Drip. Drip. Drop.
Rain pittered on the roof almost three weeks later. It was a sleepy Monday, and Izuku was grateful for the quiet morning after walking his sister to school. She had been ecstatic to try out her new rain boots and coat. They were the exact unicorns and cats theme as her previous raincoat, but in a slightly larger size to accommodate the recent growth spurt.
Eri was going to be taller than him if she kept sprouting up like weeds. His little princess was so grown up.
He had just settled down with a steaming cup of matcha, intent to finish his Gang Orca analysis, when another round of coughs hit him. His only customer, a college student intent on cramming two years of French into one, glanced at him in worry.
"You okay there, Midoriya-san?"
"Ne, of course Horiyo-san; just the seasonal cold."
She raised an eyebrow. "Hmm, if you say so."
He gave a closed eye smile in her direction before getting back to the task at hand; Gang Orca was paying almost double his usual rate for a quicker turnaround. Izuku had technically done a deep dive into the hero years before for fun, but his skills had skyrocketed through the passage of time. Aizawa would be there to pick up the completed packet that evening once the store closed.
'Hmm, if Gang Orca switched his footwear his agility would increase greatly. Or what if- no, that's stupid.'
Izuku continued his focused work into the noon hour, barely looking up to accept Horiyo's payment and wishing her a superb test grade.
His phone buzzed an hour later, an alarm reminding him to call the doctor. Izuku glared at his phone, not liking that past him made such an annoying decision.
'It's stupid! Just a cold, there's no reason to go. My cough is almost gone anyway, maybe I'll just not.'
That was a boldfaced lie. His coughing was not as noticeable since he held it in whenever possible. At night, when nobody was around and he was near the tissue box on his bedside table? He would cough himself horse.
Maybe a checkup was in order, just to keep his anxiety down. He nodded to himself; he needed his flu shot for the year regardless, and he had not thought to go to the doctor in years.
Not since he found out his mom had lied to him.
The older Izuku became, the more bitter his memory of his mom became. Why couldn't she be here? The shop was surviving- thriving in the financial sense- but they needed her. Eri needed her. Izuku needed her. The well of regret and pain rose up, threatening to boil over. He pushed it down again when the door chimed, and a few patrons stepped in. Young office workers, only one vaguely familiar.
"Welcome," he called to them, smiling, "to our shop. What may I get you?"
His phone's alarm was silenced.
That Sunday found him debating if he should step into the cozy doctor's office or not. Dr. Haru, the doctor he had known since childhood, was a good man. The office was four streets away and had plants outside to make the red brick building seem less frightening to patients. A sunny morning after a week of downpours just added to the charm most would find.
It was not fear of his doctor, but rather being told, like his mother, life altering news.
His appointment was in ten minutes, however; he would not be late. Wasting the doctor's time when he had requested an urgent appointment? Izuku would never. He dug his hands into the depths of his pockets, clenching and unclenching his handkerchief.
The inside of the office was even more welcoming than the outside. Dr. Haru was a family practice that worked closely with the closest hospital, meaning his patients ranged from newborns to those on their deathbeds.
Wood paneled walls, toys in one corner, comfortably plush chairs, and a secretary that had worked there since Izuku was three helped him relax. A tiny bit, barely enough to keep him standing, but his shoulders lowered due to it.
If only Dr. Haru's office hadn't been closed the week Izuku's world was shattered by the quirkless diagnosis. Or when his mom got the final cancer diagnosis.
"Ah, Midoriya-chan," Amaya the secretary said when she saw him. He blushed but didn't correct her; she had known him longer than anybody alive save the Bakugou family.
"Hello Amaya-san. I'm here for my appointment."
"Yes yes, and you should have come in earlier dear; two years of no contact besides bringing Eri in for her shots is not okay mister!"
That was true; the hospital had treated him after… after Kamino, and before that he had not seen the need to put himself through the doctor's office.
There was always something; work, coffee orders, Eri not having a babysitter and him uncomfortable with forcing her to any medical office more than necessary.
He took the admonishment for what it was and hummed. "I apologize, Amaya-san; I will do better. May I check in?"
Amaya's hair shot out behind her, bringing a clipboard to him over her desk. Her quirk was fascinating to Izuku, always had been, but today he barely noticed.
