There was screaming.
At least he thought there were. The remnants of screams echoed throughout the city. Izuku stood in the middle of the street, staring at the remains of the haven. A place that had turned him down because of his Quirklessness.
Izuku tried to ignore the messy red splatters all over the streets, and the corpses they originated from. He turned his gaze to the ground. Only to see he was standing near a small pool of crimson that matched his shoes.
He stared at it for a time, eyeing his murky reflection. It felt like an eternity had passed before he looked up again. No matter where he looked, there was no escaping the gruesome reality. He felt tears begin to prick at the corners of his eyes the longer he stood there.
Everyone was gone, except him. Once again he was alone in this place. Despite that, the screams from before still echoed around him, the sickening crunches, and the cries of those who were carried off. Were they really still there, or was that all in his head?
One step, then two, then three. Then another, and another. His legs carried him forward and he left that place, averting his eyes whenever he saw a glimpse of things he shouldn't see. While walking he didn't hear the scraping of bodies against concrete. It wasn't until something grabbed his ankle he realized something was wrong.
He looked down to see one of the bodies nearby had grabbed him. The man's corpse tightened its grip as it looked up at him.
"Why you?"
He didn't respond, not sure what to say. Something else grabbed his pant leg and tugged at it. He looked down to see a woman with a blank stare that seemed to pierce through him.
"Why are you alive?"
"I…I don't-"
More hands from the dead joined. Wrapped around his legs and grasping at his arms.
"Why are you alive?"
"Why did you get to live?"
"Why you?"
"You don't deserve it!" One hissed.
"Quirkless!"
"Why didn't you help? You saw it all!"
"Trash!"
"Useless!"
"Why didn't you try to help us?"
He was drowning.
The corpses dragged him down to the ground and grabbed and pulled at him. Demanding answers to their questions if not insulting him. Izuku tried to break free, but as soon as he managed to free one of his limbs from their grip, more hands were there to pin him down.
He was drowning!
No matter what he did he couldn't get free.
He screamed and cried as he writhed around and tried to get away. Muttering apologies for all their demands and insults, there was nothing else he could do. He didn't know why he was alive, what sheer luck was in play to keep him here in this world. He didn't know what kind of cosmic joke was being played here.
As this went on all the bodies began to melt and fuse together, turning into a malformed creature that took a familiar shape.
Izuku choked as the Nomu gripped his throat and began to squeeze. It's grip grew tighter the more he flailed around and tried to free himself. He struggled to breathe, desperately gasping for some sort of oxygen.
His vision was getting hazy, he was beginning to black out. He could feel his heart beating out of his chest, it felt like it was going to explode. The Nomu's grip tightened even more, and Izuku swore he could feel something snapping. Before he could struggle anymore a sickening crack filled his ears and the world went dark.
Izuku sat up with a loud scream before slapping his hands over his mouth and silencing himself. Muffled sobs escaped him as he pulled himself from the vivid dream, trying to discard the nightmare.
Be quiet. Be quiet, be quiet, be quiet, something might have heard you.
He swallowed his sobs and strained his ears for any kind of sound. Anything that might have heard him and was coming for him now.
There was nothing but blessed silence.
Izuku sat in place for a while before looking around the room. He wasn't in Japan anymore, he was in Magnolia Town. He was in the Fairy Tail guild, in a spare room. He wasn't out in the open. Not anymore.
He sat there for a bit, reminding himself over and over again of the facts. Letting the events of yesterday play through his mind. He panted and made himself lay back down, the pain in his side was making itself apparent. His body demanded he lay down again, just until the ache was gone.
Through shuddering breaths he slowly lowered himself back down, with the occasional hiss of pain. His body felt heavy once he was down, like a great weight had settled on his limbs and rubbed his nerves raw.
He took in one breath at a time and tried to ease his racing heart.
"You're alright…it's fine. You're fine."
-.-
Izuku stared at his plate as he listened to the guild around him make noise. People were talking, others were running in to grab a job and go. Some came up to the bar to order some food and drinks.
He had woken up a while before Master Makarov and Mirajne came in to open the guildhall and get ready for the day. Which was fortunate, it gave him a chance to shower and pull himself together before anybody could see the mess he woke up as.
