Work Text:
"Say it again."
Midoriya stood in front of his old teacher, a few steps away from the front door which Aizawa was blocking. He could faintly see Eri stood behind him, rolling her eyes and mocking her father. Midoriya struggled to not laugh at the teenagers' antics, staring dead into Aizawa's eyes. Years of being taught by him made him almost immune to his glares, fueled by floating hair and glowing red eyes. Almost. Aizawa still had power over the two.
"I will promise to keep Eri safe on the patrol and keep her away from unnecessary danger." Midoriya repeated for what must've been the fourth or fifth time. He rocked on his feet back and forth, hands behind his back clutching his mask. He gave Aizawa a big smile, letting him know he was serious, and he would keep his youngest child safe.
He was serious about his promise. He saw Eri as a younger sister, watching her grow from a terrified sex year old to a confident seventeen-year-old in the Hero Course of UA and aspiring to be a hero just like the teenagers who helped raise and guide her. He stuck with her through every up and down, took her to therapy appointments and then ice cream after when Aizawa was busy and Mirio had moved to a different city for work and open up his own agency with Tamaki and Nejire. He cried when she called him her older brother and then used her quirk with control and confidence. He cried when she got into UA and made her own friends and he cried with pride when she broke a guy's nose when he broke her best friend's heart. Midoriya was going to keep Eri safe on patrol even if he sacrificed his own life for it.
Aizawa looked his old student up and down. He was no longer the fifteen-year-old who cowered under the gaze, desperate for praise and reassurance. But now he was a twenty-year-old Pro Hero, battling against Bakugou and Todoroki for first place with him just scraping first. He still rambled about heroes, and had at least fifty notebooks piled in his apartment which he had given to Eri to help her study and think outside of the box when it came to battling opponents. He was still as trustworthy and reckless when it came to jumping into danger, especially when his friends were around.
"One more time."
"Sensei-"
"Dad!"
Both protested, desperation in their voices. Aizawa only smiled under his capture scarf, not budging from his position as a barrier between the two. He would never admit that his smile came from Midoriya still calling him Sensei even if it had been years since he graduated, and they were now technically co-workers.
"I, Midoriya Izuku, Pro Hero Deku promise to keep your daughter, Eri, safe on our three-hour patrol and I'll even get coffee for you on the way back." Midoriya placed a hand on his heart as he spoke, staring at Aizawa who only sighed and moved from the doorway, letting Eri sprint through the doorway before he could change his mind. She launched herself at Midoriya in a hug before waving goodbye to her father.
"Okay! Bye we'll see you later!" She dragged Midoriya down the path who waved to Aizawa.
"I expect the coffee!" Aizawa yelled after them, rolling his eyes at them. After they left the driveway, he closed the door, wondering what mess they'd get themselves into.
"So have you been thinking about your hero name?" Midoriya asked as soon as they got onto one of the many streets they'd be patrolling. They planned on meeting up with Todoroki and Bakugou later on, but they were still a city away dealing with bigger problems. Not even an hour in they had crossed Uraraka and Momo who had joined them for a few minutes before going their separate ways. Eri so far was loving the patrol and taking everything in with wide eyes. To Midoriya, she was still six years old, sitting on Mirio's shoulder watching their performance.
"I was thinking Rewind. I know it's the name of my quirk but it would be like EarphoneJack. And I'm not that good with naming things." Eri admitted, her hands in the pocket of her jacket. Her outfit was a little like Midoriya's; a grey bodysuit with a hood attached to the back with a hole for her horn to stick through when it got too big. The top of the suit was warm like a hoodie and pockets on the front which held a small first aid kit and a pocket knife. She had black boots with a red stripe on the side. It took the two three weeks of late nights to come up with an outfit that would keep her warm and made it easy for her to move and fight. It was a work in progress but good enough for now.
"No I think it's a great name! You can rewind people's physical injuries and that can help with recovery, bot emotional recovery and physical. Trying to heal your body over a long period of time can delay emotional recovery because you're constantly reminded of-" Midoriya started to ramble but Eri's attention was on the alleyway they had just passed.
In the shadows she could see movement, pacing back and forth and avoiding the light. The movement didn't look right, human enough for passers by to not take any notice but not human enough for heroes to ignore. The figure dropped on all fours, head twitching in all directions, glitching almost before landing on Eri who was frozen. She screamed at herself to move, yell, make a noise but she was frozen in place, barely able to breathe. Not even her fingers twitched. She was stuck but it wasn't like being brainwashed by Hitoshi, she could still hear and feel everything. She was still aware of her thoughts.
