Chapter Text
He had to focus.
There were a million things he could have been thinking about at that exact moment as he ran through the fake city. He could have thought about how he was finally awake, feeling like he was alive for the first time in….who knows how long. He could have been thinking about all the trauma he’d gone through, how he’d miraculously survived being kidnapped and trapped in a warehouse of villains. But no- those thoughts would send him spiraling, maybe even back into that horrible state. He couldn’t do that right now. He had to focus.
His friends needed him.
His red shoes pounded against the fake concrete sidewalk, every step increasing his heart rate. And oh, his shoes-his heart swelled with gratefulness, there hadn’t been luxuries like that in the warehouse-
No. Now wasn’t the time to think about that. He could hear voices coming from up ahead, where smoke was pouring out from the top of the fake skyscrapers.
His feet launched him forward, and before he knew it, he’d reached the smoke. Students, participants in the test, were stumbling out of the thick fog, coughing and covering their mouths with their hands, some holding each other up, some full on carrying unconscious others.
He stopped, turning and trying to grab some of the student’s attention. None of them paid any mind, sprinting forward towards the flashing red EXIT signs. Internally, he sighed. Weren’t these people supposed to be heroes?
He had no idea where to start, where to go- there were so many people who needed help, students that were injured, sitting on the sides of the fake sidewalks, in too much pain to try to escape. Some of them, of course, were trying to help, but those in need outnumbered those helping massively.
As he was standing in the middle of all the hazy chaos, utterly dumbfounded, his chest began to pound, a creeping feeling making it’s way through his throat as the situation started to overwhelm him. All of a sudden, his eyes landed on a boy with shoulder-length black hair, stumbling forward with a figure slumped over his body, leaning on him completely for support. The creeping feeling halted, if just for a moment.
“Sero!” His voice shouted, and at the sound of his name, the boy’s head shot up. When his eyes landed on Izuku, however, they filled with utter horror.
“Midoriya?!” He repeated back, shifting the figure on his shoulder, who’s head slowly rose to look at him as well. It was Aoyama.
Izuku shot over to them, already trying to help lift Aoyama.
“M-Midoriya, you can’t be in here- we’ve got to go, and- wait, are you…?”
Izuku nodded, understanding what he meant. He wasn’t sure what to call it. Not…like that, anymore. “Y-yeah. Where are the others?”
“We all got separated at the crushing of UA. They could be anywhere. But-“
“Do you have a general direction?”
“Midoriya, you can’t go in there! This is the first time you’ve been fully conscious in four months, and now-“
Four months. Had it really been that long? “It doesn’t matter, I have to help!”
“Midoriya-“
“Sero, please.”
After a long second, the tall boy sighed. “I don’t know about everybody, but when the test first started, Bakugo said he was going to the east. I think Kirishima and Kaminari went with him.”
Quickly, Midoriya nodded, already starting to run in that direction. “Thanks, Sero!”
“Midoriya, be careful!”
East. It wasn’t much, but it was something, at least. Maybe from there, Kacchan would be able to tell him where the others were.
As he ran forward, through the smoke and chaos, he heard in front of him voices talking, though they seemed far away. They were too far off for him to understand what they were saying, but something about them wasn’t right. They seemed….almost calm?
It wasn’t until he was only about twenty feet away from the voices that he realized what made them so unnerving. He recognized them almost immediately, and his entire throat closed up, his blood running icy cold. Immediately, he ducked into an alleyway, frantically turning his head to search for something to hide behind. He settled on a fake dumpster.
“How are we supposed to find the stupid kid with all this smoke, anyway?” Came the voice of a villain, one who had helped capture him. He couldn’t remember his name, the one who could split himself in two?
“I don’t know. Half the people here look like him.” The second voice wasn’t one he recognized, but if they were with the League, they surely weren’t up to any good. Trying to control his breathing so they wouldn’t hear him, he grasped at the edges of his shirt, fidgeting nervously.
“Just keep looking, I guess. He’s bound to turn up eventually.”
