Cookies...cookies...something smells weird...is that me?... I should've showered after school-soooo hungry...so bright...ugh why can't I get that smell out of my nose?... Something's beeping...so annoying... don't remember my alarm sounding like that...ugh have school today...so tired...but I have to wake up...fuck my life...I don't wanna...fine...just get up...
(Y/n) let out a low groggy groan, her (e/c) eyes slowly flickering open.
"Oh good! You're awake! Finally!"
(Y/n) hummed quizzically, still disoriented from the deep sleep she had awoken from.
"Huh..." she turned her head towards the unfamiliar voice. She groaned again and closed her heavy eyes. "What year is it?"
"Sadly, still in (year)," the voice chuckled. "And what a time to be alive, don't you think?"
The girl hummed in response and opened her eyes. She lifted her hand to rub her eyes but stopped upon seeing a cannula attached to the back of her hand. She placed her hand down and blinked rapidly to adjust her vision, her surrounding clearing into focus. Now that she was awake, the smell of medicine started getting to her.
Her (e/c) eyes took in white walls, a large TV right across the room next to a door, the drawn curtains across the room indicating it was night, a large couch placed against the wall beside the bed, a heart monitor beeping next to her, a tube attached to the cannula leading to an IV bag and a grey-eyed doctor smiling down at her.
"Good to see you back from the land of the dead!" he gushed, his smile widening into a Cheshire grin.
"Huh?" the girl frowned. "What do you mean? And where am I?"
"You're in the hospital," he explained, taking a seat next to the confused girl. "Do you remember what happened before you got here?"
(Y/n) pursed her lips in thought before nodding. "I remember a building on fire and trying to contain an explosion. After that, it's all a blur..."
The man hummed pensively.
(Y/n) began feeling uncomfortable in the lying position she was in so she tried sitting up. She hissed when a stabbing pain pierced through her side and she immediately laid back down with a groan.
"Let me help you with that," the doctor said as he pressed a button on the side of the bed, lifting the front into a sitting but angled position.
(Y/n) thanked the man, shifting herself into a more comfortable position before leaning her head back with a heavy sigh. She placed a hand on her side, feeling the thick bandages under her hospital scrub. Fuck it hurts, she winced.
Silence followed after, with the doctor peering at the girl in wonder, as if he was seeing a rare artifact. The girl turned her head to the side and her eyes met with his steel ones in a heady stare. She began growing self-conscious with every passing second he continued staring at her.
"What?" she finally asked after a while.
"Do you know that you died?"
The girl stared him blankly for a minute, trying to wrap her mind around what he said.
"Are you on drugs?"
"No no no," an amused chuckle escaped from his lips. "I'm being serious. You died."
His amazed eyes glinted even more. He hadn't had experience in telling people that they had died before so seeing her reaction was amusing to him.
(Y/n), on the other hand, was not amused.
"You're joking, right?" she narrowed her eyes at him in skepticism. "I'm right here. How can I be dead?"
"You came back to life," he responded coolly and placed his clipboard on the table beside the bed to lean back in his chair. He crossed his legs and linked his fingers together on his lap. "Just three hours ago actually. Slept the whole time until now."
(Y/n) frowned at him, still dubious of what he was saying. "So, you're telling me that I died and came back to life. Like for real you're telling me that."
"Yes. I wouldn't lie to you, now would I?" he questioned before briefly glancing at her hand. "Do you smell something odd?"
The girl sniffed and nodded, wondering what he was getting at. "Yeah?"
"That's embalming fluid," he responded as-a-matter-of-factly. "It's used to preserve the dead. We tried washing it off you but I guess the remnants will wear off by itself over time."
The (h/c)-haired girl lifted up her hand and took a deep whiff of it before scrunching her nose in disgust. She looked around the room and pressed her tongue to her inner cheek as she tried to come to terms with what he was saying. She then turned back to the doctor.
"So I was dead?"
"Yes."
(Y/n) roamed her hands all over her upper body. "I don't feel dead. Or...like I was dead."
The doctor chuckled. "Of course not. You're very much alive."
"Hmmm," she shrugged her shoulders and placed her hands down to her sides. She stared at the white blanket over her for a minute before looking up. "Now that you mentioned it, how am I alive in the first place?"
