Chapter Text

Izuku sat up, rubbing his eyes in confusion as he slowly took in his surroundings. Where…was he? Nothing about this street was recognizable, not the shopfronts, nor the street signs. He might as well have been dropped in another country, for all he knew.

But how? How did he get here? He remembered being at school and…

Right. Kacchan had been up to his usual antics, exploding Izuku’s belongings and threatening him. He pulled up his shirt, and sure enough, it was covered by new scorch marks and bruises. Worse yet, the shirt itself was torn and peppered with small burned holes.

None of that explained how Izuku got to this strange place. The last thing he remembered after being completely beaten by Kacchan was…was wishing that he could go somewhere far, far away from Kacchan, with people who didn’t mind that he was quirkless.

Izuku scowled. What an unrealistic dream. He was only eight, but he already knew this world wasn’t made for a quirkless person like him. He suddenly felt so foolish for wishing something so ludicrous, but every time Kacchan pushed him way beyond his limits, he found himself wishing for the same thing—to have it all stop.

But none of that mattered right now. He needed to get home before his mom gets worried.

Except he had no clue how. Maybe someone at school was pranking him with a teleportation quirk, but he didn’t know anyone with a quirk like that at school.

So, Izuku did the only thing he could think of, which was to start walking.

Izuku shivered. It was strangely colder than before, and since it was summer, he didn’t have an adequate jacket. It also seemed a little brighter. Weirdly so, as he was pretty sure it was late afternoon when he got knocked out. Or at least, he thought he got knocked out. He had no idea what happened.

Many people flashed him strange looks, no doubt judging him for his disheveled appearance and his messed-up t-shirt. He had nothing to cover it up, however, and had no choice but to ignore them.

A TV was playing from inside a small store, and Izuku stopped to look. It was reporting one of All Might’s latest conquest over a villain, as usual, and Izuku couldn’t help but smile. He had saved thirteen people in twenty seconds this time, an incredible feat.

Something bugged Izuku, though. There was something extremely familiar about the villain’s name, and he was pretty sure he’d seen the clip it was playing before on the family PC. Was he imagining things?

His gaze traveled to the date on the bottom banner.

September 1st.

What? How was that possible? It was June. There was just no way. Izuku spun around, heart fluttering with panic, and grabbed the nearest person’s sleeve. It was a teenager in uniform, standing next to another teenager. They looked to be in the middle of a conversation before Izuku rudely interrupted them.

“Mister, w-what’s today’s date?”

He looked down at Izuku, blue eyes widening with shock “Um…September first. Why?”

“What…year?” he asked, just in case.

The teenager looked even more disgruntled, but he did respond. With a year that was most certainly not the current year.

He was in the past.

Izuku was six whole years in the past.

How?

A quirk. It had to be a quirk. But whose? Time-traveling quirks were rare, and one of this caliber even rarer.

Could it be…Izuku’s? No…that was impossible. The doctor told him all those years before that he had an extra toe joint.

“R-really?” he asked weakly, letting go of his shirt.

“Yes?” He took out his phone and showed him the date displayed on the home screen. “Are you alright? Do you need me to take you to the hospital or the police station?”

“N-no thanks. I’m okay, just uh…making sure,” he said. “Um…c-can you also tell me where I am?”

“We’re in Musutafu, near U.A., ” he said slowly. “I’m going to call the police, okay?”

The other teen, the one with dark hair, was also studying Izuku with a frown.

“No, I’m okay!” He smiled at them, feeling slightly lightheaded.“I’m gonna go now. Thanks for the help.” Musutafu was good. That meant he didn’t go too far. He still had no idea where he was exactly, but it was a good start.

“But you’re hurt,” the dark-haired teen said. “And you seem confused. We can’t just let you go.”

Izuku took a small step back. “No!”

“Come on, kid. The police will know what to do,” he coaxed.

Tears welled up in Izuku’s eyes, and he started panicking for real. What if the police find out he was from the future? Would he get in trouble for illegal quirk usage? How would he even be able to prove it?

“No, I’m going home,” he said, though he had no clue how.

The two exchanged a glance, then the one closer to Izuku suddenly grabbed his hand.

“Nope! No way! I changed my mind. We’re not going to the police anymore, but you’re still gonna have to come with us.”

“Oboro, are you sure? We might get in trouble.”

“Yep. We should hear him out! It’s not every day you get a kid asking you what year it is,” the teen, Oboro presumably, responded with a smile. “What’s your name, kiddo?”

“M-Midoriya Izuku,” he said anxiously. “Um…I really…should go.” He studied Oboro carefully. Wild blue hair and bright blue eyes, wearing his uniform blazer like a cape—he certainly didn’t look the type that would care about a lost kid wandering around. The same went for the dark-haired teen, who looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here.

So why were they so insistent?

“Nonsense. Shouta and I are just about to go grab some grub, and you’re coming with! How does…takoyaki sound?”

The dark hair teen, Shouta, sighed. “Not takoyaki again.”

“What’s wrong with it? Hizashi’s not here to force us into getting fried chicken. There’s no way I’m letting this chance go.”

“Ugh. Fine.”

“Takoyaki it is,” Oboro cheered. “Oh right, I haven’t introduced myself yet, have I? I’m Oboro, and this here is Shouta. We’re students at U.A.!”

Shouta gave a small nod.

“U.A.? The high school with the really good hero course?” Izuku ran his head through the hero students he remembered from this year’s sports festival, only to realize that he was in the past. Maybe they were actual heroes now?

“Mhm! We’re second years,” Oboro said, sticking his chest out proudly. “Say, do you want to be a hero, Izuku?”

They both looked at him expectantly,

Izuku’s throat suddenly felt extremely dry, and he stared at the ground. Kacchan’s taunting words still echoed in his head, reminding him exactly why he couldn’t be a hero. Would these two strangers leave him once they knew?

He didn’t want that.

“It’s okay if you don’t,” Oboro said, seemingly unfazed. “All professions are respectable.”

“Oh. Look, we’re there! I’ll get some for us. What flavor, Izuku?”

He shrugged, still not quite able to meet his eyes.

“I’ll get you chocolate then,” he said.

Izuku cringed. “C-chocolate?”

“Yeah, it’s their specialty,” he said, smiling at Izuku so dazzlingly that he wasn’t sure if he was joking or not. “Why? Not interested?”

”I think I’d rather have seaweed…”

“Bleh, boring,” he said. “I’ll try the chocolate, and you’ll regret it when you see how good it is.” He spun around and hurried over to the small line in front of the booth.

“Wait, what about my order?” Shouta called.

Oboro just turned around and stuck his tongue out.

Huh. Izuku really wasn’t sure what to make of these people.

Shouta sighed and turned towards Izuku, blatantly staring at Izuku’s torn shirt.

“What happened?” he asked after a tense moment.

“…cooking accident,” he said lamely.

“Cooking accident.”

He nodded.

Shouta’s raised an eyebrow, then shook his head and took off his uniform blazer. “Wear this for now. It’s getting cold,” he said gruffly.

“I’m okay,” he said, teeth chattering. It did look quite warm, and he could really use the extra bit of warmth. But…Shouta was still a stranger, and Izuku wasn’t sure if he’d be able to wash it and return it like his mom taught him to do.

“It’s fine.” He put it directly over Izuku.

He debated rejecting it to be polite, but the warmth won him over and he wrapped it around himself tightly. “T-thank you so much,” he said gratefully. “I won’t get it dirty, I promise.”

Oboro came back with a plastic bag. “What’d I miss? The uniform looks good on you, by the way.”

“Nothing,” Shouta said with another sigh. “Did you get me something weird?

“You’ll see,” he said. “Come on, Izuku. I’ll take you to my favorite spot to eat!”

Oboro was somehow able to chatter the entire time they walked, bombarding Izuku with questions ranging from what his favorite color was, to his life goals. His apprehension lessened more and more the more he talked.

When they arrived at the park, Izuku was slightly surprised. He had been somewhat expecting to be tricked into the police station, but the U.A. students were a little more trustworthy than that, it would seem.

“Ta-da!” Oboro said, gesturing grandly with his arms at a lone bench facing a huge tree. “Isn’t this place awesome?”

“Uh. Yeah.” Had they really walked for twenty minutes just for this? Izuku was really wishing he had just run away when he had the chance.

Oboro plonked himself on the bench and patted the spot next to him eagerly, and Izuku hesitantly sat.

“Here’s your seaweed, and here’s your surprise flavor, Shouta,” he said, passing small, steaming paper boxes over to them.

Shouta made a face. “Seriously?”

“Don’t knock it until you try it,” Oboro said, digging into his box with gusto. “Oh hm. That’s…”

Izuku looked over curiously, and sure enough, his takoyaki was slathered with what looked like chocolate sauce.

Shouta sighed and took a bite, making a similar face to Oboro. “Why do you do this to us?” he asked with a groan. “Every time.”

Izuku was suddenly very thankful for his rather ordinary seaweed-flavored takoyaki.

“So, Izuku,” Oboro started as Izuku was finishing up, his tone suddenly serious. “Can you tell us why you’re out here alone and injured now that we’re all snacked up?”

Izuku put his plastic fork down, feeling the stress from earlier come back with a vengeance.

“Don’t be scared,” he said quickly. “We just want to know so we can help. If you tell us who did this, we’ll make sure they get in trouble, okay?”

Izuku hunched in on himself, eyes brimming with tears. Even if they weren’t a whole six years in the past, they wouldn’t be able to get Kacchan in trouble anyway. They probably wouldn’t even want to, once they knew why Kacchan hated him.

“Yeah, kid. We can get you help,” Shouta said.

“You c-can’t,” he mumbled. “I’m…I’m six years from the future.” It didn’t matter that they knew. He wasn’t sticking around anyway.

There was a long beat of silence, followed by, “What?”

“I…I said I’m SIX years from the future,” he wailed. “I don’t know how I got here. I just…I was at school!” It all came spilling out as his panic built on itself. He couldn’t hold it together anymore.

He was so lost.

“It’s okay, kid. Take deep breaths,” Shouta said in a low, calming voice. “We can figure this out together.”

His lower lip wobbled and he started to shake. His heart was starting to pound an an uncomfortable rate, and he suddenly felt really hot. Oh god. What was he going to do? Being with them distracted him from the reality of the situation, but god, he really was in the past, with people the didn’t know, in a place he had never been to. What if he was stuck forever? What if he have to wait six years to get back to where he was?

But wait, wasn’t it better to just…stay here? He had gotten his wish, hadn’t he? He was in a place where Kacchan couldn’t get to him, and no one knew he was quirkless. Yet.

“Kid? Izuku?” Oboro prompted, giving him a gentle shake. “Are you…okay?”

The two were both looking at him with such worry and…that he was really tempted to just let them help. But he knew how things usually ended. People with strong quirks didn’t associate with the quirkless, and they definitely had amazing quirks if they were hero students. He couldn’t let himself get hurt again. He needed to go.

Izuku put down his unfinished takoyaki and stood shakily. “T-thank you for t-the food,” he said. “And for k-keeping me company.” He gave them a quick bow, and before they could respond, fled.

“Kid, wait!”

Fast footsteps chased after him, and he was too afraid to look back.

Something grabbed his elbow, and Izuku made a noise of distress

…and he suddenly wasn’t in the park anymore.

—

“No! We spooked him,” Oboro cried, throwing his arms up. “It’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have pushed so hard.”

“He might still be around,” Shouta said. “If it’s a teleportation quirk, it can’t have taken him that far.” He had never seen Oboro this worked up since…, and he can’t say he blamed him. He, too, was rather unsettled by everything that happened, especially by how he had just vanished.

“That poor kid!” Oboro said. “Let’s look around, just in case.”

Shouta nodded. “Should we tell the police about this?”

“No way! He’s obviously being abused,” Oboro exclaimed. “What if they find him and take him back home?”

“We don’t know that for sure.”

“The burn marks! The messed up shirt! He must’ve teleported away with his quirk and got all confused,” Oboro said. “Oh no. This is awful. I…I should’ve…”

“I should’ve erased his quirk, but I didn’t think…” Shouta sighed, feeling equally depressed. He failed. Maybe he wasn’t cut out to be a hero after all.

…Couldn’t even help a little kid. And even during his work-study over the summer, he could barely take down that villain with Oboro’s help, and was even scolded for not being able to smile well enough.

“Where could he be?”

“What if his quirk is actually time traveling?” he asked, pushing through the self-deprecating thoughts that were creeping up on him.

“Six whole years? That’s impossible… Right?”

“Right,” Shouta said. “If we keep looking around, I’m sure we’ll find him.”

“Yeah,” Oboro said, sounding less certain than Shouta. “You’re right. We just have to stay positive!” He smiled unconvincingly. “Oh! Let’s call Hizashi. I bet he’d want to help.”

“Mhm.”

Shouta gave the park one more thorough look, still seeing no sign of the boy with vibrant green hair. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He really didn’t want to fail the kid, but what could he do? He’s really not cut out for this. He didn’t even know what to say to the boy.

“It’s going to be okay, Shouta,” Oboro said, slinging an arm around his shoulders. “We’ll find him, and we’ll go beat up whoever’s hurting him! It’ll be great!”

Shouta wished he shared his confidence.

Chapter Text

Izuku looked around, finding himself in his living room.

How? If he had traveled back to the future, shouldn’t he be back at school, where he had disappeared from?

“Oh, Izuku.” His mom was in front of him, tending to some of the burn marks on his legs. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

There was something different about his mom. She looked…slightly younger. Less worn out, more like the mom Izuku remembered from the past…Still, this was obviously not

Izuku let out a soft sigh. What was he thinking? There was no way a quirk would let him stay so far back in the past for a long time. It made sense that he was dragged out so suddenly.

He had been so foolish.

“Mom, I…the craziest thing happened,” he said. “I traveled back in time. Six years! I met some U.A. students and everything.” A small part of him held on to the hope that maybe, just maybe, this was a quirk. Perhaps one of his grandparents or distant relative had a similar time travel quirk.

“Izuku...” There were tears in his mom’s eyes. “There’s…there’s no need to lie. It’s okay to be quirkless. Don’t listen to what your classmates say. I still love you no matter what.”

“But I…”

She wrapped him in a hug. “It’s okay,” she said in a shaky voice.

Izuku let himself enjoy the hug for a few seconds before the resentment leaked through. His mom’s acceptance meant nothing if she wasn’t going to believe his admittedly unbelievable story about having a time travel quirk.

Why couldn’t she just hear him out, when the strangers he met in the past didn’t outright call him out for lying? If he could just prove that he had a quirk, especially one as strong as time traveling, then surely Kacchan would stop picking on him.

He didn’t want to be here anymore. Not when he’d have to go back to school and face Kacchan all over again. Not when his mom didn’t believe anything he was saying.

Izuku wanted to go back.

…and suddenly, he wasn’t in his living room anymore.

He appeared back in the park, right where he had disappeared. The sun had gone down in the time that he was gone, leaving only street lamps as illumination. What…was that? Did he travel back to the past? How…and why? Maybe this really was his quirk. Late manifestations weren’t that uncommon, especially for a quirk like time traveling.

Izuku took a deep breath, trying his best to push down his excitement. It might still not be his quirk. It could be a hallucination quirk or someone else’s time-traveling quirk.

He needed to write this down and start an analysis, but he needed to figure out what he needed to do. He obviously couldn’t go back to his house to sleep—would his mom even recognize him? Was there another Izuku existing right now? And he had no money or belongings.

The U.A. students weren’t around anymore; probably gotten too tired and gone home. Izuku wasn’t sure if he was happy or disappointed.

Izuku yawned and shivered. He still had Shouta’s oversized U.A. uniform, but it wasn’t enough to block the chilly night air. He blindly stumbled around the park, looking for a bench or something to sleep on.

“Aha! Found you!”

Izuku jumped, spinning around. “O-Oboro?” he squeaked, eyes widening.

“You’re not getting away this time,” he said, grinning madly. “Shouta, Hizashi! I found him!”

His wild blue hair was more disheveled than Izuku remembered, and his uniform pants were covered with a thin layer of dirt and grime. But he looked ecstatic.

“Um…I can explain!” he said, panicking.

“I sure hope so. You really worried us, y’know? Shouta was in tears!”

“Who was in tears?” asked the man in question as he came to stand next to Oboro. “Hey, kid.”

Oboro laughed. “Admit it, Shou. You were super worried.”

The urge to flee disappeared as quickly as he came, and Izuku relaxed slightly in the familiar presence. It was hard to be afraid of them when they were so friendly,

Shouta snorted and shook his head, shooting Oboro a fond look.

“Guys, I’m here. Is this…is this…Izuku?” The newcomer was panting heavily and his face was covered with sweat. He leaned on Shouta’s shoulder as he tried to catch his breath. There was something extremely familiar about his tall blond hair and yellow shades.

“It is! I told you I’d be the one to find him,” Oboro said enthusiastically. “Izuku, this is our friend, Yamada Hizashi! He’s a hero student at U.A. too!”

“Gah! P-Present Mic,” Izuku exclaimed, pointing at him. He knew he’d seen him before somewhere. “It’s Present Mic!”

“Yes!” He cheered with a wide grin. “That’s me! You know who I am?”

Izuku nodded vigorously. “Yeah! Your quirk is awesome. And I listen to your radio show every week!”

“Radio show?”

“Yeah. Put your hands up radio!”

Hizashi’s jaw dropped. “Whaaat? How did you know I wanted to name my radio show that? Can you read my mind? That’s soo cool!”

Izuku balked. Oops. He forgot he was in the past. “Uhh…”

“Where’d you find this kid?” he asked. “This is sick. He knows who I am and what my radio show plans are!”

Oboro and Shouta looked a little stunned, but Oboro recovered quickly and grabbed Izuku’s hand. “You’re looking at the one and only future…child. Uh…child of the future? No that sounds bad…What about…

“Whatever. Let’s take future child home before he runs off again,” Shouta said. “It’s late and we have school tomorrow.”

“Future child?” Hizashi muttered in confusion while Oboro wailed something about school loudly in the background.

Izuku didn’t understand. Why were these hero students so nice to him? Was it because they thought he had a quirk earlier when he vanished right in front of them? But it was Present Mic!

Who were Shouta and Oboro though? Izuku didn’t remember seeing them in the hero rankings anywhere.

“Okay, okay, let’s go,” Oboro said. “You don’t mind coming home with us, right? It’s really messy, but if you don’t want to go to the police, then this is the next best option.”

