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Chapter Text

Midoriya was hopeful. He had a quirk, and got into UA. All Might was even his mentor! Things were looking up, so he was hopeful that his classes, classmates, and teachers, would be better than they were in elementary and middle school.

UA was run by heroes, the teachers were all pros, and the hero students were aiming to be heroes, so hopefully they wouldn't be bullies.

And so far, that had been true. Sure, Bakugou was still in his class, but he had toned down a bit, and wasn't as physically violent anymore. And besides, Midoriya had friends here. His teachers were all amazing, and he really was hopeful.

However, as great as it all was, Midoriya still couldn't shake off a habit he had developed over the years. Every time he entered a room, or really anywhere different, he immediately scanned the area for all exits, be it windows, doors, or vents. Or, if there weren't enough of those, then he scanned for safe places, whether it was cupboards, or just a place where he could put a couple walls to his back to feel safer. It was instinct. And...it now included his sensei.

He had found himself more and more often searching out Aizawa Sensei whenever he entered a room. At first, he had thought that maybe it was because he felt threatened by him, because he could expel Midoriya whenever he wanted to, but he had quickly dismissed the thought. Midoriya didn't think that he could ever consider his homeroom teacher a threat. Which had led to the other option: Aizawa Sensei was a safe space.

Which...was difficult to understand. Adults had never been a safe space, besides his mother, and even then, it wasn't the same as with Sensei. He just...felt safe with him. However, he couldn't let Aizawa Sensei know.

No matter how different Aizawa Sensei was, how much better he was than any other adult Midoriya had known—besides his mom and All Might, but they didn't count, since one was his mother and the other was the symbol of peace—Midoriya couldn't let him know how reliant he had grown on his presence for safety. Even though Aizawa Sensei seemed to be different than everyone else, he still wouldn't like it if he found out that Midoriya basically stalked him whenever he entered a room. Midoriya was creepy, with his notebooks, and his admiration of heroes, and no doubt Aizawa Sensei would avoid him if he found out, at the very least.

So, no, Midoriya had to keep this a secret. He had to stop thinking of Aizawa Sensei as a safe space, because he wasn't. No adult was a safe space. Yes, Midoriya trusted heroes and adults to help others, and the teachers at UA were great, but he couldn't trust anyone else with himself.

Everyone at UA was only being nice to him because he had a quirk now. If they knew he was quirkless, or got to actually know what he was really like, how annoying he was, they wouldn't care anymore. He was just a weak, useless, quirkless deku.

Midoriya tried to stop seeking Aizawa Sensei out, but he couldn't stop himself. When he entered a room that Aizawa Sensei was in, his eyes immediately found his teacher. Whenever he was in a room with Aizawa Sensei, no matter what was happening or how many people were there, as soon as Aizawa Sensei moved, Midoriya's eyes tracked him until he knew where he was again. It was instinctual, and he couldn't stop it.

Which is why...

Aizawa was observant. He had to be, to be an underground hero, and it had saved his life more times than he could count. By the time a couple weeks had gone by at the start of every new school year, he knew more about his students than probably anyone else at the school. Of course, he couldn't know everything about his students just from observing them, or things that didn't come up at school, but he knew their personalities, how they acted, how they thought, even.

Ashido was super hyper, and always had a smile on her face, but she could get upset too, and took important things seriously. Bakugou had a fiery temper, and a hard time interacting with people, but his drive to be a hero was strong, and as long as his anger was tempered by the time he graduated, Aizawa had no doubt he would be one of the greatest. Todoroki was quiet, and didn't seem to know how to interact with other people either, and he seemed to have some family issues, which wasn't surprising consider who his father was. So yes, Aizawa would like to say he knew all the important things about his students, even the tricky ones.

Midoriya was definitely one of his most complex students. As much as he seemed like he should be pretty straightforward, with a smile constantly on his face, his determination to be a hero and to help people, and his quirk that was so powerful even he couldn't control it, he wasn't straight forward at all.

Aizawa noticed that Midoriya showed signs of abuse, but Aizawa knew that the only other person at his home was his mother, and when he talked about her, Midoriya had a genuine smile on his face, so full of love. With that possibility ruled out, the other one was that he was bullied by his classmates or friends, but with how powerful his quirk was, it didn't seem likely.

However, even though Aizawa liked knowing his students, he made a point of not prying into their lives unless they approached him first, or if they seemed in danger. So, he filed those observations away, and instead focused on another one, which he had noticed a few days into the school year, but which had changed after a few weeks.

Midoriya checked for escape routes whenever he entered a room, even if it was one he had been in a lot before. His eyes glanced over to the windows, doors, vents, basically everything. Aizawa immediately recognized it for what it was, considering a lot of heroes did the same thing. It was good to know your surroundings, especially when you were on a raid of a villain's hideout, where your surroundings were unfamiliar, yet you needed to know the best possible escape route if things went south.

Yes, it worried Aizawa that a kid of fifteen had already developed that habit, and to such an extreme, but like always, he wouldn't pry unless it was necessary. However, he started focusing more on it when Midoriya's habit changed to include him.

It began one morning before classes started. Aizawa had been in his sleeping bag in homeroom, pretending to sleep, while he watched his students as they filed in. Most of them didn't give him a second glance, already used to the sight of him curled up in the abominable, yellow sleeping bag, and he was also mostly hidden behind the podium. His eyes were half closed and hidden behind his hair, but he watched as his Problem Child—as he had dubbed him right from the bat—entered the room a few minutes before the bell would ring.

As Aizawa expected, his eyes roved around the room, going from the windows, to the ceiling vent. What Aizawa hadn't expected, however, was for Midoriya's eyes to rest on him for a second, before he headed to his seat.

It wouldn't have been so strange, other than the fact that Midoriya's eyes hadn't changed when they looked at him. He hadn't been surprised, or confused, or even interested, like he would if he had been looking for Aizawa. No, it had just been a passing glance, his mind taking in his surroundings, and Aizawa tried to put it out of his mind.

After that, the hero noticed himself looking when Midoriya entered a room, and the boy's eyes always landed on him for a second, before doing whatever he had entered to do. And it didn't stop there, he also followed Aizawa's movements whenever the man went anywhere, whether it be across the room, or just to sit down instead of standing, or vice versa.

It was concerning, considering Midoriya didn't do that with anyone else, and Aizawa didn't know why he did it, but it wasn't harming anyone. And Midoriya didn't seem to be doing it because he was scared of Aizawa, so he let it be, hoping that if there was a problem, Midoriya would come to him with it.

Although, he would soon grow to be thankful for that strange habit of Midoriya's, because...

Chapter Text

Rough pieces of cement and dust shifted, as Midoriya slowly stretched out his muscles. Biting back a groan at the pain, the boy watched as more dust and chips and pieces of the building fell around him. A large piece of the roof was also on top of him, but luckily most of its weight was being supported by the floor. So, after he examined it to make sure it wasn't holding anything else up, he fired up a small percentage of One for All, full cowling, and shifted that piece too.

As the dust settled around him, and he blinked his eyes to clear his vision, the ringing in his ears finally calmed down too. And then he could hear other people moving around.

There was the sound of more shifting rubble, a few coughs as people choked on the dust in the air, and a few small groans.

Midoriya's eyes widened as he remembered what had happened, and he quickly glanced down, seeing a still form below him. It was the cashier who had been working in the convenience store they were in when the building collapsed.

Upon hearing the villains and heroes fighting outside, and as soon as he felt the building start to collapse, Midoriya had launched across the store, and threw himself on top of the cashier

The teenage boy was alive, but unconscious. Whether from the shock, or from a head wound, Midoriya wasn't sure. He bent down and checked on the cashier, gently feeling along his head until he found the cause of the boy's unconsciousness. There was a bump on his head, with a small trickle of blood coming from it.

It seemed like a small piece of the falling building had glanced off the cashier, even with Midoriya attempting to shield him. Luckily it didn't look that bad, and Midoriya was sure that he would be fine, as long as he got medical attention soon.

Standing up from his crouch, Midoriya spun around, trying to locate everyone.

He was in a small room. Well, somewhat a room. It was more of a space, built out of a room with fallen walls and other pieces of the building. They had been in a convenience store, him, a few other students, and Aizawa Sensei. They had been gathering a few choice groceries and snacks for a movie and game night, so the class had sent some members, supervised by a teacher, to go out and grab them in the afternoon.

Of course, when they had been deciding which teacher to ask, Midoriya had hesitantly suggested Aizawa Sensei. He trusted him the most, not that he told his classmates that, exactly. But they were all on board with it, either because they didn't have any better suggestions, or because they had all grown closer to their gruff teacher in the times and events they had been through together.

So, without further ado, the students had been selected, Aizawa Sensei had been asked, lists had been made, and the small group set off to the convenience store they frequented the most in the city, since it was the closest to UA.

As Midoriya scanned the room, he closed one eye and let out a cough, wincing as the dust floated through the room, disturbing his vision and breathing. He started counting heads.

Ashido, Asui, Kaminari, and Yaoyorozu were all there, as well as the male cashier. Luckily the students of the UA group had been the only ones in the store at the time, so there would have been no other civilian casualties, but...where was Aizawa Sensei!?

Midoriya spun around, eyes going immediately to where he had last seen his teacher. Aizawa Sensei had sent them all off through the store, to grab their items, while he stood in a separate corner at the back. Midoriya had noticed him moving a few times, most likely to keep his students in sight. But, of course, every time he had moved, Midoriya's gaze had followed him, even through and between the store's aisles, until he knew his sensei's position.

Of course, when the villain attack had started outside, and the building started shaking, Midoriya had focused his attention on other things. But Aizawa Sensei, and his location, was constantly in the back of Midoriya's mind, as always. So he was fairly certain that Aizawa Sensei was in the direction he was facing. But there was no Sensei in sight, and there was a wall not far from Midoriya. And the wall hadn't been there before the building collapsed.

Midoriya could still somewhat hear the fight going on outside. Some heroes had definitely started fighting the villain, and the fight was slowing down. So hopefully they would be able to clear the building and get the people out, but Midoriya would have to asses everyone else's conditions, to determine whether they could wait for help, or whether they would have to try to find their own way out.

First, he glanced over to the entrance of the store, hoping against hope that the entrance was still usable, and they weren't trapped. No such luck. The main door looked like it had collapsed completely, the door was folded and bent, and chunks of the roof had fallen down on top and in front of it.

He tossed his head in the other direction, nearer to the back of the building where the employee door was. That one wasn't even visible, there was so much rubble in front of it, and fallen shelves.

Pushing down the anxiety and fear at them being trapped, Midoriya dragged his mind back to the next important things. He had to make sure his friends were okay, and find Aizawa Sensei.

He took a step forward, then stopped, wincing in pain. There was a sharp pain shooting through his right ankle; he must have sprained it when he was trying to avoid getting crushed. Speaking of, he should probably also assess the condition of the building, and see if any parts needed held up.

The convenience store was a single story, small building, so even with the collapse, there hadn't been too much above or around them to really cause damage. Of course, the roof had caved in in a couple places, and the shelves of the aisles were either toppled completely, or leaning against something else. The items that had been stocked on the shelves were all either on the floor, or caught in the rubble.

From what Midoriya could see, Yaoyorozu and Kaminari had been together, and they were protected from too much injury by one of the aisles, which was leaning at a large angle against a stack of more of the shelves, leaving a large enough space underneath for his two classmates to have been safe.

They were both dusty, and Yaoyorozu had some blood on her cheek and in her hair, but there wasn't much of it. Kaminari was holding his arm to his chest, as if it was hurt. But, other than being slightly dazed and in shock, although not from his quirk this time, he was fine.

Midoriya scanned the rest of the room, his eyes landing on Asui, not too far from him. Since there had been less shelves around the cashier's register booth, the area there was mostly open, with not too much fallen around it. Tsuyu was crouched on the floor between where the Cashier's stand was, and where the aisles used to be, looking mostly fine. There were chunks of the building and debris around her, but she was pretty light on her feet and agile, plus she had good reflexes. Midoriya had no doubt that that was why she had been able to avoid getting hurt.

She was even more dusty than the others, it seemed, but aside from the grime, Midoriya couldn't see much wrong with her.

Ashido was a few aisles away from Midoriya, closer to where Aizawa Sensei was. She had some rubble, and a few slabs of concrete, on top of her, but she was already working her way out. Midoriya could see the smoke as she used her quirk to burn away the rubble, and as he was watching, she slid free. One of her legs was sliding on the ground behind her, looking like it was hurt in some way. That wasn't good, but an easy enough fix for once they got out, hopefully. She was moving with it, anyway.

Alright, he would make sure that there wasn't anything else he had missed, and then he would have to think of a way to free their sensei.

He grit his teeth, and took a hobbling step forward. The rubble shifted loosely underfoot, as did his view of the building for a moment, and he bit his cheek to keep from groaning out loud. He had fought through worse injuries than a twisted ankle, so he could check on his friends and teacher like this no problem.

