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Someone falls to the ground in front of Shouta, tumbling down in a messy pile of limbs.
Which isn't particularly logical, given that nobody was even near him a few moments ago, and there weren't any signs of a teleportation Quirk, no light or noise or anything. Just a person, out of nowhere.
Huh. Bit weird.
Izuku gasps, trying to regain his winded-gone breath, even as he pushes up from the ground (it's grass and dirt, but he was in the middle of a road only moments ago, wasn't he?), because he hurts and when he hurts it normally means that someone is here being the cause, and he needs to get away-
"Oi, are you okay?" The voice is unfamiliar, and that makes him relax more than it probably should, even before the concerned words themselves register.
"Sorry, I'm fine, I- I'm okay. I'll just get out of your way-"
"Calm down. I'm not going to hurt you or whatever."
Izuku is admittedly a little bit too busy trying to figure out where he even is to really process most of those words, let alone to reply himself. He- he isn't where he was only a minute ago. He's supposed to be on the way home, Ryo had used his Quirk to trip him and the others were catching up with him and-
And he's on grass. He can't hear any of them yelling nearby, and he still aches, but he doesn't think he's in danger anymore. Either way, he's with more people now. Or with this other boy, at least, and he thinks that this other boy seems calm. Kind.
That's a bit of a snap judgement, admittedly, a fact that he's aware enough to make him keep some caution, not trying to get up just yet, staring up at them from where he's halfway sitting up. He's ready to roll to the side, or to shove up onto his feet to run away, if he needs to.
But the other person, the other boy, actually, they look about Izuku's age, doesn't seem like they're about to crouch down or attack him or anything. Not yet at least.
"Uhm, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to fall in front of you."
"Kinda guessed that," the other boy huffs. Normally that sort of dismissal would have Izuku withdrawing, hunching into himself and looking to escape the conversation as soon as possible, but despite the wording, the boy's tone wasn't particularly harsh or anything. It certainly wasn't cruel.
After a long pause, Izuku's breathing finally beginning to truly settle, the boy shuffles a little closer. His gaze shifts across Izuku. (Izuku catalogues their appearance in return, the dark hair, long enough to cover their ears, and the similarly dark eyes. The boy looks tired, eyebags inset enough that he likely has chronic issues or perhaps a Quirk side-effect, and the way he holds himself... Izuku would bet that he does some sort of dancing or martial arts of gymnastics or something. He wouldn't balance on the balls of his feet otherwise, stance wide enough to give him a good centre of gravity. There's no other indications of his Quirk though. Actually, if it wasn't for the perfectly normal black high-tops, Izuku would wonder if the other boy might also be Quirkless, with such a lack of possible indications.)
There's a hand reaching down, then, and Izuku flinches away, freezing for half a breath, head ducked.
He isn't being hit. No, the hand is just waiting, a tacit offer.
It takes a long few seconds for Izuku to convince his breathing to slow down again, to remind himself that he has no reason to distrust the stranger who has been so kind so far, before he reaches out in return, allowing his trembling fingertips to settle against the base of their palm.
A strong grip pulls him to his feet, and the other boy is almost smiling, something soft around his eyes,
"Aizawa. You?"
"I- I'm Midoriya."
Oh, the strang- Aizawa is honestly really pretty now that his expression has lightened, the hint of dimples and dark eyes all warm like coals and embers. His hand, still holding Izuku's, is warm and gentle, even though there's a faint hint of calluses, the skin rough in places.
"Are you okay? Do you want walking home?" What would normally sound like a question made purely out of courtesy comes across as far more genuine, deadpan though it may have been, when Aizawa is still holding Izuku's hand, when the weight of his eyes is still on the shorter boy. Izuku is helpless, really, but to reply,
"I, uhm, don't know where I am."
Aizawa frowns at that, quite understandably so,
"Lost, or a Quirk? A Quirk would be logical, with how you just suddenly appeared. And I don't recognise your school uniform either."
"A Quirk. Definitely a Quirk. I was just being- I was just on my way home, and then I tripped, and then I was here. I saw something out of the corner of my eye before I got here, but it was just a glow, nothing to indicate what sort of Quirk it might have been, or how it worked. Presumably is was an emitter, as nobody else seems to have travelled. We're both Japanese and the weather is similar, so it probably isn't too far of a physical displacement, but I don't recognise where we are. I might be near home, but it doesn't seem super likely. Oh, but-"
Izuku falters at that, breath dying in his throat, the snap of brittle bones leaving him with the taste of iron.