He fussed with the ends of his dirty white gloves, he decided to wear them. It was better for everyone if he did. It strangely gave him a feeling of comfort, even if they were itchy and made him want to scratch his palms. It was something familiar, something he could rely on.
"Not hungry?"
A voice pulled him from his thoughts. He looked up to see Mirajane looking over in concern.
"Ah, n-not really. Sorry…" He muttered. He had only taken a bite of the breakfast Mirajane made. Then it took all his willpower to not throw it up. It tasted like ash in his mouth. Even though his stomach ached for some food he couldn't bring himself to eat any more.
"That's alright, do you want anything else?" She asked.
He shook his head and said thank you.
As soon as the food was gone he turned away from the bar and stared out at the guildhall. It was noisy as it was yesterday. He supposed that was nice, there was consistency there. He just had to get used to it. He hadn't seen a few of the others he was introduced to yesterday. Natsu, Gray, and Lucy weren't there yet. He supposed they were sleeping in, it was still pretty early.
Which was fine with him, he wasn't sure he was up for any real conversations. Izuku let out a sigh as he picked up his bag. He couldn't be slacking off right now, even if he felt like this he had to keep moving. That was the rule.
Just keep moving, and you stay alive.
But did that really apply here?
Maybe not, but it was still a good thing to keep in mind. If he didn't make some kind of progress then the day was wasted. He had a plan, and he needed to stick to it. He had to keep moving.
"You look half dead boy, are you feeling alright?"
Izuku jumped at Makarov's voice, but quickly settled down. He looked over at the short man and nodded.
"Y-Yeah. Just a bad night." He shrugged. "I'm fine."
"I see, that's unfortunate. Are you feeling alright?"
"I'm fine, sir."
He could feel Makarov's gaze, and he refused to meet it. He took a particular interest in the window across from him.
"If you're not feeling well, I suggest you go lay down. If your injury is acting up you should rest, Porlyusica did say not to strain yourself."
"It's okay." He shook his head. "I figured I'd look around the city. For the mail and all."
He heard the old man hum. "That's true, I told you to look around. I also said you should have someone guide you."
"I don't think I'll get lost." He frowned.
"Oh believe me, you will. Now let's see…" He looked around the guild for someone who wasn't busy. Izuku suddenly wished Natsu, Gray, or Lucy were there. At least he sort of knew them, not very well, but it wouldn't be a new face.
He sighed and slowly got to his feet, he slung his back over his shoulders. "I'll be okay, really. I-I've lived in a big city before."
Makarov seemed to ignore him as he continued to look around. He turned his eyes to the door when they opened, and in walked someone else. The guildhall went quiet for a moment before returning back to its normal volume. Izuku looked over and saw a woman with red hair, and clad in armor, looking around. She seemed familiar, he was pretty sure he saw her before
"Ah, Erza should be able to help you out." He nodded.
"Huh?" Izuku looked at him.
"I don't think she's on any jobs today." Mira said as she passed by. "And I don't think you've met her yet."
I'd be fine keeping it that way!
"Ah…b-but I'm sure I'll be okay."
"Hey Erza, mind coming over here for a moment?" Makarov called out to her.
"No, don't do that!" Izuku said. He looked back over to her and paled when he realized where he had seen her before. She was that other person from the forest! He knew he had missed someone.
By the time she was halfway over Izuku tried to go the other way to completely avoid her. Makarov had stretched his arm and grabbed the back of his shirt to keep him from running.
"Yes Master?"
"I'm sure you recognize this young man, yes?" He let go of Izuku.
Erza turned towards him, before nodding. "Yes, he's the thief from the forest. When did he come here?"
"Ah, well, this is a recent development. Izuku is going to be staying with us for a little while. He'll be helping us out around the guild. I'm giving him the task of retrieving and delivering the mail for the guild. It'd certainly help take a lot off of Mira's plate." He patted Izuku's shoulder.
Erza raised an eyebrow. "I see."
"Izuku here needs to get to know the city. We don't want him getting lost trying to do his job now do we?"
"No, I suppose we don't."
"I figured maybe you could show him around. It might also be nice to have a familiar face around. He still hasn't met everyone."
Erza hummed before nodding. "I can do that, I had been meaning to go out anyway."
"Perfect." Makarov gave him a light shove. "Go on now, she won't bite."
