Chapter Text
Himiko’s eyes fluttered open. She recoiled from the light until her head hit the back of the wall, her chains jingling softly in the quiet. The blurry haze that lingered over her vision was slow to fade though the red spot in the left half of her sight proved stubbornly persistent. She tilted her head down to try and avoid peering directly into the light, but was stopped by the restraint that had been fastened around her forehead. Not long after her torture started, her captors had realized that her fangs were not just decorative and began restraining her so as to prevent them from being bitten.
Again.
The two guards from earlier were still in the room with her. One, an older woman with salt and pepper hair that was buzzed down on the sides, sat in a chair that was tucked next to a small table in the corner, playing solitaire by herself with a battered deck of cards. The other, a younger man with a reedy mustache and thick glasses, paced nervously in front of where Himiko was chained to the wall. The oddity of the situation tickled something through the fog of exhaustion and pain that perpetually lurked in her mind. People being in her cell was normal enough, Curious frequently made a point to drop in and taunt her in between their ‘interview sessions’, but guards just staying in her cell with her was strange. She wasn’t sure how long they had been there, time was a tough thing to track when she was often in and out of consciousness, but given that they were both wearing the same clothes as earlier she was relatively certain it was the same day. Himiko idly wondered what they were waiting for. They hadn’t tortured her, or even done anything besides sit in the room with her, so they must have been waiting for something. But what?
The room shook violently. Her chains rattled as everything around her trembled. A strangled groan tore itself from her throat as her injuries were jostled by the forced movement. The guards looked around in panic for a moment until the shaking stopped.
“What the fuck was that?” The pacing one asked. “Was that a fucking earthquake or something?”
“Will you sit your ass down?” The other one snarled. “Kami, kid, you’re stressing me out with all this pacing. The Leader is probably just restless and taking it out on some of the dogs out there. Some people pace, some people crush skulls.”
A pounding on the door made the pacing guard squawk in surprise. The sitting guard snickered under her breath.
“You two,” Skeptic’s voice filtered through the door. “The prisoner is secure?”
“Yes lieutenant!”
“Of course, sir,” the sitting guard answered. “She ain’t going nowhere-”
The two of them stilled, their eyes glazing over and their hands dropping to their sides. Toga blinked blearily at the sudden change. From under the door, a thin red string slithered into the room. More and more of the string entered until it wove itself together in the shape of a man. Toga vaguely recognized him as a hero, one of the higher ranking ones. He fiddled with the lock for a moment before swinging the door open.
“Good work, Geas.”
Four more heroes flooded into the room. One of them, the one with the scarf and facemask, began instructing the guards to handcuff themselves in Skeptic’s voice. Another, a girl made her way towards her. As she closed in, Toga realized that she recognized this one. It was one of Izuku’s classmates. It took her a second to place the name through the haze of pain and confusion.
“It’s okay, Toga,” Momo said. She smiled brightly at her. “We’re here.”
“Izuku…” Nemuri murmured.
Her mentee floated in the air. Motes of dust danced in the sunbeam that filtered in through the hole in the demolished street. His cape fluttered softly behind him. Her heart broke at the empty expression on his face, as if every thought and emotion had been scooped out leaving behind a vacant shell. Izuku stared down at the unconscious form of Re-Destro lying broken and battered in the shattered concrete.
“Holy shit,” Kamui Woods muttered under his breath. Nemuri shot him a sharp glare before turning her attention back to Izuku. She took a few faltering steps forward, picking her way through the rubble and testing each step to see if it would break under her weight.
“Hey, kiddo.” She walked right up to the edge of the crater where Re-Destro had impacted. “Can you come down here please?”
For a moment, she didn’t think he would listen. He just floated there, achingly still. Finally though, he drifted down towards her. Even as he moved slowly through the air his eyes never left Re-Destro.
“There you go,” she whispered. She raised her hand to Izuku, waiting for him to drift closer. “I’ve got you.” Her hand slipped around Izuku’s wrist and she gently tugged him closer to her until she could finally envelop him in a hug. She delicately tucked his head into her shoulder and held him close. “I’ve got you.”
She shot Kamui Woods and Gale Force a look over her shoulder and motioned her head towards the crater. Thankfully, the veteran hero was quick on the draw. The two heroes made their way into the crater and began the process of restraining the leader of the Meta Liberation Army.
