Izuku heaved in panicked breaths as he stumbled into his apartment, the feeling of despair and impotent rage burning in his chest as he staggered to the kitchen and began tearing apart drawers and cupboards.
He thought he was past it all, past the grief and rage that characterized his childhood. Back then there was only one person that made life livable, but she's been dead and gone for a long time now. Not even a visit to her grave would pull out the figurative knife that was slowly twisting its way into his heart.
Finally finding what he was searching so desperately for, Izuku uncorked the large bottle of vodka and began chugging the clear liquid down in large gulps.
The burning sensation in his throat was good, it distracted him from contemplating what he might do next. He didn't want to think at all, he just wanted the heartache to go away. Damn the consequences.
Somehow finishing the entire bottle of vodka in one quick sitting, Izuku carelessly dropped the now empty glass container to the floor and let the darkness take him.
For a while Izuku's consciousness floated through the calming darkness. No troubles or worries to ponder, just the comforting blackness that whispered seductively about leaving all his troubles behind and floating off into oblivion.
However, the darkness was soon replaced by the familiar blur of memories that made him feel sick to his stomach.
He hated this part. Where his mind decided to force him to relive all the traumatic memories he had collected over his life.
A woman screaming in agony as she tried to free herself from the blazing inferno consuming her car.
A former comrade hanging from the end of a noose tied to the barracks ceiling.
A man in a biohazard suit bleeding from his mouth and eyes as a gasmask lay just barely out of reach.
A teenage boy holding back tears as he watched a military honor guard lower the casket containing his father into the ground.
If Izuku could have he would have screamed for it all to stop, to just end his suffering and let him sleep forever.
But his wish was never granted, and this time was no exception.
Waking up with a jolt, Izuku gasped for air as he struggled to sit up. Moments later the smell of rotting food and garbage filled his nose, and as he looked around he realized he was laying in a pile of trash behind a dumpster. Crawling out of the small mountain of garbage, Izuku tried to ignore the pounding headache behind his eyes as he took in his surroundings.
He was in a dirty and damp alley, probably somewhere in the city based on the sound of traffic emanating from the other end of the alley. Looking up, the troubled man was surprised to see daylight peeking through the gap between buildings.
A small rational part of his brain was screaming at him to take the situation seriously, but honestly Izuku could not give a single fuck that he had apparently gotten blackout drunk and ended up in a dirty alley like some alcoholic bum. If anything, a more cynical part of him was disappointed that he woke up at all. At least in the black oblivion he did not have to worry about anything.
Sure the PTSD-inducing flashbacks were not that fun to experience, but at least they were things he had seen before.
Slowly getting to his feet, Izuku looked down at his now filthy suit and patted his pockets. Surprisingly his wallet was still present, but it seemed that this time his phone was missing.
Shrugging uncaringly, Izuku leaned against the alley wall and contemplated his next move.
If only his mom could see him now. An alcoholic veteran with the emotional stability of a seesaw in an earthquake.
"God I am such a fuckup." He thought to himself as he picked an empty ketchup packet out of his short and curly hair.
A few feet away, a rusty metal door creaked open and out of the corner of his eye Izuku saw someone step out into the alley and freeze.
Holding up a hand in a pathetic attempt to calm the stranger, Izuku managed to croak out some words as he dusted himself off.
"Sorry, rough night."
Not expecting any sympathy from a random stranger, Izuku began to walk away but he was suddenly stopped by someone grabbing his arm.
"Holy shit it really is you!" A vaguely familiar voice said.
Looking back with bloodshot eyes, Izuku groaned as he saw the concerned visage of Cassandra staring back at him.
Just his luck, he managed to wake up from his pile of trash just in time to be seen by the young woman he had briefly conversed with at the highrise restaurant.
Shaking off Cassandra's grip, Izuku tried to walk away only to fall flat on his face as he tripped over his own feet.
Laying facedown in a dirty puddle, Izuku heard a soft but irritated sigh.
"Well hello to you too." Cassandra said. "You look like hammered shit, but I assume you already know that."
Briefly wondering if he could drown himself in the small amount of brown water under him, Izuku grunted and shrugged.
"Sorry but I am not in the best shape to hold a conversation." He said honestly. "Plus I doubt you want to talk with a fuckup like me."
