Izuku was miserable in the hospital. Not because of the food, or the constant check-ins with the staff, but because of his worst injury.
A broken rib.
He heard that they hurt all the time, but feeling it was different than hearing it. It hurt to breathe, cough, laugh, and god help you if you sneezed. Izuku was pretty sure he wasn't going to be patrolling unless recovery girl was going to pay the miserable teen a visit. He was laying in his reclined bed with tenya on his right and Shouto on the other side of the room.
"How bad are your guys' injuries?" he said. While they told the teen his own, he'd feel bad if his backup had worse ones.
"Some minor injuries from overusing my quirk, some cuts that don't need stitches, and some impressive bruises." the dual-quirk user stated in a mechanical fashion. He was used to injuries, so it wasn't too bad.
"I've only got some minor muscle damage to my calf and a fair number of bruises. What's your list?" Izuku was glad they didn't get too hurt.
"Bruises, minor cuts, and my…" he tried to remember the medical anatomy. "Left third rib, is broken. I hope Recovery Girl can heal this back at school. Not much can be done for the rib here, as it's constantly moving." the other two teens wince.
Soon the room turned into a more positive mood as they started talking about their training. Tenya had decided to use the hero Manual as his role model, as he knew he tended to use the role of a hero as a tool instead of a mantle. Shouto had decided that his father, while a horrid person, was the #2 hero for a reason. Izuku, twisting the truth a little, said he chose Gran Torino for three-dimensional combat experience, something he wanted to incorporate in his style. Then two of the aforementioned heroes came in.
"Good grief. I oughtta smack ya around for being so reckless, but cha got a visitor." Gran Torino and Manual moved aside to let a man with a dog's head walk into the room. With a few bad puns mixed in his speech, he told them of the illegal actions they took, and that they could cover it up because they did the right thing, instead of the lawful thing. When the dog-faced man saw Izuku sit up with a wince, he expected them to ask for it to be covered up. He was wrong.
"Citizen's arrest." everyone turned their heads to the freckled teen. "Section 213 of the Code of Criminal Procedure allows anyone witnessing any crime in progress to make an arrest, barring misdemeanors. Section 214 states that quirk usage is a viable method of restraint if and only if the offender had with reasonable assumption used their quirk." Tenya was wide-eyed as he knew where it was going.
"When I arrived, Native was already immobilized by Stain's quirk when I arrived, as had Todoroki-san when he was cut until Stain was unconscious. We didn't break any laws if you look at us as citizens instead of heroes in training, making this a criminal procedure case instead of a code of heroics case." the room was deathly quiet as Izuku was in pain from spouting the needed information. He technically used his quirk before he knew stain was using his, but the details were blurry for any other parties involved besides him. Anima had drilled the laws into Izuku's head in case he ever had to choose what was legal and what was right and needed to find the loopholes afterward.
"Bhahahaha!" there was a barking laughter from the district Chief of Police. Wiping a couple tears from his eyes, the man gave what could only be a smile.
"To think, a child knows the laws better than I. Truly, this is a humbling experience." the furred man gave a bow.
"Then let me be the first to congratulate you on helping my people in the capture of one who disrupted the peace." It was an odd experience to be praised by one in such a high position, but not unwelcomed. The three, knowing that there was now little chance of being arrested, were smiling like kids.
Chizome woke up from the anesthesia in his cell, which had a comfortable bed at least. He remembered the needle before lasting another good minute before blacking out, but he didn't care.
"I-I'm gl-gl-glad to see you-you are a-awak-ke." the murderer heard the voice in his head, just as it was described during the contract.
'How long do I have to wait?' he asked through the link; he didn't care about formalities. He wanted to see the term "hero" be brought to it's former glory.
"The original term simply meant that you had divine ancestry, then it meant military merits… heroes are humans, and humans are flawed. Even all might isn't infallible..." the kid- Deku's- words still found themselves still lingering in the hero killer's head. He admired that conviction, that will to stand with his ideal even when he was faced with such a different one, that Deku had.
"P-p-patience, my d-dear ally. First, did-did you f-find the h-hero I g-g-gave contact to? I-I did give you an-an image." the magus's words brought Chizome out of his thoughts.
'No, but there was one kid who fit the bill for the one he was teaching. My guess was that he didn't think it was worth it to show, and sent the brat.' he spat before he heard a few tsks from the other link.
"As-as much as I-I w-would like t-to agree w-with you, F-F-Fiara is-is what you c-call a t-t-true hero. He was a he-hero aro-around l-l-long bef-before the t-term quirk c-came ab-about. I th-think he-he started in two-two-two thousand fif-fifteen. Th-though he i-is a bl-bl-blood knight, he did k-k-keep your im-image of a h-hero. I-if he didn't sh-show, he had-had other thing-things o-occupy-pying his t-time." Archibald gave the information in a dull tone, not praising or condemning the hero, so Chizome let it go.
'I delivered on my end, so you keep yours. Now, how long?' he didn't like beating around the bush.
"four mon-months. It sh-should give-give you e-enough time to i-improve." while not the answer he wanted to hear, he was at least promised a breakout after the time was up. While he couldn't learn any of the broken man's spells, he could learn to use the magic tools he had in that time, along with some simple physical enhancement exercises.
'Four months… yeah, I can wait that long.'
When Eijiro was dressing into his workout clothes with his partner, he heard the news.
"Heroes in training Ingenerate, Deku, And Todoroki Shouto had managed to apprehend the villain, known as the hero killer Stain, during the crisis on Hosu while the heroes captured the two nameless villains that are shown on screen." he and Tetsutetsu looked at the screen. The redhead froze when he saw the nomu look-alikes.