While they worked, Nemuri focused on Izuku. As she held him, she had the absurd urge to laugh. She couldn’t help but remember the boy she had first started working with. She had towered over that skinny, nervous kid. But the young hero she was hugging was just slightly taller than her, his shoulders far more broad. She wrapped an arm around those shoulders, the other settling on his arm. Her ears strained as Izuku mumbled something into her shoulder.
“What?” She pulled back slightly. “What did you say?”
“My mom.” Izuku’s eyes were dry. Traces of confusion lingered on his face, the first emotion she had seen from him since Re-Destro fell unconscious. “My mom didn’t know that she was pregnant with me until my dad had already left and she never saw him again. How would Re-Destro have known about me? My dad wouldn’t have even known about me.”
“Maybe he’s lying?” She suggested. “Maybe he was just trying to throw you off, get in your head.”
“Yeah. Yeah, maybe.”
Izuku didn’t look convinced. But as he stood there, she could practically see the way he was compartmentalizing. She watched him forcefully shove the confusion and grief of Midoriya Izuku away as Deku rose to the surface. Her heart broke further for her mentee and pseudo little brother. When he finished the mission he was going to have a major breakdown. She only hoped she would be there to help him when it happened.
“Deku-bro!” Kaminari called down from the top of the hole. “Are you alright down there?!”
“Yeah!” He called back. “I’ll be right up!” Izuku turned back to her. The confident smile that was already dancing across his lips died as it hit his eyes. “Duty calls, sensei.”
“Izuku.” Nemuri’s hand grabbed his wrist before he could fly off. She looked into his eyes imploringly. “Go finish this. And when you’re done, I’ll be right here for you. Okay?”
Izuku’s smile faded. He gave her a solemn nod. Reluctantly, Nemuri let go of his wrist and watched as her student drifted back up through the sink hole he had opened in the street.
“Alright, gentlemen,” Nemuri said once he had vanished from view. “Let’s get this naughty boy all tied up, shall we?”
As Izuku rose through the air, he carefully and deliberately tucked all his emotions into a neat little box in the back of his mind. His grief, his confusion, his rage, it all got placed to the side where he could deal with it later. He knew it wasn’t exactly healthy, soon he would have to let those emotions out and process them. But for now, he needed to be the symbol that All Might thought he could be, at least until this fight was over.
Kaminari was waiting for him as he landed on the ruined concrete of the street. The blonde swayed drunkenly as he stumbled over to him. Izuku ducked underneath one of his arms and put a hand on his waist.
“Woah! Easy there, Chargebolt,” Izuku said as he steadied him. “You alright, buddy?”
“We did it!” Kaminari leaned heavily against him. “We really did it! I mean, you did a lot of it. The small timers pretty much all gave up when they saw the way you took down their boss. And Tokoyami put the fear of god into them when he ate that big blast with Dark Shadow. But like, we did it!”
“Yeah man,” Izuku said with a small chuckle. “We did it.”
Even as the two of them stood there dozens of police officers were in the process of handcuffing the crowd of Meta Liberation Army members. Heroes stood around watching, making sure none of the members caused any issues. Squads of medics were also making their way through the crowd and taking care of the injured. This was a massive win. But Izuku couldn’t take any joy in it. His head felt like it was full of cotton. Even his positive emotions were muted and shoved away as he focused on clinging to his hero persona like a shield.
“Deku! Chargebolt!”
The two of them turned towards the shouts. Lemillion waved his arms wildly at them. Jiro trailed a step behind him, clearly cringing in embarrassment at their over-enthusiastic senpai. Kaminari lurched forward as the two of them came forward.
“Hey Kaminari-” Whatever Jiro was going to say after that was lost as Kaminari surged towards her and mashed his lips against hers in a bruising kiss. For a moment Jiro stood in shock. But it melted away quickly and she began to kiss him back.
Lemillion sidled over next to Izuku. “Well, I didn’t see that one coming. Good for them though.”
“They couldn’t wait two days?” Izuku groused. “I owe Tsu a week’s worth of dish duty now.”
Jiro flipped Izuku off for that comment but did nothing to disentangle herself from Kaminari. Togata chuckled and slapped a hand on Izuku’s shoulder.
“I’m not sure you’ll get that sort of reaction,” he said, “but there is someone who wants to see you.” He nodded his head back in the direction he and Jiro had come from. The rest of the Rescue Team walked towards them. Edgeshot was front and center, talking into his earpiece. Momo and Shinso were behind him. They were walking slower, picking their way gently over rubble and around the restrained MLA members. Held in between them, with one arm slung over each of their shoulders, was…
“Himiko,” Izuku breathed.