Izuku was surprised however, when Cassandra grabbed his arm with a strong grip and pulled him to his feet. She then guided him over to a small concrete doorstep and made him sit down as she chuckled in amusement.
"Hey man don't be so hard on yourself." She said in English as she leaned against the opposite alley wall and smiled at him. "I know it may not look like it, but I have been in your current situation more than a few times myself."
Frowning suspiciously, Izuku forced his eyes to focus on the American woman speaking to him.
Unlike their previous meeting, Cassandra seemed to be dressed in a business casual outfit of a black skirt and beige blouse, her crimson red hair tied into a ponytail as her blue skin seemed to almost glow in the shadows of the alley. Hanging from an arm was a small pink purse from some high-end designer brand.
It took his hungover brain a few seconds to think up some words, but finally Izuku grunted disbelievingly. "I kinda find it hard to believe you. You seem like someone who can actually cope with things in a healthy way."
Cassandra snorted in amusement as she reached into her purse and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. "Okay then, if you tell me how you woke up in an alley I will tell you how I can relate."
For a few moments Izuku pondered Cassandra's offer. Honestly he did not really have much to gain by refusing her offer. Plus it's not like his day could get any worse.
"Okay, fine." Izuku grumbled. "A...coworker of mine found out I was quirkless. Well more like she pissed me off so much that I nearly ended up punching her in the face as I screamed at her like some kind of maniac."
With a lit cigarette now in her hand, Cassandra arched an eyebrow in surprise as she blew out a cloud of smoke. "It sounds like you really did not want her to know that. So why tell me?"
Izuku shrugged. "Because I barely know you. It's easier to be honest with someone if you know you might never see them again."
Nodding slightly, Cassandra took a long drag from her cigarette before answering. "That makes sense I guess. I am guessing there is a lot more to the situation than what you are telling me, but when is anything in life easy to explain?"
Tapping some ash from her cigarette Cassandra cleared her throat before speaking again. "Okay my turn. I may look normal now, but I used to be all kinds of fucked up. My mom left my dad and my big brother when I was a little kid. I don't know why, but all I know is that it made my dad abusive as hell. He would beat the shit out of me and my brother and there was nothing we could do about it. See he was a cop, so even when my brother tried to tell someone about what he did to us the old bastard just covered it up. Eventually my brother started abusing me as well. He never said why, but it was probably because he felt helpless like I did and took it out on me. So as soon as I was old enough I ran away from home and never looked back. I fell in with a bunch of junkies and got strung out on pretty much every drug you could think of. Long story short, I ended up in a rehab facility after a really bad overdose. From there...well I know it sounds cheesy, but I met someone who helped me turn my life around. So I changed my name and started over."
Izuku nodded glumly as he listened to Cassandra's story. "I'm sorry that happened to you. I am pathetic for acting like this aren't I?"
Huffing in annoyance, Cassandra sat down next to Izuku and flicked the burning stub of cigarette into a puddle. "Hey man, I was not trying to win some sort of fucked up competition between us. What I am trying to say is that everyone is different. You are not pathetic, you are just in a bad spot and you haven't found that someone that will help you out of it."
Izuku stared at the ground and nodded. He wanted to believe Cassandra's words, he really did. But there was no light at the end of his tunnel. He was just stumbling through the darkness, waiting for that eventual moment where he would fall and not get back up.
Before he could stop himself, a choked sob crept past Izuku's lips. Burying his face in his hands, Izuku sobbed silently as he curled up into a ball and wished he could just crawl into a hole and die.
However, before he could try to apologize for his show of emotion Izuku felt a warm arm wrap itself around his shoulders as a hand gently stroked his hair.
"Just let it all out." Cassandra said softly as she comforted the tormented man.
Izuku could only cry even harder. He did not deserve such kindness from a stranger. Not after all the things he had done over his life. The lives he had taken, the people he had hurt, the countless number of people he had wished pain upon. It was all just too much for him to bear.
After what felt like an eternity of sobbing, the river of tears stopped and Izuku slowly raised his head up.
"Sorry…" He croaked as he refused to look Cassandra in the eye.
Izuku could hear the smile in Cassandra's voice as she patted his shoulder. "Don't be sorry man. You have had a rough time. I am just glad I found you when I did. I don't want to think about what you would have done if you were all alone."
Cassandra then stood up and forcefully pulled Izuku to his feet, forcing him to look at her as she smiled warmly.
