Voice | un: deku

[heroondecku]

Has anybody been having problems with their Qu-- powers not working?

[He is trying very, very hard to make this sound like perfectly ordinary curiosity. Unfortunately for him, he's not doing a very good job at it today; the question comes out in a rush, and there's a raised pitch to his voice. Izuku is Not Fine right now and even he can't hide it.]

If so, has it started working again? Or been an...an intermittent thing?

[It can't be permanent. Right?]

Comments

[heroondecku]

Okay.

[Having One For All turned off by Erasure has only ever felt strange, to Izuku. Sure, it's deeply unpleasant to have his access to the Quirk cut off, but more because something incredibly important isn't working as expected. Having a Quirk has never been a vital part of him. Being unable to use OFA is scary, but not unnatural.

In some ways, that's the most terrifying part of it right now.

Deep breaths, in and out, in and out. They have a shared baseline, so he can explain this. He can. He has to.]

This...this doesn't feel like that. I...

[Breathe in. Breathe out. Say it say it say it say it--]

I can't touch it because there's nothing to touch.

[nitropowered]

Oh.

[It's quiet, and kind of withdrawn, because he's still trying to process this. Trying to process how Izuku must be feeling right now. Reaching for his Quirk only to find nothing there sounds like a nightmare. Katsuki is pretty sure he's had that nightmare.

Izuku is breathing deeply, obviously in a forced kind of way, like he's trying to get himself under control, trying not to freak out. Katsuki's ears are ringing slightly, and he licks his lips, trying to work out what to do about this. What can they do?]

Does this kind of thing just...happen here? Is this normal?

[heroondecku]

[There is a lot of distress on Izuku's end, even as he continues trying to work himself out of the spiral. The fear that he lost One For All, possibly forever, is hard to shake. It's the worst case scenario, and abstractly he knows that; but it latched onto him hard and fast, as they sometimes do when he's running on emotions.

And it's hard not to be running on emotions when the precious, important Quirk he was tasked to bear suddenly isn't there anymore.]

Kind of? I-- this hasn't happened before, not like this, but...the Council messes with people to punish them. And sometimes this place does weird things to everyone, or changes completely for a while.

[Breathe in, breathe out.] There's been monster attacks, before.

[nitropowered]

[The panic that's been eating at his insides subsides just slightly as Izuku says things like this have happened before, to punish people, that it changes people. Maybe it's just that. Katsuki isn't one to just optimistically accept the first convenient explanation that comes along, but that means there's a chance this was just done to punish Izuku for something, that it could be temporary.

He takes a few deep breaths, modeling them for Izuku by making sure he can hear them.]

Hey. Calm down.

[There's no use in panicking, that'll just make everything chaotic and overemotional, two things that Katuski hates.]

Did you do anything to get punished lately? Or is it just for this crime they're talking about.

[That's something he's been ignoring so far, honestly. He'd looked at the piece of parchment once, and then shoved it deep into a pocket never to be looked at again. Even thinking about it and what it says makes guilt crawl in his belly.]

[heroondecku]

[Izuku can hear Kacchan breathing for him, recognizes what he's doing, and tries to match it. This will feel incredibly strange and confusing to think about later, but right now, he's got other priorities.]

I haven't done anything I don't normally do here. And I haven't been called for sentencing yet. If I had, I would've told you and Todoroki right away.

[nitropowered]

[Katsuki has questions. Sentencing? When are they called up for that? What happens when it happens? But he doesn't ask any of those at the moment. He can ask later. He just keeps breathing slowly and deeply, and he can hear Izuku fall in line. There's something satisfying about it, but he ignores that thought for the moment, just like all his questions.]

You said this place does weird things, maybe it's something like that. Are those things permanent?

[His voice is low and hoarse and urgent, as he tries to get to the bottom of this, tries to figure it out.]

Where are you?

[heroondecku]

No, not…not what happens to people. Sometimes the whole world changes and goes back different than it was before, but…

[He can’t recall anyone ending up permanently changed. Other than lingering traumas like the kind that makes it too hard to think about the fact that he Even dying isn’t permanent here.

But things rarely happen the same way twice. Just because things have been temporary up to now doesn’t mean they’ll always be.]

Um, a couple blocks from the house? Maybe. I— I found an empty lot, down an alley.

[Partly to have a place to confirm OFA really was no longer working, or even there, partly on reflex. Find an out-of-the-way place and hide.]

[nitropowered]

Well then, this probably won't be permanent then too, right?

[He can hope. They can both hope. The last thing he wants is for Izuku to lose One For All, to go back to being the quirkless wonder instead of Katuski's foil, his rival, the person he strives to beat. Because he wants to be better than All Might, and Izuku is the only one standing in the way of that.

But right now, there doesn't seem to be much they can do. The frustration is overwhelming at that - Katsuki hates not being able to do something. He's fidgeting with his hands with the frustration and strain of not being able to do anything.

So he gets to his feet.]

Right. Be there in 5 minutes.

[What he's going to do when he gets there, he's not sure, but right now he needs to be moving, to be doing something.]

->Action

[heroondecku]

O-okay. I'll wait.

[He can't bring himself to answer the question. He hopes it's temporary, he really does, and abstractly he knows it probably is, but...this isn't something he was even remotely prepared for. It isn't even something he'd ever have expected could happen. Blocking One For All, or sealing it, or even weakening it like what's happened to Todoroki's Quirk, sure. Having the Quirk he was entrusted to protect and cultivate vanish completely?

He's never had nightmares about that before, but he sure will now.

He stays in the empty lot, like he promised. Granted, "empty lot down an alley" isn't the most specific description in the world, and Izuku's instincts have him settled in somewhere not visible from the street, but there aren't too many to search through. Bakugou will find him eventually.

Huddled up in a corner, curled up tight and making himself as small as possible. Old habits die hard.]

[nitropowered]

[There's a lot of stuff going on in Katsuki's head as he gets his shoes on and heads out to look for this empty lot down an alley that Izuku is sitting in. He's only now just realizing how generic that description is as he checks a couple empty lots before finding the one that Izuku is in.

He almost misses him at first.

Izuku is so small in the corner that at first it reminds him of when he'd caught the other boy hiding from him when they were kids - huddled and making himself small for self-protection. Katsuki can feel his heart beating, and it's a very uncomfortable sensation, his fists clench at his sides a little. He doesn't know what to do. Comforting people isn't his strong suit. Grief and distress has always just been weakness to him, something punishable rather than to be comforted. But he can't bring himself to punish Izuku for what he's feeling right now, because just imagining his own Quirk being gone makes his throat close up with panic. For someone like Izuku...

Katsuki opts not to say much of anything, just walking over to where Izuku is huddled in the corner of the lot and resting his back against the fence next to him, arms crossed against his chest. After a moment, he slides down the fence and sits, crossing his legs as well. For a few moments, he doesn't look at Izuku, but then he does, red eyes skimming over the hunched back and shoulders that look so narrow right now despite Katsuki knowing he's in damn good shape.]

It'll come back.

[After a moment, he says it, slightly hoarse, and he says it with a confidence that's only partially faked. After all, from everything Izuku told him, that should be the case.]