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day 2; pick who dies. (Blood In The Water)
Class 2-A exchanged nervous looks between each other, as static plays over an intercom. They want to whisper at each other, make sure everyone's all right and ask what the hell is happening and the like, but they all stay silent. They're sitting around a rather large wooden table, each wearing a quirk restraining collar, each bound to their seat, and they've been told strictly never to speak when held hostage or otherwise kidnapped. You never know what information someone can pick up from even the most measly of interactions, and, when trapped, you're already at a severe disadvantage; it wouldn't do well to give them more power over you.
So they sit in silence, vibrating with nerves and fear and anger and determination, as the static seems to get more and more deafening as time drags on.
With time- though no one can measure quite how much- they hear a click from the intercom, and the static goes quiet. They hold their breathes collectively, and a voice filters through the box.
"As heroes, you will have to make impossible decisions." The voice says, almost sympathetic, in a twisted way. "Decisions that will haunt you for your entire life, decisions you can never undo. Decisions you can never truly prepare for. It is a......demented gap in your training, never going through one such decision before being released into the world to be forced to make who knows how many. So, please, don't see this as a torture, or an act of malice. See it as an act of mercy- or, at least, a learning opportunity."
That...That did not bode well. Some of them went to object, but the voice continued before they could.
"The rules are simple. Everyone will vote on which one of you will die. The person with the most votes from the class will be killed. If any one of you refuses to vote, I will kill you all." The voice lays out plainly, and the class freezes in horrified shock. The temperature in the room seems to drop a few dozen degrees, and many of them glance at Todoroki on reflex, but they're all still wearing quirk inhibitors. The voice continues again, unabated. "If any of you attempt to escape this room, I'll kill you all. You have as much time as you need, I understand this is a difficult question, but you will not get food or water until the voting is over. Once you've all voted and one of you has been executed, the rest of you will be free to go. Heck I'll even send your location to UA. Granted you all play by the rules, of course, and only one of you dies."
The voice cuts off after that, and their restraints and inhibitors are released, and the static doesn't return. Even so, the silence is deafening.
--
"......I've never missed Mineta more." Mina breaks the silence, terrible attempt at humor ripping a few surprised laughs out of her classmates. Silence falls again.
"..Vote for me." Izuku, Denki, and Shoto all demand at roughly the same time, and then shoot frustrated glances at each other.
"I'm the most practical option." Izuku follows up first, voice sounding somehow reasonable. "Kacchan I can...I can give it to you, and then there'll be no real loss."
"Give what?" Ochako asked, looking between the two eternally confusing boys- one determined, the other white as a sheet- and Izuku shakes his head.
"I can't say." He denies, gesturing at the intercom. "But it's true. Trust me, guys, and ask Kacchan later, but it's true. I'll go from being Deku to Deku, and I'll be disposable. So dispose of me, and go on to be fantastic heroes."
"No, man." Denki shakes his head. "I'm bottom of the class rankings, and electricity quirks are a dime a dozen. I'm just...I'll never make it past the top 200 anyway. At least if I die tragically young, everyone can pretend I had more of a fighting chance then I did, right?" He beamed, like he said something reassuring.
"If anyone votes for Denki I'll fucking kill you myself and this whole problem will be over." Mina objects immediately, just a moment before Katsuki can, and Denki waves them down.
"Guys, chill out, seriously. Did you hear me? It's fine."
"It's bullshit is what it is." Katuski counters this time, and Mina nods.
Yaomomo holds up a hand, and everyone falls obediently silent. Tenya was a great class president, but, after some discourse at the beginning of their second year surrounding the fact Yaomomo technically got more votes and should have been president anyway, they'd re-voted, and Tenya took his demotion with grace.
"Perhaps we're...approaching this wrong. We should try first establishing everyone who absolutely shouldn't be considered. Uh, narrow down our options, I guess."
"Kacchan." Izuku asserted first.
"Shitty hair." Katsuki followed.
"Mina."
"Denki."
"Jirou."
"You of course, yaomomo."
"..Todoroki-kun."
"Izuku."
"Ugh, stop." Hitoshi hissed, rubbing his temples. "All of you shut up. That's not gonna work- we're all just gonna pick each other, because none of this should be considered. It just has to."
The room fell silent at the outburst. He wasn't wrong.
"Just...just vote for me." Izuku insisted again. "Please, guys."
"No." Ochako shook her head, crossing her arms. "Deku, we can't. How could you ask that of us? You're my best friend, and you still have to beat Katsuki's ass and finish your top-secret-world-changing-plans and be number one hero and see your mom again and meet my new little sister and see Eri grow up and- and you can't just expect us to, just, just let you die before you do any of that! you can't tell us to kill you, who the hell do you think you are!" She sobbed, stomping up to his face, and she might have punched him, but he moves first as he doesn't hesitate to engulf her in a hug.
"I'm sorry." He whispers a few times, quietly, just for her. "I'm so, so sorry." And then, louder-
"But I'm not wrong. I'm sorry guys, I really am, and this is the worst thing I've ever asked of any of you, but it's also the only thing I've ever asked of you guys. Please, please, please I'm so fucking sorry but please let it be me, and go on to be all the amazing heroes you will be."
Ochako shakes her head and clutches at his shirt, but can't say anything through her sobs.
But...looking around the room, he sees that he's swaying a few people. Hanta's always had a strong survival instinct, and they've never been super close, and he seemed mostly relieved that no one was considering Denki anymore. Masahiro had things to live up to and strong sense of honor, and seemed to hate it, but Izuku was explicitly asking, and he didn't seem as opposed as he would want to, and Toru always looked to him in tough emotional situations. Yuga looked devastated, but he always respected Izuku's decisions, maybe a little too much, and when he caught Yuga's eye the blonde nodded before tears started rolling down his face.