The first thing he noticed was that Himiko had grown even paler during her captivity. She had always been pale, but now her skin was paper white and stretched thin over her gaunt cheeks. Her eyes were dark and haunted. Thick dark bags ringed around her eyes. Even from this distance Izuku could see cuts and bruises creeping up from under the collar of the fluffy green sweater she was wearing, something Momo had undoubtedly made for her. The sleeves draped over her hands and bounced slightly with every step the three of them took. From the sharp lines of her face and her prominent collarbones, it was easy to see that she had lost entirely too much weight. Izuku’s elation at seeing her warred with the horror he felt at her condition.
Dust kicked up in his wake as Izuku flew towards Himiko. He landed as gently as he could a few feet away from her. Momo smiled at him and Shinso shot him a solemn nod. Izuku took two faltering steps toward her.
“Himiko?”
Her head lolled back on her shoulders. A single amber eye opened slowly, her pupil blown wide open. A small, tired smile blossomed across her face.
“I knew you would come,” she whispered.
“I promised, didn’t I?” Izuku smiled back at her, the first real smile he had given all day. His right hand came up to brush a lock of hair out of her face. “Himiko, I-”
Danger Sense screamed in his ears. One for All flared reflexively. Izuku’s eyes widened as the world slowed down around him. With half a conscious thought, Blackwhip erupted from his elbow. It tore through the sleeve of his costume to wrap around his hand, encompassing it in a glove of black tendrils. He lunged backwards, throwing himself away from the group.
“GET DOWN!”
His nerves lit themselves on fire as the explosion ripped through his hand. His impromptu Blackwhip glove kept the blast from affecting everyone else, but it also sent the force rebounding back into Izuku’s hand. The initial burst seared his skin while the bones in his hand cracked under the shockwave. A scream tore itself from Izuku’s throat as he collapsed to his knees in pain. The cries of his friends and fellow heroes were drowned out by the overwhelming, constant pain. But even in that haze, Izuku could feel an undercurrent of Danger Sense warning him that it wasn’t over yet.
“No, no, no, no!” Izuku looked up through the reflexive tears that had sprung up to see Curious stalking towards him. Her hair was wild, her eyes alight with manic energy. Her fur lined coat was covered in dust and grime from the battle. “No! That’s not how the story is supposed to go!”
“Stand down, Curious.” Lemillion stepped in front of Izuku, putting himself between the two of them. “It’s over. You’ve lost.”
“That’s not how this was supposed to end,” Curious said, her eyes trained on Izuku’s. “She was supposed to die.”
“Too bad, so sad,” Shinso taunted. “Why don’t you go cry about it?”
“She would die and your victory would be stained red with her blood.” Curious ignored Shinso and continued to stare at Izuku. “Tragedy would elevate you. You wouldn’t just be a symbol.” Her tone turned reverent, almost worshipful. “You would be a god.”
“You’re insane,” Izuku bit out. He grit his teeth and began to stand. The pain made black spots appear in his vision. “I’m nothing special.”
“You’re wrong,” she fervently denied. “You are our savior. These other mongrels, Re-Destro, the Liberation Army, they don’t matter. You do. Your quirk-”
“I am not my quirk!” Izuku roared. Frustration, anger, grief, pain, it all bubbled up inside of Izuku. “That’s what people like you have never understood! It’s my choices, my actions, that’s what makes me a hero.” He stood tall as he glared at Curious. “I am not your story, I am not your savior. I am a hero! And I save people from the likes of you because I know exactly what it means to be powerless. I am a hero because I will always stand up and fight when people are in danger! I will fight for the people who can’t stand up for themselves! Because life isn’t fair! And people aren’t equal! That’s why it’s up to us to make things equal! By standing up for people who can’t! That’s who I am! That is what makes me a hero!” “And someone like you will never understand that!”
“I do understand!” She begged. “Izuku, I-”
Chitose’s face went blank. The manic light in her eyes died as her hands dropped to her sides. Her jaw slackened and the muscles in her face went lax.
“I’m so glad that’s over.” Izuku turned around as Shinso continued to speak in his voice. “I thought you were going to keep going on forever, Deku.”
“Nice job, Geas.” Shinso inclined his head in thanks. “Can you get her to deactivate her quirk?”
“I can make her do a handstand and sing showtunes if you want.”
“Just the quirk, for now,” Izuku said. “In the meantime, Himiko needs to get to the medics.”
