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Heroes are amazing. They show up in the nick of time and save innocent civilians from the nasty bad guys who abuse their power. Or at least, that’s what heroes are supposed ro do. That’s what kids were taught in school- that heroes would save the day and life would go on as normal. That heroes are kind and don’t glare at you for getting in the way. Really, that’s what Izuku was told. That's what he expected. So imagine his surprise when he rushed into the melee to save his friend(?) from being consumed from a sludge villain when no one else would step forward, only to receive ridicule. It’s not like he hadn’t just barely escaped death when All Might showed up, and deserved a well earned mental health break from his adrenaline rush. No, all he got was a scolding as he mildly got through a panic attack at the thought of Kacchan and himself dying.
And Izuku gets it, he really does. He knows that he could have been severely wounded, or dead, and that his actions probably hurt the situation more than it helped… But in the back of his mind he can’t help but marvel at the audacity these heroes have to sit down and tell him that it’s too dangerous. That’s the whole flipping point. Kacchan was in danger, and none of the heroes stepped forward to help, excluding All Might who barely stepped in at the last second before Kacchan suffocated to death. Izuku did what he had to do, what even heroes failed to do, and he would do it again one hundred percent. And it's not like he was expecting Kacchan to thank him (that would never happen in a million years), but he couldn’t help but be a little admonished when Kacchan basically flipped him off and sauntered into the sunset like the sassy prick he is. Classic Kacchan. He sighed, his eyes itching with tiredness and tears.
Tears? He thought. Oh right, he chuckled forlornly, my dreams were crushed into smithereens today. But Izuku knew it was time. No more pretending. He was quirkless. He had to face that fact. And yet...
“Midoriya-shounen!” A voice called from behind him, and he turned back to face the man who both shattered his dreams and built them back up again in a matter of hours.
Three months into the grueling training regimen that All Might assigned to him, and Izuku was not having a good time™. It was hard, and dare he say excruciatingly painful, but it was rewarding; he started to notice the slight bulk of muscle gathering on his biceps and calves, and a spark of hope coursed through Izuku. He felt great despite looking half-dead most of the time, he felt useful, even. At the same time, Kacchan decided to stay pointedly away from him, so Izuku felt even more liberated than usual without the familiar ache of bruises and scrapes to go along with his taut muscles and sore abdomen. Though, he can’t say that he didn’t miss interacting with Kacchan albeit he could go without the shoving and hurtful words. He liked Kacchan in that he found him to be a source of inspiration, but he was also terrified of the explosive monster. A strange contradiction, which Izuku is painfully aware of, but still, he couldn’t help but be drawn towards Kacchan’s raw potential. The potential that Izuku wished so badly he could possess himself.
I will one day . Izuku gritted his teeth as he squeezed his hand grip experimentally. When All Might passes his power down to me, he promises himself, I will have the potential to fight alongside Kacchan . Little did he know that that “ one day” would never come.
It happened one day when he was out training with All MIght in the dead of night. It was fall now, meaning that school nights were longer and the days were colder. It also meant that the daylight was cut in half, something that All Might usually accounted for when taking Izuku out to clean up the beach, but seemingly had forgotten this time around due to their intense training.
“Oh My Goodness!” All Might exclaimed in English as he took a look at the street lamps lighting up on the sidewalk. “Look at the time!” He continued in Japanese.
Izuku was panting heavily, a truck tire looped around his waist via brittle rope, salty sweat dripping from his T-shirt that clung to him like a second skin. He stopped hauling the massive object and plopped it on the sandy shore after catching his breath.
“..whew, I didn’t even notice how dark it got,” Izuku said truthfully. He was too focused to decipher every command All Might barked out, much less the darkening of the sky.
“We should wrap it up for today, shounen. You need the rest.”
“ Hai!”
Izuku sat down and tried to de-tangle himself from the mess of ropes that bound him to the god forsaken tire which he had been dragging around for three hours . All Might didn’t skimp out when he said he was going to train Izuku hard. And, Izuku was just now realizing this tenfold as his muscles groaned in protest when he tried to sit back up.
All Might handed him a cool water bottle and patted Izuku on the shoulder. “You should probably text your mom before she worries about you being too late.” He advised, getting his keys out of his pockets. “I’ll go warm up the car.”
