(Musutafu Medical Center – Musutafu, Japan, 12:07 p.m.)

Midoriya woke up to the sounds of shuffling feet, beeping, and announcements over an intercom in the distance. As he sat up he looked around to see that he was in a hospital and a few feet away in front of him was another patient that was covered up in what looked like hospital blankets. From what he could hear it sounded like it was a challenge for them to breath. The doctor nearby noticed Midoriya and walked over to him.

"Hi, I'm Doctor Domen." He said calmly. "You're in the emergency room in the Musutafu Medical Center. You were in a serious accident. Look at me." He said as he shined a light into Midoriya's pupils. "How are you feeling?" He asked as he put the light away.

"Ok."

"Good. I'm gonna ask you some questions. Have you ever had any heart or asthma problems in the past?"

"No."

"Kidney or urinal problems?"

"No."

"Any allergies?"

"No."

"Where were you sitting on the train?"

"Against the window."

"In the passenger car?"

"Yeah. Where are the other passengers?"

"Was your family traveling with you?" The doctor asked, ignoring his question.

"No."

"Did you get up from your seat?"

Midoriya shook his head no just as he noticed blood beginning to seep through the other patient's blanket.

"Are you certain you were in the passenger car?"

"…Yes." He said not taking his eyes away from the other patient. When he noticed the doctor's silence he looked at him and saw that he had a perplexed expression on his face. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Your train derailed, some kind of malfunction, they've only found two people alive so far. You and this man." He pointed to the bleeding patient. "His skull was cracked open and most of his left side was crushed…and, to answer your question, there are two reasons why I'm looking at you like this." The patient's heart monitor began beeping rapidly as they talked. "One: because it seems in a few minutes that you will officially be the only survivor of this train wreck. And two: because despite suffering multiple fractures in the past, some requiring surgeries, you didn't break one bone…You don't have a scratch on you."

The monitor then flat lined.


(Lobby)

Midoriya stepped out of the elevator to see dozens of people crowding around waiting. All of them loved ones of the victims of the train wreck. He walked past all of them and saw his mother and All Might waiting at the end of the hallway. His mother noticed him walking toward them, ran over, and hugged him as she cried. All Might saw that Midoriya was disheveled, dirty, and had a faraway look in his eyes. All Might walked over and placed his hands on each of their shoulders. They broke from their hug and walked toward the exit until Midoriya stopped, looking to the side of him.

"Izuku? What is it, honey?" His mother asked. He didn't answer.

He walked over toward another person waiting with the other families. They both looked to see him approach someone All Might recognized.

"Ms. Joke?..."

She looked up from the floor to look at him, the look of worry apparent on her face. "Oh, hey. Midoriya, right?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Glad to see you're alright." She smiled. "Now, you should get home and rest up. You're mother looks like she could rest up too now that her boy's going home safe. I'm going to stay here until they release one of our students." Midoriya looked down in sadness. "She's one of our first years. She's a good kid like you. Her name is-"

"Wakana…" He finished.

It was then that she noticed the sadness on his face. He reached into his pocket, pulled out a silver pen, and held it out in front of her. She looked at it and gasped when she saw a yellow smiley face at the end of it. She held it in her hand and looked back up at him to see tears in his eyes.

"I'm so sorry." He choked.

She couldn't help the tears in her eyes after hearing his apology. She looked down at the pen in silence for a few moments until she spoke up again.

"She was supposed to be a hero…She was supposed to graduate, become a hero, have a family, and live her life…" The pain present in her voice. "It wasn't supposed to end like this…she wasn't supposed to…" She gripped the pen tighter. "This…this isn't funny…"

All Might walked past them and sat down next to her. He put his hand on her shoulder to console her as she kept staring at the pen through her tears.

"I'll stay here. You two head on home and I'll talk to you when I can."

They walked through all the flashes of cameras and reporters that accumulated at the entrance. Midoriya tuned it all out as he walked past them holding his mother's hand in his left and blocking the bright sunlight in his eyes with his right.


(Midoriya Apartment – Musutafu, Japan, 7:26 p.m.)

Midoriya and his mother ate their dinner in silence. She noticed that every time his chopsticks touched the rim of his bowl she would hear clattering and saw that his hand was shaking. At the same time his phone kept vibrating, each one a message from his friends. He didn't respond to them, still barely focusing on the food that was in front of him.

"You're friends seem worried about you…" He didn't speak. "Maybe you should answer. Tell them how you're doing?" Still silence. "Should I clear the plates?" Nothing. "Ok, I'll take them now and save the food for later in case you get hungry."

She grabbed all the plates, stored the food away into the fridge, cleaned off the dirty dishes and utensils, and by the time she was done she saw that he hadn't moved from his seat.

