Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

   The entire class had been hit by the quirk. Normally, they never would have been caught so off-guard by a villain, especially since they were already in their second year of U.A.. These were special circumstances, however. 

   They had all agreed to go to the movie theater to see the newest All Might documentary that had come out (mostly so they could all watch and laugh at the wildly inaccurate stories and commentary). It had been Midoriya’s idea, which was a surprise to no one. Still, all twenty of them had agreed to go. They’d made it to the theater in time to be twenty minutes early to the movie, taking up the first two rows in front of the screen. Perhaps that was why they didn’t see the man come into the theater. 

   Midoriya had hardly realized he was breathing in the toxic gas until it was too late. He had rocketed out of his seat with a cry of alarm, whipping around to find the man standing in the entrance of the theater, scarlett gas pouring out of his pores the way Midnight’s did. All nineteen of his other classmates went on red-alert at the sound of their classmate’s alarm. After that, it wasn’t hard to take the guy down. 

   Only when they were back in the common room of Heights Alliance did they get an explanation as to what had happened. The man’s quirk had been called “Fear Dust.” He could secrete a special kind of dust from his pores, and it would infect anyone who inhaled it. He could then feed off of the person’s fear from any distance; all he had to do was activate the dust within a twenty-four hour period. Whoever inhaled it first would experience their worst fear, and it would go down the line of the infected until the very last. The man drew his life force from other people’s fear, although apparently he had never tried to infect so many people at once before. 

   “He was greedy,” Aizawa-sensei explained, carefully looking at each and every one of them in turn. His eyes landed on those of his foster son’s, Shinsou Hitoshi. Shinsou had replaced Mineta Minoru after the little pervert had been caught stealing panties from the dorm’s laundry room. Needless to say, everyone preferred Shinsou over Mineta. “He’ll be locked up with quirk-suppressing cuffs from now on, so there’s no need to worry.” 

   “So, we won’t all experience our worst fears?” Ashido asked, her voice high and hopeful. Aizawa shot her a look that made her wilt. 

   “No, I’m afraid that his quirk was already activated. The others in the theater appear to have been infected before you all, since you were sitting farthest from the door. We’ve been closely monitoring them at the hospital in which they were taken.”

   “Why aren’t we in a hospital?” Ojiro asked, his tail swishing anxiously behind him. 

  “Dumbass,” Bakugou muttered, crossing his arms over his chest as he sank further into his place on the couch he and the rest of the “Baku-squad” had commandeered. “We’re going to be pro-heroes next year. We can’t have a bunch of extras knowing what our worst fears are.” 

   “Precisely,” Aizawa agreed. “Although I could do without the language, Bakugou.” 

  “Fuck off,” the blond said, although there was no anger in his voice. He respected Aizawa-sensei just as much as the rest of them did. It made Izuku’s heart warm to think about how much Kacchan had grown just in the last year. 

  “So… we’ll all be seeing each other’s worst fears?” Jirou cut in, pulling Izuku from his thoughts. 

  “I believe that it would be best for each of you to be surrounded by your friends, instead of going off into your rooms alone,” Aizawa explained. “I don’t want any of you unsupervised either, since we don’t know what all of your fears might entail. 

  “I guess that makes sense,” Yaoyorozu said. “I honestly have no idea what my fear may be. Do we have an estimate for how long these visions will last?” 

   “No more than three minutes,” their teacher answered. “Again, I have no idea which one of you will begin your vision first, but from what those at the hospital have seen, there is about a three minute gap in between when one person’s vision ends and another’s begins. I fully expect each of you to support each other in this and not tear each other down about your fears.” This last part was said to Bakugou, who merely sneered at the man. 

   “I wouldn’t fuckin’ make fun of these shits just ‘cus they’re afraid of fuckin’ spiders or some shit,” he snapped. 

   “We love you too, Bakugou,” Uraraka said teasingly back. 

  “I suggest that everyone goes in pairs up to their dorm rooms to grab anything we think we might need, as we do not know how long we will be here in the common area!” Iida spoke up, his hands chopping in that robotic motion they always seemed to adopt. 

  “That’s a good idea,” Aoyama chimed in. “I would like to grab my face masks. My skin feels so oily from all of the stress.” 

   “Ooh, can I use some?” Ashido asked, bounding to Aoyama’s side as the kids of class 2-A began to pair up to go to each other’s dorm rooms. The two of them headed off towards the stairs, since Aoyama’s room was on the second floor’s, right next to Izuku’s. 

   Izuku turned away from their conversation and caught Todoroki’s eye, who was looking right back at him. The half-and-half quirk user raised an eyebrow in a silent question- ‘should we pair up?’ - before Izuku smiled and nodded his head happily. Todoroki picked his way across the room towards him, giving him a tiny smile once they were together. 

   “We should stop at your room first, since it’s closer,” Todoroki said. Izuku nodded his agreement, and they were off. 

   “I wonder what everyone’s fears are going to be,” Izuku said as they started up the stairs. A few others, like Kaminari and Shinsou, as well as Tokoyami and Shoji, were also using the stairs to get to the second floor rooms. “I mean, I can guess that Kouda’s will probably have something to do with bugs, if his and Jirou’s first year final exams have anything to say about it. And I know Kaminari has a strange fear of clowns…” 

   “I can hear you!” Kaminari shouted from the bottom of the staircase, where he and Shinsou had paused to chat. 

  Izuku chuckled, turning to shoot the electric blond an apologetic look. Turning back to Todoroki, he sighed again. “Honestly, I’m a bit intimidated.” 

   “Me, too,” Todoroki said simply. Izuku paused in front of his dorm room door, keys in hand, looking back at his friend. Todoroki’s face was blank, but his hands in his pockets were what really gave him away. His friend usually only did that when he was struggling to reign in his emotions, since his quirk easily gave away when he was feeling something. 

   “I didn’t even think about that,” Izuku muttered, glancing around the hallway. He unlocked his door and ushered Shouto inside, shutting it quickly behind them. “Are… are you afraid you’ll see your father?” 

   Shouto looked at the floor, blinking thoughtfully. “I think… I think I’m more afraid that I’ll see my mother.” He lifted his right hand, the hand that produced ice, from his pocket, staring down at it. “I don’t know what it will say about me, if she’s the one I see and not my old man.” 

   Izuku went forward and touched his friend’s hand, biting his lower lip. “It will say that you were five years old, and you didn’t deserve what happened to you. That’s what everyone else will think, too.” 

  Todoroki studied Midoriya’s face, as if searching for a lie in his eyes. When he didn’t find it, he gave Izuku another tiny smile. It was as warm as if he had full-on beamed at him. “Thank you, Midoriya.” 

   “No problem!” Izuku did a quick circle around his room, grabbing headphones, his phone charger, and an old All Might blanket before he and Todoroki exited the room. They headed to the elevator to take it to the fifth floor, where Todoroki’s room was. 

