Upended Universe

by Leemron

Summary:

Bakugou Katsuki, Todoroki Shouto and Midoriya Izuku find themselves victim to a villain's attack. Unfortunately, this attack leads them to being sent into a parallel universe, where the villains reign and the heroes are in hiding. The only way to get back to their universe is to fulfill whatever purpose is set up before them. Their purpose? Overthrow the villains in rule and save this universes versions of their friends while they're at it. Shouldn't be too hard, right?

Too bad Shouto and Izuku find themselves on the villain's side.

***
Back in their original universe, the heroes are left to hopelessly watch through a screen as Class 1-A's top three students begin to blur the lines between good and bad and villain and hero.

Notes:

Hi! First MHA fanfiction, and it's gonna be a LONG one! Please tell me if you spot any errors or spelling mistakes! ^^ I'll probably update these notes later when I don't feel like falling asleep!

Chapter 1: Training Trips Never Work Out - Bakugou's P.O.V.

When Aizawa-sensei had announced to the class that they would be taking a trip to some training place in the middle of nowhere- again- all Bakugou Katsuki had done was sigh.

 

Most of his class, Class 1-A, had been more than enthusiastic at the prospect, but several had stayed silent, nervous glances being cast around. It was completely fair to see the pessimistic attitudes, considering the fact the last time they had had a training trip, it had ended in disaster. 

 

Nothing disastrous had actually happened at the camp, but that was mainly because the camp had never actually taken place.

 

One of the stops on the way over had been in the city where everything had gone to hell, after all. Why would a camp take place when three students were reported as missing in another fucking universe? 

 

***

 

Katsuki sighed for about the thirtieth time in the last hour as Kaminari talked his ear off despite sitting two rows ahead of him. 

 

He was this close to getting up to blast Dunce Face's head off, but Kirishima was sitting in the aisle seat, and would probably be annoying and tell him murder wasn't a ‘manly’ thing to do or some shit. Katsuki was pretty sure Shitty hair just had a weak stomach, and put everything under the guise of manliness instead of confronting his fears. 

 

There was absolutely nothing wrong with murder when the applicant was fucking annoying. 

 

He growled softly to himself as Kirishima poked him in the side with his elbow, no doubt sensing that Katsuki was about to figuratively and literally explode. 

 

Tch, the other knew him too well. Not as well as Deku, but Deku was a stalker. 

 

A stupid song was blaring from the speaker that Jirou had brought along, and Katsuki swore he could hear Satou chewing on whatever snack he’d brought, which was concerning because Katsuki's had earbuds in, was slowly turning deaf from an explosive quirk, and could still hear the obnoxious chomping despite sitting at opposite ends of the bus. 

 

At the thought of his quirk, he flexed his hand as familiar crackles and pops sputtered from his palm. They were small bursts, but they still had his shoulders slumping from whatever uptight position they'd been in beforehand.

 

He didn't know why it always calmed him to see that his quirk worked, but it did. Well, it calmed him as much as Bakugou Katsuki could be. 

 

It still wasn't calming enough to stop him from wanting to kill somebody by the name of Kaminari Denki, who was still blathering on about something.

 

Kirishima’s elbow dug into his side once again, this time because he was talking animatedly to Mina who was in the seat parallel to them. 

 

A scowl edged onto his face as he once again became tense. Somebody was just asking to die today. And by somebody, he meant the entirety of Class 1-A because they could never shut the fuck up.

 

Katsuki slowly raised his gaze from the window he had been mindlessly staring through, and instead settled it on the Pikachu rip-off ahead of them.

 

Pikachu didn't seem to realise his deadpan look as he continued speaking (which was ever louder than Satou's chewing.) Tokoyami, who was the only person who occupied the seat in front of Katsuki and Kirishima, was window watching.

 

“-And then Jirou flipped me off like a bitch -” Dunce Face was saying, before the woman in question turned around in her seat and did exactly what she had apparently done earlier.

 

Katsuki had absolutely no clue what Pikachu was talking about, but it was amusing to see the middle finger come into play.

 

“Jirou!” Dunce Face complained, swatting at Jirou's hand. Sharp cackles escaped ear jack, as she in turn playfully slapped him back. 

 

Yaoyorozu, who was beside Jirou, rolled her eyes fondly. Katsuki almost felt inclined to do the same.

 

Katsuki looked away before he could do such a thing. Everything felt so normal here, on the bench of a bus. 

 

No matter how annoying his idiots and classmates were, he was still glad to see them behaving like teenagers, even if he would never admit it. 

 

Villain attacks had been getting pretty bad as of late…

 

Any fondness he had been feeling a few seconds ago disappeared when Kirishima once again jabbed him in the chest.

 

“Oh my GODS,” he snapped, immediately bristling as he took out his earbuds. Kirhsima blinked in surprise, turning his head back with comically wide eyes and a raised elbow in the air.

 

The other's eyes widened even more in a terrified realisation as he automatically tried to scoot away from the ticking time bomb known as Bakugou Katsuki.

 

“If you hit me in the chest one more time , I am going to EXPLODE your face off!” He all but yelled, hands already spread out and crackling.

 

Kirishima snorted, not looking nearly as terrified as before despite leaning as far away from Katsuki as he could. 

 

“Dude, it was an accident,” Kirishima laughed nervously, rubbing his neck in ‘shame’. The action reminded him of Deku, which immediately set him off.

 

“An accident my ass.”

 

“I swear! Why would I intentionally provoke Lord Explosion Murder?” Shitty hair grinned that stupid, dumb grin of his. 

 

“Okay, that's it,” Katsuki hissed, and promptly launched himself at his frie-classmate. 

 

Kirishima shrieked as they both toppled into the aisle. The other's quirk had automatically activated upon impact, and the two of them were quick to become a mess of limbs on the floor. He vaguely heard Mina yelp.

 

Despite being a few minutes away from his deathbed, Kirishima still had the nerve to laugh as Katsuki set off an explosion near his head.

 

“Are you LAUGHING at me!” Katsuki snarled, aiming another weak explosion near his applicant's head. He wasn't dumb enough to actually land a hit.

 

Krishima continued his stupid giggling as he slapped one of Katsuki’s offending hands away from him. The nerve! Maybe he would land a hit.

 

Before he could fully think out this decision, somebody was grabbing him and pulling him off of his quarry.

 

“Hey!” He automatically aimed a kick at the legs of whoever was interrupting his tussling match. The hands let go. “I'm gonna fuck you up so hard-”

 

“Please don't,” his captor said in a deadpan tone, and- ugh. It was Icy Hot. 

 

To show his displeasure at being interrupted by Icy Hot of all people, he swivelled around and puffed up at the Zuko rip-off. 

 

“Fuck you!”

 

“I would rather not,” Icy-Hot said, expression not changing one bit from its tone of usual indifference. 

