Running Solo

Chapter 9 - Confusion

~Izuku's Perspective~

I jolted awake, breathing heavily. I tried to sit up, but fell back with a yelp as my battered body throbbed in protest. I groaned and looked around the room I was in. The walls were made of grey stone, as was the floor. The room was just slightly smaller than my bedroom back home. I continued to look around the room, taking stock of the lack of furniture. There was mostly just dirt and dust. There was a door at the other side of the room. The door was made of thick, slightly rusted, grey metal. I shifted slightly and realized that I was lying on a mattress on the floor. The mattress was pressed tightly into the corner of the small room.

I squirmed uncomfortably and felt something scratchy irritating my arms. I realized that there was a blanket covering most of my body. It was a faded light brown and it was scratching and irritating my exposed skin. The blanket was covered in dirt, but that wasn't what made me stiffen. It was the small but numerous blood stains on the blanket that made me feel nauseous. There was no pillow on the mattress, but I was too horrified to care or even notice. However, my attention was quickly caught by something much more pressing then dried blood or a non-existent pillow.

When I had tried to sit up, the blanket had fallen and pooled onto my stomach, revealing my chest. My breathing halted in my throat. I didn't have a shirt on, so I could easily see the thick layers of white bandages that were wrapped tightly on every inch of my visible torso. I breathed again, only to have it hitch in my throat. I could see my hands shaking underneath the scratchy brown blanket. I took a deep shaky breath and slowly pulled my hands out from under the blanket so that I could pull the dirty thing off of me. However, I stopped in shock when my left hand came into view.

It was wrapped in a thin black brace. My hands fell back to my sides, this time on top of the blanket, as I laid there in shock, staring thoughtlessly at the ceiling. However, the minute my hands hit the bed, my shoulder sent a wave of pain rocketing through me. I gasped loudly, then winced a minute later when a smaller wave of pain washed through me. I took a few deep breaths and closed my eyes, trying to calm myself. After my breathing had gained some semblance of normalcy, I used my shaking right hand to pull the blanket off of myself.

My breath hitched in my dry throat again as I took in the scene, my neck craning in an awkward position to try and get a good look. The bandages on my chest ran all the way down my torso. The end to the thick-layered bandages appeared to be hidden beneath my black pants. Except that... my pants were no longer black. I-is that... blood?!  I thought, horrified. I strained my neck even more, trying to see better from my laid back position. I finally gave up on twisting my neck and propped myself up on my elbows.

For a brief moment, my confusion overwhelmed all of my pain, including the new pain in my torso. Where are my shoes and socks?   I thought. In any other situation, the situation probably would have seemed funny, but right now, as the pain and nausea returned and fear settled itself in my chest, all I could do was stare in confused shock. My head split into a painful headache and forced the confusion and nausea away. All that was left in its place was overwhelming pain and a tight fear of the unknown.

I groaned softly as my head continued to throb painfully. I tried to lower myself slowly to my back again, not wanting to hurt my shoulder again. I gasped and dropped the last few inches onto the mattress as sharp pain ripped through my skull. I felt my face tighten into a grimace a the pain continued to overwhelm me. My pain addled mind barely registered the fact that I couldn't remember what had happened to me and I had no clue where I was.

Typically, I would have been panicking over my lack of memories and being in a strange and unfamiliar room. However, I was in too much pain to really register the vague thoughts as they came. It seemed like all of my injuries had chosen that exact moment to come to life, forcing pain to crash continuously throughout my whole body. I grit my teeth and clenched my good fist tightly as another strong wave of pain crashed through me. My nails dug into my palms and I felt a few drops of blood trickle slowly into my clenched palm.

Minutes passed in silence, the only sound was my harsh breathing and the occasional noise of pain. I laid unmoving, my body tense as my nails continued to dig into my palm. Then, just as quickly as it had appeared, the pain vanished. I groaned in relief as my face and body relaxed. I couldn't feel anything now, and it was such a relief. There was no pain, no confusion, no fear. Nothing. I let myself sink into the uncomfortable mattress, keeping my eyes closed. I breathed deeply through my nose, relishing in the lack of pain in my torso. I felt myself falling back to sleep as I took another deep breath. I let myself sink into sleep, hoping that this was just a nightmare and that I would wake up in my own bed. That my mom would be waiting in the kitchen making breakfast and that she would hug me. Unfortunately, I never got what I wanted.

~Time Skip~

I woke up to the sound of footsteps, my emerald eyes flying open and staring at the ceiling. The sound was faint, but seemed close nonetheless. Then the footsteps paused and I heard the sound of a key being turned in a lock. I quickly shut my eyes, finding that breathing had, surprisingly remained the same and I didn't feel scared. I kept my eyes lightly closed, pretending to be asleep. The metal door creaked open on rusty metal hinges.

"He's still out?" a raspy voice whined, sounding frustrated.

"It would appear so." Another voice said quietly. Both speakers sounded male, but the first speaker sounded young. Especially because of the whine in his voice. "The doctor said he should be waking up sometime in the next few days. Just have patience, Tomura-Sishou."

The second speaker had a low, rich voice. He sounded wise and patient. Maybe even a little kind. However, I decide that, although he sounded safe, that didn't mean he wasn't dangerous. I knew I would have to be careful around these people. Especially since I was in a foreign room, covered in injuries, and with absolutely no recollection on how I'd gotten them. The most logical explanation was that these people had given me these injuries and kidnapped me, but they had also taken care of my wounds and said something about a doctor. Had they helped me?

"I can only hope that Sensei will approve of the boy." the patient man said quietly. The whiny man sighed in what sounded like annoyance.

"Why are you so attached to him? You haven't even talked to him yet." the whiny man, Tomura, said. He sounded mocking, but also frustrated. Wait. Did the first guy call Tomura 'master'?  I thought briefly, before Tomura spoke again. "I don't even want to be involved in this."

"And yet, here you are. Checking up on the boy." the second, patient man said. The words themselves sounded condescending and mocking by nature, but the man made them sound like nothing more than a simple observation. Simply an intriguing fact.

"Hmph!" Tomura huffed. "Can we just go get some food? I'm hungry." Tomura whined. Man this guy's whining is getting on my nerves. He's going to add to my headache.

"Very well, Tomura-Sishou. We'll go eat now." the man said with a tired sigh. "But I'm going to bring some food back once we've finished. Just in case he wakes up."

"Fine, Kurogiri! Let's just get going already!" Tomura whined. Now it was really  getting on my nerves.

I heard the man, Kurogiri, sigh as the sound of their footsteps left the room. The door creaked shut and I heard as they locked it. I let out a sigh of relief just before my emotions returned with overwhelming force. My body locked up as the fear and confusion forced their way back into my mind and body. Questions quickly flooded my mind and my breathing began to pick up speed.

Where am I? Who were those people? Were they the ones who hurt me, or did they help me? If they did help me, then why did they lock me in a dirty room rather than taking me to a hospital? Why would they even lock the door in the first place? Especially since there isn't even a handle on this side of the door. It isn't like I could even use the handle if there was one. I couldn't even sit up. And why am I not hurting right now? Where did the pain go? What was wrong with me? What had happened that required such thick layers of bandages? Why? Why?! WHY?!

My mind was racing a mile a minute. And that was how I fell asleep. Lost in confusing and frightening thoughts, I slowly slipped into a dreamless, and thankfully painless, sleep.

A/N - Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I've been writing the chapters in my school notebook so that I can get away with working on them during class. The biggest problem is that it takes me forever to transfer them.😅 I hope that the length of this chapter will make up for my lack of one for this week. Again, sorry about that. Anyways, hope you enjoyed the chapter! 😊