Not Yet

XLII: Sinister

Aizawa could barely contain his anger at ever word the other man uttered, and he couldn't help but feel annoyed at Tsukauchi scribbling, as the officer decided to use this chance to get as much information from the villain as possible, instead of stopping whatever nonsense Nightmare was about to offer.

The underground hero took a moment to uncurle his tight fist and started to think analytically. This is what they were here for, after all.

He had a feeling he knew what woman he was referring to. He would be having a talk with Tsukauchi after this.

"But well..." The villain's abrupt pause in his rumbling made the police officer look up at the him, his pen stilling on his notesheets. 

A sudden loud thud startled the standing pair on the other side, while Izuku remained as still as he always was.

The villain had kicked out the chair he was sitting on, standing tall and coming as close as he could to the one-way window, straining his cuffed wrist to the maximum.

"For you.." his upbeat cheery voice turned into a wicked, ominous one, sending chills through their spines. "... it's probably more interesting to hear about that green-haired woman, right?!"

For the first time, Izuku let out a reaction. Indeed, it was a small finger twitch, yet by Izuku's standards, he was probably very startled, Aizawa worryingly concluded.

"You shouldn't have taken in a monster like me, Mo~the~r~~" he mimicked wickedly. Aizawa's nerves flared up at once, and he turned to Tsukauchi to immediately call this off, yet he was too late.

"You should have seen her face as I said that while I stabbed her! Pretending to be her precious 'son'," a licentious laugh erupted from his disgusting lips, a none ending laughter that taunted everything the greenette had held dear.

Izuku's left hand shot without a warning to grab the edge of the window before him. He doubled over on himself, his iron-grip on the sill above him turning the knuckles white from the strain, while the other hand clawed at his stomach in pain, as if he was about to vomit.

Immediately, Aizawa was down by his side, hands hovering above his back, not really daring to touch him in fear of making it worse. He was shocked to see much reaction from his apathetic boy, and oh, how he wished he hadn't.

Tsukauchi above them was already running into the room, shouting orders over their heads to other officers to come and collect the villain. He had certainly said enough for the day.

"Is he okay?!" Naomasa's guilt could be heard in his question, but Aizawa had no time for his friend's guilt now, Izuku's pain was something he had not seen before, and that scared him to no end.

"There's got to be another way to verify his identity!!" Aizawa hadn't meant to shout at Tsukauchi, but the sight of his kid in such distress couldn't have affected him more. He had no time to regret his actions as Tsukauchi stood up abruptly.

"There actually is! I have a colleague who can read memories, I'll go bring her!" He left Aizawa with no room to reply before he ran out.

Aizawa was not sure if that was a good idea.

****

The smell of burnt meat was so disgusting that he knew what layed there, without having to see it. 

The small glimpse he saw of the women whom he cherished so deeply, her corpse being unrecognisable.

He searched after her gentle features and caring eyes, but was only met with black, charred remains.

The figure didn't resemble a human being, but a monster. Ink-black, abysmal swirling pools of nothingness instead of eyes. An abnormally stretched smile reaching the ears, the corners of the mouth seemingly cut and extended, forming a nightmarish detachment straight out of a horror movie.

She could not comprehend that her angelic friend was that chunk of meet, barley recognizable as a human being. 

"I don't have a son! I don't have a son!"

Her voice hitched as the burning acid stuck in her throat, refusing to neither get pushed down nor out through her mouth. She broke down in despair.

Save Katsuki! At least Katsuki!

Among the yells and the unbearable pain, something was forcing it's way in. Something touched the hot pain and jerked back, only for it to reach out again to touch the cold, abandoned corners further back. Way back.

No. It should not be there. This pandora box should stay with him, and only him.

He forced himself back to reality, opening his eyes to an other, wide blown, pair of eyes belonging to an unknown woman slumped on the ground.

"What is this?! There are... so... so... many... thousands....
How is this possible?! Who... Who are you?!" She shrieked in horror as her nails came to claw at her face, her whole body trembling like a leaf.

He could hear a voice that sounded too muffled to his ears, and he faintly could in the back if his head feel that he recognised whose voice this was. A man who had been staying by his side and gently caring for him.

Yet he couldn't register anymore than that.

He cleared his shattered mind enough to focus on the woman freaking out on the floor. He launched forward, feeling himself fall out of his chair, and covered the woman's eye, letting the familiar sensation wash over him, as small needles poked at his already destroyed brain. He focused only on the last few minutes worth of memories.

"What?" The woman looked around in a daze. "I swear I was in my office just now? How did I get here?" His hand fell limply from her eyes.

He let himself feel a little bit relieved at the usual confused stare he got, as he allowed himself to sink into the silence that he knew he would reside in for a long while, this time.