Be Careful What You Wish For

True Despair

The fifth death was Mineta Minoru. Asui was close to join him; she just barely escaped with her life, but with the injuries she sustained, she would never be able to become a hero.

Before the frog girl dragged her broken body to safety and delivered the grim news, everything seemed to fall into place. Izuku escaped the black smoke, Aizawa was still alive-Izuku's arm broken but not crumbled-and All Might was still breathing, the noumu defeated.

Backup finally arrived, and the villains were apprehended. Their warp gate, Kurogiri, and their leader Shigaraki escaped, but everyone was alive.

It was perfect.

"Mineta-chan, he didn't..." Asui pressed her thin lips into a straight line. "I'm the only one who made it out."

Crack.

Izuku swore the sound of his hopes being dashed and stomped on was loud enough for the whole world to hear, but no one except for him reacted to the sound of glass violently shattering. He cringed visibly, the noise like crystal shards cutting into his eardrums which left his ears bleeding and head dizzy.

There was only one option. However, unlike previous repeats, Izuku couldn't rely on someone else to finish the job for him. Every intruder had already been apprehended and arrested.

This reset would have to be carried out by his own two hands.

...it would be easier if they could just. Stop. Shaking.

He almost jumped out of his skin when he felt a heavy hand fall on his shoulder, and couldn't stop the indignant yelp that escaped. Izuku lifted his head to meet an intense gaze, deep blue eyes trained on him. Iida.

The bespectacled boy may have caught him off guard, but his hand was warm. Comforting. As the class representative, he needed to be strong. It was so typical of the tall teen, to try to cheer up his friends even when he himself was hurting so. Uraraka tried the same, hugging Asui close and repeated lines of comfort and consoling words in her ear softly.

"There's nothing you could have done," she attempted. The other girl didn't look like she believed her.

But whether Uraraka was right or not, there was something Izuku could do. Reluctantly, he removed Iida's hand from his sagging shoulders. His skin felt cold and clammy, and he was still trembling. He hoped no one noticed, but then again, soon enough it wouldn't even matter anyways.

"Midoriya-kun?" Iida asked, voice laced with concern. Izuku just gave him a sad smile in return, his usual bright eyes now dull and lifeless. He was just so tired...

"Sorry. I'll do better next time."

And with that, he infused his hands with the power of One for All, before snapping his neck and fell bonelessly to the ground.

Crunch.