Category: Romantic Fluff, Hurt and Comfort, Angst

Characters: Hanta Sero, Mina Ashido

Mina crouched down to peer around the corner of the hallway, her ears straining to catch the small snips of conversation drifting out of the room at the end of the hall. She could only catch faint snatches of information, like "ransom," "heroes," "hostages," and "bomb." The last word sent a cold chill through Mina's body. Mina had been lucky to participate in the operation, as the hero she was interning for thought her ready for significant action. However, the investigation unit had only possessed a small amount of information. A group of bank robbers had taken the three floors of an affluent bank hostage. They had cleared the first two floors already and released the hostages, but there had been no explosives located. Mina narrowed her eyes as she remained crouched in the side hall.

Is there really a bomb? If there was, Mina would have to proceed much more carefully. The pro hero was still clearing the second floor and had sent Mina onward to collect information about the leader of the burglars, who was hunkered down in the safe room with one known hostage that who knew the combination of the safe. The heroes had stormed on the scene and prevented them from fleeing with the stacks of cash, and now they were holed up, arguing with the hostage negotiators over radio. Mina continued to listen to the snippets of conversation she could hear, but could divulge no usable information. I have to get closer! she decided.

Crawling slowly on all fours, Mina crept around the corner to slink down the hallway. Yellow light spilled out of the slightly ajar door at the end of the hall. With every foot that Mina proceeded forward, the conversation clarified; once she could hear the words entirely, she paused in the shadows to listen.

"Boss, the heroes have taken the first two floors and are probably on their way up! The hostage negotiator said that another agency just arrived on the scene, too! I say we get outta here while we still can," pleaded an underling. There followed a savage snarl, likely emanating from the throat of the irritated leader.

"Boss," crooned another subordinate, "you know what they say- 'he who runs away lives to rob another day'!" Mina wrinkled her nose at the distasteful modification of the common saying. The boss snarled again. Mina jumped slightly as there was a loud bang, and a rolling chair came flying out of the room. It crashed through one of the windows and plummeted to the ground, accompanied by huge shards of glass. Screams floated up from the outside, and Mina hoped that no one had been crushed under the leather furniture or impaled by the glass pieces.

"Damn heroes. Sticking their noses in where it doesn't belong," growled a deep, gruff voice which Mina assumed belonged to the head criminal. "Fine! Initiate Plan B. Let's get the hell out of here." Mina shuffled backward, further into the darkness, as loud shuffling and banging spilled into the hall. In the next second, a frightened young man with disheveled clothes and duct tape still binding his mouth and hands came sprinting out of the room. He rushed right past Mina to bound down the stairs, leaving behind glittering tears of terror. The thumping and rustling continued, so Mina crawled silently to the end of the hall to peek into the room.

A gaping hole had been carved out of the wall, presumably by one of the robbers' Quirks. The enormous metal safe lay open with large sums of money missing, as evidenced by the stray yen bills fluttering around the floor. Mina cursed loudly when she realized the criminals had fled already. She pressed down on the button on her earpiece to give report, but the pro hero's voice cut in before she had the chance even to open her mouth.

"Pinky? Pinky, do you copy? You have to get off the third floor! The hostage says there's an explosive planted in the safe room!" Mina gasped, and sure enough, she spied a large time bomb cemented to the desk on the side of the room, ticking down from five seconds. The young hero scrambled to her feet to stumble into the hall, leaping out of the broken window without a second thought. It was either jump from the third story and risk mortal injury, or falter and surely die in a fiery inferno.

Just as she had cleared the building by about three feet, it exploded behind her. Mina screamed as the shockwave struck her square in the back, followed by chunks of brick, iron, and glass. The force caused her back to bow dramatically, and she swore she heard a sickening crack, but that could have been the debris raining down upon the sidewalk below. The roar of fire followed, and Mina's skin grew unbearably hot as the bubbling flames licked at her exposed arms and legs. She could feel the fabric of the back of her hero costume fray and snap with the heat to expose her pink skin to the hungry fire. Black spots danced at the edge of her vision among waves of gray-white, slowly darkening her sight. Everything burned and ached and stung; her muscles wailed, or maybe that was her, shrieking in agony as the explosion tore her body to shreds.

The explosion blasted her across the street at breakneck speed; Mina could see the building opposite rushing up towards her. She tried to mentally prepare herself to crash into the harsh, unforgiving brick construct, but really, how does anyone brace themselves to splat like a bug against a windshield? Mina had the strangest feeling that someone was calling out for her, but she couldn't be sure with the wind roaring in her ears like a hurricane.

"Mina!"

