Something hurt like a bitch.
Hina winced, opening her eyes to a hustle and bustle of people working nearby. She could hear footsteps and quiet voices. And crying. A woman, by the sound of it. And above that, a man pleading, the words insistent but too far away to pick out anything distinct.
Blinking away the fog of confusion, she looked around still partially dazed from sleep. White sheets hung up around her like a blockade, and she was laying on a medical bed. It wasn't comfortable at all, and she tried raising herself to sit. Another sharp pain went through her body, and she stopped entirely, dropping back down against the pillow.
Raising just her head, she looked down at her chest. The remains of her hero costume looked pitiful. Her left sleeve was entirely gone-oh right, she'd ripped it off to use as a temporary bandage-and a large section was missing from her torso. It looked like someone had just ripped it straight across. Her costumer still covered the most important parts, but the open space where her torso was exposed in a thick, white bandage.
It took a few moment to bring herself up to speed, sifting through her recent memories. Hina remembered seeing Bakugou get to safety, and watching the League retreat through the portal, and then...well, she must have blacked out after that. Someone must have brought her to a first aid station or hospital.
How long have I been out?
With no sense of time and no one in sight to ask, it gave her greater motivation to be up and on her feet. If her wound was still causing her this much grief, then it likely hadn't been very long since the battle and-
Had they even won? Her chest ached, this time not from her physical wound. There was no telling what had happened after she'd lost consciousness, and All Might had still been facing All For One with difficulty last she'd known. She had every reason to believe he'd been victorious, but...seeing the devastation that man could cause had her second guessing.
Using her hands for leverage, she forced herself into a sitting position, hearing movement behind the white sheets surrounding her bed. A pained grunt escaped her, teeth grit to take the pain without cursing.
The sound must have caught someone's attention, because a moment later, one section of the sheet was pushed away to reveal a nurse in medical garb.
"Scarlet Seer, right?" She inquired, then gestured for her to stop. "Please don't move. I was just about to come around to do more healing."
Hina frowned, but did as she instructed. The nurse turned to a little cart that she'd brought with her, wheeling it inside the makeshift 'room' of sheets and closing the cloth behind her, and then reached to the bandages covering her torso. "This might pull a little. Tell me if it becomes too much."
"Did All Might defeat All For One?" The redhead muttered, caught on that detail more than anything else. She winced, feeling the first few layers of bandage begin to unravel.
She smiled. "Yes, that villain was put in custody and sent to Tartarus already. I don't think he'll ever see the light of day again. We're lucky All Might was there to protect us. I'll admit though, I never would have expected him to look as frail as he does."
Hina tensed. The only logical conclusion was that All Might's true form had been revealed. She doubted it was by his choice, and she hoped he was alright, wherever he was. The nurse didn't seem to notice the hero's change in demeanor, probably chalking it up to pain from taking the bandage off.
"Makes you wonder how he's protected us all this time in that condition. He really is incredible." She went on. Her fingers were gentle as they pulled on the remaining bandages, revealing Hina's wound.
It was a bit smaller than she thought it had been, and she had to resist the urge to reach down and feel it. She frowned, watching as the nurse placed her hand around the hole in her chest, and the tips of her fingers began to glow green. A strange, numbing sensation began on her body, and she shifted in place a little, unused to the feeling. As it began to bleed, she dabbed at it with a cloth.
The nurse saw Hina's attention directed at her hand and smiled again. "I have a repair-type quirk. It lets me bring anything back to the form it's supposed to be, but I'm not that proficient with it. It can take a bit of time to complete."
"Are you not a nurse?" Hina asked, surprised at the woman's admission, and she shook her head.
"No. The hospitals reached out to the general public for anyone who could assist with treating the wounded, and I volunteered. There are so many injured, so many more deceased..." The woman shook her head sadly. "When I first started helping, there were so many stretchers covered with white sheets brought away. I've never seen so much death before."
"What day is it? What time?" The redhead pressed, needing something to ground her back to the present. She was antsy, both from the nurse's quirk and her inactivity here in this aid station.
"It's Saturday, about...1:30." The nurse checked the clock behind Hina.