"Uhm, Aizawa-kun, what year is it?" The other boy's eyes go wide as well, his hand flexing around Izuku's,
"It's 2309. June."
"Oh." There's a long, breathless pause, air caught like a hook against the roof of Izuku's mouth, and when Aizawa speaks it sounds like he might be feeling the same:
"I- I guess this isn't your year?"
Trying desperately not to cry, Izuku can only shake his head, salt-choked, eyes burning, the wash of a sickening tide growing fierce in his belly. He- he's travelled back in time, and he has nothing, he can't go home, his Mum-
Izuku gets tugged forwards by the hand then, carefully so, until his shoulder is pressed against the taller boy's, a line of warmth, able to feel the rise-fall-repeat of Aizawa's breathing. It helps. Even without fully intending to, he begins to slow his own breathing down, gradually letting it synch up with Aizawa's, albeit unintentionally. Either way, it's a major improvement on hyperventilating.
(He doesn't normally get to have someone help him calm down from his bouts of panic or anxiety; normally his trembling and gasping just gets laughed at, or makes someone even more annoyed with him. Suppressing them, keeping his breathlessness muffled, leaves him even more exhausted, but at least it means that nobody is berating or hitting him for the panic-)
"We can go to the police," Aizawa offers,
"They might be able to track down whatever family-" Those words are already enough for Izuku to be going straight-spined, shuddering with the alarm frissoning through him,
"No!" The taller boy jolts away, slightly, startled, and that as much as anything else makes Izuku drag in a deep breath,
"Sorry, uhm, I just- I'm Quirkless. And a lot of people don't like that, including a lot of the teachers and police and stuff, at least where- when I'm from, and I understand if you don't want to help now, but I just- I'm not sure they'll really try to help if I go to them and I don't want-"
He's rambling, he knows, but he can't help it, shoulders curling in close, because he's just admitted to being Quirkless and that's dangerous, what if Aizawa is Quirkist? What if he just thinks that Izuku is too much hassle to try and help? It wouldn't be the first time that someone who seems nice is just immediately put off by the revelation, that someone's kindness only extends as far as people with Quirks, but not beyond. Izuku just can't imagine feeling safe going to the police or a hospital or anything either. Not when he's so used to those places being unsafe.
For better or worse, it doesn't take long for Aizawa to shift closer once again, for all that he doesn't grab Izuku's hand back.
"I get it." Oh. Izuku... Izuku doesn't know how to take that, because the tone was the softer side of neutral but also he knows what words people use when they just want him to shut up, when he's annoying them-
"That wasn't meant to sound grumpy. I, uh, you know. I was saying I understand. Kind of."
A long beat stretches between them, Izuku staring up at the other teen, pulling together some sort of coherence, trying to both understand Aizawa and to truly assimilate the words.
"Oh. Thank you, I think." It's the best response he can manage in this moment, still far too caught off-guard, but Aizawa just shrugs, clearly still feeling a little awkward himself,
"We'll figure it out, Midoriya. You'll be alright. Can you trust me?"
"I..." Izuku is still a little breathless, still blurry-minded, but he manages to nod, staring into the kind face, at the not-scowl and the furrowed brows, at the sincerity in the dark eyes, and finds the truth on his tongue:
"I can. Thank you."
The idea of meeting Aizawa's family is intimidating, but it isn't as terrifying as the mere concept of going to the authorities right now. Izuku just needs one night, at least, to do some research and get his head on straight.
But he has to deal with a mildly scary social interaction first.
Admittedly, his nerves are eased somewhat by the steady warmth of Aizawa at his side, at how their knuckles and shoulders brush occasionally with how close the taller boy has stayed to him. It's safe.
It continues to feel safe when they're walking through a small gate set into the low wall of a garden, well-tended and traditional, heading straight for the front door, also traditional, slatted wood that slides aside, leaving them to pull off their shoes in the genkan.
By the time Izuku has tucked his shoes carefully against the wall, there's a lady in the hallway, a little taller than Izuku, long hair a wavy curtain of white-silver, pinned back from her face. Her eyes are bright red, faintly glowing, and if it wasn't for the warmth to the soft edges of her face it would probably alarm Izuku. He can't help but start theorising, mentally, what her Quirk might be, particularly after that first moment she turns properly to him, her eyes flaring briefly with a prickle along his skin to match.
But she smiles at him, and the glow dies down slightly, even whilst Aizawa steps forwards,
"Midoriya, this is my Baa-chan, Aizawa Keiko. Baa-chan, this is Midoriya. He, uh, could do with somewhere to stay?"
