Sixteen Years Ago
'Come back to me.'
The world spins as she grips the table tightly. Alarms and sirens buzz between her ears, all she can see are bright spots. She tries to take a breath but all that comes out is the rotten taste of bile. She coughs again, an ugly wheeze to get more oxygen into her chest. Everything feels so close, the pressure pushing harder than she can push back. It was all closing in.
And then it wasn't.
Warm hands cup her cheeks and pull her out of the fog. Colors begin to slowly come into the picture: the chestnut table, the hazy kitchen light, the pressed white-colored shirt. She blinks again and looks into his eyes, one crimson and one violet stare back into hers.
"It's alright, Inko. It's all over now." He hums as he pulls her into his wide chest. His shirt feels damp against her face. It takes more moments than it should for her to realize she was crying. No sound came from her mouth as she felt the tears continue to flow from her eyes. The feelings that caused the reaction were so deep that she couldn't even recognize them. Why was she crying? Where was she? Who was she?
Two hands gently sit her upright and thin lips twist into a painful frown. She was so very lost and scared. A wet wheeze comes from her throat and her eyes begin to sting again.
"W-Where a-am I?"
The man smiles softly at her.
"You're home. You're with me. Izuku is in the other room after we finally put him to bed." The man pauses for a moment and looks down to the table, "We're in the kitchen now. Do you remember what you asked, Inko? Do you remember what you saw?"
Asked? Saw?
Her mind splits again as images flash through her eyes.
She bites her tongue to avoid another sob as her hands wrap around her forehead. Her senses are overwhelmed and she can't shut out the scenes that play in front of her.
A quiet bar with a boy leaning into their side, a small game console in his hand.
An empty cemetery, thundering rains roaring from above.
A speeding police van, ground cracking underneath as it crosses a bridge.
A maddening cackle in a room surrounded by static-filled monitors.
The screaming of steel as a city collapses in on itself.
A warm bed with a heavy arm wrapped tightly around their abdomen, dark hair tickling their nose.
"Inko!"
This time she vomits onto the floor. A wave of guilt wraps around her sides as she tries to curl herself into a smaller ball.
"W-W-W" She stutters frantically, her twisted tongue not letting the words come out.
He reaches back and pulls her upright, concern apparent with the frown on his face. She tries to fight it but with one hand he can keep her up and with the other, he reaches slowly for her chest.
"Inko, breathe, honey please, you have to breathe. Take a slow breath with me, yes?" He then takes an exaggerated breath and she does her best to follow his lead. They sit in this mimicry for minutes. Neither saying anything as she looks back to the floor in shame. He brings a finger down and slowly pulls her eyes off the regurgitated puddle that's mostly the tea she had earlier on the floor.
"Don't worry about the mess; I'll clean it up, okay?"
"W-Wh-Wh"
He remains patient as she tries to verbalize the questions that keep pressing on her brain.
"Wh-When?"
His eyes flash for a moment, violet iris pulsing ever so slightly.
"When what, Inko?"
She swallows again and reaches for the glass of water he placed beside her.
"When... am I?"
He looks at her in puzzlement. But ever so slightly she can see him slowly breaking down her question. Piece by piece, a new understanding is framed on his face as he nods slowly.
He opens his mouth, "The beginning, Inko. Right now, you're just at the beginning."
Her eyes glance to the room where her baby sleeps. She's honestly shocked he hasn't woken with all of the noise and energy that had built up.
"And Izuku. All that I saw… This is all for him? That's what this plan is for?"
He nods slowly, also looking at the door. A weariness seeps into his crimson eye as he looks down to his dark shoes, "It's all for him. It's for a world that he can truly live in. For a world where he can be with those that he truly cares about. Be with those that he will call a family."
Inko bares her teeth at the man, ugly feelings of jealousy and frustration bubbling to the surface, "And what about us, his actual family? The roles we play, can you truly say that we're doing what's best for him?"
He looks at her in the eyes, one hand wrapping around hers. She tries to pull away but the warmth he emanates is borderline intoxicating.
"The ends will justify the means, Inko."
She frowns. If what she's seen is true, can she deny that fact? Her eyes flick back to him, he flinches slightly at the gaze.
"You'll be leaving."
It was more of a statement than a question. She had seen enough to know that much to be true. He runs his hand through his hair, "You know that I have to. It's the only way for everything to be set. For everything to be in place."
Her lips begin to twitch but she bites down to stop any more tears. She cried enough for one night.
"Will I ever see you again?"
He reaches back and places both hands on her shoulders.
"I promise you will see me again, one way or another."
