Chapter 51: Descent – Three StepsNotes:
Trigger Warning: Temporary character death, Panic attack.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Ryo had a quite peculiar position in U.A. High School. Unlike the majority of his Hero colleagues, the Pro known as "Hound Dog" didn't handle any class as a homeroom teacher. Instead, he was the one tasked with keeping up with every student's well-being. Since every homeroom teacher was tasked with taking care of their own students, one could say that Ryo sort of acted as a secondary homeroom teacher for every class in the school, even the non-Heroic ones. The students from General Education, Support, and Management didn't share the same kind of problem as the Heroic Course ones, but they were all still teenagers and that meant that sometimes they would require some guidance. Being the Guidance Counselor and School Therapist, he was happy to oblige.
Ryo truly believed that taking a degree after becoming a Hero had been the best decision of his life and that accepting Nezu's offer had been the second best one. Few would have been able to provide the same insight in the Hero's profession while having the theoretical and practical knowledge he had gathered in his studies, and the students deserved somebody who could get them through their worries in the best way possible.
Despite being relatively young at 32, in his few years of experience he had already interacted with an incredible number of youngsters, and he was proud to say that he had yet to fail any of them. Of course, rough patches and changes of mind happened; you couldn't rightfully ask people under their twenties to have their whole lives sorted out, even—or especially—in the case of the extraordinary residents of their school. Still, he had always strived for the optimal outcome in each of his cases, from the simplest—a little self-doubt before or after the exam season, tiredness and burnout due to the hectic environment, guilt and fear after an accident in the lab or in the field—to the most complex—complete loss of trust in themselves, exhaustion of unsafe or hospitalization-required levels, deep depression after the loss of someone dear.
Through it all, Ryo had helped hundreds, being a Hero both in costume and without, sitting on his dear, comfortable, light-yellow tub and holding his trusty notepad.
But now, as the most difficult case he had ever faced—and that, most likely, he ever will—sat in the tub's twin in front of him, Ryo found himself wishing that his books could have prepared him for a case as complex as this one.
- Wishful thinking, - he mentally grunted, stopping himself from wondering about something that wasn't possible. Nobody could have provided him with anything of the sort, if only because anybody had yet to present to the community a case like Midoriya's. He would probably have to write it himself, if only to help somebody else who might end up in this precarious position in the future. You never knew what Quirks might end up doing, after all.
The only thing he could offer, for now, was letting the boy vent. He wouldn't free himself of the dark weight he always brought along, secretly marking his every move, but he could let go of the towing chains and rest his weary mind.
"So, Midoriya," he spoke, sizing the boy that showed a tired smile, "how have you been since our last talk?"
"As usual," the boy sighed, letting his back sag on the seat. "I have been having some nightmares."
Ryo nodded. It wouldn't be the first time that they started with those same words, and it wouldn't be the last.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
Midoriya responded with a short snort, surprising the Pro. Had it been something he had said?
"Sorry, it's nothing," the boy raised a hand and excused himself before he could ask. "Yeah, I'd like to."
The Hero nodded again. "So, how long ago are we talking about this time?"
"I feel like I'm fine going back to the start again," the boy confessed.
Ryo blinked, surprised by his patient's words.
After introducing the therapist to his "past" by recounting the start of his journey, Midoriya had decided to only talk about various moments he had lived in relation to others, some years apart. There was something he hadn't wanted to disclose about what had happened right after his second death, something that had left him deeply unsettled... and which had most likely traumatized him and changed his view of every subsequent attempt at life.
Ryo knew that Midoriya had already talked about his journey with other iterations of himself, but there was always the chance that he would find something others had missed. He was the last of a line, but he had to believe that he could help.
"Alright, thank you for your trust. I'm listening," Ryo said, clicking on his pen as the last step to feign a readiness to take notes on his patient. He didn't feel ready, but who could be?
Past
Izuku had always found the expression "third time's a charm" strange. He couldn't pinpoint an exact reason why that was, but the number three didn't feel right to him...
