Warnings: dark themes, depression and suicide, mentions of death, ambiguous ending.

High Above, Not Long Ago

SevenRenny

The first things she saw were rooftops, a green park and a bridge in the distance.

She couldn't recall how she ended up on a roof of some building. Looking down at herself, she saw her middle school uniform: the blue skirt, the sailor collar, the red tie. This wasn't her grey UA uniform. High altitude winds blew through her hair, cold against her neck.

Looking down at the town, she tried to piece together her memory. Home with Mama and Papa; a few snippets of her time in UA; eating at the cafeteria with the girls. There was no recollection of how she got here. The blue skies and sailing clouds gave no answers. No explanation as to why she had this old school uniform on. She had her phone in her skirt pocket, but it failed to turn on. A black screen. Stepping closer to the edge of the roof and peeking down, she made out the formation of cars parked in rows in front of the building. Wind dried the moisture from her eyes and she had to blink them back to life.

"Don't–" someone whimpered from behind her.

She turned to face the owner of the voice. He was on the other end of the roof and had a hand stretched out in front of him, like he wanted to grab her from where he was. He was a small boy, about her age, if she had to estimate. Lanky, messy, shaky and – after he tripped over his own feet – a bit clumsy. A schoolboy in his black school clothes. Curly hair on top and freckles dotted his baby face. In a frantic hurry, he struggled to stand up, battling with his lack of athleticism.

"Please. Can you… can you please get away from there?" he pleaded desperately.

He looked so sad, it was hard to not do as he asked. She then realized what it must've looked like from his view. "Oh, no, no – it's not – I wasn't–" She waved her hands in front of her in defense. "It's not what it looks like, honest! I was just…" What had she been looking for? "Just… seeing where this is…"

He looked stunned, still frozen on his knees where he'd tried to get up.

"Hey, do you… know where I am? I can't remember how I got here," she tried her luck. She was clueless and he seemed to care enough.

"…Here? Yeah… we're… you're… you're here."

Not the most knowledgeable answer. It looked like he realized that as well. "Ah – I mean… it's a hospital. I can – if you want – I can show you the way down?"

…

The door was heavy for the poor boy to heave open. She had to help him push it open. The roof door was scarcely used. Not many came up here. The hinges were not used to being moved.

"When did I get up here? Do you know?" she asked while heading down the echo-y stairs.

"I… never heard you come up," he said nervously.

"Oh…" How long had she stood up there?

"You don't…" He rested his hand on the emergency exit door handle. "You don't remember anything? At all?" he asked with a whisper, almost fearing her answer.

"Just… I was at school, I think?" Maybe. Possibly. She wasn't sure if that was today. "I had a few classes and… I went to get dressed in my costume and…" She fished for pictures in her mind. "Got on a bus. It stops there." She realized something. "Wait! Is that why I'm at a hospital? I can't remember? Is that it? Is it memory loss? Did I hit my head?" She listed off possibilities in a panic. "But, why am I walking around, then? And these clothes…"

Seeing her panic made him panic. "Don't worry – it's okay! I'll help! It'll come to you – I'll help, Miss…"

"Urakaka," she said without thinking.

He looked surprised, then relived. "You remember your name."

"I… guess I do."

"I'm glad. That's great."

She sensed he meant it in another way.

…

White walls and no people. Not one person. Waiting chairs were empty. No doors were pushed open. Posters on the walls were blank. Not a soul. The clocks on the walls were all frozen on eleven-and-something. No ticking.

"Where is everyone?" she whispered, looking for anyone to speak to. Anybody to answer her questions.

"I… haven't seen anyone since I got here," he told her, fiddling with his fingers. "I've been here a while."

This… didn't sound right. Did everyone evacuate? Did something happen? It had looked like a nice morning on the roof. "Is there anyone at the receptions?"

"No." He sighed sadly. "And I tried the phones here. None work. I can show you the door out, but… I… couldn't leave when I tried."

She blinked at him questioningly. "Why not? Where?"

He started walking down a corridor, pointing forward as he did so. "It's hard to explain. I think it's better if I show you."

The receptionist counter was indeed empty. There was no waiting line. The only footsteps were their own. He showed her to the automatic doors. Behind the glass, it was paved ground and a road in the distance and planted trees on the sides. However, the boy stepped forward and the doors slid open to… white light. A steamy cloud blocked where the outside used to be.

"It's always like this," he said.

"What is that? Wait – where are you going?" She yelped when he started walking toward it. "Isn't that dangerous?"

He vanished into the cloud, leaving a smoky, human-shaped hole that closed off quickly. He simply walked right back in and patted himself, dusting off cloud remnants. "I walked straight," he explained. "It just won't let me leave. It happens with the windows, too."

