"He didn't listen, even after all I did to try and make him understand."

...

"He deserves to lay here and reflect upon his actions."

...

"I see no use in keeping him alive."

...

"ELIZABETH!"

I woke in a basic hospital room, hooked up to all kind of equipment. My eyes darted around the room while breathing sporadically. The moisture from the sweat on my face slowly drifted down, cooling me off.

"What... happened...?"

『No. 14 - Recovery』

"You're finally up, huh?"

A voice came from somewhere in the room I was in. I was still disoriented from suddenly waking up, so it took me a few seconds to turn in the direction of the voice. It was Chris. He was sitting in a chair placed next to a large window. As I looked over in his direction, the light from the window blinded me. I raised my arm to cover my vision and noticed an IV connected to it.

"You were out for a while," Chris said.

I stared at him and blinked multiple times in confusion. "How long...?" I asked.

"Well, we were sent here last Friday... And today's Thursday... So, about a week,"

Hearing that was like a knife cutting through me. A week? I was asleep for an entire week? What even happened to make me end up in a hospital bed? Then, I remembered. I remembered everything that happened before waking up here.

"Where's Elizabeth?" I blurted out.

Chris pointed at the wall to the right with his thumb. "She's in the room next to this one," he said.

I gulped. "Is she okay?"

"Right now she's still asleep." Chris shrugged. "I don't know the details either. They really like to keep us in the dark about this kind of stuff. They won't even let us visit her,"

I stared at Chris before slowly looking down. "Still... asleep...?" I whispered.

Silence filled the room after Chris gave me the news. My mind was running wild. Blaming myself for basically everything that happened to her and not thinking rationally. And even blaming myself for what happened to the others. All of their injuries? My fault. At the time, my mind wasn't making any sense and I didn't realize. The flood of guilt filled my conscious.

After staring down for quite some time, I finally looked up and realized something. Chris wasn't sitting in a regular chair. He was sitting in a wheelchair.

"Ch-Chris...?" I stuttered.

"Yeah?" he questioned.

I shakily raised my arm and pointed at the wheelchair. "Why are you... in a wheelchair...?" I asked.

"Oh, right. I had a few broken ribs. I was told not to walk around to help them heal faster so they gave me this wheelchair. Honestly, it's a lot more convenient than using my legs to walk around. Oh, but my legs are fine, though," he explained.

I stared at him while he went on, partly listening. My mind, already filled with self-deprecating thoughts, was becoming more flooded with the same thing.

He noticed me staring worriedly at him and he smiled. "Ah, but don't blame yourself for any of this," he said.

That brought me back to reality. "Huh?" I questioned.

"I said don't blame yourself. That's what you're doing, right?"

"N-no I wasn't-"

Then, Chris rolled over to the side of my bed. "Listen, nothing that happened last week was your fault. No one expected those guys to show up and attack us like that. There's absolutely no reason you should be blaming yourself." he said sternly.

I nodded and slowly moved my eyes in the direction of the wall between my room and Elizabeth's.

Chris looked in the same direction and sighed. "She won't blame you either,"

"I know she won't. I just..." I muttered.

"Can't help but blame yourself, right?"

I nodded again.

My nod was followed by another few moments of silence before Chris rolled away from my bed.

"I should probably tell the doctor that you woke up. Make sure to get some more rest, alright?" said Chris.

"Yeah, I will," I replied, still staring at the wall.

As Chris rolled towards the door he turned back to me one more time. "Don't worry too much. If you woke up then there's no doubt she'll wake up soon. Just be patient," he said. Opening the door, Chris wheeled his way out of the room. Then, I was left alone with my thoughts.

"I know I shouldn't blame myself, but..." I muttered. "I couldn't protect her. If anything, she's the one who protected me... I have to make up for it somehow..."

At around the same time I woke up, there were files sent to all the local heroes about the four kids from Blackwood Academy that were harmed in the incident. Since we were students at a hero school, they were given descriptions of us, including our Quirks. And of all the heroes that were sent information, one became interested in one of the four students. The hero took interest in me.

Meanwhile, at a local hero agency...

"Excuse me, Mr. Obsidian Mind?" asked a hero agency worker. "Where are you headed off to at this hour? You don't have any appointments or scheduled patrols,"

A tall slender man stood at the entryway to a certain hero agency. His attire consisted of a skintight matte black suit with armor plating all over his body that was an even darker black. He also had a slick black helmet with a visor in the shape of a V.

He turned around to face the attendant standing at the front desk. "Oh, uhh... Yeah, I know..." he stuttered as he scratched his helmet. "I'm just... uhh... visiting someone in the hospital,"

The attendant raised her hand to her mouth and gasped quietly. "Oh no...! Is it serious?" she asked.

"Uh, no... Um... it isn't too serious..." he continued to stutter.

She lowered her hand and smiled. "I'm glad to hear that. Well, have a safe trip Mr. Obsidian Mind!" she said.

The man nodded and walked out the front door. "Whew... That was a close one..." he whispered. "Okay, time to meet this Tucker kid..."

『No. 14 - END』