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Izuku held down a wave of nausea as he stopped dead. The flames were making it hard to breathe, and they were everywhere. But that wasn’t what scared Izuku, no. It was the giant monsters screeching at the heroes as they desperately fought for their lives.
And some, Izuku noted with despair, had already lost theirs.
Dead bodies littered the ground beneath the Nomu. Some charred by the fire, others with their heads crushed in, and even more with limbs missing.
“Shit,” He breathed, gagging as the Nomu with wings threw its head back and swallowed a dismembered arm. Shit, shit, shit.
“Stand back, kid!” A hero yelled at him. “You’re getting in the way!”
Next thing they knew, a Nomu was right beside her, just out of her field of vision. But Izuku could see it just fine.
“Move–”
Too late.
The Nomu squealed, its voice like a strangled cat as it smashed the Hero with its pitch black fists.
Izuku cried out as blood splattered on his face.
All he could do was watch (he couldn’t move, why couldn’t he move, move, move, move–) as the Nomu battered her body until it was unrecognizable. Blood, blood, bones, brains.
Izuku screamed, screwing his eyes shut.
But the next thing he knew, all the noise was gone. The fire was gone, the blood was gone. What happened?
He slowly opened his eyes, only to be met with The Hero Killers mangled figure hunched over his friends bodies. Iida-kun’s head was severed from his body, his eyes frozen in an unfamiliar fury. And of course, Todoroki-kun. God, his arm was missing. It was gone, and the worst thing about it? He was still alive. Alive and crying out for help, and all Izuku could do was stare. Native was no where to be seen, unless that smear of blood leading to the dumpter was– no. Stop.
Stop. Stop. Stop!
And maybe Izuku had said that last part out loud, because next thing he knew, Stain’s eyes were on him. Bright red, murderous eyes the penetrated into his very being snarled at him. A gleeful, blood-curdling grin broke across his face.
“Ah, hello little Hero,” He preened. “Where’s that smile you talk so much of, hm?” And he was right, because for all of his talk about saving people with a smile, all he could do was cry in absolute horror.
Enough.
Izuku slammed his eyes shut just as Stain bolted toward him, tongue hanging out, thirsty. For what? He didn’t want to find out, but he was sure he knew what anyway.
Blood.
He opened his eyes again, and this time, it was to the sight of that same flying Nomu from before. The sorry thing was, it was diving straight for him. He didn’t have enough time to bolt out of reach, and suddenly, claws were piercing into his chest as he was swiped from the ground.
There was no one around. No one to save him. No one.
Izuku screamed, his voice breaking as the claws dug into him further. And he would swear on anything that he could feel his guts pooling out from inside of him and straight to the cement sidewalks. And there it was, his heart squeezing out and into his throat. Up, up, up–
Izuku launched up from his bed, wasting no time at all before emptying what was left of his dinner into the trashcan beside his bed. His throat burned, and his vision was blurry as he continued to heave for the next five minutes.
By the time it was over, his head felt like it was on a completely different atmsospheric plain and his body was hundreds of feet under ground.
This was the third time this week he had another nightmare about Hosu, and the tenth time this month.
“Dammit,” he hissed.
And in the next ten minutes, after stumbling through his room and changing out of his sweaty, vomit covered clothes, he trudges down the stairs. It’s dark, and Izuku doesn’t have to worry about making too much noise since his mom isn’t home.
She’s off visiting her sister near the center of the city. Izuku was able to avoid the trip by feigning illness. It wasn’t that hard, after all, Izuku wouldn’t be surprised if he actually were sick. He feels horrible.
Snatching a stray, half empty bottle on the counter, he chugs it. He has never tasted anything better in his entire life, he decides.
Throwing the empty bottle in the trashcan, he grabs his shoes by the door and tugs them on, fighting the drowsy feeling creeping up on him. He turns the knob and shuts the door. It takes him less than a second to activate his quirk and jump straight off the balcony and onto the ground.