"You must be tired, honey. Why don't you go to bed?" He nodded yes but didn't make any motion to move.

After a few more moments she heard his voice pierce through the silence.

"There was…a girl on the train…her name was Wakana. She was training to be a hero at Ketsubutsu Acadamy and her hero name was Fanfare. She woke up late like me and tried to make the train but she got on the wrong one. I promised that I'd help her get on the right one back home." He looked up at his mother with tears in his eyes. "She got on the wrong train, mom…and n-now she's…she's just gone. She wasn't supposed to be there." His voice began to break. "She wasn't supposed to be there…"

She ran over and gave him a hug as he broke down.


(10:57 p.m.)

He laid in bed, unable to sleep, going through all the unanswered messages that had accumulated throughout the day.

Iida: Good to hear that you are well and we all hope to see you back at U.A. when your recuperation is completed.

Kirishima: Hey, man! Great news that you're ok. How you holding up?

Yaoyorozu: I'm very glad that you are well and safe. We hope to see you back in class soon.

Asui: Are you doing ok, Midoriya?

Todoroki: Hope you're doing alright.

Uraraka: I'm so happy you're ok, Deku. If you ever want to talk, I'm here.

He finished reading the last message and contemplated over it for a few moments. After a little while he eventually started texting.

Deku: You awake?

There was a short pause until a new message popped up.

Uraraka: Just barely.

Deku: I'm sorry.

Uraraka: Don't be! Glad to hear from you. What's going on?

Deku: I can't sleep.

Uraraka: I figured. Want to talk until you fall asleep?

Deku: No, I don't want to keep you up. You have class in the morning.

Uraraka: I really don't mind.

There were a few moments of silence before her phone pinged again.

Deku: I'm still on edge. I keep replaying what happened over and over again in my head. And I keep asking myself, why am I alive? Why just me? Why no one else? Other people deserved to live more than I did so why was I the only one?

Uraraka: Don't think like that! Those people did deserve better but you don't have any less value than them. You deserve to be alive just as much as anyone! I don't know why you were the only one but you're here. You can't blame yourself for something you weren't responsible for and had no say in. This is a terrible thing that just happened. There's no reason, no plan, it was just an accident, and I'm glad you're still here. You've helped me in more ways than one and you're one of the greatest friends I've ever had. I don't know where I'd be without you're help and I don't know how I'd cope if you were gone.

There was a long pause and she assumed that he was taking his time to read it all until her phone started ringing.

"Hello?"

"H-hey, Uraraka…" Midoriya shakily said. "I uh…I really appreciate what you said and I…" She could hear his voice breaking. "I wanted to say thank you."

"You're welcome, Deku." She then yawned loudly.

"I'm doing a lot better now. You get some sleep."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure."

"Ok. Have a good night, Deku."

"You too."

After the call ended he placed his phone on the desk next to his bed. As he set it down he noticed that he placed it next to the comic book that was given to him. He looked at the torn and dusty plastic covering the otherwise undamaged book inside.

"Everything ends up going back to the train." He thought. "I can't help thinking the cover as the train and the book as me. I should…I should go to sleep."

He contemplated that last thought for a few moments but eventually placed that idea into the back of his mind. He reached for the book but stopped before picking his phone back up instead and looked through all the news stories and articles about the crash.

He didn't sleep.


(Three Days After Incident, Saturday – Musutafu City Church – Musutafu, Japan, 10 a.m.)

Midoriya walked up the front steps and stopped to read the sign that was placed there.

Memorial Service for the Families of the 8 a.m. to Musutafu

He stood there looking at the sign for a few moments before walking past it and heading inside with his mother. They sat there listening to the pastor listing off the names of the train victims one after the other.

"Sayuri Enoshima, social worker at Blooming Lotus Community Center. We pray for your soul." The room was full of the sounds of sniffling and whimpers.

"Keji Eniwa, business man, father of six. We pray for your soul." Midoriya looked at the photos on the boards that took up most of the space in front of the altar. There were so many.

"Gorou Seino, researcher in the area of leukemia at Tokyo Medical University. We pray for your soul." Each name was etched into Midoriya's memory with every mention.

"Jun Bandai, third grade teacher at Masegaki Primary School. We pray for your soul."

By the end of the service Moidoriya could recite all one hundred and thirty one names.

He didn't sleep that night either.


(Five Days After Incident, Monday – U.A. High – Musutafu, Japan, 11:34 a.m.)

Midoriya sat at the usual table with Uraraka and Iida and just stared at his lunch. Thinking back on that morning, he remembered how everyone treated him. There were hugs, handshakes, pats on the shoulder, questions about how he was feeling, and the assurances of them being there if he needed them. He even noticed that Bakugo didn't tease him at all and kept his distance. He smiled at all their efforts but it was a wavering smile.

