"hey mum." ira whispered as she sat at the end of her mother's bed. there was no response, no movement or any other sign of acknowledgement. ira sighed and tucked a strand of white hair behind her mother's ear.
"for a woman who doesn't move, your hair still seems to be a mess." she let out a light chuckle. still nothing. ira looked at the desk beside her mum and saw the pile of cards, chocolates and other assortments. it remained neat and untouched. she then stood up and gently held the vase as she replaced the water for her mother's flowers. she set it down in the centre of the desk where it sat surrounded by the loving gifts given by friends, family and fans.
"let's open these blinds then." she muttered as light flooded the hospital room. it reflected against the vase and caused a rainbow to dance around the damp room.
"look, there's a rainbow." ira said as if she was trying to cheer up a child. "you love those. you used to take us outside in the rain just incase there happened to be one. we didn't last long enough, dad would make us go back inside before me and keigo caught a cold."
ira sat back down on the bed.
"guess old habits die hard." she looked up at the ceiling to stop the sensation of tears from growing.
"you know he misses you." her voice cracked. "he doesn't really talk about you, but i can tell."
the sun dimmed down and the rainbow dissapeared. ira took a shaky breath and looked back at her mum. tears built up in the corner of her eyes and evened themselves out. they slowly dropped down ira's red cheeks and rested under her chin.
"boy is it hot in here." ira whispered. she stood up and felt her mother's head with the back of her hand.
"and yet, you're freezing. i'll be back, don't go anywhere." she slightly smiled at her joke, hoping for any kind of reaction - none. ira wiped her tears away. she slapped her cheeks lightly and took a few deep breaths in order to control her heart beat.
"you okay?" kento questioned and stood up as ira closed the door.
"mhm, just getting blankets for her." she answered while walking away from him, careful not to let him see her face.
"you want me to ask a nurse for you?" he asked and placed a hand on her shoulder. he slowly turned her around and immediately embraced her in a warm hug once he saw her face. her eyes... they were shining, full of tears - yet she still smiled.
"mum's freezing in there, i'm pretty sure she's cursing at the nurses." she mumbled into kento's chest. she felt the slight rumble as he chuckled.
"i see where you get it from."
"oh no, that's all keigo." she lifted her head up, still wrapping her arms around him. "he's such a bad influence, have no idea how he's the top three hero."
eyes flickered towards the two. she knows hawks? her mum's in hospital... could we use this? the person looked away to quickly search for their companion who went to the bathroom. giving up, they turned their attention back onto the winged girl only to see that neither she nor the man she was with were standing around anymore.
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"sorry that took so long mum! got hungry so i - mmph - took a detour." ira struggled to wheel the [tray thing] inside the room but eventually got it through the door.
"Aha! you see how awesome i am!? haven't really missed... much." her voice trailed off when she saw a curled up man on the floor breathing staggered breaths.
"ohmygosh, are you okay!?" she exclaimed and immediately crouched besides the person. of course not you dumb ass!
"i can't... i'm gonna split!" he shouted in a panic and clutched his head with both his arms. ira slowly lifted the man up so he was at least upright and stared at him with concern.
"hey, hey. it's gonna be fine, you'll be fine." she soothed. "what's the matter? are you hurt?"
she placed both hands on his shoulders but suddenly let go. she saw him, but not here in the hospital. in the moment that felt like days but was really a snap of a second, she understood how he was feeling. she saw fragments of his life, blurry images that somehow made sense to her and understood what he was suffering. she understood and sympathised with his pain - not being able to trust himself in fear of losing control, the trauma that was imprinted into his brain. ira ripped off a piece of her shirt and carefully removed his hand from his ripped mask. she quickly tied her shirt around his head to cover the rip of his mask. the man enveloped her in a hug that radiated relief.
"thank you so much." his shaky voice rang out in the silence of the hospital room. she didn't reply but let the beeping of the machines answer for her: she was still trying to process what the hell just happened to her. a pair of footsteps stopped outside the room and eyes peeked through the blinds.
"twice, there you are! we've been looking for you everywhere for you!" a girl who was a few years younger than ira shouted out.
"toga! we're not supposed to use our public names!" the man named 'twice' whisper shouted as he stood up, his mood changing particularly quick for a guy who just had a panic attack. ira was sat on the floor, now criss-crossed for comfort reasons, looking in between the two with slightly narrowed eyes. she wasn't sure what was going on but they seemed... off.
"so uh... i'm assuming she's your friend." twice nodded enthusiastically while toga waved energetically. ira gave an awkward wave back as she went into her 'white guy' smile. kami help me get out of this awkward situation or bless me with social skills.
"he's calling us, we need to go." toga said after checking her phone.
"bye takami!" twice shouted as he left the room, following behind toga.
"i didn't tell him my name." ira mumbled as she stood up and walked over to her mum.
"well, it'd be nice if you woke up and gave me some motherly advice." she let out a yawn and stretched her arms in the air, above her head. there was silence for about two minutes.
"didn't think so, i wonder if being in a coma's fun." ira pondered and curled up at the end of the hospital bed. she lay partly on her stomach, head on her hands that rested on her mother's ankles, as the sun shone through the curtains and illuminated the innocent teenager.
11 march 2022
YOU ARE READING
sequoia || katsuki bakugo (alt title. tREE)
Fanfiction"you're a bird of prey for f-cks sake!" "actually i have no idea what species of bird i'm supposed to be!" "you're kind of ruining the pep talk ira!" "sorry katsuki!" -in which the sister of the pro hero hawks is banished to stay at home for her saf...
