Midoriya was swimming in a lake of inky blackness, tendrils of shadows trying to drag him deeper into the abyss. The voices, the voices, the voices are screaming at him.
"Join us!"
"Reap and sow!"
"YOU DID THIS!"
Suddenly things went white. He was in a graveyard now, but not one of those creepy ones from horror movies. This graveyard was clean, the grass was green, evenly cut, and smooth, like a golf field. Each tombstone was freshly polished quartz, each having a name. Midoriya didn't recognize any of them. However, he instinctively knew what each one represented. Each tombstone represented a soul that he reaped. He felt sick.
"You're not supposed to be here… it's too early." Midoriya turned rapidly. There stood a middle-aged woman. She was wearing a costume, a dark, sleeveless bodysuit with a high collar, yellow elbow-length gloves, and white knee-high boots. Around her waist was a belt with an angular golden buckle, a small cape attached around the back which hung down to her knees, and over her shoulders was a longer cape, buttoned to the shoulders of her bodysuit. She didn't look like any hero he recognized, but he felt a connection to her. Like he knew her from somewhere. She had black hair in the same haircut as his mother. She was slender, beautiful. She reminded him of Momo. She had sharp gray eyes and a mole on her chin. He shook. Shigaraki had a mole in the same spot. Shigaraki. Shigaraki.
D.
D.
R e A p!
"Izuku!" Midoriya snapped to attention, breathing heavily, shaking. He looked back at the woman, who smiled sadly. She wrapped him in a hug. Midoriya froze. It… it feels like when his Mom hugs him. Warm, safe. It feels like… peace. He felt the cold numbness on the back of his neck and mind slowly ease away, which he now recognized as his quirk trying to act up.
"Toshi chose well. Come with me, your arrival is earlier than we anticipated, but it's likely due to your quirk, or whatever it is." She released him from the embrace and stepped back, gesturing him to follow before walking deeper into the graveyard. Midoriya hesitated for an instant before following.
"Um… who are you?" the woman merely glanced back and smiled.
"In due time… god I've wanted to say that for so long." She mumbled, giggling slightly. Midoriya face faulted.
"Is she trying to be mysterious or something?" Midoriya thought. The two of them came upon a massive tomb, marble steps leading underground. As they traveled downwards, torches lit up, blue flames glowing ominously. Midoriya gulped. They made it to the bottom of the stairs, and low and behold there were 8 other people all sitting around a table. The woman sat down at the head of the table and smiled at him. Midoriya couldn't make out the features of four of them, they seemed to be shrouded in a shadowy mist, all he could see was their souls. Each one was a vibrant and deep color. Red, green, blue, purple, yellow, yellow, orange. Midoriya recognized one. It was All Might. He swallowed. Did… did he accidentally rip out All Might's soul? Oh god, what if he did? What if All Might is dead because of him and his stupid quirk, what would he do, oh god he killed all those villains they're all dead because of him heroes don't kill people he's no hero he's not worth anything why is he even here-
"Midoriya." He snapped out of his thoughts, tears dripping down his face. The four people he could see were frowning at him, but not out of disappointment, but empathy. "Take a seat." As if the words summoned it, though it probably did, a seat appeared right across from the woman who brought him here. The one who told him to sit was a lean man with short, white hair that parts away from the base of his forehead, and thin eyes that slant slightly downward. He had two scar-like cracks stretching from the left side of his forehead down to his chin. He smiled at him. The woman stood up and bowed.
"Izuku Midoriya, the 9th user of One for All, allow me to introduce us. We are the previous holders of One for All. My name is Nana Shimura. I was the 7th user." She smiled brightly at him before sitting down. Midoriya sputtered.
"W-what? How is that possible… Am I dead? I'm dead, aren't I?" Midoriya panicked. One of the people started to laugh boisterously at his reaction.
"No kid, you're not dead. We're in your mind!" he leaned forward, grinning, "you see, kid, when One for All passes on from one person to the next, it takes a part of them with it. We are parts of the original user's soul. Or at least, we were until you came along." He eyed him and leaned back in his chair.
"W-what's that supposed to mean?" Midoriya stuttered, wary.