"You will be okay." She said. "Do you need me to call you a cab or anything?"
Izuku silently shook his head, not wanting to trouble the kind woman any more than he already had.
Cassandra sighed and rolled her eyes, reaching into her purse and pulling out a tiny notebook and a pen. "Fine, but I am not gonna let you leave like this."
She quickly scribbled down her number onto a blank page then ripped it out and shoved it into Izuku's pocket. "I want you to let me know when you get home safely. If you don't I am gonna call the police and say I am your sister or something. Got it buster?"
Feeling the piece of paper in his pocket, Izuku looked up to say something but was stopped by Cassandra's finger on his lips.
"Before you say anything." She said with a knowing smirk on her face. "No I am not flirting with you. I am just giving you a little push to get you started. You are going to need to find that special someone on your own." Turning around, Cassandra walked over to the door she had emerged from and then looked at Izuku over her shoulder. "Plus I only like girls."
With a cheeky grin, Cassandra waved goodbye before disappearing from sight.
Rumi chewed her fingernails anxiously as she paced around her apartment. Dressed in black sweatpants and a plain t-shirt, Rumi looked like she had barely had any sleep as there were noticeable bags under her eyes. It had been a few days since Midoriya's apocalyptic mental breakdown and nobody had seen or heard from the quirkless man since.
Rumi cursed to herself as she tried to call Midoriya's phone for what felt like the hundredth time, only to once again be immediately answered by the automated voicemail service. The morning after Midoriya's disappearance, Rumi had gone to the building where he worked and gotten hold of Midoriya's supervisor. There was no way in hell she was going to advertise her partner's problems to the world, so she had made up a story that Midoriya had gotten food poisoning and that she wanted to make sure he was doing alright at home. The portly man she had talked to seemed nice enough, and after some smalltalk had provided Rumi with Midoriya's address and apartment number.
Rumi had then immediately gone to Midoriya's apartment, only to find it vacant with an empty bottle of vodka laying on the kitchen floor. Fearing the worst but unsure of what she should do, Rumi had called the only person she could trust.
After quickly explaining what had happened to Miss Sasaki, Rumi had spent the rest of the day combing the city looking for her partner. Meanwhile her agent began discreetly questioning other hero agents for any possible leads concerning Midoriya's whereabouts.
It had now been three days since that traumatic night, and Rumi had barely slept at all because of her worry. Not to mention the overwhelming guilt and embarrassment that constantly hung over her head like a black cloud that sucked any positive energy right out of her.
Rumi was roused from her thoughts by her phone ringing, and for a second her heart skipped a beat thinking it was Midoriya finally calling her back. Looking at the caller ID, Rumi's heart sank when she saw that it was just Miss Sasaki.
"Any sign of him?" Rumi immediately asked as she answered the call.
There was a heavy sigh before Miss Sasaki responded. "I am sorry Rumi, but everyone I talked to has not heard or seen anything. Midoriya apparently is a very private person, and nobody knows what he does outside of work."
Rumi's ears drooped as she rubbed the bridge of her nose and sighed sadly. "I see, thanks for trying anyways."
"Rumi, all we can do is wait." Miss Sasaki said sagely. "I know it goes against your nature to not be doing something, but right now our best option is to wait and hope he turns up somewhere."
Rumi felt like a knife was being twisted into her gut as she listened to her agent. The way the older woman was talking, Rumi could only imagine worst case scenarios where they only found Midoriya after it was too late.
Not bothering to say anything else, Rumi ended the call and sat down heavily on her couch. The plush couch was still facing the large penthouse windows, and Rumi could not muster up the strength to move it back to its original spot. Plus, it felt like if she moved the couch back then she was giving up on Midoriya, and there was no way in hell she was going to do that.
Why was it that she always seemed to do the wrong thing with Midoriya?
For once in her life she wanted to actually get close to someone, but it was like every time their relationship took a step forward she did something that made it take two steps back.
As Rumi wallowed in her despair, she was broken out of her brooding by the sound of her doorbell ringing.
Leaping up from the couch with hopeful excitement, Rumi sprinted over to her apartment door and flung it open with a relieved smile on her face.
However, it was not Midoriya who greeted her.
"Aww, expecting someone else?" Oscar said mockingly as he grinned toothily.
