Chapter 2: Limbo

Time blended into uncertainty for Izuku as his stay in the infirmary lengthened. Due to the intense medications and pain killers he was on, he was rarely awake for more than a few moments at a time before slipping back into a dreamless sleep. He figured it had to have been at least two days that had passed since his discussion with All Might due to having woken up three times since then, once in the dark, once in the light, and once more just now in the dark. Unlike the previous two times he came to consciousness, this time he was not alone in his sterile room.

Matted locks of red hair that he knew belonged to his friend Eijirou Kirishima rested on the bed next to him. He looked tired. He looked like he hadn't been caring for himself properly for a long time. Black roots begun to appear, a dark contrast to the normal red of his vibrantly died hair. His face was cradled in his crossed arms on the side of Izuku's hospital bed.

Forgetting about his restraints, Izuku tried to turn his head to get a better look at his friend. Surprisingly, his head obeyed him and turned free of obstruction. Oh, cool, I can move my head now. I guess recovery girl must have made some good progress on healing my neck. I wonder if I can talk now? That would certainly make communication easier. I had so many questions for All Might that I wished I was able to ask him. I wonder if I could figure out some sort of blink once for 'yes' blink twice for 'no' system? Nah, that's wouldn't work. Maybe I could…

Izuku's mental ramblings were cut short when Kirishima sat up suddenly staring at Izuku, arm quickly wiping water away from his eyes with a sniff.

"Midoriya, you're awake!" he said quickly but lacking the normal enthusiasm which usually permeated conversations with his friend.

Izuku, still unable to respond, simply tried to nod his head while attempting to convey some sort of smile with his eyes. Evidently, this worked as Kirishima sat back in his chair with a relaxed sigh – seeming to lose some of the worry which had captured him moments before.

"It's good to see you up, you've been out for weeks."

Weeks? What do you mean week? It's been two days? Hadn't it? All might was just in here at most 2 days ago? Izuku begun to frantically shake his head trying to convey to his friend that it was impossible for him to have been unconscious for that length of time.

"Dude, dude, stop, you're going to hurt yourself. "

Izuku froze.

"Listen." A pause followed for what seemed an eternity before the redhead continued with a sigh.

"I don't know how much you remember, or if any of the others told you. Well, actually, I guess neither of them would have been able to say anything since you were asleep every time they sat watch. But Zuku, it was bad. Really bad. I can't express how happy I am to see you awake. Dude, you were so manly out there. You…" His breath caught. "You saved us all. But bro, you had us all so worried. Recovery Girl, she… You almost died." He cried with a sob.

Died? I almost Died? But, but… How? Wait… Shigaraki got me…. HE GOT ME! How am I alive? How am I still Here? Did someone cancel out his quirk or something? Wait, didn't All Might say that Kacchan did something to save my life? But what could... Izuku was wrenched back to the conversation Kirishima was having with him before he could continue his erratic train of thoughts.

"You almost died dude," he continued, tears beginning to well at the corners of his eyes as he clutched to the bedsheets at Izuku's sides. "I'm just so happy we didn't lose you too. There's so few of…" Kirishima, losing the little self-control he was able to muster during the conversation, embraced Izuku in a hug and begun to cry, tears wetting the side of Izuku's neck as his friend sobbed into the one-sided hug.

What do you mean 'too'? Izuku's thoughts whirred at the statement. An terrible thought threatening to take over what meager sanity he was able to cling to in the moment. No, not just a terrible thought, an impossible thought. Had one of his friends died?

A beeping sound cut through Eijirou's quiet tears. Soon after Izuku felt a cold sensation in his arm. He realized that the IV he was attached to must be set to automatically deliver his pain medication. Immediately he begun to feel drowsy. No! I don't want to go do sleep. I need to find out what Kirishima by that! Izuku fought as hard as he could for as long as he could but the shakes and shudders of his crying friend receded further and further into the distance of his mind as he was once again claimed by the darkness he had come to know as his only constant companion.

The next few times he woke up, Izuku was either alone or too drugged to reach out to the individual who sat beside him before he drifted back into his dreamless sleep. Trying to piece together some semblance of his reality, Izuku made mental notes of who he saw when he woke up. Kirishima. Kirishima. All Might. Kirishima. Kacchan. All Might. Aizawa and All Might. Kacchan. Kirishima. Aizawa. Shinso. All Might. Yaoyorozu. Kacchan. Kirishima. Kacchan. Days turned into nights which turned back into days and dragged on for who knows how long. Still this cycle of visitors continued but Izuku was neither cognizant enough to attempt communication with them or his watcher was sleeping during the short time Izuku was conscious.

Izuku woke up once again surrounded by sterile white walls. The mid-day sun filtered through the white curtains which hung over the single window in his room. He was alone. He was alone as he felt. Izuku had no earthly idea how long he had been unconscious at this point. Days? Weeks? Months? It all seemed the same at this point and Izuku had resigned himself to the monotonous routine he had fallen into. Sleep, wake up, fall back to sleep. He was tired. So tired. He missed his friends, he missed his mom, heck he even missed studying for school. He just wanted his life to go back to the way things were before everything fell apart. Exhaling with an audible sigh, Izuku closed his eyes against the sunlight and waited for darkness to claim him as it always did. He remained conscious.

As the moments passed, Izuku opened his eyes again. The room looked exactly the same as it did moments before. Do… Do I get to stay awake now? Izuku pondered his newly regained consciousness until the sound of a closing door ripped him from his semi-meditative state. Instinctively his head shot forward gazing in the direction of sound to be greeted with a familiar face. A tall, extremely thin, person stood before him clad in a black suit with a red tie about his neck. A sharp contrast to the yellow hair which framed his tired face. A small smile breaking as his eyes met Izuku's

"Young Midoriya, It's so good to see you awake. How are you feeling?" All Might asked, a silent pause between them as Izuku stared back. After a moment, Izuku nodded his head up and down attempting to nonverbally say that he was doing alright.

