Chapter Text
Hi everyone!! happy new year!! I hope 2026 is our best year yet :3 enjoy the chapter and please leave feedback!!
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At precisely 6:42 PM on the day of his funeral, Izuku Midoriya woke up with a gasp. He laid there on the floor, spluttering and gasping, unable to process his own thoughts. The setting sun cast a twilight glow across the deserted school grounds. What the freak? He didn't understand where he was or what was happening. As his blurry vision gradually adjusted into focus, and he realised he was on the floor outside Aldera Junior High, he caught a glimpse of the huge clock that hung over the entrance of the school. He squeezed his eyes tightly shut, trying to organise his scattered mind.
Ok, what's the last thing I remember? I... was on the edge of the roof... I thought I heard a voice... then, I jumped. I guess it must not have worked. Damn it.
But when Izuku Midoriya surprisingly managed to sit up, he realised with a look of sheer horror, that it had most definitely, absolutely, 100% worked.
When Izuku looked down at his body, his skin was translucent and tinted a murky green tone. Izuku's jaw dropped open, and his (surprisingly high-pitched) scream of shock and horror echoed through the school. He looked like a... ghost.
"AHHHHH!!! AHHHHH!! AHHHH!!"
He held his hands up to his face and could faintly see the numbers on the clock through his hands. They appeared to be partly transparent. This caused the boy to scream again.
"AHHHHH!!! AHHHHH!! AHHHH!! WHY CAN I SEE THROUGH MY HANDS??!!"
Once the initial shock had subsided, he attempted to make sense of what was going on. He scrambled to his feet and ran towards the school building, stopping at a window. He peered at his reflection in the window and gasped feebly. He raised a shaking hand to his forehead, which, in his reflection, was splattered in a gory amount of blood on the right side. His hand came away clean, confusing him further. The blood couldn't be wiped away. He looked at the bloodied area of his face.
That must have been where I landed, he thought. He looked down at his shaking form and, for the first time, noticed the crimson blood painting his black uniform. He whimpered upon seeing the scary amount of blood on his face and clothes, a reminder of the action he had taken. Then, a sudden realisation dawned upon Izuku.
Wait. I just jumped off a building, am covered in blood, yet I ran to the window fine, with no injuries or broken bones? Why am I not physically affected? Am I .... no, there's no way. I couldn't possibly be a... No. A villain must have done this to me and turned my skin green. I don't know what's going on, but I need to go home. Now.
He jogged home, unsteady on his feet, still trying to make sense of what was going on. The sun had set by this time, and the streets were empty. As Izuku followed the familiar path home, he noticed that in the darkness of the evening, his skin had begun to glow dimly, emitting a green hue.
I'm literally a human glow stick. Brilliant.
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When he reached his home and pounded on the door, a face he hadn't seen for years opened the door. His Dad.
Seeing Him open the door almost surprised Izuku Midoriya as much as the fact that he had attempted suicide, miraculously survived with no apparent injuries except a bloodstain that wouldn't go away, and now glows in the dark. Toritsuka didn't even look surprised, as if he had expected Izuku to rise from the dead and knock on the door with translucent green-tinted skin.
"Just as I suspected. Good to see ya back, Izuku!" He smirked and went to clap Izuku on the back, stopped when he realised his son was now a ghost, and ushered him into the house.
"What- why- how...mom?!" was all Izuku managed to splutter out.
"Now, I know you've probably got like, a ton of questions, but fear not. I think I've pretty much figured out what's happened." He beamed, a self-assuring grin, as if his own son hadn't just tried to kill himself. Reita Toritsuka seemed to believe he had all the answers.
"What- wha- where's mom? Why are you here? Why am I green??!!"
"I've missed you, Izuku," the man sighed endearingly. "I'm sorry it's been so long since I've visited you. My medium work has me travelling all over but I should have come. Your mom had to step out for a while once I told her my theory, but she should be back soon. Its kinda a lot to process," He looked at Izuku with a shyness about him.
"Your theory...? A lot to process..?" Izuku couldnt compute what was going on and it felt like his brain was moving a million miles an hour. It was just earlier that day that he was sitting in class, and then standing on the roof that afternoon, right?
