A Second Chance (IzuOcha Future Story)

A Turn Of Events

The crowd in the festival had increased by the time Izuku left the tent, to the point where he may had to squeeze pass them to get to the shooting range. At least, he was trying to, but his mind kept going back to the tent. To where he nearly confessed to Uraraka.

He was feeling surprisingly quite frustrated, but he didn't know whether he was frustrated because that he got interrupted by Bakugo before he had the chance to say or frustrated that he somehow forgot why he wasn't going to tell her in the first time. Even if she did return those feelings, there was still the fear that his dedication to becoming the number one hero would shatter any chance of a relationship.

"Come on, Izuku. Focus!" He scolded himself, rubbing his face with his hand as he tried to focus his attention back into finding the shooting range. He couldn't lose focus of his goal - both in his hero duties and in keeping his true feelings at bay. 

Once he managed to bring his mind to focus, he continued on, remembering seeing the attraction near the middle of the festival when he first entered, so he headed in that vague direction. As he did, he started to think about the call.

To others, it would sound like Bakugo was sounding like his usual self, but Izuku, being around him for so long way before U.A., had noticed a slight waver in his voice. A sense of unease that rubbed him the wrong way.

"I hope nothing bad has happened already."

After minutes of walking, the shooting range finally came into view. It was a classic, friendly shooting range, with the moving targets being dressed as villains and fake plastic guns decorated with pro heroes. As Izuku began to walk in between the stall and another next to it, some of the participants saw him and waved to him. He gladly waved back before heading down. Walking down further, he ended up outside of the festival and into a maze of dark alleyways.

"Ground Zero! Red Riot!" He called out as he began to pick up the pace, turning corners as he called for them. He soon used his Quirk, not only allow him to find his friends quicker, but to provide some light as the alleyways were pitch black, with only the occasional spots of lights shining through.

"Kacchan! Kirishima! Where are you?" He shouted again.

"Deku! Over here!" The voice of Kirishima directed him to another corner where he found his red-haired friend waving at him at the middle of an alleyway.

"Hey! You guys are pretty far from the Hero Festival." He commented once he reached him, turning off his Quirk.

"Yeah, well... it might be for the best." Kirishima said, looking clearly uneasy. Worry started to form in Izuku as his friend led him down the rest of the alley and turned the corner. The moment they did, he gasped. He froze and his eyes widened in shock and fear.

A splatter of blood stared back at him that covered the right-side wall, while some found its way sliding down onto the path below. The only light in the alleyway shone at the blood, making it stand out even more. He was so shaken by this that he almost didn't noticed Bakugo there, crouching down next to the blood.

"Finally. Took you long enough." Bakugo addressed him, though he didn't turn around to face him.

"Wh... W-What happened?" Izuku found his ability to speak again, barely managing to ask the question.

"We're not sure, man." Kirishima answered with disappointment. "We were patrolling the festival, when Bakugo noticed someone suspicious heading down this way. We tried to follow them, but we lost their trail. Soon, though... we came across that." He used his head to gesture towards the red stain in front of them.

"The bastard was trying not to draw attention on themselves." Bakugo stood up, turning to face them. "But I know a villain when I see one."

Izuku let out a deep breath that he didn't know he was holding, clenching his fists to stop them from shaking. This was what he feared. He knew that a villain would attack at some point during the festival, but for it to happen now...