Chapter Text
“It’s the third time this week you've been in my office, Midoriya. You know how it goes.”
“I know. I'm sorry, Recovery Girl.” I say blankly.
As Recovery Girl dials my mom's number, a knot forms in my stomach. I know the conversation that is about to take place, the same conversation we have had for 10 years, only now it's turned from me comforting mom into me arguing with her. It's been constant these past few months.
She plays the doting mother. I see through it; we fight, and then we only talk again next week when it happens again.
It has picked up more after the overhaul incident. Mom didn’t talk to me for a month after. During said month, some would say I cracked, but I see it as an epiphany. The years of doubt Mom threw my way, veiled as motherly worry and love, were anything but. She viewed me as small, weak, and incapable because I was quirkless. Now that I have a quirk, she sees me as incapable simply because I am myself. She saw the burns, bruises, scrapes, and wet school supplies as a natural punishment for being born how I was. Now, I’m no longer that quirkless victim; I’m the hero she could never be and never was, and she wants to bring me down and back to her.
That month of silence ended in mutual rage. The rage of a self-hating, manipulative mother who only sees her son as a weaker extension of herself, therefore unworthy of getting what he wants because she sees him as her. The rage of a son beaten and abused in every way by all around him, a son who is facing the music as to who his mother truly is. His first hater. She is his number one bully when she should’ve been his first supporter.
Recovery Girl lightly bops me on the head, bringing me back to earth as she hands me the phone with my mother on the line.
“Your mother wants to speak to you, dear.”
Recovery Girl says softly, pity in her eyes as she’s heard this conversation time and time again. I put the phone to my ear, my stomach tight with bubbling anger, anticipating what was to come.
“Oh! Izuku, baby, are you alright? I told you Ua is too dangerous! Please put some ease on your poor mother and quit this nonsense, baby! I can't take it anymore.”
Mom whines through dry sniffles and crocodile tears. A few months ago, I'd be quick to feel unimaginable guilt at worrying my mother, but she's a one-trick pony, and the trick has gotten old. There's barely a crowd anymore.
After letting my mother go on and on for a while, I finally cut her off and responded.
“I'm fine, Mom. It was just a long and intense training battle with Kirishima. It was hardly a fracture.”
“But you're my baby! It's just too dangerous for you to keep being there!”
She says through sobs, she continues, but eventually, I just drown it out, not wanting to get into one of our famous screaming matches in front of Recovery Girl again. A match 1A has become accustomed to.
I end the call mid-sentence and thank Recovery Girl for her time before heading back to the dorms.
When I open the gargantuan doors to the dorms, I'm greeted with an empathetic class. They’ve been witnesses to my mood after these visits to RC, along with my mom and I’s screaming matches.
“Hey Deku!”
Uraraka says, I can tell when she's trying to lift the mood, so I play along, The class decides to have a spa movie night with Eri to lift our spirits. It's a warm Friday night in April, FNAF movie playing as I'm sitting between Uraraka and Shoji with Eri sitting on her unicorn plush between my legs.
“Mr Deku!” Eri exclaims as her head pops up, jumpscaring even the most nonchalant of the class.
“Yes, Eri?” I say as I lean down to become eye to eye with her
“Can we pause this and go to that one fun store? Please, please, please!” Eri begs. She’s come such a long way from the shell of the girl she once was to a thriving little girl who is spoiled rotten by her heroes.
“I'm not sure Eri-chan… its quite a bit away, and its nearly 5 o'clock” I say teasing, knowing im craving the sodium-filled American snacks like nothing else.
After the class, I teased Eri for a few minutes longer. I tell her to get dressed and wash off her face mask so we can leave.
I wash off the hardened charcoal mask, the muck stuck in every crevice it can seep into. I opt for jeans and a simple T-shirt and jacket. We attempt to inform the teachers, but they wave us off. They’ve all been under a seemingly monumental amount of stress as of late.
Our conversation is filled with bubbly chatter, high-pitched and joyous in discussing Eri’s weekend plans. Nedzu has arranged for her to go on a playdate with children like her for more normal socialization. She tells me about what she is learning at school and how her teachers gave her a sticker for her fast progress. She asks about what I am learning, and I attempt to explain statistics and probability to an 8-year-old. All whilst we tune out the world around us, the rush and buzz of Mustafu blends out into a quiet area of libraries and apartment complexes, which are joined with coffee shops and our favourite American-import convenience store.
“Mr. Deku! Mr. Deku!” Eri screams with excitement, running towards me in the small store.
