Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Take a swan dive off a roof and hope for a quirk in your next life.”

“Become a hero without a quirk? I’m sorry but I don’t think it’s possible. But if you want to help you can always become a police officer or doctor.”

“What were you thinking, young man, running into danger like this?!”

Midoriya Izuku had the patience of an angel, inherited from his mother. And he had the determination to match. But no life could be given only good traits and as such he was additionally dosed in emotional gasoline known as anxiety. 

That’s why after two near-death experiences… Three if he counts how promising the rooftop looked – not that he would ever have enough courage to actually jump – he didn’t go straight home. Instead, he found a nice spot in the park and hid in an empty area, its view covered by trees and bushes so very similar in hue to his hair.

He cried his eyes out, his sniffles quiet as not to be heard by anyone. He didn’t want any more devastating encounters today, thank you very much. 

He didn’t let himself cry for long though. It was already getting pretty late and he didn’t want to worry his mother any more than he already did. So he forced himself to wipe tears away and get up, steps turning toward his home.

Turns out his mom already saw the sludge villain incident on TV so he ended up crying some more, this time in company. 

Izuku spent the rest of that night reassessing his life choices.

~‿‖‿~§~♪~§~⁀‖⁀~

It’s depressing, really. 

After the sludge villain incident, everyone finally left him alone. Not because, for once, he listened to people and chose a more realistic career path. Not because he gave up not only on UA but also on becoming a hero. No, it was because he run head-first into danger and it was on the news. He wonders whether it’s because they don’t actually want him dead after all. 

Throughout the next few months, he wondered if he made the right decision. But how could he not go this route? If Kacchan, someone who’s going to be an amazing future hero, forbade him from even trying for UA and even All Might told him to change his plans… What purpose was in keeping his unattainable dreams? 

When your idol tells you that you can never be like him… Well, you can’t get any more of a wake-up call than that, can you? And Izuku doesn’t want to look like he scorns the words of symbol of peace by trying for some hero course anyway. Even if the man in question would most likely never hear about him again.

Either way, Izuku feels… Broken. That’s the right word. It hurts and burns like Kacchan’s attacks could never hope to. His insides feel hollow and his mind feels sluggish more often than not. At least he can play it off as an aftereffect of the sludge villain’s incident, as the trauma from the attack.

But he isn’t physically capable of completely giving up (which only hurts more; that’s kind of funny because up to this point, he couldn’t imagine anything more painful than being told the equivalent of being useless by the best hero to ever walk this Earth). So his poor soul, torn between the impossibilities of his life, makes the only decision it can: support course.

He has notebooks upon notebooks about quirks. If he can’t use this to strengthen them, to make at least decent equipment… Well, he might as well take Kacchan’s friendly advice.

Midoriya doesn’t try for UA’s support course because even as much as thinking about the place leaves a sour aftertaste in his mouth (and because Kacchan doesn’t want to see him there. Izuku had enough of the bullying for the past years and he really can’t take much more if he’s already thinking about jumping…). He opts for Shiketsu instead. Their support course is… Well, they have as good of equipment as UA does. The reason why they aren’t as popular is probably due to the lesser number of heroes in teaching positions and… UA is UA. Everything there is perceived as better… As perfect.

Even before the school year began, Izuku learned to appreciate Dagobah Beach. At first, it was because it was a place no one visited so he could come there to cry his eyes out as much as he wanted, without having to worry his mother with his wailing. And he could even tell her that he was hanging out outside, in the fresh air! Which, sure, was kind of a lie but he’s used to rusty smell that’s oh so similar to blood so really, the place is optimal for him. Useless and trash… Truly a match made in heaven.

But then he slowly stopped spending so much time crying and started looking through the parts around. He always thought that this place was a huge pile of unusable trash but it quickly turned out that people have enough decency to throw a… How to put it, better kind of trash here. There are no paper wraps, wasted food, or paper.

Only fridges, wardrobes, chairs, lamps… The kind of things people aren’t sure what to do with.

And he slowly but surely – with a huge help of gloves and other protective cloth pieces – starts finding some treasures. Well… Most wouldn’t call a microprocessor from, like 2024, a treasure but Midoriya likes the thought of making a robot out of it. So he readily tries it, finding all kinds of useful materials around the area along the way to fulfilling that little quest.

With time he builds himself somewhat of a house there. Like, he rather not start living for good in a structure whose rooftop consists of desks in various stages of mold-farming, few walls made solely out of fridges and one being a strange mix of boats and drawers… But he finds some strange kind of beauty in this monstrosity. Especially after finding a fridge without its back wall and managing to drag it to his weird summer house to be used as doors. 

(Later on, he also clears an area around it, proceeding to make himself a nice little garden. He’s really baffled when his spontaneous decision to buy dirty-cheap seedlings from sale and plant them there wields results. He must have bought some unkillable kind of roses and there’s no way any of the trees that shyly peak toward the waves will bear fruits. No way)

On his last month before going to Shiketsu’s for its entrance exam, he manages to scavenge some working solar panels and gets electricity for his little... Project area. He really should stop calling it house because if he ever accidentally tells someone that he has one on Dagobah Beach he’s pretty sure there would be a lot of questions to answer.

Anyway! After all the crazy experiments he had gone through on this trashy piece of land, he managed to ace the practical part of the exam rather easily. And when the year began… Oh boy, his teacher quickly found Midoriya had tons of ideas to try out. How could the boy not when he had literal miles of resources to somehow put to use?

Sure, some of his attempts didn’t work because of faulty cogs but he felt like he had an endless amount of trial attempts at his disposal so he didn’t worry too much about his shortcomings. And after polishing his techniques, he could use what the school provided to make an end product! Of course, sometimes he brought one of his beta versions of equipment to school, and every single time he prayed he cleaned it enough for no one to notice how – literally – trashy it is but it was well worth it!

Because by the second month of his school life, he was good enough for his teacher to nothing short of force him into participating in an invention competition. He was somewhere between excited and mortified but he readily accepted it.

He finally felt as if he was doing something right. 

“…Then if I use an antimagnetic field to move those without failing to put a stable input then I will be able to move from point A to point B as fast as if I was running no matter how far from ground it would be…”

“You!” 

He nearly jumped out of his skin when his mumbling spree was interrupted for the first time in… Well, it had been quite a while now that he thinks about it. 

He unsurely lifted his eyes to look at the brash voice that called out to… Well, it was obvious he meant Midoriya since the two of them were now looking straight into each other’s eyes. Izuku’s heart started hammering painfully quickly when the boy stalked toward him, his steps heavy. 

The boy’s body language didn’t seem angry but it did seem somewhat aggressive.

“I-I’m so sorry for…” he began, feeling all he had managed to build by giving up on his dreams already crumbling down.

“What? What are you apologizing for? I heard your murmuring and I just knew that you must be super passionate about what you do! And I love passionate people! I’m Inasa Yorashi by the way! Hero class student! You?”

“Oh! That’s really cool! I’m Midoriya Izuku, from the support.”

Brunet’s eyes suddenly started shining as if he just saw All Might himself.

“Support course? My dude! That’s so amazingly crazy! I meant crazily amazing! Like, I can only imagine how much thinking you must do every day! And yet you still seem so passionate! My brain would have probably exploded right after day one!” the boy continued conversation, something Izuku was unused to.

Sure, he did talk to his classmates occasionally but it was always strictly about the lessons and inventions so… Yeah…

“Um... What’s your quirk, if you don’t mind me asking?” Midoriya fired the only thing on his mind, hoping to continue the talk and... Maybe… Perhaps… Make friends…?

“Whirlwind! I can control wind currents!”

“What? That’s so amazing! Can you transport people with it? Or vehicles? What’s your limit? Can you control the winds’ intensity too or do you need to find wind and then you can bend it? What are your quirk-overuse effects? Can you disassemble it? Like, could you take most of the oxygen from the wind current to subdue a villain?” Midoriya barreled on for a good few seconds before realizing what he had done. “Oh… I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to… Do that…”

“Stop apologizing, my dude! I love your approach! I just wish I could catch up to your thought process because you lost me on, like, the second question! And I’d like to answer them all! Can you make a list or something?” the boy asked.

“That’s a great idea! And it would be easier for you to give more detailed answers too!” Izuku said excitedly, unused to people actually wanting to cooperate. Who didn't instantly deem him creepy.

“Oh! And what’s your quirk? It’d be pretty uncool for me to not ask after you gave so much attention to mine!”

Midoriya froze and closed his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath.

What else was he expecting?

“I’m quirkless.” he said, taught by experience that it was better to go about it as one does with the band-aids. Quickly and naively hoping this time it won’t hurt as badly as all times before. 

 “What? You’re an absolute mad lass, my dude! Like, how can cool is that?! You got in the support course, you just gave me more questions about my quirk than I could ever think up and you’re telling me you don’t have some kind of accelerated thought process?! Massive respect!”

“What?” Izuku breathed out, confused to no end by the boy’s reaction.

“Oooh! I can’t even begin to imagine how passionate you are! Like, without my quirk, I would have no idea what to do with myself! And you’re here, already talking like some kind of professional quirk assessment dude even without having quirk yourself! Do you want to be friends? I can help you with whatever cool equipment things you’re making too! I mean I’m not that smart but I swear to do my best! I can test them out in the field or something!”

“I… Yeah? Sure? I’d like it? A lot?” Midoriya answered in an unsure tone that luckily didn’t seem to discourage his possible new friend.

“Awesome! Oh! I should probably go because the class will probably start soon and it wouldn’t be cool to not only be late but also make you late! When does the support course finish its lessons?”

“Um… Usually, we’re leaving school at three PM but today I’m leaving an hour earlier since our teacher wanted me to work on a competition project…”

“Perfect! Meet up at school gates?” the boy asked, already moving toward his classroom. Or so Izuku thinks.