"You okay man?" the steel teen asked. Eijiro shook his head.
"During the attack on the USJ, the strongest villain looked like those freaks…" just as he said it, the reporters confirmed there was a connection.
"Shit, and that was in Hosu? I'm glad that no one from my class was involved..." the news changed to the interview of the heroes-in-training that caught the murderer. It didn't even take a moment for the steel-haired teen to notice his friend's classmates in a hospital.
"So, what was it like taking on the hero killer?" the reporter asked in a serious tone. Izuku shuddered before grasping his chest.
"It was quite terrifying, knowing his quirk's ability and his armaments," Tenya answered for the three of them.
"Why did you even think it was a good idea? I don't think many heroes would do what you three did." she tried coaxing more out of them.
"W-when I came across him, he… he had someone at swordpoint. My legs moved on their own, and I charged him. Then I called for my friends." the green-haired teen motioned to his classmates. "I was lucky they made it in time." Eijiro saw his friend smile and knew what it felt like being near that warmth. When he heard his friend's dream to be a hero like All Might months back, he didn't doubt his classmate could.
"Many people are looking at the ideology of Stain, and many think it has some merits; what are your thoughts on the matter?"
"It's flawed." this time, all of them answered. When they looked at each other, tenya motioned towards Izuku, saying he has more knowledge on the subject.
"While his idea of a true hero has some merit, he didn't think that many heroes chose the career for more than one reason. Anyone who took the job does want to help, as they could get money and fame through other means. He also didn't think that the quote-on-quote, "fake heroes", could be redeemed, meaning he had a lack of understanding that heroes are humans; people learn as they progress, so they can turn to and fall away from what he thinks of as true heroism. I understand the idea, but it's too flawed for it to work in the real world. Todoroki-san?" Izuku passed the baton to the dual quirk user as he grabbed an ice pack for his ribs.
"Damn." Tetsutetsu broke the silence it the room. "Your class is nuts." Ejiro smiled.
"Naw, it's just Midoriya; he's been like that since primary school, from what Anima-sensei says. Jump in to help first, figure out a plan second. His plans still work, it's just that he doesn't think of his own safety."
"How does Anima-sensei know Midoriya?"
"Midorya says that they've had a master-disciple relationship since he was six. I'm kinda glad; Anima-sensei joined UA to help Midoriya, and we got a kick-ass teacher because of it. Ready to head to the training room?" Tetsutetsu grinned at his buddy.
"Hell yeah! I almost got that punch just right!"
Fiara let a whistle out after seeing the interview.
"You know one of the kids?" Ryukyu asked, looking at her partner's phone.
"You see the kid with green hair?" she nodded. "That's my disciple." the dragon hero gave a small nod.
"You must be proud," she stated. The werewolf puffed his chest out in mock pride, only to deflate with a wide grin. A gunshot rang out down the block.
"Later." the two chorused. When they got to the scene, it seemed someone had tried to rob a jewelry store. The work of a hero is never complete.
Sometime after the reporter left, the teens heard a commotion outside. After a few moments, the door burst open with the worst thing Izuku could face.
A crying mother.
"IIIIZZZUUUUKUUUUU!" she grabbed her son and hugged him tightly. His friends winced for him, as her gripping arm was about level with the broken bone.
"momomomomMOM! You're hurting me!" as soon as he said that, Inko sat her boy down and started to look at him in worry.
"Broke a rib…" he wheezed before his mother handed him an ice pack instantly.
"I'm so sorry, I didn't know, and I was worried, and… I'm just glad you're okay!" she went in for another hug, this time wrapping her arms around Izuku's neck. He patted his crying mother's back and looked over to see Jesse in the arch of the doorway.
"When she heard you were in the hospital, she asked me to give her a ride. We took my motorcycle to get here as fast as possible." her words made Izuku widen his eyes in surprise; his mother hated riding the bikes, and avoided doing so since her first ride when he was eight. He held his mother tighter, ignoring the pain.
"I'm sorry for worrying you…" tears were falling from the teen's eyes as well. When they finally let go, the mother and son pair gave each other a warm smile, making the room seem fluffier. Shouto was looking on with mild envy while Tenya was smiling at the loving family. When Izuku remembered them, he called to his mother.
"Oh mom, these are my classmates; Iida-san and Todoroki-san. Guys, this is my mom." his smile returned, though not as bright.
"How do you do, Midoriya-san?"
"Hello, Midoriya-san." though they didn't know what else to say, they didn't need to.
"Thank you for looking out for my son. He probably would have been worse off without either of you helping." she bowed deeply. Izuku was happy that his friends and mother were getting along.
"Thank you for looking out for me, even if it was only for a small time!" Izuku bowed to Gran Torino at the front of the elderly hero's flat.
"I feel like I didn't look after ya at all; workplace experience ended up being, well you know." the small man pointed towards the teen's chest.
"No, it was thanks to you that I could help save lives that day." Gran Torino smiled as he shook his head.
"Keep going kid, you've got a lot to tackle if ya want to be the strongest hero." as he saw the teen leave, he only had one thought.
'He's so different from you, but he's just like you, Toshi.'
That's a wrap! The idea of Izuku's rib break was in honor of my dad, who had broken, cracked, and bruised his ribs on fourteen different occasions, the last time being only a couple months back. Inko is a crier, and so is her son, and I find it adorable. If you have any questions or comments, please tell me! I've said this several times, but I love reading how you guys think of my stories. That's all for now. Till next time!