A/N: happy new year and as always, have fun reading!

Midoriya POV

     From there, morning classes went relatively smoothly. We had a rescue class at ground delta before lunch, which Ectoplasm aided in teaching. Recovery girl was currently on her way over for my PT.

     Hitoshi was going to participate in the activity today, and Shota wanted to be sure that I would be okay alone for my meeting with Hound Dog later. We decided I should do my physical therapy nearby, in an un-occupied section of the grounds, so that Hitoshi and Shota would be close.

     The only issue was in the fact that Ectoplasm didn't recognize me (understandably so, as I hadn't been here for almost the entire second semester), and seeing as I was in a wheelchair, he tried to elect me as the hostage for this activity. Shota had just left to get Recovery Girl for my lesson, so there wasn't a teacher that knew of my situation.

     "M-Me?" I point to myself with my good hand. "Oh, no- I-"

     "You are a student are you not? Seeing as you're handicapped at the moment this is the safest way for you to participate. I don't feel comfortable letting a clearly injured student do mock battles on my watch." He created a clone that began to walk towards Hitoshi and I. "Teenagers these days are always trying to do the most." Ectoplasm grumbled under his breath. "They can't be participating in mock battles when they're injured enough to be in wheelchairs." It was quiet enough that I almost missed it. No, you've got the wrong idea!

"Ectoplasm, sir-"

     "It's nothing to be worried about," the clone said, catching a rope the original tossed to him. "We'll just have you sit in a chair in one of the buildings, and wrap these around you loose enough that you can shimmy out of them if you needed to." He explained, probably to ease my nerves after noticing my expression, but it only made it worse.

     First of all, I wasn't even supposed to be participating, and second of all, did he just say they were gonna tie me to a chair in an empty building? My eyes were glued to the rope in the clone's hands. I vaguely recognized my own hands shaking in my lap.

     "When the rescuer unties you it will count as a rescue. They won't have to move you or anything." Judging by the continuous explanations and reassurances he was giving me I must have looked a little worried, but not nearly as panicked as I actually felt. I know this because I'm confident that if I looked how I felt right now he would immediately call Hound Dog on me. Maybe Recovery Girl too.

     Hitoshi stepped out in front of me "Wait, hold on Sensei." I heard the clone's footsteps stop. Todoroki—my heart jumped for a moment when I saw him—came to silently stand next to Hitoshi as well, practically shielding me from our teacher. "Aizawa-Sensei said he's not allowed to participate in the exercise today. He's going to do physical therapy with Recovery Girl when she gets here." Hitoshi told him.

     "I see. My apologies then. One of my clones will be the hostage instead, to keep the even number." I let a sigh of relief as the clone walked back to the front of the class, noting as Todoroki gave me a glance. I couldn't quite read his face.

     From there I had a few minutes to calm down before Shota and Recovery Girl arrived. After that, PT went relatively well, and I got to take a break to watch Hitoshi on the screen when it was his turn.

     He was chosen to be a 'rescuer', but Shota stepped in and made him switch with another student to be a 'villain'. He explained to Ectoplasm that he'd already seen Hitoshi in that position, and that he wanted to see him in a different roll. I think he also noticed the way that Hitoshi froze for a moment, and didn't want him to have to think about when he rescued me. Hitoshi was thankful, judging my the way he relaxed a little after he was switched. Shota noticed, judging by the watchful eye he kept on him. After coming to know the man much better recently, I wondered if he was feeling regretful for putting Hitoshi through that despite the strictly critical look on his face.

     It was also nice to see that he wasn't too worried about being labeled a 'villain' for this exercise, maybe he was starting to realize that our class wouldn't look at him as one just because of his quirk.

     There were 5 villain teams and 5 rescue teams, and his team ended up being one of two villain groups that won. The building his group was put in had a few random pieces of large furniture and a lot of rooms. One of the rooms had a large supply closet and an empty wooden wardrobe. In the short time they had to set up, Hitoshi and Momo created a really strong plan using this layout and materials available. They put the tied up clone in the closet and then pushed the oversized wardrobe up against the door so that it covered the whole thing, making it look like there was no door there. The two then split up and spent their time distracting the rescuers from ever finding the hostage, using traps created by Momo's quirk.

     The two had created a plan where they would hide the hostage so that Aoyama could never find it, and Hitoshi would go after Jiro to try to silence her since she was the one who would be able to hear where the hostage was. Momo set up all the traps to further distract and disorient their opponents, including a sound machine somewhere on the first floor. The whole plan was dependent on whether or not Hitoshi got Jiro under his quirk before she could detect the hostage and tell Aoyama, they were right in assuming that he would never be able to find it on his own with the time given.

