Nothing In Return

9

Izuku woke up in a hospital. He hated hospitals. He had been at a hospital when he found out he was quirkless. He had been at a hospital when his mother decided to ship him away. He had been at a hospital when he woke up after he got his scar.

Now that he thought about it, this injury would probably also scar.

"Ugh," He groaned, throwing his head back onto the pillows, only to be met with a painful throbbing in his chest as he shifted. "Okay, no moving. I can do that."

There was a knock on the door before his friends came in, all three of them. Their faces lit up at the sight of him awake, even if he was in pain from moving. They didn't hug him as they surged forward, being mindful of his injury, but Noriko gently bumped his shoulder with her fist. It caused a dull throb in his chest, but he would live.

"You made us so worried, Mido. Noriko here just about died when she found out what happened. We had to hold her back from rushing to see you in surgery." Billy joked, sitting down next to his legs on the bed, Idie taking the other side as Noriko slouched in the plastic chair next to the bed, a glare pointed at Billy and a pout on her lip. It was as if he had just betrayed her utmost trust.

"I'm glad to know you care, Nori-chan." Izuku joked, knowing he wouldn't get punished if he was severely injured.

"We were all worried, Izuku. You're so reckless sometimes." Idie admonished, giving him a look that only a disappointed mother could pull off. Despite not being the oldest, she still somehow managed to be the mom of their group.

Izuku smiled at her words, knowing that she had probably been pacing the halls waiting for him. If anything she probably blamed herself for not being there for him. After all, she had been protecting the students. That was her job, and seeing as none of them had gotten in his way, she had done it well.

"You were protecting the students, it's not your fault." He assured her with a hand on hers.

"Yeah, this reckless little shit just decided that he had to sacrifice himself to defeat Lady Deathstrike. It's not your fault he's such a self-sacrificing idiot." Noriko assured, trying her best not to sound like she cared and failing miserably.

"Hey, I wasn't supposed to get injured. It just so happened to be that I reacted a second too late. I'm not dead, right?" He defended himself.

"You know, not dying is a pretty low bar to set for yourself." Billy said, "Maybe it should be not almost dying. Now there's a challenge for you, Mido."

They continued to talk until there was another knock at the door and Katsuki walked in, holding a vase with a few flowers in it. He looked guilty of something, but Izuku couldn't quite tell what yet.

"Um, we'll leave you two here to talk for a bit," Idie whispered to him, making sure Katsuki heard as she dragged Billy and Noriko out into the hallway, despite their arguments.

"Hello, Bakugou. What brings you here?" Katsuki's face just twisted up with anger before smoothing out.

"That's not what you call me, Izuku. You've never fucking called me that."

Izuku felt the sharp intake of breath, but didn't quite process that he had actually done it. Katsuki knew who he was. He would believe that a kid got his quirk just a few years late, right? Right?

"Kacchan," Izuku finally whispered, "How did you figure it out? I mean, quite a bit has changed." He gestured to his scar, then to his wings that sat uncomfortably beneath him. He felt the sudden urge to preen them, but that could wait.

"The villain you took down, Lady Deathstrike or whatever the fuck her name was, I heard her say it before you passed out." He paused before speaking again, "Fucking shocked me, too."