The movement was now closer, the dark figure sprinting at her at full speed on all fours and she screamed. The split second of the thing looking away with another twitch of the head gave her enough time to scream and move out of the way, grabbing the attention of Midoriya who hadn't noticed anything wrong just yet. Eri jumped out of the way, throwing herself on the floor as the figure skidded between her and Midoriya.
"Eri!" Midoriya screamed, powering up Blackwhip which shot out to grab Eri's waist and throw her less than gracefully out of the way. She hit the alleyway wall, cushioned by cardboard before falling to her knees. As soon as she was down she was back up, grabbing a pipe that way lying on the floor and charged at the figure. In the light she could see it completely. And even then she didn't know how to explain what she was looking at. A man- or at least what remained of one- was on all fours, bones pushing against the skin, looking as if it was desperate to escape the confines of his body. His jaw was a little too far to the left, blood coated his hands where his nails had been torn from his fingers, replaced with claws digging into the concrete. It jerked his head towards Eri as she ran forward, the gaze stopping her immediately in her tracks. The metal pipe hit the floor with a deafening crash. The sound seemed to affect the man and his gaze shifted. Eri, without thinking, ran towards Midoriya who pushing her behind him.
"What the fuck?" She hissed, grabbing his arm as the man shook his head around. Midoriya shook his head. Everything about him wanted to help the man, see what was going on and what happened to him but he knew there was no way to communicate with someone set on violence. He had no real clue what they were up against. His grip tightened on Eri, not looking away from the figure.
"I'm going to take a wild guess and say he's on quirk steroids. But there might be elements of illegal experiments and this is the first time he has been out since then. His weaknesses seem to be loud noises so-" Midoriya looked back at Eri for a moment, pushing her away from the scene. The split second was enough for the man to focus his gaze on Midoriya and pounce, claws digging into his shoulders, pinning him to the floor. He hit his head on the way down, splattering blood on the concrete under him, reaching Eri's shoes. Both screamed as the man shrieked. It was a noise no human would be able to create. It was unhuman. Demonic.
"Get help!" Midoriya screamed, firing up OFA to 25% and tried punching the creature. His punch, despite being everything he could manage, it hit against skin as if he hit a brick wall. Despite the fact that his ribs should've shattered, the man didn't move. To him it was like a feather being thrown in his decision. He felt a piercing gaze on him stronger than anything he had ever felt before. Stronger than Shigaraki's or Bakugou's gaze, stronger than Aizawa's. This burnt through him, painful but left no mark. The second incoming punch landing dumbly against his side, eyes glazed with panic. He was desperate to look at Eri, hoping she had ran off to get help, praying she was safe but he couldn't move.
His mind went to his fight with Stain. Laying on the alleyway floor as he watched helpless as Iida was about to be killed. He hadn't been sure Todoroki got the message and would come to save him. He watched as Stain raised his Katana, ready to slaughter a child for his own personal gain. He couldn't move then and he couldn't move now. At first it was Iida, Native and Todoroki at risk of death and now it was Eri.
Hot breath on his face smelt foul, sharp teeth far too close to his face as he desperately tried to move. No matter how much OFA he built up in his body they died before he could move even a finger. He wanted to scream, to yell for help and check up on Eri who was out of his line of sight. Teeth grazed his skin, nicking the skin as blood bubbled to the surface. Black, thick saliva dripped on his face and he couldn't even close his eyes to stop it from blinding him. He wouldn't lie and say he wasn't terrified. He knew death was always a possibility but he would've liked to think that he would go out with a fight.
As soon as the creature was on him, he was off, collapsed on the floor next to him. Blood poured from the side of his head, bleeding far too much for it to be normal. It screeched and screamed, clawing at the wound. Midoriya felt energy rush back to him and he jumped to his feet before he could be pinned down again. His shoulders were aching and bleeding but he couldn't bring himself to care. Eri stood next to him, holding a bloody pipe and panting.
"I told you to get help!" Midoriya hissed, watching the creature writhe on the floor. He didn't dare look at Eri, not when the creature was still conscious. He forced out blackwhip, ready to attack as it stopped moving and screaming.
