Author's note: A friendly note before we begin: I am not a doctor. Beyond referencing the actual series concerns I did *some* research on this and tried to make things as plausible as possible using google to research what I could about this issue, but I am not an expert. If you are a doctor and you think I could improve the story a little with more accurate descriptions, please let me know.

Chapter 12: First Aid

Shinsou checked his phone again. It hadn't even been a minute, but it felt like an eternity. Class had started dragging immediately after lunch but it had slowed to an unbearable crawl as soon as English started. It had nothing to do with Present mic's teaching, or the fact that it was English which was one of his better courses. No. It was just that it had the misfortune of falling at the same time as Izuku's Foundational Heroics course.

If he weren't worried sick he guessed he'd be sick with envy, but he was still stuck with an uneasiness that had made focusing utterly impossible. The waiting was the worst. Intellectually he knew it was the first day, which was the least likely day for Izuku to get hurt, but still he worried. He hadn't expected him to be injured yesterday, but it had still happened. Nervousness was gnawing at him, and it was only the worry that Present Mic might catch him and confiscate his phone that kept him from staring at it for the entire class. Thankfully their teacher was animated and frequently writing on the board otherwise he might have lost it.

His phone vibrated and he stiffened, checking it even though he was pretty sure his teacher was almost finished writing on the board. The message was simple, but made his stomach turn. He put his phone down just as the teacher turned. He smiled in amusement, "I haven't even asked the question yet, but if you know what's wrong with the sentence shout it out."

"Ah. I was actually going to ask to go to the nurse."

He swallowed nervously as Present Mic arched an eyebrow, "There's only five minutes left until class ends."

Shinsou felt his stomach sink, "R-right."

The hero teacher watched him for a second longer before shrugging, "Well, if you need to go to the nurse, you need to go to the nurse."

Eight injuries on his first day.

Three requiring a visit to Recovery Girl.

And, of course, one of those was Young Midoriya.

All Might cringed, he was in for an ear full and it was well deserved. The hero course was inherently dangerous, but Young Asui had been right in her assessment that what he'd had planned was 'a little advanced'.

At least she had recovered well enough that she hadn't needed to go to the nurse. He hadn't expected Young Todoroki to display such overwhelming power, nor had he anticipated Young Asui's severe response. He'd commended Young Tokoyami's response of immediately conceding and then smashing his way out of the building to bring his teammate to safety. At least they had been alerted to her severe reaction to the cold before some villain could take advantage of it, and he was sure that support would be able to come up with some accommodation for the girl.

Even before Young Midoriya had injured himself he had resolved to visit the infirmary. He would have to talk to Yaoyorozu and Iida; sadly they had both needed to be carried off immediately after exiting the building and had missed the rest of class. He'd give them a recording of the fights that had followed theirs and his advice and criticism from the follow-up discussions. Injuries were tragically common among hero course students; it wouldn't do to have an unlucky student miss most of a class's lessons simply because they needed to visit the nurse. It also wouldn't hurt to pass on words of encouragement to both of them. Iida, in spite of falling for a trap, had shown admirable resolve and Yaoyorozu had paved her team's path to victory with her strategic thinking and unwillingness to concede defeat.

He would probably hold off on spending time with Young Midoriya until after the other two left. Even though he'd been sparing during class he still didn't have much time left as All Might, at least with Midoriya he could offer words in a more relaxed form. Or, at least that was the plan until Shinsou rounded the corner at full pelt, slowing down to a crawl when he realized who he was looking at and then shaking it off and jogging to the nurse's office before All Might recovered.

"Shinsou? What are you doing here?" Izuku blinked as he watched the door swing closed behind Hitoshi. His friend looked pale, like he'd seen a ghost, but was also looking around like he was searching for someone even as he slipped his bag off his shoulder.

"Did you get it?" Hitoshi asked eyes wide, "The x-ray?"

Izuku shook his head, "Not yet. I asked her though."

"Excuse me." A familiar, scratchy voice interrupted their conversation, "This is a nurse's office, not a lunchroom. You can have your discussion after he's healed. Please wait outside."

