Chapter Text
Waking up in a completely foreign house was not in Izuku’s daily schedule. The house was absolutely exquisite, but it was huge and empty. It definitely looked haunted, but Izuku tried to rid that thought from his mind. He stood in front of a small desk with a mirror on the wall. A stranger’s face met him, but when Izuku blinked, the stranger blinked. When Izuku moved his arm, the stranger moved his arm.
Izuku wasn’t completely displeased though. The stranger was very pleasing to the eyes to look at. His appearance was very unique. Heterochromia, red and white hair, almost like a candy cane. Izuku shook his head and the hair flopped back into the place it was trained to sit at. The red hair fell onto the left, and the white hair went to the right.
Izuku couldn’t help but comb his fingers through the silky hair. Izuku’s hair was always curly and messy. It felt weird to have such kept hair. As Izuku continued to be fascinated by his new appearance, a knock sounded at the door.
“Shouto,” a woman’s voice called. The sliding door opened and she poked her head through. She looked to be in her early to mid-twenties. Her hair was mostly white with little red specks smeared occasionally through it. She gingerly adjusted the glasses on her nose. “Do you want anything from the store?” She paused to examine Izuku’s shocked expression. “What’s wrong?” she asked with vivid concern laced into her voice.
“A-ah!” Izuku jolted as he revived himself. “Haha, nothing! Don’t worry about me!” He looked away nervously, back at the mirror. His opposite-colored eyebrows tensely creased.
Izuku wasn’t sure what he had said wrong. The woman looked very confused and maybe even… disturbed? She just drawled a little ”okay” and left, closing the door behind her.
Izuku took a deep breath. Right, she had said the name Shouto right? That was the stranger’s name. He assumed the stranger and the woman were related somehow since their hair matched slightly. Izuku cupped his cheeks as he continued to examine himself. He could work with this. He just needs to figure out this apparent new life of his he was blessed with. He had fallen asleep, which had taken a while since thoughts of the upcoming UA exams were exciting. The next thing he knew, he was here.
A little freak-out session was definitely due, but he decided he might as well do some recon first. He left the room he was in—he assumed it was his bedroom—and began wandering the house. The entire house was tatami mats. It was exceptionally well kept, but it didn’t look like it was cleaned often, more like it just wasn’t used. Izuku was instantly lost. All the halls looked the same. He ran into the living room out of pure luck. A man sat cross-legged at the table and was eating steamed rice quietly. He had plain white hair, but it was spiked, almost like Bakugou’s.
He looked up at Izuku when he entered. “Good morning,” the man said. “Or afternoon. You slept in really late. Are you okay?”
The woman entered the room again. She seemed to be listening to the conversation from the other room. “I think he’s sick or something,” she said. “How about you go lay down again, Shouto? Dad will be home soon, but I’ll just tell him you’re not feeling well.”
“Oh, no, no! I’m okay,” Izuku responded. He tried to sound as polite and nice as possible while not seeming too formal. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine!” His excited pep seemed to have the same effect as it did earlier, this time including the man in the room. The two looked irked and confused.
“O-okay,” the woman answered. She turned back towards the table. “Then let’s eat together while we have the chance.”
Izuku wasn’t really sure what she meant when she said “while we have the chance,” but he didn’t think about it much. He was so hungry. Izuku excitedly sat down as the woman brought out more rice. “So!” the woman continued happily. “Has, uh, training been okay, Shouto? I know UA is coming up pretty fast. Is he being harsher on you?” She scooped some rice up on her chopsticks as she spoke.
Izuku almost didn’t realize she was talking to him. His mouth was stuffed full. “Uhh,” he drawled, muffled by the rice. “Training? No, it’s pretty much the same. The usual.” He put on a little awkward smile afterward.
The brother—Izuku assumed the two were his siblings after the woman referenced “Dad”—was staring harshly at him. “Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked with a disgruntled face. His face darkened a little. “Is there something you’re not telling us?”
The sister suddenly began rolling up Izuku’s sleeves. “Wha-“ Izuku started. A couple of light burn marks dotted his skin. Izuku hadn’t even realized they were there.
The sister frowned. “It’s not as bad as last time,” she commented softly. “Do they hurt?”
“Oh, uh, no,” Izuku stuttered. “I can’t even feel them.”
The food seemed forgotten by the other two. Izuku was the only one eating. “Maybe you should go out,” the sister began. “If you’re not here when he gets back-”
There was a loud sound of the door slamming open. Heavy footsteps trodded into the house. The brother tensed up before standing. “I’ll see you guys later,” he mumbled before darting off into a different room.
Izuku blinked at the sister in confusion. “Why’d he leave?” he asked in confusion. The sister just gave him another confused look before shaking her head.
“I’ll go greet him,” she mumbled after a deep breath. She bunched up her hands, trying to calm herself. “Go to your room, Sho.” She disappeared through some translucent sliding doors.
Izuku didn’t move. He definitely wouldn’t have been able to find his way back to his room. The entire house was a maze. He stood up and approached the door. A booming, man’s voice came from the other room, “I don’t care. Go get him.” The tone was cold, with little emotion.
