The hospital was crowded, but it was organized and efficient. As Ochako walked through the lobby with Gunhead, she watched the staff working. The nurses moved through the lobby rooms helping where they could, while she saw doctors moving from patient to patient assessing the severity of wounds.

As heroes, they were allowed to pass through the lobby and deeper into the hospital. Once inside, it didn't take long for them to find a nurse's station and ask where Izuku was.

"I'm going to stay here and help," Gunhead told his intern, "I've only got basic first aid skills, but I can at least reassure people that the worst is over and that they are safe now."

"That sounds good," Ochako said quietly, as she made a mental note of the lesson Gunhead was teaching her. Even though she was distracted by Deku's condition, she wanted to show him that she deserved to be a hero too.

After she watched Gunhead depart, Ochako turned and walked further into the hospital. She knew she had reached the right wing when she saw a police presence, as they interviewed heroes and tried to work out exactly what happened over the last several hours. She slipped through and found the room in question, slowly opening the door to peek inside.

Sitting there on a bed, shirtless, was Izuku. Ochako felt a slight blush creeping up her neck as she saw how well built he was, even through the bandages.

"Uraraka?" Izuku called out curiously, as he instantly recognized her.

"D-Deku!" Ochako said, as she quickly pushed her way inside, "Song told me that you and Iida were in the hospital, so I asked Gunhead if we could check on you before we returned to the agency!"

"Even heroes from that far away came to Hosu?" Izuku asked, a confused look on his face.

"Yeah," Ochako slowly approached the bed, "the entire Hero Network was lit up. It was crazy!"

"I didn't realize the Nomu were that bad," Izuku admitted, "considering, well…"

"Stain. Song told me."

"Yeah," Izuku went silent, "Iida and I got the worst of it. He's supposed to share a room with me, but they already have him in surgery."

"Oh no!" Ochako gasped, "Will he be ok?"

"I hope so, but we don't know the full extent of his injuries. Stain drove a knife into his arm, and it was in there for a while."

Ochako paled as Izuku described it, "I hope it's nothing permanent."

"Me too."

"What happened to you?" Ochako asked as she gestured toward his shoulder.

"I may have taken a sword blade there."

"Deku!" Ochako gasped, she leaned over to try and hug Izuku, only to feel him wince underneath her as the bandages pulled, causing her to pull back as if she touched something hot. "S-sorry."

"No, it's ok!" Izuku assured her, "I just need to take things slow right now."

Nodding, Ochako leaned in again, and with Izuku's help they found a comfortable position where his head rested against her chest. They sat there in silence for a few moments, Ochako simply glad that Izuku was safe, and Izuku grateful for her presence.

Once they pulled apart, Izuku leaned back in his bed while Ochako looked awkwardly around the room.

"Is there anything I can get you?"

"My phone, actually," Izuku said sheepishly, "It should be over with the parts of my hero costume. I may have forgotten to ask for it before they rushed Iida out of here?"

With a laugh, Ochako went over to a pile of clothes and gear that was Izuku's costume and pulled out his phone. She held it up triumphantly before she returned it to her friend. As he unlocked it with his free hand, Ochako grabbed a chair and pulled it up next to his bed.

"So how many messages do you have from your sister?" Ochako asked.

Izuku sheepishly turned his phone towards Ochako. She giggled as she saw a literal wall of text messages and missed calls from Himiko, mixed in with a few messages from Inko and various messages from their classmates asking about the ping.

"You're lucky I don't punch you myself, you know," Ochako said as she adjusted herself, leaning her head on his shoulder so she could see the phone.

"Y-yeah, I probably deserve it," Izuku admitted, "I just saw Stain approaching Native and couldn't wait any longer."

"That's so like you," Ochako said, "So how do you want to die first? Your mom or your sister?"

"I-I think I'd prefer Himi first," Izuku admitted before he clicked on one of the missed calls and began dialing. Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, the call went to voicemail. Izuku left a message to Himiko explaining he was in the hospital and was stuck in bed with his phone, so he was free whenever she had a chance before he hung up.

"I wonder what she's doing?"

"Hopefully not tearing Ryukyu's agency apart," Ochako giggled, "Considering after the USJ she got a quirk awakening, imagine what's going to happen after she hears about this?"

"Oh," Izuku said before he shifted awkwardly, "I didn't think about that."

Ochako pulled away just enough to give Izuku an incredulous stare. "I can't believe you. No wonder your family worries about you so much," She lowered her head again and put her hand on his arm, "Not to mention how much I worry about you."

"I-it comes with being a hero though," Izuku said, putting his phone down before shifting his hand to take hers. "We are joining a dangerous profession, you know."

