Chapter Text
Izuku doesn’t feel any pain when it happens. He dies instantly when he hits the ground. And that should be it right? He’s dead. But why is he still… here?
Here. Whatever here is.
Why is he still conscious? Why is he still talking to himself right now? Shouldn’t he just be gone after he killed himself?
Now that Izuku really thinks about it, he feels like he’s drowning and floating at the same time. Is this supposed to be what it’s like after you die? Alone in the void of nothingness?
And then Izuku opens his eyes.
He blinks. How can he do that if he’s dead?
He stares at the grey sky and frowns. Should he be worried about that or should he be freaking out that he’s somehow still alive?
Izuku sits up with a gasp. Like he could breathe again. He pants and looks around. He is still in the area he was before. The only difference is that everything is so… dull. Like he’s looking at the world through a filter.
It’s cold too. He shivers as he tries to stand up, only to stumble down when Izuku spots that next to himself.
His body.
His dead body.
Izuku doesn’t scream. But he comes close to it. He stares at his corpse and shakily crawls towards the mess on the ground.
His skull is fractured. His limbs are unnaturally bent. There’s splatters of brain and blood around the body. Clearly dead.
His eyes widen in horror. Izuku wants to throw up, but his body doesn’t seem to work like normal. He feels nothing. It’s only his feelings that find this situation pretty horrific.
Izuku gulps and leans forward, hand reaching out to touch his bloody face.
Only for his hand to pass through his head.
Again, Izuku doesn’t scream. But this situation is so ridiculous he doesn’t even know what this is anymore.
His hand- no. His entire arm is…see-through. Izuku glances down at his own body to find that he’s all pale and transparent as well.
“W-what-”
T-this is too much. What the hell is going on?
He unknowingly curls up on the side of the street. He senses people around him. But why haven’t they done anything yet?
The silence gives him goosebumps because he doesn’t know what to do. The air is chilly, and Izuku is so cold and alone.
“Boo!”
Izuku’s metaphorical heart stops as he suddenly hears someone whisper into his ear. Cold fingers land at the back of his neck, drumming an unfamiliar beat on his skin.
Hands gripping his shirt anxiously, Izuku slowly turns his head to the source of the sound.
A white-haired boy his age in a tracksuit grins at him. What surprises (and scares) him is that the boy is also transparent… and he’s currently floating next to Izuku.
The stranger barks out a laugh. “You should’ve seen your face! You look like you've seen a ghost!”
Izuku opens and closes his mouth. There’s just so much stuff going on and he doesn’t even know what to say.
His laugh dies down and he offers Izuku a more gentle smile. “I’m serious though. Welcome to the afterlife.”
Izuku pulls away from the boy in shock. “W-what? A-are you saying that g-ghosts are real?”
The boy huffs and crosses his arms. “Uh, obviously? How are you gonna explain your dead body and how you’re see-through now?”
Izuku purses his lips. He supposes that is true. But it’s a normal reaction to freak out, right?
“You’re lucky I’m here for you,” the other boy scoffs. “I was alone when I died. So I had to figure out everything on my own.”
“W-when did you die?” The question slips out of his mouth before he can stop it. Izuku is startled by the sharp grin he receives.
The ghost floats in front of him and Izuku shrinks from his gaze. “Great! You’re a curious type. I’m so sick of the resigned one. I stopped talking to new ghosts ages ago. Thank god I chose you.”
Pale blue eyes continue to watch him, so Izuku decides to just go back to staring at the ground instead (ignoring the trickle of blood from his dead body).
“I died when I was thirteen. Now I’m twenty-something. So it’s been a while.”
Oh. So he’s an adult. Izuku fiddles with his sleeves, still ignoring the watchful eyes. “So uh, ghosts don’t age?”
“That’s a stupid question, but yes. You stay exactly the same as the day you die for the rest of eternity.”
Izuku nods at the answer. So he’ll be staying in his middle school uniform forever. Cool.
He continues to think about what to ask. But there’s just so many questions and he wants to ask them all and-
“Okay. Calm the fuck down. I don’t bite, you can ask anything you want.”
He winces. He didn’t mean to mumble.
