Heartless Healer

by Threee

Summary:

Izuku apparently had some ancestor with a healing quirk that skipped a few generations. Either way, he got stuck with a powerful healing quirk and all the annoyances that come with it. The world has turned him from soft friendly and willing to help with everything to someone so bitter at being used and mistreated that he strictly uses his quirk on his own terms. Izuku’s not winning any points for bedside manner but at this point, he doesn't really care.

Featuring: a day and a life of a hero with a healing quirk done with the world and an unhealthy amount of energy drinks

Notes:

• For itsmyartfam.
• Inspired by The Roundabout Way of Fate by itsmyartfam

Chapter 1

Izuku sped through the city weaving between cars on his motorbike. It had been custom built and painted, mostly black with green highlights but the real stand out was the medical symbol on the side. It was weird seeing a motorbike be a medical vehicle but when Izuku showed up on a scene no one needed to get to the hospital anymore. At the very least he left everyone in a stable enough condition an ambulance could take it from there.

Izuku bit back a yawn when the traffic thinned out and a boulder flew by creating a crater in the road just behind him. There was something to be said about hero’s stopping property damage but that was neither Izuku’s responsibility nor concern.

What was his concern was as he turned off his bike collapsed buildings still had civilians inside. Around him were the few rescue heroes not focusing on the fight. They were pulling people from rubble or carrying them back to the medical station. Izuku idly looked at the people they were bringing in, popping the top of his energy drink. A bruise here, a broken arm there, that person had cracked ribs but their breathing wasn't in trouble.

He walked through the impromptu medical station. The few rescue relief officers there beckoned him over frantically after noticing the green symbol on his chest. Izuku spared a glance as he chugged down his drink. There were people injured, some severely so but none were critical. So he ignored them leaving them to apply first aid, they would last until the hospital. He ignored the betrayed looks as he passed civilians some cradling their broken limbs others with blood streaming down their face. He was used to it, had a reputation for it, but he resolutely ignored the people that didn’t need him. Years of bitterness leaving him without an ounce of guilt.

He stopped at someone worth his attention. A little girl who couldn't be older than three or four. She had clearly been hit by some rubble. Her entire torso concaved. A pool of her own blood around her as her breathing got raggedy and faint. There were a few first relief officers around her frantically moving around but they had little hope in their eyes. Izuku tilted his head back, downing the last of his drink before coming to stand over them.

“Move,” They jumped looking up to see Izuku hovering over before scrambling out of his way.

Izuku vaguely listened to the report of her condition as he knelt down. Taking a deep breath Izuku took stock of the energy swirling within himself. He had enough practice at this point to know how much energy this would take and so let out a carefully measured breath. He blew it out gently, his quirk appearing like a green mist gently enveloping her torso. He kept a keen eye as bone reset itself, muscles grew over and skin knitted together. Everything righting itself. The lungs needed extra help so he blew concentrated puff before shutting off the stream.  The mist still hovered around as everything righted itself. Someone's hand entered the mist and the scratches on it immediately healed up. 

“Don’t,” Izuku growled, the person jumped back in shock looking frightened at his harsh tone, “She needs that to live, do you really need a few cuts healed that badly?”

“No- I…” Her eyes welled up with tears, “My daughter-- I just couldn’t… you… believe,”

Izuku sighed standing up, trauma was a therapist's responsibility after this whole ordeal. He just needed to make sure everyone lived until then.

“Keep people away from her until she’s fully healed,” Izuku instructed, she almost already was he had apparently overcompensated with that extra huff, “After that do whatever with the leftover, make sure she doesn't get trampled,”

“Yes- I-- thank you!” She quickly called as Izuku started to walk away.

The fight was dying down. Izuku didn’t pay any mind, picking through the people around him. Some first aid responders would bring people in bad shape up to him. Izuku would heal them if they really needed it or just tell them to apply pressure or something. People tended to get lazy with first aid when a healer was on the scene. Izuku had no intention of letting them slack.

The fight was over now and the crowd left in good enough shape cheered as the hero’s posed in victory. Izuku glared sculling down another energy drink before shouting at them.

“Stop posing and come help with the rescue!” The heroes startled as did the civilians, some could mistake him for having a voice quirk when really the volume just came from years of having to yell instructions over disaster, “You haven't saved these people yet!”

A few heroes did sheepishly join the rescue operation. Annoyingly, trying to get the rest to shape up had only drawn attention to himself... and the green cross on his chest.

“You’re a healer,” It wasn't a question, hardly ever was, “I got pretty banged up in that fight could use your quirk,”

That definitely wasn't a question, and never was. Izuku looked over them. As a general rule if you could stand and speak and demand his help you didn’t need it. 

“You look fine,” Izuku brushed past him. There was a kid shaking their parent in the rubble nearby. Izuku either had to get them to stop shaking them or check it out.

“What? Aren't you meant to help out with this stuff?” The hero grabbed at Izuku’s arm. He didn't have time for this. Unholstering his gun Izuku pointed it right at the man’s head.

“I’m here to save lives,” Izuku’s glare was cold as the hero looked wide-eyed down the barrel of a gun.

“So am I!” They stumbled back, “I almost lost my life in that fight!”

“Congratulations you still have it,” Izuku put his gun back in place, walking towards the kid, “And will without my help,”

“You’re meant to heal me!” Izuku grit his teeth, “I’m a hero you’re a healer! You’re meant to heal me!”

“Get ahold of yourself, you’re a hero you signed up for this shit, they didn’t,” Izuku pointed at the crying child the hero only just noticing what Izuku had been walking towards, “If you’re afraid to get a little banged up then you should quit now,”

“What sort of a healer refuses to heal a hero?!” He followed him as Izuku stomped towards the kid their parents still unresponsive.

“I would heal every civilian with a scratch on this field before I would bother getting around to you,” Izuku kneeled down, their parent’s legs had been screwed up. They had blood crusting on their head but Izuku would wager the blood loss and pain were more contributing factors to passing out. “Did you think there was always going to be someone to magically make the pain go away when you took this job? Don’t be pathetic,”

He let a thin cloud of mist hover around their legs, focusing a more concentrated burst around their head for good measure. Izuku waited, ignoring the argument from the hero as he watched for a response. The parent faintly groaned. Izuku got up immediately. They would live.

“Quite down kid, and don’t shake them,” Izuku said in his softest tone today, which was not a whole lot, “They’ll be fine just don't touch them until the ambulance arrives,”

Izuku didn't wait around for the thanks mainly because the kid was still crying and it would take forever. Much to his annoyance the hero still followed as Izuku looked along the rubble to find more victims. Izuku just ignored whatever they were saying, popping a few bits of sugary candy. Nothing’s been too taxing yet so those would do fine for now. 

Izuku noticed another Hero actually doing their job and getting civilians out from under the rubble. Izuku knelt down before they could pull the person out. The Hero took the hint and started moving rubble to the side to give him more room. The civilian didn’t seem critical but there was enough damage around the spine moving him would probably end up in some sort of paralysis. Izuku concentrated a short jet of mist around their lower back. It wouldn't fully heal but it would be enough to safely move them to the hospital.

“He refuses to heal me!” The annoying hero complained to what is either his more capable coworker or sidekick.

“Nah man that’s Angel Sigh, he hardly ever lifts a finger to help heroes,” They laughed not seeming bothered by it. Izuku smiled. What could he say sometimes his ‘ice prince’ reputation actually helped out.

“Don’t try to move him, make sure the professionals handle it,” Izuku instructed the Hero nodded, grabbing onto the annoying one so they couldn’t bother Izuku anymore.

By the next hour, the ambulances had taken everyone who needed it to the hospital. Izuku had healed everyone, enough that there wouldn't be any casualties from after the point he showed up. No matter how much he was criticized for his ‘poor bedside decorum’ and ‘poor heroic behavior’ no one could argue he got good results for his work. Besides those things were only required by hospital staff and Izuku certainly wasn't that. Only hero healers who cared about rankings needed to play nice and Izuku certainly wasn't that. Then again he was one of the few heroes with a healing quirk in Japan. And the best thanks to Recovery Girl retiring a few years back. 

