beep...

beep...

beep...

That was all Momo could hear. Her eyes slowly fluttered open and she was greeted with a blinding white light all around her. She realized that the beeping noise was her heart monitor, and she was lying in a hospital bed. An IV drip was hooked onto one of the veins in her hand and she lifted her hand to touch a series of bandages that were wrapped around her throat. Her wrist was bandaged up as well, and she could see small drops of blood that were beginning to seep through.

A sickening feeling formed in Momo's stomach as she realized what had happened before her appearing in the hospital. She could vividly remember the happiness she had felt through her and Shouto's kiss and her heart began to pick up speed just at the thought of it.

Feeling her cheeks start to redden, Momo let out a deep breath and examined the room. There was a window with grey curtains that showed a gloomy sky with big rain droplets falling everywhere. She glanced at the clock on the wall and saw that it was half-past four p.m. 

She didn't know how long she had been asleep, and she started getting anxious. She shifted around in the hospital bed and glanced around for her phone, but it was nowhere to be found. That was when the door of her room opened, and she glanced up to see Uraraka standing there with wide eyes.

"Oh my God, you're alive!" she cried and ran over to Momo, throwing her arms around her neck and giving her a huge hug. Momo hissed in pain from her burn but returned the hug gratefully.

When Uraraka, pulled away, she had tears of joy in her eyes and quickly wiped them away. "I was so worried about you,"

"What happened?" Momo asked. She noticed how hoarse her voice was, and it was still difficult to speak.

Uraraka was silent for a moment. She sat down on Momo's bed and took her hands in hers. "I'm still not sure, honestly. We were all fighting and I was helping Jirou and Tsu after Todoroki took you away from the battle. Endeavor and Aizawa eventually got the villains to flee, and after the battle ended Todoroki was carrying you and said that you had blacked out. You were too weak for Recovery Girl to heal you all the way."

Momo felt her breathe get caught in her throat and she squeezed Uraraka's hands nervously. "I-I blacked out? How long have I been asleep for?" she cleared her throat and held back a painful cough. "W-where's Shouto?" she added quietly.

Her friend smiled at her and let out a deep breath. "You slept through the rest of the night, it's the day after." she stood up and walked over to the window, gazing at the rain. "As for Todoroki, I'm not so sure."

Momo couldn't help but feel disappointed at her words. She looked down at her wrist and remembered Shouto's cool touch as he examined her wound.

"Did something happen between you two?" Uraraka blurted out. She had that bubbly smile on her face again and walked back over to Momo's bed. "Todoroki looked all red after you passed out and he was stressed about trying to get you help."

Momo froze and widened her eyes. She turned away from Uraraka as a rosy blush etched onto her face. "Nothing... nothing happened," she whispered.

Uraraka shook her head, "Momo, you are my best friend. You can tell me anything." she rested her hand on Momo's shoulder. "I promise that I won't tell a soul," 

She debated it for a little while but Momo decided that it was best if she told her friend. She needed to tell somebody and Uraraka was the only person she could trust. 

"Okay," Momo chewed her bottom lip. "After he took me away from battle he checked my wounds, and..." she reached up to scratch the back of her neck. "We sort of... kissed."

Uraraka's jaw fell open and her eyes looked like they were going to pop out of her skull. She lifted her hands and covered her mouth in shock. "Are you serious?" she smiled at her friend and started to practically jump up and down with happiness. "You're serious?" 

Momo nodded awkwardly and Uraraka let out a howl of excitement. She grabbed Momo and pulled her into another hug. "That is amazing, Momo!" her voice was full of joy. "This makes up for you getting injured,"

After letting go of Momo, Uraraka sat back on the bed. "Now it's time to talk about the more serious things," she murmured. "After you were brought to the hospital, Aizawa called your parents."

Momo's heart fell into her stomach. "What'd they say?" she whispered, not wanting an answer.

"Well he let them know what happened to you and invited them for a visit but... they both declined. Your mother..." Uraraka clasped her hands together and thought about what to say. "She pretty much called you... w-weak," she whispered.

"S-she did?" Momo felt tears well up in her eyes. Even though they were just spiteful words from her mother, they still made her feel ashamed of herself.

Uraraka nodded. "She told Aizawa that she expected you to get hurt because she didn't think you could defend yourself." she shrugged. "Your father said no because he didn't want your mother to find out that he came to visit you."

Momo shook her head and covered her face with her hands. Her heart ached at the thought of her mother thinking she was weak. She worked so hard to get to U.A. and yet she felt like she didn't deserve to be there. Tears were trickling down her face and onto her blankets.

"Don't listen to them, alright?" Uraraka told her. "They have no right to tell you what kind of hero you are. We're all training to be better and you're no different." her voice was comforting to Momo.

