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Izuku was maybe just a bit traumatized. Or a lot. Depends on who you ask. Izuku always had at least a few nightmares, most of them reoccurring. He’s been having dreams of when he ran away from UA in hopes of protecting his classmates—the terror he'd suppressed when he thought of All for One, the undeniable urge to run and fight. He had gone into survival mode. In most of these dreams, he was lucid enough to recall defeating Shigaraki and ending the war. Because of this, he typically woke himself up at ungodly hours of the night.
This week in particular was bad, that same dream coming back every night, making Izuku’s anxiety skyrocket and disrupting his eating and sleeping habits. His classmates noticed, of course, but they knew Izuku wasn’t the type to want to discuss his feelings. Momo began offering nighttime tea before Izuku locked himself in his room to study or attempt to sleep. Denki let him borrow some kind of fidget. Ochako and Iida seemed more smiley—though on Iida it was kind of unnerving. Even Katsuki lightened up his harsh words and made him katsudon.
The dreams didn’t stop.
-_.{}._.{}._.{}._-
Cold wind blew softly through the rubble of destroyed concrete, the silver rays of the moon cast twitching shadows on the ground that sometimes looked like people.
Izuku was huddled in a half collapsed building, giving his muscles a brief rest. His mind screamed at him to keep running, but the vestiges were almost as loud. They wanted him to take a break even if he didn’t.
He forced himself to relax, listening to the soft whistling wind and watching dust sparkle through rays of light. He flinched at every noise and forcibly unwound his muscles.
After only a few minutes, terror began to claw at his sternum. All for One was after him. He endangered anyone around him if he stayed here, either by drawing All for One in, or letting the villains from Tartarus go. He took a deep breath, ignoring the vestiges protests and—
Midoryia sat up with a gasp, clutching his chest in panic. It wasn’t real, he knew it wasn’t real. But the terror he felt very much was.
Despite his better judgement, Izuku quickly grabbed a small bag in the corner of his room. It held a black hoodie that said “pants”, a pair of black sweats, a handwritten note and his hero mask. Even when he was running away he was a bit of a rule follower, not wanting to reveal his carefully hidden student-hero identity in the event of a fight. He pinned the note to his door, it said he’d be back soon, that his mom had called and needed his help for a few days.
This was stupid and illogical. He knew that even as he climbed out of his window, even as he carefully avoided the security and used his student ID as to not set off alarms. He knew that as he walked into the darkened forest beyond UA.
He also knew that he’d blow up and likely hurt someone in the process if he stayed. Besides, he didn’t do anything in class anymore, he just practiced hand-to-hand while his classmates improved their quirks. He doubted they’d care much if he was gone for a bit.
Izuku didn’t really know how he managed to get out undetected, but thinking about the campus too long made the claw around his ribs clench harder. He wandered darkened streets and places where he had helped clear debris. The fear wasn’t fading, much to Midoriya's annoyance, so he kept walking until he was tired and shaky enough to curl up in an alley.
-_.{}._.{}._.{}._-
The rising sun and gnawing hunger woke him up.
Izuku sat still for a few minutes before mustering up the strength to go to a convenience store.
He walked in, head hung low to hide his face in a mass of green hair, and picked up a tuna mayo onigiri. He contemplated buying more but decided he could just eat when he returned to UA. Besides, fear was still knotted in his abdomen, he doubted he’d be able to stomach much more.
A news broadcast caught Midoriya’s eye as he handed the cashier the payment.
A picture of a man was displayed next to the reporter. He had dark copper skin webbed with faded scars that looked like veins of lava. His hair was a dark grown out buzz cut that highlighted his orange eyes, the pupils of which almost seeming liquid within his irises. He seemed to be wearing a cropped orange jacket over a black compression shirt, but the image wasn’t large enough to see his whole body. “A minor villain has now come to be a true danger,” the subtitles read, “calling himself Molten Touch, this man has rampaged through towns, not discouraged by the recent end to the war. His victims seem to be young adults to middle age. Pros are actively tracking him, but—“
Well, Izuku was getting antsy for action. It’s not that he necessarily wanted to fight someone, but he needed a release before he felt like he could go back to school. It might as well be useful. He could always just distract the villain until pros could come.
