Fingers Crossed

Izuku panted, his heart pounding as he stared at the mess in front of him. He could hear everything and yet nothing at the same time, an incessant ringing in his ears overshadowing his hearing before buzzing into the background. He coughed, ignoring the scarlet liquid that hit the ground and wiping his mouth.

How did it end up like this?

He staggered up to his feet, gritting his teeth as a sharp pain shot up his side. He clutched his side, hoping to subdue the pain a bit. He leaned on his right leg to keep most of his weight of his left. It was swollen, probably fractured or broken. He couldn't feel it, but he didn't want to injure it worse than it already was.

His eyes traveled over the destruction, settling on a figure slumped against a building. His lips parted as a grunt escaped him, moving as best as he could to reach them. He got frustrated, opting to ignore his common sense and began to walk as fast as he could on both of his feet. He couldn't move faster than a fast walk, his side flaring up with each stride.

He could only focus on the figure against the wall. Ash blonde hair covered in grime, black eye mask in tatters, grenade gauntlets cracked and blood . . .

Why was there so much blood?

He reached Bakugo, his free arm reaching towards the blonde. He stumbled forward, his heart pounding in fear for his childhood friend as he caught himself on the wall. His leg had given out beneath him, twisting at a weird angle. He pressed his back against the wall, sliding down with a hiss to sit next to his rival. He tried to check for breathing, but his eyes were slightly blurred, making it hard to know if he was really seeing movement in the blonde's chest. His hand released his torso to press two fingers against the elder's jugular, feeling for a pulse.

It pulsed faintly beneath his fingers. Faintly, but steady. He closed his eyes and sighed in relief. He didn't close them for long, the adrenaline pumping through his veins was keeping his pain at bay. He could only see his external injuries, his major ones his torso and his ankle. But internally . . .

He didn't know how long he would be able to stay awake.

He shuffled closer to Bakugo, searching him to see where the blood was coming from. He frowned as the only wound he saw was the one on the back of the blonde's head. His condition could worsen if Izuku moved him but he could worsen if he didn't check to see how bad his head injury was. As gently as he could, he tilted the blonde's head forward, forcing his eyes to focus on the injury. It seemed to have just knocked the blonde out.

It wasn't his blood.

Izuku was glad. He didn't know if the blonde had been injured anywhere else so he made sure that the area was clear around him before struggling to his feet. A bit of sweat traveled down his face with the effort, hitting the cracked pavement beneath his red shoes. He used the wall to help get himself fully on his feet, ignoring as pain hit his body everywhere.

He looked around, searching for more people that might be injured. He caught sight of another figure about five meters ahead of him, laying on their side. There didn't seem to be any blood, but that didn't mean that they were okay. Luckily, his ankle was still numb and the rest of his body seemed to follow, slowly numbing the pain.

His hand went back to his torso, blood still leaking out of the injury. He needed to find something to press against it. He couldn't be bleeding out while he was trying to help people. There were so many other things to do than give in to his injuries. He didn't have time to be dealing with them when he could be helping others. He supposed he should find something to splint his leg with as well, so he wouldn't have to worry about his ankle giving out on him.