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Darkness. Emptiness. The crushing pressure of the void.
Izuku’s fingers gripped round the only thing he could reach, the plush leather of the chair he was cuffed to. The tangy scent of rust in the air. The last ways he could interact with the world.
His breaths reached deep into his stomach, the sense of the cold air passing through his nose eery without the lack of familiar noise to accompany them. Even his heartbeat was gone. That constant pulsing, always there even when everything was lost. Gone.
This level of detachment, this separation from the world around him was terrifying. It reminded Izuku of the sludge villain, the way the sounds of the world had compressed. Smothered away.
This quirk had taken away his sight and his hearing, ripped it away like they were nothing. With that quirk, they hadn’t even needed a blindfold. Izuku could feel his eyes blink open, could feel the flutter of his lashes against his skin but that was it. No light to pierce his empty vision.
Touch and his sense of smell still worked, and Izuku theorised that taste might work too, but he hadn’t checked. Either way, he was stuck. Trapped in a body relying on backup senses, senses he’d never thought would be his only way out.
Vibrations passed through the armrest. Something had happened, but there was no way for Izuku to tell what.
“Hello?” Izuku called out. Or at least, he tried to. It was hard to speak when you couldn’t even hear yourself.
Had something happened? His captors had been gone a while, their probing hands noticeably absent. They’d wanted… something. Izuku couldn’t tell. Being manoeuvred without sense had been disorientating. He didn’t even know who they were. Caught off guard when he was just walking to the shops. A silent touch behind him, and the world had vanished from his sight.
He’d woken up here, woken up into nothing but darkness. Woken up alone and confused, hands cuffed to a chair and quirk suppressed.
But now there was something happening out there. Any vibration that Izuku could have felt must have been a big one. Maybe heroes had come to save him? But then why was Izuku left alone like this? No one trying to reach out, no harried hands unlocking the cuffs. Nothing. The lack of information was irritating, if only he could just see he would know - but that was just the problem.
He felt for the cuffs, felt for their locking mechanism. His fingers brushed over the thick padlock chaining them together.
No one was doing anything.
Maybe they’d just fallen over or knocked over their own tools. Izuku should take this chance, try to go. He’d tried to mess with the cuffs before, but his captors had always slapped his hands away when he’d tried. But if no one was looking now…
Izuku grabbed the armrest, sticking one foot out. He touched cold ground. He tapped around, trying to feel for something. Anything.
Suddenly his foot hit something soft.
He jerked backwards.
Damnit. He’d lost it. That must have been the person, fallen to the ground. Likely his first assumption was right. Just an accident that had left them knocked unconscious, sprawled out on the floor. Izuku wasn’t going to miss this chance, no matter how intentional.
Izuku reached out once more and felt the soft give of flesh beneath his toes. They must have keys somewhere on them, he would only have to find them. Izuku tapped along their body, focusing solely on the feelings his foot transmitted back. Waited for the soft squidgy texture of clothing to give way to something hard. Something metallic.
There.
Finally.
Keys. He’d found them!
Using his other foot, he carefully caught the keys in between his shoes. Raising his feet very carefully, he slowly lifted them to his hands, back tensed hard against the seat. If he dropped them now they could slide anywhere, and without sight or hearing, Izuku would have no way of knowing where they’d fallen. He had to be careful. His legs strained with the effort of raising them up so high, but finally, finally, his shoe brushed against his hands.
He let go, keys falling neatly into his palm. He pushed the key into the lock, and twisted, wrist pressed hard against the cuffs to get it in properly. The cuffs shifted against his wrist, and sprung free, falling from his grip.
If Izuku hadn’t been sure before there was no one else in the room, he was sure now. No one had come to stop him, push him back. He was alone. Now he just had to get out.
Izuku swallowed, standing upright. He kept his tight grip on the hand rest. Without sight, without hearing, he could stumble into anything and not notice. The guard might just have slipped, but what if it was something else? What if someone had attacked them?
All he could do was step warily into the abyss. Izuku moved forward, feet steadily inching forward. Eventually he reached the limit of how far he could go while still holding on to something. Izuku reached out into the air, hand stretching as far as he could go. He felt nothing, no walls to grip onto, no tables in his wake.
Time to step out with courage.
Izuku let go of the armrest. He moved both his arms out in front of him. His legs felt unsteady, Izuku about to fall at any minute. The darkness swam dangerously around him, and Izuku swore he could see figures standing, watching over him in the shadows of his mind.
Izuku swallowed and pushed past it. He stumbled forward, keeping his feet sliding across the floor rather than risking huge steps. His feet nudged up against the body, and he turned away, hopefully moving away from them. Without the sound of echoes to indicate how close walls may be, it was even more disorienting
He couldn’t tell where anything was, trapped in this darkness. When would this quirk’s effect fade? How long would it take?
