Freeze Frame

Chapter 113

 Third person pov

Izuku's head hurt.

It did that sometimes. Drove him fucking nuts. It was like a war was raging in his head, or a tornado was spinning about, knocking into the sides of his skull and rattling his brain. It made him grit his teeth and squeeze his eyes shut. His ears would start to hurt too, and so would his eyes. Everyone knew not to mess with him during these times. Well, all the villains, anyway. Not the people he was close to because of his cover, and not his mother, who had assumed for years that he was her perfect little boy. He did love his mom, of course. He wasn't completely heartless.

He'd really screwed the pooch on this one, however. Lillian Faust-- or he supposed she was Lillian Aizawa. That had been a twist, that's for sure-- had been deemed a threat. A threat he was supposed to neutralize on life television to dampen the hearts of the nation and the world as a whole. Ever since she rising to the level of public influencer, it had become pretty obvious she would be a great way to weaken hero society. She had a lot of connections, and had played a notable role in the taking down of one of Japan's biggest phonies, Endeavor. She was a known friend of the winged hero Hawks, who would surely be jumping into Japan's Number One spot after this.

And now look at him. Freezing in the back of a armored truck with his failure resting heavy on his shoulders and a pair of cuffs nearly identical to the ones they'd put on Bakugo! It was less than ideal. It's not like this hadn't been the endgame. He just thought maybe he'd have a little more pride, you know? That he would've done what he was supposed to. Instead he was stuck back here knowing the body of Yosetsu Awase was cold and not Lillian's. His luck truly was sour.

He hadn't really planned to become a villain. Not at first. Then Bakugo had to go on and push a little too hard, and his mother's glance had to be a little too pitying when he talked about being a hero. And then, of course, All Might! God, fucking All Might. Told him straight up that his dream wasn't reachable, only to turn around and suddenly decide he was worthy? And then tell him the only way he could be a hero was with his quirk?! Fucking bullshit! But he wasn't about to turn it down.

It was around then that sensei found him, and... well, it was all downhill from there. He was truly a piece of work! A failure as a hero, and a failure as a villain. Go figure.

He broke the deafening silence in the back of the truck with a laugh. The first one bubbled out unbidden, and the second forcing its way out soon after. It didn't take long for him to devolve completely into laughter. Full-blown, hysterical laughter. It was the type that made his gut clench and tears prick his eyes. This was just such a shit show! What was his life?! He'd gone and become the opposite of everything he wanted to be out of spite, he'd fallen in fucking love with someone too good for him, and then destroyed every good thing in his life! It was a mess!

So, he laughed. Or maybe he was crying. He really wasn't sure. He didn't really care all that much at this point. He had literally nothing else to lose. The villains wouldn't be rescuing him after his failure. Shigaraki hadn't ever been fond of him, and Sensei was out of commission, at least for now. He knew for a fact they wouldn't be risking their hide this fast. One For All or not, he wasn't worth it.

The thought sobered him slightly, bringing his laughter to a breathy chuckle. He gazed almost blankly at the metal wall of the truck, taking a deep breath and trying to gather himself. His gaze dropped to his cuffs, and he found himself frowning. He had a lot to think about in the coming days. As far as heroes and villains went, he already knew he didn't want either side to win. He wanted things to be better. He wanted Hero Society to fucking right itself! Being in 1-A had given him hope, but he still wasn't sure. After Endeavor, everyone was rightfully suspicious. It was enough to make Izuku devolve into muttering.