It hadn't even been a day. She hadn't been out for too long, apparently. "Are rescue efforts still going on?" Bearing the strange sensation of her body's tissues apparently being repaired at a rapid pace. It was a mix of pleasantly numb and uncomfortably void of sensation.
"I'm sure they are. Maybe a few more days, or even longer. The entire Kamino Ward was basically destroyed."
"I need to get back out there." She said, trying to stand from the bed, but the nurse pushed back by her shoulder, keeping her in place.
"Wait, you're not fully healed yet!" She removed her green-glowing hand and inspected the wound. "It'll take another several sessions before it'll close completely. I tire very quickly with it, and can only use it so many times a day without passing out."
"Then get someone else to heal me right now."
The nurse winced. "We don't have enough healers at the moment. I'm responsible for 12 other people alone, so I have to section off my quirk little by little."
"Look, I can't just sit here while there are people out there in the wreckage." She replied bitterly. "Just bandage it up and I'll be responsible if it gets worse. You'll have one less person to worry about."
"I...I don't think..." The woman fretted, eyes glancing down at her wound and at the roll of bandages on her cart. Obviously, she hadn't been trained for patients that refused care.
"I'm a hero, and if this little wound is the only thing keeping me from doing my job, just give me the strongest painkiller you've got on that cart and wrap me back up." Hina said, meeting her eyes, trying to emulate Aizawa's unyielding expression. The nurse swallowed, and finally nodded, grabbing the sanitized bandages to replace her old one. She bit her lower lip as the cloth brushed against the edges of the wound.
The edge of Kamino Ward was obstructed with a police blockade, preventing any would-be looters or undesirables from getting into the rescue zone while efforts were still being made to find survivors. The first aid station they'd taken her to had been close by, just a few blocks from the edge of the zone, and she walked along the sidewalk up to the policemen barring access.
"Civilians are not permitted past this point, Ma'am." The first one said, expression blank and ungiving. He looked tired, worn out.
"I'm not a civilian, my name is Scarlet Seer." She pressed, hoping they wouldn't require to see her hero license as proof. It was lost somewhere, probably buried in the wreckage of Kamino Ward. And she didn't exactly look like a hero right now, what with her ruined costume and injury.
Not to mention, she was pumped full of a painkiller, probably more than the recommended dose at that, making it easier for her to move without feeling shooting pain up her body. Maybe her eyes were looking a little glassy, but she was feeling marginally better by the minute.
The officer opened his mouth, one of his brows raised incredulously, but his companion laid a hand on his shoulder.
"It's alright. I recognize her from the broadcast."He pointed to her side. "But are you sure you don't want to get medical help, Scarlet Seer? That doesn't look minor."
Broadcast?
Hina tried not to let her confusion show and shook her head. "I'll be fine. I need to help with rescue."
"We could use all the help we can get..." He muttered, and they stepped aside for her to pass. Hina nodded her appreciation and entered into the wasteland that was now Kamino Ward.
All of the buildings, the dust, culminated into the same gray landscape. Tattered or worn colors were dotted here and there, but they looked faded and nearly gray. Every step was a danger, glass and metal and sharp objects poking from every part of the ground if you weren't careful. Her boots gave her some protection, but even they could be punctured if she took a wrong step.
"Anyone there?" She called, listening for a response. In the distance, she could hear other rescue teams helping to bring survivors out from the collapsed structures. "Hello? Does anyone need help?"
No response, and her heart clenched. She'd been at this half and hour and she had yet to find a single living person. Several dead. Many dead. But no living, breathing, people.
Soft whimpers alerted the redhead, and she stopped, listening again to catch the direction of the sound. "I can hear you. Where are you? It's alright now, I'm coming to you."
A small, fearful sniffle, and a choked sob. A section of what had been a house, the front facing door and corner, were remarkably still intact. She went towards the section of building that had survived, and crouched down to peer inside the doorway. It was dark and mostly filled with debris, but there was still a small space left open.