With the situation handled Izuku headed for his bike. The storage area underneath had cans of energy drink and coffee. He deliberated between the two. He hadn’t drained that much energy a coffee would do. Then again there was no real reason to avoid the energy drink he would simply be able to store the excess energy inside himself. Heroes were heading for him. He ultimately decided he didn’t need either, chucking them back and driving away before they could annoy him.

He still had daylight and without feeling drained he figured it would be worth his time to head to a hospital. Not the nearest one as victims from the last attack would be flooding it and none of them needed his help. So he went across the city. Some cars would honk angrily at his somewhat not legal speed until they saw the symbol on his bike. Despite not meaning to, Izuku was the most powerful healer in Japan, he was well known even if people underestimated his ‘won't help unless strictly needed’ rule.

It hadn’t always been the case and Izuku didn’t feel bad about having it in place. When his quirk had first manifested he gladly used it on anyone who asked. His classmates loved him. Not just his classmates but the whole school. Everyone came to him for scrapes and bruises. That had been alright for a while. Then he started coming home exhausted, falling asleep during class, not having the energy to play during lunch while everyone came up to him after getting hurt.

He started turning people away gently. It didn’t work. Izuku couldn't even get people to leave him alone with harsh words now let alone the ‘letting them down easy’ of his youth. They got pushy. They played up how much it hurt, guilting Izuku into healing them. It worked for a while until Izuku realized it was all bullshit(not the exact words his young mind supplied but it was true). When Izuku firmly refused to use his quirk people left. He thought that would be the end of it.

The final straw came when one day after refusing his classmate went crying to the teacher. What Izuku would have expected was for the teacher to say that it was his choice and that using his quirk was technically illegal. No. The teacher sat Izuku down and chastised him for saying no. That it would only take a little of Izuku’s energy and that he should want to help everyone.

‘It’s the nice thing to do,’

Since that day his ‘niceness’ had slowly been eroded away by bitterness.

Izuku parked at the hospital locking his bike and strolling into the emergency room. The receptionist shot up pretty much vaulting over the counter to greet him.

“Wow, I can't believe it’s you! We have so many patient-” Izuku held up a hand to silence them.

“I’m only going to attend to people that are actively dying,” They startled a little bit before nodding and leading the way.

He had a reputation among hospitals especially. He was known to show up randomly(Izuku didn’t want anyone getting comfortable with a set schedule). He would only heal those in critical condition and usually only enough that they would survive. If the staff got pushy with him he would just leave and no one would get treatment. 

Izuku also refused to accept calls. He had at the beginning but people ended up just calling him for those rich or influential enough. Then he had only handed out his number to the good of heart, those that he trusted just enough to only call him without bias for the patients. However that lead to people getting lazy, they wouldn't work as hard to keep someone alive when they thought they had a hail mary at their beck and call. Izuku had drawn the line when one day he walked in late to an operating theater to find surgeons and nurses alike just standing around as a person died on the operating table right in front of him. So no, Izuku didn’t accept calls.

His reputation was taken seriously as he was led to an emergency operating theater. Pulling on any needed gear Izuku let the theater nurses give him the full rundown of the car crash victim. The surgeons wisely chose to keep working even with his arrival.

“Alright step aside, don’t worry about the shrapnel the body will naturally push it out,” Izuku told the surgeon who withdrew their tweezers working at the shrapnel in their stomach, “Try not to move around too much it will disturb the mist,”

They did move but it was to back up a few steps, Izuku supposed that worked too. He took a deep breath in. The body needed a shroud all around it but he increased pressure at problem areas like their stomach and head. The body started mending itself under the healing mist. True to his word the shrapnel was pushed out as they healed the workers near him gasping in awe.

“Don’t disturb the body until the mist has dissipated, and don’t leave, they will still need medical attention so don’t let your guard down,” Izuku said seriously, they snapped to attention heeding his warning. 

Izuku didn’t bother to stick around, already moving to the next person that needed his attention. Izuku enjoyed the level of professionalism in the hospital. Something perhaps hypocritical because of his own attitude. Still, Izuku thought he could shape up if he did work for a hospital, and sometimes wished he did. His quirk often ran into problems on the battlefield especially if it was windy, but mainly people were rowdy enough his mist couldn't take full effect meaning he wasted precious energy. Besides, it meant he could focus on civilians and not entitled heroes.

Even so, Izuku knew he could never work at a hospital, he had heard horror stories from those with strong healing quirks working within them. They often got monopolized by private hospitals, ones that would take any means to keep them there. Meaning his quirk would only be used on the wealthy who probably didn't need it or could afford other care. Even if he went to a low profile public hospital he had heard stories about healers getting tricked by the administration, people working secretly to take on rich patients and charge them more behind the healers back. So that left private institutions. Strong healers themselves weren't allowed to own their own for some bullshit reason or rather and Izuku had yet to meet someone he trusted enough to not use his quirk for their own means. So that left him with this.

Izuku waited outside one room they had a comatose patient in. Izuku had requested they recheck their vitals before he used his quirk in case they could recover without him. He still prepared, to go to a nearby vending machine to get any energy drink. He had specialized ones as a support item that packed a hell of a punch. Regular energy drinks weren't good for him so those were like a heart attack in a can that he avoided if he could. That was his compromise for knocking back whatever caffeine filled monstrosity he could find. 

Izuku enjoyed the quiet in the halls. He had warned the nurses if any civilian found out he was here he’d leave. Whenever it got around a hospital he had stopped in he’d be swarmed by pleading families and end up not being able to help anyone. This was why he had wanted to be an underground hero, but thanks to the sheer amount of people he saved and how often he showed up people inevitably had come to know his name. His hero one, that he somewhat wished he could change. It was one he had chosen in High school where he was apparently a lot more positive about his 'merciful' nature. People nowadays had nicknamed him more along the lines of 'Demon'. An exaggeration to be sure but it probably said something about his personality that he preferred it.

Izuku scrolled through his phone while he waited and recouped. There weren't many people on his contact list. Most friendships had inevitably fallen apart when they or a loved one got injured and Izuku refused to heal them. Not that he didn’t want to. In fact, he had saved the life of a few of them who were on the doors to death. The problem was they called him for things like paralysis or head injuries. Izuku had resolved himself to only treat life threatening injuries. Or in the case of the comatose patient he was waiting on, someone who would have their plug pulled. On the field, that definition was looser if he could prevent a person from getting permanently paralyzed he would. It required much less energy and people were less likely to scream at him for refusing to treat injuries like it if he and they didn't know the full extent. Sometimes people didn't realize how often they shot themselves in the foot.

He refused to wave his resolution for anyone, even close friends. He had been accused many times over his life of not caring, but it stung the most when it was a friend's accusation. 

Strangely enough one of the few people still on his contact list was Kacchan. This was mainly because he was one of the few novel people who not only didn’t ask but outright refused to let Izuku heal him. He refused when they were kids saying he didn't need help from someone weak like Izuku. The strangest part was when they had only started to actually get along after they both became heroes.

Izuku had been worn to bitterness by his peers all through school. He had decided Shiketsu was the better option for training. UA already had a healer and Shiketsu was stricter. Izuku felt sure they would use his quirk with discipline. They did and Izuku had become an expert in firmly saying no to minor injuries, for once not having teachers pressure him to heal someone. Everyone was respectful and it left him woefully unprepared for real life.

It didn’t occur until his first major rescue operation how annoying heroes could be. As he tried to save civilians the heroes kept coming up to him and insisted he used his quirk on them instead. Izuku had at first, used to healing heroics students from Shiketsu. But at Shiketsu he never had to also manage civilians. He became so drained so quickly that he wasn't of any use when the rescue operation afterward had dug up people half crushed that only Izuku’s quirk could save, but he couldn't. Not as tired as he was.

Over time he got more selective, sending pro’s away if they could still fight on. Even when he did heal them they would always ruin it. Jumping up to rejoin the fight and dissipating the mist. It wasted his energy and soon he refused to heal heroes until after a battle.

They did not take kindly to that.

Heroes would try to convince him both during a disaster and out of one that he needed to focus on healing them. That it was important they got back to work and that his quirk could do that. They prioritize themselves above civilians.

