I'M BACK
Izuku woke in darkness, feeling stiff and achy all over. A foul taste filled his mouth. Gagging, Izuku tried to get up, but he bumped his head on a soft, velvety surface.
"What… where am I?"
Izuku felt his way around the confined space. The box was scarcely bigger than him, with barely enough room to wriggle around in. He felt a seam running along the top, but when he pushed, he couldn't get it open.
"Kacchan?" Izuku asked. "Come on, let me out. This isn't funny."
Izuku pounded on the lid. The thumps felt muffled to his ears, and the lid didn't budge.
"Kacchan, please! What if I run out of air?"
No one answered him. Dizziness overcame him as Izuku's breaths came in short gasps. Panicking, Izuku punched and kicked at the lid with all his might. He felt the wood give underneath the blows. The felt tore, and dirt trickled in. With one last desperate shove, Izuku shattered the lid. Dirt and rocks showered down on him. Clawing his way through the earth, Izuku felt his hands hit open air, set them flat against the ground, and pushed.
His head broke through. Izuku flopped to the ground, taking long, deep gulps of air. Wriggling his legs free, Izuku lay next to the hole he made and stared up at the night sky. The breeze felt pleasantly warm against his skin, and the air smelled of churned earth and flowers.
Once he got his strength back, Izuku stood and brushed himself off. Underneath the layer of dirt covering him from head to toe, Izuku saw that he wore a black tuxedo.
"What the… did Kacchan put this on me?"
As Izuku turned and examined his suit from all angles, he finally noticed the graves. Tombstones sprouted in neat rows, glowing brightly under the full moon. Izuku shivered at the unnerving sight.
"This is a bit much, Kacchan. Why did you bring me here?" Izuku looked closer at the hole he came up from. Then his gaze went a little higher, and he froze. The tombstone, looming over the hole, read, 'Izuku Midoriya'.
Izuku sat on the ground with a heavy thump. His breath caught, and his head swam as he stared upon his own grave.
"Kacchan! Why would you do this? This is messed up! Why would you try to make me think that I-" The word 'died' froze on his lips as he remembered the underpass. Remembered the metallic pop of the sewer grate flying off the manhole. Remembered the acrid, putrid slime flooding his mouth as it forced its way down his throat. Remembered the sharp, burning pain of his ribs cracking.
When Izuku came back to himself, his face was laying against the dirt. His breaths came in short, frantic wheezes. Raising himself up with trembling arms, Izuku crawled forward and put his hand on the tombstone. The stone felt cool and smooth beneath his fingertips. As if he didn't trust his own eyes, a finger traced out the words of his name and the date of his death.
"I died." Izuku didn't even realize that he had spoken until he heard his own words thrown back at him, bouncing off the tombstones and echoing through the whole graveyard. Izuku quickly unbuttoned his shirt. His chest didn't have a single blemish on it. He pressed into his ribs, bracing himself for any pain. He felt none. His ribs felt firm and unbroken.
"How am I alive?" Izuku asked. As he wondered on it, Katsuki's words came back to him, taunting him with the promise of a Quirk in his next life.
"I have a Quirk?" Izuku spoke in a breathless whisper, as if afraid the world would ridicule him for even thinking it. But the more he thought, the more it seemed the only possibility.
"I have a Quirk." He was dead and buried. And now he's not. His Quirk had brought him back to life, healed his broken body, and given him the strength to claw his way out of his own grave.
"I have a Quirk!"
Izuku sprinted out of the graveyard. Running blindly at first, trying to find someone, anyone, who could help him get home. Then he recognized where he was. With the rising sun at his back, Izuku sprinted up to the apartment building. Too antsy to wait for the elevator, Izuku raced up the stairway, bouncing up steps three at a time.
Reaching his apartment number, Izuku threw the door open. The lights were on, and Izuku's eyes went straight to his mom, sitting on the living room couch.
"Mom! I have a Quirk now! I woke up in a coffin, and I dug my way out, my ribs aren't broken like they were when-"
Izuku stopped cold at the aghast faces staring at him. Katsuki was white as a sheet, while his mom had a bottle of pepper spray halfway out of her purse. Masuru's jaw hung open.
Inko shakily got up from the pile of tissues that surrounded her. Her hands shook as she reached out for him.
"I… Izuku?"
Tears welled up in Izuku's eyes. He pulled her tight into a hug and said, "I'm back mom."
A/N: something I cooked up for a Halloween writing competition for the Emerald Library. The prompt was to have a character walking alone/waking up in a graveyard. Enjoy, and Happy Halloween!