He? Who was he? They weren’t looking for him, were they? Oh God, his heart began to race at the thought. He couldn’t go back there, he couldn’t-
Flashes of the warehouse spun through his mind, making his breath quicker by the second. They were here for someone else. They had to be here for someone else-
Letting out a shaky breath, he closed his eyes for just a brief moment, trying to compose himself. Don’t panic, don’t panic- He didn’t have time to panic now, he had to get to the others. He had to protect them.
As soon as he thought the voices were far enough away, he stood, resuming his original path, his head swerving around looking for villains. They had to be here somewhere, if he could just find one of his friends-
And just like that, like a miracle, he turned a corner, and there they were.
It was not the happy reunion it should have been.
It was Kirishima he spotted first. It was hard not to, with his bright red hair and costume that enhanced his silhouette. Except he wasn’t standing the way Izuku was used to seeing him, with a wide, proud stance and a confident aura that seemed ready to protect anyone at a moment’s notice.
He wasn’t standing now. Izuku felt his breath come to a halt when his eyes landed on him, his entire body nearly going into panic mode. The boy’s body was sprawled against the dirt below, covered in ash and soot. His arm was outstretched, as though he had been trying to grab someone before falling unconscious.
The someone he’d been trying to grab onto was revealed when Izuku stepped closer, revealing a scene that did send him into panic mode. It was Kacchan, lying the same way Kirishima was a few feet away, his entire gauntlet shattered to pieces next to him.
He was at his friend’s side in seconds, shaking both of them and yelling for them to please, please get up. Kirishima remained unmoving, but the slow rise and fall of his chest let Izuku know that he was at least alive.
Finally, after a moment, Katsuki’s eyes shot open, a gasp escaping his mouth.
“Kacchan!” Izuku said breathlessly, his voice shaking, “You’re okay….”
“D-Deku…???” Katsuki replied, blinking his eyes in the sudden light.
“What happened? Was it the villains? A bomb? Did your AP shot go wrong?”
Katsuki pushed himself up, coughing. “F-fucking of course it wasn’t my….it wouldn’t- Wh-what the hell? Y-you’re not…”
“Y-yeah, I know.” Izuku replied, looking over the cuts that covered his arms. “Are you okay, can you stand? Where are the others?”
“W-woah, slow down. How the fuck did you wake up? Where is…?”
It was then his eyes landed on Kirishima, widening in horror. “Eijirro!?” In a second, he scrambled over to him. “H-hey, Eijirro, get up!”
After a long second, Kirishima coughed. Slowly, his eyes opened, and he mumbled something incoherent. Katsuki breathed a sigh of relief, rolling his eyes.
As soon as the relief had hit him, however, it was gone, replaced again by a look of angry panic. “Where’s dunce-face?”
Swiveling his head around, Izuku scanned the area. That’s right, Sero had said something about Kaminari…
“Shit!”
Before Izuku has even spotted him, Katsuki jumped up, sprinting in the direction of the boy who was so far away, Izuku hadn’t even seen him.
“Kaminari?” Izuku repeated. Stepping over Kirishima, who was still getting his bearings, he raced to where Katsuki had dropped down to his knees.
If Kachan and Kirishima had looked bad, Kaminari looked ten times worse. A small pool of blood spread around him, and his face was almost unreadable from the amount of soot, ash, and blood that covered it.
“Dunce face, don’t you dare. ” Katsuki warned, but to Izuku’s surprise, it was more of a plea than a command. He pressed his head to Kaminari’s chest, and for a horrible moment, he said nothing. Then, a sigh, shaky and unnerved, came out. “He’s fucking breathing-barely.”
For the first time in nearly a minute, Izuku breathed clearly. “Wh-what happened? There are villains here, did you fight them? Did you-“
“Wait, what?” Katsuki snapped, his head turning to look at him. “Villains did this? Where are they?! I’ll kill them!”
