(A/N) Recovery begins. Kinda hope you missed me at least a little bit, cause I missed you!

Hitoshi came to consciousness slowly, starting with the pain, and ending with the beeping and quiet voices. A quiet pained moan slipped out before he could stop it, and all conversation stopped.

"Shinso?" A hesitant voice his floaty brain managed to connect to Yaoyorozu. Why was she here? Why was thinking so hard?

"Are you in pain?" Hagakure asked, although Hitoshi heard it as if from through a long metal tube.

Hitoshi wanted to get up and reassure them he was fine and could disappear into the background again. Unfortunately, the sharp pain in his ribs, left leg, and face stopped him quickly. His face contorted, and that only caused more pain.

He knew he was supposed to be worried about them seeing something, but he wasn't sure what. So he dismissed it and blearily opened his eyes. He could see the fuzzy shapes of Yaoyorozu and Hagakure, along with what he assumed to be Ojiro and Aizawa-sensei.

...Was there supposed something up with Aizawa being there? Something felt wrong with that. Why was his brain so floaty?

Wait, was he supposed to be responding to something?

"Shinso?" Ojiro sounded worried.

Hitoshi wanted to reassure him he was fine. His voice was not cooperating though.

"He's on pain medication. I'm surprised he's awake at all," Aizawa-sensei said dryly. "Go back to sleep Shinso."

Hitoshi wasn't going to obey the order, then darkness clouded his brain and he fell unconscious anyway.

Momo shifted nervously after Hitoshi went back to sleep. He seemed completely out of it, but Aizawa-sensei had said he was on pain medication, so it was probably that.

"How long will he be out?" She asked, Toru pulling her down to sit in a chair. She went willingly, perching on the edge of the chair.

"At least another few days," Aizawa sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "The injuries from the USJ incident aren't the only ones they're dealing with. And a good portion if the injuries should have at least been seen by a doctor, but none of them are on his record. But now we do have proof to get him out of the home he's in. It'll be a while though."

Momo tilted her head. "Why?"

"Because the government is stupid," he muttered under his breath.

Momo blinked. Well that was one sentence she did not ever expect to come out of a pro hero's mouth. Although now that she thought about it, she wasn't surprised it was Aizawa-sensei who'd said it.

"Basically we need confirmation from Hitoshi himself, or new injuries," Aizawa explained quietly. "He doesn't have any recent injuries outside of his perpetual bordering on starvation, but that can't be indicative of an abusive home. It could in a perfect world, but ours is far from perfect."

Okay she should have expected that last statement from him.

"So can we ask him about it?" Ojiro asked, tail flicking against the side of his seat, a quiet thumping coming from it.

"It needs to be a recorded confirmation," Aizawa sighed. "But yes, technically you can collect it."

Ojiro nodded, his finger tapping out a rhythm on his leg to join his tail.

"He'll be alright, won't he?" Toru asked, glancing at Shinso.

Aizawa nodded tiredly. "He'll be fine. With time and care."

Momo was relieved. She cared for Shinso, she did consider him a friend, even if she wasn't sure he considered her one. Although she wasn't entirely sure he realized that her, Toru, and Ojiro did all consider him their friend. She hoped he'd realize and accept them as his friends.

The next time he woke up the pain was lessened, and there was even more fog filling his mind.

"He's awake," Present Mic said, a weight tilting down the right side of Hitoshi's hospital bed. "Morning buddy."

Hitoshi, surprisingly, had very few thoughts in his usually cluttered mind, but his fogged mind decided it did not like Present Mic that close. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do about that, but something had to happen. "Go 'way," he managed to mutter tiredly. Oh he wasn't supposed to speak was he. Oops. His brain was too foggy for this, Hitoshi decided.

"Oh, alright," Present Mic said, the weight disappearing.

"Go back to sleep Shinso," Aizawa-sensei ordered tiredly.

"No," Hitoshi muttered childishly.

"Sleep little listener, you'll feel better when you wake up," Present Mic said.

Hitoshi would've said no to that too if the fog didn't suddenly darken and drag him down.

His classmates were there the next time he woke up, quietly doing what he assumed was homework. Oh no, had he missed a day of school?

Yaoyorozu glanced up and smiled. "Shinso! You're awake!"

Hagakure and Ojiro looked up too, breaking out into identical smiles.

Hitoshi didn't know why they were smiling at him, hadn't they seen his quirk? Now that he was properly coherent, he knew what was wrong with this scene, they were still here. Even after seeing his quirk.

