Archive of Our Own ^beta

Bzzzt. "A MESSAGE IS HERE! A MESSAGE IS HERE!"

Izuku winces, harsh sunlight meeting his eyes. His body still aches from the villain encounter the previous night, where he, Iida, and Aizawa-sensei had been ambushed on their way back from the convenience store. It was a quick fight, but the villain's blows hurt, and that bastard had gone just for him. His teacher and classmate were completely fine, but Izuku was covered in bruises even after seeing Recovery girl.

As exhausted as he is, he knows he just slept for nearly twelve hours, and he recognizes the futility of attempting to get back to it. Besides, his phone is making plenty of noise, meaning an important voicemail or text has arrived, and he should probably get up and check that.

Oh, well. The sun is up, so he should be getting up soon anyway. Farewell, extra beauty sleep, you were a nice dream.

He's surprised to see a lengthy message from Aizawa in the class group chat:

Classes have been cancelled today to allow second and third year students and most faculty to attend a training seminar that will last until Tuesday. Students are allowed to leave campus assuming they check in with me before doing so, and give a reason for their absence as well as an intended time to return. I will be available this afternoon for meetings about grades or for supervising training groups. Any rule-breaking will result in punishment for all members of Class 1-A. Please do not bother other classes this weekend.

Izuku smiles, already thinking about which of his classmates he could rope in for a training groups - Bakugou and Todoroki were out of the question, what with their provisional license make-up training in the afternoon, but Ochaco and Tsuyu were bound to be interested, and probably Yaoymomo, too, and maybe Iida if he wasn't too busy studying… Hell, Izuku could probably rope in most of the class if he asked nicely enough.

Yes, yes, this is perfect! A class training and bonding event, centered around their work as provisional heroes. Aizawa would be happy to see his class taking some (responsible) initiative to get involved in hero work, and likely be able to offer better feedback than a supervisor less acquainted with the infamous Class 1-A.

"Deku-kun!" Ochako is pounding on his door, sounding just as excited as he feels. He swings the door open, revealing their matching smiles. Ochako is already dressed in her gym uniform, and Izuku instantly feels conscious of his messy hair and wrinkled sleep shirt. "Did you get sensei's text?"

"Yeah!" he holds up his phone, still open to the group chat. "I was thinking of putting a training group together-"

"Already done, Deku-kun! Iida woke us all up an hour ago, but he let you sleep in because of how late you stayed up last night. We're meeting at the closest campus gym, Yaoymomo's leading the group over now!"

"Ah," Izuku chuckles nervously, rubbing the back of his head. "Well, I'll be dressed in a minute, so wait for me downstairs?"

"Of course!" Ochako is gone as quickly as she had appeared, though Izuku hears her humming jovially as she practically bounces down the hallway. He's excited, sure, but her energy is unmatchable (especially for someone who had only just woken up after a hard fight the night before).

Izuku silences his phone and yawns, rifling through his dresser for his gym clothes.

"Midoriya, nice reps!" Iida barks as Izuku adds another 10kg to his total weight. He's been working recently to surpass his maximum of 160kg, but he knows it isn't wise to start there first thing in the morning. Everyone knows you have to warm up first, take it easy and let your body acclimate to the stress.

"Thank you, Tenya-kun!" Izuku huffs, arms burning pleasantly from the strain. He wants to get this over with and move to quirk-assisted reps, but again, he has to take it slow. One thing at a time.

Izuku is up to 155kg when Iida calls a break, insisting everyone leave the gym for some fresh air. Grimacing, Izuku keeps working, desperate to improve after the previous night's fight. He remembers Iida and Aizawa scrambling to protect him while the stupid nameless villain beat him into to asphalt again and again. He could more than hold his own, but he had to be ready to be caught off guard again, he had to be strong enough to recover from a devastating first hit.

"Izuku, you should really take a break," Ochako is almost finished putting her equipment away, and haa come up next to him. "You're not going to get any better by overworking yourself."

"Ah, it's fine!" he gasps. "I'm just going to finish my warm-up, and-"

"'Warm-up?' Deku, you're pressing 150kg! Even Kirishima can only do, like, 130-"

"155kg," Izuku corrects sourly, though he relents, following Ochako outside after a minute or two of her irresistible puppy dog eyes.

"Glad you two could finally join us," Iida teases, handing each of them a juice pouch as they walk through the door. 

"Sorry about-"

"No, no! It's proper to put your equipment away safely so that others may find it after you, and so it doesn't break or get others hurt. You did the right thing by staying behind for a moment!"

"Ah, thank you," Izuku fails to mention the fact that he did not put his equipment away at all, eager to get back to training as soon as the break was over. For the time being, he sits on the grass next to his classmates, slurping from his juice pouch as he listens to many of them brag about their workouts.

"I did over 37km on the bike this time!" Mina shouts proudly. "I could only get to 30km last time, it's a huge improvement!"

"I'm proud of you," Yaoymomo smiles, and the other girls nod fervently. "That's a very impressive accomplishment."

"Well, I went 40km," Denki scoffs, and Mina punches him in the shoulder good-naturedly.

"Uh-uh, liar, I saw your read out and it said 25!"

"Which is still very impressive!"

"Yeah, but it's nowhere near my 37-"

There's a loud and sudden BANG in the gym behind them, and the heroes-in-training are scrambling to their feet in seconds, arguments and teasing forgotten instantly.

"What was that?!" Kirishima whispers, fingers hardening reflexively. 

"Did, um, did someone leave their equipment on?" Aoyama asks weakly, shaking and holding his hands over his stomach. "Oh, non , that's stupid…"

"Where's Aizawa-sensei?"

Before anyone can answer, an ugly creaking sound quickly crescendos from inside the gym. Jirou is quickly the only one without her hands stuck over her ears, but even she has a pained grimace on her face.

"Come on," she shouts, "let's-"

The gym wall explodes, and a huge piece of metal slams into her and Denki. The grass beneath them splatters dark red.

"Fuck," Sero chokes out quietly. "Fuck."

"Ah, there you are!" 

There's a villain standing on top of the wreckage, not someone they've seen before. One for All buzzes in Izuku's veins, and tears of righteous fury burn in his eyes. He can only pray this his friends will be okay, and worry about this villain first.

"Nobody's moved yet…? Not even to check on your friends? Well, I'm sure they're dead, but it wouldn't hurt to check!" the villain laughs as he talks about the children he's just murdered, and Izuku's blood boils.

"Bastard!" he screams with all of the energy he can muster and jumps forward, poised to kick the villain's skull in. Perhaps he will be forgiven for not holding back, but it's not really on his mind. He can't seem to think at all, he just moves, propelled by anger and terror and grief.

The villain catches his foot in his hand and uses the momentum of the failed kick to fling Izuku into the sky. He falls quickly, but not quickly enough. There are no structures off of which he may launch himself.

 By the time he gets back to the ground, the others are fighting, and more are injured. The villain keeps pulling metal from the deformed building and slamming it towards students without moving to dodge their attacks. He's strong, stronger than anyone they've fought before. This seems impossible, but the blood on the ground paints a clear picture of the situation.

Izuku's ears are ringing as he's slammed into the mud by a hunk of metal bigger than his dorm room, and seconds later he's up with another attack. It misses, too, but not for lack of trying. He's pinned to the ground again, and this time the metal wraps around him, keeping him out of commission.

