Whumptober Day 24: Drowning

HELLO! YES... I AM HERE! AND WITH ANOTHER FIC!

AND I'M IN CAPS. AND I'M QUOTING ALL MIGHT. OKAY TIME TO TURN CAPS LOCK OFF SO YOU GUYS CAN READ THE STORY. ENJOY!

Submerged

"All right, Class 1-A!" All Might boomed, making sure he caught the class's attention as he gestured to the large body of water beside him which rested inside the USJ. "Since Aizawa's out sick today, we won't be doing anything too serious for training. Today's mission is to help you learn the basics of water rescue!"

From beside Izuku, Tsuyu could hardly hold back her grin. "This one's going to be easy, ribbittt."

Izuku smiled back and nodded. With Tsuyu's frog-like quirk, she was clearly the best candidate for such an exercise. As for him… well… he hoped his breath would hold out long enough for him to do the rescuing part of the training before he needed air.

"Instead of working in pairs, you'll be doing it individually today," All Might continued, crossing his arms as his eyes traveled across the students. "Understood?"

"Yes, sir," the class said in unison.

"Good." All Might turned back to the water and gestured to different spots. "During different attacks, the locations of the victims may differ. Today, you'll be rescuing plastic dummies from different places in the water."

Izuku nodded. This actually didn't seem too bad.

"But, even though they're only dummies, they're still victims! I've placed enough for you all to rescue, but today you'll only have to rescue three of them in the exercise. You all have a time limit of one minute and twenty seconds to get them out, or you'll fail the exercise!" All Might smiled widely. "Now, who's ready to begin?"

Izuku swallowed.

This was going to be tricky.

"Fine. I'll start, since everyone else is acting like sniveling babies who are too scared to go in the kiddy pool," Bakugo growled, shoving his way past other students as he made his way up to the front.

All Might raised an eyebrow as Bakugo approached the water. "You're planning to keep all of that on?" He pointed to the boy's heavy explosion equipment that trailed up his arms.

Bakugo rolled his eyes. "Yeah. You got a problem with that, All Might?"

"They're only going to slow you down, young Bakugo."

"DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!"

"I wasn't-"

"ARRGGH!" Not taking another moment to listen, Bakugo hurled himself into the water and quickly disappeared under the murky surface. Sighing, All Might started the pocket watch in his hand and watched the surface of the water in wait.

It didn't take long for the first dummy to pop up. Bakugo lifted his head out of the water only for a moment before he dove back under, searching for the other two victims.

Izuku found himself taken aback at how fast Bakugo was going. Sure, he had the hottest temper he knew, but there was no denying just how good he was. It was no wonder he had won the U.A. Sports Festival.

In the next thirty seconds, the next two dummies were recovered and Bakugo broke free to the surface, panting as he started to herd the victims to the edge of the water. "Easy," he breathed out. "Couldn't I have had something a little harder, All Might?"

Choosing to ignore him, All Might punched the stop button on the timer and checked the screen. "Forty-one seconds. Excellent work, young Bakugo. You can wait over there for the rest of your classmates." He pointed to the side of the area and Bakugo marched over, throwing a dirty look at the rest of his classmates as he did so.

Izuku gulped. Bakugo had made it look easy, but this was still going to be hard. Even with Gran Torino's training, he hadn't yet entirely mastered One For All and wasn't very good at holding his breath in the first place.

He shook his head. No, if he wanted to be a hero, he'd have to get better. He'd have to get better at everything. And, sadly, that included underwater rescues.

Someone tapped his shoulder, and Izuku whirled around to see Uraraka standing there. The brunette beamed at him happily. "Are you going next, Deku?" she asked. "I just know you could beat Bakugo! Somebody needs to show him he's not always the best!"

Izuku smiled nervously, reddening at the compliment. "I-I guess I could go... that is, if you wanted me to. I've researched on water rescues before, actually, so I know the basic procedure and the best way to get victims out! But I never thought I'd ever have a chance to actually do it… in fact, the way Bakugo was able to rescue those dummies in such a short amount of time was quite remarkable, all factors conside-"

"You're doing it again, Deku," Uraraka laughed.

"Huh?"

"Muttering."

"Oh. Sorry."

