So, sometimes I feel like life just wants me to suffer. Sunday my grandmother (who I live with) had a heart attack and is now in Hospice. I'm hoping she still has another year or so, but I think we can all agree there are no guarantees in life.

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A Day In Your Life

Chapter 16

"How are you feeling, Eri?" Midoriya questioned as he held up a basket full of candied apples and a large plushie. "Kacchan and I brought you some treats!"

"Izuku, Mr. Kacchan!" Eri squealed happily, her eyes turning as big as saucers when she saw her gifts. She was quick to squeeze the fluffy toy into her, already thinking of possible names. "Dad is going to love this one! It looks just like a puppy!"

Midoriya laughed despite knowing he was in for a harsh whack to the back of his head. Eri had a major collection of stuffed animals already and Aizawa had expressly forbade anyone from getting her even one more, but, when it came to his adopted daughter, he really struggled to say no. Eri would show him the toy with such happiness on her face that he'd be unable to tell her she couldn't keep it and would spend as much time as she wanted helping her rearrange the mountains of poof to her liking.

"I'm glad you like it, Eri! You deserve way more than this for your hard work though... I'm so proud of you!" Midoriya hummed, petting her head lovingly. "Shoto is all better now because of you. The doctors say he'll be able to go home at the end of this week!"

"I'm so glad!" Eri responded with relief. "Dad hasn't let me go anywhere yet, so I haven't seen Shoto. Trying to control my quirk makes me tired and he wants me fully rested when I work on Ejiro tomorrow afternoon!"

The young Pro smiled and took a seat beside his adopted sister, relaxing back as he waived Bakugo over. "We know all about that, don't we Kacchan? Actually, other than the teachers at UA, Kacchan, Shoto, and I are probably the best people there are to help you learn about reeling in your quirk!"

"Huh?" Eri gasped, looking over to Bakugo. "You mean even you had trouble, Mr. Kacchan? But Izuku said that you were the most naturally gifted hero he'd ever seen! Did you really struggle with controlling your quirk when you were younger?"

Midoriya's tan cheeks flamed as brightly as his eyes, skin red all the way up into his hairline. "Eri!" he squeaked with embarrassment. "Shhhh!"

"AH?" Bakugo laughed with pride-filled amusement. "That true, Deku? You told this kid about me and how awesome I am?"

"Of course he did!" Eri stated plainly, too young and innocent to understand what had made her big brother so flustered and mortified. "Izuku said that if there was one person who could give him a run for Number 1 Hero in the world it was you. He said that you were always strong and fearless and that without being able to watch you growing up he'd never have been able to charge into dangerous situations. Big brother said you've always been his hero!"

Bakugo was shocked into silence while Midoriya seemed to be trying to form words that simply wouldn't come out as anything more than squeaks and syllables. If Bakugo didn't know any better, he'd say that his poor body was about to combust right in front of him from how badly it was steaming.

"Uh, big brother?" Eri questioned earnestly, "Are you okay?"

Bakugo felt his own nerves start flaring once the surprise wore off. "You... er... you really said that?" he mumbled, despite knowing that it was true. Midoriya had always praised him like that, he'd just forced himself to believe that it was somehow a lie or meant in some backward way.

Eri frowned slightly. "What do you mean, Mr. Kacchan? Don't you know how much big brother loves you?"

"AHHH, Eri!" Midoriya finally yelped as he overcame his paralysis, covering her mouth with his hand. "Ah, uh, er... She must still be delirious from helping Shoto, yeah, that must be it! Sorry, Kacchan, we should let her rest some more so that she's ready for tonight! Come on! Bye, Eri!"

In a flash he'd changed his position and was yanking Bakugo to his feet, whisking him out of the hospital room with a frantic wave to his adorable (and in so much trouble later) little sister. Midoriya had tugged Bakugo almost the entire way to the end of the hall before the former realized what was going on.