“I’m not going to stretch or do the cool down run?” Izuku asked, wiping his mouth from the excess water that escaped his lips.
All Might pondered for a moment. “It’s getting pretty late. Plus, you can do the rest of your stretches at home.”
Izuku frowned a little. Don’t mistake; he’s dead tired, and he’d love nothing more than to drive straight home and take a nice snooze, but… “My house is only twenty minutes from here by walking; I could probably do my cool down run in ten minutes if I tried…”
“Shounen…” All Might smiled tiredly. This boy did not know the definition of “rest.”
“Don’t worry, All Might, I know this part of town like the back of my hand; I won’t get lost.”
“I’m not so worried about you getting lost, my boy, as I am about you getting overly tired.” He ruffled the mass of green hair on Izuku’s head, awkwardly wiping his sweat-drenched hand on his pant leg before continuing where he left off (he ignored Izuku’s slight chuckled). “Rest is an important part of training, shounen .”
“I know, All Might.” Izuku smiled warmly. “How about I text you when I get home, so you know I don’t stay out too long?”
In another universe, in a different time, All Might would have said no. He would have gently shook his head and used his hand to guide Izuku’s sweaty back towards his car, despite the meek protests of the teen. Izuku would have arrived at his house after momentarily dozing in the car, bowing and waving goodbye as he left. All Might would drive into the distance, making this encounter nothing other than a normal day. However, in this moment, in this universe, All Might had a moment of weakness...
“... as long as you text me right as you get home, shounen.”
… and it cost him everything.
It was cold, really cold, Izuku was soon realizing on his jog back. His adrenaline rush from earlier was subsiding, and he was getting very thirsty again, despite his drink from earlier. His feet hit the pavement at a constant, steady pace, but his breathing was labored. The cool night air wasn’t doing him any favors either, especially when he was still dressed in a baggy t-shirt and sweatpants. It seemed like a good idea earlier to wear short-sleeves, since the sun was warming his back and it was 68 degrees Fahrenheit. But, now the sun was gone, replaced by the iridescent moon, and the air was at a bone chilling 42 degrees. I might get pneumonia at this rate, Izuku mulled. But he was only five minutes into his run, almost halfway home… He could handle five more minutes, couldn’t he? The edges of his vision began to blur around the edges as he felt himself slip. Before he submerged completely into unconsciousness he had one single thought: Oh shit, I forgot to text my mom.
Long story short: the answer was no, he could not handle five more minutes of running in the blistering cold. He realized this fact very quickly when he woke up and found himself in a room that was most definitely not his, which he could discern by the lack of All Might posters decorating the wall. Izuku noted a slight beeping sound to his right, just behind his head, and turned around to find a heart monitor staring back at him. A bag with IV drip dangled tantalizingly from one of the metal hooks at the top of the stand, a long tube snaking its way down the metal shaft and embedding itself into Izuku’s arm.
“... a hospital?” Izuku murmured. The last thing he remembered was jogging his way home before his vision started to fade… He had no memory of getting up after that, much less dragging himself to a hospital. Did I faint?
“Ah!” A voice snapped him from his thoughts and he saw a male nurse pop his head into his room. “You’re awake?”
“...I-” Izuku’s voice cracked and he cleared his throat. “I, uh, how did I get here?”
However, the nurse was preoccupied with someone outside of the door, so Izuku’s question went unnoticed.
“Sorry, I’ll be right with you, I just need to get some paperwork.” And with that Izuku was left to stare at an empty doorway.
The nurse returned with a handful of papers attached to a clipboard and settled down into a stool. “What were you saying before I left? Sorry, I was calling a doctor to check on your vitals- she should be here soon.”
“N-no, that’s fine! Sorry for the trouble.” Izuku waved his hands frantically. He hated to make others worry. “Um, but how did I get here?”
“First,” the nurse punctuated as he flipped up a few papers on his clipboard, “let’s start with your name.”
“Right! Sorry! My name is Midoriya Izuku.” The nurse scribbled on the papers. Izuku noticed several piercings on the nurse's ears, just below his short brown fringe of hair.
“Age?”
“Fourteen, sir.”
“Height?”
“Five foot three.”
“Blood type?”
“O? I think”
“And have you had any previous experiences like this?”
“Like what?”
“Fainting from exhaustion?”
