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The fluorescent lights buzz loudly, drilling a migraine into Izuku’s head as he sits slumped on the stiff, plastic waiting room chair that he’s claimed for himself. He feels almost as if his body is molding to the chair's shape, melting into it and slowly becoming one with the fibers the longer he inhabits it.
He tightens his arm around his aching stomach and shuts his eyes, just for a blissful moment of darkness, then tiredly looks at the clock on his phone. The fact that an entire hour has passed since he last checked only registers enough to get him to open the group chat and update his friends.
king deku 🐇⚔️👑
im still here
uravity | dekusquad deputy
????? r u serious?? its been like 5 hours already wtf
uravity | dekusquad deputy
they still havent seen you?
king deku 🐇⚔️👑
nope
zoom meeting
midoriya did you tell the nurses how much pain you're in?
Izuku blinks slowly, dragging his eyes over the words. He glances up at the front desk, and watches, for a moment, as an elderly woman in a wheelchair talks with the nurse stationed there. The nurse has stepped out from behind the desk, and is crouched in front of the woman with a sympathetic, but polite, smile plastered on her face. The conversation doesn't seem to be stopping anytime soon.
king deku 🐇⚔️👑
there's someone talking to the nurse rn
uravity | dekusquad deputy
excuses. go tell someone 🔫
Izuku looks back up at the desk again, and in the time he’d taken to tap out a single message, another person is already standing there waiting to talk to the nurse. He cringes and slides down in his seat, the cringe turning to a grimace as sharp pain shoots through his abdomen with the motion.
king deku 🐇⚔️👑
anxiety says no
uravity | dekusquad deputy
Tell Someone.
king deku 🐇⚔️👑
its rly hard to get the energy to move when I know its gonna hurt
keroppi best frog
im sorry midoriya :( if it hurts that bad you really need to tell someone tho
uravity | dekusquad deputy
yeah literally TELL SOMEONE that it hurts to move
Izuku groans quietly to himself. He hates this discomfort he’s in, hates that he can’t just push through it like he usually does with his pain.
king deku 🐇⚔️👑
even if its not my appendix I'm gonna beat it up mysel f
shouto | dekusquad sheriff
hmmmmmm dont do that
shouto | dekusquad sheriff
as the sheriff ill have to arrest you for crimes against deku
king deku 🐇⚔️👑
too late im already chargin up a punch
uravity | dekusquad deputy
hfjkhfhg deku pls
uravity | dekusquad deputy
also stop stalling 🔪🔪🔪
king deku 🐇⚔️👑
yep. 100% standing up now
After finally managing to muster together some strength, Izuku peels himself away from his chair and stands. He wobbles unsteadily as he tries to find his balance again after so many hours stagnant, and a wave of weakness washes through him, leaving all his limbs trembling.
Just as expected, his first step stabs a sharp bolt of pain into his abdomen. He’s aware of the eyes of the other waiting patients on him as he shuffles his way across the waiting room, but Izuku is too focused on keeping his breathing steady and actually getting to the counter to care about all the attention.
The nurse looks up from the computer as he arrives, and her expression makes Izuku feel rather… small. But his head is so foggy and heavy, that he’s sure he’s just reading her wrong.
"Uhm, are you who I would talk to if I want to update someone on my condition?” he asks.
The nurse blinks uninterestedly, then shakes her head. “You have to go to triage,” she says, and points across the room to the short door he’d gone through when he first arrived, where a nurse had taken his vitals and given him his hospital wristband before sending him out to the waiting room – and the chair he just sat in for the past five hours.
“Thanks.”
He makes his way over there now, then awkwardly hovers in the doorway until the nurse inside the room looks up from her computer, sees him, and prompts him with a, “Yes?”
“I–” Izuku’s voice cracks, so he swallows thickly and starts again. “I just wanted to let someone know that the pain has gotten worse. And I'm– I'm really concerned it might be my appendix."
The nurse’s fingers go still in the air over the keyboard. She gives Izuku an odd look.
"Appendicitis is very rare, honey," she says with a sweet, but admonishing tone. “Only quirkless people really get it anymore.”
She thinks I'm lying, or playing a prank. "I r-really do think that though!" he blurts out. "I keep feeling a stabbing pain in my right side and I–"
"Well I'm sorry but there's still nothing I can do," the nurse cuts him off dismissively, “and not just for you, but for everyone. There aren't enough beds. If someone were dying I'd be able to take them back there and get them treated but if your vitals are stable you'll have to wait."
He drags his feet dejectedly back to his chair – which has miraculously stayed empty in the time he was away – and drops himself down heavily into it. Something he immediately regrets, as his body lights up with searing pain, that burns him all the way deep into his core.
