"What is 'Justice' to you?"
Izuku woke with a start.
His breathing was heavy, his bare skin covered with a film of sweat.
The rain outside pelted his window.
Every hundred droplets another salvo from the raging storm that seemed hellbent on invading the dry sanctity that was his room.
There was a strange taste in his mouth.
Sweet, but somewhat foul.
He looked down at his floor and saw a pudding cup, illuminated by the moonlight streaming in from the window.
That was likely the culprit.
His yellow backpack sat under his desk, where he'd left it earlier.
As the second most colorful thing in the room, it was hard to miss.
Did he do his homework? Study at all?
He didn't know.
In all honesty, he just wanted to sleep for the rest of his life.
Sleep and forget all about the weird dream he had just had.
Devils… Justice… Contracts…
What was any of it supposed to mean?
It had been years since he picked up a comic or a manga, too focused on studying to stay in school to find time for any luxuries like that, but he was certain that what had happened in that weird dream was a storyline straight out of one or the other.
Maybe if the whole heroism thing didn't work out, he could write a novel.
Wait, no. What was he thinking?
He was gonna be a hero.
Strange dreams and bespectacled twats be damned.
But first, a glass of water to get rid of his dry mouth.
He swung his legs over the side of his bed.
His foot pushed something to the side.
It was still the wee hours of the morning, likely no later than four, so it was still quite dark in his room.
He reached down and felt around the darkness that pooled around his ankles, pulling the item in question up to his face.
And he felt his stomach drop as the soaked, tattered, and bloodstained remnants of his hoodie hung squarely in his vision.
He didn't end up eating much for breakfast that morning.
Just a slice of toast with jam.
He felt bad.
The rest of the breakfast his mom had made had gone to waste.
It was simple, just fried eggs and bacon with the toast as a side, but considering that the woman was going to be working yet another full day at a department store several train stops away, it was far more than she needed to do.
And he wasted most of it.
Though he severely doubted his ability to hold anything heavier than the sweetened bread down.
He had almost puked twice since the early morning.
Memories of the evening before kicking the inside of his skull like a fussing toddler on an airplane.
The blood, the pain, his… death?
It was all coming to him.
The screams of terrified pedestrians.
The whirring of a massive drill.
The rumble of thunder overhead as a downpour broke through the clouds above.
He felt a chill run through his body as bile steadily rose in his throat.
He put a hand over his mouth and swallowed it back down again.
As bad as he felt, maybe it was a good thing that he didn't have a bigger breakfast.
Doot! Doot! Doot!
His breakfast alarm.
He needed to head out or he'd miss the first train.
He didn't feel too hot, and his mom wouldn't begrudge him a stay at home, but he needed something normal.
His uniform was on in minutes, his tie's knot a bit messy in comparison to the immaculate Windsor that someone like Iida wore.
But such was life.
Moments later, Izuku was out the door again, smoothing over the tape on the door as he made his way out.
The station was still open, though the street it was on was closed for repairs.
"Oh, ya didn't hear? Big villain attack last night, tore up the whole damn street before Water Hose took 'im down."
"Ah, right. Thank you."
He asked around a bit before the train arrived.
Everyone said the same thing, really.
"A huge villain came outta nowhere and blasted the street apart. I heard it was crazy."
"Some villain came outta nowhere and wrecked this whole street. Good thing the dumbass decided to attack the street right next to Water Hose's agency or things might've been worse."
"Friggin' villain tore up the whole sidewalk in fronta my shop! That damned insurance better cover any damages or I'm gonna raise some hell!"
A villain did all the damage, then Water Hose- whose agency was on the adjacent street- rolled in and sweeped him.
That was the reality.
That was what happened.
As he stood on the train, slightly packed amongst the other suited and uniformed morning commuters, Izuku nodded lightly to himself as he affirmed his belief in the reality of the events that had occurred the night before.
There was just one problem though.
No matter how much belief he placed in the many consistent accounts of what happened on that street, his memories refused to match the reality.
"Have you considered the idea that maybe the reality is what's wrong?"
"That'd be ridiculous. How would that even work?"
"Hm, perhaps. Well, perhaps those people were lying?"
"But why would they lie?"
"As far as I'm aware, humans lie for no reason all the time. It wouldn't be too far-fetched for them to lie not only to themselves, but to a random stranger about a devil attacking."
"That's just-"
"Ahem."
Izuku turned to look at the salaryman behind him who had just cleared his throat rather loudly.
The man looked back at him like he had a screw loose.
Izuku responded in kind before turning back slowly.
What's that guy's deal?
"I'm almost certain that his 'deal' is that there's a strange man speaking to himself rather spiritedly in front of him."
"To myse-?"
His eyes widened as he realized finally that the voice that he was responding to was coming from nowhere.
Wha-?