   It was only once they were inside the traditional Japanese bedroom that Todoroki spoke again. He wasn’t even facing Izuku as he asked his question, instead searching along his bookshelves for a specific item. “Do you know what you will see, Midoriya?” 

   Izuku faced his friend, feeling his heart drop to his stomach. “What I’ll see…?” He knew what Todoroki meant of course, but he couldn’t help the need to stall for time. 

    Shouto plucked a book off of his bookshelf, stuffing his phone charger into his pocket before he looked at Izuku. “What your fear will be, I mean.” 

   Midoriya swallowed hard, casting his eyes to the floor. The truth was, he wasn’t quite sure what he would see. Sure, he had his suspicions, but… he couldn’t help praying that he was wrong. That there would be something, anything else he could see, just so he wouldn’t have to look his peers in the eye when they all saw what his worst fear was. 

  Because that's how the quirk worked. It wasn’t simply an internal vision, but rather an external one, almost like a simulation. Everyone would be able to see what everyone else’s fears were. 

  Izuku would do anything to make that not the case. He wondered if he would be able to sneak away from everyone else... he had been the farthest from the door and thus the last to inhale the dust, which meant his vision would most likely be last. If that were the case, then as soon as the second-to-last person began their vision, then he should reasonably be able to sneak away… right? 

   “Midoriya?” Todoroki said, his voice much closer now. Izuku startled and looked up, surprised to find concern on the other boy’s face. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.” 

   “Oh!” Izuku squeaked, then laughed awkwardly. “Sorry, I was… spacing off a bit.” He shook his head. “I don’t really know what I might see. We’ve just encountered so many villains in the past few years… the USJ, the Hero Incident at the mall, summer camp, Stain, Overhaul…” he trailed off. 

   Todoroki raised his eyebrows. “...I suppose I never thought about how many times you have interacted with villains over the years. There are probably more you aren’t allowed to tell me about too, I would bet.” 

   Izuku blushed, ducking his head. Gentle came to mind, from the school festival, as well as a few others here and there from the beginning of their second year. “Yeah, there have been.” 

   The two boys left Todoroki’s room and walked to the elevator, watching as it rose from the first floor back up to get them. “You’re a trouble magnet, I hope you know.” 

   Izuku pouted. “I don’t know why everyone always says that! We’ve all faced villains before, it’s not just me!” 

   “No one has faced nearly as many as you,” Todoroki fired back. The elevator doors opened and the boys stepped in. Todoroki reached to press the button for the first floor, only for a shout to stop him. 

  “Wait up!” Sero called, running into the elevator with Bakugou accompanying him. Izuku watched as the two boarded the elevator, Sero panting and grinning at them, Kacchan with a slight scowl on his face. “Thanks guys,” Sero said, reaching to press the button that would take them to the first floor. “I didn’t want to have to wait!”
  “It’s no trouble,” Todoroki said. 

  “Were we interrupting?” Sero asked, looking between Izuku and Todoroki. 

  “I was reminding Midoriya that he is a villain magnet, that’s all,” Todoroki replied. 

   Kacchan barked out a laugh as Izuku blushed, reaching over to shove the volatile blond. Ever since their fight at Ground Beta in their first year, the two had slowly been rekindling their friendship. They had trained Deku’s quirk together, especially with the emergence of Black Whip, and how strange it was to work with. The two had managed to finally get it under control, with All Might’s help and a lot of broken training equipment. They had gotten into more than a few fights in that time, but now in the middle of their second year at U.A., Izuku could confidently say that they were friends. 

   The proof was in the pudding, after all. In middle school, if Izuku had dared to push Katsuki, he would have been met with an explosion in his ear. Now, Katsuki only brushed the smaller boy off, smirking evilly down at him. “Why are you shoving me, shithead? You know it’s true. Maybe that’s your real quirk.”

   The statement would be a bit odd to anyone who didn’t know that Izuku had once been quirkless. Sure enough, Todoroki and Sero exchanged a look of confusion. Izuku reached over and flicked Kacchan’s forehead, scowling deeply at him. 

  Kacchan snapped his teeth at Izuku’s retreating hand, narrowing his ruby eyes at him. “I’ll fucking end your shit if you antagonize me, Deku.” 

  “I’d like to see you try.” 

  “Okay!” Sero declared, just as the elevator doors opened and deposited the four of them back on the first floor. “We’d better head out, so we don’t miss anything important!” 

   They walked to the common room, where the rest of their classmates had already situated themselves on the couches and on the floor. Some had blankets like Izuku, others had pillows, but most of them only had their phone chargers or other random entertainment. It almost looked like a giant sleepover. It made Izuku smile as he started forward to find his own spot on the floor. Uraraka, who was cuddling with her two partners, Kirishima and Ashido, beamed up at him and gestured to the floor at the base of the couch the three of them took up. Tsuyu and Iida were already there, leaning against each other as they watched a documentary on Tsu’s drawing tablet. Izuku beamed at them settled next to Tsu. Ashido jokingly kicked at his head with her socked foot to get his attention. 

  “Aizawa-sensei was asking us if we remembered what order we all sat in,” she told him. “We said that you would be the most likely to remember.” 

   Izuku sat up straight, looking to the middle of the room, where their teacher sat cross-legged on the coffee table, looking just as tired as always. Why he was on the coffee table was beyond him, but it was Aizawa, so he wasn’t too surprised. 

  “Aizawa, did you want to know who is more likely to have their visions first?” he asked. His question got the attention of everyone in the room as they all looked at him with hopeful eyes. Apparently, Aizawa wasn’t the only one who wanted the answer to that question.

  “I would very much appreciate anything you could give me,” Aizawa told Izuku. He pulled an iPad out of nowhere, passing it to Midoriya. “Please draw up a diagram of where you believe everyone was sitting, and then we can cross-reference with everyone else.”

  “I don’t see why, he’ll just get it in one go,” Shinsou muttered, curling up against his boyfriend like a cuddly cat. Kaminari ran his fingers through his purple hair, smiling at Midoriya encouragingly. 

  “We believe in you!” He cheered. 

  “It’s not a fuckin’ soccer game,” Kacchan grumbled, dropping down at Izuku’s other side. When he shot the boy a strange look, Katsuki snarled at him. “I’m making sure you don’t fuck up, nerd, get off my back!” 

   Izuku sighed, clicking on the tablet and pulling up the notepad, where he switched to drawing mode. Much to absolutely no one’s surprise, he did manage to remember where everyone had been sitting in one go, as well as an analysis of who would be having their visions first based on those seats. 

  “Since Shoji’s face is higher up that Aoyama’s, who sat behind him, Aoyama will most likely be infected first… then Shoji, and then Tokoyami and Ojiro… then Hagakure, then Jirou and Yaomomo, then Iida and Todoroki, then Tsu and Uraraka… then Kaminari, Sero and Shinsou…”

   He wasn’t aware he was mumbling until Kacchan smacked him on the back of his head, snapping him out of it. He looked up, red with embarrassment, to find Aoyama sitting with his face in his hands. 

