Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Izuku can’t breathe.

He can’t breathe, but everyone is counting on him. 

Second reminds him of that, urging him on, poking at all his insecurities. 

To an extent, Izuku understands. He’s always wanted to be a hero. And a hero he has become, but he has to wonder-getting ready to strike Shig- All for One with a trembling fist-if the price he’ll have to pay in the next few minutes is worth it?

The hit lands. The monstrosity that wears Shigaraki’s face is flung across the battlefield. His body falls to the ground with a heavy thud. 

For five whole seconds, Izuku allows himself to relax. To breathe. 

“Strike now! While he’s down!” Second yells. 

The other vestiges are strangely quiet. They’re never quiet.

“I…I…can’t…” Izuku trails off, landing lightly on the ground. His eyes flicker over to All for One’s body, making sure he’s still unconscious. Seeing that he is, Izuku falls to his knees. A wheeze escapes passed his lips. 

“Get up, Ninth! The battle isn’t over yet.”

It’s then that it hits him. Like a runaway freight train, Izuku realizes the cold, hard truth. 

They don’t care about him.

The thought sinks deep, deep, down into the pit of his stomach. It sits there, weighing him down. Tears prick the corners of his eyes, but he wipes them away. 

(“Get over yourself, Izuku,” he tells himself. “It’s not personal. There’s much more at stake.”)

Summoning his last remaining strength, he pushes himself up into a standing position. He wheezes again; his chest is tight, way too tight. Spittle sticks to the sides of his mouth. He wipes it off with the back of his hand.

Izuku staggers his way over to All for One. 

(“Someone, anyone,” he thinks, desperately, “save me.”)

He forces himself to inhale, deeply. 

It doesn’t help. And-

Oh, God, he can’t breathe!

He can’t breathe!

Breathe! 

Breathe! 

Breat-

Izuku collapses to his knees, a mere five feet from All for One. 

A string of pathetic wheezes escape from his mouth. His body trembles. His mind starts to go blank. His throat and mouth are dry, and it hurts to swallow his spit. A particularly painful cough, forces him forward. 

“Ninth!”

“Midoriya!”

“Izuku!”

Izuku lays on the ground, curled up on his side. The vestiges stand over him, missing is All Might, and he has to hope that that’s a good thing. 

“You have to keep going!”

“The battle isn’t over yet!”

He groans in response. Second is slowly but surely becoming the most annoying person (ghost?) that Izuku has ever known. 

“It hasn’t even been five minutes yet. We have to wait for-” Yoichi is cut off by a heavy thud.

“My, my, what a sight,” a new voice says with a tsk. 

Izuku fights against the oppressive force that drags him into unconsciousness, because he knows that voice.

He forces himself to look towards the noise. 

Black dots dance is his vision. A sudden pain spikes through Izuku’s head, and he’s dangerously close to giving in and going to sleep. Before he’s pulled under, Izuku manages to get out, a weak, desperate, and young sounding, “.... dad…”

-x-x-x-

“-idoriya!” Someone pokes his face. “Midoriya! Wake up!”

Groaning, Izuku opens his eyes. A very young looking Shigaraki is kneeled down next to him. He looks exactly like he did in the vision the vestiges showed Izuku before his quirk manifested. Dark hair and a (relatively) scratch-free face. 

Instantly, Izuku is scrambling backwards. His back hits a wall. Something isn’t right here. 

“What- Shigaraki!?” Izuku clasps a hand over his mouth, because certainly that can not be his voice. 

In horror, he looks down at his too small, unscared hands. 

“Calm down, Midoriya.” Shigaraki sits back on his hunches. “I’m not going to hurt you. And stop calling me Shigaraki.”

Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Izuku asks, “what would you like me to call you?”

“Tenko!”

“Okay…Tenko, then. You can call me Izuku. It’s only fair, I guess.” Izuku draws his knees to his chest. “Where are we?”

“Uh, that’s a good question. I have no idea. I only just got here.”

Something really isn’t right about this. 

Izuku shudders. 

“Are you cold?” Shiga- Tenko asks, crawling over to sit next to him. 

“No, no, I’m okay. Just thinking.”

“About what?”

Despite the circumstances, his own anxiety over what being trapped here (in this form) means, Izuku is overcome with how genuinely kind Tenko used to be (and potentially still was and perhaps could have continued to be if he was given help). 