Something scratched at the ends of his nails. Izuku reflexively pulled his hand back, heart pulsing in his chest.
Nothing came at him, nothing attacking him.
It must have just been a wall. Izuku reached out once more, fingers scraping against something hard.
A wall. That’s all it was. Just a wall. He forced his racing heart down, cursing himself for panicking so quickly. A wall was good, it was useful.
He pressed his other hand against it, leaning against the wall in relief. Finally, out of the terrifying depths where there was nothing but the feel of his feet against the floor.
Now he could get out. He followed along the wall, and reached a gap. A doorway, wide open. Izuku moved through it, fingers passing as the texture changed from brick to wood to brick again, twisting as he rotated around the curve of the doorway.
Again, he set off, moving oh so slowly, but any faster could be a risk. A trip without being able to see might knock him unconscious too.
Vibrations began to pass through the brick. Tremors shaking under his finger tips, constant and unrelenting. What was happening? Izuku had no way of knowing, the only thing he could do was press onwards.
He continued to move forward.
Vibrations travelled under his feet now. Something was close, for him to feel it with all other senses gone. Izuku stopped, and desperately tried to listen, hoping something would make it past the clinging shroud of nothing. His efforts proved useless. It didn’t work.
And then something touched his shoulder.
Izuku span around, fist charged with One for All. Who was that? The villains wouldn’t take him back, he wouldn’t let them!
Whoever it was, it seemed they had dodged him. His fist reached into empty air, energy going nowhere. He pulled his fist back to his chest, and braced himself against the wall. He couldn’t see, but no one was going to touch him. No one was going to jump him from behind and grab him like that.
Izuku grit his teeth, snarling in a way he hoped would scare them off. Put on bravery to hide your fear. Don’t let them see that they’ve got to you.
Fingers reached out, sliding along his wrist. Izuku swung back, kicking out while keeping his hand firmly pressed against the wall.
He connected with something soft, and felt it forced backwards by the brunt of his swing. Good. They wouldn’t get to him. Even without senses, he wasn’t weak. He wasn’t .
The air began to smell sweeter. What was that? Something light, something floral.
It was everywhere, choking him.
Izuku held his breath, but it was too late. Whatever it was, it had reached him already. His body sagged, hand losing his precious grip onto the wall.
His mind felt woozy, shapes and colours spiralling into the dark.
Izuku collapsed, and someone reached out to greet him. The terrifying thing was Izuku had no idea who they were.
Izuku woke up, and immediately scurried backwards as far as he could. His back hit a wall, jarring his shoulder, but the safety of having something behind him made the pain worth it.
He was on something soft, he could feel it beneath his fingers. No cuffs, nothing holding him down. There was something lumpy underneath him. Izuku pulled it out and squished it between his hands. It felt like…
A pillow?
Was he in another cell? But the first people had used cuffs.
Two options. Either more villains had found him, or heroes had.
And Izuku had no way of knowing which was the truth.
Someone tapped his knees, and Izuku froze. What should he do? Attack? Could he risk doing that? Without sight, he might actually damage someone if he tried to attack them with One for All. He hadn’t thought of that before, but he didn’t want to seriously maim anyone without him realising. And if they weren’t a villain…
Izuku slowly uncurled his knees, pushing his feet further down on the blankets. Was that what they’d wanted? With the tapping?
Something was pushed into his lap. Something square. Izuku moved his hand over it. It appeared to have… shapes over it? Shapes that felt familiar….
A circle? No, wait. An O. Letters! These were letters!
A way to communicate. A message.
Izuku moved his hand to what must be the first letter. He hoped it was the first letter, anyway. He traced the shape, doing his hardest to figure out what it was. It was slow work, Izuku not used to this way of reading, but he did his best.
Y…O…U…R…E…I…N…U…A
UA? He was in UA! Not with villains.
But could he really trust that? All villains would need to do was hand him a board saying that, and Izuku would believe them without any of his senses to back it up. A clever way of buying his trust. He couldn’t let his guard down now.
Izuku stared out, hoping his gaze was meeting anyone even slightly close to him. He readied himself, and spoke out.
“Prove it,” he said, trying to enunciate as best as he could while still unable to hear himself.
Now he could only wait. It wasn’t nice, not being able to hear any replies. Not being able to hear what was being said around him, just knowing that people were .
Finally, a hand reached out and wrapped around Izuku’s wrist. He let his wrist be guided upwards until he met something scratchy. His hand was pressed against it, and then let go. Hmm. An indication for him to probe.
Izuku reached outwards, past the scratchy thing. The texture changed to a smoother one. Oh! He was touching skin. He was touching someone’s face. He reached upwards, fingers bumping into what must be a nose. He carefully avoided accidentally sticking his fingers up there, and reached around. That felt like an eye… and that was a scar.