Oh, Izuku thought internally, so I really did faint.
“No, sir. This is the first time it’s happened.”
“Mmhm.” He jotted something down, flipping the pages back to the front.
“Seeing as you’re a minor, I can’t ask for your personal information without a guardian. But, if you’re okay with me knowing, why were you exercising to the point of exhaustion, kid? It’s not really healthy.”
The clipboard was thrusted into Izuku’s lap and he stared up at the nurse inquisitively. “Fill out the contact information so we can call your parents. They must be worried sick about you since you’ve been gone for around four hours.”
Four hours? Izuku stared out at the window, and sure enough it was pitch black outside. He looked frantically at the nurse and mumbled, “What time is it now?”
“Right now?” The nurse mused. “It’s just about one AM, kid.” One AM? Izuku reeled. It was about eight pm when he left All Might, meaning he had been missing for five hours in total. Oh man, All Might is definitely going to scold me big time. Izuku grimaced as he pulled out his phone from the pockets of his sweatpants to find forty unanswered calls from All Might, and sixty seven unanswered calls from his mom… Forget All Might being mad, my mom is definitely going to ground me . He sighed.
He began to push the dial button for his mom before he stopped and turned to the nurse headed out the door, “Ah, excuse me!”
The brown haired nurse swiveled slightly so that his feet were facing the door but the rest of his body was facing Izuku.
“Hm?”
“Um, do you know how I got here...Mr?”
“Tanaka,” the nurse supplied.
“Tanaka-san? All I remember is fainting on the sidewalk and waking up here.”
“Ah, yea, it’s funny that you ask because nobody really knows how you got here either.”
Izuku cocked his head after hearing this. “Then how…?”
“One of the staff went to take out the trash and they found you propped up by the dumpsters.”
Huh, that’s odd. Izuku was suddenly very curious about his journey to the hospital, setting his phone down, forgotten.
“Weird, right? Sometimes that will happen though; people just showing up at the perimeter of the hospital, not knowing how they got here. We tried to see who did it using the security system, but all we could find was a man with a mask on his face.” He shrugged. “Guess everyone’s got their own reasons for doing things, but it’s nice that there are good people in the world.”
Izuku nodded slowly. At least it wasn’t a villain. “...Yea I guess... “ he picked his phone back up again. “I wish I could say thank you though, to the person who helped me.”
Tanaka-san shrugged again and tilted his body towards the door. “Can’t always get what you want, kid. Life doesn’t play favorites.” Boy, did Izuku know that all too well. And with that, Izuku was left to his lonesome.
Izuku stared down at his phone, mentally preparing himself at the onslaught that was about to follow after he pressed the world “dial,” directly under the contact information for “Mom.” Here goes nothing . He braced himself as his phone started dialing, and waited. And waited, and waited, and waited until he heard his mom’s voicemail. Slightly surprised, he dialed again, but the pattern was the same. He tried one more time for good measure, but ended with the same result.
“ Hi! This is Midoriya Inko! I can’t get back to the phone right now, but I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.!” A pause. “ Please leave a voicemail after the beep.”
“H-hi mom. I’m sorry that I couldn’t get to you until now, I, uh, fainted while working out, butI’mokaynow! I’m at the Musufatsu Hospital right now, I think, and I feel a lot better! Can you please come to get me? I’m sorry it’s so late... But anyways, I love you! See you soon.” Izuku let out a breath of air before frowning slightly. He knows that his mom must be worried right now, but it’s odd that she isn’t answering his calls. Maybe she forgot her phone and went out to look for me? Which is very possible, if Izuku is being honest, because his mom tends to be scatterbrained when she is panicked. But, he still found it odd since his mom had called him sixty seven times, the latest call time stamped at eleven o’ seven pm, which was only two hours ago. Worry began to blossom in his gut. He didn’t want to be a pessimist, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.
Thirty minutes passed and still no calls from his mom. The doctor, a nice looking woman with elf ears, came in to check on him right after he had called All Might, who was on his way to the hospital now. She most likely waited outside his room in courtesy of his phone call, or in fear of the loud, booming voice that yelled English profanities on the other side of Izuku’s phone. Either way, she was a nice lady. But, she looked a little tired and… worried? Though Izuku couldn’t fathom why since he was clearly in a better condition than he was before.
