Chapter 24: Aftermath.

A/N: Sorry this took so long, but I've had pneumonia and didn't feel well enough to write. This is the link if you want to listen to the song at the end of the chapter.

https/youtu.be/L_F9IO9i2lA

Let's just say I saw an opportunity for a Harry Potter reference and this Hufflepuff took it.

You're woken up by a loud beeping sound coming from beside your bed. You groan and mumble, "Five more minutes." You reach out to smack the spot where your alarm clock is supposed to be, but instead, your hand connects with someone's head.

"Ow!" A familiar male voice says, "That's one hell of a way to let someone know that you're awake."

"Huh? Toshinori?" You slowly try to open your eyes, but find that you can only open your left eye.

"Yes, it's me, my love." Your vision is blurry at first, but soon the tall, lanky form of your boyfriend comes into focus. He's sitting in a chair beside the hospital bed that you're lying on, his wild blonde hair more disheveled than usual.

You smile at him, "Hey there, handsome. Sorry about smacking you on the head. I was trying to shut off what I thought was my alarm clock, but I guess that annoying beeping was just the heart monitor, huh?" You raise your bandaged hand to the right side of your face and feel a bandage covering your eye. You then look down and see that most of your body is wrapped up in bandages. "What...?" Everything that happened at the USJ suddenly comes back to you. "Are the students okay? What about Aizawa and Thirteen?"

"The students are all alright. Izuku was the only one that was injured, but that's because he used One For All to save me. He's fine now. He'll be back soon...he just went to get something to eat and drink from the vending machines...Aizawa and Thirteen are here in the hospital as well. They're both going to be okay although the doctors aren't sure if Aizawa's eyesight will ever be the same again."

All of a sudden Izuku enters your room, "I know that you said you didn't want anything, Toshinori-san, but I got you a bottle of water just in case." Izuku freezes in place when he notices that you're awake. "Aunty! You're finally awake!" He drops his food and the two drinks before rushing over to your bedside and practically throwing his upper torso on top of you, embracing you in a hug and crying rivers of tears.

"Easy, young Midoriya. You're going to hurt her if you're not careful," Toshinori scolds Izuku, fussing over you.

You run your bandaged fingers through Izuku's hair to try to calm him down. "It's okay, Toshi." You turn your attention to your sobbing nephew, "It's okay now, my little green valley. I'm fine."

"We...we...a-almost...l-lost you, A-aunty!" He says in between sobs.

"But you didn't and that's what matters. Now cool it with the crying, will ya? You're soaking my bed."

Izuku lets you go and stands up straight before wiping his tears away with the back of his right hand. "S-sorry."

You chuckle and carefully sit up in bed, "It's okay, Izuku."

"A-aunt (Y/N)? Can...can I ask you a q-question?"

"You can ask me anything you want, Izuku."

Izuku rubs the back of his head nervously, "Back at the USJ...w-when you were fighting the s-second Nomu...you said that your second quirk is hereditary. D-does that mean that I w-will be able to use this...Will of the Dragon t-too?"

You run your hand through your hair, "Ah. I knew this moment was coming, but I didn't expect it so soon." You sigh, "Unfortunately, no, you didn't inherit Will of the Dragon, Izuku. You see...your father and I are only half-siblings. We have the same mother, but not the same father, and I inherited Will of the Dragon from my father." You can see the gears in Izuku's head turning as he processes this new information. "But it doesn't matter if your father is only my half-brother, you are and always will be my nephew and to my father, his grandson."

Izuku looks at you confused, "Why would he see me as his grandson if I'm not truly related to him?"

You chuckle, "My father has a saying, Izuku...'Family doesn't end with blood.' He may be a giant goofball most of the time, but there are times when he's truly wise."

Izuku's eyes widen and his eyes start to water, "H-he sounds a-amazing!"

You nod with a fond smile on your face, "He is. And here's a little secret...I've never been able to beat him in a fight..." Izuku's eyes widen even more in amazement, "Not even when I had both of my arms and was using both of my quirks. I was never able to beat that one-armed old man." You laugh, at the memories of you getting your ass thoroughly kicked by your father, "Most of our fights ended with me being sent through various objects and being stuck in them in odd positions. I think your grandpa would even be able to give All Might a run for his Number 1 spot, if he wanted."

Izuku now has stars in his eyes, "He's that strong?! Is he a hero? What's his hero name? Can I meet him? Do you think he will help train me? Can you ask him? Will you fight him in front of the school like you did with Venom?"