“I think you mean both of you need to get to a medic,” Momo interrupted brusquely. “Your hand needs to get looked at too, Deku.” She gave him a small smile. “You’re not special, remember?”
“Yeah,” he said after a moment. “Yeah, okay.”
Her body moved before she could think. In the fraction between heartbeats, Ochako was watching Lady Nagant aim her rifle into the air and then she was suddenly rocketing towards a falling helicopter. No one else is coming, she thought as her mind caught up with her body. Most of the heroes are off on their big mission. It has to be me. I’m the only one who can help them!
“What hero is going to save them?” Lady Nagant’s voice was taunting. Ochako burned to prove her wrong.
“I will!” She promised. “I am the hero Uravity, and I will save them!”
The helicopter plummeted through the air. Without its primary rotor, the one on its tail began to send it spiraling as it fell. Ochako cursed under her breath as she angled downwards, trying to figure out the best place to intercept it before it slammed into the ground or crashed into one of the nearby skyscrapers. I just need a hand on it to stop it from falling, she thought desperately. But even if I take away its gravity without controlling it, its momentum might still carry it sideways into a building.
She pushed her support equipment to the limit to get ahead of the falling helicopter. She eyed the revolution of the tail to get an idea of its timing as she drew level. One breath, then another, she waited. Now! As the tail swung past her she dove for the nose of the helicopter.
The pads of her fingertips grazed the front plating, just enough for her quirk to take hold. The helicopter lurched wildly as gravity’s effects were canceled. Ochako dug her fingers in and swung her legs underneath her. She hugged the helicopter’s nose and pushed with all her strength. Stop spinning! She begged the world to slow down. She kicked out a leg and fired her boot to try and cancel out the momentum.
Ochako’s stomach rebelled as she struggled to maintain her grip. She desperately fought back her nausea. The world around her blurred into a hazy smear. She wanted to close her eyes to try and fight back against the dizziness but she couldn’t risk letting them get too close to one of the buildings.
Eventually, blessedly, the rotation began to slow. Ochako pressed her forehead against the cool glass of the cockpit and sighed in relief. As the helicopter’s spinning stilled, she readjusted, swinging her legs overhead and beginning to gently push the weightless helicopter back towards the ground. Her eyes darted to the rooftop where Lady Nagant had been, only to see that the villain had disappeared.
Ochako fought off the urge to snarl at the nurse who was wrapping gauze around her thigh. The shot that had clipped her ended up requiring sixteen stitches. The doctors had promised to mitigate the worst of it, but it would end up leaving her with a scar. It was funny. Ochako had never been particularly vain. But the idea that Lady Nagant had left her with an indelible mark on her body sat like a stone in her stomach.
“I promise I’m fine,” she said as the nurse finished up. Ochako was tired and desperate for a shower, her patience ran thin from the press and the emergency services. “Can I please be released yet?”
“I thought that was supposed to be my shtick, babe.”
Ochako’s eyes snapped up. “Izuku!”
Her heart lurched when she saw him in the doorway. His hair was tousled and wild, streaked with ash and dust. His face was wiped clean but dirt lingered on the edges of his neck and ears. Ochako all but vaulted off the table, wincing as the landing jarred her injured leg. But she didn’t stop until she charged into her boyfriend’s arms and crushed him in a hug. He grunted as she impacted him but his arms still came up to wrap around her shoulders. Ochako ignored the slight smell of sweat and burrowed into his grasp. She soaked in the warmth of his body. The hospital was freezing and the shorts and sweatshirt Manual had brought her from his agency did little to stave off the cold.
“Are you okay?” Izuku’s voice rumbled gently in her ear as he began to ramble. “I passed Manual in the hall and he said it was just a scrape, but are you sure you’re okay? Nagant didn’t hurt you, did she?
“I’m okay,” she reassured him as she snuggled in. “Just a long day.” It was only as she pressed her cheek against his chest that she realized he was still in his hero costume. She looked up sharply. “Wait. How’d the mission go?”
“Good.” Izuku smiled at her. It was tinged with a bone-deep weariness, but it was the first real smile she had seen from him in the last week. “We found Himiko. She’s alive and getting treatment but she was hurt pretty badly.”
“You saved her,” Ochako told him. She brought a hand up to cup his cheek before sliding it back to run her fingers through the hair on the back of his neck. She knew with aching certainty that even despite having saved Toga, Izuku would forever blame himself for how hurt she had gotten before he did. “You kept your promise, Izuku. You saved her. You did good.”
