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Being a hero was dangerous. They’d all known that when they’d gone to UA, and when they’d gone out into the force. But it was easy to think that they were invincible, especially when they’d escaped death as many times as they have.
So when Kaminari found himself sitting next to Jirou’s hospital bed, staring down at her, he thought he must be dreaming.
Wires were connected to her body, pumping her full of fluids that were keeping her alive. The only thing that reassured Kaminari was that she was breathing on her own. The shallow rise and fall of her chest still made his gut twist, but she was the one doing it, so it was alright.
It had been a normal patrol, interrupted by a villain with an unknown quirk. Kaminari, being Jirou’s partner, had been right there, but the villain had targeted her, and Kaminari hadn’t been fast enough.
So, he sat by her bedside, clasping her hand firmly in his, staring down at her, hoping her eyelids would flutter open.
“Kaminari, you’ve been here for eight hours,” Yaoyorozu said quietly from next to him. “You should go and get a little bit of sleep.”
He’d been awake for over twenty four hours. He knew that was the point that Yaoyorozu was trying to gently remind him of, so that he would go and sleep and maybe feel a little better in the morning. Wake up to Jirou being awake. But even at the thought of leaving her side, he recoiled.
“M’okay,” he said softly, looking down at Jirou’s pale hand.
“You’re no use to her half delirious with exhaustion.”
Kaminari looked over to Yaoyorozu slowly. “That’s okay. I’ll just flash my hero license and sleep here.”
Yaoyorozu sighed. “I really can’t stop you?” She tilted her head, looking down at Jirou. “She’s going to be unhappy when she wakes up and see you put your health at risk for her.”
Kaminari let out a shuddering sigh, shaking his head. “You don’t get it. I couldn’t protect her. I’m her partner, and I couldn’t protect her from some no-name villain.”
A gentle hand rested on his shoulder. “That’s the point. He was a no-name, so there was no record of him, his quirk, or his fighting skills. And we still don’t know. But you caught her and got her medical care immediately. I’m not sure that anyone could’ve moved as fast as you.”
To be fair, Kaminari hadn’t remembered moving at all. He’d been trying to initiate an attack on the villain from below, but the villain had attacked Jirou, punching his fist through her stomach with a force and skill that meant it had to be his quirk.
The fear and shock on Jirou’s face, her stuttering heartbeat still radiating through the speakers on her boot, and the blood dripping from her torso made Kaminari see red. He’d shocked the villain out of the sky and caught Jirou, cradling her body to his chest as the villain convulsed on the ground, Kaminari’s electricity dancing over and through his body.
“Ji, stay with me,” he pleaded, the hand that wasn’t wrapped around her back touching her cheek.
She stared up at him, but Kaminari wasn’t sure that she really saw him at all. She was looking at him with a sort of spaced out awe that frightened him, and he would never forget what she said next.
“I’m dying, huh?”
She’d passed out in his arms and as backup arrived, Kaminari stumbled over his own feet to get his unconscious partner to medical care. She couldn’t die on him. She wasn’t allowed. He needed her.
He shook himself, not wanting to alarm Yaoyorozu with whatever was written all over his face. “I don’t want her to wake up and be alone.” He looked up at Yaoyorozu. “Besides, you have a husband to get back to. And I know you don’t want her to be alone either.”
Conflict seemed to war on Yaoyorozu’s face, both worried for Kaminari and knowing he was right: She wouldn’t want Jirou to be alone. Finally, she sighed heavily, removing her hand from his shoulder. “Fine,” She said softly, “But if her condition changes, at all, call me immediately.”
“You’re on speed dial, Yaomomo.”
She bid him a solemn goodbye before leaning over to press a gentle kiss to Jirou’s brow before leaving the room. It felt darker without her there. NIght had fallen and now alone with Jirou, Kaminari was aware of how painfully loud the silence was. The TV buzzed with whatever sitcom was on, Jirou’s heart monitor beeped softly. He could even hear her ragged breathing.
“It’s late,” he said softly. “I think you might be mad at me if you find out that I sat in this chair all night.” He rested his elbows on the bed, looking into her face. “You lost a lot of blood. You’re really hurt and I can’t even try to make you laugh because you’re not even awake.”
He sighed, staring at her like if he just looked hard enough, she’d wake up. It was reassuring, he thought, that there was still color in her cheeks and her chest moved shallowly. She had a lot of wiring and tubing tied up in her stomach, healing the injury from the inside. Kaminari was certainly grateful for the way medicine had progressed. If it hadn’t, she probably wouldn’t be here now.
“What do you think? Should I read something to you? I can go ahead and look up some stuff on my phone, maybe some like… Kid’s books? I dunno, you’ll probably laugh at me.” He pulled out his phone, resting his other hand over hers, just to feel its warmth. He started looking up some popular children’s titles, looking for something light to read her that wouldn’t cause him to break down in tears. He was terrified of losing her. Even as she lay in front of him, still alive, technically, he was terrified that he’d lose her.
He read to her for a little while, murmuring as his thumb stroked over her hand. After awhile, what must have been several hours, his voice started to grow a bit scratchy and weary, and he almost stopped, but Jirou’s hand twitched under his.
“Ji?” His voice was soft as his attention was brought back to her face. “Ji, are you awake?”
“Mm.”
