In the corner of the room sat a boy, his knees raised to his chest as he hugged them trying to look as small as possible. If he said nothing they wouldn't see him right, they'd just skip over him, forget about him. What if he said something, what if he screamed at the top of his lungs, would someone come for him, would someone help him and the rest of the children who were sat there in fear, shaking. 

Saying something would be stupid, he thought, they had warned them not to make any noise. Should he have taken the chance though, should he have risked getting noticed, getting beaten, becoming the first to get sold off. He was conflicted, he knew that there was only a slight chance of someone coming to help him compared to the chance of only getting himself in trouble but his mother had always told him that good things happen to the ones who behave and bad things happen to the ones who didn't. Karma is what she had called it. He's behaved all his life though, always doing what he was told, never making a fuss yet nothing good had ever happened to him. Was he not well behaved enough or was his mother lying, maybe there was no such thing as karma. 

Tears made their way down his face but he didn't try to stop them. He was cold and scared and even if he was surrounded by dozens of other children in the same predicament he still felt alone. He missed his mum, the only thing was he wasn't sure if she missed him back. 

He tried to erase those thoughts from his head failing miserably. Soon enough it was dark outside, he could tell from the tiny streak of moonlight coming from the barred window which was way to high to even see through. He wasn't sure how long exactly he'd been stuck in the warehouse for, a couple hours, maybe eight, it didn't matter though. The only thing that mattered now was getting out before he was sold to who knows where. Knowing he couldn't make a plan in the current state he was in he closed his eyes and let the rhythm of his tears hitting the floor slowly lull him to sleep.

____

He was awoken to the screaming of a little girl. He opened his eyes, the sleep in them immediately disappearing as he witnessed the girl beside him getting dragged away. 

She was way smaller than the man taking her but she was putting up a good fight regardless, wriggling and squirming but there was only so much a kid could do when they were only being fed the bare minimum and couldn't use their quirks. Eventually the girl used up most of her energy and the man seeing his chance hit her across the head instantly knocking her out.

Nobody said a word, too afraid of being put in that same position. The girl was dragged away by her hair leaving a trail of blood as she went. Everyone was distressed and the smell of iron only made it worse as one kid started to gag and soon enough everyone was either crying or shaking in fear of the future to come.

It took a while for the crying to die down, it didn't really stop until one of the men was forced to shoot a bullet into the roof immediately shutting everyone up.

And that's how life went on for a while, the repeated cycle of being fed the bare minimum trapped in this warehouse, one person being dragged away in the middle of the night when we we were all sleeping. It was terrifying, waking up to see one person who was there before suddenly gone, and you never knew if that person was going to be you next. Every night we all prayed hoping that we'll wake up in the same state we went to sleep in but we all knew that would be us eventually. We had all already given up all hope of being rescued.

A room that used to be filled with dozens of children is now filled with just a few with no choice but to wait for the day they're dragged away. The boy in the corner of the room is getting worried now, he knows there's not much time left before that's him. He hadn't been able to form a plan yet, how could he when they were always trapped in the room with several men always standing outside to watch over them. Even when they wanted to go to the bathroom they were escorted by 3 men who wouldn't take their eyes off them for a second.

The boy was crying now, wishing for someone, anyone to come and save them but he knew it was futile, they all did, no one could save them now only they could save themselves. But how could 5 little kids all wearing quirk canceling collars go up against several full grown men. Except they weren't all wearing quirk canceling collars, there was one exception and the kids caught on to that.

"Do something." The boy in the corner looked up to see a boy with horns talking to him. "You don't have a quirk canceling collar so how come you haven't done anything all this time." He hissed.

Being trapped in there for so long and his growing anxiety only made the boy with horns angry and it showed on his face. He was angry at himself for not listening to his parents, angry at the people outside who had kidnapped him and especially angry at the only boy who could have possibly done something this whole time but didn't.

"Why have you just sat there this whole time watching everyone get sold off one by one!" He spat. The boy in the corner started to shake, he was scared and didn't know what to say. He was just as upset about seeing everyone getting taken away but he couldn't do anything about, it wasn't his fault.

"Stop pressuring him like that it's not nice." Said a girl with blonde hair suddenly stepping in between the two boys. "We're all scared and are getting desperate but that doesn't mean you should take it out on him."

"But he's right, he's the only one without a collar so he could have done something this whole time." Said another boy who had hazelnut eyes.

"I can't-" The boy in the corner tried to say but was ignored.

"Exactly, if he could use his quirk this whole time why would he decide to do nothing." Said the boy with the horns, getting more furious.

"I can't-" the boy in the corners words were lost in the arguing once again.

"Calm down would you he must have his reasons, he's also going to get sold off you know." Said the girl with blonde hair.

"So he's trying to save only himself at the last minute right."