Hitoshi winced and opened his mouth to speak when All Might opened the door. The attention Recovery Girl may have been paying Hitoshi vanished as she set a gimlet eye on the number one hero. "Excuse me. I need to speak with your teacher."

Hitoshi looked between her and All Might and wisely stepped out of the way, conspicuously not leaving the room as Recovery Girl dragged All Might into her office. Her door closed with a click and silence reigned. Izuku did not think that boded well for All Might.

"Right." Hitoshi said, "Show it to me?"

Izuku blinked, "Huh? Why?"

"I'm going to photograph it." He set down his backpack and pulled out his phone, swallowing, "It's not an x-ray, and you should still totally get one, but we should still document everything."

Izuku sighed and held up his hand, his index finger a blotchy purple. Hitoshi cringed, but pushed past it, taking photos of his damaged finger from several angles, "Alright. I think I got it all." He put his phone away and fished a notebook and pen out of his bag then sat down in the chair next to the bed, "Now, tell me what happened."

Izuku let out a breath, "We were having a combat training exercise. I was on the hero team, paired up with Uraraka." He couldn't help but blush, "That's her name. The brown haired girl who made me float. I was paired up with her."

Hitoshi's eyes widened and he looked at him in surprise, but then looked back at the notepad, "Focus on when you actually used your quirk."

"We found the objective, but the villains of the exercise were guarding it. One of them, Hagakure, was invisible, the other, Ojiro, has a tail. Uraraka managed to use her quirk on Ojiro, but he adapted pretty quickly, using his tail to push off the ground and ceiling. He kept getting in our way while Hagakure kept tripping us up. I couldn't see her, so I threw myself in Ojiro's path and struck him with a flick from my finger." Midoriya felt his cheeks reddening again, "I didn't even hit him; I think I caught his clothing, but it still sent him flying across the room."

"And that broke your finger?" Hitoshi asked, pen scratching out notes.

Midoriya nodded, "Yeah."

Hitoshi looked at the sheet distantly, "Did it feel any different from last time? Did it hurt more or less?"

"No." Izuku shook his head, "It felt about the same, looks the same too."

Hitoshi frowned, "How long did it take you to activate your quirk? Was it any quicker to activate?"

Izuku just shook his head while Hitoshi glared down at his notepad, hand squeezing it, "Hitoshi are you okay?"

"Fine." Hitoshi spat the lie out, looking no less tense or troubled, "I can't think of what else I should ask. I should… have more questions ready. I don't know if any of this will help."

The door to Recovery Girl's office opened and All Might marched out, heading towards other cots, followed a few seconds later by Recovery Girl herself who turned to look at them with a frown, "I thought I told you to leave."

Hitoshi blanched, but Izuku tried to smile, "He's my friend, he was just keeping me company."

Recovery Girl crossed her arms over her chest, "You should be resting, you'll need it soon enough." She looked to Hitoshi, "Now, please go outside."

Hitoshi glanced between her and himself, looking deflated, but gripped his notepad. "Before I go, I wanted to ask you something, a-as a medical professional." Recovery Girl's eyes narrowed a fraction, but waited, "I uh, I started reading some medical textbooks since Midoriya developed his quirk. About bones." He licked his lips then pulled a bottle from his bag, "I got him this. I-It's a multivitamin." Izuku blinked, as Hitoshi glanced back at him nervously, "A special formula for bone health."

Recovery Girl's glare faltered and she walked over, taking the proffered bottle and reading the back, "High calcium, iron, numerous other vitamins and minerals…." She nodded, "My quirk speeds up natural healing which draws on a body's natural stores. Since I have to keep healing you so frequently," Izuku winced as she gave him a stern look, "you might be running low. I suggest you take one a day."

She handed the bottle back and Hitoshi gave a quick nod, "There was, um, something else." Hitoshi swallowed nervously as Recovery Girl looked at him again, though she seemed less frustrated than before, "I read that repeatedly breaking bones will weaken them in the long term, even if they heal properly." Hitoshi gave him a pained look, "I wasn't sure if that was true, there were studies that said the opposite, but if it is, I wanted to make sure he knew to…" Hitoshi grasped for words for a second, "cycle his fingers?" Hitoshi looked back to Recovery Girl, awkward and grasping and biting back tears, "So he doesn't break one over and over again?"

