Maigo- A BNHA OC Story

Coming Home

Shota's body aches. His joints are stiff and his limbs are sore. His right elbow screams in pain and his eyes are dry. He is on his back, staring up at a white ceiling. The bed beneath him is soft but firm. A soft beeping noise sounds in his ear. It takes too much effort to turn his head.

Hizashi is sitting in a chair next to his gurney. The blond's knee bounces nervously as he stares at the floor. His arms are crossed and his back is slumped against the chair. Every once in a while he lets out a deep sigh, the air building and building in his chest before it seeps out through his nose with a high-pitched whistle.

"Zashi," Shota rasps.

Hizashi's knee stops twitching. His head snaps up and his eyes lock onto those of the dark-haired man. Shota is taken aback at the anger he sees in them. "Where's Maigo?" he asks.

"You didn't sign them," the blond's voice is full of hurt.

"What?" Shota asks. What is he talking about?

"You didn't sign the papers," Hizashi whispers.

What papers? "Hizashi, what are you talking about?"

"You didn't sign the papers," the voice hero repeats. "She can't be here because you didn't sign the papers."

The papers. Shota's stomach drops. He can clearly see the papers on his kitchen table, where Hizashi had dropped them last week. "I convinced the social worker to waive the home inspection. All you have to do is sign these and bring them to city hall. Then we don't have to worry if Maigo gets hurt." Shota had brushed it all off like he'd do it later, even though he knew he wouldn't. Being a father is not his forte.

"Where is she," he asks again.

"Midnight's," Hizashi answers, sounding defeated.

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With enough convincing and a small bit of threatening, Shota is able to leave the hospital in the next two days. Hizashi shows up to drive him home. It takes them a few minutes to shuffle Shota into the car. Both of them sigh with relief once they successfully Tetris Shota's broken, bandaged limbs into the car and snap his seatbelt on.

The ride to Shota's apartment passes by quietly, with Hizashi watching the road and Shota staring off into space.

"I could have lost my eyes," Shota whispers, finally breaking the uncomfortable silence blanketing the two of them.

"We were told," Hizashi answers. "You gotta stop doing that, Sho. You can't keep throwing yourself out in front of danger and let yourself get dragged. You have a kid now."

"They were going to kill my students," Shota snaps, his voice quiet and dry. "I won't allow that."

The car stops in front of the apartment complex. Hizashi gets out and moves to open Shota's door. He sits motionless in the passenger seat, staring out into nothing.

"Sho, come on, get outta the car," Hizashi calls.

Shota snaps his head in Hizashi's direction. Two panicked eyes peep out from the thick layer of bandages covering his face. "What's Maigo going to think?"

   Hizashi rolls his eyes. "She's just going to be happy to see you alive," he throws back. "Last time she saw you, you were lying unconscious in a hospital bed. To her, anything is better than that."

"But still," Shota protests weakly as he is hefted out of the front seat, "I look more like a mummy now. Do you think she'll even recognize me?"

"She'll recognize the smell," Hizashi mumbles under his breath. The response earns him a blunt nudge to the side from Shota's good elbow. "But in all seriousness, Sho, she's just going to be happy to see you alive."

The two men look up at the building, it's entrance swinging closed as another patron walks out and bustles in the other direction. "I hope so," Shota sighs.

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   The dark-haired woman brought her back home earlier that day.

   She didn't know why, just that after breakfast, the woman got a call and immediately started getting Maigo to pack up her things. The two had left in a cab and arrived at Shota's apartment around 45 minutes ago. The woman still hadn't left, was adamant on staying with the child even though she knew perfectly well how to take care of herself.

   Maigo walks into the bathroom for the third time that morning. She does not know why she is in there. She doesn't need to go, and it's not time for a bath. She doesn't wear makeup or wash her face, and it's too late to brush her teeth again. After a few minutes of standing on the tile floor, Maigo wanders over to the closet. She drags out the step stool Shota had gotten for her and places it in front of the sink. Once she is balanced on top of it, she can lean over and look at herself in the mirror.

   She's never thought too hard about her appearance before. Her pink hair does seem fluffier now, and she looks a little bigger. Her muscles seem a bit more defined, stretching over her bones and giving them the coverage they've been lacking for so many years. She reaches up and lightly squishes her cheeks together, giggling at her reflection.

She can hear the creak of the front door's hinges when it swings open. Tilting her head a tiny bit, Maigo pricks her ears up and listens to the shuffles and murmurs out in the kitchen. She can hear the dark-haired woman, and someone who sounds like Uncle 'Zashi, and...

The step stool topples over as Maigo's small body clambers off of it. She flies through the bathroom door and rounding the corner through the bedroom and into the kitchen. She stops right next to the table, grasping on to a chair leg, her body heaving with each ragged, excited breath.

   Shota's back.

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   Shota stands stock-still in the doorway to his apartment. On the other side of the kitchen, the small, skinny girl he's been taking care of since the middle of summer stares back at him. Her eyes are wide and her breaths are heavy. Shota's fingers begin to fidget inside his bandages. Beads of sweat populate any patch of skin that is free of the gauze. The heat building up around his face gives him slight indication that he is indeed blushing.

The whole world is sucked in on itself. The only things that exist are him and this girl. They have shared so much together, learned so much about each other in such a short amount of time. It had been easy for Shota to trust such a young child, but it had been incredibly difficult to have her trust him in return. It had taken so much for the girl to even accept food from him, or comfort, or shelter. It had taken even longer for her to trust him with her past.

And now? Now, they are standing across from each other, though Shota feels the bond between them has shattered, along with his bones. The thought makes his heart sink.

Off to his right, Hizashi shifts on his feet. "Look who's home, Maigo," he sings, trying fruitlessly to break the tension that hangs in the air.

The girl sprints across the room, her feet thumping against the bare wood floor boards. Her body collides with Shota's abdomen, her arms wrapping around his waist as she latches on to him with all her might. Shota stumbles backward, not prepared for the force this little one came at him with. Hizashi instinctively moves behind the shorter man in case he falls over. Once he regains his balance, Shota looks down towards the girl, his dark, tired eyes connecting with her large, lively ones. She smiles and hugs him tighter.

   "I told you she'd be happy," Hizashi murmurs, squeezing Shota's bandaged shoulder.