   “I can’t believe I have to go first,” he wailed. “This is terrible !”

   “I’m sure it won’t be that bad,” Ashido said, patting her friend’s shoulder. “I mean, at least you’ll have it over with sooner!” 

   “Nice going,” Katsuki snorted. Izuku shot his friend a glare, passing the tablet to Aizawa, who took it with a nod of thanks. 

  “They asked ,” he whined, crossing his arms. Katsuki reached to ruffle his fluffy curls, smirking down at him. 

   “Poor nerd, always being made fun of,” he teased. Izuku huffed and batted the large, explosive hand away from him. 

   “Oh? And what will your fear be, Bakugou?” Uraraka asked from her spot right above the two. She straightened from where she was sandwiched between her boyfriend and girlfriend, causing both of the other two to whine like children.

   Bakugou stiffened at her question. Obviously, he knew what his fear would be already, the same as Izuku. Still, Midoriya couldn’t help  but speculate on what Kacchan’s fear could be. Maybe from when he was kidnapped? Or maybe even something as far back as the slime villain? He knew that one still haunted Kacchan; he could see it in the way the boy bristled at the mention of drowning, whenever it came up in their rescue classes. 

   “None of your goddamn business,” he snapped to Uraraka. The girl shrugged, easing back down onto Kirishima’s chest, Ashido plopping down on her back once more.

   “It’ll be our business soon~” Kaminari sing-songed. Bakugou growled, his hands beginning to pop off sparks, but the intimidation tactic had long since lost its effectiveness. Kaminari only laughed before turning back to Sero, who was trying to display a card trick to both him and the tired boy on Kaminari’s lap. 

  “Kacchan,” Izuku said, catching the blond’s eye. “You won’t be until second-to-last, since you sat right behind me.” He gave what he hoped was an encouraging look. “It’ll be okay.” 

   Katsuki didn’t say anything for a long moment- he just stared at Izuku, flicking his gaze between his emerald eyes. Finally, he sighed and turned his head away, leaning his back against the couch. “I know it will be, shitty Deku.” 

   He didn’t sound nearly as worried as before. It made Izuku smile. 

---------

    It was another hour before it all began. The students of 2-A had just begun to relax, Izuku included, when all of a sudden, blinding light flashed around Aoyama. 

   A few of the ones closest to Aoyama shrieked, lurching away from him as he scrambled to his feet. Then the vision began. 

   It was almost like a screen, with a small white cloud around it to distinguish it from the real world. It looked 3D of course, yet somehow… fake. Of course, to Aoyama, it looked very real. It was the forest at summer camp, Izuku realized, with the trees burning and smoke rising from the ground like a deadly fog. Aoyama began to shriek, falling back to the ground as he crab-walked backwards, his breathing heavy. The vision began to encompass him, and no matter how much the others tried crying out to him, he didn’t seem to hear them. Tokoyami tried to use Dark Shadow to pierce through the fog, but the shadow only bounced right off. 

   Aoyama began to sob, covering his face with his hands. Izuku leaped up from his place on the ground, his feet moving on their own. He ran right up to the foggy screen of the forest, realizing quickly that he couldn’t get through any better than Dark Shadow could. So, he began to yell. 

   “Aoyama!” He cried, pounding his fist against the smokescreen. It was a strange texture, not solid and yet not the gas that it appeared to be. His fist made no noise smacking against it. “Aoyama, look up! Look at me, you’re okay!”

    Aoyama’s shoulders tensed, and he slowly lifted his face from his hands. He looked right at Izuku , his violet eyes wide with tears and surprise. Izuku’s heart skipped as he realized that Aoyama could hear him, could see him. 

   “Aoyama, can you hear me?” He tested. Aoyama nodded, his eyes flicking to look around him at the simulation of the burning forest. “No, don’t look around! Keep your eyes on me, alright?”

  “O-okay,” Aoyama sniffed. “Wh-where is everyone else? Are- are they s-safe?”

  Izuku quickly realized that Aoyama could only see him through his vision, and not anyone else. Theories began to spring through his mind, but he didn’t dwell on them, instead giving the blond a confident smile. “They’re all fine, Aoyama. We’re all waiting for you to beat this. I know you can do it!” 

   Aoyama wiped his eyes, his hyperventilating beginning to die down. “I- I can do this.” 

  “You can!” 

   And, slowly, the smoke began to dissipate, until there was nothing left of Aoyama’s vision at all. The boy collapsed where he sat, trembling and crying silent tears. Midoriya was on him in an instant, kneeling at his side and rubbing his back. Aoyama didn’t hesitate to cling to him, burying his face in Midoriya’s shoulder as he cried. 

   “What was that?” Uraraka asked, kneeling at Aoyama’s other side. The rest of the class gathered around the boy, all equally worried and confused as to why that had just happened. “Why was he only able to see you, Deku-kun?” 

   Izuku looked up, his brow furrowing. He could remember, towards the end of first year, something Aoyama had said to him. Something about how the french boy had always admired him, both for his bravery and his heroic nature. He looked down at the body trembling in his arms and decided to try and confirm his suspicions. “Aoyama?” 

   He stopped crying, slowly lifting his head from Izuku’s shoulder. Izuku gave him a reassuring smile. “Do you have any idea why you could only see me in your vision and not anyone else?” 

   Yuuga’s brow furrowed, his cheeks turning pink before he quickly looked away from Izuku. “I… I do believe I have an idea.” 

   “Why?” Ashido pressed, leaning forwards a bit with wide, interested eyes. 

  Aoyama cleared his throat and pulled out of Midoriya’s embrace, instead hugging his own knees, resting his chin on them as he closed his eyes. “I believe… it is probably because I see Midoriya as my h-hero.” 

   Although it was what Izuku suspected, it still made him flush wildly. The group around them began to squeal and “aw” in excitement, bumping arms with each other in knowing looks. Aoyama looked up, quickly trying to correct himself. 

  “I just- I’ve always admired how strong he is, and how even though we both had quirks who brought us pain, he always pushed onwards-” 

   “I get it,” Izuku said, staring down at the ground. “Th-thank you for thinking so highly of me, Aoyama.” 

   “It is no trouble, mon amie. ”

  “So, wait,” Asui said, tapping her chin with her first finger. “Does that mean that, if we admire someone, or think of them as our hero, they can bring us out of our fears quicker, kero ?” 

  “It’s a good possibility,” Aizawa said, pushing to the front of the group. He knelt in front of Aoyama, putting a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Would you like to stay here with the rest of us, or head to Recovery Girl?” 

  Yuuga swallowed hard, shaking his head. “I would like to stay and support my friends, Aizawa-sensei.” 

  Aizawa’s mouth quirked up at the corner, and he got to his feet again. “As you wish, Aoyama. Now,” he said, looking at Izuku. “Who did you say was next?” 

