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Todoroki had learned from a young age that his body handled sickness much differently than that of a normal person.
It was a side effect of his dual quirk. The doctors had warned Endeavor about trying for such a thing in his children, but the man had not listened. Now Todoroki was facing the consequences of this choice.
He woke up that morning with a splitting headache, the worst of the pain above his left brow. He could feel his shirt sticking to his skin, slick with sweat. He felt freezing cold, his body trembling underneath the blankets, but hot at the same time. His left side felt like it was boiling to try and combat the freezing.
This was not good.
Todoroki slowly sat up on his futon, groaning once he was fully up. His head spun at the new position, but he was afraid if he tried to move again, he would be sick. He really did not want to get sick on his futon. It was such a pain to clean as it was. He glanced towards the alarm clock a few feet away, curious about the time. It was only 6:30 in the morning.
He still had some time before he had to be up for school that day. However, given the way he was feeling, if he went back to sleep, he would not be able to get up for classes at 7.
Todoroki sighed. It was going to be a long day.
He dragged himself out from under the warm covers of his futon. The chill morning air rushed onto him causing him to shiver uncontrollably. He wrapped his arms around himself to try and warm up a little bit. He had to resist the urge to use his fire as much as possible. If he did something like that now then it could end up bad not only for him, but everyone else in the dorms. He could not risk it, not after making all these friends.
Todoroki took a few minutes to compose himself, taking steady deep breaths to fight against the dizziness threatening to send him to the floor. When he was feeling a little better, he moved towards his dressers. Upon reaching them he reached out, pushing aside a photo of himself and his mother Fuyumi had gifted him, and grabbed a small first aid kit. All the students had one of these in their dorm's rooms for little emergencies such as needing bandages, basic pain meds, and other basic first aid needs.
Opening the kit, he reached inside to grab the small bottle of Tylenol resting at the bottom. Usually all he needs to bring down his fever is two Tylenol, so he would try that again. If he took it now than it should kick in before classes started, and then he could get through the day.
At least he hoped so.
He really could not afford to miss a day of classes because he was sick. If word got back to his father that he missed a day due to illness, then he would be in for it the next time he went home. The last time he had to miss a day of school had led to days of training that left him barely able to stand.
He wanted to avoid that as much as possible, and that started with trying to break this fever and migraine.
Todoroki popped two of the pills into his mouth, dry swallowing them as he had no water on hand. It tasted disgusting, nearly making him gag, but he managed to hold himself together. He put the first aid kit back where he had found it, and then opened his drawers to grab clothes for the day. He then grabbed his shower bag and made his way to the boy's shower room so that he could wash the sweat off his body.
And maybe, if he was lucky, the hot water would help his headache and the aches rushing through his body.
Given how early it was, Todoroki was not expecting to run into any of his classmates. Most of his classmates were not early birds, with some of them constantly being late for class.
So, when he ran into Izuku coming back into the dorm, he was caught off guard.
"Midoriya?" Todoroki whispered, his voice sounding hoarser than he had hoped it would.
"Oh, Todoroki. I wasn't expecting anyone to be up yet." Midoriya said in a sheepish tone as he shed his jacket. "I woke up early, so I decided to go for a run, I hope I didn't wake you up." He explained before laying the jacket over the back of the nearby couch.
"I woke up early is all." Todoroki said, doing his best to speak through the hoarseness in his throat.
Midoriya gave him a hard stare, his head tilting to the side. Todoroki's heart jumped in his chest with panic. Was he catching on to what was going on?
"Um... Forgive me for asking this Todoroki, but... Are you feeling ok?" Midoriya asked.
"Why do you ask?" Todoroki asked.
A look of concern passed Midoriya's face.
"Well, you just seem kind of pale compared to normal. Is there something wrong?" Midoriya asked again.
Todoroki sighed. There was no getting around his green-haired friend. Despite his blank expression, he could clearly see something was wrong. He could not keep the truth from him, so maybe telling only a part of it would keep him satisfied.
"I woke up with a migraine is all." Todoroki lied.
Shock passed Midoriya's face at his words, following quickly by concern.
"Really? Is it that bad? Did you take anything for it yet, or should I get ahold of Recovery Girl to come and see you? I'm sure she won't mind-"
"Midoriya, it's alright." Todoroki said, cutting in before Midoriya had the chance to fall down the rabbit hole of his ramblings. "I took some Tylenol already. I was going to try taking a hot shower to help." He explained.
