Archive of Our Own

Izuku already knew the moment he woke up that today was going to be one of those days. A difficult one.

He doesn't even have to move to know it. When he opens his eyes and notices the tension in his neck, he growls and curses internally, One For All crackling under his fingers, in a silent complaint.

It was to be expected, he thinks as he tries to move to get out of bed. He has spent 1 month fighting villains without rest and patrolling all of Tokyo without even giving himself a minute to breathe. The overuse and setback of his physical quirks were evidently going to kick his ass as soon as he allowed himself the luxury of sleeping.

And that moment is now, the day after returning to the UA.

It's not the first time chronic pain hits him, as if daring itself to rebel against his body every now and then. Breaking bones, muscles, cartilage, tendons and nerves every week until the sports festival did a beautiful number on his arms.

His legs are not spared either, although he has broken them much less than his arms, he has still damaged them a considerable number of times, enough so that he has to unlock his knees several times a day. The creaking that has accompanied him when he walks for a few months is a static that he has become accustomed to.

However, Izuku has had the misfortune on this day that the usual chronic pain that he has a couple of times a month has been added to the aches from not having let his body rest in quite some time.

Now not only do the joints of his arms and legs hurt, but that pain is accompanied by tension in his neck and the rigidity of his back and ribs. Breathing hurts due to the lack of travel his lungs make, added to the hit with his ribs that do not accompany the movement of the organs.

"Note to self, 7 quirks are much more draining than 1."

He should have expected it, honestly. His body, even after all the physical preparation and training, is not made to have a quirk, much less 7.

People with the quirk factor develop to be able to nullify the consequences of using their quirk. If this were not the case, the government would have to make a significantly greater investment in health. Katsuki would have gone deaf a long time ago, just like Present Mic. Kirishima would have a body stiffness worse than Izuku’s right now and Mina would directly melt from her own acid.

There are contrary cases, of course, Dabi- Touya is living proof.

Izuku has a theory, however, that if a person possesses One For All long enough, they can begin to develop the quirk factor. The quirk itself is transmitted by DNA, it would not be unreasonable to think that with how exhausting it is for the body to assimilate the power of One For All, there would come a time when the user's own genetics would begin to change. If this were not the case, it would be impossible to transmit the quirk through the user's DNA. All Might would not have been able to pass the quirk on to him without his DNA assimilating it.

But that's just it, a theory that, no matter how much it has been discussed with previous wielders, is still a theory. One that he won't be able to prove until he's an adult and Recovery Girl agrees to study the quirk itself (everyone already knows about it, he can allow himself to be a nerd when this is all over and feed his curiosity).

Who knows? Maybe he'll lose the damn extra joint in his foot that he's tried to rip off himself so many times.

"Don't think about that now."

When Izuku sees that it is indeed harder to get up than to fight Shigaraki, he gives up and closes his eyes while sighing heavily.

As he has done so many times this month, he tries to manifest Blackwhip as support so he can get up and walk. However, the moment the quirk leaves his back it dissipates, a grunt of pain leaving the student's throat.

On another note, the strain that Blackwhip puts on his muscles is not one that his body is capable of withstanding now.

If using the quirk on his back hurts like that, he doesn't even want to try using it on his knuckles, which he can't even move.

He considers calling someone, but unless he screams he doubts he can do it. It's not that he wants to bother or cause more problems for his classmates. More than he has already caused, that is.

The other option is to force Blackwhip to go outside to get his phone resting on the nightstand, which would mean putting more strain on his already sore body.

Although he can always squirm in his misery and wait long enough for one of his classmates to become suspicious (and hopelessly concerned for his well-being) and come looking for him.

Which he rules out, for obvious reasons.

Sighing for the fifteenth time in the 10 minutes he's been awake, he simply decides on the route that Aizawa would define as stupid, gross and disgusting and simply manifests Blackwhip in the only place that doesn't hurt so much, his mouth (although his jaw still does), and picks up the cell phone from the nightstand.

With the phone already at his side he only has to worry about turning it on and sending a message to someone, which is quite easy with today's technology. Simply activate the voice assistant and make a call.

“Young Midoriya?”

Izuku has to stop himself from laughing at his teacher's worried tone. Not that he blames the man, with his recent history he has enough reasons to worry.

"Don't worry, nothing serious is happening."

"But something is happening, otherwise you wouldn’t call me."

"Hey, I would call you."

He can hear the slightest laugh on the other end of the phone. "What's wrong, young man?"

Izuku sighs. "Stiffness? I don't know, my body just decided to be a bitch to me today."

"Watch that tongue. Your mother would kill me if she knew I let you talk like that."

"Too much time with Kacchan, I get it from him."

"Then your mother will kill young Bakugo too." Izuku laughs at that because his mother would definitely scold Katsuki. "What do you need?"

"Help. I can't even get up."

"Do you want me to bring Recovery Girl?"

"No, she already gave me some painkillers, but I can't reach them if I don't get up, and I can't even use Blackwhip without it hurting."

"I'll take Aizawa then, he has experience with chronic pain."

Izuku grimaces, not wanting to give his teacher any more problems. "You have experience too."

"With phantom pain, my boy, not with chronic pain."

