Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Not all men are created equal. It was one of the first harsh lessons that young Izuku Midoriya learned as a child. Followed by don’t get too close to those you love, and never trust the blobs. When Izuku was a kid he was so excited for his quirk to arrive. He just knew deep down inside it was going to be as cool and flashy as Kacchan's. Boy, he was wrong, very wrong.

It was early morning in the Midoriya residence when Izuku woke with a startled yelp and a pounding heart. He had small tears forming in the corner of his eyes.

It was just a nightmare. It's okay it was just a nightmare, it wasn't real.

He soothed to himself with his hand on his chest. Glancing towards his door he listened for any indication that he woke up his mom with his possible yelling. After a few moments of silence, he let out a sigh of relief, glad he didn't wake her. Izuku knew she was tired since she had been secretly decorating the small apartment for his birthday. It was supposed to be a secret. Suppose to. But he couldn’t help but peek down the stairs when her back was turned (even though he was sure she knew) and see balloons tied around chairs and other furniture. This of course only succeeded in hyping the child up even more for the next day. All the built-up excitement is most likely what caused the nightmare. In any case, little Izuku was already over it since it was his big day, he was too excited to care about a little nightmare. 

He turned towards his clock to check the time, it read 7:00 AM. He had an internal debate with himself over the time. Was it too early? Or was it late enough to wake up? On one hand, his mom must be tired but on the other... he glanced again at the clock, now reading 7:05 am. Izuku happily nodded his head at that time deciding the extra five minutes was good enough for him. he flung himself out of bed in excitement he was 4 now! He couldn’t wait to tell his mom that he was “a big boy now!” Izuku opened his door and barreled down the hall towards his mom’s room. He loudly knocked on the room door and waited for a reply, he still had manners after all. He tried to wait, he really did but he was so excited he couldn’t contain himself, so he threw manners out the window. Opening the door he saw a lump on the bed that could only be his mother. With all the excitement a 4-year-old could muster (which was a lot) he skipped-ran over to his mom's sleeping form.

“Mommy! Mommy! Wake up, it’s my birthday wake up!” Izuku heard a small groan come from the sleeping form and then a slurred “Izuku honey go back to sleep…” he was not taking no for an answer and he let that be known with a bit more shouting. His mom eventually gave up. She flicked on the light and turned around to wish her sweet little boy a happy birthday, but when she did she didn’t see a happy child. She saw one with fear and tears.

Inko Midoriya was a kind and strong woman. She would give anything for her baby Izuku, so when she saw him with panic and tears instead of birthday excitement within seconds she got worried. Really worried.
“Izuku sweetie what’s wrong?” Inko said with a concerned motherly tone as she bent over to sweep the green-haired boy in her arms. Said child let out a startled “Eep!” and backed into the wall like a startled animal.

“What’s wrong with you!” he yelled through tears streaming down his face. The accusing shout caused Inko to flinch back a little bit. She looked down at her son with concern. She was extremely confused. Worried and confused.

"Izuku, sweetie please can you tell Mommy what's wrong?" Inko pleaded. Every time she inched towards her son to try and calm him down he would back away in fear. She frowned. Her own son was terrified of her, it felt like a slap in the face. She took a deep calming breath and tried again.

"Honey, shhh shh, sweetie please, what's wrong? What's got you so upset?" This seemed to work because after a few moments Izuku was slamming his whole body into her. 

To say that Izuku was scared would be an understatement. He was absolutely terrified. Instead of seeing his mom's loving face, all he saw were moving pitch-black blobs. These blobs could be compared to an amoeba, they were inky black and looked like they were oozing a thick black sludge, much like a slug. His mother was covered in these blobs from head to toe, and it scared Izuku. What did this mean? What were these? The green-haired boy suddenly stopped crying with a realization.

Will they hurt her?

He couldn't let that happen, and he wouldn't. He’s a big boy now and he should be strong enough to protect his mother. So he gathered as much courage as he could and jumped into a sprint, landing on the bed and tackling his mom into a hug. He could tell his mom was surprised by the not-so-quiet "Oof!"

“Mommy you're covered in blobs! What are they? Do they hurt?” he was crying again and tightly holding his mom in his arms.

“Blobs? What are you talking about sweetie?” she sounded extremely confused. Then it dawned on Izuku, she couldn’t see them. She couldn’t see them and he could, why was that? He tightened his hug, he could feel the blobs pulsing against his skin. It felt gross and unnatural, he wanted to tear them off, to make them go away and leave his mother alone. With that strong thought in mind, the blobs slowly started to slip off his mom with the pace of molasses. Izuku watched in horrified fascination as they slowly oozed off his mom… did he control the blobs? He thought harder.

Go away, go away, go away!

This eventually grew to him shouting “Go away, go away, go AWAY!”

“Izuku honey what is the matter!?” Inko sat there frightened for her son. Watching the different emotions flick across her son's face without knowing what was going on was nothing but concerning. When the boy tackled her into a hug she thought whatever mini-crisis her child went through was over, but now he was shouting boarder-line screaming with her in a death grip.

“I’m making the blobs go away mommy, don’t worry I’m making them go away. It’s ok now because I’m making them go away.” Izuku said through tears, sobbing out the last bit. Inko pulled her child closer into her arms and started rubbing his back in a comforting manner trying to get the small boy to calm down.

“Please honey, tell me what’s wrong. What blobs?” Inko pleaded with her son, how was she supposed to help him if she didn’t know what was wrong in the first place?

“You were covered in blobs. I was scared mommy” his hug tightened at that “I thought they were going to hurt you. But it’s ok now because I made them go away.” She was puzzled, to say the least. What blobs? She didn’t see any blobs, what on earth was he talking abou-

“Izuku!” Inko shouted with a gasp, bringing the boy's immediate attention to her. “It’s your quirk sweetie! That’s what this is.” The boys' green eyes widened to an impossibly large size and appeared to have sparkled.

“MY QUIRK!” all the fear and tears were forgotten within seconds. Inko winced at her son's scream. Oops. 

It was just my quirk, why didn’t I clue into that before?

He felt silly, he made a huge fuss and probably scared his mom half to death. “I’m sorry mommy I didn’t expect it to be this, it was really scary.” He said guiltily, looking down at his hands, picking at the loose threads of his mom's quilt.

Inko gently pulled his head up by the chin, until they were making eye contact. “Izuku, you did nothing wrong. I’m sure every kid gets a little bit more than surprised when their quirk shows up for the first time. So you have nothing to feel guilty about.” She said with a fond smile, and then gently kissed her son's head.

“Alright let’s go have some birthday breakfast and talk about your new quirk.” She said as she shuffled off the bed and made her way down the stairs to the kitchen. Grabbing a few tissues for Izuku along the way. 

Izuku was dazed. He had a quirk! He was honestly starting to get a bit worried he wouldn’t develop one at all, what a catastrophe that would have been. But now he has one and he couldn’t wait to tell Kacchan. The slightly older blonde boy had received his a few months prior and wouldn’t let him forget it. This of course made the younger boy envious. Now Izuku just had to figure out what exactly his quirk was. He decided he would investigate it more after a stomach full of breakfast and excitedly trotted down the stairs.

Chapter Text

Inko was filled with relief. Relief that her son's hysterics were caused by his quirk and not something terrible.

Finally, I was worried I was going to have to take him to the doctor.

Inko could only let out a sigh at that thought. Her son desperately wanted to become a hero, and she didn’t think she could take the heartbreak if it turned out the boy couldn’t develop a quirk. Now the Bakugo’s son could stop picking on Izuku. She knew her son was being teased by the fiery blonde, (due to his lack of quirk) no matter how much Izuku tried to hide it. She absentmindedly pulled a carton of eggs out of the fridge

Everything will be fine now

With a smile, she continued to prepare her son’s birthday breakfast.

As Izuku made his way down the stairs he started to take note of something odd. There were blobs scattered around his apartment. His green eyes widened as he watched one slowly crawl across the ceiling. He watched another make its way over his bare foot. He let out a shutter

Disgusting.

He did not like how they felt, they were cold, slimy, and slightly sticky. It was just all-around gross. He shoved his foot into the air, causing the blob to slip off of it. It landed with a quiet gooey sounding “shluck” and then proceeded to make a jiggling motion from the gravity of the fall.

They seem to be stretchy.

He also took note that his foot didn’t have any traces of slime or goo on it. He wondered why that was, he would have to investigate further. Izuku continued on his way towards the kitchen and took notice of the 5 blobs in the room with his mom. One is sitting on the counter where they usually keep their supply of spices. He watches as his mom appears to pull a salt shaker out from within the blob on the counter. He assumes since his mom can’t see them he’s probably the only one that can interact with them.

Now he was curious, if the blob was on top of their spices why weren’t they falling over? He walked over to one that seemed to be enjoying its time on their living room couch and picked it up. It was like it weighed nothing. He put so much force into picking it up expecting it to be heavy, that it caused him to fall over onto the floor. Embarrassed, he peeked over towards the kitchen to see if his mom noticed. She didn’t.

So the blobs are weightless.

He concluded. Since they weigh nothing they can’t knock over objects, they can only shift their slimy bodies over them. This conclusion created another question in the boy's mind. If the blobs are weightless how are they staying on the ground and other surfaces? The boy quickly deduced that it must be the sticky slime keeping them grounded, and since the slime was sticky it stayed with the blob instead of surfaces, like Izuku’s foot. This was when he realized that he was lost in his thoughts again, and was still holding the blob. EW was his only thought as he chucked it across the room. It made a loud “Splat” sound as it smacked the wall. It continued moving on the wall much like a snail, it seemed to have no purpose.

They don’t seem very smart. I wonder if they have brains.

Izuku was glad that he was discovering more about his quirk but he was quickly getting disappointed. So far it seems that all he can do is interact with dumb, weightless blobs that can’t interact with people other than Izuku. How is he supposed to become a hero with something so absurd?

Izuku made his way back towards the kitchen looking a little crestfallen. He sat at the table and watched his mom make breakfast, at least he gets a good meal. As he watched his mom make breakfast he took note of a blob slowly making its way toward his mom. Izuku decided to observe, maybe he can figure out why his mom was covered in them earlier. It inched its way up her leg, her torso, and then it finally situated itself on her hand. His mom gave no indication that she felt the blob at all. This confirmed Izuku’s earlier theory that his mom can’t interact with the blobs. She was chopping tomatoes to put in what Izuku assumed was an omelette (one of his favourite breakfast dishes.) she was holding the knife with her right hand. This hand also happened to be the one with the blob on it. ‘Is it attracted to people’s movements? No that wouldn’t make sense, mom was asleep when I found her covered in them. What does it want?’ The boy was puzzled about these blobs he wanted to know what their purpose was, and what exactly was the point of his quirk. His questioning thoughts were interrupted by his mom letting out a yelp.

“Mommy, are you alright?” he asked with a worrying tone.  

“I’m fine sweetie, I just cut myself with the knife is all.” She said, shuffling her way towards the medicine cabinet in the bathroom.

She came back with a fresh bandage, and a new blob on her other hand. Izuku’s eyes widened.

Where did that one come from?

His mom then proceeded to make his omelette. She was adding an egg into the frying pan when she let out another yelp, his mom had burned her finger.

“Oh dear, I just seem to be Miss Clumsy today, don’t I Izuku.” She said this with a nervous chuckle, and yet again walked to the bathroom.

While his mom was gone, Izuku’s mind was reeling. That couldn’t have been a coincidence, the blobs just happened to be where his mom hurt herself. Both times. He whipped his head around towards his mom when he heard her making her way back. His eyes scanned for any new blobs, and let out a sigh of relief when there weren’t any. His mom took notice of his reaction.

“I’m fine honey, it’s just a small burn, and it will be gone in a few days.” She made her way back to the oven to finish breakfast.

Izuku was worried about the burn, but he was more worried about the blobs still on her hands. He didn’t want them there anymore. So like earlier he thought really hard ‘Go away’ over and over. It was different this time Izuku realized with dread, they weren’t moving.

While eyeballing the blobs he ate his breakfast, it was good of course his mom made it with love. He discussed his findings with his mom about his quirk so far, leaving out the part about her hands and the blobs. He didn’t want to scare his mom until he was 100% sure about them causing the two injuries. The day played out, he watched TV, he opened presents, and he ate cake. The blobs stayed on his mom. No more injuries happened to his mother, and the blobs still didn’t obey him. He was kissed goodnight and tucked in by blob-covered hands, and then left alone to sleep.

He didn’t, or more like he couldn’t. His mind was constantly thinking about the slimy creatures on his mom's hands. What if something happened to her at night? He wouldn’t be able to do anything about it. So he quietly creeped out of bed and tip-toed his way into his mom's bedroom. He anxiously hovered over her sleeping form. He stared at the two inky black hands currently tucked under her head, and again thought really hard. 'Go away.' Still, nothing changed. What was so different before? He was so frustrated he wanted to cry, he just wanted the blobs to leave his mom alone, but they weren’t listening to him. Then the metaphorical light bulb lit up above Izuku’s head. The last time he was hugging his mom, maybe he needs to have physical contact with the person. He lightly placed his hand on her shoulder, careful to not wake her. Yet again he thought 'Go away.' and just like that, the two blobs crawled their way off her hands.

Izuku wanted to shout with joy at the discovery. All he needed to do was touch the person to make the blobs leave them. He was so happy once he was back in his room he did a quiet celebratory dance. he crept his way back towards his room and flopped himself onto his bed. He could stop worrying now. With his mind now at ease and his mom safe, he fell asleep within seconds.

Chapter Text

Izuku woke up early in the morning feeling well rested. He let out a loud yawn as he sat up into a stretch. Now that he knew how to remove the blobs from people he felt more confident in figuring out what his quirk actually does. He took a quick glance at the clock, it was only 6:30 AM. He had no hope of falling back to sleep at this point, nor did he really want to. He slipped out of bed and made his way towards his room's light switch and flicked it on, lighting up the room. Izuku saw that he wasn’t alone.

*Sigh*

“This quirk is going to be annoying.” He said out loud while walking over to his window. He couldn’t reach the window quite yet he realized, so he dragged his desk chair over. He hoisted himself up onto his chair and slid the window open, letting in the crisp early morning air. He turned to his current situation with disgust. Three blobs were roaming his floor like ugly black slugs. He glared at them. Hopping down from his chair he walked towards one, picked it up, and then chucked it out the window.

“Goodbye blobs.” He said while throwing out the rest while giving a small wave. He would not have his room filled with blobs thank you very much. Happy that he was now alone, he walked back over to his window and tried to peek outside. He couldn’t see much due to it still being slightly dark outside. With a huff, he slid the window closed.

What was eating at Izuku’s thoughts was if there were this many blobs in his house, how many were outside? Were there blobs everywhere, or was it just near him? So many questions about his new quirk left him more curious than a cat.

‘I wonder if I can command blobs to go on people?’ if he could why would he though? If his theory is correct then the blobs hurt people, and he doesn’t want to hurt anybody. That’s not what heroes do. He will first need to confirm if the blobs actually cause harm. Then he can worry about preventing them.

He heard the bathroom door shut from the hallway, signaling that his mom was awake. Izuku took that as the o.k. to leave his room. He happily ran down the stairs, he was going on a play-date with Kacchan today. His friend had asked if he had a quirk yet every time he saw him. He could tell the blonde was getting annoyed at his constant “No’s” He was pleased that this time he could tell Kacchan that he did indeed have a quirk.

Kacchan can stop calling him Deku now. 

He thought with relief. His friend had been picking on him for the past month. Although he didn’t blame Kacchan, they were supposed to be heroes together and it’s hard to do that without a quirk. He seated himself at the kitchen table and patiently waited for his mom to arrive, which she did a few minutes later. He noted there were no blobs on her.

His mom chuckled “Excited to see Katsuki, sweetie?”

“Yes! I can’t wait to tell him about my quirk! He’s going to think it’s so cool!” he said with excitement lit up over his face.

Inko could only widely smile back at the large grin her son was displaying. “Then it’s best to get ready extra fast,” Inko made a shooing motion with her hand “go get ready while I make you some breakfast.”

Izuku didn’t even respond he just dashed up the stairs to go get ready. In his rush towards his room, he didn’t notice the gelatinous creature by his feet. He stepped on it and immediately slipped. ‘Oh no.’ was his only thought as he went in for a tumble. But instead of hitting the hard floor, he landed on another blob that was nearby, it felt like falling onto a bouncy castle or a trampoline. It didn’t hurt.

“You alright honey?!” He heard his mom call from downstairs.

“I’m fine!” He shouted back and scurried into his room.

The blob cushioned his fall. Maybe this could be useful in the future. He filed the information away in his brain and started to get ready for the day. Roughly 2 hours later it was time to go meet up with Kacchan. Being the little ball of excitement Izuku was he couldn’t keep still. His mom was happy to let him loose, to say the least.

Izuku was excited to meet up with his friend, but he was also excited for another reason. This would be the first time he went outside since discovering his quirk, and he couldn’t wait to find out the answer to his earlier question.

Bakugo silently paraded down the stairs towards the complex’s front doors with Izuku trailing silently behind him. They usually didn’t talk until they got outside. Once he did get outside his eyes widened, there were blobs everywhere. And he meant everywhere. Thousands spread out through the landscape, on buildings, trees, the road, and people. It caught him so off guard that he didn’t hear Kacchan ask him a question.

“Pay attention to me you useless Deku!” the older boy shouted, letting loose a small explosion in front of Izuku’s face.

“S-sorry Kacchan, could you repeat it?” He said feeling ashamed, he knew the blonde didn’t like to repeat himself.

“I said we are going to play heroes. I’ll be the hero and you will be the villain like the worthless Deku you are.” The older child’s sharp glare fell on him with an accusatory point of his hand, as if saying he was disgusted that he was being forced to play with a Deku.

“A-actually, Kacchan,” Izuku took a big breath, he was suddenly anxious about telling him he had a quirk. “I h-have a quirk now. I g-got it yesterday.”

Bakugo’s eyes briefly lit up with excitement, which then quickly morphed into something Izuku couldn’t place. “Oh ya? Then what is it? I bet it’s not nearly as awesome as mine!”

“W-w-well you can’t see it,” Izuku started to stutter out, he was so nervous. “b-but there are these blobs everywhere and only I can see th-” he was interrupted by Bakugo’s laughing. “W-why are you l-laughing?” he asked quietly, he could feel his cheeks heating up from embarrassment.

“You have a quirk that only you can see? How pathetic. What a useless quirk, what’s the point if nobody can see it.” The blonde said with more laughter, he slightly reminded Izuku of a hyena. “I guess it makes sense though.”

“W-what makes sense?” Izuku asked nervously.

“That a worthless Deku like you, would receive an equally worthless quirk.” More laughter erupted from the older boys’ mouth.

The word worthless rang out through Izuku’s head. Why was he being so mean? He had a quirk now, which meant he wasn’t supposed to be a Deku anymore. He was supposed to go back to being Izuku. Tears started to well up in the corners of his green eyes, not that Bakugo noticed. 

"Besides Deku since I can't see this 'quirk' how do I know if it's real? Maybe you're just a liar-liar pants on fire!" 

Izuku clenched his tiny fists in anger "I am not a l-liar-liar pants on fire! I really do have a quirk Kacchan you have to believe me!" 

The blonde let out a scoff "Whatever" he mumbled “Come on Deku, let’s go play heroes with the other kids. They have real quirks.” The blonde started to walk off, not even checking if the green-haired boy was following him.

“O-o-ok...”

They eventually met up with a couple of other kids that Izuku knew hated him as much as Kacchan seemed to. It was then that Izuku took notice that a few blobs had crawled their way up Bakugo’s legs and waist. He still wasn’t sure what they did, so he kept his mouth shut not wanting the blonde to insult him again. They were walking across a bridge, Bakugo leading the group as everyone paraded behind him. He was letting out small explosions with his steps, as if he was shouting ‘look at my quirk, it’s so much better than yours!’ Izuku would never admit it, but it frustrated him that his friend had become so self-absorbed. He stared at Kacchan's back and watched as more and more blobs started to slither their way up onto him. He was starting to look like his mom yesterday morning.

“K-k-kacchan I thin-” Izuku started to call out, but he was interrupted by a loud ‘Snap’.

Bakugo’s eyes widened slightly with surprise which quickly switched to fear. The bridge they were crossing had snapped, and Bakugo had fallen into the small stream below.

“Kacchan!” Izuku called out, he started to run down underneath the bridge to see if his friend was alright. His friend had small tears in the corner of his eyes and was covered up to his neck in blobs.

He had to get rid of them. That answered his earlier question, the blobs were bad. He felt slightly betrayed by the universe. He was good, wasn’t he? Why did his quirk cause harm?

“Kacchan! Here take my hand.” Izuku’s plan was to help Kacchan up, and when he held his hand he would tell the blobs to go away. Of course, things didn’t play out the way he wanted them to.

“Don’t touch me you worthless Deku! I’m fine.” The blonde said, sounding irritated and slightly embarrassed.

“I’m just trying to help.” He said albeit desperately, he needed to tell the blobs to go away.

“Don’t you ever think someone like you can help someone like me.” He said the last bit a bit louder as if trying to convince Izuku that he didn’t deserve to help him. 

“B-but K-k-kacchan just let me e-explai-”

“NO!” the older boys’ hands started to light up with explosions, and Izuku saw the incoming punch.

If this was the only chance Izuku would get, then fine he would endure it. Bakugo’s fist collided with the side of his cheek, in that split second of contact Izuku strongly thought ‘Go away.’ Just like before. Only one of the blobs dropped off. Izuku realized he needed longer contact time to make all the blobs to go away. So he let Bakugo keep hitting him, and even provoking him slightly so he would keep hitting him. If this is what it would take to keep his friend safe, then he would do it.

Bakugo eventually stopped. Izuku hurt, but the blobs were gone and that’s all he cared about. The blonde had turned around and was walking away with his so-called ‘friends’.  That was fine, he wanted to go home anyways. He stiffly stood up, brushed off his muddy clothes and trudged his way home.

“Izuku! What happened?” was the first thing Izuku heard when he opened the door to his apartment. He let out a nervous chuckle.

“Ah the b-bridge we were playing on broke, I fell down. But its o-o-ok Kacchan saved me.” Izuku said with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.

His mom just silently nodded and guided him into the bathroom. She started bandaging any cuts she saw and kissed his boo-boos. It helped.

“Thanks mommy, I think I want to go to my room now.”

“Alright sweetie… if anything still hurts you come find me right away. Alright?”

He nodded at that and made his way back to his room. Inko swore that there would be no more play-dates with the Bakugo’s son.

Chapter Text

It had been a few days since Izuku left the apartment. He didn’t have preschool since it was currently summer break, and he didn’t really want to play with Kacchan anytime soon. So he sat there longingly staring out the window. His mom took notice of his behavior.

“Izuku sweetie, we’re going to the grocery store.” They really didn’t need groceries but she could tell her son needed to expend some energy.

Izuku whipped his head towards his mom “Ok!” he answered. Finally, something to do.

As they were driving towards the store Izuku spotted something strange in the air. It looked like a little black fuzzball with tiny wings. It was hovering above some stranger's head.

Odd, I wonder what his quirk is?

They continued driving, stopping at a red light this is when Izuku started to notice more. They were tiny, about the size of a raisin. It was easy to miss them unless you were looking for them. There were one or two floating above people’s heads. Izuku’s eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

“Mommy, do you see the fuzz balls?” he questioned. His mom glanced at Izuku through the mirror for a second.

“What do you mean honey?”

“There’s little fuzz balls flying around everybody’s head. You don’t see them do you?”

“Maybe it’s your quirk…?” Inko’s question faded out in a puzzled tone.

Izuku could only hum at that. It would be the only explanation since he can see them and she can’t. He thought his quirk was just blobs, but now there’s more. First, there were blobs and now there were fuzzballs, how many creatures are there? He looked out the window trying to spot any different creatures. There weren’t any, just blobs and fuzz balls.

Everywhere

Izuku knew that the blobs appeared to cause misfortune or at least be related to it, but what did the fuzz balls do? Izuku tried to find some kind of indication by looking at the people it followed. ‘Maybe they were good luck, and the slimes were bad luck?’ That thought was quickly crushed when he saw a few people with blobs and fuzz balls on them.

*sigh*

Why did his quirk have to be so ridiculous? He honestly would have just been happy with gravity manipulation like his mom, or fire-breathing like his dad supposedly had. But instead, he was saddled with this complex and confusing mess. His 4-year-old brain couldn’t wrap itself around it. ‘What is this quirk?’ He thought with desperation. He was frustrated with himself, just when he thinks he’s figuring things out it gets more complicated.

He saw one man with 4 blobs on his legs trip on a crosswalk just as a car was turning. He heard the vehicle come to a screeching halt and a slam. ‘Oh no!’ he thought, trying to angle his head to see what happened.

Did the man get hit? Is he ok? his thoughts rang.

A moment later the man that had fallen stood up and walked away from the car, backward, he was apologizing profusely. Izuku observed that the man in the car was yelling at the other with a very angry expression on his face.

I understand that he almost caused an accident, but it’s not like he tripped on purpose.

As the car man continued yelling, the other started to look more saddened. As he got more visibly upset more fuzz balls started to surround his head. Huh? Why him? Everyone else had only one or two fuzz balls following them, but now this man had 8 hovering over his head. Izuku thought it over for a second. Maybe how the blobs like bad luck, the fuzz balls like bad emotions? The man then bowed really low and ran off, with 4 blobs on his legs and 8 fuzz balls trailing after him.

The light turned green and their car went back into motion. As they continued on their route, Izuku tried to spot another person with as many fuzz balls as the man, but he couldn’t find any.

It’s got to be negative emotions. He was being yelled at when more started following him. He speculated.

There wasn’t much Izuku could do to confirm his theory about them since he was in a moving car. He wondered why there weren’t any of these fuzzballs around when he was playing with Kacchan. ‘Maybe it was because we didn’t have any bad thoughts? Wait, they might have not had any bad thoughts, but he sure did.’ Now that Izuku thought about it, not a single blob had tried to attach itself to him. Sure he picked them up, or he ran into their course of movement, but they hadn’t tried to go on him like everyone else.

Ughhh more questions. It’s giving me a headache. Izuku ruffled his fluffy hair back in frustration. He wanted to just stop thinking for a second, but he couldn’t he was too curious for his own good.

Ok, he thought trying to organize his mind there are three major negative emotions I can think of, sadness, anger, and anxiety. Then there is Guilt and embarrassment.

Izuku idly scratched his cheek

Kacchan was super angry at me the other day but he didn’t have any fuzz balls near him so that rules out anger. The man that was on the road definitely displayed embarrassment, guilt, and maybe even sadness. He concluded.

These would be the three emotions that his theory would run on.

Their car came to a halt in the store’s parking lot, and he and his mother stepped out of the car. Izuku decided he would observe the other shoppers for fuzz balls on their shopping trip. They were carting past the dairy section when Izuku spotted a woman with 5 fuzz balls above her head. He observed her facial expression, there was a prominent frown on her face, and her eyes were red like she had been crying for a long time, or hadn’t slept. She was browsing the variety of ice cream options and seemed to be deciding on Chocolate chip cookie dough or plain chocolate. His mom was distracted by different dairy products, so Izuku decided to test his theory.

“Excuse me miss, I really like your shirt.” It honestly was a cute shirt, it just looked worn. Izuku took notice that one of the fuzz balls flitted away, leaving only four above her head.

“Oh, uhm-uh- thank you?” She seemed surprised to get a compliment, from a child no less.

“It’s no problem. Are you sad?” he asked concerned.

The lady seemed to choke on air a bit before she answered. “Oh, uhm yes I guess a bit, I just broke up with my Fiancée.” She sounded like she was about to start crying.

‘Well, that confirms that the fuzz balls like sadness.’ He thought. He just had to confirm one more thing, he walked up to the lady and gently patted her back, telling the fuzz balls to go away. Like the blobs, the fuzz balls flitted away and started to aimlessly roam the store.

“It will be ok.” Izuku said while awkwardly patting her back. Not knowing what else to say, Izuku simply walked away. The older lady just stared kind of baffled at the retreating four-year-old.

He was satisfied to have figured out another part of the puzzle that was his quirk. So there were bad blobs and bad, what he is now going to refer to as cotton's since they reminded him of cotton balls.

Izuku’s attention was brought to a loud slam from across the store near the snack aisle. The boy peeked his head over, due to where he was standing he could see the beginning half of the aisle. There was a man that was lying face first on the ground with bags of chips on top of him, he appeared to have tripped into a display stand. Izuku watched for a moment and noticed that he only had one blob on him, and now there were several more crawling towards him. It was almost like they were… feeding? Izuku brought his mom's attention to the man in need. He and his mom speed walked over towards him.

“Are you alright sir?” His mom asked leaning over to help him up.

The man seemed to awkwardly chuckle “Ahhhaa yaa I’m fine, my feet seem to have a mind of their own today.” He said while hosting himself up and brushing off his pants, his hands sweeping through invisible blobs. He looked slightly guilty that he made such a scene in the store as people were asking if he was ok when they walked past. He could only nod and say he was fine, which seemed to increase his embarrassment. He had a few cotton's floating above his head they seemed to thrive in his guilt and embarrassment. That checked off two more emotions on Izuku’s mental list.   

Izuku bent over to help pick up the bags by the man’s feet, sneakily touching the man’s exposed ankle so he could command the blobs and cotton's to go away. Once the mess was cleaned up they went separate ways, the man giving a few “thank you’s” for the help. They were waiting in the checkout line when Izuku’s thoughts started to take up all of his attention.

‘The blobs and the cotton's seem to be feeding off people’s bad luck and bad emotions, but are they causing them? He originally thought they were causing them but maybe that wasn’t the case at all. What if these creatures were just assisting in the events? Like an amplification. And why on earth did they seem to feed off him?’ Izuku’s thoughts were interrupted by his mother lightly tapping his back.

“Izuku you’re starting to mumble.” She said amused.

His cheeks heated up at that, mumbling was a bad habit he started to develop a few months ago. He just had so many thoughts and ideas, they started to spill out of his mouth. Sure they weren’t thoughts and ideas most four-year-olds should have, which tended to freak people out, but he couldn’t help it that he was smart for his age.

His mom had paid for the groceries and then started making their way towards the exit, two blobs started to crawl up his mom’s legs.

Nope, I don’t think so. He thought while grabbing his mom’s hand.

He forced the blobs to retreat, he would keep his mom safe he mentally promised. They made their way through the automatic sliding doors and stepped outside, but what he saw when they exited made Izuku stop in his tracks. His mom had kept going and noticed the slight resistance, she turned around and made a questioning face.

“Izuku, is something wrong?”

He didn’t answer.

Chapter Text

Inko was pleased with how the shopping trip had turned out. She had got a good deal on milk and eggs, and well she’s positive that would make anybody happy. Her elated mood increased when her son delicately grasped her hand. It was moments like these that made her glad she was a parent, and god Izuku was adorable. She swung his hand a little as they went through the automatic doors of the store.

“Did you have fun?” She asked Izuku. She didn’t hear a response so she assumed her son was lost in thought again, he had been doing that a lot lately, since the discovery of his quirk. She didn’t mind of course. She turned to lead Izuku towards the parking lot when she felt a slight tug from her son’s hand. She turned around to see Izuku had stopped walking, and he had a terror-struck look on his face.

“Izuku, is something wrong?” Inko questioned, slightly concerned.

She didn’t get a reply.

His breathing started to go shaky, and tears started to leak from his face. Inko immediately dropped the groceries and kneeled by her son’s side, placing her hands on his shoulders.

“Sweetie, you’re scaring me please tell me what’s wrong.” She said desperately.

Then he screamed.

“MOM RUN!” he shouted at the end of the ear-piercing scream. He sounded so desperate and terrified. It was nothing like that birthday morning. This sounded much more desperate and full of pure absolute terror.

It shredded Inko’s heart in two.

She whipped her head around trying to find the threat, was there a villain? Her heart fell when she saw nothing and realized whatever Izuku was seeing, was a part of his quirk. She pulled him into her arms and wrapped them around him. She rubbed his back and pat his fluffy green hair, trying to do her best to console him with quiet hushes.

“Sweetie, what do you see?” Inko asked quietly, she had to know what scared her baby so much.

He shakily pointed behind her and with a trembling voice, he whispered “It’s a m-monster.”

After that statement, Izuku’s eyes widened and his body's trembling increased, he let out another strangled scream. He buried his face into Inko’s embrace and started to sob, hard.  

It was an ominous statement. ‘A monster?’ So far Izuku had only seen small creatures nothing that sounded too scary, just the blobs and what she briefly heard about the cotton's through his ramblings. She noticed curious sets of eyes staring at them, they were causing a scene.

Inko wanted to shelter the boy from the stares, afraid that they would make him more upset. So she scooped him up and ran to their car, Izuku sobbing the whole way. She quickly buckled him in and started to drive back home. She had to keep her son safe, she could only hope whatever he saw wasn’t as fast as a car.

 What Izuku saw outside of the store struck him with pure unadulterated terror. He doesn’t remember ever feeling so scared before. He noticed his breathing had started to quicken, his limbs started to tremble, and his heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was going to fall out of his chest. He heard his mom calling his name and he wanted to answer, but it was like he was paralyzed with fear, stuck in one spot trembling.

In front of them, across the street was a grotesque-looking creature. It was about the size of a large van. Its body was a dark grey and looked like it belonged to that of a spider, it had eight long jagged crimson red legs with sharp blades as claws. Attached to its body was a long serpent-like neck that was striped black and the same crimson red, at the end of its neck was a horrifying humanoid face, the colour of ice. Four pitch black eyes sat on its face and just below it was a long hooked nose and a large bloody red lipless mouth that seemed to be drooling a black ooze. On top of its head was long greasy black hair that hung limply over its oval, earless head. The hair was secreting ooze much like the blobs did and were dripping down to the ground below.

Izuku couldn’t stop staring at it, it was like something out of his nightmares had come to life. It was truly horrifying. He watched it crawl across the street, its sharp claws stabbing into the ground below until it stopped. It was curiously staring at a group of blobs down below, then it smiled. It revealed a row of sharp, pointy, yellowed teeth attached to black gums, it looked disgusting. The creature then took one of its legs and stabbed a blob, Izuku’s eyes widened at the action. The blob was now attached to its claw, which it then brought up to its mouth, and in one swift action it tilted its head back, opened its mouth, and plopped the blob in. Disturbingly enough Izuku noticed that it didn’t have a tongue. It sat there chewing on the blob until it swallowed, the black mush traveling down its long throat, some of it drooling out of its mouth. It was then that Izuku heard his mother’s question.

“Sweetie, you’re scaring me please tell me what’s wrong.” She sounded desperate Izuku thought distantly.

He opened his mouth to answer, but he quickly shut it again when he saw the creature crane its long neck around and gaze at him.

It noticed him.

So far none of the creatures gave any indication that they knew he was there, they were brainless. But whatever this thing was it was showing signs of intelligence, and that scared Izuku more than its appearance did.

The abomination quickly abandoned what it was doing, finding Izuku much more interesting. It started to crawl its way over towards where they were standing, that’s when Izuku screamed.

“MOM RUN!” His voice was shrill and panicked, he tried to push his mom slightly but she didn’t budge. She looked around to scout where the threat was, but she didn’t appear to see it. When she seemed to realize this was because of his quirk, she turned and wrapped her arms around him. This only made Izuku cry harder. She didn’t understand they had to go it was coming closer. He didn’t know what this creature was capable of and he didn’t want to find out.

“Sweetie, what do you see?” his mom questioned.

He shakily pointed to the abhorred creature that was slowly making it's way closer and closer to his shaking form. “It’s a m-monster.” He stuttered out quietly.

Then it screamed, which caused Izuku to scream. What it let out was a strangled, ghastly ear-piercing scream. It was so loud that Izuku felt like his eardrums were going to burst. The pain in his ears and the now-present ringing brought tears to his eyes.

He started sobbing.  

Sobbing from the pain, the fear, the fact that his mom didn’t seem to understand that they needed to run.

It was going to kill them they were going to die.

It got closer.

PleasenononononoItIsGoingToKillUsItIsGoingToEatUsWeAreGoingToDie.

His mom finally, FINALLY seemed to get the hint because suddenly Izuku wasn’t on the ground anymore, he was in the car being driven away before his brain could process what just happened.

He turned his head around to look out the back window, to see if it was following them.

It wasn’t

It was just standing there staring at their retreating car, it then raised its leg and waved. Izuku felt like he was slapped in the face, it was like it was saying “Goodbye, I’ll see you soon!” He hoped with all his might he would never, ever, see that thing again.

They turned down a street, the monster was no longer in sight and Izuku could only let out a sigh of relief. He saw his mom briefly flash a smile at him through the rearview mirror, she seemed relieved he had calmed down.

 A giggle fell out of his mouth.

“What’s so funny Izuku?” His mom asked curiously.

More giggles erupted from the boy which turned into full-blown laughter, expelling out all the fear and nervous energy. He laughed until his chest hurt. Until he couldn’t feel his face.

He heaved in a giant breath and with a straight face he spoke “You forgot the groceries.”

His mom didn’t reply.