I'm the only one who's gotten close to getting a hit on that guy, he thinks foggily. I've got to get back up, I've got to keep fighting...

He almost misses Aizawa rushing into the battle, half of UA's staff on his trail.

He doesn't miss the sharp rod of metal that flies into his teacher's chest before he can activate his quirk.

He thinks there should be screaming, but there's only silence as Aizawa rolls across the ground limply, coming to rest a foot from where Izuku is trapped.

"Sensei," he hears Iida shriek, and in an instant the class rep is on the scene, picking up his teacher, engines firing to take him to safety, and-

And another metal rod pierces Iida's back. He falls the the ground, blinking at Izuku in shock. Blood falls from his open lips, and Izuku reaches for him with his own bloodstained hands.

He feels cold and hot and heavy, and he looks up at the sky with tears rolling down his face. He's not sure if they'll all survive this, and it stings, burns, just hurts to know that a villain they've never met before and should probably be able to handle on their own will be the one to take them out.

Permanently.

Izuku sobs as Katsuki flies across the sky above him, limp and heavy. His pain turns to anger, and he calls on his quirk, pushing away the heavy metal keeping him pinned down. His muscles scream in retaliation, but he has to get up. He turns to face the villain, only barely noting the field of limp bodies between them.

There's a whistling sound, and a sharp, unimaginable burst of pain.

Bzzzt. "A MESSAGE IS HERE! A MESSAGE IS HERE!"

Izuku blinks wearily, harsh sunlight filtering into his room. He distantly recalls a fight, an ambush by a single villain, a-

A handful of corpses lying in the field outside the gym.

He shoots upwards, wondering how he's alive, and if everyone else is alive, and how long it's been because he knows he should have more than just a few bruises-

He blinks.

He checks the date.

He double checks.

He reads his new message.

He reads it again, noting how familiar it sounds. He tries to come up with rational reasons why it might sound like he's read it before.

He holds his head in his hands as he contemplates his situation. The memories are fuzzy, like a dream. It was probably just a dream. The déjà vu isn't too unusual, either. It must have been a dream. Just a bad dream.

He'll have to talk to it with his therapist later, if it sticks with him. It wouldn't be the first time a nightmare had affected his mental state.

He takes a deep breath. This will be a normal day.

"Deku-kun!" Izuku jumps up and swings the door open, revealing an excited Ochako bouncing in the hallway. "Did you get sensei's text?"

"Um, yeah, I-"

"You don't look so good," she interrupts, stepping forward and pressing the back of her hand against his forehead. "Your temperature seems fine, are you feeling alright?"

"Ah, I'm fine!" He quickly composes himself, stepping back with his hands held up reassuringly. "I just overslept, you know how it is."

"Oh, about that! Iida let you sleep in because of how tired that fight left you last night, but I figured I should let you know that we're going to the mall today!"

"...the mall?"

"Yeah! Only a few people wanted to do workouts, and it's been so long since we did anything fun as a class, so Iida convinced Aizawa to let us go to the mall again!" Ochako is bouncing on her feet, hands clapping together rapidly.

"Oh, um, great!"

The tension in his shoulders lessens as Ochako jogs down the hallway, leaving Izuku to get ready. This wasn't what happened in his dream, so that must really have been a very vivid case of déjà vu this morning.

Content with his conclusions, Izuku prepares for the fun day ahead of him.

The mall trip is fun for about an hour or so. Aizawa comes along to supervise, making his students promise they'll be back at UA before his afternoon meetings. Izuku suspects he does not expect this to really happen, and a phone call he overhears between Aizawa-sensei and Nezu confirms this.

Once they actually get to the mall, everyone splits up into small groups, running off to their favorite stores and hangout locations. Aizawa plops down in the food court with a coffee and his laptop, glancing up every now and then to keep an eye on things.

"Stay within the complex," he warns before everyone is completely out of earshot. "Text or call me if there's an issue. Don't get into trouble."

With that, the class completely disperses, each student off to seize the day.

"Midoriya-kun!" Iida and Ochako are running towards him, the latter already holding a bag of candy from the food court. "Do you want to go shopping with us?"

"Ah, sure!" Though not surprised, Izuku is still very flattered that his classmates want to spend so much time with him. It was definitely hard to get used to at first, but it's a lot of fun hanging out with them.

"Ooh! We can buy you some cute outfits, Izu-kun! Fix that awful fashion sense of yours," Ochako laughs at the blush spreading across his face.

"My fashion sense is fine!" he protests, and even Iida has to suppress a chuckle.

"You only wear like, three shirts," Tsuyu points out, coming up from behind Izuku. He yelps, stumbling forward, though nobody seems to notice. "And one of them literally just says T-shirt on it, kero. Not very flashy."

"I don't think Izuku could pull off flashy," Ochako frowns, her nose wrinkling at the thought. "I just mean that he doesn't have the personality for it."

"You don't need the right personality to wear certain clothes," Izuku argues, but the other three are already dragging him to the nearest shop to test that theory out themselves.

Fifty minutes later, Izuku finds himself carrying bags of clothes purchased by Ochako, most of which are for him.

"It's a gift!" she insists when he tries to pay her back. "A sorely needed gift."

"My fashion sense is not that bad-" he argues, pulling his wallet away from her with faux anger. She laughs, and chases him out of the store where they meet up with Iida and Tsu, who ran off to the food court long before the others were done shopping.

"Took you that long to find him a nice outfit, kero?" Tsu questions playfully, earning a tap on the arm from Ochako.

"He actually does look good in everything!" she admits.

"What about that suit he wore to the I-Expo?" 

"Well, um, fine. He looks good in almost everything."

"Hey!" Izuku frowns, glancing between the two girls. "I really liked that suit…"

"It was a nice suit, Midoriya-kun!" Iida assures him, though Izuku knows his friend well enough to see he's not telling the whole truth.

"...it was kind of ugly, wasn't it?"

The group stops walking, and Ochako guides him to a table to sit down. "It's okay, Deku-kun, not every outfit will be perfect."

"Maybe I do have bad taste," he holds his head in his hands, bags of clothes dropping onto the greasy table. Tsuyu pulls out some of the garments, inspecting them carefully.

"Well, you're lucky to have Uraraka-san, then," she concludes, refolding the clothes and returning them to the shopping bags. "These would look great on you, kero."

"Yeah, she really knows her stuff." Izuku sighs, resting his head on the table. "Thanks, Ochako."

"Of course, Izu-kun!" 

The group sits quietly for some time, taking in the sights and sounds of the complex. Tsuyu and Ochako run back and forth between various restaurants and their table, bringing back snacks for everyone to enjoy.

Iida scrolls through his phone quietly for a while before pausing, looking up with confusion painted on his face.

"Where did sensei go?" he asks pointing at a table where their teacher's stuff is still sitting out with no owner in sight.

"He probably just went to check on someone, or to use the bathroom," Tsu says. "He'll be back, we have to get going soon anyway-"

The whole building shudders, and a second later the West wing of shops is engulfed in flames. Patrons are sent to the floor as debris flies from the explosion and the flames creep closer in bursts.

Izuku gasps, pressed flat against the floor by the force of the blast. He blinks, trying desperately to take in his surroundings.

His ears ring, and his left eye doesn't seem to be working probably, and the smell of smoke is making him nauseous, but he's okay. No major injuries.

The food court is a mess, with tables and chairs and debris scattered everywhere. Employees are rushing out of their respective establishments, desperately trying to get themselves and any patrons they see out of the mall.