  Izuku barely had time to flick his gaze to Shoji before the boy was engulfed in a flash of white light. 

   And so went the rest of their fears. Shoji’s fear took place in the USJ, up where he had been trapped with a few of their classmates where Kurogiri had injured Thirteen. Tokoyami and Ojiro were next. Tokoyami was afraid of Dark Shadow getting out of control and hurting his friends again, and Ojiro was afraid of his classmates being attacked by villains once more. Hagakure’s fear was being forgotten, as she watched her classmates completely ignore her and forget she even existed. Jirou was afraid of her earjacks being cut off, and Yaoyorozu was afraid of being a disappointment to those around her. Iida was afraid of the Hero Killer: Stain, as his vision was of the night Stain had almost killed him. 

   Out of all of them, Iida, Jirou, Yaoyorozu, Tokoyami and Hagakure were pulled out of their visions by Midoriya. He was flattered that so many of them considered him enough of a hero that he could help them like that, and it warmed his heart considerably. He had many of them crying on him as soon as their vision broke, but he didn’t mind. He only hugged them back and shushed them before the next vision began. 

   Then it was Todoroki’s turn. 

   The instant the boy was encased in light, Izuku was on his feet, rushing towards him. He already knew what he could expect to see, and yet somehow, seeing it was so much worse. 

   Todoroki was on his knees in the middle of the common room, his eyes wide as he stared at the fog that had taken the shape of his mother. Izuku had met Todoroki Rei a few times, when Todoroki had asked if he wanted to visit the hospital with him. She was a kind woman, and it had always been hard for Izuku to envision her doing such a terrible thing to her son. 

   Now, he watched as the woman spoke on the phone in a kitchen, he back to Todoroki. 

  “Sometimes, I can’t stand to look at his left side,” the woman was muttering into her cell phone as she picked up her teakettle. Izuku felt his heartbeat begin to race as he lunged to Todoroki, calling out his name. 

   “Todoroki! Shouto! ” he cried. 

  Todoroki’s panicked eyes fixed on Izuku’s, and suddenly, something that had never happened before happened. 

   The scene changed. 

   Instead of Todoroki Rei standing in her kitchen, Todoroki’s worst fear changed to Midoriya Izuku’s body lying on the common room floor in front of him, covered in burns, his emerald eyes wide open and glassy as he stared at the ceiling. 

  Izuku stumbled back from the sight of his own body, shock coursing through him. Todoroki began to dry heave at the sight of it, tears streaming down the normally calm boy’s face. 

  “Midoriya?” He croaked, reaching a hand out towards the mangled body of his friend. “Oh god- Izuku ?”

   “I’m right here!” Izuku said sharply, approaching the mist once more. This time, Todoroki didn’t acknowledge him at all. Desperation ripped at Izuku’s chest, and he began to pound at the mist once again, although he knew Todoroki wouldn’t be able to hear it. “Shouto! Shouto, I’m right here! I’m okay ! Shouto, please!”

   Todoroki’s left side began smoking, frost climbing up on his right side. He didn’t take his eyes away from Midoriya’s body, although he was clearly on the verge of a panic attack. Izuku had no idea what he should do in that situation, because he was right there . Why could Todoroki no longer see him? 

    Then, it was over. The mist faded away into nothing, taking the vision of Izuku’s charred and broken body with it. Todoroki’s wide, panicked eyes lifted to find Izuku’s once more, widening even larger at the sight of him. 

   The younger boy scrambled to his feet and lunged at Izuku, pulling him into a bone-crushing hug as he buried his face in the top of Izuku’s curls. Izuku hugged him back as, for the first time, Todoroki Shouto let himself break in front of his classmates. The two weren’t alone in their embrace for long, as slowly Uraraka wrapped her arms around Shouto from behind. Asui joined her, quickly followed by Iida, Kaminari and Shinsou. Soon, the entirety of class 2-A had wrapped themselves around Todoroki and Izuku, who were both still crying in each other’s arms. 

   Most of them didn’t know why Todoroki had first seen a woman who looked startlingly like Todoroki’s right side, but from Midoriya’s visceral reaction at the sight of her, it was easy to guess that whoever she was, the memory had not been a good one. Perhaps that was what brought them all forward to comfort their friend. 

   Whatever the reason, Midoriya knew he was not the only one who found it comforting. 

  He also knew that it was not over yet.

Chapter Text

   “Are you alright, Todoroki?” Aizawa asked, putting a hand on the boy’s shoulder. Todoroki lifted his head from where it was still buried in Izuku’s sweet-smelling curls, seeming to slowly realize that he had just had a breakdown in front of all of his classmates. He swallowed hard, stepping away from Midoriya despite it being the last thing he wanted to do. 

   “I’m alright now,” he said coolly. “I apologize for the scene I made.” 

  Aizawa’s eyebrows raised, although Izuku wasn’t sure why he was surprised. It was no secret that Todoroki had harmful coping mechanisms ingrained in him, since he usually dealt with his feelings by bottling them up inside. Aizawa even knew about Todoroki’s home situation, which was why Endeavor was no longer allowed on U.A. 's campus, unless the safety of the school was threatened. 

   Aizawa seemed to let it go as he nodded to Todoroki, stepping back. It took less than thirty seconds for it to be Tsuyu’s turn. 

   Seeing the USJ once again proved to not be as big of a shock as the first time, but for those who hadn’t been right in the heart of the action, it was surprising to find out that Asui’s worst fear was Shigaraki Tomura, his hand outstretched towards her face threateningly. When Tsuyu began to croak and scream with terror, it took both Izuku and Uraraka to pull their friend out of her nightmare. Tsuyu ended up collapsed in Uraraka’s arms, shaking and crying as many of the others had been already. Izuku himself had nightmares about Tsuyu’s close encounter with death; he dreamed about what life would be like had Asui been disintegrated that day, or about her corpse screaming at him that her death was his fault. He knew his real friend would never blame him for what had happened that day, but that didn’t mean that Izuku didn’t blame himself. 

   If Aizawa hadn’t been there… 

   After Tsuyu was Uraraka. The girl’s worst fear took the form of a familiar blonde girl, buns on her head and knives in her hands as she lunged around a burning forest, laughing and stealing Uraraka’s blood. It was Toga from the League of Villains, from the very first night that they all  became aware of her existence. Asui was the one to tug Uraraka from the fog, wrapping her up along with the girl’s partners, Kirishima and Ashido. 

     Kaminari and Sero had stereotypical fears. Kaminari was afraid of clowns, and although Izuku had made a joke about it before, he was genuinely shocked that Kaminari’s fear had taken the form of a clown and not of, say, one of the many villains that class A had faced in their high school careers. 

  (Granted, literally no one in the class had faced as many villains as Izuku, but still.)

