The Heart of a Hero
Series Summary: The members of class 1-A deal with medical emergencies on their patrols.
Chapter Summary: Kirishima finds a woman on the brink of collapse from severe abdominal pain while out patrolling the streets.
Character(s): Eijirou Kirishima
A/N: Welcome to a new series! I'm already in love with it after writing this first chapter so I hope you all like it too! I'm a sucker for both Angst and Fluff so these chapters should have a decent mixture of both. I also have an infatuation with medically related fics for some reason.
Chapter 1- Warm Arms in the Cold Rain
They probably should've known better than to let Eijirou Kirishima off scot-free with the horrendous scores he had in medical training. Quite frankly, it's a miracle he managed to get his provisional license. The system must be horribly flawed if his quirk strength managed to outshine his low intelligence (determined solely by his grades), knowing that it's such an important statistic when it comes to heroes. And now it's all coming back to bite him on one of his practice patrols. He should've studied harder and he knows it.
He can handle a villain, sure. He has one of the most powerful quirks among all of his peers. But what if someone was hurt and needed his help? He considered himself the worst person for that job in his entire graduating class. His quirk only helped him destroy, not heal. Hell, he's even inflicted damage upon himself before. The scar on his right eye hasn't gone away in the thirteen years he's had it, and it wasn't going away anytime soon.
And with all due respect, Kirishima's issues were most likely due to Katsuki Bakugou's influence. That boy has not an inch of compassion in his tense, muscular body. If he did, Kirishima had never seen that side of him, despite their close friendship. That's not to say that Kirishima doesn't have compassion—he has more than average, actually—but Bakugou made it hard for him to enjoy being a good person when the red-haired hero was mercilessly teased for the smallest sign of sympathy. He hates to admit it, but it was really discouraging.
Despite everything, Kirishima felt invigorated walking through the town in his hero costume, garnering the attention of people on the street. At this point in the school year, Aizawa had a rotation set in place where everyone took turns being on patrol for a day. Kirishima could only imagine how much Denki was cussing him out in his head right now out of jealousy.
It was sprinkling outside and cloudy, but Kirishima wasn't bothered at all by the raindrops. It would collect on his skin, and when he activated his hardening quirk, all of the water slid off immediately. His hair, however, was starting to dampen. He would've hated to have worked so hard to style it that morning just for it to flatten immediately. He looked down at his reflection in a small puddle.
Do villains care about the weather? Are there seriously no crimes right now because it's raining? I didn't realize villains were so sensitive, Kirishima thought to himself.
When he looked up from the puddle, he saw someone leaning against the building in front of him. It appeared to be a young woman in crisply ironed work clothes and high heels, a briefcase gripped loosely in her hand. She didn't stand out from the other people walking outside at this time of day.
The difference was that she appeared to be in immense pain. Her right-hand walls clutching the rocky building wall and her other hand dropped the briefcase with a clack, moving to cover her lower stomach.
Oh, god, Kirishima thought. Was something seriously wrong with her or was this some kind of woman problem he knew nothing about? Regardless, he knew he needed to jump in.
"Hey, are you alright?" His inquiry didn't come out as formal as he meant, but he was admittedly a bit shaky. He'd never dealt with a serious situation like this on his own before—without a mentor or partner.
Once he reached her, the droplets of rain stopped falling on him, blocked by the canopy draped over the alley they standing in. At least she's wasn't in the rain.
The woman managed to disregard the pain long enough to look up from the ground and see who it was. At first, she was taken aback by his sharp teeth, but then it registered in her brain who it was. "R-Red Riot?"
"Yes!" Kirishima was admittedly excited that she recognized him so quickly, but he couldn't veer from the topic at hand. "I'm here to help you. Can you tell me what's wrong?" His voice softened considerably and he thought to add, "Don't worry. Don't be embarrassed."
The woman suddenly moved her hand from the wall to Kirishima's shoulder, finding comfort in the presence of another. He placed a gentle hand on top of hers as a show of understanding.