“We’re here, right?”

Tenko nods.

“But none of the vestiges, All for One or One for All are here.”

It takes him a second to fully understand what Izuku is insinuating. “We’re doomed.”

-x-x-x-

Yoichi Shigaraki loved his comic books and wearing baggy clothes. He loved cats and looking out the living room window when it rained. He loved dancing (even if he wasn’t so good at it). And, most of all, Yoichi Shigaraki loved his family.

His parents, when they were around. 

And his big brother, certainly. 

And there’s no doubt that, had Yoichi still been around now, he’d absolutely adore his baby nephew. Heroic spirit, mumbling, and all.  But, if he was still around, he’d probably be equally as horrified at everything Izuku’s been dragged into (or flung himself into). One for All user or not, Yoichi would have given his very soul to have his nephew see his inherent worth both as an individual and as someone worthy of taking up space. 

One for All, First, Yoichi doesn’t have this problem. In spite of the fact that Second will occasionally call him by that name, First doesn’t consider himself to be Yoichi. 

Sure, he has a dash of his personality. His face. His quirk.

Hell, he is the quirk personified. 

With that being said, First does not care that the Ninth survives. Well, he does, but only until either the quirk of his older brother is destroyed for good or-

Or until they can pass on to someone else. 

He should feel bad. For lying. For betraying little Ninth’s trust. For manipulating him so heavily that the boy was willing to throw himself into the metaphorical fire in an effort to save everyone. 

He doesn’t. 

The others probably don’t either, but it’s not like they’ve ever talked about it. 

Ninth is a tool to be used. Just like Yoichi and the others were. 

“Is he…dead…?” His- Yoichi’s brother says, facade of cool indifference crumbling at the sight of the Ninth. 

First shrugs. “Not yet. It’s not like you care anyway. What’s another dead One for All user to you anyway?”

All for One grits his teeth, trying and failing to keep his composure. “Nothing,” he forces out, “absolutely nothing.”

“Then you won’t care if I use the rest of his remaining energy to kill you?”

Yoichi’s brother looks behind himself. Probably trying to scout anyway out of this, if not for himself then for Midoriya. Except there isn’t a way out. Little number nine was doomed the moment he accepted One for All. He may as well have waived all his rights for as much agency as he has right now. 

There are a few heroes at the edges of the battlefields, weary but alive, who are watching the (to their eyes) one sided exchange. They make no move to fight or incapacitate All for One. 

Yoichi’s brother looks back at First, their eyes meet, and an understanding passes between them. 

No help would be coming.

-x-x-x-

Izuku has failed. He has failed and he couldn’t even save the person he wanted to save most of all. All his friends are probably dead. Dead. Dead. DEAD!

“I’m sorry I almost killed you at the mall-”

“It’s okay, Tenko.”

“-and that time I put you in a coma during the war.”

“Tenko, really it’s fine.”

“-and that other-”

“Tenko?” 

The other boy looks at him, expectedly. 

“If anyone should be saying sorry, it’s me.” 

“Why?” Tenko asks, genuinely curious. 

“I made a promise that I would save you.” The words are harder to get out than he realized. Absently, he wonders if he can cry here. He hopes not. The last thing he needs is to start sobbing.

Tenko doesn’t say anything. He puts his head on Izuku’s shoulder. “Thank you,” he says. 

A few tears escape from Izuku’s eyes. “Anytime.”

Chapter Text

“You aren’t Yoichi,” All for One says.

“An astute observation.” First kicks at the ground. “Actually it’s a lot more nuanced than that. I guess I’m as similar to your brother as you are to the All for One quirk. So, I suppose it all depends on how you look at it.”

“You aren’t Yoichi,” All for One repeats. “He would have stopped this. Izu- Deku wouldn’t have ended up like this.” It doesn’t escape his notice how Yoichi’s brother cringes slightly at Ninth’s hero name. 

“I’m not, though, as you have bluntly pointed out.”

“This is between me and you.”

Nana stalks forward, hackles raised. 

“Tell that to my husband!” She yells. Banjo and Third hold her back from attacking. “Tell that to my son!” She continues to shout, tears streaming down her face. 

All for One watches her display with a hint of amusement in his blood red eyes. Even bargaining for his son’s life, he can't help himself. 

