Chapter Text
It was lonely here.
But, that was what the people wanted.
One swing of her axe was enough to level the forest. The lumber was needed. The land was needed. After all, people needed to be happy. People needed to be saved. The starving, the cold, no one deserved to be abandoned.
No one left behind.
And in that effort, she swung her axe.
Bundles of timber, rows upon rows of uprooted stumps piled high. It was mindless, thankless work. But she didn’t need thanks. Work was its own reward, as it was said. The rough, uneven, unusable land became pristine. Wild, untamed nature fleed from her blade as she marched forward. Set the lumber aside. Burn and chip the stumps. There was going to be a road here, soon. She would have to go back to the mountain to obtain more paving stones. Hopefully, no one had moved into that area yet. They didn’t deserve to endure having to look at her.
The lumber would be used to make new houses. When the mountain was leveled, she could start building more houses and let the people who flowed behind her like water fill in the cracks. They would populate those empty houses, filling them with life.
And yet, she could not turn back. She could not smile with those flowing people and their civilization. She did not deserve to do so.
“You’ve destroyed everything!”
So she continued her work.
The people were happy to take from the endless fruit of her labor as she marched across the plains and forests.
“Why did you remove the beauty from the world?”
Why?
She wanted to see everyone smile.
But she couldn’t.
After all, how could she look behind her if she was marching forward?
She swung her axe.
The forest disappeared in a single stroke. Bundle the lumber, ship it back. Haul the stumps, till the ground. Pack the earth, level the hills. Pave the roads, lay the foundations. Dig the shafts, mine the ore. And on it went.
What else was there to do but march forward? After all, even if she would never be allowed to see the smiles on the people’s faces, she would believe they were there. She could not turn back. To turn back was to not be useful. She had to be useful, to save everyone.
Though the smiles were never for her.
After the people got what they wanted, they would discard her like a useless garnish, a piece of parsley no one wanted. That was okay.
She was a machine. A bronze machine that marched onward without stopping.
She would make everyone smile.
Even if her wish was absurd and her hands too large.
Even if the things she loved would be crushed under her own hands.
Even if she had to destroy the only thing that made her herself.
The people would be happy.
What she wanted didn’t matter.
...
How long had she been here? Hundreds of years? Thousands?
How long had the bronze machine of civilization marched and trampled and rampaged over nature?
Maybe in another hundred years, the people will be happy.
She swung her axe.
-----
She fell asleep under the stars, cradled with her little Babe. It was warm, with the sound of the wind blowing across the plains. Babe didn’t say anything, even as her only companion. The world was strange, she could tell. It was nothing to be concerned about, though. As if the world itself was moved to the left, just a little bit.
It was that same feeling she had when she met that Master so many years ago. She fell asleep wondering if that Master she met was a dream.
She peered around. Slick, white stone walls. A bed that she recognized as being rather nice, all things considered. Oak wood?
“Oh?”
She blinked, spinning to face a voice from behind her. A man with flowing white... everything. Flowing robes, flowing hair, flowing petals in the wind.
“Who are you?” She had to ask. No one had talked to her in many hundreds of years, if they were not yelling at her, admonishing her failure.
The man gave her a smile that she wasn’t sure was good or not. He gave off that sort of feeling. “They call me many things, though I prefer Merlin. What is your name, little one?”
She hadn’t been called by her name in a long time. She wasn’t even sure if she was real, after all. Machines didn’t need names.
A hand came down on top of her head. It was... different. “Do you not have a name?” He looked unconcerned.
“...Paul.”
“Paul.” He nodded, as if he was satisfied with the answer. She relished in his smile even for a second. “How did you end up here in my tower, I wonder?”
“I’m dreaming.”
“And so you are.” Merlin sighed. “The world has shifted, Paul.”
“Shifted?”
“Things are not where they are supposed to be, I think. My sight has changed. What I can see is not what I was once able to see. It is... concerning.”
“What do you see?” Paul walked up to Merlin, peering around him for a window. There was nothing but a stone wall in front of him. “I can’t see anything! Let me make a window!” She hefted her axe.
“Ah, no, please, little one.” Merlin’s hand appeared around her shoulders, preventing her from swinging her axe. “There is no need.” He waved his hand, and a vista appeared. A city, smaller than the Chicago she remembered. “Look and tell me what you see.”
She focused on the scene. Tall buildings, cars, people moving about. People were happy. “A good thing!”
“Indeed.” Merlin nodded. “A good thing. But not the same as we remember it, I think.” He frowned. “You would not know, little Bunyan.”
“Wouldn’t know what?” Paul blinked. “And how did you know my last name?”
