Work Text:
Tenya stretches out his hand, palm flat, just the way the physical therapist taught him how to do it. He holds the pose for a few long seconds, counting in his head as he feels the stretch.
It is not as uncomfortable as it once was, but he can still feel the way the muscles in his arms extend. The slight burning of it. Reminding him of the fact that he still does not have the full range of motion he once did, something he once took for granted and now must learn to live without and to adapt to.
Once he is finished counting, he moves onto the next hand. It may not have the same limitations as the other hand, but he has been told that it is important that he performs the same exercises on both sides of his body, to ensure balance. So he dutifully follows instructions.
A part of him resents the fact that he must do these exercises at all. If he had been a better Hero, he knows that he would have never been injured by Stain in the first place, would not have required Midoriya, and then Todoroki come to his aid and ensure that the Villain who had put an end to his brother’s Hero career, was brought to proper justice. It is hard to not resent his injuries when they are a constant reminder of the ways in which Tenya has failed. And each reminder of his failures inevitably reminds him of the fact that his failures almost led to the early end of his friends.
He knows that Midoriya and Todoroki have long since forgiven him for the incident, if they were ever truly mad at him or blamed him in the first place, but Tenya cannot quite forgive himself for the incident.
Still, he tells himself that he should be grateful for the reminder, because at least he is alive to feel it, to learn from his mistakes. Because he is aware of the fact that not everyone who faced Stain was as lucky as he was, as even his brother was. And he is aware of the fact that he was only as lucky as he was because of his friends, who arrived right when they needed to, who reminded Tenya of who he is, of who he wants to be. Even so, he is grateful for the reminder of how close the situation had come to turning out much worse.
Tenya moves onto the next exercise.
“What are you doing?” someone asks from behind him, startling Tenya.
He feels it as something in his arm twinges painfully as he jumps slightly, then twists to see Midoriya looking at him from the running path that leads back to the dorms. It should not surprise him to see Midoriya, it is not like they have not run into each other on this self same path before. They have even gone running together on this path. Midoriya is not a surprise on this path.
Still Tenya finds his heart beating a bit faster in his chest. Adrenaline humming through his veins. As if has been caught doing something he should not be.
His arm hurts more than it typically does as he draws it in close to his body as he says, “I am stretching my arms out to ensure my injury does not become exacerbated.”
“Oh.” Midoriya says, something unreadable flashing in his eyes.
The tone of it is soft and Tenya cannot help but note that while the other boy sounds somewhat serious, he does not however sound even the slightest bit surprised.
Midoriya steps closer and Tenya finds that his first instinct is to hide, to move the offending limb behind his back before his shame can be laid bare.
But this is Midoriya, he reminds himself. And Midoriya more than anyone else already knows the truth behind Tenya’s injury. Both the severity as well as the cause. There is no room for shame between the two of them.
And so, as Midoriya takes yet another step closer, Tenya does not flinch. He finds himself almost frozen in place, barely daring to move, barely daring to breathe.
And then Midoriya is there, close enough that Tenya could count each individual freckle on the other boy's face if he were so inclined to try.
“Can I see?” Midoriya asks softly. When Tenya merely lifts his arm, Midoriya lets out an amused huff and with a small half smile he elaborates, “The stretches.”
Despite himself, Tenya lets out an amused huff of his own and immediately obliges.
He has done these exercises often enough since Hosu as to be able to do them in his sleep, and so, as he bends and stretches first his fingers and then his wrist, he keeps his eyes not on his hands but on Midoriya, studying the boy’s face, watching and waiting for… something.
He’s not sure what, but this feels almost… vulnerable in some way. Like his body is bracing for a reaction that he cannot predict.
Whatever he’d been expecting though, all Midoriya does is nod.
“That’s good,” he says, tone knowledgeable and matter of fact in a way that Tenya would never have expected. “Have you tried…?” And then Midoriya is holding out his own hand, the bent and ruined fingers, the visible scarring crawling over his skin. And slowly, carefully, he demonstrates the new exercise Tenya’s physical therapist had just recommended he add to his routine last week.
Midoriya’s fingers are visibly stiffer than Tenya’s, his movements more clumsy and rough. But still Tenya finds the visual aid helpful, finds himself mirroring the movements as best he can.
They lapse into a companionable silence, the exposed feeling fading and Tenya gradually relaxing in his friend’s presence as they work through another two sets of ten together.
Sometimes Midoriya falters slightly, stumbles as he opens his fist too fast; sometimes Tenya fails to conceal the wince from a particularly painful stretch when he pushes it just slightly too much; yet neither of them comment or make any indication that they noticed besides pausing minutely in order to allow the other to fall back into their shared rhythm.
This is how Todoroki finds the two of them an indeterminate amount of time later, facing one another yet not maintaining full eye contact; they look up when he enters.
“Iida, Midoriya,” Todoroki greets, the question of what are you doing evident in his tone.
It is Midoriya who answers after a brief pause. “We were stretching our hands, just going over some exercises and comparing what we each do,” he says.
