Chapter 3:

Izuku's legs burned as he climbed up yet another set of stairs. Both fortunate and unfortunately for him, the school had a lot of floors and that meant a lot of stairs to climb to get to the roof.

The thought of having to climb two more flights almost deterred him from what he was about to do…almost.

As he rounded the corner and looked at more and more stairs he cursed under his breath and started climbing. What was a little pain when there would soon be nothing to feel?

Conflicting thoughts chased each other around in his head. Thoughts of how crushed his mom would be if she were still here. Memories of her always telling him that things would get better and that he was the strongest person she knew. She was wrong. Izuku wasn't strong, he was tired.

Tired of fighting, tired of enduring, tired of getting pushed around, tired of picking himself up just to be knocked down again, tired of hating himself. And god did he hate himself. The darkness in his mind dissipated as the hope of relief poked through. He could only imagine just how nice it was going to be to not be here anymore. To not have to live in this broken and unfair world. The thought almost made him smile.

It helped that he was positive now that he could do this without hurting anyone. Before, just the thought of what his mom would go through chased away any permanent feelings of ending it all, but…she wasn't here anymore. She left him, and he was ready to join her.

Would they be together? Would they be happy?

Izuku vaguely remembered the times where he and mom would go to church every Sunday and read the Bible, but those days had ended a while ago. He didn't really know why they stopped going, but he remembered just how at peace he felt when he was there. Maybe if things had turned out different, he would go back and try to dive back into the faith.

Finally, Izuku made it to the top of the building and opened the unlocked roof door.

He wasn't quite sure why the school doors weren't locked yet, maybe not everyone was gone yet? He winced at the possibility of one of his teachers finding him, but quickly brushed the thought aside before he could lose his nerve.

The roof was big, and had some benches where students ate their lunch sometimes. Their school hadn't had to put fencing around the roof yet, which Izuku was thankful for although he guessed that after today, they would have to. Oh well.

He walked over to the edge of the rooftop and overlooked the city. Their school was in a pretty good place, not too many other buildings surrounding it, but still close enough to everything else that most students didn't have to take the bus.

The sun had begun to set and Izuku watched the sky transform with streaks of red and pink and purple. The streetlights and other light around the building had just turned on as well making the whole scene absolutely breathtaking.

Izuku felt silent tears trickle down his cheeks as he overlooked everything. He was going to miss this; just how beautiful the world could be despite all of the crap it holds.

Mom would've loved this.

The breath hitched on its way in and Izuku allowed himself to dwell a bit longer on the scene in front of him before he wiped his face off and stepped up to the ledge.

Okay, okay-deep breath in…

And out.

I'm sorry mom. I'll see you soon.

And with that he let himself fall silently off of the building.

Wind immediately rushed up to him as he fell, it was loud but also quiet. Peaceful. He could still see the sunset and even though his tears got caught in the wind, he knew that he was probably crying again. He felt…not happy, relieved?

He felt free.

The ground was coming, he knew it. He allowed himself one last look at the beautiful world around him and closed his eyes, bracing himself for the impact.

But it never came. Or at least, he didn't feel it. But that was kinda the point of jumping off the roof, a quick and hopefully painless death. So why didn't he feel dead?

One moment he was in complete darkness and the next blinding light surrounded him on all sides. He covered his eyes until they adjusted to the brightness of wherever he was and when he finally looked, he realized that he wasn't alone.

Right in front of him, maybe six feet away was a figure in all white. Their dress flowed around them and made them look like an angel, and maybe they were. With the straight green hair in a half-up hairdo that Izuku knew all too well, they certainly could've passed for one.

A choked sob escaped Izuku's throat, and he went to take a step forward but stopped when the figure turned their head to look at him. Bright green eyes met his and softened. Beautiful emerald green eyes that always shone with enough love and light to fill up any room they entered. Eyes that were wasted on Izuku's constantly exhausted face, but somehow fit him so well.

The last time he saw those eyes they were tired, so tired. And sad, not for themselves, but for him. They knew what was going on, how could they not? Bakugou and the others weren't exactly subtle, and no matter how beaten or bruised he was when he got home, those eyes always met him at the door and welcomed him home. They always gave him so much hope and comfort.

He had been trying so hard to be strong for her sake. He knew that she wouldn't have wanted him to cry over her too much. Not that he really gave himself the chance to. He didn't cry in front of people and ever since what happened he hadn't had enough time alone to let himself let it all out, so he kept on building up wall after wall.

Reenforcing them and pushing back the wave of grief that only got taller and taller the more he pushed it back. He kept any thoughts of her on a tight leash because if he didn't then he knew that the weight of everything would come crashing down on him, so he just kept on building up the dam. Further and further up.

And now looking at those eyes again the dam broke.

Izuku's legs gave out from under him, and he sank to his knees clutching his chest. Everything was coming back to him. All of the feelings of grief, and anger, and betrayal, and regret. It all blurred together as he cried and let go of everything he was holding back.

Was this it? Was he dead?

His breathing shook and tears kept on coming so fast that Izuku couldn't blink them away enough to see clearly. It wasn't until he felt a light hand on his shoulder that he looked up and saw green through the tears and knew who it was.

Mom…

"Izuku," Her voice was soft and comforting. Wrapping him tightly in a feeling of total peace with just one word. It was okay, everything was okay now…because his mom was here, and he was here with her. "Oh, baby…" She placed her hand on the side of his face and then moved it to under his chin to lift his face up, "You're not supposed to be here."