Merlin smiled. “It’s part of what I can see, Paul.” His hand rose to pick up a staff. Where did the staff come from? “Look there. What is that?”
A man was leaping from building to building. He was springing off of the ground and the buildings forcefully as if the strength in his legs were greater than he appeared. Blonde hair and an outfit that was both outlandish and flashy. “A Heroic Spirit?”
“A Hero, perhaps.” Merlin replied. “Not a Heroic Spirit. Not yet, at least. Though his story is, most likely, coming to an end.”
Together they watched as the man slammed into two other people, blowing them away with powerful punches.
“I am here!” The man declared, smiling brightly to the cheers of those around him.
She was immediately jealous. Though, maybe not. It didn’t feel like jealousy. It felt more like... longing? The man got to see the smiles of those around him. He was beloved for his work. Even if that work was punching people rather than building and creating and destroying.
“It is a strange thing, humanity.” Merlin started, and Paul blinked. She hadn’t realized it, but Merlin’s hand had reached down to wipe away a tear.
“S-sorry.”
“Do you like what you see?”
She nodded.
“For me, it was disorienting.” Merlin conceded. “This world we are seeing is not the same as the one I had seen in the past. Though I can say that this version of humanity is perhaps just as interesting as the last one I saw.” He nodded. “And that presents an opportunity!”
“Really? How?”
“You were lonely before.” Merlin didn’t ask her, he told her. She had no choice but to nod. “Would you like to not be so lonely?”
She could feel herself beginning to cry again. “Yes, please...”
“Since the world has shifted, our little places in the universe have been disrupted. We can go down there, if you like.” Merlin nodded. “I think... let’s open a restaurant.”
“A restaurant?” Paul blinked. “Why?”
Merlin’s smile grew wider. “That’s what one is supposed to do, of course! When you arrive in a new world, with a new life, it is tradition to open a restaurant, or a general store, or something of that nature. There’s always something interesting if you get the right location.”
“Oh, okay.” She didn’t really understand, but that was fine.
“Is there anything you want for the restaurant? I was thinking... udon?” Merlin laughed a little.
Paul paused. Udon... it sounded alright. But still... “I want Hamburg steak.”
“I’m sure we can figure something out.” Merlin nodded once again. “Alright, Paul Bunyan, facsimile of a great creator Goddess, the potential of America. You want to save everyone, right?”
Was she happy? Was she feeling excited about wanting things for herself? The excitement was welling up in her. She knew it was wrong. It was selfish. She didn’t deserve anything. And still... “Yep! And eat Hamburg steak. And go to the fair, and sleep in a big bed, and go to a hot spring, and even eat some udon. And we can save people, just like that man! And... and-”
“We can do that.” She found herself enveloped in a fluffy, soft embrace. It was nice. “We can do that. After all, it will be fun!” Merlin’s staff began to glow. “There’s no magic keeping me locked away from this place, now. Besides, I get the feeling something interesting is about to happen!”
Paul hugged the magus tightly as she felt herself getting lighter. The world was filled with flowers.
Adventure!
-----
It hurt, just a little bit.
They hadn’t done much. Not at least what Kacchan could do to him when he was in the mood to do it. It was only after school when his backpack was torn away from him by a boy with stretchy arms, hanging far out of his own reach. The bag ended up in a tree that he had to climb all by himself to reach. Of course, no one would tell anyone else, and he knew that if he tried to tell a teacher that they would accuse him of throwing the bag in the tree himself. The boys would obviously cover for each other, and that left him to face the trials of middle school alone. Midoriya Izuku, after all, was a troublemaker that wanted attention. Because, well, he was Quirkless.
It didn’t make him feel better when he finally managed to get close enough to get his backpack off the tree branch. The boy with stretchy arms, whose name eluded Midoriya, had simply reached up and plucked the bag right back out of his reach, the rest of them laughing all the while. It wasn’t the tallest tree, given the arms of the stretchy boy only seemed to extend the length of his forearms a certain length, perhaps five meters. He wasn’t sure if his arms were more or less durable when stretched, so Midoriya refrained from struggling as his bag was lifted into the air. One of the others, Onoda, flew up to where he was perilously hanging off the branch and started shaking it. The first boy dropped the bag while his arms were still extended and reached out to help Onoda shake the tree branch, trying to knock him out of it. The sharp crack of something inside as the bag hit the ground told him that probably his wooden bento had cracked. Now his mother would have to purchase a new one.
Of course. After all, what else would happen?
The tree branch was starting to rock more violently as the two boys worked together to make him fall from the tree. It wasn’t a particularly long fall, but he still would prefer to get down the long way.
