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“DEKU.”
Izuku groans, not looking up from where he’d buried his face between his knees. He feels a little silly, sitting here on a park bench hunched over and pouting like a child, but he can’t help it. He has VERY GOOD REASON to be doing what he’s doing. VERY GOOD REASON, he promises.
“Deeeekuuuuu.” Something pokes his head through his cap and Izuku swats the hand away, which only makes Ochako burst out laughing for the eight millionth time that day. Or, well, eight millionth time that hour.
“I’m ignoring you, if you couldn’t tell.” Izuku grumbles.
“You’re not exactly doing a good job of that.” Ochako plops down on the bench next to him and pats his shoulder. “Cheer up, it’s not like you kissed your longtime crush on national television. Oh wait…”
Izuku had never wished for death more. “Ochako, shut up.”
“Nah, I’m good.” He can hear Ochako’s smile in her voice. “But seriously, cheer up. It’s not like people are gonna hate you for it. You’re the number one hero, it’s gonna take a lot more than kissing the boy you like to get them to hate you.”
“Don’t say that like you know my popularity hasn’t gone down.” Izuku whispers, “I… I want to change the world for the better, but-”
“Deku, shut up and look at this.” Ochako huffs.
When Izuku lifts his head and looks, she’s got her phone stuck in front of her face, the screen showing what looks like twitter. It’s a post from a news station covering the aforementioned kiss, and-
“Three hundred thousand likes?!” Izuku chokes. “What- how is-”
“Here.” Ochako smiles at him and passes him her phone. “Look at the replies.”
Izuku takes her phone and scrolls down to start reading the hundreds (maybe even thousands) of replies. Some of them are people saying he’s gross, and he doesn’t deserve to be number one, but most of them…
DekuChanStan: petition to stan Deku even more than before
spilltheuravitea: WE GOT AN LGBTQ+ NUMBER ONE HERO WE DID IT BOIS
class1-gAy: just spent like an hour crying because he’s lgbt+ and I’m gay and I finally see myself in a hero STAN DEKU STAN DEKU STAN DEKU
Along with many, many more.
Izuku is speechless, silent for what feels like an hour. But eventually, Ochako plucks her phone from his hand and gives him a soft smile. “You did good, Deku. You really did.”
“I…” Izuku drags his hands down his face, careful not to move his baseball cap much. “I… this is…”
“Amazing?” Ochako supplies. “Astounding? The best ever?”
“Yes to all of the above.” Izuku says, feeling entirely too overwhelmed. “This is- wow. I’m. I need to sit down.”
Ochako snorts. “You’re already sitting down, Deku.”
“Shush.” Izuku shoots her a half-glare. “I should. Make an official coming out thing, huh?”
“Don’t make it super stiff, make it you.” Ochako nudges his shoulder like an over-friendly cat. “And then you need to go see your boyfriend.”
Izuku’s cheeks erupt into flames. “He isn’t my boyfriend, Ochako!”
“Not yet.” Ochako teases. “Now go on! Tweet the thing!”
And so he does. Quickly. And probably with a few typos.
DekuOfficial: okay so there’s a rumour going around that I’m not straight and, well, all I can say to that is that it ain’t no lie cuz I’m bi bi bi (bi bi)
Ochako bursts out laughing when he shows her, and she hits the ‘post’ button before he can even turn the screen back to himself. Barely a minute after it was posted, his phone blows up with notifications and, as more and more keep pouring in, Izuku tries his best not to cry. There are so many people supporting him and he does not know how to deal.
Ochako pulls him into a hug right there on the bench, and he gratefully buries his face in her shoulder, hugging her tight. Neither of them say anything for a moment, despite how many questions Izuku knows Ochako (and the rest of the population) must have.
Slowly, Ochako pulls back, and Izuku scrubs at his eyes with his fists. When he lowers his hands, Ochako’s got an odd grin on her face.
Izuku frowns a little at her. “What?”
“Nothing, nothing.” She waves away his concern. “I’m just proud of you.”
“Geez, ‘Chako,” Izuku presses the heels of his hands to his eyes. “You’re gonna make me cry more. You’re so mean.”
Ochako barks a laugh. “Sorry! Sorry, sorry, sorry!”
“It’s fine, stop apologizing!” Izuku whines.
This only makes Ochako laugh at him more.
Once she’s recovered, and when Izuku has stopped crying (for the most part, anyway), Ochako grabs his hand and pulls him to standing.
