Disclaimer: I do not own anything from My Hero Academia, nor do I own concepts of any other anime, manga, videogame or TV shows used in this story.
Author's note: This story is simply written for fun, I expect I would make plenty of amateur mistakes.
Texts like this are Izuku's voluntary thoughts from his perspective.
[Texts like this] represents thoughts that comes from his subconscious, where the majority of his quirk manifests. All of Izuku's subconscious thoughts are not actually verbal. To Izuku, they're merely flashes of notions that happen in very short moments. After all, they come from his intuition.
Chapter 12: Aftermath
"All Might-sensei!" The students near the USJ entrance exclaimed.
To the number one hero's dismay, their expressions were a mix of anxiety and confusion instead of relief. His rage briefly turned into a sudden dread, as that reaction usually meant he was too late to the scene.
"Is everyone alright?!" All Might responded with a worried voice.
"S-sensei! Aizawa-sensei got really beat up! B-but Midoriya h-he…" Ashido mumbled with teary eyes as she pointed towards the center of the plaza, where one lone figure remained standing among dozens of unconscious bodies. Immediately, All Might leaped down the stairs towards the figure at the center of the clearing.
"Young Midoriya! Hold on! I'll get you to-" The hero paused mid-sentence from surprise once he was close enough to take in the sight of the Nomu's body, which lay at the feet of a gore covered Izuku.
"No… not yet… I can still stand… There's still two villains at the Flood Zone over there… Their leader…" mumbled Izuku with a ragged breath as he looked at All Might with tired eyes.
[Alert: Energy levels critical]
Shit… looks like I'm reaching my limit…
Everything's blurry…
By the shoreline of the Flood Zone, Shigaraki and Kurogiri appeared from a purple portal along with a splash of water around them. The soaked villain mastermind scrambled frantically towards a small object in front of him, a preserved severed hand that fell off from his face when Izuku blasted him away. "No… not like this… I'm sorry… father… This wasn't supposed to be like this!"
As Shigaraki delicately latched the hand back onto his face, he glared spitefully at All Might and Izuku through the slits of his drenched hair, all while scratching his neck until it started to form a rash. "You cheated! How dare you do that to my Nomu!"
"Shigaraki, we can't fight him without Nomu! We have to go now!" Kurogiri interjected in a hurry as his purple smog expanded to envelop them both.
"All Might! You think a disciple with a quirk like Sensei's will make a difference?! I may have failed here, Symbol of Peace… but this isn't over! The next time we meet, you're dead!" growled the blue-haired villain through gritted teeth before fading into a shrinking portal.
"Stop! You're not getting away!" yelled All Might as he charged towards the villains, but his attempts to halt their escape failed as his fists whiffed through the intangible fog.
Can't… let them get awa-
[Alert: Energy levels critical; Prioritizing core functions…; Auxiliary functions suspended…]
Seeing the traces of the purple fog fizzle away into nothingness, Izuku felt the rush of adrenaline from his near-death experience wear off as he collapsed to the ground unconscious.
"Young Midoriya!"
USJ entrance
Dozens of policemen and emergency workers have arrived at the scene. The villains who were involved in the attack were being arrested and escorted away in handcuffs. The area was busy with orders being barked around and the shuffling of hurried footsteps.
"17… 18… 19… Besides that green-haired kid… Looks like they're all present and unharmed," said a police officer in a trench coat as he counted the students of Class 1-A.
Asui approached the policeman with a concerned look on her face. "Officer… What about Aizawa-sensei?"
"His right arm has a huge gash at the elbow and his left arm was shattered into splinters, but his life is not in danger. Thirteen has terrible lacerations across his back and upper arms, but his condition is stable too. Both of them will be able to recover."
"And what about Deku?!" Bakugou called out impatiently.
"Deku?"
"He means Midoriya. The last we time we saw him was before the teachers arrived, how is his condition?" Iida explained.
"Ah. He made it to the nurse's office a while ago. He's still unconscious, and Recovery Girl needs to give him a thorough examination to find out the extent of his injuries, so we're not sure yet. Your teachers will keep you updated on his status. For now, let's get you kids back to the classroom. This is no time to take your statements."
A few hours later, in the U.A. nurse's office
"I see… I'm sorry you had to experience something like that, young man. You were very lucky things turned out the way it did, a heck of a miracle if I've ever seen one. You gave me quite a scare when they brought you in, you know?"
Izuku could only chuckle awkwardly at Recovery Girl's comment after he had explained the USJ invasion to her. He came into the clinic looking completely bloodied, with streaks of dried blood from every orifice on his head, yet he had no symptoms of any injuries. A full medical examination of his body later revealed that he was simply severely dehydrated and exhausted.
Seems like Regeneration can't recover the water I lost in the blood…
If I had lost more back there I would've just died of dehydration, Super Regen or not…
"Just so you know, classes are cancelled tomorrow, but Principal Nezu wants you to go find him in his office in the morning if you're fully recovered, the police needs your statement for the investigation of this incident. I've also informed your teachers and classmates about your well-being too, but I haven't told them about your new… quirks yet, its better if you explain that to them yourself," Recovery Girl continued.