  Sero’s fear was spiders, oddly enough. His fog took the form of thousands of the small creatures crawling their way up the boy’s body, which left him screaming and flailing around the room. Astonishingly, it was Kacchan who brought him out of it, using one of his explosions at a concentrated level to get the black haired boy’s attention. He ended up bringing Bakugou into a quick hug as a thank you before he sat down next to Tokoyami, who let him pet Dark Shadow in consolation. 

    Shinsou’s fear was… more disturbing, like Todoroki’s. 

  Aizawa had seemed to be preparing for his foster son’s fear, and Izuku knew why. Since he was Shinsou’s first friend in class A, Shinsou had told him a little bit about his past, and how his parents had quite literally dropped him on the side of the road to die alone when they found out what his quirk was. He had been taken into foster care from the time he was a small child until Aizawa and Present Mic had adopted him at the beginning of first year; a full eleven years in total. 

   During those eleven years, eight of them were spent with Shinsou wearing a muzzle on his face. In his vision, the students of class 2-A were seen jeering over Hitoshi, with Kaminari and Izuku specifically being the ones to forcefully shove the muzzle over his head. No matter how much Shinsou cried and begged them to stop, the Izuku and Kaminari of the vision would only scowl at him and try to get him to comply. 

   Izuku didn’t bother to try for that one, allowing Kaminari to break his boyfriend out of his nightmare with kind words and hugs all around. Izuku was glad that their visions were so close together, if only so the two could comfort each other properly. 

    Izuku turned and mentally catalogued those who were left. It looked like after Shinsou, there would only be Kirishima, Ashido, Satou, Kouda, Bakugou, and lastly Izuku himself. 

   It wouldn’t be long now…

  Kirishima’s fear was hard to watch. No one was able to break him out of it, no matter how hard they tried, as the redhead was forced to watch not only his mentor, Fatgum, get destroyed by the villain Overhaul, but also Amajiki, who had interned with him, Uraraka, who had also been on the trip, and Ashido, who hadn’t been there but meant a lot to Kirishima still. The students of class 2-A who hadn’t been a part of the internship hadn’t been allowed to hear too much about it, so needless to say, it was quite the shock when they saw that Kirishima’s fear had to do with the villain they knew to be defeated using his quirk to literally implode those that he cared about. 

    Kirishima’s mist faded on its own after a full five-and-a-half minutes. He was quickly tugged into a group hug by his girlfriends, and the class had enough respect to look away as he kissed each of them all over, hugging them tightly to his chest while he cried.

   With each fear, Izuku grew sicker and sicker. He knew that he would have to time his escape perfectly so that he could leave while Bakugou’s fear was being displayed. It was just so hard . He didn’t want to leave Kacchan when the blond might need him most! What if he was the only one who could break Kacchan out of his fear, and he left the moment it started and forced Kacchan to go through the entire thing alone? 

   Izuku didn’t know if he would ever be able to forgive himself, but at the same time… if his classmates were to ever find out about his own fear… 

   He didn’t have much time to dwell on it, because Ashido’s fear was next. 

  It was gruesome. Mina apparently had a fear of losing control of her acid and gravely injuring those she loved. Her visions consisted of not only her partners, but the entire “Baku-squad” with all of their skin burned off, their bodies screaming and writhing in pain as they rolled on the ground and yelled at Ashido that it was her fault. 

   Kirishima was the one to bring her out of it, although it took three whole minutes. Their little group with Uraraka took their own corner of the room, comforting each other while Ashido and Kirishima, who were the most recently affected, cried. 

    Satou’s fear was, oddly enough, also about the summer camp. While everyone else’s fears had been about what they had experienced in the camp, however, Satou had been stuck in the extra courses. So his fear consisted of him sitting in the remedial classroom, alone, as he listened to his classmates scream and beg him to get up and save them. He appeared to be frozen in place in his vision, although Izuku could clearly see the desperation to help in his eyes. He was broken out of his fear by Aizawa-sensei himself, who didn’t hesitate to give the boy a quick hug before sending him off to Yaoyorozu, with whom Satou had bonded over their love of tea. 

   Kouda’s fear was similar to Sero’s, in which he was covered in creepy, crawling bugs, making the normally mute boy shriek at the top of his lungs as he swatted at the intangible bugs that covered his torso. He was one of the only few who could not be brought out of his fear, and he was forced to endure it for a full five minutes before he was pulled out of it on his own. Kouda’s friends, Shoji, Tokoyami and Ojiro, all gathered around him to comfort him as best they could. 

   After Kouda’s mist faded, Izuku took a glance around the room to check and see who all had gone. He was embarrassed to find that it cost him an entire sixty seconds to figure out that he and Bakugou’s turns had come. Indecision struck him like a lightning bolt, and he had no idea what he should do. He could see in the way Kacchan had set his jaw that he was nervous for whatever he would see; should Izuku be selfish and run away, or should he do what a hero would do, and stay to support his friend? 

    In all honesty, his answer had been decided long before he had even thought the question.

Chapter Text

~*~*~*~*~

   Bakugou Katsuki opened his eyes to find himself on the top of his middle school’s roof. 

  He blinked the harsh glare of the sun out of his eyes, confusion briefly causing his mind to muddle. Why was he here…? He was supposed to be somewhere else, wasn’t he? But…. where? 

   “Kacchan?” A familiar voice warbled, and suddenly Katsuki’s blood turned to ice. He whipped around to face the source of the voice, his eyes widening in shock at the sight of one Midoriya Izuku standing at the edge of the roof. 

   “Deku?” He said, aware that his voice had cracked on the single word. Dread began to sink itself inside of his chest at the sight of his childhood friend standing so close to the edge of the roof that would drop him down five stories. The tears running down his chubby, freckled cheeks weren’t exactly a new sight, and yet somehow, the sight of them in this situation seemed to make the entire thing ten times worse. What… What was Deku doing ? Didn’t he know that he could fall? Katsuki’s eyes flicked down to the roof, right next to the ledge. Izuku’s stupid red shoes were there, a piece of folder paper sticking out of the left shoe. 

   “Kacchan, you shouldn’t be here,” Deku whispered, ducking his head so his forest green curls shaded his eyes. He reached to wipe his tears away, sniffling. “Just go, please.”

   Katsuki took a step closer to Deku, slowly lifting a hand to placate him. His heart pounded against his ribcage hard enough to hurt, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. Not when Deku was about to… 

   “Deku, don’t do something stupid,” he said, cursing the way his voice trembled. “Just- just come away from the edge, alright?” 

   Izuku shook his head, looking up to meet Katsuki’s eyes once more. The tears still shone in that beautiful emerald green, but the younger boy wasn’t actively crying anymore. Instead, he just looked… tired . 

   “Isn’t this what you wanted, Kacchan?” he said, glancing over his shoulder at the drop a mere few inches behind him. He shuffled backwards, his heels hanging off of the edge of the roof. Katsuki took another hurried step towards him, mouth opening, trying to say Deku's name. Izuku whipped his head back around, eyes wide. “Don’t come any closer!” 

