Chapter 1: A touch of light
Chapter Text
It was a quiet night. Truly quiet.
It was even unsettling for the underground pro-hero Eraserhead, who was hopping from rooftop to rooftop among the eerie alleyways of Musutafu.
However, that night, everything was normal. Nothing seemed out of place.
Nothing seemed like it would disrupt the tranquil glow of the bright full moon.
Nothing, except that small mound of green fur swaying in the light night breeze.
Eraserhead walked past until he realized it was NOT normal.
Hair meant there was a person, and a person sitting on the edge of a building's roof late at night did NOT mean anything good.
Eraserhead stopped in his tracks to get closer and check what exactly was going on.
He didn't want to scare him away or disturb him, so he stayed a significant distance away to assess the situation.
Everything seemed calm, with no signs of nervousness or any other intentions. Analyzing it, Eraserhead could tell it was a teenager—wait, more like a child.
Wait.
A CHILD?!?
Without a doubt, that skeleton, size, and build belonged to a boy of approximately 13 years old. And that, began to worry Eraserhead.
Without a doubt, this situation was starting to get out of hand for the pro-hero.
He fights all kinds of villains daily, catches all kinds of bandits, criminals, rapists, and thieves in the city without any hesitation.
He didn't need her.
He was a cold, distant, and unloving man.
And yet, as a professor at UA, he dealt daily with children in their teens and on fire.
But he wasn't used to this. He didn't know what to say. How are you supposed to comfort a little boy who, God knows, got to the edge of a rooftop? He wished Hizashi were with him; he'd know exactly what to say.
However, even with all his fears, Eraserhead couldn't wait any longer. He had to do something. He couldn't just watch and ignore what was happening.
So he decided to slowly approach from behind with heavy steps so the troubled child could anticipate his arrival.
As he landed on the building where the child was, he began walking toward him, until
"Hello," the child said, without any hesitation or fear.
"H-hey, kid," Aizawa said, reaching the curb where the child was standing.
"What are you doing here alone?" he said as he crouched down, looking at the sights of the city.
"Thinking," the child said, his voice much huskier than Aizawa imagined.
"Isn't it a little late for you to be thinking in a place like this?" Eraserhead asked, raising an eyebrow at the child's response.
"Mhm," the boy hummed, noticeably indifferent to the conversation.
Eraserhead noticed how he wasn't making any progress with either the conversation or the situation, yet the atmosphere wasn't tense or awkward; they were simply there.
"The stars can be clearly seen today," Eraserhead said, leaning back to see them more clearly.
At that moment, the boy tilted his head back slightly to look at the sky.
It's something, Aizawa said to himself; at least he wasn't brutally ignored.
"I'm—" Eraserhead said, trying to begin his introduction, but was interrupted.
"You're the underground pro-hero, Eraserhead," the green-haired boy said.
"I know," Aizawa didn't know what to say. How could this kid know about him? He was supposed to be an underground hero.
"I also know you work as a professor at UA."
What? How could this kid know that? Only his coworkers, Nezu and Tsukauchi, knew.
The media barely knew anything about him.
"Excuse me?" Eraserhead said, trying to hide his shock.
"You're my favorite hero, you know? You do good because you want to. You don't need achievements or an audience, and you don't need attention to do something halfway good for society like other heroes."
"Wow... kid, is that what you think? I'm glad you have such a good opinion of me. However, how do you know all that? Not many people know that much about me."
"I really like quirks. I investigate and speculate about them. I like to analyze them." The answer was simple, but it's something: the boy had said something.
All this time, the boy hadn't moved his head, except to look at the stars when Eraserhead said it.
But even then, he looked straight ahead again.
Aizawa could only see his right profile for the moment. He had quite pale skin, emerald-green eyes, and a few freckles adorning his face.
And something distinctive, something Aizawa hadn't expected to see, was that smile.
A smile hung on his face.
Forced.
Artificial.
Completely unwanted by the boy.
That smile never left his face.
It wasn't exaggerated; he didn't even show his teeth, but it definitely didn't feel right.
His outfit didn't reveal much: black sweatpants and a loose-fitting black sweatshirt.
The sweatshirt was slightly rolled up, but not a trace of his skin could be seen.
Both of his arms were bandaged. Right down to his fingers. This slightly wrinkled Eraserhead's gaze, but it didn't show.
He could also notice that the boy was quite thin; however, all that remained was pure muscle.
That didn't leave the hero entirely at ease, but he couldn't be affected.
Until he came to the puzzle piece.
His shoes.
Those red shoes were the piece the hero needed to begin speculating and investigating the boy's situation.
"I like them a lot too," the hero replied, "although my quirk doesn't say the same." He tried to joke.
It was at that moment that the boy turned his head toward Eraserhead.
He didn't do anything, he didn't say anything, he just watched carefully.
Eraserhead already knew what didn't feel right, what didn't add up.
His smile didn't match those empty eyes, devoid of hope, of brightness, of light. It was as if he'd already seen it all... as if he'd already given up...
Eraserhead swallowed and continued the conversation. "Tell me, what else do you know about me?" he asked curiously.
“Not much, really. The basics are, you're an underground pro-hero specializing in secret missions who fights with a restraining weapon and specializes in hand-to-hand combat. You don't have a specific fighting style, but rather a mix of taekwondo, kickboxing, and street fighting. And on top of that, you have your quirk, which basically suppresses your quirk through vision. As long as the target is in your line of sight, their quirk will be suppressed, as long as you don't blink. You can last approximately three minutes since your eyes dry out, hence the eye drops… If I'm not mistaken, that's it. Sorry if I made a mistake, but I don't have my notebook handy.”
Aizawa didn't know what to say. He simply didn't understand how the hell this kid was able to find out all this; not even some of his closest friends knew about it.
“...hmm, okay, wow. How the hell did you get all that information from me?”
“Um, just some of the few videos that exist about you and some of your fights I've witnessed.”
“Excuse me? Witnessed?”
“Well, I'm usually around the neighborhood.”
Aizawa was still stunned, but this was the perfect opportunity to ask something more about the boy himself.
“Well, while you're at it, what about you, problem child?”
“No.” As soon as he said that, he stood up.
“Wait!!” Eraserhead shouted. “Okay, okay, you don't have to tell me anything!”
“I have to go anyway.”
With those words, he started running and jumping between buildings…
Chapter 2: A container
Summary:
In this chapter we have:
- a short chase
- a brief introduction to a part of Izuku's current life
- flashbacks mentioning a very sad past, mentions of psychological and physical torture, and blackmail.
I don't think I left anything out, XoXo.
Notes:
Hi hi, I had a day off today so I started writing. Anyway, here's another chapter.
This time we have Izuku's POV. I warn you, this chapter isn't very pleasant, but anyway, I hope you like it somehow.
Tell me something in the comments!!!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
"I have to go anyway."
With those words, he began to run and jump between buildings. However, Eraserhead wasn't exactly inexperienced with chases, but he really didn't want this encounter to turn into a chase; he wanted the teenager to trust him.
So, Eraserhead prepared to keep up, carefully and at a distance so that the green boy wouldn't notice.
After a few minutes of running and jumping between buildings, Eraserhead realized that this boy was too agile and fast; he was practically on par with the pro-hero.
But he didn't seem to have noticed the still-present pro-hero; he didn't make any exaggerated gestures or increase his speed.
They were getting deeper and deeper into the neglected part of Musutafu, abandoned buildings and streets where disorder and evil reigned.
As they ran, Eraserhead also noticed something else: the boy seemed to favor the left side of his body more, as if he had an injury to his torso or leg, or maybe both.
The boy's sudden stop brought Eraserhead out of his thoughts. He was only one roof away, and he quickly hid behind that roof in case the boy turned in his direction.
But no, the boy didn't even turn around; instead, he started walking in the opposite direction until he reached the curb of the building.
After a few seconds, Eraserhead was preparing his capture weapon for the worst possible scenario.
The boy, with his hands in his pockets, made a small leap forward with his right leg, beginning to fall.
At that precise moment, Eraserhead's heart sank to his stomach.
He ran as fast as he could toward the curb, his capture weapon ready.
Everything about the situation was nervous and anxious until Eraserhead heard a metallic rumble coming from the alley where the boy jumped.
He recognized that metal thud.
It was very familiar.
It was an emergency staircase.
There were emergency stairs… Aizawa let out a really long sigh of relief as he approached the edge of the building and found himself face to face with an abandoned building.
Not very conspicuous.
Not very big.
But his intuition was telling him something.
He should definitely investigate more about it later…
After the boy ran to clear his mind, he finally arrived at his self-proclaimed home.
He lived in one of the apartments in an abandoned building.
The conditions were completely disastrous.
Filthy walls, leaks everywhere, dampness that chilled you to the bone if you stayed there for more than five minutes…
In winter, unbearable cold.
Of course, there were only four apartments in the entire building; after all, it was a building whose construction had been halted due to a lack of funding, leaving them with barely enough time to add anything else.
He had settled into one of the fifth-floor apartments because it had easy access.
It was convenient to access it through the window from the roof of the other building.
On the other hand, if he entered through the roof, he simply had to go down one floor since the building had six floors.
The "apartment" didn't have doors, nor did it need them; no one had ever broken in there.
The thick concrete walls made the place much more sheltered than Izuku imagined, although that doesn't mean his toes don't begin to enter the first stage of frostbite necrosis in winter.
The "apartment," if it could even be called that, was... simple, so to speak.
It was completely empty, without any decorations or furniture. Where would the kid get that kind of stuff?
It had two rooms, one a little smaller, in which was a mattress that, despite its location, wasn't in such bad condition. In fact, even if you couldn't tell, Izuku was a pretty clean boy (as far as he could control).
There were also two boxes.
In one of them was his clothing, although he didn't really have much, just a couple of changes of underwear and a couple of short-sleeved T-shirts, along with a pair of shorts.
All his clothes were black (almost grayish due to the number of times he'd washed them).
The other box contained some equipment needed to successfully carry out his missions, a few daggers, and secret support equipment to hide them in different parts of his body.
In the shared room (which was a bit larger), there was simply a small tatami mat with two small boxes next to it.
They were first-aid kits with everything needed to treat first- and second-degree burns, tweezers, needle and thread, and of course disinfectant and bandages, both regular and compressive, so he could save his life every time without getting a fatal infection.
It was simple: one room was for sleeping, the other for healing, and then there was the bathroom; there was nothing else he needed.
What for everyone else was probably a dirty abandoned building, for the green-haired boy, was the only place he could find a bit of peace in his miserable and sad life.
It wasn't much, but it was his home.
Once he arrived at the apartment, he entered through the entrance, having entered through the sixth floor.
As he entered, he simply sighed slightly; he was finally safe.
This place meant safety, protection, and above all, peace.
He arrived and went straight to his bed (actually, it's just a mattress) only to stand there staring... seeing that bed thrilled him; having a bed to himself was a dream he'd never imagined he deserved.
After a couple of minutes, he looked out his bedroom window to predict the time by observing the position of the moon.
"Well, I think it's time to start the routine," he said.
"It should be around 5:30, so let's get going," the boy said, taking off his clothes and laying them on the mattress.
He was left with only his underwear and bandages; there was nothing else covering his body. However, the bandages practically felt like another layer of clothing; they probably covered 90% of his body.
In reality, most of them were compression bandages that helped the boy with his pain...
That constant pain that reminded him that he wasn't free and that he would never be,
he didn't have that right, and the sensei knew it well, which is why he gave him the pleasure of a taste of what he would never truly have...
freedom.
While humming, the boy approached the bathroom as he removed the compression bandages from his entire body:
"This here... and this other one there, mmm mhmmm mmm." He finally finished removing all the compression bandages.
Only his left thigh was left, which was tangled in healing bandages, which were soaked with blood. So, he headed to the healing room and sat down to begin uncovering the bandage.
While humming, "Hmm, man, I really didn't expect that," he said as he uncovered the bandage.
"I knew I was limping too much for just a small muscle tear," the boy said, as flashbacks of the moment he got this "small injury," as his sensei called it, came to him.
It was exactly three days ago in the lab; it was a special day.
They were supposed to test the attack of a new Nomu. A chainsaw type.
Everything was ready and perfect to proceed with the first attack test of Nomu No. 35. Izuku found himself in a small observation room.
The walls were completely white, except for one, where there was a huge crystal that practically took up the entire wall.
Izuku found himself in that room, hanging, tied by metal chains.
His hands and legs were restrained.
They had to restrain him in such a way to prevent him from killing the Nomu, even though they knew the boy wouldn't.
He can't.
The boy knows that if he disobeys even the smallest rule or order, she would suffer.
And he can't let her suffer.
He's not like that.
Even after everything they've done to her, he can't leave her to die.
Even after everything.
He simply can't.
In his mind, doing that would be completely becoming what they wanted.
What they were hoping to turn him into.
A monster.
Protecting her was the only thing that kept him sane enough to keep moving forward.
But...
In reality... he was already a monster, obeying the sensei's every order coldly and without feeling.
Whatever it was, without guilt, without remorse, without fear.
He didn't feel it.
It's not that he didn't feel it.
It's that he didn't allow himself to feel it.
If at any moment he showed a small sign of vitality.
Of feeling.
Of emotions.
Sensei would break every last one of them to turn them into his favorite pet.
That's why he couldn't allow it. Nothing.
He just obeyed.
He was like a doll.
Like a vessel.
"AGH," the boy gasped in pain, regaining consciousness.
Notes:
Well, that's today's chapter... I hope you liked it.
Here's the link to see my idea of the current state of Izuku's scars:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pFRvRZ_xGf5scnzlT02qFWDHhqo-8oXB/view?usp=sharing
And here is the link to get a better view of their home:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bMwlZrehMufTMC57s9xBicm4a16lUP9s-i0QnSnxoxA/edit?usp=sharing
The next chapters will be longer.
Anyway, tell me what you think!
Chapter 3: When silence finally arrives
Summary:
Izuku relives the routine of pain that consumes him day after day, while Aizawa slowly unravels the strange encounter he had the other night. Amidst screams, memories, and endless melodies, silence appears… if only for a moment.
⚠️ Warnings⚠️: explicit violence, torture, abuse, psychological trauma, self-harm, panic attack.
Notes:
Hello, how are you?
As promised, this chapter is longer, by the way.
Important warning! This chapter is pretty tough, but I'm also warning you that there will probably be tougher chapters...
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
-Beginning Izuku's flashbacks (three days ago)-
"AGH," the boy gasped in pain, regaining consciousness.
He was in the lab, those unforgettable white walls, except for one, where a huge crystal covered practically the entire wall. Izuku was in that room, hanging, bound by metal chains. His hands and legs restrained.
He had fully regained consciousness in just a second; he was already fully alert to everything. It wasn't surprising; he couldn't afford not to be.
For him, this was all just routine. They knocked him out, tied him up, he woke up, and then it all started. It was normal. There was no need to be alarmed, but he always had to be alert.
Then a lab door opened, and Sensei appeared, followed by an assistant.
"Ayy Izukuu, my precious toy," he said as he approached to hug him. Izuku, even while hanging, might try to move away or struggle.
But he didn't. He knew it wouldn't do any good.
He'd given up trying a long time ago. Struggling only meant more pain...
"How have you been? My little toy..." he said as he circled around Izuku, watching him.
When he reached his back, he raised his arm to rub Izuku's butt.
"Have my assistants been treating you well during my short absence?" he said as he returned to the front with a disgusting smile.
Disgusting.
For Sensei and his assistants, it was pure fun and pleasure.
For Izuku, it was hell.
The simple touch disgusted him. He couldn't stand it anymore. Izuku's bile rose in disgust, but he had to force it back down to the bottom of his stomach.
"Yes, everything's normal. Following the same routine as always..." He answered a few seconds later.
“Good…Good…That's good. Remember, Izuku. Routine means everything's going well, that you've done everything right…”
Izuku fell silent.
“You're a good boy… No. Wait, what am I saying? You're not a good boy. You can't call yourself that. Not after everything you've done.”
Izuku swallowed. His eyes showed indifference, his smile still there. He couldn't leave. He didn't want to have it. But he couldn't wipe it from his face. Neither his shell nor his insides ever showed anything. Any feeling. Any emotion.
It's been a while since they've done this.
But for some reason, he felt weak in this situation. As if he were about to reach some kind of limit. The point of no return. As if he were… afraid of the next words that might come out of sensei's mouth.
“A toy. That's what you are.” He said as he approached Izuku... and that smile of Sensei's, that smile just kept growing. A chill ran down Izuku's spine.
And then Sensei started whistling as he walked and approached the room's exit, only to enter the room's checkpoint.
Again.
Again, he whistled.
Again, that damn melody.
Not a single day.
Not a single day could he get that fucking whistle out of his head.
It was always present.
In every situation.
In every moment.
He always whistled that exact melody.
When Izuku was on that metal table in the torture chamber.
When they opened his body for some experiment or implant. When they gave him reports. When they fed him. When he accompanied him to the bathroom. When they had to dress him in new clothes because he'd soiled or torn them. When they bathed him. When he trained.
When he had to endure the disgusting gasps of pleasure from Sensei's assistants as they used his fucking body to get even.
When they had a meeting.
Always.
Always.
Always.
Always.
It was always there.
Chasing Izuku.
Even when Sensei wasn't around.
The whistle rang in his head as a constant reminder that he wasn't free. Not even close.
And he would never be...
The voice on the loudspeaker brought Izuku out of his trance.
"Well, my dear toy. Today we have the first session to test the attack of a new Nomu. It's a chainsaw-type. It's called Nomu No. 7535, but to abbreviate and get along, we'd better call it No. 35, okay Izuku??"
"I hope you're a good boy and behave," Sensei said through the loudspeaker.
Izuku turned to face the glass to look at Sensei. It was rude not to look at someone while they were talking.
"Yes," he replied, nodding and swallowing.
Sensei's smile grew wider and wider. Seeing him so obedient... what a wonderful toy he had created!
"Oh! And remember... don't scream," he said as he pressed a button. At that moment, metal doors opened, and No. 35 appeared.
He entered the room calmly without any sudden movements, scanning the room. He even seemed... curious.
Although it didn't make sense, they were supposedly experiments that lacked free will, independent thought, or emotions.
He was probably just collecting data, so no one paid attention to him.
The Nomu was considerably smaller than other Nomus.
They normally stood about eight feet tall, almost nine feet tall, but this one was slightly taller than the average human. Probably not much taller than six feet.
His body was like all other Nomus, with purple skin and noticeable muscles. What set him apart were his chainsaws. He had a chainsaw on each arm and one on his skull (like Denji from Chainsaw Man when he transforms).
All nomu had a key activation code to perform tasks. The code was usually made up of two specific words. If anyone knew the keywords, they could control the nomu.
However, they also had levels of hierarchy for receiving orders. And only the sensei and one other person were at the top of the hierarchy. They didn't even have to use keywords; the nomu recognized the voices as their creator and obeyed every command.
"Following that pattern," Izuku thought to himself, "I'm no different than a fucking nomu, hehe. How funny... exactly what I never wanted to become-"
"No. 35," the sensei's voice sounded, interrupting Izuku's thoughts. "Before you is your target." The nomu stopped scanning the room to look at Izuku. There was his target. Hanging in the center of the room. “Go for it.”
The Nomu didn't need any further commands to activate the chainsaws' rotation and pounce on Izuku.
“MMHHMM!!!!!!!!!!” Izuku's first muffled scream sounded as one of the chainsaws tore through the flesh of his right arm.
Before he could recover from the first tear, the Nomu continued attacking.
Once. And again. And again. And a fourth. A fifth…
After God knows how long, Izuku had lost count of the number of times the Nomu had attacked.
He didn't really care; he simply counted the number of attacks so he could distract himself from everything.
From the situation.
From the pain.
From his own muffled screams.
But most of all.
Most of all,
from that melody.
That whistling sounding through the room's speakers.
The Nomu had stopped in front of Izuku, waiting for further orders.
Meanwhile, Izuku analyzed the situation… He knew he wasn't going to survive this ordeal.
He'd developed a resistance to this type of torture, but he'd never lost so much blood at once.
At least, not that he could remember…
And you didn't have to be a genius to know that either. You just had to look at the scene. It was horrible.
Unpleasant.
An experimentation room that had once been white, tinged with red. And in the middle, there was a child hanging from iron chains. Completely emaciated. There were tears all over his body, leaving almost no corner untouched.
A fucking miracle would be needed to keep him from dying. And Sensei wouldn't be happy about it. Not at all. Izuku always had to endure everything, no matter what.
Sensei always got really angry when Izuku died.
The routine changed.
And he couldn't allow it. He couldn't. Because any mistake Izuku made would cost him dearly. A lot of pain.
And it would fall on her too.
That was all Izuku thought about, as he felt all his strength slowly fade away. As if it were slipping through his fingers. He thought he'd gotten used to this feeling, but apparently not entirely…
He couldn't even keep his eyes open anymore. All his senses were muddled. Everything was blurry.
He could barely feel his body. Almost every muscle, bone, and nerve was shattered.
Every part of his body had been mutilated.
The only two things he could still distinguish were that smell he was so familiar with. Blood.
And of course, his torment. That melody. That endless whistling that increasingly corrupted his mind.
And so, Izuku felt his eyelids slowly close as the last thing he remembered was that whistling…
-End of flashback-
-Back to the present-
Almost a week had passed since he found that green bean on the ceiling. He couldn't stop thinking about it.
So he investigated.
He spent practically the entire week locked between the UA and the police station (except for his patrols).
Right after today's patrol, Eraserhead returned to his apartment. It was a two-story apartment. But pretty simple. It's not like he spent much time there, either.
As soon as he arrived, he turned on the coffee machine. He showered, and the coffee brewed while he changed into street clothes. Nothing flashy. A black short-sleeved T-shirt and black sweatpants.
He drank his first coffee of the day and got ready to spend the whole day out.
In a backpack, he packed his hero suit in case of an emergency, his eye drops, his computer, and his glasses; his eyesight had been feeling very tired lately.
Probably a mix of stress and fatigue.
It was approximately 6:30 in the morning when the pro-hero entered the police station.
There weren't many people; it was a Sunday. In fact, it was one of his only days off during the week. Still, he couldn't let this go.
He couldn't get that little green bean out of his mind. It seemed so... broken.
He'd been searching all week.
Looking for anything.
A possible match, a document, or a report. Something.
Anything.
After hours and hours of research, Eraserhead was almost ready to leave for his patrol. Today, he really didn't have to go, but he really needed to clear his head.
To wrap things up for Eraserhead for today, he was searching through Musutafu's person identification program.
Thanks to new technological advances, they had a new program that could identify a person with a brief description of their appearance and lifestyle. Although they had too much blank information to get an exact or precise result.
Even so, the program narrowed down the search significantly.
They were looking for a boy between 10 and 15 years old. Thin, short, approximately 164 centimeters tall. He had green hair and freckles on his face.
The biggest problem with identification was his age. Normally, children's registrations were renewed at ages 5, 10, and 15.
"As a matter of probability, we should rule out recent registrations at age 15. I doubt that in the state he was in, he went to renew his registration just a few months ago... So this boy's last registration had to have been at age 10," Eraserhead said.
"I'll run the search on the program. I'll let you know when it's fully loaded," Tsukauchi replied.
He had even involved Tsukauchi in it...
After 10 minutes, the detective called Eraserhead.
“Well, I tried to fix it, but the program won't let me delete the profiles of children whose records haven't been updated since they were 5 years old. However, they do fit the profile described.” Tsukauchi paused for a moment to think.
“But it seems too risky to jump to conclusions at such a young age. They're only 5, there's barely any information to be gained from them, Shota.”
The pro-hero stared at the table. Trying to find a why. A how. Or something that would fit. Until,
“I got it, Tsukauchi. Just to rule out the worst-case scenario, take the profiles of the children who haven't been updated since they were 5 and investigate why. Some of them could be linked to a disappearance or kidnapping case.”
He paused for a moment to think further. There had to be something else…
“Also, closely investigate suspicious moving cases, with no destination or very little information about them. Find out everything. They could be cases of hidden kidnappings,” Aizawa concluded before gathering his things and heading home to prepare for his night patrol.
At home, he simply made some coffee, changed into his hero costume, and set off.
This week had been eerily quiet. Sensei hadn't called Izuku even once.
It was never like that. He never let him be away for that long. He was always called for something. For some stupid thing.
But a whole week without contacting him?
Never.
He was starting to go crazy.
What if she doesn't need me anymore? What about her? What if she throws me away? What if the only thing that's ever given her any kind of use in my life disappears? What about me?
Then flashbacks hit.
"Just die, man."
...
"Can't you see you're bothering everyone with your presence?"
...
"Now seriously, Izuku, how can you be so useless in life?"
...
"How could I give birth to a child like that?"
...
"You're never going to be useful at anything, you've accepted that, haven't you?"
…
“Don't touch him, see if he hits you.”
…
Why don't you just end the misery in your life? If you want, I'll help you, buahaahahah.”
…
“That disgusts me, my god.”
…
“This isn't my son, is it, you bitch?! I bet you cheated on me with the first idiot you found! A scum like that can't be mine.”
…
“No. No no no
No
No
Noo
NO
NO NO NO!”
He'd started to panic. He could feel his chest tightening as if it were going to explode from the inside out. He clutched his chest as he began to hyperventilate to get a lick of oxygen.
His heart hurt so much he thought he was going to die.
This time for real. No tricks.
Until he realized,
If he died from this, it would only come back again, right?
One more time.
His heart was going to burst out of his chest without warning. He couldn't breathe. He crawled as best he could to the wall and sat down with his back to it.
He curled up on himself, wrapping his legs in his arms, pushing himself closer and closer to the wall as if he might simply disappear the more he pressed against it.
Bile began to rise. Everything was spinning. Too much spinning.
He had to stop it.
He was tired of everything.
And he started banging his head against the wall.
ONe
And another
And another
The blood began to spill with each blow against the wall, but he really had to stop it. He had to break out of this endless loop that trapped him.
Another
And another
And another…
Everything really calmed down…
Then it stopped abruptly.
He couldn't believe it.
He didn't hear anything.
He didn't hear that hissing.
He was no longer in his head.
He was empty.
Finally.
After he doesn't know how long,
his head stopped ringing.
If only for a moment,
but it was enough for him.
…
Notes:
Well... this was the third chapter. I don't promise any joy for the next one either, but I'll try.
Remember, after the storm comes the light... hehe.
Tell me what do you think in the comments!
Okay, see you!
Chapter 4: A little ray of light?
Summary:
Izuku spends a night talking to Aizawa and, for a moment, feels like he's human again.
⚠️ Warnings ⚠️: depressive language, dehumanization, and objectification of the person.
Notes:
Hi, here I am with chapter 4!!!
Well, let's see, the chapter is literally like its title, a small ray of light, or maybe the first ray of light, no one knows.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Then he stopped abruptly.
He couldn't believe it.
He wasn't hearing anything.
He wasn't hearing that whistling.
It wasn't in his head anymore.
It was empty.
Finally.
After he doesn't know how long,
his head stopped ringing.
Even if it was only for a moment,
but it was enough for him.
…
Aizawa had been on patrol for a while now. He tried to convince himself he was going out to clear his head when really what he was looking for was something else.
To meet that boy again.
To observe. To analyze. Not to miss a single detail.
But he didn't want to scare him.
He didn't know how he might react.
And Aizawa, for one thing, cared. He wanted to protect him. (As if he didn't have enough with the other 20 kids starting this coming school year.)
He felt a kind of soft spot for him.
That puzzled him.
He was a boy he met one night, and they had a superficial conversation before the boy ran off.
But Aizawa had a hunch the story didn't end there. That there was much more going on.
And he had too good an intuition for these things.
…
"Anyway," he said to himself to clear his thoughts and focus on the patrol car.
He was on the edge of a building, observing the neighborhood's main street. It wasn't too big; he could easily see the entire perimeter.
He observed each person, as always. Until he saw him.
The boy.
It was the green bean.
The problem child.
The headache.
He'd had enough time with Hizashi to be able to name him all those names.
He was entering a convenience store.
Considering it was 2:13 in the morning, Eraserhead could already rule out the possibility that he lived in a home with a stable or capable family.
When he got out, he could get a better look; even with the hood up, he could see some bandages on his head.
"What the fuck?" he said to himself.
He followed the boy with his eyes as he watched him enter a nearby alley and start climbing the stairs to get to the roof.
It seemed like it was his routine.
Aizawa walked away. He didn't want to scare him away or scare him.
The boy immediately stepped inside and proceeded to sit on a curb facing the main street.
Closer up, and in the light, Eraserhead could see that he had bought a small, pre-made sandwich and a bottle of water.
At fucking 2:20 in the morning???
Anyway.
Aside from his appearance, which was as if he hadn't slept in five full days, another thing he clearly noticed was his movements.
Posture...
Everything was too calculated. Too rigid. Tense.
At the slightest touch, he would flinch and look around.
Not paranoid. Just alert.
After a while, the boy simply lay down and watched the stars while muttering something.
Eraserhead couldn't understand him. Not at that distance.
The boy got up slowly, unhurriedly. And he started to walk away.
Some time later, the boy stood in front of an abandoned building. Halfway through construction.
"Is this a joke?" Aizawa thought. "Nah, he's coming by to play some mischief... right?"
But deep down, he knew better. This kid didn't seem like that kind of teenager.
Aizawa truly feared the worst.
That the kid was living there.
After a long time in the building, the boy suddenly came out and headed in the direction of the same building Aizawa was in.
After following him for a while, jumping across the rooftops, the hero made up his mind.
"Man!...! Hey kid!" he said, appearing from behind.
The boy vaguely turned to look at the hero.
"Hello."
"What are you doing jumping across the rooftops so late?"
"Nothing. Thinking," he said, looking down at the ground, playing with his feet.
“Thinking, huh… you'll have a lot to think about then.”
-Izuku's POV-
“Thinking, huh… you'll have a lot to think about then.”
After a brief silence,
“May I ask you a question?” Izuku said, truly nervous.
Eraserhead nodded. “Sure, tell me.”
“What's UA like?” He longed to ask that question.
He had imagined UA thousands of times. What it would be like. What kind of people there would be. The quirks. The facilities. The classes. The teachers. The principal.
Everything.
But he could only imagine it.
Eraserhead raised an eyebrow slightly, surprised himself.
“Well, I don't think I'm the best person to answer that question,” he said, pausing.
“Considering I have the record for expulsions…” Aizawa thought to himself.
“Look, it's a really special place. There are all kinds of people with all kinds of Quirks. It doesn't matter where you come from, who you are, or what your background is as long as you try your best.”
“Hmm, sounds like a lot of fun,” Izuku replied with that automatic smile on his face as he realized he could only imagine it.
“Hahha, do you think so?” the hero said, a little relieved by his answer.
“Why don't you try applying for this next course, kid?” Eraserhead continued, “I've seen how you move before; you're really agile.”
“With a little more training, you can go really far.”
Izuku felt so good.
Eraserhead was praising him. Eraserhead himself.
He felt super happy.
Until he remembered the proposal the hero had just made.
“Yeah.” He paused for a moment. “Well, I really can't, you know?” he said with that smile on his face.
That smile could have conveyed relief.
But no.
It wasn't even close to reality.
A voice interrupted,
“Well, I could help you with that problem, you know?”
Izuku found the situation amusing.
“Well, it's not a problem that can be easily solved, hehe,” Izuku said, scratching the back of his head.
It was impossible for him. There was no way he could get rid of the sensei.
He didn't deserve it, either.
He was a piece of human garbage.
That's what everyone told him.
“Hey, tell me, um, kid. As a hero, it's not right for me to ignore the fact that you're alone on a rooftop at 3 a.m. in the morning, you know?”
“Yeah, haha, well. Um, just taking a walk. Clearing my mind… you know… right?” The problem child said nervously.
“No, I don’t know,” the hero quickly replied, raising an eyebrow.
“Well, I really can’t tell you…”
“Whew, well, let’s see. We need to establish better communication, um, problem child.”
“Don’t call me problem child all the time. It’s not very respectful for a pro hero.”
“Well, you'll have to tell me your name then.” He said, raising an eyebrow and crossing his arms indignantly. “The last time I tried to ask you something, you ran away with your tail between your legs.”
Izuku immediately blushed from the embarrassment he felt.
“Well, umm, you can call me Mido.”
“Mido?!?” The hero asked in surprise. “That's not a name, kid.”
“Well, I can't tell you my full name,” the boy replied, somewhat nonchalantly.
“Ugh, okay, let's see, mmhhmm… well, problem child, why don't we sit on a curb somewhere?”
“Hey!! Didn't I just tell you my name??”
“Yes yes, come here, kid,” Eraserhead said with a hint of amusement in his tone.