"Well, Midoriya, your quirk recognized the soul part of One for All, and well… It pulled the rest of our souls into your body. That's why we're all here." The one with the white hair said. Midoriya shivered. His quirk did that? He knew that it could influence people's souls, but… he didn't think it would bring the souls of the previous users back.
"So… what does this mean for me?" Midoriya asked. The users looked amongst themselves before Nana looked at him and gave a thumbs up.
"No clue!" Midoriya sputtered. "But know this, you now have access to 7 generations of knowledge of One for All. We are here!" Midoriya gulped, before looking down, tears in his eyes.
"Nana?" he looked up, "You said Toshi chose well. Is Toshi All Might's real name?" she nodded, "Why would you say he chose well. I'm a murderer! I killed all those villains! I tore out their souls and then cut off somebody's hands! I-" he hiccuped, "I'm no hero…"
"Shut up." the guy in the leather clothes said.
"W-what?"
"I said shut up!" He leaped forward and grabbed Midoriya's shirt and pulled him forward, glaring into his eyes. "Every single person at this table has killed someone, kid." he dropped him. "It's a fact of life. It's our reality as heroes. Not every villain can be apprehended safely. All Might has killed people. Nana here has, I have, that old man over there, Hikage, has killed people. It happens, kid." His eyes softened. "It's hard, I know. But it's a fact of life." Midoriya stared at the man, shocked.
"W-who are you?" the man grinned.
"Daigoro Banjo, the 5th user of One for All! And you, little Izuku Midoriya, need to be waking up. Your classmates are worried."
"What?" Midoriya's vision blacked out again. He was really getting sick of his vision blacking out.
"The press is going to hear about this…" Midoriya heard as he stirred. He ached, but not as bad as he anticipated. His body felt like a large bruise, but nothing seemed to be broken.
"We will tell them the truth, Aizawa. One of our students lost control of their quirk in the terror and stress of the situation. An S-ranked villain nearly killed him and you, his teacher. He is just a student, a kid."
"They'll vilify him, Nezu!"
"I know. It will be up to him to show them why they're wrong. After all, he saved you, didn't he?" Midoriya's eyes opened, his vision was blurry. He was able to make out the form of Aizawa talking to… was that a mouse? A dog? Chimera. He was talking to a chimera. He looked back to his teacher. He looked… healthy. Not damaged at all. What the hell? I saw him nearly die!
"Aizawa-sensei?" Midoriya croaked out. He turned, before moving towards him. He knelt next to his bedside, looking uncharacteristically soft.
"How are you doing, Midoriya?" he asked, quietly. Midoriya groaned.
"I feel like a giant bruise." Aizawa chuckled before his face became serious.
"How much do you remember?" Midoriya knew he was asking if he remembered the USJ incident. He knew that he couldn't tell them the truth. That he remembered every excruciating detail.
"I remember everything up to when I saw you under that… thing," Midoriya mumbled. Aizawa nodded.
"Now the truth?"
"Everything. Every detail." Aizawa went silent. He sighed through his nose, before standing back up.
"Every detail?"
"...I think so?"
"So you remember ripping into that Noumu, tearing off limbs and crushing bones?"
"What!?" Midoriya startled. Aizawa sighed.
"Midoriya, you turned into... Something that wasn't you. It was more beast than anything." Aizawa shivered. The chimera stepped forward. "What he's trying to say Midoriya is you lost control of your quirk and it took over. We… we believe your quirk has a secondary consciousness to it, similar to Dark Shadow." Aizawa coughed and turned away at the mention of Tokoyami's quirk. Midoriya thought he saw remorse on his face.
"Is… is everyone okay?" They were silent for a moment. Aizawa left the room. Nezu, that was the chimera's name if Midoriya heard right, stepped forward and hopped onto his hospital bed.
"There were sixteen casualties and four deaths, Midoriya. They… they were very prepared. They didn't just bring cannon fodder, they brought A-class and B-class villains. There were four S-class villains present as well. Three of your classmates didn't make it. I'm sorry." Nezu dropped his head. Midoriya felt tears well up.
"W-who were they? Who died?"
"Denki Kaminari, Tokoyami Fumikage, Thirteen, and Koji Koda."
"O-oh… oh god.." Midoriya broke down. The only people who heard his crying were Nezu and the souls of the dead.
There were a lot of souls.