That's a conversation he's had several times with All Might. Since the man set out to properly teach him how to be a hero, they have become much closer, which has translated, in part, into heart-to-heart conversations. The older man has told him many times about the devastation he has had to endure due to his injuries.

Yagi opened up to him in great detail about his lack of a stomach and part of his respiratory system, about how he had to deal with the residual pain and the feeling that his missing organs were still there, moving inside of him.

Izuku knows it's true that his mentor can't help him with the chronic pain coming from using One For All, All Might never had a problem with assimilating the quirk, probably because he was in better physical condition than him when he received it.

It may also be because Izuku received a much more powerful One For All and with 6 quirks as a gift engraved on it waiting to awaken, but there is no point in worrying about that anymore.

No matter how much he had trained, One For All was too much pressure for his body.

If Yoichi dealt with a spark, Izuku deals with a complete forest fire.

"My boy?"

Oh right, All Might is still on the phone. "Sorry, I got a little distracted."

"I can tell. Well?"

"Ah?"

"Is it okay if I bring Aizawa with me?"

"Ah. Yes. Okay, yes."

He may have hesitated a little longer than he intended, because the former hero doesn't hang up. "The bandages Aizawa wears put a lot of pressure on his hands. Plus, his Quirk isn't physical, so he had to train a lot to keep up with the villains that an underground hero like him faces. Don't worry, he'll know what to do with chronic pain."

Internally, Izuku appreciates the explanation. "It's enough for me that few people see you coming, I don't want to worry anyone."

"It's not a bad thing that people worry about you, kid."

Izuku sighs, again. "I know."

He grimaces when he hears himself, it doesn't sound convincing at all.

But it seems like All Might swallows it, or just doesn't want to argue with him on the phone. The man simply hums and hangs up.

When the call ends the room becomes silent again. The curtains are drawn so that the sunlight barely enters the room, leaving only a few rays to touch the floor.

Izuku stares at the ceiling, it's really the only thing he can do. Moving his neck pulls his muscles and hurts, his vertebrae screaming for him to crack them so they can unlock themselves. However, in his situation moving is ruled out, so his vertebrae will have to continue suffering until further notice.

He doesn't have much to do until his 2 teachers arrive. Rather, he cannot do anything more than count the humidity that has begun to form on the ceiling.

He's been away for a month, and it seems they all decided together not to touch his room, to leave it exactly the same as he left it when he ran away. The only thing he can notice is that they have changed the sheets because they smell clean and everything has been dusted a little, nothing very exhaustive, their figures still have dust that he will have to clean later.

However, he appreciates the gesture.

After what could have been about 15 minutes, he hears the elevator move. He doesn't know if Danger Sense has improved his senses somewhat or if he is simply always alert after spending a month fighting, but he is able to hear much better now, and clearly hears murmurs inside the elevator.

He distinguishes 2 voices, they can be his classmates or his teachers.

Once he stops hearing the counterweight of the elevator and its doors opening, he clearly hears All Might's voice.

It's not long until he hears a couple of knocks on his door.

"Young Midoriya?"

"It's open."

And now that might seem a little contradictory, being as alert as he is and not locking his door at night to avoid any danger. Anyway, Izuku wanted to self-suggest a little and make himself believe that he was safe in his own room, that nothing could happen to him while he was at UA, and to believe it he left the door open.

Anyway, a second after giving permission, the door opens and All Might enters followed by a very upset Aizawa.

Izuku realizes just then that it's early, and that his teacher doesn't like to get up early. And above all, he doesn't like dealing with his students so early.

The boy prays that his teacher has at least had his coffee.

"It is dark here." All Might comments as he walks over to the window and draws the curtains.

"Yeah, I haven't exactly been able to get up and tidy up the room."

He feels the mattress sink at his hip level and sees Aizawa sit down. With the natural light now able to come in through the window, Izuku can see that his teacher isn't that upset.

Alright, he's had his coffee.

He is also able to see how his teacher grimaces when he sees his hands. Izuku looks away from his face and also looks at his hands and makes the exact same grimace.

His knuckles are swollen and painted with an amalgam of colors that would put any painter to shame. It's normal that he can't move them, he thinks, his joints are completely blocked.

"Jeez, kid. What the fuck have you done?"

"More like what he hasn't done." All Might says, approaching them and looking at his hands. "You haven't taken care of yourself at all, young man."

"I did not have time."

"Nor desire."

Aizawa's annoyed tone is obvious and touches Izuku's heart a little. He doesn't like it when he disappoints adults, and he likes even less to upset a teacher.

Aizawa seems to notice his discomfort because he relaxes a little. "I'm not mad at you, kid."

"He's worried. That's his worried bitch face." All Might comments, as he walks away and enters the bathroom to get Recovery Girl's painkillers.

"Toshinori."

Izuku can only hear his mentor's laughter and he laughs a little himself.

Aizawa simply sighs at the stupidity of the 2 One For All users and grabs his right hand. Instantly, Izuku winces in pain.

"Sorry." The hero apologizes, almost instinctively. "Massages help, but hurt."

Izuku simply grunts as Aizawa begins to make circular movements along his entire hand, back and palm. He alternates the massages with forcing him to move his fingers and wrist, which elicits a couple of screams from him.

"It would be good for you to do yoga from time to time. It helps your muscles from atrophying."

"I'll try it."

He knows he won't, he has no time to waste on yoga right now, not with the situation that is upon them.

