Chapter five

Standing outside, sun in his face-he's glad he wears sunglasses. Everyone else is shading their eyes to see the teacher in front of them, the teacher who looks so done with life. Bro, me too.

"We will be doing a quirk apprehension test." He explains the reason of why they're not going to the ceremony, what they will be doing. His eyes scan the crowd before he throws the ball at Bakugou.

"Bakugou, what was your throw in middle school?"

"67 meters." Bakugou steps up and when he's told to use his quirk this time, he grins and preps to throw it. "Die!" he shouts when he releases it with an explosion to propel it.

The beep of the machine sounds and Aizawa-sensei shows the results. 705.2 meters. A girl yells out saying it looks to be fun, earning a glare from the teacher. "Oh? It looks fun, you say? If you're only here to have a grand ol' time for the next three years, what happened to being heroes?" When no one says anything, he continues, "Fine then, new rule, whoever places last will be judged as 'hopeless' and will be expelled."

What? I can't do that! After all of the training and hard work I've done, I'm going to be expelled? I know it'll be me! All these other people have had their quirks for so long! I've just received One for All and I can't do anything other than that! There's my eyes, yes, but what am I going to do there?

Midoriya takes a deep breath and goes through the motions. Many of his skills can't be used in many of the events. He did okay, but he's still behind everyone. He knows he's going to be expelled but he pushes through.

Everything is fine, but the air shifts from warm to cold. A stench of death permits the air. This chills many people, causing them to grow worried and wary on the feeling of hopelessness. Aizawa-sensei frowns and looks around before his eyes land on Midoriya who seems to be unfazed. Some of his students are shuddering, hand pressed against their faces at the reeking stench. He watches the subtle turn of his head turn to the left, lowering his spectacles. No one seems to notice this, no one but him. He can see the boy's lips moving slightly.

The air changes and it's back to normal. What the hell was that? He'll have to keep an eye on the boy.

Didn't he use a scythe as his weapon during the exam? That may be nothing, a few people use weapons. But who uses a scythe?

"Midoriya, you're up."

In the infirmary, Izuku is speaking with Recovery Girl. After the exam, he had to be taken for breaking his finger. As he expected, he came in last but fortunately, it was all a logical ruse that Aizawa-sensei came up with. Although, he found out that he is the underground hero, Eraserhead.

The softball throw was one of the most nerve racking moments in his life, mostly because prior to his turn, Death just had to show up. He had to tell him something but he told him that he's speak to him later-after school. When no one else is around. "Tea-cher watching. "Then he left. He got far in the throw but it wasn't enough and he ranked last.

"Deku! What the hell was that you psycho?" Bakugou is mad and he's going to show that good for nothing idiot! Suddenly, he's stopped in his tracks by white bindings. Izuku owes one to Aizawa-sensei for helping him. If anything, he's just glad that he stopped him from damaging anything.

Maybe the teachers here are better than at his middle school, but still he wasn't entirely sure.

Recovery Girl cuts his thought process off when she finishes scolding the green-haired teen about being more careful before she heals him. Once she does, he deflates a bit with his shoulders slumping down. Somehow, his energy is gone after she healed him. "Why do I feel so tired?" he questions, looking at her through the tinted glasses.

"It's part of my quirk. I use your stamina to speed up your healing process." She gives him a smile and pats his hand. Her gaze is caught by the spectacles on the boy's face. That's odd. Why is he wearing them inside? This is the second time she's seen him wear them. Apparently from Toshinori, he is always seen wearing them. "My boy, why do you wear those sunglasses? I've seen you wear them all the time and don't lie to me, young man.

You can't lie to me, I know a liar when I see one." She watches him mumble under his breath and gives a small whack to his knee. "Speak up."

Hesitation. Should I tell her? I know I have to tell someone, but what would she do? Maybe, she can help. She seems to be the type to help. I can trust her-after all, she's helped me already. "My eyes, they're cursed." He looks up, seeing her frown. He knows he can't go back on this now. "I keep these on to not see something that'll cause me to freak out," he finishes. He stares at the ground, figuring that he must sound crazy. What did he expect? He can see when someone's going to die, he can see these ghoulish creatures that seem ready to tear him apart, ready to drag him into the darkness that hangs in every corner. Death may have given him the sight to see Human Ghouls, but the Corpse Ghouls, those are horrific and he would rather go blind. "I should go."

"Wait for a moment. I can help you if you wish." Recovery Girl stands, waiting for him to answer.

She moves towards him, moving so he can bend down. " will give them back to you if it gets bad, okay?" He hesitates for a bit before getting down on both knees, letting her remove his sunglasses and revealing shining green eyes. They're really beautiful, it's a shame he hides them.