Midoriya really just wandered aimlessly with his hero mask on until he heard someone screaming in agony. He ran toward the noise, to be met with the sight of someone holding a red hot hand over a man’s face. The victim was wrapped in a chain, the warped air surrounding it telling Izuku it was heated as well. A scent of burning hair and cooking meat rose from the scene—Izuku’s stomach knotted tighter in disgust.
Izuku lunged for the perpetrator’s legs, knocking him sideways and yelling for the victim to get a pro. The villain’s skin was hot so Midoriya had to leap back quickly. Molten recovered fast, getting to his feet and facing Izuku. Even quirkless, Deku knew he could fight well enough to either defeat this villain or hold him off until pros arrived. He hoped, at least. Maybe this was his chance to prove to himself he wasn’t useless now.
Deku eyed the man carefully.
Likely to strike with his hands. The chain is long but I can avoid it. He’s not very quick, his chain slows him a bit too, so I have an advantage there. I can’t be sure how strong he is yet. I’m assuming his quirk is heating his skin, but is there a limit to the temperature? If I just had One—no. Focus. My best option is to stall him since I don’t really have any weapons. Hopefully pros have been alerted. Hopefully.
Deku ignored the growing nausea from lack of food and eyed the villain carefully, waiting for any small movement that would indicate an attack.
Molten lunged at Deku, chain whipping forward in a hissing arc. Deku leaped back, avoiding the chain and darting around the man to turn him away from a few bystanders.
Molten took the bait, lunging in for a punch, but Deku was faster.
He doesn’t fight with any sort of strategy. His style is actually a bit sloppy, I’m surprised pros haven’t caught him yet.
Deku hopped away from another failed strike.
Deku fell into a rhythm—dodge, circle around, study, repeat. His brain was beginning to lag behind his movements, so reflex took over.
Molten was clearly beginning to get angry, steam rising from his body as he lashed out wildly.
They went like this for a few minutes. Pros should be arriving soon.
Deku’s mind wandered a bit as he danced around strikes. He doesn’t seem to be enjoying this all that much. I wonder if he ever had a trainer. I don’t think so. I bet he’s another tragic story turned villain. You’d think he’d at least invest in someone to instruct him if he wanted to become a big time villain. I guess his chain makes up for his lack of strategy, but an agile pro should easily be able to—
Deku had gotten too comfortable in the rhythm he’d begun. Hot steam blew onto the mask covering his face, the thin plastic over his eyes doing nothing but fogging up and radiating heat. The burning in his eyes made him stumble back blind and he tripped over a hot chain.
Molten had him pinned in an instant, one hand glowing with heat hovering over Midoriya’s face, the other slowly heating the chain that pinned Izuku’s limbs. Izuku cursed his own weakness.
Now that Molten was at close range, Izuku could see what he assumed were bracelets were actually small vents for the steam, and the button to activate them was on Molten’s ring.
Lack of sleep and proper nutrition combined with the energy he used from fighting made him too dizzy to put up any more of a struggle. He tried in vain to summon up some whisp of One for All.
I saved the world and now I can’t even save myself. I’m weak.
“Let’s see what coward lies behind that mask, huh, hero?” Molten sneered.
Shit. Well, Izuku’s last moments would be breaking UA’s mask rules.
Molten cooled his hand enough to peel the mask away from Izuku’s face and—
His expression dropped. The triumph seeped away from his face until he was looking down at the teenager he had pinned to the ground in horror. A teenager.
Molten knew the rumors about the kids who fought in the war, but he didn’t think they were true. He had assumed it was just some sick joke by the people who stayed in highschool strongholds.