Recovery Girl frowned, "He should be trying to avoid breaking his fingers at all," She let out a little huff and turned to him, "But if you are going to continue breaking your fingers until your get control over your quirk then that advice makes sense." Her face hardened as she looked at him, "Don't use it as a crutch." She looked back at Hitoshi, "Was there anything else?"

"Will he be able to get an x-ray?" The words came out as a ramble, "Can he bring it home with him?"

Recovery Girl put her hands on her hips as she looked at him, "So he's the one who put you up to asking for that?" Izuku felt himself nodding.

Hitoshi looked at him desperately, "It's just… I read that different types of breaks were caused by different types of injuries and I'm just trying to figure out-"

He was stopped as Recovery Girl raised her hand, "Don't you worry sonny, he'll get his x-ray, but I'm afraid I won't be able to give it to him or show you. Midoriya's mother hasn't given consent."

"Can she write it or does she need to show up in person?" Hitoshi asked breathlessly before Izuku could even open his mouth, and Recovery Girl looked like she was tempted to roll her eyes.

"It would be better if she showed up in person." She replied, all of her earlier frustration gone, "Now, unless you have something else to ask, I'd like to be able to treat my patients."

"R-right." Hitoshi grabbed his bag and gave an awkward smile back at him, "I'll see you later then." Izuku nodded, feeling numb as Hitoshi fled.

Recovery Girl watched until the door closed behind Hitoshi before turning back to him. "I expect I'll be receiving a visit from your mother tomorrow." She murmured, then shook her head and managed a smile, "That's some friend you have there."

Izuku found himself nodding in agreement, "The best."

All Might let out a breath as he left Yaoyorozu's room. The young girl had recovered well and was free to leave. Her injuries hadn't been quite as severe as young Iida's, but he was as relieved as her that she was breathing much easier. Neither of them had been breathing easily when they arrived and if he had thought he had seen Recovery Girl angry before… well, he hadn't been wrong, but she could get angrier than he had thought possible before. She was right. He had let things go too far. He acknowledged it, and had even apologized to both students, though neither seemed to hold it against him.

Yaoyorozu had been surprised by the apology, she clearly hadn't expected it. But then, she hadn't taken her injuries personally. It was a battle, and she understood that there would be dangers involved. It was a mature attitude, even if she shouldn't have been in such a position so early. Young Iida hadn't quite accepted his apology either, though his reason was different. He was sullen and angry about his experience, and All Might could tell that the praise he had given the young man had washed over him rather than sinking in.

He desperately wished he had had more time, but he had felt his quirk slipping through his fingers. He had managed to get a few feet away from the door when it gave out entirely and he was left in his wasted and diminished form. UA was an institution of learning, a safe place to try and fail so that people could learn and grow. No student who walked through the gates was ready to become a hero from the start. That meant different things to different people, for Bakugo that might mean learning a new set of priorities or maybe even morals. He wouldn't be the first student who came to UA thinking that the most important part of being a hero was stopping villains.

Instead he would have to speak to Aizawa about keeping young Iida and young Bakugo apart, at least until he had time to impart that lesson to Iida. He hoped the young man would take it. He couldn't allow his mistakes to fester.

The hiss was what made Midoriya worry.

Recovery Girl was both a heroine and a nurse. She had treated students at UA, an institution that expected the best and regularly pushed people beyond their physical limits, for years. Before that she had worked in the field and in hospitals. She was a professional with a professional's experience. She had saved hundreds, if not thousands, of lives, aided countless heroes and heroines and been to more disasters, natural or otherwise, than most.

And as he watched her look at the x-ray she winced.

"Midoriya," She said with deceptive calm, "do you have have any jewelry, piercings, or pins in your bones?" She looked his way, her face carefully neutral. He blinked and shook his head. "Good. I know this may be difficult, but you need to take off your uniform. I'll provide you with a gown."

"What?" He asked in a squeak, his cheeks going flush.