"Oh... Ok, if you say so." Midoriya whispered. "I... If you want, I can make some tea for you while you're in the shower. It might help some." He suggested.
The idea of some hot tea for his sore throat felt heavenly. It would do his voice wonders as well.
"If you don't mind, that would be great." Todoroki said.
"Ok. I'll leave it on the counter for you when you're done in the shower." Midoriya said, already moving towards the kitchen. "Go get your shower. I figure you want to be alone before everyone else starts to get up." He added.
"Good idea." Todoroki mumbled as he crossed the common room to the bathrooms.
The hot water felt amazing on his body, taking away the chill that was still running through his nerves. He basked in the hot water for a few minutes, just enjoying the comfort that it brought him, before getting down to work. He washed quickly, knowing that the others in the dorms would be getting up for classes soon. He did not want to be in here when they came around in case he was not presentable.
As Todoroki was drying off, he could feel the chill settling in his bones once again. The Tylenol had not knocked out his fever completely. It was a pain, but he would have to manage.
If he did not manage, then he would regret it.
He got some warmth back in him once he was dressed in his uniform. He checked himself in the mirror, making sure his hair was properly parted down the middle, before stepping out.
The common area was still empty, so no one else was up yet, and it seemed like Midoriya had retired to his own room to get ready for the day. Upon entering the kitchen Todoroki found a mug of lemon ginger tea sitting on the counter, alongside a note.
"Let me know if you need anything today, ok." - M
Todoroki let a soft smile graze his face as he tucked the note in his pocket, reaching for the mug. It was so nice to have a friend like Midoriya, even if he tended to over worry about him from time to time. In moments like this, that sentiment was greatly appreciated.
He enjoyed the tea as he rode the elevator up to his floor, deciding to go ahead and get his school bag and wait to head to classes with the others.
Hopefully the morning will be the worst part of the day.
---
The morning was not the worst part of his day. Far from it in fact.
It was nearly impossible for him to follow what the teachers were talking about during class. He had been trying his best to keep up, taking notes as the class went on. However, when he looked over the notes between classes, he realized that much of what he had written down was gibberish. It made no sense at all. He might need to take up Midoriya's offer for help just to get the notes for today. He could catch up with those in his own time.
When lunch rolled around, he tried his best to eat something, but his stomach was not having it. He had grabbed light foods from what lunch rush had prepared, but only a few bites in he realized that it was not going to sit well on his stomach.
“Todoroki, you should eat. We’ve got training today for heroics.” Iida had reminded him from across the lunch table.
“Sorry... I’m just not that hungry today.” Todoroki said.
Todoroki did not miss the worried look from Midoriya at those words. His gaze lingered for a few minutes before he eventually returned to his own meal. As the group was on their way back to class, Midoriya pulled him aside.
“Todoroki, if you’re not feeling well, you should go see recovery girl. No one will fault you for it.” Midoriya said.
“I’m alright Midoriya.” Todoroki said.
“But you look so pale... And I know you’ve been struggling to focus during classes today. Please, you should-”
“I’m fine Midoriya.” Todoroki said, his tone harsher than he meant for it to be. He cringed when Midoriya took a step back, his gaze falling to the floor.
“Ok, but please, don’t push yourself too much.” Midoriya whispered.
The two of them turned back towards the classrooms after that, and Todoroki felt so guilty for snapping at Midoriya that his thoughts dwelled on it for the next two hours.
Finally, the heroics class came around.
Today's lesson was to be two on two matches. Each student had their name drawn at random to see who they would be paired with. Todoroki was glad to see that he was paired up with Iida for this lesson. The two of them worked well together, so hopefully it would be an easy match.
At least until he realized that they were up against Bakugou and Kirishima.
This was going to be a challenge.
If it were any other day, he would be looking forward to such a match. It was the kind of challenge that he liked when it came to the heroics class. However, given the way he was feeling, just the idea of trying to face off with the class’s hot head overwhelmed him.
Hopefully he could grit and bear it, and then he could rest in his room for the rest of the night.
When it was finally their turn to battle Todoroki and Iida were led to the city scape area of ground beta. Once there they were instructed to track down the other team, and whichever team defeated the other first would be the winner of the match. The ground they had to cover was quite large and was very daunting for Todoroki given his current state.
