Insomnia [Shota Aizawa x Reader] (Rewritten Version)

Chapter 41

Not too far from the creature, you spotted a figure lying at the base of a tree. Slumped over, most likely unconscious. Your heart raced faster than ever before, even when exercising to try and stay awake countless times.

Was it one of the students? You spotted a pair of glasses nearby. Iida? No, those weren't his glasses and the body was too large to be him. They were familiar, though.... Miki?

"[L/N]."

You turned your attention to someone else. A man with black hair and small black earrings stepped out from behind the Nomu.

"Katsumi." Your voice was trembling for no apparent reason. "What...?"

"What...?" He fidgeted with his fingers. "...is going on, you ask?" The Nomu remained still as he leaned against it. His face was almost devoid of any tell or emotion. Almost. There was a sort of hesitation in his words. "Well, to start, I have nothing to do with that fire or that other explosion. I'm here for my own reason and no one else's."

"And... that reason," you glanced at Miki and gulped, "for being here?" You wanted to back away, but the Nomu was eyeing you with some kind of fierce, malicious intent to kill, and if you moved an inch you'd be dead.

"This Nomu is more of a prototype for the Ultimate Nomu," he started. "A more complete and intelligent Nomu, but still able to listen to commands. I was just testing it here. Against... I don't know, the heroes, the students, maybe the other villains."

You took a deep breath and exhaled, trying to calm yourself down. "Why?"

"So that I can make sure this works right, of course." He smiled, then turned to Miki and frowned. "He was trying to stop me for some reason so I had to knock him out. He'll be fine though." He looked back at you. "You, however, will not be as good if you get in my way. I really don't want to hurt you."

He's lost it, you realized. He'd never do this to his brother.

Finally breaking out of the trance, you shifted your leg. A step at a time, backing up. A slight dizziness caused by your drowsiness, leading to a slight mister. You broke eye contact with the creature.

It let out a loud, furious cry, much like Bakugo's scream of "DIE" but with much more real, believable intent.

The next few moments happened so fast you couldn't process what had happened.

You blinked once and in that moment the Nomu jumped at you, claws out and snarling, and if derpy eyes could be malicious, those eyes were.

Your lack of sleep, plus your shock at what was happening, did not help your reaction time. Right before it made contact with you, you felt yourself being pushed to the ground.

"Fuck," a familiar voice spat. It was Aiko, panting and eyes narrowed at the Nomu.

A portal, presumably Miki's, was behind you, and was where Aiko had come from. You looked over to Miki to see him still conscious, only barely able to lift his hands to direct his portals.

"That's not what was supposed to happen," Katsumi murmured, a slight panic in his voice but still a nonchalant expression on his face. The Nomu stopped moving again, just observing what was around it.

"F...igh...t," it growled. "Bl... ood...."

"[L/N]," Aiko started. "Sorry to get you involved. This... wasn't supposed to happen."

Before you could ask her any questions, another person came out from the portal. It was Ethan, cheeks puffed out. The portal closed behind him as he glanced at you and then headed towards Miki.

Well, the whole crew's here and ready to die.

"Yeah, uh huh, this wasn't supposed to happen, that wasn't supposed to happen. What the fuck is going on?"

The Nomu stopped in its tracks after missing his tackle on you. Its whole body shook, as if resisting itself.

Katsumi rushed towards you and Aiko, a frown on his face. "Are you alright?" He directed the question at Aiko, of course, though you weren't sure if he actually cared anymore.

The Nomu let out a snarl again, glaring back at the three of you.

You could tell that it was definitely not in complete control of its own mind or body, and Katsumi definitely did not have control of it. Neither of them were in control.

Katsumi, Aiko, Miki, Ethan, and you were all in danger of this Nomu. As if to prove your thoughts, the Nomu turned and ran straight for Katsumi.

Katsumi shielded his face with his arms, yelling out, "Stop!"

The Nomu froze in its tracks, only a few feet away from you, trembling, eyes unblinking.

"God damn it," Katsumi cried frustratedly. "This was a failure."

"What the fuck, Katsumi," you snapped. "After talking with Aiko I thought that maybe you guys would have stopped. All this Nomu crap and quirk stealing, what's this even all for?" Your own voice was trembling. "Nothing!"

"You don't know anything," Katsumi growled. "Sensei, All Might, Shigaraki, they're all the same. All comparing others with others, others with themselves, pushing others down for them to reach the top. I'm working on this to get rid of that system!" His voice was cracking in the middle of his words and he reached for Aiko's hand. You grabbed his wrist before he could touch her.

"No, you're not," you stammered. "Where do you stand when the top falls?"

Aiko ignored him and looked down, clenching her teeth. "They're right. We haven't really been doing anything at all."

"What are you on about?" His voice was angry, shaking, but hesitant, as if unsure of himself and his own thoughts. He didn't even bother to wrench his arm from your grasp.

Suddenly, the Nomu, still unmoving from its spot, opened its large, beak-like mouth. A grey-ish green gas was released. As it burst out, you tried to push both Katsumi and Aiko out of the way.

Only Katsumi managed to get out of the way of the gas, and you saw Aiko drop and fall unconscious.

You covered her nose and mouth with the collar of her shirt, worried that it was poisonous gas.

The Nomu jumped back, the force sending a gust of wind that dispersed the rest of the gas.

"It's just sleeping gas," Katsumi yelled to you. "I know what quirks it has."

Well, that would have been a nightmare if you weren't immune to it, literally. You were still panicking, seeing as the Nomu was still there and staring you all down.

You looked between the Nomu and Katsumi. Whose side was he on anyway?

If this Nomu continues to rampage, the students and heroes will get hurt. You had to stop or stall this somehow.