"Oh, okay, good to know. And uh… thanks for saving my life, Recovery Girl."
"Don't thank me, thank your parents for giving you that quirk of yours. Now get going sonny, I'm not wasting any more time monitoring a patient with a rapid healing quirk, I've got more important things to do!"
Standing up from the bed and realizing he was wearing a patient gown, Izuku asked: "Uhm… do you know where my costume is?"
"They're all in this bag, but I don't think you can wear them anymore. I had to cut open your costume as it was a medical emergency, sorry about that, kiddo," replied the nurse as she handed him a plastic bag from the floor.
"It's alright, I understand. How bad are they?" replied Izuku as he ruffled through the bag's contents.
[Analyzing target objects…]
The fabric was completely torn up even before they were cut open…
Even if they were intact, I don't think the blood would come off easy either…
Aww man… The shoes that Mom gave me were ripped up too…
Looks like the beatdown I took from the Nomu was even more vicious than I remembered…
Sigh… I can make a new costume with Creation, since I remember what it looked like…
But the shoes would never feel the same…
"Cheer up, sonny. You can always replace a costume, what matters is that you're alright." Seeing Izuku's disheartened expression, Recovery Girl responded with a reassuring smile as she pointed to a nearby table. "By the way, your friend came by to bring you your belongings. I asked her to put them in the changing room."
"Oh, that must've been Kacchan! How is he-" Izuku made his way to the doorway before stopping mid-stride and turned to Recovery Girl. "Wait, 'her'?"
"Your vice class president, I can't remember what her name was… I updated her about your situation since she's the class rep in your absence. The changing room is by that corner."
Walking into the small room, Izuku could see his schoolbag on a bench along with a stack of neatly folded clothes beside it, and a pair of unfamiliar red shoes on the ground. There was also a paper note placed on top of his clothes, its content written in neat and elegant handwriting:
Hey Midoriya. We're all really glad that you're okay. Recovery Girl informed me that your entire costume was damaged in the incident, so I came by to bring you your uniform. I realized you wouldn't have any shoes to walk home with, since you wore the same pair for both your uniform and costume. I wasn't sure I could properly recreate your red sneakers, and I didn't want to disturb your rest by asking you, so I designed you a new pair instead, I hope you don't mind.
Yaoyorozu
After putting on his uniform, Izuku sat down on the bench to examine the new pair of shoes. They had a similar colour scheme to his old sneakers, but the red was in a darker velvet hue that Izuku found oddly familiar. The sneakers were made from various cutting edge materials that were lightweight yet extremely durable, and the padding inside conformed to the shape of his feet like a second skin. Their overall design also seamlessly incorporated both form and function which gave it a futuristic look, yet its laces and bulky silhouette resembled enough of his old pair to remind Izuku of them.
She should already know that I can easily remake my shoes myself…
And yet she went out of her way to make me this cool new pair? Wow…
When Izuku was done collecting his belongings and prepared to leave, he turned to the nurse with a bow before leaving. "I'll be going then. Thanks for taking care of me!"
"Wait, before you go, just an advice. Now that you have a self-healing quirk, be careful not to get too reckless with your actions, okay? I've seen too many patients with such quirks who think they're invincible, and they often got themselves hospitalized, or even worse. Remember, never ever rely on your healing factor to save your life unless you absolutely have to."
"I… I see. I'll keep that in mind. Thanks again!"
A few hours ago, in an abandoned pub at an unknown location
A purple smog coalesced into existence in the center of the room, revealing two humanoid figures. Shigaraki walked out of the portal and slumped onto a stool by the bar, looking defeated and completely drenched.
"We got crushed…" Shigaraki mumbled in a raspy voice. "Our cannon fodder were all taken down in a flash… Those kids were strong…"
"…Especially that one brat… he took out Nomu before All Might even got there! And when the Symbol of Peace did arrive, he looked like he was in perfect health! You were wrong, Sensei!"
"Oh? Explain." A deep ominous voice came from a blank LED screen on one end of the bar.
"That kid… he's got powers like yours! I saw him use different quirks! He's as tough as All Might too, he could still stand even after taking a bloody beating from Nomu!"
"Is that so? Very interesting indeed…" Despite the voice being transmitted through a cheap computer speaker, Shigaraki could audibly hear a smile behind those words.
"If that kid hadn't gotten in the way, we could have killed All Might!"
"Now now… no use crying over spilled milk. We merely got ahead of ourselves. This trial was not a complete failure. In fact, I believe we have learned some valuable information. You will recover from this, find stronger troops! Take all the time you need!…"
"…But before we proceed with anything else, tell me everything you can remember about this attack, in detail…"
I had some difficulties getting back into a writing mood after my project was over, and when I did, I kept rewriting Chapter 12 until I felt it was good enough for me, hence the delay. I still feel like my writing is a bit rusty compared to before, so I kept this chapter brief.
If I ever decide to abandon this story, I will most definitely mention its cancellation in the story description. FYI, I don't have a consistent release schedule, chapters will be out whenever I feel like it. I hope this clears up some confusions.
Thanks for reading!