Chapter Text
Hot, sticky blood stained chapped, cracked lips. The presence of iron was too pungent in his mouth, the taste unpleasant and texture sickening as it congealed. He spat it out, soaking it into the dirt and adding another dark spot amongst many. He was barely conscious, and it felt like his head was spinning.
The initial impact had been lessened slightly by the softer ground, much better than the concrete it must have been before, but not by much. He vaguely felt the urge to get up and do something, but he didn't know what. He willed his arms to move but they did not obey. Nausea from the concussion he’d sustained made him twitch, as that was about all he could do. The blaring sun leered its bright face above him, watering his eyes and willing him to close them. He momentarily did, but was jostled awake again.
Again? What had woken him up before?
Someone leaned over into his field of view, their blurred eyes frantic and alert, constantly looking from side to side. The person shut them tight as a strong gust of wind kicked dust up into the air, and a rumble reverberated through the ground.
‘Something's…wrong.’ he could barely managed to string the words together in his head.
He pulled his irritated eyes away from the figure above him and to his right, where he sluggishly realized another person lay.
He felt himself tense at the image slowly making its way into his head. Awful. The sight in front of him was awful and yet he couldn't find the strength to really feel it, or even know why. He looked back up.
The person's mouth was wide open in a shout that wasn't reaching his ears. He felt a twinge of frustration that died quickly. Why couldn’t he make out what they were saying? How long had he been laying there? It felt like such a long time. Why was it taking so long?
He could just read the person's lips.
Mi
Do
Ri
Ya
That's his name. That's his name. That's Todoroki saying his name-
“MIDORIYA!”
The ringing in his ears ceased for a moment as the scratchy yell permeated his thoughts. He could hear the rumble a bit clearer.
“Whha-at?” His numb lips came up with an answer that was barely audible, and with it a bit of tension left the other boy's face.
“Midoriya! Don't close your eyes!” The voice sounded slightly far away, but close enough to hear clearly. He tried to crack a smile, but he could feel that it was crooked.
Someone was there with him. He didn't know why the thought was so comforting at that moment. Someone was there to see it.
See what again?
“Open your eyes!” A hand firmly patted his face. When had they even closed?
“Le-et me hhold-” a cough scratched at his throat as he tried to speak, “hold his-his hand.”
He felt another strange urge, he needed to make sure someone was alright. That's all he needed. Someone needed to be okay.
Who was he even talking about? His mouth seemed to know what he wanted better than he did.
Confusion crossed over Todoroki's face. He struggled to retain the name. Todoroki was the one here with him, but not the one he needed to see in these moments.
“What?” He glanced between him and the person next to him, fear widening his eyes and thinning his lips. He spoke frantically after a moment. “Why? He's okay. I promise you he's okay.” His breathing was panicked, uncharacteristically so, “Stop looking at him and look at yourself! You're the one that needs the most help here!”
He hadn't realized he’d rolled his head to look at the person in question, and tears had slipped from the corners of his eyes.
It was awful.
But he was alive.
“Midoriya!” The voice was farther away. He felt his tense form relax as he stared at the person again. He was okay. The person had promised him. It was okay.
“Midoriya.” The voice was barely a whisper. It didn't sound like the yell from before. A soothing voice leading him to sleep
“It's okay, I promise,” the voice, different in some way, whispered. “I'm sorry.” The sorrow that flooded every word fading away to a soft hum.
A sleep so cold and yet comforting had never fallen upon him before. Where he was didn't matter. What he was didn't matter. He was nothing but a part of this velvet curtain washing over him.
“We’re sorry.”