Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Izuku anxiously wrings his hands as he does his best to take slow, deep breaths in an attempt to keep himself calm. From the concerned glance his mentor shoots him, he must not do a very good job. 

“Steady, Midoriya-kun,” she says. 

“I know,” he replies a bit too quickly, then swallows, “Just nervous.” 

“You’ll do fine,” Recovery Girl says with confidence that Izuku envies, “All you need to do is trust in your capabilities as a healer.” 

“-And pass an exam with highly advanced medical knowledge that I haven’t learned yet, plus do a physical demonstration of my quirk that I haven’t fully mastered control over, all while being judged by a board of the most renowned healers in all of Japan- ow!” Izuku winces when Recovery Girl gives him a light whack with her cane. 

“Enough with that sass, young man.” She glares warningly and he averts his gaze.

A moment later, he fidgets nervously again and looks up, letting out a noise of frustration. “Where are they?” He whines, glancing around the empty campus, “We’re going to be late!” 

“We’re fine, we have plenty of time,” Recovery Girl says patiently, “Relax.” 

Izuku huffs. They’ve been standing in front of this car for almost three minutes now! Which- alright, it’s not that long of a wait, but come on, this is one of the most important days of his life! The least they could do is be on time! 

Much like his classmates, Izuku has to actually leave campus for his provisional license exam. It will be his first time leaving campus since moving in, and while his comings and goings outside of UA are severely restricted due to security as Aizawa said, his license exam is one of the situations deemed important enough for him to leave the school. Of course, they will be taking every security precaution necessary to ensure his safety, hence the car and the late heroes that he and Recovery Girl are currently waiting for. 

All Might had been the first to offer his protection, but being the number one hero, he’s too high-profile, and both Recovery Girl and Principal Nedzu had shot down the idea immediately. So now Present Mic and Midnight will be escorting Izuku to his provisional license exam, which he doesn’t have a problem with, not at all, except it would be nice if they had All Might’s speed because now they’re four minutes late and- he should stop tapping his foot, Recovery Girl is glaring again. 

Finally, after five minutes, the two heroes show up. 

“Sorry for the hold up!” Present Mic’s loud greeting pierces shrilly in the early morning’s tranquility as he approaches with Midnight. “Coffee maker was giving me some trouble.” He waves the cup in his hand, then gestures to Izuku. “You want some, little listener?” 

“No, I’m fine,” Izuku says a little impatiently. 

“You sure?” Present Mic asks, eying him up and down, “You kind of look like you could use some, no offense.” He grins. “Couldn’t sleep before the test, could you-?”

“I’m fine, I’m fine, come on, let’s go!” Izuku blurts out, then flushes. 

“Midoriya-kun!” Recovery Girl chastises. 

Midnight, however, laughs. “He’s so eager!” She chirps, eyes twinkling, “I like it! Come on, he’s been waiting long enough for this, hasn’t he? Let’s not torture him any longer.” She grabs the car door and opens it, gesturing dramatically for Izuku to enter. 

Izuku doesn’t really know Midnight very well. She teaches his Modern Hero Art History class, but aside from their interactions there, he doesn’t really talk to her that much. 

But he decides right now that she’s his favorite teacher at UA. 

He practically dives into the car, strapping himself into the backseat with lightning speed and watches as Recovery Girl slides into the seat next to him. The two heroes take the front seats, with Present Mic being the driver. In the back of his mind, Izuku wonders how good of an idea that is, but he doesn’t voice the concern aloud. He already has too many other things to be worried about right now.

Actually, not many other things. Just this one thing. This one giant thing that could very well determine his future after today. 

This morning had been rough. See, now that Izuku doesn’t have to worry about his relationship with Todoroki anymore, his mind had more than enough space for the fresh wave of pure anxiety that came crashing down on him as soon as he woke up from one of his usual nightmares at ass o’clock in the morning. It was a very delayed reaction- sure, he’d been worried about the exam all week, but he’d also been worried about a bunch of other things at the same time, and once those things were gone and he could focus all of his attention on the test that is suddenly right here- well, he kind of… panicked. A little bit. 

It had been hard to calm down, and it had been even harder to resist the temptation to start trying to cram as much last minute studying as he could. It probably wouldn’t have helped and Recovery Girl would have scolded him if she had found out. So instead he just tried to stay calm and do his best to focus on the task ahead, but he was also frustrated that he had allowed himself to become so- so- distracted. For nearly twenty minutes he just sat on his bed panicking and beating himself up thinking about all the times during the week when his mind was on Todoroki rather than on whatever he was supposed to be studying. All that wasted time- 

No, not wasted- not really- but it feels like it is now, with the exam looming right over him. He regrets every second that he didn’t spend studying. This is what he was worried about, wasn’t it? Getting distracted. And, as excited as he is about his new relationship with Todoroki, whatever it might be… his future takes precedence. So he pushed Todoroki firmly out of his mind and focused on what lies ahead. 

Thankfully, the other boy seemed to be just as determined to stay focused as he was today. He gave him a smile and made small conversation with him during breakfast, but other than that, things remained fairly normal between them. Izuku was grateful. 

Now in the car, finally beginning the journey towards the place where his license exam will take place, Izuku’s stomach coils into knots. Apprehension of what’s to come swells like a rising tide within him, and he doesn’t do a very good job of hiding his anxiety from the adults, who do their best to calm him down, but no amount of reassurance is enough to ease his mind. Present Mic tries to distract him with terrible jokes, but all that gets him is a glare from Recovery Girl and a jab in the ribs from Midnight. 

“Shut up and drive,” she snaps, “Let the ladies handle this.”

Eventually, Izuku’s mentor manages to settle his nerves slightly by coming up with medical questions for him to answer. They’re not that hard, and it’s pretty obvious that she’s only testing him on information that she knows he knows by heart, but as he answers her questions he finds himself being slightly… reassured- or rather, reaffirmed, in his own intelligence. 

He knows a lot of things. Sure, he may be young and inexperienced, but he’s been preparing for this exam for a long time- ever since he first met Recovery Girl, really! He’s learned so much over the past year, he knows he has the knowledge he needs in order to impress the board- he just needs to not freak out and forget it all. 

Recovery Girl’s questions start to become a little bit more specific, but Izuku still answers them easily. He’s immensely grateful for his mentor’s comforting presence- only she’d know the perfect way to both calm him down and keep his mind off of the exam looming ahead. It’s also pretty funny to see the confused glances Present Mic and Midnight share at some of the answers he gives to Recovery Girl. 

Soon, they begin to approach their destination. 

The testing is actually taking place in a large hospital that’s a decent drive away from UA. A very small amount of the human population have healing quirks, and an even smaller amount of those people are in Japan, and an even smaller amount of that small amount are fifteen years old and ready to take their provisional license exams, so it doesn’t make much sense for there to be a specific building for such a small niche.

Members of Japan’s medical board, healers with decades of experience, are all taking time out of their day to travel here and meet Izuku- to evaluate him, to judge him, to decide if he’s good enough to be a healer, or at least, good enough to take his first steps to be one. It's a terrifyingly overwhelming thought, and Izuku feels like he’s going to be sick as they step out of the car and start walking towards the hospital. 

Recovery Girl’s hand slides into his and gives it a quick squeeze. He inhales sharply, then lets out a slow breath. Don’t panic. That will only make things worse. He’s been preparing for this for a long time. He is a good healer. He knows this. Just stay focused and everything will be okay. 

He squeezes back. 

Present Mic and Midnight walk on either side of him as they escort him and Recovery Girl into a smaller building next to the hospital. A little confused, Izuku glances around. They seem to be in some sort of lobby, modern-looking and mostly empty except for a small group of people sitting on a few cushioned seats around a table. While they looked to be in mid-discussion, they all glance up at their arrival. Izuku’s skin prickles when their eyes immediately land on him. 