“The quicker we heal the more people we can save,”

Izuku snapped, he wasn't in the business of making sure other heroes could save civilians. He could and did save plenty of people all on his own. It wasn't a matter of pride he had just too often seen those very heroes walk away after a fight while civilians were left to die.

Sometimes Izuku thought that a villain a few years back had it right. Stain or something like that. The filth of hero society must be culled. While Izuku wasn’t out to kill anyone he was fed up with healing heroes. Pros accepted the role of a hero so they can damn well suffer the consequences.

Finally, he was called into the room before he could bring himself to call Kacchan to rant. Apparently with Izuku’s increasingly bitter attitude the two had finally become compatible. Their friendship mainly consisted of calling each other to rant about a shitty day and then going back to not talking until something else set them off. They were too busy to ever meet up with their vastly different hero work. But still, on the rare occasion they were at a scene together Kacchan would try to stomach one of his energy drinks and chase off anyone that bothered them while they caught up.

Izuku sat next to the comatose patient. He blew out a shroud of mist to cloud around his head. The vitals started showing signs of increased heart rate a few minutes later. Izuku left before he even opened his eyes knowing full well it would happen.

After a few more rounds through the hospital, Izuku felt the drowsiness of the day weigh down on him. It was 'stop now and get a good night's rest' or 'feel like crap tomorrow'.

He drove home. He used to have an apartment attached to his agency but people knocked on the door all hours of the day begging for him to heal their loved ones. Izuku didn’t have an assistant or sidekick to deal with them because they were all trash. 

The few times he had allowed a sidekick or two to join the agency they were combatants because there were so few healing quirks. Even if they were more suited to search and rescue they took up the role of protector as Izuku went around healing people. It was annoying. Not only did they get into fights but they expected Izuku to treat their injuries because they were in the same agency. They treated Izuku like a sidekick in his own agency. Izuku hadn't taken any sidekicks since.

He didn't need protection. He had found a gun to be just as effective on any villain as a quirk. Izuku pat the gun on his side with a slight smirk. It also discouraged pressy heroes to boot. 

Yes, Izuku had a healing quirk, and yes he was a rescue hero. But anyone who made the mistake he was soft would have hell to pay.

 

Chapter 2

Notes:

gotta warn you a civilian gets pretty injured in this one I don't think it's too graphic but yeah:P

The great thing about Izuku’s job was that he could show up with a coffee then spend the next ten minutes just glaring at the villain and no one was going to complain or bother him. He leaned against his bike not too far from the paramedics on standby. The Hero was doing a surprisingly good job at keeping civilians relatively uninjured which left him with enough free time to finish the brew. None of the paramedics dared bother him. They had gotten called out here at 6 in the goddamn morning, and their career didn't depend on them literally being drained of energy. Still, someone took the opportunity when Izuku glared down at his empty cup.

“Here sir,” The young man looked so nervous Izuku wouldn't be surprised if this was his first day as a first responder, he certainly looked awake enough for that.

“Thanks,” The absolute look of shock he had as Izuku took the to-go cup was priceless. What did he expect Izuku to just blow up at him for offering coffee?... He had only done that a few times... and there were other contributing factors!

“Ah- no problem,” He smiled, yep definitely his first day, or at least the first week. Izuku bet he looked like that once, for a very short time, “We need you ready in case anything goes wrong,”

“I need you ready too,” He didn’t have the energy to spare a rant about slacking off just because a healer was on site. So to spare the poor lamb he just took a swig at the coffee. Fun fact about being the son of a guy who breathes fire, can’t burn your throat, “Not strong enough,”

“Um... Angle Sigh.. sir?” Izuku snorted he was willing to put a lot of money the guy was thinking he didn’t match the name at all, “That's pure espresso, the others said your quirk relies on energy so I thought-”

“It does, and this isn’t strong enough,”

“Oh!” He looked like he had figured something out, he hadn’t, “Does your quirk give you an immunity to caffeine?”

“Nope,” Izuku chugged the Venti cup of pure espresso, “I do,”

“I… don’t think that's… healthy,” Brave soul.

“It’s not,” Izuku looked over to the fight the villain was winding up for an attack the Hero a counter, they were too close to the building over, “Heads up,”

The two attacks met shockwaves rattling the ground. It caught the corner of a building making debris rain down. There were several screams, must have been an area the evacuation team couldn’t get to.

“Move out!” Izuku shouted over the paramedics yelling out orders. He led the way, edging them as far from the fight as possible. The Hero's response was to direct the villain away from the fight. 

The same paramedic from earlier stuck close to Izuku’s side, a mobile defibrillator handy. Fortunately, not all civilians were stuck under rubble. Paramedics took their positions and started treating those around them, some would lead those that could walk further away from the site. Izuku moved further into the wreckage, training letting him move aside what he needed to make a path.

“You’re needed over there,” Izuku directed the guy that was following him to a few responders performing CPR. He scrambled away briefly looking back at Izuku to see if he would help. Izuku turned away they had enough attention. There were no other rescue heroes here; he had to check for criticals in the wreckage.

He picked through it at a steady pace. Breathing exercise to both help the strain of the lift and calm him down. One of the first things he had learned was anxiety eats into your energy like nothing else, panicking on the field was not an option. 

“He… he-lp,” From the right, warbled voice likely from blood in the lungs, damage to the torso, likely not visible. Izuku figured this out as he jumped over a piece of rebar sticking out and made his way to the cry.

“I’m here and I’m going to save you,” Izuku said evenly, he couldn't pick up on any breathing, at best it was too shallow, “But I need to know where you are, can you speak again? Or may any sort of noise?”

“Ha,” To his left, “Ha!”

Izuku swerved around a large chunk of wall figuring he would be inside the building now if it were still intact. They were there on the other side. Rebar stuck out through their chest. Their eyes were closed and their breathing was getting shallower as he approached.

“Ha…”

“It’s ok I’m here,” Izuku placed a hand on her cheek she would be more likely to feel that than her shoulder. Then he took out gauze to help stop the bleeding, applying pressure. “I’m Angel Sigh, a healer so I’ll be able to fix you, but first I need to get you on the ground,”

Izuku wasn't sure if she knew there was literally rebar sticking through her chest, telling her would only make her panic. The rebar was sticking out of some concrete straight up from the ground. It would be easier to take it out at the front than lift her off it, especially since it curved at the top. Bolt cutters wouldn’t do but luckily he had some support gear from Hatsume industries that should do the trick.

“It will be painful so I want you to bite down on this and breath through your nose,” Izuku brought the bit of cloth he always had for these occasions, “Ok, focus on my voice,”

He started to lift her. Only enough that he could cut cleanly through the rebar. She screamed, rightfully so, but in her state, it wouldn't be loud enough to alert anyone else. It was a tricky angle to try and lift her while holding the laser saw steady. He would have to send in a request for something hands-off.

“You’re doing well, it’s almost out, just breathe through your nose,” Izuku reminded, the saw cut through. Izuku dropped it steading both hands under her so he could shift them to flatter ground, “Ok I’m going to take the rest out- Now!”

He pulled the rebar out quick like a bandaid, holding her down so she wouldn’t spasm and make it worse by pushing it back in.

“It’s ok now, no more pain,” Izuku soothed, throwing the bloodied metal to the side, “I can start healing you now, you’re going to be fine, just hold still,”

Izuku gathered up enough energy, breathing it out in a green mist. He held her still, his gloves were designed that his quirk couldn't penetrate so he wouldn't sap any energy back. He watched as the wound closed up seamlessly. Other minor injuries now being noticed, her leg was certainly broken or fractured so Izuku blew some mist there. Before long she was healed of everything but some scrapes and bruises. 

Izuku took out some spare clothes he always kept handy for civilians that had there's ruined. It was thin and made of more plastic than cloth but it did the trick.

“Ready to sit up?” Izuku asked as she blinked back to awareness, “I have painkillers,”

Not really she shouldn't be feeling any pain but her brain was probably confused and still register it. So these were more like relaxants that should help her down from the adrenaline high too. She nodded and Izuku helped her sit up. At this point, Izuku would usually hand her off to someone else but no one else had made it this far into the building.

“I’m going to help carry you back ok?” Izuku asked, she nodded absently and he gently hoisted her up. 