"I'm learning that," Ochako admitted, "Sure, there was the USJ, but tonight was different when I was out there seeing the aftermath."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Yes, just… not now."

Izuku seemed to understand, giving Ochako's hand a gentle squeeze before he let it go and retrieved his phone. With some hesitation, he began dialing Inko's number.

"Izu! Oh, thank goodness you're safe!" Inko cried through the line, and from the watery sound of her voice, it was obvious she had been crying.

"Hey, mom! I guess you saw the news?"

"Yes! What are you even doing in Hosu?"

"We were headed deeper into Tokyo to patrol tonight when the attack broke out," Izuku explained, "and when our train stopped we joined in the battle."

"Are you ok? I saw Majestic and Song on the news, but didn't see any footage of you!"

"Well um, I kind of had my shoulder cut open?"

"What!? Izu, what happened?"

"He was in a different part of Hosu fighting the Hero Killer!" Ochako blurted out.

"Oh Uraraka, thank goodness you're there. Tell me, how bad is it?"

Izuku looked sheepish while Ochako pulled back from Izuku so he could see her stick her tongue out at him. Sure it was one of Himiko's habits, but right now Izuku deserved it.

"He's currently in the hospital but he's all patched up. His shoulder is all taped up and not in critical condition if the fact that the doctors have been ignoring him since I've gotten here is any indication."

"Are you going to be there long?"

"Sadly not," Ochako admitted, "After this call, I'm going to have to leave. I came with Gunhead to help with the cleanup effort."

"Well, I'm glad you're there. I haven't heard from Himi either, so it's good to know at least one of my children is safe."

"Himi is probably fine," Izuku said, "hopefully she is training or on patrol!"

"That's true, we don't know what Ryukyu is going to do during the attack," Inko said, "Still, can you let me know if you get ahold of her?"

"Will do mom."

The pair said their goodbyes to Inko and hung up the phone, and Izuku sat his phone down on his lap before turning to Ochako.

"So you have to go?"

"Yeah," Ochako wrapped both of her hands around his, taking care to keep her pinkies raised as she held it, "Gunhead's already doing a favor by letting me be here, I just wanted to make sure you were ok."

"I'm glad," Izuku said, "there's nobody else I'd rather be here."

"Even your sister?" Ochako asked hopefully.

"Even her," Izuku forced a goofy grin on his face, "at least with you I know I'm not in mortal danger."

"Give it time, I may eventually agree with her," Ochako teased.

Izuku looked horrified at that, "Please no."

"Well, stop getting hurt then."

"I'll try," Izuku conceded, "but the villains keep refusing to listen to me when I ask nicely."

"Well, get better then," Ochako laughed, "I'm sure if All Might asked nicely, villains would surrender."

"Actually," Izuku had a thoughtful look on his face as he seriously thought about it, "you're right. That has happened before."

"See?"

"I guess I have a new goal then, become strong enough that I can ask villains to surrender."

"Yep!"

Ochako smiled warmly at Izuku, but she knew she couldn't delay for much longer. Reluctantly, she removed her hands from his and stood up. Leaning over, she gave him one more careful hug before she stepped back from the bed, her hands fidgeting behind her back.

"Is there anything else I can get you before I go?"

"No," Izuku shook his head, "just you being here helped."

"You may want to message the class chat and tell everyone what happened. You can also tell them how Iida is doing when he's out of surgery?"

Izuku smiled and nodded, "Yeah, I'll do that!"

"Well, I should be going," Ochako took a reluctant step backward and waved, "See you next week, Deku."

"I'll see you then!" Izuku gave a small wave with his free hand.

Ochako turned around abruptly and forced herself to march out the door, leaning against the wall after it closed and letting out a deep sigh. Pushing herself off the wall, she returned to the lobby to find Gunhead.

"How's the boy doing?" Gunhead asked as he noticed her approach.

"Eep!" Ochako felt herself blushing at the question, turning away from her mentor, "He's fine!" She said a little too loudly, "His shoulder was cut up badly, but he's been taken care of. Our other classmate is in surgery though!"

"Oh no!"

Ochako nodded and frowned, "Deku promised to let our class know how he is once he's out."

"That's good. It would be horrible for a student to have to retire before they even got their license!" Gunhead said as the hero adopted a very sad pose.

"Yeah, that would suck," Ochako agreed.

"Well then, let's get going," Gunhead turned towards the door, "and tonight I get to teach you all about the least glamorous portion of the job, paperwork!"

"Paperwork?" Ochako looked as if she had just bit into a lemon.

