Behind the Smile | TodoBakuDeku | Book 1

Chapter 3

Todoroki POV

The rubble and debris from my father's rough landing began to settle. I could see him, just barely, with his back facing Bakugo and me. Those few seconds of waiting felt like an eternity, as my heart throbbed in my throat. I'm sure it was the same for Bakugo. He has a tough and abrasive shell, but it's obvious he cares deeply for Midoriya.

"Screw this!" Bakugo spat before blasting himself to the ground beside Endeavor. I followed, sliding down a fresh ice glacier.

Endeavor had walked over to a grass clearing near the underpass of the bridge and laid Midoriya's limp body down. Bakugo made it to them just before I did, and fell to the ground beside our friend. He reached out for Midoriya, but was pushed back.

"Give him some space," Endeavor instructed.

I let out a jagged sigh of relief, when I saw the rhythmic rising and falling of Midoriya's chest. From the angle I was standing, I could tell his eyes were open, but his head was tilted away from me. "Midoriya? Are you hurt?"

I desperately wanted him to look at me and assure me he was okay, but he didn't even flinch at my words. His head remained directed somewhere to the right of him.

Bakugo ignored Endeavor's instructions of giving him space and gave Midoriya a playful nudge on the shoulder. "Freakin' Deku! You're a lucky bastard, you know that?"

Again, there was no response. He didn't even move so much as a finger.

"Deku?" Bakugo tried again to get his attention. Just then, we both realized what Midoriya was looking at. The body of the boy we failed to save was mangled and soaked with blood. Tears flooded Midoriya's colorless cheeks.

"Shit..." Bakugo mumbled as we crouched next to Midoriya, attempting to block his view. Though he was no longer able to see the devastation we were unable to prevent, his glare into the distance remained almost trance-like.

"Midoriya," I gently tucked a few stray hairs behind his ear and brushed away his tears with the light touch of my thumb. I wanted to bring his focus back to us and away from what we could no longer control. "Are you hurt?"

Yet again, he said and did nothing, aside from silently crying while gazing off into the unknown.

We waited in agonizing silence for his response, while the sirens and red and blue lights raced towards our location. Miniature explosions began to pop from Bakugo's palms, as he stood up and paced back and forth. I figured it would take another several minutes for paramedics to make it down to the clearing, seeing as only a single dirt path led to the unusable underpass.

"Damn it, nerd!" Bakugo leaned back down, grabbed Midoriya by the collar, and gave him a shake, trying to get even the smallest response in return. "You need to snap out of it and tell us what the fuck's going on!"

Bakugo's eyes brimmed with tears, but he did his best to mask the fear and desperation with anger. He raised his hand back and began to take an open-handed swing at Midoriya's face. Less than mere inches from impact I grabbed hold of Bakugo's wrist, stopping him in his tracks. "I swear Katsuki, if you hurt him, I will end you."

Yanking his wrist back, he grumbled with a hint of regret, "Then you do something, Shoto!"

Determined to get through to Midoriya, I nodded and scooted as close as I could.

"Hey, Midoriya?" I tried to get his attention with the most gentle and steady tone I could muster. "I need you to look at me and tell me if you're hurt. Bakugo and I just want to know that you're okay. We care about you."

"-Tch. Speak for yourself," Bakugo remarked as he folded his arms and looked away.

There was still no answer or movement. I reached out my hand again and cupped the side of his face, delicately moving the direction of his gaze to me. When our eyes met, I knew there was something wrong.

I let out a gasp when I saw Midoriya's once sparkling emerald green eyes fade into a murky green and the shimmer gone altogether. Bakugo had been facing the other direction, I'm guessing to try to get his emotions in check, but jolted back around when he heard my reaction.

"What is it?" He shouted as he dodged back to us and took his first real glimpse. "W-what the hell is wrong with his eyes?"

Before we had a chance to consider what had happened to our friend, paramedics finally swooped in. From the time he was placed on the stretcher to when he was wheeled into the ambulance, he never took his gaze away from the lifeless boy's body that was still draped over the rocks.

"Fuck!" Bakugo shouted, releasing slightly larger explosions from the palms of his hands. He looked at me with a dangerous combination of fury and concern.

"I know," was all I could manage to get out, as I pulled Bakugo's wrists against my chest and held him close. Any other time, he would have knocked me away, but this wasn't a normal day. Today we needed each other to keep from breaking.

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Third Person POV

The paramedics rapidly looked over every inch of the greenette, as the ambulance swerved to the hospital. They couldn't find a single scratch on him, and yet he remained unresponsive.

"What the hell is wrong with this kid?" The paramedics worried they were missing something. "His heart is racing and he hasn't blinked since we got there."

"We need to slow down that heart rate before he goes into cardiac arrest!"

"Got it," another paramedic responded, as she prepped for the injection. "Pushing 3 CCs of Lidocaine."

In seconds, Midoriya's eyes grew heavy and the tension in his body eased. "That's it kid, just relax. We've got you."

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Midoriya's POV

There was nothing but darkness. I spread my hands out frantically, looking for a switch, but there was nothing but endless space. Suddenly, I tripped over something and landed face first on the ground. 'What was that?! Where am I?'

I reached back in the direction of the object I tripped over and felt a warm liquid on the tips of my fingers. I quickly pulled my hand back and instinctively wiped it on my shirt, just as a spotlight focused on the body laying in front of me.

It was the body of the boy I failed. It barely looked like a body anymore, but I knew through the mangled and blood-soaked carnage that it was him. I pulled him on my lap and into a hug, rocking back and forth as I sobbed.

"I'm so sorry!" I cried. "It should have been me. I'm so sorry..."

I continued to hold onto the lifeless body, my shirt now covered in more blood than not.

"You're absolutely right, young Midoriya," a familiar voice sounded off in the distance. The hair on the back of my neck stood straight out, as my stomach dropped.

"Who is that?" I shouted. "Show yourself!" I scanned the empty abyss for signs of life, and jolted back when I saw two small orbs floating about 10 feet away. They looked just like the orb that attacked me, bringing me unspeakable pain.

"Oh, come now. Can't you recognize me by the sound of my voice?"

'Wait, it sounds like...no that doesn't make any sense. What the...'

In the blink of an eye, the room became engrossed in a white light and a person appeared inches away from me. There was no denying what was right in front of me with the fluffy green hair, freckled cheeks, and bright red shoes. Other than the hauntingly terrifying black eyes with hints of deep purple reflecting off, it was like looking in a mirror. There was no question about it, the figure terrifyingly perched in front of my trembling body was none other than me, Izuku Midoriya.