Izuku had been lying in bed trying to fall asleep for three hours now. He just couldn’t. His mind kept wandering back to the monster, to its lipless mouth and the black ooze that dripped from it.

It had eaten a blob, so they must be a food source for whatever that thing was. He let out a sigh. It was so scary. Everything he discovered so far had a purpose, the blobs fed off misfortune and injury, the cotton's fed off negative emotions. So what does this monster feed off of? It couldn’t just be blobs, there had to be something else.

“I suppose I should give it a name.” He mumbled to himself. He tapped his chin thoughtfully.

“I’ll call them Horrors, it sounds appropriate.” The now newly named ‘Horrors’ had left Izuku’s mind satisfied and he finally started to drift asleep.

‘I hope I never, ever, ever run into a Horror again.’ Was Izuku’s last thought before blackness took over.

Chapter Text

It had been five years since the day Izuku had seen the horror, he was nine now. He had seen more since then, of course, it kind of came with the quirk. But he hadn’t seen the same one as that day. He soon discovered after the incident that horrors came in all different shapes and sizes. They all were a perfect representation of your nightmares coming to life, and no matter how long it's been, Izuku doesn’t think they will get any less scary.

He was currently sitting in his room at his desk. He raised his arms up and let out a cat-like stretch until he heard a satisfying pop in his shoulders. He brought his arms down and rested his hands on the book that lay there. It read “Hero Analysis for the Future #1”. His mom had gotten the notebook per his request earlier that day. He had eagerly written in the title, but that was as far as he got. He had been staring at it for 30 minutes now, trying to convince himself to start writing. Izuku had been gathering information about his quirk since the day he got it, it’s been five years. He really needed to write stuff down before he forgot something.

He anxiously drummed his right hand's fingers on top of the book cover. He doesn’t know what he’s so afraid of, it’s not like anybody is going to read it. He knew he was being silly, and being embarrassed about writing about himself was a bit childish, but he couldn’t help it. This was going to be his future and he wanted to get it right. He let out a huff.

“Ok Izuku, let’s do this.” He quietly muttered to himself. He flipped the book open to the first page, picked up his pen, and started to write.

Hero Analysis for the Future

Name:   Izuku Midoriya

Hero Name: N/A

Quirk Name:  Planes of Existence

Brief Quirk Description :

My body simultaneously resides in two different planes of reality. The first reality is what is considered normal, the human reality. There isn’t much to say about that reality since it’s, well, normal.

Then there is the second reality, I’ve taken to calling it my quirk reality, it’s a simple and easy name to explain to people who don’t know my quirk. My quirk reality is much more complex than the ‘normal’ one. It is inhabited by three different creatures (refer to abilities). My quirk allows me to interact with and control these creatures.    

Abilities : My abilities depend on the creature, so I will explain them creature by creature.

Blobs :

These were the first creatures I discovered. They are gelatinous amoeba-shaped blobs and are inky black. They have an elastic consistency and are in fact weightless, they hold onto things with a sticky slime that it secretes. Surprisingly these blobs are rather quick, I originally thought their slimy ooze would slow them down, but I was quickly proven wrong. Due to their weightlessness, they are much more agile than one would think, and are quite easy to pick up and throw around, or carry. Through different experimentation's I’ve discovered that these blobs are brainless, they just move until they find a food source, or until I command them. These blobs stick themselves to people, in doing this they allow themselves to feed off the person’s bad luck, injury, and in rare cases death. I originally thought that they caused injury to people, but it was later proven that they, in fact, amplify it instead.

For example, a person could be walking down a road with a large crack on it. They still have a chance of tripping on that crack and falling and hurting themselves. Now if said person had a blob or two attached to them, they now have a higher chance of falling on the crack than before.

Interestingly enough, I’ve witnessed a few cases where the blobs had stuck themselves to an electronic device and caused it to break. So although it appears to prefer people’s bad luck, in cases of desperation it will consume it from an inanimate object.

My quirk allows me to control blobs. I can command them to attach themselves to a person, this is something I only do in cases of desperation (I don’t want to hurt anybody but if I have to I will.) I found this out when a thief tried to mug me on my way home from school. I commanded the blobs to attach to his legs, he tripped over his own feet while I escaped. Now, although I can command a blob to attach itself to a person or object, I can’t just tell it to remove itself. I first need to touch the person, or object then the blobs will remove themselves. This has proven to be frustrating on multiple occasions due to me not always being able to reach where the blobs are attached.

Blobs can also be used to cushion my fall, due to their elasticity it’s much like falling on a trampoline. I do not yet know the limits I can fall before it would hurt though, I’ve only tested a fall of 10 feet. Finally, I’ve discovered the blobs are in fact shock absorbent. I’ve been able to test this theory due to Kacchan’s punches. I can pick up the blobs and stick them to my body creating a pseudo set of armor. Since they are weightless it feels like I’m carrying nothing. I will admit it feels rather gross but better safe than sorry.    

Cotton's:

Cotton's are little fluff balls with tiny wings reminiscent of a pixie. They are roughly the size of a raisin making them hard to spot from a distance.  Like the blobs, they are also inky black. They have proven to be slightly smarter than the blobs, but not by much. Their wings allow them to travel from person to person with ease. But due to their small size, they can’t travel very far very fast. Much like how the blobs feed off bad luck, these tiny fluffs like to feed off people’s negative emotions. Specifically emotions such as sadness/depression, anxiety, guilt, and embarrassment. They hover over people’s heads and feed off their emotions and amplify them. This allows me to somewhat analyze a person’s mental state, which could be a big help with hero work. I can command cotton's to go on a person but I don’t find it very useful. The only situation I could come up with where they would prove to be useful is to discourage the enemy by amplifying their negative emotions. I can also remove them from a person through touch like the blobs. Finally, I have discovered that I can place objects on these little pixies as long as I touch them first. It's strange but maybe useful? 

As for other uses I, unfortunately, have yet to find any, other than using them as earplugs.

Horrors:

This is the last of the creature trio. These things can only be described as the living embodiment of your nightmares. They are terrifying and terrifyingly evil. They all look different, I have yet to find two that look the same. Granted they aren’t as common as blobs or cotton's. Ever since my quirk developed, I’ve only seen 20 horrors through the years, which in comparison to the other creatures is not a lot.

Horrors are the predators of this quirk reality. They eat blobs and they eat cotton's, but they also feed off of disasters and mass amounts of death. I discovered this when there was a devastating villain attack in the middle of the city, me and my mom had happened to be in the area when it occurred. When we passed by it there were 5 horrors gathered around the area, feeding. I’m not positive if they amplify things like the others since I can’t study them as often. Unlike the other creatures, horrors have proven to be intelligent and self-aware. The first horror I ran into had noticed me and gone to what I could only assume was to attack me. Ever since then I’ve made sure to not get too close to one for safety.  

Finally, I can’t control them. I don’t know if I’m not strong enough to, or if I’m not even supposed to be able to in the first place. Either way, I’m not 100% sure I would want to.

Side Notes and Observations:

• I’ve come to realize that blobs and cotton's don’t try to feed off me. It puzzled me for a long time until I came to realize this was because they think I’m one of them. Since my body resides in both realities I must give off a different aura leading them to believe I am another creature.
• I can’t see any of these creatures on television or on recordings. This is because the recording is just of a single reality, allowing me a break from seeing constant blobs and cotton's. This was a relief for me since I miss just looking at the normal world sometimes.
• Even though the people around me can’t see or interact with the creatures, their abilities still affect me as if they could. So, for example, if I have a blob on my chest, and someone punches me there, I wouldn’t feel it even though the person feels their fist colliding into my chest. I assume this is because my body is in both realities, so both things are affecting me at the same time.
• Blobs and cotton's will follow me indefinitely if I command them to. I tested this by telling a single blob (which I later named Mr. Gooey) to follow me, and it did. For 8 months. I then told it to go away and see if it would come back to me at any time. It didn’t, it just went back to brainlessly roaming my apartment. I now keep it in my closet for a different experiment.
• I have yet to see a blob, cotton, or horror starve. I wonder if they even feed for survival.     

Izuku read over his notes and nodded when he was satisfied. He had compiled everything that he had learned about his quirk over the past five years. His hand ached from all the writing. He glanced slightly at the closet where Mr.Gooey resided and instantly felt guilty. He really wanted the answer to his question ‘Do they starve?’ so he had locked him away in his empty closet. So far it’s been 4 months, and it had yet to show any signs of being starved.

Izuku stood up and stretched until his back popped, he had gotten carried away with writing and had stayed hunched over longer than he wanted. He glanced at the clock and noted that it was past midnight. It was a Saturday night and Izuku really didn’t feel like sleeping yet. He didn’t have anything important to do tomorrow, and he didn’t have anywhere to be due to his lack of friends.

“I guess it’s time to watch some heroes at work.” He quietly muttered to himself. He walked over to his computer desk and sat down, turning on the monitor. He let out a content smile as he started to watch his favorite All Might video. It was so inspiring, he couldn’t help it that his heart lurched every time he heard the phrase “I am here!” it always sent jitters down his spine. He remembered when he was much younger he would watch this video on repeat for hours, All Might had quickly become his number one idol and favorite hero.

Izuku sat there watching different videos of All Might to more obscure rare footage of underground heroes. He loved every second of it. He slowly drifted to sleep, somewhere in the middle of a video about the underground hero “Eraserhead” his last thought was ‘Wow he seems pretty cool.’ Then he was dead to the world.

Chapter Text

Izuku was running for his life. He was running as fast and far as his legs could carry him.

It was coming.

He pumped his legs harder and faster. He chanced a peek behind him.

He was too slow. It was going to catch him.

He skidded to a stop and pivoted on his left foot, turning his body. Turning down an alley, he started sprinting again. His breath was coming out in pants, his lungs burned, he felt like he wasn’t inhaling enough oxygen. He probably wasn’t. Panic was making his body tense which made running that much harder. His mind was telling him to hide, stay hidden and stay quiet until it goes away. Until it loses interest. He slammed his body against the old brick street wall, keeping his body hidden behind a large dumpster. He crouched down low to the ground, and slammed his hand over his mouth, trying to muffle his heavy panting.

Shhhh quiet. Shhhh it's close. Don’t let it hear you.

His body was trembling, and his heart was thumping so loud he could hear it in his ears. His legs were aching with fatigue from the distance he ran. He could hear it, it was looking for him.

What did it want?

He could hear quiet taps down the alley. Izuku shut his eyes tightly, he didn’t want to look at it.

Tap, tap, tap, tap.

It was nearly there, Izuku let out a muffled whine. He didn’t want to be eaten.

PleaseDon’tEatMePleasePleaseNoNoNO Panic was quickly taking over his mind.

He squeezed his eyes tighter as heard a final loud ‘tap’ right in front of him. Tears were streaming down his face. He felt cold sharp hands place themselves on his shoulders. With a final breath of courage, he opened his ey-

Izuku awoke to his mother’s hands on his shoulders, fiercely attempting to shake him awake.

“Izuku please wake up. It’s just a dream, it’s not real!” His mother was crying.

“I’m awake.” He gasped out.

“Oh thank god.” His mom wrapped her arms around him, she started to cry harder. “You weren’t waking up! You were screaming so loud, and you weren’t waking up!” She said through a teary voice.

Izuku quickly returned the embrace and attempted to comfort his mom. “I’m fine, it was just a dream, I’m fine.” He said while soothingly rubbing her back.

“Don’t lie to me. You’re crying Izuku.” She wiped the tears from his eyes, then she adopted a stern expression. “Don’t try to comfort me when I’m trying to comfort you.” She said while gently poking him in the stomach.

Izuku let out a giggle “Fine, fine.” His mom tightened her hug at his giggle. “But in all seriousness, I’m sorry for worrying you, I didn’t mean to.” He said apologetically.

“Don’t apologize honey, I’m just glad you’re ok.” She placed a loving kiss on his forehead. “I love you Izuku.”

“I love you too mom.” He responded, smiling up at her when he received the kiss.

His mom grabbed onto his desk and pulled herself up, she was resting on her knees. She then extended her arm for him to grab onto. He was still in his desk chair.

‘I must have fallen asleep watching hero videos.’ He thought distantly.

He took her offered hand and was pulled up into a standing position.

“I’m going to get changed, I’ll meet you downstairs.” He said, he was all sweaty from his nightmare and he really wanted to get out of his now sweat-soaked pajamas.

“Alright honey, if you need anything just call. Ok?" She said, pronouncing the ‘ok’ sternly.

“Yes of course mom, I’ll be fine I’m just getting changed.” He said a bit exasperated. He loved his mom to death but sometimes she could be a bit overprotective. His mom nodded and then left his room.

Izuku let out a huff. ‘That dream was really scary.’ He has been having these kinds of nightmares since his first encounter with that Horror from five years ago. It was stupid, they were a part of his quirk so he shouldn’t still be this afraid of them. But he was, and it bothered him immensely.

Izuku was about to take his top off when he noticed his room was practically pitch black. His mom didn’t appear to have flicked the light switch on in her haste to wake him up. He glanced at the clock, his eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

“It’s 10 in the morning, why is it still so dark?” he confusedly questioned out loud.

He walked over to his closed curtains with the intention to open them. He gripped the All Might themed fabric and quickly pulled it open.

He screamed.

Inko was relaxing on the couch reading her favourite book when she heard her son scream. Her green eyes widened with panic, and she was on her feet and running up the stairs in seconds. She whipped Izuku’s room door open and barged in.

“Honey, what’s wrong?!” She asked panicked. When she didn’t get an answer, her worrying increased.

She scanned the dark room and didn’t see her son on his bed. A sob came from the computer desk, Inko turned her head towards the noise. There she saw her son sleeping on his desk chair. His body was hunched over his computer desk, head resting slightly on the keyboard. His small form let out another gut-wrenching scream. Inko dashed over and grabbed onto his shoulders, shaking him slightly.

“Wake up honey.” He wasn’t waking up. He screamed again, tears were streaming down his face. Inko’s heart pulsed with concern. She hated seeing her baby like this. She continued shaking his prone form, but he didn’t wake.

Izuku let out another guttural scream, shredding up Inko’s heart. ‘Why wasn’t he waking up?’ She thought with panic. She continued her attempts.

“Izuku please wake up. It’s just a dream, it’s not real!” She had started crying. ‘Do I need to call for help? He’s not waking up.’ She was just about to grab a phone when she heard her son speak.

“I’m awake.” Inko instantly filled with relief at the sound of her sons’ voice.

“Oh thank god.” She pulled him into her arms and started to sob.

“You weren’t waking up! You were screaming so loud, and you weren’t waking up!” She was so scared for her boy. What would she have done if he didn’t wake up? Izuku was her whole world and she doesn’t know how she would live without him. She felt her son rubbing his hand down her back in a comforting gesture.

‘Of course he would try to comfort me when he’s the one that needs comforting.’ She thought amused. Her son had a heart of gold, he always took care of others before himself. She worries that one day that might be his undoing. She quietly hushed her sons’ attempts at comforting her. That was her job. She brought her arm down and lightly poked him in the stomach, knowing he was ticklish there. He let out a giggle. Inko smiled fondly at that.

‘Everything was ok.’ She mentally told herself.

Izuku wanted to change, she checked over Izuku one last time to make sure he was ok and then left the room. She walked down the stairs and made her way to the kitchen. She was waiting for Izuku to wake so she could start breakfast. She was about to open the fridge when she heard her sons’ scream erupting from his room. Her eyes widened with panic for a second time that day.

‘What’s wrong?! Is he o-’

She never got to finish her thought.

Izuku opened the curtains expecting to see storm clouds in the sky. That would explain why his room was so dark. Of course, life was not that simple when Izuku was involved. What greeted him was the same grotesque face of the Horror he saw five years ago. Its icy blue face was pressed up against the glass, blocking out all of the suns attempts at lighting his room. There was black ooze slowly dripping out of its mouth, falling onto the glass, staining it.

He screamed

He started to back up, his back slamming into the wall below one of his All Might posters. Images of his nightmare flashed in his mind, causing him to slide down the wall. The horror appeared to enjoy this reaction. It slowly turned its ooze covered mouth into a smile, showing off its yellowed fangs. It was as scary as Izuku remembered it.

It slightly cocked its head to the side as if it was mockingly questioning Izuku’s reaction. Then it laughed. At least that’s what Izuku thought it was doing. It was loud and it pierced his ears, it distantly reminded Izuku of nails on a chalkboard mixed with shattering glass. He threw his hands up to his ears, trying to block out the sound.

“MOM!” He screamed over the noise. He needed her, he needed her safety, he needed her to make it go away. He needed her to whisk him away from the monster as she did all those years ago.

“Mom!” he yelled again but this time his voice broke into a sob. The creature just stared down at him with its pitch black eyes laughing its horrid laugh. Then by some miracle, it turned around and left. Izuku’s room lit up, the darkness disappearing.

Izuku watched its retreating form with confusion. ‘Why was it leaving? What did it want?’ either way, he was relieved it left. Maybe it had lost interest in him?

“Mom!?” He yelled again. ‘Why wasn’t she answering him?’ Tears were still streaming down his face, he let out a sniffle. He waited for his mom to show up and ask him “Honey, are you ok? What happened?” but she didn’t come, and she didn’t answer his shouting. Izuku’s body suddenly filled with dread.

Where was she?

He shakily stood up and opened the door, peeking his head down the hallway to make sure it was safe. There was nothing there, he bolted. He ran down the stairs, two steps at a time and arrived in the main room of their apartment.

“Mom?” He called out. He expected to find her in the kitchen, maybe listening to music. It would explain why she didn’t hear him. But there was nothing, she wasn’t anywhere. Izuku was getting increasingly more worried, panic was starting to fill his body yet again. He turned around and bolted back up the stairs. He passed by his room and knocked on the bathroom door.

“Mom?” he asked while lightly tapping on the wood. There was no answer. His breathing was getting shallower as he got more panicked, he continued down the hallway. He opened his mother’s room door and ran inside.

“Mom…?” Izuku was met with silence.

He spent the next 10 minutes running around their apartment, searching for his mother, in every nook and cranny he could think of, for any sign of where she went.

He came up empty.

He walked back up to his room, his closet is the only place he hadn’t checked. He knew she wasn’t in there, but it didn’t stop the small glimmer of hope he had. He grasped the two metal knobs and pulled the doors open. His heart felt like it sunk into his stomach, nothing was there but Mr.Gooey who was causally crawling on the ceiling of the closet. He shut the doors and started crying.

“Maybe, maybe she went outside to get the mail.” He sobbed to himself. “Ya that must be it, she’s just getting the mail.” He convinced himself.

He brought himself back to the living room and plopped himself on the couch. He stared at their front door intending to confront his mother when she returned.

He waited for 5 hours.

“She’s gone.” Izuku sated to nobody. “The horror is gone, and it took her with it. Where else would she be? Why else was that thing here?” He asked nobody. He wanted to cry but the tears wouldn’t come.

‘Should I call for help?’ he thought, he’s pretty sure that’s what you’re supposed to do in this situation. His thoughts were muddled, causing him to feel lost. He felt numb as he walked over to their home phone that rested on a table nearby. He picked up the receiver and hovered his hand over the first number for emergency services when he hesitated. He distantly remembered his mom telling him when he was younger.

“Izuku if you are ever in trouble, call the number on the paper kept under the phone. Promise me that honey.”

He lifted the phone up and found a slip of paper taped to the bottom, he tore it off. He scanned his eyes over it, it read:

Hisashi Midoriya

Izuku’s eyes widened, he remembered that name being mentioned by his mother in the past. That was his father’s name. He hesitantly punched in the phone number that was written below the name and waited for the tone. Three tones ringed out, each making Izuku more anxious than the previous one. Then his call was answered.

“Hello? Who is calling?” the voice was gruff, and it sounded unkind. Izuku hesitated for a second before he answered.

“H-h-hello this is I-” Izuku was cut off by the man’s voice.

“Look, kid, I don’t want what you’re selling. Go pester somebody else.” He sounded irritated.

“W-w-w-wait N-NO, I’m not selling anything! My name’s Izuku Midoriya! I’m your so-” he was interrupted by a loud angry huff.

“Stop talking, I know who you are. What do you want? I told your mother I don’t want to talk to you so why would she let you call me?” He sounded pissed.

“Th-that’s the thing,” He hesitated “m-mom is missing.” It was silent for a beat before the man replied.

“What do you mean missing?” he questioned.

Izuku explained the situation as briefly as he could, and that he was the emergency contact his mother had given him.

“Ok kid, here’s what is going to happen.” He took a big inhale “I send your mom cheques of money for food, rent, and any other necessities. I’m going to keep sending those cheques and you’re going to keep living in that apartment.”

“W-w-wait, by m-myself?” Izuku questioned.

“Yes by yourself. I’m going to be frank brat, I don’t want you, and nor do I want to hear from you again. Now you could, of course, call the authorities, there is nothing to stop you. But then you would be saddled with me if they don’t imprison you for murdering your mother that is.”

Izuku felt like he had been punched in the gut. ‘Did I murder mom?’ His eyes started to well with tears.

“Let me promise you brat, if I get stuck with you I promise to make the rest of your life a living hell. You’re on your own now brat.” With that final statement, Hisashi slammed the phone, ending the call.

Izuku stood there stunned. He lightly returned the phone receiver back to its place. He numbly walked back to the couch and sat down. He stared at the wall across of him, watching a blob slowly travel its way across it. Then for what seemed like the thousandth time that day, he broke down and started to sob.

Chapter Text

Izuku woke up early the next morning with tear tracks dried on his face and a stuffed nose. He slowly sat up and brought his hand up to rub the sleep out of his eyes.

“I can’t believe mom let me sleep on the cou-” He stopped halfway through his sentence. Images of the day before rapidly played through his mind.

“R-right… moms gone. I-I-I” his voice broke into a gasp “I killed her.” He was surprised that his eyes weren’t watering, he must have used up all his tears the night before.

Izuku numbly stood up, he had to start getting ready for the day. It was a Monday now which meant school.

“I could just not go to school?” He asked the empty room. He let out a sigh “No I can’t do that, the school would phone to ask why I’m not there. Since mom is not around to answer, it would just lead to disaster.” Izuku let out another sigh, he wasn’t sure if he was ready to face Kacchan and his crew today.

He lethargically walked over to the kitchen with the intention of making breakfast. It was something that his mom always did. He opened the fridge it was mostly empty the only ingredients being: milk, eggs, bacon, and cheese. There was also a bag of white rice on the ground beside the fridge. Izuku reached into the fridge towards the eggs when he hesitated.

“I-I-” his voice started to crack “I don’t even k-know how to make breakfast.” The revelation seemed to trigger Izuku’s waterworks. He started to cry again, he plopped down on the kitchen floor in front of the fridge, leaving the door opened. He was staring at the carton of eggs that remained untouched.

‘I’ll never get moms omelets again. No more home cooked meals made with love. Nothing.’ His thoughts made his crying increase. He brought his knees up to his head and curled into a tight ball. He started wailing, all the grief and loss expelling from his system. The cold of the fridge was seeping into his small form causing him to shiver. He heard a distant beeping sound coming from the fridge, signaling him that he left it open.

He didn’t move to close it.

He eventually got up once he calmed down, much to the protest of his legs. They hurt from staying in a curled position for so long. He stretched them out and then turned to close the fridge door, he wasn’t really hungry anymore.

*Sigh*

“I guess I’ll just get dressed then.” He was still in his sweaty pajamas from the day before, he had never gotten the chance to change.

‘Oh god.’ he thought while he made his way up the stairs. ‘The last thing I said to mom was me telling her not to worry, and I was irritated with her.´ guilt welled up in his stomach ‘Did I hurt her feelings? Did I make her upset?’ he let out a sniffle.

“Mom, I’m sorry.” He spoke out loud, he knew she wasn’t there, but maybe there was a third reality where she now resided and could hear him. The thought seemed to comfort him. His mom was here with him, he just couldn’t see her, like how mom couldn’t see his creatures.

“Ya, mom is right here. She never left.” He said out loud with a small smile on his face. He made his way to his room. When he entered he peeled off his pajamas and changed into his school uniform. He was about to exit his room when he stopped and glanced back towards his closet. He walked over and gripped the handles, slowly opening the doors. He stared at Mr. Gooey, it was currently on the floor.

“Mr. Gooey,” Izuku started “get on my chest.” The blob obeyed and swiftly crawled onto his chest, settling itself in the middle. Izuku knew this was going to ruin his experiment, but he didn’t care. He needed something, some form of companionship so he didn’t feel so alone. He would be lying if he said he hadn’t formed some kind of emotional attachment to the lone blob. So now he would just keep him with him, Mr. Gooey would become his friend, his family.

The boy swung his backpack over his shoulder and left the apartment, he felt better now that he had the blob with him. It felt a little gross, but he knew he would get used to it. Besides, it was like having a little shield over his heart, and if feeling a little uncomfortable was the trade-off then it was worth it.

Izuku was the first one to make it into the classroom. He sat down at his desk and started pulling out his notebooks and supplies to start the day. Izuku waited for a long time ‘Where was everybody, what was taking so long?’ Izuku’s heart started to beat faster. Did the horrors take his classmates and teacher too? He turned and glanced at the clock that rested on the wall behind him, it read 7 AM.

Izuku burst out laughing. He was 2 hours early. “Jeez, I need to learn to read a clock.” He chuckled to himself. Granted he should cut himself some slack, he was very distraught this morning so it’s understandable that he misread the time. But him being Izuku didn’t cut himself any slack what so ever.

*sigh*

“Now what?” he questioned out loud.

He glanced down at Mr. Gooey and gave it a pat. It was slimy on his hand but he didn’t care. He knew logically the blob didn’t understand the concept of affection, he didn’t even know if it could feel him. The petting was more for Izuku, it was like he was channeling his stress through the strokes, and it helped relax him. He sat there just calmly petting the blob for a while. He was glad he had the blob with him. He stared at Mr. Gooey for a few moments before speaking out loud.

“You look just like all the others. How am I supposed to tell you apart if I lose you somehow?” Izuku glanced around the classroom for something he could use to mark the blob when an idea struck him. He ripped a piece of paper out of his school notebook and drew a large smiley face on it. He then slapped it on the blob, its ooze kept the paper stuck to its body. Izuku smiled at the success.

“Nice to see you have a face now Mr. Gooey.” He said through small laughter.

It was at that moment Bakugo decided to barge into the classroom.

“Who the fuck you talking to Deku?” the blonde growled out.

Izuku flinched slightly. “N-n-nobody Kacchan, j-just m-myself.” Izuku had given up trying to explain his quirk to Kacchan, he just didn’t listen. Every time he would try to explain his quirk he would end up getting beat up, so he stopped trying. According to Bakugo a quirk you can’t see is a quirk not worth acknowledging. Izuku wishes his quirk could be ignored then maybe his mom would still be alive.

‘Shut up, she’s fine. She is just in another reality. She’s fine.’ He mentally scolded himself. He started to gently pet Mr. Gooey again, it helped.

Shortly after Bakugo had taken his seat more students started to flood into the classroom. It got noisy real fast. Normally Izuku didn’t care for his noisy classmates but today the loud noises seemed to put him on edge. His petting increased as his anxiousness did, he was trying to channel all the energy out through his movements. It was helping. That is until his classmates spoke.

“Pfft what is Deku doing, he’s rubbing his tummy a bunch.” He heard one kid say from across the classroom through laughter.

“What a freak.” He heard another say.

His cheeks started to burn bright red, he stopped the petting.

‘Go on my shoulder.’ He mentally commanded the blob. It shimmied its way up until it was perched on his shoulder like a parrot.

“Deku, why the fuck is there paper above your shoulder?” He heard Bakugo ask.

‘Oh right, Mr. Gooey’s face must just look like a floating sheet of paper.’ Izuku thought.

 “I-it’s a part of my q-quir-” He was cut off by Bakugo’s sneering.

“Never fucking mind Deku, I don’t care.”

‘What a surprise.’ Izuku sarcastically thought.

Since Bakugo no longer cared about the sheet of paper, neither did the rest of the class. That’s how things worked, Bakugo would decide something and everyone else would readily agree. They were all trying to get in the blondes good graces in hopes that they could become one of his ‘friends’ or as Bakugo refers to as ‘extras’.

Eventually, the teacher entered the classroom, he was late. Everyone’s voices were hushed and their attention was brought to the front to start the day’s class. Izuku tried to focus on his teachers’ words but his mind kept floating back to the day before. He kept thinking about the horror and his mom. He kept thinking about how he killed her. How he murdered her.

‘Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up.’ He thought loudly in his head.

She was fine.

Izuku couldn’t have been more relieved when the school bell rang. He was exhausted, he just wanted to go home and sleep. He sat and waited for all of his classmates to leave. Izuku had discovered earlier in life that if he waited until all his classmates left, there was only a 40% chance that Bakugo was waiting for him outside. He stood up and stretched as he watched the last student trail out of the room. He grabbed Mr. Gooey and stuck him to his chest, and slung his backpack over his shoulder. When he exited the building he carefully looked around to check if Kacchan was waiting for him.

‘Looks like the coast is cle-’

“DEKU! You fucker!”

‘I spoke too soon.’ Izuku started to run, he normally would try to talk Bakugo down but he wasn’t in the mood to risk being hit. He ran as fast as his legs could carry him, but it wasn’t enough the blonde was faster. Izuku glanced behind him, he would be caught any moment now.

‘I guess I don’t have a choice, sorry Kacchan.’ He thought. He commanded several blobs that were nearby to cling to Bakugo’s legs.

Bakugo went down like a dead tree. He tripped over his feet and face planted onto the ground. This gave Izuku ample time to escape. He had sprinted down two streets and then turned a corner where he bumped into something. That something was another person, and he had caused both of them to fall onto the ground.

“Oh-oh, my gosh, I’m s-so sorry sir, let me h-help you up!” Izuku stuttered out, rubbing his head. He quickly pulled himself up and then reached over to help the man up. Izuku’s eyes widened, the man was absolutely covered in blobs. He had never seen someone covered in so many, the amount was so large that their ooze was collecting together and dripping off the man’s form. The only identifiable feature he could make out was yellow hair limply sticking out at different angles.

The man accepted Izuku’s hand. “Why thank you my boy, and it’s quite alright. We bumped into each other so I’m equally to blame.”

Izuku nodded at his kindness and silently told the blobs to leave while he pulled him up. What was revealed was a skinny sickly looking man. ‘Oh god, I really hope I didn’t hurt him. Why didn’t you look where you were going, idiot.” He scolded mentally.

“So young man, where were you going in such a rush?” The man questioned.

“O-oh I was just e-excited to get home.” He lied. The man seemed to chuckle at his answer.

“Well don’t let me stop you! Go home to your family and have a nice night!” the man said smiling. Izuku faltered a little.

“R-right, I will th-thanks.” Izuku bowed low as a final apology and then ran off towards his complex. He turned around to get one last glimpse at the kind man but he was already gone.

When Izuku got home, he carefully pulled off his shoes and made his way to the kitchen, like he normally does.

“Hi, mom. School was boring today, but nothing is new there.” He spoke out loud. He walked towards the fridge and pulled out the cheese he spotted earlier that morning. He was starving, he hadn’t eaten yet.

“Thanks for the snack.” He called out as he made his way up the stairs to his room. He plopped himself at his computer and turned it on. He started to browse new articles about heroes while snacking on his cheese. He glanced down at his chest.

“You believe she’s still there, right?” He asked the blob.

It didn’t reply.

“That’s ok, you don’t have to talk.” Izuku let out a sniffle.

He continued to read the articles which became increasingly harder as his vision went blurry with tears. He let the tears silently flow out of him, he didn’t make a sound he just continued reading and eating his cheese.

Chapter Text

Izuku silently sat at his desk working on schoolwork that would be due the next day. He let out a sigh. It was ten minutes away from midnight. Ten minutes away from it being five years since the day his mother went missing. He silently scribbled away in his notebook, absentmindedly petting Mr. Gooey who was perched at the edge of the desk.

“It’s almost time huh little buddy?” He spoke to the blob. He was answered with silence. Izuku of course never expected it to answer, he knew better than that by now. His eyes kept turning back to the clock waiting for it to strike midnight, but his insistent checking was making time drag on longer then it needed to.

*Huff*

The buzzer his alarm made finally went off, signaling that it was now midnight. Izuku quietly shut the alarm off and stood up from his desk. He grabbed Mr. Gooey and left the room, leaving his homework behind. He traveled down the stairs and into the living room. He sat down on the now worn looking couch. He had spent many nights on it, in hopes that his mom would walk through the front door.

Izuku then sat there patiently waiting with Mr. Gooey in his lap. He did this every year on this day. He would stay up until midnight, until the day she went missing. Then he would wait. He didn’t really know what he was waiting for if he was honest with himself. He could be waiting for his mom to maybe return from whatever hell she was taken to, maybe he was waiting for the horror that had taken his mom to return. No matter the reason, he always did this. It was his way of coping with the anniversary of her death. He use to cry on this day for hours at a time, he didn’t do that anymore. He just let himself be embraced by the ever-looming silence of his apartment.

He sat there silently stroking the blob. Mr. Gooey had quickly became his only friend and his only family. He was easy to talk to and was always a great listener. Izuku knew logically it was just mindlessly doing what it was told and didn’t actually hear Izuku, but his desperate need of support and comfort always threw that logic out the window. So he sat there silently stroking the oozing black mass until the clock struck 7 AM, indicating that it was time to get ready for school.

“It’s okay buddy,” he said in a comforting tone “maybe next year.” The blob didn’t respond.

Izuku spent the next hour slowly getting ready for the day, he really didn’t want to go to school but he knew he had to. This was his final year of middle school, then he was off to high school. Izuku had applied to several different schools, but the main one he wanted to get into was UA. Despite all that has happened he still dreamed of becoming a hero. Maybe if he did he could find out what happened to his mother. This was if everything worked out that is, Izuku wasn’t even 100% sure he would make it as a hero with his quirk.

“A quirk you can’t see isn’t a quirk worth having, let alone a hero’s quirk.”  Kacchan’s voice rang out in Izuku’s head.

“He’s probably right,” he sighed “but there is still no harm in trying.” He looked towards Mr. Gooey for confirmation. He was met with the unmoving smiley faced paper.

“I’m glad you agree.” He said softly, giving the tiny blob a pat. Mr. Gooey was small compared to the other blobs. Most of them were about the size of Izuku’s head, but Mr. Gooey was about the size of his hand. He supposes that’s why he was drawn to him since Izuku was pretty small himself.

Izuku finished tying up his shoelaces and left the apartment locking the door behind him. When he turned around he was met with Kacchan’s mother waving goodbye to her son who had just left. Izuku sometimes forgot that the Bakugo’s lived right across from him.

“Oh, Izuku! I haven’t seen your face in a while.” She said smiling.

“O-oh ya, I-I’ve been busy w-with school, you know?” He replied earnestly. The older woman nodded at that.

“Speaking of faces I haven’t seen, I haven’t seen your mother’s in ages. Is she still ill?” she asked concerned.

“O-oh ya she still is unfortunately, s-she j-just got out of the h-hospital again.” He lied.

“Well, please let her know that I said hi and that I hope she recovers soon.”

“O-of course.” Izuku let out a final nod of thanks as Bakugo’s mom turned back into her apartment. He let out a relieved sigh, he felt bad about lying but it had to be done. He had been telling everyone that wanted to see his mom that she was extremely sick, and bedridden for years. Surprisingly enough it worked, nobody found it suspicious what so ever. Izuku supposes it just goes to show just how much people really care.  

He started his tedious walk to school. He felt so tired and crappy, he really didn’t want to go. But he knew he had to regardless of how he felt, he just had to suck it up and endure it. As he was walking he took note of a group of students that happily ran past him. Izuku let out a sigh. He wonders what it would be like to have friends. He would probably be happier than he is now, but most likely not by much. There would always be a hole left in his chest caused by the loss of his mother. He idly watched 5 cottons flitter past him, he pondered how many would be feeding off his thoughts right now if he was normal.

*Sigh*

He was doing that a lot lately. Life just hasn’t felt fulfilling at all. Not since he was left alone. The only thing he had to look forward to was maybe becoming a hero, but if that didn’t work out he wasn’t sure what he would do. He wasn’t even sure if he would want to continue living after that sort of rejection if he was honest with himself.

“What would you do Mr. Gooey?” He quietly asked the blob. He was met with silence.

“Ya, you’re probably right.” Izuku agreed. He would do nothing, or maybe the blob meant be nothing. Izuku could never be sure about the blobs ‘wise words of wisdom’ since they were always open to interpretation.

 The school day had been long and tedious. It left Izuku feeling even more exhausted and down then he did that morning. He just wanted to go home and sleep away all the bad thoughts and feelings. This was because his teacher had announced him wanting to attend UA, which caused Bakugo to get pissed off. He ignored the blondes anger the best he could for the rest of the class, but he knew the boy would have things to say once the class was over. So he sat biding his time at his desk, focused on writing in one of his notebooks. That is until two hands slammed on his desk, startling him.

