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Izuku feels it before it happens. A familiar pulling in his gut demands his attention as he’s eyeing his choice of vegetables at uptown Musutafu’s local farmer’s market. Luckily, he’s not got much on him right now. Having only just arrived, he doesn’t even have a bag to go with him when he disappears out of thin air. The same queasy feeling characteristic of these trips has him feeling slightly unbalanced but the sensation is nowhere near as strong as it used to be all those years ago. So when Izuku goes, he goes. He feels marginally bad, god this was going to make the papers again, wasn’t it?
He can see the headlines now.
Number 2 Hero Deku Vanishes While Grocery Shopping!
Distantly he hopes his agency can intercept the influx of press before it becomes too much of an issue but, knowing his luck, there’s no point in getting his hopes up.
Kacchan’s going to be livid .
He wonders where he’ll pop up this time.
As always, he doesn’t have to wonder for long. After a few seconds, Izuku opens his eyes to a group of gawking teenagers dressed in painfully familiar uniforms.
U-A, huh?
The gathered crowd of adolescents predictably explodes in exclamations of shock, worry, and burgeoning panic and Izuku tries not to start sweating nervously. Old habits die hard after all and some of his more anxious tics never did go away despite the many years since he’d graduated from these halls. The situation is bad enough, he doesn’t need to add suspicious behavior onto his growing list of misdemeanors. Some strange man suddenly popping up in what is supposed to be one of the most secure facilities in the country? He’s lucky if they bother to listen to him before violently taking him into custody.
Izuku has no idea where he is in their jumbled timeline and he has no idea if this is his first trip back for this group of people or not. He doesn’t know what they know so he does his best to remain calm and make no sudden movements. There’s the sound of a commotion from further down the hallway and he deduces someone’s finally gone and alerted a teacher, to which he internally sighs in relief.
Unfortunately, it’s at this moment that his other senses kick in. Most predominantly, his sense of smell. Izuku’s never had the best nose, even when he presented as an Alpha it didn’t suddenly give him the ability to discern the finest details of a person just by a passing whiff. Still, that doesn’t mean he’s completely scent-blind. And the scent that reaches him is one he knows.
What should be notes of sweet caramel and underlying cinnamon instead fills his nostrils with the sting of putrefaction and burning thistle. It’s a smell he’s only been exposed to a few times in all his years but it’s one he won’t ever be able to forget.
A Katsuki in distress.
Without thinking, his head turns back, following the direction where the scent is strongest and Izuku’s mind and body promptly shut down before abruptly kicking into hyperdrive. His reaction is instinctual and instantaneous. Though his mind chides him for going against his own goals of not coming off as even more suspicious than he is, Izuku can’t help bristling. His Alpha- typically dormant and docile- rears its head and bares its teeth, resulting in the most sulfuric smell his scent-glands can muster rapidly filling the wide hallway. Gathered students from different departments draw back, some in fear, some in repressed aggression, yet all of them sharing the same thought.
This is not an Alpha to be messed with.
Feeling challenged as no doubt as some of them are, Izuku knows every single wolf in this hallway recognizes submission is a better choice than possible death.
(Not that he ever would. He’s a hero, for god’s sake, and these are kids . Future colleagues . His wolf may not make the distinction but Izuku has more than enough strength to wrestle it down should it attempt to go for the kill.)
He knows what he looks like, knows he’s only gotten more scars as the years have passed and that not all of them are so kind as to stay tucked away beneath his clothes. His hands, for sure, are on display, marred fingers kept resolutely lax despite the tension coursing throughout his body. Japan was deep in the throes of summer back in his time so the long-healed gashes interspersed on the skin of his arms are exposed, too, and Izuku’s Bermuda shorts hide nothing of the deep, jagged lines on his calves, though the lone bullet hole on his lower left thigh remains thankfully covered.
So a strange, adult Alpha that bore the marks of battle, releasing an acerbic smell coloring the middle of a high school hallway in intense shades of ‘ back the fuck off ’ while a sixteen year-old, omega hero student lies crumpled on the floor behind him? Yeah, Izuku knows he’s made his situation all the more difficult for himself. But exactly how the hell was his body expected to react when met with the sight and scent of his future mate, doubled over in pain against a wall, clenching his teeth, and vainly warding off an ensuing panic attack in front of his schoolmates?
