Third person pov

Izuku's head hurt.

It did that sometimes. Drove him fucking nuts. It was like a war was raging in his head, or a tornado was spinning about, knocking into the sides of his skull and rattling his brain. It made him grit his teeth and squeeze his eyes shut. His ears would start to hurt too, and so would his eyes. Everyone knew not to mess with him during these times. Well, all the villains, anyway. Not the people he was close to because of his cover, and not his mother, who had assumed for years that he was her perfect little boy. He did love his mom, of course. He wasn't completely heartless.

He'd really screwed the pooch on this one, however. Lillian Faust-- or he supposed she was Lillian Aizawa. That had been a twist, that's for sure-- had been deemed a threat. A threat he was supposed to neutralize on life television to dampen the hearts of the nation and the world as a whole. Ever since she rising to the level of public influencer, it had become pretty obvious she would be a great way to weaken hero society. She had a lot of connections, and had played a notable role in the taking down of one of Japan's biggest phonies, Endeavor. She was a known friend of the winged hero Hawks, who would surely be jumping into Japan's Number One spot after this.

And now look at him. Freezing in the back of a armored truck with his failure resting heavy on his shoulders and a pair of cuffs nearly identical to the ones they'd put on Bakugo! It was less than ideal. It's not like this hadn't been the endgame. He just thought maybe he'd have a little more pride, you know? That he would've done what he was supposed to. Instead he was stuck back here knowing the body of Yosetsu Awase was cold and not Lillian's. His luck truly was sour.

He hadn't really planned to become a villain. Not at first. Then Bakugo had to go on and push a little too hard, and his mother's glance had to be a little too pitying when he talked about being a hero. And then, of course, All Might! God, fucking All Might. Told him straight up that his dream wasn't reachable, only to turn around and suddenly decide he was worthy? And then tell him the only way he could be a hero was with his quirk?! Fucking bullshit! But he wasn't about to turn it down.

It was around then that sensei found him, and... well, it was all downhill from there. He was truly a piece of work! A failure as a hero, and a failure as a villain. Go figure.

He broke the deafening silence in the back of the truck with a laugh. The first one bubbled out unbidden, and the second forcing its way out soon after. It didn't take long for him to devolve completely into laughter. Full-blown, hysterical laughter. It was the type that made his gut clench and tears prick his eyes. This was just such a shit show! What was his life?! He'd gone and become the opposite of everything he wanted to be out of spite, he'd fallen in fucking love with someone too good for him, and then destroyed every good thing in his life! It was a mess!

So, he laughed. Or maybe he was crying. He really wasn't sure. He didn't really care all that much at this point. He had literally nothing else to lose. The villains wouldn't be rescuing him after his failure. Shigaraki hadn't ever been fond of him, and Sensei was out of commission, at least for now. He knew for a fact they wouldn't be risking their hide this fast. One For All or not, he wasn't worth it.

The thought sobered him slightly, bringing his laughter to a breathy chuckle. He gazed almost blankly at the metal wall of the truck, taking a deep breath and trying to gather himself. His gaze dropped to his cuffs, and he found himself frowning. He had a lot to think about in the coming days. As far as heroes and villains went, he already knew he didn't want either side to win. He wanted things to be better. He wanted Hero Society to fucking right itself! Being in 1-A had given him hope, but he still wasn't sure. After Endeavor, everyone was rightfully suspicious. It was enough to make Izuku devolve into muttering.

The truck revved to life and started to move. A grin took its place back on his face as he settled back for the drive ahead. He had a feeling it would take a while.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They spent the night in Hitoshi's hospital room. Tsukauchi had come by to check on them all, but hadn't asked for any statements. Not tonight. He quietly informed them that Izuku was alive despite being frozen in a hunk of ice and that he'd been transported without issue to a holding facility. Bakugo had muttered a few curses, and Aizawa had given a grim nod, but there were no other reactions outside of those. Everyone felt too tired and too downtrodden to say much of anything. Lillian was exhausted, but she couldn't sleep. Even though she knew she was safe, that didn't mean she felt safe. She wondered how long it would be before she stopped tasting ash and blood on her tongue.

Lillian was already stressing about the days to come. She could already tell this wasn't something she'd be recovering easily from. It sucked to know you'd been traumatized and be aware that there wasn't much you could do about it. She didn't want it to bother her, but it did. She couldn't help but feel absolutely terrified. What was it going to be like, going back to school? Everyone had seen what happened. Everyone had seen that Mr. Aizawa was her dad, and that Izuku wasn't at all who he said. Thinking about it was overwhelming.

