Compulsion

Chapter 17: In Comes the Cavalry

Midoriya Izuku laid on the bed on wheels, silent and staring at the medical tent's ceiling. The pain had primarily subsided... Well, he felt like he couldn't move his neck five degrees without crying in pain, but considering how it felt when he got hit, it was an incredible improvement. The wave of nausea had also quieted and instead found a nice spot in the back of his head, threatening to slosh out vertigo and vomit at any sudden movement. Now, since both states of being are canceling each other out, it must make a positive – Midoriya Izuku was the picture of health.

"You're absolutely not participating in the next event," declared Dr. Yaritezawa.

Midoriya Izuku was the picture of sad.

"Don't look at me like that," she said.

Izuku was the picture of sadder?

"If you can follow this light, I'll let you participate in the next event." She then cruelly took out her flashlight and aimed it at the side of his head.

And, to be fair, he did try – about three times. Dr. Yaritezawa stopped the fourth – cheated – when she realized he was winding up the turn of his head, so he could throw his chin through the pain and towards the light. That seemed to be the last straw for the doctor, informing that he were to stay still and rest lest she break out a cone.

Izuku relented, finding himself staring at the fabric ceiling once more. He was hurting and those failed attempts hadn't helped. But it was kinda fun getting a rise out of the doctor – a good distraction. He needed another stat because his thoughts began to fill the void, ever intrusive.

"Guess I'll just nap then..." he said.

Dr. Yaritezawa nodded, "Well, considering that counts as resting, I'll let it slide."

"Thanks."

As he closed his eyes, the doctor turned and offered a small smile, "Your friends will probably swing by after the Principal gets through the placement announcement." She nodded, "I'll wake you then."

Those thoughts, those words – dark and italicized, would appear in his mind. "They're probably worried about you... What happens if that affects their performance...? Did they make good times...? Or bad times because of you...?" They wouldn't say anything new. All it was was an echo-chamber of doubt and anxiety—"Bothering the doctor was a good distraction... You were the worst one... What were you thinking...? Climbing that tower... Literally everyone else hightailed it in the opposite direction... But a Quirkless idiot like you decided why the hell not...?"—what he thought of himself and what others thought of him. It always found him when he was at his most quietest and lonesomeness. "Was it fun...? For them it wasn't; it can't be... The Top Ten are watching... This is their futures – their internships... You can't ruin this for them..." As if it was offended by being forgotten whenever he had company, using whatever low-blows it could muster. "Wait... Top Ten...? Is All-Might—"

If he couldn't escape it via company, he'd have to settle for slumber – like any other restless night.

-XXX-

To say Kaminari Denki was disappointed with his time required there to be a positive expectation. He didn't have a mobility Quirk, but he was reasonably athletic so he made average time... Average being a difficult term to use due to the outliers who made it up there in about five to ten seconds. Yaoarashi with an Air Quirk just flew up there. Denki had no idea how Tokage's Quirk of Dismemberment led to flight but it did. Shiozaki made a tree, Kaibara made platforms out of his breath, and Sero made the Tower look like it had been tricked on Halloween night. Those were just the top five – Yanagi's Poltergeist and Yaoyorozu's Creation Quirks brought them close but no cigar.