A glob of liquid whizzed by his face. Midoriya blinked, recognizing the Acid-Spit quirk of Terumi being fired at him. They really wanted him to fall, huh? He really didn’t want to give them the satisfaction of making him let go, but he also didn’t want to lose his eyesight to an acid attack. At least Terumi had to wait at least a few seconds before trying again, as he needed a certain amount of saliva in order to fire a glob of that size. It also wasn’t particularly accurate, as spitting long distances was something that most people didn’t train. Terumi was probably better than most children their age, given his quirk, but that didn’t make him particularly skilled. He could see Terumi work his jaw trying to gather spit for another attack-
“Adult!” One of the other boys cried out, pointing in a particular direction towards the street. His ears retracted back to normal size as he deactivated his Sensitive-Hearing quirk, and the boys ran off in the opposite direction, leaving Midoriya in the tree. Fortunately, he was saved by a random passerby.
“Hello?” Midoriya called out cautiously. He wasn’t sure what kind of person was coming from down the street, but at least the boys were gone. If it was a villain by some horrid coincidence, then so be it.
“Hello!” Echoed the voice of a little girl. From around a brick building came a girl with straight blonde hair, wearing what looked like a traditional restauranter outfit, including a little maekake . The kanji for sakura was printed on the front, surrounded by the falling petals of said flower. Behind her was a man with long hair bound into a ponytail. Around his head was a striped headband that matched the identical maekake he was wearing. Were they related? Or did they work at the same place?
“Um, excuse me, could I get some help?”
The girl looked up at her... father? Well, the man. He nodded. “Yes!” The girl smiled as she ran up to him. “ Enchanté! My name’s Paul! What’s your name?” A foreigner? That was very traditional Japanese clothing for a foreigner.
“Uh, Midoriya Izuku.” He shifted on the branch, making sure he wasn’t about to fall off. “Could I get that help down please?”
“Sure!” Paul nodded. Midoriya looked at his hands to adjust his grip and suddenly she was ten meters tall.
“Woah!” Paul held out her now very large hands and Izuku unceremoniously rolled off of his branch onto her palms. She lowered him to the ground, where he scrambled off her hands. By the time he looked at her again, she was already back to her normal size... was she? No, she definitely wasn’t that tall when she first appeared. When the pair had entered the clearing she was barely 1 meter tall, and now she was over 1.3 meters? They were now eye-level. Did she adjust her size slightly? Could she only change sizes when no one was looking or was there a limit? What was her default height? The first time she changed seemed almost instantaneous, did that mean her growth speed was that fast? He had never heard of a gigantification quirk that worked at that speed before...
“You’re feeling alright, young one?” The serene notes of a beautiful male voice drifted over from the man.
“Oh!” He was mumbling again, wasn’t he?
“You’re bleeding.” The girl noted.
“I am?” Midoriya glanced down at his hands to find the palms covered in cuts. “Oh.” Of course he was. Did he get any blood on the girl? ”I’m sorry for asking for help.”
The man raised an eyebrow, and Midoriya winced. The look on his face... well, Midoriya recognized unimpressed disapproval. “Now now, none of that.” His voice softened as the thoughts flitted across his mind. “I’m not mad at you. Here, let’s get you looked at.”
“Ah, uh- sorry, but-”
“Want some Hamburg steak?” The girl suddenly asked.“Ah-” Well, Midoriya really hadn’t eaten much that day. The empty bento had been overturned that lunch period into a nearby trashcan, and it took all of his dignity shriveling up and dying to retrieve at least the box from the garbage. He was sure someone had taken a picture of him rummaging through the waste to get his box back.
The man smiled. “That’s no way to be.” Midoriya suddenly found himself being dragged along by the wrists by Paul, who was doing her best to avoid the cuts on his hands.
“Come on, we’re really close!”
They came across a very traditional-looking udon store, small and unassuming. The lacquer was brand new, though, betraying its recency. Five stools along a single bar, and three square tables. It definitely could be described as ‘hole-in-the-wall’, if one wanted to go that far. The sign read ‘Sakura Udon’, and the restaurant itself appeared to be closed.
“This is close to the school. I wonder why I hadn’t heard of it before.” Midoriya noted.
“Oh, we move about, here and there. We used to be in central Tokyo, but for now, Musutafu is more interesting, I think. Maybe we’ll move again in a few years.” The man replied easily. “Besides, we’re not that close. You wouldn’t have noticed, but we’re quite the ways away from where we were.”
“W-we are? Where are we?”