"I'm here!"

All Might comes out of the bathroom with the pill bottles in his hands. He also comes with a tube of cream.

When he reaches them, he gives them to Aizawa.

"Yes, these are from Recovery Girl." He opens the bottle, counting how many pills are left, and frowns. "When did she give you this?"

"After the Sports Festival."

"And how often do you usually have chronic pain?"

"A couple of times a month."

Aizawa does nothing but sighs and grabs the bridge of his nose with 2 fingers. Izuku can see All Might's puzzled face.

"You know, there's no point in having chronic pain pills if you don't take them."

Izuku blushes and looks away from his teachers, embarrassed. "It usually doesn't hurt enough to take them."

"And the anti-inflammatory cream that you didn’t even start?"

The boy just cringes even more, as much as he can with the pain he's in at least.

"Kid, taking care of yourself is as important as training. You can't expect to become a hero while destroying your body and doing nothing to fix it." Aizawa opens the tube of cream and pours some on his knuckles.

"Aizawa is right, young Midoriya. At this rate, you'll need a cane before you're 20."

"It's not that bad."

The only response he gets is Aizawa putting a little more pressure on his knuckles, which inevitably makes him scream.

"'Not that bad' my ass."

Izuku hears All Might laugh at his misfortune and looks at him with a scowl sticking his tongue out at him. His mentor responds with a shrug and raises his hands, but there are no signs of regret on his face.

"Traitor." He tries to tell him with his eyes.

The man once again has the audacity to laugh.

Aizawa seems done with the student and mentor nonsense and sighs and of course All Might laughs at him too, which Aizawa decides for his own sanity to ignore.

"A hot water bath will help you relax your muscles and reduce swelling a little." His teacher says as he releases his hand and stands up, his metal leg making a thud against the floor. "Do you need help with that?"

Izuku automatically blushes. He may be a little handicapped, but he's not 5 years old nor has he lost all sense of shame. "Ah... No. No. I can do it on my own."

"You sure?" This time it's All Might who asks.

"Yes, yes. I would like to keep a little of my dignity." He admits, trying to get up on his elbows.

It's a little easier after the little massage. It still hurts a lot, but at least now he can move.

"We're not going to be shocked by seeing you naked, Problem Child." Aizawa says, half smiling.

Izuku knows it's true, but he still prefers to keep his privacy to himself. "I know, but I prefer to do it alone."

"Whatever you want. Just shout if you need help, we'll be here until you get out." All Might comments, smiling at him. Izuku smiles back.

With help from both teachers, Izuku gets out of bed. Once he places both legs on the ground he grimaces at the loud cracking noise that sounds from his knees. He looks down and realizes they don't look much better than his knuckles.

"You're going to need knee pads for that." Aizawa says, wincing in sympathy.

"Speaking of which, you should put compression sleeves on your arms, the pressure helps with the pain." Yagi notes, urging him to walk. "You know where they are?"

"They should be in the closet, I haven't worn them since before the war." Izuku responds, hissing in pain with every step he takes.

"And why is that, exactly?" The student doesn't even have to look at Aizawa to notice the disapproval.

"I don't put the sleeves under the suit, the gloves do the job." He answers. "And then everything else came and well, the full gauntlets worked for me."

The hero simply sighs, surrendering to the fact that he's not going to change his student's habits anytime soon.

When the three enter the bathroom, they sit the boy on the toilet and Izuku breathes, not exhausted, but tired from the small effort.

"Maybe... Maybe I do need help undressing." The boy admits, accepting that his body hurts too much to stretch.

All Might and Aizawa laugh a little but don't say anything. Instead, the blonde helps him raise his arms (which make an unpleasant noise when his shoulders bend), while the black-haired man pushes up his shirt.

If either professional is surprised by the scar tissue or gunshot wounds still healing, they don't mention it.

Yagi acts as support to get him up a little and Aizawa removes his sweatpants. His legs aren't as affected as his arms or torso so there's less to be embarrassed about there.

When his teacher comes to pull down his underwear, Izuku stops him.

"I can do that alone." Aizawa shrugs and walks away.

Both adults exit the bathroom, All Might not before stopping to give him a thumbs up and a smile. Izuku returns it as best he can.

Can you smile now?

"Stupid Kacchan." He whispers.

Speaking of the blonde, he doesn't really know where their relationship is right now. They are friends, he knows that, but he doesn't know what kind of friends they are.

Kacchan is forcing himself to call him Izuku, and while he appreciates it, he doesn't hold significant contempt for "Deku." The nickname means a lot to him at this point, Kacchan continuing to say it is not going to make him return to his negative connotation.

He has taken a liking to it, you could say.

Are they friends? Simple childhood friends who hold each other in esteem? Are they best friends? Are they more than that? Izuku doesn't know and he's in no rush to find out.

They will do it, when all this is over and they can sit down calmly and discuss.

As emotional as the speech was and as gratifying as the apologies were, they are not enough.

He just hopes he has the time, and the opportunity.

Putting aside the topic of his relationship with Kacchan, Izuku decides to start taking the bath he needs. Technically they already bathed him yesterday, Kaminari was quite insistent about how bad he smelled. He doesn't deny it, he didn't exactly have time to clean himself and just put on the suit used after the war.