"Tsu," he croaked out, surprising himself at how dry his throat was. The dust in the air was thick, and he could still hear the fight going on outside. "Are you okay?" His voice got clearer the more he used it, so he just pushed past. Plus Ultra, and all that. He had to be better, do better.

"Yeah," she croaked back, partly because of her quirk, and partly because of the dust too, he guessed. "I'm fine, besides a few scrapes and bruises, ribbit. I was able to dodge all of the falling pieces. But what about you, are you okay?"

Midoriya filed the information away in his mind, and nodded his head. He noticed that the room spun again as he did so, but figured it was just a result of him being a bit dazed. "Yah, I'm fine, I used my quirk to stop anything from hurting me. The cashier is behind that counter I just came from, unconscious. He got hit on the head, but I think he should be fine. Would you mind just checking him over, while I check on the others?" He asked. Then, afterwards, he added, "And, after that, would you mind checking the two exits a bit more closely? It looks like they aren't usable, but maybe you would have some luck finding even a small exit we could get through?"

Asui nodded, then straightened up from where she was still crouched on the floor, and started making her way over to where he had said the cashier was.

Turning on his left foot, his good one, he started hobbling over to Yaoyorozu and Kaminari. "How about you two? Are you okay?"

Yaoyorozu nodded her head, winced, then went on. "Yes, we are fine. I think I have a scrape on my head, but it is not bad. I think it has stooped bleeding already. Kaminari has a broken arm, I think, from when a chunk of the ceiling fell on it, but other than that, and some slight shock, I believe he is fine. I already gave him some painkillers, from a bottle off the shelves."

Midoriya nodded, his finger coming up to his chin in his usual thinking pose, as a stream of mumbles escaped his mouth. Kaminari focused his attention more on him, eyes clearing, as Yaoyorozu also looked to him.

After a minute, he blinked a few times to snap himself out of it, then glanced over to Ashido. She had dragged herself to a sitting position, leaning up against a pile of shelves and concrete, and was looking at him, too.

"Alright, can you make a splint and some bandages for Kaminari's arm, and then go and bandage the cashier's head wound, too? It doesn't look that bad, but better to be safe than sorry, right?" He tried for a smile, and it came out a little wobbly, but overall not bad, he thought.

"After that, if you're up to it, come join me and Ashido. I'm going to ask her to help me get through the rubble over there," Midoriya gestured over in the direction of where he knew Aizawa Sensei was, just slightly to the right of Ashido, "so we can check on Sensei. It sounds like the fight is being wrapped up out there, so help should be coming to clear out the buildings real soon. We just need to make sure everyone is okay until then."

Yaoyorozu was nodding, already starting to stand up, slightly hunched over to avoid the collapsed shelves above them. Kaminari was right behind her in his motions.

"Don't push yourself if you can't do it, though, Yaoyorozu. We don't need you having negative side affects from your quirk," he said hastily but surely, holding his hands out in front of him. A few stray, smaller pieces of rubble fell from the folds in his sleeves as his arms shifted.

"No, I'm fine. And besides, I may need to make more bandages for Aizawa Sensei, when you find him," Yaoyorozu replied, a set look on her face. "But how are you? Are you alright?

"Yah, I'm fine," Midoriya grinned, giving her a thumbs up. No point in making her worried about him, when she needed to worry about the others. At her reassured smile, and with one last glance back, he started limping over to his pink classmate.

Although, his limping wasn't very obvious to others, he knew. They likely couldn't even see the light hobble when he walked, or just thought it was from the small pieces of debris he was walking on. He had perfected walking with a limp so his mom wouldn't notice back in middle school. It was just second nature to hide the limp, now.

"Ashido, are you okay?" He asked when he was within a few feet of her.

She glanced up at him, having to tilt her head back from where she was sitting on the floor. As she started speaking, she pushed herself up off the floor, gracefully coming to stand on her uninjured leg.

"I'm alright, just a twisted ankle, I think. Might be broken. Which is, like, really painful, I don't even know how you fight with broken arms and fingers. But, I can still melt through this rubble. That's what you were talking about with Yaomomo, right?" She smiled at him, though her lips were set in a stiff line. He was impressed at her determination to push through the pain.

He was used to pain, of course, but she wasn't. His classmates were amazing, and would all make good heroes. But, for right now, they had to make sure their sensei was alright. Midoriya was starting to get worried, although he couldn't explain why.

"Yes," he replied, shifting to face the exact spot Aizawa Sensei last was. "I need you to use your quirk to melt through this rubble here, but make sure to do it in small pieces, so no supports fall down. Can you do it?" He looked back to her, and let his hand fall to his side.

"I can, but...are you sure that's where he is? I thought he was over there when it collapsed?" She gestured over to the other side of the building. There was a bunch of rubble over there, too, barricading off another section of the building. Midoriya looked where she was pointing, and nodded slightly. Aizawa Sensei had been there, but had moved about five minutes prior to the building collapsing.

"I'm sure he's over here. Do you trust me?" He asked, looking into her eyes. He was internally pleading for her to trust him, he didn't want to waste time trying to convince her. And he wanted even less to have to explain how he knew that Aizawa Sensei had moved.

She gave a determined nod, and hopped forward on her one foot, trying not to jar her injured ankle. Midoriya breathed a sigh of relief.

After she traversed the few feet over to the rubble he had indicated, she set her hands to it, and started using her quirk.

Smoke rose up from where she had placed her hands, and some small pieces of rubble were already falling down. Her expression was full of concentration, her cheeks slightly puffed out as she worked.

Chewing his cheek in worry, Midoriya glanced back at the rubble. He couldn't hear anything from the other side, like movement from Aizawa Sensei. He was worried. Making up his mind, he opened his mouth, and called out, "Aizawa Sensei? Are you there?"

He waited and listened, then exchanged a worried glance with Ashido when they didn't hear anything in reply. The pink girl set back to work at melting the rubble, even more determined than before.

The greenette lowered himself down to a crouch beside Ashido, and started pulling at pieces of rubble when they became loose. He wanted to use his quirk to just punch down the wall, but he knew that could do more damage than good. And that would set them back in getting to their sensei. So, he had to resign himself to just pulling at the pieces of debris that Ashido loosened with her acid. His hands were getting scratched and red, but that was fine. He had to get to Aizawa Sensei.

Midoriya stared at the rubble, imagining the space behind it, where he knew his teacher to be. Or, at least thought him to be. He could have moved while Midoriya was preoccupied with not dying, but with how quickly the building had collapsed, it was unlikely he had moved far.

And this side of the store had been more open than the rest, so hopefully it would be easy enough to see him in the space once they got through to it.

Midoriya alternated between pulling at the rubble, calling out to their sensei in the hopes he would hear and respond, and keeping an eye on his other classmates. It looked like the cashier had woken up, and Asui had gotten him sitting up, leaning against the cracked cashier's station.

Yaoyorozu was bandaging his head as Midoriya watched, and it looked like she had already worked on Kaminari. The blonde was sitting in the middle of the floor next to them, nursing his roughly-splinted arm.

Midoriya switched his attention back over to Ashido, pointing out some more of the rubble she could melt, already aiming his hands to pull at any rubble he could. Already, lots of the smaller pieces had fallen away, and he could see a few holes to the other side.

Hoping that his voice could be heard more easily from the other side now, Midoriya called out again. "Sensei? Please, say something if you can hear me! Are you there?"

Still nothing.

Ashido didn't stop working, even as they both waited for a reply. A few more pieces of debris fell down. Then a few more. Pretty soon, a hole was open in the wall of obstructions, about a foot in diameter.

"Sensei?!" Midoriya was starting to panic. He knew that Aizawa Sensei could take care if himself, that he wouldn't want his students to be worried about him, when they should be worrying about themselves, but that's why Midoriya was worried. Aizawa Sensei cared so much about them, and they cared for him just as much. They couldn't lose him. Midoriya couldn't lose him.

His eyes started to burn at the images his mind conjured, of his sensei, his... his...a person he cared about, lying on the ground, blood on and around them, eyes closed, unresponsive.

He was broken out of his thoughts by the rumbling of rough chunks of the building rolling down. Ashido must have melted something that was supporting more of the rubble, and now a lot of the barrier was rolling down towards them.

Quickly taking note of where the rubble was going to land, Midoriya grabbed Ashido's arm and pulled her out of the way, while she was just standing in fear. She stumbled out of the way just as a few pieces of concrete landed right where she had been standing.

Midoriya released her arm, but left his hand hovering there as she lifted her injured foot back up again, and hissed through her teeth.

"Sorry, sorry!" Midoriya exclaimed, his hand twitching before he drew it back. He forced himself to ignore how his own ankle throbbed, as he had had to put pressure on it to pull her away in time. He was fine.

"No, no, it's okay," Ashido replied, her face a bit pale, and eyes full of pain, but she had a small smile on her face. Midoriya smiled back, then glanced back to the rubble.

Most of it had fallen down now, it would only take a bit more pulling before a hole big enough for someone to go through would open up. Midoriya glanced at Ashido, then over at his other classmates. Yaoyorozu was standing, looking in their direction, while Asui talked to Kaminari, likely keeping his attention off his broken arm. The cashier was still unconscious.

"Why don't you go sit down? Yaoyorozu can come brace your ankle, and I can get through the rest of this on my own," he suggested.

She hesitated for a second, but he could tell she wanted to accept. He grinned at her, his bright one that always put people at ease, and continued, "You've done really great, but you should sit down and have that looked at before it gets worse."

"Yah, okay," she submitted, turning and beginning to limp over to a half wall that was still mostly intact, a few feet away. As she was shifting to sit down against it, Midoriya caught Yaoyorozu's eye and signaled for her to come over.

The girl immediately started making her way over, and went to Ashido right away, smiling to reassure her, before she started assessing her injuries.

Taking a deep breath in and letting it out, Midoriya turned back to his task, then set to, tearing at the rubble, with only the slightest bit of assistance from his quirk when needed.

Within a few minutes he had managed to clear a sturdy path to the other side. He glanced back at his classmates to make sure they were all still okay, then called out, "I'm going in to see if I can find Sensei."

"Someone should come with you, right?" Yaoyorozu looked over at him to say.

"No, that's okay, I'll be fine. I don't think anything else will collapse, and I'll call out if I need help. You can come after me when you're done helping Ashido," he replied, flashing another one of his reassuring smiles. Then, he ducked down, and started waking through the gaping hole, into the darkness beyond. He only hoped he would find Sensei, and that he would be alright.

Chapter Text

The space beyond the wall of rubble was darker than the more open space Midoriya and the others had been in. Out there, the large windows of the store and the doorway had let in a lot of light, and the store's lights had still been on. Some of them had been damaged in the collapse, it's true, but most of them had been intact.

Over where Midoriya was now, though, there were fewer ceiling lights since it was the back of the store, and the ones that had been there must have been broken. The space was lit only by the backdrop of light from where Midoriya had entered, and by the few scattered shafts of sunlight which made their way through holes in the wall and roof of the building.

Rubble was more heavy underfoot in that area, and he could hear running water splashing into something. Most likely the water pipes had been revealed and punctured. It was just bad luck that Aizawa Sensei had been in this part of the store, Midoriya thought as he glanced around, hoping for his eyes to adjust to the dim lighting.

This part of the building had taken the biggest hit, and there were chunks of concrete and metal everywhere. Midoriya couldn't see Aizawa Sensei, and didn't know where to even start to look.

"Sensei!" He tried calling again, hoping against hope that maybe the hero would respond. There was nothing, no sound except the still streaming water, and the shuffle of his classmates from the open area he came from.

His brows furrowing, and his expression becoming set with determination, Midoriya took a step forward, then another. He could feel the debris shifting under his feet, the small stones crackling as they were ground into the floor with his shoe.

He stopped and closed his eyes, wracking his memory to come up with an idea of where Aizawa Sensei was. He remembered seeing the man moving before the collapse. Of course Midoriya had taken note of that, as he always did whenever his teacher changed position. But as soon as the fight started outside, Midoriya's attention had been focused on that.

The building had been hit right away, Midoriya thought it was from someone being thrown into it, or maybe from the villain's quirk. He didn't know, all he knew was that he lost focus of everyone else as soon as the building started collapsing. He had only managed to dart out of the way of falling objects, and make it to the cashier to shield him, using his quirk the whole time.

And then after that, Sensei had been behind the wall of debris, and Midoriya was checking to make sure everyone else was okay. But, as far as he can remember, Aizawa Sensei had been... somewhere over there.

He swiveled on his good foot, and made his way over to the right, where he remembered having seen Aizawa Sensei. Making sure to place his feet carefully, so as not to stumble on the debris, he went over to where his mind told him his teacher should be.

