WHEN YOUR LOST LOOK FOR THE LIGHT

Chapter 8: stupidly courageous

(𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐰𝐚 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲)

Everything happened all at once. One minute, Izuku was lifted high by Aizawa. Throwing his body over the elevator door opening and making it safely onto the hotel's hallway floor -

Next minute, the elevator chord snapped and the smuggler was flying. Arms flailing, feet without any ground, he slammed onto the cart with a rumbling thud and rolled into the water.

With Aizawa nowhere to be seen, Izuku thought the man was dead.

'No, no, no. He can't!' Izuku's inner voice pleaded.

Sweat forms under his curly bangs, his mind clouded momentarily. Izuku took a step backward, ready to propel himself into the air and join the man in the pool of ruins; but black hair rises to the surface.

Aizawa was alive and floating. Hurt, injured, and winded, but he's not dead yet.

The freckled boy's eyes dart from side to side, calculating the drop's distance and imagining a handful of scenarios in which he could take action. As he offered, climbing down using the ledges was an option, albeit a dangerous one. Izuku didn't have gloves and his sweaty palms would put him at a disadvantage; Izuku can also shimmy down the snapped wire, towards the end of it - he could swing from the edge and aim to land in the pool of water.

But the boy didn't know how to swim and he'd probably belly flop into the water, it might do Aizawa more trouble than good.

Still, Izuku couldn't simply stand there and wait.

"No! You stay up there! I'm coming back up!" Aizawa shouted, hundreds of feet below where Izuku was teetering. The boy was equally quick to protest but the man sternly shot him down, "Midoriya, just do what I say!"

As soon as Aizawa swims out of view, Izuku plans on how to make his way down to the smuggler. Very much not doing what Mr. Aizawa said.

Izuku adjusts his backpack, tightening the straps and gripping onto his knife firmly. Determined to meet Aizawa halfway, the boy inhales. He needs to take a second to truly understand where he was, what he was dealing with, and what exactly he needed to do.

"I'll f-figure something out... Yeah. It's t-totally fine. We're fine," Izuku mumbles a half-hearted pep-talk. 

First of all, they're in a spacious, expensive hotel. Destroyed for the most part, and also currently holding an unknown amount of hunters. Aizawa fell past the basement level, which housed the electrical rooms, janitorial storage, and garage. Considering the bottom was flooded with murky waters, there was a high chance for humidity.

A perfect place for spores to habitat. So many factors that can play against the pair.

Weaving in and out of hotel rooms, Izuku hugs the walls. Ear pressed up against the wallpaper in attempt to listen for extra footsteps or voices. None on this floor.

Getting to see how Mr. Aizawa worked around their obstacles, Izuku made sure to copy. Working as fast and efficient as possible, whether it be running from room to room or making quick decisions on which route he should take. Never spending more than two seconds before stepping a confident foot in one direction.

Channeling the smuggler's survival tactics, Izuku wonders if this was the world's way of testing his abilities.

Izuku deduced the raven has about twenty years of experience in dealing with people, infected and not. But even those stacked numbers didn't mean anything, everyone was bound for mishaps or for life to throw a rock in their boot. That much was evident with how Vlad suddenly gotten bit, or how the cable wire decided to snap even without a sign it'd fall anytime soon.