“Shhh, Eri, inside voices.”
“I'm sorry, Mr. Deku… but look!” Eri says, quickly bouncing back. She held up packaged candy apples, Cheeto puffs, and double-stuffed Oreos.
“Can I please get these? I understand if it's too expensive…”
I keep the cringe off my face at the amount of sugar I'm about to buy her, but I do it nonetheless. Buying myself sun chips and her and I imports of In-N-Out burgers.
I paid for Eri's and I’s snacks and meal. As we’re walking down the street to go to the park and eat our burgers, as per Eris's request, an earsplitting siren blares. An explosion in the distance.
“THIS IS NOT A DRILL. FIND SHELTER IMMEDIATELY.” The recording plays from the siren. Repeatative.
I look around to see the emergency alert system shining from residents' TVs. I can’t figure out what is happening, and my gut is telling me I don't have time to. I see swarms of unidentifiable people in the distance invading this dead quiet neighborhood, and I feel a sense of danger in my chest at the sight. No time to investigate as I have to care for Eri. I swoop up Eri, using black whip to get us to the tallest and nearest building. We land at the top, and when Eri’s feet touch the roof, she crouches down, her hands over her ears as the sirens persist.
I use the height of the building to see what is going on below. The swarms of people are swaying oddly, as if intoxicated. Some drag their limbs, others are missing a few. Right as I start to believe they are a group of attacked individuals, I see them surround and bite and tear apart a little boy with his mother. She screams and cries, her son now just a smudge of organ on the swarm's faces. She turns around to run, but a small child apart of the swarm latches their jaw to her leg. The mother is crying, kicking the little girl off, limping as she runs into the cafe next door.
I see the swarm attack more people, sometimes just biting, sometimes tearing them apart. Skin, muscle, tissue, bone. I’m stuck. I feel useless, I feel helpless, alone, and I don’t know what to do. Paralyzed by shock and fear.
I’m struck back into reality by the sound of glass shattering and the sound of Eri’s cries. I come back to my senses, there’s no time to sit around being afraid. I have to get Eri to safety and find a way back to UA.
I turn to Eri and crouch down so she can hear me over everything below and the sirens.
“Eri, I know this is scary and loud, but I need you to listen to me, ok?”
She turns to me with her hands over her ears, fat tears running down her red face. She nods and loosens her hold on her ears enough to hear me.
“Good job.” I say, exasperated
“Now, when I carry you, I need you to keep your eyes closed and keep your head tucked into my chest. Can you do that for me? I need you to be brave.”
I say with a smile on my face, hoping to put her at ease. She nods and reaches for me, her tears stalling. I pick her up and she tucks her head into my chest. I use black whip to climb down the building into an open window. We come face to face with a panicked family. I quickly excuse myself and exit their apartment. I tell Eri she can look up when we enter the quiet hallway on the top floor.
I knock on every door I can until I find an empty apartment, hoping the news is broadcasting what's going on. The apartment I find is reminiscent of the typical bachelor stereotype; the coffee table littered with beer cans and empty pizza boxes, the bare necessities in furniture, but lots of Musutafu PD pictures and dirty uniforms. I deduce that this apartment belongs to an officer.
I set Eri down inside and locked the door behind us. I start walking over to the TV and the couch, desperate to find out what is going on. I turn the TV on to the news, watching intently.
The Emergency Alert system only stops every few seconds, continuously interrupting the program.
“BERRRRRRRRR BERRRRRRR BERRRRRRR” the EAS screams. “ STAY INDOORS. STAY ON HIGH GROUNDS. DO NOT EAT CONTAMINATED MEAT. DO NOT TRAVEL.” “BERRRRRRR BERRRRR BERRRR”
The news flashes in between EAS announcements. Few words are spoken before the blaring noise reverts to our screens.
I check my phone, hoping for more information. I’m unable to connect to anything, no data, no wifi. Completely cut off.
At this moment, my mind starts to run wild. I’m cut off from the rest of the world, with the responsibility of caring for an 8-year-old, and getting us back to UA. My only comfort is knowing my friends are safe waiting for us. But that momentary comfort doesn’t override the panic and scramble for any sort of supplies.
I run from my spot on the sunken couch, throwing open all cabinets, drawers, and doors. I search for an emergency radio, begging the universe for anything besides the EAS. A crank radio is found by Eri, I switch to the news station. As it powers up, we hear something strange. Silence. The silence is interrupted. The sound of crunching takes over. Moans of hurt people, the sound of tearing flesh, the sound of slurping and sloshing. Then static.