Not Yet

reveroF dna won ,nehT : XIV

Aizawa's adrenaline levels hit a new high record for sure. His pulsing heart was in his throat and every hair on his body stood up in warning.

But how?

How did the villains find them?! Everything was being kept secret and this hospital had a bunch of eyes on the heros' side, observing and protecting!!

The part of a second it took the distressed hero to reach the open door and burst inside was taking forever.

Please don't say he's too late again!! Please say he didn't fail them once more!

But to Shouta's surprise, there were no villains to be seen.

It was just the room, the thin curtains that moved with the faint breeze, the disturbing beeping of the machines and the ventilator, the small table beside the bed, the constant faint trickling sound of water in the pipes inside the walls, and most importantly, the same dull and unaware eyes. They were all there, just as he left them.

But instead of relaxing, the hero bit his lip in sadness and grief. He held his head with his hand, covering one eye in the process.

"Sensei! I couldn't fi-" Mirio's voice was heard from the outside of the room, but his unfinished sentence lost its purpose after entering.

"Eri-chan!" Mirio couldn't help the mix of the opposing feelings of relief and bitterness from blossoming inside his chest simultaneously.

Eri was just standing beside the bed, her back to them, and her gaze not leaving the still form on the bed at all.

Her shaky little hands came up to enfold the unmoving ones on the sheets. The absence of all ten fingers made her flinch violently, retreating her hands instinctively. Apparently, the boy hadn't been missing an eye and three fingers the last time they met.

But despite this being a very traumatizing and upsetting thing to see, Eri wasn't any less determined to encase those pitiful hands and offer what little comfort it could afford.

She looked up briefly, then down at the hands, then up again, trying to see if her nii-chan was aware of what she was doing.

The last few times nii-chan had visited her were strange. But never once did he ignore her like that. Even those times he didn't talk to her or look at her, she could always feel his attention on her. Always.

So why was he not acknowledging her presence at all now? Was he really mad at her like she thought?! Was that why she didn't get to see him this whole time?! Because he didn't want her to?!

"Nii-chan" her voice came out weaker and more pitiful than she intended to. "I'm sorry. Are you angry?" Her red ruby eyes started watering, she squeezed his hand tighter and started blinking to get rid of the tears.

"I'm sorry, please!" her cracked voice betrayed her once again. How many times does she have to prove again and again that she is so weak and unreliable?!

"No, Eri-chan, that's not-" she could hear someone behind her, but all her focus was now on one person, so she didn't even try to set up her usual barriers that helped her avoid angering the bad guys all those times.

"Nii-chan!" Her eyes couldn't hold the heavy tears of sorrow and betrayal any longer, so they ran freely on her cherry cheeks. She could feel someone's gentle hand on her shoulder, but she didn't want anyone but nii-chan right now!

She clutched the plain white sheets to make sure no one tried to separate her from her brother, even though she knew that it was the good heros, she didn't care! She only wanted one person in this entire world!