Still Falling... [BNHA Fanfic]

Chapter One

Izuku Midoriya was falling to his death for the twenty seventh time. He had teetered uncertainly on the brink of his demise before he was pushed over the edge by an invisible force. He wondered for a brief moment, as the ground disappeared beneath him, if it was the fault of the wind. But seeing the face of his pursuer, Izuku chastised himself for ever considering it.

I should really stop coming to this place, he thought to himself as the wind roared in his ears. Whenever he heard the sound of someone approaching him in the forest from behind, his heart would begin to pound and he would be propelled to a painfully familiar cliff overlooking a river. The chase always ended there. I shouldn't be making their job easier.

The fog enveloped him as the ledge and the figure standing on it disappeared from view. Tears pricked his eyes as the air whipped past him, but Izuku remained silent. Screaming won't make it end faster. Scattered sparsely in the churning river below him were gleaming black rocks, protruding from the foaming waters waiting to devour him like lines of crooked teeth.

I wonder where I'll end up this time? He never questioned why he woke up somewhere different every time he fell into this river. He always woke up in the water in a place impossibly far from where he had started. Izuku was grateful for the brief reprieve it offered, as it always took a while for them to find him again. He could almost fool himself into thinking they would not find him at all. He closed his eyes. Please, don't let them find me. Not this time.

For once, the universe must have listened.

A hand pat him gently on the face when he came to, the silhouette of a man crouching over him. He blinked the bleariness from his eyes as the world came into focus. The man's lips were moving, but Izuku could not decipher what he was saying. What language is it this time... English? No, Japanese.

"Are you alright, young man?" Izuku blinked up at the man with the loud voice, still dazed. He was puzzled by the person's silence until he realized he was expecting a response. Scrambling to his feet, he straightened his jacket and dusted himself off. It was damp, but it did not appear to be from water. "You were attacked. Fortunately, I arrived just in time to save you!"

Izuku inspected his surroundings. He was in a dark, concrete tunnel in a secluded area of a city. The signs told him he was still in Japan, but it was not a city on the island. If I'm on the mainland they won't find me for a while. A mucus like substance was spattered on the walls of the tunnel. Izuku identified the source when he saw an old soda bottle that had been repurposed as a prison. Suspended inside were two yellow, glaring eyes, floating in translucent sludge with a sickly green tinge. A mutant. That means this man must be...

"W-would you mind explain what happened?" Izuku asked weakly. He knew he would not be able to put up another fight. He had barely even gotten his bearings. "What do you want?" Izuku was astonished he had not been recognized yet. Or maybe he's just biding his time to be cruel, he thought with a wince. It had been done before.

"Ah, no one sent me! I was already in pursuit of the villain when I saw he had captured you," the man responded. Villain is an odd choice of words. Even I wouldn't go that far. Izuku wondered why the man appeared so on edge, as if expecting something. "I am All Might, the number one hero. It is my job, after all. If you're alright, I really must be going. With that teleportation quirk you'll make a fine hero someday!"

"Teleportation quirk?" Izuku echoed, puzzled. He assumed the man, All Might, as he had called himself, had to be referring to his power. Teleportation was certainly not it.

"The villain was raving about it when I captured him! Apparently, you accidentally appeared in his clutches. Be more careful where you appear next time." Again, he's calling it a villain.