Following the path, he had made earlier made it easier but he still used up more energy than he would have liked getting her back to the paramedics.

“Any more critical?” Izuku asked as one approached to check over the victim's condition.

“No, and the building was cleared,” They reported, the fight had been moved further down the street but was now inching back towards them.

“Cleared?” Izuku frowned kneeling next to the girl, “Then why were you inside?”

“... Quirkless… they-they said...” Ah, what a bunch of assholes, they either lied about the evacuation or locked her in the building, “Shouldn't… of wasted you Quirk… on me… useless,”

“I didn’t waste my quirk and you’re not useless,” Izuku said firmly, he had dealt with this before getting told someone Quirkless was in low priority even if they were in critical condition. Yelling with biased medics about who to use his quirk on.

“Can’t do anything,” She scoffed, looking over to the villain the hero was desperately trying to keep away from them, “Not against that,”

“That doesn't mean-” the villain’s attack landed dangerously close to someone receiving medical attention, they screamed, “That's it, stay here,”

Izuku stood, several paramedics, yelled at him to keep away. Izuku walked closer to the villain, unholstering his gun. The hero was moving around too much to get a clear shot.

“Hey you!” Izuku yelled over the sound of sirens and screams. The Hero paused and the villain looked over, he scoffed at Izuku once he saw the healer symbol. Izuku took out his gun, three shots rang out, two hit the villain. They fell to their knees bleeding from their leg and side. Neither wound was fatal, given treatment, but it would certainly take them out of commission. The Hero acted quickly, binding the villain.

“Are you hurt?” Izuku asked the hero as the police took over.

“Not too much,” They were definitely bleeding so Izuku led them back to the paramedics.

“Good work out there,” Izuku let them lean against him.

“I hear that’s high praise from you,” They laughed, but clutched their side the next moment.

“Apparently I’m in a good mood today,” Izuku rolled his eyes at the guy playing tough, at least he wasn't demanding to be healed, cause he didn’t need it.

“Really?”

“No, it’s fucken six am and I had to pull a metal pole out of someone already,” They cringed, what did they expect there to be no injuries?

“Thanks for that,” They said earnestly, a paramedic took the hero from Izuku, sitting them down at the ambulance, “Guess I’m lacking as a hero,”

“Get a gun,” Izuku shrugged, the girl from before so happened to be there, she had a lot more color than earlier.

“Haha- oh wait you’re serious,” The Hero realized, Izuku smirked.

“Quirk or not, there's not many villains I’ve come across that can’t be taken down by a few bullets,” He winked at the Quirkless girl looking at him in shock.

Izuku just smiled, if he later slipped her the business card for the shooting range he went to. That was no one's buisness.

Notes:

Honestly, I wasn't planning to continue this, but I had an idea so I wrote the chapter. I'll probably write a few more as idea's come to me but don't expect any overarching plot. Just Izuku livin' his life.

Chapter 3

Izuku couldn't say his quirk relying on energy was to his benefit on most days. However, on days where he could actually come into his agency and sit at his desk, he could finally appreciate the finer things in life. Like his desk chair. Thanks to his quirk and its value the government basically scrambled head over heels to accommodate him and make sure he was energetic enough. That means Izuku had no problem custom designing a chair that you were meant to sleep at your desk with. 

Magnificent.

Izuku let himself doze as he read through requests to come heal people. They weren't the actual requests. His receptionist was in charge of sorting through everything from a doctor's professional inquisition to a child's crayon drawing. They would sort through them, write out the details that were important and then only give the report to Izuku if he was strictly needed.

Just as he was about to doze off one request caught his attention. This wasn't regulation. He scanned the report to find some hidden thing about their condition that would warrant his help. There wasn't they would survive without his care. There were no personal details as Izuku requested. With a heavy sigh, he pushed himself off his desk.

The building was only three stories tall but people weren't allowed to judge him for avoiding the stairs. There are a few security guards meandering around the first floor, mainly there to keep civilians from storming the place but also on the lookout for villains. And on a few occasions both. Izuku had been threatened many times by desperate civilians using their quirk to threaten him to heal them. In those situations, the threat outweighed his conviction to what he healed. It simply wasn't worth the risk. The problem came that it was effective and so civilians would often try and storm the building. Some people were desperate enough to be sent to prison if their loved one made a full recovery. So Izuku increased security and maintained that focus should be set on improving medical fields not relying on quirks. In his experience healing quirks only held the world back from true progress with a quick fix.

So in the meantime, security guards. Izuku nodded to the security guards as he passed them. The ones that had been with him a while give a knowing look as he approaches the receptionist desk. The newer ones look confused. Let this be a lesson to them. They faced down people pleading every day and if they let someone not approved slip through the cracks they were out of here just as fast.

“What’s this?” Izuku doesn't slam the request down but he might as well have for how he jumps.

“Uh…” He glanced down at the paper instantly paling when he realized which it was.

“You’ve worked with me for a few weeks now, you know full well what I do and do not allow,” He nodded shakily, “So why did you give this to me?”

“Yo… you didn’t read the letter….” He said quietly not meeting Izuku’s eye, “You don’t know…”

“Does it have some extra detail that makes this case a priority?” Izuku asked importantly.

“Yes! Uh… let me grab it,” Izuku raised an eyebrow in a clear ‘hurry up’ motion. He leaned against the desk and waited absentmindedly siphoning more energy off to his reserve. It made his eyes droop and he was going to need a pick me up if this thing dragged out. 

There were a few other people in the waiting area, likely there to see the other doctors under Izuku’s employ. They watched Izuku curiously, some debating if they should go up to them. They were dissuaded by the security guards, it was made very clear to everyone entering the building that he be left alone.

“Here,” Izuku took the somewhat crumpled paper. It was written in crayon and included drawings. But the doctor's report paperclipped to the letter reminded Izuku why he hired this guy in the first place. 

He read over both, getting the picture of a single mother who got in an accident. Her kids sent in the letter each writing to ask for help and their own dumbed-down version of what happened to her.

“Again, there is nothing in here that warrants my attention,” Izuku threw the papers back on the desk.

“Are you kidding!” He slammed his hands down on the desk, “They said they don't have any other family! They’re going to end up all alone and separated! Without their mum to care for them,”

“None of that is my concern,” Izuku looked off to the side already bored with the repetitive conversation.

“You’re going to let these kids grow up without their mother?!” They were getting in Izuku’s face now, how juvenile as if that could faze him when Izuku grew up with Kacchan.

“Many kids do,” Izuku merely shrugged.

“You can stop it,” Izuku spared a glance over they looked as quiet and shocked as their voice implied.

“So could the hospital, and I know they said they can't afford it, that just means Japan needs better healthcare, infrastructure, and support for cases like this,” Plus a million other things, “None of that is going to be solved if I just swoop in and fix everything, the problem at hand will go ignored and it will just happen again and again,”

“This isn’t some detached lesson!” So they were back to yelling, “These are kids! And their lives have been affected! They need help,”

“When you were hired you received strict guidelines,” Izuku had a line in the sand between requesting his help and demanding it, cross it and the conversation is over, “You said you could uphold them,”

“I KNOW!... I know… I just…” He took a shuddering breath, resting his head in his hands, “Every day, every minute I get a new call, a new letter, every one of them pleading for help… they just… one tragedy after another… there's so much suffering in the world,”

“Yep,” Izuku popped the ‘p’ because what else was there to do but feign casualness, “And you haven't seen the half of it,”

“... fuck, right, what you’re younger than me? Fuck man,” Not exactly professional, maybe he would fit in here after all, “How do you deal with it… all,”

“I don’t” It was the raw truth, but they deserved that much, “I can’t that's why I decided on what needed me and what would have to work out for itself,”

“No… no I mean the guilt- the pleads…” His face twisted up trying to find the right word, Izuku already knew,  “... The pain,”

“... I don’t,”

“I… I can’t deal with this,” His head hung, defeated a mirror of many others that had stood at this desk,  “… I’m sorry,”

“Sure want to be fired or quit?” He laughed but made his decision, Izuku promised to give a decent reference regardless. He probably wouldn't want to work such a demanding job again anyway.

