Izuku was running for his life. He was running as fast and far as his legs could carry him.
It was coming.
He pumped his legs harder and faster. He chanced a peek behind him.
He was too slow. It was going to catch him.
He skidded to a stop and pivoted on his left foot, turning his body. Turning down an alley, he started sprinting again. His breath was coming out in pants, his lungs burned, he felt like he wasn't inhaling enough oxygen. He probably wasn't. Panic was making his body tense which made running that much harder. His mind was telling him to hide, stay hidden and stay quiet until it goes away. Until it loses interest. He slammed his body against the old brick street wall, keeping his body hidden behind a large dumpster. He crouched down low to the ground, and slammed his hand over his mouth, trying to muffle his heavy panting.
Shhhh quiet. Shhhh it's close. Don't let it hear you.
His body was trembling, and his heart was thumping so loud he could hear it in his ears. His legs were aching with fatigue from the distance he ran. He could hear it, it was looking for him.
What did it want?
He could hear quiet taps down the alley. Izuku shut his eyes tightly, he didn't want to look at it.
Tap, tap, tap, tap.
It was nearly there, Izuku let out a muffled whine. He didn't want to be eaten.
PleaseDon'tEatMePleasePleaseNoNoNO Panic was quickly taking over his mind.
He squeezed his eyes tighter as heard a final loud 'tap' right in front of him. Tears were streaming down his face. He felt cold sharp hands place themselves on his shoulders. With a final breath of courage, he opened his ey-
Izuku awoke to his mother's hands on his shoulders, fiercely attempting to shake him awake.
"Izuku please wake up. It's just a dream, it's not real!" His mother was crying.
"I'm awake." He gasped out.
"Oh thank god." His mom wrapped her arms around him, she started to cry harder. "You weren't waking up! You were screaming so loud, and you weren't waking up!" She said through a teary voice.
Izuku quickly returned the embrace and attempted to comfort his mom. "I'm fine, it was just a dream, I'm fine." He said while soothingly rubbing her back.
"Don't lie to me. You're crying Izuku." She wiped the tears from his eyes, then she adopted a stern expression. "Don't try to comfort me when I'm trying to comfort you." She said while gently poking him in the stomach.
Izuku let out a giggle "Fine, fine." His mom tightened her hug at his giggle. "But in all seriousness, I'm sorry for worrying you, I didn't mean to." He said apologetically.
"Don't apologize honey, I'm just glad you're ok." She placed a loving kiss on his forehead. "I love you Izuku."
"I love you too mom." He responded, smiling up at her when he received the kiss.
His mom grabbed onto his desk and pulled herself up, she was resting on her knees. She then extended her arm for him to grab onto. He was still in his desk chair.
'I must have fallen asleep watching hero videos.' He thought distantly.
He took her offered hand and was pulled up into a standing position.
"I'm going to get changed, I'll meet you downstairs." He said, he was all sweaty from his nightmare and he really wanted to get out of his now sweat-soaked pajamas.
"Alright honey, if you need anything just call. Ok?" She said, pronouncing the 'ok' sternly.
"Yes of course mom, I'll be fine I'm just getting changed." He said a bit exasperated. He loved his mom to death but sometimes she could be a bit overprotective. His mom nodded and then left his room.
Izuku let out a huff. 'That dream was really scary.' He has been having these kinds of nightmares since his first encounter with that Horror from five years ago. It was stupid, they were a part of his quirk so he shouldn't still be this afraid of them. But he was, and it bothered him immensely.
Izuku was about to take his top off when he noticed his room was practically pitch black. His mom didn't appear to have flicked the light switch on in her haste to wake him up. He glanced at the clock, his eyebrows knitted together in confusion.
"It's 10 in the morning, why is it still so dark?" he confusedly questioned out loud.
He walked over to his closed curtains with the intention to open them. He gripped the All Might themed fabric and quickly pulled it open.
He screamed.
Inko was relaxing on the couch reading her favourite book when she heard her son scream. Her green eyes widened with panic, and she was on her feet and running up the stairs in seconds. She whipped Izuku's room door open and barged in.