“Sure?”

And that’s how Midoriya got his first friend.

Chapter Text

Midoriya still kept on checking hero news as often as he could, which was far less than he did before but it was enough for him to notice two things:

A sudden spike in villain activity.

No interviews or sightings of All Might in two months.

It was terrifying. So much so in fact that Midoriya decided to block the information from his mind and dive with even more vigor into his competition project.

Maybe that’s why he aimed a tad bit too high and his creation ended up exploding before the eyes of a jury which, impressively, didn’t seem too surprised. If it wasn’t for the fact that he already managed to get to the semi-finals – which in his eyes should be more than enough for his teacher – and that he didn’t expect much from himself in the first place, he would be extremely disappointed.

So when the thing combusted he apologized and moved to leave but… The jury stopped him, asking for him to explain what he thought went wrong. At first, he was extremely stressed but soon he went into his usual mumbling spree, which helped to organize his thought and he had an answer within three minutes.

When he looked up at the people evaluating his project he was surprised to see… Well, he doesn’t dare say that they were any sort of impressed but they definitely didn’t seem pissed off by his extremely quick spewing of words.

He placed second.

He stayed near his presentation spot for good five minutes after getting his results and that’s when someone went barreling toward him.

“How dare you!”

He jumped at least two feet into the air, apology already on his lips but he wasn’t fast enough to say it.

“This one, one! One time in my life I decided to make something moderately crazy instead of going all out you come and what do you do? You beat me at my own game! Do you have any idea how many explosions I went through this week alone? And yet you dare to oppose me in my own domain! And win at that!”

He blinked, not understanding the crazy pink-haired girl at all.

“But… Aren’t you the winner…?” he whispered, confused.

“Bah!” she said with something between disgust and frustration. “What do you think life is about? Winning with a soda volcano or revolutionizing industry after few shortcomings?”

His mind was slowly but steadily starting to pick up on what she meant.

“But you made a rocket launcher that can change particles of sun energy into missiles! That’s a revolution if I ever saw one!”

“Must be hard to realize what revolution is when you’re the one leading it…” she murmured quietly and he had a distinct feeling she was talking about him instead of herself. “But! It just means I need to open your eyes! And buy us both tickets to the revolution train because I sure as hell ain’t leaving you to ride to some stupid potato-microwaved destination!”

“What?” he inquired with all the eloquence he was capable of at that moment.

“Hatsume Mei, your new business partner.” the girl finally introduced herself, giving him a… Business card? Should he have one for himself? “If you don’t call me by tomorrow I’ll find where you live and talk your parents into making me apology cookies because we’re besties you coldly ignored.”

 “My... You… What?” Izuku, once again, used all his charisma to skillfully articulate what parts of her statement he did not fully comprehend.

“I want to make babies with you,” she answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the whole universe.

“WHAT?!” the boy yelled, his mind in an override and his face as red as beetroot.

“Like this on.” the girl explained, pointing at the remains of his exploded project.

“Oh.” he breathed out in equal parts relief and understanding.

“So… Are you going to accept my friendship or not, combustion boy?”

“I… Sure…?” he answered since it’s good to have friends, right? And crazy people deserve human interactions too! He thinks…

“Great! Remember to give me a call because I don’t feel like sending my drones after you! See ya!”

And that’s how Izuku got second place and a second friend.

~‿‖‿~§~♪~§~⁀‖⁀~

The story of how Izuku met his third friend is… Rather interesting.

By the third month of Shiketsu Midoriya had his hands full. He invented (more like exploded) things on a weekly basis, helped Inasa with training (because he had no fear in his heart so grappling with two times bigger, the overenthusiastic boy seemed like a splendid idea to him), and kept on working on his analysis notebooks. By now he had two more volumes started but those two focused more on how quirk could be strengthened with support gear rather than quirk themselves.

At some point, when his mom asked about a bruise he had gotten from an experiment that had gone terribly wrong, he didn’t lie or try to make an excuse.

“Well… The toast project didn’t go as smoothly as butter but I didn’t get completely toasted.” he joked and realized how… Unlike him, it was when his mother looked at him with wide eyes before promptly bursting into startled laughter.

He smiled at that.

But around this time the lack of new sightings of All Might in media started to… Well, he wanted to believe that the man took a sick leave since his wound was pretty terrible… But he knew his hero better than that. Something must have happened.

Those thoughts kept him awake most nights… So he did the only logical thing; started waking up around four AM so by dark he was too exhausted to even start worrying about his… He wasn’t sure if he still was an idol in his eyes but the Symbol of Peace would forever hold a special place in his heart. Even if the man broke it a bit. 

The first time he got up at such an ungodly hour, he made himself two extra strong coffees and went jogging toward his inventing space (yes, the house he made at Dagobah Beach. By now he even had a working kettle there). He was walking through the streets and looking around, worried about possibly getting mugged or something since barely anyone was out when he noticed a rather suspicious-looking man.

But little hero fanboy he still is, Izuku quickly recognized a white scarf and yellow goggles resting on top of his black hair so he curiously trudged toward him. 

“Coffee?” he offered, expecting the underground hero to need black potion more than he did.

Eraserhead raised an eyebrow at him.

“How bitter is it?” 

“Somewhere along the lines of my demons at three AM right after getting my dreams crushed by my idol,” he answered, too tired to get hyper-nervous. 

“Are you okay?” the man inquired but took offered beverage. 

“Is anyone?” 

And with that, the boy left, drinking his own coffee… Which immediately awoken him. The realization of what he had said hit him like a truck and left him embarrassed for the rest of the day.

Which doesn’t mean that he didn’t bring extra coffee the next day… And then the day after… And for the whole week… Honestly, he wasn’t sure what was more shocking; that he managed to meet the hero every time or that he had enough tired-confidence to offer coffee to him every single time.

But. After one night of staying up until two AM, discussing time molecules with Mei he overslept. Sure, it wasn’t like he promised the hero coffee every day but still, he felt bad. 

So he made one cup of black beverage – he had enough sleep that day so he, himself, didn’t need it – and went outside. He logically knew that it was far too late of an hour for the underground hero to still be operating. It was nearly ten o’clock! But he felt so bad for breaking the tradition that he went out on a quest to redeem himself. He wasn’t yet sure how but he was determined.

That’s how he ended up walking toward a tired-looking teen, the only person occupying the park.

“Coffee?” he asked and the purple-haired boy lazily lifted his gaze at him and lifted a brow.

“What are you? Coffee fairy of this forest?”

Midoriya thought about his answer for a moment.

“Quite possibly,” he noted out loud, realizing that usually, he would meet Eraserhead around this area and thus offer a dark beverage to the hero.

“Well… My imagination surely is getting better. Thanks.” the boy answered, taking the coffee while Izuku turned around and left without another word.

On a Sunday Midoriya got himself a coffee machine in his trashy workbench. It might not sound very hygienic but he cleaned the insides thoroughly. His garden looks pretty amazing too, as long as you get to the specific part of the beach he is occupying. Because you wouldn’t be able to see his little space for the life of yours from the top of the stairs that lead to the beach.

Anyway. Izuku tended to go to school around eight AM, after spending around two and a half hours in his workshop. But today he gave Eraserhead coffee (the hero was a bit worried when Midoriya didn’t show up on Saturday and somehow that conversation ended up with the two of them exchanging numbers. The boy would call it weird but it was pretty normal in the madness of his life), got to his summer house and worked on some inventions, made another coffee, and went to the park the met tired teen at.

If he didn’t see the boy, he would drink his beverage but, surprisingly, on the way there he met the guy. Even more shockingly, he managed to walk up to him unnoticed.

“Coffee?” he inquired once more and for some reason, the teen jumped up and then whipped his head to look at Midoriya, his eyes blown wide.

“You’re real?” the boy asked, shocked.

“That’s what I’d like to believe,” Izuku confirmed. 

“What the fuck…?” the teen whispered before shaking his head. “Sorry. I was really tired back then. I thought you were an illusion of my mind. And in my last line of defense, your coffee was good enough to be considered out of this sad world of ours.”

Midoriya snickered at that.

“I’m happy to hear that. So?” he asked, putting his coffee slightly forward and it was the boy’s time to snort.

“Who am I to say no to a good, black as bags under my eyes, coffee?” he replied, readily taking the item he had been given. “So… You go to school somewhere around here?”

“Yeah, I’m on my way to Shiketsu right now. You?”

“Oh, cool. Which course? I’m general in UA.”

“That’s really amazing! I’m support.” 

For a moment they went quiet.

“Isn’t Shiketsu, like, the other way?” the boy asked eventually and Izuku nodded.

“It is. But I can get there in, like, ten minutes if I jog from here.” he offered with a shrug. “Though if you don’t want to talk I’ll leave.”

“No, like, I’d love to converse more with someone of such great coffee brewing skills.” the boy quickly assured, his mostly monotone voice finally gaining some emotion.

“Oh, good. Anyway, I’m Midoriya Izuku.”

“I’m Shinso Hitoshi.”

They were silent for another few seconds.

“I’m terrible at human interaction so I’ll just… Do you want to be friends or… Dunno, I can return to my faery coffee kingdom?”

Shinso snorted, his eyes holding amusement for a bit longer than the rest of his expression.

“Same, humans are terrifying… But since you’re a coffee fairy I’m definitely up for the whole friendship thing.”

“Great!” Midoriya beamed. “So… What do you want to do in the future? Like, general in UA gives you so many options!”

“I… Kind of want to be a hero…”

“Awesome! What’s your quirk? If you want to say what it is, that is!”

“I rather not.” the boy instantly took the option and Izuku nodded although he was very curious. “You?”

