Stop That Flame, Hide That Power

9. What If?

When Midoriya awoke, we was in a hospital bed. His left arm was wrapped up in a cast, he had a plaster on his nose, he had a bandage wrapped around his head and his whole body was aching and stiff. He started to be aware of his surroundings, noticing that he was in the room alone, although were plenty of neatly made beds next to and across from him.

As he looked around, he started remembering how he'd ended up in the hospital. While he was glad that seemingly no others from his class were hurt, to the severity he was at least, he was also distraught as he remembered what had happened to his childhood friend. His body shook slightly as he tried to push himself up, a strangled sob making its way out.

He just sat there for a few minutes, crying, uselessly wiping his eyes every few tears, avoiding any contact with his nose. That was the state Iida, Kirishima and Todoroki found him in when they entered his room.

Iida and Kirishima immediately rushed to his side, surprised he was awake and sobbing, while Todoroki stood awkwardly to the side. He didn't want to get involved with emotions right now.

It was quiet, other than Midoriya's hiccups as he tried to stifled his tears. Surprisingly, Todoroki was the first one to speak.

"You tried your best, but we couldn't have stopped them."

"Todoroki, now isn't the time--" Iida started, but Todoroki raised his hand, stopping him, all while still staring at Midoriya.

"I was there. I know what happened. Didn't you notice how his shouting just stopped? Wouldn't he have put up a fight before getting into that tattooed guys hands? Something isn't adding up." He lowered his head, bangs overshadowing his eyes and he put a finger to his chin. This was when Kirishima turned to Midoriya, a glint of excitement in his eyes.

"Me and Todoroki were here yesterday to check up on you and the others-" Midoriya wondered how long he'd been unconscious for, and how many other of his classmates were in the hospital, "-And we went to Yaoyorozu's room. It turns out one of the criminals stole her phone, which she can track down."

"What are you saying...?" Midoriya wasn't really following, but Iida looked revolted.

"If that criminal is in the same place Bakugo is, then the phone will show the location! We're going to get him back, Midoriya. We're going to save him." Kirishima's eyes shone with tears and Midoriya gasped, this shred of hope could be enough..!

"No! Absolutely not!" Iida's hands flew about, his eyebrows creased together and a frown plastered on his face. "What do you think the school will do if they find out? Just because Aizawa is in hospital, doesn't mean he can't expel us."

"Wait, how is Aizawa? Who else is in hospital? How long was I out for? I still don't know what's wrong with my arm or nose." Midoriya listed off the questions that had been plaguing his mind since the boys had come in. He could take a guess at the bandage, but the others could be anything.

"Erm... Aizawa.. He isn't looking good, but we asked the doctors and they said that he should recover..." Kirishima trailed off, like he didn't believe it himself. Iida sighed, hoping that that was the end of their conversation of Bakugo's rescue, before speaking in Kirishima's place.

"Not many students sustained hospital worthy injuries, just you and Yaoyorozu."

"What about Shoji?" Midoriya asked quietly, remembering vividly the boys bloody and charred hoodie where an arm should have been.

"What was that?"

"What about Shoji? He lost his arm while we were fighting this body builder criminal."

"Oh. Last thing I knew, Shoji had both his arms?"

"I saw him earlier, Midoriya. He said the doctors were able to make a really realistic fake arm for him." Todoroki added himself into the conversation. Midoriya nodded, still skeptical.