Sorry this chapter is short, but I feel this shows the dynamic in Bakusquad with Leinei better, as well as her relationship with her brother and sister. (and yes I have the headcannon Hawks is a great big brother, just very absent in the process). I hope you enjoy and I'm sure she'd appreciate any hugs you'd wanna give her, especially after the last chapter. Id suggest listening to Kelly Clarkson's Broken and Beautiful for this chapter. Thank you so much for reading! Lei and I appreciate your attention!
Leinei groaned softly as she came to in Recovery Girl's office, her head throbbing from where she hit it on the pitch. Her body wasn't as sore as it was, but she still felt exhausted. Despite this, she sat up and tried to swing her legs off the bed. Recovery Girl smacked her knee, forcing her back up.
"You collapsed on the field, you obviously haven't been sleeping, so you're not leaving here until you're well enough to do so," the lady scolds her. "You kids these days, always hurting yourselves and pushing yourselves too far. Did that Eraserhead put you up to not resting before the event with your quirk training?"
"N-No, ma'am," she says meekly, settling back into the bed and trying hard not to cry. "Am-am I still allowed to participate in the festival?"
"Obviously not! Midnight had you removed due to the fact you collapsed. Or do you not remember falling?"
"I just remember seeing Denki coming to talk to me," she mumbles. "I'm sorry…"
"I'm not mad at you, dearie," Recovery Girl sighs, perching herself back into her chair. "I'm mad at the situation you put yourself in. I'm glad you collapsed here at school rather than in the field at the very least. But you need to start resting more. The second event should be finishing up soon, so you'll rest here for a few minutes while it does so and they announce the winners to be proceeding. In the meantime, your phone has been ringing nonstop in the locker room, it drove Hounddog nuts. He brought it here once he realized where you were. It seems your brother has been trying to get a hold of you."
"Right, thank you," she murmurs as the nurse hands her the phone. She unlocked it and saw the thirteen missed calls from Keigo. She can't stop the tears as she calls him back, crossing her legs as she leans over with her head in her free hand. It rings once before he picks up.
"Heyo! I saw you on tv, you were amazing, kiddo!" Keigo greets her, which just makes her cry harder. The tears rolled off her chin as she gasped for breath. Recovery Girl pulled the curtain around her shut to give some semblance of privacy. "Hey, is everything okay? Why are you crying? Do I need to come kick Reina's ass for you?"
"N-No," she whimpers, trying hard to stop the tears from running down her cheeks. "No, I'm going to be kicked out, I can't keep up with everyone else. I don't deserve to be here, Keigo. They're just gonna kick me out because I dropped the way I did…"
"Leinei," he says softly, his voice stern. "You did amazing out there. You placed for the second round, you did that. You were the best you could be and I'm so damn proud of you. If I could have been there today, I would've been screaming from the stands for you. You know that. You do know that, don't you?"
"I-I know," she promises, pulling her knees to her chest as she hiccups and wipes a few lingering tears off her face. "I-I think Reina said she was going to b-be here today, but I haven't seen her."
"Yeah, she's probably doing security detail," he assures her. "But I think she's just as proud of you as I am. You dropped ninety kids in a minute. I know most pros that can't do that! You're just like your big brother!"
"I'm nowhere near as good as you," she chuckles, her voice thick from the crying. "Keigo..?"
"Yes, Lei Bay?"
She bites her lip, hugging her knees tighter as she rests her forehead on them. Her chest was tight as he repeated the nickname, trying to get her attention. She couldn't even remember what she was going to ask him; her brain was foggy now. She just wanted a nap.
"No-nothing," she mumbles. "Shouldn't you be at work?"
"I mean, I am," he replies. "But I always can spare a minute to talk to my favorite little sister. Lei Bay, how much have you slept in the past few days?"
"Not much," she admits. "I-I've been too nervous about the festival and starting school again, and the nightmares-"
"Have you told Reina about them?"
"No, she doesn't understand. She never understands. She just wants me to be this perfect little sister and I can't be that."
"Okay, breathe, Lei," he tells her, his voice soothing and soft. "Just breathe. It's you and me, and most likely the nurse that's taking care of you. You need to rest more. I can see about talking to the Commission to get you some sleeping aides, because I don't want you to get hurt because you're not sleeping. And, I will talk to Reina about the expectations of you. Don't worry, this stays between you and me. Does that sound good?"