Upon starting the exercise, Todoroki noticed that his body was starting to feel heavy. It was strange, as if someone had tied weights to his limbs without his knowledge. The chill from earlier that morning was also starting to creep back into his bones. To try and take the edge off a bit he allowed his left side to warm up a little bit. The head spread through his body which helped to ward off the chill for a while.
“Um... Todoroki?” Iida spoke up.
Todoroki stopped where he stood, turning to face his fellow classmate.
“Is something wrong?” Todoroki asked.
“I don’t know if it’s normal, but there’s smoke coming off your left side.” Iida said.
Todoroki glanced down at his hand in confusion, and sure enough there was steam and smoke rising from his skin. It was like his fire was trying to break free of his own skin.
“My apologies. I was cold and must have released too much of my quirk.” Todoroki said, hoping that Iida would leave it at that. He was quick to rear in his fire side, and the smoke slowly disappeared. However, the chill in his bones returned.
“Todoroki, are you sure you’re feeling alright? Midoriya seemed quite worried about you at lunch earlier, and you barely ate anything.” Iida said. “And you’re not acting quite like yourself... Are you ok?” He asked.
“I’m alright.” Todoroki said. “Like I told Midoriya this morning, I had a migraine when I woke up... This might be some residual effects from that.” He lied.
A look of concern passed Iida’s face.
“I’ll take your word for it, but please say something if you need to stop the lesson. I’ll get Mr. Aizawa right away.” Iida said.
“Thanks.” Todoroki said.
The two of them continued forward, keeping their eyes peeled for any signs of the opposing team. They roamed the baren streets of ground beta for nearly ten minutes before the sound of something popping filled the air.
“Get down!” Iida shouted.
Before Todoroki even had the chance to move, Iida plowed into him from behind. He took Todoroki to the ground just in time to miss a howitzer shot from Bakugou. He was able to feel the heat from the blast against his right side which pushed back the chill a little bit.
“Looks like we found them.” Kirishima shouted from somewhere just out of Todoroki’s sight.
“I’m the one who found them dumbass!” Bakugou shouted.
Iida was quick to help Todoroki to his feet, the two of them facing their fellow classmates who stood on the canopy of a nearby store front.
“About damn time you nerds showed yourselves. I was starting to get bored.” Bakugo said.
“A quick attack like that won’t take us out. Come on!” Iida stated, the engines in his legs revving to life.
“Let's go!” Kirishima shouted as he leaped from the canopy towards them.
Todoroki was first to act as he slammed his right foot against the ground creating a wall of ice between himself and Kirishima. The ice wall stopped Kirishima’s advance but left an opening for Iida to race around the wall to go after him.
“You handle Kirishima. I’ve got Bakugou!” Todoroki said.
Iida only reply was a quick change of course towards the red headed student.
Todoroki heard an explosion go off overhead, quickly drawing his attention to Bakugou’s new location. He looked above himself to see Bakugou falling towards him as sparks danced across his hands.
“You’re mine half and half bastard!” Bakugou shouted.
Todoroki raised his right arm as ice spread far enough to create a shield. The ice withstood the blast, but the force of the attack did force him down to one knee. Bakugou did not stop in his advance as another explosion went off beside him. The force of this blast sent him rolling across the ground until he struck a lamp post. The blow knocked the air from Todoroki’s lungs, drawing a painful cough from his chest.
Todoroki tried to push himself up, but his limbs felt so heavy and limp. He turned his gaze towards Bakugou who was scowling at him.
“Seriously? I thought for sure you would put up a better fight then this.” Bakugou mocked. “You’re really off your game today aren’t yah IcyHot?” He added.
Todoroki huffed in annoyance. Sure, he was a little under the weather, but that did not mean he could not hold his own in a fight. He lifted his left arm, deciding to switch up his tactics. Given Bakugou’s nitroglycerin sweat he would have to keep his distance to avoid being hurt by his sweat igniting. Flames erupted from his hand in Bakugou’s direction. Bakugou was quick to back up from the attack, with a look of surprise on his face.
“Now that’s what I’d expect of you. Bring it on!” Bakugou shouted.
