Izuocha's Love Stories

18 - WHEN IT COMES CRASHING DOWN

By Skinny_Bass

Izuku walked up to his front door feeling thoroughly exhausted. Distant sirens echoed in the night, reminding him of his long and arduous day. While he hated to admit it, he was only human, regardless of being a top ten hero. There was only so much he could do.

He fumbled with his keys, eager to get inside and curl up in bed with his favorite person. The thought of her was all that kept him going now. The commission was right; he needed to rest. In the darkness, Izuku struggled with the lock.

Finally, he got the right key in the right place, practically falling inside his apartment as he opened the door. He froze for a moment, listening for any sign that he might have woken her up.

Silence.

It was in that moment of stillness that Izuku noticed how dim the apartment was. Most of the light he could see was coming from a single lamp in the main room down the hallway. But that wasn't the only light source. A bright sliver out from under the bedroom door. He sighed lightly as he delicately swapped his shoes for slippers and snuck towards the door. He hoped she had fallen asleep from exhaustion before she could properly get ready for the night.

Reaching the door, Izuku gently pushed it open. His eyes adjusted to the light as the opening grew wider. The furthest bedside lamp softly illuminated their bedroom. The air felt heavy.

A familiar figure sat in the middle of the bed, facing away from the door. She was hunched forward slightly, clearly hugging her legs to her chest. Her chocolate hair caught the light of the lamp, seeming to glow on one edge in the low light. Sorrow radiated from her very being as she sat there, unmoving.

Deku's heart twisted and fell below his stomach. He took a tentative step forward.

"Ochako?"
------
Wailing sirens echoed around the buildings as Deku streaked through the air. At times like these, he was glad his office was on the top floor of the building. Uravity's call for backup had been clear and concise. A large-scale train crash, search and rescue efforts would be needed, unclear whether it was a result of villain activity. All hands on deck.

It wasn't long before he arrived on the scene. The huge dust cloud hung ominously over the area, acting as a foreboding beacon. It was worse than he had anticipated.

The rail bridge had collapsed underneath a highspeed passenger train that now lay broken and spread across several city blocks. There were carriages strewn across several blocks. Although some were mostly intact, many more were horribly buckled and crushed, while others were completely shattered and unrecognizable. Many of the buildings nearest the railway were badly damaged, some looking like a demolition crew had given up halfway through bringing them down. The streets were filled with rubble and abandoned vehicles. A few bonnets could be seen poking out from under particularly large piles of debris.

Quickly, his eyes fell on his companion as she lifted a huge, mostly cylindrical chunk of concrete off one of the crumpled train cars. Deku landed beside the carriage moments after Uravity moved the block clear. Glancing at the crushed carriage, he could tell the doors were probably a lost cause. He leaped up to the space that had just been cleared. Effortlessly, he tore a hole in the crumpled roof and tossed the metal to one side before turning to create another opening.

When he briefly stopped to assess the space just beyond the rudimentary entrances, Ochako's voice cut through the panicked air.

"You take one, I'll take the other!"

Deku didn't hesitate. Darting into the carriage, he took stock of the scene before him. The walls held up enough for there to be a crouching room inside. Many people were strewn about amongst the buckled seats in various states of injury. Immediately three people stood out to Deku as those in the worst condition. He gathered them as best he could, placing two on his back and carrying the third in his arms.