"Honey, what's wrong?!" She asked panicked. When she didn't get an answer, her worrying increased.
She scanned the dark room and didn't see her son on his bed. A sob came from the computer desk, Inko turned her head towards the noise. There she saw her son sleeping on his desk chair. His body was hunched over his computer desk, head resting slightly on the keyboard. His small form let out another gut-wrenching scream. Inko dashed over and grabbed onto his shoulders, shaking him slightly.
"Wake up honey." He wasn't waking up. He screamed again, tears were streaming down his face. Inko's heart pulsed with concern. She hated seeing her baby like this. She continued shaking his prone form, but he didn't wake.
Izuku let out another guttural scream, shredding up Inko's heart. 'Why wasn't he waking up?' She thought with panic. She continued her attempts.
"Izuku please wake up. It's just a dream, it's not real!" She had started crying. 'Do I need to call for help? He's not waking up.' She was just about to grab a phone when she heard her son speak.
"I'm awake." Inko instantly filled with relief at the sound of her sons' voice.
"Oh thank god." She pulled him into her arms and started to sob.
"You weren't waking up! You were screaming so loud, and you weren't waking up!" She was so scared for her boy. What would she have done if he didn't wake up? Izuku was her whole world and she doesn't know how she would live without him. She felt her son rubbing his hand down her back in a comforting gesture.
'Of course, he would try to comfort me when he's the one that needs comforting.' She thought amused. Her son had a heart of gold, he always took care of others before himself. She worries that one day that might be his undoing. She quietly hushed her sons' attempts at comforting her. That was her job. She brought her arm down and lightly poked him in the stomach, knowing he was ticklish there. He let out a giggle. Inko smiled fondly at that.
'Everything was ok.' She mentally told herself.
Izuku wanted to change, she checked over Izuku one last time to make sure he was ok and then left the room. She walked down the stairs and made her way to the kitchen. She was waiting for Izuku to wake so she could start breakfast. She was about to open the fridge when she heard her sons' scream erupting from his room. Her eyes widened with panic for a second time that day.
'What's wrong?! Is he o-'
She never got to finish her thought.
Izuku opened the curtains expecting to see storm clouds in the sky. That would explain why his room was so dark. Of course, life was not that simple when Izuku was involved. What greeted him was the same grotesque face of the Horror he saw five years ago. Its icy blue face was pressed up against the glass, blocking out all of the suns attempts at lighting his room. There was black ooze slowly dripping out of its mouth, falling onto the glass, staining it.
He screamed
He started to back up, his back slamming into the wall below one of his All Might posters. Images of his nightmare flashed in his mind, causing him to slide down the wall. The horror appeared to enjoy this reaction. It slowly turned its ooze covered mouth into a smile, showing off its yellowed fangs. It was as scary as Izuku remembered it.
It slightly cocked its head to the side as if it was mockingly questioning Izuku's reaction. Then it laughed. At least that's what Izuku thought it was doing. It was loud and it pierced his ears, it distantly reminded Izuku of nails on a chalkboard mixed with shattering glass. He threw his hands up to his ears, trying to block out the sound.
"MOM!" He screamed over the noise. He needed her, he needed her safety, he needed her to make it go away. He needed her to whisk him away from the monster as she did all those years ago.
"Mom!" he yelled again but this time his voice broke into a sob. The creature just stared down at him with its pitch black eyes laughing its horrid laugh. Then by some miracle, it turned around and left. Izuku's room lit up, the darkness disappearing.
Izuku watched its retreating form with confusion. 'Why was it leaving? What did it want?' either way, he was relieved it left. Maybe it had lost interest in him?
"Mom!?" He yelled again. 'Why wasn't she answering him?' Tears were still streaming down his face, he let out a sniffle. He waited for his mom to show up and ask him "Honey, are you ok? What happened?" but she didn't come, and she didn't answer his shouting. Izuku's body suddenly filled with dread.
Where was she?
He shakily stood up and opened the door, peeking his head down the hallway to make sure it was safe. There was nothing there, he bolted. He ran down the stairs, two steps at a time and arrived in the main room of their apartment.