Izuku’s not in the mood to try for nonthreatening, struggling against his own instincts to go hold the suffering teen while also fending off any possible threats from a safe distance. Not to mention, Kacchan would no doubt hate himself for being so vulnerable in front of other people and Izuku knows from experience that he should get them both away. Somewhere private , somewhere safe . But he can’t because authority figures are coming and he needs to explain to them what’s happening otherwise they’d probably think someone was kidnapping Katsuki again.
Somewhere in the great beyond, the Universe laughs as the crowd before him parts and Izuku’s green gaze meets with the characteristic, quirk-activated, red of Aizawa Shouta.
Shouta did not sign up for this shit. He didn’t sign up for this when he was becoming a hero and he certainly didn’t sign up for this when he agreed to become a teacher. Nowhere in his contract did it state that someday he’d come face to face with one of his students, displaced in time and older than he should be, filling the air with domineering pheromones while stubbornly guarding another one of Shouta’s dumbass charges as he cycles through the beginnings of a full-blown panic attack.
It doesn’t make one bit of sense but Shouta recognizes the problem child when he sees him. A screaming Kaminari had pulled him out of class because Bakugou was supposedly going catatonic in the hallway, scorching the fuck out of UA’s floors, and Shouta witnessed the exact moment Midoriya vanished into thin air. Midoriya hadn’t even activated his quirk and Shouta can bet Yamada’s life on that because he’d been waiting, fingers twitching for his capture gear, to plant the kid on his ass and tell him to calm down, before going to deal with the problem. Instead, the brat had straight up disappeared into nothingness as he was getting up from his seat. So Shouta, gathering himself quickly, had proceeded to do the obvious and order the rest of his students to stay while Kaminari led him to the disaster zone.
The crowd parts and it’s then that he sees.
This fucking kid, I swear.
He’s older, that much is obvious. Older and standing about an inch above Shouta’s own height, wearing clothing that would’ve dwarfed him were he the Midoriya of now, and sporting enough scars that Eraserhead wants to smack his future self because did he teach the kid nothing ? His hair is different too, still as unruly as ever but cropped short at the sides in the style of an undercut and, going by the scent strong enough to burn his nose hairs , had already presented as well.
The walking green-haired disaster, an alpha. How fan-fucking-tastic.
As if he isn’t enough of a stubborn little shit already.
Shouta narrows his eyes and brings his attention back to the present. Midoriya-of-the-future grits his teeth and tries for a small smile, the expression coming off as exceedingly stiff through his haze of barely-there self-control.
“What happened?” He barks out, less of a question and more of an order.
“Sorry, Sensei, I don’t know. He was already panicking when I got here and the most I could do was try to keep everyone away. I’d have gotten us out of here by now but, well-”
“-Someone would have stopped you and this would be a bigger problem that it already is.” Shouta finishes for him, sharply turning his gaze to a shocked Kaminari beside him.
“What did you see?”
“Um- uh- I was coming back from the bathroom when I saw Bakugou. Monoma from Class 1-B was there- uh doing an errand I think, he had a box in his hands- and they were talking and the next thing I know Monoma’s ripping Bakugou’s hearing aids out of his ears.”
Shouta stops breathing the same moment Future Midoriya releases an angry growl. Kaminari flinches and Shouta opens his mouth to tell the green-haired time-traveler to simmer down but then his shaken student continues.
“Sen-Sensei, you know how- how he just got those yesterday and I guess they were bothering him-”
Dark eyebrows furrow.”Yes, he asked to go to the nurse shortly before class started.”
“-Yeah, and well, no one else knew about them except our class so- so I think-”
“You think what, Kaminari?” Shouta asks quickly, trying to remain calm but also urging his student to reach the end of his explanation before the angry Alpha in the room could do something they’d all regret.
“Well- before I ran to get you- I heard Monoma say he thought they were headphones. I- I don’t think he did it on purpose, Aizawa-sensei. You know- you know how him and Bakugou are- I think he thought Bakugou was ignoring him and listening to music so he-”
Fuck, this is such a mess.