It wasn't like it was a bad number! Many good things came in threes! Trios were usually a good thing! Teams of three like The Big Three or The Lurkers looked cooler and were more efficient together! A third person could settle a dispute when two could not! Even U.A.—and every other high school in Japan, to be fair—lasted exactly three years!
But sometimes... wasn't it too pessimistic?
Kacchan always managed to do everything on his first try—of course he did, he was so talented!
Even Izuku usually understood things with ease when teachers explained them. Of course, then he wouldn't really be able to show it because he wouldn't be asked anything, but he knew that he had understood, and there was no need for him to show off—usually it was better not to, nobody liked it when he did.
His Hero analysis was also a good example. He only wrote things once, when they came to mind during his observations. Maybe he could take a second look to condense the information to organize it better, but it didn't happen that often.
So, yeah, wasn't three too much?
Though, on the other hand... it could also be seen as too optimistic.
Three was such a low, risible number when compared to something repeated ad nauseam.
How many times had people told him that he'd never amount to anything? How many times had he broken his bones before developing his Full Cowl? How many times had he tried to reason with Kacchan and failed? How many times had he looked away instead of confronting his feelings, putting them aside because he had a legacy to uphold, and the war was getting closer, and everybody would be in danger, and he couldn't-
But he was digressing.
Anyway, three times weren't usually a good amount for Izuku... but he really, really hoped that that wouldn't be the case this time. He had a unique chance to do something good and he wouldn't squander it!
Izuku grunted as he turned himself so that he could face the sky and breathe deeply to calm himself. A small, awkward smile made its way up his lips.
He had done it. He had managed to get back on track.
He hadn't weirded out Ochako before the exam, shakingly thanking her for the save. He didn't know why he kept stumbling, but he attributed it to his abnormal state. He had saved his best friend just like he had done before, but this time she had reached him in time to take away his gravity with a slap, and never had a smack felt so right on his skin.
He had even managed to rack up some more Villain Points before the Zero Pointer's appearance. Only 4% of his Quirk was accessible, but it already felt like a big improvement from his previous try. Knowing that [One For All] kept staying with him despite it all was reassuring, even if the Vestiges didn't. Would he have to wait until the dream with the First to meet them? Hopefully he wouldn't have to repeat the mess he'd made before and during the joint training.
Izuku opened his eyes as Recovery Girl's power readjusted his mangled arm and legs, thanking her profusely. Her look of concern and a quick recommendation to not recklessly injure himself made him think that maybe he would be able to stop ending up in her infirmary quite as often... Now, wouldn't that be something new. Letting the Youthful Heroine walk away satisfied, the boy put his mind back to the rough plan he'd concocted during the written exam.
As soon as he was back in one piece, Izuku rushed back to U.A.'s main building, letting his tired legs carry him through well-known corridors and stairs. Only after a full minute outside of the exam-related areas was he intercepted by a known face. The teen almost collided against Ectoplasm's form as the Pro stepped around a corner, stopping himself at the last possible moment.
"Ah, I'm sorry, I hadn't seen you there," the mathematics teacher said as he eyed his uniform. "You are outside the exam area. Did you get lost? I know that U.A. may seem a tad labyrinthine to outsiders," the man chuckled to keep the mood light. "Do you need help returning to the entrance?"
Despite the man's gentle demeanor, Izuku could feel that the Hero was ready to act at the smallest notice of something wrong. He gathered his courage and looked the other in the eyes.
"Um, no, sorry... I... I need to speak with All Might," he said, adding a rushed "please" immediately after.
He couldn't make out Ectoplasm's features under his mask, but—judging by the way his eyes squinted—the man was most likely frowning.
"And why would you be looking for him here? The Number 1 Hero doesn't attend every single event of his alma mater," Ectoplasm pointed out.