"I can't-"

"Could you all shut up! There's nothing we can do, we're all going to get sold off whether we like it or not." Another boy wearing a black top shouted, speaking for the first time. His words rang around the room and everyone fell silent.

"I can't." Everyone looks over to the boy in the corner now shacking violently.

"Why can't you." The blonde haired girl asks as quietly as possible as to not scare the boy.

"Cause I'm quirkless."

____

"No wonder the quirkless kid is still here who would want to buy him." It was the next day and the boy with the black shirt was gone. The boy with horns was scared and getting desperate, he had so many pent up emotions so he took them out on the quirkless boy in the corner. The quirkless boy hadn't said anything more since telling them he was quirkless, he just sat there shaking he never looked up.

The girl with blonde hair tried to talk to him and make him feel better and it was working more than she knew. The quirkless boy appreciated her company but he was afraid of getting attached but then never seeing her again. The boy would answer the girl under his breath but he never looked up, too afraid of the judgmental eyes he was so used to over the last two years of his life.

"Hey what's your name, I know it would be best to not get attached but I'd like to have someone to look for once I'm taken away." For the first time since telling them he was quirkless the boy looked up to see the blonde girl with a sad smile on her face.

Tears started to prick the boys eyes once again threatening to spill out. They all had little time left and he knew that there would be no one looking for him when he's gone, but this girl who he barely even knew wanted to look for him after they've all been sold even though he's quirkless. No one had ever been so nice to him when they found out he was quirkless so he told her.

"My name is Izuku Midoriya."

"Nice to meet you Izuku, I'm Akira Taiyo."

____

Three days later and only Izuku and Akira were left. They're glad that they got to stay together that long but they knew that after that day there would only be one left. Izuku hoped that he would be taken, hoped that he could some how save Akira having faith that she would look for him. He wanted to protect the first person who accepted him even though he had no power to call his own.

The two decided to stay awake to make the most of the little time they had left together. They talked about all sorts of stupid things, anything to keep their minds off what was to come.

In that prison time always seemed to move so slowly yet on that day time couldn't have moved slow enough. The pounding of their hearts replicating the ticking of a clock and soon enough it was dark outside. Time passed and soon footsteps could be heard getting closer and closer, they knew there time was up but they didn't want to part, not yet, they held on tight to each others hands and squeezed. They didn't let go no matter how much it hurt knowing that there fear of losing each other overrode the pain. Even if they were only together for 4 days they felt as if they had known each other forever and they knew the feeling was mutual when they had the urge to protect each other no matter what. The steps got louder and the feeling grew until they stopped and the sound of silence washed over them once again.

"Oh your both still awake, how troublesome." It was the same man from his first night here Izuku thought as the children looked at him. "You, little girl get up." 

Those long awaited words they were both dreading were finally said as the man pointed straight at the girl. Momentarily the children's breathing stopped as they registered what was happening, they had prepared for this yet no amount of preparation could have possibly warded of the feelings they felt. The girl started to shake as she slowly made her way to get up, not letting go of the others hand to savour every second, but the quirkless boy wasn't going to allow it. He pulled her down into his arms and looked the man dead in the eyes. He didn't know where this new found confidence came from but knew for sure that he wasn't going to let those people have her.

The man who had been waiting patiently was now getting upset. Annoyed he went over to grab the girl but the quirkless boy pushed him back.

"You can take me instead, just let her go." The quirkless boy said still holding the girl in his arms. His eyes were filled with determination, if only everything could be solved with determination alone the two children would have already been out of there.

"Izuku..." Akira looked at him in bewilderment, he was being stupid and she didn't want him to get hurt but she was still kind of touched.

"No one wants a quirkless kid like you so let go of the girl and get out of my way." Said the man, his rage evident in his voice. This only made Izuku hold on tighter as he shook his head. The man had had enough and he had no time for this.

"Take me instead." His voice was steady and intimidating, it was almost impossible to tell how terrified he actually was.

"Did you not just hear me kid, I said no one wants a quirkless kid like you, not even your mother. She practically gave you away to us with how little we paid."

It was at that moment the tiny mental string in the back of the boys mind snapped. The man had only confirmed the boys suspicions about his mother that he had tried so hard to get rid of. The naive, caring side of him wanted to believe in his mother if even just a little bit, he wanted to believe that she was still there waiting for him. That tiny belief was the only thing that was keeping him going until he met Akira. If Akira was taken away what would he have left.

The man had stopped talking seeing how the boy had suddenly gone quiet. He knew that his words had gotten into his head so the ignorant man approached the children. If the fool had looked at his eyes he would have saw it, he would have saw the overwhelming amount of blood lust hiding in those eyes, the amount of blood lust that should have never been possessed by an adult talkless of a child. If he had looked at his emerald green eyes he would have noticed them lock onto him and lose their brightness, if he had noticed them maybe he wouldn't have died.