She frowned when he didn't give his usual praise, but didn't comment. He was relieved at that, and made a mental note to give her a proper goodbye once Dr. Haru gave a clean bill of health.
"You know how this goes." He nodded and sat in a chair by the window.
He filled out the familiar form, ignoring the smattering of people before him. His knee shook when the question of "what are your symptoms" came up. Izuku completed that part as best as he dared, mind straying to Eri.
She had a playdate with Kouta and Lemillion. The trio was at the park while Shinsou kept the shop from exploding in his absence. No one guessed where he was going, and Izuku's tendency to be tight-lipped about his actions and whereabouts were paying off; no one thought anything amiss when he raised an eyebrow and said he'd be back by the afternoon.
"Izuku Midoriya."
He sighed and got up. Trepidation filled his steps, getting stronger as his height, weight, and blood were taken, along with the other typical tests.
Izuku knew his fear was ridiculous. Whatever was wrong, was wrong. Causing himself more stress about it was illogical, as Aizawa-san kept telling him.
Usually that was in a huff about his overprotective urges about Eri or other members of his small group of people he called family.
"Midoriya-san?" A gruff voice asked.
Izuku glanced up from the table he was left at, meeting Dr. Haru's eyes. Normally the doctor was overly jovial, a side effect of his quirk. Laughter was the best medicine, and the man took his joy filling ability seriously.
Dr. Haru was not smiling.
Izuku trudged through the side door into the shop's kitchen. Or he would, when he gained his composure. It was late into the night, he knew, and only his texts about meeting with Nedzu had kept Shouta or Toshinori from breaking Japan to find him.
The fact he had asked Nedzu to cover for him as he visited his mother's grave was irrelevant. They had met… over the phone for two moments to confirm Izuku was in fact acting in his own volition.
"Eh, what the hell are you doing, Midoriya?" Kurama-san asked. Izuku closed his eyes and asked for patience. He had no desire for the civility required when dealing with his alley neighbor, Kurama Lee.
The man had done well since their deal. Asahi Rei, the quirkless man that Izuku had vouched for, was smoothing the tailor's rough edges over. But the corners were still deadly and Izuku just… could not do it.
So he opened the door and went inside, ignoring the string of curses from the older man. He would be better tomorrow. It had to be better, tomorrow.
Yagi Toshinori was asleep in his living room, surrounded by glassy eyed plushies with the news muted. Eri must have made the hero feel at home, a coping mechanism she copied from him. His chest tightened, knowing she must have been frightened. Izuku hadn't even been able to call to say goodnight.
He turned the tv off, careful not to wake his pseudo-employee and almost friend, and crept to his sister's door. She was asleep, the screen of her tablet playing a princess show that their mom had introduced her to. While overly childish even for Eri, she still watched it when something bothered her.
Like her stupid brother going AWOL.
"Eri, Eri, Eri; you know not to leave your tablet on while you sleep" Izuku chortled with an attempt at humor. He slid by her bed and quietly turned it off. Danzo peeped from the mess of animals on her bed, blinking slowly at him.
"No. Stay with her; she needs you right now, cat."
Danzo blinked again before settling back down.
There were many, many pills Izuku was supposed to take. Not all of them would be ready for a couple of days, the dosages or medication having to be tweaked to his… condition.
Society really was not prepared to deal with the human baseline any longer, at least not for specialized conditions.
And that's what Izuku had: a post-quirk mutated form of infection with pockets of something in his lungs, growing, festering. Dr. Haru had a specialist he was to visit in Hosu, but for now they were worried about a resistant strain of bacteria spreading.
The fact Izuku would have to go back to that cursed city just made the icing on the cinnamon roll.
It wasn't the end of the world. Dr. Haru had wanted to put him in the hospital, exclaiming he was not supposed to be active but as a legal adult, Izuku refused.
He would have to tell somebody. Aizawa for sure, meaning Nedzu would know. Really he gave very little who knew, save for one person: Eri.
A cold sent her into a panic, believing the person would die. Only recently could she understand the difference between being sick and being terminal, her past trauma and their mother having damaged her.