"Oh? And does this Midoriya have a given name?" Izuku startles a little, only now realising that he never actually gave Aizawa his full name.
Of course he ended up making this awkward somehow, it's typical, really. And he wanted to make a good impression as well.
"Oh! I'm sorry, my full name is Midoriya Izuku," he offers, ducking his head,
"It's, uhm, it's nice to meet you Aizawa-san. I'm sorry for intruding." He bows, perhaps a little lower than he needs to, but he doesn't want her to be offended. Better to err on the side of caution. Although, judging by her expression when he straightens up, it probably wasn't necessary.
"Bah, none of that. Just call me Aizawa or Keiko. No need for any of that formality."
"I- I'll try." He can already see where Aizawa gets a lot of his attitude and general demeanour from.
"Baa-chan," Aizawa grumbles, rather half-heartedly so. Izuku can't help but snicker, just the tiniest bit, under his breath. It earns him a glare, but it only makes him laugh more. Particularly when Keiko winks at him.
(It isn't until an hour or so later, when they've settled down for the afternoon, that Izuku even realises that she quite possibly did all of that just to put him at ease when he so clearly hadn't been before that.
It only makes him like Keiko even more.)
She waves a hand, loosely dismissive, promptly moving the conversation on,
"The futon in the guest room will need airing out, but Shouta can do that. He's been busy enough at the gym, haven't you love?" There's definitely a faint flush on the taller boy's face now, and Izuku honestly doesn't blame him,
"I mean I'm training, yeh."
"You are indeed." There's a hint of pride to that, rather faint but even Izuku notices it,
"And yet you still huff and puff when you chase Cathy around."
"Cathy?" Izuku asks, speaking right over Aizawa's disgruntled protests.
Keiko, too, ignores Aizawa, half-smiling at Izuku,
"My cat. She's mighty quick for an old girl. Better than Shouta's lazy oaf of a cat." Aizawa frowns, the slightest edge of a pout to it, an expression that would surely be adorable on a little kid,
"Market can't help the fact that he's slow." Keiko only raises an eyebrow, tone flat to match,
"He's fat and lazy."
"...Fair."
Izuku laughs once again, mostly under his breath but it has Keiko flashing a toothy grin at him, sharp enough to have his next giggle far louder, earning them both a rather affronted scowl. It doesn't stop it being funny, not in the slightest. Particularly not when Keiko reaches out to pat Aizawa's cheek, a movement both affectionate and teasing. They seem like a good family, Izuku thinks. A close one.
That thought is only reinforced when, upon Aizawa finally just ushering Izuku away from the genkan, Keiko calls after them,
"Your parents will be home soon, Shouta. Don't forget to clean up your laundry!" She as much laughs the words as anything else, more of a joke than a chastisement, albeit it's directed at Shouta either way.
Izuku can't help but grin at the flush seeping across Aizawa's cheeks, a pretty shade of red beneath the dark eyes. (It's a rather cute expression, admittedly, and Izuku thinks that it's very sweet in all truth, something of a contrast to the eyebags and the shadows of his trailing-long hair, but cute all the same.)
Still, he doesn't comment on it as he follows the taller teen upstairs, listening carefully as Aizawa points out the bathroom, promising to try and find a new toothbrush in one of the cupboards somewhere if he can but that Izuku can just use one of their toothpastes, and which of the bedrooms are whose. The guestroom is at the very beginning of the hall, opposite Aizawa's.
"-can knock on my door whenever. I probably won't be asleep either way." Izuku frowns,
"Are you sure? If you have trouble sleeping, I don't want-" Aizawa just shrugs, leaning in closer to put their eyes level,
"Midoriya, it's not every day that a time travelling stranger stays in your home." The shorter boy can't help but snort.
"If you want company or need something, then the logical choice is to get me. I wouldn't be offering if I minded. That would be illogical."
"Well, if it's logical," Izuku hedges, caught between amused and hesitant.
Both of their attention is snapped away that very moment by a loud meow, spinning around to stare down at the... rather large cat. Izuku loves them.
He's on his knees, reaching out to the cat, before he can even think, letting one hand hang in the air near them, patient. It takes a long few moments, but the cat nudges forwards, sniffing at Izuku's hand. Their whiskers tickle.
"Guess Market likes you then."
"He seems sweet," Izuku says, instead of trying to refute what very much sounds like a compliment.