"Unfortunately it comes with being a hero," Gunhead explained, "so just like what you saw tonight, it's best you get used to it now."

"Yes sir," Ochako adopted a look of grim determination as she followed him out the door.

After all, if she can survive cleaning up the aftermath of Hosu, how bad can a stack of papers be?

Himiko had to admit, it felt really good to just go all out like she was doing right now.

Intellectually, she knew that she stood no chance in a fight against Ryukyu, even if she shared the hero's dragon form temporarily. She may be a skilled combatant, but the dragoon hero had mastery over her quirk and had developed an entire combat style focused around it.

But right now, she didn't care.

With a loud roar, she charged the dragoon hero and tried to swipe at her. Her opponent easily blocked her, but that was ok. Right now Himiko was merely trying to learn how to best handle her new form.

"Really? Is that all you've got?" Ryukyu asked, goading her student.

"Of course not!" Himiko roared as she slammed into her mentor, "I'm just getting started!"

The tactic seemed to work as the dragoon hero was caught off balance, but Himiko felt her opponent's claws dig into her sides as the hero used her feet and wings to steady herself before she felt herself being slammed into the ground.

"Still not good enough!"

Himiko slammed her head into her opponent's, causing Ryukyu to stagger backward and give Himiko a chance to regain her footing. She then began to press the offensive. The dragoon hero was able to counter most of her attacks, but her ferocity paid off and she was able to land several blows. She knew it wasn't going to be enough, but it still gave her a sense of satisfaction.

This went on for minutes, as Ryukyu slowly wore Himiko down. Despite her limbs feeling heavy and sluggish, Himiko refused to give up, still trying to find a way to bring the hero down.

Eventually, Ryukyu seemed to tire of the exchange, and grabbed Himiko's arms, pinning them to her side.

"Stand down," she ordered.

With a heavy sigh, Himiko complied, reverting to Ryukyu's human form before dropping her transformation completely. As the gray sludge pooled underneath her feet, she began to feel lightheaded and wobbly. She suddenly found herself propped up by Nejire, who was offering her a thermos.

"Here, I brought some blood for Himi-chan."

"T-thanks," Himiko felt her face heating up as she drank the contents of the thermos. Feeling better, she stepped away from Nejire and the sludge from her quirk and collapsed into a patch of grass that wasn't trampled during their fighting.

A few moments later she felt, more than heard, the other two as they sat down next to her.

"Are you ready to talk about it yet?" Ryukyu asked.

"I know I'm over-protective of Izu," Himiko finally said, "but mom and Izu? They literally saved me, and I owe them everything."

The two sat in silence, waiting for her to continue.

"There are sealed police records," Himiko admitted. It's not like they wouldn't come up in any background check before she was eighteen, anyways, "Detailing my assault of a student at the end of the second year of middle school. My parents - they forced me to suppress my quirk for years until it got to be too much and I had a quirk backlash."

Himiko heard Nejire gasp, but neither made a move. Taking this as a sign of encouragement, Himiko continued.

"After that, I fled. I literally don't know what happened over the next two weeks, although the police reports have a rough idea of what happened. Then I collapsed in an alleyway in front of a green-haired kid," Himiko began playing with a loose strand of green hair, pulling it into her vision, "he was the first person to reach out a hand and help me. His mom was the first adult to actually give a damn about my wellbeing," Himiko pushed herself up to a sitting position, looking at her companions, "I don't know what would have happened to me if Izu and mom never ran into me that day."

Nejire found herself tearing up.

"I-I didn't know how bad Himi-chan had it!"

"So that's why you were having a near panic attack at the agency earlier," Ryukyu stated as if it were a fact, "You do realize your brother is also training to be a hero, the same as you are."

"I know," Himiko hung her head, "And I've been trying to get better about it! But it's hard," She bit her lip, feeling a fang pierce her lower lip as a bead of blood began to well up, "It scares me, knowing he's in danger like that."

"But Himi-chan is trying to be a hero!" Nejire protested, "Heroes are supposed to do scary things all the time!"

"Huh?" Himiko asked, confused by the older student.

"She has a point, you know," Ryukyu added, "as a hero, you are expected to battle dangerous foes and handle dangerous situations - manmade and natural disasters, for example. You don't think that is scary?"

"That's different!" Himiko protested, "That's me taking the risk then."

"And Izu-chan is choosing to take the same risks," Nejire pointed out, "If he means that much to you, shouldn't Himi-chan support him?"

"That's the worst part, I do support him," Himiko got a faraway look on her face, "even before his quirk came in, he wanted nothing more than to be a hero. I just never realized how hard it would be."