To his surprise she didn't so much as blink at his embarassment, "I'm going to give you an MRI. I'll heal you as soon as it's done, so the sooner we get it done, the sooner I can heal you."

Toshinori found Chiyo waiting for him when he opened the door to Midoriya's room, what was worse was that his successor wasn't even there. She gave him a look as he entered, and he expected more yelling, but she waited, and that made him nervous. "Where's Midoriya?" He asked, the door closing behind him. He felt like a trapped animal.

"He's resting in the scanning room." Her voice was still heated, but she wasn't yelling. He immediately began to worry that that might be far worse.

He swallowed a hard knot at the back of his throat, "Is… he okay?"

"He's fine right now," She said tartly, but somehow he still didn't feel any better, "but we need to talk about what he's doing to himself." She rose from her chair and waved him forward, pulling out an x-ray and putting it to a light.

He looked at it and cringed, "That's what he's doing to himself?" His finger was a mess.

"Yes," She nodded, frowning, "it's bad, but it's nothing I can't heal."

He sagged as relief washed over him, "Oh thank god."

"Except here," She said tartly, and immediately his blood turned to ice. She reached out and pointed to the still mostly solid caps of the bones, the knuckle joint, he was fairly sure. "This is going to be a problem if this keeps up."

He leaned in closer, "But the joint looks less damaged than the rest of the bone?"

"It's not actually the bone I'm worried about." She shook her head, "It's his ligaments. For all the damage to the rest of his bone it's these avulsion fractures that worried me because his ligaments are being damaged." She frowned, "I can heal bones. Ligaments are another issue."

Toshinori felt his blood run cold, "What?"

She let out a frustrated huff, "Ligaments don't tend to heal well. Instead they usually develop scar tissue. That's why I gave him an MRI after seeing this. I'll spare you the details, but he's already developed a bit of scar tissue in the ligaments of that finger. The more times he breaks it, the worse it will get." She stared at him with all the intensity she could muster, "He is going to permanently damage himself if he doesn't take better care of himself All Might."

Toshinori Yagi took a shaky breath and felt a nearly overwhelming urge to sit down, "What can I do to help him?"

"Take it easy on him." She said bluntly, and he cringed, "He needs more time to adjust to having your quirk."

"I can't do that." Her eyes narrowed, but he held firm, "If I do that and Aizawa spots it, he'll kick him out of the class. You know he will."

She didn't dispute it, but kept her gaze on him, "Would it be too much to ask to tell him to leave for a year? He could reapply next year All Might."

That… he hesitated. Perhaps he could talk to Nedzu? It would be all too likely that the principal would have to go through admissions again, and while he had full faith in his successor, he couldn't be positive that he would succeed again. And then he would have to talk Midoriya into it. He could already see his successor's reaction, the tears, the damage it would do to his self-esteem. Would he even be able to stay at UA, having dropped out of the hero course? He coughed up blood as questions and worries bounced around in his head. He shook them away and wiped his chin, "I don't know. I'll think about it, okay?" He looked at her, and she softened, just a little, "Is there anything else I can do?"

Recovery Girl seemed to mull it over herself for a moment, "His friend had some good ideas, if for the wrong reason. If Midoriya changes which finger he uses each time he uses his quirk then the damage will at least be spread out. He might be able to avoid accumulating too much scar tissue on any given finger if he does that."

Toshinori paused, then nodded, "Shinsou would come up with something like that"

"Is that was his name?" Chiyo shook her head, "I didn't ask."

Toshinori nodded, "He's Midoriya's best friend, they trained together to prepare for the hero course."

"Well whoever he is, he's put a lot more thought into this than I would have expected of a teenager. He's the one who convinced Midoriya to ask for an x-ray in the first place." She frowned, "I may not have done an MRI at all if he hadn't."

That… fit. It was very much in keeping with the Shinsou who had questioned why he would train a quirkless child to be a hero. Toshinori nodded, "He's had Midoriya's wellbeing in mind for as long as I've known him."

"Good. Midoriya could use the support." Recovery Girl shook her head, "You'll have to excuse me, I have to see if my other patients are ready to go back to class."