"He has his moments," Aizawa snorts, but he crouches down next to Izuku all the same, reaching out to brush a hand along the cat's back, following the curve of his side. Keiko was right about him being fat.
Market chooses that moment to move even further forwards, nudging along Izuku's forearm, meowing loudly.
"He's probably hungry, but he's meant to be on a diet."
"Poor baby," Izuku pouts, even whilst he starts to scratch gently under the cat's chin. The purr he's rewarded with is well worth it.
(Shouta, watching this, is caught in between awe and a quiet sort of contentment.
Market almost never warms up to people this quickly; he's never scared per se, just never particularly impressed either. The only person he really seems to like is his Baa-chan, even though he's Shouta's cat. Which is rude, but not a big deal. It only slightly frustrates him. Most of the time.
But point being, if Market likes Midoriya then it's either a really good or a really bad sign, given what a little bastard the cat is. Shouta is fairly willing to bet that it's good. That's the only option that seems logical, given how kind Midoriya's eyes are, how full of light even on such a difficult day, or how one of his first concerns in realising that he had travelled into the past was his Mum, or even the oh-so careful way that he pets Market, running fingertips that Shouta knows to be soft and kind through the thick fur.
Yes, he thinks that Midoriya seems like a good person. If he just so happens to be adorable too, all tumbling curls and scattered freckles, well, that's irrelevant. Shouta can't help that he's observant, okay, it's just in his nature to notice things like this.
That same prettiness definitely doesn't make something go warm-tight in his chest. Obviously not.)
They're still petting Market when what sounds like the front door opens and shuts,
"We're home, Kaa-san, Shou-kun!"
The shout startles Izuku more than it logically should have, but he takes some sort of comfort from the fact that it startles Market as well, the cat skittering off rather comically, given his round body and relatively small legs and how his paws slip and slide over the polished wooden floor.
Izuku, for his part, flinches away from the noise, more shocked than scared but either way it's enough to have one of his ankles giving way beneath him, tumbling out of his crouch and into Aizawa's side, half-sprawling on the floor, not caught enough to prevent his elbow from crashing painfully onto the floorboards, nor his head from smacking into Aizawa's shoulder as they domino-fall.
"Sorry!" he yelps, scrambling to sit up again. It isn't intentional, how he ends up with one hand braced just above Aizawa's knee, but it is intentional how he twists around to help pull Aizawa up, still braced against the taller teen's leg to help lever him up.
"It's fine," Aizawa mutters, shrugging slightly even as they end up sitting next to each other, shoulders pressed together, legs crossed over at the ankle, just trying to get their breath back.
(They stare at each other for a long breath, then, gazes caught, taking in the hint of flush, the sweet fall of curls or shift of tumbling hair, the faint edges of smiles, Izuku's hand still on Shouta's leg, a spot of fierce warmth-)
Izuku doesn't even have the chance to be worried that he's upset or hurt Aizawa before there are footsteps on the stairs,
"Shouta-kun?"
"Up here, Tou-san. We just fell over." It's only just loud enough to carry. Somehow that isn't surprising, no, it just feels right for Aizawa; Izuku can already tell that he isn't a loud person.
"Are you both alright?"
"We're fine," Aizawa says, even as he and Izuku begin to get properly to their feet, and as a man who is undeniably Aizawa's Dad is staring at them from the top of the stairs, expression more amused than confused or judgemental.
"Good! Midoriya-kun, right? Nice to meet you."
"Uhm, and you, Aizawa-san."
"Glad to hear it," the man laughs, and he's so expressive that, despite the wavy dark hair and the maroon eyes and eyebags, there's a moment where the man feels completely different to Aizawa.
But then his expression falls more neutral again, leaving him a nigh-on perfect match for Aizawa. It's almost spooky. Although, actually, now that Izuku thinks twice about it, the cheekbones are wrong, and their ears are different too.
Still, the resemblance is obvious, and the almost-familiarity helps Izuku to relax immediately.
He thinks that staying here tonight, or even longer, will be okay, like this. The Aizawas seem nice, even if he's only heard the Mum's voice and briefly met both of the others, and if nothing else, Aizawa himself has been nothing but kind, a little rough and blunt but still kind overall. Izuku thinks that things might be okay, as scary as this entire situation may be.
As it turns out, there's a lot of paperwork but a surprisingly small amount of anything else to get Izuku registered as a citizen. A current one, that is. His clothing, rather poor current knowledge, and the wallet that he thankfully had on him are enough for him to get into the process.
