Run!

Chapter Seven

~ Three weeks into school ~

"Has he woken up yet," Kirishima asked, approaching the hospital office. "It's been three weeks." The red head was growing impatient, and truthfully he was scared; scared that Katsuki wouldn't wake up.

"Actually," The nurse began. "He woke up this morning. The doctors are running some new tests now that they have discovered a new issue, so you won't be able to visit for a few more days."

"What issues?" Kirishima asked.

"Well, with the type of quirk Bakugou has, it's not surprising that he would suffer hearing issues sometime down the line," The nurse said sadly. "It's unfortunate that it had to happen while he's only a teen."

Kirishima, shocked by the nurses explanation, began to grow worried. "He's deaf?" He said rather loudly.

"No," the nurse stated. "He's not completely deaf, but he is partially deaf. It has come to our attention that his left ear has suffered worse injuries than his right, so a hearing aid would be a good option."

Kirishima was relieved to hear he could still hear some and wasn't completely deaf, but he was a bit disappointed.

"When do you think I can visit him?" The redhead asked softly.

"Come back tomorrow and I'll let you know for sure." The nurse said before waving Kirishima a goodbye.

"Hello?" Aizawa's gruff voice sounded through the phone.

"Hey," Kirishima said sheepishly, feeling guilty for calling his sensei so late. "Have we heard anything back about Midoriya?"

"His court hearing is tomorrow," Aizawa said tiredly. "There's a good chance he'll be chosen as guilty. We've hired the best lawyer around but his situation isn't looking good."

"What about that device he had on his arm?" The redhead asked.

"The results won't be in until the day after tomorrow," Aizawa explained. "So if he is found guilty, he'll be tried again when the results come back."

"Okay," Kirishima said. "Thanks. See you tomorrow." With this, he hung up and placed his phone on the side of his bed. He then laid down for another sleepless night.

In the morning, Kirishima was quick to get dressed. After he was ready for school, he began his way to his first class.

"What did you hear about Bakugou?" Kaminari asked when Kirishima sat down.

"I'm swinging by the hospital after school today to see if I can visit. He woke up yesterday." Kirishima stated.

"Well why don't you look excited," Kaminari asked. "I thought you were waiting on this."

"There's something else," the red head began. "Bakugou is partially deaf now due to the explosion he set off. He'll have to get hearing aids. His hand is almost completely healed, however, so that's good."

"Man," Kaminari said. "That's awful. I hate that for him." His normal goofy expression was no longer present, and instead was replaced with a look of disappointment.

"Yeah, me too," Kirishima stated. "But it could have been worse. I'm just glad he's still alive."

Aizawa walked into the room a little while after the two boys' conversation had ended and began to explain the situation with the League of Villains.

"Shigaraki, the leader of the League of Villains, has been charged with numerous counts of manslaughter," He started. "He has found his way into the largest prison in Japan."

This news was good, but it sparked a bit of interest into the students when they considered who else was in the incident.

"All of the nomu who weren't killed are being transported to a lab a couple hundred miles from here," Aizawa explained. "We won't be dealing with them anytime soon. Does anyone have any questions?"

Numerous students raised their hands at this.

"I heard that Midoriya was found," Mina said. "Is it true?" Apparently she wasn't the only one wondering this, because a few students began to whisper, not so quietly, about the boy.

"I'm really not supposed to answer that question," Aizawa said tiredly. "But yes, Midoriya has been located."

Mineta, being the dumbass that he is, blurted out that Izuku was, in fact, in the incident with the League of Villains.

"Is he hurt?"

"How did it happen?"

"Will he be coming back?"

Questions were flung towards Aizawa at a rate that he almost couldn't handle, so he decided to shush everyone by pulling out a stack of worksheets. "That's enough chatting," He said sternly. "You have work to do."

After school, Kirishima made his way to the hospital. The nurse greeted him with a happy expression, and finally lead him to Katsuki's room.

"Remember that he can't hear as well anymore, so you'll have to be patient with him." The nurse said before retreating back to her desk.

"Hey," Kirishima began, approaching Katsuki's bed. "Miss me?"

Katsuki's brows furrowed when he noticed that the redhead had been trying to talk to him. "Huh?"

"I said 'did you miss me'." Kirishima said a bit louder. He hoped he wouldn't have to talk too loud because then it would really prove how bad the boy was injured.

"Not really." Katsuki said a bit too loudly. He couldn't hear Kirishima too well, but he heard enough to make out what he was trying to say.

"Can I see your hand?" Kirishima asked, pulling a chair up to the left side of Katsuki's bed.

Katsuki held his hand out to Kirishima and winced when pressure was applied to it. "Sorry," the redhead said sadly. "I didn't think it would be so fragile."

"You have got to speak up." The blonde said with a bit of irritation in his voice. He was aware of what had happened during the fight, but it still didn't really settle with him. He was Katsuki after all, so he wouldn't be accepting this flaw any time soon.

Kirishima studied his friend's scarred hand, tracing the new flesh gently. The scar Katsuki had received went about halfway up his forearm. It was a fresh one, so it was purple and pink. His hand had been burnt to the bone in some places and his wrist was almost scarred beyond repair.

"You really did some major damage to this thing," Kirishima said, trying to lighten the mood. "I didn't think you were that strong."

"Of course I'm that strong," Katsuki said, beginning to defend himself. "I'm not weak like you."

The red head noticed that he had been holding Katsuki's hand all the while, but he didn't plan on moving it. "You wish you were as strong as me," Kirishima said with a goofy grin. "I'm Red Riot."

The next few hours went a little something like that as the two boys joked around. Kirishima was glad he had his friend back, but now he was starting to think he had more than just 'friendly' feeling for Katsuki.

"Izuku Midoriya, you have been found guilty."