Learning to belong ~ poly!MHA x fem!Reader (13)
Oh wow it’s been a minute.
Tags: Pack! Izuku Midoriya X Bakugo Katsuki X Shoto Todoroki X Kirishima Eijirou ; Pack! X fem!Reader ; Omega!Izuku Midoriya ; Omega!Bakugo Katsuki ; Omega!Shoto Todoroki ; Omega!Kirishima Eijirou ; technically Beta!Reader ; modern Au ; post-UA ; Reader has a quirk ; non hero!Reader ; smut eventually ; fem!Reader ; afab!Reader
When Izuku woke up the next morning, the bruises dotting his body still pulsed beneath his skin, but the ache was good. It grounded him. It reminded him of last night, of Kirishima's bright laughter, and the warm glint in Bakugo's sharp red eyes that softened all his edges, even beneath that familiar scowl.
He sat up, green hair sticking out wildly, and rubbed his face to get the groggy sleepiness out of his system. Mumbling under his breath, he ticked through his plan. He'd already told his agency he wouldn't come in unless there was an emergency. He hated taking time off work but this was a family emergency. Bakugo and Kirishima had probably left already, and he hadn't explained his plan to either of them. He wanted to do this on his own first.
He only had time for a quick shower or else he would be late to his meeting, but when he got out of it, he paused to look at his reflection in the fogged mirror despite being in a rush. Dark blooms of bruises scattered across his ribs. Battle jewelry as Kirishima would call it. Izuku ran a thumb over the tender skin, and a small smile tugged at his mouth. His pack never knew how to hold back when they trained together. Even before they were a thing, back in their UA days, they'd gone at each other with very little restraint, especially when the fights weren't really about training or competing against each other.
Piece by piece, he dressed. His hero suit slid over his skin and hugged every line of muscle. He strapped on his gauntlets, checked each one twice, then grabbed his bag, still that familiar red, and once ready, he left his room.
On his way out, he found his mate sleeping on the couch and approached him carefully. The blanket had slipped down, exposing one pale shoulder. In the late morning light, Todoroki's skin looked almost translucent, paper-thin, and made his red and white hair seem too vivid against the sickly complexion. He had shadows under his eyes, and the faint furrow between his brows never quite disappeared anymore, even in sleep. His cheekbones seemed sharper too. He'd lost weight in the last two weeks. He was hurting, and the sight of it was heartbreaking.
Izuku knelt beside him and pulled the blanket back up, tucking it gently around his shoulder.
“Hang on, Shoto,” he murmured. “Just a little longer. I'll fix everything.”
Driving would have slowed him down, so he took the rooftops. Jumping onto one after the other in long, controlled leaps across the city skyline with wind whipping his face. The city unfolded beneath him in a familiar rhythm. Each landing jarred the bruises along his ribs, It stopped his mind from spiraling into the questions that had kept him awake half the night. The hospital was already busy when he arrived. Families clutched bouquet of flowers to their chest, nurses gathered near the entrance in clusters of pastel scrubs, and patients were wheeled through the glass doors. He walked in the building alongside them. Immediately the whispers started. He could track them without looking: the sharp intake of breath from a child, the excited tug on a parent's sleeve, the wide-eyed stares of adults who recognized the green curls, and the costume. He flicked small nods and smiles at them, but his steps never slowed.
At the front desk sat a young man whose back snapped upright and straightened at the sight of him.
“De—Deku? I mean, Deku! Good morning!”
“Good morning,” Izuku offered a polite smile. The receptionist's nerves were almost palpable with his fingers fidgeting against the keyboard, so he kept his voice gentle. “I have an appointment with Director Matsumoto.”
The receptionist fumbled with his computer, then the phone. He made a quick call to announce his arrival, then redirected his attention. “She'll see you now.” He pointed toward the elevator bank, calmer now, but his gaze lingered with batting his eyelashes. “It’s on the tenth floor. Turn left, then first right. Her office is at the end.”
“Thank you,” Izuku nodded and moved toward the elevators, feeling the receptionist's eyes on his back the whole way.
The tenth floor was very silent, being several floors above the noise of patients and their visiting families. It looked more like a corporate wing than a hospital. The place looked too expensive, clearly designed to impress more than anything. Plush carpet muffled his footsteps until they were barely audible, paintings hung on white walls like a modern art gallery showcase, and glass panels lined the hallway, offering glimpses of conference rooms with long tables and not a single person in them. At the end of the hall, after following the instructions he'd been given, stood a brown door with a brass plaque: Director Matsumoto.
He knocked. Then he heard a muffled voice coming through the imposing door: “Come in.”
