Her classmates left with their heads lighter but hearts heavier. They had been hoping to sway Sakura away from her former actions but instead, she had drawn them the outline of her mindset and it was them who ended up shifting, it wasn't an entire turn but enough for them to give an idea of the kind of perspective she held and why it was important in their positions and aspiring heroes.
Even with the glittery capes and fame, being a hero had other stages behind it. And she was concerned that at the rate they were going, the reality of that was going to hit them so hard that some of them might not be able to get back up.
Like when Katsuki was taken, their concerns were still for the rules. It wouldn't do if their mindsets made them hesitate on a battlefield. A lot of them were actually like that at the training camp during the attack.
If Shouta hadn't allowed them to use their quirks in battle, they might have attempted to avoid an unavoidable confrontation.
It was only a few hours difference before Sakura was greeted with more hospital visits but she was taken aback by who appeared.
"Excuse me, may we come in?" There was a woman with stunning red eyes and short ash-blonde hair that Katsuki inherited. Sakura didn't even have to wait for the teen to appear behind her to know that this was his mother. There was also a rather timid-looking man, with brown hair and a nervous smile.
"Sakura Haruno, it's nice to meet our son's savior, I'm Mitsuki Bakugou and this is my husband,"
"Masaru Bakugou," He said, putting a hand on his chest in greeting.
"Oi, Fivehead," Katsuki hissed, glaring at his mother. "I told you she didn't-
He never even got the chance to finish his sentence before his mother smacked him over his head. "Don't even try to get started on that I didn't need saving Katsuki! She's in that bed so you wouldn't be!"
"You hag! Quit hitting me!"
She smacked him on his head again, "Shut up! You were too slow and you know it! So you better thank her for saving your ass!"
She was stunned. It certainly explained where Katsuki received his temperament, evidently, it was hereditary. Meanwhile, Katsuki's father was trying to stop them from arguing, softly reminding them that they were still in the hospital.
'Wow,' Sakura wondered if this was how she appeared when she used to argue with her mother. Though her father would just try to make senseless jokes at the most inappropriate times.
"Anway," Masaru spoke, trying to take the attention of his bickering family but his eyes were sincere when he looked at Sakura. "We wanted to say thank you for protecting Katsuki as you did. We are extremely grateful for what you've done,"
Mitsuki looked away from her son, remembering why they were here in the first place. "That's right. We couldn't believe what had happened at the time. I'm sure you must've suffered a great deal because of it, but we are extremely grateful that you saved our brat's life, and we apologize that you had to jeopardize yours."
The two adults bowed and Mitsuki forced down Kastsuki's head as well despite his grumbling.
Sakura held up her hands, "Please don't apologize, I don't regret any of my decisions. Although I would like to take a picture of Katsuki humbly bowing his head."
"Done,"
As she expected that was enough to rile him back up straight, "You know what Fi-
"Oi, don't yell at her!" Mitsuki ordered, pinching his cheek. "Look at where you are right now!"
Katsuki moved out of his mother's arm's length, muttering to his parents, "Get out. I want to talk to Fivehead,"
"Don't be rude you damn brat! And watch that mouth!" Though she chastised him, Katsuki's parents did leave the room and he closed the door roughly behind them muttering, 'fucking finally'.
His gaze was hard when he turned back to Sakura, she was leaning against the back of the bed, calmly watching him now.
"I don't care if you're number one in the class, I didn't ask you to save me,"
In a way, she was relieved that this was how he addressed her. Otherwise, she might've gotten the impression that the experience had shattered his spirit somehow. It couldn't have been pleasant seeing her in that state with a hole in her chest.
However ill-behaved Katuski was, he was not ill-hearted. And she could respect that he stubbornly wanted to strive for the title of number one.
"And I don't care that you didn't ask me to save you." She stated, staring him dead in the eye, so she could watch every shift in his expression. "I didn't save you because you're a classmate or someone I'm familiar with. I would've done that for anyone who needed it. Any ally. So you can stop thinking you were special to me," Sakura mocked, smirking when she watched his face grow red in anger. "Besides I had made a promise,"
"To who?" He hissed
She was going to stay tight-lipped on that end because the promise wasn't something that was requested but Katsuki didn't seem like the type to care. If he hears about who she directed it to, it might make things difficult for Izuku. And then she said what she really meant to convey by her previous statement.
