As soon as we arrived at the hospital which felt like a painfully slow flight even though I knew it wasn't, Deku was taken from me. Loaded onto a waiting trolley bed and carted away. They did the same for the other patient who came with us, and I got out. The helicopter took off again as soon as I was clear, and I followed the nurses through the rooftop doors. They must have been running because when I came through the doors, both patients were out of sight. I stopped the first nurse I came across who wasn't in a desperate rush to ask her about it, and she shook her head and directed me to a waiting room.
As his current closest 'family' a nurse came to see me while I waited forty minutes in to explain to me that Deku was in surgery, and she listed off his injuries to me.
Head trauma and intercranial bleeding.
A laceration to the left side of his head.
Plus the burr hole they had put in his right side.
Two broken ribs and a punctured lung.
Internal bleeding thanks to said punctured lung.
Fractured collar bone close to his right shoulder joint
Fractured right tibia
And a sprained ankle. She added terms like inversion and such but being the least severe of his injuries I didn't really care for the details of it.
The nurse asked if more family was coming and I told her his mum would be coming and his guardian, I guessed that was what All Might was relationship wise. She nodded to me, making a note of the expected family members attending and told me she would come back to let me know when the operations, were done. I nodded my thanks to her with my usual scowl and sat back down.
It was dawn by the time I heard someone call out my name again and I looked up to see Deku's mum rushing towards me, with All Might and other concerned parents in tow. I got to me feet as Deku's mum wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug before she pulled away, realizing that she would have made me uncomfortable and quickly looked me over, sighing with relief when she saw I was fine. All Might ushered the other parents to available seats in the waiting room and went to the nurses' desk to ask about their children.
"Katsuki, sweetie, you're alright?" she asked with teary eyes and a small smile.
"Yeah, I'm fine" I mumbled back. I opened my mouth to warn her that the staff thought I was Deku's cousin when All Might returned with a couple of nurses armed with clipboards in tow to speak to the remaining parents. I had sat here so long that Bird Boy had finally been admitted. From what I overheard he was getting a cast and his head checked and then would probably be the first out. Arms was still in surgery, despite being here before Deku. Invisible Girls parents were here too, neither of them invisible themselves and her mum wept quietly still having received no word of her being found.
"How is he?" asked Deku's mum, sitting herself beside me on my right and clutching my arm closest to her. I let her. All Might stood by us, and I saw his head turn our way as I listed off what the nurse had told me. After my first few words Deku's mum was already in tears and leaned closer to me. Again, I let her.
"How are you holding up?" asked All Might and I frowned up at him. Tired and mentally exhausted from the night. I hadn't taken the chance the sleep while I waited. One because I was feeling too anxious about Deku and two because when I closed my eyes too long I saw blood. Blood from the dead bodies. Blood from Deku.
"Fine" I replied tiredly and let my shoulder slump. All Might looked to me with concern.
"You weren't hurt?" he pushed, and I shook my head.
"Kirishima and I finished our patrol before it happened," I explained, looking down at my lap instead of my childhood idol, "we saw it happen" was all I added, and I felt Deku's mum squeeze my arm. All Might didn't push the topic and I didn't offer anything more.
I was well out of the range of Yaoyorozu's ear pieces now, even though it still sat in my ear, but I received a few text updates from Kirishima. I was surprised he was still awake after how exhausted the work had been. I knew I was feeling it both physically and mentally and I knew there would be more worse off than me.
Dunce Face had suffered from shock and had closed himself off, though Kirishima told me that Ears was sticking close to him. He had been lucky to get away with only a few cuts and bruises.
The dam broke past Todoroki's ice and in a last minute attempt to stop the area being wiped out, he had used the last of his energy to freeze the lake behind the dam. The effort had wiped him out and luckily Cementoss has arrived in time to repair the dam wall before the water pressure broke the ice.
He had saved everyone there.
More pro heroes and help had arrived, finally relieving the remaining working students, Yaoyorozu included from their duties, and they had all crashed upon arriving back at their accommodation.