Izuku hesitated. He was right. There weren’t many other places for him to go. “I don’t mind,” he said shyly. “Only if you’re really okay with it.”

“Of course we are,” Oboro said. “Right, guys?”

They both nodded.

“Then okay.”

Hizashi cheered loudly, still looking slightly bewildered. “YEAH! Ethical kidnapping. I’m all for it.”

“It’s not kidnapping, Hizashi,” Oboro said with a huff. “Izuku wants to come.”

Hizashi just laughed and slung an arm around Izuku’s shoulders. “Sure, Oboro. If you say so.”

When they finally stopped walking, Izuku had yawned at least ten times and his eyes were started to shut a little. Oboro and Shouta looked similarly tired, though Hizashi was happy to chat endlessly without pause.

“We’re here!” Hizashi said, fishing out his keys. “This is where we live. Looks kind of sketchy but I promise it’s really sick inside.”

“It doesn’t look sketchy,” Oboro said through a yawn. “Have you been to Kayama's place? That’s sketch.”

Hizashi made a face and unlocked the door. “I have no idea how she puts up with it.”

“You guys live together?” Izuku asked.

“Yep! Sure do,” Hizashi answered. “We started renting together in our second year after we made money through internships and stuff. It’s not a whole lot, but we really like it.”

“That sounds fun,” Izuku said, feeling a tiny bit jealous. It must be nice to have friends like that. He never even had a friend before, not since Kacchan stopped hanging out with him since he was four. He wouldn’t count what they had as friendship, anyway.

“It is! And now you get to join us,” Hizashi said, beaming. “Welcome to our humble little apartment!”

Izuku hesitantly stepped in, surveying the living room.

It wasn’t very big, about the size of his own, just much messier. Books, clothes, and other random knickknacks were strewn carelessly all over the place. The small foldable dining table was covered by empty take-out boxes and used plates.

“Ugh! Oboro, stop leaving your damn clothes on the couch,” Shouta growled. “They reek!”

“Sorry, sorry,” Oboro said sheepishly. “I was in a hurry.”

“And it’s your turn to do the dishes, Hizashi,” Shouta said, gesturing at the dining table. “We’re completely out of plates."

“Aw, jeez. I forgot.”

Izuku’s mouth opened, and it closed. How…do people live like this? His mom would get mad if his room is one percent as messy as this place. The living room was always kept immaculate as well…

“So, what do you think?” Oboro asked. “It’s cozy, isn’t it?

All three of them looked at him expectantly.

Izuku had never felt such pressure. “Y-yes. It’s…nice…”

Oboro and Hizashi’s faces lit up, but Shouta just frowned. “We need to clean.”

“Later,” Oboro said dismissively. “Let’s watch a movie together.”

“Ooh! Yes! Yes! Movie night,” Hizashi said, bouncing on the balls of his feet. “It’s been ages since we had one.”

“What? But heroics is first period tomorrow,” Shouta protested.

“Tch. Go sleep if you want, old man,” Oboro said, taking Izuku’s arm and dragging him to the sofa, but it was so covered with junk that there was no place to sit.

Izuku watched in horror as he carelessly flung everything on the sofa onto the floor and flopped down. “All clear. You can sit now.”

Izuku sat, trying not to think about the mess.

“Fine. I’ll join to make sure Izuku is okay,” Shouta said, sitting down as well. “You two obviously can’t be trusted.”

“Wha? We’re perfectly responsible,” Hizashi said, crossing his arms.

Izuku just watched them bicker with wide eyes. Was this what actual friendship was like? All he knew was that watching them interact so easily made his chest hurt.

Wait. Why was he even here? And was it really okay for him to stay at their house? He wasn’t too worried about his safety, as freaking Present Mic was here too, but still…

“Izuku? Earth to Izuku,” A hand was waving in front of his face, and Izuku zoned back in. “There you go. Are you sleepy? Hungry?”

“I’m fine. I just…um…aren’t you gonna ask me questions?” Or take him to the police, though that was looking less and less likely as more time passed.

“Do you want us to?” Hizashi asked, tilting his head. “Because I sure am curious.”

“Not really.”

“Then we won’t,” Oboro said with a tone of finality. “Can’t risk having you run off like before.”

Izuku blushed and stared at the slightly stained carpet. “But you’re letting me stay here. I-It’s kind of rude.”

“Don’t worry about it! You can just be our cute little roommate for now!” Hizashi said.

Izuku shyly nodded and glanced at Shouta, who had been extremely quiet. His stoic expression made Izuku wonder if he actually wanted him here, or if he was only going along with his other friends. He had been nice earlier though, when he gave him his…

“Your uniform!” Izuku realized with panic. “I’m sorry, I completely forgot.” He hurriedly took it off and held it out to him. Was this why he had been so quiet? Because he was mad at Izuku for hogging his jacket?

“Hm? Oh. It’s fine,” he said. “Keep it if you’re cold.”

Izuku slowly took it back, somehow feeling more confused.

“Anyway, movie time,” Hizashi said, clapping his hands. “Oboro, popcorn. Shouta, drinks. Go!”

“What are you gonna do?” Shouta asked, standing up with a scowl.

“I’ll pick a movie with Izuku,” he said, grabbing the remote. “What do you want to watch? The new All Might documentary?”

“Which one?” Izuku asked, interest piqued.

“Which one? There’s only one, isn’t there?” Hizashi asked, bemused.

“Oh. You’re…right,” Izuku said. He forgot, again. He’d already seen all five of them ten times each. “Um…I want to watch it.” The eleventh rewatch might yield some new revelations.

“If you’re already done picking, you can come help us,” Oboro called from the kitchen.

“I’ll help,” Izuku said, shooting up from the couch.

“Don’t worry about it, kid. We got you. Just sit and rest.”

“But I…”

And he was already gone.

He slumped. Maybe they didn’t want his help. He was too prone to messing things up anyway, and would just get in the way.

The three returned with a huge bag of popcorn and a gallon of sofa, while Izuku was dying of guilt over not being able to help.

“Here, you get popcorn holding privileges,” Hizashi said, shoving the bag in Izuku’s lap and sitting down next to him, popping a few in his mouth.

“Thank you?” This was shaping up to be the strangest day of Izuku’s life—sitting next to Present Mic and his U.A. friends in their small apartment, and watching the All Might documentary that was supposedly new but he had seen a bunch of times already.

“So, we’re all in agreement on the All Might documentary?” Hizashi asked.

They all nodded.

“Great.” He pressed a few buttons on the remote, and an extremely familiar intro played.

Even though he’d already seen the documentary, it was his first time he was watching it with someone not his mom. Better yet, they were all as enthusiastic about heroes as Izuku and understood everything in the documentary without Izuku needing to explain.

It was so fun that Izuku ran out of energy before his favorite part—All Might’s silver age—and his eyes shut against his will in the middle of eating some popcorn.

“Aww! He fell asleep,” Oboro whispered. “So cute.”

“It’s four am, guys,” came Shouta’s low voice. “We should’ve let him sleep earlier.”

This was…nice. Was it selfish of him to not try harder to go home? His mom must be worried. It was hard to keep the train of thought though, as he fell asleep not soon after, leaning against someone’s shoulder.

Chapter Text

Izuku woke up the next day, still feeling drowsy. He rubbed his eyes and sat up slowly.

Oh. He was still in their messy apartment. Relief flooded him for a second before the guilt set in—shouldn’t he want to have been magically taken back to his actual home?

There was no one in the apartment though, for him to complain to—they must’ve gone to school. Izuku yawned and slowly looked around.

A piece of lined paper next to him caught his eye. Curiously, he picked it up.

Izuku! If you’re reading this, then we’re at school! Sorry for leaving you home alone, but you looked so comfortable sleeping that we couldn’t do it..

The handwriting changed here and became even messier. There’s food in the fridge, help yourself. If you’re bored, watch TV or something.

And again. This time, the writing was big and loopy. We’ll be home at around five! Don’t run away, okay? It took us foooorever to find you yesterday.

-Shouta, Hizashi, and OBORO! :D

A small grin found itself on Izuku’s face and he carefully folded it and stored it in his pocket. He still desperately wanted to stay on guard in case they ended up disliking him later, but they were just so nice and fun and everything Izuku had ever wanted in his friends. He had more fun last night than he did in the last four years. Combined.

“I’m sorry mom,” he mumbled.

What was the harm in staying here, anyway? Aside from his mom, no one would care that he was gone. Kacchan was probably celebrating, along with the rest of his class. The teachers wouldn’t care either, and that’s if they’re not downright happy.

Izuku frowned and chased those thoughts away. He didn’t have to worry about that now. Not when he was here with these U.A. students and could pretend like he belonged.

But first, he was going to repay them for letting him stay for free by cleaning their apartment.

Easier said than done. There was so much stuff that it took him an hour just to throw trash away and clear everything out in the living room. It took another hour to find cleaning supplies, and another to actually do the sweeping and dusting.

“Izuku? I’m home.” The door was flung open just as Izuku was putting the last plate awake. “

“Hi! Welcome back,” he said, popping out of the kitchen.

“Woah, did you do this?” Shouta was looking around the apartment, his wide with shock.

He nodded. “I wanted to thank you guys for letting me say,” he said timidly. “I hope it’s good enough.”

“It’s the cleanest this apartment has been since we moved in,” he said, still looking shell-shocked. “Thanks, but you didn’t have to. Oboro and Hizashi should’ve been the ones to clean.”

“Where are they?” Izuku asked, peeking out at the still-open door.

“They got in trouble at school and are being yelled at,” he said with a sigh.

“Trouble?” he asked with wide eyes. But it was Present Mic, a great hero. He had a hard time imagining him getting in trouble for anything. Same for Oboro,

“They both fell asleep during homeroom and didn’t perform well in battle training,” Shouta said, closing the door.

“Oh. I’m sorry,” he said in despair. That’s his fault, wasn’t it? He made them look for him for so long yesterday.

“Not your fault. It’s theirs, for making us watch that documentary at 1 a.m.,” he said, shaking his head. “Anyway, um…have you had anything to eat?”

Izuku shook his head.

“At all?”

“I only woke up a few hours ago,” he said.

“Hm…well, let’s eat then,” he said.

Shouta moved to the kitchen, and Izuku followed, anxious to see his reaction. He hadn’t finished cleaning the kitchen completely and there was still some dust and grime left.

“Wow, you even cleaned the fridge,” he said, raising an eyebrow.

“There was a lot of um…rotten food,” he said. “I threw them out, I hope you don’t mind.”

Shouta made a face. “Thanks. You can go take a shower if you want. I'd hate for you to get sick from cleaning all that radioactive gunk.”

“I don’t have any clothes though.”

“Crap. You’re still wearing my uniform,” he said. “Uh...do you want to borrow some of mine?”

Izuku bobbed his head, eager to be out of his burnt one.

“Cool…okay. Just hop in the shower. I’ll get something for you.”

“Thank you!”

He hadn’t had the chance to clean up the bathroom, but it was surprisingly already clean. Not spotless, but not so nasty that Izuku wouldn’t want to be barefoot. He wast ed no time in running a hot shower for himself and washing off all the accumulated grime and sweat.

When he was done, there was a set of clothes waiting for him outside. He quickly pulled on the much too-large t-shirt and shorts that may as well have been long pants. Thankfully, it had a drawstring that he was able to tie tightly.

“All done?” Shouta asked, taking in Izuku’s new look.

“Yeah…thanks,” he said, pulling at his shirt a little self-consciously. It went down to his knees and made it look like he wasn’t wearing pants.

He looked like he was trying not to laugh, and quickly turned away. “I got us some food,” he said, gesturing at the table. “It’s not much, but…"

“Thank you,” Izuku said, stomach growling.

The meal was microwaved convenience store curry, along with a bottle of grape juice, also from the convenience store. That didn’t stop Izuku from inhaling it all down and chugging the juice.

Delicious.

“Hey, kid,” he said as Izuku had his last bite.

“Yeah?”

“Are we…helping you at all?”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t think we’re doing a good job of helping you,” he said, suddenly looking upset. “I mean, you slept so late last night and ate nothing but popcorn and other junk food. And now I’m feeding you more junk.”

Izuku’s eyes widened. “I like it here,” he said. “I want to be here.”

“But what about…” He sighed. “Okay, I know you don’t want to talk about it, but what happened? How did you get hurt? It’s killing me that I can’t…do anything else to help.”

“It’s okay, Shouta. Kacc—he can’t do anything to me here,” he said with a small smile. “I thought about it…and I think I wanna stay.”

“He?” he asked, brows knitting.

“N-nothing!”

“Well, you’re welcome to stay here for as long as you want,” he said. “But we all have to go to school every day and won’t be able to keep you company.”

“That’s okay! Um…u-unless I’m bothering you,” he said anxiously. “I can help around the house though! And with figuring stuff about your quirk. I’m decent at analyzing quirks!” He’d care about that kind of thing if he was a hero student, right?

“Oh yeah?”

Izuku nodded. “What’s your quirk?”

“I can erase quirks through eye contact,” he said after a short pause. “When I blink, it ends.”

“Wow, okay. That’s amazing,” Izuku said, tapping his chin thoughtfully. He didn’t recall seeing a hero anywhere with a quirk like that, and he was pretty sure he’d remember seeing something so unique. “You can take down villains with strong quirks so easily and with minimum damage. How long does it last?”

“Depends. My eyes get dry so I don’t like going over thirty seconds each time,” he said. “And it’s really not that amazing. It’s not strong like Oboro and Hizashi’s quirk. I can’t go up against mutation quirks or villains who are strong naturally and good fighters.”

Izuku tilted his head. “But all heroes have bad matchups, don’t they? Except for All Might, I guess, but he doesn’t count.”

He snorted. “You can’t call it a bad matchup if it’s everyone who can fight better than me.”

“Y-You can get better though,” Izuku encouraged. “Most people are used to relying on their quirks, so they’ll probably put all their energy into practicing that. They probably don’t know how to react when they can’t use it anymore. So as long as you keep your quirk a secret, I bet you’ll win most fights.” He felt slightly out of breath after the whole speech, but he was grinning. It was such a fun quirk to analyze. If only he could see it in action.

Shouta looked thoughtful. “I know, my teachers have told me that but I’m not very strong,” he said. “I guess I’ll just have to work harder…Thanks, kid…”

He didn’t look very happy for someone with a great quirk and in the best hero school. Izuku would do anything to be in his spot, so why?

He was about to ask that when the door flung open. “Izuku! Did you miss us?” Oboro asked, stumbling in. He was wearing a huge grin.

“Sorry we’re so late,” Hizashi said from behind him. “Got caught snoozing in homeroom, not that the teacher was saying anything important.”

“H-hi. Welcome back,” Izuku greeted with a shy smile.

“Oh, wait. What happened to the house?” Oboro asked, gaping at the sight. “Did I walk into the wrong apartment?”

“Izuku cleaned up for you slobs,” Shouta said, rolling his eyes.

“I hope I did okay," Izuku said anxiously.

“What? Okay? This is more than okay,” Hizashi said, looking just as shocked. “Now I feel bad.”

“Good, you should,” Shouta said.

“Thank you, Izuku, but next time, leave the cleaning to us, okay?” Hizashi said, ruffling his hair. “Also, are those Shouta’s clothes?”

“Yeah. Do they look weird?”

“Nope. Not at all. We should probably find you some better-fitting clothes soon though. You look like you're going to trip over those shorts," Oboro said, finally getting over his shock and walking into the living room. "Oh dang, my moldy ginger is gone. I was trying to grow that!"

It was only the first day here, but he already felt so at ease. He really wouldn't mind staying here for a little longer.

“Okay, real talk, what are we going to do with Izuku?” Shouta asked after Izuku had fallen asleep. “This is actually kidnapping.”

Oboro and Hizashi exchanged a glance. “Well, what are you suggesting we do? Take him to the police?” Hizashi asked.

“Well, yeah. We can’t keep him here forever. We have classes, plus work-study in a week. And none of us know how to take care of kids.”

“Speak for yourself, Shouta! I’m great with kids,” Oboro said proudly. “It’s part of being a good hero, y’know!”

“He was doing okay with you earlier, Shouta,” Hizashi chimed in. “I don’t see the problem.”

Shouta was logical. Shouta knew what they were doing was illogical, but he didn’t have good counters to these dumb arguments. “Okay, but what if we get caught?”

“Let’s just…not.”

Shouta sighed. “What about his parents? And him saying he was six years from the future? This is too much for us. I’m scared we’re just going to make things worse. Or we’re being irresponsible.”

Oboro and Hizashi were silent for a few seconds. Maybe they were finally listening to reason?

“I hear ya,” Hizashi said after a bit. “But…I vote we keep him. Isn’t it nice to be actively helping the kid? We’re actually making a difference and we’re doing something good. It feels better than just doing the same battle simulations over and over again.”

“Plus, he’s so cute, and he helped clean up the house," Oboro piped in.

Hizashi nodded fervently. “Yeah! Super cute!” he said. “So let’s keep him, and when he trusts us enough, we’ll ask him about what happened again! When he tells us, we’ll go beat up whoever hurt him.” He punched the air and did a huge, sweeping kick. “Perfect plan!”

“Then what?” Shouta asked dubiously. The plan was great and all, but he had a feeling it wouldn’t go as smoothly as they were envisioning.

“I dunno. We’ll figure it out later. What’s the rush?”

“Who’s going to take care of him while we’re at school?”

“Me! I’ll call in sick,” Oboro said, raising his hand.

Hizashi scoffed. “With those grades?” he asked. “If anyone, it should be me.”

“I don’t think any of us can,” Shouta said. “Sensei is already mad at us, plus we have that battle training with 2A soon.”

They stewed in depressed silence following Shouta's words, and for the briefest of moments, Shouta hoped they finally saw reason. 

“Okay. Then Izuku will just have to stay home until we figure something out. Too bad summer break just ended, huh?”

“Yeah…think we can sneak him into U.A.?”

Oboro was met by an incredulous silence.

“Just brainstorming,” he said defensively.

Chapter Text

Somewhat surprisingly, Izuku wasn’t kicked out the next few days, and they allowed him to keep freeloading. They would leave early in the morning, before Izuku even wakes up, and come back in the afternoon, just in time for dinner.

They were always so cheerful and friendly that Izuku couldn’t help but be cautiously optimistic that they actually wanted to be his friends and weren't just pretending to be nice. It would be a different story though, once they knew who he really was; that he was quirkless and was from the future.

