Chapter 08

Everything is heavy.

It's incredibly difficult to even move a finger.

There seems to be a light shining into his eyes and it is giving his head a dull thud. He tries to squeeze his eyes in an attempt to block the light more, but even just moving his eyelids is a daunting task. There is something on his face that he doesn't know what to make of it.

What is going on?

What had happened?

Somehow, he manages to let out a strained groan, barely but audible enough to his muffled hearing. It sounds weak to his ears, but the attention quickly shifts to the sound of scraping. He thinks it's from a chair or two.

"Shouta?"

'Hizashi?'

Why is he here?

He feels a hand slip into his, a familiar hand he knows very well despite only starting holding it about a year ago.

Nemuri's here too.

That can only mean…

He forces his eyes open.

Fucking hell, taking down a five meter tall Villain is much easier than this.

The first thing his eyes can see is the bright light that is above him but slightly to the right and a little bit lower. It's a familiar position, one that he knows all too well much to everyone else's chagrin.

Ah, he is in the hospital.

"Shou!"

"Call a nurse."

The two familiar voices pull his attention to them. He can't move his head, so he can only roll his squinted eyes at where he hears the voices are at. It's a little blurry, not including the fact that he is far sighted, but he can make out the figures.

Hizashi is hovering over him, and Nemuri suddenly appears next to him, both wearing casual clothes instead of their Hero outfits. He needs to squint even more to see the worried but relieved look on their faces.

That brings his attention to the situation he is in.

He finally hears the constant beep to his side, the heartbeat monitor. He finally feels the mask over his mouth, supplying him oxygen. He finally feels the needle jabbed on the back of his hand, supplements dripping from the IV bag.

What he doesn't feel is scattered all over his body and judging by the copious amount of tubes surrounding him, he thinks it's for the best that he doesn't feel most of his body right now.

"…hat… 'appen…?" He manages to utter out with a raspy voice that is muffled by the mask over his mouth. He doesn't know if he said it properly.

"You got jumped," Hizashi answered, seemingly understanding his words. "Twenty to one. It would've been a death sentence."

"They were tracking you for weeks." Nemuri decides to continue. "They rounded up all the Villains with Physical Strengthened Quirks to take you out. We almost lost you, but Fatgum was nearby and received your distress signal."

His paranoia had paid out.

His friends and colleagues always make fun of him for being so cautious, no one is laughing at him now.

"You did leave an impression though. Half of them were out cold while the rest was unmistakably marked by your doings. Fatgum finished the rest of the work."

Before any more words are said, a familiar doctor and two nurses enter the room. Hizashi and Nemuri quickly back away, giving the professionals room to work on, but one of the nurses requests them to leave the room momentarily. They reluctantly oblige.

"Good to see you finally awake, Eraserhead," the doctor starts, looking a little exasperated but he thinks it's because the doctor had been here in similar situations way too many times for his liking. "You know the procedure. You're lucky Recovery Girl isn't here right now."

.

"How long was I out?" he asks, throat feeling better now to speak more clearly but his words are slightly slurry. The doctor and nurses have left and Hizashi and Nemuri return back into the room. They even allow him to sit up, seeing how his condition is stable enough.

"Two weeks," Nemuri answers, holding onto his hand once more. "Everyone was worried." She sounds worried herself, even though it is already said he is okay and in a stable condition, that he'll be completely recovered in no time.

'Two weeks, huh? That's the longest yet.'

Not that he is having a competition with himself on how long he can pass out. For the sake of the world's sanity (but mainly he doesn't want to be the receiving end of Nedzu's disappointed stare again), he'll need to stop passing out.

"Fatgum was here the first week but he was forced to go back to work." Hizashi picks up, sitting on the plastic chair next to his bed. "All Might dropped by a few times, as well as the other teachers at UA. Principal Nedzu… Well, last time I saw him he downed three cups of tea in one go."

He swallows.

It looks like he will not be facing his employer and instead will be his fa… parental figure.

It's not going to be fun.

"Ms. Joke wanted to visit but she's quite occupied with her school work," Nemuri continues now. She's still holding onto his hand, rubbing his palm with her thumb. "Mt. Lady wanted to see you but she's currently banned from approaching the hospital after what happened last time. Oh and Mir-"

"GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY WAY!"

His head turns towards the noise, seemingly coming from outside his room that sounds growing closer and closer.

It's a familiar voice.

Then, Usagiyama bursts through the door, slamming it open so hard he believes it splitters. She's panting and her eyes are wide with frantic worry. She's in her Hero outfit, unlike the other two visitors in the room.

When her eyes lock with his, she seems to stop breathing, and he can only think of the last time they saw each other.