The office was aggressively modern, and it took Izuku a moment to fully take it in. One entire wall was a pane of glass, offering not just a stunning view of the city skyline, but an almost exposing panorama, as if the room itself was on display. Against another wall, a vast black leather couch sat with its surface pristine and unwrinkled. All the furniture was crafted from dark, polished wood with sharp lines, which stood starkly against a thick, deep red carpet that seemed to swallow the entire floor. Diplomas and certifications hung on the walls, the director's name emblazoned in bold font alongside crimson stamps from institutions Izuku knew only by reputation. In the middle of it all, on a desk, sat a vase with a single, perfectly bloomed white orchid. It was the room's only soft touch, and it looked so flawless, so untouched, that Izuku found himself staring at it. He wondered if it was meticulously cared for, or if its petals were made of silk.
Director Matsumoto stood behind the desk. Slate-gray suit, salt-and-pepper hair swept into a perfect low bun. She lacked any kind of presence beyond her outfit and her smile. Izuku quietly registered her as a beta.
“Pro Hero Deku.” She stood up and stepped around the desk with a bright welcoming smile and an extending hand. “Welcome. It's an honor.” Her grip was firm, professional, but she held on a beat too long.
Izuku shook her hand and sat where she gestured.
“I heard about your rescue in Ueno.” She settled back into her chair, folding her hands on the desk. “I have family there. So thank you for keeping an eye on the district.”
“Of course, you're modest.” Her smile was wide and polished. She held it perfectly as she tilted her head, with her steady and unreadable gaze. “What brings you to us today?”
“I'm following up on a patient. Pro Hero Todoroki Shoto. He was treated here two weeks ago. I believe a Dr. L/N was assigned to him.” The name was heavy in his mouth, loaded with days of questions.
“I suspected as much when you called my assistant,” she admitted, as she reached for a drawer, pulled out a slim folder. “I had my staff prepare his file. There was... an irregularity.” She opened the folder, and her eyes moved methodically down the page. “I’ll be frank with you Deku, out of deep respect for you and your work. A nurse reassigned Todoroki's care without authorization. She was supposed to handle his post-op monitoring, but she passed the duty to a doctor instead. The nurse came forward herself. Both she and Dr. L/N have been sanctioned.”
She paused just long enough for her features to mechanically change into something apologetic before continuing.
“You have my sincere apology. This was a staffing failure, and we've addressed it internally,” She assured him.
Izuku nodded along and listened carefully. He watched the way her smile held, the way her eyes never wavered and waited to see if anything behind them would flicker.
“Todoroki returned on his own for a follow-up, and it came out clean. Just like his post-op results.” She leaned forward slightly. “Please, Deku, don't let this incident tarnish this hospital's reputation in your eyes. We maintain the highest standards. This was an isolated incident, and from his results, he received proper treatment. So I wouldn't worry.”
“I am worried.” The words came out quieter than he intended.
Matsumoto's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
”With all due respect, Director—” his voice steadied as he spoke. ”Todoroki went into an early heat after he came back from this hospital. It was severe. He's still sick at this moment.”
“Stress can trigger early heat cycles,” she said gently with honeyed patience. "It's unfortunate, but not uncommon. Especially in omega heroes. It comes with the work, you understand right ?” She tilted her head to emphasize her point. “They tend to be more difficult on the body when they happens. So if you and your pack need assistance, we'd be really happy to help. Our omega clinic has some of the best—”
Izuku's jaw tightened and he cut her off, harsher than he meant. “It wasn't just early,” He saw the exact moment her empathetic front hardened. ”I think it was triggered. Deliberately. Something happened to him while he was under this hospital's care. I don't know what, but I know something did.”
”That's an extremely serious allegation,” She retorted. Her eyes narrowed, sharp and assessing.
”I know exactly how serious it is.”, he held her gaze. ”I'm not accusing your entire hospital. But an unauthorized doctor examined my mate. That alone is cause for concern.”
”Deku.”, She snapped defensively. ”Our doctors are vetted rigorously. To suggest deliberate interference—”
”—is exactly what I'm suggesting.” He challenged again, and this time she glared at him. ”And I'm here because I don't want to go through an official investigation. I don't want to put my mate through that if I can avoid it.”
She opened her mouth to respond, but he kept going, pressing forward before she could shut him down.
”If I involve the Hero Commission, or the police, this hospital will be locked down. All the records will be seized, and media will swarm the whole lobby.” The weight of his words settled between them. ”I'm giving you a chance to cooperate instead. To fix whatever went wrong before it becomes a public scandal.”
She made a sound: halfways between a disbelieving laugh and a dismissive scoff. ”I have a profound respect for you and everything you've done in your career. But this is purely emotional on your part, and you have nothing to back up your accusations,” She paused, and her eyes eying him up and down with something close to disdain. ”I'd expect better from a pro hero. But I suppose something can't be helped.”