She watches as they sweep across the room and, for a moment, she can see the slight relief. He believes that he is safe here, that is until his vision rests on his peripheral vision. A misty form is behind him, he can see the black and purple of it sitting and waiting for him to turn. Eyes widening, he slowly turns towards the black mass he saw.

The ghoulish monster stands over him, gray skin peeling as it's bloodshot, gold eyes are on him. It's so close! This is the closest the Corpses have ever been to him. It looks like a male with a severe anorexia disorder, the bones of its ribs, hips, and collarbone all jut out in sickening ways. The sunken stomach is shredded. The smell of rancid, disease riddled flesh fills his nose. He gags for he's never had this happen before, never had his other senses be affected so much so that he'll gag. He's dealt with Death itself and if this is worse than Death, well it chills him to the bone. His breathing hitches opening his mouth to scream. Before he can get any noise out, he blinks and it's gone.

There's nothing there now. He stares for a little longer before his eyes are blocked by Recovery Girl's aged hands. The smell is gone, and the aura it held is nowhere for him to feel. He lets everything fade away to the background as he focuses on the nurse and her only. "Izuku, it's okay. There's nothing there. Keep your eyes closed and I'll put your glasses back on, okay?"

He doesn't trust himself to answer, settling on nodding. He closes his eyes and waits until the cool plastic of his sunglasses are back on. His breathing is wrong. He is not sure why he's freaking out so bad? Maybe it's because of how close it was to him? It was so close! It could've touched him! Could've taken him away! "Thank ...

Thank you. Thank you. I'm sorry-I'm sorry that I-I apologize for freaking out."

"Don't apologize. You have something that no one should have. Let's get you on your way, but I want you to tell me more about it tomorrow, during lunch. I want to help you, and talking will help." A small smile is on her face. She needs him to tell her, but she will not tell anyone. Not unless it's terrible. "I won't tell anyone. That is your choice alone."

"Thank you. I only want you to know at the moment. My mom is the only other person that knows. I'll explain the best I can, but I should get going now."

I feel like I made a good decision, he thinks as he makes way to the front gate. The school day ended and he just feels bone tired. He's dragging himself, slightly slumped over as he tries not to fall asleep.

He has to get home, do some research and see when he can sign up for online classes for the summer, and then go to the beach. Albeit the fact that he didn't want Tsukauchi to pay for the classes, he was going to anyway. Oh, well.

"Midoriya! Is your finger healed?"

He straightens up at the sound of his name, blinking when he sees lida looking at him. He gives a small nervous smile and nods. "Yeah, Recovery Girl helped."

"Hey lida, Deku!" That causes him to freeze and look for the source. He sees Uraraka waving and smiling at them.

"De-Deku?" Izuku stutters out in response when he heard the name. He doesn't want to have a repeat of middle school, so he's hoping she must've misheard.

"Yeah, that's what the blond-Bakugou?-called you. That's your name, right?" Her head is tilted to the side, a frown on her face.

He blinks for a second. Oh, so she thought it's my name. "O-oh, no. My name's Midoriya Izuku. Deku, well, it means useless."

"Oh! I'm sorry! So it's an insult?"

"Yeah." He turns his head away as he scratches his cheek with his index finger. He looks up when she says something about it. Says that it sounds like

"you can do it" and so he tells her that she can call him that. His phone rings and he looks at the message. Upon reading it, he hums. He taps his nails on the back of his phone. He sends a message thanking Tsukauchi. "We should get going.

"Yes, you're right." lida fixes his glasses and follows the two out. "So what is your quirk? You were able to summon a scythe and yet have strength and speed, that doesn't connect well."

"Oh! It's a mixture of strength and speed, don't have a name for it. The scythe was given to me by

a-a family relative." He smiles slightly, hoping for them to buy the lie. One for me! They actually believe the lie! They continue walking and talking just random bits of their lives until they have to split ways, leaving Izuku as if he's walking on air.

He feels happy for the first time in a while that doesn't have to do with his mom or All Might. He is happy to have made friends. He can't wait to relay what happened to his mom, who he knows will be happy that her son is making friends and doing well.

The message that he received from Tsukauchi is not something he needs to worry about. The case went cold so there isn't anything he can do but wait for something to happen. The teen sighs and takes his glasses off, staring at a male Human Ghoul is grinning at him. The next thing he knows, one of his journals are thrown across the room.

"What the hell?" he cries out when another journal hits him square in the chest.

"Oh, I just want to have fun! Maybe we can do something together!"