Izuku struggles onto his knees, stomach lurching in protest. He sees Tsu holding Ochako, who clings to her like she'll die if she lets go.

He scans the floor for Iida, finding him only a few feet away sprawled on his back. His arm is bent at an awkward angle (not a leg, thank goodness), but he otherwise looks alright.

Izuku picks him up as gently as he can, and stumbles over to Tsu and Ochako. He startles at the sight of blood dripping down Ochako's leg.

"-ing to be okay, Chako-kun," Tsuyu is saying soothingly.

"I-I know, it just, it hurts and I'm, um, I'm really sc-scared. I shouldn't, it's not right for, I mean-"

"Heroes can be scared too, Ochako," Izuku assures her, and she sniffles. 

"We need to get out of here," Tsuyu says to him. "It's not safe."

"Right!" Midoriya steadies Iida on his shoulders as Tsu jumps off into the East wing. He's about to jump after her when

the building shudders again.

The shockwave sends Izuku to the ground again, and he screams, not in pain but in pure fear. It's a shrill, inhuman sound. He doesn't know if he'll ever forget it.

Glass flies at his face, slicing open his skin in several places. He doesn't care.

He lies on his side, staring at Iida's unmoving body. His chest is still, static, dead.

Iida's dead and it's his fault.

He didn't move in time.

He wasn't fast enough.

He could have gotten them to safety.

A part of him hopes Tsu and Ochako made it. That they were saved from the explosion at the last second by means Izuku is too depressed to imagine.

The building shakes, and the ceiling begins to crumble. Large sections of skylight and support beam reach down to greet Izuku, and he reaches up to them.

His blood is painted on the floor.

Bzzzt. "A MESSAGE IS HERE! A MESSAGE IS HERE!"

Izuku gasps for breath, tears already forming in his eyes. He's sitting up before he can think, and when the thoughts do come rushing in, they're unbearable.

He doesn't bother to read his new message, instead throwing his phone at the wall with as much force as he can muster. There's the distinct sound of crunching glass right before silence.

He holds his knees close to his chest, staring down at his ruffled blankets. Dark splotches appear as more and more tears roll down his cheeks.

Was that a nightmare?

Was that a nightmare within a nightmare?

He doesn't know. He doesn't want to think about it, because then he'll see the bodies, the fire, the blood, over and over and over again.

He should tell someone about this. It's not normal.

For the moment, he just sits and waits for Ochako to come knocking on his door.

A moment later, Ochako comes knocking on his door.

"Come in," he gasps before she can say anything. The door opens slowly, and she steps in to speak with him.

"Izuku?" she rushes to his side, hands hovering above him like she's not quite sure if she should close the gap.

"Ochako."

"What's wrong? You're crying."

"Don't worry about it. It was just… I just had a bad dream."

She grimaces, all too familiar with the nightmares so common for this year's hero course students. Likely she has had a few herself, Izuku reasons.

"Can I help?"

Izuku is quiet for a moment, then, "I need a hug."

After a brief moment of deliberation, she graciously acquiesces. The hug is loose, like she's afraid of hurting him if she squeezes too hard. That's alright, though, because she's right here and safe and the hug, light as it is, is proof enough for him.

She pulls away after a long moment, studying his face. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'll be fine. Did you see sensei's text?"

"Oh, yeah! Most of the class is going to work out in the gym,  jog around campus and whatnot. The rest of us are taking the free day to catch up on homework and hang out."

Not going to the gym as a class. Not going to the mall as a class. Splitting up, doing different things. Izuku can work with this.

Maybe he can convince himself things really are normal. That it was just a bad dream.

The set-up is different this time. Shouldn't the outcome be too?

Izuku sits in the common room with everyone else, working on his English assignment while keeping a watchful eye on his classmates. If something starts to go wrong, he's going to see it. He has to.

"I just can't believe Todoroki-san, of all people, is sleeping in! He seems too disciplined for something like that," he hears Ochako say.

"Mido-chan, you're creeping me out!" Mina whines, melting her third worksheet. Yaoymomo hands her another one from a stack she's printed just for this purpose.

"Maybe he's just trying to focus!" Tsu defends. "You should try it sometime, Ashido-san."

"But he's watching the rest of us, and just sitting there silently! It's weird. He's acting weird."

"Leave him alone, Mina," Yaoymomo says. "He's not doing anything wrong."

Izuku has nothing to say, so he mutters a "sorry" and focuses on his own worksheet. If he finishes it, he can go sit right next to everyone else and focus only on keeping them safe.

But it's easier said than done, staring at the words that just barely make sense. His head is starting to hurt thinking about that monster of a language, and after a minute, he sets his pencil down and moves to the couch next to Ochako.

"Hey," she says quietly, putting her work aside. "You feeling any better?"

"Yeah," he lies. "I'm good. I'm sorry for creeping you guys out earlier."

"That was just Mina, and I think she was just looking for a distraction from her homework. The rest of us could tell you were feeling off, we don't mind."

She leans on his shoulder, placing her hand on his own.

"We care about you, Izu-kun. If you want to talk about your bad dream, you can."

The other girls (sans Mina, who had gotten up for a snack) nod, having already been filled in about Midoriya's nightmare. He hadn't given any of them any details, but didn't they deserve it?

He's not sure what to even tell them. They're all so kind to him. Would she be if she knew he had failed to save her in that 'dream?' He was afraid to talk about it. He was afraid to admit that he wasn't strong enough to help them.

And here they all were, trying to help him.

"I don't know," he finally says. "It wasn't that big of a deal."

"Well, it's obviously shaken you, kero. If you're still worried about it, it might be a bigger deal than you think."

The four of them sit silently for a few moments.

"If you don't want to talk about it, you don't have to," Ochako assures him suddenly. "Just know that we're here for you, okay?"

"Thanks," he smiles, a real and genuine smile. Whatever happened, it's over now. He's safe, and his friends are safe, and it's going to be okay. Everything is fine.

Kirishima bolts through the main doors, gasping and wheezing as he crashes to a halt by the window. Ochako shrieks, falling over the side of the couch.

"What the hell, Eijirou?" she hissed, stumbling to her feet.

"We-" he coughs, doubling over and holding his stomach. His hands are stained red when they pull away.

"Oh my god," Ochako is pale, but she still runs up to him, closely followed by Tsu, Yaoymomo, and Izuku. "Wh-what happened?"

"Sh-Shigaraki," he rasps, "and the, the others, they-"

"Where is he?!" Iida shatters the window and leaves marks on the carpet as he slides across the room. "Shit! Kirishima, did you see where he went?"

"I-" Kirishima falls into another coughing fit, this time spewing blood from his lips.

"Iida, where's sensei? Is help on the way?" Yaoymomo asks frantically, pulling bandages out of her stomach for Kirishima. Tsu pulls off his sweater, wincing at the blood smeared across his torso. Uraraka falls to the ground with a hand over her mouth, like she's going to be sick.

Izuku can't move. His heart is pounding in his ears, every instinct screaming at him to run, fight, protect. But he can't even look away from his injured friend, can't do anything to help him. It's like his blood has turned to ice, freezing him in place.

"We were attacked," Iida says, rushing forward to help Yaoymomo dress Kirishima's wound. "The six of us who went out running were split up, and I ran back to the gym to let the others know someone was out there, but…"

He pauses, hands shaking and now smeared with Kirishima's blood. 

