Chapter Text
Izuku couldn’t remember how long he stood outside the infirmary door before Aizawa steered him towards a row of nearby seats and pushed him back into a chair.
Izuku couldn’t feel his face, beyond the uncomfortable heat behind his eyes. He knew there were tear tracks down his cheeks and that he really needed to blow his nose. He felt numb and worn out. Everything seemed fuzzy and slightly distorted. There was an ache in his forehead.
He slouched in his seat, eyes locked on the infirmary door. Aizawa eventually claimed a seat of his own, stretching out his legs and leaning his head on his shoulders to take a nap.
Izuku had lost people before, grandparents and elderly family friends. But the thought of losing All Might made him feel sick. It was too quick and too sudden, and there was so much more for them to do. He sniffed and sagged in his seat.
The quiet patter of rubber soles on tile broke the boy out of his spiral of thoughts, and he looked up to see Principal Nedzu walking up to Aizawa.
Nedzu gave him a little wave before patting Aizawa’s knee. The teacher blinked his bloodshot eyes and glanced down.
“I believe it would help immensely if you told me what happened.” The principal seemed his usual self, if a bit quieter than usual. Aizawa grunted and sat up, rubbing his fingers between his eyes.
Izuku didn’t hear the conversation. He didn’t want to, really. He stood up and quietly walked down the hall, one hand pulling his phone out of his pocket. The screen lit up with a notification, the gray bubble popping up at the top of a long list of text messages. This time it was a text from Uraraka. ['Is everything okay? It’s been a while since you left.’]
There were other messages, too.
[‘Dude, you okay?’ ]- Kirishima
[‘It would be best if you returned to the dorms. Dinner is soon.’ ]- Iida.
[‘What’s wrong?’ ]- Jirou
[‘It’s been two hours. Is All Might settled in?’ ]- Todoroki
[‘We’ll save some food for you, if you want to stay with All Might.’ ]- Tsuyu
Izuku sighed, leaning against the wall. What could he say?
All Might’s in rough shape. He’s hurting a lot, and Recovery Girl said that he needed surgery. And that might not even be enough. He . . .
Izuku pulled in a deep breath, concentrating on the way the edge of his phone case dug into his hand.
“Ah, here he is. Hello, young Midoriya!” The oddly chipper voice of the principal surprised Izuku and he jumped even as he turned.
“Now, then.” Nedzu was looking up at him with an understanding expression. “Eraserhead told me what happened. Are you alright?”
Izuku nodded.
The principal gave a satisfied sigh. “It might be best for you to return to the dorms. A good meal and some rest are in order for you, I think.”
Izuku paused, one hand fiddling with the bottom of his shirt. “If it’s alright, I want to stay here. At least until . . .”
Nedzu patted his hand. “Until Recovery Girl is done with the operation?”
Izuku gave a small smile and nodded, but he couldn’t do anything about the strange tension in his chest.
“Well, that is your choice, of course. Still, you should eat something.” Nedzu turned to Aizawa, who was still slouched in his chair. Izuku could see his feet around the corner of the waiting area. His teacher gave the principal a thumbs up, dragging himself from his chair and slouching down the hallway towards the cafeteria.
“Are you sure you don’t want to return to the dorms?” Nedzu asked, turning to follow Aizawa.
“Yes, thank you.”
The principal nodded and started pattering down the hallway. Then, a moment later he turned back and gave Izuku an encouraging smile. “All Might will be just fine, so don’t you worry too much!”
When Izuku gave a hesitant smile Nedzu grinned and followed Aizawa around the corner.
Izuku’s face dropped the moment the principal was out of sight.
He walked back to his seat, falling into the chair with a sigh. He fiddled with his phone, then settled for sending a text to Uraraka, Todoroki, and Iida.
['I’ll be back a little late. Gonna stay with All Might for a while.’]
He hit send and walked back to his chair. Everything felt far away as he sat down.
He ate a sandwich and muffin that Aizawa brought back from Lunch Rush, and drank a bit out of a nearby water fountain.
Mostly he fiddled with the edge of his phone and shot periodic glances at the infirmary door. However, despite his best intentions, and the vitriolic worry in his gut, he felt his eyes start to grow heavy. Eventually he fell asleep in the chair, too worn out to think about going back to the dorms. Aizawa draped his jacket over his student. Izuku shifted in his sleep, and his teacher gave him a gentle pat.
Hours later, the infirmary door opened with a click. Aizawa stood up and stretched. He was able to catch a brief glimpse of the room, but the curtains had been drawn around Toshinori’s bed and all he could see was a pair of feet snugly tucked under a thick blanket.
Recovery Girl looked exhausted as she closed the door behind her. Tendrils of hair were coming loose from her normal neat bun, and there were shadows under her eyes. She looked up as Aizawa walked over to her.
