52

Notes:

Talking! That's all there is this time, a bunch of talking. Hope you all enjoy this brief respite for Izuku before things start kicking up again.

Chapter Text

Alright then, count me in.

No monologue? You're not going to explain how you did it?

Some-somewhere along the way, it became no.

"Wake up."

Izuku opened his eyes. The first thing he noticed was the white ceiling, pristine and spotless. And then came the constant beeping, a steady beat that waded in and out of his ears.

"Hospital," he groaned. "Right. Of course."

QA, we really need to—

"Midoriya! You're awake!"

Izuku turned his head to the left, eyeing the source of the voice. 

"Oh," Izuku muttered. "Yaoyorozu. It's you." 

Talking. Later. Okay?

Izuku cocked his head sideways, taking a sidelong glance at Yaoyorozu. "Wait. What are you doing here?"

"I— I came as soon as I heard," Yaoyorozu replied hurriedly. "It's my duty as the deputy representative to ensure my class rep's well being, after all!"

Izuku smiled, letting out a small chuckle. "Thanks."

Izuku looked around at the others that surrounded his bed. Yaoyorozu was the only one awake, her chair closest to him on the left. Beside her sat Setsuna in her own chair, her head on the bed and a trail of drool coming from her mouth. 

On his right closest to him was Mei, also sleeping but with her head tilted backwards. Beside her was Pony and Manga, each leaning on the other as they slept. However, the one who caught Izuku's attention the most was whoever was sitting at the foot of the bed. They were completely covered in bandages, sporting a look not unlike the one Aizawa had for a while after the incident at USJ.

"The others came along with me as well," Yaoyorozu said. "The school initially wouldn't let us, but we're stubborn, you know? Iida wanted to come too, but he was worried of what would have happened if we left the class alone all by themselves. You know how they can be sometimes."

"Yeah…" Izuku continued to look at the individual at the foot of the bed.

"Oh, that's Kirishima," Yaoyorozu replied upon seeing Izuku's confusion.

"Oh, huh. Should he… really be out of bed if he's like that?" Izuku asked.

"It's not as bad as it looks, actually," Yaoyorozu said. "It's mostly superficial damage to his skin. His quirk took the brunt of the damage. You should have seen him earlier today. He said that he didn't want to leave your side until you woke up. Something about you being too manly for your own good."

They both shared a laugh at that.

"Oh!" Izuku suddenly blurted out. "What about Uraraka and Tsu?"

"They're fine too. They were here a couple hours ago. Last I checked, they went to check up on Sir Nighteye."

Izuku's eyes widened. "That's right! What about Sir?! Or Togata-senpai?! Aizawa-sensei?! And Eri?!" Izuku sat up in his bed in a hurry.

"Whoa now, slow down Izuku," Yaoyorozu soothed, guiding Izuku back into a lying position. "They're fine. They're all fine. If anything, you should be worrying about yourself right now. You're the one who technically had it the worst."

Izuku experimentally had a go at moving all his limbs. He blew a sigh of relief when he found that he could move at his own will, quite unlike the minutes after Eri had used her quirk on him. As is, Izuku sent a questioning look at Yaoyorozu. "But I feel fine?"

"Physically maybe. But on the mental spectrum, that's a whole different story."

Izuku cocked an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that you weren't waking up, Izuku,'' Yaoyorozu sighed. "Your brain activity was spiking all over the place, and the doctors said that you were in some kind of coma, and they didn't know when you would wake up."

"How long was I out?"

"Not long, actually," Yaoyorozu said. "The raid was earlier today. It's approaching midnight right now."

"That's a relief." Izuku blinked. "You know, you just called me by my first name then. And I'm pretty sure that it's the first time you have."

Yaoyorozu's eyes widened. "I—Did I? Sorry. I didn't mean to—"

"No no. It's alright," Izuku said. "Close friends refer to each other with their first names, don't they? And I definitely consider you a close friend at this point, Momo."

"Oh. Thanks... Izuku. I, uh—" 

"Ow!" Izuku yelped, his hands for the suddenly sore spot that had appeared on his head.

"Hatsume!" Momo reprimanded. "You shouldn't be hitting his head like that! He was still in a coma just a few minutes ago!"

"Don't care! And Izuku!" yelled the suddenly awoken Mei, setting down her hand after hitting the top of his head. "What the hell did you think you were doing!"

Izuku chuckled despite the display, even if he was still rubbing at the spot on his head. "Nice to see you too, Mei."

