Mission Midoriya || A RuthTheNerd MHA fanfiction||

Chapter 23: Come To

When Ochako came to, she was met with blinding white lights. 

Chilly air brushed against her thighs, though she was wearing her hero suit.  Above her, the ceiling was tall and broad, which vaguely reminded her of the warehouse. 

The warehouse. Where was she? Satashi, Meiying, Izuku. The memories came back like water crashing through a dam, all ravenous for answers. 

She bunched her hands into a fist, testing their degree of manipulation.  Her entire body felt a little numb, especially her upper thigh, which was cold and sore. She brushed her fingertips over that area and immediately withdrew them when a sharp sting ran through her veins. Her suit was ripped, explaining the sudden cold, and something soft and padded was tapped over the wound - perhaps a band-aid?

She pressed both of her hands against the ground, lifting herself up. Ochako recognized the dreary atmosphere of the warehouse - grey paint coated the walls and boxes upon boxes of multi-colored vials. Unlike before, the scenery wasn't dotted with clumsy workers and the occasional security guard. It was strangely...empty.

Ochako did not find that observation comforting.

She dropped her feet off the edge of the makeshift bed and stood up. Despite the throbbing on her leg, she was surprisingly pumped and well-rested. It was a nice change from the endless tire and stress she'd been dealing with for the past few hours. Now that she had energy, she felt like she could float to the stars.

"Oh, you're awake. Finally."

Ochako whipped around and saw Meiying standing there. She was holding a first-aid kit and looking fresh. Or maybe that was because she wasn't wearing her cloak - without it, she had a brighter and less ominous appearance. Now her golden eyes gleamed like droplets of the sun, and her long black hair regally draped over her shoulder. She looked happy. Ochako wasn't sure she'd ever seen her remotely excited. 

What had happened while she was comatose?

A fury of ideas flew into her mind. Had they...maybe? 

Those same thoughts flew straight out the other ear. No, she couldn't afford to let her hopes up like this, because if her guess proved wrong, she'd lose all the energy she'd just gained in internal weeping. 

"Oh...what happened?" she placed a hand to her head. "Deku...and Satashi?"

"They're fine." Meiying urged her to sit down so she could tend to the wound. Ochako waited for her to elaborate, but she didn't. She gingerly peeled back the taped cloth, and Ochako gasped.

She'd been expected the smallest puncture wound from the tranquillizer dart, but apparently she'd hurt herself in the fall. There was a deep, grisly gash, covered with dark and bloody blotches. Some of the skin in that area was dark, as if it had been burnt. She was almost thankful she'd been knocked out, or else the pain would've been unimaginably terrible.

"What happened?" she found herself blurting out. Meiying dipped a cloth ball with alcohol and rubbed the spot. Ochako grimaced but bit her lip to keep the tears from falling.

"You were burned," she murmured, squirting a greenish ointment onto her finger and dabbing it on the especially black spots. "One of the guards had a fire quirk."

Ochako rubbed her forehead, trying to beg her memories to come back. She'd gone to rescue Satashi and was shot...then what? Nothing Meiying had said was filling the gaps.

Meiying ripped a strip of gauze with her teeth, an act unexpected and ferocious. "After you'd fallen, your husband tried to rescue you, but I held him back. I told him that if he got shot, then he'd be no use in your retrieval. He didn't listen, and we had to hold him back."