Chapter Text
It was surreal, like being tossed into a dream with no explanation, or thrown into a game without knowing the rules. There was no trigger, no catalyst and no reason for this sudden shift in the world, yet it still came to pass. The very laws of the universe were just flipped upside down in less than a second and there was nothing Izuku could do about it. He was completely and utterly lost.
“Oh yeah, Midoriya, don’t you wanna to go to UA too?” Izuku was snapped out of his trance just in time to hear someone speaking. It was a voice that he recognized, but he couldn’t wrap his head around what it was saying to him. The last thing he could remember was the alert on his phone for a villain attack about two kilometers away from his position. Was a Quirk responsible for this?
His eyes darted around the room rapidly as he tried to understand the situation he was dropped into. He caught sight of multiple familiar faces as he scanned the room but could not recall any names to match them. They all seemed to be staring at him, either with pity in their gaze or smirking menacingly. He understood where he was, his middle school class was very familiar to him after all, but what he couldn’t understand was why .
There was a sudden shift in mood as the class erupted into laughter. He heard several voices in the crowd that taunted him. Despite the memory of this moment, he couldn’t, for the life of him, remember the exact words they used nor the voices of the people who used them. Confusion was still plastered his face when Katsuki slammed his hand on Izuku’s desk, causing a much smaller explosion than he was used to after the years of working with him as pro heroes. Despite the blast being unusually small, Izuku’s body was knocked back, hitting the floor along with his chair.
“Forget having a weak-ass quirk, you don’t even have a fucking quirk!” Izuku narrowed his eyes, absolutely bewildered at the fact that his aggressive friend looked so young. The hot-headed blond continued his rant as Izuku realized what Katsuki’s appearance meant about his own body. “So where do you get off putting yourself on the same level as me!?”
“H-hold on…That’s not it! Hold on, Kacchan!” Izuku was not ready for this. He had to lay out the facts: he was, for some unexplained reason, back in his fourteen-year-old body reliving a day from his past. Not just any day either, as he remembered, this was the day that changed his life forever. If it was a Quirk that landed him here, he had no sense of how to get back. Would he have to relive his entire hero career? Did it only affect this one day? If so, can what he does now affect the future? He had no time to think of an answer as to why this was happening to him, he could only think to not arouse suspicion until he had time to think of a solution. So, what would he have said to Katsuki back then?
“It’s not as though I’m trying to compete with you, I wouldn’t dream of it!” Izuku was trying his best not to smirk at the obvious lie, but he kept a straight face by telling himself that, at this point in their relationship, it wasn’t a lie. He grimaced, thinking how it was going to bite him in the ass later, but continued with his memory of this conversation. “It’s just… I’ve wanted to be a hero since I was super young and… you never know ‘til you try.”
Izuku braced himself for the harsh words that he remembered from that day as Katsuki set off a couple more explosions, visibly annoyed. “‘You never know ‘til you try’!? You’ll never be able to compete with the best of the best! You’d die in the exams!”
It was for an almost nostalgic-like feeling that Izuku almost chuckled at that. Luckily, he caught himself before Katsuki could notice the change of expression on his face. His friend let out a huff and turned back to his desk after Izuku showed no further reaction to his outburst. With how impossible this situation was, he didn't have the patience for more conflict than absolutely necessary.
Izuku thought that he could analyse the situation before the end of class, but he found himself distracted by the memories of the old building. The wooden floors were lightened by years of unruly pre-teens disturbing the lacquer, and the field seen from the window was permanently coated in a cloud of dust. It had a different atmosphere than he remembered which he contributed to the sentimentality. When he was this age, he recalled how helpless he felt, how much the discouragement hurt him. It wasn’t as if he could forget that feeling, but seeing it again, he could only feel relief. Relief that he endured, relief that he survived.
It wasn’t long before he was brought back to the reality of this predicament when his phone pinged with a villain sighting notice. The sludge villain. Izuku took a sharp breath and caressed his neck as he thought of the pain that was to come. He sighed and looked down at his desk where his old hero analysis notebook lay. Thirteen, huh? He had to be at least in the hundreds by now, but he had stopped labeling them. Even so, the thirteenth had always been one of his favorites and it was strange to see it without its signature burns and rips.
“We’re not done yet, Deku,” Katsuki said, malice in his voice. He stepped in front of Izuku’s desk and snatched the notebook before the smaller boy had a chance to pick it up himself. Izuku feigned surprise, sneaking in a smile when Katsuki turned to show his lackies the notebook.
