Reposting this story from AO3, hope you enjoy.

Midoriya Izuku dies at the tender age of 8.

It's like any other normal day when the bomb drops with no warning. In a matter of seconds, half of the block is destroyed.

The last thing he remembers is his mom telling him that she loved him; Izuku's backpack on one hand and a warm smile on her face.

When the 'I love you too' escapes from his lips, a shock wave pushes the room, and then everything is hot and the roof comes down on them.

Then everything goes dark.

When he wakes up, piles of concrete are strewed around him, ashes dance in the dirty air, and his heart pounds loudly in his ears.

"Mom?"

He notices that he's on the street. His clothes partly burned, tattered, and majorly stained in some parts with red. His apartment building is now rubbles and dust. There's no sound of panic, not a single person screaming, there are no police cars and ambulances, there are no sirens, there's not even a hero on sight trying to help.

The block is dead silent and Izuku's ears won't stop ringing.

"Mom?" he asks again, despair latching onto his voice.

His body feels light, his mind is racing, and he can see things clearly.

His feet carry him towards what was left of the building, and as he walks, he notices all the bodies lying on the ground. Blood stains and some body parts are scattered here and there, the smell of scorched wood and… something else hits his nose; he tries his best not to gag and drop what he ate just an hour ago.

When he manages to get to the mountain of concrete, his heart cracks.

Between two huge hunks of rubble, the body of his mother is squashed bloody.

She's facing downwards, blood dripping from her right hand, her tuft of green hair still arranged in the bun she had this morning. The remains of a fountain of blood coat the lower part of where her corpse now lies. Rays of sun filter from the particles of dancing concrete dust; her green hair now looks a shade lighter.

The shriek that escapes from Izuku's throat slows down the world. It reverberates and carries across the thin air—and what's left of the neighborhood—his pain and misery.

Tears, as always, come down with no mercy. Everything around him is now clouded and he feels cold, empty, miserable, useless, and so, so alone.

His body hurts and there's something that burns so hot in his chest. A weight in his shoulders lifts, yet his body still feels like it weights a ton. The fact that he's alive and his mom is dead leaves him feeling bleak.

And then—out of nowhere—two arms wrap around him, and he's pulled into a hug.

"It's okay, it's okay, please don't cry, it's okay," says a young voice in rushed quiet whispers.

Izuku wants to tell the person that it's not okay.

His home is destroyed, the block totally ruined, scree and debris are scattered everywhere, brown remains of smoke still linger in the air, his neighbors are lifeless and probably missing some limbs, and his mom is now a corpse that would never smile again, greet him when he came back from school, hug him like he was her whole world, worry for him and love him unconditionally, she would never tell him again that she loves him so much, and… and he's alive.

Why is he alive?

He was supposed to be dead, everybody here is dead,

d e a d

dead.

The stranger that's desperately trying to calm him tenses and Izuku manages to peek a glance at them. It's a guy; from the hood that covers his head he glimpses strands of brownish hair, really big eyebrows, and his eyes (a hue of red) stare sharply at something across the street.

"We need to go," he says flatly.

Before Izuku can protest, ask why, the guy abruptly hauls his body to the ground and shields him, the sound of gunshots echo in the air, and the smell of blood enters his nostrils.

The boy grunts as his body spasms and becomes very heavy for a few seconds.

The sound of breaking wood resounds sharply against his ears, Izuku is then lifted up by a pair of strong arms as everything blurs. The sound of sirens starts to emerge, shouts of "get them" and "don't let them escape" quickly spring along with the ambulances and police cars; Izuku is afraid.

He doesn't get a last glimpse of what was left of his home; he can't look back and have a final sight at his mother's lifeless corpse.

And for that, Izuku is slightly glad.