At the hospital, I get wheeled into an operating room and immediately sedated. When I wake up, I see Mic pacing the room, his usually spiky hair drooping. Probably because he keeps running his hands through it. 

I cough, finding it difficult to take full breaths, something is restricting me. I look down at myself as Mic rushes over. I'm in a hospital gown, but some bandages peek out of my right sleeve. I groan as the memories of Hosu come back to me. 

"KOTO!!!" Mic wails. "Are you okay?!? You have to be okay!!! KOTO PLEASE!!!!!"

I reach out my arm to give him a hug which he readily accepts, trying to not crush my right side again. My whole body feels extremely tense and heavy. My throat burns as I breathe. 

"You saved so many people, honey!" Mic cries into my shoulder. 

So many people? He must mean the people I called the police about. I wonder why they all came out right then. 

"I've heard all the reports of what happened from the heroes and the survivors!" He pulls back, his puffy green eyes looking at me fondly. "I didn't know the full extent of your power, Koto! And it's incredible!" 

He pulls me back into a hug, but now I'm confused. Full extent of my power? What does my quirk have to do with any of this?

"I should probably explain," he sniffles as he pulls away again. I nod and he grabs a plastic chair and brings it over. 

"That Shinso boy still hasn't woken up yet, so I haven't gotten to hear his account of everything," he pauses, seeing my panicked expression. "He had a few cracked ribs, but they missed most of his organs and didn't hit anything life threatening. The doctors believe he will make a full recovery. He's just still passed out since Recovery Girl had to help heal him in addition to surgery. Most of his stamina was burned away, so he might sleep for a while. You're gonna be fine too. Just a crushed shoulder and a few scrapes here and there. Recovery Girl helped you speed the process along too. She told me to tell you to be careful and all that with your shoulder until she can come back. After your second round of treatment, you should be free to go. You both also suffered from some mild smoke inhalation, but that's been taken care of for the most part."

I feel tears stinging at my eyes as he lists all the injuries. 

"People from miles around said they heard you screaming," his voice cracks as he speaks. I hang my head in shame, knowing how much I must've worried him. With a scream that loud, you would think it was something severe. All I got was a broken shoulder. I could've still fought. Why did I run away?

"Koto," Mic says softly, making me look up at him. "Do you know what that one scream did?"

My eyebrows pinch together. What does he mean what it did?

"I can do the same thing with my quirk. I didn't think you would get the ability since your quirk doesn't use your actual voice, but you must've used it to enhance the sound somehow. I guess your quirk isn't really what we thought it was in the first place. It might be something much different. We have to test this out more when you get home."

What is he talking about? I didn't try to do anything with my quirk.

"That being said, when I used it, it could be heard in surrounding towns, but that's besides the point. I called it 'Panic.' I haven't used it in a while, but when I was training my quirk, sometimes something would scare me so much, that my scream would make anyone who heard it panic and want to retreat. When you used it, it made the people trapped in their homes find a way out. It made the villains retreat and the heroes gather to reorganize their forces."

His eyes gleam with so much pride, it's hard to look at him. But I didn't try for any of that. It just happened. 

"Koto, when the villains retreated, they left their nomus. They can't think for themselves, do the scream did nothing to them. We were able to capture twelve of them in a single night! Without their masters, they were all just standing there, looking around aimlessly!!"

I took down twelve nomus with that one scream? That must be why that one didn't try to attack us anymore. And also why Shinso got up despite being injured. All those other people had really severe injuries. They can't have all made it. Tears start rolling down my cheeks at the thought. 

"What's wrong?" Mic asks, still softly. 

I try to raise my hands to sign, but my right one just feels weak. The bandages on my shoulder keep it from moving too well. I illuse instead, "How many of those people made it out alive?"

Mic's head lowers as he takes my left hand in his. "Not many, Koto." My heart breaks at his words. "But none of them would have made it out if you hadn't done something. You gave them all a fighting chance."

I try to take a deep breath, but the bandages wrapped around my shoulder and chest make it difficult. Not to mention, my lungs still feel worn out from the smoke.

"You single-handedly stopped a terrorist attack orchestrated by the League of Villains, Koto! You cannot begin to know how proud I am of you!" The tears roll down my face with a new vigor. I can't help but think, I'm not deserving of this victory. 