“Ah, there you are!” An older gentleman in the group stands up and approaches them with an outstretched hand, a friendly smile on his face. “Recovery Girl, it’s good to see you again.”

Recovery Girl steps forward and takes his hand, nodding politely. “It’s good to see you too.” She turns to Izuku. “Midoriya-kun, this is Doctor Edano Shin. Doctor Edano-san, allow me to introduce my apprentice, Midoriya Izuku.” 

Doctor Edano looks at Izuku, still smiling. “Of course! The man of the hour,” he says, sounding a little amused, but not mocking. He holds out his hand and Izuku takes it. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Midoriya Izuku.” 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you too, sir,” Izuku replies, struggling to keep his weak voice steady. 

The rest of the board members that were with him come over as well. Recovery Girl seems to be familiar with them all to some degree and they greet her first, making Izuku feel a little bit like an outsider, but their attention soon turns to the freckled boy, and that’s a little worse. They introduce themselves briefly and Izuku shakes their hands politely, doing his best to remember their names and positions and where they work. 

Their expressions are cool and professionally neutral, but Izuku can see thinly veiled curiosity in their eyes. He wonders if it’s caused by all the drama from his kidnapping and subsequent rescue, or because his mentor talked him up to them when she was convincing them to come evaluate him. As much as he wants to believe it’s the latter, part of him knows that it’s the former. 

Once the formalities are over, they get down to business. 

Doctor Edano claps his hands, getting everyone’s attention. “Alright then, let’s get started, shall we?” He looks at Izuku. “We will, of course, be beginning with the written portion of the exam before moving on to the physical portion.”

Izuku nods, and then Doctor Edano goes on to instruct him on what to do for the written portion. It’s stuff he already knows thanks to Recovery Girl telling him beforehand, but he nods along anyways, trying to quell the rising anxiety in his stomach. The reality of the situation is starting to sink in, that this test is for real and is right now.  

The next thing he knows, he’s being directed into another room with a single desk. Present Mic and Midnight only have time to wish him luck before the door closes behind him and he’s left alone. 

Swallowing down his nerves, Izuku turns and looks at the desk. A packet of paper lies on it beside a pencil. He jumps right on it immediately. 

Like Recovery Girl said, the written exam is large and has a significant amount of advanced medical information that he doesn’t know. He’s expecting that. He knows he’s not expected to know all of it, and that he just needs to answer enough questions correctly to give the board an idea of his level of knowledge. But damn, it really gets his anxiety going each time he comes across a question he doesn’t know the answer to. 

Some of the information is really advanced too! He thought he knew a lot of stuff, but there are words in here that he’s never even heard of! It just makes him all the more aware of just how young he is and just how far he still has to go in order to achieve his dream, even though it feels like he’s already done so much and worked so hard just to get where he is right now. 

An hour flies by and before he knows it, his time is up. He struggles to ignore the pitiful wrench his heart gives as he sees his test be taken away from him and instead focuses on his new instructions for the physical portion of the exam. 

Doctor Edano comes in and begins leading him down the hallway towards another room. Before entering, he explains that there are a few volunteer patients from the hospital waiting for him inside. Izuku will be expected to heal them and in doing so demonstrate the control he has over his own quirk. The board members will be watching from a separate room through one-way glass, so neither Izuku nor the patients will be able to see them. 

“Allow me to rejoin the others first before you enter,” Doctor Edano says, “We’ll let you know when to go in.” Izuku nods. The older man smiles, a twinkle in his eyes. “Good luck.” 

Izuku gives him a wobbly smile in return. “Thank you, sir.” 

Doctor Edano turns around the corner and disappears. Izuku lets out a shaky breath. He wishes he had at least been able to see his mentor again before the physical portion, just for reassurance, if anything. But he can do this! The worst part is over. He’s much more familiar with his quirk, and with all the time and effort he’s put in, he’s confident in his ability to properly control its output. 

Soon, Doctor Edano’s voice comes over a speaker in the hallway telling him that he’s allowed to enter the room now. Taking a deep breath through his nose, Izuku exhales, then opens the door. 

There are three people in the room, lying on beds. Two men, one seeming to be in his mid-thirties and the other an older gentleman, and a young woman. They all look up when he walks in and Izuku swallows nervously. 

“Hi,” he rasps. 

The woman gives him an easygoing smile. “Hey, kid. Heard you’re here to heal us?” 

Izuku nods rapidly. “Ye-Yeah!” He notices now that she actually has some nasty-looking scrapes on her leg, and the other two must be injured as well of course, but before he starts moving towards them he hesitates, glancing over at the window covering most of the far wall. Sure enough, it's tinted with one-way glass and he can’t see through it, but he knows the judges and perhaps even his mentor must be on the other side. 

After a moment, Doctor Edano’s voice speaks up through the speaker, “You may begin now, Midoriya-kun.” 

Izuku startles. “Right!” He immediately scurries over to where the young woman is lying. She watches him with a friendly gaze and he ducks his head, looking down at her injuries. The scrapes seem to be limited mostly to just her leg and they don’t seem that deep, but there are a lot of them and there’s a good amount of bruising too. Izuku also notices that there’s some dirt and small gravel still lodged in it too, which means it hasn’t been cleaned… which is odd, because she was taken to a hospital, and one of the first things they should be worried about is infection. Unless…

Izuku glances around. The room he’s in is fairly small, but looking around now, he can see that it’s actually a decently stocked medical room. There are cabinets above and below counters along the wall that no doubt contain any basic medical equipment he needs. Which means that this isn’t just a test of his quirk, this is a test of his skill as well. 

Izuku smiles a bit. This is traditional healing. This he can do. 

It’s an easy process, really. One he goes through everyday with his patients in Recovery Girl’s office. He starts by asking how the woman got her injuries- a rocky beach and some rough waves- and goes through the motions of taking her vitals before putting on some latex gloves and gently cleaning out her wounds. He’s done it so many times before that it practically comes naturally to him at this point, and the familiarity of it gives him a slight increase in self-assurance.

Then it comes time to use his quirk. 

Eying his three patients, Izuku recalls Recovery Girl’s plan for the physical portion of the exam. She wanted him to use his quirk to fully heal one person’s wound, then for the next stop halfway, then heal the next one slowly- thus fully demonstrating the current range of control he has over his quirk. 

It seems simple. Too simple. But he won’t let himself relax, not until this is all over. He can’t let his focus waver for even a second. 

So, even though he’s going to heal her completely, Izuku places his hands on the woman’s leg and focuses on the feeling of his energy leaving through his fingertips. It’s over quickly since the wound isn’t very serious and the woman blinks down at her newly healed leg in awe. 

“Damn, kid,” she says, “That’s one impressive quirk!” 

“Thanks,” Izuku says, stepping back. Her gaze lingers on his face, and for a moment she gets a certain look in her eyes, like she might want to say something else. For some reason, Izuku finds himself tensing up slightly. But instead, the woman just smiles and thanks him. Izuku nods, moving over towards the older of the two men. 

The man doesn’t talk, but gives him a polite nod in greeting when the freckled boy approaches. Izuku can see why he isn’t too keen on talking- he has a rather large second-degree burn covering much of his left forearm, which he is cradling close to his chest. While a second-degree burn isn’t extremely severe, this one is pretty large and he imagines it’s giving the man a fair amount of pain. Izuku asks how he got the burn- cooking accident, no surprise there- and takes his vitals anyway. There’s no dirt in his wound, but he cleans it out for the sake of being thorough.

And now to heal it halfway. 

A small wave of nerves flutters in his stomach. While he’s been practicing this often, stopping his quirk is something he’s only been able to do for the past five or six weeks, and the past five or six weeks have been a bit… well… unstable, for him.