 

“You can't really get mad at me. You barely struggled and put the barest amount of effort into your attack on Kirishima-kun.” Todoroki added on, unnecessarily.

 

“Shut up!” He snapped, now aiming his attack at Icy-Hot. Before he could throw himself back into his second fight in the same minute, a hand was laid on his arm and he was literally dragged down to sit on a seat.

 

Katsuki blinked, startled, as he looked at his offender. He was doubly confused to see that Tokoyami of all people had dragged Katsuki to sit with him.

 

Sharp red eyes watched him as the bird man offered an explanation. “The day is already turning dark, so I have saved you. I beseech that you refrain from further fights, for I will not always be there to rescue you from unwitting foes.”

 

Tokoyami removed his hand and turned around to go back to the window watching, ignoring Katsuki’s befuddled expression. 

 

Todoroki, who watched the interaction with slightly narrowed eyes, huffed and walked back to his seat which was at the front of the bus. 

 

Katsuki brought his attention back to the red head he had just tackled.

 

“Aw, Kats, why did you get a new seat mate? Are we already breaking up?” Kirishima joked as he shakily got up, holding onto the seat for support.

 

Katsuki scowled, feeling a strange feeling spread through his chest at seeing Kirishima struggle the slightest bit. He… He hadn't hit him that hard, right?

 

Kirishima slunk back into the seat they had been sharing originally, poking the back of Katsuki's head, much to his chagrin. “Hey, don't worry. I'm tough!” 

 

The other flexed his arm as if to prove this. Katsuki frowned. Had his worry (was that the feeling?) been that obvious?

 

He didn't have time to mull over this, because Iida decided to get on his case. 

 

“Bakugou! That was highly inappropriate for this setting-!” Iida called all the way from the front of the bus. Pink Cheeks and Frog girl, who were seated behind the presidential asshole (who was in his own seat-- probably because anytime he spoke he flung his arms out like a robot), watched with wide eyes like this was some telenovela. 

 

Katsuki tuned out Iida, for he was plenty used to the scolding.

 

He pat himself down, looking to find where he had put his earbuds, ignoring how almost the entirety of the bus was staring in his direction or talking about the skirmish that had just occurred. 

 

“Are you looking for these?” 

 

Katsuki looked up with narrowed eyes at Kaminari, who was holding out his earbuds and leaning over the back of his seat. 

 

“You threw them at me,” Kaminari said when Katsuki snatched back his possession. 

 

Thankfully, his phone was in his pocket so he didn't have to worry about finding that.

 

His seaweed snacks were in the seat with Kirishima, but he had too much dignity to ask for them. He hadn't even been eating them, anyways.

 

“Dude, what did Kirishima even do?” Kaminari asked, an eyebrow raised. Katsuki didn't bother replying, even when several other extras began to ask questions.

 

He could feel a certain pair of green eyes staring (it was a bit of a sixth sense of his), and raised his head to find the nerd. Deku blanched when Katsuki locked eyes with him. The other looked away and huddled down in his seat with Todoroki. Seemed as though the nerd was still intimidated by him, even when on separate sides of the bus.

 

He rolled his eyes and proceeded to go on his phone and scroll on Youtube.

 

He had experience at ignoring attention when it was directed at him, so it was easy to be absorbed by social media.

 

***

 

Less than an hour later, Aizawa-sensei called for their attention, head peeking out of his sleeping bag. 

 

He didn't seem to be aware of any events that had transpired in the time he had been sleeping, but Katsuki swore that Aizawa-sensei had looked in his direction before speaking on purpose.

 

“We’ll be stopping at a shopping district in a few minutes. The bus will be refuelling but you are all free to walk around. We have several more hours left, and this was planned from the beginning to be a long pit stop. We'll be here for over an hour and a half, so meet back up at the front of the mall by 13:30. We'll be there at 12:00. Make sure to grab something to eat, and buddy up.”

 

That was probably some of the most words Katsuki had heard from his teacher at one time when it came to instructions. 

 

“Yo! Food!” Kaminari crowed. Tokoyami nodded in agreement.

 

Katsuki huffed.

 

***

Once twelve hundred rolled around and the class was in the mall, nobody had gotten less annoying. Actually, they got more annoying because now they had a reason to be loud.

 

Katsuki groaned aloud when he ended up with a quarter of the class with him. He had tried to escape to the food court, but Shitty hair, the bastard, hadn't let him.

 

“Hey, man, we can all eat together later!” The other had said, keeping a firm hand on Katsuki’s shoulder. That hand stayed there for several agonising minutes.

 

“Where are we even going?” He asked, shrugging off Kirishima's hand. He hated physical contact with a volatile passion, and could only stand it for a certain amount of time.

 

Kirishima blinked, clearly having not thought this far ahead. “Uh, we'll just follow Kaminari! He always goes to the coolest places!”

 

He raised a fine brow. “Define ‘cool ,’”.

 

There was a pause. “Not cool bro.”

 

“Hmph. At least you can use it in a sentence properly. I was worried Dunce Face was starting to infect you.”

 

Kirishima rolled his eyes. 

 

The section of the class he ended up with (AKA, the idiot group he unfortunately hung out with and Jiro), found themselves in some hero merchandise store, which was a terrible thing because the minute somebody said ‘hero’, Deku would show up.

 

And show up he did. Less than thirty seconds after arriving, Deku, Todoroki, and Engines for legs were here.

 

“Urgh,” Bakugou sighed out once Deku's mumbling filtered into his hearing distance. 

 

“Hey, cheer up man,” Shitty hair nudged him in the side and then practically skipped over to the three new extras.

 

Well, there were three… now there were only two. Where did-?

 

“Bakugou.”

 

Katsuki did not jump; no he did not. 

 

He swung around to see Icy-Hot addressing him, eyes watching him like a hawk. But knowing Icy-Hot, he was probably being as apathetic as a sheep and just had a staring problem.

 

“What do you want, you damn extra?”

 

“Do you want to come to the soba place with Midoriya-kun and I once he's done wasting my father's credit card on All Might merch?”

 

Katsuki’s response was immediate. “No.”

 

Icy-Hot's brows seemed to furrow, but it was near impossible to tell if one didn't have keen eyes. “What? Why?”

 

“Because I don't want to eat lunch with you and damn Deku. I'm not a fucking nerd.” 

 

If this was last year, Katsuki would have already blown the guy's head off. He wondered if this was called character improvement. 

 

“... It has spicy soba?” Icy-Hot tried, as if that would him over, and shit, wait, it might actually.

 

No, he had to hold his ground. He was going to be the number one hero, dammit. “Still a no.”

 

There was a slow, agonising pause, before Icy-Hot said, “I'll let you use my fathers credit card to buy merch. It's practically unlimited.”

 

“Are you trying to win me over with money?” Katsuki said with a raised eyebrow, because dammit, that was a good offer. 

 

“Yes.” So blunt, that guy.

 

“Do you want to eat with us?” Todoroki asked, once again. 