A young girl, probably no more than 6, sat pushed up against the corner of the building. Her clothes and hair and skin were covered in dust and she looked scared. The fact that she'd survived was miraculous, picking the one spot of the house that hadn't been ground into dust. Hina gave her a little smile, shuffling to be closer to her.
"Hey...it's ok now. We're gonna get you some help." She reached out so the little girl could take her hand, but she didn't even move. Barely acknowledged her presence at all.
"What's your name?" The telepath tried again, but still the little girl just sniffled to herself, eyes wide and staring at the wreckage of what presumably had been her home.
Hina sighed, eyes glowing blue as she delved into the little girl's mind. Immediately, she was assaulted by many recent memories. Loud, distant explosions, the little girl's mother telling her to hide, ushering her towards the door to the basement, but another crash just nearby startled them both. The mother screamed, the little girl covered her ears with her hands, crying from the sound.
From the little girl's own memory, the kitchen exploded outwards, her father still standing inside. She ran, ducking into the nearest corner to cry, and she saw as her mother was engulfed in a smattering of wood and brick and furniture, crushing her against the opposite wall.
She called out her daughter's name right before her life had ended. Mari.
Hina pulled out from her head, ignoring the tear tracks down her own cheeks. She reached out to the girl's head, gently placing her hand on her hair. "Mari. Come with me. We'll get you to safety."
The girl looked up at her name, but still said nothing. Those eyes, they were haunting, much too young to have seen so much. Her family was gone. The hero wondered if she was even old enough to comprehend that, or if the concept of death was still something out of her reach. She didn't know which was worse, knowing she had no one left or left waiting for parents that would never come back.
Hina slowly gripped onto her shoulders, bringing her forward until she had the young girl against her chest in a protective fashion. She was so small, so frail. And so unbelievably cold. There was no resistance from Mari and she limply allowed Hina to move her as she wished.
Fresh tears blurred her vision, and she blinked to dispel them. Her heart felt heavy, and each step forward felt long and arduous back towards the way she'd come.
"It'll be...ok now." She whispered to the little girl, hoping her voice didn't waver.
"Otōsan!" A young man cried out, and Hina rounded a pile of debris to find him digging desperately through another hill of the remains of Kamino Ward. "Otōsan!"
As she grew closer, she noticed a large gash across his head right beneath his hairline, and a worrying amount of blood staining his face and clothing from the wound. Hina approached cautiously.
"Do you need help?" She called, and he whipped around to see who had spoken.
"My father...he's in here somewhere! I thought I heard him around this spot!" He went right back to grabbing large rocks and tossing them away, making very little progress in the pile of debris. Dust and wreckage simply fell, filling in the spots he was pulling from. He reached for another large shard of glass, and it was then that she noticed how cut up his hands were.
"Sir, you need medical assistance." She said, going closer to grab at his hands. He looked down at his bloodied palms and fingers, now coated with dust and dirt and probably infecting the wound, but he simply shook his head and yanked his wrists away from her grip.
"I can't stop looking. He might run out of air soon!"
"Sir, please! You're bleeding heavily. You'll die at this rate if you don't get help."
"Not until I find him! We'll get help together!" He cried, eyes tearful and teeth bared in desperation. He choked back a sob, body shaking. "I can't leave him..."
Hina looked through the wreckage, eyes widening, before activating her quirk on the young man. She swallowed thickly.
"I'm here now, and I'll look for him. Don't you think he'll be worried enough if he finds out you didn't get your wounds treated? You could die from infection, even if he is found." She pointed out, gently stilling his hands again. "Don't give him any more reason to worry. Both of you have just been through a traumatic experience. Leave the rest to me."
The young man sat there staring at the pile of rubble, eyes searching for any sign of his father. He winced, and Hina leaned forward to put herself in his line of sight.
"Please. Come with me. Get your injuries checked." Her soft voice encouraged, and she finally saw his eyes sag with his impending exhaustion.
"Ok." He said, then turned to her with fresh tears. "But please...find him. Please."
Hina managed as close to a smile as possible, pulling him up from the ground and ushering him towards the first aid station. "I promise."
