Izuku woke up.
No, saying it this way can give a wrong idea. He regained his consciousness. He had yet to open his eyes, but that didn't stop him from assessing his current situation.
'Where am I?'
It couldn't be his bed – he almost broke the one he had in the refugee center. He couldn't sleep there unless it was replaced with a sturdier one. So, that was the first question.
Waking up in unknown places with no knowledge about how he got there will become a habit at this rate.
Normally, when a person wakes up in an absolutely unknown place, they would panic – at least a little bit. That is the most natural reaction – during sleep, you are in your most vulnerable state, which naturally requires you to do so in the safest place possible.
Izuku knew that even he could have panic, just for a short amount of time before it turns off. But he didn't.
Then, there was only one explanation.
'Why are my emotions turned off again?'
The first time it happened – he almost broke down after the first time he absorbed a carrier inside the dome. Now was the second time it happened on such a big scale.
But he wasn't in the dome, he was sure of it.
What triggered such a big pile of negative emotions at once for him to lose all his emotions? Second question.
He needed to understand his current position. He tried to move his finger…and nothing. Not in a sense that his body lost an ability to move limbs. No, he sent the mental signals that reached its destination. The problem was that his fingers were tied in a fist.
Tied…was he kidnapped?
Izuku tried to move a limb – one arm, two arms, legs. All of them were immobilized.
'A straightening jacket of some kind.'
It was a statement based on the observations, not a guess.
His position didn't allow him to do much, but he still could escape if he cuts the straightening jacket by creating blades from his body.
Izuku slowly opened his eyes, and seeing a scenery that was clearly built by humans and was still working nicely, his eyes widened in shock.
The emotions returned at the same moment.
Ignoring the twisted way his body acted for a moment, Izuku tried to move again. His earlier observations were right – he was in a straightening jacket, and he was kidnapped!
Or not?!
The room was a bit…empty. It was grey, there was no wallpapers or anything. Beside an uncomfortable bed, there was a large mirror and a door. Izuku looked at his reflection, and narrowed his eyes, remembering the last thing he could.
'There was… there was a crossroad. That blond man…and then…'
No, no, no, no!
His eyes widened.
'Did I kill someone? No, no I couldn't! I would have their memories inside! I didn't kill anyone! Then… t-then where am I? No, why am I here?'
He was about to break free, but the calmness that spread through his body forced him to make a calming sigh.
'Focus! I won't let them do anything to me. I can escape at any moment. Should they try to do anything, I'll do what it takes to survive. I WILL live...but I should understand what I got myself into'
The room was so quiet that it got deafening. He needed something. Source of anything around him.
"HEY! I WOKE UP!" He yelled. Whoever has captured him, they could at least be there when he woke up.
When the enemy or whoever appears, then he will decide his next actions.
Izuku's ears twitched as he felt the vibrations behind the mirror.
"H-hey, he woke up." The man rubbed his eyes, before turning to the door.
"What's the matter?" was received through the radio.
"I know that he can't see me" The man looked at Izuku, who was staring back through one-sided mirror. "But the boy creeps me out. Can we solve this all faster? I wanna go home."
The door opened, and two men got inside. The man and the captive looked at those who entered. Though, Izuku couldn't see the people themselves.
"Should I go first?" Asked one of two men.
"No, I should go first. We can't be sure what he will do"
The man that was sitting there the whole time shrugged, looking at those two talking.
"He is a bit creepy, but isn't that a bit of overkill? Sending you, I mean."
The bigger of the two rolled his shoulders.
"He is certainly much sturdier than most, so we need to be prepared. I still hope I can help him a bit, though."
"E…don't get me wrong, but didn't that boy attack you a few hours ago?"
"So what?"
"Well, I'm just…you know…saying. Even if not to you, the boy might be dangerous…and, well…"
When one tries to argue with the Number One Hero, they sure as hell need a better basis for their arguments. All Might coughed a bit, signaling that his time was ticking, but he replied to the ignorant policeman.
"He is not as dangerous as you think him to be. I would recognize a villain if I saw one. This boy had a mental side effect because of a drug, or because of his quirk. And most likely it is the second. In that case, we have a scared boy with equally scary quirk, and he needs help."
"Why are you so sure about it being a quirk problem, and not drugs?"
"He registered as a refugee a few hours before the incident" Said the second man, detective Tsukauchi Naomasa. "A bit too fast for an addict to find a source inside a city filled with military and heroes. And, in addition, we checked all the camera footages that captured his face. So, we are as sure as we can be."
All Might smiled and nodded, but to Naomasa it felt forced. He knew his friend, and could see when he was genuine, at least in his facial expressions. He saw that real smile so many times, that even a single irregularity in it can be seen miles away.
The detective sighed. He could relate to the big man.
