"He's doing better today. The readings are consistent with what is on file."
A sigh echoed through the room, piercing through the thick silence.
"Thank you. It's good to know."
The shuffling of papers feels oddly loud to Aizawa's ears.
"Right. Nevertheless, I'm afraid I don't know when he would wake up."
Midoriya Inko scowls.
He eyed her dubiously from the corner of his eyes. Aizawa wouldn't fault the woman for having such an expression. Especially when it was directed at him.
It was, after all, his fault that her son had fallen into a coma two days ago after spontaneously hemorrhaging from his eye sockets.
His ears still don't quite feel the same since she'd shown up about an hour after Midoriya was readmitted to the infirmary -for god's sake, he just left Eraserhead!- to Recovery Girl's care. Now she was playing the sad mother card, which did not help with the shame he was feeling.
Deserved, but still. It was ...uncomfortable.
"That's quite alright, Recovery Girl." Ms. Midoriya tells the nurse, her eyes fixed on her child. "Izuku's Quirk has always been...inconsistent...when it comes to how it reacts to things."
Aizawa feels the same, familiar flare of irritation -guilt- swell within him at her words. He's not sure if she did it purposely. It didn't matter in the end. What mattered was the end result -and that was the boy he had been keeping watch over during the past two days with little break.
Midoriya Izuku looked awfully pale and limp as he laid on his new bed. The child was tucked under a mountain of blankets, with only his head and his arms peeking out from the thick covers. His eyes were closed, of course, and his green hair hung in disarray around his face. The dark emerald locks were starting to get a bit shiny from grease. He would likely need them washed soon -something that he would do when he woke up, or something his mother would have to do for him if he did not wake in the near future.
The skin around his eyes was still the slightest bit puffy, and he had dark eyebags. Aizawa was certain that if one of them forced the boy's eyelids open, they would be treated with the sight of horribly bloodshot eyes.
How was he so certain? He'd seen them just a scant few hours before when Recovery Girl had done her regular checkup.
This is a mess...
"It shouldn't have resisted Erasure." Aizawa hears himself mutter, cutting in between the women's conversation.
It's not the first time he says it. He'd said it plenty when he'd rushed Midoriya to the infirmary, and said it plenty more when All Might and Nedzu came rushing in through the infirmary door like missiles, the principal hanging from the Pro-Hero's left shoulder.
It's his only defence -not even an argument in truth, for Aizawa had taken full blame for what happened. To use his Quirk on a child with an unstable Quirk had been one of the dumbest things he'd done in a long time. Even if he hadn't expected the blood dripping like rivers down the boy's face from those luminous, ethereal eyes or the way he'd fell like a doll whom's strings had been cut, it still fell on him.
Then, he'd been the adult in the room.
Aizawa was mature enough to take the blame. That did not mean he liked it though. Especially when what happened flew directly against logic.
Erasure never did this before.
"And yet it did." Ms. Midoriya cut him off with that single, flat statement. She looks at him with verdant green eyes that felt decades old and brimming with wisdom.
How strong much she be, he wonders, to endure all of this?
"You have an idea why?" Aizawa asks, though it's half hearted.
The only conscious Midoriya chuckles from where she's sitting opposite him, holding onto her son's arm. "You'll find that my son's Quirk hardly ever listens to anyone, not even its owner."
"It's not sentient, though." Recovery Girl intervenes from where she'd sprawled herself on the couch by the window, her equipment spread out on the low table in front of her. "It would be on record, I'm sure."
"No, it's not. Any specialist we consulted will tell you the same. " Ms. Midoriya replies, shaking her head faintly. "But Omniscience doesn't follow the rules set out by most Quirk research." The young mother continues, her voice soft. Despite the low, reassuring tone, there was something there -a certain steel in her tone that spoke of what must have been a terrible time of her life. "It used to activate at will like an Emitter, it first appeared like a Transformation type, and then changed my son's eye structure nigh permanently like a Mutant Quirk."
Aizawa raises raises a brow, but says nothing.
"...and even if this would demand the changing of its type on file, only Emitter suppression drugs work on it." Recovery Girl says, almost sullen. The nurse was not liking this information -that makes two of us, Aizawa thinks.
huffs. "You read all of his file?"
"All eighty four pages of it. Good god," Recovery Girl exhales, and Aizawa jolts because he did not just hear that, how was that even- "...what is your kid made of?"
Ms. Midoriya laughs. It's light and airy and feels just the slightest bit bitter. Aizawa doesn't miss the way her hand tightens on her son's limp, pale arm, as if she was trying to reassure him that she was there. Or maybe she herself was trying to find some comfort in his presence.
It really didn't help the shame swirling low in his guts.
"I don't know." She says after her fit. Then, more quietly. "I really don't know." She shakes her head. "No one really knows."