“C’mon,” she says, “Who knows when he’ll wake up.”
New dread sinks into Izuku’s stomach like a stone. “What’ll he think of me?”
“You’ll have to ask him that.” Ochako says firmly. “You two will need to talk about it and, if you don’t, so help me I will ground you for a month.”
“You’re not my real mom.” Izuku wrinkles his nose at her.
“Then I’ll get your mom to ground you.” Ochako shrugs.
“No don’t.”
“Can’t stop me!”
—
Shinsou’s sleeping face is… oddly angelic. Soft in a way he rarely is when he’s awake, and the tension is completely gone from his shoulders. His posture is relaxed, and Izuku feels his heart trip over itself in his chest.
“Never realized how pretty he is.” Ochako whispers beside him, peering in through the hospital room window.
“I really hope he wakes up.” Izuku says quietly.
Ochako shoulder checks him gently. “He will. Remember, the doctors said it was just some head trauma, and they put him under so he could get some rest. This isn’t a coma.”
“Right.” Izuku tries to shake the tension out of his arms, but the knot of anxiety only coils tighter in his chest. “Right.”
“He’ll wake up, Deku.” Ochako takes his hand and squeezes, her small hands deceptively strong. “Trust me. And, y’know, trust the doctor. They seemed really smart.”
“They also seemed a bit rude.” Izuku sighs. “They’re the one that healed me after I uh. Jumped off that building to save that car about a year ago, remember?”
“I don’t even want to know how that car got on top of that building.” Ochako shudders and squeezes his hand again. “But yeah, I remember.”
“Their quirk is incredible.” Izuku can’t seem to pull his eyes away from Shinsou’s sleeping face.
“Let me guess, you have a whole two-page spread about them.” Ochako’s tone is joking.
“You know me so well.”
“Heh.” Ochako shoots him a shit-eating grin that he only really sees out of the corner of his eye. “Aren’t you glad I know you so well?”
“I’m glad you’re my friend, ‘Chako.” Izuku says sincerely. “Really, I am. You’re my best friend.”
“Aw, geez, Deku.” Ochako releases his hand to give him a little side-hug. “Didn’t expect you to go full sap on me, but yeah you’re my best friend too. And as your best friend, I declare that you need to eat something.”
“No I-”
His stomach loudly disagrees with what Izuku had beenjust about to say, and Ochako snorts so hard it sounds a little painful. She quickly claps a hand over her mouth to stifle her laughs as Izuku watches his pride waver. But then she nudges him again, once again a la over-friendly cat, and that olive branch is good enough for him to take. He nudges her back.
“I’ll go grab you something, alright? You stay here. I’m sure he’ll want to see a familiar face when he wakes up.” Ochako winks at him.
“You’d be a familiar face too.” Izuku says weakly.
Ochako huffs and swats his shoulder. “Don’t pull that on me, you know what I mean. I’ll be right back.”
With that, she turns and hurries off. Izuku watches her go for a moment or two before turning back to the little window and tucking his hands in his pockets. The eerie silence of the hospital hallway is ever so slightly off-putting, so he starts humming to himself quietly under his breath. It’s not really loud enough for anyone else to hear him, he can barely hear himself, but it’s just a little comforting to not have to listen to nothing.
Shinsou doesn’t move for however long it takes Ochako to get whatever it is she’s decided to get, and Izuku can’t help the budding seed of concern spourint in his chest (right next to the fucking forest of doubt that was already there). He really, really wants Shinsou to be okay and, no matter what Ochako or the doctor may have said, he’s still got more than enough anxiety to worry about it all. And so he starts to spiral.
It’s slow at first, which he’s grateful for, but then he plunges right into a massive pool of it with no warning and suddenly he’s drowning. Suddenly unsteady on his feet, Izuku grabs the door frame in front of him and tries not to sit down in the middle of the hospital hallway. That is the last thing he wants to do right now.
Well.
One of the last things.
Hand shaking, he starts to pull out his phone (though he’s not sure if he’s trying to text Ochako or pull out his anxiety app or what have you), but a new voice makes itself known next to him.
“Deku,”
When he turns his head, he manages to recognize the doctor from earlier.
“Sit down.” The doctor touches his shoulder and guides him with surprising strength into a chair just to his right. He sits down, barely managing to not collapse, and looks weakly up as the doctor stands in front of him.