After getting everything in order Izuku left telling them to clean out their desk whenever. With that, he left. Instead of heading to his ‘nap room’ that his coworkers liked to joke was secretly his apartment(it wasn't there were too many interruptions at the agency) he went to the doctors located on the first floor.

Doctors was a mild way to put it. It was practically a mini emergency room, complete with a docking bay out front and certified medics ready to drive out and back him up on jobs. Upstairs they had a few rooms for their long-term patients, plus some labs to further research in non-quirk-based medication.

Entering the ward Izuku was met with grins. It was a slow day meaning the staff had stacked their gear into a tower. A nurse was currently balancing precariously on a chair trying to place a thermometer on the leaning tower. Izuku smirked, leaning against the wall to see how this would pan out, badly most likely.

His staff got away with being casual under the pretense of being a hero agency. They weren't expected to uphold the level of professionalism as a hospital. As such most of Izuku’s staff had been rejected or fired from hospitals or government teams for one reason or another. A few were ex-cons or reformed villains that people usually didn’t want treating them. Then there were some that used to be medics for armies whom Izuku loved. They were his exact mix of ‘I don’t give a shit’ and ‘you expect me to be nice just because I’m a healer?’. Not to mention they would come out with him to an active rescue site without batting an eye at any fighting going on around them.

The thermometer set the tower off balance, and everything started to come crashing down. One of them used their quirk to stop the descent. It wasn't an overly powerful quirk they could only keep stuff suspended for a few seconds. That was fine because someone else had six pairs of arms and quickly swooped everything up.

“If you are hoping to make me bankrupt I suggest you stack the machines instead,” Izuku caught their attention, “Those cost more,”

“Hey boss,” There was a chorus of the same, no one called him by his hero name except to make fun.

“Hey, we’re down a receptionist and people are in the waiting room-”

“I’ll take over,” The nurse from the stacking offered. They were newer here. Izuku was glad his staff finally managed to pull them into their shenanigans.

“I’ll send someone down soon,” Izuku added, before taking out the request, minus the letter, “See what you can do about this,”

“Hm? Reason we already chased away the new receptionist?” His head doctor, Kanna, asked as she leafed through the report.

“Bleeding heart,” Izuku shrugged helping organize the equipment that the tower was made of.

“Unlike you who hands this to me personally,” Kanna teased, reports in hand that should have gone to her in the first place.

“You can handle this?” Izuku asked instead of rising to the bait.

“Yeah should do, I’ll call the hospital there and ask, I’ll pick the best person for the job, or I’ll go myself, this actually might be a longer recovery so I could get her transferred here,” Kanna listed as they read through, new plans formulating, “I’ll keep you posted,”

“No don’t,” Izuku said automatically, ignoring the part of himself that wanted to know, “I shouldn't have even known about it, only tell me if it’s something I should worry about,”

“Yeah sure boss,” She rolled her eyes, “And if I happen to talk about it loudly in the breakroom I expect you not to eavesdrop,”

“I won’t,” Izuku headed for the elevator.

“Sure you won’t,” Kanna called over her shoulder as he made his escape.

“I won’t!” The elevator closed before Izuku could hear the childish response.

Izuku headed past the patient rooms on the second floor. He waved to the people in physio as he passed the gym. There was another gym on the third floor with more general equipment. It was originally made for Izuku or combatants in the agency but he hadn’t taken on any sidekicks for a while now. They just got in his way more than anything else, trying to protect him, acting as if he wasn't a hero too. Besides him, most staff used the gym since it was free compared to a membership. Not like Izuku cared either way.

Regardless his destination was actually at the end of the hall. Therapy offices. He had a few therapists on staff. Not only for his patient's trauma but for his workers, especially those going into disaster zones but this was a stressful job all around.

“Ah Izuku, come for a session finally?” Okumura said as her usual greeting.

“Unless you want me falling asleep on that couch?” Which was very tempting, “No,” 

“If that’s what you need,” Okumura pushed away from her desk, setting him with a look that would have worked if he wasn't immune to guilt tripping at this point.

“I need to get this sorted,” Izuku said instead, “Another receptionist,”

“Oh really? He had come to talk to me earlier this week,” Okumura mused, warning would have been nice but then again she knew he didn’t like to be bothered, plus confidentiality and all.

“Same deal as usual,” Offer them to keep seeing the therapist he employed free of charge or recommend another or offer to pay for whoever they chose.

“At this point, everyone who’s left that station could form a club,” Okumura hummed, Izuku smirked she would be fun to talk to if she wasn't constantly trying to ‘give him the help he so desperately needs’ he was fine everything is fine, “We could make a help group,”

“Whatever you think is best,” Izuku conceded, even if she meant it as a joke it was hard to tell with her dry humor.

“I think it’s best you sit down and talk to me,” Again the ineffectual guilt glare.

“Next week doc,” Izuku promised, knowing full well she would hold him to that, maybe he should change the locks to his office, “Have other stuff to do,”

“You always do,” She sighed, turning back to her desk.

“Bye doc,”

Izuku went straight for the third floor, his management area. There are several offices around but he heads to the room with cubicles. People were meandering around, some focused at their desks while others chat with each other. As far as Izuku is concerned if they keep the place standing they’re doing their jobs.

“Oh? Bad news?” Someone joked as he walks in.

“Isn’t it always?” Izuku shot back, “We need a new receptionist,”

“Already?”

“Is that a record?”

“Not even remotely close,”

“I’ll head down,” Someone offered, gathering up supplies.

“Thanks,” Izuku sighed, a can was tossed his way. Obviously an energy drink. Izuku stared down weight the pros and cons of taking it. He had wanted to take a nap before this, probably should have dealt with all this after. But now the letter is flashing in his head a drawing they did, a picture of the family, the medical report, ‘ You can stop it’. Izuku opened the can up and downed half the drink in one go. “Find me a hospital,”

He had a specialized team for that, keeping track of the comings and goings of hospitals all over Japan. That information just one of the perks of being a hero, at the very least a hero. Someone typed at their computer quickly before poking back up.

“Address sent to your helmet,” They called before going back to whatever they were doing before.

“Great,” Izuku crushed his can motioning for another one.

“I’ll find a replacement for the receptionist,” Another person offered as Izuku caught the can tossed his way. “Make sure they can handle this,”

“If they can’t they’ll just be fired,” Izuku shrugged, actually taking his time to sip this drink. He fired anyone who couldn’t handle the job, so those left behind were as tough as nails, “Thanks,”

“Yeah, get some rest! I’m booking you a hotel near the hospital so stay the night, or you know, afternoon,” Izuku nodded already halfway through the door, “Sleep!”

 

“I got it!” Izuku slammed the door closed, honestly, people here could be such a nag. At least it wasn't in the annoying way everyone else would pussyfoot around him in that condescending way. The garage had an elevator straight down into it. Izuku headed down, walking between the trucks and ambulance-but-we-can’t-call-it-that vehicles. His bike stood alone, green details and cross being the only hint of a medical vehicle.

Izuku finished up his drink before pulling on the helmet. The address and map were brought up on its inbuilt screen, it was a few towns over. Good. He didn’t like visiting hospitals in the area too often, they got comfortable with his presence and lazy with their own work. He kicked the bike into gear content to focus on driving to ignore everything else. He had people to save, this wasn't a personal matter. The garage door opened and he sped off. His team could handle the rest.

Notes:

Just a quick look into Izuku's agency
I'd also like to say I don't nessasarily approve or disapprove of Izukus's actions here. I'm just putting forth a character and explaining how that came to be its a fun character analysis to write. What do you think? Is he right or wrong?

Chapter 4

Glass crunched under his boots, shadows drew across the alleyway the street lights were only able to catch the obnoxious color of an energy drink can as Izuku considered it. There had been a pretty major rescue operation that afternoon with severe enough injuries he was well needed. Izuku had stayed on site for longer than any other hero, most at the scene claiming not to have too much rescue experience. Izuku had asked to see their licenses and they had to use their quirks to stop him ripping them up at the scene.

