Chapter 41

I opened my eyes slowly. I still felt groggy. I moved my neck slightly, regretting it the moment I had. I was sore all over. More than I had ever been. I glanced around the room. I would recognize this place anywhere. The infirmary. It was probably the second place I spent the most time. I looked down at my arms. They were all bandaged. Sunlight was peeking out from behind the curtains. I wanted to get up and open them, but it hurt to move, to breathe even. I could hear voices coming from the hallway. They were whispering, but I couldn't make out what they were saying.

"Is someone there?" I called out. My voice was hoarse.

The door slid open almost instantly. It was Dabi. He had this worried look on his face. He rushed over to me, sitting by my bedside. He gently held my hand.

"Hey Yami," he whispered. "How are you feeling?"

"Everything hurts," I said softly.

He rested his head beside mine. "I was so worried. I was on my way to you. I was running late because I couldn't choose a stupid gift."

I gave him a small smile. "Good thing you were running late. Only God knows what would have happened to you. If you had actually been there."

"I should have been there. If I was there I would have caught you. Those idiots let you fall."

I was confused. "Caught me?

"Don't you remember? Yami, you fell from the sky. There was a bomber. The kickback from the explosion knocked you unconscious as you were falling. There was no one there to catch you in time. You hit the ground, very hard. You've been out for an entire week. The doctor said they were surprised that you even made it."

My eyes went wide. "An entire week? I've lost an entire week? Has Shigaraki done anything else?"

He shook his head. "Nothing yet. Knowing him he wants to wait until you show your face. He wants to wait until things seemingly calm down because wants you to see what he's doing. He's sick like that."

I relaxed back into the bed. "I have to get moving. I can't just lay here."

"Do not move."

"No, I have-"

"Stop!"

He had a serious look on his face, but there was a sad look in his eyes.

"You need to stay still and rest. Stop trying to save everyone all of the time. You have to take care of yourself first."

"No, I can't. That is what heroes do. It's what I'm meant to do. We put ourselves in harm's way to protect everyone else."

"I do not care. Right now you are not a hero. You are just you. Right now, you are a person in a hospital bed. Not a hero, just you." His eyes were starting to gloss over. "You don't know what it was like. I watched them cart you in her on a gurney. You were covered in blood. Your arms and legs were broken. Your skin burnt from being too close to the explosion. It took an entire team of doctors and their healing quirks, to get you to be even remotely close to okay. You almost died, Yami. I am tired of you almost dying, it is killing me. Stop trying to kill yourself for the sake of other people. One day you might succeed. So, please stop this. I don't want to do any of this without you. I can't do any of this without you."

"I…" I trailed off. I didn't know what to say.

He held my hand tighter, kissing it. "We're supposed to have this great life together, Yami… this epic love story. We can't do that if you're dead."

I slipped my hand out of his and cupped his cheek."

"Alright," I whispered. "I promise to be careful from now on. So please, do not cry." I said wiping away a tear with my thumb.

I kissed him on the lips. It had never occurred to me that I was hurting him this much. When I got hurt like this it wasn't just me that felt like shit. It was him too. Despite how much I wanted to help people and keep them safe. I had to take his feelings into consideration too. I looked past him. It was Bakugo standing there. He was holding flowers. He had a sad look in his eyes. He stepped inside, and came over to me, setting the flowers down on the table. Dabi was watching him, but Bakugo's eyes were on me the entire time.

"Hi," I said.

"You look terrible," he joked.

I gave him a small smile. "You should see the other guy."

There was this awkward silence between us. I could tell that he wanted to say something, but wouldn't because Dabi was here. Bakugo had this look in his eyes, and I knew exactly what it meant. If I could see it, that meant Dabi could see it too and he was starting to get annoyed.

"Did you need something, kid?"

Bakugo gave him the side eye. "I wasn't speaking to you. I came to see her."

"She's done talking to you."

"Toya please," I said hoarsely. "Bakugo. Can we talk later?"

I had to remind myself that I couldn't call him Dabi anymore.

He clenched his jaw. "I'll see you later Yami," he said leaving the room.

Dabi turned back to me. He had this blank stare on his face. I could tell that this was going to be an issue later.

"Are you feeling even slightly?" he asked, ignoring the tension.

"Sore, and very tired. I'm sure that once I feel up to it. I can just heal myself."

I caught him glancing over at the flowers, but before I could say anything the door opened again. It was Aizawa-Sensei. The rims of his eyes were red. Had he been crying? He stopped down, burying his face in his hands. He let out a deep exhale.

"You're awake," he whispered.

I could see his shoulders trembling. Mirko came walking in behind him. She gave me a bright smile. Even though her eyes were all puffy.

"Come on Eraser-Head, you can't let her see you like that," she said, yanking him up.

I sat up with the help of Dabi. They both hugged me and squeezed me tightly. It hurt, but I didn't care. I was just glad that they were okay. This is what I was trying to protect. The people that meant so much to me. The people that I loved. I would do whatever it takes to keep them safe, and if that meant putting Shigaraki down… so be it.