Nothing is going right. Nothing is going right, and it's the worst thing Tomura's felt in ages.

The Nomu were killed too quickly, for all that Sensei said about how they were like the one that All Might fought. Maybe he shouldn't have placed them in such a populated area, especially with the Hero Killer around. Security would've been on high alert already with just that man in the area; fuck, Stain was a God damn calling card, and it's alerted all the damn Palace guards.

Tomura scratches his neck, careful to not jostle Father too much. Sensei will be so disappointed, not only in how long this chaos has lasted—a measly two or three hours—but in how weak the Nomus are, how Stain's weak enough to die, and how stupid this all was. The Doctor'll have to step up his damn game.

"Master Shigaraki," Kurogiri calls. Tomura glares at him with a kill that'd make most wither up and die.

"What," he spits, fingers still digging into his neck.

Kurogiri is unperturbed, as per usual. "Not all of this was for naught," he says, as if that fucking helps. "With this, not only have we instilled fear into the people—as we have now proven that we can create more Nomus—but we have also gathered valuable research for better, stronger Nomus, as well as where and when to attack."

Tomura's fingers halt for a moment as he contemplates. ...Yes, that could be fine, he decides. "Like a boss fight you've repeated," he mutters, staring into the vague, toxic-yellow forms of Kurogiri's eyes. Tomura looks away, back to the city, watching the amount of rising smoke diminish bit by bit. "We can improve, but they can't. They have a set pattern, but we have all the cards—we are unpredictable. We'll beat these stupid NPCs soon."

The thought makes a grin threaten to split Tomura's face in half.

Tomura's always been good at learning the patterns of game bosses, and he loves seeing them die by his hand.

===

Izuku doesn't know who started screaming until he feels his throat ache. He shuts himself up by slamming a hand over himself, shuddering when he has to move his arm under the body of the Hero Killer. Oh, God—the body of Stain, of the Hero Killer, is collapsed on him, blood and drool pouring from his mouth and soaking Izuku's costume. Stain is still warm. Izuku can feel him. (Is that why he knew when Stain stopped breathing?)

Izuku's shoving the, the—the corpse, oh God the corpse—off of him before he knows it, hands shaking violently. He wastes no time scrambling away, digging the heels of his shoes into the ground as he gets up. The weight that was on Izuku's lap lifts because Stain's side was just barely touching it, and now he's not, and Izuku stares and stares because maybe this man would've been fine had he and Todoroki and Iida been a little softer and Stain didn't move. But if they hadn't, if they'd been kinder for even a second, all three of them would be dead.

His ears are ringing. His ears are ringing. Izuku can't focus.

He turns to the side, narrowly avoiding someone's shoes as he finally throws up.

They've murdered him. Oh God, they've murdered someone.

A hand is on his back, patting it. Izuku flinches so fiercely it feels like he's spasming, lurching away from that hand with bile dripping down his chin. "I—I, I d-d-d-d—I don't," he says, and his voice sounds so hoarse. How long was he screaming? "I'm, I, I—"

He sways, vision blurring. "Midoriya," someone calls; it could be Todoroki or Iida or even Gran Torino, but all Izuku can hear is the ringing and all he can feel is the fading warmth on his legs and, and—

—and Izuku passes out into the arms of merciful sleep.

===

"Oh, what the literal shit happened here?!"

Chiyo's cane thwaps the back of Tommy's head. He hisses, glaring at her for only a second before looking back up to—to whatever the fuck this shitshow is.

They're at some random alley, Ekou Street something, he thinks. Before that, the two of them had arrived to Hosu itself just some half hour ago. It's about three or four in the morning, but the train conductors and ticket-men, or whoever the hell gave permission for them to board the bullet trains, had allowed them entry. They hadn't said why, but Chiyo had told him something about how Nedzu is terrifying, and Tommy hadn't asked further because he knows.

Anyway, they arrived way too fucking late regardless. In fact, by the time they were there, most of the fires were put out, and people were clearing up the debris and smoke. A few Nomus—two of them, actually—were covered in huge blankets and placed in one area. There were also injured people, but Chiyo healed the worst of it all and had experienced doctors and nurses from her old workplace handle the rest, rushing to this specific alley after heroes said a few things.