"I did. I called Bakugou. I came back because you were about to be killed! I'm not going to let that happen." Eri gripped the pipe in her hands even tighter. The creature in front of them twitched a little and Midoriya took the opportunity to start tying it up with his quirk. "I think if it looks at you, you freeze. That's what I can make out at least."
Midoriya nodded, offering her a small smile as he wrapped blackwhip around its legs, moving a little closer to reach out and steady the creature. From what he could tell it was at least unconscious. The blood, so dark it was almost black, spilled over the sidewalk and onto the road. His fingers ghosted the skin but he could feel the heat; burning, painful heat as if he touched a grenade as it went off. The movement stirred the creature, eyes flickering from Eri to Midoriya then to the sky and ground. Midoriya moved out of it's line of sight, gesturing to Eri to do the same.
"There- now we just-" Before Midoriya could finish he collapsed to his knees, pain in his shoulder ten times worse than before. He whimpered as his knees scraped against the ground, gripping his shoulders as if to force the pain out of his body. His vision grew dark for a split second, losing focus on his quirk and Eri, rushing towards him. He realized a split second too late as the bindings around the creature disappeared, letting it to get up and land its gaze on the teen. It wouldn't matter if he screamed or tried to move. It wouldn't had mattered if Bakugou had been there a minute earlier to blast away the creature. It wouldn't have mattered. Because all Midoriya could do was stare as the creature launched at Eri, not bothered by the pipe to the face or knife to the neck as it took a bite out of her side.
She crumpled before it, clutching her side just as Bakugou jumped down from the roof he landed on, blasting the creature to the other side of the street. It exploded in half by the blast, fragments of bone and skin flying in all directions. Midoriya didn't have time, nor the effort to care to close his eyes or mouth. Instead he screamed, adrenaline forced him to rush towards Eri, clutching her to his chest. He shook her roughly, putting pressure on the wound even though it was helpless. A part of her torso was missing, somewhere amongst the other bits of skin, blood and organs.
"Eri! Eri! Come on! Stay with me!" Midoriya yelled, shaking her. He stared down at her, holding her cheek. She stared up at him, red eyes filled with tears, spilling as she coughed. Blood splattered onto her lips, turned upwards in a soft smile. "Eri! Please. Please. Please."
"Izu.. Did I do a good job?" Her voice was weak, barely audible. Midoriya clutched her hand tightly, nodding frantically. Words stuck in his throat. "I saved you?"
"Yes. You saved me. You're.. you're my hero, Eri. A-and you're going to be the best hero. Like we promised. Right? You said you would graduate and join Hitoshi's agency and you'd be heroes with us. You'd be like all of your older siblings. You- you might even start your own agency one day. You'll be in the top ten and be popular and- and you'll go back to UA and help Aizawa and Mic just like the rest of us and-" Midoriya looked down at Eri. He started sobbing as he realized she was no longer awake, hand slipped from his. Her smile was still on her face. He could only hope she heard him say she was his hero.
He checked Eri's pulse and found nothing.
His world went numb. He wanted to scream, so he did. He didn't care that he was in the middle of the street where civilians would be able to hear him. He didn't care that Bakugou was right behind him, a hand on his shoulder. He didn't care that he was wrecking his throat and voice box, blood filling his mouth. He screamed louder than Present Mic and he screamed until he started sobbing.
Everything came back to him all at once. The pain in his shoulders, the realization he lost Eri, Bakugou holding him close to his chest, muffling the screaming and accepting any punches Midoriya threw. Eri was beside them, her blood coating their outfits. She shouldn't be there. She should be back at Aizawa's, telling him and Mic all about the student drama going around. She should be doing teenage girl things with her friends. She should be anywhere but dead on the pavement.
"FUCK!" Midoriya screamed, landing another punch to the ground. His bones cracked and broke, knuckles splitting open in a bloody, swollen mess. He didn't look at it, he couldn't bare to see the sight of blood. He didn't move his head from Bakugou's neck, screwing his eyes shut. He couldn't look him in the eyes. The color red would for sure make him vomit. "FUCK, FUCK, FUCK!"
Bakugou didn't comment. Only once when he had heard Midoriya swear; when he stubbed his toe when he was already having a shitty day. But he didn't blame him for screaming profanities, it was taking everything for him to stay calm for Midoriya's sake. His eyes were filled with tears but held him even tighter until the paramedics came. Midoriya was hesitant to let go, already dissolved in a mess of sobs and hiccups, a weak grip clutched on his shirt.