“Ah, maybe a ten-minute walk from that big high school over there.” The man pointed and Izuku saw the shining buildings of U.A High. “We get a few customers from there, which is good business.”
“Oh!”
“Come on inside, we’ll get those wounds looked at.”
“T-thank you for this, sir.” Midoriya bowed to him as they entered the restaurant.
It was beautiful. The interior was warmly lit with yellow lamps, polished dark wood furnishing most of the surfaces. Surely the cost of this place was very high, given the furnishings... He found himself being seated at one of the stools where the man brought his hands to the counter.
“Nothing too poor, I think.”
“I’m gonna go get the Hamburg steak!” Paul cried as the man nodded.
“Make sure to put on everything, Paul! Well, Midoriya, do I have permission to heal these wounds of yours?”
“H-heal?” Midoriya blinked. How would he do it? A quirk?
“I can help you heal if you’d permit me.” The man smiled.
“Uh, y-yes please.” he nodded.
The man grinned as if he was laughing at some inside joke. Midoriya briefly felt a pang of disappointment. The man was laughing at him, wasn’t he? But he quickly quieted his train of thought as the sweet scent of flowers rang through the air. A flurry of sakura petals flew by, obscuring his vision, and when he could see again, his palms weren’t in pain anymore.
“Let’s see how we did, shall we?” The man hummed, and Midoriya appreciated the musical lilt of his voice. The man ran a wet rag across his palms, revealing unblemished skin. “There we go.”
W-what an amazing quirk! A healing quirk that seemed to work nearly instantly? Was it an area effect, or did it only work on one person at a time? Did the petals heal him, or were they a side-effect? Did it drain him at all when it worked? He flexed his hands, and there was no pain whatsoever!
“Uh, s-sir? I-”
“I got them!” Paul burst back into the room a good ten centimeters taller than when she was last seen. Midoriya really wanted to ask some questions about how her quirk worked, but the smell of food overwhelmed his thought processes. “Here!” Paul grinned as she extended to him a plate of what was, of course, a Hamburg steak with brown gravy, potatoes, and parsley.
“I thought this was an udon shop.” Midoriya remarked, glancing at the man.
The white-haired man grinned back. “Ostensibly, yes, we sell udon here. But Paul loves Hamburg steak so we keep the ingredients to make it here. It’s on the menu.”
“Hamburg steak! I even eat all the parsley now!” Paul grinned.
“Th-thank you.” Midoriya bowed. “I... I didn’t get your name, sir.”
“Hmm.” The man hummed. “They call me Merlin.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Merlin-san.”
“Please. Eat.” Merlin nodded at Midoriya, who turned to the rather tantalizing scent of the food in front of him. “Don’t worry about taking too much time. We don’t open until eight.”
“Thank you for the food.”
The two strangers surrounded Midoriya, with a shorter-than-remembered Paul on his left, and Merlin behind the counter. “So,” Merlin asked. “What were you doing in that tree?”
“Oh, uh...” Midoriya winced. “I, uh, my bag was up there and I went up to get it.”
“Is that so?” Midoriya nodded quickly. Maybe too quickly? Merlin didn’t look bothered, but he didn’t seem to be entirely convinced either. “I would ask why your bag was in that tree, but... well then.” Merlin nodded.
“S-sorry.”
“Do you like it?” Paul had peered over at Midoriya’s plate, where he was halfway through the food provided. He knew he should finish it given that they had provided the food for him. It was a good thing he skipped lunch, then. Silver linings.
“Yes, it’s good!” He didn’t even have to lie, the food was very nice. Not something that he would normally eat, but it was hot and it tasted good.
“We’re glad you do.” Merlin nodded. “Midoriya-kun~.” Merlin sang.
“Yes?”
“Do you know what you want to be in the future?” Merlin’s eyes seemed to flash as MIdoriya straightened from his meal.
Of course he knew what he wanted. It was the same dream he’s had since he was little. “I want to be a hero.”
“Oho?” Merlin almost seemed excited. “A big dream, Midoriya.”
“It is!” He nodded. “But... But I can do it. I’ve dreamt of being a hero since I can remember.” He told those words almost more to himself than to the man in front of him. Beside him, he could see Paul staring at him intently.
“A brave dream.” He hummed again, tilting his head to the side. His hair cascaded down, barely contained by his hair tie. “And do you think you will achieve your dream?”
Midoriya simply nodded.
Merlin gave him a grin. “Then good luck to you, Midoriya-kun. Make sure to work hard. And don’t give up so easily on that dream of yours.”
“Yes!”
-----
When Midoriya went looking for Sakura Udon again, he wasn’t sure if he kept his promise.