Chapter Text
Izuku woke up. He had the distinct feeling that wasn’t meant to happen again.
He was laying on grimy cement, for one. There was a dumpster to his right, brick walls on either side of him. Somewhere straight ahead was a road. Headlights passed by every few seconds with the rumble of car engines.
He also felt like he had been hit by a bus. And like someone had taken an hammer to his head. Repeatedly. Even his vision was funny, like he was looking through green-tinted glass.
He…where was he?
Izuku grasped for the reason, for the memory of how he had ended up here, and came up empty. There was just—nothing. Only blank space.
His name was Izuku Midoriya, and that-
That was it.
The only thing that remained. Not where he was, not even who he was, just his name and a handful of vague feelings gnawing at the inside of his pounding skull.
One of those feelings told him to get up, to move. Izuku couldn’t stay here. Something told him that had to run, because he wasn’t meant to be here.
He wasn’t meant to wake up again. The fact that he did meant he had to get away. Quickly.
So he pushed up on shaky arms, hazily registering the gloves on his hands and the long sleeves over his arms. Sitting up now, he could see they were a dusty, dark green, his pants a similar color.
Dragging his feet under himself was…hard. Painful, and shaky, but also just…off. A glance down showed that his…shoes? His feet? No, those couldn’t be his actual feet, because they were shaped like extended hare feet. He could feel that they were almost like jumping stilts, his actual foot not touching the ground as he levered to his feet, unsteady.
Balancing was…remarkably easy actually. It only took a few moments to get used to. Almost like he already knew how to, something ingrained in his bone and muscle while his brain had forgotten.
Izuku wanted to question why. He needed to know why this felt familiar, even as he stumbled towards the mouth of the alley. One hand stayed braced on the brick as he walked. It was easier to move with every step, but something still dragged at his bones. Probably the angry headache drilling into his skull right now.
There were a few people scattered up and down the dark street. The streetlights were on, but there was a sliver of blue still remaining on the horizon. Sometime just past sunset then. But…what city was he in? Why couldn’t he remember-
Something prickled down Izuku’s spine. An awareness, like something was coming. He stood up straighter, pushing off the wall.
Something went screaming past him. The size of a large car and flying down the sidewalk, it screeched as it barreled past. People screaming followed it. Izuku watched as it lunged and grabbed a random person.
His feet were moving before he could think.
He stumbled, tripped, and got his feet under himself again. Running was a challenge but—some part of him already knew how to do this. His gait adjusted without conscious thought. People were screaming and he had to do something.
Izuku launched himself at the thing, no idea of what he was doing or what he even could do, but knowing he had to try.
Closer now, he realized the thing wasn’t…really human. There was no intelligence in its eyes. No intention in how it moved. Its features were drawn and pulled thin, like its bones were threatening to break through. Yet it still hardly moved when Izuku rammed into it shoulder-first.
It dropped the person it was holding, at least. Izuku could be thankful for that. Even if its attention did immediate shift to him with the creepiest roll of eyes known to man.
God, he hated All for One.
Izuku stopped. He pulled up short at the random bit of thought.
Who was All for One? He desperately tried to dredge up a memory—any memory— from the mud that had become his mind. There wasn’t much, but, something. Hazy and indistinct.
He hated All for One. The feeling seemed to physically burn in his chest. It snagged into the meat along his ribs and pulled tight, rattling like a snake. There was no questioning it. The name made something flare in his soul, bright and burning. A desire for revenge, maybe? Or was it justice?
A thin line. One Izuku didn’t have the time to lay down, because he was suddenly being flung clear across the road and into a wall.
“Really?” he groaned, peeling himself from the small crater he’d created. “I haven’t even been awake five minutes yet.”
The thing had no response, of course. Somehow that wasn’t a surprise. Somehow, he knew these things couldn’t talk. Now if his brain could just work and tell him why then that would be great.
Izuku didn’t get an answer. Not from his brain and not from the thing. Instead he was snatched up like a doll and thrown again.
He didn’t hit a wall this time, at least. Instead Izuku hit the ground rolling. Hopping back to his feet wasn’t that hard, even if he did stumble for a moment on the longer legs. But he got back up, and saw the thing barreling towards him again.
There was no time to think. Izuku crouched, braced himself, and jumped. He wasn’t consciously prepared for just how high he leapt though. Clear over the monster attacking him and then some.
He may have flailed slightly midair. In Izuku’s defense, he hadn’t expected the ground to suddenly be over ten feet away because of his own jump. As it rapidly got closer again, he really hoped he also knew how to land.
He…kind of did?
He landed. And then took a few running steps to try and not fall on his face, like when a kid flings themself off a swing. A good thing he did too, because he felt something whistle by his back. A clawed hand, if he had to guess.
Izuku’s next few steps were far more intentional. He glanced back, and saw the thing way too close for comfort. A gaping mouth with sallow skin and too-sharp teeth. Hollow eyes that still stared at Izuku, but there was nothing in them.
Another flare of hatred washed through his chest. Izuku gritted his teeth and changed tactics.
This time he swung around, ducking low as he dodged around the thing. Just a bit of room-
The thing whipped around faster than Izuku expected it to. In a split second he was sent flying again. His ribs hurt, even before he slammed into more cement. Even before he rolled back to his feet with a mysterious ease.
Ok he just- he just needed a second to think. Just a moment. The thing was fast, way too strong, and Izuku had no way of knowing what quirks it had. He needed some sort of plan. He needed time.
He got his wish. Unfortunately, it came in the form of the creature finding another person to swipe at and try to throw.
No.