“Yeah, I guess.”
Ochako studied the lines of Izuku’s face. The exhaustion she had seen was mixed with something else, something deeper. Pain or regret or maybe something more like grief.
“What else happened?” She asked. “What aren’t you telling me?”
“I…” Izuku sighed. Ochako grabbed his hand and gently pulled him towards the chairs next to the hospital bed. The nurse slipped out the door as the two of them sat down.
“You can tell me anything. You know that,” she told him gently. “But you don’t have to. We can just sit here together if you want.”
“When I was fighting the leader of the MLA…” Izuku swallowed thickly. “He said he knew my dad. And… he told me that Lady Nagant killed him.”
Ochako felt her blood run cold. “What?”
“And nothing makes sense right now,” he continued. “The HPSC only sent Nagant after their enemies. But the HPSC is the one that sent my dad to the MLA. But Re-Destro seemed confident that my dad was a true member. And he said…” Izuku sighed. “He said that he told my dad he would look after me when he died. But according to my mom, she didn’t even know about me until after my dad disappeared.” He leaned down and pressed the side of his head against the top of Ochako’s. “I feel like every time I get an answer to a question a dozen more pop up.”
“Damn it.” Ochako huffed out. Izuku pulled back to shoot her a questioning look. “I let her get away. If I had just stopped her earlier-”
“Hey.” Izuku cupped her cheeks, muffling her self-recriminations. “None of that. I heard what you did from Manual and Kirishima. You did amazing, Ochako. You saved a falling helicopter in the middle of the city.” His hands slid around her back to pull her into a hug. “You’re an amazing hero, Ocha. I love you.”
Tears flooded Ochako’s eyes. “I love you too.” Izuku pulled back and thumbed away the stray tears that rolled down her cheek.
“First you steal my hoodie, now you’re taking crying from me too? I’ll have nothing left soon.”
She let out a watery laugh. “Get used to it.” She dabbed her eyes with the sleeve of her sweatshirt, taking a moment to forcibly recompose herself. When she felt like she was back in control, she stared Izuku in the eyes. “We’re going to get her,” she promised him. “We’ll capture Lady Nagant and we’ll make her tell us the truth about what happened. She’s not going to hurt anyone else. Okay? We’ll get her. Together.”
“Together.” Izuku nodded.
A knock at the door stole their attention. A doctor stood in the doorway. Her white coat was unbuttoned over a set of blue scrubs. She gave them a tired smile.
“Deku and Uravity, right?” She asked. “Ms. Toga is awake. She’s asked that you be informed.”
“Can we see her?” Izuku asked. There was a note of desperation that leaked into his voice.
“For a little while,” the doctor confirmed. “She’s weak and needs her rest, but I think it would do her some good to see you at least for a bit.”
The doctor led them to the elevators and up a few floors. They passed through two security check points where police officers checked their hero licenses and made sure they weren’t armed. As they walked, patients and nurses stopped to stare at them as they passed. Several of them nudged each other and pointed.
“Uh, Izuku?” Ochako asked after a patient snapped a photo of them only to be promptly told off by a nearby nurse. “Did something particularly notable happen on your mission?”
“Hey, they could be pointing at you, you know.” He said defensively. “You caught a helicopter that was shot out of the sky. You’re a hero too. Why does it always have to be me?”
Ochako’s eyebrow raised skeptically. “You’re the one still wearing a hero costume and most people won’t recognize me out of uniform. Besides, that tone of voice tells me you definitely did something.”
Izuku sighed. “I may have punched a guy through the street. After I punched him through a building.”
“I think it’s a little more complicated than that,” a voice interrupted.
Walking towards them from further down the hall, Detective Tsukauchi raised his hand in greeting. He looked exhausted, though that wasn’t much of a change for the older man. His beard had grown out since the last time Ochako had seen him and underneath his customary hat and long coat he wore a tactical vest and his gun was holstered at his hip.
“Detective!” Izuku called back. “I thought you would still be running point on the clean up in Deika.”
“There’s plenty of work to go around over there, unfortunately,” he said, sighing. “But I was the lead on Toga’s case both when she was a member of the League of Villains and since she’s been working with police so I was the logical choice to debrief her about what she went through when she was kidnapped. I just finished up.” He thumbed backwards in the direction he just came from. “She was asking about you.”
“We were just on our way to see her,” Ochako said. “What did you mean that it was more complicated?”