     Thankfully Hitoshi was able to get Jiro under his quirk right before she was able to tell her teammate that she could hear what floor the hostage was on. He tried to use his voice modifier to imitate Aoyama's voice and didn't quite get it, but he ended up sounding weird enough that Jiro responded out of confusion with a 'what the fuck?' That promptly put her out of commission.

     Shortly after, Momo got Aoyama who surrendered after she used his quirk against him with a mirror and attacked with a bo staff. Her combat skills with the weapon were incredibly impressive and had obviously been worked on for months. I would have known about this improvement if I had been here the past few months. Now they all have new strengths and skills that I know nothing about.

     Hitoshi winced when he brought Aoyama out to recovery girl and she told our classmate there was a fracture in his ankle from the staff. My eyes lit up with inspiration and I now had a very important question to ask Aizawa later. Anyways, Hitoshi's team won without the rescue team ever finding their hostage. I congratulated Hitoshi before he went back to stand with the rest of the class for the last match of the period.

     I watched from afar as Kacchan came up to him and said something before leaving. I was a little worried, but it seemed like Hitoshi was confused more than hurt or intimidated.

     Before the class ended, Recovery Girl gave my forehead a kiss, leaving me a little drowsy.

     "I heard what Toshinori did, that absolute bonehead. I'm so sorry honey." She sighed. "You should be fully healed up now, and that's about as much as I can do for you. Starting tomorrow you should be safe to walk on crutches, or with a walking stick and from there it's just regaining the muscle mass you lost, one thing my quirk can't give you." She gives the top of my hand a sympathetic pat.

     I look towards her, blinking away the tears in my eyes. "Th-thanks." Why do kind elderly women always bring out my inner crybaby?

     "I have something else to say." She takes a slow breath in, face serious. "You know how I feel about you continuing in the hero course, especially now with what happened to your quirk. I've also known Aizawa since he was your age, and I've got a lot of trust in him. Every decision he makes is highly logical, and if he doesn't see potential in a person he won't waste his time with them. That man has made it very clear to me that he is not taking you out of his course, so I can only believe that he knows you can defeat the odds and end up on top. You have my support." She finishes.

     This time I can't hold back the tears. "Thank you so much Recovery Girl! I won't let you down!"

     She whacks my leg lightly with her cane. "You better not. I'm putting my trust in you, Dearie." She may have meant it as a threat but she had no idea how much those words meant to me.

     Soon enough it was time for lunch, and our friends ate with us in the classroom. Shota decided to stay in the room with us, grading papers at his desk in the corner.

     "So guys, it's, um- it's the last week of school and before... well, you know, Uraraka said you all wanted a sleepover, so I was wondering if you wanted to do it tonight. We got permission from Sh- uh, Aizawa and, uhm, Mic-sensei, and we can do it in our dorm." I say, pointing between Hitoshi and I.

     They all agree, and we have to explain that we're sharing a room in the 1-A building, we just haven't moved in until now. Uraraka is put in charge of snacks, and Iida joins her on snack duty to make sure she brings something healthy (and to pay for the snacks that will most likely be stolen from our classmates). Todoroki agreed to help us set up the room after classes, since Hitoshi's stuff still needs to be moved in. Tsu said she had a projector she could bring to our room so we could watch a movie. We decided our sleepover would start at 5pm so that we would have plenty of time to hang out without having to stay up too late. I was really excited!

     Despite my excitement, the drowsiness from RG's quirk had lingered with me and I couldn't quite shake it, so I took a nap on Hitoshi's shoulder for the second half of our lunch period.

     Next came my first meeting with Hound dog, while Hitoshi and the rest of the class left for a lesson in reflex training. I was a bit upset that I had to miss it, but Shota recognized the look I was giving my retreating classmates.

     When no one was looking, he leaned over to speak quietly. "Don't worry, I already have four similar lessons scheduled for your summer training." I couldn't help the way my eyes lit up and I bit my lip to suppress a grin. I can't wait to get back into training.

     Hitoshi had reluctantly left with the rest of our class and Shota, while Hizashi swung by to take me to my therapy session, since it was his free period. Hound dog's therapy office was right between the teacher's lounge and Recovery Girl's main nurses office, which was across from Nezu's office.

     I paused at the door, looking longingly down the hallway I came from. I want Hitoshi.

     "You ready, Izuku?" Hizashi asked, coming to stand next to my wheelchair. "I'll be next door in the lounge the whole time."

     I want Hitoshi to be proud of me. I can be brave for him until I'm ready to be brave for myself.

     "Okay. Ready as I'll ever be."

2029 words.