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Deku arrives at the U.A., now a battlefield, late.
Very late.
He was panting while searching the area, looking for his friends, teachers, and other pro heroes. His green eyes widened and he froze for a second when he saw some of his classmates and third-years lying on the ground, bloody and beaten.
He runs towards them, slightly panicking and his heart beating so fast in his chest. When he's near enough, he drops to his knees and checks the first student in front of him.
"Hey, can you hear me, Tamaki-senpai?" He asked the half-conscious third year gently, nudging him softly. Deku's scared to hurt the other older boy because of how bad he looks right now.
"Nhn..." Tamaki groaned while he was trying to move his beaten body.
Deku immediately stopped him from moving, "Can you hear me? Please don't move, Tamaki-senpai."
"Hmm.." the older boy hummed, informing Deku that he could hear him just fine.
Deku nods to himself before checking the other students. He can feel himself calming down when he's sure that everyone is breathing, not exactly safe but still alive.
"Please don't move for now. I'm gonna ask someone to come and help you all." He said and then he ran again, not waiting for their reply and just trusting all of them to listen to him for their own safety.
His head turned, searching, looking at the other side of the battlefield when he heard a loud explosion. A smile forms on his lips thinking that Kacchan is still fighting and probably winning against Shigaraki.
He, then, continued to run, activating his quirk to be faster.
After running for about 3 minutes, he can now see his other classmates standing still while looking at something ahead of them.
His brows furrowed and then an unknown feeling started to bug him. He's not sure what is it, but it doesn't feel good. It doesn't feel right. He can feel his heart beating fast and he is slowly panicking. Again.
Something's wrong.
He stops behind Todoroki and Iida, and he is about to call them when he sees how pale his two friends are right now. He can also hear Todoroki's mumbling something inaudible.
"No, no. He can't die. No..." He turned his gaze from Todoroki to Iida when he heard him repeatedly whispering; "He's not dead. That's not true. He can't die..."
"W-what, what do you mean?" Deku asked making the two boys flinch a little before they looked at him. Their eyes widened in horror and shock when they saw their green-haired friend.
"Deku..."
"Midoriya..."
"What do you mean? W-who's dead? Where's Uraraka? Kirishima? Tsuyu? Hitoshi? The others? How about Aizawa-sensei? And Kacchan? Where's Kacchan? I heard some explosion earlier coming from here. That's from him, right? Where is he? Is he still fighting Shigaraki? He's winning, right? Everything's okay?" He asked them frantically, eyes scanning the area where they were standing right now. Searching for Kacchan and the others.
"Where are they? Where's Kacchan? I need to help them. I want to help him. I'm a little bit late but I guess it's okay because everything's fine, right? We're winning. He's winning..." He added, almost muttering and assuring himself.
"Oh. You're now here! What took you so long?" A raspy voice cuts him off.
Deku looks at Shigaraki with his now cold eyes. Void of any emotions. He steps forward, shielding his two friends from the older man.
"So, you're still alive?" the greenette asked exasperatedly.
A low raspy chuckle escapes from Shigaraki's mouth earning a death glare from Deku.
"Now, now. Are you sure you're asking the right person?" Shigaraki's dry thin lips stretch into a smirk, "Ah. You know what? My favorite victim used to mention you all the time. You should be asking him." he said with his mockingly amusing tone.
Deku didn't like any of that. What Shigaraki said, his stupid annoying smirk, his voice. Everything. It makes Deku's blood boil as his heart slowly tightens in his chest. He doesn't know why but it's irritatingly confusing, and it unknowingly hurts.
His brows furrowing again for the nth time, visibly confused about what the older man was talking about.
"Oh," Shigaraki's smirk grew wider until it became a full creepy smile that gave a chill to Deku's spine, "So you don't know? Hm... This is going to be fun."
Deku keeps his mouth shut; he can feel someone place their hand on his shoulder. It's either one of his two friends, Todoroki or Iida, but he doesn't have the time to look at them or even spare them a glance.
"He should be the one you're asking, but how? Right? The one who likes screaming and shouting, to the point that it was fucking irritating. Though when I blast his chest and his heartbeat slows down... Kami. His silence... Hah! And oh, you don't know how much I love his low choking, almost whispering, voice when he was trying to talk. Wanna know why I love it?" Shigaraki raises his eyebrows, still smiling creepily. "Because he was whispering, desperately trying to speak, believing that you were going to come and save him. He was whispering your name. Calling your name. Hoping for your arrival while he was choking on his own blood. Gasping for air. He was calling out for you while he was slowly dying. And it was so fucking nice to watch him-"
"Stop! Shut the fuck up!" Deku shouted, body shaking with rage and horror at the image of Kacchan dying, choking on his own blood while trying to speak and calling out for him. The mental image in Deku's mind... It made him turn pale and nauseous as his big, green eyes watered.
