"Mwuah!"
Izuku shuddered as Recovery Girl kissed his forehead. He wasn't used to people kissing him. The only time someone kissed him before was when Recovery Girl healed him. So he supposed the only person who has ever kissed him was Recovery Girl.
...Okay, he needs to stop. This is just getting weird.
Recovery Girl pulled away and Izuku slumped down. He had been expecting the exhaustion, but that didn't make it any easier.
"That should heal the worse injuries," Recovery said, "but since you were already tired, I'm unable to heal all of them." She got out of her chair and walked away, returning with a glass of water. She hopped up onto the chair and held it out to him, along with a pill. "Drink all of the water, and swallow the pill; it'll help with the pain."
Izuku nodded and took the items. The water felt good going down his throat, and he couldn't wait for the pain medicine to kick in. He had heard what it is supposed to do, and he was curious as to what it felt like to have pain just disappear.
"Now," Recovery Girl started moving away, "I need to check on All Might. Try not to get into anymore trouble, okay?"
He nodded, "I won't."
She disappeared behind the curtain that separated him and All Might. That had worried him at first, that his teacher's injuries were too bad for him to see, but Recovery Girl just ensured him that it was for privacy reasons.
Conversation started up and Izuku almost didn't recognize his teacher's voice. It sounded way too high pitched to be All Might. Too bad they were talking too quietly for him to hear what they were saying. Izuku didn't try to eves drop, his teacher at least deserved that after all that happened.
He just stared at his hands and at his crisscrossing thumbs. Crossing his thumbs over each other again and again, waiting for Recovery Girl to return.
The door opened, "Excuse me," Izuku looked up and saw a guy dressed in a tan trench coat and hat, "Is All Might here?"
Izuku opened his mouth to say something, maybe to ask why he wanted to see the Number 1 Hero, but All Might spoke before he could. "Tsukauchi? Is that you?"
The man, Tsukauchi, turned towards the direction of where All Might was. He walked over to look past the curtains, completely ignoring Izuku as he passed by. "Hey All Might. Been a while."
"Yeah. I didn't know they put you on the investigation."
Izuku wondered if the man was some sort of police officer. But if that was the case, he would be wearing some sort of outfit, right? Perhaps he was some sort of investigator. It is what All Might said, after all.
That's bad for Izuku; if he's an investigator, that is.
"Sorry to cut to the chase, but we could really use any information you have." Tsukauchi said, sounding slightly disappointed.
"Hold on!" All Might said quickly, "Before all that, tell my all the students are okay. And Aizawa, er, Eraserhead, and 13."
Tsukauchi looked surprised, and then endeared. "Not counting this boy," he glanced over at Izuku with a smile, "the only student injuries were just scrapes. And both of the teachers are in stable condition right now. Relax."
He gave a sigh of relief at hearing that, and he heard All Might do the same. "That's good to hear."
Tsukauchi shifted forward and effectively moved out of Izuku's sight. "If you teachers hadn't risked your lives those students would have never made it. You three saved that entire class of kids today." Izuku felt indignation rise up his chest. His friends did amazingly out there, thank you very much!
"You're not seeing the whole picture, Tsukauchi." Izuku's eyes widened in surprise. "Those students also risked their lives today, and fought as hard as us."
Izuku focus his eyes on the curtains as if they were All Might himself, "Thank you, All Might."
He continued, "I don't think there's ever been a group of first years who experienced a real fight so early into their training. They not only survived, but they learned what it means to be a hero." Izuku blinked. "Those villains made a mistake attacking them." Damn right they did.
"This class is strong, and filled with courage, and drive. Mark my words," a pause, "they'll become great heroes."
Izuku looked away. He didn't deserve to hear this, it was his classmates who should be hearing those words, spoken from All Might himself.
"While we're on the subject, Recovery Girl, could you pull back the privacy curtains." Izuku flinched, wasn't he not supposed to see All Might? From the sounds of it, the others were just as surprised as he was.
"Are you sure? You know this can't be taken back once he see's." Recovery Girl said. Now Izuku was worried.
"I'm sure. I've made up my mind."
"Okay." There was a rustling sound, followed by a few footsteps. He braces himself right before the curtain was pulled back.
Nothing could have prepared him for what he saw, though.
He couldn't help the gasp that escaped his lips. "A-A-A-All M-Might?!"
The skinny figure laying in the bed next to him couldn't be All Might. All Might is a muscular hero who always smiles, no matter what. The person in front of him was none of those things. He wasn't even smiling, so how could he possibly be All Might?
Izuku shook his head. Come Izuku, you know better than that.
He refocused on All Might, or the person who claimed to be him. "How can you be All Might?"
He turned away and scratched at the back of his head as if considering how to answer the question. "Do you remember the big fight fight years back?"
Izuku blinked, "Yeah, that was the one with Toxic Chainsaw."
All Might looked surprised, "Wow, you really know your stuff." Izuku's face burned in embarrassment. "But no, almost one's heard of this fight." His hand raised to where bandages wrapped around his chest. Izuku remembered how the Nomu had dug his fingers into that spot.
"Five years ago, I got injured. Badly. My respiratory system is basically destroyed, and I lost my whole stomach. All the surgeries have really worn me out, and it can't be fixed." Izuku felt like puking.
"Before this attack, I was able to hero work for only three hours a day. But now I fear that I may have reduced that time even more thanks to the fight with that thing." He shrugged, "This is what I look like the rest of the time."
Izuku couldn't believe it. All Might wasn't as strong as everyone thought. He was fallible.
Oh, Sensei would have a field day with this information. Everyone in the League of Villains would.
He looked down at his now still thumbs, "I... never knew. I'm sorry."
"Don't be," All Might said, "It's not your fault."
Izuku frowned as a thought dawned upon him, "But, how does it work?"
All Might clearly wasn't expecting that question and he took a moment before he answered it. "It's, kind of hard to explain. The closest metaphor I can come up with to describe it is how guys at the pool always suck in and flex to try and look nice."
That... made sense, he supposed.
He decided to ask his next question, "Why are you telling me all this?"
This was question that All Might was expecting. "You can to my aid today when no one else even thought to and that saved my life. I think you deserve to know after all of that."
Izuku shrink into himself, "But I didn't do anything. I didn't help you. My attack failed."
All Might shook his head, "No it didn't. Your last minute attack bought me the precious seconds needed for the backup to arrive. If you hadn't done that, I wouldn't be here right now."
Shock flooded his body. He... saved someone's life?
No, that couldn't be right. Izuku's existence had only ever caused others pain and annoyance, and the fact that he had saved one of the most influential people in the world. It just-It couldn't be true.
"It's true." Izuku flinched. Did he say that out loud? Tsukauchi walked closer to Izuku. "I can't thank you enough for what you did. I heard what happened from your classmates, and I must say, I'm impressed." Izuku flushed and stuttered as he continued, "May I ask you a question?" You just did. He nodded. "How did you know they were going to attack?"
His heartbeat picked up as he racked his brain for a believable answer. "W-well, I-I didn't." Izuku gave a nervous shrug, "I Just figured it was better to be prepared and have nothing happen than not be prepared and have them attack."
Tsukauchi smiled, "That's very smart of you." He turned to All Might, "You've got a good kid here. He'll make an excellent hero one day."
All Might laughed. "I know."
If only they knew.
Izuku could tell them. He could get it over with right now. But at the same time, he just, couldn't. They would surely arrest him, and when Izuku didn't return, the League would come find him. Somebody would get hurt, and it would be all his fault.
For now, he would except the praise and embrace the hesitant pride. The best thing to do was to keep quiet, so that's exactly what he'll do.