The Musutafu outbreak is already considered to be one of the scariest events in Japan's history, and did not take the first place because of the incredibly fast reaction from the government. In fact, the reaction was so fast that it started to raise questions. The first barricades were set even before the enemy showed its ugly red veins.
Naomasa shook his head, as he watched All Might get into the room to talk with the boy he had to fight no so long ago.
This man saved at least a few thousand people all by himself there, almost flying through the city and getting people out of the worst hot spots while the wall was built. It surely didn't do his health any good. Even then…to All Might it wasn't enough. It couldn't be enough.
'It doesn't matter how much I saved, Naomasa. I know…I know that I can't save everyone, but…to lose so many. I can't help but start counting every person that was almost within my grasp'
And now, All Might was doing everything it takes to make sure that his help reaches people.
Two days was enough for Japan to lose a million of its citizens, almost a thousand of soldiers, hundreds of heroes. Cementos, who was the one behind the creation of the dome, was still in coma. And the worst part is that the dome itself is not stable enough, and additional constructions are to be made. A building of such a big scale will just crumble because of its own weight and absence of any support from inside.
Luckily, at least UA is still-
"Shit, dodge!" The policeman shouted and quickly hid behind his desk. Naomasa didn't waste any time on questions and did the same.
In the next instant, the one-sided armored mirror was broken into pieces.
Few seconds earlier.
Whoever it is, they were coming closer, to the door next to the mirror. It was obviously one-sided one – he felt the sources of vibrations on the other side that reacted to his yell.
It was a bold move, but it gave its results.
Damn…whoever was coming, they were big. He felt those footsteps way before they got into the room behind the mirror. If it was police, they would send someone to talk to him, but they would choose someone not as intimidating. Not this soon, at least.
So…was he kidnapped, after all? If the guy is just a brute, he will quickly knock him out (killing is still illegal, after all) and run.
Now, he only… needed… to…
Izuku's eyes widened as he saw the one who entered.
"A-all…might?"
The man's smile softened a bit.
"Yeah, kid. Surprised? Quite some time you gave me…"
Of course, Izuku recognized the person that decorated his whole room in Musutafu. That, however, was not the problem.
DANGER
Izuku started to mentally tune down All Might as he was saying something.
RUN
Previously suppressed panic hit him unimaginably hard. Thoughts stopped appearing. Eyes started to jump into every direction, before rolling up, as pure instincts took over.
SURVIVE
Enemy. Too strong. Deceptive. Little man is the big man. Enemy. Can't win. Must run. Must evolve. Must…
LIVE
Blades tore through the straightening jacket, and not as a human, but as an animal, Izuku sprinted towards the one-sided mirror with as much force as he could.
RUN
He quickly got through, and then started running towards the door, ignoring two people that were there. He was about to burst through in the next instant, but then…
DODGE
If he were fast enough, sturdy enough, that fist wouldn't matter as much.
However, unfortunately – or fortunately, after all – he wasn't prepared for what was coming.
A powerful punch impacted his body, and the blackness claimed him once more.
"A-All Might? Didn't you say that he was just a kid? I felt that punch from here!" Naomasa shouted in slight panic, still hidden behind a desk.
"Don't worry. I told you that he is sturdier than he looks! Last night anything weaker than this didn't have any effect on him. I know what it takes to simply knock him out."
All Might lifted Izuku's surprisingly heavy body.
"I guess we should move him to another cell. Tsk…chef's gonna kill me" whined the policeman. "Follow me. And don't scare him this time, alright? That was the strongest armored glass we had."
The man never imagined lecturing All Might of all people about anything. If he didn't want to sleep so much, he wouldn't be able to think because of the pure excitement.
The pair did as they were told. On the way, All Might slightly leaned towards Naomasa.
"Sorry about that. You fine?"
"Yeah, though he tore through that jacket so quickly I barely even had an instant to process it. I thought they were supposed to be quite tough"
"I was stupefied for a moment as well. When we fought, these spikes of his didn't appear this quickly. Still, this is the second time he reacted on me so violently. Do I scare him that much?"
"I can't say, but seeing you about to interrogate me in a police station while I'm in a straightening jacket would scare me as well"
"I can see your point…"
"We don't have any choice, then." Naomasa scratched the back of his head. "I'll do it. Without the jacket. You'll be there to help me out, if anything happens?"
"Why do you feel the need to even ask?"
"I'm a detective. Asking questions is part of my job."
The boy regained his consciousness back.
Yes, this will become a habit at some point.
Once more, he tried to remember how he got there.
'…There was a crossroad… a blonde man. Then nothing. Then a plain room with a mirror, and All Might…'
Izuku's eyes widened.
'That All Might?! B-bu-but why's he here, though? Wait, so he really was in Tokyo after all? The rumors didn't lie?! Wait wait wait wait, focus! All Might walked in, yes… but then what? Why am I waking up again?"