Izuku takes a deep breath. Focus. He conjures up his usual mental image of the hose and places his hands on the man’s arm, feeling his quirk activate automatically in response to the wound. Knowing that he doesn’t have much time before he heals the minor injury completely, Izuku hastily narrows down the metaphorical hose until he cuts off his energy flow completely. 

Much like the woman, the old man looks a little surprised at his injury disappearing within seconds and thanks Izuku warmly. Feeling a little thrill of success, the greenette smiles and moves to his last patient. Two down, one to go. Things are going so well, he can’t help the hopeful excitement blossoming in his chest. 

His third patient is a handsome-looking man with a nasty bite on his hand- his girlfriend got a new dog, Izuku finds out. Takes his vitals, cleans the wound, (makes sure both he and the dog have had their rabies shots), and then gets on with the healing. For the last one, he believes he’s supposed to heal the wound completely, just at a much slower rate than normal, to show that he’s not just letting his quirk flow on its own but actually controlling the speed of the output. 

Taking the man’s hand in his, Izuku feels his quirk activate and immediately begins stemming the flow. He narrows down the hose, forcing his energy to slow down to a more reasonable pace as it slips through his fingertips. The puncture wounds begin healing slowly, torn flesh knitting itself back together bit by bit. Izuku hopes the judges can see it clearly from where they are. He narrows down the hose a bit more, trying to get a better grasp on the intangible energy as it flows out of him.

It’s not often that he heals wounds like this- he doesn’t draw out the process any longer than he has to, really. Forcing his quirk to slow down for a while isn’t terribly difficult, it just takes a bit of extra concentration since he’s having to maintain his control over the speed of the flow rather than snapping it off entirely. 

Izuku narrows his eyes and focuses on his energy. It’s slow now, a smooth, steady speed moving out of him. It always feels like it’s just barely controlled, though. Like an untouchable, intangible force that he’s still scrambling to be able to control. He can never grasp it, he can never manipulate it, he can never force it to do what he wants- 

But he did. 

Izuku blinks.

His energy- tangible, thick and dense like sludge, moving slow, slower than a snail’s pace, he could grasp it, he could direct it wherever he wanted it to go, he could control it- 

He used it to heal All For One-

Izuku’s heart leaps to his throat. His control over his quirk slips for a moment. Immediately, he hastily slams down on his energy to stop it and then carefully resumes its slow pace, but the bite is mostly healed at this point. Izuku winces, frustration stinging his eyes. 

Damnit, damnit! What the hell? Why did he have to think about that now?!? What is wrong with him?!? 

Scarlet eyes burn in his mind and he flinches.

“You alright, kid?” His patient asks. 

“I’m fine,” Izuku mumbles, pulling away.

Stop it. 

Now that he’s finished healing all three patients, he turns and looks at the tinted window for instructions, trying to ignore the rising mix of fear and anxiety in his chest. 

“Thank you, Midoriya-kun,” Doctor Edano’s voice says, “You may leave through the door you came through. Present Mic will take you to a room where you may wait while the board discusses your test results.” 

Stifling a sigh of relief, Izuku bows politely and gives his patients one last smile before turning and walking over to the door. Present Mic is waiting for him just outside and grins brightly when he sees him. 

“Hey, hey, hey, little listener!” His loud voice echoes in the hallway as he fingersnaps at Izuku. “How’d ya do?” 

The freckled boy slumps against the wall and covers his face with a groan. “Not good.” 

Present Mic’s jaw drops comically. “Not good?!?” He squawks, hopping over to Izuku’s side. “What do you mean not good? You’re the best healer in town- aside from Recovery Girl, of course! I’m sure you did great!” 

Izuku slides his hands down his face and glances at the floor. “I got distracted,” he mumbles, shame burning at his chest. Tears push at the edges of his eyes and he grits his teeth. Why do the villains have to keep ruining everything?  

“It was so stupid,” he hisses. 

Present Mic frowns. “Hey now, don’t get too frustrated.” His expression eases into a smile. “Look on the bright side, it’s all over now! No more super hard tests, no more studying, you’re all done! Now let’s not keep the ladies waiting any longer, shall we?” 

He gestures down the hallway and Izuku gives him a confused look. 

“I don’t know where I’m going,” he says.

Present Mic blinks, then immediately straightens up.

“Right!” He shouts, “Follow me!” 

He starts marching down the hallway and Izuku follows him with a small sigh. 

They meet up with Recovery Girl and Midnight in a waiting room of sorts. Izuku’s mentor takes one look at his face and walks right over to him, reaching up to take his face in her hands. 

“You did well,” she says firmly, holding his gaze, “And I am very proud of you. No matter what the outcome of this test is, I want you to know that. Alright?” 

Throat suddenly feeling tight, Izuku swallows and nods. Recovery Girl smiles softly.

“Alright. It’s over now. Don’t worry about what you could have or should have done. All we do now is wait.”

Izuku nods again. 

And then they wait. 

Minutes tick by slowly, each one feeling like hours as they pass. Izuku’s leg bounces up and down relentlessly, his mind whirling with anxiety. Now that he’s had some time to calm down, he tries his best not to beat himself up too much over what happened during the test, considering everything that’s happened, and the fact that he hasn’t gone to therapy yet. It still sucks, and he’s still angry about it, but he just- doesn’t really want to make himself feel even worse by being angry at himself for it. Being angry at All For One sounds a lot better. 

The teachers try to fill the heavy silence with some small talk that Izuku pays little attention to, but their voices fade into the background noise of his swirling thoughts. They’re provided with lunch and Recovery Girl gently encourages him to eat since he used his quirk, but with his current anxieties he’s decidedly not hungry and thankfully she doesn’t push it. 

He isn’t sure how long they wait for, but finally the door opens. 

Doctor Edano leads the way as the rest of the board members enter the room. His lip quirks as Izuku jumps to his feet and gazes at them with eager eyes. Recovery Girl and the other two heroes stand up as well, flanking the young apprentice.

For a few moments, there’s a long, tense silence between the two groups as they stare at each other. Then, Doctor Edano smiles and says, “Congratulations, Midoriya Izuku. The board has granted you your provisional healer’s license.”

Izuku instantly bursts into tears.

“YEAH!” Present Mic whoops, practically glomping Izuku. The greenette throws all cares into the wind and buries his face into his chest, sobbing uncontrollably. Present Mic laughs and swings him around. “Ha ha! You did it! You did it! What did I tell you, kiddo?” He puts him down and ruffles his curls into an absolute mess. Izuku lets out a watery squawk, tears rolling down his cheeks.

“Oh my God,” he croaks, “Oh my God, I- I-” 

He turns to Recovery Girl, wide-eyed. She’s watching him with unmistakable pride shining in her eyes, and he lets out a choked noise, diving forward to crush her in a hug. She squeaks, but wraps her arms around him just as tightly. 

“Congratulations, Midoriya-kun,” she whispers in his ear, “You’ve earned this.”  

A hard ball forms in his throat, and he buries his face in her hair. 

When they finally pull away, Midnight congratulates him as well, and then Doctor Edano gets their attention once again. 

“I must clarify,” he says with a tone of professionalism, although he watches them with a warm gaze, “That this is a provisional license, and a healer’s one at that, not a medical one, meaning that you may not assist or perform any surgical procedures on your own-” Izuku is already shaking his head rapidly and Doctor Edano smiles, “-But we were very impressed by your current level of knowledge and we are looking forward to seeing you grow.” 

Izuku tries not to sound too breathless as he says emphatically, “Thank you.”

Doctor Edano chuckles, “You’re welcome.” 