Fighting through the pain, he pulls his phone out again.
king deku 🐇⚔️👑
the nurse said I need to keep waiting
uravity | dekusquad deputy
ARE YOU SERIOUS?
zoom meeting
did they give a reason?
king deku 🐇⚔️👑
im so frustrated
king deku 🐇⚔️👑
like i really do kinda hope its nothing but it still hurts a lot
king deku 🐇⚔️👑
im just so tired but i know it sounds like im whining
zoom meeting
midoriya we’ve been over this whatever you consider “whining” is usually never actually whinin
king deku 🐇⚔️👑
i woke up at 1am and then recovery girl wasn’t on campus so i had to get permission to go off campus and then i woke u guys up with my panic and now ths sun is coming up but im still here waiting and i hate it
king deku 🐇⚔️👑
she said it was because they don’t have enough beds
eraserhead 2.0
just got off patrol w sensei lemme backread
eraserhead 2.0
midoriya you could be there all day if they’re that backed up
king deku 🐇⚔️👑
i know i feel lke im gonna cry
shouto | dekusquad sheriff
code red we have a code red
uravity | dekusquad deputy
itll be ok
do you want me to come there to b with you
king deku 🐇⚔️👑
no id feel bad if you came all this way and it was nothing
keroppi best frog
it doesnt sound like nothing midoriya it sounds like youre in a lot of pain and we all think you should have someone with you
uravity | dekusquad deputy
i can be there super quickly deku
uravity | dekusquad deputy
the bus stop by UA should have another bus in 10 minutes and the night route goes by the hospital
king deku 🐇⚔️👑
i dont want to burden you
uravity | dekusquad deputy
i offered
king deku 🐇⚔️👑
mm
fhggh
yeah
yeah okay
i think i need a friend
eraserhead 2.0
im already here
uravity | dekusquad deputy
SHINSOU??????????
king deku 🐇⚔️👑
WHATH
eraserhead 2.0
i figured id pull his own trick on him and just wouldnt ask if he wanted help. id just show up. and it was the right choice
king deku 🐇⚔️👑
id feel more called out if i wasnt still in a lot of pain
you win this round shinsou
shouto | dekusquad sheriff
how did you get there so quickly
eraserhead 2.0
we were already downtown so i told sensei that midoriya had been waiting in the hospital since 1am and he said, and i quote, “If the pain is bad enough that Midoriya is acknowledging it then it must be serious”
king deku 🐇⚔️👑
😔💀
eraserhead 2.0
and then he let me go
eraserhead 2.0
everybody say thank you sensei
king deku 🐇⚔️👑
fhkjhdjhgh
thank you sensei
shouto | dekusquad sheriff
thank you sensei
uravity | dekusquad deputy
thank you sensei
keroppi best frog
thank you sensei
zoom meeting
thank you sensei
eraserhead 2.0
yall didnt really have to say it
uravity | dekusquad deputy
yes we did
eraserhead 2.0
understandable have a nice day
eraserhead 2.0
midoriya I’m coming through the doors rn
Izuku looks up, and watches the door with teary-eyed relief as a familiar head of mussed up purple hair enters into the hospital waiting room. Izuku takes his arm away from his stomach to give a quick wave when he notices his friend scanning the room, and Shinsou makes his way over.
“How are you holding up?” Shinsou asks, with more genuine concern in his voice than Izuku has ever heard before. “Oh, by the way, figured you’d be hungry so I gotcha a snack.”
He drops a brown paper fast-food bag in Izuku’s lap, and Izuku isn’t fast enough to stop his stomach from rumbling at the tantalizing smell of grease that wafts from it.
“I’m not gonna eat anything yet,” he says, weakly pushing the bag back into Shinsou’s hands with clear reluctance. “If they need to do surgery I don’t want it to be a problem.”
Shinsou stares at him for a long moment, then says, “I hate that that makes sense, but Midoriya, how long has it been since you’ve eaten?”
Izuku winces and looks away. He shrugs one shoulder as he curls in on himself a bit more. “Since dinner last night, so not too long.”
“That was at 8pm. It’s 6am.”
“Can we stop talking about eating?” Izuku begs when his stomach cramps and grumbles unhappily again.
Shinsou, to his credit, looks apologetic. “Yeah, sure, but I mean, someone’s gotta eat this,” he gestures at the bag.
Izuku groans, shutting his eyes and leaning his head back. “Go ahead, it’ll take away the temptation.
eraserhead 2.0
i brought midoriya food but he REFUSED my offering of kindness
uravity | dekusquad deputy
what!!!!!! why would you refuse free food deku
king deku 🐇⚔️👑
im not eating rn just in case they end up needing to do surgery but don’t worry once im free im so ordering food
uravity | dekusquad deputy
👀 what kinda food
king deku 🐇⚔️👑
im getting boba and no one can stop me
uravity | dekusquad deputy
correct answer
Neither of them say anything more after that, both of them content to be quiet while the rest of the waiting room buzzes around them. Izuku doesn’t know if he could focus enough through the pain to hold a conversation anyways. It’s only getting worse and worse the longer he waits, until he feels almost like he’s getting sawed in half. His face is getting hot too, and he’s sure he’s beginning to sweat.