4 down. 5, counting himself. Six to go, for a majority. He could probably work with 5, as long as no one else stood out as a more universal candidate, but this wasn't a situation he could half ass.
"No." Shoto denied next, voice the coldest he'd ever heard, and Izuku was tired, but if this went well then that wouldn't matter anymore soon anyway, so he ignored it.
"Who else would you propose?" Izuku sighed. Shoto raised a brow, and Izuku remembered he was the other one to volunteer himself.
That couldn't stand.
"No." Izuku shook his head, and Shoto opened his mouth to point out the hypocrisy, but Izuku continued. "Endeavor's prodigy son dying to some no name villain, voted to death by his classmates...our class might not be able to bear the scandal, of killing someone so high-profile, no matter how much it was your choice. Plus you...you just got Touya back, and you have two other siblings anyway, and you're mom is getting released in a few months and I'm pretty sure your dad's getting dragged to court for real and- Shoto, you're only starting to get the life you've always deserved. You can't loose that before it's even begun." Izuku refutes, smile sad, still clinging desperately to Uraraka. It was grounding.
The temperature drops in the room, and this time it actually happens, because it is Shoto- honestly, it's a testament to his control that it took him this long.
"Oh, but you can? You're only 17, your life hasn't even begun either."
"We're all 17, Shoto, that's null. And I...This has been the best two years I could have ever asked for. Dying right now would be a tragedy, but I've already gotten more out of life then I thought I ever would. I've been comfortable with my death for a while- maybe too comfortable, for too long, but the point stands. If I die to save any of you, knowing that Kacchan and Mitsuki-ba will be there for my mom, knowing you'll all be there for each other, knowing that All Might is waiting on the other side, knowing I'm leaving Japan in your capable hands- I'll die content. I'll die without regrets. Honestly, who here can look me in the eyes and say the same?"
He looked around the room, pointedly making eye contact with each person individually. It was a bit cruel, but he had a point to make.
To their credit, no one caves immediately. They all look Izuku in the eye, and take a moment to think, to try and match his claim, because they don't want this, don't want him to be right. Denki looks like he might, but he looks at his friends and can't, body sagging to the ground like a puppet with cut strings. Eijirou looks like he wants to, but can't bring himself to. Tenya is conflicted, and he might have gone through with it, but he's kinda beaten to the punch.
Hitoshi smirks, self assured in a terrible way as he starts to raise his hand, but then there's a spark of hesitation and a shake of his head as he recalls promises to both Aizawa and Izuku himself to be a hero, and can't. But it does raise an interesting point.
"No regrets, huh?" Hitoshi challenges, raising an eyebrow. "Not even guilt? What about all of your promises, Izuku? You promised me you couldn't wait to see me become a pro hero, promised your mom and Aizawa-sensei you'd take care of yourself, promised half the class you'd duke it out in the hero rankings, promised the other half you'd support them, promised all might that you'd surpass him." Hitoshi hisses out, cold and out of line and mean, but he doesn't care. Izuku can't- he can't just do this, and no one else was stopping him. "You don't regret lying about all of that?"
His words stump the greenette for a moment. He closes his eyes and rests his head on top of Ochako's hair, their hug somehow getting tighter, and he's so tired, but he can't rest. The longer he lets the accusation hang, the more people will flop sides again, and he was finally getting through to them.
He lifts his head again and smiles, something boyish and indulgent, and entirely inappropriate for the situation, and shrugs. "I lie about a lot of things, Hitoshi." He admits, and the words are like sandpaper on his tongue. He never thought he'd actually say them. He's always had a complicated relationship with the truth. "It's...regrettable, when you lay it out like that, but I haven't been able to feel guilty for lying in years, for better or for worse. Again, I'm so sorry that I'm leaving all of you with this, but I don't regret it. You're- you're all strong, and I know that you'll all make it through this, even if it's the worst thing ever, because you're all strong, and you're going to be unstoppable together, with me or without me. How could I not be content- happy, even- knowing that?"
Hitohsi was at a loss for words, unable to even think about using his quirk. Izuku wished it didn't give him such an ugly glint of satisfaction.
Another glance around the room. The Bakusquad- sans Bakugou- has caved. that's 4 more. Tenya and Yaomomo seemed to have both realized that they also counted as too high profile to die without repercussions, so he's probably got them.
11. That's enough. This'll work, he realizes, with a mix of satisfaction and relief and horror, the last of which he aggressively represses. No regrets.
"I'm glad you guys understand." He sighs, letting his relief show. "I...If it's not too much to ask, before we vote can I..talk to everybody? Alone? And maybe...Yaomomo, if you could make some paper and pens, so I can write some letters?"
They all look terrible, years older after only minutes, but no one argues.
Well, Ochako clings all the harder to him, an obvious refusal to let him go even for an instant, and he sighs with a smile and taps her head reassuringly. "Ok, can I talk to everybody alone-but-with-Ochako?" He revises with a grin, because he doesn't have any secrets from her anyway.
A few of his classmates laugh, actually laugh, though it's strained, and he feels all the lighter.
They'll be okay. He'll push through these last couple hours, writing everything that could offer even a sliver of closure or relief or help, talking to them, doing his best to enjoy their time together.
And then, when all of this is said and done, everything will be okay, they'll get each other through this like they have so many other things, and he'll finally be able to rest.
It isn't ideal, obviously but there's....millions of worse ways to go.