Blood Girl

Chapter 13: Pain

(3rd person POV) 

Azusa's still laying in that hospital bed unconscious, she was stabbed in the lower stomach, which means her abdomen was damaged. Severely. 

(Azusa's POV)

My head hurts so bad. Probably from hitting the concrete floor so hard. But there's worse pain from my stomach. I pull up my shirt a bit to see a big bandage on my lower stomach. 

'What happened? Oh! Right... I got stabbed...' 

"It's a miracle we're alive." Izuku sighs, I nod a bit shocked that Iida and Todoroki are here too. The doors open and the pro heroes are standing there. 

"Oh, you wounded kids awake?" Gran Torino says glaring at Izuku. 

"Gran Torino!" Izuku smiles. 

I look over seeing "... Triton." I gulp glancing at his worried face. 

"Why didn't you listen to me...?" There's no anger in his voice. 

"I'm sorry..! I know I shouldn't have ran off like that, but, I just couldn't leave my friends to suffer. I love them, and I-I have to help anyone at all cost..." I say, Iida, Izuku, and Todoroki give me a slight smile. "Now, I'm going to sleep, I'm tired-" I get cut off by Gran Torino bringing the chief of police. 

Kenji Tsuragamea. I listen intensely as I hear what he has to say. I only widened my eyes when he said; "... The four of you and your pro's must receive strict punishment." 

I felt like I couldn't breathe. "Wait a minute. If Iida hadn't done anything, Native would've been killed. If Midoriya hadn't come, the two of them could've been killed. If Nakano never came, it would've been one of us with the missing abdomen! No one realized that the Hero Killer had appeared. Are you saying we should've followed the rules and watch people die?" Todoroki snapped. "So you're saying as long as everything turns out alright, it's okay to bend the rules? Isn't it a hero's duty to protect people?!" 

Tsuragamea closed his eyes "That is why you're not a full-fledged hero, yet. Goodness what is U.A and Endeavor teaching you, woof?" 

'Woof...?'

Todoroki growls as he steps forward to him "You dog!" Iida tries to stop him. 

"Hang on a minute hear him out until the end." Gran Torino stops him. 

"That was the official opinion of the police. And the punishments and stuff would only happen if this were all made in public, woof. If this were in public you probably would've been applauded by the public, but you wouldn't be able to escape punishment. On the other hand, this is a bit underhanded, but if it's not made public, the burn scars would support Endeavor being the hero who saved the day, and it would end there, woof." He said.

I sighed. 

------

We returned to school for the first time in days, and the whole time, my friends and I were surrounded by our concerned classmates. Every few days, I needed to visit Recovery Girl for her to check my injury and change my bandages.

However, I kept the details of my injury a secret. I had lost my entire abdomen. Although I could still eat, it felt strange. When part or all of the stomach is removed, food quickly passes into the intestine, causing issues with nausea and more.

Whenever they asked about my frequent visits to Recovery Girl, I made up excuses like, 'She has my medicine I have to take!'

During lunch, I felt an inexplicable anger. Someone accidentally bumped into me, pushing me to the ground, and their elbow nudged my stomach. I groaned, and when I looked up, Kirishima was standing over me.

"I'm so sorry-" he paused. "What happened?"

Glancing down, I noticed my shirt had lifted, revealing the large bandage wrapped around my torso. All eyes were on me.

"Uh..." Without thinking, I dashed out of the lunchroom, heading to the bathroom where I started crying in pain. I missed having a stomach. Recovery Girl mentioned a possibility of a multivisceral transplant, and I had briefly considered it.

Recalling the day I came home from the hospital in Hosu city, I remembered the look on Suki's face when she saw me. I had never seen her so scared or worried. She pulled me into a deep hug. I wondered what it felt like for her to come home and find her cousin had just had her stomach removed. Sitting on the bathroom floor, I couldn't shake the emotional weight of it all.

(3rd Person)

"Nakano." Bakugou's voice caught Azusa's attention as she looked up. Surprise flickered in her eyes as she saw him. "What happened?"

"I'm sorry—you don't have to explain. I just wanna know what's wrong," he said before walking away.

"We fought the hero killer, and I protected my friends, and then I paid the price. Sorry, Katsuki, but I have to get to class," Azusa explained, grabbing her backpack, swinging it over her shoulders, and then walking away. 

'She called me Katsuki?' he thought, pondering the significance of the moment. 

EDITED 2/10/22

EDITED #2 - 2/17/24