Chapter Text
Izuku watched. His gaze floated across every student. And as he watched, he analyzed. Making notes on even the most minuscule of details. He notices how Shinsou (Mineta’s replacement) lacks stamina and strength, but is agile and light on his feet. Kirishima’s quirk makes him slow, and hasn’t earned the name “unbreakable” yet. Kaminari looks slightly afraid of himself- of what his quirk can do to him once pushed too far.
He sees the potential, and knows how strong these people will grow to be. But he doesn’t know how much time they have, and he knows that they’re all going to have to work harder than before. Push them past their limits, train them for something they don’t even know is going to happen (and they will learn, eventually. But they're just starting, and Izuku wants them to have their childhood for as long as possible).
Katsuki is strong, but he’s not like who he used to be, and Izuku knows this frustrates him. And maybe this frustration is good, because he can turn that into power.
Izuku uses his quirk in the practices Aizawa has set them up for as well, refusing to hold back. Aizawa is repeating these exercises not to potentially expel any students, but to set them up for survival. He knows them, even if they don’t quite know him. He’s doing what Izuku is doing, soaking in every strength, growth, and weakness to ensure that none of them will die before their time.
It’s a weird thing, to excel at something you once failed at. He comes in first in some of the courses, second or third in the others. He ignores the shocked looks from Todoroki (after all, he was supposed to be quirkless), and the curious glances from Shinsou. Everyone seemed surprised by his skill -besides Kacchan and Aizawa-Sensei-, and why wouldn’t they be? They don’t know that he’s done this before, or that he has years worth of knowledge and training on them. None of them have had to fight in war, or be trapped in The Arena, or roam the streets, witnessing the darkest parts of the human species.
He can see the wall building between him and his friends (just classmates, they don’t even know him), separating them. Izuku tries to smile warmly at them, and compliment them on how amazing they are (not just their quirks, but them ).
They’re smart, and while they know that he is not like them, they also gather that he wants to be here, with them.
After the courses are finished, Shinsou walks up to him, rubbing the back of his neck. His eyes are downcast, and it takes a moment for him to find words. But Izuku is patient, he has to be.
Shinsou looks up, making eye contact, “I -uh- wanted to say thank you, for helping me at the entrance exam. I wouldn’t have passed if it weren’t for your advice.”
Izuku smiles (Shinsou squints at the brightness), “No need to thank me. You would have made it one way or another. Have more faith in yourself.”
In order to win a war, one has to trust themselves and know just how much they’re capable of.
Izuku squeezes Shinsou’s shoulder before walking to the locker room to change. He grabs his clothes, and just like when he was putting on his uniform, he goes inside a bathroom stall to change. No one has ever seen the full extent of his scars, and he can’t risk freaking any of them out. He wouldn’t be able to answer any of the questions about the electric burn scars from The Arena (among the various others from that hell), his self-harm scars, or the plethora of permanent markings from being a vigilante. He doesn’t bother to count them- doesn’t want to be reminded of what caused them.
People look at him oddly when he exits the stall, but don’t ask questions much to Izuku’s relief. Katsuki narrows his eyes at him; even he doesn’t know the extent of scar tissue Izuku’s body adorns.
It’s then that Kaminari’s voice catches his attention: “Yo, did you guys hear that we’re going to go to the USJ in a few days? I’m so stoked!”
Izuku feels his face pale. He catches Katsuki’s eye and sees that his reaction was similar. They had been so busy with training and focusing on getting into U.A that the USJ attack hadn’t had a chance to occupy their minds. He slowly walks out of the locker room, trying his best to act normal. But a wave of self-hatred and panic washed over him. How could he have been so careless as to forget the class’s first encounter with villains? With Shigaraki.
Shimura Tenko. In just a few short days, he’ll be face-to-face with him. The first time in months, in years if he doesn’t count that glimpse of him on the roof.
Katsuki is right next to him. Izuku doesn’t know how long he’s been walking beside him, but as he always does, he takes comfort in his presence.
