5 Bonds
Edit: 02-08-23: Had a sentence that literally made no sense and repeated in the next paragraph. Fixed!
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Disclaimer: I don't own My Hero Academia and Dark Souls, both belongs to their respective owners, Kohei Horikoshi and FromSoftware respectively (Goddamn I want to play Armored Core 6 so baaaaddd)
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The figure of the young teen he failed to save months before now tore through his heart like a stake. The teen's once green hair now snow white was still the same curly mess All Might had remembered. His dim green eyes now glittering underneath the light with a hint of madness hidden deep within was a far cry from the depressed teen All Might had met.
And the longer he looked at the humming Izuku Midoriya, the more his heart clenched with guilt, worry, and unabashed shame.
"Hmm… Peculiar. Very peculiar." Nezu, who was watching Izuku as well beside the deflated form of All Might, placed his stubby arms behind his short body, the chimera's beady eyes squinting ever so slightly. "Toshinori, you told me before young Midoriya here was a depressed teen. I do not see that here, although my perception may be incorrect without fully meeting with him here."
"He is… was depressed." All Might narrowed his eyes at the teen. For all he knew, the humming could've been an act to hide away the pain, but his sixth sense was telling him that the depressed teen conclusion was wrong… Very, very wrong. "However, we cannot come to a definite conclusion without speaking with him face to face."
All Might felt like he swallowed a lemon when he voiced the words at the end, his heart pounding at the thought of coming face-to-face with the teenager he had failed to save right when he needed it the most.
"True, true." Nezu bobbed his head back and forth with a paw right below his chin/jaw/snout. "Detective, would you kindly accompany us? We could use your quirk in validating young Midoriya's words."
"Of course, Principal Nezu." Tsukauchi nodded as the trio began to enter the room one by one.
Noticing the entrance of three men, Izuku stopped his humming and focused on the three newcomers, well, two exactly. One of them was the detective from earlier, so he technically wasn't a newcomer.
He raised an eyebrow when his gaze landed on the animal hybrid, a bit confused at the sudden appearance of an amalgamation of creatures but put that thought onto the back of his mind for the moment.
And once his eyes landed on the gaunt blond, his eyes narrowed, before widening and a grin split his face in half.
"All Might!" The cheerful voice of the physically young teen caused the gaunt blond vomit a bucket of blood. "Aha! I know that blood vomiting. You really are All Might!"
Meanwhile, All Might couldn't believe that this teen in front of him was actually the one he failed to save before. It was like a slap to the face, followed by a knee to the gut and a piledriver onto the pavement… With spikes…
Tsukauchi and Nezu, on the other hand, curiously looked between the two with raised eyebrows. Well, for the latter at least. Tsukauchi was busy gaping at the sudden release of his best friend's secret in a police interrogation chamber that was mostly monitored 24/7 in case there was someone held captive inside.
Luckily for All Might, Nezu had thought far ahead and had the current feed paused indefinitely beforehand, making sure that the secret of the Symbol of Peace remains a secret.
"You… Are you really Midoriya Izuku?" All Might questioned after an extended amount of silence and awkward tensions.
"Stupid question. Yes, I am Midoriya Izuku." The teen all but singsonged his response, a bright grin plastered on his face, before it turned into a serious frown. "But you know, All Might. Your advice… I mulled over it while I was stuck in a cell…"
The somber tone grabbed the attention of all the adults inside, eyes narrowing at the words that escaped the teen's mouth.
'Cell…?' All Might thought furiously, the ache in his heart ever increasing slightly.
"What do you mean by cel-" All Might's words were cut off by a look from Izuku.
"Please, let me finish. Now, where was I…?" Izuku hummed as he closed his eyes and thought deeply, his memories about his time in the Undead Asylum a hazy cloud due to it being so long and so… dull… "Ah, right. Your advice, the thing about dreaming realistically… I realized then that it was really impossible wanting to be a hero without power. How could I? When even a blade could just impale me, just right here, and poof, I'm bleeding to death on the ground."
A mad grin split his face when he pointed at the side of his neck. The action caused All Might and Tsukauchi to pale, while the animal hybrid hummed as he narrowed his beady eyes at the teen before him.
