So... hey. It's been a while, huh? Yeah, I'm awfully sorry about that. Life has kind of been kicking my ass and I just couldn't find the motivation to really sit down and write. Again, I'm really sorry.
Anyways, since it has been a while, I'm going to be doing a recap from last chapter just in case any of you have forgotten... I wouldn't blame you. However, if you're from the future and binge-reading this in the middle of the night, then feel free to skip the bold.
Or not, whatever it's your decision.
So, basically, good ole' kacchan was being an ass to Izuku and when he told the boy to commit suicide, Izuku listened and jumped from the school roof. From there, Death made Izuku a new reaper, but Izuku was still unconcious and severely injured so he goes to the hospital.
Poor Mama Inko.
***
Izuku thought of only one thing when he woke up; Why am I not dead? One would assume that diving face first onto concrete from a reasonably tall building would result in death. Unfortunately for Izuku, it did not.
It didn't take much for Izuku to realize where he was. He was laying in a starch-white bed, with an annoying beeping sound coming from his left. To his right sat his mother, gently caressing his IV-free hand. Her eyes were visibly puffy and red while her hair somewhat resembled Izuku's signature bed head.
As soon as Inko saw that her son was awake she immediately started shedding tears of happiness. "Oh, Izuku!" She cried. Izuku couldn't help but smile at his mother despite the pain he was in.
"Hey mom," he said weakly. Inko let out a giant grin as tears descended from her eyes.
"Oh, my sweet boy. I was so worried about you. What happened?" Izuku quickly averted his gaze in shame. Looking back on what he did now, he felt an immense amount of shame and guilt. How could he possibly have thought that suicide was the answer?
Then a doctor came in carrying a clipboard in her hands, interrupting his thoughts. "It's good to see that you're awake, Izuku," she said.
"Hello doctor," said Inko. The doctor nodded her head in acknowledgment.
"How are you Izuku?" Asked the doctor.
"I feel kind of fine, I guess. Just a bit sore and pretty tired," responded the boy. He tried to sit up but discovered that it was incredibly painful and extremely exhausting. His face scrunched up into a grimace before letting himself lay down again. "Yeah, scratch that. I feel alot of pain."
"Well, that would make sense. Where do you feel the pain?" She asked.
"Almost everywhere," He responded, trying not to look at his worried mother. He knew that pain would be worse than his physical pain.
The doctor gave the duo a reassuring smile. "Well, if youd like, I can prescribe some pain medication. Just until you get discharged, that is," the doctor said, quickly writing something down on her clipboard.
"Oh gosh, please," he said. The doctor nodded and left the room.
The rest of Izuku's time in the hospital was spent by him being gingerly smothered by his mother.
***
A few days later, Izuku insisted on going to school even though his mother constantly reminded him that he didn't have to go considering the previous circumstances. Izuku wanted to go though. He needed to do something other than sulk around the apartment regretting his past decisions and school would certainly help with that.
Of course, school had its own set of challenges. Katsuki Bakugou would be the prime example. So, it wasn't all that surprising when good 'ole Kacchan made his presence known to Izuku as he walked onto school grounds.
"HEY DEKU! WHAT THE FUCK IS UP WITH YOU, JUMPING OFF THE BUILDING LIKE THAT?!" screamed Katsuki. Izuku tried hard not to flinch but old habits do indeed die hard. However, he wouldn't let Katsuki step on him anymore. Izuku took a deep breathe to steady his breathing and wiped his eyes with his forearm to get rid of any forming tears.
"Why do you think?" He asked, trying to keep his voice as steady as he could. And before Katsuki could get a word in, like the boy knew he would, Izuku continued. "I jumped because I was tired of living. Tired of living because of idiots like you," Izuku pointed a finger accusingly at Katsuki, "Always telling me that I'm worthless just because I'm quirkless and that I'd be doing society a favor if I killed myself. Hell! You yourself even told to me to, and I QUOTE, 'swan dive off of the roof'. I was so tired and broken by you that I listened and swan dived off that roof." By this point, Izuku's words were raspy and cracking.
"AND YOU FUCKING DID IT?" Screamed Katsuki. "FOR GOD'S SAKE, YOU STUPID DEKU, YOU DON'T JUST ATTEMPT SUICIDE BECAUSE SOMEONE FUCKING TELLS YOU TO FUCKING DIE."
"Well I'm sorry that I've been emotionally and physically bullied by the likes of you while no one else did a damn thing," retorted the green haired boy. By this point, tears were starting to spill.