Todoroki stumbled to his feet, keeping a hand on the lamp post for support. His body felt so heavy, screaming for him to just drop and let it be over. However, this was a class. He was being graded for his performance. Giving up now meant defeat, and a bad grade that he did not want on his record. A bad grade would mean more training which he would not be able to handle while ill like this.
“You let your guard down IcyHot!” Bakugou shouted, suddenly appearing in front of the dual quirk user. Todoroki barely had time to react to the surprise before an explosion was going off in his face. He was forced back by the blast, flying like a leaf on the wind. When he eventually landed on the ground he rolled for a distance, coming to a stop at the base of a building designed to look like a bank. Todoroki coughed painfully, his chest aching as he tried to push to a stand. Steam was slowly starting to rise from the exposed skin on his left side. If he were in his right mind, it would have been alarming but given how annoyed he was he chalked it up to being angry at the explosive quirk user before him.
Bakugou was slowly approaching him, his right-hand hovering as sparks flew from his palm.
“A shame. I honestly thought you’d put up more of a fight then this.” Bakugou said.
Todoroki acted before his foggy mind could remind him how bad an idea his next move was. Fire erupted along his left side as he raised his left hand. A stream of fire shot forward, brighter and hotter than anything he normally used during school training like this. He thought he saw a look of alarm pass Bakugou’s face, but it morphed into a blur of all kinds of colors before his very eyes.
Ice and frost suddenly erupted from his right side. Todoroki fell to the ground, his body shaking as ice and fire erupted from his right and left sides respectively.
This could not be happening. He pushed himself too far. His fever must have spiked, and now his body was trying to do damage control that could only make things worse.
Todoroki thought he could hear someone yelling his name, but he could barely make it out over the raging flames around him. Not only that, but the pain was making his mind foggy. His body was tearing itself apart. The feeling was like a knife tearing him in half from the top of his head down. He was going to split in half.
How could he have let it get this bad?
---
The remaining students of class 1-A watched in horror as the screens before them were whited out from the brightness of the flames erupting from Todoroki’s body. Gasps of awe rang out at the sight, but deep down a sinking feeling began to fill Midoriya’s gut.
Something did not seem right. The flames did not look the same as they normally did. They were less controlled, and glowed brighter than anything he had ever seen before. This was on a level that they had never seen before during a lesson such as this.
“Hey... I think something’s wrong.” Kaminari suddenly spoke up from where he stood closest to the screen.
“What do you mean? It’s a normal battle like always. Todoroki’s just using a finishing move on Bakugou to knock him down. I’d do the same if I were him.” Mineta stated.
“No, take a closer look.” Kaminari said, concern flooding his tone.
Midoriya squinted at the bright light emitting from the screen. It was hard to make out what was going on, the fire whiting out the camera feed. However, there was a brief second where the light faded enough that a shape could be made out.
It was Todoroki, kneeling on all fours as uncontrollable flames and ice erupted from his body.
As the picture came into view the emergency alarm was sounded, signaling that the students in the exercise needed help from the faculty.
Before Aizawa even had a chance to bark out orders, Midoriya took off in a streak of green lightning. He could not leave his friend there to suffer. He had seen the effect of someone losing control of their quirk before, and it never ended well. Someone needed to help him, and fast.
Midoriya sped through the testing area, green lightning lighting up around his body as he went. The world around him was a blur, his vision nearly pinpoint on the flashing lights that indicated flickering flames in Todoroki’s destination. The flames were bright yellow in color from what he could make out, whisps of blue mixing in. Midoriya had never seen anything like it from Todoroki before.
Finally, after what felt like hours but was only a few minutes in reality, Midoriya was able to reach the area that Todoroki was at. He stood on top of a nearby building looking down on the area where his friend was at, trying to get a gauge of the situation at hand.
It was not good to say the least.
Todoroki was on all fours just like he had been on the display back at the base. Fire was erupting from his left side, yellow flames mixed with whisps of blue just as he had seen before. They were some of the hottest burning flames Midoriya had ever seen Todoroki every put out before. They may not be on the level of Endeavors prominence burn, or Dabi’s blue flames, but they were up there. As for his right side, Todoroki was spitting out large chunks of ice that were quickly being melted from the heat of his flames to drench the poor boy. Despite the distance he was at, Midoriya could see that Todoroki was panting heavily, and if he listened closely, he could hear him making a strange choking sound.