Rumi's smile was immediately replaced by an angry scowl, and it took all of her self control not to immediately punch the slimy bastard.
"The fuck do you want creep?" Rumi growled as she slightly closed her door so that Oscar could not barge his way in.
With his trademark shit-eating grin on his face, Oscar chuckled in amusement. "Actually, I have an offer for you. A little bird told me that you lost your boy toy, and I happen to know where he is."
Rumi's scowl only deepened as she regarded Oscar with undisguised disgust. "You fucking slimeball, only a heartless bastard would toy with someone like this."
Shrugging uncaringly, Oscar sighed like a disappointed teacher. "Oh how you wound me Miss Miruko, if I actually cared what you think about me I might shed a tear."
Making a show of looking at his wristwatch, Oscar smiled evilly. "As much as I would like to toy with you some more, I have places to be. This is a time sensitive offer and I would hate to leave without hearing your answer."
Rumi glared at the American man in front of her and weighed her options. As much as she wanted to spit in Oscar's face and tell him to get stuffed, her concern for Midoriya's wellbeing made her seriously consider the offer being presented to her.
After a few seconds of silence, Rumi growled in annoyance and nodded. "Fine! So what do you want from me? Money? Info?"
Oscar smiled in such an evil way that it made a chill run down Rumi's spine.
Just what had she gotten herself into?
"Oh nothing as boring as that." Oscar said cheerily. "You will just owe me a favor. Sometime in the future I will call it in and you will have to run an errand for me. All I want is your promise to uphold this favor, and we can be on our way to rescue your poor little Mido."
The unsettling caucasian man then held out his hand for Rumi to shake.
Looking at Oscar's hand like it was a venomous snake, Rumi slowly reached out and gave it a single shake.
Seemingly satisfied, Oscar nodded happily. "Good." Reaching into his suit pocket, Oscar pulled out a neatly folded piece of paper and offerded it to Rumi.
"You will find Midoriya at this address." He said. "Better hurry though, who knows what the poor guy might do. It would be pretty ironic if you found him right after he blew his brains out."
Suppressing a snarl, Rumi snatched the piece of paper out of Oscar's hand and slammed her door in his face.
Rushing to her bedroom, Rumi threw off her clothes and quickly changed into her hero outfit. There was no time to wait around for a cab or some other form of transportation, she was just going to run all the way there and hope she made it in time.
With the address pulled up on her phone map, Rumi flew out of her room and out of her front door. Luckily Oscar had vanished like a ghost, and Rumi did not want to stop and try to figure out how the creep got around so quickly.
Bursting out of the lobby of her building, Rumi dodged a starstruck group of teenagers and began sprinting towards her destination. With every step Rumi could feel her blood flowing through her veins, and as she ran it felt like her heart was burning like a nuclear reactor.
Faster and faster she went, her mind focused solely on getting to her partner as fast as possible. It felt like liquid fire was running through her veins, and Rumi barely noticed she was reaching inhuman levels of speed. Coming up on a crowded intersection, Rumi's razor sharp instincts quickly calculated the path of both traffic and pedestrians and came to a single conclusion.
Trusting her instincts, Rumi planted her feet and jumped up with as much strength as she could muster.
Like a phoenix rising from the ashes in a fiery display of rebirth, Rumi flew upwards and cleared the intersection in one mighty leap.
Flying through the air like she had never lost her quirk at all, Rumi could not help but let out a victorious whoop of delight.
Miruko was back bitches!
Bounding through the city streets to the delight of bystanders, Rumi could only focus on one thing, getting to Midoriya as fast as possible.
Pushing her newly regained power to the limit, Rumi reached her destination in record time. It was a simple motel that blended in with its urban surroundings perfectly, an ideal place for someone trying to hide in plain sight.
Finding the room number written on the piece of paper, Rumi abandoned all discretion and kicked the cheap motel room door down with a single mighty kick. Rushing inside, Rumi's adrenaline-boosted brain took in her surroundings in an instant.
A bedraggled and shirtless Midoriya wearing a pair of cheap nylon shorts was in the process of falling out of the single bed in the room, and a small flatscreen tv was displaying the local news broadcast as empty beer bottles littered the night stand.
Relief flooding through her, Rumi tackled her bewildered partner into a backbreaking hug as she spewed forth a rapid stream of apologies.