“Deku you fucker, I’m the only one that will get into UA from this shit school, you hear me? Besides what would a useless Deku like you even achieve as a hero, you would probably just get in the way.” Bakugo said this with explosions coming out of his palms. This was a tactic that Izuku knew well, it was supposed to intimidate him. It always managed to succeed.

“W-w-well K-kacchan, what’s the h-harm in trying? You don’t k-know if I could b-become a hero w-w-without me trying first.” Izuku stuttered out. This seemed to only anger the blonde more. Bakugo let out a feral growl and ripped his notebook out from under his hands.

“H-hey give that b-back, that’s not yours!” Izuku shouted. Kacchan seemed to thrive in his panic as he let explosions rip from his hands, burning the book. He casually tossed it out an open window. Tears started to fall from Izuku’s eyes, he worked really hard on that notebook.

“Jesus Christ Deku, look how pathetic you are. Crying over a notebook.” Bakugo said through laughter. “You should just jump off the roof and end your pathetic so-called life, my god.” With that final statement, the blonde turned around and left the room, laughing all the way.

Izuku sat at his desk frozen. More tears were leaking from his eyes.

You should just jump off the roof.

Jump off the roof.

Jump.

Pathetic.

These thoughts were swimming in the already distraught teens' mind. He numbly stood up and shouldered his backpack and made his way to the hallway. He was about to turn towards the exit when he glanced behind him. The stairs towards the school roof seemed to be calling to him. He found himself walking up them and pushing against the door. It wasn’t even locked, it was like the universe was telling him to jump. He glanced around his surroundings, there wasn’t even a fence around the roof to stop him. He walked towards the edge and looked down. Izuku felt like he didn’t really have anything left to live for, no real friends, family, or support. Just him and the creatures… he wasn’t really sure if that was worth living for.

“Should I do it Gooey?” He asked the blob. He was met with silence.

“How about this, since you’re so concerned. I’ve always wanted to test the limits of how far I could fall onto a pile of blobs before it would hurt. My record is 10 feet. So, I’ll command a bunch of blobs into one spot and then jump. If I die, then I die. If I live then maybe it’s a sign that I should keep going. What do you think?”

Silence

“I’m glad you agree.”

Izuku looked down on the ground and commanded all the blobs in the area (except Mr. Gooey) to gather in a wide pile in the ‘drop zone’. Izuku estimated that the drop was roughly 30 feet.

“Ok.” He breathed out. “Here I go Gooey.” He grasped onto the blob tightly, he wanted his friend to be there with him until the end. Then he jumped.

Izuku was surprised that the fall was surprisingly peaceful. He half expected it to be scary or panic-inducing but he was completely relaxed.

Then he landed onto the pile.

It felt like landing on a sticky cloud. Izuku didn’t feel the grounds impact, it was all absorbed by the blobs. He told the blobs to disperse so he could stand up. He brushed off his pants and felt slightly disheartened that he was fine.

“Oh well, I guess I’ll keep going.” He said to himself and started to make his trek home. As he was making his way towards the front of the school he spotted his notebook floating in the school’s pond. He bent over and fished it out, his heart panged at the damage.

“It’s fine I’ll just air it out.” He sniffled and continued on his way.

Izuku was halfway home and was making his way under a bridge. It was a shortcut he learned to take to avoid Bakugo and his gang, it was a bit sketchy but he never had any problems before. That is until now.

He distantly noticed that there was an increased amount of blobs in the vicinity, and he should have taken that as a bad omen. He had been halfway through the tunnel when he heard something clang behind him. He took a glance, a breath of panic left his mouth. There was green sludge oozing out from a nearby sewer entrance and before Izuku could even think of running, it was around him.

It was around his limbs and in his mouth, it was suffocating him. Panic was clouding his mind as he lost oxygen.

‘Is this it then?’ He thought distantly, his vision was starting to go blurry.

‘NO!’ He didn’t just live a suicide attempt to get murdered, he had to fight back. He took a survey of all the blobs in the area, and then commanded them to surround the villain. They did as they were told. The villains' attack continued and he kept losing more air, it wasn’t enough he needed more blobs. He glanced around and saw a group hidden in a dark shadow, he commands them as well. He kept commanding more and more to cover the thick sludge that surrounded him, but nothing was happening he wasn’t letting go.

Izuku’s lungs were on fire, he could feel them shriveling up as the last of his oxygen dissipated. ‘Well, I guess that’s that then.’ He was going to die, oh god. He uselessly clawed at the sludge.

He was going to die… He was going to die. His ears started to ring but he could slightly make out a loud booming voice.

“I AM HERE!”

Then he was free.

Izuku lay on the ground panting and coughing, inhaling as much oxygen as he could, and coughing out sludge that made it into his lungs. It burned.

“Are you okay young man?” the voice boomed.

Izuku tilted his head up and made a loud spluttering sound at the iconic yellow hair. Now Izuku wasn’t one for swearing, but he did occasionally when the situation called for it.

“HOLY SHIT I SUMMONED ALL MIGHT!” he yelled.

The large man furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

“Holy shit… that’s a lot of blobs and cottons.” Izuku muttered out. All Might was covered in blobs, all the ooze was collecting and dripping off his form into a puddle on the ground. He watched as more blobs crawled onto the hero’s form. There also appeared to be a small swarm of cottons above the man’s head. This was not good.

‘Oh god, I have to remove those. Oh god, it’s All Might. OH GOD, WHAT DO I EVEN SAY?’

“Erm, my boy, I don’t really know what you are talking about but I’m glad you are alright.” The man seemed to worriedly glance to the side. “But I’m afraid I have to leave. I have other things to take care of.” He said while showing off the sludge villain that was now stuffed into a bottle.

“W-w-wait A-All Might! Before you go let m-” Izuku started to shout out, but he was cut off by the much larger man.

“I’m sorry my boy but I really can’t wait!” All Might reared to jump.

That’s when Izuku found himself clinging to the hero’s leg midflight. He distantly heard the man scolding him but he didn’t care he just focused on removing the blobs and cottons. He watched them peel off All Might’s body, falling into the air aimlessly floating. The cottons just flew back towards the ground where more people were.

‘Huh, I guess, since the blobs don’t have anything to stick to, the weightlessness just causes them to float.’ His thought process was interrupted by their rough landing.

Izuku somersaulted on the ground, landing on his back. He quickly pulled himself up and turned to apologize but was startled to find nothing but steam and smoke.

“A-all Might?” When the smoke dissipated it revealed a skinny frail-looking man. Izuku recognized this man from five years ago, he had knocked the poor guy over.

“W-w-what…?” Izuku was in shock.

“Ah young man, it appears you have found out my secret.” The man let out a cough, blood spurted out of his mouth.

“A-ALL MIGHT, are you okay?” Izuku asked panicked.

“I’m as fine as I can be right now my boy, this is because of an old injury-” He lifted up his shirt to show off a nasty looking scar. “It’s as healed as it can be.” Izuku nodded. “Now, what I would like to know is what possessed you to grab my leg like that?” he questioned.

“O-oh well you see s-sir, it was because of my quirk, y-you were surrounded by b-bad luck,” Izuku decided to spare the man the details about the blobs. “I can only remove it through touch, a-and well you had a lot of bad luck.”

“Well, I guess I should thank you then, young man. That was very heroic of you. I certainly appreciate not being surrounded by said ‘bad luck’.” He said gratefully.

Izuku embraced the praise ‘That was very heroic of you’ echoed in his mind.

“A-all Might, s-sir, may I ask you a question?” Izuku nervously stuttered out.

“Of course, ask away!”

“Can someone with a quirk that others can’t see, still be a hero?” Izuku rushed the question out, he wasn’t even sure if the man had heard it properly. It was silent, it was anxiously eating Izuku up. Then finally the man answered.

“I don’t see why not? In fact, I think non-flashy quirks are the best for hero work! That way villains have problems figuring out what your quirk is, giving you the advantage. If it really bothers you that much you could always add in theatrics to make it look visual. So yes you can become a hero without a flashy quirk.” All Might answered.

So yes you can become a hero.

It was the first encouraging words Izuku had heard in five years. He felt like he was going to cry.

“Thank you.” Izuku said through a teary voice.

All Might let out an awkward cough at the boy's sudden emotions. “So what hero schools are you applying to then?” he questioned.

“I’m applying to several, but UA is my goal.” Izuku replied shyly.

“That’s great my boy! I hope to see you there since I’ll be teaching there this year.” The skinny man then inflated to his full hero size and gave Izuku a salute before jumping away.

Izuku watched him disappear into the distance with awe. “Did you hear that Mr. Gooey? He said I can be a hero.” Izuku let out a giant grin. For the first time in five years, he felt hope.

It was time to train.

Chapter Text

Izuku felt like he couldn’t breathe. Today was the day he will be taking the U.A. entrance exams. All the time he spent training the past few months all comes down to this moment. He’s about to find out if he’s worthy of attending a prestigious school. Like All Might.

He felt like he was going to puke.

Izuku was actually fairly impressed that he hasn’t puked yet. He could feel his anxiety sitting in his gut, coiling around his chest suppressing his breathing, and increasing his nausea. It was not something that made him feel comfortable, but it was something he would and could deal with. In his opinion anyways.

He shifted uncomfortably in his train seat and glanced at the time on his watch. It would be fifteen minutes until he reached his stop then he would walk for ten more minutes and he would be at U.A.’s front gates. He shifted again and glanced at his watch. It would be fourteen minutes until he reached his stop… shift… thirteen minutes… shift… twelve minutes. His chest now felt tight, like someone was sitting on it, he anxiously sought out for Mr. Gooey and brought the blob to his lap.

Izuku took deep breathes, petting his blob in time with them. He slightly felt like a metronome, but whatever worked. He brought his breathing back to a more normal level.

He was fine. Fine.

He went to go check the time again but stopped himself. He would just make himself more anxious again. But not checking was making him anxious, but checking makes him anxious. He started absentmindedly scratching from his hand down to his exposed wrist.

‘How will I know when I need to get up for my stop, what if I miss it? Wait am I even on the right train? Don’t be silly of course I am, I checked 10 times before it got here. What time is it? Don’t check. But I need to. Don’t do it.’ Izuku scratched his wrist harder, it was quickly turning red and the skin was swelling slightly from the irritation.

Check it, check it, checkitcheckitcheckit. You need to know. What if you miss your stop?

Izuku brought his watch up to his face and read the time. There were seven minutes until he reached his stop, then he would walk for ten minutes and he would be at U.A’s front gates. Izuku felt his eyes sting with small tears. He hated when he got caught in a loop like this, there was never a way out. He took a deep breathe trying to settle nausea that was quickly building up to his throat. He almost gagged.

It’s fine, I’m fine, finefinefinefinefine check the time what if you miss your stop?

He brought his watch up to his face, he would reach his stop in five minutes, then he would walk… Breathe, breathe don’t forget to breathe.

He heard someone giggle towards the other side of the train cart it was grating against his ears. He could feel his whole body flinch like he was slapped in the face. They’re laughing at you. Pathetic.

Check the time. Don’t. Check it. Don’t. Check it. He brought the watch up to his face for the umpteenth time, there were two minutes until he would arrive at his stop, then he would walk… Izuku stood up, his legs were shaking he felt like a newborn baby deer. He walked towards the exit and tripped over his foot slightly. Oh god did anyone notice? He heard more giggles from the other side of the cart again, his cheeks reddened. He needed to get out of there.

Need to get out, need to get out. Calm your breathing your fine. Scratch scratch. Fine finefinefinefine. Get outoutoutoutout. Fine.

The train screeched to a halt, and the doors opened a few seconds later, Izuku all but leaped off the train. He took a big breath of fresh air and instantly felt better. God, he hated public transportation.

Hated it, hated it, hatehatehatehate. Stop you’re fine now. Just. Breathe. In and out.

Izuku took a big inhale, and held it, then exhaled. It was fine, he was fine, just walk. So he did. Izuku spent the next ten minutes of walking trying to calm his screaming mind. He was just so anxious, it was easily pouring out of his body, his mind was yelling at him to run, run far far away.

Runrunrunrun. IT WAS FINE.

He would do this. He didn’t train for month’s only to let his anxiety stop him. He balled his hand into a fist and raised it into the air, and then swiftly brought it down to his thigh. Pain radiated through his leg. It would bruise for sure, but the pain distracted him from his anxious thoughts. It let him rest his mind for a bit.

He arrived at the front gates. Izuku felt all the air leave his lungs. The gates were bigger and more intimidating then he imagined. It took all his focus to move his legs rather than be frozen in place. He started to scratch his wrist again. He was walking towards the crowd that was gathered in the front when he tripped over his own feet again, but this time he wasn’t able to catch himself.

‘Well, this is it.’ He thought. He was going to die from embarrassment before he even got to try. He closed his eyes in anticipation of the cold concrete smacking his face. It didn’t come, he opened his eyes confused. He was… floating? What?

“Uhh sorry I didn’t ask if I could use my quirk on you. But I couldn’t just let you fall, you know?” A sweet girl voice said.

Izuku turned his head towards the voice and saw a girl with short brown hair. Wait… a girl… was talking to him?

“O-o-o-oh thank y-y-y-you! It’s a-a-appreciated!” His voice came out louder then he wanted it too, and it cracked a bunch from his nervousness. His face reddened from the embarrassing display. He expected the girl to laugh at him, but she surprisingly didn’t. She brought her two hands together and quietly muttered something, he then lightly fell back onto the ground.

“Well, I wish you luck on the exam!” she said before she walked away. Izuku didn’t even get the chance to catch the nice girl’s name.

It was the first kind interaction Izuku had in months. It helped quiet his anxious thoughts. It was fine, he could do this. He took a big breath before he started his way walking over towards the crowd. He was almost there when he spotted spikey blonde hair in the middle of the crowd that could only belong to Kacchan. Izuku was careful to avoid his direct line of sight. He doesn’t think he is able to withstand the blonde’s harsh treatment at the moment. So he waited for the blonde to disappear into the building before he walked up to the entrance.

‘Ok, you can do this Izuku. It’s now or never. Time to prove to yourself that you belong here.’ Izuku’s inner pep talk was interrupted by someone heckling him. Oops, he was holding up the line. He muttered out a sorry and dashed down the hall towards another crowd of students. As he walked towards it he started to command any blobs he saw to follow him. He would need them for later. He entered a large auditorium and sat down in his assigned seat. Which was thankfully away from Bakugo, he doesn’t even think the blonde has seen him yet much to his relief. The lights in the room dimmed and all the muttering that was around him quieted down to small hushes. Present Mic took the stage.

“What’s up U.A candidates? Thanks for tuning into me, you’re school DJ! Come on and let me hear ya!” The spiked haired hero brought his hand to his ear, waiting for cheers from the students. There was silence. The man didn’t seem to be deterred by the student’s silence as he continued on with his speech.

Izuku was internally screaming “It’s the voice hero Present Mic! He’s so cool!” he mumbled out loud barely containing his excitement.

The man continued on to explain how that practical exam would work. Izuku took note that his exam card read that his test location would be in ‘Battle Center B’. He hoped Kacchan had a different test location, he really didn’t want to run into him. He continued to listen to what Present Mic had to say about the practical exam. Apparently, there would be 3 different kinds of robots each worth different points: 1, 2, and 3. A boy with dark hair and glasses rose up to ask a question, Izuku wasn’t really paying attention until said boy whipped around and pointed his finger towards Izuku.

“You with the unkempt hair, you’ve been muttering this entire time. Stop it, you’re distracting the rest of us!” the glasses boy said firmly.

Izuku felt like he was punched in the gut and his hands flew up to cover his face. Everyone was laughing.

Ignore them ignore them ignoreignore. You’re fine finefinefinefinefine. Just breathe.

Present Mic settled down the room of students and seemed to take slight note of Izuku’s panic. He went on to explain about the 0 pointer robot. Then they were dismissed. Everyone got up at once, but Izuku waited until most of the other kids left the room out of habit. He stood up and was about to exit the room when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Izuku flinched violently and turned his wide green eyes around. Present Mic was standing there.

“Hey listener, I couldn’t help but notice that you seemed a little nervous. Just take a deep breath and you’ll do fine. Plus Ultra!” the man said flashing a giant grin and a thumbs up.

Izuku did what he said and took a deep inhale and then exhaled trying to expel the anxiety from his system. “T-t-thank you.” He stuttered out nervously.

“It’s no problem, now quickly” the man made a shooing motion “you don’t want to be late.” Izuku seemed to take notice that he was the last person in the room at that moment. He then ran after the rest of the students.

Izuku had spent the trip towards his exam area gathering blobs. Every time their bus would pass one, he would silently command it to follow him. Izuku was lucky that the blobs were fast enough to keep up with the vehicle, otherwise, he would be in trouble. He now had a decent sized army of blobs behind him, waiting for his command. It always amused Izuku that he could turn around and see an inky black sea but nobody else could.

They had exited the bus and were now standing in front of a huge brown gate, everyone was stretching or talking to each other. He noticed the nice girl from earlier near the front of the crowd, his eyes widened as he saw 4 blobs on her legs.

‘Oh no, I should remove those as thanks for earlier.’ He thought. He went to go walk towards her when he was stopped by a hand. He flinched and turned towards the hands’ owner. It was the glasses boy.

“She looks like she’s trying to focus. I hope you aren’t going to go try and distract her.” The boy ground out.

Izuku started to stutter out an explanation when he was interrupted by Mic.

“Alright listeners, it’s about time to start your exam! Remember Plus Ultra!” the man enthusiastically shouted out. The giant gates then opened. The crowd of students then took off and Izuku started to run with them.

As he was running through the gate he commanded a small portion of his blob army to coat his body. He now had a set of cold and slimy blob armour, protecting every part of his body except his face. Mr. Gooey sat on top of the place where his heart would be. Since the blobs weighed nothing he was completely protected at no cost.

He turned towards a 1 pointer, he whipped his hand in its direction and made a slashing motion. He had added a form of theatrics like All Might told him to do, it wasn’t much but at least people could tell it was him destroying the robots. As he made the motion he told the blobs to attack the robot. They swiftly slimed their way on to it, oozing into its circuits, causing it to malfunction and shut down. This all happened in seconds, Izuku smiled at how easy it was.

A robot had sneaked behind him and shot bullets towards him. Izuku whipped around and watched in satisfaction as the bullets ran into the blobs only to be bounced back towards the robot, piercing its metal shell ultimately shutting it down. That was 3 points.

Izuku ran down the street and spotted two more robots and instructed the blobs to do the same as before. One after the other shut down. 5 points. 10 points. 15 points. 25 points. He kept raking in more and more points, in his hunt for more robots he excitedly turned the corner. He stopped in his tracks.

Shit.

There was a horror. It was tall, Izuku’s eyes travelled up the morbid figure. It was probably the tallest one he’s ever encountered. It stood at a height of about 25 feet. It had 4 long thin legs it almost looked like it was on stilts. Its body was fat and was covered in puss-filled welts and thick coarse black hair. Its head was small compared to its body and looked extremely disproportionate. It had two wide dark green fish-like eyes, and a mouth that was stuck opened drooling out black ooze. It had hair on its head that was dark green like its eyes, it looked greasy and filthy. This was probably the most disgusting horror Izuku has encountered.

‘What was it doing here?’ Izuku thought to himself. He knew that it was probably here feasting on all the destruction that their quirks were creating but it still unsettled him that it was there. It hadn’t noticed him yet so he took that as a good sign and continued to destroy robots. He just had to stay out of the creatures view and he would be fine. He distantly heard Present Mic shout out one more minute. He had to pick up the pace. Panic started to slightly rise in his chest.

It’s fine, don’t think about it. Just keep going. Breathe

He glanced around for more robots but he couldn’t find any. What was he going to do? Were they all gone? 25 points weren’t bad, he soothed to himself. His thoughts were interrupted by a loud crash, dust flared up temporarily blinding Izuku. When it cleared it was revealed that the loud crash was caused by the zero-pointer. Izuku turned his body away from the giant robot, there was no point in fighting it. He started to run when he stopped at the sound of a familiar voice.

“Help.” Izuku turned towards the direction of the sound. His eyes widened and his breath left his lungs. It was the nice girl, she was trapped under some rubble. There were blobs crawling on top of her feasting on her bad luck. He had to help her it’s his fault that he didn’t remove the blobs earlier. If she died, he would be responsible.

He commanded his army of blobs to attack the giant machine, they swiftly crawled into the machines crevasses eating away at its wires. But it wasn’t enough it was too big and the blobs weren’t eating fast enough. He looked around desperately for more blobs there wasn’t any.

What was he going to do? There’s no more. He needs to save her save her savesavesave. It’s his fault.

The machine rolled closer to her prone form, they made eye contact. Her eyes were filled with fear but also acceptance. His were filled with terror and guilt. He glanced around for anything to help, that’s when he made eye contact with the deep green eyes of the horror that wondered over towards the mass amounts of destruction.

Time seemed to slow down at that moment. The horror let out a large crooked grin as if beckoning Izuku to do something. Anything. He glanced back to the machine nearing the girl in slow motion, then he turned back to the smiling horror. He pointed towards the machine, eyes still locked on the horror.

“DESTROY IT. RIP IT TO SHREDS.” He screamed out towards the beast, he was distantly surprised at the sound of his own voice.  

The terrifying creature let out a loud shriek that sent chills down Izuku’s spine, causing his hairs to stand upright. The creature then reared its long crooked legs and with great speed and power, it tackled itself into the robot. It tilted the whole thing over into another building causing it to fall in the process. The horror then took its long legs and repeatedly stabbed the robot, ripping bits of it apart. Metal was flying in different directions and sparks were flying from the exposed wires. It let out another shriek as it continued tearing it apart piece by piece.

Izuku stared in awe of the sheer power the creature was displaying, its shriek snapped him out of his stupor. He ran towards the girl and pushed the rubble off her legs. He hooked his arm under her legs and his other arm under her back and lifted her up. He ran off with the smaller girl in his arms, away from the destruction. When they were a safe distance away he placed the girl down and turned back towards the creature. The robot was down, but the horror kept shredding it causing destruction all around it. Izuku knew he had to stop it, what if it caused rubble to fall on other students?

He ran back towards the horror and shouted “STOP! It’s destroyed, you can stop!” It didn’t listen and kept going. “STOP IT STOP IT! LISTEN TO ME!” the creature turned its head towards him and let out another shriek. It stopped. Izuku let out a breath of relief, it was short lived. The horror decided that he should be the next target and was starting its rampage towards him.

Shit shit shit shit shit.

He turned to run and was about to take a step forward when he was knocked back with such force he flew across the street. He smacked into a wall near where the examinees seemed to be gathering. He heard Present Mic shout out “Time’s up!” but he was more concerned with the horror attacking him. Someone knelt by his form asking if he was alright, which he was the blob armour absorbed the force of his fall. He turned his body towards the person, it was the glasses boy.

“You all need to run. Run. Right. Now.” He said it with such seriousness that the glasses boy didn’t even question why. The taller boy stood up and demanded that everyone calmly evacuate the area. It surprisingly worked everyone started to run away. Izuku was relieved that nobody else would get hurt because of him.

The horror stalked its way over to Izuku who was pulling himself off the ground. It took its long leg and pressed it into the boy, forcing him back onto the ground. It leaned its fish-eyed face towards him and let out a smile, showing off its pointy teeth. Drool seeped out of its opened mouth and landed on Izuku’s face, it smelt like sewage. He gagged.

Terror seeped under his skin as the horrors face got closer. Was it going to eat him? Is this what happened to mom? Was he going to die before he even got to prove his worth? Izuku braced himself as it opened its mouth wider seemingly ready to chomp him in one bite. Terror was pulsing through his body, his heart was pounding. He wasn’t ready.

Then it was gone.

Shota Aizawa was bored as hell. He let out a sigh, it was the same every year. He would watch kids show off their quirks, they would get assigned to his class. Then he would expel the useless ones. He didn’t really think he needed to be here for the exam it was the same every time. He much rather be sleeping. But it was his duty as a UA teacher, so here he was.

He and the other U.A. teachers were watching the various screens that were focused on the many different examinees ready for the practical exam to begin. He watched All Might point out a small meek green haired boy.

“I know that kid!” the large man bellowed. “He is very heroic!”

Shota hummed at the man. Heroic huh? He lazily brought his focus to the kid, he would watch the boy. If he attracted All Might’s attention maybe he was worth watching.

The exam started and the gates opened, he watched as the kid quickly and efficiently destroyed robots, making a slashing motion with his arm and hand. It was curious since the motion didn’t seem to coordinate with what happened. It wasn’t like the robots split in half with the slashing motion. They just seemed to collapse and break in on themselves as if there was something wrong with the wiring. He watched as a robot snuck behind the green haired boy and shot at him. The bullets bounced back towards the robot, destroying it.

‘Curious, what on earth is this boy’s quirk?’ Shota turned himself towards the school’s principal, Nezu. “Sir what is this boy’s quirk?” He questioned, lazily pointing at the screen. He heard All Might’s annoying joyous laughter in the background, happy that the boy gained Eraserhead’s attention.

“Ah, examinee 2234. His name is Izuku Midoriya, and his quirk is called Planes of Existence. It’s quite a unique quirk, the boy’s body resides in two different realities at the same time. According to his quirk sheet, there are creatures in what he calls his ‘quirk reality’ that he can control.” Nezu finished his brief explanation.

Shota nodded towards the small animal. “I want him in my class.” He stated in a bored tone.

“Ah, I shall see to it.” Nezu nodded happily.

Yes, this boy interested him quite a bit. He enjoyed teaching those with unique quirks. They heard Present Mic’s announcement that the exam was almost over, and they let the zero-pointer loose. They watched as it destroyed everything in its path like it was designed to do.

“Uh oh, looks like a girl is stuck.” Shota heard Midnight call out. Ah, indeed there was, it was alright though they would stop the machine before it ran over her. Nezu was about to press the stop button when there was a feral scream coming from the speakers.

“DESTROY IT. RIP IT TO SHREDS.” The voice surprisingly came from the green haired kid ‘Midoriya’ Shota reminded himself. He watched with an impressed expression as the giant robot was knocked to the ground and being torn to shreds by what seemed to be an invisible force. Debris was flying everywhere. The boy then helped the girl that was stuck to safety.

“HAHA see! I told you the boy was heroic!” All Might bellowed out.

Shota rolled his eyes at the man, he was so loud. Midoriya ran back towards the fallen robot and started shouting at whatever invisible creature was there. He watched as fear filled the boy, Shouta’s face twitched with slight concern. He turned to run but then he was flying across the street. Shota stood up when he saw other students running away from the vicinity.

“Nezu I thin-” he started when he was interrupted by the small animal.

“Ah, Aizawa I think your quirk is required for this situation.” Nezu said albeit solemnly.

Shota ran down towards the exam area, they were lucky that they happened to be stationed in the correct testing area otherwise the kid would be screwed. He quickly spotted the kids green hair, he was lying on his back his face portraying a look of terror. He was letting out small yelps of fear. Just as it seemed the kid was about to let out a scream Aizawa activated his quirk, staring at the boy. His hair flew up and he let out a breath of relief as the terror fled from the boy’s face.

Shota jogged over and scooped up Midoriya, careful to not lose eye contact. Once he had a good hold on him he ran a few streets away from the area before he deactivated his quirk. The kid finally seemed to realize what just happened because his mouth fell open and his eyes lit up and he stuttered out.

“E-e-eraserhead?” Shota smirked, so the kid knew who he was huh?

 “E-e-eraserhead?” Izuku stuttered out. He couldn’t believe his eyes, his second favourite hero had just saved him from the horror. He was definitely put into a temporary state of shock as the horror, cottons, and all the blobs disappeared from his view as if they weren’t there to begin with. He would be lying if he said it didn’t fill him slightly with panic.

Izuku noticed that most of the blobs he had under his control had disappeared in the short time his quirk was disabled. His body quickly filled with white-hot panic, where was Gooey? His hand shot towards his heart, and he was filled with relief when he found the smiley face paper that was stuck to Mr. Gooey.

‘That was close.’ He thought with relief.

“You ok there kid?” He heard Eraserhead ask. Right. He forgot the man was there.

“Y-yes I’m f-f-fine now, th-hanks to y-you.” He stuttered out. The man lazily nodded and gently put the boy down.

“Well as long as you’re ok, I’ll escort you out of the exam area just in case whatever it was that you saw comes back.” The man stated in a bored tone. 

Izuku muttered out thanks and was brought out of the exam area. He was told that he would get the exam results in a week’s time, and to just relax until then. He could only nod at that but he knew he wouldn’t be able to relax.

He released the remaining blobs that clung to his skin and trailed behind him, leaving Mr. Gooey on his shoulder as he made his way back home. It was going to be a long wait until he got his results if his anxiety had anything to do with it.

 Like Eraserhead promised he got a letter exactly 1 week later. His hands anxiously clawed the letter opened. He wasn’t sure if his brain was ready for the answer.

What if he was rejected?

He let out a nervous breath, only one way to find out. He pulled a small device out of the envelope it played a video. Apparently, All Might was chosen to give the good or bad news to the examinees. The large man’s beaming smile played out in the video, announcing that Izuku had passed with: 25 Villain points and 50 Hero points. That gave him a total of 75 points placing him in second place, his eyes widened as he realized he was only two points behind Kacchan.

Tears welled up in his eyes and quickly travelled their way down his cheeks. He grabbed Mr. Gooey from his chest and brought it up towards his face.

“Here that Gooey? I’m going to U.A.!” He hugged the sticky mass and shouted out joyfully “I’m going to U.A.! I can be a hero!”  

Izuku slept peacefully that night.     

Chapter Text

Izuku woke up to the annoying beeping of his alarm clock. He tiredly smacked the silence button and rolled onto his back. He stared up at the ceiling and watched Mr. Gooey slowly crawl across it. Izuku let the small blob roam his room at night, he felt it was only fair since he took all of the blobs free will. It made him feel slightly guilty.

“Gooey, come.” Izuku calmly called out. He watched as the blob let go of the ceiling and fall into Izuku’s open hand. He smiled at the obedience and placed the little slime on his shoulder. His hand brushed passed the blobs paper face, Izuku frowned.

“I’ll need to draw you a new face pretty soon buddy, yours is looking a little worn.” The paper was nowhere near as large as the first one he drew all those years ago. He now drew them on small pieces of paper so it would be less noticeable. He did this simply because he hated explaining to people why he kept the blob around. It made him sound lonely, which he was. But he didn’t need the whole world to know that.

“Well, it’s time to start the day.” He said out loud. He then let out a giggle and playfully poked the blob in its middle.

“Yea, I rather go back to sleep too. But we have school today so you know I can’t do that.” Izuku shook his head at the blob, he knew better.

The boy dragged his feet off the bed and forced himself to get up. He lethargically walked down the stairs and towards the kitchen. He gripped the fridge handle and pulled it open, the cold air flowed to his bare feet causing him to shiver.

“What do you think Gooey, fruit salad, or a breakfast sandwich?” He asked while holding out two pre-made meals in plastic containers. He had bought them from the nearby convenience store.

“You’re right, fruit salad will go bad first.” He placed the sandwich back into the fridge and slammed the door closed. He would eat the sandwich for dinner. Izuku grabbed himself a fork and plopped himself down at the kitchen table. He pulled the plastic container open and stabbed a piece of melon and plopped it in his mouth. He made a face, it wasn’t ripe yet.

Izuku glanced at the calendar that hung on the wall and read the date, rent was due soon. He let out an annoyed sigh. He had no problem delivering rent, it was getting away from the landlady that was the problem. She loved to talk and his ‘sick’ mother just happened to be her favourite subject. He still had a few days until he had to endure that mental torture, he would worry about it later.

He stood up from the table, the chair made a loud squeaking sound as he moved it. Izuku grabbed the now empty plastic container and tossed into the nearby garbage can. He let out a small victory laugh.

“Nothing but net, huh Gooey?” He was met with silence. Izuku’s smile slightly fell from his face. He gave the black mass a small reassuring pat.

“It’s ok I’m not mad, it’s not your fault you don’t have vocal cords.” He said earnestly.

Izuku walked back up the stairs and towards the bathroom to brush his teeth. He glanced at himself in the mirror. He had dark bags under eyes, he didn’t sleep well very often anymore, he was lucky he got a full night’s sleep. Usually, he would be haunted by nightmares of his mom, and the horror from that day. He shuttered at the thought of it, he pinched his hand as a distraction. The pain snapped his attention back to the task at hand, getting ready.

A few minutes later he was back in his room slipping his school uniform on. The only thing he had left was his tie. He picked up the red cloth and stared at it. He didn’t know how to tie it, he had never needed to wear one until now.

“I don’t suppose you know how to tie a tie, huh Gooey?” He was answered with silence.

“Yea, that’s what I thought you would say.” Izuku responded humourlessly.

He brought himself to his old computer and turned the power on. Once it had booted up, he searched up an instructional video on how to tie a tie. It helped some, but his tie still looked extremely messy. Oh well, it would have to do.

He brought himself to the apartment’s front door and gripped the door handle. Anxiety was already flooding his system. He let out a shaky breath and brought Mr. Gooey down to cover above his heart. He didn’t know why but the blobs position always comforted him.

“Alright Gooey, we can do this. It will be fine.” Izuku wasn’t so sure that he believed his own words.

 Izuku walked up to the front gates practicing his breathing exercises. It didn’t matter how many times he used public transportation services, they always flared his anxiety and put him on edge. He took one more deep inhale before he trudged forward.

It will be fine. Don’t worry so much. What if it isn’t fine?

Izuku shushed his negative thoughts. It was best not to judge the day before it actually started. He pushed open the large school door and stepped inside the building. He was quickly overwhelmed by the chaos caused by the many roaming students. It was so loud. Izuku anxiously gripped Mr. Gooey. He could feel his hands shaking and his heart was pounding so loud he could feel the palpitations throughout his body.

It’s okay. It’s okay. It’s okay. You’re fine. You’re fine. Fine fine finefinefinefine.

He was in class 1-A, all he had to do was find the classroom and he would be fine. He timidly looked around the hallway trying to spot his classroom or even a school map. There was nothing.

What now? What now? Whatnowwhatnow? See, I knew it wouldn’t be fine.

Izuku took another big inhale, it was much shallower this time. His chest was tight and his tremors increased to his whole body.

Pathetic, you can’t even find a classroom. Why are you even here?

Izuku started to pinch the top of his hand, trying to distract himself from his quickly spiralling thoughts. He glanced around another time trying to find any indication where he should go. There was just so many people. It made it hard to focus.

So stupid. Stupid, stupid stupidstupidstupid-

He felt a gentle hand grip his shoulder. Izuku let out a small yelp and he flinched. Hard. He turned around to see whose hand it was. Green eyes lit up in recognition. It was the nice girl.

“Hey am I ever glad to see you! I’m so lost, what about you?” She asked in a very calm and sweet voice. But her eyes looked slightly guilty at startling Izuku.

“O-oh y-yea. I’m a-also l-l-lost. Th-there’s j-just so many p-people.” He stuttered out as a reply.

“Right? Well, then let’s find our classes together. I’m supposed to be in 1-A, how about you?”

“M-me t-too.” Izuku felt slightly better at the knowledge that the nice girl was in the same class as him.

Her deep brown eyes lit up in excitement. “Well, that’s perfect then!” She stuck out her hand and gripped Izuku’s “I’m Ochaco Uraraka by the way. What’s your name?” She asked cheerfully.

He was being pulled along with the girl, ‘Uraraka’ Izuku reminded himself. He wondered if she could feel his trembling through the contact.

“I-Izuku M-M-Midoriya.” Was his only reply. Uraraka smiled at him sweetly and continued to drag him along.

They eventually stumbled upon their classroom. Uraraka had let out a happy “Ahah!” at the sign that read 1-A. Izuku let out a sigh of relief, he was worried they would never find it. Izuku inwardly smiled at the irony of the situation. In the practical exam Izuku rescued Uraraka from a ginormous destructive robot, but now he was being rescued by Uraraka from a simple mundane task.

She turned towards him “Alright, you ready to go in?” She asked. He nodded in return, his voice seemed to not be working at the moment. Izuku took a big inhale as she slid open the classroom door, Izuku anxiously pet Mr. Gooey in anticipation. What was revealed was the glasses boy from the exam loudly arguing with Kacchan.

Oh, oh no.

Kacchan was in his class? That was not a good start. He expected half the class to be turned against him by the end of the day. Izuku felt his body deflate in disappointment.

See, it’s not fine. Why do you always try to delude yourself? Worthless, useless Deku. That’s all you will ever be. Stop bringing your hopes up.

The blonde turned his head at the sound of the classroom door being slid open, his eyes widened when he spotted Izuku.

He patiently waited for Kacchan to call him out, to explain to the class why he was such a Deku. To his surprise, the blonde turned his head away and went back to arguing with the glasses boy.

That was… weird?

He forced his shaky limbs to move forward and walked to an empty seat that was beside Uraraka. His movements felt clunky like his limbs were tied to string and he was being controlled by a newbie puppet master. He plopped himself in his chair and felt relief that he finally made it to his destination.

“Hello,” his attention was brought to a girl that reminded him of a frog. “My name is Tsuyu Asui, but you can just call me Tsu.”

