[WARNING: Chapter is double the length than usual]
The empty wind blew past the remnants of the factory, the story between these siblings approaching its conclusion.
On one side, the heir to a power passed down from generation with the ability to bend fate and mix with others. Its wielder was exhausted but determined to stand tall. On the other, an outlaw that yearned for his own end with a track record that would scare most. Although his body was nearing the point of collapse, his mind couldn't be more transfixed.
Izumi used One For All - Full cowling and stepped back waiting for Izuku to make a move. Izuku observed and slowly got onto his heels while lowering his torso. The both of them stood for a moment until Izuku suddenly appeared in front of her. Izumi tried to duck below the punch but wasn't fast enough, resulting in her being hit in the face. She let out a grunt of pain before quickly retaliating with a kick to the chest pushing him back. The both of them began to chase after each other.
"So that's the power of All Might, huh?" said Izuku, leaping forward and almost catching Izumi. "All Might? You mean dad?" "That man stopped being my family long ago, just like you." Izuku was purposely trying to stagnate her confidence at every chance he got, in hopes it would end this quickly. Instead, it ticked Izumi to turn around with her fingers in the position of a flick. "Delaware Smash!"
The coming gust of wind blew Izuku back to the edge of the property where he managed to hold on to a stop sign, at the cost of one of Izumi's fingers. While stunned by the pain, Izuku took the opportunity to grab a piece of rubble that flew by with him and throw it at her. Izumi didn't see it coming and got hit by it on her abdomen, but as Izuku charged forward to hit her, the adrenaline from the impact helped her dodge his attack.
"Why did you become like this?" asked Izumi, peddling back to ready herself again.
"Like I had another choice- You brought me here."
"How could I-"
"Remember that knock on the door... the day you were busy studying"
"..." The memory was recurring in Izumi's mind every night
"Oh, how things would have changed had you answered..."
"H-How?"
"I WOULD'VE BEEN GONE A LOT SOONER!"
Izuku yelled and dashed forward again, he knew that Izumi would try to counterattack him so he moved his knee in a way he didn't for a long time. This was a technique that Green did, but Izuku never tried it out on his own, it was called confusion kick. He remembered seeing it done on Aizawa a long time ago with completely disorientating effects, this was what he was aiming for. Izuku nearly reached Izumi, and just as their hand touched one another, he violently pushed it to the side while using his leg on hers in the other direction. The result is a fully anticlockwise rotation that Izumi didn't even notice yet, and so Izuku quickly realized how to finish it off with a knee. Altogether, it looked as if Izuku briefly controlled her gravity, and forced it toward the ground. Izumi only realized what happened once the pain overcame her, and by then, Izuku already readied another punch straight into the ground she lay.
POW
The impact fractured the crater further than before, and Izumi seemed to have fallen unconscious.
"*Huff* *Puff* You really were an annoyance till the end, right?"
"Haven't changed, just like him"
Izuku stood over her breathing heavily, satisfied with the result. It seemed that it was over and he began walking away to save his energy.
"Your attitudes will never be fit for successful heroes"
"..."
"You'll help others until no one can help you, and he will be easily corrupt with fame"
"I wonder what I meant to you if that's how you acted now... or maybe it's just because I'm quirkless"
"Don't be too mad about it, everyone has the same bias. I just taught some that were the victims of it how to move on."
"In that case, consider it my parting gift, their wills won't be crushed as easily as you want."
"Wear that facade well Izumi, I know one slip will make it all crumble down."
"..."
"I'll watch the spectacle from hell"
"..."
"Well enjoy your future... without me"
.
..
...
*Woosh* "You're not getting away now!" Izumi shouted and landed in front of Izuku with an even stronger level of Full Cowling. Blood was dripping from her head yet her eyes somehow could focus perfectly.
"You..." Izuku mumbled. "You... BITCH! YOU REALLY DON'T KNOW HOW TO GIVE UP!" roared Izuku while jumping after her emanating intense bloodlust.
"I'm not stopping until I get you home!"
...
The battle had gone on for nearly half an hour. Both of them entered into one exchange after another, brutally wounding each other, and chasing after each other again and again. Things would finally change when in one interaction, Izumi got right close to him and hit his chest.
POW
Izuku was thrown into a collapsing building, leaving a hole in the concrete wall. Silence settled for a couple of seconds, with Izumi believing that Izuku was knocked unconscious. Yet, right as she was about to move to check, a piece of concrete flew out of the hole. Although surprised, she defended herself by destroying the rubble mid-air with One For All. But just as one came through, more followed. Izumi had to dodge and break through a barrage of cement at speeds she almost couldn't see. While they weren't too big, they were still heavy, and she was astonished by how fast Izuku could throw them. It was almost inhuman... prompting her to think "Did he get a quirk?" The latter thought was a shot in the dark, but Izuku seemed to have somehow heard it perfectly. Both of his dusty hands came out of the hole and grabbed its perimeter, he climbed out of it and brushed off some of the concrete dust off his hair that mixed with the blood of a large graze at the back of his head. "I don't have a quirk! That's what you prioritized right?!" yelled Izuku, "behold the power of conviction! The power of will! Something you clearly lack!" Despite his bloody hands, he clenched his fists and jumped back down. The provocation took greater effect than expected Izuku as Izumi then suddenly got angry and jumped up to the top of the factory.
