Viridian: The Green Guide

Chapter 116: Dread

Izuku wasn't exactly sure how he'd gotten home. Everything was a blur and he was hyperventilating and shaking so badly that he was having trouble even opening the front door, but somehow he'd managed to get here, sticking to the shadows so he wouldn't freak people out. Why was the doorknob so slippery?!

Oh. There was still blood on his hands.

He took a shaky breath and wiped his hands on his hoodie before he realized that it was covered in blood too. For once in his life, he almost wished it was his, because that would mean he hadn't just...

All for One had been planning to kill them, Izuku was certain of it. He'd even said it, and he'd been planning on taking Eraserhead's quirk. Izuku couldn't let that happen, but the only way he'd been able to think to take down such a powerful opponent was...but maybe if he'd had a powerful quirk he could have found some way to restrain him, but the fact was that he was weak and outclassed, so he didn't have the option of taking All for One down peacefully like he should have. He'd had to do it permanently.

It took him a minute to find a section of fabric that was clean enough to wipe his hands on and he made sure to wipe down the doorknob as well. He'd have to sanitize it before he went to bed, he didn't want Mom to have to see something like this. Thankfully the apartment was dark when he finally got inside, so she must still be asleep. Izuku practically ran into the bathroom. He didn't look in the mirror as he shut the door and locked it behind him, leaning against the doorframe as the last of the adrenaline finally ran out.

What had he just done? A choked sob tore out of his throat before he could stop it and he slammed his hands over his mouth to muffle the noise. He'd just...and he'd made Eraserhead watch and then just left him there! Maybe it was a good thing he didn't have a quirk, because he didn't deserve to be a hero.

He couldn't stop crying as he finally turned to the sink and started washing his hands, gasping for air as he tried to ignore the red running down the sink. He...he just needed to clean up. He just needed to get a shower and...and he'd decide what to do with the clothes later. If Eraserhead came to arrest him for murder, they'd probably need them as evidence, and he didn't want to make Eraser's life harder than necessary by washing them or throwing them away. Or...was he supposed to get rid of the evidence? Either way, washing them was out of the question because Izuku knew he'd pass out before the laundry was done and he didn't want Mom finding his vigilante outfit in the washer, especially if the stains didn't come out on the first wash.

As he waited for the shower to warm up, Izuku dug a plastic bag out from under the sink and shoved everything he was wearing inside. He'd just toss them in the back of his closet for now and deal with it tomorrow. There were tears running down his face, but he was starting to calm down at least a little.

One shower later, after he'd shoved the bag all the way into the back corner of his closet and wiped all traces of blood off everything he'd touched, Izuku collapsed into bed, wishing that he could still dream of being a hero.

Shouta rubbed at his wrists as he waited for Tsukauchi to come interrogate him. The marks were going to take a while to go away, but the memory of his problem child running away, panicking and drenched in blood would take even longer...if it ever went away at all. He'd torn up his hands trying to tear through the ropes, but he'd barely managed to get one hand free before All Might had burst into the room, taken one look at All for One's body on the floor, and shrunken into his smaller form in a puff of steam but by that point the kid was long gone.

There was a knock on the door and Tsukauchi plked his head in, "Hey Eraser, how are you holding up?"

Shouta ignored the question, "Did Viridian tell you where to find me?"