MHA Fanfiction: Inbound

Coming To Terms

Iylla's POV

I opened my eyes only to find myself blinded by fluorescent light. My eyelids fluttered open and shut while I worked up the ability to sit up. I could hear voices in the room with me, but there was no way for me to decipher what they were saying. The pain in my body and mind prevented me from being able to hone in on the voices. 

Where am I?

I didn't like not knowing about my surroundings, so I tried to sit up. That was a mistake. Pain flared all over my body, forcing me to fall back into the bed. 

"I wouldn't try to sit yet, Iylla." This voice was much closer to me than the others, so it was easier to understand.

A warm and familiar feeling coursed through me. The pain seemed to ebb away, to retreat to a deeper, far away place. The relief helped me to focus and gather a sharper idea of my current circumstances. 

I lost.

A wave of disappointment flooded me. The shame of my loss was what pushed me to sit up in my hospital bed. Though I was in a hospital bed, I wasn't actually in the hospital. I was in the nurse's office at UA University. 

"Iylla, you really should lie down." Jeanie's usually sour face appeared in my vision.

Her hands tried to guide me back to the bed, but I refused.

"I don't want to," I muttered.

Jeanie looked like she wanted to argue, but she must have known that the effort would be pointless. Instead, she turned to her brother and asked him to raise the bed. I leaned into the bed as I felt it rise to meet my back. I was grateful to have it there to lean on but also ashamed for needing it. 

Jeanie and Tavin's hands floated over my body as they continued healing me. Just like the last time they healed me, I was left in nothing but my PE pants and black sports bra. Jeanie worked on my waist up, and Tavin kept his eyes only where he was healing me. 

"Iylla?" I heard my dad's voice from beyond the shut curtain. "Can you hear me?" 

My entire being crumbled at hearing him here. "Yes." My voice came out sounding soft and pathetic. 

"Don't you dare sit there feeling sorry for yourself." I looked in the direction of his voice, surprised. "You were amazing, and I couldn't be more proud of what you've accomplished."

"But I didn't win." My fists clenched at my sides, remembering the moment when I realized Bakugo defeated me. 

"You did better than me." Shinso offered. "Like way better."

"You both did better than I did during my first sports festival," Tama said.

Oh, great. They're here too?

I guess I shouldn't have been surprised that they came. We were a tight-knit family, so it would have been weird if they weren't here. Still, was it rude of me to wish they would go away? I failed. I didn't want them to witness me in my failure. 

"Just go away." I wanted to pull myself into a ball, but I was too sore to attempt it.

Jeanie gave me a somewhat disappointed look but didn't intervene. My dad and brothers tried to talk to me, but I had completely shut down. The weight of my failure and the realization that I was weak destroyed any desire to speak or to listen. I retreated into the back of my mind, forcibly shutting them out. I sat in the hospital bed, letting Jeanie and Tavin heal me. Their hands brought so much physical relief, but nothing they did would heal the rift in my heart or the disconnect in my mind.