truth only hurts when you want to believe a lie

caught in 4k

Note: i lied last chapter...THIS is the chapter where the story gets blown apart

Izuku managed to pull himself off the floor before anyone came down to the common room of the 1-A dorms, heading back to his room slowly while massaging his temples. The teen felt as if his mind had been played with, much like when he was under the care of his kidnappers and they would experiment on him with psychic quirks to see if that would activate the quirks given to him.

Groaning as he opened the dorm door, Izuku slunked inside, shutting the door behind him with a sigh. His eyes scanned the room, trying to jog his memory. He was positive his mind had been messed with but who had done such a thing? And why?

The boy slumped onto his bed, yelping when his shoulder hit something hard. "The fuck?" Sitting back up, Izuku pulled his sheets back to find a notebook laying on his bare mattress, a sticky note attached to the cover. Grabbing the book and the sticky note, Izuku's eyes widened. "'Hopefully this will help with your mind. Sorry I couldn't prevent your attack from happening in the first place.' Signed, an ally."

Izuku opened the book and began leafing through it, finding notes written in his writing detailing theories and plans and back up plans of various scenarios involving his friends, All For One, and -

Holding the notebook closer, Izuku's eyes widened as he read the name of the traitor, his mind going back to the conversation he overheard between Kaminari and Bakugou the previous night.

Rereading the theories and plans and notes he himself had written, Izuku dropped the notebook in his lap. "Was this how I reacted the first time I figured out he was the traitor?"

An explosion of pain filled his brain as more memories from the day before returned, including the conversation he had with a certain traitorous blond. Clutching his head, Izuku squeezed his eyes shut as the scene played out in his mind.

"You callously murdered someone I care about."

"I can't wait for you to put the pieces together."

Eyes flinging open, Izuku gasped, indeed having pieced together who he had killed that set the traitor off down the road he was on. Covering his mouth with a trembling hand, Izuku fled to the bathroom, unloading his stomach's contents into the toilet. Leaning back away from the toilet bowl, Izuku dropped his head into his knees, curling into himself tightly.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. If I could erase what I did, undo it somehow, I would in a heartbeat. Or better yet, die in their place." Hugging his knees closer to himself, Izuku sniffled. "You're right though. I'll never be anything more than a lowlife villain who never should've been born."

That exact moment is when everything fell into place for Izuku.

"A lowlife villain...is all I'll ever be. And all I need to be." Clenching his fists with determination running through his veins, Izuku pulled himself off the floor, cleaning his mess as he concocted the perfect plan, his way of getting everything he wants. Catching his reflection in the mirror before he left, Izuku touched the scar on his cheek, a smirk on his face. "You and All For One want me to be the bad guy, fine. I'll play along...and show the world why you can never tame a Rabid animal."

With newfound conviction, Izuku strode back into his dorm to get started on his plan, confident that nothing - nothing - could ruin his machinations. Every possible bump in the plan had been accounted for and a back up plan made, there was nothing that could derail his master plan and stop him from achieving his endgame.

How wrong he was.

-

Izuku sat in class with his three friends, listening to Aizawa explain about the exams and the summer training camp that would be happening after the exams are over, perking up when Aizawa elaborated more on the exams and the rehab students' participation in them.