And once someone with a truly fascinating provenance Quirk has confirmed that his birth year is two years from now (and he really does wish that he had been able to ask more about their Quirk, but there hadn't been a chance to, and he didn't want to risk messing things up for himself by interrupting-), plus the fact that he was born in Musutafu rather than here, in the semi-suburban edges of Tokyo, he's given the necessary status as a citizen, with an updated ID card, although he's permitted to keep his original one too, just in case the Quirk reverses or affects him again.
That sort of uncertainty is still more than a little terrifying, but at least Izuku has a secure place here now. It's an undeniable comfort.
Particularly when that place is with the Aizawa family. They insist that one more mouth to feed isn't a burden, and the guest room never really got much use anyway, and he's Shouta's friend so he's more than welcome.
It's the sort of kindness he has been ill-afforded in his lifetime. Izuku is beyond grateful for it. Admittedly, if it wasn't for the government funding for them taking him in, Izuku would still hesitate, far too used to being a burden to want to impose that on such lovely people.
But, equally, he's been living with them for a few weeks by now, and even when Shouta isn't home, off at school during the day, Izuku feels safe and welcome. He helps Keiko-baa with making dinner, and with hanging out washing to dry. He even spends some time helping to fix a leaky tap at the back of the house, and a broken chair. With Rikio-san, Izuku gets to listen to stories about Shouta as a child, or about mechanics and cars and radios, watching as the man tinkers with something or when they're all sat down in the evening.
Fumino-san writes, always with ink along her arm from where she didn't have a piece of paper, and sticky notes left in random places, shoulder-length dark hair pulled back into a bun often with a pen or two caught in it, and from the little bit of time Izuku has spent in her office, piles upon piles of notebooks. Izuku thinks her office is heaven. It's amazing, and exactly the sort of thing that he hopes he can have one day, even if the academic medical journals aren't something he's super invested in, and he's not sure that he's creative enough to be able to write novels either. It's just notes and books and pens everywhere, her own organised chaos in a space just for her.
Yeah, Izuku really loves the idea of that. Maybe one day he'll have something similar, or so he can hope.
Either way, the entire Aizawa family are undeniably the best part of having been thrown back in time. He legally isn't allowed to look into, let alone meet up, with his Mum, and she's still very far from being his Mum, in fact he isn't even sure that she'll have met Hisashi yet, or maybe only in the last year, so it's not like she's even expecting Izuku's existence in general right now. Let alone a thirteen year-old him turning up out of nowhere.
Izuku's social circle is, perhaps obviously, rather small. He spends time with Shouta's parent and gran, like this. He gets enrolled into Shouta's school after those few weeks, his time travelling status remaining a secret, but Shouta doesn't really have any close friends either, just a few classmates that he gets on decently with.
It isn't a surprise, as such, that most of Izuku's time is spent with Shouta himself, and vice versa. He joins the taller boy on his runs, and lets Keiko-baa and Fumino-san teach him enough self-defence basics that he can help Shouta spar as well. They do their homework together, Izuku knowing some parts already, and lacking others. Anything relating to recent history and discoveries takes far, far too much time and effort to pull apart and understand, to figure out what Izuku can or can't say, what has yet to happen.
Izuku would be lying to pretend that he doesn't have awful days. Times when he can only grieve his life as he knew it, his mother and his bedroom full of hero merch and the people who were once his friends but were now his bullies, because they are cruel to him but they were his. Still the people he has grown up with.
But if Izuku is entirely, brutally honest with himself, he's happier like this, day to day. He misses his mother fiercely, and worries about how she's handling him being gone with presumably no explanation, but he isn't being constantly bullied and discriminated against. Even when someone realises he's Quirkless and reacts badly, still common but less so than it was before, it isn't Izuku facing it alone.
No, Shouta immediately steps forwards, squaring his shoulders and flaring his eyes, snap-snarling threats until people back off entirely, or until Izuku drags him away, not willing to let Shouta get into an actual fight over him. (The protests from Shouta that it would be worth it, to shut up their fucking disgusting Quirkist arses, are both slightly terrifying and a little too flattering. Izuku would be lying to pretend that he isn't grateful for it.
Still, Shouta so clearly cares, so blatantly can't stand it when Izuku is having foul slurs muttered at him, or when Izuku falters, panicking at triggers or hesitating, anxious, when faced with a group of unfamiliar people... Shouta just wants him to be okay, and that means the entire world to Izuku.)
Like this, they settle into life together, Izuku slotting into the Aizawa family far more easily than he himself would have predicted.