He then leans in, lips brushing her own. She tastes the faint bitterness from the mint tea that he drank earlier. She isn't sure how long they stay like that.
It stops when she can feel his breath near her ear.
"Do you trust me?"
She leans into his frame, "You'll have to go before I change my mind."
He then moves to get up before she wraps her hand around his wrist tightly, jerking him back to her level, "And know this, I'll kill you myself if this does not go to plan, Hisashi."
He grins at her. The same grin that swept her off her feet at the bar so many years ago.
"How can I lose if I've already seen it all play out? I'll build this world piece by piece, Inko. I'll put everything in place and then all it will take is one moment to start the show. One instance and…"
He pauses again and looks back into her eyes.
"It'll all come crashing down. I swear it."
Present Day
"Mom?"
She can feel viridian eyes locked on her as she looks out the window. The early morning sun hangs above the clouds; spring is around the corner. The mug of tea in her hands has cooled significantly. Not much of the liquid is left at this point. It was at its end.
She turns slightly and locks eyes with the boy. Shaggy emerald hair frames his face, pale skin illuminated by star-like freckles. While he had caught up to most in terms of height he was still as slim as ever, much to her chagrin. The jagged scar over his nose is now no more than a pale shadow, a distant memory of a day that she would like to forget.
Thin fingers wrap around her forearm, pulling her out of another reverie.
"Are you alright? You seem out of it."
He frowns at her, she does her best to shake off his concern.
"Still waking up I suppose, sweetheart. I'll be heading to the store soon; would you like anything in particular?"
His eyes are still narrow as she takes another slow sip of tea. The mint flavoring tasted bitter on her tongue.
"I'll need to talk to you later," she glances up to find him actually staring at his feet, "It's about our trip, I've been thinking more about it…" He trails off still not looking into her eyes.
So he is having second thoughts?
Inko nods slowly as she walks to the sink to wash the mug, "Of course, we could talk more this afternoon. Has the idea been bothering you lately?"
He tenses up and turns away. A hand slowly rises to rub the back of his neck and he struggles to put his thoughts into words.
After a moment she strolls back over and wraps both arms around his sides. Izuku flinches slightly at the contact but then melts into the embrace, his rigid posture becoming laxer.
Her head barely reaches his shoulder blades now, which seem sharp and uncomfortable on his thin back. She again thinks back to her husband and ponders if she ever had trouble with his weight.
"I'll always support you, you know that Izuku? We can talk more later, but please remember that."
He nods jerkily, she wonders if there are tears forming in his eyes. He did seem to inherit a lot from her after all.
But the more she saw of him and how he had grown, the more she saw of him.
It would happen often with a look in his eyes and a slight change to his posture.
His intellect was more akin to the man she married than herself, grades coming in above everyone other than Katsuki who often found himself barely clinging on to the standard her son could set.
It was hard to identify all the similarities since she knew so very little about her husband's childhood. Would he see himself in Izuku? Would he be proud of who Izuku was at this point? Was this how he all wanted it to go?
'I promise you will see me again, one way or another.'
She frowns at the memory and pulls away from her son.
"I'm heading off now, Izuku. I should be back shortly."
She turns to the door when she hears him call her from behind.
"Do you have to go now?"
She stills at the comment.
"I just…" Izuku pauses again, "Something feels off is all. How about you go later?"
Inko's eye twitches.
Huh. He might be even more perceptive than his father.
She opts to not turn and betray the mess of emotions on her face, "It'd be better to get it out of the way, Izuku. I'm sure everything will be alright."
Was that the truth? She could no longer remember enough of the flashes she had seen from Revelations to know what was real and what she had created in her own head. Memories that her son hadn't even formed yet floated aimlessly in her mind.
She closes her eyes, sharp pain at the back of her skull steadily rising. It was time to go.
The weather is surprisingly biting when she reaches the sidewalk. Crowds had yet to gather in the downtown area. The silence gives her time to think.
It gives her time to put things in perspective.
There will be a time when Izuku begins to understand the rather manufactured reality he had lived up to this point. Questions that he couldn't answer, facts that were not adding up. He was a smart boy, maybe even a genius.
But right now he wasn't one to second guess those that were closest to him.
The miserable life of scrubbing linoleum floors was ultimately a life she chose, not one that was forced upon her. This pathetic existence was something that she ultimately created. A life that would cause her son to ask questions that wouldn't have been asked in a different life.
Were the emotions she felt in the moment real? She believed so. Sobbing to her son and working to actively hide the pain she felt, that all couldn't have been fabricated.
Right?