“Kacchan, slow down! It’s dangerous, and there are people hurt-“
“No shit, Deku!” Katsuki shouted, the frustration in his tone rising. Izuku flinched, and Katsuki noticed, his brow furrowing. “Fuck, sorry. Whatever. You need to get the fuck out of here. I’ll take you and these extras to the edge of the arena, and then…”
Katsuki prattled on, but Izuku was having a hard time reckoning with the fact that he had just apologized to him. Since when did he do that??? Since when had he ever- ?
“Deku! Are you listening to me?!”
“Huh? Y-yeah, we’ve got to go save everyone.”
“What? No, that’s not what I said at all!”
Izuku paid him no attention, walking back over to where Kaminari was still on the ground and trying to lift him up over his shoulder. Weirdly, he only got him about halfway up when all of a sudden, Kaminari felt like he weighed a thousand tons. Arms shaking, he fell to one knee, nearly dropping the poor boy.
“Stupid Deku, don’t-“ Katsuki sighed loudly, grabbing Kaminari from him and easily putting him over his shoulder. “You’re out of commission for four whole ass months, and you think you can just lift people like it’s nothing? Don’t be dumb.”
Izuku blinked. Right. His muscles must have been significantly weaker after…everything. All that training he’d done…had it all been for nothing?
Before he could ponder it anymore, the ground shook again, a distant boom making its way to their ears a few seconds later. Eyes widening, Katsuki turned back to Eijirro. “Hey Shitty Hair, can you walk?”
Kirishima nodded quickly, but his face remained fairly dazed. Izuku walked over, extending a hand to him. For a moment, he simply stared at it, blinking.
“Midoriya?” He asked incredulously, “Man, what are you….? How??”
“I can’t explain right now. We have to go.” Izuku told him, and he nodded, taking the boy’s hand. Once he was somewhat steady on his feet, Izuku took his arm and put it around his own shoulders for support.
“Wh…what happened, anyway?” Eijirro asked sluggishly as they started to move. “Is this part of the test?”
Katsuki scoffed. “Course it isn’t. Fucking villains or some shit, no doubt. I’ll kill them.”
“We’ve got to get these two to safety first.” Izuku reminded him. Katsuki shot him a look, and Izuku wasn’t sure if it was telling him “No shit” again, or “Bold of you to assume I’m letting you come with me.” Maybe both.
“Midoriya, where’s Aizawa Sensei?” Kirishima muttered, limping along. “You were with him when the blast went off, right?”
“I’m not sure.” Izuku admitted, “I think…he told me to stay put, and then ran off somewhere?”
“Why didn’t you listen to him?” Katsuki snapped. Izuku just looked at him.
“If I’d stayed put, you guys might not be alive right now.”
Scoffing, Katsuki looked like he was just about to give Izuku and earful, when out of nowhere, from behind one of the tall fake buildings, a bright pink streak flew through the sky, followed by and even faster dark silhouette. The shadowy man was obviously a villain, characterized by a determined growl on his face, accompanied by the fact that the girl he was fighting was none other than Uraraka Occhako.
Before he could stop himself, Deku stepped forward, his eyes lighting up. “Uraraka!”
For just a moment, there was confusion on her face as her attention was drawn to the four boys down below. Then, a look of confusion, mixed with terror, and maybe the slightest bit of excitement when she saw who was talking. “Deku?!”
Before either of them could do anything else, the silhouette came charging at her, knocking her back and shoving her towards the ground. Izuku gasped, quickly taking Kirishima and leaning him up against Bakugo.
“Kacchan, get these two to safety, I’m going to help Uraraka!” He shouted.
“No, wait! DEKU-!” Katsuki screamed after him, but he was already halfway down the street.
“It’s okay man,” Kirishima said, “G-go help them, leave us here. W-we’ll be fine.”
Katsuki rolled his eyes, storming as fast as he could with Kirishima on him back in the direction they’d been going a moment ago. “Like shit I’m leaving you. I’m gonna kick that idiot’s ass when I get back though.”
******************
Uraraka was falling.