"But that brings me to a bit of...other news…" he trails off. My heartbeat picks up. He stands and goes to the door, opening it for a large man with a dalmatian head to walk in. 

"Hello Miss Yamada, woof!" Did he just woof?!? "I am the-woof-chief of police here in Hosu. It has come to my attention-woof-that despite not having your provisional hero license, you used your quirk-woof-against the villains. Now, your quirk is most-woof-intriguing. While it forced everybody apart, it did not seem-woof-to have a harmful effect on the villains."

What does this mean? Am I in trouble?

"After speaking briefly-woof-with the pro hero Nyikang, with whom you were interning this week, it has-woof-come to my attention that you were given permission to use your-woof-quirk against villains, but only in the event that you were cornered and about to die. I have-woof-brought my lead investigator to ask you some questions and assess how to properly proceed in the case."

Case? Against who? Me?!?

"Hello, I am Detective Tsukauchi. I just need to ask you to recount your experience in Hosu," a tall man in a trench coat and fedora walks in, taking off his hat. Mic sits down next to me, grabbing my free hand as I illuse my story to the man. He occasionally takes notes, but mostly just stands, silently listening. 

When I finish with my story he sighs, placing his folder under his arm. "I do not doubt you had good intentions, however the use of your quirk, whether conscious or not, against villains is illegal."

What?!? My eyes widen in alarm. 

"When your quirk forced them to retreat, it violated the law. It does not matter how many people were saved, sadly. Laws are made for a reason."

But Nyikang said I could use my quirk if I was cornered and about to die! Are they really saying that I could've handled myself against a nomu? Do they not know what those creatures are capable of?

The chief of police speaks up again, "I know, however, that you-woof-have done this city a great service. We were able to detain a great-woof-number of nomus and villains who left their hiding places, looking-woof-for an escape. While I usually-woof-look down upon those who get a pass from the law, I have to make-woof-an exception this time. You and your classmates-woof-fought hard to ensure the safety of my city."

I tilt my head slightly, muscles still tense. "What do you mean, 'classmates'?" I illuse.

"Some of your other classmates were also in Hosu at the time of the attack," the detective says. "They too broke the law, but have been granted a pass, due to having taken down the notorious Hero Killer."

"However…" the chief growls, oh no the detective probably wasn't supposed to tell me that, "this is-woof-not information to be shared. It is being-woof-kept entirely confidential. But with the information we've given you, you would be able-woof-to figure it out when you talked with them next, so I guess we must tell you that Izuku Midoriya, Tenya Iida, and Shoto Todoroki fought-woof-directly against the Hero Killer."

My heart skips at their names. I'm sure that Iida wanted revenge, but who knew he could do something so careless? And why were the others there? Midoriya must have surely injured himself again if he fought in the battle. 

"Their success-woof-in the fight will be attributed to Endeavor, as he-woof-was one of the first ones on the scene and the burn marks on-woof-the Hero Killer will support this claim to the press. The-woof-boys have already agreed to this. As for you…"

"I have agreed to take responsibility since I can use that part of my quirk too," Mic speaks up. "But only if you're okay with that! I just don't want you to face jail time for doing something good. I was already on my way, so my alibi already checks out. Nobody else will know what you did and you can't tell ANYONE."

"Although," the detective says, looking through his notes, "you stated that Hitoshi Shinso was with you and conscious when you used your quirk."

He looks up to the police chief who answers without hesitation, "Shinso must also know to-woof-keep what you did a secret, but he will not have knowledge of what the other three did. Am I clear?"

I nod quickly. 

"The other three have not been informed of what you did and will not know," the detective says. I once again nod. "It has come to our attention that this is not the only secret you wish to keep from them," he says, glancing back and forth between Mic and I. "And so we have chosen to keep your actions last night a complete secret. Try not to let on that you know anything, otherwise they may become curious as to why you have this information."

I nod once more and they exit the room. Mic and I sit in silence for a bit before he speaks up, "Nyikang dropped by earlier to let me know he had other stuff to take care of today, but to let him know when you and Shinso woke up. I sent him a text while you were speaking with the detective, so he's on his way over." It makes my heart sink to hear how defeated his voice sounds. I can tell it's hard to know yet another family member is in the hospital. It wasn't just me who lost my parents. He lost his brother and sister-in-law. 