 

Instead of directly answering, Katsuki asked, deciding to be blunt like his peer, “why?”

 

Todoroki blinked slowly. “Why… what?”

 

This guy was impossible to talk to. “Why do you want me to eat with you and that shitty nerd?” He asked through gritted teeth

 

“Because I was dared.” The other’s eyes flickered to the side but Katsuki didn't catch where. 

 

Katsuki's brows rose even farther, because who the hell managed to dare Todoroki, one of the most serious guys in the class?

 

“By Kaminari,” Icy-Hot further clarified. 

 

“Oh, you should've said that from the beginning, you idiot. Yeah, I'll go.” 

 

He would not let anyone be shamed by Kaminari, no matter how much of a pretentious asshole they may be.

 

“Oh, good.” 

 

“Right,” Katsuki said, because they had resolved into a long few moments of silence.

 

“Right…” Icy-Hot backed away, and hurried over to Iida and Deku.

 

Holy fuck, that was probably one of the most awkward conversations of his life.

 

***

 

“Hey, man, what were you talking to Todoroki about?” Kirishima asked once they had left the store. He was holding a single bag like Katsuki.

 

Katsuki ignored the question. “What did you get?”

 

Kirishima looked down. “Hm? Oh! I found this sick action figure of Red Riot for like five thousand yen! He looks so manly! And it's good quality!”

 

“Huh, I wouldn't expect merch of him here,” Katsuki said a bit distantly. He wasn't one for small talk.

 

“Yeah, me neither! I got, like, the only figurine of him and…” Kirishima continued talking, and while he did, Katsuki found his eyes roaming. Where was that soba place? 

 

“- Oh, I'm rambling, where are we gonna eat?” 

 

Katsuki's face soured. “I'm eating soba with fucking Icy-Hot and Deku.”

 

Kirishima blinked in surprise, before a grin broke across his face. “Really? I'm glad to see you making friends, man!”

 

“I'm not,” he hissed lowly.

 

“Uh oh, are you being forced to do this?”

 

“ Nobody forces me to do anything.”

 

“Uh huh. Then why are you eating with them?”

 

“Kaminari,” Katsuki responded, which only caused Kirishima to become more confused.

 

“Dude, seriously? What do you even got against Kaminari anyways? Last I checked, you never went through with his dares.”

 

“He's annoying as fuck, which is reason enough. And, he didn't dare me. He dared Icy-Hot.”

 

“Uhh?” Krishima gaped. “How??”

 

It was a bit of a running joke in their class that nobody could successfully get Icy-Hot to do truth or dare, or any games in general. So, the confusion was understandable. Hell, even Katsuki was confused, and he rarely admitted such a thing to himself.

 

Before Katsuki could think up a response, the idiot himself intercepted their conversation. 

 

“Bakugou,” Icy-Hot said pleasantly, bringing a hand up as if he wanted to set it on Katsuki's shoulder or some shit.

 

If he did, then Katsuki would bite him, consequences be damned.

 

“What?” He snapped.

 

“The soba place is over there.”

 

A grimace spread its way across Katsuki's face. Ugh. Time to go associate with nerds. 

 

“Bye, Shitty hair,” he grumbled, shoving his bag into the other's arms. Like hell would he deal with Deku gushing about the merch or some shit. 

 

A bemused Kirishima watched him trudge away to his doom, standing awkwardly with two bags and left alone to wallow about in a mall, effectively breaking the buddy system. (Which, later on, Katsuki would be glad he had left the other behind, or else he would end up in the same debacle that Katuski would be facing soon enough.)

 

“How long does this little lunch date last?” He asked, a ‘tsk’ escaping afterward at the realisation that Icy-Hot was walking in front of him. Icy-Hot ignored his growl of ‘walk behind me!’.

 

“I don't know. Probably a sufficient amount of time to count as a lunch break, and not just scarfing down one's food.”

 

Katsuki hissed at the obvious attack on his eating habits. “Walk behind me, bastard.”

 

The soba shop was located in a bustling food court. Katsuki was quick to pull the hood of his hoodie up so as to not be recognised. Icy-Hot, the most recognisable of the two (and the one who never thought of disguises), had no such qualms, but he could easily block out the stares and whispers. He'd been blocking them out since the sludge villain attack, anyhow.

 

“Midoriya-kun,” Icy-Hot greeted when they trailed up to the nerd. Deku was wearing a new All Might hoodie, which was kind of stupid because what if it got dirty? Not that he cared or anything.

 

Katsuki harrumphed, because he had also bought an All Might hoodie that Kirishima was in possession of now. Damn nerd was copying him, as always. 

 

“Oh! Todoroki-kun! And… Kacchan?” Deku said cheerily, tone trailing off as his brows furrowed. 

 

“Bakugou will be joining us for lunch,” Icy-Hot explained, taking a place in the line. 

 

“Oh, uh… okay?” Deku smiled nervously, shuffling uncomfortably as if he expected Katsuki to jump him. The two of them joined the Todoroki in line, although they stood behind him.

 

“I didn't know you liked soba,” the other mumbled, fiddling with his yellow tipped sleeve. 

 

His eyes narrowed. “I like it plenty fine.” Katsuki had never really had a taste for soba, but it was still enjoyable. 

 

“That's, um- nice. Why are you joining us for lunch…?”

 

“Can't I not just enjoy some-” Katsuki looked at the menu, squinting at the first spicy item he saw, because his eyesight was shit, “- spicy peanut soba noodles?”

 

“Of course you can! Was just wondering!” Deku laughed nervously, shuffling.

 

 Ugh, Deku was so annoyingly nervous around him. He wondered why- oh, right. Katsuki had bullied the other relentlessly for years. Hmm. Maybe he shouldn't ever admit that aloud.

 

“Hrm.”

 

Deku looked away before focusing his sight on the menu. He was still twitching like crazy. 

 

When their turn came and they got their food, they found a table in the corner of the food court, away from the whispers and stares. Deku watched him curiously as Katsuki sat across from the two.

 

He looked down dispassionately at his peanut noodles. “Stop staring at me.”

 

He didn't need to be looking at Deku to know that he had jumped in surprise. Katsuki talking seemed to give the other confidence, unfortunately. 

 

“Why are you eating with us? There's nothing wrong with you getting soba, but eating with us is a different matter…”

 

Katsuki looked up to see the other was pushing the noodles around in his bowl with his chopsticks. 

 

“Dunce Face dared Mr. Cold-Soba-Guy over there,” Katsuki gestured at Icy-Hot with his own pair of chopsticks, sneering. 

 

Todoroki raised a brow as he slurped his food. A facial expression, how rare.

 

“What does Kaminari-kun daring Todoroki-kun have to do with you-?”

 

“Not your business,” he growled, stabbing into his noodles. 