What would they say if they knew? Would he be kicked out?

He had to be careful not to let them know. The guilt of hiding something so huge was killing him from the inside, but they just didn’t ask, right? It wasn’t that he was lying. He was just not telling the truth.

Yeah. He’ll go with that.

With a soft sigh, he turned the TV off and glanced out the window in pure boredom. It was still raining and had been since they left in the morning. He hoped they were doing okay.

When he heard the key turning in the lock, his mood instantly lifted.

“Izuku, we’re back!” Oboro was the first one through the door, and he looked even more enthusiastic than usual. “Guess what, guess what?”

“What?” The enthusiasm was infectious. Izuku found himself grinning from ear to ear as he tried to guess what it could be.

“We got something for you,” Hizashi said loudly. “Show him, Shouta!”

Shouta sighed and stepped forward. He was completely drenched by the rain and was holding on tightly to his backpack, the only thing that was dry.

“What is it?”

The backpack made a noise. And it moved. Shouta carefully put it down and unzipped it. Izuku found himself holding his breath as he tried to peek inside—what could it possibly be?

A small, orange kitten stepped out, cautiously taking in its surroundings. Its tail waved proudly and it sniffed the air once before curling up on the floor.

“Ta-da! We named him Sushi. What do you think?”

Izuku’s eyes widened, and he crouched in front of the small kitten, giving it a careful pat on the head. He was completely dry, unlike everyone else, and his fur was soft and fluffed up.

“Cute!” he squealed. “I’ve always wanted a cat, but my mom always said no. I ended up with a frog but it died super fast.”

“Yes! We’re keeping the cat then,” Hizashi yelled. “Hear that, Shouta? Izuku wants to keep him.”

The kitten meowed in alarm and sat back up at the sudden noise, staring at Hizashi with his large eyes. Izuku couldn’t help but coo at the adorable sight.

Shouta sighed. “I never said I didn’t want the cat. I was just worried we’re not responsible enough,” he mumbled, looking gloomier than usual. “Oboro was trying to feed him sushi.”

“Is that why he’s called Sushi?” Izuku asked curiously. Sushi was now butting his head against Izuku’s palm affectionately. His heart melted a bit.

“Yeah, it’s my favorite food,” Oboro said. “Besides, how was I supposed to know? I thought cats liked fish.”

Shouta let out a guttural noise, then shook his head. “Whatever. I’m going to go shower. Don’t kill the kid and the cat while I’m gone, please.”

“Shouta!” Hizashi said, scandalized. “S’cuse you. We’re perfectly responsible.”

Shouta didn’t even grace that with a response before vanishing into the bathroom.

“I wanted to shower,” Oboro said with a pout. “I guess I’ll go dry off with a towel first.”

Sushi had crawled onto Izuku’s lap and was purring contently, licking at Izuku’s shorts. “Aw…we can really keep him?” he asked. It seemed almost too good to be true.

“Yeah, of course,” Hizashi said, sitting down next to Izuku. “That’s the best part about not living with parents, y’know? We can do what-ever we want.”

“That’s awesome,” he said in awe. “Even eating ice cream every day?”

Hizashi nodded enthusiastically, sending water droplets flying off his soaked hair and onto both Izuku and Sushi. “Yep. You should see our freezer. It’s alll ice cream.”

“Wow!” Izuku had been eating a lot of food his mom didn’t approve of here. It must be nice, living as an adult. He could hardly wait.

Hizashi kept Izuku and Sushi company until Shouta and Oboro finished cleaning themselves up. Once Shouta was done, Hizashi went off to shower himself while Shouta busied himself in the kitchen.

This was really the best. He never wanted to leave the past if this was so awesome. He got to spend time with his new amazing friends, and he got to keep a cute cat. What more could he ask for?

He hoped his mom wasn’t too worried. If only he could tell her he was doing great and that there was nothing to worry about, then everything would be perfect.

“Whatcha thinking so hard about?” Oboro asked, poking Izuku's nose. He scooped up Sushi, who was trying to escape Izuku’s lap, and put him back on the ground.

“My mom,” he said honestly, watching Sushi scamper off. For such a small kitten, he sure ran fast.

Oboro’s smile dropped. “Do you…miss her?”

“Kinda,” he said. “But…”

“But?”

He was about to respond when suddenly a strange feeling washed over him. It almost felt like…something was pulling at him.

“Izuku!” Oboro yelled, eyes widening. “You’re…”

The pulling felt stronger, and he was worried he was going to be sucked into something. He reached out with his hand to grab something, anything, but it was too late. He wasn’t in the apartment anymore.

He fell to the ground, gasping heavily. What the? When he vanished last time, it was way less painful. His entire body seemed to seize with pain for a few more seconds before subsiding, letting him take several deep breaths and regaining his wits.

But just where…was he? This wasn’t his apartment. And if he was really back in the future, shouldn’t he be at school? This didn’t look like it either, and the only things in his sight were trees.

“Deku! There you are!”

Izuku tensed and looked up. No. Not again. He thought he was safe from him.

He wanted to go home. He wished his new friends were here to help him. Tears of frustration welled up in his eyes, and he quickly wiped them before they could fall.

He could get through this.

“You think you can run from us?”

“Kacchan…” He looked…different. No. Not different. He looked like a Kacchan when he was younger. The anger in his crimson eyes and the small explosions popping in his hands were still the same as ever, though, and he couldn’t help but be surprised at the sheer intensity of them.

One of his friends laughed. “Get him, Bakugo!”

“Shut up, I don’t have to listen to you,” he snapped. “I’m doing this because I want to!”

“Sorry,” the boy mumbled, glaring daggers at Izuku, as if he was the one at fault.

With a snarl, Kacchan turned back to Izuku and charged. “This is what you get for defending that kid and making me look like a fool earlier!”

“What? I didn’t do that,” Izuku cried, getting hit solidly by his fist.“I wasn’t even here.” As if the pain from earlier wasn’t bad enough. There was only so much he could take.

“How dumb do you think I am?” he roared, shoving him to the ground with his exploding palms. “It just happened. Did you get amnesia?”

“Leave me alone,” he said, pushing himself back up with a wince.

He sneered. “Why should I listen to you? You’re just a quirkless nobody with no friends,” he said.

“No, I do have friends!” he cried. “They’re nice to me and…and…they’re cool. Way cooler than you.”

“Who’d want to be friends with you?”

“Hero students!” he said.

“Hmph. Do they know you’re quirkless? I bet if they did, they wouldn’t want to be friends anymore. I bet they just feel bad for you,” he said, crossing his arms. “Why don’t you tell them the truth, Deku?”

Izuku sniffled and his eyes brimmed with tears once more. He was right, wasn’t he? Kacchan was always right. He’d been avoiding telling them about his quirklessness, and they never asked. What would happen if they knew? Would they be mad at Izuku for tricking them?

Even so, he still wanted to go back. He didn’t want to put up with Kacchan anymore, or the teachers that never cared about Izuku. He wanted to go back to the warm apartment with his friends and Sushi, watching some documentary he’d already seen before.

He wanted to go back.

“Deku, what the hell?”

And just like that, Izuku was back. Back where he belonged.

The second he returned to the apartment, he was greeted by the worried faces of Shouta and Oboro, looming over him. “Izuku, you’re back!”

His heart filled with relief and he burst into loud tears. “Oboro, S-Shouta,” he cried. “I…”

“What happened?” Shouta asked, gently helping him up. “Oboro said you disappeared. Where did you go?”

“I don’t know!” He tried to stop his tears, but they kept coming and coming. Kacchan’s words always hurt so much, and Izuku could never quite get used to it despite having years of practice. “I…I think I w-went back to the future.”

“The future?” Oboro asked in a surprisingly steady voice.

“I…” He couldn’t think straight. It felt like his head was going to explode. “I don’t know!”

“It’s okay,” Shouta said, his voice low and calm. “Just…focus on breathing.”

Izuku took several rattling breaths. “S’not working!”

Shouta patted his back. “You’re doing great. It takes some time.”

A few minutes passed, and he finally felt calmer. His heart still felt like it was going to burst out of his chest at any time though, but at least he didn’t feel like he was going to die anymore.

“Better?”

Izuku nodded.

“Izuku! Oh, thank god you’re back!” Hizashi cried, finally appearing in the living room with Sushi in his arms. “Are you okay? Did you get hurt?”

“Hizashi! Sushi!”

He smiled widely at Izuku, but it looked more strained than usual. “I’m here, buddy. Do you want to hold Sushi?”

Izuku nodded tearfully, gladly accepting the meowing kitten. “T-thanks,” he said, hiccuping. He was so glad he was back. He hoped he never had to go back to the future again. It seemed so much worse than before now that he had a taste of what true friendship was like.

“What happened?” He sat down in front of Izuku, forming a semi-circle with Oboro and Shouta. It looked a little absurd, with all of them paying their full attention to him.

“He said he went back to the future,” Shouta answered.

Hizashi’s face fell. “Oh. Uh…do you want to talk about it?”

Izuku nodded, giving Sushi an anxiety-packed pat on the head. He purred happily in response. “I’m sorry for lying to you guys,” he mumbled. Kacchan was right. He shouldn’t have pretended to be who he wasn’t. If they decided not to be friends with him because of his quirkessness, then that’s just something he’d have to accept.

“Lying?” Oboro prompted, uncharacteristically serious.

“Y-yeah. I’m…quirkless,” he said slowly. “It’s okay if you hate me. I’m sorry.” Tears welled in his eyes again, despite just having calmed down. It was all over now, wasn’t it? There’s no way they’d accept him now that they knew.

“We don’t hate you,” Shouta said before he could spiral too much. “Don’t cry.”

“Yeah, we could never hate you,” Hizashi said in a shaky voice. “Besides, that’s not what we saw. You vanished in thin air. If that’s not a quirk, then I don’t know what is.”

“But…” Was that really true? That he had a quirk? He’d been thinking about all this time but he hadn’t wanted to get his hopes up.

“And even if you were quirkless,” Oboro cut in loudly, “we wouldn’t care, like at all! I hope you weren’t worrying your little head about that all this time.”

Shouta nodded. “Yeah. I mean, I might as well be quirkless, and here I am,” he said with a crooked smile. “Well, I guess more accurately, I make other people quirkless, but still.”

“Really? You don’t care?” The hope in his voice was painfully vulnerable, making him wince. He didn’t want to look more pathetic than he already did.

They all nodded, and Shouta patted him on the head almost fondly.

“Oh. O-okay,” he said softly. “I...T-thank you. Thank you so much.” It was like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders, and he felt like he could breathe again. He never should’ve doubted them.

“Aw, don’t thank us for something like that,” Oboro said, smiling again. He used his sleeve to wipe Izuku’s tear-stained face, practically drenching it in the process. “Thank us for something more substantial, like getting you sushi.”

“Thank you for getting sushi, I love him,” he said quickly, not wanting to look ungrateful.

“No, not him. Actual sushi. I picked some up on the way home from school to celebrate getting…Sushi,” he said with a chuckle. “Come on, let’s eat. I bet you’re hungry after that whole ordeal.”

“O-okay,” he said uncertainly. He could still hardly believe they were so nonchalant about all this, but he wasn’t going to complain.

“Wash your hands first,” Shouta said. “Sushi still hasn’t had a bath yet. We should really get on that, by the way. He probably has a ton of fleas.”

Izuku bobbed his head and went to the kitchen.

When he got back, the table had been set with a large plate of grocery store sushi. Oboro was already stuffing his face enthusiastically.

“Okay, now that we’re all calm and collected, do you want to tell us what happened?” Shouta asked.

“I...I went to the future,” he said, timidly grabbing a small piece of sushi.

“Right. And you came back?”

Izuku nodded. “Cuz it’s better here. Can I just stay? I don’t want to go back.” He couldn’t go back. It simply wasn’t an option.

They exchanged a glance. “Sure thing, buddy,” Oboro said. “But tell us more. I want to know what happened last time you vanished as well.”

He shrugged. “There’s not much,” he said. “I was at school and then I just appeared here…that day. Then I met you guys. That’s all.”

“Yes, and then you immediately vanished.”

“Yeah. I went back to the future that time too. My mom was there. But I was only there for a few minutes, maybe? I dunno. It all happened really fast.”

“Okay, I’m following…kinda,” Hizashi said slowly. “And it happened again just now.”

“Yeah. But I wasn’t with my mom this time. I was with…” he trailed off uncertainly,

“Yes?”

“Nothing,” he mumbled. “But it was definitely the future.”

“So you’ve only gone back to the future twice so far?”

“Yep.”

“Okay. Thank you for telling us, Izuku,” Shouta said, leaning back in his seat. “I understand it’s not easy.”

“Oh. Wait! That’s how you know my hero name and my radio show name,” Hizashi exclaimed. “I’ve been wondering about that. How cool is that?”

“Yeah! Your radio show is super awesome,” Izuku said, perking up a little. “I listen to it all the time.”

“Why, thank you,” he said, puffing his chest out. “I’m glad someone appreciates my efforts.”

“You haven’t started it yet, dummy,” Shouta said.

“I will soon, clearly,” he said.

The three were silent for a little while, and Izuku went back to eating the sushi anxiously. Had it weirded them out too much? He wouldn’t blame them. It was a lot to take in.

“We should tell our teachers,” Shouta said finally. “This can be dangerous.”

“Can’t I just stay here? I don’t want people to know,” he pleaded. They’d surely try to force him back if they did.

“They’ll know what to do better than us,” he said. “I’m worried. What if you’re stuck here? Or what if your being here threatens your existence? So many things can go wrong. We don’t know enough.”

“I want to be stuck here!” Izuku said earnestly. “I never want to go back.”

“Hm…I wonder what would happen if Shouta used his quirk on you?” Oboro mused, completely ignoring him.

“No!” Izuku and Shouta said at once. “Um…”

“It’s too dangerous,” Shouta said. “I don’t want to do it unless we’re sure it’s safe.”

“And I don’t wanna go back,” he said. “Please lemme stay.”

“Okay, well, I guess we can keep it a secret a bit longer,” Hizashi said. “We’ve already gotten this far.”

They all seemed much more subdued than usual as they finished off the sushi, with Oboro eating most of it.

“I’m calling it. Plan sneak Izuku to U.A. is officially on,” Oboro said once there was none left on the plate. “We can’t leave him alone at home after this. What if it happens again while we’re gone?”

“You’re serious about that?” Shouta asked.

“Why do you think I put all those blankets and toys on the roof?”

“For f—“

“I can go to U.A.?” Izuku asked, brightening. He had only seen the exteriors of the famed hero school, and it was already the coolest thing Izuku had seen. He’d give anything to have a glimpse inside.

They all stared at him, and before Izuku could have the chance to wonder if he’d said something weird, Hizashi was nodding.

“How can we say no to you?” he said. “Plan sneak Izuku into U.A. is ON!”

He and Oboro high-fived, and Izuku beamed. They really were the best!

“Can Sushi come too?”

“YEEAH!”

“Yay!”

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Shouta muttered.

“I’ll be good, I promise,” he said. “I won’t make any trouble!”

“We can all take turns going up to hang out with Izuku, and we can have lunch together. It’ll be great.”

Shouta just groaned but didn’t seem like he was going to argue more.

“Great. We’re all in agreement!”

Izuku grinned. He didn't think a day where he got bullied by Bakugo could be salvaged, but the three never failed to surprise him.

Chapter Text

Izuku was woken up early the next day and fed a hasty breakfast consisting of toast…and more toast. He didn’t even have time to finish it before Oboro was whisking him out the door and putting him and Sushi on a soft, fluffy cloud.

“Wow! Is this your quirk?” Izuku asked, bouncing on it. It was surprisingly dense and held his weight without sinking.

“Yep. Cool, right?” he asked with a grin. “I’m gonna take Izuku there first, okay? See you guys later!”

Hizashi just yawned and Shouta gave them a sleepy wave.

“That’s the spirit. Let’s go, Izuku! To U.A.!”

Izuku wondered again why he had never seen Oboro on the news before. Surely with a quirk like that, he’d have been at least as famous as Present Mic.

“What’s your hero name, Oboro?”

“It’s Loud Cloud,” he said. “Why? Have you seen me before?”

“I dunno. I’ll have to think about it,” he said, even though he was pretty sure he hadn’t.

“I guess it’s better if you don’t tell me. Gotta keep up the motivation or I’ll grow lazy and not amount to anything,” he said. “But Shouta, Hizashi, and I are going to make an agency together when we graduate. That much I’m sure on.”

Izuku opened his mouth, then closed it. He was certain that there had been no such agency, but Oboro didn’t need to know that. Izuku hoped that didn’t mean something bad happened. Maybe they were just underground. Or maybe they were so low on the rankings that Izuku didn’t know them. Or maybe…

“You can do it, Oboro,” he said instead. “Tell me more about your quirk.”

“I thought you’d never ask!”

Izuku listened intently at his extremely detailed explanation of his quirk, wishing he had a notebook to write it all down. Before he knew it, they had arrived at the gates U.A.

“Here, cover yourself with my jacket,” he said, flinging it over Izuku’s head. “It’s easy to hide Sushi, but you stand out like a sore thumb.”

“But it’s hot,” Izuku complained but complied.

“Sorry, sorry. It’ll just be a second.”

He could feel the cloud move, and when he peeked out from under the jacket, found that they were high up the ground. “Wow. We’re flying!”

“Sure are. Make sure Sushi doesn’t jump off, ‘kay?”

“Okay.” Izuku clutched Sushi tightly, but the small kitten was completely relaxed and showed no signs of wanting to escape. He was so unfazed, no matter what sort of chaos was going on—it really impressed Izuku.

“You can take the jacket off now,” he said as they came to an abrupt halt.

Izuku did. They were now on a rooftop fenced in by chain links. It didn’t look very high up, maybe a few storeys, and the roof itself was large and spacey.

“Welcome to U.A.! This is our hangout spot that not a lot of people use, mostly because it’s off limits,” Oboro introduced. “I made a little nook for you to use. Come.”

“Off limits?” Izuku toddled after him to a corner all the way to the right. It looked nice and had a ton of soft blankets.

“Yeah, but it’s not like anyone comes up here to check,” he said.

Izuku wasn’t the biggest fan of rule-breaking, but if Oboro said it was okay, then it must be.

“Anyway, there’s snacks, blankets, and you can have my phone and Hizashi’s old game console to play on when you get bored,” he said, handing Izuku his phone. “Call Shouta or Hizashi if something happens, okay?”

