Izuku coughs, and I watch as blood bursts from his lips. But that’s not where my eyes are focused. Nor is it the confused expression on his face. Instead, it’s the bird villain. More specifically, the part of the bird villain Izuku is looking at. Their hand.

Which is stuck through Izuku’s chest.

I’m not sure what happens but when I blink I’m somehow next to him, the bird somewhere else. I’m supporting him with one arm so he’s not lying flat on the ground, my other hand hovering over the wound as I use my quirk to stop…anything, from falling out of him. His insides are supposed to be inside, not outside.

I can hear people. But I also can’t. They’re just…there. It’s distracting. I feel something…twitch. At least that’s what it feels like. And now it’s quiet. They aren’t gone. And they’re probably still making noise. But they aren’t a part of what’s happening anymore.

It’s just me. And Izuku.

He coughs again, this time covering his mouth. That’s just like him. Worrying about other people before himself.

He reaches up, his fingers brushing against my cheek. Huh. I didn’t realize they were wet. That’s weird. I wonder where the water came from. He lets his hand drop as he looks at me. He smiles.

“I’m sorry, Izumi. I failed.”

I shake my head. “No. You didn’t, Izuku. You did good. You saved Aizawa-sensei. Did you know he’s the pro hero Eraserhead?” I chuckle, but it’s distant, like it’s coming from someone else. “You saved someone. You saved a pro hero. You know what that means?” I smile at him. “It means that you’re a hero too! You did it!”

He looks at me with wide eyes. “I -*cough*- I’m a hero? Really?”

I nod. “That’s right Izuku. You proved us all wrong. You’re a hero.”

He coughs again, his breath coming in ragged. I can feel some kind of pressure, like something is hitting my mind. But that’s not important. Izuku proved it. He proved that someone quirkless can be a hero! That means he can be happy!

He smiles at me. “Liar.” I freeze, unable to move. “You and Kachan always said I would die to the first villain I’d fight. You were right.” Tears fall from the corner of his right eye, the other one losing its shine.

I shake my head. “No. I was wrong Izuku. You’re a hero! You saved Eraserhead. The Eraserhead! And Recovery Girl works at UA too! She’ll fix you up like new! I bet you’ll even be a part of 1-A! You’ll be getting taught by Eraserhead himself, doesn’t that sound nice? I’ll introduce you to everyone! There are some people with really interesting quirks that you’d love to analyze! It’ll be great.”

I think I’ve started rambling, but that’s ok. Rambling is ok. Izuku does it all the time, and I’ll never tell him to stop again. He can ramble as much as he wants about anything, it doesn’t even have to be about quirks!

But he doesn’t look happy. He’s still crying. “I’m sorry Izumi. I can’t be a hero. You were right. Quirkless…can’t…be heroes” He gasps out and clutches my arm with a fresh round of strength and I feel my heart soar. He’s going to be ok!

“Don’t *gasp* trust *wheeze* In-ko…”

He stops talking. But that’s fine. He needs to save his energy. He’ll be ok. We just need to wait for Recovery Girl. She managed to fix up Dad, so she can fix up Izuku too! The only difference between their injuries is that Dad’s was around the stomach, and Izuku's was in the chest. He’ll be fine. We’ll all be heroes together.

The girls will absolutely love him. He’s always had that kind of nerdy charm that girls find attractive. I wouldn’t be surprised if he ended up having half the girls fall for him by the time summer break rolls around. Of course he’d be absolutely oblivious to it. I don’t think he ever noticed that Todoroki has a crush on him either. So it would be pretty fun to watch as they all try to flirt with him only for him to take it as them just being friendly.

Oh, oh! And he’d definitely be able to improve everyone’s quirks! Kaminari wouldn’t short out like he did during the battle exercise. Uraraka wouldn’t vomit from quirk exhaustion. He’d teach Yaoyorozu how to use her quirk more effectively. He might even be able to help Hagakure become visible!

He’s just that smart. And one day… one day he’d forgive me. He’d look me in the eye and say that, while he doesn’t forgive my actions, he can forgive me. We’d hug. And then we’d live the rest of our lives as pro heroes with our own agency! We’d bring a new era of peace to Japan, one where anyone could be a hero. Quirk or no quirk. All we have to do is-

Suddenly the pressure on my mind intensifies and I wince as the barrier surrounding us shatters, a dozen different noises clamoring for attention all at once. Dad showed up at some point, and he’s fighting the bird villain. The hand villain is cackling while a misty portal hovers next to him. The mist villain themselves are standing a bit behind him. I don’t see that bubble villain with the weird outfit, or the fake Izuku.

Oh, Eraserhead is next to me. I should introduce him to Izuku. He always said that he’s one of his favorite heroes. But he’s tired right now, so maybe it should wait until later? Yeah, sound is being weird anyways. Even though everything was loud a second ago, now it’s just a low buzzing. Eraserhead’s mouth is moving but no words are coming out. It’s enough to make me laugh. But if I do laugh, it might wake up Izuku. He deserves his rest. He worked hard, he deserves-

My thoughts get cut off and I feel a stinging pain on my cheek. I’m also looking away from Eraserhead. Slowly, I bring a hand up to feel it as I turn back to Eraserhead. Huh, I wonder dazedly. He slapped me.

His words aren’t silent anymore, though the buzzing is still there when he puts his good hand on my shoulders and stares into my eyes. “He’s gone. But we need to get you to safety while All Might deals with the Nomu.”