 

Deku grumbled something, which captured Katsuki's interest. He'd known that Deku didn't view him as a threat as much anymore, but seeing the other act out of line was always interesting, even if it did happen often now.

 

If he was anybody but Katsuki he would be happy for the other finally exhibiting behaviours that aren't cowardly, but it changed things when Katsuki was the reason for the other having been meek in the first place. Well… quirklessness was the first thing to have made the other pathetic, but still.

 

Todoroki was kind enough to explain the dare to Deku after Katsuki refused to answer, and now he was left listening to the two change topics into how society could be reformed, which was quite the drastic change in conversation in his humble opinion.

 

 “How the hell did you guys go from talking about lunch to overthrowing the government?” Katsuki asked, brow raised.

 

“We're-we're not overthrowing the government,” Deku sputtered, waving his chopsticks wildly. 

 

“You would have to change the government if you want change, you dumbass,” Katsuki huffed.

 

“Yeah, change doesn't mean overthrowing the government.”

 

“Have you ever read a history book? Drastic change comes with a new government.”

 

“Yes, but-”

 

“When a government has power over powerful individuals, then you’ll most likely have to use force to bring about change,” Todoroki mused, jumping back into the conversation, turning everything fancy worded. As usual. 

 

Deku looked disgruntled. “I mean, yeah, but as heroes we can still bring ideas to people about change. They can try for a better future!”

 

“All Might’s been doing that for the last thirty years, and yet all that's come out of it are D-rank villains. People with the right ideals don't try,” Katsuki said. The building seemed to rumble, but they paid no mind.

 

“People do try. We try!”

 

“Do we though?” Todoroki said, frowning. He'd long abandoned his noodles. 

 

“We don't have influence yet,” Deku said, now also frowning. “We will try, though, once we do. We better try. Isn't that the point of a hero? To help a society, even if not conventionally?”

 

“Not all heroes help,” Icy-Hot mumbled, eyes fixed on a spot on the table. “I would know.”

 

“Some do, though. And some do bring change. All Might helped push laws to help the quirkless and the people with quote on quote ‘villainous’ quirks! And he's brought down crime rates by so much!”

 

“And yet we've still got the people with the villainous quirks who are tryna change things. Their execution is ass, but it still has reason, even if flawed. You know that Shigaraki bitch? He's got a villainous quirk. Most villains do. Don't you think there's a reason for that? Society shames them, people with actual power, and that's how villains are born. Laws that aren't put to execution dont fucking help,” Katsuki growled. 

 

Both Todoroki and Deku fell silent, looking uncomfortable. Katsuki felt like a hypocrite. 

 

Deku opened his mouth, but the building shook, interrupting him. They all stiffened. 

 

“Earth shake?” Todoroki guessed. 

 

“Probably. We do live in Japan.” Deku added.

 

“We’re also Class 1-a,” Katsuki said, unimpressed. 

 

Deku looked at him, alarmed. “Ack! You'll jinx it!”

 

Katsuki rolled his eyes. “I don't jinx stuff-”

 

The wall thought otherwise, and promptly exploded. The bitch. He didn't remember doing anything to that wall.

 

Shrieks resounded around the court as rubble went flying, and the building groaned from the sudden loss of support. Dust was quick to clog the air.

 

Katsuki jumped from his seat with a hiss, palms readying for attack. Deku was already sprinting away, lightning flashing.

 

The wall closest to them had exploded, meaning, thankfully, there were less civilians than there would be in the centre. 

 

“Icy-Hot, get civillians,” Katsuki snapped, not caring to see if the other would follow his orders. He was already blasting himself away to the right side of where he assumed the villain should be, and not thinking it out like an idiot. 

 

The sound of the building rumbling and various quirks in action filled the air, but his explosions were all he could hear. His attention was solely on whatever could have decided to ruin his shopping trip. 

 

Was it a villain? A planted bomb?

 

He landed on the crumbled wall, eyes screwing up from the dust and the smoke that was coming up from his hands. Sparks fluttered.

 

Great. His eyesight was impaired, and his hearing was already shit. He growled in frustration and crouched, because he knew better than to make himself an obvious target. 

 

Something other than the building hissed loudly. 

 

He blasted the rubble, watching in satisfaction as bricks were degraded and thrust away from himself, and in turn revealing the villain.

 

Said villain was… interesting. He couldn't tell what he was looking at, because its body kept on shifting into different body shapes and species. Animalistic eyes narrowed. Its hands shifted into sharp claws as the villain literally vibrated.

 

The thing cackled like a hyena, deranged and wild. “ You. You're the one the bo-oss warned us abouttt.”

 

It was giggling like it belonged in an insane asylum. Katsuki was unimpressed. 

 

“Boss?” He asked, raising a hand to blast its face off. So this attack was planned as an ambush on U.A. students? Or were they searching for something and just made aware of U.A. students? 

 

“I’m not gonna monologue,” the villain grumbled, mouth opening to reveal a mouth with twisted teeth. “I’m not that stereotypical.”

 

The thing proceeded to do the most stereotypical thing known in mankind: through itself like an idiot at Katsuki.

 

 He promptly dodged, grabbed at an arm  covered with porcupine prickles, and slammed its body in the ground. He raised a foot and stomped on the back of its head.

 

He shook out a hand, waving away small pinpricks of blood, and letting some sparks loose.

 

“That was stupidly easy,” he grumbled, now glancing around for something to tie the villain up with. Where had Deku gone? The nerd had literally been ahead of him, albeit going to the left side.

 

He frowned, glancing down at the D-lister. It clearly had information on student plans, so why was it so easy to take down-?

 

Katsuki blamed the next thing that happened on the smoke and the constant ringing in his ears. He would never admit that he had let his guard down.

 

An object smashed into the back of his head, throwing his body forward near the villain, knees falling to the floor.

 

The first villain’s eyes snapped open, surging forward and away from Katsuki with a hiss that was drowned out by the rush of blood in his ears.

 

He gurgled in surprise, palms moving to blast at something , but somebody stomped on his head again. 

 

His hand sputtered up explosions as he managed to roll away from what he was pretty sure was another kick. 

 

“Fuck you,” he spat at nothing as he struggled to his feet, explosions keeping any other attacks away.

 

Blood was trickling into his eyes as he looked up at the villains, head hanging low from his hunched body. A snarl was ripping its way across his face.

 

The atmosphere was even more coated in smut, and he could hear the groans of a building's failing infrastructure from all around. With the sign of fire and heavy smoke, there must have been more explosions set off. He wondered how long he had tunnel-visioned this battle.

 

The only villain he could see was the crazy mutation guy, who's teeth now resembled that of a bat. 

 

Katsuki sneered. “Where’s the stupid bitch that was stomping on my head instead of asking for a real fight?”

 

He aimed an explosion and it enveloped the whole area the villain was in. The other's startled shriek brought a wild smirk to his face.