Bird Boy stepped out into the waiting area, a bandage around his dark head and his arm in a cast, his pet shadow cowering behind him like a wimp. His parents shot to their feet to embrace him, something he didn't looked pleased about, but his shadow hugged them back and he sat down opposite me with his parents and gave me a quizzical look at Deku's mum who was still clinging to my arm. I shot him a glare back and he looked away.
My phone buzzed again, and I reached into it with my free hand. All Might's phone buzzed with a call at the same time but when I looked at my screen I already knew what news he was receiving. I hadn't been close to Invisible Girl, Hagakure, but my grip tightened around my phone, and I closed my eyes tightly, my body must have shook because Deku's mum asked me what was wrong. I didn't answer her and instead opened my eyes to face Bird Boy opposite me. He was looking at me with a questioning look again and I tossed him my phone which surprised him, but his shadow caught it for him and brought it over for him to read the text. His face dropped and he turned his face away. Dark Shadow returned my phone to me. All Might finished his call and took a deep breath. He looked to me, and he knew from my face along that I already knew the news, having watched my exchange with Bird Boy, who was still looking away into his mum's shoulder.
All Might stepped forward to face Hagakure's parents, asking to have a private word with them, but from the question alone, the mother burst into tears and fell into her husband. I felt my throat tighten and looked away. Deku's mum picked up what was happening and leaned closer to me. For once I was glad for her close touch. My own mother had never been one to comfort me physically. Hugging was not her thing so close contact and affection had been alien to me, but Deku's mum had always been the opposite. Every time I had visited as a small brat she wouldn't let me leave without a hug goodbye and she treated me like I was her own son alongside Deku, always comforting me and scolding me the same way she would him. It had been so many years since I had seen her last, more than ten years for certain, and I didn't realize how much I missed to parental affection till now.
The text Kirishima had sent me only said that Hagakure had been found finally, but she was already gone.
My throat felt thick with emotion and my shoulders trembled without my consent. I kept my head down, embarrassed. If Bird Boy noticed, he didn't say anything or look my way which I was grateful for. Hagakure's parents were led to a separate room by a nurse where thy could grieve in piece and All Might finally took a seat with a heavy sigh. No doubt he was feeling the full weight of it.
The waiting room was mostly silent for the next hour and half while we waited. Tokoyami's parents had suggested they leave the room too, but Tokoyami had refused, insisting that he stayed until he heard about Arms and Deku who were both still in surgery. Eventually a nurse came to join us, asking to speak to Arms' mum and she rose to her feet to follow the nurse out. Less than thirty second later we heard her cry out. The pain in her voice was enough for me to clench my jaw and turn my head away. I saw Tokoyami bow his head. All Might got up to check on her, but she didn't return with him a few minutes later and he shook his head to us sadly. I felt Deku's mum's arms wrap around me from the side as she tried to comfort me, and I leaned into her. I could feel her shaking too. Deku was the last one in surgery, and I could understand her fears. I felt them too. His condition may not have been as severe as Shoji's from the get-go, but he had started to go downhill fast. We had managed with his chest injury, but his head was far more concerning.
All Might came forward and crouched down to embrace us both and all three of us remained there, still and quiet for a minute before he pulled away and offered Tokoyami the same embrace which he accepted with tears dripping from his beak.
I felt rude doing it, but after Deku's mum pulled away shortly after All Might did and excused herself to get some air with wet eyes, I pulled out my phone to text Kirishima the bad news. He had been keeping me updated on things there. It was only fair I did the same here. I informed him that Deku was still in surgery too so he wouldn't ask. It took him a long while to reply when he did, simply thanking me for keeping him updated. I didn't want to think about how the rest of the class would take the news. Would they wake the rest up to tell them or just wait. My chest ached for whoever had to make that decision. Probably Glasses or Mr. Aizawa. I assumed All Might had already informed him with a call before he had returned to the waiting room.
Sitting int the waiting room was excruciating after that. Deku's mum returned and more than once I felt anxious enough that I had to get up and pace the waiting room. Tokoyami stayed, his parents falling asleep on either side of him. All Might kept his head down as he waited with us and Deku's mum jumped between fidgeting, trying to comfort me when I paced and crying quietly.