Smiling turned to worry quickly. "Are you still in a lot of pain? The medics said you were mostly fine a little while ago," Hagakure fretted, lacy gloves dancing in the air.

Hitoshi blinked at her for a moment before taking a quick stock of his own body. Minor pain from his face, some from his ribs, and a little bit from his leg. Although it felt a bit more like phantom pain then proper pain. He shook his head.

"No to you are fine, or no to the serious pain?" Yaoyorozu asked, sitting forward and leaning a hand across her stomach.

"Serious pain," Hitoshi managed to whisper, voice cracking from disuse.

All three looked immensely relieved, and Hitoshi was confused again. Maybe they were sent by the teachers?

"I'll get Aizawa-sensei," Yaoyorozu volunteered. She set her homework to the side, and disappeared from the room.

"He was getting coffee," Hagakure explained quietly. "He's been in here almost day and night watching you and hoping you'd wake up."

"The medics couldn't heal you very quickly because you're so malnourished," Ojiro said, putting his homework into his bag. "I think he's stressing over not being able to handle Shigaraki on his own."

"He wasn't very happy to wake up to find Momo still undergoing a few treatments from Recovery Girl," Hagakure agreed quietly. Why was she calling Yaoyorozu by her first name? When did that happen?

The door opened, and Hitoshi blinked blearily at Aizawa and Yaoyorozu standing in the doorway. Aizawa… didn't look great, although Hitoshi wasn't about to admit he'd thought that to anyone, let alone the teacher. He was covered in bandages, and both arms had casts on them. Yaoyorozu was holding the coffee Aizawa had apparently been getting. What little of Aizawa's face Hitoshi could see was drawn and looked extremely tired.

"You're awake," he said flatly.

Hitoshi nodded once, quickly.

"Yaoyorozu, get a nurse please," Aizawa said after a moment, collapsing into the chair she had left behind. "You mostly alright kid?"

They all looked at him expectantly, so he nodded. Why were they fretting so much about his wellbeing? He was just the kid with the 'villain's quirk'. No one worth fretting over.

The nurse came in, Yaoyorozu right behind her. "Oh good, you're awake, we were starting to get a bit worried." She smiled reassuringly. "With you awake now, you can be discharged tomorrow."

Hitoshi nodded shortly.

"Stay in here," she said, looking very significantly at Aizawa. "And you will have no issues with the recovery process. My name is Nintaimi Taimatsu, you can call me with that button." She gestured to the button in question.

Hitoshi wasn't ever going to push that button, he didn't want to distract her from other duties.

"And don't worry about bothering me, this is my job," Nintaimi continued. "I know exactly how you self sacrificing and/or low self-esteem types are, and I will assure you now that half the time I am merely doing paperwork and would be grateful for a distraction."

"What is your job exactly?" Hagakure asked curiously.

"I am an EMT that works specifically with heroes," Nintaimi replied. "I often work in the general hospital when we get heroes in here because I happen to be very good at dealing with them."

Aizawa half glared at her, and she smirked. "I also have my hero license, and am able to detain anyone who attempts to escape. As I have done multiple times with Eraserhead here."

Hitoshi wasn't quite sure what to make of her. She effortlessly threatened a pro hero, and was a medic. A medic with a hero license, which was confusing him.

"Alright, I'm going to assume you are hungry, and leave a menu in here. Push the button when you're done picking. The offer extends to the rest of you." With that, she turned on her heel and left, closing the door softly behind her.

"If the hospital food doesn't sound good I have snacks," Yaoyorozu said after a moment of silence. "Although I suspect they're trying a meal plan for you to get you back up to a proper weight."

It'd all go to waste as soon as he was back in his foster home, so he didn't know why they were trying. Then again, this was a hospital, they were probably forced to at least try.

His body decided that this was enough energy expended, and his eyelids started dropping closed.

"Oh! I suppose we'll let you sleep!" Hagakure said, gloves twisting together.

If anyone replied, Hitoshi didn't hear it. He was fast asleep again.

(A/N) Sleepy boi. I have never been under painkillers, so excuse me if it's wrong. Nintaimi is basically my go to oc medic if I need one, so she'll appear a lot in random stories. If a medic talks and they're female, you can probably safely assume it's Nintaimi. Basically she has a hero license so she can use her quirk to detain heroes who are bad patients. Stars know she needs it. Call her an easter egg if you want, find all the instances she's appeared lol. Those on (here) Check the ao3 version of this story for the poll, alright?