Chapter Text
Potential energy turns to kinetic energy. A natural, devastating phenomenon brought about by gravity. The farther you have to fall, the greater the impact. This? Izuku stares over the railing, ignoring the way his stomach flips from the dizzying sight. This is most definitely high enough.
He wouldn’t even feel the impact. It would be too quick for his nerves to send pain signals to his brain. Izuku takes off his backpack, setting it next to the door he had tried knocking on only moments ago. It had quickly become apparent that no one was coming to open it.
The cool metal of the railing leaches the warmth from his shaking hands. He takes a breath, another, the air is sweet.
You’ll never be a hero, not without a quirk.
You want to be a hero? There’s actually a really good way. Take a swan-dive off a rooftop and hope you’re born with a quirk in your next life.
All men are not created equal.
Useless.
Quirkless.
Stupid.
Deku.
The view is actually beautiful. Even more so through the blur of tears. None of the nasty details or sharp edges remain. Only the sun glowing on windows, the movement of thousands of people, the slowly drifting clouds.
Izuku puts a leg over the railing. He’s straddling it now, refusing to look down. The clouds look so soft from here. He could reach out and touch them.
He swings his other leg over, now holding to the very edge by his heels and his grip on the railing.
His ID is in his pocket, so they won’t need to get his mom to ID the body. Not that she could. From this height, they would be lucky to recover partial dental records. She’ll be ok without him. She’ll be sad, sure, but she’ll be able to do as she pleases. She won’t have to take care of him, or put up with him, or worry about him anymore. She won’t have the burden of a useless son anymore.
He’ll be… free.
Kacchan will be glad he’s out of his way.
All Might will never even know. He’ll be able to focus on important things.
Izuku’s grip grows weaker. He can feel himself swaying in the gentle breeze.
He closes his eyes, focusing on the warmth of the sun on his face. He smiles. He let’s go.
He doesn’t look down as the ground approaches. He doesn’t want to know when he’ll hit. He can see smoke rising in the distance. Something is happening. Oh well. It’s too late for him to worry about that. Through the whistle of the wind, he can hear a pedestrian screaming from below. He must be getting close. He’s sorry they’ll have to see this.
Any second n-
White.
He’s surrounded by it.
C̶̞͇̈́̓̒̒̋̐̿H̸͔̻̟̔̐͌̕͘Ḯ̶͖͈̳̪̝͔͋̇̓̏̅̚L̸̥̖͓̬̤̻͈̇̚D̵̳͔̣̝̰̺̗͊̈͛͂̆͘͠
Who? Who is that?
Į̴͎͋͆ͅ ̴̧̬̮̳̓̚Ḁ̴̡̱̼̭̆͐̅̽ͅM̷̨̬̈ ̵̡͍͇͇̥̋
̶̖͂̔͐̅W̶̢̲͙͍̩̮̭͊̒̄͋E̶̢̻͎̾͝ ̴̢̧͂͛̂Â̸̠͎͎̫R̴̹͕̮͔͆͌͂̍͂ͅE̵̦̠̥̯̅̑̓
What is this? What is happening?
W̴̼̮̃̄̏͆̒̃͝A̵̮͉̳̅̄̉̈́̕K̸̡̤̺͐̾͗̔̈́͌E̵̖͎̳͉̖͊̉̅͐̃̽͊ ̵̲̖̪͔̱̤̄̍U̵̲̣̔̇̐̐͝͠P̶̧̬̹̺̰͓̰̈́
̴̧͓̼̆͛͊̊R̸̭͓̺̎͛̃̊İ̴̗̗͎̘̺̱̀̐̇S̵̭͙̮̱͈͗́̾͠E̵̡͓̫̘͈̫̽̆̌
̶̦͙̘̠͌B̵̡̮̬͎̂E̷̛̮̲̤͙͎͕͛̿̄͂͝ͅC̸̱̗̭̈́̀̊̊Ớ̸̯̬̖̩̑̌̄͘M̵̜̓̔̍Ę̶̢͍̘̩̲͕̄̽̄̎
̸̠̙͓̩̺͚̈̐̄̈́͒͌͝B̶̨̡̠̩̓̈́̂̇̐̈́͝E̵͓̋̎̑̑
Izuku inhales with a jolt. Everything is so bright, so loud.
