"I have an idea! It's dangerous, though. Let me explain."
All Might furrowed his brows curiously at the girl and leaned a little forward in the bed. Eri leaned forward as well and dropped her voice to a whisper to ensure the others across the room didn't overhear them.
"Dad's been training me to use my Quirk," Eri explained. "I've been working on mending torn leaves and I've finally got it. It's clicking for me now, all of it! I can actually stop my Quirk whenever I want to."
"That's amazing, Eri," All Might replied with a smile. "That must have taken a lot of work."
"A lot of work," Eri agreed with a nod. "But, Uncle Might, don't you see? I can fix you. I'll rewind your body to before you got injured. I'll stop just after I get rid of your big wound there. Then you won't need to be in the hospital anymore. You'll be fixed! You'll heal!"
All Might opened his mouth and then shut it. Hesitating, he took a long breath in, and then slowly exhaled. This wasn't the first time the idea of using Eri's Quirk had come up. When Eri had first settled into Aizawa's home, the idea was floated, but it was determined to be far too risky. Eri could barely keep herself from activating the Quirk on her own never mind have any control over it. Then, once Aizawa was able to stop the spontaneous activation, the idea fell by the wayside in favor of letting the girl have a normal life.
But now, she was learning how to use and control that Quirk. It was perhaps All Might's only change at living much longer.
"How long have you been training?" he asked her in a tone that told her he was seriously considering the offer.
"Two weeks," Eri replied, embarrassed as a blush crossed her cheeks. "But I've got this. I know I do."
All Might pursed his lips. Two weeks was hardly any time at all. Hell, he'd trained Midoriya for months and even then he still couldn't use One for All to its fullest extent. Of course, Eri's Quirk was a bit different, but there's no way a child could have such control over a power that strong in just two weeks.
Then again, All Might didn't know how much longer he had. The prognosis the doctor gave him wasn't good. He'd made it rather clear that it would be a miracle if All Might left the hospital this time around. This could be his only shot, the last ditch effort in saving his life. And, if it didn't work, he was destined to die anyway.
He looked over at Izuku who was still chattering on with Aizawa about something. Izuku who had taken up his mantle at such a young age. Who was destined to become the number one hero and who All Might saw as his own son. He knew that Izuku would be crushed if he passed, but the idea of leaving the boy behind devastated him as well. There was also the risk that All Might's death would hinder the boy's progress towards becoming number one. The world couldn't risk that.
"Alright."
"Alright?" Eri asked, her eyes going wide. "Really?"
"Right now," All Might nodded, moving her hand to his side. "Are you able to do that for me?"
Silently, Eri nodded and placed her other hand on All Might's side. "Are you sure about this?" Eri asked him.
"Yes, now let's do this," All Might said. "Before I change my mind."
Her heart thumping in her chest, Eri closed her eyes and drew out her Quirk. First, she used it to feel around All Might's broken body. His lungs were torn to shreds, his stomach was nonexistent, and his heart was weak. Brittle bones made up a wispy skeleton and muscles were all but whittled away. Eri had no idea of the extent of All Might's injuries. It would certainly be a lot to mend.
She decided to focus on the wounded side and started to pour her energy into it. For a brief moment, the wound got larger and more gruesome, indicating that she was getting it back to the state it was in when it first happened. Then, it disappeared. It was gone so fast, Eri almost forgot to stop, but luckily the caught herself in time. With another breath, she started to pull her hands from his side.
Eri tugged.
And tugged.
And tugged again.
Her heart caught in her throat. She couldn't move her hands. It was like All Might's side was magnetic and her hands were as well. Her power was still coursing through her and into All Might's body, but she wasn't able to remove her hands and shut her Quirk down. She reached inside of her and tried to pull the lever again, tried to shut everything off, but nothing was working. She realized, with a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, that she was going to kill All Might and there was nothing she could do about it.
"No!" Eri's shriek pierced the room. Then, in an instant, her powers stopped. Her fingers stopped glowing and she took a breath after realizing she'd been holding in air for quite a while.
The dark spots that had begun to dot the sides of her vision covered her eyes in full force. She swayed and then felt herself fall, but she never hit the ground. She just let darkness consume her as she heard her name being called in the distance.
"Eri."
"Eri."
"Eri!"
Aizawa grabbed his daughter as he sunk to the floor with her and shook her a little more roughly than he intended. Her head lolled to the side and he swept her bangs away to place a hand on her now burning forehead. "Eri, wake up!" he called again, tapping her cheeks. When he received no response, he looked up at Izuku who was leaning over the hospital bed.
"Midoriya, call a doctor right now," Aizawa ordered in a steely voice that had Izuku jamming the call button on the bedside immediately.
"What's going on?" Izuku called back, sparing a glance over his shoulder. Eri was tangled in Aizawa's capture mechanism as he continued to shake her in futile attempts to get her conscious again. It was rare for the hero to see his former teacher so openly worried. He knew his class had certainly stressed the man out considerably during their time at UA, but Aizawa wasn't one to show his emotions so plainly on his face. Right now, he looked downright scared .