He nodded at the girl she seemed nice enough, the colour of her hair distantly reminded him of his moms. “I’m I-Izuku M-Midoriya.” He stuttered out.

“You look nervous.” She said with a slight ribbit at the end of her statement. Izuku flinched back from the blunt affirmation. “But it’s okay, everyone here doesn’t seem that bad.”

Wait, was she trying to comfort him? “T-thanks, Tsuyu er Tsu.” He felt weird calling a person he just met by their first name, let alone a nickname. She let out another ribbit and walked over towards Uraraka.

Izuku started to listen to the loud argument near the front of the classroom, involving Bakugo and the glasses boy. He really needed to figure out his name.

He leaned forward in his desk. “Psst Uraraka,” She brought her attention to Izuku. “Do y-you know what the g-glasses boy’s n-name is?” He asked while tilting his head in said boys’ direction.

“I think I heard him call himself Tenya Iida.” Izuku nodded thanks at the answer. So glasses boy was named Iida, good to know.

Just as their argument seemed to get really heated the class was interrupted by a man that took the appearance of a yellow caterpillar. Said caterpillar slipped out of a sleeping bag and announced himself as Shota Aizawa. Izuku smiled Eraserhead was their teacher! He felt butterfly’s flap around in his chest at the revelation, he was going to be taught by Eraserhead, so cool!

“Alright class,” The man drawled and picked up a gym uniform. “put these on and meet me outside.”

The class slowly trickled their way out the door, Izuku stayed behind until there was only him and Aizawa left. He timidly walked up to the man.

“I n-never got to r-really t-t-thank you for w-what you did at the e-exam.” Izuku bowed low. “So t-thank you f-for s-saving me.” He squeaked out. It was silent for a while before the man said anything.

“It’s fine kid, but later I expect you to explain to me what exactly I ‘saved’ you from.” He said lazily.

“O-of course, n-not a problem.” Izuku agreed and then scurried out of the room to catch up with his classmates. Izuku really didn’t want to explain what he was saved from to the man, but he felt like he was obligated too. Besides, it would probably be best for his teacher to know exactly who he was teaching.

A murderer.

Izuku flinched at his own thoughts and lightly pinched his hand. He didn’t need to think about that right now. Once they were outside, Aizawa gathered everyone’s attention and explained that they were going to do a quirk assessment. Everyone seemed rather excited, that is until the man announced whoever was last would be expelled.

‘Well, shit.’ Izuku thought. There goes his hopes and dreams. He could already tell he was going to come in last place his quirk wasn’t exactly made for increasing his physical abilities.

I’m screwed, screwed, screwed screwedscrewedscrewed. Breathe. Don’t forget to breathe.

Izuku took a sharp inhale, he really did forget to breathe that time. He grabbed Mr. Gooey and brought him to his face and whispered “OK, Gooey we got this, we can do this.” And then placed him on his shoulder. He wasn’t sure if he was trying to convince Mr. Gooey more, or himself.

First up was the 50m dash. Izuku felt slight relief, his quirk doesn’t increase his speed at all but due to the nature of it, he had trained up his agility, rather than his strength. He heard the loud beep ring out and he bolted.

‘5.09 seconds’ rang out when he crossed the finish line. He let out a sigh of relief that wasn’t so bad he soothed.

Next was a grip strength test. Well, his quirk would be absolutely useless for this, he gripped the tester. It read out 56 kg. Well, it could have been worse. Standing long jump was next, now this was something he could do! This was something he actually had practiced in the past to test his blobs elasticity.

He quickly commanded a bunch of blobs that were in the area to gather in a giant pool right in front of the start line. He then had a bunch more stack on top of each other to form a small staircase. He let out a large grin as he climbed the pseudo stairs, everyone was staring. It must have looked very odd to those who couldn’t see the blobs. Izuku bent his knees and then jumped off the stairs and landed into the pile of blobs. He was rocketed across the sand pit and landed a few meters away from the end of it. He heard several people making confused noises at his display. It amused him.

The fourth test was repeated side steps, this was something he could also do. He stacked a few blobs so it formed small towers on his right and left side. He also stuck two blobs onto the soles of his shoes. He then started his side steps which quickly turned into him rapidly bouncing off the blobs like a pinball. He quickly told a few blobs to cover his head and neck, he felt like he was going to give himself a concussion otherwise.

After that, there was seated toe-touch, sit-ups, and a distance run. Izuku preformed rather averagely at them, except the distance run he did a bit better than others. The final test was a ball throw. He really didn’t know how he could use the blobs to help him with that. Wait… Izuku felt like slapping himself this was a perfect opportunity for his cottons. He gathered a couple hundred raisin sized cottons towards him. He would need a lot to carry the ball. He had them form a cloud and when it was his turn to throw the ball, he placed it in the middle. He commanded them to fly as far as they could without dropping the ball. They moved slowly but they kept going, and going, and going until eventually they were no longer in view.

He heard Aizawa let out a bored sigh at the pace of the ball. He scanned it, much like Uraraka’s it read ‘infinity’. Izuku let out a small private smile towards Mr. Gooey.

‘See little buddy, I told you we could do it.’ He thought happily. There was a scoreboard that listed everyone’s names and their score. Izuku was placed 10^th.

Oh, thank god. I made it.

The person who was in last place was a boy with strange hair named Mineta. Aizawa told him to leave the school, none too kindly. A bunch of cottons had flooded the boys head and shortly after the short boy let out a flood of tears. Izuku felt bad for him, he really did, but at the same time he was glad it wasn’t him.

“Alright, go get your lunch and continue on with your day.” Aizawa said while lazily flapping his hand in a shooing motion. Izuku was about to leave with the rest of the class when Aizawa made eye contact with him, signalling for him to stay behind.

“D-did you w-want to speak with m-me sir?” Izuku asked timidly.

“After your classes are done, meet me in my office so we can discuss your quirk.” It was all the man said before he turned around and walked away.

Izuku turned to continue to the locker rooms, but when he got there he realized all his classmates had already changed and left. Izuku dragged Gooey towards his face.

“Great Gooey, I don’t even know where the cafeteria is.” Izuku let out an irritable sigh.

Really, what did you expect? Who would want to be friends with a Deku like you?

“Shut up.” He muttered to himself, his brain seemed to be extra mean today.

Not only a Deku, but who would want to be friends with a murderer? What will you do if you kill them too?

Izuku went to argue with himself but stopped. How could he argue something like that? It was true, wasn’t it?

*Sigh*

Izuku pulled on his school uniform and was about done getting ready when he realized his mistake. The tie. He didn’t have the video with him, and he didn’t think he could remember how to tie it.

Just great, now I get to look more like an idiot than I usually do.

He struggled to tie it. Immensely. But he managed to get it on and stay in a knot. It looked terrible but it was around his neck, it was the best he could do at the moment. He placed Mr. Gooey back over his heart and exited the change room. He was about to turn down the hall and wander until he found the cafeteria when he heard a shout.

“Ah, there you are! Uraraka had me wait for you so we could all eat lunch together.” The glasses boy said while making a chopping motion with his arm and hand.

“O-oh, she did? W-well that’s g-great! I was wor-ried I was g-going to get l-lost.” The taller boy nodded at Izuku’s concerns. “So your n-name’s Tenya Iida r-right?” Izuku asked nervously. He still wasn’t sure if this boy hated him or not. Izuku noticed a few cottons were flitting above the boys head.

“Yes, that is correct, but I would insist that you refer to me as Iida.” He replied sternly.

“O-oh, of c-course. I would p-prefer if you just c-called me Midoriya.”

“Very well! But before we continue I must insist that I apologize.” Iida bowed towards Izuku. It caught him off guard.

“F-for what, you h-haven’t done a-anything wrong?!”

“I behaved rudely towards you during the entrance exams. I was stressed that day and took it out on you. So please! Accept my apology!”

Izuku’s eyes widened, he’s never had someone apologize so fiercely to him before. “It’s f-fine, a-apology a-a-accepted.” He squeaked out. Izuku flinched slightly at his own words. His stutter was so embarrassing. Iida looked relieved once Izuku accepted his apology and the cottons flew away from his head. ‘Hey that’s pretty cool, I’ve never got rid of them without commanding them before.’ He thought happily. They started to walk down the hall when he was stopped by the taller boy once again.

“I’m terribly sorry Midoriya, but I can’t ignore this. Your tie is a mess please fix it.” The boy said sternly. Izuku flinched back from the comment.

“T-this is the b-best I can d-do. I don’t r-really k-know how to t-tie a t-t-t-t-tie yet.” Izuku’s face reddened when he couldn’t get the word ‘tie’ out. Iida made no indication that he was going to make fun of his stutter, which made him feel slightly better.

“Please, then I urge you to let me fix it for you.” Izuku searched the other boy’s eyes for any indication that he was messing with him. He didn’t find any.

“O-okay.” He nodded.

Iida walked over and gently pulled the tie apart and repositioned it. He then easily made the knot and before Izuku could process what exactly he did the tie was finished.

“There, done. Tomorrow morning I urge you to get a parent to help you with your tie.”

Izuku faltered. “R-right… of course.”

They eventually made their way to the cafeteria. When they entered Izuku was quickly overwhelmed by all the people. Where would he even sit? Was he even welcomed to sit with his class? Iida said Uraraka wanted them to eat lunch together, so it must be okay.

What if she lied?

Izuku hushed his thoughts, Uraraka didn’t seem to be the type of person to lie.

“There she is.” Iida said while pointing across the cafeteria towards a happily waving Uraraka. They walked over together, sitting with Uraraka was Tsu. Iida took a seat across from Tsu, which only left one spot left, which was in front of Uraraka. He slid into the spot hesitantly, ready to move if they told him to. They didn’t.

“Hi guys! I hope you don’t mind that I invited Tsu to eat with us.” She said happily munching on a bowl of rice.

“Of course not.” Iida responded. Uraraka then turned towards Izuku waiting for a reply.

“I d-don’t m-mind.” He was slightly surprised that they even cared for his input. Its only been half a day and it was already so much different from his old school. Everyone was so much nicer.

It’s because they don’t know what you are yet. A Deku, a stupid pathetic worthless Deku. A murd-

“So Midoriya, what do you think of Mr. Aizawa so far?” Uraraka leaned in a bit closer towards him and whispered “I think he’s kinda scary.” Tsu seemed to nod in agreement.

“U-uhm I t-think h-he’s great. He’s my s-second favourite hero and w-well he’s j-just so c-cool. I can u-understand w-why you think h-he’s s-scary though.” He stuttered out, blushing a little that he admitted he was a fan of their teachers.

“What hero is Mr. Aizawa? Ribbit” Tsu questioned.

“H-he’s called E-Eraserhead. He’s an underground h-hero, so it’s u-understandable that y-you don’t recognize h-him.”

“What is his quirk?” Iida asked curiously.

“H-he can erase your q-quirk if he can m-make eye contact w-with you.” The trio made a slight impressed ‘ooo’ sound.

“That’s pretty cool.” Uraraka admitted. “But if he’s your second favourite who’s your first?” She questioned.

Izuku didn’t even hesitate in his answer. “All Might.” Everyone nodded like they expected that answer. All Might was a lot of people’s favourite hero.

Everyone was happily munching on their lunch while Izuku absentmindedly pet Mr. Gooey. He didn’t have a lunch, his dad had been giving him money for the bare minimum, which meant he had to skip lunches in favour of breakfasts and dinners.

“Where’s your lunch, ribbit?” Asked Tsu.

“O-oh uhmm I d-don’t have o-one.” He admitted shyly, it was a bit embarrassing.

They are going to make fun of you. They are going to laugh at you. So pathet-

“Lunch is an important meal of the day!” Iida started. “I insist that you take some of mine!” He quickly split a quarter of his sandwich and gave it to Izuku.

“Have some of mine too!” Uraraka said cheerfully, giving him half of her apple slices.

“Me too, ribbit.” Tsu slid him a small bowl of rice.

“Y-you really d-don’t h-have to do t-this.” Izuku tried to explain that he would be fine without lunch but he was met with several looks that screamed ‘Eat the food’. So he did and it was delicious. Most of Izuku’s meals for the past 6 years had been pre-made from the convenience store. He never had anything fresh due to the small amount of money he had. Izuku had tried to teach himself how to cook but it always ended up with charred inedible food. Since he didn’t have enough money to keep buying more food to keep attempting to cook he decided to not risk missing any more meals. Thus he bought premade, they were bland and sometimes old but they were cheap. That’s all that mattered to Izuku. Every once in a while Izuku would save up his leftover money from over the months and buy himself a small pack of cookies. It was a nice little treat, he usually ended up eating all the cookies the same day he bought them. He couldn’t help himself he had a huge sweet tooth, and the cookies were just so good.

The group had been talking about their favourite heroes, Izuku was trying to listen he really was. But he was so distracted by the blob that was waving around on Uraraka’s enthusiastic hands. He didn’t even see it crawl on her which bothered him more than it should of. It must have happened while he was distracted by the food.

“U-Uraraka this i-is g-going to sound w-weird, but can y-you p-please give me y-your hand.”

She made a confused face but did, Izuku was relieved that she did it without arguing. He lightly held onto it and told the blobs to go elsewhere. He let out a sigh of relief when her hand was a hand again. He let go feeling much better.

“So, you going to tell us what that was about?” She asked curiously.

“It’s a q-quirk thing. You had a b-blob on you.” He was met with confused faces. “Before y-you ask I’ll j-just exp-plain it.”

Izuku went on to explain the bare bones of his quirk, he didn’t feel like boring them with all the nitty-gritty details. The three seemed very interested in what he had to say. He only told them about the blobs and cottons though, he didn’t think he wanted to scare them with the horrors just yet.

“Is that why you appeared to be floating during the quirk assessment?” Uraraka asked.

“Y-yea, I was a-actually standing o-on a b-bunch of blobs. It p-probably l-looked really strange t-t-to you guys.”

Iida raised his hand up with a question. Izuku was slightly amused at the gesture. “Y-yes Iida?”

“You described these blobs as being sticky, but you climbed and bounced off them for the long jump assessment. Why did all the blobs not stick to you?”

“I j-just told th-them n-not to stick t-to me.” Iida nodded satisfied at the given answer.

Tsu asked the next question. “I understand you can make a blob armour for yourself, but what about for others, ribbit?”

Izuku brought his hand up to his chin in a thinking gesture. “N-no, I don’t t-think so. It w-works for me b-because my b-body is interacting with both realities a-at the same t-t-time. Yours is o-only in one, so the b-blobs would probably just a-amplify y-your bad luck i-instead. It w-would be m-more l-like me r-ringing a dinner bell, r-rather than c-creating a suit of a-armour.”

“That makes sense, ribbit.”

Izuku glanced at his watch and hastily stood up. There were five minutes until their next class, he didn’t even know where it was. He got so distracted by the questions he wasn’t paying attention.

 Stupid, stupid, stupid stuipidstupidstupidstu-

“You alright, Midoriya?” Iida asked, he probably noticed his sudden panic.

“It’s a-almost time for c-class and I d-don’t know where t-to g-go.” The last part came out a little shriller then he wanted. He anxiously squeezed Mr. Gooey.

Uraraka took that moment to stand up and say “Oh that’s ok don’t worry! I already know where our next classroom is. Tsu and I found it on the way here.”

Just like that, all the panic left his system just leaving behind a dull sense of relief. It was okay, Uraraka knew where the classroom was. He let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding, yet again she rescued him.

 The rest of the day was a fairly normal school day. He had enjoyed most of the teacher’s classes, some more than others. Present Mic’s class was one of the more enjoyable ones since the man seemed to have a sense of humour. It made the subject of English more tolerable. Izuku also made a few more acquaintances throughout the day (He wasn’t sure if he should call anybody a friend yet. Or even if they wanted to be friends.) There was Eijiro Kirishima, the spikey red-haired kid had approached him first, gushing about how ‘manly’ he was during the quirk assessment. Izuku really didn’t think he was manly at all if he was honest.

Next, there was Fumikage Tokoyami, the dude had a bird head. It intrigued Izuku to the point that he had to introduce himself regardless of how his anxiety felt. He had almost asked “Did you know your head is a bird?” But he quickly stopped himself, because of course, he knew. ‘Don’t be stupid Izuku’.

He was also briefly introduced to another boy named Denki Kaminari, he seemed pretty nice. Izuku really liked his hair it reminded him of lightning bolts. He almost told the boy that but quickly stopped himself, he was afraid he was going to weird him out if he did.

Lastly, there was Shoto Todoroki. He had so many cottons above his head that Izuku felt obligated to talk to him so he could remove them. He was lucky that the boy let him lightly tap his hand without asking for an explanation. He felt it would have been pretty awkward to be like “Hey! I can see your bad thoughts.” He’s pretty sure nobody would appreciate that.

Everyone had said their goodbye’s to each other and were trickling out the classroom to head their way home. All except Izuku since he was supposed to meet Mr. Aizawa after class. He nervously found his way to his office and hesitantly knocked on the door. He heard a muffled “come in” Izuku took that as the okay to enter.

“Alright Midoriya, take a seat.” Aizawa said while lazily pointing to a chair. Izuku sat down in the appointed chair and nervously tapped his fingers together. He wasn’t really sure what he was supposed to say.

“The reason why I’ve called here is because I want to talk about your quirk. Specifically what happened at the end of the entrance exams.” Aizawa said this in a bored sounding tone. Izuku nodded, indicating he was ready for any questions he had.

“I already know the basics of your quirk from your quirk sheet. What I want to know is what had attacked you?” He questioned.

Ah. That was a hard question. Images from a week ago played through his mind. The fish-eyed face horror was putrid looking and it almost ate him.

It almost ate him. It was going to eat him eathimeathimeathimea-

“Th-that was a H-Horror sir. They are t-terrifying c-creatures of my q-quirk reality. Th-they all look different and are o-often violent.”  

“I see. It says here that you can control the creatures in this reality if you can then why did it attack you?”

“I-I c-can’t c-control H-horrors? Or at l-least I thought I c-couldn’t. During the e-exam I m-made one a-attack the g-giant zero p-pointer robot. But t-then it t-turned on me. I t-thought it was going to e-eat me, but then you s-saved me.”

Aizawa’s eyes seemed to search Izuku’s and then he carefully asked. “What happens if a Horror eats you?”

Izuku flinched at the question, he thought of his mom. “I-I d-don’t know. There’s a l-lot of things I-I s-still don’t k-know about my q-quirk.” Then he muttered really quietly “I-it can be r-really s-scary sometimes.” The man made no indication that he heard the last part.

“I have one more question and then you can go.” Izuku nodded. “When I erased your quirk, did it make the horror lose interest in you?”

“W-when you erased my q-quirk, e-everything d-disappeared like my b-body was only in one r-reality. When m-my quirk c-came back the h-horror h-had left, like i-it lost interest in me. I have a th-theory that these c-creatures can’t actually see p-people, they can only s-sense auras. I d-don’t really h-have a way to c-confirm it th-though. But it would e-explain why it lost interest in m-me.” Aizawa nodded at his long-winded explanation.

“Alright, just one last thing. If on school grounds you are ever attacked or targeted by a horror do not hesitate to inform me. I’ll use my quirk on you until you think you’re safe.” He said firmly.

Izuku’s eyes widened at the implication of what he said. ‘He’s saying he’ll keep me safe if he needs too.’ He felt his cheeks heat up a bit. “T-thank you, Mr. Aizawa.” He stuttered out.

Izuku left the school grounds with a warm feeling in his chest. Mr. Aizawa’s words were repeating themselves in his head. It made him feel better. It was hard living alone without knowing where the next Horror will be, so he’s glad that he can feel safe at school.

Careful, don’t get to close. You might kill him too.

Izuku shuttered at his thoughts. He couldn’t let that happen to anybody else. He promised himself to not get to close to anybody at U.A. it was for their safety. He grabbed Mr. Gooey and spoke to the blob.

“All’s I need is you right Gooey?” He was answered with silence. He nodded in response towards the blob “Right.”

Chapter Text

It had been a few days since the first day of class and things had been fine. He had been enjoying his time at U.A. and was feeling more comfortable around his classmates. Surprisingly Kacchan had been leaving him alone which constantly left him baffled. Every time he passed by the boy he waited for the incoming punch, sneer, or rude comment. But it never came. Izuku doesn’t know what had changed Bakugo’s behaviour so much, either way, he wasn’t going to complain about it. Despite all the fun he’s been having over the past few days he woke up with a bad feeling. He could tell today was going to be a very, very bad day.

It started with him screaming awake from a terrible nightmare at two in the morning.  It was one of the worst ones he had in a while. It was filled with gruesome images of his mom being ripped in half by yellowed fangs, blood spraying all over his face, and ear piercing laughter. He shivered, he didn’t want to think about it anymore. Since he wasn’t able to fall back asleep he only got three hours of sleep, which sucked but he could deal with it. He’s had worse. Even though the nightmare wasn’t pleasant, it wasn’t the cause of his bad day. It was the shaking feeling in his limbs. He could tell that this meant it was going to be a very bad anxiety day. Or what Izuku referred to as ‘bad brain days’.

Normally when he had these days he would call the school and lie about having to take care of his mother. He would spend the day in bed under the covers, too afraid to leave his room. His middle school not wanting to interfere with his family affairs always let it slide and never asked to talk to his mom. Izuku really wanted to skip, but he knew he couldn’t. Today was going to be their first Foundational Hero Studies class, and he would not miss it.

He. Would. Not. Miss. It.

So for the rest of the night, he tried to distract himself from his increasingly anxious thoughts by watching videos of heroes and then analyzing them. It helped until it didn’t. His mind kept drifting back to the class he would attend that day, taught by All Might. Wait… was that what was making him so anxious? The class? It would make sense. Izuku shook his head, he was being irrational.

When his alarm went off signalling it was time to get ready, that’s when the anxiety really hit. He dropped his pen and sprinted to the bathroom, fell to his knees, and leaned over the toilet. He vomited. This was not good, he was quickly spiralling out of control. He took a deep shuddering breath, trying to calm his breathing and control his nausea. He reached out for Mr. Gooey only to find empty air.

Where was he?

Izuku’s breath hitched, he left the blob in his room.

Oh no, oh no, oh no, Ohnononononononono he was alonealonealonealone

“Gooey?!” He choked out, he needed him he should have never left without him. He gagged again and brought his face to the toilet bowl. Izuku blindly groped the floor for the blob that wasn’t there as he vomited for the second time.

He needed him, he needed him, neededhimneededhim he was alonealonealone.

He couldn’t breathe. His chest felt like a pile of rocks was placed on it and panic was quickly clouding his mind.

Mr. Gooey left you. You’re all alone like you deserve. Stupid worthless murderer. Stup-

“SHUT UP!” He screamed out. Tears were flowing down his face and he gripped his hair tightly out of desperation and pulled, hard. He didn’t feel the pain it wasn’t enough so he pulled even harder. He let out a sob it wasn’t working, nothing was working. He was going to have a panic attack. Alone.

Oh god oh god, alonealonealonealone. I’m dying, please help I’m dying pleasepleaseplease.

Izuku banged his head against the wall in frustration and let out a wail. His breaths were coming out in short pants and his lungs burned. He brought a shaking hand up to his arm and scratched, hard and deep. Small droplets of blood gathered on the surface but it wasn’t enough to drip down his arm. He banged his head against the wall again and let out another choked sob.

I can’t breathe please help, help. Someone, please. Helphelphelphelp. I can’t breathe.

For a third time he brought his head to the toilet bowl and gagged, nothing came out this time. “Gooey, please I’m s-s-s-s-sorry.” He wailed again resting his cheek on the toilet bowl. In a small voice, he cried out “Please d-d-don’t leave me.” He cried harder, it was causing his head to hurt.

So stupid. So worthless. So pathetic. Kill yourself. Put a gun to your head and pull the trigger. Drown yourself. Jump off a building. Jump off a cliff. Run in front of a car. Jump in front of a train. DO it DO it DO IT DOITDOITDOIT.

“Gooey,” his voice cracked out “Gooey, please! It’s s-s-so mean, s-so m-mean, p-please come back.” He started to crawl out towards the hallway. His arms were shaking as he pulled himself across the floor, he felt so weak. More violent cries erupted from his chest, his eyes burned from all the tears. “P-please c-come back, d-don’t leave me alone. It’s s-s-o m-mean Gooey p-p-please!” He crawled further he was almost at his rooms’ entrance. “I’m s-s-sorry p-please, I’M SORRY!” he wailed harder. He was halfway in the room and searched around desperately for Mr. Gooey. He couldn’t find him.

No no no no no no no nononoNONONONONONONONO!

Where was he? He’s not here, oh god he’s not here. Wait! NO! THERE! Under the bed he saw the slime slowly crawling around, he instantly commanded the blob to his open hand. It crawled into his palm and then he brought the blob close to his chest. He wrapped it in a hug and whispered out more tear-filled apologies through his cries. “I’m sorry I left you, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I won’t do it again, please never leave me again. I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” He rocked himself and the blob back and forth slowly until he got his breathing under control. His attack slowly subsided.

Izuku sprawled himself on the floor and took in greedy gulps of air. Now that he had Mr. Gooey back he could breathe. He lay there for a few minutes and allowed himself to catch his breath. Well, that was not a good start to the day. He hadn’t had an attack like that in a few months. Usually, he would hold Mr. Gooey close to him until it subsided, but not having him there made the panic so much worse. He glanced at the time there were only 10 minutes left until he had to go.

Great.

Izuku dragged himself into a standing position and almost fell over. His legs felt like jelly and god, he was so tired. He just wanted to sleep, sleep until he could forget all of his problems.

You could sleep forever, you know what to do.

“Shut up.” He said violently to himself. Today really was a bad day. He hesitated, maybe he really should stay home. Izuku debated in his head until he shook his head no. He would go, he had to. Izuku glanced at the cut that was on his arm and decided it wasn’t bad enough for a bandage, it looked like a very long paper cut. It would be fine.

Somehow he managed to drag his uniform on, all that was left was the forsaken tie. He glared daggers at the offending cloth. He didn’t have the time, nor was he in the mood to attempt to tie it. So he packed it into his school bag, maybe he could get Iida to help him again. He skipped breakfast and started his walk to the train station, he didn’t have time to eat it. Being late was worse than missing breakfast in Izuku’s book. He could hear Mr. Gooey’s imaginary scolding.

“I’m sorry, I know it’s not a good idea, but I just don’t have time.” He muttered quietly to the blob. He was silent for a bit before he added, “Thank you for worrying about me.” He was met with silence. Tears clouded Izuku’s vision, he quickly blinked them away.

Izuku felt numb. This was something that usually happened after he experienced a panic attack. The tingling sensation would start in his face and then gradually work its way down to the rest of his body. He now felt like was floating, far, far away. He watched as the train quickly approached the station, thoughts from earlier invaded his mind.

Jump in front of the train. Jump! Jump! Do it, do it, do it doitdoitdoitdoit!

He brought himself right to the edge of the yellow safety line and watched the train get closer.

FUCKING JUMP YOU COWARD!

He didn’t. He felt the slight breeze on his face as the train whooshed by, it felt refreshing. He got on the train and grabbed hold of the hanging hand grips. He hoped he was holding on tight enough, he really couldn’t tell his limbs felt like limp noodles.

*Beep*

Izuku blinked, this was his stop.

What?

He hesitantly got off the train and glanced around the station. This was definitely his stop. That was a fifteen-minute train ride and he didn’t remember any of it. His breathing slightly hitched, that was really… freaky. He has suffered memory blanks like this in the past, but never for that long. The longest had been five minutes. He gave Mr. Gooey a small nervous pat, he really didn’t like that.

It’s fine. Just keep going.

Izuku brought his numb body to U.A.’s front gates. He took a big inhale and gathered his remaining courage. He flinched slightly from laughter that he heard coming from across the field.

Get a god damn grip Izuku. Pathetic.

He was making his way towards the 1-A classroom when much to his relief he bumped into Iida. The boy had opened his mouth but Izuku stopped him before he could even start. He pulled out the red tie and held it out towards Iida. Izuku was too embarrassed to look him in the eyes so he just stared at the floor. The taller boy silently took the fabric and carefully tied it around his neck.

“Th-th-thank you…” He quietly muttered, he still couldn’t look Iida in the eyes.

“Is everything alright?” Iida asked hesitantly like he wasn’t sure if it was his place to ask.

Izuku nodded in return, he was afraid if he answered out loud Iida would be able to tell he was lying. He was not a very good liar. They silently walked the rest of the way to the classroom together, Izuku still couldn’t take his eyes off the floor. When he entered the classroom he gave a silent wave towards Uraraka, she smiled cheerfully at the wave, but her smile faltered when she looked at Izuku’s face. He supposes she could tell he was having an off day. He carefully looked around and saw a few concerned glances aimed in his direction from his classmates. He must look more terrible then he originally thought.

He was making his way towards his desk when his foot decided to get caught on a desk leg. He stumbled but caught himself before he fell. Unfortunately for him, when he tripped the desk made a loud screeching noise which brought everyone’s attention towards him. He felt his face heat up, he started to give out a nervous smile to show that he was fine when he heard it.

It was quiet and slightly muffled but he definitely heard it. “Fucking Deku.” Was muttered from the blonde a few desks behind him. Izuku felt like someone had dumped ice water over his head. Instantly snide comments and cruel snickering played in his head.

Fucking Deku. So weak. So pathetic. So worthless. Whoever would want to love you? Kill your-

“Midoriya? Midoriya, are you alright?” He was snapped out of his thoughts by a concerned voice. He was surprised to find that it was Todoroki asking if he was alright. He must have looked really freaked out if Todoroki was the one asking if he was okay. He gave a small nod and let out a tiny sounding squeak that was supposed to be an “I’m fine” but he just couldn’t get the words to form. He heard another snicker from Kacchan. He flinched. Uraraka seemed to notice and gave a sharp glare towards Bakugo. He sat down and noticed more concerned glances that were shot his way, but their eyes quickly averted when Aizawa walked into the room.

Izuku was trying really hard to listen to the man’s lecture, but he just couldn’t focus. His mind felt like it was floating away. The tingling numbness was becoming more and more distinct in his face, he was slightly afraid he wouldn’t ever get the feeling back. Which he knew was silly, the numbness would go away.

But what if it didn’t? What if you stay numb forever and ever? What if? What if? What if?

“Midoriya.” Izuku’s attention snapped to the front. “Please pay attention.” Aizawa said sternly.

Izuku took a shaky inhale and nodded his head. Tears were brought to his eyes, he hastily tried to blink them away. Mr. Aizawa appeared to have noticed since his face showed brief concern before it quickly morphed back into a bored stare. Well, that’s just great. Now his teacher is concerned about him. He really didn’t want all this attention. He rather just disappear until this awful day was over.

You can disappear forever. You know how.

‘Shut up.’ He thought harshly. He brought Mr. Gooey into his hands and held him at his desk, squishing it and petting it. It helped distract him. He spent the rest of the class anxiously fidgeting with Gooey, he felt more and more nervous as it got closer to the end of homeroom. His next class would be with All Might.

When he heard the bell ring signalling that class was over, Izuku was sure he was going to vomit then and there. He shakily stood up and forced his limbs to move, he felt like he was going to fall over any second. He started to walk with Iida and Uraraka when he heard Mr. Aizawa call after him.

“Midoriya can you please stay here for a minute.”

Izuku’s whole body stiffened at his teachers' words. Why did he want him to stay? Was he in trouble for not listening to the lecture? Was he going to expel him? He turned his head towards Iida and Uraraka, they were asking with their eyes if he wanted them to wait outside. He shook his head no, he didn’t want them around in case he started crying. Izuku turned towards Aizawa and waited for what the man had to say.

He’s going to expel you. He finally realized how worthless you are. You don’t deserve to be a hero, murderers can’t be heroes.

Izuku’s eyes started to water again at his thoughts. He discretely wiped away the tears.

“Midoriya,” Aizawa started then paused, he seemed to be contemplating something. “Is everything alright?”

Izuku was caught off guard at his question. Was everything alright? No. Everything definitely was not alright, but he wasn’t going to tell Aizawa that. He jerkily shook his head yes, the movement felt unnatural. Izuku would have used his words but his tongue felt too big for his mouth, so Aizawa would just have to deal with his silent answers. The man stared at him for a bit before he spoke again.

“You know, you can come to me if you ever need help. As your teacher, I will listen and do my best to help.” Aizawa’s sounded like he was indifferent, but Izuku could hear the concern that was in the man’s voice.

His eyes started to water again. He wanted to tell him, but what was he supposed to say? ‘No sir, I think I’m dying inside. I have terrible nightmares almost every night so I’m always tired. I had an awful panic attack this morning because I left my only family in my room, which just happens to be a blob because I murdered my mother. I also just suffered a huge memory blank that had me extremely concerned. My anxiety makes me want to hide forever, and my thoughts won’t stop telling me to kill myself. Now please fix my problems?’ Izuku was pretty sure that would not go very well at all. So instead he made eye contact with his teacher and forced his mouth to form words.

“Thank y-you for your c-concern Mr. Aizawa, b-b-but I’m fine. I j-just didn’t sleep w-w-well is all.” Izuku knew he didn’t sound convincing, but thankfully the man dropped the subject.

“If you’re sure.” He let out a sigh. “Go catch up with your class.”

Izuku nodded and dashed down the hall. He was lucky he and Uraraka had wandered around U.A. trying to locate all their classrooms, otherwise, he would be completely lost. He ran outside and just caught the tail-end of All Might’s intro to his class. The large man noticed his arrival and flashed him a large grin.

“Midoriya my boy, I’m glad you could make it!” All Might exclaimed cheerfully.

The man sounded sincere but it didn’t stop Izuku’s face from heating up since his absence was pointed out to everyone. All Might explained that they were going to be doing a battle simulation. Izuku’s heart started to flutter. A battle simulation? That’s so cool! He would get to see his classmate’s quirks in action. But his smile quickly diminished when he realized he would also have to participate in the simulation.

What if you mess up?

He let out a quiet sigh. He trained for a reason, it would be fine. He tried to argue with himself.

But what if it isn’t fine? What if you just make a fool of yourself? What if? What if?

“Shut up.” He quietly muttered to himself. He felt a gentle poke in his side.

“Is everything alright?” He heard Uraraka whisper in his ear. He nodded a yes towards her. He didn’t need her to worry about him, he wasn’t worth it. All Might had announced that they were to change into their hero costumes. Izuku’s heart pulsed with excitement, he gets to wear his hero costume, so cool!

They were in the change rooms when Izuku pulled out his costume. He felt his eyes light up, it was exactly how he imagined it. He was bouncing slightly in excitement when he noticed Iida was smiling fondly at him. He stopped his bouncing, whoops he got carried away.

He held up his costume and examined it. It was fairly simple. Izuku had trained himself up for speed, so he made sure to get something that was lightweight. The two main parts were simple pants and a long shirt. The fabric was black and was made from a tough, but flexible material. It had light padding. Izuku’s main defence was his blob armour, but in case his quirk ever got erased he made sure there would be at least some slight protection. The material was also insulated, the blobs were cold and having them surround his body always brought down his body temperature. The insulated fabric should solve that issue.

He slipped on the two main pieces of his outfit and bent his legs and arms around, to test the flexibility and weight of it. He was satisfied to find that it felt like he was wearing nothing at all. Next, there were his boots. They were plain dark red boots that went well with his black pants. They had a thick outsole, which increased his height some, but the main reason for it was so there would be enough shoe to have a hole dug in the outsoles. The bottoms had one hole cut out for each boot, this created a compartment that he could store a blob in. The reason why he wanted to add this was so he could make his feet sticky when necessary without it becoming a balancing act. 

Next, Izuku picked up two wrist bracers. They were light and there was a large pocket on each bracer. In these pockets, he would store his cottons. This way he would have them readily available when needed. Finally, he had a black face mask that covered the bottom half of his face, and dark red eye protection goggles that matched his boots. He couldn’t keep the blobs on his face since then he would be suffocating himself. The mask and goggles would hopefully make up for it.

His costume wasn’t too flashy, which was the way he wanted it. He always thought of himself as more like a stealthy hero that sticks to the shadows, rather than one who fights in broad daylight.

Like Eraserhead.

Izuku’s face went red again, not that you could tell through the mask.

“Whoa dude,” He heard Kirishima start. “Your costume looks so manly.” He flashed him a grin that showed off his shark-like teeth.

“O-oh, thank y-you!” He responded sincerely. He glanced down at himself, he still didn’t think he was that manly. Izuku glanced over at Kirishima’s costume and smiled, now that was manly.

“I r-really l-like yours t-too. It’s err s-super m-manly!” He said with a small shy smile. His compliment made the red-haired boy light up with excitement.

“Thanks!” He said happily. Kirishima casually draped his arm over Izuku’s shoulders, he flinched slightly from the contact but let his arm stay. He let out another toothy grin at Izuku’s sudden friendliness. They walked out of the change rooms likes that. The contact had initially scared Izuku but the fear dissipated at the companionship he felt. It felt safe and kind. Not mean like flying fists and explosive burns.

Not mean like Kacchan.

He briefly wondered if this is what friendship was supposed to feel like. Kind and safe.

Careful don’t get to close. You know what happens if you get to close.

