Bedside Manner

“Are you okay? Do you need me to call a nurse?” you ask moving in closer. You’ve never seen Tomoko like this. Her positivity and energy stripped from her. Tears rolling down her face, as she lays in the hospital bed.

“No. I’m fine,” she answers, but you don’t believe her. She’s obviously not fine.

“So you want the All Might All Nuts or the Gummy Bunnies,” you hold out the two branded candies featuring All Might and Mirko respectively. “Oh or maybe some Pixie-Bobs?” you ask pulling a bag of Pussycat branded sugar sticks from the pile. Tomoko finally laughs, and the two of you take a sugar stick.

“Why are you here?” she asks pointing at your hospital gown.

“Our office was destroyed in All Might’s fight. I’m fine but they wanted to keep me for observation,” you tell her. “You get hurt rescuing people?” you ask assuming she’s here for a workplace injury. She looks to be fighting back tears again. You look her over, you don’t see any obvious injuries.

“That villain, he-he-he took my quirk, he took Search,” she barely chokes out. Her quirk? Is that even possible? You quickly try to hide your look of surprise, instead moving to hug the hurting hero. “Now my hero days are over,” she cries into your shoulder. You hold her for a while, just letting her cry not quite sure what to say. “I can’t remember anybody’s names,” she says after a long moment of silence.

“What?” you ask figuring you must not have heard her.

“Turns out I relied on my quirk to remember people’s names. I couldn’t even recall my teammate’s names,” she starts sobbing again.

“Ren Yamada,” you say still holding her.

“What?” she wipes tears away from her eyes as she leans up.

“My name, it’s Ren Yamada,” you repeat holding out your hand.

She laughs before shaking your hand. Her handshake showing signs of her old energy, “Tomoko Shiretoko.” You both laugh, before splitting a pair of Mt. Lady’s Giant Peanut Butter Cups. She asks you questions about your life while eating your candy. You talk about how excited you are to be an uncle. How great business has been, even pointing out the variety of Yamada tech around the room.

“So,” she pauses her eyes showing another sign of panic.

“Ren,” you remind her again.

“So Ren, you’re quirkless right?”

“Yea,” you confirm.

She takes another bite of her Foldacandy, the Edgeshot branded red licorice. “Any tips?” she looks like she might cry again. It’s still hard to believe that she’s lost her quirk. Makes you think, is it better to have had and lost or to never have had at all?

“It’s not so bad,” you’re still not sure how to comfort her. She’s lost a part of herself. Judging by the look on her face you’re not doing a great job so far. “I’ve done a lot of good running Yamada Support,” you say pointing at your last name on the machine by the bed, before pouring a handful of Endeavor’s Breath, a spicy cinnamon oblong candy.

“But didn’t,” she pauses, “your sister make those with her quirk.”

You rub the back of your neck, “Yea, she made them. But Akasuki,” you drop the name knowing Tomoko was trying to remember it, “couldn’t have run the business by herself. It was my business experience that let the company survive, and gave her the freedom to explore medical tech instead of our focus at the time, support items.”

Tomoko is unwrapping a Fat Gum Caramel Chew, “That still makes you more of a sidekick.” She smirks biting into the soft chewy caramel.

“Or does it make me part of a team. Kind of like oh, I don’t know, the Wild, Wild Pussycats?” you say breaking off a piece of Hawks Bar, the chocolate covered wafers shaped like feathers.

“Eyse wahya daddeer,” she tries to talk with the caramel making it hard for her to talk. But the cheer returning to her face, tells you that you’ve helped. She yawns and you realize how late it’s getting.

“I should get back to my room,” you stand up ready to leave.

You stop when you feel Tomoko grab your arm, “Ren, can you stay?” She remembered your name. Without saying anything, you return to her bed climbing in next to her. She squirms to the side, before laying her head on your chest. “Thanks.”

“Anytime,” you say before kissing the top of her head. You fall asleep holding each other.