"Don't feel guilty,"
His lips curled into half a wide gape, with his eyes blazing in clear conflict. "The fuck are you talking about? I didn't ask for your help, I didn't fucking need it!" He raised his voice, his lips trembling. Katsuki stomped over to the hospital bed, grabbing Sakura roughly by her gown like he intended to throw her out from under the sheets. "Why the fuck should I feel-
What she said next silenced him, "I saw that expression the moment you walked in."
From behind his parents, Katsuki had intended to step into the room with his head high but when he saw her, his expression had crumbled and he wasn't able to hide it well. It was tough to navigate these emotions the first time because the position of protector and hero were titles he was training to carry. He thought someone had died to save his life. No matter his natural talent or adaptability, some things took longer to become accustomed to than others.
Sakura had kept on a smile for her classmates hoping to alleviate the guilt they were carrying on them for what happened to her. She had made those decisions for herself but she knew that in reverse situations it was hard to deny negative emotions and commit self-blame.
Katsuki was ready to spout more denials, but she cut him off again because she knew he was going to get loud if he did.
"Katsuki, look at me,"
He saw the way the strands of her hair was picked up by the wind from the open window behind, the curtains at the back flowing with the heavy breeze, her hands folded on her lap, her eye calm and her expression unbothered.
She was fine. She was safe. She was alive. And she was still the strongest member of class 1A.
He slumped against the wall, covering his eyes with his arm, remembering that stupid expression she had on her face back at Kamino. While she was literally on her last breath. He couldn't see any regrets or fear in her.
The heroism in that made his stomach churn. When was admitted to the hospital, he waited for updates to come in. It wasn't anything like waiting for his acceptance letter from U.A. He knew what was coming then, he was confident in what was coming. But the same couldn't be said when gambling with life.
And he cursed that he was captured by those villains, that he allowed them to get the drop on him, and that he had let her take the hit that was meant for him. Because he wasn't fast enough, he wasn't strong enough.
She jumped in to save him the same way Izuku had when he was captured by that sludge villain. But Izuku wasn't able to do anything for him. He hadn't protected him and Katsuki made sure to let him know that. There was no debt owed there.
Sakura on the other hand had pulled ahead of him, and she accomplished what he knew he wasn't able to right now. Fighting and protecting against a villain as strong as All Might and coming out on top.
They were in the same year, and the same class, but they were not on the same level. How was she so far ahead that she could do what everyone else in their class still feared and face death with a smile? And what was going to happen if she died from it?
Those thoughts were haunting him until Katsuki received a direct call from Shouta that Sakura was able to pull through and was awake. So he told her the first thing he said when he heard that news.
"If you had died, I would've killed you,"
She giggled. "Well I'm still alive, so you can keep trying,"
It was very faint, but she saw his lip curve up a centimeter before he covered his face again. "Yeah,"
"Was that a sigh of relief?"
He immediately turned an angry red, "Hell no Fivehead! And I wanna know what the hell was going on with your power back there!"
There were questions about her power but not as intense as Sakura expected. If this had been her world, she would be thoroughly grilled and interrogated. But there would be a familiarity mixed with enough unknown variables to assume the worst. In her world, people knew about the dangers of the tailed beasts and their power, and the fact that she exhibited some traits with an added difference would reflect thorough scrutiny. Sakura on the other hand was getting more questions about her position than her power.
So long as people assumed it was a quirk, there wasn't much questioning. Quirks could develop and strengthen over time, and her disposition of keeping abilities to herself unless needed had diluted a lot of issues that they might've had. Even her teachers were more concerned with her health and her breaking the rules rather than what her power was doing. Because she hadn't specified the extent of her ability. It just worked out for her.
If it was a quirk, it was still considered normal. Just on a higher scale.
This brought about a greater desire to have her become a hero, and she realized that when she was told she would still be going back to U.A. when she had done something that should've gotten her expelled again.
"Call it a trump card,"
"Bullshit! Explain or else!"
But Sakura teasingly ran her pinched fingers along her lips and threw her hand behind her head like she was tossing something over her shoulder.
The rest of the visit was just Katsuki yelling until his parents removed him from the room.
..
..
..