 

Unfortunately, the man must have had some earth shaking secondary quirk, because the ground suddenly erupted around them. Katsuki stumbled in surprise as he blasted himself up into the air, now keeping an eye out for potential attacks. No signs of a second guy, though. 

 

He hissed in annoyance. Good thing this guy was stupid or else he would have been in real trouble-- the man had dangerous quirks. Or, maybe, the earth shaking was the other villains quirk. 

 

Katsuki landed on a more stable looking piece of broken wall, although it was still shaking. 

 

He frowned as he waited for the smoke to clear.

 

There was a chaotic cacophony of noises around him. It was hard to make out what was what; what with the fires and the screaming in the background.

 

The ground had finally stopped rumbling, which he was thankful for because his head felt like it was going to burst.

 

For a fleeting moment he wished he had Deku's analysis skills, so that he could tell if the ground shaking was an aftereffect of the villain getting knocked out, or if the other was actually awake.

 

The smoke finally thinned, and he could spy the man lying lifeless on the now blood stained floor. 

 

He slid down a slope attached to the rock, and moved forward to double check that the other was actually out of the game and not faking it. Maybe it had a regeneration aspect to its quirk-- he wasn't sure. 

 

After having approached the villain, he nudged its head with a foot, and stepped away once satisfied at the lack of reaction. The head dropped to the ground. He hoped the other was breathing-- it would be hard to explain why he had murdered somebody.

 

Its face was a bloodied mess, horns atop its head sitting up and sharp. One was broken.

 

He shuddered a bit at the thought of possibly having permanently injured the other. He… didn't want to be responsible for that.

 

There was the likely possibility that the other would perk back up like earlier, so he pulled off his hoodie and tied its arms to its back, avoiding the porcupine spikes on its arms. 

 

It was a messy tie with a weak item, but it would have to do for now.

 

He clambered down the pile of wall, and found himself inside the food court.

 

There was no sign of either Deku or Icy-Hot, save a random small ice glacier in another corner of the room. An uncomfortable feeling crawled up his skin.

 

He distracted himself from the thoughts of the two, and instead surveyed the damage of the room and see how many civilians were left. (The last thing was something Icy-Hot was supposed to be dealing with, but he seemed to be missing at the moment.)

 

He spotted a little girl huddled up under a table, and quickly went over.

 

Her cries were loud as he drew near; her face lined with tear-streaks. Ginger hair lay frazzled on her head.

 

Great. He would have to do comforting. He couldn't comfort.

 

“Hey pipe it down, pip squeak,” he said, bending down to her level, but not before doing another scan of the room. No other civilians or villains in sight, other than the one laying on the floor.

 

Her eyes widened at the sight of him, sobs hitching in her throat. “A-are you a he-hero?”

 

“Yes,” he responded, the words ‘ you idiot’ , held back on his tongue.

 

“You don't look one,” she whimpered, but she let him pull her out from her protection. Her arm was covered in blood, but he wasn't sure what from.

 

The comment didn't hurt per se, but it did make him remember the reactions online from after the Sports Festival, and how most agreed he would make a better villain than a hero.

 

“Not all heroes will look like fucking saviours, kid,” he growled. He thought about carrying her before dismissing the idea. He was sweating too much, and he didn't fancy the idea of covering her in explosive chemicals. 

 

He gestured towards the other side of the food court. “C'mon.”

 

“Why don't you hold my hand, like a hero?” The younger asked, reluctantly moving with him.

 

“I've got… cooties,” Katsuki said.

 

The other's nose wrinkled at that. 

 

He rolled his eyes and made haste for the opening, but the younger decided to be an annoying little bitch and stop him short. Fuck her, he had a terrible headache from getting his head bashed in and really didn't feel like sticking around.

 

“Hey… what's your idea of a hero?” 

 

That was a weird question from what looked like a six year old, but whatever. He'd answer.

 

“Somebody who's strong, and can actually protect and save people,” he responded gruffly, waving for her to hurry along again. 

 

He thought of Deku, who had the spirit of hero, but couldn't be, because he was quirkless. He's always been more of a hero than you were, even when he was a Deku, a voice whispered in his mind. He ignored it. 

 

The kid chuckled, which was frankly weird and set off alarm bells in his head. He stopped pestering to get a move on, and instead stood still, eyes narrowing.

 

“Wrong answer. Always knew you weren't cut out to be a hero.” She looked him in the eyes. “Why don't you learn the real idea of being a hero, hm?”

 

Well, as if that wasn't ominous as crap. He furrowed his brows, and kind of just let her reach her hand out and grasp his sweaty, explosIve as fuck hand.

 

He flinched and snarled, “what the fuck?”  

 

But he didn't get to say anything more, because the edges of his vision were turning black. He ripped his hand out of her grasp, which he could now see was bloody, no doubt from one of Katsuki's explosions. She was the mysterious attacker.

 

The other smiled, canines sharp against a pale, freckled face. Gold eyes glittered.

 

“Good luck; where I'm sending you is a shitshow.” 

 

He opened his mouth to say something, but the darkness overtook his vision; the last thing he saw and felt was sudden pain, and he was gone.

Chapter 2: Drowning Sucks - Todroki's P.O.V.

Notes:

Finished this sooner than expected. Enjoy a chapter-full of panic attacks performed by none other than Todoroki Shouto :D
Also, for TW's, I'm not too good at them, so expect a range of the whole spectrum. There is no smut in this fanfiction at all! I wont give TW's in every chapter, and I will add this warning in the first chapter.

Todoroki Shouto hadn't meant to get sent to another universe. How he got sent there was a little stupid, frankly embarrassing. 

 

He had been caught off guard by an obvious trap. He should have seen it a mile away.

 

That didn't negate the fact that it had happened in the first place.

 

He had designated himself to the job Bakugou had assigned to him, throwing himself into the panicked fray of the people and directing them towards the outer parts of the mall that weren't exploding. 

 

Most everybody decided to be compatible today, and went right where he ordered them to. Maybe they recognised him, and knew him to be an actual hero in training.

 

He had swept his hair out of his eyes- he needed to cut it- and spotted the little girl who was calling for her mother. She wasn't injured as far as he could tell.

 

Yeah… He had approached her, shot out ice in surprise when she started spouting cryptic stuff (which definitely made the trap obvious, he just hadn't pulled away) and promptly blacked out. 

 

Wow, who knew his social interaction was so bad that he'd black out when somebody grabbed his hand?

 

***

 

Shouto woke up in a warehouse. 

 

He came to slowly, a strange numbness settling into his body. He felt stiff, and his eyelids were heavy. His limbs were like lead, and it took an effort to try to recall what had happened before. 

 

He managed to blink open his eyes, confusion edging at his consciousness at the fact that he was asleep in the first place. Ah well, it didn't matter.

 

It wasn't surprising that it was dark, but it was weird for there to be streams of light dappled on the floor further down his sight. He was only seeing the floor because his head was tilted down. The cushioning under him felt like thin blankets, which was weird. Why was he on the floor…? 