Mina's stomach lurched as she abruptly jerked upward. The red brick of the building zoomed mere inches away from her face as she sailed against gravity. Barely clinging to consciousness, she could only gape at her legs flailing in the rushing wind, the concrete sidewalk and stunned crowd rapidly growing smaller. Her muddled mind took a few seconds to register that a layer of tape wrapped around her middle; a long swathe of the white tape protruded outward, pulled taut with incredible strength. Mina arched at the building's height and was greeted by a brilliant, blue, cloudless sky. Then she was falling again.

"Gotcha!" her rescuer cried as she flopped heavily into their muscular arms. She blinked rapidly, still struggling to comprehend the rapid chain of events that had transpired. However, even in her addled state, Mina could recognize the beaming grin shining down on her.

"Hanta," she croaked. Her throat burned terribly; it felt like she'd swallowed thousands of tiny glass shards which had torn her trachea into shreds. She coughed weakly, then groaned miserably as it made her aching chest muscles hurt that much more. Hanta's strong arms held her like the most fragile porcelain, just securely enough to make her feel like she were in the world's safest place. Suddenly, all of the emotions and fear and pain finally broke through the wall of adrenaline. Mina began to cry and hyperventilate. "H-Hanta… I… Ungh… Hanta…" she babbled nonsensically between heaving sobs. Her chest swelled with gasping breaths; it felt like no matter how much she inhaled, she simply couldn't breathe in any oxygen. Her vision began to flicker again.

"Hey, hey," the dark-haired boy cooed soothingly. His fingers felt cool and comforting as he swept her sweat-slicked hair from her face. "It's all right. I've got you. You're okay." Mina curled into his chest with another deep, wallowing wail. Her fingers pawed at the spandex of his hero suit, desperate to anchor herself to something after being flung into oblivion mentally and physically. Hanta didn't seem to mind; in fact, he read her intentions quite well. He grabbed her hand and placed it on his cheek. "I'm here, Mina. You are not alone."

His gentle, reassuring voice bled into Mina like a chill on a winter's day. It soothed her overheating and frantic body. Gradually, her breaths became more even and less labored, and the dense fog lifted from her mind. Hanta crouched down as he held her tenderly, still pressing her hand to his face. "That's it. That's my girl. You're okay," he gently coaxed. Mina's sobs quieted to small, muffled sniffles and the occasional hiccup. "That's my girl," he repeated softly as he cradled her close. Mina breathed in his scent, a mixture of adhesive and citrus that was odd but pleasant, and felt calm flood through her body. She was safe. She wasn't alone.

Hanta used his tape to swing them from the building roof down to the street. The crowd engulfed them immediately. Concerned passersby, police attempting to gain control, avid journalists and photographers, and the members of the two hero agencies thronged around the heroic Hanta and the injured Mina. Mina whimpered and pressed close to her savior; all the noise and flashing lights were too much, too reminiscent of the roaring fire and crashing rubble.

"Oi! Give her some space, will ya?" Hanta roared angrily. The screaming crowd immediately hushed, surprised by the outburst by the presumably amiable boy. The momentary distraction allowed the police force and heroes to rein in the mob and clear some space for the ailing girl. Shrill sirens blared in the near distance as an ambulance navigated the destroyed street. The entire front of the bank had collapsed with the explosion, spilling a mass of bricks, mortar, metal, and paper bills into the road. The ambulance stopped as close as they could, and the EMTs immediately jumped out to haul a stretcher over. Hanta briskly strolled to meet them. "She's severely injured," he told the paramedics while they prepared the cot. When Hanta went to lay her on the white cloth, she whined loudly and clung to him.

"Hanta… No… Stay with me," Mina pleaded. The horror was still so fresh in her mind; if he let her go, she'd plummet back into that confusing dark maelstrom.

"Hey," Hanta tutted pacifyingly. "These guys are gonna take good care of you, okay? Come on." Reluctantly, Mina peeled herself away from Hanta. He laid her on her side on the stretcher. She kept her hand against his face until the very last second, desperate to cement herself. Hanta leaned into her touch, smiling sweetly down at her. Though Mina was disoriented, she could still see the stark lines of worry etched into his face and the hesitancy swimming in his black eyes. "That's my girl," he said again, patting her scratched and bleeding hand against his cheek. Mina whined as the EMTs began to roll the stretcher away, and her hand was forced to drop into the open air.

As soon as she was deprived of his touch, it seemed like the pain intensified ten-fold.

Mina released an agonized howl as pain like fire bloomed over her back. She could dimly hear the paramedics conversing about glass shards and shrapnel embedded in her back and a possibly fractured spine. They applied a backboard when she began to writhe and squirm with anxiety and pain, which only served to inflame her panic. Her eyes rolled in her sockets as her breaths became ragged again, searching for the one person with whom she felt safe.