The line between reality and falsehood had become blurred when her eyes had been opened to Revelations. Hisashi had told her before leaving that he had never shown someone as much as he had shown her. She had seen the slight hesitation in his eyes when he let her know this. He had known that she was a strong woman, this probably being the reason he ultimately chose to pursue her.
But was she strong enough to hold up the world of one of the most important players in this unwritten story? Was she tough enough to look away from the life she had created for him?
She was ultimately a bystander when it came to the bullying he faced earlier on in his life. Silently stacking a medicine cabinet full of wound treatment and ointment for burns. Would he ever wonder why their closet was always so prepared for the injuries he would pick up outside of the house?
It was almost as if the house understood what he was truly dealing with.
There was little to no scarring to look at thankfully. Inko was sure at this point that she would be unable to even glance at her child if he was still covered in blotchy red skin and dark purple bruising. Wounds she may not have personally given her son but she could still feel that responsibility rest on her shoulders. Guilt wrapped itself so tightly around her it could be hard to breathe.
Was the mother a coward or a warrior? Gritting her teeth and chose to move past all that her son faced in order to set up everything for days like these. Moments like these.
Large sunglasses did enough to cover up the slowly tearing emerald eyes of Inko Midoriya. The downtown area of Nagoya was still quiet, early morning shoppers slowly beginning to line the streets but no large crowds swallowed up entire street blocks.
She was thankful for that. She was thankful for those that could avoid all that was to come.
The shopping center she entered is shrouded in obnoxiously bright fluorescent lights. The shiny tile flooring reflects much of the color back into the face of the patrons. A place that gave off an aura of somehow being so clean it was almost dirty.
Inko strolled the aisles aimlessly. A list of groceries was crumpled tightly into a ball in her back pocket. She wouldn't need it anymore.
She had left a letter for her son. It wasn't something that he would find anytime soon but she was sure he would read it eventually. It was one of the few things she had done in her life for her sake rather than his. She hoped he would understand, that he would see what she saw.
The ends do justify the means, right?
~Revelations~
The bustling city block in Nagoya becomes still. All eyes are locked on the inky black substance that seems to have manifested out of thin air. Some might have been familiar at this point with what it meant. Others were more ignorant.
Everyone on the block knew at some level that they were facing almost certain death. Something deep down, almost akin to an animalistic sense told them that a predator was on the way that they had no chance of escaping. That there was no chance of survival.
Slowly, long, dark fingers grab at the outside of the substance. Bulging muscles and arms longer than a civilian are seen next. A crouched leg appears next, bent at the knee.
In a matter of moments, the beast finally appears in full. Clad in only a dark pair of khaki pants, it slowly climbs to a standing position. No one on the block can move or take their eyes off the monster.
It's well over two stories tall.
A long beak seems to have ripped through the skin that once covered the Kaiju's face. Beady black eyes seem to be stuck on the exposed brain of the beast.
It protrudes almost god-like energy. A beast that had come down from the heavens to wreak havoc on humanity that refused to recognize the gifts it had been given.
The Kaiju slowly turns its head to the first structure that catches its eyes. A shopping center with obnoxiously bright fluorescent light. In the blink of an eye, it moves and stands next to the building, almost surpassing it in height.
For a moment all is silent. All onlookers watch with horror. The beast slowly pulls its arm back and with a guttural scream swings at the building.
It only takes moments for it all to begin crashing down.
~Revelations~
A flicker of the ceiling lights is the first indication that something is wrong. Patrons look on widely as Inko gazes closer at a milk carton she chose to inspect.
A screech rips through the air and the foundation shakes. And then it cracks. The building begins to sway and metal support beams scream above her. Shoppers scramble frantically, tripping over crumpled bodies or the jagged cracks that were slowly rising from the flooring.
Inko looks around at the scene, her hand tightly gripping a handle in the refrigerated section to maintain balance. Did they not realize it was all over at this point?
Why struggle when fate was inevitable?
Her world tips as she tightens her grip on the cool plastic. Bodies slide past her, crimson coloring following lazily, staining the little sparkling tile that remained. Concrete had started falling from above and people could do little to avoid getting crushed by the very material that was supposed to provide them security.
Another crash echoes on the floor and this time Inko's breath stutters when her eyes catch bulging muscle and dark skin almost akin to leather. The beast was on the far side of the floor but its presence made her feet lock up. Clammy hand curled into fists to stop the uncontrollable shaking, a new acceptance rolling over her as she acknowledged her final moments.
Inko always thought she would be calm in the face of death. After all, through memories that weren't hers, she had known this would be her end since all those years ago. Emotions that weren't hers rose to the surface. A deep pain in her heart, as if there was a knife plunged into the center. She knew Izuku would soon be saddened after this was all over, but to know that her final act was choosing to hurt him one last time felt inherently wrong.
