Chapter Text
When he opens his heavy eyes, he finds that the world has shifted.
No longer was it bathed in white. Instead the walls around him were adorned with a dull gray. The room is eerily bare. Faintly, he hears the hum of machinery and a rhythmic beeping echoing throughout the place. A sharp, raw sound that cuts through the silence.
A pale figure lies prone on a bed, the sole object residing within the room. Chest barely rising and falling in tandem with the beeping sounds. Some sort of hazy mist surrounds him. If he squints, he thinks he can make out colors within it. Swirls of purple and black, and some yellow.
It’s only then that the realization dawns on him. The startling fact that he was, in fact, staring down at himself.
Although all he sees is his comatose, broken body, his ears pick up on other things.
Soft voices, whispering to each other. Closing his eyes, he tries to focus on the sounds. His heart rate stutters as he hears soft whimpering. Were they… were they crying?
His hand feels warm and he thinks that maybe, someone was actually sitting there right beside him, holding onto his hand. The ghostly sensation almost makes his eyes water.
His feet move to subconsciously get closer, but the moment he does so, an invisible force halts him in his tracks.
A glass barrier appears to shine to life right before his eyes. Separating him from the rest of the world.
His hand rises to push against it, but the invisible wall remains firmly in place.
“Wh- what is this?” He asks aloud, without much thought. Mind entirely focused on trying to get to the people on the other side, wanting nothing more than to comfort them. “Let me through!” He shouts in frustration. Fist banging against the barrier. “Why can’t I get out?”
“Why can’t you?” A soft, sly voice startles him. Making him whirl around to face the newcomer. His breath hitches as he looks at the boy in front of him.
A dark, midnight black bandana is tied around his eyes. Covering the upper half of his face. A green hood is pulled up over his hair, masking his identity from the world. Or at least it would, If he wasn’t so familiar with it.
“Wh-what’s happening? H- How are you-“
“You?” The boy finishes, amusement evident in his tone. A knowing smirk forming on his features. “Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” He continues, stepping towards him. Walking leisurely and with a confidence Izuku knows all too well. “After all, It’s your fault were stuck here.” He says matter-of-factly.
“M-my fault?”
“Yup.” Making the p pop as he joins his arms behind his back. “I mean… don’t you want to go back? There are still people who need us. ” The walls behind them shifts and a crowd roars to life within it. Like the ripples of a rumbling lake. People are gathered and are shouting encouragements. Standing right outside of the hospital. Posters proclaiming their love and appreciation for Shadow are held in their hands.
“Of- of course I want to go back.” He stutters out, words coming out weaker than he intended. “But, there are so many other, better heroes.” He says like it’s an irrefutable fact. “They don’t need us.”
“Hmm…” With a wave of his hand, the scene evaporates back into wisps of smoke. “How about them?”
It takes him a moment to recognize the people he’s seeing. Having never actually seen what they looked like beforehand.
It makes his heart constrict in his chest as he sees them for the first time. The picture they make is not, however, what he wanted his image of them to be like.
His childhood friend looks so much older. So grown, yet so, so wrong. Bakugou is huddled on a chair. Gaze vacant, almost catatonic. No trace of his confident, fiery self is to be found in his figure.
Kirishima sits next to him. His spiky silhouette finally making sense to Izuku’s mind. The red of his hair would’ve brought him inexpressible joy if not for the matching red around his crimson eyes.
He sees them all. Uraraka crying. Iida silently fuming next to a solemn Yaoyorozu.
“T-they’ll forget. They’ll move on.” He says, trying to maintain his composure even as his entire body screams for him to run towards them. Tell them that everything was going to be okay.
“Are you sure about that?” The world shifts again and this time, he doesn’t- can't’ hold himself back.
Tears slip down his face as the scene morphs and he sees Shinsou and Aizawa for the first time.
Shinsou is even more beautiful than he imagined him to be. His hair is a brilliant shade of lilac that reminds him of wisteria flowers. A great contrast to the dull, white walls around him. His eyes hold so much heavy emotion within them.
Seeing him, however, makes his entire being hurt. Raw sadness emanates from the teen’s posture. Eyes distant and blank. Almost empty as he stared at the wall ahead. Silent tears slipping down his eyes.
He looks exhausted, sitting there, hunched in on himself. As broken as the boy lying on the bed next to him.
Aizawa, on the other hand, is in no better shape. In fact, Izuku has never seen the man look so defeated before.
“Stop.” He utters the words in a soft, cracked voice, turning away from the people in front of him. “Please.” Like fissures of a wine glass breaking with the pressure, he feels his walls crack and shudder. Everything suddenly felt too loud. Too overwhelming.
“Hnn.” Just like that, they’re back in the grey room. “Do you really want to die, that badly?” He asks the question so bluntly it leaves Izuku speechless.
“Of course not!” He shouts almost instinctively.
“Then what’s holding you back?”
“I don’t- I…” His shoulders sag as he exhales heavily. Eyes looking back to the figure lying on the bed. “I’m- I’m just wondering what the point is?”
“What do you mean?” Shadow asks patiently. Voice softer than it had been before. It makes him feel vulnerable.
“I mean” and now his voice was rising, the anger he’s been suppressing finally reaching its tipping point. “What’s the point of going back if I’m going to die anyway?” He shouts. “How much time do we have left, huh?! Six? Maybe seven months! We can’t keep doing this to them!” He cries out, almost desperately.
“What? Doing what exactly?” He replies just as fiercely. A humorless laugh escaping his twisted lips. “Surviving?”
The question seems to deflate something within him. His entire body slumps in defeat. Too exhausted to muster any more anger.
“…Aren’t you tired of fighting?” He asks, feeling as though the question itself would break him in this feeble, almost fragile state.
“So? What does it matter?” The shade crosses his arms then. Looking almost smug. “Plus Ultra and all that, right? At least, that’s what we promised ourselves.”
“How do you do this?” Izuku asks, a breathless huff escaping his lips as he releases his clenched fists. Only now noticing the pressure his nails had been putting on his palms. “How do you hold onto so much hope?”
“You already know how, silly.” Shadow laughs, the sound breathy, entirely care free. “I’m you, remember?”
The voice of his mother seems to reverberate through the space then.
Shinsou’s voice follows suit a moment later. Making his heart swell with something he’d thought he’d lost.
Exhaling shakily, he lets a delicate smile etch itself onto his face.
“I’m going to miss the light, you know?”
"Yeah... Me too.” Is his quiet response.
“Are you going to come back with me?”
“Hmm, of course! Although, I was thinking of taking a nice, long break.” He drawls as he lifts his arms to hold the back of his head. A knowing smile on his face. “Maybe give up the hood for a while. We’re not exactly in the best physical shape, are we?”
“I guess not…” He huffs, his grin holds a sad tilt to it.
“Well, don’t look so glum about it. It’s okay.”
The room around them shifted into smoke, a haze starting to envelope everything in its vicinity.
“I’ll see you on the other side?” Izuku called, his voice sounding distant to his own ears as the world disappeared right before his eyes. Turning to a painfully familiar darkness.
“You won’t. But that’s okay too.” The shade whispered. Voice nothing but a wisp in the wind.
Chapter 5-6 are on my insta!