They talked about heroes and quirks until approximately 4:30 a.m.
That hour and a half they spent talking was one of the best moments of his life.
It was a moment in his life when he didn't have to be alert to the hero's every movement, gesture, or breath.
For a moment, he felt his heart flutter.
For a moment, he felt that the artificial, disgusting smile wasn't so fake during the conversation with the hero.
For a moment, he felt it.
That confused him.
His chest ached slightly.
He didn't know what it was.
But it wasn't unpleasant.
That hour and a half wasn't just a simple conversation.
It was the closest thing he'd ever felt to feeling human again.
It was the first thing he wanted to hold onto other than his mother's life, the one he'd so feared would be taken from him.
And it was the first time in a long time he'd wanted something.
And that feeling wouldn't end.
But he knew it would.
It would end.
Because he wasn't free.
And he wouldn't be.
He never would be.
He was already broken.
He was no longer human.
He was a doll.
A rag.
A toy.
But for a moment, he wanted to be able to feel,
before he had to go back to that hell…
Notes:
Well, that's it for this week's chapter.
I hope you enjoyed it. Please leave a comment and let me know.
Thanks so much, everyone, for reading.
See you in the next chapter!
Chapter 5: Wellcome to the darkness.
Summary:
Izuku begins to feel some humanity thanks to his conversations with Eraserhead.
Talk between Aizawa and PresentMic.
Sensei reappears and...⚠️ Warnings ⚠️: psychological abuse, torture, traumatic memories, dehumanization.
Notes:
Hello hello. Well, here we are again.
Today's chapter is very focused on developing the characters and giving you a little insight into their depth at the beginning so you can understand it later on as well.
The chapter is more or less like the rain before the tornado :)
I hope you like it.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
After that day, Izuku and Eraserhead met on the same roof every night.
They hadn't agreed on anything, but after several days of meeting by chance, they ended up searching for each other on the rooftops.
For both of them, it was like a self-imposed ritual.
They almost never talked about anything personal, just Quirks, heroes, villains...
But they were getting closer and closer.
Eraserhead opened up a little and showed confidence in Mido so that Mido would begin to trust him a little.
Sensei hadn't called Izuku in four weeks.
Four weeks without calling him. Sensei would be preparing any game to make Izuku suffer. As if that weren't enough.
But Izuku didn't care.
Izuku had never experienced anything like that before.
He had never spoken to anyone like that.
No insults. No contempt.
He was like one of the group.
And even if it wasn't true, Izuku didn't mind lying to himself.
He still knew he would never truly be free.
So he just wanted to take advantage. No matter what punishment came, those moments were more than enough for him.
It was the Friday of the fourth week. Izuku arrived "home" at 5 a.m., lay down on his mattress, and spent the entire day thinking.
Thinking about that hour and a half.
That hour and a half of freedom.
Of confusion.
Of humanity.
Izuku felt.
He felt his emotions.
And then he realized.
Izuku never stopped feeling. His brain went into extreme survival mode during these five years of prolonged traumatic experiences.
His mind ran away and isolated himself from problems in such a way that he simply pushed them out of his head, as if they didn't exist, as if all the shit he'd been through, the unbearable daily torture, the abuse, didn't affect him.
He began to create a wall. A barrier in his mind that separated his true emotions from his consciousness.
That's why he was indifferent to everything.
That's why he forgot everything.
Then he realized.
He barely remembered anything about his life.
He wanted to do it.
He wanted to break down that wall.
So he did something he'd never tried before. It scared him so much…
But he had to do it. He had to be alone with himself so he could remember.
Before he was kidnapped at age 10, what did Izuku have?
…
Nothing.
Ah.
He had a friend. But what was his name?
…
Aahhh,
Kacchan…
Kacchan was the best.
He teased Izuku a little. He threw little rocks at him, kicked him a little, laughed at him a little, but nothing happened.
He just wanted to prepare Zuku for real life, right?
Kacchan got a little out of hand when he started hanging out with older kids. Normally, Kacchan was really mature for his age…
Kacchan and I were 9, but Kacchan met and befriended some high school kids. They were… I think they were 13. Yeah, yeah. 13.
They were a real pain in the ass. When they found out Zuku had a Quirk, all hell broke loose. As if it wasn't enough at home…
They were always dragging them into alleys and testing their Quirks on Izuku.
There was one with wings. He always picked Izuku up and let him fly to see if he could fly with added weight. One test would be enough, right? Well, it seemed not to be. Time after time…
Another had a Quirk that allowed him to form daggers with any part of his body. His excuse was always that he wanted to see if his daggers were still as sharp.
Another had a Quirk that allowed him to pull ropes out of his own body. Yes... they always tied him up by various limbs and then dragged him along the ground... etc.
They put out cigarettes on his body...
Now that I think about it, those were good times... They were nothing compared to Sensei.
Kacchan was just another victim.
It's not like they laid a finger on him. But he always watched from the background. Terrified.
With his eyes wide open, full of guilt and pity.
He was the only person in Izuku's life who had ever felt anything other than hatred toward him.
But he couldn't intervene; he didn't have the physical or mental strength.
And he didn't blame him for it; it was normal.
What could a 9-year-old do?
After the beatings, he always picked him up off the floor, cleaned him up a bit, and walked him home.
Without a single word. I guess he was disgusted or something.
But he still helped him.
Aaahhh… what a good friend he had…
Then he realized.
Izuku remembered.
He remembered things.
Some bad. But others very good.
Kacchan…
He had remembered that best friend.
He was filled with a strange feeling; he had no idea what it was. But it felt so good.
It felt so good to feel something again, even if it was…
That same Friday, Eraserhead also returned home to immediately turn on his coffee maker and make his coffee while he showered and changed.
It was 6:00 a.m. Hizashi walked through the door. He approached Aizawa and kissed him while giving him a bag with two croissants.
Aizawa and Hizashi were a couple. They didn't live together yet, but they had plans to do so in the near future. Even though they didn't live together, they spent a lot of time at each other's houses and had several things set up just in case they stayed over.
"Good morning," Hizashi said with a smile as he took out two small plates.
"How was the patrol? Have you run into the little eavesdropper again?" he asked with his typical daily brilliance.
"Hmm, patrol went pretty well. No special problems," he said as they both sat down at the dining room table and began breakfast.
“The boy… well, we've met again, as always,” Aizawa said.
He was never much of a talker, but Hizashi always seemed to read his mind.
He'd been seeing Mido for about three weeks. Each time, he noticed a little more closeness.
Nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing affectionate. But each time, he noticed a little more comfort in the boy's voice.
Besides, since the day he found him with bandages on his head, he hasn't seen any signs or signals of injury or physical discomfort.
There was nothing unusual about his posture or movements.
That was a huge relief.
Then he dared to ask.
“Do you think I'm perhaps exaggerating the boy's situation too much?” he asked in a serious but concerned tone.
“I haven't seen any signs of harm in his body or his behavior for three weeks. Movements, gestures. He even speaks with more confidence…”
He paused for a moment, uncertainly.
“We know from close encounters that domestic abuse isn't like that… maybe… he's just a mischievous and slightly shy teenager, that's all.”
With those words, Aizawa let his little worries fall.
What if he was exaggerating it too much? He was chasing a teenager every night just because “his wonderful instinct” alerted him…
He was a cheap hero, just letting his instincts get the better of him—
“Shōta,” Hizashi said in a serious tone. It was unusual to see him like that.
“You can't let such insignificant thoughts fill your head.”
“Think about it, man!”
“That boy is alone EVERY night, wandering the alleys and rooftops as if he were an adult without a job or family who no longer has anything else to do with his life.”
He paused briefly.
“Besides, you yourself told me the first week you started meeting that the little listener had clear signs of anxiety from his gestures.”
“As if that weren't enough, that people-finding program. A new software with artificial intelligence that's supposed to never fail, and it turns out it couldn't find that boy. Okay, the description wasn't great, but we both know it was enough to find him.”
“There are too many questions and too many blank spaces. And you know it.”
“And think.”
“The shoes,” he said, looking deeply into Shōta's eyes. “You know that life for those people isn't easy in today's society.”
“You can't give up on him. You can't abandon him or leave him behind because there's no evidence of abuse.”
“There won't be, but I assure you there's much more to it. I'm sure of it.”
Shōta realized, what was he thinking?
Of course he wasn't going to abandon the boy. Never.
He sighed in defeat with a small smile and returned to his coffee.
“Thanks,” he said with a sigh.
“Well, you weren't going to give up on him anyway, so I don't know why I said all that.” He shrugged as he took a small sip of his coffee.
“Mhm,” Aizawa murmured lightly as he took a sip of approval.
“Well… we should get going,” Hizashi said as he collected the plates and stood up.
“Yes, you're right,” Aizawa replied.
At UA, two weeks before the school year starts, the first-year teachers and tutors must go to the institution and begin organizing all the classes, materials, and student arrangements.
Hizashi and Aizawa were second-year teachers, so they didn't attend all week. They didn't need to organize so much in advance.
They were going this Friday because a new teacher was joining the second-year classes. Apparently, they were supposed to get to know each other, get acquainted, etc., etc.
Anyway, Aizawa thought it was a waste of sleep, but it was what it was. Nedzu had ordered it, so he couldn't refuse.
After curled up on his mattress all day, thinking about that strange feeling he'd had in the morning, suddenly, a strange noise sounded behind him.
Izuku flinched slightly. His body responded only with a small tremor and a heightened level of guard.
A simple response to his trauma.
But he realized it was very familiar.
The sound of a portal opening.
Shit.
The day had arrived.
For a moment, he dared to think it was over. That he was no longer useful to Sensei.
But he was wrong.
They had come for him.
"Hey Kurogiri," he said as he got up from his mattress.
"Hey Izuku. Sensei's calling for you."
"Yeah, I guessed. I didn't think you'd be here because you like my apartment, hahaha." He gave a small, nervous laugh as he put on his shoes.
“How have you been, kid? I haven't seen you around the lab in a while.”
“Fine,” he said as he crossed the portal.
On the other side, he appeared directly in the facility's meeting room.
Sensei was sitting in one of the chairs.
“My toy!” He said as he stood up, staring at Izuku.
“How have you been doing, my? It must have been hard…”
“Forgive me… I'm sorry the only person who truly cares about you had to leave you for so long… But I had some business to attend to.”
Izuku chewed on his words.
Sensei couldn't stand not getting an answer. He had to answer quickly. But he didn't know what.
After those four weeks, seeing his face disgusted him even more than he had imagined. Flashbacks of all the situations came flooding back, but he couldn't let himself get carried away by anxiety. Not now.
“You know, toy… I'm still really angry about what you did last time in the first Nomu attack test no. 35…” He paused briefly as he looked into Izuku's anxious eyes.
“And I've been thinking a lot about your punishment, but we have a problem. I'm already running out of ideas, you know? Hahaha.”
“We've used every method of torture, both medieval and modern, on you. I don't know what else to do to make you learn your fucking lesson and NOT DIE!!” He said, raising his voice in despair.
“Everything! We've done everything! And we've repeated each of the torture methods at least three times!!”
“Are you even aware of how amazing you are!?” He said, frantically grabbing Izuku by the shoulders.
“Aahhh, my little masterpiece…” He said with that fucking smile on his face.
The whole conversation was making Izuku's legs tremble. He knew he'd been tortured too much, but from there to the point where there were no more torture methods left...
That made his bile rise as he recalled some of the more fragile moments from when he'd first arrived at the lab. Not that he wanted to remember much. But there were memories that turned into nightmares at night.
"Anyway, let's stop chatting, let's have a little fun," he said as he scrubbed his hands and left the room, clearly wanting me to join him.
All the way down the hallway, Izuku felt a mixture of emotions. He knew he'd reached that limit.
It was his limit. He couldn't pretend he didn't care anymore.
He was scared. A lot. For the first time in too long, he felt those tears wanting to come out again. That lump in his throat.
He felt so scared. He didn't want to. But at the same time, he knew he wasn't useful for anything else in life, just to endure the pain.
He was brought out of his thoughts when the doctor opened a door.
Izuku knew that room well.
It was the torture chamber.
Normally, he wouldn't feel anything upon entering or even seeing that room, only indifference.
But today.
Today, he was feeling so scared.
He had the feeling that if he went in there, he wouldn't come out the same.
That he would fall into a pit so deep he'd never see the light.
That light of hope he hoped to reach one day.
Notes:
Well, that's this week's episode.
Here's a link to the 3D rendering of Aizawa's apartment:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AMxTEVdqs6wf1y6Z3W0VJiZAjkYhI2biM-vDHrJt9I4/edit?usp=sharing
How's it going? Are you enjoying the story?
Well, see you next Friday with a little bit of too much psychological and physical damage to Izuku...
Bye!!
Chapter 6: Darkness
Summary:
This chapter is probably one of the strongest in the story. Torture and sexual abuse.
Aizawa also appears, advancing the investigation.
Explicit content.
⚠️ Warnings ⚠️: EXPLICIT SEXUAL ABUSE, extreme violence, physical and psychological torture, graphic language.
Notes:
Okay, here we are again. Let's see... this chapter is truly agonizing, so prepare yourself mentally :)
I repeat, explicit sexual violence.
Sorry, but it's okay, Izuku will pull through :D
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
He had the feeling that if he went in there, he wouldn't come out the same.
That he would fall into a pit so deep he'd never see the light.
That light of hope he hoped to reach one day.
A small laugh pulled him out of his own mind, only to raise his head and see that disgusting, fucking smile.
And that hiss again.
No no no.
Fuck.
Izuku's whole body was shaking, paralyzed. He just watched as Sensei invited him into the torture chamber.
He managed to grab the controller back onto his legs so he could enter the room.
With that sinister smile on his face, no one would think Izuku was feeling anything other than insignificance or even joy.
But his eyes.
The eyes are the mirror of the soul.
They gave him away completely.
And they were doing so all afternoon.
And clearly Sensei had noticed...
"Sooo...what do you say we start having some fun, Izuku?" she whispered in his ear and proceeded to close the door.
When he returned, he grabbed Izuku's butt while using his other hand to push him toward the metal table where they usually kept their spare tools.
He roughly pushed them all away, throwing them all to the floor, and shoved Izuku down, forcing him to lie face down on the table.
God, that lump in his throat was getting bigger and bigger. He could barely make a sound because he knew his tears were going to start showing…
“Ughh…” Sensei moaned as he rubbed himself against Izuku's butt.
“You know, I've been holding it in for four whole weeks,” he said as he lifted Izuku's shirt a little to touch his skin.
Izuku felt nauseous. A nausea that was almost like vomiting. But he had to swallow it.
He didn't want to.
But he had to hold it in.
Then the hell began.
He was exposed. Completely. Also in that position...
The tears began to flow slowly.
They'd done this to him so many times...
But he'd never felt so... humiliated.
So disgusting.
The worst was when it started.
Izuku felt a horrible pang.
He could feel his flesh tearing.
The tears between silent sobs couldn't stop.
They'd never gone so long without using their body, and it had finally had time to recover and shut down.
Now it hurt so much.
He was supposed to have acquired an incredible resistance to pain. What the fuck was going on?
Then he noticed.
It wasn't him, was it?
"You know? I wanted to see how long it would take you to realize."
"Were you really enjoying that much having something in your fucking hole again?" he said, completely mocking Izuku's visible and unusual weakness.
He was so terrified that he hadn't noticed.
Then he slowly turned around to see Sensei holding a surgical tool inside him.
It was a scalpel.
A fucking scalpel.
"You know, seeing blood start to spurt out of a body really turns me on..."
It was pure hell.
It hurt so much...
He couldn't take it anymore.
...
After too long, Sensei continued to have fun with his body.
Almost after Sensei inserted his member, he began to make holes in Izuku's body with the scalpel.
Deliberately.
No matter where.
He just wanted to see blood spurt out.
He was already covered in some pretty deep and worrying wounds,
but it would still form, right?
Again and again...
He was tired...
He just wanted it to stop...
Izuku woke up tied to a metal table.
Or rather, to THAT metal table. Too long on it not to recognize it.
They were almost like best friends, hahaha.
As soon as Izuku woke up a little more, he began to remember everything.
He was very aware of what had happened, but just remembering it made him nauseous. It had never happened to him before.
He had never cared so much.
Why now?
The pain pulled him from his thoughts.
He felt stabbing pain all over his body, especially in that area.
And the strangest thing. A sensation he hadn't had since his first months in the lab.
His eyes were slightly swollen from crying. They hurt.
But what hurt him most were the memories that particular pain in his eyes brought back.
He didn't want to think about it anymore.
About anything.
So, he began to analyze the room. He had a habit of doing this so he could keep everything under control.
It was the same old torture room.
Same look, same walls, same size, and same clean smell.
He also noticed that he'd been washed and dressed in his usual clothes.
Long pants and a long-sleeved T-shirt. Both white and made of thin fabric almost transparenting.
Suddenly, the door leading to the control room opened.
"You've woken up!" Sensei said with remarkable joy.
With that sentence alone, Izuku knew this wasn't over,
Sensei was too excited.
"Well, I thought I'd finally start punishing you," he said with a nasty smile.
"You know, for dying during the attack test."
It couldn't be, they hadn't even started on him.
The immense pain in his body wasn't even the beginning.
Izuku felt a rush of terrible fear. But Sensei pulled him out of his thoughts.
"You know...
there's a part of your body I haven't played with in these five years," he said, slowly approaching.
"Can you guess which one it is?" "Mmmhmm??" He asked with a mixture of mockery and amusement.
Izuku thought.
He compiled all the tortures. They were countless.
And honestly, he'd erased most of them from his memory so he wouldn't have to remember them.
Still, as he tried to remember, he began to feel overwhelmed.
His pulse increased.
He broke out in a cold sweat.
It couldn't be; there really wasn't a place they hadn't invaded or massacred.
Fuck no.
He tried to calm himself as best he could to answer.
Sensei always taught him that when someone asks him a question, he should answer politely, looking them in the eye. Whatever it is.
He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He was too scared.
He tried again.
"I- I don't know, Sensei. I'm sorry," he said, barely able to maintain eye contact.
"Ugh... Tell me, what am I going to do with you?"
"How can you be so stupid? There's clearly a part I haven't played," he said, drawing out the last word.
And then he started whistling that damn tune.
Again...
Meanwhile, he approached the instrument table.
He rummaged around.
And then he turned around.
With a pair of pliers in hand.
He approached, but for Izuku it felt like an eternity, it seemed like it took him minutes to travel 3 meters.
But it was the whistling noise.
It was sending him into that loop...
Sensei stood next to Izuku and took his hand.
"Thissss!!" He said with the excitement of a little kid entering an amusement park.
He didn't understand.
His hands were wasted again and again as he tried to replace them with the nomus's ones.
Izuku didn't know what he meant.
Seeing Izuku's face, he said with disappointment,
"Ugh, fuck, I thought I created a toy with minimal autonomous intelligence."
Changing his mood again and with a crazed grin, he said,
"Your nails, you idiot!"
Fuck, no, no.
How disgusting.
How painful.
No, no.
Izuku wanted to beg him to stop.
He wanted to scream and cry because I didn't want to feel any more pain.
He was tired.
Tired of the pain.
Of living.
I didn't want any more pain.
Please.
But then,
Sensei started...
"AAGHHHHH"
Aizawan hadn't seen the Jewess for three days, and honestly, he was worried. They'd been seeing each other for four weeks, and suddenly, without warning, she disappeared.
It was Monday morning, and he was driving to UA.
Only a week until classes started, and they needed to get organized.
When they arrived at UA, they didn't need to say too many greetings since they'd all seen each other on Friday when they were supposed to introduce the new teacher.
As soon as he arrived, he sat down at his desk and began planning everything.
Normally, Aizawa was a very efficient and quick man with work (so he could go to sleep as soon as possible), but today, he'd been sitting for 30 minutes and couldn't think about anything but the boy.
He sighed slightly when he suddenly received a call.
He quickly left the room and answered.
It was Tsukauchi.
"Yes?" He answered quickly.
"Hey Eraser, let's see, I have something that might interest you..." He said, getting to the point.
“Okay, tell me,” he said, a little impatiently.
“I suppose you remember all the disappearances, especially in recent months.”
“Well, thanks to anonymous information and the efforts of the police, it was possible to connect with a human trafficking network.”
“What the fuck?!”
“Let me finish. The problem was that someone tipped off that we were going to attack their base, and they dispersed the group and the facility.”
“Go on.”
“After sending the police and forensic team to the facility, it was possible to establish a direct connection with the League of Villains and, most importantly, their scientific team.”
“Um, okay, let's see, you're telling me that the human traffickers were in cahoots with the League of Villains, specifically with their scientists, right?”
“Yes, more or less. It was due to the documents and reports in the experimental rooms.”
“Wait. Experimental rooms?” He said, confused.
"Eraser. They're experimenting on people."
Aizawa's bile rose slightly as he frowned, noticeably annoyed.
"Shit."
"I know. I reacted the same way, but thanks to this information, our search has been greatly narrowed down."
"From having to search the entire city, we only need to raid four facilities where their bases are located."
"One of them is the main one, but we don't know which one."
"Bffffff," Aizawa sighed, noticeably annoyed.
"Okay, Tsukauchi, I have to look into something this afternoon, and as soon as I'm done, I'll head to the station."
"Perfect, see you here."
"Thanks for the information, Tsukauchi. Bye."
"No problem, see you later."
Okay, there was just one more thing left to find out.
...
It was almost midnight.
Aizawa had gone out on patrol; it wasn't his turn today, but he needed to check on the boy's building.
He hadn't entered earlier because he didn't want to scare him or make him feel like he was invading his privacy in case it really was a safe place for him or his home.
He didn't want to even think about it, but realistically, everything pointed to that.
He was already entering the building.
There were six floors, starting from the bottom.
First floor. Nothing.
Second floor. Nothing.
Third floor. Nothing.
Fourth. Nothing.
Fifth. Not-
In one of the apartments, he saw something that looked like a mattress sticking out.
When he got closer, he realized...
"Shit."
His heart sank to the bottom of his stomach.
"Shit"
"Aahhh... fuck."
"This kid has been living in these shitty conditions and I didn't even notice?"
He surveyed the entire apartment while punishing himself with guilt.
Walking around the place, in the bathroom, he found a frightening amount of bloody bandages in the trash can. It looked more like a hospital dumpster.
He frowned in annoyance.
He continued walking and found a room with only a tatami mat and a box.
But he noticed traces of blood stains on the floor and the tatami mat that had been unsuccessfully removed.
The box was just a first-aid kit.
After searching the entire place, he found too much medical equipment, a notebook, a pen, and professional assassination equipment, which confused the hero greatly.
What if this turns out not to be the boy's?
He raced through an explanation as he checked the other items.
And he opened the notebook. It became clear to him that this was indeed the boy's.
The title was "Quirks." It was clearly his.
However, it was in a language he didn't understand. More like a code.
A mix of numbers, letters, and incomprehensible symbols.
He closed everything and took the notebook, pen, and equipment back to the station.
Upon waking, Izuku immediately recognized the place.
It was the same damn cell as always.
He immediately noticed the blood beneath him. He wasn't regenerating at all.
He realized they must have given him some drug to stop him from doing that.
"Aahhhh... I'm so tired of this," he said to himself as he curled up.
His whole body ached.
But most of all, his heart.
His chest was heavy. He felt a lump in his throat.
Tears were on the verge of tears.
Terror. Fear. Panic.
But most of all, sadness.
Knowing he was just a puppet.
A toy.
...
He managed to sit up, only to end up curling up against the wall.
"Maybe-" He tried to whisper, but his voice broke.
That lump in his throat… That ball in his stomach…
He swallowed and tried again,
“Maybe… One day… I am gonna grow wings…” Izuku managed to say.
“But… it would just be an… hysterical and useless reaction.”
He broke down. Tears that hadn't come out for too long began to flow…
“Ahhh… even thought… I would end up…
crushed like a bug in the ground.”
…
He didn't care about anything anymore.
About no one.
He just wanted to end it all.
Turn off his mind.
And be done with it all.
…
Notes:
Well, this has been the chapter. I already told you that he is one of the strongest in history, BUT, there are still. :D
If it helps you, the next chapter is a little break for Izuku... 😁
Tell me what you think in the commentsss please.
Chapter 7: In torment
Summary:
In this episode, we have progress in the investigation into our green-haired boy, the introduction of a key character, and more progress in the investigation!
⚠️Warnings⚠️: Mentions of child abuse, anxiety, and trauma
Notes:
Well, well, our blonde finally appears! 🫣🧡
Aizawa finds out...
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
In Naomasa's office, both the detective and the pro-hero were present.
They were analyzing the objects he had brought and extracting fingerprints to finally discover the boy's identity.
After obtaining the fingerprints, they had to send them to the lab. It would take about five hours, so they just had to wait.
"Well, Eraser wanted to plan the lab raids in the meantime," Tsukauchi said, leaning on his desk.
"Okay, but let me have a coffee first."
"You didn't go out on patrol until late yesterday, did you?"
"May I remind you that classes start in five days?"
"Okay. Yes, yes."
"Let's see." The detective began, organizing some folders.
"The plan is simple. Since there are four labs, we'll organize the raids two by two. We only have enough supplies and personnel to do it this way."
“And we'll save the biggest one for last,” the detective finished as he placed photos of the buildings.
“Okay, you already told me they're underground, right?”
“Correct. Oh, and one more thing, Eraser, in addition to police officers, professional heroes will obviously be involved.”
“It's obvious, I don't see the problem.”
“The heroes involved will be Endeavor, Hawks, and Best Jeanist… with their closest team…”
“Ugh! Are you kidding me?!”
“Do you really have to involve my students?!”
“I know, I know! But the best heroes have been involved because of their direct and close connection to the League and the nomu.”
As if that weren't enough, Eraser already had another headache to deal with.
…
Aizawa was waiting in the office; Tsukauchi had gone to get the test results.
A knock on the door as someone came in.
“Midoriya Izuku.” 15 years old. Soon to be 16. Born in Musutafu.”
“He and his family haven’t shown any signs of anything since he was 10. They’re supposed to have moved, but there’s no official record.”
Aizawa was starting to think of the worst: human trafficking, abandonment… but Tsukauchi interrupted him.
“Except for the father, he was recently caught in Kyoto for embezzlement, but he was eventually released. There’s no record or report of that either.” He paused for a moment.
“Hmm, that smells pretty bad,” Aizawa said, frowning and crossing his arms, searching for a reason. “Bribery, maybe?”
“Maybe,” Tsukauchi replied thoughtfully.
“Hmm, until then, he lived with both of his parents. An only child.”
“He went to school xx, Musutafu-”
“Wait a minute, that’s where Bakugou Katsuki went.” Aizawa interrupted.
“Wasn't that a student of yours?”
“Correct. Besides, they're the same age,” he said thoughtfully.
“Decided, we're going to the Bakugou house,” he said with determination as he stood up.
“What?? Wait! Just like that??” The detective asked, confused.
“Yeah!! What else do we have to wait for?” The hero replied impatiently.
“Ugh…” He sighed. “Okay, okay, I'm going,” he said, resigned.
There he was.
Lying in his bed.
Entering that loop again.
That loop that's been going on for six years.
For six years, Katsuki has been living in an agony of guilt and resentment that barely lets him rest.
"I've been like this for six fucking years," he said to himself. "How pathetic I am."
When they were nine, the horror began.
Some boys four years older than him started bullying Izuku. But it was no excuse…
He should have protected him.
He should have done something.
He'd been repeating that for six fucking years.
And if that weren't enough, before that, he'd treated Izuku terribly.
Always telling him he couldn't be a hero, to forget his dreams, that he'd never achieve them, that he'd be a loser, a failure…
"I deserve this agony and even more fucking."
Yet he still has a shitty attitude toward everyone else; he can't get too close to anyone.
He doesn't want to.
He'll lose that person again if he cares too much.
Just like what happened with Izuku.
During that year of suffering for his friend, he could barely say a word.
He felt so guilty and so ashamed of not being able to do anything…
He went around saying he was the strongest and the best, but he couldn't protect his best friend.
That's what Midoriya called him.
"Kacchan," he whispered to himself, hugging an All Might plushie Midoriya gave him years ago.
He hates himself and what he did.
That's why he's one of the strongest now.
To protect people, so I can't protect them before…
A doorbell snapped him out of his head.
He went downstairs to open the door, but his mother got there first.
"Oh, Aizawa sensei! Tsukauchi! What are you doing here?"
"Hello Bakugou, we've come to ask a few questions regarding an investigation into a possible disappearance, if possible," Sensei replied.
"Oh! Sure, sure, please come in!" Bakugou's mother quickly replied.
"Coffee, tea?"
"I'd appreciate some coffee, please."
They sat down in the living room and began.
"Okay, Bakugou, you see, I'll get straight to the point."
"What do you know about Midoriya Izuku?"
That question stunned him. For a moment, he gasped for air.
A tremor ran through his body.
His mind went blank.
A muffled noise broke him out of his trance. His mother had dropped a spoon upon hearing that name.
“Excuse me, Midoriya Izuku?” his mother asked, astonished.
“Yes, from what we know, they have some connection with your family.”
“Um, well, more like we used to,” she said as she walked over and sat on the couch.
“You see…”
Mitsuki began to explain the good relationship the two families had, despite Bakugou always being a jerk to Izuku.
She was ashamed of it.
A lot.
But it was the truth.
She told how the Midoriya family seemed very loving and kind, but they had always seen the change in his tone and in his gaze toward their own son when he became peculiar.
“There was something off about it. They were trying too hard. He seemed too… fake.”
“It was much more noticeable because of the child's condition. Sometimes he came in too tired. And sometimes they even noticed marks from bruises, surely, but we never wanted to rush into it.”
“Everything was going ‘fine’ until one day they disappeared. No explanation. And no trace.”
She paused briefly.
She started to open her mouth to say something else, but Katsuki interrupted her.
“I-” She stumbled slightly. Her fists were clenched too tightly.
Finally, she swallowed and managed to continue.
“I know more.”
Everyone turned to the boy. They hadn't expected him to intervene.
Not after the mother had mentioned what Katsuki was doing to the child.
“Two days before they were supposed to move out, as I was walking Izuku home, we both heard screams and threats from inside the house.”
“It was Midoriya's father. He was threatening Inko that he would leave that life behind once and for all. He said he would put an end to this unwanted misery.”
Silence.
Aizawa turned to Tsukauchi to check if what he was saying was true.
From his surprised face, he already had the answer.
“What?! Katsuki!! You never told me any of this!” Mitsuki intervened.
Bakugo clenched his fists to hide his trembling.
“I know… I'm sorry…” He lowered his head, trying to hide his face.
“I know it's no excuse. Midoriya asked me not to do it, and I…” He paused.
“I was scared.”
Aizawa sighed, placing his hand on the back of his neck to calm the situation.
“Ahhh, well, kid, there's nothing you can do now; that's in the past.”
“What's done is done.”
“But you can do something now,” he said with a piercing, direct look.
They stood like that for a couple of seconds.
Eraserhead was a little annoyed with him, but nothing too extreme.
They were just kids, after all; Bakugou couldn't have done much either. He was still a victim.
But he was still annoyed.
"You were a kid, yes... but words and actions carry more weight than you imagine, and they surely left their mark on him. Don't forget that."
"If he's alive, you'll know when you look into his eyes."
Those words cleared the fog in Katsuki's head.
They gave him hope.
He would help.
He would find him.
"Yes, Sensei."
"Well, with this we have much more than we imagined, thank you very much," Tsukauchi added.
"Please, we're glad we could help. Please, if possible... Could you let us know if there's any news?"
"Yes, of course, we'll let him know."
Outside the Aizawa house, I had to take a break.
“Wow, that was intense…”
“You can say that,” Tsukauchi said. “I'm still a little surprised by Bakugou's sincerity.”
“I know…” he said aloud.
But to himself, “It's clear this is a sensitive topic for him. He's finally shown something other than anger or concern.”
“Well, the important thing is that we've made huge strides. For now, let's focus on the lab raids. When we're done, we'll continue with this case,” Tsukauchi concluded.
“Okay,” Aizawa agreed.
It was already Monday. The Monday when classes started.
The first day of the school year had already passed. Nothing special. He met up with the extras, and they talked about the holidays.
Since it was already their second year, they started with normal classes and training without much fanfare.
Bakugou had received a message the day before from his mentor, Best Jeanist. He told him that there would be a meeting this afternoon to discuss the plan to attack the labs with the other heroes involved.
When they arrived, they simply entered the room and sat down. They were the first to arrive.
The room was large, with a long, tall table and plenty of chairs. It was for meetings. It also had a large screen for projections.
Suddenly, the door opened.
Hawks entered, followed by Tokoyami.
"Birdhead?" He paused, slightly surprised.