“Midoriya-kun,” the doctor started in a soft tone, “are your parents on their way now?”
“Ah, about that, I can’t get in contact with my mom for some reason…” he trailed off.
“Your dad?” She inquired.
Izuku stayed silent, with an apologetic smile.
“... I see.” She suddenly looked extremely tired. “Is there any other trusted adult you can call? I don’t see anyone listed under your emergency contacts under your hospital file.”
“Ah! Yes, I called my, uh trainer. He should be here soon.”
The doctor looked at him inquisitively. “Is this a trusted adult that can perform as your temporary guardian in the absence of your legal guardians?”
“...uh, yes. I believe so. I’m very close to him.”
“Good,” the doctor nodded, pinching her nose bridge. “I’ll wait with you until he gets here, because I’d like to go over some things with your trainer about your work regimen, young man.”
Gomenasai, All Might. Izuku bowed his head in shame. “ Hai…”
A slight knock at the door signaled the arrival of the awaited visitor, and Izuku tensed. Oh shit oh sht oh shit oh shit. Blond hair peek through the doorway, and a very worried looking man with skeleton-like features hurried into the room.
“ Midoriya-shounen!” All Might exclaimed.
“” All M-uh- Yagi-san!” Izuku sputtered.
The doctor rose from where she was sitting and went to greet All Might with a handshake before speaking.“Yagi-san, is it? Can we speak outside for a moment before we go into details with Midoriya-kun?”
Izuku glanced at the doctor questioningly. All Might cocked his head and glanced slightly at Izuku, checking for any injuries that he might have missed in the split second he saw him. After discerning that Izuku wasn’t in any life-threatening danger he complied with the doctors wishes and shuffled into the hallway, leaving Izuku utterly alone in the hospital room for the second time that night.
“So, if this is about his overexertion, I will bear full responsibility for pushi-”
“We can get to that later, Yagi-san.” the doctor interrupted, pushing black hair behind her pointed ears. “For now I’d like you to come with me so Midoriya-kun doesn’t overhear what I’m about to say through the doorway.”
All Might nodded, looking back at Izuku’s door one last time before hurriedly following the doctor down the long corridor.
“So… is there something wrong with Midoriya-shounen?” All Might asked once he was settled in what he presumed was a small conference room for doctors.
The doctor shook her head and brought up her hand to her chin in a thoughtful manner. “No, other than the extreme amount of stress on his body, Midoriya-kun is doing exceptionally well.” She remarked.
All Might hung his head while wringing his hands. “...I am completely at fault for this, I admit. I should have driven him home tonight after his training instead of letting him jog home.”
The doctor simply nodded her head and clenched her fists. “We all make mistakes, Yagi-san, just be sure not to do it again.”
“ Hai…” All Might looked up at the doctor after a brief moment of silence. “Was that all?”
At this the doctor shook her head and slumped down into her chair. She didn’t answer his question, she just simply stared at a spot on the wooden table, contemplating what to say.
“Um…?”
“Do you know Midorya’s mother?'' She started carefully.
By the time All Might and the doctor returned, thirty minutes had passed, and Izuku was getting antsy. His mom still wasn’t answering his calls and his phone was almost dead. Despite it nearing two thirty in the morning, Izuku’s head felt strangely clear. He felt as if he were waiting for something. As for what he was waiting for exactly, he would soon find out.
“... Yagi-san?” Izuku asked when he saw his mentor enter the room again, clearly in a worse mood prior to talking with the doctor. “Are you all right?”
All Might offered a grim smile, covering his mouth and turning his head. I should be asking you that, my boy, All Might thought forlornly. Izuku knew something was wrong now. Both the doctor and All might look worse for wear and his mom was still missing. Right? Where is my mom?
“All Mi- Yagi-san,” Izuku began carefully, his mouth tasting like lead for some reason, “do you know where my mom is?”
Allmight unclenched and clenched his jaw as if he were about to speak, but no words came out. The doctor placed her hand on his shoulder tenderly. There was no answer.
“Honda-san,” Izuku addressed the doctor this time, his heart in his mouth, “ where is my mom?” He punctuated his words quietly, fear evident in his wide eyes, any signs of his former tiredness completely overwritten by his new surge of adrenaline.
