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Time passes differently in hospital waiting rooms. Ochako was sure of it.
It had been three hours since Deku was admitted to the emergency room, and one and a half since the doctors told her that he was in stable condition, but it felt like days.
Oh, Deku. Why do you keep doing this to yourself? You can’t be a hero if you break yourself over every villain.
Ochako sighed, resting her head in her hands. These chairs were so uncomfortable. She was so lonely. She didn’t even have her phone to help her pass the time, out of fear of it getting cracked during the mission. All she wanted was to see Deku, but he wasn’t awake yet. Even if he was, his painkillers were so strong that she would be nothing more than a hazy blur to him.
She just wanted him to be okay.
She was snapped out of her thoughts by a blonde girl with an odd briefcase, who sat down in the seat across from Ochako with a huff, muttering something about breaking arms. Ochako didn’t know if she was talking about someone who broke their arm or if the girl was planning on breaking someone’s arm, judging by her obvious frustration.
“I have the tools here... but I’ll need a proper workshop to remold the plate... but that idiot is probably going to sneak out as soon as he wakes up, Al can only do so much... I can keep it hostage until he heals, he won’t try to run away without a way to defend himself... but I don’t want to procrastinate it, I was going to visit the Hughes’ tonight... ugh, might as well do what I can here. If I can reconnect the wires that are still intact, that’ll save me a ton of trouble later.”
Ochako didn’t know the context of the girl’s mumbles, but they were much more interesting than re-reading the weight limit sticker on her chair again. She watched in intrigued confusion as the girl opened her briefcase and took out... “Is that an arm?”
The girl looked up at Ochako. “Yeah, it’s automail.”
Ooh. Automail is cool . Medical treatments had advanced significantly due to quirks like Recovery Girl’s, but there was still only so much that could be done for an amputation. Despite the painful and extensive rehabilitation, automail was the most effective- and most badass - way to regain mobility. But this girl clearly had both her arms, so that didn’t really explain... “Why do you have an automail arm in your briefcase?”
The girl made a face, an odd mix of frustration, wrath and worry. “It belongs to this idiot I know. I’m his mechanic. He keeps getting into fights and breaking it, so I had to confiscate it while he’s healing so I could fix it. And hopefully so he won’t get into any fights until he gets it back.”
Ochako nodded in understanding. “I get that. I’m here because my friend-” not crush totally not crush “-managed to break every bone in both his arms during a fight, as well as some in his legs. He’s got a quirk that gives him insane strength, but it completely wrecks his body.” She smiled ruefully and shook her head. “He knows that if he keeps this up, he’ll do something irreparable to his arms, but the moment there’s someone who needs his help... no hesitation. It’s inspiring, that’s for sure, but I just worry so much.” Ochako blushed, suddenly embarrassed that she had lain so much on a complete stranger. Like a mechanic would care about Deku’s arms!
To her suprise, the mechanic nodded. “That’s the same as Ed. He’s dedicated to helping his brother, but doesn’t seem to realise that he can’t do that if he keeps landing himself in the hospital. Every time I see them, they’ve just been in some sort of life-endangering fight. He seems to think that just because his automail is stronger and more durable than his other arm, he can keep using it as weapon and a shield. A utomail isn’t something that you can just swing around like that! It’s bolted into his bones. Sooner or later he’s going to break or tear something and then-” her voice broke off suddenly. She swallowed. “And then either I re-install his port or he gets a regular prosthetic. Both would be painful.”
Ochako suppressed a shutter. She had heard of the horrors of automail port installation. She also could imagine that if Ed depended on his automail as much as the mechanic made it seem, he would have a hard time adjusting his lifestyle. Deku without a quirk would be a lot safer, but a lot unhappier. Same goes for Ed and his arm. “I hope he realises that before it’s too late. If he’s anything like Deku, it’ll take several close calls before he even considers an alternative...”
The mechanic scoffed. “Several? In the four years since he finished rehabilitation, he’s come home with a broken arm 17 times. Six of those times, his arm was smashed completely to bits. I lecture him about not caring about my hard work and beautiful craftsmanship, but really, I’m just scared for him. He’s my best friend.”
Ochako was silent. She hadn’t known Deku very long, but he was her first friend at UA. He would always have a special place in her heart, and the thought of him, in a hospital bed, knocked out on painkillers with all his limbs in full casts... it chilled her to the bone. “Don’t they realise that there’re other people waiting for them? Other people who care about them? Who don’t want to see them in pain?” she murmured.
The mechanic sighed. “Deep down, they know. That’s why they always pull through, even if the odds are against them. But it won’t stop them from being idiots.”
Ochako reached across the aisle and held out a fist. “To idiot friends.”
The mechanic met her in a fistbump. “To idiot friends.”
BONUS
The door to the waiting room slammed open. “Winry! Why’d you take my arm while I was asleep, you gearhead?!” A short, one-armed boy, presumably Ed, stomped through the once-peaceful room towards the two girls.
The mechanic shot up, still holding the automail arm. “You broke it, alchemy freak!” she shouted back, a complete 180 from the wistfulness she held before. “I need to fix it, and god knows you’re not going to stay still long enough for me do it while it’s still attached. Do even know the extent of the damage you caused?!”
“I know the extent of damage on my head,” Ed grumbled. “And now I’m gonna have to get it reattached. You know how much that hurts!”
“It’ll hurt more if you sneak out of the hospital and get into more fights before your concussion is healed. Now get back to your room. The florescent lights here aren’t good for you.”
“But it’s boooorrrrring.”
“Talk about alchemy with Al. Your weird theories and all that. Read one of those nonsense textbooks. Just listen to your doctor for once, for crying out loud.” Winry’s tone somehow reminded Ochako of Aizawa-sensei- firm, final, but mostly, annoyed.
Ed threw his head back with a long, dramatic sigh. “Fiiiiiine. Al and I can compare notes, I guess .” He stomped back out of the room less violently, but just as angrily, as he had entered it.
Ochako decided that Ed was a terrifying mixture of Deku’s heart and Bakugo’s temper.