Izuku decided to elaborate before things could get even weirder. "Y-Yeah, b-but I know that he'll be working here starting next year, even if it's supposed to be a secret now, a-and that he should be looking at the practical exam with the other teachers right now..." he got the words out, barely breathing in-between sentences. "I-I know him... in person, I mean. He's not supposed to contact me for a week because of the exam, m-maybe because he was asked not to, b-but I really, really need to speak to him right now... And with principal Nezu and Mr. Aizawa too, if possible..."
The Hero's head moved slightly at the mention of his homeroom teacher, making Izuku realize that he was just spitting one secret after the other. Of course, after those words the man would be wary of him. He felt himself shrink under the Hero's scrutiny, not daring to do anything but endure the heavy silence. Even after receiving an "Alright, come with me," and getting out of that gaze he didn't feel like relaxing. The walk felt as awkward as the one preceding his nightly fight with Kacchan... and entering a room full of Pro Heroes didn't relieve him of that awful knot in his throat. On the contrary, he felt a lot like a rabbit in the middle of a wolf pack.
- They're your teachers, you know them, calm down, - he tried to reason to steady himself as Ectoplasm closed the door behind them.
He let his eyes wander over the group. Power Loader and Cementoss seemed impressed. Midnight seemed to be pleasantly whispering with a just-returned Present Mic. Snipe, Hound Dog, and Vlad King were silent, but curious. Nezu had his beady orbs fixed on him. Mr. Aizawa was looking back with an annoyed and judging gaze. All Might appeared incredibly surprised at his sudden appearance, letting out a weak "Young Midoriya?"
Something hurt in his chest. His guts were writhing, and his heart was beating too wildly, but he had to keep his composure.
"Oh, you must be Midoriya Izuku. I didn't imagine that we'd meet so soon," Nezu started, pressing a few buttons on the controller in his hands to let some scenes of his practical exam replay on the screens above. "You certainly gave us a show back there."
"T-Thank you." He wanted to rub the back of his neck, but his arms were stuck to his sides.
"But I wonder, why would you ask for a meeting right after that?" the principal asked. "I hope that you're not worried about your score. I can assure you that you are easily within the top five by Villain Points alone."
Izuku knew that, since he'd kept track. If he remembered correctly, with forty-eight points he should have been fifth, right behind Tetsutetsu and before Tokoyami. He hoped that he hadn't messes up anybody's chances by taking too many points for himself.
"N-No, it's not that. I-It's not about the exam, actually..."
"Spit it out, then. You're wasting daylight," Mr. Aizawa pointed out with a bored tone.
"Come on, Sho, cut the kid some slack. He just came back from destroying the Zero Pointer!" Present Mic said, elbowing the other lightly.
"Exactly," the black-haired man huffed, intensifying his glare. He didn't elaborate further, but Izuku knew what point he was making. Without Uraraka's help and Recovery Girl's efforts he would have ended up as a broken egg on the asphalt, and Aizawa couldn't suffer the self-sacrificing kind.
But Izuku wasn't the kid without control he was a year before. He had made that choice, and he would have again if-
He pushed away the thought of having to start another time to focus on the problem in front of him. His present was already bad enough.
"I-I know, Mr. Aizawa, I'll try to be brief."
His words made the man's brow furrow even further, if possible, but he kept his silence.
He swallowed and tried again. "I'm-I'm sorry, it's not something related to the exam... I-I know that this will seem completely out of the blue, but I've got a serious problem and you're the only ones I can talk about it with..." Izuku looked at his mentor as a lot of eyebrows were raised at the same time. "All Might, I'm sorry, but I need to talk to them about yo- the Quirk. I-I can't keep them in the dark about it and I really don't know what to do..."
A few heads turned from the boy to the supposedly incognito Number 1. The shock, worry, and confusion on their faces were clear as day. All Might remained dumbfounded for a few moments, being brought out of his stupor by a light throat-clearing by the principal.
"Um, are you sure, Young Midoriya?" the tall blonde asked, curving his back a bit to be on Izuku's eyelevel. "I'm sure you understand that this isn't something to be taken lightly."
Izuku nodded shakily. They would never understand if he didn't start from the basis, and he couldn't see any other solution to explain the mess he was in.