(Thank Prime they hadn't stayed. Tommy had to look up at all times; otherwise, he'd see the bodies littered all over the ground from L'Manburg's first couple of wars in place of debris. Tommy, for all that he was strong entering Hosu and dealing with this shit several times before, is still a fucking coward.)

They hadn't hesitated to hustle over to this alley. After all, Chiyo and Tommy been told that this Ekou place had the worst of it—that that was where the Hero Killer was defeated.

Tommy breathes in the fresh air, glancing around. Oh, fuck, that's a bloody Nomu right there—nope, not looking at that, not yet. There's a few heroes over there, discussing some shit, and some more over there, and is that Endeavor? Huh. Some policemen stand near the entrance of the alley, which has yellow tape in front of it—like that can block everyone, ha. Chiyo's already moved towards a group of heroes, probably to ask if there's anything she can do, and...

...Shit, there's nothing else that's interesting. He has to look at the body.

With some hesitance, Tommy finally looks at the Nomu's body. And—he can't say it's pretty, but it's also not the worst thing. There's a knife embedded into its back, short, fleshy nubs where wings probably were, bone exposed between the flesh. It has no legs, only the ends of thighs. There's a weird mask on it's face, too.

And then Tommy's eye locks onto the body that's fallen to the side of it.

Stain. The bastard lies next to a puddle of bile on his other side. There's dried blood on his mouth, and wherever his skin is shown, it's heavily discolored, bruised, and inflamed. Actually—why are his limbs bent a little like that? Is—is his tongue cut off...? No, never mind. All that matters is that Stain was not defeated—the bitch is fucking dead.

Tommy feels a familiar wave of nausea swirl in his gut, the same one that always accompanies him around corpses, but he looks away, and it fades just the slightest.

He shouldn't have looked away. He shouldn't have, but he's ever grateful that he did, because that's the exact moment Tommy's mind picks up "Midoriya" somewhere around where Chiyo's talking.

"Midoriya?!" Tommy exclaims, rushing over to the group. He swallows when all their attention's on him, but continues. "As in, Izuku Midoriya? Hero name Valor or Deku? What the hell's he gotta do with this?" He thought only Iida was in trouble! What the fuck was this?!

"Well," one hero says—a blonde with a green and white bodysuit and a red scarf that doesn't fucking look good, "That was the name of one of the three kids who were really injured—" One of three?! Fucking hell! "—and got taken to a hospital. All of them were healed, miraculously enough, but... That kid—Valor, you said? Deku sounds like an insult. Either way, he'd thrown up and... didn't look good. If anyone needs healing of any kind, it's those three kids, but him especially." The hero puts a hand to their face, cupping their cheek, while their eyes are troubled as they look down. "I do hope they're all alright."

Oh fuck fuck fuck—"And who were the others? Like, the other kids?"

"Hm? Oh. One of them was Endeavor's son, and the other... I heard them being called 'Iida.'"

Ohhhh shit—

"And where are they now?" Tommy demands. Chiyo tugs him back a little by the back of his shirt before he gets too close to the hero.

Said hero pulls at their scarf a little. "Hosu's General Hospital," they reply, and all of a sudden Tommy feels like he can run thousands of miles if it means finding where the hell that is.

"Tommy," Chiyo warns, tapping her cane. He freezes, looking at her. "Don't. If they're at that hospital, they're in safe hands. I know they are. Worked there, remember?"

...Oh. Right. Any hospital Chiyo trusts is of the highest quality.

"Plus," she says, "they won't be awake, dearie. In order for their bodies and minds to start recovering naturally, regardless of what's left of their injuries, they'll be put under drug-induced sleep. They'll need that energy if I'm to heal them, anyway." She smiles at him, patient and understanding. "It is endearing, however, to see how much you care for them."

Tommy flushes brightly but chokes down his instinctual retort.

It takes what feels like forever for Tommy to convince himself to not run off anyway. But he does, and he stays put, feeling more and more bitter about it the longer he does. Yet, that leaves him itching to do something instead of just standing here like he did during the Festival. So, he turns to Chiyo and asks, "Are we gonna fuckin' collect the DNA now, or?"

Chiyo squints at him for a moment. "Yes, let's do that," she decides, breaking away from the group of heroes and walking towards the covered Nomu. Stumbling a little, Tommy hastens to catch up.