Aizawa shifts in his seat. He says nothing. Somewhere by the window, Recovery Girl turns a page. The sound of the moving paper is uncomfortably loud in the quiet room.
"...did you know he thought he was Quirkless?" Ms. Midoriya suddenly spoke up after a long time, looking directly at him.
"No, I did not." Aizawa replies, though it's obvious.
Ms. Midoriya knows that too, for she smiles.
"He was one of the last kids in his class to get his Quirk. The pressure was very real then. He spent hours in front of a mirror trying to move things with his mind or attempting to breathe fire." Aizawa blinks at this, and the mother notices his confusion. "That's my ex-husband's Quirk. Anyways…"
She swallows. Some of the shine in her eyes darkens.
"And then one day he comes running to me and his eyes are glowing." Ms. Midoriya continues, lost in her thoughts. "Like little fireflies. Katsuki always called him Bug Eyes because of that. He stopped after he made Izuku cry."
Aizawa had no idea who this Katsuki was, but he sounded like an imbecile kid that needed some discipline. Then again as a teacher he knew just how horrible kids could get.
"Izuku took to his Quirk like a duck to water." Ms. Midoriya said fondly.
Then her expression changes. It grows darker, more closed off. There it is, Aizawa thinks.
"...but Omniscience didn't return the favor." Ms. Midoriya finished, her voice low.
Cold crawls up Aizawa's back. There's a lot of pain in the way she said it. A lot of grief. A lot of untold stories and close calls.
As if sensing his stare, she looks away from her son to hold his gaze. In truth, it feels like she was grabbing his attention, keeping it pinned on him and the child laid out between them, deeply asleep.
"My son's done a lot of good. He'll keep doing a lot of good." Ms. Midoriya smiles, but it's not as happy as one would expect if the woman was proud of her son's achievement. Not Aizawa, though -he can see through the facade, the weariness hiding behind those green orbs and the early wrinkles that began popping in on her otherwise youthful face. "I just wish he would slow down and take care of himself more. He tends to be uncaring towards his own health."
"The hypocrite." Chiyo puffs out a breath. Ms. Midoriya laughs.
Aizwa had nearly forgotten that the Pro-Hero nurse was there. He glances at the woman, noting that she had her face nearly smashed into a copy of Midoriya Izuku's medical record. There's pens and markers on the low table, along with a notepad that must have seen better days. There's chicken scratches all over it.
As ever, the Yuuei nurse took her work to heart.
Exhaling, Aizawa turns his gaze back to the child on the bed.
Begrudgingly, he was starting to feel a sense of responsibility towards this brat. Not just due to what happened, or the fact he didn't leave this room often enough so Aizawa was starting to believe the Stockholn syndrome was kicking in.
In truth, Midoriya Inko's tale had revealed much about the young boy on the bed in front of him, more so than anything Nedzu had told the Yuuei staff. For such an age, the fact that he worked so hard and done so much with such a glaring weakness…
...it spoke of his resourcefulness. Of his bravery. Of his stubbornness.
It was a real shame he could never be a hero. Aizwa wouldn't be above taking the boy under his wing if so. There was a lot of potential in that tiny body.
Midoriya Izuku was something else.
I'll have to keep a good eye on this one, aren't I?
.
.
.
green on all sides, darkness at his back
fire, bright and blue, all around him
"-you love too much-"
why were they running?
a face without eyes, reaching for his
"Next, it's your turn."
.
.
.
He wakes up to the most well behaved Omniscience has been in weeks.
For a good few minutes Izuku can only lay there, staring up at the familiar ceiling of his new bedroom. His Quirk was humming low at the back of his eyes, an unpleasant but far more tolerable than usual pressure against his eyeballs. It was a nice feeling, not feeling like his eyes were about to pop out of his skull.
It's the kind of feeling that he would only feel after a long slip. He felt frazzled and off balance, but this -it was better than it had ever been in a while.
So, that happened.
"About time."
The voice is familiar in its irritability. Izuku tilts his head to his left, sitting up from his lying position on the bed. Recovery Girl holds his stare with a smoldering glare that had him fighting the urge to grab the covers and hide.
Guessing, he muses out loud somberly:
"...Erasure didn't work."
Somehow Recover Girl fixes him in place with an even sterner glare.
"No, it did not." The nurse said snappishly, eyes narrowing. "And you're not doing that again. Ever."
Izuku winces, remembering the event. The warmth he'd felt inside his eye sockets at the blood dripping out of them was a sensation he preferred to not think about. He coughs awkwardly, then clears his throat.
"Don't worry," He reassures her. "-it's not often that I'm in the mood for internal brain hemorrhages."