She’s built small, rather short, and has surprisingly broad shoulders for her build. Her pearly blue eyes are calculating and just a little cold, and Izuku feels like she can see through him right to his bones. Her arms are crossed, but she doesn’t seem to be angry at him.
“Breathe.” The doctor says, tone softening. “He’s going to be fine.”
Izuku breathes. Or rather, he tries his best to breathe. It takes him a bit to manage it, but eventually his heart slows from its breakneck pace and he’s able to look up at the doctor properly. Her gaze has softened quite a bit and she seems to be examining him closely. Perhaps to see if he’s truly alright?
“You back on earth yet?” The doctor raises an eyebrow at him.
Izuku swallows and nods. “Yeah. Sorry-”
“Don’t.” The doctor holds up a hand and shakes her head. “Don’t apologize. It happens to everyone.”
“It-”
“I’m a trauma surgeon, kid.” The doctor tucks her hands into her pockets, leaning her weight on one foot. “Trust me when I say I get it.”
“Ah.” Izuku says awkwardly. “Sorry.”
The doctor gives him a look that sort of seems like she’s trying to hide a grin, and Izuku actually feels a bit of the tension in his shoulders disappear.
“If I’m right, you’ve got a few more questions for me.” The doctor says, “Out with them.”
“Right. Um.” Izuku wrings his hands. “You don’t know when he’ll wake up, right?”
“Not precisely.” The doctor shakes her head. “My quirk isn’t exactly like Recovery Girl’s or like most other healing quirks because it’s not expressly a healing quirk. I don’t have any control over when he wakes up, so it’s all up to his body.”
“But you don’t think it’ll be too long?” Izuku tries to keep the hope out of his voice.
But the doctor nods, sending a wave of relief crashing over Izuku’s head. “I don’t think it’ll be long. Based on his medical history, he should be making a fairly quick recovery in the physical department. As for his brain…” She sighs. “That’s a different story. He get hit pretty damn hard.”
“Yeah,” Izuku feels the guilt lurch in his chest and claw anew at his lungs. “I know. I’m-”
“Apologize again and see where it gets you.” The doctor narrows her eyes at him.
Izuku clamps his mouth shut and mimes zipping it up, which makes the doctor make her not-smiling-but-still-totally-smiling face.
“He’s going to make a full recovery,” she says, clearly trying to change the subject. “But he’s still going to be pretty fragile for a while.”
“I’ll take care of him.” Izuku says immediately. “It’s kind of my fault he’s in this mess in the first place.”
“Not true, but yes you can take care of him.” The doctor sighs, “Now, if you’ll excuse me? I have to go. Don’t have any more panic attacks in my ward today.”
Before Izuku can even reply, she’s turned and left.
“Well she’s certainly a character!”
Izuku jumps and turns to find Ochako walking toward him from the opposite end of the hallway, a tray with two coffee cups in one hand and a little box in the other. It looks to be a pastry box, and Izuku pointedly ignores how his stomach rumbles wistfully. He stands to greet her, but Ochako scoffs at him and kicks his shin gentl to get him to sit down again, and she sits down in a chair next to him.
“Here,” she holds out the coffee tray and Izuku takes one of the cups with a grateful nod and a mumble of gratitude. Then she puts the little box in her lap and, once her coffee cup is safely in the cup holder conveniently located in the armrest of the chair she’s perched on, she opens it.
Inside are several rather pretty looking pastries. Ochako picks one up and pokes Izuku’s cheek with it, definitely getting powdered sugar on his face, and Izuku turns his head to snatch it with his mouth. She snorts at that and picks up another pastry for herself.
“Yours is an almond croissant.” Ochako explains, “Covered in powdered sugar.”
“Yes, I noticed.” Izuku wipes the powdered sugar off his cheek, trying his best to speak through his mouthful of croissant. “This is really good.”
“Isn’t it?” Ochako’s eyes gleam at him. “Glad you like it!”
And the two of them fall silent, eating their pastries in the hospital hallway and wondering when Shinsou would wake up.
—
“Deku,”
Izuku blinks and snorts a little, lifting his head from where it had been resting in his arms. He blinks blearily up at Ochako, only realizing after a few minutes that he’d passed out with his head in her lap. She laughs quietly when he sits up and wipes a bit of drool from the side of his mouth, and she squeezes his shoulder.
“You need to get home.” Ochako says softly. “You’ll hurt your neck if you sleep here.”
“But I need to be here when he wakes up.” Izuku protests weakly, stretching his arms above his head. His shoulders pop.