I grab his hand and give it a squeeze, trying to assure him that I'm still here. I notice a few tears dripping from his eyes. He squeezes my hand back, letting us fall into silence again. I notice he does this whenever he's in a hospital. As if he's scared to speak. He did the same thing back in America. 

All of a sudden, there's a small groan from the other side of the room. I only now notice that my small room has a curtain separating it, surely with another patient on the other side. I look over to Mic. 

"He doesn't know that I'm your uncle, just that I'm your teacher, right?" He signs. I look at him questioningly. "Shinso?"

Is that who's on the other side of the room? I nod my head slowly, signaling he's correct. 

"I'll explain to him what the detective told us to if you want," he signs, but I shake my head. I'm sure I can do it myself. 

Mic just nods and exits the room, closing the door as quietly as possible. How am I going to start explaining this?

Ultimately, I don't have to because a doctor opens the door and, giving me a smile, walks to the other side of the curtain. "Ah, good. You're awake," she says. "Hitoshi Shinso, yes?"

"Yes," his tired voice rasps from the other side. 

"Aside from the scrapes and bruises on your face, you suffered from multiple broken ribs, deep lacerations, and mild smoke inhalation. There was a lot of pressure on your central organs, but after surgery, it was relieved and we believe you will be able to make a full recovery. Speaking of, Recovery Girl has already been here to assist in your treatment. You'll have a few more rounds before you are let out, but you have to regain a bit of energy before her next visit so be sure to rest up."

I listen quietly as she speaks. Sure enough, Mic was telling the truth, not sugar coating his condition. 

"Anyways, I'll leave you to get some sleep. Your parents have already been here and I've discussed your condition with them. I will call them right now to let them know you're awake," the doctor says, walking back towards the door. She sends me another warm smile as she passes. 

As soon as she closes the door, I illuse a soft voice, calling out, "Shinso?" 

"Yamada?" His broken voice rasps out from the other side. 

"I'm right here. How are you feeling?"

"Like death. You?"

"My shoulder hurts and it's pretty hard to breathe, but other than that, I'm fine."

He pauses, so I take the opportunity to explain what I need to. 

"I can't believe you got in trouble for that," he says once I'm done. "I mean, you just screamed. Is that really grounds for arrest?" 

"Apparently," I illuse solemnly. 

"Well, I'm not gonna tell anyone. It's not like I have anyone to tell anyway."

I know I shouldn't feel bad for him, but something about the way he says it makes it sound as though he wishes he did have someone. From the way he speaks about everyone else, it sounds like he hasn't had the chance to make friends. It makes me question whether or not people have ever tried getting to know him. 

Right now, all I can think about is giving him a hug, but my whole body feels like lead. Not to mention, I'm kind of scared to see how bad the damage is. I still feel guilty for letting him go off on his own. I don't want to see the damage I caused. 

I raise my hand to my neck to fiddle with my choker, only to find it missing. My fingers brush a bandage on my neck. This must be one of the scrapes I got from the nomu. At least my scar is hidden.

Suddenly, the door bursts open and Nyikang enters, holding two duffle bags. I recognize one as my own, the other must be Shinso's. He drops them by the door and walks over to stand by the curtain, looking at both sides of the room. "You two fought bravely, from what I've heard. Yamada, you'll be coming back to the compound tomorrow once you are healed more. Shinso, after a couple more days, you'll join us as well."

"Great," he rasps. "Now I'll be even further behind."

"You faced a nomu, boy," Nyikang scolds him. "You should be glad you're not dead."

"Yes sir," Shinso responds. 

"I came to drop off your stuff, just in case there's anything you need in there. I heard your costume got torn in the fight," he addresses Shinso. "Not to worry, though. It has been sent to get repaired and will be back soon. Your personal items have been taken out of it and returned to me, so here."

He pulls a bag out from one of his pockets and floats it over to Shinso's side using his quirk. "Thank you," the boy says. 

"Not a problem, now I should let you two be. As I understand, you both have a lot of sleep to catch up on."

With a curt nod to the both of us, he walks out. I twirl a strand of my tangled hair around my finger as a nurse comes in and alerts us that we have more visitors. Two adults who I can only assume are Shinso's parents, due to their shocking resemblance to the boy, rush in and start fussing over their "little boy." I have to hold back a laugh, but it's caught in my throat when two others walk in. Sayuri and Yasu Fujino stand at my door with a small vase of lilies. My eyes begin to water at the sight of Reina's brother and sister. 