Midoriya stares at him, blinking before moving out of the way from getting hit by a book. This is just not his day, is it? He ducks once again and tells the Ghoul to leave him alone, soon regretting that decision. He feels fingers wrap around his ankle and soon he is being dragged into the corner where the shadows hang. He screams slightly and tells him to let him go, which he unwillingly does.

He starts cursing kicking things out of his way as he glares at the human who Death chose to be their champion. "I hate that! You ruin all of my fun!" Izuku just ignores the Ghoul and lay on the bed, pulling over his blankets as a way to not see it and so that he can fall asleep easier. "Your life will only get worse. I swear it will "

That threat hangs in the air and it's the last thing he hears before he falls into the dark waters of sleep. Drowning prior to the dreams that come afterwards.

The dream is weird. He never understands why he has these dreams. Blurry, screams, and the different smells of various substances. He can't see anything yet there are people in front of him, then come the screams. Who's screaming? Why are the screaming? What is going on? Where is he?

He gags when he catches whiff of a strong odorous substance. It's like gasoline but not?

Kerosene? He never smelled kerosene so he isn't sure Who's talking? What are they saying? The voice is staticy, garbled. It sounds like when one is listening to music before they pass under a tunnel and the reception is lost.

"Izuku, your alarm is going off!"

What the hell? What was that? he asks himself as he turns off the alarm and gets up, replaying the images he saw. He'll have to figure it out later since he needs to think about more important things. School especially. Wonder what we'll be doing today.

"I am here! Walking through the door like a normal person!"

"Damn he's annoying."

Ignore him! Don't speak to him!

"I mean if anything, can't he act normal? It's irritating when people yell."

It's irritating when you speak, but I don't say anything.

"Young Midoriya is something wrong? You're scowling."

Midoriya blinks and pushes up his glasses and nods. "I'm fine. Sorry," he says, looking away from the gazes of his classmates with a small blush on his cheeks. "Maybe if I'm allowed to, can I just gouge out my eyes and maybe I'll be happy," he whispers under his breath, hoping no one heard him as he glares at the Ghoul over the rim of his glasses. He hates the Ghoul--who he wants to be called Beetle. He's been annoying him for the past morning and this happens? Is he trying to get him in trouble? This is annoying. He just needs to keep a cool head and ignore the guy, he won't be thought as insane.

"Of course! As I was saying, get your hero costumes on and meet outside!"

Izuku is the last one to come out, his suit is a dark green (looking almost black) jumpsuit that covers his arms and legs with two white stripes going down the sides. He's wearing black combat boots with red laces and wears blood red gloves that have black pads on the palms and fingertips, claw-like metal is protruding out like the finger nails. He wears a hood with a mask that covers his face. It is the face of a skull. His eyes are hidden behind a dark mesh covering to somewhat block his vision from the Ghouls. There is a place where he can put his scythe. An obsidian handle with a curved, Underworld silver metal blade.

Uraraka comes over and gives him a smile. She's wearing a tight bodysuit. "Wow! That's so cool! You look creepy though, almost as if you're the Grim Reaper or something." She looks down and rubs her nape. "I probably should've specified with mine, it's a little tight."

Izuku laughs softly, giving her a reassuring smile, and turns towards All Might who had gotten their attention and is now speaking about how they will be splitting up into teams of two. A hero versus villain combat practice. The "villains" will be holding a weapon. The "heroes" will have to infiltrate the hideout and either capture the

"villains" or the weapon. "So, I'm going to draw names!" he announces. "Heroes! Bakugou Katsuki! lida Tenya! Villains! Uraraka Ochako! Midoriya Izuku!"

Midoriya hums with a small smile on his face that can't be seen. He turns to Uraraka who is wringing her hands with nervousness. "I have a plan," he says, rubbing his hands together. "Sorry in advance if I scare you."

"Why? What are you going to do?"

He shrugs and just continues to hum. Once they get inside the building, he explains the plan. It doesn't matter on whatever team Midoriya will be on-if he and Bakugou are on opposite sides, then they will fight each other no matter what, so he takes it upon himself to come up with a plan where he draws Katsuki away. Uraraka moves the weapon in a place where no one will think for it to be. On the floor above where Uraraka will be on.

This will give them enough time for them to win.

lida will surely take this seriously, but with Bakugou on his team--it'll be mostly lida doing all the work while Bakugou is too busy trying to kill Midoriya to even attempt at passing the test. This is an advantage on the "villains'" part. They're ready. Now, it's all on zuku to draw them away from Uraraka and the weapon. Oh, how the class will have such a beautiful show.

Come and get us. I apologize for the way you all will see me act, but for now, are you ready to go against me, Kacchan?