Pushover | Aether x Reader

Twenty

(Y/n) quietly stood in line at the hospital cafeteria, her walking stick being the only thing that supported her. Despite having just awakened from her coma, the stubborn girl insisted the nurses don't micromanage her and let her take care of herself. Now, the hospital was not supposed to do such a thing, but she threatened to sue them legally and could do nothing but comply. It was amazing the lengths the girl went to just to do things her own way.

"Ma'am. You're holding up the line." (Y/n) patted the shoulder of the old lady in front of her.

It was not her intention, but her statement came out rather cold. The old lady looked at her, baffled, moving forwards whilst muttering something along the lines of "what a disrespectful young lady".

(Y/n) sighed. She felt bad for possibly ruining the old lady's mood, but she currently was not in the best mood either. After arguing with her nurse, there was little to no energy left in her.

As soon as it was her turn to buy food, her eyes went over to the dishes of the day. Each dish looked cold and dry- absolutely unappealing.

She sighed again. 'I hate this so much.'

After begrudgingly picking out one dish that looked the most tolerable, she took a seat in the farthest corner. As she ate, she glared at every joyful-looking person in her line of sight.

Why couldn't that be her? She had gone through a ton of crap lately. Yet, somehow, she still woke up from her coma, alone.

'Suddenly, I wish Hu was here to annoy me.' She sulked.

Every bite of her tasteless food simply made her even more bitter. The past week, she had been feeling depressed and miserable. Now, it seemed like anger and irritation were the more dominant emotions.

"(Y/n)?" Her mouth immediately opened, ready to reprimand the person for disturbing her peace.

"Aether?" She was glad her brain was much faster than her mouth. "What happened to you?"

Somehow, every time the (h/c)-haired girl saw him, he looked worse and worse. 

Aether laughed sheepishly, looking at his arm that had to be placed in a splint due to how bad his stab wound had become. When he had first seen (Y/n) sitting alone in the cafeteria, he had gone over with the intent of having small talk with her. Now, it seemed his future of getting scolded was much clearer.

"I... Zandik happened." He scratched the back of his neck. "Can I sit?"

"Yeah sure." She nodded, scootching over to make room for him. 

It didn't occur to either of them that Aether simply could've sat on the bench across from her, and so, they sat in awkward silence— both eating their insipid food portion.

"Hey... I'm really sorry," Aether muttered, a spoonful of porridge still in his mouth. 

"What for?" (Y/n) raised an eyebrow at him, confused.

"For what happened to you."

"It's not your fault." (Y/n) shrugged. "In fact, I should be the one saying sorry to you. You got dragged into something you had no fault in."

"But I chose to get involved in it, so don't be sorry."

"You chose to have coincidentally be there when Kunikuzushi's locker blew up?"

Aether tensed up, growing even more flustered by thr second. "No... I just—"

"I'm kidding, don't worry." (Y/n) smiled a little, rubbing his back comfortingly. "I'm glad that you and Ayaka were there when I needed you."