and fiddled with the casserole dish in his hands as he asked, "Uhm, visitors for Akira Ayano? I know the room number but they said to check in…"
Kacchan scoffed and kept walking, ignoring the receptionist calling for him to give his name. Izuku fumbled with the casserole dish and told her both of their names before running to catch up with his friend.
"It's rude to ignore people like that, Kacchan." Izuku whispered as they made their way up the one flight of stairs to the second floor.
Katsuki scowled, "Like I care if I'm rude to people who don't matter in the long run." Deku, being smart for once, didn't reply. They approached the door marked 203, both of them hearing three laughing voices inside. Deku tried balancing the glass dish in one arm to knock. He was taking too long so Katsuki knocked himself, a bit louder than necessary.
"Come in!" They heard Ayano's voice through the laughter, and Izuku relaxed at the sound, looking over to see Kacchan had relaxed a bit, too. Hmmm… By then he had successfully balanced the dish on one arm and a knee, so he reached forward and opened the door. He grabbed the dish as it tipped forward off his knee, rushing into the room to overcompensate his lost balance.
Lisa and Sora looked up to see Izuku almost drop a nice looking casserole dish. Lisa sped over to grab the glass from him, thanking him for bringing it while she carefully took it from him.
"My mom, uh, she asked me about your favorite food and, well, I remembered on your first day you mentioned, um, ra-sa-ni-a?"
Ayano gasped in excitement, her eyes the size of saucers, "Lasagna?!" She started bouncing on her bed as her mom brought the dish closer.
Izuku rubbed the back of his neck, "Y-yeah, we spent last night looking up all kinds of recipes. She told me she tried 3 different ones before she was satisfied." He giggled, watching Ayano-chan's face as she pulled the lid off the dish.
She gasped, "It looks amazing! Smells delicious, too! I can't believe she went through all that trouble… Mom do we have plates? I wanna share!"
Lisa laughed as she shook her head 'no'. "I'll go ask the nurses station if there's something we can use." She kissed her daughter's head and walked out, teasingly ruffling Katsuki's hair as she passed. He growled and ran his hands through his hair as if to wipe off her affection.
Ayano looked at Katsu-kun in the eyes, tilting her head, "Sooo, did you come to the hospital to stand by my door like a stalker oor…"
His glare was sharp, but nonetheless he walked closer to her bed. She was sitting in the middle with her legs folded, facing a stack of a few boardgames. Sora-san was holding a tin with UNO in bold letters on the top.
"Wanna play with us?" Sora had noticed Katsuki staring, they presented the tin to both boys, "It's a lot more fun with more players, trust me."
Idiot Deku was blushing again, "I-uh, I've never played."
Ayano seemed happy about that for some reason, "That's fine! It's actually a game that's fun to teach, too!" She raised her eyebrows at Katsu-kun, "So what do you say, sit and watch or maybe have an ounce of fun while you're here?"
He grunted, jerking his head at her, "If I gotta play I get the best seat," He waved his hand at her til she got the hint and scooted to the side. He hopped up on the bed, thoroughly ignoring whatever look he got from Lisa-san on her way back in with a few plates and silverware.
The lasagna was nothing like her mom's, but Ayano found that even though she loved her mom's, Inko-san's had its own equally fantastic flavor. The UNO game went on for hours. Since it naturally moved clockwise, and Katsuki was on her left, Ayano had a lot of fun getting petty revenge on the explosive blonde.
After she was released, yay, they weren't lying about letting me out early, Izuku and Katsuki took Sora's offer to drive them home. While they were getting into the car, Izuku asked if he could stay the night. That led to Katsuki silently texting his mom and mentioning that she said it was fine when they were at a stop light.
Sora looked over to their wife, quietly so the kids wouldn't hear them over the radio, "Is it a good idea to have so many people around her first day home?"
Lisa smiled and looked back at her daughter with her friends, "We'll keep a good eye on them."
あきら End Chapter 4 あやの