“Okay!”

“We’ll come every break we have, I promise,” he said, ruffling his hair. “Sorry about this.”

“It’s okay, I don’t mind,” he said. “Good luck with your classes.”

“Thanks, Izuku! I’ll see you later!” He scratched Sushi behind the ears before dashing off to the exit.

Izuku watched him go, suddenly feeling lonely. The absence of such loud personalities seemed much starker than it should be, but, he still had Sushi.

“Hm…this wasn’t what I thought coming to U.A. was going to be like,” Izuku told him.

Sushi meowed in response.

“But they’re trying their best. I feel like I’m a pet they’re trying to hide from their parents,” he said with a chuckle.

Sushi licked Izuku’s palm and curled up on the blankets next to him.

“Awh. I guess we’re in the same boat, aren’t we?”

He didn’t mind though. The blankets were comfy and the console looked…fun, just extremely…retro. It wasn’t like he was up to much at the apartment anyway, aside from waiting for them to come home.

He wondered if his mom would be angry if she knew he was hanging out here instead of going home. But it wasn’t like he needed to go to school. He was smart enough that he could get everything right on the tests with minimum studying. More importantly, he didn’t want to go to school at all.

It was much better this way. He hoped his mom wouldn’t be too upset.

He was happier like this, he was sure of it.

True to their word, Shouta came to check on him merely forty minutes after he got there. Hizashi was next, and Oboro came last.

Then they all came at once for lunch, carrying trays of food.

“It’s from Lunch Rush,” Oboro said, giving Izuku a tray. “He didn’t even blink when I asked for a second portion.”

“You eat way too much,” Shouta mumbled. “Every time we get new groceries it just disappears.”

“I am taller than you,” he said, sticking his tongue out. “Besides, it’s proof I’m working hard.”

“More like hardly working,” Shouta said. “Don’t think I didn’t see sensei scolding you again earlier.”

“Ha ha. Very funny.”

Izuku scraped some of the rice and was about to hand it over to Sushi when Shouta grabbed his arm. “No, what’s it with you and Oboro trying to feed Sushi people food?” he asked with a huff. “It’s bad for him.”

“Oh. I can’t?” he asked with horror.

“Yeah. It’s a kitten,” he said, pouring some milk into an empty bowl and setting it out for Sushi. “He can’t digest it.”

“I’m sorry, Shouta,” he said guiltily.

“It’s fine, you didn’t know,” he said.

Sushi started lapping eagerly at the milk, a truly adorable sight. Izuku could watch it all day.

“I hope you weren’t too bored, Izuku,” Hizashi said, taking a break from inhaling his huge mound of rice.

“Not at all!” The time went by much faster than he thought it would with the help of Oboro’s phone. He had so many games on it that he could be on it forever.

“I wish we could bring you to our class, but our sensei would have a fit,” Oboro lamented.

“He already hates us enough,” Shouta said gloomily.

“Why? I think you guys are great,” Izuku said heatedly. Maybe their teachers were like Izuku’s; always taking the other kids’ side even when he’d done nothing wrong.

They all looked at Izuku with shock, then Oboro burst out into ruckus laughter, followed by Hizashi.

“What?”

“No, it’s just that…we’re breaking all the rules by bringing you and Sushi up here,” Hizashi said in between chortles.

“But it’s mostly because of their shi—bad grades,” Shouta said.

“Speak for yourself, Shouta. I have excellent grades,” Hizashi said.

“Only in English, and you have an unfair advantage,” Shouta said.

“I offered to tutor you guys and you turned me down.”

“You guys really have bad grades?” Izuku asked with wide eyes. “But you’re so smart.”

“Thanks, Izuku, but we’re not as amazing as you think,” Shouta said, patting him on the head.

“Yeah, we’re even more amazing!” Oboro cheered. “Your big bros are the best, Izuku. Remember that.”

Izuku giggled at the annoyed look on Shouta’s face, but neither he or Hizashi denied it.

If only they were Izuku’s real brothers. They were the coolest and the best, even if they might not be doing that well in school and seemed to get in trouble all the time. It was probably not their fault anyway. Izuku’s teachers always got mad at him for things that weren’t his fault.

Before he knew it, their lunches were completely gone, and even Sushi had finished his milk.

“Okay. We have to go, classes start in ten minutes,” Shouta said.

“We’ll see you later, Izuku! Only three more periods and school will be over.”

Izuku nodded and waved. This time, he didn’t feel as lonely when they were gone—he’d get to see them soon enough anyway.

They were only gone for a few minutes when the rooftop access door opened again. Izuku squinted at the figure on the other end. Maybe they forgot something? It was off-limits anyway, so it couldn’t be other students.

But no, it wasn’t them at all. It was a strange person with hair sticking straight up like Hizashi.“Aha! Caught red-handed!” he crowed, storming up to Izuku and Sushi, his face contorted into an angry sneer.

“Who are you?” Izuku asked, hugging Sushi to his chest. His heart pounded and his hands started to tremble.

“Sensoji. The better question is, who are you and that little…cat?”

“I’m Izuku, and this is Sushi,” he said politely. “Um…sorry, is there a problem?”

He was wearing an U.A. uniform, and he was so…large. Much, much larger and stronger looking than Oboro, who was the tallest of the three.

“Yes, there is! Aizawa is so arrogant that he’s using U.A. as his personal daycare now, huh?”

“Aizawa?” Who was that?

He glared at Izuku incredulously. “The loser that just left the roof seconds ago. Black hair. Stupid face?”

“Loser?” Shouta had dark hair, but he wasn’t a loser. And his face wasn’t stupid. He must be talking about someone else.

“Don’t play dumb!” he roared. “I bet he’s having a laugh, isn’t he? Thinking that he’s so smart he can sneak a kid and a cat to U.A. I bet he won’t be laughing anymore once I get him and his stupid friends in trouble.”

“Wait, no! Don’t do that to Shouta,” he cried. “He’s nice. I don’t want him to get in trouble cuz of me.”

“So you did know who I was talking about,” he said, face red. “Stupid kid. You think this is funny, don’t you? Did Aizawa set you up for this to laugh at me?”

“What do you have against Shouta?” Izuku asked, narrowing his eyes at him.

“Everything,” he spat. “His quirk is dumb and boring. He’s so weak that I almost fell asleep when I had to fight him during battle training. I guess it’s to be expected if he’s spending all his time sneaking dumb kids and cats into U.A.”

“Take that back! S-Shouta’s n-not weak! His quirk is a-awesome and he’s g-gonna be a great hero,” Izuku yelled, glaring back at him. Sensoji terrified him, but he wasn’t going to stand for this slander. Shouta was the best, and he was going to make sure everyone knew it.

“Awesome? You think his quirk is awesome?” he snarled. “It’s the weakest shit I’ve ever seen. He should just go home instead of wasting everyone’s time. I bet even a twerp like you have a better quirk.”

Izuku felt all the defiance leave him, leaving only fear in its stead. If he thought Shouta’s quirk was weak, then that must mean he has an insane one. Like Kacchan’s. “It is awesome,” he said in a small voice. “I think he’s really cool and s-stuff.”

“Whatever. I’m taking you to a teacher. Then they’ll all get in huge trouble,” he said, looking far too smug.

“No! I’m not going with you,” he said, backing up with Sushi in tow. “Go a-away!”

Sushi let out a rumbling growl that didn’t sound all that different from his purrs, and his fluffy fur bristled non-threateningly. Izuku appreciated the support all the same.

“You’re not allowed to be here, kid,” he said. He reached out with his large hands to grab Izuku, and he let out a shrill scream.

“NO!”

“Relax. I…”

Izuku sobbed and curled up in a small ball, with Sushi clutched tightly to his chest. U.A. had bullies too. He thought everyone would be as nice as his friends, but if the teachers were mean to them, then it wasn’t that great of a place anyway.

He felt a hand grasp his, and he shut his eyes tightly.

He wanted to go home.

“Sensoji! The hell are you doing? Get the fuck away from him!”

Izuku’s eyes flew open.

The hand wasn’t on him anymore, and Sensoji had pulled away with a look of panic. “I wasn’t…I…”

“Shouta! Hizashi!” he cried, running towards them. Oboro wasn’t here, but that was okay. These two were enough.

“Izuku, are you okay?” Shouta asked, pulling him close. “Did that bastard do something?”

“He was making fun of you,” he wailed. “He said he was gonna get in trouble. He can’t do that, right?”

“Don’t worry about it, Izuku,” Shouta said. “Nothing’s going to happen.”

“I didn’t do nothing!” Sensoji growled, squaring up in front of them. “I was just talking to him.”

“I saw you try to grab him!” Hizashi said. “That’s low. Reaaal low. Even for you, Sensoji.”

Shouta nodded. “Pretty disgusting, if you ask me.”

Sensoji's face turned a fascinating shade of red. “Don’t look at me like that, weaklings,” he said. “I wasn’t going to do anything. I was just going to take him to a teacher.”

“He made fun of your quirk,” Izuku said tearfully. “Is he bullying you, Shouta?” To think that Shouta was bullied because of his quirk just like Izuku was devastating.

“I…I didn’t!”

“Yeah, you did!” Izuku yelled, glaring fiercely at him.

“I…”

“It’s alright, Izuku,” Shouta said in a quiet voice. “It doesn’t bother me. His opinion means nothing.”

“Yeah, kiddo. He’s just a coward who yells at defenseless little kids.”

Sensor’s face turned redder and redder until he looked like he was going to explode, then to Izuku’s surprise, he lowered his head. “I’m sorry, little boy. I acted shamelessly.”

“I’m not a little boy,” he said sulkily, feeling much braver now that he had backup. “And you should apologize to Shouta and Sushi too.”

“I’m not going to apologize to a damn cat!”

Sushi meowed loudly and yawned, showing off all his fangs. It might’ve looked intimidating if he was bigger than Izuku’s hand.

“Fine. Ughhh. I’m sorry, Sushi.”

Izuku stared at him expectantly. Sensoji looked like he wanted to die, but Izuku still hadn’t heard the apology he wanted the most.

“I’m not apologizing to Aizawa.”

Shouta sighed. “It’s fine, Izuku. I don’t really care.”

“But…he insulted you,” he said in a small voice. No one ever stood up for him against Bakugo, and it felt terrible. He didn’t want Shouta to feel that, so why was he stopping him?

“I know, but we can’t force brutes to apologize,” he said, patting Izuku’s head. “Let’s go now. I think our cover has been blown.”

“B-brute?” Sensoji sputtered.

“Are you gonna get in trouble?”

Loud footsteps interrupted their conversation, and before Shouta could respond, several strangers came up the stairwell at once.

“Sensei, stop please.” That was Oboro’s voice. “Uh…there’s nothing up here. I swear.”

“Shirakumo, you’re already in deep trouble.”

Izuku’s eyes widened, and Hizashi groaned. “Aw man,” he said. “We’re screwed.”

“Okay, okay, fine. I may or may not have possibly been hiding a child up here. But in my defense…”

“Hey Oboro,” Hizashi greeted. “Hi sensei. Principle Nezu.”

“What’s going on here?”

“Sorry, I couldn’t stop them,” Oboro said with a sheepish smile. “Uh. This is Izuku…our little brother.”

Izuku smiled and waved, feeling more confused than ever.

Shouta groaned loudly.

“Hi…”

Half an hour later, Izuku was sitting across the strange principal with a tray of pipping hot tea in between them. His friends had been dragged away to be yelled at, and no matter how much he’d tried to defend them, no one budged.

And now, he was trapped all alone with a self-proclaimed dog, mouse, or bear…creature that can talk.

Sushi was here though. That was good. The principal didn’t seem to have an issue with him at all, and had even given him a can of tuna.

“Hi there.” Nezu smiled and gestured with his paw towards the tea. “Help yourself. I find that hot tea on a day like this does wonders to soothe my nerves.”

Hand trembling, he carefully took the small, dainty teacup and sipped.

Bitter. Hot.

Izuku coughed and quickly put it down. “Eek! I-I’m okay!”

“Do be careful,” he said, frowning at him with concern.

“I’m okay,” he repeated.

Nezu nodded, sipping at his own tea, seemingly not bothered by its temperature. He seemed to be studying Izuku for some strange reason.

“So um…are they gonna be in trouble?” he asked hesitantly when it didn’t look like he was going to say anything.

“That depends on what you tell me,” he said smoothly. “I believe they had a good reason to hide you away on the roof, isn’t that right?”

Izuku nodded. “Yes! They won’t be in trouble anymore if I tell you?”

“Perhaps. Why don’t you start with you, Izuku? I wasn’t aware that they had siblings.”

Izuku hesitated. Was it okay to tell him the truth? He was a hero, so lies probably wouldn’t work.

“I assure you, our conversation won’t leave this office unless you consent to it,” he said.

“Okay.” If he was the principal of U.A., he should be trustworthy. Taking a deep breath, he launched into a long explanation of everything that transpired over the last few days, sparing no details.

Nezu didn’t look fazed the entire time, and calmly sipped on his tea as he carefully listened. He’d nod occasionally to show that he was listening but otherwise didn’t interrupt.

“So that’s why they took me here. Because they didn’t want me to be alone at home,” he finished.

Nezu was silent for a little while, making Izuku feel even more antsy. Even though he looked so cutesy and small, he was still quite intimidating somehow.

Then, after what felt like an eternity, he spoke, “I see. That is quite a pickle, isn’t it?”

“Y-yeah, I guess so. You believe me?”

“I don’t see why you would lie,” he said, delicately placing his empty teacup down. “How fascinating. I have never heard of such a quirk. Fascinating indeed.”

“So you think it’s my quirk? What if it’s a hallucination? Or if someone else used their quirk on me.”

“Most likely. I’m certain of course, that this isn’t a hallucination. And there are no records of a quirk that can travel more than one year into the past,” he said. “Of course, records can be altered, and quirks hidden, but I don’t believe that’s the case here. It must be yours—unfortunate that it manifested so late.”

“Woah.” He had a quirk. Izuku had a quirk! “But the quirk doctor told me I had an extra toe joint.”

“There’s hardly any proof for that diagnostic technique. Shame that a doctor was able to practice when they so easily believe these pseudosciences,” he said, shaking his head. “No matter. The important thing now is how you’re planning on going back.”

“I’m not going back! I want to stay here, with Oboro, Shouta, and Hizashi,” he said heatedly. “I refuse.”

“Yes, I understand they’ve been kind to you, but you can meet them again, in your present,” he said. “Bad things can happen to those that mess with time. You shouldn’t linger more than you have to.’

“I don’t want to. I like it here.”

He frowned. “Does something happen to you in the future? Something you’re trying to avoid?”

“Everyone thinks I’m quirkless there,” he mumbled.

He made a soft, almost sympathetic sound. “I see. Well, you may continue to stay with those three while you’re here for now,” he said. “And you’re permitted to stay in the teacher’s lounge while school is in session. However, I’d like you to consider trying to return to your time. I’ll start doing some research and thinking of ideas in the meantime.”

Izuku wondered if he really understood. “Oboro suggested to have Shouta use his quirk on me,” he said. “But really, I’d rather stay here.”

“That isn’t the worst idea, but please refrain from trying it just yet. Time travel is frisky, and there aren’t enough cases for us to truly study it.”

“Yeah. I understand.”

“Good. Come find me if you go on another trip to the future,” he said. “We can have a chat about it.”

“Do you want me to tell you stuff I know about the future?” That had been eating at him for a way. If he could tell them everything he knew about the villain attacks, that would save a lot of people, surely. And Izuku was nothing if not an expert on villain attacks.

But Nezu just shook his head. “Thank you for the consideration, Izuku, but I think it’s better if we don’t know.”

“Why?”

“I’m sure you don’t want me to bore you with a full-length conversation about cause and effect,” he said with a small smile. “Maybe another time. I think you’d rather go find your friends right now.

Izuku kind of did want to know, but he would really rather go. The principal was nice but there was just something a little off-putting about the way he talked. “Y-yeah. Thank you for the tea, and the help, Principal Nezu,” he said, giving him a low bow.

“No problem. Run along now. I’m sure they’re waiting for you.”

“Oh, so are they gonna be in trouble?” Izuku asked, picking up a now-napping Sushi from next to the empty can.

“No, of course not. A lecture will suffice, and I’m certain it’s already been given.”

“Oh, okay.” Izuku gave him an enthusiastic wave, suddenly liking him a lot more. “Bye-bye!”

“Farewell, Izuku.”

“Izuku!” All three of them were waiting for him outside the door. “How was it?”

“It was great. He was nice and we had tea! He also gave Sushi some tuna,” he said, holding up Sushi for them to see.

“Err…great. I’m glad he didn’t give you any trouble. We on the other hand, got completely blasted by our teacher. I didn’t even think it was possible to get lectured that long,” Oboro said.

“Yeah…he just wouldn’t stop,” Hizashi said gloomily. “Oh well. At least it’s over, and we got what we wanted.”

Oboro nodded. “Let’s get sushi for dinner.”

“No way, I want fried chicken,” Hizashi said.

“Let’s race. Whoever finds their store first wins.”

“You’re on.”

Shouta just sighed as they ran off. “Why are they like this?”

“I hope Hizashi wins,” Izuku said. “I’m sick of eating sushi.” Was this how his mom felt about having to eat Katsudon every day? He hoped not.

Within moments, Oboro and Hizashi were completely out of view, leaving just Izuku and Shouta alone.

“Thank you, Izuku,” Shouta said after a long silence.

“For what?”

“Sensoji told me about how you stood up to him for me,” he said, scratching the back of his neck. “Um…it was brave of you.”

Izuku beamed. “You were brave too! You saved me from him.”

Shouta laughed. “Thanks,” he said, ruffling Izuku’s hair.

Chapter Text

“Izuku! Wakey wakey.”

“Izuku!”

Izuku stirred and woke up at the incessant shakes. “Hm…? Is it time already?” He rubbed his eyes.

“Yep. I can’t believe Nezu gave us permission to bring you and Sushi to school,” Oboro said, dragging Izuku to the door without giving him a chance to wake up. “But I’m not complaining. We better not be late though, or we’ll get lectured again.”

“What about…what about breakfast?” More embarrassingly, he was still wearing one of Shouta’s shirts as pyjamas. It was so big that it made him look tiny in comparison.

“You wouldn’t wake up no matter what we did so we packed you something,” Hizashi said, holding up a lunch box.

