Chapter Text
Izuku rolls his neck, satisfied with the resulting crack before he digs into his bento.
His feet sway, metal-braced shoes clicking lightly against the brick of the building as he sits on the edge.
It’s surprisingly peaceful, being stories above the world on a lunch break, but- not so surprisingly- a common practice for many heroes.
Izuku knows for a fact Denki is doing the same a block or two over, and Kirishima has probably just joined him for the end of his shift.
Poking at his rice with his chopsticks with a choked sigh is a bit out of the norm, but his afternoon is feeling rather lacklustre. His whole week is, really.
He stuffs a carrot in his mouth with a frown, having managed to once again stumble upon the one topic he’s forbidden himself from stumbling over. Because what a stumble it is.
Honestly, he’s not normally so melodramatic- he saves that for Uraraka or Aoyama or Denki- honest! But this time…
Izuku sighs, tucking his chopsticks back in their little box and shutting the lid of his bento to stare out over the city. Only one thing has ever pulled him this way and that way so forcefully. Katsuki Bakugo.
It’s no surprise that this time is any different, it’s just that, well, Izuku hadn’t seen it coming.
He and Katsuki have been doing so good, and not just recently- ever since the war ended, their relationship has been on the mend. Katsuki had apologised of all things and Izuku had forgiven him years before, so the easiest route had been to heal and grow.
Coming in last Monday, coffee in hand and a spring in his step, to find out from an email that Katsuki refused to patrol with him anymore had hurt more than he thought possible.
The email hadn’t even been from Katsuki himself. His PA had sent it.
Izuku doesn’t jut his bottom lip out and kick at the brick side of the building in frustration. Because he’s an adult and he can manage his feelings that he doesn’t have for his childhood friend.
Before he has a chance to scold himself for his denial his phone rings.
He digs it out of his front pocket, swiping to accept when he sees the familiar name.
“Aizawa sensei?”
A tired sigh drifts through the speaker. “How many times have I told you not to call me that, Midoriya?”
Izuku grins, “About a hundred times, now, sir.”
“Mhm. And yet.”
Izuku huffs a laugh. “And yet! What do you need, sir? If someone didn’t do paperwork again I promise I’ll-”
Aizawa cuts him off mid-promise. “Absolutely not. I’m not going to call you on your lunch break to foist paperwork onto you that your fellow heroes should be doing.”
Izuku nods slowly. “Alright. So who did what?”
Aizawa makes a noise that could be considered a laugh. “No one, this time. I have a personal favour to ask.”
Izuku hums in surprise, taking a sip of his energy drink. “Yeah? Anything, Aizawa sensei!”
“Kid.”
“Um…sir?”
Izuku can practically see the way Aizawa is rubbing his face in exasperation. “Good enough. I need a babysitter for Eri tonight and you’re of the select few I’d trust to take care of her.”
Izuku sputters, embarrassed and flattered. “Sir! I’d love to, but don’t you have better options?”
“You are my better option, Midoriya. Mirio has been banned since the…unnamable event.”
Izuku pales just thinking about it. “Right. Guess Tamaki is banned by proxy.”
“Mhm. Besides, Eri misses you. You should stop by more often.”
Izuku’s grin softens. In the past two years he’s risen in the ranks so much that he hardly makes time for anything. He basically sleeps and works. He didn’t even see the new All Might documentary that came out last month!
“You’re right, se-” Izuku draws out the vowel of ‘sensei’ for an awkward moment before coughing and switching to ‘sir’. “-sir. What time do you need me there?”
Aizawa is silent for a moment but apparently deems his slip-up unworthy of reproach. “Can you be here by seven?”
Izuku gets off at six-thirty, so there should be enough time to change and get to Aizawa’s house if he hurries. Heaven forbid he miss the train like the last time Kirishima and Mina had thrown an anniversary party, that had been a nightmare and a half.
“Seven should be good! Does she still go to bed at nine-thirty?”
Aizawa chuckles fondly. “She’s been promoted to ten o’clock.”
Izuku’s heart feels strangely warm and tight. “No! She’s growing up too fast…”
“Tell me about it, kid.”
Izuku opens his mouth to do just that when the ground rumbles, shaking the building he’s sitting on. He registers Danger Sense flaring in the back of his mind a second too late, having been distracted.
“Shit. Gotta go, sensei!”
Aizawa hangs up with a short “Language.”
