despite the scars

chapter 3 - kairosclerosis

Izuku slowly started to wake up, everything was blurry, but there were figures moving around in front of him. He quickly rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. Before him stood two people in nurse's outfits. Their hands stretched out to touch him as he tried to tell them to stay away, he didn't want to be touched! No words came out of his mouth when he tried to stop them, not even a noise, only air.

He backed himself into the corner of the bed, the nurse's mouths were moving but he couldn't hear their words over the ringing in his ears. Izuku placed his hands on top of his ears to stop the ringing, tears were running down his face, he wanted them to leave him alone, they were going to hurt him, they would torture him like his father did.

The nurses kept going, both slowly reaching their hands towards him, he closed his eyes and pushed his hands in front of him out of pure instinct. his breathing was labored and strained, his panicked state worsening his condition. After a few seconds of nothing happening Izuku opened his eyes. His hands were holding a moving ball of... something. Izuku couldn't really tell what it was, all he knew was that it was warm and comforting. The ball was made of tendrils of light that became one in the center, the bundle emanated a wonderful red-orange glow. It made Izuku happy and warm inside, he wanted it closer to him.

Slowly, the tendrils reached out further, grazing his palms and fingers, but still, Izuku wanted it closer. They stopped to rest at random along his hands before worming their way into his skin, it didn't hurt, quite the opposite. They felt happy, they made his hands warm before the heat spread to the rest of his body. It wasn't as prominent as before, but he still loved the feeling, he loved how content the warmth made him feel, how safe he felt.

His peaceful moment was stopped when he heard footsteps in the hallway, he looked out the open door, noticing the nurses and random objects on the floor in the process, outside the door he saw a man with short brown hair who ran away shortly after seeing the scene. He was going to go tell the doctors, they were going to hurt him for hurting the nurses, he just knew it. Izuku didn't want to be hurt, he didn't like being punished, so he ran.

Izuku jumped out of the hospital bed, ripping off multiple machines in the process, running over to the window by the bed, Izuku tried using his newfound quirk again. Placing his hands in front of the window, he thought of the tendrils and the warmth they gifted him, he called for that energy once again, closing his eyes during the process.

Izuku heard a small crack in front of him, looking at his hands again he saw the same ball, if not slightly smaller. Absorbing it into his hands again, he felt the warmth spread through his body. He looked at the window to see it cracking and gathering frost. Izuku took the last bit of heat from the window making it shatter onto the floor.

He wasted no more time in escaping, jumping out of the window, Izuku made cushions on his feet from the leftover bundle to soften his three story fall. The balls of light quickly made their way back to Izuku's open skin while he happily absorbed them.

Izuku looked around wearily before taking a step forward, he didn't want to go back, not to his father and not to the hospital. He knew he had to leave the area, hospital people were sure to be looking for him. Izuku started walking slowly, he had so many questions and no answers, why did he suddenly have powers? Why couldn't he talk? Did his father do it? What was his quirk? Although Izuku knew he'd have to wait until he found food and shelter to properly deliberate on these topics.

Moving slowly and deliberately, he started his journey towards freedom, towards a new life. A life away from all the bad people, Izuku Midoriya started his new life at the age of ten, from now on he was a nobody to the world, only a shadow in the night, an ant under a boot.

At least, that was his plan