"Mmhm," she hums, relaxing as she closes her eyes. "I'm gonna lay down for a few more minutes before the second event ends. I'll call you when I get home, Keigo."
"Alright. Have fun, and remember. You're always my favorite sister."
"I know. Love you."
"Love you too."
He hangs up first and she sets her phone down on the bed before laying back and rolling on her side. She finally felt ready to sleep, hugging her pillow as her eyelids drooped shut. All of the tension of the last few days ebbed from her body as she finally fell into a restful dreamless sleep.
"You guys can't just barge in here like this! She's sleeping!"
"Aw, we'll be quiet, promise!"
"Sorry, ma'am, we just wanted to see how she was doing since we had a break in the events!"
It felt like she'd just fallen asleep, but her body felt a lot better than it did about twenty minutes ago. She had just sat up when the curtain was swiped back, Kaminari and Kirishima standing there with excited smiles on their faces.
"Hey, you look a lot better!" Kaminari told her, coming over and plopping on the foot of the bed. "You don't look like you're about to drop dead."
"That's not a manly thing to say to a lady," Kirishima scolds before punching the back of Kaminari's head. "But we were really worried. You dropped like a sack of potatoes. What happened?"
"I just hadn't slept much in a few days," she admits with a strained laugh, smiling to reassure them. "I feel better now though. I'm sorry I worried you two."
"Not just us," Kaminari snorts. "The entire class. Iida went on a whole tangent about how we had to win the next events for your sake or something. I think he feels back for scaring you that first day."
"Yeah, did he really say you'd be kicked out of the Hero Course if you screwed up in the Sports Festival?" Kirishima asks, tilting his head. "So not manly to scare a lady like that. Jerk."
"It's fine," she interjects as Kaminari goes to open his mouth and add something else. "Did you guys win the next event?"
"Yeah, it was a cavalry battle," Kirishima tells her, rubbing the back of his head with a wince. "I got hit in the head pretty hard by Bakugo."
"I got recruited by Todoroki," Kaminari adds, pointing at himself. "We both placed for the third event!"
"Really? I'm so proud of you guys!" she gushes, perking up. "Did Bakugo place too?"
"Yeah, that pain placed too," the blond sighs. "I think he was distracted during that event though. Y'think he was worried about Salinsa?" He directs the question to Kirishima, who shrugs and scratches the forming lump on his head from Bakugo's repeated punches.
"Maybe. He didn't say anything about it, but I think he'd be too proud to even hint at it. Are you going to come down for the side events? The girls had this thing they wanted to do, and I'm sure they'd love to have an extra hand!"
"Um, sure!" Leinei agrees, grabbing her phone as she gets up and stretches. "It would be boring if I spent the rest of the festival here, wouldn't it?"
"Yup, and you can cheer for us in the last round too," Kaminari agrees, hopping up and punching the air as the trio began to walk towards the door. It slides open as they go to walk out, Bakugo standing there and his eyes widening as he sees her up. Leinei tries to smile at him, but he says nothing, just moving to the side so they could walk out.
"You think us talking about him summoned him?" Kaminari asks Kirishima as they slip out. Leinei brought up the rear again, shaking her head at his whispers and sighing softly as she turned to the ashen blond.
"I heard you placed for the third event, good job!" Leinei tells him, her hand out for a handshake or a high five, whichever he decides. He just stared at her hand before scoffing.
"Like it was any surprise I would," he tells her, slapping her hand away. The impact stings her hand, the skin reddening as she shakes it out and lets it fall. "Dumbass."
"Yeah, I know," she replies, rubbing her head as she sheepishly smiles. "Sorry if I worried you."
"Tch."
He bumps her shoulder as he walks past her, his hands shoved in his pockets. Kirishima and Kaminari watch him, not wanting to argue with him over his attitude. Leinei sighs and turns back, raising one fist to the air.
"You better hold true to your statement of winning, Katsu!" she demands, the boy stopping and stiffening. A squeak escaped Kaminari as a small smile graced Bakugo's lips. "Because I'm gonna be really disappointed watching the last event and my friend falls flat on his face because-"
"Just shut up. And who said I was your friend?"
"Didn't have to," she retorts, walking past the others as she bumps his shoulder back. He growls and turns his head away as she walks in front of him. "Now come on. I need to find the girls and help them with whatever they're planning."
Did she just really call me Katsu?
