Izuku raced forward, heart threatening to explode in his chest, breath never quite leaving his throat. The League was planning something, and from the looks of things, it may be something Hero Society was totally unprepared for. Finally Tartarus came into view, the tears slowly pooling in Izuku's eyes spilling over once he caught sight of Eri. She was trembling, kneeling by the entrance with hands behind her back. Her eyes seemed permanently stained red and puffy, her eyelids heavy. By this point, the sky had clouded over, rain falling like post-nuclear debris.

"ERI!" The young hero dashed towards her, arms outstretched. "Going somewhere?" A leg caught his chest, winding him instantly and sending him reeling backwards.

Returning to his feet, Izuku's head whipped upwards to meet his attacker. Shigaraki stood tall. "You're so predictable, Midoriya." The words bounced off Izuku's psyche, unable to penetrate the mist obscuring his rationality. Gotta save Eri, gotta save Eri, gotta save Eri...

The boy rushed forward again, only to be quickly repelled by his assailant once more. "How are you-"

A cackle sliced through the question, Shigaraki's laugh catching in his throat. "So fast? So strong? Surely you didn't expect me to sit around twiddling my thumbs this whole time?" Again, his hoarse chortling made his frame convulse. "Let's just say the Doctor made some... improvements, here and there. But you? You haven't improved at all. You're as weak as ever."

"Shut up. Just give her back!"

"Very witty, Midoriya." The ashen-faced villain wildly threw his palm downwards, a thorny void snaking across the ground with alarming speed. Izuku swiftly analysed the decay's movement, propelling himself into the air just as it reached him. "Too slow!" The decay suddenly rose up, somehow continuing its path through mid-air.

"Wha-?"

The entropy came dangerously close to wrapping around Izuku's ankle were it not for a well-timed kick, the air pressure throwing him to safety. His body flipped overhead before crashing unceremoniously to the floor shoulder first, arm bending back at an unnatural angle. Shigaraki's smile grew inhumanly large, resting cheek-to-cheek. "Why did I expect better from you?" he started, sauntering over to Izuku's trembling body, "Everything wrong with this world, everything wrong with you. It all started with him. With All Might. Doesn't have to be this way, y'know." His hand extended down to the broken hero in training.

"No. I'd never join you!"

"Hm. Thought you'd say that." His smile faltered, hand retracting. Just as Izuku went to stand once more, ignoring the searing pain in his shoulder, Shigaraki's offer of peace returned to backhand his fallen enemy. Eri finally broke, yelling a shrill "STOP!"

She wilted as her kidnapper turned with a sick grin plastered on his face. "...please..." His eyes held a frenzied euphoria that chilled her very blood. "There it is."

Izuku's shock wore off, tilting his head to the sky. An odd shape hung in the air, tall and with malformed facial features. It hit All Might's protege all at once. "All For One!? It can't be!"

All the bravado and menace Shigaraki exuded until that point seemed to recede upon the utterance of his mentor's name. All For One descended from above, landing silently. "Oh, but it can, my boy. Tell me; Do you think she'll scream, Deku?"

The hero lay still, refusing to rise to provocation again.

All Might's arch-nemesis reached down to Eri, his fingers digging into her neck. Izuku flinched, but stayed for fear of the consequences. Eri's breath hitched, heartbeat slowing. Shigaraki visibly twitched, looking away and scratching feverishly at his own neck.

"Do you think she'll scream," All For One taunted, lifting Eri off of the ground, her legs kicking to keep contact, "...when I tear her limb from limb, boy?"

Viridescent eyes widened. In his old age, the infamous tyrant was unable to avoid the flying punch Izuku delivered. His grip upon Eri remained steadfast however, and a gust of pressurised wind sent his aggressor through the wall of his prior imprisonment. His clutch was released, dropping Eri harshly to the floor. "Tomura. We needn't stay any longer."

Izuku's emerald eyes saw only red as he swept the architecture off his form. "You... you won't... get away!"

"I beg to differ." Shigaraki loosely threw a piece of paper from his pocket, watching it flutter to the ground in the breeze.

A viscous, black portal appeared behind the three. Eri, nerves on the verge of breaking, could only pray Deku was lucid enough to hear her whisper, nigh-inaudible.

"I'll be ok..."

Shigaraki subconsciously reached for his neck again. "Doesn't have to be this way, Izuku."

The portal swallowed all three before being sliced in half a fraction of a second too late by the swipe of a familiar leg. Tenya landed hard, lifting the dropped page and cursing himself momentarily, before sharply turning his attention toward his once friend. "Midoriya."

Izuku cringed. I tried to keep them out of this!

Ingenium's helmet rendered his expression unreadable. He marched to the wreckage where his classmate lay, a permeable frustration present in each step. He paused, removing his helmet before offering a hand to Izuku. The boy lifted himself from the ruins, ignoring the offer for help. "I'm fine, Iida."

The class rep sighed, placing his outstretched glove upon Izuku's forehead, displaying the dried blood that stuck there. "You should have asked for help."

"I said-"

"I know what you said. You've been acting strange recently. Tell me, what's wrong?"

Izuku's hesitation spoke louder than his words possibly could've. His friend grew more impatient with each flippant assurance that he was fine.

"Deku?"

No, not now...

Ochaco tread tentatively, uncertain whether or not she really wanted to see him again. It was hard, to be ignored, to be thrown away. He abandoned us. Yet, here he was, bloodied, dazed and furious beyond recognition. Why won't he let us in?

Izuku turned slowly, uncertain whether Ochaco should see him like this. He was downright pitiable in this state. They'll finally see it. I'm worthless. I don't deserve their attention. I should just-

Ochaco's embrace snapped him back to reality. It was over as soon as it began, the ferocity in her eyes contrasting the tenderness of her touch. "Where have you been? You haven't been to class since All Might passed! It's been hard on all of us, but you, you, you..." She fought her overflowing tear ducts, the unbearable weight of her thoughts crushing her. "...you just left, without a word to any of us..."

"I..."

"You're NOT fine!"

Her outburst was the last straw. His eyes clouded over, his mind following suit. No. I'm not. He broke down, grief overcoming his drive to stay strong. She sobbed, the sight of her idol worn down and tearing himself apart too much to bear. Tenya stood impassively, his expression grim. Time passed, the three inching closer.

"We saw what you did to Mr Compress."

"Is... is he...?"

"Alive and arrested, yes, but requiring treatment. You're scaring us, Midoriya. All of us."

"You're not a burden, or whatever you're thinking, Deku. Please, just talk to us."

Deku couldn't quite vocalise everything in his mind. Most of the time, he didn't understand it himself. His classmates, his friends, shared yet another hug, coming together for the first time in a year.

And so it stayed for a while.

AN: Trauma is something I want to make sure I get right. Eri, Izuku, even Shigaraki - they're all people, and people struggle. Sorry the story so far's been such a downer, but it doesn't get a whole lot cheerier unfortunately~