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Dangerous Waters

Summary:

BREATHE IN BREATHE OUT
Delayed Drowning | Chemical Pneumonia | Oxygen Mask

Notes:

Going a different pace this year. I’m not going to do post after post day after day, I’m just going to go with the flow and hope for the best. Hopefully I won’t have to extend this to whumptober 2022 that would be bad. Anyway, enjoy your chapter.

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Work Text:

Izuku woke up and didn’t feel tempted to look at his clock, because for the first time in days, he already knew what it said.

 

12:00 am Oct. 13

 

His question though, was why the time always stops at midnight.

 

He closed his eyes like he did all those other times, wistful thoughts wondering when he would be able to wake up one day and go about the day normally.



“Hey! Midobro, come to the pool with us! We’re going to be having free time instead of practicing.” Izuku popped his eyes open and blinked, trying to get the fuzziness out of his eyes. What in the name…

 

“Sure Kirishima, just give me another…” he looked at his clock. The time read 8:30 am. He groaned.

 

“Another five hours.” He threw the covers over his head and shut his eyes back closed.

 

“Sorry bro, you can’t sleep in! It’s fall break, but that doesn’t mean to ruin your sleep schedule!” His covers were ripped off of him and Izuku hissed. He saw Kirishima throw his blanket on the ground and start walking towards the balcony, where his closed curtains were protecting him from the rays—

 

“Kirishima what are you doing?! Stop that, DON—“

 

There was a scream heard all throughout campus and everyone’s head shot up, wondering what in the world happened.



“I can’t believe I’m doing this again. I thought you said it was for fun, not for practice?” The redhead grinned at him before patting his shoulder.

 

“We are! But we have to at least warm up once or twice before we can have fun. How are we going to get our adrenaline pumping, otherwise?” Izuku just sighed and nodded along with it.

 

“Let’s all cannonball first!” The green haired boy couldn’t refuse with the others looking at him like that, so reluctantly he agreed, lining up at the side of the pool with Kaminari, Kirishima, Sero, Mineta, and Ojiro. 

 

“After one, alright?” They nodded and all clasped their hands with each other and counted down.

 

“Three…” Izuku looked at the water, seeing it ripple from the other students splashing around on the other side. He grinned when he realized that maybe the day wouldn’t be so bad.

 

“Two…” they all bent their knees and braced themselves for the jump. Izuku looked at the other boys' excited faces as they all intensely stared at the water. Izuku glanced back at the water, getting ready to jump. 

 

There was a flicker in the water.

 

“One…” Izuku squinted as he watched the ripples. White reflections blinded him momentarily, but he saw the flash of purple in the water. His eyes widened.

 

“WAI—“

 

“JUMP!!” Suddenly, the fives boys jumped and Izuku couldn’t do anything except shout as they all pulled him in, the purple instantaneously expanding and swallowing them whole.

 

Water engulfed them, way colder than what the pool had felt like, and they felt their eyes sting as their mouths tasted salty.

 

They all swam up towards the light and surfaced.

 

“Guys! Are you okay? Midoriya?” Izuku yelped out a ‘here’ and swam towards Kirishima. Another head popped out and then another and another.

 

“Sero?! Mineta, Kaminari?! Ojirou?!” There were four shouts and the six boys found themselves together again. 

 

“Are you alright?” Everyone nodded and looked around.

 

“We’re…” 

 

They all saw the same thing.

 

Water. Endless, dark blue water. 

 

“What the hell? This isn’t funny— I can’t handle the ocean too well…I’m afraid of the—“ Ojirou paused and looked down. There was darkness beneath his feet in the water, and with how much he was starting to panic, he thought he was starting to see figures moving underneath them.

 

“I can’t do this… I’m going to pass out—“ hands grabbed his shoulders and Izuku watched as Kirishima looked at Ojirou with nervousness.