"Mom?" He called out. He expected to find her in the kitchen, maybe listening to music. It would explain why she didn't hear him. But there was nothing, she wasn't anywhere. Izuku was getting increasingly more worried, panic was starting to fill his body yet again. He turned around and bolted back up the stairs. He passed by his room and knocked on the bathroom door.
"Mom?" he asked while lightly tapping on the wood. There was no answer. His breathing was getting shallower has he got more panicked, he continued down the hallway. He opened his mother's room door and ran inside.
"Mom…?" Izuku was met with silence.
He spent the next 10 minutes running around their apartment, searching for his mother, in every nook and cranny he could think of, for any sign of where she went.
He came up empty.
He walked back up to his room, his closet is the only place he hadn't checked. He knew she wasn't in there, but it didn't stop the small glimmer of hope he had. He grasped the two metal knobs and pulled the doors open. His heart felt like it sunk into his stomach, nothing was there but who was causally crawling on the ceiling of the closet. He shut the doors and started crying.
"Maybe, maybe she went outside to get the mail." He sobbed to himself. "Ya that must be it, she's just getting the mail." He convinced himself.
He brought himself back to the living room and plopped himself on the couch. He stared at their front door intending to confront his mother when she returned.
He waited for 5 hours.
"She's gone." Izuku sated to nobody. "The horror is gone, and it took her with it. Where else would she be? Why else was that thing here?" He asked nobody. He wanted to cry but the tears wouldn't come.
'Should I call for help?' he thought, he's pretty sure that's what you're supposed to do in this situation. His thoughts were muddled, causing him to feel lost. He felt numb as he walked over to their home phone that rested on a table nearby. He picked up the receiver and hovered his hand over the first number for emergency services when he hesitated. He distantly remembered his mom telling him when he was younger.
"Izuku if you are ever in trouble, call the number on the paper kept under the phone. Promise me that honey."
He lifted the phone up and found a slip of paper taped to the bottom, he tore it off. He scanned his eyes over it, it read:
Hisashi Midoriya
Izuku's eyes widened, he remembered that name being mentioned by his mother in the past. That was his father's name. He hesitantly punched in the phone number that was written below the name and waited for the tone. Three tones ringed out, each making Izuku more anxious than the previous one. Then his call was answered.
"Hello? Who is calling?" the voice was gruff, and it sounded unkind. Izuku hesitated for a second before he answered.
"H-h-hello this is I-" Izuku was cut off by the man's voice.
"Look, kid, I don't want what you're selling. Go pester somebody else." He sounded irritated.
"W-w-w-wait N-NO, I'm not selling anything! My name's Izuku Midoriya! I'm your so-" he was interrupted by a loud angry huff.
"Stop talking, I know who you are. What do you want? I told your mother I don't want to talk to you so why would she let you call me?" He sounded pissed.
"Th-that's the thing," He hesitated "m-mom is missing." It was silent for a beat before the man replied.
"What do you mean missing?" he questioned.
Izuku explained the situation as briefly as he could, and that he was the emergency contact his mother had given him.
"Ok kid, here's what is going to happen." He took a big inhale "I send your mom cheques of money for food, rent, and any other necessities. I'm going to keep sending those cheques and you're going to keep living in that apartment."
"W-w-wait, by m-myself?" Izuku questioned.
"Yes by yourself. I'm going to be frank brat, I don't want you, and nor do I want to hear from you again. Now you could, of course, call the authorities, there is nothing to stop you. But then you would be saddled with me if they don't imprison you for murdering your mother that is."
Izuku felt like he had been punched in the gut. 'Did I murder mom?' His eyes started to well with tears.
"Let me promise you brat, if I get stuck with you I promise to make the rest of your life a living hell. You're on your own now brat." With that final statement, Hisashi slammed the phone, ending the call.
Izuku stood there stunned. He lightly returned the phone receiver back to its place. He numbly walked back to the couch and sat down. He stared at the wall across of him, watching a blob slowly travel its way across it. Then for what seemed like the thousandth time that day, he broke down and started to sob.