"Y-Yes, I'm sorry. I-I wouldn't do it, b-but something came up a-after I got it and..."
His head felt heavy, and his legs felt like jelly. Was his heart racing? Was he panicking again? Ah, he was crying, wasn't he?
"... And I really need your help..." he sniffed, quickly moving to dry his eyes with his sleeve. He couldn't stop the flow of salt on his cheeks.
It was obvious, wasn't it? Seeing his mentor's eyes and hearing his voice was bound to move something in him. He should have expected it. He had kept his desperation bottled up during his fight against Shigaraki, and it had been like using a cork to hold a dam's worth of water. He knew what had happened to his Hero, his mentor, his father figure first backer. His presence inside [One For All] had been proof enough. Buying precious seconds against All For One cost him his life.
Seconds he had squandered.
Midnight was here too, just as radiant as every other day. A reminder of another life that had been lost, somebody else he hadn't avenged. He hadn't even managed to be there for her, nor had he done anything to help his classmates mourn. No, he had left in a hurry, and they had to spend their time worrying for him instead. How selfish could he be?
Always about him. Never about him.
Mr. Aizawa still had both of his eyes and all his limbs... Even his gruff exterior was a haven if compared to the last image of the man in Izuku's mind. His tardiness had caused him and Present Mic to get separated from everybody else, the two falling into Kurogiri's darkness, ending up god knows where.
Scared. Unknown. What to say? What to do?
Izuku couldn't lift his eyes from the ground, feeling unable to meet the gazes of those he'd failed. What a sorry excuse for a student he was.
The boy heard a squeak as his Hero left his chair, a gentle hand being placed on his shoulder. Daring to look up, he could only see All Might's reassuring smile.
"Very well, Young Midoriya. If the situation is as grave as you say, then I have nothing more to say! I trust your judgment!" the man proclaimed in his boisterous tone, with the necessary hint of seriousness. "Please, don't cry! We really need to fix those tear ducts of yours!"
The stupid joke succeeded where his willpower had failed. He couldn't be weak now of all times. He needed to be strong for them.
"I'm-I'm fine," he stuttered, doing his best to put on a smile. "It's just been... a lot in the last few hours..."
"I must say, you're making me rather curious," Nezu stated, scratching the fur under his chin. "You are not referring to the exam you breezed through, correct?"
"N-No," the boy shook his head. "T-There's not good way of saying this, so I'll just..."
Taking a big breath, he raised his eyes to look at his teachers.
"I'm from about a year in the future, I've already died twice today, there's something very wrong with [One For All], and I-I want to help."
Present
"It must have been hard to make us accept your words as true," Ryo mused.
The boy hadn't wanted to talk about his mentor's first demise yet. Or of any of his demises, though the therapist had gathered enough from what hadn't been said. He had decided not to press the issue for the time being.
"A bit, yeah... Though most of you just decided to follow along after Nezu's decision, even if you weren't so sure yourselves."
Ryo chuckled, shaking his head with understanding. "Yes, I imagine most of us would have reacted like that. Knowing that our principal is always the smartest creature in the room lets us have some peace of mind when it comes to hard choices."
"I guess so," Midoriya said with a nod. "It saved me some problems, that's for sure."
- But it sounds like it made new ones, - he thought, noting it down for later.
He repositioned himself, crossing one leg over the other, as he resumed. "So, how do you feel about what happened afterwards?"
Past
"YOU CHEATED! CHEATED! THERE WERE SUPPOSED TO BE ONLY THREE OF YOU! WHERE IS ALL MIGHT?! HE SHOULDN'T-" Shigaraki shouted his rage while getting muzzled, which was fitting as he kept trying to fight his bonds like a rabid caged animal. Though muffled, his screams could still be heard, to the Heroes' annoyance.
"Shut up," Vlad King grunted as he moved the Villain towards the entrance by his scruff. "Midnight, could you neutralize this guy? I'll take carrying him over hearing him complain any day."
