My voice is a gasp, caught in my throat, but I try to force it out. My heart explodes in my chest as I push my way through the medics. A few older doctors block my way.
"Where...where is...are they taking him? What's going on..."
He's walking away, but before I can reach him, my earpiece crackles.
"And...re...? Can you hear me?"
I freeze. My breathing stops. My legs give out, and I fall to the ground.
"Sensei! I'm coming, I'll stabilize you right away, I'm coming!"
"NO."
His voice is weak, filled with pain he's been holding in for who knows how long. But he seems categorical, so I freeze in place.
"Listen to me...don't pay attention to me. Recovery...Girl has already taken charge of me. I'm...recovering."
A lie. I know. He can sense it too. I burst into tears, sobbing.
"You have to think… about the civilians. Understand?" He lets out a stifled cough, then a breath.
"If you get distracted… if something happens to you now… you know. I can't…"
The rest is swallowed up by unfamiliar interference and cries of pain. I, on the other hand, have already understood. He's apologizing, he's giving in to being seen as vulnerable. And he's letting me go and do what only I can do.
"Okay…sensei. I'll do my part. I promise."
And I run out, flying like a bullet.
For hours, (I don't know how many), I drag civilians from the rubble, I do everything I can to stabilize the wounded with a touch of my hands, I lift thousands of children and carry them to safety, I lift endless debris, using my wings as leverage, I scout the hardest-hit areas with Kaito, flying back and forth, I cry when I hear screams that sadly soon fade to silence, and I feel my energy, including my wings, draining away, breaking me. Every person saved burns my nerves, stripping me of another piece of strength.
Aizawa-sensei, please hold on. I need you!
I won't stop, I can't stop. Not after what happened to him, not after what I saw. But, like everyone else, when I return from the depot with the last group of wounded, my vision blurs. My legs give out again, and I fall to my knees without even realizing it. My wings are shaking, and when I turn to see them, they're almost transparent.
Someone shouts, but I don't know who. "Eri! Eri, watch out!"
But I have no energy left to respond.
I fall forward, hitting my nose against the floor with such force that it breaks. For a moment, I see black, almost darkness. Then nothing. I pass out, exhausted, consumed until my last breath.
***
The first thing I notice as soon as I open my eyes is the dark, narrow space around me. A few people are talking in hushed voices, my vision is still blurry, but I feel my muscles waking up, so I'm moving, slightly. The first sound that reaches me, while I'm in this phase, is neither a beep nor a clang. But it's a voice I know very well inside me, even if I can't yet decipher it. It sounds hoarse, tired, but... it's unmistakable.
"...Look at her. She wakes up like a diva during one of her historical dramas."
My sight is returning, and my chest finally rises during one of my deep breaths. I recognize her; I can see her better now.
It's Tess.
I blink, still slightly blurry, and feel something hard just above my nose, perhaps a cast put on to fix it since it broke after the fall. The light in the dark room burns my eyes for a second, then slowly the world and everything around me comes back into focus. I turn to Tess; she's sitting next to me, one leg in a cast, the other immobilized in a frighteningly beautiful brace. Her eyes are swollen as if she's been crying for an hour... or a whole day.
"Hey…" I try to say, but my voice won't come out. Just a whisper.
"Don't start acting so strong again now. You collapsed in front of half the medical ward."
She tries to laugh, but her voice is shaking. Maybe she's about to cry again.
I don't answer. I don't have the strength.
My hearing is slowly returning, and only now do I realize how crowded the infirmary is... too crowded. There are people everywhere: patients, nurses, visitors. The beds are scattered in no apparent order, and white lights have been hung above the headboards to compensate for the dim lighting. The drawn curtains make the room even darker, almost suffocating. In the distance, I hear voices whispering orders, but I can't tell who they're addressed to.
I realize we're still in the field hospital set up after the battle. We're in the shelter I myself had built before I fainted.
And there, next to my bed, I see them.
"Eri..." My dad's voice is low, almost controlled so as not to explode with joy, as if he were holding back too much emotion. He approaches me and takes my hand gently, as if I were made of glass. His gaze is very tired; he seems older than he really is; he's probably cried a lot. Mom Tara, on the other hand, stays a few steps behind. She looks at me with those teary eyes, as if she's been crying for days, but I know it's more than that: there's also pride in that look, and I'm sure of it.
Ryota stands next to her, his arms crossed, staring at me with his usual stern expression... but I can see it. He's feeling the strain, too. His eyes, usually so arrogant, now seem a little less sharp.
"Dad... Mom..." My throat tightens, I'm almost ready to cry.
Slowly, my body begins to feel the pain again... and when it arrives, it's a sharp pain that shoots through me from head to toe.
"Ryota... you're all here," I murmur, my voice almost breaking.
A tear slides down my cheek, silent, unstoppable.
"Where else are we supposed to be?" Dad asks with a crooked, almost forced smile. "You fell asleep in the middle of the battlefield, you know? You'd worry anyone."
My eyes widen. There are no longer any outside sounds; the situation seems much calmer than before. My heartbeat accelerates.
"How…how did the mission end?" I ask.
Dad and Mom exchange a worried look.
Then it's Dad's turn to speak:
"After you fainted, the situation was critical. Very critical. But…luckily they got there in time."
"Who?" I whisper, grimacing in pain.