“Oh. Sorry,” he said with a blush.

“It’s okay. Our fault for keeping you up so late.”

Sushi was already perched on Oboro’s shoulder, making quick work of his uniform with his claws. It felt more like a family outing than a trip to school.

“Aw, Sushi,” Oboro said, scratching him behind the ears. “Stop that.”

“We should get a cat tree or something,” Shouta commented. “Ready to go?”

Izuku nodded, and they were off.

When they got to U.A., they were so late that Izuku didn’t have time to marvel at any of the architecture.

Only one student was left in classroom 2A. It was a girl with pointy ears, almost like the elves that Izuku remembered seeing from old movies.

“You guys are sooo late,” she said, smiling at them. “Hi there, kid. Sensei told us you’d be spectating our class for the next few days.”

Izuku muttered a shy greeting a waved at her. He was dying to ask her what her quirk was but it didn’t seem like the right time.

“Where’s everyone?” Shouta asked.

“Ground Beta. We’re doing a joint battle training with class 2-B,” she said. “You guys forgot?”

“Crap!” Hizashi yelped. “What are you still doing here?”

“I forgot something.” She waved a small bag in the air.

“Ugh. Okay. We better get going then. See you there.”

“See you.”

“Who is that?” Izuku wondered as they dragged him along.

“Classmate,” he said. “Come on, we gotta hurry. Oboro, want to put him on a cloud?”

“Got it.” Oboro made a cloud in seconds and fluidly pulled Izuku on with him, allowing both of them to glide through the hallways.

Izuku wondered if it counted as running.

Ground beta, as it turned out, was a huge cityscape gated off with a tall fence. Izuku couldn’t help but gape, craning his head to take it all in.

A small crowd of students surrounded the gates, all facing the teacher he saw briefly yesterday.

“Sorry we’re late, sensei,” Hizashi said loudly, drawing everyone’s attention. Some students snickered, others waved cheerily at him. None of them looked hostile like Sensoji.

“Yeah, sorry,” Oboro said.

Sushi meowed.

The teacher’s mouth twitched. “Go change into your costumes, everyone,” he said. “You three missed the explanation, so…Aizawa and Shirakumo will form a pair. Sensoji and Yamada will be the other pair.”

“Hey teach!” Hizashi yelled.

“Yess, Yamada?”

“I say no thanks to partnering with Sensoji, ‘kay?” he said. “I’m feeling like a change of pace today.”

Sensoji looked angry somewhere in the back, but he did not respond.

“That’s too bad. Your pace doesn’t concern me. Now you three, go change,” he said. “Kid and the cat. Stay.”

“Wait, what are we doing?” Oboro asked sheepishly.

“Two on two battle royale. Have you been listening in class at all?” the teacher asked, shaking his head with exasperation.

“Gotcha,” Oboro said, snapping his fingers. “See ya later, Izuku. Wish me luck!”

“Good luck, guys!” If Hizashi was paired up with Sensoji, then who was he supposed to root for? Shouta and Oboro? But he didn’t want Hizashi to be hurt either.

“Hey, kid. Izuku, right?”

He nodded meekly. All the students were gone, leaving him and Sushi alone with the homeroom teacher. He was big, even bigger than Sensoji, and was wearing a mean expression.

It was intimidating.

“Nezu told me a bit about you. You’re allowed to join us as long as you’re quiet, got it?”

“Yes sir.”

“We’re doing battle simulations right now. It might be a little scary. Do you want to go to the teacher’s lounge instead?”

“I wanna watch! Can I, please?”

“Oh uh…sure. I guess all kids are interested in things like this,” he said, crossing his arms. “Feel free to leave at anytime. I can get someone to get you.”

“Yes! Thank you.” Izuku said, eyes gleaming. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Sure, he’d seen sports festivals on TV before, but this was far more exciting.

It didn’t take long for the students to come back dressed in costumes. Izuku marvelled at all of the designs, even seeing some familiar ones. Hizashi’s was one of them, of course, and it looked pretty much the same as his future one, with just one glaring difference—It had speakers attached to his wrists instead of being hung around his neck.

Shouta and Oboro’s were cool as well, though it only made Izuku more sure that he’d never seen them before. Shouta’s design was more discrete—just a black suit. Oboro’s though, was extremely…loud. If he had been a hero at all, Izuku definitely would’ve remembered it.

Unfortunately, he didn’t get the chance to ask them for details or even talk to them before they went in the mock city for the battle training.

“Three…two…one, and start!” the teacher yelled into the microphone.

Big TV screens in front of them turned on at once, broadcasting several of the fights at once. All the students had started brawling almost immediately, and in the first minute, two teams were already knocked out. It was hard to keep track of all the chaos, so Izuku focused on his friends only. All three of them seemed to be doing amazing, especially Hizashi’s team. They were beating every other team flawlessly and quickly leaving them all knocked out in their wake. Izuku couldn’t help but start analyzing the fight out of habit. It was just so exciting.

“Wow. Hizashi and Sensoji are amazing,” he muttered, watching them in awe. “They work so well together even though Hizashi didn’t want to work with him. They’re both so flashy and strong. Sensoji blinds people with his blasts, and Hizashi deafens them. It’s so perfect.”

“Shouta’s awesome too! He said he’s not strong but it looks like he’s doing really well. They’re not as flashy as Hizashi and Sensoji, but they’re precise and have good technique. I should tell him that later…”

“Who do you think will win if they are to go against each other?”

“Ah! Did I say that out loud?” he asked, face burning.

He nodded. “It’s alright. I’d like to hear what you think.”

“S-sorry, I didn’t realize!”

The teacher just looked vaguely amused. “It’s fine. So? The answer?”

He thought about it. Most of the other teams had been eliminated, leaving only four. “Oboro and Shouta,” he said confidently.

“Why?”

“Because they work better as a team. Sensoji and Hizashi have really strong quirks, but they’re just blasting it around. It works really well in a battle royale, especially in the early stages where everyone’s fighting. However, if we’re talking about a two versus two, then Shouta and Oboro would have an advantage. Shouta’s quirk can only shut down one quirk at a time, which means one of them will be always able to use their quirk. But that’s only if it’s a two on two fight. Sensoji hates Shouta and he’s arrogant, so he might go straight for him without Hizashi’s help. If that happens, then Shouta and Oboro will definitely win.” Sensoji reminded Izuku a lot of Kacchan. If the situation was Kacchan versus Izuku, he would definitely ditch his partner to beat Izuku alone.

“Hm…” The teacher was staring at the TV with a contemplative expression. “Interesting. We’re about to see if you’re right.”

“Oh shoot. Sorry, I said too much, didn’t I?” he mumbled. He always got too excited. No one cared enough to listen to his quirk rants before this, and this teacher was probably no exception.

“You’re fine. Watch carefully.”

The other two teams had been eliminated, leaving only Oboro, Hizashi, Shouta, and Sensoji. They were yelling something, and suddenly, Sensoji rushed towards Shouta.

Hizashi didn’t join in, and instead just stood in the back with an annoyed expression.

“I’ll blast you to bits, scum!” Sensoji yelled, blasting energy with his palms. If Izuku didn’t dislike him so much, he’d be impressed.

It didn’t hit, and Oboro used clouds to cover his view.

From Izuku’s viewpoint, he could see Shouta appearing behind Sensoji, his eyes turning red. Was that Shouta’s quirk in action? Sensoji didn’t use his quirk again, and Oboro was able to use his staff to knock him out.

“Yes!” Izuku cheered. “That was so cool! I knew Shouta was the best.” He hoped this meant he wouldn’t feel so down about his quirk anymore.

“Incredible. You were able to predict all that with that little information?”

“I um…I analyze fights as a hobby,” he said, abashed. “And I’ve been trying to think of ways for Shouta to use his quirk, but it looks like he’s already doing really well.”

“Keep it up, son,” he said with a small smile, “and I might be seeing you in U.A. in a couple of years.”

“It’s not that good.” He thought it had been obvious. And if he did end up at U.A., it would be a bit longer than a couple of years.

“Perhaps, but to analyze it so quickly and in live time is a valuable skill.”

“Oh, um…thank you!” He couldn’t help but smile at the praise. He never thought anyone would care enough about his analysis to listen, let along think it was worth anything. And for a teacher at U.A. to say that…he could hardly believe it.

“Izuku! What do you think?” Oboro and Shouta were the first out and made a beeline towards him. “We’re the coolest, aren’t we?”

Izuku nodded feverishly. “Yeah! It was amazing,” he gushed. “So cool! You beat everyone!”

“Thank you, Izuku! I dedicate our victory just for you, my first fan” Oboro said with a massive grin.

“What about me?” Hizashi grumbled, taking off his shades.

“You were cool too!”

“Thanks to this numbskull here, I couldn’t join the last fight and show off to Izuku,” he lamented, making a rude gesture towards Sensoji.

“Screw you guys,” he yelled, stalking off.

“Sensoji! Get back here,” the teacher yelled. “We haven’t reviewed the battle training yet.”

“Tch.”

“Wow. He really is like Kacchan,” Izuku said with wonder. “They even walk alike.”

“Who’s Kacchan?” Shouta asked, taking Sushi off Izuku’s shoulder and patting him on the head.

“No one,” he squeaked.

“Fine. Whatever. Class dismissed. Get changed everyone. We’ll review it later,” the teacher grumbled, waving everyone off.

The rest of his day at U.A. went by smoothly, with Izuku sitting on an extra chair next to Shouta and Oboro. Every student was nice to him, and to his relief, Sensoji wasn’t in the class. He found himself under the attention of the girls every single break, and they all wanted to pat his hair. Sushi also wasn’t spared, though he absolutely revelled in the attention.

The classes themselves were far less interesting, and he couldn’t understand a single word. Still, he had fun just hanging out with his friends.

He really, really wanted to go to U.A. now, even more than before. But would he still have the chance, now that he was in the past? Sure, he had a quirk now, but how can it be used offensively?

“Want to go eat lunch at the cafeteria?” Shouta asked when the bell rang.

“Can I?” It sounded fun, but he didn’t want to get in everyone’s way.

“Yeah. Principal gave you permission,” he said. “What did you tell him for that, by the way?”

“I told him about the time travel stuff.”

“He believed you?”

“Yeah. He said it was my quirk. Isn’t that amazing?”

“Hm. I suppose. You can’t control it though, can you?”

He pouted. “It’s not like I—“

“Lunch time!” Oboro yelled, interrupting them. “Let’s go! I’m starving.”

“ME TOO!” Hizashi boomed with his quirk slightly activated, making everyone in the classroom cringe. “Lunch Rush is serving chocolate cake today!”

“Shut up, Yamada!” one of the girls said, rolling her eyes.

Hizashi just laughed. “Come on. The girls will steal Izuku away if we don’t hurry.”

Izuku nearly tripped over himself getting up in terror. “We gotta hurry, Shouta,” he said, tugging at his hand.

Shouta sighed and got up. “Okay, okay, I’m coming.”

The cafeteria was gigantic. The four of them lined up in front of the small queue in the serving station, and he excitedly looked at the incredibly huge list that was the menu.

“Wow, it’s Lunch Rush,” Izuku whispered in awe. He was given a huge tray completely filled with food—katsudon, and a huge slice of chocolate cake. His mouth was salivating as he waited for the other three to get their own.

“Hungry?”

Izuku nodded. “It looks so good,” he said. “Do you guys get to eat this everyday?”

“Yeah. It makes restaurants outside taste terrible after getting used to this,” Oboro said. He had ordered a huge plate of sushi.

They slid into an empty table to the side, and Izuku dug in. It tasted even better than it looked, making it on par with the best katsudon he’d tasted.

A strange girl with long, dark hair stopped by and suddenly slipped into the seat next to Oboro.

“Hey,” she greeted.

“Oh! Kayama! Hiya,” Oboro greeted, face turning red. “Welcome, welcome.”

“What’s with the little boy?” she asked, smiling at Izuku. “I heard rumors, but I hadn’t believed it.”

“He’s our little brother, Izuku” Oboro said. “We got Nezu’s permission to bring him with us to school for a little while.”

“And Sushi too,” Izuku said, holding Sushi up for her to see.

“Aww! What cute widdle babies. Your both so fwuffy and little,” she cooed, putting her hands on her cheeks and staring at Izuku intently.

Izuku made a face and cringed away.

“Kayama, he’s eight, not a baby.”

“So? Still a baby in my eyes,” she said, leaning forward to ruffle Izuku’s hair. “Cuuute.”

She looked so self satisfied that Izuku didn’t have the heart to stop her.

“Kayama…” Shouta said, frowning deeply.

“Aw, fine, spoilsport,” she grumbled, leaning back in her seat. “So y’all are taking care of him together?”

They nodded.

“And how’s that working out for you?”

“Great!” Hizashi said proudly. “We read a book on parenting together and now we’re experts. Ask us anything.”

“You mean I read a book on parenting and made notes for you guys to read?” Shouta said, raising an eyebrow.

“Same thing,” Hizashi said, flapping his hand.

They have been doing what now?

“O-okay. So when is his bedtime?”

“Um…” The three of them exchanged guilty glances and didn’t respond.

“Two a.m.!” Izuku answered for them. “It’s great! Mom never lets me stay up. We watch movies together and stuff.”

“And what has he been eating at home?”

They were all silent, again.

“Microwaved food! It’s super yummy. I’ve tried every flavor now. Oh, and ice cream! A lot of ice cream”

“Parenting books my ass,” Kayama yelled, drawing the attention of everyone around them. “Y’all are unfit! Come home with me, Izuku. I’ll take care of you and Sushi much better than these dumba—dummies.”

“Huh? Why? I like living with t-them!” What was up with her? She looked kind of familiar, but Izuku couldn’t put his finger on it. All he knew was that he did not want to live with her.

“Okay, I admit, we have been…um…a bit lax,” Oboro said, holding his hands up. “But he looked so sad! What’s the harm in snacking and watching some movies together to cheer a kid up?”

“He looks like he’s about to fall asleep at any second! And he’s so scrawny.”

“We did stay up pretty late last night,” Hizashi said, eyeing Izuku with concern.

“I’m not tired,” Izuku said with a yawn. “I can keep going.”

“‘I’ll make a cloud for you to nap on next period,” Oboro offered. “How’s that sound?”

“O-Okay.” That did sound nice. Oboro’s clouds were comfy.

Kayama sighed and shook her head. “I still think it’ll be better if I took him home with me,” she said.

“Huh? And let him get tetanus from walking barefoot on your radioactive floors?”

“It’s not radioactive. I just don’t have time to clean!”

“Bro, our standards are already low enough, and we s—“

“Guys, cut it out,” Shouta said, looking tired.

“Fine, fine. I’ll let you guys enjoy your lunch.”

“She’s great, isn’t she?” Oboro said cheerily when she was gone. “Wish she’d join our future agency, but alas.”

They all shot him incredulous looks.

“So did you have fun at school today?”

“YES!”

Chapter Text

The next few days went by in a flash, and they started developing a routine. Izuku would go to sleep at around eleven, after either hanging out with one of them while they did their homework, or after they watch more movies together. Sushi had gotten bigger and could eat solid food on his own, something they all celebrated by eating sushi together.

Life here was amazing.

Today was finally the weekend, and they had finished all the school work in preparation for their special outing. Izuku had been looking forward to this for…an entire two days!

“Ready, Izuku?”

He bobbed his head and bounced on his feet. “Yes!”

“I’m sleepy,” Shouta said, rubbing his eyes. “Do I have to go?”

“You don’t want to?” Izuku asked, crestfallen.

“I’m not…the biggest fan of All Might.”

“But the rides are really cool,” he said. He’d been to All Might’s amusement park a bunch of times already, but he heard there was a special ride that was reconstructed before he was old enough to go. Plus, there were probably time limited All Might merch that Izuku would never be able to get his hands on.

Shouta had to come.

“Aw, c’mon, Shouta,” Hizashi said, tugging at Shouta’s hands. “We’ve been planning this for decades.”

“Please, Shouta?” Izuku begged.

“But who will watch Sushi?”

“Let’s bring him.”

“I really don’t think amusement parks allow pets, Izuku.”

“I’ll put him in my room,” Oboro said. “Litter box and bed’s already there anyway.”

“Don’t be mad if he pisses on your bed,” Shouta said with a sigh.

“Does that mean you’re coming?”

“Yeah. Oboro and Hizashi need someone to control them,” he said.

All Might land was crowded to the brim. Just getting the tickets took forever, and by the time they lined up to go in, they were all sweaty and thirsty.

“Maybeee we chose the wrong day to come,” Oboro said. “Just maybe.”

“Ughhhhh.”

“The sourer the berries, the sweeter the juice,” Hizashi said, snapping his fingers. “This is half the fun.”

“What are you on about?”

“I want juice,” Izuku said glumly.

“I brought water,” Shouta said, fumbling through his bag and producing a bottle.

“Wow! Always so prepared, Shouta. What would we do without you?”

“Thanks,” he said, taking a gulping it down.

“Gimme. I’m thirsty too,” Oboro said, reaching out.

Shouta slapped his hands away. “It’s for Izuku. You should’ve brought your own. Your quirk literally lets you carry things.”

“So mean.”

“Hey, finally,” Hizashi said, handing the ticket to the worker and receiving a stamp on his hand in return.

“Yay!” Oboro said, happily rushing in after Hizashi. “Let’s take a group picture!”

“YEAH! Good idea,” Hizashi said waving down another visitor. “Heyo, can you take a picture for us, please?”

Shouta sighed and handed in Izuku’s ticket for him. “There they go,” he grumbled. “Running off again, like always.

Izuku giggled.

“Will this be the first picture we take together?” Izuku wondered as they stood in front of the sign.

“Yeah! Smile!” Hizashi said, making a ridiculous pose, one that Oboro matched.

Shouta though, was standing slouched and was wearing the most annoyed expression ever.

Izuku laughed, and made a peace sign. He hated taking pictures, but this was…nice.

“Thank you so much,” Hizashi called once the picture had been taken, taking back his phone.

“Send it to me,” Oboro said, peeking over his shoulder. “Ooh. Nice. You look so dumb.”

“No, you look dumber.”

“No, y-”

“Okay, let’s go before every line gets full,” Shouta cut in before it could get too annoying.

Even though every single ride at the park had lines that seemed to stretch for miles, Izuku still had a blast.

“Okay, okay, this has to be our last one,” Hizashi said. “Which one do you want to go on?”

