He drifted in and out of dreams and nightmares, never staying long in any of them. It felt like fog had settled over everything in his mind, and he was walking through it for eternity. He saw a vague outline of a woman, something that brought the memory of warmth and life, and bitterness and the sharp smell of blood.
There were sounds, and shapes; nothing concrete, nothing to focus on, nothing...
He heard a mutter, a murmer, a whisper.
"-id, hey, kid, wake up! You're not safe out here."
He opened his eyes, and was greeted by bright red.
"What? Where am I? Who are you? What's going on?!" he cried, backing away and bumping his head on plastic.
All of a sudden the haze was gone, and he remembered. He had put an indent into his mom's head and left with his pack.
His pack!
He searched frantically until he saw it, clutching it tight to his chest so the person wouldn't take it.
"Whoa, kid. Calm down. My name's Chizume Akaguro. I'm not gonna hurt you. You're at Trinity Park, it looks like you ran away from home, but you can't be older than seven. What's your name, kid?" the man said calmly.
Izuku took a deep breath. "My name's Midoriya Izuku, mister. I ran away because my mama said I couldn't be a hero."
"And where's your mama now, Midoriya?" Chizume prompted.
"She-she's at home. I put an indent in her head. Oh, she's gonna be mad!" Izuku began to sob, clutching at his chest and hair. "I hurt my mama! Oh, I hurt her and ran away and stole her sweatshirt and mama's gonna be so mad at me! I broke all my toys too, oh no, oh no."
Chizume reached over to Izuku, pulling the young boy against his chest. "Shh, shh, Midoriya. You're okay. Listen to my breathing and breathe with it. Your mama can't punish you, I can make sure of it. Are you hungry, Midoriya? I know a place where we can get american pancakes, would you like that? They're really good."
Izuku gulped in air, trying to match his breathing to the older man's. He succeeded after a minute or so, and gave a little nod into Chizume's chest.
"That- that would be nice, sir." he verbally responded, clutching his little blue backpack tighter.
"Good." Chizume got up, and held his hand out to help Izuku do the same. "And, please, call me Chizu-san."
Izuku grabbed his hand, and got yanked upwards. "Thank you, Chizu-san."