But the ends justify the means, didn't they?
There was no other choice than to believe those words at this point. She had accepted the mantle that was the responsibility of continuing Hisahi's mission, Revelations' mission once the man had finally been wiped from the playing board. Most of her work was setting up Izuku for the journey ahead, molding him through her words and actions similar to what her husband had done to the other boy in Yokohama. The main characters need to be polished in a way so that they could live up to the roles they had to play. It was easier to justify her own actions by thinking of it in the same way that Hisashi did, a grand story that's all been written by now. All of them were just puppets, being pulled along by strings of fate that Revelations dictated.
She watched as support beams began to bend in an almost sickening manner. The building groaned and the ground continued to shake. To her side, a large piece of aluminum fell on her left leg, squelching bone and pinning her to the spot that she stood at. She dropped to her knees, holding back a sob as she fought to end her role as stoic as possible.
But for all that Midoriya Inko was, stoicism was never a strength of hers. Tears fell slowly, mirroring the building that also fell around her. The collapse was accelerating as support beams were being asked to hold more than they could, leading to more cracking and more shaking. The ground began to cave around her, swallowing her into the pit that was the very foundation of the structure. Dust flooded her lungs and she let out an ugly cough, no relief is found.
She could no longer feel her left leg as a support beam fell dangerously close to her neck, only nicking the exterior. Rubble had climbed up to her waist by now, dirt and dust pulling her deeper and deeper into the earth. She took another shaky breath and tried her best to grit her teeth. This was the role she chose, after all, this was always the end that had been written.
Did Hisashi feel this way? As death clawed deeper into his soul, was he fine with the outcome? Was he willing to let it all go for the sake of his dream? For Revelations' dream?
She supposed he would have died with a smile on his face. His conviction was always one of his strongest traits. He would have been alright with his end, as long as it led the story in the right direction. Dying alone in a warehouse outside Tokyo.
But at death's door, Inko realized that she was not the same as Hisashi.
She did not want to die alone.
In a moment, as if a God was listening to her silent pleas, Inko chokes on her ragged breath when two strong arms wrap themselves around her stomach. Her shocked expression doesn't fall when she glances down to see that there were no visible arms around her. No shopping patron had decided to cling to her in their last moments.
Who was grabbing her?
Her eyes twitched when she could hear his airy chuckle in her ear. She spins to find nothing again, but this time it was unmistakable as to who was there. Who was with her as the world literally caved in?
'I told you I would see you again, didn't I, my love?'
Her mind fogs as more debris fall on and around her. Was this real? Was he real?
'You did such a great job, honey. You surpassed my expectations."
"Hi-Hisa-" Her dry mouth can't even choke out his name.
The ghostly arms tighten and she can almost feel his breath on the back of her neck.
'It's over now, Inko. You can rest now.'
The rubble is up to her neck now, her brain feels fuzzy as she can no longer breathe. White spots flood her vision as the very life is drained from her at last.
'Come back to me.'
The building finally collapses in on itself. Shrieks are heard from the outside as no sound is emitted from the inside.
There were no survivors.
But while death might be the end for some, others were pulled again by masters of fate, using the threads that were still attached to plan for the story. To plan for the future.
Some strings were clearly harder to cut than others.
~Revelations~
The girl watches on, mouth slightly agape at the live news playing in front of her. Tangled black hair falls almost over her eyes and her fingers dig deeper into the legs that had been brought up to her chest. No sound was playing over the clips but the shots of the various faces were able to convey all that she had needed to know.
The pit in her stomach seems to grow at the sight. The feeling of falling clings with talons and her shoulders begin to shake. How many were already dead? How many would be dead before the day was over?
The Kaiju was something that was difficult to fathom. A monster that seemed to fit more in one of those old Godzilla movies than the present-day streets of Nagoya. What hero could beat this titan?
Could Shimura Mai have stopped it?
The door is flung open and her father is standing over her in seconds.
"Are you seeing this?!"
She nods slightly, eyes still glued to the beast that knocks over a bus station.
"D-do you think you can get over there? To help them?"
She flinches at the question. Her tongue feels heavy in her mouth and she tries to curl more in on herself.
"Nana, I could go with you! We can help them, together! You could fly and I bet you could even carry me there. And then we could help! It's what a hero would do, right?! It's what she would do!"
What she would do, huh?
Is that all there was to it? Is that all he saw when he looked at her?