 

“No, no, no, you have to stay awake, Ojirou, okay! You can’t pass out or you’ll drown.” Ojirou hesitated before nodding, eyes avoiding the water as he looked around. Izuku frowned and tried to look farther.

 

“What if we tried to use our quirks to get to land?” Izuku shook his head at Sero.

 

“No, we’d just tire ourselves out, and we don’t even know how far out to sea we are. It would’ve been great if Kouda was here because maybe then we’d have a higher chance but…” Izuku stopped and looked around

 

“I don’t think we have that option.” Mineta was sniffling before he wiped away his tears.

 

“What if…what if I tried using my quirk to make a floatable raft? Sero can then stick it together with his tape to keep it together and you can push it once in a while with your quirk?” Izuku thought it over. He nodded.

 

“That seems to be the least tiring. Let’s get moving.” The boys worked together and quickly assembled together a raft of floating, purple orbs with tape going around most of it, keeping it sturdy.

 

“My grapes can last up its stickiness for as long as I want until the end of the day, but it tires me out the longer it goes on, so I’m only going to do it for a good while. Sero’s tape should do a good enough job at keeping it together.” Izuku nodded and everyone sat on top of the raft. The waves were calm in ocean standard and Izuku got back into the water to start their quest.

 

“Good luck Midoriya, if you need anything, we’re get it for you. I know that Mineta can make a sticky fish net so I believe that we’ll get some food. But…” they all looked around and saw the endless water.

 

“We don’t know where we'll get enough water. Hopefully it rains and we’ll be able to collect some, but until further notice, we’re at a loss.” Izuku nodded before letting a small percentage of One for All run through his veins.  He kicked his legs so they started to go north. 

 

He didn’t know where they were in the ocean, but the best possible chance at reaching land was going north. At least that way they’d be able to find land quicker, since a majority of land was located north of the equator. Izuku breathed calmly as he got the raft moving at a semi medium speed. He could see the others slowly getting tired and eyes shutting before shaking themselves back awake.

 

By the time of what he presumed was five hours, he stopped and hopped back up on the makeshift raft, laying down and breathing as he shook himself. Kaminari, Kirishima, and Mineta had caught some fish, one of them being tuna that thankfully didn’t ruin their safety raft in the huge group it was in as it passed by. Izuku looked at the poorly cut up fish that Kirishima had done with his quirk. He looked in it, making sure that there were no parasites as he stripped a few pieces off and asked Kaminari to fry them.

 

He was soon eating some warm tuna meat as he swallowed harshly, waiting to see if there was any grey clouds. There were none. He puffed out some air before getting comfortable and laying down on the raft. 

 

He needed to get some rest before he started driving them again.

 

He closed his eyes.



“Izuku wake up! Wake up there’s rain!” Izuku opened his eyes only to shut them when a drop of water got into his eye. He took the cup mold that Mineta made as he collected rain water with the others. There was even a molded bucket that captured rain for possible future thirst.

 

They all smiled at each other as they drank from their cups, groaning in satisfaction as it soothed their throats.

 

“Let’s warm up a little, gather around guys.” They all followed Kirishima's statement and Izuku couldn’t help but be thankful that the redhead was leading them today. He didn’t know if he could be able to handle such the pressure. 

 

Izuku didn’t know it until he woke up, but he ended up falling asleep again.

 

Waking up the next few hours later made him wish he were back at school.

 

“Guys wake up!” He shoved them all as they jolted awake, tiredness present in their eyes. 

 

“We have to get going now, hold on.” Izuku hopped back into the water, ignoring how the cold make his teeth chatter, and arms bristle in goosebumps. He wasted no time in powering up his quirk and speeding in the opposite direction they were going.

 

Because right behind them was a heavy, grey cloud, lights flashing inside the former white cotton of the skies and the sound of zeus's yells of anger.

 

“Do you guys know what time it is?” They all shook their heads and Izuku wasn’t even that surprised. 