Izuku took a running leap, then launched himself. Without much thought he cleared the entire street. He arrowed through the air and landed feet-first on the nomu’s arm, making the entire thing bow and dip. Something felt like it cracked under his feet. But it stopped trying to grab another person.
Instead it tried to grab Izuku, and then shrieked when he, in a panic, leapt straight up and off the arm and went airborne once again. Something definitely cracked under his feet that time.
He also went up higher than before, practically level with some of the surrounding rooftops. What the fuck.
How was he supposed to land?
Well. The nomu made a decent landing pad the first time, if it just didn’t move-
Izuku looked down. A bad decision, usually, when up so high, but in this case it let him see what he was landing on. And hopefully avoid breaking his legs. He hadn’t yet though, so his odds were decent that whatever his shoe-things were, they had a good amount of shock absorption.
Had he made them himself? Had someone else made them for him? Why did he have these?
So many questions, so little time as he went plummeting back to earth.
Except the nomu was watching him. It didn’t even seem to register that its arm was probably broken, because it reached up to snatch him from the air. Izuku couldn’t redirect quick enough.
A massive fist closed around his neck. Izuku’s immediate response was to try and kick at the massive arm. The thing hardly budged at his swinging kicks though, staring at him with blank, unblinking eyes, as its hand tightened around Izuku’s throat.
No, no—he could die here! He had only just woken up. He had no idea where “here” even was! Izuku had- he had-
He dug his fingers into the hand wrapped around him. There were small claws on his gloves—he dug those in too. He scratched and pulled and tried, he tried with all he had. But it didn’t budge. The vice didn’t move. Panic began to well up in his lungs.
Under it though, was something else. Something instinctive that told him to reach out and pull.
He had nothing else to lose.
Izuku snarled and reached with his hands, clawing at the arm and wrist of the monster, which didn’t flinch. In his panic he followed instinct. Something in him lurched-
His hands sparked.
The nomu made a noise. Halfway between a groan and a spoon had gotten caught in a garbage disposal. It still didn’t move, but it was something. Izuku took the feeling that had caught it and yanked.
Green lightning flashed into existence over his hands in pulses. With each one it grew farther up his arms, and with every beat it spread over the nomu too, almost seeming to creep under its skin. It looked like luminescent roots. Or maybe nerves, pulling towards Izuku’s hands, only to emerge as pulsing electricity.
Izuku felt alive.
He pulled and pulled with whatever was causing it, and the light grew. The nomu’s grip loosened as it made another noise. More, he needed more-
All at once the lights expanded, and then exploded into a storm of sparks. The nomu went limp. Izuku fell to the ground with a yelp, only just managing to get his feet under himself and not fall on his butt. It left him standing, staring, as the sparks quickly dissipated into the air.
He felt electrified. Like every nerve had been lit up, like he had way too much caffeine. Izuku had so much energy. It felt like he could leap straight up and touch the stars. Like he could run clear across the country and- and-
The noise finally reached his ears. He looked up from the very still nomu to see a- a crowd. A crowd he had apparently amassed during the fight. He hadn’t…Izuku hadn’t noticed them, but now they were cheering.
They were clapping and cheering. There were a dozen people filming. More whispering. Even more looked…awed.
All at…him?
Izuku—he had to leave. He had to get out of here. If they knew who he was before—had there been a before?—then he couldn’t stick round. Izuku didn’t even know who he was, he couldn’t risk something happening.
He glanced to the nomu again. It hadn’t moved, and did seem pretty dead. Not to mention something in Izuku’s bones was telling him to run again. That he had to get out of there now. That he had to flee.
So he glanced at the crowd again, and then took off. Izuku rounded a corner, quickly as he could, and found himself on a more abandoned street. He took the chance to try and launch himself forward, just to see how far he could go.
Way too far, was the answer, and Izuku stumbled into another alley more than halfway down the street.
Out of sight, out of the way, Izuku leaned back against the wall. Only to lurch forward again when something attached to his head hit the wall first.
He reached up, hands shaking, and felt at his head. A mask—he was wearing a mask. It explained the green tint to everything, at least. And the things were…ears? There were buttons, he found, on the bottom of the jaw. Did those…?
The mask clicked, and loosened, allowing Izuku to slip it off his head. His vision cleared. He spent a moment just breathing with his eyes closed, head tipped back against the wall. Just a moment to gather himself.
He opened his eyes again and looked down at the mask. It resembled the face of a hare. Not a rabbit, but a hare. The eyes were uncannily large, and bright green. The ears on top were also massive. It was honestly a miracle he hadn’t noticed them before. And, now that he was thinking about it, noises were quieter now. Closer to normal, if he were to guess.
But it was the same dusty green as his clothes. Which also looked…kind of gross and dirty, now that he was looking at them. Where had he been?
He kept circling back around to it: why couldn’t he remember anything?
Izuku felt the tears well up. He felt them burn, and his vision blur, clawing at his throat with helplessness. He knew his name. He knew he hated a man named All for One. He knew he had woken up with no other memories, but with a headache eating away at his brain.
He just…he just wanted to go home.
An address floated up in his mind. An instinctive response. He wanted to go home, and home was their apartment on the third floor.
Home- he still knew home. Izuku just about started sobbing in earnest.
He stumbled back to his feet, and paused. He couldn’t go out like this again. Not when he didn’t know who he was in the mask. Something- something to carry his mask and the hare boots. And new shoes? Maybe new clothes, if these were recognizable?
Izuku took a deep breath. He didn’t remember what awaited him at home, but he remembered that it existed. He clung to that. Clung to the knowledge that he knew it, since he only had a handful of memories in his palm.
Home. He would go home first.