Shouta rubs his temples, eyeing Midoriya through his periphery and making sure the other man wouldn’t do anything rash. He refocuses his attention on the crowd of students still in the hallway, catching the gaze of a tense Midnight where she had popped her head out of her classroom.
“All of you, go back to class. Everything’s under control.” He makes sure to leave no room for debate in his tone, hawkishly watching each student as they slowly make to listen.
“Kaminari, you too. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
The electric-blonde nods shakily at him, glancing one last time at the Midoriya none of them know, and beginning his journey back to the classroom. The rest of the assembled student body leaves quickly yet just as hesitantly and it’s a long moment before it’s just him and his displaced, ex-student in the hallway. Midoriya’s pheromones ease up then, the scent of burning asphalt no longer aggressively attacking Shouta’s own senses, and the two of them stare off against each other. Shouta peers around the other man’s broad form to check on his panicking student and clenches his fist as he notices what he’d so easily missed before. Where he thought Bakugou had been using one hand to clutch his shirt and the other to hold his head through the pain, Shouta could make out the sight of his student’s hearing aids held tight against a rapidly-rising chest.
“We need to get him to Recovery Girl.” He states, locking eyes with the older Midoriya without making a move.
Though his scent isn’t as threatening as before, Shouta knows better than to assume he’d let his guard down. And, without having any knowledge of what Midoriya and Bakugou might be in the future but being very aware of what they are now- that is to say, complicated - he knows the difference between the reactions of a friend and the instincts of a bonded alpha.
God, you two won’t ever stop giving me stress, will you?
“I’ll show you the way just to make sure you get there. After that, you’re on your own. I need to have a conversation with Vlad and, if it turns out you’re an imposter after all, Chiyo can handle herself long enough for one of the others to stop you from trying anything.”
Midoriya nods at him tersely but refuses to turn his back. Shouta might be a beta but that doesn’t mean shit in their business, he could still take down a full-grown, raging alpha if he wanted to. He’s glad to know this Midoriya isn’t underestimating him despite his own years of accumulated experience. Shouta idly wonders what rank the other man had reached by now. Presently, he moves at the same pace Midoriya does, keeping himself in his ex-student’s line of sight as he goes to wrap gentle arms around a trembling Bakugou. Shouta catches a whiff of fresh laundry and pine- what must be Midoriya’s comforting pheromones- and watches as Bakugou seems to take steadier breaths.
“You- you idiot. What’re you doing showing- showing yourself to everyone like that?” His ears pick up Bakugou’s familiar rasp, though the words are clearly meant to be whispered.
Future Midoriya smiles the first real smile Shouta has seen him make, successfully embracing the younger man and lifting him up even as he makes a small, instinctive grunt of disapproval. After a moment of stillness, Bakugou seems to make his peace with the fact that he’s not making it to Recovery Girl on his own and nods his ascent. Midoriya gestures for Shouta to go ahead.
“It’s my first public appearance then, I take it?” He replies once the beta’s taken his cue.
Bakugou’s hearing aids remain in his grip but the other man must be conscious of that, making sure his lips are well within Bakugou’s sight so he can read them.
“S-stupid.”
Shouta takes this as a sign that Bakugou’s familiar with this kind of thing happening, making a mental note to ask him about it later just so he knows how to react should it happen again, and- though Shouta doesn’t lower his guard, just in case- he allows the tension in his body to seep out slowly. He registers a quiet huff of a laugh as he walks several feet in front of them, can feel Midoriya’s eyes on his back- watching closely for any sudden moves, any sign of betrayal- and keeps his steps steady, not quite slow, but definitely blatant.
“Sorry about that, Kacchan. It was going to happen eventually, though. You know as well as I do that I can’t stop the pulling, you’ve been lucky that it’s managed to stay out of UA’s radar for so long.”
“Fuck off, du-dumb Deku.”
Midoriya hums lowly.”In a bit, let me make sure you’re okay first.”
“Like some shitty extra’s gonna- gonna keep me down.”
“You’re right, Kacchan. But I’m not leaving till you’re better and that’s that.”
“So annoying.”