“Oh my God, he’s okay. How?-”
“What was that light? Was that him?”
“Kid?” Someone nudges his shoulder. Izuku rolls over, coming face to face with a red-haired stranger, “Hey, you okay? EMS is on the way, just stay put.”
He doesn’t listen. Every fiber of his being is radiating with intense energy. He has to go, has to do something.
W̸̱̻̰͍͇̠̓͊̈́̓̚ą̵̧̧̳͔̼̰͑k̶̨̡͎̘̭̙͖̏̋̒͜e̴̪͎̐̀̾͊ ̸̨͍͆̔̓u̵̢͕̾͐̈́͜p̶̼̳̮̤̓͗͝.̷̢̞̮̣̕
He pushes himself to his feet, vision spinning for a moment before it stills and he can see clearly. There’s a crowd of people around him, cars stopped on either side. Someone is crying in the distance, though Izuku can’t see them. A few of them have their phones out, recording him.
Wait, recording him? Why?
Izuku doesn’t stick around to find out.
R̴̛͚͇͍͔̿͌̾͑́̓͝í̶̫͔̮̰̟̑̉s̵̤̹͔͙̺̞̩̉̈́̒ę̸̝̥̜̝͓̥͚̐̎̀͒̅͛̈́̏
“I have to go.” His voice cracks, but he pays it no mind.
The crowd parts for him easily.
He should be dead, but he isn’t dead? What happened? Why does he feel like this?
B̸̨̩̖͙͓̘̳̲̍͋̂̈́e̴̢͇͙͝c̸̙̣̾̉̊̆͝ơ̴̰͠m̷̡̮͖̦̟̗̝͗̂̈́e̸͖͇̖̣͛͝
He starts to panic, he starts to run.
What direction had that smoke been in?
How is he this fast ?
B̵͔̙̗͇̺͑͒̾ę̶̝̲̺̪̻̲͖̈́͐̏̊͊̈̓͝
---
Toshinori stops at the back of the crowd, peering over people’s heads as best he can. He feels bad for leaving that kid, but he did what he had to. Besides, he’ll be fine. Right now he needs to focus on what’s in front of him.
It’s the same villain as before, but this time it seems to have picked a different victim. By the looks (and sounds) of it, a much more powerful victim. Explosions light up the alleyway every few seconds as the struggle continues. A group of pro heroes struggles to keep the crowd back and fight the villain, but so far, they’re managing it. There’s a good chance he won’t even have to intervene. Even if he needs to, he’s not sure he could with his limit being pretty much spent for the day.
A flash of white hair pushes him aside, delving deeper into the crowd and ducking past the pro heroes at the front. All Might follows after it, afraid it might be an additional threat, but stopping as he gets to the front. The white figure is just a schoolboy, and upon closer inspection, so is the victim. They seem to know each other based on the way the victim screams at the figure, though, it doesn’t sound friendly.
“What the hell are you doing, idiot?!”
The white-haired figure doesn’t respond, only dashing closer still.
“Get out of here you- Wha- DEKU?!”
The white-haired figure still refuses to acknowledge the victim, instead placing his now-glowing hands on the villain. The glow increases until it’s almost blinding, the villain screeching and sinking away, dropping it’s victim.
All at once, the pro heroes swoop in, gathering the victim away, capturing the villain, and detaining the white-haired boy.
Toshinori approaches as they bring the boy out of view of the crowd. He flashes his detective’s badge (a convenient gift from Tsukauchi) at the pros that try to stop him. The boy’s face is expressionless as he watches a now-shrunken Mount Lady tell him off for getting in the way.