 

His dorm’s windows were always closed, and the room was traditionally styled; what he was seeing looked like stone, wood, and sunlight.

 

Alarm came at the realisation, and his fingers began to spasm as his eyes blew wide open from their originally half-lidded gaze.

 

Warmth and cold combated inside him, curling together as his quirks activated, before they hissed back out of use.

 

Where was he? What was going on?

 

His gaze settled on the walls ahead of him. The building was dank and more uncertainty began to set in once he made the connection that this was parallel to a warehouse. 

 

He brought his sight to the ceiling, frowning when he saw criss-crossed pillars and scattered tears across the ceiling; it looked rotted and old.

 

Finally he brought his gaze around him. He turned over from his position on the floor to see his right side-

 

-and proceeded to freeze (not literally), because was that Dabi?

 

Well, s*it. This was not an expected outcome, especially considering the fact that Shouto wasn't restrained and Dabi was sleeping right beside him. 

 

What the hell-

 

“Shouto…?” 

 

Shouto stiffened, eyes becoming wide as his fire quirk activated, wisps of fire trailing along his fingers. 

 

Dabi was not as asleep as he had previously thought-- but he didn't seem all that awake either, because the other didn't look alarmed by the sight of Shouto.

 

Two icy blue eyes watched him languidly. Dabi didn't even look twice at Shouto’s alight hand. “You good?”

 

“You kidnapped me,” Shouto stated. Dabi just looked confused. 

 

“What?”

 

Shouto shifted up, the fire on his hand growing. Shit, what was Dabi's weakness? Was it fire? Fire was where all those burn scars had come from, right? It didn't make sense to have a weakness to fire when you had a fire quirk, but maybe the guys genetics sucked. 

 

Should he be screaming right now? Was that how victims in kidnapping situations were supposed to act? He highly doubted Bakugou had screamed, though.

 

Kami, his father had never taught him how to act in this situation despite him being the son of a top pro hero. Actually, maybe Endeavor had and Shouto had just blocked it out because of trauma… ah, who knows.

 

“You're not very good at kidnapping,” Shouto said, now moving his feet under him to crouch. Hair drifted in front of his eyes-- he didn't think it was the right colour. Or the right length.

 

“That's because I didn't kidnap you,” Davi said, rolling his eyes. “It's like nine, why are you even up?”

 

Shouto blinked. Nine? Was it the next day from the attack? He never woke up at nine. Maybe he was knocked out?

 

“You… wake up after nine?” A valid question.

 

“Yeah…?” Dabi sounded downright confused now. He, too, had shifted up into a sitting position. A hoodie covered his arms, so the only scars Shouto could spy were on his face, hands, and neck. He felt as though something was missing. 

 

“What a waste of time,” Shouto said, trying to sound disappointed, but probably just made himself sound even more blander than usual. At least, that's what Bakugou always told him when he tried to do this tone. 

 

The fire grew brighter and stronger now, although he was unsure whether to continue to keep it growing. His control over his fire was… not admirable. 

 

Now Dabi was glancing at Shouto's hand, a frown contorting his face. It looked natural on his scarred face. “Uh…”

 

“I'm not a villain, and I'd do a better job at kidnapping than you would,” Shouto said, now pushing himself to his feet. “You're supposed to at least bind their hands. That's like the basics. Didn't you kidnap Bakugou? I'd expect you to have more experience.”

 

“What are you talking about-?” Dabi asked, disgruntled. 

 

“Okay, bye, now.” 

 

“Huh-”

 

Shouto lifted his fiery hand and shot a small stream at the other's face before bursting away from his kidnapper. He didn't dare look back to see if it was effective.

 

There were holes in the ceiling-- he could escape through there. But that would take using his ice to get to, which was something that Dabi could easily melt and make him go splat . He wouldn't risk it. He needed to get away.

 

He ran towards the first stream of light in the wall he found, relief flooding through him at the sight of a hole that he could crawl through. He was sure that Dabi wouldn't be able to fit through, and the other had already fallen behind from the ‘surprise’ attack.

 

He fell to the floor, extinguishing his flames, and slid through, making sure to block the opening with ice just in case.

 

The change from a dank darkness with sprinkles of light to the blindingly bright outside was disgruntling, and he found himself pausing in his escape.

 

He was in a clearing, surrounded by what looked like a scraggly forest and trash littered the floor. It looked like a lonesome place, and judging by the lack of smoke in the air, this warehouse had been abandoned some time ago.

 

There was a shuffling noise behind him, and his heart clenched painfully. He didn't like the feeling of panic. It reminded him too much of the feeling of being left alone with Endeavor.

 

He was sprinting as fast as he could a moment later, crippled trees blurring around him as dry grass cracked beneath his feet. His breaths came a little too fast, his mind a little too slow. 

 

He just knew he needed to get away.

 

Shouto ran for what felt like hours, his legs refusing to slow no matter how heavy his pants for breath became. 

 

Any of the on edge calmness he'd felt when he'd woken up and confronted Dabi was long gone.

 

The shadows that stretched ahead of him in the forest were too long, snaking through his field of vision. The sunlight was too bright.

 

The combination of sunlight and shadows were befuddling.

 

Despite the panic that was clutching at his chest, he found himself slowing, breaths desperate and heavy. His heart beat too fast.

 

Finally, he found himself decelerating, his legs trembling and his breaths just a little more stable. He trailed to a stop at an outcropping of trees; a river was bubbling nearby.

 

He looked back, seeing no sign of the fire wielder. He frowned, his heartbeat finally starting to settle down. Did he lose Dabi?

 

He looked forward again, and let his feet guide him toward the water. The trees finally thinned out and were only scattered here and there as he approached the river.

 

He stopped at the water's edge and gazed down at it; blue streaks and white curled together to rush across sharp rocks. Soft, moulded rocks acted as a barrier between water and land. The sight of it was calming, despite its rashness.

 

He crouched down to put a hand in. It was ice cold, even to him, somebody who couldn't discern temperatures all that well. It distracted him from his previously panicked thoughts. 

 

A harsh bout of wind knocked into him, causing him to look up. He blinked in surprise at the sight of a city spread out below him-- he appeared to be on a cliff of some sort; the tumble down the sheer side would be fatal if he were to fall off. Thankfully, there was a river between him and immediate death.

 

He frowned at the city below him, getting up to see better. 

 

The layout was eerily familiar, and yet it seemed wrong. He could see identifying markers that clued him in that he was looking at Musutafu, and yet it was missing the other buildings and agencies that had been there before he was born. 

 

He could see the tall, spiralling spire that was an American owned business building, and he could see the even taller, boring looking building that was owned by the government, but the agency that resembled a palace was not there beside it. 

 

The commision buildings, which had always been recognisable by their discreet showings of wealth, couldn't be seen anywhere.