There was a large chunk of concrete laying at an angle on the floor, propped up on some other things. When Midoriya looked up, he could just barely see the gap where it had fallen from the ceiling. It looked like there was a small network of metal piping up there, too, which was visible now that part of the concrete had fallen down.

The section of the space Midoriya was in now was as close to the main part of the building as this smaller place could get. Midoriya was standing quite close to the same wall of rubble that he and Ashido had made a hole through, he was just a small ways down the wall. The hole he had entered through was about four meters down the wall of rubble, behind him.

Midoriya was considering the whole store as two spaces now, the large, main space where he and the others had been, and the small, dark space where he and Aizawa Sensei were now. Well, as long as Aizawa Sensei was there.

Focusing back on the task at hand, Midoriya took another step, then hastily backtracked, as that caused some rubble to shift. As he stepped back, he stepped onto his injured right foot. Not having expected the pain, he flinched, and hissed through his teeth. He tried to regain his balance, but his ankle had decided it had had enough of his abusing it when it was already injured, and it just decided to give out.

Midoriya went crashing down, landing heavily on his backside, and especially his right thigh. His whole body was jarred, but especially his backside, right leg especially, and his head for some reason. It started pounding and pulsed with pain, and his vision went white for a couple seconds.

"Ow," he muttered, once the blinded vision and pulsing head had passed, shifting back to a sitting position. He shook out his hands, which now had little pieces of rock or cement pressed into them. They stung, but the rocks fell out when he shook his hand through the air.

He had just placed his hands underneath him, careful to put them on clear places of the floor, and was about to stand up, when something caught his attention.

It was black, and it looked like hair.

"Sensei!" He called out, scrambling to get to his hands and knees, and crawled the last few feet to get to where he had seen the dark colored hair. "Sensei!" He said again, grabbing onto the large chunk of concrete which was in front of him now. He fired up his quirk, using the enhanced strength it gave him to push the large chunk of building away, making sure to lift it up and over, rather than just letting it slide on the floor.

It was a good thing he did, because underneath that large piece of concrete lay Aizawa Sensei. He was on his side, legs sprawled out behind him, eyes closed. The slab had been over his torso area, and shading his face from view. Luckily, it had been propped up on enough other pieces of the building or debris to have not crushed Aizawa Sensei. His legs, however, had been outside the chunk of concreted. And a large piece of metal was piercing through his left thigh.

Midoriya's blood ran cold when he saw that, and he stared at it in shock for a couple seconds before he could do anything.

"S-Sensei!" He yelled, eyes wide with fear. He knew the man would have been unconscious, and probably injured, when he found him, but the image of the large, jagged shard of metal sticking through his left leg was more than he had been expecting.

Midoriya's hands were shaking as he reached out to his teacher, stopping to hover over the man's leg. "Sensei?" He asked one more time in a pitiful voice. It was more of a whine than anything, and he felt a tear detach itself from his eyelashes to travel down his freckled cheek. "Yaoyorozu!" He screamed out, voice hoarse.

He wanted more than anything to help his sensei, but didn't know how. The wound wasn't bleeding as much as it could have been, because the sharp metal piece was still in the leg. But Midoriya didn't know how much more damage the shard could be causing to Aizawa Sensei's body.

He was frozen in shock, gaze locked on the horrific wound. He could feel his heart rate starting to pick up, could feel the blood pounding in his ears. His breaths started coming faster and shallower, and his eyes were blown wide.

Before he could fully sink into a panic attack, he was brought back to reality by the sound of someone approaching. He whipped his head around, still-wide eyes taking in the site of Yaoyorozu climbing through the same hole in the wall that he had entered from.

"Midoriya, what—" She started to say, only to stop when she saw his face, and then saw what had caused it. Her hand flew up to cover her mouth as her eyes landed on the limp form of Aizawa Sensei next to Midoriya.

She snapped out of it, then, rushed over to them, and knelt down. Her hands, too, reached out to hover over the wound.

Midoriya took a deep breath in, then lifted his hands to begin wiping at his eyes. It helped calm him down, and he was able to think again.

"What do we do?" Yaoyorozu was already asking, starting to panic herself.

"We need to remove it and bandage his leg," Midoriya said firmly, placing his hands in his lap and holding her gaze steadily with his own.

Her eyes snapped over to him, her mouth slightly open in shock and fear. "Won't that make him bleed more?" She asked incredulously.

"Yes, but it will do more good for him in the long run. Keeping it in there increases the chance for infection, and we can't move him while it's still in," Midoriya replied, his analytical mind already running through everything he knew about first aid, and about the situation they were in.

"Shouldn't we not move him? What if there's a back injury, we'll make it worse," Yaoyorozu said, finally starting to calm down, herself, and also thinking through everything they had learned. And it was true, standard procedure was to leave an injured person as they were, in case moving them caused possible, or more, injury to their spine, potentially causing paralysis. But there was more to the situation this time.

"The fight is still going on outside, and this part of the building isn't as sturdy as the main part we were in. The foundation has been damaged worse over here, and there is more risk of it collapsing again. We can't leave Aizawa Sensei here if that happens."

Yaoyorozu nodded her head, seemingly convinced, although still not completely sure. "Okay, so we need to remove the metal, bandage and splint his leg, and move him back out to the main area."

"Yes," Midoriya replied, his hand coming up to his chin as he thought. They had to hurry, as he could still hear the battle going on, and occasionally the walls in the area they were in would shake, as something slammed into the building.

He leant forward on his knees, placing his right hand on the ground to support himself as he examined more closely the wound they would be dealing with. The piece of metal had penetrated all the way through, and was bent at an angle against the floor. They couldn't pull it out from the top, because it would catch on his leg. But they couldn't pull it out from the bottom because the top was wider than what went through his leg. Taking this all in, he made a plan.

"We need to get Ashido in here to melt it around the wound, so we can remove it easier. I'll go get her, and in the meantime, I need you to make some bandages, and a splint for his leg. Can you also examine the rest of him to make sure there are no more injuries? Especially check his head."

He mentally berated himself for not checking the man over sooner. He had been so shocked and horrified to see the main injury, that he hadn't had the presence of mind to do a thorough examination.

Yaoyorozu nodded and got to work, shifting position, as Midoriya had done, to be able to examine their teacher more fully.

Midoriya stood up, wincing as weight was placed on his ankle again, and almost falling over as black spots clouded his vision. Actually, now that he thought about it, his head hurt and his vision would spin and tilt occasionally. He pushed it away, though. He was fine, Aizawa Sensei was more important than any bump on the head.

He set off with determination, stumbling through the rubble, ignoring the heat igniting from his right foot. He made it to the hole in the wall with little incident, and ducked down as he went through. He could see Ashido and Tsuyu sitting against the pile of rubble where he had last seen Ashido, and the still-unconsious cashier was laying at their feet. His head was bandaged now, and Ashido had a splint on her leg.

"Hi," he croaked out, his voice hoarse from the dust, and from the tears he was trying so hard to hold back. "Did you check the exits?" He directed his questions to Asui, referring to when he had asked her to see if there was a way out, after the building first collapsed.

"Yes, ribbit," she croaked back, partly from the dust, but mostly just because of her quirk. "They are both completely sealed off, or crushed. There's no way to get out without moving the rubble, and it's to risky."

"The fight sounds like it's still going on, so we may be stuck here for a bit, until some heroes can get us out," Ashido piped up from her spot on the floor.

"Did you find Aizawa Sensei?" Asui asked.

Midoriya swallowed forcefully at the question, hating the reminder of the state their Sensei was in, and hating even more having to say it out loud to his friends.

"Yah," he choked out, his body actually jerking as he forced himself to say it. "He's... he's hurt pretty bad." His eyes were downcast, not wanting to see their reactions, but it didn't stop him from hearing their gasps.

"Is he...is he going to be okay?" Ashido asked, her hand covering her gaping mouth, and worry clear in her dark eyes.

"Y-yah, he'll be fine," Midoriya forced a smile onto his face as he said that, trying to convince himself as much as them. "Uhm, Ashido, do you think you could come help us, we, uh, we need you to melt something with your acid, if you, uh, if you can," he stammered out.

Ashido lowered her shaky hand, and her face became set in determination as she shifted on the ground. "Yah, I can, as long as you can give me a hand to get there." She raised her hand up towards him, already crouched on her good leg.

Midoriya grasped her hand in his and pulled, keeping a hold of her as she steadied herself on one foot. After she was steady enough, she wrapped her arm around his shoulders, and limped forward.

It wasn't the easiest, with her hopping on one foot the whole way, and him trying not to show how much his own ankle was hurting him, but somehow, they managed it.

To try to keep her mind off things, and his as well, he asked questions as they slowly limped back over to the hole in the wall, which would lead them to Aizawa Sensei and Yaoyorozu.

"How are you guys? And the cashier?"

"I'm fine, ribbit," Asui replied from where she was still sitting on the floor. "And the cashier is mostly fine, too. I think he may have a concussion, but other than that he's mostly fine."

"And I'm good, too," Kaminari spoke up. His voice was shaky, Midoriya could hear, and the greenette could still picture him cradling his broken arm to his chest. But his voice also held a surety, and Midoriya was relieved to hear it.

"Good. We'll be right back then, okay?" Midoriya asked, glancing back and gritting his teeth into what he hoped was a semblance of a smile, before he and Ashido stepped through the makeshift wall of debris, and into the darkened portion of the building where their injured teacher was.

Chapter Text

Yaoyorozu looked up at them as Midoriya and Ashido limped towards where she and Aizawa Sensei were. Well, Ashido was limping, Midoriya was still pushing through the pain in his ankle, and the increasing pain in his head. Plus the dizziness. He was fine, Aizawa Sensei came first.

"How is he?" Midoriya asked as he and Ashido stopped, the pink girl staring at their teacher in shock.

"He's still unconscious, he's not reacting to anything. Besides the... injury...in his leg, and a few scrapes and bruises of course, he has a head wound, I think something must have hit him in the back of his head when the ceiling collapsed. There's a large bump there, and I'm thinking he has a concussion, and that's probably why he's still unconscious," Yaoyorozu said. There were a few drying tear tracks on her face, trailing over the cut in her cheek. "I bandaged the head wound, and his eyes were unresponsive when I checked them. But that's all I can do until he wakes up, or we get him to a hospital."

Midoriya nodded, noticing the white strip of bandage on the man's head, looking out of place amongst the long, messy black hair, and the dim room.

"What do you need me to do?" Ashido asked suddenly, seemingly breaking out of her shock. She was still standing with her arm slung around Midoriya's shoulders, weight resting only on her right ankle.

"We need to move Aizawa Sensei out of here, back into the more open space, where the rest of the ceiling is less likely to fall. So we need to remove that piece of metal from his leg. But we need you to melt it at one of the ends, so we can pull it out," Midoriya explained.

Ashido swallowed thickly, and seemed to grow a bit more pale, but she nodded determinedly. Letting her arm slip off Midoriya's shoulders, she slowly lowered to a sitting position on the floor, next to Aizawa Sensei's injured leg.

Midoriya lowered himself down too, and he and Yaoyorozu settled themselves around Aizawa Sensei. The greenette pointed out where the best place to melt the metal would be, below the thing above the bend, and as close to the leg as possible without there being a possibility of the acid touching the man's skin.

Ashido nodded, and raised her hand to the metal bar beneath Aizawa Sensei's leg. Her face was set, eyes focused, as she pinched the metal between her hand where she had been told to, and slowly activated her quirk. There was a hiss as the acid started dissolving the shard, and a few seconds later she was taking her hand back, and the piece of metal she had severed off fell down to the floor, landing with a clang.

She blew out a breath, and they all looked at each other and nodded. It was time for the worst part.

"Okay, you two hold him down in case he moves, and I'll pull it out, okay?" Midoriya asked, looking them both in the eyes. "Yaoyorozu, after it's out, I need you to bandage the wound as quickly and firmly as you can, alright? We need to stop the bleeding as quickly as possible."

They both looked hesitant, but nodded. Yaoyorozu looked down at her arm, which started glowing as swaths of bandages started coming out of it. Once there was a thick enough roll of clean, white bandaging piled up beside her, she switched to making a roll of tape to secure it with.

The whole process only took a couple of minutes, but Midoriya almost wished it had taken longer. The longer it took, the more time he had before he had to rip a piece of jagged metal out of his Sensei's body.

Licking his lips, Midoriya hesitantly reached forward, fingering the shard that was causing so much harm to his teacher, his hero, his...no, focus. Just take it out.

There was sweat building up on all three of their faces. Midoriya's hands were extended and touching the metal shard, and he was kneeling up to get the best angle to pull it straight up. Yaoyorozu knelt at Aizawa Sensei's legs, putting her hands on both of his ankles, ready to hold them down if necessary. The bandages and medical tape were ready at her side, in easy reach, and Ashido had shifted so she was at Aizawa Sensei's head, planting her hands firmly on his shoulders.

