'𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕍𝕠𝕚𝕕 𝕀𝕟𝕤𝕚𝕕𝕖' [Vigilante Deku] ᴅᴀᴅᴢᴀᴡᴀ

Chapter Fourteen - Mysterious Trauma

"Sometimes, the one who tries to keep everyone happy is the loneliest person."

Guardian? He decided to become what?

Izuku's expression went blank as he tried to process every word the man had just said. The words seemed to scramble through his head like popcorn.

He looked down upon the chain that wrapped around his left ankle. The one thing keeping him from exiting this hospital. And the fuel that ignites his nightmares.

And at what cost would Izuku spend just to release out of these chains?

It was as if a tornado was rushing through his mind. It scrambled everything he had done to comprehend, leaving him stranded and weak to predators.

"I-I.."

Aizawa turned his head around in surprise. The boy hadn't spoken a word since he had been captured. He had assumed that the boy used a fake voice generator for his conversations with Aizawa. Even when things were desperate for him, this kid refused to speak.

Until now.

"Is there something you need?" Shouta asked, sitting back in his seat. He thought that he would just mention the event that was about to take place, and leave without question. Shouta would have never expected in a million years that the vigilante would speak.

Inside, Izuku was slightly panicking. His voice moderator was broken. Meaning he would have to use his real voice if he needed to speak. The heroes would discover that he was just a kid.

But Izuku wanted to escape from these chains. He wanted to get far away from the cold metal that trapped a being. Izuku wanted to destroy them. Up to their last atom.

Gritting his teeth underneath his mask, he mustered up the courage to talk again.

"P-please.. take o-off th-these c-chains." The boy stuttered, clutching the blanket tightly.

The sentence left Shouta in quite a daze. Paranoia, the vigilante he had been chasing for years seemed so.. frightened. And.. fragile.

Slowly, the layers that were on top of the truth were slowly pealing and breaking apart. Underneath all of that protection was a frightened boy who was never given the chance to feel any joy. Trapped under the pressure of the weight given to him.

Eraserhead sighed, leaning in over Izuku.

Taking a deep breath, unknown to Aizawa, he shut his eyes closed tightly as he held his breath. He expected something painful coming towards him. But after a minute of waiting, he felt nothing at all.