Dead Boys' Dream

Separated

Izuku and Shinso were next to each other. Or at least they were. The duo were supposed to stay close to Snipe and only fight when absolutely necessary.  Otherwise they were to scout and protect Snipe so he could take the shot on All for One.

But when the nomu first came out, it had barreled through their group of three as well as a couple other Hero v. Villain fights before it was confronted by Nighteye's gang. Since getting impaled by the Eight Precepts Raid, Nighteye hasn't technically been released to do heavy duty fighting, but he was allowed to attend the raid as long as he stayed away from using full-blown battle sequences.

By the time Deku dodged the bolting nomu, he found that he had dived a tad bit too far and consequently lost sight of Snipe. And Shinso.

With his senses now on overdrive, he looked around the room. So far the fights seemed evenly matched and the heros were doing fairly well. If he jumped into any brawls not only would he be in trouble but he might botch any of the hero's fights by limiting the moves he could make.

He didn't want to be a liability--a nuisance--within the fight. So he opted to continue to look around.

Suddenly a small flicker of blue was seen from the corner of his eyes. He glanced in the direction only to find a set of stairs.

Slowly, carefully, he walked over to listen for any noises. Through all the ruckus of the raid, he couldn't hear much, but he managed to make out the sound of heavy breaking and mumbling.

The voice was raspy yet quiet. As if the caller was whispering. He couldn't understand what said person was whispering about though. Suddenly a cracking sound rung out from slightly behind Izuku. He looked behind himself to access the damage.

The wall was painted a grey color, but the drywall was cracked and had big holes that seemed to be from punches and kicks. Clearly the wall was not load bearing, but the stress of the stray nomu being catapulted towards said wall caused more cracks to form. Quickly, the nomu was able to get back up and bolt towards the fight once more.

Suddenly the wall crumbled under the gaze of his eyes, and before he could even think about it, Midoriya threw himself to the safest area he could think of. Down the small, dark staircase.

Once down a couple step, he heard the non-loadbaring wall fall down. Clearly the wall was the least of his worries since it was not going to lead into the utter demise of the building and since it didn't block the pathway to the stairs.

But the ragged breath of someone in the corner of the bottom of the stairwell caught Midoriya's utmost attention. Disreguarding all forms of safety precautions, Midoriya stepped closer to the sounds of frantic breathing and mumbling.

"Sensei the nomu's...send them...must...Sensei hurry...get the nomu's...please...nomu...can't be useless...can't watch family...die...Sensei. Sensei please....Please..." Midoriya had managed to get close enough to make out majority of the mumbling. It sounded as if Shigaraki was on a call, vulnerable and scared. It was new for Midoriya to see Shigaraki frightened and showing his weaknesses. Even back in USJ, he seemed childish yet relatively collected.

At least more collected than in the current situation. Unless something had happened before the raid that left Shigaraki susceptible to being vulnerable.

Midoriya wasn't one to read into facts that aren't there, but he could understand if Shigaraki had trauma. Most villains did. And most villains were never able to maintain healthy coping mechanisms to deal with that trauma.

Heck, Deku himself didn't have healthy coping mechanism for dealing with his past of torment and bullying. Nonetheless, he had a support system now and spending time with his friends and mother helped him to have the perseverance to get out of bed most days.

When Deku snapped back out of his thoughts, he noticed the sound of nails scraping skin getting louder, getting closer.

"Who's there?" Was the question Shigaraki uttered next.

There was the soft sound of something small being decentigrated near Midoriya as Shigaraki drew closer. The villain's voice seemed strained, the villain sounded drained of all energy.

Deku gasped when a hand jutted out, holding his left arm in place, effectively allowing Deku to become still.

A lighter was turned on mere inches between Shigaraki and Deku's faces. The lighting illuminated both faces and casted intimidating shadows upon each of their features.

Deku looked at Shigarki who was looming over him, lip busted and a black eye prominent. Shigaraki was actively shaking, his muscles straining to hold himself upwards.

Not being able to keep himself quiet, Izuku spoke the first thing on his mind. "Are you okay? You're hurt?"