“Midoriya-kun…” Honda-san started out before she was interrupted by a slight knock at the door. She turned to All Might and asked, “Is that him?” All Might peaked through the window and nodded. The door slid open and with it entered an unfamiliar face.
“Midoriya-shounen,” All Might choked out, “this is my colleague Naomasa Tsukauchi, head of the police force… he’s here to inform you about the incident surrounding your mother.”
Deep inside Izuku knew, he felt it in his gut. But he needed to hear it. He needed to know. “Yagi-san,” Midoriya pleaded, “what happened to my mom?”
Before All Might could answer, Naomasa answered for him. “Midoriya-kun,” the man looked at Izuku with soft eyes, wishing that he wasn’t the one to break such sad news on an injured patient. But someone had to do it, and he knew Yagi-san was too soft when it came to personal relationships like these.
“Your mom is dead.”
From what Tsukauchi could tell, this boy was someone that Toshinori held dear, so it broke his heart all the more to see the young teen stare at him in shock, his expressive eyes morphing into a horrific sight that he wished he never had the chance to experience because it hurt, it really did. His heart squeezed at the revelation of grief washing over the boy’s face, but he didn’t look away; it was part of his job after all. He saw people cry all the time. But that didn’t mean he felt any less guilty for ruining this kid’s life. Rivulets of thick tears streamed down the boy’s face in an almost comical fashion, but no one was laughing now. In fact, the room was deadly silent except for the occasional choked gasp that escaped Midoriya-kun’s mouth. Toshinori briskly walked over to the boy’s side and put his hand on his back in an attempt to console the poor boy, but it was no use; he was broken.
Muffled sobs could be heard from the pitiful creature before them for a painstakingly long time. Any attempt at talking, let alone moving, was interrupted but powerful hiccups and bawling. At one point, Honda wondered if she should leave, but one look at Tsukauchi diminished that thought. We’re stuck in this together . He seemed to be saying. This boy is going to need all the help he can get.
“H-ho-how?” He managed to choke between sobs. “I-I I just saw her this m-morning. S-she was a- alive. I-I, j-just,” he heaved into a throaty tremor. “I-I c-can’t,” he gasped for air, and All Might murmured into his ear softly. Izuku shook his head and tried to gather himself. Honda-san offered him a tissue and Izuku grabbed it weakly.
“... how?” Izuku croaked after what seemed like an eternity. The three adults in the room never felt more powerless than they did now, faced with a heart-broken child that they couldn’t save.
“At roughly eleven o’ seven,” Tsukauchi slowly began, “A bus was making a stop at a combini -store near Aldera Junior High, and when it started again the driver didn’t notice… your mother crossing the street and...” He sighed deeply.
Izuku shuddered. “It’s believed,” he continued, “that she was killed on impact; she felt no pain.” Izuky took in a sharp breath of air, willing his lungs to be full again and for the aching pain in his chest to subside.
“T-the d-driver...was...was just s-starting up again, -r-right? H-how d-did she n-ot see i-it?”
Tsukauchi winced, carefully planning out his words. “... from eyewitness reports, it seems that your mother was a little… distracted, and didn’t notice when the light turned red.”
The color drained from Izuku's face, giving the young boy a ghostly look. Oh my god. He pulled out his phone with shaky hands, the battery teetering on seven percent, but he didn’t care. He was numb. Izuku pushed the voicemail button that was time-stamped at 11:07, despite All Might’s protests, and listened carefully, hoping that he was wrong.
“Izuku?” His mom’s voice sounded through the screen and Izuku swallowed a lump forming in his throat. She sounds so alive…
“Izuku, please, I-I need to know where you are, sweety, I’m worried.” Izuku noticed the faint sound of metal brakes squeaking in the background.
“ I’m headed towards your school now since you aren’t answering, but I really hope that you’ll call me back, okay? Please, for the love of god, please be okay, baby. I really hope this is nothing but me overreacting....”
The heavy hum of machinery was distinct now, but Inko carried on. “ I hope I see you soon, Izuku. I love-”
Metal screeching and a sickening crunch , mangled with a blood-curdling scream blasted from his phone, and the line went silent.
Izuku dropped his phone on white blankets and stared at the illuminated screen. He had no energy to turn it off, but within a few seconds the screen went black anyways. His phone was dead. His mom was dead.
And I killed her . Izuku thought miserably as he fainted for a second time that night.