“How is he?” He kept his voice quiet.
Recovery Girl shook her head. “Tired, and sleeping. He’ll be out of it for a day or two.”
“Did you manage to fix the problem?”
She nodded. “I patched the rupture. He’ll need to take is easy for the next several weeks, but he’s only going to get that if there aren’t any further complications.”
She walked over to a nearby chair, sitting down with a grateful sigh. “That’s the trouble with missing organs. They leave a lot of space for things to get where they shouldn’t.” Recovery Girl rubbed between her eyes. “I just hope I managed to find everything. If he goes septic, as he is right now, it’ll kill him.”
Aizawa didn’t react, keeping his hands in his pockets as he leaned against the wall. He looked down when Recovery Girl gave a small, tired chuckle. “What’s so funny?”
She wiped at her eyes. “Seems you all are having a good effect on him. There was once a time where he wouldn’t have asked for help at all.”
Aizawa blinked.
“He’s a good man, truly, but he can be horribly stubborn if he puts his mind to it.” Recovery Girl sighed. “He has the wrong idea when it comes to people worrying about him. He’s always concerned about bothering others.” She looked up. “Thank you for bringing him in. This could have been much more serious.”
He nodded. They both looked over at Izuku when the boy snorted in his sleep. He shifted under Aizawa’s jacket.
The pro-hero didn’t shift his gaze from his student. “You have my number?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Can you keep me informed?”
“Of course.”
Aizawa nodded. He stepped forward and gently picked up Izuku, one arm around the boy’s shoulders and the other under his knees. The jacket shifted as Izuku was moved, but didn’t fall off. The boy didn’t wake up.
Recovery Girl gave the pair a wave as Aizawa started the journey back to the dorms. It was a late hour, so they shouldn’t be pestered by any other students. She rubbed the back of her neck and went back into the infirmary.
Izuku stopped by the nurse’s office the next day.
His eyes were red with irritation, and he moved stiffly, sore from his uncomfortable nap in the waiting chairs the night before. Recovery Girl let him into the infirmary with instructions to stay quiet.
“He won’t wake up for a while yet. He’s exhausted, and I’m keeping him asleep for now to help his healing,” she said, gesturing to the bed where Toshinori rested.
Izuku nodded and stepped behind the curtain.
All Might was deep asleep, his head propped up by several pillows. There was a thick blanket tucked under his arms. The circles under his eyes were darker than usual, but he didn’t seem to be in pain anymore. Izuku gently sat down in a chair resting next to Toshinori’s head, moving quietly.
It wasn’t long before Izuku reached out and gently took Toshinori’s hand. “Aizawa told everyone what happened. They’re worried.” He gave Toshinori’s fingers a light squeeze. “He says that you’ll be okay, but . . .”
Izuku sniffed and rubbed at his nose. He stiffened his shoulders and tried to smile. “Anyway, I’ve been talking with Ojiro about my Shoot Style, and he’s pretty sure he could help me learn more kicks and how to balance and stuff. Iida’s great when it comes to leg stuff, too.”
Izuku kept talking. He mentioned all the things All Might had missed over the last several days, everything from Satou making cupcakes (“And we saved a few for you, too, so don’t worry.”) to Mineta being found taped to the kitchen ceiling after a bout of intense videogames.
Eventually, though, he ran out of things to talk about and just sat next to his teacher, reassured by the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest.
“Alright, I think you have class before too long, young Midoriya.” Recovery Girl pushed the curtains aside and halted next to the student. “You best be going.”
“Alright,” Izuku said. His chest didn’t feel much lighter, but it felt denser. The wild fear of yesterday was gone. He felt sturdy and grounded.
“You’ll probably have to repeat all that when he wakes up, you know.” Recovery Girl sounded happy.
Izuku smiled and stood, grabbing his backpack and making his way to the infirmary door. He paused with his hand on the latch. “He will wake up, right?”
“Of course, dear.” Recovery Girl gave a reassuring smile. “He’s done well so far, and he doesn’t seem to be reacting badly to anything. He’ll be just fine.”
Relief rushed through his head and he had to stare at the door to keep his balance. His heart was light as he said goodbye and walked out into the hallway.
Recovery Girl shook her head as the door closed behind Izuku. She looked over at her patient, a wry smile on her face. “You have quite the student there, All Might.”
Toshinori slept on.
He woke up slowly, starting with a very long and sluggish blink before his eyelids fell closed again. A few minutes later and his hand twitched against the infirmary blanket. His brow wrinkled and his eyes opened again, considerably more focused.
Chiyo hopped off her chair and walked over to Toshinori’s bedside, taking his large hand in her small one. His eyes flicked to her face and a muscle in his jaw tensed.
She smiled. “You did well, Toshinori. Aizawa got you here in time, and the surgery went smoothly.” She patted his hand.
