Blood was everywhere. Splattered across the walls and pooling in the floor. Izuku fell to his knees. Fresh blood spilled out of nose and he hacked blood from his mouth. He wished so much that he could go back. He wished he could have stopped. However, he couldn't take back what he had done. He'd broken a sacred rule and payed the price. His leg was taken as payment for his crimes, but he earned something he had wanted since he was young. He gained power. A way to realize his once dead dreams.
From a young age he knew the stench of a rotting corpse. He knew the sight of his once bright mother clawing at the floor reaching for him. Her body nothing but charred bones and ugly, black blood. The eyes that had overflowed with love and tears, now terrified him. The vacant, almost animalistic, look she gave him haunted his worst nightmares. Years after, he found a home with a relatively kind man. He gained a cute, fun little sister. She played with him and kept him company, even if she didn't understand why. Together they read books and laughed at how silly the words sounded. They played fetch with their dog, Alexander.
He should have know. It would all crumbling down, just like the rain. He remembered the crazed look of accomplishment. So vividly, he dreamt of it.
****
Tucker grabbed Izuku's shoulders "Look Izuku, I've done it. My life's work is complete." Izuku gazed at the creature. It stared back. His confusion gave way to a horrid realization.
"Brother, what's wrong?" The beast spoke to him. In a twisted broken voice. He didn't remember when he started crying. Or even, when the cries gave way to wretched wails. His anguished screams were the same as the day he tried to raise his mother back from the dead. Again. Why? Why did it have to happen again? Behind him Tucker laughed and shuffled the papers on his desk.
"My greatest work. Everyone will see. I was right. I was absolutely right." Izuku, in a fit of rage, recalled the brief moments back on that fateful night. The feeling came naturally. His palms came together with a loud clap. Together they hit the ground and a bright glow filled the dark room. The light illuminated the twisted, anguished face he still had. The ground moved and reshaped into a small short sword. Tightly, he grasped the handle. The sword broke through the skin of his back and came out of his chest. The sword had broken two ribs and shredded a hole in his lung. Tucker slumped onto the desk and Izuku pulled the sword out. The creature pushed her snout against his leg.
"Please, no hurt daddy." Izuku dropped the sword and cradled her head. "Don't cry, brother." Once he started, he couldn't stop. The tears spilled endlessly. He embraced Nina and cried. They split apart and Izuku looked around. He grabbed the chalk from the board and drew an alchemic circle around Nina. Each sigil carefully drawn and every line perfect. Again, he clapped his hands and prayed to every deity he could think of. The bright glow of his alchemy shined.
"Please. Give her back. Give her back. GIVE HER BACK." Izuku sobbed and screamed. His right had disappeared and blood fell from the open wound. He had been denied again. Just like before, he couldn't save someone. After that, it all passed in a haze. He didn't remember the police and heroes entering the building and surveying the carnage that remained. Tucker was face down in a pool of his blood. Nina had been fried by the failed alchemy. Her once doglike corpse was completely fried. Izuku was no better. He was face down in his own blood, crying and pleading to nothing. The heroes carefully cleaned up the situation and Izuku was sent back to the orphanage. He would wait for a chance to redeem his mistakes.
***
He eventually enrolled at UA. He aced the written exam and destroyed robots with ease with his alchemy. People there were so nice. So many people. He tried. He really tried. He gave everything he had. But, he was just a second too late. Once more, a girl he loved died because he failed to save her. Again he clapped his hands. Teachers stood on the top of the stairs. All Might was collecting himself from his fight with the Nomu. The students were shocked at All Mights heroics. He couldn't remember the moment of relief he felt when All Might won. However, he vividly remembers the sinking in his gut. The pale and bloody face of one, Momo Yaoyorozu. Her body had slumped forward at the torso and rested against the rocks of the earth zone. Before he registered the gravity of her situation, he had sprinted towards her. His first instinct was to check for a pulse. He felt around her neck for a pulse but couldn't find it. He then moved to her wrist and held it. Desperately, he was hoping he would feel something, anything. Nothing happened. No thumps. No beats. He laid his head on her chest hoping to hear breathing or her heartbeat. She was impossibly cold. She was gone. Dead. Gingerly, he rested her flat on the ground. In a fit of denial, he resulted to chest compressions. He pushed hurriedly at her chest. Before long, the other students and teachers crowded around Midoriya and Momo. Everyone held their breath and others began to openly cry. His frustration boiled over and he raised his clasped hands to the sky. They slammed down on Momo's chest. Dejected, he fell onto her and kept a sturdy grip of the shoulder straps of her hero suit. Her eyes, the ones who held so much elegance and wonder, now were completely vacant. Her light had snuffed. The look in her eyes triggered the memories he had repressed many times over. Everything flooded back. The funeral where it was just him and his deadbeat of a father. His father had the gall to show up with his new girlfriend. The calloused hand of the social worker. The loving look from his first real father figure, Shou Tucker. The happy laughs and giggling he shared with Nina. The monstrosity Tucker created. The blood. The destruction. The pain. The loss. The uselessness.
The resounding clap echoed through the USJ. His hand slammed onto her stomach and illuminated them both. Finally, he was back. After so long, he was face to face with Truth. The blank white figure smiled widely.
"What can I help you with Izuku?" Truth spoke brashly.
"Please. Just this once. Please." Izuku laid his forehead on the ground and begged with everything he had.
"And why should I ? What do I have to gain?" Truth closed in and remained nose to nose with Izuku.
"I'll give anything. Take my arm or my leg. TAKE MY HEART RIGHT OUT OF MY DANN CHEST. I DON'T CARE. PLEASE SAVE HER. SHE'S EVERYTHING TO ME.pleasepleaseplease." Izuku shouted out. The familiar tears slipped down his cheeks. Truth continued smiling. For a moment he pondered everything he had been told.
"Alright. Let's make a deal." Truth leaned back and held a hand towards him.
" Yes, please. Take whatever you want." Izuku grabbed the hand and all but shouted.
"Well, Izuku. You want something, so let me hear your proposal." Truth happily told Izuku.
"Take anything. Take my heart. Take my life if you have to." Izuku stood up and slammed a fist onto his heart. Truth basked in the situation and gleefully skipped around.
"I'll give half of my life for half of hers. Please. Let us live a little longer then you can receive your payment. You can take all of me. Everything of mine will be yours." Izuku yelled out. Truth turned around. Suddenly he spun around and flung his arms out.
"Wonderful. We have made a deal. Half of your life for half of hers. I love it. I can't wait to watch all the entertaining moments of your remaining life." Truth snapped his fingers and Izuku felt the familiar pull of the, once scary, door behind him.
"I can't wait to see you two again in 15 more years. Enjoy it while it lasts." Truth whispered before pushing him out of the dreamscape.
Izuku startled out of the trance. He choked on the incoming air and coughed at the sudden tightness in his chest. He noticed the lack of eyes around him. The students and teachers had been dispersed. It was only him and Momo. Speaking of Momo, he could feel the soft rise of her torso under his shaky hands. He hauled her body into his weak arms and held her close.
From that moment on, they were tied together by fate and by the power of Equivalent Exchange. Their life's now one in the same. One half belongs to the other. Forever until their card is punched by Truth. Until then, they would enjoy the fruits of youth and the joys of life that remained previously out of touch. The ties that bonded them now were far deeper than anyone could ever understand. They would never understand the pure elation. This wasn't just some girl. No, she is the only girl. The only girl he was able to save. At least, for a little while. For he gave half of his life, for half of hers.