“Completely idiotic,” Izuku muttered to himself glaring at the can unfairly as it probably had a higher IQ than those heroes combined, “Fighting villains isn’t all there is to being a hero, even if you're from a minor hero school more funding should go into rescue training than learning to punch real good,”

Now he was stuck on the other side of the city drained of energy besides his emergency reserves that he refused to touch. Izuku had healed enough victims of crashes to know driving a motorbike while on the brink of collapse was not a great idea. But if he downed a can for a little pick me up there was no chance of getting to sleep tonight and he had promised his agency to get some sleep after their work today. Izuku dutifully ignored he had brushed off everyone’s offers for a ride and had enough pride to not call them back. They’d be at the agency anyway and had a fair few patients from today's events so he couldn't bother anyone with this.

“Fuck this,” There was always the third option which was pass out in a random alley in a sketchy neighborhood that Izuku was usually partial to. The best of no worlds.

His clothes were hero-grade material so the glass didn’t cut through. Izuku just pulled up his hood ready for a little cat nap. His clothes that were usually uncomfortably warm were perfect for the cold weather as designed for energy preservation.

“Always for the quirk never for me,” Izuku laughed to himself, then louder so the universe could know the bad mood he was in and not throw anymore shit his way, “The world sucks,”

“Tell me about it,” Why hello shit. Izuku didn’t jump, he was a hero and a professional he wouldn’t do that. He would however pull a gun before he even opened his eyes, “Whoa easy,”

Despite having the firearm pointed expertly at his head the guy dropping in the alley(yes dropping in) didn't seem worried. Self assured in his movements and likely his quirk.

“You a pro or a villain?” Izuku demanded not lowering the gun. People underestimated him and he wouldn't return the favor.

“Underground, names Mindwash,” The guy pulled out a license to verify only then did Izuku lower his gun, “Saw you sulking in the alley,”

“And I suppose you stopping wouldn’t have anything to do with this?” Izuku tapped on his chest, green cross stretched over it, “Also I wasn’t sulking,”

“Your agency let out a mild alert you hadn’t returned yet,” Izuku tried not to roll his eyes he really did… ok no he didn’t, “They were just concerned,”

“Yeah they always are,” Izuku let his head thud against the wall behind him, “What is everyone on a manhunt? Have you been scouring the city for me?”

“I just kept an eye out on patrol,” Mindwash looked bored but at least not about to launch into a passionate rant about his personal safety being important to the country and heroics industry, “And they were right to be you were about to sleep in the gutter,”

“Sketchy alley, not gutter get it right,” Izuku teased, getting a twitch of a smirk from the other hero, “Care to join me?”

“It’s the most comfortable bed I’ve seen in 63 hours,” The hero dropped down next to him, wiping away some of the glass with no attention to detail.

“You managed to find a bed less comfortable than a pile of glass and shit?”

“Nope,” Mindwash leaned back against the wall. Izuku smirked, maybe he could stand this guy's presence after all.

“Is that a sleeping bag?” Izuku gave a shit-eating grin at the pack he brought out, bright purple clashing with everything in the alley other than Izuku’s energy drink.

“My old teacher carried one around everywhere, insisted I do the same,” Mindwash shrugged, throwing it over both their legs, Izuku didn’t have the energy to get pissy about it.

“Unique style, why not just wear warmer clothes instead of a restrictive bag hard to get out of in the event of a sneak attack,” Izuku wasn’t even meant to work on the field and he still knew doing that as a solo hero was a dumbass idea, “Just who is this teacher of yours?”

“Eraserhead from-”

“UA I’m guessing?”  

“How’d you know?” Mindwash cracked his eyes open, Izuku shrugged him off.

“The most tolerable heroes I’ve met on the field have either been from UA or Shiketsu,” Izuku said, “Moreso from Shiketsu,”

“Why’s that?” At least he wasn’t getting in Izuku’s face the way Kachhan always did when Izuku brought this up. Stupid UA alumni.

“Both of them had healers so they know not to be annoying and demanding, thinking they can do everything,” Even so Izuku wasn't going to get into the nuance of the problem. Students from his time in Shiketsu still thought they were entitled to be healed and heroes from UA seemed to think Izuku had endless energy, acting recklessly, “Although Recovery Girl is retired now,”

“She was still active when I went there,” No kidding, she had retired a year or two into Izuku’s debut, old crow had been waiting for someone to take her place. Izuku could respect the shrewdness, but if that meant he was gonna be the only decent healer in Japan until he was that shriveled up the hero association had another thing coming, “What about Shiketsu?

“That's my school,” An apprenticeship under Recovery Girl would have been useful but he could help more at Shiketsu, “Students there know my limits better than anyone and know I can fuck anyone up in a fight - I told them what’s what,”

“Yeah I bet you did,” Mindwash glanced at his gun that Izuku had dropped but hadn’t holstered, “Decent shot?”

“You gotta know how to hit vital organs if you wanna avoid them,” Izuku shrugged, sighing as he relaxed into the sleeping bag. Shit, he needed a nap- or a bed, a bed would be nice.

Luckily for him, Mindwash seemed to have an inherent ‘shut the fuck up this conversation is over’ sense. The two slipped into silence both trained to keep an ear out for disturbances in the night so neither could fully rest. He probably needed to contact his team anyway. Izuku disappearing wasn’t unheard of but it got the hero community nervous. Izuku didn’t want to do that to them… unintentionally.

“So want me to drive you home?” Mindwash offered, grouchy voice betraying just how little he wanted to get up.

“Don’t you have patrol?” Izuku cracked an eye open, glaring somewhat at the dark colored hero.

“I’ll call in a cover, or just skip it,” Mindwash shrugged, pulling away the sleeping bag, the jerk, “Frankly I think everyone would be more upset I let the countries best-and only- healer die in a fiery crash of exhaustion than if I skipped patrol for a night,”

“Healer privileges,” Izuku spat bitterly, standing up before the hero could offer a hand.

“You don’t say that like a good thing,” Mindwash finished rolling up the sleeping bag, honestly not looking any more awake than Izuku.

“It gets annoying, as beneficial as it can be people tend to have certain assumptions of me,” Izuku passed the energy drink he had been considering off. It was one of his milder ones so it shouldn't have heart attack inducing levels of caffeine, “Tell me Mindwash what's your impression of me?”

“You wanna know Angle Sigh?” Mindwash took the drink staring blankly at Izuku, saying deadpan, “You’re clearly a delicate little flower with impeccable manners and grace,”

“Yeah, that’s pretty much what everyone expects,” Izuku smirked, more so when Mindwash cracked open the can, “Plus to be a pushover and deal with every little scratch people get while I’m trying to save lives,”

“I know a thing or two about judgments based on quirks,” Mindwash took a sip as they left the alley, “What the actual fuck is in that?”

“Don’t know, don’t ask, enjoy not sleeping asshole,” Izuku strode up to his bike opening its compartment to fish out another helmet, “Quirk bias huh? That why you’re underground?”

“Partly, it’s also practical,” Mindwash shrugged notably not explaining his quirk and even more notably downing more of the energy drink.

“I tried to go underground,” Izuku tossed over a helmet catching Mindwash’s incredulous look, “I really did, but when you’re active and visible on a disaster scene you either get picked up by cameras or become a ghost story and that creates a whole nother problem when people think you’re some kind of savior,”

“A travesty how could someone think that of the person saving their life,” Mindwash drawled, if he wasn’t careful Izuku might actually start tolerating him.

“Yeah whatever,” Izuku rolled his eyes pulling on his own helmet, “It’s not like I sell merch or anything if you don’t count officially made and endorsed medical packs,”

“I think I actually have one of those,” Mindwash threw away the can, having sculled the entire thing. Izuku would probably have to check him into the ward when they got to his agency after the caffeine really kicked in, “No merch or t-shirts or anything?”

“Sure just let everyone walk around with a healers mark and see how well that goes,” Izuku climbed on the bike after Mindwash casually holding on to him, “I have enough trouble with unofficial merch to encourage it by making my own,”

They didn't try to talk over the wind while driving. Mindwash knew how to drive a bike which is honestly something Izuku should have been worried about way earlier. Regardless he held on tight and let him drive them through the city at top speed. Izuku watched as his fingers started tapping on the handles, Mishwash’s body almost vibrated as Izuku's home cooked horror of an energy drink on steroids started to take effect. They pulled up to the agency, dismounting the bike Izuku saw Mindwash’s typical drowsy eyes blown fully open.