Shinsou sat down heavily; ignoring the looks he was receiving and trying to just focus on the board. It was a struggle. His mind was back at the nurse's office, sitting next to Izuku, looking at an x-ray, trying to glean whatever he could. He could see different types of fractures, from medical textbooks and the internet, and remember the average length of time different injuries took to heal. More than that he wanted to talk to Izuku, just… he didn't know, just be there. He was pretty sure he knew how to set a broken bone at this point, though he wanted to see how Recovery Girl did it just in case it happened again when she wasn't around. He wanted to help, desperately, but he couldn't do anything.

He was tempted to check his phone, but Ectoplasm did less writing on the chalkboard, even using his quirk to generate a clone to do it while continuing to explain the problems. It was a neat trick, and he wondered what Midoriya would think of the implications. It was probably the only reason he was able to focus at all though. He was sure that the teacher was watching him, even though he couldn't be sure. He was sure that Hatsuhara was paying him an inordinate amount of attention though, but that was because he wasn't exactly subtle about it. At least he had the sense to wait until class ended before turning to talk to him.

"I'm fine." He said preemptively, and pulled out his phone. No messages from Izuku, he wasn't sure if that was good or bad, but it left him feeling anxious. At least there was only one more class after this.

"Yeah, right." Hatsuhara snorted, "You've looked sick since lunch."

Shinsou ignored him and checked, but there were no new messages from Izuku. He wasn't sure if that was good or bad, but he still felt anxious. He didn't even want to send a message. Midoriya had mentioned that Recovery Girl's quirk left him exhausted, if he had fallen asleep he wasn't about to wake him.

"Are you though?" Sadaharu asked a note of concern in her voice, "You practically ran out of here before, and you've been fidgeting since you got back."

"I'm fine." He repeated, glancing back and offering a reassuring smile. Or, at least, he tried to because she frowned slightly as he tried.

Kirunshin grunted, "It's your friend, isn't it?"

Shinsou's eyes widened and he whipped aback around to stare… at the back of her head as it turned out, since she hadn't turned around. He sagged, "Was it that obvious?" He asked, defeated and she glanced back.

"I get the same way whenever my sister gets sick." She went back to her phone, "She has an autoimmune disease, so it happens a lot."

"Oh." He murmured, and Sadaharu echoed along in sympathy.

"Well, that's a relief." Hatsuhara said and relaxed slightly, "I was worried you'd skip out on your training."

"Training? Why-" Shinsou blinked in confusion and then grimaced. Right, he'd promised to ask Toshinori if Hatsuhara and Sadaharu could join him. He rolled his eyes, "Don't worry, even if I miss training today I'll be sure to ask Toshinori."

"Cool." Hatsuhara said with a smirk.

"W-wait," Sadaharu sounded aghast, "Is that why you've been-oh my god." She huffed as Hatsuhara ignored her, "I hope your friend is okay."

"Same." Kirunshin agreed a moment later, still texting away.

"He's-" His phone buzzed he checked it, letting out a sigh of relief, "He's fine. He's going back to class now." But what did Izuku mean he had something for him?

Midoriya slipped his phone back in his pocket; brushing against the bottle he'd been given. He'd missed English entirely, which he was beginning to worry might be a recurring problem as it followed Foundational Heroics, but at least he'd be back before class ended for the day. He might have made it back in time for the end of English, but Recovery Girl had been insistent on him having a second x-ray so she could show his mother that his finger had healed. Looking at the first x-ray he was more than inclined to agree. She'd worry otherwise. Not that she wouldn't; it looked ghastly to him but…

He dreaded what Hitoshi would say when he finally got the chance to look at it. All those books he'd been reading had paid off, but that meant he would know something was up. Midoriya doubted bones were supposed to… splinter… like that. Looking at the first x-ray he'd quietly resolved not to move anything he broke using One for All until after it got healed. Not that the damage to his bones constituted the real damage he'd suffered from quirk backlash. Recovery Girl had been adamant that he follow Hitoshi's advice about rotating fingers, even if the reason behind it was different from what Hitoshi had originally worried about. The collagen tablets in his pocket, to be taken with the vitamin supplement Hitoshi had purchased for him, also came with instructions on exercises to help his recovery. Recovery Girl had been insistent that he follow through with them, not that he had any complaints.