   Katsuki froze, holding both of his hands up in a sign of surrender. He cleared his throat, although he couldn’t stop his voice from trembling with fear. “Deku, I would never want this! Get the fuck away from the ledge before you hurt yourself!” 

   “THAT’S THE POINT!” Izuku screamed, reaching up to clench his shirt in his fist. It was only then that Katsuki realized that neither of them were wearing their middle school uniforms; Izuku was in a very nice, expensive suit, and Katsuki was wearing an all black, formal ensemble. 

   They both looked dressed for a funeral. 

  “Dek- Izuku ,” Bakugou whispered, feeling his eyes beginning to heat up with tears. “Please don’t do this. I- I can’t live without you. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen!”

   “You should have thought of that,” Izuku said, his voice colder than Katsuki had ever heard it. In one quick motion, the greenette reached up and yanked both of his sleeves up, exposing the fleshy parts of his wrists. To Katsuki’s horror, there were long, jagged scars trailing up both arms, all the way to the crooks of his elbows. Katsuki was aware somewhere deep inside of himself that he had seen these scars before, although it seemed far away. Like the future rather than the present. “I did this because of you , Kacchan. You drove me to this. You’re a fucking monster! You’re not my friend, and I’ll never forgive you for what you did to me!” 

   Bakugou was seriously crying now, so much that it was hard to see straight in front of him. “I- I don’t deserve it, but p-please! Zuzu , please, you can’t do this. Don’t-”

   “Goodbye, Kacchan.” 

  The breeze rustled Katsuki’s hair as the tears fell from his eyes. His heart seemed to stop in his chest as his childhood friend, his only friend, closed his eyes and let himself tip backwards off of the roof. 

   Katsuki didn’t even realize he was screaming until he was peering over the edge of the rooftop, looking down onto Deku’s broken body five stories below. He screamed so hard, so desperately, that his voice broke, no more sound coming out. That didn’t stop him from trying, however. 

~*~*~*~

   “Bakugou? Oh my god, what do we do?” 

   “Bakugou? Katsuki, can you hear me?”

   “ Kacchan!”

   It was the last voice that made Bakugou’s eyes snap open, a sharp gasp tearing through his chest like a knife. He sat up just as quickly, causing everyone who surrounded him to startle and jump back. He didn’t care about those extras though; he only cared about the one person he had seen in his vision. 

   “Zuzu,” Bakugou breathed, reaching out to crush the smaller hero into a hug. He did what Todoroki had done earlier, burying his face into the top of Izuku’s fluffy green curls. The sweet smell of coconut filled his nose, along with something that could only be described as Deku . It was the smell of comfort, and the smell of Katsuki’s childhood. It proved to instantly relax him, his staccato heartbeat slowing to one of an acceptable rhythm. 

   “K-Kacchan,” Deku squeaked from where his face had been shoved into the crook of Bakugou’s neck. “Are you… okay?” 

   Katsuki scoffed and ignored the hot prickle of tears behind his eyelids. He knew that Izuku was expecting him to pull away and pretend like none of this had ever happened, but he just couldn’t bring himself to do that yet. He stayed where he was, feeling Izuku’s chest rise and fall against his own; proof of the other boy breathing, proof that he was alive . 

   “Stupid,” he mumbled, squeezing Deku tighter. “Stupid, stupid Deku.” 

  “Hey, it’s- it’s okay Kacchan,” Deku said, wriggling out of Katsuki’s hold until they were looking each other in the eyes. Jade stared into ruby, reassurance conflicting with furious concern. “I’m right here Kacchan, I never did that.”

   “As much as I hate to break this moment up,” Aizawa said, causing the two boys to flinch apart. “Midoriya, it’s almost your turn.” 

    The old man really did sound regretful, although Bakugou was pretty sure it was just because he and Deku were getting along for once. He turned to Izuku to roll his eyes, but was startled to find that the boy’s usually sun-kissed face had gone deathly white. The dark freckles on his cheeks stood out against the bloodless skin like sharpie, forcing Bakugou’s airway to immediately constrict once more. Something was wrong. Something was terribly, horribly wrong.

    “Deku?” He asked, but Deku had no reaction. He decided to try something else. “Zuzu?”

   That got a reaction, as Deku blinked at him numbly. Before the birth of the name “Deku,” Izuku had been christened as “Zuzu,” while Katsuki had been “Kacchan.” Although the blond hadn’t used the nickname in years, he still privately referred to Izuku as “Zuzu” in his head rather often. It happened especially if Bakugou was thinking about Deku from when they were younger, since the cutesy nickname “Zuzu” didn’t quite fit the muscled, powerful form that was Midoriya Izuku. 

  (Then again, the name “Kacchan” didn’t really fit Katsuki either, but Izuku had always been an oddball.)

     Deku opened his mouth to reply, but no sound came out. Bakugou didn’t think he’d ever seen Izuku look this scared; not at the USJ attack, not during summer camp, nor any other point in which they had been attacked by villains. This fact made Izuku’s reaction all the more terrifying. 

    Katsuki made to pull Deku closer, if only to try and comfort him before his time came, but it was too late. In an instant, Deku was engulfed in the same blinding light that had flashed nineteen times before, and Katsuki was forced away from him. The quirk had taken hold.

~*~*~*~*~*~

    Izuku hurt all over. 

   He opened his eyes, inhaling slowly. The smell of the room around him was familiar in a way that set terror in his bones almost immediately. He hadn’t smelled this smell, this combination of ash, men’s cologne and burned flesh since he was young. His body’s reaction was the same as it always was; he immediately tried to curl into a ball to minimize the damage that might be inflicted upon him at any moment. The movement of protection brought the realization of his own partial nudity to the forefront of his mind. Perhaps he should have been more wary at the feel of his bare skin, covered in burns with his modesty only protected by small boxers, but he was so used to feeling this way that being dressed in anything else would have made him more fearful. They were in his old living room, the living room of his childhood home. He was laying on the ground, the carpet beneath him scraping against his bare skin harshly.

    He hadn’t realized he had closed his eyes again until he heard the man he knew was in the room with him chuckle. The sound chilled him to his core, hitching his breath in his throat. 

   Midoriya Hisashi’s footsteps were as familiar to him as his own. His entire childhood had been spent fearing those footsteps, listening for them with every creak of every floorboard in his house, wondering if at any moment he would be subjected to more pain and suffering. The man wasn’t home as often as normal fathers should be, but whenever he was, Izuku knew it meant suffering. He wasn’t sure if his mother knew the extent of what Hisashi did to her son, but the bruises that graced both of their bodies were telling enough. 

    “Why are you trying to hide, buddy?” The nickname, oh-so-achingly reminiscent, only proved to worsen his trembling limbs. “You know you can’t hide from me.”  