And then he’s off, running down the street as he relishes in the cold air blowing past him. There’s not many cars out at two in the morning, and the sky is a beautiful shade of dark blue. Yeah, this is good. Runs always helped him when he has nightmares.
But about five minutes in, he made the mistake of remembering the whole reason for this run. His mouth is simultaneously dry and wet as he begins to salivate, and the next thing he knows, he's diving into the nearest alleyway before keeling over.
Maybe he spoke to soon about those runs being so helpful.
—
Maybe Shouta should know better than to follow noises coming from a suspicious, dark alleyway by now. But as he squints his eyes into the darkness, ready to erase any potentially dangerous quirk thrown his way, he simply doesn’t listen to the broadcast of tiny voices in his head yelling for him to go the other way!
He’d decided to take another night shift, and lucky him, it led him here. God, why did Aizawa decide to become a hero again?
The sound of retching reached his ears again as he crept closer, his footsteps quiet against the pavement. He waits quietly until there is nothing but dry heaving before he activates his quirk and launched his capture weapon into the darkness. When it successfully wraps around the figure, he tugs.
He hears a yelp and within the second, he's eye to glowing red eye with none other than his number one Problem Child, Izuku Midoriya.
Aizawa’s eyes twitch, unblinking.
Izuku’s head is spinning, but when he eventually refocuses on the man in front of him, he thinks he might be dreaming again.
“A-Aizawa Sensei?”
Aizawa stares at him for a moment more, looking like he’s about to give Izuku all hell. Then he blinks, and all that fury is gone. All that’s left is his very exhausted and done-with-his-shit teacher.
“Midoriya-kun,” Aizawa sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. “It is nearly three in the morning. Care to tell me why you’re out here so late?”
Izuku tested the waters, swallowing any rising bile back as he licked his chapped lips. “I… I couldn’t sleep, so I decided to train.”
Aizawa quirked an eyebrow as he put some eyedrops in, clearly sensing there was more to the issue. “Are you going to tell me what else is bothering you or am I going to have to figure it out myself?” He said when Izuku kept his mouth shut.
Izuku took the chance and nervously quirked his lips up. “Sensei, are you worried for me?” Aizawa narrowed his eyes, already sensing what was coming. “If you want my adoption papers, you can just tell me.”
“Midoriya,” Aizawa deadpanned. “Enough.”
Izuku sighed, a sad smile dawning his face. “... Just some nightmares, that’s all.”
Aizawa raised an eyebrow as he slowly unraveled him from his capture weapon, beckoning him to go on.
“You should know better than anyone that I don’t care for lies, Problem Child,” Aizawa frowned, his tired eyes observant as ever. “Listen–”
“They’re about Hosu,” Izuku cuts through with gritted teeth and clenched fists, and Aizawa notes the dried up tear stains on his cheek for the first time.
“Hosu..? But that was two months ago,” Aizawa says like its a question.
“Yeah, well,” Izuku shrugs. “Crazy what a traumatizing experience can do to a kid.”
Shouta hums in consideration, because yeah, he isn’t dumb. He knows all about what happened in Hosu, it was only natural. He was their teacher. And he was ignorant to assume that these kids would be okay mentally and emotionally after everything was said and done.
Noticing that the boy was slowly leaning toward him, struggling to keep his eyes open, Shouta came to a decision.
“Are you just going to sit here and fall asleep for the homeless people to mug you, or are you gonna keep yoursel up long enough to make it back home?”
“Whichever comes first,” Izuku huffed.
Sighing in feigned annoyance, he put a hand on Izuku’s back, guiding him. “You’re coming with me.”
“Sensei,” Izuku groaned. “I’m fine, just take me back home. My mom will be back tomorrow afternoon–”
“If you don’t shut up and move faster I’ll make you sleep in my office,” Shouta threatened.
“...Is that supposed to be a bad thing? Cause if so, I’ll gladly keep talking.” Izuku grinned.