With another deep breath from all of them, Yaoyorozu started counting down. "Three...two..." Midoriya licked his lips again, "one...go." Midoriya firmed his grip on the metal shard, and pulled straight up. At first it didn't give, then it went slowly. His hand hurt from where the jagged metal was cutting into it. He probably should have covered his hand with something, but it was too late now. Blood was pooling around where he gripped, but he ignored it.

Aizawa Sensei started shifting, obviously coming to awareness from the intense pain. His face scrunched up in discomfort, and he tossed his head, letting out a quiet groan. Midoriya could feel Yaoyorozu tense up and lean forward more, too, so his leg must have been twitching as well.

Midoriya set his teeth, and with one last tug, still being careful to pull straight up, the piece of metal came free. The release of effort caused Midoriya to fall backwards, the shard clattering onto the ground beside him, as he landed on his hands, which were braced on the floor.

As he landed, he heard a pained cry, which he tried to drown out. He was so sorry, he didn't want to put Aizawa Sensei in more pain. He just hoped the man could forgive him.

Midoriya was still panting heavily, leaning back on his arms, and he glanced over to the side to see the thing he had just pulled out of his teacher. Bad idea. The sight of it caused bile to rise in his throat, and his head to spin. After averting his eyes and taking a deep breath in, he focused back on the others.

Aizawa Sensei was thrashing, it seemed, tossing his head, arms, and legs around. His breaths were heavy and troubled, and an occasion moan escaped through his lips.

He cried out louder in pain again when he tried to move his left leg, and his eyes fluttered open just as Midoriya pulled himself forward to be next to them again.

As Midoriya pulled himself up, Yaoyorozu was quickly rolling the pre-made bandages around the wound, wrapping them firmly but quickly, before securing them with the medical tape. She finished as Midoriya watched, and he nodded in satisfaction. It was the best they could do until he could get actual medical attention.

Midoriya then turned his attention back to Ashido, who was still sitting by Aizawa Sensei's head and shoulders. Her face was pale, and her lips were set in a thin line, as she tried holding down their teacher, who was trying to escape her grip, writhing in pain.

As Aizawa Sensei thrashed, his jaw clenched tightly shut, and his limbs and body performing jerky movements, Midoriya pressed his hands down on the man's chest, trying to hold him down so he wouldn't hurt himself more.

Ashido and now Yaoyorozu were also putting all their weight and effort into keeping Aizawa Sensei still, but even when delirious with pain and weak from injuries, the man was strong, and they couldn't hold him down completely.

"Aizawa Sensei!" Midoriya exclaimed, applying more force in his arms as the injured man arched his back, a strangled cry or gasp escaping his lips. "Calm down, it's okay, Sensei, it'll be okay, I'm so sorry, it's gonna be fine, okay? I'm so sorry."

More tears were building up in Midoriya's eyes, and falling down to land on Aizawa Sensei's chest. Yaoyorozu and Ashido had stricken looks on their faces too, as the man's pained yells grated at their ears.

"Please, Sensei, you have to calm down, you're hurting yourself." Midoriya kept trying, repeating words over and over again, without really knowing what he was saying, just hoping that it would help. The two girls would speak occasionally too, and after a while, Midoriya didn't know how long, their efforts seemed to be rewarded.

Aizawa Sensei had stopped thrashing, and his pained cries had been reduced to gutteral grunts, full of pain and discomfort, but sounding more like the calm, collected, in-control teacher they were used to. Well, more than the out-of-control cries had sounded like him.

His breathing was shaky and laboured, and his muscles would tense up every few seconds, but it was better.

The students' words died on their lips, their pale and sweaty faces locked on their teacher, trying to reassure themselves that everything was okay.

Aizawa Sensei's eyes were open slightly, shining brightly through the crack in his eyelids, but he didn't seem aware. More, it was like he was staring at nothing, not quite present. But that was okay, and probably for the best. He must have been in intense pain, Midoriya was actually shocked he had managed to calm down so quickly.

And still, the thought that Midoriya had caused most of that pain by pulling the metal shard out caused him to feel sick. He pushed the feeling aside, trying to focus on something else.

The walls around them shook suddenly, and more debris and dust fell from the ceiling. It felt like something had smashed into the building, and Midoriya was sure that wasn't too far off from the truth. With the fight going on outside, they needed to get Aizawa Sensei out into the other room, like the original plan. And, from the sounds of it, the sooner the better.

"We—we need to move him, Yaoyorozu spoke up, mirroring his thoughts. "This place could collapse any moment now."

"Mm," Ashido hummed her ascent, her wide eyes still locked in horror at what had just happened.

As they all just sat there, not being the ones to start, but all knowing what had to happen, someone spoke from behind Midoriya.

"Is everything okay back here, or do you need some help?"

It was Asui, standing at the crack in the wall, shielding some of the light as she stood there, hunched over slightly and gripping onto the debris making up the wall. Kaminari poked out from behind her, a worried look on his face, and his splinted arm held close to his chest.

"Tsu, Kaminari," Midoriya breathed out, sitting back on his haunches to be able to see her better. "We need to get Aizawa Sensei back into the open, as quickly and as carefully as possible. Do you think you could give us a hand? We need another person to help carry Sensei, and someone to help Ashido back."

"Sure, ribbit, I can help carry Aizawa Sensei," the frog-quirked girl replied, marching forward to stand next to them

"I can't carry Sensei with my arm busted, but I can help Ashido walk," Kaminari said hesitantly, following the pink girl, and watching out for stray debris as they went.

When the two newcomers reached them, the original three around Aizawa Sensei shuffled around to let Asui get in position to help carry him. Ashido backed away on the ground, and Kaminari went to stand by her, offering her his good hand to help pull herself up with.

Yaoyorozu and Asui were positioned by his shoulders, and Midoriya crawled into place by Aizawa Sensei's left side. Since he was the strongest, he was going to lift most of the man's middle weight, and also try to keep his injured left leg elevated, to cause as little pain as possible.

As they all glanced at each other, making sure they were all ready, Aizawa Sensei started tossing his head more vigorously, his eyes opening just a sliver more.

"Wha..." He mumbled, his voice heavy and slurred. He groaned right after, and arched his back again, clenching his teeth.

"Ready?" Yaoyorozu asked as they all grabbed a hold of their teacher, trying to be as gentle as possible, and shifted so they were crouched in an easy position to stand from. Once they were ready, they all nodded, and she started counting down again, just as she had when they pulled the shard out.

"Three, two, one, lift!" They all lifted as one, rising from their crouches, and shifting their holds to keep the movements as smooth as possible. Apparently it wasn't smooth enough.

"Arrgh!" Aizawa Sensei cried out, his voice strangled with pain, before he managed to clamp down on it. Even delirious and not fully awake, he was still in enough control to stop from screaming fully.

Midoriya didn't know if this was because he didn't want to lose control, because he subconsciously thought there were enemies nearby and didn't want to reveal his presence, or if he didn't want his students hearing it. Or it could have been something else entirely, Midoriya didn't know.

As one, they started to shuffle towards the exit of the area they were in, stepping carefully over the loose debris, and trying not to jostle Aizawa Sensei, and each other. Kaminari and Ashido followed behind, the girl's arm slung over the blonde's shoulder as she limped, and his injured arm still cradled to his chest.

It took them a few minutes to make their way back out into the main, better-lit area, where the unconscious cashier still lay. Midoriya was starting to worry about him, with how long he had been out. The going wasn't easy, with them having to be extra careful not to trip. And Aizawa Sensei didn't make it any easier.

He would groan, and toss his head, and occasionally arch his back. When he tried to speak, it came out as indistinct mumbles, and his eyes either went side to side beneath his lids, or side to side staring up at the collapsed ceiling and not seeing anything.

Midoriya was starting to get more worried about him, too. The bandage around his leg seemed to be doing its job well enough, as the wound didn't seem to be bleeding through. But the man was sweating, and Midoriya could feel slight shakes in his frame every so often. The wound was most likely infected, which was a very bad sign.

"Here, let's set him down here," Yaoyorozu grunted, her teeth clenched as they came to a stop near the wall where Ashido, Asui and Kaminari had rested before.

"I'll clear a spot for you to lay him down, one sec," Kaminari muttered, releasing Ashido's arm as she lowered herself to the ground, and using his good arm to start shoving away the larger pieces of rubble.

In a few seconds he had cleared an area well enough for them to set their teacher down, and they did so with a lot of muffled groaning.

Midoriya sank to his knees once Aizawa Sensei had been lowered carefully to the floor, glad to give his ankle a break, as well as his arms and back. With Aizawa Sensei as limp as he was, he was a lot heavier than he normally would be, and him occasionally tensing up and shifting around hadn't helped Midoriya with keeping a good hold of him.

Once they had caught their breaths a few seconds later, Ashido spoke up. "Does anyone else have a signal on their phone?"

Midoriya's head snapped up, his eyes wide. He hadn't even thought of their cell phones! Of course that should have been his first thought, to call for help. But he hadn't even had his phone on him, so the thought hadn't even crossed his mind. He said as much. "I left my phone back on campus, since it was charging," he said, feeling guilty. He looked down to the floor, shame and guilt swirling in his stomach.

"It wouldn't have mattered anyway, Midoriya," Yaoyorozu said, looking at him softly. "I'm pretty sure the cell tower is down, cause I haven't had a signal either." She directed this last part towards Ashido.

They all nodded their heads in agreement, and Midoriya smiled slightly. He had such great friends, that they would worry about making him feel better, even in that situation.

A few more minutes passed, with them just sitting there. Midoriya was trying to think of something they could do to help, and get out of the situation. But he couldn't think of anything.

"It sounds like the battle has stopped and they are clearing up the area," Yaoyorozu said suddenly, glancing to the walls of the building. "There will probably be someone coming to clear this building soon."

It was true, Midoriya hadn't heard the sounds of the fight for a while, and some time had passed since the last time the building shook. Hopefully Yaoyorozu was right, and they would get rescued soon.

Midoriya hated just waiting around, especially since Aizawa Sensei was injured so badly, and they didn't know the full condition of the cashier, who was still unconscious.

Normally, Midoriya would have wanted to try getting out themselves, but with the building as unstable as it was, and with some of them injured, he didn't want to chance it coming down on top of them. Plus, if the fight was over and people would be clearing the area soon, then there was less of a rush for them to find a way out. They had a bit of time, so as much as Midoriya hated waiting, he resigned himself to it.

They all just sat there for a few seconds, trying to tune in to what was happening outside. Then Aizawa Sensei started shifting again.

He groaned deeply, and tossed his head from side to side. Their eyes all snapped over to him, and so they all saw when his eyes started to flutter open.

His eyelids parted a crack, then a bit more, before he groaned again, and snapped them shut.

"Sensei, are you okay?" Midoriya asked, and immediately berated himself. Of course he wasn't okay, what kinda of question is that?

It seemed to have done something though, if the way Aizawa Sensei started to open his eyes again was any indication. A few seconds, and furious blinks, later the man's eyes were half open, and he was glancing at all of them as well as he could from his position on the floor, with them circled around him.

He tilted his head back and stared at the ceiling, then winced and tried to shift his head again.

"Oh!" Midoriya exclaimed, before quickly shrugging off his dark blue sweatshirt, turning it inside out, and folding it into a pillow which he then placed gently under his sensei's head, making sure to lower him down gently onto the cushion.

Yaoyorozu suddenly shifted, reaching into her jacket pocket to grab something. "Here, Sensei, I have some painkillers." Her hand come out with a bottle of standard looking pain killers. Midoriya realized they must be what she had given Kaminari before. She said she had taken them off the shelf.

Aizawa Sensei's head shifted in her direction, and a shaky hand reached out, palm up. The meaning was clear, and Yaoyorozu hurried to unscrew the cap and shake a couple pills into their teachers hand

"Do you want me to make you..." She started, but trailed off when he lifted his head slightly and threw back the pills, swallowing them dry with a painful grimace. "...a bottle of water..." She finished softly, then huffed out a breath, a small smile on her face.

Aizawa Sensei had let his head fall back to rest on the makeshift pillow, and closed his eyes again. "Thanks," he murmured quietly.

"You're welcome," Yaoyorozu replied softly.

The man lay there with his eyes closed for a few seconds, before he opened them once more. It seemed like it was still a struggle, but not as much as before. "Status report," he ground out, his voice rough and hardly understandable.

They all glanced at one another, before the rest of them started staring at Midoriya. Realizing that they wanted him to lead the telling of the report, he started hesitantly. "The—uh—a villain fight started outside the convenience store we were in, and the building collapsed while we were all inside. Once it had stopped moving and had settled a bit, I checked to make sure everyone was okay. We couldn't find you, since you had been in the side of the store, and that section was closed off by a pile of rubble and fallen concrete from the ceiling collapsing. It had, uh, it had taken the most damage, it seems. Me and Ashido made a hole through the wall, and I went through to find you. You were, uhm...you were unconscious, and pretty badly injured. Yaoyorozu came to check on me, we assessed the situation, and I came back to get Ashido to help us treat the injury. Once we had, uhm...done...done that, Asui and Kaminari came back, and helped us get you back here, where there was more light, more of a cleared area, and where the building was more stable. Plus, the cashier is still unconscious over here, so it was easier to have you both in the same place." Midoriya paused to take a breath, and think of all the other pertinent information.