 

A shiver travelled up Shouto’s spine. 

 

This was Musutafu… but it was all wrong. It wasn't the city he knew.

 

A harsh breath dragged itself out of his chest as his eyes grew wide. He could feel another burst of panic coming on, but he squared it down. Feelings were weaknesses-- him being panicked had no doubt led to a sloppy, easily traceable escape.

 

At that thought, he swivelled back around, anger at himself rising when he realised that he had not cared to cover his trail. The broken bushes and crushed undergrowth were definitely obvious in the sparse, scraggly forest.

 

He raised a hand to his chest to ground himself. Unfortunately, the minute he did that was the minute Dabi burst out from the trees. 

 

Shouto narrowed his eyes. Kami, did villains always have to show up at inconvenient times? He was still out in the open with only a cliff and a river behind him!

 

Because Shouto didn't fancy falling or drowning to his death, he shifted to a fighting stance. If he tried to make a run for it, he was sure the older, more experienced villain would beat him to it.

 

Dabi narrowed his eyes, stopping after leaving a healthy amount of space between them. He looked tense.

 

“Shouto?” Dabi called, almost hesitant. 

 

Shouto frowned. Why did a villain like Dabi keep on referring to his given name?

 

“Where are we?” He demanded, letting flames once again light up on his hand. His breaths were becoming ragged again.

 

For whatever reason, this sentence seemed to make Dabi… relax?

 

“Musutafu. We're in Musutafu.”

 

“That's…” Shouto paused, looking at the very wrong city again. “That's not Musutafu.”

 

“You're not at the house anymore,” Dabi said in a reassuring tone. 

 

Now it was Shouto's turn to sport the confused look. “‘House?’”

 

The other looked at him, contemplative, for a few moments.

 

“Tell me five things you can see,” Dabi said abruptly.

 

Shouto couldn't help the way his body slackened from the absurdity of that statement in this situation. His quickening heartbeat was left ignored.

 

“I- uh,” he looked around, wondering if he should comply. It wouldn't be too harmless to play along, right? Plus, he could get answers. It wasn't like he could just leave what could be an A-Class villain alone in the wilderness.

 

“A city,” that was not Musutafu, “trees, a river, um, you, and a cliff that I want to throw you off of.” Well, he hadn't meant to say that last part aloud. Oops. His heartbeat was once again ignored as it sped up at what was sure to be an incoming death-.

 

Dabi stared for a moment, eyes narrowing for the quickest of seconds, before his expression went carefully blank.

 

Shouto blinked in bewilderment at the lack of aggression.

 

“Now name four things you can touch,” Dabi said, edging forward ever so slowly. Shouto couldn't help but feel nervous at their lessening proximity to each other. ( Feelings are for the weak-)

 

“I can touch my clothes,” he said stiffly. “And my shoes-” he paused, looking down in surprise when he realised he wasn't wearing shoes and was instead wearing only socks. Very durable socks, but still just socks. “Or, uh, lack of shoes. I can feel my socks, definitely. And… my hair.” Which was too long. He frowned, suddenly remembering how it had been the wrong colour earlier.

 

A shiver ran up his arms from both the implications of that, and the stronger growing wind. The rumbling of the river grew in the short silence, splashing against the sides as water was rocked by the gales. He was suddenly aware of the glare of the sun that had risen above the treetops, his eyes skewing into a squint.

 

“Shouto?” 

 

He broke his gaze away from the sky, looking at the villain shakily. ( Weak, weak, weak -) The villain looked tense.

 

“Yes?”

 

Dabi relaxed. “Good, good. Uh, name three things you can hear for me, alright?”

 

He's treating me like a little kid, he thought disdainfully. “I can hear the river, the wind, and my voice. Or yours. Either works.”

 

Dabi, of all things, snorted in amusement after that.

 

Shouto recoiled as if burned. He took a few steps back. The river grew louder. “That wasn't funny.”

 

“Yeah, no- I know it wasn't,” Dabi said, shaking his head roughly. He was very clearly holding back laughs. Shouto watched, baffled.

 

“I said nothing to warrant laughter,” he hissed, eyes narrowing. Had he said something funny? He was sure he hadn't, but he couldn't be sure-

 

“No, you said nothing funny,” Dabi reassured quickly, which was still an odd sight to behold. 

 

“Then why were you laughing?”

 

“I dunno.”

 

Dabi's face settled into a weirdly soft expression that Shouto couldn't recognise, which he decidedly didn't like, considering the fact that, again, the other was a fucking villain.

 

He took another step back, foot sinking a little on squishy ground.

 

“Alright, we’re almost done. Can you name two things you can smell?”

 

“Smoke. Mountain air.” 

 

He wasn't sure when the flames on his hand, the smoke producer, had given out, but now that he noticed it, he reignited them. He suddenly felt warm, the chill from the breeze non-existent. Unfortunately, the fire distracted him from not feeling the cold spray of water on his ankles.

 

“Great, now name one thing you can taste.”

 

“...Blood.” Why did his mouth taste like blood? Had he bitten his tongue without noticing? 

 

He shifted his tongue at that thought, and grimaced at the sudden stinging. Yep, he had. How come he never noticed these things-?

 

Dabi looked concerned at that response, suddenly moving forward. “Blood? What do you mean blood-?”

 

Dabi was barely an arm's length away when Shouto startled backwards, stumbling straight across a boulder and right where there was no ground.

 

There was a moment of panic at the lack of surface before he began to tip backwards, his socks slipping on wet rocks and his fire flickering out in surprise.

 

Then there was a sudden shock of cold, and a belated thought of, oh shit, I fell in the river. 

 

He gasped in panic, his arms floundering in the icy waters. He abruptly slammed into a rock jutting out, knocking the breath out of him. He blindly reached out towards the object despite the loss of oxygen. 

 

His fingers slipped uselessly against the rock as he tried to grip onto it, a yelp escaping him as the torrent ripped him away.

 

He distantly heard somebody scream, “ Shouto!”

 

Shouto knew how to swim-- his father had taught him a long time ago, but all knowledge seemed to vanish when in an actual situation.

 

He grappled blindly at nothing for what seemed like minutes, but was in reality just a couple of seconds. His head just barely bobbed above the water, before it was dragged under water. 

 

He instinctively opened his mouth to take a last minute breath, but his head was already below the surface, and he inhaled a lungful of liquid instead. When he was thrown into the air again, he spat it out and took terrified gulps of oxygen.

 

He was going to drown.

 

The thought made his body thrash in even more panic, eyes searching desperately for something to cling onto. The shore wasn’t all that far away, but his limbs suddenly felt incapable of actually moving that distance.

 

Something almost like exhaustion was dragging at them, and he panted as he tried to angle his body sideways. He narrowly avoided another collision with an even sharper rock. He shouldn't be exhausted, it had barely even been less than two minutes-

 

He cried out in alarm when something dug painfully into his leg, jerking him forwards instead of sideways, the water flowing over his head as his body practically flipped and his head slammed downwards.