He could say ‘same’ and let this friendship continue. He could hide the truth and seeing as his companion didn’t seem very likely to start discussing their quirks anytime soon it would probably work out splendidly…

But after a while of having two friends that didn’t care about this specific status of his all that much… He was starting to get confident. He knew that it was a dangerous thing but… Realizing that there are people who care more about what you can do rather than what you were born with… It was such a sweet phenomenon that he couldn’t help but hope for more of it.

“Well, that’s a loaded question since I don’t have one to give an answer to.” he joked and the boy raised an eyebrow.

“Huh? Sorry, you lost me there.”

“I’m quirkless so I can’t really tell you anything about something that doesn’t really exist,” Midoriya said, shrugging, far more nonchalant than he expected himself to be.

What was going on with him?!

“Oh. It must suck.” Shinso answered, clearly at a loss of what he should or even could say.

But his words were more than enough.

“Yep.” Izuku replied lightly. “I was actually planning on applying to UA but my past friend told me not to even think about it… And that I should dive off the rooftop and pray for a quirk in my next life. Not gonna lie, it wasn’t very up-lifting.”

Shinso stopped for a moment.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Are you?” Midoriya answered readily.

“Well… Some asshole exchanged my orange juice for glue once because my quirk is speech activated. It isn’t in the same league as getting told to kill myself but it did do wonders in deepening my trust issues.” 

“What the fuck…?” Izuku whispered incredulously. “Don’t tell me the teachers ignored it.”

“They tried to but I got bad food poisoning so my parents rained hell upon them. That part was kind of amusing, I guess.” Shinso answered and after a moment of hesitation, he added “Did… Anyone reacted to your past friend suicide baiting you?”

“I’m pretty sure his lackeys laughed at it, but I think I was dissociating a bit so I’m not sure.”  

“Wow. Schools are fucked up.” the purple-haired boy noted.

“You don’t say...” Izuku whispered and glanced at his phone, his face paling. “Sorry for the sudden departure but if I want to get to school on time I need to start sprinting right about now so… Bye!”

“Same spot tomorrow?!” Shinso yelled after his quickly retreating friend. If he wasn’t told about his quirkless status he would believe that the boy had some minor speed quirk.

“Sure!” 

And that is the story of Midoriya’s third friendship.

Chapter Text

Sports Festival was a fun thing to watch. Especially so when he could do so from the stands; though he still isn’t sure how Mei managed to bring him as a "family member". It would probably be less weird if her parents weren’t all for it. At the very least Midoriya met them before and so, he managed to perfect the art of camouflage by becoming a strawberry when they proudly called him their son while going through the main entrance.

Watching Mei go was… Fine, Izuku isn’t going to lie. Not to himself. It wasn’t just interesting, it was straight-out hilarious. Two classes of hero students… And none of them had anything on his crazy friend and her inventions.

In moments like these, he wondered if he could have become a hero… If he just tried a tad bit harder…

He shook his head. Did it even matter? He might not be on a path to fulfilling his childhood dreams but… It doesn’t mean he’s unhappy. Quite contrary! He has three whole friends, somewhat of an ally in homeless-looking underground hero, and a summer house on a beach (even if it isn’t an exactly legal one… Well, at Dagobah Beach anything seems to go, so him deciding to kind of live there probably isn’t breaking the laws)!

But as great as it all was… He couldn’t help but feel his stomach churning every time he saw Kacchan. It was logical that he was afraid of him but… Was it really? Should a hero in training make him want to hide or run? Make his body ache in phantom burns? Is it what the future generation of justice is supposed to be like?

Kacchan is amazing. That’s a fact. But… Does it automatically make him a good person? Inasa has a great quirk too. Yet, Midoriya can’t imagine him picking up on weaker people (not consciously at the very least because let’s not kid ourselves, he is intense to the point of scaring crap of nearly everyone he confronts… Who he as little as simply interacts with). 

After meeting new people and growing… Midoriya started to see that he had been treated unfairly by his once-friend. He doesn’t hate him, of course, he doesn’t! After all, how was Kacchan supposed to know that what he was doing was wrong when no one ever pointed it out? But it sure as hell didn’t make it right to hurt not only Izuku but other kids too.

With that line of thought, he found himself pulling out his phone. 

Do you want some pointers against Bakugo Katsuki?

The ticking bomb kid? Sure.

So, from what I gathered, you have some kind of hypnosis quirk activated verbally. Your opponents need to react, right?

Yeah… They need to answer my question.

Ask him anything about "Deku". It’s sure to draw a reaction.

"Deku"?

Remember our first meeting when I randomly decided to give you some pieces of my tragic backstory? Well. Guess who’s the past friend who gave me wonderful grave-serious advice.

How hard do you want me to kick his ass for you?

Not too much since I don’t want him to explode you afterward

A lot that is. 

No, Shinso, really. It’s not worth it.

I think I have bad reception, I can’t hear you

I’M WRITING 

Can you repeat? I can’t quite catch your words

SHINSO I’M SERIOUS

Yes, Serious. My name is Shinso.

Why you like this?

I love you but why?

Your bad taste in people is none of my business

And a/w I’m pretty sure that icy kid is going to murder me before explodo can

If something goes wrong hide behind Mei (pink-haired crazy inventor girl)

And if she asks questions just mention my name

What kind of connections do you have?

You can go to Eraserhead and mention coffee kid too

YOU KNOW ERSERHEAD AND NEVER THOUGHT TO TELL ME?

I TRUSTED YOU

You know him?

HE’S MY FAVORITE HERO EVER

Alright alright calm down. Get up at 4 AM and you can go meet him with me

Bold of you to assume I would even be asleep at 4 AM

Oh fuck my match starts in 10 

See you later

I’ll be sure to reanimate your corpse if something goes wrong

I knew I could count on you

In the end, Shinso did win – Midoriya felt more satisfaction than he probably should – and Katsuki ended up shackled, on the second-place podium. Izuku might or might not have taken few photos. Then he met up with Mei, congratulated her on her wonderful campaign and they talked a bit before he went to look for Shinso.

They ended up celebrating in a cat café.

~‿‖‿~§~♪~§~⁀‖⁀~

The timeline shuddered when a group of friends consisting of Midoriya, Inasa, Mei and Shinso met up to hang out. But contrary to mother nature’s immense fear, the four didn’t fracture the universe.

But, admittedly, Inasa did wreck anyone’s and everyone’s score at a dancing machine (and did become a legend among people present there at the time). And Mei might or might have not dragged them to some random festival just to prove to the owners of some booths that their ways of scamming customers weren’t flawless enough to deceive a mad genius. Not that Midoriya turned out to be much better when he got rice seeds’ amount right and won a huge Hawks-themed plushie (and no! He did not count them all one by one! He counted them in both lines, multiplied, thought about numbers’ probability of appearing in everyday life and got a lucky guess).

And the cherry on top… No matter where the four of them went, nearby cats flocked to Shinso who, at some point, slipped and called one of them by its name. After that he hung his head in defeat and explained that he occasionally feeds strays. It just so happened that their group  walked through streets he usually goes around, you know, being a hero to kittens of all breeds and sizes.

It was a wonderful experience, and Midoriya made a great use off his Hawks-plushie... By making it a mascot of his trash kingdom.

He has a weird feeling that the hero would approve.

~‿‖‿~§~♪~§~⁀‖⁀~

It was getting cold so Midoriya decided to make his summer house warmer. Creating a heather didn’t exactly work so when he noticed a shop with a sale on blankets… Well. Why complicate things when the world gives you the answer to your problem?

As it turns out… Sometimes it’s easier to complicate things for yourself.

Because when Midoriya walked up to the cashier, arms full of blankets, comforters, and some cushions, he suddenly had someone helping him pack all the bags. But he saw the owner of the helpful hands only after paying and turning toward his savior with a "thank you" freezing on his lips.

“Mei? What are you doing here?”

“I noticed your bush of a head while looking for a new blow dryer. So? What are you planning?”

He tried to wriggle out of answering. He really did. But in the end, he ashamedly admitted to having monopolized part of Dagobah Beach as his… Well, space of work, he guesses.

Of course, the girl immediately forgot about whatever she was planning to transform a blow dryer into and accompanied him to his summer house. He was rather embarrassed explaining how it came to be and leading her through heaps of trash to his somewhat well-maintained part of the garbage dump. On the way there he explained how he failed in making a heater that would work in his very specific abode.

“I knew you were a genius but how could you hide this gold mine from me?” she asked and he blinked.

“Eh?” 

“We’re getting a scholarship, buying this land, and getting ourselves an underground base. Your garden can stay, I guess. I’m kind of curious how you managed to make all those trees and flowers grow here.” 

“Me too,” he murmured before his mind could catch up to the rest of her words. “Do you really think they would let you buy a literal garbage dump with scholarship money?”

“I’ll write it down as materials and working space,” she answered readily. “No, wait. I will write it as materials and you as a working space. I’m pretty sure the city will be happy to give this place to us.”

“Yeah, but they would expect us to clean it up.”

“Ha! As if I ever put people’s expectations above mine!” she yelled in a brutish voice before promptly looking at the heater he failed at modifying. “I’ll get the heating working but you better start thinking about how to build an underground base without having all this trash fall on our heads.”

“I’m pretty sure Inasa would be able to hold them with his wind, and you could ask Cementoss for help… You can make it sound like some kind of special project or something.”

“Have I told you that I love you already?”

“Yeah, like, three times this week.”

“That’s not enough. I love you, you know?”

He snickered.

“Yeah. I love myself too.”

Mei cackled at that.

~‿‖‿~§~♪~§~⁀‖⁀~

Midoriya just wanted to eat ice cream in peace. A new booth had opened in the mall so he went to check it out because, you know, he deserved a break every once in a while. 

Or so he thought before getting accosted by mister dry hands who threatened to disintegrate his neck if he doesn’t talk with him.