“He’s not feeling well!” Izuku heard the sister say. She sounded frantic. “UA starts on Monday. He’s nervous!”
“Yes, UA starts on Monday. He needs to prepare. I’m not going to have my son embarrass himself on the first day.”
The door pulled open roughly, startling Izuku. He reeled back in surprise. Endeavor, leered over him, looking just as serious as he always did. Now was definitely the perfect time for his freak-out session, Izuku thought. The number two hero was right in front of him, looking like he wanted to rip out his spine and beat him with it.
“There you are,” Endeavor rumbled. “See?” he continued as he turned back towards the sister. “He’s feeling fine, Fuyumi.”
“A-Actually!” Izuku chirped. “I’m suddenly feeling even words—I mean worse—like I’m gonna throw up! I don’t wanna hurl on your such nice tatami mats!”
He skirted out of the room, but the sister, Fuyumi, quickly caught his arm. She pulled him to the side and leaned in. “Look, just grab a bag. You’re coming to the store with me. We’ll talk in my car,” she said before wheeling around to look at Endeavor. “He’s coming with me to get medicine,” she told her father. “No arguments. I’m really worried about him.”
Endeavor pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes at Izuku. Endeavor didn’t say anything. He merely grunted and turned away, storming down the hall. Fuyumi let out a little sigh of relief. She nudged him towards the door. “C’mon.”
They climbed into a simple, white car. It didn’t match the house. Izuku had expected a fancy luxury car or a limousine, but the car was just any simple citizen’s car. Izuku climbed into the passenger seat cautiously and quickly put his seatbelt on. Fuyumi got in on the driver’s side. She turned to him with tight lips. “Look, I don’t know what you’re not telling me,” she softly said. “And I don’t want to press. I-I know we’re not that close…” She turned to look down at the wheel of the car. Izuku could see her eyes glossing up. “But I still care about you a lot,” Fuyumi continued. “I just want us to be happy. I know it’s hard, but you’re going to UA soon! That’s what you wanted, right?” She looked back up at Izuku with wide, hopefully, soft eyes. They reminded him of his mother’s.
“Yeah, I do. I’m excited to go,” Izuku breathed.
Fuyumi seemed relieved. A little bit of stress seemed to seep from her shoulders. “Okay. Good. I was scared you were only going because of him.”
Izuku felt like he had walked in on a private conversation. The questionable family drama was sudden and startling. He had liked Endeavor as a hero. He was a bit serious for Izuku’s taste--he still liked All Might more, of course--but the flame hero was still cool. He used to be cool. Now, he wasn’t so sure.
The car came to life as Fuyumi plugged her keys in. “Let’s just try to forget about stuff for now, okay?” she chattered. “We can get your favorite at the store!”
Izuku sat back in his seat, adjusting for the long ride.
Shouto had never been more confused in his life. He was always sure of himself, headstrong. He was confident, knew what he was doing, smart, and, daresay, better than everyone else. He could take care of himself perfectly fine, but that was hard when he wasn’t himself anymore. He had woken up in a startling densely packed room full of aggressive All Might merch. The All Might alarm clock had jump-scared him awake, and then the rest of the room had jump-scared him again. At first, he thought he had been taken hostage by All Might, who maybe was trying to force himself down Shouto’s throat since his father was Endeavor, but the room was small, and he was not chained to the bed.
Shouto stood and exited into the hallway. Thankfully, the rest of the apartment seemed to be normal. He looked back at the bedroom door. It even had an All Might name card plastered on it, the name “Izuku” written in large font. Izuku… He hadn’t heard that name before,Shouto mused as he opened a neighboring door. It was a cute, little bathroom, decorated with small pictures of beach scenes. It was somewhat tacky, but Shouto didn’t think about it much as he stepped fully into the room. A stranger’s face met his eyes through the mirror. No heterochromia, no strange, multicolored hair. It was forest green, curly hair, and matching green eyes.
Shouto raised his hand up to his face in confusion. This was him? Well, it wasn’t him, but he was in this body.
Fear didn’t really shake through him yet. He was probably dreaming. Had he seen this kid before? Is that why he was dreaming of him? Shouto cupped his own cheek. He had dreamed of having a different life before but not in this same sense.
A little knock sounding at the door, slightly startling him, and a voice followed, “Izuku! Are you going out later?
Shouto tensed up. He didn’t know what to say. “No,” he replied, hoping nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
The door for the bathroom opened wider. A plump, middle-aged woman looked at him with a concerned expression. They were clearly related since she has broccoli-colored hair as well. “Izuku,” she repeated. “Have you been into trouble again?”
“What-“ Shouto started but was quickly cut off.
“You don’t have to lie to me again!” the woman said sternly and stepped fully into the bathroom with her hands on her hips. “I’m just worried about you. And I’m worried about UA. I-I know you have a quirk now, but I’m still worried!”
Shouto stared at her as she mentioned UA. UA, right. Wasn’t that on Monday? What day is it? Was he still going?
The woman shook her head in disappointment at Shouto’s silence before sighing loudly. “Look, just go do your little escapade at the beach. We’ll talk later.”
The bathroom door closed, and Shouto stood alone in the bathroom. His arms slowly dropped down to his sides.