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Shouto woke up to the sound of beeping, it sounded shrill and made Shouto want to cover her ears.
She could hear muffled voices around her, but they sounded as if they were underwater.
Shouto whimpered as her head throbbed in pain.
It was as if someone was inside of her skull hitting her with a hammer.
“ -outo?” a deep voice called. A gentle hand was placed on her shoulder, rubbing at it comfortingly.
‘Aizawa?’ Shouto thought, blinking her eyes open.
It in fact was Aizawa, he was sitting in a chair beside her, hand planted firmly on her shoulder.
“ Hey kid.” He greeted softly, gently pulling some of shouto’s hair out of her face.
“Zawa…” She slurred, her eyes watering for a reason Shouto didn’t know.
“ It's alright.” Aizawa soothed, stroking her hair.
“ What happened?” Shouto asked.
Aizawa looked away for a moment before continuing eye contact.
“ We rode to the hospital but you passed before you got there. They treated you for a concussion and some other minor injuries.”
Shouto nodded, but hadn’t fully processed the words.
Someone cleared their throat from across the room, shouto flinched, eyes flicking over to the source of the sound.
It was a nurse, standing near the door.
“ Sorry,” he said, noticing Shouto’s flinch. “ How are you feeling?”
Shouto stared at him for a second before answering. He was a pretty tall nurse with hair that swirled to the side.
“ It’s cold.” She told him. The nurse nodded going over to the thermostat and turning up the heat.
“ The doctor should be in here to give you some more information about your injuries, and I’ll be back with some food.”
Aizawa nodded as the nurse left the room.
Shouto turned on her side to face Aizawa. His hand was in her hair and his eyes were soft and kind.
“ How long have I been asleep?” She asks.
“ A little while, I think maybe about eight hours.” Aizawa pulled his hand out of shouto’s hair -much to shouto’s displeasure- in favor of holding her hand which was hanging off the side of the bed.
Shouto had so many questions but decided to set them aside for now.
The hospital room door opened and the doctor walked in. Shouto turned over again.
“ Hello I’m Doctor Chiyo, Shouto’s doctor.”
“ Shouta Aizawa.” Aizawa greeted.
“ I’m here to go over Ms. Todoroki’s injuries.” The doctor said, getting straight to the point, “ She was treated for a concussion and some minor injuries, including a sprained ankle, some cuts and some minor dislocations.
There was also evidence of sexual assault so we got some samples in case you want-”
Shouto stops listening, her brain turning foggy and her eyes gloss over.
Her eyes shift to the thin hospital blanket seeing them but not seeing them at the same time.
She stares at the blankets for who knows how long. Could have been five minutes or five hours.
What finally grounds her is a calloused hand on her shoulder rubbing comforting circles into.
Shouto blinked, the glossiness in her eyes gone and alertness taking its place.
Aizawa sighed in what seemed like relife, “ There you are, you had me worried there kid.” His smile was comforting, but his eyes showed genuine worry.
“ M’ okay, ‘Zawa.” She mumbles lazily.
Aizawa smiled at her, moving his hand from her shoulder to her hand, squeezing slightly.
“ When can I leave?” Shouto asks.
“ You’d be okay to leave now, but the doctor just wants to watch you for a bit and run some tests.” Aizawa explains.
Shouto hums. “ Where will I go?”
“ I’ll be taking you in,” Aizawa says, “ I’ve taken emergency custody of you, until I can do something more permanent.”
Shouto stares at him, trying to comprehend what he just told her.
Aizawa has custody of her?
She doesn’t have to go home?
“ Are you okay with that?” Aizawa asks, taking her silence as displeasure toward the idea of him taking her in.
“ You’ll… You’ll really do that for me?” Shouto asks in disbelief.
Aizawa’s eyes soften when he realizes that his former worry was false.
“ Of course. I’m your teacher and a hero, I would do anything to help you, kid.”
Shouto’s eyes watered and despite her best efforts to keep the tears in, they fell anyway.
Shouto sniffed.
“ Oh, Kid.” Aizawa reached forward to wipe the tears from her cheeks, smiling sympathetically.
“ I promise you, you’ll never get hurt like that again Todoroki. Not on my watch.”
Warmth spread throughout Shouto’s chest as Aizawa’s hand cradled her cheek. His words were soothing and sweet. They were words that were never directed to Shouto.
Aizawa was being so kind to her, Shouto was overwhelmed by it all.
Was this what love felt like?
Shouto wasn’t sure.
But whatever the feeling was, Shouto loved it.
🌸
Shouto didn’t realize she had dozed off until she was being shaken awake by Aizawa. She blinked her eyes open, the only thing motivating her being the smell of food.