Just who exactly did he see? Just who was he looking at? How long would this illusion plague his mind? This idea of her becoming Mai had long since slipped through her fingers, the desire to reach the same heights as Sky High lived in her as only a memory. She felt sick to her stomach thinking of the HPSC and the training that she was doing. But she somehow even lacked the strength to pull away from that hell.
She opted to drift, doing what they told her with sullen eyes and a bruised body. Listening to the trainers and teachers and everyone else in her life, getting pulled limply from one activity to the next.
But at that moment, looking at a monster Japan had never seen before, tossing aside heroes and civilians like they were dolls, an ugly bitterness bubbled in her stomach.
Who did her father think he was looking at? Who did he think she was?
Wasn't his responsibility to pull her up? To save her when she needed it the most? Wasn't that what a parent was there for?
He didn't even see her.
At this point, she began to wonder if he ever saw her.
"Shut up."
It comes out as a whisper. Her mind had been looping those two words endlessly and it eventually slips from her lips.
He looks down at her eyebrows furrowed in slight confusion.
"Did you say something, Nana?"
She watches as Kamui Woods, one of the most promising young heroes, gets swatted like a gnat. The man flew in the air, crashing through a window of a nearby gas station. He didn't get up.
"I can't go, dad. I can't do that."
His head tilts slightly at the comment.
"But you can do something, Nana! We can do something! We can help, just get us there and we can help like she-"
"Shut up."
This time he hears her clearly.
"N-Nana?"
Her shoulders shake and her fingernails dig into the skin on her legs.
"I'm not her. I'm not her, so stop bringing her up. Stop talking about her and stop looking at me like I'm her. Please stop and justleave me alone."
Her eyes are obscured by choppy bangs and the darkness in the room.
"I-I don't know what you mean, where is this all coming from?"
Her head slowly shakes at the comment.
"Get out."
He flinches at the words, an undeniable venom laced in every letter.
The man blinks at his daughter and slowly steps away from the bed and towards the door.
The truly horrifying thing for Shimura Yoshida is that this isn't the first time he's seen something like this. A sweet piece of candy that suddenly becomes sour. A woman that rejects him after all that he does for her.
The same mannerisms and poison were provided by that woman with hair like clouds, white bangs that would flutter in the wind.
His wife. Ayana.
He grits his teeth as he gently closes the door. 'I won't lose her again. I can't lose her again.'
Nana's eyes flick to the door to make sure it's shut before turning back to the computer screen that sits a few feet in front of her. An unmistakable lightness floats through her as she reflects on her words and actions. The bitterness that had been seeping out a moment ago seems to be gone and she takes a long breath.
It was the first time she had rejected her father.
Something told her that it wouldn't be the last.
~Revelations~
No one said a word as all eyes remained fixed on the slightly tilted monitor that sat behind the bar.
It seemed that a third building had fallen in Nagoya, this one being a two-story office property about a block away from the shopping center that was all but a pile of rubble at this point.
Shigaraki Tomura slowly raised his left hand and clawed at the skin near his throat. His neck was burning. The itch hadn't been this bad since before he was with Sensei - before he had been in the bar.
Why was it back now?
Should he have felt indifference toward the masses that were all getting crushed by the max-level dungeon boss someone had decided to write into a game of Sims 3? Should he have felt gleeful at watching another hero, this time he thought it was Death Arms, get crushed by a car that had been kicked by the Kaiju as if it was a stone on the street? The heroes were failing and everyone was watching.
So why did he feel so sick?
His fingernails continue to tear away at the ragged skin, the teen ignorant of the other sets of eyes that were all flicking back and forth between the tv and himself.
He can hear someone take a long breath and turn toward him.
"Hey Tomura, where is Takasugi?"
The question finally gets his fingers to lock up and he shifts slightly to his left, one crimson eye peeking beyond his pale bangs at the girl that had asked.
He frowns at the question, "She's in Nagasaki."
Toga cocks her head slightly at the response and then turns back to the news.
"Why?"
"She had to work there."
The girl opts to ignore his brisk tone and continue her line of questioning.
"What does Takasugi do?"
Tomura pauses again and considers the question. Both the girl and Dabi knew there was more about Haruno than they were currently letting on. They were getting curious.
He also didn't care.
"Blimp pilot."
He can hear Dabi choke on his drink at the end of the bar. He opts to not bother looking at the man.
Toga pouts and leans closer to Shigaraki, her shoulders, clad in the same beige cardigan pressing against his black sweatshirt.
"Oh come onnnnn! Tell us something, Tomu! You can keep some secrets but not all of them! It's not fair - aren't we a team?!"
Shigaraki finally places his hands back down on the bar. He sighs and inspects his fingernails. Three of them seem to be caked in dry blood. He'd need another shower later.
