𝐇𝐨𝐭 𝐂𝐡𝐨𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐲𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐬||𝐈𝐙𝐔𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐀

"It was always, you, Mina, forever and always."

 He was frozen. He wasn't the only one, however. Everyone seemed to be when they saw what happened to the bubbly horned girl of 1-A. She fell to the ground instantly. What once was a small pool of blood grew by the minute. All this was happening, and Midoriya couldn't move from his seat.

Time seemed to be moving so fast, along with everyone else. They left him in his seat in the stands, cowering in fear. The teachers swarmed the two on the field along with classmates. Mina was no longer on the field, likely whisked away by teachers. The same was for Todoroki.

He didn't move until about 15 minutes later. When All Might came to him, he did nothing but place a hand on Midoriya's shoulder and ruffled his hair. Midoriya stilled at the feeling of someone next to him but relaxed when he looked up for it to be his teacher.

"Let's be going, Young Midoriya," All Might offered a smile with his hopeful spirit. Not knowing what else to do, he took his mentor's hand and walked away with him.

At once, the blonde man broke the silence. "She'll be alright, Midoriya." He hummed. "She's stronger than you know,"

"I know," He said defensively. "I just wish I could've done something."

"The world was moving a mile a minute, and I couldn't get out of the chair. I haven't felt this useless in ages. I just wanted to do something-"

"There is nothing you could've done, Midoriya. What happened was an accident. Noone is to blame." All might cut him off. They were almost to the hospital wing now.

"What you can do for Ms. Ashido is be there for her," He gestured to the door in front of them. "Go for it!"

"I-" He bit his lip. "I can't." He muttered.

"Why is that, young Midoriya?"

"When she finds out that everyone tried to help her and Todoroki, and how everyone was so panicked. When she finds out that all I did was sit there, I don't know if she'll want to see me."

"Young Midoriya-"

"She would do something for me! So why couldn't I do something for her?! If I can't even save someone I care about, how can I call myself a hero?"

"That's enough, Midoriya," All Might said sternly. "What you did is a natural response to a traumatic event."

"But it's never been like this! I've always been able to rush into combat and do something! But I just couldn't move, and I don't know why!"

"You and I both know why this time was different, young Midoriya," All Might said softly. "Maybe you can talk about it with young Ashido when you go to see her." He offered.

"If you'll excuse me, I have a board meeting to attend. We have to figure out what we're going to do about this incident."

"Let me come with you!" He begged. "I want to know what's going on! I owe it to my friends at least-"

"No!" The former Pro said finally. He didn't mean to raise his voice, but Midoriya flinched anyways.

"Midoriya, I'm sorry-"

"I'll just go," He cut in. "I'll see you around."

---
She was in the ICU for three days. She underwent minor surgery, but her recovery wasn't as smooth as planned.

Mina didn't wake up for about five days after her surgery and stayed in the ICU. Even when she woke up, she wasn't digesting food properly. The wound damaged her digestive tract badly. The school's surgeons agreed it would take two months until she was normal again. They suggested more medicine, which kept her asleep for most of her recovery.