Musutafu, General Hospital
Standing outside a room with his arms crossed, King waited until the doctors inside finished patching Mirko up; from what one of the doctors that exited out of the room had said, Mirko didn't end up with any lasting injuries from her attempt at trying to attack him, which was good since his luck quirk could somewhat cause some dangerous injuries upon those that have attempted to attack him before. All Might notwithstanding, his former boss ended up with a twisted ankle the first time they tested his luck, so suffice to say, the variables were up in the air with how bad his opponents' condition would end up as.
King let out a soft inaudible sigh as the hallway was filled with the soft sounds of medical equipment operating, and idle conversations between civilians and doctors, some even pointed excitedly at him as they spoke amongst each other. From around the corner of the hallway he was in, a man and woman came around and perked up upon seeing him. "They're probably excited to see me, and want an autograph." King said to himself in his head, as the adults jogged up to him.
"King!" The man exclaimed as he waved him over, prompting said hero to uncross his arms and prepared to pull out a pen if the duo was about to ask for an autograph. "Boy are we glad you're still here!" the man remarked.
"Yeah!" The woman added as both of them finally reached King and stood across from him, the lady held up her clenched fists in excitement, "We were about to see if All Might could come in, but with you here, you'll save us a trip!" she exclaimed.
Not sure where both of them were going with this, King nonetheless pulled out a pen from his breast pocket of his plaid shirt, "You also here for an autograph?" he assumed by asking.
The man palmed his chest and shook his head, "While I'd like the prospect of getting an autograph from King himself, we're here on business." he smiled, "I'm Isamu and-" the man then gestured for the woman to introduce herself.
The woman smiled as she held her palm up in greeting, "Hayami, a pleasure to meet you in person!" She greeted the hero.
King glanced between the two with a firm stare, "So…what business are you here for?" the hero asked the two as he crossed his arms once more.
Special Care room unit
Sitting in a patient's bed with wires and other miscellaneous tools to monitor and help the young child, Aoi smiled to himself as he held up his action figures of ALL Might in his Silver Age costume and King in his revamped version of All Might's silver age hero costume from his recent hero ranking debut; the young boy of age eight made fighting sound effect as he imagined the two mighty heroes of Japan squaring off against each other and fighting in an epic fight to test each other's might.
"You've come a long way, King, but can you handle me in my prime!?" Aoi exclaimed in a deep pitched voice to mimic All Might's baritone as he held up the All Might action figure. Aoi then held the King action figure up higher, and made a stoney face of his own to mimic the epic hero's demeanor.
"Hoh? So it has come to this." Aoi did his best to mimic King's way of speaking, "Very well then, let us see who really is the mightiest hero!" He then played with his toys and imagined the heroes duking it out like a shonen fight.
At that moment, the door to his room opened, prompting Aoi to cease playing with his toys for the moment and see who it was that was visiting him; he already had the 'grant a wish' foundation pay him a visit, he put in his request the chance to meet either of his favorite heroes in person. He doubted either men had the time to visit him, with how hectic things have been all over Japan, but a small part of him clinged to the wish to see either hero.
Through the door as it opened, the two adults from before, Isamu and Hayami, came in with excited expressions. "Good news!" Isamu began to say as the two stood to the side.
Hayami clasped her hand together and gave Aoi an encouraging smile, "We weren't able to reach All Might, but we managed to get the next best thing!" she preened in excitement as she watched at the young patient's eyes widened in excitement.
"You mean-!" Aoi was about to say, only for King to walk through the doorway with a heroic stoney face of bravery, the pictures and news didn't do King any justice in seeing him in person. The scars over his eyes were very pronounced, only adding to the epic visage of King's appearance, no doubt having received it from some epic fight against some tough villain.
While the hero wasn't in his costume, it didn't dampen Aoi's mood as King walked in while Isamu and Hayami excused himself to allow the two some private time alone; as the door shut, Aoi couldn't help but grin broadly, "Wow! I can't believe it, you actually came!" he exclaimed.
King shrugged with his arms crossed as he walked over to stand beside the bed, "I was in the building, so I supposed things worked out all right for your luck." he remarked.
"Oh." Aoi said as he held up King's action figure in one of his hands, "Look! Pretty cool, right?" he asked the hero.