In all the many days Izuku had known Uraraka Occhako, he had seen her fall many times. It was a natural part of her quirk- what goes up must come back down. She practiced it, even- soft landings, slowing her quirk so she would land without breaking any bones.
This was not a slow fall.
Falling might have been a bit kind, to say the least. She was plummeting-toward the ground, faster than Izuku had ever seen her. The panic that sometimes seemed to be a permanent resident of his chest flared up once again, his eyes widening as he screamed out her name. Being unconscious, she didn’t hear it.
He knew he wouldn’t get there in time. The villain knew it too- he hovered in the air where he had originally hit her, watching as she soared, no doubt feeling an inflated sense of victory about beating the high schooler. Still, Izuku sprinted as fast as he could, tears welling up in his eyes already. No, no, no - not Uraraka. He couldn’t lose her. He had to get there in time. He had to go faster-
And then, all of a sudden-he was. He shot through the air, met her halfway, scooping her unconscious body into his arms, pulling her as close as she would come. His first thought was that it must have been One for All, he must have jumped without even thinking about it. His second, then, of course, was that he was now going to fall with Uraraka, as he had no way of stopping himself after he got up that high.
But he didn’t.
In fact, he stayed exactly where he was, floating mid-air, just like Uraraka often did. He thought that Uraraka must have tapped him somehow- maybe holding her was making him float?
But this was different-he had felt Uraraka’s quirk before, and this was nothing like that. Uraraka’s quirk made things weightless, and when you were touched by it, you felt as such. This wasn’t like that at all. He felt completely in control, as if he were in charge of her quirk instead.
Before he could think about it any further, Occhako’s eyes fluttered open. “Deku….?” She asked again, and he looked down at her, trying to give a reassuring smile.
“Don’t worry, I’ve got you!” He promised, and in a moment, she sat up, floating herself next to him, her eyes wide.
“Deku!” Her smile was as bright as he remembered it, and her eyes were full of what he was hoping were happy tears. She practically tackled him in a hug, and part of him was fairly certain she wasn’t ever going to let go. “You’re okay! You’re…you’re floating?”
As they pulled away, he looked down at himself, feeling a wave of nausea wash over his body as he realized how far away from the ground he was. He wasn’t just levitating, or high up because of some jump. He was floating. “I-I’m….I don’t know how…?” He stammered.
“Maybe it’s one of those…other quirks…” Her voice got quiet on the last couple of words, as though she wasn’t sure if she should have mentioned them.
“Other quirks?” He repeated, almost scared to know what she had meant.
His thoughts were cut short, however, but the shouting of the villain behind him. The villain who’d been fighting Uraraka before had finally realized that she wasn’t dead, and now was shouting stupid villain quips at them in an attempt to save his pride.
“Deku, get out of here!” Uraraka told him, “I won’t let him beat me again.”
Though he was completely capable in his best friend’s abilities, it still didn’t feel right to leave her by herself. But then there was Kacchan, who was stuck with their two hurt friends, and he hadn’t even begun to find the rest of class 1A yet…
He didn’t have time to consider anything, however, as the villain came sailing back towards them. Instinctively, he fell back, almost expecting himself to go plummeting out of the sky. But somehow, he stayed, still floating just as he had a moment ago.
His hand curled into a fist, ready for the villain who was flying at him to try and push him back. To his surprise, he paid him no mind, going straight for Uraraka. In a moment, he’d tackled her back once more, just nearly shoving her into a building five hundred feet away.
“Occhako!” He shouted, but before he could even think about going after her, she’d grabbed the villain by the arm and flipped him over her shoulder, slamming him into the roof of the building herself.
“Gunhead martial arts!” She shouted victoriously, pinning him down by the chest with her boot. Wobbling slightly, he nervously willed himself after her, still partially convinced he was going to drop out of the sky at any moment. A few seconds later, he was there by her side as she tied the villain up with the capture rope she kept handy in her belt.