“You could have been hurt! You could have gotten someone else hurt! What were you thinking?-”
Toshinori tunes her out, taking the opportunity to observe the boy. He looks familiar, his uniform matching those of both the victim and the boy he had met earlier that day. What was it with that school and getting into trouble today? The boy had white hair, some kind of horns, no, antlers, and a spiderweb of fine-line scarring across the left side of his face. Then Toshinori sees his eyes.
They’re exactly the same as the boy from earlier. In fact, he looks a lot like the boy from earlier. Too much for coincidence. Maybe a brother?
“I understand. I apologize for causing any trouble. May I borrow a phone? I need to call my mother.” Toshinori freezes. The voice is flat now, but it is undoubtedly him. He had only left him for twenty minutes. What had happened ?
“Sure, kid. As long as you’re alright. But never do anything like that ever again, got it?”
The boy nods, and Toshinori can’t stop staring, wondering more and more why it looks like this boy had been busted apart, and then pieced back together almost perfectly, but not quite. He backs away, still watching, but out of eyeshot. The kid could recognize him, and that’s the last thing he needs right now. He waits and watches.
---
Izuku grips the phone with hands that have just started to shake. He had jumped, survived, and fought a villain. Suffice to say, he should not be okay.
Still, he enters his mother’s number, feeling as though he’s watching his own body act on autopilot. She picks up on the third ring.
“Hello, this is Midoriya Inko speaking, can I help you?”
“H- Hi mom. It’s me.” His voice is weak and scratchy.
“Izuku! Honey, are you okay?”
“Uh, no. I need you to come get me, please.” He feels bad asking, but he needs her and he needs her soon. He can feel cracks forming in his calm facade.
“Okay, I’ll be right there, just hang on. Where are you?”
“I- I don’t know, here, let me ask.” He turns to Mount Lady, who is watching him intently, concern growing in her eyes as she begins to realize that while Izuku seems fine, something is seriously wrong. She’s seen shock victims before, and they kind of look like this.
“It’s okay, honey, here, I’ll let her know what’s going on.” She holds out her hand for the phone, which Izuku hands over almost gladly.
Izuku tunes them out almost immediately, opting to stare down at his hands. Kacchan hadn’t even recognized him. Everything was happening so fast. His body is still buzzing, though more subdued now. How had he survived? Why did he feel like he couldn’t stop himself earlier? Had he really… he’s going to be sick. Why didn’t his thoughts feel like his own? Oh God, oh God, he had really died. He had died and now he’s back and oh God he had died -
He narrowly avoids hurling on Mount Lady’s feet, instead leaning against the side of a building and coughing up everything he managed to put down that day. Distantly, he’s aware of a hand on his back, of a crinkly chrome thermal blanket being placed around his shoulders, of being led to the back of an ambulance, sitting on the edge as someone instructs him to breathe.
There’s no way of telling how much time had passed, but finally, blessedly, he hears a familiar voice.
“Izuku, honey!” His mother calls out, scanning the thinning crowd for a familiar mop of dark green hair. She doesn’t find it, but after a moment, she does find Izuku.
“Izuku!” she hurries over, catching his face in her hands, eyes darting all over his features in confusion, “What-what happened to you? Why-”
Izuku opens his mouth to say something, but nothing comes out. The feeling of her soft, warm hand on his cheek is the final straw. He fully lets go, a choking sob clawing up his throat as he desperately clings to her, burying his face in her shoulder.
She clings right back, rubbing his back as he sobs, overwhelmed and confused and exhausted and devastated.
“Izuku, honey, what happened ?” She murmurs into his hair.
The thought of what he had so nearly done to her, oh God - It’s a good thing he already threw up everything he could because that thought hurts so badly he’s sure he wouldn’t be able to hold back from being sick again. He merely shakes his head, refusing to answer the question.