“Alright I’m gonna go take down all the crime in the city in until this crash hits me and I sleep for the next week,” Mindwash spoke far too fast, “And you’re going to take my number and send me more of whatever that was because now I’m dependant,”

“Never tell me I was responsible for the ‘rampage’ and you have a deal,” Izuku grinned taking the helmet and a card, “Also next time I’m passed in an alley you have to bring me a sleeping bag,”

“Deal,” Mindwash took his hand, and yeah he was definitely shaking now. 

Izuku watched as he took off into the shadows using his scarf to vault him over buildings. He’d have to tell someone to keep an eye on the situation and prepare tranquilizers if necessary. For now, he was going into the agency and he was going to pass out on the first not glass covered surface he could find. In this case, it happened to be the floor of the medical ward.

“Oh good you're not dead in a gutter,” Kanna said with all the kindness his head doctor could manage, which was none, “Get up it's unsightly to have a dead body in the middle of my ward.

“Drag me,” Izuku rebutted, face smooshed into the floor.

“Unbelievable- HEy! Someone make sure the place doesn't burn down I’m taking his royal highness upstairs,” There was a mumbled affirmation throughout the room as Kanna hoisted him up half dragging Izuku to the elevator, “Please tell me you weren't stupid enough to drive back in this condition,”

“Course not,” Izuku got propped against the elevator wall, “Someone drove me, made a friend,”

“You? A friend?” Kanna scoffed, holding him up as Izuku swayed with the movement of the elevator.

“Yeah he’s a real asshole, jaded and done with hero society’s shit,” Izuku grinned, “He’s my best friend,”

“Ground Zero will be so upset,” Kanna deadpanned, pushing him out of the elevator, “Go to bed I’ll tell everyone to call off the manhunt and stop checking in with the morgue,”

“You all make it so much harder to fake my death,” Izuku sighed, heading for his mini apartment in the agency.

“That's the plan,” Kanna saluted as the elevator door closed, leaving Izuku to stumble towards his bed.

Izuku collapsed on top of the sheets mussing them up. Letting out a deep sigh a tinge of green came with his breath. Without that little hint more of energy Izuku’s eyes dropped immediately trusting his team to let him go into a self imposed coma for the next 48 hours.

Notes:

I feel like this fic is all just lore waiting desperately for someone to write an actual plot about it

Chapter 5

The air still hung hazy with dust, but luckily for them villains had stopped kicking it up ages ago. Izuku was no stranger to dealing with natural disasters but this one was on the larger end of what he's dealt with. Many powerful heroes had shown up to defeat the main villain who was taken out by the time Izuku rolled up for rescue operations.

There hadn't been a great deal of casualties on their side. That was mainly owed to the light tint of green adding a hue to the haze. Izuku leaned against his bike, his reserves of energy virtually drained at this point. He downed another can of what probably killed the dinosaurs. This was the good shit. The emergency supply even Izuku didn't fuck around with on the day to day. It would probably send anyone without his quirk functions into a state of cardiac arrest even he couldn't heal them from. 

The energy swirled in his lungs. His body desperately ached for a drop of it as he siphoned it all into his 'reserve'. It didn't stay there for very long as Izuku tilted his head up. He took a deep breath and let it out in a smooth exhale. A large green cloud formed above him before the wind swiftly pulled it away carrying it to the far ends of the disaster zone. It was fucking exhausting but the little bits of healing cloud swirled it's way in between cracks and rubble making it's way to people buried keeping them alive that little bit longer, buying just a few minutes for someone to rescue them.

Izuku closed his eyes, breathing out the rest and zoning out from the chaos of the rescue. There were dozens upon dozens of rescue heroes with heaps more all round heroes assisting. They coordinated the rescue and guarded Izuku from any wannabe villains. Izuku sighed out the last bits of healing mist from his reservoir, reaching for another can.

He had a coworker once who pointed out how much it looked like was taking a drag from a  cigarette when he did that. What had followed was a very long and impolite speech by Izuku who had to put up with way more than his fair share of lectures about the value of his lungs. After all, his quirk wouldn’t be nearly as effective with lung cancer.

Izuku huffed out a bitter breath, tinged slightly green by the remnants in his lungs. He was sure at this rate his breath was going to be permanently tinted, contaminated by his quirk and coating his lungs. Taking in massive amounts of energy and quickly dispelling it. His body jolted every time adrenaline spiking up from the large intake. Mitochondria which were already enhanced working double time to process it all. A build up that threatened to boil over blowing the lid off the pot growing and growing and growing in pressure only to be released with one breath.

It was a kick and left his body jittery from a high it wasn’t getting. Izuku reached for the next can, noticing how the shaking of his hand was lessening. Not a brilliant sign. Seemed like he was pushing so far past quirk overuse and he was reaching the next stage of fucking your body up. He lifted the can, pointedly ignoring how lax it felt in his grip. He closed his eyes and just tried to summon the will power and coordination to pop open the can.

"You better fucking not keel over on me," Izuku didn't need to crack open his eye to see who it was, but he did it anyway to prove a point.

"Kacchan in the event I do 'keel over' I expect you to leave me where the fuck I am to rest," The blonde's scowl turned into a smirk as he pushed Izuku to the side of his own bike. Earning an irate glare from the healer.

"Jesus fuck what the hells in this?" Katsuki snatched the can from him looking over the blank black aluminium. Its only marking was a very large 'WARNING: DO NOT DRINK'.

"Like 70% of my blood right now," Izuku shrugged, taking the can back. He looked over at his friend. He looked unscathed, inevitably healed thanks to Izuku but his outfit was shredded. "Tough fight?"

"Wasn't shit," Katsuki grunted, leaning back so heavily his poor bike groaned in protest.

Izuku shrugged the lie off, opening the can with a sinister hiss. Katsuki cringed at the smell and cringed even more when Izuku downed it in one go. He was uncharacteristically quiet as he let Izuku go over his routine of converting energy. His lungs were starting to burn like liquid fire. His chapped near bleeding lips had the tell tale signs of quirk overuse. His hands had almost completely stopped trembling, after that the tips of his fingers went numb.

"Pass me another will you?" Izuku breathed out the last bit of mist, holding his hand out to Katsuki. It was getting difficult to stay balanced leaning against the bike like this, he was going to have to sink to the ground at this rate

"No fucking way, you've already started doing that weird coma shutdown thing where you stop moving," Izuku's hand dropped, muscles physically not having enough energy to hold his arm any more, "You need to take a break I'm not dragging your floppy ass around."

"Oh that's why you came over," Izuku muttered pertinently like a child. His brain didn't have the energy for higher thought right now.

"Don't be all pouty, I have a job to do," Katsuki rolled his eyes.

"Go do it then, I don't need you to be my keeper," Izuku would cross his arms but his body was revolting, fine then he didn't need them anyway!

"I'm not dealing with this shit," Katsuki huffed, pushing off from the bike that shifted without his weight. Izuku resigned himself to being left alone by his childhood friend once again as he went gallivanting for glory. Fuck it, he knew he was an workaholic but Katsuki was just as bad. He knew friends should have shared interests but this was a pretty bad line up.

"See ya- Kacchan what the fuck!" Izuku shrieked as he was hoisted up by the waist and slung over the hero's shoulder.

"Weird as to hear that dumb nickname with swearing," Katsuki shifted him until he was settled solidly on the hero's shoulder. He couldn't even struggle pathetically, his body deciding to go quote-unquote; floppy.

"Don't act like you haven't been swearing enough to make a sailor blush since we were seven!" Katsuki started walking them away from Izuku's bike. The ruckus the healer was kicking up, drew the attention of heroes and survivors as Katsuki shuttled them through, "Kacchan!"

"Give it a break you can't fight me when you're like this," Katsuki jostled him and humiliatingly Izuku's arms and head flopped around like a dead fish, "You can't use your quirk at this scale without those energy drinks, so all you've got to do is rest enough to walk back over to your bike."

"You sadist!" Izuku screamed as he was purposefully carried to the tents set up the furthest away from his bike. His beautiful, utterly unattended bike, "If there's a single scratch on that bike I will snap your spine vertebrae by vertebrae. I'm a healer, that means I know how to kill you with the utmost violence!"

