A/N: This is another loss. I ended up writing almost everything here. Chat gpt just couldn't understand what I wanted from it so I just gave up and used what it gave me to practically write it all myself.
That being said, I'm not giving up. I'm determined to see this dare through to the bitter end.
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Present Mic rushes to the kitchen and finds his husband lifting Izuku off the ground, instructing Eri to stay in the living room. Without hesitation, Aizawa takes Izuku in his arms and runs out the door, Hitoshi following close behind. Before Mic can even begin to ask what was going on the door is shut in his face.
He quickly turns the corner and is met with a chilling sight—the floor stained a crimson red, a half-prepped meal abandoned on the counter, a blood stained rag laying on the side of the sink- something is very wrong.
With urgency, he sends Eri to her room to pack a small bag for an impromptu "sleepover", instructing her to gather some essentials for Izuku and Hitoshi as well since they left in a hurry and forgot to bring anything.
While Eri is preoccupied, Mic begins to strategize. He reaches for his phone and dials Mirio's number, aware that Mirio has a special way of comforting Eri and would be the perfect person to take care of her while they visit Izuku in the hospital. Mirio answers the call promptly.
"Hey, Mirio! We're heading to the hospital to see Izuku, and I was wondering if you could lend a hand by looking after Eri. She's a bit anxious about hospitals."
Mirio's voice carried his concern. "Oh, of course, Mic! I'll be there right away. Poor Eri must be worried. I'll make sure to take good care of her."
"Thanks, Mirio. You're a lifesaver," Mic said gratefully before ending the call.
Mic gets to work scrubbing the blood off the floor, worry rising in his chest as he realizes just how much blood there is. The tears streaming down his face make lines down his bloodstained hands. When he's done he tosses grabs a few things for himself and his husband before calling bakugou and todoroki. They both picked up, and Mic didn't waste any time getting to the point.
"Hey, Katsuki, Shoto. Izuku had a bit of a scare earlier tonight, and he's in the hospital now. We're going to visit him. You guys want to come with?"
Bakugou's voice was filled with concern. "What happened to the damn nerd?! Is he okay?!"
"I don't know," Mic reassured him. "Aizawa and Hitoshi are with him now. I'll explain in the car, you in or not?"
Todoroki's voice was calm as usual. "I'll come along. I hope he's doing alright."
"Good. He'll be glad to see you both there. Eri and Mirio might be coming with too," Mic replied before promptly hanging up to a barrage of Bakugou's worried screams.
He finishes just in time for Eri to come down the stairs, dragging two large backpacks behind her with a smaller one on her back. Eri realizes something serious is going on and decides not to ask questions. Mic sits Eri down and starts to explain.
"Hey Eri. Something happened with Izuku and he has to stay the night at the hospital. Dad and Hitoshi are already there with him. I know you hate hospitals, so I called Mirio and he's on his way. He should be here any second now. I'm giving you two options here and whatever you pick I want you to know that it's all going to be ok. If you want to visit deku at the hospital you can come with me. If you'd prefer to stay away from the hospital you can go stay the night with mirio or mirio can stay the night with you here. It's up to you, but I kinda need a decision soon ok kiddo?"
Eri nods.
"Hospitals are scary... but I really want to see Izu-Chan and make sure he's alright. If I have you with me I think I can be brave like Deku. I can do it!"
"Yeah you can kiddo! That's the spirit!"
Mic gives an enthusiastic high-five and playfully ruffles eri's hair.
There's a knock at the door.
Mic goes to open it and invites mirio inside . Mirio greeted them with a warm smile and assured Eri that he would take good care of her while they visited Izuku.
"Are you ready to go see deku, Eri-Chan?"
Eri still a bit afraid, nodded bravely and held Mirio's hand tightly.
With everything sorted out, Mic tells Eri that they're going to pick up a few other friends along the way.
Present Mic stops at the UA dorms to pick up Bakugou and Todoroki, who both seemed anxious to see their friend. Bakugou opens his mouth to threaten mic for answers, then sees Eri in the backseat and promptly shuts up. Todoroki joins Mirio and Eri in the back and Bakugou takes the front, grumpily sitting next to Mic. As the night drags on they drive in an uneasy silence. Mic's phone lights up with a barrage of unread messages from Shota Aizawa. The silence is broken.
