In Loving Memory

How can I live laugh love in these conditions

Izuku ran to catch her, but he was too late. She had already fallen. A voice jerked him out of his shock. "Hey kid, take care of the other kids, I'll get the girl!"

"Yosuke?" Izuku exclaimed, but Yosuke had already jumped down to save Ochako. Izuku turned to see more kids falling through the cracks in the ground. Izuku ran to the weird man and practically jumped into his body. For the first time however, the possession was difficult. Todoroki had been like wading through Jello, his mind and body feeling a little foggy to hold control over, but trying to take over the weird man was like fighting a sibling for the tv remote. Izuku clung to control as best he could, but the body fell to the ground.

Who are you? Somebody yelled at him in his mind. It sounded like the weird man, but a little echoey.

I'm trying to stop you from hurting them, Izuku thought back. Who are you?

Why should I tell you?

Probably because I'm dead. There's nobody I could tell.

It doesn't matter to you, the weird man said, but a thought appeared. Tomura Shigaraki.

Izuku gasped, recognizing the name. I know your grandma!

You what?

Your grandma! She's a hero, albeit a dead one, but a hero! Shigaraki's body convulsed on the floor as Izuku tried to hold control and Shigaraki tried to touch the floor again. The students nearby regained their footing and started to escape through a broken-open door. Ochako floated up to the cafeteria once again, and Yosuke jumped out of her body. Shigaraki's body stiffened for a moment, before Izuku realized Shigaraki's body had stopped breathing. Izuku took control of the body, and once again he started to breathe.

Izuku still wasn't used to being in a body. He hated it, but all he had to do was hold onto the body long enough for the heroes to show up. Who are you? Shigaraki asked.

Nobody important, Izuku said dismissively. Just dead.

I'm not asking if you're important, I'm asking who the hell is in my body! Izuku suddenly felt like somebody was grabbing him by the throat. Fear rushed over him, and for once he was reminded of the awful feeling of horror that had come with being attacked by the villain with a body made of sludge all those months ago, the struggling to hang onto life in the face of destruction. Once again he feared looking in the face of Death, even though he had already become quite acquainted with it. He hated being in a body again, the fear and weakness that came with being alive. He was in a living body, and therefore technically alive, and though he breathed air and felt a heartbeat, he knew he was still dead.

Just call me Deku, okay! He shouted frantically, mentally clawing at the metaphysical hands around his metaphysical throat. I'm Deku! He remembered Sakura's warning. Be polite to the host while you're in their body. Sakura had told him it was because the person would try to force him out, like Todoroki had, and then had the potential to hurt themselves in the process. But this, Sakura hadn't warned him about this.

Deku, huh? Izuku almost saw Shigaraki's grin in his mind's eye. So you're just some kid with the world's most accurate nickname. I've never seen a more useless kid in my life. Pity you're already dead.

Your grandma was a hero, Izuku said, trying to think of a way out of this. What changed?

Whoever you're talking about, I never knew her. And even if she was a hero, who's to say I care? Izuku struggled, and meanwhile, Katsuki was helping the students to evacuate. He lifted a hand and made an explosion, and the half-broken door was gone. The students started to run away. Katsuki looked over at Shigaraki, only to be met with the underwhelming and confusing sight of the man weakly convulsing on the floor.