"Sure thing, dear," the R-Rated Heroine chuckled, swiftly planting his hand in Shigaraki's face and making him lose consciousness after a last furious scream.
"That's all of them," Power Loader noted, checking his update tech to be sure that there weren't any heat signatures left in the building.
All the low-ranked outlaws that had been scattered around the U.S.J. were now safely in custody, rounded up in the central plaza and mostly knocked out for good. The ones smart enough to stop fighting once their group's head had been cut were dejectedly sitting on the side of the small mound of sleeping criminals, uncomfortably close to the Nomu. It had been almost too easy, but it was to be expected. The Heroes had an unfair advantage.
"Marvelous," Nezu commented from his spot over the Excavation Hero's shoulder. "Seventy-eight Villains, all accounted for. Just as predicted."
"And not even a scratch on our side," Hound Dog growled, moving his gaze over the contained criminals and the unresponsive, black-skinned giant that was supposed to hunt the Number 1. The thing made his instincts flare up as nothing ever had before. "It could have been a massacre."
"Yeah," Snipe snorted. "Guess we got hella lucky with our green fella," he noted, clearly content and slightly commending.
Izuku gulped, feeling unworthy of the praise. "I-I just did the right thing..."
"Right, ya did," the gunslinger laughed, patting the greenette's back. "Ain't nobody saying otherwise!"
"Your classmates are safer because of you, Midoriya. You should be proud of this accomplishment," one of Ectoplasm's clones stated.
"Don't just tell him how he's supposed to feel." Izuku swallowed as Inui growled lowly towards his colleague before turning to him. "You've done good, kid, but take your time. Things are gonna get better from here on out."
The boy stood still for a moment before accepting the words with a smile and a nod.
It would have been great it the Dog Hero was right.
But fate had other plans for him.
Izuku heard Nezu let out a sound that broke the creature's usual, carefully scripted placidity.
"Are you sure?" the chimera asked with a hint of restlessness in his voice. "I see. Please, continue your search and bring back any findings. We will need all the info we can get." He closed the call and sighed heavily before turning to see the looks of worry of the Heroes around him. They all knew Nezu better, and if they all felt like something was wrong, then...
"W-What's happening?" Izuku asked, feeling his dread slowly rising like the principal's candid fur.
"I'm afraid we counted our chickens before they hatched," the creature grunted with evident frustration. "Although the secret laboratory was exactly where you described, our forces haven't found any other trace of All For One in Kamino. He appears to have left behind the Nomu vats and nothing else."
"Shit," Vlad King cursed, clenching his fist.
"It gets worse. The team meant to raid the Jaku General Hospital is currently engaged in combat, as expected, but the Doctor hasn't been sighted anywhere since the start of the operation."
"Wasn't he being traced?" Cementoss asked.
Nezu sighed again. "He's somehow disappeared from both tech and Quirks. I surmise that All For One has taken more care in hiding away what remains of his operation than we could have expected."
Izuku felt himself grow paler as he staggered closer to the chimera. "B-But how? H-He shouldn't have... He didn't last time!"
"Apparently this equation has more variables than we thought, Midoriya," the creature said, shaking his head. "I was afraid that this might have taken more time than expected, but this-"
The principal's words were interrupted by the ring of his device, and he wasted no time before answering. "Yes?"
All the remaining color washed out of the greenette's face as he heard the shouted words coming from the device.
A few hours later, every news anchor in the world would be showing the catastrophic images of the result of the Kamino raid, which would be later remembered as the "Kamino Eruption" incident.
The explosion was one for the history books, but for months it mostly haunted the people's faith in the national security. The discharge had been wide enough to wipe off the face of the Earth a few neighborhoods around a place flagged as a Villain hideout and cause irreparable destruction in many more. Hundreds of lives had been lost in a handful of seconds, along with three of the Top Five Pros of the country: Best Jeanist, Edgeshot, and Yoroi Musha. After that, few dared to wonder what evil could have required a team composed of the best their society could offer, although many tried to get an answer out of Endeavor and Hawks, with no success. Even the Number 1's words to reassure the public had less effect than hoped.
