A Wallflower's Thorns

16

The hospital room is lonely, now that everyone is gone. Izuku thinks about it as he stares out the window. Todoroki got discharged first, Iida second. Doctors want to keep an eye on Izuku’s recovering leg a little longer. He can’t complain. The longer he stays here, the longer he can put off the crowd of reporters likely waiting at home.

Mom visits when she can before and after work. Izuku feels bad because the hospital adds half an hour to her commute. She tells him to shush. He does. 

In between her visits he has checkups. The nurse will check Izuku’s stitches, jot down what he finds on that clipboard of his, and leave. He’s the only consistent human interaction Izuku has besides his mom. Which leads back to his first point: he’s lonely. 

Izuku starts entertaining little scenarios in his head. Mostly about what will happen when he gets discharged. Han’s going to be so mad when he gets back. Izuku has a lot of silent treatment in his future. Mom won’t let him out of her sight for a few days, that much is given, and he’ll feel like a terrible son the entire time for making her worry. He’s resigned to his fate.

The nurse knocks on the door frame, peeking his head in. “I’ve got lunch!” he announces cheerfully, bringing in a tray of hospital food from the cafeteria. “Also, you have a visitor.”

Izuku looks up from his phone right as a familiar face follows in after the nurse. The startled sound that catches in his throat is in no way flattering. “Todoroki!” Izuku fumbles putting his phone away. “H-hi!”

Todoroki takes a seat in one of the visitor chairs, flashing a quick smile that does things to Izuku's heart. It’s a nice smile, sue him. “Iida wanted to visit, but Manual has been swamping him with paperwork.”

Yeah, that makes sense. “What about you?” Izuku asks, picking up his utensils to dig in. “Is Endeavor being difficult?”

“No, he’s been tolerable.” Todoroki’s lips quirk up, “Though if that changes, you can just trip him again.”

Izuku chokes on his noodles. Oh my god, he really went and forgot about that. “I-I-”

“It was surprising.” Todoroki continues, “I could have sworn that we were alone in that hallway, but then there you were.” He keeps his eyes on Izuku’s face, watching his reaction. “Your Quirk, it’s not just super strength, is it?” 

Izuku stares at Todoroki with the absolute guiltiest deer-in-the-headlights expression. He’s gone a decade hiding notice-me-not, and now someone’s catching on. Has he really been that careless? “...what?”

“It would explain how you got those hits on Stain. One moment you were there, then you were gone. Exactly like in the hallway.” Todoroki keeps his cool the entire time, that’s what’s getting to Izuku the most. He could understand if Todoroki was mad, but he’s not, he’s just stating observations. Izuku doesn’t know what to do with that.

“...” Izuku has a choice. He could lie, or he could tell the truth. Lying will only make Todoroki more suspicious, and the truth? He’d never believe it. So Izuku takes option number three. “My Quirk isn’t like my parents’ at all.” He fiddles with the edge of the blanket. “Mom has telekinesis, dad can breathe fire. I...I can make people forget that I’m there. I thought that was it, but then a few months ago the super strength popped up.” He musters you his best self-deprecating smile, “Honestly? I have no idea what my Quirk can do.”