Turning back to him, she grinned. It was only then he noticed that she had blood dripping down the side of her face, no doubt where the villain had punched her before. Still, she paid it no mind. “See? I told you I won’t let him beat me again.”
He smiled, surprised he had to force it. It wasn’t that he wasn’t happy to see her-on the contrary, it was amazing to do so without any of that brain fog. But there was something that still sat in his chest, something heavy and sad, that he couldn’t quite shake.
Their moment was cut short, however, by the sound of an angry blonde yelling at them from below. Whirling around, he spotted Katsuki, unsure if his face was red with exhaustion or anger. Probably both.
“DEKU, DON’T YOU DARE LEAVE ME WITH THOSE EXTRAS AGAIN!”
Izuku simply tilted his head to the side. “Are they safe?” He called back.
“FUCKING-OF COURSE THEY’RE SAFE!”
He turned back to Uraraka. “Okay, we have to find the others. Where do we start?”
She sighed. “Well, we could start there.” He followed her hand to where she was pointing beyond his shoulder.
It had been hard to see from the ground, but up so high, it was clear to see the mass of smoke rising from the east. What was even worse, however, was the fire said smoke was coming from was blazing a bright blue, the angry flames climbing up the skyscrapers like children on a playground.
Nodding, he hopped back up into the air, fully expecting to be completely bound by gravity once again. But to his surprise, he hovered in the air, just as he had a moment ago. Was it some side effect of One for All? Was Occako float having some residual effect on him?
Unfortunately, he didn’t have time to ponder it. Occhako was right behind him, and he could see Katsuki had gotten the memo as well, already firing up explosions in his hands.
*******
The fact that they ran into Iida was an accident.
It was as they were heading towards the mass of fire that was quickly consuming the testing ground that they came across him. For a moment, he almost didn’t recognize him because of how still he was. In all the days Izuku had been friends with Iida, he was hardly ever not moving in some way, whether it be running to direct someone or waving his hands about. On the off chance he was still, however, it was always stiff, rigid and refined, as though he were ready for his next order.
Which is how Izuku knew something was wrong.
He spotted the telltale sign of Iida by his costume, though it was covered in dust, the hulking blue and white contrasted armor still managed to stick out just enough to make him recognizable. The remains of a building lay a couple thousand feet from where he sat on his knees, slumped over, gazing at the wreckage.
Occhako shouted out his name first, but he didn’t respond as they came racing towards him. As they got closer, Izuku could see his body lightly shaking. His shoulders, usually proud and strong looking, were uncharacteristically slouched now, his hands limp at his side as he stared in what could only be shock.
“Iida?” Izuku asked, reluctantly reaching out his hand and placing it on his shoulder. He flinched, and Izuku drew back. Slowly, Iida’s head turned to face him. Tear streaked his soot-covered face, and his eyes were full of a pain Izuku had never seen in him before.
His breathing was ragged, coming out in short, panicked bursts. Uraraka slid down next to him, asking him again what had happened. Katsuki strode past them, towards the wreckage, clearly picking up on something they hadn’t.
“I-Iida?” Izuku repeated, waving his hand slightly in front of his face, “A-are you in there?”
Tenya’s mouth opened, and for a moment, he didn’t speak. “I-I-“ He choked on the words, stumbling over them as if they pained him like no other.
“I….I wasn’t fast enough.”
The next few seconds would play in Izuku’s mind for weeks after they’d happened. Uraraka’s eyes met his, her face twisted in a horrible fear that gutted both of them as they realized what Katsuki already had. Everything seemed to slow down for Izuku as she scrambled to her feet, taking off towards the wreckage, where Katsuki was already trying to claw his way through.
Izuku fell to his knees, grabbing his friend by the shoulders, partially trying to steady him, and partially trying to steady himself. His entire chest felt like a cavern, full to the brim with a fear that left him completely empty and open. His throat was begging to close, almost preventing him from asking the next question.
“Iida…who was in there?”
All of a sudden, Iida’s eyes drifted up, meeting Izuku’s, as if he’d just noticed he was there for the first time. “Midoriya…? How are you….?”