Her dad had stayed in the room the entire time in an attempt to provide a further sense of security for her to grasp at. Nurses came in and fussed heavily over him, looking at his eyes and trying to force him to get some scans done. He refused. Shota hadn't experienced any impact. Even if his eyes hurt more than they ever had in his entire time as a pro-hero, he wasn't leaving this room. He could rest his eyes right here just fine. The hospital chair he'd stationed himself in was uncomfortable and was making his back cramp, but he couldn't find it in himself to care as Lillian slowly decompressed next to him. She was far from okay, but she was doing as well as she could given the situation currently.

Bakugo was someone else they couldn't get to leave. Mitsuki had come in and tried to remove him several times. After Inko came in and broke down, he seemed to become almost clingier with Lillian. Nobody knew why. Bakugo wasn't about to tell them it was because Inko's eyes made him nervous, because that was dumb as shit. He just... Lillian had looked right at him. Their gazes had connected, and then she'd fallen. She fell away in a matter of seconds, and he hadn't been able to react. Not fast enough. And then she'd been taken again! He'd been useless! He hadn't been able to stop it either time, and now they were here. He knew it wasn't all his fault. He knew it wasn't his fault All Might had retired, or that Lillian was shaking like a leaf in the wind. It just... he felt like he'd played a role in it. 

He knew Izuku had gone to villainy at least partially because of him. His incessant, dumbass bullying had driven him to that point, and he knew it too. Had he just laid of and acted like a decent human being, this never would've happened. IcyHot wouldn't be having a complete metal breakdowns, and Lillian wouldn't be buried in his side, shivering and staring down at her lap as she tried to figure out where everything had gone down. Had he caused this all? Was this event something that had been years in the making, set off ultimately by him? It sure seemed that way.

Neito fell asleep leaning against Mihoko, and Hitoshi drifted off holding Lillian's hand in his only remaining one. The freckled girl, Bakugo, and Aizawa were some of the few still awake. Mic had left to go take care of some stuff so Aizawa wouldn't have to. Nobody dared turn on the TV or check the news. They knew they had to be in a frenzy over All Might's weakened form and his announced retirement. Over Izuku Midoriya being a traitor and shooting another student on live television. On so many people coming to defeat All For One, all because Lillian needed them. Not to mention Aizawa had essentially brought the villain down with a single look.

Nurses came in and out. Hajime checked on them and on Hitoshi regularly, always giving a quiet offer of food or something from the vending machine. Lillian had begrudgingly accepted a drink after she got her dad to promise he'd drink something too. Then she'd roped Bakugo into it, which almost didn't work but then Lillian had started to cry again because the emotions were just too much. Neito had panicked because was panicking, Hitoshi had panicked because both of them were panicking, and then Mihoko had burst into the room with her arms full of water bottles. It had been fairly intense. The brief moment of complete insanity hadn't lasted too long, but it had worn them out all the more.

It was around three in the morning that Lillian drifted off, falling against Bakugo. The blond just crossed his arms over his chest and let her stay there, his eyes finally fluttering closed. Aizawa was left the only one awake, silently watching over them all. He was used to staying up for long periods of time. Even if he tried, he was sure he wouldn't be able to sleep like this. His heart was still pounding. Not to mention his eyes still stung like hell even with all the ibuprofen he'd taken. They hurt in a way that made him think they wouldn't ever stop. He didn't know. He could feel an improvement in them. Everything felt like it would never end right now.

It was about four when Shoto stumbled in with Hawks in tow and Rei on his heels. The woman's brow was creased with concern. Just about everyone shot awake. Hitoshi, who was still under the influence of a lot of painkillers, was the only one to stay in a state of unconsciousness. The half-and-half teen looked horrible. His hair was tangled to high heaven, the red and white blending together messily. His eyes were puffy and red-rimmed, and his shoulders still shook as he tried to process everything. For him, Izuku had been it! Or so he'd thought. But sometimes, relationships didn't work out. He knew that going in.

This was a whole other kind of 'not working out.' This was a betrayal that... god, Shoto didn't know. He didn't know what to do or how to feel. He felt horrible. Seeing Izuku try to shoot someone he loved and adored and viewed as both a sister and a friend broke something in him he didn't even know existed. It ran a lot deeper than just regular old heartbreak. It was something he didn't know how to process. For several hours, all he could really do was bury his face in Hawks' shoulder and cry. He knew Hawks wasn't much older than him, but that one week internship with him had meant a lot more to Shoto than it probably should've. He wasn't saying he saw Hawks as a father, but he viewed him in a different light. 

"Shoto." Lillian breathed, raising from her seat. He rushed to meet her in a hug.