   Izuku did know that. He’d been taught to accept what happened to him a long time ago, no matter how much he hated it or how much he prayed for it to stop. Some part of him, deep inside, was aware that something was wrong. Something didn’t feel right. Why wasn’t he defending himself? Quirk… didn’t he have a quirk now? Was that all just a dream?

    He didn’t realize that he had been speaking out loud until Hisashi’s mean, condescending laugh echoed throughout the room. Izuku startled out of his fetal position, sitting up abruptly to stare at his father. 

   He looked just the same as Izuku remembered, with his curly black hair, tanned skin and freckles. Izuku had always been told that he was his mother’s son; they both had green hair, both with large green eyes and round cheeks, with soft smiles and warm hearts. Those who said such things had obviously never met Hisashi. Izuku was his spitting image, especially now that he had bulked up and lost the baby fat in his cheeks substantially. Izuku had Hisashi’s strong jaw, the determined glint in his eyes, and his broad-shouldered, stocky build. They had the same tanned skin, the same lips, even the same large hands and feet. 

   Izuku hated to look in the mirror, not that he had ever shown that to his peers. This man was the reason why. He couldn’t even look at himself without being reminded of the horrors he had been subjected to at just six years old. 

   “You can’t-” he began, but his voice cracked with his nerves. He cleared his throat and tried again, being firm in his tone. “You can’t hurt me anymore. I’m older now, I can- I can beat you!”

   “Older?” Hisashi asked, cocking his head. His cruel smirk hadn’t dropped, not even as he crouched down in front of where Izuku sat on the floor. He reached out and roughly grabbed Izuku’s chin in one of his large hands, yanking his face forward until it was dangerously close to his. Dangerous, because this close, Izuku could feel the heat emanating from his father’s mouth. His quirk was Fire Breathing, and he loved to use it to burn Izuku’s skin during their… activities.  

   “You’re still my little boy, Izu. You’re not any older.” He slowly released Izuku’s chin, reaching down to his belt, which he slowly began to take off. “I can still do whatever I want to you, because you’re weak . Where’s your quirk, Izu? If you had one, you could fend me off, couldn’t you.” 

   It wasn’t a question, and as the tears filled Izuku’s eyes, and the panic began to rise in his chest, he could only vaguely see Hisashi stripping himself down until he matched Izuku in only wearing his boxers. “Now, be a good boy and please your father.”

   “No,” Izuku stuttered, reaching to rub at his teary eyes. “N-no, I don’t- I don’t want to, please don’t make me-”

    “Shhhh,” Hisashi muttered, reaching a hand out to rest on Izuku’s chest. “You know this is all you’re good for, Izuku. You’re nothing but a quirkless little bastard. You’ll never amount to anything, never be anything but my toy.” His hand dragged lower, until it was resting on the waistband of his boxers. Izuku was full-on panicking now, because he knew what came next, he knew what Hisashi was about to do and god he didn’t want it, he thought this was done, he thought he was past this-  

   “Deku! Deku, come on! Snap out of it- Izuku! ”

  Izuku blinked, seeing Hisashi frown and glance over his shoulder. That… that was Kacchan’s voice, wasn’t it? What was Kacchan doing here? 

   “Izuku!” Was that… Aizawa-sensei? What was he doing there? Were they… were they there to save him?

   Hope sparked in Izuku’s chest, and he straightened up. Hisashi faced him again, growling menacingly at him. “What do you think you’re doing?”

   “Kacchan?” Izuku called. 

  “Deku!” Kacchan yelled back. The fog in Izuku’s mind began to clear, right alongside the panic he had been feeling. “Deku, I’m here!” 

    And then suddenly, he was. 

  ~*~*~*~*~*~

   Izuku’s vision seemed to blur for a few seconds before suddenly clearing, leaving him back in the Heights Alliance common room. Shock overcame over him in a wave, rattling his mind. Where had his father gone? What was happening? 

   Kacchan knelt down at his side, lifting a hand as if to touch him. The blond froze halfway, his ruby eyes wide with horror and doubt. What was making Kacchan have a face like that? Izuku was so confused… 

   “Can I…” Katsuki asked, his voice thick. “Can I touch you?” 

  Izuku nodded, his brow knitting in confusion. He straightened his spine, opening his arms to Katsuki. He couldn’t remember the last time Katsuki had asked for a hug, but if it was what his friend needed, then he could certainly oblige. Kacchan was upset for some reason, but Izuku was here. It would be okay. 

   Bakugou was hugging him within moments, squeezing the life out of him with his face buried in Izuku’s neck. Was Izuku crazy, or was the blond… crying?

   Slowly, it all began to come back to him. There… there was a villain. A quirk that affected the entire class, showing… showing them all their worst fears. Iida had seen Stain, Todoroki had seen his mother, Kouda had seen bugs, Tsuyu had seen Shigaraki…

    ...Kacchan had seen Izuku… and Izuku had seen…

  “Midoriya,” a voice said from Izuku’s other side. He twisted his head from where it had been resting on Katsuki’s shoulder, turning to face the rest of the room. His classmates were all there, all staring at him with shock and horror on their faces. Aizawa was at Izuku’s side, his expression filled with something Midoriya had never seen before. It made his insides twist uncomfortably. 

   They had all seen. They’d all seen Midoriya’s worst fear. They’d seen Hisashi, stripping and ordering Izuku around like a slave. They’d seen him degrading Izuku, calling him terrible names, touching him in a way that no child should ever be touched. It was a secret that Izuku had fully intended to take to his grave, exposed because of his own goddamn selflessness. 

   He ripped out of Katsuki’s arms, crab-walking backwards as fast as he could go. He bumped against a couch within a few seconds, halting his frantic means of escape. Kacchan looked hurt that Midoriya had gotten away from him, and everyone else looked worried. 

   Aizawa raised a hand placatingly, like Izuku was some kind of frightened animal. Maybe he was, with the way his pulse was slamming against his skin and his breath came far too quickly to be healthy. 

   They all knew, they all saw, what was going to happen to him? Would they expel him? A broken teenager couldn’t be a hero, they would have to expel him. What was he supposed to do now, he would disappoint them all. His mother, All Might, Kacchan- it would prove Hisashi right after all. He couldn’t be a hero, what was he thinking?  

   God, he was going to throw up. 

   “Izuku,” Aizawa said softly, keeping eye contact with him. “You’re not in trouble , kid. We aren’t going to expel you because of this.”

    He’s lying. He’s lying, he knows now. They all know you’re not good enough, they all know what Hisashi did to you.

   “He’s not lying, Deku,” Kacchan said, rougher than Aizawa’s false tone. Izuku flicked his eyes to his friend in an instant, locking emerald with crimson. Kacchan… Kacchan wouldn’t lie to him, right? Kacchan always told the truth. 

    ‘Useless Deku. Stupid Deku, idiot! Worthless, useless!’

  ‘Good job, Deku. You’re doing a lot better. Maybe one day you’ll even beat me.’ 