She still doubted the tale of her death but something in her gut told her that the doctor wasn't lying so, she went with it.
"Science is still not able to fully explain these occurrences as they're quite rare," he began, leaning a bit forward towards her. "It's called the Lazarus phenomenon or Lazarus syndrome. You know of Lazarus in the Bible, yes?"
We learned that back at the orphanage. "Yeah," she nodded.
"It's quite like that. The Lazarus syndrome is the delayed return of circulation after resuscitation acts are ceased. In other words, dead patients experience the sudden return of cardiac activity. The heart. The heart starts to...beat again. That's the Lazarus syndrome."
"O...kay," (Y/n) nodded slowly. She had completely lost him at the word resuscitation. "So uh...what causes this?"
"It's suggested that it may be from a pressure buildup in the chest caused by resuscitation. Once it's ceased, the pressure is gradually released and kick-starts the heart. Therefore, coming back to life. But yours took longer," the doctor then chuckled to himself. "I'm guessing your heart was probably contemplating whether to start or not."
(Y/n) let out a humorless chuckle as she cast a skeptical eye at him. She got it now. "Are you saying that my heart was playing rock paper scissors with my soul to see if I'm gonna live or not?"
"That's another way to put it too."
The girl nodded before narrowing her eyes at him. "How did I die again?"
He held up a finger. "That, is a good question," he quickly said, his face twisting into a serious one. "During the incident, apparently, a large force hit your chest area pushing you back into a hard surface with blunt force. This caused chest trauma, resulting in penetration of the pericardium. That is a membrane surrounding your heart. So blood flooded into this membrane, putting pressure on it resulting in heart failure. Therefore, due to that, you died."
"Wow..." (Y/n) muttered under her breath, her hand going up to her chest over where her heart was. "I don't feel any pain though...only the side..."
"That's probably because of Recovery Girl. Your school heard the news and she made a point to visit a few times while you were still under. She managed to heal your inner injuries but since it would've taken an even larger toll on your energy to heal the injuries to your side and head, she left them at that. But she will visit soon enough to heal them too."
"The school already knows?" she grimaced, dread punching her gut as she imagined what was going to happen to her due to wrongful use of Quirk.
"Yes," he pointed to his left and she followed the direction in which he was pointing at to see some get well cards on her bedside table, along with a teddy bear, some flowers and an All Might figurine. "Some of the teachers even paid you a visit, namely Eraser Head, Pres Mic, even All Might. Your classmates also passed by to see you. Only I, the teachers, a few nurses, and the boy who brought you in, know of what really happened, but what was reported to the public was that you were merely unconscious, mistaken for dead as your heartbeat was too faint to be heard. Other than that, you shouldn't worry about anyone knowing of your resurrection."
As relieving as that was to hear, her gut still sunk when she heard the name 'Eraser Head'. She was sure in for it when she went back to school. "How long have I been out?"
"You've been asleep for two days," the doctor then smiled. "I know you're worried about some things like getting in trouble with your school for whatever you did but you shouldn't worry.
Her forehead creased. "Why not?"
"For starters, when you were taken off the scene, the hero Backdraft managed to arrive at the spot and after some agreements with the police, he took all the credit for the rescue and for quelling the fire. Word about two students being the ones doing the rescue are only now counted as rumors," he uncrossed his legs and leaned forward, his elbows coming to rest on his knees. "The four victims you two saved have been labeled to be suffering from trauma due to their strong standing on being saved and apparently thrown out the window by two teenagers. Their injuries have been treated but no one has given them the time of day to consider their so-called outrageous tales," he chuckled and looked at the ground. "What a world we live in, huh?"
"Huh..." her eyes trailed away from him and fell on the wall across from her.
She thinned her lips into a straight line. Not being given credit she could live with if it meant not getting into trouble but making the people she rescued feel like they're crazy for telling it like it was? Now that was just plain wrong on so many levels.
And it irritated her that she couldn't do anything about it.
"And also another thing, you did quite a number on your Quirk there," the doctor added, acquiring her attention.
"What do you mean?" she rose an eyebrow.
"I mean, you completely drained yourself. Exceeded your limit," he explained in a slightly grave tone. "If the cardial tamponade didn't kill you then your overexertion would've."
(Y/n)'s eyes widened. That means...
