Izuku's eyes fluttered open as he yawned quietly. He rubbed his eyes forcefully as he noticed the blonde sitting next to him. Before he got up, he heard another male voice near him.
"Bakubro, why are you so protective of Midobro now? I thought you hated him."
Kirishima was here too?, Izuku thought. He decided to stay low as he was curious about Katsuki's answer. He himself didn't even know why Bakugou had this sudden urge to protect him.
The blonde looked down, "I.. I don't know. It's just.. when he was taken, I guess it reminded me of what happened to me at the training camp. So, I wanted to protect him from that. I guess I just wanted to be his overprotective brother again like when we were younger.. " Katsuki managed a small chuckle as memories filled his head.
"Wait, are you turning soft now, bro?"
Bakugou blushed in embarrassment, "No! Don't you even dare, dumb hair!"
Kirishima chuckled. Midoriya on the other hand was in shock. He thought Bakugou hated him. Although he also wanted things to be like when they were younger, he wasn't sure if that could be possible now. Still, he wanted to try. Try to mend that friendship that they had. Try to restore the trust they once held. Try to become the friends they once were, again.
Slowly, he sat up on the sofa and yawned again, "Morning, Kacchan and Kirishima!"
Bakugou turned to face him, his face still blushing from earlier. Kirishima waved subtly as he held back a small laugh.
Katsuki looked at him sternly, "So, Izu, why were you down here in the first place?"
Izuku's eyes widened. He couldn't tell them about last night because then that would lead to questions about the past few days. He wasn't prepared to answer those. He also didn't want Kirishima knowing about his night terrors. How had he managed to slip up this badly? Dammit!, Izuku thought.
"Earth to Izuku?"
Midoriya jolted up, "What did you ask me again?"
Kirishima sat up, "He asked why you were down here."
The greenette laughed nervously, "Well, uhm.. funny story..."
Katsuki looked him in the eye, face full of worry and confusion. Midoriya fidgeted anxiously with his fingers. I mean, I guess there's no harm in telling Kirishima, he thought. He took a deep breath.
"I.. got another nightmare.. I didn't want to stay in my room so I came down here to relax a bit.." he released a breath he didn't know he had been holding, "but I see I fell asleep.. "
Midoriya chuckled, but it was obvious he was hurting inside. Suddenly, a pair of arms wrapped around him as that warm feeling of home returned. He looked up to see Katsuki hugging him.
"K-kacchan?"
"Shut up, you damn nerd. Why the hell didn't you tell me?"
Izuku gulped, "I-I didn't want to b-bother you, Kacchan.. "
Bakugou hugged him tighter, "Just.. tell me next time, alright?"
The greenette nodded. Maybe Kacchan and I can finally be friends again, he thought as a smile escaped his lips.
Izuku sat at his desk as he wrote down notes in his Hero Analysis notebook. This time, he wrote about Sir Nighteye. He had grown an interest to him, especially since he saved him from the clutches of the League of Villains. But, it was more that Nighteye fought quirkless most of the time, which younger him would find aspiring.
"His quirk only allows him to see one person's future actions which limits the use but also requires quick and strategic thinking. Not to mention that the quirk only works every twenty-four hours. This also means he has to perform combat most of the time to an absurd degree to match the villain's level on the battlefi-"
A knock sounded at the door, stopping Izuku in the middle of his rambling. I wasn't expecting anyone, he thought. Quickly, he got up from the desk and walked calmly to the door. Opening the door, he immediately regretted his decision.
"Young Midoriya, how are you doing?" All Might asked with a big smile.
All Might. The one person he would hate to see right now.
Izuku faked a smile, "Great, All Might."
The retired hero took a glance into his room, "I see you changed your room. Why the sudden change, eh?"
Izuku still didn't meet his eye, "I was just tired of my old style."
All Might noticed how awkward it was getting.
"Young Midoriya, look, I'm sorry about what happened during the villain attack."
Midoriya scoffed, "You're sorry?"
Toshinori looked at him in surprise. Midoriya never acted like this. What changed?
"It was an act of desperation, I had to save the students, you need to understand that!"
Midoriya looked him in the eye, "I understand that you needed to 'save the students' but you left me to die! You didn't think twice about leaving me behind!"
The older male's tone became sterner, "Young Midoriya, I don't know what has gotten into you but you have to understand I was just doing it to save U.A. You could have saved yourself from the villains!"
That was his breaking point.
"You know, All Might. When I was younger, I thought you were cool."
With that, he slammed the door in Yagi's face. He couldn't keep the tears back anymore as his body slid down the door. Stupid, stupid All Might!, he thought as he held his head in his hands. It's my fault for getting kidnapped?, he asked himself. Maybe if I had been stronger, maybe if I had been better!, he convinced himself as All Might's words repeated over and over in his head.
"Shut up, shut up, shut up.. please.. " he pleaded as the voices grew louder.
He placed his hands over his ears tightly in an attempt to silence his head. Tears stained the wooden flooring as everything started to overwhelm the greenette. Soon enough, the breakdown wore him out and he fell asleep.
"Bakugou, follow me."
"What the hell, Icyhot! Where the hell are we going?!"
Todoroki stopped in his tracks, "We need to check on Midoriya. I saw All Might go to his floor. I have a bad feeling."
Bakugou started running, "Why didn't you tell me sooner?!"
First All Might leaves him to die then goes to talk to him?, Bakugou thought, what a jerk of a hero. Todoroki walked calmly behind him. They both didn't exactly like All Might, especially because of the incident. But, they both had different opinions at the same time. Finally, they both reached Midoriya's door.
Shoto knocked softly, "Midoriya, are you there?"