Izuku stared at him for a moment before looking at Erza. He definitely saw her in the forest, he hadn't remembered if she said anything, much less her attitude towards him.
"The Master said your name is Izuku?"
"Y-Yes."
"Alright then, and I am Erza. It's a pleasure to meet you. Come on now, it's a rather big city. There's a lot to see." She motioned for him to follow and started to walk away.
Izuku looked back over to Makarov who made a shooing motion. He groaned internally and followed after the red-haired woman. He could only hope that he wouldn't upset her. They stepped out of the guild hall and out to the city.
It was loud and busy, like the guildhall. There were a lot of people around, which made sense, it was such a big city.
It was a big change to the kind of city he was used to. There were no towering skyscrapers or ruined buildings. No loud motors from cars or broken down vehicles piled on the side of the street. There were no large cracks in the street or unnerving silence he had to listen to.
One of the more jarring changes was all the people.
There were a lot of people around, walking around casually and without a care in the world. He had gotten so used to empty streets devoid of life that weren't Nomus or rampant villains. Even if he had been used to it once, for years, it still felt like a sudden shift.
Everything felt like a sudden shift, like there was no room to breathe. He had no real chance to actually process everything.
The world seemed a little brighter somehow here, compared to Japan. It was nice, but again, so jarring.
"I take it you've never been to Magnolia Town, have you?"
"Huh?" Izuku looked up when he realized she was talking to him. "Oh uh, no. I haven't."
"I see, so you're not from around here then?"
"N-No."
He kept his eyes averted and his head down. He could feel her looking at him, assessing him. Judging him. She was probably deciding what to think of him. Whether or not she'd like him.
He tightened his grip on the straps of his backpack and continued to look around. He glanced at any street signs he could find. He was supposed to be learning where everything is. There were a lot of different shops as they passed by, then some booths right next to them.
"I recommend getting to look around the different shops, some sell excellent equipment. Then there are rather nice restaurants and cafes around here too."
He nodded and continued to look around. Maybe when he made some money he could try some food around, or get something better to wear. He's pretty sure that Gray guy will remember to pick up his shirts from the guild some day.
As they walked Izuku eyed the small alleyways between the buildings, silently wondering where they lead to. If there was any way to scale the buildings or even get underground. It was dangerous to be out in the open. Even now walking in broad daylight in the middle of the street made him feel exposed.
He was looking for exits, of course he was. He couldn't help himself.
"Erza?" Izuku dared to look up at her.
"Yes?"
"Where's the nearest library? I-If you don't mind me asking."
"Ah, that'll be a little over to the east, not too far from the train station actually. Why, did you want to visit?"
He nodded and looked forward. He was a little closer to making some progress, something was better than nothing. Not to mention he would find the train station, which would be useful for later. When time came to leave he could probably slip over there and go.
There was no way he was going to last long in that guild full of people with Quirks, it was only a matter of time before they found out about him. Then he'd have a whole slew of other problems on him.
As they walked, Erza continued to point out different shops and sometimes greet some of the owners of booths. There was a lot to see in the city and it seemed that she intended to see all of it. Which he supposed was fair, he had to know his way around.
He tried his best to take note of the different street names, also of the different ways to slip away or hide.
He couldn't slip out of his usual habits until he heard the sound of a loud whistle, and looked up to see the train station wasn't that far. It looked big, like every station does, and of course there were a lot of people coming and going.
One thing that he noted was how the trains looked. They looked a lot different than what he was used to. They actually looked a lot older. They were the kind of trains one would see in a history book or something.
"This is the train station, it's the main way for getting to and from Magnolia Town. As such it's also quite common to see Fairy Tail wizards here when they take jobs somewhere else."
Wizards?!
Izuku couldn't help but shoot her a look. Surely he was hearing things right, there was no way she said wizards. Like there was no way Makarov mentioned magic the day before. Magic and wizards don't exist, there is no such thing!
"Are there any other ways to get out of here? Or is the train station the only way?" He asked.
"Sometimes people go through the forest, since they're bound to run into a town sooner or later."
Izuku nodded.
He flinched as she tapped his shoulder and made him pay attention. He looked up and saw her pointing at a building nearby. "That would be the post office, they usually sort their mail so anything addressed to any Fairy Tail mages will go to the guild and they can pick it up there. It's a little easier."