With all the effort required in his state, he gets up from the toilet and turns on the faucet, letting the bathtub fill with hot water. As he lets the water run, he takes off his underwear and leaves it in the laundry basket that he will take down to the laundry later, when he doesn't have 2 worried dads waiting outside to act as his personal babysitters.

He is 16, for God’s sake, he doesn’t need all this care.

However, he can't help the small smile that forms on his lips.

He likes to be taken care of.

He doesn't like worrying and causing problems for his loved ones, but he won't say no to a round of cuddles every now and then.

He might ask Todoroki, Uraraka, Iida and Tsuyu later, they don't usually say no to cuddling together.

(And if he takes advantage of the fact that they are a little more sensitive and permissive with him, well, he won't tell anyone).

He can be a little hellspawn when he wants.

Without Izuku hearing him, too locked in his head, Aizawa sneezes.

All his joy and little mischief disappears when he glances sideways at the mirror, just as he turns off the faucet and proceeds to get into the bathtub.

That wasn't him.

Paralyzed and momentarily forgetting his pain, probably due to the adrenaline, he has experience with that, he straightens up and turns to stand in front of the mirror, fearful.

Izuku observes the image that the crystal returns to him. Slightly tanned skin, somewhat more emaciated due to fatigue and lack of food, but tanned still. The freckles that adorn his body are still in place, running across his face, neck, trapezoids and shoulders. If he turned around he would also see them forming constellations on his back.

Looking at his chest for more freckles, he can't help but notice that he's, in fact, thinner. The fat that covered his muscles from the volume training he always seemed to be into disappears, being replaced by loose skin and a body that is more fibrous than athletic. Izuku swallows as he realizes that he looks more like his high school self than he would like.

His curls are also the same, a little drier and frizzier than usual from the month he hasn't taken care of them, but nothing that a few hair products can't fix. He should ask Mina for her conditioner, it works wonders.

His green eyes are still there too. He can't help but notice that, just as Eri had said after his conversation with Aizawa the night before, they are more subdued than usual. However, the underlying glow resulting from the ever-living energy of the One For All dances behind, causing the light to distort into colors as it hits his eyes.

Wait, what?

He leans on the sink to better observe his eyes. They've never done that before, reflecting light like that. Up close, he can notice how the ring of color that surrounds his corneas dances between several colors, the most powerful being yellow and white.

When he focuses back on the entire image instead of just his eyes, Izuku gasps as he takes a step back.

It's not him, it's Yoichi.

The man in the mirror reflects all his movements and expressions, as if it were him but with another face and another body, as if he were dressed in another skin, the skin of the First.

Before he knows it, the reflection changes again, this time dressing him in the image of the Second. However, it is different. Kudou's expression does not reflect his, on the contrary, he remains static with a stoic expression.

When Izuku blinks, Kudou's gaze is replaced by Bruce's, and then Shinomori's, and then Banjo's, and then En's, and Nana's, and All Might's, and again for Yoichi's and the exchange happens so quickly that he can't keep up as he notices a panic attack starting to form in his chest and-

He never sees his reflection again.

So in an impulsive act, he activates One For All and shatters the mirror with one blow.

Izuku doesn't process what he's done, nor does he process his already battered knuckles that are now bleeding. He also does not process the hole he has left in the wall behind the mirror, using more force than necessary.

Instead, he continues backing away, looking at the pieces of glass stuck to the frame. When his back hits the wall, he slides against it, letting himself fall. At no time does he stop looking at the mirror.

His breathing is erratic. His chest rises and falls as if he had just run a marathon. His shoulders tremble as do his hands. His eyes are wide open, in shock, he sees the mirror but doesn't look at it.

All he can think about is that he didn't see himself in the mirror, his reflection continually being replaced by figures that are not him.

Izuku notices the One For All still crackling under his skin. It doesn't activate, but it still scares him. Looking away from the mirror, or what used to be a mirror, he places it in his arms, which do not stop shaking.

He doesn't know whose arms he's looking at, but they're definitely not his.

His arms are strong and freckled with a light tan from all the time he spent cleaning the beach, during rush hour. The arms he now looks at are thin and pale. They are not his.

He doesn't look away when a pair of hands grab his arms, as if he's in some kind of macabre trance. He hears a voice shout his name, but he doesn't listen to it either. All he can think about is how he is dressed in another skin.

Completely ignoring the hands that touch him and the voice that speaks to him, Izuku moves his hands and begins to scratch his arms, trying to tear off the foreign shell that covers him.

When the hands touching him grab his own and stop his attempt at self-harm, Izuku is finally able to look at the owner.

Aizawa's face is a poem. He doesn't think he's ever seen his teacher so scared, not even in the countless times this year he's come close to being killed. The fights, although mostly unpredictable, always have the nuance that they depend on you in some sense, and Aizawa trusts his students and their ability to overcome obstacles and challenges with his life.

But this isn't a fight, so his teacher is scared because he doesn't know what's going on or what to expect.

"Izuku, kid, what's wrong?" Aizawa asks, his voice shaking.

No matter how much the boy wanted to explain, his voice was not able to come out of his throat. Added to the anxiety and panic caused by what he has just experienced is the muscular restriction caused by his quirk, which tightens his throat as it prepares to activate, a kind of defense mechanism that he has forced himself to develop while roaming across the country, always being alert for any attack that could occur while he took a short nap when his body rebelled against him screaming that it couldn't take it anymore.

