Birthright [BNHAxVillain!OC]

(55) touch

"Ouch."

Seiko winced under the tight grip of Recovery Girl, expression betraying her attempts of suppressing the sudden pain as the woman tugged another bandage over her weak limbs. After returning from the chaos that was "attempting to line up Hawk's secret alliance with her own secret student adventures" (otherwise known as keeping both the Pro-Heroes and her own agenda in check), the girl was pulled away instantly by the nursing hero.

"Sit, sit, sit!" Recovery Girl nagged, snatching Seiko from a grumbling Aizawa. "I haven't been able to get my hands on you since Kamino, and I'm sure you're in no condition to come waltzing in!"

Nervously laughing, her gaze wavered. "Eh? What do you mean~? I'm fine, Recovery Girl. My family sent me back with no worries!"

She frowned, immediately narrowing her eyes at Seiko. "Show me your palms."

Unmoving, Seiko pouted. "Just let me go, Recovery Girl. I'm sure there are worse cases—"

A yelp escaped her lips as the teacher latched onto her wrists, wincing at the sight of her own hands.

By no means was it "fine". After the rigorous training from Dabi, and her ongoing work with Hawks, Seiko found no time to truly recuperate during her lengthy time away. Instead of solid bandages and ointments decorating her palms, her ports were singed and disgustingly ashy. The fair flesh surrounding the ports were raw and irritated, clearly inflamed from continuous use.

There was a thick silence between the duo.

"'Fine,' was it?" Recovery Girl murmured.

Seiko was silent, staring away in defeat.

Better to hide the truth, after all. Despite the barrage of questions from Recovery Girl as she tended to her limbs, Seiko's answers remained minimal. Never straying beyond 'yes' or 'no', the most the woman was able to understand was that Seiko didn't have the time to relax during her time away.

Actually, scratch that. Seiko refused to relax.

The woman observed firsthand the brutal training Seiko seemed to put herself through during her time with 1-A. No matter the level of difficulty Aizawa threw at the class, it seemed that Seiko fought to overcome and conquer. It wasn't mere completion, but rather obliteration of every challenge she faced.

Her greatest weakness lay in the fact that the student refused to quit.

Relentless training, along with a suspiciously drawback-heavy quirk, only left Seiko injured. No matter her help or insistence, the student couldn't stop. She could only wonder why.

Aizawa, though, leaned casually against the doorframe of Recovery Girl's wing, eyeing every move Seiko made with concealed concern. Her temporary absence made no difference to the teacher's dedication of ensuring the wellbeing of every one of his students. He thought allowing her to take time off with her family would amount to her full recovery, but apparently she couldn't quit.

"Now, don't go overusing your quirk, Nakano-san." Recovery Girl scolded, kissing the palms of Seiko. "Unless Aizawa has any other ideas, I'm keeping you on assigned rest for the rest of the week."

Now Seiko was on full alert. "Wait! But I—"

Aizawa slammed a hand onto her shoulder; his expression dared her to refuse, and her voice died in her throat. "I'll handle her. Of course, I'll make sure she's resting, Recovery Girl. Thank you."

WIth that, he guided the fuming student out of the room.

"Aren't I supposed to work with Shinsou?! Or, at least, with 1-A? I've been holed up the past few weeks, and I want to work with everyone again!" It baffled Seiko that she was able to get those words past her lips; they were nothing but lies.