The loud twuack of the papers she was holding dropping on the low table had him wilting back on the inside. Oh. Oh boy. He was going to get it. If he wasn't a patient he was sure the little old woman would try choking him out.
Do I deserve it? Yes. Yes I did.
"...you're far too familiar with those words for a kid like you." Chiyo hisses. "What you did was far beyond reckless. Asking Aizawa to do such a thing without consulting me first?"
Izuku winces again, replying defensively. "I thought it could work!"
"Since when does your Quirk ever follow the rules established by decades of research?!"
She...has a point there.
"...r-right." He says, dejected. "You're right. I'm sorry."
Chiyo flares her nostrils. "You better be." The elderly woman replies, standing up. Grabbing her cane, she ambles over to the side of his bed. Her mighty cane was lifted off the ground and for a moment Izuku thought she would actually smack him with it, but she merely gestures the empty single couch by his bed.
Izuku follows her pointer.
"Three whole days." The nurse tells him flatly. "Poor Aizawa ran himself ragged watching over you. Be glad that President Mic managed to convince him to take Friday off."
Izuku feels himself freeze. Friday. Friday.
That wasn't right. Wasn't it...no she couldn't have said that, could she?
"...today...today is Friday?"
"...yes?"
.
.
.
The conversation with Recovery Girl goes as well as expected. And by that, it meant that the school nurse categorically put her foot down.
"Absolutely not!"
"Oh, please!"
"Midoriya! You're sick, you're not going anywhere!" Did the woman hiss at him?
"I'm not sick, I'm going to go see the Entrance Exam!"
"No you're not!" Recovery Girl stomps over towards him as he starts to put a foot on the floor. Oh, she was going to hit him with the cane, he's certain of it. "Oi! Get back on the bed!"
Izuku scrambles to extend his arms forward and block Recovery Girl's approach -which she does, thankfully. Through her purple glasses the woman was absolutely glaring at him.
How can someone this small be so terrifying?!
"Please!" He begs, turning pleading eyes to the nurse. "My best friend Kacchan is going into Heroics, I want to see him compete!" Izuku tries, attempting to appeal to her emotions.
"We'll get you a recording then." Chiyo says dismissively, irritated. She jerks her head towards the bed. "You're staying in that bed. That's final!"
A cough echoes through the room, silencing them both.
"Am ...am I interrupting something?"
The next words got lodged in Izuku's throat. Oh.
All Might was standing in the doorway, peeking his head through into the room. The man looks mildly concerned as he gazed at the two of them.
Izuku hadn't even heard the door open. He's sure he looks pretty ridiculous with one foot on the ground and half his body still in the bed, arms extended to appease the thunderous gremlin that was the school nurse.
"All Might!" He yelps, smiling at the Pro-Hero. "Why are you here?"
The man returns his grin with one of his own, though there was still a sizable amount of concern and just the tiniest, tiniest bit of fear in his eyes as he stepped forward, the door closing behind him.
"I wanted to check up on you today before the Exams!" The Pro-Hero explained, putting his hands on his hips. The grin he gives Izuku is wide and full of teeth. "I'll be one of the judges, you see!"
"Oh, that's...good." Izuku, try as he might, could not find himself being happy.
Not with Recovery Girl fuming at his side.
It didn't matter what she thought, he had to go. It was a one in a lifetime opportunity. He wouldn't forgive himself if he missed the exam. He'd seen so many possibilities over the years, so many alternatives, so many people that missing or there that it left his head spinning.
To actually see it, in the flesh, was something Izuku yearned for more than anything else.
All Might seems to pick up on his lack of enthusiasm. His expression shift, less of that blinding smile that he'd seen so many times as a child and more of a befuddled frown.
Recovery Girl's cough stops the man from addressing it.
"Now that you're here," The nurse begins, waving her cane at the hero -who instinctively shies away from the stick of doom. "You can help me convince Midoriya that getting up after three days in bed is a foolish, foolish idea!"
All Might open his mouth and Izuku's heart drops even further, leading to him sagging against the bed. If he thought it was a bad idea, then maybe it really was...
-but suddenly the hero closes his mouth.
Then opens it. Then closes it again and wilts in a way no man as tall and buff as him should be able to. The conflict in his eyes and the hesitation told them everything they needed to know.
"...I.."
Recovery Girl flared his nostrils. "You have to be kidding me."
Izuku was sincerely surprised that there wasn't smoke coming out of them. If Kacchan ever locked him in a tower, he had now a dragon to put at the base. God, he's happy they haven't met yet. It was going to be terrifying.
For the sake of his own sanity, maybe keeping them apart would be the most viable option.
"...well," All Might begins, hesitating as they both catch the way Chiyo's old, wrinkly hand tightens threateningly over the top of her cane. "In truth, Nedzu wanted to have you there to see the exams with the rest of us but after what happened-"
Chiyo made a sound that would put an angry rattlesnake to shame. All Might fixes his eyes on her, like he was expecting the elderly woman to strike. Izuku does not blame him for such a reaction.