"What if she does something really boring Toga? What would you say then?"
Toga looks at him for a long moment, brain clearly in overdrive as her lips begin to twist upwards. She opens her mouth to begin to respond but is then interrupted by the banging of the backdoor.
The bunch all look up to see Kurogiri, who had bolted early in the morning citing an errand he had to run, looking haggard for possibly the first time ever.
Tomura gazes at him incredulously, swaying back and forth between asking if he was alright and laughing in his face.
"What happened to you, Kurogiri?!"
Toga is the one who finally opened her mouth to voice the question they all had.
The butler merely waves a hand at the girl and pulls out a tin box and places it in front of Tomura.
Shigaraki looks down at the gift and then back up at the caretaker.
"I thought my birthday was next week."
The cloud nods slowly.
"I know that and the box isn't a birthday present. This particular day snuck up on me, so my apologies."
Crimson eyes widen slightly and his left hand slowly picks at the edge of the box, prying the top from the bottom. Staring back at him is a letter. One that wasn't longer than a few lines.
Shigaraki recognizes the handwriting immediately.
'My Dear Student,
In two days' time make your way to Nagoya. Kurogiri will know where to go.
I leave the gift in this box to aid you in grabbing your own future. Use it for as long as you need it.
The itch you feel now means you have begun to grow restless. It is time for you and those you care about to find your freedom.
Become who you were meant to be, Shigaraki Tomura.'
The others watch silently as the teen reads the note. After a few moments, he slowly crumples the paper and turns it to dust with five fingers.
Dabi's eyes narrow at the scene. He slowly places his empty glass on the table and looks over to the figure.
"Who was it from?"
Shigaraki doesn't turn to him, eyes still locked on whatever was under the letter.
"A ghost."
Dabi lets out a 'tsk' and turns back to the TV. His eyes narrow at the sight. Bright color pierces the sky as the number one hero is seen crashing into the Kaiju. It was an odd feeling, watching his father and hoping that the man wouldn't die. At least not yet.
Not before he was done with him.
Shigaraki finally lowers both hands and pulls the gift the apparent 'ghost' had left behind for him.
The thing was made of what looked like some sort of carbon fiber, colored in a blood-like dark crimson.
Dabi squints again and it finally clicks at what he's looking at.
A sculpted severed hand.
Tomura holds the hand on his own, gazing at it curiously and slowly bending each individual finger. While it obviously wasn't real, the thing had an uncanny resemblance and feel of an appendage that could have been cut off a body only moments ago.
The teen then places it gently back onto the bar and looks back to the news.
It seemed that the sign he had been waiting for had finally arrived.
The tutorial was over.
~Revelations~
Todoroki Shoto had never been one that people described as 'comforting'. The boy was aloof at best and frigid at worst, his sociability being warped by a desolate home life and father who couldn't read a social cue if it was written on his forehead.
It wasn't that he disliked people. He just couldn't understand them and what they wanted from him. So he often chose the safest route when interacting with people.
Silence.
Unfortunately, the situation he was currently in required something a bit more out of his comfort range.
The room he was in was quiet. His eyes flick back and forth between the TV monitor that stands on one side of the room and the women sitting in the bed to his left. Her eyes are distant and unreadable, the remote remains locked tightly in her grasp. Snow white hair covers much of her face but he can make out her slightly biting on her bottom lip. He clenched his hands.
"It'll be fine."
The words feel empty when they leave his mouth though. The destruction only a few miles away is reaching a sickening level, with a body count still not being reported but fears of it being higher than any recent event in history. The beast did not appear to be slowing down, having gone up against both Backdraft and Majestic, both now being dragged away by lower-level heroes in an attempt to get them medical attention.
The most frightening thing was the unknown regarding the Kaiju. Most had a defining trait like the chainsaws from one and the mouth 'Chubs'. This being though seemed more like a titan, towering over all heroes and strong enough to topple buildings in a few punches. The thing had no clear weaknesses and did not seem to be slowing down in the slightest unlike most that had come before it.
They both watch as the streak of fire enters the screen, burning bright and lively as if it tried to convey a meaning of finality and hope. It seemed that the number one hero had arrived.
Shoto looked back to the women and then to the screen.
"Maybe we should turn this off."
She looks back to him, lips twisting into a slight frown.
"I have to see this, Shoto. If you'd like to leave though, I understand."
Her words still floated through his head as he had only just gotten used to her voice again. It was somehow both dreamy and nightmarish at the same time. A reminder of the good and bad of his youth.
