— "You know we are always with you, Ninth," — the First User said via telepathic link.
It was raining heavily, so his suit was soaked, but Izuku paid little attention to it. He was on top of one of the skyscrapers, standing almost at the very edge. He had been sitting like this for a long time, maybe about half an hour. It had been relatively little time since his classmates almost caught him. Thanks to the support of Banjo-san, the 5th User of OFA, Izuku was able to quickly combine Blackwhip with Fa Jin in order to quickly knock out a villain with a mind-control Quirk. Fortunately, he made it in time, as his classmates, as it turned out, were nearby.
He managed to run away before Kacchan could see him.
Midoriya looked at his fist before resolutely clenching it. The internal conflict that had been raging inside him all this time seemed to quiet down a bit. He thought of all his friends he had left behind. Their smiles, those warm memories they created together.
Deku, the world's last hope, rose from his perch. He scanned the world with his emerald eyes before pulling up his tattered hood. He looked in the very direction where UA Academy was currently located. Но it was not important now. No, not at all.
---
— So you've finally decided, Midoriya-kun? — asked the mouse-dog-bear, or rather, the Principal of UA, Nezu. The chimera propped up his chin as a serious expression appeared on his face, one that could be seen quite often lately. His frowning gaze turned to the ninth holder of One For All.
— Yes.— Like a ghost, Midoriya materialized in front of the Principal. When the chimera turned its gaze toward him, it seemed that something in him had changed, that the aura emanating from him had changed cardinally. It seemed that the air around him had become broken, and the Danger Sense did not stop blowing. Nezu tensed, even though he knew Midoriya wouldn't do anything. But he knew: whatever happened to Mi... No, to Deku, it broke him even more and made him distorted.
— I would like to give you this, — Midoriya held out his hand, and Blackwhip burst from his wrist, pulling a tattered but still intact notebook out of his yellow backpack. Or rather, three. When the chimera looked closer, he saw that "1-A" was written on two of them, and "1-B" on the other. He frowned when he saw these notebooks. — These are all my ideas and developments that I made regarding their Quirks, — his voice was hoarse as he held out the three notebooks. — Give them to them or do as you see fit. I just... wanted to give them...
— You speak as if you're not coming back. — Nezu uncharacteristically Grit his teeth and clenched his fists. He clearly understood what his student meant. Although Midoriya's decision to leave UA was his idea, he still didn't like it. And now, one of his students was talking like a suicide soldier. But no matter how much he wanted to stop him, Nezu knew that it was useless now.
That dangerous metallic glint in Midoriya's eyes spoke clearly of his intentions. He intended to simply kill everyone who deserved it.
— Maybe not... But even if I return, it won't be me anymore, — his voice broke, showing a sign of weakness and looking so pitiful that Nezu couldn't stand it and turned away. He respected Midoriya and turned away when he was in his worst incarnation. The chimera's hands trembled and claws dug into its paws. He was in a huge rage. That the world treated a poor boy like this, who was still a child. But he knew, Midoriya was currently their strongest weapon.
And he finally decided to stop playing.
— Farewell, Principal Nezu. It was a pleasure to know you, sir, — Midoriya said before dissolving just as he had come.
The Principal rose from his chair before looking out the panoramic window. He stared into the dark clouds as they stared at him, and clearly understood that they had lost Izuku Midoriya, perhaps forever, and Deku had come in his place.
---
Midoriya grabbed a villain with a mutant Quirk, which made him look like a bear, by the face and lifted him using Float. Blackwhip immediately took his arms and legs before pieces of the whip separated from it, becoming bindings for the villain. He sighed before flinching and dodging sharply.
A bright silver blade immediately flew over him, when suddenly that girl with amber eyes and messy yellow hair appeared in front of him.
— Toga... — Izuku whispered her name before putting his hood back on. A dangerous glint reflected in his eyes.
— Izu-kun! It's you! It's really you, Izu-kun! — she shrieked with maniacal jubilation. As her cheeks flushed, she excitedly reached out her hands to him, as if in a furious desire to hug him and love him in her twisted way. — I wanted to tell you so much, Izu-kun! I love you! I love you! — she began to repeat the word with psychopathic glee, as if receiving waves of orgasm with every word spoken. — Let's talk about love... — the words froze on her lips when she felt a sharp pain in her chest. Her shocked eyes looked into Izuku's green pools. He simply dispassionately tore his hand out of her body, simultaneously tearing her lung with that movement.
But then, to his shock, Toga only smiled joyfully, as a truly happy expression bloomed on her face.
— Oh... Izu...kun... — she whispered faintly, taking a step toward him as she weakly muttered his name. — I'm so... happy... that you... also... love... me... — she couldn't finish the words as her limp body fell onto Izuku, her forehead hitting his chest before bouncing off and falling onto the gray asphalt. It stained red with her blood as a red puddle began to spread.