"So you've finally noticed. Good. I hadn't assumed you were so dull witted last night, but I've had my doubts this morning."
"Ho-?"
"None of that. If you wish to speak with me, use your thoughts. I've no intention of spending what should be a long time together in a padded cell or confined to a bed."
What is going on?
"My doubts have been reinforced. Look towards the window, boy."
Izuku, for all that his instincts were screaming at him to, did as he was told.
In the reflective surface, his own face stared back at him.
That wouldn't have been alarming on its own.
What was alarming, however, was the fact that it was waving at him.
He could feel his blood freeze in his veins.
And then, its lips began to move.
"Now about our contract-"
The voice that tumbled from his reflection's mouth faded away, as he felt himself gag.
Oh god, he was feeling sick again.
Bing-Bon! Bin-Bon!
"Next station is-"
The doors of the train opened and Izuku found himself stumbling out amongst the crowd.
He had absolutely no idea what the announcement said after that, but Izuku was almost certain that he wasn't at the right station for his transfer.
He didn't care though.
As soon he was off the train, his eyes shot over to the restroom sign, just down the way.
He couldn't remember a time where he had moved as fast as he did that morning, but it was a good thing that he'd accessed that speed when he did, because the moment he burst into the bathroom, he felt a burn at the back of his throat.
Moments later, the sounds of a running faucet and a boy's retching filled the bathroom.
Izuku didn't know if he felt bad because he was throwing up in a public restroom or because he had wasted the entire breakfast that his overworked mother had made for him with her limited free time.
"Ugh. How fragile can you be? This is honestly embarrassing."
The experience was only made worse by his reflection in the mirror berating him as he heaved further.
"Feel better now?"
Marginally.
"Good enough to listen to life-changing information?"
I'll need a minute for that.
Izuku sat slumped against the wall outside the restroom.
He had puked everything inside his stomach and then some, but he still felt like warmed crap.
He checked his phone.
08:38
He was late.
Even if he were to hop on the train next and book it after he got off, he still would have missed two class periods.
At that point, Izuku figured that he was better off not going at all.
He pocketed his phone, before covering his face with his hands and taking a deep, shuddering breath.
"Excuse me."
He was broken from his brief period of self-inflicted misery by a gentle voice in front of him.
He looked up to see a girl.
She looked to be his age, with dark green eyes and a slightly rounded face.
Though the most striking detail about this girl, which Izuku clocked immediately, was the fact her hair consisted of long, green, thorn-covered vines that rested just above her waist.
She wore a white sundress that flowed to her ankles.
At a glance, Izuku thought her to be rather pretty.
Which, combined with his state of slight dehydration, may have contributed to his inability to respond to her with more than a rather uncouth, "Eh?"
If the girl was offended by his simple response, she didn't show it, she simply reached into the small tote that she carried with her and retrieved a plastic water bottle.
She held it out to him.
"I believe you need this more than I do."
All the greenette could think to do was accept the offered beverage.
His mouth was incredibly dry after all.
"Um, thanks."
He received a small smile in return.
"You're welcome. I hope you feel better soon."
With that, the girl with the vines for hair walked away.
Izuku watched her as she left, before his gaze dropped to the water bottle in his hand.
In his mind, one thought pushed through, prevailing over all others.
I talked to a girl…
Not once did it occur to him that he only said one intelligible word in that short interaction.
"I've given you time, now I'm taking it. Let's discuss our deal."
The boy had only just twisted the top off of the water bottle when the voice from earlier chimed in once more.
His morning had only just begun and Izuku already felt drained.
He sighed.
What deal?
"The deal that was made last night when I saved your life."
He took a sip of his water.
Would you care to remind me of the specifics?
At this point, he was almost certain that he was having some form of nervous breakdown.
He was too tired to push back against it, so he decided to lean into the crazy.
Luckily, the personification of his stress, anxiety, and repressed rage was more than willing to explain his delusion to him.
"Fine then. Listen closely. I am the Execution Devil. I made a deal with you last night to save your life and the lives of those around you. Now, you owe me your end of the bargain. Show me your justice."
What does that even mean?
'Show me your justice' was such a vague demand.
Could he really not think of anything more concrete in his delusion?
"Well, that depends."
On?
"What is justice to you?"
Rightfulness or lawfulness.
"What a perfectly canned answer."
Oh, I'm sorry, is that not what justice is?
"That's what it's defined as by humanity as a whole. I'm asking what it is to you."
Are everyone's hallucinations so picky?
Right after he thought that, Izuku felt a spike of irritation that wasn't his.
A moment later, a face appeared directly in front of him.
It was… his own, but not(?) at the same time.
Yes, the face was shaped like his.
Yes, it had messy green hair like his.
And yes, it even had four freckles on both cheeks to form a diamond on each.
That was where the similarities ended.