"They called you for this too, huh?"
“Hello to you too, Bakugou,” Tokoyami replied, completely unaware of the situation.
As Hawks and Best Jeanist exchanged words, the door opened again.
Edeavour and Todoroki followed in.
“The one who was missing…”
“Hello again, Bakugou, nice to see you too.”
“Whatever.”
As everyone greeted each other, the door opened for the last time.
This time it was Aizawa, Tsukauchi, and Sansa.
“Good afternoon, everyone,” Tsukauchi began.
“Please take a seat. We're going to begin explaining the plan for the intervention in the League labs.”
A full hour had passed since the meeting began.
“Okay, finally, I'll go over the most important points to keep in mind,” Aizawa continued.
“First, the one in charge is Kyudai Garaki. A nationally renowned doctor whom we discovered a few days ago has been closely involved in human trafficking and experimentation. It's very possible he's the creator of the nomu.”
“They call him Sensei, and he's our main target. If you hear that name around the facility, be alert.”
“Second, the League of Villains is involved in this, so we always proceed with extreme caution and bear in mind that they could appear at any moment.” That was especially for his students.
“Third, it's most likely that the people they've been experimenting on could be used as hostages. Extreme caution and discretion in the operation, please. They're innocent people who have already suffered enough.”
“I don't think this needs to be mentioned, but just in case, this is all confidential. Not a word.”
“With this, we've concluded the meeting. The raid will begin on Friday. I'll email you more details.”
"Now if you'll excuse me, I'm in a bit of a hurry. See you later," Aizawa concluded, gathering his things and heading out the door.
Everyone was speechless.
Aizawa seemed nervous during the meeting, as if something was eating at his brain.
Once in the car, Aizawa allowed himself to breathe. He'd had a knot in his stomach since Friday.
He couldn't stop thinking about Midoriya. About the shitty life the kid's been living.
Fuck, he was supposed to be a hero.
The kid's favorite hero...
But the worst,
the worst were those five years of emptiness.
Five years with no records.
No sign.
Ever since he found him, his limp, his scars, his forced smile, his nervousness, his gestures, his discomfort, his anxiety... all the signs clearly said something wasn't right.
And Aizawa was going to find out what it was.
He would find him.
And she would protect him from everything she couldn't before.
Notes:
Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
Let me know what you think in the comments.
See you in the next chapter! 🧡💚
Chapter 8: Toy
Summary:
Well, in this chapter we have;
Izuku's personal suffering, Bakugou's torment, and finally, more torture for Izuku :/
Sorry for the suffering and the shitty summary :D
⚠️ ⚠️ WARNINGS ⚠️: Explicit torture, graphic violence, panic attacks, humiliation, dehumanization, thoughts of death, food and sleep deprivation.
Notes:
Hello! Well, this chapter is a bit of a mix of everything, a lot of suffering on both sides, by the way.
enjoy the chapter!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
There he was again.
Again in that cage.
There again.
Alone.
Alone with himself.
Alone with his hallucinations.
Countless times he dreamed of Eraserhead rescuing him...
Only to plunge back into total darkness and return to that cage.
But the worst...
the worst was when he was left alone with his head.
Because he began to feel again.
All those emotions he had desperately hidden for five years began to overflow.
It was complete chaos.
First, he felt guilty and responsible for everything he had done.
Guilty for being born.
For being peculiar.
For ruining the lives of everyone around him.
He felt he deserved all this.
But it wasn't long before an endless stream of anger began to flow.
Anger and resentment for everything they had made him suffer.
What exactly had he done?
What the hell had he done to deserve all this?
The sin of rising from that supposed inevitable end for everyone?
It was the fucking consequence of so much torture.
The people he had killed? They forced him to do it, they threatened to kill his mother.
Being peculiar? Come on, as if he had chosen it.
Being born? It wasn't as if he had wanted to be born.
And he didn't want to go on living either.
He had always encouraged himself to keep enduring it for the sake of others, but not anymore.
He didn't want to go on.
Not even to be a hero and save people.
Not even for his mother.
Not even for Kacchan.
And certainly not for himself.
Why should he? To keep dragging himself through this agony?
‘Yes.’ Izuku was frightened.
‘Don't give up’ whispered a voice in his head.
When he heard nothing else, Izuku realised.
Hahaahha, being alone for so long was driving him crazy. Completely gone. He had lost his fucking mind.
‘Aaahhhh hahhahaha’
‘What the fuck, man?’
‘Mmmm, how long have I been here?’
After thinking for a while while humming, he said,
‘It's been one five days in real life, but since Sensei uses a time distortion quirk, for me it's really been four times that long, so that's 20 days in total.’
‘Mmm, well, at least I'm sane enough to be able to count.’
He was unaware of one fact, and that was that he could barely move. He had been isolated for 20 days. Without talking to anyone, without hardly eating or drinking, without moving, without getting up or walking.
He had probably died a couple of times in his sleep.
He was too weak to move. He was lying on the cold floor, curled up against the wall, which was the only ‘comforting’ thing.
During all this time, the lump in Izuku's throat and the heaviness in his heart had not gone away...
Suddenly, a door opened.
The light spilling into the dark room was too dazzling, too—
Izuku fainted.
They were taking him somewhere, he knew it. He could feel it; he was never completely unconscious.
He had never been allowed a moment's rest where he didn't have to be alert or fighting for survival.
The only thing he knew was that they hadn't finished him off.
A chill of fear ran down his spine... This wasn't going to end well.
It was Wednesday. There were two days left until the raid on the laboratories.
Aizawa felt anxious.
He didn't know why.
But his intuition was trying to tell him something.
Also, since classes had started again, he had noticed Bakugou was much more distracted.
His performance hadn't declined. He had always been excellent.
But he noticed him being distracted during training.
And that was no longer so certain.
Bakugou's level of alertness during battle, now that he was distracted, could be equated to that of a normal person.
But Aizawa was a professional. He noticed it.
When class was over.
‘That's all for today, you can pack up and go home.’
‘Bakugou, stay behind,’ Aizawa finished.
When everyone left the classroom, Aizawa continued to stare at Bakugou. Trying to see through him.
Deciphering.
‘You've been distracted lately,’ he began.
"It's not that I should care because your performance is still exceptional, but training is another matter.
You're distracted, and that's dangerous when you're fighting." He paused briefly before continuing,
‘What's wrong with you?’ he said in his usual serious and direct tone, although he was actually concerned.
Throughout the conversation, Katsuki's heart was racing. He didn't know why.
He had no idea what was wrong with him, but ever since he had been informed of the laboratory mission, he had been restless.
More than restless.
He was tired, with nightmares tormenting him at night.
Meaningless nightmares.
It was about a cage inside a dark room. You could hardly see anything.
But it was horrible.
Constant screams of agony rang out.
Hundreds of screams echoed in that room.
Muffled screams.
Desperate.
They reflected the suffering of the soul.
‘Bakugou.’ Aizawa interrupted Katsuki's thoughts.
‘Yes, Sensei, sorry.’ Bakugou leaned lightly on the table behind him and clenched his fists.
Every time he had to be honest about something, it cost him a thousand horrors.
‘Nothing's wrong, everything's fine.’ He lied.
‘Bakugou.’ Aizawa warned.
‘Really, I-’
He was interrupted by his teacher's defiant gaze.
‘Fine, I've been having annoying nightmares these last few days. But it's nothing. They don't even bother me,’ Katsuki finally blurted out.
‘I don't think they're that barely annoying, seeing you so anxious,’ Aizawa commented, raising an eyebrow.
Katsuki felt completely exposed.
‘Tsk! I'll be perfectly fine for the mission. There's no need for a private meeting,’ he said irritably.
‘Fine. If you don't want to talk, don't talk, but if you keep this up, I'll remove you from the mission,’ he said, ending the conversation.
He left the classroom and left Katsuki alone.
His head was heavy.
He felt anxious about the mission.
Too much, that wasn't normal.
Today he was going out for a run. He had to clear his head so he could sleep well tonight.
Suddenly, he woke up on the floor.
Light.
Too much light.
He had been in darkness for weeks.
‘Ahhh...’
His eyes hurt.
He couldn't see, but he didn't need to; he could recognise the place.
The smell of cleanliness.
The tiles on the floor.
The coldness of the floor.
The echo of his movements.
The sound of silence...
He was back in that room.
Just as his eyes were beginning to adjust, the metal door opened.
Footsteps.
There were two people.
Izuku had to rely on sound for the moment, until his eyes adjusted.
But suddenly, that whistle...
‘Izuku!! My puppet!!’ he said excitedly as she opened her arms. He clearly wanted Izuku to give her a hug.
But Izuku couldn't even see that.
He had entered a loop of despair when he heard the echo of the whistle.
Everything was blurry.
His heart began to race.
He began to tremble.
He couldn't control his body.
It wouldn't respond to him.
And he felt...
...
He didn't know...
He hadn't felt anything for too long.
It was like a mixture of humiliation,
pain,
sadness,
and above all, disgust.
His chest hurt.
His heart felt heavy.
And it was beating too hard.
He began to feel short of breath.
He couldn't breathe.
He had to catch his breath.
He began to hyperventilate as countless tears fell from his eyes.
Get away.
He had to get away from the melody.
From him.
He began to crawl desperately in the opposite direction.
There was no way out.
Izuku knew that.
But he needed to run away.
When he reached the corner of the wall, he curled up with all his strength and covered his ears.
Hoping to fade away into it.
Sensei, meanwhile, watched the scene with a cold stare.
It had been a while since he had given up, assuming that the hug would never come.
But he hadn't expected that.
And suddenly... a burst of joy.
And that disgusting smile came out.
Yes, yes, yes.
The boy wasn't broken yet.
He could still watch him suffer.
And break him.
And sink him to the bottom of the pit.
On the one hand, he was too impressed. It couldn't be that after five fucking years, the boy was just now starting to break.
He had his masterpiece in front of him.
And on the other hand, he was completely euphoric.
There were still many things he could do...
‘Ahhh...’ He let out a sigh of realisation.
"Right, pick him up and put him on the metal table.
‘But face down. Then fold the table so that he's sitting on it with his back free,’ he said as he headed to the sink to wash his hands.
With his gloves on, he went to check on Izuku.
He was completely terrified.
His hands and feet were tied.
His face?
A complete picture.
A work of art.
He could take a photo of him and frame it to leave on his desk. That way he could see that wonderful view every day...
Pure art.
Eyes wide open.
Filled with terror.
Tears streaming uncontrollably.
Sensei taught him not to cry. Not to scream. Nothing.
But seeing that sight reminded him of Izuku's first months in the lab when they were just starting out with him.
Ahh... what wonderful times...
And now he had it back in front of him for a moment.
Although with one difference,
that smile.
The smile on Izuku's face.
With his current suffering and panic attack, the smile was even bigger than it used to be.
Not because Izuku wanted it to be.
One day it appeared. And it hasn't gone away since...
"Well... we'll have to get started now! I don't have all day, you know, Izuku.
First, we'll inject you with a temporary quirk suppressant so you don't recover so quickly," he said as he brought the syringe closer to Izuku.
‘MMMHH!!!!’ Izuku groaned in panic. Not from the pain. From seeing the needle.
‘Now, we're going to give you intravenous glucose... You haven't eaten or drunk anything for more than a fortnight, your sugar levels must be rock bottom...’
‘No! Please!’
...
"Are you begging me??!...
Silence.
…
YES!!" I shouted with the enthusiasm of a small child.
‘Beg me more!!
A few seconds passed, and just
as Izuku was about to speak, Sensei,
‘BEG ME!!’ he said, grabbing Izuku by the hair.
‘WHAT EXACTLY DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND?!??!’
He pulled harder and harder as he shouted.
Tears.
Too many.
‘I'm sorry!’ Izuku tried to shout with all his might.
‘Please, Sensei!!’
‘Don't do it...’
‘Please...!’
‘I beg you!’ he said through tears as his voice broke.
‘... Too bad I didn't hear you right,’ he said as he stuck the needle into Izuku's arm.
‘Ahhh... that felt good...’ he said as he went to pick up the last needle.
‘And here we have extracted caffeine, in case the glucose isn't enough to keep you wide awake.’
Izuku was already devastated. And they hadn't even started yet.
‘Well, my little work of art... So you can't say I don't treat you well, I'll let you choose, okay?’ he said mockingly as he approached Izuku's face.
He could barely look at him.
He felt so defeated.
So... tired of living.
But the glucose and caffeine were starting to take effect. And suddenly Sensei did it again. He took possession of him, not letting him feel or have anything of his own.
‘So, what do you prefer as a nickname, rag? Or toy?’ he asked seriously.
After everything that had happened, he shouldn't have been able to think clearly, but the injections were taking effect.
‘What?’ he asked quietly in confusion.
He swallowed and said,
‘I don't know, Sensei... “toy”?’
Sensei's face became totally creepy and disgusting.
‘Aaahhhaha,’ he sighed with... hope and a little laugh.
What was going on??! Izuku was completely confused. He didn't understand anything.
‘I knew you would choose that one,’ he said as he walked behind Izuku.
Izuku heard him pick up an instrument from the surgical instrument table.
"Well then, without further delay, my toy…
let's carve your new nickname."
And he began…
‘NOOO'
'AAGGHHHHHH!!!!!’
Notes:
Anyway, this was this week's chapter!!
I hope you liked it, or at least enjoyed it a little, hehe.
I'll upload the next one the next week. The only thing I can tell you is that I think it's one of the hardest chapters to write, but I also think you'll like it.
The boom point of the story is approaching, haha.
Chapter 9: Marked
Summary:
⚠️⚠️Warnings⚠️⚠️: Explicit torture, dehumanization, extreme psychological distress, hurtful language, and I think that's it.
Well, in this chapter we have Izuku suffering (like, really), heroes raiding the labs, and a little more of Izuku (prepare yourself)
Notes:
Oh, this chapter is really tough, but I swear you'll see the light in the end, okay? :D
Trust me and enjoy it however you can.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
And it began...
‘NOO AGHHHHH!!!!!’
After God knows how long, Izuku could no longer feel his body. Everything was too numb.
He couldn't feel his legs. Just a slight tingling sensation. As if the blood wasn't reaching them anymore.
The same thing was happening to his hands.
Everything was spinning.
After countless pleas.
Countless tears.
Screams.
Infinite pain.
Everything was blurry.
The worst part?
That melody.
That infernal melody that had been playing the whole time.
He had vomited too many times. Not so much because of the pain.
But because of the melody. He had reached a point where his head was crumbling brick by brick.
And he couldn't take it anymore.
A voice interrupted.
THAT voice.
‘Well... With this final touch, my little toy is finished!’ Sensei stood up, removing his gloves and observing his work of art.
‘It turned out pretty well, eh?’ he said, completely satisfied with his work.
There was a moment of silence.
Izuku could barely feel any part of his body.
But he tried to whisper,
‘Please...’ His voice broke.
He had shouted too much.
He tried again.
‘P- please.’ A tear fell. He thought he had run out after that.
‘Mmh?! Did you say something, my little toy?!’ he said as he approached and bent down to look Izuku in the eyes.
With his eyes wide open and full of intrigue and excitement,
‘Even in that state, you can still say something?!?’ He grabbed his chin to force him to look at him.
…
‘P-please...
'Please....
j-just...
just kill me...’
‘Please...!’
…
Sensei's expression changed from intrigue to satisfaction and pleasure in just a second.
‘HAHAHAHA’ After laughing at Izuku's misery for what seemed like an eternity.
‘Ahhh... You know what? Honestly, it's a little disappointing and all, I was expecting more of a “Did I do well, Sensei???”...
Ahh... Something like that would be just wonderful, my little toy,’ he said as he got up.
Izuku felt crushed. Completely sunk by misery and humiliation.
He wanted to leave.
So he left.
He submerged himself in the depths of his mind.
There...
it was empty.
It was warm.
It didn't smell like metal or blood or disinfectant.
Just... peace.
No noise.
No metallic clanging of surgical instruments.
No clanking of chains.
Or the cage door banging every time it was locked or unlocked.
No Sensei's voice.
No white coats.
No latex gloves.
No smell of blood.
No whistling...
Suddenly he felt his safe place, the only place in the world that no one could ruin or destroy, slipping away.
‘No!!!’...
He came back to consciousness.
‘Where were you going, you bastard?!’ Sensei shouted as he grabbed him by the chin.
‘I had to inject you with adrenaline, you faggot.’
‘You wanted to escape the pain, eh? Tsk.’ He clicked his tongue.
‘No, no, no,’ he said mockingly.
‘You're going to endure it and swallow it like the good toy that you are.’
With that, he turned and began cleaning the medical equipment.
Again...
Izuku just stood there.
He wasn't thinking about anything anymore.
He didn't feel anything.
What was the point?
If he was going to take it away anyway...
Suddenly, that whistle sounded...
His whole body was shaking.
Gagging.
Cold sweat...
All those physical reactions from just a little melody.
‘Ahhh...’ He sighed.
All he could do was wait for one of these days to finally die.
But please...!
Please…
No more.
...
Saturday
12:25 p.m.
It was already Saturday afternoon.
On Friday afternoon and Saturday morning, they raided three of the four operational laboratories.
‘Agghh,’ Endeavour sighed angrily.
‘That Sensei guy wasn't in any of the three! What if the information was false?’
‘Calm down,’ Best Jeanist replied calmly.
‘In terms of probability, there was only a 25% chance that we wouldn't find him in the first three laboratories.’ He paused briefly to look Endeavor in the eye.
"However, if the information is true, it means we have the main laboratory left.
That is, the largest, most important one, where important meetings and decisions are made and where they surely carry out the most important experiments and research for them," concluded Best Jeanist with a serenity worthy of his reputation.
‘At least we know in advance what we might find,’ added Hawks.
‘Correct,’ replied Aizawa from the back, who was helping Tsukauchi with the reports.
Everyone turned to him.
‘Well, this afternoon we will begin the operation for the last laboratory.’
‘Everything Best Jeanist has said is correct, I'm not going to repeat it, you've all heard it, the only warnings I want to remind you of are three,’ he said, fixing his three students with that penetrating gaze.
‘First, remember, there may be kidnapped victims. If necessary, prioritise the rescue,’ he said, looking at Tokoyami.
‘Second, there may be League members present, especially considering that this is the main laboratory, so be very careful,’ he said in a threatening tone.
‘Third, discretion,’ he said, looking at Bakugou very seriously.
‘Tsk!’ Bakugou clicked his tongue, feeling singled out.
"Right! Eat something and rest for a couple of hours. At 4 p.m., we'll begin the assault," Tsukauchi said, impatience in his voice as he ended the meeting.
The three star students of Class 1-A walked out the door to go eat.
While Tokoyami and Todoroki shared information and comments about the previous three operations, Katsuki remained silent.
His hands in his pockets, he was deep in thought.
Katsuki had been feeling overly anxious about this mission.
He had successfully completed more important missions, and none of them had ever stirred him so much. He didn't even flinch emotionally.
But his heart was racing.
He began to practise meditation breathing, a technique his mentor, Best Jesnist, had taught him.
Todoroki had noticed that Bakugou was not acting normal, but he decided not to comment.
He knew he wasn't going to open up, so why waste energy?
When the blond was ready to talk about it, Todoroki would know.
Katsuki was too obvious sometimes.
12:37
They had left him there, on that metal stretcher.
Tied hand and foot.
Bleeding like a pig.
Blood was pouring down his body.
It was practically dry now.
But there wasn't a part of his body that wasn't covered in blood, except for his head.
Sensei had done something to his back.
But he was in so much pain that
he could hardly feel his body.
And he was too tired to feel any emotion.
So he began to think objectively to distract himself from it all.
Maybe they had put a chip in him.
No. The operation was much bigger and bloodier than a simple chip.
Maybe Sensei had implanted the wings of some nomu or something.
‘Hmm...’ Izuku hummed, thinking of some possible outcome.
Normally he would know, and very well.
Sensei had a habit of narrating what he did during operations and torture.
Always.
But not this time.
That made Izuku very uneasy. What the hell had he done to him this time?
The banging on the metal door made Izuku's body tremble momentarily as he felt as if all the blood in his head was rushing down.
He was completely terrified.
He felt dizzy and nauseous just from the fucking noise.
What the hell had he become?
After enduring all that torture for years?
Just to almost piss himself over hearing a door open?
Don't fuck with me... ahhhh.
A voice interrupted Izuku's internal anger.
‘Ugh... bloody hell, lad!! You've really pissed him off this time, haven't you?’
He recognised that voice.
He couldn't see the person. They had their back to the door.
He tried to speak without showing any pain.
‘Well-’
He stopped.
His voice was so hoarse from shouting and throwing up that he barely recognised it.
‘What are you doing here, Dabi?’ he said as best he could.
‘Oh wow... Okay, let's see, this time, you've gone too far. Way too far,’ said Dabi.
He could hear the disbelief in his voice.
Izuku frowned.
He was annoyed by all the mystery and secrecy.
‘What the hell have he done to me?’
...
‘Come on, tell me.’
He heard footsteps approaching his face.
‘kid...’ Dabi had no idea how to say it.
‘Ahhgg... shit!’ The villain became frustrated.
What the hell?
‘Dabi!’ Izuku calls out, already annoyed.
‘You're one of the most feared and hated villains for being cruel and ruthless.’
‘You've killed probably more than 34 innocent people and who knows how many heroes.’
‘And you're hesitating about this?!?’
‘Are you fucking kidding me?!’ Izuku finished, getting as close as he could to shouting.
Dabi frowned and avoided Izuku's eyes.
He was pissed off by this sudden display of concern.
‘Toy.’
His blood ran cold just hearing that word.
‘Excuse me?!’ he replied after recovering for a few seconds.
‘It's engraved on your back,’ he said, unable to even look him in the face....
Silence.
...
There was no reaction from Izuku.
It was as if Izuku's brain couldn't process what he had just been told.
But his body could.
Suddenly, his whole body became alert.
On the touch.
He could feel his muscles trembling without being able to control them.
The smell.
That metallic smell of blood mixed with disinfectant made him retch horribly.
The sight.
Suddenly all the lights in the room were too bright.
Everything was spinning.
His heart was racing.
He was sweating cold. His skin was covered in goose bumps.
Tremors.
Until he finally vomited.
He didn't know what. His stomach was empty.
He hadn't eaten anything for three weeks and had already vomited too much during the previous torture.
In fact, he felt his throat begin to burn from the stomach acid that had been rising continuously over the previous days.
When he finished, a single tear appeared.
No sobbing.
No screaming.
Without a sound or a gesture.
Dabi couldn't see much, the boy's face was hanging down.
Dabi thought about leaving the room. It was too much, and honestly, he didn't have to deal with it.
But suddenly he raised his head.
What had they done to him?
He had hit rock bottom.
Izuku's face... showed nothing.
Completely expressionless eyes.
Dead.
It even seemed as if his emerald green eyes had darkened to grey.
That single tear rolling down his cheek.
And that same forced smile as always.
‘Shit...’ Dabi whispered to himself.
Normally, he didn't care about anything or anyone if it had nothing to do with his plan for revenge.
But he had shared too many moments with this boy.
Missions, conversations, board games, card games, training sessions, and suffering...
‘Ahhh... This is going to be a bad idea...’ he whispered.
But he was determined.
‘Boy...!'
But he didn't respond.
No movement.
Nothing.
‘Boy!’
Nothing.
He leaned close to his ear to whisper. If the cameras caught what he was saying, they would both undoubtedly end up in the worst possible situation.
‘Listen to me carefully.’
‘I'm going to get you out of here, okay?’
‘Just... trust me and wait a little while. Just a few hours, hang in there!’ he said as he pulled away and hurried out of the room.
...
Izuku stood there.
Without reacting.
Without moving.
Barely breathing.
Nothing.
Like a rag doll....
…
A toy.
Notes:
Have you seen the light?
I had :D
And I'm telling you this after already writing the next chapters... hehe.
Tell me something in the comments, see you next week 🩵
Chapter 10: Rescue
Summary:
Izuku suffers a lot.
The heroes begin their raid on the main laboratory.
Shitty summary? I know.⚠️⚠️WARNINGS⚠️⚠️: explicit torture, dehumanisation, suicidal thoughts, attempted suicide. (And I think that's it.)
Notes:
Hii!! Here we have a new chapter.
⚠️warning⚠️; I repeat, suicide attempt.
Look, there's suffering, but much less compared to the other chapters. We're almost at the end of the darkness! (Or not...)
Well, enjoy the chapter 😁
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Like a rag doll.
…
A toy.
13:13
Dabi left the room.
So as not to raise anyone's suspicions, he went to Sensei's office to chat and pretend to tease the boy, then proceeded to say goodbye.
Once away from the laboratory, he took out his mobile phone and made a call.
The other line answered on the fifth ring.
‘Tsk, what were you doing that you took so long to answer?’ Dabi said impatiently.
‘Well, be glad I answered while I'm working,’ said the voice on the other line.
‘You caught me in the middle of my lunch. You know I have an important raid this afternoon.’
‘I know, you idiot. I gave you some information about that. That's exactly why I'm calling you.’
‘What?’ he replied, confused.
‘Listen to me carefully, Hawks. You have to move up the raid. There's no time.’
‘Wait, what? What are you saying? Explain yourself!’ he said impatiently.
‘Look, that psychopathic scientist has had a test subject for a long time, but I've just been there and it's horrible. His condition is terrible. He won't be able to hold out much longer,’ Dabi ended up saying hurriedly.
‘A test subject? What are you talking about? Like a nomu?’
Hawks was confused. He didn't understand why they had to save a nomu. Even if they had once been people, they no longer had their own thoughts. Now they were like puppets.
‘Agghh! Damn it, Hawks, it's a person. A child!’
A child.
Hawks was stunned. How could they play with a child?
Memories of his childhood came flooding back.
But he couldn't stay there too long.
‘Okay. I'll let them know. I'll see you tonight, then. Thanks, Dabi.’ He replied directly and coldly.
He immediately called everyone.
They were eating, but they got up from the tables and headed to the meeting room.
Once everyone was there, Hawks began to explain the situation.
When he finished explaining, they all looked as if they had been hit over the head with a rock.
A child?
What the hell?
The first to speak was Tsukauchi.
‘Right, let's get going. You have 15 minutes to get ready. We'll leave in the police van. I'm going to notify the other police support groups.’
He said as he got up and dialled a number hurriedly, leaving the room.
13.35
He didn't know how long it had been since... that.
But he had been there for a very long time.
Since Sensei left... it had probably been about three days or so.
They only came in to change his IV and glucose so he wouldn't die.
All the blood covering his body was already dry.
The smell was very unpleasant.
A horrible mixture of blood, disinfectant, bleach, vomit, and urine.
Disgusting.
He was disgusting.
Suddenly, the door opened.
He would have reacted instinctively by covering himself.
But he was tied up and had no strength.
It was Sensei's two assistants.
They could only have come to do two things.
Take him to his cage.
Or take advantage of him.
Luckily, it was the first option.
As soon as they released the chains, the sound of his body hitting the floor as they dropped him echoed through the room.
This caused all his wounds, which were slowly healing, to reopen.
But, why would they care about that?
Each assistant grabbed him by an ankle, and that's how they took him away...
They dragged him across the laboratory floor, leaving a trail of dried blood.
Izuku didn't resist. His body barely moved...
he looked like a freshly cut piece of meat.
They arrived at “his room” and there it was, waiting to receive Izuku.
That cage.
It was like a dog cage... but much bigger.
About 2 metres high and 2 metres wide.
It was the one that had heard all his pleas.
His apologies.
His cries of agony.
His sobs.
And his conversations with himself during those five years.
But he hated it.
Just looking at it made his whole body shudder.
Another thing he was terrified of.
‘What a cowardly idiot I am,’ Izuku thought.
Then he realised.
It wasn't the usual thing.
It wasn't the usual routine. Normally they left him lying there on the floor to rot, but this time...
This time they took some thick chains, attached them to Izuku's shackles and began to tie them to the corners of the cage.
All he could process was the constant clinking of the chains colliding with each other.
Until they began to pull on them...
His wrists opened up again. Blood began to drip, slowly.
After listening to the mixture of the sound of the chains clanging against the cage and the laughter of the assistants, Izuku remained there...
Hanging there.
He remained hanging, barely touching the ground with his toes.
His head hung forward, his hair stuck to his forehead with blood and sweat.
He felt nothing...
Not a sound.
Just small spasms when the weight of his body pulled on his shoulders.
He didn't sob. He didn't moan in pain.
Nothing.
Emptiness.
…
Just one slow, shallow breath.
Just enough to stay alive.
Wait.
Then he remembered.
They had suppressed his peculiarity, hadn't they?
He couldn't regenerate himself now.
Much less, he couldn't revive.
It was his moment.
Finally.
Finally, he could shut everything down and leave.
Finally, wings would grow and he would be free.
The assistants were still coming out of the cage when they heard a small groan.
Shit... he was in such bad shape that he could barely lift his head.
Just a little more.
A little more and he could lower it suddenly and bite his tongue.
Come on...
He only had a little left...!
Until one of the guards quickly grabbed his head and pulled it back.
‘You son of a bitch!’ he shouted as he let out a laugh.
‘Ahhh...’ She sighed heavily.
‘This is exactly why Sensei told us to stay with him and watch him.’
Shit...
Really?
He was so useless that he couldn't even go out of his way when he was finally able to do so...
The other guard brought him a metal muzzle.
It looked more like a medieval torture device.
It was in terrible condition and half rusted.
It hurt... it hurt like hell.
‘Good!’ one of them shouted as they left the cage.
‘And don't you dare try anything else, eh!’
With that, all he heard was the sound of the cell key turning in the lock to close it, laughter and boots echoing with every step.
...
There he was again...
Alone with himself once more.
The difference was that now he was no longer aware of anything.
He had retreated to the back of his mind...
waiting for Sensei to come and wrench him from his hands too...
They were already outside the building. The laboratory was located underground.
According to information from an anonymous source at Hawks, this laboratory had about five floors underground.
The deeper they went, the more important the contents became: documents, records, experiments, etc.
‘Right, let's go in!’ announced Tsukauchi as soon as they entered, heading towards the ‘secret’ entrance to the basement. (This information was also provided by the anonymous source.)
They had to go to the men's toilets, where there was a small button on the upper hinge of the entrance door.
When pressed, the bathroom door closed automatically and the wall began to separate.
It was quite advanced technology, making hardly any noise.
Bakugou felt his heart beating too fast.
He was anxious for no reason. But he wasn't the only one.
Aizawa also seemed impatient about it. The police team entered first, accompanied by Aizawa, followed by the heroes.
There shouldn't be much to find on this floor.
And so it was.
The scientists on the first and second floors were quickly subdued.
From there, the police stayed on those first floors, securing the area and beginning to collect evidence.
According to the information, from the third floor onwards, there were cells, guards and experimentation areas.
From the fourth floor onwards were the test subjects, i.e. the victims.
The nomu tanks were also in the process of being created. Because of this, there were more scientists and guards.
And the last one.
The fifth floor. That's where all the most important records, operations and information were stored.
In other words, that maniac's office, nomus, training rooms and scientists.
However, they had valuable information (thanks to Dabi) and that was that there were now no strong villains and not many nomu either.
There should be about two, at most three, on each floor.
That was thanks to the raids on the other laboratories. They lost communication and sent them to investigate the cause.
That was very good.
They were going down the stairs to the fourth floor.
Through his earpiece, he heard Aizawa say,
‘Be careful.’
As soon as they went down, they came across a scientist with his back turned, knocked him out, and simply began to clean the entire floor.
Offices.
Observation rooms.
Training rooms.
There were two rooms left to clear.
They split into two groups.
Endeavour, Todoroki, Tokoyami, and Best Jeanist were one group.
Aizawa, Bakugou, and Hawks in another.
Endeavour's group entered one of the rooms and immediately found a kind of storage area. There were lots of boxes. And they must have been important because three nomu were there. Guarding them.
The fight began.
Aizawa's group entered the other room to find a kind of dungeon.
There were many cells, but only three of them had hostages.
Two of the hostages were women in their thirties.
But the other was a teenager, around 17 years old. A boy...
All three had been reported missing a few weeks earlier.
The women were bruised but not critically injured.
The other boy, however, was unconscious, barely breathing.
He had severe bruising all over his body. He wasn't bleeding. The only thing was a trace of blood vomit around his mouth.
Anyone with even a minimal knowledge of medicine would know that he was suffering from life-threatening internal bleeding.
‘Shit,’ Hawks whispered, holding the boy in his arms.
Meanwhile, Aizawa and Bakugou freed the two women and made sure they were ‘okay’.
Hawks quickly connected with Tsukauchi.
‘Tsukauchi, fourth floor clear, you need to send medical and police teams.’