"Funny thing, really. So, I trained. Trained really, really hard." Izuku hummed in a tune that skipped parts of a melody, turning it into a trainwreck most musicians would cringe at. "And I got strong. So really, thank you so much, All Might. Thanks to you, I can finally see mom again!"
The joy in his voice was pressurizing. It was so joyful, that the three adults within the room could feel the insanity hidden beneath the persona of a jolly teen.
"And escape that stupid cell, buuuuuuuuut." Izuku prolonged the word while bobbing his head to and fro. "Hmm… Actually, not important."
"… My boy. What happened to you?" All Might asked with mute horror, piercing blue eyes slightly dilated as he grasped the broken personality the teen had before him.
"Eh, a bit of this, a bit of that. Nothing too important." Izuku waved it off with a nonchalant attitude, which made the top hero suspicious, as well as the other two to stare at the clearly mental teen. "That said, when can I see my mom? It's been so long…"
"… I-"
Before All Might could continue, he was quickly interrupted by the principal with a paw waving around his bottom peripheral.
"Before we do so, may we ask you some questions regarding what you've been up to during the time you were missing?" Nezu took a step forward as his genius little brain of his continued to make calculations upon calculations of meeting the appropriate result of this meeting.
Face reading would do little here, what with his current object of interest being a teenager with a metaphorical ticket to a mental asylum glued on his forehead. Minute movements, on the other hand, could prove useful. Maybe linking them to various references on the encyclopedia of history that is the internet on what his behavior is matched.
"I assure you, Midoriya Izuku." Nezu quickly halted the words in Izuku's mouth ready to be shared to the world and continued. "Answer these questions honestly, and we can guarantee you the meeting with your mother you so wish for."
"… Hmmm… Okay." Izuku hummed for a bit, before nodding in agreement.
"Well then, let us start with this…"
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Inko Midoriya slumped on the couch of the living room, her tired eyes glancing to the noisy television displaying the morning news.
It has been nearly ten months since the death of her baby. One moment she was busy with preparing dinner for the two of them, a ritual she enjoyed doing day after day in hopes of getting to see the childish smile Izuku had once more before it turned fake, and the next moment she was visited by officers that told her of the grave news.
At first, she dismissed the notion. Surely, there would be no way her son would've kicked the bucket this early. The very thought of it gripped her heart and she denied it with all of her being.
One picture of the corpse of her baby was enough proof to send her into a spiraling mess.
A quick ride later and Inko flooded the entire hospital with her tears. If it wasn't so depressing to watch a mother hold the cold remains of her only offspring, it would've made for a comical sight.
She sent a notice to the Bakugo family about her plight, Mitsuki already tense due to Katsuki being attacked by a villain the same time Izuku had fallen of a roof-top as All Might, the Symbol of Peace himself, failed to save her baby.
The same villain that had Katsuki use his quirk that caused the tremor that sent Izuku off the roof and into a broken heap of bones and flesh on the pavement below.
That was the day All Might was first recorded losing his smile as he punted the Slime Villain into kingdom come. The very sight of the scowling Symbol of Peace striking fear into the hearts of every villain that had watched the recording.
Over the course of the next few days, a wake was held for her son, with only a few people coming over to pay their respects in the funeral home due to the Midoriya family living in an apartment, one of them being the Bakugo family.
One look at Katsuki was enough to see that he was majorly affected by the death of Izuku, even if Inko had doubts about their friendship in the first place. Learning the reason as to why Katsuki was distraught was due to the fact that his quirk was the main reason why Izuku was currently in an open casket.
Maybe they were friends, maybe not, but knowing that he was affected all the same was enough for the grieving mother.
A day later and the funeral was held, with Inko crying tears as she said her goodbyes to her only son as the body was fed into the flames during the cremation. The ashes were gathered and placed into an urn before they buried it into the Midoriya family grave.
The days went on and Inko slowly sank into depression. Her husband hadn't called even once after his son's death, which further grew the spite within the depressed mother.
If it wasn't for Mitsuki, bless the woman, checking up on her every now and then, she would've joined her son in another jar as a pile of ash. It was just too much to bear.
Which led her to wasting away in the apartment, her days dragging longer as her plump and slightly overweight figure began to thin as she neglected her body. It wouldn't be wrong to call her skin and bones if somebody saw her and frankly, she didn't care.