“Rude.” the boy murmured, far too desensitized by countless explosions from both his once-friend and his inventions to worry about getting dusted into oblivion. “You could buy me ice cream and I would gladly help you to the best of my abilities in whatever problem you’re trying to figure out.”

The man seemed taken off guard.

“You do realize I’m a villain and I will not hesitate to kill you?”

“If you kill me here there will be a lot of witnesses. Hopefully, they will catch you or at the very least make your life harder.”

“I like your thought process. Now, if you want to live… Tell me, why is Stain so popular and I’m not? I killed All Might and what did he do?”

Now Midoriya did freeze.

“You… Killed… All Might…?” he whispered and the man cackled.

“Finally a reaction I wanted! Yes! I raided USJ and killed the main boss! It’s just disappointing those hero scums are hiding it but whatever! It’s going be all the more fun when they finally learn how hopeless fighting me is!” the unknown murderer stated, unknowingly giving Midoriya much more data than the teen bargained for. “Now! Back to my question! I drowned Hosu in madness! And yet everyone is going on and on about Stain! He hurt some heroes and a fucking kid, and suddenly he’s so bad? I killed two students at USJ!” 

Cold shudders went down Midoriya’s spine.

“He has a set of morals. Everyone knows that the hero society isn’t perfect but he takes it to the next level, preaching about killing so-called ‘fake heroes’. People get behind it because they agree, for whatever reason. As for how exactly he became so popular… I’m pretty sure it’s thanks to videos circling around the MeRoll. You’d have to somehow document your… Boss fights to gain recognition.” Izuku managed to say, hoping it would be enough of an answer to get his life spared. He doesn't want to die. Not now, not when he finally has a semblance of normal life.

“Makes sense. Need a campaign to promote my party…” the man murmured, letting go of Midoriya’s neck. The boy made the mistake of glancing at him. “You still want an ice cream as a quest reward?”

“Well… Taking your body count and quality of it into consideration, I’ll have to decline. I rather not become a statistic today, thank you very much.” left Izuku’s mouth before he could rethink his life choices.

The man snorted. A sad excuse of sound that should convey amusement. But by now Midoriya was pretty damn sure the man was at the very least deranged. 

“Fine.” the guy agreed easily enough and got up, soon enough disappearing into the crowd.

Izuku gave himself only two seconds for fear before promptly calling the police and telling them about the situation, for now ignoring the most… Worrying parts of what the villain had said. It wasn't long before the police arrived together with two heroes to check the shopping mall. They found nothing. While they looked around for the villain, Midoriya was taken to the police station to give his testimony.

He readily did so… Ignoring the death of the symbol of peace and two students. He was waiting for the right moment to bring that up.

“Is that everything?” the officer with a cat’s head asked. Thanks to his quirk it was easier to notice how uneasy the man felt.

“No. I heard some… Worrying things about USJ and I’d like some answers.” the boy said, cooling his face into something he would never be able to pull off before Shiketsu.

But it had been dozens of long months since he had been told to jump off the roof by his past friend and got his dreams shattered by his idol. He changed… He grew. His anxiety might have evolved into terrible coping mechanisms and he probably seems suicidal at times but at the very least he knows he’s worth something now.

Quirk or no quirk… He is Midoriya Izuku. A boy who can shoot you with only a spoon and an old toaster. You can try to say it isn’t much, but everyone knows you’d be lying.

“USJ…?” the cat officer asked, his fur managing to get even more fluffed up. “I’m afraid I will have to call a higher-up…”

And then he got up and left, without giving Izuku any time stamp of how long he’d have to wait. So Midoriya sighed and took his phone out, glancing at his messages. Shinso sent him a photo of the thirteenth stray he fed today, Inasa spammed him a short essay about how excited he already is about the temporary license exam and that he’s going to start preparing himself even though it’s still around a year for it. Mei sent him some files about a warping gun they were trying to figure out. So far cheese was the only thing that didn’t get terribly mangled when getting teleported.

He was just about to point out that they should test it on some algae when the doors opened once again.

“Midoriya Izuku, correct?”

“Yes.”

“I’m Detective Naomasa Tsukauchi. I’ve heard you wanted to talk about... USJ?”

Well… The slight tremble in the man’s voice was probably enough of an answer whether the villain in the shopping mall was telling the truth. About the dead students, the hero, or both? He wasn’t quite sure yet (it was logical, the symbol of peace was gone for months now but the boy wanted to let himself hope a bit longer. It couldn’t be. How could his idol… The one that made him change the path he had chosen… Die just like that…?)

“Is All Might dead?” Midoriya asked, his brows furrowing. 

He had the patience of an angel, that was true. But it didn’t mean that there was no rage in his soul. He just never bothered to let the anger burn. He always transformed it into sadness; into tears. But he was done with that. If he understood correctly… The world was becoming a very dangerous place. There was no choice but to be strong if he wanted to survive. 

But wasn’t it how the world always has been? It might hide behind beautiful images and excuses of justice but no PR campaign can change the innate truth. Not everyone is born equal.

“Where did you hear this from?” the man asked, also furrowing his brows. As little as a month or two ago Midoriya would probably be the first to back down.

But nowadays he felt as if there was no point in letting others have their way. If he wanted to help someone he first had to be able to help himself.

“I had been accosted by a villain in the shopping mall. He told me that he had killed All Might and two students at USJ.” Izuku said, his voice empty and face expressionless. “Is it true?”

“It’s classified information.” the detective was quick to answer. His voice was calm but it wasn't hard to see through the facade. 

Midoriya’s shoulders slumped but in something far, far different than relief. It was more of a weight he would never be able to put into words being added onto his shoulders.

“So it is true,” he murmured, hiding his head in his hands. “Dear God… Society is going to crumble when they learn…”

“That’s why they mustn't. If you try to spread this information not only will you get in trouble but the government will assure no one takes it seriously.” the man stated in a threatening tone.

Ha! As if it was about to make a difference to a boy who was one wrong answer from being disintegrated earlier today!

“I do understand that we don’t know each other, detective, but I’d like to believe most people don’t see a moron when they look at me,” Midoriya remarked through his hands and then finally raised his head. “How are you even planning to fix it? You sure as hell won’t find All Might’s second coming. I hope the hero school already started planning a bigger recruitment. Of course, quantity over quality doesn’t sound too reassuring but it’s better to have at least that when push comes to shove.”

“You shouldn’t worry about it. It’s up to authorities to make sure our society doesn’t crumble now that… Our symbol is gone.”

Midoriya had a distinct feeling the detective had a deeper connection to All Might than an average civilian but he decided against questioning it. After all, he had met the hero before (and had his dreams shattered…) so he wasn’t a usual fan either (it might have been better if he was).

“Alright. Do you need anything from me or can I go?”

“I’d like you to recount what happened at the mall with as much detail as you can.” Naomasa requested and Midoriya nodded before finally going from the beginning to the end, without omitting anything.

“I see… Thank you and please call the police immediately if you see that man again.”

“Will do. Good luck, detective. I have a feeling all of us will need it.” Izuku murmured, leaving the station.

 Well… At the very least Midoriya found some well-priced hero merchandise on his way back so his day wasn’t completely ruined. Not that he didn’t call Bakugo's mom to make sure Kacchan wasn’t… One of the casualties (after all, Izuku wasn’t part of the hero course so he wasn’t sure when exactly the USJ took place; maybe it was after the Sports Festival?). Thankfully, the boy was alright.

A fact that the world seemed hell-bent on changing.

Chapter Text

Up to this point, Midoriya thought that he had the worst of his life behind him. At the tender age of four, he already had a day he was pretty sure was hard to beat on the scale of horribleness; what more tragic could happen than learning that you’re powerless in the world of superpowers? And have your mother apologize when you asked her if you can still fulfill your dream?

But then there was the wonderful day of "take swan dive from the rooftop", nearly getting killed, getting told he can’t be a hero by his idol and nearly getting killed for the second time. Sure, after that, he managed to pull his life together and make friends but it still had the highest position on his list of the worst shit the life had him go through.

But the third’s time a charm as they say!

He should have foreseen it, somehow. Maybe when Eraserhead sent him a text message saying he will be absent for the next week so to not bring him coffee. Or maybe even a few hours ago, when his mom suddenly returned from her job (exactly three hours and fifteen minutes early) and gave him a curt greeting before running to Bakugos' house… 

And then when he listened to his gut feeling and decided to take a break from space continuum theory to go watch some TV. The last warning he got was the fact that all news channels were showing the same thing. It… Doesn’t really happen. The last time was the debut of the famous clip of All Might rescuing countless people from burning wreckage. 

So he watched, his body locked in the sitting position and mind frozen in the present moment. He spotted a silhouette he really shouldn’t be able to recognize and yet oh so familiar from the shopping mall. And explosions. The kind of which he would never mistake for anything… For anyone else’s quirk.

Kacchan was in the middle of the fight, fending off villains. Heroes around were too busy with Nomus to be able to help him and as strong and amazing as he is… There was no way he was going to win against so many powerful enemies.

He was hoping against hope that a miracle would happen. That someone will come to the rescue and save the day but…

Instead of being given the tiniest slither of light in these suddenly extremely dark days, they were pushed into a void. A man, his face terribly disfigured, appeared. He used what seemed to be multiple quirks (and unlike most of the society Izuku wasn’t shocked by that; he didn’t need a lot of research to realize that Nomus in Hosu had more than one power and well, it gave some innuendos). The cherry on top of the destruction cake was, of course, the man boasting about having killed All Might months ago.

And as if he heard all the screams of denial the man continued, smiling a terrifying grin toward the camera. He knew he was being recorded. Izuku could bet on the fact that the villain wanted it to be the case. 