Rapid breaths keep coming out of his chest and they're starting to make him dizzy. He may feel the headache forming on his forehead and temples. The rapidity with which he breathes does not allow his brain to absorb enough oxygen.

"Izuku, breathe. You have to breathe." Aizawa grabs him by the shoulders, forcing him to meet his gaze. “You need to breathe.”

The green-haired boy notices the terror behind his teacher’s eyes. He's trying to stay calm for him and Izuku will have time to thank him later, when he comes out of the existential crisis that life has decided to put him in completely gratuitously.

"No- No- I can’t." He tries to say, the aspirations interrupting each syllable. He is not able to control his breathing and if he continues like this he will faint.

"Yes. Yes you can. Come on, breathe with me." Aizawa raises his fist and izuku automatically turns to look at him. "Breathing exercises, we've worked on this. You can do it."

Izuku watches as Aizawa raises a finger for every second he should be breathing in, but he can't keep up. His teacher doesn't seem to care and patiently restarts the count until his breathing begins to align with his fingers.

Inhale for 4 seconds, hold for 6, and exhale for 8. And repeat.

It is a basic breathing exercise, the first one they are taught in First Aid. Helping a conscious person is more complicated and dangerous if they are going through a panic attack, especially with a quirk that can activate at any time and that you are unaware of.

It's also an exercise that the entire class has had to do more times than any of them would like. The USJ accident left its mark at the time, being the first time they faced villains and seeing their teacher get almost killed. Afterwards, and the more attacks they experienced, the USJ became a fading memory in the back of their brains, the subsequent ones being much more traumatic.

Iida sometimes has nightmares about his brother, Kacchan thinks more than he would like about his kidnapping, Kirishima seems to have his own personal struggle if the stiffness in his back every time his black roots start to show is any indicator, Aoyama has his own trauma with the camp, and Izuku still has after-effects from high school experience, unfortunately.

When he manages to stabilize his breathing, at least as far as possible, he is able to hear murmurs outside his room. He turns his head to look at the door and sees it half open, the light from the bedroom hallway filters through the grate.

He grimaces as he notices that several of his classmates have probably heard him destroy the mirror. He unconsciously looks behind Aizawa at the hole he left in the wall.

Aizawa follows his gaze and frowns. "Don't worry about that."

Now that he can control his breathing better, he begins to dissociate. His mind threatens to go blank as his body continues to tremble, unable to assimilate all the information passing through his senses.

"Eh. No. None of that." Aizawa places his hand on his cheek, giving it a light pat. "Stay with me."

Izuku notices how the man takes a towel from the sink cabinet and places it on his legs.

Oh, that's right, he's naked.

He couldn’t care less.

"Are you with me, kid?" Izuku looks at Aizawa when he asks and the man grimaces, probably at the look he gets in response. "Not entirely, it seems."

The student notices how his teacher grabs his hand, the good one, the one with no open wounds from punching the mirror, and begins to gently touch the back of it with his fingers in a firm and uniform rhythm.

"You need to talk." Aizawa says, continuing to tap. "How did you sleep?" He tries.

"Uh... Ah... Well, I guess." He answers, as best he can. His mind is on what just happened and his body is still tense, his quirk wanting to get out by any means possible. "OFA..."

Aizawa seems to understand this, as incredible as it may sound. In a second, his professor's eye glows red and his quirk goes out. However, almost automatically, his professor blinks with a grimace that varies between pain and discomfort.

"I'm sorry, Izuku." The man says, scratching his eye. "Can't."

However, the second that Erasure was able to cancel his quirk is enough for One For All to stop wanting to tear at his skin, turning into more of a tingling sensation than he normally involves.

"Don't worry." Izuku answers, somewhat calmer now that the power no longer tenses his body. "It worked."

The hero looks at him as if searching for the lie. When he doesn't find it, he breathes a sigh of relief. Aizawa considers it safe to let go of his hand now that Izuku seems more present and grabs the injured hand.

"It needs stitches." The man sighs. "I can't remove the crystals, I'm not sure if you stuck them in a vein."

"Alright." Izuku answers. He looks up at the ceiling, finishing assimilating what just happened.

He doesn't know what that was. This is the first time it's happened and nothing has felt wrong so far. The use of the quirks of the previous wielders has not felt alien or foreign to his body, he has not felt that they rebelled against him or that their use entailed depersonalization. This is not the first time he has dissociated or had hallucinations, especially with a lack of nutrients and sleep, but this is new.

And it scares him.

"Kid?"

Aizawa is looking at him worried, it seems that he has spaced out again.

"I'm sorry."

Aizawa's strange look tells him that the man doesn't know what he's apologizing for, but he still lets it go. Instead, he focuses on the bathtub filled with now-cold water, his hand, and the half-open door.

"Toshinori!" He calls, his voice powerful.

All Might opens the door a little more a second after, he can see that his body is leaning backwards. The man is probably stopping his classmates from entering his room.

They look at each other for a couple of seconds, the question evident in their mentor's eyes. He doesn't wait for a response and looks at Aizawa.

"Tell me."

"I'm going to help him bathe." The tone he uses gives no room for argument, not that Izuku has the energy to do so anyway. "Call Recovery Girl and tell her we're going there, he's got a number on his hand and needs stitches."