First sighs, tired.

Once a bastard, always a bastard.

“My family!” Nana sobs, sliding to the ground. Banjo pats her on the back. 

First steps in front of Nana, blocking All for One’s view. “Enough,” he starts, succeeding in getting the man’s attention back on him, “we’ve waited a long time. Passing this power down in hopes of destroying your- you….in hopes of destroying you .”

“I see,” All for One drawls out. “Took quite a long time.”

First shakes off Yoichi’s brother’s comment. A dig at their individual and combined abilities, as well as a subtle way to burrow under his skin. 

“As fun as that sounds, I have other obligations,” All for One says. 

“What?” Second asks, and First sends a glare his way that he pointedly ignores, “to retrieve your son that you abandoned ?” 

All for One flinches back as if burned. A hurt expression takes over his face. He clenches his teeth, eyes burning craters into them. “Do. Not.”

“But that’s what happened isn’t it?” First pushes further. Nothing like this-in all their shared memories-has ever happened before. 

Sometimes he watches the others' memories - nothing super personal or gross. They act as long movies, offering little tidbits of information about his fam- co workers. Like, through watching her memories, he learned that Nana originally had a fear of the dark. So, he makes sure that there’s a light source always on when she’s around. 

Or when he learned that Banjo feels proud of ‘Black Whip’ and loves sharing it with other people (though a little less literal when he was alive). And-since his own passing-is always the first to greet a new arrival, so First may have, potentially allowed him to speak with Ninth first. Of course there’s the matter of Izu- Ninth manifesting Black Whip before any others, so really it’s smart to have Banjo greet him first. 

But you should have seen the fight that that decision caused…..he nearly smiles at the memory, but stops himself. 

That, he reminds himself, wasn’t real. None of it was real. 

He swallows, the action unnecessary, and smirks at All for One. A near perfect mirror to the one the man had been wearing not three seconds prior. 

“Truth hurts, doesn’t it?”

“Truth? What truth?” All for One scoffs. “I didn’t leave them, because I wanted to. I left them because someone, not going to name names, punched my face off!”

“And?” Second asks. “Based on the kid’s feelings and tendency to attach himself to any and all adults that show the tiniest bit of care towards him, you never made an effort to keep in contact with him.”

“I…I thought he was better off not hearing from me. I wrote to my wife often, and she gave me little updates here and there about his well-being.” His voice sounds strained, like he’s doing everything in his power to not show how much this situation is affecting him.

First’s nonexistent heart clenches painfully. He pushes it down. “Regardless,” he starts, “of how we got here, it all ends today.”

As Second turns back around to face their collective nemesis, First reaches down to where little Ninth lay. He kneels next to the boy. His face looks so peaceful, and not for the first time he is reminded of how young the latest One for All successor is. He comforts himself with the thought that, after all is said and done, they can see the boy again in the vestige realm. Yes, he thinks to himself, stroking the boy’s face, they’ll comfort and soothe little Ninth. They’ll care for him better than the boy’s own parents. 

(Not that that’s necessarily hard, considering their competition is a supervillain and a woman who isn’t here right now. Unfair, a voice whispers in the deeper part of his consciousness, of course she isn’t here. She’s a civilian! ) 

These thoughts comfort First enough to proceed with the plan. He daydreams of holding the ninth, cradling the boy - younger than he appears right now - in his arms. He’s always wanted a child, and he’s not averse to taking Yoichi’s brother’s. Besides, he reasons, after Ninth passes away he’ll need a lot of extra comfort. 

“I do apologize for this, Ninth.” 

He clamps a hand over the boy’s forehead. 

In the second between tightening his hold and the next, Ninth is writhing in agony. A scream escapes from his mouth. First murmurs another apology, loosening his hold, and carding a deceptively gentle hand through Ninth’s curls. 

A bright light radiates from the boy. It draws everyone’s attention, including All for One. 

“Izuku!” The fiend yells out, forgetting their current situation. “My son!” 

Something deep, deep down within First reacts to his tone of voice. A small voice in his head whispers that this isn’t right. That the price to be rid of such a terrible person shouldn’t include the blood and sacrifice of someone they all hold so close to their hearts. 

He smirks, but the smug feeling is only surface level. Again, he runs a hand through the boy’s hair. Ninth winces away, face scrunching up. A whimper escapes him.

