Chapter 7
All Might looks at me with tears filling his dead, hallowed eyes. As the needle pokes through my skin and into my vein, the Bakugo family arrives. The monitor beeps, making a high-pitched sound. We all sit in silence until the doctor enters the room, The woman shrugs, taking my temperature a final time.
“She’s gone, honey. I don’t know what else I can see. As far as the tests can show, Mouse is gone.” The doctor leaves, giving me too much to think about. This thrilled Principal Nezu at first, then notices my concern. Does this mean I can’t be a hero? All Might and Nezu leave the room to speak, leaving me and the Bakugo family alone. Mitsuki Bakugo is the first to act. She stands and hugs me, placing a hand on my head. I’ve never seen her in a comforting mood. She and Katsuki are always yelling at each other. She pulls away and tells me to stay strong. She and her husband walked out of the room, giving my shoulders an unbearable weight. My eyes catch Katsuki’s. He says something I don’t hear. He groans and shakes my shoulders. My eyes bolt to his,
“You are back to being you, asshat. So, you are going to come back with me to the dorms and you’re going to become the hero you want to. If you don’t, I’ll drag your ass back there and force you to do everything by my side!” Katsuki blinked, a single tear traveled the distance down his cheek and onto his perfect jawline. A smile grew onto my face when I poked his cheek.
“You, the tough, smart, annoying, kickass, Katsuki Bakugo are crying.” He instantly crossed his arms and retreated the second the words left my mouth. He huffed and denied me. Laughing and bugging him I see if he cared. Leaving the hospital for the last time, the stars shone bright on the hood of each car in the parking lot. As the Bakugo’s sped off, All Might stood beside me, looking at the stars. He closes his eyes, his hair blowing in the breeze. Sometimes I wonder where I would be without his help and positivity. We drove back to the dorms. Aizawa Sensei sneaks me into my old dorm and all my things are back in their original places, I sit on the soft bed. For a second, Aizawa stands there, watching the movement of my feet underneath the blankets.
He spins around, opening the door. He quickly closes it and clears his throat as he stares at me. I rise to my feet and rush over to him, hugging him tightly. He takes a second to register what’s going on, but then he returns a hug to me. I thank him. To be honest, I don’t know what I’m thanking him for. He ruffles my hair, smirking.
“You’re lucky no one saw us walking in, you’d be dead right now.” We laugh as quietly as we can to disturb no one still awake. Aizawa leaves after turning the lights off. I wait a minute and dash to the wall on the left of my bed. Diving under the covers and catching my breath, my knuckle thumps against the icy wall. Thump thump thump. I wait. Nothing. Silence. After six minutes of silence and disappointment, I sigh and turn away from the wall. Tears drench my pillow while I muffle my sobs with the sleeves of my (well, Toya’s) hoodie. Knocking. It’s a way I could talk to. . .
Thump! Thump thump thump thump.
My body flips quickly, nearly smacking my head against the wall. After giggling for a few seconds, I knocked back on the wall.
Yeah, I’m here too.
You know, I’ve been waiting for you to knock and let me know you’re back.
To be honest, I want to tell him it feels like I have died and returned. But I can’t lie; I’ve been dead for a very long time. Before I can knock back, there is a knock at my door. I ran over and slightly cracked it open only to see the tall, red-haired, human boulder waiting at my doorway. Without thinking, I pulled him inside and shut the door behind him. He quickly hugged me, making me laugh. We hugged for ten minutes, not wanting to let go for a second. When he finally pulls away, Kirishima’s tear-filled eyes peer into mine. I poked the tip of his nose, almost beginning to cry. The two of us have always been this close. Ever since saving Bakugo and the U.S.J. attack, he’s been there for me. The two of us sit on the floor even though there is a perfectly comfortable bed behind us. Kirishima hands me his phone and scrolls through his camera roll. He shows me each picture he’d taken of our friends since I’d left. One picture stuck to me. Bakugo is sitting at my dorm door on the floor with his head resting on the doorframe. His eyes are closed, and expression is calm.
“He always would sit there at night, waiting for you to come back.” Kirishima cleared his throat, trying to ignore the picture that is plastered on his screen.
Kaminari, Sero, Ashido, Kirishima, and Midoriya are crowded around the table with a board game spread across the top. Ashido and Kaminari are staring at it, thinking while Midoriya explained the rules. Sero messed with his tape, wrapped it around Kirishima’s arm to see how tough it compared to Kirishima’s skin. I smile, seeing at least some people have got their minds off things even though it’s through a small photo. I squish Kirishima’s face with my hand, trying not to laugh loudly. He rests his head on my shoulder, making my face burn.