A Life Worth Living (Aizawa x OC)

61 - Relapse

Recovery Girl softly brushed a strand of Himari's hair out of her face before she made a step back from the bed and let out a sigh of relief and distress alike.

Himari was out cold, wrapped in a blanket, and safely accommodated in the small room attached to her makeshift office, separated from the infirmary next door that housed several students with injuries reaching from a simple sprained ankle to broken bones and internal bleedings.

The elderly woman had seen herself forced to sedate Himari, who, after thirty minutes of unsuccessfully trying to calm herself down with the help provided, had looked at her with pleading eyes and begged her to make it stop. A desperate plea she hadn't been able to reject.

She was sound asleep, her chest slowly lifting and sinking under the weighted blanket. Her face was puffy, wearing the traces of exhaustion.

Recovery Girl unconsciously grit her teeth at the sight. It conjured unwelcome memories in her mind, memories from a certain hospital ward she'd rather never think of again.

"We-...I should have thought of it." The weak voice coming from the other side of Himari's bed tore the elderly heroine from her sinister thoughts.

Her eyes wandered to Aizawa who was as pale as a ghost, even more so than usual - if that was even possible. He sat at her side, Himari's hand firmly enclosed by his. She'd been so focused on Himari since they'd arrived here that she'd completely forgotten his presence in the room.

"Yes, we should have", she said quietly, not even trying to cover the fact that she was angry with herself for forgetting about Hitoshi Shinso's quirk. In fact, she was well aware of his abilities, but given that he was in the General Education Department, she'd never thought that he would receive the opportunity to showcase his quirk like this. It had been neglect from her side. After all, she was Himari's confidant and therapist – something she tended to forget quite frequently these days due to the vanishing professional boundaries between them and Himari's recent good state. "But it's no use crying over spilled milk, Shota."

"You had to sedate her", he looked at her in disbelief, "You had to sedate her because she was completely out of it and couldn't calm down."

"I was there."

"Then, how can you be so calm? It's no use crying over spilled milk. It was almost as if she was reliving that...that...night. Damn it, I hope she didn't-"

"Believe me when I say that I'm not calm", Chiyo cleared her throat before she continued, "Where's your rationality? We can't turn back time. It happened. It's awful, but it happened. We can't change that anymore. But we're here and we can help her to get through this. She's come this far and she's already proven several times that she's not as fragile as we always treat her like."

Aizawa's finger absent-mindedly drew circles on the back of Himari's hand, enjoying the feeling of her soft skin under his touch, as he processed Chiyo's words. He knew she was right. He knew it, as much as he didn't want to admit it. Where his rationality was? Well, it had gone straight out of the window the moment Himari had entered his life, apparently. That woman and rationality didn't exactly mesh well, and without rationality, everything was ... taxing, more than it should be. Emotionally draining. Straight up painful sometimes. Yet, it was equally rewarding. But, at the moment, none of this mattered. He just wanted her to be alright. She'd been so excited for today. She'd had so many plans. They wanted to-

"Aizawa, if you continue like that, you'll crush her hand", Chiyo said sternly and, in her thoughts, she added, A broken hand could be healed by a smooch, at least. She'd always made good use of her quirk and was quite content with it, but Himari managed to make her wish that she'd be able to heal a broken spirit and soul as well.