The ground rushed up to meet him as his knees gave out on him. His arms caught him, but the pain from that action nearly made him completely fall to the ground anyway.
Skin around his joints were bleeding with cracks, making every movement a painful one. Flaking, peeling skin covered the rest of his body. His chapped lips were filling his mouth with the metallic tang of blood.
Spitting out the blood, Izuku tried to look up. He caught sight of his classmates standing around him and All Might standing in the distance before the pain in his neck forced him to look down again.
Trying to stand was a bad idea, as he soon learned. It was possible, he concluded after failing. Just very painful and time consuming.
Something bright red flashed near his hand and he nearly helped when he felt it land. It was the way that it acted that calmed him enough to realize what it was.
It was the dragon.
That surprised him. He was sure that it had dissipated once the villains had disappeared and it no longer had anything to do. But it turns out that he was wrong, the dragon did have something it needed to do.
It looked up at him in concern and he smiled despite the pain. He couldn't help it, it was just so cute looking! The fact that it had to be no bigger than a mouse just contributed to the cuteness.
He shifted his weight so that he could raise the dragon near his mouth. His whispered instructions were gibberish to anyone other than the dragon, which understood exactly what was said. It gave him one last look as he put his hand back down, as if to say 'are you sure?', but he just nodded. Of course he was sure.
It nodded back and then it was gone, just like the villains it had just been fighting.
He groaned, momentarily surprised to hear his own voice, and tried to get back up onto his feet. This time he actually got his feet against the ground before he started to slip back down. His arms strained to keep him up, and he nearly gave up when he felt an arm stop his fall.
Surprised, Izuku glanced up to see Todoroki next to him, arm wrapped around his chest to support him. He actually looked somewhat concerned, which confused Izuku. He hadn't known Todoroki for long, but he had a feeling that he didn't express such emotions often, if at all.
"Are you okay, Midoriya?" He said.
Izuku blinked as he tried to come up with a response. His mind was muddled with exhaustion and pain was constantly pricking at his skin, but he'd been through worse. He nodded, "Y-Yeah, I'm okay." His eyes widened as he realized something, "H-how is everyone else? Are they okay?"
Todoroki nodded, "Everyone else is fine. You're the only one hurt." He frowned, "Why are you hurt? If you don't mind me asking."
Izuku chuckled, "Don't worry, it's just an effect of overusing my quirk. It's not as bad as it looks." He paused, "By the way, can help me stand up?"
His classmate complied but didn't look convinced. The pain of moving didn't seem as bad now, he realized. His skin must have torn open to the point where it couldn't go any further. That's at least one good thing, he thought. Too bad that he knew Todoroki wouldn't agree.
He carefully pushed away from Todoroki and he reluctantly let him. His legs were tired, but they held his weight once he found his balance. It was just his skin that was injured, so it shouldn't impede with walking too much.
He looked back up and focused on All Might. The Number 1 hero was still standing in the same position as when the villains charged at him. It looked like he hadn't moved a single muscle since then. Izuku frowned and took a step forward. His ankles flared up but it soon went back down. He took another step forward and another until he was walking somewhat steadily towards the hero.
Todoroki was hovering close to him and he thought he could hear Kirishima coming over as well. Bakugou didn't seem to care. Either that or he was just being extremely quiet to let them talk. But Izuku doubted that.
They were a few meters away when a concrete wall suddenly rose from the ground. Izuku nearly fell backwards in surprise but Todoroki caught him before he could fall very fall. He gave Todoroki a grateful smile and got back onto his feet with his help.
Kirishima appeared by his side but Izuku turned to where Cementoss was getting up from where he had previously had his hand pressed to the ground. Cementoss looked at Izuku and shook his head. "Leave All Might to us. You should get yourself looked at in the meantime, Midoriya."
Izuku tried to protest, but Kirishima turned him around before he could say anything. Kirishima immediately started asking him questions, "Are you alright dude? What happened? Did the villains do this? You look horrible."
Izuku's face scrunched up at the questions, but he tried to answer nonetheless. "I-" he turned his head and spat out the blood that had gathered on his tongue. He started again, "I'm fine. It honestly looks worse than it is. Some water and good nights rest should take care of it."
Disbelief crossed Kirishima's face. "You're literally bleeding out of your skin." He backtracked, "I mean, don't get me wrong, that's pretty manly," He could practically feel Todoroki's eyeroll, "but that must be painful."
Izuku's lips tugged up into a weak smile.
Kirishima latched onto his arm while being careful not to touch any bleeding areas, "Come on, let's get you to the infirmary."
He tried to pull away, but Todoroki started pushing him along as well. Izuku gave up on trying to fight back and just went along with them.
Glancing back, Izuku tried to see All Might, but the concrete wall still blocked his view. Giving up, he turned back around.
They were almost out of the plaza and to the stairs when a shodow passed overhead. Looking up, they saw the dragon flying towards the entrance. It was even bigger than it was before, and Izuku could see the figures of his classmates and some pro heroes being carried in its arms and riding on its back. Izuku couldn't help but smile as one of the figures waved down at them. He couldn't tell who it was, but the gesture was still appreciated.