Izuku paused.
"Why? Shouldn't mail for specific people go to their addresses?"
"Sometimes someone wants to contact a specific person in the guild, but they only know their name and the guild they're in. So it gets sent to their guildhall." She nodded to herself. She had gotten quite a few letters now and then, mostly from clients thanking her or sending in payments they couldn't do in full.
"Oh, I get it."
It certainly made it easier than trying to track down one specific address. Just send it to the guild they're in.
He could imagine a guild with that many members has a lot of mail, no wonder Mirajane couldn't get it all. On top of her other responsibilities.
"It's very easy to get here, as long as you know where the station is. It's almost a straight shot from the guild."
Izuku nodded to himself. So he'd be making the trip here then back to the guild, maybe multiple trips depending on how it all goes.
"Right so…" He frowned and looked at her. "Can we visit the library?" He asked.
"Of course." She motioned for him to follow and began to walk away.
He followed after, trailing behind her a bit and making sure he didn't get too close to her. He glanced down at his gloves and pulled at them. He had to make sure they were still on. He could feel his hands starting to get itchy, but he refrained from scratching at them through the fabric.
He couldn't help but shudder when he thought of the last time he scratched through the gloves. His mom had been furious. He apologized over and over, but it didn't change the fact he messed up something that was supposed to keep others safe. At least that was how his mom had put it.
If he messed these ones up there was no way he wasn't screwed. He had no idea when he'd get paid, which in retrospect was something he should have asked Makarov. As well as how much, that would be a big factor in how long he was going to stick around.
He looked down as he thought back about his home, once again wondering how his mom was doing, where she was. As well as his father, was he worried? Did he care? Was he wondering where his son and wife were? If they were safe?
I wonder if I'll ever see them again…
He didn't get to think much longer on that since he bumped into Erza. He gasped and shuffled back to put some distance between them.
"I-I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention!" He waved his hands around.
Erza turned towards him. "It's fine, though I recommend you be more aware of your surroundings. You don't want to get lost."
"Right…yeah." He mumbled.
"So, this here is the library." She gestured to a rather large building in front of them. It looked like most other buildings around made of brick and wood, but it was just a bit taller than the others.. The name 'Magnolia Library' was printed proudly on the sign above.
"Are you looking for anything in particular?" She asked.
"Not quite uh…" He fiddled with the straps of his backpack. "I might be in there for a while. You said you had errands to run too, right?"
"Yes, I did." She nodded. "But I'm alright with waiting. The Master did ask me to keep an eye on you. Besides, the things I need to get are best saved for last. I don't want anything to go bad."
"Oh." He mumbled. Grocery shopping, and she insisted on staying with him. That was…nice, he guessed.
He walked inside with her, and was greeted by a cheery librarian. The building was pretty big, he was sure it was bigger than his school library. Then again, that's not saying a lot.
"So, looking for anything specific?" She asked.
"S-Sort of." He wandered around. "Just some stuff."
"Perhaps I can help?" She offered.
Izuku shrugged. "I'm looking for a map."
"Oh, is that all? We have one at the guild, unless you want a more detailed one."
He nodded, and she pointed out where they most likely were. Izuku was thankful, and quickly walked away. He could still feel her watching him, looking over everything he did. Did she not trust him to look at a few books or something? Then again the first time she met him he was trying to steal stuff. He can't exactly fault her.
With that, Izuku opened up his notebook and got to work. He needed to make some kind of progress today.
-.-
Izuku was starting to panic. He could feel it, but he was trying his best not to. He had no idea how much time had passed in the library, he didn't even know where Erza was. He hadn't thought to check, he was more focused on the predicament in front of him.
He had found a map of the general area. There were towns nearby Magnolia, places he never heard of before. Oshibana, Hargeon, Clover, places he had never heard of before. He didn't expect to, but now he was getting a good idea of where he could go. Where he could find work.
Then he got curious and tried to figure out where in the world he was. Surely he had to be in one of the European countries, right? Only when he went to open a world map, it didn't look right. It didn't look familiar at all. There were none of the landpasses he was expecting to see.
He had thought that had to be a fluke and turned to another map labeled the same thing, as a world map. It was similar to the first one, as was the next map, and the next map. Even more confusing, when he looked into it he realized he was in a country called Fiore. The landmass itself was called Ishgar.