‘We have three hostages, two stable and one in critical condition, probably the child they mentioned,’ Hawks reported.
‘Okay, we'll be right there,’ he replied.
Tokoyami and Best Jeanist waited for the support teams while the rest of the heroes began to neutralise the top floor.
As soon as they went down the stairs, they found three scientists cleaning up a trail of blood in the hallway.
They immediately knocked them out, but suddenly an alarm went off.
It wasn't too loud, but it was an alarm. They already knew they were here.
Probably faces from other floors or some security device that was only installed on the top floor.
Immediately, about five nomu came out. There were more than expected. But they could handle it.
It was five against five.
But little by little, they began to gain the upper hand. In a short time, Endeavour and Hawks each finished off their nomu and set out to help.
As soon as Best Jeanist and Tokoyami came down and gave them a hand, the nomu were defeated in a matter of minutes.
Now neutralised and asleep under anaesthesia, they began to neutralise the rest of the floor.
This floor was much larger than the rest.
They split into groups of two and three to cover more ground.
Hawks and Tokoyami.
Endeavour and Todoroki.
Best Jeanist, Aizawa, and Bakugou.
Aizawa began opening rooms.
A kitchen. Clean.
A storage room. Clean.
A room with cells. Empty.
How strange... only three victims in the main laboratory...
It was truly a victory for them, but something didn't feel right.
As they were about to enter another room, a scientist wearing a mask suddenly came out accompanied by a nomu.
Behind him, another scientist came out and shouted,
‘Sensei!! Don't go!’
‘So you're Sensei,’ replied Aizawa.
He couldn't see him very well with the mask on. But now it was clear.
‘What are you doing?!!! Why did you come to destroy my beautiful work?!’ he replied furiously.
‘Do you even have any idea how long I've been building this empire, you idiots?!?!!!’
The heroes stared at him with a mixture of indifference and disgust.
‘Aghhh... I'm out of here,’ Aizawa replied lazily.
‘Fuck this.’ That was Bakugou's wonderful response before rushing off to fight the nomu.
He was immediately followed by Best Jeanist.
Aizawa took care of the two scientists.
He knocked out the one who looked like the assistant, while capturing the other one conscious.
‘If you keep me conscious so I can talk about something, you know what it is, you little brat.’
He said to Aizawa with hostility.
Aizawa raised an eyebrow mockingly.
‘I'm keeping you conscious so you can watch your empire fall. Brick by brick.’ He replied with a pleasure that lifted a small weight from his chest.
He didn't know why, but he had felt greatly relieved when he captured Sensei.
Suddenly, there was a loud crash as the nomu's body hit the floor.
‘Right, let's continue,’ Aizawa said indifferently as he sat Sensei down on the floor against the wall, already tied up.
They opened the door and found a room full of cells just like the one on the previous floor.
But these were empty.
It was strange, too quiet to be real...
They searched all the doors in the corridor.
The most disturbing thing they found was a kind of torture chamber.
There was a metal stretcher in the middle and surgical instruments on the tables around it.
The smell of disinfectant in that room masked another scent that could be faintly detected.
What was truly disturbing about that room was the huge red stain on the floor.
It had been vaguely cleaned. It was right under the metal stretcher in the centre.
They continued searching and found a kind of sub-room. Upon entering, it was... horrible.
It was a room very different from the others, with dark walls. But that wasn't what was disturbing.
There were countless instruments of torture.
Of all kinds.
It was heartbreaking.
The worst part was the many dried bloodstains on the floor.
‘This is disgusting,’ spat Best Jeanist.
It was one of the first times Bakugou had seen him a little out of his usual calm in any situation.
When they came back out into the corridor, they stood still.
Searching.
There didn't seem to be anything else.
That's it?
So easy?
As they peered into Sensei's office, Bakugou noticed something.
The bloodstains they had found while cleaning up after the first scientists had left a small mark even after being cleaned.
Bakugou walked away, drawn to the trail. Best Jeanist noticed and followed him.
They walked down the long corridor and turned the corner. At the end of the corridor was a door.
It stood alone, away from all the others.
The distance from the corridor to the door was about 10-15 metres.
But it felt so heavy, so long...
With every step, the trail of blood intensified.
It hadn't been cleaned up yet.
All he could hear was the echo of his boots squeaking with every step they took.
And his heart. It felt like it was going to jump out of his mouth.
They reached the door.
There they realised that the door was ajar.
Some scientist must have come out when he heard the fighting.
From outside, they could see that the room was dark.
It wasn't like the others either. It looked more like that torture chamber.
When they opened it, the stench hit them like a slap in the face.
It was unbearable.
They covered their noses and mouths in disgust and proceeded to enter a little further.
They could hardly see anything.
When their eyes adjusted to the darkness, they could see a little more clearly.
It was practically empty.
But suddenly they saw some kind of bars.
Wait, no.
Was that... a cage?
But it seemed empty, they couldn't hear anything.
Bakugou connected immediately,
‘Mmm, Eraserhead?’
‘Tell me, Dynamight,’ he replied almost immediately.
‘I think I should come and see this.’
Best Jeanist headed for the door to lead Aizawa to where they were.
‘Watch out for the smell,’ he warned before entering.
Honestly, he didn't expect it to be that bad.
As soon as he entered, he covered his nose in desperation.
He didn't even wait for his eyes to adjust to the darkness, he started searching for the light switch on the wall next to the door.
Until he found it.
‘CLICK.’
Notes:
What did you think?
Leave me a comment.
I don't know if I'll upload another episode this week. I'll keep checking back. Bye 🧡💚
Chapter 11: Free?
Summary:
Okay,
rescue/raid on the lab (we're focusing on the slides)
I can't say anything else but spoilers.
⚠️WARNINGS⚠️: dehumanization, explicit mention of blood and explicit scenes, panic attack, emotional shock, and I think that's it.
Notes:
Well, FINALLY the long-awaited chapter!!
I hope you're enjoying it, here's the next chapter, we have a little bit of everything aanndd... enjoy?
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
‘CLICK’
When the light came on, the three heroes ducked their heads to avoid the glare.
But when Aizawa looked at the floor, his heart sank.
Almost the entire floor of the room was covered in blood.
A huge bloodstain.
Inhuman.
And he heard a drip. Probably the source of it.
A blood storage tank must have fallen, right?
All this blood couldn't possibly be from a single human.
The metallic smell filled his lungs, he could almost taste the blood in the air.
It was suffocating.
He began to search for the source of the blood with his eyes.
But he was interrupted by an almost inaudible sob.
He looked up quickly...
…
The air stuck in his throat.
He felt bile burning his oesophagus, but he forced it down.
His legs threatened to give way.
His hand rose by inertia to cover his mouth, as if that could change anything.
He was only able to let out a small, stifled gasp.
Bakugou and Best Jeanist exchanged glances: they had never seen him like this before.
Until they looked in that direction.
Silence...
All the heroes were in shock.
They couldn't believe it.
None of them were able to maintain the superficial barrier they had created all this time to keep up appearances.
Aizawa, a dry, direct, blunt, and analytical guy, was now on the verge of tears.
Bast Jeanist, a serious hero known for his calmness, simply looked away, his whole body trembling and his brow furrowed with a mixture of anger and sadness, unable to even contemplate the scene.
And Dynamight, that person known for his rudeness, hostility, and scandalous behaviour, couldn't utter a word.
He didn't move.
He just stood there watching the scene.
Completely stunned.
In shock.
He didn't shout, he didn't insult, he didn't move.
He just stared.
Completely motionless.
‘What... the fuck...?’ he finally muttered, his voice almost non-existent.
More like a thought out loud than a reaction.
Aizawa managed to regain control of his legs and take a step forward…
One step.
The second one.
God, every step splashed that pool of blood.
The sound echoed throughout the room.
Just that sound, made his bones tremble
The third step…
It was infinite.
Every time he got closer, it seemed as if he was back at the beginning.
A kind of loop of anguish.
Until he realised.
With all the blood and dirt, he hadn't been able to tell before, but he would recognise that hair anywhere.
No, no, no.
It couldn't be true.
Time seemed to stand still for Aizawa.
It couldn't be.
No.
…
But yes.
And it was real.
He forced himself out of his panic.
He had to do something.
He ran to the cell door.
Shit.
Key. Key.
The bloody key.
Think think, where did you put the key?!
Think, for God's sake!
In one of the doctors' coats, he found an old, rusty key.
He took it out of the evidence bag he had been collecting.
Quick.
Please, please.
Let it be this one.
‘Clankg’
The lock gave way.
He immediately opened it and lunged towards the child, lifting him by his legs to prevent him from hanging any further.
‘Mhhg,’ the child barely gasped in pain.
‘I'm sorry, I'm sorry!’ Eraserhead hurried.
“Shit, Shit.”
“Best Jeanist!!!”
“Dynamight!!!”
The two heroes were still in complete shock.
‘Best Jeanist, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!!’ he roared.
That snapped him out of his trance.
Best Jeanist rushed to cut the chains, the metal clattering to the ground as it fell.
Dynamight simply... couldn't move.
His legs wouldn't work.
When the chains were cut, the boy simply fell into the hero's arms.
‘No, no, no,’ he whispered, his heart pounding in his chest.
Shit.
He gently laid him on the ground.
Fuck.
For a moment, he stood in shock, staring at the boy's body
He had never seen anyone so badly injured.
So bloody.
With the amount of blood he had lost, he must be on the verge of death.
And he shouldn't have much time left.
‘Shit...’
He hurried to check his pulse.
But suddenly felt a tremor followed by a push.
What?
How was he conscious?
How could he even move?
The child had retreated to the far corner of the cage.
Crouched down in it.
Sitting in the fetal position.
Covering his head with his arms still attached to the chains.
Pressing too tightly against the corner.
As if he could overcome it.
As if he could disappear…
God he was terrified.
…
‘Boy-’ But he interrupted him.
‘Please.’ It was a whisper.
A hoarse voice.
Broken.
‘Please... Sensei...’ Each word seemed to be hell for Izuku.
Please…
“Just… let me... die now."
Aizawa's heart broke.
He was completely devastated.
‘No, no. Izuku! We've come to save you.’
‘We're rescuing you!’ he said, trying to hide how devastated he felt.
‘It's over, it's all over now.’
The hero tried to approach Izuku.
‘You won't have to suffer anymore, okay?’ Those words almost made Aizawa shed a tear.
The boy began to ‘unwind’ from his posture so he could lift his head.
He had a confused look on his face.
Until suddenly it changed completely.
‘Ahhh... I understand...’
‘You're another one of them, aren't you?’ he said, his face turning completely indifferent.
All he saw were tired eyes.
Tired of living.
No child should have that look.
But what was truly disconcerting was that smile.
He had to tell him something.
‘What are you talking about? Another one of them? I don't know, lad, but you're safe now!’ he said hurriedly.
‘Leave me alone.’
‘Go away.’
Aizawa's heart contracted painfully.
‘You're just another one of those stupid hallucinations,’ he said as he shrunk back into his corner.
What?! Hallucinations??
No, no, no.
‘Don't give me any more hope…
it's all lost now.’
‘Listen to me carefully, boy, no hope is lost,’ he said as he moved a little closer to him.
‘Look! We're here to rescue you, right?’
‘Look! Remember we talked about Best Jeanist? He's here too... just...’
Aizawa had been holding back his emotions for too long, and he let out a tremor with a small sigh.
‘We have to get him out of here now,’ Best Jeanist warned with a serious voice, but you could clearly sense his trembling.
Aizawa knew it, damn it, he knew it.
But he couldn't force him.
And he had to stay strong to get him out of here.
With those words from Eraserhead, Izuku turned to Best Jeanist direction.
His eyes were wide open.
‘Mmm, I have such an imagination...!’ That sentence was followed by a laugh, but it was stifled halfway through.
He was in bad shape.
Eraserhead had to take him to the hospital now.
Shit.
But then he turned his head a little more.
And he saw him.
He saw Bakugou.
…
Silence.
Nothing.
No reaction at all.
It looked like his brain couldn’t process the information...
It wouldn't be surprising in his condition...
…
“Kacchan…”
Bakugou had been in shock the entire time.
Silent.
Unable to move.
But it only took someone calling him by that name to snap him out of it.
Then he caught up with the situation.
His brain was processing faster than ever.
“W-What the-?” he asked in a trembling voice.
And he realized.
…
That boy who had vanished from his life like the fog.
The one he had treated like absolute shit.
The one he had led to the very doorstep of hell.
He was there.
And it wasn't just a coincidence.
He had been there ever since.
Ever since he disappeared without a trace or even an explanation...
He began to tremble uncontrollably.
His legs weakened slightly...
"De-"
...
"Izuku...!" He whispered euphorically.
The green-haired boy simply stared at him.
This time, his eyes didn't show indifference.
They were wide open.
As if he'd seen a ghost. Although perhaps to him, it was...
He completely emerged from his fetal position and stared at him.
...
"Kacchan...?" He said in a trembling voice.
With excessive caution.
As if that moment would vanish with a mere breath.
He leaned his trembling hand forward.
The three heroes stared at them.
The countless scars on his hands.
And not just his hands.
All over his body.
Bakugou's skin prickled as a chill ran down his spine, bile rising in his throat without warning.
He reached out with his trembling hands toward Bakugou.
As if he wanted to touch him so he could believe it.
Suddenly, he changed his mind.
He recoiled.
As if his mind was screaming at him that it wasn't real.
Katsuki clenched his fists to hide his trembling and took a step forward.
Before he could speak, he had to swallow hard to keep from stumbling,
"No..!"
"Dek- .... Izuku...!"
"Look at me! Fuck!"
"It's me!"
"I'm real!"
...
Izuku lowered his arms slightly until they hit the ground.
He gave up.
He decided to give in to his hallucinations.
He decided to have hope again.
To have a shred of hope again.
Even if it were later snatched from his grasp again...
At least this fake reunion with Kacchan would have been worth it...
…
"Ahhh..." Izuku sighed as he let his arms and legs fall.
With everyone stretched out, Aizawa slowly approached to free him.
But those small steps seemed to take forever.
And just from looking at the marks on his body.
Damn.
There were too many.
How much must this kid have suffered?
He was useless as a hero.
When he reached Izuku, he showed him the key so he'd trust him.
"Come, I'll free you from these."
Izuku slightly extended his arms only for them to fall.
He didn't have enough strength to hold them.
Aizawa didn't comment.
He didn't make fun of him.
Izuku felt very good near him.
Very... warm.
Let's see how long the hallucinations would last this time...
Suddenly...
The sound of the shackles opening broke him out of his trance.
His body reacted, shaking uncontrollably. Just for a second.
He felt... free.
He felt free!
It hurt.
Of course it hurt.
But it was the best feeling he'd ever had in his entire life.
It was even too surreal.
He'd never imagined himself free...
Too bad it would end soon...
A voice pulled him out of his thoughts.
"Come on, kid. Let's get you out of here."
"We have to hurry," Aizawa finished, a little impatiently.
...
There was his favorite hero.
Rescuing him and offering him a hand.
This time, his mind had shined.
"Ahhh..."
He felt so much pain everywhere.
"Mhhgg," he moaned, clearly trying.
"You can say it, it's not going to be a problem. If you can't, I'll help you." He said with a smile.
Clearly, it wasn't a smile of relief.
It showed concern. Impatience.
Izuku let him.
But then he realized.
…
He was dead, right?
He had made it.
That's why Aizawa and Kacchan were here.
The only people he had ever grown fond of during his short but painful life had come to take him to the other side.
With that, Aizawa put Izuku on his back and they began to leave.
Izuku doesn't know why they were in such a hurry or why they were shouting so much.
His eyes were already closed and he could barely hear anything.
For the first time…
For the first time in too long…
Izuku could tell that smile wasn't fake…
Notes:
Well, I hope you liked it.
I really enjoyed writing this chapter and honestly, I think it's one of my best chapters, idk.
Let me know what you think and what suggestions you have!
See you next week! 🫣
Chapter 12: Reality Check
Summary:
Okay, in this chapter we have:
a trip to the hospital and basically the medical report
⚠️⚠️WARNINGS⚠️⚠️: mention of blood, description of torture, description of serious injuries, and I think that's it.
Notes:
Well, I hope you enjoy it as much as you can, as I always say, hehe.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The way to the hospital was very difficult.
The boy almost fainted as they carried him out of the room.
They had to get there quickly.
He had lost too much blood.
While Eraserhead and Bakugou ran for the exit, Best Jeanist went to warn the rest of the heroes.
Outside, they carried him to the ambulance that had been prepared since the beginning of the raid.
Eraserhead could see him trembling the whole way, but in the ambulance, he began to have convulsions.
His whole body was shaking.
It hurt him to see the poor child like this.
But what broke him the most was the fact that the boy had been suffering all this for God knows how long.
Tears were on the verge of death.
Damn, he was a shitty hero.
He was useless.
A child.
A fucking kid who'd been meeting with him for over a month and he couldn't figure it out?!
And on top of that, he allowed his students to come on this mission...
Even though he knew there would be casualties.
How the hell hadn't he imagined this before?
It was a disappointment.
But now it was time to stay strong.
For Izuku.
And for his student.
When he fixes this whole mess, he'll resign...
The ambulance ride was too peaceful, and once they got to the hospital, they just took him straight to the operating room.
Eraserhead just sat there.
Fuck, fuck.
He was desperate.
He couldn't believe it.
Fuck.
Someone.
He needed to call someone.
The only person who came to mind was Hizashi.
And he called him.
In a matter of 15 minutes, he was there.
As soon as he arrived, Aizawa didn't even move.
Hizashi had never seen a look like that on his face.
He walked over and gave him a hug.
"It's okay, Shōta."
"Everything's going to be okay... We'll make it up to him, okay?"
It had been 12 hours since they put him in the operating room.
He was still there.
Several nurses came to warn him that the surgery would take a long time, and still, Aizawa didn't want to leave.
Not until Hizashi finally convinced him that he needed to take a shower and clear his head, that he was scaring the whole hospital.
Back home, when he finished showering and went out of the bathroom to his room, he ran into Hizashi.
"...!"
"What are you doing here!! You should be in the hospital waiting to see if he wakes up!"
"Relax! The nurse was literally kicking me out. She told me he wasn't going to wake up."
"They've removed all the toxins from his body and put him under anesthesia. Apparently, it's better for his body not to wake up yet."
Aizawa looked annoyed.
"Don't worry..." He said as he approached him.
“Tomorrow morning he said we should go and find out about his condition, injuries, etc., okay?”
“Let's rest for today.”
“...”
“Come on, let's go to sleep,” he said, pushing him onto the bed.
“What are you saying, Hizashi? It's like 10 in the morning,” he replied irritably.
“Yeah, but you haven't slept in over 24 hours, so come on!”
Aizawa simply gave up and let himself be dragged into bed.
It was already 6 in the morning the next day. Aizawa was drinking coffee.
He didn't need it, but it was already routine.
He stood there and simply couldn't believe he'd slept so much.
He was really exhausted. Especially mentally.
After getting ready, he and Hizashi prepared to go to the hospital.
At the entrance, they ran into Tsukauchi; they had agreed to meet here. He was a pillar in the investigation of both cases.
They exchanged a few quick words and entered.
Aizawa immediately realized there was a clearly uninvited guest.
“Bakugou! What are you doing here?” he said firmly, and certainly annoyed.
Bakugou's back was turned.
He turned around quickly,
“Eh?! I clearly came to see Izuku.” He paused.
“I came yesterday afternoon, but they didn't let me in.” That last sentence was said quietly, and much calmer.
He clearly felt exposed in this situation.
“Well, bad news, you have to go,” he replied with the intention of intimidating.
“What?! No! Why?”
“...”
“You've all come. Are they going to give you a report on their condition, right?” he said, becoming exasperated.
“I- I have to be here too!”
"I'm just as, if not more, involved in this case than anyone else, Aizawa Sensei," he said, his gaze fixed on his teacher.
"Bakugou...!" He said in a warning tone.
"Besides!... If I'm here..."
He hesitated.
"If I'm here, I'll know how to help him in the future!" he said, on the verge of despair.
Then he noticed the dark circles under his eyes.
He clearly hadn't slept a wink.
Instead, there was the magnificent hero Eraserhead, sleeping for almost 10 hours straight.
...
"Good."
Like that, the four of them continued down the hallway to meet the doctor.
"Good morning, all four of you. I'm Dr. Rei Habta. You can call me Dr. Tabka."
"Okay, let's get straight to the point."
“Midoriya Izuku's medical report is quite worrying, however…”
He paused.
Bakugou could see the hesitation and concern in his gaze.
“Master, let's go in order,” he concluded.
“First of all, Midoriya's condition when he arrived at the hospital was truly worrying.”
“He had been injected with both glucose and extracted caffeine after a very long period of malnutrition. Probably about four weeks.”
“Forgive me for interrupting, but that's not possible. The last time I met the boy was a little over a week ago,” Aizawa interrupted.
But Tsukauchi intervened.
“About that, Eraserhead, it seems one of the scientists in that lab had a time-warping quirk, so it's quite likely.”
Katsuki's blood ran cold.
Aizawa pressed his lips together.
"I understand..." He had to compose himself quickly. "Excuse me, please continue."
"It's ok, it's normal. Any questions, feel free to interrupt without worry."
"Well, as everyone knows, Midoriya was in critical condition."
"Although still due to malnutrition, he surprisingly has a strong physique and shows signs of very rigorous training."
"On the other hand, his wrists and ankles have very deep wounds from the shackles. He's clearly been subjected to them for a long time, but the problem here is the repeated injuries."
Everyone was puzzled.
"I mean, based on the age of the scars... Midoriya has been held captive in the lab for approximately five years."
The atmosphere in the air changed.
It tensed.
It seemed as if it could be cut with a simple touch.
Aizawa's head went silent.
He could only clench his fists to hide his trembling.
5 years.
Five...
Bakugou... his chest hurt as much as if he'd been stabbed.
It was his fault, damn it.
Otherwise-
A cough interrupted his thoughts.
"Well, if you want, we can save the rest for another mo-"
Bakugou and Aizawa said in unison.
Present Mic and Tsukauchi simply remained silent, their gazes serious and fixed on the ground.
"Okay, then please prepare for the worst." He paused briefly.
"Okay, going through all your scars. We can't determine why each of them formed, but we can determine some of the procedures."
"We can confirm that you've had several procedures on the major organs in your torso."
"We've also been able to identify some kind of implant attempt in your arm.
Rather, it was an attempt to replace it with another arm, but it was likely rejected due to a failure in the nerve connection."
"What's disturbing is that you also have muscle and internal tear marks...
It's... as if it exploded from the inside... It's really strange, though... Everything has recovered impeccably. Perfect scars. Which isn't normal."
He paused briefly to allow everyone to process the information…
“I want you to understand that his body has been extremely abused, physically tortured for a truly prolonged period of time.”
“It shouldn't even be possible for him to be alive.”
“It's a miracle.”
Those words softened Aizawa's heart.
He was just a child…
“On the subject of injuries…”
“Well, to put it simply, you could say his entire body has undergone procedures,”
Bakugou's chest tightened.
“Practically, he's had procedures of every kind, all over his body, including his head, but they seem to have been rejected.”
There was a small respite in the atmosphere; within the bad, there was finally something liberating.
“There are scars, but the good thing is that they're healed well, as I said.”
“As for the successful procedures…”
The doctor's tone was frightening. The atmosphere had changed again in a second.
Bakugou's brain screamed at him not to listen. To leave.
"It seems the patient's jaw muscles have been shortened."
No one seemed to really understand what the consequences were until,
"This causes the person's facial expression to remain tense all the time."
...
"In the form of a smile..."
...
Everyone was frozen.
No one dared to speak.
What do you mean they'd been forcing him to smile the whole time?
Did he not even have the freedom to do so anymore?
He can't even show how he feels...
He had been robbed of his right to feel... to express himself.
Bakugou just shrank away. He couldn't stand it.
While he was living in luxury and getting into U.A., his frien-...
Izuku lived in hell for four years.
Suffering.
On the brink of death just because...
Why?!
…
Aizawa began to tremble.
He couldn't contain his rage.
His hands clenched into fists.
His jaw was so tight it was about to break his teeth.
The trembling was beginning to be noticeable in his shoulders.
Fuck.
…
Present Mic and Tsukauchi simply couldn't believe it.
Tsukauchi thought he looked calm, but he looked more like a ticking time bomb, while Present Mic was already tearing up, until one escaped.
The doctor, seeing this,
"Excuse me."
That brought everyone out of themselves.
"I understand this is very difficult to hear, if you don't mind, we can..."
"No need, let's continue. Please excuse us," Tsukauchi replied.
"There's nothing to apologize for. Okay, finally..."
He hesitated.
"I'd like to first let you know that this is one of the most serious and... disturbing injuries the patient has."
The silence was understood as a nod from the heroes and the detective.
"Well, when we were treating Midoriya, we noticed an engraving on his back," he said directly.
"Excuse me, but an engraving?" Present Mic asked, not understanding.
"Yes. They carved a word into his skin. They used a scalpel to remove parts of his skin to... create a word..." he said, his voice breaking.
“Specifically… the word…
... the word toy.”
He finally blurted out.
What?
Those words were like a bomb.
An explosion that would leave anyone stunned.
Present Mic simply burst out silently, brought a hand to his mouth, and let a few tears fall. Tsukauchi simply put his hands on his head, unable to believe it.
Aizawa had gone deep inside his head. His body was still shaking with rage.
His eyes were wide open, staring at a fixed point. He was fighting with his mind to process what the doctor had just said.
And Bakugou… Bakugou couldn't hear anything.
He didn't want to anymore.
Bakugou's stomach had shrunk to nothing. His chest ached.
There was an internal tremor that wouldn't go away.
He was trembling with sadness,
with rage,
with helplessness,
with resentment,
with guilt…
How far could human cruelty go?
Silence.
No one could say a word.
Only the doctor,
“Excuse me, I know this isn't the best time, but,”
“No, tell me what you need, Dr. Tabka,” Aizawa replied automatically.
“Well, I'd need to run some tests, especially on his brain. He's been subjected to completely inhumane stress. I'd need some authorization since the patient is a minor…”
“Since this is an emergency and Midoriya's legal guardians haven't been found yet, in this case, insurance will be applied in the name of the National Hero School U.A.”
“Tomorrow, you'll have an official request and confirmation from the school principal.”
Aizawa answered automatically. He just lied.
But he couldn't allow the commission to take care of him. The boy had suffered enough for three lifetimes. And now he would take care of him.
And he knew Nezu wouldn't be able to resist such an opportunity.
With that, the doctor gave a small bow and left.
It was completely devastating.
No one expected anything like this.
What the hell had he done to the boy?
How could he still be alive?
The drive home was in complete silence.
First, they dropped Tsukauchi off at the police station.
Before closing the car door, he reminded Aizawa that they had to go interrogate Garaki in two days.
After that, they took Bakugou to the U.A. dorms.
Before he got out of the car,
"Bakugou," Aizawa said in a direct but concerned tone.
"What you've been through these past few days has been very hard for anyone. If you have any problems, you don't have to carry them alone, do you hear me?"
Bakugou didn't respond.
"And no blaming, this isn't your fault," he said with warning and concern.
"Do you hear me?" he said finally, turning back.
Bakugou just stood there, looking slightly down at his lap.
His face was a picture.
He tried to remain steady and pleasant, but his eyes and eyebrows gave him away.
Those eyes... those mirrors of the soul, screamed that he felt guilty about it.
Aizawa sighed lightly.
He knew Bakugou wouldn't talk to him about it now.
"Well, there's no need to force yourself. When you need it, you have plenty of people around you to lean on."
With that, Bakugou took off his seatbelt.
As he opened the door,
"Okay, see you tomorrow, Mr. Aizawa."
Almost as he closed the door, a whisper could be heard coming from the blonde.
"Thank you."
Notes:
Well, that's this week's episode.
I hope you liked it, let me know in the comments. 🧡💚
Chapter 13: The start-up
Summary:
Hello, in this chapter we have:
-Bakugou reflecting.
-Visit to the hospital
-Nezu appearssss
I think we don't have any warnings in this chapter ;)
Notes:
Well, well… here we have this week’s chapter! I hope you like it
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
With that, Bakugou headed to his dorm.
But first, he had to get through the hallway of questions from hell.
As soon as he walked through the door and into the living room, he found about 90% of the class gathered there. Chatting or watching TV.
As he walked past, he noticed Kirishima trying to get up to him, but seeing Bakugou's serious expression, he realized it wasn't the right time.
The TV continued to play in the background as Bakugou walked away.
He arrived at his dorm and, surprisingly, didn't run into any extras bothering him with questions.
He showered, and when he finished changing and organizing everything, he lay down on his bed.
"Uffff," he snorted as he flopped down.
He was dead.
Today had been... too-
No.
too much of what?
If only he'd heard a medical report about what Izuku, his childhood friend, had truly suffered.
And it was all his fault. For not telling anyone what he'd heard...
He felt so pathetic...
Now, after five fucking years, he'd returned...
But at what cost.
"Ugh!" he blurted out in frustration.
"Now!"
He was feeling too sorry for himself and doing too little.
He had a lifetime to torment himself about it, but like Aizawa said, now he had to show Izuku how much he cared.
And he would do it no matter what.
But...
Did he deserve that chance-
Spinning, Bakugou was interrupted by a knock on his door.
When he went to open it,
"Ah?! Half and half?! What are you doing here?" he asked, confused.
Really? Did this guy have to come and bother us now?
“Can I come in?” Todoroki said as he squeezed between Bakugou and the door.
“You're already in anyway, asshole…!”
“Well, hurry up, what do you want? I want to go to sleep,” he said, hands in his pockets, in a brusque and indifferent manner.
“Bakugou…” He hesitated.
“Are you okay?”
“AAaagghhh!?!?!? You're coming into my room at this hour to ask me something stupid like that?”
“The other day, during the rescue.”
Bakugou's expression changed enough for Todoroki to notice.
“What?!!” He asked impatiently.
“Nothing, I just wanted to ask if you're okay. You've been acting really weird since they got that kid out of the lab.”
He paused briefly to observe Bakugou's reaction.
The blond simply fell silent. He looked uncomfortable. He wasn't usually as calm as he was now.
Todoroki understood it was a sensitive topic.
“You knew him, right?”
Bakugou didn’t respond.
He didn’t like where the conversation was going.
Just as he was about to kick him out, Todoroki interrupted,
“Are you okay? That must have been tough,” Todoroki concluded.
Bakugou’s legs started to shake. “Ahhh, it’s been a long time since he’d slept well, he wasn’t up for nonsense like that.”
He sat down on his bed and rested a hand against his head.
He was already tired.
“Ahhh… nothing, it’s nothing,” he snorted.
“Bullshit. You know you’re a little obvious sometimes, right?”
Todoroki replied as he sat down next to him.
“Ahh?!!? Sorry, are you telling me I’m some kind of extra weakling?!” He responded defensively.
“No, and you know it.”
“You always, for some reason, use that rude way of speaking to push people away from you.”
Bakugou clenched his fists and quickly stood up.
“Who do you think you are?! Do you go around analyzing people without their consent?!”
He was starting to say nonsense.
He felt completely exposed.
Todoroki raised an eyebrow, slightly amused at the weakness Bakugou was showing.
“Okay, fine, if you don't want to talk now, don't talk, but eat and sleep,” he said bluntly, standing up and taking out a prepared sandwich.
Bakugou was confused. He didn't understand anything.
“Huh?!?!”
“Look, I'm going now. I'm tired. If you need anything, I'm here for you.”
“Whatever,” he replied as he watched Todoroki walk out the door.
He stood there with the sandwich in his hand.
All he could think about was asking Aizawa sensei for an explanation.
He mentioned something about seeing him a week ago.
What the fuck?
What do he mean by a week ago?
He went to Bakugou's house a week ago and didn't mention anything about it.
"Ahhhh..." Her head was pounding.
Should he try to sleep?
Did he deserve it?
No.
But he has to be there for Izuku.
First thing tomorrow morning, he'd go to the hospital.
He'd talk to him even if he was asleep.
He needed to see him.
It was 7:30 in the morning, and Bakugou was already leaving his room to have a light breakfast and head to the hospital.
The drive was about an hour with all the buses he had to take.
This gave him enough time to organize his mind and not let his emotions get the better of him again.
At 8:57 in the morning, Katsuki stood in front of Izuku's bedroom door.
He felt anxious.
So much so that his hands were shaking.
He knew Izuku was asleep.
The doctor explained that they had to put him in a coma because his body was continually going into epileptic seizures as he tried to wake up.
They were also continuing to detoxify his body from the drugs they had force-fed him.
He clenched his fists tightly and began to open the door.
When it was fully open, he saw him.