Through the thickening fog in his mind, Izuku couldn’t think of why the villain above him looked so horrified, or why his burning skin was cooling.
Izuku let himself slip into inky black unconsciousness.
-_.{}._.{}._.{}._-
Molten started in utter horror at the unconscious child beneath him. He scrambled off, nausea starting to knot his stomach.
When he had started becoming a bigger name amongst villains, Molten made a vow—he wouldn’t hurt children or elderly. He didn’t particularly enjoy hurting people in general, but at least it made him feel something.
He carefully searched the kid’s pockets, looking for any sort of identification. He found a student ID from UA high.
Molten carefully scooped up the unconscious teenager. He would make this right.
-_.{}._.{}._.{}._-
Midoriya woke up to the familiar buzz of fluorescent lights and the scent of a sterile environment. How he’d gotten to a hospital, he had no idea. He didn’t even seem injured other than minor scrapes, burns, and a headache. He could feel the dull pressure of an IV needle in his forearm. Izuku carefully sat up and glanced around. He was immediately met with the faces of every single one of his classmates. Bakugo lingered at the door, leaning against the wall.
Why in god’s name did they let all of them in here?
Shouting and loud shushing quickly followed his return to consciousness. All he really caught from the explosion of noise was: “god, that was so stupid of you!” “We were so worried, you idiot!” And a lot more insults and expressions of concern. Izuku gave general answers: “sorry, I was panicking.” “I won’t do it again, I’m sorry.” “I’m sorry for worrying you guys,”
Finally, Iida ushered most of the class out, telling them they could talk to Midoriya when he got back to the dorms. Now only Uraraka, Izuku, Todoroki, and Iida were left in the room.
“I’m really glad you’re okay, Deku,” Uraraka said gently, resting her hand on his shoulder.
“I am too,” Midoriya smiled at her and put his hand over hers.
Iida began chopping his hands through the air. “Yes, we were all very worried, and I’m glad you’re okay, but that was extremely unprofessional of you! What if you had gotten hurt and we couldn’t find you? You need to be more rational in the future, Midoriya!”
Todoroki nodded along with Iida. “I agree, but I do understand where you were coming from. Talk to someone first, next time.”
Izuku nodded, knowing damn well he would not be talking to anyone unless he was having a complete breakdown or if he was taking his final breath.
“We knew something was off when we saw the note, y’know,” Ochako started after a few moments. “Most of our classmates were concerned, but figured you’d be back soon enough so we just ignored it. It was written too similar to the first time for that sentiment to fully put us at ease—Iida, Shouto and I, I mean. Oh, and obviously Aizawa-Sensei figured something was off, but I think Yamada-Sensei talked him down.”
Izuku nodded again. That made sense, he had been pretty sure the note would calm at least most of the class when he’d written it, but he hadn’t been too sure about his closest friends.
After a few more minutes, the three said their goodbyes, parting insults, and left so their teachers could talk with Izuku. Though, they promised they’d be back tomorrow if he was still there, or they’d make him talk at the dorms if he was discharged.
All Might and Aizawa walked in a few moments later.
“Are you alright, young Midoryia?” All Might asked, approaching his bedside while Aizawa lingered near the door.
“Yeah, I’m okay, just a little bruised.” Izuku gave his typical sunshine smile. It wasn’t very convincing.
“You could’ve gotten really hurt, problem child,” Aizawa chimed in. Izuku nodded.
“Kid, you can’t just bottle this up,” Aizawa continued, more gentle now. “I know it’s tough to talk about things, but you have an amazing support system and plenty of provided resources to help work through your problems.”
All Might nodded along, fussing with a bandage that was peeling back a bit on Izuku’s arm. “He’s right. If you ever feel this way you must tell someone.” He pulled back with a sigh. “I’m sorry I didn’t notice, kid.”
Midoriya blinked. “What? It wasn’t your fault at all! I’m so sorry for worrying you, All Might. And you, Aizawa-Sensei. In the future, I’ll try to tell someone before I act.”
