Number 7

Seventeen: Alone Together

Aizawa

Yamada and I hurried through the hospital for what seemed like the umpteenth time. When was this girl going to stop getting her ass beat?

We both had heard from the police chief that Element had come across Stain, the Hero Killer, and I was riddled with fear at what we were going to see. All of the heroes who had encountered Stain either wound up dead or injured beyond recovery. Ingenium was a good example of that. What should I expect?

My eyes fell on the hospital room number she was in and Yamada and I simultaneously broke through the door, panting hard and eyes wild with worry.

Surprisingly, Akiyasu sat on the edge of the bed with nothing but a single bandage around her mid bicep. She looked up at both of us, surprise on her face at the sudden intrusion. "Oh, hi guys." She chirped.

"JESUS, YOU HAD US SO WORRIED." Present Mic screeched and she flinched at the loud noise.

"I don't even know how you two know about this." She replied defensively. "It's nothing."

"The police chief called us to tell us you found Stain and he injured you." I explained, calmer now.

"Yeah, a single stab wound. He got away right after he hit me."

"Do you have the blade?"

She shook her head. "He took all of his weapons before he disappeared."

"Why didn't he kill you? No ones ever gotten away from him so lucky." Yamada pointed out.

Her brows knit together in thought. "He said I'm not like the ones he kills. Said I was a real hero."

"What's that supposed to mean? All the ones he kills are fakes? How do you fake being a hero?"

"I'm not sure the criteria he uses to decided that." She admitted. "But he did say I don't look for fame or glory, so perhaps he thinks heroes who do it for those things aren't real heroes?"

We both nodded at this.

"I'm glad you're alright." I spoke up, stepping further into the room.

She smiled at me, her hands wrapped around the bandage of her arm as she cradled her injury. "Me too. Doctor said it's a simple wound and it'll heal in no time."

"I can imagine you were really stressed out over it before you could get medical attention. Since you've been healing so long from other stab injuries." Yamada commented and I elbowed him in the lung.

"OW!" He cried out, holding his rib cage. "What was that for?"

"For being insensitive."

Akiyasu grinned and shook her head. "It's okay, Shota. He's right. I was pretty worried about it. I'll probably stress out over injuries like that for the rest of my life."

"Maybe try not to get injured like that."

Her face deadpanned to me. "If I could prevent that, don't you think I would?"

Fair enough.

"So what exactly happened? How did you find him?"

"I didn't find him. He found me."

"What?" We both said at the same time.

"Yeah, I was just on watch at the top of my agency, doing my rounds, and he snuck up on me. But he said from the beginning that I wasn't one of his targets and just wanted to leave. It was because I tried to arrest him that I got hurt."

"Any idea what his quirk is?"

She shook her head, disappointment on her face. "Unless it's being mildly fast, I have no idea. He moved really fast but not on a supernatural level."