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Izuku Midoriya had good days, but he also had bad days when it came to pain. The good days were normally pain-free or at least partially pain-free. But during the bad days, which have become more and more frequent, the pain would often be agonizing. To the point where he could barely think or simply function as a human being.
Today, was one of those bad days.
As he sat on his desk, listening to his teacher, Present Mic, discuss the next assignment for their English class, he crunched and extended his hands in slow and melodic rhythms, feeling the aching pain that turned into piercing pain upon extending his fingers. Not only that, but his hands felt stiff, stiffer than usual.
It’s gotten worse. He thought to himself as he quietly winced as another flare of pain manifested.
He just needed to push through; it’ll go away. He had the pain medicine that Recovery Girl gave him, right? He’ll just take some once school ends. For now, he’ll just breathe through it. This flare-up will die down eventually.
“Remember, listeners! The assignment is due tomorrow so make sure it’s completed by then!” Mic concluded as the bell signaling the end of the class rung.
Crap! What was the assignment? Midoriya thought. He was so distracted by his pain that he did not focus on what his teacher was saying.
It’s fine, I’ll just ask Iida or Kacchan. But he knew both of them would scold him for being distracted. Iida will clearly give him a lecture on the importance of paying attention, while Bakugo will ridicule him for his inability to understand simple instructions. But he’ll just have to endure it.
The next class was heroics…which meant they were going to do some fieldwork.
Will his hands even handle it? It hurt to even do simple movements. He couldn’t even phantom what would happen once they’ve experienced a smash or even used them to manifest blackwhip.
“Okay, everybody! Grab your hero outfits and head to the training grounds, quickly!” Iida announced.
Swiftly, everyone grabbed their numbered briefcases and headed out. Midoriya grasped his and that simple movement caused a flare of piercing pain to radiate throughout his hand. His face scrunched up in pain. Uraraka noticed his pained-filled expression.
“Are you alright, Deku?” She asked.
Midoriya quickly wiped the expression off his face and smiled, “Yeah, I’m fine. I just… stubbed my toe on my way here.” Midoriya internally winced at that terrible lie.
But, for some reason, Uraraka bought it.
“Okay! Well, let’s get going!”
“Alright.” He replied as he held the briefcase tightly in his hands. Ignoring the stiffness and pain that would not level out.
Heroics class was over, and the pain has not gotten better…it’s worse, actually.
He tried to not aggravate it. All he did was practice some of his least extensive defensive moves, but it seemed like it still did some damage. His classmates were noticing his odd behavior, but he simply lied, he couldn’t have people questioning what was wrong. Even All Might was suspicious, but he told him the same lie, that he was simply strengthening his defensive skills. Thankfully, All Might believed him, and he let him be.
He rather not tell him about what was happening. If he knew about his worsening chronic pain, he would worry, and he rather not have that occupy his consciousness.
As the day continued, he lied, one after the other. He offered some half-assed explanation as to why he couldn’t agree to certain requests, which, to his shock, his classmates did not question.
Bakugo, however, knew something was up, he knew him more than anyone else in the class. After heroics class, he pulled him aside and demanded an answer as to why he was acting so strange. Not only today but for the past few days. Again, Midoriya lied. Shockingly, he did not push, but he demanded a talk later today, privately, to which he agreed.
Now, he was back at the dorms, inside his room.
Once he arrived at the class 1-A dorms, he immediately bolted to his room, ignoring the request from Uraraka and Iida to hang out. He explained that he had some work to do and could not socialize at this time.
Upon arriving, he closed the door, not bothering to lock it, his hands in too much pain to do any type of dexterity work. He quickly fetched his medicine located on his nightstand. Once in hand he immediately opened the bottle, popped two pills into his mouth, and swallowed. He then lay on his bed, waiting for the effects to kick in.
But the relief never arrived. The pain was still there. The pulsating, piercing pain only getting worse. At this point, he could barely move his fingers.
Desperately, Midoriya reached for the pain medicine again and popped another pill. He plopped his face onto his pillow, praying that the pain would dissipate. But nothing happened…his hands still hurt. He was getting frustrated, why wouldn’t the pain go away?!
He popped another pill.
Still nothing.
Then another one. And another…and another.
But no matter what he did, nothing happened. His irritation increased as his agony surged.
He held another pill in his stiff hands, ready to take another one, but then something shifted in his reality. He began to feel dizzy and very lightheaded. Additionally, a strange numbness started to spread through his body as he began to feel disconnected.
Concerned, Midoriya let the white pill in his hand drop. That wasn’t normal. The medicine should’ve stopped the pain, not give him these symptoms…unless he took too many.
Wait…how many did I take?! He thought, his mind racing.
His was brain too encased in a pain-induced fog; he’d forgotten how many pills he’d taken. But considering how he was feeling…it was definitely not a few.