“We- We need to go to the hospital, mom. Something is wrong with me-” He sobs again, “I- I feel so weird-”
“Shh, it’s okay, we’ll go, let me call the doctor, just hold on.” Inko smoothes down his now-white hair as she pulls out her phone.
“Ms. Midoriya, is everything okay?” Mount Lady asks, tentative in her intrusion.
“I- I don’t know,” Inko answers, still looking through her contacts with a helpless expression, “He had green hair this morning an- and no scars- and are those antlers?”
Finally, Mount Lady understands what was so wrong.
“Wait, do you mean he didn’t already look like this?”
“I-” Inko looks up, glancing between her shivering son and Mount Lady, “ No . No, he didn’t.”
“O-oh. Oh- ”
“Can you please keep an eye on him while I call the doctor, I’ll just be a minute-”
“Yeah, absolutely. No problem.” Mount Lady leans against the open ambulance door, watching Izuku while she tries to give Ms. Midoriya some semblance of privacy.
“So… you had a pretty eventful day, huh?” Izuku looks up at her, nods just barely, and then his eyes unfocus again.
She just nods, allowing him as much privacy as possible while she scans the meager remaining crowd. Almost everyone is gone now. Just a few straggling pedestrians, some particularly brash reporters, a few pro heroes, a couple of officers, and that strange detective that appears to be… hiding?
She watches as he peeks from behind a police vehicle. At first, it seems like he’s watching her, but as she keeps watching, she realizes he’s watching the boy. What business does he have with a shell-shocked schoolboy? Did he need to question him or something? If so, why was he hiding? She narrows her eyes at him, unable to puzzle out whatever he’s trying to do, and opting to just stare him down until he gets the point and stops creeping.
“Thank you, miss-?” Inko returns, looking a little pale and frazzled, but otherwise okay considering the circumstances.
“Mount Lady, ma’am, happy to help.”
“Right. I’m sure you’re one of his favorites, but-” She looks to her son, who is still staring blankly down at his own hands as though he just committed some kind of inhuman crime.
“That’s okay. If he wants an autograph once he’s feeling better, feel free to stop by the agency anytime.”
“I’m sure he’ll appreciate that.” She sighs, polite smile fading away, “Izuku, honey?” She places a gentle hand on his arm, coaxing him gently back to the moment, “I called the doctor, we’re going to go now. Everything is going to be okay.”
Izuku nods, sliding off the back of the ambulance, thermal blanket forgotten. He allows himself to be led to Ms. Midoriya’s car, expressionless all the while save for the tears that seem to leak continuously from his wide eyes.
---
It has to be one of the strangest things Toshinori has ever seen. A complete transition within only a few minutes, from a kid that has no quirk, let alone a shapeshifting quirk. He watches as Izuku is led away by his mother, silent and stone-faced. If it weren’t for his name, and his mother’s almost identical looks, Toshinori would think he was a completely different person. Gone was the shy, determined boy from beneath the bridge. In his place, a strange, broken child.
“So who are you again?” Toshinori jumps, narrowly avoiding coughing blood all over the young hero that stands behind him, arms crossed, seemingly unimpressed with Toshinori in a rather complete sense.
“I- I am Toshinori Yagi, detective with the-”
“Yeah, but who are you to him ?” She nods in the direction the boy had disappeared to.
“Oh, well, I just- met him earlier. Before he looked like that.”
“Ah, yes, makes sense, I too hide from everyone I know when they get a new haircut.”
“I’m worried that if he recognizes me, it might… upset him.”
“So he’s, mad at you?”
“In a sense, yes.”
“What’d you do, give him a ticket for parking his bike in the wrong spot?” To her credit, she is as thorough as she is irritating.
“Something like that. Anyway, good work, ma’am, but I must be reporting back-”
“Oh, of course, don’t let me keep you, detective.” She walks off with one last suspicious look and Toshinori lets out a breath he didn’t even know he was holding. Semi-fake detective or not, he needs to get to the bottom of what happened to young Midoriya.