"They were all already dead," he chokes out. "Aizawa-sensei, he was barely holding on, but he was still, he wasn't dead, and he told me, ordered me to run, to, to, to come and make sure you were safe, and he, he," Iida shakes violently. "He stopped breathing. I don't know if anyone else is coming."

"Oh my god," Yaoymomo whispers. There are tears in her eyes, but she wipes them away angrily. "Okay. Okay. Iida, you help me wrap up Kirishima. Ochako, can you call an ambulance?"

"I can do that," Ochako says with a wobbly voice, pulling out her phone. "Should we try to leave the building? Should we try to get off-campus?"

"Yes," Izuku says suddenly. "We should run."

I've seen what happens if we don't. Both times. If we fight, we die. I've seen it. 

"We should follow the instructions the police give us," Yaoymomo counters. "They know best in this situation-"

"My call didn't go through," Ochako whispers. The room goes silent.

"They're blocking all forms of communication," Izuku realizes. "If we want help, we need to go get it ourselves."

"Iida, could you-?" Tsu starts.

"No. I'm tired of running every time a villain attacks. We have our licenses. We can- we should handle them ourselves."

"Th-they," Kirishima coughs, "they killed sensei. They killed him, Iida, and K-Kami-"

Kirishima coughs again, holding his hands over his mouth to muffle the sobs.

"Why are they after us?" he gasps, pressing hardened fingers into his wrists. "I just wanted to help people! Not see my friends get- get k…"

Izuku can't bear any more of this. So he runs. He runs out the broken window, runs until he reaches the main building.

It begins to rain, he notes distantly. It comes down thick and suddenly, drenching him in a matter of seconds. It numbs him.

He sits on the ground for a moment. He should run and get help. Get the police and the pros on the scene. But his head is throbbing, and there's this voice that tells him it wont work.

But a hero can't give up that easily.

He can see Shigaraki and Toga approaching, sauntering down the path like they own the place. They'll get to Heights Alliance before he can get to the police station across town.

He has no choice, then. Iida was right. They'll be finishing this here, today, one way or another.

Then again, if he can hold the villains off for long enough, maybe Iida can run for help after all. Either way, there's no avoiding this. It's him versus the villains. Alone.

Toga lights up when she sees him rocketing forward, pulling out two long knives that are already coated in blood.

He doesn't want to know whose.

"You'll pay for what you did," he says, stopping only a few feet away from them. Toga laughs, while Shigaraki just sighs. 

"Oh, Deku," Toga giggles, "what makes you think that?"

"Toga, you've had your fun. Just kill him, please."

"Him? But he's a true hero, Shigi-kun! Stain said-"

"I don't care what Stain said. This brat is in the way."

"I think I'd kill you before I killed him," Toga says, pouting like a child.

Izuku holds back, processing their conversation. Maybe the two will turn on each other, saving him some trouble…

Shigaraki waves his hand. "Fine. Have it your way."

"Yay!" she practically jumps in excitement. "Let's take him with us, then! He can watch us test the rest of his friends."

Izuku's eyes widen, and he steps back suddenly. This isn't what he was hoping for, or what he was expecting. But he won't let them do it. He won't be taken prisoner.

He'll have to fight.

"Okay, Deku!" Toga turns to address him, putting away one of her knives. "You're going to walk with us, okay?"

"No," is all he can manage to say. Toga frowns.

"Come on, don't be difficult! We're not going to hurt you, Izuku-kun."

"Don't call me that," he hisses. Shigaraki huffs, crossing his arms.

"This is taking too long. Knock him out or something."

Immediately, Izuku is jumping away from Toga's attack, One for All buzzing under his skin. He struggles to hold back his power as he aims kick after kick at his adversary.

Righteous anger seems to be all that fuels him as the fight drags on. He can tell that he's losing, somehow. He uses more of his power, and still can't seem to land a hit on her.

All it takes is one slip-up - literally, in this case. 

His foot slides in the mud as he attempts to jump away. He slams into the ground, and when he looks up, Toga's already swinging the hilt of her knifs towards his face.

He's lost.

"-sides, we can't wait for him. He probably has a concussion, he would've woken up by now otherwise."

"But I want him to watch! His input is important."

"My input is much more important, wouldn't you say? I think we should move on, you've wasted enough of our time as it is."

Izuku groans, attempting to lift his head from where it rests on his chest. He can barely move an inch before fatigue takes over and he's left limp. He huffs quietly.

The very familiar voices go silent, and a moment later, someone is lifting his head by the chin, four fingers digging into his skin. He snaps his eyes open, and is met with Shigaraki's face, so close to his own.

"You're very lucky. He woke up all on his own."

"Oh, good!" Shigaraki steps back, still keeping Izuku's head propped up. Toga is standing behind him, knives out. 

Across from Izuku are Ochako, Kirishima, Tsuyu, Todoroki, and Yaoymomo. They're each tied to a chair like he is, though he's the only one without a gag. Their expressions range from pure terror to hazy concern, unbridled rage, resigned horror, and desperation.

Izuku wheezes, wriggling against his restraints.

"Let them go," he begs, staring at Toga. "Please, don't hurt them."

"I'm sorry, Izuku-kun, but I can't do that." And she really does sound sorry. Her frown is real, that sad look in her eyes is real, and he knows she's still going to kill them.

"No, please!" he shouts, tears forming in his eyes. Shigaraki sighs beside him, grabbing another strip of cloth. The bandages Yaoymomo made for Kirishima. Kirishima, who is still slowly bleeding out. That must be why he looks so distant, so detached.

Shigaraki fastens the makeshift gag around Izuku's face, silencing him at last. He gets the feeling that this is what Shigaraki wanted from the start, only held back by Toga and her love for the one true hero.

"We have something to show you, little hero," Toga says excitedly, holding her bloodied knife against her chest. "These students, these heroes-in-training, they're not worthy. They didn't try to protect each other, like you did when you fought Stain."

Izuku doesn't want to listen. But he can't seem to tune it out.

"They're fakers. They're only in it for the glory, I bet. Well not anymore!"

Izuku's muffled screams slip through his gag. Shigaraki holds his head up with one hand, and forces one eye open with the other. He can't look away as Toga slits each of his friend's throats, one by one. 

None of them scream like he is screaming. A distant, calm part of him wonders if this is some sort of defiance. A last message to the villains that are stealing their lives away.

He decides that they should steal his next. Take it from him. If this is what it's become, he doesn't want it anymore.

"That was kind of fun!" Toga chirps, cleaning off her knife on Yaoymomo's skirt. "We should do stuff like this more often, Shigi-kun!"

"Now, what do we do with you?" Shigaraki twists Izuku's face to the side, grinning at him with those awfully chapped lips. Izuku squeezes his eyes shut. Shigaraki huffs, but lets him keep them closed. The show is over, after all.

"We should leave him here," Toga says dejectedly. "I would love to take him home with us, but Dabi would get so mad! And Izuku-kun is crafty, he'd just escape anyway. Might as well leave him here…"

"Good, then let's get out of here. The pros will be here soon, I should think."

Izuku lets the tears fall from his eyes. He tries to be silent, but even with the gag, his sobs slip through, choked and muffled and downright pitiful.

Toga shuffles towards him, wiping the tears from his cheeks. "Don't cry, Deku-kun. You're worthy! You're going to be a wonderful hero someday."

Shigaraki coughs, and Toga hops back, glancing between him and Izuku with something like remorse on her face.