A rough hand curls around his wrist, but Izuku doesn’t react to the touch. He hears Shinsou swear softly under his breath before he speaks. “Your pulse is really fast. I’m gonna go get someone, just wait here okay?”
All Izuku can do is make a small grunt of acknowledgement, and bob his head in a slight nod.
The hand leaves his wrist, and Izuku’s arm drops back down to its place wrapped around his middle. He zones out, losing himself in the waves of heat that pass over him and the sharp stabbing pain that won’t leave him alone.
A gentle tugging on his shoulders brings back his awareness. Someone is urging him to his feet, and helping him stand.
Izuku squints and sees a haze of purple, and his friend’s grimacing face. “...Shinsou?”
“I got a nurse, Midoriya,” Shinsou says. “You’re getting a room and the doctor’s gonna look at you now.”
“Oh,” Izuku stumbles forwards, but he feels a bit more alert hearing that at last, after five hours, he’s going to be getting some help. “Finally, thought I’d be in that chair forever.”
Shinsou tosses a glare at the nurse. “Well, hopefully they’ll be able to figure out what’s wrong quickly.”
king deku 🐇⚔️👑
alright time for blood work
eraserhead 2.0
wooo
we ❤️ blood
king deku 🐇⚔️👑
we dOnt
i like keeping my blood inside my body thanks
but this time it has answers to our questions
eraserhead 2.0
blood secrets
blood rituals
king deku 🐇⚔️👑
shinsou
eraserhead 2.0
divining answers from the blood sacrifice
keroppi best frog
shinsou why are u responding in the gc if ur right there
eraserhead 2.0
they took midoriya to a special blood stealing room
king deku 🐇⚔️👑
[image: Shinsou sitting cross legged on an empty hospital bed, looking down at his phone]
liar
eraserhead 2.0
okay so they didnt take him to a blood stealing room they just took his blood n then hooked him up to an IV of fluids in the same room we’ve been in
king deku 🐇⚔️👑
they gave me pain meds too wooooo
uravity | dekusquad deputy
FINALLY
king deku 🐇⚔️👑
dare i say it its nice to not be in pain
eraserhead 2.0
midoriya is afraid of needles he’s trying rly hard not to look at his IV
king deku 🐇⚔️👑
ITS NOT THE NEEDLE ITS THE FACT THAT ITS UNDER MY SKIN
shouto | dekusquad sheriff
midoriya youve been in the hospital so many times though how have u survived
king deku 🐇⚔️👑
listen,,
king deku 🐇⚔️👑
oh would you look at that they want to take me to get an ultrasound to look at my appendix also bc im trans and it could be Other Things
king deku 🐇⚔️👑
bye everyone
uravity | dekusquad deputy
get back here coward
keroppi best frog
shinsou is that true
eraserhead 2.0
oh yea they really did take him for an ultrasound like a nurse came in w a wheelchair n everything
eraserhead 2.0
it was rly funny seeing midoriya try to refuse the wheelchair but then they slapped him w “its hospital policy” and wheeled him away
eraserhead 2.0
now im just chillin here
eraserhead 2.0
im still in my hero gear btw like ive Been in my gear and the nurses keep givin me Looks
uravity | dekusquad deputy
they think ur cool
eraserhead 2.0
hmmmmmmmmmm doubt
eraserhead 2.0
wait midoriya just came back bye losers
zoom meeting
keep us updated
eraserhead 2.0
will do boss
“So what is it?” Shinsou asks, leaning forwards on the bed after tossing his phone behind him.
Shinsou looks so worried, and well, Izuku will admit, he probably does look terrible. He’s sure his pale face and trembling arms would worry anyone.
“Well they pressed on my gut a lot,” Izuku says, as he gingerly hauls himself out of the wheelchair used to ferry him back to the hospital room. “And now I hurt even more.”
“Bastards,” Shinsou says. “But go on. I know you were probably analyzing every detail you noticed while on your way back here.”
Izuku sighs, and lays back on the bed. Right now, with how exhausted he is, it feels like a cloud. “Don’t let my ability to talk fool you,” he says. “I’m genuinely in so much pain right now. And the ultrasound technician made a bunch of faces when she was pressing on my right side, which isn’t great, because that’s where the appendix is, which I told the nurse I was worried about from the start.”
“Okay hold up,” Shinsou interjects. “I still don’t know what the hell an appendix even is.”