He opts to push her, "This can't be good for you to see him like this," he turns slightly to watch his father throw more hellfire at kaiju with little damage before turning back to her, "Maybe we can watch something else. I don't want you to…" The teen then locks up and ends his thought, opting to not play the concerned child card in fear of insulting her.
He jerks slightly at the feeling of a slender hand wrapping itself around his wrist.
"I'll be okay Shoto, but I appreciate your concern," she tries to smile warmly at him but it feels off in the hospital gown that she wears, "We need to watch this and support him."
"You would still support him?"
She takes a breath and looks back to the screen, "He is a good hero, Shoto. He's a flawed person, but most people are if you peel back enough layers. I've seen how he's acted since All Might died and how he's tried his best. I think we owe it to him to try our best now and not turn away from what's happening."
Shoto's eyes widened at the words. He turns back to see his father unleash his 'Hell Spider' move on the titan after finally dragging it to a more open area. Beams of fire slice through the twisted flesh like butter and the Kaiju loses an arm and half its right leg.
Cheers can be heard echoing off the walls in the hospital by others that watch the news but something in the back of his mind causes him to feel a flood of anxiety. For a beast like that, there had to be more to it, right?
His question is answered when dark tendrils of muscles seem to come to life at the severed stump and slowly wrap around themselves until an entirely new arm has been formed.
Regeneration.
The beast then charges at the winded number one and drives a fist through the man's chest, sending him shooting into a parked car that lay a few meters away. The metal crumples around him and the flame hero coughs up blood. The speed at which the Kaiju moved was unfathomable.
Had it not been trying until just then?
Seemingly having decided that Endeavor was a foe that needed to be dealt with swiftly, the creature moved faster than the news feed could record, driving arms and legs into the man that tried desperately to parry the hits to the best of his ability.
After one heavy right, Endeavor moved to duck underneath the swing and then wrapped both arms around the creature's torso. In a moment he willed his flames to a scalding temperature and pushed toward the midsection that he clung onto so tightly. More fire was emitted, a flash that caused both Shoto and Rei to blink in discomfort before being able to focus back on the scene that played out in front of them.
Endeavor stood on the desolate street, labored breath seemingly shaking him to his core. Little flame could be seen on him by this point, the iconic fire beard all but extinguished at this point.
The Kaiju stood a few meters away. Shoto looked at the monster for a moment, his brain slowly understanding what his eyes were seeing before his mom finally voiced her reaction,
"Did it get smaller?"
What was once almost three times the size of the flame hero was now only a few feet taller. Where had the rest of the body gone? The boy watched his father glance quickly to the left, both noticing a large puddle of dark liquid that seemed to be seeping into the street the hero stood on.
Shoto's eyes widened as puzzle pieces came together in his head.
The beast was still decaying like any other kaiju, but since it was larger than all others to this point it had the ability to adjust its body to accommodate the mass that it still had left.
Gigantification?
The teen had seen a woman in the news a few weeks ago, smiling while bending forward in a rather provocative manner when the camera's flashed in her direction. She was a rising graduate from one of the HPSC academies, their first hit from the thousands that went through their training across the country. It was the first quirk he had seen that could alter size.
And it was a quirk that was eerily similar to what the kaiju showed off mere moments ago.
The questions were derailed before they could even arise when he saw the beast move again, this time a left lag slamming against his father's torso shooting him off through the window of a run-down apartment building.
Shoto winced as he saw the building sway from the collision, broken glass from shattered windows sprinkling onto the pavement underneath. The cameras can't get a clean shot of the interior of the structure, yielding only smoke and the occasional burst of a bright flame. The two watched as more brick seemed to spill off from one side of the building, a support beam bending from the pressure and heat that was present in the area.
Rei's grip on his wrist tightens. He grits his teeth when he quickly glances to see the face she's making, to see what feelings are in her eyes.
Pain. Sadness. Fear.
Regret.
Ash and dust cloud the area. The flashes of fire seem to fade as well, an eerie calm hanging over the air.
The pause gives Shoto time to collect his breath and his thoughts.
Why hadn't his father tried to escape the building? It was clear that it was on its last legs and probably would have been knocked down in the cleanup effort after this was all over. It was a tactical mistake and restricted his ability to use his maximum output.
Because if he were to use his hottest fire, his prominence burn then-
Shoto chokes on his breath and his eyes shoot wildly back to the building. To the remaining support beams that seem to have the strength of wet clay at this point. The concrete base that had cracked under the weight of the groaning structure. The fact that there were no civilians anywhere in the area.
No.
His mouth twists into an ugly frown as feeling he could hardly recognize bubbles to the surface. Feeling that had been locked away long ago, feeling he almost thought couldn't even exist at this point. Eyes sting with unshed tears as the property sways again, still no signs of his father or the beast re-appearing from the smoke of the ground floor.