But he refused to cry.
"Stop talking!" He shouted once again. Swallowing hard and breathing heavily.
He's not going to cry. He will refuse to cry because Kacchan is not dead. Deku knows that Kacchan will always win. Kacchan will hate him if he cries for some bullshit like this. If he believes anything coming from Shigaraki's mouth, Kacchan will call him stupid. Because Kacchan cannot die like this. He's too young to die. The blond would never let a stupidly childish villain like Shigaraki to be the one to kill him, to end him. He is and will always be Deku's symbol of victory and Shigaraki's just playing shits with him right now.
Kacchan will never let anyone kill him especially when he hasn't reached his dreams yet. He will be the number one hero. He will be the best hero who symbolizes victory. A hero who will always win to save. So, no. Deku will not cry. Kacchan is still alive. He should be.
He's not dead.
But why would Shigaraki ignore his shouts, and his pleas, and still continue to talk?
Every word, every sentence feels like a dagger thrown into his chest. Piercing deeply through his heart. Making him bleed and leaving him in pain.
"...But you never came. He called you but you never came. Not when he gasped for air. Not when his heartbeat totally stopped. Not when his eyes were slowly closing. You never came. You were never there in his last minutes, last seconds. You were not here. Not even when the blood, his own blood, was slowly drying on his body and clothes. You came late. You failed to save him, and you call yourself a hero? He was so convinced, so hopeful, that you would save him. That someone, anyone, will save him. But not-so-sadly and unsurprisingly, no one came." Deku feels like he wants to rip his heart out.
He wanted to stop his own heart from beating and stop himself from feeling anything. It hurts. It hurt so much. It's painful, but Shigaraki didn't know when and how to fucking shut his mouth.
He keeps on saying things that make Deku question himself. That made Deku slowly lose himself. He didn't even feel the shakes and nudges from Todoroki and Iida. He didn't hear them call his name.
He never heard them say it wasn't his fault.
That Kacchan's death wasn't his fault. That Kacchan will not like it if he blames himself. That he will surely get mad at Deku for thinking that it was his fault that Kacchan is dead. That Kacchan will hate him if he overthinks any of this and overreacts to what happened to him. That the blond died fighting and proving that he was one of the best heroes who ever existed. That he died trying to win to save other people. That he tried...
And Deku shouldn't feel bad about him dying while doing the thing he wanted to do the most. Doing the dream he has had since they were kids. Proving himself that he will surpass All Might. He died from being a hero.
He died as a hero.
Katsuki died trying...
But Izuku never heard them.
The only thing he heard was someone sobbing then he realized it was him. He's sobbing. He's crying and shaking. His lips tremble as he stares at nothing.
"Oh, no. Don't cry, little hero." Shigaraki mocks him, "He is dead, yes. But I didn't say he was gone~" The villain said in a singsong voice, teasing him like everything was just a joke.
Like this is all just a game.
Deku stared at him in bewilderment. Fat tears still streaming from his eyes down to his freckled cheeks.
"Would you fight him if he tries to fight you? Would you kill him if he tried to kill you? All of you?" he asked thoughtfully, almost to himself.
"W-what do you mean-"
Before Deku could finish his question, a purple mist appeared beside Shigaraki. It is a portal, from Kurogiri, and something- someone is standing in the middle of it.
Deku's eyes widened once again, mouth opening slightly as Kacchan stepped out of the purple mist and into their view. Dried blood covering him but like Kurogiri, there's also a red mist covering his whole body. Almost hiding half of his face and blond hair.
He was looking at them, at Deku, with his red eyes. Once a pair of fiery red eyes that when you look at it, you will see a strong determination, burning passion, and raw power before but now... Now it's cold. His eyes are blank. It's just a pair of dull eyes. It is a pair of red eyes that made Deku's heart shattered completely.
It shatters Izuku.
This is not Kacchan's eyes.
This is not his, their, Kacchan.
"What have you done?" he whispered, obviously horrified.
What have we done???
"Kacchan..."