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Achoo! His own sneeze awoke Iida. Great, springtime allergies were already starting up again. It was the only thing Iida disliked about March.
But of course, he’d run out of allergy medicine. He quickly got on his phone and ordered some more, sighing, knowing he’d likely just have to suffer through allergies for a few days because he knew for a fact nobody else had any.
He knew because the class had built a medicine cabinet with thirty compartments. Each student had their own compartment for any of their personal medicines. Aizawa had his own compartment as well, along with one for Eri. All the other compartments were filled with over-the-counter medicines that nobody kept in their personal things. Unfortunately for Tenya, allergy medicine was one of those.
He would just go to the store for more instead of ordering it, but it was quite the hassle to get permission to leave campus. So he decided ordering it would be easier. He could handle some spring allergies for a couple of days, no problem.
That did mean accidentally startling multiple of his classmates with his sneezing when he came down for breakfast.
“Whoa, are you okay, Iida?” Uraraka was the first to ask.
“I am quite alright, it’s just some spring allergies,” Iida answered.
“How unfortunate, as we are out of allergy pills,” Momo joined.
“Not to worry, I have ordered some more. And I can handle a few days of allergies, no problem,” Iida replied.
Iida felt worse walking to school, probably due to all the pollen in the air. Allergies were much worse outside than in.
Iida felt worse as the day went on. Coughing started during hero training, and his throat felt insanely dry no matter how much water he drank. He sneezed at least once every hour, and he’d gone through the entire pack of tissues he always kept in his backpack.
At dinner, he didn’t have a huge appetite and ate less than usual. He ended up heading to his room right after the meal, instead of hanging out with his friends like he usually did in the evening.
He tried to do schoolwork, but his head started pounding. And his room was warm. Too warm. But the thermostat said it was the usual temperature he kept it at (let's say each room has its own thermostat, because the students have different preferences).
Iida flopped into his bed at seven, too tired to do anything more. He fell asleep pretty instantly once he put his glasses on the bedside table.
He woke up multiple times during the night, whether he was curling up in his blanket or kicking it off. His body couldn’t seem to decide what temperature it wanted to be. His throat had begun pulsing in pain, making him realize just how much he swallows. His head throbbed, and many of his muscles hurt as well. He briefly thought of going downstairs and grabbing some pain medicine, but he was too tired.
He didn’t feel very rested when he awoke to his alarm in the morning. But he shakingly got out of bed and got ready, trying to ignore how weak his entire body felt. Just putting his clothes on left him out of breath.
He was shivering as he went downstairs for breakfast, all ready for the day. Maybe he should take some cold medicine. If he were getting sick, that’d at least help him get through the school day.
He mostly picked at his breakfast, not listening to any of the class’s conversations. He didn’t realize he was spacing out until he felt a hand on his shoulder, making him jump.
“Hey, Iida, are you okay? I know you said it was allergies yesterday, but…” Momo questioned.
“I’m fine.” Gosh, he sounded like Midoriya, he realized. And his voice sounded awful. He wouldn’t believe him if he were Momo.
“You sure? You’ve barely touched your food,” Momo’s brow furrowed in concern. “And I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but you’re shivering.”
“I’m just not very hungry. And maybe I’m a little cold. But it’s all good.”
Momo didn’t look like she believed him. She sighed. “Fine, I’ll let it slide for now. But if you look worse even just after first period, I am making a teacher send you back to the dorms.”
Iida nodded. While they were all heading out the door, he stayed behind a moment to grab some cold medicine. He quickly took the pills and caught up to his classmates.
By the end of first period, he felt a bit better. And Momo told him he looked a bit better, too, so she didn’t insist on sending him back to the dorms for now.
Even with the medicine, he didn’t have a big appetite at lunch. He could feel his friends looking at him in concern, and also Momo’s occasional glances, as if trying to catch him in the act.
He began to feel as if the medicine was wearing off during hero training. Usually, he could run like five laps around the building without feeling too out of breath, but today he barely finished one. It was all that was required that day, but usually, he’d be extra and do a couple more. Instead, he sat on one of the rest benches and chugged some water.
Iida found himself grateful that they were doing training in P.E. uniforms today. He felt tired just thinking of running around in his armor-like suit.
They were doing partner training; Iida and Momo paired together. It was simple sparring, more like the Sports Festival. But Iida could barely focus on battle strategy, and Momo beat him quickly. Multiple times.
The two of them were now taking a break, just like many of their classmates. Iida was trying to catch his breath and cool down. He chugged some water, the action causing pain in his throat.
Momo looked at him with concern. She placed a hand on his shoulder, feeling just how sweaty he was, and noticing how flushed his face was.
“Don’t worry, I’m probably just tired from training…” Iida croaked.
Momo gave him her best ‘I don’t believe you’ face, but Iida wasn’t looking at her. She decided to just let it go; school was over anyway.
She walked a bit behind the class, since Iida was behind. He was still out of breath and was sweating more than she’d ever seen him. Momo didn’t say anything, just walked by his side.
Iida stayed in his room the rest of the day. He didn’t even go to dinner, and Midoriya had told people he was asleep after he’d gone to check on him. Nobody woke him up, thinking it was better if he rested because, of course, they’d noticed he was a bit off.
The next day was Friday. Everyone was eating breakfast, except… Iida wasn’t down yet.
Momo headed to Iida’s dorm and knocked on the door.
“Who’s there?” Whoa, Iida barely sounded like himself.
“It’s Momo! Could I come in?”
“Sure…” Iida coughed. He was in a full-blown fit when Momo walked in, sitting on the edge of the bed as if he’d planned on getting up. She simply sat next to him, rubbing his back through the coughing.
Iida took a deep breath once he stopped coughing, then took some sips of water. “What are you here for?”
“Well, everyone else is already eating breakfast. I came to check on you,” Momo answered. “And no more telling me that you’re fine because I know that, excuse my language, is bull****.”
Iida slightly laughed, which just led to some more coughing. Not a full fit, though.
Momo gently placed her hand on Iida’s forehead, gauging his temperature. “You should lie back down, you’ve got a fever.”
Iida nodded. Momo helped him get back into bed. She then created a thermometer so she could know how high Iida’s fever was. “39.1°.” A little high.
Momo created an ice pack and a rag. She placed the dry rag on his head, putting the ice pack over it. It was so he wouldn’t get a brain freeze or something.
“I’ll let Mr. Aizawa know that you’ll be staying at the dorms today,” Momo told Iida. “Do you need anything? Like some breakfast?”
“My… My water bottle’s nearly empty. And it’d probably be good for me to eat something,” Iida rasped.
Momo smiled. “I’ll be back as soon as possible.” She grabbed the refillable water bottle Iida kept on his desk, bringing it down with her to refill. She guessed that the sugary pancakes everyone else was eating wouldn’t be something Iida would want when sick, so Momo took to making some toast for him instead.
“Hey, Yao-momo, is Iida okay? You went to check on him, right?” Ochaco came up to her.
“He’s come down with something. I’m bringing him some breakfast and refilling his water,” Momo explained.
“Oh, poor Iida. Tell him I hope he feels better soon!” Ochaco replied.
“Will do,” Momo agreed.
Momo didn’t end up going to school that day, instead requesting to stay and take care of Iida. Aizawa agreed since it likely wouldn’t harm her grades.
And if Iida took care of Momo a week later… Well, maybe the two got closer from the experience.