I have to hand it to him.
He's unafraid.
After hearing my backstory, I thought he would give his condolences.
But he didn't.
Instead, he met my declaration head-on.
Midoriya, you continue to surprise me.
Though, I'm glad he didn't.
I didn't want condolences from anyone.
Least of all from him.
I didn't tell him all of that just for him to pity me.
Ha! Pity! Isn't that how I used to treat Hanada-chan in the beginning. And she loathed it. Now I get why. Had Midoriya done what I had expected, I, too, would have seethed. My, how the tables have turned!
On the topic of Hanada-chan, I go to seek her. I hadn't had much of a chance to observe her in action during the obstacle course and cavalry battle, so I wanted to listen to her as she told me her strategy for qualifying for both events. Although, we did make a declaration of war to each other, so she might not tell me until the end of the Sports Festival.
As I wonder where she might have gone, it hits me. The infirmary! Her quirk, her arthritis, her wounds! And given that we jumped from one event straight to the next, God, she must be in so much pain!
I follow the route to the school's infirmary, but I find Hanada-chan sprawled stomach-down on the ground, unconscious. I rush toward her, dropping to my knees at her side. Gently patting her cheeks, I call out her name. "Hanada-chan, wake up! Listen to my voice! We're almost there!" It's futile; her eyes remain shut. Dark splotches are blooming on her blue training uniform. That only makes me panic more, and I recall the last time she was unconscious; she had stopped breathing. Cautiously, very cautiously, I bring my finger just under her nose.
Oh, thank God, it's there! I feel the streams of air entering and exiting her nose. It's fast, too fast compared to her normally slow breathing, but it's there. If she's breathing, she must have a pulse! I grab her right arm and feel for her radial pulse. Her pulse is even faster, implying a faster heart rate. Also, atypical of her slow pulse.
At least she's alive. I have to take her to the infirmary before it's too late!
I pick her up in my arms, one arm under her knees and the other under her back. Her head lolls back, so I shift her weight so that her head is nestled against my shoulder. Then I carry her the rest of the way to the infirmary. When we get there, there is already one patient present, but Recovery Girl ushers us to the nearest empty bed. I set her down gently, on her back, but as I pull back, I notice her hand is clutching my collar. The same hand I used to check her pulse. For a moment, I think she's regained consciousness, but no. Her eyes are still shut. Very softly, I pry her fingers away. But even then, I hold her hand.
"Thank you, young man. I'll take it from here. Once I treat her, I'll call you back in," Recovery Girl tells me.
"Can I stay here with her, instead?" I ask her.
"I'm going to open her training uniform to look at those wounds. I think she might need a little privacy."
"R-right. I-I'm sorry. I'll wait outside then," I stammer, flushed.
Recovery Girl's raucous laughter as I leave does not help.
There's a row of waiting seats just outside the infirmary doors. As I sit in one of them, I try to reassure myself that Hanada-chan will be just fine. She was breathing, and her heart was beating when I found her. She's in Recovery Girl's capable hands. Even before, when her physical state was critical, she made it through. She'll be fine. Hanada-chan will be fine. But despite the reassurances, I find myself praying over and over again that she will be safe.
After what seems like forever, Recovery Girl calls me in, saying she's finished treating her. I can't get inside fast enough. After pulling a chair by her bedside, I watch her. She's lying on her stomach again, clothed in a hospital gown, a blanket pulled up to her shoulders. But her hands are still gloved, ears covered with faerie shells, neck encircled by a choker, and hair interwoven with red, orange, yellow, and maroon nasturtiums. She's following through with the autumn theme this month.
I reach out and envelop her hands in my own, taking comfort in the fact that she's here, she's safe, she's alive. I repeat those statements like a mantra. I don't even realize when I've begun stroking the back of her hands.
But I do notice the moment when she begins to stir. She moans a little and furrows her brows. Slowly, she opens her eyes and looks around blearily. When her gaze falls onto me, she asks tiredly, "Todoroki-kun? Where am I? And what happened? I can't remember much."
"You fainted from exertion and quirk backlash in the hallway. I found and brought you here. Recovery Girl treated your wounds." I fill a glass with water as I answer her questions. She tries to get up. "No. Do not even think about it. You are confined to bed rest until the next event starts."
She snorts and teases, "Is this a direct order from Nurse Todoroki?"
"Nurse? How can I be a nurse when I haven't even attended nursing school yet?" I question, puzzled by the expression.
She laughs fully now. "I'm making a joke. You're telling me to stay in bed, and we're in a hospital setting. That's something a nurse would say, and nurses work in hospitals," she explains in between breaths.
"Oh. That's what it means. I don't understand colloquial expressions until someone explains them to me. Even ones like 'spill the tea' had to be defined to me before I could use them myself. So, to your answer your question, yes it is a direct order. Now lay back down." With another snort, she does as I say and asks for her cane. Shoot! I forgot that in the hallway. "Don't worry about it. I'll go get it for you. Drink the water until then." As an afterthought, I command, "And don't get up."
"Okay, okay. I won't," she placates.
