Izuku groggily opened his eyes to be met with dim darkness. Not the same darkness of his cell, though. His cell had a particular type of darkness that made his feel the smallest amount of comfort until Shigaraki came to destroy it.
No.
This wasn't his cell.
He was on the ground of a cage stacked up on other cages against the wall of a long hallway. It was small and he just barely fit inside. It was big enough for him to lay down curled up and just tall enough that he could sit up. A dog cage with an enforced lock on it.
There were empty cages across from him against the other wall but he wasn't sure if he was the only one there.
His head pounded once more but it wasn't from his fever. A nasty bump at the back of his head throbbed with pain from when Shigaraki bashed his head into the floor of the bar after they got back.
Shigaraki was bleeding from his wounds and a part of Izuku felt a satisfaction from the man's suffering. But it was quickly put out after he'd looked at Izuku with a look of pure hate. Izuku's hands were still bound and his fever was yet to be broken. His whole body already felt weak, especially after the collar shocked him, his own wounds ached and moving was difficult.
So when Shigaraki came at him, bleeding and angry, he couldn't fight back.
Now he sat in the small cage.
Another thing different was that someone had changed his clothes while he was knocked out. Now he wore a worn out short sleeved hospital gown that had a few dirt splotches on the chest. Either it was dirt or blood, he didn't know. It was itchy and didn't protect him from the chill, but he was used to that.
An emptiness on his neck caused him to bring his hand up and instead of feeling the tight collar around his nape, it was free and light.
The collar was gone.
A new layer of bandages had been wrapped around his wounds tightly, as if whoever did didn't really care about helping him.
Over the bandages of his left wrist was a paper bracelet. Izuku couldn't see what was written very well, but he saw a few numbers that were difficult to make out.
0056
What did they mean?
Did he really want to find out?
Fear began to surge through his body. He'd heard of Sensei talk about the doctor but he never actually seen him. Sensei always threatened to take him to see the doctor if he did anything that was bad.
Izuku failed his test, Shigaraki told him so. He didn't want to do it and he failed.
He backed up to the far side of the cage, the metal pressed up behind him on his back. Gripping his hair tightly, he started trying to stay quiet. He couldn't let them know he was awake. What was going to happen to him?
The sound of a door opening echoed throughout the hallway and he stiffened. Footsteps drew closer to his cage and he pressed himself closer to the back.
A person stopped in front of the door and looked in. Izuku could see green goggles around a bald head that shined even in the dim light. He wore a white lab coat and a button up shirt with a tie under it. The mustache on his lips was large and covered his mouth, but Izuku could still see the tale of a smile.
"Good morning, Izuku," He spoke in a chipper tone as he dug into his pockets and pulled out a silver key.
If Izuku could speak, he might've asked who the man was, despite knowing it was the doctor. He might've started cursing and swearing him out like a sailor in attempt to guard whatever dignity he had left.
But he couldn't speak so he remained silent and stiff, pressed up against the cold metal in the back of the cage.
"Not one for chit chat, are you?" The doctor asked as he unlocked the cage and opened the latch door. "I was told you haven't spoken in quite a while. That isn't good for your vocal cords, you know."
Izuku knew that, but it didn't mean he cared.
The doctor reached in his cage and pulled him further out by the legs. Izuku let out a whimper when he grabbed him under his arms and pulled him out the rest of the way. Setting him down on his feet, Izuku wobbled for balance.
His head still pounded like a drum and his feet were still achy from the cuts. Fighting Eraserhead wasn't all that good for his healing.
Who would've thought?
Putting a hand on Izuku's shoulder, the doctor started guiding Izuku down the hall as he stumbled. Cages like the one he was just in lined the walls with blank clip boards in the front, most were empty, but he could still see a few of them that had people in them. Much older people.
The clip boards were new, the one on his cage didn't have one. Either that or he was just too scared to notice.
Izuku followed obediently, not wanting to make the situation worse for himself. Finally, they arrived to a sterol clean room with medical equipment lining the tables and counters.
In the middle of the room lay a metal table with leather buckle straps for wrists and ankles. Dried blood sat uncleaned on the top and Izuku began to feel cold.
The doctor closed the door behind them and locked it. "Hold on, kid. I just have to clean this. I should've done so before coming to get you, my bad," He apologized but the tone held no remorse at all.
Izuku stood still as the man wiped down the table and cleaned the old blood off.
"Come over and sit down," He ordered.
Taking hesitant steps over, he was lifted onto the top and sat there trying to look small. The doctor turned on the headlight that sat above the table and Izuku had to adjust to the bright light.
It made the shadows seem more prominent as the only spot it lit was the table. Once his eyes got used to it, Izuku could see more clearly.
The doctor looked familiar to him but for the life of him he couldn't figure out why. He certainly seemed to know Izuku, but that could've just been from Sensei.
