A Second Chance (IzuOcha Future Story)

After The Explosion

Society itself has put you at such a pedestal, that the moment heroes collapse in this world, society will fall along with it.

There have been concerns about the choice I've made, but I know with your help, we will make this festival the best and safest one there is. It will be a festival never to be forgotten!

I realise now. That I would rather have an unrequited love than ruining the friendship that we had during U.A.

I hope... that we can still be friends, Deku...

"... Deku? Deku, can you hear me? Midoriya?"

Izuku could just barely hear a voice, passing through his foggy, unconscious mind. As he slowly came to, he could feel his body lying on the cold ground, with his head turned on its side, causing his cheek to be pressed against the floor. He squinted his eyes and grunted as he slowly turned his head out front, feeling it pound loudly as he did.

"Deku? Can you hear me?" He heard the same voice piercing through his cloudy thoughts, prompting him to slowly open his eyes. His head continued to pound in protest, but he persevered. His vision initially was blurring, only just making out a misshaped figure over him. As his vision started to become clearer, the blurred figure soon morphed into a blue-haired person, whose concerned expression switched into relief the moment Izuku's eyes were finally wide open.

"I... Iida?" Izuku finally spoke, feeling his voice scratch as he did.

"Oh, Deku! Thank goodness you're OK." Iida exclaimed, placing his hand on his chest and letting out a deep sigh of relief. "How are you feeling now?"

"M-My head... aches..." Izuku mentioned, coughing slightly at the dryness of his throat.

"Yeah, you seemed to have hit your head pretty bad. But don't worry, I managed to wrap it up, so it shouldn't be a problem for the time being." Iida informed him. Curious, Izuku lifted his hand up and touched his forehead, feeling the rough, but soft bandage around it.

"Oh... I see..." He simply said before attempting to sit up from his prone position.

"Oh, I don't think that..."

"It's OK, Iida. I-I'm fine." He insisted, stopping his friend's protest. With that, Iida helped him sit up, leaning him against a wall behind them.

"Is that better?" He asked.

Izuku nodded his head, but instantly regretted it as pain surged from his head. "Yeah... Thank you, Ingenium."

Iida smiled. "Of course, Deku. Always happy to help."

Izuku smiled back slightly, before furrowing his eyebrow, seemingly trying to remember something. "What... What happened?"

"I'm not entirely sure." Iida answered. "We saw another explosion in the distance, but we couldn't engage as we were still focused on the civilians. But then, I got radioed by Shoto and while the audio was scratched, I understood that a few of you were in the vicinity of the explosion."

At that moment, Izuku's memories eventually came back to him – the capture of Vanish, him disappearing from their grasp again, Vulture's warning and then the explosion. His eyes widened in fear and he immediately tried to get up, but the sudden shock of pain on one of his legs, one that he didn't feel before, caused him to sit back down, gritting his teeth.

"No, Deku! You mustn't get up yet." Iida insisted strongly, placing his hands on Izuku's shoulder. "I may have allowed to sit up, but I'll not allowing to stand on your feet until we've checked you over."

"S-Sorry!" Izuku said through his teeth, taking deep breaths for calm himself from the sudden pain. Once he managed to do so, he looked at Iida again, fear still presented in his face. "V-Vulture, Shoto and Ground Zero were with me when the explosion happened. Are they...?"