“If your fragile symbol is still alive and well then where is he now? I will give him the benefit of waiting for five minutes before I wipe all present heroes out! But they all know that there is no hope for them because your precious pillar of justice crumbled long ago!”

It… Wasn’t even painful. It felt too surreal, too terrible to be happening. Midoriya knew that the world was a cruel place. One in which there was no such a thing as equality. But… Up to this point, there was an untouchable part of society. Heroes that were above, ready for anything and capable of winning any fight.

And right now even this sweet unfairness was worth nothing. Ambrosia that only now he realized to be no more than a poison that had finally finished its victims off.

He didn’t cry when Kacchan disappeared into a dark portal gate, taken by villains. He didn’t dare hope to see the boy ever again. No tears left his eyes as he watched, unblinking, the most terrifying villain known to quirk-based society (because he could put multiple powers together and create beasts even the number two hero had trouble keeping at bay) wait for five whole minutes before …

Stealing heroes’ quirks and killing them. The video feed was cut halfway through, leaving Midoriya looking at some terrible ad, his heart thumping faster than the world was going to crumble, and eyes painfully dry.

He stayed like this, frozen, for what could be as well minutes as hours. What took him out of his reverie was a ping. His eyes moved toward his phone, as if of their own accord. He watched as if from a side as his body reached for the item and he needed to read the message three times before the words finally registered.

Are you okay?

The old Midoriya would fall apart. He would cry himself to sleep, hoping for the things to fix themselves by the time he woke up. He would throw such a massive pity party that the whole world would be able to attend it, yet there would be enough self-deprecation for many more guests to come. He would remember all the times he had been called useless and quietly agree; he was doing nothing after all. Like always.

Take a fucking guess

He isn’t as strong as he wishes he could be. He can feel terror creeping behind his eyelids and anxiety burning at everything he had built up even this very moment. But even as his fingers trembled, he forced these thoughts down. Because breaking wouldn’t help. When his idol destroyed the last dregs of hope he had for becoming a hero he listened and he forged a new path. Was it right to give up on his long-life dream? He wasn’t sure. But what he was certain of was… That he always could do much, much more than his peers gave him credit for and this time around was no different.

Okay, so, I’d like to meet and give you a shoulder to cry on or something but my parents are barricading windows right now so… Yeah

Midoriya is not strong. But he is a survivor. It took him a while to understand; that he would never be on top, never get on the level of such powerful people as Kacchan or All Might nor would he forge himself a path by unflinchingly holding onto his aspirations like Mei or Shinso. Because he backs down when others want him to. Because he takes a step back and chooses another way, even if he longs so terribly for the one that was denied him. All to survive.

That’s fine. I’ll need some time for myself anyway

How ironic is that? He’s the most reckless, suicidal person anyone had ever known… Yet he’s the one to always stay alive. He’s like a cockroach. No matter how many times he gets hurt, broken, put down… He’s always back. Is death even real for such people as himself?

You’re not planning on, like, going for the throat of what is more likely than not a cryptid, right?

He smiled although the gesture felt a bit like shattered glass. Because he can never be like his deceased hero, his grin will never bring safety to anyone. But he can at the very least try to protect his friends. The ones who believe him brave enough of planning to fight someone who's behind All Might’s death.

No. Not now at least

But now that he thinks about it… Would it be impossible? He could research everything that could be found about the villain – there had to be some information about him, no matter how far-fetched it would seem – and then try to approach him. Since he’s quirkless he will most likely not look like a threat to the man. Of course, there’s the problem of Izuku actually not being capable of doing much on his own but! That’s what he has his inventions for.

Please don’t ever try it, coffee fairies have their limits too

Midoriya didn’t laugh but he felt a nice little flutter deep within his heart. He couldn’t put into words how much Shinso’s words meant to him. In the middle of what felt like a crumbling world, left alone to run circles in his own head… His friend reaching out to him felt like a sliver of hope he couldn’t dream of having just a moment ago. 

Ya sure?

He barely touched the send button when the doors burst open and he had time for one surprised blink before his mother was holding him in her arms.

“Oh Izuku!” she cried and he embraced her back, this time tears coming easily when he heard her heart-breaking wails.

He had a distinct feeling that the roles were reversed from when he asked her whether he can be a hero ten years ago. 

He has no idea what to do or say, so he just weeps with her.

~‿‖‿~§~♪~§~⁀‖⁀~

Mei and Inasa reached out to him not long after. Surprisingly, Eraserhead also sent a message, but instead of asking about his emotional state, he told him to stop his coffee delivery activity. He made a logical argument of the world being more dangerous than before, and Izuku understood the hero’s concerns.

So he started waking up even earlier, and on his way to his workshop (his mom didn’t want to let him go at the beginning but when school started again, she did so, although hesitantly) he left the coffee, this time in closed cup, near the spot he usually finds Eraserhead in. The man’s an underground hero so he’s perceptive and Midoriya’s conclusion is further confirmed by both the disappearing cup and a text message.

Problem Child

Although days were grim after the Hosu incident, he smiled at that. It felt… Somewhat personal. And Midoriya who was still learning that not all authority figures are assholes that will ignore him for his quirkless status, appreciated it greatly.

His and Mei’s (mostly hers to be honest) plan of buying the beach worked out splendidly. Izuku felt a tad bit bad about using current madness to get the piece of land cheaper (not even dirt cheap, it was rubbish cheap now) but hey! If they want to sell it so badly then he did a good thing by buying it, right? 

The project of building underground tunnels got put on hold when UA decided to build dorms; Mei managed to wrangle Cementoss into assisting her when he was finished though. And Inasa was happy to help them too (one look at him told Izuku far more than he’d like to know. It’s so clear that the boy had been crushed by the news and was barely holding together. The way his eyes shone when he got asked to help, to be useful burnt at some deep part of Izuku). 

Even though the patch of destruction was in full swing, most people didn't see it just yet. A lot had a bad feeling which they ignored. Some fought valiantly to stop the incoming crumbling of society at any cost. One creature of unknown origin forced his mind into override, strengthening defenses of his school and thinking plans upon plans if another one went wrong.

But Izuku continues as he usually would.

Not because he is unmoved by what had happened. He keeps on dreaming about Kacchan (about the blond telling him to jump off the rooftop and then doing so himself, of his past friend being mutilated by a multiple-quirked villain, of the blond becoming a Nomu-like monster that climbs from underneath Izuku’s bed and demands answers why he, a promising future hero, is gone while useless Deku is safe and sound… He dreams of his place being swapped with Kacchan's too). That’s actually part of why he wakes up earlier and gets less sleep (still around five hours though, unlike Shinso the poor insomnia-haunted lad). 

The reason why he works even more and runs himself ragged is because he desperately hopes to make a difference. He isn’t yet sure what kind yet, but he wants to do something. And he wants to protect those around him. Sure, Inasa is far stronger than him and Shinso is training hard to become a hero while Mei is… Just Mei. He’s pretty sure even the universe wouldn’t dare to touch her. She’s just… Crazy enough to turn it against itself. Which would more likely than not result in the world as they know ending (not that it would be that bad of an idea when he thinks about it… Better if Mei is the one behind it rather than the multiple-quirked monster of a villain). 

Still. The fact is that Midoriya changes even faster now. His endless determination a fuel for said change. Day after day the little useless nerd people used to know him as disappears. By the time Mei finally brings a very confused Cementoss (knowing her he expected her base to be on the moon rather than on a rubbish-ridden beach) to help build an underground base, Izuku… Well, to put it simply, he would be more likely to punch you in the face if you called him names rather than apologize for existing.

Even he, himself, would describe himself as a little shit nowadays.

Anyway! Since the terrain was private and the two of them were owners, with a hero's supervision Inasa could use his quirk to help without having any kind of license. Cementoss didn’t look too happy with the idea of being assisted by a youngster he didn’t even know but already saw what Mei is capable of and decided that the situation at hand could have been more crazy. 

After three hours they had not one, not two but seven rooms. Four medium-sized ones, two large ones, and a small one that was more of an entrance. And! Somehow they managed to not collapse even one pile of rubbish! Even Cementos was impressed with Inasa’s fine control which in return made the boy start talking passionately about how awesome the hero is.

By the end of the month, Mei forced her teacher to visit a few more times and they currently had a pretty massive bunker. Since it seemed big enough to hold half of their city (and they wouldn’t even get as squeezed as in the morning bus!) they started planning on making some actual walls on top part, just to be safe. After all, it wouldn’t do for a sudden tornado to appear and bury them under tons of trash. 

But before they could get to that part, Cementoss disappeared. And so did a few of Mei’s and Shinso’s classmates. By the time of the provisional hero exam (which 90% of participants had passed, showing just how desperate the government was getting), all UA students had to move into dorms and strictly report when, where, and with who they would be leaving campus. They absolutely couldn’t go anywhere alone. 

For a bit, Shiketsu seemed to be safe but it wasn’t long before hero course students started disappearing too. The worst part wasn’t that no one seemed to notice but rather that everyone more or less knew what was going on yet no one dared to talk about it out loud.

Kamino didn’t just steal hope by announcing All Might’s death. It also took most of the top heroes, including the number two Endeavour, the fourth (Beast Jeanist), and the fifth (Edgeshot) but also the new-coming Mt. Lady.  

Society didn’t have time to worry about kidnapped students when there seemed to not be enough protectors for their own miserable lives. After all, most of the human race thinks about themselves first and only then gives a helping hand to others.

Izuku didn’t ignore it. He wrote notes on every one of the missing students, taking not just their quirks but everything he could find into consideration. He made profiles, hoping that one day it might turn out useful. Still, he stopped positive thinking a long time ago so what he expected was more of meeting Nomu with one of their quirks rather than being able to actually save them. 

