9 Hospitalized

"Yeah! Allmight won!" Mineta cried out, falling to the ground.

All Might stood proud in a massive crater. The battle between him and Nomu was quicker than imagined for one reason: there was no Black mist to interfere, meaning Nomu never got the chance to harm him.

And although it was only minimal, Kirishima also bought the man extra time when he stalled against Nomu, making the fight shorter by a few seconds.

"Hah, everything's alright." Allmight huffed and patted his chest. He looked around and found Shigaraki missing.

-Boom! -Boom!

Bakugo flew down, landing next to him. "The mist bastard slipped away when you fought that fucking Ko punch of yours, shook the ground, and fucking dipped out of here."

"That's fine, young Bakugo; go to the others; backup just arrived." He smiled and looked up. The teachers arrived and started clearing the facility and taking down villains. 'I still have time.'

"Go back to the others. I'll carry Kirishima and come back to take care of the rest. Hah, a weapon to defeat me. How laughable! Hahaha!" He gave a thumbs up, dashing to Kirishima and lifting him carefully, saying, You did good, young man.'

...

It wasn't long until they cleared the entire area, accounted for every villain, and captured Nomu. They accounted for everyone and checked up on them.

The chief detective on the case, a friend of Allmight, addressed Aizawa, who was being taken care of with his arm bandaged and put in a cast.

"All students are safe, and only two have suffered crucial damage. One kid, Kirishima, suffered minor fractures and blunt wounds, as well as a shattered left arm, but luckily the bones were being held together, so he and the kid with the crippled leg are going to be fine."

Aizawa looked at Kirishima, who was in the infirmary.

"Do you know how it happened?"

"They planned it. There was a man with a portal quirk, and someone might have disabled our systems. I'm assuming he transported them all."

"Mn, alright, you rest easy. I'll go talk to the students. I heard they fought villains while looking for the boy. The future heroes are showing promise," he said with a smile, leaving.

'They might show some potential,' Aizawa thought, leaning back.

The detective looked at the others. The good news is that everyone's counted on and safe. You acclimated to the situation better than expected, and you should all feel proud today."

"What about Eijiro!?" Mina asked.

"And Deku?" Ochako asked

"How are they!?" Iida asked.

"We went to each zone to find him but found villains. Of course, we kicked their butts, but we didn't find him," Denki said.

"You said he fought a big guy, right? Is he okay?" Toru, the invisible girl, asked

"They'll be fine. Kirishima's unconscious, though, and after some rest, he'll recover. Both are in the same infirmary. I would refrain from visiting soon."

'Come on, Eijiro, you're tough as nails, right?' Mina thought, letting out a huge breath that shook her, having seen the state he was in and fighting villains, 'I need to check on him.'

It was not only her; everyone who was there was brought into reality. This was an experience that will stay with them for life.

...

Inside the infirmary, Midoriya leaned back on the bed, looking up at the ceiling.

"I punched Nomu, and my arm didn't break. Am I getting used to One for All?" He exhaled and turned.

"Kirishima?" He called out to him, but he was unresponsive. "You saved us back there; no matter how many times you struck, you didn't fall, and you bought us enough time for Allmight to arrive; Aizawa Sensei couldn't erase Nomu's quirk if you weren't there then." He stopped and didn't want to think about it.

He admired Kirishima, and seeing how he stood, he wanted to be like that, and it burned more fire into the young hero's heart: "I'll master this quirk and become a hero who can protect as well."

"Nah, you talk too much," Kirishima groaned.

"You were awake!"

"Yeah, I just wanted to rest; I feel like a train ran over me."

'That's very specific,' he thought, as Kirishima, using his one good arm, pushed himself up.

Ah, that's better," he said, looking down at his body; there was a cast over his left arm. "Well, I know mom's going to kill me, hahaha! Ah, how are you feeling, Midoriya?"

"Alright."

-Bam!

"I AM HERE!" Allmight burst through the door, "YOUNG KIRISHIMA. YOU'RE AWAKE! THAT'S GREAT!"

"Allmight!" Both smiled at seeing the hero walk in. It was then that Kirishima, who wanted to clear things out, asked.

"It's great that you're here. I have a question for Allmight and one for you too, Midoriya."

"Hm? I haven't congratulated you on your efforts yet. Is there an issue with your recovery?" Allmight asked, tilting his head.

No, Midoriya, remember the villain's hero's battle when you left school to chase after Bakugo?"

It was then that Midoriya's eyes widened, and he shuffled in his seat and said, "Yeah."

"You said you got your quirk from someone else."

'HE KNOWS!?' Lightning struck Allmight's head.

"Did you get your quirk from Allmight? I know it's a bit out there, but it would make sense for his quirk to be too strong for you to use; that's why you suffer a lot whenever you activate it. If I'm right, then I won't tell anyone; I can promise that, and I still want to help you control it, so am I right?"