“Aw, already?”

“They’re closing soon,” Shouta said. “We need to eat dinner and go home.”

“Oh, then let’s go on that one,” he said, pointing the the huge tower that stood tall above every other ride. “Power Tower!”

“Yes! That looks fun!”

“Do you even hit the minimum height?” Shouta asked.

“Of course I do,” Izuku said, offended. “I’m not short.”

“Yes, you're very tall," Hizashi said, patting his head. "Let's goo!"

The line wasn’t as long as the others, and before they knew it, they were at the front of the line.

“Scared?” Shouta asked, looking at Izuku’s pale face with concern. “We can always leave.”

“No.” Now that they were up close, the tower looked much taller than he thought it was. He had only barely passed the minimum height requirement to go on it as well, to Hizashi and Oboro’s amusement.

“You sure?”

“Let’s go, Izuku,” Oboro said, grabbing Izuku’s hand and dragging him to the seats before he could respond. “I’m so excited. This one looks so much more fun than the others.”

Izuku tried to hold back his nausea. His stomach kind of hurt, probably from all the junk he ate in between riding these violent rides. It was a good thing this was the last one. He didn’t think he can go on any more without throwing up.

Oboro helped Izuku strap into the ride before getting on himself.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Shouta asked, sitting next to him.

“Yes.”

Before he could change his mind, the ride slowly went up. The view on top was amazing. He could see everything, even U.A. in the distance.

A terrible wave of pain interrupted his enjoyment. “Ugh.”

“Izuku?” Shouta said, turning his head to face Izuku. “What’s wrong?”

His stomach was really hurting now, but it didn’t feel like the usual ‘I ate something bad’ stomachache, more like the ‘help, I’m going to die’ stomachache. A lot like the time he got sucked into the future, actually. A lot like it.

Oh. That was it, wasn’t it? It felt like his stomach was being torn apart. He wanted to curl up in a ball and cry, but he was strapped in and they were so high up in the air.

“Izuku? Izuku!”

“Gah!” It hurt! It hurt so much he was going to die.

“Stop the ride,” he yelled, face pale and eyes wide.

At the same time, the pain reached its climax, and Izuku’s surroundings vanished.

The pain abruptly stopped. Where was he now? This wasn’t the park, nor his apartment. It was…a classroom?

He held his stomach tightly and took several deep calming breaths. He was okay. Everything was okay.

“You’re quirkless?”

Izuku looked up. Sure enough, it was Bakugo. His vision still blurred with tears, he sat up and studied him.

He looked so young. Something was definitely off.

“I knew it. You’re so useless, Deku,” he said with a sneer. “Everyone else in the class got their quirk, it’s just you. How sad.”

“I’m not,” he said in a small voice. “I have a quirk.” What…was this? This wasn’t the present. He remembered this though—the day he told Bakugo he didn’t have a quirk. It was close to his fifth birthday.

“That’s not what your mom told mine,” he said.

This…this was the moment his entire life went down hill. Kacchan was still friends with him before this, albeit a rude friend. He didn’t bully him, and they were still in their own fake hero agency together.

They were supposed to be friends. Tears welled up in his eyes. He hated it here. He wanted to…

Wait. What would happen if he went back now? He was in the middle of the ride. Would he appear in the spot he disappeared, miles above the ground?

Would he die if he went back?

“Deku! Why aren’t you answering me?” Kacchan roared, pushing him with with his lit palms.

Izuku cried. The teacher was just…standing by his desk, watching everything unfold.

That was his teacher back in preschool. Izuku stared at him with watery eyes, willing him to do something, anything.

Why wasn’t he stepping in? He had been so used to being ignored by his teachers, but that wasn’t supposed to happen, was it? How could he just let this happen, all because he was quirkless?

He wanted to go now.

His friends would catch him, right? They knew how his quirk worked. They knew that he would be going back to exactly where he vanished from.

“Deku! Stop fuckin’ zoning out,” he yelled. “You’re just a stupid quirkless Deku. How dare you ignore me?”

“Shut up, Kacchan,” he yelled back. “I don’t care about your opinion. I don’t have to talk to you.” That’s right. He didn’t have to endure this. He’d rather go back and die than to take anymore of this.

The look of pure shock across Bakugo’s snarling was the last thing he saw, as he vanished once more.

Izuku was falling. He realized that about 0.1 seconds after the fact.
“Ah—“

He shut his eyes, ready for impact, when he felt himself fall into something soft and cool.

He wasn’t dead! The exhaustion all hit him at once, and his eyes slowly closed despite his best efforts.

“Izuku?”

“Izuku! Come on, wake up.”

Izuku tried, he really did.

“Ugh…” Izuku sat up, rubbing his eyes. Where was he?

“You’re awake,”

An elderly lady stood next to him, smiling gently.

“Recovery Girl!”

“That’s me,” she said. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I fell from a really tall tower,” he said, making a face. “What happened?”

Her smile faded. “Shirakumo-kun caught you with his quirk and you passed out,” she told him. “They called search and rescue in a panic, you know? They had the entire ride shut down and lined with mattresses, just in case.”

Izuku’s eyes widened. They did that for him?

“You have some good friends, dearie,” she said, patting his head. “They’re good kids.”

“Where are they? Where am I?”

“Infirmary at U.A. You slept over last night. Classes are in session,” she said with a soft chuckle. “They’ve been coming to visit you every break.”

“Can I go see them?”

“Sure. They’ll probably be over in a bit,” she said. “Nezu wants to have a talk with you as well. Are you up for it?”

He nodded, slowly sitting up.

“Great. I’ll let him know.”

The door suddenly flung open mere seconds after the bell rang, and three familiar faces came in.

“Izuku! You’re up!” Hizashi yelled, running over. “Are you okay?”

“Ye—“ Hizashi wrapped him up in a huge hug, one that Oboro joined in half way.

Even Shouta was smiling a little, though he was hanging back.

“Thank god!” Hizashi said.

“Yamada-kun, quiet!” Recovery Girl said, but she was smiling. “How many times do I have to tell you not to shout in here?”

“Sorry, sorry,” Hizashi said, pulling away. His eyes were slightly red.

“Are you crying?” Shouta asked incredulously.

“No!” he said, sniffling. “Just allergic.”

“You are!” Oboro said with a grin. “Aw.”

Izuku giggled. “Thank you, guys,” he said.

“For what?” Oboro asked, titling his head.

“For saving me and coming to see me.”

“What do you mean? Of course we saved you,” he said. “Why wouldn’t we?”

“It was scary,” Shouta said. “You just vanished halfway down. I nearly had a heart attack.”

“Shouta had a huge meltdown when when we got off,” Oboro said. “Huuuge meltdown.”

“Shut up. Like you were any better.”

“They both lost it,” Hizashi told Izuku in a conspiratorial whisper.

“Says the person who screamed so loud they called in security,” Shouta said.

Izuku laughed so hard his ribs hurt. It wasn’t particularly funny or anything, but he was just so, so glad he was back here again. Every time he went back to the future, he was even more sure that this was the right place for him.

They all looked at him with surprise and concern for a bit, then Hizashi joined in, then Oboro. Even Shouta threw in a quiet chuckle.

This was where he belonged.

“Oh, right. Principal Nezu wants to talk to me again,” Izuku said after they calmed down. “He told me to tell him the next time I go back to the future when I talked to him last time.”

“Do you reckon he knows something?” Oboro asked.

“He’s so smart. I’m sure he has some ideas,” Hizashi said thoughtfully.

“What’s his quirk?”

“He’s very smart, basically,” Shouta said.

“That’s all?”

“I bet you thought it’s appearance, but no. he’s just like that, I think,” Hizashi said.

“Are you four done gossiping?” Recovery Girl asked, putting her hands to her hips.

“Sorry,” the all muttered.

“Nezu is waiting for you. You can all go together if you want. Classes are over anyway.”

“Sure!” Oboro chirped. “Ready to go?”

Izuku nodded and hopped off the bed. He felt surprisingly okay after everything that’s happened. Nothing hurt at all.

He wasn’t in a rush to go to All Might land again though, or anywhere high up for that matter.

“You guys don’t all have to come,” he said. “Um…I’m sure you’re all busy.”

“What? No way. We’re all curious about your quirk,” he said. “And besides, we got nothing better to do.”

So, the four of them trooped over to his office. Izuku wasn’t sure if he should be excited or scared. He still remembered how stressful their last talk was, even though he had been nothing but kind to him and Sushi.

When they got there, Hizashi wasted no time in knocking. “Principal Nezu! We brought Izuku!”

“Come in.”

“Hi again,” he greeted, smiling gently at Izuku. “How are you feeling?”

“Hi. I’m good! It doesn’t hurt at all!”

“That’s good to hear. Care for some tea?”

There was five tea cups on the table. They all sat, but Izuku elected not to have tea this time.

“So, Izuku. 3A’s home room teacher told me about your analysis during battle training. He was very impressed.”

“Oh, really?” he said, face burning. “Um…it’s nothing. Just something I do as a hobby.”

“Analysis?” Hizashi wondered, looking over at Izuku curiously.

“Perhaps in the future we can hone that talent. But we’ll have to get there first,” he said, face turning more serious. “Care to tell us what happened yesterday?”

Four pairs of eyes honed in on Izuku, and he shuddered. “I think I went back to when I was four,” he said slowly.

“Oh?”

“Yeah. My…my uh…friend looked a lot younger. He also told me that he just found out I was…I was uh…quirkless.” This wasn’t what he wanted to talk about, but they deserved to know after helping him so much.

“Right. You told me about that,” he said in a softer voice. “Continue?”

Izuku cleared his throat and calmed himself down. He trusted everyone here. “The teacher was there too. He didn’t do anything,” he said in a quiet voice. “I still...um…kind of remember that day. It definitely was from the past. But not the past from here, if that makes sense? Um…I think I’m two years old this year, so that’s two years from now. It’s…a little confusing.”

“The teacher didn’t do anything? What…what was happening? Why should he…?”

“You were bullied, weren’t you? Kacchan. He’s the one who left those burns on you on the first day, isn’t it,” Shouta said, realization dawning on his face. “And that’s why you were so upset with Sensoji and so anxious when you told us you were quirkless.”

“What? How do you know this, Shouta?”

Izuku nodded, staring at the cup in his hands, hand trembling.

“Wow um…not gonna lie, we thought it was your parents,” Shouta said softly.

“My mom is great…she tries her best,” he mumbled.

“This Kacchan. What’s his actual name?”

“Bakugo Katsuki,” he said. “We’re childhood friends. He calls me…never mind.”

“Katsuki,” Shouta echoed with a dark expression. “Got it.”

“He’s only a baby right now,” he said with a soft chuckle. “That’s why I like it here so much. And…it’s been so nice not having to go to school anymore. Can I just stay here?”

Nezu shook his head, and Izuku’s heart sank to his stomach. “I’m sorry, Izuku, but after what happened yesterday, I don’t believe it’s safe for you to stay here any longer.”

“What? But the bully...”

“If you go back to the future, we can still help you,” Nezu said. “These three will still be around.”

“I guess, but…”

“I’m sorry, Izuku. But this isn’t the right place for you to be. These trips to the future you’ve been having proves it.”

“But they’re so short,” Izuku protested. “I can deal with them.”

“Yes. But I assume in the trips, you’ve been getting younger? You said this time, you were four. What about in the last two?’

“I’m not sure, but it was definitely older than four,” he said. “And it was not the future I came from either...so sometime in between.”

“So it’s getting closer to this present time,” Hizashi said. “Is that bad?”

Izuku frowned.

“Time travel is tricky,” Nezu said after a second. “Which is why I think it’s better if Izuku returned to the future instead of finding out.”

“Why? I’d rather stay here. And I don’t know how to go back anyway,” he said, trying to keep the bitterness out of his voice.

“Izuku, no. You can’t,” Shouta said with a frown.

“Yes. I’m worried about what could happen when your trips go to a time before now. You might travel even further back or become stuck here. Worse yet, you could cease to exist completely. I don’t wish to alarm you, but this isn’t something we can gamble on anymore.”

“What?” Hizashi exclaimed.

“But how? Izuku can’t just…”

“I dunno, but every time I think about wanting to come back here in one of my future trips, I would be transported back here,” he said.

“Okay, then next time you go to the future, try to think about staying there instead of wanting to come back. You’ve never been to quirk counseling, but the way to call our quirks is more abstract and could differ from person to person. You could be calling it out to prevent yourself from traveling back to the future, for all you know. Maybe it could help to book you a session with our quirk counselor.”

“But…” The whole reason he was even in the past was because he didn’t want to be in the present anymore, so why should he have to try and go back when he was enjoying himself so much?

“I know you really like it here, Izuku, but you can’t stay here forever,” Shouta said in a softer than usual voice. “I promise when you go back to your time, we’ll come find you.”

“But that’s six years. You’ll be different but I’ll still be the same,” he said, tearing up. “You wouldn’t want to hang out with a lame eight year old anymore, not when you’re all cool heroes.”

“That’s not true!” Hizashi said, looking like he was going to cry himself. “Six years is a long time, yes, but we’ll wait, I swear.”

“Yeah. It’s easier for you, Izuku. We’ll have to wait in agony, but for you, it’ll just be in an instant,” Oboro said.

“Promise?” he whispered.

“We promise,” the chorused.

“Then okay…but I’m not sure if it really works like that,” he said.

“Then we can think of some other ideas if it doesn’t work.”

“I just have to think about staying in the future in my next trip?”

“Yes.”

“Oh. Okay.” That wasn’t too hard, but he wasn’t sure if he could bear to do it.

“How touching,” Nezu said with a soft smile. “You still have some time, Izuku. Make the most of of these last few days.”

“Aw, but we have to go to our work study tomorrow,” Oboro lamented.

“I bet His Purple Highness wouldn’t mind if we bring him along,” Shouta said. “Do you want to come?”

Izuku nodded weakly. Nezu was right. These trips usually had a few days in between them, so he still had some time.

“Wait, but I’ll be all alone with Sensoji!” Hizashi complained. “Y’all should let me have him.”

“And let him have to see Sensoji? No thanks.”

“Ugh. I should’ve just went with you guys,” he grumbled.

“But the Buster Union suits your quirk better.”

“I know, but still.”

“Thank you for your help, Principal Nezu,” Izuku said, interrupting their mini argument.

“No problem. I hope the next time I see you is in the future,” he said with a smile. “You’ll always be welcome at U.A. I’d like to see that analysis skill with my own eyes.”

“Oh um…alright,” he said uncertainly.

“Don’t look so sad, Izuku. We still have a lot of time ahead of us,” Hizashi said, ruffling his hair as they started their journey home.

“Yeah,” Oboro cheered. “We’ll always be your friend, even when we have our own hero agency. And who knows? Maybe you’ll be our intern if you go to U.A.”

“Yes!” Hizashi fist pumped the air. “That would be so sick, yo!”

“Six years isn’t that much time,” Shouta said flatly. “We’d only be twenty-three. It’d be a miracle if we had an agency set up.”

“We’ll have our agency set up by the time Izuku’s old enough to go to U.A for sure.”

“And maybe you’ll be a teacher at U.A., Shouta,” Oboro said with a teasing grin. “Oh my god. Can you imagine if Shouta is Izuku’s teacher?”

Hizashi howled with laughter. “I’d kill to see that.”

“Shouta would be a great teacher,” Izuku said with a small smile. “I wouldn’t mind it, but it would be a little weird.”

He rolled his eyes. “Stop screwing around,” he said. “Me, teacher? Laughable.”

“I’m serious, though,” Oboro said. “I think you can do anything you set your mind on.”

He just snorted. “Thanks for the vote of confidence, Oboro, but I’m pretty sure that’s just not true.”

“Well, I think so too,” Izuku said earnestly. School wouldn’t be so bad if Shouta was his teacher instead.

“I’m terrible with kids though.”

“No?” Izuku said, tilting his head. “I like you. Oh, but I’m not a kid.”

Hizashi laughed.

“Oh, and Sushi will be a teenager when you go back. I wonder if he’ll still recognize you.”

“That’s true!” It was hard to imagine when Sushi was the size of Izuku’s palm. “I want to see that.”

“You will soon,” Oboro said. “See? It’s not all bad. There’s a ton to look forward to in the future.”

The walk home was as cheerful and enjoyable as usual, but Izuku couldn’t help but wonder how many more of these he would get to have.

He wasn’t ready to go.

Chapter Text

“So, Izuku, whose little brother do you want to pretend to be today? Mine, or Shouta’s?” Oboro asked seriously as they were about to go into their work-study agency.

“Why can’t we just say he’s a distant nephew or family friend?”

“Nope. Too late. I already told him Izuku was one of our little bros when I called him yesterday,” Oboro said with a crooked smile. “So? Who's it gonna be?”

“He doesn’t look like either of us though,” Shouta said, studying Izuku.

“He looks more like me than you,” Oboro said, pointing to his hair. “See? Fluffy.”

“Hm, I suppose…” Shouta said, glancing back and forth between them with a thoughtful expression.

“I don’t mind anything,” Izuku said with a diplomatic smile. They were taking this a little too seriously, weren’t they? “I like you both equally.”

“But it’s weird if we say you’re both our brothers,” Oboro said. “C’mon, pick!”

“Um…” They were both looking at him so intently. How was he supposed to choose? And did it really matter?

“Stop. You’re pressuring him,” Shouta said finally.

“I can’t choose,” he said, patting Sushi anxiously. “I don’t wanna hurt your feelings.”

“Oh. I’m sorry,” Oboro said, smile wavering. “Forget it. Let’s just say Shouta then. He’s been taking care of you the most anyway.”

“Uh…I…” Shouta suddenly looked uncomfortable. “I’ve never had a younger brother before.”

Oboro looked at him like he’d gone mad. “Well, yeah? Neither have I?”

Shouta’s face went red. “I know. I meant…like what do I do?”

Oboro snickered. “Nothing. We’re going patrolling soon anyway. It’s just a cover for fun.”

“Can I go patrolling with you guys?” Izuku asked hopefully. “I wanna see what it’s like.”

“No,” they both said loudly at once.

“Jeez, sorry,” Izuku said glumly.

“The people at the agency are really nice,” Oboro said, ruffling his hair. “Besides, Sushi needs you to keep him company.”

“Yeah, that’s true,” Izuku said, brightening up a little. “Shouta helped me pack his food this morning! Wanna see?”

“No, it’s okay. I believe you,” Oboro said with a chuckle. “So are you ready to go?”