There in that hospital bed.
In front of him.
The person he had hurt so much.
The person who had trusted him so much in the past.
The one who, for no reason at all, had suffered so much...
His legs, for a second, wanted to give way, but instead he took a step.
And then another, and another.
He began to approach him to get a better look.
In the lab, he was barely conscious.
He had gone into a panic at the mere sight of that green hair when the light came on...
He shook his head to avoid thinking about anything.
He stared at him.
He couldn't believe it.
Something in his heart warmed, rebuilt itself knowing that he could reward him.
"But how?!" He whispered, close to despair.
"Fuck De-... Izuku! Do I even have the right to talk to you?"
He said, tremblingly letting go of the hand he had unconsciously held.
Just seeing the hospital room they were in.
Hearing the beeping of those fucking machines.
All the tubes going in and out of his body.
That pale color on his skin...
How he was unconscious,
and still smiling...
Just thinking about everything he'd suffered.
Everything he'd done to him...
His heart was overwhelmed by a wave of guilt.
"Should I walk away? Should I leave you alone?"
"I don't want to, De- Izuku... I want us to be shoulder to shoulder again."
"I want to be able to fix it...!"
He said, crossing his fingers.
"But you'll only get hurt again..."
He paused.
"Ugh! What the fuck am I saying?!" He said, putting a hand to his head.
"I'm starting to get delirious! How cheesy!"
He was frustrated, a lot.
After half an hour of repeating the same thought pattern while simply staring at Izuku,
He got up and left.
He wasn't going to think about it anymore.
He'd be there for him, if that's okay with him, then fine.
And if not... well, fuck it, I don't have to bother...!
...
Before walking through the door, he turned around once more.
Seeing him, his heart sank in pain.
With that, he walked out the door.
"Ahhh..." He sighed reluctantly.
"I'm going for a run today."
It was 10:30 a.m. and Aizawa was leaving the hospital.
He had gone primarily to get an update from the doctor on Izuku's condition.
It seems his body is finishing detoxifying from all the drugs he'd been given.
The doctor said he had an inhuman amount of Quirk suppressant.
But that didn't make sense.
As a child, he was Quirkless. He's not supposed to have any powers to suppress.
The doctor had no explanation for it, but that was what was in Izuku's body.
On the other hand, it seems Izuku's body is already starting to experience withdrawal symptoms from the lack of these substances.
According to the doctor, it's because his body has been under that amount of drug for too long, and without it, his body begins to react with symptoms such as epileptic seizures, fever, severe tremors, and hallucinations in conscious people.
His body, however, was trying to wake up by force, and they had to induce a coma, at least until the worst phase of withdrawal passed.
Despite everything, it will probably take about four days; his body regenerates inhumanly fast.
As if that weren't enough, when the doctor finished his report, Aizawa got another surprise.
Apparently, about two hours earlier, he had stopped by to visit Bakugou.
According to the doctor, he had just sat next to him and talked about something. He stayed for about 45 minutes and then left.
That did surprise him. He didn’t expect it.
"Maybe I should tell him something," he said aloud to himself as he buckled his seatbelt to go straight to U.A.
As soon as he arrived, he headed toward Nezu's office. He had to talk to him.
As soon as he reached the door, he heard from the other side,
"Come in, Eraserhead."
He was immediately irritated by the situation.
That damn rat already knew his movements; it had been watching him since he entered.
He glanced briefly toward the hallway camera, sighed, and pushed open the door to enter.
"Good morning, I've come to inform you of a minor inconvenience regarding yesterday's mission," Aizawa said, getting straight to the point.
"Sure, have a seat. Coffee? Tea?"
"Coffee, thank you," he said indifferently.
When he placed the two cups down, he gave the green light for Aizawa to begin speaking.
After Aizawa had fully briefed him on the situation, Nezu was surprised.
Honestly.
There are few things that surprise or stun him at this point, but hearing this somehow reminded him of those horrific days in the lab…
After a few seconds of stirring his tea with his spoon,
“Well, Aizawa, I suppose you're not telling me this for pleasure or relief, but rather, what you're asking me is that we at UA tutor Izuku Midoriya, right?”
He said, crossing his arms as he leaned back in his chair.
Aizawa hadn't had time to comment on any of that, and he already knew his intentions…
“Do you know that what you're asking me goes completely against the hero commission?”
He added thoughtfully, but with that indirect, threatening tone.
Aizawa felt nervous; he had to accept. Otherwise, what would he do?
Would the commission take him away and manipulate him at their whim? Back in someone's clutches?
Aizawa was resting his arms on his knees, letting his weight fall slightly. How could he convince him?
“...”
“...”
“Okay,”
“What??” Aizawa replied after a few seconds.
“Anyway, I've never liked the Hero Commission. They're jerks, selfish people, and I've rarely seen them do anything good for society.”
“I'll help you,” he said, finishing.
Aizawa let out a sigh of relief that seemed to relieve a lot, but it was only part of the weight he was feeling.
“Ahhh,” he sighed as he leaned back in his chair.
“Well, Aizawa, I hope you know what you've gotten yourself into,” he said with a smile, then immediately sipped his tea with amusement.
Ugh, he was already up to something again!
“What?? What does that mean??” He said, confused.
“Well, haven't you considered that the boy can't be at school day and night? He'll need someone to care for him and help him with anything he needs.”
“And in case you wanted to mention the option of a foster family,
do you really think it's right and safe to send practically a nomu, whom villains must be desperately searching for, to the homes of innocent people who have no way of defending themselves?”
Aizawa stared at Nezu.
“Don't call him that,” he said in a serious, threatening tone.
“He's not a nomu, he's a child.”
“You're absolutely right, but that doesn't mean the child most likely has modifications that give him completely extraordinary abilities.”
He placed his cup back on its saucer.
“And that makes him a danger.”
He's right. He didn't want to admit that the green bean was a danger. But it was a fact.
“That's why he must attend this school and reside, at least temporarily, in the home of a hero.” And the only one he'll trust is you, Aizawa.
His heart fluttered at those words.
"He's already proven it, and we don't know how he'll wake up from the coma or what psychological consequences it will have on his body."
"You're right. The truth is, I've never thought about sending him to a foster home, but it also didn't occur to me that villains will endlessly pursue him."
After a few minutes, they had practically finished the superficial planning for Izuku Midoriya's introduction to the hero class in Class 2-A once his recovery is complete.
Aizawa was already standing, about to leave.
"Right, I wanted to show you this too." He took out a notebook.
He handed it directly to Nezu, and when he opened it, the title on the first page was "Quirks."
He raised a curious eyebrow.
"And this is...?" He asked curiously.
“As I told you, I went to the building where the boy was living. There, one of his few belongings was this notebook.”
“It should be a notebook analyzing different Quirks. The problem is that it's written in some kind of indecipherable code.”
“And instead of wasting time, I thought I'd bring it to you to see what you thought.”
When he opened it, a spark of joy leaped in his chest.
His eyes even lit up momentarily.
He raised an eyebrow in amusement. Too amused.
“Wow!” he said, his face worthy of a maniac.
“Others passionate about Quirks like me…” He paused to continue staring at the notebook.
“And this code…”
“This code… is simply exceptional!”
“We-” Aizawa tried to start a sentence, but was interrupted.
“Okay, you can go now, Eraserhead. I’ll give you back your notebook tomorrow or the day after, depending on how long it takes.”
As he delivered his hurried monologue, he discreetly pushed Aizawa toward the office exit.
“See you tomorrow, Erashead. I hope you get some rest.” He said, finally closing the door and leaving Eraserhead there.
Had he kicked him out?
When?
“Ahhhh…” He let out a sigh of relief and stress before heading back to the dorms.
He hoped tonight wouldn’t be a long night.
He just wasn’t in the mood.
Notes:
Okeyyyy, this was the chapterrr!!
Tell me what you think in the commentss 💕
Chapter 14: The truth
Summary:
Okay, in this chapter we have the interrogation of that son of a bitch, and that's it.
⚠️WARNINGS⚠️: description of torture, description of serious injuries, description of blood, mention of death, mention of murder, and... I think that's it. Sorry if I left anything out.
Notes:
Heyyyyy soo, yesterday was my bday!! (that's why I didn't post the chapter before btw)
Okey, lets lock in... this chapter is a bit heavy, but I think you'll like it.
I hope I wrote it well.
Enjoy!!💕
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
It was Monday.
There were three days left until Izuku was brought out of his coma.
And today was going to be an extremely long day…
Today they were going to interrogate that idiot of Garaki.
Finally, the entire school day had passed.
When Aizawa arrived at the place where he was being held temporarily before being sent to Tartaros Prison, he ran into Tsukauchi and Hawks.
"Good afternoon, Eraserhead," Hawks said with the same smile as always.
He was supposedly here to inform the Hero Commission about everything.
Although it had been a long time since he stopped being their puppet. He was basically there to "follow" orders and report everything, even if it was lies. It was easier for everyone, less problems to carry on.
"Good afternoon, both of you. Let's go in now," Aizawa replied, his impatience evident in his movements.
They entered the interrogation room, and Garaki was already there, handcuffed to the table with restraints on his hands and feet.
"God!! Finally!! How much longer were you planning on making me wait exactly?" he asked, close to the scream.
"Good afternoon, we're here to ask you some questions," Tsukauchi replied before Aizawa could intervene.
"Okay, the heroes Hawks, Eraserhead, and I, Tsukauchi, the detective from the Musutafu police, will be present." He said as Eraserhead and he sat down.
Hawks simply gestured that he would stand behind them.
"First of all, I must let you know that my quirk-" Tsukauchi was interrupted.
"Blah bñahh...! Yes! You have a lie-detecting quirk! Can we continue?" He said sharply.
After a period of interrogation, Aizawa's neck vein had already swelled.
They asked about the lab, its exact connection to the human trafficking network, the merchandise they carried, and the type of research they conducted... everything.
And all Garaki said were half-truths with vague answers.
The only thing they had really learned was that he was not only involved in human trafficking, but that he also ran it directly under Garaki's orders for experimental purposes.
"Ugh! Damn heroes!!"
"Did you have to come on a day when, by mere chance, no one from the league was there?!"
"Fuck! They come every day, but you guys have such good aim! How annoying!"
He said, getting even.
At least now they knew they frequented that place quite a bit, and the relationship was closer than they expected.
After a brief silence, the only sound was Tsukauchi's pen brushing against the paper in his notebook as he wrote everything down.
Suddenly, Aizawa could see a change in the scientist's attitude. Throughout the interrogation, he seemed to be mocking them, but now, his eyes had filled with amusement.
Like a little kid when a harmless act of rebellion occurs to him.
The difference is, he was a fucking psychopath.
Aizawa silently watched each of his gestures until,
"Sooo... Eraserhead... you wanted to steal my rag so badly... and finally you have it."
"How are you feeling? You'll be happy, right?" he said, a maniacal grin growing on his face.
Eraserhead was confused. He didn't know what he was talking about.
"What are you talking about?" he said, frowning in annoyance.
"Come on! You know exactly what I'm talking about!"
Eraserhead crossed his arms, uncomprehending. He tried to gather his memories, but he couldn't remember picking up any rags.
"What rag are you talking about?!"
"Let's see if it sounds familiar... small, thin, green... it looks like it'll break at a touch, but it's actually the toughest one I have."
Aizawa was lost.
He looked at Tsukauchi for an answer, but he had the same confused expression.
"You know... it really was one of my favorites..."
"My little toy..." He said in a whisper, looking him straight in the eyes.
A horrible shiver ran through Aizawa's body.
That word...
was it the one Izuku had engraved on his-
He couldn't even think about that.
Did he mean him?
By "rag" and "toy" did she mean Izuku?!
No-
That disgusting voice interrupted his thoughts.
"It seems you've already realized who I'm talking about. Don't be so scared just because of his nickname, man."
Aizawa's shoulders began to tremble slightly.
"You know... when he arrived, I had no faith in him."
"A small, peculiar 10-year-old boy with bruises all over his body from abuse at school and home..."
"Anyone who had seen him would have thought the same thing I did, how pathetic..."
He paused briefly.
Aizawa simply didn't know how to react or what to say.
He felt a mixture of anger and sadness.
No one in the room spoke; Tsukauchi and Aizawa were a little intimidated by the beginning of the story, and Hawks, who had read a little about the situation, was a little intimidated.
"Ahh..." He sighed.
"At first, it was very difficult to break him. No matter what we did, he wouldn't give up, he wouldn't stop fighting."
“He fought against everything. He was simply extraordinary…”
“I would have loved for him to continue like this, but it delayed the investigation process…”
“So, in the fourth month, we threatened him to kill his mother.”
Aizawa's heart sank.
“Because, of course, Hizashi, his father, didn't just want to sell his son, but also his wife.”
“Well, it's better for us anyway!”
“At first, we thought the threats wouldn't work. Well, it's not like she was an exemplary mother.”
“Quite the opposite,” he said with an indifferent expression.
“She was just one more of the many people who despised him.”
“But that's when he stopped fighting, at least physically.”
“...it's a shame it was all a lie… in truth, his mother had committed suicide during her first few weeks in captivity.”
Aizawa had completely surpassed his limit. He didn't even know he had this level of self-control.
I would have broken his neck a long time ago.
“But he believed it all! He endured it all for the life and health of a person who despised him and blamed him for everything!”
“And he kept enduring and enduring… he no longer refused anything!! He was like a rag…”
“But he didn't give in mentally! Do you know what that's like? The kid was still sane and lucid as a rose!” He said with inexplicable emotion.
“You can't even imagine how much torture we subjected him to… how wonderful.”
“Everything!! And the best part… he barely complained about anything!”
“But the best part came when the investigation was a success. It worked!! After two years, it finally worked!!!”
He screamed, his eyes wide open, his arms outstretched in euphoria.
He looked like a little boy. So much enthusiasm… and all for the suffering of a child…
He was getting sick just looking at it.
He felt chills all over his body.
But more than that… it was as if his mind was screaming at him to be alert. To prepare for what was next.
“The first time he expressed it, it was simply beautiful. I couldn't believe it… I'd never felt such happiness before…!”
There was a brief silence; no one knew what he was talking about right now.
The words from before had left a disturbing air. Until someone interrupted him.
Hearing him say all that was unnerving, but now wasn't the time.
“What exactly do you mean?” Tsukauchi said in the calmest voice possible, but hesitating slightly.
“Ahhhh…” He snorted, leaning back in his chair.
“I didn't know you guys were so narrow-minded… Anyway! The first time was wonderful!”
He had ignored him completely…
“We were in the process of limb replacement.”
Aizawa's blood ran cold.
What the fuck?
“Basically, we wanted to replace his leg with a nomu's, but the nerves didn't fuse properly. For some reason, the main body rejected them…”
He said it as if a kid had dropped a scoop of ice cream on the floor.
It was disgusting.
He had no real sense of what he'd done… he felt no remorse…
“When we were preparing to reattach the severed leg, the magic happened!”
Something felt heavy… as if it was going to force all the air out of his lungs.
“Then, fibers started coming out of the end of the leg from the main body and began connecting to the leg.”
“After a few minutes, the leg was reconnected to the main body!!”
“As if nothing had happened!! Only a scar remained!!”
“His body!! His body had just developed an exceptional regeneration quirk!!”
The one forming in Aizawa's throat was preventing air from entering or exiting. His shoulders were violently spasming with tremors.
What the hell was he listening to?
This had to be some kind of nightmare.
Until he turned around and saw Tsukauchi's expression.
His brow furrowed, the veins in his neck standing out from the tension and rage he felt…
He had never seen him so out of control, and it could only mean one thing: he wasn't lying at all.
“Ooooo, and after that, the real fun began.”
“We had to test his limits. And exploit them…!” he said enthusiastically.
“So we started increasing the torture sessions, of course.”
Of course?!!?
What the hell were they listening to??!
They looked like scenes straight out of the worst horror movie.
“We did everything! Everything! From medieval to modern torture! And repeatedly!! At least three times each.”
“And yet…!!”
“Ahhhh… how wonderful!!”
Aizawa was about to explode.
“The wheel, the thumb crusher, dismemberment, skinning, mutilation, drowning, sleep deprivation, the head crusher, the iron chair, freezing, deprivation of food or water, sensory isolation…”
…
Silence.
The silence in the room was absolute.
No one dared to breathe.
It was as if the sky had risen above the room.
As if the force of gravity had increased tenfold.
Or as if they were holding an entire planet.
A planet filled with guilt, remorse, helplessness, anger, sadness, fear, frustration, and anxiety.
The only thing that stood out was the disgusting smile on that psychopath's face.
Aizawa's mind desperately tried to deny the fact.
No, no, no.
It wasn't possible that he was still alive after going through all that…
It couldn't be true…
No person-
"We killed him."
...
"What?" He responded automatically, without even really processing what he'd said.
"We killed him, Eraserhead."
...
"His Quirk had been so wonderfully enhanced by being exploited so much, that it fully regenerates..."
"from any injury..."
"from everything..."
"We had created immortality!!!"
…
That was the final straw.
"What the hell are you so happy about??!?! You son of a bitch!" Aizawa said, starting to get up.
"Eraserhead..." Tsukauchi warned.
He already knew.
Aizawa knew he couldn't do that, but he'd heard enough.
As if what he was saying wasn't enough, that jerk was describing it as if it were just a day at the fair.
"I understand you, Eraserhead, believe me..." he said, tightening his grip on the hand holding the pen.
"...But we must continue with the interrogation. He'll get what he deserves, I can assure you that..."
…
For a moment, there was an unbearable tension. No one knew what decision Aizawa would make.
However, he sat back in the chair, crossed his arms, and leaned his back against the back of the chair without taking his eyes off Garaki.
The intensity in his gaze seemed like it could kill him in two seconds if he wanted to.
“What's wrong with you now, Eraserhead? If you were the one who didn't realize what the kid was going through…”
He lowered his gaze slightly, remembering his terrible mistake, and began to beat himself up again for it.
His shoulders began to tremble slightly, but he had to tense up to stop them.
Not now.
“Anyway…” The scientist blurted out with indifference and boredom, seeing Eraserhead's lack of reaction to his provocation.
He leaned back in his chair, thinking… what else could he say to…?
A huge expression of happiness and pleasure on Garaki's face changed the mood of the entire room.
He leaned across the table for support and raised that disgusting expression toward the heroes and the detective.
…
He momentarily observed them…
“Ahhh… and ask you guys…”
“Have you seen his beautiful smile?”
...
No one dared to speak or react.
Enough.
How were they supposed to swallow this psychopath's words and carry on as if nothing had happened?
Even Hawks, who had only been superficially briefed on the case, was feeling uneasy listening to this maniac.
"You know... I felt like something was missing from my toy... until I carved that smile into it..."
"I finally turned it into my final work of art...!"
"He's marked forever!!
"By me!"
"HE'S MINE!"
"And he knows it!"
"I'll always, always be with him...!"
"He'll never forget me!!"
…
"EVERY DAY!"
"Every fucking day, when he wakes up and looks in the mirror, all he'll be able to see is that smile hanging on his face."
…
…
After a few seconds of pure silence.
A deafening silence.
Unbearable.
What interrupted him was the crash of the metal door closing.
Eraserhead had left the room.
Just like that.
He couldn't take it anymore.
If he heard that fucking voice just one more time.
Just once.
Aizawa wouldn't be able to guarantee that he'd recognize that psychopath's corpse when he was done with him.
So he left.
He didn't know where.
But he needs to think and digest it all.
…
That was going to be a shitty night…
…
Notes:
That's the chapter!! I hope you liked it and let me know what you think in the comments!!! 😜🙈
Chapter 15: Peace...?
Summary:
In this chapter we have:
- Bakugou evolves a little lol
- Izuku's point of view
- A new interaction between Aizawa and Nezu
Shitty summary, I know, but I don't want to spoil anything 🥸
Notes:
Heyyy, another week has passed 🐭
Okay, there aren't any warnings, but it's a sad chapter... :D
I love you all too hahah
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Tuesday.
Only two days left until Izuku woke up.
The entire school day had passed, and there he was again.
Seeing that green hair again.
That green hair he'd dreamed about almost every night for six years.
It was right in front of him.
And it was real.
It was real...
Wasn't it?
Starting on Sunday, Bakugou showed up at the hospital as often as he could.
He didn't know if Izuku could even hear him, but he told him everything.
Everything that had been going on in his life since he disappeared.
All the changes, new friends, his entrance into UA, the sports festival, his group of extras at UA, his first-year graduation, his summer vacation, the first day of his second-year at UA…
All the new moves he learnt, his goals, her record times in the 100m dash or track and field… all the combat training, the moves and attacks he's struggling more with...
“You know… knowing you, he’d be right behind me, persisting and improving with every step…”
He said in a small whisper as he lowered his head.
“Our dream was always to get into UA… right?”
…
“Ahhh…”
He looked up at him and leaned slightly on the bed.
“You know? You had everything against you, everything…! But time and time again, time and time again, you got up.”
“No matter what… even if everyone denied you, you always continued, always nodding, always ahead of everyone… ahead of me…”
He began to wander through his memories…
…
…
That feeling of warmth.
That warmth he had never felt before.
His chest…
his heart didn't weigh…
He didn't feel cold or empty…
It simply didn't hurt.
So this was death…
He had always imagined it to be wonderful.
But it was much more pleasant than he had ever imagined.
No pain.
Without anyone…
He had finally grown those wings he longed for…
and he had finally managed to escape.
He had managed to fly to his death without being crushed again…
But it wasn't like all his previous deaths.
In all his previous ones, there was simple darkness.
No feelings, no sensations, no thoughts, no dreams or memories…
He was simply enveloped in a black blanket of Darkness as long as his body took to recover.
But this time…
This time he was in a completely white place.
There was only him.
But it wasn't scary.
It was warm.
A while after he died, he began to hear people talking. He didn't recognize those voices; they were blurry… but there was one that was completely distinctive.
When he spoke, everything around him fell silent.
Those barely audible beeps, and in the background, those voices speaking fell silent.
It was Kacchan's.
Kacchan's voice.
…
The first time he heard it, he was petrified.
He didn't understand a thing.
But after a while, he realized…
What they said, that before you die, you see your whole life flash by, seems to be true, huh…
Kacchan is recounting his life since they were together and how it continued after that… his bright future…
Of course he would have one, it was Kacchan…
And all of this was just a projection of his mind's Moments he most longed to see before he died.
I suppose, to leave without regrets or anything like that.
And they made him truly happy...
Seeing how he still remembered all the moments they had spent together with happiness?
Was that happiness?
Nostalgia?
...
Or rather regret and guilt?
No, no, no.
Now he couldn't let it get to him.
Kacchan cared about Izuku.
And he liked spending time with him when they were kids...
Didn't he?
Tears began to flow down his cheeks.
He was very happy, but...
He was happy with Izuku, right?
He had a good time with him, right?
He curled up in a ball as he listened to all their moments together from when they were just kids...
For the first time in too long, he let his guard down,
and let nostalgia take him over...
Since yesterday, Eraserhead had been hammering at himself with the truth about Izuku.
It was simply horrifying.
There was no other word to describe everything that kid had been going through.
Horror.
As soon as he got home, he called Hizashi. As soon as he arrived, he didn't have to say anything for him to understand...
Surely Tsukauchi had told him something to help him.
Fuck, he was surrounded by so many good people...
while he was a piece of shit who couldn't even realize what had been happening in a kid's life.
When Hizashi arrived, he simply dragged him to bed and lay down with him.
No words were needed.
Just his presence to keep him from going crazy with his own thoughts.
When he woke up today, he was a little better.
He had simply ingrained in his head the thought, "Not now, now you have to help the kid."
That simple, cheap phrase rebuilt Eraserhead's heart a little.
The guilt, the helplessness, the sadness, and the fear hadn't disappeared.
Not at all.
But they no longer dominated him.
And they wouldn't.
He had to become a functioning adult again and help the boy.
After the day's lessons, he had to stop by Nezu's office and then the hospital.
And there he was, arriving at his office door.
The moment he arrived, he simply glanced toward the waiting camera in the hallway.
He already knew it was watching him.
It always was.
"Come in."
The moment he entered, he noticed the unusual messiness of the office.
Nothing too exaggerated.
In fact, no one would say it was messy; there were simply a couple of scattered sheets of paper on the desk.
But Nezu was so meticulous, perfectionist, and neat that even that was unusual.
The mouse was writing in a notebook.
He stopped writing and turned to Aizawa,
“Good afternoon, Eraserhead. What brings you here?”
“Well, I came to give a report on Kyudai Garaki’s interrogation,” he said, getting straight to the point.
“No need for that. Tsukauchi called me to fill me in on everything that happened.”
He said, crossing his fingers and showing a small smile.
“Anything else?” he said, tilting his head to the side.
He seemed impatient… even annoyed?
“Um, well, I also wanted to know if you’ve made any progress on the translation of Izu’s notebook—”
Seeing the changing expression on the mouse’s face as soon as the word “notebook” came out of his mouth made him understand the situation.
He had been trying to decipher Izuku’s notebook.
The gifted mouse, with an intelligence far superior to that of humans, wasn't capable of deciphering a notebook written in code by a child.
Of course he'd be frustrated.
Of course it would hurt his enormous ego... haha.
The situation was quite amusing for Aizawa.
Seeing his brilliant boss like this... how do I put it...?
"There hasn't been any significant progress, but it's almost deciphered."
He said in a shallow voice, while squeezing the pen in his hand, a slight creaking could even be heard.
Almost, huh? haha-
"Do you have any other business, Mr. Eraserhead?"
Of course the situation was amusing, but seeing his boss in this mood, and provoking him, not only endangered his job, but also his life.
And when he got this serious and formal, it was truly in danger.
"Nope. I have no more business with you."
He responded as calmly as possible, even though the situation made him want to make fun of him.
"Then you can go."
During the car ride, Aizawa couldn't stop thinking about what had just happened.
It wasn't that big a deal, but at least it distracted him.
It was fun to watch the genius prodigy with a huge ego being brutally crushed by a kid.
When he arrived at the hospital, he headed straight to the doctor's meeting place.
He just had to give him the daily report on Izuku's condition, and then he was free to do whatever he wanted.
Whether it was going home or staying to visit Izuku...
It seems Bakugou had left just 10 minutes earlier; he'd been coming to visit him several times a day.
Honestly, today Aizawa didn't feel strong enough to do it... but he'd see how the situation unfolded.
While listening to the usual routine report, everything seemed to be going smoothly, but Aizawa had a strange feeling.
His intuition wanted to tell him something, but...
He thought it was something related to Izuku's report until screams were heard in the hallway.
Aizawa reacted instantly, putting himself on guard and checking the perimeter.
After a few seconds, more screams were heard.
They were a woman's.
In the blink of an eye, Aizawa was in the hallway where the screams were coming from.
And when he realized it, he could see a group of three terrified nurses huddled at the doo-
Shit.
It was Izuku's door.
His heart sank into his stomach.
Fuck.
His thoughts were interrupted by another ear-piercing scream from a nurse,
"CODE VIOLET!!"
(For those who don't know: Code Violet is activated in hospitals when there's a combative or aggressive person.)
Notes:
Well, this one was a bit shorter, but I don't know, I just thought it would be good to cut it off there.
Maybe I'll upload another one this week... who knows 😋🤷♀️Let me know what you think, but first I have a couple of questions...
Please tell me you like bkdk!!! Because I've been a fan of the ship for years, but I don't know if I want to add it to the story...
Anyway, give me your opinions on the chapter and on the little question, please 💚🧡
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
Chapter 16: Back to reality
Summary:
Well, in this chapter...
I can't say what happens, but we spend the whole chapter in the hospital!
Notes:
Heyoo!!! New chapter! I honestly think you're going to like it 😜
Here it is, enjoy! 🐭
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Bakugou's voice hadn't been heard for some time.
But Izuku stayed there, curled up in a ball.
He didn't feel alone.
He still felt that inner warmth in his chest.
He felt embraced.
Embraced by the warmth and light that enveloped him.
Remembering all those good moments that Kacchan had brought back to his memory.
Those moments that had been forgotten.
Overshadowed by his miserable life.
Those precious moments he had lost.
And now he had to remember them.
He had endured horrors for six years with nothing to cling to except the life of a mother who despised him.
Five years.
In those five years, he could barely remember anything of his life before being sold.
Before all the horrors and suffering…
Was there even a before?
Ahh… yes… the memories with Kacchan…
But… could it compensate for all his suffering?
Because every year that followed, Izuku wore himself down with every step.
With every gesture.
With every breath.
Always enduring…
Always…
Until now.
It was so happy to remember it, even if just once in his life.
It was so comforting to have finally ended that suffering, but…
but…
now?
Was it really going to end now?
That sliver of hope he held onto crumbled more and more during all those unbearable days of torture.
That hope that someday… someday…
he would receive something different.
That someone might see that he wasn't truly bad.
That he had been forced to do all of that.
That he didn't want to do it.
He knows he didn't deserve it.
He knows it was just the selfish desire of a useless toy.
But he truly hoped that one day he would receive the warmth he had longed for his entire life.
And now?
Now that he was leaving this world, was it time he should receive it?
Why couldn't he have a normal life like everyone else?
Why him?
"Ahhhh..."
It didn't matter.
It was all over anyway.
...
...
Why wasn't he leaving?
Was this death?
He thought this was the place where you got rid of all the regrets in your life so you could finally die in peace...
Or something like that.
But... wasn't it?
Was this death?
Was he going to be locked up with himself forever?
No.
It had to be a place where he couldn't think.
A place where he didn't really remember anything.
Where past memories wouldn't constantly torment him.
It was supposed to be a place of peace…!
“Ahhh…”
After a few minutes lost in his own thoughts,
he began to notice a slight vibration in his surroundings.
He immediately knew something was wrong.
The distant, blurry, and unrecognizable noises were becoming clearer and closer.
That warm light that enveloped the entire place was beginning to fade little by little.
No, no, no.
No, no.
Izuku knew this feeling.
Hallucinations always followed this pattern of disappearing when he finally woke up.
No, no, no.
NO.
He wasn't dead.
Fuck.
It was all a lie.
It was all a fucking hallucination.
No.
No.
He would go back to Sensei.
He would go back to that cage.
To that metal table.
To the pain.
To that metallic smell of blood.
To the suffering.
To that hissing…
NO.
No, no, no.
No.
Fucking no.
I couldn't go back.
I didn't want to go back.
And I wouldn't.
I felt that warmth in my chest slowly disappearing.
Faster and faster.
Until it was completely ripped away.
“NOOO!!!”
The moment he peeked through the door of the room, he saw the chaos.
Four nurses shouting something different.
Barely recognizable.
All of them were agitated and running around.
Izuku's bed was empty.
The sheets were rumpled and strewn across the floor.
The machines were beeping like crazy.
Tubes and blood littered the floor.
Looking at the nurses, all three of them had their terrified gazes fixed in one direction.
And as soon as he turned, he saw that green hair.
That green hair he saw every night on the rooftops of Musutafu.
He almost gave in to nostalgia.
But now he had to calm the boy.
The boy was on guard.
In a fighting stance.
But it wasn't a normal fighting stance. It was much lower…
Like he was a four-legged animal.
And he exuded a disturbing energy.
As if he could tear them all apart in a matter of seconds.
He was growling.
With every slight movement or shout from the nurses, he let out a terrifying growl.
Aizawa had to neutralize him before he escalated.
"Izuku!!"
...
Nothing.
He didn't react.
"Izuku, it's me!! I'm Eraserhead!!"
He said, taking a step forward.
"Do you remember me?!"
"Do you remember all our talks on the rooftop??"
He didn't react.
He didn't let his guard down.
He kept growling.
"Izuku!!"
"Do you remember our quirk talks?!"
He wasn't listening.
His eyes were blank.
He didn't seem to be aware.
He was in shock, and this reaction was just his subconscious trying to survive.
God… how much had he gone through to react like this…
“Izuku!! Everything’s alright now!!”
“Remember? Best Jeanist and I got you out of the lab!!”
“You’re safe!!”
“You won’t fall into their hands again, I promise!!”
“I promise!!”
No matter what he said, there didn’t seem to be any progress.
Until he remembered.
Izuku let himself be rescued in the lab when he saw Bakugou.
…
“IZUKU!!”
“Do you remember Bakugou Katsuki?!?”
“He’s your childhood friend, right??”
“He was in the rescue too!!! You remember!! Right?
“He came to visit you in the hospital a lot, you know??”
His guard didn't let up.
But his shoulders seemed to relax slightly.
It was as if he was slightly more aware of his surroundings.
Okay, it was working…! What did he call him back then??
What did he call Bakugou?!
He called him by a nickname…
a close nickname…
What was it?!!
“!!!”
“IZUKU!!!”
“Kacchan has come to visit you a lot!!”