"HUH?! THE FUCK DID YOU JUST SAY, YOU BRAT?" Roared the blond as a small explosion flickered to existence in his right hand.
"You think you can get off scot-free because you have a cool quirk. A flashy quirk. That because of it, your actions have no consequences?! Well guess what? YOUR ACTIONS DO HAVE CONSEQUENCES!" Yelled Izuku, voice cracking as ugly tears streamed down his face.
In a fit of rage, Katsuki did the only thing he knew how to in any confrontational setting: blow shit up. And the closest thing to blow up? Izuku Midoriya's face.
Katsuki extended his palm to Izuku's face and ignighted a mighty explosion. The heat from the blast was so intense that it instantly burned off more than half of the boy's face, leaving only seared flesh and blackened bones. The accompanying odor was disturbingly akin to burning steak.
However, to Izuku, the most shocking thing about the explosion wasn't the heat, pain, or even smell. In fact, the most shocking thing wasn't even the explosion itself. It was what happened after the explosion.
What had been previously charred flesh and exposed bone was quickly covered in a sickly black fog that smelled of rotting flesh and felt like ice. Izuku could feel his face stitch itself together again, as if the fog was both a needle and a thread with his face being the fabric. However, he could feel something else. Something dark, yet eerily familiar.
The cold sucked away his precious heat like the encroaching frost on an autumn night. Izuku desperately tried to regain his heat back, willing it to come back. He didn't want to go back into the cold. Unfortunately for Izuku, the precious warmth wasn't willing to stay, so the greedy cold took him eagerly. The boy, left too tired to stay warm, conceded to the cold and crumpled to the ground like a rag doll being dropped, completely unaware of anything.
***
The white haired male stood close by, observing the fellow reaper's interaction with an explosively loud boy. So, when the blond decided to, you know, blow up the other's face, Kaido was there to help. Thank Fate that he was a paramedic.
Leaving his spot next to a nearby tree, Kaido strode toward the boys at a brisk pace, stuffing his hands in a white leather bomber jacket.
"Hey, what's going on here?" asked the reaper. The blonde jerked his head to face the the white haired male. However, the boy didn't look pissed, or even annoyed. He look horrified. Horrified for himself, or horrified about what he had just done, Kaido wasn't too sure, but he was sure that he had to help the young reaper. Unfortunately for him, Katsuki suddenly decided that now was the perfect time to start lashing out again. Just not at the semi-alive adult.
"Hey! What the fuck do you think you're doing, you shitty deku? Get the fuck up and stop being so god damn useless! And what the fuck is that shit on your-" Katsuki was suddenly interrupted by the white-haired male.
"Child, shut the hell up! Can't you see that he's passed out? He's not gunna wake up because some bully demands it," snapped Kaido.
Katsuki Bakugou didn't like that. He attempted to throw a more bridaled explosion at the man, but Kaido merely pushed the boy's wrist to the side, diverting the explosion to his left. Frustrated with the missed attack, Katsuki tried again only for Kaido to side step the boys attack then grab ahold of his arm, forcing Katsuki into an arm-lock.
"Listen here, kiddo," said Kaido, "If you don't stop this instant, then I'm going to do something I won't regret." To emphasize his point, Kaido pulled the boy's arm further, nearly breaking it. Katsuki struggled to keep his yelp at bay.
"Fine, old man! Just let my arm go," said Katsuki. Pleased with this, Kaido smirked and released the blond's arm.
"Thank you for your cooperation." With that, Kaido walked over to Izuku's body and picked him up bridal style. As the man walked away with Izuku in tow, Katsuki was left to ponder what the hell just happened.
***
When Izuku awoke from the slumber of death, it was not a good time for him. His body was drenched in cold sweat while Izuku's face felt as if it had been dunked into a vat of acid. He tried to sit up but found that with every movement was both exhausting and painful. So he didn't move. Instead, Izuku observed the space he was in.
From what Izuku could tell, he was laying on a small roll-away cott in the corner of a large warehouse type space. The floors were concrete and very obviously cracked in some places. In the center of the warehouse was a large blue training mat with very damaged training dummies scattered on and around it. The windows were placed high along the vaulted ceiling with some of them cracked or shattered, letting in the cool spring breeze. The catwalks seemed to be mostly intact, if not for a bit of rust and one section by the massive doors that was completely broken. On the other side of the warehouse, there was a small area sectioned off behind a wall of yellow blankets.
