Izuku woke up to a familiar sight.

  "That's a familiar ceiling." He muttered to himself.

  Izuku swung his legs over the side of the hospital bed, sitting up with a sigh. He examined the hospital gown he wore, disappointed that his costume was gone.

  He suddenly shot to his feet, stumbling to the door.

  "Eri.." he mumbled.

  Izuku opened the door, leaning out with his hands on the doorframe.

  "Mr Midoriya, you shouldn't be up and about, you have severe quirk exhaustion." A doctor told him, walking towards his door.

  "Where is Eri?" Izuku asked, stepping out of the doorway.

  "Midoriya, you really shouldn't be out of bed!" The doctor repeated.

  "So you've said." Izuku sighed.

  The doctor ushered him back into his room.

  "The little girl is fine, she's asleep in the room two doors down. Once you have both rested you may go see her." The doctor reassured him.

  Izuku huffed, clambering back into bed.

  "I'm going to see her when I wake up.." he muttered.

  The doctor deactivated his quirk, just as Izuku lost consciousness.

 
  Eri woke up in a strange place. It looked a lot like the room Kai did his experiments on her, but it felt.. warmer. There were no sharp tools or tables with steel cuffs on them. Instead, she was laying down on a soft bed, with colorful walls, and a bright window.

  Eri sat patiently on her comfy bed, looking around the room curiously. The only places she had seen were the lab, her room and the alleyways around Kai's hideout.

  It was only a few minutes later when the door opened and her hero came in. Her face immediately became one of joy, hopping out of her bed and running into his arms.

  "Izuku!" She said happily.

  "Hey there Eri." He smiled.

  "Are you okay?" She asked sweetly. "I didn't hurt you with my quirk, did I?"

  Izuku smiled softly at the tiny girl.

  "Don't worry, you were a great help. Without you or your power, we couldn't have beaten Chisaki. So don't think of it as a curse, or evil. As long as you use it to help people, it's just your power."

 
  The two sat in the colourful room, talking about apples and all the things Eri could do now. Aizawa knocked on the door, staring pointedly at Izuku.

  "Midoriya, you've got to come and see the doctor to get the all- clear, then we can go back to school. Kirishima is going to be a while longer, but the others are back at UA already."

  "Do you have to go already?" Eri asked sadly.

  Izuku stood from his seat on the bed, stroking Eri's hair, smiling at the child as he headed for the door.

  "I'll come and visit again Eri, I promise!" He said.

  Eri nodded, waving goodbye.

  "Bye-bye Izuku.." she said sadly.

  Izuku walked out of the hospital doors with Aizawa, breathing in deeply.

  "I hate how blank it all smells in there.." Izuku muttered.

  Aizawa nodded in agreement, climbing into the driver's seat of the school's car.

  Izuku hopped into the passenger seat, looking back out the window at the hospital. Aizawa sighed, regarding his problem child with a hint of pride.

  "Due to her circumstances, Eri finds it difficult to trust new people. The doctors can barely get any tests done to make sure she's okay, because of what Overhaul did to her." He said.

  Izuku's mood became sombre, thinking about what Eri went through.

  "Fortunately, they're putting someone she trusts in charge of her while she accumulates to her new life. He's pretty much the only person she trusts completely, so if he wants to do it we'll need him to go and visit her every day, and help the doctors take blood samples and the like." Aizawa continued.

  "That's good." Izuku said absentmindedly.

  The car slowed at a red light, and Aizawa turned his head fractionally in Izuku's direction. He watched as acceptance became confusion, then deep thought, realization, shock and finally, happiness.

  "Of course I want to do it!" He burst out.

  Aizawa struggled to keep his neutral frown in place.

  "Very well Midoriya, I'll inform Nezu and the hospital. You can tell Eri about the arrangements when you visit her tomorrow." He said, a small smile creeping into his face.

  Both hero and student sat in a comfortable silence, one excited for the next day, the other proud of his student, who had become an excellent hero.

 
  The next day, Izuku entered the hospital and almost ran up the stairs, briskly walking through the corridors until he came to Eri's room.

  He knocked on the door, opening it and stepping inside.

  "Hey Eri! I'm back!" He said, smiling at the surprised girl.

  "You're back so soon!! I thought it would take forever.." she said, hugging the greenette.

  "I've got lots of good news Eri." Izuku said, sitting on the bed next to his new ward.

  "I am allowed to leave school during the day, just to see you! And I'll be here every day from now on, until you are released from hospital." He began.

  Eri's face lit up like the sun, almost blinding the other sunshine child.

  "And when you get out of hospital, you'll be coming to live with me, at UA. Only if that's what you want though." Izuku said.

  To say the girl's excitement shone through was an understatement. She radiated happiness, beaming at her hero.

  "I'll take that excited smile as a yes then?" The teen asked, equally as happy as the horned girl.

  Eri nodded frantically, wrapping her arms around Izuku.

  The boy laughed, patting her hair.

  "I thought you'd say that. Well, we've still got a little while, so what would you like to do?" He asked.

  They spent the rest of the evening drawing and snacking on apples. They were both sad that Izuku had to leave, but he promised he would be there the next day.

  This became their routine for the next few weeks, as Eri slowly gained a healthy amount of weight, and no longer needed all the bandages wrapped around her arms and legs.

  Izuku may or may not have snuck out of the dorms and back in just before curfew on a number of occasions, to visit Eri for the hour or so before her bedtime.

  He hoped Aizawa hadn't noticed.