She stood still, stunned. Reaching with sweaty palms, she walked forward with her hands in front of her in, relying on her hands in case she blindly bumped into something. Cool air felt like silk brushing her cheeks. The floor was white paper. A bit of color swirled in the distance. A black flame; but the closer she got the more it appeared to resemble a human figure. It was the boy again. The hospital again. The empty building again.

He didn't look surprised. Just sad and disappointed. "Was hoping it would work for you. I'm sorry."

…

He messed with the yellow buttons of his uniform. On one of the many hospital benches, he let her simmer with all the information. It wasn't much to begin with. The lack of logic didn't present them with much.

This place wasn't normal. That, or: "I'm dreaming."

"Maybe," he said, not sure himself. "I thought it was someone's Quirk for a long time. I don't think so, now."

"Why not?"

He took a minute to choose his words. "No motive? I don't remember much, but… I know I'm not someone a Villain would want something from."

She tilted her head questioningly at him. "How do you know?" she asked sincerely. "Is that what you remember?"

"No. It's a feeling. I don't know how to explain it. It's like…" His hands pretended to hold a ball. He opened his palms to face the ceiling. "There's nothing important there." In me. "I can't remember most people. I don't think I knew many to begin with. Can you remember? Remember people?"

"I…" It was hard. There wasn't much to grasp at. Faceless people. Blurry people. Some were her family, also faceless.

"How about your parents?" he asked hopefully.

Parents. Mama and Papa… Yes. She remembered them. A kind woman and a teddy bear of a man. His large palm on her head. Large but kind. Caring people. Hardworking people. Struggling but still happy.

"Yeah." She looked down at her open hands. Her now big hands. They were still smaller than the hands of the ones who raised her. She remembered toddler baby hands holding the much larger ones. "Mama and Papa. I remember." They were the most cheerful of folk. Nice people in an angry world.

She hadn't noticed the walls around her going grey, darkening.

"That's good!" the boy told her. "Can you remember things you loved? Where you lived or… something you used to do?"

There was the squeaking of rusty hinges. A coordinated rhythm. Back and forth. Back and forth. "A swing. The park they used to take me to."

The sound stopped, replaced by water running over rock. A leaf glided past them. Another grazed her ankle. The corridor had filled with slow-moving water. The walls had gone black, but the water beneath their seats and shoes showed glistening pebbles underneath. The boy shifted his legs and the stream made a splashing sound.

"The bridge by the temple." She remembered. "There were stairs, but it stopped at water. It had fish. I used to ask Mama and Papa to let feed them."

There was laughter in the distance. Familiar voices.

"Careful, now. Don't fall in."

"Don't worry – I've got her."

A child's giggle.

Splashing, like legs making their way through running water. "Mama would tie up my dress and hold my sandals so I could get my feet wet." A weak laugh escaped her. "I remember that one time, I fell in the water and got upset cause it was cold. Papa sat in the water and pretended he was fine. He started complainin' it was cold. His pants were all dark and wrinkly and we walked like penguins the whole way."

A small splash, followed by a bigger one. The steady stream broke into uneven waves.

"It's progress! Do you remember anyone else?" he asked carefully. "Maybe it'll help piece things together."

Anyone else. Friends, maybe? Or blurry images of friends. The classroom was clearer. They had a big teacher. Muscular and colorful and loud. She knew him… All Might, was it? Close enough. The girls from her class were familiar. The pink one. And one that repeated 'ribbit' often. "Mina and… and Tsuyu." A guy with glasses. Sometimes in armor costume. He frightened her, at first, sounding as strict as a teacher. Turned out he was humble and just happened to respect rules. "Iida." Yeah. He was wearing his costume last time. He sounded worried. He always had a loud, commanding voice. But there was a time his voice leaked panic.

In fact; multiple voices had that strangled tone.

She clutched at her head as information trickled in. "I think… I think something happened to everyone."

The water had darkened, draining, leaving dry pavement. Walls stretched out of sight. The ceiling evaporated into purple-black smoke crawling down, misty arms curling. She clutched her head in horror. "I think… I think Villains attacked my class… at the USJ place… I remember now. Is everyone okay? Did the teachers make it?"

Gunshots in the distance. Explosions. The sound of a wave of heavy rocks crumbling. The ground rumbled. Wind blew and abruptly stopped with a BANG. The lights went out. In the pitch black, she remained sitting on the hospital bench. The boy looked at her with sympathy.

She finally understood: "He warped me; the Villain." She looked down at her hands. Her now useless hands. "He warped me in front of Thirteen's Black Hole…" White noise vibrated through the pitch blackness around them, followed by a consistent beeping. A faint red line blinked with every sound. A straight line with small triangles occasionally riding along the red string. A heartbeat rhythm. The line started from one of her shoes and headed to where the exit door was.

"I'm dead, aren't I?" she asked quietly, expecting a 'yes', her throat tight.

He liked down at his own hands, twiddling his thumbs. "I don't think so."