Izuku nodded.

The agency was just a normal building off the side of the street, not nearly as grand as U.A. That didn’t make Izuku any less excited to go in, however.

“Ready?” Shouta asked.

“Yeah, let’s go, let’s go,” he said, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

“Hey boss,” Oboro called as he shoved the door open. “We’re here.”

A man wearing fancy clothes and a rose in his mouth appeared in front of them out of nowhere, making Izuku gasp. “Oh. Hello there,” he greeted in a low, smooth voice. “What do we have here?”

He took a small step back and hid behind Shouta.

“How precious,” he cooed. “What’s your name, little one?”

“This is Izuku, my…little brother,” Shouta said, putting a hand on Izuku's back.

Izuku gave him a shy wave. “Hello.”

He grinned at him. “Stuck on babysitting duty, I see?”

Shouta nodded. “I’m sorry. This will be the only time,” he said. “He’s very well-behaved.”

“Sushi and I will stay out of your way,” Izuku piped up.

Now that he thought about it, he could’ve sworn he’d seen this hero somewhere before. Something about an accident, maybe? He wasn’t too sure. He’d read up on far too many past hero accidents to remember for certain.

“That’s alright. Long as you don’t destroy anything, we’re good,” he said. “Why don’t you guys go introduce yourself around the agency? Patrols aren’t due for another hour.”

“Sure thing, boss,” Oboro said, saluting.

“Bye,” Izuku said.

For some reason, everyone was incredibly interested in Izuku and within moments, they were surrounded.

“Hey, it’s Kayama,” Oboro said, waving enthusiastically. “Hiya, Kayama!”

Izuku stared at her. That was the weird girl from U.A. He wished he could remember who she was in the future.

“Hey. You brought Izuku,” she said with a grin. “And he even looks well rested this time. Shocker.”

“And Sushi,” Izuku said. “Don’t forget Sushi. He’s here too.” He held the napping kitten for everyone to see. Maybe then, they’ll stop staring so intently at him.

“Hi Sushi, hi Izuku,” Kayama said with a smile.

Unfortunately, Izuku’s plan didn’t seem to work, and they all just crowded him even more.

“Aww!”

“So cute!”

“Who is this?”

“This is Shouta’s younger brother,” Oboro announced. “And that’s Sushi, his cat.”

“What? You have such an adorable brother, Eraser!”

“How is that even possible? He’s so cute!”

“We’re…half brothers,” Shouta said, looking like he wanted to die.

“Oh. Well...I guess I can kind of see the resemblance. If I squint really hard. Kind of.”

“I wish my younger brother was this cute.”

Shouta scowled.

“Shou…Nii-chan is the best,” Izuku exclaimed. “He’s good at everything and he won the battle royale at school!”

“I won it too,” Oboro said with a pout. “I’m also the best.”

“Now, now, it’s natural for kiddos to prefer their older brothers,” one of the heroes said with a grin. “When I was his age, I definitely thought my brother was the coolest in the world.”

Oboro was still pouting, and Shouta was blushing so hard he looked like a tomato.

“Oboro is cool too,” Izuku said.

Oboro smiled smugly. “You hear that guys? I’m cool too!”

Shouta buried his face in his hands.

“Okay, okay, we should go get changed,” Oboro said. “Say bye, Izuku!”

“Bye-bye,” he said.

“You’re going to be fine here, right?”

Izuku nodded. “They seem nice.”

“Okay, good. Don’t bother them too much, okay? We’ll be back before you know it.”

“Okay.”

“Good luck, Oboro, Sho—nii-chan,” he said, grinning at them.

“You’re having too much fun with this, Izuku,” Shouta said, still blushing.

“What? I want to be called that too,” Oboro said.

“Stop it, Oboro. It’s embarrassing,” Shouta grumbled. “Let’s just go.”

Izuku waved at them, feeling a little sad. He wished he could go on patrol with them. After all, he didn’t have much time left here, and he wanted to spend as much time as he could with them.

“So, kiddo, would you like to play some games? I have some time to spare.”

“I’ll play too!”

“Okay,” Izuku said, perking up slightly. These heroes were still pretty cool. Not as cool as his friends, obviously, but cool nonetheless.

—-

“Look, your nii-chan is back,” a hero told Izuku pointing at the front door.

Izuku perked up instantly. Shouta, Oboro, and His Purple Highness were all coming in together, all looking dishevelled and slightly roughed up. Did something happen?

“Hi Izuku,” Oboro greeted.

Sushi immediately ran towards them, meowing happily as Shouta picked him up.

“What happened?” Izuku asked. “Did you guys get hurt?”

“Don’t worry, squirt,” His Purple Highness said, ruffling their hair. “Your brother and Oboro did great today. They beat a villain, all on their own! His smile still needs some work though, but it’s gettin’ much better!”

“Wow! That’s awesome,” Izuku said. “I wish I could’ve seen it.”

“It was so quick that there was nothing to see,” Oboro said with an impish grin.

“Don’t be so smug,” His Purple Highness called. “You still have a long way to go.”

“Let us change back to our normal clothes and we’ll head back, okay?” Shouta said.

Izuku nodded enthusiastically. Playing with the heroes had been fun, but he was ready to go home now.

----

“Hey, look, it’s that takoyaki place we went to when you first got here,” Oboro said, gesturing at the stand on their way back.

Shouta made a face. “Gross. That reminds me, I should leave a bad review.”

“Nah, it’s a small business. You can’t do that,” Oboro exclaimed. “Let’s get it again, for old time's sake.”

“Okay,” Izuku said. He couldn’t believe how much things had changed since then. He’d made all these friends, found out that he had a quirk, and had even gone to U.A. He wondered how different things would’ve been if he decided not to eat takoyaki with them.

Shouta heaved a long sigh. “I’ll order this time.”

“Sure, sure.”

There was no queue this time. Izuku and Oboro waited patiently for Shouta to order. Izuku wondered what flavor he’d be getting this time. Shouta was quite sensible, so he wasn’t too worried.

“Hey! The bench we sat on last time is still here,” Oboro said loudly. “Let’s sit. It’s just like Izuku’s first day.”

“Why wouldn’t it be here?” Shouta grumbled, having finished up on the order. He was carrying three steaming hot boxes, and Izuku salivated.

“I dunno. A villain could’ve destroyed it.”

“Right…” Shouta said, passing the food to them with a blank, unimpressed face.

“Whatever. Let’s eat. Too bad Hizashi’s not here again, huh?”

“He’s going to be upset.”

Izuku giggled. He hoped they wouldn’t stop being silly when he’s in the future. All adults except his mom were boring, and he’d be devastated if they turned out like that too. Hizashi’s future radio show was incredibly entertaining, however, so he had hope.

“What are you laughing at?” Oboro said, mussing up his hair.

“Nothing.”

Sushi suddenly meowed on Shouta’s shoulders and lounged at his food.

“Sushi, no!” Shouta reacted inhumanly fast, grabbing Sushi up by the scruff of his neck. “He’s getting faster.”

“Aw, we should give him some,” Oboro coed, scratching him behind the ears. “He looks so hungry.”

“I already fed him his food earlier,” Izuku said, frowning.

“His appetite is getting better,” Shouta said, putting his now empty box in the trash can. “He’s growing.”

“We should come here again when you’re back in the future, Izuku,” Oboro said. “If they’re still open, that is.”

Izuku chewed on the last bit of his food, savoring the taste. “Why wouldn’t they be? It says they’ve been open for twenty years now.”

“You never know. Takoyaki might go out of fashion in eight years.”

“No, they don’t,” Izuku told him.

“Oh, great. Love to hear it.”

“Look, it’s Hizashi,” Shouta said, interrupting their banal conversation and pointing at something down the street.

“I told him we were here. Didn’t think he’d be able to get here that fast, though.”

“Hey guys!” Hizashi greeted in between pants. His face was red and he was sweating heavily. “I…I made it.”

“We’re just about to leave.”

“Aw, man. I’m missing out on all the fun,” he said. “I wonder if I can crash your agency for the next few days. They’d take me, right? I’m awesome.”

“Izuku called Shouta ‘nii-chan’ when we were there,” Oboro said. “It was so cute.”

Hizashi groaned gutturally. “Stooop. You’re making me feel worse.”

Izuku listened to them bicker with a small smile.

“Did you have fun today?” Shouta asked. “I’m sorry we couldn’t spend it all with you.”

“I had fun,” Izuku said. “And it’s okay. I’ll see you guys in the future anyway.”

“I’m glad. We’ll have all day tomorrow, okay? We’ll make the most of these last few days, just like principal Nezu said.”

Izuku bobbed his head. He’d like that. “Thank you, nii-chan.”

Shouta’s face filled with surprise for a brief moment, then he smiled. “Yeah, of course.”

Izuku grinned so hard his cheeks hurt. If the last few days he got to spend with them were this amazing, then he didn’t think he would mind too much.

He’d seen them soon anyway.

Chapter Text

“We should probably…say our goodbyes,” Shouta said suddenly in the middle of dinner.

“Goodbyes?” Izuku asked, scrunching his nose. “But I’m still here.”

“Well, your quirk starts up without warning. For all we know, you could just up and vanish right now.”

The four of them sat in depressed silence as they stewed in that revelation, and the only sound that could be heard was Sushi lapping at his food.

“Yeah. Shouta’s right,” Hizashi said, voice much quieter than usual. “I don’t want you to go without closure. Six years is gonna be a long time.”

"We had a real fun day together though,” Oboro said, ruffling Izuku’s hair. “So don’t look so glum.”

Izuku had tried so hard not to think about his imminent departure the entire day, and now that he was forced to look it in the eye, he felt he wasn’t ready.

They were right though. They had a good time together, and that was all Izuku could ask for.

“You’ll really come find me, right? You promise?” he couldn’t help but ask for the thousandth time today.

“Yes,” they chorused. Hizashi even rolled his eyes.

“How many times do you have to ask? Do you not trust us?” Shouta’s voice was light, but Izuku could hear a hint of sadness in it.

In all their voices.

“I trust you. I just…want to make sure,” he said.

“What day did you travel back?” Hizashi asked.

“I think it was June 5th,” he said. “Six years from now.”

“We’ll be there,” Hizashi said confidently. “Right on the dot.”

“That’s a long time,” Oboro said with a groan. “You’re lucky, Izuku. You can just skip the wait.”

Tears welled up in Izuku’s eyes. Six years were a long time. What if they forget him? What if they make new friends and decide Izuku isn’t cool enough? They’d all be different, but Izuku would remain the same, like some mosquito stuck in amber. He thought he was ready for it, but now he wasn’t so sure.

“It’s okay, Izuku,” Shouta said with a small smile. “Don’t cry. We had fun, didn’t we? I know I did.”

Hizashi nodded furiously. “Yeah! Besides, just think about this as pausing our fun for uh…six years. We’ll continue once you’re back to the future, and we’ll kick all your bully’s ass.”

“We’ll work hard to be the best hero while you’re gone, no one will dare touch you,” Oboro said. “And we’ll get a much bigger house that you can come hang out in instead of this dingy mess. If your mom’s okay with it, of course.”

Even though none of them were crying like Izuku, he could still see the sadness reflected in their eyes; and at that moment, he knew—

they were all feeling what Izuku’s feeling.

And what a relief that was.

“I’ll be back,” he said shakily, wiping his tears. “Um…thank you guys, really. This was the most fun I’ve ever had. I’ve never um…y’know.”

“Yeah, we know, don’t worry,” Hizashi said.

“Aw, gimme a hug,” Oboro said, pulling Izuku into his lap. “Y’know, I’m really glad that you’ll be the same size. I’ll still be able to hug you and carry you around.”

“I’m not small,” Izuku protested with a tiny laugh.

“I didn’t say you were,” Oboro said.

“Don’t hog Izuku,” Hizashi grumbled.

Izuku hopped off Oboro’s lap and went to give both Hizashi and Shouta heartfelt hugs. They were warm, just like his mom’s hugs. He wished he could stay in the moment a little longer.

“Do you feel better now?” Shouta asked as he pulled away.

“Yeah.”

“Do you want to say bye to Sushi too?”

Izuku nodded and hurried over to Sushi, who had finally finished his food and had curled up to nap.

“Sushi,” he said, gently patting him. “Don’t fall asleep now.”

Sushi made an annoyed sound and curled up deeper into his pelt.

“Aw. I guess he’s not feeling it,” Izuku said in disappointment.

“Sushi doesn’t want to say goodbye yet,” Hizashi said with a chuckle.

“It’s okay, cuz you’ll see him soon enough,” Oboro said. “We’ll take good care of him while you’re gone, I promise.”

“Okay.” Izuku gave Sushi another pat and drew back. “I’ll see you later, Sushi.”

He was going to miss this place.

“How does another movie sound? Maybe Endeavor’s documentary?”

“Ew, no,” Oboro said, making a face. “That’d ruin the mood. He’s so serious it bores me to tears.”

Izuku giggled. “Let’s rewatch All Might’s documentary.”

“Sure,” Hizashi said with a shrug. “You fell asleep before you could finish it, right?”

Izuku had never felt as content, snuggled up to Shouta’s side and with Oboro and Hizashi on his other, the sound of All Might documentary’s narrator playing in the background.

If this was the last moment he got to experience here, he wouldn’t mind.

“Izuku?” Shouta murmured sleepily. “Did you fall asleep?”

Yeah. He wouldn’t mind at all.

There was no pain as the transportation took place.

This time, Izuku was back in his apartment. The living room, to be more precise. But it didn’t look quite like he remembered. The family portrait of him and his mom wasn’t here before, neither was his first-grade school picture. He knew his mom would never remove them, which must mean…

He looked at his hands, and sure enough, they were tiny. He was even wearing a bib around his neck.

He sighed. How old was he now? Had it not worked?

His mom was humming a song next to him on the couch as she folded laundry. Soft music played in the background, and it soothed him slightly.

Ah. This was nice too. He’d missed his mom. She looked so much healthier, younger here, that he wondered if his quirklessness affected more than just himself.

Maybe he had been selfish.

“Mom,” he said, crawling off the sofa and into her lap.

“Here to help mommy with the laundry?” she asked with a soft chuckle.

“Yeah.” All he had to do was think about going back to the future, right? That was easy, without Kacchan blasting at him every second. He thought about his mom, who was waiting for him to come home, and about his friends who promised they’d come find him the day he got back.

He definitely wanted to go. He couldn’t wait to see what they’re like in the future. Would Oboro be even taller? Would Shouta be even grouchier? Hizashi even louder?

The front door suddenly opened. “Hey, honey. I’m home.”

“Welcome home,” his mom said. “How was work?”

Izuku craned his head to look, because no one else should have the keys, right?

Oh.

That was his dad, wasn’t it? If it weren’t for the one picture he stole from his mom’s wallet, he never would’ve recognized him.

“Fine. What’s for dinner?”

“Izuku and I already ate. The bowl on the dining table is yours.”

“Oh, thanks. Can you turn on the news for me, please?”

“Sure thing,” she said, reaching for the remote.

Izuku couldn’t tear his eyes off his dad. Couldn’t stop staring as he put his bag away and took off his suit jacket. It was so strange, looking at him now. Even stranger than when he’d met Present Mic in the past.

“—ro student Loud Cloud dies in work-study program with Purple Revolution Agency. Criticism arises as the mortality rate of such programs is called into question.”

Izuku’s blood ran cold.

Because that was…Oboro, wasn’t it?

“How terrible,” his mom said, dropping the shirt she had been folding. “Poor kid.”

Izuku’s eyes were on the TV. What…?

It was drone footage of a building reduced to rubble.

“The villain responsible, Garvey, has been apprehended by another hero student on the scene. His Purple Highness is not available for questioning due to hospitalization, and his agency has yet to make a statement. No other casualties have been found thus far…”

Izuku’s heart dropped to his stomach. He knew about this incident. He’d read about that villain a long time ago, but he hadn’t remembered the hero students’ involvement. How could he have been so stupid? He should’ve remembered when he met His Purple Highness yesterday.

“Mama, what’s the date?” Izuku asked, voice trembling and words slurred.

“September twenty-second, dear,” she said, looking surprised. “Why do you ask?”

That was tomorrow. That was… Had it already happened? How long had he been here? Were they still sleeping on the couch, or at the hero agency, about to die?

Oboro was going to die. Oboro was going to die!

“Izuku, what’s wrong?”

Oboro wouldn’t be waiting for him in the future. It would just be Shouta and Hizashi, and that was if they didn’t die in the attack as well.

Izuku couldn’t bear it. Couldn’t bear the thought of the four of them becoming three. He had just been with Oboro minutes ago! He couldn’t die. He couldn’t be dead.

This couldn’t be happening.

“In other news, All Might—“

His mom shut off the TV. “Izuku?”

Izuku was crying. “I gotta go,” he said. “I have t-to go!”

Screw it. He didn’t care what Nezu said about cause and effect or whatever. He didn’t care that he might cease to exist if he stayed in the past any longer.

He wanted to see them again.

He had to.

There was no future without them.

“Go…where?” she asked.

“Sorry,” he mumbled, looking at his mom’s worried face with only a little bit of guilt.

And he was gone.

To his relief, he woke up in the apartment.

To his horror, only Hizashi was in the living room. He was already dressed in his hero costume.

“Hizashi!” he screamed. “Hizashi!!!”

Hizashi’s eyes filled with shock and he lowered his headphones. “Izuku? What are you doing here?”

Izuku burst into tears. “It’s h-horrible! O-Oboro died! He died. We gotta s-stop him!”

“What? I can’t understand you,” he said, running over. “Come on, Izuku. Breathe. Tell me what happened.”

Izuku huffed, feeling like he was going to pass out. “I w-was…I dunno. I saw the news, and it…it said Oboro died!”

“Oboro just left for his work-study with Shouta,” he said with a frown. “I don’t see how…”

“The work-study! T-they met a…a…” Izuku sobbed. “Garvey.”

“Garvey?” Hizashi’s face paled. “That’s the villain we met a few days ago.”

“You gotta help him, Hizashi,” he cried. “Stop him from going. You have to. You have to! The villain. He…he uh…his quirk lets him…it lets him absorb attacks. He destroyed the city by absorbing the Buster Union’s attacks.” At least, that’s what he remembered. He hoped he was right. “So you have to tell them not to attack him.”

“O-okay, I’ll try,” he said. “I’m just about to leave for my work study.”