As it turned out, Mei's outburst was rather loud. The others had begun to stir, and it wouldn't take long for them to spur from their rest. And despite it being midnight, it looked as if Izuku wouldn't be getting much sleep for a while.

Once again, Izuku awoke to the pristine white ceiling above his hospital bed. But this time he was greeted by somebody else upon his awakening. Standing over Izuku's bed on the left was Aizawa, his left arm in a sling and half a face covered in bandages.

"Midoriya you have some explaining to do."

"Oh?" Izuku let out a nervous laugh. "Umm… where did the others go?"

"The cafeteria; they're serving breakfast. Your own food is on your right."

Izuku turned his head over to where Aizawa had gestured. "Oh! Pancakes! You wouldn't mind if—"

"Go ahead."

Izuku moved the tray and the accompanying table into a more comfortable position and began to eat.

"So," Izuku began, talking between bites, "what was it that you wanted to ask me, Aizawa-sensei?"

Aizawa took a glance at the plate his student was eating from. His hand reached down, grabbed one of the pancakes and took a bite of it.

"Hey!"

Aizawa took his time to chew, finally swallowing after a few moments. "I want to know what you were thinking, fighting Overhaul like you did."

"What do you mean?"

"You were paralyzed all over."

"That was mostly from Eri though! Nothing Overhaul had done."

"That was still risky. What if Overhaul had killed all your bugs?"

"I already made that mistake before. I took steps to prevent it from happening again."

Aizawa took another bite of his pancake, essentially eating it in its entirety. "And if your flight pack failed?"

"I trust Hatsume's handiwork." Izuku looked around the room. "Where is my flight pack, anyways? And my costume?"

"It's with Kaniyashiki. She'll be coming later." Aizawa sighed. "I need to think up something that'll discourage you from planting yourself in the face of life-threatening danger in the future."

Izuku smirked. "Good luck with that."

Aizawa took another pancake.

"Hey! That's the last one!"

"You can get more later." Aizawa began to move towards the door. "Come on, let's go."

Izuku blinked. "You mean follow you?" 

"Unless you want to remain confined to your hospital bed?"

"But so early? I would've thought that—"

"The doctors cleared you earlier today. It helped that Recovery Girl looked over you in that aspect. And you missed your mother. She dropped by earlier but she said that she had to go to work."

"Oh." Izuku got up without question then, stretching a bit first before he fell in step with Aizawa. "So, everybody's really okay?"

"Relatively."

"Meaning…"

"You saw Kirishima. Fat Gum was with him during that fight, but overall got off better, all things considered. Amajiki is fine despite the fact that he faced three of the villains on his own; he has a couple bruises and a split face. He'll be fine. And you already saw your friend, Tokage. She and Edgeshot got away lightly, considering who they were chasing."

"So Stain and... what was his name? Spinner, I think? They got away?" 

"They did. And while we're not getting anything out of the Precepts members we captured, we're pretty certain that the case Spinner had with him held more quirk destroying bullets."

"I thought so." Izuku sighed. "Eri?"

"Isolation, for now. Since we know that she can't control her quirk, it's best that she be kept under until the doctors can sort everything out."

"I… suppose that makes sense. But then how about—"

"We're here." Aizawa interrupted, already knowing what Izuku was going to ask. "See for yourself." 

Aizawa made his way towards another hospital room and held its door open. Izuku walked through with the door closing behind him. Aizawa hadn't followed.

There were three individuals in the room. Nighteye sat upright in his hospital bed, with All Might sitting by his side and the two talking amicably. 

Togata was the third individual, and was the one to first notice Izuku. He had been doing an odd sort of exercise in his bed when he greeted the room's newcomer.

"Ah, Midoriya! You're up and about! I'm glad!" 

Izuku opened his mouth, aiming to form some sort of response. However, Togata's actions and demeanor — with the way he seemed so carefree and happy — had caught him a bit off guard. 

"Ah, Midoriya!" suddenly came All Might as he rose from his chair. "Nice to see you awake, my boy!"

"I— Nice to see you too." Izuku stuttered. "Is uh..." Izuku focused in the behind All Might, towards the man who sat still in his bed. "Is Nighteye okay?"

"I'm quite fine, Midoriya," Nighteye said.

"You are not!" All Might suddenly said back.

"I am," Nighteye rebuked. "My injuries aren't too debilitating."

Togata let out a laugh. "You're paralyzed from the waist down, Sir. Some people would find that pretty horrifying."

