Izuku was on edge the whole time that he and Eraserhead were fighting the villains. Normally, he would have gone back-to-back with the man and take out villains together, but Izuku had never fought with Eraser before, Rabbit was the one who could team up flawlessly with him. Not Izuku.
So he kept his distance and they picked off villains separately. A decision he regretted the moment he saw a blur and heard a loud crack.
Instantly turning his head, Izuku felt fear flood his body. He knew the thing, that Nomu was bad news. But he hadn't realized it was this bad. Eraser was pinned to the ground with a bleeding head, limp. And for a moment, Izuku feared he was too late.
Eraser shifted slightly and groaned a bit, and that allowed a brief relief to spread before pure rage took over his emotions. To make things more complicated, he spotted Hitoshi, Mei, and Tsu watching the whole thing from the side of the plaza.
When he finally got Hitoshi's attention, he signed quickly, thanking his paranoid ass that he taught his friend hero sign as part of his training months ago. He could use his friends as a way to make sure Eraserhead would be alright.
While the trio began to move quietly to an actual hiding spot behind him, Izuku engaged the Nomu. The thing was large and Izuku listens as Shigaraki began to boast about the beat as All Might level.
Had the situation not been this dire, Izuku might have had a feral grin on his face at the prospect of being able to fight something like that. Instead, his face was carefully blank while he twisted and flipped around the nomu. None of his attacks were doing anything, so he opted to keep this thing distracted until the other heroes showed up.
Shigarki was scratching his neck when Kurogiri told him a student escaped and Izuku inwardly smiled. Help would be here soon. But not soon enough it seemed.
"You aren't an NPC! How are you keeping pace with my nomu, impossible." The crusty villain began to break skin with his scratching while he stomped a foot, like a child. He suddenly froze and a grin spread across his face. "A cheat. You must be a cheater."
Izuku shivered and locked his eyes with the villain's red ones full of anger, violence, and interest. In that small moment. The Nomu landed a punch to his chest, and he was sent flying into a wall. He was now very grateful for his paranoia once again as he had worn a shock absorbent suit under his gym uniform. It still hurt obviously, but at least he wasn't dead.
That thought didn't last for long as he was grabbed by the nomu and thrown like a ragdoll. Pain shot through his whole body and through blurry vision, he saw Hitoshi and Mei, along with Tsu and now Aizawa, watching with wide, teary eyes. Well, Aizawa wasn't teary, dry eye and all.
And then, he saw Shigaraki notice them as well. He couldn't let them get hurt. 'GET UP' He willed his broken and burning body to move. The nomu had stopped slamming him around at some point, and seemed to think he was dead or about to be. And based on how Izuku currently felt, it was probably right.
But he didn't care. He rushed forward.
Shigaraki outstretched a hand to grab Tsu's face, and Izuku desperately pushed himself forward at the image of his new friend turning to dust.
But that image never came.
"You really are cool Eraser."
Izuku saw his chance and pounced on the villain, kicking his side hard enough that some cracks of his definitely broken ribs echoed. The villain did manage to wrap his hand round Izuku's arm before he went flying, losing use of his left arm. He was aware of his friends and the man he has come to see as a father figure's eyes. The fear in them, the worry. He must really look like shit.
Just as the villain was about to cry out for the nomu to get him, the doors of the building burst open, and the Number One hero himself came in. Without his smile.
And despite his distaste for the hero, Izuku slumped a bit in relief, even when the hero brought him and the other four to the top of the stairs.
While All Might was fighting the nomu, Izuku had more important things to do. First, he had to access the damage of both him and Eraser. Scanning the hero who was giving him a death glare, Izuku nodded. Hitoshi had done well, he only had to fix a few things.
"Problem Child..."
"Save your strength Eraser and don't fall asleep."
Izuku looked over himself and realized that his right shoulder dislocated at some point... huh. Throwing his arm and shoulder against the ground, he put it back into place with a sickening pop.
His vision was spotting black, and he knew that his friends and Eraser were probably talking to him right now, but it was as if cotton we in his ears. That didn't stop him from trying to help treat his dad's.... dad?... no, Aizawa's wounds until a gentle hand on his shoulder brought him back slightly.
"Izuku, you need to stop moving, I can treat Da- Sensei's wounds and you need it more right now."