Dealing with the aftermath had left the HPSC in deep shit, with explanations to give and holes in their rankings to fill. The government agency had been clear with the raid participants: people couldn't know about the SSS-Class Villain known as "All For One," and no info could ever be shared about him.
So, with nothing to go on, a good slice of the population assumed that the Heroes had nothing to go on too... Which wasn't that far from the truth.
The Villain and everything related to him had simply disappeared into nothingness, as if he had never existed in the first place. Trying to date back any of the destroyed properties to a buyer was an effort in futility, as was trying to pinpoint any movement of currency between hundreds of almost untraceable accounts scattered all over the globe. Despite his kingly aspirations, the man was a cockroach when it came to surviving and hiding.
Even Dr. Garaki's hideout in Jaku Hospital had revealed itself to be mostly devoid of data, with only empty vats and wiped-out computers remaining as a testament of the bastard's genius. A few Low-Ends and four Near High-End Nomu corpses were now in the hands of the government, but nothing useful could be extracted from those. The doctor's personal information was of no consequence as well, since a century of changing identities had taken care of any loose thread along the way— Garaki, Ujiko, and Tsubasa were only three names among a hundred and more.
The Demon King and his servants had disappeared, leaving the Heroes aimless and terrified.
Out of nowhere, the Age of Peace had been tainted by fear, and there was nothing they could do about it.
It seemed like three wasn't his lucky number.
Present
Ryo breathed slowly, trying to keep his shivers from showing.
"What happened next?"
Midoriya, crestfallen in his tale, squeezed his own hands a bit tighter.
"Things got hectic for a while. There was nothing we could do but to wait and keep looking. It was agonizing, and every effort was in vain, or worse. Some of the Heroes and policemen still investigating started to disappear, which understandably terrified many. We didn't give up, but it became that much harder to keep going. Then more rumors about the Quirk Boogeyman started to spread, probably thanks to All For One himself. People were torn between believing that it was only a particularly bad Villain and fearing that they would be the next victims to the overall chaos. Villains got bolder, even in broad daylight. Heroes... responded in kind," the teen sighed with a weight that sung of more terrible stories. "Any idiot with some destructive power and foul dreams of grandeur could claim to be one of All For One's men, hoping that the name itself would paralyze any listener from fear. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it just brought a quicker use of lethal force on them."
Ryo swallowed, feeling a drop of cold sweat rolling down his back.
All Might had led the image of a spotless Hero that could stop any fight and capture the criminals without inflicting fatal wounds in everybody's hearts, as it was only right for good not to step down to the same lows as evil. Killing Villains, even powerful ones, was reasonably uncommon in the industry—not unheard of, but certainly frowned upon in most cases. Sometimes the job required them to make terribly difficult choices, but a Hero couldn't act as judge, jury, and executioner. To think that dozens, if not hundreds, of Pros could accept to make use of their skills to end lives made his idealist side roar in pain.
"How long-?" he tried to ask, being interjected by the same downcast voice.
"I've only seen about four months of it. All For One found us during the school trip to the Pussycats' Forest Lodge."
His expression turned confused. "How? You had already dealt with the traitor." Whose name hadn't been said yet, for some reason. Who knew what the greenette had in mind to keep his identity a secret still.
"I don't know. Or, I'll never know," the boy shrugged lightly, continuing after a brief pause. "I mean, I have some theories. Maybe somebody else was blackmailed into becoming the traitor." The pain in the kid's voice almost made the man's fur stand. "Though not as efficient as the first one would have been, it would still be enough for that purpose. Or maybe one of the Heroes that came with us had switched sides."
"Other Heroes?" he inquired.
Midoriya nodded. "The plan was to use the trip as a sort of trap. Let us kids stay 'safely' in the lodge's area while every Hero that could still be trusted and that wasn't strictly necessary to keep the cities safe patrolled and hid in the forest. All For One comes, we fight him on familiar territory, and the good wins." The teen let out a tired groan. "It didn't work."