Izuku is kicking off the edge of the roof before the call disconnects, dropping his phone into the protective pouch on his belt, darting between the buildings like an overcharged ping-pong ball, searching for the cause of the quake-like rumbling.
Danger Sense flares and spikes as he passes between a high-rise office and an equally towering hospital. His head jerks to the side and just barely catches a glimpse of blue. He has to double back and change course to spot it again.
The flash of blue, shifting between a deep cobalt and a brilliant cerulean, is mostly unnoteworthy in shape, but whatever he’s looking at packs a hell of a punch.
Izuku settles on a nearby building to assess the situation, able to judge from here that the quirk user is clearly of the mutant variety, but they’re also emitting some kind of shock wave. Sort of like Cementoss or Bondo from U.A.
Izuku begins mumbling theories to himself as he jumps to a different building for another vantage point.
If he had a water-based quirk he could potentially neutralise the shock waves enough to limit the damage and take down the villain.
If only he had a way to convert the kinetic energy into another form of energy that would dissipate, or a quirk that could absorb the shock-.
Izuku’s thoughts tumble to a halt as he watches the quirk-user jump to a different building, leaving the other to shudder and topple over.
It’s in that split second that Izuku’s brain goes silent, latching onto the way the shock waves still, only starting up upon impact with the other building. Except the user fumbles for a second and the false earthquake doesn’t start back up until all five fingers of both hands are touching the surface.
Izuku grins, sharp and victorious and perhaps a little too like a certain blonde, and he leaps from his hiding spot, vaulting across the distance in a second to leap onto the quirk-users back, trapping their wrists in his agency-assigned quirk-cancelling cuffs. The shuddering stops and the only struggle they put up is easily contained by OFA.
Izuku smiles brightly, patting them on the shoulder as he uses Float to bring them back to street level.
“That’s an amazing quirk you have! Does it-”
A microphone is shoved in his face just as he’s about to ask a million questions.
“Deku! That was quite the successful take-down, and with minimal damage! How did you do it?”
Izuku looks over his shoulder to blink at the crowd that’s gathered below the ground. He’s still hovering an inch above the ground so he drops down with a sheepish grin.
“Oh, well, hello! I just noticed that they needed all ten fingers in contact with a surface to activate their quirk. Oh goodness, I’m sorry,” Izuku turns back to the swirling blue mass. “I never asked your name?”
The shifting form blinks at him, seeming shy. “Hiko.”
“Nice to meet you! Sorry about the circumstances.”
They stare and before Izuku can even smile and rather sharp noise cuts through the crowd.
“Hero Deku? Do you mind telling us about the villain you just apprehended?”
Izuku turns back to the reporter with a dimming smile. “Excuse me? I don’t know their intent and neither do you. Is everyone a villain until proven otherwise? I didn’t see anyone hurt by Hiko, and I don’t know whether or not they intended to damage the city.”
The reporter’s brows are nearly touching as her eyes narrow and a tail swishes behind her. “Well?”
Izuku clicks his tongue softly before tilting his head at Hiko. “Did you mean to do this?”
The blue shifts rapidly, shaking back and forth.
Izuku can sense the truth of it, the genuinity of the response. “There, you see?”
The reporter scoffs and Izuku is very quickly losing his patience with the woman. Thankfully, before he can think of snapping, a dishevelled, panicked woman with brilliant blue hair pushes through the crowd formed around him.
“Hiko!”
The giant blue form beside him wobbles, shaking as they turn towards the sound and Izuku is stunned when the towering mass shrinks down to a blue child half his height, tears streaming down his face.
“Momma!”
Izuku is quick to undo the cuffs at the child’s wrists as the woman scoops him up, pressing his face to her shoulder with a shaky breath.
She looks to him with watery eyes- just as blue as her hair. “Thank you. Thank you so much, Deku. I can’t-” She clutches her son closer to her as her voice becomes strangled.
He smiles as gently as he can, wishing there weren’t so many eyes watching. “I understand. I’m sorry for cuffing your son like that, I didn’t think of a better option at the time.”
She shakes her head with a smile similar to his mom’s. “You brought me back my son safe and sound. He didn’t. We didn’t know his quirk would be like this.”
Izuku sets a placating hand on her shoulder, hoping to reassure her, waving over the medics he can see finally arriving at the edge of the crowd. “That’s my job! To protect and serve! If you’d like, the medics can help to check over your son? He must be awfully frightened after that ordeal.”