“The news was broadcast on the 22nd,” he said, finally calming down.

“That’s today,” Hizashi said, horror dawning on his face.

“Yes!”

“What about Shouta?”

“It doesn’t say. I think it’s just Oboro. But you should stop him from going too, just in case.” He wasn’t sure what he’d do if he went to the future and they weren’t there. He couldn’t face the future alone. He needed them. He needed them to be there.

“Okay, okay,” Hizashi said, running a hand through his hair. “What about you, Izuku?”

“Don’t worry,” he said. “I’ll find a way. We can just use Shouta’s quirk if I can’t go back. Just go!”

Hizashi took a deep breath. “Okay. I’m heading off now. Don’t do anything, okay? Stay here.”

“I wanna come,” he said.

“No. No way.” Hizashi wrapped Izuku in a quick hug and headed to the door. “It’s going to be okay. Oboro will be fine, I promise.”

“Be careful,” he yelled.

“I will.”

Once he was gone, Izuku took several deep breaths and slumped on the couch. This was not the plan at all. He was supposed to go to the future, and they were supposed to have a big, amazing reunion. And now, it was all ruined.

He glanced out the window. It was starting to drizzle, making him feel even gloomier. His friend was dying and all he was doing was sit?

No.

He had to do something.

The agency wasn’t too far from the house. If he hurried, he should be able to make it there. He had faith in Hizashi, but he had to make sure. He just had to. The future wouldn’t be worth going back to without Oboro.

Jumping off the sofa, he grabbed Shouta’s uniform jacket and flung it over himself, dashing out of the warm apartment and into the rain.

As soon as he got close to the agency, he could tell that something was wrong. While all the buildings were still intact unlike on the news, many people were evacuating and he had to fight not to be swept away.

Hizashi was nowhere to be seen in the crowd, neither was Shouta or Oboro.

He pushed past the fleeing people dazedly, his stomach beginning to hurt. What was he going to do?

“Oboro?” he whispered, finally coming to a halt. Was he too late?

He was standing with a group of little kids. Shouta was right there by his side.

“Oboro!” he yelled, sprinting towards them. “You have to—”

Before he could finish his sentence, the edges of his vision went dark and the pain increased significantly. He stumbled, trying to keep himself anchored.

Not now. He couldn’t go back now. Not when Oboro was right there. He reached out, hands grasping to hold on to something, anything, but he couldn’t even move.

The last thing he saw was Oboro’s shocked face and Shouta’s horror-filled one.

Izuku had failed.

Chapter Text

Izuku blinked, and he blinked again.

He was in his classroom, again. His present-day one. He slowly looked around, slowly taking in all the familiar details. It had worked, but...

“The hell, Deku? How’d you do that?”

Izuku stared, and then he burst into tears. “NO!”

That was the Kacchan he was familiar with. Not the baby version of him he'd met before.

Izuku was back in the future, which meant it was too late.

“I have to go,” Izuku said, grabbing his backpack. “I have to go!” Oh god. This wasn’t good at all. Oboro. What happened to him? He hadn’t changed anything. He wasn’t fast enough.

“What the fuck? You can’t just leave after doing that!” he screamed.

Izuku ignored him, sprinting down the hall.

What happened to Oboro? To Shouta? He needed to know. He had to go. He had to see…

“Stop running!” Kacchan was sprinting after him at a terrifying pace. “You just changed clothes and started crying. Seriously, what the fuck? How did you do it?”

Izuku glanced down at himself and realized—wow, he was still wearing one of Hizashi’s dumb graphic tees and Shouta’s jacket. Did that mean his quirk was—

No, he had no time to think about such trivial things about his quirk. Oboro. Oboro was so much more important. Tears were still leftover in his eyes as he sprinted to the front gates.

“Deku!” Kacchan screamed. “I said to stop.”

He heard a series of explosions just as he got to the gate, and felt something heavy barrel into him, sending him tumbling to the ground with a yelp.

“Leave me alone, Kacchan! I have important things to do,” he yelled. He didn’t have time for this.

“What’s gotten into you?” he growled. “And what happened to your stupid stutter?”

“Go away!” he yelled, trying to shove Kacchan off.

He let out a scream of rage, and Izuku felt his back explode in pain. “Gah.”

“Fuckin’ talk to me!”

Izuku let out another loud sob. Seriously? After all this time and everything he went through, he was going to be stopped by Kacchan? He’d gotten through too much to care about his childish antics.

But…were his friends even coming? What if they weren’t here at all? What if…

Izuku didn’t want to think about it. Hizashi had promised, after all.

Everything was going to be okay.

He trusted them. As for Oboro…he never saw him die. He needed to believe in Hizashi.

Kacchan growled, and he raised his fist.

Izuku flinched, bracing himself for pain when--

“Get off him!” a familiar voice yelled.

His head shot up. There, right in front of him, were Shouta and Hizashi. They both looked older, as they should, and were both staring right at Izuku.

“Oh!” They had come. And…Shouta was fine.

But…Oboro. Where was he? More tears welled up in his eyes as he looked around, desperately searching. It couldn’t be. This couldn’t be happening.

“Did you hear what I said?” Shouta yelled, stalking over and grabbing Kacchan’s collar, tossing him to the side. “How dare you touch Izuku?”

“Who the hell are you?”

Tears were streaming down his face, and he couldn’t hear anything except the sound of ringing in his ears. He had really thought Oboro made it. Or…maybe he just didn’t feel like coming? Or he had something better to do?

As his brain whirled, someone lifted him up from behind.

Izuku yelped, thrashing instinctively. “Whoa! Who--”

“Izuku!”

That voice! He twisted around to face his ambusher. “Oboro! You’re…okay! You're...”

He looked fine, just way older. They all did. Oboro’s hair had gotten fluffier and his shoulders had filled out. Hizashi looked far less lanky than he remembered. As for Shouta, well, Izuku wasn’t quite sure where he had gone. He and Kacchan had vanished somewhere.

But they were all completely unhurt and alive, and that was the most important part.

“Oboro!” he yelled, hastily wiping his tears. “OBORO!”

Oboro’s face split into a grin. “You remember me,” he said. “Guys, he’s back!”

“Izuku!” Hizashi cried. “Thank god! You’re back, you’re back! And…you’re still wearing my shirt and our uniform jacket. What the heck?”

Izuku couldn’t stop crying, and he couldn’t stop smiling. “Oboro, you’re okay,” he said. “But…but how? What happened?”

“Before we get to that, what were you thinking, young man? I saw you that day. Hizashi told me he told you not to go, didn’t he?” Oboro said, patting his head furiously. “I almost had a heart attack when I saw you. You could’ve gotten hurt!”

“I had to go see for myself,” he said. “So?”

“Thanks to your warning, I was able to get heroes from a nearby agency to help us take down Garvey. We barely had enough time, but they were able to subdue him before he could do too much damage. That warning about his quirk helped a lot. Without the firepower of our quirks, there wasn't that much he could do.”

“And the kids with you?”

“They were fine, just startled. In fact, they should be older than you now. Funny how that works, huh?”

Izuku nodded slowly, trying to calm himself. He wasn’t sure he’d ever felt so emotional before, which said a lot. “You’re okay,” he whispered, mostly for his benefit. “You’re okay…”

“I can’t believe this. You look the exact same,” Hizashi said with a chuckle, gently wiping his tears. “So small and cute, just like I remember.”

“And you guys look old,” he said. The relief was so crushing he felt like he couldn’t breathe.

“Aw, I’d like to think we aged well,” Oboro said. “Shouta put on some wrinkles though.”

Oh, right. Shouta. He looked around, finding him slowly walking over. “Shouta! You’re back.”

“Hey, Izuku,” he said.

He did look older, scarier, even. His eye bags had gotten more pronounced, and his hair was longer and more dishevelled. Still, Izuku could see the familiar fondness in his dark eyes, accentuated by his soft smile.

“Oh, where did Kacchan go?” Izuku wondered out loud. “Did you guys see?” He had been so focused on Oboro that he completely forgot.

Shouta shifted and stared at the ground, hiding his hands in his pockets.

“I think he went home,” Hizashi said with a grin. “We must’ve scared him.”

Oboro nodded. “We’ve gotten very good at intimidation, y’know? ’Specially Shouta. He scares even me sometimes.”

Shouta snorted. “Shut up. It’s not that bad.”

“Hmmm…that’s strange.” It wasn’t like Bakugo to get scared. And Shouta never seemed scary to him.

“Anyway, we’re sorry we’re late,” Oboro said. “We were staking your school to see when you’d be back, but you were in there forever. We didn’t want to barge in in case it wasn’t the real you, if you know what I mean.”

“Yeah. Do you know how hard it was to keep our distance?” Hizashi exclaimed. “We had to be so patient. Nezu said we weren’t allowed to interact with you until you were back. It’s so awful.”

Izuku giggled and laid his head on Oboro’s shoulders. “Did anything happen while I was gone?”

“Yeah. A lot,” Shouta said.

“A looooot.”

“A lo— ow!”

“Like what?”

“Well, y’know, the usual,” Hizashi said. “We got our hero licenses and are working full-time.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Oh, and we got that awesome, amazing house,” Oboro said. “Say, d’you think your mom would mind if we steal you away for a bit? It has been six whole years since we last saw you. I think it’s fair that we hog you for a little while.”

“I don’t think so,” he said, though he would like to see his mom. She wouldn’t mind though, surely. She wasn’t the one who had to wait six years.

“Great! Because we have a surprise for you,” Hizashi said. “You’re going to love it.”

“What? Surprise?”

“Uh-huh. Nezu helped us pull some strings, and…”

“And?”

Oboro laughed. “You’re gonna have to wait a bit more,” he said.

“What?”

“We waited six years for this. It’s your turn to wait.”

Izuku snickered. “Fine,” he said. “How’s Sushi?”

“He’s doing great. I think he misses you. We still show him pictures of you sometimes and he tries to lick it.”

“He tries to lick everything.”

“Yeah, well, he licks the picture the most.”

“Ew,” Izuku said with a giggle.

“I’m glad you’re back,” Shouta said in a soft voice.

“Me too.”

Izuku couldn’t stop staring at his friends. Couldn’t stop clinging to Oboro’s neck.

If he had never gone back in time, Oboro would be dead. He never would’ve become friends with Shouta and Hizashi, and he never would’ve known what having friends was like. The thought was nauseating, and he couldn’t help but cling a little harder

“Ouch, Izuku, my neck hurts,” Oboro complained.

“Sorry. I just…want to make sure you’re still here,” he muttered, reluctantly loosening his grip. He was scared that the moment he let go, the moment he looked away, they would all vanish, leaving him all alone.

“Aww, don’t worry, kiddo. Why wouldn’t we be here?”

“I dunno. I thought…I thought you died,” he mumbled. “I thought I was too late.”

They were all quiet for a little bit.

“I’m sorry I made you worry,” Oboro murmured. “But…you saved me. I’m not sure what would’ve happened otherwise, but it must’ve been bad if it was on the news.”

“You shouldn’t have followed me though,” Hizashi chided. “It could’ve been dangerous. What if something happened?”

Izuku let out a water chuckle. “Sorry. I just…I’m so happy you’re here.” Unable to help himself, he burst into tears again.

“Aw no! Don’t cry…

“Hey, this is nice and all, but we should go. Nezu said he’s going to start,” Shouta cut in.

“Right. Come on Izuku, let’s go to our house. That’ll cheer you up, right?”

“Okay, but I’m happy,” he wailed. Why was he crying? They were going to get the wrong idea. “And…and Nezu’s gonna s-start what?”

“Don’t worry your little head about it,” Shouta said, ruffling his hair.

Were they hiding something from him? Izuku was curious, but he’d rather focus on other things right now. Like stop crying, for example.

“Hey, it’s my turn to hold him,” Hizashi said, holding his hands out. “You two always hogged him. I won’t let it stand anymore. Not when it’s been six whole years.”

“Sorry Hizashi,” Izuku said. “I wanna stay here. I’ll hug you later.”

“Whaat?”

“Hey, to him, I almost died, give him a break,” Oboro said. “Or maybe he just likes me better.”

“Aw, fine. That’s fair, I guess.”

So, Izuku spent the rest of the way to their house clinging firmly to Oboro. He knew it was quite unbecoming for someone his age, but he couldn’t help it. Oboro didn’t seem to mind at all, however, and would pat his head every so often.

“We’re finally here. Welcome to our house,” Hizashi said.

“Woah! No way!” It was an actual, normal looking house, nothing like the dingy flat they had before. The mailbox and trashcan were overfilled, however, the only indicator was that it was actually theirs.

“Yep. We had to save for a while,” Oboro said proudly.

“Let’s go.”

To his surprise, the inside was rather clean. There wasn’t trash and messy laundry scattered around, nor did it smell. Maybe they did change in more ways than appearance.

A loud meow caught his attention, and he found a large orange cat lounging on the sofa.

“Sushi! You’re so big!” he exclaimed.

Oboro chuckled and let Izuku down, and he quickly ran over.

“Sushi…it’s me, Izuku,” he said, patting his head. “I fed you when you were younger.”

Sushi sniffed his hand, looking completely disinterested.

“Aw, I don’t think he remembers me.” He felt a sharp pang of disappointment. Sushi was only a kitten when he’d left, so it wasn’t wholly unexpected.

“That’s okay. You can make friends with him again,” Shouta said. “Just feed him snacks and he’ll love you.”

“Alright.”

Izuku drew back, taking in the rest of the house. This was all so new and exciting. The whole place was well decorated and furnished, and he was having a hard time believing it belonged to them.

“Wow, you guys have a kitchen!” he said, wandering over. “Do you use it for anything?”

Oboro snickered. “What? You think it’s here for decoration?”

“Yeah, kinda.”

“Well, you’d be right,” Hizashi said. “There’s a reason this is the cleanest place in the whole house.”

Izuku giggled. Of course.

Something on the fridge caught his eye. “Oh, it’s the picture we took at the amusement park.” The picture was yellowed and the edges were frayed. It was still hard to imagine that it happened six years ago.

“Yep. Did you know? They had to shut down Power Tower because of you for a little while,” Hizashi said.

“Really?”

“Yeah. They had to do a bunch of new safety tests and all that.”

“Wow. That’s crazy!”

“Yep. Though, I feel like they never could’ve been able to account for a quirk like yours,” he said.

“Oh! Did you guys ever make up with Sensoji?” Izuku hadn’t seen the mean boy since the battle simulation day. He wondered if he was a hero now as well.

“Hm? Oh yeah, him.” Shouta snorted. “He mellowed out a lot and even congratulated me on my graduation.”

“He was pretty mad about being put in detention for yelling at you though.”

“What? Really? How did they even know it happened?” Only Shouta and Hizashi were present for that, right?

Oboro laughed. “I tattled.”

“And he got in trouble?” If he had tattled on Kacchan, he would be the one in trouble, not the other way around.

“Yeah. Why wouldn’t he?”

“I dunno,” Izuku said, secretly feeling a little pleased.

“Man, this is so nostalgic,” Hizashi said. “Can you believe that was six years ago? Feels like forever.”

“Right? What a throwback. Wish we took more pictures.”

Shouta suddenly smirked at his phone. He looked quite deranged, and Izuku couldn’t help but feel alarmed.

“Shouta, are you okay?”

“Yes. More than okay,” he said, putting it away.

“You’re acting weird,” Oboro said, frowning at him.

“Wait, my hug,” Hizashi cried, swooping over and wrapping him up in a big hug. “I almost forgot.”

“Hizashi!” Izuku said with a giggle. “I can’t breathe.”

“Sorry, sorry,” Hizashi said with a loud laugh.

When he let go, Izuku felt like crying again but was able to hold back.

“Shouta, it’s your turn,” he said, turning towards him. “You’re so big now.” It felt strange to be hugging him again. It didn’t feel the same as he remembered, and he felt bigger and more…sturdy. He even smelled different now, but not in a bad way.

“Not really. Oboro grew more than me,” he said, patting him on the back.

“Sure did,” Oboro cut in. “Your fault for only eating those weird jelly pouches.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Izuku pulled away and wiped his eyes.

“Are you gonna cry again?” Hizashi asked with a hint of panic in his loud voice. “Please don’t. You’re making me want to cry.”

“I’m fine,” he said, face burning.

“Hey, if anything, we’re the ones who should be crying. We waited six years, and you waited a few hours, max,” Oboro said.

“It’s not that bad. We got to stalk him while he’s at school.”

“What?” Izuku exclaimed.

“Yep. Nezu said as long as we don’t talk to you, we’re good. So we just stalked,” Hizashi said. “Shouta’s real good at it.”

“What?!”

“Don’t worry, we didn’t do it that much,” Shouta said, rolling his eyes. “Just checked if you were okay every once in a while.”

“Huh…” That was a little concerning. He wondered if his younger self ever noticed.

“Anywayyy,” Hizashi said before it could get too awkward. “Are you liking the future so far, Izuku?”

“Yeah, I am.”

“We told you it’d be fine. And now we don’t have to worry about your little trips to the future anymore,” Shouta said.

“That’s true,” Izuku said. “Do you think I can travel to the past again? Or is my quirk a one-time thing?” He wished he got to document his quirk a little more. Everything had been so hectic and he never had the chance, and his notebook may not have come with him anyway.

“Er…best not test it out until we ask Nezu,” Oboro said, scratching his head.

“Yeah…” Hopefully Nezu had a better idea of how his quirk worked.

“Think we can fit in a visit to that takoyaki stand before his mom calls the police on us?” Hizashi asked.

“Oh. My mom! I should go home.” He wanted to give her a hug even though she didn’t notice his absence.

“Aw man, I wanted to hang out a bit more.”

“We waited six years, we can wait more.”

“I’ll introduce you guys to her. She’ll be really happy! We can have dinner at my house. She’s a great cook,” he said enthusiastically.

“Oh, we couldn’t possibly…”

“Good idea!” Hizashi yelled. “Let’s go.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want to intrude.”

Izuku beamed. He’d finally be able to tell his mom he made a friend, and it wouldn’t be a lie. “It’s fine. She won’t mind. She’s super nice.”

“You know what, I agree,” Shouta said. “I want to talk to his mom about a few things.”

“Right…” Oboro said. “Let’s go then. Izuku, lead the way.”

He looked around the cozy living room one more time, and he smiled. All his worries are unfounded, after all. Even though they all looked different and had a different house, everything still felt the same. Still felt right. He couldn’t wait for the future. The real one.