Katsuki also doesn’t know about how intertwined Shigaraki and Izuku really are. He doesn’t know that he was the reason he had the ability to travel back to time, nor does he know about the time spent together at The Arena.
“Promise me you’ll save me in the next life,” Tenko whispered as he injected Izuku with the last quirk. As soon as the quirk was introduced into his system, Izuku started to scream.
It was more painful than any of the other quirks forced upon his body. He writhed and clawed at the ground. His entire existence started to glitch. After all, a quirk that can not only rewind time but create a whole new timeline altogether is a powerful thing. Not one meant to exist in any world, even one full of mutated people.
He felt as though his insides were being ripped up, and all he wanted was death. His limbs flickered only to reappear again.
Once it was over, Izuku was too weak to fight AFO and his mind control. At least until it was too late.
Izuku hasn’t kept his promise. He let AFO get to Shigaraki and he’s no longer sure if he’ll be able to stray from the path that he was put on.
But he has to try. He has to hope that Shimura Tenko is still there, and still wants to be saved.
Izuku takes a deep breath and nods at Katsuki.
“We’re going to need to talk to Aizawa.”
_____
Izuku and Katsuki walk into the classroom during lunch, finding Aizawa zipped up in his sleeping bag in the corner of the room. Izuku sighs, feeling a tinge of guilt for having to wake up the hero when he obviously needs the rest.
Don’t they all.
Izuku walks over to his teacher (he still can’t believe he can call him that again. It’s surreal. He finds it hard to call him “Sensei” when they’ve been fighting side by side for the last couple of years) and gently, but firmly, kicks him. Shota wakes up immediately, and out of reflex goes to grab Izuku’s foot. Before he can do so, Izuku takes a couple of steps back.
Aizawa groans, “Problem Child.”
“We need to talk, along with Nezu and All Might.”
He gets out of the sleeping bag and goes to sit at his desk. He stares at Izuku and Katsuki, waiting for them to talk.
“What the hell are we going to do about the USJ trip?” Katsuki rips off the bandaid.
Aizawa pinches the bridge of his nose, “I’ve been thinking about that.”
“Well?” Izuku pushes, “We only have a few days, and there’s also that break in that happened.”
“We’re going to cancel the trip and not tell anyone about it until the day we’re supposed to leave. That way it can’t leak.”
Izuku shakes his head. He doesn’t understand; that can’t work. But how can he, or anyone? No one knows how deep his connection with Shigaraki goes. Katsuki nudges him with a brush of his shoulder. He senses Aizawa’s questioning gaze on him.
He takes a deep breath, “Fine. Cancel it last minute, but know that I’m going to be there. I have to be.”
“Absolutely not,” Both Katsuki and Shota say at the same time.
“Will you let me finish?” Izuku growls out, “I need to talk to Shigaraki. I can save him and bring him to our side.”
“Midoriya, you out of everyone should know that he’s too far gone to be saved.”
Anger surges through him. He hates it when people assume what he’s been through and how it went about. As if he should have a set feeling or emotion to a particular event. But it’s not that linear. Nothing ever is.
Most days, he’s either feeling everything at once or nothing at all.
“You don’t get to dictate anything about how I should feel or think about someone. I know him better than anyone at this school, and he knows me too.” Izuku takes another deep breath, “He’s probably the only reason I survived The Arena.”
Both Katsuki and Aizawa tense next to him. Izuku hardly ever talks about what happened in that hellhole, and when he does, it’s only in bits and snippets. He only ever lets their imagination come up with the true horrors of that place of pain.
“You mean- he was in The Arena with you?” Aizawa asks.
He nods, “We were in the same cell together.” He ignores how Katsuki flinches at the use of the word “cell”. But in all honesty, that room was a luxury compared to everything else. “But none of that matters. I promised Tomura that I would save him, in both timelines, and this is my chance to do it.”
Aizawa releases a long suffering sigh and Katsuki makes a tching sound next to him. “If the Nerd is going, then so am I.”