She slowly hugged herself, suddenly feeling alone. "Then where am I?" she pleaded for an answer, turning to finally look at him.

He found it hard to move his mouth with her eyes on him. "I don't know. I've never known. But – but I know you can leave eventually! It let other people through."

"Other… people?"

"Yeah. In fact," he stood up and pointed at the door, where her red line ended. "I think it will let you leave now." He offered her his hand and waited for her to take it, giving her a kind but tired smile.

Why did he look so tired?

She stared at him like an idiot for a few seconds before finally taking his hand. She walked with him to the door and the line on the floor moved with her like a red shadow, beeping from beneath her shoe and sizzling over to the door. The beeping sound quickened as the distance got shorter. The doors parted. She expected the thick mist, and instead, saw vast emptiness. It was like staring straight at the sun. She instinctively threw her hands up to block the light from her face, stepping back and letting the doors close automatically. With the painful light blocked, her pupils stopped straining.

"Yeah, you can leave, now," he happily confirmed, talking as if the whole thing was normal.

"I don't understand – I'm so confused!" She rubbed at her eyes with the palms of her hands. "Leave to where? Am I dead? If I'm not dead then where is this? What's going on? I don't understand!" Panicked, she'd grabbed him by the shoulders.

He raised his hands between them in a gesture that begged for her to calm down, or please back away – you're too close. "I – I don't know, either!" he said quickly, wanting to explain himself as if he were accused of a crime. "I can't find another way out and – and everyone else left through here. I can't – I couldn't follow anyone!"

"Others?" her desperate grip slackened.

He gave a nod. "Yeah… they come and go. I tried leaving with them but… this place won't let me. It puts me back in the roof. I think I need… that." He looked down at the jumping red line between here and the door. "But I don't have it… anymore."

"Any… more?" she repeated his words like a parrot. Her hands slipped off his shoulders, going limp.

"Hey… who are you?" She never got his name.

He gave a sad smile. "I ask myself that all the time. I just remember Deku and Izuku. I don't know which one is my name. I think my mom called me Izuku, but then, I don't know where Deku came from." He looked away while explaining, embarrassed by himself.

"I like Deku," she told him. "Why can't you be both? Deku sounds like you can do it. I like it."

"Both?" He looked surprised. He'd probably never thought of that.

The beeping quickened and her line became zigzags. Deku looked at the floor in alarm.

"You should hurry," he warned, stepping to the side to activate the automatic doors. "You'll get stuck here if you wait too long."

Blinded by light, she held up her arm to shield her eyes whilst still squinting to look at him with difficulty. Stuck here. Puzzle pieces came together. "Is that how… Is that why you can't leave?" Your line went flat?

"I couldn't remember much. Or anyone. I ran out of time." Light his one side of his face while the other side remained shadowed. "I don't think I was important enough." It was hard to see, but his wide smile was bright enough to cut through the flash of light coming from outside. "But it's okay! I'm helping people here all the time. I show them the door. That's good enough for me."

"Wait!" She refused to step out. "How long have you been here? Did no one show you the door?"

He walked behind her and started pushing her to the door. "It's okay! You need to go, now – everyone's waiting for you."

"Wait, stop!" she managed to spin and face him with her feet inches away from the exit. "I can't leave you here! We can think of something! Something you haven't tried yet."

He looked surprised for a moment, then smiled kindly at her. "You're the first person to say that. You'll make a great Hero, I know it."

Did no one help him? How many people had he seen end up here? How many had stayed to talk then walked away? How many times had he had to say goodbye? "Deku, we'll figure something out." No more all this. Her beeping was speeding up with every second ticking by. "Is there – did you try breaking out? Digging? The vent? Can people go through vents? The window – wait, no. You said you already tried. All the windows? Maybe one of them might work!" she hurriedly listed options, running out of breath.

His eyes were watery, but his smile was true. Pained but still happy. "I'm glad I got to talk to you. Thank you."

He raised his hands–

–and pushed her by the shoulders.

She reached out to grab him while stumbling into the light.

His hands were smoky from touching the sunlight he was forbidden from walking into, warning him he did not have the ticket to cross. Pulling his hands back, he waved farewell. "Good luck!"

The outside world swallowed her. Mist slowly materialized to close off the road. The beeping stopped. Abrupt silence.

The keys in every clock began spinning; stopping at just past three like it usually did when he was alone. The empty hospital came into view. Sighing, he slowly made his way up to reach the roof once more. Gazing at the green world was always nice. The trees sometimes turned orange. Other times, white with snow. The cherry blossoms were his favorite; bright pink and the petals liked to fly the highest.

Notes:

-I just wanted to write a little something for October.

-I wasn't sure when the longer fics would be finished. Made this ghostly one on the side for now.

-I'm not sure how it came out but it was interesting to make.