She just missed her son.
Now imagine her surprise when the police called after furiously ringing her telephone over and over for the past hour and told her Izuku was alive and kicking.
"WHAT!?"
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Katsuki Bakugo, the strongest kid in the school gunning for UA academy. All the teachers loved him, his classmates, not so much, but who the fuck cares about them?
They were just extras!
He was going to be the next All Might! He was going to kill (not really, he was a hero, of fucking course he wasn't going to kill those shitheads) all of the fucking villains and be the next number one!
All of those other extras were just stepping stones to the path of his greatness!
But now… Now he wasn't sure…
That damn Deku… That damn… Izuku…
What the fuck happened?
He and his subordinates (he ain't calling them his lackeys, fuck that!) were going to the arcade after he put Deku… Izuku in his place again but were attacked by a fucking villain made of sewage goo!
It was, frankly, disgusting, and he wanted to blow the fuckwad to kingdom come with his quirk, but it did jackshit and he was rewarded by a mocking laugh before being submerged into the damn sewage goo!
He tried to fight back, he really did, but he slowly, ever so slowly, he lost his strength, and the heroes were fucking useless as they stood to the side and watched him suffocate to death.
His quirk, his prized quirk, was nothing but a major hindrance to his rescue. Sure, he ain't one for being rescued, but even then, he knew when he was fucked.
So why? Why were the fucking heroes just standing right the fuck there as they stared at him!? Why did the fucking heroes not do anything to help him get the fuck out of the damn villain… And most importantly…
Why the fuck did All Might put the fear of God in him?
One moment, he was nearly blacked out, the next, he was free, the sludge villain literally exploding into chunks as they harmlessly splattered all across the alley.
He was about to run up to the hero to give his thanks, 'cuz fucking hell, it was All Might for fuck's sake! But the scowl on the Symbol of Peace's face made him freeze on the spot.
What the fuck happened for him to let go of his ever-grinning face? Why did it happen?
It wasn't long after that he found out the reason. All Might, the ever-living badass that he was, failed to save a single kid today after he was shoved off the rooftop by a tremor.
Said kid being the useless De… Izuku…
He was rash, very blunt, and most might take him for an idiot, he was no fucking dumbass. His grades can attest to that.
So, his genius brain put two and two together, and with dread creeping up his heart, he realized why Izuku died…
'My fault… My FUCKING fault!'
Katsuki inner mind raged as he stared at the broken corpse of his once best friend while his exterior displayed an eerie amount of calm.
As he saw the corpse of Izuku get loaded into the ambulance after having a tarp placed over him, Katsuki thought of their interaction earlier.
'A swan dive off the roof…'
No way that pansy had the balls to jump. He was sure of it. It was just a bit of ribbing, and maybe a threat to have the quirkless teen not reach for the stars if he ain't even putting up the effort.
Dreams, he could respect. Not putting in effort? That he disdained.
But this didn't change the fact that Izuku's death was entirely his fault. His quirk, the thing he prided on to get him into UA with flying colors…
Katsuki gritted his teeth.
When he got back home, he was chewed out by his mom for worrying her, same old mom stuff, but ignored the nagging and went into his room and locked it. He slumped on the bed as his mind whirred, various interactions of him and Izuku slamming to the forefront.
And every time it did, he felt like a fucking ass.
He was a jerk, that he wholeheartedly agreed with. But looking again, this time without the ego and delusions of grandeur…
Just what had he become?
Those days where he and Izuku had fun and played hero… The days when he was just happy vibing with his closest pal…
Where had they gone…?
It wasn't long before the feeling of regret and shame crept up within his heart, and with the explosive personality that he had, quickly shoved it into an outlet tailor made for people like him.
Violence.
A few minutes later, his room was in disarray as various objects laid on the ground, broken… Like Izu-
A quick punch to his face cut that line of thought as he felt blood drip from his nose, the pain snapping him out of his self-destructive funk.
"WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED HERE, BRAT!?" Mitsuki shoved the door so hard, it practically ripped itself away from its hinges. Her anger dissipated however, when all she saw was her son standing there like a statue, blood dripping from his nose as his room looked like a fucking warzone. "Katsuki?"
All the while Katsuki vowed within his mind.
'Never again.'