 

Izuku realized that the sky was getting very dark by the point around the beginning of the storm. They needed to get out of this and fast. 

 

“Kirishima, how long can you hold your breath?” The red head looked at Izuku funny before answering. 

 

“A minute and thirteen seconds.” Izuku frowned and looked at the thundering clouds rapidly approaching them. He hopped back onto the boat and wronged out his cold clothes.

 

“Can you try to anchor this raft with your quirk whenever any big waves come our way. Anchoring underwater is better than anchoring on the raft, so I’m sorry that I am asking you to do this.” Kirishima gave Izuku a small smile before shaking his head.

 

“It’s alright Midobro, I’ll do the best I can.” He grabbed the makeshift rope that Mineta and Sero made before intensely watching the storm. The first big wave came, and he jumped into the water, reappearing backup thirty seconds later when it passed. Izuku smiled and thanked the teen before they went on with the plan.

 

They did it for some time, and it worked too, before Izuku started noticing how the storm got bigger, darker, more rough. So when Kirishima came back up for the umpteenth time, he put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head.

 

“These waves are going to get even more rough. We’ll just…” he looked around at everyone's faces, seeing despair, knowing that none of them would survive. 

 

“…I’m sorry.” The others shook their heads at him, saying it wasn’t his fault. But isn’t it? He saw the sign at the pool that something wasn’t right, he should’ve been faster.

 

“We’ll do the best we can, alright? We won’t go down without a fight.” The others smiled at him and they embraced each other before a wave washed over them. They cling to each other and hold their breaths, trying to remain still on the raft.

 

This went on for some time and Izuku was surprised that they all remained on the raft, considering how bad it was. It seemed lucky, too lucky.

 

There was a stench in the air. 

 

He sniffed the surrounding air, his nostrils burning at the stinging sensation. He blinked as he looked around, seeing doubles. 

 

“Guys…where’s Ojiro?” Everyone looked at Mineta who looked terrified as he patted the place next to him, not feeling the others presence next to him. Sero went to say something but was abruptly cut off. Everyone was so busy looking at Ojirou’s spot that they didn’t see what happened to Sero, only hearing the cut off of a scream and a splash that followed.

 

“SERO!” Kirishima and Denki both yelled for the teen but didn’t get a reply. Izuku was about to speak when he felt something cold wrap around his midsection. His only muddled thought before feeling that harsh yank was “here it goes.” He barely had enough time to inhale a breath and was pulled into the water.

 

Green glowing eyes looked at him as he struggled to get out of the monster's hold. He saw the way the surface quickly became more dim and the way his ears started to hurt. There was a tan and black blob along with him and his mind flashed to Ojirou and Sero. He felt his chest hurt but he powered up his quirk and swam at the arms holding the two, grabbing the slippery substance and biting through as best as he could. Ojirou was free and he was running out of air. Izuku pushed him up and saw how his body quickly reapproached the surface. He then shot to Sero and started gnawing through the monsters one arm of the many it had. Sero was looking at Izuku with a worried expression and give him a nod and a look telling him to swim back up too.

 

But Izuku wasn’t going back up to the surface. If he did then the monster would go back up and try to snag the others, he should buy them some time at least.

 

He could feel his lungs burn as his breath slowly thinned.

 

He coughed once before inhaling, feeling the water burn his throat as darkness started at the edge of his vision.

 

He looked into the creatures green eyes and saw the vaguely familiar light of numbers. He closed his eyes as his body sank down below with the green eyed monster.

 

11:00 pm Oct. 13

Notes:

My discord if anyone wants it! I post my updates there so you’ll have quicker knowledge of when chapters come out. I also post snippets there and small spoilers for later chapters. The best part also is that you don’t even have to be active there, :D I know that there are lurkers who join servers partially for just an update message or just to see how it is, and that is completely fine! The server is welcome to everyone who is willing to join! Have a lovely day everyone ;)

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