Izuku Midoriya awoke slowly, blinking blearily as he tried to clear away the haze of unconsciousness. He brought a hand up to his face, the back of his wrist colliding with his forehead before he brought it down and wiped the sleep from his eyes. A ragged moan escaped his lips as the insides of his skull throbbed in protest of this action, and the sudden light filtering into his vision. He slammed his eyes closed again, covering them with his arm. His whole body ached, but his head was the worst of it, with his brain feeling like it was pressing against the walls of his skull, trapped, confined in a space too small for it.

A pathetic groan escaped his lips. They were dry as desert sands, chapped it seemed, and his throat felt like it was lined with sandpaper. He swallowed some spittle that was more air than saliva, and then groaned again. At least the surface he was lying on was nice and soft, blankets covering him to the waist.

"Don't you wanna have fun?"

Unbidden, the words came to him, a phantom sensation of pain in his lower stomach accompanying them. His eyes opened under his arm, and he remembered more; a savage grin, pointed canines, blood red eyes shining with sadistic glee... his chest throbbed suddenly, in sync with the back of his head. What had happened? Had he and Kacchan gone too far with another training bout? Was Kacchan okay?

He tried to straighten out his thoughts and remember. He had been... a movie. He remembered a movie, or at least the theatre. Iida had been there, with Uraraka and... Shoji, right, Shoji had wanted to see the film. Something horror-related, he thought, and with a blush he remembered Uraraka clinging to his side, her chest pressed against his arm.

Then... the movie had ended. Iida has thought it silly, he and Shoji were debating some point of contention involving the plot. Uraraka was talking about getting Ashido or Hakagure to sleep in her room that night, to ward off nightmares. He had been... chuckling. The movie hadn't felt that scary, something about a clown being scary didn't work for him.

Then... a phone call. He sent the others ahead, took the call. His mother. She had been... worried? Yes, worried, somebody had been creeping around the house, though she hadn't seen who. Could he please come over and take a look around? She didn't want to bother the police but since he was in the area...

Then... a back alley, a shortcut home. He arrived, the front door opened, his mother greeted him. A hug... and something... a prick, in his back, then monstrous pain when she smashed him on the head with something heavy, a crowbar? He couldn't remember. Why... why would his mother do that?

After that... nothing.

Where was he now?

An analytical mind needed something to analyze, so he let his eyes slide open again, moving his arm. The light still hurt, but he blinked and let himself adjust. White lights in a white ceiling. White walls. A window. A chair. In the chair...

"A-Aizawa... Aizawa-Sensei?"

The rasping words slipped from his lips before he could stop himself, rousing the dozing man from his slumber and making him grunt in surprise. Aizawa looked like a disaster, moreso than usual, hair ragged and messy, eyes so bloodshot they were almost pink and clothes torn and wrinkled. His scarf was wrapped around his neck haphazardly, loose and ready to be used, but his reflexes seemed off. His eyes darted all around the room as well, searching, before falling into Izuku.

"Midoriya..." he said, voice low. "You're awake. Good. How do... how do you feel?"

"Thirsty." Izuku admitted. "Is... anyone else hurt?"

Aizawa groaned, rising to his feet. He staggered forward, body shuddering with something Izuku knew had to be pain, before he grabbed the empty water cup from the bedside table and moved toward another door, near the first. The bathroom, Izuku deduced.

"Nobody else..." Aizawa hesitated. "The rest of your class is fine. Worried sick... but fine."

Izuku breathed a sigh of relief. So it was only him. Good. But... what had been that hesitation? Why had Aizawa refused to answer for so long? Izuku pondered it for a moment, before something else came crashing down onto him and he remembered.

"My mom!" he said, louder than he meant to. "Is she okay? There was... somebody was in... around the house and..."

Aizawa emerged from the bathroom, the tap still running behind him and a half-full glass of water in one hand. He looked guilty, as if Izuku had accused him of something, as if he... he knew...

As if he knew the answer, and was afraid to tell.

"No." Izuku said, shaking his head.

"I..." Aizawa hesitated again. "I shouldn't be the... the one to..."

A choked sob escaped Izuku's throat, then another, tears leaking down his face. He fought the oncoming breakdown with all his might, however because he couldn't bring himself to believe it.

"Your mother was..." Aizawa sounded like he was forcing the words. "She was found... in the basement of the house."

"No..." Izuku pleaded with him.

"She's dead." said Shota Aizawa, Hero name Eraserhead, homeroom teacher of class 1-A just keep repeating facts Izuku don't accept what he just said just keep adding to the sentence delay your response.

"I'm sorry."

The last of his resistance snapped, and Izuku began sobbing in full, his own pain forgotten as his heart ached like a hundred spears had been driven through it at once. He screamed and cried, wordless animal noises of grief not meant for the human body to make, the last normalcy in his life stripped away as suddenly as he could blink.

He didn't feel Aizawa put his arms around him in a desperate attempt to try and alleviate the pain. He didn't hear the doctors and nurses burst in talking about anesthetics. He didn't see Aizawa's own tears as his teacher decided he had failed. He didn't know that the pain had only just begun.

All he knew was that his mother was gone. Her smiles and laughs and tears and hugs were gone. No longer could she cook him a bowl of Katsudon when he came home bruised from 'rough play' or call him in the evening to ask about his day. No longer could he seek her guidance when the world became too difficult to understand. No longer could they stand together against the world.

Izuku passed out into unconsciousness ten minutes after waking. But he dreamed while asleep, dreams of his mother begging him for help, reaching out, his body being too weak, his legs being too slow, his hands unable to grab her own.

He awoke screaming and thrashing, One for All filling his body. He took of running, propelling himself out of the hospital bed and through the door into the hallway, bouncing off a wall and catching himself with one hand on the floor. His eyes scanned the area ahead; a nurse was staring at him, stunned. A doctor behind her was equally surprised. He tensed up to run, to jump, to find his mother and save her.

One for All disappeared, the strength holding him up fading as Aizawa looked upon him. He collapsed into a heap on the floor, two new nurses moving to help him back to his bed. He begged for them to let go, to let him save her. They had nothing but apologies for him as they set him back down, Aizawa finally releasing his Quirk after several long moments of stillness.

"Don't do that again." he warned. ""My eyes are killing me as is."

"I need to-" Izuku's protests were cut off as Aizawa pressed a hand to his chest, pressing him back down into the mattress. He hadn't even felt himself trying to rise.

"You need to rest." Aizawa said. "There's nothing you can do right now."

"But-" Once again he was cut off when Aizawa shook his head.

"Midoriya." he snapped. "I'm sorry for your loss. I'm sorry I wasn't there to protect her. I'm sorry you have to go through all of this. But running off in a panic won't help anybody with anything. You need to recover. You were badly injured when I found you, and the doctors say you're still healing. After that, we need to go to the police and you need to give a full testimony so we can figure out what happened. THEN you can be All Might and go punch something into submission, got it?"

Izuku fell silent. Aizawa watched him for a moment, eyes constantly blinking, before reaching out with a gentle hand and rubbing the boy's shoulder.

"Your classmates want to see you." he said, voice much softer now. "All of them. Even Bakugo. Would you be okay with that?"

Izuku thought about it.

"I'd... I'd like that." he admitted.

"I thought so." Aizawa nodded. "I'll call down and let them know it's okay."