Midoriya is quirkless, alright? Even with awesome power it wouldn’t be possible to help everyone (as All Might’s life had proven…) so he, who lacks inhuman strength, can only hope to be ready for… Well, whatever life decides to throw at him. 

It’s important to think realistically after all. 

~‿‖‿~§~♪~§~⁀‖⁀~

Shiketsu started to send heroes to escort students from the hero course too (so far other courses seemed to be… Safe). That’s how this strange situation came to be.

“Eraser!” Ms. Joke called out happily, Inasa and Izuku blinking at their teacher who went running toward a homeless-looking man. Behind him, Shinso and Mei mirrored their reaction.

“Dear God, why…” the man whispered, hiding deeper into his scarf. 

“Who would have thought that we would meet here like this! I was just getting Inasa home since, you know… What about you though!” she said happily and Izuku made an unamused face which she somehow noticed even though he was standing behind her. She twirled around and patted his head. “Getting you home too, Midoriya! But let’s not kid ourselves, you’re probably the safest one out of all of us.”

He shrugged, not going to disagree.

Eraserhead raised an eyebrow and took a better glance at the aforementioned kid. His eyes widened the tiniest bit up in realization.

“Problem child,” he murmured and Izuku nodded in greeting.

“I would offer coffee but you caught me off guard this time,” he said with a shrug.

The green-haired woman froze for a second before looking back and forth from Eraserhead to Midoriya with a speed that must have made her at least a little bit dizzy.

“You know each other?!” she asked, shocked.

“I bring him coffee sometimes.” the boy answered readily.

“Even after I told you to stay home because it’s getting more and more dangerous outside.” Eraserhead quipped right back.

“Well, as Ms. Joke so kindly pointed out, I’m the least likely student to get kidnapped.” 

“And why is that?”

It wasn’t a very important day overall. After the initial surprise, the four students would hang out happily chatting, while Ms. Joke refused to leave before Eraserhead did. And Aizawa had to escort his students back so… They spent quite a while in that surreal group. 

But Midoriya would remember this date as a counterweight to that remarkable day of being told that he had no power for the first time. And that’s all because of that simple question and his own, even simpler, answer.

“I’m quirkless,” Izuku said with the expression of a cat that had just eaten the canary. He wasn’t afraid of the man’s reaction, of being ridiculed. For once in his life he was proud because his curse didn’t make him worse but in a strange chain of events, protected him from what everyone else was terrified of. 

Why would someone who seems to be kidnapping people with strong or useful quirks take an interest in someone lacking any power at all?

And Eraserhead's reaction was… 

“Of course, you’d go under the radar like that, problem child. What else was I expecting?” 

Midoriya’s grin had grown even wider. Such an easy acceptance. No pity, no condolences, not even worry. Izuku could have as well said he has some amazing quirk like being uncatchable and he’s pretty sure the raven-haired man would react the exact same way.

Although it is quite sad that the world had to start crumbling apart for Midoriya to find pride in his quirklessnes.

Chapter Text

Around the second year, everything suddenly went to shit. After months of relative quiet from League of Villains, the first Nomu in a while appeared. It wreaked havoc and heroes were unable to do anything; they failed miserably. 

The second one showed shortly after. And then the third and the fourth… 

The metaphorical cracks in their world suddenly explode, leaving a barren wasteland. Not immediately, of course. In the first days of the apocalypse society somewhat keeps its shape but soon it learns just how few people can stand up to Nomus. It isn’t even a matter of a full week for everyone to get a permit to use their quirks to fight the creatures. It turns out to be a great idea; it keeps monsters at bay for the entirety of two weeks before villains send reinforcements and everything truly goes to shit.

Izuku manages to stay in contact with his friends (and Eraserhead) only thanks to communicators he and Mei created months ago. 

Midoriyas and Bakugos are quick to start living together, barricaded in the latter’s home (since it’s bigger and has a sturdy basement). It takes a bit longer for them to form patrols and scout teams. Because every single one of them is either borderline suicidal or too sacrificing. Mitsuki doesn’t want to let anyone get hurt, her husband doesn’t want his admittedly loud wife on a stealth mission, Inko would rather try her luck against Nomus than let her son go outside and Izuku logically knows that if he isn’t the one to go out someone is going to die. 

Because with all due respect, all the adults present are either as clumsy as his junior high years made him sound to be or brave enough to actually try fighting a Nomu (Mitsuki, why are you like this?). But of course, all three of them refuse to see the truth. 

It’s the third day in the house, with no hope of help and another hour of arguing that his nerves can’t take it anymore.

“You make a good point, Izuku, but you don’t have a quirk. If anything ha…” Masaru tries, his voice soft and gentle, his words don’t hold any malice but by this point in his life, Midoriya won’t take pity anymore.

“And what would any of you do with your quirks?” he asks coldly, which for some reason makes everyone freeze. “Those monsters wouldn’t even feel your sparks. With all due respect, glycerin sweet isn’t going to do shit either. Mom would have the most luck if she used her quirk to pull heart or something but she would have to develop such skill first. I’ve spent my whole life dealing with quirks not having one myself and these past few months I had more training with my hero course friend than you probably ever had. I’m the most likely one to make it back alive.”

Mitsuki hides her mouth behind her hand and her eyes become glassy. Izuku starts regretting how good he is at reading people because it takes him seconds to realize that when he swore, he reminded her of her unruly son. 

Luckily she was far better at holding her tears in than Midoriyas.

“But Izuku it’s…” Inko tries but he squints at her and she immediately stops.

“I’m not a kid anymore, mom. I was weak, I know. But I’m not anymore. I grew and I changed. I know that what I’m about to say might sound insensitive… But we can’t let ourselves be blinded by emotions, by the past. We’re not in the same world anymore. Right now we’re fighting for survival… And we either make decisions that are the most beneficial for everyone or we die.”

Everyone is quiet for a long while. Masaru hugs his wife whose heartbroken expression forces Izuku’s eyes toward his mom who is hugging herself. She looks lost and scared but surprisingly, there are no tears in her eyes yet. 

“He’s right.”

Surprisingly it’s Mitsuki who breaks the silence. Some tears escape her eyes but she frees herself from her husband’s embrace and wipes them away, her voice steady. Her expression is one of vicious determination.

“I suck at stealth, I can yell and fight but I won’t do a shit against those monsters outside. Masaru can make us a pretty bonfire to dance and sing around but I don’t think villains are going to join. Inko… You can do it one day, probably, but not today. Get back your spark from our junior years because we’re going to fucking pull through.” she stated, her blood-red eyes turning toward Izuku. “You’re right, you’re probably our best bet right now. I hate to admit to it, not because you’re better than me but because I’m terrified of sending you out there. But it shouldn’t be my decision… Not mine, not Masaru’s, and not even Inko’s. So kid... Are you sure you can do it?”

He was taken off guard. For a second he was once again this small boy that made puppy eyes toward auntie Mitsuki to get more cookies for both himself and Kacchan. She was this untouchable titan everyone was afraid of, even his fearless "friend".

But he was quick to return to reality. One in which heroes aren’t perfect, society falls like dominos, quirkless doesn’t mean worthless, and Bakugo Mitsuku is human no different than himself.

Not all humans were created equal and by extent… Where her weakness lies, his strength arises.

“Easily,” he answers with a lazy grin he might or might have not borrowed from Shinso.

Mitsuki readily replies with her own, much sharper smile.

~‿‖‿~§~♪~§~⁀‖⁀~

The first time out is pretty scary… Fine, scratch that. It’s terrifying. Roads are empty and there is no one walking around. The world is quiet or has he suddenly become deaf perhaps? No, wait. There is a slight rustle from that direction… 

He readily dives underneath a bush, Nomu glances in his direction but leaves when it doesn’t spot any humans. And so, Midoriya gets up and goes forward. He’d like to say he didn’t tremble and his legs didn’t feel like jelly at all. But he would be lying.

Surprisingly, he manages to get to a shop and back without any problems. But he doesn’t get in immediately. He lets himself take a few deep breaths before knocking on the door in a rhythm of "never gonna give you up" (Mitsuki’s idea). They open and he manages to get inside of his own accord; before the blonde can pull him in. 

“Guess who’s back?” he says in a far more confident tone than he feels.

“Good job, kid!” the woman answers, patting him on his back with far more strength than strictly necessary.

Soon enough he’s hugging his worried mother and then apologizes to Masaru for his earlier outburst. The man, of course, forgives him easily and offers his own sorries too. 

The hierarchy in their little group quickly becomes clear. Mitsuki is the leader and motivator. Masaru rations their provisions and takes most of the night shifts (the rest wouldn’t be able to sleep without someone keeping an eye out), Inko helps him with both but spends half of her days training. She’s determined to be able to do something more for everyone. 

Izuku is, of course, the scout. Thanks to his communicator he gets information, thanks to his outings he sees the world from the first perspective and scavenges whatever they might need. He also quickly becomes Mitsuki’s advisor, their joint efforts making the most brutally efficient plans and strategies the current world has seen.

It wasn’t easy but they were doing fine. And his friends did too! Inasa and some other students have taken over the campus, defending it from any Nomus that came too close. Midoriya would join them was it not for the fact that there were a lot of beasts outside. Alone he would probably be able to sneak by but with the rest of his group? Yeah… No.

Shinso and Mei were as safe as they could get; UA was an impenetrable fortress. Eraserhead was there too (and contacted Midoriya through Mei, making sure he was still alive and somewhat safe. He suggested the boy stay with them but it posed the same problem as Shiketsu. Izuku was not one to leave his family behind). 

By the second month of the apocalypse, Izuku was so well versed in the art of moving unseen on the empty streets that he started to visit his summer house. It was… It didn't change. No one seemed to have been there since the last time he had visited. And no Nomu seem keen on visiting such a wonderfully blooming (with garbage) piece of land. 