"Don't be! Just go, you'll be great." She gave him her biggest smile. "I'm rooting for you!"

Still dazed, Izuku didn't know how much time passed between the time he reached All Might, announced that he was about to dive, and the time before he found himself hurdling into the water. The only thing he could focus on was that Uraraka believed in him.

He barely felt the coolness of the water anymore as he swam and searched around for the dummies. It didn't take long before he spotted one nearby, tangled up in the weeds at the bottom of the fake lake. He quickly untangled pulled the victim out before clawing his way towards the surface. Breaking through to the top, he could faintly hear Uraraka cheering for him as he gasped for air.

He smiled widely before diving back under.

She believed in him.

After a shake of his head, he tried to concentrate on One For All. Maybe someway his power could help propel him quicker in the water, making the rescue that much easier. Remember, One For All isn't just a part of me. It's all of me. I have to let it take over and reach every part of my body, like Gran Torino taught me.

Power surged inside him, and before he knew it, he was rocketing through the water in a blur. So it didn't take long before he caught sight of another dummy. He made a turn to the right and smiled as his body moved correctly. He was doing it!

The victim was slightly pinned under a rock, but he didn't waste time getting it out. And then he was back up to the surface again, hearing the familiar voice of his friends cheering and Uraraka yelling, "Go, Deku!" from the sidelines.

That was all he needed to hear.

Now, only one more dummy to go.

It was all going so well, too - so well that he forgot to take a breath before going back under. So well that, as he searched for the next dummy, it didn't occur to him that something could go wrong.

Because that couldn't happen. Of course it wouldn't.

As he swam forward, he found that controlling One For All was getting a little harder. He had used up a big part of his energy rescuing the other two victims and concentrating on his power this long without breathing was getting tiring.

Fighting his way through the water, he searched for the last victim. But alas, all the dummies were hidden well, and it took another few seconds before he spotted the last one; it was also tangled up in some more weeds. Clawing his way over, it was a struggle before he managed to untangle it. But then he realized how much his lungs were aching and how lightheaded he was feeling.

Something's wrong, he thought as his legs kicked out, trying to get him back to the surface.

But as he was snapped back, he realized that he wasn't going anywhere.

Because the weeds hadn't just tangled themselves around the dummy… now, they were tangled around him.

All Might paced by the shore of the fake lake, trying to keep his nerves calm as he waited for Izuku to rise to the surface with his last victim. In all honesty, he was just about to burst with pride for the boy, who was doing just as good - maybe better - than Bakugo by now.

It was surprising how fast such a small boy could go through the water, he thought to himself. It was like Izuku was being driven by some unknown force.

Still, it had been another fifteen seconds since Izuku had last disappeared, and he was starting to get a little worried. He hadn't made the test that difficult, and Izuku had rescued the other dummies so quickly before. What was making him take so long now?

A ripple in the water caught his attention. Squinting his eyes, he was relieved to see the last dummy float up to the top of the water. He grinned and stopped the timer. "Forty seven seconds for Midoriya! Only six seconds over Bakugo!"

"WHAT?!" Bakugo roared as he jumped up from his spot. "That little nerd? No way! HE'S CHEATING!"

"Give it a break, Bakugo," Uraraka snapped. "Be happy for him!"

"Indeed, he's doing very well!" Iida added.

"THAT LITTLE NERD CAN'T DO ANYTHING 'WELL'! HE'S CHEATING!"

As the three students started to bicker, All Might watched the surface of the water in wait for Izuku to surface. But after a few moments, he wondered why he still hadn't come back up.

The dummy had already, so why not him? He furrowed his brow, deeply hoping that nothing had gone wrong.

If so, his sucessor was in trouble.

Izuku was drowning.

He thrashed around to escape the vines that had somehow wrapped around his legs, but to no avail. The more he twisted, the stronger they held. He'd tried a little to untangle them but soon realized by the time he did, he'd be dead. He'd have to pull free.

Silver bubbles erupted around him as he thrashed, his arms felt like lead, and the only thing he could think about was how he desperately needed air. His lungs were screaming for it. His mind was turning to mush without it.

Panic filled him. As much as he pulled, he couldn't swim away. As much as he thrashed, the vines wouldn't break. And as much as he fought to stay conscious...