A half moon scar.
Exactly like Aizawa’s.
Aizawa. Proof he was in UA.
Izuku’s shoulder’s sagged with relief, and he withdrew his hand. He was safe. The heroes had found him. He felt a bit silly for just having manhandled his teacher's face, but well, it was undeniable proof.
The gas quirk… it must have been Midnight’s. He should have recognised that earlier, but, in his panic, he hadn’t been able to think straight.
“Thank you,” Izuku said again. He felt the board be taken from his lap. Izuku moved away from the wall, properly sitting on the bed. He shuffled the pillow behind him, and did his best to sit. A hand reached out and rubbed comforting spirals into his shoulder.
He wondered who it was, which teacher would be so comforting. The thought it could be All Might made Izuku’s chest feel warm inside. He hoped it was All Might at least, it felt like his hands. Izuku scooted sideways until his side was pressed against theirs.
Definitely All Might. No one else was this skinny and tall. Izuku leant inwards, head pressing to their shoulder. He could feel the steady beat of their heart vibrate under his ears. No sound, but it was comforting nonetheless.
Someone tapped his hand. Izuku held it out and something was pressed into it, his fingers manhandled to curl around the item. It felt square like. His hand was pushed up towards his face, and something hard and circular poked at his mouth.
Oh! This was a straw. Izuku felt himself flush as he realised. It was kind of embarrassing he had to be fed like this, no way of knowing the world around him on his own. The hand let go as Izuku took the straw in himself, and began to slurp eagerly. Whatever it was, it tasted good. Chocolatey, maybe?
He finished it off and held it outwards, hoping someone would understand what he meant. He could fumble for a table or something, and try to place it down, but that would just be embarrassing if he missed with so many eyes watching him. Thankfully, someone took it and Izuku pulled his hand back to his chest.
“How long until all this,” Izuku pointed to his face, “is fixed?”
All Might’s fingers twitched in their place around him, but that wasn’t an answer. The board was once more pressed between his hands, and Izuku felt around for a number.
2..H…R…S
Two hours. Izuku felt a surge of relief. He could survive two hours.
He wondered how all his friends were taking this. It must have been worrying for him to go missing like that. He hoped they were all right. He could go ask, but right now he wouldn’t be able to tell much from them, not unless they were willing to go wait around for Izuku to slowly read the letters of a board.
But maybe, just their presence would be relieving. Knowing they knew he was safe and knowing he would be brought back, the first thing he would see would be them… Izuku wanted that. His friends, true friends, one of the best things UA had ever given him. He wanted them to know he was okay.
“I want to go to the 1-A dorms, if that’s okay. I want to be with my class,” Izuku said, making an effort to enunciate each word. It was kind of rude to just state it like that, but asking a question would just mean having to read off that board again. Izuku could do it, but it was slow and it took effort. Better to just tell them, and hope they didn’t think him too rude.
He felt a pause, time ticking by as they must have decided if that was a good idea or not. Then an arm gently touched his elbow, indicating to pull him forward. Izuku scooted close to the edge of the bed, feet reaching out to skim the floor. He was still wearing the clothes he’d been taken in, which was a relief. He didn’t want to deal with the hassle of changing clothes like this, especially not trying to tie shoelaces.
Izuku braced himself against the arm and hauled himself upright. He felt two sets of arms around him. One had to be All Might’s and the other, logically, must be Aizawa. Aizawa’s fingers left as soon as Izuku was up and stable, no sign of tripping. Even in the darkness, their character shone through. Likely Aizawa considered himself too rational to keep such a tight hold as All Might did.
All Might began to walk forward, and Izuku followed cautiously beside him. It was still scary walking without any sense of the world around him, but he trusted All Might to take him the right way. All Might wouldn’t walk him into doors, no matter how much his brain screamed at him the next step would have his skull bashing into a wall. Especially with the lack of any kind of feedback. There was nothing to say he was safe, nothing to register the world around him with, the senses Izuku relied upon shut off completely. But just as his sight was gone, Izuku found himself ever more aware of touch.
The air shifted and changed as they made their way across the grass. Izuku could feel the wet grass brush against his shoes. It was weird, feeling the tender brush of wind but unable to hear any of it.
Izuku, alone and standing in a world of darkness, anchored only by the tight grip he had on All Might’s wrist.
The air changed again, becoming warmer and more stifling. The scent from inside the dorms, the slight hint of microwaved food still lingering in the air.
All Might stopped, and Izuku felt vibrations move through his arms and through Izuku. He must be talking. Izuku couldn’t help but reach his fingers out and up, until they were touching the base of his throat. The vibrations were stronger now, sharp bursts of movement that felt oddly like…
A laugh.
