A/N: Couldn't find a good place to fit this, so I'm putting it here. This happens halfway through the previous reaction, when Ochacco and Tenya leave, and before the Kerberos Oni Corp One-Shot ends.
The door to the infirmary opened quietly. A short, brown haired girl and a tall, dark blue haired boy entered quietly. They quietly approached the only occupant in the room, moving chairs around to sit at either side of his bed.
"Where, uh, where do you think Recovery Girl is?" asked Tenya Iida quietly.
"Don't know," Ochacco Uraraka whispered.
The short walk to the infirmary had allowed them to calm down somewhat but they still looked quite pale and there was a certain unsteadiness to their voices. Tenya especially wouldn't stop fidgeting, like he urgently had somewhere else to be. They sat in silence for a few moments.
"Hey Iida," Ochacco began, interlacing her fingers together, "What actually happened in Hosu?"
Tenya was more than a little surprised by the question. He stared at his left hand, fingers still somewhat crooked from his mistake during the internship. He straightened up in his seat before beginning.
"The Hero Killer got the drop on Midoriya and I," he recited the account they all agreed on while recovering from their encounter with Stain, "We held him off as best we could until Todoroki and Endeavor-"
"Iida," Ochacco interrupted, "I already know that's not what happened. If it had, both you and Todoroki wouldn't have lost your composure like you did. What really happened, Iida? I won't tell anyone, I promise."
Tenya looked up at her brown eyes, knowing she would not let this go. He took a deep breath and sighed in defeat, seeming to shrink into himself. He removed his glasses and rubbed his face with his other hand.
"What I am about to say does not leave this room, understood?" he asked quietly.
She returned his serious gaze and nodded. Tenya took a deep breath before restarting his tale.
"During the Sports Festival, I got a call from my Mother about what happened to Tensei. I rushed to the hospital and when I got there... It was not my brother that laid in that bed. It was him, of course, but it was a broken shell of who he once was. He would not wake up for a few days afterwards but I could tell. The doctors assured us that his chances of survival were pretty high but somewhere deep inside, I knew that my brother was not going to recover. I refused to admit it, no matter how many times I visited him and saw him hooked up to so many machines that held no other purpose than to keep him alive."
"I was there when he woke up," Iida continued, tears beginning to form, "He did not ask what happened, I think he already knew. What he did say, once he recognized me, were the words I had been dreading from the moment I got Mother's call: He could not feel his legs. The doctors had told us there was a high chance that there was damage to his spine but I wanted to believe he was going to fine. But no, Ingenium had died that day; Stain had effectively killed him. From that moment, it was like I was possessed. I needed to find him, needed to fight him, I had to get revenge for Tensei."
"You were going to kill him?" Ochacco gasped in a small voice.
"No!" Iida exclaimed before staring at the floor, "No. At least, I do not think I was. Honestly, I was not really thinking; I just needed to find him and do something, anything, to avenge my brother. But I do not think I would have killed him."
"So when it was time to sign up for internships with pro heroes, I found one in Hosu. I thought... I do not know what I was thinking. I guess I thought if I went to Hosu I could get a clue as to where Stain was and then go confront him. Oh, it sounds significantly more stupid saying it out loud now than it did in my head back then. Anyways, that is how I ended up in Hosu."
"So, for the next few days, while out on patrol with the Pro Hero Manual, I was looking for him; the Hero Killer Stain. On the day of the Noumu incident, I found him while we were en route to the scene. I did not think twice; I was already shifting up to third gear by the time I realized I was on top of him. I did nott stand a chance. In less than fifteen seconds, I was on the floor paralyzed. I was so pathetic, I didn't even put up a good fight. I was so blinded by my need for revenge that I hadn't even realized that there was another injured person in the alley with us."
"The Pro Hero Native."
Iida nodded.
"I did not even try to save him. Just went straight for Stain. He was about to kill me when Midoriya saved me. I do not know how he found me. I think he was not even supposed to be in Hosu; the train he and his mentor were on was attacked by one of the Noumu. That was the only reason he happened to show up that night."
"That's just like Deku," Ochacco mentioned, idly tracing the scars on Izuku's right hand, "For better or for worse, he always seems to be two minutes away from an emergency, ready to jump into the fire to save people."