He blinked and sighed, wincing at the scratchiness of his throat. “How long?”
“It’s been about two days. You needed your rest.” Chiyo toddled to the other side of the bed. “I kept you asleep - I know how you dislike these things. And you needed time to heal before you start wanting to move around and undo all my work.”
Toshinori grunted and shifted, stopping at the pulling sensation in his side. Ah, stitches.
He looked down and sluggishly helped Chiyo fold away the blankets that covered his torso. As the layers peeled away he could see a line of stitches that stretched across his left side, following the mangled curve of his ribcage. The skin was puckered and pink where there wasn’t the silver and red of old scar tissue.
“Well,” she muttered, looking closely at his side. “Looks like you’re healing nicely. No swelling. Do you feel any irritation or pain?”
He shook his head.
Chiyo smiled and started tucking the blankets back up under his arms.
He looked up at her. “So . . . what happened, exactly?”
“What do you remember?”
He looked up at the ceiling and closed his eyes. “I remember being brought here. You said I tore something, and that you had to fix it soon. Then the mask clipping the edge of my nose and starting to count. That’s it.”
She nodded and gave the blankets a final tug. “When you throw up, it requires a lot of muscle. Too much movement, and the muscle can actually tear something. In this case, it was your esophagus.” She looked at him and gave a tired smile. “It could have been fatal, and you needed a highly invasive surgery. It was good to contact someone.”
Toshinori sighed and nodded, keeping his eyes closed. He spoke a moment later. “Sorry, Chiyo.” The corner of his mouth quirked into a smile. “I keep falling apart on you.”
“Toshinori, I’m just glad you’re alright.” She gave him a slightly admonishing look. “Yes, you worry me sometimes, and I wish I could do more for you, but don’t you dare feel guilty for needing help.”
He looked over at her, an unreadable expression on his face. A moment passed and he gave a small, but sincere, smile. “I’ll try to remember that. Thank you.”
“No problem, All Might.” She smiled and walked to the other side of the bed. After a quick look at his chart - held on a pink clipboard - she looked over at him. “You’re healing well, which is good. There’s always a bit of risk with those operations.”
“How long do I stay here?”
“You’ll have to be here for today and part of tomorrow, and once you get sent back to the dorms it’ll be two weeks before I clear you for anything more strenuous than a leisurely walk.” She gave him a stern look. “I expect you to take it easy. Sleep and rest are what you need now.”
He nodded and settled back down under the blankets.
“And maybe I can convince that student of yours to stop worrying. Midoriya stopped by yesterday, the absolute pinnacle of concern.” She gave a small laugh. “I let him sit with you a while, which I think helped him a bit. Still, when he knows you’re awake he’ll probably come and visit.”
Toshinori relaxed into the pillows. There was a tired smile on his face. “He’s quite the student, isn’t he.”
“Yes, All Might. He is.” She waved her hand. “Now get some sleep. The more you rest, the quicker you heal. And I’m betting you want to get back to the dorms as soon as possible, hmmm?”
He chuckled.
Izuku jolted when Aizawa slipped him his phone. He nearly dropped it when he saw the text from Recovery Girl lighting up the screen.
The message was quick and too the point:
[He woke up. Talked a bit. Fever is dropping. We’re out of the woods.]
Izuku gave a breathy sigh of relief, something warm closing up his throat. He coughed and handed the phone back to Aizawa, not noticing his teacher settling back into his sleeping bag.
He heard some of his fellow students out in the hallway, enjoying the free time they had after their last class of the day.
“Could . . . could I go and visit?”
Aizawa looked him over, his expression unreadable. “All Might needs rest to heal, and I doubt having visitors will help.”
“. . . okay.” Izuku tried to squash down his disappointment. “That makes sense.”
“Which is why it will be a quick visit. I expect you back at the dorms before dinner.” Aizawa didn’t change his monotone voice, not even in the face of Izuku’s surprised smile.
With a hurried thanks and a goodbye to his friends, Izuku grabbed his bag and dashed out of the classroom.
Aizawa shook his head and reached for a juice box.
He slipped into the infirmary, making sure to be quiet just in case All Might was sleeping. Recovery Girl looked up from her desk, her eyes softening when she saw who it was.
Izuku gave a little wave and shifted on his feet. “Is he awake?”
She nodded, the corners of her eyes crinkling as she smiled. “Just dozing a bit.” She raised her voice. “All Might, you have a visitor!”
The bed still had a curtain pulled around it, but Izuku could see his teacher’s feet as they twitched under the blanket. “Ah, hello?”
Izuku gave a grateful wave to Recovery Girl as he walked over to his teacher and pushed the curtain aside.
The shadows under All Might’s eyes were still deeper than normal, and the wrinkles around his face seemed longer. Still, his face brightened when he saw Izuku and his mouth turned up in a smile. “Hello there, young Midoriya.” His voice was raspy and deep with sleep.