 ‘Yeah, we’re friends, Deku. What kind of shitty question is that?’

 ‘You can do better than that! You’re studying with me tonight you fucking nerd, you can’t let your fucking grades drop or I’ll kill you.’ 

   No. No, Kacchan wasn’t a liar. Deku’s shoulders slumped, neither boy looking away as Kastuki’s eyes began to glisten with unshed tears. 

   “You… you should have said something, stupid,” he told Izuku. His tone wasn’t necessarily nice , but it was certainly softer than usual. 

   Izuku bit his lower lip, swallowing hard. He shook his head sharply, just once. 

  “I could have protected you,” Katsuki croaked. He was inching his way closer to Izuku as he spoke, close enough until their knees brushed against each other. “I wish I had… I should have…”

   There were no “should have” and “could have.” Izuku lifted a hand, brushing his knuckles against Kacchan’s cheek. His skin was as soft and sweet-smelling as always, the glycerin he secreted from his pores doing it’s job. Kacchan always smelled sweet, like burned caramel. It was a smell that had followed Izuku since he was a baby, first from Mitsuki, then from Kacchan. It meant warmth and safety, even during middle school when Katsuki was mean to him. Because no matter how vicious Katsuki had been to Izuku, he could never be as bad as Hisashi Midoriya. Because even though Katsuki spat harsh words at Izuku, he still punched others in the face if they dared to hit Izuku. Even when Katsuki used his quirk to startle Izuku, he still backed away with horror and apologies in his eyes when he accidentally burned Izuku. 

   He was still Kacchan. 

   “Sorry,” Izuku whispered, not muttering to himself for the first time since he’d snapped out of his nightmare. He leaned closer, resting his forehead against Kacchan’s shoulder. The boys’ crossed legs, knees pressed together, prevented them from getting too close, but it didn’t stop Katsuki from reaching to wrap his arms around Izuku’s shoulders, pulling him in close. 

   In the end, Katsuki was Izuku’s comfort and always had been. In the end, Izuku was Katsuki’s comfort as well. 

   They stayed like that for a long time. Midoriya was aware that his classmates were all ordered to go to their rooms, but he didn’t lift his head. He was vaguely aware that the doors to Heights Alliance opened, but he didn’t flinch. He could hear Aizawa speaking low to someone, but it wasn’t until his lungs filled with the familiar tang of Midnight’s sleeping gas that he realized who it was. 

   He was out in the next second. 

Chapter Text

   He awoke in Recovery Girl’s office. The lights hurt his eyes as he blinked them open, but he was used to it by that point. He’d already been in her office twice as much as the rest of his classmates combined, after all. As he slowly sat up, keeping his eyes closed in order to adjust to the light a bit better, he expected to hear Recovery Girl berating him any moment about his recklessness. Maybe All Might would be there to give him that disappointed stare that he always gave when Midoriya hurt himself. 

   Neither of those things happened. Instead, when Izuku opened his eyes again, he found Aizawa-sensei sitting at his bedside, watching him with wary, critical eyes. He yelped a bit in surprise, flinching back from his teacher. The older man raised an eyebrow at him as Izuku laughed nervously, placing a hand over his stuttering heart. 

   “Wow, you scared me sensei! What’s going on? Did I mess up in training again?” Izuku didn’t like the calculating look on the man’s face, or the fact that they were alone in Recovery Girl’s office. He looked down, examining himself quickly. He didn’t have any lingering pain or soreness in his body, the way Recovery Girl’s quirk usually made him feel. It was odd… why couldn’t he remember why he was there in the first place? 

   Just like that, it all came flooding back to him. The movie theater, the villain, the effects of his quirk, comforting his friends. 

   Kacchan’s nightmare. His own nightmare. 

   And everyone had seen it. 

   Aizawa must have seen the panic and realization on his face, because he sat up straight, leaning over to place a hand on Izuku’s shoulder. Izuku turned his wild, panicked eyes to his teacher, taking in his expression. The older man looked more tired than usual, his dark circles seeming to extend farther than they normally did. His facial hair, while normally scraggly, was even longer than it’s five o’clock shadow was on a day-to-day basis. He looked absolutely haggard, and Izuku felt guilty for making him look that way. 

   “You need to calm down, Problem Child,” Aizawa said soothingly. He put pressure on the hand on Izuku’s shoulder, pushing him back until he was lying down again. “You’ve been through a traumatic experience.”

   “How… how long was I out?” Izuku asked, unwilling to disobey his teacher when he’d already put the man through so much trouble. 

   “You got hit with the quirk and passed out on Friday night. It’s Sunday morning now,” Aizawa explained. Izuku’s tense muscles went weak as he realized what that meant. 

   “I slept for an entire day?” He asked numbly. 

  “Your mind needed to recover,” a new voice said as the door to the room slid open, revealing Recovery Girl. She hobbled into the room, leaning onto her cane. Her face was softer than it usually was when he was in her care, but he supposed that was because he wasn’t physically injured this time around. 

    No, not physically. Just emotionally. The memory of what happened forced him to sink down into his bed, shame washing over him like a wave of frost. He couldn’t believe he’d been stupid enough to freeze when he needed to run. If he hadn’t, then none of his classmates would know his most shameful secret. The secret he’d sworn he would take to his grave. 

    “How are you feeling, Midoriya-kun?” Recovery Girl asked, stepping up to the edge of his bed. He risked a glance up at both her and Aizawa-sensei, both of whom kept their expressions carefully soft and serene. He wanted to snort at the falseness of it. 

    “You don’t have to do that,” he mumbled, pulling one of the pillows out from behind him so he could hug it to his chest. It was the worst shield ever, but it would work as a barrier between him and the world for just a little while. 

    “Do what?” Aizawa asked. Izuku resisted the urge to roll his eyes. 

   “Pretend. I’m not going to break if you’re angry with me,” he told them both. Recovery Girl opened her mouth to protest against his words, but Aizawa-sensei beat her to the punch. The calm melted off of his face, turning into a hard expression. 

   “You’re right, Midoriya, I am angry,” he told him. Izuku wilted, looking down at the shitty comforter that covered his lap. He’d expected as much of course, but it still hurt to hear. Aizawa wasn’t done, reaching out to put his hand over one of Izuku’s where it clutched the pillow. “I’m angry that you didn’t tell anyone . I’m angry at your father for hurting you that way, but let me make it clear, Problem Child.” He forced Izuku to look at him, using his thumb and pointer finger to tilt his chin up. “I will never, ever blame you for what happened. It’s not something you should feel ashamed about. You’re so much stronger than I ever imagined for going through something like that. Believe me when I tell you, we’ll all be here to help you heal from this.” 

   Izuku couldn’t help it; he began to cry. For the first time since Midoriya Hisashi had left him and his mother, he actually began to believe that it wasn’t his fault. Maybe Aizawa-sensei was right…

    Maybe it really was possible to heal.