"I don't know what's w-wrong. I felt fine and suddenly there was a sharp pain in my abdomen." She clenched her teeth. "It hurts so bad. I-I don't think I can walk."
She slid down against the building wall and pulled her knees up to her chest, Kirishima following her down with his hand still placed over hers on his shoulder. It really was sounding like a "woman" problem to him. He needed to ask to determine the severity of the situation, but he really didn't want to embarrass her.
"I really don't know what's wrong." She said as a few tears started to stream down her cheeks. He was becoming really concerned. Was this something she could die from? Was there something he could do right now to save her life?
He ripped the red, skirt-like fabric from his belt and draped it over her shoulders. He was going to get her to a hospital as soon as possible, but he first wanted to make sure she wasn't bleeding. What if she had actually been shot or something without realizing it?
While the woman shivered and clutched the makeshift blanket, Kirishima tried to move her legs down to expose her lower abdomen. The thought of it possibly being a bullet wound made him even more nervous, and his skin started to harden involuntarily. Great.
He used his rough hands to very, very softly lift up her shirt an inch or two. No blood, just smooth white skin. He felt his heart rate drop significantly.
"C'mon, let's get you to a hospital." He told her, looking up to see her face, which was smothered in tears. He wanted to wipe them away in a comforting gesture but didn't want to cut her face with his hands, so he wiped them with his sleeve instead.
Kirishima picked her up bridal style, making sure to clip her suitcase to his belt. One less thing for her to stress about later.
If there was one thing anyone said about him, it was that his happiness was contagious. The most he could do for this woman at this moment was an attempt to cheer her up.
Kirishima awkwardly chuckled a bit. "I never asked your name. Am I rude or what?" The woman in his arms managed a weak "Yuko".
She seemed to be warming up to him and pressed herself a little tighter against his chest. It was raining harder now, and the rain was causing Yuko's long black hair to stick to his skin. There was almost nobody outside anymore, otherwise, he might've tried to find a ride.
He didn't think it was possible, but as he ran to the hospital with this young woman in his arms, he felt even more invigorated than he did on his patrol earlier. He was actually doing it. He was being a hero. He wasn't destroying anything, he was saving her. Saving a life.
By the time he'd arrived at the emergency room doors, his hair had completely flattened and it was dripping rainwater. He had tried his best to protect Yuko from the rain, but there was only so much he could do. She was wet too.
He handed her over to the doctors and, and much as he was dying to stay and keep watch over her, he had to continue his patrol. It was his obligation. Though, before he left, he left his dorm room's phone number at the check-in desk.
It was late before he got back to the dorms. A group of his friends was sitting in the common area and chatting about the day's school work. He sat down on an open seat on the couch and heaved a sigh.
"Hmm? What's that? Hero work too much for you?" Bakugou smirked at his friend. "Don't worry, Daisy. I'll be taking over for you tomorrow." Kirishima picked up a mint from a bowl on the coffee table and playfully chucked it at the blond.
When he returned to his room, he found that his receiver was blinking. It must have been a message from the hospital.
"With permission from Miss Yuko Honda, I'm calling to inform you that her appendicitis surgery was successful and she is now recovering."
Appendicitis. He didn't realize how tense he was until he felt his heart flutter in relief. She would be okay.
A/N: I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! I hope Kiri seemed in-character enough because I imagine that he's hard on the outside but very soft on the inside :)
As always, likes and reviews are greatly appreciated! I'd also like to note that if you have a request for a chapter, message me or comment and there's a very good chance that I'll write it! I love to write what people want!
Future Chapter Ideas (courtesy of Myherogal22):
Kaminari (Arrhythmia)
Bakugou (Heatstroke)
Todoroki (Frostbite)
Ashido (Drowning)
Iida (Broken Bones)
Izuku (Panic Attack)
Ojiro (Stomach Bug)
Jirou (Migraine)
Sero (Kidney Stones)
Kirishima (Snake Bite)