And all of a sudden, everything around him came crashing down. "W-what?" His voice was barely a whisper. It was low and strained from crying and he couldn't keep the shock from his tone. "I'm not supposed…what are you t-talking about mom? I'm here, I'm right here and so are you, we're together and-"

"No honey, this is wrong." It was like a stab to the chest. How could she say that? How could she say that he wasn't supposed to be here? Did she not want him here?

Betrayal began to crawl up his back and plant it's claws into him. He was sure that his eyes showed it, how could they not? He was never good at hiding his feeling from her. And he was sure that she saw it, if her now pained expression indicated anything.

He didn't know when he started shaking, maybe it was when he was sobbing, or maybe it was due to his mother's words, but he couldn't stop. He searched her eyes. Searched for something, anything. Feelings of relief or joy to see her son, regret for leaving him, regret for hurting him…but he didn't know what he saw. It was too many emotions for him to understand.

"I-I don't understand…how could you say that? Is-are you not happy to see me?" Izuku's voice broke and his eyes filled up once again with fresh tears that soon spilled over and down his cheeks.

"Oh no," her arms flew around him and held him tight against her, "No, no, no-baby, that's not what I meant at all!"

Izuku sniffled, "Then what do you mean?"

Reluctantly she let go of him and sat back on her knees, looking at him with sad eyes. "It's not your time yet sweetheart, you can't be here. You have to go back."

His breathing stopped all together at her words. Anger slowly filled his chest as he thought of what he left behind and what would be waiting for him if he went back. "No."

"What? Izuku-"

His mom tried to place her hand on his shoulder again, but he shook it off, "No, I-I can't, I won't."

"But-"

"You don't know, you have no idea what it's like back there."

Pain entered her expression as she looked her son over. He was still in his school uniform. He didn't have any bruises or anything on his skin from what she could see. He didn't have a single scar that she had memorized one by one as they appeared. Even the seemingly permanent bruises under his eyes were gone. Her son looked healthy.

And then he didn't. His appearance flickered as she looked at him. The clean and healthy image would flicker to what she knew he looked like now, pale, unhealthily thin, bruises and burns covering most of his body, and his eyes…

He never told her what was going on, but she had always suspected. You don't get injuries like that from just being clumsy. Anytime she asked him about it, he would deny and deflect the conversation to other topics that he knew would distract her.

But she had seen it, she saw it all now. She had been watching and the pain in her chest grew and grew the more that she thought about it. It had to have been going on for years and he just didn't say anything.

How could he not say anything? How could he not care about himself enough to try to stop it?

It hurt her, it hurt her to see the desperate look on her son's face now. It didn't surprise her that he didn't want to go back, she didn't want him to go back either, but that wasn't up to her. It wasn't his time yet, he still had so much to do and he didn't even know it.

"I-I know. I know and I'm sorry. For not being more persistent about what was going on, for not stopping it." She bit her lip and closed her eyes.

You can do this Inko, she thought to herself. You have to, for Izuku.

"I'm sorry for leaving you."

Whatever composition that was in her son's face crumbled in an instant. Tears pooled in his sad eyes and spilled over and down his thin and bruised cheeks. For a moment it was only silence that stretched between them until the sobs finally came.

She knew that it wasn't fair. It wasn't fair to leave him, it wasn't fair to have to watch over him silently, it wasn't fair to see and talk to him now, and it wasn't fair to send him back to that wretched place.

But if only he knew…if he knew all of the-the good he was going to do, he would understand.

Inko Midoriya's son was always special. The brightest and happiest kid you would've ever met despite the crushing weight of all that was happening around him. You'd never have guessed what he was going through, not that he'd let you know anyway. Izuku was just like that, good, kind, selfless, a light breaking through all of the darkness around him. He was strong, always had been, and Inko hated that her son had to be.

He didn't deserve this. With everything that he's been through, didn't he deserve a break? How cruel could life be to keep on throwing obstacle on top of obstacle at him without letting up? He just needed to wait a little bit longer. The light at the end of the tunnel was coming, it wouldn't be easy, Inko knew that. And it broke her heart to know that more pain was coming for him, but Izuku was strong.

The strongest person she knew.

"I'm so-so sorry honey…" Tears of her own began to fill Inko's eyes. It wasn't a surprise, she had always been an empathetic crier, but these tears were not for her. No, they were for Izuku. "But it's time for you to go."

"I-" Her son's voice caught as his breath hitched, "I don't want to go yet," he let out with his voice broken and quiet from crying. It pierced right through Inko's heart, and she couldn't help herself anymore. She lunged forward and wrapped her arms around her son's shaking form as she rubbed his back in an attempt to comfort, but she knew that there was no comfort for what was to come.

She moved one of her hands up to hold the back of Izuku's head and keep him as close to her as possible. "Shh, shh," she whispered in his ear, her own voice shaking, "I know. I know…I love you."

Izuku's arms tightened around her as if it would keep him from leaving and it was a few moments of him calming his breathing down before he replied, "I love you too."

Air. Izuku needed air. He didn't know why that was something that he needed to be told, but his body was screaming at him to wake up and breathe.

He shot straight up from wherever he was lying, gasping and screaming and…crying?

Streams of tears continued to pour down his face even as he finally got his bearings and didn't feel like he was dying…well, as much. The tears confused him until memories suddenly began flashing through his mind and his vision got blurry from the fresh water beginning to spill over.

"M-mom…" He managed to get out through his scratchy throat that was in desperate need of some water and whatever medicine he could find.

Izuku's body hurt all over; he couldn't even tell where the pain specifically was, it just was there. Physically, mentally, emotionally, all-consuming and crushing. Memories of what happened before started coming to him as well and disappointment intertwined with the grief as it all began to settle in his mind.

He wasn't dead.