Chapter Text
After desperately reassuring his classmates that he was okay, they talked for a little while longer, before Inko said it was time for him to rest a little bit. He accepted the enthusiastic goodbyes from his classmates, before finally hanging up. He let his mother help him lay down, smiling as she tucked the sheets around him.
“Remember when I used to ask you to make me into a burrito?” He said with a small grin. Inko giggled.
“Yes. You were very adamant about that.” She said, running a thumb over his cheek. “Try and get to sleep, my little burrito.” Izuku smiled, before settling down for a nap.
“I’d better head back to the school,” Aizawa said softly.
“Thank you for everything, Aizawa-san,” Inko said, giving his hand a small squeeze. “I’ll be sure to keep you updated.” The man gave a small bow before leaving the room. Inko pulled out her crocheting, settling in in the chair beside her son.
Izuku was fiddling with a stray piece of yarn when there was a frantic knock at the door.
“Come in!” His mother called, and the door opened violently, but quietly. All Might stood in the doorway, panting.
“All MIght!” Izuku cheered, smiling widely. The man practically stumbled to his side.
“My boy…” He choked. Izuku blinked.
“Oh. Did no one tell you?” He said, after a moment. All Might reached out to gently squeeze his shoulder.
“No, I was with Tsukauchi.” He said. “I was so scared when I got the call…” The hand on his shoulder tightened minutely. Inko stood up, leaning over to kiss the top of Izuku’s head.
“I’m going to get something from the cafeteria.” She said, leaving mentor and protege alone. There was a long pause.
“They think it’s because of One for All,” Izuku said. “My heart isn’t… my heart can’t take the strain.”
“I’m sorry, my boy…” All Might whispered. Izuku shook his head.
“It’s alright. I… should’ve been more open about my heart issues.” He admitted.
“You couldn’t have known that this would happen.” All Might soothed, reaching up to ruffle his hair. “So, I assume they don’t want you using your Quirk?” Izuku nodded.
“Not until they can find a more permanent solution,” His fingers grappled with each other for a moment. “They think I may go into heart failure again.” The noise that All Might made sounded painful.
“Oh, my boy…” He practically whimpered, resting a hand on the back of his neck and bringing him into a hug. Izuku shook.
“I-I…” He grabbed onto his mentor’s shirt. “I don’t wanna die!” He sobbed. “I want to see everyone graduate! I wanna see my friends become the heroes that I know they are!” He pulled back, tears dripping from his eyes. “I wanna make you proud.” All Might tucked his head back into his chest.
“You already have, my boy. I’ll always be proud of you.” Izuku elected to ignore the crack in his voice.
Eijiro looked around at his classmates. There was still a veil of worry hanging over everyone, but not as bad as before.
“Hey!” He shouted, wincing when a few of his friends jumped. “We should make Midoriya a card!” He said, clenching his fists.
“That is a wonderful idea, Kirishima-kun!” Iida shouted, arms waving about excitedly. A buzz of chatter started up.
“I have glitter pens that will certainly make mon cheri smile!” Aoyama proclaimed.
“I have some cute stickers, kero.” Tsuyu said, putting a finger to her chin. Yaoyorozu looked absolutely ecstatic .
“I can make any other supplies that we need! Oh! I can make Midoriya-san a cute little plushie, too!”
“I can make him some sweets, too,” Satou said.
“Yeah!” Uraraka and Mina cheered together.
“Operation: Get Well Soon is ago!” Kaminari crowed. Eijiro looked over the chaos he sowed with a smile. A cold hand grabbing his elbow made him jump. Todoroki hovered over his shoulder.
“Thank you,” The boy whispered. Eijiro gave him a large grin.
The card-making was so intense that it took a few days. Iida managed to convince some of their more rowdy classmates -- though, surprisingly, Yaoyorozu was the main culprit -- from making a ridiculously large card for their ailing friend. Everyone chipped in, adding something special to the card. Yaoyorozu had made a green rabbit plushie that was ridiculously soft, and Satou made some of Midoriya’s favorite sweets. Aizawa walked in on them a few times and barely managed to hide his smile in his capture weapon.
“Y’know,” He started one day, the first day back since the incident, “I was considering taking Eri-chan to see Midoriya. I’d be willing to take your gifts for him.”
“Can we come too?” Uraraka asked, eyes huge.
“I can’t promise you’ll be able to see him, but yes.” He said with a sigh. “We were going to go on Friday.
That Friday, Shota would regret forgetting to bring his phone. There were so many rowdy kids to keep track of that it completely slipped his mind. He had to use one of the school’s charter buses to get everyone there.
“This is kinda ridiculous, don’t you think?” He asked, looking at his nineteen students. They only grinned at him. “Alright, I’m going inside. You all stay out here.” Eri squeezed his hand, and he looked down at her.
“Do you think you can stay out here while I get everything settled?” Eri nodded, scampering off to hold Tsuyu’s hand. “Alright. I’ll be right out.” He got into the waiting room and instantly saw a familiar head of blonde hair. Midoriya Inko wasn’t hard to find after that. She was holding a tissue to her face, her phone held tightly in her hand.
“Aizawa-kun!” All Might said, eyes wide. “Midoriya-san, look, he’s here.” He said urgently, and Inko’s head turned towards him so quickly he feared for his life.