“Give that back, it’s mine!” He said as meekly as he could.
The sudden blast of heat and light definitely didn’t surprise him like it did the first time it happened. He had grown accustomed to it over the years. He wasn’t fazed when Katsuki waved the charred notebook in front of his face before flinging it out the window. He knew this routine, the system Katsuki had developed to deal with his emotions; he had already lived this life.
Izuku realized something then; he already lived this life, what would happen if he tried to live a different life this time? No… he couldn’t do that, he loved his life.
“Don’t even think about applying or else...” Smoke cascaded over Izuku’s shoulder where the taller boy placed his hand. Katsuki quickly let go and began to move to the door. “If you really want to be a hero there is still a way you can do that... Just pray that you’ll be born with a quirk in your next life and take a swan dive off the roof of the building!”
“Bakugou!” Izuku yelled. What was he doing? He wasn’t supposed to interfere, yet he felt compelled to say something in that moment.
Katsuki turned, not in rage this time around, but in surprise. The puzzled look on his face, most likely due to the lack of nickname, quickly disappeared. “Huh!? You got something to say!?”
“You’re… you’re willing to be responsible for my death?” Izuku asked. Determination and uncertainty filled him as he locked eyes with his friend.
“What the fuck are you going on about, Deku?”
“Do you ever think about the consequences of what you say!? If I ran off the roof right now, you’d be a murderer, Bakugou! Not a hero.”
That made the blond snap. Katsuki lunged towards him, teeth bared and fire in his eyes as chairs and desks went flying behind him. He raised his arm ready to strike Izuku. A right hook. Predictable. Izuku suddenly spun around, grabbing Katsuki’s arm and flinging him over his shoulder. Katsuki landed on his back, eyes wide and mouth gaping. Izuku immediately jumped on top of his friend and took hold of his explosive hand, placing it on his own neck, taunting Katsuki to either choke him or blow off his trachea.
“What are you waiting for!? If you want me dead, then do it already!” Izuku screamed, his grip on the teen’s hand tightened. He forgot how weak he used to be; his shoulder ached, and he felt as if he could be easily overpowered.
Katsuki was silent. His breath slowed as he stared at where his hand had been placed, his eyes were hollow, and his body became rigid. His minions had long since run away, they were alone and Katsuki was scared .
He came to his senses after what seemed like an hour, but in reality, was probably less than a minute. His face turned cold and the fear in his eyes was replaced with anger. He pulled himself up, knocking Izuku to his side. The two sat silently on the floor. Katsuki spoke first.
“I fuck’n… I don’t,” he sighed and looked directly at Izuku. “I don’t want you dead, nerd.”
It was at this point that Izuku thought that he might have taken this a bit too far. He had only meant to talk, but he forgot about Katsuki’s rage attacks from when they were this age. Had this changed the future? He doubted it. At the very most, he thought, it may have sped up the mending of their friendship.
“You’re still a weak-ass piece of shit though, you just caught me off guard,” He huffed, “so don’t act all high and mighty...and if you do anything like this shit again, I’ll kill you!”
Katsuki hauled himself up, storming out of the classroom and, although faint, Izuku heard him say some parting words.
“Nice move.” He glared daggers at the Quirkless boy, “Izuku.”
Izuku stared at the door in awe for at least a minute before he realized that he needed to be somewhere. If he doesn’t get attacked on his way home, he would never be the person he is… or the person he will be. This was a different world than he knew. That fact filled him with a distant hope. He had the knowledge to save more people than he could have imagined, but something was nagging him. To change the future through reliving the past… It felt intrusive. Just thinking of what was to come, he almost forgot that he would be seeing All Might again.
His face was unexpectedly warm but when he reaches up to touch his cheek, he understood why that was. His tears fell slowly as he smiled. He’d long since accepted All Might’s end but Izuku couldn’t help but be overjoyed to spend more time with his mentor. That’s when he realized that, despite knowing how everything would end, he didn’t want to experience it any differently.
He scrambled to his feet, collected his things and sprinted out of the school. Until he could confirm what was going on, he wouldn’t be changing anything else. If the things he does in this strange time-shifted world did indeed change his future, he couldn't risk changing much. Whatever was responsible for this time travel, he didn’t mind. In fact, he welcomed it. He was nervous at first, that he would have to relive the pain that he’d been through throughout his career. The hardships, the death, the betrayal. It was all part of him, and he wouldn’t change any of it for the world.