"Why would your bike be my problem?" Katsuki looked over his shoulder flashing Izuku a downright manic vindictive smirk. "I'm not your keeper.”

Izuku screeched.

He only quieted down when they reached the temporary tents where exhausted pro's were lined up in cot's trying to get some rest to face the horrors outside. Izuku wasn't quite enough of an asshole to wake them all up.

"I hate you," Izuku said passionately as Katsuki dumped him in an empty cot.

"Been waiting to hear those words since we were four," Katsuki tucked him in because he was an asshole. Then he turned to leave the tent and no fucking way Izuku was letting him get off that easy.

"If I have to lie here you're also taking a break you fucking hypocrite," Izuku whisper yelled as loudly as he dared making Katsuki pause.

"I've got shit to do."

“Whoop-de-fucking-do-for-you,” He nailed Katsuki with a hard stare, “Lie. Down.”

Katsuki glared him down, but Izuku met it pound for pound. If he didn’t come and lie down Izuku would drag himself after him inch by inch, which Kacchan knew full well.

“You’re such a whiny bitch,” He sighed, plopping onto the cot across from Izuku but not lying down just to be contrary, “I’m leaving if another low life starts stirring shit.”

“Fine then, don't come crawling back to me when you get beat half to death.”

“You know I wouldn’t anyway,” Katsuki scowled, which to be fair was true.

When his quirk had first appeared, before Izuku grew a backbone and the ability to say no he would be flocked by his classmates. Everybody but Kacchan came to him for every scrape and bruise. Back then he wasn’t efficient, most kids weren’t with their quirks. He didn’t have his energy drinks to fall back on. He kept on eating more and more yet never felt full. His lips started to chap and his lungs began to burn. Until he couldn’t run with the others on the playground. He had to sit on the side and watch, shakily healing anyone who came up to him after playing too hard and scraping their knee. They’d leave Izuku alone again once they were fixed.

It had all gotten too much. His stomach stabbed him from the inside and his limbs ached and ached until he couldn’t feel his extremities at all. One recess he had practically crawled into a little nook. His hands clasped over his ears as his classmates yelled out for him to come help. He tried to keep his breathing shallow, easy with the way his throat was rubbed raw and each breath felt like it was tearing apart.

When Kacchan had found him Izuku burst into tears. Begging for a break, just a short one, please, anything, I can’t, I’m not trying to be mean, I’m sorry-

“Don’t be stupid I don’t want your dumb quirk to help me anyway!”

Kacchan had scowled at him and when his yelling attracted the other kids he had chased them away. Threatening to beat them up so bad they would actually need healing. 

Izuku scoffed, his eyes unable to stay open any longer as his consciousness slipped away.

His eyes could have been closed for seconds or hours but he got woken up by a very familiar scene.

“I don’t care if your arm is bloody well ripped off- If you wake him up I’ll do it myself and stuff it so far up your ass-” There was a murmur Izuku couldn’t hope to hear over Kacchan’s eardrum bursting shriek. “You’re a hero! Piss off or I’ll stuff that cape up there too!”

That got whoever it was to shuffle off quickly. Izuku wished he had the energy to get a look and memorize them. Whoever was insistent enough that a glare from Kacchan wasn’t enough to chase them off wasn’t someone Izuku wanted to deal with on the field. He’d put them on his shit list and make sure they weren’t teamed up for any future missions. He’d have to ask Kacchan later, if the blonde even bothered to remember all the people he’s shouted at.

Izuku chuckled, getting his friends attention.

“Did that bastard wake you up?” Kacchan asked, already halfway up to go chasing after them.

“Oh no, that was all you,” He teased, and pushed himself onto his elbows. Even if his arms ached and sent piercing pains lacing up his shoulders. He could move them now at least.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Kacchan asked, a hand landed on Izuku’s chest and pushed him back down onto the cot.

“I can move now, I’m going back to my bike,” He could sense in the air his mist had dissipated, carried away by the wind. The sound of activity around them told him the rescue efforts were still in effect. More people needed his help.

“Right, and can you feel your fingers? Or your toes?” Kacchan asked doubtfully, making Izuku scowl.

“They tingle, it’s good enough,” Izuku tried to push the hero’s arm to the side, but like hell he had a chance against Kacchan’s strength on a good day(which were rare) let alone in his current state. “I know how to deal with quirk overuse, I’m not a brat anymore.”

“You’re acting like one,” Kacchan pressed him firmly back into the bed. “Leave it, this is a stupid fucking technique and most of your energy is wasted.”

“It’s fine, its the only way to reach some of them,” Izuku argued, he really really didn't have the energy to spare to physically fight back. People were stuck under rubble. If air was reaching them through the cracks they might still be alive, and if air could reach them his mist could reach them. “I can stall their deaths, that’s enough for the responders.”

“You can’t save everyone, it’s a disaster, people die,” Kacchan said bluntly. 

He let go of Izuku and the healer almost gots his wits about him in time to roll off the bed before Kacchan’s legs hit his stomach. Making him groan at the pressure as the blond leant back in a flimsy fold out chair and used him as a footrest.

“Are you serious?!” Izuku screeched, definitely disturbing the people trying to get some rest but too incensed to actually care.

“As the god damn grave. Your shift is over. Sleep more.”

“You are so-” Izuku let out a guttural cry before sinking back into the cot. 

He would find a way to get his revenge. He was sure there was some blackmail he could give aunt Mitsuki and let her handle the rest. For now he sighed and let his muscles unwind. Keeping quiet as other people in the tent settled back down. No one bothered them, and the people that wander too close got sent off with a sharp glare from Katsuki.

“You know I would if I could,” Izuku sighed, staring up at the tent canopy. 

“Could what?” Kacchan repeated with a disinterested air.

“Heal everyone, every bruise and scrape if my quirk was strong enough, if I had enough energy, I'd help everyone, even the heroes,” Izuku’s face twisted in displeasure at the last part, but that’s personal distaste. Something he wouldn’t have a reason for if he didn’t have those limits.

“Great then I’ll just strap you to a power line and use your body like a fucking smoke machine.”

“That could work,” Izuku hummed, considering.

“No it couldn’t, you idiot, what's the first lesson of being a hero?” Kacchan’s heels pressed into the soft flesh of his stomach without putting in enough pressure to wind him.

“Well for you it was how to throw a soft ball.” That earned him a sharp smack to the head.

“Not that,” Kacchan growled, leveling him with a look , “You can’t save everyone.”

“Really you're giving me that cheesy advice?” Kacchan’s lips curled and his heel dug in harder into Izuku’s liver. The healer scoffs but backs down, “Besides I know that full well, I’m just saying if it was a possibility…”

“Yeah it would be great, but it’s not. So let it go,” Kacchan sneered with all his usual bedside manner, which Izuku wasn’t really in a position to criticize. “Now sleep .”

“Worry wart~” Izuku teased and immediately closed his eyes to escape retribution.

It certainly helped that he’d learnt how-(his body was so desperate for sleep it takes any opportunity given)- to fall asleep in seconds. Meaning he’s out like a light before Kacchan could start yelling or try to hit him for his cheek. 

Izuku is secure in the knowledge that his friend will grumble at worst and watch over him with a scowl.

Notes:

Someones comment reminded me that I actually did have the first part of this chapter somewhere in my drafts. I never finished it because I planned to have the second part in Katsuki's perspective and it just never flowed right. So I changed it to Izuku's and that worked a lot better, also helps that I've been on a writing craze the past month and this was a fun exercise revisiting an old idea. I know people wanted to see these two together but now I don't have much more to add so this will probably be the final installment.

Notes:

Don't know if I made it clear but Izuku's got a mix between a healing quirk and his father's quirk. So he can store up energy to heal more serious wounds. Also a cool detail that didn't play a part in this; Izuku can breath out a really big cloud to surround the whole area healing everyone in the vicinity. It takes a lot of energy and also heals the villains so he only uses it in dire circumstances.

Was inspired by the lovely itsmyartfam and their The Roundabout Way of Fate fic. How I went from pure sunshine trying to help his friends to bitter pro hero who takes no shit I have no idea :P but the idea wouldn't leave my head til I wrote it so now I can get back to The Roundabout Way of Fate!!!