Those two weeks before he returned to school... dragged by so slowly it was almost torturous. Izuku just laid around, being lazy and ate more than he should have in a long while. Inko managed to drag him out a few times to meet with All Might but Izuku wasn't there while his favorite hero talked away. There was nothing he was interested in or even cared about.

He wondered what Tomura was doing.

Izuku had guessed he went back home to the league to enjoy his freedom once more. How could he not? He's an adult again, can go out and protect himself... he probably even had his own quirk back too. Izuku should be happy for him but he felt crappy. He lost a friend. An unlikely friend but it didn't matter to him how it happened.

Tomorrow morning he would have to face everyone. He had to pretend the last few weeks of his life didn't happen. That he wasn't almost murdered by Overhaul. That he would almost sacrifice himself for a villain or the fact one of the most feared villains in Japan saved him. Now... it was obvious that Overhaul was out to get him and that wasn't exactly thrilling for him.

I don't want to go to school tomorrow. I don't wanna deal with anyone.

He threw the remote to the other side of the couch. It hit the empty cushion and it only hurt him more because no one was cussing at him for throwing the remote on him.

God... This is terrible. I'm a terrible person.

Izuku sighed for the hundredth time that day.

I am truly a crappy person... don't deserve to be a hero. I couldn't save someone who truly needed to be saved. I know I can't be everywhere but at least saving him would save a lot more people.

Izuku stood up and looked around. There was nothing to look for. No one to greet. No one to smile at. No one to tease or make fun of playfully.

What do I do now? Should I ask All Might for advice?

X

X

Tomura paced his room, kicking some empty pop cans out of the way. How did his life come to this? He had asked himself that for the last month and now it hurt to think why. Why why why? The night he came back, he stood outside in the rain two days after leaving the Midoriya's home. He just couldn't bring himself to go back to the League after he left there.

He no longer felt like this place was home.

He no longer felt wanted.

He no longer felt welcomed there.

This is so stupid. This isn't hard. Just go back to the way you were. It was easier that way. So much easier.

Inko flashed through his mind. The look on her face... how disappointed she was.

She has no idea who she's messing with. She doesn't know.

Maybe she did. She looked confident enough. She would the type of mother who would give her life for her child.

Dumb. Fucking dumb. There's no way out.

The music that played when his sensei video called him sounded through his room making him jump. He slammed the answer button.

"So, what has you in a bad mood Tomura?"

"Nothing."

"Doesn't seem like that to me."

The villain shot the screen a dirty look and All for One smirked.

"Did you get one of those women pregnant by any chance?"

Tomura stopped and stared at the wall.

"I don't know."

"Well, as long as they never know it's you... You won't have to worry unless you want your progeny."

"I'll worry about it later. I have things to think about."

"As always."

Tomura hit the end call button.

I can't do anything.

X

X

Izuku wandered through UA's halls like a zombie. It had Shouto, Ochako and Iida asking him a million times if he was ok and he was getting annoyed very quickly. He had such a close connection to Shouto but it wasn't like that with Tomura. There was something else there. It was like they were like brothers.

In the last class of the day was with Aizawa but he couldn't even stay awake for it. It would be worth getting an eraser thrown at his head. He just wanted some time without thoughts going through his head. Now was on of those times he hated himself for the fact he could think more and better than anyone else. Now it was a curse.

Izuku had no idea what time it was but he jumped when someone shook him awake. He looked around wildly until he realized his tired looking teacher was staring down at him. He wiped his face and tried to smooth down his wild looking hair but it wouldn't work anyways. He couldn't even think of an excuse but nothing came to mind.

"Um, sorry..."

"You're going through something. All Might kept crying about how you've been so distant lately. You want to explain."

The young hero looked out the window before taking in a deep breath.

"I can't save everyone."

Aizawa looked mildly surprised by his statement. He hadn't expected something so dark to come from the brightest damn thing in his classroom.

"What brought this up?"

"Time to myself."

"Hm."

Izuku went to stand up but the pro hero shoved him back down. The boy stared at his teacher until sat down in the seat in front of him.

"I had those thoughts once."

"You... you did?"

"I did. I was about twenty when I came across a woman getting ready to kill herself. I tried to talk her down. She was a villain... She had children. She wasn't really a villain though. She was forced into it but her own depression won. No matter what I said she shook her head. She had made up her mind."

The young boy watched as sadness overcame his teacher's face.