None of the names were right, nothing sounded familiar. It was all wrong.
Surely, there had to be some kind of explanation for this. As calmly as he could he put everything away and began to look for something that made sense. Anything really. He tried looking up Japan, everywhere. In geography, history, hell even in fiction and he couldn't find anything. Not even the names of other countries or states, nothing.
It was like nothing existed. Like his home wasn't real. Like it didn't exist.
Out of desperation he started to look for other things, other parallels to cling to. He was pretty sure he looked like he was off his rocker while he was combing through the library for what he was looking for.
He tried looking for history, but of course nothing familiar. Then he tried to look for books on Quirks, there were always plenty of those.
Nothing.
The closest thing he came to something mentioning a Quirk was in a dictionary defining the term as a noun, calling it a peculiar behavioral habit. Not as a superpower or Meta Ability.
Nothing.
Surely there had to be something, right? What if he tried looking up heroes? Heroes like All Might, or Endeavor, or even the older heroes from different eras. There was always something on them. He looked all over the place, once again even dipping in fiction, and he couldn't find anything on heroes. There was nothing on All Might either, which sounded impossible. Every place had some kind of documentation on the Symbol of Peace.
Nothing.
Izuku was fidgeting as he looked through his notebook, as if that could bring some sort of comfort to him. He only saw the list of things he wanted to look up, at the bottom, which he had scribbled in the day before.
Magic.
He called himself stupid for even putting it in, but he's heard the term a couple of times now. Surely there could be no harm in looking it up right?
It was true, there was no harm. He wasn't sure what he was expecting when he actually went looking for a definition for magic, definitely not a whole section dedicated to history or types of magic. Or notable names of people who use magic- mages. He hadn't been expecting any of it.
It was then Izuku decided to close whatever he had in his hands and put it away. He put his notebook in his bag and started to make his way out.
He…wasn't sure how to feel. It felt like he was hit by a freight train, more times than he could count. This was…this was a lot. He needed some space, he needed some time to think. The more he thought about it, the more he felt his panic rise. Suddenly everything seemed too loud, there were too many people around him. The quiet chatter and the flipping pages grinded against his nerves.
As he made his way out, he passed Erza who had been hiding in a corner nearby. Reading a novel.
She looked up as she saw him go by, noting he was in a hurry.
"Izuku." She tried to grab his attention, but he didn't slow down. That meant he either didn't hear her or was ignoring her. She didn't appreciate either. She frowned and followed after him, watching him weave through the crowd in a hurry
As soon as he was out of the library he stopped for a minute, giving her the chance to catch up. He was staring out at the street with wide eyes, looking around in a panic. Before she could ask what was wrong he took off running. She watched him race down the street before chasing after him.
"Izuku!" She called after him, quickly gaining on him. Once again he didn't respond, assuming he was ignoring her.
He twisted and wound through the city, taking random turns. He was sure where he was going, but he needed to get away from it. Get away from the cacophony of everything, people talking, footsteps on stone, people shouting and advertising their wares.
There were so many people around him, the crowd was unbearable, but at the same time he felt so exposed. So alone, he wasn't safe in this place. It was too open, anything could get him if he wasn't careful.
"Izuku, get back here!" That was Erza, and she sounded mad. For a moment he thought of Kacchan, before shaking his head and running faster. He could only imagine what she was going to do to him once she caught up.
Even so, he kept running. Farther away from the noise until it finally became bearable again. There was the sound of water flowing, and leaves rustling. There was still the sound of people talking but it was more subdued, coming from one or two sources instead of a whole street.
He looked around to realize he had made his way over to a bridge by one of the canals. He wasn't exactly sure where he was, but at the moment he didn't care. He was alone, and he needed to calm down. He needed to get his thoughts in order and come up with a plan, something.
If he didn't then where would he be? He needed to figure this out, and he could. He always did. He just needed a minute.
He leaned against the cold stone of the bridge and caught his breath.
"This is…bad. This is bad right? Yeah, it has to be there's no other way to put it." He muttered to himself. He tapped fingers against his bag and tried to organize his thoughts.
First things first, he was not home. Nowhere near home, he wasn't sure what this Fiore place is but he's sure it doesn't exist. Or at least it's not supposed to, not in his…world? Maybe world was the best way to put it.
