When Izuku opened his eyes, he didn't recognize the ceiling that he was looking up at. All his life, he'd been seeing the same pale greyish colour whenever he woke up and tried to get himself ready to start the new day. He recognized all the patterns where the paint had been slightly thicker when it dried, and to the small cracks that had accumulated over time. And he recognized his lampshade, a lime green colour that covered the bulb that gave his room light. It was just something that he was accustomed to.
The past few days, he'd grown used to waking up to see pure white, segmented by grey, square-shaped supports for a ceiling. He'd had a few days to adjust to that change in the hospital. Somehow that had been easier. A hospital, after all, was a temporary place. People generally didn't stay in a hospital for too long, so it was easier to get used to.
Now, the wall was pure white. No grey hue that Izuku would be able to differentiate. No support patterns that identified it as a hospital room. No cracks, or patterns of dried up paint. It actually took him a while to remember where he was, and what room he was in.
His room. At the Yuuei dorms.
Once he realized this, the memories of the last few days quickly remade their way into the green-haired boys dazed and sleepy head. He was still exhausted, though after the last few days, certainly no one could blame him. It had been a hectic return, and an even more hectic few weeks. Far too much for one person to process all in one go.
Even now, he wasn't sure that he'd processed everything. Part of him was half convinced that it was a half-clear fuzzy dream of some sort. But he knew that it was all true but hadn't processed it all fully yet. He didn't know.
In truth, he hadn't had the best sleep in the world.
But he had gotten some good rest, so he was kind of hovering in between the realms of the waking and the resting worlds. Tired, yet rested simultaneously. It felt like it was early in the morning though, and when he glanced upwards from his position of laying in his bed, he could see the wall behind him. It still looked like it was dark out.
Lazily, he tilted his head to the side, to find out what time it was. As his eyes drifted, he saw bits and pieces of the décor his new room held. Posters and action figures and the likes. Hero stuff. The normal stuff that one would expect to find in his room.
The one thing that wasn't usually to be found in a room like his – Although, given the last few months, one could say it had become a normal part of his room, and it certainly wasn't an addition he opposed – Was Mina.
Laying right next to him, her arm wrapped around his waist, and her head buried into his chest.
A faint blush came across his cheeks, and his blurry mind finally snapped back into focus, and he remembered the events of the day.
He remembered seeing his mother and Mina's family driving off, and the pair of them making their way towards the dorm building. He remembered seeing someone by the window, and he remembered opening the doors to the goliath of a building.
And he remembered the absolute swarm that rushed out of it.
Izuku couldn't help but let out the smallest of chuckles when he remembered everything. All his classmates, his friends, all bolting towards him and Mina, showering them with hugs and words of relief to see them, praise and questions as to their well-being. It was like they were a group of excitable children whom hadn't seen the pair of them for months.
He remembered Kirishima throwing an arm around his neck and cheering something about him being the manliest guy he'd ever met. He remembered Sato trying to force some sort of confectionery he claimed to have made to celebrate their return down his throat. He remembered receiving hugs from Uraraka and what he could have sworn was a friendly smile from Todoroki.
He remembered seeing Hagakure and Tsuyu both hug Mina almost immediately as soon as she walked through the door, like they'd been waiting to pounce her the moment that they figured out she'd be returning. He remembered Kirishima saying something to her, but he didn't know what it was.
He also remembered Iida, waving his hands around in that rigid, amusing style that he had as he welcomed back his friend. Mineta almost looked like he was in tears, while Shoji and Fumikage tried to take the opportunity that they had never gotten to apologize for allowing the kidnapping to happen due to their inability and lack of speed, something he had vehemently tried to make them stop doing.
He remembered Yaoyorozu and Jirou both being there, welcoming the pair of them back, though both seemed to be slightly preoccupied. Perhaps personal things had continued to go on, even though both he and Mina had been gone for the last while. He remembered Aoyama being…. Well, Aoyama, about the whole thing.
He remembered seeing Koda doing some hand signs, to which he roughly translated as a welcome message of some kind. Kaminari and Sero both cheering and taking it in turns to pat the pair of them on the backs.
He… He honestly couldn't remember ever feeling more welcome in his life.
The whole thing was so surreal, he couldn't stop himself from laughing the moment that he finally broke away from the crowd and got behind a closed door. There had been a thousand ways that he'd envisioned everyone greeting them back.
And they had gone for the one that somehow, he hadn't considered. The closest thing to a party that they could all have had blasted throughout the majority of the day. It was fantastic. And no one had asked any questions.
No one asked about One For All. No one asked him about the Quirk that he held onto that was reportedly not his. They just didn't question it at all. Izuku didn't know why they hadn't asked – He had assumed that it would have been one of the first things that he was going to have to deal with when he returned, but no one asked. He didn't know why, but he was grateful to them for it. He had a plan regarding that particular detail that he wanted to go over with All Might first before saying anything.
They all took it in turns to catch the pair of them up on what had been going on since they had been away. A tour of each of the rooms was given, led by Hagakure and Kirishima, showing them around their new home, and everyone's bedrooms. There had been a big tour between everyone, and they wanted to help their classmates catch up on what they missed.
From Sero, they were told that the punishment for interfering with a police officer's duty – Back when Mina and the rest of the rescue team had run from the hospital after the incident with Toga – Had been a weeks' worth of community service to be conducted outside of lessons which had wrapped up just a few days ago. The officer in question had been rather understanding, surprisingly. He'd even praised them for their Heroic attitudes, along with a firm reminder that even so, Heroes weren't supposed to interfere with police business.