"I need answers. Now." Bakugou growls in a grave tone.
"If I had answers, I would have told you already. Look, just take my phone and read. I haven't had the chance to yet and we all need to know what we're getting ourselves into."
Mic hands the phone to Katsuki, subtly hinting to Mirio to cover Eri's ears. Mirio gives Eri his headphones and tells her to listen to this new song he found for her. Bakugou starts with the first text if the night.
"Hi this is Hitoshi. We're taking Izuku to the hospital. Im sure you saw why. Just take care of Eri. We'll send updates."
"Why the fuck is eyebags there" bakugou interjects.
"He's our son just keep reading" Mic said in a stern tone. In the back seat Todoroki's eyes widened as he whispered something to himself. Mirio could barely make out something about a "secret love child" which confused him, so he decided to ignore it and move on, which was fairly easy as Bakugou continued to read the texts.
"Ok fine then, moving on"
"Mic: What happened?! I saw the blood. Is he ok?!
Aizawa: Sorry, didn't even think of telling you what was going on until we got to the waiting room and they took him away.
Mic: That's ok, just start from the beginning please.
Aizawa: He was helping with dinner when he started coughing then collapsed. When I turned around Hitoshi was holding him and he was covered in blood and christ he was so fucking pale. He was barely breathing. If it wasn't for his faint heartbeat I would have thought I was holding a corpse.
Aizawa: We just got here and they took him away and Hitoshi is freaking out and I'm freaking out and oh god please tell me you kept Eri from seeing the blood."
The car was bathed in an uneasy silence.
"So this is really it, huh?" Bakugou whimpered, "he's dying isn't he? He's dead, that's why we're here right?"
Todoroki held a blank glazed over expression as tears slipped down his cheeks, lost in thought, trapped in memory. Mirio had just experienced emotional whiplash and was too stunned to speak. Thankfully, Mic stepped in with a bit of logic to reign the group back in.
"No... no this can't be the end. He's not dead. Calm down Katsuki. We don't know what happened yet just keep reading."
Bakugou wiped away tears and took a deep breath. "Yeah, Yeah I guess you're right. We wouldn't be going to see him if he was dead... besides, deku's fucking strong. Nerd doesn't know how to die. He always bounces back."
He took one more deep breath before continuing.
"Aizawa: We're still waiting for news. I told Hitoshi about his condition, figured he deserved to know. I'll keep you updated"
Bakugou nearly exploded the phone in his blind rage.
"Hold up. You're telling me he's lived with you for a little over a full ass week and you never even thought of telling his adoptive brother about it? He could have died!"
Mic gave an exasperated sigh, rather out of character for the hero. He briefly wondered if his husband, the master of all sighs, would be proud of him, probably not.
"Just shut up and read the new text or so help me I will turn this car around, drop your sorry ass right back off at UA, and see Izuku without you." Mic was pissed, which was rare for Mic, but made sense given the circumstances.
The most recent message read:
"This is Hitoshi. Dad is talking with the doctor now. I'll let you know what they say."
The dreaded three dots plague the corner of the screen and Bakugou is just about ready to blow up the phone when the new message lights up the screen.
"Fucking finally!"
Bakugou grumbles.
"What does it say?" Mic grumbles, annoyed with his temporary front seat informant.
The texts reads:
"He's stable. They're letting us see him. It's not his illness. It's just an infection and should go away after a few days of proper treatment."
A collective sigh relieves the tense atmosphere of the car as they wait at another red light.
"Thank god. If the nerd died I'd have to kill him myself"
"But wouldn't he already be-"
"Shut it half and half bastard. You know what I meant"
Everyone is relieved at the news. Everyone, except Mirio that is, who has just regained his ability to speak. He didn't understand, but he knew that whatever it was it was serious. Something is seriously wrong here, he just hopes he's wrong about the vivid picture his mind has painted of the dismal scene that lies ahead. He hesitates for a second before speaking up.
"Hey Mic? Can someone please fill me in... I'm so lost and you're really starting to worry me..."
"Oh, right... you don't know... um, anyone else willing to explain?"