“Oh my gosh, why?” Izuku groans loudly. “It’s the cockroach of useless organs! Even if quirked people don’t have it anymore, that's a recent thing!”
Before Shinsou can comment on the many weird parts of that statement, there’s a knock on the door. The doctor enters quickly after, barely waiting for a response before coming in with a nurse in tow. The nurse immediately is bustling around Izuku, adjusting the railings on the side of the bed, fiddling with his I.V.
“Uhm, hi,” Izuku squeaks, addressing them both. He doesn’t really like the more serious expression the doctor has on now, as opposed to earlier when the woman was explaining why blood tests were needed.
“We need to operate,” the doctor says abruptly.
“Wait what–” Shinsou blurts, eyes going wide.
“The results of the blood test showed an extremely high white blood cell count,” the doctor continues, “which, combined with the other symptoms you have, is almost a sure sign of appendicitis. We could wait on the ultrasounds to be more confident, but I’d rather we get in there and get it out quickly rather than let it burst in that time.”
“B-Burst?” Izuku stammers, going white. “But wait, so, i-it hasn’t yet?”
“Not yet, but it’s definitely infected.”
Izuku lets his head fall back, and he stares dazedly at the ceiling for a moment while trying to process. “Oh gosh… D-Do you need my mom’s permission to operate?”
“No, actually, but your friend can call her or anyone else you’d like to inform, if you want them here,” the doctor says. She gives Izuku a sympathetic smile, but it doesn’t do a thing to soften the severity of her next words. “But right now, it’s critical that we get started as fast as possible.”
“I’ll call Aizawa-sensei and your mom,” Shinsou says. He reaches out, and gives Izuku a quick pat on the shoulder. “Just let them drug you up, I'll handle it.”
Izuku blinks at him. “You’ve got such a way with words when it comes to reassuring people.”
“I try.”
Another nurse enters the room. Izuku glances at the waiting nurses and doctor, then back to Shinsou. “I have to go lose an organ now.”
Shinsou gives him a mock salute. “Have fun.”
Izuku can’t help but crack a tremulous smile at that, but it brings another thought to the forefront of his mind. He pauses, then takes a deep breath and says in a rush, “I’m really glad you’re here, Shinsou.”
Shinsou must see how Izuku’s eyes are misting up, because he abruptly leans away and makes an X in front of himself with his arms, as if he can ward off the emotions coming his way. “Nope, no way, cut that shit out right now. You’re not allowed to get mushy on me before you’re about to be medically knocked unconscious!” he protests.
With a laugh stilted by the pain he’s still in, Izuku somehow finds the energy to push a few more heartfelt words out. “It means so much to me that I have all of you guys to support me and that I wasn’t alone during this. You’re the best friends I could’ve asked for.”
“Agh!" Shinsou groans dramatically, as if in agony himself. “Go get your weird extra organ cut out already! Doc, knock him out!”
eraserhead 2.0
midoriya about to lose a fight with some knives
zoom meeting
when i said keep us updated this is NOT the way i meant
uravity | dekusquad deputy
OH NO SO THEY DO NEED TO OPERATE?
eraserhead 2.0
no i just told you he’s about to lose a knife fight
keroppi best frog
my money’s on the knives
shouto | dekusquad sheriff
my money’s also on the knives
uravity | REAL dekusquad sheriff
that’s it im taking over as dekusquad sheriff you dont deserve the title
shouto | dekusquad sheriff
ill deal with your insubordination later right now tho i wanna know how long midoriya is gonna be fighting the knives
eraserhead 2.0
doc said about an hour but he’ll b rly disoriented afterwards and then she’s gonna prescribe him some strong painkillers that might make him loopy
eraserhead 2.0
tried to tell her they werent necessary bc midoriya is a tiny monster who feels no pain but she didnt believe me
zoom meeting
at least you tried
keroppi best frog
a valiant effort to spread the truth
eraserhead 2.0
oh btw anyone have midoriya’s moms phone number? i already called sensei but midoriya wanted her to b called too
shouto | dekusquad sheriff
unfortunately none of us do but i know someone who does
shouto | dekusquad sheriff
get ready for a lot of words in all caps
eraserhead 2.0
oh no
EXPLOSION MURDER GOD
hey
deku
mindfuck was askin for your mom's number and yknow what he told me when i asked why?
that you blew up
that you had a bomb inside you
are you still alive?
king deku 🐇⚔️👑
i am indeed still alive but now im down an organ
EXPLOSION MURDER GOD
damnit
king deku 🐇⚔️👑
your concern is so touching kacchan
EXPLOSION MURDER GOD
i have more organs than you now tho so HAH eat that nerd
king deku 🐇⚔️👑
actually we have an equal amount now bc this was a fun exclusive organ just for quirkless people
EXPLOSION MURDER GOD
DAMNIT