“This is bad.” Midoriya mumbled, panicking as he jumped from the top of the building. He was quick to brace, landing with ease on the sidewalk at the base of the building. Just a few yards away he could see another figure standing there. Bakugou was standing there, clearly just as concerned despite the scowl on his face. He had the emergency caller that their teachers made them carry in case of situations like this. The small device was specially made for students to alert the teachers of an incident during training, and recovery girl so that she would be aware and on standby if needed immediately.
“What happened Kachan!?” Midoriya shouted.
“The hell if I know. One minute we’re fighting, the next he’s on the ground out of control. I don’t know what the hell happened!” Bakugou shouted. The blond turned his glare towards the dual quirk user with concern. “I can’t risk getting closer. With the amount of sweat I worked up while fighting the bastard I could blow up the that whole damn building with those flames he’s putting off.”
“I figured as much.” Midoriya said.
“Shut it, Deku!” Bakugou shouted.
A strangled scream filled the air as the two students saw Todoroki try to push to a stand, only to fall to the side. The left side of his costume was starting to burn away from the heat of his flames, something that neither one of them thought was possible given the make of the material. It had been specially made to withstand up to 4,000-degree temperatures. The ice that had been forming on Todoroki’s right side had since ceased, now appearing as heavy beads of sweat as his body tried to compensate for the immense heat his left side was putting off.
This was really bad.
Midoriya slowly moved forward, knowing that if he got too close, he would surely be burned. The last thing he needed was to make himself a casualty in this mess. He could not physically help his friend until Aizawa reached them, but maybe he could try and reach him with words. Maybe he could calm him down a bit.
Todoroki was screaming in pain now, curled up on his right side as he clutched at his left arm. He was shaking like a leaf on the wind.
“Todoroki. I know you’re in pain, but you have to hang in there.” Midoriya called out. “Mr. Aizawa already knows about what’s going on. I know he’s on his way here as we speak. He’ll be here any second, but you have to hang in there.”
“Hurts.” Todoroki whimpered. “I was so stupid... So stupid.”
“That doesn’t matter right now. You’re going to be ok, but I need you to hang in there.” Midoriya, despite the heat, risked taking a few extra steps forward. The inferno licked at his skin, sweat breaking out on his brow and causing his hair to stick to his skin. This was some intense heat Todoroki was putting off. “Can you do that for me? Can you hang on for just a little longer?” Midoriya asked.
Todoroki lifted his head a little bit as if to nod.
That’s when all at once the flames blinked out of existence. A shuddering gasp broke free of Todoroki’s chest, and he collapsed against the ground.
“Todoroki!”
---
There were voices around him. The voices were muffled, speaking but distant and inaudible to his ears. His body ached like high heavens. It was like he was being weighed down by a lead weight. His right side burned terribly. Why was that so? His right side was normally cold, not hot, so why was it so hot?
“We need to get him to recovery girl. Those burns are pretty bad, and he’s running a high fever.” A voice said.
“I should’ve said something earlier. I knew he wasn’t feeling well this morning, but I thought it was just a migraine like he said.”
A hand landed on his left shoulder, cold to the touch against his clammy skin.
“Todoroki?... Kid, can you hear me?”
That voice. Todoroki knew that voice clear as day.
“A-Aizawa?”
Todoroki forced his eyes open, squinting against the bright sunlight to see his teacher crouched over him. There was a look of concern on the man’s face that seemed out of place. They normally did not see that look unless something was really bad.
“Can you hear me kid? You passed out on us when I cancelled out your quirk?” Aizawa said.
“Yeah.” Todoroki said. He tried to lift up his head a bit to see what was going on around him but was quickly stopped when another hand landed on his head.
“Try not to move too much yet Todoroki. You’ve got a really high fever.”
“Midoriya?” Todoroki asked.
“Yeah, it’s me.” Midoriya assured him, his fingers brushing through the tangled and sweaty strands of hair. “You’re going to be just fine ok. We’ve got you now.” He said.
“Iida should be back with a stretcher for us soon, then we can move you to the nurse's office. Just try to relax but stay awake for us ok. We need you to try and stay awake this time.” Midoriya explained.
Todoroki turned his gaze once again, searching for another figure he knew had been in the vicinity. However, he was not able to spot the angry blonde anywhere.
“Where is Bakugou... He was nearby... Is he alright?” Todoroki asked.