"Icy Hot it's your turn" Bakugou grumbles.
"Me? Ok." Todoroki turned to face Mirio in the back seat, "So basically Midoriya is sick and It's killing him. He has a terminal Illness and there's no cure. Last we heard he had 2 years left, but one of the final symptoms before death occurs is coughing up blood, which is why Bakugou was freaking out. Everyone is relieved because it was just an infection which is curable and likely won't kill him, unlike his disease, which is definitely going to kill him."
Mirio's expression was akin to the blue screen of death. Mirio.exe stopped working. He just couldn't process it. How could someone so nice be given such a horrific fate? What about his role as the symbol of peace? What about his destiny? His dreams? What about his mom? This must be killing her.
"His poor mom."
Todoroki paled.
"Ummm... about that, Mic I think it's your turn"
"Fine. So Inko Midoriya died two years ago and Shota's problem child, living up to his name, decided not to tell anyone that he was living alone. He didn't want to be put in foster care because he didn't want to leave UA. We just found out a week ago. He's been staying with us and is now officially Eri's older brother."
"Uh... oh.. ok."
Mirio feels his heart breaking. Knowing Midoriya was struggling like this all alone crushes him.
Eri turns towards Mirio to thank him for the music only to find him crying.
"What's wrong Miri-Chan?"
"Nothing Eri, I'm fine, just a bit sad is all."
Eri tilted her head in curiosity and concern.
"Why are you sad?"
Mirio paused for a moment, carefully choosing his words.
"I'm a bit worried about a friend. He's been hurt but never told me, so I'm sad he had to do it all alone."
"Oh, like what Toshi said to Izu when he told us about his mom?"
"Yeah... I didn't know about it and your papa just told me, I'm thankful I get to know about it, but knowing my friends are hurting and won't let me help makes me sad."
Mirio gave a sad smile to try to cheer Eri up, but she saw straight through it.
"Is Izuchan hurt?"
"Kinda" Todoroki responds, "He's not hurt like what you've seen before with the villains. The hurt is on the inside this time, so it's harder to see."
Eri thought for a second before a moment of realization struck her.
"Is Izuchan sick?"
"Yes, yes dear. Izuku is sick"
Mic replied, trying his best to mask his pain.
"Oh... when is he gonna be all better again?"
The car goes silent. No one dares to speak a word, which frightens Eri.
"I'm sorry....He is getting better right?"
Mic doesn't have the heart to tell her the truth, so he gives a half lie, hoping she would be satisfied with the answer for now. "Of course he's getting better! This is just a small infection, it's nothing near what we expected. He'll be just fine for now."
Eri seems skeptical, but let's it go for now.
Bakugou glares at Mic with a scoff and Eri gives Mirio a hug to make him stop crying. He pats her head with a reassuring grin showing eri that he's all better now.
They eventually arrive at the hospital, and as they entered Izuku's room. Eri's eyes fill with tears as she sees her hero lying in the hospital bed.
"Deku!" she cried, her voice filled with fear.
Izuku smiled weakly at her. "Hey, Eri-chan. I'm okay, really."
Eri took a deep breath, trying to be brave. "I'm here to support you, Izuchan!"
"Thanks Eri-Chan. I feel better already," Izuku said softly, reaching out to ruffle her hair gently.
It's a wholesome moment and Aizawa can't help but smile at the exchange, even with the immense pain his problem child is in he still manages to stay kind and put others first.
Then the moment dies a horrible death as Izuku starts coughing and Mirio takes eri out of the room, distracting her by saying they need to go get a nurse to make deku feel better.
Izuku's coughs grow more violent and Hitoshi is struck by a terrifying sense of deja vu, knowing Izuku is about to cough up more blood.
Aizawa clings tightly to midoriya's hand and Hitoshi runs to get tissues, making it just in time for Izuku to use them to catch the blood.
Mic winces while Bakugou and Todoroki stare in shock at the flowing crimson that stains Izuku's hands. Izuku turns to them, clearly light headed, blood still flowing from his mouth, giving a weak "I'm fine" Before passing out. Mirio returns just in time with a doctor and everyone but Aizawa is pushed out of the room.