Izuku opened his eyes so quickly, as if he blinked, and not spent a few minutes unconscious.
Similar room.
Similar bed.
Similar mirror.
Similar man sitting…no. That's something new.
There was a man sitting close to the door, quite a good distance away from Izuku. He was a bit nervous, but kept soft gaze at the boy.
"Finally awake?" He asked.
Izuku looked at him, but didn't answer. Instead, he looked at his body, but didn't find anything that could hinder him. No jacket, not even handcuffs.
"You didn't restrain me this time."
Naomasa chuckled.
"Seeing you tear through the toughest restrain we had here, there's no point."
Izuku, once again, didn't reply to the statement. Instead, he looked in Naomasa's direction, or, more specifically, to the person that was standing right behind the door.
He felt strong, but uneven pulses of a big heart. His real restraint was standing there. Naomasa raised his eyebrow at boy's stare.
"Where am I?" the captive asked.
"In a police department, of course. I am detective Tsukauchi Naomasa. You are Midoriya Izuku, right?"
The boy cursed under his nose and nodded.
"Why am I here?"
Naomasa wasn't surprised because of the question. Memory loss is cases like that is quite a common thing. Still, that didn't stop him from sighing. He needed to know more about boy's condition.
"You don't remember anything?"
Izuku shook his head, staring at his arms.
"I remember a crossroad. Then I remember waking up in a room like this one. Then I remember waking up here."
"Was there anything strange between those memories? Explain in details what you remember, if you can. Start with the crossroad. I will explain everything, but first, I want to know the last few hours from your point of view."
Izuku glanced at the man. He had no problems with even the smallest details of what he had in his memories. They were much clearer than anyone else's.
"It was a late evening, but shops still worked. It was…quite crowded. I started to go back to a refugee center – I am one of Musutafu refugees – and then there was this crossroad. I noticed a blond man on the other side of the road. He looked a bit unhealthy, with big baggy clothes, but despite that he had an intense gaze."
"Intense gaze?" Naomasa stopped writing the info and leaned forward a bit, curious.
"I don't know how to explain. He was, like, looking straight forward with tough expression, as if he was angry at something. Then, the traffic light showed green and I started going. Then…"
And then, the memory starts to slowly drift away from him. The faces become unclear, some colors were inconsistent. But the blond man's face was clear. Izuku forced himself through the mist that hid his memories.
"I…remember that I stopped in the middle of the crossroad. I felt pain, very strong pain. And…desire. Desire to…"
Absorb. Evolve. Grow.
"to…attack." Izuku finished. "I tried to force it down, but I didn't understand anything at the time. That man…he stopped to help me. He placed his hand on me, but then…" Izuku shook his head and looked at Naomasa with unsure expression, with a tiniest bit of panic behind it. "Then nothing."
Naomasa nodded in understanding. The memories were mostly clear, which meant something related to quirk. The boy needs to be medically checked.
"Can you recall having this…strong desire to do something before?"
Izuku's eyes started to jump to any point of interest in the room, evading detective's eyes.
'Should I lie? I can't lose my chances to become a hero! Shit…shit. But what if self-protection again Red Flue is accepted. Can I ask about it? If I ask, he will figure everything out! But…he might understand my position. If I lie, then…they will think that I might have something quirk related, and that it is somehow connected to my psychic after running from-'
"Midoriya-kun?" Naomasa would narrow his eyes, but he didn't want to scare the kid.
Izuku clenched his fists.
"Once. I had it once. When I was attacked by a carrier in Musutafu."
Naomasa blinked.
'Once? And in such situation as well. Hm…Even then, he could have memory loss every time it happened.'
"Do you have such moments often? When you have a hard time remembering, for example, last evening, or what you did in the morning?"
Izuku couldn't help but look down.
"No. Beside today, I never had something like that. I can remember the last few days perfectly. From the dawn to the sunset."
'Though I had a few problems with that in the dome.'
Izuku was about to say that he remembered only a few days, but it could lead to the detective figuring out that he ran away from the sealed dome, and the search operations aren't exactly a thing since the fourth day after the outbreak. He needed to be careful with his words.
'So the small holes in memories only happened with All Might…or, maybe the reason was because someone punches a little too hard. Why, though? What's so triggering to him about '
"So why am I here, after all?"
He didn't kill the blond man. He couldn't. There were no new memories.
"Yesterday late evening, you attacked that blond man you talked about. However, All Might was close enough to quickly save him before you did any damage, and then you attacked All Might instead. All Might said that you didn't answer any questions, and just attacked blindly. Are you sure you don't remember anything?"
Izuku blinked and stared at his arms.
'Bullshit. How fast he must be if I really attacked the man? I don't believe it'
"Sorry, but I can't really believe in it. Me, fighting All Might?.."