Yagi nods as he looks at the broken glass. Now that he looks closely, Izuku can see that there are small traces of blood on the edge of the pieces that are still intact. All Might decides not to comment on it and instead closes the door.

Still, his voice is audible when he shouts. "It's okay! There's nothing to see here."

"But, All Might!"

After hearing Kaminari's voice, the boy decides to ignore the murmurs that continue to be heard through the door.

"Come on. The relaxing bath will have to wait, but you have to get clean."

Aizawa helps him up, the towel that covered him until a moment ago falls to the floor and stays there abandoned. At this point Izuku doesn't care and seeing that the hero doesn't give him a second glance, he assumes that he doesn't either.

With the bathtub now empty, as Aizawa made sure to remove the plug before, Izuku enters and sits on the floor, not having the energy to stand while his teacher turns on the faucet and begins to shower him when the water runs warm.

He keeps her injured hand resting on the edge of the bathtub while the older man makes sure not to touch it or accidentally wet it. Izuku can still feel some water splashing on him, but it's not enough to make it hurt or sting.

He doesn't move a bit while his teacher takes the shampoo and applies it to his curls. He's probably a little worried that he's dissociating or spacing out too much, but Izuku doesn't care. He's not completely over whatever that was, but he doesn't feel like dealing with it right now.

He wants to go back to sleep.

And it seems like he was, in fact, falling asleep, because Aizawa taps him on the head with the shower head, alerting him.

"That’s not a very good sleeping position." He says, turning off the faucet. It seems that he has been distracted and has lost track of time. "You're ready, let's get you out."

When he comes out with Aizawa's help, and despite not having taken the bath he was originally going to take, Izuku notices that the hot water has relaxed his muscles a little. He considers manifesting Blackwhip and helping himself walk so as not to make Aizawa work too hard, the man is not in the best condition to act as anyone's cane.

But after what just happened, he doesn't think he's capable of pulling off any quirk other than One For All without having another panic attack. If that was an existential crisis, manifesting a quirk that he knows is someone else's will only make it worse.

Still, and facing his logical side, which seems to be more asleep lately, he tries to make the tips of the black tendrils emerge from his back.

As he imagined, the sheer tension the quirk exerts on his shoulder blades is enough to stop them right there and make them disappear. Using any quirk at that time is a firm no. He'll ask Banjo for forgiveness later (if he can get into the vestiges without having another attack, that is).

It seems that Aizawa notices that he tenses a little as he makes Blackwhip disappear and gives him a strange look as he leaves him standing and walks over to the towel he had left on the floor. He picks it up and throws it in the laundry basket and then opens the bathroom cabinet and grabs a clean one.

It is obvious that the man does not know how to take care of curly hair because he puts the towel on top of his hair and abruptly dries his curls. Again, Izuku doesn't care, he'll just ask if he can join the weekly girls' night and let them take care of his hair, he knows they like it and he goes out with more care than he'll ever be able to give himself.

Who knows, maybe Kaminari and Kirishima will join in this time.

When Aizawa finishes drying his hair, which Izuku knows is thicker and frizzier than usual, he begins to dry the rest of his body, being careful not to touch his hand. When he's done he simply wraps the towel around his hip and helps him out of the bathroom.

He sees All Might there, pacing around the small room while biting his nails. When he notices them he stops and approaches them.

"What happened to you?"

"Not now, Toshinori."

Despite that, the man does not leave his side, helping Aizawa sit him on the bed. Then, he goes to the closet to get clean clothes to put on him.

Izuku doesn't pay much attention to the clothes he chooses, nor does he when they take off the towel and put on him clean underwear and one of his many t-shirts with rather questionable phrases. He laughs at the thought, if Mitsuki saw how he dresses she would probably torture him with a day of shopping until he completely renovated his closet.

Neither of the 2 adults questions the small laugh, especially when he is so apathetic.

What Izuku does notice is, after All Might has put on some pants on him, how he bends down and puts on some knee pads that God knows where they came from. His strange expression must have been noticed, because the man explains it.

"Some of your classmates have come to see what was going on." All Might stands up and also puts the compression sleeve on his right arm, the one without an injured hand attached. "Young Shoji was kind enough to lend me some knee pads that he no longer uses when I asked for them."

Izuku easily accepts the explanation and looks at his bad hand, it's not bleeding but it's an angry red and it's swelling even more than it was from the stiffness. Internally, he's grateful that it's his left hand that he used to punch, because his right hand is the one that Aizawa has taken the time to massage and he doesn't want his teacher's work to go down the drain because of a stupid panic attack. 

With that, he retracts his arm until it's close to his chest to make sure he doesn't hit anything and make the situation worse. He tries to get up before either of the two men can say anything and discovers that with the pressure exerted by the knee pads it is easier to walk. He still notices the clicking sound they make when he gets up, but at least it's not as loud as usual.

"Don't scare me like that." Aizawa says as he stands up and scratches Izuku’s head a little. "I thought you were going to fall."

"Give the young man some credit, Aizawa." All Might answers, with a small smile.

"I'll give it to him when Recovery Girl checks him." His teacher answers. Looking him up and down one last time and pausing for a second too long on his hand, Aizawa turns around and starts walking towards the door. "Come on, we don't have all day."

