Nejire woke to find a slight weight on her stomach. She gently raised the covers to find Eri was sleeping there, probably having had snuck into the bed sometime during the night. The little girl had, although she used to be alright on her own, after discovering the extent of Izuku's injuries she had started struggling a little more. Nejire smiled sombrely as she began waking up, cuddling Eri a little and leaving the girl tucked in as she carefully slipped out from underneath her.
She did make sure to put the pair of stuffed soft toys of herself and Izuku in their respective hero costumes in her place though; Yaoyorozu was an absolute saint and not just because she could put up with Bakugo as much as she did.
As she changed out of her pyjamas and into a casual shirt and pair of shorts for the day, she stretched. And as she finished waking up, she remembered.
She rushed down the stairs ignoring the yells from her classmates, probably the first time she had ever skipped breakfast as she began flying as soon as she left the building, the yellow trails of her energy quirk behind her as she zipped across the school.
It took less than a minute for her to make it to the infirmary. Normally Recovery Girl would be there, but not at this time of morning. After all, the Youthful Heroine needed her beauty sleep.
Nejire however, stood outside the door to the infirmary for several minutes, pacing. She wanted to know. But she was so, so scared. Of both bad and good.
If he was still asleep, and it hadn't had worked, she didn't know what she would do. Probably cry a lot again. Probably be found by Recovery Girl, partially dehydrated again and passed out by Izuku's side.
But if he was awake, she'd be excited, ecstatic, jubilant. But she wasn't sure what she'd do. Laugh? Smile? She wasn't quite sure.
She took a deeply breathed in and swung the door into the infirmary open, making her way down the unfortunately all too familiar halls through the infirmary to Izuku's dedicated room off to the side.
At some point they had started writing small get well wishes on the walls there, friends, family, classmates and teachers alike. It was sweet, everyone had their unique writing or message. There was plenty of permanent marker, some paint, a welded one, lots of bits and pieces here and there. Nejire felt somewhat hopeful again, and dared place her hand on the door knob.
She gripped it tightly, her knuckles whitening slightly before releasing a breath she didn't realise she was holding.
She gently opened the door and refused to look forward, keeping her eyes firmly on the handle as she closed it, turning with it after having crossed into the other room.
"N-ne-ji-re?" A voice rasped. It was incredibly dry sounding, she could basically feel the dryness of his throat, but it was an unmistakable voice.
It was Izuku's.
Nejire was shocked, at a standstill. Tears were landing onto the floor. And there before her, lay Izuku in the hospital sheets and bandages.
"Wa-t-er?" Izuku asked, breaking Nejire out of her thoughts. She wanted desperately to be selfish, to take him in her arms and never let go again, to kiss him until she needed air.
But she didn't know how long he had been awake, how long he must've been stuck there, uncertain, probably scared, unable to do anything but lie and sleep. But he had probably slept himself out.
She nodded quickly and ran off to get a bottle of water, one of the many Recovery Girl always kept around. She held back more tears as she rushed back to Izuku's side, gently helping him drink the water.
After doing so, Nejire sat in silence by Izuku's side, whose breathing shallow and somewhat laboured. He couldn't sit up on account of injuries and all the machinery connected to him, nor could he turn his head but his eyes were looking at Nejire best he could.
Nejire felt like it was the first time seeing him injured all over again, Izuku helpless before her.
And all she could do was cry.
She began sobbing into his chest, and felt his incredibly scarred hand gently run through her hair. It was probably one of the best feelings since his comatose state. His hand was shaky and unsteady, but it was the most reassuring thing to her.
Nejire wrapped her arms across Izuku's body, still sitting by his side as she gently held him, her face buried in his chest and tears soaking his bandages. He didn't care and neither did she, both were just happy to be together properly again.
Nejire wasn't sure how long had passed. It was probably a while all things considered. She was just lying peacefully on Izuku's chest, listening to his heartbeat and feeling his chest rise and fall with his breathing as he gently stroked her hair.
And they just remained in each others' presence, embracing the comfortable silence.
Eventually Recovery Girl came in to see the sight of the two, causing her to chuckle slightly, and asking Nejire to move briefly so that she could check up on Izuku.
Nejire did so after a moment of hesitation, still remaining just next to him however as Recovery Girl moved the bed down and began to unravel some of the bandages. It was a slow process, one that Izuku was wincing throughout as he had to raise and lower his body in various ways to assist the process.
Nejire helped Recovery Girl with shifting Izuku, and also helped the boy cope with the pain. Part of the reason Recovery Girl gave Nejire this job was because she knew that the girl would be single minded about it, focusing on that so Recovery Girl could assess the injuries without Nejire freaking out.
After all, they were bad injuries. Dozens, if not hundreds of scars would litter Izuku's body forever. Some were worse than others, but in general they were fairly shallow.