As for the rest of them, they'd all just been readjusting to everything. They'd all been worried. All wanted to know when the two of them were going to come back. Now they were back, every single sweet tasting scrap of food had been thrown out, lights and music were thrown on, and as Izuku recalled from earlier, they partied. Or as close to a party as they could get in their dorms, and on short notice.
The only person that hadn't been there was Bakugou.
Apparently, he'd been locked up in his room, and been even less social than someone like him was capable of being in the first place. Normally, Izuku would have expected that Kirishima, or Kaminari to try to pry the guy out of his locked room, but had decided against it now.
When Izuku thought about it though, this was Bakugou he was thinking about. He probably wouldn't want to celebrate his return anyway.
Still, given what Mina had told him… He couldn't help but feel a bit concerned about what was going to happen down that line. Putting that aside though…
Classes started tomorrow again for the two of them – Or rather, the closest to classes that 1A was dealing with at the current moment. Traditional lessons weren't on, but practical lessons were. Namely, the development of special moves, something which had the rest of the class abuzz.
Both Izuku and Mina had been offered time off, but they had rejected it. Now, more than ever, they wanted to get back into the routine of being Yuuei students. Getting back to normal was really the only thing either of them could think about. Just putting this whole mess behind them.
Moving on with their lives.
Izuku shook his head, and tilted his head further, finding what he had been looking for before the memories of the last twenty-four hours blasted their way into his head. A digital clock kept by his bedside. The red lights on it showed the time as 04:47.
Early morning.
What had woken him up? He didn't remember hearing any sounds. Maybe Mina had moved in her sleep. Or maybe it was the wind.
Maybe he was just a bit restless after everything.
During the interval in-between them arriving, and the dorm throwing a return party, Mina had been helping Izuku decorate his room, endlessly teasing him about how much of a nerd he was as she helped him hang up All Might posters and memorabilia. He had been planning on helping her sort her room out, but they had the party sprung on them and decided that it could wait until tomorrow. Hence why Mina was in here now.
She had turned down Mineta's offer of a room switch with her, which he actually took well. It had been a genuine offer out of kindness, not an ulterior motive, at least not one that he had been thinking about, but as much as both of them did appreciate it, they had been through so much by now. It put things into perspective for them.
They were living in the same building. After the whole kidnapping ordeal, they could survive being one or two floors apart.
One of her main reasons though, Mina didn't want to leave Uraraka on her own. She would have been the only girl on her floor, and she wasn't all that close to anyone else there, so Mina decided that it was a good idea to hang around there.
At the foot of his bed, he saw her bag, the one her brother had shoved into her hands before leaving the school grounds. Inside, a games system. More specifically, the newest model of what the Ashido siblings shared at home, along with a few of what must have been her favourites.
Micha didn't mess around when it came to farewell gifts, it turned out.
He also didn't miss an opportunity to mess with his sister and her boyfriend, because, of course, there were… The politest word Izuku had for them were 'prophylactics', with a note saying, 'Because it's inevitable.'
And another one saying 'Think of me. It'll help it last longer.' with a smiley face at the end of it.
That note, Mina dissolved immediately.
The day had been full of so much madness and joy and excitement and everything in between, Izuku couldn't stop himself from smiling as he remembered it all.
As he smiled, he felt Mina move against his chest, and for a moment, he feared that he'd woken her up. He froze, trying to make his body still as possible.
It didn't take her long to settle down. Mina was usually a very active sleeper, he had learned. But she tended to be more restful when he was around. A small fact that made him smile to himself. She seemed to bury her head against his chest some more, before relaxing into her rest once again.
Mina herself, was just…
Izuku sighed, and attempted to move his left hand – Mina was laying on that, so he ended up using his right hand, and gently ran his fingers through her pink hair.
She was wonderful.
He'd been hiding that in for so long, and if he'd just come out and said it long ago, then maybe the way things had gone would have been different. He didn't think back on that though. Because he couldn't do anything about it now.
Instead, he just thought about her. Remembering the day that he first saw her in class, and not thinking too much one way or the other, having had no idea back then that this was the path that his life would take.
He thought back to the day they first actually spoke, his arms and legs battered, and this energetic girl just striking up conversation whenever he ran into her. How awkward he had been around her, and girls in general.
She had stuck with him throughout all the madness that their first semester at Yuuei had brought about, all the danger and the madness and everything else. Everything that had gone down, she was at his side throughout…
That was probably the thing that made her so wonderful.
One of his scarred fingers ran along one of her natural curls. She didn't have to stick around. He wouldn't blame her if she didn't. Given everything, he couldn't help but feel he hadn't been a particularly good boyfriend throughout their time together, and that was something that he really did want to change.
Because she deserved that.
When he looked down to see her closer, – After nearly jabbing his eye against one of her horns – he wondered how on earth he was so lucky to have a girlfriend like her. What had he done to deserve someone so fun, so loyal, so wonderful and adorable as Mina? Was there an answer? Or had it just been fate at the end of the day?
…Did it matter?
Outside a curiosity, was that something he needed to focus on?
No. It wasn't.
Right now, he wanted to focus on doing better. Becoming better. Being a better boyfriend to her, like she deserved. He wanted, above all, to make her happy like she had made him. To know she had stayed with him while he was unconscious, to know that she had joined in the effort to save him at the risk of her own place at Yuuei…
Just… He couldn't repeat the reasons in his own head enough. He loved this girl more than he ever thought was possible. And he wanted to repay her somehow.
That date he promised her in the hospital was one way of doing that. The first chance they got, he wanted to take her on that date.
For now though, he allowed himself to rest into his pillow, and close his eyes. If the school was going to throw everything at them like they normally did, it wouldn't matter if he just got out of hospital or not.
He was going to need his rest.