Sayuri rushes forward to give me a hug while Yasu puts the flowers on my bedside table. "They only allowed two of us during visiting hours," he says gently. I nod, glad that they came to see me. 

Sayuri gives me a big smile, knowing exactly how I feel, due to her quirk. "We had trouble even convincing them to do that, considering we're not technically family," she says. 

"But…when you live with Yuta and his quick reasoning, it gets a whole lot easier to talk yourself into things," Yasu says with a knowing smirk. 

"Besides, we're basically family anyway, right?" I nod at the two siblings, extremely grateful for their presence. They stay for a bit longer until they have to go home, so they both give me a hug and make their way out. 

On the other side of the curtain, Shinso is still recounting the events of the internship to his parents. With a sigh, I force myself to stand, pushing away the tiredness coursing through me. I breathe a sigh of relief upon noticing the hospital gown I'm wearing is the kind that wraps all the way around my body, instead of those open-in-the-back ones that they use in comedy shows. One arm in a sling, and the other holding onto an IV stand, I walk down the hallway, glancing at the nameplates outside of the rooms. Finally, I find the room I'm looking for. I knock quietly on the door and, when the response comes, I enter. 

"Yamada?" Midoriya asks from his bed, so much of him is bandaged, I don't even know where to start. He tries to sit up, but groans painfully and lays back against his pillows. Todoroki and Iida sit on their own beds, much less bandaged, but still pretty worn-looking. Iida's arms are in a cast and Todoroki has bandages wrapped around his. Man, the Hero Killer really goes for the arms, huh?

I sigh, knowing I can't look much better. "Hey, how are you guys feeling?" I illuse. They all look relatively taken aback, even Todoroki. "My shoulder was the only thing injured, so I can't write or sign, but I can still use my quirk," I explain. 

"Even though she was in a different part of the city, my curse still affected her," Todoroki mumbles to himself, looking down at his hands. 

Confused, I look at Midoriya and Iida who have burst out into laughter. "Don't worry about him. He just thinks he's cursed," Midoriya waves it off as he wipes a tear of laughter from his eye. 

"Please, take a seat," Iida motions towards the empty bed. I wheel my IV over to it and sit. "I heard you faced a nomu. You must be exhausted!"

I nod, sighing. I remember the story the police are having me give. "Yeah, it crushed me just a moment before the scream happened. After that, it just stood there and let us run from the alley."

"Us?" Midoriya asks. 

"I'm interning with Shinso from gen-ed. He and I were helping people evacuate from a burning building when we found it."

"How is he faring?" Iida asks, sitting up a little straighter (if that's even possible).

I pause, then illuse, "he's going to make a full recovery, but his injuries were pretty bad. Not as bad as what happened to Aizawa, but…" I feel a balloon of guilt grow in my chest, "I still haven't seen him yet. He's visiting with his parents now. I figured I should give them some privacy."

The boys nod at my words, falling silent. I take my opportunity to convince them I don't know their little secret, "so what happened with you guys? Are you all okay?"

They go through a probably really well rehearsed story about how they found the Hero Killer about to kill the pro, Native, when they showed up and were paralyzed by the man, but before he could do anything, Endeavor showed up and saved them. I catch the angry light in Todoroki's eyes when his father is mentioned, but when he makes eye contact with me, I see a small flash of a grateful smile from him. If I weren't already sitting, my knees would've buckled from underneath me. I feel the heat rushing to my face. Damn, that smile.

"Yamada, are you okay?" Todoroki asks, his smile falling. "Your face is all red."

I begin coughing violently, which sounds really scratchy, due to lack of water and the smoke I breathed in. The three boys look at me, bewilderment and alarm present on their faces. I wave them off and illuse, "I'm fine, I also suffered from smoke inhalation and I haven't had anything to drink. I just had trouble breathing for a second."

They seem to buy my lie, that isn't entirely a lie, and Todoroki stands to grab me one of the water bottles from his bedside table and hand it to me. I'm glad my face is still red from my coughing fit, otherwise, I'd have to come up with another excuse as to why I'm blushing so hard. 

"Thank you," I illuse, starting to drink. He gives me another small smile and I have to stop myself from choking as he walks back to his bed. 

Since when did he get so smiley?!? I'm going to have a heart attack being around this boy if this keeps up.