"Yeah. He really is a hero," Tenya agreed.
"So did Deku beat Stain like in the dream?"
Tenya tensed up at the question. Then he relaxed and shook his head.
"He fought valiantly but Stain eventually used his Quirk to paralyze him, too. It worked just like in the dream, he would paralyze you if he could ingest your blood. But Stain was not going to kill him; he apparently impressed the Hero Killer enough to be left alive. So then he returned to his original task of executing Native and I. But then Todoroki showed up."
"Todoroki? How did- The message Deku sent!"
"Yeah. I was not even sure when he did it or why exactly. We did not even know Todoroki was in Hosu until he showed up. I think I was the only 1-A student that was supposed to be in Hosu. By some stroke of luck, both Midoriya and Todoroki were there that night. I would not be alive if either of them had not been there."
"And then what happened, then?"
"Todoroki protected us until Stain's Quirk ran out on Midoriya and I. It paralyzed you for different lengths of time based on your blood type. Between the three of us, we managed to successfully subdue the Hero Killer."
"So you got your revenge?"
"No. I got a wake up call. I realized I was so caught up in my own selfish reasons for defeating Stain that I not only failed to save an injured person but placed two of my classmates in mortal danger. I realized that if my brother could have seen me then, he would have been ashamed of my actions. By the end, revenge didn't matter anymore. Midoriya and Todoroki saved me in more ways than one that night."
"And then came the flying Noumu, didn't it?"
It wasn't really a question; Tenya and Shoto had reacted the most during the viewing but everything changed dramatically the moment the flying Noumu got away with Izuku. Even now, Ochacco's words seemed to twist a knife in the speedsters side. She had a terrible feeling that that part of the dream was a terrifying alternative to what happened that night. She knew that it was actually none of her business; all of this was in the past and didn't concern her. But... what was it that the Izuku in the dream had said?
"It's a hero's business to stick their nose where it doesn't belong, you know?"
She had to know what happened that night. Izuku was unlikely to tell her; he was a terrible liar but he knew how to keep a secret. Shoto knew how to do both. So she was going to have to get it out of Tenya while he was still too off kilter to keep himself from talking. She felt a little remorse for taking advantage of Tenya's current mental state but she had to know.
But what was it exactly she needed to know? She wasn't quite sure herself. Did she just need to know what happened? Did she need to know Izuku had been fine the whole time? Did she need to know how close she was to loosing him so early in their relationship?
She shook her head at the grim thought, ignoring the good and bad feelings it made her feel. They weren't in a relationship, of course. Well, not beyond being good friends. Good friends who have saved each other's lives a couple times. Nothing more, nothing less. Which is perhaps why the earlier dream viewing sent her mind into complete chaos.
She had discovered Izuku dreamed of her (Aahh, he dreams about me! And romantically, too! Eat it, Hatsume! Breathe, Ochacco, breathe. You have to focus.) based on the first dream they watched last night, even if she had ended up with Katsuki in it for some unfathomable reason. Then he had dreamed of shamelessly flirting non-stop with Jirou (I'm not jealous, shut up!), even if he did hold her at gun point for some of it. That alone had swirled around feelings she's been trying to lock away in favor of her hero studies. And then he dreams of marrying her as the first thing he dreams of in the morning (Context? What context? He said he'd 'marry her,' i.e. me, and that's all that matters. It better have been me he was referring to! No, I'm not the jealous type, why do you ask?). It wasn't fair; she wasn't ready for the tsunami of feelings that that off-hand comment would make. The carefully crafted dam around her feelings for the green haired boy with warm emerald eyes might as well have been made of single-ply tissue paper for all the good it did. The hurricane inside her was only energized with Izuku's fights against Stain, augmented with worry, fear, and excitement. And then... the end happened.
The furious typhoon of chaos in her mind just... froze. It didn't calm, it didn't ease away, it just stopped; everything just stopped. She felt hollow inside, her hands and feet encased in ice. She felt like there wasn't enough air on the planet but still held her breath. It wasn't the physical damage to Izuku that hurt her. She had seen him hurt pretty badly before (Don't think about the missing arm. It wasn't real; he's still got both arms. And both legs, too.), too many times, if she was being perfectly honest. But there was something so incredibly... wrong about the state he was left in at the end of the dream.