You laugh, "Yes, he's that strong. He's known simply as Red-Haired Shanks. You are definitely going to meet him, but you need to think long and hard about if you want him to help you train because he will not hold back, even if you are his grandson. And I might have him help me with a lesson or two."

Izuku looks confused, "I don't think I've ever heard of a hero by that name."

You rub the back of your head nervously because your dad wasn't a pro hero, but was more of a vigilante. "He's retired now and spends most of his time sailing around the world." You turn your head towards Toshinori and ask him, "Did the doctor tell you anything about my condition?"

Toshinori raises his brow at the sudden change of topic but lets it go. He clears his throat before saying, "I'm so sorry (Y/N). The doctors managed to fix your leg and your skin is slowly healing, but..." Toshinori swallows and looks at you in sorrow, "There's nothing the doctors here at the hospital can do to heal your eye. Recovery Girl wants to see you after you're released from the hospital to see if she can do anything, but she said not to get our hopes up." He clenches his fist and tears form in the corners of his eyes, "If only I..."

"Stop," you say in a very firm tone of voice causing him to stare at you in shock. "Don't you dare blame yourself for anything that happened. To quote F. Scott Fitzgerald: 'Show me a hero and I'll write you a tragedy.' I'm a hero and I know the risks that come along with being a hero."

"I think what you meant to say is that you were a hero. You are supposed to be retired..." A deep masculine voice says from the doorway causing you, Izuku, and Toshinori to look over at whoever said it.

You're surprised to see a tall man with short pitch-black hair, a unique anchor beard that connects with his sideburns, and beautiful golden eyes. "Hawk-eyes! What a surprise to see you here!"

Dracule Mihawk walks into the room and over to your bed, Izuku walking around to stand next to Toshinori on the other side of your bed. "I'm here to check up on you for your father. Apparently, he was toasting you when his glass shattered. And since I was still in the area, I promised him that I would check on you." He picks up your chart that's hanging on the end of your bed and starts to read it. "He should be here in a day or two.

"How did you know that Aunt (Y/N) was here?" Izuku asks.

"I heard about the attack on the news and automatically knew that she was involved. So I came to the nearest hero hospital."

You grin at him, "Checking up on me for daddy, huh? Do you know what I think? I think that you were worried about me, Hawk-eyes." Mihawk huffs in annoyance and you chuckle, "There's no need to worry, I'm fine."

He looks up from the chart, "Fine, huh? Intraocular hyphema and orbital blowout fracture of the right eye with a 10% chance of ever seeing from the eye again."

"10% is better than 0%," you say, cheerfully.

"Multiple fractures to the tibia and fibula. Your left shin was literally shattered into pieces."

You shrug, "At least I'm not Humpty Dumpty and the doctors managed to put me back together again." You lift your left leg up and down a few times to prove that your leg is fine.

Mihawk rolls his eyes, "Skin was flayed from the body...Now how the hell did that even happen?"

You rub the back of your head, "I may have...used Will of the Dragon when I had already exhausted my main quirk."

Mihawk smacks you on top of the head with the clipboard, "Stupid, stupid girl. You're extremely lucky to still be alive."

You rub the top of your head and give Mihawk a goofy grin. "Yet, here I am! Still alive and kicking!" You kick your legs for good measure.

Mihawk glares at you, "Since nobody else is apparently willing to tell you this, I will...Your days as a hero are over, (Y/N). You lived your dream and now it's time to put it aside. You need to stop with this foolishness before it costs you your life. Live your remaining years as a civilian...Settle down and get married. Have some children," he glances back down at your chart, "that is...if you can still have children. It says here that your right ovary was completely destroyed," the smile disappears from your face and you're filled with a small amount of despair. "So you may have thrown that chance away because you're too stubborn to listen to common sense."

There's a heavy silence in the room for several minutes. You refuse to look over at Toshinori, afraid to see his reaction to the news of the extent of your injuries. You sigh before saying, "If that's the case then it is what it is. There's really no point in dwelling on what has already happened and can't be changed."

Mihawk hangs the chart back on the end of your bed before walking over to the door. He stops at the threshold and sighs heavily through his nose. "I'm not saying these things to be an asshole, (Y/N). I'm trying to save your life."

"I know, Dracule. But I'm a dreamer, I always have been. The world needs dreamers to give it a soul, Dracule."

"And it needs realists to keep it alive." He then walks out of the door, leaving you with Toshinori and Izuku.

