7.

『DREAM』

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IZUKU'S POV

I had a dream.

"Wait, Kacchan, wait!" I stumbled after a small boy with ash-blonde hair that was running far ahead of me, my tiny feet tripping me up in the process. Landing flat on my face, I felt a stinging pain on my cheek, arms and knees. I felt my eye faucets turn on, and not long after, tears started to leak onto the dusty ground.

I heard vibrations, small tremors in the ground, from where I lay faceplanted, signifying someone's arrival.

"Ah, Izuku, you really are so helpless. Are you hurt anywhere? Here, I'll help you up!" I looked up to see the same boy grinning over me, extending a hand.

"Uu..." I reached for the hand as it pulled me up, then burrowing into the shoulder of the person who owned the hand, sniffling. "I-I fell... I fell, Kacchan..."

"Don't worry, Izuku! It's just a small scratch! You're strong, you'll get over it immediately! And I'll always protect you!"

"I'll always protect you!"

A small voice resonated suddenly within my mind.

"When did that promise get broken?"

Then, suddenly, I was much older, parkouring from building to building while using OFA. I'd never felt that much bliss before. Wind rushed through my curly hair, tousling it. The harsh breeze whistled melodies in my ear as I jumped. I let the soft draughts stream through my hero clothes, sighing with exhilaration.

The same voice spoke up again.

"'Becoming a Hero', fulfilling your childhood dream... When did you achieve that? Or rather, how will you do that, now, as the tightrope you walk on that separates you from life and death has thinned?"

I blinked, and then that scene disappeared.

This time, I was in a space that was completely black, save for a tiny speck of light in the distance.

I tried to move towards it, but I couldn't. I was getting weighed down by something.

Sweat ran off of me. I felt it drip down. I struggled to lift my feet. It felt like I was wading in tar.

"When did you start letting others drag you down with them?"

Then, I was somewhere in a white void.

All of a sudden, a waterfall of crimson began gushing out from above my head. I felt its' sticky warmth on my head. Raising my right hand, which I noticed, was riddled with scars, I felt around my matted hair. Bringing my arm back to myself, I saw the maroon-stained liquid.

Look down.

The ruby-red fluid pooled around my pale feet.

That voice again.

"Too caring. Too selfless. Too persistent. Look where it got you?"

I stepped forward, then turned and looked up.

Huh?

The space above me suddenly turned into a velvety dark blue, with white specks of light scattered amongst it.

I lowered my head slightly, admiring how the rich navy blue at the top of the sky faded into a purple the colour of hyacinths, to a blood-red sunset, then to a pale, washed up yellow at the bottom of the sky.