She flashes him another thankful smile and nods, letting the medics lead her towards the back of an ambulance. It’s only once he sees the child and mother safely delivered that he turns back to the crowd around him. They’ve grown antsy through the whole ordeal, and he can hear the whispers growing louder around him, worried and confused. Among them, more reporters and journalists have flocked to the scene.
Izuku waves to them all, intent on addressing the public who is no doubt scrambling for answers and someone to blame.
“And what if that hadn’t been a child, Hero Deku?”
Izuku isn’t shocked to hear the cat-eyed reporter from before address him.
“He was restrained and unable to inflict further damage, no?”
“And what if you hadn’t been able to restrain him?”
The crowd murmurs and Izuku frowns. “Are you questioning my takedown methods or are you questioning me ?”
The reporter’s mouth turns up into a sly grin, shoving her microphone closer to his face. He looks down at it a moment before his face settles into stone.
“In that case I wouldn’t have been able to restrain him. That’s the hypothetical. But there is no hypothetical when it comes to the other heroes of this city who work tirelessly to defend you. Any one of them would be more than capable to stop an attack if I were unable, or they would fight by my side if I asked. Because they are loyal and they are good. I think if you realised that you’d be less inclined to question the heroes fighting for your life every day.”
Izuku takes a moment to watch her mouth pinch in distrust before he gives a short bow.
“If you don’t mind, I have work to do, goodbye.”
Izuku steps back from the crowd and calls lightning to his skin, feeling it coil in his bones before he lets it snap. He’s in the sky before anyone can react because he’ll be damned if one reporter keeps him from finishing his paperwork and getting off work on time.
…
Izuku slams his locker shut with perhaps a bit more force than necessary, wincing as the metal creaks and groans.
There’s a rustle of fabric beside him and a low whistle. “Damn, Mido, who’s got you worked up, chamo .”
Izuku feels the back of his neck heat up as he peeks over at Sero. “Oops. It’s nothing, really.”
Sero snorts, lifting a dark brow. “ Chamo , come on. Talk to papí .”
Izuku groans but his mouth twists into a smile despite himself. “Just an asshole reporter, that’s all.”
Sero’s face darkens in a way that Izuku so rarely sees. “Not cool.” He slaps Izuku on the back, trademark smile wiping away the momentary storm. “Hey, we’ve all got your back. Worst case scenario, I send Tía after them. She could put the fear of god into god himself.”
Izuku has met Sero’s tía all of one time, yet he knows exactly what Sero means.
“Yikes. That seems unfair.”
Sero snickers and Izuku can’t help but laugh with him. “Hey, they shouldn’t mess with mi pana unless they want la chancla .”
Izuku’s laughter tumbles into full-blown snorting as he’s reminded of just how hard Sero’s tía can fling a pair of indoor slippers across a living room.
“Sero, no one has a head hard enough for that except you and Kiri by default.”
Sero shrugs, smile lackadaisical. “Offer is always open, champo .”
Izuku smiles at his friend softly, a tad overwhelmed by his emotions. “Thank you, Sero.”
His phone pings from the bench and he’s startled from his soft moment by the reminder he’s set.
“Oh shit! I gotta go! Sorry, Sero!”
Izuku shoves his shirt over his head hastily and shoves as much as he can remember into his bag, only just barely remembering to swipe his phone off the bench as he hops out the door, still tugging one shoe on as he waves over his shoulder.
“I’ll see you Monday! Bye!”
Sero snorts a laugh, “Bye, Mido!”
…
Izuku is practically flying towards his train because if he doesn’t make it he’ll be late, and if he’s late for something he promised Aizawa he would do? He might as well start digging his own grave.
He’s within eyesight of the open doors when he stupidly stumbles directly into someone, tumbling nearly head over feet into the pavement. He quickly rights himself, stammering out a million and one apologies to the man he’d just bowled over.
“I’m so sorry! I’m terribly late and terribly sorry!”
The man is staring down at his hands, covered in a fading shimmer of red. “Uh. Oh dear, that’s not,” He looks up and his eyes widen a fraction. “You’re the pro-hero Deku! Oh, I’m such a big fan!”
Izuku’s mouth quirks into a stupidly happy smile, the same one he dons every time a fan compliments him because he can’t believe he has fans . “Thank you! You’re so sweet!”
The train chimes and he jumps, whirling around. “Ah! I’m sorry! I have to go! Please have a great night!”