He didn't resist, however, even when his reeling mind caught up. All he could think about was that Eri had said Midoriya loved him—but that didn't mean anything! Of course, Midoriya loved him; They had been best friends when they were young and that was probably what she was referring to.

Still, what he'd once managed to force into his subconscious was front and center in his mind now, and Bakugo wanted so badly for Eri to have been alluding to something deeper. "Uh, Deku... You're kind of crushing my hand..." he hummed ruefully.

"Eh?" Midoriya responded, flickering his eyes back and down to see where he'd latched onto Bakugo and was indeed cutting off the circulation to the man's fingers with his death grip. "Oh, s-sorry, Kacchan..."

Bakugo nodded and allowed Midoriya to let him go even though his fingers twitched unhappily from the loss of contact, thoroughly convinced that he was reading into Eri's words too much. His down-swinging mood didn't go unnoticed, however.

"Kacchan?" Midoriya questioned nervously, finally overcoming his embarrassment enough to look back at his sullen companion. "What's wrong? Did I pull your arm too hard? Oh, no... I did, didn't I? That's the arm that hurts the most too! Gah, what was I thinking? I'm sorry, Kacchan."

"Ah? Er... right..." Bakugo somewhat lied, schooling his face to hide the continuing sadness and wanting in his heart. "It's okay, Deku... Just sore that's all..."

Bakugo was indeed feeling rather worn out from running all over the place with Midoriya that day, though that knowledge only fueled his sense of regret for ever hounding his fellow Pro on really anything. It seemed outright impossible for Midoriya to constantly do hero work when the simplicity of completing errands was so exhausting.

"Argh, how could I have been so stupid and careless! Of course, you're sore... You'd think having spent my entire life in that body I wouldn't have forgotten how awful it was just moving around. Come on, let's go to the pharmacy and get some more pain medicine or something!" Midoriya exclaimed, re-grabbing Bakugo to continue pulling him along, albeit more gently this time.

"Oi, Deku..." Bakugo snorted, finding it somewhat ridiculous to repeatedly take a pill that couldn't help this level of discomfort even if the whole bottle was swallowed at once. "Aren't we supposed to make another stop today?"

"Oh! Right!" Midoriya squeaked in remembrance. "We were supposed to stop by Shoto's room again at around 8, right? I wonder why he wants us there so late..."

Bakugo was truly grateful that Todoroki had saved his best friend from dying, but that didn't mean he was chummy with him just yet. It somewhat killed him inside to go visit now that the dual user was awake, but he supposed it would be worth it as long as he got to spend a bit longer with Midoriya.

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"Dad... I think I might have done something to upset big brother..." Eri stated, her eyes full of shining tears as she recalled how abruptly he'd yanked Bakugo out of the room.

"I highly doubt that Eri." Aizawa disagreed, trying to imagine anything that his daughter could possibly do that wouldn't delight Midoriya. "Why would you even think such a thing?"

"Well, he brought Mr. Kacchan along to visit me and we were talking about quirks. I swear I only said the same thing that Izuku told me! But... Well, he got all red and covered my mouth then said I was delir—er, I don't know what the word was, but it sounded bad! Then Izuku grabbed Mr. Kacchan's hand and ran out of the room without giving me a hug!" Eri explained, becoming more upset as she recounted the memory.

Aizawa sweat-dropped a little, realizing Eri must have inadvertently outed Midoriya's affection for Bakugo without realizing it. "Sweetheart, he's not mad at you... That much I can promise."

"Then why, dad? Why did Izuku run away without a proper goodbye?" Eri pressed, sniffling even more loudly while wiping her moistening eyes.

Aizawa didn't particularly like the idea of putting Midoriya's historically unrequited feelings on display even more than they apparently had been, but if it came down to Eri being upset or his privacy—there was simply no contest.

He took her little hand in his own, smiling down at her. "I want you to analyze what happened, Eri. Think back to your conversation and pay attention to every detail this time... Compare it to what you already know and tell me what your conclusion is."

