When Izuku checks on Todoroki next morning, he's lying on his back, his visible eye focused on the ceiling. He turns his head as Izuku approaches him, propping himself up with his arms into a sitting position. The red and white hair is a mess, and the gauze around his eye is soaked with dried blood. Izuku swallows at the sight.

"How are you feeling?"

Todoroki stays silent. As Izuku walks over to him, not expecting an answer, Todoroki sighs. "Better." His friend turns to him, an undecipherable look in his eyes. "Thank you. I'm sorry for troubling you."

Izuku's brows furrow. "Don't apologize." His eyes fixate onto the space beside Todoroki. "Can I sit down?" A shrug and a curt nod is all he gets. "If this is your father's doing, I-"

"I already told you it wasn't, Midoriya." His voice sounds strained, and he clears his throat. "It was a villain. Accidents happen, it's part of the job. I'll heal. It's not the first time."

Izuku holds his breath and lets his eyes wander over his friend's body. His shoulders are slumped, his head bowed. The bruises on his arms are a deep purple, the rest of his body is covered in bandages and gauze. The grey eye of his right side is staring at nothing, as if it was able to look through the wall of Todoroki's bedroom. Izuku had seen his friend injured from a villain attack more than once. He'd seen him bloody and beaten his broken leg in a cast. He'd seen him lying on the floor after a defeat, a dejected expression on his face. He'd seen him in pain.

But this is different. This is very different, Izuku feels it – knows it. He can see it. This wasn't a normal fight. He wants to protest and press for more information, but he doesn't want to pressure Todoroki more than necessary. He still needs rest.

"Todoroki," he says. "You know you can talk to me, right?"

"Yes, Midoriya, I know."

Izuku isn't sure he believes him. "We should probably change your bandages."

Instinctively, Todoroki reaches up to touch the left side of his face. His lip curls and he takes a sharp breath. He stays like this for a moment, before he moves to slide off the edge of the bed. "Alright."

"I'll help you."

Todoroki accepts it without protest this time. They walk to the bathroom in silence, Izuku following Todoroki closely, prepared to catch him should he stumble and fall. He doesn't.

When he sees the mirror, Izuku realizes that Todoroki probably hasn't seen his own wound yet. He gently steers him to the toilet seat, telling him to sit down. Rummaging through the cabinets, he finds what he needs and seats himself onto the edge of the bathtub next to Todoroki. Todoroki is fumbling with his bandages, and Izuku lightly swats his hand away. "You'll hurt yourself. Just let me do this." Let me do this, at least. Let me help.

The wound looks just as bad as the day before. Pus is sticking to the bandage, making it hard to pull it away. Izuku briefly wonders if it would be better to let the wound dry, but he's not a doctor. I'm not a doctor. I wish he would let me take him to a doctor. He decides to wrap it up again, because blood is still leaking from the flesh where the skin has been burnt off (torn off)?

"What happened to your eye?" It's a valid question, a practical question, a necessary question – because Izuku has to know how to treat it. They've asked each other question like that numerous times. A question like that shouldn't make Todoroki flinch the way it does. When no answer follows, Izuku pressed him on. "Todoroki, I have to know this. You won't let me take you to a hospital. I need to know what to do with – with this wound. You have to tell me. You have to. Please."

Todoroki closes his eyes. "It's a chemical burn, most likely." He pauses to take a breath. "They had a bottle of acid, I think. I'm not sure."

"They?" Izuku's heart sinks. "There was more than one villain? Why didn't you call for backup? You know I had my day off and you know I would've come!"

"Exactly, you had your day off. I didn't want to call you; you are stressed out with your job as it is. And it was too much of a mess to even think of calling anyone. There just wasn't any time." Izuku's voice remains stuck in his throat. "It doesn't matter now, it's happened and now I have to deal with it."

"I would gladly sacrifice my day off if it meant helping you out, Todoroki. I had hoped you knew that." Izuku lets the topic drop for now, but intents to bring it up again later. Right now, he has other things to worry about. He grips the bottle of alcohol in his hands tighter. "I don't know how to treat chemical burns. It's – I've never dealt with that before." Maybe I've already made a mistake yesterday! What if I made it worse than it already was? Am I even supposed to put rubbing alcohol on it? What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?!

"Midoriya." Izuku looks up, realizing he's been rambling again. He can't stop the blushing of his cheeks. "It doesn't matter all that much. Just do what you think is best."

The blush vanishes at once, a cold clump forming in his stomach. "It does matter! Todoroki, it does matter a lot! What the wound doesn't heal properly? What you get an infection? What if you go blind?"

Todoroki lifts his head, looks at him – and smiles. Izuku goes silent. The bottle of rubbing alcohol slips from his hands and bursts into tiny pieces on the floor, its contents spilling out.

"N-No…" he whispers. "Please tell me that's not true. Please, please, please." Todoroki just shakes his head. Izuku feels his eyes burn and his throat close up. His hand forms into a fist, and for a moment, all he wants is to curl up and cry. To take Todoroki into his arms and hold him close. He feels as though someone's pulled the rug from under his feet.

"There's nothing much you can make worse, Midoriya. Do what you think is right," Todoroki repeats.

"Maybe if we find Recovery Girl she can-"

"No."

Izuku bites his lips and focuses all his attention on willing the tears to stay inside his tear ducts. The last thing Todoroki needs is a crying friend. What he needs is something he can hold onto, someone he can trust. Izuku wants to be that person.

He looks to his feet and sees the broken bottle of medicine. Bandages will have to do for now. He'll get some more rubbing alcohol later.

The fury comes when he's in the living room with Uraraka and Iida. Todoroki is back in his room, catching up on some sleep. He hasn't slept well, and really, Izuku should've known.

Uraraka and Iida watch as Izuku paces through the room, his hands balled into fists. Abruptly, he stops and turns his head to look at his friends. "He's blind on his left eye." The words tumble out of his mouth before he can think of a way to reduce their impact. Instead, he just watches as Uraraka's and Iida's eyes widen in horror. "He's partially blind and there's nothing I can do. They ganged up on him. There was more than one villain, and he was alone. I wasn't there to help him! What kind of hero am I?"

"Deku, calm do-"

"No!" In the back of his mind, he regrets yelling at his friend, but he can't help himself. He hears the blood in his ears rushing through his veins, and all he sees is red. "No, I won't calm down! It's not fair! He doesn't deserve this!"

"Of course he doesn't!" Uraraka interrupts his rant. "Of course he doesn't deserve it." Her voice is calmer now, and Izuku has to strain his ears to understand what she's saying. She bows her head. "But all we can do now is being there for him. I'm angry too, you know?" Uraraka looks up at, and Izuku sees a gleam in her eyes he's never seen before. "We're all angry." At that, her eyes travel to Iida. "But that won't help Todoroki."

"I know," Izuku says.

"We need to stay calm."

"I know."

"It's hard." Her voice trembles.

"I know." Izuku can't hold back the tears, then. And his friends take him in their arms when the dam finally breaks.