“Iida.” Izuku scolded, his voice too harsh for the situation, but he didn’t care.
“Tsuyuu, Yaoyarozu, Mina.” Iida answered, “P-possibly Shoji? I-I didn’t- I couldn’t-“
Izuku stumbled to his feet, flying towards the wreckage, where Occhako was floating debris as Katsuki blasted through it. It surprised him that Katsuki was actually helping with search and rescue, but he didn’t have much time to think about it.
In a moment, he was at the wreckage, throwing aside chunks of metal and debris as fast as he could. A few seconds later, he felt Iida beside him, shakily doing the same. Every moment they tore a piece away, Izuku was terrified what he would find, but in an almost worst case scenario, they found nothing.
A horrified silence fell upon the group as they worked, and it was clear to Izuku now the sounds of destruction going on around them. In the distance, he could hear people, students, shouting and trying to get each other out, accompanied by the sickening sound of more of the testing chamber crumbling to the ground.
Even worse, he could see smoke starting to rise from the fake buildings only a few blocks away, which meant the fire was getting deathly close. One of the tallest buildings, one that could clearly be seen even blocks away, was nearly completely engulfed in the bright blue flame. Simply looking at it, his gut tugged at him, telling him something was wrong, even before he noticed the people on the top of the roof.
Squinting to make sure he was seeing things correctly, he watched as one of the people held the other by the throat, dangling them over the ledge. The now increasing smoke stung his eyes, making it even harder to make things out, but through the blurring of involuntary tears, he could almost make out red and white…
Instinctively, his arm shot out, grabbing the arm and attention of the person closest to him. Katsuki’s head shot up, slightly annoyed, but quickly focused on what Izuku was staring at.
“Who is that?” Izuku asked, his voice low, icewater beginning to fill his veins.
Katsuki squinted as well, trying to peer through the smoke. After a horrible moment of silence, his eyes widened, and Izuku was shoved to the side.
“Fucking Icyhot-!” Katsuki growled, jumping off the side of the debris pile. Suspicion confirmed, Izuku’s chest filled with dread as he sprinted after his friend.
In a few moments, Katsuki was up in the air, his explosions shooting him upward. Izuku wasn’t far behind, still not having the time to marvel at this new flying power he’d unlocked. After a moment, Katsuki’s eyes flew back to him, and his face was the most strange mix of anger and absolute bewilderment he’d ever seen on the boy’s face. Still, knowing that it wasn’t a priority at the moment, he turned back towards the building.
Despite the distance, they were there in a matter of seconds, landing clear on the opposite side of where they could see Shouto being held. The one holding him was a man dressed in a long black patchwork trench coat, with dark hair to match. He was clearly saying something to Shoto, evident by the pained look on Shouto’s face, but Izuku couldn’t make any of it out.
There were two things stopping Izuku from running straight towards him.
The first was the two people standing in between them. One was clearly a student, sprawled out on the concrete in front of them, a small pool of blood forming below his arm. His hat, which had fallen several feet away from his head, bore the symbol of Shiketsu High. Most concerningly, however, his bulky body was unmoving, and Izuku prayed the poor kid was just unconscious. The other was a sickening silhouette that Izuku recognized all too well, a high-school-aged girl with cute messy buns on the top of her head and a long syringe in her hand.
The second thing stopping him was Shouto. The rise and fall of his chest was so rapid it made his entire body shake as he dangled there like a ragdoll. He stared at Izuku, his face completely steel except for his eyes. They were full of so much terror, Izuku thought the image of them might never leave his mind.
As her eyes landed on Izuku, her face broke out in a smile that made Izuku’s blood run cold. “Oh look, he came right to us!”
The villain holding Todoroki didn’t move, even thought he was sure that was who she was talking to. So they were looking for me. Izuku thought, his heart hammering so hard he thought he might die. Almost immediately, Bakugo stepped in front of Midoriya, blocking him from her view.