First ignores this, powering through. Already he can feel Ninth’s life force giving him his physical form back. Judging by the pleasantly surprised faces on the others, it’s safe to say they’re feeling similar effects.

“Leave him be!” All for One holds out a hand, threatening them. “Get away from him!” 

“No,” First says, starting to hum a lullaby under his breath to Ninth. Just because this is necessary to beat Yoichi’s brother, doesn’t mean that little Ninth has to suffer alone. He remembers, from Yoichi’s memories, a time where he himself longed for the times where his (read: Yoichi’s) older brother would comfort him. Singing lullabies and reading stories to distract him (again read: Yoichi - because he isn’t Yoichi; he can’t be. He refuses to be. Being Yoichi means he’s willing to hurt his nephew; his only family member that isn’t dead or batshit insane.) from the pain of being chronically ill. 

“Must hurt, huh?” First taunts, secure in the knowledge that he’s finally getting under All for One’s skin. “Finally being on the other side of all the pain you’ve caused. Because be rest assured, this all could have been avoided. All of this pain and suffering that Ninth is going through is simply a testament to your legacy of blood.”

-x-x-x-

Izuku cuddles up to Tenko. The two boys sit up against a wall, trying to keep each other somewhat warm. 

Izuku has almost fallen into a second dream state, head lolling onto Tenko’s shoulder, when a sudden spike of pain hits him like a freight train. Now, he’s no stranger to pain. Breaking his bones is practically a hobby to him. But this is different, it’s somehow worse in every single way. 

A terrible white hot sensation fills his entire being, deeper than his skin and bones and blood. It burns and burns and-

A scream is ripped from his throat.

Tenko jumps back, an alarmed expression on his face. “I-Izuku?”

“Make it stop! Make it stop!” He shouts, writhing around in agony. The cool floor of the vault is just barely enough to ease the heat consuming his very soul. 

“Make what stop?” Tenko asks, hands hovering above Izuku’s body. “What’s happening?”

Another stab of pain leaves Izuku breathless and fighting to speak. “Mommy! Daddy! Help me! It hurts! It hurts!” His body wracks with sobs.

Tenko takes one of his hands, and then places his other hand on Izuku’s forehead. He hums a song he’s pretty sure his momma used to sing to him before…..

“It’s going to be alright,” he murmurs. 

Izuku whimpers, the noise subdued in comparison to the ear-piercing screech he gave. “Mommy…..daddy…..help….” his voice is hoarse and very weak. 

“Shhhh….rest.” 

When the noise has finally petered out, Tenko lays down next to his former-nemesis-turned-friend. He stays awake, watching for any more signs of discomfort. 

In the dark of the vault, someone else watches the exchange. Their teeth gritted and nails digging into the palms of their hands. “Izuku,” they whisper. 

-x-x-x-

Hisashi isn’t a man of many regrets, but as he watches his only child slowly die in front of him, he has at least one. 

Izuku screams again, head rolling from side-to-side. His eyes are closed, which probably means he’s asleep. A good thing considering the circumstances. Hisashi hopes his son is having a pleasant dream, and is not just trapped within the vestige realm. 

Yo- First should have enough empathy not to do that.

He watches with mute horror as they all begin to become more tangible. Heroes, still not moving a muscle to arrest him or save Izuku, chatter amongst themselves. 

First stands up, joining the brother-stealing-pest at his side. A smug smile on his face. He taunts Hisashi once again, but all he can focus on is his son’s prone body. 

Izuku’s breath is coming out in ragged pants. His skin has a bluish tint, like someone is actively strangling him. 

He moves forward. The second One for All user blocks him, but Hisashi is ready and uses air cannon to shoot the pest(s) out of his way - at a slight angle of course, they’re all going to die but not right now. 

He’s nearly there, just another couple of steps. He reaches his hands out, ready to pull his son into his arms. They can all go to hell. Hisashi needs to get Izuku somewhere safe. 

If they need energy so badly, they can find a way to take it from the Shimura brat. 

He’s just about to kneel down when he’s being pulled back. An appendage-looking like a cross between a tentacle and whip-wraps around his middle. He’s flung back, closer to the useless heroes. 

They scatter upon him landing. 

He scrambles to stand up; his thoughts focus on one thing and one thing only: save Izuku. 

