A State of Decay

Chapter 1

The Country? In shambles. 

Midoriya's personal life? Also, in shambles. 

It's a wonderful time. Trying to learn how to navigate an entirely new way of being a hero hasn't been easy. Vigilantism isn't all it's cracked up to be—yeah, it always sounds cool in comic books and in theory, but Midoriya is no stranger to long nights, more broken bones, cuts, and bruises than he can count. Now, he knows why Aizawa looked like death every day in class back when he was still in UA. 

Coffee is literally the nectar of the gods, and the sun is just way, way too bright. 

Fortunately, Izuku's roommate more than understands the mess he's made. Underground Hero Mindjack—Shinsou Hitoshi is right there with him. 

Izuku sits on the couch with his knees pulled up to his chest, carefully nursing a mug of straight, black coffee that Shinsou handed him minutes ago. It was one in the afternoon, but it felt the same as when he woke up at five in the morning to exercise back in high school. He hated mornings then, and he hates them even more now. He's thought about reaching out to Aizawa to see how he got his hands on a sleeping bag with separated arm and leg compartments built into it. It seems nice. 

"Are you even listening?" Shinsou says, waving a hand in front of Izuku's face. "You were mumbling under your breath, so I'm assuming you weren't."

Izuku laughs nervously, scratching the back of his head. "S-sorry... Long night..." He smiles at his roommate sheepishly. 

"Well, I asked if you were going to Todoroki's Birthday Party tonight," Shinsou said, sitting beside Izuku on the sofa. "Ashido's throwing the party, so she'll probably be upset if you don't go." 

"Are you going? Is Kaminari going to be there?" 

Shinsou sighs. "Why are you asking both of those questions together? I don't like what it implies." 

"I think you do," Izuku says in a teasing tone. Shinsou pinches the bridge of his nose in annoyance, but there's no hiding the faint blush that appears on his cheeks. 

"I will be there," Shinsou finally says. "And I have no clue what Sparky's plans are." 

"I can find out for you!" Izuku says, reaching for his phone on the coffee table. Shinou smacks his roommate's hand away from it so hard that he almost knocks the mug of coffee out of the other hand. 

"Don't you dare meddle," Shinsou warns, giving Izuku a startlingly murderous look. And that's the end of that discussion. Izuku knows better than to challenge that face. 

* * * 

The hardest part about what Izuku does for a living is not being able to tell most of your friends. He's told them he's just an Underground Hero, like Shinsou. That way, they don't question his sleepy appearance and the lack of his presence in the daytime. 

The commission isn't all they were taught it was. Many of the heroes know this, but for fear of being arrested or stopped from being heroes altogether, they have to abide by the commission's rules and orders. 

Izuku couldn't do that. He just couldn't—not when he knew what they were capable of and what they liked to sweep under the carpet. 

The first person that comes to mind when he thinks of the commission's injustices is Tomura Shigaraki. 

Thanks to their weird bond, Izuku knew more about Shigaraki than probably anyone else did. They could occupy the same mental space and communicate there, and they had. Izuku had seen enough memories of Shigaraki's to know that it wasn't his nemesis' fault that he ended up the way he did.