The bag of pills, the schedule and printout for them stapled, loomed over him on his bookshelf the next morning. He was not stupid. The choice was to either do this, or wind up in a hospital. Maybe even die. He couldn't do that to Eri.
But from his bed, already in his work uniform, the task of touching them seemed insurmountable.
A light tap on his door startled him out of his staring contest with his medication. Eri peered from a small gap, eyes not as bright as they normally would be on a Monday morning. She was still in her night gown too. Danzo's tail snaked around her ankle.
"Izu-nii," she whispered. Yagi must still be asleep, then.
"Hey Bug. Come here, okay?"
She was in his arms without further instruction. He let her grip him in a vice grip of a hug, ignoring her horn digging slightly into his ribs.
"Let's have a day here, sounds alright?"
She blinked at him. "But what about school?"
"Well, we will have a, uh," he paused, thinking up the word his mother used to use, "a mental health day. Besides, I think I need some extra help in the shop."
Eri grew determined at that, and nodded. "Silly Izu-nii. You've been working too hard! I'll help lots today, you rest up after your play date with Nedzu-san!"
It was most certainly not a play date, and not with Nedzu, but he chuckled instead.
"Thank you, Eri-chan. What would I do without you?"
"Perish in boiling hot coffee, probably!"
He sputtered. "Where in the world- who told you that?"
"Lemillion," she chirped. Then acting like she had not just signed the death warrant of the rookie hero, she bounced out of the room to get her shop uniform on.
She'd turn him gray, he swore.
"I am here! Waking up like a normal person!"
And there was the other headache of the day. He got up, vowing to start the evening dose, after reading through everything three times.
"Tanaka-san, have a great day," he called while counting the change. The man had stayed through the morning rush to chat with Eri after she proudly announced to the whole store what kind of day off her 'super awesome Nii-chan was giving her'.
"We're already going to be talking tonight, Problem Child," Shouta-san had said.
Izuku chose to ignore that for the rest of the day. Now it was reaching their lunch time close, and Eri had passed out upstairs. He wasn't surprised; her night had been less than restful and that morning she put in Plus Ultra level effort.
So he sat with Yagi, drinking coffee. The man was rarely there during the morning or evening hours, only helping out on delivery days or when Eri decided to make treats. Afternoons were when the man would stop in, help wipe down things while chatting with the Midoriya clan, before slinking off to rescue kittens or something.
"Young Izuku! Your coffee is delicious!"
Izuku raised an eyebrow. "I thought you despised caffeine and preferred decaffeinated or herbal tea."
He was amused when his blond friend started sweating. Izuku really would not have guessed the fidgeting mess of flour was once the world's strongest hero.
Putting him out of his misery was demanded when three minutes later the former Symbol of Peace started turning red.
"Nedzu-san wished for you to speak with me," he stated.
Yagi sagged as the weight of his mission lifted off his shoulders.
"He is… concerned. We all are, I might add."
Izuku sighed. "I know."
"When we go through difficult times, it can seem easier to shut everyone out. But doing so makes it harder on yourself."
Those were words spoken from experience. Izuku had seen All Might's medical file, had spoken with his old mentor sidekick. If anyone knew, this one did.
He could talk through it with the one sitting across from him. The man would probably keep it secret, too.
"Next time, Yagi-san. Next time, please."
The man took the dismissal for what it was. He gave a real smile, the one he still struggled with after decades of being too large for life, and patted Izuku on the shoulder.
"I understand."
Izuku was not expecting a call from Detective Tsukauchi that afternoon. Yagi had left, and the storm that had come back with a vengeance from its one day retreat had kept the criminals inside and customers away from his coffee.
The only reason Izuku even had the detective's contact information saved was from their post Kamino debrief.
Apparently the detective was the only one in the department to know all there was to know about the incident.
"Detective, it is a pleasure to hear from you again," he said in leue of his name.
"Thank you for taking my call, Midoriya-san."
"Anytime, sir; how can I assist?"
Because that was the crux of the call: no pleasantries, the detective would only contact him for something dire. Otherwise he would go through Nedzu. That was part of the deal, as Izuku had no time to be dragged into countless cases.
A shuffle through the audio. "This is about the Stain case. I have here that you requested a heads up when he resurfaced."
No. Please no.
"He has, Midoriya-san."