If he can just-

Hisashi locks eyes with Yoichi-and he’s only known two people with those eyes, one being his son and the other being his brother-he’s hit with a sudden understanding. 

His son would not be leaving this battle alive. 

What remains of Hisashi’s soul dies with this knowledge. 

-x-x-x-

Tenko wakes up with his arms empty. He shivers, sitting up and rubbing at his eyes. It doesn’t make much sense to him why they can fall asleep when they’re already asleep, but he supposes it gives them an escape from their current predicament. He looks around for his friend. 

“Izuku,” he calls out. 

A soft shushing gets his attention. Tenko looks towards the furthest corner. He can’t see much as it’s bathed in darkness. 

“Izuku?” He asks, an odd feeling welling up in his chest. 

A figure emerges from the corner, imposing and familiar. Izuku lays limply in his arms. “Shush, I said.”

“Sensei?” Tenko gets to his feet. His hatred for the man in front of him is temporarily overshadowed by the fact that his new friend is at Sensei’s mercy. Diplomacy has never been Tenko’s forte, but for Izuku, he’ll try. 

“Hello, Tomura.” He continues to rock Izuku back and forth, shushing him when he makes a pained noise. “Fancy seeing you here.”

“My name’s not Tomura,” he protests, all the years of bottled resentment coming to the surface. “I’m Tenko.”

“That you are,” Sensei retorts, a condescending edge in his tone. “Well, Tenko, how about you fill me in on how you two got here. Usually I can sneak a peek or convince one of the vestiges to fill me in, but it’s been radio silent for the last year or so.”

Tenko grits his teeth. Why does every action have to be like playing chess? He hates this! He hates being near Sensei! He hates him! He hates him so much!

Izuku cries out, bringing him back to his senses. 

Tenko takes a deep breath. “It all started when I tried to beat up Gigantomachia…”

-x-x-x-

Izuku screams out. First spares him a glance. Soon, he tells himself, it will all be over soon. 

All for One stares him down, positively seething in rage. He lunges for him, making his way from across the battlefield with several different quirks. First side steps his pathetic attempt. 

Banjo uses black whip again to fling the resident supervillain around. At Third’s signal, he allows black whip to dissipate. All for One lands on his stomach, hitting his chin on broken concrete. 

Third pulls back his arm, using Fa Jin he punches All for One six times in row. Each hit is harder than the last. 

First makes his way back over to Ninth. The light is slowly dimming. They don’t have much time left - Ninth doesn’t have much time left. He watches his found family finally get a smidge of the revenge they deserve, petting his son’s hair. 

Second uses his ability on a piece of broken ply-wood, sending the shards deep into All for One’s skin. He looks to First; his eyes flicker to Ninth. His expression softens. “Ours now?” He mouths. 

First nods. 

The light dims further. Some of the attacks don’t land as they should. It won’t be long now. 

Nana picks up All for One. Using float she carries him up and up and up until they’re high in the sky, and then lets him go.

-x-x-x-

The All for One locked away in the vestige realm, cringes back. For some reason he feels oddly disappointed. He shrugs it off as the weirdness of the day. 

He regards the small boy in front of him. “And then, you beat up the leader of the Meta Liberation Army?” 

Tenko gives a hesitant nod. 

He can feel the pure, unadulterated hatred coming off the boy. Some people can be so ungrateful. It’s not like he had to take the Shimura brat in. He did it out of the kindness of his heart (and to spite All Might, but that hardly matters in the grand scheme of things). 

“You know, back in my day, Destro was a real pain in my-”

Izuku shifts in his arms. He shushes him. 

“Sensei? Why are you holding Izuku?” Tenko asks, anxiously looking between Izuku and All for One. 

“You don’t know?” 

Tenko shakes his head. 

All for One chuckles, slinking back into the darkness. The boy could follow him into the corner, but he knows Tenko won’t. 

Finding his place against the furthest wall, he sits down with Izuku. He ignores Tenko’s calls for him to come back, instead focusing on his son (is this his son? Technically speaking, he’s only an impression of All for One’s personality from hundreds of years ago. They aren’t the same person. But yet, yet he feels a need to hold and protect and hide-)

A hand slaps him upside the head. “Give him back!” Tenko demands, tugging on Izuku’s arms. 