The realization caused Midoriya to panic. He quickly rose from his bed and stood up. But upon standing, the world swayed violently. He attempted to take a step but as soon as he did, his knees buckled. He collapsed to the ground, bringing the items from his desk with him. A loud thud resonated as his body plopped heavily onto the ground.
He couldn’t feel his body and it was getting extraordinarily difficult to breathe. This was bad, he had to let someone know.
He tried to crawl toward his door, but his numbed body made the endeavor nearly impossible. All he could do was squirm weakly as spots began to form in his vision.
“It came from Midoriya’s room!” He heard Kirishima shout from outside his door.
“Dammit, nerd! I knew something was wrong!” Bakugo shouts came through.
All of a sudden, his door slammed open, and Kirishima and Bakugo ran inside.
“Oh no! Deku!” Uraraka shouted from behind the two boys, “I’ll warn Aizawa!” She ran off, her footsteps becoming distant, her mind set on warning their homeroom teacher of his friend’s predicament.
“K-Kacchan.” He uttered, his voice low and quiet.
“What the hell happened, Deku!?” He shook Midoriya, begging him to stay awake, “Tell me!”
“Um, Bakugo. Didn’t Midoriya get those pain pills yesterday?” Kirishima said as he grabbed an orange container from the ground, near Midoriya.
Bakugo’s eyes widened as he noticed the nearly empty bottle, “Shit…Deku, h-how many did you take?”
He was terrified to know the answer.
“I d-don’t know…it hurts…my hands,” Midoriya replied. His reply barely audible.
“You dam idiot! And you think dowsing the entire bottle of pain medication is going to solve it!?” He then turned to Kirishima, “We need to take him downstairs, now! Pink cheeks better have called Aizawa and a dam ambulance by now!”
Kirishima agreed. Without hesitating, he pulled him over his shoulders, into a piggyback carry, his body limply holding onto his classmate.
“Bakugo!” Iida rushed over as the two exited the room with the green-haired teenager in tow, “Aizawa and the ambulance are on their way! What happened?!”
Midoriya was pale. He looked conscious…but barely. This terrified the engine-quirk user.
“Deku overdosed on pain medication that Recovery Girl gave her for his hand pain.” Bakugo began, “That nerd of course did not say how bad it was. Dam idiot!”
Iida was at a loss for words. This was bad, really bad.
“Don’t just stand there! Let’s go dammit!” Bakugo shouted.
In a hurry, the group headed to the common room where Aizawa was now waiting. After hearing what occurred, the rest of Midoriya’s classmates were also in the room.
“What happened!?” Aizawa asked urgently, seeing Midoriya’s poor state.
“He overdosed on pain medication. His hands have been bothering him lately.” Kirishima explained this time, lowering him onto the sofa.
“Shit. Has the ambulance been called?” He asked, his voice urgent.
“Yes! They are on their way!” Uraraka responded, her voice hitching as her anxiety skyrocketed to heightened levels.
Then, sirens blared, signaling the arrival of the ambulance.
“They’re here!”
Without a moment to waste, the paramedics entered. Uraraka ushered them in so they could attend to the sick teenager.
He was quickly strapped onto the gurney and rushed out of the common room. Through it all, Midoriya’s consciousness wavered. He could see the concerned and worried looks from his classmates and his teacher. This is not what he wanted. But his stubbornness let this happen.
He should have said something. But instead, he made them worry.
“Hey, Midoriya, it’s going to be okay.” Aizawa comforted as he sat next to him in the ambulance, noticing his emotional distress.
“Sorry.” He uttered.
Aizawa sighed, “You shouldn’t keep things like these away from us. We know about your chronic pain. If it’s getting worse, you have to let us know.”
Midoriya knew that but he was concerned. What if this pain impacted his ability to become a hero? What will he do then?
“Remember,” Aizawa interrupted, preventing him from ruminating further, “We’ll figure something out. If you address this early then you won’t jeopardize your chances of becoming a pro-hero.”
Midoriya gazed at him, “Okay,” Was all he said. He was too tired and disoriented to go on a full-on conversation with his teacher. But even in his drug-induced state, he knew that he was right. He was foolish. He should have warned someone if he did, then this could have all been addressed appropriately.
“I don’t want you trying to address something like this on your own. You were lucky your metabolism is fast, or this could have been so much worse…just don’t do something like this again, come to me or Recovery Girl first.”
Midoriya nodded.
The ambulance sped off, the sirens ringing loudly. He closed his eyes, careful to not fall asleep, Aizawa and the paramedic’s orders. He had to stop being stupid. He’s the one All Might entrusted One for All to. He had to stop making foolishness a part of his vocabulary or he’d kill himself before he could become the next symbol of peace.