Chapter 14
Izuku was floating.
This he was sure of, everything was dark and he couldn’t feel the ground beneath him - he couldn’t feel anything around him. He could hear faint voices, echoes of speech impossible to make out. They bounced around him and were never in the same place for too long. He looked around and saw wisps of the voices, moving with glittering trails and pulsating in vibrant colors. The wisps had yet to stop, only getting closer and closer, but never staying still. He could faintly make out his family, Katsuki and Eijirou’s panicked and worried voices that stayed mostly to his left and right, shifting and fading. Katsuki’s was distinguishable by his color, a vibrant orange with sparks and a soft grey trailing behind, Eijirou was also easy to tell; his was a crimson red, bouncing and easy with shark edges and an even darker trail. The other two wisps were harder, one spoke with a soft voice, female. Hers was an off white, faint design shifted and flowed throughout, with soft pastel colors trailing. The last was male, rough around the edges. His was a dark grey, sparks of yellow and red followed. His trail was a soft cream grey.
The male and female had stayed shifted in front of him, never leaving his vision as Katsuki and Eijirou shifted places every so often, going around him, above and behind. All their voices were soft and unfocused. Izuku tried to make out words but nothing was certain.
The wisps offered the only light for the longest time. By and by, the ink black slowly shifted to a charcoal grey, getting lighter with each passing moment. Lighter and lighter the space became, till it became a white, blinding Izuku and the wisps slowly faded. The voices became clearer and clearer, words could be made out and the world made itself known
---
Pain registered first, a blinding white pain that pulsed with his heart beat. He could feel bandages wrapping his arms and sides, and hear the hushed voices around him. He could feel his mask covering his face with a hat hiding his bush of hair. His throat hurts and his mouth is dry. Shifting a bit, he pulled at the bandages around his torso making them drag across him, drawing a pained hiss from him, which was followed by a soft gasp and hushed voices. “Poet? You with us?” He hears a soft voice call, “Eicchan…?” He thought, struggling to open his eyes. His face contorted, his eyes scrunching before slowly opening. Blurred figures fill his vision as well as a blinding white light. Closing his eyes tight again he groaned softly. “Can we turn the lights down?”
“That should be fine.” Another voice called, before the light behind his eyelids dimmed significantly. Izuku slowly opened his eyes again, the room now darker. The figures were still blurry but were gaining focus. To his left was Katsuki, still in his uniform and anonymous, and Eijirou was to his right, also in uniform. Blinking slow, Katsuki and Eijirou rush forward, resting all their foreheads together.
“Thank fuck your okay…” Katsuki whispered, his hands coming up and gently grabbing the side of Izuku’s neck, Eijrou’s coming up after. They hold each other for a few minutes, basking in each other's comfort.
“I hate to draw the close for a second, but I need to check on Poet really quick.” A female voice says, her tone soft and warm. Eijirou and Katsuki reluctantly move away, allowing the female to come forward, revealing it to be Recovery Girl holding a paper cup filled with water. Eraserhead a few feet away leaning against the wall by the door, his head tucked in his capture scarf and his hair tied back in a bun. “Hello dearie.” She says, a soft smile on her face offering him the water cup. Izuku nods a hello taking the drink and swallowing it down in gingerly gulps as he watches her walk closer to the bed. “I’m just gonna do a general check up first and then check the bandages ro see how everything is healing. It shouldn’t hurt.” Nodding again, she grabs an otoscope and starts checking his ears and nose.
The check up goes relatively smoothly, when Recovery Girl asks him to take deep breaths for his heartbeat and breathe, it hurts. He hissed slightly and winced, his chest had expanded and pulled at the bandages, rubbing his wounds across the texture. “Sorry dear…” She had apologized, doing her best to hurry with the check up. Once it was over, she had Katsuki and Eijirou help Poet take off his hospital shirt. Eraserhead draws in a hiss seeing the scars, fresh and old, littering Izuku's body. A majority covered by bandages. Eraserhead's eyes dart from scar to scar, then he looks back to Katsuki and Eijirou, his eyes raking their body. His face makes it clear that thinking.
Everyone makes an effort to ignore it, and Recovery Girl starts to slowly take the bandages off. The wound is gnarly, irritated and red. It’s partially healed from when he had first gotten here. “It’s healing alright. I can probably heal the rest of it now, you will fall back to sleep again. I’m putting more effort into healing this than other scraps and such. Do you three wish to talk before I do that? You’d be sleeping for a while.” She says, her motherly gaze flickering between the three boys. Izuku looks to Katsuki and Eijirou, raising an eyebrow in question. Eijirou answers.
“Yeah, in private if possible…” He says, looking at both adults.