The mere thought sent more dread churning through his gut, a whole world away from home. Away from a place where he knew things worked. Now he was here, in a place so unlike anything he'd seen. Magic, different countries, probably a whole other set of laws to deal with. His mind raced with all the new information, but was trying to answer the most important question of all.
"What do I do now?"
He felt his eyes begin to water, and he quickly wiped away the tears. Much to his frustration they kept coming. He didn't understand why was he crying, this was a stupid thing to cry about. It was just another problem he had to deal with. He should be able to handle this!
"What am I supposed to do?" He asked himself. "How am I…"
He broke off his thoughts and began to pace. He needed a plan, something to keep him afloat. He didn't know how long all this would last, how long he'd have a job or how long he would be able to stay. Not to mention, how was he supposed to get back home?
He couldn't just leave right? No! His mom was still there, his father too. One of them had to be alive still, if not both. Surely they had to be looking for him, did either of them have any hope that he's alive?
His home was in shambles with monsters roaming everywhere, and this was a new world that he knew almost nothing about. Either way he was helpless.
He was stuck.
For once his mind had finally screeched to a halt.
"I don't know what to do."
He sniffed and blinked away the tears. He couldn't be falling apart now, he needed to figure something out!
"Izuku!"
He flinched at her raised voice, he was in trouble and he knew it. He could only hope that she wasn't angry enough to hurt him. He froze in place and listened to her walk over, her footsteps were loud and heavy. They reminded him of someone else.
He couldn't find the courage to look at her, he was terrified of what she might do.
She stood beside him and was silent for a moment. He could feel her gaze, she was deciding what to do to him.
"Why did you run away?"
"I…I uh…" He struggled to form words, what was he even supposed to say?
"Look at me when I talk to you."
He flinched again, but nodded. He quickly wiped the tears away and made himself look up at her. She looked upset, but seemed to lose that edge after a moment. Her harsh glare eased and she sighed.
"I want an honest answer, why did you run away? Did something in the library upset you?"
He opened his mouth to answer, as if he could spin an excuse from nothing. He wasn't sure what to say, how to explain any of it, or even if he should. What would happen if someone knew he was from another world? Would they even accept that? It didn't exactly sound convincing.
Instead he said something else, the only thing he could really think of at the moment.
"I don't know what to do."
"What?" She raised an eyebrow.
"I…I don't know what to do." He repeated, feeling a new wave of tears. He wiped them away, but they came back just as quickly. "I can't…I dont- I don't know where to go from here."
"What do you mean?"
He stared at her for a moment before turning away and starting to pace. He fussed with the ends of his gloves while he tried to think of what to say. Why did he even say that? That was stupid! But for some reason nothing else would come out, no ounce of reason seemed to show up.
"I can't go home!" He didn't mean to raise his voice. "I don't…I don't think I can go back. I…"
I don't know if I even want to go back.
The thought stung, it felt like he was betraying someone.
He huffed and scrubbed the tears off his face. He didn't want to cry, he hated it but he couldn't help it. The tears just wouldn't stop coming.
"I see." She watched him before stepping forward and grabbing his arm. "Stop that, you're going to scratch yourself."
He eyed the hand that grabbed him but nodded. Lowering his hands away from his face. That seemed to satisfy her and she let go.
Erza stared at him for a moment before sighing. She knew that feeling, that realization of what's going on. Reality hitting you so suddenly, you had no idea what to do. The mere thought of that place and the feeling of being lost, made her tense up but only for a moment.
"Why can't you go home?" She asked.
"...I can't." He mumbled and gripped his side. That was all the answer she needed.
It wasn't an option, he wasn't safe there.
Izuku put his head down and turned away, as if ashamed of his brief rant.
She could only imagine what happened to him, what led him here and in such a state. All members came from different walks of life, one way or another they were drawn to Fairy Tail. A place to ease your burdens and call home.
"I won't pry," she started. "I'm sure what's happened to you is very personal, and I'm sorry it happened in the first place. I can't exactly solve your predicament in not knowing what to do, that's up to you to figure out. But you don't necessarily have to do it on your own, the best anyone can offer is advice, but no one can tell you how to live."
She looked over, and saw he slightly raised his head.