"Han- Cellophane! Cellophane!" she wailed, grasping at the open air. She struggled against the black fabric straps securing her against the stretcher. "Please don't leave me! I don't want to be alone!" she sobbed pitifully against the thin sheet beneath her. The paramedics fluttered around her, trying to shush her, but she was inconsolable. Finally, one of them flattened out her arm and pushed a syringe into the vein. A coldness spread into her circulatory system, and Mina fell swiftly into a deep, dark, dreamless sleep…

When Mina awoke, she was greeted by a white-tiled ceiling and a thin, clean-smelling white sheet. Her entire body pulsed and ached with dull pain despite the IV drip hooked up to her arm delivering fluids and pain medication. She could feel that her body was swathed in thick gauze bandages underneath the thin, flimsy hospital gown. She fought the urge to sit up and move around because she knew it would only aggravate her injuries. She settled for turning her head to stare out of the window. It was nighttime; the inky black canvas dotted with stars shone clearly above the silhouetted skyline. Sighing, she turned to look back at the ceiling, feeling like her head was stuffed with cotton. Thinking was nearly impossible, but she tried anyway. When she took a moment to recall the sequence of events, tears flooded her eyes again.

"Hanta," she mewled pathetically. Her palm tingled with the memory of his face and the desire to behold it again. The drops rolled down her cheeks as she cried silently. "Alone… I'm all alone…" she moaned miserably.

"It's okay, Mina. I'm right here." As she snapped her head to the side, a lightning strike of pain snapped down her spine, making her writhe and hiss in the bed. Hanta jumped up from the chair beside her hospital bed to grab her by the upper arms and still her. "Hey, hey! It's okay. Relax." His melodic voice just had such sway over her; her muscles obeyed immediately, falling still with no resistance. Mina stared owlishly up at Hanta as he smiled bashfully and swept his bangs out of his face. "Hey, Mina," he purred gently. Mina tugged on his arm, prompting him to lean down over her. When he did, she immediately cupped his face again. Hanta smiled awkwardly and flushed pink.

"Hanta…" Mina immediately felt all her anxieties wash away with his presence. Hanta didn't seem to mind at all; he sat on the edge of the bed so he could comfortably sit over her. She then narrowed her eyes with a concerned look. "Am I… okay?"

"You got pretty banged up," he admitted with a terse pout. "You had to go into surgery to remove all the glass and iron out of your back… They said they had to put over a hundred stitches in all your wounds." Mina squirmed uncomfortably, feeling the sutures scrape against the thin sheet and her hospital gown. Hanta then smiled reassuringly. "There's good news, though! All the x-rays were good; they don't think you have any fractures, but they're gonna do more in a few days to make sure." Mina breathed a small sigh of relief. A fractured spine would've been a daunting trial, indeed. "You've been out for a few days. Everybody stopped by, though!" he smiled and gestured to the side table. Mina looked over to see it laden with cards and small gifts. Hanta suddenly swelled with pride. "I picked out that bouquet."

It was a lovely arrangement of pink peonies, purple pansies, light blue hydrangeas, and a few white daisies to accent the cool colors.

"It's beautiful," Mina acknowledged softly. She looked back to Hanta with a sweet, endeared smile. Hanta smiled back, his cheeks brightening with blush. "Thank you."

"Anything for my best girl," he answered casually. They both blushed simultaneously at the connotation of his statement. Hanta looked down at his lap to fiddle with the hem of his jeans. "I, uh… I was really worried about you, y'know…" he said suddenly. Mina stared at him while he peered down at her through his lashes. "Seeing you like that… I almost couldn't handle it…" Mina felt her face flushing hot, but she said nothing, because she couldn't say anything. Hanta's soft gaze was electrifying. He reached out to run his first knuckle over her cheekbone gently. His expression visibly softened. "I dunno what I'd do without my best girl…"

"Hanta." He snapped out of whatever trance he was in. He stared at her for a few seconds, blinking rapidly, before his face turned the color of a tomato."

"Ah! I, uh, shit, I, um- I'm sorry, I dunno what came over me, er-"

"Hanta." She repeated with a blank stare. Hanta continued to gape at her, arms still up in the air from where he'd been flailing.

"Wh-what?"

"Stop talking and kiss me." Hanta stared stupidly at her for a microsecond before he rushed to obey her command. He bent over double to press his lips to hers. Mina did her best despite her injury to push up into the kiss. There was only so much a girl could do after being blasted across a street like a rocket. Her hand traveled to the back of his head to weave into the soft black fibers of his hair. Hanta's mouth eagerly moved against hers, sending waves of sweet pleasure through her body. Among many things, Hanta Sero was a great kisser. Who knew?

When he pulled away, he smiled adoringly and stroked her face again. Mina hummed amusedly and played with the ends of his hair. He was still sitting on the bed, nearly doubled over as he leaned over her. "That doesn't look comfortable. You're the one who's gonna fracture your spine," she laughed. Hanta shrugged nonchalantly and continued to huddle over her.

"S'no big deal… You're my girl, after all." Mina giggled and inched up to nuzzle the tip of her nose with his.

"That's right. I sure am."