He began unwrapping Izuku's bandages on his legs to reveal healing lacerations. The skin around the cuts were still slightly pink and some of the bad ones had been treated more excessively while he was unconscious.
Some of the really bad ones were stitched up lazily and closing up to later scar. It was enough to help but it still hurt.
"Those seem to be getting better!" The doctor said. "You were under for a while, nearly a week, so I had some time to treat these before your real session. Shigaraki gave you a concussion which mixed with your fever, so I had to keep you asleep until it was at least a little better, which wasn't fun at all."
Izuku tried not to look as bothered by that as he felt.
The doctor left the bandages off, replacing some of them with gauze where it was really bad and then moved to his feet. He actually rewrapped them with clean bandages, which was surprising.
This continued on with the rest of Izuku's injuries. Him sitting still as the doctor assessed him, the stab wound under his stomach was healing apparently, but was still rewrapped. He kept his gaze on the ground as he played with the hem of the hospital gown.
"Open up your mouth," He said.
Confused, Izuku complied. The doctor took out a flashlight and shined it down his throat as he put a stick on his tongue to keep it down. "Try talking. Say your name."
Izuku tried, he really did, but all that came out was a scratched up gargling noise.
He wasn't told why the doctor asked, or why he looked like he'd made a connection. He closed his mouth when the doctor put the flashlight away and bit his lip anxiously.
"Your throat is very damaged," He said. Well, thanks for stating the obvious. "But it shouldn't hinder us too bad."
Finally, the doctor took a step back and looked at Izuku up and down. "Alrighty, lets get started!"
He pushed Izuku down on his back and moved him so his limbs were by the straps. At first Izuku started struggling, but the doctor seemed well experienced with strugglers and had no problem getting his wrists in the buckles.
Panic surged through his body as he was completely restrained. He continued to struggle until the doctor leaned close.
"The more you keep moving, the more likely I'll have to use the special drug on you. So lay still and try to relax."
Relax?
How could Izuku relax?
He was literally tied down to a metal table and was completely vulnerable. His breathing was ragged and his stitches felt tighter.
"I'm just going to," The doctor mumbled as he went out of his vision for a moment and then came back and stuck a syringe into his neck. It took a moment, but eventually Izuku couldn't move his arms, and then was followed by him not being able to move his legs. He could still feel the pain in them, like his chafed wrists and cut feet.
No longer struggling, the doctor smiled. "It still works!" He said happily. "I had to remake it after using it all and I wasn't sure the new batch was effective. Guess I worried for nothing!"
Izuku was panicking trying to move but he stopped once the doctor pulled out a scalpel. His blood ran cold with the next words. "We're going to have so much fun~."
___________________________________
It was about two hours later (he guessed) that Izuku found himself being carted down the same hallway lined with cages. He was covered in his own blood that hadn't even been cleaned off as his wounds were messily bandaged.
The restraints had been taken off and he was starting to feel he could move his toes and fingers slowly.
Every inch of his body burned like fire ants and he was having trouble trying not to cry. The cart finally stopped and Izuku followed the doctors hands with weary eyes. He was pulling his keys out again and unlocking one of the cages.
Izuku then noticed the clip board right next to the cage door. So there was one there after all. He couldn't see it very well thanks to the dim light and his fogged brain, but he could swear he saw his name and age.
The doctor opened the cage all the way and came back to Izuku's side where he picked him up and laid him in. The door closed and the lock was pushed into place.
Foot steps retreated down the hallway and Izuku laid there. A part of him missed Kurogiri, he was the only one who showed him kindness. He wondered if he'll ever see him again.
It wasn't for another hour that Izuku could move his body again. He curled up against the side of the cage and started to silently cry.
He just wanted this Hell to be over.
"Hey, kid," A deep voice broke him out of his thoughts. It was raspy and no more than a whisper. "You new?"
Izuku hates that he couldn't reply.
"I heard Doc say you haven't spoken in a while. Can ya speak?" The voice spoke again.
It sounded like it was coming from a cage across from him. Izuku looked and saw in the dim light of the hallway was a young man. The cages on the other side were larger as if to fit older people.
The young man had a black buzz cut and a tattered hospital gown much like his own. His face had a few scars on it like one through his left eyebrow and down his eye. His right lip had a scar that stopped just above his chin. Despite how intimidating he looked with his slightly muscled biceps, he carried an aura of carefulness, as if scared he'd spook Izuku.
"Did you hear me? Can ya speak?" He asked again softly.
Izuku slowly shook his head, trying not to disturb his healing concussion.
The young man nodded sadly and smiled at him, although it looked pained and forced. "My names Osachi Kae. But you can call me Osachi. I heard the doctor call ya Izuku. Is that your name? It's written on your board."
The kindness that Osachi was showing him was tempting. So tempting. Maybe having a friend here would make things better?
He nodded his head slowly and then pointed to the board outside of his cage. "You want to know what's on it?" Osachi asked.