He felt himself starting to fade.

"Where's Deku?" Uraraka called, and the rest of the students nodded as they watched the surface of the water. Even Bakugo had stopped shouting, curious to why Izuku was taking so long to return.

"Is he okay?" Uraraka persisted.

All Might's brow crinkled. How could he respond to that? He didn't know? No, he was the symbol of peace. He was supposed to create hope, peace, safety. Flashing his most confident smile as he turned to the girl, he gave her a comforting thumbs up. "Everything is fine... because I am here!"

With that, he dove into the water, using the power of One For All as he sped towards where the last dummy had come up.

Midoriya… you better be all right.

The world was starting to look blurry and misshapen as Izuku struggled. He could feel his body giving out on him, and as much as he tried to hold out - for his friends, his family, his mentor - he simply couldn't.

Without air, he was going to die.

As his body gave out on him and he started to black out, the last thing he could think was, I'm sorry, Mom…

I'm sorry, All Might.

Where is he? All Might thought in frustration, scanning the depths around him as he searched for Izuku.

This was around where the dummy had popped up, and that was where Izuku would be. He narrowed his eyes as his mind wandered what had happened to the boy. Was he stuck? Hiding? Taken?

He felt sick with worry.

After a twenty second search of looking around the area, he was starting to lose hope as he broke through the surface for air. Panting, he clenched his fists. Where was he?

"Anything?" Uraraka called worriedly from the shore.

All Might shook his head. "Not yet, but I'm going back under! Don't worry, everyone!" His eyes narrowed. "Everything will be just fine." He dove back under, twisting around as he searched for a new angle to look at.

Time was imminent. Every second felt like hours. Every stroke of his arms was a lifetime. If he didn't rescue Izuku soon, he'd be gone forever...

And then it caught his attention.

Later, when he looked back on this moment, he'd realize that the only reason he found Izuku was because of his green, easy to spot, hair. As he looked closer to the corner of the fake lake where he'd spotted the hair, he saw that the boy had somehow gotten himself tangled up in some of the weeds, but wasn't struggling against them. In fact, he wasn't moving at all.

All Might's eyes widened. Oh no.

Gaining speed as he swam over, only panicked thoughts entered his mind. Was Midoriya alright? Was he breathing? Was he still alive?

As he reached Izuku, he saw that the boy was clearly unconscious. His eyes were closed and he floated limply in the cold water, face growing paler by the second. All Might's mind raced. He needed to get both of them out- now. He didn't know how long Izuku had been without oxygen, but it was enough to render him unconscious.

In a few short moments, All Might snapped the vines that had tangled themselves around Izuku's legs before grabbing the boy and heading towards the surface.

Just a few more seconds… hang on, Midoriya.

Finally, finally, they broke through the top. All Might inhaled the sweet taste of air, and then quickly turned to look at Izuku. Still, nothing. He hadn't even flinched. Eyes wide, All Might swam the two over to the side of the fake lake before dragging them out. He laid Izuku on the ground, panting and running a worried hand through his hair when the boy still didn't move.

"Deku!" someone shouted, and All Might turned his head to see the class running towards him, Uraraka leading them. Her face was drained of color. "Deku, oh my gosh!"

All Might looked back at Izuku, and then it hit him, like a freight train going a hundred miles an hour. Izuku wasn't breathing.

His face looked pale and clammy and was starting to turn a light shade of blue. His chest neither rose nor fell as he laid like a limp rag doll on the pavement.

"No," All Might whispered. No, no, no, no! This wasn't supposed to happen. It was just supposed to be a normal training exercise. How had things gone so wrong so fast?

The class suddenly came to a stop next to him, everyone's eyes wide with worry.

"Midoriya. Is he alright?"

"He doesn't look good, All Might..."

"Is he even breathing?"

"His face is turning blue!"

"Should I get Recovery Girl?"

"DEKU!"

All Might took a moment to think. He couldn't let his emotions control him- not now. He had to act quickly or Izuku was dead.

Now… what would he do if this was just another water victim who wasn't breathing? Suddenly, it clicked in his mind. CPR. Though police and doctors usually handled times like these, every hero was required to learn it as well.