"That night, she ruined her children's lives. I always thought it was selfish of her. If I could've saved her life or stopped her, I would've saved those kids. They went down very bad paths... Two are recovering from bad choices, one dead and the other unaccounted for."

"I'm sorry..."

"It's fine."

Some silence fell between them for a short bit.

"She slipped through the cracks. I was told not to worry too much about it but it did bother me. No one managed to save her. Every time she went out and was forced to do horrible things, it was one more strike to her brain. To her sanity. To her soul. It was enough that her children didn't matter anymore. She wasn't selfish. She was strong too long and became weak because no one was there. She was just tired."

Izuku looked down at his desk.

"Some days we can save those... those people who could affect millions then there are days when we fail and we fail the millions. We can't do anything about it anymore than we can. We are only human."

The boy's lips quivered like he was going to cry. Aizawa felt his poor, tired heart was going to break in two.

"Th-that's not the answer I want. I-I won't accept anything less than the best-

"Midoriya."

The hero placed a hand on his shoulder.

"If you need to cry you can... I know it's hard. Maybe one day you can figure out how to reach to those who need help. That's exactly why I do undercover work. I can save those who no longer had hope. They disappeared from the sunlight into the darkness. It's not pretty there. It's not for everyone but I can tell you that if you want to go that route, I can help you."

Izuku looked thoughtful.

"Um, I would like time to think about it... Thank you."

Aizawa gave him a small smile and got up. Izuku smiled as he looked out the window before collecting his things and heading to his dorm room.

X

X

Days turned weeks into a few months. Izuku didn't think too much about Tomura but once in a while a show or commercial or even something on the internet would remind him of the decay using villain. His mother didn't even make chocolate chip pancakes. Inko looked sad when she looked at the pancake box too. The villain had affected them so much...

It was painful.

Izuku would only have two more years in UA after next month. He couldn't wait. He could start his extra work with Aizawa. All Might loved the idea of Izuku wanting to do more and surpass him. It's what he wanted- for him to be better than him. The fact the pro hero was so happy about it, encouraged Izuku further and he was so excited to tell his mother.

She didn't like it because of the ugly truth behind it all but she knew why.

Tomura Shigaraki.

Izuku returned home on a Wednesday afternoon and found his mom wasn't home. She had to work again. Inko had gotten a better paying job and she was enjoying the overtime she was getting. They had went out and had a shopping spree at the mall just a week ago. It was really nice since his dad wasn't really helping with bills much.

He kicked off his red shoes by the door and headed into the kitchen for a snack. He went back to eating healthy once he managed to get out of the funk that plagued him since his encounter with Overhaul. He hadn't heard of anything about the villain on the news or anything that sounded like he did it. That was good at least.

After a while, he dozed off writing in his notebook before waking up around six to see his mother wasn't home still but she left him a few texts messages. She wouldn't be home until midnight. He only shook his head. He got up and stretched knocking everything onto the floor. He rubbed his eyes headed for the bathroom.

Izuku stopped by his room on the way back down the hall to see the door was open. He was sure he left it closed when he got home from UA.

Am I losing it?

He pushed the door open and the door knob hit the wall. No one was in his room.

Maybe I am. It's been a long day.

Just as he was going to shut the door, he stopped and looked back. There was something white on his bed.

Now I know that wasn't there and Mom doesn't leave letters on my bed.

He looked behind the door.

No one.

Izuku grabbed the letter off his bed seeing the front of the envelope was blank. He flipped it over and ripped it open. His heart was pounding in his chest now. There was no way Overhaul knew where he was...

Just look at it.

He pulled it out and opened the white paper. His eyes widened in surprise.

Dumbass,

When it's time, I'll come back.

Tell Mom, I'm sorry.

When it's all over, we can watch the Teen Titans Movie. I found it on DVD.

Cost a lot more than I care to admit.

Don't worry about stupid ass. I took care of him a month ago.

Until then...

-T

Izuku smiled as tears welled up in his eyes.

He's still a jackass.

Izuku put the letter in his desk and headed for the living room. He ordered pizza and popped in the Teen Titans first season. It was bitter sweet... but he could wait...

for when it was time.

This was kind of emotional for me. In the manga, I really hope there's a real chance he can he saved but I'm sure it's gonna be shit storm or it won't happen at all. I guess we'll see.

There won't be a sequel to this... so I'm sorry for that. I hope you enjoyed this short story of friendship. I love you guys !