You idiot.
His mother looks back at him and gasps at what she sees. Just what kind of face is he making?
Shouldn't this have been what he wanted? His mother back in his life, asking him to lean on her when he needed it the most? He can feel her arms wrap around his side and pull him closer but his eyes can't leave the monitor that sits at the other side of the room. Zooming in further at a concrete beam beginning to crack, jagged lines crawling from the center of the object.
I don't want this.
He can finally make out his mom's pulse quicken. Her brain is finally catching up to what he sees. To what they're going to see.
To what's about to happen.
I need you, SO DON'T DO THIS-
The building collapses. Cries bounce off the walls of the hospital as the number one hero and a terror that Japan had never seen before are seemingly buried under the tons of stone and cement that had once made the edifice.
His mothers' fingers claw at his sides, pulling him closer. He watched the TV blankly, numb to her voice and the millions of others that shrieked across the country.
~Revelations~
His chest burned, like most of his body at this point. Ash and dust clogged his lungs and eyes, and he couldn't get the taste of blood off his tongue.
Was this death? Was it really this uncomfortable?
He snorted to himself at the question.
Should I have expected something else? Do I really deserve anything else?
It would never have been that easy for him it seems, as a final cough lets his gasp for air to fill his aching lungs.
He was still alive. For now.
With the one arm he can move, he brings a shaky hand to his eyes to try to pull away some of the dirt that caked his already bloodied face. After a minute of scraping, he can make out the vague shapes and colors of the world around him. Everything seemed to be covered in grey and brown, the only vivid shade he could make out was the crimson of his own blood.
Where was he even?
He felt the cracked earth underneath him meaning he must still be in Nagoya but how had he gotten out of the building. He had no memories of fleeing - instead of rooting himself to the main floor with two arms wrapped around the thrashing kaiju.
He should have been swallowed up by the apartment building. To have his final seconds to watch the world crash around him one final time. It's not like he wanted to die but that end would have been so proper for him. So fitting of who he was. Of what he was.
"Wow, that was a close one, huh?'
The voice pulls him from his thoughts. While still on his back he leans to his left to make out a dark boot standing a few feet from his head. His gaze makes it up to a pair of baggy khaki pants when it clicks who he's looking at.
"Ambulance is on the way buddy, I think it might be best for you to stay where you are."
He makes no sign of hearing him. Opting to still lay on his back, listening to the rattle of his chest for every breath he takes.
"Pretty craft plan you came up with there! But how did you know that I'd be able to pull you out?"
The number one hero says nothing. He can hear sirens in the distance.
"And don't worry about the thing you fought either. It's dead."
He tries to nod at the words but his head feels increasingly heavy at the words. Darkness begins to outline his vision.
The rising hero sits down next to him. His costume looks like it was just pulled off the shelf, with not even a single scratch on it. The light reflects off the tinted goggles, obscuring his eyes from Enji.
"Will the world be better once this is all over, Endeavor?"
Gloved hands pick at the rocks on the ground. He can make out that the kid is missing most of his feathers, no doubt trying to find survivors in the rubble of what was left of downtown Nagoya. He doubted it would find much.
"I'd like to think so but what choice do I really have, you know? I'm optimistic to a fault."
He can taste more blood in his throat. The ambulance pulls up to the right and he takes another shaky breath. An increased pressure seems to set on his chest, he struggles to take another breath.
Faintly, he can hear the shrieking of the public who must have broken through the barriers that tried to keep them out of the area. Desperate cries for loved ones who were long dead by this point.
The hell that was Nagoya fades around him and the hero to his left looks back one last time.
"You did your best, number one."
His best?
Everything fades to black. And all is finally quiet.
~Revelations~
The incident was later referred to as the Nagoya Massacre.
Over 600 people were killed. Over a thousand were injured.
Nobody would ever forget what happened that day.
And nobody would forget what came next.
Key Player Log:
Midoriya Inko. Age 40.
Midoriya Izuku. Age ~17.
Shimura Nana Age ~17.
Shimura Yoshida. Age 43.
Shigaraki Tomura. Age ~19.
Himiko Toga. ~18.
Dabi. Age 22.
Todoroki Shoto. Age ~17.
Todoroki Rei. Age 42.
Todoroki Enji. Age 42.
Takami Keigo. Age 20.
Author Notes:
I changed my mind and decided to break up 'The Crash' into two parts for the finale of this first act. I'm going to save the rest of my notes for once that final part is up.
Thanks for reading and see you soon!