Chapter Text
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.