Izuku shakes his head, “No. I’m the only one that can be in there.”
Katsuki tilts his head, challenging him, “And why is that? And what about the hundred other villains that are going to be there, huh?”
“Bakugou is right, Problem Child. There’s no way I’m letting you go in there alone.”
Izuku flings his hands up in frustration, “Look, if you need to be there, then be outside alongside how many other heroes you want there. I just need to get to Tomura, and I can without anyone noticing I’m even there.”
He’s talking about his invisibility quirk: it makes him unnoticeable unless someone was already aware of his appearance beforehand.
Aizawa groans, and Izuku almost feels bad. Katsuki is still shaking his head. “No. I’m not letting you go in alone. Not after he took you-”
Izuku cuts him off, “He doesn’t remember that. And technically, this Tomura isn’t the same as the one you knew before. If things go south, have your backup storm the place and take everyone down. I don’t care. You just have to let me try.”
He was going to do this, whether they wanted him to or not. But that didn’t stop Izuku from wanting their trust. He knew he could accomplish this task. Izuku needed to talk to Tomura, but he also needed to see if that boy from The Arena was still there.
Izuku grabs Katsuki’s hand and looks him in the eye, urging him to trust him. He knew it was impossible for anyone but him to understand. However, they didn’t need to understand.
Katsuki whispers a curse, knowing that there was no changing Izuku’s mind. Izuku looks back at Aizawa, waiting for him to say something.
“I’ll give you five minutes,” the teacher says, “If you’re not back by then, or at the very least send some kind of signal by the end of that time limit, I’m having the place stormed.”
“I’ll be waiting too, and you bet your ass that I’ll be the first one in as soon as that last second ends.”
Some of the tension that Izuku didn’t even know he was harboring melts off of him and he smiles, “Thank you. Five minutes is all I’ll need.”
“You better not make me regret this, Problem Child. Now, leave; I have to talk to the rat about this turn of events.”
Katsuki and Izuku turn to leave, and walk out of the giant Class 1-A door. Katsuki’s hand tightens on his as they continue their walk to the cafeteria.
“You trust me, right?” Izuku asks.
Katsuki tchs, “Of course I do. But I don’t trust him. ”
“You don’t have to, but know that I’m going to save him.”
“And if anyone can, it’s you,” the blonde says. Izuku feels his cheeks warm at the comment, and he smiles, rising on his tiptoes to kiss Katsuki on the cheek.
Red blossoms on Katsuki’s face, “What was that for, huh?!”
Laughter bubbles out of Izuku’s mouth, “Just cause’.”
_________
Katsuki knew that Izuku wouldn’t back down, but that didn’t stop the fear from crawling up his chest. He sees flashes of Izuku bloodstained and exhausted, his eyes empty and lack of control. He knows that Shigaraki aided in torturing him and causing this shit show.
He doesn’t know Izuku’s past with Shigaraki, especially during his time at The Arena (Bakugou has tried looking it up, but there’s nothing. Izuku has only provided snippets, and Katsuki knows that he’s still weighed down by those two years. He knows by the way Izuku mutters and whimpers in his sleep. Whispers of Madoka and keep fighting keep fighting, have to make it to the next round) .
This doesn’t stop hot flashes of hanger from overwhelming him, though. Because if it weren’t for Shigaraki, maybe none of their friends, their family , would have died. Maybe Izuku wouldn’t have had to go back in time and experience so much pain . Maybe they would have graduated and become full-fledged heroes together. Maybe Izuku would have learned to love himself by now.
He doesn’t want Izuku to go in alone, but he knows that he wouldn’t be able to change his mind. So he’ll be as close as he can be. He swears that if he gets even a suspicion that Izuku’s getting hurt, then he’ll throw all those plans away and attack every single villain in the USJ.
Because even though Izuku might not know how precious he is, Katsuki does. And he’ll make sure that they both live long enough for Izuku to realize that he’s cherished.
That’s all he can do.