"I would say you have a good start where you are now, Fairy Tail is a safe place. You don't know them yet, but I'm sure many of the members will come to care about you just as they would anyone else. Either way, I hope that at least here, you can put the past behind you."
Izuku went still at that, for once his fidgeting and nervous habits stopped. He was thinking, she could see the wheels turning in his head.
"I think everyone back home…thinks I'm dead."
"And I'm glad you're not."
Izuku sighed and buried his face in his hands. He still felt conflicted, like he wasn't sure what to do. Could he really have a life here? Could he actually be happy in this place? Did he deserve it?
"If you have other concerns such as that, I suggest talking to the Master. I'm sure he can offer better insight than I can."
He took a shaky breath and nodded, the tears wouldn't stop.
"Let me know when you're ready to leave. Take all the time you need."
-.-
He cried for what felt like hours, which had eventually devolved into sobbing. Erza said nothing the entire time, only stood there with patience.
By the time he finally ran out of tears it was well into the afternoon. He was exhausted, but his chest felt somewhat lighter. His mind was still spinning with the revelations, but the anxiety of it all seemed to quiet down for now.
She offered to show him around other parts of the town, but Izuku insisted they go back to the guildhall. He said he has some stuff to think about. Erza didn't press it, and brought him back. The guild was back to its usual shenanigans, a fight seemed to be brewing. At least until Erza showed up, then everything calmed down. For now.
Makarov looked over to Izuku and Erza when they walked in and greeted them. He asked how the tour went. Izuku quickly walked by and hurried to his room. The door to his room hurriedly slammed shut.
"Is everything okay? Did something happen?" Mira asked as she watched the door close. Izuku hadn't even glanced at them. She thought she saw him crying, though she wasn't too sure.
Erza sighed and sat at the bar. "I would say everything is fine, I think he'll be okay."
"Oh?" Makarov raised an eyebrow.
"What makes you say that?" Mira asked.
Erza looked down and stared at the counter, rings of condensation stained the wood. It was easy to pick out the new and old stains. She couldn't help but trace the patterns.
"I think…he needed a minute to truly understand his new situation. That this place is different from wherever he came from. I would like to think that this is him starting to move forward, despite what may have happened to him."
The two stared at her for a moment before smiling.
"Do you think we'll have a new member soon?" Makarov asked.
"I'm not sure," she shook her head. "He seems unsure of what he wants, but I think he'll figure it out as he goes along."
-.-
Izuku stayed in his room for the rest of the day, listening to the outside and the chaos that erupted. Another fight, Makarov did say that they happened pretty often so he tried not to be too bothered by it. He jumped a few times when something banged against his door, but nobody came in.
He laid in his bed, trying to drown out the chaos of outside with the chaos in his mind. He felt somewhat calmer now, if not a little embarrassed. It had been a while since he let himself cry like that, at the realization of his situation.
This is…This is a real problem isn't it?
Izuku wasn't home anymore, he wasn't in a world where Quirks determine one's worth. A world where everything was in shambles and he had to scrape by to survive, this place was different. This was a place that had magic, a place of different rules. He still wasn't quite sure how magic worked, if it was genetic like Quirks.
It doesn't matter, you probably can't use magic either.
He grimaced at that.
That may be true, but will they make such a big deal out of it? Like Quirklessness?
Maybe.
He shuddered.
Still, this was a world so different to his own. A world where there were no Nomus or villains running around. No monsters to snatch him up and take him who knows where.
Maybe he was actually safe.
He went still at that. His mind whirred at the implications. 'Safe'.
"Fairy Tail is a safe place."
He flinched as something hit his door again, and he heard more yelling. He thought he heard Natsu's voice somewhere out there.
"I can't exactly mope about it forever…" He muttered, and stared at the wall that wouldn't answer back.
No matter how he thought about it he always came to the same conclusion. He was stuck here, and there was nothing he could do about it. He was in a place that was so unlike his home, a place that had no record or idea of who he was.
Maybe…
"This is a second chance." He murmured. His hand ghosted over the wound the Nomu gave him. It was still healing, a reminder of that place that used to be home. It would scar but with time, it would fade and he'd forget about it. Maybe that's what he could do here.
It was a brand new start
He felt ashamed again as his eyes began to water.
If this was a second chance, he shouldn't waste it.
Maybe, just maybe, life will get better from here.