"The fight seems to have stopped, so we think there should be emergency teams clearing the area soon, to help get us out. We don't have cell service here, so we can't call anyone for help. Oh! And the doors are blocked and crushed, we checked that earlier too." Aizawa Sensei grunted as Midoriya stopped, and it looked like he had closed his eyes again.

"Your leg is... it's pretty badly hurt, Sensei," Midoriya continued, more hesitantly. "We treated it the best we could, but...you...you need to get to a hospital, and you—" he cut off when the man raised a hand and waved it lethargically, before letting it drop to the floor again.

"Doesn't...matter," Aizawa Sensei ground out, his jaw clenched and his body tensing again. "Are you all...and the ca-cashier...okay?"

Midoriya opened his mouth to answer, but choked on a sob. Why was Aizawa Sensei like this, more worried for them than for himself?

"We're fine, Sensei," Yaoyorozu continued, glancing up at Midoriya and taking over. "Kaminari has a broken arm, and Ashido has a sprained ankle, but I've splinted both of those. The Cashier seems to have a head wound and has been unconscious this whole time, and Asui, Midoriya and I are mostly fine, just with some scrapes and bruises."

"Hmmm," Aizawa Sensei hummed out, his face going slack. It looked like he was starting to lose consciousness again. "You did well, kids. Just...wait for the resc-rescue t-team..." His words were slurring, the kids could hardly make them out. At least it seemed that the pain killers Yaoyorozu had given him were working.

Yaoyorozu and Midoriya sat back on their heels then, and they all watched as their teacher fell asleep, his body quickly losing what little tension it had had. His chest kept rising and falling, slowly, deliberately. It wasn't much, but it was enough to alleviate at least some of their fears.

They just sat there for the next few minutes, in silence. There wasn't much to say, all they could do was wait. Midoriya, however, was starting to get antsy. He was trying not to shift too much, though, because he knew it would aggravate his ankle. But it was hard to just sit around.

He knew that the exits were blocked, and the best thing they could do was to wait for rescue. But Aizawa Sensei needed medical attention for his leg, and Midoriya was starting to get really worried about the cashier, with how long he had been unconscious. There wasn't anything they could do for either of them, so Midoriya wanted to at least be able to do something.

Just as he was about to stand up and walk around, looking for something to do, or something they had missed, there was a crash from the other side of the room.

Their heads all turned to the sound, except for the two unconscious people. Some of the rubble had fallen over where the main entrance to the building was.

Hope started to build in Midoriya's chest, even though he tried to stamp it down. He twisted on his knees, ignoring the sharp throb of pain the movement sparked in his ankle.

Another section of rubble fell down, and a small shaft of light broke through, illuminating the dust particles which floated in the air like a cloud.

"Anyone in here?" A voice called out, quiet from the distance, and slightly muffled, but distinguishable all the same.

"We're over here!" Yaoyorozu called, standing quickly and starting to make her way over. Midoriya was just a few seconds behind her, having struggled to get to his feet at first.

He glanced back at the others making sure that they were fine. They nodded at him, and he hurried after Yaoyorozu, who was already half way across the room.

By the time he and Yaoyorozu were both standing in front of the main entrance, there was a large hole through the rubble, the door was ripped off its hinges, and a couple response team members were smiling down at them reassuringly.

Midoriya felt his knees go week with relief, and he couldn't keep the smile from his face.

His head was pounding, his vision swimming and shadowy, and his ankle was pulsing with pain. But they were getting rescued, which meant that the others would get the help they needed to.

Things were finally looking up.

Chapter Text

Things were moving in a blur, and Midoriya couldn't take it all in. The emergency response team had gotten them all out of the building, where there were ambulances and medical teams, and heroes who were hanging around after the villain fight. The street the convenience store was on was a mess, but there were people clearing the rubble, and evacuating other buildings even as Midoriya sat there.

Aizawa Sensei and the cashier had been carried out of the collapsed store on stretchers, and Midoriya didn't know where his teacher was now. It was worrying, and Midoriya couldn't seem to relax. He didn't feel safe; he was sitting on the back ledge of an ambulance, waiting for someone to look him over.

As soon as he and his classmates had been taken out of the building, he had directed the medics to look at Aizawa Sensei, the cashier, Kaminari, and Ashido, as they were the most injured. His ankle was still throbbing, so he was glad to have a seat right now. And his head ached, the piercing light from the afternoon sun not making it any better. But...he would be fine. He just needed...he needed Aizawa Sensei.

There was a gaping hole behind him, where the cavity of the ambulance was, and there were unknown people all around. There was no corner for him to stand or sit in, no place he could go to be alone, and Aizawa Sensei was nowhere to be found. Which was good, cause hopefully that meant he was getting treated and taken to a hospital. But that also meant Midoriya didn't know where he was, and he was scared.

The greenette must have zoned out, as he was startled from his thoughts at the sound of someone coming up to him. Midoriya flinched away, leaning back and almost falling over, as his neck snapped up so he could look at the medic standing before him.

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you," the man started. He had short green hair, but that was the only unusual thing about him. His face was open and friendly, and he seemed nice enough. Midoriya wished he could trust him, and feel comfortable, but he just wanted to feel safe, and he couldn't do that, not until he saw Aizawa Sensei again.

Even being home with his mom, or at the UA dorms with his friends wouldn't help him. At this point, his mind had latched onto Aizawa Sensei, and he needed the man more than he ever had before. He was also really worried about him, he wouldn't deny.

His eyes snapped back into focus when a hand waved in front of his face. Why did he keep zoning out like that?

"Hey, you okay there?" The man asked, a worried furrow to his brows creasing his face. "I was told you were one of the last ones that needed checking, so I only came now since the most severe injuries have been treated already, but are you alright?"

His hand started reaching out to Midoriya, and the boy flinched back, pulling his legs up from over the edge and scrabbling farther back into the ambulance.

"Woah!" The man exclaimed, retracting his hand. "It's okay, my name is Fukishoma Watari, I'm a Medic for the Musutafu General Hospital. I'm here to help, and I promise you're safe. Can you tell me your name?"

"M-Midoriya Izuku," Midoriya replied, staying where he was in the shadow of the ambulance. The shade was nice for his headache, but the sudden and swift movements had made everything spin, and the spinning hadn't stopped yet. Plus his ankle throbbed anew from his crawling back. He couldn't hold back a whimper, as the pain was finally all crashing down on him as the adrenaline wore off.

"Hi, Midoriya. Do you mind if I take a look at you? You might be injured more than you think, so I just want to check to make sure you're okay. If you're not too badly injured, then you'll be cleared to go back home and see your family."

"Where's Aizawa Sensei?" Midoriya asked hesitantly. His breathing started to pick up, and his eyes kept glancing around. He didn't feel right, not knowing where his Sensei was. He had to know, both for himself, and for Aizawa Sensei's sake. He had to.

"Woah!" Mr. Fukishoma replied, holding his hands up in a pacifying way. "He was taken to the hospital in an ambulance a few minutes ago."

"Was—was he alright?" Midoriya asked. He could hear his heart hammering in his ribs, and knew he needed to calm down. But he couldn't, no matter how hard he tried. He didn't think he would ever be calm again.

Mr. Fukishoma hesitated, and Midoriya let out a whine. Hesitation was never good when it came from people in the medical field, he knew. "He was being put into surgery as soon as they got to the hospital, to set his leg and mend the wound. The bandage was doing a good job for what it was, but it needed to be treated professionally. And I'm positive it would have needed stitches. I didn't see him myself, but from what I heard, he was supposed to have a full recovery, pending a successful operation."

"O-Okay," Midoriya muttered. "And the others, Ashido, Kaminari, my classmates? And what about the cashier? Are they all okay?"

"I know a few of them were taken to the hospital. From what I remember, the cashier had a concussion, but he was awake, and the medic who worked on him didn't think there would be any lasting effects from the head wound."

Finally, finally, Midoriya started to calm down. His breathing was still unsteady and labored, and he didn't think he would be completely calm until he knew that they were all safe, and saw Aizawa Sensei again, but he was fine. For now.

"Okay, thank you for telling me," He breathed out, looking up into Mr. Fukishoma's eyes to see a relieved look in them, and on the man's face.

Just then, the ground shook a bit more, and Midoriya's eyes widened as the roof of a building caved in, right in front of him. It was the roof of the convenience store they had been stuck in, and the part that caved in was just above where Aizawa Sensei had been, before they moved him.

Midoriya's mind immediately went into overdrive, his eyes blown wide, and his breathing and heart rate picking back up, becoming worse than they were before. Logically he knew that no one else was in that building, let alone Aizawa Sensei, who had already been taken away from this whole fight aftermath, and was safe in an ambulance, or hospital. But logic had very little control of him right now, and before he knew it he was already jumping out of the ambulance, his eyes being hit with the bright, hot light of the sun, and a sharp pain stabbing through his ankle as he landed on it, hard. The concrete road was not kind to his already injured ankle, and he cried out, his hands coming up to catch himself on the ground as he fell.

His head was spinning, black dots were swirling in his vision, and he felt his stomach flipping. His head was pounding with each beat of his heart, and that was not a good rhythm when his heart rate was already accelerated past what was healthy.

He heard someone call his name, and then there were hands on his shoulders. He flinched away from the burning touch, and felt as his stomach jerked and he gagged on the ground. He couldn't even see the mess he had made, as the black splotches in his vision were now increasing in size. The last thing he felt before he lost consciousness was the hoarseness in his throat as he screamed, both in worry for his teacher, and in pain from all over his body. Then the world was blissfully black, and calm.

Echoey footsteps pierced through his consciousness first, then the clean smell of antiseptics. A…hospital?

When he tried to crack his eyes open to see his surroundings, he was met with a bright light, reflecting into his eyes off white walls, and his head throbbed anew with a piercing pain.

"Aggh!" He let out through clenched teeth, one of his hands starting the motion of reaching up to his head. There was a strange pressure there to accompany the pain. After a few minutes, he tried to open his eyes again, and it was a bit easier. It was still too bright, and hurt more than he ever thought light could, but he was determined to see where he was, and what had happened. Last he remembered, they were in a convenience store getting snacks for their movie night, and then…"Sensei!" He croaked out, the word coming out as just garbled sounds through his dry lips.

Something next to his bed started beeping faster than it had been, and the hollow footsteps outside his room became even more urgent, and got louder. A moment later the door to his room swung open, and he was greeted with the sight of a worried nurse, with dull brown hair and a heart shaped face. Her eyes were worried, but when she caught his gaze looking back at here, the worry almost disappeared completely, and a smile lifted her lips.

"You're awake, that's good to see," she said, stepping further into the room. The beeping, which he now realized was from his heart-rate monitor, was still going steady, but she stepped over and turned it down, so it wasn't as grating on the ears. Then she grabbed a glass of water from his bedside table and held it in front of him, guiding the plastic straw to his mouth. He eagerly sipped from it, feeling it refresh his dry throat and lips, and hearing how his heart rate slowly calmed down.

"Where's Aizawa Sensei, is he okay? And the others?" He asked immediately after drinking, trying to sit up. But the blankets were wrapped tightly around his legs, and he couldn't quite manage to succeed.

"Ah, Fukishima told me that would most likely be your first question," the nurse said, her smile growing softer. "Your teacher is fine, although he is still unconscious from his surgery. The procedure went well, and he is resting in a room down the hall. Your other classmates are all fine as well, and they have all been released. The blonde one, Kaminari I think his name was, had his arm set and splinted, and was released about an hour ago. And the pink girl had her ankle healed by one of the specialists here, since it wasn't that bad of a sprain. I believe they were going to be treated by Recovery Girl when they got back to UA. The rest only had minor injuries, and so were never actually brought to this hospital. They were released as soon as the on-site medics cleared them at the scene. The cashier from the store you were in, however, is still here. He had a concussion, and was unresponsive the whole time the villain fight went on, I hear, so they are keeping him here for a couple days to make sure there are no effects. His family is with him in another wing of the hospital."

"Then…why am I here?" Midoriya asked, honestly confused. If his friends had been released, then why hadn't he? He hadn't been that badly hurt, surely. After all, his ankle was surely no worse than Ashido's, and she had been released, apparently.

"You…" she started, but then dropped off, and seemed to hesitate. Again, what was with these medics always hesitating when talking to him? All he did was ask simple questions. "Why do you think you shouldn't be here, Midoriya?" She asked, sitting down in one of the hard plastic chairs next to his bed.

