Black Fox (Vigilante Deku AU)

Part 49-Hospital! Yay!

3rd Deku POV

Izuku was...floating? Or maybe falling or flying? No, it was definitely floating.

Izuku was floating quietly in the dark. Exhaustion pulled at his limbs insistently, soothing the dull ache in his arms, his ribs, his...well, his everything, really. Everything hurt. Why did everything hurt?

Faintly, he could hear voices. They were familiar voices, and he definitely knew who they belonged to, but he didn't want to try to remember. Too much effort. He was too comfortable in his floaty dark little bubble to lift his head and see who was arguing over him. He did kind of wish that they would shut up, though, if only so he could rest in silence.

Luckily for him, they did eventually quiet down at the sharp bark of another intimately familiar voice. Satisfied, Izuku sank into whatever comforting thing he was laying on and proceeded to ignore reality.

Izuku wasn't sure how long he had lain there in the warm quiet. He was content not to move, at least for now, cocooned in comfort as he was.

~~~~

I was stirred from my peaceful rest by voices rising over the quiet hum of...some kind of machine, I think? One of them raised itself triumphantly over another, laughing, as the other wailed in defeat. Something like paper was thrown down over my stomach. The dull thwump was loud to my ears, having not heard anything for so long. A rougher voice shushed the two, but it was too late- the sound had yanked me out of my sleep.

I raised a hand to rub the sleep from my eyes with a low groan, but when I opened them, some poor idiot's decision to paint the ceiling a blinding white forced me to close them again or risk permanent damage. I grumbled my displeasure at the pale plaster.

There was a gasp and suddenly Aoi was standing over me.

"Zuku, you're awake!"

"Quiet down," I groaned, "You're way too loud."

"Sorry," she whispered, "You're awake!"

She was pulled away from my face by the collar of her button-down, giving me room to struggle into a sitting position. I blinked hard, squinting against the bright LED lights and wrinkling my nose at the smell of disinfectant. Blinking rapidly, I regained some semblance of sight as the lights dimmed. Aoi was bouncing on her seat with a ridiculous grin to my right. On my left sat Uraraka and Tsuyu, trying to look as if they weren't staring at me. Todoroki stood by the door, one hand on the knob to adjust the lights. Kaito was sitting in a chair across the room from me, looking at me over the top of a book. Iida, Bakugou, and Fumikage sat next to him, each reading or holding their phones, none of them particularly trying to hide their stares.

A hospital machine was hooked up to my arm, beeping regularly, humming quietly. On the far wall to my right was a wide window, displaying an annoyingly bright sky with annoyingly cheerful-looking clouds. Already, I was developing a headache. Both of my arms ached, wrapped in clean bandages up to the mid-upper arm. My torso was wrapped underneath the hospital gown. My spine prickled with burns when I shifted. My legs were bandaged up to the knee, and my right leg was in a brace. It twinged painfully when I moved it.

I rubbed my temples. "Why am I in a hospital again?" I looked around. "Why are you all in a hospital?"

Wait. There was no porcelain covering my face, no hood over my hair. "Where is my stuff?"

Todoroki sat down with a huff next to Aoi. "Pal, you've been out for a good two weeks. Of course, they'd take off the mask. Not that it was intact anyway," he added.

Aoi was almost vibrating in her seat. She gripped a set of...cards? "We're you guys playing Uno on my stomach?"

Aoi burst out giggling. Uraraka and Tsuyu exchanged an unreadable glance. Uraraka hid her hand behind her back.