Chapter Text
Shouta rapped on the door to Todoroki’s hospital room, barely waiting for the acknowledgment from within before pushing his way inside. Hizashi and Iida had replaced him a few hours ago so he could file his official report and talk to Nezu about their options, but he didn’t like being away from the hospital too long until Todoroki’s case was more settled.
At Hizashi’s insistence, he’d taken a little extra time to head back to the dorms. He’d taken a shower and reassured his cats, and the rest of his hell class, that he was still alive. His emergency overnight bag was already packed, and he shoved his laptop into its sleeve before settling the bag across his shoulders. Then he’d turned his steps toward the student rooms, intent on grabbing a few things for Todoroki.
Which was what brought him back to the hospital with his overnight bag slung over his back and his hands full.
“Mr. Aizawa! Let me help you with that!” Iida was instantly at his side, taking the two overstuffed tote bags out of his hands to set on the small table under the window.
“Everything okay?” Shouta asked, resting a hand on Todoroki’s shoulder and studying the kid’s face. It was late Tuesday afternoon, nearly twenty-four hours since the kid had been admitted, and he still seemed exhausted. Shouta hoped most of that was from the Quirk inhibitor and not something more dangerous lurking beneath the surface.
“You were gone for less than three hours, Shouta,” Hizashi complained from his spot in Shouta’s chair. “We were fine.”
“Last time I left you with one of my students for three hours—”
Hizashi threw his hands up in the air. “That was one time, Shouta!”
Shouta snorted, moving over to help Iida unload the tote bags. He’d initially planned to check Todoroki’s room for something to make his stay more comfortable, but the kid’s friends had descended on him with a care package of their own instead. Midoriya had supplied a thick fleece blanket in a cheerful pattern, Uraraka some fluffy slipper socks with traction grips on the bottom, and Yaoyorozu a small music player loaded with several hours of Todoroki’s favorite music. Asui, who was his favorite student of all time and was definitely getting straight-A’s the rest of her high school career, had packed up an assortment of hospital-approved snacks and a giant thermos of coffee.
“This is perfect!” Iida exclaimed, shaking the blanket out. “Hospitals get so cold, don’t they, Todoroki? This should help with that chill.”
As Iida helped tuck the blanket around Todoroki’s chest and legs, Shouta glanced at Hizashi with a raised eyebrow. “Chill?”
“Hospitals are cold,” Hizashi replied simply. “Didja bring me anything?”
“No.” Shouta took a step to the side as loud footsteps approached the door. “Hey, kid,” he called, catching Todoroki’s attention. “We’ve got one more thing. He wouldn’t fit in the bag.”
The door was shoved inward as a kid with spiky red hair fairly bounced into the room “Todobroki!” Kirishima announced, arms flung wide. “Oh, man, it’s so good to see you!”
“Kiri…shima?” Todoroki sat up a little straighter, brow furrowed, eyes a little unfocused as he stared in Kirishima’s direction. “What are you doing here?”
“Mr. Aizawa said you wanted to add me to your visitor’s list,” Kirishima replied happily. He took Iida’s place at Todoroki’s side and promptly sat on the edge of the bed. “I would’ve come up with him, but they had to take my picture and stuff,” he explained as he flicked the special visitor’s badge hanging from his t-shirt pocket.
Shouta frowned. The doctor had given them a list of symptoms to look out for…was Todoroki confused to see Kirishima or just groggy from the drugs in his system? He caught Hizashi’s eye and nodded toward the door, and his friend followed him out to the hallway while Kirishima caught Todoroki up on the latest events at school.
“How is he?” Shouta asked as soon as the door closed behind them.
“It’s only been three hours,” Hizashi emphasized. “I know you’re worried, Sho, but there’s not much we can do right now.”
He sighed and folded his arms, leaning his shoulder against the door beside them. “You didn’t see him up on the mountain. I’ve never seen that kid flinch before, but up there?” He shook his head. “Mic, he was terrified. I know part of it was from the injuries and his fever, that stuff can mess with your mind. But he was holding it together until….”
“His dad,” Hizashi finished. He blew out a breath and jammed his hands in his pockets, shoulders slumping forward. “They drew more bloodwork a few hours ago. Dr. Wei should be back with the results when he gets on shift tonight.”
Shouta raised his eyebrows and waited. Hizashi made a face and looked away. “Could be nothing.”
