The scratching

Chapter 7

Inside the dorms he quickly made his way to his room, stumbling across the hallway and nearly dripping over random books. Finally inside his own 4 walls Izuku collapsed. Everything hurt and he wasn't sure if he would make it to his bed. Luckily, the floor was pretty comfortable. Without changing or brushing his teeth the boy laid down on the floor and fell asleep. He was surprised at how fast sleep had found him that night. He sure was exhausted.

That night the boy dreamed about his mother.
He saw her cooking dinner while his 5 year old self ran around in his favourite All Might suit with his best friend Kacchan. Except this time it wasn't just the three of them in the room. Now, there were 7-, no, 8 lights in many different colours. The light gave off a calming presence.
The scene in front of him changed. Now he was 7, crying because his mother wouldn't get him the new All Might figure he had wanted so baldly. He screamed at her and told her how unfair he was. The poor women gave in, despite not having much money. For her son, she would take an extra shift at the hospital. Even if it meant, that she would get to spend less time with him.
The scene changed again and now he was 9. His mother was applying burn cream to his shoulder after he had come home, wincing with every move he made.

The lights were swirling around the room. If he looked closely he could faintly see a figure appearing where the purple light had been previously. However, before he could make sure that there was, in fact, a figure, the scene changed again.
This time, he was 10. Starring at his mother's hanging body. The grip on his hand from him would definitely leave a bruise.

"See boy? That's what happens when people have to deal with someone as useless as you. She died because of you, I want you to know that. This is all your fault, you disappointed her. You made her sick." was all the poor boy heard before he woke up panting and sweating.

His curls were stuck to his forehead from all the sweat and his back ached from lying on the floor so long. He could still faintly see the lights that were there but they slowly started to disappeared. Deciding he needed to calm down, he stood up and silently made his way out of his room to go downstairs for a class of water. He tiptoed his way down the stairs to make sure that he woke no one up.

Arriving downstairs, he made his way to the kitchen. His eyes were blinded by the light for a second but the moment he could see again, he jumped back.

There, in the middle of the kitchen, was his beloved classmate Todoroki. The other male just starred at him while eating his soba.

"Hello Midoriya." the boy greeted.

"Hi Shoto...uh,.. why are you eating soba at this hour?" The green haired asked.

The other male just shrugged before answering: "Couldn't sleep because I was so hungry. What about you? Why are you awake at this hour?"

Izuku knew that this question would eventually come up. "I was thirsty." He simply said while getting a glass of water.

His classmate just hummed. "So you woke up because you wanted a glass of water." It was more of a statement than a question.

"Hey! Says the person that's eating soba at 2AM" the boy whisper yelled.

His classmate just laughed at that. The two of them fell into a comfortable silence, the only thing that could be heard was Shotos slurping.

"I had a nightmare..." the freckled boy said.

Shoto gave him a side glance before looking down at his soba again. "Want to talk about it?" he asked.

Izuku sighed. "My mom...she- she died when I was young. Sometimes I still get nightmares from that. You know? Imagining her dead and all that stuff." He explained, leaving out the part where he saw her body hanging from the ceiling, or the fact that it was all his fault. He was the reason she had killed herself. Because of him, she-

"I'm sure she was lovely, I don't think she would want you to be sad about it anymore. She would want you to be happy again." Todoroki interrupted his thoughts.

"She was. She didn't deserve to die this young, you know?" Izuku smiled.

"I think no one deserves to die. Not even villains. We all have a reason for our actions. Even though we sometimes hate a person doesn't mean they deserve to die. No matter villain, pro hero, mother, child, vigilante, we're all just people somewhere. Does that make sense?" Shoto asked.

"You know that you're pretty smart, right? You do have a way with words." he laughed.

"I get that a lot. Doesn't change the fact that what I say is true. Don't be sad that she died, Midoriya, be happy that she could live and have you as a son. I think she was happy." Shoto said, continuing eating his nearly finished soba.

The two fell into another comfortable silence, no one making a move to say anything. Todoroki finished his soba and put the dish in the dishwasher.

"Good night Midoriya, don't be too sad anymore. If you get another nightmare wake me up, yeah?" he offered before walking up the stairs, not waiting for an answer.

Izuku was still shocked about what his classmate had said. "Be happy that she could live and have you as a son. I think she was happy." Tears threatened to fall. Was she happy? Was she proud that she could call him, her son?

By the time Izuku laid down in his bed, it was already 3:17AM. He knew that he wasn't going to get a lot of sleep that night but at least he fell asleep with a small smile on his face. His classmate truly did have a way with words. Some could say that Izuku was happy to have had the nightmare. He was thankful that he had run into his classmate.