Phoenix (mha x oc)

Chapter 37: Survivor's Guilt

Tanaka's POV

Everything is quiet... everything except for the familiar beep of a heart monitor. My eyes were too heavy to open, so I sat in silence, replaying the events that had transpired before I fell into unconsciousness. 'Kai... he's been defeated. I'm safe. Eri is safe... right? What happened after I went out?! Are they okay?!' I thought before I heard a door slide open.

"How is she doing?" the familiar voice of Aizawa asked.

"She has no injuries, but her body is extremely weak. Whatever she did out there seems to have absolutely drained her energy. She should be waking up within the next few hours if our calculations are correct," a woman, who I assumed was the doctor, said.

"Good. The fact that she's been out for three days has been scaring my students," Aizawa said as two sets of footsteps approached my bed.

'Three days?!' I thought to myself as I heard another familiar voice ask, "How are you gonna break the news about Nighteye and Fae?"

'Wait, what happened to them?! Please tell me that they are okay!' I thought to myself before I heard Aizawa sigh.

"I dunno, Mic... I dunno..." Aizawa said quietly, "I mean, the other students are taking it really hard and they don't even have healing powers. I can't imagine the guilt she will feel when she finds out."

I desperately tried to open my eyes so I could find out what happened. "I have to get going. I'll see you at the dorms, Shota," Present Mic said before I heard footsteps leave the room.

After a few minutes, I finally managed to flutter one of my eyes slightly open. "A-Aizawa...?" I asked.

We made eye contact and he said, "Good to see you're awake. How are you feeling?" 

"Tired..." I muttered.

"Well, all that matters is that you're alive. I heard that you ended up reincarnating again," Aizawa stated.

I nodded slowly and he sighed, "Listen, I'm glad that you have the ability, but please be careful out there. Seeing you get fatally injured is having a negative effect on some of your classmates. So please try not to worry them as much anymore, ok?"

I nodded again and asked, "Is everyone okay...?"

Aizawa sighed. "Well, all of your classmates were discharged from the hospital the night of the raid. However, Fae has decided to retire due to the loss of her leg," he explained.

My eyes fell, tears pooling in them, but I was too tired to suck them down. "W-what about Nighteye...?" I asked.

Aizawa fell silent for a moment before he said, "He died from his injuries."

The tears in my eyes began to fall, reminding me of the powers they hold. 'I-I could have done something... I could have saved him! Why did he have to die! I should have died, yet I'm still here!' I thought to myself as the reality of the situation weighed down on me.

"Listen... I know what you're thinking. His injuries were so severe that it would have taken gallons of your tears to heal him. None of us would want to harvest your tears the way the League did, and I'm sure Nighteye would agree," Aizawa stated, looking me in the eye.

"B-but I could have saved him..." I whispered.

"Tanaka. You are a first year in high school. The weight of his life should never have been placed on your shoulders. You can't always save everyone," Aizawa said, "However, take this as an experience. Remember how you're feeling right now, and use it to try your best to save more people by becoming a great hero."

I nodded and slowly reached up to my face to wipe my tears. 'I never want to feel this way again... so I'm going to work harder to save more people!' I thought to myself before my mind drifted to Eri. "How's Eri...?" I asked.