Izuku liked these feelings, so he would keep them (he wasn’t sure if he could call them friends yet) safe. Keep them safe from him. He broke the contact with Kirishima with a regrettable look, he didn’t really want him to go. The boy sent him a patient and understanding look. It made Izuku’s heart melt with warmth and joy, but also guilt.

Once everyone gathered by All Might he exclaimed how cool they all looked. Izuku glanced around, the man was right they all looked amazing in his opinion. All Might then began to randomize the teams for the simulation. The first team to go up was Mina and Sero playing as the heroes, and Jiro and Aoyama playing as the villains. Izuku took this opportunity to start gathering blobs that were around him.

There wasn’t many in the monitoring room, only enough to cover his legs and waist, he hoped there would be enough outside. He grabbed two blobs from his waist and placed one each in the empty slot in his shoes. He tested them out by walking around, it felt normal he didn’t even notice the blobs. Then he told the blobs to stick and walked around again, it felt like walking with suction cups on his feet. This was perfect he was glad his idea worked.

He opened the pockets on his bracers and commanded the few cottons that were flitting around to go inside them. Once they were in, he closed the Velcro flap.

The battle simulation ended, the heroes won. He felt bad for the losing team, and his heart panged at their disappointed looks. He noticed a few cottons flew over Jiro, but oddly enough not Aoyama. The flamboyant boy must have not felt that bad about the loss, but Jiro certainly did. Izuku walked over to the girl and gave her a light consoling pat. “I th-think you s-still did pretty w-well e-even if y-you l-lost. Y-you have a c-c-cool quirk.” He said shyly while mentally telling the cottons to go elsewhere.

The girl let out a small huff “Ya, I guess. I still feel like I could have done better though. Thanks anyways.”

Izuku nodded slightly, he wasn’t sure what else he was supposed to say. He didn’t really know her that well and was beginning to quickly feel awkward. Jiro seemed to sense this because she gave a small wave and left to go talk with Yaoyorozu and Kaminari.

The next team was Shoji and Todoroki as the heroes against Ojiro and Hagakure as the villains. Izuku gave Todoroki a small wave of good luck, the boy gave a small nod in return. All Might seemed to take this battle as an opportunity to talk with Izuku. He placed a hand on his shoulder and spoke.

“I’m glad to see you made it into U.A. my boy. The way you performed during the exam was most impressive, you caught all of our eyes.”

Izuku was stunned at the praise All Might just gave him. He hasn’t been praised in, well, years. Since his mom.

She’s dead, you killed her. Murderer. She’s dead dead deaddeaddead.

He silently shushed himself. “W-wow t-thank y-you A-All Might, sir. S-sir All Might? Mr. All M-Might?” he stumbled over exactly what he was supposed to call him.

All Might lightly pat Izuku’s back, he was laughing some. “All Might is just fine. Don’t fret so much my boy, otherwise you’ll worry yourself to death.” He said sounding very amused.

‘You have no idea.’ Izuku thought bitterly. He considered himself an avid worrier.

Izuku decided that his turn came to fast. He was partnered up with Tokoyami as the role of the heroes, they were against Kirishima and Asui as the villains. They were waiting outside the building for the villains to set up. Izuku took the time to gather the rest of his blob armour and some extras to follow him around for different uses. There was thankfully a lot more blobs outside. He placed Mr. Gooey in its rightful place, over his heart. He was now covered head to toe in blobs, excluding his face of course. He turned towards Tokoyami and asked, “Can y-you explain t-to me w-what exactly i-is your quirk?”

Tokoyami nodded. “I’m the host of a creature that I refer to as Dark Shadow. I can materialize it from my body and have it do my bidding. It grows stronger in the darkness.”

Izuku nodded at the information. “M-my q-quirk is s-slightly s-similar in the s-sense that I can c-control c-creatures t-too. Y-you j-just can’t see them. I t-think I c-can t-take K-Kirishima head o-on, I’m j-just not s-so s-sure about Tsu.”

“I feel as if it would be better for us to sneak up and take them by surprise.” Izuku nodded in agreement.

He heard the noise that signalled the hero team to start. Izuku instantly felt like he was going to vomit. ‘Okay, this was happening now. Just don’t vomit.’ He thought desperately.

What if you mess up? What if you fail? Tokoyami will be disappointed in you. All Might will be disappointed in you.

Izuku brought his hands up and sharply slapped his cheeks on both sides. Tokoyami stared at him albeit perturbed. “O-okay, let’s go.” He said, sounding slightly confident.

They silently entered the building and glanced around, the bomb was supposed to be a few floors above them. Izuku was certain that Tsu was going to try and sneak up on them, while Kirishima guarded the bomb. It would make sense that they would use his brute force from his hardening quirk to keep them away.

It was too bright, so Izuku commanded a few blobs to eat at the wires of the ceiling lights. They quickly went out shrouding them in darkness leaving just enough light for them to see each other. He heard Tokoyami mutter something along the lines of “much better.” They silently walked down the hall, their bodies close to the wall. Tokoyami sent his Dark Shadow to check around the corners of the staircase for any signs of Tsu or Kirishima. Dark Shadow came slithering back flashing a thumbs up, indicating that it was safe to go up the stairs. 

They had just entered the second floor when they heard a noise. Izuku signalled for his partner to hide behind the nearby corner while he made his blobs break the lights again. The noise was getting louder it was definitely footsteps. He brought his blob covered hands up to the wall and told them to stick. He hoisted himself up until he could place his feet flat on the wall and told those blobs to stick too. He crawled up the wall and then onto the ceiling, he crouched low flattening his body. He was now effectively hidden from view which gave him the advantage to jump down onto his target.

It was Tsu, like Izuku thought. She was trying to locate them before they could get to the bomb. She appeared to be frustrated that her webbed feet were making a slapping sound on the floor. It wasn’t exactly great for sneaking purposes and Izuku was sure that Tsu now realized her mistake. Izuku silently told his blobs to gather on her legs. ‘Sorry, Tsu.’ He distantly thought. She was almost under Izuku, he held his breath in hopes to make himself quieter. Tsu paused for a second and glanced around, she probably could feel Izuku’s eyes staring down on her like a sixth sense.

Izuku tensed his muscles in preparation for his attack, it would be any minute now that Tsu would notice him. He was sure of it.

Don’t mess up, don’t mess up, don’t mess up...

The frog girl had just started to tilt her head up when Izuku jumped down on her. She let out a surprised “Ribbit!’ and she started to pivot her body to defend herself. Unlucky for her, Izuku’s blobs caused her to trip and fall onto her back. He pinned her down and shouted, “Tokoyami, now!” Dark Shadow slithered over towards Tsu and effectively placed the capturing band on her.

Tsu let out a disappointed “Ribbit, you got me.” Izuku let out a triumphant smile towards Tokoyami. They worked well together.

“S-sorry Tsu, m-maybe next t-t-time.” He said a little sad for her loss while running towards the next set of stairs. Tokoyami was silently following behind him. They continued up the many flights of stairs using the same strategy as before. Dark Shadow kept informing them that Kirishima was nowhere to be found. Izuku was positive he was guarding the room that the bomb was in.

They reached the floor that the bomb was supposedly in, the room that contained it would just be around the corner. Izuku glanced towards Tokoyami.

“O-ok, l-like I said e-earlier, m-my quirk is b-best suited for K-Kirishima. So I’ll f-fight him w-while you g-get the b-bomb.” He whispered. Tokoyami nodded his head in response. Izuku held up 3 fingers and silently counted down to the time they would strike. When he reached zero they did not hesitate to charge forward.

When they entered the room, Izuku spotted Kirishima in front of the bomb, guarding it like he thought he would be. The shark-toothed boy’s eyes widened when he spotted both of them rushing forward, he instantly activated his hardening quirk. The boy decided to rush Izuku, he smiled at Kirishima’s mistake. Izuku probably looked fairly unguarded and weak to others, which was something he counted on. This way he could take the enemy by surprise at his blob armour’s damage absorption.

He watched Kirishima’s rocky fist fly towards his gut. He didn’t even move out of the way. The boy’s fist landed directly, Kirishima glanced up at Izuku expecting him to be in pain, or even fall over. But his eyes widened in surprise when Izuku just stood there unmoving like he didn’t even feel a thing. Izuku inwardly smirked, he knew he shouldn’t feel smug, but Kirishima’s look of surprised confusion was amusing him.

Kirishima seemed to remember that Izuku wasn’t the only enemy at the moment and whipped around towards Tokoyami. But it was too late. The boy was about to tap the bomb, he started to dash over towards him but was tripped by Izuku. He fell over and then All Might’s voice rang out.

“HEROES WIN!!” the large man yelled out joyfully.

Izuku ran up to Tokoyami and joyfully exclaimed “W-we d-did it!” The bird boy nodded his head towards him.

“Indeed, we were successful. I enjoyed our partnership for this assignment and I look forward to your future co-operation.”

Izuku pulled down his mask and smiled at him. The boy eye-smiled at him in return. Izuku walked back over towards Kirishima and nervously held a hand out for him to grab. “S-sorry about t-tripping you.” The boy accepted the open hand and pulled himself up, once he was standing he grabbed both of Izuku’s shoulders and exclaimed.

“You guys were so manly!”

Izuku felt relief flood his system. “I-I’m g-glad you’re n-not mad.”

“Dude! Of course not, I wouldn’t get mad over something like this.” He said with mock offence. Kirishima wrapped his arm around Izuku’s shoulders again like earlier. Izuku didn’t make him leave this time.

When they returned to the observation room they were bombarded by their classmates.

“Wow! You guys were so cool!” Uraraka had called out while skipping over towards Izuku and Kirishima. She smiled gently when she noticed that Kirishima had his arm around the smaller boy and Izuku wasn’t shoving him off.

“T-thanks Uraraka.” Izuku said sincerely.

“That was quite impressive you two.” The loud voice came from behind them, they turned around to find that it was All Might. Izuku felt like he was glowing from the praise. It warmed his insides and left a strange giddy feeling he hadn’t felt in years.

“Th-thanks A-All Might.” Izuku said, nervously tapping his two index fingers together. The man beamed down at him, he then turned to the rest of the class and they went to analyze their scenario.

He was in English class when the bad thoughts started to invade his head again.

You don’t deserve to be here. The simulation was a fluke. You only get in the way. Why don’t you just give up? Give up, give up, give up giveupgiveup. Kill yourself.

Tears sprung to his eyes, he didn’t want to give up. Present Mic seemed to sense Izuku’s distress because the tall hero walked over to his desk and asked,

“Everything alright there little listener?” Izuku jerkily nodded his head yes. He felt like he was going to vomit again, but he was pretty sure he would be ok. The bell rang informing everyone that class was over, Izuku stood up and instantly regretted it. The world felt like it was tilting. Izuku harshly gripped his desk to keep himself upright and slapped his other hand over his mouth. Dizziness and nausea were overwhelming him, he felt like he was going to topple over and hurl at the same time.

“You alright there, dude? You’re looking a little pale.” Izuku turned his head towards Kaminari who asked the question. Izuku opened his mouth to answer when everything went black. He was distantly aware that he was caught by Iida who let out a distressed “Midoriya?!” then he was dead to the world.

When Izuku awoke on one of the school infirmary beds the first thing he heard was a gruff, irritated voice.

“You are becoming a problem child.” Aizawa chastised.

Izuku flinched back from the statement. “W-what h-happened?” Aizawa let out another annoyed sigh.

“You fainted.” It was blunt. Izuku felt his heart thunder in his chest. He fainted? Oh no, everyone was probably worried about him, he didn’t like making people worry.

“Kid, when was the last time you ate?” Aizawa asked sternly. Izuku pondered on the question for a bit, he didn’t eat breakfast since he was too nauseous. It was the same for lunch, Uraraka had tried to force half her lunch on him but he adamantly denied the food. He didn’t think he would have been able to stomach it.

“U-uhm, l-last night for d-dinner I h-had a s-sandwich.” Aizawa stared at him for a moment before he replied.

“That’s not nearly enough food. Especially for a hero in training.” The man shuffled around in a bag that he had with him and pulled out a juice box and an apple. “Drink and eat these. If you’re still hungry after I’ll grab you some more food.”

Izuku brought the straw of the juice box to his mouth and took a sip. He instantly felt like he was going to puke, he swallowed back a gag. “I-I’m s-sorry Mr. Aizawa. I d-don’t th-think I can e-eat these.”

“Why? Is something wrong with them?” The man asked curiously.

“N-no it’s m-me. I-I’m too nauseous to e-eat. It’s w-why I h-haven’t eaten t-today.” He admitted. Aizawa hummed at him.

“So you’re sick?” The man let out another huff. “You shouldn’t come to class if you’re si-”

Izuku interrupted him. “N-no I’m n-not sick. I’m j-just h-having a really b-bad d-d-day. It h-happens sometimes.”  

The man hummed again. “And why was it bad?” he questioned.

“I-I-I-” Izuku started but then stopped himself.

“It might help to talk about it. I’ll listen.” He said as a prompt towards Izuku.

Just like that Izuku broke down. Big fat ugly tears started running down his face, he let out an ugly sob. “I-I thought I l-lost Mr. Gooey. I was s-so scared th-that he l-left me a-all alone. I w-was s-s-so s-scared.” More tears ran down his face.

Aizawa looked slightly surprised at the spontaneous tears. “Who is Mr. Gooey?”

Izuku peeled the blob off his chest and held him up towards his teacher. The man examined the small worn out smiley faced paper that appeared to be floating. “Y-you can’t s-see him. He’s a b-blob, a p-part of my q-quirk. H-he’s m-my o-only fami-” Izuku stopped himself, but he could tell Aizawa caught it. “My o-only f-friend.” He corrected himself.

“Why is he your only family?” The man questioned, he sounded concerned.

Izuku swallowed hard.

You messed up. What are you going to do? He’s going to find out what a disgrace you are. Pathetic.

“M-my mom is v-very ill. The d-doctor’s don’t kn-know what’s wrong w-with her. She s-spends a lot of h-her time sleeping, trying to r-r-recover.” Aizawa nodded at him to continue. “My dad w-works o-over s-sea’s s-so I never see h-him. Mr. Gooey h-has k-kept me c-company s-since I was a little k-kid. A-and and a-and-” his voice broke again “I th-thought I lost h-him. I thought he w-was gone forever.”

It was a half-truth and Izuku left out most of the details that were really bothering him. But talking about the small portion of his problems did make him feel a little better. He was slightly worried Aizawa was going to call him out on his blatant lie, he said Gooey was his only family and then spouted about his mom and dad. Making the lie even more obvious. Izuku inwardly sighed, he was not a good liar.

Aizawa let out another long sigh. “I can understand why that’s upsetting, but you found him so try to take comfort in that.” He placed a hand on his shoulder and awkwardly pat Izuku’s head with his other hand. “It’s going to be okay kid.” Aizawa was obviously not very good a comforting people, but the fact that he was trying made Izuku feel warm and fuzzy inside.

“Th-thank y-you” He was glad that the man bought the lie.

“You can spend the rest of the day here if you need to. Or you can attend the rest of your classes if you want, but only until you eat something. Just in case you decide to leave regardless, I’ll be staying here with you. I don’t have any more classes to teach for the day.”

“I th-think I j-just want to sl-sleep. I’m r-really t-t-tired” He hesitantly said. Aizawa nodded at him with a strange form of respect, Aizawa thoroughly enjoyed sleeping.

“Alright.” Was all he said before he zipped himself up in his yellow sleeping bag, fully with the intention to also sleep.

Izuku shifted onto his side and pulled the infirmary blanket up to his neck and curled into a ball. He shut his eyes and drifted asleep much easier then he usually does. He suspected it was because Aizawa was there. It was comforting to know that someone was there in case he needed anyone. It chased away the nightmares and for the first time in a long time, Izuku had dreamt a happy dream.

Chapter Text

Shota was lazily trailing the school halls when he spotted Present Mic being followed by three worried looking students. Upon closer inspection, he realized the man was carrying a boy that appeared to be unconscious. He walked up to them, wanting to know what happened.

“Hizashi, did you bore one of our students to death with your English lecture?” He called out towards the group.

Present Mic turned his head around, his sunglasses were covering his eyes but he has known the man long enough to tell he was slightly panicking. The boy in his arms was revealed to be Midoriya, judging by the fluffy green hair.

Hizashi let out a nervous awkward chuckle “I wish that were the case, this little listener just took a nosedive to the ground.”

“Did he hit his head?” Shota asked.

“No, one of the stu-”

“Is he going to be okay?” Uraraka butted in.

Shota turned towards the three pairs of his students worried looking eyes. There was Uraraka, Iida, and Kirishima. Interesting he hadn’t realized Midoriya had befriended the excitable red-head.

Shota gave her a stern look and was about to answer honestly. They didn’t know what was wrong, the girl must realize that. But Hizashi answered before he could open his mouth.

“I’m sure the little listener will be fine. We’ll just bring him over to Recovery Girl and he’ll be as good as new.” Hizashi sounded convincing enough judging by the trio’s faces.

They all started to walk towards the school infirmary. Shota inwardly sighed at what he was about to do.

“Here, give him to me. You still have classes to teach, I don’t. And you three,” He pointed towards Iida, Uraraka, and Kirishima “You still have class.” It looked like Iida was about to argue when he added “You can visit him when class is over. Alright?”

He was met with three begrudging nods. Hizashi passed Midoriya over into his arms, he whispered a quiet thank you to Shota. The man turned around and gave a tiny wave and started to walk back the way he came, ushering the three students with him. Shota let out another long, long sigh. He glanced down at the unconscious child in his arms. This child, was becoming a problem child.

Shota walked over the rest of the way to the infirmary and entered the room. “Recovery Girl?” He called out. He was met with silence, the infirmary was empty. Another sigh was let out, his day just kept getting better and better. If recovery girl wasn’t here that meant she was probably called in somewhere else. That meant he would have to figure out what was wrong with the kid himself.

He gently laid Midoriya down onto one of the infirmary beds. He was relieved the boy didn’t hit his head, he didn’t want to deal with any head injuries without Recovery Girl there. He glanced over him checking for any visible injuries, there were none except for an odd long thin cut down his arm. It didn’t look that harmful, but he would stash the information in his mind for later. He felt for a pulse, it seemed normal. Well, at least it seems he didn’t collapse from something life threatening.

Shota dropped the bag he was carrying on the ground, it contained his sleeping bag and random snacks. He had no more classes to teach for the day so he was planning to find a quiet place to nap for the rest of the day. Things just never worked out for him. He sat in a nearby chair and stared at Midoriya. The boy was a puzzle, almost as much as a puzzle as his quirk. The kid flinched a lot, so much so that it was extremely noticeable. At first, he thought he was just a nervous child but it appeared to be something deeper than that. He would have chalked up the kids stutter also as nerves, but now Shota was wondering if there was a deeper meaning for that as well.

The real question was, what would have caused the kid to behave so nervously? He never talked about his parents, so maybe his home life wasn’t that great. An abusive family would explain a lot of the kids’ behaviour. He would have to look into it, it was his responsibility as a teacher. The problem would be getting the kid to talk, he can’t force it out of him. He has to come to him on his own, he can’t just act on a hunch. The more he thought about this kid, the more of a puzzle he became. What a problem child.

Shota’s attention was brought to Midoriya due to a small groan. It sounded like the boy was waking up. He waited patiently to see if Midoriya was actually awake before he spoke.

“You are becoming a problem child.” He said in a lecturing tone. He noticed that the boy flinched back from his voice. Maybe that was too harsh.

“W-what h-happened?” Midoriya stuttered out. He sounded confused, he let out a long sigh. He didn’t know if dealing with this would be easier with Midoriya still asleep or awake.

“You fainted.” He said bluntly. He watched as panic creeped up on the kids’ face, he seemed to get paler by the second.

“Kid, when was the last time you ate?” it came out sterner then he intended, but oh well it was too late to take it back now.

“U-uhm, l-last night for d-dinner I h-had a s-sandwich.” Midoriya mumbled out. He stared at the kid a while. He only had a sandwich for dinner? That’s it? He needs way more food than that. Why weren’t his parents feeding him enough? Maybe his family really was abusive. This puzzle was creating more pieces before he could fit two together. He realized that the kid was staring at him waiting for an answer.

“That’s not nearly enough food. Especially for a hero in training.” He lightly scolded. He shuffled around in his bag looking for a light snack for the boy to eat, since he was definitely not letting the kid leave without something in is stomach. He fished out a juice box and an apple hopefully that would be light enough for him to eat. “Drink and eat these. If you’re still hungry after I’ll grab you some more food.” He said while handing over the two food products.

He watched Midoriya accept the given food and unwarp the straw wrapper. He stabbed the juice box and brought it up to his face. As he took a sip, his face went so pale that Shota thought he was going to puke right then and there. He reached over for a waste basket in case his student decided to hurl.

“I-I’m s-sorry Mr. Aizawa. I d-don’t th-think I can e-eat these.” Midoriya stuttered out. He sounded disappointed in himself.

“Why? Is something wrong with them?” He asked curiously. He really hoped he didn’t just give his student spoiled food.

“N-no it’s m-me. I-I’m too nauseous to e-eat. It’s w-why I h-haven’t eaten t-today.”

Oh. So he was sick. That would explain a lot of things. He let out a sigh, his students always insisted on coming to class when they were sick. They just don’t seem to realize that not letting your body rest prolongs the sickness.

“So you’re sick? You shouldn’t come to class if you’re si-” He was cut off by the boy’s hurried response.

“N-no I’m n-not sick. I’m just h-having a really b-bad d-d-day. It h-happens sometimes.” Midoriya sounded embarrassed at the admission.

He was having a bad day? He’s had plenty of bad day’s himself, but he doesn’t remember any of them making him sick to his stomach like this. This boy just kept becoming more and more confusing.

“And why was it bad?” He asked curiously. He was hoping the boy would actually confide in him, it might help him figure out what’s really wrong.

“I-I-I-” Midoriya started to stutter out, but he quickly stopped himself. The boy was clearly having an internal debate with himself. Shota internally sighed. Maybe he just needs some encouragement?

“It might help to talk about it. I’ll listen.” He said, hoping it would encourage him enough to talk. Lucky for him it worked. What he didn’t expect was all the waterworks. Midoriya had big fat tears running down his face. Shota vowed that whatever was bothering the kid he would do his best to help.

“I-I thought I l-lost Mr. Gooey. I was s-so scared th-that he l-left me a-all alone. I w-was s-s-so s-scared.” He said through more tears.

Mr. Gooey? Who the heck has a name like that? Maybe it was a toy? Did kids his age still even have toys?

“Who is Mr. Gooey?” He asked hesitantly.

Midoriya made a strange grabbing motion on his chest and held his hand out towards Shota. He noticed that there was a small piece of paper with a smiley face drawn on floating in the middle of Midoriya’s hand.

“Y-you can’t s-see him. He’s a b-blob, a p-part of my q-quirk. H-he’s m-my o-only fami-” the boy hesitated at his mistake. “My o-only f-friend.” He corrected himself.

Shota caught the mistake. The blob was his only family? What did he mean by that? The thought that he considered a blob as his only family made his heart pulse with concern. He tried to maintain a calm demeanor when he asked his next question.

“Why is he your only family?” He could hear some of his concern leaking out in his voice. He tried to reign it back in, he didn’t want to freak the kid out. Midoriya went on to explain about his sick mom and his father that worked over seas. He noticed that he said the word ‘dad’ with a bit of spite. Did he not get along with his dad then? Things did make sense if his mom was ill, it would explain a lot. Like how the boy didn’t get enough food. But it just didn’t add up. Midoriya said the blob was his only family, and now he’s talking about his mom and dad. So either he doesn’t consider his parents as family, or the boy is lying to him. Shota isn’t sure which one he wants to be the truth.

Midoriya had just finished talked about his dad when he started to cry again. “Mr. Gooey h-has k-kept me c-company s-since I was a little k-kid. A-and and a-and-” Midoriya’s voice broke again “I th-thought I lost h-him. I thought he w-was gone forever.” He was starting to cry again.

“I can understand why that’s upsetting, but you found him so try to take comfort in that.” He was hoping that would have been comforting enough. Unfortunately for Shota, he was wrong. The boy’s tears kept trickling down his face. He stood up and walked the few steps to Midoriya and lightly placed his hand on his shoulder. He brought his other hand and gently pat his fluffy green hair. He felt immensely awkward. He was not the best and comforting people, Hizashi was better at that then him. But he could tell the kid needed it, so he would try regardless.

It must have worked, much to Shota’s relief. The tears were slowly stopping and Midoriya let out a small shy smile. “Th-thank y-you.” He mumbled quietly.

Shota smiled at the kid’s shyness, not that the kid could see. The view of his mouth was covered by his capture scarf. “You can spend the rest of the day here if you need to. Or you can attend the rest of your classes if you want, but only after you eat something.” The boy seemed to be contemplating what he said, then he added, “Just in case you decide to leave regardless, I’ll be staying here with you. I don’t have any more classes to teach for the day.”

The kid’s eyes widened, he must have not expected him to stay with him. It was a fair assumption, normally he didn’t stay with his students. But he wouldn’t be sure if the kid ate if he left, he would not have any more students fainting for the day. Besides the kid looked like he needed some company and if he was the one to provide it, then so be it. Shota stared at Midoriya and waited for an answer.

“I th-think I j-just want to sl-sleep. I’m r-really t-tired.” The kid timidly requested.

Shota would much rather him eat something, but considering his earlier reaction he supposes that’s a no go. If the kid wanted to sleep then he would let him sleep, he looked like he needed it judging by the dark bags under his eyes. They almost matched his own. “Alright.” Was all he said and then zipped himself up in his sleeping bag. If the kid was going to sleep then there was no real reason why he couldn’t also sleep. God, he needed it.

He was surprised how fast Midoriya fell asleep, he must have been really tired. Before Shota even attempted to sleep he started to organize his thoughts. As much as he didn’t want it to be true, the kid was obviously lying about his family. The kid was not a good liar and he had several tells. His eyes would wander around the room, he would start fidgeting, and his stuttering increased. Maybe when he figured out what was wrong with the boy he would show him how to lie properly. It’s a good skill to have in the hero business.

So the kid was lying about his family. But why? He wanted to press the kid for more answers but he was afraid he would shred what little trust he gained from him. He would have to take it slow otherwise he would scare him away. Shota let out a quiet sigh. Why did he have to be such a problem child? Shota irritably shut his eyes, fully intended on at least getting a small nap.

Shota awoke to small sobs and sniffles coming from the small boy across the room. He sat up and unzipped himself from his sleeping bag. If Midoriya was having a nightmare then he would definitely wake him up. He noticed the room had an orange glow due to the sunset. They must have slept longer then they intended too. He walked over towards the bed with the intent on shaking the boy awake, but he stopped himself when he saw tear filled green eyes. Midoriya was already awake.

“Did you have a nightmare?” He asked with a bored tone. He was surprised when the kid shook his head no. “Then what’s wrong?”

“I-I h-had a good dream. O-one of the b-best.” The kid didn’t elaborate any further. He attempted to dry his tears but the tears just kept coming. He didn’t look like he was going to stop crying anytime soon.

Shota sat down back in the chair that was beside the bed. He watched Midoriya futility try to stop crying before he asked, “Then why are you crying?”

Midoriya appeared to not actually know why he was crying. “I d-don’t know. I th-think it’s b-because it was a g-good dream.” He sounded just as confused as Shota felt.

“Then what did you dream about?” He asked curiously. This boy was becoming an increasingly more difficult puzzle.

“I d-dreamt of my m-mom. I d-dreamt of her h-homemade meals and h-her warm hugs. I d-dreamt of her laugh, her v-voice, the w-way she w-would welcome me h-home from school. She would a-always a-ask me how my d-day was. I a-always took it for g-granted and n-never answered. I w-wish I did, I w-wish I answered h-honestly every time. E-even if the day was bad, e-even i-if it was the w-w-worst day e-ever, I w-wish I an-answered.” More tears fell from the boys’ eyes. “I don’t g-get those a-anymore. Not s-since she g-got… sick.” Small sobs started to erupt from his chest. “I m-miss them. I m-m-miss th-them s-so much. I w-would give anything t-to g-get her b-back. Anything.” The boy wrapped his arms around himself like he was trying to give himself a hug. He slightly rocked himself back and forth in a comforting manor.

Shota watched the kid attempt to comfort himself. It broke his heart, he wondered how many times he had done this for himself in the past. He leant forward in his chair and hesitantly wrapped the boy in his arms. He was ready to let go in case the boy felt uncomfortable. He was relieved when Midoriya accepted the hug and leant into it. More sobs escaped his small form. Shota let out silent hushes. “It’s okay. Your mom will get better. I promise.” He said in an attempt to comfort the child. He was surprised when Midoriya let out a wet disbelieving laugh.

“S-somehow, I r-really doubt that.” He said with a cynical undertone.

Shota didn’t respond.

Izuku was surprised when his teacher wrapped his arms around him into a hug. His brain had short circuited for a second. He thought about telling Aizawa to let go, to leave him alone, to stop digging. But he somehow found himself unable to. So he let the man hug him, he would be lying if he said it didn’t feel nice. He hadn’t received a hug in six years, he forgot how nice it felt. How comforting it was.

You don’t deserve it. You don’t deserve comfort.

His thoughts were right, he didn’t deserve it. He pulled away from Aizawa, the man shot him an understanding look that filled Izuku with inner hate. Why was everyone so understanding towards him? Why couldn’t they just leave him alone? Everything would be so much easier if he was just left alone.

I know how you can be left alone forever.

He hushed himself, his thoughts were relentless today. Aizawa let out a cough. “It’s getting late, your nap went on longer then intended.” Izuku noticed that the man left out the part where he obviously fell asleep too.

“O-oh, sorry. I g-guess I should g-go home then.” He started to stand up when Aizawa stopped him.

“Sorry kid, but you aren’t going anywhere until you eat something. It won’t do anyone any good if you pass out on the way home.” Aizawa said sternly.

Izuku didn’t feel that nauseas anymore, so he would probably be able to stomach the food he was given earlier. “O-okay. I’m f-feeling a b-bit better than earlier, so I sh-should be able to e-eat some.” Izuku reached for the apple that was offered to him earlier and bit into it. He was happy he didn’t gag. Aizawa watched him eat the food, satisfied.

He hurriedly finished the apple and went to stand up, it was almost dark and he really, really, hated walking home in the dark. “Wait,” Aizawa sifted through the bag he had with him and pulled out a pack of crackers. “eat some of these as well. It’s been a few hours since you fainted, so you need a bit more than before.”

Izuku went to protest but he was met with the man’s glare that clearly said ‘there’s no room for arguments.’ So he begrudgingly sat back in his bed and started munching on the pack of crackers. By the time he finished the crackers the sun had set and it was now dark. He started to gather his things together when he noticed a note on the table by his bed. It was from Uraraka, Kirishima, and Iida. It said that they came to visit him after class but he was asleep, they also wished that he would get better soon. He let out a small smile, that was nice of them. He glanced back out the window, his smile diminished at the night sky.

You have to walk home alone in the dark. The dark is scary. It’s scary, scary, scaryscaryscary.

His anxious thoughts rattled throughout his brain. So many bad things can happen in the dark. People get kidnapped, robbed, murdered, and hurt in the dark. So many bad things. Images of the horror in his dark room from that night flashed in his mind.

A hero scared of the dark? How pathetic.

He tried to argue with himself that he wasn’t trained yet, he was still weak. He would get better, then the dark wouldn’t be scary anymore.

Pathetic, pathetic, pathetic. You are a sad excuse of a hero. You’re nothing but trash. A murd-

“Is something wrong?” Aizawa’s question interrupted his thoughts.

“N-nothing really… I w-was just h-hoping t-to get home b-before it g-g-got dark.” He admitted shyly.

“If you want I can escort you home, if walking in the dark really bothers you.” Izuku’s eyes widened at the offer.

“I c-couldn’t ask y-you to do th-that!” He was surprised that his teacher would even make such an offer. Why would he care?

He’s just messing with you. He doesn’t actually care.

“It’s my fault that you didn’t get home on time. I’ll take responsibility of getting you home safe. If you are really concerned about going home alone in the dark, then I insist that you let me help you.” He sounded sincere.

“A-alright.” Izuku responded shyly. This was going to be weird.

The trip back to his apartment was silent and slightly awkward. He would admit that he did feel loads better knowing Aizawa was there. They arrived at his apartment complex, he turned towards his teacher.

“W-well, here w-we are,” Izuku bowed low, “Th-thank you for m-making sure I got back h-home safe.” He said sincerely.

Aizawa nodded towards him. “Is it alright if I speak to your mother? I would like to apologize for your late arrival.”

Izuku faltered. He wants to speak to his mom? That’s not good. “I’m s-s-sorry y-you can’t. She’s n-not home r-right now, she’s b-b-being kept o-overnight at the h-h-hospital for the n-next f-few days.”

Aizawa’s eyes narrowed at the lie. Izuku felt his heart rate increase.

He knows, he knows. You’ve been caught. He’s going to call you out. What now? What now?

Aizawa opened his mouth ready to call him out on his lie. To his surprise, the man’s mouth snapped shut and he dropped the subject. His teacher turned his body away from him and waved. “I’ll see you in class tomorrow, have a goodnight Midoriya.”

“G-goodnight Mr. A-Aizawa.” He mumbled out but the man was already far enough he couldn’t hear him.

Well, at least that was over with. He walked to his apartment door and unlocked it. Once he was inside he sat on the couch. He stared at the wall across from him. A lot happened in one day. He let out an exhausted sigh.

“Do you think I said too much Mr. Gooey?” He was answered with silence.

“Yea, me too.”

Chapter Text

The next day Izuku felt awkward. He didn’t doubt that Aizawa probably felt awkward as well. He kept glancing over at Izuku which was honestly starting to make him feel even more awkward and uncomfortable.

Stop searching. Stop looking. You won’t like what you find.  

Izuku supposes that he somehow mentally informed Aizawa that he was making him uncomfortable because the man stopped looking at him, thank god. Aizawa continued to give the class his lecture, Izuku tried to listen but he found his thoughts wandering elsewhere.

The way his teacher acted yesterday was very confusing. Why was he acting that way? What did he want? He doesn’t have that much to give, so why focus his attention on him? He’s not worth it.

He knows you lied. He knows, he knows, he knows. But why didn’t he say anything? What’s his aim? What does he want? He’s not worth it. Not worth it. Not worth it. Useless stupid Deku is not worth it. Monstrous murderers aren’t worth it.

He really wished the man would just come out and say it. Call him out on his lie. Then he could make even more lies to cover up the one lie until it’s a mess of lies. Yea, that probably wouldn’t work out well for him at all. So maybe it was better if the man didn’t act on it. Maybe they could both pretend yesterday didn’t even happen. He doubted it, Aizawa was suspicious of him and there was no changing that. The damage had been done. His only option now would be to avoid Aizawa, which is hard to do when he is your teacher.

Izuku’s train of thought was interrupted by Aizawa clearing his throat while making direct eye contact with him. Oops. He zoned out again. He really needs to stop doing that. He flicked his eyes' attention toward the man in question. God, he really felt awkward. Why did he have to pass out in class yesterday? All of this could have been avoided if he wasn’t so weak. He’s gone longer without food, so out of all the times to pass out why then?

You’re weak. So weak. A weak worthless Deku.

Izuku glanced at the hanging wall clock and took note of the time. It was almost the end of class. He has a strong feeling that Aizawa is going to want to talk to him when class ends, so he will have to rush out as fast as possible to avoid him. There was only one minute left and he quickly started to pack his things in his bag before anyone else.

Uraraka leaned over to him and whispered, “Wow, you must be excited to go to English.”

Or to get out of this class.

He shyly smiled at Uraraka and nodded his head yes, she didn’t need to know the real reason. A loud beeping noise played from the school speakers, indicating that class was over. He saw Aizawa start to search for him, but he was already out the door. He speed walked to English since he knew Iida would throw a fit if he ran. Their newly elected class president took his job very seriously.

He was the first one to arrive in the English classroom, he sighed with relief. He had avoided Aizawa, for now at least. Really, he was just delaying the inevitable, but by god he would do it for as long as possible. Present Mic smiled at Izuku’s speedy arrival.

“Hey little listener, how are feeling? Hopefully not like passing out.” He finished with an amused chuckle.

Izuku didn’t think it was that funny. “M-much b-b-better. Thanks f-for your c-concern Mr. Yamada.” He didn’t dare look Mic in the eyes, he was afraid that he would be able to tell he was lying like Aizawa. He didn’t need two teachers worrying about him, one was enough trouble.

“Well, I’m glad to hear that!” Mic shouted out cheerfully.

Izuku winced slightly at the loud volume. The man was so overexcited sometimes. After he took a seat at his desk the rest of his classmates started to trickle inside of the room. Iida approached him.

“I’m glad to see that I’m not the only one that takes a great interest in his academic studies.” Iida sounded serious but Izuku could hear the humour in it. Iida was poking fun at him.

“You left so fast I thought there was going to be a smoke trail behind you.” Uraraka said equally as amused as Iida.

“O-oh d-did I really l-leave that f-fast?” Izuku asked. He didn’t think he left that quickly, did he?