…
Izuku's expression went blank.
As if thousands of thoughts were crashing through his mind.
His breathing became erratic.
He was confused.
Very confused.
Aizawa analyzed his expression and gestures, trying to predict his reaction.
Until he began to tremble violently.
All his muscles tensed and relaxed constantly.
His gaze was gone.
White foam began to ooze from his mouth.
Shit.
It was a horrible sight to witness…
because the worst part was that his guard hadn't let down.
He was having a fucking epileptic seizure from the traumatic shock and he wasn't lowering his guard.
Shit.
Without thinking twice, Aizawa quickly approached Izuku and hugged him.
The excuse was that he had to subdue and neutralize him so he could be treated quickly.
But in reality, he just wanted to show the boy that he wasn't Alone.
That everything was alright now.
And that they would now take care of protecting him…
A few minutes after the epileptic seizure stopped, the nurses reacted quickly and moved Izuku to the stretcher to finally treat him.
They kicked Aizawa out of the room.
It was necessary for Aizawa to leave the room so they could do their job properly.
“Ahhh… shit…”
Almost 40 minutes had passed since Izuku's epileptic seizure.
Aizawa immediately called Hizashi, and he arrived in about 10 minutes.
He didn't know what to feel.
It was a terrible mix of emotions.
But the most prominent was helplessness.
A wave of helplessness and guilt flooded his heart.
He couldn't stay still.
He paced the hallway constantly.
Hizashi tried to persuade him, but nothing worked.
He had just returned from the hospital cafeteria.
He approached Aizawa, handed him the cup of coffee, and then leaned toward him:
"You'd better sit down, or I'm going to lose it," he said in a calm voice.
But that statement was anything but calm.
It was more of a desperate threat that was beginning to reveal Hizashi's anger issues.
"Fine, fine." He responded by shrugging and obeying.
But Hizashi's plans were thwarted just seconds after Aizawa sat down when the doctor appeared.
"Mr. Aizawa?" he asked lightly.
Aizawa stood abruptly at the sound of his name and walked toward the doctor.
"Good morning, Dr. Habta, how are you?" He approached the doctor with subtle concern.
"Is he stable?" Hizashi added.
"Well, the patient, when he first woke up, had a panic attack triggered by his anxiety disorder."
"It's a fairly normal situation considering his background and the post-traumatic stress he suffers from."
Both heroes nodded; they already knew the theory. They had both taken a nursing course and a first aid course.
It seemed absolutely necessary for a hero.
"As you know, he suffered an epileptic seizure due to the shock, however…" The doctor paused.
“To put it simply, an epileptic seizure, in order to avoid serious brain damage, should last around a minute or a minute and a half.”
“There are no known cases where people who have suffered longer seizures have been able to emerge from a vegetative state or even survive.”
The doctor’s explanation was truly disturbing, but Aizawa couldn’t detect a trace of concern in his voice.
“And Izuku’s epileptic seizure lasted approximately three and a half minutes… However, the damage to Izuku’s brain healed almost instantly.”
“He probably woke up because the suppressant was recently completely expelled from his body.”
“I understand. And how is he? Stable?” Hizashi asked.
“Actually… he’s awake…”
“What?!” Aizawa exclaimed.
“He woke up as soon as his body was stabilizing, but this time he barely reacted.”
Aizawa's demeanor immediately changed.
He was confused.
"Actually, as soon as he woke up, he scanned the room, greeted us, and apologized for what had happened earlier."
Aizawa was freaking out.
He couldn't believe it.
What?!
"He greeted you and apologized?" he asked, completely baffled.
"Is that normal?"
"No, not at all. In fact, based on this behavior, we suspect a disorder caused by prolonged trauma."
"But we need more evidence of that. For now, there's no further diagnosis."
"Well, for now, we just needed to know if he's stable. Thank you," Aizawa said.
The news seemed to lift his spirits.
"So, could we come in, Dr. Habta?" Hizashi asked, his impatience cutting through the poetic air Aizawa had created.
"Actually... the patient asked about Bakugou Katsuki..."
...
Notes:
Well, that's it for this week's chapter!! I hope you liked it!
Okay, next week I'll upload two chapters in a row! 🐭😜
I hope you enjoyed it, let me know what you think in the comments!!
Kisses, see you next week!!
Chapter 17: I'm not dead...
Summary:
Well... another crappy summary, but otherwise I'd spoil it for you. Anyway, we spent the whole episode in the hospital :)
Notes:
Heyyyy, well, I was going to upload yesterday but things got complicated, anyway, I'm going to upload two chapters in a row, I hope you enjoy them 🫣🤭
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
In less than fifteen minutes, Bakugou appeared at the hospital.
He was exhausted and panting from fatigue.
It seemed he started running toward the hospital as soon as he heard the news.
As soon as he arrived, he almost ran past everyone to head straight for Izuku's room, but the doctor stopped him.
"Excuse me, but I need to give you some instructions before entering the patient's room."
"Yes, of course, tell us, sir."
Hizashi replied, grabbing Aizawa's arm to stop him.
"Well, first of all, Izuku has awakened due to his Quirk. Having eliminated all the suppressants from his body, he has recovered," he began.
"But it was incredibly fast, so his mind hasn't had time to process everything and he's in shock, as we could see from his first awakening."
"What?! What first awakening?! What freaking Quirk? What are you talking about?" Bakugou interrupted.
“Bakugou, lower your voice!” Aizawa called out almost immediately.
“As for his quirk… What I can tell you now is that it’s the result of Garaki’s research… it’s a healing quirk.” He said, facing him directly.
What the hell?
“As for the rest, Izuku woke up about an hour ago, but it was a very violent event. He wasn’t aware of where he was; he was simply protecting himself out of sheer survival instinct.”
Aizawa explained to avoid further commotion.
“That’s right. However, afterward, he had an epileptic seizure due to the shock. His body has recovered from the initial damage, but there’s no guarantee he’s not affected,” the doctor said.
There was a brief silence, awaiting the doctor’s next words.
“The patient has suffered a traumatic situation for a very long time; it’s quite normal that he wasn’t even lucid, and the mere sight of you two will cause a disturbance in his brain. However, it’s what the patient requested…” He said, looking at Aizawa and Bakugou.
“Try not to raise your voices too much, don’t disturb him with inappropriate or uncomfortable conversations, and pay close attention to his body language. In any case, I’ll be in the room in case a similar incident occurs again.”
Bakugou could hear his heart pounding.
He was going to talk to De- Izuku.
He was going to talk to him after so long.
Almost every night he’d dreamed about it and tortured himself.
Finally.
He couldn’t screw this up.
Not this time.
“Good. Understood. Can we go in now?”
Bakugou said, trying to hide his impatience as best he could.
“Aizawa, I’ll stay outside, I’ll be waiting in the hallway,” Hizashi said, taking his arm lightly.
Aizawa’s confused expression already answered him.
“It’s better that a complete stranger doesn’t come in. He’ll see me and get scared. Don’t worry, we’ll have other opportunities to get to know each other,” he said with a reassuring smile.
“Good.” Aizawa even seemed angry, but he was just nervous.
“Let’s go in,” he said as he turned to face the doctor and Bakugou.
The walk down the hallway to Izuku’s room felt endless.
Unbearable.
There was a palpable tension, so thick you could cut it with a single word.
Bakugou was a bundle of nerves.
The sound of their footsteps was drowned out by the pounding of his heart.
And as they got closer, he slowly raised his head, seeming to gather courage when he was really panicking.
Aizawa, on the other hand, was nervous. Of course he was.
But he seemed as serious and impassive as ever.
An immovable rock.
The closer they got to the room, the louder the beeping of the machines became.
Only a few steps left.
God!! Since when was the path so long?!
They were already at the door of the room.
The door was open, but neither of them dared to peek inside.
The doctor paused briefly before entering.
As soon as Bakugou entered, his eyes went straight to him.
There he was.
His hope.
He simply didn't know how to act or even what to think.
It was a storm of emotions.
He had chills all over his body.
He felt so happy that he was safe, that he would never suffer again.
But all of that was erased by the sadness and guilt of the indelible marks left on his body and mind…
No. He wouldn't suffer anymore.
At anyone's hands.
He wouldn't allow it; they'd have to crush his corpse first if anyone wanted to do anything to Izuku.
…
There he was.
Right in front of him.
A few meters away.
Sitting on the bed, looking out the window.
He knew they were there.
But he seemed to be denying reality…
Until he turned his head toward them.
It was an expression that simply… reflected nothing.
That smile meant nothing.
It was just a painting on his skin.
Like a realistic mask that could unsettle anyone.
Normally if facial expressions aren't easy to read, you have to rely on the eyes.
They are the mirror of the soul.
But in Izuku's case…
His soul seemed empty…
Crushed and stolen from his body time and time again.
That broke Bakugou's heart.
A fixed, direct gaze at each of them.
First at the doctor, whom he had already met, and he gave a slight bow.
Then he scanned Aizawa; for a moment his gaze seemed to waver. A tiny sign of emotion.
But it was only a microsecond before he returned to that impassive expression.
But he immediately resumed analyzing every part of his body.
Until he reached Bakugou.
Upon seeing him, his eyes narrowed very slightly.
A hint of expression. Of effect on him.
He continued staring at him as if he wanted to make sure he was real.
“Hello Izuku, well, how are you feeling? I brought you to—”
The doctor was interrupted by a hoarse, unexpected voice.
“Well, I guess I’m not dead.”
Those words made the atmosphere in the room fall.
Dead?
What is he talking about?
Did he think he was dead all this time?
No, no.
Why?
And why did he seem so disappointed about it?
Katsuki’s face, a mixture of confusion and pain, was priceless.
He didn’t know how to react.
What the hell?
A voice stopped his racing thoughts.
“No, kid, you’re not dead. You’re finally safe.”
Aizawa replied, maintaining his composure perfectly. As if he hadn’t processed what the boy had just said. Even though he clearly had.
But he couldn’t back down or overreact. Aizawa had made a promise to himself. And he would keep it.
“Ahhh…” The boy huffed as he threw off the covers from his legs and got out of bed.
The doctor reacted almost immediately when he realized what he was doing.
“Izuku! You have to be careful—”
“I’m fine. Nothing’s wrong with me.”
God, he hadn’t really noticed his body until now.
He was very thin. But still, surprisingly, what wasn’t bone was muscle.
One of the things that hurt the most was seeing the countless scars on his body.
All his arms and legs covered in them.
There were thousands. Of all kinds.
And they showed every battle he had won against those monsters.
…
But that look of infinite exhaustion reflected in the dark circles under his eyes and the infinite emptiness in his gaze…
He got out of bed.
As if nothing had happened.
As if just five days ago he hadn’t been hanging in a cell, dripping blood like the carcass of a slaughtered pig.
Everyone seemed too confused and worried that he could move like that.
But it seemed they were forgetting two factors that had changed Izuku's life so drastically.
First, he could recover. From any injury. He could literally come back from the dead.
Second, he had done it thousands of times.
That's why he hated seeing that concern in people.
As if he were going to shatter into a thousand pieces just by getting out of bed.
As if he were fragile.
Well, they could all go to hell if they thought that.
"Don't you have anything other than this ridiculous hospital gown? Everything's showing in this."
“Something opaque? I don’t know, maybe some shorts or something?”
No one could believe what was happening.
They expected sobs, tears, screams, a shocking reaction upon seeing them.
But no.
It was as if he were indifferent.
No… It was more like he was desperately trying to get away.
What no one could wrap their head around was that he was so lucid after EVERYTHING.
Katsuki simply couldn’t grasp the situation.
Everything had happened so fast… he was lost.
His confused expression said it all.
Aizawa, on the other hand, maintained his serious composure, but couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow, puzzled by the situation.
The doctor seemed serious. As if he had detected some key behavior for a diagnosis.
“Yes, of course, Izuku, forgive us, it’s easier this way to do the checkups without complications.” The doctor responded with a smile, reaching for a pair of hospital pajama pants.
"Here you go," he said, extending his hands with the pants in his hand.
Izuku hesitated for a few seconds before reaching out and taking them.
He put them on and started walking toward the door of the room.
The three of them stood there, not quite understanding.
"Excuse me?" he said in a tone that bordered on hostile as he stopped a safe distance away from them.
He wanted to leave the room.
"And where are you going?" Aizawa asked as calmly as he could.
"For a walk. It's suffocating in here." He answered, staring at him intently.
Aizawa was completely against the idea.
Just as he was about to deny it, he turned to the doctor, who nodded calmly.
"Ahhh..." He sighed, stepping aside slightly to let him pass.
Almost out the door, he was interrupted.
"But Bakugou is coming with you."
"What?" he complained, turning away.
"Kid, you just woke up, and unless you've lost your memory—" He stopped, clearing his throat.
...
"Well, Bakugou will accompany you, and that's the end of the discussion."
The green-haired boy continued on his way, clearly annoyed.
Bakugou felt slightly uneasy about the situation, but one thing was certain:
This time he would do it right, and now he had a chance to start over.
With his departure, Aizawa and Dr. Hata were left alone.
Aizawa's face was a picture.
He didn't understand anything.
Izuku's reaction was anything but normal.
"Excuse me, but that's not normal, is it?" he asked, unable to believe the situation.
He had expected him to scream, cry, or be in deep shock, but none of that…
The boy sat up like a grumpy teenager with a normal life being woken from a nap.
"Well, Mr. Aizawa, these are certainly not common cases, but the situation Izuku went through isn't either," the doctor said, pausing briefly.
"Anyway, I think I've got a clear diagnosis. All his behavior and conversation indicate… if…" "It's possible that…"
The doctor began to ramble, seemingly oblivious to the situation.
But Aizawa interrupted him.
"Excuse me…"
"Good heavens, please forgive me. Come see me in my office in ten minutes. We can discuss Izuku's condition and possible diagnosis more clearly." He said, realizing the situation.
"Fine," Aizawa replied in his usual direct and curt tone.
Izuku quickly went down the stairs until he was completely out of the building.
"Wait!! I-Izuku! You can't just leave, damn it!"
…
He didn't answer.
He kept walking.
They walked to the back of the hospital.
He seemed to be looking for something or someone.
Until he found it.
Bakugou was even more confused by everything.
He couldn't understand anything. And he had no control over anything in this situation. Damn it.
"Stop here. Wait a moment." Izuku said as he took a few more steps.
"What the hell are you doing?" he replied, fed up with the mystery.
Izuku approached someone to ask for something.
Wait, wait.
What the hell?
Was he asking for a fucking cigarette?
For a moment, Bakugou thought he was hallucinating or something.
Ever since he entered the hospital room, completely incomprehensible and out-of-context things had been happening.
He saw Izuku put the cigarette to his lips.
"What the hell are you ha-?!"
He stopped when he saw Izuku make an inhuman leap and grab the railing of the emergency stairs.
He began to climb like a monkey.
Extremely fast and agile.
Yeah.
He was definitely dreaming.
What the hell was going on?
"Dek- Izuku, what the hell are you doing?!" He yelled as she prepared to use her Quirk and propel herself toward the roof.
The moment his feet touched the ceiling, he saw him sitting there.
As if nothing had happened.
"Ahhh…" he huffed.
He sat down next to Izuku, leaving a good amount of space between them so he wouldn't feel overwhelmed.
He simply stared straight ahead.
"And since when are you supposed to smoke?"
“Hmm… I guess I got the hang of it.” He replied thoughtfully as he brought the lighter to the cigarette in his mouth.
For Izuku, it was truly a way to de-stress and let it all out.
One day he saw Dabi light a cigarette while they were playing cards and asked if he could try.
He really didn't like it at all the first time.
But he kept asking if he could try. Again and again.
It was the only thing he could do to “rebel” a little, like normal teenagers do.
It was basically the only thing in his life he could control.
Until he smoked his first cigarette by himself.
He stole it from Dabi's pack and went up to the roof in the middle of the night. It was really stupid.
But that moment.
That moment with each puff of smoke.
That puff of smoke that slightly silenced everything.
That smoke that slightly eased the weight on his chest each time he exhaled.
He eventually got used to it.
"Getted used to it?! That stuff is poison! What kind of things make you-"
...
...
Shit.
He was about to screw up again.
A lot.
He had to apologize.
"Anyway...! Where did you get that lighter, huh?!"
"Ugh! How about you stop being so loud? Shut up, man..."
"Ugh!?!?! Excuse me!!?!! What-"
"Shhh." She turned to him, putting a finger to her lips.
"I borrowed it temporarily from a lady in the hospital corridor." He said as he turned back and lit the cigarette.
...
“You’re killing yourself with that,” Bakugou said, annoyed.
“As if I could die…”
Bakugou quickly turned his head toward him.
Izuku was so calm and relaxed, smoking and gazing at the clear sky.
How could he be so nonchalant after saying something so outrageous?
Besides, what the hell did he mean by that? What do you mean he can’t die? Thinking about Bakugou was killing me.
“Ahhh… it really would be a better day if there were some clouds, huh…”
He said casually.
As if nothing had happened.
As if he hadn’t been tortured for five whole years.
As if Bakugou hadn’t dragged him through hell before those years of torture even began.
As if everything was alright.
It seemed like he had forgotten everything.
…
…
After several long minutes of silence, broken only by Izuku's puffs of smoke and Katsuki's rapid, heavy heartbeat,
Izuku felt like his heart would jump out of his chest from nervousness.
But he had to tell him.
"I'm sorry, Izuku," he said, almost in a whisper, barely audible.
Izuku seemed to snap out of his trance and turned to face Bakugou.
After what felt like an eternity of staring at him,
"What?"
Notes:
Well, well, that's it for this chapter. I honestly liked it, but I feel like maybe you were expecting something more... I don't know, anyway, read the next chapter to understand it properly 😁☺️
Chapter 18: A Cluster
Summary:
Okay, in this chapter we have:
-Izuku's diagnosis.
-A conversation between Katsuki and Izuku.
-A nightmare... :D
Chapter Text
In the ten minutes the doctor had indicated, Aizawa took the opportunity to get a coffee from the hospital machine and then headed to his office.
Once inside, he sat in one of the two chairs and crossed his arms.
He could only brace himself for whatever the doctor suspected.
Ahhh… he sighed inwardly.
“Alright, I’ll get straight to the point. Izuku is showing clear symptoms of dissociative amnesia.”
“This dissociative amnesia is directly caused by the trauma and is one of the symptoms of complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CTSD) that Izuku is experiencing.”
The doctor said in an informative and direct tone, but with a hint of concern.
“Excuse me, could you elaborate? What are the consequences, how does it manifest, what symptoms will he experience…?”
Aizawa replied, slightly confused.
He knew what post-traumatic stress was, but he had no idea about the medical terminology Aizawa was using or the actual consequences it would have.
“Of course, in other words, let’s say Izuku is aware of everything that’s happened, and given his IQ and high emotional intelligence, as you’ve seen, he quickly grasped the situation.”
“However, he’s only superficially aware… that is, he wouldn’t feel anything as his own anymore; it’s like living in constant dissociation, not explicitly remembering or feeling anything.”
Aizawa remained silent.
He felt all his muscles stiff.
How could Izuku not remember anything?
“But…”
The doctor interrupted Aizawa,
“I understand it might be confusing or disconcerting. Dissociative amnesia is the term used to describe the diagnosis, but it’s not so much about not being able to remember; it’s more like not being able to process.”
Aizawa thought he understood what the doctor meant, but his emotional side was taking over his perception of the situation.
“To put it simply, it’s as if he lives in a dissociated state most of the time, emotionally numb…”
“If the diagnosis is correct, the patient will likely only have fragmented memories of everything that happened, but the amnesia causes this depersonalization and detachment from himself.”
Aizawa wanted to despair.
He wanted to go and kill that bastard.
But not before multiplying all the suffering Izuku had endured.
That son of a bitch had achieved what he so desperately wanted.
To take everything from Izuku.
He had even taken away his freedom to feel.
Everything.
He would no longer be—
Okay, no.
Damn it.
This isn't the time.
No, no.
He would think about it at home.
"I understand," he replied coldly.
"And what consequences would this have? Is there any way to treat it? Could he have an episode or…?"
"Well, certainly, as I've already mentioned, if the diagnosis is correct, Izuku's brain has currently limited any emotional connection to the trauma or anything related to it, so he will likely become a colder, more distant, and superficial person."
“However… every patient is different. Unfortunately, Izuku is already ‘used to’ this type of trauma or these situations, so he might be handling it slightly better than other patients.”
He said, trying to soften the diagnosis a bit.
Aizawa could only clench his fists even tighter.
“On the other hand, the trauma he’s been through is truly… disturbing, so I can’t confirm or guarantee anything until we run some tests or observe Izuku’s behavior a little more closely…”
He paused briefly, noticing the heavy atmosphere in the office.
“As I’ve already mentioned, the diagnosis isn’t definitive…”
…
“I understand.”
…
“As for treatment… it’s still a very distant topic for the patient. Complex post-traumatic stress disorder is a developed condition that, with all my regret… tends to last a lifetime…”
Ahhh.
I’d kill him.
I’d go to Tartarus right now and beat him to a pulp.
“In almost all cases, there are significant improvements in the patients’ mental state over time, but, to be perfectly honest, from my medical experience, given the severe trauma Izuku has suffered, it’s very unlikely he’ll fully recover.”
“I understand… thank you for your honesty.”
“Is there anything else to consider at this time?”
He asked, hoping the doctor would deny his question so he could leave the consultation room.
He needed to breathe.
From the moment the doctor began explaining Izuku's likely mental state, Aizawa felt a sharp pain in his chest, as if a giant rock had crushed him.
A rock filled with rage, hatred, helplessness, and sadness.
He had already made it clear that the diagnosis wasn't certain; they should observe his behavior more closely, but… even so.
It was clear the boy was still going to suffer a great deal.
It was suffocating.
Just thinking that it was all real…
That the poor boy had suffered all of that for no reason.
From that moment until he left the consultation room, he couldn't stop obsessively thinking about one thing.
…
Now that he was supposedly free…
Was he really incapable of feeling what it was like to live in peace…?
Would he really live locked away and suppressed in an emotional void for the rest of his life?
…
Fuck no.
He would do something.
He didn't know what yet.
But he would find a way to help him.
“I'm sorry, Izuku.” Katsuki managed to say in an almost inaudible whisper.
Izuku seemed to snap out of his trance and turned to Bakugou.
After what felt like an eternity of staring at him,
“What?”
Shit, what was he supposed to say now?
A few seconds passed before he answered.
“For everything… I'm sorry, Izuku.”
Silence.
As if he hadn't heard him.
Or rather, as if his brain had dodged his question-
“Okay.”
Wait, what?
What do you mean, "okay"?
No.
He must have misheard.
Bakugou was prepared for him to yell at him, blame him, or even hit him… but this was NOT part of his plan. What do you mean, "okay"?
A fucking "okay"?
This wasn't the Izuku of before.
It couldn't be him.
He wasn't like this before.
…
But of course it wasn't him.
He had changed.
They had made him change.
Who wouldn't change?
He had been through countless tortures.
They had completely broken him.
He wouldn't be the sweet, forgiving boy he used to be. Bakugou knew that.
But it was still strange.
…
What do you mean, a fucking "okay"?
"What?" he asked, confused.
"Well, okay." He replied indifferently.
"HUH?! What do you mean, 'okay'?!" He became slightly agitated, turning towards him. He always let his bad personality take over when he was in the spotlight… fuck...
“It’s MY fault!! Say something!!” He ended up practically shouting and gesticulating like a madman.
Izuku, however, continued staring at the sky, curled up in a ball.
Until he seemed to connect with the conversation.
He turned to him, his face expressionless and indifferent.
“What the hell do you want me to say? OK. It doesn’t matter. Let its like this”
…
After a few seconds, observing Bakugou’s change in expression.
“What did you expect, that I’d start crying and feeling sorry for myself and lamenting everything?!?”
…
Everything fell silent.
“Damn it, it’s just that…”
…
…
“I’m sorry for everything, Izuku…”
…
After a few seconds of silence that felt like hours, during which the only audible sound was Katsuki’s pulse,
Izuku, who was leaning slightly back, curled up again as he stubbed out his cigarette and tossed the butt.
With those same expressionless eyes as always.
Bakugou thought he saw a tiny flicker in his gaze.
Something.
Anything that showed his words had reached him.
But if it really happened, it was barely noticeable.
Seconds passed and there was no response.
Izuku simply stared at the sky, too intently.
Not that he expected a response, but—
“In your 13th attack, the one called Meteorites of the God of Explosions… your mistake is that you don’t distribute the force evenly.”
…
WHAT?!?
What the hell was he talking about now??
He'd just completely ignored him—
Wait.
He'd told him that while he was in a coma…
Was he listening to everything?
"Y-you were listening?" he asked incredulously.
"Yes, I wasn't aware of the situation, but I could hear everything," he replied, his gaze fixed on the sky.
Bakugou didn't know what to say.
I mean, in theory, he'd gone to the hospital to tell him. Him.
The goal was for Izuku to hear it… but knowing he'd actually hear it, he wouldn't have said it… like that.
Now it was a little embarrassing to look him in the face…
After those few seconds of silence,
"But did you hear me or not??!?" Izuku asked, his tone noticeably irritated.
"Huh?"
Bakugou was taken aback. What were they talking about?
"AGHH!! I mean, in your 13th attack, the one with the meteors from the god of explosions, or whatever the hell name you gave it!!" “Your problem is that you don’t distribute your strength fairly!”
“HAA?!?!? Did you just correct me??!!”
“YOU CORRECTED ME?!?!”
Haaa… and that peaceful apology had come to an end.
“LOOK, if you don’t want to take my advice, what’s that to me?!?!!” He retorted, turning to face Katsuki.
“But don’t you dare yell at me, who do you think I am?!!” He said, almost shouting.
“Who are you?? It’s obvious, you’re just another extra trying to stand out-”
Shit.
He had gotten used to talking to people like this, but-
“WELL, YOU ACT LIKE A FUCKING NEANDERTHAL, YOU FUCKING SAVAGE!!!”
He finally shouted, letting the echo of his hoarse voice resonate.
“You’re like a fucking savage!!” He said as he stood up.
“Look, I try to tell you how to improve, out of the best of intentions, because you're a useless piece of shit who can't even control the force he applies with each movement, and ON TOP OF THAT you complain and yell at me!!!”
“Well, go fuck yourself!!!”
He finished, then jumped from the roof.
HEY, what the hell is he doing? Why is he jumping?
We're on the fifth floor!!
With a speed he didn't know he possessed, Katsuki got up and was about to go after him until, when he looked over, he saw him hanging from the railing as if nothing had happened.
He had grabbed onto the stair railing while falling.
As if nothing had happened.
And now he was coming down. As if it were the most normal thing in the world.
“HA!!” Katsuki gasped in fright.
His heart was in his mouth.
Holy shit, what a scare! He was like a freaking monkey!!
Aside from the shock he'd just gotten, that agility wasn't normal, especially after the coma he'd been in and the state they found him in…
Katsuki sat on the roof.
Reflecting.
Damn it, he shouldn't have panicked.
He'd made things even more complicated…
“AGghhh!!!” He huffed as he lay down.
He remembered their whole conversation…
How his heart had been pounding with nervousness.
The mix of nerves and happiness fluttering in his stomach…
But he had to screw this up…
“Shit…”
Izuku never saw Kacchan again after that.
Returning to the room, he ran into Mr. Aizawa.
He seemed worried.
Quite a lot.
He only exchanged a few words and said he had to go.
Not that Izuku expected anything from him.
But… he was freezing.
Back in his room, he sat on the inside edge of the window.
It was surprisingly wide.
He sat there and simply watched the sky.
He watched the people strolling by.
The cars passing by.
The traffic lights.
The people walking their pets.
The roads.
The crosswalks.
Groups of young people strolling through the streets.
People walking by with their children.
People passing by.
The people-
In the blink of an eye, it was night.
Izuku sensed a presence and stood up instantly.
Who was it?
Were they coming for him?
Had they discovered where he was?
He clenched his fists, bracing himself for the worst.
There were two of them.
But there were too many people in the hospital to know which direction they were coming from.
Shit, shit.
He started to hyperventilate slightly.
The presence of those footsteps was somehow familiar…
something that triggered a brutal physical reaction.
A huge lump in his throat blocked his airway.
Fuck.
Cold sweat began to appear.
He felt chills down his spine.
The worst part was that just three seconds felt so unbearably long.
A small noise at the door stopped his heart.
No.
He couldn't—
"Good evening, Izuku. How are you feeling? How was your first day awake in the hospital?" said the doctor, entering after knocking.
Ahhhhhh…
What a fucking relief.
Izuku was about to have a heart attack…
"Good evening," he replied with his usual indifference.
…
“Everything’s fine…” His raspy voice echoed throughout the room.
Or so it seemed to him.
He didn’t like his voice now.
He sounded like a 50-year-old truck driver who’d been smoking his whole life.
He didn’t understand why he’d changed.
If he’d really torn his vocal cords, they should have regenerated a long time ago… There should only be a scar left…
Ahhh… it was the scar.
His body’s regeneration was normally so rushed and desperate to heal mortal wounds caused by poor healing.
That is to say, keloid scars usually remained.* (explanation at the end of the chapter)
And a scar like that on the vocal cords… it was normal that-
“Hello? Izuku? Are you alright?”
A sweet voice pulled him from his trance.
“Huh?”
Ahh, it was the nurse.
That’s right.
They were explaining some procedure to him at night…
Aahhh…
Izuku made a simple gesture of presence, looking him in the eyes and nodding.
“Good, Izuku,” the doctor said with his usual kind smile.
He spoke slightly louder than usual so Izuku would pay closer attention.
“That’s all. Now we’ll leave you alone so you can rest,” he said as he and the nurse approached the exit.
“Don’t forget, if anything happens, there’s an emergency button next to your bed. Just press it, and we’ll be here.”
“Anyway, my office is near your room, okay?” he finished, now at the door with that big smile.
Izuku simply nodded.
“Don’t hesitate to ask us for help.” With that, he carefully closed the door.
…
Izuku stayed in that room alone.
But he didn't feel sadness.
Or fear.
Nor joy.
He felt nothing.
And it didn't bother him either.
And deep down… it was better for him.
Once in bed, he stared at the ceiling.
After almost an hour and a half trying to sleep, he finally drifted off.
At least his brain would rest a little…
…
…
Until he began to become conscious.
It was like a dream.
But nothing was happening.
He was simply floating in a completely black space.
Yet he could see his own body.
His arms and legs were clearly visible, as if there were light.
But everything around him was covered by a black shroud.
It wasn't uncomfortable.
He didn't care.
He simply curled up, waiting for this strange dream to pass.
His intention was sincerely to fall asleep and forget about everything.
He didn't have the energy for any more nonsense.
And he didn't want to.
After a while, small white dots appeared.
There were several.
At first glance, they looked like fireflies.
They moved randomly, without much purpose.
But they didn't glow like fireflies.
…
Izuku found them strange. But he decided to ignore them.
They didn't seem malevolent or hostile.
Until they got a little closer to Izuku.
He sat down and became much more on guard.
He began to observe them more closely.
More obsessively.
Following every change of direction.
Every approach.
Somehow… it was as if he wanted to trust them.
…
He slowly extended his arm toward the nearest white ball.
A few seconds later, it landed on one of his fingers.
It was soft.
Very light.
He barely felt anything except a slight tingling in his finger.
It was even a little comforting to see that he could trust it…
…
After a long minute.
That little ball detached from his finger and began to fly about in that haphazard way.
It was truly comforting…
After a few seconds, he realized that the white ball had begun to tremble.
It was an uncontrolled trembling.
He started looking around, and all the balls were shaking violently.
What was happening?
…
“…!!”
Suddenly, they began to materialize.
Abruptly.
The noise was very unpleasant.
And the worst part was that it sounded familiar…
It was like when flesh tears and bones break…
Izuku instinctively covered his head with his arms.
His fists were clenched, ready for any situation.
Ahhh…
I shouldn't have trusted him…
Hasn't he learned his lesson yet?
As soon as the noise subsided slightly, he instinctively jumped into a fighting stance.
But as soon as he opened his eyes, he realized his surroundings had changed.
It wasn't all black anymore.
This was a place.
Too familiar.
Wait.
Fuck no.
No, no.
He was in a cage.
The bars were white.
He tried to grasp them, but he couldn't.
They were like an abstraction.
Yet, he couldn't get out. He tried, but he couldn't.
His body reacted brutally when he realized he was locked in a cage.
As if he had muscle memory…
He began to hyperventilate.
To sweat profusely.
Chills ran through his entire body.
He was trembling so violently that he couldn't stand.
When he sat down, he tried to stop the trembling in his hands.
"Ahhh…"
He couldn't.
