Lost in the Fog

Respite From the Dark

The Campfire was the haven Izuku expected it to be. It was calm, safe, and had people just like him. All survivors.

Everyone noticed my arrival. It must be because I'm new...

The woman helped him sit down in front of it, before helping attend to his wounds. They surrounded him, and I couldn't help but see flashbacks to the last day of school. Scared, I hid my face before one of them yelled something out. I couldn't understand, but most of the others did, and a few translated. A man with blond hair, wearing an expensive blue suit, sat down next to him. He asked a question I did not understand. I tried to ask, "What are you saying?"
He seemed to understand that, and responded in Japanese! "Ah, our bad... no wonder you didn't understand us. What languages do you know?"
"Just... just Japanese?"
"I see. Most of us speak English here... are you ok?"
"I'm fine now that I'm..."
"No, your body can always recover. I'm asking: are you ok?"

That question hadn't been asked in a long time. My mother, of course, asking it daily after school, but nobody outside of that cared. Having a stranger ask me directly broke the emotional dam I had been keeping steady this entire time.

Noticing my tears, he asked, panicking, "Why are you crying?! Did..."
"No, no, these are happy tears, sir. I haven't had anyone ask that besides Mom..."
His gaze softened. "You've had a rough life before then. It's not going to get any easier... but we will help you."

"Thank you."

The blond continued, "My name is Felix Richter. I'm from Germany. You're from Japan?"
I sniffled, wiping away my tears, "Yes. My name is Izuku Midoriya, Mr. Richter."

"You look young..."
"I'm still in Middle school, sir..."
"I see... the youngest we've seen here is Feng Min." He looked over at the young girl I had escaped with. She waved back coyly. "... followed by Steve Harrington, Jonathan Byers, Nancy Wheeler, Quintin Smith and Cheryl Mason." He gestured to other teenagers. They were all American, one a girl with wiry hair brought back into a ponytail, wearing a distinct red jacket and jeans, a boy wearing a blue jacket and jeans, a girl with short blond hair covering one eye, wearing a white sleeveless jacket and green skirt, another boy wearing a similar blue jacket with spiky brown hair while carrying a sleepy disposition, and a boy wearing a gray jacket, gloves, and dirty jeans, with a red bandanna wrapped around his neck. They all acknowledged me as I looked at them.

"So, the language barrier is going to be tough to work with, but this kind of barrier needs to be broken down. I can help teach you English, if you want."
"I would like that, sir."
He nodded. Then spoke to all the others about me. He gave my name, and what I presume was what he gathered from me. Everyone looked at me with sympathy, not pity. Many here must've had hard lives before arriving here. After that, the majority of them went back to what they were doing. Some preparing food, others teaching each other... A blonde haired woman and a bearded man were practicing guitar in a duet.

He then sat down, next to me again, this time with a woman with a literal bush of hair. It was wavy and made her head look twice as large. She could also speak Japanese. "Hello, Izuku. I am Elodie Rakoto, but you can call me Elodie."

"O-ok Miss Elodie."
She smiled gently, before continuing. "For better or for worse... this is your home now. The campfire is the safest place here. I'll help Felix teach you English so you can communicate with the rest of us."
"Thank you."
As she looked over him, she couldn't help but notice many of the injuries were much, much older than when the others said he arrived. They were from the world he'd come from.

"I've seen a lot in my time back on Earth... and I recognize the ages of injuries. Many of yours are not from the last trial. Can... can you tell me how you got those injuries?"