“If you don’t shut your trap I’ll hand you over to the mouse and let him deal with you,” He suggested instead.
Izuku shut his trap.
Shouta resisted the urge to chuckle as the immediate reaction, as if he would actually hand the boy over to Nedzu.
It wasn’t a long walk to Shouta’s apartment, but Izuku was about ready to pass out once he twisted the keys into the lock and opened the door.
The first thing he noticed was how absurdly neat the apartment was, and it was almost unexpected coming from the Underground Hero. There was a couch pushed to Izuku’s right, a TV in front of it. And to his left, was the kitchen.
The second thing that caught Izuku’s attention, was the strewn about cat toys disrupting the tidiness.
Shouta watched as Izuku’s eyes sparkled just barely at the sight before opening his mouth, curious. “Hey, Sensei? Do you have pets?”
“Three,” Shouta confirmed as he began to walk over to the kitchen to fix something up for the two of them. “Two of them are fosters, currently in the guest room.”
Izuku resisted the urge to blow up with a ton of questions, but before he could get one out, a pure black cat sauntered out of the hallway.
“Oh, how cute!” Izuku crooned, dropping down to his feet. “Pspsps, c’mere!”
Shouta watched as he called the cat over. Normally, his precious feline wouldn’t come anywhere near a stranger, but as his cat regally judged Izuku from her hallway, she patted over to him and hesitantly sniffed his outstretched hand. Grabbing some bread and turkey from the fridge, he smiled gently as the cat deemed him worthy and gently nudged his hand, purring.
“Adorable,” Izuku whispered, petting her fur. “And she has blue eyes! You know, that’s the rarest eye color for black cats to have?”
He listened on as he rambled on and on about the cat, eventually stopping to take a breath. “Her name is Sapphire,” Shouta said before Izuku could continue.
“Sapphire,” Izuku smiled, scratching behind her ears as she nuzzled him. “Beautiful.”
“I think she likes the attention,” Shouta grumbled from the kitchen as he set the sandwiches aside, leaning against the chair. “You know, she usually doesn’t take too kindly to strangers, but she seems to love you.”
“Nah, she’s just sweet,” Izuku yawned, smiling softly.
Shouta shook his head as he turned and grabbed the sandwiches, thinking twice before grabbing a cup and pouring juice. “Hey kid, do you like fruit punch–” Aizawa turned, only to be met with the teenager fast asleep on the floor with Sapphire licking his face.
Snorting, he set the glass down before walking over to the insomniac ridden boy and crouching down. Izuku snored softly, and Shouta sighed softly at the prominent eyebags.
Gently brushing away his curls, Shouta smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. He chalked it up to his guilt complex, but he berated himself for not seeing his student’s suffering sooner. How many more were suffering right in front of his eyes and he’d failed to notice?
Sapphire nudged his hands, pulling him out from his stupor.
“Yeah, you’re right.” Shouta scratched her chin as he looked over his student. “Let’s get this kid to bed.”
And if Izuku fell asleep without a hint of cold sweat and blood on his hands, then that was his secret to keep. His, and Aizawa’s– because of course, since he slept so peacefully in his house of all places, that must mean something right?
“Aizawa Sensei, please, I never had a dad before, you and Present Mic-Sensei can—”
“Hizashi, restrain him before I do.”
“Awh, let the kid dream, Shouta-kun! Besides, I wouldn’t mind. You take in enough strays already, what’s one more?”
“Hizashi!”
Izuku laughed, holding himself back from spitting his breakfast all over the table as Aizawa-Sensei hit his husband with the back of his hand. He could still feel the lingering horror from the Hosu Incident, and he knew his nightmares were far from over. But for now, he felt safe, and it was far enough away that all Izuku had to worry about was dodging Aizawa's hand as they went after him next.
"Don't think your safe either, Problem Child!"
"Aizawa-Sensei, come on, we can talk about this," Izuku cackled as he ran around the dinner table. "Sensei!"