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Midoriya tried not to hiss as he pulled himself up through the window, making the burn on his side pull and sting. Below him, Todoroki carefully supported his left foot, the guilt in his eyes as present as it had been fifteen minutes ago when their sparring match came to an abrupt end.
“Just a little higher,” Midoriya whispered, and with a final push from his friend, he was able to roll through the open window onto the floor of the infirmary. There was the soft sound of crackling ice followed by a grunt, and Todoroki was once again at his side.
“Do you even know what you’re looking for?” Todoroki whispered. Midoriya began looking around, opening drawers and pulling things off shelves.
“I’ve dealt with burns before, Todoroki. I know what I’m doing.” He was efficient in getting the needed materials and laying them out on one of the cots. “And I’ve been here enough to know where everything is.”
“That’s not very comforting, Midoriya.”
“Maybe not,” the shorter boy answered without looking up, eyes remaining stubbornly on a bottle of disinfectant, “but it has made me familiar with the supplies available.”
“You know who else would be familiar with what’s in here?”
Midoriya ignored him in favor of continuing his search. He knew his friend was feeling guilty, but he also knew he didn’t want to explain his avoidance of the school nurse.
It had been an accident. Of course it had. Finals were coming up and stress was a bit higher than usual. Their after-school sparring matches had become a bit more brutal, both wanting to push themselves and their partner. In the end, it had been entirely Midoriya’s fault. It was mid-July and the afternoon heat was oppressive. Todoroki, growing tired of his sweat-slick shirt freezing on his right and steaming on his left, opted instead to take it off. When a normally very dodgeable flaming kick had come at his side, Midoriya was instead watching a bead of sweat roll along his friend’s neck, over his collarbone and down his chest. If he was being completely honest, the burned ribs were worth the view.
Or at least, they would have been, if Todoroki weren’t so wrought with guilt over it.
It had taken a lot of convincing to keep Todoroki from tracking down Recovery Girl, and even then, he still insisted that they go to the infirmary so they could patch him up themselves.
“You know, it’s Recovery Girl’s job to help the students.” Midoriya jumped, finally turning to look at where his friend was standing by the open window, arms crossed.
“I tell you that all the time.”
“It’s different and you know it,” Todoroki grumbled, absent-mindedly rubbing at his thigh where Midoriya knew there to be a healing burn of his own. “We were training for a midterm on school grounds. This is exactly the kind of incident she’s on campus for.”
I refuse to heal this kind of injury from now on.
Midoriya turned back to his supplies, hiding his bitter smile. “Yeah, well… I guess you could say I’m a special case. But it’s fine, really.” Seeing that he had everything he needed, he pulled off his singed shirt and poured some disinfectant onto a cotton pad. “It would be a waste of time to call her in for this anyway. I can take care of it no problem.” And he would have to. Recovery Girl had been very clear: no more healing quirk-related injuries. He was on his own.
Midoriya tried to work fast. Ideally, he would have cleaned himself up somewhere else, such as his dorm room. But he couldn’t just steal from the infirmary. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Todoroki shifting on his feet, clearly wanting to help but not wanting to get in the way.
Once the burn had been cleaned and covered in burn cream, Midoriya carefully placed the gauze over it, then looked up to his friend. “Um, Todoroki?” In an instant, the other boy was at his side, looking attentive.
“Yeah?”
“Can you tape this for me?” Todoroki gave a single sharp nod, then picked the medical tape up off the bed. He leaned down to get a good look at the gauze, making sure it was in the right place against his friend’s side. Warm and cold fingers brushed against Midoriya’s skin. A soft exhale fanned across his stomach. Midoriya made the mistake of looking down only to see Todoroki’s red and white bangs covering his forehead, bright eyes squinted in concentration, pink tongue just sticking out. All bent over in front of him.
Face immediately flushing, Midoriya jerked his head to the side, averting his gaze. Below him, Todoroki let out a small sound of annoyance. “Hold still,” and there was a very warm hand pressed against his ribs, holding him in place while the last of the gauze was taped down. “There.” Todoroki stood up only to find himself much closer to his friend’s freckled, and currently very red, face than he had anticipated.
Neither moved for a moment, Todoroki’s face quickly darkening to match Midoriya’s. The greenette could still feel his friend’s breath, only now it warmed his already warm cheeks. “Thanks,” he choked out eventually.
“Uh, sure.”
They still didn’t move, standing close and looking, unable to turn away even if they wanted to. The air was heavy, but in a good way, or at least not a bad way. Neither felt like they should break it.