Letting her hands fall, Momo showed her tear-stained face. "I know, but... if you look at Bakugou or Shouto, they're both so strong. I feel like I'm nowhere near them." she could practically hear the sound of her confidence draining.

Her friend frowned, "Momo, Todoroki's dad is one of the strongest heroes in Japan. Naturally, he'd be more experienced than us because he's trained for longer."

"Yeah," Momo agreed, wiping her tears. "I just can't wait until I'm more experienced."

"Your quirk is perfectly fine, Momo, and you use it well," Uraraka explained. "Don't let your parents' words affect how you feel about it, okay? You're doing amazing."

"Thank you, Ochako. I don't know what I'd do without you." Momo's voice was still strained. She leaned forward and hugged her friend before the door of her hospital room opened once again.

For a split second, Momo thought it was Shouto and excitement ran through her. However, a nurse stepped in. She had long brown hair that was pulled into a bun and kind green eyes.

"Hello, Momo," she greeted. Her voice was gentle. "I'm just going to check your burns, okay?" Momo nodded as Uraraka rose from the bed to give the nurse room.

As the nurse pulled the bandages away from Momo's wrist a wave of pain ran up her arm. She instinctively pulled her hand away as blood began to drip down her arm.

"I know it hurts," the nurse reassured her. "But I'm going to put a solution on it that will help with blisters." 

She took Momo's arm again and began to cover the burn in something that smelled minty. It stung for a moment, and Momo had to look away from the gnarly wound, but the pain began to subside soon. The nurse then rewrapped the bandages and moved up to her neck.

"This might hurt a little more," she warned.

The nurse was right. Momo's eyes teared up as she pulled away the bandages and examined the burn. She had to hold her breath and close her eyes as the nurse treated the wound. It felt like somebody had drawn a knife across her throat, and a wave of relief passed through Momo as she rewrapped the bandages and took a step backward.

The nurse picked up a clipboard from the nightstand beside Momo and started to write things down. "I understand that you're a student at U.A., so I let your teacher know that you're going to need to take it easy for a while. That doesn't mean you can't train, but you have to be careful about your burns. Your body is still weak so Recovery Girl won't be able to do anything for you for a little while."

Momo watched as the nurse started towards the door. "You're going to be discharged tomorrow morning. Let me know if your burns start bothering you, alright?" she gave Momo a warm smile before leaving."

After the nurse left, Momo turned back to Uraraka. "Ochako, was Shouto at school today?" 

Uraraka nodded. "Yeah, he was. He was quiet though. More so than usual."

"You don't think he's upset, do you? Or mad?" 

Rolling her eyes playfully, Uraraka shrugged. "He's probably just worried about you. He could never be upset with you unless he had a good reason to." Uraraka sat down on a chair in the corner of the room and rested her feet on a little table in front of it. "Plus, you kissed him and are now lying in a hospital bed. He's probably just as nervous as you are."

"Yeah, I guess so." Momo let out a nervous sigh before smirking at her friend. "Anyway, that's enough of me. How are you and Midoriya?" she asked playfully.

Uraraka's face instantly turned into a tomato red, and she widened her eyes. "That's not fair, we're talking about you here." she pointed out. "Plus, we're doing just fine."

"Mhm," Momo rolled her eyes. "When was the last time you had a conversation with him?"

Crossing her arms, Uraraka stuck her nose in the air. "Today," she said triumphantly, but Momo hard her add quietly. "After he asked me to pick up a pencil he dropped."

"Nice." 

"Shut up." Uraraka stuck her tongue out at Momo in a playful manner. "I'll get there one day."

An old-sounding ringtone suddenly sounded in the room, and Uraraka pulled out her flip-phone that she had because she was unable to afford anything better. She put it to her ear and had a quick conversation with the person on the other line before standing up.

"That was my dad, so I gotta go." she walked over to Momo and gave her one last hug. "Please don't end up in the hospital again, I got zero sleep last night."

"I'll try not to." Momo smiled at her.

"Remember what I said, okay?" Uraraka said on her way out. "Your quirk is just fine!" That was the last thing Momo heard before the door closed and Momo was left in an empty hospital bed.

Momo lifted up her hand and touched her lips, just barely being able to remember the closeness of Shouto and how safe she had felt with him. She was nervous that he was avoiding her on purpose. Had she done something wrong? Was he uncomfortable? She let out a sigh and sank back into her bed, wanting the next school day to come as soon as possible.

______

y'all really thought I'd go another two months without updating? pffft (don't worry i thought the same)

i hope you liked this chapter! i suppose one of the good things about this quarantine is that I have a lot more free time to write. :) hopefully i can get the next chapter out as soon as I did this one. Anyway I hope you guys have a good day/night! love you <3