No one replied. Soft breathing could be heard from within. Normally, he would have opened the door by now. Something's off, Katsuki thought.
"Alright, that's it. Icyhot, move out of the way."
Shoto moved out of the way. Bakugou got his hands ready in position, as he stood right in front of the door.
"AP Shot!"
He blasted a hole in the door, right above the handle. Quickly, he put his hand through and opened the door from the inside. In the doorway sat an asleep Izuku. He had dried tear stains on his cheeks and his head was resting between his chest and his knees, his hands limp by his side.
"What the hell happened..." Bakugou mumbled in confusion as he carefully picked up the greenette.
Todoroki stared at the situation. He was in shock. What did All Might say to make Izuku cry himself to sleep?
Izuku walked into class, adjusting to the loud chatter and overall noise of the classroom. As he sat down in his seat, his mind travelled to a different place. He kept thinking about what All Might said as well as the reoccurring nightmares he kept having. He kept asking himself, would anyone help if I was taken again? He wondered if Toga's words were true. Everything was overwhelming his head at this point.
"Midoriya!"
Midoriya looked up as he adjusted back to reality.
"Uhm.. yes, Mr Aizawa?" he asked as he forced a small smile.
Aizawa looked at Midoriya's state. He had dark bags under his eyes, his hair looked hardly brushed and he was trembling slightly. That was unusual for the class sunshine. Aizawa immediately knew something was wrong.
"Stay after class. I need to talk to you."
Midoriya groaned slightly, "Yes, Mr Aizawa..."
Midoriya slung his bag on his back as Aizawa walks towards him.
"Problem child."
Izuku turned around quickly, "Yes, Mr Aizawa?"
Shota hesitated, "How are you holding up?"
Midoriya didn't know what to say. He questioned whether he could trust his teacher or not. Surely, he could, right?
"I-I'm okay.. just anxious I guess..."
The ravenette bent down to his level.
He put a hand on his shoulder, "I'm always here for you if you need me. You know you can tell me anything, right?"
Tears were visibly forming in the greenette's eyes. This is the comfort he longed for, which both Bakugou and Aizawa provided.
He wiped away the tears, "I swear I'm okay, Mr Aizawa. I'm just a little more paranoid than usual, I guess."
With that, the young hero left the classroom. Aizawa however didn't believe that Izuku had told him everything. Although he didn't want to force him to tell the truth, he desperately wanted to know what was going on. What is going on with you, problem child?, Aizawa questioned as he took a sip of his coffee.
Midoriya returned to the dorms, his face showing clear signs of paranoia. He kept looking behind himself every minute or making sure to be extra quiet so that he could hear the nonexistent sounds that came from the bushes or trees. At this point, the nightmare felt like it would become true at any second.
Loud shouts came from the Heights Alliance dorms. He could hear Bakugou shouting at something as well as muffled words or phrases. He felt bad for whoever Bakugou was arguing with. As he walked into the building, he didn't even turn his head to see what was going on. He just walked upstairs calmly and quietly, his mind somewhere else.
He reached his dorm room, which now resembled what it first looked like when they moved in. Except for the fact that the bed's duvet was now white, of course. He flopped onto the bed, as he slowly blocked out the distant shouts and noises from the common room. Slowly, Midoriya fell asleep hugging the pillow as he felt a long needed comfort from the inanimate object.
Glass shattering could be heard from the second floor. Toga walked through the shattered balcony door to find a sleeping greenette curled up on the bed, hugging his pillow tightly.
"This just made my job a whole lot easier."
The blonde smiled and walked over to the bed. Carefully, she picked up the young hero and slung him over her shoulder. Carefully, she jumped off the balcony and started her way back to the meeting point.
"Hey, lunatic, you got the kid?"
Toga skipped happily towards him, "Yes, he looked so cute~!"
Dabi looked up at her to see the unconscious kid on her shoulder.
"Did you knock him out?"
She laughed, "No! He was already curled up asleep when I got there!"
Izuku stirred and moved slightly on her shoulder.
The older male turned towards the woods, "We should go. We don't want him waking up before we get there."
Toga followed him into the forest, as she leaned slightly on her left side to make sure the child didn't fall off on the way there. She thought about the mess Midoriya's room was left in. Shattered glass, a shattered balcony door, empty, messed up bed. They would have to enact this plan quickly for her to get back in time to clean all of that up.
Ngh, where am I?, Izuku thought as he slowly woke up. The room was dark, except for a small lamp in the corner that glimmered a tinted yellow light. He looked around to see if he could find a way out. There was a door in the far left corner of the room. He tried to get up, but found that he was tied up again in an all too familiar rope. He wondered if his nightmares were really just warnings in disguise about the current situation at hand.
"Struggling over there?"
Midoriya looked up to meet Shigaraki's gaze. The blue-haired figure stood at the doorway with his arms crossed.
"You don't have to worry about getting out of here anytime soon." he said as he walked up towards the greenette, "Toga's going to take your place."
Midoriya's eyes widened. If Toga took his place, would that mean that the league could find out more information on One Of All, in hopes of freeing All For One quicker? His thoughts were cut off as a blonde entered the room.
"Hi, Izuku~!"
She waved to him as her face blushed a rose pink.
"I hope you don't mind me replacing you!" she declared as she took a small sip out of a glass which looked to be holding a red liquid.
In seconds, the blonde transformed into Izuku. Everything was identical to his own appearance. The scars, freckles, even the hair was styled the same exact way as his.
"Now we can finish what we started."
Just you wait heroes, soon you'll be at the mercy of our new society, Shigaraki thought as a smile escaped his lips.