I wasn't one to be glued to my phone, so it held it's charge well and during a space of time while Deku's mum napped, Tokoyami joined me as we scrolled through the news articles on my phone, every single one of them reporting on the incident. They used strong words like disaster, catastrophe, destruction, desolation and calamity, but none of those words felt close to what I had witnessed. The official report for what happened last night was that a fragment broke off of the passing comet and fell down to earth. For everyone involved it had just been a case of wrong place, wrong time, which was utter bullshit.
The articles noted different death toll numbers, but all of them very painfully high, ranging from the high hundreds to over a thousand. They described the level of destruction and posted aerial shots of the town; a crater large enough to become a third lake left a scar on the town. Some articles only focused on the disaster itself, while some others talked about how things could have been far worse if a class of heroes in training from UA hadn't been present. There was no word yet or said UA students being injured or dead, but I was sure that would be tomorrow's headline with a more accurate death toll.
I received a call from Kirishima and Tokoyami stayed close beside me to hear what he said. I didn't dare put it on loud speaker, but leaned closer to Tokoyami, inviting him to listen.
"How are you holding up man?" his voice sounded tired and drained of its usual energy.
"We're alright," I replied, "we are still waiting for Deku to get out of surgery"
"We?" he asked with a touch of surprise.
"Tokoyami is listening" I told him.
"Oh, ok. Hey man, hope you're good too" there was a little more energy to his words now.
"I am well" replied Tokoyami formally and I shot him a look that he didn't see or react to.
"That's good to hear man," replied Kirishima, "but Deku's still in surgery?"
"Yeah" I replied flatly. Usually I would have expected a 'that sucks' from him, but he was silent.
"How are things there?" I asked to snap him out of his silence.
"We are alright. Exhausted. Only cuts and bruises here" I could almost hear the attempt of a smirk to his voice, "the news has been hard though," he added.
"How's Dunce Face?" I asked. I could see in the corner of my eye that All Might had lifted his head to listen in on our side of the conversation.
"He's better. I think he just had to sleep most of it off. He's still a little off though" he admitted, "Mr., Aizawa told us that we are heading out today though. No point in us staying here. How are you guys getting back?" he asked. My guess was we would go back with All Might and I said as much. I glanced over to All Might who nodded.
"Sorry, but I gotta go man," he spoke up suddenly, "we are all getting onto the bus in a second to head to the station. But don't worry. I got your stuff with me man and Sero had your stuff too Tokoyami. Keep me updated on Midoriya okay?"
"Sure. Thanks" I replied and Tokoyami added his own thanks before the call ended. I let out a sigh and Tokoyami relaxed beside me. Hearing that everyone else was fine was a weight off our shoulders that I hadn't known we had been bearing.
Another hour later a nurse finally came to see us. Deku's mum was already awake, and she shot to her feet, hands clasped in front of her with nerves and I stood up close to her. Tokoyami got to his feet on the other side of the room and crept closer with All Might but kept a respectable distance as Deku's mum waited for the news. Tokoyami's parents had stepped out a while ago to take a break.
"You are Izuku Midoriya's family?" asked the nurse and Deku's mum nodded frantically. I stepped closer to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and she leaned into me.
"He is doing well" spoke the nurse and she didn't have to say a word more before Deku's mum dropped to her knees, a blubbering mess of relief. The nurse was a bit taken a back, but the room had been so tense since everyone arrived that I couldn't blame her. My own breath came out with shaky relief, I hadn't realized I had been holding it and I bent down to help pick Deku's mum back up. All Might turned on his heel and back with the release of tension and Tokoyami lowered his head with a smile.
"When can I see him?" asked Deku's mum once she had reeled her emotions back in.
"Very soon. We are moving him to a room now. He won't be awake for some time though" she told us with a warm smile and Deku's mum offered her thanks a hundred times by the time the nurse left the waiting room. Deku's mum turned to face me and fell against my chest. This time, I wrapped my arms around her. All Might joined the embrace and Tokoyami remained off to the side, smiling as Dark Shadow joined us. I called Kirishima, my chest fluttering too much to settle for a text.