He was about to argue with Hitoshi when more voices sounded through the cotton.
"Please Izu-kun."
"Problem child, you are in worse shape than me. The other heroes will be here soon, ok kid?"
He tried to nod; he really did. But his head wouldn't move back up, and his body felt weaker than it had ever been. None of his senses were working, he could tell people were talking and hands touching him, but it was so far away. Was he finally dying?
The thought made him chuckle humorlessly. After years of not caring about his life, if he died or not, he finally realized he didn't want to die. Not anymore. Toshi, Mei, Aizawa, Yamada, Yui, Sushi. He had a reason to live for now. But as he succumbed to the darkness, he could only think of one question.
"Who was going to feed Sushi?"
~ ~ ~
Hitoshi panicked when Izuku fell limp. A small 'shit' escaped his dad's mouth and he knew this wasn't good.
He tried to get his friend up, tears leaking out if his eyes. In his worry, he barely noticed when All Might defeated the creature, cheers ringing out. Nor was he fully aware of the other heroes arrival or the trip to the hospital. Pa had gone with dad while Hitoshi went with Izuku along with Mei. He told his pa to be ready to help Izuku just in case.
Hizashi was confused, but agreed as they didn't have much time. Hitoshi knew that some places refused to treat quirkless people, and he could only pray this wasn't such a place, that they would save his friend.
As soon as they arrived, Izuku was rushed off while Hitoshi was asked about his information. When it came to the quirk question, he hesitated before glaring challengingly at the nurse. "He's quirkless."
Her eyes widened in surprise before nodding quickly. "I won't say anything to the others besides the main doctor in charge. Don't worry, we won't turn him away." She flashed a small sympathetic smile and Hitoshi studied her before relaxing a bit.
"Thank you, I- I can't lose him." He spoke the last part softly, tears falling once more.
"Me neither." Mei rubbed his back while she also began to cry.
It wasn't until a few hours later that Hitoshi saw his pa walking towards them. Despite Mei being a relatively new addition to their group, it felt like she was always there, and the three of them hugged. While his pa was explaining his dad's injuries and that he would be ok, Hitoshi nodded along in relief. That was until the nurse from earlier approached with a sad and scared look on her face.
"How is Izuku?" Hitoshi blurted out, desperation clear in his voice, but he didn't care.
The nurse gave a small smile before answering. "He is stable and should make a full recovery but..." She trialed off and pa tapped his foot anxiously.
"But?"
"But... the higher ups want him out of here as soon as surgery is done. They- they said they can't waste their resources on a q-quirkless."
At the end of her report, the three stared at her, baffled and bristling in anger. Meanwhile, the nurse was crying.
"P-please, if you know anywhere that could take him, he can't recover without proper help healing. I- I tried to convince them, but they want him gone by tomorrow."
Hizashi was pale while Mei was glaring at the ground as if she was making murder plans for the people who ordered this while Hitoshi closed his eyes before deciding to break the silence. "We should go check on him..."
As they approached his room, Hitoshi heard several whispers among the staff about 'keeping a quirkless.' As if he wasn't human. To make it worse, they were all speculating that he 'got in the way' so he 'deserved it'.
Based on his pa and Mei's faces, he knew they heard it too. Then they heard someone say he should have just died. Mei was the first to react.
"HOW DARE YOU! IZUKU IS A CHILD AND WAS MORE OF A HERO THAN ANY OF YOU WILL EVER BE. HE DEFENDED ALL OF US AND WITHOUT HIM, MOST OF US WOULD BE DEAD." She spat, silencing everyone in the hall.
Hitoshi squared his shoulders. "We saw it firsthand. He fought with his life to keep us all safe."
Next was Hizashi, whose voice was cold and dangerously level. President Mic wasn't yelling, and his voice wasn't full of positive emotion for once. "None of you have the right to act this way. Izuku is a child, and innocent child and you, you all think he is worthless? He is far from it. My husband, a pro hero like myself, and several other kids wouldn't be alive without him. Have some human decency and stop treating a child like some kind of vermin."
After walking off, the people remained silent. Some looked angry while most others guilty. But the trio didn't care, they had to visit Izuku.
~ ~ ~
A/N: Don't worry, Nezu loves his Bunny and won't let anyone get away with this ;)