Izuku's eyes widened upon the information. "You mean—"

Nighteye let out a loud groan. "Please Midorya, save your breath. Don't get on my case as well."

"But you— Paralyzation is— Wait! How about your arm?!"

"You mean this?" Nighteye raised the arm in question, but instead of the usual hand a stump had taken his place. "I'm quite alright with it actually. If anything, it'll help with my future All Might cosplays."

At his proclamation, All Might made a choking sound. "How can you be so nonchalant about this?!"

Izuku began to chuckle, watching All Might and Nighteye bicker between themselves.The back and forth between hero and sidekick continued for a whole minute, as did Izuku's enjoyment of what was happening in front of him. However, something caught Izuku's attention.

"Wait a minute." Izuku took another look at All Might. "How did I not notice it sooner?! You're wearing the robo-arm!" Izuku exclaimed. "When did Mei give it to you?"

All Might turned to face Izuku, and Izuku again was confused with how he neglected to notice the giant, metallic arm attached to where All Might's stump used to be. 

"Only yesterday actually," All Might said. "Hatsume spent a whole hour explaining everything to me while Melissa was on call." All Might flexed the arm. "Hatusme and Melissa really outdid themselves. I can see those two doing great things together."

"Though I'm definitely not going to use the splinter rocket system anytime soon," All Might added with a mutter.

"Spinter rocket system?" Izuku asked. "I don't remember anything about that in the designs."

"Nevermind about it, Midoriya. It's best we don't talk about it."

"But—"

"Anyways, let's switch topics!" All Might exclaimed. "We have some things to discuss with you, my boy. It'd be best if we spoke about it sooner than later."

"Is this about Togata having One For All?"

"What?!" Nighteye said. "How do you know about that? Or about One For All, for that matter?"

"You mean All Might didn't tell you?" Izuku asked.

Nighteye turned an eye towards said hero. "You don't tell me about these things All Might."

"Sorry! I know I don't! And I already said! I plan to fix that from now on!"

Nighteye smiled, a small chuckle coming from his mouth. "Right."

"I knew that you were a smart kid, Midoriya!" Togata said. "You figured it all out on your own."

"It was nothing, really. It was kind of obvious if you knew what to look for. All Might already told me that he had picked a successor, but not who. Coupled with what I saw during your fight with Overhaul, and with the fact that one of the darts was missing from the case that the clone Harrow was trying to run off with, it wasn't too hard to figure out."

"Sounds like an answer that still required a bunch of thinking to me," Togata countered.

Izuku shrugged his shoulders. "How are you planning to hide it, though? I mean, you lost Permeation. And super strength, speed, and durability aren't exactly similar to your old quirk."

"We've already figured that all out, actually!" All Might said. "We're keeping the fact that Mirio got shot during the raid. But! We're changing just the type of bullet it was!"

"What do you mean?" Izuku asked.

"We're saying that instead of a quirk destroying bullet, Overhaul used a different, more secretive experiment on me," Togata added. "It was a bullet that changes one's quirk!"

"What." The words came out of both Izuku and Nighteye's mouth simultaneously.

"That's what you're going with?" Izuku asked. "That'll never pass under scrutinization."

"What?" All Might asked. "Is it not convincing enough?"

"It isn't," Nighteye said. "I agree with Midoriya on this. There are too many factors that contradict such a thing. Like the surviving higher-ups of the Precepts of Death. I propose blaming Mirio's situation on somebody's quirk. Somebody who ended up dying in the raid, thus explaining Mirio's current change in quirk."

"Huh," Togata mumbled. "Well, if that's what Sir wants to go with, I'm fine with it!"

"You don't have to, but I recommend it," Nighteye said. "But I have a question All Might, if you don't mind me switching topics again."

"Of course not! Go ahead, Nighteye."

Nighteye nodded. "It's about Midoriya. I'm merely curious; why does he know about One for All in the first place?"

"Ah, yes." All Might sighed. "All For One has taken an interest in Midoriya, unfortunately. I decided to inform him of my quirk and all it entailed, so he knew what he was working with with All For One."

Nighteye blinked, his face gaining a far-off look. "I see… I must've skimmed over that, then. Somehow. Hmm... But in that case—" 

The door to the room suddenly creaked open, causing Nighteye to cut himself off.

Four other figures came in through the door, all of which were familiar to Izuku.

Oh, hey kid," a heavily bandaged Gran Torino said to Izuku. "You're looking a lot better than I thought you would. Last I heard, you were stuck in a coma."