Getting through the common area is a difficult task, mainly because they are all there. It's normal, Izuku thinks, it's around 10 in the morning. They may not have classes due to the current situation, but their sleep schedules are adjusted to them, so no one usually gets up after 9.

Some are having breakfast, others are on the couch relaxing with the phone or watching TV. Some, like Iida, who seems to have recently returned from his morning run, are doing stretching exercises.

Everyone stops what they're doing to look at him, and Izuku can already tell that he hates the attention he's getting.

"Midoriya, bro!" Kirishima shouts from his spot on the couch. "Are you okay? We heard the knock."

Attention seems to somehow increase when the redhead speaks, those who didn't know what had happened frown and those who knew look curious.

"Oh yeah..." He stutters, as usual when he's nervous or embarrassed. "I saw a spider in the mirror and I panicked."

It's a bullshit excuse, he knows. Kacchan (who already seems to have realized that he's lying through his teeth, if the look he's giving him is any indication) would probably slap him for lying so badly, but in the short walk from his room to the common area he couldn’t have thought of something more convincing.

There are uncertain looks, Izuku notices, but no one seems to want to argue with him, probably because his hand is clearly visible and they would rather he get medical treatment than start questioning him.

"Oh." Kirishima responds, clearly hesitating.

"Speaking of which, can someone clean up the mess?" Aizawa asks and Izuku gives him a bewildered look, he doesn't want anyone to clean up his messes. "Problem Child here isn't going to be able to move that hand today."

"I can do it." Todoroki offers automatically and raises a hand.

"Thank you, young Todoroki." All Might speaks.

Endeavor's youngest son shrugs and gives a small smile, as if to say he doesn't care. Izuku looks at him asking for forgiveness, which his friend dismisses with a shake of his head.

"Come on or Recovery Girl will kill all three of us.”

As they walk out the front door, Sato's voice catches their attention.

"We'll save some of your breakfast in the microwave in case you come back hungry!"

Izuku turns his head and gives her a grateful smile.

God, he loves his class. He has been very lucky.

The walk to the infirmary is short. The 5 minutes of the trip between Heights Alliance and UA fly by, even though they have to go slower because of the pain that still persists. Once inside the school, the route to the medical wing is instinctive. Izuku is starting to have serious concerns about how many times he's been there to know how to navigate the path with his eyes closed.

The worst thing is that Aizawa and All Might seem to know it by heart too.

What three legs for a bench.

Once they arrive they see a quite upset Recovery Girl and instinctively the three heroes swallow hard.

"Kid, I can't wait for you to graduate so you can live in someone else's infirmary."

Izuku can notice the compassionate looks of his 2 teachers and mentally sends them to take a hike, the traitors.

Anyway, Recovery Girl seems to take a little pity on his misfortune. "Let's see that hand."

The treatment is relatively quick and, fortunately or unfortunately, this time the old woman does not use her quirk. Instead, she removes the embedded crystals extremely gently. It's surprising that she can maintain that precision at his age, Izuku thinks.

When all the crystals are successfully removed and the doctor verifies that they have not hit any important veins or arteries, she walks away and goes to the cabinet near her desk. Meanwhile, Izuku leaves his hand resting on the absorbent paper that the woman has given him so that he doesn't stain anything with blood and other liquids.

Recovery Girl approaches him again with a needle and thread and a tube of numbing cream. Izuku is not afraid but sighs at the stabs of pain that will inevitably come.

"Oh, shut up, you've had it worse."

This time he clearly hears his 2 teachers laughing at his misfortune. "I can hear you!"

The response he receives comes in the form of a slap in the face when Recovery Girl scolds him. "No yelling in the infirmary."

Izuku makes a disgraceful noise that he would probably be ashamed of if anyone else heard it, and resigns himself to his fate.

Before he knows it, Recovery Girl applies the numbing cream and sews up the largest cuts. Then, she applies disinfectants to all the cuts, whether they have needed stitches or not, and finally, she bandages the hand, first placing gauze on the back of his hand, putting a second layer on his knuckles.

"That should do it. Try not to break another mirror anytime soon."

Despite his feigned disdain for the old woman and for hospitals in general, Izuku gives a sincere smile. "Thank you."

All Might and Aizawa approach right after, when all the danger posed by the little old lady has passed (the traitors) and they also thank her for her work.

However, Recovery Girl doesn't seem ready to let him go just yet and gives the knee pads a little hit with her cane. It's not strong, he can barely feel it through the material.

"Chronic pain again?"

The lady can read minds, Izuku swears to God. "Yes. It was much worse this morning."

"That's because with your little act of vigilantism you haven't gotten any rest, kid." Izuku can see the smug smile on Aizawa's face when Recovery Girl indirectly agrees with him.

The student simply sticks his tongue out at him.

"In his defense, he was wearing full gauntlets the entire time." All Might speaks and Izuku decides that the blonde is his favorite dad again.

"Ah, David's little girl's invention, aren't they?" Recovery Girl asks as she walks over to her desk and grabs a bottle of pills.

"That one, yes."

"Then that's better than nothing." Aizawa doesn't seem to be understanding anything, if the dead look in his eye says anything, but he doesn't comment on anything either. "Take this."

Izuku groans internally as he realizes he has to add more pills to his medicine cabinet.