“Bakugou is fine.” Aizawa assured. “I sent both him and Kirishima back to the rest of the class for dismissal. Hopefully, if they follow directions, they’ll be returning to the dorms until further instruction.” He said in a grumpy tone.
It was another ten minutes before Iida returned with a rolling stretcher in tow.
“I’m sorry it took me so long. I had to inform Recovery Girl of the situation at hand before she would let me bring the stretcher here. She’s waiting for our arrival.” Iida explained as he lowered the stretcher to the ground.
“Good work Iida.” Aizawa said.
“Ok Todoroki. I’m going to move you onto the stretcher now. Just bear with me ok, it may hurt, but everything is going to be ok.” Midoriya said.
Todoroki was a bit confused by what he meant. Sure, his body was aching, but he was not physically hurt, was he? He was proven wrong however when he felt a burning pain erupt along his right side as Midoriya’s arms slid under his back and legs, lifting him into the air. A strangled scream escaped his throat despite his battle to hold it in. His head lilted to the side, landing on Midoriya’s chest as he whimpered in pain.
“It hurts... Hurts.” Todoroki whimpered.
“I know Todoroki. Just hang in there ok. It’s going to be ok.” Midoriya said, his voice sounding pained.
Todoroki was gently set down on the stretcher, Midoriya being extra gentle to avoid aggravating his injuries. He felt a hand rest of his forehead, cool to the touch against his feverish skin. Todoroki cracked his eyes open to see that Midoriya was watching him with worried eyes.
“You’re going to be ok, but please, you have to stay awake ok.” Midoriya said.
“Right... Right, I’m sorry.” Todoroki said.
“You have nothing to apologize for kid.” Aizawa said, appearing at the other side of the stretcher. “Let’s get you to the nurse's office to see recovery girl. Your fever is far too high even for someone with a quirk such as yours, and you’ve got some nasty burns on your right side.” He explained.
Burns on his right side. So that explained why his right side felt like it was so hot.
“Iida, you go back to class for now. Midoriya and I can handle this from here.” Aizawa explained.
“Yes Sensei.” Iida said.
The trip to the nurse's office was not very long, only about ten minutes total, but it felt like a lifetime to Todoroki. His head was pounding with the beat of his heart, and every time he tried to shut his eyes to get some relief from the sunlight, he would be reminded by Midoriya to keep his eyes open. He just wanted to rest.
Finally, the stretcher rolled through the door to recovery girls office, and Todoroki heard a gasp ring out.
“Oh, good heavens. I didn’t realize it was this bad.” Recovery Girl called out.
“He’s running a severe fever right now Chiyo and can’t control his quirk.” Aizawa explained. “He lost control during the heroics exercise I had planned for today.”
“Oh dear. Move him to the bed over there. I better get an inhibitor ready.” Recovery Girl said.
“I-Inhibitor? What does she mean?” Todoroki asked, his words coming out more slurred than he had hoped.
“It’s nothing you need to worry about right now Todoroki.” Aizawa explained. “It’s just going to help control your quirk for a few days until we can get you over what ever bug you’ve caught.”
“What?” Todoroki whispered. “What bug?”
“Kid you’ve got a fever worse than anything I’ve ever seen.” Aizawa stated. “And your quirk isn’t helping any by the looks of it. Only way to get you some relief is to give you an inhibitor to cut it off for a couple of days so you can recover.” He explained.
“No.” Todoroki argued, trying to sit up. He only managed to sit up a few inches before falling back against the stretcher. “Dad will find out. He’ll get angry.”
“No, he won’t.” Aizawa stated, something akin to protectiveness flashing across his face. “I won’t let this information reach him if I can help it.”
Todoroki felt arms slip under his back and legs again and whimpered in pain when they rubbed against the fresh burns on his skin.
“I’m sorry Todoroki. Just give me a second.” Midoriya said, quickly moving the other teen to the bed that Recovery Girl had gestured to. He laid Todoroki on the cot, careful to not brush the nasty looking burns littering his right side.
“I’m going to need you both to hold him down. The inhibitors are no joking matter when administered.” Recovery Girl explained.
“Right. Midoriya.” Aizawa called out.
“Got it.” Midoriya said.
Todoroki felt hands on his shoulders, pinning him to the bed as two more pinned his arms at his sides. He had no idea what was going on, his heart beat picking up as he looked up into concerned green eyes.