“Alright, come get us when you’re done, we’ll be in the hall.” Recovery Girl says, walking away from the bed and going into the hall followed by Eraserhead. The trio sits in a sudden silence, waiting on bated breath for someone to walk in. Izuku turns to the two and starts signing.
‘What’s going on?’ he asks, his eyebrows furrowed and hands shaky.
“When we got here, you were rushed into the room over there,” Eijirou starts, pointing into a closed off room. “We had to wait for about 45 minutes while she worked on you. She had to take off your uniform, mask and hat included.” Izuku freezes slightly, his body tensing. “She told us she knew who you are, put she said she wouldn’t tell anyone unless we said so. She had asked us if we wanted to talk about it.” Izuku slowly nods and clicks his tongue slightly.
“Also, the rat bastard, Principal Nedzu, said he was making a vigilante rehabilitation thing. Allowing us to become full fucking heroes…” Katsuki adds, both boys swallow, watching as Izuku reacts.
‘Do we… Do we accept…? Kacchan this is what we always wanted. What all three of us have always wanted.’ Izuku’s hands shake making his signs sloppy, he’s biting his lip and looking at both of whom he considers family. Katsuki clicks his tongue, his face contorted in thought, Eijirou is rolling his lips with a heavy sigh. ‘How would it relate to us… since we are technically minors?’ he asks, his eyes darting to the door where the two adults are talking in hushed voices.
“I say we do it…” Eijirou says, elbows resting on the edge of the bed and holding his head up in his hands. “I mean… it’s a way for us to finally be heroes. The only thing we have to do… is just reveal who we are. I know you guys have done this longer that I have, I’ve only done this for… what, half a year. You guys have done almost three.” Eijirou adds, looking up at Izuku and Katsuki.
“What if it changes, that they won’t let us do it?” Katsuki argues, a hardened look at Eijirou. “Since Poet and I have been doing this longer, we will have more charges of Vigilantism, me specifically. If they won’t let us join, we’ll be in jail for longer than you and we’ll be separated!” Katsuki’s voice raises, his hands gripping his knees.
‘Relax Kacchan.’ Izuku signs, a hand going forward and grabbing his. ‘I don’t think they’ll deny us, specifically because we are minors. As much as it scares me.. I’m with Eicchan, I say we do it…’ Signing one-handed was difficult, but Izuku didn’t want to let go of Katsuki's hand. Katsuki swallows harshly, taking a deep breath before looking up at Izuku, his eyes flash many different emotions. Anger, worry, frustration, care. Eijirou stands and walks over to where Katsuki sits, wrapping his arms around his shoulders from behind and pulling him into his chest. Katsuki burrows, head tucked under Eijirou chin and his hands tightens its grip on Izuku hands.
“Okay… We’ll do it…” He sighs. All three nod and then both Eijirou and Katsuki crowd Izuku, resting their foreheads against each other and basking in their warmth and familiarity.
“I’ll bring them back in. I have a feeling Nedzu was listening and is with them right now.” Eijirou says, being the first to pull away.
“Fuckin’ rat bastard…” Katsuki grumbled, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms across his chest. Izuku’s shoulder’s shake with silent giggles as he hides a smile behind a bandaged hand. Katsuki rolls his eyes but the corners of his mouth twitch in a fight for a smile. Eijirou is at the door and opens it slowly, inviting the adults in, and just as Katsuki had predicted, the small mammal principle walks right in. A smile stretched on his face and his beady black eyes analyzing the trio.
“Hello Poet!” Nedzu says, hopping up into a chair and his hands are folded into his lap. “I’m glad you are feeling significantly better than you were yesterday!” His voice is high and happy, his blink are methodical. Izuku nods in response before looking to Katsuki and sighing.
‘Can you ask if I can have more water? My throat still hurts.’ Katsuki nods slightly and opens his mouth to speak, when Eraserhead walks forward, a plastic water bottle in hand and hands it to Izuku. All three vigilantes freeze, Izuku gingerly taking the water.
“All three of us here know JSL. Nedzu and Recovery Girl can understand it better than sign it.” He says, going back to leaning on the wall. Izuku nods opening the bottle and taking controlled sips, soothing his aching throat. Recovery Girl walks to a medical cabinet and takes a key from a chain around her hips and opens it, grabbing an orange pill bottle and opens it sliding two white pills into her hand.
“Here. Take these, they will help with the pain.” She said, dropping them into Izuku's hand and he takes them with water. “When these two are done talking with you, I’ll heal you again and you can take a nap.” She says, gesturing to Principal Nedzu and Eraserhead.
“Have you three discussed the Vigilante Rehabilitation Program?” Nedzu asks, straight to the point. All three boys share a look before Katsuki turns to Eraserhead and Principal Nedzu, his face void of any tales of emotion.
“We’ll do it.”