He wasn't sure if she even meant it, if she had even meant to make a sound, but it was enough to send Kaminari straight to his feet, the phone dropping down onto the bed by her leg.
“Jirou?” His voice was pleading. “Hey, if you hear me, Jirou, follow my voice, come out to me. Wake up.”
Her eyes flicked back and forth behind her eyelids, as she slowly started to come to. Kaminari mumbled nothings to her, not even sure what he was asking of her, as tears streamed down his face. He pulled her hand up to his lips, mumbling into her skin.
Finally, her eyes opened and she peered up at him through the darkness. The dark of her irises glinted at him in the low city light that filtered in through the hospital window. Her head still lay on the pillow, as though it was too much of an effort to lift it.
Kaminari smiled down at her. “Hi.”
“Hi,” she whispered, her voice hoarse. “What’s going on?”
“You’re in the hospital,” Kaminari said, sitting down again, and scooting the chair close to her bed. “Yaomomo was here, she left a couple hours ago. But… Um… I stayed. I didn’t want you to be alone if you woke up.”
“How long have I been here?”
“Two days.”
“I’ve been asleep for two days?” She looked up at the ceiling. “Then why am I still so tired?”
He could tell that she was trying to tell a joke, so he laughed, wiping his tears. “Well, it might have to do with the hole in your middle?”
“Oh, you a doctor now, Pikachu?”
“Maybe I could be! I’ve been sitting here looking at you for two days!”
Her face softened a little and she turned her head to face him. “Oh… Really? You’ve been here for two days?”
“Yeah.”
“Is that why you stink?”
“I do not stink.”
She smiled, looking weary but strangely happy. “You didn’t have to stay.”
“I did. I wanted to.”
Jirou sighed heavily, looking down at their joined hands. “Have you been off work, then? These past two days?” She looked almost a little… Jealous? “Have they paired you off with someone else yet?”
Kaminari laughed, shaking his head. “No, not at all. I was told that I was allowed to have time off, paid even! To stay off until you were ready to come back.”
“They think I’ll come back?”
“Yeah, you’ll be okay. They told us that you would recover all the way. They just didn’t say how long it would take.” He beamed at her. “I’m really glad you woke up, though. You were starting to make me nervous.”
“Sorry.” She squeezed his hand. “You look exhausted, Kami. Have you slept at all?”
“I didn’t want to, I didn’t want you to wake up alone.”
“Kami…”
“Don’t feel bad for me when you’re the one laid out in the hospital bed!” Kaminari cried. He leaned forwards, resting his elbows on her mattress by her hip. “I missed your eyes.”
She blushed, looking away from him. “Shut up.”
“Do you want me to call the nurse so you can eat something? I’m sure you’re hungry, I would be.”
“I have a hole in my stomach, I think they’re gonna have to feed me through a tube.” She looked down at the wires and tubing and winced, quickly looking away from it. “Yikes. Yikes.”
“Hey, sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything.” He winced. “I can’t imagine how you must be feeling.”
“They must have me on all kinds of painkillers, cause I don’t feel shit,” She said softly. She looked away from him, up at the ceiling. “Like I really don’t feel shit.”
He squeezed her hand. “Can you feel this?”
“Yeah.”
He trailed his fingers up her arm gently, towards her elbow. “Can you feel that?”
Her breath hitched, the farther up her arm he reached with the tips of his fingers. “Y-yeah.”
He pulled her hand to his lips, pressing a kiss to her knuckles. “What about that?”
“Yep!” She said a bit too loudly, coughing. “You sure it’s only been two days? I don’t really remember you being this smooth at all.”
He laughed. “Yeah. Just missed you.”
“Idiot. It’s not like I was gone.”
“Well, you were to me!”
She looked at him with eyes full of something that Kaminari couldn’t quite place. “You stayed here. For two days.”
“Yeah.”
“You should get some sleep.” She patted the bed next to her. “Come on up.”
“Hey, just cause you can’t feel it doesn’t mean that it’s a good idea for you to be scooting around and shit,” Kaminari scolded, even though he wanted nothing more than to crawl up into bed with her and cuddle into her until she was the only thing he could feel.
“Call the nurse so she can scoot me around, then. I’m a pro hero for God’s sake.”
As it turned out, the nurses were alright with Kaminari snuggling up with Jirou (Even though it took lots of convincing, and reassurance there would be no tomfoolery), but were very specific about the way she was laying. They adjusted some of the tubing, removing some of it when they saw that the healing was working quite well, and soon enough Kaminari was tucked up next to her in the wide hospital bed.
“See? Pro hero privileges,” Jirou mumbled, tilting her head towards him.
He lay on his side, facing her, in awe of the fact that she was still alive and with him, able to have conversations with her and lay with her. “Hi.”
She snorted, then winced. “Hi.”
He leaned over, pressing a kiss to her forehead, suddenly feeling like his heart was going to explode out of his chest. Jirou sputtered a little at the action and blushed once more, looking away from him again.
“You sappy fuck.”
“Like I said, I missed you.”
“Oh my God. Go to sleep. We’ll talk in the morning.”
His eyelids grew heavy, and he cuddled a little closer to her, careful not to touch her where it would hurt. “Promise?”
He was already fading into sleep when he heard her reply.
“Yeah, Kami. I promise.”