She dropped her quirk, keeping his gaze in front of them as they walked away, glad that she'd thought to erase the severed arm on the ground several feet away from his vision. Perhaps it wasn't a very hero-like thing to do, lying to him like this, but she couldn't handle seeing his grief in that moment.
She passed by one of the rescue workers, and her eyes glowed blue once more.
"There is one deceased male in the rubble behind us. Please, be discreet about removing him. His son does not know he is dead."
So many dead. So few survivors in comparison. Hours of work, with very little rescue overall. It was demoralizing and exhausting. One of the things Hina had always been taught about rescue operations was to be the hope that others so desperately were hanging on to. Give that smile, tell them everything would be alright, and stand on unwavering feet to show that your strength could be a beacon for them to flock to.
But this...after awhile, she was unable to smile any longer. Her words felt stale before they'd even left her mouth. The painkillers from her nurse earlier were beginning to wear away, and her wound was flaring up. A pounding headache was also pounding at her temple, though that was her own fault.
Frustrated with not finding anyone, Hina had began trying to connect with people's minds despite not having a line of sight on them. It was taxing, extending her quirk without a target, and ultimately accomplished nothing, but she was determined to figure out how to bypass her quirk's biggest weakness and find them, help them, and bring them to safety. Hours of trying left her no closer to managing it, though, and only rewarded her with a migraine.
There was no hope on many of these citizens faces. All of the volunteers and heroes alike were feeling it too, the sheer devastation upon these grounds. On a scale they hadn't seen for years. If at all.
Hina passed by Death Arms, one of the few who had been the first to respond among the heroes. They passed each other a few times during the course of the day, either on their way to bring the wounded to first aid stations, or to help get a section of building off of someone who could possibly still be alive.
He looked more downtrodden than she'd ever seen him. They exchanged a nod, both too tired to speak, and went on to try to find more people to rescue. Those that had been doing this since the fight's conclusion the night before looked no better than walking corpses.
Dropping off the unconscious body of an elderly woman that she'd found wedged between two buildings' walls, somehow still alive, the redhead turned to go back out to search for more civilians. However, the sight of dozens of fresh-faced heroes made her stop with surprise. Many she didn't recognize, but Ryukyu was among the crowd and she stepped forward to speak.
"Those of you at your limit, go home. Get rest and return in the morning." The dragon hero declared, getting the attention of all nearby. "We'll continue in shifts until the wreckage is cleared. In the meantime, allow us to take your place and continue the rescue efforts."
I can keep going, was Hina's first thought, but a particularly sharp stab of pain told her otherwise. She begrudgingly realized that she had reached a peak that, if crossed, would only cause herself further and unnecessary damage. Being here at the rescue zone would only hinder the others.
Her home felt...empty. It was empty, of course. Until she stepped inside, there was no one else there, but there was something missing that she just couldn't place. Whatever it was, Hina was too tired to try to figure it out and sat tersely on the edge of the couch cushion.
Tired. Cold. Hungry. Thirsty. Blank, overall. There was so much on her mind and yet her body was past the point of function that it all conglomerated into a fuzzy mess of background noise in her head. She stared blankly at her tv.
And then she cried. The bubble of her grief broke, with one and then more tears falling from her eyes, and the UA teacher bent over in wracking sobs. Hands covered her face, hands that had touched dead and wounded and those too shocked to realize what had happened to them yet. So many had needed help, and still there were so many more they had yet to find. Kamino Ward was a large area, and nearly all of it had been destroyed.
Hina's breathless, stuttering cries echoed through her empty apartment, and for minutes on end she let out her pain and misery through her tears. Her side hurt painfully, but she didn't give a damn. The pain in her heart was much worse.
She cried until her already dehydrated body had nothing left to give. Her face damp with her tears, red and puffy eyes beneath the palms of her hands, she felt a mess.
A buzzing noise from her kitchen counter caught her attention. At first she ignored it, but then recognized it as her phone vibrating. She wiped at her face, trying to get herself together, if just for a moment. Reluctantly standing to see what it was, she wobbled over to the kitchen, body sore and unsteady.