"If I...didn't get hit or whatever...I'd have still...died?" she asked, afraid of the answer herself.
"Yes. In fact, your low energy levels lowered your chances of survival. That's why Recovery Girl only healed your internal injuries. You still needed some energy to recuperate and healing the others too would've put you at a high risk of falling into a coma. So sadly, you'll have to be patient with the pain for now until she makes her next visit."
The female inhaled sharply. Her heartbeat spiked up, audibly sounded by the heart monitor.
"But that is behind us now. Your energy level is slowly increasing with help of fluids and various medications. No need to worry," he added, his tone light to lower her disquietude.
She simply nodded, mentally thanking God above for her miraculous luck. She would've died in more than ways than one and yet, there she was, still alive. If that wasn't luck, then she didn't know what is.
The doctor leaned back in his chair, fingers entwining together. "So, any more questions?"
(Y/n) sighed and scratched her head. "No. Just that...still can't get my head around the fact I died and resurrected. I'm not like...a zombie, right?"
"Do you have an insatiable urge to moan loudly and devour my brains while you're at it?"
(Y/n)'s face twisted in disgust. "Ew no."
"Then you're good," the grey-eyed doctor smiled at her in assurance.
The girl exhaled and turned her gaze to the switched off TV hanging across the room. "Wow...just a normal saving with Katsuki ended up with me dying."
Her (e/c) eyes then widened in realization.
I completely forgot!
She flicked her eyes back to the doctor. "Where's Katsuki? Is he okay?"
His forehead puckered. "You mean the very angry boy you were with?"
"Yeah him."
"Oh, he's right outside. Waiting to attack me once I get out of this room," he chuckled as he took his clipboard and stood up from his chair.
"Huh? Why?" the puzzled girl asked, her eyes following him as he went to stand at the foot of the bed.
"He wants to see you, obviously," he shrugged. "The boy has been on edge ever since you woke up. He's been visiting ever since, trying to get to see you. But after the violent scene, he made the day you were brought in, no one trusted him with leaving him alone with you while you were still sleeping," he then chuckled and tugged at his tie. "You should've seen him when he heard news of your death. Took four nurses to simply restrain him. Never seen something quite like that."
(Y/n) hummed in understanding, creating a mental picture of his words. She could only imagine how he had felt upon hearing of her death.
She suddenly felt like she wanted to see him.
"Where is he again?"
"In the lobby," he answered and smiled. "After school, he came by and he's been there for quite a while, ambushing anything or anyone that enters or gets out of this room. I'd be lying if I said that I'm not scared of getting out myself."
(Y/n) chuckled at his words inaudibly, envisaging Katsuki pouncing on the doctor while interrogating him endlessly.
"You know, he's the main reason why you're alive."
"What?" the girl's smile faltered in surprise and befuddlement. "What do you mean?"
The doctor had a knowing smile on his lips as he explained. "If he hadn't brought you to the hospital when he did, you wouldn't have received resuscitation to jump-start your heart. The nurses at the scene would've taken you for dead and put you in a body bag instead. Therefore, you would've been dead for good...he saved your life. Unbeknownst to him."
A warm feeling bubbled up in (Y/n)'s heart at his revelation. Suddenly, she saw Katsuki in a new light. No words could explain how grateful and indebted she felt to him.
She really wanted to see him.
"Can I-"
A loud crash sound suddenly reverberated from outside the room, followed by a woman's shriek, startling the two who fixed their gazes on the door.
"HAAH?!! WHAT DO YOU MEAN I CAN'T SEE HER?!! THAT FUCKING DOC HAS BEEN THERE FOR THIRTY MINUTES!!!"
"The doctor hasn't given you permission yet!" a panicked woman's voice followed after. "You're still not stable to be around the patient in her condi-!"
"I DON'T GIVE A SHIT!! WHY DO I HAVE TO WAIT WHILE ALL THE OTHER SCUM GET TO SEE HER?!! IT'S BEEN TWO FUCKING DAYS!! I'M DONE FUCKING WAITING!!!"
"No, wait!"
The door was suddenly kicked open, with Katsuki violently barging into the room, stunning the two even more.
The minute Katsuki's angry eyes met (Y/n)'s surprised own, they softened as they widened in elation, his body freezing at the entrance of the room. Knowing she was alive was one thing, seeing her fully breathing and well was enough to knock his breath away.