Recovery Girl then goes up with Izuku to shake hands with the rest of the board members once again and bid their goodbyes. They seem a bit more friendly now, giving Izuku small words of advice or simply telling him to reach out if he ever needs help in the future. It’s so exciting, feeling like he’s starting to make his own connections in the healing world just like Recovery Girl- he just wishes his face wasn’t covered in tears and snot for it! 

He frantically rubs his face on his sleeve, trying to wipe it all away, but it’s all for naught when Doctor Edano hands him his provisional license a couple of minutes later. Like a real, physical license on a plastic card- with lamination and everything! 

Izuku bursts into tears all over again, sputtering out an apology through his blubbering. Doctor Edano just laughs and waves him off. 

“It’s alright,” he says, “I was even more of a mess when I first got my license.” 

Izuku hiccups and nods because what else does he do? All he can process is the fact that he got his provisional license and he’s clutching it to his chest like it’s made of pure gold. 

Finally, Recovery Girl takes pity on him and starts wrapping things up, thanking Doctor Edano and the other board members one last time before ushering him towards the door. Izuku sniffles and wipes away his tears, managing to call out one last garbled ‘thank you!’ before the door closes behind them. 

“Lemme see, lemme see!” Midnight gestures to his license and he holds it up for her to see. Both she and Present Mic peer at it. 

“OoOOooh!”

Izuku lets out a wet giggle. Then, realization hits him. 

“I’ve gotta show Mom!” He gasps, reaching into his pocket to pull out his phone, “And All Might! And Aizawa-sensei! And my friends! Do you think they’re back yet? Oh, probably not yet, they’ve still got some time-”

“Midoriya-kun, Midoriya-kun, let’s get back to the car first,” Recovery Girl says amusedly. 

“Right, sorry.” Izuku flushes, then excitement hits him all over again. “Oh my God, Recovery Girl, I did it! I got my license! Thank you so so so much, I couldn’t have done it without you!” 

“Well, obviously,” Recovery Girl says in a dry tone and Izuku snorts. She smiles. “But I couldn’t have asked for a better apprentice.” Izuku’s heart warms. “Now let’s focus on turning you into a full-fledged healer.” 

Izuku smiles and nods resolutely.

He practically glows with happiness the entire ride back to school. His mother calls him when she gets his text and tearfully tells him how proud of him she is. That nearly makes him start crying again, but he just barely manages to hold out and instead eagerly tells her about his test.

 Even though his classmates are still probably busy taking their own exams, he texts the group chat anyways letting them know that he passed and that he’s on his way back so that they can see it once they’re done. Then, he takes a picture of his provisional license and sends it to All Might. 

(Midoriya 2:45PM) -Get ready to have two lungs again!

The message is read, but for some reason All Might doesn’t respond. A little odd, but maybe he’s just busy. Izuku doesn’t pay much mind to it and chats excitedly with Present Mic and Midnight throughout the rest of the car ride. 

When they reach the school, even though he knows he probably won’t be able to leave again for a while, it doesn’t feel so bad coming back. It doesn’t quite feel like coming home yet, but there is a sense of comfort that comes with returning to the familiarity of UA’s walls. Izuku isn’t sure what has changed, but he definitely prefers comfort over feeling trapped any day. 

As they get out of the car, Izuku’s phone buzzes in his pocket. He takes it out. 

(Todoroki 3:08PM) -Where are you?

Izuku frowns. He’d texted the group chat that he was on his way back to school.

(Midoriya 3:08PM) -I’m at school. Why?

Two seconds later, Todoroki calls him. Bewildered, Izuku answers and holds his phone up to his ear, asking, “Todoroki-kun? What’s wron-”

On the other side of the phone, he hears the familiar sound of ice crackling and a girl shrieking. A jolt of fear shoots through Izuku’s heart. 

“Todoroki-kun!” He exclaims. The adults’ heads snap over at the alarm in his voice. “What’s wrong? What’s happening?!?” 

Shouto wasn’t going to let himself get distracted by Midoriya today. That was the plan. He still has a goal to become the number one hero, after all. And it should have been easy- Midoriya was going to go off to do his provisional license exam, Todoroki was going to go do his own, they weren’t even supposed to be in the same vicinity as each other! 

But then, as class 1-A was filing onto the bus just outside of UA’s gate, Midoriya showed up out of the blue, panting and sweating. When Aizawa asked what he was doing here, he said that there was some big emergency at the hospital he was supposed to do his license exam at and the board members had to push it to the next day, meaning he was able to go with them. 

Everyone was glad, of course, including Shouto, who resigned himself to the fact that, no, he will not be remaining focused during the ride to the exam area, not while Midoriya Izuku’s freckles exist, but that’s alright, because he won’t be there to distract him during the exam and that’s all that really matters anyways. 

So now he figures... What's the harm in sitting next to him during the bus ride? Bakugou doesn’t do much other than roll his eyes at him in response when he walks over and sits himself down next to the greenette, but for some reason Midoriya doesn’t really have much of a reaction. Not to say that he doesn’t react at all, but after their, well, make-out session yesterday, he would’ve thought there would’ve been some cute blushing and maybe some stammering, considering how easily flustered Midoriya gets. But all he does is give him a glancing smile and continue chatting away with Kaminari and Ashido across the aisle seat. 

Shouto blinks and makes eye-contact with Bakugou, who arches a brow at Midoriya. Alright, at least he’s not the only one who finds the behavior odd. After a moment, Bakugou huffs and turns his attention back to Kirishima, leaving Shouto to figure this out on his own. 

Since his last direct approach seemed to go rather well, he decides to try another direct approach and places his hand over Midoriya’s. 

Bad idea.

It’s as if a switch is flipped. Midoriya’s head whips towards Shouto and there’s a brief flash of… something in his eyes, something that Shouto’s never seen in his eyes before and he doesn’t understand, and then his personality does a complete 180. For the next hour, he practically lathers Shouto in his attention, giggling at everything he says, cuddling up to his side, and not letting go of his hand for a single second. 

It’s… a bit overwhelming to be honest, and kind of weird. Midoriya doesn’t do anything particularly outrageous, aside from being a bit more physically affectionate than usual, but something about his behavior seems really… strange and out of character. Shouto doesn’t really know how to feel about it, but a sense of unease tugs at his chest. 

The feeling only grows when they reach the license exam location and come across the Shiketsu students. One of them- he seems familiar, but Shouto can’t quite put a name to his face- recognizes Midoriya and approaches him in a friendly manner. Shouto doesn’t miss the brief flash of confusion that passes over Midoriya’s face before he perks up and acts as if they’ve known each other for years. If this Shiketsu student is taken aback by his overly-friendly behavior, he doesn’t show it, but Shouto and Bakugou share a glance. A silent communication passes between them. 

Something’s going on here. 

But whatever it is, it’ll have to wait until after they’re done with the test. 

A couple of long, frustrating, exhausting, and ultimately disappointing hours later, he finally sees Midoriya again. While they hadn’t planned on him being there, the staff was more than happy to let him help out with all the injured students in the infirmary. Aizawa had just gone to retrieve him while they were waiting for everyone’s provisional licenses to be printed and handed out- everyone’s except his.

Well, and Bakugou’s. And Yoarashi’s.

Midoriya is chatting incessantly with, or rather at, a rather annoyed-looking Aizawa, but perks up when he spots Shouto. “Todoroki-kun!” He hops over to him and cocks his head to the side. “Uh oh, you look grumpy! What’s with the frowny face?” 

“‘Frowny face?’” Jirou echoes with a dubious voice, like she can’t quite tell if he’s joking or not. 

Midoriya glances at her, but before he can say anything, Bakugou’s snarling voice suddenly shouts, “Oi, stop fucking talking weird, you little shit!” 

Midoriya turns to look at Bakugou, an expression of hurt on his face. “Bakugou-kun, that’s mean!” He exclaims, eyes watering, “What are you talking about anyway?”