- Straight to the point. It must have been worse than I could imagine, - he mentally shuddered.
"Whose plan was it?" It couldn't have been Nezu's. It wouldn't make sense in terms of risks.
"Mainly the HPSC's. Nezu wanted to keep us behind U.A.'s walls, but then there would have been no attack at all. That's one of the few constants... U.S.J. excluded, of course."
"Of course..." he repeated, scribbling on his pad.
- Which explains why he pushed so hard to start the dorms earlier. Conditions may be different now, but he won't take the chance, not when their safety is at risk... -
"Would you tell me what happened next?"
Midoriya slumped into his tub chair, inclining his head as to look at the ceiling. His arms were crossed, both hands firmly holding onto the other sleeve. A few breaths passed by in silence before he could open his mouth.
"I tried again, of course," he uttered. "I- We tried again. We tried lots of things. I had more hindsight on the matter, and we could make better use of it. Prevent the worst from happening..."
The kid's mouth wobbled, his muscles tensing as his eyes closed.
"I ended up trying nine times before Nezu could tell me that he couldn't find a way out of that dilemma with what we had," he continued before switching to a tone that resembled the principal's. "'I'm sorry, I've been looking at this from the wrong angle. We can't solve this by brute forcing the problem from the start,' he said. He apologized too. I don't think I ever saw him bow so deeply before anybody else... But I mean, it's not like he was wrong. Most times I didn't even last a month, since they got to me during our internships."
Ryo shivered, feeling his hand struggle to hold the pen.
"The enemy was always one step ahead, and my cheating could only change part of the equation, never the whole thing. Prepare for explosives in Kamino? Jaku's mountain collapses on the city. Prepare for an unstoppable avalanche? An island was sunken into the depths. Evacuate the island? The Tokyo Tower got taken down. Reinforce the Tower? Well, now Kyoto is burning. Save Kyoto? Then I hope you've said goodbye to Tartarus," he spoke fast, a hint of rage in his tone. "There was always something else, one more card inside his dirty sleeve. It could start in that same day, or he could wait weeks. Anything I did, he countered and built upon."
Nine times, one to four months each. At least a year spend on an interminable goose chase that led to thousands of graves.
"A never-ending vicious cycle," Ryo let out with somberness.
A small torture inside a longer one.
Midoriya nodded and moved a hand to cover his face, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"He's ready to do anything to cause to cause the unshakable pillar of peace to topple over. And I... I couldn't beat him that way."
"Understandably so," he confirmed.
"Not so much," the kid let out a sad snicker. "I didn't want to believe it. I had seen him beaten once... So why wasn't I able to do it again?"
"... So, you kept trying?"
He had expected the boy to nod, but instead saw him lightly shake in head.
"I wanted to. I almost did..."
A beat, and the tip of the pen was on paper again.
"What changed?"
The hint of a smile appeared on the corner of the kid's lips.
"I was saved again."
Past
Black.
Everything was black.
He felt the pull.
This one made twelve.
Izuku felt his whole body shiver as a something akin to a shock burned through his body, making his bones scream and searing his nerves.
Would he ever get used to it?
He stopped, his heart missing a beat as his eyes fluttered before focusing again.
He was in front of U.A.'s entrance, in the midst of the crowd of students going in.
He didn't have time to lose. He had to move, had to get inside, had to tell-
His knees hit the ground as he collapsed, his legs incapable of keeping him up as the contents of his stomach fought to leave him from the wrong direction. His hands remained stuck on his mouth and stomach, holding still against the trashing and cramping.
Pathetic. Was he really going to give up already?
No... but he couldn't move. The air wouldn't enter his lungs, and all he could emit were short sobs.
Then came her voice.
"Hey, are you okay?"
She kneeled beside him, and something soft—five things, five fingers—reached out to touch his shoulder.
"Um, it's not good for you to stay down like that, it just makes the stomach pain worse... Here, let me help you up."