The ghost sighs and stops floating, and instead he moves to sit down with Izuku.
“Is the world supposed to be like this? It’s not colorful like before… and it’s a little cold,” Izuku asks quietly.
The boy nods. “Yep. I hated it at first. But you gotta get used to it.”
Izuku looks around nervously. “A-and you said earlier that this is the afterlife. But why are there no other ghosts around?”
The white-haired stranger snaps his fingers. “Ah! About that. This area is always quiet. If we go further, we’ll probably find some people- or ghosts in this case. Oh, they can also, uh, move on? Like, if you’re really tired of this world, you can just think about wanting to go and then you will just disappear out of existence.”
“So most of them don’t want to be here?”
He sighs. “You could say that. Old ghosts want to be at peace, and kid ghosts hate watching their loved ones be sad and die. Most of them are boring anyway. There’s so many things you can do. Free movies, free concerts and stuff.”
So this guy is just different. Izuku thought that the other boy was just too okay with this ghost situation. Even if he’s been here for a while, no one should be this comfortable when you’re dead.
“That’s the reason you’re still here?” Izuku is finally able to look up. There’s nothing to worry about with his new company. And to be honest, Izuku would rather stay with him than be alone right now.
The boy grins, and the air seems to grow colder than before. “Nah. I want to see how my asshole dad dies. And I hope it’ll be painful.”
That’s too much to unpack. Izuku will not ask about that topic.
Izuku is about to ask more, but the other boy cuts him off. “Wait, only ask three more questions. Or else we will miss the fun stuff that’s about to happen.”
Huh? Izuku wants to ask more though! What if he doesn’t get the chance to see the boy again?! All the unnecessary questions fly out of his head instantly.
“C-can I stay with you?! I don’t want to d-disappear! A-and I don’t want to be alone anymore-”
The boy looks surprised to hear that. He quickly grabs Izuku’s hands and gently shakes him out of his panic. (Their hands are so, so cold.) “Woah, woah. Yes! I’ve been following you for a while. Of course I’ll stay with you.”
“O-oh, okay.” Izuku is so relieved he doesn’t even question what he just heard. He moves on to the next question. “H-how do I float like you?”
The boy suddenly pulls him up, ignoring Izuku’s yelp. “There you go, you’re floating now. It’s natural. Don't have to learn this shit.”
Izuku blinks. He looks down to see that they’re actually floating above his corpse.
“Now, last question. You can ask more later.” He lets go of Izuku’s hand. Izuku tries his best to not spin and embarrass himself.
“…What’s your name?” That’s the most important question actually.
The boy snorts. “Damn, I thought you would totally forget about that.”
The white-haired ghost drifts around Izuku and drapes his arm around his shoulders, eyes full of mirth and mischief.
“Todoroki Touya, at your service.”
Izuku’s eyes widen. Holy shit. This is Endeavor’s dead son! He died when he was thirteen? Wow… he’s only a year younger than Izuku.
“M-Midoriya Izuku,” he offers.
The ghost pats his back. “We don’t need formality when we’re dead right? Izuku-kun.”
“O-of course, T-Touya-san.”
Touya sighs. “We’ll get rid of the -san later. For now, come here.”
The ghost flies down to his dead body again and settles down next to it.
“W-what are we doing?” Izuku slowly follows him, trying not to look at his pathetic corpse too much.
“It’s my usual game to guess who’ll find the body. Play with me, Izuku-kun.”
Izuku blinks, a little bit surprised to see the older boy — even though he’s in his younger body — doing such a childish thing.
“Okay,” he says. “I think it’s going to be a random person.”
Touya gapes at him. “That’s such a boring answer. I bet it’s Ass Might in his pathetic body.”
Izuku chokes. “T-Touya-san! T-that’s mean!” he cries. Touya was definitely there when the hero told Izuku he couldn’t be a hero.
The white-haired boy scoffs. “I don’t care. Come on, sit next to me.” He pats the floor next to him.
Izuku sighs. He still couldn't wrap his mind around what had happened. But he guesses this is his new life now.
So he slowly moves to sit down next to Touya on the pavement, waiting for someone to notice his dead body.
He still thinks it’s going to be a random civilian though.