"Deku?" He looked up to see Uraraka's concerned face. "You doing ok?"

"Oh, sorry! I was in my own world for a second there." He laughed nervously.

Uraraka and Iida looked warily at each other before Iida adjusted his glasses and spoke. "Are you sure that you're alright, Midoriya? You were in a terrible incident and it's perfectly normal if it's something you haven't come to terms with yet."

They noticed Midoriya look down at his food with a heavy expression on his face.

"Hey!" Uraraka exclaimed with a smile. "Why don't we all do something after school? We can go to the Kiyashi Mall, a karaoke place, whatever you want. How does that sound?"

"I, uh-"

"Yeah!" Ashido interrupted. "And then after that we can all get something to eat together!"

Midoriya looked over to the other tables and saw that they all had similar expecting smiles.

"Well, uh…"


(U.A. High School Entrance – Musutafu, Japan, 3:30 p.m.)

Most of 1-A were heading through the exit with Midoriya following behind them. They all stopped just outside the entrance and turned to Midoriya.

"So, what do you wanna do?" Ashido asked.

"I guess we can-" He was interrupted by his phone ringing. When he looked to see who was calling he saw that it was a number he didn't recognize. "Sorry, everyone. I'll just take this real quick." He then answered the call. "Hello?"

"Hello, is this Izuku Midoriya?"

He recognized the voice. "Mr. Price?"

"I said Elijah was just fine. I asked All Might for your number to see how you were doing. Is now a bad time?"

"Actually, I was about to head out with my classmates."

"I apologize for my inopportune timing."

"Oh, no, don't be! You couldn't have known. But, to answer your question, I'm doing alright."

"It all seems like quite the mess. I can't imagine any of this being easy for you."

Midoriya looked down at the ground. "It really hasn't. One minute I was talking to someone and the next…everyone was just gone. How do you deal with something like that?"

"You allow yourself to feel the weight of it. Don't hold back tears or emotions just let it all flow on out. Then, as the days go by, you'll get better at dealing with those feelings. Witnessing and being a part of loss like that, those feelings, they don't go away. But, in time, you'll learn how to better deal with it."

"Have you ever been a part of anything like that?"

"I'm from Philadelphia, that city has seen its share of disasters. I watched the aftermath of a plane crash, I watched the carnage of a hotel fire…there's plenty of misfortune in the world, Midoriya, and I am glad that you were fortunate enough to walk away from it unharmed."

Midoriya smiled. "Thank you, Mr. Pri…Elijah."

"You're welcome. Now, I've kept you long enough. Go have fun with your friends."

"Right, of course. Goodbye, Elijah."

"Another time, Midoriya."

Midoriya put his phone away and looked back up at his classmates. "I know what we can do first."


(Musutafu Metropolitan Police Department – Musutafu, Japan, 3:41 p.m.)

Detective Tsukauchi looked over the footage of the train crash over and over again trying to find the slightest detail that could explain why it derailed.

"One hundred and thirty one people dead and only one survivor…why is that?" He said to himself.

"There may be more to that question than you first realize."

The detective looked behind himself to see the familiar dog headed Chief of Police. He stood up and bowed. "Chief Tsuragamae, sir! I had no idea you were coming."

"That's quite alright. It's good to see you working so diligently."

"Yes, sir. Forgive my ignorance but why have you come here from Hosu. Is it to do with the crash?"

"Yes, it is. Usually I'd call the officers in charge of the case and relay their orders but this has become a case of national interest. A train departing from Hosu crashes outside Musutafu with all passengers killed except for one and the higher ups want to investigate that angle further."

"They believe the boy had something to do with the crash?"

"They have their suspicions. I've met the boy before and tried explaining that he was not capable of such destruction. But it's been noted that he has had difficulties controlling his quirk in the past and that's what sold them on the idea that he could have lost control and caused the crash."

"Sir, I don't believe-"

"Whatever it is you're going to say I'll probably agree but we have orders to look into the possibility that Izuku Midoriya could have caused the derailing of the train."

Tsukauchi sighed. "Understood, sir. Should we bring him in?"

"Soon. First, we need to sift through the evidence, try and rule him out if it's true he had nothing to do with it, but also collect information that may indicate the contrary. I want to be absolutely sure about this."

"Yes, sir. There's a lot of said evidence to go through. I'll report my findings to you in the morning."

"No need. I'll help you if you'd like. Being chief doesn't allow me any opportunities to do this kind of thing any more. With all that's happened some familiarity could do me some good about now." He finished as he sat down at the adjacent desk and turned on the computer.

"Ok. I'll order some food for us." He said before pulling out his phone.

Tsukauchi didn't sleep that night.