She'd forgotten to take her phone with her to the Hideout Raid, and it had remained here on the counter until now. Tapping the screen, she winced at the 27 unread text messages and the 8 phone calls all from various people. Nemuri had called and texted the most, but both Hizashi and Aizawa had tried to reach out to her too.
She went back to the couch, slowly going through the messages from her friends. They were all worried that she hadn't responded to them at all last night. Nemuri's were borderline frantic, and she figured that she needed to reach out to her first.
"I'm ok. Not up for talking right now, but I'll call you later."
She sent the same message to Hizashi, knowing the fact that she didn't want to talk was near blasphemy to the voice hero, but she really was just exhausted and they would both be too overbearing for her current mental state. At least they'd know she was still alive, and not one of the casualties of the ward.
Aizawa's few messages weren't quite as frantic as the others, but still nonetheless worried. She stared at his thread, feeling a sudden loneliness that hadn't hit her until now. She pressed the call button, not really knowing why, but doing so anyway. It only rang once.
"Where are you?" Was his immediate question, and she blinked slowly.
"I'm home."
"Are you hurt?"
"..."
"Hina."
"...Sort of."
"Stay right there."
The line disconnected, and she stared at the phone for a moment, then locked the screen, watching her carpet with a blank gaze for an indeterminate amount of time.
Her sense of time must have been completely skewed, because what felt like seconds later, there was an insistent knocking at her door. Knowing who it was, she stood and went to the door to open it, not bothering to look through the peephole.
Aizawa frowned in concern the moment he saw her figure. She noticed he had shaved, his scruffy beard and mustache now gone, and his hair appeared to have been trimmed, the length not quite as long as she remembered. He wore a comfortable shirt and jeans, looking well in his civilian clothing. He always looked so handsome...
Hina realized she was still wearing her ruined hero costume, and she hadn't washed the dust and dirt and the little blood from her skin from helping with rescue, likely resembling something that had just crawled out from a dumpster. Her eyes glanced down at herself and sighed.
She stepped aside, allowing him to enter her home. The door shut, and he eyed the wound on her belly with a wince. The bandage the nurse had applied was beginning to peel, and was covered in dust and dirt. It was probably doing more harm than good at this point.
"You should go to the hosp-"
"I'm not going back there." She interrupted, staring at the ground. "They have civilians to worry about first. And I...can't deal with the grief right now."
"Grief?"
"They all looked so hopeless...I can't handle it. Not right now." Hina felt the sting of more tears behind her eyes. He nodded, seeming to understand what she meant.
"Do you have a first aid kit?" He asked, and she pointed down the hallway.
"Linen closet, second shelf." She muttered, and he'd already hurried away to grab it before she'd even finished talking. She sat on the couch again, waiting for him to return with a mix of feelings. She wasn't sure if she had wanted him around. Her emotions were in careful check right now, and she didn't want to end up breaking down in front of him.
He walked back around with a bowl of water, a washcloth, and the kit in hand, but refused to give it to her when she reached for it.
She feared being a burden, or an inconvenience. "I can change the-"
"Let me." He interrupted, meeting her eyes. He wasn't upset, or angry with her for having been injured. And she couldn't see annoyance in his expression. Just genuine concern that she was wounded. Too tired to argue otherwise, she simply nodded and allowed him to continue.
He peeled gently at the ruined cloth, unwrapping it from her torso. His eyes glanced back and forth from her face to what he was doing, checking to make sure nothing he did hurt her too much. She hadn't expected the thick silence between them to feel so comfortable, but just being near him gave her this sense of familiarity she'd been missing. Not to mention, it didn't let her thoughts wander back to everything she'd witnessed in the rescue zone the past 8 hours.
Aizawa reached the end of the roll, and slowly peeled the stained material away from her wound. It stuck at the edges, and she hissed as it caught on the dried blood. He murmured an apology, focused on not causing more pain than was unavoidable. Tenderly, the bandage cleared the wound and he carefully removed the rest, standing to throw the dirtied cloth away.
She looked down at it, noting the ugly redness around the edge. It was definitely irritated, possibly infected now that she'd gone out in the dirt and grime to rescue people. Oh well. A small price to pay in retrospect.