"imsosorryMidoriyaInevermeanttobelikethatIjustwascuriousandwantedtoknowwhatyourquirkwasI'msosorrypleasedonthateme!"
Finally realizing that Midoriya was gasping for breath and frantically tapping her arm, Rumi let go and flinched back as she tried to apologize even more.
"Shit! I'm sorry Midoriya! I was just so worried about you I thought you might be dead or something!" She exclaimed loudly.
Finally calming down enough to examine her partner for any damage, Rumi felt a sharp pain stab through her heart as she saw the state of her green-haired partner.
The man honestly looked like shit. He had heavy bags under his eyes and his normally well-kept hair was a total mess. The short beginnings of a beard ran across his chin and jaw while his eyes were bloodshot and unfocused.
"M-miruko?" Midoriya said in confusion as he leaned against the nearby wall. "W-what?..How...how did you find me?"
"Not important." Rumi stated as she hesitantly stepped forward and began checking her partner for any injuries. "Are you okay? Did you hurt yourself at all?"
Shaking his head slowly, Midoriya squinted as bright sunlight flooded the room through the now doorless doorway. "No...I just...needed to think for a little bit."
Satisfied that her partner was unharmed, Rumi stepped back and worriedly wrung her hands together as she stared at the floor in shame.
"Im so fucking sorry Midoriya. I am such a fucking dumbass and I dont blame you for...for yelling at me like that." She said remorsefully. "I just get stupid ideas in my head and I dont know when to stop and…" She paused and peeked up at her partner who had been silent, only to see him staring at the broken door with a defeated look on his face.
"So you got your quirk back…" He said softly.
Rumi flinched, unsure of how to respond. It was like fate was playing a cruel prank on her, giving her back her powers just in time to make Midoriya feel even worse.
"W-well it sorta just happened a little bit ago." She said truthfully. "I know the timing is really shitty, but I am being honest when I say that I am just happy to have found you in time before you did anything...permanent."
Letting out a heavy sigh filled with hopelessness, Midoriya sat down on the lone bed and reached over to grab a bottle of beer from the mostly empty case sitting next to the bed. "Sorry to disappoint you. Looks like I couldn't even muster up the courage to off myself like everyone wanted. It's not like there would be any difference if I was gone anyways."
"Don't you dare fucking talk like that!" Rumi hissed as she felt her heart break looking at the broken man in front of her. "You might not believe it but there are so many people who look up to you! Me included! If anything, being quirkless makes you even more amazing!"
Izuku rolled his eyes as he popped the cap off his beer bottle and took a long gulp. "Yeah right, people only respect me because I make it a point to hide the fact that I am quirkless. You of all people know how quirks determine someone's life. Would All-Might still be a worldwide icon if he was quirkless? No, he would just be some poor fuck who had stupid dreams of being a hero, only to get turned into paste by the first powered-up thug he met."
Rumi wanted to scream in frustration as she listened to the cynical and depressed thoughts coming from the person who had changed her life. It wasn't fair! Why did fate decide to screw over one of the few honestly good people she had ever met?
"Midoriya please." She said softly as she inched closer to him. "You just need to get out of this shitty mental place you are in. Stop drinking and come back with me. You can rest up and we can talk this out later when you aren't drunk."
Rumi froze when her eyes met Midoriya's, seeing such self-hatred and loathing in them that she just wanted to hug him tight and take all of his burdens away even for a moment.
"What's the fucking point?" Midoriya growled as he gulped down his beer. "I have been fighting my whole life to prove to myself that I can be strong without a quirk, yet even a third rate villain could kill me if they really wanted to. Im fucking tired of trying so hard. Just leave me alone and go be a hero like you are supposed to."
Rumi clenched her fists and resisted the urge to pull out her hair in frustration.
Fine, if he was going to be like that then she would just have to do things the hard way.
Stomping over, Rumi slapped the almost empty beer out of her partner's hand and slung him over her shoulder.
"What the fuck are you doing!" Midoriya yelled angrily. "Put me down and leave me alone!"
"Not happening." Rumi said angrily. "I am not going to give up on you like everyone else has."
As Midoriya continued to rant and rage, Rumi easily carried him out of the motel room and into the bright sunlight. Making sure that she had a good grip on the shirtless man, Rumi took a mighty leap back towards her apartment, determined to help her partner go back to being the badass he used to be.