Recovery Girl could tell that Izuku was more than aware of the extent of his injuries, as he looked a little pale; and that definitely wasn't due to any other reason for it. He cast his eyes away from the injuries on his torso as the bandages continued to be unravelled all the way down to his waist, the normally not squeamish boy feeling a little queasy.
Recovery Girl did let Nezu now that the boy was now awake, however gave him the role of collecting Aizawa to stop any other students suddenly entering whilst they were in the process of removing the bandages, and before Izuku could either cover up, or get really comfortable with his many new scars.
After taking the bandages off, Recovery Girl sent Nejire off to bin them whilst passing Izuku a hospital shirt, one that would be loose and not rub against his injuries whilst being enough to hide all his injuries, as it was long sleeve.
And the moment Nejire returned, a wave of people followed her. First off was, unsurprisingly Bakugo. Followed closely by Yaoyorozu (who was scolding him a fair amount). Following closely was Tamaki, carrying Eri, and Mirio. Then, came in Nezu on Aizawa's shoulder.
All to be scolded by Recovery Girl, who was yelling at them viciously, except for Eri who she let through because Eri melted everyone's hearts, for daring to disturb her patient who was literally until hours ago in a coma and whose injuries weren't even close to being healed.
Meanwhile, Eri was gently hugging Izuku whilst Nejire was holding the boy's hand, who was still lying down on the bed. But even then, he smiled. He was happy.
Days passed and Izuku was visited by classmates and many other teachers, all leaving him with small wishes. With each passing day he got better, and Eri was always by his side. She often helped Recovery Girl doing small things, helping feed Izuku, and keeping him entertained (and Izuku would admit, she put on very dramatic and pretty darn good puppet plays).
Nejire would be there whenever she could, however she still had to stay on top of school work. Something she... hadn't really been doing so well lately. The teachers understood, but now that he was awake she needed to catch up.
This meant she would be in the same room before and after school, always holding Izuku's hand as she went through the work she had to; ranging from maths to ethical questions. It was a small gesture, but he really appreciated it.
In a sense, it was grounding. It brought his mind off the pain of his injuries, and helped him smile more. Recovery Girl had steadily begun taking him off of the painkillers to avoid any potential issues. But it did mean he was becoming more aware of the pain; Recovery Girl had warned him that it would last a while but it was going to be grating on his mental health.
This was something she had already made Nejire and a few of his close friends aware of, that it may eat him from within, even if not literally.
But the sweet smile of Nejire, and Eri's beaming one would definitely inspire him to give a shaky one back.
Soon a week passed and Izuku was able to sit up without causing any pain, beyond the constant slight pain of his wounds.
After Recovery Girl had performed an MRI scan on him, she cleared him for extremely simple work, as to not stress him too much that may cause him to unconsciously activate his quirk or any drastic change in any other vital signs.
And so, he was helping teach Eri some basic maths and comprehension, only sitting up for so long before the little girl insisted it was time for him to rest (funnily enough, it was whenever they got to division or spelling but Izuku let it slide), at which point she would cater to his food and drinks - only incredibly simple foods at this point so Lunch Rush had taught Eri how to do things like cook rice, which was adorable because the little girl couldn't even reach to the counter with the rice cooker on it so she needed to use a step - and read to him some of her stories.
Some were more simple, some a little more complex and he'd have to help her with the new characters, but she persevered. It was inspiring in its own way honestly.
Another week went by and more progress came along steadily. He was still bound to the bed but Nejire had gotten back on top of her work so (when Eri wasn't looking) would pepper Izuku with kisses, because frankly she missed being able to do that.
Whilst he wasn't really able to respond, the blush on his face said it all to his girlfriend, who just giggled and beamed.
With the passing of the third week, Izuku was starting to be able to do more things. The pain was still there and slightly wearing at him but he managed to get himself to do some of the class work he missed.
Although Nezu assured him that he didn't need to worry about it as he was well ahead of literally everyone in the school, including most teachers, eventually he convinced Nezu to let him do some theory work, simply talking to some of the teachers in various subject areas.
Nezu chuckled slightly as he remembered how Ectoplasm had returned after an hour long session, the normally more stoic hero heading straight to the staff room couch and collapsing, telling them how Izuku was excitedly talking to him about the mathematical theory that meant Izuku would be able to precisely predict how much energy he was using on a basis depending on his throughput and especially appreciated Aizawa yelling across the room (from his sleeping bag) "That's why he's a problem child!"
And as the first month came to a close, Izuku was able to, with Recovery Girl's very, very watchful eye, he was allowed to stand, and for the first time in over a month, was able to leave the room.
With Nejire by his side, he watched the sun set with a tearful eye.
Ready for the new day to dawn.