Everyone within the immediate vicinity stares at Midoriya. His eyes widen a little and he shrinks in on himself slightly. “What?” 

Bakugou’s expression is incredulous. “The fuck did you just call me?”

Midoriya blinks, confused. “Bakugou-kun?” He repeats, as if he doesn’t even understand what’s wrong with the statement, but he looks a bit more uncertain now. 

Bakugou and Shouto make eye-contact again. 

This isn’t their Midoriya. 

It can’t be. 

The small group around him is staring at the freckled boy like they don’t even recognize him and he’s just staring back at them in confusion as if he doesn’t understand why. But Shouto’s eyes latch onto a bead of sweat trickling down the back of his neck. Adrenaline kicks in. 

His eyes dart around. Aizawa is standing a few meters away, not too far to intervene if needed, but he’s not paying attention, speaking to Ms. Joke with his back turned to the students. Shouto then finds himself taking his phone out of his pocket. 

In the back of his mind it makes sense to call- someone, he doesn’t know, but at that moment he sees a text from Midoriya telling everyone that he passed his provisional license exam and that he’s on his way back to UA. His heart stops. 

Bakugou and some of the others start talking to maybe-not-Midoriya, but Shouto stays quiet as he rapidly types out a text instead. 

(Todoroki 3:08PM) -Where are you?

(Midoriya 3:08PM) -I’m at school. Why?

Shouto hits the call button and puts it on speaker. 

“Todoroki-kun? What’s wron-”

As soon as he hears the real Midoriya’s voice, he immediately stomps his foot on the ground and encases the imposter in a glacier of ice. 

Over the phone, Izuku hears muffled yells and shouts. His heart pounds in his throat. 

“Todoroki-kun!” He exclaims, his weak voice breaking, “What is going on? Who is yelling?” 

“Kid?” Present Mic asks, approaching him along with Midnight and Recovery Girl. They share confused glances. “What-”

Izuku shakes his head. “I don’t know, I don’t know-” He puts his phone on speaker so they can hear the chaos on the other line. After a particular shout, Present Mic’s brow furrows.

“Shouta-kun?”

There’s a few more moments of unintelligible shouting, then Todoroki suddenly hisses, “Somebody shapeshifted into you!” 

Terror stabs his heart. “What?!?”  

“Who?” Midnight demands. 

“I-I don’t know-” Some more muffled chaos, then Todoroki growls, “She looks like that League of Villains bitch we saw in the forest.” 

Izuku’s stomach drops. 

No…

A memory resurfaces. “It’s difficult, you see- it’s part of my quirk. I can turn into people if I drink their blood!”

“To… Toga Himiko…” He whispers breathlessly. The teachers glance at him. 

But- But how? His mind spins, frantically trying to think when she could have gotten his blood, but- God, there were so many opportunities, really. She could have done it when he was unconscious during the first night or she could have taken it afterwards from the knives she used to stab him with- he doesn’t know how much blood she needs, he doesn’t know how long she’s been him for, he doesn’t know how she did it, he doesn’t know, he doesn’t know, he doesn’t know-

Panic rises in his throat. God, what else could she have done? Is it just her? Is he about to get caught up in another villain fight again? He can’t- he can’t- not again-

“Aizawa-sensei’s got her now, though,” Todoroki’s voice interrupts his thoughts, forcing them to a halt, “I froze her as soon as I heard your voice and he erased her quirk. He and a couple other pros are restraining her, and somebody’s calling the police.” 

Recovery Girl lets out a sigh of relief, “That’s good.” 

She reaches out to grip Izuku’s forearm. He lets it ground him, taking a deep breath through his nose, trying to steady his rabbiting heartbeat and remind himself that he’s safe, he’s in UA, he’s surrounded by heroes, Toga Himiko can’t hurt him- no villain can. 

“Who did you say she was?” Present Mic looks at him. “You said her name.” 

Izuku swallows and puts his hand over the one his mentor has on his arm. “Toga Himiko,” he rasps, “She was one of the villains that kidnapped me. Her quirk allows her to shapeshift into any person she consumes the blood of.” 

Present Mic’s expression tightens and Todoroki suddenly inhales sharply. “Midoriya-kun, she spent all day in the infirmary treating injured students!” 

Izuku’s breath hitches. “Why would-?” He cuts himself off before he can finish asking the question, a realization hitting him. It seems to hit Present Mic and the other two teachers at the same time too, because Present Mic then asks, “Todoroki-kun? Hand the phone to Aizawa-sensei, would’ya?” 

Todoroki is quick to obey. After relaying what Izuku told him about Toga’s quirk, Present Mic says, “Bet you anything that she’s hiding a craptone of blood vials on her.”

Aizawa seems to come to the same conclusion as well. The phone gets passed back to Todoroki, and Izuku can’t really hear very well what goes on for the next couple of minutes aside from a lot of muffled growling and shouting and a distinctly shrill, feminine voice that sends shivers up Izuku’s spine, but then Todoroki’s voice fills the speaker once more.

“She was hiding a lot of blood on her,” he says in a dark tone, “A lot.” The confirmation makes Izuku’s stomach flip. He hears a faint siren in the background. “Oh- the police are here,” Todoroki says, “That’s a relief. Who knows how much blood she could have gotten away with while she was disguised as you. Nobody would have thought twice about a healer drawing some blood…” 

Izuku is starting to feel a bit dizzy. 

Recovery Girl notices and says, “Well, it’s alright, it’s over now. She’s being handed over to the police, right?” 

“Yeah.”

Present Mic’s phone starts buzzing. “Oh, aaand that’s Shouta-kun, I’d better take this,” he says, already putting the phone to his ear, “Let’s get Midoriya-kun back to the dorms, by the way. Hey, Sho-!”

He turns away and Midnight puts a hand on Izuku’s back, gently pushing him after Present Mic. Recovery Girl takes his hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. He lets out a slow sigh of relief. 

Toga Himiko shapeshifted into him- the thought is terrifying- but she got captured. The League of Villains was thwarted by the heroes yet again and she won’t be able to hurt anyone for the rest of her life. Bitter satisfaction curls around his heart still rapidly fluttering inside the cage of his chest. 

“Midoriya-kun?” Todoroki's voice comes through his phone, “You still there?”

“Yeah.” Izuku snaps out of his thoughts.

“Bakugou-kun is here-”

“Zuku!” Kacchan’s shout drowns out Todoroki’s voice before he even finishes, “You alright?” 

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Izuku reassures him, “I’m at UA.” Then, unsure if it’s appropriate considering the situation, he hesitantly perks up and adds, “I passed my license exam.”

“Hey, man, that’s great!” Kirishima’s voice exclaims. Izuku blinks in surprise. 

“Everyone else is here too,” Todoroki mentions, “You’re on speaker.” 

“Well done, Midoriya-kun!” Iida congratulates.

“It’s a little weird ‘cause we thought you were here with us the whole time,” Kaminari says, “But yeah, good job man!” 

The rest of his classmates give their congratulations and Izuku smiles, chest lightening. 

“Thanks guys. How did you guys do?” 

He’s absolutely not prepared to hear that everyone except Bakugou and Todoroki passed. 

“Wait, what?” He asks, pure confusion coloring his voice, “What happened?”

Unintelligible grumbling is all he gets from Kacchan. Todoroki is quiet for a few moments, then he says, “ I’ll explain later.” 

He doesn’t say anything else, and none of his other classmates offer any other explanation, so all Izuku can do is accept it for now. “Okay.” He’s still confused- they’re the two strongest students in the class, how on earth did they fail?- but surely they must have a good reason, so he can wait for that. He just hopes they didn’t get into any trouble and got themselves disqualified or anything. 

After wishing his classmates a safe trip back and bidding them goodbye, he’s about to put his phone back in his pocket when he notices an unread message. It’s from All Might. 

