Next To Me

Chapter 32: Two-metre radius

~ Revised 11/05/2024~

"Have you ever used your quirk before without remembering?"

[Y/n]'s breath hitched in her throat at the detective's question. The walls of her hospital room suddenly felt like a prison, their sterile smell burned the inside of her nose. Her (e/c) eyes darted behind the detective's shoulder to look desperately at her teacher, Mr. Aizawa, who stood characteristically stoic against the back wall of the room. She realized that he too was awaiting her answer.

Deeply suppressed memories began to slowly resurface in response to the detective's question. [Y/n] gripped the bed's sheets as she tried to steady her racing heartbeat.

Unable to meet the eyes of the two men who stared down at her, she looked at her hands resting in her lap. "Yes." She answered shamefully.

Detective Tsukauchi's voice brought her back to reality. " Alright. We just needed to confirm that you did not intentionally use your quirk to inflict any bodily harm without a hero licence during the USJ attack."

His words should have soothed her growing dread about why he was interrogating her, but she only felt it squeeze her ribs and crawl up the back of her neck. She absentmindedly hugged herself, feeling her muscles tighten and tense under the stress.

"What did you find?" She asked.

Detective Tsukauchi faltered at her unexpected question.

"You know, I'm not really allowed to-"

"Tell her, Tsukauchi." Aizawa's authoritative voice bounced off the sterile walls. "She needs to know what she did."

- Earlier that day -

Once [Y/n] had awoken from her comatose state, her door constantly revolved as nurses, doctors, and specialists entered and exited her room. They ran almost every test they could on her, bringing in portable medical equipment from around the hospital such as X-rays and ultrasounds. They claimed it was to ensure she was completely fine before releasing her, but she became suspicious as to why they were bringing the equipment to her instead of the other way around.

To make matters worse, she noticed that all of her tests produced normal, healthy results, but when she asked if that meant she would be discharged soon, or at least able to see some of her friends, she never got a clear answer. By the end of the afternoon, she was completely confused about what was going on. Volunteering at the hospital, she was familiar with normal visiting hours and procedures, and there was nothing normal about what the staff were doing and telling her. However, she kept these speculations to herself.

Mr. Aizawa's presence in [Y/n]'s room was unwavering. As a teacher and pro-hero, he felt a sense of responsibility for what happened to his student. Yet, her strength, bravery, and aid during the attack also left him feeling a newfound respect for her. The potential she displayed, without even a full semester's worth of training, resonated deeply within him on just how important it would be to guide and nurture her on the right path. After witnessing the doctor's efforts in persuading her away from her goal of becoming a hero, he refused to leave her alone for long periods of time, especially when another personnel entered her room to conduct testing.

Besides, unbeknownst to [Y/n], he was one of only a few people authorized to be within a two-metre radius of her.

As the afternoon light filled the room with a golden hue, [Y/n] tore her gaze from the TV to her door. Mr. Aizawa, who sat on his laptop, looked up at the girl and followed her gaze.

"Someone's coming." She announced with soft excitement.

To pass the time, they began playing a game to determine how powerful her quirk was at enhancing her natural physiological abilities. They decided to focus on her hearing, which was initiated when [Y/n] overheard the nurses in the hallway talking about the flirting between one of them and the chief physician. [Y/n] thought it would be fun to share with Aizawa, which he turned into an educational opportunity. Now, after almost an entire day of playing, they were placing wagers on the accuracy of her predictions.