As she starts directing Tommy what exactly to collect, he takes out the glass jars and vials and containers he'd brought and prays they're alright.

===

when izuku wakes up the first time, the world is so, so far.

there's bandages around his gut. around his legs and arms, too. he'd wince if he could, seeing his scars peeking out of the white wrapping, but it's all so numb and he's so used to it and he's just tired. he can't go back to sleep, though—what a weird limbo this is.

izuku thinks he might've had a nightmare, or something. he can't exactly remember it if he did, the tendrils of a not-quite image just out of reach. his fingers clench subconsciously, and he can faintly feel every one of the lines of bandages around them.

he stares. he stares up at the ceiling, thinking of nothing and everything and something all at once. colors pass his vision, peach-like tones and red smears and blue splotches and blond splatters and everything in between. izuku hears his name, sometimes, but he's so tired. he just wants to sleep.

and blessedly, whatever's in the syringes in his arm lets him rest a little longer.

===

Izuku wakes again, and everything's significantly clearer. His head... pounds a little, and his throat's dry, but he's relatively fine, maybe. Izuku sits up, blinking dazedly when blinding white is all he can see, and waits while his eyes let him distinguish the hospital room. Or a clinic. One of the two, because it's the only plausible area where there'd be IV drips in his arms and that specific stale scent all up in his face.

"Midoriya?!" Someone exclaims, causing Izuku to wince. When the voice talks next, it's significantly lowered, and... that's Iida's voice, right? "Ah, apologies. Are you alright now? Last time you woke, you were unresponsive." Yeah. Straight-to-the-point, as always.

Izuku hums in lieu of an actual answer. "Everything's—heavy," he says, vision finally clearing up. He looks around, finding Todoroki on the bed to his side and Iida diagonally right to him. Both of them are sitting up, probably having been so long before Izuku was. Iida has bandages around his legs, and Todoroki has some over his scarred eye.

The latter hands Izuku a styrofoam cup of water with a straw in it. When he nods his thanks and drinks it, it tastes a little weird. "It has electrolytes," Todoroki explains simply, sipping on his own straw. Iida has one, too, but the styrofoam's translucent enough to where Izuku can see orange in his—he probably has orange juice, then.

Izuku hums again. He chews lightly on the end of the straw. "How long h-have I...?"

"Since you've been out? Two days or so."

What. What?

Iida nods with Todoroki, his free hand doing a slow chopping motion. "The doctors deduced that the first time you woke up, you were in a state of shock, still, or dissociation," he says, which explains a lot, but still. Two days, even with Tommy's vial... "Me and Todoroki only needed a day's worth of rest. Don't worry, you haven't missed much, just check-ups and the like."

That... was really dubious. "A-Are you sure I haven't missed anything?" He questions. "Like, what about the, uh, the aftermath of the—" Izuku does a vague hand gesture. "Like, not now, but the, uh, the... the murder." His voice lowers to a murmur, a shiver crawling along his spine. Twitching sharply, yet not jostling the IV drips, he dismisses it.

Todoroki shakes his head. "Our phones are in our costumes," he says, tugging at his hospital gown, "and those have been taken for... investigation purposes, I suppose? Or just because we needed to wear these. Either way, we haven't been able to check the news, except for anything the nurses and doctors are willing to give us."

...If they're not willing to say much, then that's not good, is it.

"Well," Iida starts. He hesitates. "I'm sure it'll be alright. At least, for the two of you. I... I was the one who provoked Stain. That won't count as 'self-defense.' If I hadn't done that, then... then we'd all be safe."

"But then Native w-w-would be dead," Izuku retorts, staring at Iida directly in his eyes. "And St-Stain, he'd still be... he'd still be killing others. Heroes are ne-never safe, anyhow; we just... you know, we just have to get used to that. We're supposed t-to get used to it."

"We're first-years," Todoroki adds. He looks at Izuku, then to Iida. "We're allowed to be stupid. Plus, I was the one who—burned Stain's tongue off, and Midoriya helped both of us fight back. If you're getting charged for something, we're all going with you."

Iida reluctantly smiles. It's a small, fragile thing.

"We've done good either way." Todoroki decides, leaning back. "The Hero Killer's down, and we're the ones who did it. That's something we can be proud of—I think. Right?"

