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Fuyumi rubbed her temples as she walked down the hospital's hallway.
She loved her family. She did. Fuyumi knew she forgiving to a fault. Natsuo never hesitated to remind her she could step back or be more blunt, but…
Fuyumi didn't want to. And with everything going on, she didn't really want to unpack it now. Maybe later, when she could be assured everyone was as healed and hale as they were going to be and not in danger of slipping through her fingers.
But it did mean when she was stressed there wasn't anyone she could really talk to. Her mother was under her own kind of stress. Shouto was too young. Natsuo wouldn't be helpful right now. She didn't have many friends and the ones she did—well maybe a part of her didn't want to face anyone after how public everything had been.
She slumped against the wall, sliding down a little. At least with it being a rehabilitation hospital, it wasn't likely she'd get germs. She groaned, closing her eyes.
"You look stressed, is everything okay?"
Fuyumi blinked, glancing up. A woman with dark hair was peering out of the room in front of her. She looked almost familiar, but the bandages covering the side of her face and the ragged shape her hair was in made it hard to tell. She sat in one of the hospital's wheelchairs and had on loose sweats.
This was a rehabilitation hospital geared towards heroes, though, so it made perfect sense that Fuyumi had seen her somewhere before. Still, she wished she could tell.
"Oh, yes. It's fine. Well, not fine—"
"I get it. It's a hospital. None of us are doing all that great." The woman winked. "Come in, come in. I can at least help you get away for a second."
She wheeled back into her room and Fuyumi pressed herself back up the wall, bemusedly following.
The woman's room was the same as both her father's and Touya's rooms. A bed, a television, two small side tables, and a visitor's chair. The woman waved her toward it and Fuyumi gratefully slumped down, clasping her hands together.
"I'm Kayama Nemuri, by the way." Kayama said, locking her wheels with a smile. Fuyumi blinked and then blinked again.
"M-midnight?" Fuyumi knew she'd been injured from the news, but there had been no more information after that. Though, Shouto might've known, but with everything going on Fuyumi wasn't surprised that he hadn't spoken of her.
"Yep, that's the one! And you'd be…Todoroki Fuyumi, right?"
Fuyumi gaped.
"You're on Shouto's emergency contacts. UA includes pictures as a precaution, especially after—well you know. Everything." She slumped a bit, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "But enough about that. I got you in here to get away from stress."
"It's fine," Fuyumi said, fiddling with her fingers. "I just needed a moment…away. I guess."
Kayama hummed in agreement. "That works, but you've still got some nasty tension in your face. So, what's your favorite animal?
"Um, animal?"
"Yep! Animal. Any kind. I like cats. I've got a few, you know? Cute little buggers."
Fuyumi hadn't been asked her favorite animal since high school. She frowned down and picked at a cuticle. Back then she'd said a panda, but not really out of any real favoritism. It'd been popular and she'd been panicked at the attention.
Kayama deserved something honest, since she seemed to care so much.
"A stoat, maybe? They're really sweet looking…"
"That's one I haven't heard before."
"Oh, sorry—"
"Now did I say it was bad? They are pretty sweet. I've seen some of those all white ones in pictures before, they're almost as cute as you." She winked, lips curling up into devious smile.
Fuyumi flushed, stuttering. She got a laugh out of Kayama from that.
It was easier, then, to talk with her.
"Come back again, you hear?" Kayama said after Fuyumi glanced at the clock and shot up. Fuyumi nodded, feeling lighter than she had in a while.
Fuyumi kept coming back. Kayama got plenty of visitors—she'd seen Present Mic and a few of the other teachers from U.A. come to and fro. And that wasn't even including the time she'd bumped into Mount Lady on her way out one day. It felt a little selfish on Fuyumi's part. Kayama was already entertaining so many people and Fuyumi must have been a brief moment of pity. It was Kayama being heroic in the moment, but not something that needed to linger.
But, she kept doing it, like a guilty pleasure.
Sometimes Kayama and her just watched television, or talked about lighter things. Selfishly, Fuyumi knew it was a reprieve from her own problems. But she did like seeing Kayama. Kayama was witty and charming and always knew how to cheer Fuyumi up.