Izuku nodded again.
Osachi leaned forward and squinted his eyes to see better. "It says your name is Izuku Midoriya. You're fifteen. You're birthday is hard to read, it's smaller. And you're... Quirkless."
Oh no. Here it comes. Izuku remembers how people would treat him back when he was on the streets. It wasn't ideal and he'd rather take that kind of treatment over the League any day but it still hurt. He closed his eyes and waited for the harsh words.
"Hey, hey. It's okay. I'm sorry. Did I say somethin' wrong?" Osachi spoke softly like he was a frightened animal. Izuku opened his eyes to see the man with a concerned face. "Did ya think I was gonna be mean? No way."
Despite himself, Izuku relaxed at that.
"But mind me askin' why they would want a Quirkless kid? As far as I know, you're the youngest one here and the first one that's Quirkless. I mean, even I have a weak nullification Quirk."
Izuku couldn't respond with words so he jabbed a finger at his chest and put a thumbs down.
"What does that mean?"
He jabbed a finger at himself three times. "You?" Osachi asked. Izuku nodded and then put another thumbs down while slowly shaking his head. "No? Hold on, let me try and figure this out."
Izuku shifted down that he was w-sitting with his feet next to him. He waited patiently for Osachi to figure out what he meant.
"Ah this is like playing charades in the dark, oh wait that's exactly what this is." Izuku couldn't help but smile softly at that. "Bad? Did you mean bad?" He asked.
Looking down at his lap he nodded.
"You were bad?
Izuku nodded again.
"As in... you tried doing something they didn't want you to or... you didn't do something they wanted you to?"
Another nod.
"So now you're here... as a punishment?"
Another nod.
"Thats... so fucked up," Osachi ran a bandaged hand over his head and sighed.
Izuku looked up and looked to the clip board on the side of the man's cage. It said his name and Quirk as well as his age. He was twenty nine.
"Do ya.. do ya wanna know why I'm here?" He asked.
He shrugged.
"I used to be a drug dealer. Got into a fight. I beat the guy thanks to my Quirk but then this guy came and warped me here before I could even say 'stop'. Been here for a few years. There haven't been a lot of people here but there have been others. There was this one guy who was in the cage next to me... he had a similar Quirk as mine. He used to be in a fight club," Osachi explained. "He was a good guy. But they took him a while back and I haven't seen him since."
Osachi must've seen the look of horror on Izuku's face because he leaned forward with concern, "Midoriya? Hey, hey kid. What's wrong? Do you know what they did to him? What happened to him?"
Izuku couldn't figure out how to gesture it as he started crying again and his hands were shaking. He mouthed the words instead.
Gone
He's gone
The look was then mirrored on Osachi's face as he fell back against the back of his cage. He was as white as a sheet and trying to take deep breaths. "He's dead?"
Tears fell from Izuku's cheeks as he tried to get them to stop. He nodded again and leaned against the side of his own cage while wiping his eyes with the heel of his bandaged wrists. "Oh god. Oh my god."
Realization must have hit the other man hard as he had a terrified look on his face as he looked back up at Izuku, pale as a ghost, and said, "I'm gonna die here."
____________________________________
"So the boy was there unwillingly?"
Nezu sat at the conference table with a tone of pure authority despite his small stature.
"Yes," Toshinori replied. "He tried telling me to run away from that Nomu guy." He hadn't been able to get that boy's look out of his mind. He looked absolutely petrified, as if begging for someone to save him.
Toshinori would be damned if he didn't.
Nezu made a humming noise of affirmation and looked down at his paws. "What was the physical state of the boy when you saw him, Aizawa?"
The man in question say up straighter in his seat despite still being covered in bandages. His body wasn't as injured as they thought and he had only suffered from one broken arm and a dislocated shoulder. He had a concussion and his Quirk wouldn't be the same but he would live. The Nomu hadn't been able to fight him long since All Might got there but he still wised he could've been faster.
"He wore dirty rags and was covered head to toe in bloody bandages. Even on his feet. His hair was long and dirty, looked like he hadn't had a bath in a while. I was able to grab him for a few moments. He was... very thin. He also looked like he had a high fever."
A look of deep thought found its way onto Nezu's face as his brows furrowed. "And you said that he knew how to fight with a dagger?"
After a nod from Aizawa, Nezu looked down at his paws again.
"It seems like there is someone who needs to be saved. And quickly too. If the boy is truly there against his will, who knows what will happen to him for disobeying."
Toshinori could not agree more.
___________________________________
Ayooo
I hope you liked this weeks chapter!
Took a while to write this shit.
So what will happen to Osachi and Izuku?
I'll let your beautiful minds come up with the speculation.
I don't really know what to write here for an authors note so I'm just going to end it here.
Thanks for reading!
Bye!
~Ace-chan
(3196 words)