At least he'd had a chance to speak with All Might before heading back to class. It was nice to hear that he'd done well even if he hadn't really stood out. His performance had been underwhelming compared to Todoroki, Yaoyorozu and even Bakugo's. That explosion had silenced the entire class; he hadn't displayed even a fraction of that power. Not that he wanted to emulate Bakugo, nobody in the class did. The way everyone stared at Bakugo when he'd finally gotten back to the monitoring room reminded Midoriya of how he'd been treated back in Aldera. His classmates hadn't said a word to Bakugo, quietly moving out of his way as he retreated to the back of the room to sulk.

He almost wished he could show that to Hitoshi. He knew that his friend would appreciate it, even if it was probably beneath either of them. Maybe. Probably. At the very least it should be beneath them as future heroes. But at least he'd be able to show him something from the hero course; he just hoped it would be enough.

Author's note: So I can't be the only one that finds Recovery Girl's office too small, right? Beyond the fact that it's UA, which splurges on *everything*, this school is has to deal with more medical injuries than an average school. There's an expectation that the students from the hero courses will harm themselves, or at least there should be. They are training kids to put their lives on the line, Plus Ultra. Holding back isn't in the curriculum. And neither should their medical facilities, of which they have more than one. And even though they have Recovery Girl, we don't know her quirk limit beyond relying on a person's stamina and that the resulting healing is 'natural' (which is demonstrably a lie since she doesn't set any of Izuku's bones before she first kisses him). Also there's only one of her. And she is, quite literally, irreplaceable. What happens if she gets sick for a day? Does the school go without a doctor?

Also, I can't be the only person who thinks walking up and healing someone might not be the best idea, right? There was a hint that she may be doing these sorts of scans in canon as the other doctor from episode 46: From Iida to Midoriya brings up medical records that we don't see, but we never really see this sort of thing happen in canon (which is why I am here). We know that her quirk will reset bones, but what if the issue with her quirk is the fine details, like the ligament issue, or chronic accumulated damage of some sort. Finding out about that sort of thing early is critically important for Midoriya in particular and Shinsou accidentally revealed a bigger issue than he expected.

For those of you wondering when Shinsou would start acting as a cheerleader for Midoriya? This is it, the start of it anyway. Anyone who has been reading Analytics might remember I mentioned that it was originally going to be part of this story, well; this is where it would have started.

Hitoshi is not Izuku; he will never be as good as Izuku is at extrapolating. That's why he will be blindsided by the whole ligament issue, but if Izuku had thought about it more deeply (and had more medical knowledge) he might have seen it coming. That said, Hitoshi is a very good researcher, and likes to encourage Izuku's habit of analyzing. You might see more of that soon.

If it isn't obvious, Shinsou was panicking that he'd be undercut or dismissed by Recovery Girl. He knows his knowledge is incomplete, but he's doing the best he can. He's frustrated and worried and scrambling to figure out some way to help Midoriya. So far he's actually done a bang up job of it, enough so that Recovery Girl is willing to listen and may cut him a little slack. You can bet that Toshinori is pleased with his student as well, but that will have to wait until next chapter.

A few other odds and ends: Bakugo is *not* unique in the history of UA hero course students either by temperament or attitude, and some of them even went on to become fine heroes. If he hadn't been so overtly hostile when asking how much he could hurt people his question would have been very well received and a mark of maturity. Knowing that your quirk can hurt people and presumably seeking to restrain it is a good thing. Except, of course, that wasn't what he was really asking. Expect a bit more bad blood between Iida and Bakugo. Hatsuhara is a self-centered ass, the only reason he cared about Shinsou leaving class was because it might delay him from meeting a potential trainer. Sadaharu isn't a self-centered ass, and was appalled when she realized why Hatsuhara looked so concerned throughout class. And the person Kirunshin has been texting throughout the story has been her sister.