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There was a gun against his temple and a hand, minus one raised finger, around his neck.
Something really was out to get him.
There wasn’t any other reasonable explanation for this.
Not when he kept ending up in these situations. First the USJ. Then Stain. Then Final Exams. Then the Mall. Then Kamino.
Then.
Then.
Then.
‘Then’ didn’t feel like a real word anymore. Too much had happened. Too many times the universe had come for him and only him for seemingly no reason other than being in the wrong place at the wrong time in their messed up society.
Would he ever be free? Could he ever be free while the world conspired against him?
He took a gentle breath and tried to tune back into Shigaraki’s rant, “-and perhaps finally I could win. They won’t be able to fight back without their little savior, now will they?”
Shigaraki’s hand grip tightened and the gun pressed harder.
He opened his eyes to look up at the person he had once called a friend, now fully ready to kill him. “Was it worth it?” he asked Aoyama quietly, ignoring Shigaraki.
Aoyama took a shuddering breath, “I made my decision a long time ago, Izuku. And…” Aoyama trailed off, “compared to the suicide rates, this is worth it. I couldn’t deal with it anymore. You of all people would know better than anyone what I went through.”
Izuku’s eyes flickered over to Shigaraki, who had a confused but frustrated look on his face, “What have you not been telling me?” Shigaraki asked Aoyama.
Izuku answered for him, “I was quirkless, before One for All.” It did no harm to be honest, not when he was moments from death.
Shigaraki looked into his eyes, a sentimental look coming over his face, “We are more alike than you think, hero.” He thought for a moment, “Sometimes you do what you have to do to survive in this world, that is not something I will hold against you.”
Shigaraki removed his hand from Izuku’s neck and disintegrated his bonds, “We want to start over with this society, no matter how we do it. Look at your society now, look at the way that they don’t care about the messed up system that only hurts its people. Look at all the pain they cause. We can still fix this, Izuku. Just take my hand.”