The greenette licked his lips, thinking about it before he answered. "I wasn't hurt that badly, just like the others. The only ones hurt badly were Aizawa Sensei, Kaminari and Ashido. And Kaminari and Ashido were released already, so why wasn't I? Is it because I was still unconscious? I'm awake now, so will I be discharged?"

"No! You were hurt worse than the others, no matter what you think. It must have been the adrenaline that made you unaware of how injured you were, but…oh, I don't understand. There's no way adrenaline could have lasted for that long. Midoriya, you had a broken ankle and a bad concussion when you came in, as well as other bruising and cuts. Your hand had a large gash on it, and you've been unconscious for seven hours now."

Midoriya sat in shocked silence. Really, he thought, he shouldn't be surprised. He was known to have an insanely high pain tolerance, and he should have known that he had been unconscious for a while, if Aizawa Sensei was already out of surgery. His mother must be worried about him, as well as all his classmates. He really hated making them worry so much.

As if she was reading his mind, the nurse continued, her hands clasped gently in her lap, and a soft, yet worried, look on her face. "Your mother was notified, and she said she would come to see you as soon as she was finished at work, since she couldn't get away."

Midoriya made a noise of assent, his eyes wandering around the room until they landed on a clock. His mother's shift at work should have ended ten minutes ago, so she should be there soon. He was glad, as he did want to see her. He just knew that it wouldn't be the same as seeing Aizawa Sensei.

She then started talking about what he was hooked up to, and what kind of medicine and pain-killers they had him on. He didn't bother to listen, not really caring. He knew that whatever it was would be safe, and it's not like he would really understand any of what she was saying, anyway. "Do you need anything else, Midoriya?" The nurse asked at the end.

Snapping his focus back to her, Midoriya forced a smile to his face, and replied, "Oh! No, thank you. And thank you for all the information."

"You're very welcome, and feel free to call for me if you need anything. My name is Yashiwara." She returned his smile, then rose out of the chair and walked to the door, sending one last soft smile his way before exiting, and sliding the door closed behind her.

Midoriya felt the smile fall from his face, and he turned his head to face out the window. It was dusky outside, which made sense, as their shopping trip had been in the afternoon, and apparently seven hours had passed since then.

I hope Aizawa Sensei is okay, he thought, watching as shadows traveled across the buildings outside his hospital room. The machines in the room were beeping in the background, but he tuned those out. He could also feel several wires and tubes either in or attached to him. He really couldn't be bothered to care what they were, or if they were in or on him. He had been in the nurse's office and the hospital enough that things like that didn't bother him anymore. All that mattered was that he was alone, in an unfamiliar environment, and he didn't know where Aizawa Sensei was, and he needed to see him, couldn't they understand that!?

He lost track of time, but the world wasn't that much darker outside when his thoughts were interrupted by his room's door slamming open. His mother stood there, her chest heaving, and her breaths coming out in gasps.

"Oh! Izuku, my baby!" She exclaimed, rushing forwards and grabbing his face in her hands, tilting it in all directions as she made sure he was alright. His head started to pound even harder as she moved it, but he ignored the pain, knowing that it wouldn't last long, and it was just his mother being worried and showing how much she cared. He could also feel as that strange pressure on his head was shifted. Now that he gave it some thought, and knew that he had a concussion, he realized that it was probably a bandage wrapped around his head. He can't believe he didn't realize what it was. After all, he had had enough injuries, concussions included, that he should recognize a bandage just by the feeling.

His thoughts were once again interrupted as his face was released, and his mother sank into the chair the nurse had vacated not long before, and started rambling about how worried she had been. Midoriya found a small smile coming to his face, without him having to force it. His mother could be overbearing and overprotective, but at the end of the day, he knew she loved him, and that's all that mattered.

Well, that and Aizawa Sensei being okay, and you being near him, a small part of his mind whispered. He ignored it for the moment, choosing to focus on his mother, who was right there in front of him, instead.

She stayed with him for about half an hour, chatting with him, mostly one sided on her part, while he just smiled and commented every now and then. His eyes were starting to burn and droop with exhaustion, but he forced them open, wanting to spend as much time with his mother as he could. After that half hour, however, the nurse, Miss Yashiwara, came back in, knocking on the door to get their attention before she fully entered.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but, Mrs. Midoriya, visiting hours are over now, so we will have to ask you to leave." She smiled apologetically, but Inko just sniffed, wiped her eyes, and smiled back at her.

"Alright, that's no problem, thank you for letting me know," She said to the nurse, then turned back to Midoriya. "Izuku, I have to go now, but I'll be back tomorrow before work, if I can, okay? I love you, and I hope you feel better, sweetie." She bent down to kiss him on the forehead, and he felt the bandage flexing as she stroked his hair.

Midoriya leaned into the touch, then tipped his head back, giving her a tired smile. "Alright, Mom, I'll see you tomorrow. I love you, too."

With one last, soft, tearful glance, Midoriya Inko slipped out of the room, and her footsteps echoed down the hallway as she got farther and farther away.

Miss Yashiwara came closer to his bed, and fiddled with a few of the machines again. "Do you need anything before you go to sleep, Midoriya?" She asked.

He was about to say no, but then something came to mind. "Can I see Aizawa Sensei?" He asked, looking up at her with puppy-dog eyes.

She hesitated, looking at him, then away to the machines. "I…I don't think so, Midoriya. He's not allowed visitors at the moment, and you shouldn't be out of bed either, until you're cleared. I think we'll have to see how you're both doing tomorrow."

"Oh…" Midoriya said, dejectedly. He tried not to let his disappointment show too much, since he knew she was just doing her job, and didn't want her to feel bad. "Well, alright then. Could I, uhm, use the washroom before going to sleep?" He blushed at his question, but she didn't seem fazed by it.

"Of course you can!" She said, then leaned forward to start fiddling with the machines around him. "Let me just disconnect you from these, and I'll walk you to the bathroom." She worked as she talked, and by the time she had finished speaking she was already leveraging a hand under his back, and helping him sit up.

As he was helped into a sitting position he noticed the white cast on his right foot. Oh, yes, his broken ankle, he forgot. Was it actually broken? He didn't think it had been hurt that bad back at the store.

He must have voiced his thoughts aloud, as was his habit, because Miss Yashiwara answered him. "The break is jagged in a way that looks like it was a secondary condition break. Which means that it hadn't been broken at first, more likely it was just strained or cracked, but then you must have been using it, and applying too much pressure. This caused it to break, but it broke after the first crack, so it is more of a jagged break. That's probably why it wasn't as bad at first, and you were still able to somewhat walk on it. Although, I have no idea how you did that, as even a fracture is incredibly painful to put pressure on. The break was surprisingly clean, all together though. All it took was a minor procedure to set the bone, and they were able to just cast it. You're one tough cookie, you know that?"

He just smiled in response, and wrapped his arm around her shoulders as she helped him into a wheel chair. He might have felt embarrassed about needing one, but he really couldn't care less at that point. He was so tired, and the sooner he got to the bathroom and back, the sooner he could sleep. And then the sooner tomorrow came, the sooner he would be able to see Aizawa Sensei.

The whole process took about ten minutes, and then they were back in his room, and Miss Yashiwara was helping him back into bed. "Alright," She said, standing erect again, and hooking him back up to the machines. He noticed that it was just a heart monitor. He sent a questioning glance at it, then looked up at Miss Yashiwara.

"We're just leaving this on overnight, so that we can know if something happens to distress you. With the concussion you have, we don't want to take any chances. Even something upsetting you could spike your blood rate and pressure, which will put more pressure on the brain from the concussion. We will also have someone come wake you every couple hours to make sure that there is no lasting effect from the concussion, alright?"

Midoriya nodded, leaning back into the pillow as she straightened up. From the patient look in her eye as she explained all this to him, he could guess that she had already gone over it once before. Most likely it was when he had zoned out. He felt bad for making her explain it all twice. "Alright, thank you again, for everything, Miss Yashiwara," He said.

"It's not a problem, Midoriya. You have a good night, and remember to call if you need anything. I'll be here for another few hours before my shift ends, so I will be the one to check on you the first time, in two hours. See you later, Midoriya."

He gave her a lazy wave, his eyes already unfocusing as his body succumbed to sleep. Maybe tomorrow he could see Aizawa Sensei.

Groggily blinking his eyes awake, Midoriya became aware of someone pushing on his shoulder. As his eyes focused, he was able to make out the gentle face of Miss Yashiwara, framed by her brown hair. He made some unintelligible noise, trying to swat her hand away and go back to sleep.

She shook him again, and asked a question. He couldn't even process that before he was automatically responding. His answer must have been correct, however, as soon after that she stepped away, and he was able to fall back to sleep.

The next time he awoke, it wasn't as quietly. The first thing he was aware of was a loud beeping, and the next was several people speaking quickly and loudly next to him. Finally, he registered the strange position his body was in on the bed, and how his chest was heaving. His heart was pounding in his chest, which must have been the cause of the beeping from the heart monitor machine.

As his mind tried to process what was happening, it flashed through the last thing he remembered. What came to mind was a scene he could see vividly. The building, the convenience store they were in, collapsed right on top of Aizawa Sensei, just as Midoriya was coming back with Yaoyorozu to help him. He remembered screaming, and could feel his raw throat. It must have happened then, right?

As he thought this he registered that he was still screaming, he could feel his open mouth. It was switching between just screaming in agony, and yelling out his teacher's name in a hoarse voice. "Sensei! Aizawa Sensei!" his ears finally caught up to that sound, and his torso jerked forward as he sobbed.

He tried to curl his knees up to his chest, but found that his right leg wouldn't come all the way. The people around him were moving again, but the heart monitor was still beeping loudly.

"Midoriya, you have to calm down!" Someone yelled, seemingly right next to his ear.

He flinched back, then sobbed out "Aizawa Sensei!' Again. "Sensei! Sensei, I'm sorry, please don't leave me, please."

"Midoriya, your sensei is fine, I promise. He's in his room, sleeping peacefully." Another voice broke through his sobs and screams, and this one he recognized.

"Miss Yashiwara?" He managed to say through jerking sobs. He could feel the tears on his cheeks and gathering in his eyes as he opened them, and the image of the nurse was blurry because of them. But she was there, and familiar, and she said to ask if he needed anything, didn't she? And he did need something! He needed to know if that had actually happened, or if Aizawa Sensei was still alive. He had two conflicting memories, one where Aizawa Sensei lived and was fine, and another where he died right in front of Midoriya, because the roof collapsed right where he had been! And it had, the roof had collapsed. He had seen it from the back of the ambulance, right where Aizawa Sensei had been found.

Wait, that wasn't right. If he had been there when it collapsed, then how did he see it from the back trailer of an ambulance?

He didn't know, he just didn't know! But he needed to know, he needed it!

"Shh, shh, Midoriya," Miss Yashiwara answered. "You're alright, and so is Mr. Aizawa. He's asleep right now, you just had a dream. You're in Musutafu hospital right now, it's twelve-thirty a.m. Alright?"

"I want Aizawa Sensei." Midoriya bit out in a broken voice, then tried to curl up again, ignoring the throbbing in his head and the painful pulling sensation in his right foot.

There was some mumbling above him, but he couldn't hear it through the static in his ears. Then, finally, Miss Yashiwara's voice broke through again. "Midoriya, do you want to see your Aizawa Sensei? We can bring you to his room to see him."

After processing her words Midoriya started nodding rapidly, then winced as that caused a sharp pain to spread through his skull, focused on a point in the back. He choked on a whimper, but it must have still made its way out.

"Gentle, Midoriya, you're going to aggravate your concussion. No sudden head movements, alright?" It was that first voice that spoke, the one he didn't recognize. Who was it? "I'm Doctor Tangure, Midoriya. I'm the one in charge of both you and your Sensei, alright?"

Midoriya was about to nod again, but then remembered the doctor's instructions at the last second. Instead, he swallowed past the lump in his throat and murmured, "Yes!"

"Alright, that's good," Doctor Tangure spoke again. "Now, if we're going to take you to your Sensei's room, then you're going to have to calm down, okay? He's resting right now, and we don't want to wake him up. Can you do that for him, can you calm down?"

"Y-Yes," Midoriya sniffed, agreeing once again. It was strange, usually he was never this agreeable when it came to hospitals, or anything. But he would do whatever it took to see his Sensei. And, hopefully to see him alive, and not…no! He wasn't going to go there, Doctor Tangure and Miss Yashiwara had said Aizawa Sensei was okay, so it must be true.

Miss Yashiwara stepped towards him once more and proceeded to help him into a wheelchair, just like she did when she helped him to the bathroom. He managed to stop crying during the process, and by the time she was wheeling him down the hall, Doctor Tangure at their side, the only evidence left was the dried tear tracks, and his slightly-red eyes.

