The room had somehow devolved into complete chaos within ten minutes.
Which, honestly, meant everything was normal again.
Izuku sat propped against the bed while the pile of gifts had been reorganized into categories thanks to Iida's unstoppable sense of order.
"Recovery items to the left," Iida announced seriously while writing on a sheet of paper he had somehow produced from nowhere. "Food products in the center. Emotional encouragement gifts on the right."
"…Why are you cataloguing them?" Izuku asked weakly.
"So you may properly remember and thank each contributor," Iida replied immediately, pen already moving again. "Failure to document gifts appropriately would be disrespectful."
Kuro, sitting upside down in a nearby chair for no reason whatsoever, nodded solemnly.
"He's got a point."
Bakugo looked up from where he was aggressively tearing apart Mina's cactus with the fury of a man settling a blood feud.
"NO, HE DOESN'T."
A chunk of cactus hit the floor.
"Who even gives someone THIS?" Bakugo barked. "It's just a green spike trap!"
"There was a note attached," Izuku offered carefully.
Bakugo's eye twitched.
"I READ THE NOTE."
Another thorny piece exploded in his hand.
"That pink-colored raccoon thinks she's funny."
"Mina isn't a raccoon," Iida corrected automatically.
"She ACTS like one."
Meanwhile—
Kuro had become completely absorbed in a stress ball.
Not using it normally.
No.
He was throwing it against the wall repeatedly with perfect rhythm while staring blankly ahead like a monk pursuing enlightenment.
Bounce.
Catch.
Bounce.
Catch.
Bounce—
"Do you think," Kuro murmured thoughtfully, "that if I trained hard enough, I could weaponize stress balls?"
Iida paused mid-writing.
"…Please don't."
"Too late," Bakugo muttered. "He's already thinking about it."
Izuku looked around the room.
The noise.
The arguing.
The complete lack of structure.
And despite the soreness tearing through his body—
He smiled.
Elsewhere aboard the aircraft—
The atmosphere had grown quieter.
Heavier.
David Shield adjusted the holographic screen floating before him while All Might sat nearby, wrapped in bandages and deep in thought.
"I reviewed some of the emergency recordings recovered from I-Island's systems," David said quietly.
The footage flickered to life.
Static.
Distortion.
Then—
A speedboat racing through dark waters toward I-Island.
Several figures aboard.
One of them suddenly turned toward the camera.
Gray-blue hair.
Red eyes.
Malice so intense it felt almost tangible even through damaged footage.
Then—
Blue flames engulfed the camera.
The recording ended.
David folded his arms.
"I don't keep up with Japan's villain affairs as much as I should," he admitted. "But these individuals were clearly present during the incident."
His expression darkened slightly.
"They likely escaped during the chaos. I have no idea what they stole… or if they even came for Wolfram at all."
But All Might barely heard him.
His eyes remained fixed on the frozen frame of the young man with red eyes.
Something about him—
Something deeply unsettling—
Familiar.
"…Why," All Might murmured, "does he feel so familiar?"
David glanced over.
"Toshinori?"
But All Might's mind was already elsewhere.
A lingering memory.
A shape buried deep beneath years of battle and exhaustion.
Like recognizing a silhouette through fog.
Not enough to understand.
But enough to disturb him.
Back in Izuku's room—
The atmosphere had finally calmed slightly.
Bakugo had finished murdering the cactus.
Iida was now alphabetizing recovery snacks.
Kuro remained spiritually connected to the stress ball.
And Izuku, feeling somewhat human again, finally reached for his phone.
"…I should probably check this…"
The screen lit up immediately.
12 MISSED MESSAGES.
From an unknown number.
Izuku blinked.
Then opened them.
Hope you get better, Deku! ♥Are you awake yet?Sorry if this is too much!Your friends said recovery takes time!I made a list of foods that help muscle recovery!Also, Dad says your arms are terrifying, medically speaking :(Hope you get better soon ♥—Melissa
Izuku stared.
His brain stalled completely at the heart symbol.
Then—
He realized the room had gone silent.
Slowly—
Very slowly—
He looked up.
Bakugo was staring at the phone.
Iida was staring at the phone.
Kuro was staring at the phone with the focused intensity of a detective solving a murder case.
Silence.
Then Kuro grinned.
"Ooh~"
Izuku immediately sensed danger.
"Izuku has a secret admirer!" Kuro declared dramatically. "I KNEW she was into you."
Izuku nearly dropped the phone.
"W-WHAT?!"
Bakugo's expression became indescribably awful.
"YOU'RE GETTING FLIRTED WITH BY THE SHIELD GIRL?!"
"She's just being nice!"
"Twelve messages are NOT normal nice!"
Iida adjusted his glasses.
"Objectively speaking, the frequency and emotional tone do suggest notable affection."
"IIDA?!"
Kuro leaned forward excitedly.
"Midoriya's got game…"
"I DO NOT HAVE GAME!"
Bakugo pointed accusingly.
"You absolutely accidentally seduced her somehow."
"That's not a thing people DO accidentally!"
"It is for you nerds!"
Izuku's face turned bright red.
"She just wanted to make sure I was okay!"
Kuro nodded thoughtfully.
"Mhm. And the little heart?"
Izuku froze.
"…Friendly heart?"
Bakugo slammed a hand onto the bedside table.
"THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS A FRIENDLY HEART."
Iida actually looked contemplative.
"There are different categories of symbolic heart usage depending on context—"
"PLEASE STOP ANALYZING IT!"
Kuro was outright cackling now.
"Oh, this is gold…"
Izuku buried his burning face into his blanket.
"I just woke up…"
Bakugo pointed at him mercilessly.
"And now you wake up with fangirls."
"This is the worst day of my life."
"No," Kuro corrected while bouncing the stress ball again, "that was probably when your arms exploded."
"…Fair point."[1]
_____________________________________________________________________________________
[Auther: Another successful chapter...]
[1] "The moment mentioned here can be any time Midoriya once again got injured. Though you're free to imagine whatever instance you want."