Midoriya was quick to realize that it was a perfect place for an emergency base and fixed everything that needed fixing, going as far as washing blankets (and whatever else needed cleaning) in the nicer part of the beach. He put it to dry near his solar panels.

He also took rid of weed and ate an apple from the forbidden… No wait, just a tree. One that thrives in the garbage but a normal tree nonetheless. And the fruit tasted just fine. 

He was returning home when he heard loud but small footsteps and something far larger chasing after them. He ignored his own rules of survival, his legs carrying him there before he could rethink his life choices. 

A little white-haired girl was sprinting in his general direction, a huge mutated body chasing her. Her eyes widened when she noticed him but instead of hesitating, she went even faster, every bit as ready to barrel into him as the boy was ready to save her even though his chances of survival were getting slimmer and slimmer with her every step.

Survivor he might be, he still would choose this small fragile life over his own anytime. He reached out, catching her in one arm and making a smooth turn, offsetting the energy of his earlier sprint before throwing her on his shoulder like a bag of potatoes and sprinting for dear life. Luckily this specific Nomu didn’t seem to have super speed (otherwise the girl wouldn’t have been able to run to Izuku before getting mauled to death) so he and his years-of-experience-in-running-away gave him hope of maybe getting out of here alive after all.

Or so he thought weaving through an endless maze of alleyways (he wasn’t going to risk running into another Nomu on the road) for the grand total of two minutes. No matter if he climbed stairs and jumped around rooftops or got down and tried confusing the Nomu by making random turns... The creature didn’t seem smart but it sure as hell was persistent. 

And unlike the beast, Midoriya had a finite amount of stamina and was steadily slowing down. When his energy grew dangerously low, not only was his heart beating out of his chest, but his mind started murmuring apology after apology to his friends, mom, Bakugos, and the little girl who started sniffling. 

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, it’s my fault, I shouldn’t have run…”

He didn’t have time to comfort her. How when he barely had a second to catch a breath? He wouldn’t be able to leave, he wouldn’t… 

In his last attempt, trying to at least save the little girl, he put her down as gently as he could while still jogging and went running, moving a bit closer to the Nomu yelling so it would go after him, and then took a sharp turn. 

After a few steps, he stopped. He knew he couldn’t outrun it no matter how far he would go – by now he was confident it had a tracking quirk – so he decided against losing even more stamina. He took few deep breathes, one of his hands reaching for a laser pointer that could do far more damage than blinding and the other for an extremely high-voltage fork (don’t ask. It was one of his older creations and he wasn’t expecting to fight for his life today! Which he probably should have…). 

The creature threw itself at him with a loud screech but before it could sink its teeth into his shoulder, he stabbed his fork in its hand – or at least tried; it seemed to have some kind of protective quirk – and activated it, making the energy flow. The creature shook from the electric current but didn’t back down, and didn’t bite a chunk out of Midoriya’s skin only thanks to the laser in its face. The item actually managed to puncture its skin but not enough for it to give up on its prey.

It seemed to get even angrier, taking a step back with a more human-like scream, before promptly throwing its hand forward. Midoriya let go of the fork – it didn’t seem to do anything anyway – and ducked down, barely escaping the incoming fist. He rolled forward, under the legs of the creature but…

Another Nomu went barreling toward him and he actually did see some of his life flash before his eyes. It was a weird experience; he still tried to dodge, you see. The world was moving as if in slow motion, his legs not bringing him back to standing fast enough and a huge dark blob ramming into him, not crushing him against the wall only because the earlier Nomu so happened to get pancaked between Midoriya and the building.  

It still hurt like hell and Izuku has an impressive pain tolerance. At least half of his bones must have gotten shattered. 

Yet, he didn’t lose consciousness. More! He noticed the little girl, hesitantly approaching rather than running away and he did his damnedest to raise his hand. He let go of the laser pointer earlier when he go hit but a rain of cement gave him enough to work with. He gritted his teeth, ignoring the pain he was pretty sure would kill some, grabbing a brick and bringing it on the second Nomu’s head. Or at the very least he tried to; he didn’t have enough mobility left in his body to call his movement a swing. 

Fuck. He couldn’t go down like this. Not yet. His mom and Bakugos were counting on him… He needed to at the very least say goodbye… He can’t die in this alleyway, not even remembering what was the last message he sent to any of his friends! 

He didn’t feel the second Nomu grab his hair and bang his head into a brick wall. It’s somewhat funny how he noticed the blood streaming down his face but not the moment of impact.

His eyes fluttered close and his last thought was not that of a confident and snarky young man he was growing into. It was one of a scared, apologetic boy he was for most of his life. How disappointing… He went so far yet nothing really seemed to have changed.

I’m sorry.

And then a new kind of pain came. Izuku hadn’t actually ever died before (even if he was close that one time with sludge villain and maybe those two instances when inventing went terribly wrong…) but he still knew that something was wrong. Maybe because he was sure he was still alive? And he really shouldn’t, not after that last hit… Head trauma and extreme blood loss are a deathly combo after all.

Yet he still felt. He could still think, even if his thoughts became jumbled, and at some point he felt as if he didn’t have a body and only his mind existed. 

And then he opened his eyes, his body perfectly fine, no blood dripping from wounds nor any broken bones to be felt… He couldn’t even feel a scratch on him! Not that he usually knew when he got those. But he didn’t exactly have time to check himself over, too focused on the man in a bird mask before him. The little girl from before was standing next to him, her head bowed down and tears quietly escaping her eyes.

“You haven’t been touched by this plague people call quirks, yes?” the stranger questioned as if it was the most important thing right now.

"Well, it might be for this man." – Izuku’s mind, on an analytic override, quipped – "A man who seemingly just killed two Nomus and brought you back from death" 

“Yeah, I’m quirkless.” the boy answered, having a distinct feeling it wouldn’t do good to stay quiet for too long.

“Good… It seems there are some uncontaminated individuals…” he murmured as it to himself before turning around, the little girl quick to follow.

Midoriya just watched him take a few steps but suddenly the man stopped and turned around.

“Come.” 

His tone wasn’t demanding nor even aggressive. It was completely empty. Yet Midoriya was quick to get back to his feet and move toward the man, following one step behind him.

“I’m the leader of Eight Precepts of Death, yakuza. My goal is to cure the world of the disease commonly called quirks. You’re the first healthy person I met… So it’s only natural you start working for me. I’ll see what role I’ll give you according to your abilities.”

Izuku didn’t freeze mostly because contrary to logical conclusions, he was not suicidal. And maybe a bit because some deep part of him whispered "Oh look what a special kind of snowflake you are" which was pretty funny to him. He might have become a little too apathetic to death thanks to the apocalypse. 

“Um… Can I get a part-time position, sir, please?” he asked as politely as he could, hoping to not get murdered since he was "the only healthy person in the diseased world" that man had met. 

When his guts didn’t explode or something, Midoriya let himself hope he would leave this situation in one piece. The glance he got from the dark-haired man was pretty scary but after so many near-death experiences Izuku is kind of starting to feel desensitized to it. It probably isn't healthy, the way he copes but if it works it works.  

“Why?” his possible employer in the time of apocalypse asked simply.

“I, uh, kind of have a family to take care of and, umm… I know we’re in the middle of the end of the world but I have some renovations to do. In a bunker, not in a normal house, of course!” 

It was honestly terrifying how suddenly he was nervous but not because he was living in the point of time when he could get killed by simply taking a stroll around the city (which they were kind of doing right now…) but because he was in the midst of… Job interview? With a leader of Yakuza? 

Fuck. What did his life come to? 

“If it doesn’t decrease your performance.” the man agreed after a moment of thought. 

“I’ll do my best!” the boy was quick to reassure. “I, um, am not bad with analyzing and I have some education in building things… I can install solar panels too...” 

He truly felt like a hopeful employee at a job interview right now. Not that he ever was at one. 

“Do you have any experience in genetics?”

“I’m sorry to say that it isn’t something I studied but I have a basic understanding of how… The disease functions and about the inherent traits various groups posses.”

“It should be good enough for the start.” 

Midoriya forced his sigh of relief down. For a moment both he and his boss (how did it happen?!) were quiet before stopping before a gateway to a rather nice-looking house. It was terrifying how the neighborhood was completely devoid of Nomus; usually at least one would be walking around such a big street.

“What’s your name?”

“Midoriya Izuku, sir!” 

“Come here tomorrow, whatever time is fine. Knock at the door and give your name when asked. I’ll explain details then.” the man said, entering the yard and seconds later knocking on the door.

“Um, sir! How should I call you?” the boy yelled after him, belatedly realizing that it was a rather important piece of information.

“Overhaul.” the man answered and the doors opened. The man disappeared inside together with the little girl whose head was kept down the whole way here and then into the house.

Izuku’s heart ached for her but he knew nothing about her. But seeing the predicament he found himself in… He would have a chance to find out and maybe… Maybe even help her.

He turned around and left, not letting any negative thoughts fully bloom. Sure, he might have not survived today with his own strength but he would have, had he decided to leave the little girl alone. Then he wouldn’t have to deal with yakuza but… As much of a headache as it seemed, he was sure he could make good use of it.

And how could he leave this chance of walking into the home and announcing;

“Mom, I got a job! Are you proud?”

Chapter Text

It turns out that when you get a job in the middle of the apocalypse (and at yakuza at that) no one is going to congratulate you. Only lecture you. At least after initial fussing over him, Mitsuki seemed somewhat amused so there was that at least.

Unlike his friends when he decided to tell them the news. After their reactions, he decided against showing off his new job to Eraserhead. There’s 50-50 he would just sigh or come to Midoriya’s house to drag him somewhere he could keep an eye on him. And it’s as much up to you as it is to Izuku which one would happen.