“It’s never nothing.”
Hizashi nodded. “His ankles were swollen. Well, the one not in the cast, anyway.”
Tipping his head back, Shouta took in a slow, deep breath. The list of symptoms spun through his mind, everything tipping toward one conclusion.
Kidney failure.
Between the dehydration, the contaminated water, and the near-toxic tannin levels in his system, they’d been warned something like this could happen.
When he’d been brought in, Todoroki had been too exhausted for most healing Quirks. They’d wanted to give him twenty-four hours to bolster his strength, but that had come with a risk.
And now….
“It’s just temporary, Shouta,” Hizashi said quietly. “It’s not…it’s the kind that gets better, right? They knew this might happen.”
Yeah, they’d said that. And he’d spent half the night researching it while Yagi read The Hobbit to Todoroki. Acute kidney failure, not chronic. The kid could recover from it, but still….
Another hurdle in his recovery. Another setback.
“They asked about calling Endeavor.”
“No.”
Hizashi held his hands up. “Hey, I’m with you.”
“He did this to him,” Shouta hissed.
“Don’t make me be the reasonable one, that’s not fair!” Hizashi whined.
Shouta rolled his eyes. “I don’t like it.”
Hizashi sighed and covered his eyes with one hand. “I think we just—we need to at least look like we’re cooperating, yeah? We gotta play nice for now, and that means keeping Endeavor in the loop about the kid’s condition. We can stonewall him later, Shouta, when we’ve got a better case.”
He started to reply but caught sight of a nurse with a clipboard hurrying toward them. “Is everything all right?” he asked, stepping around Hizashi as the nurse slowed down.
“Eraserhead?” she asked, checking her clipboard. “And you must be…Present Mic?”
“Did something happen?”
“No, nothing like that,” the nurse shook her head. The badge clipped to her uniform identified her as Ema Watanabe, and her face was vaguely familiar—probably one of the many nurses who’d been in and out of Todoroki’s room over the last twenty-four hours. “We just have some paperwork for you to sign, in regard to your temporary custody of the patient.”
Shouta’s brow furrowed. He’d already filled out and signed everything the night before. Hizashi too, and even Yagi. As far as Todoroki was concerned, UA was taking temporary guardianship of him for the seventy-two hours following his rescue. They had two more days to file charges against Endeavor, or Todoroki would be returned to his custody.
“We did all that already,” Hizashi protested, breaking Shouta out of his train of thought.
“Some of those were older versions of the forms,” Watanabe explained. “I have the new versions of them back at my station, if you’d follow me?”
“Go ahead,” Shouta nodded toward the nurse. “I’ll cover until you get back.”
The nurse tsked and rolled her eyes. “It’s only going to take a moment, gentlemen.” She clutched her clipboard close and glared at them, lips pressed into a thin line. “Please, I have other patients to tend to. Just follow me?”
She spun on her heel and started down the maze of corridors that wove through the center of the hospital. Hizashi followed her and Shouta trailed on his heels, uneasy about leaving Todoroki unsupervised for even a minute. Iida and Kirishima were with him, of course, but still. He didn’t like it.
Watanabe’s workstation was several halls away from Todoroki’s room, and Shouta and Hizashi could only stand there as she shuffled through the papers on her desk. She muttered to herself about losing the paperwork, then turned to her computer to peck at the keys for a few seconds before diving back into the pile of papers.
It was taking too long. Shouta folded his arms and rocked back on one heel, unease building in his gut. They couldn’t see Todoroki’s room from here. He trusted his students—Iida and Kirishima had good heads on their shoulders—but something could still go wrong. Todoroki could take a turn for the worse. He could fall unconscious and the other kids might think he was just sleeping. He could have a seizure, or—
“Mr. Aizawa!”
His head snapped around, eyes locating Iida as he raced through the hospital, nearly knocking over an orderly in his haste. Shouta’s hands clenched into fists as he waved his student down…Iida wouldn’t be racing around so recklessly for no reason.
Watanabe slammed her hands on her desk and shot to her feet as Iida came to a stop in front of them. “There is no running in the halls!” she shrieked, but Shouta ignored her.
“What is it?” he demanded. “What happened?”
Iida pointed back the way he’d come, toward Todoroki’s room, and said a single word.
“Endeavor.”