The room was silent. A bit too silent.

Ah, wait, this isn't a bad thing, right? If you're worried about anyone else knowing I was the only one there, I told the others to stay back in case Bakugo would snap at Midoriya; that's why I went in the first place!" He waved his one good hand around.

Midoriya was at a loss for words, and Allmight was shaking. "Hahaha! You are something, young Kirishima! Well, then I hope I can trust you."

"A-Allmight, are you sure!?"

"It's alright," Allmight said, transforming back into his actual form. Kirishima was stunned for a moment before asking what happened.

Allmight gave him a light history of his injury, with Midoriya being his successor.

"Holy cow," he said, falling back on his bed, "that's a lot." He knew everything already, but he had to act, and he did a good job of it. If he is not, then I might raise some questions and set up alarms.

"This is the most important secret in the world. I see your heroic spirit shining bright as always; both of you have what it takes to become real heroes, so I trust you both push each other to go even further beyond... no, I'll give you some time to process; I have a friend to meet." He saluted them and left the infirmary.

"So you're going to make one for all your quirk, huh? Well, I'll help as much as I can!" He flashed a toothy smile. Midoriya felt some weight he hadn't known would leave him and nodded.

...

Allmight stood outside the door in thought, thinking about Kirishima. Seeing the look on everyone's face must've spurred his spirit to act and face Nomu and his quick thinking about sending Iida out to bring him back up; he's already quick to act and can handle himself.'

He remembered the details: they sent Kirishima to the ruined zone, and when they captured the villains, they found 13 unconscious bodies; there were more, but they escaped. They estimated the number to be five escapees.

Allmight thought back to the letter he sent to UA Academy; like Aizawa, he also read the submission letters, "never wanting to see the look on someone's face when faced with terror again. To become a hero who can protect."

'His quirk is perfect for him; I cannot wait to see how far he goes. He smiled and left to do his job.

At first, he was worried when he found out he knew his secret, but knowing and hearing how he acted and his conduct, Allmight felt a little at ease.

'When my time is over, I am sure Midoriya won't be alone.'

...

The rest of the day went relatively well. Midoriya was the first to leave, and the two made a promise to train together later on.

When everyone got news of him waking up, they came to check on him; it was first Iida, then Ochako, and finally Tsuyu.

"Kirishima, the more I observe you, the more I see that I have a long way to go. I wish you a speedy recovery!" Iida said it with a salute.

"Yeah, what he said get better soon!" Ochako smiled, patting his shoulder.

"Ribbit, I hope you recover soon as well, so take care." They stayed with him a bit longer before leaving.

-Knock -Knock

"Hm?" he looked to the side, seeing Mina, "come in? I mean, you don't have to knock what's up!"

"How are you?"

"I'm fine, Mina. I just need to rest; I'm a-okay!" He smiled, patting his chest.

She nodded and took a seat next to him. "How did you do it?"

"Hm?"

"How did you run in there and fight?" She looked into his eyes, serious about her question. She replayed the scene over and over; it was gruesome, scared her, and worried her.

"How did you stop in front of that villain back then?"

"No! That was different; he was asking for a location, so I gave it to him! This is different, Kirishima! You were going to die!" She slammed the bed in rage.

"That thing was going to kill you all, and you jumped in head first. Is that what you meant by changing? I know how much you regret the past, but it shouldn't have made you go this far!"

"... sigh Mina. I'm not delusional. I knew what I was getting myself into when I saw the same look back then on everyone's face, and I told you I was never going to stand by ever again. I'm a man of my word. I will become a hero who protects everyone who relies on him. If I did nothing, then I'm not even fit to be called a hero, much less a man."

He was resolute. Yes, he knew things would not be the same. The future is ever-changing, so he had to change. He had to take risks, and Eiji knew it scared her. He would lie if he said he wasn't feeling well. He flashed a toothy grin and grabbed her hand, which was shivering.

"I'm scared, Mina, but I'm more scared of standing back and watching people I care for get hurt, so that's why I'll jump in every time without hesitation," he said.

Seeing the calm and solid look in his eyes, she took a deep breath and fell back in her chair. "And besides, with my hardening, I'll become unstoppable, so I'll never get hurt anyway!"

'You changed.' She was about to say something when his phone rang. It was a call from his mom. Immediately, he picked it up.

"Hey, mom-"

"Eiji, are you alright? I just got a call about everything; your dad and I are on our way!" She said this as honking cars sounded on the phone.

"We'll be there in 5 minutes, son!" His father yelled through the phone and hung up.

"Well, that was my parents; I'm kind of afraid they might hit someone on the way," he chuckled.

Hihi, they care a lot then; you've got five minutes; I'll just wait with you, and by the way, you were pretty cool back there standing back up; I thought you were unstoppable for a moment." She gave a bright smile and came to a small realisation.

"Thanks."