hero's shadow // mha

50) live to win

Izuku bats his friend's arm away with his less injured hand, teeth gritted. Let me get up by myself. You can't aid a criminal, Todoroki. Dummy.

"Them first," is what comes out instead, the words wobbly. "Treat Native."

"Iida is helping him. I need to treat you," Todoroki counters, surprisingly firm. When Izuku gives him a look, the boy just shakes his head. "Let me help you," he rephrases. "You—you got hit in the stomach, right? I need to see how bad it is."

Todoroki's brows are furrowed in concentration. His heterochromatic eyes shine with some unclear emotion, and he seems equally as out of breath. It's almost comforting.

The moment stretches on for a private eternity where they both hold the other's gaze captive, refusing to shatter the tension building and building while Todoroki waits for his go ahead, neither of them ready to back down.

And the tension would've kept on building, really, had another wave of pain not caused Izuku to cry out and lie back down on the asphalt. Shit. He's running out of time. He won't be able to make it out before he gets caught.

'Zawa is gonna kill me.

There's a vibration in his mind, and voice number seven speaks for the first time in a while. I'd worry more about Sorahiko, kiddo. But you did good. Let your friends help.

I'm gonna get them in trouble.

There's a negative hum. They'll be fine.

After a few moments of hesitation where he wrestles with his own thoughts and feelings to come up with a decision, Izuku finally looks away from Todoroki and moves his bloodied arm out of the way of his stomach, a clear invitation.

Todoroki takes a sharp inhale. "Thank you."

Izuku grits his teeth, trying to focus on breathing in through his nose to keep his noises down.

Careful fingers move his jacket to the side and lift up his undershirt, which is now matted with dark blood. Todoroki's hands hover over the wound, the heat of his palms sending goosebumps over Izuku's skin as he gets closer.

Antiseptic is taken out of a utility belt, and the blood that's crusting up around the slice is gently wiped away. Soft hands brush against Izuku, and the boy turns his face to the side to watch Iida and Native help each other.

He's never actually done this before. Willingly let someone take a look at his injuries, he means. Even with Aizawa, Izuku has never let him this close. Not when he has a wound like this, to be more specific . Whenever he got injured on patrol to this degree, which was a rare occurrence, to be fair, Izuku would either hide it or head out by himself early to take care of it. It's not about trust, really. Maybe it's about pride. Maybe it's fear.

Even the Doctor at the club was never allowed to see him like this. Izuku only went to him for medicine for a broken bone or to help him fix his stitches—and that was only when he was still learning and didn't know how to do them correctly.

There have only been a couple times where another member of the Club has taken him to see the Doc against his will to take care of something serious.

And so here, with Todoroki seeing more of Izuku, both emotionally and physically, than most people out there... It's weird. Not quite bad. But just unusual.

Actually. Maybe it is a trust thing.

Maybe he's allowing this because he can see it in Todoroki's eyes. The intensity. The genuineness. The determined gleam mixed with desperation.