Need You (ShinDeku)

Ch 6 - Protective

A/N: hi! I'm totally failing at this new schedule. In my last book I updated once every two weeks and had longer chapters but I thought if I made the chapters shorter I could post more often. I was wrong. I'm still gonna try though. Just a reminder, none of my work is revised or edited, so sorry if there's any typos.

⚠️trigger warning⚠️
There is a mild depiction of a few injuries (it is not very graphic) near the beginning of the chapter. Other than that, I believe it's fine.
Have fun reading!

Shinso POV
     We enter his room for the first time with coffee and snacks in hand. I'm not gonna lie, I'm a little worried to see him. I know they told us most of his injuries were healed, but I'm still expecting to see some sort of lifeless mangled body when we get in there.

     After giving Midoriya a visual once over and heaving a sigh, Aizawa sits down at the chair in the corner of the room, taking a sip of his coffee. That leaves me the chair right next to his bed.

     I glance over at Midoriya to see he has a hospital gown on, and a blanket over him. There's a small bandage on his face, and his lip was busted and discolored. There were bandages that wrapped around his neck and disappeared below the neckline of his gown. The faint outline of his body under the blanket is thin and frail, I remember how light he was when I picked him up just earlier today.

     I recall when we reentered the building with our coffee and the doctor handed Aizawa a packet containing all of his injuries that they found. I got a glimpse of the first page, and it was way more extensive than I thought. i couldn't see much, because he purposefully kept me from reading it but in the small glance I had I found that apparently his wrists were raw and ripped up. It said something about being caused by a rope, and I immediately  thought back to the photo of him being tied to the ceiling by his wrists. That must have happened on multiple occasions.

     I look down at his wrists now to see more bandages.

     I'm so sorry Midoriya. I wish I found you sooner.

     I make myself comfortable in the stiff chair, pulling out my phone to make up for the silence.

-A few hours later-

     "Even knowing his physical injuries, we still don't know the extent of what he went through, and judging by what the doctor told us about last time he woke up, there was definitely a level of psychological damage. That is partially why I asked for you to stay here overnight." Aizawa finally says. I look at him strangely, what do I have to do with his mental state? I'm assuming he's about to tell me.

     "Midoriya will most likely feel more comfortable around you than everyone else, because in his eyes, you're the one that saved him. Technically, he would be correct, because like you told me earlier, he watched you beat up his tormenter. Then, you were the last person he saw before passing out, and you weren't hostile in any way. Luckily for Midoriya, you're not a pro hero rescuing a random person off the street and leaving them. You can spend time with him and help him recover." I look at him in horror.

     "You haven't taught me anything about saving people mentally!" I whisper yell. "It's only been a few months since you've started training me!" I don't want to mess up. I could accidentally make things worse.

     "I believe in you, now stop worrying." Something about the fact that Aizawa of all people said he believed in me, makes me just a tiny bit less worried.

     I hear the bedsheets shift and look over to Midoriya just in time to see as a small whimper comes out of his mouth. His eyes are shut tight as a few tears come out, and I see him flinch on the bed. I look over to Aizawa panicked and he just looks back at me concerned. Slowly, he stands up and makes his way over to the bed, speaking in a surprisingly soothing voice.

     "It's alright, Midoriya. You're safe, just go back to sleep." Slowly, he settles down, the crease between his eyebrows never fully leaving. this happens three more times throughout the next hour, sometimes with the mumbling of a few things like 'make it stop' 'please' or 'i just wanna go home'. Aizawa is sitting in his chair, pinching the bridge of his nose.

     "What the hell happened to him?" He's talking to himself. Sensei only talks to himself when he's really stressed. I can understand though. I feel so helpless watching him freak out every fifteen minutes.

     I almost just wanna hold him in my arms and whisper reassuring words in his ear. I picture him clutching my t-shirt with one hand like he did when I walked him to the ambulance. He's cuddled into my chest all small and warm and comfy- what am I thinking?

     I can't believe my gay ass is making up scenarios in my head right now of this boy who's a victim of abuse. I should be more worried about his wellbeing than some made up fantasy where we're dating.

     Plus, holding him like that while he's conscious is way out of the question. Judging how he reacted when I put my hand on his shoulder, he would not react well to being embraced.

     I really hope Aizawa is right, and that I can help him in some way.

857 words.