Shouto’s stomach growled.
From beside her she could hear Aizawa chuckle.
“ ‘Zawa?” Shouto said, as she looked over at her teacher.
“ The nurse just brought in some food for you.” Aizawa says, pointing to the tray that was hovering over her lap.
The food looked surprisingly appetizing. On her plate was curry and rice with green tea being the drink.
Shouto was about to dig in when she turned to Aizawa. “ What about you? Are you going to eat?”
Aizawa shook his head, “I went down to the cafeteria earlier while you were asleep.”
Aizawa pointed to an empty plate and plastic cup on the nightstand beside her bed.
“ Oh.” Was all shouto said in response.
Shouto grabbed her spoon from the side of the tray, muttering a quiet “ Itadakimasu.” Before digging into the curry.
The food was pretty okay for hospital food, definitely not as good as UA cafeteria food but better than the plain food Endeavor made her eat.
Shouto wondered what Endeavor was doing, if he was out looking for her or if he didn’t care about her whereabouts.
‘ If he knew about what happened,’ Shouto thought, her stomach churning, ‘He would probably disown me.”
Why would Endeavor want a slut for a child? Why would he want a girl who allowed herself to be… taken advantage of. Shouto was supposed to be the top of her class, supposed to be someone people respected. But now, who would respect her?
She was disgusting now. Every single part of her body those men touched was disgusting.
That was most of her body.
Shouto swallowed the food, setting her spoon in her bowl and pushing her plate and tray back.
She wasn’t hungry anymore.
There was a churning in her stomach that made Shouto want to gag. It was a mixture of shame and uneasiness. The feeling made Shouto want to throw up.
Aizawa looked up from the book he had grabbed from the small bookshelf on the corner of the room, eyeing Shouto with concern.
“ Not hungry?” He asked, setting his book on the nightstand face down.
Shouto nodded stiffly, the churning in her stomach getting worse by the second.
Salvia coated her tongue thickly forcing Shouto to swallow.
“ ‘Zawa..” She forced out, trying to warn him about what was yet to come.
“ I don’ feel so good.” Shouto gagged, lurching forward. Her hands flew to her mouth to cover it, tears pricking at the corner of her eyes.
“ Shit.” Aizawa cursed as he went to the bathroom for the trashcan.
Shouto lurched again, this time some vomit forced its way up to her mouth and tried to force its way out. It leaked out of her mouth and onto her hands.
Shouto swallowed the taste of the vomit almost enough to have her gagging again.
Aizawa came back with a small white trashcan, he shoved it under her, saying something to her that Shouto couldn’t quite catch.
Shouto gagged again, but forced the vomit back. Tears fell from her eyes from the strain she was putting on her body.
“ Shhhh…” Aizawa soothed, rubbing her back, “ Just let it out kid, let out. You’ll feel better once it’s out.”
Shouto panted heavily, her hands gross and sticky from vomit.
“ Are you okay now?” Aizawa asked, about to take the trash can away.
Shouto opened her mouth to respond, but was cut off by a fresh wave of nausea.
Shouto leaned over the trashcan and vomited.
Aizawa rubbed her back through it all. Whispering soothing words to her.
Shouto gasped for air when the vomit stream finally stopped. She spit into the trash can.
Her mouth felt gross and was now coated in not only saliva but vomit too.
Shouto burped wetly, not bothering to excuse herself.
Aizawa took the trash can back to the bathroom, Shouto could hear the toilet flush and the shower running briefly.
Aizawa came back with paper towel, he handed them to Shouto who used them to wipe her hands.
Aizawa threw them away then came right back to Shouto’s side.
“Here.” Aizawa said, handing Shouto the green tea she had discarded.
“ Thank you.” She said, as she chugged it down.
“ Not too fast, or you’ll get sick again.” Aizawa warned, taking the cup from her.
“Sorry.” Shouto said, reaching out for the cup again. Aizawa sighed and handed it to her. Shouto drank slowly this time. She put the cup down on the tray and laid down. “ You okay?” Aizawa asks.
Shouto nods.
Aizawa brings his hand up to feel her temperature, humming as if he approved.
“M’ sleepy ‘Zawa-sensei.” Shouto tells him, her eyes drooping.
Aizawa chuckles, “ Go to sleep then.”
Shouto shakes her head, tears pricking at the corner of her eye, “ M’ afraid I’ll wake up and you won’ be with me.”
Aizawa wipes the tears away, “ It’s okay, I’ll still be here when you wake up.” He says, bringing his hand up to gently stroke her hair.
“ Promise?”
“ Promise.”