CHAPTER 2: THE AWAKENING
"Thanks." Recovery Girl curtly said as she accepted a cup of coffee from All Might, her attention elsewhere. She wasn't trying to be rude, just that she was preoccupied with something more important.
"Don't mention it," He wryly smiled, taking a seat beside her. "How is he?" All Might softly muttered, trying his best to reign in his feelings of guilt and desperation. Keyword, trying.
Recovery Girl paused from her work, hearing the strange inflection in his voice as he uttered those words. She reached out to take ahold of his bony right hand, squeezing it gently. "It wasn't your fault Toshinori. You did everything you could've done in that situation. Trust me, no one blames you for what happened. Especially Midoriya."
All Might grit his teeth. "I know that. I know that better than anyone. That Midoriya-shounen would never…but seeing him like this…how could I…how can I…"
He dropped his head powerlessly. With all his strength he couldn't even protect his student's most precious possession; his dream.
All Might remembered the first time he met the slightly cowardly, yet determined young man. Odd as it may have been, they met in a similar situation. Except he had managed to save him unscathed that time.
Now he lay in front of him broken. Possibly crippled for life. In and out of consciousness for days on end. Bearing a pain so great that the painkillers barely had any effect. All Might shuddered at the memory of his heart-rending screams that had filled this room. And now, not a peep.
The boy had been in a comatose-like-state for almost a week and a half since the USJ incident. Most of his classmates having long since resumed their normal day to day to activities, with a few of the more serious cases taking a "short break" from school on the insistence of their parents. Not that that was surprising. He had no excuses to give, because there were none.
He had failed them.
But…he had already most likely crushed young Midoriya's dream. He didn't want those kids to suffer the same fate. Watching the young boy in front of him breathing laboriously, he swore to himself then and there that he wouldn't allow it. That he would do everything in his power, to ensure that those young boys and girls wouldn't have their dreams of being a hero end here.
Recovery Girl sighed as she watched All Might's complex thoughts and emotions play across his face. Forget knowing him for a long time, the man was incapable as ever of hiding what he was feeling. And perhaps that's what she liked most about him; he wore everything on his sleeve. But there was also no getting around that it was arguably his greatest weakness. With every high, there is a low. And with All Might it was the highest of highs and the lowest of lows.
Still, this couldn't continue. Otherwise he'd be in the same vicious cycle he once was when Nana passed away.
All Might was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn't notice Recovery Girl loosen her hand from his grasp, rearing it back and bringing it down with great momentum.
"Get a grip of yourself you damn middle-aged man!"
"Agh!"
All Might leaned forward, grabbing the back of his head. "What was that for?!" He yelled, glaring daggers at her, only to quickly avert his gaze when Recovery Girl glared back.
"I said it wasn't your fault, so it wasn't your fault! Now quit moping and get me another cup of coffee!"
"But I already got you — ah! Why'd you hit me again?"
"Because you're asking unnecessary questions. Now get your ass of this chair and go do what you're told." She said, waving him off like he was some pesky fly.
"Damn tyrannical granny..." All Might mumbled under his breath, but he had already skirted out of Recovery Girl's slapping range, having wisened up after experiencing two of her "love" hits.
He was close to the door when she frantically called out his name. "Yes, yes I'm going!" He half-heartedly yelled back.
"No, not that you fool! The boy…he moved!"
xxx
Ugh…why do I feel like I've been hit by a truck...?
"Did you see that? He just moved again!" I heard a high-pitched voice say from what I think was my left side. I slowly opened my eyes to confirm but instantly regretted it, recoiling from the luminosity of the room I was in.
"Yes I saw it, but how is this possible? Didn't you say we'd need at least another week before we got any progress?", another voice from the same side of the room questioned, but this one was deeper.
What's going on? Who are these people? Where am I?
I had so many unanswered questions about my current situation, but something told me that the only way I'd get any answers was by first waking up.
Giving myself a few seconds to prepare, I opened my eyes once more. Blinking rapidly away as I adjusted to the light of my surroundings, giving the blur shape.
As if noticing my intention, the two voices had gone silent. Perhaps their attention was fixed on me. No it definitely was, if their previous conversation was anything to go by.
It wasn't a big room, but it wasn't small either. It was mostly utilitarian with a few drabs of personality here and there, but those were by far the least important details of the room.
My gaze focused on the man and woman who sat beside me, their eyes gleaming with expectation. Though what exactly they were expecting, I didn't know. With the way they were looking at me, it's obvious that I meant something to them, but I simply didn't know who they were.
Scratch that, I didn't even know who I was. And yet...this room...these people...they felt strangely...familiar. Especially that man. For some reason, when I looked at him, I felt a dull ache in my heart. Like I was looking at-
"Midoriya-shounen." He said, and my whole body stiffened up. And from my jumbled, messed up brain, a name emerged:
"All Might." I hoarsely whispered back.
And then everything came rushing back.
I groaned, clutching my head which felt like it was about to split. You'd think that the second time would have been easier, well I'm here to tell you that it wasn't. Somehow, the pain was even more intense.