She laughed wickedly. “You’re Bakugo, right? You don’t look so happy to see me.”
Katsuki didn’t say a word, explosions crackling to life in his hands as his eyes shot daggers at her.
“Would you be happier if I looked like this?”
In one quick motion, Toga grabbed a small red vial off of her belt, popped off the cap, and put it in her mouth, quickly drinking the whole thing. In a matter of moments, the form of Himiko Toga had transformed completely into the form of a boy, strong and muscular with sharp teeth and pointy red hair.
Izuku could practically feel the anger radiating off of Katsuki as his hands clenched into fists. Before Toga could even make a move, Katsuki had launched forward, nearly tackling her to the ground.
It was then the villain holding Todoroki finally turned, noticing him. Similar to Toga, he smiled, but his was full of an eerie content that made the hair on the back of Izuku’s neck stand up.
“Hey Deku,” The villain sneered, and Izuku froze at the sound of his name. “Remember our training sessions back in the lab? Too bad you aren’t fireproof like little Shouto here. That ugly scar doesn’t suit your face at all.”
The horrid shape on his face was suddenly prickling his skin once again, and he could practically feel the villain’s hand there, searing hot and holding him down.
Taking a shaky breath, his fists curled into balls. He couldn’t think about that right now. He wouldn’t-
“Now you and Shouto are a matching set.” He laughed, and it took all Izuku had not to curl into a ball right there. He would not go back to the warehouse. He would not- “Two insanely powerful kids with the responsibility of the world thrust upon their shoulders, faces marred by the anger failures of those who came before them.”
Izuku watched as Shouto squirmed in the villain’s grasp. Ice was climbing up his right side, a sign that he was panicking.
“Of course, now you can fly. Shouto can’t do that.”
Izuku’s legs moved him forward. Dabi’s head turned towards Shouto, grinning.
“Can he?”
Voice tearing from his throat in an unintelligible scream, Izuku bolted forwards as Dabi’s hand loosened around Shouto’s neck. The noise around him fell away as he raced towards the ledge, his only thoughts being a constant and continuous no no no no no no NO-
The only sound he heard as he reached the ledge was the sound of the villains voice, quiet yet full of pride.
“Congratulations, Deku. You passed the first test.”
He didn’t have time for the words that made his blood run cold as he dove off the side of the building, hand already outstretched towards his friend, who’s face was now only fear as he soared towards the ground like a toy that had been dropped.
He had maybe five seconds until Shouto was out of reach.
Izuku tried to imagine the air around him pushing him farther down, faster, faster-
Three seconds.
Shouto’s face was pure panic as he reached out his arm, pure desperation on his face. Izuku had never seen him look so afraid.
Two seconds-
He was so close. Shooting forward, Izuku overextended his arm, frantically trying to reach Shouto’s hand with his own.
“TODOROKI-!”
One second-
It happened in slow motion. For a brief, horrible moment, Izuku thought he’d lost him.
Then their hands touched.
He’d caught him. He’d reached him. Izuku yanked him back, throwing his arms around his friend to catch him and willing his new power to press against them, stopping their fall.
For a moment after the air caught them, Izuku didn’t move. Shouto clung to him like a lifeline, and part of Izuku was fairly certain he’d never let him go again. His head was buried in the stiff fabric the shoulder of Shouto’s hero costume, his arms and hands wrapped around his torso to keep him from slipping from his grasp again.
“Got you.” Was all he murmured, partially muffled.
Shouto’s arms squeezed him tighter, though Izuku hadn’t known it possible. After what seemed like an eternity, Shouto’s head shot up, his hands reaching out and grabbing the sides of Izuku’s head. \
“Midoriya!” His eyes were wide, full of emotion Izuku wasn’t used to seeing in him. “Y-you’re-“
“Y-yeah.” Izuku finished, knowing what he meant. Despite everything, the tiniest smile of relief came to his face. “I’m here.”
Looking down, Shouto stared blankly at the ground, which was still fifty feet away. “H-how are you….?”