"Don’t complain." Recovery Girl scolds him again. "They are stronger painkillers than those I gave you before. You have broken your bones a lot more since then and I highly doubt they will help you at this point."

"Good, now you just need to take them." Aizawa comments and Izuku frowns at him.

Recovery Girl sighs tiredly. "I swear, sometimes you look like a mini version of Yagi."

"Don't encourage him." Aizawa says.

Izuku sees the exact moment Aizawa crosses Recovery Girl’s line, wherever it is.

"And you? Are you taking care of your stump like I explained?"

Aizawa only receives a cane to the head when his face responds that he obviously didn't do it.

"And you want the child to take care of himself? What two examples to follow."

All Might and Aizawa have the decency to look embarrassed.

No one takes on Recovery Girl and wins, Izuku is starting to see that.

He takes one of the pills from the bottle so as not to make the old woman angrier and swallows it. He's too used to medicine to need water.

Recovery Girl nods in satisfaction. "I don't want to see you train until the weekend at least, and before you put on your suit come see me so I can authorize you to do so."

Izuku nods, without much more options.

"I'll make sure he does." Aizawa and All Might say in unison without realizing it. They look at each other and say nothing more.

"I hope so." She looks back at Izuku. "Rest a lot and eat a lot too. Hydrate yourself well so that your muscles recover fluids. You can do stretching exercises, but don't do anything harder than that. The goal is for your body to let off steam, not to load it more. Understood?"

“Understood.”

“Good."

The pills have not yet taken effect but with the pain in his hand being noticeably less he can now get up and walk with virtually no problems. His bones still creak and his muscles are still tense, but the pain is now more like what he normally has.

"Kid."

Izuku turns around just as he's going to leave. Aizawa and All Might also stop and wait.

"Yeah?"

"I'm glad to have you back."

Izuku's heart skips a little with joy.

On the way back they go much calmer, without the urgency of a wound to treat. An occasional civilian passes by and gives them nothing more than a nod. They may tolerate his stay at UA, but he knows that the feeling of insecurity is one that won't go away easily.

"Do you want to talk about what happened in the bathroom?" All Might asks, putting a hand on his shoulder.

Izuku swallows, still a little nervous at the memory. "Would you believe me if I told you that I don't really know what happened?"

"Sorry?" Aizawa's curiosity is evident.

"Like, I know what happened but I don't know why. And I don't know if I want to know."

"Would you mind elaborating...?" His teachers are understandably puzzled.

"I was going to go into the bath when suddenly I saw something strange in the mirror."

"...I don't think the spider story is what really happened, does it?" Aizawa's blank expression almost made him laugh.

"No, it is not." The small interaction relaxes him a little, but he's still a little nervous. "At first when I looked at myself I saw everything was fine. Everything was in its place and it was me... Until it wasn't."

"What?" All Might asks completely bewildered.

"I didn't see myself in the mirror. I saw the first wielder, and then the second, and the third, and so on. I don't know how long I spent watching their faces replace mine in the mirror, but I didn't see myself again, and that scared me."

"And you hit the mirror." Aizawa says.

"And I hit the mirror." Izuku confirms.

The three remain silent, none of them knowing what to say. The green-haired teenager can see the gears turning in the adults' heads trying to figure out why this happened and how it could happen in the first place.

"Did you…?" All Might begins, unsure. "Did you see me?"

"Yes, I did." Izuku answers truthfully. He has no reason to lie.

"What the hell is up with that quirk of yours? Seriously? I've only known about it for 1 month and it's already racked my brain too many times for my liking." Aizawa growls as he puts a hand to his hair, the man probably doesn't know what to say to what he just heard.

Izuku laughs and that seems to relax his teacher a little. "I don't know, on my shift it's the first time there's been contact with previous wielders, so we're pretty green."

"When the boy told me that he had seen them at the Sports Festival I almost had a heart attack." All Might says. "I also realized that this could become much more complicated."

"No shit, Sherlock." Aizawa answers sarcastically.

"Anyway, are you okay?" Yagi asks this time focusing more on his pupil. His tone is concerned and Izuku can't help but soften.

"Right now, yes. I just hope I don't start having identity crises. I don't know how to deal with them and it's not exactly a good time to have them." Izuku answers, hugging himself. Instantly, All Might puts an arm around his shoulders and gives him a half hug.

"Whatever it is, we will get through it, together." The former hero places a fist on his chest and Izuku smiles at him, genuinely this time.

Aizawa looks at them with a half smile spreading on his lips. "When this is all over, I'll make sure Nedzu hires a psychologist. We may not be able to prevent it, but we can treat it."

'If it ends', is what he doesn't say.

When they reach the main door of the dorms, Izuku says goodbye to both adults. Not before receiving a strong hug, appropriately this time, from All Might and a slightly more relaxed hug from Aizawa, Izuku opens the door.

Before he can change his mind, he calls Aizawa.

"Aizawa-sensei." Izuku doesn't have the need to shout, he's not that far away.

The man stops and looks at him out of the corner of his eye, without completely turning around.

"I think I'll accept the offer to have dinner at your house tonight."

Aizawa smiles softly and nods.

Izuku laughs as he enters the dorms and hears All Might ask if he can go too "as the boy's father."

Yes, everything will be alright.