Wasting no time, he started the procedure. Pressing his hands against Izuku's chest, he started the compressions. One, two, three, four…

"What's he doing?"

"It's CPR, you idiot! Midoriya's not breathing!"

Nineteen, twenty…

"Oh my gosh, is Deku going to die?" Uraraka sobbed. "No! He can't die! I just… no.. h-he can't!"

"Uraraka…"

Twenty-eight, twenty-nine... thirty!

All Might lifted back Izuku's chin, and then closed his nostrils with a finger and his thumb. Leaning in, he pumped two full breaths into the unconscious boy before pulling away in desperation.

His heart crumpled when nothing happened. No! Had he not done something right?

"He's still not breathing!"

"All Might, is he dead?"

"No, he can't die!"

"Midoriya, dead...?"

And that's when Izuku took in his first, shuddering breath, gasping for air as he spit out the water in his throat. Raspily, he started to cough, but then curled into himself from the painful spasms.

"Deku!" Uraraka shouted.

All Might felt himself flood with relief.

Midoriya was alive.

Quickly, he helped the boy onto his side as he violently coughed out water, patting his back in an attempt to get the fluid out.

"You're alright now, Midoriya… just let it all out…"

"All… Might…?" Izuku gasped, obviously still confused with what was going on.

"Right here, Midoriya..."

"I'm..." He took another few seconds to cough, before regaining his speech. "...sorry… we couldn't finish… training..."

"Finish training? You almost died!" Uraraka sniffed as she bent over, crouching beside him. Her eyes filled with salty tears. "I'm so sorry, it was my fault! You almost drowned just because I asked you to go next!"

"No... Ura...raka…" Izuku gave up on talking as another coughing fit seized him. Hands patted his back and some of the water that still rested in his lungs spit out. After the process, he suddenly felt sick.

"Midoriya? Are you all right?" All Might asked urgently.

Izuku kept his eyes closed, unable to answer. He certainly didn't feel alright.

"Let's get him to Recovery Girl - he needs help," All Might said, and carefully lifted Deku up from the ground as the boy coughed and shivered in his arms.

I did this, All Might thought, appalled. Midoriya almost died because of me. All because of my training exercise…

"All Might?" Izuku croaked out, his eyes flickering open as nausea stirred inside him. "I don't feel too…" His face paled. "I think I'm gonna-"

All Might barely had time to react before Izuku rolled over and retched onto the ground. All he could do was pat the boy's back, feeling all too responsible for this. How could Izuku ever forgive him for what had happened?

"Thanks," gasped out Izuku, closing his eyes as he leaned back into All Might's arms again. "Thanks…"

"No, Midoriya, stay awake," All Might said in a quiet yet urgent tone. "We need to get you to Recovery Girl first. Just a little longer."

"Deku, please," Uraraka pleaded, coming up beside them. "Just hold on!" From beside her, the other classmates nodded.

"Yes, hang on, Midoriya!" Iida said. "We're all here for you."

"Yeah!"

"Of course we are!"

"Stay alive, Midoriya."

"Yes, young Izuku," All Might echoed, clutching the small boy tighter in his arms as he started to run towards the USJ exit doors. "Just hold on..."

"Well, it's a good thing you got him here when you did!" Recovery Girl said as she pulled away from the now-sleeping Izuku who laid on the bed. He was wrapped up in blankets and had been changed into a hospital gown, courtesy of Recovery Girl, who deemed his clothes too were wet to wear. "Without my treatment, he might've gotten hypoxia."

All Might raised a worried eyebrow. "Hypoxia?" That sounded serious.

"Yes. In short, because of how long Midoriya spent underwater, the lack of oxygen could have damaged his brain or even other organs if I hadn't healed him in time."

All Might took a shuddering step back. All of this had happened because of him?

He ran a timid hand through his hair.

"Don't go blaming yourself for this, All Might," Recovery Girl said as if reading his mind, and pressed a cool towel to Izuku's forehead. "It could've happened to anybody. Today, Midoriya was just the unlucky one."

"I know that. But it was my fault for not getting there in time in the first place- for not sensing something was wrong earlier. How could I have just stood there while he was drowning?"