Naomasa just turned the tablet in his hands and showed Izuku the video.
The boy stopped in the middle of the crossroad, covered his stomach. The blond man approached, and in the next instant tendrils shot from Izuku's body.
However, then, both of them just…disappeared before anyone could understand what's going on.
Izuku couldn't help but stare with wide eyes, and clench his fists. His life, as it was now, lasted 5 days, 4 of which he spent in a military outpost doing nothing. And it didn't do anything to help with his confusion. The questions never stopped appearing, and with no visible way to get answers. He was so tired thinking about the things he couldn't understand, but his life, so far, didn't give him anything else.
"I would invite All Might himself to elaborate, but your reaction on him is way too violent and-"
"Mr. Detective" Izuku called out quietly. His expression was one of a lost, confused, desperate. "I…I need help. I didn't tell you earlier, but… Not so long ago, I've experienced severe amnesia. I don't know anything about myself. I don't know my family, and none of them registered as a refugee. Ever since I woke up with no memories, this stupid quirk just keeps confusing me. And now…and now, because of that, I might lose my chances to become a hero! Because of things I don't know how to control, I might do harm do people! Like I almost did to that man! I don't want it! I want to protect what is-"
"You are absolutely right!" The booming voice of Number One Hero, as he appeared in the doorway, was loud enough to make Naomasa wince.
Izuku, widened his eyes once again.
RUN.
He tried to fight this feeling, shaking with wide eyes. He grabbed the sheets strong enough to tear them. His stare never left All Might.
All Might was pushed back slightly by Naomasa, raising his hand in front of the man.
"All Might! You know that he reacts violently to your appearance! We are lucky he didn't run away yet!"
SURVIVE.
"T-t-this is m-manageable" Izuku focused all his being on staying in the bed. He barely breathed, but he could glance at Naomasa. "I-I can do it!"
HIDE.
As long as the big man was standing far enough, he will be fine. Izuku winced as he felt shivers.
All Might smiled once more.
"Look at that spirit! Look at his courage! His whole body screams at him to run away for reasons he does not understand, and yet he is here, fighting this feeling with everything he has! The eyes show it all, Naomasa. Look in his eyes."
Izuku continued to stare, but what little sense he had inside allowed him to narrow his eyes.
"Those are the eyes of someone who won't run away! Of the one who will face everything and rise! But to become such a person, he needs our help, Tsukauchi. What a hero will I be, if I ignore his plea for help?!"
All Might lowered his friend's arm.
I've lost enough souls during the last few days. I can't lose another one!
"Boy! I will make sure you will get the help, so that you can become a hero! Remember this!"
All Might was closer and closer with every word he said, making it harder for Izuku to stay in his bed.
"So, what do you think?"
RUN
Izuku's eyes rolled up again, and he jumped towards the mirror once more.
This time, however, someone was there to catch him in time.
Naomasa sighed.
Number One hero had enough influence for the boy to not get charged, since he was the primary victim, and the boy himself was not in the right state of mind, since he was triggered by All Might for some reason. Three times already.
"Hey, don't struggle!"
If All Might of all people wanted to help this boy become a hero, then any barriers there could be were now nonexistent. It was the second time All Might went out of his way to help a boy he found somewhere. The world needs more strong-willed heroes, as the number one hero said. That last boy, however, was mostly fueled by anger. Izuku was very different in that, but, he to be exanimated first of all. He still could present a danger to people.
"Stop poking me with those blades already!"
However…there was one thing that Naomasa was concerned about. Whenever he talked to the boy, he couldn't read him.
Naomasa stared at All Might, who was still trying to tame the boy in his grasp.
"Ow, he bit me! Oh shit, those are sharp!"
Naomasa sighed.
All Might, after all those lives that were lost, needed this just as much, as the boy.
The sound of broken glass inrerrupted Tsukauchi's thoughts.
"Shit, he ran away again!"
Detective groaned.
Chizome Agakuro stumbled and hit a wall in a sidewalk.
Breathing heavily, he looked at his shaking hands once again. The weird, alien something was something slowly spreading, eating him from inside. He felt it moving inside him, latching onto different parts inside him, as if probing, but in the end doing nothing but bring him immense pain.
He felt veins on his right hand being slowly eaten, while the black mass was slowly taking its place.
His vision blurred from the pain. He even thought about cutting this hand off, but there was no guarantee that this black shit just won't move away, and there was a good chance in was in his blood.
Fuck…fuck!
He threw up relentlessly for the second time.
"AAArgh!" he punched the ground beneath him with his right hand, as frustration took over.
And his punch left a crack on the ground.
With wide eyes, Chizome he clutched his hand in pain. But then, he noticed the damage he dealt to the road.
'So t-this shit…h-has its uses'