(Toshinori 3:30PM) -Congratulations, my boy!

Izuku blinks. Finally, he responded! What took him so long? 

“Midoriya-kun,” Midnight calls, “Come on, don’t fall behind.”

Izuku startles, not having realized that he slowed down, and rushes to catch up with the adults. “Sorry!” He apologizes. Present Mic is walking a bit ahead, still talking with Aizawa about the situation, but Izuku tunes him out and glances at Midnight. “Do you know if All Might is busy today?” He asks.

“Yeah, I think he had some business off-campus in the morning,” she replies, “He might be back now, though. Why?” 

Izuku looks down at his phone. 

(Midoriya 3:31PM) -Are you in UA?

(Toshinori 3:31PM) -Yes.

His heart gives a leap of excitement.

(Midoriya 3:31PM) -Meet me in the dorms! 

Present Mic and Midnight escort them to the steps of Heights Alliance, but leave them there. Recovery Girl almost leaves too, but he manages to sputter out some half-baked excuse for her to come inside involving making her a cup of tea that somehow works. When she walks in to see All Might sitting on one of the couches in the common room, her expression morphs into displeasure. 

“I should have known,” she sniffs, “You’ve never offered to make me a cup of tea before. I thought you wanted to show gratitude to your dear old mentor.” 

All Might looks confused.

“I do!” Izuku jumps in front of her. “And I will!” 

Recovery Girl remains unimpressed. Izuku clasps his hands and gives her a pleading look, batting his eyelashes. “Pretty please?” 

Her lip twitches.

“Er, what is happening?” All Might asks uncertainly. 

Izuku spins around and whips out his provisional license, showing it off with a bright grin. “I got my license, All Might!” 

“Yes, I saw, that’s very good, but-” All Might blinks, then his eyes widen, “Oh, you mean now?” 

“Yes, now,” Izuku says eagerly. 

“Oh, my boy, no, you’ve had a very long day-” All Might is already trying to wave him off, but Izuku shakes his head. 

“Come on, I’ll be fine, I barely used my quirk at all today,” he reassures, glancing pointedly at Recovery Girl. She huffs, but doesn’t dispute it. 

“Still, I don’t want you to feel like you have to rush-” All Might says.

“Oh, there’s no point in telling him that,” Recovery Girl scoffs, rolling her eyes, “This boy’s been rushing to heal you ever since I met him.” Izuku looks at her hopefully and she sighs, “Oh, go ahead. Just not all at once, remember. Don’t you dare drain yourself, young man. It’s going to take a few sessions before he’s completely healed.” 

Izuku gives a squeal and rushes over to All Might’s side. The man tries to look exasperated, but it’s ruined by the excited shine in his eyes and the smile on his face. “I don’t suppose I could at least ask how your day was first?” He asks amusedly. 

Izuku plops down on the couch next to him. “Great!” He says immediately, then pauses, “Well, a villain did just shape-shift into me-” All Might’s eyes widen “But she got captured, so I’d say it’s still pretty great!” 

All Might stares at him, jaw slackening slightly. “I- I’m sorry, what was that, my boy-?”

“It’s alright now, though, so let’s get to it!” Izuku says excitedly, completely dismissing All Might’s shock as he eyes the man’s upper body eagerly. Despite his excitement, Izuku forces himself to calm down slightly and carefully lifts up his shirt, revealing his scarred, mangled torso beneath. It’s been a long while since he’s last seen it and it still makes him flinch a little. 

  He can’t believe All Might has been living with a wound this terrible for so long. Guilt claws at his heart once more, but he pushes it away. No more. All Might won’t be in pain any longer. Izuku is going to make sure of that. 

He starts to reach forward with his hand, then hesitates ever so slightly. But he needs to be careful. 

“You only have a limited amount of energy you can give at a time. It makes sense, I suppose; our bodies are vastly different, and yours does need a certain amount of energy to perform basic functions.”

Izuku grits his teeth as All For One’s words echo in his ears. As much as he loathes the idea of even the faintest comparison between him and All Might, it is… logical, in this case, to heed the similarities. They’re both large men with devastating injuries that require multiple healing sessions. Izuku would be foolish to not let his past experience help guide him, despite how much he might hate his past patient. 

Taking a deep breath, he forces his excitement down to a simmer and places his hand on All Might’s torso, immediately clamping down on the hose as soon as his energy starts to leak out. He wants to feel out All Might’s injuries first. The most obvious one is the missing lung, of course- the gaping chasm in his lifeforce where there’s no energy at all- but there’s some pretty heavy damage along his left torso as well, where his scar is. There’s also various smaller injuries littering the rest of his bodies, older wounds, nothing as serious as missing organs, but it still makes Izuku’s breath catch in his throat at just how many there are. Thick scar tissue deep lying within his muscles, the shadows of fractures long since healed that still remain on his bones. Izuku’s eyes prick.

He didn’t realize how much pain All Might has been hiding.

“All Might,” he whispers, “I… there’s…” His throat closes off and he swallows thickly. 

All Might always seems so… indestructible. Even after Izuku found out about his injury, he always seemed like nothing could ever hurt him, really. He’s the Symbol of Peace, the number one hero! But… Izuku supposes that this is the price that comes with being number one. To get a new scar after every fight, until you’re littered with old wounds like this, even if they’re not all visible to the eye. 

It… doesn’t seem like something to be glorified, actually. If anything, it seems… really sad.

Izuku presses his lips together. 

All Might’s energy flows warm and vibrant within him, swirling around his old injuries, making the empty pocket of his missing lung all the more noticeable. Once Izuku activates his quirk again, the majority of his energy is going to flow there. But- not all. 

Not all. 

Izuku frowns in thought. 

After the first time he healed All Might, the man had mentioned that his scar had decreased slightly in size… which means he did a little more than just regrow his stomach. His quirk… it reacts to serious- no, immediate injuries first, actual, bleeding wounds, which is how he was able to heal Todoroki’s injuries and have him pull away before he could heal his scar, and even heal All Might when he got injured during USJ. But these aren’t immediate injuries, these are old wounds, and even though his quirk might react to the most serious one first, it will still go throughout the entire body. Izuku can’t direct his quirk to heal a specific wound first, so if he’s going to heal All Might now… 

Izuku bites his lip. He doesn’t usually deal with patients with so many injuries- usually it’s easy for his quirk to just be able to focus on one or two wounds. Maybe he can just let his energy flow to everything and heal them all bit by bit? Like Recovery Girl said, it will take a few sessions, but-

Damnit, but then there’s All Might’s missing lung. Izuku doesn’t think regrowing an entire lung is something he should stop in the middle of. That’s something he’s going to have to do in one sitting, but how is he going to be able to do that with all these other injuries in the way? Regrowing it is going to take all the energy he has to give, and if he’s going to be simultaneously healing other wounds, then he’ll definitely exhaust himself for sure! 

Izuku grits his teeth in frustration. Shit. What does he do? He needs to heal the smaller injuries first, but to do that he needs to direct his energy and he can’t- he doesn’t know how-

- But he did.

Izuku blinks.

He did do it once. He did it when he healed All For One. 

Izuku swallows. No, he can’t- he can’t do that again. Even if he could, Recovery Girl would never allow him to force his quirk like that again. All Might would never allow him to. Besides, he would have to injure himself…

But… maybe if he could just try and focus on how it felt? He needs to be able to do this somehow- he can’t think of any other way to be able to heal All Might. And- he hates comparing the two together, but… he was able to regrow All For One’s eyes separately, without having his energy go to any of his other injuries. That is exactly what he needs to replicate right now! 

Izuku hesitates. He doesn’t like thinking about when he forced his quirk. He tries to avoid any thoughts of All For One at all costs. Scarlet eyes flash in his mind and he grimaces, giving himself a mental shake. 