Finally, Todoroki decided something had to be said lest they remain in this room, gazing at each other until graduation. “Midoriya-”
Todoroki was interrupted by the sound of the infirmary door opening. Both boys jumped, the shorter of the two whipping around to watch as the tiny nurse stepped in. Recovery Girl paused at the sight of her students, taking in the scene with raised eyebrows, before spotting the gauze taped to the shorter one’s side. Her eyebrows pinched, her lips pursed, and she took another step into the room so she could close the door behind her with a snap.
“Midoriya-san…”
“Uh, hello, Recovery Girl-sensei! We were just leaving-” There was a metallic clang as the tiny woman brought her cane down on the cot beside the boys, effectively trapping the singed shirt against the foot of the frame before Midoriya could put it back on.
“I apologize for the wait. I did not intend to be away so long that my student’s would find it necessary to treat themselves.”
“N-no!” Midoriya squeaked, hands waving frantically in front of himself, shaking his head so his curls bounced side-to-side. “That’s not it at all! It was just a little burn. I would have taken care of it at the dorms but here was closer and I’m out of a lot of my first-aid stuff and I didn’t want to walk across campus with a big hole in my shirt or risk getting my uniform dirty and Todoroki was worried about me and I didn’t want him to worry and the faster you get these things cleaned the better so it was really no problem-”
“Midoriya-san.” The smaller boy shut his mouth with a click, eyes big and face still pink. “I’m happy you decided to come here instead of the dorms, but in the future, please wait for my return rather than attempting anything yourself. As first years, you have not been taught enough field medicine for me to trust you treating much more than a splinter.”
Midoriya ducked his head, arms wrapped around his torso, ignoring the sting in his side in favor of looking as small as possible. He mumbled at his feet, so quiet he almost didn’t hear himself.
“What was that?”
Scuffing a red-clad foot across the linoleum of the infirmary floor, Midoriya cleared his throat and tried again. “It was a quirk injury.”
Recovery Girl blinked. “Young man, I work at a hero school. I’ve worked with pro heroes for over half a century. I am more than comfortable with quirk-related injuries.”
Midoriya opened his mouth but nothing came out. For a few seconds he just stood there, staring and gaping like a fish, before managing to stutter out a few words. “But-” he wheezed, “but you, you said… that kind of injury… you said you wouldn’t…”
Comprehension seemed to smack Recovery Girl upside the head. Her face hardened in that way it did when she was gearing up for a lecture. There wasn’t a student or member of faculty anywhere on campus who wasn’t familiar with that look, but Midoriya was especially acquainted with it. “Sit down.” Midoriya did, the cot letting out a squeak of protest at the sudden movement. “You too.” Recovery Girl pointed her cane at Todoroki who squeezed himself next to his friend. Both boys sat, hands in their laps and backs straight, waiting. The old woman pulled her office chair towards the cot, sitting so she was eye level with her students.
“I need you to listen carefully. Both of you.” After a moment, both boys nodded. “If you are hurt, I want you to come to me. I don’t care how it happened, I don’t care when it happened, I don’t care where it happened.” At this last point, she glanced briefly but pointedly at the two-toned teen. “You are my students, and it is my responsibility to make sure you are safe and healthy.” She took a deep sigh, little body expanding. As she turned her full attention to the green-haired boy in front of her, something seemed to shimmer in her eyes. “Midoriya-san. I did tell you I would no longer heal injuries caused by your quirk. I was not clear in my meaning, and for that, I deeply apologize. No child should fear they will be denied the help they deserve.”
There was a sharp intake of breath from both boys, Todoroki undoubtedly thinking on his own childhood, unable to tell anyone what was happening in his house. Midoriya, however, was thinking back on the adults he knew growing up, on teachers and principals and even police officers. He thought back on all the scrapes and bruises and burns, so many burns that adult after adult wrote off. He was clumsy, he needed to stop tripping and running into things, he shouldn’t be getting into fights, he should stop making Kacchan angry, you know what he’s like . Midoriya thought about the school nurses who turned him away, tired of seeing him in their offices day after day. They wouldn’t treat injuries that were his own fault, they said.
The only adult that ever believed him was his mom, but she worried about him enough without knowing just how bad the situation was. Midoriya had known for a long time that he was expected to take care of himself. Recovery Girl’s statement only confirmed this expectation.
And yet here she was, not only saying she would help, but apologizing for making him believe otherwise.