The awkward moment is broken by several police officers and pro heroes entering the building.

Shigaraki releases Izuku's face, and his head falls forward. He can see out of the corner of his eyes as the villains begin to retreat, desperately searching for an exit.

It's no use, Izuku thinks, the building must be surrounded by now.  

Endeavor saunters forward, and the villains step back further. Izuku doesn't look up. His tears fall to the floor. He distantly hears Iida's voice, likely outside the building.

Good. At least someone worthwhile survived this mess.

The pro pauses as he takes in the sight of his son's corpse, still warm and bleeding. The fire on his shoulders flares, and across the room Izuku can feel the heat.

"You," he grits out, "will not get away with this."

"Won't we?"

And Shigaraki is running forward again, towards Endeavor, or maybe Izuku, or maybe towards nothing at all.

Many things happen at once.

Toga runs the opposite direction, up the stairs and into the dorms. Shigaraki reaches towards Endeavor's face. A policeman, assisted by Iida who shouldn't be here shouldn't have to see this shouldn't have to see what Izuku's seen, comes through the broken window to free Izuku.

Iida is pale, but he maintains eye contact with Izuku while the policeman works on untying him. He says things that Izuku can't hear, because the sound has stopped.

Iida makes a strange face. Izuku stares at him as it changes from shock to pain to fear.

Izuku screams through his gag as Iida begins to slip away, turning to dust before his eyes.

When he's all gone, he sees Shigaraki, five fingers planted on Izuku's stomach. Endeavor is gone. Iida is gone.

Izuku is…

is….

….

Bzzzt. "A MESSAGE IS HERE! A MESSAGE IS HERE!"

First, there's the unwelcome feeling of being alive.

Second, there's the very unwelcome sound of his notification.

Third, there's the very, very unwelcome knowledge that this is not normal.

Izuku is pacing across the room as soon as he's out of bed. This is no longer just a hunch. Something is happening to him, and it's not a series of nightmares, nor a coincidence, nor déjà vu.

Something is happening. Something horrible.

He needs to tell sensei. He needs help, he needs to fix this.

He speeds downstairs in his pyjamas, passing Ochako in the hall. He knocks loudly on Todoroki's door. He's a light sleeper. This should save his life.

He makes it downstairs in record time, earning a few glances from his fully dressed classmates. 

"Ah, Midoriya!" Iida calls to him from the kitchen. "How was-"

"No time," he yells back, running for the main entrance.

"Hmm! No running!"

It takes him only a minute to run to the teacher's dorms, but it feels like an hour to him. He resists the temptation to jump across campus with his quirk, and just runs as fast as he can.

He nearly slams into the door upon arrival (maybe Iida was onto something) and quickly knocks, rocking back and forth on his feet as he waits for a response.

It takes a full minute before the door slowly opens to Aizawa, also still in his pyjamas, holding his phone in one hand a cup of coffee in another.

"Problem child," he greets slowly. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I need help," Izuku sniffles. He's not sure when he started crying, maybe just then. "Something's been happening, and it'll probably sound crazy, but I know it's real, and I have to stop it from happening again-"

"Come in," Aizawa steps back into the teacher's quarters. He walks a short distance to his room, where he begins clearing papers off of the small couch by the wall. He sits, and motions for Izuku to do the same. "And close the door behind you, please."

Izuku sits down carefully, hands folded neatly in his lap. He sees Shigaraki's hand, extending towards him after he killed Iida. His grip tightens.

"What's happening? Explain."

"Okay. I know it'll sound crazy, sensei, but I promise-"

"This whole world is crazy, kid. Whatever it is, I'll believe you."

Izuku takes a deep breath.

"I don't know why but the day keeps repeating and each day you die and I see my friends die and then I die and this is the fourth day that I've woken up to that same stupid text alert and the same paragraph about a training seminar or whatever and I know I'm not going crazy because it was real, they died and it hurt and I can't let it happen again-"

"Okay, slow down," Aizawa says, setting down his coffee on the end table. He's silent for a brief moment, as if waiting for Izuku to continue. When he's doesn't: "So, let me get this straight. You've woken up four times now and, what, it's the same day?"

"Yes, but different."

"So it's the same day, but each time you've woken up, it plays out differently?"

"Yes, but it ends the same."

"With me and several of your classmates dying in front of you."

"Well, you've only died in front of me once," Izuku corrects.

"Uh, right. But other than those vague conditions, nothing has been the same each day?"

"Well, Ochako comes to check on me each morning, but other than that..." Izuku shifts where he sits, trying to recall as many details as possible. Could it be that there's some sort of link between each day's events that he's missed?

"Can you describe the events of each day to me in as much detail as possible?" Aizawa begins recording on his phone. Izuku wonders who he's recording for. 

"Can I skip some things? Like, um, the graphic death parts?"

"Of course."

"Okay. Well, on the first day, I woke up very peacefully, and then Ochako-san knocked on my door…"

"...and then I realized that I needed to get help. Whatever is going on is obviously something I can't ignore or handle on my own. So I came to you."

Aizawa sits in silence, scratching at his stubble. He glances between Izuku and his phone, which is still recording their stagnating conversation.

"This is very serious," he says finally. "I'll be sending this information to Nezu for evaluation. If anyone would know what to do in a situation like this, it would be him."

"And what do we do in the meantime?"

"Head to the bunker. Hope it's enough to keep us all safe."

Bzzzt. "A MESSAGE IS HERE! A MESSAGE IS HERE!"

Izuku screams and throws his phone at the wall. It doesn't break, so he throws it out the window.

He sinks into his sheets. He's never felt more alone.

"Keep an eye out for a common thread, a connection between each repetition. Report to me every day, I may not remember what happened previously but I promise I will do my best to help. Don't be discouraged."

Those were Nezu's last words to him before the bunker began to collapse.

Only an extremely powerful nuclear missile aimed directly at the bunker could cause it to crumble like that. Izuku remembered that fun fact from the initial tour.

The falling debris killed Aizawa and Nezu first, then Aoyama and Sero. Satou, Mina and Kouda were injured, but alive.

The blast heat, coming through only seconds later, killed everyone but Todoroki, Iida and Izuku, who were encased in a bubble of Todoroki's nearly indestructible ice. 

Still, as the bunker crumbled and burned, a piece of debris did what the intense heat could not and crashed through the ice, killing Todoroki and Iida on impact.

Izuku was left to slowly burn alive, which he found a lot more painful than the fairly quick deaths he'd experienced before that point.

"Don't be discouraged."

"How am I supposed to manage that?" he says aloud. Even to himself he sounds hollow.

There's a knock at the door.

"Come in, Ochako."

The door swings open. He doesn't listen to what she says. She seems to notice rather quickly, and she talks very quietly and slowly, inching closer to where he sits on his bed.

He still doesn't listen. He curls up in the All Might sheets.

Maybe I'll be safe here, he thinks. Maybe if I just stay here and don't think, I won't even notice whatever happens this time.

Ochako places a gentle hand on his back. He starts to sob. She pulls away and he sobs harder.

She wraps him in a hug, tight and warm and reassuring. He vaguely wonders how she would do in his situation.

He wonders if anyone else has ever been in his situation. If they ever got out.

Could the world turn on without him?

He doesn't know. He doesn't care.

He vaguely recognizes that this type of thinking is useless, and a waste of his precious time. He has, based on past experiences, anywhere between three to seven hours until they all die. 