We all sit there for another hour or so, eating food that was brought to us and discussing our internships when a nurse walks in and requests Iida for a check-up, saying visiting hours have ended. I take that as my cue to leave, even though I'm enjoying soaking up every moment of this conversation with Todoroki. Sure, the others as well, but...ya know how it is. I walk back to my room, suddenly conscious of just how bad I have to pee. I shuffle a bit faster as this thought crosses my mind. 

When I get into our room, it is silent, so I'm pretty sure Shinso's parents left and he's asleep. I go to the bathroom, then climb back into my bed. I don't even look in the mirror, not wanting to see how bad I must look. I don't want to know how my classmates saw me just now. I lay the bed back, pulling the thin blankets over me to try and sleep. The room is just cold enough for my liking, so I snuggle up and close my eyes. 

Just before I drift off, the door opens and in walks Recovery Girl. "I heard you two were awake. Hopefully they've given you enough time to sleep." The stout woman walks over to my bed, looking through a file with my name on it. She leans over the bed to plant a kiss on my forehead. 

"Get some sleep, dear and you can check out tomorrow. They want to do some final check ups in the morning," she says, taking off my shoulder bandages as my consciousness fades in and out. I fight my fatigue to nod at her and test out my shoulder. Rolling it around, it feels great, but I'm so tired, I can barely lift it. 

"If you haven't yet, I'd text that boyfriend of yours. He must be pretty worried right now," she winks at me before going to the other side of the curtain. 

"No no, he's not my boyfriend," I illuse definitively. 

"Ah, forgive me," she says wistfully, poking her head back around. "I just see too many romances start in the recovery room. I couldn't help but wonder."

I nod as she goes back to Shinso. 

Hah, as if! Did she not hear the way he was yelling at me? But she's right, I've been sleeping for a while. I'm sure people are worried. 

I lean over to the bedside table and take my phone out of the bag left there. I notice a text from Midoriya in the Dekusquad group chat (that mostly just gets used for homework) with just a location. Huh, he must've sent that from where he fought the Hero Killer. 

Ochaco and Reina were apparently told about my condition by Uncle Mic, so I just text them to update them on the fact that I'm awake, but quickly falling back to sleep, and that I'll be let out tomorrow. I do the same with the Bakusquad group chat which had officially gone off the rails last night when I wouldn't respond. I roll my eyes and type out a quick response. 

Me: Y'all can chill. I'm alive! In the hospital, but I'm being let out tomorrow. Ran into a nomu, will give more details later. Recovery Girl just stopped by, so I'm really drowsy. Ttyl! Prob tomorrow ❤️

I turn off my phone and lay it next to me while I listen to Recovery Girl and Shinso. 

"But how soon can I be let out?" He asks, voice still scratchy. 

"This isn't something you want to rush, young man."

"I just want an estimate."

"It depends on how quickly you can regain your stamina. I will be back tomorrow morning, sleep up!"

The old woman shuffles back to the door, waving to me on her way out. 

"I'm gonna be here forever," Shinso mumbles to himself. I can hear the defeat in his voice. He whispers, "hey, Yamada? You still awake?"

"Yeah," I illuse back. 

He pauses, as if debating if he should say what he's thinking. "I don't think I'm gonna sleep much tonight. Nyikang wasn't lying when he said I have insomnia. It just sucks that Recovery Girl's quirk makes people tired, but it still can't put me to sleep."

I all of a sudden feel really guilty that his voice is putting me to sleep. I open my phone and start playing music. I know that when I have trouble sleeping, music gives me something else to focus on. And not just calm, relaxing music, but fast paced songs where I have to focus to learn them. My mind becomes so preoccupied that I just pass out. 

"Focus on the music," I illuse from my side. "I don't know what will help you, personally, but even if this doesn't work, it's still music worth knowing."

I don't even recognize what song is playing, I just immediately fall asleep. 

------Author's Note------

Hey guys!

I was bored, so I made Koto in the Sims.

The two on the left are just casual outfits. The third is the UA uniform and the last one is her hero costume. These were the closest things I could find in the limited wardrobe of the Sims. Trying to find anything resembling the UA uniform was infuriatingly difficult. But hey, like I said, I was bored. I spent WAY too much time on this. I guess that's summer for ya, huh?

Anyways, be sure to comment and vote if you've enjoyed! I love to see it!