"Hm." King allowed a smirk to form, "Pretty cool alright." he commented as the young boy grinned and chuckled.
As the atmosphere mellowed a bit between the two, Aoi then became conflicted, evident by the expression on his face, "Hey King, I got a question." he began to say while looking downtrodden with his focus was downward.
"Ask away." King answered as he relaxed his shoulders a bit, "Is it about wanting an autograph?" he questioned the young boy.
Aoi smiled a bit, "Later, but this question is different." he began to say, "King…" he then looked up at King's stoney face. "I know you're a brave hero and all, but are you ever scared? Like, do you ever fear death?" Aoi questioned the hero as he gripped his toys in his hands more firmly, "The doctors say they're doing everything they can to fix my body, but I'm scared." he confessed with tears prickling at the edges of his eyes.
From King's point of view as he stood beside the boy's hospital bed, he couldn't help but panic inwardly; letting out a calming breath for himself, King began to speak with a firm face, "I'm always scared." he calmly answered the boy, earning a surprised and confused look from Aoi.
"Always scared?" Aoi asked with a shocked look, "but,...you're a hero, one of Japan's mightiest heroes!" he protested vehemently, and leaned forward a bit. "What do you have to be afraid of!?" he questioned.
King calmly preceded to walk around the boy's hospital bed and walk up to the nearby window, and look out to the morning sun, "I'll be truthful, I'm always scared." he began to explain to the child, then turned to glance at Aoi with a serious face, "And I imagine all Heroes are scared while on duty." he explained to the young child.
"Even All Might?" Aoi asked
King looked forward with his arms crossed, "All Might? He has a different fear, but that never stopped him from being a hero." he explained to the boy.
"So how can I be brave then?" Aoi questioned King as he gave the hero a confused look, "I thought all heroes were brave!"
Turning around and putting his hands in his pockets, King walked over to stand beside the boy's hospital bed, "You can't be brave, if you're not scared, kid." he began to answer.
"Huh?" Aoi gave King a look that he was beginning to understand.
King gave the patient a simple smile, "Bravery comes from overcoming our fears, otherwise the word would lose its meaning if we didn't face what scares us." he explained to Aoi, before placing his hand on the boy's shoulder, "And facing death and surviving it, is just another part of a hero's duty, just as is for anyone else."
Aoi began to giving King the look of admiration as his eyes shined, and the tears that once threatened to spill from his eyes began to dry up; King then retracted his hand from the boy's shoulder and gave Aoi a thumbs up, "Take it from me, and as a secret between just us two." He gave the child a wink, "You're looking at Earth's mightiest coward that faces death and danger."
"Woah!" Aoi gasped in awe, "So that must mean you're the bravest hero then!" he concluded.
King smirked, "And what's that make you?" He questioned the young lad, and pointed at Aoi chest where his heart is, "Cause from where I'm standing, I don't see a coward, afraid of death, I see a hero in the making that's just overcoming a hurdle in life."
"You really mean that!?" Aoi shouted in excitement with a broad smile and giggled in joy, to which King gave the boy a nod. As Aoi calmed down from King's successful attempt in cheering him up, the boy held up his action figure of King, "Hey, you wanna play with me a bit!? I'll be All Might, and you be you!" he asked King.
"Sure." King shrugged with a smirk without missing a beat as he reached out and accepted the toy, and began occupying the child's playtime to cheer him up a bit more. "I really outta start coming up with things on my own, rather than pulling from manga quotes." King thought to himself as he played with young Aoi
Outside the room, Mirko stood with the assistance of a crutch, whatever King had did, definitely put her through the ringer; the diagnosis was some mild bruising and a torn ACL, a week's worth of recovery was ordered, Mirko was quite glad the miracle of modern medicine helped the acceleration of such injuries.
As the Rabbit hero leaned against the wall next to the Door that was cracked open, Mirko was about to hound King down and asked what exactly he had done to defeat her so fast, but after finding the room he was in and who he was seeing, Mirko opted to wait. What she didn't expect to hear from the conversation from the two, was how King responded to the patient's question.
"Whatever." Mirko spoke softly as she moved away from the wall and headed down the hallway to get something to eat, "If he's a coward, then what's that make me?" she questioned herself.