He should talk to Nezu.

He should make a plan.

He should do something.

He just lays there, covered by Ochako, sobbing into his All Might blanket.

And maybe, if he stays there long enough, things will be okay.

Things are not okay.

"Nezu is gone this weekend, problem child. Don't you read your messages?"

Izuku stands shell shocked outside of Aizawa's door, still in his pyjamas like the day before. This time, though, things are a lot less hopeful.

"I guess I must have skipped over that detail," Izuku says shakily. Aizawa stares at him, expression shifting almost undetectably.

"Take the day to relax, Midoriya," he advises. "You haven't taken a break in awhile."

"I don't need to take a break," he says, crossing his arms and fixing his gaze on the floor.

"You got beat out of your mind last night by some c-list villain. You've been distracted, and-"

"I'm fine!" he whisper-shouts, looking up at his teacher with a glare. "I'm fine now."

"Only because we have Recovery Girl!" Aizawa looks more sad than angry, something like pity on his features. "Kid, you need to rest. You're pushing yourself too hard. Keep it up, and you'll crash, or burn out, or just get distracted like last night."

"I can't relax today," Izuku whispers. "You don't understand-"

"I understand just fine. You're training to be a hero, and you think that means you're already a pro. That isn't that case. You're still a child. Let yourself rest, Midoriya."

The two stand there awkwardly for a moment. Midoriya studies his teacher's face. If he tells him the truth again, will he disappear tomorrow morning like Nezu?

He stays quiet, and Aizawa huffs, retreating into his room.

"Let me know if you need anything from me," he says before he closes the door.

Izuku balls his fists and lets the tears roll out.

He starts taking notes each morning, listing out the similarities between each repetition. 

• Each morning, I sleep in and get woken up by the text alert
• Ochako comes to talk to me about two minutes after I wake up
• Todoroki always sleeps in
• When I wake him up, he usually survives (not always)
• Aizawa always dies
• I always see at least three classmates die
• Iida always dies
• Ochako and Tsuyu almost always die, sometimes not. 
• Whoever I tell the truth to each day disappears (Nezu, All Might, Kacchan)

He remakes the list every day, since it doesn't hold over after he dies. He's got it memorized by now. It's been about a month of this. He knows that if he can figure out the link, like Nezu said, he can figure out how to end it.

For the past few loops, he's attracted the concern of most of his classmates. He doesn't usually trudge around with so much gloom and desperation, after all.

They can see something has changed about him, and he gets asked every day, over and over, what's wrong, why he's so downtrodden all of a sudden, is he okay?

He can't tell them the truth. They could disappear if he does. And he doesn't know if they'll be okay.

So he can't tell them the truth.

They will die, and die, and die, and he will never tell them why.

…

…

…

Alright, fine. Enough with the defeatist talk.

There must be a way out. A good way out, not just getting kicked from the loop. He can't know for sure what's out there, and he can't in good faith banish his friends to possible danger.

So yeah, he's not going to tell any more of them the truth.

But there has to be some other way out. Some way to fix all of this, get time back to normal. Some way to wake up from this shitty nightmare.

"I'm starting to sound like Kacchan," he thinks aloud, pacing around his room. His heart aches thinking of Kacchan, and All Might, and Nezu. All had trusted him unconditionally when he told them what he was going through.

And the next day, whoever he'd told was gone, and he was left with no way to contact them.

Except…

He pauses, eyes widening.

Something didn't add up.

There was a detail he'd missed, in the midst of all the panic and dying. Something vital, that he should have noticed. 

He glances at the clock. It's nearly noon, which means the bad things could start any minute, or a few hours from now. He's never sure until the first blood is spilled.

But he has time to check. He has time to test his theory, no matter how dangerous it could be if he's wrong.

It's the first major clue he's had in a long time and he's not going to sit on it.

He makes it downstairs in record time, practically falling down the steps and into the common room. He's out the door before anyone can speak to him, and there really are a lot of people in the building for this late in the morning.

He pushes the thought aside and runs to the teacher's dorms, using One for All to propel him. Once there, he rushes to Aizawa's room and pounds on the door.

He waits. No response.

He knocks again, this time even more frantically. No response.

He pulls out his phone, and reads a recent text conversation in the group chat that concludes with Aizawa agreeing-

Okay, he's off-campus.

It's another quick dash back to the dorms, one that leaves him aching even more than usual, and exhausted beyond understanding.

"Midoriya-kun!"

He whirls around, staring at Iida with wide eyes and an undoubtedly unhinged expression on his face. Iida flinches back, looking him up and down.

"Are, are you alright, Midoriya-kun…?"

No, he wants to say. I'm not alright. I haven't been alright for months and nobody knows because it's too dangerous to tell them.

He stays silent for a moment instead, collecting his thoughts. He needs to talk to Aizawa. He can't tell Iida too much. He needs to talk to Aizawa.

"Iida," he says breathlessly, "I need your help."

"Er, what can I do for you?"

"I need to go to Aizawa. I have to speak with him urgently, and in-person."

"Unfortunately, he's not here right now. Are you sure you can't text or call him?"

"It has to be face to face," he says. Iida eyes him skeptically, so he searches for a lie. "I have evidence pointing to the identity of the UA traitor," he whispers. He's never been a convincing liar, but miraculously, Iida pales.

"Then we should go to him, urgently. We-"

"Where is he?"

Normally he would feel awful about interrupting his friend like that. But things haven't been normal for him for weeks. He ignores the shocked expression on Iida's face and waits for him to answer.

"I believe he took a group of students to the mall about an hour ago. Actually, instead of going to him, we should call him, and see if he can come back-"

"We may as well go to the mall," Izuku counters. 

Iida pauses again, tilting his head ever so slightly to the side. Midoriya knows he's evaluating him, trying to understand why he's acting so strange. He doesn't have the time for it.

"Please," he adds, trying to put on a desperate face.

"Alright, we'll go. But we go together! We must honor the school rules, and that means adhering to the buddy system when leaving campus-"

"Perfect, let's go right now," Izuku speedwalks towards the main entrance. Iida catches up to him very quickly

"Erm, dressed like that?"

Izuku looks down at his wrinkled, smelly t-shirt, stained sweatpants, and bare feet.

"Oh, right." Iida relaxes. "I'll at least put on some shoes!"

Izuku wants to laugh when Iida tenses up again, giving him a not-so-subtle disapproving side glance.

At least Izuku's sense of humor is still intact.

"Sensei!" Izuku half-shouts as he dashes into a small coffee shop. He finally spotted his teacher after almost an hour of running around the mall.

He was worried, for the past few minutes, that he would run out of time. It's nearly 2pm by now. He needs to get this done fast.

(And hope that he's making the right choice.)

"Problem child," Aizawa greets, eyeing his student's disheveled appearance. "May I ask what you're doing here? I thought I left you at Heights Alliance."

"You did," he assures him. "But that's not important."

"On the contrary-"

"I need to tell you something," he interrupts, standing above Aizawa. His teacher takes a long sip of his coffee and motions to the empty chair on the other side of the table.

"By all means, go ahead."

One of his flip flops flies of his foot as he scrambles to sit down, but he doesn't pay in any mind. Aizawa watches as it slides across the floor, hitting another customer who eyes it with confusion and disgust.

"Sensei," Izuku begins. "I have been stuck in a time loop for almost two months. Each day is the same: I wake up, and have to watch you and many of my classmates die."