So it became a habit; once a week, then three times a week, marching to the other side of the hospital after visiting her family.
The last week, they'd started opening up to each other. Mainly about small things, like Kayama's recovery, or how Fuyumi was dealing with the press.
She looked forward to those times, with just Kayama in her hospital room.
That's why it was such a surprise to walk in and see Kayama packing up the gifts that had been strewn about.
"Well," Kayama said, leaning on her cane and grinning. "I'm about to leave this joint."
"You are?" Fuyumi hoped she didn't sound as lost as she felt.
"Mmhm, the doctors think I can just go do some P.T. I'll be back on the streets in no time. It was a surprise to me too, I thought they wanted me in here another two weeks. Guess I'm just that good, right?"
"Ah," Fuyumi said, inelegantly, and then collapsed into the guest chair. Kayama raised an eyebrow.
"So—" Kayama drawled, coming closer. "I've been thinking…since I'm getting out and all, would you want to meet up after? There's a real romantic spot downtown that I've been hearing about."
"You—what? A date?"
"Yep, I'm asking you on a date."
Fuyumi stared at her, brain stuttering until she squeaked, flushing.
Kayama tilted her head, expression unreadable. "That bad, huh?"
"N-no!" Fuyumi straightened so quickly she nearly knocked her chair over. "I mean—not bad. Just unexpected."
"Unexpected, I can work with that." Kayama winked with a smirk.
Her tone only made Fuyumi more flustered. Kayama was a flirt, but she'd never sounded so forward before. For weeks she'd gotten used to sitting in Kayama's hospital room, talking about favorite foods and terrible television. They'd kept it light, easy. Until the last week, when things had started to become more…real.
"I figured I'd wait to ask until I could get up and going. I'd hate to take a pretty girl on a date to this place's cafeteria." She scrunched her nose.
Fuyumi buried her face in her hands, flushing again wildly. She hadn't—well she knew about the flirting, but that was Midnight's whole brand. She hadn't thought it was serious. But thinking about it…she chanced a glance at Kayama, whose half-lidded eyes were gazing down at her.
It was surprisingly hot.
Kayama laughed. "There it is."
"There what is?" Fuyumi mumbled through her palms.
"The part where you figured out why you've been showing up three times a week."
"Uu-h, maybe?" She sputtered before she frowned. That was…part of it, but she couldn't help but think of all the times she'd come just for an escape. "I feel like I might've taken advantage of you, like as a distraction for my own problems."
"You weren't." Kayama shook her head.
Fuyumi glanced down, sighing. "I just—"
"You put up with me ranting about hospital food for thirty minutes straight. Not even Yamada lets me do that." Kayama sighed too. "Hey, look at me."
Fuyumi chanced another glance. Kayama was looking at her with a soft, patient expression that Fuyumi hadn't seen on her before. It was hopeful, almost. Maybe she was wrong about herself. Maybe coming so often had been down to mostly Kayama, after all.
"I liked seeing you. I want to see more of you. And I like to think I can read people pretty well, so I think you feel the same. If that's just as friends…well that's great. But I like you, Todoroki." She sat on the bed, staring straight into Fuyumi's eyes. "And I think you're hot as hell, so I'd love to go on a date with you."
Fuyumi felt herself blushing again.
"O-okay," she felt herself saying. "I can do that."
"You sure?"
She snapped up, staring into Kayama's eyes fiercely. "Yes! I-When I saw you packing up, my heart dropped. So I want—I want to keep seeing you." She started to trail off awkwardly. "Um, and I'd like to try a date. Or more."
Surprisingly, Kayama didn't laugh at that. She leaned forward and kissed Fuyumi on the cheek. It was as if Fuyumi could feel her lips burning a mark into her flesh. If she flushed any harder, she might faint.
"I'll look forward to it, then," Kayama said, a tenderness in her eyes so obvious that Fuyumi wanted to kiss her again.
But—there would be time for that, wouldn't there?
"Me too," she replied, grinning.