"You'll be okay, nerd." Bakugou lead him to the ambulance, rejecting the paramedics who tried to check him over, pushing them to Midoriya first. He stood in front of his friend, blocking the view of Eri, now under a white sheet and police writing in notebooks and talking to each other. He let Midoriya hold his hand on the way to the hospital, staring numbly at the back of the ambulance, not answering the paramedics questions. Bakugou tried to answer for them but he could only do so much.
He waited for Midoriya to be taken away to surgery before breaking down in the bathroom.
Midoriya stood in front of Aizawa's front door, tears already collecting in his eyes. He had told Naomasa that he should be the one to tell Aizawa about what happened. He had done it before, breaking the news to family members but now stood in front of Aizawa's door he forgot all of his training. The media had yet to report on the incident so Midoriya was all on his own to deal with it. But it was his choice, even rejecting Bakugou who quietly offered to come with him.
He had already knocked on the door, now playing with his bandages around his arms. They went from his wrists to shoulders, matching the band aids on his face. A small part of him felt like he deserved it. He should've been the one under the white, now red sheet.
Aizawa opened the door two minutes later. His face was filled with anger and worry. Midoriya's phone had been destroyed in the fight and they were way past the time they were expected back. Five hours late to be exact. His gaze went from anger to relief to worry. His eyes scanned Midoriya up and down, then looked for Eri. Realizing she was no where to be seen his grip on the door handle turned white.
"Eri-"
"Can.. can I come in. And is Mic and Shinso with you?" Midoriya didn't dare look at him. He could already hear the screaming and feel the punches. There was no way he was getting out of the situation without any injuries.
"Mic is here.. Hitoshi is out. Eri is she-"
"I should tell you with Mic with you."
Aizawa nodded and let Midoriya in. He lead the hero into the living room. He tried not to worry but Midoriya was in a shirt that was clearly not his; it fell past his hips down to his knees and cargo pants. His arms were covered in lightly bloodied bandages and a look of pure exhaustion on his face. Aizawa could see tear tracks on his face.
Mic was already in the living room, shutting off the movie they were playing as soon as the duo walked into the room. He smiled at them but it dropped once he saw Midoriya's appearance. He shared a terrified glance with Aizawa who took a seat next to him. Midoriya stood standing, hands fiddling with the bandages. He stood in front of the two adults, taking slow deep breaths to avoid breaking down. He had no right to break down. He was the one who got Eri killed. If he was faster, make different choices, make sure he was with another hero- then she'd be coming back home. The gaze the creature had was nothing compared to now. Mic shifted in his seat, anxiety eating at him. Aizawa shifted, wanting to know what was going on.
"Kid-"
"Aizawa- Please. Just give me a minute.." Midoriya took a deep breath before he started explaining. And he told them everything; the patrol and her choice of a hero name, the fight and how well she did with observation, the creature-man thing and its quirk, Eri's bravery and how she got help then came back and saved him. And then her death.
All three of them were crying by the end. Midoriya was sobbing into his hand whilst Mic was shaking, letting out a few sobs and Aizawa let tears roll down his cheeks silently. Aizawa looked up at Midoriya who took a step away from them, trying to wipe his tears. He looked terrified, terrified of what the other two would do to him. He looked as if he was intruding on the other's private space. Aizawa reached out for him, causing Midoriya to flinch away. He sighed softly, grabbing his arm gently and pulling him into a tight hug. Mic joined the hug not long after, the three of them sobbing in the middle of the living room.
"Kid-" Aizawa was the first to speak. "We don't blame you. You did everything you could."
"But I promised you!" Midoriya started to sob again, covering his face with his hands. He wanted to push away from the hugs, believing he didn't deserve it but he was desperate for it. "I promised you and I broke it!"
"Midoriya." It was Mic this time. "You had no idea that would happen. We do not blame you and you deserve to grieve too. She was as close to you as the rest of us. We will get through this. It won't be fucking easy but.. we'll pull through."
Midoriya couldn't help but nod. Mic was right. They'd go through the grief process together. All of his friends, everyone who knew Eri, they'd get through it together.
But something told him it would be a very long time until it would be okay again.