Strings (BNHA x OC) [Rewrite]

13 || Hospital

The slow beeps of a heart monitor were the first thing that Eraser Head heard as he drifted awake.

He groaned, his entire body aching with pain.

He opened his eyes and looked around, finding that he was lying on a bed in a hospital's recovery room — and a very plain one at that; very white. There was a single window in the room, the bed was stationed next to it so that he could see out. The height of the window from the ground outside told him that he was on one of the higher floors of the hospital. And the sun shining in the sky told him that it was morning.

His brow creased. How long have I been out?

The door opened and in walked a man. "Good morning," he greeted.

Eraser Head looked over at the doctor as he approached the side of the hospital bed; he wore a white doctor's coat and had a stethoscope draped around his neck. He had a head of shaggy light brown hair which was a slightly lighter color than his coffee-colored eyes which were complimented by his slightly tanned skin. In his hand was a clipboard with some paper, along with a cheap blue pen.

"You were out for about nine hours," he said.

Nine hours? Eraser Head questioned. Half of him was surprised that it was only nine hours with the injuries he knew that he'd sustained, the other half was surprised that he was able to sleep that long — the world would usually decide to wake him up after about half that time.

Eraser Head used his arms to push himself up into a sitting position, leaning back against the wealth of pillows behind him. Instantly, his head started to throb, and he winced.

"You took a hard hit to the head," the doctor said, flipping through the papers on his clipboard.

The hero reached a hand up and felt around his head, finding a bandage wrapped around it.

"You miraculously made it out with only a few serious burns — your hero costume seemed to do a decent job at shielding you." He looked up from the papers at the hero. "And those kids pulled you out before the building was completely engulfed in flames."

Eraser Head's mind flashed to the two kids that had pulled him from the blaze that was the theater on fire. "What happened to those two kids?" he quickly asked.

"The two kids who you saved? They both came here; one got stitches, then they were sent home," the doctor answered.

At that, the hero breathed a sigh of relief. So they're okay... good.

"They both send their regards, wishing you a speedy recovery," he added, before he fell more somber. "And they... also said they were sorry you couldn't save all three of them."

The erasure hero scolded himself. If I had only gotten there a minute earlier, the kid might still be alive now.

"Aizawa!" The man was pulled from his thoughts, looking to the door as Present Mic came running into the room.

"Mic, be quiet. This is a hospital," Midnight hushed as she rushed through after the voice hero, right on his heels. Both of them were in their hero costumes, as they had come directly from their professions as teachers.

"Are you okay?!" Present Mic ran up to the side of the hospital bed, and the doctor had to quickly step out of the way to avoid being trampled.

Even with Eraser Head's whole body hurting, he didn't want his friends to worry, and so he lied, simply saying, "I'm fine."

Everyone in the room knew that it was a lie, but they brushed it aside.

"I'll leave you three," the doctor said, making his way out of the recovery room and closing the door behind him, giving them privacy.

Immediately after the door shut, Midnight placed her hands on her hips, asking the erasure hero bluntly, "When were you planning on telling us that you were going after Puppet Master?"

He frowned. "I didn't," he answered honestly. "You would have tried to stop me. If anything, I would have told you when she was in Tartarus."

"She could've killed you!" She raised her voice, waving her hands towards him in frustration.

She could've, Eraser Head agreed to himself, but she didn't. And that's what stumped him; she let him live, and he had no clue as to why.

When he didn't end up giving a response, the other two heroes looked at him in disappointment and worry.

"I... just don't wanna lose you too," Present Mic admitted softly.

The room fell silent, the moment falling heavy as memories of their days as UA students flashed through their minds.

Eraser Head suddenly felt a pang of guilt. He had only been thinking about one thing: getting Puppet Master into custody. He hadn't been worrying about those around him that could potentially be affected by his actions.

"Look," Midnight broke the silence, "the mission was self-assigned, right?"

He nodded.

"Then there's no harm in quitting," she concluded. "Come back to your class — they've missed you."

Eraser Head thought about the proposition for a moment, realizing how much he really did miss UA, Eri, and though he would never admit it, his problematic class of first-year students.

He eventually sighed, conceding. "You're right; I'll come back."

"Alright!" Present Mic cheered. "Let's get that doc back in here and get you discharged!"