It was getting increasingly difficult to convince himself that the pale yellow fragments of crystal floating in the space above were simply stars in the night sky. He knew the truth regardless, no amount of lying to himself would do any good. This dark, cold place was inescapable.
And for as hard as he tried to find some way out of the void, his feet never seemed to carry him anywhere. What must have been days upon days of walking, the shards never leaving his sight, left him no closer to figuring a way out of his...mind. It was hard to wrap his head around, that he was stuck inside his own consciousness.
The telepath had said he was in some sort of coma. Or it was the closest equivalent she could come up with. How long could a body remain alive in such a circumstance? If he died...would he even know? Was this his perpetual in-between when his body drew it's last breath? How uncool. What a way to go...
He wasn't sure how long he'd been stuck in here, wandering, searching, and finally waiting, for some sort of help to come. All the blustering in the world wouldn't change the simple fact that Mister Blaster needed help. Even the redhead lady hadn't been convinced that he could handle things on his own. He could tell by the expression before she'd disappeared entirely. That had been so long ago.
She'd promised. That woman had vowed to find a way to put him back together. Where was she? She'd claimed to be a hero, but was he waiting for a rescue that would never come? The hero waited. He waited and waited, never growing hungry or feeling any more tired than he already did. This existence was a dull and mute affair.
Some time ago, he'd sat up, just staring up at the shards. Unable to take his eyes off them. For all he knew, it could have been a year, maybe a decade, just staring up at them. Nothing changed, nothing moved except for the shards, tumbling in place above him.
Until something did. A figure stepped in from the edge of his peripherals. Without a sound, or warning.
He swung his head to look at them fully, recognizing the long red hair of the woman who had appeared to him before. "Y-you!" He cried, garnering her attention. He scrambled to his feet.
The shout made her step back, and he realized that she was probably thinking of the first time they met, when he'd been intent to pummel her into the floor. Realizing how aggressive his stance was, he cleared his throat and stopped where he stood. "You came back." He elected to say, unable to keep the awe from seeping through.
"I promised I would." She replied in a small voice, then looked back to the nearest yellow fragment. "I don't like to renege on things like this."
"What took you so long, anyway? I feel like I've been here forever." He gruffed in irritation, crossing his arms in an effort to mask just how terrified he had been that he'd never get out of here.
The moment he spoke the words, he regretted them. The woman winced and looked away with a pain that went deep behind her eyes. He shouldn't have said a damn thing. She was here now, he supposed. That was all that mattered.
"Uhh...never mind..." He muttered, shaking his head to try taking back the sting.
"It's been six months." She admitted nonetheless, eyes rising back up to the shard in front of her.
The longer he stared, the worse he realized she looked. It had been a long time, but he distinctly remembered a lot more life in her when she'd first appeared. Instead she was...Tired, sported obvious dark circles under the eyes. Pale skin. Overall haggard and disheveled. She clutched her hands to her chest.
"I'm sorry I haven't been able to help until now."
"It's...it's fine." He said with a swallow, feeling bad that he'd spoken so insensitively. Him and his big mouth...She ultimately came back to help, after all. The length of time shouldn't have mattered. Besides, there was only one thing he really cared about at the moment, which was... "Do you know how to get me out of here?"
"I do." She said, reaching up to the yellow fragment and grasping it in her hand.
Mister Blaster felt a wave of relief flood through him. He was finally getting out of here!
She let out a gasp of pain as the yellow fragment made contact with her skin, but refused to let go of it. He frowned, wondering what had happened. She walked to another one a little further away and took a hold of it in her other hand.
Watching what she was doing with interest, he blinked, then did a double take, noticing the streaks of red that began running down her arms. Hadn't she noticed she was injured? "H-hey! You're bleeding!" He pointed out with worry.
"I know." Her eyes began to glow a cyan blue, but she didn't release the shards, which were obviously causing her pain. That alone was concerning. Did she really need to bleed to help him get out of here? Jeez...
"This may take some time, but I'll do my best to help you." The telepath said, before the shards in her hands also began to glow.
Reality rushed back to her, and the first thing she heard was whimpering. Her own, she realized, feeling the tightly-wound bandages around her hands. As expected, waves of pain began rolling through her palms, pulling all of her focus to them.
The hospital room was bright, a stark contrast to the darkness of Mister Blaster's mind, and she blinked to readjust her vision. The two nurses who'd stood at her side now rushed to Mister Blaster's aid as he began showing signs of awakening. The monitoring machine's beeping began to pick up in pace, signs of consciousness and thought resuming.
Hina watched with a dull satisfaction as Mister Blaster opened his eyes and gasped painfully, awake for the first time in months. His eyes tracked jagged lines around the room, no doubt searching for any indication that this was some sort of trick or an illusion born out of desperation. She could relate.
Hina stood from her chair and stepped back several paces, letting the hospital staff do their job without getting in the way. By now, they had the procedure down pat, swooping in to check vitals and offer words of comfort to the newly awakened patient. Finding themselves back in the real world was a real shock, as Hina knew, and having that support would be vital in keeping them calm.
Her hands shook from the phantom pain, but it was done. All of it. Having been the last of the victims Daichi had rendered unconscious, Mister Blaster had been the final person for Hina to help. It had been a long and painful weekend, hours spent sitting and re-ruining her hands, but she'd somehow managed to bring everyone back from that void.
