Izuku felt the first sign of consciousness by the dull ache of everything inside him. He tried to sit up, but a shift of his arm sent a grating pain through him, and he laid back to make it stop.
His hurt arm felt compressed by something wrapped around it, and Izuku lifted his head to look down. It was some kind of make-shift splint holding his arm in place.
He recalled the last moments before consciousness. Somehow All Might had passed him One for All.
Izuku remembered the sound of their body as it made contact with the wall with enough force that it splintered beneath him.
He had never hurt a fly, and now he had almost killed a man.
Or maybe he was still alive?
Izuku wanted him to still alive.
Prayed he wasn't dead.
All Izuku had ever wanted was to be a hero. But heroes didn't kill, but The Villain would have kill Kacchan, so did that justify what he did? Or might have done?
"Idiot..." Kacchan whispered.
Crouched across from him was Kacchan, back propped back against the overturned couch. His arms were resting over his bent knees stretched out straight in front of him. He must have finally cleaned up his hands of the sludge while he was out.
But he wasn't looking at Izuku, his gaze unfocused, never looking past the tips of his fingers.
There was a stutter in Izuku's chest, the usual fight or flight instinct went off when he was near Kacchan, but the other boy was quiet.
There were no outbursts, no insults, not even a declaration that he didn't need help earlier from Deku.
It was only the deadly silence that stretched with every minute that passed between them.
Izuku shifted, using his uninjured arm to prop himself up. Kacchan didn't move to acknowledge him. As if Izuku wasn't even there.
Izuku glanced around; the room was dimmer than before, the orange cast of the setting sun filtering through the windows. Izuku guessed he must have been knocked out for a few hours at least.
He hoped his mother and All Might were safe somewhere. The thought reminded Izuku of Kacchan's parents.
"Kacchan, where are your parents?" He asked.
"How long have you had a quirk?" Kacchan didn't look up at him, and as the minutes passed in silence, the room grew dimmer. As the sun finally dipped past the horizon, Kacchan's figure became dark like a shadow waiting to pounce.
Izuku didn't know what to say to that; All Might had told him this was a guarded secret, and although he wanted to tell Kacchan the truth, All Might could get mad.
Izuku looked off to the side, avoiding any chance of meeting eyes with him, and noticed the empty spot where the Villain had been.
"That's...w.. where's the Villain?" He asked.
"That doesn't matter." Kacchan replied. "How long have you had your quirk, Deku."
Before Izuku could even come up with another excuse, Kacchan continued.
"Why didn't you tell me? Thought I wasn't good enough or something? Were you looking down on me this whole time hiding that kind of powerful quirk? Tell me, huh!?"
His voice raised just an octave louder with every question as he continued purging every thought that came. Izuku's mouth fell open, unsure how to answer, wondering if Kacchan even wanted him to answer.
There was a crazed look to his face, his eyes bright even in the darkroom, that set Izuku's nerves on edge. He needed Kacchan to calm down, to let him get in a sentence, a word. He tried again, his questions coming out broken and confusing as he tried to interject.
"Kacchan...where...your parents..?"
"THEY'RE DEAD."
Izuku whipped back to look at Kacchan, who stared back at Izuku as if surprised as well by the words that spilled out.
"Wha..."
'No..no, no no..' Izuku heard wrong he must have. They couldn't be dead.
The finality of Kacchan's words wouldn't sink in. Izuku shook his head, but those words buzzed between them, irritating the edges of his mind.
Kacchan's face drained of color, the heavy breathing loud in the room. His fist clenched the front of his shirt as if pained, now that it was out in the open. Like it was now real.
The blaring of an alarm sounded through the roo, making both boys jump in place, their shoulders tense. When Kacchan pulled out his phone, Izuku realized where the sound was coming from.
Izuku pulled his phone, the sound growing louder now out in the open. The cracks had spread farther across the screen, but as the alarm stopped, he could see the giddy face of a teen girl. It must have been some kind of phone she was using to record as her outstretched arms framed the borders of her face.
"Hey Everyone, Toga here ready to give you the latest sccoop!"
The slight echo of her voice was coming from beside him, so he knew Kacchan was watching the same thing,
The girl, Toga, was giggling as she twirled around, showing the large crowd behind her. Mischievously, face flushed with excitement, Toga turned to a man that appeared over her shoulder.
"What are you doing.." The man looked rather bored as he eyed Toga; the bottom half of his face was an expanse of purple burned flesh stapled to a mask-like shape of pale skin. The whole image gave him a permanent vicious smile; Izuku stared unsettled at the sight of him.
Izuku glanced away from the man taking notice of the familiar leg of one of All Might's monuments. The sun still reflected off the bronze as Toga moved around, getting closer to show off others in her group. A man with grayish blue hair in a long trench came into view for a second; he seemed to be smiling, his lips cracked and gruesome as he looked down at the crowd of onlookers.
"This must have been a recording done some time around midday." Izuku muttered
"No shit nerd." Kacchan breathed out in response; there was less of his usual passionate bite to his insult.
"Hey crazy, have your fun later, you have a job to do." Said the burned man.
Toga pouted at the other man, who was now out of frame. "You'd think getting your revenge would get that stick out of your ass."
"Shut up, we're starting..." he responded, a slight tilt to his tone as if amused.
The camera went out of focus as she adjusted before a group appeared into view.
