A Life Worth Living (Aizawa x OC)

23 - Sudden Interest

As Himari's eyes opened painfully slowly, the first thing they spotted was a plain white ceiling. Feeling well-rested, almost as if she'd just woken up from a long and deep slumber, she let out an exaggeratedly loud yawn, not even considering attempting to stifle it.

The brunette took another minute, still in the process of waking up, before she examined her environment. The first quick glance down at herself that followed had more effect than chugging down an entire pot of coffee at once could have possibly had.

Hospital. I'm in a hospital.

The memories of her date night with Matsumi that had gone from 0 to 100 real quick flooded her thoughts, making her current whereabouts appear more reasonable.

Focusing more consciously on how she felt at the moment, she realised that the excruciating pain she'd been in before she'd passed out in the ambulance was gone. Instead, she felt almost lively, which was something that didn't seem right considering the state she'd been.

Probably, I'm just super high on painkillers right now.

This explanation sounded somewhat more reasonable for now. But the moment her thoughts circled back to the fact that she was in a hospital, panic assumed control over her body, causing her to tense up.

"Can you even remember how we first met in the hospital?"

Fuck. I need to get out here as fast as possible. I need to get out.

With her stress level shooting through the roof and her heartbeat increasing drastically within seconds, she sat up in one go, not even wasting a thought about her injured shoulder. But the same moment she jolted up, a hand on her chest pressured her back down into the fluffy pillow of the hospital bed.

"You need to rest a bit more before going wild again, Sweetheart", a familiar voice stated softly.

Before her anxiety could get the best of her, Himari came face to face with Chiyo, who was comfortably sitting on a chair directly next to her bed.

"Everything's fine, Himari. No need to worry. No need to be afraid. You're safe. No one will hurt you here. You're alright, ok? You know you can trust me", the wrinkly lady said with a reassuring smile as she grabbed her protégé's hand, softly patting it.

After processing Chiyo's words and accepting that the senior heroine was indeed sitting next to her, Himari's panic began to dissipate. For her, Chiyo's presence equalled safety. The scarred brunette's heartbeat slowed down, its rhythm adapting to the soft pats the back of her hand received.

As her body finally returned to its relaxed state, she sent a weak smile in Chiyo's direction, "I can't express in words how glad I am to see you here. You're my favourite old lady. I hope you know that?"

Recovery Girl's previously light-hearted expression was replaced by a serious one, "And I can't express in words how shocked I was to hear that you're here, my dear. It got even worse when I came here and saw the condition you were in. I've taken the liberty to heal you with my quirk. Everything should be fine again but be careful, please. You should take care of yourself. You slept a bit longer than a day."

On his way to the hospital, Aizawa had called Recovery Girl and informed her about everything. The old lady's heart had almost skipped a beat when she'd taken in her younger colleague's report.

Chiyo had missed out on the chance to start a family, but the former heroine she'd taken under her wing had managed to find a way directly into her heart. At that point, even though she only knew her for roughly half a year, she'd become dangerously attached to the woman she almost considered a daughter. They'd grown close during the time they'd spent together and found comfort in each other's presence. To hear that Himari, who'd already suffered extensively at her young age, was badly injured again caused her heart to ache.