"Being a hero is hard," Ryukyu pointed out, "it sounds like being a big sister is no different."

"If Izu-kun can be strong for Himi-chan, then it seems only right that Himi-chan is strong for Izu-kun."

"Yeah…" Himiko looked down at her hand, opening and closing it, "you're right."

"And if you ever need someone to talk to, you have your senpai!"

As if a switch had been flipped, Nejire attacked Himiko, smothering her in hugs despite her protest. While Himiko was struggling to escape from the older girl's grasp, she had to admit, that having another person who cared about her well-being felt nice.

After Nejire was done, the three stood and Ryukyu looked at Himiko with a critical eye.

"Now then, Midoriya. Are you still up for a mission tomorrow?"

"Yes, I am!" Himiko responded instantly.

"Good," Ryukyu gave a satisfied smile, "then tonight wasn't a waste. Tomorrow's job is actually dangerous, and I need you to be all there, otherwise, I'm calling it off."

"I won't let you down!" Himiko promised, "What kind of future hero would I be if I can't even handle an internship?"

As Ryukyu shifted back to her dragon form and her interns climbed on her back, Himiko realized that, in her own way, the dragoon hero was showing that she cared too. After all, she didn't have to put in all of this effort to make sure her intern was ok.

When they returned to Ryukyu's agency, Himiko saw that she had missed calls from both Izuku and Inko.

"See! Himi-chan's brother is safe!" Nejire cheered.

"I guess so," Himiko conceded, staring at her phone.

"The situation on the ground is under control," Ryukyu announced as she was typing on the computer, "and has moved to clean up and assessment." With a few keystrokes, she shut down the display on the wall. "I'm heading home for the night. It's been a long day, and we have a busy day tomorrow as well," She looked pointedly at Himiko, "I suggest you rest up as well."

"Yeah," Himiko said, refusing to take her eyes off of her phone.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure Himi-chan takes care of herself!" Nejire proudly announced as she grabbed Himiko's arm. Despite her protests, the older girl was already dragging her out of the conference room and towards the elevators.

Once they were back to their rooms, Nejire practically shoved Himiko into hers, with orders to call her family. Walking over to the bed, Himiko let herself collapse onto it with a groan. She would have gladly called Izuku upstairs, but she had to admit, the privacy is nice.

"There you are Himi," Izuku said, relief in his voice.

"No thanks to you," Himiko said, "Ryukyu took me out for a spar once I saw your ping."

"Sorry," Izuku offered lamely, "I didn't have time so I just pinged everyone."

"How badly are you hurt?" Himiko asked. She might as well get the bad news out of the way.

Izuku laughed nervously.

"I took a sword to my shoulder."

"You did WHAT?" Himiko practically yelled.

"When I was fighting Stain, I may have mistimed my dodge when I was trying to land a finishing blow, and his sword caught my shoulder?"

"Izu. You could have died if you misjudged your dodge further."

"I know," Izuku admitted, "but I had to do something."

"Of course you did," Himiko sighed, "being your big sister is hard sometimes."

"I'm sorry," Izuku said.

"Don't be," Himiko said, "if you weren't you… you know," She rolled over on the bed so she was laying on her stomach, "I just hate seeing you get hurt like that. Especially when I can't do anything to help."

"I know," Izuku said softly, "You do remember our promise though, don't you?"

"Of course I do!"

"If we want to be great heroes, that means we're going to be taking risks and getting hurt. But you know what else it means?"

"What's that?"

"It means I have to survive. And I know that no matter what happens, you'll find a way to survive as well. After all, the world can't talk about the Midoriya siblings if there's only one of us," Even though she couldn't see him, she knew he was smiling.

Truthfully, Himiko never thought about it that way before. She just saw the risk and her mind imagined the worst-case scenario. She never realized that Izuku had indirectly promised her that he would survive.

"Thanks, Izu, I needed that," Himiko admitted.

"Anytime Himi."

The two said their goodbyes and hung up the phone, and Himiko felt lighter. Pushing herself up, she grabbed a change of clothes and went to the shared bathroom, where she took a hot shower and prepared for bed.

As she closed her eyes to try falling asleep, Himiko heard her phone go off. Groaning, she grabbed it off the nightstand and accepted the call without looking at the number.

"What do you want?"

"Himi, I'm so sorry!" Emily's voice said.

AN: Wow. When I started this story back in December with the intention of being my first fanfiction I would actually publish, I didn't fully understand what I was signing up for, but here we are 50 chapters and almost 200k words later, on top of several other projects I've started along the way.

Thank you for all the support and comments along the way!