I rise from my seat and walk to the infirmary doors. At the last second, I turn around, checking whether she's actually resting. She's setting the glass back on the counter before reclining again. The look she gives me is one of Don't look at me like that because I did as you said.
After a short while, I return with her cane. She reaches for it, but I pull it away. "Get. Some. Rest," I scold her. She mumbles her annoyance before retracting her hand.
"So," I start as I sit down again, "what did you do to pass the obstacle course and cavalry battle?"
"Would you be stunned if I told you I did the bare minimum for both?"
I take a moment to process that. The bare minimum? Even the words that come out of my mouth are, "What?"
"You're stunned. Well, for the obstacle course, I just levitated myself the entire time. I was one of the ones in the back of the mass of students, so I had just raised myself into the air and floated over their heads as I drifted toward the front. The students who tried to pull me down received a personalized greeting of a bunt to the forehead with my cane. I think that's what saved me from your initial freeze attack. Then, when the leviathans came, I let you and the others do the work while I just swerved through. As for the rope and minefield obstacles, I just hovered above a few centimeters and moved straight," she admits sheepishly.
"Why would you do that? You could have showcased your skill," I question her.
"I planned to showcase my skills during the one-on-one battles. Todoroki-kun, you know how my quirk behaves. Had I activated more of my quirk at that time, I would have collapsed before completing the obstacle course. Immediately, I would have been disqualified. I wanted to save my energy for the last event, the most spectacular one," she explains.
That logic does make sense. "What about the cavalry battle? How did you manage without exemplifying your quirk, then?"
"I let the element of surprise do the work for me. My team captain knew just needed to earn enough points to place in the Top Four, and to do that, he knew that you and everyone else would target Midoriya. Furthermore, no one would have considered the cripple as a threat. The teams whose headbands we had stolen were frozen in astonishment when we had taken the offense. That's all there was to it."
I lean back in my chair and cross my arms. "But all your planning backfired. That's why you're lying in a hospital bed."
"Apparently," she agrees. "I'm not particularly proud of that."
"And now you're going to use your quirk to the maximum during the last event."
"Yes."
I study her closely. I suppose I got my answers, but I don't know what to think, so instead, I say, "Good. If we have to face off against each other, I'd rather we do it giving it our all. After all, you did say you would put your heart and soul to defeat me. I would like for you to keep that promise." Hanada-chan's expression changes from embarrassment to dejection. Seeing that, I wonder, "What is it?"
"About the declaration of war ... when you gave Midoriya-san yours, you said that you weren't here to play nice or make friends. I-I don't know how to say this without sounding rude, but did you truly mean that?" I don't say anything for a few moments, recollecting when I said that. Oh, yeah. When Kirishima was coming to Midoriya's defense. But I'm quiet for too long because she smiles weakly, forcibly. "You were being honest at that time. So what we shared wasn't friendship, even though I thought it was. I'm sorry, Todoroki-kun. I overstepped my boundaries."
She tries to roll over, facing away from me, but I grab her wrist. "Wait! God, Hanada-chan. You jump so quickly to conclusions sometimes, it's scary. Don't always take my silence for an answer. You are my friend. Remember 'friend-undergoing-redemption'? You had been calling us friends since the first day of school, and not once did I correct you. Those flowers, those lunches by the pools, those talks just before class started. Our mutual apologies. All of that is proof that we're friends. What I said to Kirishima was just me behaving defensively. Yeah, I came to U.A. intending to carve my path of glory by myself. I thought that becoming close with someone else would be a hindrance," I reason.
Her voice is full of apprehension. "Th-then what does that make me?"
"Did you not listen to me? You're the exception." I drop my hold from her wrist to her hand. "You are the exception to many things." She avoids my eyes and blushes lightly. But she doesn't pull her hand back, which brings me an unmeasurable amount of relief.
"In that case, I apologize for doubting you."
"It's alright." Suddenly, a thought forms in my mind. "Hanada-chan, where's your phone?"
"In my training uniform. Why do you ask?"
Indeed, the phone is in her uniform pocket, which was folded neatly on the top shelf of the counter. "Can you please open it?" I request as I pass her the phone. When she does, I continue. "Go into Contacts. I want you to add a new number. Mine."
Her finger hovers above the Contacts app button. "But why?"
"Isn't it obvious why? Had I not found you, you could have died in that hallway. Not to mention all the other times when your quirk put you in a life-threatening situation. I'm the only person here you've told about your arthritis and lacerations, but I won't be there all the time to help you. But if you have my phone number, then at least you can reach out to me, and I'll do everything I can to find you."
She ponders over my words for a few moments before clicking the button and passing her phone to me. Quickly, I save my name and number in her contacts.
As I return it to her, I tell her, "You should get some rest."
"But the next event-"
I cut her off with, "The next event doesn't start for another thirty minutes."
She nods once and turns to the other side.
I don't stop her this time.
Instead, I let go of her hand and pull the blanket over her shoulders.
"I'll wake you up just before the next event.
"Until then, sleep well."
I set an alarm on my phone before reclining against my chair, watching her figure rise and fall in a steady, slow rhythm.
Relieved, I shut my eyes.
It doesn't take me long to doze soon after.