Izuku stood like that for a few seconds before he fell to his knees and simply vomited on the ground. That meager breakfast he ate this morning, consisting of a small piece of bread, immediately came back out along with acrid bile. He vomited, turning inside out, but even when he had nothing left to vomit, his stomach continued to contract in spasms.
Tears flowed from his eyes as he slowly lifted Toga's body and adjusted her bangs, revealing her happy face. It even seemed that she was actually alive, not dead.
— If we were in other circumstances... I would talk to you about love... — Izuku whispered before closing his eyes, trying to hold back tears, and lifting her body to fly away from this place, together with Toga.
---
Izuku dodged a monstrous sword strike consisting of a collection of smaller knives.
— Grrrrrrr...— Spinner growled quietly before his clouded eyes turned to Deku, trying to crush him once and for all.
— Black Chain. — Deku combined Fa Jin and Blackwhip, thereby greatly strengthening the Blackwhip Quirk, as it struck Spinner's chest with incredible speed, simply crushing it inward. Judging by the fact that Spinner continued to breathe for some time before falling silent, it could be concluded that the ribs pierced the heart.
Midoriya landed calmly on the ground before removing his hood and before vomiting on the asphalt again. Fortunately, this time the attack was slightly weaker than the first time. Everything began to blur before Deku's eyes as his breathing quickened. But he couldn't afford a panic attack. Not now. Not today. Never. He couldn't afford such weakness. No, otherwise All For One would surely take advantage of it. He couldn't allow it.
Deku began to Float before wrapping Spinner's huge body with the whip, before flying away again to somewhere in the distance where he buried Toga's body. It just seemed right that he would bury Spinner's body with her.
---
Deku shuddered with his whole body as he watched Dabi's head separate from his body and roll on the ground. There was no fight. Just cold-blooded murder. From two kilometers away from the target, Deku was able to compress Blackwhip as much as possible, to the level of a hair, and stretch it to Dabi's location, before using the same Fa Jin and the Second User's Gearshift to strengthen the whip and cut off the head of Endeavor's son with instantaneous speed.
— He will never forgive me for this... And neither will I... — Midoriya flew to Dabi's head and picked it up, holding it with both hands. — Shoto will hate me now, won't he, Toya? — Izuku asked before frowning deeply. He was still nauseated from the murder, and it was already his third, but it wasn't getting any easier. And he hoped it never would. Murders shouldn't become familiar to him.
He buried Toya in the same place as the first two.
---
— It's been... quite a long time, hasn't it? — Deku asked himself, looking at the sky. His hair had grown out slightly messily, which is why it interfered a bit, but he was already used to it and paid almost no attention to it.
— Izuku, you may not think so, of course, but you've done a magnificent job, — said Nana Shimura, the Seventh User of OFA.
— Yes, kid, you should finally sleep after all! Two hours a day is nowhere near good for your health!
— Not all villains have been caught yet, and AFO and Shigaraki are still at large.
— You won't be able to fight them if you are in a weakened state!
— I'm perfectly fine! — He denied.
He and they knew perfectly well why he couldn't sleep much. Every time, the dead faces of those he killed flashed before his eyes. Toga's happy "I love you" was the most painful. It was very painful. And every time he woke up with a scream. All of them knew this, but they couldn't stand to see Izuku exhausting himself almost to death.
Large dark circles under his eyes bore strong witness to his lack of sleep. They were even larger than Aizawa-sensei's.
Midoriya sighed heavily before his eyes glazed over slightly, before he almost fell asleep right on the roof. Quickly coming to his senses, he shook his head, trying to snap out of it to drive away the sleepiness.
Deku glanced at the sky, wondering why it had suddenly become so bright. And he was shocked by what he saw.
A clear sky.
An unstained, clear blue sky.
— Huh? — this sound escaped his throat as he began to look around. The entire former landscape seemed to have disappeared, replaced by this paradise. — What? — his throat constricted as he stared at everything around him. Crowds of people with smiles on their faces walked along the busy street, vendors at the market enticed customers. Deku even saw some of the heroes who died during the war with Shigaraki. They were all calmly patrolling the streets, smiling and chatting with the common folk.
— This... This must be an illusion! — Deku shouted as his throat simply constricted. He shook his head from side to side, trying to get rid of the imposition. But no matter how hard he tried to cast off the illusion, it did not disappear. — This means, if I want to remove the illusion, I must defeat its holder...
And then he hears an explosion, as panic swept through the common folk.
The hero's head immediately snapped in that direction, as a villain with some kind of fireball Quirk fought off several heroes pursuing him, driving away in a car. Deku's instincts kicked in almost instantly. He disappeared and appeared right in front of the car. An outstretched hand — and the hood of the car was simply crumpled inward with ease. Such a sudden stop caused the airbag to deploy, causing it to strike the villain's head hard as he hit the back of his head on something and lost consciousness. Midoriya also looked at the approaching heroes and simply sighed, as they were surely a simple illusion. No matter, he would just continue to catch villains, even if it turned out to be just an illusion. And he had to find Shigaraki and AFO before it all became too late.