Izuku walked over, pulling a nearby chair next to All Might’s bedside. “Hi, All Might. How’re you feeling?” He perched himself on the edge of the seat, slightly leaning over the bed.
“Mmmm. Much better, actually.” The retiree gave a warm, tired smile. “That might just be the painkillers, though. I apologize if I fall asleep.”
Izuku gave a small laugh. “It’s fine! I’m just glad you’re feeling better.”
All Might smiled and ruffled Izuku’s hair. “Me too, my boy.”
Izuku grinned and shifted in his chair.
Toshinori shifted in his bed, pushing himself up onto his pillows. “Now, if you could fill me in on whatever I missed, I would appreciate it.”
Izuku nodded, pinching his chin in thought. “Well, I’ve been talking with Ojiro. He knows a lot of leg based movements, so I think he’ll really be able to help me with my Shoot Style.”
Toshinori gave a satisfied nod. “That’s good. Midnight will also be able to help with your style, if you feel up to it.”
“Alright!” Izuku grinned. “Let’s see . . . Satou made a lot of stuff, and we saved some for when you’re feeling better. Kouda brought his rabbit down for a while, which was nice.” He gave a little frown. “Somehow it got some flour on it’s feet and left white tracks all over the floor.”
Toshinori laughed, a deep rumble in his chest.
“Then it took us a while to catch it. Kouda wasn’t helping at all, he was just sitting on the couch and laughing. We found the rabbit asleep on one of the chairs after, like, an hour of looking for it.”
“Sounds quite eventful.”
“It was pretty funny, actually. Eraserhead made us clean up the mess, but we think he wasn’t really that angry. And then Mineta got taped to the ceiling after teasing Sero too much about losing a game.”
Toshinori chuckled. “You got him down eventually, right?”
“Yeah, we did. I’m pretty sure Kaminari got pictures, though.”
“Oh dear.”
Izuku grinned and laughed. A moment later and Toshinori smiled and shook his head. “I can’t leave you students alone for long, can I?”
“Nope!” Izuku snorted and took a deep breath. He sagged back in his chair and looked up at the ceiling, a smile on his face. A moment later, though, and the grin fell into a frown.
“Um, All Might?”
“Yes, my boy?”
Izuku looked over at his teacher. “Are . . . are you sure you’ll be okay?”
Toshinori gave a reassuring smile. “I’ll be just fine, young Midoriya. It might take me a while to bounce back completely, but yes. I’ll be okay.”
Izuku nodded and clasped his hands together. His voice was quiet. “How dangerous was it?”
All Might blinked, a knowing expression on his face. “Very, or so I’m told. It was . . . it could have been worse.”
Izuku nodded, and All Might put a scarred hand on the boy’s shoulders. “It’s alright, my boy. I’m not going anywhere.”
Izuku let out a deep breath. All Might is here, he’s healing, he’s gonna be okay. He felt tears of relief start to gather in his eyes.
“Now now, what’s this about?”
Izuku gave a laugh, leaned forward, and rested his forehead on All Might’s bed. He gave a mumbled answer, his words going straight into the mattress.
“What was that, young Midoriya?”
Izuku shifted, the top of his head bumping against All Might’s thigh. He looked to the side and spoke out of the corner of his mouth. “‘M happy that you’re alright.”
Toshinori gave a kind smile and patted Izuku’s back. He rested his arm across the boy’s back and gave his shoulder a comforting squeeze.
“Me too, my boy. Me too.”
He came back to the dorms the next day. He moved stiffly and still seemed tired, but there was a light in his shadowed eyes that betrayed how happy he was. Uraraka gave him a hug, trying to be gentle. He winced when her arm brushed over the row of stitches and the thick bruising that had spread across his rib cage. Still, that didn’t stop him from patting her head and giving a happy smile. Everyone was careful after that, making sure to not accidentally brush against All Might’s injured side.
Aizawa had explained to the class what had happened, including the fact that All Might had needed an intense surgery that would take time to fully recover from. They were prepared to do whatever they could for their teacher, from fetching things from the kitchen to going with him on the walks through the UA campus.
Toshinori was unsurprised, to say the least. He knew his students well enough by now to guess that they would help him despite his protests.
(“I may be old, but I’m fully capable of walking!” “You’re not old, All Might. Be careful going up these steps.”)
He wouldn’t deny that he was grateful for the assistance, and any time spent with his students was time he greatly valued.
Toshinori took a sip of his tea and shifted in his chair, looking around the shared living space in the dorm. He watched Yaoyorozu explain something to Kaminari, and Bakugou working on some homework, and Izuku cooking rice in the kitchen. Kouda and Jirou were listening to music in the corner. He sighed and leaned back in his chair, a mug of tea warming his hands.
He was happy to be alive.