"Coma?!" Tsukauchi yelled. He was in a similar state to Gran Torino, though had the added disadvantage of an arm in a sling. "Since when was Midoriya in a coma?!"

"I was telling you a while ago, Kauchi," Kaniko said. "Weren't you listening?"

"Tsukauchi! Gran Torino!" All Might said. "What are you guys doing here?"

"I'm here to check up on your sidekick," Gran Torino said. "He and I haven't had a decent conversation in a while. As for those guys," he pointed at the gathered group of Tsuakuchi, Kaniko, and Asano, "they're here for the kid."

"Go on," Gran Torino said to Izuku. "You can continue with catch-up later."

Izuku nodded, walking over the trio of police officers and following as they left the room.

Kaniko was the first to initiate contact, going on to ruffle Izuku's hair as they walked to a more secluded area. "Good to see you up, Midoriya. I knew that you'd get up eventually. I didn't doubt that for a second, of course; didn't think you'd be so quick about it though."

Izuku smirked. "I'm glad that you have confidence in my ability to ensure my own well being."

Izuku inclined his head. "So, more questioning, I take it?"

"We're actually here to arrest you," Asano said.

Izuku took an involuntary step back. "What?!"

"She's kidding, Midoriya," Tsukauchi said. "Sheesh, Saya. The kid just came out of a coma. Try not to scare him into another one, will you?"

Asano only replied with a grunt.

Tsukauchi sighed. "And yes, questioning."

"Oh," Izuku let out a sigh.

It took them another minute to reach their destination — a rather indiscriminate room that didn't have much going for it other than being out of the way. Tsukauchi was the first to speak.

"Right. Before the formalities, Midoriya, I and the entire police force want to congratulate you for your work in taking down Overhaul. Everybody was highly impressed by your performance."

"Oh, uh, thanks?"

Tsukauchi nodded. "On the personal side, I'd like to ask: are you okay? I didn't know you were in a coma."

"His muscles were all tensed up too," Kaniko added, "and his brain activity was spiking off the charts!" 

"You're not easing any of my worries, Kaniko."

Kaniko laughed. "Will it help if I tell you how we were talking the whole ride to the hospital? He was fine one second, and the next moment I learned that he fell into a coma. And now look, he's up and running about in just under a day! Stubborn little kid, I'll tell you."

"Wait," Izuku began, "I was talking to you on the way to the hospital?"

Kaniko shot him a confused look. "Um… yeah? You know, when you insisted you have your swarm talk for you? And how we talked about how creepy you were flying all around while you yourself were motionless? About what the other officers were doing before we got separated?"

"I… don't remember any of that," Izuku admitted.

"You don't? Huh. Must be because of the coma. Well, that doesn't matter!" Kaniko yelled. "I'll just have to go over everything with you again!"

Izuku nodded. "Thanks, Kaniko. I'll be looking forward to it."

"I could do the same, too."

Before Izuku could form up any thoughts in response, Tsukauchi's voice came to Izuku's ears.

"Anyways," Tsukauchi coughed into his hand, "questioning. First thing — well the only thing, actually. It's about the remaining quirk destroying bullets the Precepts had in their possession."

Izuku raised an eyebrow. "What about them?"

"You were the last one seen in possession of them. Your classmates — Uraraka and Asui — they said that they saw you fighting with a clone of Harrow over said case. Is that right?"

"Uh, yeah."

Tsukauchi nodded. "Alright. In that case, you were the last to touch them, considering you used one of the remaining four on Overhaul. That should have left three more in the case, right?"

"Last I saw, at least," Izuku responded.

Tsukauchi's eyes narrowed. "Meaning you only took the one, and not any more?"

Izuku tilted his head. "Yes…?"

"And you don't know where the other ones are?"

Izuku shook his head. "No."

After a few moments, Tsukauchi's expression softened. "Just making sure." He sighed. "Damn. A part of me wishes that you were lying. It'd make this whole thing a lot more simple."

"Why?" Izuku asked. "What happened?"

"We only found one remaining quirk-destroying bullet left in the case." The words came from Officer Asano, this time. "Considering that you used one on Overhaul, that leaves two of them missing from the scene." 

"Seriously?" Izuku intoned. "That's not good. At all."

"You can see our concern, then," Asano continued.

Izuku's head shot up. "Do you think that it was—"

"It wasn't the League," Asano said.

"Yeah," Tsukauchi added. "They were suspects at first. But they aren't after what happened earlier this morning."

