The Incident Ends

When Uraraka Shige woke up, he was in a private hospital care room. It was dusk outside, and the light streaming through the window made the whole room glow. The golden-yellow light filled Shige with an inexplicable sadness as he lay in bed with his eyes open.

"I wonder how Terumi Genga is doing. Ochaco shouldn't have been hurt either, right?"

There was no one else in the room. Though it was small because it was a private room, as Shige lay alone in the hospital bed, he couldn't help feeling that loneliness again, that sense of being at odds with the world, of not fitting in.

There was no one around to talk to, not even for a little while. He lay alone in bed, without so much as fruit or flowers by his side. The white bedding and walls, steeped in the smell of disinfectant, were stained a dusky yellow by the evening light from outside. The already small private room seemed especially empty, leaving Shige at a complete loss for what to do. So he could only lie quietly in bed, staring at the ceiling and letting his thoughts wander, or perhaps playing some kind of role-playing game, pretending he hadn't woken up yet.

"I wonder what happened to that 'villain'..."

Shige shifted his eyes slightly. They had grown a little dry from staring at one spot for so long, and then he remembered what had happened to the "villain."

"That's right, he died before I passed out..."

"Which means... I killed someone..."

Having realized this, Shige felt no agitation, excitement, anger, disgust, or anything of the sort at having killed someone for the first time. Instead, he was perfectly calm, seemingly without the slightest ripple in his heart, just a little hollow. Fortunately, the temperature in the room was just right, and he didn't feel cold. Otherwise, loneliness, emptiness, and cold would really have all come together at once.

"Come to think of it, that policewoman..."

Shige remembered again that, in the course of his two lives, it was the first time he had seen a stranger step forward to protect him, only to die not far from him.

"If I'd known this would happen... if I hadn't been so selfish back then... if I hadn't hesitated so much... maybe she wouldn't have had to die?"

The words, almost a murmur, echoed briefly through the room. His voice was perfectly flat, and Shige's expression as he spoke was calm and unchanging, with no emotion showing at all... perhaps he had even said it without feeling anything in the first place. Yet somehow, it felt a little heavy, and the sense of distance and incompatible rejection between Shige and this world seemed to grow stronger.

But those words were really just words. After all, a major reason Shige had managed to kill the "villain" in that desperate fight was probably that the policewoman had already shot the "villain" in the left arm with her handgun, leaving him with only his right hand to fight Shige.

So even if Shige had really fought the "villain" decisively, as he had said, the outcome probably wouldn't have been any better than it was now, would it? Perhaps his involvement might even have forced the policewoman to divide her attention between the fight and worrying about and protecting him. In the end, the "villain" might have taken her out before she landed a single shot, leaving Shige alone to fight the "villain" at full strength.

If it had really come to that, Shige might not even have been able to get close to the "villain," let alone trade injuries for his life and avenge the policewoman and Terumi Genga. After all, the difference between one hand and two was a matter of multiples. Even attack frequency, range, and force would all increase by multiples, and the resulting impact couldn't be calculated as simply one or two times greater.

Not to mention that, after the "villain" injured his left arm, his balance, movement, habits, and a whole series of other factors relevant to combat had all been considerably affected compared with when he was uninjured.

So Shige really had received a great deal of help from the policewoman in defeating the "villain."

But even if Shige could reason through all of that, it didn't mean he could put his mind at ease, lie there quietly, and stop thinking about the policewoman.

After all...

"What I hate most is a debt of gratitude I can't repay!"

For Shige, if someone saved him, he could accept it with a clear conscience, but he would also find a way to save them in return. If he couldn't repay them, he would feel at a loss and be unable to forget it.

But what could he do?

The sky gradually darkened, and a young nurse came in through the door. She was startled to see that Shige had already woken up and hurriedly pressed the emergency call button, summoning a middle-aged man who looked to be in his forties or fifties. They muttered to each other at the side for quite a while, but Shige kept staring at the ceiling, paying them no attention at all.

Some more time passed, and the sky grew completely dark. The nurse first drew the disinfected white curtains, then left with the middle-aged man, who seemed to be a doctor. Once again, Shige was alone in the small care room. After lying idly in bed for a while, he grew very sleepy and fell into a deep sleep.

When Shige woke up again, it was already broad daylight, probably close to noon.

He opened his eyes to find his parents standing beside the bed. Ochaco was standing obediently beside it too, holding their hands, her eyes full of worry. Her face looked a little round and chubby, with a healthy pink flush. Paired with her dress and short brown hair, she looked very cute, and Shige's mood improved considerably at once.

"Shige..."

His mother's eyes filled with tears, and she seemed about to say something. Just then, however, a sudden commotion came from the hallway outside the room. She had only just begun to speak when the noise interrupted her, and all four family members turned toward the door in unison.

A person in casual clothes, wearing a seemingly unnecessary tie, pushed the door open and let in a rugged-looking man whose beard had been shaved clean. The casually dressed person then stepped out of the room and quietly closed the door. In the meantime, the family of four clearly saw several police officers standing in the hallway outside, held under control and pressed against the wall by another group of people, all dressed in black suits.