I stare at him, oddly focused on a spot just under his eye that’s leaking blood. Maybe he’ll get a cool scar out of it? At the very least it seems more noteworthy than the blood that isn’t moving on his head. His words finally register though, and I shake my head. “No. No, I can’t leave Izuku. He’s sleeping. If I move, I might wake him up.”

His eyes are sad, I wonder why? I blink in surprise when he pulls me in for a hug, his arm wrapped around me. Huh. His shirt is getting wet. Something is dripping from my face and onto his chest, but what could it be? “He’s dead, kid. I’m sorry.”

I’m sorry…

Suddenly I’m hit full force by the reality of what’s happening. What happened. I jerk back, out of Eraserhead’s arms and look down at Izuku. His eyes are empty, staring up at me without the spark of life in them. There are bloodstains all over his face, though some parts are dripping more than others from where his tears fell.

I look further down. There’s a gaping hole in the middle of his chest from where…from where…

My head snaps around so fast I think I feel something give. But who cares about that! In my sight is the bird villain. The one Eraserhead called ‘Nomu’. The one who’s fighting my Dad on even footing.

The one who killed Izuku.

There’s a break.

I scream.

`~`

(Aizawa)

I feel for the kid, I know how hard it is to lose someone you care about without being able to do anything to stop it. And despite her past, she did care for her brother. If only…

But there’s no ‘if only’, is there? Even if we had known that the kid had been kidnapped by this League of Villains, there’s nothing we could have done to save him. Hell, we hadn’t even heard rumors of the group before the attack! I guess that’s what all of Nezu’s cryptic remarks about Midosagi and the kid meant…

I just hold her for a minute, ignoring the shockwaves from All Might’s fight with that creature. I know it’s strong, but stronger than All Might in his prime? If it was, then there’s no way I’d have gotten off with such light injuries. Sure, there might be some permanent damage to my right eye if the blurriness is anything to go by, but other than the break in my arm my bones are still mostly intact. And I know that I wouldn’t have gotten off so easily if All Might had done the same back in his prime.

But apparently it’s still strong enough to match him as he is, which is more than I can handle. The most I can do at the moment is try and get his kid somewhere safe so she can grieve in peace.

But I’m surprised when she pulls away, her head snapping as she looks in the direction of the fight. I almost say something, but my words get stuck in my throat at the look in her eyes. They’re enraged. Hurt. Animalistic. Primal.

Murderous.

She holds out her bloodstained hands in the direction of the fight and screams. It’s a wordless scream, one filled with all the pain and anger she’s currently feeling from having her brother die in her arms. And from that scream, comes power.

Her quirk erupts from her arms, far thicker and more solid than I’ve ever seen before. They morph into extensions of her arms, to the size where they can easily fit All Might in the palms of her hands.

Or the Nomu.

They shoot forward, still connected to her so that it looks like she’s stretching her arms instead of launching them. They move faster than I can see, getting to the fight in an instant. They wrap around the Nomu, clutching it between both hands like a caught bird. Which it is, really.

All Might pauses to stare at it for a moment in surprise, something I’m doing too, before turning around and looking at us. His eyes naturally fall to Izumi and he starts to smile before seeing her face wreathed in an expression demanding vengeance. And then his eyes fall to the only place they could really go after seeing his daughter.

They fall to the body of his neglected son.

His eyes widen, mouth dropping open, and I wonder for the briefest moment what he’s thinking, but a disturbing crunching noise distracts me. I almost wish it hadn’t.

The hands have turned into a solid sphere surrounding the Nomu, and no matter how hard it pounds its fists against it, it can’t break free. But that’s not the disturbing part. The disturbing part is how the sphere is shrinking, forcing the Nomu into a smaller and smaller space.

And it’s not stopping.

It’s not a slow process, barely lasting a handful of seconds. But it’s enough for the monster to scream. A scream that’s drowned out by Izumi’s own as she clenches her hands, blood leaking from her nose and eyes. The sphere compresses until it’s the size of a marble.

With the Nomu still inside.

After a second of floating in the air it drops to the floor with a little ding, belying the visceral horror contained within. Izumi sways for a moment, her scream dying out as her pain is expended. She sways uncertainly for a moment as her arms drop. Her face goes slack and she topples over in a faint, unconscious before her head even hits the ground next to her brother’s. Looking at just their faces, side-by-side, it’s hard to tell which of the two is the one actually dead.

“What. The. Fuck.”

I’m not sure who the words come out of, maybe they even come from me. But it doesn’t really matter because I’m absolutely certain that both heroes and villains are of the same mind as they tremble at the show of overwhelming power. The hand villain, Shigaraki, if I recall correctly, turns and bolts through the portal, shouting over his shoulder as he does. “Don’t forget to grab the psycho!”

The mist man nods, though his own eyes are still wide as he points his hand in my direction. My own widen as I whirl back to face Izumi, and underneath her a portal starts to expand.

I quickly grab her, leaping away and trying to get back to the entrance in the hopes that out of sight out of mind will apply to the villains. And it seems to work since they don’t open another portal to try and snatch her. Instead, when I look back, I see the mist villain vanishing through one of his own portals, leaving just me, All Might, and the unconscious-

My mind stutters as I look back to where I was, and my heart drops at a familiar feeling. A familiar sight. One that drove me to push everyone away when it happened, Mic barely being able to pull me out of my self-destructive depression with the help of Nemuri and Fukukado.

The body of Izumi’s brother is gone.