A FEW DAYS AGO
Cough, cough!
"You've been up early these past few days. And that cough," Aizawa commented as he entered the common area of the dorms where only Arisa occupied. It was early in the morning, the sun had not risen yet. Arisa couldn't sleep. The male quirked an eyebrow at her as he stared at the girl who hovered over the sink, staring at the crimson before her, "You've been coughing a lot these days."
She let the water run. Quickly. Before Aizawa noticed. She felt a slight relief when the crimson washed away, disappearing from sight. She wiped her mouth, mumbling, "Maybe it's a cold. A lot has happened recently after all."
That wasn't exactly a lie.
Arisa was exhausted. The incident with All For One, the kidnapping, seeing her mother. She was shoved through the wringer these days. It was the perfect lie.
Coughing blood. It had only happened recently. Nobody knew of it yet. They didn't need to. Especially not Aizawa. She didn't want to worry him. He had enough on his plate as it was. She didn't need to add on to that.
"Eat some medicine, won't you? And have enough rest. Do you want anything to eat? I can make you some soup right now."
She paused for a moment, making sure she didn't have any remaining crimson on her lips and turned around with a smile, "Sure. That'd be great. Thanks, Aizawa-san."
"Yeah, yeah," he moved further into the kitchen area and touched his palm on her forehead, "Hmm, you do feel warm. Go rest on that sofa over there. Don't even think about trying to help."
"Yeah," she easily relented. Arisa was incredibly tired but she wouldn't admit it aloud. The girl dragged herself towards the sofa and plopped on it, sighing loudly when her head hit the soft cushioning. Her expression darkened for a moment — why was she coughing blood? Had her quirk progressed again?
She recalled All For One's words.
"Your body, it won't be able to hold your quirk anymore and then, you die."
Arisa reached up, grasping lightly at air.
Death.
She had thought of it for a while. Death was something inevitable, especially for her.
It was funny. Long ago, she prayed for it to come but it never did. Now, when she had everything to lose, it seemed, her prayers were belatedly answered. She didn't know for sure but she knew her body enough to know that she wasn't well.
"Here," Aizawa appeared beside her after a while with a steaming bowl of soup in hand. He kneeled down beside her, "Eat up."
He set it down on the coffee table and she sat up, finally realizing how exhausted she was. The girl exhaled tiredly and picked up the spoon, noticing the man's stare. He watched her as she ate but she didn't mind. It wasn't anything strange. He was worried. She could tell.
"You look pale."
She snorted amusedly, "I'm always pale."
He ignored her attempt at humour and stood up, "I'll get you some paracetamol. Stay put."
"I can just go to Recovery Girl later, ya' know?"
He ignored her. He quickly disappeared down the hallway but just as quickly as he left, he returned with the promised medicine. He dropped the round tablets on her palm and handed her a glass of water. The girl made a face but downed it anyway.
"I think it's my quirk," she suddenly said after a long silence. The darkness was slowly starting to lift as the sun emerged from the horizon. Arisa gripped the glass tight in hand. Aizawa quietly frowned and placed a hand over hers, "You have your appointment in a few days, don't you? Tell the doctor what worries you."
She stared at his hand for a moment.
"... Yeah."
°°°°
PRESENT TIME
Arisa continued to stare at the spot where the villain had previously stood, unmoving.
She could have went to the police station but she didn't. His demeanour had thrown her off. He was mellow, calm, quiet, as if his malice had long left his body. It was still there but she couldn't see it as clear as before. The male had only confirmed what she had been suspicious of. The soreness of her throat reminded her of her ever decreasing time and her ever-evolving quirk that was destroying her from within. She didn't need to see Dr. Ujiko she didn't think but she still had to go.
Because she felt like she had to.
Because nobody wanted her to die. Not even the villains.
Arisa wordlessly turned and walked away, heading towards the direction of the hospital.
She reached her destination in no time and soon enough found herself sitting before her doctor, watching as he smiled at her from behind his desk.
"Good afternoon, Hayashi-san. How are you today?"
"The usual."
"Okay," he rolled his chair, maneuvering himself around his desk until he ended up beside it, "What about your quirk? Any changes?"
She frowned, "Actually. There is. Not regarding my quirk. I've been coughing up blood lately."
At this, the male looked concerned and his expression darkened in the slightest before standing up, his coat unraveling and falling just above his knees, "That's not good. Coincidentally, I've scheduled an MRI for you today. Follow me. We'll get to the bottom of this."
And so she did. She followed him down a hallway and entered a room where a large, circular machine sat just beyond a glass with a long, rectangular surface laid out where patients were assigned to lay on. Arisa was told to change into a gown she was provided with and soon enough, she was lying within, surrounded by the machine, hearing the large noises it emitted. Dr. Ujiko occasionally spoke to her through the speakers within the room, ensuring that she was fine and conscious.
It was over quick and she quickly got dressed before returning to Dr. Ujiko's office.
"I will call you within a few days time to provide you with the results. I'll keep in touch but honestly, Hayashi-san, so far," he frowned, "Things aren't looking good. I want you to mentally prepare yourself for the possibility of bad news."