The smack leaves him stunned. He never expected little Tenko to have the gall. When he finally gets his bearings back in order, a large grin takes over his face. “How about, no.” Using a small percentage of his power he pushes Tenko back. 

He listens intently for the groan of pain or heavy thud but it never comes. Curious, he peeks out from the darkness. 

No one is there. 

“Huh, that’s-”

A kick to the side of his head makes him drop Izuku. Tenko pulls Izuku into the furthest corner before he turns around to face All for One. A feral grin has taken up much of his face. “I told you,” he starts, charging forward, fist pulled back, “to give him back.” 

-x-x-x-

As the light dims even more, their attacks get weaker. Some even pass right through the super villain. 

All for One has long since passed out - En’s smoke screen finally did him in. Nowhere near dead but definitely out for the count. 

Izuku screams once more and then goes very, very still. 

“It’s time,” First announces. 

The others gather around. 

“We’ve fought for centuries for this moment. I hope you all feel just the tiniest avenged.”

“But All for One isn’t dead,” En pipes up. “What if he breaks out of containment again?” 

First motions to Tenko’s motionless body. “I wouldn’t worry too much about it.”

Chapter Text

One second Tenko’s digging his fingernails into the embodiment of a monster, the next he’s standing before eight thrones. All of them, except one, are filled. He recognizes Sensei’s brother and his grandmother. He can’t remember any of the others. 

Out of the corner of his eye he can see Izuku laying a few feet away.

“Tenko Shimura,” Sensei’s brother says. “I have a proposition for you.”

Still a little disoriented, Tenko nods. 

“How would you like to be a hero?” Sensei’s brother asks. “And get revenge at the same time?”

He considers this. “How?”

“Let’s just say a certain super villain needs his just desserts.” 

Tenko smiles widely. “I’m listening.”

-x-x-x-

First watches Izuku sleep from the doorway of the nursery. His son looks so peaceful, safe under the covers. 

Second and he went back-and-forth about what they should and shouldn’t include in the nursery. Money isn’t an object to any of them, but they wanted the room to make their son feel at home. So, he went through Izuku’s memories to see what his original nursery looked like. 

From there, he was able to incorporate little things here and there that would make the space feel familiar and safe to Izuku. 

“Yoichi?” Second asks from behind. 

“Hm?”

“How are you doing?”

First quirks an eyebrow, turning to face his husband. “Fine.”

“Are you sure?” Second presses, forehead wrinkling. A sure sign he’s worried about something…or someone. 

“Yeah…why wouldn’t I be?” 

“Your brother-”

First cuts in, sending his husband a sharp look that immediately shuts him up. “That monster,” he spits, “is not my brother. He got what was coming to him.” He hates getting worked up like this, especially since he seems to scare those around him. Forcing himself to calm down, he smiles. “Besides, we got rid of two threats. Two birds, one stone and all that.”

His husband nods, rigid, tense. They both turn their attention back to Izuku. “How’s he?”

A fond, dreamy look overtakes First’s face. “Still sleeping.” He grasps Second’s arms, smiling widely. “Can you believe, after all these years we finally have a chance to be parents?”

Second, despite his previous obvious discomfort, manages to smile as well. “No, no, I can’t. I feel like I’m dreaming.”

First embraces his husband. He rests his chin on Second’s head. “Well, we’re not. This is all real. We have a son and get to spite my brother in the process.”

Second nods, melting into the hug. 

-x-x-x-

Izuku yawns, stretching his arms. He can’t remember falling asleep. It’s warmer in the vault-

“Big stretch,” a familiar voice says. He jumps, head swiveling towards the door.

There, leaning against the doorway, is First. He smiles upon making eye contact with Izuku. He enters the room, to which Izuku responds by looking around the new environment. 

He’s not one hundred percent sure the vestiges don’t want to torture him. What if, after defeating All for One (and he really hopes All for One is gone, because he wouldn’t be able to keep going if he had to undergo whatever the vestiges have in store and All for One was still alive to cause mayhem) they decided to design a torture room à la Saw. 

Judging by the assortment of stuffed animals, pile of baby blocks, and walls painted a pastel blue, he would assume they don’t plan to torture him. Though, he could be wrong.

“Goodmorning, sleepyhead,” First greets. “The others are already up.”

“W-what? What happened? Where am I?” His head is spinning. None of this makes sense. If this wasn’t the vestige realm and they don’t plan to harm him, then where is this?