He looked up to try to figure out how to get out, but it was a mistake.
There were white figures standing there.
Some moving from one side to the other.
But others watching him.
Then he realized.
He was in a room.
The background was still black, but everything else, objects, figures, etc.. was white.
Even the corners of the room's walls. They were a white line.
And he understood.
The little white balls from before.
They had materialized into all of this.
Into a simulation of the objects, the figures, the cell itself…
When he finally understood everything and stopped objectively analyzing his surroundings, he realized what the situation was.
He didn't want to admit it, but that "objective analysis" was just an escape.
An escape from that emptiness in his chest.
And an escape from all the physical suffering he felt.
The trembling intensified.
The lump in his throat grew larger and larger.
Barely a breath could pass.
And those figures were getting closer and closer.
They had no eyes. They didn't even have a clear shape.
But it was too much for him.
He couldn't stand it.
He felt an infernal anguish.
A sharp headache came on suddenly.
The pain was like a migraine.
But it felt like nails were being hammered into him.
It was so intense.
So unbearable.
Instinctively, he covered his head.
As if that would stop it…
…
Suddenly, those figures began to make an unpleasant noise.
And it grew louder and louder.
More unpleasant.
More unbearable.
It was the sound of teeth grinding.
But too many at once.
Increasingly louder and louder.
Louder and louder.
While some ground their teeth, others obsessively whispered a word.
Izuku didn't understand what they were saying.
But the sound was repeated over and over.
"AHGG" she groaned in pain, clutching her head.
He couldn't breathe.
He couldn't control his trembling body.
He could barely speak.
The headache was getting more intense.
And so was the noise.
"Please."
"No."
"Please."
"Please."
"Stop."
"No, no."
"I can't take it anymore."
"Please, make it stop."
"Please."
"No, no."
"Please!"
"Please, please!"
"Please!!"
"..!"
It stopped.
The noise ceased abruptly.
Izuku opened his eyes and immediately lifted his head.
Only to find those motionless figures.
Staring at him.
Suddenly, the white figure in the center, the one furthest ahead of him, took another step forward.
As it took that step, Izuku realized something was materializing on its face.
It wasn't white or black.
It was red.
When it fully formed, Izuku's breath caught in his throat.
He clutched his throat, unable to breathe.
"Ghh!"
All the pain faded into the background.
That smile that had formed...
was too familiar...
It was...
No, no-
"Izuku..."
...!
"My little toy..."
Notes:
Well, that's it for this week's chapters. I especially like this one.
Let me know what you think in the comments! 🥸😝
See you the next week with more chapters 🫶🏻
Chapter 19: The beginning of the process
Summary:
Hiiiii, okay, so we have:
medical report
Bakugou flashback
Izuku–Aizawa
:D
Notes:
Hiiiii, well, new chapterrrrr, I hope you like itttt. I think it’s kind of a chill chapter, but at the same time not really because we develop the Izuku–Aizawa relationship. Anywayyy, I hope you enjoy it!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Izuku…”
…!
“My little toy…”
The shock in Izuku’s mind made everything stop.
He couldn’t—
He wasn’t able to—
Suddenly everything started falling apart.
The last thing he saw before everything crumbled was that repulsive, blood-stained smile.
He was wrapped in a black cloak that enveloped him.
He realized he no longer felt any of the previous physical reactions.
But he still had that horrible headache.
He felt very dazed.
He couldn’t feel or control his body properly.
When he finally became aware, there were screams.
They were close.
But distorted.
As if they were yelling underwater.
…
It was like there was a semi-opaque barrier between the screams and Izuku.
Ignoring that…
There were too many screams.
Uncontrolled.
It was intimidating and unsettling.
Too much.
And it only made Izuku’s headache worse.
Ahhh… why couldn’t all of this just end already?
He curled up on himself, covering his ears with his hands and turning his back to the screams.
He didn’t want to know anything.
What for?
He’d only end up losing again…
…
…
“HURRY!!”
“STOP HIM!!!”
“SOMEONE GRAB HIM!!”
“SECURE THE AREA.”
“TURN HIM TO HIS SIDE!!”
“X ml OF BENZODIAZEPINE! NOW!!”
“WATCH THE TONGUE!!”
“FASTER!!”
“!!!”
…
It was already 7 a.m. the next morning.
And Aizawa had been called by the doctor to come to the hospital.
His tone was neutral, but with an underlying note of concern.
On the other hand, Bakugou had come to visit Izuku as always, early in the morning before going to class.
However, they didn’t let him enter Izuku’s room.
Now both were heading to Dr. Habta’s office.
Bakugou had clearly been ordered by Mr. Aizawa to go to class, but he insisted on staying to hear what had happened.
So the two of them sat down in the chairs of the doctor’s office.
“Well, first of all, good morning to both of you. I hope you had a good rest last night.”
“Thank you, same to you…” Aizawa responded instantly.
“Although… based on the call from an hour ago, it doesn’t seem like you had a good night…”
“Yes, well, that’s exactly why I requested your presence.” The doctor paused briefly before continuing.
“Alright. Last night, while Izuku was sleeping, it seems he had a post-traumatic anxiety episode… which triggered a new epileptic seizure…” he said, going straight to the point.
…
…
Shit.
Bakugou was too shocked.
It made no sense to him.
“But when we were talking everything seemed… fine… yeah, he was distracted and not paying much attention, but…”
…
“Was there anything else you noticed about his behavior? It could be crucial to determine Izuku’s final diagnosis,” the doctor said seriously after a few seconds.
Final diagnosis? What the hell?
“Yesterday he was… different. It was like he was disconnected from reality or something. And something I had never seen from him before was that bad mood.”
“Although, the last time I saw him he was 9 years old, so maybe that’s not too relevant.”
Damn it, he wasn’t helping at all.
He was fucking useless.
“I understand. Well, it’s clear that what Izuku went through causes changes in a person’s behavior and way of thinking…”
“However,” Aizawa cut in.
“When I talked to him before the raid on the lab, he was a timid kid with very low self-esteem and way too empathetic.”
What the hell?
“WHAT do you mean you talked to him?! What are you saying?” Bakugou asked, agitated as he turned to his teacher.
“Not now, kid, I’ll explain once we’re out of here,” Aizawa replied with his natural coldness.
“But—”
Aizawa simply grabbing his scarf was enough to shut Bakugou up.
Sulking, he sat back facing forward, arms crossed.
“Ahem.” The doctor cleared his throat to bring the conversation back.
“Well, if that’s the case, it’s typical of certain severe post-traumatic profiles.”
“To explain it more clearly, when empathy shuts down, what’s left is a kind of almost ‘mechanical’ way of reacting to the world…”
“And these signs reinforce the likelihood of the suspected diagnosis,” the doctor stated, clearly considering other possible diagnoses.
“What fucking diagnosis?” Bakugou didn’t hesitate to ask.
He was tired of not understanding anything they were talking about.
When the doctor explained Izuku’s probable diagnosis, he was left speechless.
“What the fuck? Are you serious? Are you telling me Deku won’t be able to actually feel anything ever again?!”
He was agitated.
Of course he was.
He had finally come back.
He could finally stop surviving and start living…
And yet he would still be trapped in a loop of emptiness for the rest of his life…
…
No fucking way.
He’d wake him up.
Even if it had to be by force.
Even as kids, that was the only way he ever got him to come to his senses…
Then Bakugou remembered that time when those older idiots picked on him…
The one with wings left him some superficial scratches and bruises from the claws, nothing serious since Bakugou defended himself as best he could with his quirk, but when he got to school and Izuku saw him…
He was horrified. He started crying for Bakugou and covered him in band-aids that he always carried in his backpack.
When school ended, Izuku went straight to the alley where that group always hung out.
He was going to walk into the wolf’s den alone.
Just to offer himself as “tribute” so they wouldn’t hurt Katsuki anymore…
Katsuki wasn’t a weakling who needed Izuku to protect him.
But no matter how much he shouted, chased, or insulted him, Izuku refused to listen. He even grabbed him by the shoulder a couple times to stop him.
It wasn’t until Katsuki kicked him that he finally stopped…
A stubborn little shit…
And Katsuki would bet his big toe he was still the same…
“Well…” A voice pulled Katsuki out of the flashback.
…
“Sorry, returning to the main point…”
“Of course, forgive my student,” Aizawa said seriously but with a superficial tone as he grabbed Bakugou by the back to get his attention.
“Well, as I said at the beginning, Izuku had a fairly long epileptic seizure, but as you know, his body recovers almost instantly, so physically, right now, he’s fine.”
Well, that was good, right? That means—
“However…” Those two words were much heavier than normal.
The room tensed immediately.
“However, it was caused by a severe anxiety crisis. As I mentioned, Izuku’s conscious mind has essentially built a wall and he shouldn’t be able to feel or remember anything personally.”
“However, his subconscious is the one affected, and dreams are controlled by the subconscious.”
“Izuku had a nightmare last night, but the dissociation, the stress, and the anxiety triggered sleepwalking.”
“It was a severe nightmare that led to a severe panic attack.”
“When I noticed and entered his room, I found him… curled up in a corner, whispering barely audible words. But he wasn’t aware of anything, his eyes were white and his hands were covering his ears…”
“In a matter of seconds, he fainted and the seizure began. We injected benzodiazepine, which acts as a neural suppressor, but with his quirk it isn’t necessary…”
“I’m sorry you have to hear this so directly, but I am obligated to give a full report…”
Shit.
Bakugou was silent.
The veins in his neck were standing out more and more from all the tension.
After everything that had happened, it was expected, right? Not everything could be flowers and sunshine.
But…
Just yesterday he seemed totally fine when in reality…
He always did the same.
He built a shell to hide everything and kept it all to himself. He endured and swallowed all his pain when he suffered more than anyone…
Aizawa, after hearing the report, didn’t seem outwardly affected.
But his fists were so tightly clenched that his nails were digging into his palms hard enough to draw blood.
He had already had a direct meeting with the doctor and had been warned things like this would happen often, and that Izuku would have many episodes.
However… hearing that on the very first night something this severe happened…
Ahhh…
“Anyway, can we see him?” Aizawa asked, suppressing those depressive thoughts.
“…!” The doctor was surprised by his calm reaction.
Aizawa had already accepted that whatever happened, he would be there for the boy. He had already decided that.
“Well, he’s been quiet since then, but I suppose there’s no problem.”
“Alright,” he answered as if it were a daily report.
Bakugou was shocked. Why was he so calm? Had he not heard what the doctor just said?
“Bakugou, go to class, we’ll meet at school,” Aizawa said as he stood up.
“WHAT?! NO NO!!”
“I want to be here! No… I need to be here!”
A single look from his teacher was enough for him to lower his voice.
“Just—”
“It’s alright, young man,” the doctor intervened with a warm smile.
“This afternoon, if everything goes well, I’ll call you so you can come visit him.”
In the end, Bakugou left reluctantly.
At the door of Izuku’s room, Aizawa felt… nervous?
Nervous to talk to a child?!
He worked with children!!! He dealt with them every day!!
Ughhhh… he couldn’t believe this.
Anyway…
When he walked in and saw him, it was like a breeze of relief hit him for a moment.
Aizawa knew what the kid had gone through, he knew everything he was suffering, but somehow seeing him… brought him relief…
The doctor stayed outside and closed the door.
“Hey, kiddo,” Aizawa said with his hands in his pockets, stopping at the entrance, waiting for Izuku to give him permission to approach.
The boy had already been looking at the door for a while, as if expecting someone to show up.
“How are you feeling? It wasn’t an easy night, huh?”
“Mhm,” he hummed.
A vague answer.
“Can I come in?” Aizawa asked.
After a few seconds of staring at him—or rather, analyzing him—Izuku answered,
“Do what you want.”
“Mmmm, so the green bean isn’t in the mood, huh.” Aizawa said, knowing exactly what he was doing.
What was he supposed to say? Aww sweetie, are you okay honey??? No.
He was someone who had endured years of torture. He wasn’t exactly made of glass.
Izuku’s reaction was almost instant, frowning slightly.
But it was barely noticeable.
As if he were used to repressing everything.
What was he thinking? Of course he was.
Aizawa pulled a chair closer to Izuku’s bed and sat down with his legs crossed.
He stared at him as if analyzing him.
Though in reality he was just trying to figure out what to say.
Ahh… he was definitely terrible at this.
After several long seconds of silence, Izuku decided to speak.
“Why are you here?” he asked with a frown.
“… to talk to you.”
“Then talk,” he said bluntly.
Aizawa sighed.
Yeah, the kid was definitely not in the mood.
“Well kid, I suppose you’re wondering what will happen to you now.”
…
He barely reacted. As if he didn’t care.
“Normally, in a case like yours, the Hero Commission would take charge…”
Izuku’s shoulders tensed very slightly, barely noticeable.
“However, the Hero Commission only knows how to manipulate and use people with potential for their own benefit,” he said with a hint of irritation.
Izuku seemed to hesitate slightly based on his faintly wrinkled brow.
“So… I pulled some strings so that wouldn’t happen,” Aizawa said, looking straight at him, making any negative thought vanish.
Izuku simply went from a slight frown to his usual expressionlessness.
“Instead, I talked to the principal and we arranged everything so you can start attending U.A. High School.” He declared with noticeable excitement.
He knew it was Izuku’s dream.
Every time the topic came up during their rooftop talks, Izuku tried to hide it, but it was obvious it made him so happy that even those dead eyes sparkled ever so slightly.
Izuku stared at Aizawa after his statement.
His eyelashes trembled.
Superficially there was no reaction.
But Aizawa had learned professionally to read behavior and expression after years of interrogating criminals.
And Aizawa saw a small spark.
Those dead eyes no child should have.
Eyes that had gone from a lively emerald green to practically gray in just a few weeks, seemed to have a tiny glimmer for a millisecond.
Izuku quickly lowered his head to look at his hands resting on his lap.
After a few seconds, he lifted his head again, staring directly at Aizawa with a slight frown.
“Why?” he asked defensively.
Aizawa sighed.
“You’re not going to make this easy, huh,” he replied with a hint of amusement.
Izuku remained still, waiting for an answer.
“Ahhh… what else would it be for, you troublesome kid?” he asked as if it were obvious.
Izuku didn’t understand.
Why would Eraserhead bother to prevent the Hero Commission from taking him?
It made no sense.
To Izuku, Eraserhead had been his favorite hero forever, the only person who talked to him like a normal person, not by accident, always meeting him on rooftops, always talking to him like an equal…
But it was simply his duty when he found a child alone on the streets every day.
Clearly he didn’t do it because of Izuku.
Then why do all of this?
Why act like he cared or like Izuku deserved any of it?
“Ahhh…”
Aizawa sighed, making Izuku feel… stupid?
The fact he couldn’t understand why made frustration rise.
And worse, it made him distrust possible hidden intentions.
He shouldn’t doubt him but at this point… no one was trustworthy, not even Aizawa.
He wasn’t going to be fooled by false hope. He always ended up losing.
“Look kid, I’m sorry I did all this without your consent. You were in a coma and you’re still a minor, so someone has to take responsibility for you and take care of you, and well, it turns out… I don’t mind doing that, so…”
Of course they wouldn’t leave a minor wandering the streets… Izuku hadn’t had time to think about it earlier.
Wait.
Did Aizawa just say he was going to take him in?
…
“Why?” Izuku asked defensively.
He saw the confused look on the hero’s face and continued.
“Why bother doing all this?” He simply didn’t understand and didn’t want to trust anyone else.
Aizawa looked at the small green-haired boy…
With clenched fists, a frown, fully defensive—and all he saw was someone terrified to death inside.
“Ahh… kid…”
…
Shit, he really wasn’t good at this…
…
“I understand that you don’t want to trust anyone right now and you’re completely within your rights…”
He hesitated for a second, not used to saying things like this.
“But let us help you. Right now, it’s the best and only viable option, and not only that—like I told you during the rescue…”
“Everything’s okay now… I’ll keep you safe no matter what.” he finally said.
…
Izuku thought that anything anyone said would only make him distrust them more. He just couldn’t trust anyone.
But…
Those words coming from Aizawa… they were… warm.
…
He looked down at his lap again, staring at his hands.
The hero waited for his response. Without pressure. Just there, with a slight smile that radiated safety.
Izuku on the other hand…
Felt strange…
For a moment, he swore he had felt a small warmth from Aizawa’s words.
But…
It was like, even before he could fully process it, the feeling fell into a black void.
He didn’t feel anything toward it.
It was just… strange…
“…Alright.”
Aizawa was a bit stunned by Izuku’s response.
A simple “alright”?
Anyway…
That answer overshadowed everything else—he had accepted.
A small smile appeared on Aizawa’s lips without him noticing.
Almost unable to contain that glimmer of hope.
“Good..!” he half-exclaimed as he stood up.
“I’m going to talk to the doctor to see when you’ll be discharged.”
“Physically they already told me you’re perfect, but don’t think you’re getting out of the hospital that easily… there’s still a lot of time and work left up here,” he said, tapping his head.
Izuku just stared.
At that moment, the words didn’t seem to reach him much.
It was like he had gone into some kind of trance.
After a few seconds, he turned toward the window.
Aizawa watched him in silence for a moment…
Izuku was always so tense, always on guard…
God, the kid was terrified inside…
Notes:
Well welllll, this was this week’s chapter, I hope you liked it.
Tell me something in the commentsss 😜
Chapter 20: Acclimatisation
Summary:
Well welllll… in this chapter we have:
– goodbye hospitalllll
– hellooo new house?
Notes:
Hiii hiiiiii, well this chapter is a bit short, but honestly I’ve been super busy and on top of that mentally I’m feeling pretty crappy. Anyway, I don’t think it’s a bad chapter — I tried to give it a bit of everything without making it too heavy.
I know there’s a lot of explanation, but I consider it necessary so everything is clear and I don’t have to make two extra filler chapters to cover all that happened.
By the way, there’s a word with an asterisk like this: (word*). Its meaning can be found in the notes at the end. :)
Anyway, here’s the chaptterrrr:
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
It had already been almost a week and a half since Izuku woke up. He was still admitted to the hospital, not because of his physical condition, but because of his mental state.
He had been meeting with the hospital’s psychiatrist to establish a definitive diagnosis and to better understand Izuku in this moment.
What he thought, how he reacted to certain topics…
But the truth was that nothing had worked. They hadn’t made any progress at all.
Izuku…
It was… as if he wasn’t really there.
He was physically present, and he answered every superficial question and held conversations surprisingly well considering everything he’d been through.
Especially with Bakugou Katsuki and Eraserhead.
However, it was as if none of it truly mattered to him. And the moment any topic even brushed against emotional memories from his past…
He would simply fall silent again, that heavy smile hanging from his lips.
No frown, no sign of annoyance or sadness.
Just his eyes drifting off to any random object.
As if he disconnected completely.
Still, the constant trembling in his hands became much more violent whenever the psychiatrist asked about his feelings—almost like his subconscious was reacting, but that wall just wouldn’t allow the reaction through.
Not to mention the physical reactions and triggers to sounds, objects, certain words…
They caused panic attacks or severe anxiety episodes, sometimes even leading to epileptic seizures.
And then there were the daily nightmares...
After four days of panic attacks from the nightmares—during which he hurt himself to stop the attacks—Izuku stopped sleeping altogether.
Once he’d gone nearly four consecutive days without sleep, his body began to fail from the accumulated exhaustion, but his quirk regenerated him, and using energy to regenerate put him right back at the limit.
It was a vicious cycle that wouldn’t let him rest, so the doctors had to start giving him benzodiazepines, anxiolytics and sedatives to treat the insomnia.
After that he slept for an entire day, and the nightmares came back the next two days.
After each attack, Izuku didn’t even cry. Actually, he barely reacted.
As if he had turned it into routine in just a few days…
When Eraserhead or Bakugou came to visit, he talked the most.
He hardly brought up any topics himself. He just answered and kept the conversation going with vague responses.
They also introduced him to Present Mic.
He seemed to catch Izuku’s attention instantly.
That cheerful, extroverted energy didn’t bother him at all—if anything, Izuku seemed curious. As if he had discovered a new species of human.
At first he seemed slightly startled by the loud tone of Mic’s voice, but with each conversation he adjusted more and more.
Present Mic, of course, grew very fond of him.
According to him, Izuku—“my little green bean,” as he called him—was a chrysanthemum bud* that just needed some time and a little push to dare to bloom.
A week and a half later, the doctor had decided to discharge Izuku.
His physical health was excellent. He spent most of the day in the hospital gym. His mental health, on the other hand, wasn’t keeping up—but that wasn’t something the doctor could fix by keeping him hospitalized for longer.
They prescribed both anxiolytics and strong antidepressants for his daily functioning. But they already knew he reacted physically to the sound of metal snapping or boots squeaking on tiled floors.
Knowing that, in an environment surrounded by heroes like U.A. and with weekly appointments with the psychiatrist, Izuku should improve gradually, although the doctor made it clear they shouldn’t expect quick results because it’s likely that…
Today was the day Izuku was leaving the hospital. He seemed a bit anxious. More like distrustful.
He was in his hospital room, as always sitting on the windowsill.
Waiting.
It was Sunday, and Aizawa had told him he’d come with Present Mic to pick him up and take him to Aizawa’s home, where Izuku would be staying from now on.
A few days earlier he had been wondering what had happened to his “home.” He didn’t even know how long it had been since he last went.
And his quirk notebooks? All of them.
He had five more completely filled and hidden in a hole in the wall of the bathroom.
One he had left inside one of the boxes in the room because he’d been writing in it before he had to leave in a rush and just dropped it there.
He always hid them. They were the most important thing he had.
That’s why they were written in a code he invented himself, to keep Sensei from taking them.
Maybe he could convince Aizawa to go there one night to retrieve them…
Although he didn’t want him to know anything. Not for any special reason—he just didn’t want to trust too much.
!!
He sensed four people approaching the room.
He immediately stood up and faced the door, waiting.
He always had the same physical reaction when he sensed their presence. He knew they meant no harm but… still.
The moment the door opened—
“Very good morning, Izuku.” He heard the doctor’s now familiar voice, followed by his usual smile.
Behind him entered the psychiatrist, Present Mic, and finally Eraserhead.
Present Mic, with his usual bright wide smile, approached him.
“MY GREEN BEAN!!! WHAT? HOW ARE YOU FEELING TODAY??”
The trembling in Izuku’s hands grew much more intense and violent.
“Hizashi! Too loud!!” Eraserhead scolded immediately.
“Ah!! Sorry!! I’m just so excited, forgive me Izuku.”
Izuku clasped his hands together to hide the tremor.
“It’s okay.” He said as he lifted his head, directing that tired gaze at them.
…
The psychiatrist broke the brief silence.
“Well Izuku, here begins a new stage of your life—though you won’t be getting rid of me, eh?” he joked.
“Alright Izuku, you already know all the instructions, and so does Aizawa, who is now your legal guardian. I have no doubt you’ll adapt quickly.”
That warm, genuine smile really reached Izuku.
“You’re an incredible person with amazing abilities… I wish you nothing but the best..!”
…
Izuku simply nodded.
That indifferent look still hung on his face, but,
He felt such warmth in his chest…
It had been so long since a simple sentence had made him feel something like that…
But… how long would it last? When would they take it away? Did he even deserve it?
Every time—
“Alright! Time to finally go!” Eraserhead announced with a bit more cheer.
“Yes!!!” Yamada agreed as he began thanking and saying goodbye to both the doctor and the psychiatrist.
The drive from the hospital to Aizawa’s home was exactly what Izuku expected.
Izuku stayed quiet, staring out the window as Aizawa drove, calm as usual, and Hizashi carried the “conversation” (more like a monologue) with the car radio playing very softly.
Finally they arrived at Aizawa’s front door.
Those 20 minutes had felt long and heavy. But they were here now.
Izuku felt a bit anxious without knowing exactly why.
It didn’t matter what he found on the other side.
He wouldn’t trust or settle in.
It wouldn’t last anyway.
It never did…
Present Mic had left two hours ago.
After showing him the entire house and “settling” into what would be his new room, they noticed a small detail.
Izuku had nothing. No clothes, no personal items, nothing.
He didn’t dare mention the notebooks. It didn’t feel like the right moment.
But he’d ask Eraserhead. And if not, he’d sneak out to get them.
He also needed to find a way to smoke without Aizawa finding out. Though he’d need to get tobacco first…
Better to sneak out one night and do everything at once—grab the notebooks and the cigarettes.
Right now those were the only things that calmed him. That, and exercising. They soothed the constant trembling in his hands.
The pills too. But he hated them. They made him feel numb, and he wouldn’t be able to fight back properly if someone came for him.
He was thinking about starting to throw them up after taking them. If for some reason Sensei—
Three light knocks on the door stopped his thoughts.
Shit.
Fuck.
No no.
He was so deep in his mind that he didn’t sense someone approaching.
Shit shit.
His breathing quickened.
Were they coming for him?
His hands began trembling uncontrollably.
He stood up and got into a defensive stance just in case.
The panic wasn’t letting him interpret the intentions of whoever was behind the door.
That tiny second before the door opened felt like an eternity for Izuku.
“!!”
“Izuku, dinner is ready. Come.” Aizawa said as he held the door open.
The shift in Izuku’s expression immediately told him everything.
Aizawa had left him in the room for a few minutes to let him acclimate and to give him some time to process everything better…
Dinner was… painfully quiet.
Aizawa wasn’t much of a talker to begin with, and Izuku right now…
“Well, problem child, do you like the house? I can change something if there’s anything you don’t like… though I’m not repainting or tearing down walls.” He warned, pointing a finger at him.
A small joke to break the tension.
God he was terrible at this—
Until Izuku’s eyes brightened a little and narrowed ever so slightly.
Was that… a half-smile?
A wave of realization hit Aizawa.
Something was something, right?
Okay, no. Focus. He had to keep talking. That’s how conversations worked, dammit.
The rest of dinner was a success for Aizawa. Izuku responded mostly with monosyllables.
But he was much more present. He still didn’t make much eye contact, but at least he looked at Aizawa’s lips.
First dinner. Success.
Next activity on Hizashi’s plan to help Izuku acclimate?
“Hey, kid, come sit on the couch. Why don’t we watch a movie?”
Izuku nodded, approached, and sat.
Stiffer than a wooden plank. He looked like a robot.
He barely leaned against the backrest.
It made Aizawa a little sad, but not worried. He knew it was only a matter of time and effort before Izuku would relax and trust.
Everything in its due time…
Aizawa chose a movie that wasn’t dramatic or bloody. He didn’t like drama, and the second genre didn’t seem appropriate yet. Just in case.
They ended up watching a sci-fi aliens movie. It was +12, so it shouldn’t have any dangerous scenes.
Throughout the whole movie, Aizawa kept glancing sideways to check Izuku’s reactions.
Nothing. He barely moved.
But he didn’t look away from the screen. Not once.
Aizawa didn’t even know if Izuku was actually watching or if he had dissociated for the whole hour and forty minutes. Even the credits…
“So… what did you think?” Aizawa asked, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees.
“Good. I liked it. I like the character Edwin.”
Oh.
He was watching.
“Sound director Harold Stevenson did a very good job.”
…
Okay. So he was definitely paying attention. Maybe more than Aizawa expected…
Aizawa sighed slightly, amused and surprised.
“Well kid, time to head to bed. Tomorrow’s a big day.” He said as he stood up from the couch with a small smile.
After a few seconds, Izuku turned to him with a slight frown.
He really hated not understanding something or not being informed.
“What?”
“What do you mean ‘what’? I’m pretty sure I told you.”
Izuku still didn’t get it. His frown deepened.
It was honestly funny to Aizawa.
“Tomorrow is Monday.”
…
“Your first day at U.A.”
Notes:
Chrysanthemum*: The chrysanthemum is a type of flower that can survive in very harsh environmental conditions.
Weeelll, I hope you liked iiiit!
Don’t worry, the dose of suffering is coming soooon ;D
Tell me what you thought in the comments!! See you next Friday! 🐭🐭
Chapter 21: Tiny steps
Summary:
Chapter summaryyy:
– Aizawa–Izuku relationship moves forward :D
– Izuku goes through an episode.
– first day of class?
Notes:
Hiiii hiiiiii, well,
I really like this chapter, and it’s also pretty long — kind of like two chapters in one — but I don’t know, I just felt like writing and I didn’t want to make you wait too long either. You’ll tell me what you think abt it.🥴
BY THE WAY, I don’t want anyone criticizing or commenting on my shitty drawing, but one day I was bored and decided to draw what I think Izuku’s face would look like right now… reminder that I’m absolutely terrible at drawing :/
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Z8mdP8dvS_M4UM5wAVebo22vT1GkctoS/view?usp=sharing
Anywayyyy, I hope you enjoy the chapter, here it is,
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Tomorrow is Monday.”
…
“Your first day at U.A.”
“What?”
Izuku stared at Aizawa, not understanding anything.
Already?
For a moment he felt a small spark of… worry? Uneasiness?
But it was soon replaced again by that indifference.
Like an automatic switch being flipped every time.
To Izuku it was always a strange sensation whenever it happened. He increasingly had the feeling something was missing.
…
“Alright.”
Izuku’s answer took a couple seconds, and Aizawa was surprised at how quickly he had taken it in.
He looked shocked at first and suddenly didn’t care anymore…
“Just… give me more details,” he said. He sounded a little annoyed.
Ah, right, Izuku hated vague things. Aizawa had noticed it during the many visits at the hospital—every time Izuku frowned when something he wasn’t aware of was mentioned.
He had also noticed that Izuku was very indifferent toward almost everything, yet at the same time irritable and impatient. Aizawa assumed it was because of the symptom of empathy loss the doctor had mentioned.
“Tomorrow we’re leaving at 7:10. Since neither of us has breakfast yet, we’ll wake up around 6:30. I’ll go wake you up. Do whatever you need to do hygiene-wise, then I’ll shower. I usually take about 10 minutes in the bathroom, then it’s all yours.”
After a few seconds of normal silence, Izuku stood up.
“Okay, everything’s clear,” he said, like a robot.
“By the way, don’t worry about personal hygiene stuff. I’ll leave everything on the desk in your room,” Aizawa added.
“Oh, and about the U.A. uniform—your uniforms are in the closet. I picked out both the winter and summer ones. It’s May, it’s not that hot yet.”
“For now, you’ll wear the winter uniform.”
“I think that’s everything,” he ended.
He expected some response from Izuku, but he simply nodded and stood still.
As if he were waiting for permission or something.
“Come on, problem child, upstairs.”
Aizawa walked behind him as they climbed the stairs.
“By the way, we need to go shopping.”
Izuku’s lack of reaction made it obvious he hadn’t understood why.
“You’re not planning on going around wearing my old tracksuits, right?”
Izuku looked down, suddenly remembering that the clothes hanging off him were old Eraserhead high-school tracksuits.
…
Without saying a word, embarrassed, he quickly rushed toward the guest room door.
“Good night,” he said, head lowered, probably blushing.
Aizawa almost let out a suppressed laugh but held it back.
…
“Ahh…” He sighed in an amused tone.
“Good night, problem child. Anything you need, remember I’m only a few meters away.”
Izuku nodded and closed the door halfway.
Already lying in bed, Aizawa went over the whole day and could say it had been a complete success.
There had barely been progress, but he was very proud of Izuku. He had adapted incredibly well to the house.
Aizawa just hoped the medication the doctor prescribed would work and that the kid wouldn’t have another terrible night…
The clock showed 2:46 when Aizawa opened his eyes that same night. A loud noise ripped him out of his light sleep.
He jumped out of bed the moment he realized what it could be.
He practically ran toward Izuku’s room, opened the half-closed door and—
No one.
“Izu—!”
A small sound stopped him.
Barely audible.
Like heavy breathing.
It was too dark—Aizawa could barely see, but following the sound he could distinguish a small shadow curled up on the floor in a corner.
He seemed to have folded in on himself.
“Hey hey, Izuku…!” he said as he approached, crouching.
Aizawa barely dared talk louder than a whisper.
He softened his voice as much as he could.
He didn’t want to scare him or worsen his state.
Though Izuku wasn’t crying, nor in one of his usual episodes…
“Izuku, it’s okay, I’m here,” he said once next to him.
He didn’t want to touch him yet; he wasn’t sure whether Izuku wanted that.
He simply extended his hands toward him.
“It’s me. Aizawa… Eraserhead…”
After a few seconds, that trembling ball seemed to loosen a bit, a small portion revealing his head.
After a long moment with no further reaction, Aizawa began to lower his hands—
Until a too-fast, desperate hand grabbed one of his.
The grip was strong, and even then Aizawa could feel the trembling.
God, he was terrified.
Aizawa’s heart ached seeing him like that.
Damn it, Izuku hadn’t done ANYTHING to deserve this.