He wasn't just hurt, he was... broken. But broken on a level that was... inhumane; cruel. She didn't know what that villain did to him, but it destroyed him on such a fundamental level that she intuitively knew that death would have been the more merciful outcome. That was the thought that really almost sent her into a full breakdown; she would have preferred he died rather than... whatever happened to him.
She had to leave after that. Had to know Izuku was fine. Needed to know that he was exactly where her brain said he would be, that he was perfectly fine as her brain said he would be, limbs attached and unbroken as her brain said they would be. But she needed to feel it; feel he was there, asleep but unbroken, real. It was only her hero training and experience survivng the USJ incident, the training camp incident, and the Yakuza raid that let her keep it together, as well as notice that Tenya needed to get out of there almost as badly as she did. She didn't know how realistic the outcome had been but seeing how it was the same villain that retired All Might, she needed to know.
"Not exactly," Tenya finally said, breaking the silence that had settled between them, "We tied up Stain and then a few pro heroes arrived."
Tenya took another deep breath before continuing.
"It shames me to say this but it all happened too fast: one moment we were explaining the situation to the heroes, the next moment Izuku was in the Noumu's grasp, five meters off the ground. And then Stain got loose."
"He what?"
"He escaped his bindings. But instead of running away, he saved Midoriya. It was surreal; there were five or six pros and it was the villain that saved him. I want to believe that one of them would have been able to save him if Stain hadn't but-"
"But they didn't," Ochacco interrupted him, "It didn't matter how many of them could, the reality is that it was the villain who saved him, not the heroes."
"Yeah."
The two sat in silence for some time, only the various medical devices hooked up to Izuku interrupted the quiet.
"Hey, Iida," Ochacco finally said, "If- if we had been those heroes, the ones who arrived at the end. Could we have saved Deku or would Stain do our job for us?"
"We would have saved him," Tenya said without hesitation, "Stain is fast but in a chase, I would have out ran him and caught up with the Noumu easily. The only reason I failed in the dream is because Stain's Quirk was still in effect, I'm sure of it."
"And if it was only me?" she asked, voice no louder than a whisper.
"I- I'm sure you would have thought of something," Tenya tried to reassure her, "I mean, Stain didn't have a speed Quirk and he was able to catch up to him."
"Yeah, you're right. Thanks, Iida," she answered with a warm smile.
The door opened then and the elderly school nurse entered with two men behind her: one with wild, black hair who looked perpetually tired and a blonde haired man with sunglasses. There was a veritable cloud of depression around the blonde, dampening his normally bombastic personality.
"Hello, dears," Chiyo Shuzenji, better known as Recovery Girl, greeted the two students, having noticed them first, "Have you come to see how he's doing?"
"Uh, yeah, something like that," Tenya answered, looking at the floor.
"What's wrong with you two?" Shouta Aizawa asked bluntly.
"N-nothing! It's just been... a strange couple of days," Ochacco tried to reassure her homeroom teacher.
Shouta scrutinized the two students before him. Despite the kilometer thick cloud of apathy that he projected, Shouta Aizawa was incredibly perceptive and knew when there was something wrong with his students. And sometimes, he could almost read their minds.
"It was one of Midoriya's visions, wasn't it?"
The two stiffened at his accusation but then nodded.
"Well, don't take it to heart, young listeners," Hizashi Yamada, better known as PresentMic, reassured them, "None if it was real, after all. If it was, we'd have your daughter running around, wouldn't we, Miss Uraraka?"
Ochacco blushed somewhat at his words, suddenly realizing she was still holding Izuku's hand. She didn't let go, however, still needing to be reassured he was there and fine, even if it was in the loosest definition of the word.
"We know. But it was just... so realistic that it was disturbing," Tenya said, feet tapping impatiently.
"I see," Aizawa sighed, "Mr. Iida, I'd like your assistance with an assignment."
"Of course, Aizawa Sensei, whatever you need," Tenya exclaimed, jumping to his feet.
"Principal Nezu has asked Lunch Rush to make pizzas for 1-A and anyone else viewing Midoriya's broadcasts. I want you to go pick them up from the cafeteria and bring them to the dorms. I'm giving you special permission to use your quirk to get this done quickly and without incident. Understood, Mr. Class President?"
