Chapter Text
Izuku is having a shit day
Probably the worst in his life
It started out fine. Or well, decent. As good as it can be when you have to re-bandage your wounds. Bakugou went too far a few days ago and he got some bad burns. And as per usual, only Deku’s presence had set him off. While Izuku hates Bakugou for a lot of things. The nickname Izuku got is probably one of the things that hurt the most. It stuck under his skin like a splinter. It hurts like a bitch.
But Bakugou really went too far today. Way too fucking far. Like who the fuck tells someone to take a swan dive off the roof. That's actually so fucked.
He sighs heavily, but it quickly turns into a wince as he puts too much pressure on his leg. Which is hurting way too much to just be bruises. Might be broken. Fuck.
Probably caused by All Might after he practically punched him into the wall.
Izuku winces as he continues to walk down the road away from the alley All Might left him in. The sun is starting to lower. It's a lot later than he would usually be out, but he didn't get much choice in the matter. Bakugou took up his time with his little… Chat. And the time he took to grab his burnt notebook from the pond where Bakugou threw it. Then his encounter with the sludge villain and his quick chat with All Might took up quite a bit of time. To mention the time he had taken to process All Might's words. So he walks home slowly as the sun starts to set.
All Might had left rather quickly after he asked his question. Izuku had looked up to All Might his whole life, so the question was so easy to ask. Is it possible for a quirkless person to be a hero? He thought for sure the answer would be yes. He hadn't expected anything else other than a yes. So to suddenly have his dreams shot down so quickly…
Be realistic
His shoulder suddenly burns as the adrenaline from earlier wears off, distracting him from his thoughts. He has a bad burn from his chat with Bakugou that he’ll have to get more burn cream for. He's hoping it won't get infected from whatever was that sludge the villain was made up of. His shoulder stings slightly. He's running out of burn cream anyway. So Izuku makes his way to the nearest convenience store to buy some.
He quickly enters and avoids eye contact with the shift worker, making his way towards the medical section to grab the cream. As he's grabbing it and walking over the register, he takes a glance at the tv in the corner which is playing the news, seeing that All Might captured the same villain that tried to kill him.
Izuku freezes.
What? Why is the villain there? What happened? Didn't All Might already catch him? What caused him to esca–?
He looks back to the tv because apparently he looked away.
He freezes again.
He stops breathing.
Kacchan.
He apparently was held hostage by the same villain that held him.
Izuku watches with wide eyes as he sees what happened. All Might had pulled him out quickly. This time holding onto his arm as he threw the punch, throwing only the villain into the wall. Not both of them. Izuku sarcastically how he only did it for the camera.
“Excuse me?” Izuku snaps back to attention, realizing that he's in front of the register and the worker was waiting. He didn't Izuku's quiet panic as he watched the news. He quickly blushes.
“O-oh, sorry.” He quickly hands over the burn cream tube and pays for it.
“Have a good day.” The worker speaks in a monotone, bored voice. He obviously doesn't want to be there. Izuku rushes out of the store as fast as he could without causing strain to his leg.
Izuku gets home rather quickly, lost in thought about what had happened. Inko quickly smothered him into a hug, telling Izuku about Bakugou's run in with the villain while tears streamed down her face. He expertly extracts himself from her embrace, telling her that he had a long day and needs to sleep.
As he lay in bed after applying the burn cream and rebandaging his burns, Izuku really thought about what had happened.
He does what he does best. He analyses it.
First, he was told to kill himself by his old childhood friend.
Second, he encounters a villain that almost kills him.
Third, Izuku meets All Might for the first time after getting punched into a wall by said hero
Fourth, All Might, his favourite hero, told him his dream is stupid and that he should be more realistic, leaving shortly after.
Fifth, Izuku finds out Bakugou was also almost killed by the same villain.
Izuku sits in silence for a while.
Maybe he isn't cut out to be a hero after all…
He lets that thought linger. It sits heavy in his chest. Makes it hard to breathe. His eyes sting, but he doesn’t cry. He’s too tired to cry.
His body aches. His leg throbs. His shoulder burns. And his dream—whatever's left of it—feels like it’s crumbling in his hands. He curls up under the covers, trying to get comfortable, but it doesn’t help. Nothing helps.
He just wants it to stop.
The doubt. The pain. The way today felt like the universe decided to crush him all at once.
He stares at the wall.
Eventually, sleep drags him under.
He doesn’t know that everything’s about to change.
Not yet.