"...b-but, we thought young Midoriya wouldn't wake up in time for the exams!" All Might stuttered, turning blue eyes to Izuku. "However, I'm glad to see you're alright!"
Izuku feels a bit of his enthusiasm return at the sight of another smile. The sheer energy coming off the man gave him strength, somehow.
"The sun's up. Shouldn't it have started already?" He asks, hesitant.
All Might nods quickly enough to make his hair bounce. It makes him look like a bunny. A very big golden bunny.
"In an hour, actually! They're taking the writing section right now!"
Izuku nearly gives himself whiplash, so fast he turns pleading eyes towards Recovery Girl.
Chiyo takes one look at his hopeful, innocent eyes and scowls. "No."
"Please."
"No."
"I'm sneaking out the moment you turn your back." Ha, take that hospital! I knew my training would come in handy one day!
He could hear his past doctors and nurses crying from here. Actually, he was pretty sure they were still throwing a party because he left. In all likelihood, he was responsible for at least 40% of all of their early grey hairs.
Recovery Girl makes a face. "I'm staying here for the day anyways."
"Not if students get injured." Izuku piped up in response.
Chiyo glares. It's something fearsome. Izuku's lips attempt a wobbled smile that hopefully, wasn't all too smug. He knew he got her there. There was no way she could at two places at one time after all. Well, she could bring him with her to the infirmary, but as long as she didn't get that idea Izuku was safe.
Nervousness ate at him; he feels his eyes do a couple of spins in response. Omniscience wasn't all that loud since he'd woken up. It was nice. An approximation of what being normal must be like. This calm state after a long slip would dissipate in a couple of hours, however.
It always did.
After a long, stretching pause, Recovery Girl's shoulders drop and the dreaded cane tucked against her. She leans on it, lips pinched.
"Fine."
Yes! Izuku nearly yells it out loud, but he's certain that would be enough for the nurse to backpedal and chain him to his bed. Now that wouldn't do, not at all. It's not often he got some minuscule peace of mind from Omniscience, and today of all days? It was heaven.
"You're staying with the boy at all times." Chiyo demands with a hard edge, turning narrowed eyes to All Might. " And he can't be moving too much. He's still weak."
"Not a problem!"
Izuku blinks at the unexpectedly quick response. Wait, what does he mean by not a problem-
The next thing he knows, he's up a few feet in the air. He flails for a moment, suspended in the air -before landing with an oomph in a pair of massive arms.
"Too tall!" The yipp that leaves his lips in nothing but dignified. "This is weird!"
All Might merely laughs and adjust his grip on him. "Nonsense! We'll get there faster this way!"
"Yes well-!"
He stops, at a loss of suitable words. Izuku wanted to grimace. It's the principle! He wanted to tell the man. I'm not supposed to be this tall!
Wait.
"...fine! Let's go then!" He says with more force, pointing towards the door. Izuku wiggles like a demented worm in the hero's arms. "Kacchan's going to start his exam soon and I am not going to miss it!"
"Alright, alright!" All Might turned his head to the third person in the room, smiling broadly. "Have a nice day, Recovery Girl!"
From the safety of being out of reach from the demon wearing a nurse's attire, Izuku waves at the woman. "Bye Chiyo!"
Recovery Girl glares. She's far from amused.
"You're both going to give me heart problems by the end of the year."
Izuku has the foresight to not say anything in response. Not like he could have a comeback to that. At least not one that would lead to the woman changing her mind.
Not wanting to waste anymore time, All Might heads through the door. His pace his blinding and the only thinking Izuku can do is hang on and try to keep his eyelids low so the wind didn't dry his eyes out. Hallways went speeding by, and if he could open his mouth without risking swallowing a fly he would have cheered.
This was the fastest he'd ever moved in his life.
Izuku knew must look ridiculous -he certainly does feel like it, swept up in All Might's arms like those rescued civilians out of those ridiculous movies he used to watch with his mom as a kid.
Oh, who cared. His dignity had flown out the window a long time ago.
Besides, he had an exam to see and people to meet!
Lowkey half the chapter is Recovery Girl throwing shade.
If you want an actual, logical, realistic in-canon explanation why Omniscience managed to resist Erasure even though its an Emitter type, this is all I can come up with:
Erasure: You're supposed to deactivate-!
Omniscience YoU'Re SuPPoSEd tO DeACtIVaTe-!
I am not a good writer lol.
Next Chapter:
"You're staying with the boy at all times."
...yeah, Izuku ain't about that.
Let's take bets at how fast All Might loses the problem child … and Shinsou would like in on that betting pool guys.