Midoriya counted the doors on his side of the hall as they passed, but even he couldn't say why. He had only counted five doors rolling past when Miss Yashiwara steered the wheelchair to face a certain door. It didn't look any different from the others, it was five doors down from Midoriya's room and looked the same as all the others, but Midoriya knew this was where Aizawa Sensei was. Once he looked in the room he would know whether his dream, no, nightmare, was real, or if Aizawa Sensei was really safe and recovering, just as the doctor and nurse had said.

He hesitated, leaning back in his chair, but before he could voice his hesitation the door was already being pushed open, Doctor Tangure's arm sliding back out of sight from where it had turned the doorknob, and Midoriya's wheelchair squeaking slightly beneath him as Miss Yashiwara wheeled him in.

They stopped just a few feet into the doorway, and Midoriya became aware of several new, yet familiar, sounds. There was the steady beeping of a heart monitor, just as had been in Midoriya's room when he woke up. It was soothing this time, though, as it meant that Aizawa Sensei was alive, and his heart was steadily pumping blood through his body, making sure he stayed that way. The next sound Midoriya became aware of was a whoosing sound, which he realized was Aizawa Sensei's breathing.

His own chest loosened at this sound, and he felt his own heart rate and breaths becoming more steady, and slower. Aizawa Sensei was alive, he was safe and so were the others. Everything would be fine now.

He swallowed once, taking a few more seconds to listen to those sounds, which he didn't think he would ever take for granted again. Then, taking a deep breath, he glanced to the side at Doctor Tangure, meeting the man's eyes and nodding, his eyes conveying the message that he was ready to go back.

"Alright, Miss Yashiwara, let's take young Midoriya here back to his room so he can get some more rest," Doctor Tangure said, looking behind Midoriya at where the brunette nurse still was. "How does that sound, Midoriya?" He addressed the last question to Midoriya, double checking to make sure the boy was really ready.

"F-fine," Midoriya stuttered, feeling the words crack on his dry throat.

"Alright, turning around now, then," Miss Yashiwara said quietly, then Midoriya felt as his chair was turned in a one-eighty, and he was wheeled back out of the room. Two sets of footsteps followed his squeaky chair down the hall, and they passed another nurse on the way back, who nodded respectfully to them. Midoriya gave him a small smile, but he was mostly distracted with counting the doors again. Four, five, he finished counting, and then he was once again turned into a room.

He patiently let Miss Yashiwara help him back onto the bed, while Doctor Tangure inspected the machines around him.

"We'll keep you off these for the time, Midoriya, as you seem to be doing fine," the doctor said, seemingly done with his inspection. "We'll keep monitoring you and your concussion for the night, but you seem to be healing just fine, and suffering no lasting damage. After you get some more rest, maybe Recovery Girl will be able to heal your ankle for you, make getting around a bit easier, eh?" He gave a little crooked smile at the end, the corners of his eyes crinkling at the movement. Midoriya smiled back, feeling comforted. "Well, I'll leave you two to it. Have a good night, Midoriya." And with a final wave, he was gone.

"Do you need anything, Midoriya?" Miss Yashiwara asked then, bringing Midoriya's attention back to her. She had asked that many times tonight, but this time Midoriya was especially glad she asked.

"Can I have some water, please?" he requested, unconsciously licking his lips.

"Of course," she replied, reaching over to something out of his sight, and pulling a plastic cup with a straw from somewhere. She held the straw out to his lips, and he eagerly grabbed it with his mouth and started sucking. He drank gratefully until his mouth was no longer so dry, then let go with a slight gasp. She kept the cup there in case he wasn't done, which he appreciated, but then took it away when he showed no signs of wanting any more.

"Alright, have a good rest of your night Midoriya, and call if you need anything."

"Thank you, you have a good night as well, Miss Yashiwara," Midoriya replied, sending her a grateful smile. He was so much calmer now that he had seen his teacher, and he hadn't even realized how worried he had been until he was no longer that worried.

She smiled at him, then dimmed the lights in the room until they were basically off, and left. Midoriya stared at the door she had left through for a few seconds, then forced himself to settle down to sleep. As he lay there he thought five. Only five rooms away. And with that thought in mind, he drifted off to sleep.

Chapter Text

Midoriya knew he had been woken up a few other times that night, but when he finally came to awareness in the morning, those instances were blurry and faded. He could recall being woken, someone standing over him and asking questions, not letting up until he responded. He knew that it had never been Miss Yashiwara, but, after a few moments of thought, he remembered that she had been ending her shift.

He laid in bed that morning after he woke up, trying to sort through his thoughts and memories. It was all blurry, and it almost seemed to hurt when he tried to think about anything too deeply. Must be the concussion, his sluggish mind thought. Sunlight was streaming through the window, the thin, white curtains not doing much to block out nature's lamp, but that was fine.

Midoriya could feel his heart hammering in his chest, as an unprecedented fear lazily lapped through his blood, and he was slightly confused at the lack of a beeping next to him. Then he remembered that the heart monitor had been disconnected the night before, after he went to see Aizawa Sensei. Not that he had seen the man much, he had really just entered the room long enough to know that the man was alive.

And now, in the morning light, where everything that had happened in the past eight hours was a blur, Midoriya wasn't even sure of the supposed truth that his teacher had been alive. He had heard beeping, and what he had thought was lungs breathing. But maybe he had misheard, maybe those were just standard hospital noises, or maybe that hadn't even been Aizawa Sensei's room at all! It was five doors down, he remembered that, and something in his brain thought it should be reassuring, but what was five doors down?

Where was Aizawa Sensei, was he okay?

Midoriya's thoughts kept spiraling down and down and down, and he could feel as his heart rate picked up. His body didn't seem to be able to do anything about it, though; it just stayed there, laying on his bed and staring at the ceiling, eyes wide and growing dry as he refused to blink. The dryness was shortly replaced with something wet, trails of salt water building until they streamed down his cheeks. He didn't even have the energy, the will, to sob. All he could do was lay there on his back, unmoving except for the swimming tears in his eyes.

Aizawa Sensei was probably dead, the building crushed him, the roof had fallen in where he had been, he was still injured, he couldn't move, wasn't conscious, Midoriya didn't get to him in time, he failed his teacher, he failed his hero, he failed his…his…his parental figure, his safe place! Aizawa Sensei had been someone, one of the rare, few adults Midoriya could trust, and he was gone!

He wasn't sure how long he stayed like that, mourning the man he thought he lost, but soon his sorrow was interrupted by a knock on the door. He slowly, lethargically, turned his head, feeling a cold spot on his cheek when his tears were pressed between his face and the pillow. His mouth felt dry when he opened it, and the only thing that escaped his throat was a cut off croak. Whoever was on the other side didn't seem to mind, though, and came in anyway.

It was a nurse, but it wasn't Yashiwara. This one had a longer face, and her hair, tied up in a bun, was black, rather than Miss Yashiwara's dark brown. Midoriya watched her as she entered the room. He saw a smile on her face as she greeted him, but couldn't find the effort to even think about returning the gesture.

"Ah, Midoriya!" She exclaimed, offering a quick bow. "You're up, that's good. "I'm Kumoki." She walked over to him and started looking at a few machines, and then checking things he was hooked up to that he couldn't even register. As she did her inspection, she asked him a question. "Can you please tell me your birthday, Midoriya?"

He was confused, but realized after a few seconds that this was one of the questions he had been asked a lot, when they woke him up to check on his concussion. He had to sniff a couple times to clear his airway, then was able to mumble out, "July 15."

"Good," she said, standing back up and meeting his gaze. "Why are you crying, Midoriya, is there anything I can do for you, something you need?"

She wasn't as nice as Miss Yashiwara had been, so Midoriya wasn't sure whether he should ask his question or not. But, after a few moments' consideration, his need to know outweighed any hesitance he had with a strange nurse.

"Is…is Aizawa Sensei…okay?" He asked with another sniff. He slowly, carefully, brought his right arm up to wipe just beneath his nose, feeling as the motion tugged on the thin hospital pajamas he was wearing.

The nurse, Miss Kumoki, looked confused for a few seconds, then her expression smoothed out. "I believe so. I was in to see him this morning, and he was doing just fine. He still hasn't woken up yet, but his condition is steadily improving. Doctor Tangure thinks he should be waking up soon."

Midoriya mulled the words over in his mind, trying to gather every ounce of reassurance from them he could, holding them close to his heart and letting the good news warm him from the inside out.

"Can I see him?" He asked hopefully, glancing up at her from the side, beneath his limp bangs. He needed a shower, but that was definitely not high on his priorities list. No, the highest item on his list of priorities was seeing Aizawa Sensei, so he just hoped Miss Kumoki would let him.

"He's not supposed to have visitors until he wakes up, I'm sorry," was her reply, which dashed his hopes and extinguished the light from his eyes. "However, we have heard from your mother this morning, and she should be here within a half-an-hour now to see you. Do you want some help to the bathroom before she gets here, and then2 I can straighten up your bed?"

Midoriya didn't want that, he wanted to see Aizawa Sensei, but he knew better than to argue. So, instead, he nodded, and let her help him back into the wheelchair, which he saw was kept in a corner of his room for easy use. After he had been to the bathroom and back, with the assistance of Miss Kumoki, he waited in the wheelchair while she straightened up the sheets and blanket on the bed, then patiently let her help him lay back down. By the time they had done all that, and after Miss Kumoki raised the back of his bed so he was sitting up more, his mother had arrived, coming through the door like a rainstorm, fierce and strong, and with water dripping to the floor.

Midoriya visited with his mother for an hour, listening to her worries, smiling as she dried her tears, and reassuring her over and over again that he was alright, and that he was sorry for worrying her.

She left after that hour, kissing him on the forehead and saying that she would return that evening after her work shift. He smiled back at her, it was small, but it was at least a smile, and told her he loved her. As soon as she was gone, however, his smile fell, and his gaze also dropped, landing on his hands, which were wringing each repeatedly in his lap.

There wasn't much to do, besides stew in his thoughts and listen to the commotion in the hospital halls. Miss Kumoki had left when his mother arrived, and she hadn't come back. Finally having had enough with drowning in his worries, Midoriya shifted on the bed, swinging his legs over the side and standing up, grimacing as his casted right foot touched the ground. He quickly lifted it up, just the toes of the bulky cast skimming the floor. There, that wasn't so bad.

He hopped forward on one foot, carefully letting go of the bedrail with one hand and reaching out for the next support he could use. It happened to be some large machine set up next to his bed, but he didn't think it was even on, so he only felt slightly bad for using it as a support to do something he wasn't supposed to do.

But, Aizawa Sensei didn't call him "Problem Child" for nothing, so he set his mind and will, and hopped forward. It was slow going, and when he got to the door of his room, grabbing tightly to it with one hand, he looked both ways to make sure no one was coming, before hopping out and turning to the right, looking at the long line of doors he had to traverse before he would get to his goal.

Midoriya was nothing if not stubborn, however, and he kept at it, hopping down the cold, white hospital halls, and just hoping that no one would come around to stop him. One, hop some more. Two, more hopping, and in that way, he passed by five doors. His heart sped up as he got to where he knew Aizawa Sensei to be. The door was closed, the room silent beyond, but Midoriya steeled his nerves and turned the doorknob, awkwardly hopping forward as it swung away from him.

The teen was quick to shuffle in and close the door behind himself, not wanting anyone to know he was in there. He breathed out a quick sigh of relief once he was inside and behind the closed door, then trepidatiously turned on his one socked foot, wide eyes taking in the sight of the room he had just entered.

It was very similar to his, as far as layout, but there was one, big difference. Instead of the messy but empty bed he had left behind in his room, the bed in this one was occupied. The sheets were pulled up to the chin of the person, the only things showing being the bare arms and the face, but that was more than enough for Midoriya to know it was the right room.

There was Aizawa Sensei, just five feet in front of him, and even as Midoriya watched, he saw the sheets rise slowly, then fall only slightly quicker as the man breathed. The machines set up next to the bed, and connected to the unconscious man by wires that Midoriya didn't know the purpose of, were beeping and humming steadily, showing steady vitals that even Midoriya understood enough to release some of the tension in his shoulders and the set of his jaw.

He shuffled forward, slowly and hesitantly, until he was able to grab the back of the chair set by Aizawa Sensei's bed, and slowly settle into it. He was right next to him, the only person in this hospital that Midoriya could feel safe with, one of the few people in the world that he felt safe with. He was here, he was alive, Midoriya hadn't killed him.

The tears that the greenette had been suppressing since earlier that morning came back with a vengeance, and soon he was full out sobbing next to his teacher's hospital bed as the man slept.

Time passed, but Midoriya wouldn't have been able to tell you how much. He was jolted out of his crying when the door behind him opened. Spinning around quickly in his chair, and swiping a hand across his face to get rid of the tears, he watched as Miss Kumoki entered the room. She stopped in the doorway when she saw him, and her jaw dropped. Heat rose to Midoriya's cheeks just as she snapped out of her shock.