Come on, he can do this. Go back, before that. 

It had felt… strange, he remembers. It was hard to get going at first, and it was kind of like a sort of… pressure?... building in his chest, before it burst out really quickly and then slowed down all of the sudden. What really stuck out, though, was that it was sludge-like, almost tangible- a complete contrast to the smooth, watery flow of his usual energy. That’s what made it so easy to grasp then, to direct and control, but it was also incredibly draining just to keep pushing it out of him. 

Izuku considers this. Obviously, he’s not going to force his quirk again- that’s a given. But the act of pushing the energy where it needs to be… That’s something that he’s done before, technically. He just needs to either remember how, replicate that, and then… adjust it to how his energy normally feels? 

But that’s the thing, he’s tried pushing and grabbing at his energy before, and it just doesn’t... work. It’s intangible, that’s why when he was forcing his quirk it was suddenly so easy to manipulate. 

Izuku bites his lip, frowning in concentration. If he can’t push and he can’t grab, then how is he going to control his energy? How can he control something he can’t touch? 

It has to be possible! Nejire does it, doesn’t she? She gave him that hose analogy- that’s already helped so much! Come on, he can’t give up, think- what does his energy feel like? Intangible, he can’t touch it, it’s a flow, slips right through his grasp like water- water! That’s pretty accurate, and it goes with his hose analogy too! He can’t touch it, can’t grab it, can’t push it where it needs it to go, but- he can guide it, maybe? 

Izuku blinks, realization dawning on him. Holy shit! All this time he’s been trying to grab his energy when he should have been trying to guide it! It’s so obvious! Wait, but- can he even do that? It’s one thing to fit it with his hose analogy, but it’s another thing to actually make his quirk do it, but… if he’s able to slow down his quirk by narrowing the flow, then… adjusting the course couldn’t be that far-fetched, right? 

He needs to talk to Nejire. 

“Midoriya-kun?” All Might asks, gazing down at him with a hint of concern, “You alright?”

Izuku startles, realizing that he’s been silently staring at All Might’s torso in intense concentration for a long while. “Oh! Right- yes- yeah, I’m great! But I, uh, can’t heal you.”

All Might blinks in confusion. “Huh?”

“I need to talk to Nejire-senpai.” Izuku pulls down his shirt neatly. 

All Might looks even more confused. “Who?” 

“Midoriya-kun?” Recovery Girl questions. 

Izuku quickly explains his discovery of All Might’s numerous injuries, which they apparently knew about and just hadn’t thought to mention to him- great- and his realization of the problem that would occur with healing him and the possible solution. Recovery Girl’s expression takes on a thoughtful air as he explains this and then turns to All Might, wincing apologetically. 

“I’m so sorry, All Might, I know this means you’ll have to wait a bit longer to be healed, but I swear I’ll get this down as quickly as I can!” He promises, “I don’t think it will even take too long, really, now that I’m talking about it out loud it seems simple enough and I’m sure Nejire-senpai will have loads of good ideas-” 

“My boy, my boy, you don’t have to worry,” All Might reassures him, ruffling his hair, “Geez, kid, you really don’t know how to relax, do you?” Izuku flushes. “Take as much time as you need to figure this out. I can wait a bit longer.”

Izuku lets out a small sigh of relief and gives him a grateful smile. “Thank you. I’ll get on it right away. Do you know where Nejire-senpai is?” He looks at Recovery Girl.

His mentor rolls her eyes. “You never rest, do you?”

“Do you?” He asks cheekily.

She wrinkles her nose and glares lightly for a moment before conceding. “She and the other third-years should probably be finishing up their training soon. Go harass her if you must.” She waves her hand dismissively.

Izuku is already getting up off the couch, grinning. “What, you’re not going to stop me?” 

Recovery Girl shrugs. “It’s a good idea and I know there’s no point in telling you to take it easy even after the very long day you’ve had. Besides, I’m just glad you didn’t just go ahead and try it on Toshinori-kun before anyone else.” 

Izuku rolls his eyes and walks backwards towards the door, putting his hand to his chest in mock-hurt. “Oh, come on, Recovery Girl, I’m not that reckless.” 

“Mmm hmm.”

Snorting, Izuku turns back around and opens the door. Before he steps out, a thought crosses his mind and he glances over his shoulder. “Hey, by the way, All Might?”

The man looks up. 

“Where were you today?” He asks, “Midnight said you went somewhere in the morning.”

For some reason, All Might seems to stiffen slightly. Something flashes across his eyes, but the troubled look passes as quickly as it comes. He plasters on a fake smile. 

“Oh, I just had to meet up with an old, ah, acquaintance of mine,” he says casually, and offers up nothing else. 

Izuku blinks. “Ok...aaay… I- alright, um, bye, then!” He quickly shuts the door behind him.  

That was weird. And clearly a lie. He wonders where All Might really went this morning. Why would he lie to him about it? Or maybe he’s just not allowed to talk about it- afterall, Izuku is just a student, and All Might is an adult, a hero. There are probably a lot of things he just can’t tell him, even if he’s a healer-in-training. When Midnight said All Might had ‘business’ off-campus, she made it sound like it was important…

Izuku sniffs. Well, as curious as he is, he thinks he can keep his nose out of this one until All Might is ready, or able, to tell him about it. He’s got other things to focus on right now. 

It takes a little while to find out where the third-years are training, and when he does find them, they’re mostly wrapping up since it’s getting late in the afternoon at this point. His senpais, despite being sweaty and tired, perk up when they see him shyly peek into the gym- Nejire shoots the two boys a devilish look over her shoulder and practically launches herself at him in glee when he announces that he came here for her help. 

After getting past her usual squealing and gushing, once he tells her what his problem is, she is, as he expected, more than willing to help. They find a quiet corner where he goes into more detail about what he needs to do and how he doesn’t know how to guide his energy yet. Nejire listens with a surprisingly serious and thoughtful expression, then immediately starts making suggestions, comparing his quirk to her own and even bringing up the hose analogy when he mentions that it’s useful to help explain how she controls her energy spirals. Izuku listens with rapt attention, hope blossoming in his chest with each piece of advice that she gives, mind already swirling with ideas of how he can apply it to his own quirk. 

They’re so similar- their quirks- but also so different, it’s crazy! Izuku is so grateful he has someone he can look up to for guidance for stuff like this. It’s nice to know that he doesn’t have to figure this out entirely by himself. 

“Thank you, Nejire-senpai!” He says, clutching her hands, “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” 

She laughs, flushing, “No problem! What kind of senpai would I be if I couldn’t teach my kouhai how to control his quirk?” She winks. “Just be sure to mention to the boys that I’m your favorite.” 

Izuku giggles and shakes his head exasperatedly. One of her friends then calls her and he turns away, tossing a goodbye over his shoulder which she returns. They part ways and he begins jogging back to the dorms with a smile on his face. 

There’s still some time before his classmates will be back since their exam location was a bit of a drive, so Izuku decides to finally unwind and takes a shower. Now that he’s not jumping from one crisis to another, he discovers that he’s actually quite tired. Even though he didn’t use his quirk much, it was a very mentally and emotionally exhausting day. 

When his classmates do finally return, they find him curled up on the couch with Sushi draped over his lap, yawning sleepily. 

“Heeey,” he greets with a lazy wave. 

“Heeey,” they chorus back in unison, trudging in tiredly, shoulders sagging. 

“God, I am beat,” Kaminari groans, walking over to flop down face-first on the couch next to him. “Do we really have to start regular classes tomorrow?” His voice is muffled by the cushion. 

“Unfortunately, yes,” Izuku says. Kaminari groans again. Giggling, Izuku reaches over to scratch his head gently, then grimaces when his fingers pull away all sweaty. “You’re covered in sweat, go take a shower.” 