The man is reaching out as Izuku hurries towards the train. “But my quirk! You-”
His words are cut off as Izuku stumbles into the train just as the doors slide closed. He has enough presence to wonder what the man was trying to say, but the jerk of the train as it begins moving shakes the thought away, leaving him excited to see Eri.
…
Izuku knocks on Aizawa’s door at 7:02, out of breath and more nervous than he should be given that he’s been here before.
Izuku can hear soft footsteps nearing the door, along with a single high-pitched meow.
The door creaks open and the gentle yellow walls of Aizawa’s home stand in stark contrast to the dark-haired man at the door.
“Midoriya.”
Izuku sucks in a breath and lets it out slowly. “I nearly missed the train and then I found a stray cat on the way here and got distracted.”
Aizawa’s face shifts and he opens his door wider, stepping aside.
“The one with the white paws?”
Izuku toes his shoes off, smiling brightly. “You’ve seen her?”
Aizawa nods once. “She likes tuna. Fresh. Spoiled thing.”
Izuku smiles to himself as his former teacher weaves his way into the kitchen, dropping a kiss onto Eri’s braided hair as he goes.
“Eri!”
Eri turns so quickly he’s afraid she might fall out of her chair.
“Zuku!”
Her smile is blinding and Izuku finds himself beaming back at her as she scrambles out of the chair to tackle him. He wraps her up in a hug that says just how much he’s missed her.
“Hey, kiddo.”
She snuggles her face into his stomach for another moment before she pops her head up to smile at him. “Dad let me rent the new All Might movie for us to watch!”
Izuku gasps, “I haven’t seen that one yet!”
She nods and then takes his hand, tugging him towards the couch. “I know! You always post about any new All Might movies or books and you haven’t said a word about this one.”
Izuku feels his heart is full to bursting with love. “Oh, Eri…”
He smothers her in another hug, delighted when her peals of laughter bounce around the living room.
“Just promise me we’ll watch something you want to watch first.”
She looks to the tv in thought for a moment before nodding, suddenly serious. “Okay. Deal.”
Izuku smiles softly, smoothing a hand over her braid. “Thanks, Eri.”
Izuku can feel Aizawa watching, knowing just what those intense eyes feel like prickling the back of his neck.
He turns to smile at him. “Bedtime is nine, no sugar beforehand, nightlight on, and bedtime stories on the bottom shelf.”
Aizawa clears his throat, “You forgot one thing.”
Izuku blinks, running through his mental list of Eri’s bedtime routine. She’s long known how to brush her own teeth and change into her pajamas, so there’s nothing left for him to do.
Aizawa steps up to the couch and presses a kiss to Eri’s forehead when she leans back. “Make sure to have fun.”
Izuku’s tense shoulders drop as he laughs. “Can do, sir.”
Aizawa rolls his eyes with a sigh, but Izuku can spot the fondness a mile away now that there’s no phone to hide it.
Their small moment is broken by a harsh knock at the door, four loud bangs that shake the wood on its frame. Aizawa’s face instantly morphs into his trademark scowl.
“Don’t tell me…”
Izuku cranes his head over the side of the couch as much as he can, pulling Eri to his side as he watches the door, ready to make a run for it if needed.
Unfortunately, the door blocks him from seeing anything, so his only clues are the set of Aizawa’s jaw and, of course, the tired “Bakugo,” that passes his lips.
Izuku blinks, then blinks again, as if that will help him hear better. Because surely he’s heard wrong. Bakugo? As in Katsuki Bakugo?
Yet when Aizawa steps aside, there’s no mistaking that head of blonde hair or those glaring red eyes.
“You didn’t say you could babysit.”
Katsuki yanks his boots off with little grace, grumbling as the buckles fight him. “The hell do you mean? I didn’t send anything.”
“Exactly.”
Katsuki straightens up, standing in the small genkan of Aizawa’s apartment in his socks. “Hah? You know I only send something if I’m not gonna do it!”
“Uncle Kacchan, you can’t yell in the house.”
Katsuki blinks slowly, like a startled animal, slowly turning to look at the couch where Eri’s silver head is just visible from his location.
“What.”
“Dad says there’s no yelling allowed in the house.” She plops back down in her seat. “It’s because Papa yells too much and Dad gets a headache. So you gotta follow the rule.”
Izuku tries to smother his laughter behind his hand, but Kacchan’s eyes are already on him, lips curled in mock anger.
“Shut up, nerd! Why are you even here?”