"Well, one week ago, you jumped off the school building," Toritsuka said quickly, as if ripping off a bandaid.
A week?? No, that can't be true, right?
"Today was your funeral, and your human body was buried around quarter to seven. Do you know what time you woke up?"
Human...body?!
Izuku cast his mind back to when he regained consciousness.
He didn't understand where he was or what was happening. As his blurry vision gradually adjusted into focus, and he realised he was on the floor outside Aldera Junior High, he caught a glimpse of the huge clock that hung over the entrance of the school.
"6:42 PM," he looked up to meet his father's eyes.
"Well, as the best, most experienced spirit medium in Japan, I have a theory about what the hell is going on."
Their eyes met, and Izuku urged him to continue.
"Ok, so, you died, right? Last week." Toritsuka said, as if it were the most casual thing ever. "And I've seen a ton of ghosts over the years and on my travels. But when I got back here and started seeing you, it wasn't like the other ghosts I see. Your ghost would fade a little bit more each time. Like, there was something tying you to this world. Some power keeping you here. A quirk."
Izuku's leaned in further, listening attentively.
So a villain DID do this to me!
"But it wasn't someone else's quirk."
"How-" Izuku tried to ask, before being cut off.
"Izuku- I think, that you aren't quirkless."
Izuku feebly attempted to speak, but no words came out of his mouth. He was in pure disbelief.
"I know. Shocker, right?! I think that you didn't get your mom's quirk, but you got mine."
What?! how would that be possible?? I've never seen any ghost in my life! I'm just plain old quirkless Deku!
"But, now here's the kicker- I see dead people, right? That's what my quirk is, basically. But you got a flipped around, reversed version of it...
You can't see dead people like me,
But you're dead, and we can see you.
You're a ghost, Izuku!"
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Izuku's eyes widened in horror and awe as he realised this, indeed made sense. It was actually, pretty plausible. He pondered it for a minute, collecting his thoughts.
Everyone thought I was quirkless, because I didn't have a quirk that could be used while I was alive, but turns out I got a freaky, reversed version of my dad's medium quirk! Instead of me seeing ghosts, I became a ghost that people can see. I regained consciousness as soon as my human body was laid to rest today, and I woke up in the same spot I died in, except it's now a week later. So I guess it worked. I really am... dead. So I'm now a ghost. Huh. I guess that's why my skin is kinda green, and I can sort of see through my hands. I wonder what else I can do. Wait, am I immortal?
"Izuku! You're muttering again! Just talk to me."
"Oh! I'm sorry. I'm just... It's a lot. I don't know if I..."
At that moment, Inko Midoriya stepped in through the front door, and upon seeing her now-ghost-son, dropped whatever she was carrying, burst into tears, and ran to Izuku.
"Izuku," She sobbed as she ran over, "Never kill yourself aga-" but as she was about to finish that sentence by hugging Izuku, she stopped. Her hands partially ran through Izuku.
"You're so... cold. I can barely hold you, but I'm just thankful to have my baby back." Izuku's own eyes began to well up as he realised how grateful he was to see his mom again. He burst into tears too, and now two green-eyed Midoriyas were crying on the sofa together. Toritsuka, who was sitting opposite, held up his hands to try and get their attention.
"Wait! We still need to clear some things up, about this whole... situation."
"yeah, I'm still sort of confused. Am I immortal now?"
"Well, in my theory, your quirk could be caused by some sort of unfinished business tying you to stay here and be seen by others. Something you have to achieve before you go, just like the ghosts I see."
"unfinished...business?"
"Yeah, like a goal or a relationship or something like that, that's the type of thing that ghosts I see are usually tied to earth by. But we can sort that out later. Izuku!! Why did you try to... you know."
Izuku started to chuckle. He couldnt believe what was going on. He tried to commit suicide, came back as a ghost, and was being lectured on it by his absent father, who had randomly turned up in his house. Frankly, It was all too much. Izuku needed some time to process. His parents stared at him in shock upon realising he was laughing. His parents turned to look at each other in shock.
"I don't want to talk about it now. I'm taking a nap."
"Izuku, wait." His mom stretched out her hand towards him.
"I love you. I'm so glad you're back."
"I love you too, Mom."
And with that, he turned to leave.
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