"Eri's burning up, and the fever's only rising," Aizawa said to Eri's unconscious form. "Did you call for a doctor?"
"About ten times," Izuku replied, jamming the button a bit more for good measure.
"What about All Might?" Aizawa asked.
"Breathing," Izuku said. "Alive. Unconscious, but alive."
"Good." As the last letter left his tongue, the door burst open and two nurses hurried in. Seeing Aizawa on the ground with Eri and Izuku huddled over All Might's bed, they split themselves between the two groups.
The male nurse knelt down next to Aizawa and looked over Eri, though he was careful not to reach out and try to grab her. "What happened?" he asked as the other nurse came around the other side of the hospital bed.
"My daughter used her Quirk on him," Aizawa said, gesturing towards where All Might lay. "It's a very unstable Quirk and she's burning up. I can't get her to wake."
"What kind of Quirk is it?" the other man asked.
"A reversal Quirk. It rewinds a person's body. She was likely trying to use it to make Yagi well again."
The nurse glanced at his partner. "Did you get that?" he asked and received a sharp nod in return. Confident that she could handle the patient from there, he grabbed his pager and called for extra help. It was only another minute before another nurse came through the door wheeling a hospital bed. "May I?" the first nurse asked, reaching his arms out for Eri.
Although he knew they were there to help, Aizawa reluctantly let go of his daughter. With one smooth movement, the nurse lifted Eri onto the bed and wheeled her away. As they passed the door, he heard one call for Quirk suppressants and a drug Aizawa didn't recognize the name of.
Aizawa took a step towards the door to follow, but the last nurse bustling out of the room gave him pause. He turned and looked at Izuku who's expression was a mixture of shock and curiosity.
"Is Eri going to be-" the former student started, but Aizawa quickly cut him off.
"I don't know."
"Sensei, I know what you're thinking," Izuku started, walking over to Aizawa and placing a hand on his shoulder. "You're blaming yourself. I know that look. It's the same look you had after we were attacked at camp, and whenever anyone brings up the USJ incident. Eri made her own decision here. She might be a kid, but she's not that little. And we don't know that All Might didn't ask her to do it."
Aizawa shook his head, but he couldn't think of anything to say. Izuku was right, as much as he didn't want to admit it. He had far too many thoughts running through his head. Upset at knowing his daughter was once again incredibly ill. Anger that she would user her Quirk so openly without permission. And there was even a touch of hurt that the idea to do this had come and gone without her even running it by him.
"You really think All Might would ask a girl with an extremely unstable Quirk to use it on him? Knowing it could kill him?" Aizawa asked.
Izuku shrugged. "Yeah, it's a possibility." Aizawa shot him a disbelieving look and Izuku added, "You don't know how desperate he is to live."
This gave the man pause. "What do you mean?" he asked, relaxing his shoulders a little.
Izuku glanced to the bed and then looked back at Aizawa. "When Nighteye was alive, he told All Might he only had a few years to live. Every year he's gone past that deadline-seven of them-has been in direct defiance of a man who's Quirk was never wrong. Ever since he realized the vision didn't come true, he's been determined to live as long as possible." Izuku shoved a hand into his pocket and lowered his voice considerably. "He'd do anything."
Aizawa didn't know what to say. Although he'd gotten closer to the lanky ex-hero over the past few years, he had no idea just how hard he was fighting for his life. Everyone knew of Nighteye's visions. Even today, some were still playing out just as he had described nearly a decade before. He'd never heard of one simply not coming true. Sure, some were realized in roundabout ways, but no Quirk was perfect, but never had there been one that was simply skipped.
There were a lot of things he wanted to add to the conversation. He thought it was stupid that All Might was desperate enough to use an unstable Quirk to lengthen his life. However, he couldn't help but realize this was all so he could see the fate of his successor play out. Izuku was already a pro-hero, and every day he was getting closer and closer to the number one spot. Sure, he had years to go still, but there wasn't a doubt in anyone's mind that he could do it.
"Midoriya," Aizawa mumbled out, turning to face his former student with a soft expression. As he opened his mouth to continue, a low groan from the bed stole away the attention in the room. Izuku instantly jerked to the side, starting to walk away before he remembered that Aizawa was about to tell him something. When he looked back at the man, he just waved him off. "Go make sure that idiot is alright," he said. "I need to go check on Eri."
"I'll be over in a few minutes," Izuku rushed out before turning his back to Aizawa and hurrying to All Might's bedside. As Aizawa walked out of the room, he heard the two talking in whispers and the distinct sound of All Might hushing Izuku's tears.
Once he could no longer hear either Izuku or All Might, he quickened his pace towards the reception desk on the floor. When he approached the counter, a nurse glanced up at him from her computer.
"My name is Shota Aizawa," he started before she could greet him. "My daughter, Eri, was taken a few minutes ago after using her Quirk and fainting. She had a high fever and I'm not sure where she is now."
"A girl with a high fever from using her Quirk?" the nurse repeated, glancing back to her computer screen. "The reversal one?"