“Apparently Chitose Kizuki, a.k.a. Curious, was recording the entire raid for posterity,” Tsukauchi explained. “She not only caught the fight between Deku and Re-Destro,” he said, nodding at Izuku. “But she also captured her confrontation with Deku as well. Your speech to her has already gone viral and is circulating around the news networks as we speak.”
Izuku sighed. Ochako rubbed his back supportively while holding back her giggles. A lot of heroes spent their entire career trying to get one of those viral moments on film. They practiced speeches in the mirror so they would be ready for an opportunity that might never come. But she knew that Izuku, despite how much he loved being a hero, would always feel just a little uncomfortable with all the fame and notoriety that came with the job. It was one of the reasons she adored him, but it was, nevertheless, funny to laugh at his expense.
“Chin up, kid.” Tsukauchi clearly thought it was funny as well from the way his mouth curled up in the corners from a barely restrained smirk. “It will only follow you around for the next, oh, forty or fifty years.”
The Detective walked off with a chuckle and a spring in his step. Izuku just shook his head.
“That man takes way too much joy in this.”
“More joy than Midnight-sensei is going to take?” Ochako asked innocently. She laughed at how quickly he paled at the prospect. “C’mon Mr. Highlight-reel, let’s go see your other girlfriend.”
“She’s not-” Ochako pressed a kiss to his lips to interrupt him.
“I know,” she promised. “You and her, you’ve got a connection. It’s special. But I know you don’t think of her like that.”
Izuku gave her a crooked smile. His eyes glittered as he leaned in. “I love you,” he whispered. His lips brushed against hers. The kiss deepened quickly. Her arms came up to hook around the back of his neck as he dipped her. Ochako gasped as-
“Ahem.” The doctor cleared her throat. Ochako and Izuku leapt apart, blushing and faces burning. She eyed the two of them with a disapproving scowl but her eyes were laughing. “This is a hospital,” she scolded them. “Please have a little decorum.”
“Sorry, ma’am,” they muttered.
The rest of the walk to Toga’s hospital room was rife with awkward tension. Several nurses snickered as they walked by and Ochako tugged her hood over her head to hide her blush. Eventually, they came to a door flanked by two police officers. The doctor turned to them.
“I can give you a few minutes, but just a few,” she reminded them. “Toga’s injuries are severe but she’s a fighter. She’ll make it through but she needs to rest and recover.” She smiled gently. “Thankfully, there are proven health benefits to talking with friends during convalescence. She’s going to need you.”
“Thank you, doctor.” Izuku told her.
He stopped at the doorway. He inhaled deeply, and stepped through.
Himiko was laid out on the hospital bed. Machines whirred and beeped all around her. Two IVs on stands slowly fed fluid and fresh blood into her wrist. She looked tiny and pale, but Izuku wouldn’t make the mistake of calling her helpless. He knew better than anyone how strong she was. Himiko looked up as they entered. Her eyes were dull, but she smiled when she saw them.
“Look what the cat dragged in.”
“Hey, Himiko,” he said. Izuku sat in the chair next to her bed. Ochako leaned against the wall next to him. “How are you feeling?”
“Like shit,” she laughed gently. “The drugs and blood are helping though. Apparently I was on the verge of hypoxia and anemic shock. The doctors said I should be healed up in a few weeks.”
Physically at least, Izuku thought. Himiko had been through a lot, and he would do everything he possibly could to help her, but he wasn’t sure how anyone who went through what she did could recover without scars. If anyone could, though, it would be Himiko.
“If it makes you feel better, we got them,” Izuku told her. “Every single member of the MLA across every single cell throughout the country. Not one escaped. And we couldn’t have done it without you.”
“You would have found a way no matter what, Izuku.” Himiko laid back in her bed. “I’m just glad I could help.”
“Is there anything you need that we can get for you?” Ochako asked. “You might be here for a little while so we can bring you something.”
“Do you know what happened to my cat?” She asked.
“Rouge is safe,” Izuku assured her. “She’s with Eri and my mom right now.”
“Good.” Himiko sighed in relief. “I’m glad she’s safe.”
The doctor knocked on the door before popping her head in. “Time’s up. Toga needs her rest. You two can come back to visit her tomorrow during visiting hours.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Ochako put her hand on Himiko’s leg and smiled. “I’m happy to see you’re safe, Himiko. I’ll see you soon, okay?” Ochako walked towards the door. Izuku stood to follow.
“I’ll come back tomorrow,” he told her. “I promise.”
“I know.” Himiko smiled softly at her. “You always keep your promises, my hero.”