First comes over to his bed. “I promise all your questions will be answered later.” Izuku is lifted into his arms (he’s still the size of a three-year-old. That’s just fantastic!)

“My friends…my mom…..All Might? Are they still alive?” His voice wavers. When First ignores his question, combing through Izuku’s hair with his fingers, Izuku pleads harder. “Tell me!” Tears fall from his eyes and he squirms in his predecessor’s arms. 

“Aw, you’re upset.” He lightly bounces Izuku. “It’s alright. Everyone is just fine. Shhhh…”

Izuku can’t stop the tears from falling, but he does stop squirming. “Y-you promise?” 

“Yes. My brother has been properly dealt with.” 

“T-then why am I still like this?”  

“Shush, no more questions until breakfast.”

-x-x-x-

Tenko sits at the table. Grandma Nana was even kind enough to provide a booster seat, so he can reach without sitting on his knees. Piles of the most delicious-looking pancakes, waffles, and French toast sit on plates ready to be served. As well as white rice with natto, sliced up Salmon, and some kind of veggie soup. 

The one for all users chat amongst themselves. They have to wait for Izuku to wake up. First, or Uncle Yoichi as he lets Tenko call him, went to wake him up.

But that was five minutes ago and-

There’s a loud crash. Followed by the frantic pitter-pattering of feet, and then, he sees his baby cousin bolting down the stairs and over to the front door. 

He hopes Izuku’s okay. It must be a little disorienting to wake up and not understand what’s happened. 

Izuku starts banging on the door. “Help me!” He screams. 

Uncle Yoichi appears at the top of the stairs. He mouths something, motioning to Izuku. Tenko cocks his head, confused. All of the One for All users get up, sans his grandma. 

Grandma Nana pats his head, giving him a reassuring smile. “Everything’s fine,” she tells him. 

-x-x-x-

Izuku hits the door again. He can hear them sneaking up behind him, boxing him into a corner. “Help!” He screams. 

Running while First was picking out his clothes had seemed like the right solution, at the time. Now, standing, back pressed against a door he doubts leads anywhere, Izuku is having second thoughts. 

They surround him, not touching him or coming any closer. The only one not present is…

First starts down the stairs. “Why are you being so fussy?” He pushes through the others, sending an unreadable look to Second. 

Second, who happens to be the closest to him, is the one to haul Izuku over to First. Izuku, in spite of the circumstances, is struck with how gentle Second handles his thrashing form. Not that he’ll ever say that. Some things you just take to the grave with you. 

He’s handed to First. The man is apparently stronger than he looks, either that or One for All granted him strength after death, because he hardly reacts to Izuku kicking and squirming. 

He addresses the other One for All users, minus Nana (he wonders where she is. Maybe she can help him?) Still keeping a firm grip on the struggling boy. 

“I’m very sorry. You all can start eating without us.” 

Izuku tries to make eye contact with the others. “En,” he says, voice hoarse from screaming. But the sixth user turns back to the dining room. “B-Banjo?” Nothing.

First heads for the stairs. Panic overtakes him. Who knows what First plans to do to him? He can’t go back up there. He can’t!

“Put me down!” He shouts, kicking his legs frantically. “I want to leave! Put me down!”

His calls for help are ignored.

-x-x-x-

He’s placed down on the bed he first woke up in. The minute he’s free of First’s arms, he scrambles to get away.

Sighing heavily, First drags him back to the edge. “Izuku,” he says, voice bordering on impatient. 

“Let me go!” He shouts again. Not that there’s anyone to help him. But his brain feels like it’s stuck on a loop of the same thoughts over and over again. 

“No.”

“Let me go!” He screams, kicking First in the chest, as the man’s kneeled down in front of him. The movement doesn’t faze him. If anything, he just looks a little annoyed. 

“If you calm down, I can explain what’s going on.”

But Izuku’s beyond reasoning. All he knows is that nothing is as it should be, the vestiges (whom he trusted) have turned against him, and the fate of his world is up in the air (First said everything is fine, but he can’t trust anything that comes out of his mouth). 

His heart beats against his ribcage and tears flow freely down his face. 

“P-please. I wanna go home.”

“But Izuku,” First says, leaning in close so their foreheads are touching, “you are home.”

Izuku screams.