"What happened this morning?" Izuku asked. 

Tsukauchi's face settled on a grimace. "The transport that was escorting Overhaul was attacked. By The League, no doubt on that. We were confused of the attack's purpose at first; they left Overhaul alone for the most part. The only obvious damage was the hero guarding the transport… he died on the scene. But then we noticed the case, which was being transported in the same vehicle. And it was taken."

Izuku's eyes lit in realization. "It couldn't have been the League because otherwise they would have taken all the drugs all at once. They had no reason to leave one and then try to take back the other one later, especially due to the higher risk."

"Exactly," Tsukauchi said. "We can't think of anybody else who could have done it."

"Stain?" Izuku offered.

"Another candidate, since his partner had a similar case. But Edgeshot and your friend followed him off site long before the actual fighting started."

Tsuakauchi sighed again. "Oh well, we'll find out eventually. Thanks, Midoriya, for bearing with us."

"Of course, Tsukauchi."

Tsukauchi nodded in response. "Well, we're off then!" He made his way towards the door, Asano following. "Kaniko still has some handler stuff for you though. 'Ll leave her to that." Tsukauchi turned his head to take a look at Izuku. "Stay safe, you hear?"

Izuku nodded. And then the two were gone.

"Finally have you all alone," Kaniko said.

"It's nothing bad, is it?" Izuku asked.

"Depends on how you see it!" Kaniko smiled, showing off her teeth in obvious amusement. "But…"

"But…?"

"Eh. I think I'll wait to tell you until tomorrow. Payback for having to reiterate our earlier conversation that you don't remember."

"Really?"

Kaniko nodded and then made her way to behind a desk within the room. "I have this though." She held up Izuku's flightpack, which was currently in it's simple backpack mode. "Left it here before we came to get you. And don't worry about your costume. I stored it back in my office."

"Thanks," Izuku said, taking the pack.

"Well, that's all for me!" Kaniko said. Making her way for the door. "I'll be around to pick you up at six tomorrow!"

"Six?" Izuku questioned. "Why so late?"

Kaniko laughed as she grabbed for the door handle. "I think you mean 'why so early.'"

"What!" Izuku exclaimed. "What requires me to be awake so early?!"

"It'll be a surprise~!" And before Izuku could rebuke back for more information, Kaniko had left with the door slamming behind her. 

Izuku sighed. "Fine. I'll find out tomorrow, then."

Izuku went ahead and placed his bag on. He made sure everything was in working order, testing out it's color changing capabilities and making sure it wasn't too damaged. 

Izuku then reached out and only then noticed a couple of his bugs within it, hiding in the small compartment that assisted in his flight movement. Izuku, however, stilled when he noticed something within said compartment that didn't belong. Two small, and dangerous somethings.

"Sorry I didn't tell you earlier, but I didn't really want you letting it slip in front of the officers."

QA! You're telling me that you took them?! I'm withholding evidence just by having these hidden in my pack! If the police find out—

"They won't, because you already told Tsukauchi the truth."

So what? What happens if they ask again because they get suspicious?

"They won't because of his quirk."

I— Quirk? What do you mean? And how come you know about it? It's never come up between him and I.

"For good reason, Izuku. I overheard him and Asano talking after the raid. Tsukauchi's quirk acts as a sort of lie detector. I'm pretty sure that it's part of the reason why they always send him, for your interrogations. That, and the fact that you two have formed an amicable relationship by this point. Anyways, as is, you had nothing to do with taking these, I did."

I… Izuku's eyes rose in realization. "You were controlling me while I was out. You were the one talking to Kaniko. Since when could you do that!?"

"Since the beginning, Izuku. I haven't exactly been hiding it. I've been stepping into your skin at multiple points since we merged together. I'm sure you remember some of the times when you felt like you weren't yourself."

...Retrospectively, yes. Fine. But how about the bullets?!

"You can't bring them up and reveal you had them now. You'll not only lose the police force's test, but also tip your hand. You'll make them believe that you have a way of worming out of Tsukauchi's quirk. And if that happens, how much of what they questioned of you in the past will come into question?"

I— You— Fuck! Fine, QA. But you need to bring these things up with me before you do them next time.

"I would have originally, but you were unconscious at the point. I had to take the opportunity before it was too late."

Just… what am I going to do with them?

"Just keep them hidden in your room. They can be useful in the future. Better to have them than to not."

Notes:

And there we go! Hope you all enjoyed!