“Dude!” Kirishima piped in, “You practically sprinted out of class! I thought we were under attack for a second.” He said through small chuckles.

“I can reassure you that U.A.’s security is one of the best. So it would be highly unlikely that we would be under attack.” Iida said to Kirishima while making a chopping motion.

Kirishima let out some more laughs. “Dude, I was joking! But that small lecture was very useful, thanks class prez.” He said while flashing an encouraging thumbs up.

Izuku let out a small laugh at his classmates, which eventually turned into fits of giggles. They were so ridiculous sometimes. He wiped his eyes from small tears gathering in the corners of his eyes. Once his vision was clear he found 3 pairs of wide eyes looking at him.

“W-what? Did I d-do s-something wr-wr-wrong?” He asked nervously.

“Midoriya, I can ensure you that you did nothing wrong. It’s just w-” Iida started but was interrupted by Uraraka.

“I don’t think we have ever heard you laugh before.” She said cheerfully.

“You should do it more often dude.” Kirishima said while happily smiling down at him.

Izuku let out a small awkward cough to fill his silence. Did he really never laugh?

Murders aren’t supposed to laugh. How can you laugh and feel joy when you killed your own mother? What kind of sick person does that?

The smile fell from his face. Right. That’s why he hasn’t laughed. How could he forget? Izuku instantly started to fill up with guilt. He shouldn’t be laughing.

“C-class is about t-t-to start, y-you should go to y-your d-desks.” He said shakily.

Their faces fell at his sudden mood change. The nodded silently and went to their desks. Izuku internally sighed, why couldn’t he just act normal? Why did he have to make everyone worry about him? Couldn’t they see he was fine? Because he was fine.

Right?

English class went by faster than Izuku thought it would. Present Mic had a way of making his lectures more interesting by telling jokes and terrible puns throughout the class. Some of them made Izuku want to bash his head against the wall, others made him wish he could be that witty. The class bell had rung and Izuku was taking his time packing his things. He wasn’t in that much of a rush for lunch since he never had one with him. Once he finished packing he looked up to the front of the room and was surprised to find Iida, Kirishima, and Uraraka waiting for him.

“W-why a-are you w-w-waiting for me? You d-don’t h-have to do that.” He said.

“Why wouldn’t we wait for you?” Uraraka asked.

“Yea dude, friends wait for their friends. So, of course, we are going to wait for you.” Kirishima said confidently.

“W-w-we a-a-are?” Izuku stuttered the question out. He winced at the number of stutters that came out.

“What do you mean?” Iida asked.

Izuku hesitated for a moment before he asked, “I’m y-your f-f-friend?”

“Don’t be silly! Of course you’re our friend.” Uraraka paused for a moment. “You do want to be friends right?” She sounded like she was afraid to ask that question.

Izuku was being met with three worried stares. He wasn’t expecting that last question. Did he want to be friends? He’s never had any before, he really wasn’t sure what he was doing. But maybe he would give it a chance.

Murderers don’t deserve friends. You’ll kill them too, just like your mother. You’ll kill them.

Izuku let out a shaky exhale at what he was about to say. “Y-yes, I w-would like to b-b-be friends. I-if that’s o-okay with y-you.” He was met with three beaming smiles and excited nods. Izuku’s chest filled with warmth, he had friends now. He absentmindedly squished Mr. Gooey. Real friends.

You’ve made a mistake. You’ll kill them, kill them, kill them. Dead dead deaddeaddeaddead.

Izuku took a long quiet inhale and then shakily exhaled, trying to expel his dark thoughts. Luckily they weren’t as bad as they were the day before so it was easier to do. The four of them left the classroom together when they stopped in their tracks. Standing a few feet in front of the door was an irritated-looking Aizawa.

“Took you long enough you problem child.” The man let out an annoyed sigh, “Midoriya come with me.” Aizawa turned and started to walk away not even checking if Izuku was following him.

Izuku felt is whole body fill with dread. He didn’t expect Aizawa to hunt him down. He turned towards his friends with an apologetic look and then speed walked to catch up with Aizawa.

Once he caught up with Aizawa he asked, “S-sir where a-are we g-going?” He was slightly scared of the answer.

“The staff room.” Was his short reply. “Did you eat dinner?”

“Y-y-yes, I had some w-white rice.” Izuku answered.

Aizawa shot him an annoyed glance. “That’s still not enough food. What about breakfast?”

“An a-apple.” Izuku said quietly, ready for the scolding that was sure to come. He knew it wasn’t enough food, but it was all he could afford. He couldn’t help it!

Aizawa let out a disapproving hum. Izuku was slightly surprised he didn’t start chewing him out in the halls. Maybe he was bringing him to the staff room to yell at him. Oh no. That would be so embarrassing. They arrived at the staff room far too quickly for Izuku’s liking. He watched Aizawa enter the room, he hesitantly followed. He felt like he was entering a forbidden area. Which he was in some sense. Izuku took note at the various different teachers that were in the staff room. There were a few he didn’t recognize and then there were some he did. He felt like he was intruding.

“Come, sit.” Aizawa pointed towards an empty table and chairs.

Izuku swallowed hard, it felt like his throat was closing up. He brought his shaky limbs to the chair and sat down. He could feel himself trembling in his seat, his nerves were really getting to him.

He’s going to call you out in front of all the teachers. He’s going to make fun of you. They’ll laugh at you.

He felt tears start to sting his eyes, he hastily blinked them away. He sat there silently while he waited for his teacher to talk. Even though the room was full of talking teachers, the silence from Aizawa was deafening. The man reached into his bag and pulled out a box, he placed it on the table in front of Izuku.

“I’ve heard from some of your classmates that you never have a lunch. So I took it upon myself to bring you one.” Aizawa said in a bored tone while sliding the box towards him.

Izuku carefully took off the lid, it was a boxed lunch. His eyes widened, this was for him?  He did not expect this at all.

“Th-thank y-you!” Izuku said sincerely.

Aizawa let out a grunt and pulled out his own lunch. “Now care to explain why you never have a lunch?”

Izuku was about to take a bite but stopped himself. He didn’t really want to answer his question. But the lunch looked so good and he was afraid Aizawa would take it away if he didn’t answer.

“S-since my m-mom got sick, m-money has gotten t-t-tight. We c-can’t afford th-three meals a d-d-day. I g-get b-b-breakfast and d-dinner but not l-lunch.”

Aizawa hummed at Izuku’s half lie. “Is that so?” he said casually. Izuku was getting a bad feeling at Aizawa’s tone. It sounded like he was hiding something. He glanced around the room and noticed something odd. All the teachers he didn’t recognize had left the room, only three now remained in the lounge. Aizawa, Present Mic, and… All Might? He turned towards his favourite hero and noticed the buff man was standing right in front of the door, blocking it. He was going to greet him but stopped himself when All Might gave him a sad smile. Izuku faltered.

Why was he blocking the door? Why were only his three favourite teachers in the room? 

He turned back towards Aizawa who shot him a sympathetic look, it was gone in seconds.

“You know,” Aizawa started, “After yesterday I went to the hospital to inform your mom of your fainting spell and talk about some other things.”

Izuku’s body started to fill with white-hot panic.

“The staff were very friendly, but they regrettably informed me that there was no Inko Midoriya as a patient there. So I thought I must just be at the wrong hospital and had a nurse look her file up for me. To my surprise, Inko Midoriya is not a patient anywhere except for a family doctor who has not seen her for six years. So Midoriya, do you care to explain where your mother is exactly and why you lied?”

Izuku felt like he was going to be sick. He understood now why All Might was at the door, it was in case he tried to run. Present Mic was probably here for back up. He felt his body go tense and started to gather the lingering blobs in the room towards him on instinct, there was only enough for his torso. “O-oh, th-that’s e-e-e-easy,” he said stalling for another lie. “My m-mom g-goes by h-her m-maiden n-name. So she’s n-not listed a-as Midoriya.” Izuku thought that sounded convincing enough.

“Really? That’s strange because I had them look that up too, still no results.” Aizawa replied sternly.

Izuku couldn’t tell if the man was bluffing or not. It wouldn’t have been hard to find her maiden name if they were looking at her records. His panic started to increase and he let out a shaky breath. He felt cornered.  

Can’t breathe it’s too tight. Can’t breathe can’t breathe, you have to escape. Get out out outoutoutoutout RUN RUN RUN RUN!

His mind was screaming at him to run. He tensed his body even further and slowly brought his trembling hands towards his boxed lunch. He couldn’t believe what he was about to do, but he had to escape. He gripped the boxed lunch and quickly whipped it in the air towards Aizawa’s face, effectively spreading food in the man’s face. Hopefully, that would buy him some time before he would be able to erase his quirk.

In seconds he was across the room barrelling full speed towards All Might. Present Mic looked surprised at his speed and his reaction was too slow to catch Izuku. All Might tensed his body with the intent on catching him. At the last second, Izuku dropped to the ground and let his momentum slide him under All Might’s legs. He was almost to the school hallway when he felt a large beefy hand grab the blob armour on his back. He commanded those blobs to unstick themselves and he was free. He was down the hall running before the large man could even process what just happened.

RUN RUN RUN! THEY KNOW! RUN RUN RUN RUN!  

He was sprinting full speed down the hallway, he could distantly hear Present Mic calling after him. But he was too focused on escaping to understand what he said.

Faster, faster, faster. They are going to catch you! FASTER FASTER FASTER!

He pumped his legs harder and faster, he had to find a place to hide. Anywhere would work. He skidded and turned a corner, his shoes making a loud squeaking noise and continued running. He spotted a small janitors closet and quickly decided he would hide there. He grabbed the doorknob and turned it, more fear filled him. It was locked.

Oh no oh no oh no. What now? What now? I can’t breathe nonononononono.  

He took a heaving gasp as more panic clawed at him. He started to run again when he felt fabric wrap around his body. He was being pulled backwards. He whipped his head around to see where it lead, it was Aizawa’s scarf.

Can’t breathe, can’t breathe. They caught me. Help me. I can’t breathe helphelphelphelphelp.

He could feel himself start to hyperventilate. This was not good. Not good at all. He was dragged the rest of the way towards Aizawa, he could hear the man give out a sigh of relief. Izuku’s breaths came out increasingly more ragged.

“Hey kid, it’s okay. Breathe. It’s okay.” Aizawa instructed.

How could he say that? Things were clearly not okay, he’s been caught. More panic filled his brain, tossing any logical thinking out the window. He felt himself being picked up and then he was whisked away.

Can’t breathe, can’t breathe, it hurts, it hurts hurtshurtshurts. Help me helphelphelp.

He was back in the teachers’ lounge again deposited on one of the couches. This time Aizawa closed the door and locked it, further preventing him from escaping. It was just him and Aizawa now in the room.

Aizawa let out a disbelieving chuckle. “That was quite a stunt you pulled. I didn’t expect you to react that way, I’m sorry for not being clearer about my intentions.” Aizawa was about to continue when his eyebrows knitted together. Aizawa examined the boy a bit closer this time and realized he was still panicking. “Hey, hey, it’s okay just breathe. You aren’t in trouble we just want to help you.”

Izuku fiercely shook his head and brought his hands up to his hair and pulled it. He felt tears start to leak down his face, he pulled his hair again. It wasn’t working. He felt humiliation creep up on him due to his display, he was having a panic attack in front of his teacher. He wrapped his arms around his chest, catching Mr. Gooey in his self-embrace. Breathy sobs started to leave his body. He curled himself up into a tight ball, trying to block out the rest of the world.

It was too much. Too much. Too much, I can’t breathe helphelphelphelp.

“Midoriya,” Aizawa said firmly. “Look at me.” He gently brought Izuku’s head up so he was making eye contact with Aizawa. He helped Izuku slowly uncurl, then he grabbed Izuku’s hand and placed it over his chest. “Breathe with me, okay?” Aizawa took an exaggerated inhale and then and exhale. “Copy me.” Izuku followed Aizawa’s breathing pattern, it was hard but he eventually managed to slow his breathing down to a normal level.

Now that Izuku had his breath back his sobs were coming out in an increasing volume. The sobs started to turn into wails. Big fat tears were running down his face, he brought his arms up to cover his face from view. He felt so much shame and embarrassment. He completely flipped out and attacked his teacher’s and now they know. After the way he reacted they certainly know something is wrong. There is no way in hell they are going to let it slide.

They are going to expel you. You don’t belong here.

More cries left him, his thoughts were right he didn’t belong here. He was stupid to think he did. He felt arms wrap around him. He looked up Aizawa was hugging him. Why was he doing that? He was going to be kicked out, so why hug him?

“You aren’t going to be kicked out.” Aizawa muttered.

Oops, had that been out loud? “I-I-I’m s-s-sorry. I d-didn’t m-mean to h-h-hurt you.” Izuku said through his sobs.

“You didn’t hurt me. We’re all fine. You were scared so it’s fine. Your actions are forgiven, okay?” Aizawa said trying to comfort the child. “But that doesn’t mean you can through food at my face whenever you feel like it. I’ll let it slide this time though.” He said sternly, but Izuku could tell he was trying to lighten the mood.

He nodded towards his teacher, he definitely would not be throwing any more food at him. He let out a sniffle he was starting to calm down. Aizawa let go of Izuku, he appeared to be glad that he stopped crying.

“Now as I was saying earlier, I didn’t mean to scare you. I just want to help, I’m sorry I didn’t make my intentions clearer earlier.” Aizawa said with an apologetic tone.

Izuku nodded as he accepted his apology. “I-it’s okay I f-forgive you. I’m a-also s-sorry for f-freaking out.”

Aizawa nodded at his apology. “Unfortunately for you I still need you to answer my previous questions.”

“D-d-do I h-have to? Can’t we d-do it s-some o-other time?” Maybe he could buy some time to come up with a better story.

“No, I don’t think so. It’s better we just rip it off like a band-aid.”

Izuku sadly nodded, there was no escaping now. Aizawa took Izuku’s nod as the go ahead.

“Okay, where is your mom Midoriya?”

Small tears started to slip from his eyes. “She’s d-dead. She’s b-b-been dead f-for six y-years.”

Aizawa stared blankly at Izuku. “How did she die?”

A small sob left him. “I-I-I k-k-killed her.” Louder sobs left him. “A h-horror took h-her. Ate her? It d-d-did something to h-her. It's a-all my f-fault. I k-k-killed my o-own mother. She’s d-dead b-because of me.”

Aizawa brought Izuku next to him so he was leaning against his chest. It was a comforting position. “That wasn’t your fault. Understand? You can’t control them, so it wasn’t your fault. You said it was six years ago, you were only nine. You can’t be blamed for that, so it’s not your fault.” Aizawa soothed.

The man let out a sigh. “Okay, next question. I know this is hard but please answer honestly. Where is your dad?”

“I-I-I don’t know. I’ve n-never met him in p-person. I called him the n-night my mom d-died. He t-told me t-to keep it a secret b-because he d-didn’t w-w-want me. He s-sends me ch-cheques every month to p-pay the r-rent and for f-food. But f-for the p-p-past y-year he’s b-been sending l-less and l-less money. I tried to c-call him one other time, b-b-but he changed h-his number.” It was hard admitting all this to his teacher. He’s hardly known the man and he was telling him things he hasn’t told anybody.

“Then who have you been living with for the past six years?” Aizawa questioned.

“N-nobody but Mr. Gooey. I’ve been o-o-on my own.” Aizawa nodded at the answer, it was worse than he thought.

“We are going to have to take this to Nezu.” Aizawa stood up and glanced at Izuku, expecting him to do the same.

“D-do we have t-too?” He questioned nervously.

“Yes” was all the man said. Izuku let out a sigh and stood up and followed Aizawa to the principal’s office. He was glad the halls were empty he didn’t think he could take people’s stares right now. When they arrived at Nezu’s office Aizawa lightly knocked on the door and waited for a reply. They both heard a muffled “Come in!”

Aizawa opened the door and escorted Izuku inside.

“Ah, Aizawa and Midoriya welcome to my office, may I interest you in some tea?”

“No thank you. I have some pressing matters we need to discuss with you about Midoriya and his living situation.” Aizawa said seriously.

Nezu’s ears twitched in interest. “Please then, by all means, take a seat” The small animal gestured to a couple of chairs that were stationed in front of his desk. Once they were seated Nezu spoke again, “Now, what is this pressing matter Aizawa?” he questioned.

“I’ve just found out that Midoriya’s been living by himself with no guardian for the past six years. His mom died due to an accident with his quirk,” He shot Izuku a look, “that was nowhere near his fault. His dad, on the other hand, is alive but has abandoned him. He sends Midoriya money every month for him to live off of.”

Nezu let out a long hum. “Midoriya I’m very sorry to hear of your family situation. But you must know I can’t let you live alone. It’s illegal, you must have a guardian present until you become of age.”

Izuku felt his heart rate speed up. “Wh-what h-happens to m-m-me now?” He asked. He was afraid of what the answer will be.

Nezu let out a long sigh. “You are a student of U.A. which automatically makes us responsible for you. What complicates things though is that the forms you had signed by your ‘mother’ to allow this to happen are now voided since the signature is a fake. Which means technically you shouldn’t have been accepted as a student here in the first place.”

Well, that’s it. You’re getting kicked out. Thrown out like the useless trash you are.

Aizawa sounded like he was about to protest when the small animal held up a paw in a placating manner. “But due to your unique situation, I’ll let you remain as a student here which means you are our responsibility regardless of the contracts.”

Izuku let out a sigh of relief, he really thought he was going to be kicked out this time.

“Are you allowed to do that sir?” Aizawa asked skeptically.

The small animal threw his hands in the air “Of course I can, I’m the principal!”

Izuku let out a crooked smile towards Nezu. Nezu smiled back, it seemed he was trying to make the situation a little easier for him to bare. It was working.

“I’ll handle the legal issues and I’ll have to inform the police of your mom’s death. I can handle it by myself as long as you write out what happened. Unless of course, you would like to come with me?” Nezu asked.

Izuku shook his head, he didn’t want to talk to anybody else about this. It was hard enough to tell Aizawa. “I’ll j-just write i-it down.” He mumbled out. Nezu nodded towards him and slid him a piece of paper and a pen.

“Just make sure you sign your name below it after.” The animal stated. “Now the second issue we have to address. Where young Midoriya is going to be staying for the remainder of his time in U.A. You can pick anyone you want that’s a teacher here, but you have to pick someone.”

Izuku worried away at his lip. He has to live with one of his teachers? That was going to be weird. He chanced a glance towards Aizawa, he was staring at him almost expecting him to ask him. He was too afraid to ask him, Aizawa seemed to recognize this.

“I’ll watch over the kid. He has a dangerous quirk that he can’t always control, it would only make sense that he comes stays with me.” Aizawa said in a bored tone.

Nezu turned towards Izuku. “Well is that alright with you?” He asked.

Izuku nodded his head. Aizawa was right, he could erase his quirk whenever there was a horror.

Nezu clapped his hand together. “Alright! Perfect. I’ll just change some files and drop down by the police station this evening. You both are dismissed, please do inform me of any other problems or if Aizawa doesn’t work out for you. Also you two can have the rest of the day off to get settled. Aizawa, I won’t dock your pay since this was out of your control.”

Izuku silently nodded as a response, he seemed to have lost his voice.

You’re making a mistake. You’ll get him killed.

They both left the office in an awkward silence, neither didn’t know what to say to each other.

“Well, that’s not how I thought things would turn out.” Aizawa said tiredly.

“Mr. Aizawa y-you didn’t h-h-have to do that. I c-can pick someone e-else i-if It’s to m-much of a b-b-bother.” Izuku stuttered out. He really didn’t want to inconvenience his teacher.

The man hummed. “It’s not a bother. Are you allergic to cats?”

Izuku was caught off guard by the off topic question. Did he have a cat? “No, I’m n-not”

“Good because if you were then you would be a problem.” Aizawa sounded slightly relieved.

Izuku let out a small sigh. If that was the only criteria then he should be fine.

They had stopped by Izuku’s apartment to gather anything he wanted to bring over. Izuku had returned with a small bag filled with a sad amount of personal belongings. Izuku was glad that his teacher didn’t comment on it.

They now stood in front of Aizawa’s apartment door. Izuku could feel his anxiety swirling in his stomach. He really hoped he made the right decision in telling Aizawa about his parents. The man unlocked the door with a click and opened it. Izuku looked around the apartment. The room had nice wood floors and the furniture was in warm colours. It was overall homier then he expected. He was greeted by a friendly slim black cat and was informed that her name was Boo. Izuku thought she was adorable. 

“The guest room is the last door down that hall. The room beside yours is mine. The one across from my room is the washroom. Feel free to unpack and get settled.” Aizawa said, interrupting Boo's petting session.

Izuku nodded at Aizawa and headed towards the instructed room. It had light blue walls and a dark wood floor. There was a simple desk, closet, and a bed by a window. The first thing he did was close the blinds for the window. He didn’t like having a visible window since that night. He supposes his fear of windows in his room was irrational since it wasn’t the window that harmed him. But he couldn’t help but associate it with the horror.

He unpacked his clothes and hung them up in the closet, it didn’t take long since he didn’t have that much. The final thing he took out was an old All Might action figure from when he was a kid and a picture of him and his mother. It was, unfortunately, the only picture he had of her with them together. He placed the two objects on the desk and then sat on the bed.

“So much can happen in one day huh Gooey?” He waited for the blobs non-existent response. He was about to reply when Aizawa lightly knocked on the door.

“Who’re you talking to?” He asked.

Izuku let out a nervous chuckle “U-u-uhm s-sorry, it’s w-w-weird. I w-was talking to Mr. G-Gooey. It’s a h-habit I p-picked u-up. I’ll s-stop if it b-b-bothers you.” He said ashamed and embarrassed. He must look like a real basket case.

“I don’t care if you talk to it or not. I just want you to know that if you ever need to talk to someone you can talk to me. No matter the reason, even if you’re just lonely. You’ve missed out on a lot of conversations in your life so we need to make up for that.”

“O-okay…” Izuku wasn’t sure how to respond to that. He started to awkwardly scratch his arm.

Aizawa let out another sigh. “Anyways I made you another lunch since the last one ended up all over my face.” He said this in a joking tone.  

Izuku’s face lit up. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t hungry. “Th-thank you, Mr. Aizawa!”

Aizawa led Izuku to the apartment’s kitchen. He sat at the table and a plate of food was placed in front of him. It appeared to be some sort of fried noodle dish. Whatever it was Izuku didn’t care, he would have been grateful for it even if it tasted like trash. He smiled at the taste of the food. Aizawa was a really good cook!

“Th-this is r-really good! Th-thank y-y-you!” He said happily.

“It’s no problem.” The man mumbled.

Izuku smiled happily at Aizawa. So far everything was going well. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad living here after all.

Unless of course, you kill him too.

His smile faltered. He couldn’t let that happen. If he killed Aizawa as well he wouldn’t be able to live with himself.

How do you live with yourself now? You should have been the one to die, not mom.  

‘You’re right.’ He bitterly thought.

“What’s wrong?” Aizawa asked. “You went from happy to moody.”

“O-oh it’s nothing. I p-promise. I w-was j-just thinking is a-all.” Izuku replied.

You liar.   

“You promise that’s all?” Aizawa said.

“P-p-p-p-promise.” He harshly stuttered out.

Aizawa shot him a knowing glare.

Liar.

Chapter Text

Izuku couldn’t sleep that night. His mind kept spinning from all that happened in one day. He went from living alone to living with his teacher. Who would be able to sleep after that?

I’m definitely not going to be able to.

He let out an irritated huff. He had been tossing and turning for the past three hours trying to fall asleep. But his mind just wouldn’t shut up. He kept thinking of different scenarios that came with the dangers of living with Aizawa. He could kill him much like how he killed his mother. Despite the man’s reinsurance that he would be fine since he could erase his quirk, Izuku still didn’t feel safe. Although it wasn’t his own safety he was concerned about, it was Aizawa’s. He grabbed Mr. Gooey and held the blob above his face.

“What am I going to do Gooey? I can’t get out of this and honestly, that makes me scared. I’m terrified I’ll hurt him. What happens if I do Gooey? I don’t think they will be so forgiving if I kill two people. Especially since one of them would be a pro-hero.” Izuku waited for Mr. Gooey’s silent reply. He nodded at the small blob.

“I guess you’re right. I’ll just have to wait it out and hope for the best.” He sighed tiredly. He stuck the blob back to his chest. He didn’t let Mr. Gooey roam around at night anymore, not since his panic attack a few days ago. It was proven that he needed the blob with him at all times. That fact annoyed Izuku, he thought he was better than that, but it wouldn’t be the first time he was proven wrong.

It was four in the morning when he finally felt himself start to drift off into sleep. He could feel sleeps embrace slowly taking him away but was startled out of the nice feeling due to a loud noise coming from his window. He felt his relaxed body’s muscles tense in seconds. He felt like he had been electrocuted, his heart started to beat rapidly.

Izuku slowly craned his neck towards the window that resided beside his bed. He let out a shaky breath that he had been holding in and waited. Silence. Just as he was starting to relax again he heard another noise.

Tap tap tap.

It sounding like someone was lightly knocking on his window, or tapping it with their finger. Izuku slowly pulled himself up into a sitting position and turned his body towards the window. The curtains were drawn closed and it was so dark outside he couldn’t make out any silhouettes through the curtains that could give him a clue to what was at his window.

Tap tap tap.

The noise rang out again. His heartbeat started to pulse loudly in his ears. He swallowed harshly and let out a panicked breath.

What was at his window?

Izuku hadn’t spent a night here before so how could he tell if this wasn’t a common occurrence? What if there was a tree that knocked on the window? How could he know it was nothing to be scared of? He wasn’t about to wake up Aizawa over such a silly thing. It was just a window it was nothing to be scared of. Images of the icy blue faced horror played through his mind.

But what if it isn’t just a tree?

He told his thoughts to shut up. He was being silly, it wasn’t the horror. He hasn’t seen it for six years, and he was positive he wouldn’t see it ever again. He forced himself to lie back down and pulled the covers over his head. He shut his eyes and attempted to fall asleep.

Tap tap tap.

He pulled the covers tighter around his body trying to muffle out the taps.

It’s just a tree, it’s just a tree, it’s just a tree.

Tap tap tap.

The taps were starting to become more frequent and louder. Izuku took in a shallow breath. Maybe it wasn’t a tree? He unwrapped himself from his blanket and stood up. He brought himself right in front of the window and quietly waited.

TAP TAP TAP.

Izuku let out a startled gasp, fear instantly clutched his heart. That was not a tree. Tears sprung to his eyes as he stared at the curtains. He felt paralyzed.

“Mr. Aizawa?!” He called out. He waited patiently for the man to come. He didn’t. More tears started to fall down his face, he was getting a horribly familiar feeling from this situation.

Where is he? Where is he? Where is he? Where, where, where, where?

BAM BAM BAM.

The sound escalated to wall-shaking smacks. Izuku let out a terrified scream that turned into a sob.

“MR. AIZAWA!” He screamed out. Still, Aizawa did not appear. Izuku was openly sobbing now. He felt his arms raise up, his hands gripped the curtains ready to pull them open.

Stop. What are you doing? Don’t open those!

More sobs erupted from his throat, he slowly started to pull the curtains open.

NONONONONONONONO! STOP! STOP! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!

His slow start quickly morphed into him speedily ripping open the curtains. What was revealed was nothing but the night sky. Izuku felt his body delate with relief, there was nothing there he was freaking out over nothing. He let out a loud and long sigh of relief and turned around. He was about to go back to bed when he paused and glanced back out towards the window. There was no tree.

Then what was making the noise?

He stiffly brought his face right up to the window and squinted, trying to make out what was in the dark. He couldn’t see. He quietly slid open the window and stuck his head out and glanced around the building's exterior. It was then that Izuku got a very bad feeling. His muscles tensed so hard it felt like they were going to tear, he felt sweat start to drip down his forehead. His heart went from fear filled rapid pulsing to a panicked crescendo. He felt like he was being watched. He slowly craned his neck upwards to above the window.

He screamed.

He screamed loud and hard. He rapidly brought his head back inside of the building and slammed the window shut. The curtains fluttered back over the window, successfully blocking Izuku’s view. He heard morbid screeching laughter coming from the other side.

BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM.

“MR. AIZAWA HELP!” He screamed out. Izuku bolted out into the hallway and ran towards the door that was supposedly to Aizawa’s room. He gripped the door handle and sharply turned it only to find out it was locked. He loudly rapped on the wooden door.

“MR. AIZAWA HELP! PLEASE HELP! PLEASE, PLEASE IT’S COMING!” He screamed at the door. Aizawa still didn’t answer. Izuku heard the sound of shattering glass coming from his room. More panic filled his system.

It got in. Run, run, run, run, RUN RUN RUNRUNRUNRUNRUNRUNRUN!

He made a sharp turn towards the front door, he was there in seconds. He harshly turned the doorknob only for the brass knob to fall out of its socket, effectively locking Izuku inside of the apartment. “NO!” he sobbed out.

What now? What now? What now?

He quickly searched the room for any other exits, he was dismayed to find that the door he just broke was the only one. More sobs left his body, he felt himself start to give up. His trembling knees started to collapse, soon Izuku found himself sobbing on the floor.

It’s almost here. It’s coming. It’s almost here.

He brought his hands up to cover his face, he didn’t want to look at it again. He knew it would only be a few seconds until he was caught, but it felt like ages. He felt two cold rotting hands grip his shoulders. That’s when he knew it was the end.

I’m sorry.

Izuku was forced awake by two hands firmly shaking his shoulders. He had let out one last ear-piercing scream and heard sobs leave his mouth. Two arms wrapped around his body and he was pulled into an embrace.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay. I got you. It’s okay. Shhhh.” A tired gruff voice quietly rang out.

Izuku’s muddled brain took a minute to catch up. That’s right. He’s at Aizawa’s. That meant the person currently hugging him was Aizawa.

“Shhh, shhh calm down. It was just a dream. You’re safe now.” More comforting words left the man’s mouth.

Izuku distantly realized he was still crying. He was crying into Aizawa’s shirt. Wait. When did Aizawa show up? Did it get him? Is he okay?

“Of course I’m okay. You had a nightmare, everything is fine. It was just a dream.”

Izuku felt a hand rub up and down on his back. It was then he finally remembered his place and quickly pulled himself out of the man’s embrace with a panicked expression.

“I’m s-sorry. I didn’t m-m-m-m-mean to wake y-you!”

Aizawa shot him a worried expression. “I was already awake. You have nothing to apologize for, you can’t control your dreams.”

“I-I’m s-sorry anyways, f-for bothering you. You sh-shouldn’t h-have to d-d-deal with th-this. I understand i-if you d-don’t want me h-here after t-tonight.” Izuku stuttered out remorsefully. Why did he always have to go screw things up?

It’s because you are a screw-up. Screwing up is what screw-up Deku’s like you do best.

“Hey, kid, look at me.” Aizawa demanded.

Izuku slowly brought his line of sight up to Aizawa’s face. “I don’t mind. You aren’t a bother. Understand?” Izuku hesitantly nodded his head. “I want you to repeat it back to me.”

“I u-u-understand.” He stuttered out.

Aizawa let out a disapproving hum. “No, I want you to repeat all of it back to me.” He said sternly.

“O-oh uhm…” Izuku started. He felt his heart rate start to speed up. Was complimenting himself really that hard?

It’s because there is nothing worth complimenting. Worthless Deku.

“Y-you don’t mind and I’m n-n-not a b-b-bother.” As soon as the words left his mouth he felt like he was going to vomit from the backlash of his thoughts.

How dare you say something like that? A Deku like you has no reason to say stuff like that. Not a bother? What a joke. You are the most bothersome of them all. You’re an annoying piece of shit, everybody hates you. They only put up with because they have to. Just go die. It’s what murders like you deserve. 

Another small sob left his tired form at his mean thoughts. He felt Aizawa lightly grip his shoulder.

“Hey, what’s wrong? Why are you crying again?” Izuku could hear the small traces of confused panic in the man’s tone. He probably thought that he made him cry.

“N-n-nothing. It’s f-f-fine. I was j-just remembering my dream again.” Izuku lied.

Aizawa hummed. “Do you want to talk about it? It might help.”

“I-I uhm it was… uhm” Izuku hesitated, should he really talk about it? “I…dreamt of my m-m-mom… I d-don’t think I r-really want to t-talk about it.” Izuku quietly muttered. It was better not to talk about it, he didn’t need Aizawa worrying about him more than necessary. He felt Aizawa’s disapproving gaze on him.

“You’re going to have to talk about it eventually.” Aizawa said sternly.

“I d-d-don’t think I really w-want to. It w-will be fine, it’s o-only a d-dream.” Izuku tried to argue back. He felt his temper slightly flare, not that he let it show. Why did the man keep digging? He was trying so hard. Why did he even care?

You don't deserve it.

“Midoriya.” Aizawa started with a sharp and commanding tone. “You were screaming at the top of your lungs. You sounded like you were under attack. I understand it was a nightmare, but dreams like that can’t be good for your mental health. It doesn’t have to be with me and it doesn’t have to be now, but you have to talk about it with someone. Isn’t there anyone you trust that you can talk about this with?”

Izuku didn’t want to talk about it with anyone. He just wanted to bury it away and forget like all of his other nightmares. He was fine, he didn’t need to talk about it. He’s made it this far without talking about his problems so he’s pretty sure he will continue to survive.

Now, did he have someone he could talk to that he trusts? No, he didn’t. He really didn’t trust anyone but Mr. Gooey, but like hell, he was going to tell Aizawa that the only thing he trusts is a blob. So he lied.

“Y-y-yes I have s-s-someone I can t-t-t-trust. I’ll talk t-t-to him when I feel ready.” Izuku left out the part where he was pretty sure he would never be ready.

Aizawa gazed at him skeptically. “Alright… I have no reason to not believe you. You can wait until you are ready, but I will be checking if you did later on.

Izuku internally sighed with relief. He could tell that Aizawa didn’t believe him fully, but that was fine with Izuku he really only needed him to believe him a little bit. He absentmindedly started to twiddle his thumbs when the room started to fill with an awkward silence. He went to go glance at the time when he noticed there wasn’t a clock in his room. He would need that fixed, not knowing the time made him anxious.

“W-what t-time is it?” The room was pretty dark so Izuku guessed it was still early in the morning.

“It’s 6 in the morning. I was just about to start making some breakfast for myself before I heard you scream.” Aizawa replied.

Izuku nodded awkwardly. He felt extremely guilty that he bothered his teacher. He had nightmares frequently, but he didn’t have ones that were so bad they caused him to scream very often. Hopefully, they would not become a common occurrence.

“Would you like some?” Aizawa asked.

“W-what?” Izuku already forgot what they were talking about.

Stupid Deku.

“Breakfast. Would you also like some?”

Oh.  

“U-uhm, sure if it’s n-n-not too much of a b-bother.” He replied quietly.

Aizawa let out a patient sigh. “What did we just say earlier?” the man asked sternly.

“Th-that I’m not a bother…?” Izuku asked hesitantly.

Liar. You are a bother. You will always be a bother, don’t you ever think otherwise.

“That’s right. Now, follow me.” Aizawa waved his hand in a following gesture towards the hallway.

Izuku stood up and silently followed the man to the kitchen. He took a seat at the table and watched Aizawa cook. He couldn’t really see what the man was making from where he was sitting, and he was too shy to ask. One thing was for sure, it smelt really familiar. He noticed his mouth was watering slightly at the pleasant smell. His stomach let out a growl.

“It’s almost done.” Aizawa stated with an amused sounding voice.

Izuku felt his face heat up. His stomach must have growled so loud that Aizawa heard it over the sizzling pops coming from the frying pan. That was embarrassing. True to Aizawa’s words the meal was done and placed in front of him a minute later. The man turned back to the stove to make his own breakfast.

Izuku stared down at the food that was placed in front of him. He felt tears start to prickle his eyes which quickly gathered and silently streamed down his face. It was an omelette. It was the same kind his mom used to make. His absolute favourite breakfast. He delicately cut a piece of the omelette and placed it in his mouth. He savoured it and let the taste coat his mouth. It was delicious.

A small sob left him, he quickly tried to muffle it. It was too late as Aizawa heard it. Said man turned around with a curious and concerned face.

“What’s wrong? Is my cooking really that bad?” Aizawa questioned. He sounded concerned but was clearly trying to lighten the mood.

“N-no it’s not th-that. It’s my f-favourite a-actually. My m-m-mom used-used-” Izuku’s voice broke into a louder sob. Aizawa took his pan off the heat and kneeled by Izuku and wrapped him into a hug.

“She u-used to m-make this for me a-a-all the time. I haven’t h-h-had it since she d-d-died.” Aizawa gently hushed his cries. “She u-used to claim that her s-secret ingredient was love. She k-kept an e-empty salt sh-shaker beside the s-salt and p-pepper, it was labelled ‘Love’. S-so whenever she cooked she would sh-shake the sh-shaker over her f-food, and she would t-tell me it was m-made with love. It w-w-was really dumb, but w-when I was a k-kid I loved i-it.” Izuku let out a broken sounding nostalgic laugh. The laugh quickly faded and Izuku adopted a more serious tone.

