Izuku stepped out of the door, hearing it clang shut behind him, and found himself in a snowy forest. A gust of icy wind hit him, and he immediately started shivering.
"Holy geezums, it's cold!" he muttered, hugging his arms tight to conserve heat.
He crouched near a bush to escape the wind, then noticed a faint glint hidden inside. Pushing the branches aside, he spotted a camera tucked deep within.
"What the heck is that doing here?" he whispered.
When the wind died down, he decided to keep moving. As he trudged through the snow, an ominous sound followed him, growing louder with each step.
Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.
Izuku whipped his head around—nothing there. Only an extra set of footprints beside his own. His face went pale, and he quickened his pace.
Stepping over a large stick, he pressed forward, only to hear a sharp—
SNAP.
He spun back. The stick was broken.
The eerie ambiance and strange happenings tightened every muscle in his body. Stiff-legged, he marched forward until he reached a bridge with fence-like rails overhead.
Crunch... crunch... crunch...
Footsteps. Definite, deliberate, right behind him. A colder chill than the wind shot down his spine as a voice called out:
"Hey there, bud. Don't you know how to greet a new pal? Turn around and shake my hand."
Izuku froze. For one wild second, he considered running. But if this stranger wanted to hurt him, he'd already had plenty of chances. Summoning his courage, Izuku snapped his eyes shut, spun around, and thrust out his hand.
PPPPPTTTTTTSSSSshshshshhtttttt.
The stranger chuckled, releasing Izuku's hand just as he opened his eyes.
"Heh heh heh. The old whoopee cushion-in-the-hand trick. Never gets old."
Izuku's jaw dropped. A skeleton—an actual living skeleton—stood grinning at him, tiny white flames flickering in his eye sockets like pupils.
The skeleton raised his brow ridge with a smirk.
"You might wanna get your jaw off the ground. If you lose any more heat, you'll be chilled to the bone."
Izuku snapped his mouth shut, his eyes sparkling with awe as they scanned the impossible figure. His hand twitched toward his bag, ready to grab a notebook—only to remember he'd forgotten to take one from Toriel's home. With a regretful sigh, he pushed his questions aside for now.
Amused by Izuku's shifting expressions, the skeleton gave a lazy wave.
"Heya. I'm Sans. Sans the Skeleton. I work here as a human watchman."
Izuku's eyes narrowed, wary.
Sans only shrugged.
"But eh, I don't really care about the job. My brother Papyrus though—he's a human-hunting fanatic."
As if on cue, shouting and fast footsteps echoed through the snow.
"That'll be him now," Sans said casually.
Izuku broke into a literal cold sweat, glancing around frantically for cover.
"Relax, kid," Sans drawled. "I got the perfect spot."
He led Izuku past the bridge to a shabby outpost, lit poorly by a lamp too far away to be useful.
"Here," Sans said, pointing under the post. "Papyrus hates checking back here. Says it's 'improper guardsmanship to have a messy work area,'" he added, complete with air quotes.
Izuku ducked behind the post, surprised to find the space warm—thanks to the ridiculous amount of condiments stashed there.
"BROTHER!"
Izuku jumped at the sudden shout, making a stack of bottles rattle.
The voice on the other side of the post sounded suspicious at the noise. Papyrus narrowed his eye sockets.
"Sans, what do you have cluttering your post now?"
Sans only shrugged. "Found a human. Just keeping them nice and warm for ya."
"Brother! This is no time for your jokes!" Papyrus stomped his foot. "We both know how important it is to capture a human—especially me!"
Papyrus swooned at the thought, clearly lost in his own imagination.
"I can already see it, Sans! Undyne congratulating me as I handed her the human! Fans lining up just to be my friends! Bathing in Compliments and kisses every morning!"
He let out a dreamy sigh, then snapped back to a stern glare.
"And your laziness could ruin everything! What do you have to say for yourself?"
"Come on, bro," Sans said smoothly, gesturing for him to follow. He walked behind his station and crouched down, cupping his gloved fingers over his face to shield Izuku, who was quietly panicking at how close Papyrus was.
"Look, Paps, I get it—this means a lot to you. But…" Sans started pulling out bottles of condiments, "If you wanna ketchup to your dreams, you gotta relish the quiet moments in between. We all know the gravy of our situation, but stressing over what we can't control will just leave you salty. You Butter not push yourself 24/7, you dig? But if you Mustard, well, try your best where it counts."
Papyrus groaned, dragging a hand down his face in a mix of exasperation and reluctant amusement.
"Just… why do I find that amusing?!" he muttered as he strutted away.
Once Papyrus was gone, Sans leaned under the counter. "You okay, kid?"
Izuku's face was bright red, tears of laughter welling in his eyes as he tried to hold it in—then gave up and giggled uncontrollably. Chuckling, Sans helped him to his feet and rummaged under the post until he found a fluffy blue-and-white jacket.
"Here. You look like you're freezing." He tossed it to Izuku, who hurried to pull it on.
"T-thank you!" Izuku mumbled, melting into the warmth.
"Don't mention it," Sans said, settling back onto his stool and twisting the cap off a bottle of warm ketchup. "Well, kid, it's been nice having some company, but I'm guessing you wanna get moving."
Izuku nodded, tugging the hood over his head, though his nervous glance down the path made it obvious he was worried about running into Papyrus.
"Oh—one more thing." Sans leaned forward, a little more serious. "My brother's been pretty down lately. There's nobody to use his puzzles on, and he's never even seen a human before. Could you do me a favor and play along? He's not dangerous—just… it'd mean a lot to him."
Izuku hesitated for a moment, then smiled and gave him a thumbs-up.
Sans grinned wider and waved him on his way.
_
Don't be me.
Blob of meat lying on my bed, inwardly complaining about no stories catching my interest because of harems, or not liking the execution. Then, remembering I have something I want to write to get rid of the frustration of not finding a fic that could scratch the itch.
In all seriousness, though. Life is pretty much the same, and in some aspects worse. But one thing I can do that would at least take my mind off the suck is creating and expanding my own world while getting lost in others I find interesting. Is it healthy? IDK. But one thing I need is just a sliver of motivation and consistency. So, as of posting this, I will work on my story for an hour per day to get back in the groove of writing and to build a good habit. Thank you for your patience and support, and I'll endeavor to create what I, and you all, like.
P.s. If you could have a quirk from MHA in real life, which would you choose? I'd go with double just for the convenience of multiple of me to get shit done. Even with the side effects its worth.