Nothing…
Half an hour passed where the only audible things were Aizawa’s whispers, constantly repeating:
“It’s okay, Izuku,”
“I’m here,”
“It’s all alright now.”
Izuku had finally unfolded himself from that shell.
He was now sitting, back resting against the wall.
He stared ahead, but at the same time looked at nothing.
The bright crescent moon coming through the window let Aizawa see Izuku’s state.
Izuku looked completely defeated. Still trembling—less violently now—shoulders dropped, legs stretched out on the floor, gaze lost in front of him.
His breathing had calmed. The episode seemed to have passed after thirty minutes.
But Aizawa felt it wasn’t the moment to speak or try anything.
He felt he needed to stay there quietly and let Izuku lead.
Izuku, on the other hand, seemed completely in a trance. Disconnected from reality.
Yet he still held Aizawa’s hand just as tightly.
Ten more minutes passed and nothing changed.
Aizawa’s mind was debating endlessly.
He knew he should follow the doctor’s recommendations, but his instinct—
His thoughts were cut short by a very hoarse whisper.
“White hair…”
…
“Horns.”
…
“Building 7.”
“First floor, door 3…”
Aizawa didn’t understand anything.
Izuku’s gaze was still completely lost, and he had begun saying random information.
Maybe he was remembering? Remembering someone, or something good?
He wasn’t reacting the same way he usually did to these episodes.
Aizawa didn’t want to get hopeful too fast, but he couldn’t help it.
He didn’t want to interrupt once Izuku was finally letting things out—he knew how hard that was.
Aizawa simply tightened his grip to let him know he wasn’t alone.
No reaction.
But after a few seconds, Izuku opened his mouth again.
“Hannitta Kanno… 23 years old…”
“5'7'' tall, 152 pounds…”
“white hair…”
His eyes still looked empty, but somehow more present than before.
A friend of Izuku’s?? Aizawa wondered.
Izuku was observant… could it be that—?
“Animal-type quirk… he had little horns growing from his skull…”
“And his hair looked like… sheep’s wool…”
Without a doubt, he had been Izuku’s friend!
He WAS starting to remember!
A single tear slid slowly down Izuku’s cheek.
“He was the first person I killed.”
…
…
What?
…
“But…”
His voice faltered as it cracked, while his expression remained blank.
“But…”
“I…”
His voice trembled more and more, on the edge of a breakdown.
“I… I didn’t want to…”
“I didn’t want to do it.”
“I never wanted to.”
…
Izuku swallowed hard—trying to swallow the lump in his throat.
…
“But I did.”
“No…!”
“That’s not true, Izuku!”
Aizawa raised his voice from a whisper, shaking Izuku’s hand to get his attention.
“Don’t you DARE blame yourself!!”
“Are you hearing me?!”
Izuku slowly turned his head to look at Aizawa.
That impassive expression.
But those eyes full of pain and disgust.
Those dark circles holding an ocean of exhaustion and hurt.
That freshly fallen tear, already almost dry.
And that small but unbearably heavy smile.
…
“Don’t you DARE blame yourself for what those people forced you to do!!”
…
Izuku’s eyes screamed fear, anguish, and self-loathing—clearly searching for any of those reflected in Aizawa’s.
He wouldn’t find them.
Aizawa’s heart sank completely. He couldn’t bear seeing him like that.
Another lonely tear slid down Izuku’s cheek.
“You don’t get it…!”
His voice broke.
“I’ve killed…!”
…
“I’ve taken so many lives!!”—
“You’re NOT a bad person, Izuku!!”
“You’re NOT a criminal!!”
“And you’re definitely NOT a murderer!!”
“They forced you!! They MADE you do it!!”
“You were a kid with no other option!”
“But none of it is your fault!!”
Izuku stared at Aizawa, searching for something—anything—that might prove he was lying.
Anything.
But he wasn’t going to find it.
When he finally gave up, he froze.
He let go of Aizawa’s hand and lowered his gaze to his trembling hands.
He looked at them with such disgust it hurt to even watch.
He was probably having flashbacks.
Aizawa took Izuku’s hands gently.
“It’s not your fault, okay?”
…!
It was 7:15 a.m.
Aizawa and Izuku were already in the car heading toward U.A.
It was a normal morning.
Too normal, considering what had happened during the night.
After Aizawa had held his hands, Izuku fainted after a few seconds.
His mind couldn’t take any more and simply shut down.
And that morning, Izuku’s attitude was the same as always.
Simple indifference, mixed with apathy and impatience.
As if nothing had happened.
Aizawa didn’t know whether Izuku didn’t remember or simply didn’t care.
And he didn’t want to bring it up—not a good idea.
The only “issue” was Izuku’s nervousness about covering all his scars.
He wrapped his hands and neck—the parts that stuck out from the uniform.
Aizawa had noticed how Izuku looked at them too much.
He clearly hated them.
Who knew what went through his mind when he saw them…
They were five minutes away from U.A.
The car ride was quiet and calm. Only the radio played softly.
“By the way, Izuku, I forgot to tell you something.”
Izuku turned his head slightly—showing he was listening.
“These past days they weren’t with me because I was too busy and a friend was taking care of them, but I actually have three cats.”
Izuku reacted instantly. He turned to stare at Aizawa.
The reaction startled Aizawa a little, but seeing that faint greenish shine in those tired almost-grey eyes reminded him of something.
A memory from a few weeks ago—when he still stayed with Izuku during the nights.
One day he found Izuku in an alley petting a stray cat, with that same shine in his eyes.
Relief washed over Aizawa.
Izuku didn’t even need to speak.
After a few seconds, the boy looked down at his lap, thinking about the news, then returned his gaze to the window.
“Also, we’re arriving about forty minutes early because of my teacher duties and as your homeroom teacher. But don’t worry, you’ll be busy too.”
Izuku frowned, confused.
“The principal wants to meet you. He’s aware of the whole situation.”
“I’ll walk you to his office. If you want, I can go in with you or not—your choice.”
“Alright.”
“And just a warning—he can be a bit direct or intense sometimes.”
Before Izuku knew it, Aizawa had parked.
“Let’s go,” the dark-haired adult said unbuckling his seatbelt.
“The principal’s office is that door,” Aizawa said as they walked down the hallway.
“Okay, I can take it from here,” Izuku replied.
That surprised Aizawa a little, but if that was how he wanted to do it, it was another step forward.
Aizawa couldn’t help but smile proudly as he turned away.
“Alright, see you in a bit, Izuku.”
“Yes, okay.”
Three small knocks sounded on the door before a “Come in” came from inside.
When he entered, he found U.A.’s principal stepping down from his chair behind the desk.
Izuku wasn’t surprised by his appearance—he already knew a few things about him.
Just like with Aizawa, Izuku had researched him beforehand.
“Good morning, Midoriya Izuku,” the small rodent said with a warm smile, extending his hand.
It had been a long time since Izuku had heard his full name…
“Good morning,” Izuku replied, shaking his hand.
“Please, sit,” Nezu said, pointing to one of the sofas.
Once they were both seated—
“Well, since we don’t have much time today, I’ll just ask you a couple of things so we can get to know each other better, alright? We don’t want you to be late on your first day.”
“Alright,” Izuku answered curtly.
“Well then, tell me—what do you think so far of what you’ve seen of the school?”
Nezu knew Aizawa had given him a small superficial tour earlier.
…
Izuku didn’t expect such a specific question and honestly out of context, but—
“Well, from what I’ve seen, the school is clearly adapted for the possibility of all types of quirks. Though there’s a detail I’ve been thinking about while coming here.”
“Please, go on,” Nezu replied immediately, very curious.
“The floor.”
“The floor, from what I’ve seen, is pretty much the same everywhere. For students with animal-type quirks who have claws or hooves, it could be difficult or even uncomfortable to walk on tile flooring…”
Izuku began rambling to himself in whispers, debating his own point. He had already forgotten he was talking to Nezu.
The principal, on the other hand, was impressed.
There were no students with those features on campus at the moment, but the boy was absolutely right—
“And also, the position of the hallway cameras is perfect. I don’t think there’s a single blind spot.”
…!
Incredible.
Aizawa had mentioned Izuku was observant and analytical, but Nezu couldn’t understand when he had found time to look at all that.
Izuku barely looked directly at any cameras while walking with him… Nezu had noticed him since the beginning…
…
A satisfied, entertained smile grew on Nezu’s face.
“Well, Izuku, it’s getting late. I think you should head to class now,” he said, hopping off the sofa.
“I’m very pleased we got to talk, even if briefly. I hope we can talk more later,” he added, extending his hand again.
Something about the principal felt slightly uncomfortable… but not unpleasant. Izuku actually liked him.
Once outside, Izuku made his way toward the teacher’s room.
Aizawa had told him to go there once done, and the previous tour had been enough for Izuku to memorize the building’s basic layout.
He reached the door. He’d noticed more and more people filling the hallways—class was about to start.
A loud bang from the door across the hallway snapped him out of his thoughts.
“Well well!!! The little green bean!!!”
That loud, cheerful voice echoed through the hallways—definitely not something you’d enjoy hearing at 7:40 on a Monday.
Present Mic’s positivity fascinated Izuku.
That “fascination,” at this hour, was more like annoyance.
…
“Good morning, Present Mic,” he replied plainly.
“No no,” the blond said, shaking his head.
“It’s not Present Mic, now It’s Yamada-sensei!” he said proudly with a dazzling smile.
Something echoed inside Izuku when he said that…
Suddenly, Aizawa peeked from inside the teacher’s room.
“Yamada, stop overwhelming the kid.”
“Izuku, you’re done, right? Come in. Class starts soon. You’ll stay here in the teachers’ room for now with Present Mic, and when he tells you, you can come in, alright?”
Izuku nodded and sat on the sofa Aizawa pointed out.
It was 7:50. Attendance was always taken at that time so classes could start promptly at 8.
As soon as Aizawa entered class 2-A, the few students still standing sat down.
Two seconds later, the blue-haired boy already had his full arm raised, ready to ask a question.
“Yes, Iida?” Aizawa said, not very enthusiastically. He’d had a rough night.
“Good morning, Aizawa-sensei!! I was wondering why you are here instead of Yamada-sensei! According to our schedule, we have English with—”
“Yes, Iida. We’ve decided to replace the first English class of the day with a homeroom hour because of a serious matter we need to discuss.”
“The rest of the classes will continue as planned in your schedule. Meaning that after this homeroom period you’ll go down to the training grounds with me for heroics, as usual.”
“Yes, sensei!! Thank you very much!!”
“You’re welcome, Iida…” he replied, placing the attendance sheet down.
“Well, this is a delicate topic, but you’re second-years now. You’re close to becoming official heroes and most of you already have moderate licenses, so I’ll be direct.”
The silence in the classroom was only broken by a few people swallowing nervously.
Aizawa-sensei was definitely making it sound bad.
“Some time ago, a group of heroes—including your classmates Shoto, Tsukuyomi, Dynamight, and myself—conducted a raid on one of the League of Villains’ labs.”
“During this operation there were barely any complications or injuries; however, several hostages were found.”
“These people suffered greatly at the hands of those villains. They were rescued and now are in both physical and mental rehabilitation.”
The students seemed to relax after that last part—Aizawa even noticed some relieved smiles.
“That’s a relief, Aizawa-sensei,” Mina said with a sigh, hand on her chest.
“… One of the hostages is named Izuku Midoriya. He’s your age.”
The information surprised the students, though mostly because they didn’t understand where this was going, and something felt off.
“Well, due to very special circumstances and a situation I cannot disclose, Midoriya will be joining your class from today on.”
The announcement confused many. Clearly, they lacked enough information to understand…
“Excuse me, Aizawa-sensei! I apologize for interrupting, however, I don’t think this is correct and it simply doesn’t make sense—wouldn’t it be better if he stayed under the care of his guardians and continued rehabilitation?”
“Iida, Midoriya is under mental rehabilitation, however—”
“Forgive my interruption, but if that’s the case, doesn’t it mean he isn’t stable and that we’re putting others at—”
“Iida.”
The uncomfortable silence after Aizawa raised his voice slightly was nothing compared to the tension.
Several students seemed bothered by Iida’s comments.
“Fine. I didn’t want to give extra information, but you’re not giving me another choice,” he said, tone deadly serious.
“So you understand—Midoriya is a minor, around 16 years old, a hostage and victim of villains, who has suffered severely traumatic experiences. His legal guardians are unable to care for him, and due to certain circumstances—which I cannot specify, as they belong entirely to Izuku’s privacy—U.A. has offered to act as his guardian, specifically myself and Principal Nezu.”
…
“Does anyone else have questions or complaints?”
Jiro raised her hand.
“Yes, Jiro.”
“Aizawa-sensei, I’d like to know how we can help or… if there’s any recommended behavior or something. I mean… if he’s experienced traumatic situations…”
“Ahh… thank you, Jiro. Yes. Unfortunately, Midoriya has been exposed to prolonged trauma, but he’s reacting better than expected. You can’t really do much except lower your volume a little and stay alert to his reactions and behavior.”
“It’s not about giving him special treatment—Midoriya actually needs the opposite. Being around people his age in a safe environment like this school. Do things as usual, but you’ll start speaking with slightly lower volume, alright?”
“Yes, sensei,” the class replied almost in unison.
Aizawa could see mostly excitement and joy on their faces about getting a new classmate.
“Sensei! Is that why there’s a new empty desk behind Bakugou’s?” Denki asked.
“Correct, Denki,” Aizawa replied while texting Present Mic to send Izuku over.
It took barely a minute before three knocks sounded on the door.
The class nearly burst with excitement. Their faces said it all.
Shit.
He was definitely more nervous than Izuku.
“Come in,” Aizawa said with typical homeroom-teacher authority.
...!
Notes:
Well well welllll, that was the chapter, tell me what you thought, I’m reading youuu 🫶🏻😝
See you next Fridayyyyy 🐭😚
Chapter 22: ¡¡Communication!!
Chapter Text
Hi beautiful people! It seems that somebody has taken a lot of time to report my story to the police… ehem…
This person also left a comment, here it is ( if you do not believe me, you can go to the chapter 21, comment section to check it)
|
Marvwithav (Guest) left the following comment on Chapter 21: Tiny steps of Is there any hope for me? (English version):
|
Well… I don’t really know if they are going to take serious action against it… ehem I don’t even know how to take it seriously cause honestly lol
ok, well, all of this cause I wanted you to know that if the story is deleted or idk what is because of this and just to let you know.
I’m going to do everything I can not to let this happen and if it does, dw, It will be reborn 🐭🐭
XoXo😋😚
Chapter 23: Starting from scratch
Summary:
Wellll, in this chapter we have:
– Izuku introducing himself to the class
– Izuku training with Class 2-A
– and… that’s it? :D
Notes:
Hiii hiiii hiiiiiii, it’s new chapter dayyyyy.
Here is this week’s chapter, which, btw if finished writing while I was smoking a cigarette hehhe
Honestly, I don’t know if you’ll like this chapter a lot — I always try to include at least one moment where you go “wow” or just react with real emotion. I’m not sure this chapter has that, though I don’t think that’s a bad thing either. We also need calm moments (before the storm ;D) (kidding) (or not)
Anyway,
here it is 😚😛
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
It only took a minute before three light knocks sounded on the classroom door.
Most of the class perked up with excitement the moment they heard them. You could see it on their faces.
“Come in,” Aizawa said, with the kind of confidence in his voice that only a homeroom teacher has.
Although it only covered up the nervousness he felt for him.
Shit.
He was definitely more nervous than Izuku himself.
When the door opened, Present Mic appeared with that cheerful smile of his.
“Good morning, kids,” he said energetically.
“Good morning, Yamada-sensei,” they all answered almost in unison.
It was obvious they were responding automatically. No one was really paying attention to the greeting.
They were more focused on the direction Aizawa-sensei’s and Yamada-sensei’s eyes were fixed on.
In that short silence, the footsteps of that new student were barely audible — it was the students’ anxious breathing that could be heard instead.
When he finally appeared, the first thing they saw was that messy, restless mop of green hair.
The green-haired boy walked directly toward Aizawa without even looking at the students, so for now all they could see was that half-tousled hair.
That uniform, loose everywhere you looked, and the thermal shirt along with the bandages peeking out from the sleeves.
When he reached Aizawa’s height, he stared at him until, after a few seconds, he turned toward the class.
That uncomfortable silence that grew with every second seemed to stop for a moment.
Maybe it was the students’ hope. They didn’t expect anything. They had no expectations. They shouldn't.
But it only stopped for a second, because now the discomfort was unbearable.
Something didn’t add up at all. And it was obvious what it was.
The only thing that didn’t quite match with Izuku.
The tired, empty, unfocused eyes, the dark circles, the messy hair, the paleness of his face… everything fit.
Everything except that smile.
After a few seconds — during which who knows what was going through the students’ minds — Aizawa broke the long silence.
“Well, kid, you can introduce yourself now,” he said, placing a supportive hand on his back.
…
“Hi, I’m Izuku Midoriya,” he said like nothing.
Several students seemed surprised.
Probably because of how deep his voice was. It didn’t match his appearance.
I mean, no matter how tough he looked, he wasn’t very big and definitely not robust.
…
“I’m 16.”
…
“I think.”
That “I think” was what broke the ice.
For most of them, it was so unexpected that a nervous laugh escaped.
On the other hand, Aizawa simply wasn’t expecting it.
What do you mean “I think”?
Honestly, it was a little unsettling — Izuku and he had just talked about his age at the hospital a few days ago.
The kid really only paid attention to what he wanted, huh…
“Well, kid, sit in that empty seat just behind Bakugou,” Aizawa said after sighing, pointing toward the desk.
Izuku nodded and headed there.
As he walked past Kacchan, who was sitting with his arms crossed, he noticed something in his eyes had changed.
He couldn’t describe exactly what. It wasn’t like his scowl wasn’t there like always.
And his eyebrows were still angled downward as if he were angry.
…
It was just that… the look in his eyes was softer…?
…
Once Izuku sat down, Aizawa spoke again.
“Well, I have to step out for a moment. I’ll be about 5 to 10 minutes. Don’t cause trouble and don’t overwhelm or pester Izuku, for god’s sake. Yaoyorozu, I’m putting you in charge of that,” he said as he walked toward the door.
“When I get back, you’ll head down to change.”
With that, he stepped outside.
…
There was a long silence until the sound of a chair sliding slightly broke it.
“Nice to meet you, I’m Hanta Sero!!” said the black-haired boy beside him, turning toward him with a bright smile while pointing at himself with his thumb.
…
“…Same,” Izuku said, nodding.
Izuku noticed his elbows…
Hmm…
judging by the shape… he probably deploys some kind of tape or whip from there…?
He had it on both elbows… interesting
That small exchange of words was like the green light for the others students.
“Hi!!! I’m Denki Kaminari!!!” one of the students shouted, waving from his seat while rocking his chair.
“Denki! Don’t yell so much, you heard Aizawa-sensei!” a female voice called from behind Izuku.
He turned around and their eyes met.
“Ah, sorry,” she said as she stood up.
“I’m Momo Yaoyorozu, I’m the vice-rep of Class 2-A,” she said with a small bow.
Izuku simply tilted his head respectfully.
Kaminari had blond hair with a little black lightning bolt… something related to controlling an element? Wind? Sunlight? Maybe electricity?
As for Yaoyorozu… she didn’t have any superficial physical traits… maybe a mental quirk…?
Suddenly a loud scrape of a chair sounded.
“How inappropriate of me!!! I must introduce myself! I am Tenya Iida!!! Class representative of 2-A!!!!” he practically shouted with a 90º bow.
Ahhh… something about this guy irritated Izuku…
“I belong to the Iida Family, a family with a long hero tradition!! I suppose you know my older brother, the pro hero Ingenium,” he said with a mix of pride and… something else.
“Mhm,” Izuku hummed, nodding.
So his brother was Ingenium, huh… If he remembered correctly, he’d seen him live a couple times, and well, he definitely took notes on Ingenium’s quirk in his quirk notebooks…
If he remembered right, the League of Villains had been interested in hi—
“Ah!! Hi!! I’m Mina Ashido!!” said a girl with beautiful pink skin. She also had small horns…
“Nice to meet you, Midoriya!” Something about her sincere smile felt pleasant to Izuku.
“Nice to meet you, Mina Ashido,” he said, looking at her.
“KYAA how cute!! You can just call me Mina, okay??” Her wide smile and sincerity just hit Izuku directly.
It was similar to how Present Mic felt.
When the introductions finally ended, it took barely a minute for Aizawa to walk back in. It seemed almost timed…
Could it be that…?-
“Well class, as always, head to the locker rooms in an orderly manner. You have 10 minutes to change. Once you’re done, go out to the training area.”
“Izuku, with me.”
Once everyone left the classroom,
“Well, Izuku, here’s the PE uniform.”
“I don’t think you’d want to change with all the boys in the locker room. If you want, you can change in the bathrooms on this floor.”
“I’ll wait for you and then we’ll head down to the training grounds,” he said while sorting through some papers.
…
“That’s not necessary.”
“I can change with them,” Izuku said in a neutral tone.
“Huh?” Aizawa was genuinely surprised.
“Under the uniform I’m completely covered by a shirt and thermal pants, and I have bandages on my hands and neck.”
“I don’t see a problem,” he said without hesitating.
…
“Wow. I thought you might feel uncomfortable,” he admitted.
“All right, go then.”
Izuku began walking toward the door.
“You remember how to get there, right?” Asked Aizawa.
“Yes, you showed me earlier.”
“Okay, go quickly.”
After a few hallways and stairs, Izuku reached the locker room corridor, where he found Denki just about to open a door.
“Oh, Midoriya. Are you coming to the locker room?”
“I had forgotten something, hehe.”
“Come on, let’s go in together,” he said with a wide grin.
“Okay,” Izuku replied.
He followed him inside.
“Heyyy!! I found Midoriya!! Make some space, guys!”
Everyone was halfway changed. They looked over and immediately searched for an empty spot.
“Oh, look, there’s a free locker between Todoroki and Shouji,” Denki said as he headed toward his own.
Izuku nodded and went there.
“Hi,” Todoroki said while taking off his shirt.
“Hi,” Izuku replied without even looking at him.
Neither of them seemed like someone who talked much…
“How are you feeling?” Todoroki asked, not stopping what he was doing.
“Fine,” Izuku answered while removing his uniform jacket.
Truth be told, both Todoroki and Tokoyami knew certain details about what had happened. After all, they were heroes who had participated in the raid on the laboratory.
They were aware of the basics and of how Izuku had been found… it was simply stated in the report…
Once everyone was changed, Izuku followed the others out.
When they arrived at a wide open area, he could see many sub-areas for athletic tests, a climbing wall, etc.
Izuku assumed it was all for physical training.
“All right, today we’ll mainly focus on physical training. If we have time left at the end, we might do a few sparring sessions.”
Everyone got excited, who didn’t like sparring?
“Okay, but first, we’ll start with twenty laps around the area. No quirks, and, of course, it will be timed.”
When he heard that, Izuku’s eyes lit up.
They were going to run? Finally, something he was actually good at. This way they wouldn’t get tired of him so quickly.
“Warm up a little, you have 5 minutes,” Aizawa announced.
Izuku approached him.
“Do you have weighted ankle straps?” He asked directly.
“Huh? What do you want those for, kid?”
“To run. I always run with weights.”
“You want to run?”
“Yes.”
…
“Look, we’re doing laps, but today’s goal is to finish without getting exhausted and keeping a steady pace the whole time.”
“Let’s leave that intensity for another day, okay?” he said, placing a hand on his head.
“All right.”
It wasn’t that he was upset, Izuku just didn’t want to stand out too much.
After warming up a little, everyone lined up.
“All right, go!!!”
They all began running without much speed, saving energy for the end.
Izuku tried to keep the pace of the leading group without passing them so he wouldn’t stand out.
Among the first were Shoto Todoroki, Tenya Iida, Fumikage Tokoyami, Mina Ashido, and Kacchan.
After five laps, Izuku was getting tired of this speed.
Not that they were that slow but…
Aizawa watched the whole class and noticed Izuku was running oddly.
During lap 9, when the lead group passed by Aizawa, he took the chance to ask.
“Hey kid, why are you running so weird?”
“I’m having trouble keeping this pace.”
“There’s no need to stay with the front group, don’t worry, you can-”
“Okay.” He responded interrupting Aizawa.
With that, Izuku began running faster and quickly pulled far ahead.
Seconds passed and the gap kept growing.
It wasn’t a sprint — more like huge strides. Leaps that carried him far with each step.
It reminded Aizawa of an antelope.
So that’s what he meant — he wasn’t used to running slowly… and that’s why he asked for weights…
During interrogation, Garaki had mentioned a certain training they forced Izuku to do… maybe this was the result.
That inhuman agility Aizawa had seen on the rooftops…
Does he also have incredible strength? Aizawa examined him more carefully and the answer was clearly no.
Impossible. Not with that body.
…
Before he knew it, Izuku was about to overlap the slowest group.
He was nearly a full lap ahead of everyone.
Or he would be, if Aizawa didn’t have the most competitive students.
Todoroki, Iida, Tokoyami, and Bakugou had accelerated like mad after Izuku overtook them.
Ahhh… Aizawa told them this wasn’t a race and to save energy…
On lap 18, the lead group led by Izuku was now almost two laps ahead of the rest.
It was ridiculous.
Behind Izuku were Bakugou and Iida neck and neck. Behind them came Todoroki and Tokoyami.
Everyone except Izuku seemed at their limit, yet they didn’t slow down.
Izuku was simply using a different technique — more efficient, more practical for long distances.
The others were essentially sprinting for 10 laps straight.
Aizawa was annoyed they’d turned it into a race. Though he couldn’t help feeling proud.
They were pushing themselves harder than ever, and it was Izuku who caused it.
Maybe Izuku also had superior abilities in other fields, and he could help motivate them — even be an example.
If Izuku wanted to, of course.
On lap 19, the lead group positions began to shift.
Todoroki slowed down slightly, and Tokoyami overtook him.
Izuku remained unchanged. Same pace, not tired, not breathing heavily. Just running twenty laps at a steady rhythm. Just like Aizawa instructed.
Seeing the difference between him and the others, Aizawa realized: Izuku wasn’t even trying.
For him, this was normal pace!
Holy shit…
No matter how hard you train, it’s not humanly possible to be like that. It had to be because of the modifications done to him at the lab. Garaki had mentioned something like that.
Aizawa should research more about it.
Before he realized, Izuku — who had been leading the entire time — began to be overtaken.
Iida started accelerating even more, and Bakugou matched him. Katsuki wasn’t going to fall behind.
Crossing the finish line, everyone except Izuku collapsed.
Todoroki and Tokoyami were crouched, trying to breathe, Iida stayed still recovering, and Bakugou walked it off.
“Well, even though you didn’t listen to me at all, that was a very good run,” said their teacher’s deep voice.
“You must be exhausted. Go drink some water and catch your breath. You’ve got time until the others finish and rest too.”
Aizawa walked off to check on the rest of the class.
Izuku looked at his classmates going for water and followed them.
“Ahhh…” Bakugou sighed as he grabbed his bottle.
Once they all took that desperately needed sip,
“Hey, you’re pretty good,” Todoroki commented before drinking again.
Izuku turned toward him at the sound of his voice.
“Well mmm,” he replied neutrally, without making eye contact.
“I train regularly…” he added while watching the rest of Class 2-A finish.
“Wow, could I join your training someday? It’s pretty impressive how you’re not even tired,” Todoroki said.
“If you want. I don’t see a problem,” Izuku answered.
A strained voice interrupted,
“Can-aaahhgggh— Can I join too!?? I seriously need to work on my cardio.” Kirishima panted before chugging more water.
Izuku had seen him leading the rest of the group alongside Mina Ashido.
“Why not?” Izuku replied with a nod.
“Thanks, bro, you’d be doing me a favor,” he said, then walked toward Kaminari and Kacchan and wrapped an arm around each of their shoulders.
Izuku found the scene strange… overly close.
For some reason, he followed Kirishima toward the group.
Hanta Sero, Denki Kaminari, Eijirou Kirishima, Kyouka Jirou, Mina, and Kacchan were all there.
As he approached-
“HEYY!! Midoriya dude!! That was INCREDIBLE! You killed it, man!! Seriously!!”
Kaminari said enthusiastically, walking toward him with his arm already raised to pull him into a side hug.
“Kaminari!” Jirou scolded.
“Don’t swarm him, jeez,” she said, irritated.
“But he did do super well!!” Mina added excitedly.
“I totally fell behind the moment you guys sped up!!”
…
…
After the two hours of training — in which they ultimately didn’t spar because there wasn’t enough time — the class changed back into their uniforms and went straight to the classroom.
They had modern literature with Cementoss, but he had a medical absence due to a raid he took part in over the weekend.
The students used the free period to do what Professor Hizashi assigned them since he wasn’t there either.
When the bell rang, the students stood up and began exiting the classroom.
Izuku didn’t understand. Was it some kind of alarm or-
“Lunch.”
“Huh?”
“It’s the lunch bell,” said a voice he hadn’t heard today.
“Come on, let’s go,” Bakugou said, already heading to the door.
Izuku stared at him from his seat. Kacchan stopped… for him?
To help him?
Nah…
Izuku had felt a warm gaze on him all day. And he already suspected where it came from…
Izuku ate lunch with Kacchan and his group of friends.
He actually liked them.
They were lively, friendly, fun — and Izuku genuinely didn’t see that look of pity in any of them. Not yet.
Hanta Sero mentioned something that stuck in Izuku’s mind.
Something about dorms. Izuku deduced they all lived together in a shared house on the U.A. campus.
If not that… then what else could he mean?
He would ask Nezu now.
He had been summoned to his office through the PA system a few minutes ago.
Izuku assumed it was because of what he had requested.
When they told him the news, Izuku demanded to enroll at the school like any other student.
Take a written exam and then a physical one. He was supposed to take them today.
He was already at the door waiting for the rodent’s permission to enter. He knew he was watching through the cameras. Just like last time.
…
“Come in.”
Notes:
here it is 😚😛
Hehehehe this has been this week’s chapterrrr.
I just realized it’s already been 2 months since I started uploading the fanfic on ao3, that’s wild!
In two months we’ve gotten: 46,297 words, 135 comments, 97 kudos, 17 bookmarks, a LOT of subscriptions and 2,828 hits AND A REPORT!!!!!
We’re huge, guys, so proud of you. 😌🙂↕️
BY THE WAY, about the story being reported to the police… hehe, I'm not going to do anything. First, that person was entirely responsible for opening and reading the story, even after all the warnings in the description and the notes at the beginning of each chapter. And second, I haven't done anything wrong; I'm just writing, so… ☺️🥸
If they still throw the story away, don't worry,
I'll come back. (I'm like a cockroach, I can't die)
Anyway, thank you so much to everyone for everything, and to those who keep following my story — whether you leave kudos (or not), comment (or not) — I love you all so much, thank you for following this fanfic 🫶🏻
Weeelll, I’m rambling again, tell me what you thought of the chapter and see you next weekkk 🫣
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agnis_24 on Chapter 1 Fri 10 Oct 2025 10:57PM UTC
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freya (Guest) on Chapter 1 Sun 23 Nov 2025 12:14AM UTC
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half_N_half_rascal on Chapter 1 Wed 03 Dec 2025 10:13PM UTC
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agnis_24 on Chapter 1 Wed 03 Dec 2025 10:30PM UTC
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Redacted151601 (Guest) on Chapter 2 Sat 15 Nov 2025 09:24AM UTC
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agnis_24 on Chapter 2 Sat 15 Nov 2025 09:37AM UTC
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Redacted151601 (Guest) on Chapter 3 Sat 15 Nov 2025 10:12AM UTC
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comically_tall_hospital on Chapter 3 Sun 23 Nov 2025 11:23AM UTC
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agnis_24 on Chapter 3 Mon 24 Nov 2025 07:18AM UTC
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agnis_24 on Chapter 6 Sat 04 Oct 2025 03:42PM UTC
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agnis_24 on Chapter 6 Wed 08 Oct 2025 01:52PM UTC
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Redacted151601 (Guest) on Chapter 6 Sat 15 Nov 2025 10:45AM UTC
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Redacted151601 (Guest) on Chapter 7 Sat 15 Nov 2025 11:23AM UTC
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DeadpooltheSuGarMoMmY on Chapter 8 Sun 05 Oct 2025 08:08AM UTC
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agnis_24 on Chapter 8 Sun 05 Oct 2025 10:08AM UTC
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DeadpooltheSuGarMoMmY on Chapter 8 Sun 05 Oct 2025 12:15PM UTC
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sansa (Guest) on Chapter 8 Sun 05 Oct 2025 08:33AM UTC
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