Izuku's blood ran cold in his veins, standing at the head, arms outstretched, was the Villain from the beach. He looked spotless in a new clean suit, but if he was there, where was All Might.? The pounding in his head returned as he struggled to catch his breath, mind racing at the possible scenarios.
Izuku almost missed how the rest of the group stood a the back, spread out around the monument in a casual stand. And at the feet of the burned man was All Might's more diminutive form bloody, bound, and unmoving.
"...All Might..." Izuku said.
"What?" "Kacchan was looking at him most likely confused, but Izuku couldn't explain his eyes fixed to the screen.
All for One raised his arms higher, his mask giving nothing away of his expression beneath as he addressed everyone around them.
"My friends and colleagues, the Era of Heroes is now over." Waves of cries mingled with those of cheers from the villains.
"Let us remove the shackles placed on upon us as we enter a new era of freedom for Japan and soon the rest of the world!" He said.
He paused, the raucous of the crowd growing louder.
All for One turned, motioned towards the burned man, and with the help of another lifted All Might to his feet.
All Might's head fell forward, but Izuku could see his black sunken eyes open a fraction reassuring him that he was still alive.
"But before we can truly enter this new world we must first shed ourselves of the old." The group split, making All Might the center of attention as all eyes landed on his slumped form.
"Behold your Symbol of Peace!" He said,
There were gasps from the people, everyone speaking out in confusion, questioning if that was really him. Izuku ground his teeth together, his body a tight coil of nerves, his tense muscles were ready to snap under the strain.
All for One moved forward and took hold of All Might's face, his fingers digging into his jaw as he lifted his head for the crowd. The camera shook as Toga moved closer to get a better view.
Izuku felt his heart race as his mentor glared up at All for One without an ounce of fear.
"Yes, this is all that remains of your precious Number One Hero, nothing but a deteriorating body remains of his past greatness."
He moved away, letting the hero's head fall forward without care. "Your time is up heroes, stand down or you will be dealt with as well."
As he continued, his words faded away to Izuku as he watched them string a rope over the wide neck of the monument while another wrapped a noose around his mentor's frail neck.
Izuku's phone shook in his hands, every muscle in his body tensing and releasing without his permission. His breathing was growing more quickly as he watched in utter horror.
The pieces came together in Izuku's red hazed mind; this whole thing was about a message. Izuku surmised every electronic in the world was playing this recording for every eye to see.
A public execution.
A warning for anyone who may dare rise up.
Someone from the crowd yelled above the softer cries of protest, their voice outraged, and Toga turned the recording to the public in a blur of movements.
His suit was an obvious sign he was a hero as he rushed forward towards the group of Villains to stop them. The cracked-lipped man from earlier moved to stand in his way, his hands still tucked in the pocket of his trench coat.
The nameless hero didn't stop; his face determined to plow through the Villain when his eyes widen in horror.
He stopped running, but his body still pitched forward as cracked lines spread throughout his body. His mouth opened wide in a silent scream before crumbling away to dust, mere inches from the Villain who hadn't moved.
A grin broke out on his face as he stared down at the remains of the fallen hero. The crowd moved back, some outright running away as they began to scream in horror.
Izuku could hear the girl, Toga, giggling at the sight before she turned back to focus on All Might.
With a pull of the rope, his frail body rose off the ground. They kept pulling him up and up against the monument's body to rest against the chest of his own hero image.
As he struggled face red, Izuku snapped as he stood. He wanted to run to his mentor to save him. To do anything but watch.
He moved as if to leave, but Kacchan grabbed his arm before he could go making the phone slip from his grasp and fall with a thump. The screen was still face up, taunting Izuku
"Where do you think your going!" Kacchan yelled.
The video still played, and Izuku couldn't look away.
Izuku shrugged Kacchan off him as he shouted back at him. "I need to help him!"
"Idiot, its a recording remembered, it's too late, there's nothing we can do now!" he shouted.
Izuku dropped to his knees; All Might, struggling to breathe, haunted his ears. He covered his ears to make it stop, his thoughts a mile a second; this was all his fault.
He shouldn't have left him on the beach; he should have tried harder to find held.
Izuku abandoned the only person who had believed in him.
None of this was right; everything was going so wrong.
All might was mistaken when he said Izuku could be a hero.
All Might picked the wrong person, and now he was dead.
"It... It's my fault, All Mights ...ddead and it's aall my fault." He couldn't stop his body as it shook, tears stinging his eyes as he clenched them closed.
The sound of All Might's struggles stopped, and Izuku didn't need to look to know that it was over; his mentor hung there for the world to see.
There were the last sounds of crying, triumph, and despair from the people before the recording stopped.
The room went silent once again.
Kacchan fell back in a crouch by Izuku's curled form and didn't complain as Izuku let out the cry of anguish that had been tearing at him from the inside.
Izuku didn't know how long he stayed like that; Kacchan, a silent companion, never moving away or drawing closer to him.
Izuku finally went silent at some point, too empty inside to let out anything more, so he turned to Kacchan, his eyes blank.
Kacchan's tears streamed down his face, but his face was calm as he looked back at Izuku.
"Tell me everything.." he said.
And with nothing left inside him, Izuku let out a breath and told his childhood friend everything from the moment he met All Might after the Sludge Villain Incident and the little he knew of the new quirk passed down to him called One for All.