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Fear Cannot Kill The

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Ever since the Sludge villain incident, Midoryia has tried to avoid water when he could. It might have been a subconscious thing, but he couldn't shake the feeling if being surrounded in liquid while his lungs burned for air. When he could control when he was going to get wet, it was fine.When he started training with All Might, part of it included swimming in the ocean.The problem was that the first time he went to do, All Might just sprang it on him without warning. To be fair, it was one of the hotter Summer days so it wasn't a complete surprise when he wanted to incorporate a less strenuous exercise into their session. He was also in his smaller form, having already used up his limit."I think that it would be a great way to get your body in shape! You can build up the number of laps you do, improving your strength and cardio-" He rattled on happily until Izuku interrupted him.He looked at the ocean behind his idol, flowing innocently on the sand. "I-I can't, sir."He raised an eyebrow. "You can't swim or...?""Ah, no, I can swim but you see... I'm, um, kindofafraidto." He mumbled."Pardon?" He narrowed his gaze at the boy."I'm kind of afraid to swim, sir." He admitted. "The villain..."Ah, afraid of drowning. All Might realized. "I understand, young Midoryia, I'm sorry. Is swimming completely out of the equation or would we like to suggest something else? Moving trash and running can only do so much so it would be best to vary you regimen."The boy pondered for a moment, pressing the pads of his figures together. "Uh, I think I'd be able to do it, but I want to know ahead of time. And stay shallow enough to stand.""Of course, of course. I'd be watching you at all times as well, if at any point you feel like stopping you can do so." His successor relaxed a little more. "How about we work on a schedule for now and think about different training you can do and work up to?"The happy nod from him made the man smile. The purple mist engulfed him and threw him off balance, and before he could think he was free falling.Free falling straight into the shipwreck zone.Before he could even think, the sirens in his head were already screaming 'DANGER' and 'PANIC'.He hardly got a breath in before breaking the surface, plunging deep into the cold depths. He could feel his heart racing in his chest, his throat constricting, and numbness takes over his arms and legs as he flailed them. I can't breathe, I can't breathe, can't breathe, breathebreathebreathe.His lungs burn as he struggles to hold his breath until his body forces him to suck in a mouth full of water. It's happening all over again, the pain and fear sending his mind into a full frenzy and he doesn't see the long tongue whip out and wrap around his stomach.Tsuyu took out what few villains were near them with ease and saw Izuku struggling far below the surface. Grabbing him, she zips through the water and launches them towards the ship and dumps him on the deck."Izuku, are you-" She lets him go and turns towards him, only to see him choking on his own breath. Quickly, she gives him a careful smack between the shoulder blades.He coughs up the remaining water in his throat and pants for a few moments. His breathing is very ragged and quick, but slowly he seems to collect himself and look at Tsuyu. "T-thank you, Asui.""Call me Tsu, kero. And no problem, I do best in the water." She watched him as he took a few more deeper breaths and studied him for a moment. "You don't like water.""Ah," He was caught off guard. "No, not really. Some... Bad memories...""You seemed like you were in trouble, kero, and you were going to drown. You were about to have a full panic attack." Her blunt statements made him flinch, but she was right."Kinda why I don't like it, I can tell you all about it after we get out of here alive." Training in the pool wasn't awful because Izuku was in control, his quirk allowed him to swim with ease, and it was shallow enough to stand no matter where he was.He could see Katsuki's muscles tense as he peered at the edge, and it came as no surprise when he used his quirk to blast himself across the 50-meter distance without touching the water once. It was oddly comforting to him to know that he wasn't being irrational with his fear, but sad know that Katsuki battled with the villain much longer than he had.He could feel Tsu's eyes flicker from him to Katsuki, knowing she picked up on his discomfort as well.Aizawa stared at the three boys gearing up for the final race, knowing it would only end badly no matter who won the 'battle'. So, he was fully prepared to cancel their quirks and kick them out. He was not prepared for the fearful look on Izuku and Katsuki's faces as they fell into the water, or the scream Katsuki let out before he did.It wasn't an angry scream that he was too familiar