She moved him as if he were a feather, bringing him back on the same level as living beings, keeping him there.
"Try to breathe slowly, it usually helps me."
He followed the suggestion blindly. Deep down, he knew that it was right.
He started feeling substance back in his legs, his abdominal pain subsiding and breath returning.
He still had some hair over his face, but he could see her. An angel with rosy cheeks had just saved him again, had reminded him of what had kept him going in the first place.
Why had he ever stopped himself from stumbling before? Why had he wasted eight encounters?
"Do you need some water?" she asked, still a bit apprehensive. "I don't have much but-"
"I-It's fine, thank you," he spoke, his voice going from a whisper to something audible. "I-I just had a bad case o-of exam jitters..." A small, believable lie. "B-But thank you for helping me up..."
"Oh, you're welcome!"
She smiled at him, and the word regained a bit more color.
"S-Should we head inside?" he preceded her leaving.
She hummed in response. "Sure!"
Only as they got moving did he dare continue. "Oh, s-sorry, I haven't asked- Um, my name is Midoriya Izuku," he said, not wanting to mess it up again.
"Uraraka Ochaco," she responded happily, still wearing that calming and caring expression. "Nice to meet ya-you!"
His smile might have been wobbly, but it was as sincere as it could get.
- It's more than nice. Much more. -
Present
Ryo had always been full of empathy, and the situation of the boy that had just left his office made him want to curl up into a ball and cry. He already had, after their first session had fully sunk in. Then he had brought himself out of that rut and had started to think of ways to relieve the teen of even a fraction of his worries.
Midoriya Izuku had accumulated what amounted to many lifetimes' worth of trauma. He had seen more people die before his very eyes than most people ever would, and he clearly kept blaming himself for any and every life he hadn't been able to save. It didn't help that the vast majority of those deaths were of people he held very dear.
Midoriya had grown close to around forty to fifty people in his loop—his friends and course mates, his teachers and confidants, a child— and they were all regarded by him as "family." The teen was incredibly happy whenever he talked about them, his positivity being seemingly boundless in their regard. Midoriya loved them—some as friends, some as partners, but always as members of his family—with a selflessness that often left Ryo astounded.
But, on the flip side of the coin, Midoriya's was a family that he had to rebuild from scratch every single time. The teen had most likely developed a very peculiar attachment disorder because of his skewed relationships. Inui knew how terribly hard it was for people to deal with the concept of dear ones forgetting about their existence—dementia being the most common cause—and imagining a situation where that same feeling got imposed repeatedly and on such a scale on somebody was devastating.
And, last but definitely not least, Midoriya had brought himself to perfectly rationalize his own suicide if it meant correcting a life-altering mistake that damaged any of his loved ones.
After the session when he'd understood that Ryo couldn't help but cry again at his own powerlessness and at that of his other selves in Midoriya's past lives. Even if he knew that he too was a member of Midoriya's "family," Ryo understood that there was little that he could do to make someone like Midoriya change his mind on that... not without some serious help, at least. As much as he wished to be, he wasn't the one who could do more, and he had yet to identify somebody who could take that role.
Sharing his results with Nezu would have been a breach of Midoriya's trust, so he wouldn't do that, as much as it pained him not to. He could only be extremely clear with the principal on how much the boy needed help, hoping that the chimera would be able to understand and that Midoriya's wellbeing aligned with the creature's plans. As much as Ryo trusted his boss, every teacher knew that the principal trusted his own logical mind and intuitions over anything else, sometimes resulting in what could be seen as a lack of empathy.
Bringing his hand to cover his eyes, Ryo sighed deeply.
He couldn't do this alone.
Notes:
Oh, it's already been 30 chapters from the first step? Man, time sure flies when you're writing fluff.
So, somebody didn't have a great time. A real "it gets worse before it gets better" situation.
This AFO though... Take away his childish pet project, and suddenly he's out for blood. And the bastard managed to hide for decades, he must have some degree of expertise there.
I like to have a "competent" Villain. Sue me.