Work Text:
Izuku knew he wasn't supposed to go into his father's office. It was the first rule of the house. Stay out of the office. His father had too many papers inside stacked just the way he needed them and Izuku was prone to knocking them over. That's what he'd been told, anyways. Still, he had to break the rules today.
Izuku carefully pushed the door open and tiptoed into the study. It was cleaner than he'd imagined it, not as many precarious towers of paper as he'd thought there would be. Izuku held his special card that he'd made close to his chest and crept around the desk to put it somewhere his father would find it. Surely he wouldn't be mad at Izuku for sneaking in if it was to leave him this surprise?
Izuku slipped the card under the keyboard and turned to leave, but paused when he saw a familiar book on the shelf. It was the photo album that his father kept in the front room, full of all his baby pictures and birthday pictures, all the ones his father had taken while he was growing up. It was strange that he had it in his office. He usually kept it where he and Izuku could look through the pictures together. Even more surprising was that there was a whole shelf full of the albums. What kind of pictures did he have in here that he hadn't shown Izuku before?
Izuku glanced at the door and figured that he had a few minutes before his father came back. Izuku slid one of the volumes out and flipped through it. As he had expected, it was full of his pictures. He frowned as he tried to remember where and when they had all been taken. Turning further into the book, he saw lots of people he didn't remember in the pictures. How could he have forgotten all of this.
On the last page, his father had written a note. Age 14- found picture books in attic, RESET.
Izuku frowned. We're the picture books here in the study? He slid the book back on the shelf and pulled out another. This one was full of unfamiliar pictures of himself as well. He became even more confused when he found a picture of his 15th birthday, a day that was still months away. He looked through the pages until he came to the end and found another note from his father: Age 16- memories returned, RESET.
Memories returned? What did that mean? With growing unease, Izuku pulled the next book down and skimmed through it to the back page. Age 15- injury, RESET.
He pulled down another, heart beat beginning to pick up. This one was much lighter than the others, it didn't have as many pictures. Age 6- overheard talk about villains triggered relapse, RESET.
Izuku dropped the book on the floor and grabbed the next one, skipping straight to the back. Age 12- All Might documentary triggered relapse, RESET.
Izuku started pulling each of the books down, reading only the last page.
Age 15- no more public school! RESET.
Age 7- injury, RESET.
Age 13- letter from previous, RESET.
Age 14- rebellion issues, RESET.
Age 4- dreams triggered relapse, RESET.
Age 9- old classmate found us, RESET.
Age 11- wanted to become a hero, RESET.
Age 15- ran away from home, RESET.
Age 12-
"Izuku, what are you doing in my study?" Izuku jumped and dropped the book. He turned quickly and saw his father, Hisashi, standing in the doorway.
"D-dad! I was just… I had a surprise for you…" Why did he feel so afraid? Why did he feel the need to run and hide before something bad happened? His father would never hurt him, even if he had broken the rules.
Hisashi looked him over, taking in the sight of all the picture books on the floor and disordered on the shelf. He stepped into the study and eased the door close behind him. "A surprise? What kind of surprise?"
Izuku backed away, he wasn't sure why. Surely this was all a misunderstanding. "I'm sorry, I know I'm not supposed to come in here but…" He didn't mean to, but he glanced down at the picture books, drawing his father's attention to them as well.
His father let out a deep sigh and crossed the room. "I was hoping this time would be the one…"
"What are you doing?" Izuku took a step back and tripped, landing on his back. "Stay away from me!"
His father paused before he crouched down over Izuku. "Is that any way to talk to your father, Izuku?"
"I hate you!" Izuku shouted, but it didn't feel like him anymore. No, everything for the last fourteen years hadn't felt like him. This feeling, this was real. Fear, anger, hatred… these were the emotions he had for his father that had been taken away from him time and time again. "Why are you doing this to me? Why can't you just leave me alone?"
"And you were doing so well this time too…" Hisashi reached out and brushed Izuku's bangs out of his face. "We'll just have to try again…"
"No!" Izuku screamed, kicking him back. The word rang through his mind over and over, Reset, reset, reset. "Not again, please! No more!"
His father chuckled and pushed Izuku's frantic legs aside. "You know it won't hurt, baby…"
"Stop!" Izuku begged, his eyes filling with tears.
Hisashi only smiled and placed a hand on top of Izuku's head. "It's all right, you won't remember any of it."
_____________________________________
Hisashi hummed softly to himself, sitting at his desk and flipping through the photo album from the living room. On his lap, his two year old son was sleeping with tears drying on his face. He was so sweet at this age, the perfect size to carry and cuddle… it was always his favorite age.
"Maybe I should have gone back a bit further…" he muttered aloud to himself. Izuku had been doing well this time, so it hadn't felt necessary.
Izuku sniffled in his sleep. He had finally stopped crying, it usually took a few hours each time. His tantrum had worn him out and at the end he had begged to sit in Hisashi's lap while he worked. Seeing how cute he was, Hisashi pulled out his phone and took a picture. Once the new photo album arrived in the mail, he would print it out and put it inside.
Hisashi set his phone down and looked back to his desk, currently occupied by the last photo book and the card that Izuku had hidden for him on his desk. So sweet, it was a shame he'd made the mistake of looking at the books. That was the second time these pictures had caused a Reset, but Hisashi couldn't bear to part with them. Every single memory he had with Izuku was too important to lose. He would need to be more careful this time.
Hisashi turned the book to the last page and picked up his pen. Age 14- found picture books in study, RESET.