Kaminari grumbles, but obediently pulls his face out of the cushion and gets up, lumbering away. His other classmates fancy the same idea and make their way to their own dorms, greeting Izuku as they pass by and congratulating him on his success. Well, most of them do. 

Kacchan walks straight from the door to the elevator, shoulders hunched, not sparing him or anyone a single glance as he glares straightforwardly. He disappears in a matter of seconds. 

Izuku blinks and glances at Todoroki, meeting his gaze. His carefully blank expression betrays no emotion, but that alone is enough to tell Izuku just how upset he is. 

Right. They both failed.

Izuku sighs. Looks like his day isn’t over yet. 

Todoroki, at least, seems to be the most stable at the moment, so Izuku decides to go after Kacchan first. He’s just stood up from the couch when-

“Midoriya-kun.”

Aizawa walks in, phone in hand lowering from his ear. His eyes roam over Izuku briefly, then flicker over to the TV, which is playing some old medical show that he randomly switched on to pass the time. It’s currently a rather gruesome scene, but for some reason Aizawa seems to relax slightly. He looks back at Izuku. 

“The League of Villains attacked the police transport carrying Toga Himiko,” he says gravely and Izuku’s heart stops, “She got away.” 

Everyone whirls around to look at him in alarm. 

“What?!?” 

“What the hell?!?”

“How did that happen?!?”

“They were ambushed on the freeway,” Aizawa explains, “You’ll probably hear more about it on the news, but I wanted you to find out from me first.” 

Izuku stares at him, eyes wide, feeling as if the rug has been pulled out from under him for the millionth time that day. 

“Wh-What do we do now?” Ashido asks, glancing nervously between him and Izuku. 

“Nothing,” Aizawa replies.

“What?!?” Everyone cries again. 

“But she has his blood!” Uraraka protests. 

“She had his blood,” Aizawa says pointedly, “She used it up.”

“But she might have more,” Todoroki argues. 

“We don’t know that,” Aizawa says in a calm but firm voice, “And even if she did, she’d be stupid to try and pull a stunt like that again. She showed her hand and now we know what measures we need to take in order to avoid falling for her tricks again. No dramatic changes need to be made. We will continue to protect Midoriya to the best of our ability, and if any of you ever become suspicious of one another, then simply ask something that only that person would know. But I don’t want you guys becoming paranoid over this, understood?” 

The students share a few glances, then murmurs of agreement ripple amongst them. They relax slightly after Aizawa’s explanation and Izuku finds himself doing so too. He’s still a bit unnerved by the thought of Toga being out there, but when it comes down to it, he really just ended up right back where he was at the beginning of the day. Aizawa’s right, nothing has to change. For now, anyway. 

Izuku lets out a soft sigh of relief. 

His classmates begin to disperse, most going off to take showers and unwind after their long day. Aizawa casts Izuku another brief assessing look, as if he’s making sure he’s really alright, then gives a decisive nod and turns to leave. 

A hand brushes Izuku’s elbow and he glances to his left to see Todoroki gazing at him with a flicker of concern in his eyes. The question ‘are you okay?’ goes unspoken. 

Heart warming, Izuku smiles and nods. Then, he shoots back with a quirked brow, ‘are you?’ 

Todoroki sighs through his nose. 

Izuku is fully prepared to have to pry his answers out of him, but he ends up not having to do much more work, though, because Todoroki tells him everything during dinner without needing much prompting. They find a nice secluded spot on the couches away from their classmates and Izuku listens to Todoroki as he tells him about Yoarashi and his frustration at being compared to Endeavor, about his realization that he still hasn’t moved on from his past hatred despite having reunited with his mother, about losing his temper at Yoarashi and just barely winning against Gang Orca, about still failing to get his provisional license. 

Izuku listens and listens and… he doesn’t quite know what to say. But that’s alright, because Todoroki doesn’t really seem to be looking for any help. He seems… like he already knows what he needs to do. 

Izuku gazes at him imploringly and tilts his head. 

Todoroki presses his lips together and sighs, “I can’t just… bury and forget about my past. I wanted to. I thought it would have been easy to just… put my father behind me and move on now that I’ve reunited with my mother, but… I can’t. It’s not that simple.” He glances off to the side, a shadow passing over his eyes.

Izuku reaches over to squeeze his hand. “I’m sorry,” he murmurs. 

“Don’t be.” Todoroki shakes his head. “I’ll be fine. This doesn’t change much, anyway. I’m still going to surpass that old fool and become number one.” 

Izuku smiles. He doesn’t doubt it- unless Kacchan beats him to it, of course. Imagining anyone other than All Might as the number one hero seems strange, but-

A thought suddenly strikes him, making his blood go cold. 

The price that comes with being number one. Todoroki, scars littering his body, getting a new one with each battle, getting injured with each fight, and the people will cheer him on and glorify his victories, but as he gets older he’ll still be in pain, pain from battles he fought long ago and old wounds not visible to the eye but he still feels because he’s not indestructible, he’s fragile, he’s human-

“Midoriya-kun?” Todoroki asks, peering at him, “Are you alright?” 

Izuku swallows past the hard knot in his throat and nods. He puts his empty plate on the coffee table and then leans against Todoroki, resting his head on the other boy’s chest. Todoroki is briefly surprised, but relaxes beneath him after a moment, hesitantly putting his chin on top of his curls. Izuku breathes in his scent and smiles softly. 

No, he won’t allow that to happen. All Might will be the last number one hero to live in pain. 

Todoroki’s arm settles comfortably around his waist. Izuku sighs and snuggles a bit closer. 

“What a long day,” he exhales. Todoroki hums in agreement. 

 “Congratulations on getting your license, by the way,” he murmurs, “Sorry I didn’t say it earlier.” 

Izuku smiles against his chest. “Thank you. And it’s okay.” 

They don’t say anything for a couple of minutes, simply enjoying each other’s presence after a long day apart. 

Kaminari glances at them as he walks past and drawls teasingly, “Gaaaay.” 

Izuku wrinkles his nose and glares at his back. In the corner of his eye, he can see Ashido grinning and giving him a thumbs up from the dinner table. His cheeks heat up. Maybe this is a bit too much of a public spot to cuddle. But when he starts to shift away, Todoroki’s arm tightens around him like a rabbit’s snare. 

He lets out an amused huff. Something that he’s been idly wondering ever since the call then crosses his mind once again, and he asks, “By the way, Todoroki-kun?” The bi-colored boy hums. “How did you know Toga was me? She must’ve looked exactly like me, if her quirk lets her shapeshift.” 

Todoroki looks at him with warm eyes, the corner of his mouth pulling up into a soft smile. “She could have been the best actress in the world, but nothing could ever change the fact that there’s only one Midoriya Izuku.” 

Izuku’s heart flutters. “Oh,” he stutters, averting his gaze shyly as he smiles to himself. 

Todoroki’s eyes linger indulgently on his blushing face for a moment, before he adds, “Also… she called Bakugou Bakugou-kun instead of Kacchan.” 

Izuku blinks. “Oh.” He giggles, then his eyes widen and he groans. “Oh, God, wait.”

“What?” Todoroki asks. 

Izuku sighs, beginning to pull away, “I should go make sure Kacchan’s doing okay too.” 

Todoroki’s arm tightens around his waist again. “No.”

Izuku lets out a little snort, “Todoroki-kun-”

“Don’t worry, guys.” They both glance up at Kirishima’s voice to see the redhead walking past the couch towards the elevator with two large plates of spicy curry in each hand. He flashes them a grin and winks. “I’ve got this.”

He expertly kicks the elevator button with his foot and disappears behind the doors. 

Todoroki and Izuku blink, then glance at each other simultaneously. 

“Oh?”