phoenix ✦ k.takami (hawks)

Thirty Four

There is a girl. She is wise and wary of flames but still, she knows she will survive the fire life scorches sometimes. She has been a Phoenix before and every time she burns to ashes she knows exactly how to rise again.

Track 35; Private Parts by Halestorm & James Michael

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Pain was what you first felt when you woke up, the annoying monotonous beep echoing in your ears and giving you a headache that you didn't ask for.

When your eyes fluttered open you did not see the recognizable ceiling of your bedroom. Instead it was starch white and the smell of sterilization invaded your nostrils.

Immediately you sat up and clawed at the IV in your dominant arm. Panic overwhelmed you in that moment and that stupid beeping picked up the pace and set off an alarm when you took the pulse reader off of your finger.

You barely had a moment to process that you were in a hospital when the door was thrown open and two familiar faces rushed into the room, two nurses hot on their heels.

Aizawa looked like he hadn't slept in eighty seven years and Hizashi's face was blotched red from his uncontrollable crying. Quickly enough your heartbeat began to settle and you relaxed against the bed. Your arm was bleeding from where you had ripped the IV out in a blind panic and one nurse began to take care of the mess while the other prepped your other arm for another IV.

"What happened?" You asked, looking between the two men. Hizashi started crying again and you rolled your eyes, looking to Aizawa who avoided eye contact with you. "If you're not going to tell me how the fuck I got in here, get the hell out!"

"You were raped." Aizawa blurted out, not knowing how to explain it to you in a nicer way. He was never one to sugarcoat things, but you didn't expect him to spit that out so easily. His tongue was tied in knots, he didn't know what to say or do to comfort you in this time of need. He gave a quick glare over his shoulder to Hizashi who put himself in the private bathroom to cry where nobody could see him. You didn't even know what to say. All you knew was that you were going to probably need years of therapy to overcome this trauma. It was not something you were looking forwards to.

"Where's Hawks?" You asked, your heart rate picking up again. Aizawa tilted his head to motion towards the door.

"He said that you probably didn't want to see him, and that you'd be in a better mood if we were the first you saw." The pro-Hero explained, gingerly settling himself down into the open chair next to your hospital bed.

Slowly you began putting the previous night's events into order and you came to the realization that the intruder was the one who assaulted you. "Who found me? Did anybody get my SOS text? I sent it to you, Hizashi, and Hawks."

"None of us got a message from you. Your phone was smashed so we couldn't pick up on any details from that."

"Are you on the investigation?" You asked, drumming your fingers against your thigh as the nurse let go of your now bandaged arm. The other replaced the drip bag and they quickly left the room to respect your privacy.

"No. Same with Hizashi, and Hawks. We've been deemed too close to have a part in it." He sighed with frustration, obviously upset that he couldn't help. "I don't think any of us could get anything done with how amped up we are."

"Has anybody told you anything?" You were beginning to get upset again and your mind was a typhoon of emotions. You wanted to cry, scream, laugh, kill something.

He rubbed his face with the palms of his hands. "No. But Hawks knows more about this than I do, so you should talk to him about it."

You were supposed to make amends this way? With you sitting in a hospital bed after your boyfriend had found you after you were raped in your own house? This was not what you had planned out. It was like some kind of fucked up movie had replaced your life instead of a normal one.

Hizashi came out of the bathroom with a face not as red as before. You'd assumed he'd splashed cold water on his face before he sat down on the other side of your bed and took your hand in both of his own.

"Can you go get him? I want to talk to him..." you gave Aizawa a sideways glance, knowing that he was going to attempt to be a helicopter parent since he was the closest thing you had to one. "Alone."

Hizashi squeezed your hand and his eyebrows furrowed in frustration. Neither of them wanted to leave you alone with somebody who refused to tell you that your life was in danger, but they knew that they didn't have a choice when your grip on Hizashi's hand became so strong that the grown man yelped in pain and yanked his hands back. Wordlessly they both stood up at the same time with a last, forlorn glance in your direction before stepping outside.

You took the moment that you had to yourself to reach up to the back of your head. Your fingers gingerly traced over staples; you counted at least seven of them. You didn't remember what you were hit with, but you knew it was a blunt object if it cracked your skull open and made you need staples instead of stitches.

You removed your hand from the back of your head and raised your arms. Bruises remained from your attack, but the tender flesh and slightly paler marks signaled that you had been burned as well. Thankfully your body had a tolerance to flames and could heal any wounds from them, but you would always be reminded by the scars that were left behind.

Soon enough the door to your room opened and you lowered your arms from your crucial examination as Keigo stepped into your line of sight. His head was lowered and his hair was a mess, tangled and swept in an array of directions.

He only said a few words to you before his whole body crumpled to the ground. "I'm so fucking sorry."

You sat up again and leaned over the edge of the bed slightly to make sure that he hadn't passed out on you. No, he had clapped both hands over his mouth and pushed himself to the wall, refusing to blink to prevent tears from spilling.

"I'm sorry, too." You replied before he could say anything else. He shut his eyes and held them tight, his gloved fingers wiping away the tears that fell in a panic. You'd never seen him cry before, and you could tell that it wasn't something he did often. "I shouldn't have exploded on you like that when you came home. I know how important your mission is and I put myself over your job and responsibilities. I shouldn't have done that. I didn't consider what had happened to you during those two weeks and I now understand why you were scared to tell me." He didn't respond, but at least his sobs didn't shake his whole body anymore. You rolled your bottom lip between your teeth and sat back once again, letting your head fall back against the shitty hospital pillows. "It was him, wasn't it?"

You heard Keigo clear his throat and watched as he crawled over to the side of your bed and stopped, looking at you for permission to sit on your bed with you. You patted your hand to let him know that it was alright and he perched himself on the edge, making sure to give you personal space.

You didn't want personal space. You wanted somebody to hold you and let you cry until you fell asleep or passed out from lack of oxygen, whatever came first. You didn't want somebody, you wanted him. Unsure of how to ask, you made a grabby-hand motion towards him and thankfully he obliged.

He scooted up next to you and flinched slightly when you leaned your head against his chest, listening to his rapid heartbeat. It soothed you, but you were still waiting for an answer and Keigo knew that.

Slowly his arms came to wrap around you and he held you close, making sure to not touch your IV drip as he did so.

"Yeah. It was him."

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words; 1450

thanks for reading!