with, but fear. Full, unfiltered, voice-cracking fear as he was submerged in the water, eyes wide and face twisted in panic like someone was about to kill him. He deactivated his quirk and rushed to the pool's edge as quick as he could, nearly falling in as he kneeled down to grab him.Izuku thrashed and popped out of the water immediately, struggling to catch his breath, but Katsuki needed to be hauled out. He was setting off small explosions in a panic making Aizawa activate his quirk again to stop him from accidentally hurting anyone. When he pulled the teen out, he was gasping for air and beginning to hyperventilate. "Bakugou, breathe with me, copy what I'm doing. In," He grabbed the boy's shaking hand and shoved it against his own chest. "And out... Listen to me, I'm right here, breathe in with me." Katsuki's red eyes trailed up from his lap to his hand, and finally looked Aizawa in the eyes. After a few moments of uneven gasping, he sucked in one long, shaky breath. "Good, keep doing that. In and out..."Thank goodness Tenya is class president because he rushed off to find Recovery Girl in an instant. Not that she could really heal this, but she would know how to help way better than he could."Izuku, are you alright?" Tsu asked as he sat on the edge, watching Katsuki carefully. "You looked a little startled, kero.""Y-yeah, just wasn't expecting it... Kinda lost control a bit and, well, you know." She nodded softly, and Aizawa eyed them."Everyone go get changed, your time with the pool is finished anyway." The other students began to protest, but he shot them down quickly. "If you'd like detention, by all means, you can stay, but the teachers can handle the situation from here, you are all dismissed."Izuku started to get up. "Not you, you're getting looked at my Recovery Girl.""B-but I'm fine, sensei, really. See," he gestured to himself. "Just f-fine!""Then you won't mind explaining what happened then. Bakugou, are you feeling better?"The blond clicked his tongue, pulling his hand back. "Yeah, 'm fine." His breathing was still heavy but even. "Fucking stupid, fucking Deku-"Recovery Girl finally arrived with Tenya, which Aizawa thanked him for as he sent him off. "What did these two trouble makers do this time, Shouta?""Panic attack." He sighed.The small woman was taken aback but continued. "Well, we can have them come down to the infirmary and rest if they'd like.""I said I'm fine!" Katsuki stood up in a huff and staggered to the door. "I'm not some weak ass kid, I'll get over this stupid weakness and be the number one hero!"Aizawa sighed as the boy stormed off, and turned to Izuku. "Midoryia, care to enlighten me about what just happened?"The boy shrunk under his gaze as the two stood up finally. "Um, that depends. Do you remember that Sludge villain attack almost two years ago?" He gets a nod. "Well, Kacchan and I were kinda the kids he attacked.""...What?""He attacked me first, but All Might saved me! But, he got away and then attacked Kacchan and the heroes wouldn't do anything until All Might saved him too..." He mumbled. Aizawa breathed out slowly, controlling his frustration. He talks so casually about nearly dying, this problem child. "How does this connect to-""His quirk makes his body liquid, and he could supposedly take control of someone else's body to hide by essentially drowning them and puppeteering their corpse." He cut him off. "I'll say that it is... Less than pleasant and I like breathing air.""Ah.""Yeah. Kacchan had it worse than I did but... It makes you feel like crap when you can't be near a pool without panicking a little."Aizawa felt his heart sink because it was pretty much his fault that they were in this situation. "Had I known I-""Wouldn't have done it, I know." He waves him off with his signature smile. "It's not like I go around everywhere saying 'hey everybody, water gives me the creeps' to everyone.""Well, I still want to give you my sincere apologies and ensure that this won't happen again. And I want to inform you that, had this been brought to our attention earlier, U.A. would have been providing you counseling for the villain attack to help you cope with the fears you have.""...Oh." He was pleasantly shocked by the look of his face."I will get you and Bakugou connected with the counselor here, and I understand why you hid it but don't feel the need to hide your feelings anymore." He put a hand gently on the boy's shoulder. "You can always speak to someone about what you're going through, do you understand? We all get scared sometimes." "Yes, sensei.""Good. Now, get dressed and follow Recovery Girl back to the infirmary." Izuku was about to protest when he held up a finger. "It's just a precaution, and she will arrange your counseling sessions for you. I'll have her find Bakugou later. Ok?"Izuku nodded. "Thank you, sensei... Really.""No problem, problem child."

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