Running on Empty

Drifting in and out

Hitoshi was not entirely sure what was going on. He was vaguely aware of his surroundings, they were just a bit fuzzy and he was very tired.

He registered that at one point Recovery Girl was there, she shone a light into his eyes - which was not appreciated - and tutted. He's pretty sure she said something about rest and gaining energy first, but he was leaning heavily on Hizashi at this point and not all too interested in the conversation.

It wasn't long after that that he drifted off.

When he woke it was to a throbbing head and two weights holding his hands down. He decided he didn't want to deal with either of those yet, and promptly fell back asleep.

The next time he came to he could smell fresh coffee and there were murmuring voices above his head. This time, there was a larger weight seemingly curled up on his chest. He tried to crack an eye open but the light sent a sharp stab of pain through his head and he gave up.

The third time he woke it was to silence. He successfully opened his eyes this time to see Hizashi and Shouta leaning against each other. Shouta was awake, fiddling with something on his phone and Hitoshi watched as the man rolled his eyes. It was this motion that caused him to notice Hitoshi was awake and he quickly put his phone away, reaching down to take Hitoshi's hand.

"Hey kid, how are you feeling?"

He just groaned in response. Despite his head feeling marginally better, everything else still ached.

Shouta sighed, "Yeah, figures. Recovery Girl couldn't heal you yet because you didn't have enough energy. We're gonna have to take you back tomorrow."

Hitoshi didn't say anything, just squeezed the hero's hand in understanding.

"You should get some more rest, it's pretty late."

"You." He whispered and Shouta huffed a laugh.

"I'll get some sleep too don't worry, we're taking it in turns."

Hitoshi frowned, he didn't want the heroes losing sleep over him. Almost as if he could read his mind Shouta sighed again.

"It's okay, 'Toshi, we're doing this because we want to, don't worry about it; both of us are used to getting little sleep anyway."

"To be honest," he added, "we're probably getting more than we otherwise would because of this. If we were left to our own devices we'd probably still be up."

Hitoshi wasn't convinced, but he didn't have the will to argue and figured he'd never change Shouta's mind even if he tried. So he just closed his eyes and drifted off.

When Hitoshi next woke up, light was streaming in through the window and Luna was asleep on his stomach.

He blinked in surprise, and reached a hand up to pet her - yep, she was real. Either that or this was a really vivid dream.

He glanced to his left, where the heroes had been sat the night before and Hizashi was grinning at him.

"Surprise!" He sang, "We got you a present!"

Hitoshi grinned back, wincing as he manoeuvred to a sitting position. This woke Luna up, but she just purred and rubbed her head against his hand before licking him.

He gave Hizashi a watery smile, he couldn't even find it within himself to be embarrassed about how much he'd cried in front of the pros recently.

"Thank you," he whispered, pulling the cat close.

Hizashi just patted his hair affectionately before pressing the back of his hand against his forehead.

"How you feeling, kiddo?"

"A little better," Hitoshi rasped, "not great though."

"That's to be expected," Hizashi replied sympathetically. "We'll get you to Recovery Girl as soon as you're up to it. But for now, we've got some medication that should help."

Hitoshi took the offered pills and water and downed them gratefully, handing the glass back as he moved to stand up.

"Woah! Wait a sec, they won't kick in instantly!"

"I know," he gritted his teeth, "but I really need the loo."

Hizashi laughed at that, reaching out to move Luna and help Hitoshi up.

"Alrighty then, come on kiddo."