Oh, right. Izuku had just reached out and touched All Might’s throat, likely while he was explaining to the rest of 1-A what had just happened.
Izuku pulled his hand back as if burnt. He wondered just how many people had seen that and cringed internally.
Fingers wrapped around his wrist and pulled his hand back up, letting them curve around the base of All Might’s throat.
Oh. He didn’t mind. Izuku’s shoulders relaxed, tension flooding out. Feeling the vibrations was a reminder that the world around him was still ongoing, that Izuku wasn’t stuck, trapped out of time. That everything was so close. It was nice that All Might could recognise that. Of course he would, he was All Might. He was incredible.
Eventually the vibrations stopped again and Izuku felt another arm wrap around his shoulders. From the angle, they must have been around the same height as he was. Fingers pressed against his wrist and he felt circles of raised rough skin contrasted against the softness surrounding it. Finger pads. It had to be Uraraka, Uraraka’s hands reaching out for him.
He felt All Might let go, handing him off to Uraraka. She walked him over to somewhere new, and guided his hands to something soft yet coarse. This material… it was couch covering.
Izuku let himself sag downwards and to his relief, he didn’t fall to the floor, but fell lightly onto the couch. He felt pressure next to him, someone sitting down beside him.
Fingers curled around his own, rubbing gently against the back of his palm. Uraraka’s hand still, going by the roughness of her fingers. Another hand landed on his shoulder, resting against his skin with a heavy comforting weight. That one, he couldn’t tell who’s it was, but it was relieving none the less.
Something heavy pressed against his shoulder, sharp edges hidden under pudgy flesh, strands tickling at his neck. Someone was leaning their head against him.
Izuku let himself sag backwards, allowing himself to relax into the couch. He was safe, surrounded by friends, friends who would protect him. Friends who would always fight to protect him.
Even in the darkness, in the void of silence, they made their presence known. A pillow pressed against Izuku’s back. A hand brushing across his palm. A head resting against his shoulder.
This was what 1-A excelled in, a class brought together all to support each other. All of them, united as one.
It was terrifying, seeing nothing but the endless dark, stuck only inside his head, but the constant movement was stabilising. A presence outside of himself, able to drag Izuku out from spiralling into a whirl of dark thoughts.
The first thing to come back to him was his hearing. It was like whispers at first, echoes of noises as if heard through a cave, but it became stronger and stronger. A hand reaching through the void, the first connection of Izuku’s soul back to reality.
Uraraka’s voice, her soft lilting tones. A few words from Todoroki, murmurs from Kirishima further away. The rest of the class, slowly coming into view.
“I think I can hear you now,” Izuku said, almost surprised at the sound of his own voice. The movement of vibrations through his chest now accompanied by a burst of noise. In the darkness, it echoed through his head, pounding against his skull.
There was a brief moment of silence around him and Izuku almost began to worry the quirk had set him back before -
“Deku!” Uraraka cried. “If you can hear us it must be close to reversing fully, right?”
“They did say 2 hours, and we’ve been here nearly that long,” Izuku heard Yaoyorozu’s soft voice say.
There was a pause accompanied by the sounds of fabric moving against fabric, feet hitting the carpeted floor of the common rooms. Izuku stayed sat, straining to hear what could possibly be going on around him.
“How many fingers am I holding up?” Kaminari asked excitedly. Uraraka groaned and the vibrations of her voice carried through her and into Izuku.
“I still can’t see,” Izuku said sheepishly.
“My bad, bro!”
“He’ll tell us when he can see, so shove off, dunce face!”
Ah. Kacchan was here too. Was everyone here? Izuku hadn’t expected that. Everyone here, down in the common area while Izuku was trapped in the world of nothing.
Even Kacchan had come.
Izuku felt wet trickle down his cheeks.
“Deku, are you alright?” Came an urgent whisper from his side.
“You guys are just so sweet,” Izuku mumbled, bringing his hands up to cover his face. “You’re all so nice .”
“You deserve it,” another voice said softly. Crisp, yet muted. Todoroki. “You’ve helped everyone here, of course we would give the same to you when we could.”
Izuku felt himself crumple into tiny little pieces. Tiny little loved pieces. This class… UA… he was so blessed to be here. So, so blessed.
“You guys!” He wailed, unable to keep any more tears from falling down his face. This was so much, so nice, so kind.
It was that exact moment that his sight came back. The world shot into blinding light, more colourful and illuminating than Izuku had ever remembered it to be.
His class. 1-A. All here . All around him.
Izuku didn’t know how long he cried tears of joy, but he couldn’t stop. The darkness was so lonely, so isolating, that to wake up here… wake up with the new friends he had made, Izuku had made, that they stayed here because they wanted to help him… it was too much.
He didn’t regret it, not one bit.
Even if someone eventually had to get them all towels.
Not one single regret.