"Yes," Aizawa confirmed.
The nurse moved her mouse on the screen and then started typing something in. "She was admitted, but they're still working to bring the fever down," she said after reading whatever had come up from her search.
"Can I see her?"
"I'll page a doctor if you'll wait in the waiting room for a few minutes," she offered, gesturing to the room opposite the desk with glass walls and uncomfortable chairs. Aizawa hesitated, but there weren't exactly other options.
He sulked off to the waiting room, but couldn't find it in him to actually sit down. For the past hour, he'd been on autopilot. Between the news about All Might and Izuku's worried muttering, and now Eri, he'd barely had time to register any emotions of his own. Now all he could feel was a deep seeded sense of worry creeping through his body. Of course, he worried over Eri. That was the nature of being a dad, but this was different. Eri was incredibly sick and he'd watched her pour her power into All Might in the hopes of saving him. He was furious she would think that was a good idea, but also proud she'd been so selfless, and now he was beyond scared that the news the doctor would give wouldn't be great.
Thankfully, it didn't take long before a man in a white coat came from around the corner. Aizawa walked right over to him and asked, "How is she?"
The doctor blinked and then looked down at his clipboard. "Aizawa?" he asked.
"Yes," he bit, irritated at the delay. "How is she?"
"We've used the Quirk stabilizers and it's helping," the doctor said. "She's not out of the woods yet, but we're getting her there." Aizawa let out a long breath through his nose and nodded. He was going to ask more questions, but the doctor continued. "I have to ask, though, can you explain to me exactly what happened?"
He was reluctant to do so. When Eri was a young child, he could explain away her reckless behavior with her age. Though she was still a child, it wouldn't be so easy to explain a twelve-year-old wasn't in control of her own Quirk. Plus, it was pretty obvious she had known what she was doing.
Still, he couldn't lie. Not when her life was on the line. He told the doctor what he saw and what he could easily infer was going through her mind. To his credit, the doctor didn't gasp or scowl or show much of any expression on his face. He just jotted down a few notes with a couple well-placed nods.
"Alright, follow me," the doctor waved his hand forward, motioning for Aizawa to follow him. The pair walked down the long hospital corridor until they paused at yet another room. Aizawa was so sick of hospital rooms and nearly gagged at the concentrated sanitized smell that hit him the moment they opened the door. Between old friends and colleagues, students caught in situations they should never have been in, and now his own daughter, Aizawa would give almost anything if this was the last time he ever had to step foot in a hospital.
When the doctor stepped aside so Aizawa could survey the room, the man felt like he was being transported back in time. Surely this was a different hospital room, but everything felt so similar. The bed, the beeping, the white-haired little girl lying on her back in the middle of the room. They had even shut the blinds so the last bit of evening sunlight wouldn't increase the temperature in the room or bother the fevered patient.
Eri looked so small in the big hospital bed. Bigger, of course, than she had been seven years before, but still entirely too small. Her eyebrows were knit together and a mask over her mouth captured every puffy breath. Her silver hair was splayed all around and her bangs were clumped together from the sweat on her brow.
"She's not out of the woods yet." The doctor's voice startled Aizawa, but he didn't turn around. "But we're monitoring."
"Thank you," Aizawa replied in an almost inaudible voice. He didn't notice the doctor leave the room as he slunk over to the chair by the bedside.
Aizawa heard the bed shift but hardly spared a glance as he leafed through Todoroki's essay. It wasn't until he heard soft coughing that he looked up once again and was met with big scared red eyes. His breath caught in his throat and he sat, unmoving, as he stared at the little girl in the hospital bed. If she said anything, he couldn't tell due to the mask helping her to breathe.
"Hey," he whispered, as though that single word would calm the child. When her expression didn't change, he added, "You're safe." That seemed to do the trick. She visibly relaxed and Aizawa placed his papers on the nightstand. He noticed how her eyes drooped and her fingers let go of their tight hold on the blankets.
"You're in the hospital," he found himself continuing. "It's a place where they'll make you better, but you need to rest. You've been asleep for a few days now."
She looked so tiny, like the bed would swallow her up. It was amazing she was even conscious now given what the nurses said about her condition. Eri was an incredible little girl, and she was also incredibly sick. He could see fresh bandages wrapped around her right arm and he knew her other arm and legs were also newly bandaged. She had many scars and a few open wounds and the bandages they'd found her in were dirty and old. Beyond the scars, she was malnourished. Though he hadn't seen more than her face above the covers, the nurses told him they could see her ribs.
He was angry. Angry at the people who did this to her. Angry that no one had found her for so long. And angry at the world itself for turning its back on an innocent child. How she'd managed to survive for so long was beyond him, but it was clear that Eri was special. He swore right then that he'd do anything he could to ensure she never felt this pain again.
"And you're never going back there."
He couldn't really see it, but he could tell that she was smiling under her mask. Her eyes slipped closed and he couldn't help the upward turn of his own lips as he watched her fall back into a far more comfortable sleep.
Aizawa leaned forward.
And took her hand in his own.