"The heroes of the old 1-A."
Mom nods.
"Everyone. It's typical for them to enter the scene at the last possible second. Katsuki, Tess's dad (Izuku Midoriya), Todoroki, Uraraka, Iida… everyone took the lead. They turned the battle around in a matter of minutes."
I tense slightly. The pain comes and goes, it seems to torture me. I don't know whether to laugh or cry.
"They tore Volt to pieces, immobilized Shadow, now the police are investigating. Titan collapsed thanks to teamwork I was part of, and Siren was easily neutralized. It's over, Eri, and you did an incredible job."
"Me?" I repeat, almost incredulously. "Dad, I didn't fight anyone."
Ryota looks away, as if admitting it would be inappropriate at that moment.
"You saved more people than anyone else back there." Dad's voice is brusque, but not hostile, as if telling me he deserves to acknowledge my efforts.
Silence. At that moment, I hear more footsteps approaching. Kaito, Ren, and Reina open the door, and I see them mushrooming from behind my parents' backs.
"There she is! The heroine has woken up!" Kaito exclaims, but when I meet his gaze, I notice that his eyes are even redder than Tess's. He's probably been crying too. Or maybe he's been lacking proper rest for days.
"You gave us a shock…" Reina mutters, "What would I have done if I'd lost my rival?"
I smile. Ren nods. "That was a real shock, damn it!"
I look at them one by one with difficulty, the cast in the middle of my face is really annoying. I'm trying to process everything, I listen to them, I smile... but a question explodes in my chest, making my ribs vibrate, causing physical pain.
"Aizawa-sensei...where is he?"
Immediate silence, from everyone. As if someone had pressed the pause button on a remote control.
Tess clutches the sheets with one hand, clenching her jaw. Mom lowers her gaze to the floor, and Ryota stiffens for a moment. While I wait for an answer, Present Mic and Midoriya, Tess's dad, appear in the doorway. Mic's glasses have slipped slightly onto the tip of his nose, and his voice is…strangely restrained. He doesn't speak right away, and I'm getting scared. I'm terrified…why isn't anyone answering me?
Mic exhales slowly through his nose and stares at me.
"He's alive, Eri."
My heart explodes in my chest, and I burst into a desperate cry, bringing a hand to my mouth without realizing it.
"He's alive..." I repeat, between sobs, and look at Tess.
"Yes. But he's still...unconscious. He's lost a lot of blood and..."
His gaze drops, and he shrugs. The man I know, a troublemaker for a living, is suddenly silent.
"He lost his left leg. Completely."
Even though I already knew this because I'd met him shortly before I fainted, I still feel a chill run down my spine. A chill that paralyzes my body, suffocates my soul, constricts my lungs. I have to go to him, I think, I can't stay here.
"No…no, no, no…"
I try to get up, supporting myself with my elbow. I feel my legs shaking, my head spinning as if I've drunk liters of alcohol, and I feel a terrible nausea rising in my stomach.
"Eri NO!" Mom exclaims, grabbing me by the shoulders and fixing me with her icy gaze.
"You can't get up!" Dad adds, frowning, his voice gruff.
"Let me go! I have to-" I can't finish the sentence. My head is spinning, I feel faint from weakness.
A small shadow appears at the side of the bed. I recognize it; it's Recovery Girl.
"If you try to put a foot on the ground, you'll collapse within three seconds." Her voice is careful, hard, but not mean. She places a hand on my forehead, trying to reassure me.
"You've used up your energy to the point of exhaustion. Do you want to help Aizawa-sensei? Then lie down and rest."
My vision blurs: I can't tell if I'm crying or just a little dehydrated. After a few sobs, I nod. She smiles tenderly at me, then turns back to the others. Papa Mirio holds me close, with a tenderness I've never seen in him before. I know, I can feel it from the way he's breathing that he's crying. Ryota, for the first time in my life, doesn't say anything. He seems…shaken. As if he's seeing something he'd never considered in his life.
I remain still. I shrink. I feel helpless and useless. And in this moment, more than in any other mission, I feel truly defeated.
Meanwhile, the days after the mission and after I wake up flow like a single, long, blurry line. Time passes, and I find myself forced to follow everything Recovery Girl orders: the gym, physical therapy, endless sleep, more physical therapy, protein and energy foods. She keeps a close eye on me, and every time I try to get out of bed too quickly, she pokes me with a stick like I'm a naughty student.
And every time I huff and puff, rolling my eyes.
After about five days, I finally feel my strength returning, little by little. I can stand better on my legs, the tremors have almost disappeared. I don't feel perfect. I don't feel as strong and energetic as I always do. But I'm alive, and the rest doesn't matter.
"You move like a luxury retiree," Kaito comments as we head to the infirmary corridor.
"Kaito..." I sigh.
"No, seriously, in comparison, my grandmother is 20 years old." ."
Reina elbows him, hard enough to make him lean forward slightly.
"Stop it. Otherwise, I'll make you like your grandmother."
"I can heal myself, remember?" I retort, crossing my arms over my chest.
"It's not a threat, but a warning, Kaito," Ren adds, his expression serious but his eyes amused.
Tess, still in a cast, walks forward on crutches and looks at me with a tight smile, but she seems relaxed. "Anyway, you're much better. You seem less…turned off."
"Thanks, everyone, really."