Before Recovery Girl had the chance to answer, there was an urgent knock at the door. All Might paused, but Recovery Girl gave him a pointed look when he didn't move. "You going to get that?"

All Might sighed and turned for the door. Almost immediately after twisting open the knob, the room was flooded with worried students, Uraraka at the very front. "Where's Deku? Is he okay? Is he alive? Is he going to be alright?" Uraraka blurted out.

All Might simply pointed to the bed where Izuku lay sleeping before he motioned for her to stay quiet. "Shh. You'll wake him up."

Uraraka covered her mouth, looking embarrassed. "Sorry," she breathed.

"But he's going to be all right?" Kirishima asked.

"He didn't look too good when you left," Todoroki added.

All Might gave his students the most comforting smile he could, which, at the moment, wasn't saying much. "Midoriya is going to be just fine," he promised. "He just needs to spend some time here recovering to make sure there are no other complications."

The whole class sighed with relief.

Suddenly from his bed, Izuku groaned, shivering from his bed covers as he peeked open his eyes. "All… Might?" he whispered, his eyes tiredly looking around. "Where..."

"DEKU!" Uraraka rushed over to his bedside, grabbing his hands as her eyes shone with tears of relief. "I'm so happy you're okay! I thought you were dead when All Might pulled you out of the water because you weren't breathing and your face was turning blue and we were all so worried but then you took your first breath and..." She sucked in a breath. "I can't believe you almost died, Deku."

Izuku blinked slowly, as if not first comprehending what she was saying. "Oh."

"'Oh'? You almost die and all you manage to say is 'oh'?!"

"Leave him be," Recovery Girl snapped as she walked over, lips pursed. "The last thing he needs right now is to answer any questions. What he needs is rest and recovery."

Uraraka blushed. "Right. Sorry." She smiled at Izuku, squeezing his hand. "...I'm just so glad you're okay, Deku."

"Thanks," Izuku whispered back. "Me too."

"You scared us, man!" Kirishima said as he walked over, grinning nervously. "Glad you made it."

"Indeed!" Iida nodded vigorously. "You scared us all."

"STUPID NERD DIDN'T SCARE ME!" Bakugo yelled angrily from the corner where he stood sulking. "STUPID NERD WAS SO DUMB HE ALMOST GOT HIMSELF DROWNED! DOESN'T SOUND VERY HERO-LIKE TO ME!"

"Bakugo!" Kirishima said pointedly, eyeing Izuku. "Can't you be nice to him for once? He almost died!"

Bakugo's face turned red. He looked like he wanted to say something, but after another moment of looking at Izuku, he growled out something intelligible and stormed out the door.

Izuku looked embarrassed at all the commotion. "Really, it's fine, guys," he whispered. His voice was still hoarse from inhaling the lake water and he couldn't yet talk normally. "I'm okay."

"You're okay now, honey," Recovery Girl huffed. "But you're still recovering from a near-death experience, and that takes its toll." She motioned towards the door. "Alright, now everybody out! Midoriya needs his rest."

The class let out a series of protests, but Recovery Girl only shook her head.

Uraraka's face fell. "Oh. Well… okay." She smiled at Izuku. "I'll visit you tomorrow, okay, Deku? Feel better soon!" She gave him a happy wave as she joined the rest of the class in exiting the room.

"Midoriya?"

Broken out of his distraction, Izuku looked up to find All Might nervously hovering above him. He raised an eyebrow. "All Might? Is something... wrong?" His heart dropped in his chest. "It's… the training, isn't it? I failed. I messed it up."

"No, it's not that." All Might sighed, shoulders drooping. "It was my fault for what happened today, Izuku. I was responsible, and you have my deepest apologies for that. I never should have put any of my students at risk like that. I'm sorry."

Izuku looked stunned. "You… are?"

"Yes. I hope someday you can forgive me, young Midoriya."

After another moment of looking confused, Izuku suddenly smiled and shook his head. "But there's nothing to be forgiven for."

He stuck out his hand almost like a peace offering, waiting for All Might to take it.

And smiling, All Might did.

YAAAY! Sorry if this wasn't too well edited - I have a headache and getting 6 hours of sleep a night lately didn't help. *laughs nervously* Thanks for reading, and please fave, follow, and review!