"Daaad!" Eri whined, pouting her lip out once more. "This isn't homework or training time! Why won't you just tell me!"

Aizawa chuckled at her displeasure but couldn't help himself; he was a teacher at heart after all. "Come on, Eri. If you want to be a hero like Mirio, Tamaki, and Izuku you'll have to learn to solve problems quickly."

"Errr..." she groaned, closing her eyes to replay their interaction again. "Well... Big brother was all red, just like I told you but maybe more than usual? He 'shushed' me too after I told Mr. Kacchan about how much he admired how gifted he was at being a hero."

"That's good, Eri..." Aizawa encouraged. "Now, compare what you experienced today to any past experiences that might be relevant. Can you think of any?"

"Eh?" the child hummed, considering. "Well, I guess it was a little bit like being around Tamaki and Mirio."

Aizawa kept his growing smile as suppressed as possible, waiting for his daughter to inevitably reach the correct conclusion. "Is that so?"

"Well, not now..." She explained with her eyebrows knitting together in hard thought. "More like... uhh... Izuku was acting like Tamaki did before Mirio asked him to be his boyfriend. Does that make sense?—Oh!"

Aizawa nodded in approval, chuckling at his daughter's suddenly bright red face. "That's right, Eri. Izuku feels the same way about Bakugo that Tamaki does for Mirio. He hasn't expressed his feelings yet though and was worried that all the things he'd spoken with you about might tip Bakugo off. See? It wasn't you at all."

Eri still felt a little bad since she'd very plainly said that Midoriya loved Bakugo, but she argued it wasn't that bad since the previously blonde hero didn't seem to catch on to what she'd said. She smiled and wiped her eyes, calming down considerably.

"R-right! Thanks, dad..." she sighed with relief. "Did you come to get me to work on Eijiro?"

"I came to see if you feel up to it. Remember Eri, this isn't something you should rush. If you are still feeling any tiredness or any hesitation, then wait." Aizawa answered with a gentle expression on his face. "It might seem like taking action is the most important aspect of hero work, but I promise you it's not. If there is anything I want you to learn from the situation we've found ourselves in, it's that pushing your body beyond its limits is never the right thing to do. It's always dangerous for you and can be for those around you as well."

Eri paused for a moment to consider her father's wisdom, mentally checking herself to see if she was indeed fully recovered from the strain of purposely using her quirk in earnest for the first time. "I'm ready Dad. But there is something I want to ask you before we go!"

"Oh?" Aizawa hummed, shifting from his chair to gather the girls' shoes from the doorway. "What's that Eri?"

His daughter smiled coyly, though there was a sweet innocence in the look she had in her eyes. "It's just... Were you always a teacher? Even when you were as small as me?"

The pro blinked a couple of times and felt his cheeks heat up. In fact, he couldn't recall a time when he was much different than he was now; for as long as he could remember he'd been a secret softy with a pension for rationality.

"I think you know the answer to that, Eri." he eventually chuckled, scratching at the scar beneath his eye awkwardly. "Alright, let's get going; Eijiro's parents are in the waiting room already and have signed the necessary paperwork so all that's left to do is meet the surgical team to go over his injuries."

"What do you mean, dad?" Eri questioned as she slipped on her shoes and followed him out. "We didn't do that with Shoto."

"Though Shoto's injuries were severe and there were some that were entirely internal, the majority of his wounds could be very plainly seen by the naked eye. Eijiro, however, was partially crushed beneath a building and then suffered from Hypoxia— a condition where part or all of the body is deprived of oxygen. Basically, aside from bruising that has already faded considerably, you can't see what you're reversing." Aizawa explained.

"Oh, I see," Eri answered. She frowned and rubbed her chin in thought, a habit she'd picked up from spending time with Midoriya. "This is going to be much harder than when I was working on Shoto then."

"That's correct," Aizawa confirmed while they entered the quirk containment room.