"...That is quite pragmatic," Iida comments, "but I suppose so." Izuku, on the other hand, just shrugs.

They fall into a contemplative silence.

"Midoriya," Todoroki starts suddenly. Izuku lifts his head up towards him. "Who is Dusk? You looked surprised when Stain mentioned them, so."

"A-Ah—" They must've heard Stain. Izuku has to word this carefully. Half-truths, remember? No lies. "—he's a vigilante! It's just that, Dusk's a pretty small one who w-w-was from my area, and he went M-MIA out of nowhere, so I was just—you know, surprised that Stain heard about him at all." There! That works, right?

It does, thank God. Todoroki nods in understanding, and then they're back under that silence. But it seems unbearable, all of a sudden, as if Todoroki flicked a switch to cause a flood in Izuku's mind—

And Izuku blurts out, "Why didn't Stain kill me?" Before anyone can interrupt, even himself, he keeps going. "I-I—you saw me, both of you, I was... I was right under Stain. Several times. He n-n-ne—nearly cut my..." His hand reaches up, subconsciously, to gently circle where the small knife Stain threw should've hit. "W-We were left alive. Do you think that, that he was... that he still gave us mercy because we're students, or to leave a message, or..."

Right then and there, the door to the hospital room opens. Izuku looks up, seeing... Gran Torino, Manual, with Endeavor nowhere in sight—and then he freezes at a familiar and very, very angry face.

"Youuu motherfucker," Tommy starts, pointing right at Izuku, and he laughs sheepishly, already resigning himself to a painful death.

But then Tommy sighs, tiredly, and slumps like all the fight's drained out of him. "I'll fuckin' get to you later," he grunts, stepping aside. When he looks back up, there's a smirk on his face that Izuku knows spells out more doom. "He'll get to you first, though."

And then Hosu's Chief of Police walks in.

===

Whatever good humor Tommy's had fades instantly because of how suddenly fucking serious everyone looks. Which, well, he can't blame them—Tommy was filled in on the whole situation by Tsuraga-something (which Tommy will be referring to as the Chief because no way in hell is he remembering his name). At the scene of Stain's death, there's apparently a shit ton of evidence that Izuku, Iida, and Todoroki caused the injuries that led to the Hero Killer's death.

Personally, Tommy sees no problem in what they did because that guy was trying to kill them, but he doesn't have the full story so he can't say shit. Also, he doesn't know the laws here. Doesn't even get the concept of it, sometimes, because both of the SMPs he was in were near-lawless, besides a few things that were just basic common sense, and even those weren't upheld well. The wars can attest to that.

Tommy's fingers dig into his arm, dragging him back to the present.

"You may remain seated, woof," the Chief tells Iida, who attempted to get up despite the bandages on his legs. Tommy successfully manages to stifle his snort at the "woof" silently. "You are the U.A. students involved in the Hero Killer's downfall, yes?"

He doesn't wait for confirmation; of course these're the fucks involved. "Regarding the Hero Killer's death," the Chief begins. It's so—nonchalant, near apathetic, that Tommy nearly forgets the severity of killing the Hero Killer. "There were severe burns, slight frostbite, broken bones, and more on his body. Stain's body has since been removed from the scene.

"With the rise of Quirks, there has been high importance placed on leadership and responsibility to make sure that Quirks are not used so leisurely as weapons, woof. 'Heroes' emerged to fill that gap. An individual's use of force and power that can easily kill others—actions that normally would be appropriate to denounce—to be accepted officially is thanks to early heroes who follows the ethics and rules of being a 'hero,' woof.

"Thus, even up against the Hero Killer, for uncertified individuals to cause injury with their Quirks without specific instruction from their guardians or supervision is a clear violation of the rules." The Chief's eyes harden. "Especially in the case that the injured sustains wounds so damaging they die from it."

Sheesh. It was the fucking Hero Killer, though—surely there had to be some fuckin'... Tommy doesn't know, exception? If they didn't use their Quirks, they'd probably die, right? And heroes would be too busy dealing with the Nomu chaos. The fuck were they supposed to do?

But... Tommy's learnt his lesson about talking back a long time ago, especially when it came to shit like this. So he stays quiet.