He returned to his spot in front of her and grabbed the wash cloth from the bowl of water. The extra water was squeezed out, and he gently began washing the area around her wound, careful not to press too hard or swipe too close to the injury itself. Their silence persisted, interrupted only by their breathing, or her occasional sharp intake of breath at a stab of pain.
Her thoughts began to wander back to the events of the day, and the night before that. It was crazy, just how much had happened in the past 24 hours. There was so much she wanted to know, but Hina didn't know where to even start. Breaking the silence took more effort than she'd expected.
"I blacked out after Bakugou escaped..." She trailed off, shivering as he brought the cloth around to her exposed back. "What happened after that?"
Aizawa didn't immediately answer, looking thoughtful as he continued cleaning her torso. "All Might faced against the man called All For One. A news helicopter set up a distance away and broadcasted the fight. The whole country was watching."
He squeezed the dirty cloth in the water, then cleaned it to use again. "He won, but in doing so revealed his true form. Last I heard, he was being treated for his injuries. He should physically recover, but they don't know if he'll ever be able to use his quirk again."
Hina winced, a spike of pain through her heart. She couldn't imagine not having her quirk. As much as she'd been afraid of it, it was still part of who she was. Having it taken away felt like stripping off a piece of herself, somehow. At least now she knew what the nurse had meant by 'broadcast.'
"That's terrible..."
"Mmm."
Another silence settled, and she thought of something else to ask.
"Bakugou's ok." He mentioned, guessing as to her next question. "He was released this morning from the hospital. He only had minor injuries from fending off the League and is home with his family."
A weight settled off her shoulders. "I'm glad."
Satisfied that her torso was as clean as it could be, he set the bowl of water aside and opened her first aid kit, grabbing the roll of bandages and some alcoholic solution. He glanced up at her. "This will sting."
Hina nodded, preparing herself for the cold liquid. He held a small portion of cut bandage underneath it to catch the excess fluid, and poured a small amount over the red wound.
"Nnngh..." She grunted, fingers gripping the couch cushion like a vice. A cold fire burned on her skin and she could barely keep her eyes opened. "Fuck..."
"Almost done." He muttered, voice a gentle reminder that she would be ok. She nearly relaxed if not for the alcohol harshly killing away the bacteria in the wound. Her teeth biting down on her lip prevented any other curses from slipping out.
He stopped pouring, letting it sit for several seconds to kill anything else that might be festering in it, before patting gingerly at the wound with the cloth, alleviating some of the pain. She was panting by the time he was done.
He quickly applied a new bandage, wrapping it tight but not too tight, as if he'd done this sort of thing before. She wondered if he made it a habit of tending to his own wounds at home rather than going to a hospital. He didn't seem the type that liked being in one, considering how quick he'd been back to work after USJ.
She looked down at his handiwork, thinking it was done better than her civilian nurse at the first aid station that morning.
He settled back on his feet, looking up at her seriously. "Do you want to talk about today?"
Hina thought about it, weighing how she felt at that moment, before shaking her head. "Eventually, but...not yet."
"Ok."
With that, he rose and returned the first aid kit to the linen closet. When he returned, he asked, "Do you have saran wrap?"
"...In one of my kitchen drawers." She replied, and he went to presumably go retrieve it. She heard a few open, then close, before he grabbed what he was looking for and returned. Sitting himself down in front of her again, he measured out a long piece, ripping it from the roll with the box's jagged teeth.
"What are you doing?" She asked, watching him wrap the plastic covering around her wound. It wasn't perfect, but tight enough that it wouldn't fall off. He wrapped it twice more around her stomach, before grabbing the medical tape from her first aid kit.
"Waterproofing your bandage so you can take a shower." He replied.
"Oh."
Cleaning herself up hadn't even been on her mind at all. He really was looking out for her. Her mind was all out of sorts at the moment. Once the top and bottom of the plastic covering was secured, he put the first aid kit away and stood.
"Stay here."
