Body over mind. Willpower over heart. Isn't it all the same? No. Screaming and burning flames. Buildings collapsed and precarious pieces of debris lingering by a hair. Buildings burnt to a chard, black and crackling as it falls apart. Asphalt cracked and dirty with small droplets of blood painting it.

     There was no other option. He had to get up. He has to. There isn't another option. He can't let them down. Not his mom. Not All Might. Not his friends, nor his teachers. No one. If he didn't get up, what would he stand for?

     For one, he wouldn't even be standing at all. He's stuck in his flat paralyzed position. Body on the ground, arm under his stomach and the other sprawled out in front of him in a desperate cry for help. Cheek in the cement and costume in the wind. Body still as a statue, and skin colder than ice. He just laid there. No matter how hard he tried to lift his arm, he couldn't. He tried to move his legs, they were heavy. Really heavy.

     The feeling of more than twenty dumbbells attached to his entire leg. Not just one but both. His arms looped through weights that were meant to be bench pressed felt like they were on his arms instead. His head was an entirety on its own. A bowling ball of sorts, just heavy enough to lift with one good hand. He couldn't even lift his head if he wanted to.

     He couldn't move. Not one bit. The screaming seemed to fade in and out as his mind was brought back to life as if someone punched him with a brass knuckle ring. His eyes are open but the outside is darker than he remembered. He can smell the rubbery burnt smell and dirt as his face is smooshed up against it. It made his head hurt much more than it already did.

     His brain was mushy, and no amount of clarification would rehabilitate his thoughts coherently. Why was it always him? Fuzzy sounds made his ears ring and his mind felt light and floaty, but his head kept his brain grounded. Therefore, he couldn't lift his head. His whole body was either in excruciating pain, or ultimately numb. Both were horrible to deal with. One minute his body is cold, the next raising temperatures as he felt bile rise up in his throat.

     He wiggles his fingers, ever so slightly. He can't breath. That's when he noticed he was still living. The fact that he couldn't breathe. He tried to cry out but all that came out was a hoarse mumbled that nobody heard. His mind starts to conjure restless images. No one could hear him. He was alone. Well, maybe not alone alone, his friends weren't there. No one was there to save him. And he couldn't save himself. He had to get up at this point.

     Still feeling his anxiety sky rocketing and his heart pounding in his already ringing ears only made the nausea worse. His body was beyond its limit, and he didn't have enough energy to get up. Why is this time different?

     Is it the fact that he used too much power again? His arms didn't feel broken, neither did his legs. But they felt useless. That's when the second wave of anguish slapped him. He couldn't feel a damn thing.

     The tears collected in the corners of his eyes and blood dropped from his nose. He couldn't feel his legs. He couldn't even move them. Why was that the case? Did he... He couldn't have, could he? He just couldn't not be able to move. This was his body. He needed this instrument to carry him through and through. And he destroyed it. It finally gave up on him. He tried to call out but couldn't. Once again, there was no sound, only a low rumbled. He tried to scream but that only made a metallic substance force it's way past his lips and onto the ground.

     Another thing to worry about. He was bleeding out. Internally and externally. No. No! It wasn't supposed to turn out this way. How did everything go to shit within half an hour?

     Deku...

     That's what he was. He was a Deku. He will always be Deku. He couldn't even move his arms. He either lost function and feeling due to overpowering them, or... he really had paralyzed himself. Or had it been the villain.

     His attention was closing in on that alone. The villain. He hadn't beaten the villain, had he? He needed to know. He needed to see. But... he couldn't.

     Deku...

     That's his name. That's his name, right? Was it his name? He needs to remember who he is and where he came from.

     He is a hero. He had amazing friends. They are his family. His family is fighting. Family had to protect family. He can't protect his family. He can't activate his quirk... WAIT WHAT!

    Panic settling in for the fourth time, he can't activate One for All. He's trying, but it's almost like their not giving him permission. He coughs and more blood spills out. The taste is horrible but it's replaced by the burning sensation in his abdomen. An abdomen he can't even look at because his body won't move!

     For the first time in a long while, he was losing hope. He was supposed to be hopeful. How can that happen when he was inches away from death. He already felt his embers knock on deaths doorstep. His eyes clouded but his mind screamed no.

     Deku...

     "Deku?!"

     Izuku started crying. He couldn't speak. He couldn't move. He couldn't say where he was or how horrible he felt. He coughed up more blood, litters spilling out of his mouth. His chest ached with a blinding rage and he puked the littlest amount of blood. Or, at least, it seemed to be a little amount. His torso felt wet and thick.

     "Deku!? Where are you?!" another voice. A different higher pitched voice than the first.

     He could feel something build in the back of his throat. And he may not want to admit it to himself, but he knew exactly what it was. He would die knowing his family had been searching for him.

     Midoriya Izuku, felt his life slipping away. First it was his feet. He may not have been able to move them, but for some reason he regained the slightest feeling and then felt as if they were vanishing from his body. He knew they were still there, but it's almost like his own feet were disappearing and becoming nothing but as hollow as the wind.

      "Deku— DEKU, OH MY GOD!"