They're kind. Not only that, but they seem to have just accepted him, easily and without hesitation. They buy him things to decorate the guest bedroom with, katsudon is added to the favourite meal rotation, and he's brought along on family day trips. Rikio-san even said, one quiet morning when Shouta had already left for the day, and Keiko was out shopping with Fumino, that Shouta seems happier now, that whilst there was nothing wrong before there was just a whole new light to him of late.
Rikio thanked Izuku for it, and whilst Izuku isn't convinced about it, he's still very much glad that the Aizawa family thinks so well of him, and that Shouta is happy. It's a lovely thing to hear.
It's exam day, and both of them have deeper eyebags than usual, although sometimes that doesn't seem possible for Shouta. But they've practiced for this for years already, have worked damn hard to get to this point, studying and sparring and dragging each other through the difficult days, falling back on Shouta's family for support whenever they have needed it.
So they're understandably nervous, for today to be the culmination of all of that effort, because despite the fact that, logically, this isn't their last chance, it still feels like it.
The tannoy announces that the next stop is theirs, then, and they glance to each other, even as they shoulder their bags, climbing back to their feet.
"Ready?" Izuku snorts, the amusement genuine, dry,
"Probably not, but it's happening anyway."
"It is," Shouta agrees, for all that the low tone makes it soft. Understanding.
Izuku smiles then, briefly reaching out to squeeze Shouta's hand, because he's fully aware that this exam is anxiety-inducing for them both, even if Izuku has a few... added complications.
"We'll just have to do our best." Shouta squeezes back, before they both let go,
"That was always the plan. Plus Ultra and all that."
"Yeh, all that," Izuku snorts.
They grin at each other for a breath, before Shouta bumps their shoulders together, gentle to match the soft edges of his already-neutral expression,
"Then let's go. Don't want to be late." The shorter boy can only laugh, brief but bright,
"Says the one who overslept this morning." Shouta huffs,
"Whatever."
Walking away from the train station, it would be hard not to notice that there are several other teenagers, also in school uniforms, walking along the same road, even though Izuku and Shouta are arriving over an hour earlier than needed, just in case there were any paperwork issues. It wouldn't be the first time that there has been, after all. Still, it's easy enough to stay calm, amusement lingering, as they amble along in familiar, comfortable silence.
That being said, his mirth has evaporated far sooner than he would like. The moment that the brilliant, glass-clad building becomes visible over the top of the hill, Izuku can't help the shudder that spider-crawls down his spine.
"Shouta."
"Mm." It's an acknowledgement, easy and no-pressure. Shouta knows him so well.
Maybe, or even definitely, that's why Izuku is comfortable enough to be entirely honest then,
"I'm nervous."
Shouta pauses, turning to face Izuku properly, but even as his mouth opens to say something, to reassure him or confess the same or maybe both, Izuku already finds his own words tumbling out of his lips, quite without any conscious thought or effort,
"What if- What if they don't accept me? I know that there are generally protocols for time travellers and I'm established here now but this is UA, I don't want to mess things up for you, or for them to decide that I- that something's wrong with me or-"
"Izuku, in the nicest way possible, shut up."
"Shouta!" he protests, but he does indeed shut up, half off of his mind already pulled away from the spiralling worries and onto pouting at the other teenager instead, because that wasn't actually mean of Shouta but it was also very, very mean. Really, it was.
Judging by the rapidly-scrunching eyebrows, Shouta can tell exactly what Izuku is thinking. That idea is corroborated moments later when the taller boy speaks,
"Don't pout at me." The comment only makes him pout properly. (What Izuku doesn't know is how Shouta can't help but think of how cute that same pout is, not an entirely conscious thing but undeniable all the same. It's adorable, all bunched up cheeks and glossy eyes.)
That pout, despite its adorableness, isn't enough to pull Shouta off-track entirely, which Izuku should have probably predicted, and is grateful for either way,
"Look, Izuku, if anything goes wrong, we'll figure it out. You'll be okay. Do you trust me?"
"I..." He trails off, because it's so, so hard to feel like anything will ever work out in his favour, but he's staring at Shouta, at those dark eyes and that set jaw, the utter certainty to every line of his face.
It makes his answer easy, a given,
"I trust you, Shouta."
They share a smile then, Izuku's chest warm, full of embers and joy, and he knows that no matter what happens from now on, whether he stays here, or goes back to his original time, or something else entirely, he's glad that he came here and got to meet Shouta. To be a part of the Aizawa family. It's been completely worth it.