Izumi stood on top of the factory building looking down below at Izuku, still smiling gleefully as ever. She could tell he still had more stamina than her and was eager to end this as fast as possible. Izumi understood that if this went on, she will never see him again. Now, alone in the night, she could only think of one last way to stop Izuku from running again.
"I'll end this now!" yelled Izumi gritting her teeth, "I'll show you I still care! That I'm still your family! That you're still mine!"
Izuku waited for this moment, this battle dragged on and on with the same outcome each time. He knew that only Izumi had the strength to consider a final blow, the hope to see this end instead of the determination to pull through. Not only that, but this would be the final exchange with his lost fate, the last time he would go right against One For All itself.
"In this world, you can only speak if you have power, so show it to me! Release that strength that gives you the right!"
Izumi held back her arm and tightened each of her muscles, soon, it began lining itself with blue streaks of energy. She then closed her hand in a fist, causing green sparks to form around it and then surrounding her arm, ripping her suit. Izumi unleashed One For All in its full glory, letting the power of 100% manifest itself for one, final, attack.
From below, Izuku couldn't hold back his excitement. He could see Izumi being dead serious with her statement, looking to punch him with the force of a thousand suns to stop him. In-kind, he braced himself equally, readying a punch of his own.
This will be a battle of wills, one sibling against another with their own goals in mind. The deciding factor would be chosen now.
Izumi jumped off with a trail of green lighting following behind her, and Izuku ran toward her at the same time. As they both screamed, they nearly approached the tipping point between them, until... Izuku moved to the side at the last moment.
"Learned that from you."
As soon as the wind subsided, Izuku jumped into the crater and knocked her out.
.
...
....
Izuku stumbled his way toward the glass shard he left on the floor hours ago, it miraculously wasn't shattered by the rubble that flew around it. As he slowly picked it up in his hands, his pulse began to slow down to a calm, steady, beat. For once, he looked back at the destruction that was caused and reminisced on the similar craters he left behind in different parts of the city... what fun times they were. Though he rejected the others, he did acknowledge that the challenges they presented enticed him a bit. But this was the end.
Izuku tightened his grip and brought it to his neck, the sharp edge facing towards it and began pressing it against his skin. As he did, the intense pain from the fight began to engulf his body, the broken bones, the torn tendons, all to oppose fate and bring it into his own hands. The pain sharpened, it was unimaginable, but should this be the border between life and death, Izuku was determined to break through it. The first drop of blood fell, and its sound hitting the floor echoed. Izumi shivered listening to it, but couldn't muster any energy, she knew what was going to happen. Three more drops fell on the floor individually, each louder than before, and the countdown to execution ticked.
As Izuku stared beyond into the coming abyss, something else stared back, something red and smooth. Izuku couldn't quite make out what it was, it wriggled left and right excitedly. At the same time, another glare came right beside it. That was when he realized what he looked at, and the image became clearer.
"Hey, Rufiji! Can you help me with this math homework?"
"Don't bother him too much, you need to learn as well."
"But he explains it so much better than the teacher!"
Akie and Sachie, the dastardly duo. Why were they showing their faces here? Izuku couldn't understand it. The two of them were in his memories, yes, but he had suppressed them long before he came to this place.
"You're just taking advantage of his kindness"
No, I'm a monster...
"If I want to learn, I want to learn well!"
"Did you even ask Mom or Dad?"
"They work in art! What do you want me to learn from them?"
"At least ask them!"
"..."
No, I'm not who you think I am
"Well?"
"Well... they're coming home later"
"Can't you wait?"
"Look! Rufiji's here right?"
*Sigh* "Let's just go and see him then"
Stay away... please...
Why- do you remember me?
An intense headache set into place, Izuku didn't know if it came from the blood loss or guilt. His arm couldn't move as fast as before but at least the red drops now turned to a shallow stream, it would soon be over. Yet, another blurry mess was staring back, grey this time, with two red dots, who could this be?
"H-he had white hair and green eyes"
"He looked so sad"
"He said he was a monster, but I don't believe that! He saved me!"
Eri... why? Why was he remembering her? No. He doesn't have any attachments to this world. He can't falter now. This was everything, this was all for himself. He needed to rid this life of its cancer, himself. Just stop it, cut the neck, annihilate the source, and bring this to its END.
"Iz-Izuku... don't..."
For a moment, a shiver ran down his spine. A relentless frost shook his knees.
"No... This ends NOW."
"This ends NOW!"
"THIS ENDS NOWWWW!"
POW
The last thing Izuku saw was not his own decapitated body falling to the floor, but the familiar red cape overshadowing him.
"Mirio! Thank god!"
Izuku didn't care anymore, the pain that had been overpowering him for so long before began to finally go away. Whatever happened, happened.
"What happened here!?- Oh my god! Why is he bleeding so much?!"
As time slowed, Izuku's world darkened, and he welcomed its embrace. He would sleep, and he would rest, hopefully eternally. This was the bliss he longed for.
"Sorry, Sachie, Akie, and Eri. Kenban and Eikyo. I'll be leaving you all behind."
.
..
...
"D- Did you call an ambulance?" Izumi stood up with the help of Tamaki, she had difficulty breathing and was covered with wounds. "Yes, it's on its way," said Mirio, tying a knot over Izuku's laceration on his neck, "We managed to find Nejire, luckily she was only knocked out." Tamaki settled Izumi down on a nearby piece of rubble and began getting out a medkit. "Was it a tough battle?"
"Yeah, Yeah..."
"tougher than I ever thought it would be. "