The expression was stern, mouth pulled into a thin line.
And the eyes, oh, the eyes.
The right eye was normal enough, green with a single faded ring around the pupil
In the left eye, he could see what looked to be a bright star.
It shined beautifully, before exploding and reforming and repeating the process.
It was… enrapturing.
"You're not taking this seriously. Come with me."
Izuku couldn't find it himself to refuse.
And so, Izuku found himself following a semi-translucent figure that looked just like him through streets that he wasn't familiar with.
"Let me give a crash course on devils. Seeing as you humans nowadays are so blissfully unaware."
Um, okay…
"Devils are born in Hell. Surely you're aware of this much?"
Y-yeah.
That's something that anyone would know.
It was common amongst pretty much any religion.
Devils are from Hell.
Divine beings, from Heaven.
It was easy.
"Now, every devil is born with a name. These names each correlate to a concept. For example, the devil runt that we killed last night was The Drill Devil. A highly tangible concept, wouldn't you say?"
Yeah.
"That isn't always the case, however. There are times when other devils are born from, shall we say, looser concepts. Abstract in their existence. Like Eternity or Curses."
Okay, makes sense.
It made as much sense as anything in the fever that was his life could make.
"Now the major thing about the lot of us is that we're strengthened by public perception of our concept. More specifically, the fear brought about by that perception. The Drill Devil, by that measure, wasn't incredibly strong."
Because most people aren't afraid of drills.
"Exactly. You're catching on quickly. So tell me, what do you think I was born from? What is my concept?"
That was a no-brainer.
Execution, the carrying out of a sentence of death on a condemned person.
The figure with his face turned back to him with a small smile, but kept moving forward, turning a corner into an alleyway.
"Good. Very good. I used to be incredibly powerful, you see, but in more recent times, I've become weakened."
Well yeah, the death penalty's being given less and less nowadays. I'm pretty sure it's been repealed in most prefectures here in Japan.
The Execution Devil's smile dropped, before the devil turned another corner.
"Aye, and so I've felt myself grow weaker and weaker. I disparaged the Drill, but the truth is, I may wind up in its position sooner rather than later. And much like it, I may be put down by a devil stronger than and sent back to Hell."
Oh, that's… that's rough.
The Execution Devil laughed, but Izuku couldn't hear any mirth in it.
"Indeed it is. Even so, I've had time to accept such an outcome. And so, I've one wish before my inevitable demise."
And that is…?
"To see a true, righteous justice wrought upon those who would bring harm upon the innocent. A force that will strike down evil in its wake with such an irreproachable fury that even the most sadistic of devils would quake in fear at the sight of him."
Oh, so nothing too difficult then.
"Oh surely not. After all, I've offered you my power so that you may fulfill your dream as well."
"I am the Execution Devil. The one true justice that lies at the end of sin. You wish to be a hero? Come with me, then. I'll make you the most righteous hero of them all."
The memory of the deal struck the night before came to mind.
Is that what that meant?
I have no idea how that will help me, though.
The devil scoffed.
"Oh please, in this world where special abilities are oh so ordinary, a devil's power is what puts you in the category of 'extraordinary'. You just need to learn to use this power. Which is why we're here."
The Execution Devil stopped and gestured forward.
It was a dead end alley.
They'd been walking through a veritable labyrinth of alleyways and ended up there.
He raised an eyebrow at his lookalike phantom.
What do you mean? What's here?
The devil smiled at him and pointed down the way.
"A devil."
Izuku looked.
All he saw was a cat.
A spindly little stray that was grooming itself atop a garbage can.
It looked back at him and meowed.
He looked at The Execution Devil again.
"What?"
"A devil, you're going to kill it."
"That's a cat."
"It's a devil that looks like a cat."
"Orrrr, and hear me out here, it's a cat."
The little thing at this point had jumped down from its position on the trash can, and made its way over to the tangible greenette as he argued with his intangible doppelgänger.
When it reached him, it nuzzled his ankle.
Izuku looked down and smiled.
"See? It's a totally harmless c-"
CRACK!
He crumpled to the ground before he realized what happened, dread setting in before the pain.
He looked at the cat and noticed something he hadn't seen before.
From the trash cans and between the trash bags near it, he noticed something slithering towards him.
A large snake-like mass of skinless muscles with multiple eyes and a mouth full of crooked teeth.
"Another foolish brat in the wrong place at the wrong time."
He felt his breath catch in his throat.
He couldn't even let out a breath to scream as the pain of his undoubtedly broken ankle caught up with him.
In the background, while his heart pounded in his ears, Izuku heard The Execution Devil speak.
"See? Devil."
Two words sprung to Izuku's mind, through the pain, the fear, and whatever else was clouding his heart at that moment.
Two words he couldn't remember ever saying to anyone despite wanting to time and again.
Fuck you.