Shouta hears a soft hum of agreement.“That’s me.”
Midoriya’s gotten even more patient with Bakugou over the years. He thinks to himself. Or maybe it’s the age difference and pain he’s currently in.
The three of them arrive at the door to the Nurse’s office, Shouta pulling it to the side and meeting eyes with the elderly hero. He explains the situation quickly enough, succinctly telling her everything he knows and throwing her a meaningful look when she glances at the pair behind him. Aged eyes widen after a moment and he lets her come to the same conclusion as he had, briefly nodding at her questioning gaze, and steps away as she ushers them in.
“Bakugou-kun, I understand you are experiencing quite the amount of pain right now. However, it is quite uncharacteristic for the pain of an improperly-removed hearing aid to persist so long and so strongly. What else happened when Monoma-kun removed your aids without your permission? I’d like to be aware of the entire problem before attempting to fix it.”
Shouta sees his scowling student squirm in Midoriya’s arms, glaring up at the older man as if to tell him he wanted out, and watches from the doorway as the three of them walk over to an infirmary bed. Bakugou takes a moment to curl up on the sheets, grimacing and holding on to the hem of Midoriya’s shirt, before answering Chiyo.
“The stupid extra got pissed I wasn’t giving him my- my time of day and I hadn’t bothered looking at him so I didn’t realize what he was d-doing till he got his hands around my ears.” Bakugou takes a shaky breath, body tensing as another wave of pain hits him. “Tried to let out an explosion- just a small one, get the fucker to back off- and I forgot I’m not supposed to activate my quirk while those things are in. The little bitch pulled them out right as I let out the first explosion.”
Chiyo nods, processing the information. “And after that?”
“Didn’t even get a scratch on Monoshit- felt like someone had taken a screwdriver to my ears and I backed away. My hands kept going off when my vision started to black out, I didn’t- didn’t know what was happening at that point. Next thing I knew, Deku over here was in the hallway looking like a lost fuck.”
Neither he nor Chiyo berate the younger man on his language, allowing it just this once given the circumstances.
“Alright, and I take it this has happened before? I know it’s not really pertinent to your pain but I need to confirm he isn’t a threat to you or to this school, should he wish to stay while you recuperate.”
Bakugou scoffs, furrowing his eyebrows and tightening his grip on both his hearing aids and Midoriya’s shirt.
“Yeah, some old quirk shit that happened when we were younger. Why do I need- need time to recuperate? Just fix me and I can go back to class.”
Shouta grimaces at that. Yeah, no way is he letting the kid go without at least one class period of rest.
“Had it just been the pain in your ears, Bakugou-kun, I might have allowed you to leave. However, in conjunction to your eardrums likely rupturing as a result of what happened, you went into shock and experienced a panic attack as well. My quirk does not undo mental damage to my patients and, as the resident healthcare practitioner for this school, I must insist on you taking time to recover properly.”
Bakugou sits up swiftly.
“It’s not like I’m damaged goods, I can still-”
“You might be able to participate in class, yes, but I would feel better if you rest. I insist , Bakugou-kun. And I’m sure Aizawa-san agrees with me.”
Crimson eyes flash towards him and Shouta raises an eyebrow, well-aware that his student knew him enough by now to understand he wouldn’t be getting any help out of him. Bakugou scowls in return, fingernails digging into his palm.
“Fucking fine then. I’ll still be leagues above everyone else even if I skip a day, anyway.”
Chiyo shakes her head, exasperated but satisfied, and walks around the length of the infirmary bed to give her quirk the best contact with Bakugou’s skin. She plants a kiss on his forehead, undeterred by his ground-out explicatives and rapidly reddening cheeks. Shouta, pleased to see his student healed, turns around to leave. Recovery Girl’s retreating into her personal office, having finished her job, but Shouta’s eyes catch on the silhouette of Midoriya’s back- specifically, how the years had only made it look more dependable. The green-haired hero rubs a muscled hand on Bakugou’s shoulder blades gently, tracing experienced circles meant to comfort into the steadily-relaxing musculature. Shouta closes the door and releases a tired sigh.
At this rate, I’m going to go gray before either of them graduate.