 

What was no doubt a wound went numb mere moments after the pain occurred, which was alarming because if he was starting to go numb, then that meant the river was too cold. He’d experienced hypothermia before, and he didn't fancy experiencing it again.

 

He sucked in a sharp breath when he broke the surface again, his body already slipping back down. His body felt so tired. 

 

The panic from earlier was back in full force, but at the same time the emotion felt so muffled. 

 

I’m going to die.

 

His body brushed against solid rock, and there was a sudden jolt in his lagging body as he realised he had been pulled towards the bank. Maybe, just maybe, luck was on his side.

 

Dread set in once he realised his body just couldn't produce the energy left to grip for a spot on the rock or the land of the bank. His hands fought for the edges in vain.

 

Just when his brief hope began to turn to rubble, somebody latched their arms around his, and pulled him up.

 

He hung limply as he was dredged from his previous torture chambre, involuntary shivers racking through his body. His fingers spasmed as water streamed down his hands. The water and his skin felt the same.

 

Blinking was slow-- one moment he was staring at a rushing torrent, and the next he was laying on his side, heaving up mouthfuls of liquid. The sun reflected off the rock under him, blinding him.

 

Several full body shudders ran through him as he retched, a pathetic sound escaping him as he tried to roll onto his back. Something prevented that, and his eyes screwed shut as his sluggish brain went into overdrive trying to figure out his obstacle.

 

He was being held in place by… a hand? Yes, a hand. He cracked open an eyelid, only to find a scarred man with black hair and concerned ice blue eyes watching him.

 

It took him an agonising minute to realise that this was Dabi, and even more time to think that maybe he should be alarmed at this person's presence. 

 

He opened his mouth to say something, but all that came out were croaks. He grimaced because his throat felt like sandpaper.

 

He squeezed his eyes shut for just a moment, and when he opened them again, there was a water bottle being tipped into his open mouth.

 

He coughed in surprise at the warm water, automatically spitting it out in response. The next time the water bottle was tipped, he greedily took in the liquid.

 

He may have just about died from water inhalation, but he was strangely thirsty.

 

I almost died, he thought, another shudder running through him.

 

The bottle was moved away, and his head flopped onto the ground. 

 

A gust of wind whipped past him, and he could feel the biting edge to it. His body, which he didn't realise was tense, relaxed. He wasn't numb anymore, thank Kami. His head was pounding horribly, though, and his leg had begun to sting.

 

His body automatically turned on his fire quirk when in cold conditions, so his body was naturally warming up to a much faster degree than a normal person-- it also meant he was able to keep his clothes on, because they were always dry the quickest.

 

Dabi's blue, blazing hands may have also played a part. 

 

At the reminder of Dabi, he found himself looking back at said man, eyes wide. 

 

“You… You saved me,” he croaked. His fingers spasmed again, but he could feel the texture of the rock.

 

“Of course, you're my brother,” Dabi said fiercely. The flames dissipated on his right hand as he grabbed Shouto's wrist in a reassuring way-- or maybe to prevent his fingers from spasming. The other's hand felt rough, and the staples were sharp yet painless at the same time.

 

Shouto stared, brain uncomprehending. “What.” ‘ Brother???’

 

Dabi continued, as if he hadn't just dropped a f*cking bombshell. “We'll stay here for a bit, and then I can bring you back to the warehouse to rest, and then we can discuss what happened-”

 

Shouto blocked out the rest of what Dabi was saying as he continued staring, because what the fuck, Dabi couldn't have been saying that like it was serious, right? ‘Brother’ could be a figure of speech, right?

 

His head was pounding even more, and he could see darkness edging his vision.

 

He ripped his wrist away from Dabi's grip with what little strength he had left, and looked at the other with an affronted look. “You're not my brother, Dabi.”

 

Dabi looked surprised at the declaration, his left hand sputtering out for a moment before restarting again. He brought his right hand to his chest.

 

“D-Dabi?” Dabi said, looking crestfallen. “What do you mean I'm not your brother, are you having memory issues again-?” 

 

The other stopped himself from talking, pursing his lips. “My… My name is Touya, remember?”

 

“...Touya,” Shouto repeated. He knew that name from somewhere, where did he-

 

Oh . Oh no.

 

His head jerked up, his vision going black for a moment. “Todoroki… Touya? Touya? You’re…”

 

His voice sounded faint. He felt like he was going to faint. His blackening vision seemed to agree with that idea. 

 

“You're…” Shouto said again, breathing becoming ragged. 

 

Dabi was saying something again, but Shouto suddenly couldn't hear. There was a roaring in his ears that was so much louder than the river.

 

Thankfully, he didn't have to worry about anything, because the pressure on his head simply just became too much, and he passed out. 

Notes:

1) I've decided to format notes like this now :)

2) Writing Todoroki from his P.O.V. is a challenge for me because he thinks very straight forwardly, and his internal dialogue is much less funny than it would be, for say, Bakugou. He's easy to write from other's P.O.V. because you don't know what he's thinking. When it comes to him, it's harder to write him without outright saying what he's thinking or feeling because he's so bad at identifying emotions.

3) Shouto is bad at emotions, and I dunno if it was properly displayed here.

4) I'm not too experienced on the idea of Kami, but because Shouto's family is more traditionally Japanese, I like the idea of him being more centred around more older practices, unlike Bakugou, who would say 'God' instead. (I also have some personal head canons regarding Bakugou.)

5) Shouto shows a lot of emotion this chapter because I feel like panic is one of the emotions Todoroki knows clearest, and one when almost drowns, they tend to not care about keeping their face schooled.

6) Next chapter will be a lot more internal dialogue because Izuku is a thinker! Plus, I've gotta do a bunch of research. This is more than what I would usually put for notes, but because its the second chapter, I believe it deserves some clarification.

Chapter 3: This is NOT Discontinued!

I'm gonna delete this chapter once I upload the next one, but just wanted to tell you guys that this wasn't discontinued. I thought my writing sucked for a few months and didn't want to dissapoint you guys. I do plan to edit the previous chapters here because I've noticed several grammatical errors!

The next chapter should be out in at least the next month, if not sooner. Ao3 author curse hit and I had some really bad anxiety during winter break, and therefore I didn't write anything lol. (I also just needed a writing break.) Next chapter will be Izuku's POV. Hope to see you all then!

Also btw guys thank you for all the support this fic has gotten <3

Notes:

Hmm, I think I needa rewrite what I have of Izuku'a P.O.V. so far, bc I have like 2000 words written but there really hasn't been much action? Idk, there'll be more thinking bc this is Izuku we're talking about, but while I do think I started it well, it kind of dragged out in some places. It's whatever, but I hope to release it soon so that I can write Bakugou's and then the og universe....

Notes:

And so it begins...

Please comment and/or leave kudos! :)