It was one more police interrogation on the incident and another checkup the next day but Sakura caught wind that she would be discharged the morning after. She thought that she would be spending her last day being poked and prodded as the doctors attempted one more time to figure out if anything was wrong with her. There were CAT scans, x-rays, examinations, and blood draws. By the time they were finished, Sakura had no desire to return to her room.
Due to the disruption, the media had been cleared from hospital property, at least those who were obvious. But she wasn't allowed to wonder.
Sakura was leaning back in the bed, scrolling on her phone through the latest news feeds. It was reproduced news and information, nothing new on the League of Villains who had up and vanished. With Kurogiri's power, they would be able to warp into any destination. If Tomura decided he wanted revenge against her….
'I need to handle them first,'
The door slid open, Sakura saw Shouta coming in with Hitoshi trailing behind. Both of them had the same tired eyes that Sakura had teased Hitososhi about. Sakura had a lot of visitors but she hadn't heard anything from Hitoshi, including no messages on her phone.
"Hey," She greeted.
"Hey. You look like crap," She chortled at him, excitement shining in her eyes. Then she looked at Shouta.
"Speak for yourself," Hitoshi usually had a disheveled appearance but she could see the exhaustion clearly on his face. His eyes were dry with dark marks under them. His shirt was untucked and creased like he attempted to. One of his buttons was done up wrong as well like he had been rushing to get done, even one of his laces was undone.
Sakura held out her arms, waiting for a hug which he seemed hesitant to give as he stepped forward very slowly. But eventually, he got there and gave her a heavy squeeze, though he tried not to lean on her body too much.
"I'm okay," She said, consoling him. Hitoshi didn't let go of her yet though. Sakura glanced over his shoulder at Shouta who watched the two for a second before exiting to give them privacy as he had with her classmates.
"You're an idiot," His voice shook and his grip strengthened.
When Shouta finally responded to Hiotshi who had been calling and messaging for the entire week for an update on Sakura's condition, his mentor finally snapped and told him to be ready in ten minutes to go and see her. He had to be outside of his house on time or Shouta promised to leave without him. Hitoshi hadn't even left the bed at this time but he was off his feet, tripping over his carpet, and almost stepped on Licht's tail getting ready.
He knew that when Shouta Aizawa said something he meant it.
Though he was grateful the teacher didn't comment on his appearance. When he saw her on television and when he heard the news, his insomnia was stronger than before. He couldn't swallow what happened.
"How is Licht?" Hitoshi once teased her that she usually brought up the cat like they were an old divorced couple sharing custody when things became awkward like there was too much silence or Sakura wanted to change the topic.
"Just fine, also might've gained a few pounds,"
"I told you to cut down on his snacks," She laughed.
Hitoshi smiled, reaching out and holding her hand, feeling the roughness of her palm, tracing over her thing fingers and touching her wrist to feel her pulse.
"I'm glad you survived,"
She squeezed his hand back, "I saw the video, I know it didn't look good,"
Hitoshi knew what he had seen, she was gone, and her heart wasn't just out of her chest, it was blown to bits. Somehow she had come back from it.
"I didn't know that your healing could reach that extent," He was both in awe and mortified when he watched her. But barely blinked, clutching onto the edge of his seat so hard his nails nearly tore through the material.
"Yeah, not something I do often. Suppose when you want to survive, there's a lot that you can do,"
Hitoshi looked at her sternly, "I won't fall behind,"
Her smile dropped, "What?"
"I'm going to catch up to all of you classmates and then I'm going after you. So don't go doing anything reckless until then,"
Sakura's face softened, "Feeling a little competitive now?"
Hitoshi wanted to tell her the reason, but he knew that there was nothing he could say to back it up. He wanted to be able to protect his friend.
Sakura glanced out the window, resting her head on her knees, "You guys all have a ways to go,"
"Just wait and see,"
Hitoshi missed the shift in her eyes after he spoke.
..
..
..
"Remember, don't go off on your own right now," Shouta instructed, staring ahead at the road, hands firm on the wheel. He knew that Sakura was fidgeting with the seatbelt again. She said she didn't like the feeling of being strapped down to the chair for whatever reason. And according to doctors she had been restless in her final examination.
