Chapter Text
In the end of the world, only two remained.
Aizawa and Midoriya. A duo who met two years ago as a student with big dreams and a streak of broken bones, and a teacher, who faced the horrors of the heroics industry too young and was determined to never again, let a dream die because the person holding it fell first.
Death reigned anyway.
The heroes had been too late to raid the hospital in Jakku. The transfer of All for One to Shigaraki had been completed to its full potential. The war between heroes and villains ended decisively, upon the death of Katsuki Bakugo, whose body moved before he could think to save the life of his first friend. With one beacon lost, morale plummeted for the heroes. One after one they fell, students and pros alike. For every villain defeated, two heroes fell with them.
It all came to an end when the last survivors of UA, Pro Heroes Eraserhead and Present Mic, together with Provisional Hero Deku, broke through to Kurogiri, who had been freed in the chaos. With Kurogiri’s (Shirakumo’s?) support, the tides finally turned. That day, an exhausted and alone Shigaraki was unceremoniously defeated by the group of four.
But for every villain that was defeated, two heroes fell, and suddenly, Izuku and Shota were alone.
~~~~~~
Izuku huffed as he pushed rubble to the floor, the piece landing with a resolute thump as it disturbed the settled dust. The job would be easier with his, frankly, ridiculously overpowered quirk, but then he would finish too quickly, and have nothing to do. The end of the world as he knew it, was shockingly boring. Any task was a good task, especially when it came to keeping the hurtful thoughts at bay that wanted to strike at him at any given moment.
He heard another similar thump and looked past the new dust cloud to see a figure clad in tattered black. A metal prosthetic leg glinted in the murky light as the figure stepped towards Izuku, and reached out a hand to ruffle his hair. Tension fled out of Izuku’s body as he leaned in to the touch, and closed his eyes contentedly.
Maybe it was a given considering the two had been on their own for around a year, but they grew close. Beyond finding solace in another human presence, they came to genuinely love and care for one another. Aizawa may have become somewhat of a father figure to Izuku, and Izuku could only hope that despite the hardships, Aizawa found it in him to see Izuku as a son-figure. With these thoughts, Izuku missed the fond one-eyed gaze Aizawa swept over him. Aizawa stepped away and Izuku turned to face him and grin. He broke the silence.
“Do you think we can get past the entrance to the lab now that we’ve cleared all that rubble?”
The lab in question was a destroyed space research complex. Rations were running dangerously low, so they had to get creative with sourcing their food. As individuals belonging to the heroics industry, they paid little attention to the news surrounding space travel, but they were hoping with everything in them that a launch was being planned. Because a launch meant food designed to stay edible in space had been prepared.
“Looks like you did a good job over here kiddo. Let’s use that All Mighty quirk of yours to bust the doors.”
Izuku shot him an amused look, before decimating the reinforced metal with a 15% impact. Izuku had surpassed the strength of All Might’s prime at what should have been the beginning of his second year of UA. Having spent the whole year fighting villains, and the other for his life together with Aizawa, at 18 years old, One for All had grown exponentially in Izuku’s care.
What once was All Might’s 45% was Izuku’s new 15%. Naturally, he was a little bit scared of himself, but in the ruins of an entire nation, he had more important things to be scared of than the quirk that had become his.
Or, as Aizawa had tried to impress on him upon learning the truth of Izuku and his quirk, the tool.
And wasn’t that something? According to Aizawa, quirks are tools, and don’t make anyone more or less capable of becoming a hero, especially considering other, equally as powerful tools in the form of support gear existed. In the dust of a future he never wished upon anyone, Izuku’s past was healed through kind, logical (“it’s just logic, Izuku”) words.
Izuku digresses.
Carefully, the two entered the large complex, and began methodically searching for storage capsules, spurred on by the ever-present hunger in their stomachs. As they searched further inside, Izuku activated One for All at a low percentage to create a low flickering green light that came as a byproduct of the power from the quirk, which danced around his body in arcs of green energy.
Their quiet footsteps echoed in the empty hall, which eventually led them to a descending flight of stairs. Izuku shifted nervously. The stairs were shrouded in a darkness that made it seem like the hall was closing in on him.
He hitched a breath and moved to step back.
A warm hand placed on his back brought him out of his reverie as he turned to look at Aizawa. He was met with a supportive smile. Izuku smiled back sheepishly, and together they began to descend the long flight of stairs.
Eventually, the two found themselves in a room that looked like it was used for construction of technology. It was in a state of complete disarray, and it was clear that a project had been abandoned half way in favor of surviving the tremors that Shigaraki and his army had sent ripping through Japan. It was a strange circular metal rig, that, maybe in other, more fortunate times, would have caught his attention, but all Izuku could notice was that it very clearly was not built for space travel.
Disheartened, Izuku pointed out that it didn’t seem like the type of room to have any food. Aizawa lightly responded that it didn’t hurt to look. He gave Izuku’s hair another ruffle, which made him immediately feel better. Father figure affection for the win.
The two began to search the various drawers and cupboards together (it was too dark to split up without Izuku being a glow stick) but ultimately, the search was fruitless.
“C'mon kid, there’s much more of the complex we haven’t explored. There’s still hope for us yet.”
Izuku gave an affirmative and moved to exit the room. Suddenly, he tripped on a notch and lurched forwards, stumbling to remain standing when a deafening sound shook the building. Aizawa rushed towards him.
“Kid! What happened?”
“I- I don’t know, I think I tripped on a button or something!”
Aizawa’s hands hovered over Izuku, as he instinctively scanned for injury and distress, ready to help if needed.
He opened his mouth as if to speak again when the strange metal rig in the room whirred, and began to spin.
“You must have triggered a power generator. Let’s get out of here before anything happens.”
Izuku agreed hurriedly and they both sped back to the staircase they came from. Light sparked in the middle of the spinning metal rig, momentarily blinding the pair.
Suddenly, they were jerked backwards by an invisible force, forcing them towards the rig.
The whirring sound sped up.
“Midoriya, hold my hand!”
They reached out and linked both hands together, and tried to resist the force.
Izuku powered his quirk up to the max.
His jaw dropped in shock.
The force was stronger than Izuku.
It tugged on the two again, and they held onto the other like a lifeline. This would not be the end of them. Not after they’ve worked so hard to be alive today. Not after they’ve made a place for two of them in this desolate world.
The light brightened another increment.
“Sensei!”
“Midoriya!”
The force surged.
Their hands slipped.
“Dad!”
He saw sheer desperation painted on Aizawa’s face.
“Izuku!”
They were pulled separately to the center.
He heard his parent once more.
A plea to the world.
“Don’t hurt my son.”
And then everything went black.