“I see,” Todoroki replies, something shifting in his body language as recognition dawns in his eyes. He hesitates, then reaches out his left hand, palm up in an offering. “Perhaps I could try to help. May I…?”
In the four seconds it takes Tenya to process his friend’s meaning, Midoriya has already extended his own hand to meet Todoroki’s with a murmur of grateful thanks as their fingers interlace. Nothing much seems to be taking place outwardly, but Tenya can see clear as day the way Midoriya’s face loses some of its tension that he didn’t even realize had been present before.
But Todoroki isn’t done; he unlaces their fingers and begins to run his hand up Midoriya’s scarred forearm and then back down, up and down, up and down, slow and steady before switching sides and repeating the process over again.
Now finally satisfied, he turns to Tenya, holding out his hand in that same expectant manner. Tenya’s slower to accept, but when he does, the warmth from Todoroki’s fire side coupled with the reassuring squeeze of strong fingers works wonders for the remaining embers of his pain that have refused to be extinguished by the physical therapy.
Tenya is partially shocked by how good he is at this. He watches as Todoroki continues to massage his hand with gentle and careful movements, making sure to be extra cautious in the areas that are the most afflicted.
“Todoroki…how do you—”
“I’ve done it a lot—growing up, mostly to myself after a long day of training. The ice on my left side did a really good job of reducing inflammation, and my right side helps loosen up tense muscles thanks to the warmth from my fire.” Todoroki explains, periodically glancing at Midoriya and Tenya before focusing back on his task. “I just thought you could use something like this… on top of your exercises.”
Tenya can feel the tension in his muscles loosen as the warmth seeps through the layers of his skin. His physical therapist had explained the benefits of using a warm compress on his hand, but with how busy he’d been, he had never really taken the time to let it rest in that comforting heat.
Soon, Todoroki lets go. At first, he wishes he hadn’t, but his friend has already done so much. He doesn’t show his discontent; instead, he acknowledges how thankful he is for even bothering to do this for him.
“Thanks, Todoroki. You didn’t have to do that.” Tenya says.
“It’s okay. I thought I would show you something that has helped me. Heat and massages really do help tense muscles…maybe it can help you guys.” Todoroki informs, quietly smiling at them.
Midoriya smiles back at him, “No, it’ll definitely help us. I’ve been so busy that I really haven’t given my hands a rest, and I should really do that.”
Iida nods in agreement, “Same here. I really shouldn’t neglect the health of my hands. It’ll just harm my growth towards becoming the best hero that I can be.”
“Well, if you ever need my—well, I guess hands—let me know.” Todoroki comments.
The two chuckle at Todoroki’s awkward phrasing, but their laughter quickly softens into smiles. They both agree, taking their offer to heart, and thanking him for even saying it.
That night, Tenya readies himself for bed more slowly than usual. He feels… pensive. Introspective in a way that he can’t put his finger on. His gaze keeps being drawn towards his hand, the old injury pulling at his attention in a way that he’s never felt before. It’s not the fact that he’s hyper aware of it– that’s nothing different. But still he can’t shake the feeling that something about it has changed.
At length, he tears his gaze away and turns towards his reflection in the mirror instead. The face that gazes back at him hasn’t changed from the way it looked this morning, same dark circles under his eyes from the constant dreams of what if what if what if that sometimes keep him up at night, same damp hair curling over his forehead because rubbing it dry with his towel puts too much stress on his arm and fingers.
But something about his expression… He leans closer squinting at himself in the mirror until his nose is practically pressed up against it.
Oh. It’s his forehead.
There was a crease there this morning, a furrow between his eyebrows, a tension that seems to have somehow eased.
He looks back down at his hand and flexes his fingers.
When he’d woken up this morning he’d been full of resentment over it, full of self-recriminations and doubts and guilt.
But now…
His fingers flex once more, unconsciously this time. Perhaps it’s becoming easier to view this injury differently following his time with Midoriya and Todoroki today. Perhaps instead of thinking of it as a symbol of his greatest shame… perhaps instead it serves as a reminder that through his flaws, through his mistakes and his failures… even so he has friends ready to help him. Through it all, no matter what, no judgements, no reprimands, they have his back even when he himself didn’t know he’d needed it.
Tenya flexes his hands once more before he lets out a breath he did not realize that he had been holding until he releases it, tension fading from his shoulders that he thinks he has probably been carrying for far too long now.
Reframing the way he thinks about his injury is going to take time, he is aware of that fact. But he is also aware that he does have friends, friends who have demonstrated today and many other days, that they are willing to help him, that they will go out of their way to help him in fact.
It is something that Tenay knew, intellectually, and that he is glad he was reminded of today. He would not be here without them, and they showed him what kind of hero he wants to be, now he needs to make sure that he is living up to the examples the both of them set for him. To be the Hero that they both told him they believed he could be.
Tenya also knows that all he has to do is ask and they will be right by his side, ready to support him.
And that they will be there for him even when he does not ask, ready to reach out a hand to help.
All Tenya has to do is be ready to reach back out in return.