Live in a Dream - a Nightmare, actually

-Chapter 1-

I think I'm getting worse.
I feel so dead inside.
Everyday it's getting harder to breathe.
I just want to sleep forever.

Izuku sat at his desk in the empty classroom, shaky hands tracing the pen marks on his notebook while staring blankly at the shadow at the front of the room.

He had seen the shadow many times before, it seemed to follow him everywhere he went, a spy from the government whose sole purpose was to stalk him. He never understood what was compelling them to watch him, nor why they were trying to communicate with him in such confusing ways. They would watch him from everywhere, sending small signs and secret messages meant just for him.

He assumed it was because he was crazy, hearing and seeing things that no others could was definitely not normal or hero-like.

Even sitting alone in the classroom at the most prestigious hero school there was, he could feel the stares of judging strangers coming from every square inch of the walls surrounding him. Their whispers could always be heard in his head, the mean and horrible things they say plaguing his consciousness despite how hard he tried to block them out.

He shifted his gaze to the tall door beside the shadow as he waited desperately for someone, anyone, to walk through and distract him.

Luck was on his side when the bell rang signalling the end of break. It didn't take long for the room to be filled with his classmates, everyone chatting happily with their friendship groups while they waited for Mr Aizawa to enter and begin the lesson.

As the classroom got louder so did the voices, buzzing angrily inside his mind. The rising noise became deafening and he swore he could feel his ear bleeding, a single drop of blood trickled down his cheek to his chin and fell, a loud 'plink' sounded blocking out all noise.

At that time, Mr Aizawa finally made his entrance and all the voices ceased. Aizawa entered the room and made his way to the podium at the head of the class.

"Do whatever you want."

The older man said with his usual tired tone, before zipping up his sleeping bag and leaning to drop on the floor.

Izuku looked back down to his desk, not wanting to do anything. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Uraraka walking towards him. He kept his eyes glued to on the white desk, unwilling to socialise with anyone.

Recently he had found himself having zero interest in doing anything, he just wanted to stay in his dorms all day and never leave, he only ever does for school.

"Hi, Deku!" Uraraka greeted, waving.

"Hi," The greenette said blankly, not bothering to look at her.

She was lying to him every day, pretending to be his friend when all she wanted was to kill him. He knew they all hated him, it was obvious to him.

"Wanna go to the mall with us after school? We're bringing the whole class!" She exclaimed excitedly.

"No"

"Come on please!" She begged, tugging on his hand. Izuku sighed and waved his hand in a dismissive gesture.

"Whatever."

He said. He really didn't care, he didn't want to go, he just wanted to lay hide in my dark room and do nothing. Socialising drains him.

"Yay!" She exclaimed, jumping up, throwing her hand up into the air.

"Also Deku, are you okay? You've been acting kinda weird lately.." She trailed off, looking at Izuku with a concerned look.

"Yeah I'm fine! Just tired." The boy quickly replied putting on my brightest smile he could muster.

The bell for next class rang, and Uraraka beamed at him before rushing back to her seat.

Izuku groaned and fell back onto his bed, feeling his body instantly relax and melt into the warm All Might themed sheets. He relished in the carefree feeling as he felt all his troubles melt away.

Unfortunately this feeling was short-lived when he heard a knock on his door followed by excited chattering. He groaned, forcing his tired body off the bed as he trudged towards the door.

Swinging the door open, he was greeted by Uraraka, Tsuyu, Iida and Todoroki waiting outside, pausing their conversation.

"Hi Deku! Ready to go?"

Uraraka bounced in excitement, before noticing his unkempt uniform. 

"And get dressed first you don't want to go around in messy school clothes do you?"

She gave him a sweet smile, and Izuku tried his best to return it.

Izuku gently closed the door and threw on a hoodie and a pair of jeans while trying to tame his tangled hair. He wanted to enjoy himself, have fun with his friends again. His hallucinations were progressively getting more horrific and realistic recently, and he's been finding it increasingly difficult to feel anything other than fear and misery, each day getting harder to keep his act up. He wanted to be the carefree joyful student of class 1A, and he was until he was cursed by the demons in his mind.

He sighed and mustered up a bright smile as he greeted his fake friends, conversing about upcoming assessments.

He looked up to the ceiling as they made their way through the dormitory halls. The shadow was there, it's long slender limbs dragging itself along in sync with his movements, small white pupils staring into him with such intensity it made his blood run cold.

He looked away and kept talking with his classmates.

Today's going to be a long day.

The outing was going well so far, nothing strange has happened and Izuku was genuinely enjoying himself. He felt as if his burdens just floated away, leaving him to have fun for just a small amount of time.

He knew his curse would come back, it always did, he just hoped it wouldn't be too soon. That's why he wasn't all too surprised when he heard the first whispers returning to his mind, speaking so fast that he couldn't understand what they were saying, it sounded incomprehensible to him.

He stopped walking, causing his classmates to turn around to stare at him, hollow black eyes piercing into his brain. His brain was melting, it was terrifying, but he knew he couldn't show it or they would know just how crazy he is. He held his breath and tried to ignore the horror he was seeing.

He knew it wasn't real, he wasn't dumb, but he always doubted it.

Shaking his head, he caught up with his classmates. He would be lying if he said he wasn't terrified, but he didn't want them to hurt him too, so he sucked it up and put on a smile.

He was about to join the conversation that the students were having, when he heard a scream from behind him.

He frantically whipped his head around to be met with the long hollow 'face' of the shadow right behind him, it had the same white pupils for eyes, staring into him. Izuku's breath hitched and he slapped a hand over his mouth to contain a scream.

His soul left his body as he darted towards the mall exit, frantically dodging the staring strangers in his path. He couldn't breath, tears were streaming down his pale face.

The boy was screaming as he sprinted the short distance back to the UA dorms and immediately locked himself into his dormitory.

Launching himself onto his bead and curled into a ball, trying to breathe, his mind was going crazy and voices were scratching at his brain, cutting deep into the weak organ. His breathing grew more ragged and his lungs were screaming.

He needed to do something.

He sat up on the bed with the little energy he still had, and stared at the wall, ignoring the creepy grin stretched over All Might's face. He squeezed his eyes shut and rammed his head into the wall, knocking himself out immediately.