Izuku looked down as well, shocked from his stupor. “Oh! R-right.”
Slowly, he let guided them down, a little more cautious about it then he had before.
“Are you okay?” Izuku asked, looking him over. He was covered in cuts and bruises, possibly even some burns, but nothing insanely serious stood out to him.
Shouto nodded, pulling away but not letting go of Izuku’s hand. “Yes. I’m fine, but are you okay? How did you get here? H-how did you fly? Have you seen any of the others?”
Shouto’s questions spiraled around in Izuku’s mind like a vortex. They were all questions of his as well, but they still had to wait. Kacchan was still up on the roof, and his other friends were-
As if on cue, the two of them heard a sick giggle behind them. Whirling around, they found the girl in question, back in her original form, grinning like she’d just won the lottery.
“There you are, Izuku!” She chirped, her hand clasped around her syringe. His heart leaped into his throat as he realized she was covered in blood, and Kacchan was nowhere to be seen.
“Where is he?!” Izuku screamed, letting his hand fall away from Shouto’s as it formed into a tight fist.
In a quick moment, that same purple cloud appeared next to her, and Dabi materialized out of the portal. Like clockwork, two random villains Izuku had never seen before appeared beside them, running out from behind the building. Izuku wanted to scream, until he noticed two figures behind them, one pink and black and the other a white and dark blue.
Letting out a breath, Izuku turned to Shouto, who glanced back at him, nodding in determination. Protective anger filled his chest as he watched the villains speed towards them. Almost instinctively, his hand curled into a fist, and for the first time in a long time, he willed one for all to himself, ready to feel the familiar green electricity flood through his veins.
But nothing happened.
Pure and utter dread filled his chest. He tried again, shaking out his hand as if one for all was a old flashlight with a bad battery. When nothing happened, his throat began to close up. No, no this wasn’t happening-
The villains kept coming, and Shouto stepped up to face them, glacing back at Izuku with a confused expression. Izuku’s eyes met him, his breath quickening as his blood turned to ice. “I-I can’t-“ He stammered.
Shouto threw up a meager ice wall in front of them, trying to block the villains. They broke through it easily, one shoving against him and trying to best him hand-to-hand.
His feet fell behind him as he gasped for air, staring at his hands that wouldn’t do anything, dammit! Not this. Anything but this. He couldn’t have lost one for all, he couldn’t have-
It was then a horrible image popped into his brain. One of his last from the warehouse, one his brain had forcibly blocked.
It was Shigaraki, the blue haired maniac, standing in front of him. He was laughing, and Izuku remembered feeling a horrible put in his stomach, his heart screaming in pain, but he couldn’t remember why. Then, Shigaraki held out his hand. Izuku knew he wasn’t going to kill him, but what happened next was worse.
Black and blue lightning surrounded Shigaraki’s fingertips. His lightning. One for all crackled as it surrounded Shigaraki’s arm, running up and down it as it once had Izuku.
Shigaraki had One for All.
In the present, Izuku stumbled back, gasping for air that wouldn’t come. He hit the pavement hard, tears forcing themselves down his face as he shook his head rapidly. “No, no no…!” The world was pressing him down, closing in as the adrenaline that poured through his veins poisoned him and left him shaking.
“Izuku!” Shouto shouted back to him, but he barely heard it. His head rose to meet his friend’s eyes, tears blurring his friend in and out of his vision.
“It’s gone.” He told him, his voice breaking through the tears. “One for All is-“
All Might had trusted him. He was supposed to keep this power safe. He was supposed to protect people. An ancient power had been trusted to him, and he had thrown it away. Not only that, but now it was in the hands of their enemy, who was planning on destroying the world around them. Who now could at any second.
And it was all his fault.
The scream that tore from his throat was unlike anything anybody in the arena had ever heard. It echoed across the entire place, filling the spaces between and above the buildings and freezing every singe student, teacher, and villain in their tracks.
As for Izuku, his entire world went black.