"Aunty," Izuku starts but is unsure of just what to say in a situation like this.

You look over at him and force a smile on to your face. "Everything's fine, Izuku-Kun. I have no regrets about what happened. Now, could you please go and get a nurse for me? I could really use some painkillers."

Izuku nods, "Of course! I'll be right back!" Your nephew leaves the room in a rush and you're now alone with Toshinori.

There is a long moment of silence before you break it. "Toshinori...I...I'll understand if...if you want to date someone else." Toshinori frowns at you, but you continue to avoid looking him in the eyes. "Someone who...can...give you children."

"Is that what's bothering you? I would never break up with you over something so trivial." He grabs your chin and moves your head so that you're finally looking at him; your (e/c) orbs meeting his glowing cerulean eyes. "I love you, (Y/N). It doesn't matter to me if you can have children or not. You're a remarkable woman and as long as my heart beats, I will love you." He then leans down and captures your lips in a heated kiss. You kiss him back passionately.

A woman clears her throat and the two of you break apart. You and Toshinori look towards the door to see a cute nurse with light brown hair pulled up in a bun standing there holding a syringe and a vial. (A/N: I've never been given morphine before so I'm just going by what I've seen in movies. Please keep that in mind.) Behind the nurse is Izuku, whose face is as red as a stoplight in embarrassment at seeing his aunt and mentor making out. "Sorry to interrupt," the nurse says, "but I was told that you were awake and needed some pain medication."

Toshinori releases you and stands up, but doesn't leave your side. "Yes, please," you say politely to the nurse. As the nurse goes about getting the morphine ready to administer to you, you ask her, "Do you know when I'll be discharged?"

The nurse injects the morphine into your IV line as she answers, "As soon as your skin is healed. The doctor should be in later today to give you another treatment and, if you're lucky, you should be able to go home tomorrow morning."

You sigh in relief as the morphine takes effect. "Thank you," you say to the nurse and she smiles at you before leaving. "So someone will have to sub for me tomorrow and perhaps the next day?"

"The students have the next few days off due to the attack," Toshinori tells you. "So there's no need to worry about that."

You yawn, the morphine making you drowsy. You look over at your nephew then at Toshinori, "You two probably have better things to do than sit around and watch me sleep. Why don't you two head out? I'll be fine."

"Are you sure, aunt (F/N)?"

"I don't mind staying, my dear."

You shake your head, "There's really no point in the two of you staying and wasting a day of training."

"But..." Toshinori starts to object, but you stop him.

You give him a loving smile, "Go, Toshinori. I'll be fine." You yawn again and close your eyes, "I'll just be sleeping. Besides, Izuku needs all the training he can get if he's going to become the new Symbol of Peace."

You feel Toshinori gently kiss your bandaged forehead before telling you, "I'll stop by later to check on you, my dear."

You let out a small hum to let him know that you heard him. The morphine has fully kicked in now and you begin to softly sing to yourself:

"One thousand years ago this story starts,

There were four sorcerers with strong and wise hearts.

Bold Gryffindor from wild moor,

Fair Ravenclaw from glen,

Sweet Hufflepuff from valley broad,

Shrewd Slytherin from fen.

They had a dream to teach all that they knew,

Witches and wizards came far and it grew'

Til a castle stood tall by the shores of a lake.

And a thousand years later the magic remains.

Old Hogwarts Sorting Hat sing me a song,

Speak in my head tell me where I belong.

And when things look bad and there's nowhere to run,

Unite all the houses and we'll fight as one.

Brave Godric Gryffindor favored the strong,

Those who had courage and knew right from wrong.

And Rowena Ravenclaw taught only the best,

So kind Helga Hufflepuff would teach all the rest.

But Salazar Slytherin had his own plans.

He thought the Muggle-borns didn't understand

The subtleties of magic and so he devised

The Chamber of Secrets with a monster inside.

Old Hogwarts Sorting Hat sing me a song,

Speak in my head tell me where I belong.

And when things look bad and there's nowhere to run,

Unite all the houses and we'll fight as one.

Old Hogwarts Sorting Hat sing me a song,

Speak in my head tell me where I belong.

And when things look bad and there's nowhere to run,

Unite all the houses and we'll fight as one.

Unite all the houses and we'll fight as one."

By the end of the song, you're murmuring because you're so sleepy. The last thing you hear before falling asleep is Toshinori's amused chuckling and him telling Izuku, "I see where you get the whole fanboying thing from now."