Aizawa stares at him, expression unreadable.

"Everyone that I've told has disappeared, except you."

Aizawa's fingers tap against his coffee mug. He takes a long swig.

"Explain."

"I told you on the fourth day, and you told Nezu, and Nezu was gone the next morning. About a week later, I told Kacchan and All Might, all at once, and the next morning, they were both gone."

"Nezu is attending the training seminar with much of the students and staff," Aizawa says slowly. "Bakugou is on vacation with his family and All Might was called in for a meet and greet at a public school."

Izuku sighs and shakes his head. "You don't get it. That's not what's really going on."

"Midoriya, I understand that you've been very stressed lately, but-"

"No!" he shouts, and the coffee shop goes silent around them. Aizawa stiffens, staring at him in shock. Izuku slumps into his chair.

"You don't understand. Think about it. Was Nezu supposed to go to the seminar?"

"Well, he was invited, just like all the principals from the participating schools."

"But when did he accept? Was it a week ago? A month ago? Or was it late last night, or even early this morning, right at the last second?"

Aizawa squints. "It was last night, yes, but he'd been considering it for some time-"

"And what changed his mind?"

Heading no answer, Izuku continues.

"And Kacchan, on vacation. When did you hear of this? Aren't students required to give a two week notice for any extended period of time to be spent off campus? Did he even follow that rule? Or did he just leave this morning-"

"Since when do you pay attention to the rules?" Aizawa scoffs, crossing his arms. "Bakugou's vacation was sudden, yes, but it was a case of family emergency. His mother asked this not to be made public, so we officially said-"

"But it was just this morning, wasn't it?"

Izuku crosses his arms and leans forward, matching his teacher's steely gaze. Why his teacher is struggling to believe him this time around, he doesn't understand, but he will make him see.

He has to.

"And what about All Might?" he continues, before Aizawa can say anything. "When was this event organized? It takes months for him to approve meetings like this, mostly because of paperwork, and I know this because he complains about it to anyone who will listen for weeks."

"He does complain a lot," Aizawa admits under his breath.

"But this time around, nothing at all?" Izuku sighs, looking right into his teacher's eyes. "Please, you have to admit that these three things, put together, are strange. Too strange to ignore."

"...yes, alright," he says painfully. "You've made your point. But what about me? You said you told me before, and yet, here I am."

"Well, I have a theory," Izuku swallows, confidence fading. "Remember last night, when you, Iida, and I were attacked?"

"Vividly."

"My theory is that he's the reason this is happening. He went after me specifically, and the next day, I'm trapped in whatever stupid time loop he must've made with his quirk. But you and Iida were there too, so you're stuck right here with me."

"But Iida and I don't remember the past loops," Aizawa continues. "We're connected to it, but we don't remember."

"Yes! And, I don't want to tell people and get them kicked out of the loop, because I don't know what actually happens when I do that, but I had to test and see if you're really stuck here."

Aizawa takes a deep breath. He closes his eyes and downs the last of his coffee.

"When you wake up tomorrow, if I'm still there, tell me it's a code cloud."

"What does that mean?"

"It's a special phrase Hizashi and I came up with after- when we were in high school. It means something has gone terribly wrong. Tell me that, and then the rest of the truth, and I'll believe you."

"Okay." Izuku makes a mental note.

Code cloud.

Aizawa jolts as distant gunfire rings through the buildings. Screams begin to echo from every direction as the patrons hear the same noises.

Aizawa is up and running, no goggles or capture scarf on his person. Izuku follows, heart falling through his chest as he awaits the inevitable.

He closes his eyes this time. Aizawa makes a strangled grunting sound as he is shot repeatedly, and then his body thumps heavily to the floor.

He can't distinguish any particular voices from the sea of screams, but he vaguely recognizes a few of his classmates yelling, probably fighting the gunmen who've already taken so much from them in so little time.

Izuku feels hands pressing down on his skin where he himself was shot, and the pain has his eyes shooting open instinctively. He sees Iida's desperate visage above him, hears him begging, pleading Izuku to stay with him, stay alive, please, it's going to be okay-

Izuku hums softly. This is almost peaceful, compared to some of the other things he's experienced these past two months.

It probably won't even stand out to him, if he looks back on it from the other side. Assuming he gets to the other side. He hopes.

He closes his eyes again when Iida falls on him unceremoniously. He feels him struggle to move for a moment, and then he lays extremely heavy across Izuku's chest.

He hums.

His voice breaks.

It takes a while, bleeding out. But it's okay. He's got nothing but time.

He throws his phone across the room. When this is over, he'll be changing his ringtone.

"Tomorrow," he promises. "I'll change it tomorrow."

He dashes downstairs, this time changing out of his pyjamas. He's tired of them now.

He earns very few odd looks this time around. He doesn't pay much attention to them, but he can't help but pick them up out of the corner of his eye.

He makes a mental note to hang out with his friends more, once this is over.

"Tomorrow," he says again. Out loud.

He's all too cheery when he knocks on the door to the teacher's dorms and announces "Code cloud!" to his very tired and then very concerned sensei.

But that's alright, because they're fixing all of this today. He can feel it.

It takes about half an hour to explain his predicament, theories, and plan to Aizawa. His teacher seems shocked, but, true to his word, he takes him 100% seriously this time.

(There's a part of him that attributes this to the fact that he's wearing real shoes on both feet and he actually combed his hair. But still.)

"I don't know if I can do this in under a day," Aizawa says, already pulling out his phone and laptop. He types furiously on the latter, pulling up different websites and contacts to help with the investigation. "But I'll try."

"I'm sure you can," Izuku says. "I trust you."

"You trust too easily," is all his teacher says. Izuku nods and leaves him as he starts a phone call with the chief of police.

"I need to call in a favor…." he hears as he gently closes the door.

He walks, as slowly as he can manage, back to the 1-A dorms. When he arrives, he slips into the common room and just lays across the nearest couch. It's nice to just sit and relax for once, letting someone else save the day.

People pass him by all throughout the morning, sometimes stopping for a quick conversation. Yaoymomo offers him a cup of tea, and Kirishima asks if he's feeling okay.

He takes the tea, and assures Kirishima that everything is fine.

Will be fine, he corrects internally. He's not out of the woods yet. Things are looking up, sure, but he's got a ways to go.

He realizes, as he sets aside his empty mug, that he might be thinking a bit too optimistically. It's been two months of this, why would getting help from one person solve it in a day?

He holds onto that hope, though. It's relaxing, having hope. He's almost certain that it'll fail him, at least for today, but he holds on.

Izuku holds onto hope, and lets go of consciousness.

He's not too surprised when he wakes to the building on fire. Disappointed, sure, but he should have expected this.

He yawns, walking through the flames to the main entrance. He's a little shocked to see the entire campus is on fire: every building covered in smoke and dancing flame.

There isn't a single soul in sight, so he heads straight to the bunker. It's his best bet.

He finds it locked from the inside, which is actually good news. Someone has to be in there. He's hoping for Aizawa, among others.

He pounds on the door, slightly denting it with the force of One for All. A moment later it slides open, and he's pulled quickly inside so the door can close again.

"It's hot," he notes dully, wiping his forehead. His classmates stare at him, like they've seen a ghost. Aizawa who's still holding onto his shoulders, spares a dry chuckle.

"Yes," he says. "We've noticed."

"Midoriya, we-" Jirou breaks the heavy silence that follows Aizawa's comment, then chokes on a cough.

