Ashes of the Deceived. (Izuku Midoriya x reader.)

Chapter Twenty-Seven.

—First Person POV.—

"What do we do?" That's what Denki keeps asking. Jirou has called twice, but I keep ignoring it.

What do we do? I have no idea.

I'm just sitting quietly in the passenger seat while Denki drives— This must be what catatonia feels like. There are no panicked thoughts running through my head.

I'm not making plans or evaluating. There is only a gentle, rhythmic repetition.

It is here. It is here.

One of my ears picks up Denki's voice.

He's on the phone with someone, explaining what we found— It must be Jirou. She must've given up on me and tried him, knowing she'd get an answer.

"I don't know?" He says. "I think she's freaking out, I think she might have lost it." My face twitches like it wants to react and rise to the challenge, but it's sluggish, like coming off of Novocain at the dentist.

Thoughts drip into my brains slowly.

Kai and Shinu are dead.

The thing that ate my father ate them too.

Denki is driving nowhere.

None of the thoughts run into each other. None of them make much sense.

But at least I'm not scared.

Then the faucet drips faster, and Denki shouts my name and hits me in the arm, effectively turning the water back on.

"Take me to Izuku's." I command. He's relieved. At least I've said something. At least I've made some kind of decision, some executive order.

"We're going to do it," I hear him say into the phone.

"Yeah. We're going there now. Meet us there— Don't go in if we're not there first!" He's misunderstood. How can I explain? He doesn't know how my father died.

He doesn't know what this means— That it has finally caught up with me. It has managed to find me, now, when I'm practically defenseless.

And I didn't even know it was looking; I could almost smile. Fate is playing a practical joke.

Miles go past in a blur. Denki is chattering calming things as he peels into Izuku's driveway and gets out.

My door opens a few seconds later and he hauls me out by the arm.

"Come on, (Y/n)." He calls. I look up at him gravely "Are you ready?" He questions "What are you going to do?"

I don't know what to say. The state of shock is losing its charm— I want my brain back, can't it just shake itself off like a dog already and get back to work?

Our feet crunch up the cold gravel. My breath is visible in a bright little cloud— To my right, Denki's little clouds are showing up much faster, in nervous huffs.

"Are you okay?" He asks "Man, I've never seen anything like that before, I can't believe that he— That was—" He pauses, his eyes wide as he leans forward a bit.

He's remembering, and if he remembers too hard, or too well, he might throw up.

I reach out an arm to steady him.

"Maybe we should wait for Jirou." He comments and then he pulls me back— Izuku's door has opened, he's coming out onto the porch, softly, like a curious buck.

I look at his changed clothes, now a white T-shirt with some writing on the front, unreadable due to the ashes clinging to him. He's also wearing some shorts with his signature red shoes.