The only reason Sakura was now being released was that after Chiyo looked over her and gave the clear, it would be only a few days before the dorm system started and students had to come back. There was a weekend left for everyone to prepare.
"I know. You've said that five times since we left,"
They already had to take the back way out to avoid being seen leaving the hospital. And no one who didn't have her papers should know where she lived. Shouta drove along the quiet street where Sakura could recognize the old dented stop sign, passing the quaint yellow house that always caught her eye on her walk to and from school, and the rusted bench by the bus stop. All these little landmarks told her she was almost to her house.
But not her home.
Sakura hadn't said anything against the dorm system since leaving or even during most of her stay. It was a surprise when they introduced it to her and learned that the forms were filled with no real consideration for her consent. At first, she had a visibly negative reaction but then it was silence.
They had taken her docile behavior as a sign of surrender. Whether it was she had been overwhelmed or still recovering from her fight, made no difference if the results were tranquilizing her. After witnessing that fight, a lot of her teachers were doubtful they could put up much against Sakura Haruno. Regardless of their authority.
That's what Shouta had come to realize when they discussed this plan of action in dealing with the aftermath of the Kamino incident. Principal Nezu had wanted to visit Sakura as well to discuss the matter and drum up his own questions but he intended to wait until she arrived back at school since he had a lot on his plate already.
'The next Symbol of Piece?' That had been the main headline lately whenever her picture appeared now. Shouta was livid. He didn't want to subject her to this kind of pressure, especially when she had proven to have such a lackluster standing on the rules. She was one of his students and that meant he was supposed to guide her and keep her safe until the day she officially earned her license. But it had just been one incident after another and he hadn't been able to prevent things from escalating to the point where she had to step in every time.
At this point, he didn't feel like he had the right to scold her regardless of her actions. While he had given the rest of Class A quite the lecture before bringing them to the hospital. He was going to give another before they entered the dorms just to make sure they knew where they were standing with him right now after dissolving the trust he had in them.
Sakura on the other hand was another story entirely. She had been taken by the League and had almost died at the hands of a villain with heroes present but unable to prevent injury. They were taught that incidents like that would fall on them as they bared the title. Hence no one truly felt like they could blame the girl for stepping in when they weren't able to properly step up.
Shouta groaned louder than he intended.
"What's wrong?" Sakura turned to him.
"Nothing." He replied dryly. "Listen, I want you to promise me that this is it from now on,"
"Huh?" Shouta could hear the confusion in that.
"The school is facing a lot of criticism lately for the incidents,"
Sakura scoffed, leaning her head against the window, staring into her own eyes through transparent reflection. "It wasn't the school's fault that the villains attacked the camp. And there were no casualties,"
"Regardless," Shouta interrupted. "It shouldn't have happened in the first place. You, students, shouldn't have been forced to fight. And there were casualties in Kamino,"
Peering at Sakura from the corner of his eyes, Shouta looked for any ticks of anxiousness or trauma response in the girl's body language and facial features but she was like a statue, cold and unmoving. It wasn't pleasant to see no signs of emotion. Either she was blocking it out or truly had no attachment to the event like anyone was expecting.
"Regardless," Sakura mimicked his tone with the word, "The situation was out of your calculations and it wasn't something you should be faulted for. But I know that you are by a lot of people. So maybe try taking a bit of that pressure off and not be one of them?"
Toshinori was enough of a baseline for Sakura to know that the faculty from U.A. was not only being held accountable for the situation at the training camp but were blaming themselves for the outcome that Sakura had created by defeating All For One, while they stood behind her unable to be heroes.
"Heroes don't make excuses when they fail to follow through with their doctrine and the rules set for them,"
Sakura chuckled with a heavy breath released.
"What's amusing about that?"
"I know you're trying to teach a lesson Aizawa, but all I understood from that, is heroes are just following a straight line when the reality is harsher than anyone can predict,"
He glanced at her for a second before looking back at the road, "What are you getting at Haruno?"
"Heroes can't accept failure because they're taught they're not allowed to fail. No wonder all my classmates are such hard ups about their shortcomings,"
"When failing could mean the cost of someone else's life, it makes sense to be stern on yourself to make sure you're in top form to face any enemy or situation and succeed, because if a hero fails that means a villain wins or someone dies," Shouta's voice went down an octave at the last statement.