"Bakubro? What is it, what happened?" he asked loudly. I could understand his anxiety. I had felt it moments ago weighing down my chest like lead and I never called either. He considered himself lucky if I replied to a text.
"Deku's fine" I told him, a releived smile on my face.
"What, seriously?" he asked, but I didn't need to answer. He pulled the phone away because I heard him suddenly yell to the rest of the class on the bus that Midoriya was alright, and I could hear the bus break into cheers. After the news of two of our classmates dying, everything had been weighing on the news of Deku. Whether he would live or not. He was the good news everyone needed.
"You hear that?" asked Kirishima, bringing the phone back to his face. I could still hear cheers around him, "Oh man, some of them are crying" I could hear his smirk, but also his own chocked attempt to hold back his own 'manly' tears. I hung up without another word. The rest of the class could enjoy the news. They needed it just as much as I had.
It had been a living hell over the last twelve hours, but I felt closer to the class. I felt a renewed appreciation to Kirishima and Tokoyami and respect for Yaoyorozu and Todoroki. I was still smiling to myself when the nurse came back to retrieve us to see Deku. I looked back as she led us away, Tokoyami not following. He simply smiled and bowed his head to me as we walked away.
Deku still looked like shit when we came into he room. He looked pale and hospital scrubs never looked good on anyone. His head was bandaged way more than it was before, the only green mess of hair visible being the very top and behind his ears. His eyes were closed and looked tired. He wore an oxygen mask like before and was hooked up to a heart monitor and a new bag of blood and fluids.
Deku's mum pulled up a chair to sit right beside his bed, holding his hand and whispering things to him. I sat to the side of the room beside All Might and the retired hero lifted a hand to ruffle my hair. I didn't bark at him like usual, but still swatted his hand away and he grinned to me.
I must have fallen asleep at some point, and for a long while too because when I blinked to sleep out of my eyes, it was dark outside, and the room was empty aside from Deku. I reached for my phone, its battery life finally down at thirty percent and saying that I had a several unread texts.
One from All Might explaining that he and Deku's mum had stepped out to the cafeteria to get something to eat.
Another from Tokoyami telling me that he had left with his parents for home.
And the last one was from Kirishima, asking how Deku was doing and that they had all arrived back home at UA. No doubt some of the students would be heading home for a much needed break. I knew I sure as hell wanted a break when the dorms when I got back.
I had missed calls from my parents too and I gave my mum a quick call back. She hadn't been trying to call me from the get-go because she had heard from the school that I wasn't hurt and she figured I would have been working hard as a hero and didn't want to disturb me. It wasn't till she hadn't heard from me herself after receiving word that our class was heading back that she tried to call me to find out where and how I was. I explained to her that I was with Deku at a hospital and would be returning with him and Deku's mum most likely. She was both shocked and relieved to hear that and said she would give Deku's mum a call too.
I didn't reply to any of the texts after that and shoved the phone back in my pocket, standing to take Deku's mum's seat beside the bed. I reached out and took Deku's hand in my own, intertwining our fingers. Even out of it as he was, I would usually never be so bold, but after the rollercoaster of emotions I had felt since last night because of him alone, I felt I deserved at least this little touch.
"You better hurry up and wake up you damn nerd; we've got some shit to talk about" I warned him while he slept. After sitting in a waiting room for hours on end, I had had time to untangle the knot of feelings that had sat heavily in my gut, and I felt ready to scream them at the nerd.
I smirked to myself and looked his way to see that he was smiling. The bastard.
A/N: Thank you for reading this far 3
I'm sure some of you noticed Bakugo's change towards some of his classmates throughout the story and how he started to refer to them by their actual names as he gained respect and appreciation for them. I really enjoyed that detail and how he started to accept his feelings towards Deku once he better understood why he had felt so panicked and afraid over him, or at least that was what I was going for. I wrote this story all in one night so that may not have been carried across so smoothly. My bad. Hope you enjoyed it regardless :)
Also, the chapter titles are songs that I felt went with those chapters ;) The first chapter title was the song that sparked this entire story idea to begin with.