Mister Blaster's had been, predictably, the quickest repair. The damage to his psyche hadn't been nearly as extensive as Rock Lock, or Mr. Brave, or any of the other comatose heroes Daichi had targeted. At by the time she'd fixed two or three heroes' minds, she had figured the quickest and least painful ways of putting the broken fragments back together. It was a complicated and painstaking process, but manageable once you knew the structure of the mind.
Hina stood there a moment, making sure that he wouldn't be a danger to the hospital staff, hands shaking and trembling from the phantom slashes. There was no screaming like when she herself had woken up the first time, but then again, they hadn't needed to actually do any of the work to put themselves together. When it was apparent that he wouldn't go into a rage of confusion, Hina turned and began walking towards the door to leave.
"Wait!"
His exclamation stopped her, and she turned, seeing Mister Blaster's expression. Jaw set, face tight with discomfort, she could see the overwhelming gratitude swirling in his eyes, contrasting so completely with his hard exterior. Knowing his memories and thoughts made the significance much greater. As someone who loathed needing to ask for help, to admit to conceived weakness, he felt it necessary to drop those walls in order to show his appreciation here.
"Thank you..." He finally said in a quiet voice.
Hina managed a strained smile, and nodded in acceptance of his gratitude, before turning and leaving the room, allowing him to begin his recovery.
Shouta waited just outside, sitting in a chair across the hall as he promised he would. He'd been at her side through the other heroes' sessions, but he'd asked if she would be alright that he wait outside for her on this one. She hadn't fully understood why, until after seeing into Mister Blaster's memories.
Originally believing that the two of them were close school friends, it had come as a shock when she'd seen the dislike they'd both shared back when they'd been younger. The unresolved bad blood between them made things a bit clearer. He probably didn't want to stir up old grudges.
Seeing her leave the hospital room, Shouta stood and approached, worry marking his face when he noticed her bandaged limbs shaking. "How are your hands?"
Hina raised them a little then shrugged. "I'll manage. They're bad now, but it'll go away in a few days, I think. I've honestly just gotten used to them being in pain."
Knowing he couldn't do anything to help was obviously causing him a bit of grief, but she offered a knowing smile. With a tilt of her head, she gestured for them to walk towards the elevator at the end of the hallway. "Don't worry, Sho, I'm managing the anxiety. I've been doing really well with keeping the panic attacks to a minimum lately. Dr. Nagata says it's really good for only 2 months into therapy."
"I know you're doing well. That's not what I'm worried about..." He muttered, glancing at the bandages again. "I just don't like seeing you in pain."
"I know. And I love you for it. But you can't solve all my problems just because you want to." She teased lightly.
He gave a little scoff, and she chuckled. Despite the pain in her hand, she linked her arm through his and walked beside him as they reached the door to the elevator. He pressed the button, and the door opened after only a moment. They stepped inside and indicated the ground floor.
"Are you still going to train with Shinsou tonight?" Hina asked suddenly.
"Yeah, we postponed yesterday's lesson so he could get after school tutoring for another class." He explained. "I don't want him losing his progress by putting it off longer."
"How is he doing? Do you think he's on par with 1-A yet?"
Shouta's eyes narrowed, thinking for a moment. "Nearly. There are some things he needs work on, but for the most part, I would consider him equal with my class."
"Good." She smiled, resting her head on his shoulder. "I can't help but root for him. He's a very excellent student in class. And he reminds me a lot of you. You're both so dedicated. And tired all the time." She added with a little grin. The conversation was helping her keep her mind off the pain.
"Hmm. He asks questions about your quirk all the time." Shouta said, watching the elevator indicator tick down the floors. "One day, you should consider giving him a quirk training. Yours is the closest thing to his quirk that UA has available. Maybe you can give him some pointers."
"I hadn't even thought about it, but...that does make some sense." She remarked offhandedly, thinking about the possibility. "I'll consider it."
The elevator slowed to a stop, before the car dinged and the doors opened to reveal the ground floor. The both of them stepped out and headed for the front entrance. The sky was dark, and Hina's brows raised.
"It's night already?"
"You were in there for 5 hours." He said, watching her expression with amusement.
"Oh...I hadn't realized." As if to emphasize the time, her stomach growled and she laughed. "I would offer to cook since you were kind enough to wait with me all that time, but I think I'd probably burn something or drop the pot with these hands."
"How about we just pick something up on the way?" He offered, and she nodded eagerly.
"Ok, I'll buy. What are you in the mood for?"
"Whatever you want."
Late into the night, Shouta's table was covered in a mess of assignments in various stages of being graded. Around the stacks were the left over paper boxes of their Chinese food dinner. Left forgotten and mostly eaten. Crumpled napkins and empty drink glasses were placed in between the stacks of paper where they could fit. It was an unorganized chaos.
Having worked for several hours after getting back from the hospital, it had taken Hina a lot of convincing to get him to stop working and actually get some sleep. He finally agreed, on the condition that she stay the night, in case of nightmares. Seeing as she spent more time in his apartment than her own, it was an easy decision.
Just as tired as him, they found themselves close together under the covers. Hina's hands still gave her some trouble, but the warmth that circulated between them helped keep her mind off of it.
She laid on her side, head resting on Shouta's arm and body pressed against his. His other hand draped over her hip, keeping her close protectively. On the verge of sleep, she couldn't help but thank whatever higher power there was that her life had taken the direction it did.
Through fatigued, drooping eyes, she stared up at Shouta's face again before drifting off into a heavy sleep.
ns 15.158.61.21da2