He can only think of her hidden tears she was trying to hide, her stifling sniffles she was trying to smother and her brokenhearted smile she couldn't help but show.

But… none of those are present right now. No tears are flowing, though her eyes are glassy. He can only hear her releasing a huge sigh of relief to the point she falls to the doorsill.

There is a relieved smile on her face, a smile that reaches her red eyes, devoid of any sadness.

It's bright, fulfilling, happy, even.

It's that smile again.

It's that smile that he is oh so very familiar with.

"You're okay," he hears her say, more to herself than to him. She releases another big sigh, her body sags even more and her head bows down, breaking eye contact. "You're okay," she repeats in a quieter voice, solidifying that she is saying it to herself now.

For some reason, the question of why she is here, after what happened last time, doesn't want to escape from his lips.

Should he greet her instead? Pretend their last meeting didn't happen? Or perhaps putting it all behind them and moving on?

But… the way she left last time was…

His chest becomes uncomfortable, remembering her bowed form.

He doesn't know how to describe that feeling.

And he doesn't know what to say right now.

So, for now, like last time, he says nothing in return. He silently waits.

Hizashi and Nemuri don't look surprised by her appearance. It's as if they expected her to come right this instant. Did they tell her that he's finally awake? It seems like it, from what he has gathered.

Usagiyama suddenly takes a deep breath, pulling his attention back to her. She slowly straightens up from her hunched form, head slowly rises up from bowing.

She looks at him in the eyes.

"When… When are they releasin' you?" she asks him with a slow speech, as if still taking in the news of him finally awake.

"Not any time soon," he answers, matching her slow speed. "Though, Principal Nedzu might get himself involved to release me early, but I'll let you when I do."

"Okay… Okay."

She gets silent again, staring at him quietly.

The creases at the corners of her eyes begin to appear.

"Miruko, please!" A new voice is suddenly heard, coming from beyond his room. That seems to snap Miruko out from her stupor, seeing how her body jolts straight up and eyes widen. "Only two visitors are allowed at a time and you are causing a ruckus!" She turns around to glare at whoever is outside.

"Yeah yeah I fuckin' get it, sorry," she says sharply to whoever is outside. Then, she turns back to him.

"It's great seein' you awake, Aizawa."

It's that smile again, now mixed with gleeful relief.

"Hm." He nods his head slightly. She stares at him quietly for one more second before finally closing the door as she backs out from the room.

"I said I'm fuckin' sorry, okay?!" he hears her voice, the typical sharp tone of the Pro Hero Miruko can be detected, as she shouts at probably a nurse.

"She had been visiting you nonstop," Hizashi solemnly starts, gaining his attention. He turns his gaze towards him, frowning at him. "Beside us, she was here the most."

"She was anxiously biting her nails the whole time she was here. I've never seen her looking so worried," Nemuri takes over. Then, a small empathetic smile appears on her lips. "She wished to be by your side when you wake up. She must be sad that she's not here when you're finally awake."

He turns his attention back to the door, where Usagiyama was once at.

He still can't get his head wrapped around the fact that she is still… be like that despite what she had expressed last time. She made it sound like they will never meet again, that it will be the last time and she will let go of him.

Yet… Hizashi and Nemuri told him that she had been here, and is still here.

…Why is she making him feel so damn complicated?

"You never told us what happened between the two of you," Hizashi suddenly asks. Looking over to him, Hizashi has a mute curiosity on his face.

"We never asked because it's not our business but it looks like it's more than what it is let on." Nemuri is not even hiding her curiosity.

"It's nothing."

"It's not "nothing", Shou," Hizashi replies sharply. "From what little we know of her, Miruko has always been a steady and stable woman. When she was here with you, waiting for you, she looked anything but stable. She was jumping from sad to relieved to happy to heartbroken."

"And she's not masking all of them," Nemuri adds. "Either one of us was in the same room with her, she was aware of us being here with her, yet she let her emotions pour out for you. She cried for you, Shou."

"Just what happened, Shouta?" Hizashi asks with a worried frown, but now not of his health. Now the worried frown is on something else yet still related to him. "What did you say to her back in the lounge?"

"Did you reject her?"

When Nemuri asks that question, Hizashi quickly has an understanding look on his face. He looks like he got the answer but decides to wait for his response. He doesn't reply quickly, hesitant to answer.

"…It's just… unsure, is all," he can only respond, voice mirroring his words. Hizashi releases an exasperated sigh while Nemuri visibly slumps, yet neither of them look surprised by his answer.

"You always have a hard time trying to tackle things you don't understand when it comes to yourself," Hizashi comments as he puts his hand on his head, mushing his hair a little bit. "We won't pry for now."

"But we're here for you if you need us."

"Even though the amount of time you rely on us can only be counted in one hand."

"Hizashi!"