"Take it easy," Yaoymomo rubs her back. "You inhaled a lot of smoke back there."

"We thought you were dead," Mina finishes for her. "We couldn't find you, and Aizawa told us not to waste time looking, and-

"Well, surprise," he waves his hands sporadically. What he doesn't say is I will be soon.

"Midoriya, I'm sorry to say that I wasn't able to complete the investigation," Aizawa says, pulling him aside. Izuku hopes it's far enough away that none of his classmates hear. Then again, they're probably all about to die. "However, I did gather minimal information that will jumpstart tomorrow's efforts."

"Tell me. I'll memorize it and feed it back to you tomorrow, or today, when it resets." Aizawa nods, like he was expecting this. He's very smart, after all.

"His quirk and real name are unknown, but the villain we ran into last night goes by Nightmare. He's wanted in several countries for different murder and kidnapping cases." Aizawa pauses, letting his student absorb the information. "He also, allegedly, has connections to the League of Villains."

"I'll tell you that tomorrow," Izuku promises. "And every day until we figure this out."

"Good. We'll save you, Midoriya." Aizawa pulls him into a hug, and Izuku melts into the feeling. The two sit next to each other against the wall, ignoring the confused looks from the rest of the class.

He ends up burning to death very slowly. He wonders if this is a theme for the bunker. He doesn't want to find out.

It takes several weeks, but he and Aizawa slowly further their investigation on Nightmare. Each day, he feeds Aizawa the things they've learned, and each afternoon, Aizawa tells him the new information he's picked up.

And then, y'know, he dies.

Honestly, it's not a bad system.

Ok. Maybe it is. But it still works! Izuku now knows the guy's real name, quirk, birthdate, social security number, and home address.

And today's the day he's going to make his move.

Aizawa's even agreed. He seemed more skeptical than any of the other loops, probably because his trouble-magnet of a student is asking him to help break into someone's house without authorization from the police or the HPSC. 

But they don't have time for that. Given the evidence Izuku provides, Aizawa agrees, and puts his inhibitions aside.

"I don't think we should bring any other students along," Aizawa sighs, setting his capture weapon around his shoulders. "This will probably be dangerous. This is our first time trying this?"

"Yeah," and Izuku is more nervous than he'd like to admit. "If it fails, I'll at least come out of it with some more information on him-"

"Kid, you have more than enough information on this jackass."

Izuku just shrugs. He's right, he supposes. No kid should wake up one Saturday morning and know every single detail about the random villain that tried to kill them the night before.

But he's just special like that.

"I think we should bring Iida," Izuku voices after a moment. Aizawa shakes his head.

"Too risky. I'm already risking too much bringing you along, and that's just because you know more about this than I do."

"But he's connected to this too-"

"I don't want to hear it. Iida stays here, where it's safe." Aizawa crosses his arms.

The two are caught in a staring match, and Izuku can feel the absence of his quirk like a hole left by a stake in his heart. He blinks only milliseconds before his teacher, but they both know who won.

"Fine," he says. "Iida stays."

They give no explanation to the class as they leave campus. Only a few see them go, but luckily, Kouda and Jirou aren't the type to ask too many questions. They nod at the passing duo, then share a confused glance, and that's it.

Aizawa leads Izuku across rooftops and through alleyways on their trek across the city. They're taking the subtle route, focusing on stealth more than power.

Although, with Izuku around, there's more than enough power to fly them across the city in no time.

But they choose the covert option, sneaking around city blocks from above, dropping to the ground when it benefits them. Aizawa has a digital map, and he references it every few minutes to keep them on track.

He also has to keep an eye on Izuku, who is clearly ill-suited to underground work. He pops his head over the top of buildings, gazing in awe at the streets below.

Izuku's seen the city from above before, so he shouldn't be so enamored with the view. But it's one thing to be flying through the air during a villain attack, and another entirely to take in the sights fully.

"Time limit," Aizawa reminds him sharply, and he nods, pulling away from the edge.

He's going to finish this, and then he'll have all the time in the world for sightseeing.

And therapy. Lots and lots of therapy.

"We're close," Aizawa mutters after another few minutes of crawling across rooftops. Izuku pulls his hood and face mask on, and Aizawa pulls his goggles down.

"Which building is it?"

"Should be the old blue one, second floor, middle window." Aizawa points, and Izuku follows it with his gaze. The building they're about to break into really does look old, with the paint and trim chipping off like that.

It dawns on him that they're really doing this. They're breaking into someone's apartment, and hopefully, saving the entire class in the process. He's dreamed of this day for months, and now it's right in front of him.

Izuku hopes it goes well on the first try. He's so tired of the blood, and the bodies, and the burning stench of death. He's never going to forget the things he's seen, but he's more than ready to move on.

This ends today.

When he wakes up tomorrow, he's determined that it will finally be Sunday. He's never really cared for Sunday's - before, it was just another day of the week - but now, he longs for a Sunday.

He longs for anything. Anything at all that isn't this stupid Saturday again.

"Ready when you are," Aizawa looks to him for guidance, watching for Izuku to lead the way. This is his mission, his fight.

He takes a deep breath. He's going to do this, and he's going to come out victorious. He has to.

"Let's go."

Bzzzt. "A MESSAGE IS HERE! A MESSAGE IS HERE!"

Izuku blinks.

He stares at the white ceiling, and quickly he feels tears forming in his eyes. He forces back a sob, squeezing his eyes shut.

He shouldn't be this upset, but, God he's been trying so hard and it really seemed like they could do it.

It's okay. It's just a minor setback. They can try again today, and the next day, and the next day, and until time stops entirely.

He almost wishes time would just stop. He just wants a day off.

He wants to sit back and relax and not worry about his friends dying. He misses school, and All Might, and Kacchan. He wants to have normal, happy outings with his friends, and academic discussions with his teachers. He wants to train One for All and see that proud look on his mentor's face when he gets stronger right in front of him.

He wants things to be normal again.

After another moment or two of wallowing in his sorrow, he moves to sit up, and finds himself hissing in pain, falling flat onto the stiff mattress. He gasps, clutching at his burning ribs.

...what?

He turns his head - gently, because ow - and sees that he is not in his dorm room.

He's in a hospital. He's hooked up to an IV, with flowers and cards next to his bed on a little table. Sunlight filters gently through the window, illuminating a single figure sitting next to the bed.

Slumped over in a white plastic chair is Aizawa, snoring so quietly Izuku strains to hear it. His hand is wrapped in bandages, and there are crutches leaning against the wall next to him.

Izuku leans over very slowly, reaching for his phone where it sits on the bedside. It's plugged in, luckily. And unluckily, still buzzing loudly.

Bzzzt. "A MESSAGE IS HERE! A MESSAGE IS HERE!"

He grabs it and slowly leans back into place, grimacing as his ribs throb in protest. Whatever they have him on, it's not strong enough.

He silences his phone, and checks the date.

Saturday. But not the same Saturday.

He's out. He's out. He wants to stand and yell with joy, but he just stays where he is and lets happy tears roll off his cheeks.

Despite the flood of notifications from the past week that demand his attention, he sets his phone down.

He leans back into the fluffy pillows, and closes his eyes. He's almost afraid to go back to sleep, because now he knows that the world will turn on without him, and he's already missed so much.

But it's okay. He'll catch up later.

For now, he thinks he should rest, and embrace a calming dream.

He's earned it.