All For Some

Chapter 70: Shadows Left Behind

Izuku stopped fighting the pain and let himself lay down. He leaned on the Calm Mind to block pain and concerns out of his mind and focus on the sounds of the others as he let his eyes rest for a moment.

A couple of running steps approaching, heavy breaths. Surprisingly Shoto spoke first, not quite next to Izuku yet.

"Are," a pause, "you okay?"

Silence.

"Eijiro?" Hitoshi asked this time.

"I'm okay, just..."

Sounds of him scrambling up and running steps approaching.

"Izuku is hurt," there was a thud of knees hitting the asphalt and it did not sound like they were stone as they hit this time.

"What happened?" Hitoshi asked.

"He was like this when I arrived."

The tourniquet Eijiro had been placing before got pulled so tight the Calm Mind, and extensive experience from shattering bones, were the only things preventing Izuku from shouting.

"I mean he was conscious then," Eijiro's voice was getting more panicky.

"Hss," Izuku hissed, both hoping for some silence and trying to calm the redhead who usually calmed him. "I'm still conscious."

"Oh, that's a relief."

"Go check on Tenya. Don't worry about me," Izuku commanded.

"Sounds like himself at least. Good to know he didn't get hit in the head too hard," Hitoshi tried to ease the situation, but the words were forced, and his worried tone didn't really do it. "I'll go check on him."

"He got hit by Stain's quirk. It's why he can't move."

"Izuku," Hitoshi said with a harsher tone, "you are laying in your own blood. Focus on yourself for once."

Izuku shut up as Hitoshi left, just laying there as Eijiro and Shoto worked to stem his bleeding.

"It's going to be okay," Eijiro said again, but it wasn't clear for whose sake.

"It will be now," Izuku said quietly, but with much more confidence. "Great job, sword breaking hero Red Riot."

"More like bone breaking," Eijiro muttered under his breath.

"Life saving," Izuku corrected. "Not just me and Tenya, he tried to go for Hitoshi."

"I know. I..." Eijiro's voice broke, and he pressed some bandages on another wound. Izuku thought about letting it go for the moment, until he wasn't bleeding, but he didn't want to leave Eijiro's current thoughts as the end of the conversation. Had to at least have a distraction.

"Shoto," he said.

"I'm here. Are you sure you are going to be okay?"

"Yes, but can you do one thing for me."

"Yes."

"Slap Ei for me."

Silence.

"Just a soft slap. It won't hurt him. He just had a sword break on his neck."

The slap was barely audible, but it was there. After a short pause Eijiro kept dressing Izuku's wounds.

"Are those men...?" Shoto asked.

"Not dead," Izuku said as briefly as possible. He didn't want to talk about Native to not expose anything by accident.

"I'll go check on them."