The Burden of Time [Aizawa x OC]

-prologue-

DECEMBER, 20 YEARS AGO.

Too many machines were connected to my body by an even more absurd amount of cords. Several people in white lab coats observed me through a large glass window. The incessant beeping in varying tones from each machine was driving me slowly mad. I remember the feeling of overwhelm well. I remember the fear the most.

The loud speaker crackled overhead. Just when I thought there couldn't possibly be any more noise, a female voice recited the same thing I'd been hearing for the past two months.

"Operation Artificial Quirk
Subject Identifier: October
Age: 8 years
Blood Type: AB-
Trial number: 55
Begin."

A miniature television slowly descended from the ceiling, stopping directly at my line of vision while laying on the medical cot. The screen blinked to life. I immediately recognized the familiar faces of my parents. I did not know what became of them following my removal from home two months prior. When I first arrived, I tried to ask the people in white. I quickly learned not to ask questions about my previous life. It never ended well.

The video showed them bound, gagged, filthy, and bloody. Fear was etched deeply on their faces. I tried to shut my eyes, but soon they were forced open with clamps from another machine. The horrific scene played out before me. The merciless murder of my parents was recorded and I was unable to look away.

A tortured sob escaped my lips. Tears were the only tiny reprieve available to blur the gore unfolding in front of me. Dizziness swallowed me whole. My breaths became shallow, haphazard... until eventually my lungs could not suck in any air. I couldn't make another sound.

Then, the whole world stopped. Literally.

The video of my parents murder that was just playing before me was frozen. I could no longer hear their screams. The machines stopped beeping, each screen unmoving. The white coat people were as still as statues. Everything was frozen in place until black spots entered my vision.

I could've sworn I heard a sea of cheers from the white coat people before everything went totally black.