“You’re going to get sick if you don’t take care of yourself,” Ochako rolls her eyes at him. “C’mon, please?”
“But-”
“I’ll stay here and watch over him for you.” Ochako promises. “Unlike you, I got a full night’s sleep last night. You need to go home.”
“I-”
“I’ll send you dinner.” Ochako quickly pulls out her phone.
“But Ochako!” Izuku feels a bit like a child. “I need to-”
“I’ll call you as soon as he starts to wake up, how about that?” Ochako suggests, giving him a smile. “You’ll know the second he even so much as twitches.”
Izuku wants to protest, he really does, but his eyelids are so heavy they feel like cement and his brain has decided that sleep sounds like an incredibly good idea. So, eventually, he sighs in defeat and nods in agreement, staring at his shoes in a weak attempt at sulking. Ochako laughs at him, friendly as always, and she tells him to get downstairs.
“Tenya’s picking you up.” She calls after his retreating back. “Don’t fall asleep on the elevator and keep him waiting!”
Izuku flips her off over his shoulder, which subsequently sends her into hysterics, though they’re quiet enough to be acceptable within the walls of a hospital.
And, sure enough, Izuku sees Tenya’s car parked outside the pick-up area through the glass hospital doors. Izuku sighs and steps outside, hurrying to the car and opening the door to slip into the passenger’s seat. Tenya pulls him into a bear hug, and Izuku would never be able to deny how he just melts into it a little more than he normally would. Tenya smells familiar, like laundry and his shampoo and something warm like tea.
When Izuku starts to pull back, Tenya holds his head for a second to kiss his hair before shifting to properly sit in the driver’s seat again. He looks tired, more than a little 5 o’clock shadow along his jaw and chin, and Izuku thinks he looks rather handsome.
“How’d the mission go?” Izuku relaxes back into the passenger’s seat as Tenya drives off down the road, back toward Izuku’s apartment.
“It was alright.” Tenya muses, “Smoother than your last fight, I see.”
“It was my fault.”
“No,” Tenya shakes his head, “I don’t think it was, Izuku.”
Izuku frowns. “You weren’t there.”
“Ah, but I saw the whole thing on tv later, and I am more than aware of my best friend’s tendency to blame everything on the face of the earth on himself.” Tenya’s smiling just a little bit and Izuku feels fondness curl in his chest at Tenya’s teasing tone.
“I missed you, Tenya.” Izuku says quietly.
At the next red light, Tenya reaches over and squeezes his knee. “And I you. Now, stop making that face.”
Izuku frowns again, more shocked this time, and he wrinkles his nose in confusion. “What face!”
“That one.” Tenya grins as the light turns green. “The one that says ‘I Am Guilt Incarnate, Woe Is Me, Every Bad Thing Is My Fault, Cue Violins’.”
“I resent that.” Izuku huffs, crossing his arms and definitely not pouting. “I’m more of a flute guy.”
“‘I Am Guilt Incarnate’-”
“Yes, alright, I get it Tenya.” Izuku whacks his arm, unable to stop himself from snickering. “But I’m going to blame myself for how hard Hitoshi hit his head and you can’t stop me.”
“So he’s Hitoshi now?” Tenya raises an eyebrow. “I see.”
Izuku feels his face burn. “I didn’t-”
“You definitely did.” Tenya shrugs, “And it would do you good not to lie to yourself about it.”
Izuku supposes that’s a fair point…
“How exactly do you feel about him, Izuku?” Tenya pulls into the visitor parking space outside of Izuku’s apartment building and puts the car in park. Then he turns a little in his seat to properly face Izuku. “I don’t think I’ve ever been clear on the matter.”
“I- well…” Izuku sighs and wrings his hands. “I haven’t exactly been clear on it either.”
“So…”
“I like him?” He winces at the way his voice sounds more like a squeak.
“That sounded rather like a question.” Tenya points out.
“Fine.” Izuku says, “I like him. Very much.”
Tenya looks at him for a moment. Then he gives a nod and says, “Well, Kirishima owes me five hundred yen.”
Izuku’s face goes up in flames and he stumbles out of the car before Tenya can stop him. He calls a goodbye, gives his friend a wave, and runs for his building door to avoid Tenya’s beaming smile on his back.
Tenya is right though. He shouldn’t lie to himself about this.
—
His last conscious thought before falling asleep goes something like this:
I really really like him. Whoopedeedoo.