Deciding that it was safe for the moment, Izuku let himself dwell on his thoughts. What the hell? What happened? Think, Izuku. What do you last remember? I was at school and then Kacchan- no, Katsuki, and I got into a fight. He used his quirk on me...
Oh fuck that shit. This was the second time Katsuki had caused Izuku serious harm, he realized and the reaper was NOT okay with this. Katsuki said he wanted to be a hero? Hah. What a fucking joke. Katsuki deserved to be a hero no more than a random ant on the street. Even less, actually.
Izuku was going to make sure Katsuki never became a hero. He just won't allow it to happen. Not with the way Katsuki thinks he can just walk all over people and get away with it.
With newfound resolve and determination, Izuku manages to shake off the pain and remove himself from the cott with a grunt. Looking down on where he had just been laying, Izuku grimaced at the sweat stain shaped like him. He'd have to find some way to repay that to whoever put him there. Actually, who had put him there? Could it be a kidnapper? No, he would have been tied up or something. That or the kidnapper was an idiot. Izuku put his thumbnail to his teeth and started gnawing.
"Hey, could you not chew on your fingernails? Sorry to be a bother, kiddo, but that stuff just really bothers me," announced a male voice. Izuku let out a surprised yelp and jump before turning around to face the man. Before him stood a man of medium stature, probably at about 5'10 ish. He wore a plain white t-shirt that almost matched his straight white hair. His jeans were black and gave the man a very boxy physique.
"Oh man, I'm sorry. I didn't even notice I was doing it," Izuku slid a hand to the back of his neck and tried his hardest to avoid eye contact with the man. "If you'd like, I can get going."
"No, no. That won't be neccessary. There are some things I'd like to speak with you about," said the man. Izuku didn't exactly like the sound of that, but he wasn't confident that he could escape if he tried. Better to just go along with it, I guess, He thought.
"Uh... Yeah. Sure, I guess we could... uh... talk?"
"Excellent. Now, I'm going to be very blunt with you, Kiddo. You ready?" the man asked, sliding his hands into his pockets. Izuku wasn't sure if he would be ready but it's also better to rip the bandaid off right away. He gave a nod in response. "Right. So, you died and for whatever reason, Death decided to grant you another chance at life and made you one of their reapers." That... wasn't what Izuku was expecting. He was expecting something more along the lines of... he honestly didn't know what.
"I'm sorry, what? I'm dead?" asks Izuku.
"No, not really. Only half dead. Death can't exactly give back full life, but they can bring you back from the plains," explained the white haired man.
"Right, of course. Makes total sense. I'm only half dead," Izuku retorts sarcastically as he begins to pace the room. This dude had to be mad. Absolute bonkers.
"Fine, don't believe me. Just go out there untrained. You won't be able to do shit out there. You'll practically be quirkless," said the man. That made Izuku pause.
"Yeah, well tough. I am quirkless. Nothing's going to change," Izuku explained bitterly.
"Maybe you once were, but that's changed now. Of course, you can still leave now, you'll just never be able know what you can do," said the man.
"You're crazy!" Izuku exclaimed. "Is this some sort of fucked up mind game you do with quirkless children? Abduct them and tell them they feel special and then you commit unspeakable acts toward them? Or are you literally just some loon desperate for any form of companionship?" Kaido looked offended at the accusation.
"I can assure you that that's not the case, Kiddo. I would never dream of doing such a nefarious act, I'm much too busy to do any of that stuff," Kaido's eyes bulged, "Not that I would or anything!" The older man- reaper?- waved his hands in front of him wildly, as if trying to form a shield from Izuku's sharp words. The boy merely crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow.
"You know, that's kind of suspicious," he pointed out, but admittedly, Izuku was somewhat curious if this was at all true or not, "But I'll bite. What exactly can I do now that I'm a 'reaper', as you put it?" Kaido's previous embarrassment seemed to have instantly melted away. A sly grin etched its way across the man's face.
"Well, we'd have to see, won't we?"
***
Well damn. I finally got this damned second chapter finished, huh? I can tell you that this has honestly been plaguing my dreams, but i just couldn't... finish it. It just never seemed good enough to me- it is still barely adequate imo- but hey whatever. I really just needed to get it out there anyway because I know that a lot of you have been waiting a while to read the second chapter and I felt that I've been failing y'all.
Hopefully the next chapter will come out sooner rather than later, I'll see.
Until next time, my dudes!
P.S. #sorrynotsorry for the cliffhanger
P.P.S. If you see any errors, (i.e. grammatical issues, spelling issues, etc.) feel free to comment it and I will do my best to fix it as soon as I can.