"I'm so sorry doctor!" the hysterical nurse rushed in after Katsuki and frantically bowed at the doctor. "I couldn't stop him! He-!"
"It's fine," the doctor raised his hand to stop her and sent her an assuring smile. "He's waited long enough."
The nurse nodded and dashed out of the room, closing the door behind her. That left a still frozen Katsuki who was staring at (Y/n). Seconds of silence passed before (Y/n) cut it.
"Hi," the girl breathed out, her voice barely above a whisper as a small smile crept up her lips.
The boy snapped out of his daze and bounded towards (Y/n), immediately engulfing her in his arms.
"Ow," she winced. "Katsuki-my side, it hurts..."
"Oh," he softly said before loosening his hold on her, but he didn't let go. (Y/n) relaxed into the hug and smiled, a hand going up to rub his back. They remained like that for a while before very quiet sobs broke the silence. (Y/n) furrowed her eyebrows and smiled in amusement.
"Katsuki? Are you...crying?"
"No, you dumbass," he snapped and buried his face in her hair as he relished in her returned warmth. "You still smell like dead people shit. Fucking hurtin' my eyes."
Her smile widened. It's not that strong you liar. "Whatever you say, Fireworks."
The male pulled away from her and quickly wiped away his escaped tears. He hung his head a bit low to hide his red eyes and cheeks.
"How're..." he began before clearing his voice and continuing. "How're you feeling?"
(Y/n) exhaled through her nose and shrugged. "Alive."
Katsuki clicked his tongue and looked up at her to give her a frown. "Stupid idiot."
The female giggled as they stared at one another in tranquility, reveling in each other's presence.
The doctor smiled at the scene and cleared his voice, gaining the girl's attention. "I'll be leaving now. I trust you'll be fine?"
(Y/n) nodded and glanced at Katsuki who was staring at her with an unreadable expression on his face.
"Yeah. I'll be fine."
The doctor nodded and exited, leaving the two alone.
"The doctor told me what you did," the girl spoke up after a moment of silence.
"Huh?" Katsuki frowned in confusion at the smiling girl.
"That you saved my life," she answered with awe. "If you hadn't brought me to the hospital to be resuscitated I wouldn't have woken up. Ever."
Katsuki's eyes widened slightly at her words as she continued.
"You're my hero, Fireworks. And I don't even know how to thank you for that."
A red blush erupted on his face, causing him to look away. Words couldn't be used to explain how elated he felt upon hearing what she said. All the while he had thought he failed her. He didn't.
"You don't have to thank me," he muttered, still looking away from her.
The (h/c)-haired girl reached out for his hand, making him inaudibly gasp and look down at her hand holding his.
"But, seriously though, thank you," she said in a serious voice and he looked up at her. "I owe you my life."
Katsuki sharply inhaled, his crimson-colored colors locked on with hers like magnets. He then clicked his tongue and turned his eyes anywhere else but her.
"Don't start saying all that sappy shit. I just did what I had to."
Even though he said these words, his comforting squeeze on (Y/n)'s hand said otherwise.
The girl shook her head at his 'stay true to the toughness' character and let it slide.
The door suddenly burst open, surprising the two who immediately pulled their hands from each other's.
"MY BEAUTIFUL BABY!!!" Nanami bellowed as she dashed to (Y/n)'s side, Katsuki moving out of the way before she crashed into him.
Nanami grabbed the girl and pulled her into a death hug. The girl hissed in pain but didn't voice it out, deciding to take the pain like a champ. It seemed like everyone was content in opening her wound.
"I am never ever letting you do that again!" Nanami proclaimed and pulled away from her to give her a hard look. "Ever!"
(Y/n) winced through the pain as she squinted her eyes at the woman. "That's basically saying you don't want me to be a hero anymore."
"Yes! That's exactly it!" she placed her hands on the girl's shoulders. "In fact, the minute you get out of this hospital, I'm putting you into a bubble!"
The girl smiled. "No, you won't."
A hard expression took over the woman's features. "I'm serious (Y/n). After receiving a blow to your chest and falling unconscious like that, how do you expect me not to worry?"
"Huh?" the girl knitted her eyebrows at her words.
She...doesn't know?