     "Shit!"

     "MIDORIYA?!"

     "HURRY!"

     He heard the muffled cries of familiar voices. He almost smiled, glad that they were okay. They weren't dead like he was about to be. Knowing that he could finally accept death and let go.

     "Don't you DARE let go, DEKU!"

     Kacchan. Did he have a mind reading quirk? Izuku wanted to laugh again but as he did, blood just bubbles from his throat and down came the rain. "Is he—"

     "He's alive! Barley, but still alive," a sweet slight husky voice came into play.

     "Guys, I don't thinks he's—"

     "DON'T YOU DARE SAY IT!" he felt a few hands carefully turn him over. He coughed and blood drizzled down his cheek. "Goddamnit!"

     He felt pressure on his stomach and a shooting pain that had his eyes rolling to the back of his head before his eyes went black. Like a light shutting off to bless the room in a shadowy dark abyss.

     Next he felt light as a feather but stiff as a board.

     Feeling a strong body lean him up carefully but swiftly as his form was suddenly picked up. An arm under his knees as he felt wind rush past his face. He couldn't bring his heavy eyelids to see light, but he could feel movement. He was held securely, and he could only guess who it was. He almost couldn't believe it either, knowing that he would die in the arms of his former best friend. His rival. His reason for becoming a hero. His victory.

     If they won, this certainly would be a victory. And that he would be able to accept before he was welcomed within the makings of quirk essence.

     Blaring sirens and wheels being rolled on cracked ground was one of the first sounds he picked up after waking up to his body still being held. People asking questions and urgent voices. Shouting and petrified screams. He felt his body touch something comfy and firm. His head lie on something soft. His neck was sitting straight as he felt something wrap around it. Everything happened in a flash.

     He feels people talking professionally, and the zipper to his costume being unzipped all the way. Scissors cutting it up to reveal more skin. His black leg supports being taken off along with his shoes and hands pressed on the most painful parts of his body. Once again, blackout.

<><><><>

     He wakes up again to the sound of bursting doors. He squints at the lights above and feels a bright light shine directly into his eyes. He couldn't really think, all he could do was watch the scene unfold before his eyes. Darkness again.

<><><><>

     A warm hand cupped his own. That was the first feeling he felt. The second had been the tub at his side, draining some type of fluid build up in his body. There was an obvious I.V drip and a blood transfusion in process. Oxygen was forced up his nose and into his mouth. He could think a little more clearly, but there was this dull aching sensation his whole body felt.

     His torso wrapped tightly and he tried to sit up before a shooting pain ruptured in him, and he coughed before settling back down. The cough seemed to do more harm than good as he tried to stop. His throat was dry. Painfully dry but he couldn't say anything as he slipped out of consciousness once again.

<><><><>

     The next time he woke up was to the sound of snoring, and the tube at his side had been gone. There was no light in the room and it was really dark, but small light from the moon and door illuminated just enough light to make our figures and shapes. Izuku wiggles his fingers and felt the clip on his index taking heart rate measures. He wanted to laugh.

     He turned his head until a small pain stuck him. His eyes tried to adjust, and he saw a sleeping older man. All Might.

     He almost looked like he'd aged a few years. Two more wrinkles on his forehead and more grayish hairs. Izuku tried lifting his arm, and he almost burst into tears as he could feel them. He felt them. He felt pain, but he felt something. Izuku places his palm on his mentors knee and shook it a little.

     All Might stirred and Izuku squeezes as hard as he can manage and All Might opened his eyes to see Izuku's wobbly eyes with tears. "Izuku..."

     He almost jumped out of his seat but kept his composure as Izuku let out quiet sobs, his body shaking, trying not to be loud. All Might got up, ignoring the slight cracking of his bones and hugged Izuku firmly, but being very mindful of his injuries.

     "Oh, my boy..." All Might cooed. He pulled away and thoughtfully wipes Izuku's tears away. "It's pretty late..." All Might says and Izuku chuckles lightly, feeling a dull ache in his chest and abdomen. All Might's hand brushed Izuku's bangs out of his face and the look was so thoughtful. All Might was so caring and gentle, almost like his mother but in a different way. A fatherly way.

     "Al... Mi...t" Izuku tried.

     "Don't speak, it's alright," All Might reaches over and presses the nurse button in fear of leaving Izuku alone to go find one. "Your mother was hear earlier," he continued. "She was very proud of you, but very scared for you. Everyone was. Still is in matter of fact. We were worried you weren't going to make it,"

     Izuku felt his heart drop. He almost died. He did die. He just knows at one point his heart stopped.

     Izuku becomes sleepy just as the doctor swiftly walked through the door. He couldn't remember what happened after that, but his throat was less dry.

<><><><>

Izuku opened his eyes, not needing to strain his eyes as the room lights were off but sunlight shone through the glass. Izuku's body still felt run down and incapable of full use, but his neck felt better and less stiff. He could feel more movement to his other extremities.

     Izuku looked to the side to see Katsuki. Katsuki started at him with wide eyes. Izuku smiled at him with tears collecting in the corners of his.

     This is where they needed to talk.