"Yes, of course. Right away, Sensei!"
And with that, Tenya rushed out of the infirmary. Moments later, the sounds of his Engine Quirk revving up could be heard.
"Well, if Mr. Midoriya has such diligent friends as this, I guess I had nothing to worry about, huh? Well, I'll see you at the 1-A dorms, Sho. Can't wait to see what kind of programming UA's newest broadcaster is putting on the airwaves," PresentMic said as he turned to leave, "Need to check out the competition, ya know? After all, video killed the radio star, right?"
Aizawa groaned as PresentMic left the infirmary laughing. Under it all, however, the smallest smile could be seen on 1-A's homeroom teacher's face. He then turned to the only student left in the room.
"Come along, Uraraka. Recovery Girl prefers only patients be in the infirmary."
"Yes, Sensei," she said, giving Izuku's hand one final squeeze before standing up to leave.
Aizawa opened the door for her. She stopped and took another look at Izuku's sleeping form.
"Um, Sensei-" she began before Aizawa interrupted her.
"He's going to be fine."
"It's not that," she said, shaking her head, "Um, you're training Shinsou in martial arts right?"
Aizawa nodded, a perplexed look on his face.
"Um, could I- Would you teach me as well?" she asked.
"Why do you want to learn?"
"Um, well," she began before taking a deep breath and looking him in the eyes, "I feel like I'm being left behind. I thought supplementing my Quirk with some of Gun Head's martial arts would be enough. I mean, it certainly helped during the joint battle training. But after watching Izuku, or, well, his dream versions, fight without a Quirk, I'm starting to think I might rely too much on my own Quirk. I mean, Ojiro was talking about how well the moves he used yesterday were and he seemed just as impressed with what we saw earlier. And Gun Head's agency isn't close by for more training. I mean, Ryukyu's work study was great but I think I need... Well, I need..."
"You need what, Miss Uraraka?" he asked, a smile creeping onto his face.
"Well, you said you can't be a hero with only one trick," she answered, "So I want to learn a lot more tricks."
Aizawa regarded the short brunette for a moment, hands balled into fists, eyes filled with determination.
'This kid,' Aizawa thought to himself once again, glancing at Izuku, 'Even in a coma, he's pushing his classmates to strive for higher heights. We're bringing you back, problem child. I'll make sure of it.'
"We start at 6:00 AM tomorrow at Gym Alpha," Aizawa finally said, exiting the infirmary first, "Don't be late."
"Yes, Sensei!" Ochacco affirmed following after him.
The infirmary was once again quiet after the door closed. Recovery Girl watched the door from her desk for several seconds before retrieving her phone from her lab coat. She dialed a number manually before her thumb hovered over the call button. Taking a deep breath, she pressed the call button and held it to her ear.
"Hello, Amaru. It's Chiyo," she said after a moment, "I know. It's strange that I'm calling out of the blue after so long. It's just, I thought it was time we talked... Hm? No, I'm fine. I'll be alive and beating idiots over the head for a while, don't worry. It's just a feeling I've got."
Recovery Girl sighed before continuing.
"This is going to be a very strange question and I hope you don't think I'm overstepping for asking. Am I grandmother?"
A/N: Hey everyone. I know this isn't what I normally write for this project, seeing how it's not a One-Shot and not really a reaction, but the scene has been written in my head for so long that I just had to put it on paper (er, on electronic paper? You know what I mean). I hope you like it anyways. I also hope you're enjoying the over-arching narrative I'm trying to convey.
I have most of the reaction for Kerberos Oni Corp and most of Black Blood written already. I actually had Black Blood finished when I started writing this and decided to write even more for that One-Shot. It should be coming out soon. Yeah, so I hope you're all looking forward to that.
Anyways, if you like what I've written, how about you head on over to my digital begging hat (Endless Ambition Productions on Ko-fi) and buy me a coffee? All of my work will always be free (fan fiction and original fiction) but I work a lot faster with a cup of coffee or tea next to my computer.
I'll see you all in the next chapter/reaction/One-Shot/whatever I Decide to write. Cheers! - Jerry from Endless Ambition Productions.