“Around th-three y-years ago I accidentally knocked the shaker over a-a-and broke it i-into pieces. It w-was something s-so small and it w-w-wasn’t even real, b-but when it shattered I c-could feel my h-heart shatter with it i-into a m-million pieces. Th-throwing it out was o-one of the most p-painful things I w-went through since my m-mom died. It was the only thing I h-had left with good m-memories tied to i-it. Everything else was j-just all faded memories that I’m s-starting to forget as I g-g-get older.” He finished sadly. He let out a small sniffle, his tears finally stopped. “I’m s-sorry f-for the d-dreary s-story.” Izuku muttered lamely. He hadn’t meant to go off like that.

Aizawa gently patted his head which turned into a small hair ruffle. Izuku thought about telling the man to stop but quickly decided not to. It felt oddly comforting.

“It’s alright kid, I can understand how that would trigger some painful memories. If you don’t want me to make any more omelettes in the future, just let me know. Alright?”

“Y-you can make them as m-much as you want. I j-just felt like I h-had to explain myself. Omelettes don’t u-usually make p-people cry.” Izuku said humourlessly. Why did he have to be so weird?

Freak. Worthless Deku.

Ah, that made sense. It was because he was a Deku and of course all Deku’s are weird. His world felt like it was slightly more balanced at the self-hate. Why did he need to insult himself to function? Things just didn’t feel normal when he didn’t. Things felt… wrong. Unnatural.     

“I-is it alright if I g-go back to my r-room?” Izuku questioned. It was the weekend and he really just wanted to crawl into bed and never leave. In his room he could let the negative thoughts consume him, then he could start to feel normal again.

“Actually we have plans today.” Aizawa casually said.

“W-we do?” Well, there goes Izuku’s idea of crawling into bed. Darn, he was really looking forward to it too.

“I couldn’t help but notice that you brought back a lack of clothes and other things. So I figured we should go to some stores and buy some.”

Izuku’s eyes widened. He could never ask Aizawa to do something like that for him, the man had already done enough. “W-wait! You d-d-don’t have to do that. I’m h-happy with what I a-already have.” Izuku said while rapidly waving his hands back in forth, in front of his face.

“Kid, you need more clothes. I know it probably makes you feel uncomfortable but it needs to be done. Before you continue to tell me that I don’t have to do this I’m just going to correct you. As long as you’re living here you are my responsibility. So if I think you need some more clothes then we are going to get you some more clothes, alright?” Aizawa ended with a look that dared him to rebuttal him.

Izuku didn’t, he was afraid if he did the man would get upset with him. Izuku nodded his head in agreement with Aizawa. He guesses this is happening now, it’s not like he really has a choice. He internally sighed and left to go change in his room, it was going to be a long day. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad?

Shut up. You know how you are in stores. A stupid stuttering mess. Idiot.

His thoughts were right it was probably going to be a disaster. He could only hope that Aizawa wouldn’t get too mad at his nervous anxious self on their trip. He knows that he can be a handful and he rather not annoy the man that was letting him stay at his apartment.  

They left on their shopping trip around 10 am, Izuku could feel the beginnings of anxiety bubble in his chest. It was stronger than it usually was. When they arrived at the first store a bad feeling settled in his stomach. It was the kind you get when you’re caught doing something you’re not supposed to, or when you are called out in class for not paying attention. He felt his body tense up and his hairs stand on end. His skin started to crawl like thousands of bugs decided to explore his body. For whatever reason Izuku felt like something terrible was going to happen.

They entered the store. Izuku didn't like what he saw. 

Chapter Text

Izuku shyly trailed after Aizawa into the department store. What he saw once they were inside left him breathless. The buildings entire ceiling was covered in inky black blobs. Izuku felt his stomach drop at the sight. He swallowed down his nausea-inducing nervousness and brought Aizawa’s attention towards him.

“Mr.A-Aizawa, something isn’t r-right…” He nervously trailed off.

Aizawa lazily turned his head towards Izuku with a curious expression.

“Why? What do you see kid?” Aizawa questioned seriously while fingering the goggles around his neck.

 “Blobs. Covering the entire c-ceiling. S-something bad is going to h-happen, and s-soon.” Izuku’s voice ended off shrill and panicked. He couldn’t help it, something bad was going to happen and the store was filled with people that could get hurt.

People that he wouldn’t be able to save. People that woul-

Izuku’s thoughts were interrupted by a loud explosion that sounded like it was coming from outside the building. The whole structure was shaking from the force of it. Civilians started to scream and run towards the buildings exits in a panic. Izuku gathered his blob armour on instinct. Aizawa brought his goggles to his face and placed a steady hand on Izuku’s shoulder.

“Stay close to me.” Aizawa said while trying to lead him through the crowd of people.

Izuku nodded his head as a reply. He was about to ask what the plan was when another explosion was set off. This time the whole ground violently shook, the force of it knocked Izuku off his feet. He landed on his back, his head roughly hit the ground with a loud smack, temporarily dazing him.

Due to his position on the ground, Izuku was able to see the ceiling starting to crack and lose its structural integrity. Tiny pieces of the ceiling were starting to rain down in the store. The remaining customers started to panic even more, people were pushing others down, only concerned about their own safety.

“We have to get out of here before the ceiling collapses.” Izuku said sternly from the ground.

Aizawa nodded in agreement and bent over to help Izuku up. He noticed a large chunk of ceiling starting to break off over their heads. Without even thinking Izuku rolled over and pushed Aizawa with all of his strength, effectively knocking the man out of the way. He watched Aizawa’s eyes grow wide with worry and fear, within seconds he was met with a sudden pressure and darkness. He was now trapped under a large piece of debris that rested on top of his chest and covered his whole body. Thankfully his blob armour absorbed the impact of the heavy object, but now there was an uncomfortable crushing pressure that was making it hard to breathe. He could hear shouting coming from around him, but he couldn’t make out the words. Izuku could only assume that it was Aizawa or maybe more panicked people.

He tried to command surrounding blobs to push the large debris off of his body, but since his vision was obscured he couldn’t effectively carry out his plan. Izuku let out a small frustrated breath. This situation was less than ideal, but at least it was him trapped under here and not Aizawa. Izuku was certain the hero wouldn’t have survived if he hadn’t pushed him out of the way. Now he just had to wait and hope for the best.

It had been some time since Izuku was trapped under the rubble. He estimated that it had been roughly 30-50 minutes since he was encased by the debris. It was starting to feel extremely claustrophobic. The constant pressure that was pushing onto his chest was becoming more suffocating by the minute. If he wasn’t freed soon, he was sure that he was going to pass out or hyperventilate. Either situation wasn’t desired.

He feebly tried to shift his body to move the pressure to some other part of his body but he was completely immobilized.

“What’s taking them so long Gooey?” Izuku anxiously asked the smiley faced blob.

The blob’s mute answer seemed to be the last straw of Izuku’s sanity. He inhaled as much of the dusty air as he could and then screamed.

“HELP!” His shout ended in a coughing fit. Once he felt his lungs were cleared he inhaled again. “AIZAWA! HELP!” he waited a few seconds before he screamed again. “PLEASE HELP, ANYBODY! GET ME OUT OF HERE!” Izuku was left panting and coughing due to the lack of air and dust. He tried to catch his breath but quickly found out he couldn’t expand his chest enough to replenish the oxygen he lost. This fact caused him to panic even more.

Short breathy pants left his body, each making him feel more lightheaded and spacey than the last. At this rate, he was positive he was going to pass out. Izuku was starting to accept his fate when a certain thought struck him.

What if he lost control of his blob armour if he passed out?

He felt his eyes widen and quickly grow wet. If he wasn’t freed soon, he was going to be crushed to death. A silent sob left his body as a tear tracked down his cheek. At least he got to save one person before he died. He was glad that person was Aizawa, the man deserved to live. Despite the fear and sadness that was erupting in Izuku, he didn’t regret his actions, he would have done it again in a heartbeat.

Izuku took in a slow breath until his chest couldn’t expand anymore, then slowly let it out. He was trying to calm his breathing to prevent him from passing out for as long as he can, but he could tell his time was limited. On instinct he attempted to bring his hand to Mr. Gooey for comfort, forgetting that the limb was pinned. More tears fell down his face when he found his arm wouldn’t move.

“I’m s-sorry Gooey. I can’t m-move.” His voice broke into another silent sob. He could feel himself losing consciousness when an excruciating sharp pain radiated from his left arm. The pain tore a scream from Izuku’s throat.

“G-GOOEY, it h-hurts! IT HURTS!” He screamed out.

He was losing focus on his armour, and now it was starting to fall apart. He was slowly being crushed. Another scream erupted from him due to the white-hot pain. He gagged and struggled to not vomit. If he did he would surely choke on it, then he would positively be done for.

He sniffled and did on last inhale before yelling out “SOMEONE! ANYONE! PLEASE HELP!” His shout ended up in a coughing fit which hurt his chest and burned his throat. He was preparing himself for the inevitable when he felt the rubble budge. The hard concrete pushed into his injured arm, tearing another pained shout from his mouth.

He heard muffled swearing and an apologetic voice. Izuku was instantly washed with relief, this meant someone found him. He was going to be saved.

“It’s okay Gooey, it’s okay. We’re found, everything is going to be fine now.” He whispered. He wasn’t sure if he was trying to comfort the blob or himself.

The large piece of debris was slowly lifted upwards off his body. He heard a loud high pitched screaming that reminded him a lot of his own voice. He squinted his eyes as light assaulted his vision. He was able to make out one large blurry figure holding the rubble, and several smaller figures. He could hear the figures trying to ask him questions, but he wasn’t processing what they were saying. His ears were ringing and his head was pounding. He let out a low groan and winced as he accidentally tensed his hurt arm.

He felt a gentle hand placed on his shoulder and more muffled voices were directed towards him. It was all too loud, Izuku went to bring his hands up to his ears but yet again forgot about his arm. He let out a low pained whine. There was more concerned muffled voices. Didn’t they understand that he couldn’t hear them? Izuku opened his mouth to try and reply to the voices but found that his voice only came out in dry raspy squeaks. His throat felt raw.

Izuku blinked his eyes a few times as his vision finally started to adjust to the light around him, was able to make out a large iconic figure kneeling down beside him.

Izuku painfully swallowed. “A-All Might?” He raspily questioned.

He heard a muffled chuckle the tone of it seemed to be relieved and anxious at the same time. Izuku felt a gentle tap on his shoulder which brought his attention to his right side. Aizawa was sitting on the ground beside him gently petting his head.

Had he been doing that the whole time?

“Mr. Aizawa…” Izuku trailed off. He was glad the man was alright, it brought some of his panic to more manageable levels.

His teacher smiled at him. Izuku watched as Aizawa’s mouth moved but no sound came out.

“I c-can’t hear.” Izuku mumbled out with what he hoped was an audible volume.

He was met with a concerned frown from Aizawa. The man was handed what appeared to be a small flashlight which was brought to his eyes. He tried to close them but Aizawa held one of his eyes open. The light made his heads throbbing even worse.

Aizawa turned away to speak to All Might. The two seemed to argue a bit before Aizawa sighed and seemed to begrudgingly agree to something. Izuku tried to read their lips but was only able to make out something along the lines of moving. Maybe they were trying to move him? It would make sense to.

His theory was quickly proven right when All Might kneeled down beside him with an apologetic face. He felt his injured arm being carefully propped up on his chest. The unprepared movement brought more tears to his eyes. His throat felt sore again. All Might’s big hands slid under his body as he was lifted up into a cradling position. All Might carefully tucked Izuku’s head into his large chest. He felt rumbling which Izuku could only assume meant the large man was talking. He anxiously gripped Mr.Gooey with the hand attached to his good arm, he didn’t like not being able to hear.

Normally Izuku would have tried to protest being carried, but he just didn’t have the energy for it. He was so tired, honestly he really just wanted to sleep. He knew he wouldn’t be able to for the next little while since he was guessing that he probably had a rather serious concussion, which would explain the loud ringing in his ears and slight hearing loss.

As he was carried towards the exit the air started to smell with a pungent coppery odour. He turned his head away from All Might’s chest to get a better view of the store. He caught sight of the floor stained with dark crimson. Izuku felt his heartbeat elevate, his eyes followed the pool of blood to a lifeless looking lone head. His chest vibrated with panic and he gagged. Izuku felt All Might’s large hands quickly and gently turn his head back into his chest. The man rested his palm on his head, further preventing him from turning around again. He tightly shut his eyes, wishing he hadn’t taken a look.

He could tell they were outside when he felt fresh air on his face, and when the coppery smell disappeared. All Might’s hand slipped off his head and he was lowered onto a nearby stretcher. All Might carted him off towards a familiar face that Izuku was relieved to see.

Recovery Girl gently smiled down at him and quickly examined his wounds. Recovery Girl gave his shoulder a quick and gentle pat before she gave him a wet smooch on the cheek. Within in seconds, he felt himself passing out. A shock blanket was placed over his body, and then he was dead to the world.

Shota let out a tired sigh and shifted in the uncomfortable infirmary chair. He thought about complaining about the chairs comfort level to Recovery Girl but he knew he would only be met with annoyed scolding. So he refrained.

He closed his eyes and listened to the rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor that was connected to Midoriya. It had been 7 hours since the villain attack and Midoriya was still knocked out. His injuries must have been more serious then he thought or else the kid would have been awake by now.

He shifted again and brought his elbows onto his thighs, leaning his head into his hands. He stared at the boy with irritation.

“Such a problem child.” He huffed.

Midoriya confused Shota. He was skittish and a stuttering mess, but whenever the situation called for it the boy switched personalities. His stuttering would disappear and his demeanour would change. He acted more confident and sure of himself.

Shota tiredly rubbed his hands over his face. There was no doubt, the kid was his hero today. If Midoriya hadn’t pushed him out of the way when he did, he was positive he would have become an Eraserhead pancake. The result of Midoriya taking his place under the rubble resulted in him obtaining a serious concussion, a few cracked ribs, and a crushed arm. Recovery Girl had shown him an X-Ray earlier. The kid was lucky, the damage in his arm extended through the whole limb, but it wasn’t bad enough to be irreparable. If they had been a few minutes longer he wasn’t sure if the kid would have been as lucky.

Shota shook his head as he tried to forget Midoriya’s muffled screams for his help. He tried to lift the rubble off the kid but he just wasn’t strong enough. The feeling of helplessness was unnerving. He had never been more thankful for All Might’s presence more than that moment.

If only I had been faster. If only I had been stro-

Shota’s thoughts were interrupted by a pitiful groan coming from the infirmary bed.

“M-Mr. Aizawa?” Midoriya questioned softly.

“Right here.” Shota said flatly while walking towards the side of the bed.

“Where a-am I?” Midoriya questioned.

“U.A.’s infirmary.” Shota stated.

The kid’s face scrunched up in confusion. “Why not the hospital?”

“Because I trust Recovery Girl more.” Was Shota’s simple answer.

 Midoriya nodded at the answer. “W-What happened?” The boy asked quietly.

“You fell unconscious when Recovery Gi-” Shota was interrupted by Midoriya’s voice.

“No, I mean what happened? Th-the explosions.”

“There was a villain attack in the streets from a man with a bomb quirk. He was able to create different kinds of bombs from different parts of his body. The explosions were a bit too close, which caused the ceiling to collapse.” Shota stopped recalling the events of the incident when he saw tears falling down Midoriya’s face. “Hey, hey what’s wrong?” He asked while patting Midoriya’s hand in what he hoped was a comforting manner.

“I s-saw a head.” Shota scrunched his eyebrows in puzzlement. He was about to ask what he meant when Midoriya added “Just a head. Attached to nothing.” More tears ran down the boy’s face “It was a girl’s, she looked about my age.”

Shota swore silently. He told All Might to not let Midoriya look, no matter what. The man really was a big oaf. The ceiling collapsing had caused some causalities. The report that he had read said there was at least 15 deaths and counting.

“I’m sorry that you had to see that. I really wish you hadn’t been exposed to something like this so early, but what’s done is done. I know it’s tough but sometimes casualties like that are a part of the job. Despite our quirks, we can’t save everybody.” Shota wasn’t sure what he was saying, he wasn’t very good at comforting children. He hoped that he sounded at least somewhat comforting and reassuring.

Midoriya stared at his hands and mumbled out “O-Okay. I th-think I want to s-sleep some more. Is th-that a-alright?”

“You don’t need to ask for permission to sleep.” Shota responded albeit amused.

The boy gently nodded his head and rolled onto his side, so his back was facing Shota. Shota brought himself back to the uncomfortable chair and sat down, fully intending to wait until Midoriya woke up again.

He really wished Midoriya never saw that poor kid's head. The boy already had a damaged psyche and he was afraid of how the trauma of the situation would impact him. He could only hope for the best.

Chapter Text

When Izuku woke next it was to silence and darkness. He panicked for a moment thinking he was still trapped under the heavy rubble but quickly rationalized that was impossible due to him being able to move.

“M-Mr. A-Aizawa?” He whispered out. He was met with silence.

Izuku slowly slid his body off the infirmary bed. He felt a slight pinch in his right arm and recognized it came from an IV needle. He gently pulled it out with his left arm, which to Izuku’s delight didn’t hurt anymore. He slid off the bed, easily finding some slippers on the floor and slipped them on his feet. He walked towards the wall and felt around for the room’s light switch and flicked it on. The room lit up, causing Izuku to squint slightly, the bright light assaulting his vision.

He glanced over towards the chair where he saw Aizawa last only to find it empty. Of course, the man wasn’t there, did he really expect Aizawa to stay the whole time he was here?

Stupid Deku.

The boy let out a long weary sigh. He knew logically the man had better things to do then stay with him, but he had secretly hoped he would have. His chest panged with hurt leaving a wave of loneliness in its path. His hand found its way to Mr. Gooey, he gently gave it a squeeze in hopes of letting out some of his emotions. It wasn’t that effective.

Izuku quietly slid the infirmary room’s door open and winced slightly. Despite Recovery Girl’s healing, his chest still felt sore. Although he would take the soreness over the crushing pain he felt earlier any day.

He quietly slipped out into the dark hallway, leaving the door open to provide some light. He started to absentmindedly stroll down the hallway. Once he reached the end he turned the corner and kept going.

Izuku honestly didn’t know where he was going, he just knew he had to move. If he stayed in that bed any longer he knew he was going to go crazy. He had a lot on his mind and he considered vocalizing his busy thoughts to Aizawa, but it was obvious the man didn’t like him as much as he thought.

He doesn’t actually like you. He’s just doing his job. You are nothing but a bother. An annoying pathetic child. Get it through your thick skull! Aizawa. Does. Not. Care.

Izuku’s eyes quickly grew wet, before he could even think to prevent the tears they were already falling down his face. Why does he care so much? He’s lived this long without anyone, so why?

He continued walking down the hall but was walking crookedly due to his blurred vision. More tears slipped down his face.

“But… I wanted him to care.” He whispered out to himself.

He tripped over his own foot and stumbled to the ground, landing roughly on his knees. A small burst of pain radiated through his kneecaps which faded into a dull throb shortly after. Izuku let out a loud sniffle and shifted himself into a sitting position and slid himself against the nearest wall.

He doesn’t care. He doesn’t care. He DOESN’T care!

He curled his legs up to his chest and rested his arms in a crossing position on them. When he felt more tears starting to well up he ducked his head down into his awaiting arms. Izuku closed his eyes and waited for his emotions to pass, or for him to run out of tears, whichever came first.

“Why do I want him to care so much?” He whispered out in a shaky voice.

You don’t deserve it.

When Izuku was met with silence to his desperate question, something snapped in him. His body quickly went from cold empty sorrow to hot angry rage. Izuku whipped himself off the ground and ripped Mr. Gooey off his chest. He stared down at the slime that rested in the palm of his hand with a look of disgust.

“Why do I want him to care?!” Izuku waited for the answer that he knew wouldn’t come. Before he could stop himself he tightly gripped Gooey and then angrily whipped the blob across the hall. He watched the glob of slime smack onto the wall across from him.

“WHY WON’T YOU ANSWER!?” Izuku angrily yelled at the blob. He knew logically the blob was physically incapable of talking, or even having thoughts. But that knowledge made him all the angrier.

“IT’S NOT FAIR!” He yelled out. Rage filled tears slipped down his face. “I NEVER ASKED FOR THIS!” He fell back down onto the ground and let his arm fall so the back of his hand was flat on the ground. He guiltily called Mr. Gooey into his opened hand.

Once again he brought the blob up to his face. “Now that I’ve been shown what it’s like to be cared for again, I don’t think I can go back to how I was. That scares me Gooey.” His voice started to shake. “That scares me more than being stuck under that rubble. What if he really doesn’t care? What if I’m left alone again? I’m so sca-red” His voice broke into more tears.  

It doesn’t matter, you don’t deserve happiness. Stupid Deku. Murderers deserve to be alone.

“Shut up!” He yelled at himself through tears. “Mr. Aizawa said I don’t deserve this, he sa-“

STUPID DEKU. Mr. Aizawa lied. Stupid ignorant Deku. Don’t you realize by now that you don’t deserve happiness? That you deserve to be alone? You should just give up.

Izuku let out a sob at his inner thought’s discouraging words. The most upsetting part about his thoughts was that he truly believed he was getting a little tiny bit better. He was wrong.  

Just give up. Give up and die. Give up. Give up. GIVE UP. Give up and let me finally fe-

“Midoriya?” A gruff tired sounding voice called out, interrupting Izuku’s crude thoughts.

The green-haired boy nodded his head towards the tired-sounding voice. He was surprised to find that it was Aizawa.

“Mr. A-Aizawa?” Izuku quietly called out through his choked up voice.

“Hey, hey, kid, what’s wrong?” Aizawa asked in a concerned voice while walking towards Izuku’s crumpled form. “Why are you crying? Are you hurt?”

“N-no I’m fine. I j-just, I-I-” Izuku stopped himself. How was he supposed to explain why he was crying to Mr. Aizawa? Should he even explain himself? What if his teacher thought of him as pathetic and annoying?

You are pathetic and annoying, of course, he’s going to think that. Idiot.

“It’s okay to tell me, I won’t laugh.” Aizawa prompted in hopes of getting Izuku to open up.

Izuku opened his mouth and then closed it, unsure if he should speak or not. He finally decided that he had nothing to lose.

“I w-was afraid.”

“Well, it’s completely normal to be afraid after the traumatic experience you just went through.” Aizawa stated seriously.

“Th-that’s not why I was a-afraid.” Izuku stuttered out.

Aizawa looked at him in puzzlement. “Then what are you afraid of?” He questioned.

Izuku took a big inhale before he spoke again. “I w-woke up and you were g-gone and I felt alone. Being alone is really s-scary after you have been it for so l-long. I’ve j-just realized that now that I have e-experienced your kindness and company that I n-never want to be alone again. W-when I woke up and you were gone, I thought that y-you didn’t care. That I was going to be a-alone again after all.”

When Izuku finished he quickly shut his eyes, he was afraid to see Aizawa’s face. He was afraid to see the disgust. To his surprise, he felt warm arms wrap around him and pull him into a warm chest.

“Oh, kid I’m sorry,” Aizawa muttered out sincerely. “I went to go take a phone call, I didn’t want to wake you. I promise I was waiting for you. I wasn’t going to leave you alone, and I don’t plan on it.”

Izuku felt Aizawa’s hand rub up and down his back in a comforting manner. Maybe the man really did care. Izuku hesitantly brought his arms around the man and hugged him back. It felt really nice. This affirmed Izuku’s previous thoughts, he can’t go back to being alone.

Don’t get to close! You’ll kill him! You’ll infect him!

Izuku scrunched his eyebrows together. His thoughts sounded desperate. That was… strange.

“I’m s-sorry.” Izuku muttered out.

“What on earth do you have to be sorry for kid?” Aizawa mumbled out albeit exasperated.

“I o-over reacted. I’m b-being d-dumb and annoying.”

“Midoriya.” Aizawa said firmly. “Having emotions isn’t ‘dumb’ or ‘annoying’ it’s completely natural, there’s nothing wrong with it. Understand?”

Izuku nodded his head in understanding. Aizawa stood up and held a hand down towards Izuku. He gladly grasped the man’s outstretched hand and was pulled up.

Aizawa let out a tired sigh. “Other than the emotions, how are you feeling? Any pain still?”

“N-no, not really. My ch-chest is a little s-sore but that’s it.” Izuku stuttered out.

Aizawa let out a hum. “I suppose you are mostly healed, but I would like recovery girl to look over you one last time before we leave.”

Izuku nodded in agreement. Having one more check-up was probably best. Together, they walked back to the infirmary room. Izuku sat on the bed he was sleeping on and Aizawa sat back in the uncomfortable chair. It was still early in the morning, so they would have to wait a bit before recovery girl was available.

Aizawa let out a bored sigh. “You should try to sleep some more before your check-up”

“I-I don’t think I w-would be able to f-fall asleep i-if I tried.” Izuku said.

Aizawa hummed again in response. An awkward silence was quickly becoming more and more apparent. It was obvious Aizawa wasn’t much for small talk and Izuku usually didn’t talk unless he was prompted to.

“Why did you agree to take care of me?” Izuku was surprised at himself when the question suddenly slipped out of his mouth.

Aizawa seemed to be equally surprised. “You’re my student. If needed I’ll take care of you, like I would any of my students.”

“If you had the option to say no, would you have?” Izuku asked.

Aizawa let out a tiny knowing smirk. “Kid, I did have the option to say no. I don’t know what that brain of yours is telling you but I care about you, and all of my students. I would say yes again every time.”

Izuku was surprised at the man’s commitment to his students. He thought the man was being forced to take care of him. But now that he knows that Aizawa wants to, he feels less guilty than before.

“Thank y-you.” Izuku said softly.

“Anytime.” Was Aizawa’s short reply.

A few hours later Izuku was examined by Recovery Girl one last time. He was told he was free to go and that the soreness in his chest was to be expected, due to the newly healed rib bones.

Izuku now laid in bed trying to fall asleep. He thought about how the rest of the day went. Once he had returned to Aizawa’s apartment he was slightly worried that the man was going to try and drag him on another shopping trip. He was greatly amused when Aizawa pulled out a laptop and suggested they just online shop instead.

In a few hours’ time, Izuku had a full week’s worth of outfits and decorations for his room ordered and shipped. Izuku would be lying if he said he wasn’t excited for the incoming items. He let out a content sigh. Izuku was afraid to say it out loud, but he felt happy. The happiest he has been since his mom.

You don’t deserve it.

“Shut up” He said to himself.

You don’t deserve it.

“I said, shut up. Stupid brain.”

You don’t deserve it.

“Shut up.” Izuku said one last time.

…

Izuku let out a big grin at the silence he grabbed Mr. Gooey in victory and hugged it. Izuku noticed that the blob felt odd in his embrace. He brought the blob back to his view and was surprised to see that it was jiggling oddly. Izuku stared at it oddly, this has never happened before.

He shrugged, it was probably nothing. He can’t be expected to learn all of his quirks secrets. He placed the jiggling blob on the wall beside his bed and commanded it to stay. Izuku shut his eyes and drifted to sleep, ready for tomorrow’s school day.

Chapter Text

Izuku’s peaceful comatose state was rudely awoken to a loud rapping on his door. He felt himself stiffen and his heart pounded at the unwelcomed interruption.

He started in a raspy voice “Hel-” then cleared his throat to sound at least somewhat more awake. “Hello?”

A muffled voice sounded from the other side of his bedroom door. “May I come in?”

Izuku heard Aizawa’s tired voice and briefly wondered if the man slept at all. “S-sure.” He replied softly.

The door softly creaked open revealing the tired figure of Aizawa. He strolled into his bedroom, sipping some coffee from a blue mug decorated with painted cats. Izuku internally smiled at the sight.

“Sorry to wake you, but there is only an hour left before classes start.”

“Already?” Izuku mumbled out. If he was being honest with himself, he felt dead tired. He was probably still fatigued from Recovery Girl’s quirk. Izuku then noticed Aizawa’s eyes sizing him up and coming to the same conclusion he had.

“You look tired, if you don’t feel up to today you can stay here and sleep, get your energy back.”

Izuku took notice of the brief concern flashing trough Aizawa’s stern gaze. “I’m f-fine, I just need to w-wake up some more.” Izuku said not sounding too confident in his words.

Aizawa’s eyes narrowed. “You better think carefully about that. If you end up in the infirmary again after just leaving, Recovery Girl will kill me.”

Izuku could hear the joking tone in his voice. Hidden beneath all of Aizawa’s seriousness he really was just a sarcastic, sleep-deprived, slightly crazy old man. Okay, maybe old was pushing it but the rest was 100% true. Izuku internally chuckled at his thoughts before replying.

“She will only kill you after she kills me first.” Izuku said in a deadpan voice.

Aizawa’s eyebrow raised at his uncharacteristic behaviour. Izuku didn’t blame him, he was also surprised by his own behaviour. He just felt different, it was like a weight was taken off his shoulders and he could finally, finally, breathe.

Izuku started to shift off the bed, stretching his legs as he did so. Once he was on his feet he strolled past Aizawa and out into the kitchen.

“I’ll take that as a yes to my question.” Aizawa muttered out.

“Yup, I’m definitely going.” Izuku called out.

He could hear the man tiredly sigh at his stubbornness, but at the moment he didn’t care. Yes, he was tired but he wanted to go to class and see his friends (maybe friends?). Mostly he just wanted something to actually feel normal. The past few days and been way too chaotic for his mental health. He just wanted to listen to Uraraka talk about everything and anything in her bubbly voice. He wanted to listen to Iida actively try to scold and praise everyone in the class at the same time. He wanted to listen to his teacher's lecture about things that might even bore him. He didn’t care, he just wanted to feel normal.

His mind briefly flashed to a small child’s head, missing its body, lifelessly laying on the ground. Izuku lightly bit his tongue and scratched at his wrist.

Let’s not think about that right now. He thought harshly.

He was going to go to class and listen to his classmates and teachers. He was going to feel normal.

Normal.

What even was normal for him? He doesn’t even think he could even answer that question. Nothing in his life had been normal since his mom died. Everything had just been a giant roller coaster that just went down and never up.

Izuku startled when he felt a hand land on his shoulder.

“Everything alright?” Aizawa asked.

“Yea, just thinking.” Izuku replied.

“About?” The man prompted.

“Nothing special, j-just about some notes I should a-add to my books.”

Aizawa hummed in response. Izuku could tell that the man knew that was not what he was thinking about, but he was glad he wasn’t pushing him to tell the truth. He wanted to trust Aizawa, and tell him everything that ever bothered him, he knew the man would do what he could to help. Unfortunately, despite his wishes, every time he wanted to he couldn’t bring himself to open up unless he was close to breaking down. It was like his mouth stopped working and his brain went on autopilot to say anything but the problem. He supposes it’s due to his mom’s disappearance and his father’s rejection.

‘Trust and abandonment issues’ casually rang out through his head.

Izuku had no doubt that was the issue. He just had to figure out how to fix it on his own, then he wouldn’t have to bother anyone anymore.

Izuku’s thought process was interrupted by a plate of eggs, toast, and some apple slices being placed down in front of him. He hadn’t even noticed Aizawa was making breakfast, he really must have been zoned out.

“Make sure you eat all of that, it will help you recover from the fatigue.” Aizawa said sternly.

“Thank you, Mr. Aizawa.” Izuku said sincerely.

He hungrily dug into his breakfast, finishing it faster than he thought possible. He knew that Aizawa said he didn’t have a problem taking care of him but Izuku still felt a nagging guilty feeling whenever the man did things like this for him. He hoped he would get over it soon.

“You know,” Izuku heard Aizawa start “When we aren’t at the school you can just call me Aizawa or Shouta. You don’t have to worry about being polite.” He finished slightly waving his hand in the air. As if he was trying to physically banish the term “Mr.” from the home.

“O-okay. I’ll try Mr. Aiz- erm I mean just Aizawa.” Izuku finished awkwardly. He flinched slightly at his own mess up. Saying the man’s name normally felt weird.

Izuku waited to see if Aizawa would make fun of his mess up, but the man was just casually sipping his coffee and reading over what looked to be some student’s assignments. He winced slightly when Aizawa marked the paper with a low grade in thick red marker. Izuku quietly stood up and announced that we was going to get ready for the day. Aizawa seemed so absorbed in the grading he wasn’t even sure if he heard him, or if he was just giving Izuku a chance to escape the awkward situation he had created.

Either way, Izuku took the opportunity to escape to his room. He quickly got ready for the day and somehow managed to actually tie his tie properly. He stared in his room's mirror in a state of shock. He could hear Iida cheering for him from across town. He let out a small laugh at the thought then quickly slapped his hands over his mouth.

Had he just laughed out loud? He wide-eyed stared at himself in disbelief. He reached down his chest to bring up Mr. Gooey in front of his face to share his surprise. When his hand met empty air his head quickly snapped down to find that Mr. Gooey wasn’t even with him. Izuku turned around to find the lone blob still on his wall. For the third time, Izuku was shocked. He had left his room, ate breakfast and even had a small conversation without Mr. Gooey.

Izuku stuck out his hand onto his mattress and spoke “Gooey, come.” The blob obediently slimed onto his hand. He brought the blob up to his face. “I’m s-sorry Gooey… It won’t happen again.” Izuku’s guilt-ridden voice rung out. He stuck the blob onto its usual spot over his heart. Everything immediately felt heavy. His emotions, his movements, his whole state of being.  

Do you see what happens when you forget about your family?

Izuku’s shoulders sagged under his guilty consciousness’s thoughts. How could he have done that? Sure it was only for a little while, but still. Mr. Gooey was family and he just forgot about him.

“Why am I so terrible?” Izuku muttered out. “Why am I still-”

He was interrupted by a knocking at his door which made him jump. He placed a hand over Gooey trying to calm his racing heart. He opened his door to see Aizawa patiently waiting for him.

“We gotta go now, kid.” Aizawa said plainly.

Izuku nodded towards the man and they both left together for U.A.

Once Izuku entered 1-A’s classroom his ears were instantly assaulted with loud exclamations of his name from several different people.

“Midoriya!” He heard Uraraka shout before he was trapped in her arms. He stiffened in her hug, but he didn’t pull away. Uraraka held the hug for a while before she herself pulled away. She gave him a determined look and placed her hands on his shoulders, lightly grasping them.

“Are you okay?! I never heard from you after Friday! Then I find out you were in the store that got bombed! How are you getting into such dangerous situations so frequently! You’re going to give me a stress-induced heart attack! Be more careful!” She started to gently shake him back and forth by the shoulders as if to emphasis her point on being more careful.

Izuku opened his mouth to apologize, but before he could get the words out Uraraka’s hand was placed over his mouth. “Don’t apologize for things you can’t control. Just promise me you will try to be more careful alright? We were all worried about you.” Uraraka said sincerely.

That’s when Izuku remembered that he was in their classroom right now and not somewhere more secluded. His eyes quickly scanned around him, finding concerned glances in his direction. He felt his face start to heat up as he realized he was the center of attention at the moment. He gently pulled Uraraka’s hand down from his face and gave her a small smile.

”I promise to be more careful.” Izuku replied.

Uraraka nodded at him with approval.

The next few days continued without any problems. Today was different though. Class 1-A was currently on a bus headed to a building named the U.S.J. Its purpose was for practicing rescue situations in disasters. Normally Izuku would be a nervous wreck for something as big as this, but he found that instead, he was quite excited.

He listened to the quiet and not so quiet excited chatter that was around him. Some of his classmates had similar questions that he had. Like: What was the interior like? What types of disasters would there be? Would there be teams or pairs?

Izuku didn’t even realize he was muttering these questions out loud until Uraraka; who was seated beside him, lightly tapped his shoulder.

“Wow, that’s a lot of questions Midoriya.” She mused.

Izuku awkwardly chuckled “Sorry, muttering is a bad habit of mine. I didn’t mean to.”

Uraraka waved her hands in front of her in a fuss “Oh no, no, don’t worry about it! I don’t mind at all.” She said cheerfully.

Izuku nodded in relief he tried to thank her, but he found his throat felt like it had a lump in it. He turned his head away from Uraraka and blinked his forming tears away. Even though it’s been a couple of weeks he still wasn’t use to all the acceptance he has received. It automatically triggered an emotional response in him that he hated.

Uraraka had started to talk to Tsuyu who was sitting in the seat in front of her. He was glad that she didn’t seem to have noticed his watering eyes, but the soft side smile she shot him told him something different. Before Izuku could question the smile’s meaning any further the bus came to a stop and Aizawa announced that they were here. Slowly all the students filed off the bus and came to stand in front of the massive dome that was the U.S.J.

In front of the building was, what Izuku quickly deduced to be, Space Hero Thirteen. He could feel his inner fanboy raging as he did is best to rein in his hero-worship. He didn’t want to embarrass himself in front of everyone. In fact, he was surprised when Uraraka had burst out “Oh, I love Thirteen!” Izuku nodded beside her in agreement. Thirteen was a cool hero after all.