"Midoriya!" She exclaimed, rushing towards him and stopping next to the chair. He crouched down into it, trying to get away from her reproachful gaze. It didn't work. "You are supposed to be resting in your room, not disturbing our other patients, especially when they aren't supposed to be receiving visitors." He let out a hiccup as the tears returned, but these were more tears of fear than they were of regret, and her expression softened just the tiniest bit as her hands fell down from where they had been firmly planted on her hips. "I told you you could see him once he woke up, but you need to let him rest, Midoriya."

Sniff, sniff. He couldn't stop the tears, they just kept streaming down his face, and then his shoulders were jerking with the force of his sobs.

"Come on, Midoriya, let's get you back to your room," she said with a sigh, reaching down to gently but firmly grab his arm, ready to haul him up. Both their attentions, however, were suddenly drawn to the bed when there was a rustling sound.

Midoriya stopped crying at once, instead straining his ears to catch that sound again. There! His eyes snapped to Aizawa Sensei's left hand, the one closest to them, which was twitching, curling around the scratchy hospital blankets.

Miss Kumoki let go of Midoriya's arm and started checking the readings on the machines, then crouched over Aizawa Sensei. Midoriya sank back down into the chair once again, trying to make himself as small as possible while the nurse fussed over his teacher. The boy's tears had frozen in place, and he felt one fall down his cheek as he watched, but he couldn't even be bothered to swipe it away. All of his attention was focused on Aizawa Sensei, and so he was able to see as soon as the man cracked his eyes open.

Midoriya didn't have a good angle to see the man's face, but he heaved out a relieved breath when he saw those eyes open. He was so focused on the face of the man in the bed that he entirely missed the words Miss Kumoki asked him. He saw Aiawa Sensei's lips moving, and then the nurse was holding a plastic straw up to his mouth.

Midoriya refocused on the conversation just as Miss Kumoki was saying, "I'll take Midoriya here back to his room, and then fetch Doctor Tangure to look at you." She had straightened up from where she was leaning over Aizawa Sensei, and Midoriya tried to press himself farther into the chair. He didn't want to be taken back, he wanted to stay with Aizawa Sensei, where he was safe, and where he could make sure the man was still alive. It was silly, he knew that, but he couldn't help but be terrified at the thought of leaving the man.

It seemed he didn't have to leave right away, however, as Aizawa Sensei's next words, spoken a bit louder and more clearly, stopped Miss Kumoki and made her turn back towards the man.

"Midoriya?" Aizawa Sensei's voice was scratchy and rough, more than usual, when he spoke, but it was like music to Midoriya's ears. The boy leapt up, scooting the chair ahead and leaning forward until he was sure Aizawa Sensei could see him.

"I'm here, Sensei," he said breathlessly.

"Is…is everyone okay?" The man asked, shifting in the bed with a wince. Miss Kumoki fussed around him, but he waved her away. Finally, she settled on raising the back of the bed slightly for him, and stepping to the side with a resigned expression while the teacher and his student talked.

"Yes, they're fine, Sensei, Kaminari and Ashido were both treated yesterday and sent home, and the others were sent home right after they were cleared after the…the collapse." Midoriya had to swallow back his fear as he remembered the villain fight and collapse they had been a part of, which was why they were now here. It seemed like it was years ago, and also like it happened only a few minutes prior. It was hard to realize that it had been just the day before.

"And what about you, Problem Child?"

"I'm fine," was the immediate reply, together with a shaky smile. Aizawa Sensei raised an eyebrow, then craned his neck up to look over at the nurse.

Miss Kumoki cleared her throat, then said, almost as if she was reciting from a paper, "Midoriya has a broken ankle as well as a serious concussion, as well as the multiple minor wounds and a larger cut on his hand, which have since been healed with the quirk of one of the doctors here."

Huh, now that Midoriya thought about it, his hand wasn't bandaged and didn't hurt anymore. That was new since the day prior, the doctor must have healed him overnight while Midoriya was sleeping.

"Then what is doing out of bed?" Aizawa Sensei asked, directing that question, as well as a stern look, to Midoriya. The boy floundered for a response, his hands flapping in the air as he searched for a good excuse that would be accepted by his strict but caring teacher. However, he knew that no answer of his would be acceptable, so he was grateful when Miss Kumoki answered for him.

"Midoriya has been worried about you ever since he woke up yesterday in the evening, we've been hard pressed to keep him away from you, and he snuck out of his room earlier. I was just going to take him back when you woke up, Mr. Aizawa."

Aizawa Sensei looked back at Midoriya, staring into his eyes as the boy cowered, unable to drop his gaze from his teacher's. It seemed that the man found something in there, however, that helped Midoriya's case, even if the boy had no idea what it might be.

"That's alright, I'd like to talk with Midoriya for a bit, alone."

"I really should have Doctor Tangure examine you first, Mr. Aizawa, and you're not technically supposed to have visitors yet. Plus, Midoriya is supposed to stay off his feet until his ankle is healed more." Miss Kumoki's protests, however, fell on mostly-deaf ears.

Aizawa Sensei thought for a moment, then said, "Bring that chair over here for Midoriya to prop his foot up on. And I'm fine, I don't need to be examined."

"But, Mr. Aizawa, your leg—" Midoriya was cut off when Aizawa Sensei raised a hand. Miss Kumoki, it seemed, had decided not to protest against the stubborn, determined hero in front of her, however, and wasted no time in pulling the hard plastic chair to just iin front of where Midoriya was still sitting, and carefully lifting his leg so it was propped up.

Aizawa Sensei nodded at her in thanks, and she bowed quickly, then left the room without a word.

"My leg is fine, Midoriya, I'm on strong painkillers, so it doesn't hurt all that much," Aizawa Sensei started out with, turning in the bed so he could see Midoriya more clearly. The teen shifted anxiously in his seat, feeling exposed under that scrutinous gaze. But he knew that he wouldn't want to be anywhere else, or he would be too terrified at being away from his teacher to feel comfortable anyway.

"Then, maybe you should be resting…" Midorya tried, trailing off at the end. It didn't work either way, not that he had had much hope for it.

"Midoroya, stop beating around the bush. Why are you disobeying the doctor's orders? You were, are, injured, and you need to give your body rest so it can heal. There is no need for you to monitor me, as far as I can see, so tell me what was running through that brain of yours."

Midoriya ducked his head, not wanting to admit his fear, his weakness, to his sensei, but knowing that he didn't really have a choice. Aizawa Sensei wouldn't let him leave until he knew the truth, and the longer it took, the longer it would be before the doctor could look the man over.

It was this thought that spurred Midoriya on to start talking, although it could probably be more aptly described as stammering, as he tried to explain his thought process, which was a hard thing to do on a good day, let alone when they were both in the hospital for serious injuries, including concussions.

"I, I was scared, I didn't know if you were okay, or, or, or if you were even alive, cause I saw the building collapse, and that's right where you were, and I heard your heart and breathing, but then I couldn't remember, and I didn't know if it was you, and I thought you had died, and you can't die, Sensei, cause then I'd be all alone." The tears were back in his eyes, but he only spared a moment to breathe and wipe them away violently, before he continued. "And I don't feel safe here, cause there's too many windows, and strange people, and noises, and doors, and it's not a safe place, so I need a safe person, but other than Mom, and maybe All Might, you're the only one I feel completely safe with, but I didn't even know if you were alive, if we got you out in time, because the building fell, Sensei, and what if you were still inside? You would have died!"

He brought both hands up to his face then, balling his fingers into fists and viciously wiping at the tears streaming steadily from his eyes. They were blurring his vision, and there were big red splotches on his eyes from the pressure of him wiping them away, and he couldn't see Aizawa Sensei, unable to calm down.

"Shh, Midoriya, kid, it's okay," his teacher's calm, steady voice finally made it through to him, and then there was a hand buried in his curls, warm and strong and there and alive! "It's alright, Problem Child, just calm down, okay? I'm right here, with you, and we're both okay. I'm alive, you got me out, and even if you hadn't, it wouldn't have been your fault, got that?"

After a few more hiccupy breaths, Midoriya was finally able to direct his gaze up to his teacher. Mouth dropping open at the sight of the man pressed against the bed rail, arm stretched out so he could plant his hand atop the boy's head, Midoriya tried to come up with a way to tell his teacher to sit back down and stop straining himself. Before he could come up with the words, however, Aizawa Sensei gave the green curls one last ruffled, then took his hand back and settled more comfortably onto the hospital mattress.

"Midoriya, I'm going to tell you something I've noticed since the beginning of the year, and I'm going to need you to be honest with me, alright?"

Midoriya nodded numbly, his mind still trying to wrap around everything he had spewed out to his teacher, and what was even happening. His concussion was still making it a bit hard to think, but he was pretty sure he just spilled all his fears and pathetic weaknesses to the one person he didn't want to have a bad opinion of him.

"So, if I'm right, you look for safe places in any room or place you enter, finding places where you can be safe in the case of a threat. And you also look for safe people you could go to, noting where they are, and watching any time they move. Is that right?" Aizawa Sensei's question was very direct and plainly put, and Midoriya felt a blush rising to his face as he nodded slowly. "Good, now, I don't mean to presume, but I've noticed for a while that you always see where I am whenever you enter a room or go anywhere, and always know where I've been. So, Midoriya, am I one of your safe people?"

Midoriya just nodded again, letting his gaze drop to his lap, finding himself unable to meet the man's eyes anymore.

"Alright." Aizawa Sensei's voice was even as he spoke, no sign of scorn or a scoff in it at all. It gave Midoriya the courage to look up again, but he kept his head ducked, peeking between his bangs. "Can you please tell me everything that happened in that convenience store? I don't remember much after the first collapse."

Midoriya took a deep breath in, his mind searching back through his memories to get everything straight, then he started talking. It took a while to recount everything, and he trembled slightly as he relived a few of the parts, his voice stuttering and stumbling over when they had to remove the metal shard from Aizawa Sensei's leg. It was a rushed account, and he was sure that the teacher would be pressing him and the others for more details later, as well as looking at the police report. But it seemed that the sloppy retelling was enough for the man at the moment.

"Thank you for telling me, Midoriya. You all did well in that situation, I'm proud of you. And I'm grateful. It sounds like, if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be here right now. So, thank you."

"I—I didn't do much, though, it was the police and heroes, and the medics, who cleared the area that got us out," was Midoriya's muttered response.

"Yes, that may be, but it was you who knew where to find me, and who got me out before the roof collapsed. And, if what I understood from your story and ramble is correct, it collapsed just about where I had been."

Midoriya nodded, biting his lip. His heart still sped up whenever he remembered it. The image of the secondary collapse was so fresh, in the forefront of his memories, and he imagined it would spark fear in him to remember it for a while to come, even when he had a living, breathing Aizawa Sensei right in front of him.

"Midoriya, I remember moving around in that convenience store while you were all shopping, trying to keep an eye on you all. There was no way any of the others would have known where I was in the store, let alone where exactly in the collapse and rubble I was. But you, because you always track where I am, were able to dig me out and get me the medical treatment I needed before the medics showed up, and before the roof collapsed again. I need you to understand this, because it looks like you feel guilty, and I can't imagine why."

Midoriya didn't think he had ever heard Aizawa Sensei say so much at once, and definitely not in such a soft voice. It was making him cry, or maybe it was just that everything was making him cry. He wasn't sure, all he knew was that he was crying, again.

"But I, I…It may have helped this time, but it's creepy!" Midoriya managed to say, before he curled in on himself. "I shouldn't know where you are all the time, that's creepy and stalkerish of me."

"Midoriya, no," Aizawa Sensei said softly, and then a few seconds later his hand was back. Midoriya looked up and saw a brief wince on the man's face, before it was smoothed away. He sniffed, but scooted his chair even closer to the bed, so the man wouldn't have to reach so far. He would have told Aizawa Sensei to sit back and rest, but he knew the man wouldn't have listened and, if Midoriya was being honest, he needed the comfort, even if just for a little bit.

"You're not creepy, and you're not a stalker. You're just trying to practice self-preservation in the only way you know how, and I am so proud of you for that. Goodness knows you don't have any other self-preservation instincts." Midoriya could hear the small smirk in Aizawa Sensei's voice, and it gave him the courage to once again meet his teacher's gaze. He sniffed, then offered a small, weak, wobbly smile. But that was okay, because it was a start.

It was the start of a smile, and it was the start of much more. It was the start of Aizawa gaining hope that his student would have some basic self-preservation instincts in the future. It was the start of Midoriya letting more people in, and of accepting the small things he had that set him apart from others, even if he thought they were bad. He had people who cared about him now, who would reassure him over and over again that he wasn't creepy, and that they loved him.

It was the start of healing, the healing of both the physical wounds, and the invisible, mental, psychological ones, for both of them. It was the start of something new, something good, and it all came about because of Midoriya Izuku's gravitation towards a safe place, towards his teacher, Aizawa Shouta.