"You can try and speak if you'd like. I know it's been a while, but the bandages around your throat have been off for some time. Recovery Girl said she was able to fully reconstruct your vocal chords. However, she did warn that you may experience some tenderness and dryness at first." Before Izuku could attempt a reply, All Might crossed the small room, dragged a wooden chair next to the bed and sat placing one of his hands on Izuku's. "Midoriya. Are you doing ok?"

"A-All M-M". Coughing issued cutting off the horse reply. As his fit subsided, All Might handed him a glass of water.

"Drink this, it will help with your throat. Recovery Girl medicated it."

"Don't…. Want…. Sleep…" Izuku said slowly, carefully enunciating each word so as not to throw himself back into a fit of coughing.

"This won't make you sleep. It has a numbing agent in it to help your throat. Here.." All Might picked up a straw from a box on the end table and placed it in the glass. "Try and drink through this. Make sure to place it at the back of your throat so you don't numb your tongue too much."

Izuku followed his directions and immediately felt cool relief wash down his throat, the scratching, itching pain which had resulted from his coughing fit faded away numbed by the liquid.

"All Might" Izuku said again softly. "Is everyone ok?"

"Everyone is being cared for to the best of our ability" All Might's eyes shifted down towards his hands.

"Where are they?"

"Young Bakugo just finished his shift and is getting some rest. It seems you finally woke up between when he left and I arrived."

"His shift?" Izuku's gaze met All Might's again, his head tilting to the side.

"Yes. We… We were… worried. You had to go through several serious surgeries so we thought it best to keep someone nearby as you recovered. We've been trading off every four hours or so."

"How many surgeries did I have?" Izuku's free hand clutched at his throat feeling for abnormalities in the skin.

"You had thirteen." All Might said gravely. "You had to be kept sedated after we spoke last because you kept activating your quirk in your sleep. We were worried you were going to accidentally cause damage to yourself otherwise. I'm sorry Izuku. I'm so sorry you had to go through all of this." All Might shook his head gaze returning to his hands as they slowly wrung together on his lap.

"Shigaraki? Is he…" Izuku trailed off, not sure what exactly to ask.

"Dead?" his teacher finished the forming question straightening his form, hands stopping their repetition. "We talked about this last time but I suppose your memory is a little spotty due to the medication. But yes. He's dead."

Izuku released a breath he didn't know he had been holding, tears welling in his eyes.

"It's over. It's finally over." A pregnant pause hung in the air between them, each seemingly waiting for the other to speak next. After several moments Izuku broke the silence.

"How did he die?"

"You… You don't remember?" All Might tightened his grip on Izuku's hand.

"N-no? I… I… wait, was I there?" Izuku asked quickly.

"W-what is the last thing you remember Izuku?"

"I… I was with Ochaco, Ida, and Kirishima as we waited for the signal to enter Shigaraki's compound… We... We entered the building and met up with Kacchan's group as planned. I remember we didn't meet any villains as we made our way towards Shigaraki. Kacchan and I figured something was wrong. I… I thought it might be a trap. It had to be. W-when we got to Shigaraki… There…. He…. There were so many." Izuku's voice caught as he began to cry, the fear and terror he felt in that moment washing over him like an acid which cut to his very core.

"Yes…" All Might shifted in his chair. "I had never even considered for a moment that All For One would have taken the quirks of his subordinates for his own. Looking back in retrospect it makes complete since. But… But until we had captured doctor Ujiko I didn't even know it was possible for All For One to give back an individual a copy of a quirk he had taken. Bubaigawara's quirk was… devastating under the command of Shigaraki." Tears trickled down the sides of All Might's cheeks as he clutched tighter to Izuku's hand. "What else do you remember?"

"I… I remember Shigaraki causing the building to collapse. I-I got separated. But… it's all hazy after that. I t-think I have bits and pieces b-but I c-can't r-remember. W-why c-can't I r-remember?" He stuttered and hiccupped as he began to cry, anger and confusion clouding his mind as he tried to force himself to remember the events which lead to his injuries.

"Midoriya, it's ok, Please." All Might release his hand and placed it on Izuku's shoulder gripping it reassuringly. "It's ok that you don't remember. It's ok. We'll all help you fill in the blanks. But for now I need you to try and be strong like I know you are." All Might stared into Izuku's eyes who stifled his final sob with a whimper.

"O-ok. I c-can do that." A warm smile crept across his hero's face as he released his hold on Izuku's shoulder with a squeeze.

"I… I know you have a lot of questions. And I want to give you the answers. But, you're still in a fragile state after your surgeries. I think it's best for you if you get some rest."

Izuku nodded his head slowly at his teacher, sucking back in his runny nose with a sniff.

"Good lad. Is it ok if I give you something to sleep? Or would you prefer to try and sleep on your own?" Izuku sat silently pondering the question. A rising fear of his potential dreams welled within him.

"P-please give me something. I d-don't think I'd be able to fall asleep on my own right now." Nodding his head, his teacher reached up and pressed a button on the side of his bed. A familiar beeping sound caught his attention as a cooling sensation radiated from his arm. Izuku sighed and begun nodding off quickly.

"Get some rest young Midoriya. I promise we'll clear everything up for you soon."

"Ok All Migh…" Izuku trailed off embracing the familiar blackness.

NO! I was so close to leaving this Fucking Tutorial. God Damnit!