They followed the hero into the building and listened to her talk about the U.S.J. and what they would be learning. Izuku tried to listen to what she had to say but as soon as they entered the building he was distracted. The whole ceiling of the building was covered in blobs. It looked the same as the store he was in before it got bombed.

A lone head flashed through his mind. He shivered and tried to rid of the dark thoughts filling his mind. It was a building full of disaster areas so of course there was going to be a large amount of blobs there. That’s what he used to try and reason with himself until all of it was thrown out the window.

Down below near the opened plaza was not one, but two horrors. Izuku felt his breath stop as he tried to process what this meant. If there were horrors here was something bad that wasn’t supposed to happen, going to happen? As if on cue Izuku got a terrible feeling in his gut, one that filled him from head to toe in dread.

Izuku quickly turned his attention to Aizawa and hastily spoke “Something’s wrong.” In a panicked voice.

Aizawa’s tired face morphed into one of concern, he started to usher all the students out. They let out confused shouts as they didn’t understand why they were leaving when they just got there. Unfortunately, Aizawa didn’t get very far before his actions were halted from an unknown voice from behind. The man turned around and moved in front of his students, taking a protective stance.

Izuku watched helplessly as villains poured out of a purple mist, which he assumed was a warping quirk of some sort. The next thing he knew him and his classmates were being warped away.

Chapter Text

Izuku roughly landed on his back when he was dropped from the misty purple portal. He glanced around to take in his surroundings and took note that he was in a more urban part of the U.S.J that also had a heavy downpour of rain. He let out a ‘tsk’ as he stood up to get his bearings. His blob armour already made it difficult to contain his body heat, the added freezing cold water was not going to do him any favours.

Izuku’s mental complaining was interrupted by another misty portal opening slightly above him which swiftly deposited an angry blonde before disappearing again. Izuku internally sighed.

  ‘Of course, it had to be Kacchan’

 Izuku wasn’t sure where he and the blonde stood in their supposed ‘friendship’ these days. He had been mostly civil towards him for his duration at U.A. which was almost a 360 from how he was in middle school.

“The fuck is this shitty Deku?!”

Ah, maybe he spoke too soon. “A villain attack.” Izuku bluntly stated.

Kaachan didn’t seem to like his answer as he was letting off some angry fiery blasts which were noticeably duller due to the heavy rainfall. Iuzku’s eyebrows knitted together in concern for their safety since they seemed to both be handicapped. Although Bakugo had it worse than he did.

“I think we should come up with a plan. If we are going to survive we have to work together. The rain is weakening your quirk so I think its best if we play this smartly and sne-”

Izuku was cut off by several of the same misty portals appearing in front of him and the blonde. Izuku felt a little hopeful that more of his classmates would be thrown out and he wouldn’t have to deal with his uncooperative friend alone. He was quickly disappointed by a horde of what he hoped were lower class villains. Kacchan was strong but Izuku didn’t think they could handle anything greater than some thugs, especially with the downpour.

Bakugo shifted into a fighting stance and yelled out “Go home before I kill you, you shitty villains!”

One of the thugs let out an arrogant sounding chuckle. “With that kind of talk, I would mistake you for one of us.” The thugs mocking was matched with the rest of the groups laughing at the angry blonde.

Izuku could tell they were trying to aggravate Bakugo into doing something brash, which honestly wasn’t hard to do considering his temper. He took notice of his friend's change of stance, getting ready to attack.

“Wait Kacchan! Don’t fall for thei-” Izuku was cut off by the blonde letting out a guttural angry roar.

“DIE!” Was all Bakugo said before he launched himself into the group of laughing villains.

Izuku let out a huff of irritation as he got into his own fighting stance preparing himself to back Bakugo up.

He swiftly started to command nearby blobs to attach themselves to the villains, causing them to slip on the wet ground and clumsily run into each other. Thus leaving them open to receive a healthy dose of Kacchan’s explosive fists. Unfortunately, some of the thugs avoided Kacchan altogether, choosing to rather aim for Izuku.

Izuku ducked low avoiding a swift kick to the head. He quickly retaliated by shifting himself back up behind the attacker and bashing him on the back of the head, effectively knocking the villain out. Izuku felt a flicker of confidence at the downed villain and felt himself start to calm down a bit.

It’s alright we can do this Gooey, we can do this.

He took a deep calming breath and threw himself towards another villain.

He and Bakugo had been fighting side by side for roughly ten minutes and the amount of conscious villains was almost diminished.

He watched as Bakugo quickly knocked out the last two remaining thugs.

Scratch that, they had made it. Izuku let out a shaky sigh of relief, trying to prevent his teeth from chattering together. The freezing cold rain had managed to seep into his suit making the insulation he had custom made useless. He would have to consider making his suit waterproof to prevent a situation like this from happening again.

Izuku glanced around at the fallen villain’s counting more than a dozen downed thugs. At the revelation of the amount they actually took down, Izuku felt a sense of pride overtaken him.

He whipped his head around towards his friend “We did it kacchan!”

Bakugo huffed out a grunt of anger and irritation. “No thanks to you, shitty Deku.”

Izuku’s smile faltered and was replaced by a surge of anger. “What d-do you mean?! I fought alongside y-you and we both took down the villains together!”

“If you had it your way we would have cowered away and snuck around! I’m the one who decided to attack! Not you!” the blonde marched over towards Izuku and harshly smacked him on the chest, pushing him backwards. “If you want to make it as a hero shitty Deku you need to grow a pair of balls or you will never make it.”

Izuku flinched away from the blonde like his argument had physically manifested and smacked him across the face.

“What if someone needs saving! HUH, Deku?! Would you still want to sneak around?! Would you be too afraid to attack them!?” Bakugo leaned in close towards Izuku’s face and quietly muttered out “Would you be too afraid to save the day?”

Izuku felt another surge of rage flood through him, hot and angry. “That’s d-different Kacchan!” Izuku argued back. “There’s nobody to save but ou-ourselves! We are in a poor environment that doesn’t suit our quirks! I just wanted us to make it out so we would at least be able to be-become heroes in the first place!” Izuku took a big inhale as he continued his rant. “Not everything has to be a-attack first ask questions later! There is a benefit in sneaking and then having the element of s-surprise! Just because the way I approach things is different then you doesn’t make it weak! Thinking about your plan of attack will always trump attacking without th-thinking! If anything what you just did is one of the biggest weaknesses you have!”

Izuku finished is tangent panting at the angry word vomit he had just unleashed towards Bakugo. Izuku felt his eyes widen when he realized what he had just said and at who. He watched as the blonde marched towards him his temper coming to life through explosive palms.

Oh no.

“WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY YOU SHITTY DEKU?!” Bakugo screamed out towards Izuku. “For someone who considers himself to be so smart did you not stop to think that maybe our classmates are in trouble?! Did you consider that maybe there is someone that needs saving!? Did you ever cons-”

Izuku’s eyes widened in surprise towards Bakugos’s uncharacteristic argument.

  Since when did Bakugo care about anyone but himself?

 Izuku was beginning to come up with a rebuttal when his shift in focus was directed towards an ominous shadow. The argument started to fade into the background as the shadow grew closer revealing tall stilt-like legs. Izuku’s panic started to build causing his ears to ring, he panted out a strange strangled whine. The pathetic noise cut Bakugo off and brought the fiery blondes full attention towards his distressed state, not that Izuku noticed.

Oh no.

“Kacchan we have to run!” Izuku yelled out cutting off the blonde’s angry tangent only to realize he was in fact silent.

“What? More villains? I’ll kill them!” Bakugo growled out towards Izuku.

“Not q-quite.” Bakugo looked like he was going to fight him again so Izuku added “P-please don’t ask questions right now for once in your l-life just do as you’re told!”

Izuku knew he was begging, and he hated to do it to Bakugo no less but this was a desperate situation. Thankfully the blonde seemed to sense the urgency and desperation in his voice and broke out into run alongside Izuku. He knew he was most likely going to have to explain what was going on to Kacchan later, but he would worry about that when they were back safe at U.A.

Izuku chanced a look back towards where they ran from and was disturbed to see the exact same horror that had tried to eat him at the entrance exam.

What was it doing here?! Did it follow me!?

Izuku felt the beginnings of panic to fill his system. If he wasn’t able to find Aizawa this time around he wasn’t sure if he could escape the horrors wrath.

Izuku turned towards his friend “Kacchan, we should f-find Mr. Aizawa.”

Thankfully, the blonde nodded his head in agreement.

Izuku had a feeling that Aizawa would either be near the entrance or fighting what he assumed were the main villains. What he saw of them before he was warped away was that they were more towards the centre of the U.S.J. He picked up the pace towards the centre of the building. He was desperate to find Aizawa, as pathetic as it sounded he needed the safety of his quirk right now.

It didn’t take long to find Aizawa and the villains, the man was currently been stepped on by a giant hulking creature that was a dark black with an exposed brain. Izuku didn’t like that it reminded him of a horror. From what Izuku could tell Aizawa was in relatively good shape, he was just stuck. It seemed that he was stuck listening to a monologue by a guy with hands all over his body.

This is perfect, I can sneak over and free Aizawa while they're distracted.

 Or at least that was the plan until his fiery blonde friend decided to charge towards the group with a primal battle cry.

Izuku huffed out a quiet angry “Shit.” There goes the element of surprise.

The hand covered man let of an annoyed but amused chuckle. “Nomu get rid of that NPC.” The black creature let out a horrific screech and with inhuman speed slapped Backugo away like he was an annoying piece of dust. Izuku watched Bakugo fly away across the U.S.J with distress. If Backugo could be swatted away so easily the creature that he heard was called a ‘Nomu’ was going to be much worse for him.

Aizawa seemed to notice Izuku’s presence at that moment. His teacher made eye contact with him begging him to run away with his eyes. Before Izuku had time to even consider thinking about making a strategic retreat the Nomu had grabbed him and brought him towards the group. Izuku noticed Aizawa close his eyes clearly trying to mask just how upset he was that Izuku was captured.

“Hey, kid” the hand covered man started “do y’know what my quirk does?” the question was left with an ominous tone. After a few pauses of silence, the villain huffed out a disappointed sigh. “That’s too bad!” Izuku could easily tell there was a sadistic smile behind the hand covering his face.

He watched as the hand man strolled over behind his teacher, away from Aizawa’s line of sight. It was only then that Izuku noticed that his teacher's arms were bent in a sickly manner, twisted up like an elastic ready to snap.

“Here!” the man’s arrogant voice cut through his distressing thoughts. “Let me show you!” The man grabbed Aizawa’s elbow, his teacher's skin started to flake away and peel exposing the muscle. His teacher let out a pained grunt, trying not to give the monster of a human being the satisfaction that he was hurting.

Izuku struggled against the Nomu’s grip “Stop it! Stop it!” he screamed out desperately. Izuku felt an exhale of relief leave his lips when the man let go of Aizawa’s elbow and turned his attention towards Izuku.

“Oh? So you want a turn?”

Izuku’s relief quickly turned to panic. Before he could blink the man was in front of him reaching out towards his chest, right where his heart was. At that moment time seemed to slow down for Izuku he watched Aizawas panicked face as he prepared to activate his quick. He watched the misty man’s uncaring and impassive demeanour towards this whole situation. Finally, he watched as the hand man inched closer towards his chest.

Towards Gooey

The man’s hand made contact with his chest and the little blob that and been with him so long and with him through so much slowly began to disappear. Izuku’s head filled with screeches.

NO! LOOK AT WHAT YOU HAVE DONE! I’M DYING I’M DYING!

As the last bits of the blob dissipated from Izuku’s chest the screeching stopped and his head was filled with silence. Izuku’s head filled with static to replace the silence.

Gooey…Gooey… Gooey… GOOEY! NO OH GOD GOOEY!

Izuku was broken out of his pained trance with an annoyed angry sounding voice. Distant screams that were in the background were silenced, Izuku distantly realized that the screams were coming from him.

“You really are cool, Eraserhead.” Was mumbled out from the hand man.

Izuku’s eyes shifted towards his teacher taking note of his floating hair and desperate eyes directed towards the villain.

“Nomu, take care of him.”

The bird monster let out a shriek of acknowledgement and dropped Izuku roughly on the ground and charged towards Aizawa before Izuku could even blink. He watched in shock as the monster picked his teacher up by the head and then violently slammed him down into the pavement, cracking the cement into shards. He watched as blood pooled out from under his teacher's head. He watched as Aizawa made no attempts to get back up or move for that fact. He watched as Aizawa remained still like a corpse. Like he was dead.

No no no NO NO NONONONONONONONO Izuku gripped his head in panic, distress, and grief. “NO NO NO NO NO!” he screamed out.

The villain let out a hysterical laugh at Izuku’s pain and panic.

First his mom, then Gooey, now Aizawa. Oh god, I kill everything. Oh god, I’m a murderer.

 Izuku’s panicked eyes shifted towards a looming tall figure in the background making its way towards Izuku.

The horror… maybe I can do something like at the exam.

 Izuku let himself feel all the rage and grief and fill his body up until he was a ball of angry emotions. He grit his teeth and muttered out towards the villains.

“I’ll kill you.”

The hand man started to laugh which was abruptly cut off as his precious Nomu was flying into the sky by an invisible force. He let out a surprised “What the hel-” Before being cut off by that some force piercing a hole straight through the hand covered villains arm.

The misty man let out a surprised “Shigaraki!”

So that was his name. Shigaraki. Izuku let out an angry growl he would make them pay. He forced himself to stand up and shift into a fighting position.

The misty man spoke once again “Shigaraki, maybe it's best if we make a tactical retreat.”

“Shut up!” Shigaraki screamed out. “This kid is just the mini-boss! We still have the Nomu we just have to kill this brat then All Might will be ours.”

As if on queue the Nomu made a reappearance and was charging straight for Izuku, only to be skewered in the gut by the horrors leg. The abomination raised the bird creature up into the air and stared down towards Izuku waiting for its command, almost like the creature was a Nomu itself.

Izuku muttered out a broken “Kill it.”

The horror let out a guttural screech that sounded like it was mixed with laughter. It widened its fish-like mouth flashing off razor-sharp fangs. It dropped the creature into its mouth and swallowed it whole like a snake that found a tasty egg.

Izuku watched the scene with disgust and turned back towards Shigaraki only to find them retreating into one of the purple misty portals. Izuku started to dash towards the portal fully intent on dragging the hand covered villain back out to face his just desserts but was stopped by an inhuman sound coming from the horror.

Izuku slowly turned his head towards the hulking beast of a horror to see that it was squatted down and doing a weird jerking motion. Izuku watched horrified as the beast seemed to have another creature being pushed out of its back much like a spider laying an egg. A small ugly little horror was dropped onto the ground coated in an inky black slime.

It had traits much like the Nomu from before, it was black and had a beak as well as an exposed brain. But unlike the Nomu it was covered in a fine coarse hair and had developed dozens of legs. Its body was thin and long overall the horror was reminiscent of a deranged centipede.

Izuku was a lot of things, but he was not an idiot. It didn’t take him long for him to piece the puzzle pieces together. He stared up at the slimy green-haired horror and felt like he was stricken with an invisible belt labelled ‘the facts’.

He swallowed around the growing lump in his throat and called out with uncertainty.

“Mom?”

The horror leaned it’s disgusting fish face down towards Izuku’s figure and let out shrieking laughter. More black ooze drooled out of its mouth and its laughter turned into morbid gargling.

Izuku threw up.

Tears dripped down his face as he stared at the horror and new baby horror. He let out a sob.

He was right. He did kill his mom.

Not only did he kill his own mother but he doomed her to a fate worse than death. He turned her into a monster. He stared at the disgusting laughing figure and thought of his mother’s warm hugs now being tainted by cold slimy black ooze. Her affection was replaced with heartless shrieking laughter. Her bedtime stories were now nothing short of a horror story.

So Izuku did the only thing he could do while overwhelmed with his emotions.

He screamed.  

He screamed and he cried. Between his cries of desperation, he let out strings of countless apologies towards his mother, Gooey, and Aizawa.

They were dead and it was all his fault.

Distantly he heard someone calling his name. It was a girl’s voice, one that sounded familiar. He didn’t want her to come any closer he would surely kill her too. He was about to vocalize his thoughts when he felt two gentle hands grabbing his shoulders. Just like that his fear was amplified and he let out another cry filled scream in terror. He was trying to yell at her to get back. To stay away!

It wasn’t safe. Not near him.

Another voice was in front of him, deeper than the first, but just as kind. A spiky-haired redhead came into mind. He could hear one of the voices trying to say Aizawa was alive.

Why would they lie? He saw Aizawa die right in front of his eyes. It was all his fault.

His fault, all his fault. His fault, his faultlHisfaultHisfaultHisfault.

 He let out another shuddering scream, more hands grabbed him.

He wanted to disappear he wanted to vanish. His eyes widened as he watched his world turn grey as if someone put a dust-covered film over his eyes. He heard screams of “Midoriya?”

He watched as creatures he had never seen before appeared from thin air. The sky filled with deformed birds and giant hulking insects. The ground covered in slimy black tendrils like the ooze on the horrors. Terrifying black creatures with animalistic features were everywhere, surrounding him.

WHAT WAS GOING ON!?

 Izuku let out a shriek as he turned to who he now saw was Uraraka that was trying to calm him down.

“Uraraka! What’s going on!?” The girl didn’t seem to hear him, she was desperately searching for what he assumed was him. Her gaze pierced right through him, unseeing.

Izuku’s heart dropped, they couldn’t see him. He felt the panic taking hold, grasping his throat with a choking grip. He coughed out, unable to breathe. He squeezed his eyes tightly shut willing for the world to go back to normal, willing the world to not be filled with monsters.

He felt two small hands roughly grasp his shoulders and a pained sobbing voice “Midoriya!”

Izuku’s eyes flew open. The world was once again filled with colour and the creatures were gone, even the horror he was commanding before had disappeared. Like it was never there in the first place.

Uraraka pulled him into a tight embrace. Izuku wanted to return the hug but found his mind slowly drifting away. Before he knew it he had passed out.

Chapter Text

Uraraka would be lying if she said she wasn’t scared. She knew from the very moment Midoriya’s shoulders tensed that something was about to go very wrong.

A purple misty portal had appeared in front of their group out of thin air. Scary looking men and women poured out from what she could only think to describe as the gates of hell.

She knew that sounded dramatic, but it was within reason because very quickly ‘very wrong’ went to ‘very worse’.

She watched as the purple mist spread hungrily around Midoriya, making him disappear from her sight. She reached out her hand with a desperate plea of “Midoriya!” but found that she too was enveloped by the purple mist.

Her whole world spun, spun, spun, and spun until she dizzily landed on wet muddy earth, smacking her head on a rock. She slowly stood up while rubbing the back of her head, fighting through her nausea caused by sudden vertigo (she has had lots of practice from her quirk after all). She crossed her fingers in hopes she didn’t have a concussion but knew she would be disappointed if the dizziness and pounding in her head said anything.

 She squinted her eyes, taking in her surroundings coming to realize she had been dropped smack dab in the middle of a mudslide. She didn’t like her chances alone in this environment, let alone with a concussion. She could only hope that her classmates were faring better. Midoriya’s disappearing body popped in her head, causing her to bite down on her lip with worry.

I hope he’s okay…

Disrupting her thoughts were several loud ‘smacks’ and ‘bangs’ coming from behind her. She tensed with fear before she remembered why she was in U.A. in the first place.

Fighting through the dizziness, Uraraka bravely whipped around towards the cause of the sounds with clenched fists in a fighting position. Ready to use her quirk if the situation granted it so. Her stance quickly relaxed when she realized the blurry blobs were her friends and classmates.

First, there was Kirishima, he was rubbing his back with a wince on his face. There appeared to be some small cuts down his back from falling onto some debris. She guesses that he didn’t think to activate his quirk before he was warped away. She couldn’t blame him though, she wouldn’t have thought to use it either.

Next was Tsuyu, she seemed to be calmly taking in her surroundings. Uraraka envied how Tsuyu was able to keep a calm head in a situation like this.

Finally, there was Iida. Once he had spotted Uraraka and the others he quickly and efficiently gathered the group together and prepared themselves for a fight. Honestly, she didn’t expect any less from their class president.

Uraraka gnawed on her lower lip in worry and anticipation. Iida had told them to be ready for anything. She was trying to focus on their current situation as much as she could, but only one thought filled her head.

I hope Midoriya is okay…

She snapped out of her thoughts once several purple misty portals had opened in front of the group. Villains and thugs of all shapes and sizes poured out of the misty abyss. Uraraka clenched her shaking hands into tightly balled fists, getting ready to fight for her and her classmate's lives (she had a feeling the villains weren’t here to have a party).

Iida was the first one to make a move, using his speed to ram into various villains, shoving them down the mudslide or knocking them out altogether. They didn’t need much encouragement to join in the fray after that.

To her left, Kirishima was solid as a rock and punching the daylights out of anyone that dared to go near. She saw one villain with a weak electricity quirk try and fail to zap the redhead.

To her right was Tsuyu, gripping onto her enemies with her long tongue and throwing them into others. Watching the frog girl struggle with a certain bulky villain gave her an idea. She ran up towards her frog friend and slapped the man she was currently trying to entangle in her long tongue. Said man became weightless. Tsuyu flashed what could be considered a smirk around her tongue and flung the man down the mudslide. Uraraka waited until he was far enough away before she released him from her quirk.

Uraraka flashed a small smile at Tsuyu, the frog girl nodding her head in approval. Thus they jumped into the fray full throttle, working together to throw their enemies off the mudslide.

In a matter of 15 minutes, the group had managed to defeat all the villains that had opposed them. Uraraka let out a huff of exhaustion, swallowing against her ruthless nausea.

“That was almost *pant* too easy!” Uraraka shouted before adding “I feel like we should be worried that it was too easy.”

“Maybe we just got lucky? Ribbit.” Tsuyu replied.

Iida marched over towards the group (he had been making sure that the villains were truly unconscious) and announced “Regardless of how easy this was, we need to find Mr. Aizawa or at least a way out of here.” He guiltily turned his head down towards the ground “I was supposed to run and get help, but I wasn’t fast enough. I was caught before I even had a chance to escape.”

Kirishima interrupted Iida’s sulking “Hey man! Don’t beat yourself up about it. You still tried your best which makes you super manly in my book.”

Uraraka nodded her head in agreement, the fact that Iida even tried to escape was more then what any of them had done in that moment.

After carefully traversing down the mudslide the group had almost made it towards the centre of the U.S.J. Uraraka was constantly looking around to make sure she didn’t trip due to her blurry vision, but also in case she spotted a certain green-haired boy.

Midoriya… Please be okay.  

A sorrow-filled scream interrupted her thoughts. She felt her stomach drop at the sound. It sounded so despaired. She found herself tearing up without even knowing who was making the scream.

Her feet started running towards the scream before she even processed she was moving. It was a trait that All Might had declared in one of their hero training classes to be ‘very heroic’. The fear and doubt she felt as she got closer to the sounds made her wonder if it was more of a curse then a blessing.

All her doubts were erased once she got close enough to see who was screaming such gut-wrenching screams.

Midoriya.

Said boy was on his knees in the midst of wreckage and broken concrete. He was hugging himself and slightly rocking back and forth letting cries, pleads, and screams. It didn’t take a genius to realize her friend was having a panic attack and his mind was not all there.

She sprinted forward towards her friend falling beside him, slightly scraping her knees as she skidded across the rough surface. It stung but at the moment she really didn’t care. She gripped Midoriya’s shoulders in what she hoped was a comforting manner, trying to bring him back to reality. To ground him back to the present. Between the boy’s panicked breaths and sobs, she heard him quietly muttering “It’s all my fault. They’re all dead because of me. My fault, my fault, my fault.”

She felt her heartbeat speed up. Who’s dead? That’s when she noticed the red splotches covering the cracked cement. She berated herself for missing such a detail, later she would blame the concussion. Her eyes followed the red trail to a crumpled body face down in a small crater. She recognized the scarf that was wrapped loosely around the body’s neck. Iida ran over to check Mr. Aizawa as soon as he was brought to his attention. In the back of her head, she was wondering when her friends had caught up with her but she was more focused on her teacher.

Iida delicately placed two fingers on their teacher’s neck, feeling for a pulse. Uraraka swallowed past more nausea, this time not caused by the concussion or her quirk. She licked her drying out lips and hesitantly spoke “Is he…?” She couldn’t say the word but she knew that Iida got the gist.

Iida turned to her slightly, brows furrowed in concentration “I-I don’t know I thi-” the boy cut himself off with a triumphant smile “He’s alive! But barely we need to get him medical attention, fast.” Iida carefully pulled Aizawa onto his back in what could only be described as a shitty piggyback ride. “I’m that fastest one here, I’ll get him to safety, you guys calm down Midoriya.” The glasses clad boy didn’t wait for a response before he sped off with his quirk. Tsuyu hopped after Iida mentioning something about making sure Iida could carry Aizawa the whole way since the young hero’s knees were already buckling before he left.

Uraraka nodded towards Tsuyu’s retreating back and brought her full attention back towards Midoriya. She squeezed the boys’ shoulders helplessly trying to bring him back to the present. Kirishima dropped down onto his knees in front of Midoriya.

The spiky-haired boy firmly spoke out “Midoriya, buddy, Mr. Aizawa is alive. He’s okay. Do you hear me? Aizawa is alive!”

Midoriya calmed down for a split second creating a false sense of relief before his sobs broke out again. Muttering how it was “His fault.” Uraraka could have sworn she heard something about his mom as well but she wasn’t sure.

Uraraka squeezed his shoulder again, and Kirishima grabbed the boy’s face trying to gain his attention. Midoriya’s breath hitched and his whole body disappeared like it was never there to begin with.

Uraraka’s face morphed into one of panic, her heart sped up and she felt her stomach plummet in panic.

“Midoriya!?” She screamed out. Her ears were ringing and could distantly hear Kirishima screaming out their friend's name as well. She called out his name again and was met with silence. Oh god, where did he go? What were they going to do!?

“Midoriya?! Midoriya!? MIDORIYA!?” both Uraraka and Kirishima’s calls echoed out in the eerie silence.

Like a switch was flicked the boy reappeared, he was in the same spot, in the same position. Crying harder and more panicked then he was before. Uraraka hastily grabbed Midoriya by the shoulders dragging him into her embrace. The boy was hyperventilating now. Kirishima was trying to get Midoriya to follow his instructions on how to breathe. If the situation wasn’t so serious she would find it amusing that a person could even forget how to breathe.

Kirishima grabbed Midoriya’s hand, placing it over his chest and took exaggerated breaths hoping it would reach the panicked boy. It didn’t. Despite their efforts, Midoriya went limp in Uraraka’s hold, signifying that he in fact had passed out.

Uraraka let out a stressed huff. Tapping the boy with all five of her fingers, lifting him up. She and Kirishima carried him back to the front of the U.S.J. Back to safety.

Once they had made it back without any complications and saw the groups of students and pro heroes Uraraka promptly threw up in relief. She distantly could here Kirishima let out a shout of grossed out surprise, but she didn’t care. She was just glad they were finally safe.

Uraraka sat down in an uncomfortable chair beside a hospital bed. Lying in said bed was Midoriya. It had been a few hours since the attack and her friend had still not awoken. He didn’t have any injuries other than a few scrapes and bruises, but Recovery Girl had given him a smooch just in case. She then gave her a smooch as well, healing what was indeed a concussion.

So she sat down beside the boy and waited. There was a lot she wanted to ask him. Like why had he disappeared? Why did he think he killed Mr. Aizawa when it was clearly the villains that hurt their teacher? Finally, why had he mentioned his mother?

She grit her teeth in frustration. As cliché as it sounded, the boy was just so dang mysterious. She wished he would let her in and tell her what was wrong. She knew he had some problems if the stuttering was anything to go by, she had tried to be respectful and kind towards the boy. But she wanted him to trust her, she wanted to help him. She clenched her hand in anger.

It was all so frustrating.

Uraraka’s thoughts were cut off by a small, scared and lost sounding “Aizawa? Please Aizawa, I’m sorry.”

She felt her heart break.

Chapter Text

When Izuku began to wake up he noticed it was not on the cold hard ground but on a plush bed. He inhaled sharply; the smell of strong antiseptic filled his nostrils giving him a slight headache. He rubbed his forehead trying to ease some of the tension he felt building up which he assumed was quickly turning into a migraine.

He was so tired.

He could drift off back to sleep and pretend he was never conscious to begin with.

Why was he in the hospital in the first place?

Everything felt foggy and his memory was a messy haze of confusion. He slid open his tired eyes to reveal blurry vision and gazed around the white room. That’s when he noticed the figure sitting in a chair beside him. His first instinctual thought was it must be Aizawa probably worried about him again.

He paused.

Wait, it couldn’t be Aizawa. Aizawa was dea-

All the memories of the previous fight came flooding back. Izuku let out a dry sob.

Oh ya, I killed Aizawa

“Aizawa? Please Aizawa, I’m sorry.” He said brokenly, knowing that this silhouette did not belong to Aizawa.

“Hey, Midoriya shh it’s me. Sensei is okay, he’s alive.” A familiar female voice said.

“Uraraka?” questioned Izuku. He rubbed the rest of the blur out of his eyes until he could finally see the girl clearly.

Uraraka had a small wobbly smile placed on her face. She was clearly trying and failing to look reassuring.

She looked Tired

“He’s alive?” Izuku asked with hope laced throughout his voice.

Uraraka nodded in response. “Yes, he’s severely injured but he’s alive.”

“Can I see him?” Izuku asked, voice small and unsure.

Uraraka shook her head “They won’t let anyone in right now, I already tried earlier.”

“o-oh.” Izuku stared down at his hands sitting in his lap, gathering the courage to ask his next question. “Wh-what happened? I remember Aizawa being smashed into the ground a-and then I fought the nomu. Everything after that is a blur.”

Uraraka’s eyes bugged out for a moment “YOU FOUGHT THE NOMU!” she exclaimed. She slapped her hands over her mouth surprised at her own outburst. “Sorry.” She mumbled. “I only got to you once the villains had left.” She rubbed her arm in discomfort “You were crying and screaming…” She trailed off “I-I didn’t know what to do you were so upset and I tried to calm you down I really did… but it wasn’t enough and you disappeared Midoriya you disappeared!”

Izuku started to mumble to himself.

I disappeared…

 “I remember now… I fully phased into my quirk reality for a moment. I saw… I saw awful things Uraraka just awful things. I th-thought Aizawa was dead… and n-now Gooey is dead just like mo-mom.” Big fat tears started to fall from his green eyes. He tried to wipe them away but they just kept coming until he was full-on sobbing.

Izuku felt a sudden dip in the bed beside him, then he was in his friend's embrace. “What do you mean your mom’s dead?” she squeezed tighter.

He hadn’t meant to say that.

He stared into Uraraka’s hopeful eyes that just screamed ‘trust me.' So, he decided that she was worth trusting and he spilled everything. He talked about all the gritty details of his quirk, how he lived on his own for so long, the death of his mother, and apparently her new form. He talked about living with Aizawa and how just when he started to look up to another adult he almost dies. He talked about Bakugo’s bullying throughout the years and how he had no friends, the loneliness of it all. He talked about all the bad emotions he had felt building up over the past few years. Finally, he talked about the loss of Mr. Gooey the only family he had left.

Throughout it all Uraraka stayed silent and listened to her friend. It was a lot to take in, all the trauma her friend had been through. At some point, she felt herself begin to cry at the unfairness of it all. Midoriya didn’t ask for any of this to happen so why was it always him? Why did her friend have to go through so much? He hugged Midoriya even tighter hoping to communicate the grief she felt for her friend through her embrace. She hoped it was at least a little comforting.

Izuku let out a sniffle, all his tears were dried up (he’s pretty sure he cried all of his stock) “Th-thanks Uraraka for being here.”  

When Izuku was met with silence he peeked down at his friend to find her fast asleep, still embracing Izuku. He felt his cheeks heat up with embarrassment. How would he explain this to anyone else that saw this ‘Yes, we just had a huge heart-to-heart where I told my whole life story and she passed out on me?’ He wasn’t going to explain everything over again so he did what he always did when he wanted to avoid reality.

He went to sleep.

It had been a few days since the events of the U.S.J took place.

Izuku was tired.

He hadn’t been able to get a moment's rest from the majority of his classmates despite Uraraka’s attempts of keeping them off him. They had been asking him about the details of his fight with the nomu and what it was like to face off with Shigaraki. He constantly told them that he didn’t really ‘face off’ with the villain more like he yelled at him while his quirk (mother) took out the nomu. Everyone was giving him too much credit. But they would only tell him he was being too modest and start to interrogate him all over again. The only ones that weren’t pestering him were Iida, Uraraka, Kirishima, and Tsuyu for they had seen him in the midst of his panic attack and how brutal it was.

How brutal the fight was.

So much blood. So much inky black ooze from the horror (it was your mom all along. It’s your fault)

He shook his head he didn’t want to think about that right now. Aizawa was sitting at the front desk looking more like a mummy rather than their teacher, but even under all that dressing, he felt Izuku’s discomfort.

“Alright everyone take your seats please.” His muffled voice rang out.

The class obediently sat down at their desks, Izuku let out a small sigh of relief.

“Today we will be discussing the upcoming sports festival-” the class immediately started to whisper amongst themselves. Aizawa’s brow twitched in irritation “Quiet please.” He said sternly. “As I was saying. Nezu decided instead of canceling the sports festival we will continue with it as planned, much to my protest.”

As the day went on Izuku couldn’t stop thinking about the sports festival and how it really was a glorified way of finding a quirk internship. He personally thought it was dumb to broadcast their quirks on live T.V it allowed everyone to see their capabilities, sure. But it also allowed everyone to see their weaknesses and Izuku didn’t like that. Not one bit.

As he followed Aizawa towards his apartment (he wasn’t ready to call it his own apartment) he found himself mumbling about the festival.

“You know,” Aizawa started “I never really liked the idea of the sports festival either but it was essential for me.”

“Why’s that?” questioned Izuku

“The entrance exam is biased towards those with quirks like mine, I didn’t make it into the hero course until I proved my worth through the sports festival.”

“I d-didn’t know that.” Izuku replied, tapping his chin.

“Well, I only just told you so why would you?” Aizawa answered in a teasing tone.

“H-hah that’s t-true.” Izuku felt his face go red, was Aizawa messing with him?

Said person let out a huff that might have been a laugh. “I’m just messing with you, kid.” Aizawa gruffly said while unlocking the apartment. “Help me make dinner?”

“Ya, of course” Izuku had been helping Aizawa make dinner’s ever since the man found out he didn’t know how to cook. ‘I can’t believe you lived this long without cooking’ he had said much to Izuku’s embarrassment. So now Izuku was his sous chef so to speak. Although this time he would be doing most of the work due to Aizawa’s injuries.

It felt strange to just be going through the motions of cooking after everything that had happened. It was a surreal feeling making the U.S.J feel like it was a distant dream. If only that were true, then he could act like his mom wasn’t turned into a monster.  He glanced over at Aizawa nervously, he had yet to tell the man about what happened at the U.S.J. He was too scared to hear what he would think once he found out about his mom. Would he change his mind about him and think he was a monster too? Izuku reasoned with himself that Aizawa wouldn’t turn his back on him. He absentmindedly grasped for Mr. Gooey, when his hand met his shirt rather than cold slime, he was left feeling empty.

That’s right, Gooey’s gone.

Another thing he has to tell Aizawa. Not to mention him disappearing into his quirk reality. So many difficult subjects to broach and Izuku didn’t want to do any of them. But he promised Aizawa that he would talk to the man over things like this.

I’ll wait until he’s better, then I’ll tell him. He’s got too many things to worry about right now.

“Something bothering you?”

Izuku startled at Aizawa’s question. “N-n-no just th-thinking is all.”

Aizawa let out a disbelieving ‘hmm’ but didn’t comment on it any further, thankfully.

Izuku was lying in bed when he finally noticed how quiet his head was. Normally he had this nagging little voice in the back of his head telling him basically how much he sucked. But since the U.S.J it had been blissfully silent. Izuku started to ramble out the things that had changed about him since the U.S.J incident but he was coming up blank. He didn’t think it was the transfer of him fully going into his quirk reality and he didn’t think it was him finding out about his mom. If anything, that would have made it worse. The only thing left was the absence of Gooey…

No, it couldn’t be… Gooey was family. The blobs weren’t supposed to have intelligence! But what if he kept the slime on him so long that it evolved? Scratch that, that didn’t make sense his blobs weren’t supposed to feed off him. Unless he was wrong. What if he accidentally commanded the blob to feed off him every time he told the blob to stick to him? That would make sense. So instead of keeping a family member close, he was acting as a buffet towards the blob so much to the point it evolved. Then the blob learned how to communicate bad thoughts that made Izuku even more upset therefore making him a part of a food chain he never wanted to be in.

Izuku let out a shuttering breath. The absolute betrayal he felt came in waves of red hot and angry. This whole time he was slowly killing his mind to a stupid blob?! Izuku was so angry, he wanted to punch something he wanted to break something he wanted to scream. He gripped his green locks and pulled, hard. The pain helped him gather himself, it helped him focus on something other than the betrayal.

It just wasn’t fair.

It wasn’t fair.