Chapter Text
With the new regimen of medications, Izu has been doing well. Her pain level has been reduced to a three or four, only reaching a six when her meds start wearing off. She’s officially settled into Aizawa’s apartment, sleeping on a soft futon in the living room until her new guardian can find a larger accommodation. He’s bought her some secondhand clothes to wear and is even looking into getting her back into school. Her life is finally stable and happy again. She should have known it wouldn’t last long.
It starts with a familiar ache in her bones. She tries to ignore it, taking her meds and wishing the feeling away. But it only grows throughout her day. She tries doing some of the stretches her doctor suggested, and they work a little, but the relief is only temporary. By the end of the day, she’s barely eaten anything and is just sitting on the couch as still as possible. Aizawa looks at her with worry, but she refuses to tell him. She has done this on her own for a long time, she can handle it again.
It’s past midnight when the pain becomes too much. She hasn’t slept at all and now the pain has seeped its way into every cell of her body. She knows she must be crying at this point, but she can’t focus long enough to try and keep quiet. Soft footsteps approach her and she tries desperately to open her eyes and look at the person who is now kneeling in front of her. Who is it again? Her mind is fuzzy with pain, but she knows she should know this person.
A gentle, deep voice breaks through her pain-addled mind. She can’t understand what the person is saying, but the sound of the voice brings her comfort. Then it suddenly all stops. Looking up, she sees Aizawa with his eyes glowing red and his hair floating around his head. “I can only keep this up for a minute or two, so I need you to grab my hand. Can you do that for me, Sweetheart?” She nods and he smiles, taking her hand in his. A minute passes and he blinks, the pain rushing back into her at full force. She lets out a small moan and tries to retract her hand, not wanting to hurt him too, but the hand in hers tightens even as she hears a pained groan from her guardian.
When the pain suddenly stops again, she looks up at him, this time finding her own voice. “I don’t want to hurt you. You have to let go.”
He smiles at her, eyes glowing. “I will never let go. I can’t take the pain away for very long, but I can endure it with you in the in-between.” He blinks and they both groan in pain. Her breathing is labored, but she tries to focus on the sounds of his steady breaths before the pain stops again.
It continues like that for what feels like hours, but Aizawa stays the entire time, never once removing his hand. It’s not the most efficient way to handle the pain, but at least she isn’t alone. Not anymore.
—
Her flare-ups slow to only one a week or so, but they are still far too frequent for either of their comfort, so Aizawa makes an appointment with the pain specialist again. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you see it, Izu has a flare up while they are in the office with the specialist. She is able to show her pain level to him and it convinces him to allow Aizawa the ability to administer a narcotic pain medication during her flare-ups. He stresses that they should only use it during a flare up since any more often could result in addiction or even a tolerance against the medication. Izu is prescribed morphine and Aizawa takes the required educational course on how to properly administer the medication.
Unfortunately given the narcotic nature of the medication, it is extremely expensive. When the pharmacist reads out the price, Izu looks up at her guardian with concern. He doesn’t even bat an eye, just pays for it and ruffles her hair. They’re walking home when Izu finally speaks up.
“I’m sorry.”
“Whatever could you possibly be apologizing for?” Aizawa asks with a small huff of laughter, holding the meds in one hand and her hand in the other. And isn’t that just neat? He gives her such casual physical contact without a care as to if she will hurt him.
“My medication is expensive. I know it is. It’s my fault that you have to spend that much money and I-”
Aizawa kneels down, wiping away the tears she hadn’t realized she’d been shedding. “Don’t ever apologize for needing to be taken care of. I am your guardian. It is my duty and my honor to make sure you are well taken care of. You have a nasty quirk drawback. That is not your fault. You need this medicine to live as normal of a life as possible. I want to make you as comfortable and happy as I can.”
“But, it’s so expensive! How are we going to-”
He places a finger over her lips to stop her worried ramble. “Shh, it’s okay. A former teacher of mine has offered me a teaching position at my former hero school. I’ll have two jobs, and he promised me that you can come to work with me anytime you need to. We will be fine. He even gave me a large enough signing bonus that we can finally move to a bigger place. It’s all going to work out.”
“But…”
He smirks at her. “What could you possibly have found to worry about in that big brain of yours?”
“You already work so hard as a hero… Don’t you need time to rest?”
He chuckles, standing up and taking her hand again. “You let me worry about how much rest I need. We’ll both be just fine.”
—
The new apartment is huge! Well, huge by Izu’s standards, which isn’t saying much but still. She gets her own room right next to Aizawa’s and they share a bathroom across the hall. The kitchen is large enough to have an actual dining area and the living room swallows the small sofa they brought over from the old apartment. “It looks like we might need some new furniture…” Aizawa mutters to himself as they finish moving everything in.
Izu looks up at him. “But I like our stuff.”
Aizawa smiles. “I know, but it’s all old and second hand. I got a great deal on this apartment, which means I have enough money left over to get you an actual bed and a few other things.”
Izu looks around and sighs. “I guess that’s okay. But don’t worry about me, my futon is just fine!”
“Izu, with your chronic pain, it’s important that you have somewhere comfortable to sleep.”
“But I am comfortable!” Aizawa lifts one eyebrow in question. “I am! Just because I don’t get much sleep doesn’t mean I need a new bed!”
She gets a new bed. And it absolutely changes her life. Aizawa splurged on the most comfortable mattress he could find, having done research on forums for people with chronic pain. She also gets a periwinkle comforter and a lilac weighted blanket, both sitting nice and neat on her new bed. She sleeps for almost six uninterrupted hours the first night! The extra rest means she has extra energy in the morning, so she is able to make it through her day happily.
Aizawa wasn’t joking about her being able to go up to the school either. It turns out that he works at UA now and Izu gets to sit in his classroom and work on catching back up to grade level. She gets to watch the new crop of hero students grow and it’s all very exciting. She even meets the principal! Principal Nedzu offers to help her with her work and everything! At only ten years of age, Izu becomes a common feature of the UA grounds. Now all she’s missing is friends her own age…