Obediently following his instruction, she waited, hearing him turn on the water for the shower and rummaging in her linen closet for a fresh towel. Hina closed her eyes at the sound of the running water, and her exhaustion from earlier seemed to double. A hot shower sounded heavenly right now, and a nap afterwards even more so.
"Hina." She heard, and she opened her eyes, seeing Aizawa crouching in front of her. "Let's get you cleaned up."
She nodded mutely, rising to her feet and gingerly walking down the hallway to her bathroom. A towel was placed upon the sink's counter, and the tiny room already felt warmer from the hot water steaming from the shower head.
"Aizawa." She said, turning and grabbing his wrist before he left. Their eyes met and she felt her heart swell. This man was amazing, taking care of her when she couldn't find it in herself to do so. She only hoped her eyes could somehow express that to him in a way that words just couldn't. A tear leaked from her eye, overwhelmed by his kindness. "Shouta...Thank you."
He looked at her a moment, then leaned forward, placing a tender kiss at her temple. She closed her eyes at the feeling. His lips lingered on her skin for a moment, then pulled away. Such a small act, but it spoke volumes to her. "Take your time. I'll still be here when you're done."
"Ok."
He turned away and she closed the door for some privacy. She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and nearly cried again. Everything she'd been imagining before was correct, only a lot worse. Her hair looked almost gray from the dust and dirt in it. Her skin was ashen, bags under her eyes making them look sunken. She really did look terrible, as if one foot was already in the grave. A walking ghost.
Carefully removing her ruined hero costume she tossed the remains to the floor, her underwear and bra following after it. She pushed aside the shower curtain and stepped into the steam.
Hina knew her water bill for the month would probably be astronomical, spending nearly an hour just scrubbing herself clean of Kamino Ward and everything that had clung to her there. She shampooed twice, just to get all of the grime out, and she'd lathered her whole body with body wash, hoping the flesh of the dead would come away with the skin she scalded off. Her tears were indistinguishable from the water from the shower head above her.
The mirror was fogged up when she stepped out of the tub, and she wrapped herself in the towel Shouta had retrieved for her. It was then that she noticed the tattered costume and her dirty undergarments were gone, replaced by her own sweatpants and an oversized t-shirt she kept in the closet for lazy days. A fresh bra and underwear sat atop those too.
Surprisingly unperturbed that he'd gone through her drawers to pick out fresh clothing for her, she dried herself and dressed in her comfy clothes, taking off the saran wrap cover. He was only looking out for her, and Hina knew that he hadn't had any ill intentions rummaging through her underwear drawer.
She emerged from the bathroom feeling refreshed, but still tired. She spotted her boyfriend sitting on the couch, checking his phone when she entered the living room. He heard her approach and stood to face her. Saying nothing, she stepped close and wrapped her arms around his body, pressing her ear to his chest to hear his heart beat. He reciprocated the gesture, his chin pressed against the top of her head.
They stood there, quietly taking in the other's warm body as a comfort. The steady beat of his heart was more calming than anything else she knew, his even breathing slowly helping her match the pace, to ease her nerves. She breathed in the scent of his shirt, committing it to memory as a sign of safety and comfort. A sign that everything was ok. They could have stayed like that all night, and she wouldn't have minded. And for a long time, they did just that.
"Hina." She heard him say quietly, just above her ear. Eyes closed, she hummed a response. "You're falling asleep, so go lay in bed."
She hummed again and nodded against his shirt but made no effort to move, content to stand right where she was in his warm arms. Then, a realization came to her and she smiled a little. Her voice was thick with exhaustion. "You called me Hina."
She felt more than heard his low chuckled, deep in his chest, and he placed another kiss to her head. "And you called me Shouta."
"Mhmm..."
"Off to bed, now." He encouraged, finally just resorting to picking her up by the thighs and bringing her into her own bedroom. She jostled against him at being picked up but simply leaned her head on his shoulder. She was barely aware of what was happening as he eased her onto her bed, the soft pillow propping her head up at just the right angle. A set of blankets covered her body.
The one thing she could comprehend was her muttered request of 'Stay.' Whether he took up the offer or not was lost to the void of sleep.
ns 15.158.61.17da2