“You’re going to be ok Todoroki. Just a pinch.” Midoriya said.
“Hold him steady.” Recovery girl said.
Todoroki felt a prick in his left arm, and then a burning sensation spread through his veins unlike anything he had ever felt before. It felt like fire was racing through his veins, spreading by the second. The feeling stretched up his arm and into his chest, spreading further from there as the intensity grew. A scream tore out of his chest as he bucked off the cot, fighting against the hands holding him down. The pain was unrelenting, no relief in sight. He tried to break free of the hold on him, but who ever was holding him down was not giving up.
“Hang in there Todoroki!” Aizawa called out. “I know it hurts kid, but we have to do this.”
“Just a few more seconds and the pain will lessen sweetheart.” Recovery girl spoke.
“You hear that Todoroki? Just a few more seconds. It’ll be ok. Just hang on.” Midoriya said.
A broken sob escaped Todoroki’s throat as the pain continued, his body seizing up painfully. Above him he heard Midoriya start rambling, but the words were muffled in the haze of pain. Finally, after what felt like forever, the burning sensation began to subside. Todoroki began to relax into the cot again, his head lulling to the side. His brow was slick with sweat, his hair sticking to his skin as Midoriya gently wiped away the duel-colored strands.
“See, what did we say? You’re ok.” Midoriya explained.
“I wish there were another way to nullify a user’s quirk temporarily. These inhibitors are so painful when administered.” Recovery Girl said. “But that should nullify your quirk for a few days so we can treat you properly without your fire side getting in the way like it was. Let’s start by getting some fluids and fever reducers into your system. I’m sure with how high your fever got you’re dehydrated now.” She explained.
Todoroki’s eyes began to droop as he tried to follow Recovery Girls movements across the room to a medicine cabinet. It was hard to see what she was doing through the haze of his vision.
A hand fell on his shoulder, and Todoroki looked up to find Aizawa looking down at him with tired eyes.
“You can get some rest now kid.” Aizawa explained. “You need it.”
It was like a switch was flipped, and Todoroki’s eyes slipped shut as he was swallowed whole by the exhaustion that had been plaguing him all day.
---
When Todoroki woke next it was dark in the room.
He could feel a blanket laid over himself, light and soft against his exposed skin. The familiar sensation of gauze wrappings also caught his attention. He could feel it wrapped around his right arm and torso. That must be where the worst of his burns had been inflicted when he lost control earlier. There was a pinprick in his left elbow indicating that he was connected to an I.V. line still.
“You awake Todoroki?” A familiar voice called out.
Todoroki turned his head, surprised to find Aizawa sitting in a chair next to the bed. The teacher had a book open on his lap, but it was clearly forgotten now.
“Mr. Aizawa?” Todoroki croaked, his throat as dry as sandpaper.
“Hang on.” Aizawa said, grabbing something out of his line of sight. It was soon revealed to be a glass of water with a straw. He reached out with his other arm, helping the teen to sit up. “Take a few sips ok. Don’t guzzle it or you’ll make yourself sick.” He warned.
Todoroki did as he was told, taking a few sips of the water to wet his throat. It felt amazing against his parched throat.
“What happened?” Todoroki asked in between sips.
“You lost control of your quirk during heroics class today. Because of your fever your ice side was not able to compensate so your fire side took over. You’ve got some nasty burns on your right side, but Recovery girl is pretty sure they won’t scar once fully healed. We had to give you a quirk inhibitor in order to stop your fire side from producing heat so we could bring your fever down, so you won’t be participating in any physical heroics training for a few days. You gave your classmates quite the scare.” Aizawa explained.
“How long was I out?” Todoroki asked, pushing himself up so he could sit up straight.
“Almost 8 hours now.” Aizawa explained, setting the glass and his book aside. “Recovery Girl was called out to an emergency, so she asked that I sit with you until she could be back to monitor you. How do you feel?” He asked.
“I… I’m not sure.” Todoroki admitted, and that was the honest truth. It had been so long since he got sick like that he was not sure how he was supposed to feel after what he went through. The normal thrum of his quirk that was normally there was completely gone, which he had expected. The one thing he clearly remembered from his fevered state earlier was the quirk inhibitor Recovery Girl had to give him. He had no ill will towards the woman for doing it, he understood well why she had to do it, but that did not stop the shiver that ran up his spine at the memory of the fire in his veins.
