"She's sick, alright."
Recovery Girl put down the thermometer that displayed "103.6°F."
"How long have you been feeling sick, Hitomi?" Kirishima asked.
Hitomi scratched her nose, sniffling a bit. "...honestly? Since Monday..." she mumbled.
"What?! You mean you've been sick for four days??"
"That's very irresponsible, young lady!" Recovery Girl berated her. "You should have been resting in bed, not going to school and making it worse!"
"But it's a new term; I didn't want to miss anything..."
"Hitomi, we literally live with our classmates now. I'm sure Iida or Yaoyorozu would've kept you up to date."
"But..."
"No buts, young lady," Recovery Girl interrupted. "I can't heal you because you've exhausted yourself coming to school. All you can do now is rest. You're welcome to stay here in the infirmary, but if you go back to your dorm you can change into more comfortable clothes and rest in your room there."
"I think I'd rather go to the dorms... I don't want to stay in my uniform all day," Hitomi said before she sneezed.
"Alright then. Kirishima, help her back to the dorms."
"Yes, ma'am," Kirishima complied, helping Hitomi off the bed and leading her out of the room.
They made their way past the shoe lockers, on their way to change out of their gym clothes back in the locker room.
"You really don't have to walk me back, Kirishima."
"What are you talking about?! You're sick; it'd be super unmanly of me if I didn't."
Hitomi let out a small cough. "...don't worry about me. You shouldn't miss class just because I'm sick. I can make it to the dorms by myself; it's only a 5-minute walk, after all..."
"No way. What if you faint again? Or collapse? Or-"
"Kirishima."
She grabbed his arm, the two of them stopping in the middle of the corridor.
"Please?" she asked, giving him the best puppy dog eyes she could muster. Kirishima recoiled, looking away. "You need to learn the material more than I do. I'd feel guilty if you missed something important because of me..."
Kirishima avoided looking at her puppy dog eyes, but his resolve was breaking. He glanced at her briefly, before sighing.
"I'll only go if that's what'll make you happy," he said. "But," he suddenly grabbed her arm, pulling her with him down the hallway. "At least let me walk you to the changing rooms and the shoe lockers. That's the least I can do."
"That's fine!" Hitomi smiled.
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Hitomi trudged down the walkway, back in her regular school uniform with the weight of her backpack dragging her down.
I should've let Kirishima walk me back... she thought as she felt her head begin to pound.
But Kirishima needs to pay attention to the class. It's hard to admit, but he can be a little dumb sometimes.
The bluenette sighed, dragging her feet to the front door of Heights Alliance before shoving it open. She heard the sound of a vacuum cleaner halt as she made her way to the common area, throwing her backpack onto the floor as she flopped onto the couch.
Her head was really pounding now. Why was she so stubborn sometimes?
"The hell are you doing here?"
Hitomi heard Bakugou's voice above her—he probably made his way over when he heard someone enter— and simply groaned in reply.
She was feeling too dizzy to deal with him at the moment.
Bakugou tched at her lack of response, about to ask her again before his phone buzzed in his pocket.
It was a text from Kirishima.
Hitomi's sick. Like, she's-been-sick-for-four-days sick. Take good care of her for me!
The blonde glanced at the girl lying on the couch, noting her stillness.
"Have you seriously been coming to school while you're sick, dumbass?"
"...shut up." Her voice was muffled from mashing her face into the cushions.
Bakugou rolled his eyes, replying "Whatever, Shitty Hair" to his friend before he nudged Hitomi.
"You need to leave. I'm not done cleaning here."
"No."
"Why the fuck not?!"
"Can't get uuup."
"Quit messing around. Go upstairs."
Hitomi rolled over to look at him, sniffling as she did so. "I'm too dizzy to get up, idiot," she mumbled. "Lemme rest here for a while."
Some tick marks appeared on the blonde's face at the "idiot" remark, but he kept himself from shouting at her. "I can't finish cleaning with you here."
"Well, deal with it. I'm not moving." Hitomi smushed her face into the cushions again, groaning at the throbbing pain in her head.
"...for fucks sake."
Bakugou grabbed her backpack and slung it over his shoulder before he approached the couch and turned Hitomi over. He noted her flushed face as she stared at him in confusion, placing a hand on her forehead to check her temperature. His hand recoiled as he felt the heat.
"Holy shit, you're fucking burning."
Hitomi squinted at him, before closing her eyes. "No, duh. I wouldn't be here if I wasn't."
Bakugou scowled at her, cursing to himself as he moved to pick her up off the couch. Hitomi felt her face get hotter as he carried her to the elevators.
"What are you doing?!"
"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm taking you to your room, because you're an annoying little shit who won't stay out of my way."
Hitomi huffed as she felt her heart beat faster, her face flushing more as Bakugou took her to her room. He unceremoniously kicked open the door, laying her on her bed as he dropped her backpack onto her desk chair.
"I'm not done, so don't call for me unless it's an emergency. Got it?"
"Mhmm... thanks for taking me to my room..." Hitomi muttered, wiping the sweat off her brow.
Bakugou scoffed, quietly shutting the door to go back to cleaning the common area.
Hitomi staggered over to her closet, pulling some more comfortable clothes out and changing before flopping back onto her bed.
The room is spinning...
Man, she really screwed herself over now. She should've just stayed in bed, and maybe then she wouldn't be feeling like garbage.
Being sick really sucks, she thought as she drifted off to sleep.
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A/N: Okay. Dropping by to say they're may not be Monday updates for the next few weeks.
For one thing, I haven't been able to get as far ahead in chapter art as I would have liked, and I especially can't do it this week since it's finals.
Second, I've been working on the Christmas special for the side stories, and if I want to get it out in time I can't work on chapter art anyway. (This thing is getting LONG, it's over 6000 words already and I'm not even close to done yet!! >_>)
Third, some of the chapters for this current arc may get a major rewrite. With where it's at right now I think it could be better, so I'm going to go back and try improving it. If I can't, oh well. It is what it is ^^;