Know It All Izuku

Old Faces

The months on the streets, in a few words, sucked ass. The old woman had taken to beating him when she didn't get enough medicine and he almost always went to bed hungry. His arms were covered in scars due to the old hag's weekly slashes for pity money. 

It wasn't all bad, though. He found that he wasn't the only homeless kid in the area, and had started playing with them. He was the youngest of them at age 5, but they still treated him like an adult. They even started giving him the pills that they all took! They called them "Feel goods," and Izuku loved them. The kids had said they were good for him, and why would he disagree? They distracted him from the pain and sadness, so they were definitely good for him. 

His pickpocketing had increased tenfolds, to the point where he could pass through a crowd and take almost everyone's wallet or phone without causing any suspicion. He had taken to collecting the IDs, credit cards, debit cards, and anything else he found important from the wallets along with the money. He felt powerful against the people he stole from, and that feeling was great. He was a part of their life now, no matter how big or small the take was. He kept his collection hidden from the hag, of course. There was no way she'd take too well to it. Honestly, he had gotten tired of her. The kids on his block all told him that he should leave her, that or to put something in her heroin to kill her off. 

On the really bad nights, after particularly cruel beatings like tonight, Izuku fantasized about mixing something in with her hourly injection and finally getting rid of her. Tonight was different, though. Tonight, he was really going to do it. 

And so he did. He had crushed up most Feel Goods the older kids had gifted him with just for this, saving a few for himself after it was done, and had mixed it in with her heroin powder. A part of him hoped it would work while the other prayed that it didn't. This woman had taken him in when all others had turned him away, but she wasn't a good person. She caused him pain, and so she had to go. 

Later that night, he watched as she seized helplessly on the pavement under the bridge. He was excited. She squirmed around like a snake without a head, and the gravity of what was happening hit him. The woman was dying, and he caused it. Guilt made him run over to her and shake her now lifeless body, and shame was what caused him to take all 5 of the Feel Goods he had saved. 

Death wasn't pleasant. It tore through him hours after he took the pills, causing him to seize and foam at the mouth, just like the hag did. When It was all over though, he was free. Finally free.