“I was worried you’d say that.” Aizawa said with a sigh. “Kid, when was the last time you got sick?” He asked.
“Are you serious?” Todoroki asked.
“Humor me.” Aizawa said.
Todoroki dropped his gaze to his lap, absentmindedly picking at a loose thread that stuck out of the blanket laid over him.
“I… I get sick the same as the others, but I haven’t gotten this sick since I was ten.” Todoroki explained.
“So, you knew you were sick today?” Aizawa asked.
“I did. I noticed it this morning when I got up.” Todoroki explained, sagging in defeat. There was no point in hiding things from his teacher now, not after what he had seen during class.
“Kid, if you knew you were sick, why didn’t you tell me? I would’ve given you an excuse to miss classes and get some rest.” Aizawa explained.
“Usually, I’m fine with just some fever reducers and extra water. I thought that was the case this time.” Todoroki explained. “And… If dad heard I missed class because I was resting instead of training, he’d get mad at me.”
There was that protective look again, the same as before.
“Why would Enji be mad at you Todoroki?” Aizawa asked.
“Resting when I should be training is weakness in his eyes. When I was growing up he would train me even when I was sick. The only reprieve I would get is if I passed out due to the fever. He claimed I should be able to work in any conditions, including illness… The last time he trained me when I had a fever like this, I nearly burned down the training room even with all the fireproofing he has put up.” Todoroki explained. “When I first woke up this morning, I thought It was just a migraine, but it got worse throughout the day. I thought that if I could just get through the rest of class and the heroics lesson, then I could sleep it off. That’s what I’ve done before since moving into the dorms.”
“Since moving in?... Todoroki, how often have you gotten sick since moving into the dorms?” Aizawa asked in alarm.
“Twice now. I caught strep when it was going around a few weeks ago, and that cold that Kirishima brought back after visiting his family.” Todoroki explained.
“And how bad was it then?” Aizawa asked, his eyes taking on a seriousness Todoroki had not seen in a long time.
“It… It wasn’t good. I had to fight to keep control of my quirk. When I’m running a fever it’s easy for my fire side to just up and explode out of me like you saw today. I go up like a roman candle and nothing can stop it save you or jumping in water to put it out.” Todoroki explained.
“No wonder you looked so tired back then. I thought you were just going through insomnia.” Aizawa muttered.
“Wait.” Todoroki turned his gaze to his teacher in surprise. “You noticed?” He asked.
“I had my suspicions, but I didn’t know exactly what was going on. I had meant to talk to you after the cold ran through the dorm, but then you got busy with the extracurricular classes so it was hard to find time to pull you aside.” Aizawa explained. “Todoroki, you shouldn’t have to suffer alone like that. If you’re sick you need to come to one of us, or visit recovery girl. There’s medications she can give you to help with things before you get so sick we have to resort to giving you a quirk inhibitor before you can receive treatment.” He added.
“But that’s just-“
It’s not weakness kid, so don’t even go there.” Aizawa said, stopping Todoroki’s line of thought. “Every hero gets sick. Hell, I’d bet your father does to and just doesn’t tell you because he’s so full of himself.”
Todoroki let his gaze fall again, picking at the loose thread again.
“Todoroki, look at me please.” Aizawa said.
Todoroki lifted his gaze, and saw a soft smile on the teachers face that he thought was reserved for Eri alone.
“You don’t have to act strong when you’re not feeling well. You’re allowed to admit you’re sick and get help. Even heroes do. Hell, I do sometimes. Remember during the first semester that week you had All Might substituting for homeroom period?”
“Yeah.” Todoroki said.
“That’s because I was down with the flu. Kicks my ass every year even when I get my shots.” Aizawa said. “I know your past was rough kid, and I’m not going to delve deeper unless you want me to, but please trust me when I tell you that you can get help when you’re not well.”
Todoroki’s throat felt tight as he nodded, one second away from bursting into tears. It had been such a long day and he still felt horrible.
“Get some sleep Todoroki, you deserve it.” Aizawa explained.
“Will… Will you still be here when I wake up?” Todoroki asked, lowering himself onto his left side.
“Of course, kid.” Aizawa said.
Todoroki drifted off to the soft sounds of pages turning.
For the first time in a long while, he felt like he could reach out when he needed help.