"Midoriya-shounen!"
"Midoriya!"
Both All Might and the woman cried out at the same time, reflexively reaching out to check on me.
"I'm fine!" I quickly yelled back, holding one of my hands up to stop them. "It was just a headache."
But I could tell from their expressions that they weren't buying it.
"I'm fine! Really! All Might…Recovery Girl."
The two of them glanced at one another before settling back down on their seats. They seemed to have been communicating something with their eyes, before All Might awkwardly coughed and turned to face me. "So, how are you feeling my boy — apart from the headache that is!" He quickly added in at the last moment after receiving one of the meanest looks I've ever seen Recovery Girl put on. I was almost tempted to laugh at the scene, but ultimately decided to spare my mentor some dignity.
Rather it was comforting watching them like this. I wonder, how many years had it been since…
"Midoriya-shounen?"
"Ah! Sorry I was…I just…I was just thinking about something. Like I said, I'm fine." I said flexing my right arm to prove my point, but I guess immediately squeaking out in pain after doing so isn't the most convincing of actions.
Still, for whatever reason the two didn't push me any further. Saying a few more things, before leaving. Something about "resting" and "it's gonna be okay", but at that point I wasn't really paying attention.
Though I said I remembered everything. That wasn't quite accurate. The memories were there, sort of like pieces of a jig-saw puzzle that had yet to be fully assembled. That's what I was doing right now; assembling the pieces as best as I could to get a fuller picture of my immediate circumstances. But as much as I tried, certain parts of my memory were fuzzy. Like there was something preventing me from accessing them…
"Deku-kun!"
"Midoriya-kun!"
My eyes widened at the two familiar voices. "Ochaco-chan, Iida-kun?" I looked up to see them staring at me dumbfounded, with Ochaco's already rosy cheeks turning visibly redder in real time.
"D-Deku-kun c-called me b-by my f-first name!"
That's when I realized my mistake.
"My bad," I said offering a sheepish smile. "I'm still not entirely lucid, having been knocked unconscious for a couple days and all."
While Iida and Ochaco had slightly calmed down after hearing my response, Iida had a confused gleam in his eyes as he rose an eyebrow. Ah, I see; I wasn't a stuttering mess when I apologized. I looked down at my right hand. A hand that showed my age, and reinforced the fact that I had really returned to the past.
Without a doubt my newfound confidence was bound to raise some red flags, but there was no way in hell I was going to pretend to be the antisocial idiot I once was.
I closed my hand tightly into fist.
I had already died once, having lived a life wasted. I'm not going to mess this one up. I won't allow it.
Having resolved myself, I looked back up at them, smiling softly. "What are you guys doing here?"
Iida nodded to himself, as if he had come to some sort of conclusion. While Ochaco gawked at me once more, before regaining herself from her stupor and flashing that one-million watt smile. "Oh! All Might told the class that you had woken up, so we came to check up on you. How are you Deku-kun? Are you alright? When will you be able to come back to class? You know, everyone in 1-A misses you and they've been asking about you all the time!"
I chuckled watching Ochaco wave her arms animatedly as she spoke — there's the Ochaco I know. For a moment I had the strangest temptation to pat her head; she was like a small animal. But luckily I held myself back. Calling her by her first name almost broke her, who knows what giving her a head pat would do?
Clearing my throat, "Well, I'm doing fine as you can see!" I said, flexing my arm once again, only this time it didn't hurt as much. Inwardly I frowned at that, but decided to file my thoughts on the matter for a later time. Right now, I just wanted to talk to my friends. "As for when I can come back to class?" I continued, "I can't really say for sure; I'd have to ask Recovery Girl first, but hopefully sometime soon. And tell everyone at 1-A that I'm grateful for their thoughts, and that I said hi!"
"Mhm," Ochaco enthusiastically nodded her head. "I will!"
We talked about a bunch of mundane things for almost an hour before they had to leave for their next class. Strangely, Iida was mostly silent throughout the conversation, only occasionally weighing in.
"Is something wrong?" Ochaco concernedly asked Iida who stood silently by the door. He glanced at me for a moment, before turning his gaze back to Ochaco. "Nothing's wrong Uraraka-san. I just have something I need to say Midoriya-kun." He quickly waved his hands, "It's not serious, really!" He said when he noticed the look of concern on Ochaco's face deepen.
Noticing his plight, "It's fine Ochaco-chan, you go on ahead." I said, to which her look of concern immediately turned into one of embarrassment. I had called her by her first name throughout our conversation, but it seems like she still wasn't used to it. But it was cute, so I didn't really mind anyway.
She grunted something unintelligible, before numbly nodding her head and stiffly walking out to her next classroom. My gaze lingered on her form till she disappeared behind a corner, before turning back to face Iida. "So what did you want to talk about Iida-kun?" I asked, wanting to get straight to business.
Iida adjusted his glasses, his eyes glinting with determination, before bowing an aggressive 90 degree angle, "Please be class president!"
…
Heh?
Thanks once again for all the help Hero!