The Hope Barely Found

Plus I'm Done

Izuku woke up at the slight touch to his neck, gasping for breathe and shoving away the intruder. He was still on the ground, with the police officer from the raid standing over him. All Might.

And next to him, stood a furious Aizawa.

"What were you thinking?" The calm tone Aizawa used actually made Izuku shrink back a little.

He slumped back down and stared at the ground, his thoughts desperately calculating the distance from the beach. It had to be enough.

"You will never pull a stunt like that again. Do you understand how bad that could've been? What were you even doing out here?! For fucks sake Izuk-," Izuku tuned Aizawa out easily, instead turning to stare at the sky. Dark colors striped the sky as the sun set for the day. Dawn was Izuku's favorite time of day. When the day was finally over.

"Aizawa, I think he gets it," All Might interrupted, though they both could tell he wasn't paying any attention. At this point it was lecturing All Might more then Izuku. All Might leaned down to face Izuku. "I'm not sure if you remember me, but I'm All Might, I saved you from the fight a while back."

Izuku didn't even try to hide his disgust at the words. All Might saved him? He would've laughed if it wasn't for the fact it made him so angry. Izuku wasn't the one who needed to be saved. Where was he before then? When they both needed him?

"And I'm your new new hire at UA!" All Might finished with a wide smile.

Izuku glared at the man with everything he could muster in his weak state. He felt sick and resisted the urge to gag. Great. Now he had to live with the man who killed his sister. Izuku was sure it was him who had interrupted the fight. Taken that picture. His eyes started to burn, but Izuku ignored it. He would never give this man that satisfaction of seeing him cry.

***

Eri walked as quickly as possible without trying to make it clear she was doing her best to put more and more distance between her and her follower. She recalled what Izuku had taught her about being followed. "Force them to come out, trap them by making them think they've trapped you, fight them with all you've got and prove they've underestimated you!"

Now he also said that was in case of emergencies and for when she was older, but this seemed like an appropriate time. She readjusted the bandages on her right arm as she walked, it had become loose. She kept those bandages around her limbs for Izu, so whenever he was hurt she'd have them on hand, no matter where their locations changed to. She had a knife hidden under the one on her leg. Slipping behind a house, she started her way towards an alley, where a wall trapped her between the houses. Perfect. Izuku would've been proud.

Sure enough, three figures stepped out of the dark, allowing Eri to openly glare at them. "What do you want?" She tried her best to sound intimidating, but really her voice was squeaky and raspy from the lack of use. It made her cheeks burn a cherry pink.

"You can relax," Mirio tried, "We're here to help."

"Then why do you have backup?" She tried to hiss. Again, it came out high pitched and adorable, making the kids hearts melt at the pitiful noise.

"These are my friends, Nejire and Tamaki. We don't mean you any harm, we just want to ta-,"

Eri took the chance to dart past them. Izuku always said to move while they were talking. She could hear their footsteps instantly after her and pushed herself to run faster. Their voices called after her from behind. Her feet burned against the ground and she glanced back to see she was leaving a bloody footprint trail behind her. Eri winced at the sight, and turned away, focusing on how to lose them. She just had to. Tears pricked at her eyes. She had made it so far, Eri was sure she was close to Izuku! She couldn't be caught now.

***

Izuku was back at UA and sitting on the couch. Except he wasn't. He was at the bar with Shigaraki, Kurogiri, and Inko. They were downstairs in a wide room, standing across from a huge man. He was scarred and ripped, and impossibly big for a normal human. Nomu.

Inko shoved Izuku forward, but he caught himself before tripping, standing shakily with his arms out in front of him, ready to fight. Izuku was covered in scratches and gashes from the last round but he was ready to go again, despite his absolute exhaustion. He had to be. Eri was on the line.

The girl in question sat opposite to them all, a chain around her leg forcing her trapped against the wall. The chain dug in tightly, but Eri didn't dare make a sound. Not after what Izuku was putting up with for her. She could only watch the fighting with big eyes, and hope with everything she's got her brother would be all right.

"Again." Shigaraki's voice was scratchy, and as soon as the order left his lips Izuku and Nomu were jumping at each other all over again.

Nomu easily pushed Izuku down, and Izuku scratched and bit and swung and kicked as hard as he could to get out, finally leaping up after catching Nomu in the eye with a small dagger. As Nomu roared, Eri flinched, but Izuku forced himself not to. He had to be strong for her.

His moms gaze pierced Izuku savagely. He knew he'd be getting beaten when they got home, though for what, he wasn't sure yet. Izuku wiped off the blood that was dripping down his face with a sneer.

"Again."

"IZUKU!" A voice snapped, and instantly Izuku was back in the living room, Todoroki standing in front of him worriedly.

Izuku blinked at Todoroki and very slowly put a hand out, tapping Todoroki's shoulder. He needed to be sure this was real.

"What's wrong?" Todoroki was beyond worried. Izuku had been gasping for air when he'd walked in, eyes completely unfocused and glazed over, even more so then usual.

Shigaraki's order was stuck in Izuku's head. Again. Again. "Again." It came out a mere whisper, and Todoroki frowned.

"Again, what? What's going on, Izuku?"

Izuku shook his head. He couldn't handle this right now. He looked at his knuckles that had been bandaged up. Punching Nomu was like punching a robot.

Todoroki sighed in frustration. He could tell the boy was shutting down again. But dammit, he was worried! The best Todoroki could offer was a small, timid smile, and very gently and lightly placing an arm around Izuku. At first he tensed up, but when he realized Todoroki wasn't going to hurt him, Izuku sunk into Todoroki's warm hug, letting his eyes flutter shut against him to really feel the embrace.

Izuku sighed at the feeling. This must've been how Eri felt when they cuddled and Izuku certainly wasn't complaining.

Todoroki and Izuku sat there for hours as people came and went around them. Izuku ignored All Might, but Todoroki could tell something was wrong when the man came in to introduce himself to Todoroki. Todoroki sent him away with a glare for upsetting Izuku. The two ended up not falling asleep but spending the night on the couch in the embrace, both content and at peace. For the first time, Izuku let himself focus on something other than Eri's death.

***

The next morning they were back at school as if nothing had happened. Aizawa was determined to keep a close eye on his problem child, refusing to let him out of his sight for the first half of the day.

Izuku didn't bother try to resist, nor did he care what the older man did, as long as he'd still be able to sneak away to the beach. That beach had been on Izuku's mind all day, giving him energy after the previous night of no sleep, even if it was with Todoroki. The exhaustion wasn't as extreme. The world felt a little lighter.

"Cope ahead for gym," Shinso warned, waving his hand in the air lazily. "We don't want you passing out again."

Izuku gave a meaningless shrug but did note that in his head. No passing out, or he'd risk not being able to get to the beach.

Todoroki took a bite of his soba. "I'm glad your eating, Izuku." He didn't expect a response, nor did he get one.

The classes were currently at lunch, room filled with a loud chatter. Izuku ignored it, Todoroki disliked it, and Shinso loathed it. It was too chaotic. Too hard to focus on one thing, or even multiple things because too much was going on. He couldn't prepare properly to fight back with everything so close together.

Despite Shinso's worries, the bell rang with no issues, signaling their next class. Gym.