She knew that a person died sooner from lack of water than from lack of solid food. She just didn't know how long one could survive that. How many days was it? The third? The fourth? Probably her friends thought she was with the villains. The longer she was in the forest, the nicer it seemed to her to be with the villains. The pus on her hands and ankles hurt when the remains of the chains rubbed against them, and she didn't dare remove the jacket around her wound. Her friends must have thought she was still with the villains, not that she had long since freed herself and was now roaming in a forest. She was surprised that she did not meet any animals. As if they were keeping their distance from her. Or as if hunters had chased them away so that people could go on holiday in peace, as she told herself. For she hoped for the holiday paradise. She knew herself and no matter how much she pushed her pain threshold and how much she forced herself to keep running, she knew she had long since reached her limit.
"Five days." "I know."
Kaede only realised when she had already crossed the field that the forest had ended. She stared at the area in front of her. A huge, blue lake. If she had had power, she would have jumped in the air because a blue sky and blue water was such a nice distraction to always being green. Nevertheless, she ran back to the edge of the forest. She dragged herself along the edge, because there were always pay phones at the edge of such holiday forests. In contrast to the time she had spent in the forest so far, she felt as if she had spotted the payphone immediately. A faded cabin surrounded by moss and heaps of vines. She tried to pull the door open, but she couldn't, whether it was because of her injured hands, her lack of strength or because the door was simply stuck. She shook desperately until her knuckles bled. "It can't be, this shit!" As her desperation slipped away, so did the door. In pain, she had accidentally bent it. Stunned, she stared at the metal. " Fine, I can live with that." She lay down on the door and slid into the small room. As she reached for the earpiece and dialled the emergency number, she couldn't help but smile. "This is the emergency number, how can I help you?" Her mouth felt dry and a croak came out of her mouth before she could actually speak words. "I am Kaede Miharu, from the UA. I'm in a phone house on the edge of a forest, can you locate me and let the UA know?" "I'll contact the UA, what happened?" The woman's voice was so soft and soothing. "I don't feel so good, the UA will know what to do." It was exhausting to hold on to the earpiece. Now that she was at her destination, she didn't feel her legs could lift her again. "Then stay with me, will you? Tell me something about yourself, but don't fall asleep. What do you like to do in your spare time?" Adorable. "I... like to read. I have quite a lot of books." "What do you like to read?" The woman on the phone engaged her in conversation, forcing her to answer again and again to keep Kaede awake. "I hear a noise." Some kind of propeller. "Do you hear a helicopter?" "Mhh." "Then they should be there." Kaede heard voices coming closer, then someone calling her name. She tried to crawl towards the exit, but slipped. "There's the pay phone!" A dark shadow stood in front of the door. When Aizawa saw Kaede crouching in the cabin, with the injured arm and the terrible-looking joints, the black eye and the marks around her neck, his breath constricted. But then he looked into her eyes, into the golden glint that showed him she was still fighting. "It's okay, I'm here. It's going to be okay now, we have you." He gently pulled her out and took her into his arms. He could feel the tension in her body. "Don't strain, you don't have to be strong now, I'll take care of you." She leaned her head against his chest as he carried her to the helicopter. Her body trembled but she was limp. All strength had left her and Aizawa had to take care that her injuries did not cause further damage. When she closed her eyes, he never took his eyes off her chest, which rose and fell. But as if she knew she was safe, she did not open her eyes again. At least, Aizawa hoped that was the reason.
...
"Two broken ribs with bone fracture, a broken thumb. The marks on her neck will also turn blue, like the others on her body. The gunshot wound was terrible, I had to operate through the inflammation and remove the flesh with the bullet, which went in very far. The wrists and ankles were also badly inflamed and it took ages to remove the remains of the cuffs. The problem, however, is a completely different one. Her vitals are in a mess. She hasn't slept properly, eaten or drunk. And from the looks of the readings, it started weeks ago. She's dying. Not now, not immediately, but very slowly. Because her vitals are so bad, I couldn't heal the wounds and the injuries will remain until she has strength. The problem is that the injury on her arm is deep and it could get infected again. She has to stay here for the next two weeks at least." Aizawa nodded at this report. "I am sure she is in good hands with you. Is she conscious?" "Yes, but she complains all the time. She wants to leave. I swear to you, I will tie her to the bed if this goes on."