The words landed exactly as she'd intended—a low blow aimed at him, what he was, and at his worries. It stings, but he could take it. Izuku could let it slide. The words barely scratched him anyways. What mattered in that moment was that she was exactly right. He had nothing. No proof, no evidence. Just a desperate certainty and a sick mate at home. If she called his bluff right now, if she picked up that phone resting on the side of her desk and called security, he'd walk out of here with even less than what he came with. His heart slammed against his ribs and palms went damp inside his suddenly too hot gloves. He'd be right back where he started. He couldn't let her see that so he showed her something else.
”I'm not threatening you, Director Matsumoto.” His voice came out softer now, stripped of challenge. He was trying to reach her, not fight her. ”I'm asking you to help me.” He hoped she could see it. The worry, the fear, the desperation that weighed on him. ”I'm asking because I don't know what else to do. My mate is wasting away, and I don't know why. I don't know how to fix him. And if there's even a chance that someone here knows what happened—”, his voice cracked and died, before he gathered himself up, “I have to try.”
”This is a waste of time,” she sighed. ”Besides the unauthorized transfer, everything was done following procedure. You won't find anything, because there is nothing to find.” She straightened the folder on her desk, a small, precise movement. “I find it downright insulting that you would even suggest otherwise. I take great pride in the work we do here at my hospital.”
Izuku nodded and didn't argue back.
“I understand fully. And I'll take responsibility if I'm wrong—publicly, if that's what you need. But if I'm right, someone committed severe medical abuse. Possibly assaulted a patient under this hospital's care. For all we know, this isn't the first time. We have to verify this. It's both our responsibility.”
Her hand, which had been straightening the folder, stopped mid-motion. For a long second, the silence between them stretched, and in it, something in her expression changed. Gradually. Almost reluctantly. Not exactly softening, but a mix between realization, and acknowledgement.
“Responsibility, huh?” The words were murmured just for herself, quiet and thoughtful.
Then, slowly, she reached into a lower drawer and pulled out three other folders. She opened each one to check their contents, before sliding them across the desk alongside the first.
“Todoroki's medical record from his hospitalization here. And the personnel records of the doctors and nurse involved.”
Izuku's breath caught and his eyes went wide in surprise. He reached for the folders, but her hand came down on them, swiftly stopping him in his tracks.
“These are highly confidential,” she emphasized through gritted teeth, “You have no legal right to any of it.” She sized up him one more time before continuing. “But I'll trust that as a top five ranked hero, you understand that and will be discreet. I don't like my staff being accused of something so heinous to our patients. And I definitely do not want this hospital's name associated with a media scandal.” She lifted her hand slowly, deliberately, and sat back properly. “This is a favor I'm doing you, Deku, because I know you won't find any foul play. Bring them back to me when you finally realize that.”
When she'd spoken about her staff being accused, her voice had gone sharp and angry, but not with the defensive edge of earlier. It was more protective and rawer. Something more personal. Just for a momenr, her eyes had flicked to the window. Toward the city below, toward the patients. The ones she couldn't see from this floor, but maybe still thought about. Then she looked back at him, and that corporate mask slid into place again, but not before he caught it the crack in it.
“Thank you, Director Matsumoto.” He picked up the files, and a wave of relief washed through him so strong his shoulders dropped, his breath coming out in a quiet exhale. “I mean that. Sincerely.”
“And if those files leak?”
“They won't,” he answered confidently. “This is personal. It stays with me and my family.”
“I will notify our legal department.”
“Of course.” Izuku stood, bowed deeply in gratitude. As he rose, his gaze caught the orchid on the corner desk. With overhead light catching it just right, he could see what he'd missed before: the slight browning at the edge of the petals, the way the stem curved naturally, and the delicate veins visible through the bloom. It was a real flower after all, he thought, before turning back toward the exit.
His hand was on the door handle when her voice came from behind him.
“If Todoroki is still sick from his cycle..., ” she paused, and when he turned, she wasn’t the director anymore, she was a doctor. “He should see a specialist. Someone who specializes in prolonged heat recovery.”
Izuku blinked, caught off guard. “I didn't know that existed.” A small smile tugged at his lips. ”We'll find him one. That's really helpful. Thank you.”
She waved a hand at him dismissively while he slipped out the door, with the folders pressed against his chest.
I really tried to hit the 5k words but I’ve been struggling with part 2 of this chapter so bad. I am sorry y’all 😭. I hope my writing got better during the wait, or maybe it gotten worse and I can’t tell. Let me know guys. I am working on the next chapter as we speak. Also I think I am closing the taglist soon, it’s too much work now. I’ll keep tagging those already in the list but I won’t add anyone else.
As always, criticisms are welcomed
Big thank you to @cafekitsune who made the beautiful dividers
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