Aizawa pulls the door open fully, slipping his shoes on. “Because I called him. You were my backup, but you didn’t answer.” He looks between the two of them. “Get along, and if the house burns down I’m blaming you, Bakugo.”
Katsuki isn’t even able to snarl out a response before the door is promptly shut in his face.
Izuku snickers and looks towards the tv as Eri boots it up, hearing honed in on Katsuki’s footsteps stomping into the living room.
Izuku scoots over and Katsuki plops down. “Nerd.”
Izuku smiles over at him. “Kacchan.”
He groans, throwing his head back. “This is so stupid.”
Izuku frowns, “Well that’s not very nice.”
Eri peeks over at them. “It’s not. I even have the new All Might film, grumpy pants.”
Katsuki squints at her. “Not this, kid. Not you .”
Eri hums, tilting her head. “Then what?”
Katsuki grins sharply and kicks a foot into Izuku’s thigh. “Having to be near this fucking weirdo.”
“Kacchan!”
Eri levels Katsuki with an entirely too-grownup look. “Dad says swearing is a sign of lower intelligence.”
When Katsuki stares at her like he’s been slapped Izuku promptly loses his shit, nearly howling with laughter. Katsuki responds by yelling obscenities and digging his fingers into Izuku’s sides in retribution.
“She! She called you- ha- stupid!”
Katsuki flips him into a headlock and Izuku wheezes in the chokehold.
“You’re a fucking dick, Deku.”
Izuku scrambles in the hold, tears in his eyes from laughing. “Caveman!”
Katsuki scoffs and sets him free with a shove. “Shut up! Let’s just fucking watch stupid All Might shit and get this over with!”
Izuku snickers some more and leans back into the couch to catch his breath. “No All Might yet, Kacchan. We’ll watch something of Eri’s first.”
Katsuki grumbles under his breath for a moment. “Whatever.”
Eri has been clicking through her options as they bickered, long used to how they acted when in the same room.
“Oh! Found it!”
Izuku tucks a strand of hair that’s escaped from her braid behind her ear. “Yeah? What’s it about?”
Eri prattles on about a French show with superheroes in animal-like costumes and a duo that are only half in love with one another. It’s enough to hook his attention, and he loves how excited she gets.
“It sounds good, doesn’t it, Kacchan?”
Katsuki just looks at him so he rolls his eyes and whispers for Eri to start her show. They’ll probably only get through two if they want to watch the All Might documentary in time for her to go to bed, so she clicks on where she’s left off, somewhere in the middle of season three, part two.
Izuku has just enough time to read the title: Timetagger before the animation starts and a deep tug in his gut jerks him forward with a startled cry.
He stumbles over the coffee table in the middle of the room before fight or flight kicks in and OFA crackles along his skin.
“Deku, what the fuck?”
Katsuki is standing and when Izuku turns to look at him, the panic on his face must register enough for him to step closer.
“I can’t-” He’s cut off by the sharp pull, dragging him away from the couch, like an invisible line hooked through his stomach and set to reel him in or gut him.
“Deku?”
“Zuku!”
Izuku digs his heels into the carpet, equally stunned and ashamed when it starts to tear up beneath his feet. Eri looks terrified and in his own way, so does Katsuki.
Izuku loses his footing and is yanked back a foot, a cry ripped from his throat with the force. He turns again, looking for the source, something to fight, a hint, a clue, anything.
There’s nothing except for the tv, growing nearer as he’s dragged forward by an invincible force. He squeezes his eyes shut, searching for anything that sets off Danger Sense or even his gut instinct, but nothing comes up.
A hand wraps around his bicep and halts his progress momentarily.
“What the fuck is going on?”
Izuku looks to Katsuki, eyes no doubt wide with fear. “I don’t know. It hurts. I don’t know what’s happening.”
Katsuki’s face is pinched, maybe not with worry, but with frustration at a lack of something to fight. It’s wiped clean when Izuku is yanked so hard they both go stumbling forward, surrounded by bright light.
Izuku watches flashes of colours blind his vision, listens to Eri scream his name, feels blunt nails carve into his skin as he’s pulled forward by something so strong he can’t deny it.
As the colours swirl around him, Izuku reaches back, goes to pull Katsuki’s hand from him, only to find him latching on harder, a determined look on his face. A look that screams ‘if you go, I’m going with you’.
Izuku knows that look- had felt it in his bones when Katsuki was kidnapped by the league.
He closes his eyes as he falls back and is dragged into a weightlessness, feeling the steady presence of a warm hand in his own.