He waited patiently for the doctors supervising Kirishima to go over everything with his daughter, noting how distraught the boy's parents were as they sat near their child for what could end up being the final time.

Though he had great faith in Eri and had been so proud of her for stepping up and proving herself with Todoroki, he couldn't imagine what Fuyumi and Kirishima's parents must have been experiencing since the attack.

Had it been Eri laid out in a hospital bed with almost no chance of recovery, he likely would have been desperate enough to allow an untested thirteen-year-old to attempt a miracle. Still, knowing that such a decision could cut short what little time he'd have left with his most precious person would unsettle his stomach in ways he'd never imagined possible.

"If I may," he piped up, catching everyone's attention. "Firstly, I'd like to reiterate how sorry I am for your pain, Mr. And Mrs. Kirishima. No one should have to make these types of decisions, but I'm going to ask you to consider a potentially riskier procedure."

The two nodded, turning their previously single-minded attention away from Eijiro and towards the Pro. "Of course; please, continue."

"Well, as you all have been made aware, this arrangement is as much about healing your child as it is to train Eri for a much more difficult usage of her power. Specifically, her final goal is to rewind damage on a widespread cellular level while not being able to see the majority of what she's doing. Eri needs to be able to vary how much individual cells are rewound as some tissues will need more repair than others in her final patient... This would be much simpler to do by sections." Aizawa explained, gesturing to Eijiro. "I ask that you allow Eri to attempt to work on your sons' injuries by section as well so that she can practice this technique."

"Will it..." Mr. Kirishima asked, almost choking on his words. "Why is it riskier? What are the dangers?"

"It creates more opportunity for me to make a mistake," Eri admitted, stepping forward with confidence despite how much she wanted to hide behind Aizawa and let him handle it. "I've never tried to rewind a part of someone before, just the whole person at once. This would be the first time I'd be trying to limit the spread of my quirk, so my focus wouldn't be just on the action of rewinding. I could rewind too far on that area or if I start to mess up and let it get to me, then I could accidentally begin rewinding the whole body without stopping soon enough."

Aizawa was impressed, even more so than he'd been when she'd successfully healed Todoroki. Her analysis was spot on and even more than that, she was brave enough to speak for herself on a subject that he knew haunted her.

"Oh, my..." Mrs. Kirishima gasped, glancing down at where her only child was alive solely due to the efforts of a machine-powered respirator.

"This is your decision," Aizawa offered with solemn understanding.

"But that young man that was working with our Eijiro... Todoroki, I believe..." Mrs. Kirishima started, trying to express her confusion. "Surely with how injured he was there was internal damage of some kind, right? You were able to heal that, weren't you?"

"That is correct," Aizawa answered. "However, Eri was doing a widespread rewind on Todoroki's entire body and was not attempting the more difficult task of area containment. Todoroki also sustained severe damage that was very visible on the skin—In a nutshell, Todoroki's body was being healed at the same rate inside as it was outside, and because Eri could clearly see when his 'outside' wounds were almost gone, she knew when to slow down and stop. Does that make sense?"

"I see..." Kirishima's mother sniffled, her eyes falling as her hope drained. "So, what you're asking is for us to let her attempt to do this 'rewind healing' without being able to see what she's doing and then make it even more dangerous with this 'section containment'?"

"Yes," Aizawa responded calmly. "Which is why we will leave the decision entirely up to you both, his parents. Eri has never consciously attempted to use her quirk in either of these ways before and though I have complete faith in my daughter, there are substantial risks. Please know that Eri and I will whole-heartedly support whatever decision you come to, even if it means not attempting either procedure at all."

Kirishima's parents once again looked at their comatose child and then at each other before staring at the small girl they were going to be putting all their hopes on, considering. "May we have a moment to discuss it alone?"

"Of course," the head doctor agreed, nodding to Eri and Aizawa. "We can wait in the hall until you've decided."

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Thank you for reading! Please leave a comment if you feel like it! I'd love to hear feedback on the chapter/story and what you think will happen next!