(Y/n) exchanged a look with Katsuki, who subtly shook his head, silently telling her not to say the truth.
"Oh...uh yeah..." the girl unsurely nodded her head and sent Nanami a smile. "Of course you have to worry. But for real, I'm fine now. See?"
The girl spread her arms to her sides to prove her point. The action pulled at her side wound and she immediately placed her arms down with an 'ow'. Nanami rolled her eyes before pulling (Y/n) into another hug. This time crushing her less than the former.
"I'm glad you're okay, sweetheart," she softly whispered, placing a kiss on the uncovered part of her head as she stroked her back lovingly.
The girl hugged her back, breathing in her comforting perfume that made her smile. "Yeah. Me too."
Katsuki watched the exchange from behind, his eyes mostly glued on the blissful girl.
Two days ago, he never thought he'd see her smile again but here she was. Seeing her happy made him happy.
He could never lose her again. Not if he was around to do something about it.
Nanami released her and gently stroked her cheek. "I have to go now. After receiving the news you had woken up, I immediately left the house. Ha! I don't even think I closed the front door."
"It's cool."
"Okay then. But I'll be back," the woman said. "To bring you some of your things here that is. You'll be okay here, right?"
"I'll be fine," (Y/n) nodded, earning a pat on the head from Nanami.
The woman then turned to Katsuki, her features twisted into a stern look. "You take care of her now. Y'hear me?"
Katsuki returned the look. "Crystal."
"Good," she clapped her hands in satisfaction as she turned to exit from the room. "Bye now! I'll be back!"
"Bye!" (Y/n) waved at her before she closed the door.
She then turned to Katsuki and lowered her voice. "They didn't tell her I d-i-e-d?"
"Hell if I know," he responded, walking closer to her. "Probably don't want her to flip shit or something."
The girl's lips parted in an 'oh' as she nodded. Her eyes then fell on the bandages that were peeking under his school shirt and she instantly recalled him bleeding during the fire incident.
"What happened there?" she inquired, pointing at his arm.
Katsuki gave his arm a brief glance. "Just a cut. Don't worry yourself about it."
(Y/n) wanted to press on the matter but already figured out that he was going to do his best to dodge it, so she let it be.
She relaxed back into the bed and looked around the room before turning back to the ash-blond.
"What about you?" she asked. "Aren't you going home?"
Anger etched on his face as he glared at the girl. "Huh?!! You think I'm gonna let you out of my sight after that fucking stunt you pulled two days ago?!!"
It wasn't a stunt. (Y/n) gave him a wry look. "It's night already. Almost midnight if I'm correct. Plus, you have school in the morning. Where are you going to sleep?"
"I'll sleep on the couch!!"
"It's not comfortable."
"I don't give a fuck!!!"
(Y/n) sighed and rubbed her temples. She could literally feel her stress levels shoot up from arguing with him.
"Katsuki...you need to rest," she countered wearily. "You must be exhausted from school and I don't want you to stress yourself even more. Besides, your parents will be worried if you don't come back-."
"Are you deaf?!!" Katsuki interjected, hands balling into fists in anger as he glowered at her. "I said I'm not letting you out of my motherfucking sight!! You're my responsibility now so I'm going to fucking take care of you, like it or not!!"
"Nothing's going to happen to me," she held up a hand, palm up. "I have all these doctors and-"
"You must be crazy if you think I'm going to leave you here with those fucking quacks," he turned his fiery gaze to the side and scowled. "Can't even do their fucking job well..."
"What," she blinked.
He turned to glare at her. "Shut up. I'm staying and it's final."
(Y/n) groaned in defeat but she couldn't help how warm she felt inside when he said that he'd take care of her. It was so unlike him. So sweet of him. Besides, he did have a point. By saving her life, he now had a responsibility over her, earning him a right to stay with her.
"Fine! You can stay here," (Y/n) sighed, a brief frown etching on her lips. Not that she minded his presence around her, she didn't want to feel like a burden to him. But seeing how he acted, the thought was slowly dissipating.
Katsuki smirked triumphantly and crossed his arms over his chest.
"But, only on one condition," she added, sending him a pointed look.
Katsuki rolled his eyes, a scowl replacing his smirk. "Spit it out."
"I hope I don't get to share my breakfast with you."
***