“Aizawa-san!” She said, standing and running over to him. “I-I was trying to call you-!” Her eyes were red and swollen with tears. Shota felt his heart drop into his stomach.
“I forgot my phone.” He said simply. “What happened?”
“Izuku’s valve deteriorated faster than they thought.” She whispered. “Th-they had to take him into emergency surgery to replace it.”
“They caught it though, right? If the surgery goes alright, he should be fine.” He said, trying to ignore the rising panic in his chest. Inko wiped her eyes with a tissue.
“The rest of his heart is going, too.” She whispered, “Replacing his valve is only a temporary measure. He’s going to need a transplant.” She broke down into sobs.
“They don’t know how long he’ll have to wait to get a donation,” Yagi spoke up, resting a hand on her back. “With the specifications of his Quirk… they may have to make one.”
“All the students… I brought them to visit him.” Yagi’s looked physically pained. “Eri’s with them… how do I tell them…”
“I’ll go with you. I’m their teacher, too.” He turned to Inko. “Will you be alright?” She shot him a look.
“I’m going, too. Those are Izuku’s friends.”
Shoto watched the door. Aizawa-sensei sure was taking his sweet time.
“Maybe he’s getting visitor badges for all of us,” Kaminari said. No one responded to him. They all jerked to attention when Aizawa came out of the doors. However, he wasn’t alone. Midoriya’s mother and All Might were there as well. They didn’t look happy. Shoto felt his heart drop.
“Something’s come up,” Aizawa said. Shoto noticed his hands shaking. “Midoriya’s in surgery at the moment.”
“S-surgery?” Kirishima stuttered, eyes wide. “Is he okay?” Aizawa opened his mouth. Midoriya’s mother set a hand on his shoulder.
“We don’t know.” She responded. “His heart… his valve deteriorated to the point where… he’s getting it replaced.” Shoto almost felt relieved, but the woman only continued. “The rest of heart is failing, as well. We’re waiting to get a replacement.”
“B-but that could take months! Years!” Iida shouted, looking distraught.
“They might have to make a replacement.” All Might spoke up. “Young Midoriya’s Quirk is the reason why his heart started to fail to begin with. He’ll need a heart that can handle the strain of his Quirk.”
“Th-that’s never been done before… Support equipment has been used in medicine before but to this degree…?” Yaoyorozu whispered.
“I-is Deku-san going to die?” Eri whimpered. Inko’s eyes softened. She stepped forward and knelt before the child.
“Hello. You’re Eri-chan, right?” The little girl nodded, releasing Tsuyu’s hand to step closer. “Izuku’s told me a lot about you.”
“You’re Deku-san’s mom.” She said. “Is… is he going to be okay?” Inko reached out to take her hands.
“You know Izuku. He’s the strongest person I know.” She began. “He’s not going to let something like this stop him.” She gave the little girl a wobbly smile. “I know that he’s going to pull through, and apologize for worrying you.” That pulled several watery laughs from the class. Eri smiled and hugged the woman tightly.
“For now, we’ll head back to campus,” Aizawa-sensei said.
“I’ll be sure to send you pictures once Izuku is out of surgery,” Inko said, standing up and handing the child to him. “He’ll be happy to know you all came to see him.”
The bus ride back was quiet. Eri had fallen asleep against Aizawa-sensei’s shoulder, and it seemed like their teacher was following. Ochako held Tsuyu’s hand in a near death-grip. There were a few tears, but it seemed everyone had taken Midoriya-san’s words to heart. Deku would pull through this. However, the heavy silence was broken by a single, choked sob. Everyone’s head whipped to the source of the noise, only to see Todoroki, bent over in his seat, with Iida trying to comfort him.
“Todoroki-kun…!” Iida said, urgently, but not loud enough to wake their teacher and his charge. A low whine escaped the previously-stoic member of their class.
“Midoriya-!” He whimpered. “Pl-please…!” Ochako felt her heart break as she watched the most aloof member of their class completely lose it. Aizawa had woken from his doze and was making his way down the aisle. Eri, thankfully, was still fast asleep. Iida moved when their teacher approached.
“Todoroki, it’s okay.” A low, pained keen seemed to be forced from Todoroki’s throat. “Midoriya should be fine…”
“I don’t want to lose him!” He sobbed. “What’s the use of being a hero if…” He buried his face in Aizawa’s jumper and wailed. Everyone gave them as much privacy as they could.
A few hours later, there was a text from Midoriya in the class group chat. It was a short video.
“Say hi, Izuku,” Inko’s voice said, off camera. An obviously heavily-drugged Midoriya lifted a hand to wave.
“Hi…” He whispered. “M’okay…” He tried to reassure, even though he could barely open his eyes.
“He only woke up a few minutes ago,” Inko said. “Izuku, did I tell you that your friends came to visit?” Midoriya’s face screwed up.
“They did? Why did they make me have surgery, then? Now they’ll think I didn’t want to see them,” He said, teary-eyed. Inko giggled.
“I’m sure they don’t think that, sweetie.” She told him. “Alright, I think it’s time to go to bed. Say bye to your friends!”
“Bye, everyone! I love you!” Izuku said with as much excitement as he could manage. Shoto watched the video over and over again. He held his phone in front of his face, feeling the seizing in his chest finally ease.