"I know," she quietly uttered. She had always known.
It was her own body after all.
And with her quirk, she was privy to many information that she would rather not know.
Knowing too much was a curse. Oh, how she longed to be clueless, just once.
She stood to leave, a frown on her lips.
"Hayashi-san."
She turned. He held up a supporting fist.
"I'm rooting for you."
For some reason, it didn't feel comforting.
°°°°
"Why don't you sit this one out?"
The next day came and training was supposed to continue as usual. Arisa was stretching her limbs, fixing her gloves and her suit when Aizawa walked up towards her as she was about to ascend onto one of the pillars where Ectoplasm's clone was waiting for her. Aizawa, facial expression unreadable and looking irritated as per usual, spoke with a tone of concern, asking her to exclude herself from today's training.
"Why?"
She tried to level her breathing but she could barely even breathe properly at this point. Her cheeks were flushed and she didn't feel well in general but she did her best to conceal it. She was sure she would heal soon. Maybe.
Aizawa reached out and placed a palm onto the skin of her forehead. His eyes widened a fraction, "Kid, you're burning up. What are you even doing here?"
"I'm fine."
She was. She really was. Arisa had always been sturdy. Why would she collapse now?
"No, you're not. Go and see Recovery Girl," he insisted and she shook her head, "No. I'm seriously fine. I don't need to rest or anything. I've had plenty. Seriously, Aizawa-san, I'm fine."
"Yeah? And why are you swaying?"
"You're imagining things. How can I, of all people, be sick?"
"You're human, Arisa."
"Listen, Aizawa-san, I don't want to rest. I want to do this. It helps me more than you think. If something happens and I feel weird, I'll tell someone, okay? You trust me, don't you?"
He stared at her, displeased.
"Fine," he relented, "But the moment I sense something wrong, even in the slightest, I'm pulling you out and putting you on house arrest until you recover."
"Deal. Except for the house arrest part."
He sniffed and turned away, "That's only if you resist."
Was it her or was Aizawa more... Protective these days?
She smiled slightly. He was becoming more and more like a dad.
Arisa activated her quirk and flew towards one of the pillars set up within the gym by cementoss. She smiled at him and the male questioned, "Have you come with another move? Although, honestly, your current ultimate is already enough. I think it'd be very useful in the field and especially when capturing a villain."
"I don't know. I haven't explored my quirk much lately," she hummed, "But I'm still stuck on the idea of manipulation. Maybe there's more I can do."
"I was made aware by Aizawa that you haven't been well lately. Please don't push yourself. That's the last thing us teachers expect from you."
She made a face, "That man, why's he telling you everything?"
"Because he cares about you."
"Hmph," was all she could say to that.
Arisa suddenly stared at her pale hand and reached up making the teacher look at her curiously. Manipulation. It was a broad term for a quirk. Manipulation in general. What else could she manipulate? Was there a limit to her evolution? Evolution of quirks, a part of her mother that was embedded into her since birth. How far could a quirk evolve?
Blue erupted from her hand, akin to a flame but softer like waves. Ectoplasm watched.
What else could she do?
She moved her fingers, curling it and formed a fist.
And suddenly, she became one with the cerulean. She gasped, feeling freaked by the sudden weightlessness and with the loss of concentration, she fell and dropped to her knees, her eyes widened behind her eye cover. Ectoplasm was shocked and kneeled beside her, questioning her well-being, "Are you okay? What was that, Hayashi?"
She placed a hand on her chest, trying to calm her rapidly beating heart, "Phew, that was scary," she could almost sense Aizawa running her way, "I think I discovered something new with my quirk."
"That's it, you're going back to the dorm."
With that, she was tossed over Aizawa's shoulder — who appeared out of nowhere — wrapped in his capture weapon and carried away from the gym.
"Aizawa-san, this is too much."
"You're sick, can't you see? I can feel you burning up even through the cloth. How irresponsible could you possibly be? If you were to get injured, are you going to rely on others to take care of you? That's not their responsibility. You need to take care of yourself."
Arisa fell silent, feeling blood rush through her head as she was held upside down. He was right. She was acting stupid.
"Sorry."
"If you really are then rest up and take care of yourself. I care about you, you know that?"
She wiggled and used her quirk to allow herself to sit upright. She floated slightly and quickly, without looking at him, wrapped her arms around his neck. She mumbled into his shoulder, "Thank you for you saying that. I appreciate it. I'll take care of myself better next time."
He didn't say anything. He even stopped moving.
Unknown to her, Aizawa smiled in the slightest, the softest smile the man could ever hope to muster as he placed a hand on her back.
Instead of giving an equally affectionate response, he settled with, "Enough, you're giving me the creeps."
Arisa gasped and pulled away, "You're an awful, awful man for interrupting our moment like that!"
He snorted, "There was no moment. You're delusional. Must be the fever. Poor thing. Let's get you to bed."
"Lock your doors and windows thrice, Aizawa-san."
"Oh, I'm so scared," he flatly responded.
With that, they headed towards the dorms.