“I don’t want you relying on a quirk so damaging to your body while holding onto the assumption that I will be able to reverse any damage, because it’s simply untrue. My quirk speeds up the healing process. It does not take that damage away. If you’re reckless like that again, you can cause permanent damage that puts your hero career in jeopardy before it’s even begun.” Her gaze was serious, but not hard. There was so much care and worry in those eyes.
In his lap, Midoriya felt a warm touch against his right hand and looked down to see Todoroki pulling it into his own lap, heated fingers carefully tracing the lines of his scars. His touch was so gentle, almost hesitant. In another situation, Midoriya would have called it reverent.
The green-haired teen understood what his teacher was telling him, but he also knew he would do what he did again in a heartbeat. Anything for the boy gently tracing the evidence of their fight.
“So, in the very specific instance of you causing yourself injury by using more of your quirk’s power than you know you can handle, I will not use my quirk to heal the damage. But ,” After a second, Midoriya realized he was still looking down at his hand held in Todoroki’s and snapped his head up, returning his attention to the nurse. “Midoriya-san, that does not mean I won’t treat you. In our world of quirks, it’s easy to forget that those are separate things.”
Midoriya blinked, mouth falling slack. Beside him, he could hear his friend release a tiny breath. It was such a simple distinction. He of all people should have picked up on it, and yet…
“If you were to overuse your quirk again, which I deeply hope you don’t , I would do everything in my power to treat you to the best of my abilities. I want you to understand the consequences of your actions by experiencing the full healing process, by being unable to use your arm for as long as it takes, but I also want you to heal .”
Midoriya noticed that Recovery Girl’s eyes were shiny, but also that she was becoming blurry. He blinked and felt a hot tear slide down his cheek, quickly wiping it away. Beside him, Todoroki was very quiet, but his grip on his friend’s hand had tightened.
“I get the sense that this is a bit of a foreign concept to both of you, but every adult in this building wants to help you. You should know by now that your homeroom teacher would go to war for you, and your principal probably already has. I should have retired years ago but I find much more fulfillment in being here for all of you.” She carefully hopped down from her office chair, moving forward to hold the already connected hands of the two students. “You kids are training for a difficult and dangerous life. The least we can do is be sure you’re prepared, and provide the best damn support system this country has ever seen.” She gave their hands a tight squeeze before letting go, Todoroki finally dropping Midoriya’s hand with her. Midoriya tried not to feel cold at the loss.
“Now let me take a look at that burn. Not that I don’t trust your work, except that I don’t.”
They were all quiet as Recovery Girl removed the gauze, carefully pulling out pieces of fabric that Midoriya hadn’t seen the first time. Applying another layer of gentle disinfectant and making sure there was nothing stuck in the wound, Recovery Girl stood up tall and placed a loud kiss on the boy’s freckled cheek. Immediately, Midoriya felt himself sag under the fatigue, already having been tired from the day’s hero lesson and the sparring. With a final check to make sure everything was in tip top shape, she finally let the two go, instructing Todoroki to make sure his friend made it to his bed and got some food and rest. The taller boy gave a single nod, then carefully wrapped an arm around Midoriya’s waist, cold hand pressed to the already healed burn, and led him out of the infirmary and to the locker rooms to get their stuff before finally returning to the dorms.
The sun was beginning to set as they made their slow way across campus. Midoriya probably would have been fine without Todoroki’s support, but who was he to turn down his friend’s help, especially when Midoriya was sure he was still feeling bad about the burn in the first place.
He thought about what Recovery Girl said, about people getting the help that they deserve. He turned his head to look at his friend, his very pretty friend with his white hair and single grey eye. He must have noticed Midoriya looking because after a moment he stopped and turned to look back, revealing the red and blue of his left side.
“What’s wrong? Is this ok? Does it still hurt?”
Midoriya couldn’t help but smile at his friend’s fretting, as blank-faced as it was. It was undeniably cute. “You deserve help too, you know.” He felt the boy tense slightly against him, but he kept going. “You deserve to be safe and healthy, and to be helped by people. You deserve so much more than…” He trailed off, not sure how to finish the statement. His friend looked back at him, eyes uncertain, but also… hopeful? Could he say that? “You know you can always talk to me, right?” he added, just loud enough to be heard over the breeze. “I’ll always listen, and I’ll always do what I can.”
The two of them stood there for a bit, Todoroki’s arm around Midoriya’s waist, Midoriya’s arm slung over Todoroki’s shoulder, both trying to read something in the other’s eyes. It was Todoroki who broke the relative silence of twilight. “So do you,” he whispered, looking as sincere as Midoriya had ever seen him. “And so will I.”