Maigo- A BNHA OC Story

The Gauntlet pt. 2

Maigo is still in the hospital and experiences some mild side effects from anesthesia. This chapter does not delve too deeply into triggering topics (but please let me know if I am wrong!)

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   Her head is swimming. It is being pulled in every different direction. It is pounding, vibrating even. She squeezes her eyes shut tighter.

   Whatever position she is in is making her feel sick. She flips over, crawls over what feels like mountains, hooking her arms around some type of railing and pulling herself up.

   Just so she can fall.

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   He jinxed it.

   He knows he jinxed it the second she starts moving, something about the sluggishness of her limbs and the direction of her body. The gnawing feeling in his stomach grows

   The two of them were so relieved when she was wheeled back into the room. Even the moments leading up to it, when she got so worked up and anxious that she actually started flickering, when Shota had to nudge Hizashi closer to Maigo while he himself backed into the corner, his eyes glowing a fierce and angry red in order to keep the girl from making something worse happen. When it took Hizashi two full minutes to even grab Maigo's attention, to try and stop that spiral she was caught in, trying his hardest to get her out of her own head. Neither he nor Shota had left the room in the six hours Maigo was in the operating room. Hearing from the doctor that everything went swimmingly is just the icing on the cake.

   So when Maigo wakes up in a blind panic, fumbling around in her bed and managing to tip herself over the bed rail without even opening her eyes, Hizashi knows he jinxed it.

   He just had to say she'll be okay.

   Thank goodness he is only hovering one foot away from the bed. All he has to do is lunge forward and hold his arms out. She falls right into his outstretched hands, grunting and kicking at the sudden change in orientation.

   "Hey, hey, hey," he tries to keep his voice as gentle as possible. "It's me, it's your Uncle 'Zashi, little listener."

   Shota is right next to the two of them, already taking the girl out of Hizashi's arms and trying to settle her in bed. "You're okay. We're here."

   Her eyes finally open. She looks around at her surroundings, still holding on to Shota's arm. Judging by the way Shota's sleeve bunches under her fingers, Hizashi guesses she is holding on pretty tight. Shota clears his throat, catching the blond's attention before jerking his head in the direction of his bag in the corner.

Without so much as a second thought, Hizashi grabs the bag handle and fishes around inside. He knows exactly what he is looking for once his fingers brush something soft. He pulls the two stuffed animals out of the bag and gently places them in the small girl's lap. "Couldn't let them stay home, could we?"

Maigo stills long enough to grip one stuffed animal in each hand. She wastes no time burying her face into them, resting her head on the dark-haired man's chest. Her eyes flutter closed again, and her breathing evens until Hizashi is sure she is back asleep. He gazes in astonishment as her arms and legs go slack in Shota's hold. "Well that sure didn't take long."

   A small grunt sounds from Shota's throat as he moves to the bed. He sits on its edge, carefully placing the girl down. Even in her sleep, she is a bundle of limbs and stuffed animals, curled up so tight she could be mistaken for an actual ball with fuzzy pink hair.

   "Are we sure she doesn't actually have two quirks?" Hizashi whispers.

   Shota's brows knit together. He gives the blond a sideways glance. "What are you talking about?"

   "There is no way any human being can fall asleep that quickly."

   "Have you ever had surgery before?" Shota asks.

   "Just wisdom teeth."

   "Doesn't count," the dark-haired man grunts. "Surgery takes a lot out of you, she'll probably be asleep for a few hours at least, if not for the rest of the day."

"So I guess there's no point in me staying," Hizashi responds dejectedly.

Shota lets out a tired sigh. He absentmindedly picks up a corner of the bedsheet that was strewn about in the young girl's earlier fit and drags it over her now sleeping form. He watches as the girl unconsciously wraps her fingers around one edge of the sheet that now covers her body. "If you want I can text you when she wakes up again," he mutters. His voice feels like gravel in his throat.

Hizashi throws on a half-hearted smile that doesn't quite reach his eyes. Straightening up, he grabs his bag from the chair in the corner of the room and walks toward the door. Standing in the doorframe, he turns back to his best friend, still sitting motionless on the edge of the hospital bed. "I'll tell your class you're unavailable?"

"Just tell them I'll be back in a couple of days," Shota responds. "And feel free to send me some papers to grade or anything like that in the meantime."

"Bye Sho."

"Bye."

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   The room is dark when she wakes again. Soft lights underneath the bed illuminate the floor with a yellow glow. The sheets rustle when she sits up, looking around for any other signs of life. Her heart rate calms when she finally lays eyes on a lump in the corner.

   He is sleeping on a cot under the window. His features are soft, and he is snoring slightly. Maigo slips out of her bed and pads over to him. The stuffed animals in her arms jingle as she clutches them closer. She climbs up over the cot's edge, squirming under his arm and wriggling closer to him. Although she tries her best to be quiet, he still stirs awake above her.

   "Hey," Shota's voice is thick with sleep. "How are you feeling?"

   She answers by rubbing her forehead into his sternum.

   "Do you want to sleep here or get back in your own bed?"

   She tightens her fists into his shirt, squeezing her eyes shut. Not her own bed. She'll be alone there.

   "Okay." A warm arm wraps around her back. She settles further into the cot, her own limbs feeling impossibly heavy. Even if they are in this nightmarish place, Shota's presence is always soothing.

   "I'm very proud of you," he murmurs. "You really are very brave to be here, to do this."

   She nods her head sluggishly, already feeling herself drifting off.