"There you are. Are you going to free me now?" "Can't you feel the pain? You will stay here for at least three weeks." "Three weeks?!" "Yes. You can feel your wounds pain, can't you?" "You ask if I can feel it? The fucking painkillers don't work. I can't even scratch myself." "You want me to scratch you?" "God no! I just want to get out of here. This room is making me sick. I've seen nothing but green everywhere for ages. Green leaves, green trees, green soil, green sky, I swear my hands were even green at some point! And now I'm supposed to sit in this miserable white room for three weeks?" Aizawa sighed. "I can ask if recovery girl will add some colour here." "No. I don't want colour, I want to get out of here." "As you said before, you are in pain. No one will let you out of here." Kaede watched him pull a chair over to the bed and sit down. "How are you?" "Everything hurts." "That's not what I mean, and you know it. The others told me what happened that day. Bakugo told me. So what happened after that?" He stroked her arm where there was no injury and yet her hairs stood up. "It's okay Kaede, you can tell me. You know I always have your back. But I need to know, I need to know everything that happened, it's important." "Are you still on this big thing? Guess the LoV is involved. Okay, I'll tell you." She exhaled before looking at Aizawa. "As they probably explained to you, they forced me to take my emotions back, but somehow it didn't work right. The emotions came back much later, when it was already too late. They just took me off the street like I was a masterless cat. I couldn't even fight back, instead they gave me the broken bones. Then they sedated me, pumped me full of drugs and everything went black. I was chained up in the warehouse. They wanted to steal my Quirk, not hurt me. But I had to get out of there." Something inside her tightened. "Did you find the warehouse? Are the villains all right?" "We went there, but there were no tracks to be found, only ruins." She nodded. Aizawa would ask her later why she seemed so relieved.
"So I escaped, then I ran. And I ran until I came to this phone house." "It was five days, it's a miracle you survived that long in the forest..." He gave her a questioning look. "I didn't turn it off. I have a feeling if I do it any more I'll eventually forget how to turn them back on." "Is everything okay?" "Don't worry about it. I'm fine." She hesitated. "Okay no. I was wondering one thing. All the time." "What?" "Were you there when Toga played me? I don't know how long she was here, but no one noticed anything. It's an extreme security breach, you know." "I know. But the security breach isn't why you're staring at me like that, is it?" "I'm pissed." She felt better after she said it. "Toga was having fun. She told me what she did here, and I don't like it at all. Not a single bit." "I wasn't here. I would have known the fake for sure." With that he put a smile on her face. "I'm sure you would." He stroked her head until she broke the silence. "Did Girlie say anything else?" His expression turned serious. "Your vitals are... terrible. And not just since the last five days. But you seem to have guessed that already, don't you?" She avoided his gaze. "It's getting worse." Her hands reached for the bedspread and wrapped around it. "I noticed the real change when I was in the specialised hospital. After I got out of there, I felt like I was dreaming at first. After that I couldn't look at the windows when it got dark because I was afraid of the reflections. And I started losing my hair. But otherwise I didn't notice anything." Aizawa sighed loudly, which made her feel guilty. "I'm sorry-" "Don't apologise, it's okay. We have to keep an eye on the whole thing so you'll be better soon. You can come to me, understood? Even if you think it isnt important, let me know it, im here for you, always." He stood up and squeezed her shoulder. "I'll visit you more, don't worry, but you need to rest." "Don't leave me alone! The next few weeks will be a boring misery!" Aizawa smiled benevolently and winked at her on his way out. "I don't think you'll be alone."