"Tch," Izuku suddenly realized that Bakugou was following them, "when did you tell it to do that, you deku?" He flinched at the insult, wondering if Bakugou would ever call him by his real name. Now that he thought about it, had Bakugou called any of them by their real names?
Shaking the thoughts away before they could morph into muttering, he got about to answering the question. "W-when it came to me a-after the villains left. I told it to bring all of our classmates back to the entrance." He glanced back up to where it was landing at the top of the steps. "Looks like some of the pros hopped along for a ride too."
Bakugou scoffed, "Figures."
Izuku waited for him to continue, but when he didn't, the small lull in conversation turned into an awkward silence.
It continued until they reached the stairs, which Izuku visibility cringed at. He really didn't feel like climbing stairs.
He was about suck it up and go on the stairs anyway when something big landed with a thud next to them.
Izuku wasn't that surprised this time, he had enough of surprises for the day. The dragon stood there once more, now about the size of a horse. It looked at him expectantly, and Izuku suddenly got an idea.
He motioned it over and it bounded excitedly over to him like a dog greeting its owner after spending the day all alone. It skidded to a stop right before it crashed into him, wings flapping to assist in the stop, and it gave him its full attention.
"Can you fly us up to the entrance, please?" He ignored Bakugou's eye roll.
It nodded and scooted backwards until it was clear of people and objects. The dragon then started to grow slightly bigger to accommodate for all the people. Once it was done, it walked back over and crouched down to let them climb onto its back.
Izuku let the others climb on before him so that they could help pull him onto it. Bakugou argued with them, saying that he, "didn't need anyone's fucking help," but once they pointed out that he would have to climb the stairs all by himself, he finally relented and climbed on.
It was Izuku's turn, and he approached the dragon's side to climb on. Kirishima and Todoroki were holding out their hands to help him up and he was about the grab them when the dragon stood up. Startled, Izuku stepped back, but it just turned to him and reached out. Realizing what it was trying to do, Izuku turned around and raised his arms to the best of his ability. He felt the skin on his shoulders and back tear slightly, but he ignored it as talons carefully wrapped his chest. The pressure wasn't enough to restrict his breathing, but tight enough to ensure he wouldn't fall.
The only warning he got before they took off was the sound of rustling behind him. The inertia from suddenly being in the air nearly made him puke, but the excitement and wonder of flying quickly took its place. Pain forgotten, Izuku reveled in the weight less feeling and how the wind tugged at his hair and clothes. The ground grew further and further away, but for once in his life, he wasn't afraid. He knew that his dragon wouldn't let anything happen to him.
The moment quickly ended as they reached the top of the steps. The dragon landed on its back feet first and then set Izuku down. It took Izuku a moment to adjust to being on ground again, but once he did he quickly moved out of the way so that it could let his classmates off.
The moment Izuku was away from the dragon he was being swarmed by people, most of them being his friends and classmates. Some of the pro heroes tried breaking through, but it soon became apparent that the endeavor was, in fact, quite impossible.
Uraraka was the head of the whole group, Iida following closely after, and she was in his face with rapid fire questions about his well being. His head became dizzy with the amount of questions he was being asked, not just from Uraraka, but from the rest of his classmates as well. He thought he could hear Kirishima yell something and he tried to head in that direction, but he soon found it hopeless.
Finally, someone managed to yell over the crowd of people. "Out of the way! You want him to get better, right?! Well that won't happen if you all suffocate the poor boy first!"
The students reluctantly moved to make way for the newly arrived person. Izuku was finally able to take in a good breath for the first time since he had been ambushed.
Emerging from his classmates came the short figure of Recovery girl. Oh finally, Izuku thought, I've never been to glad to see a short person in my life. Wait, have I ever been excited to see a short person? How many short people have I seen besides Recovery Girl before? Have I-?
"Come on, Izuku," He was pulled from the crowd by Recovery Girl, no one daring to try and stop her, "let's get you to the infirmary."
"W-wait!" He said suddenly, "What about All Might?!"
She snorted, "All ready on the way to the infirmary, like you should have been!" She spared a moment to glare over her shoulder at the students. "You heard that right!" She hollered at them.
To their credit, some of them actually looked ashamed, but Recovery Girl didn't seem to notice or care. She kept muttering under her breath about something, but since her back was turned he couldn't understand a word.
"So let me guess," she said, suddenly louder, "this has something to do with your quirk."
She looked back at him as he sheepishly nodded and she sighed before muttering, "Kids these days."
Izuku suddenly remembered about the dragon and twisted around to look for it. But when his eyes searched behind them, he saw no sign it. He felt a twinge of sorrow, but he pushed it down. It was just a piece of paper, he shouldn't get all sad over it. But that didn't make it any easier; it had helped him after all.
They passed through the entrance and Izuku was greeted with the feeling of sunshine and a gentle breeze. For a little bit there, Izuku thought that he'd never feel these sensations ever again, and feeling them now, well, let's just say that it really brought reality coaching down on him. He had nearly died at Shigaraki's hand, and then survived. Not many could say that.
Pride swelled in his chest momentarily, before he realized what that meant for him when he returned to the League.
Oh he was so dead when he got back.