Aizawa didn’t look convinced, but All Might seemed to relax.
“That’s good, young Midoriya.” A pause. “I suppose you want to know what happened to the villain you fought, yes?”
Midoriya nodded. He didn’t really remember anything from it other than being beaten. He winced at the thought.
Aizawa stepped forward to speak. “He brought you to the edge of the school property before Hound Dog found him. Molten said he’d made a mistake and that he was turning himself in.”
Izuku wasn’t surprised. The villain had looked somewhat pained when he was fighting. Izuku wondered about his motives.
“He said he’d made a vow of sorts and that he’d broken it. I think he was inspired by Stain, but he had different ideals,” Aizawa continued.
Midoriya nodded again.
“Anyway,” All Might cut Aizawa off, “your mother has been waiting for some time now. We’d best let her talk to you. Goodbye, young Midoriya.”
Aizawa gave a brief wave and Izuku returned the gesture with a smile.
Midoriya wasn’t really in the right headspace to deal with a crying mother, but he’d live.
As promised, Inko burst into the room sobbing. She immediately knelt by Izuku’s bedside and buried her face next to his arm on the mattress.
“Oh, Izuku! I was so worried! You can’t—you can’t keep doing this to me! After the war I thought the scares would be over, but now—“ she looked up at him with glassy eyes— “but now my baby is hurt again!” She broke off into hiccuping sobs.
Izuku rested his hand on his mother’s head and ran his fingers through her hair, giving quiet apologies.
After a bit, Inko straightened up and wiped her eyes. “I’m sorry for crying, Izuku, but…you just do things that scare me so much.” She cupped Izuku’s cheeks in her palms and ran her thumbs under his eyes. “I love you, and I can’t bear to see what happens to you. You can call me at any time, okay?”
Midoriya nodded.
It took a lot more consoling, discussion, and comfort for Inko to feel safe enough to leave and let him rest.
Midoriya lay back against the plastic headboard and stared into empty space. The door slid open again.
Izuku almost didn’t hear the boy come in, but he glanced over once the door closed. Bakugo tried to hide how concerned he was, but if he was there he clearly cares.
“Hey, dumbass.”
“Hey, Kacchan.”
A pause.
“You’re an idiot, y’know. Could’ve gotten hurt or killed. How am I supposed to be better than you if there’s no you to surpass?”
Izuku sighed. “Yeah, I’m sorry. I…I won’t do it again.”
Katsuki scoffed. “Yeah, right. You’re a shitty liar, Deku. Talk to Pink Cheeks or something next time. You’re reckless enough as it is.”
Izuku just sighed, lips pressing into a thin line as he nodded.
The action didn’t escape Katsuki’s notice. Bakugo stopped before he could insult Izuku further to just study him.
Katsuki almost flinched when he realized how he must sound after everything—bullying him like in middle school because—what? Because Izuku is traumatized and did something dangerous in order to cope? Because the world decided that Izuku was the perfect candidate to rest its weight upon? Like he’s is one to judge on that front.
Katsuki sighed, swallowing his pride for once. “Sorry for being a fuck-ass bitch.”
Midoriya blinked. “What?”
“I said sorry for being a fuck-ass bitch.”
Coming from Katsuki, this was either a nightmare or a miracle. “Kacchan, why are you apologizing?” Izuku asked.
“You’re upset. I’m not…I’m trying to be better, okay? I notice things now,” Katsuki mumbled. Izuku has never heard Katsuki mumble.
“What do you need?” Bakugo asked quietly.
“I’m okay, Kacchan. The nurses are nice and I’m getting a lot of support from our friends—“
“Izuku.”
Midoriya couldn’t look him in the eyes. “Yes?”
“Don’t fucking lie to me. What do you want?”
And, there he is. “I guess…I guess I would take some tea,” Izuku said, “…and some company.”
Katsuki didn’t even laugh, he just walked out and came back a few minutes later with a hot cup of tea and sat at Izuku’s bedside.