Anyway, he didn't really have a saying in it anyway. Like, honestly, what did everyone think he should have done? "No sorry, sir yakuza boss, I’m afraid it’s illegal to hire high-schoolers and at apocalypse at that"? He has a distinct feeling his friends half-expected him to do so. He isn’t crazy enough to say that though! Sure, he might have talked about renovations but that’s another matter entirely! 

So, back to the present. After an hour of turning from side to side, four hours of actual sleep, and fighting against uncooperative heather at his summer house he decided to make a good first impression by coming early. And not at the butt-crack of dawn at that! He’s pretty sure it’s already seven AM! 

So he went toward the yakuza house, hoping to not get himself nor his close ones killed. On the way there he decided to visit a shop to get some better clothes and a face mask. He has a feeling his boss will appreciate it (or at the very least it will make him less likely to kill his poor employee).

Shockingly, for once in his life, everything went smoothly. He got some nice clothes, found the right building without getting lost, and even got let inside without an embarrassing "who? I never heard of anyone of that name"! Everyone was surprisingly nice (not counting this one dude that, for whatever reason, wanted to fight him. He kind of reminded Izuku of Inasa so he wasn’t spooked too badly though). 

Learning the ropes of what he would be doing from now on was… Well, it wasn’t easy but he quickly came to an agreement with one of the people there that he’ll focus more on segregating data and making it more readable rather than any suspicious experiments. After writing dozens of analyzes and making hundreds of various projects, Izuku is pretty adept at arranging tons' worth of knowledge and condensing it into simpler writing. 

At first, he was getting some nonsense that didn’t make much sense for his not-very bio-chem-oriented brain. But within the second week, he learned about Trigger and Quirk Erasing bullet which was… Well, both concepts were terrifying but the second one gave him hope in defeating Nomus so yeah… It’s for the greater good, he hopes?

He deluded himself for the entirety of three days before learning about the little girl’s involvement in the matter and well… It didn’t bode well with him. But he knew better than to try fighting a whole yakuza alone and heroes were in scrambles so there was no way they would help. So Midoriya did what he does best; he played the waiting game. Because if someone was going to survive and find a way out it was him. He just hoped the girl can wait long enough for him to find a solution.

At the very least he got to talk with her sometimes. He readily found all the little things he could do for her, without getting into Overhaul’s bad graces. And the situation was hard to deal with though, surprisingly, not because of his boss but rather because of the girl; she was terrified. Not of him per se but rather what "her curse" can do to him. He guesses being killed and then reassembled in her line of sight didn’t help her mental state much either. 

But that’s fine because he’ll find a way to get her out and then he’ll find a way to help her outgrow her trauma. He came from zero to… Whatever he is now so surely she will be able to turn her life around too!

Oh, who is he kidding… His guilt is devouring him from the inside out. If only he was stronger… 

But of course, as life would have it, he doesn’t have much time to focus on the poor little soul because suddenly the amount of Nomus increases again and soon Shiketsu falls. Contact with Inasa stops.

Midoriya knows it’s stupid… Dangerous… But when did that stop him before? 

So he goes to his school. To check the damage. To see if… Maybe… Someone definitely escaped, right? It’s impossible that everyone just… 

But when he arrives there’s only debris. The once proud, tall building is no more, instead, there are piles of stone and… Bloody remains. Midoriya doesn’t give up hope instantly. He takes out his communicator and readily tracks down Inasa’s own. He finds his friend… His friend’s body, only the cape of his hero costume visible from underneath the rubble.

He doesn’t need much to realize what had happened. Countless inhuman bodies buried around… His friend in the middle… 

Inasa was a hero to the very end, wasn’t he? 

Izuku doesn’t cry his eyes out. A few tears escape, yes, but he wipes them and turns around. He doesn’t know what happened to survivors (his friend sacrificed himself, had thrown a fucking building at the monsters, there’s no way his efforts went to waste!) and… He painfully realizes that he doesn’t really care about all those unknown people who might have or might have not made it. 

He needs to make sure the rest of his friends… That his family is alright. He can’t let himself grieve, not now. They are in the middle of wave two of the apocalypse and if he isn’t cautious… He’ll be gone. And that isn’t something Inasa would want. Midoriya knows him well enough to imagine what his ghost would say if he could be heard.

“You wouldn’t believe it, 'Riya! I gathered all the winds and made them so strong, I kept on throwing those monsters but they kept getting up! So I got this brilliant idea and I sent the building flying! I had to stand in the middle for it to work but it was totally worth it! I killed so many of them! Dozens even! Can you believe it?! I took them all out by myself!”

Yeah. Inasa would be proud of himself. Because, in the end, they were quite similar… Weren’t they? Midoriya would gladly give his life up if it meant saving someone else. If it meant taking some of those monsters down… To give others a chance at survival… Yes, he would do it without a second thought.

But Izuku was slowly growing to understand he was worth more alive than dead and his friend would have no such a chance. But… It was his decision. And it would be disrespectful to regret something that Inasa most likely didn’t. 

Life goes on, not caring for those who had been taken by death.

 ~‿‖‿~§~♪~§~⁀‖⁀~

In the end, Midoriya didn’t have time to mourn his friend’s death. You see, Nomus went after UA next. Izuku kept in contact with both Mei and Shinso, nothing short of begging for updates. He couldn’t… He just… 

If he failed to save all of his friends what was he worth? Why was he even still here?

Overhaul hated heroes so there was no way he would help and anything Izuku could build, UA could make so much faster and better. Quirks? They have all kinds of powerful students there. What could one, quirkless boy do?

As if there wasn’t enough on his plate, he was gifted yet another unpleasant surprise when returning to his house base after a trip out for food (thankfully he didn’t yet have to start going further out). He nearly left the safety of bushes when he noticed a light grey shape walking down the road, slightly swaying from side to side. He waited for it to go further down but… 

It soon turned out that the creature was making circles around Midoriya’s destination. As if waiting for something.

Izuku had no idea what to do. It had never happened before; Nomus don’t think and they tend to walk aimlessly around the city, giving chase to whatever is stupid enough to move. But this one… It’s nearly as if it has some goal in mind… But even if it is the case, what could it possibly want here…?

Suddenly it stopped and looked straight at the bush Midoriya was hiding in. He froze, his breath getting stuck in his throat. But if he thought he was terrified out of his mind now, he was in for a surprise. Very unpleasant one.

“D…” the creature stuttered out, taking a step forward. “D-De…”

The time seemed to slow down as the creature stumbled toward his hiding spot.

“K… Ku…”

Midoriya couldn’t help the sob that shook his whole body. How could he? He couldn’t help Eri… He didn’t even get to say goodbye to Inasa… And now, now there’s Kacchan but it isn’t Kacchan anymore. His childhood friend, the bully whom Izuku never stopped believing would grow up to be an amazing hero… 

Is a Nomu.

“DEKU!” the creature screeched its battle roar and suddenly there was no more stumbling. The monster charged toward him, leaving behind smoke and indents of explosions Izuku was so familiar with.

His mind was frozen but his body moved, jumping out of the bushes just in time to dodge a right hook. He got up to his feet and jumped back, asphalt melting under the beast’s powerful attack.

“Kacchan please!” Midoriya yelled, barely dodging attacks because of his blurry vision. He knows he shouldn’t be crying. He spent enough nights mourning his past friend. And he knows better than to plead with him. After all… He didn’t listen even before becoming a literal monster.

“Deku!” the beast roared as if to argue. Why wasn’t it surprising that Kacchan always had to have the last word? 

Izuku tried to say something, to somehow reach the person that had to be somewhere deep within the monster. But he could barely see anything from behind his tears and the attacks were only getting faster. It was a matter of time before Midoriya trips and this time there will be no one to bring his mangled corpse back to the world of the living and…

Splat.

Droplets of black blood sprayed onto Izuku’s face and he froze. He blinked the tears out, not daring to wipe them in fear of accidentally touching the viscous liquid. 

Mitsuki was standing behind what used to be her son, breathing heavily. The monster on the ground twitched, an axe protruding from its head. Masaru stood behind his wife, shakily holding onto rakes while Inko stood with her hand outstretched, ready to use her quirk.

“De…” the creature rasped out, trying to get up even with its head nearly split in half.

“N-no… It’s… It’s K-Kacchan…” Izuku whispered, weakly reaching out as if to stop the situation from escalating.

Something ugly, far more powerful than her usual rage shone in Mitsuki’s eyes as she reached for the axe and freed it, swinging it behind her head and then down in quick motion... With no hesitation. It was smooth even though she didn’t have as many muscles as Izuku. 

Because she had adrenaline and blind fury fueling her.

“This is not my son!” she seethed, yet, even in her desperate state she kept her voice relatively quiet. She knew that there could be more in the vicinity. When Nomu twitched once again, she was quick to lift her axe again. But this time when she started pummeling, she didn't stop until she was sure it would never get up. “My angry rascal was a hero in training, not a blood-thirsty beast! He might have been stubborn and infuriating but he would never let some half-witted assholes control him! He wouldn’t let them poison his mind into going after his friends, and family! This! Is! Not! My! Son!”

With her last shout, she freed the axe and stumbled back. Midoriya wasn’t able to tell whether her labored breathing was a result of emotional or physical strain. 

“Mitsu…” Masaru tried, walking to her and reaching out to touch her.

She turned around sharply.

“We need to get back in. There might be more of them around,” she commanded. “And don’t look at this thing. My son died in Kamino, fighting villains that tried to take him. Don’t you dare compare him to that thing.”

Midoriya followed after her without a word. So did Masaru and Inko, the two of them exchanging worried glances.

The atmosphere was heavy for the rest of the day but the new morning, Mitsuki forced them to "lighten the fuck up". And no one dared to argue with her. No one mourned the beast that still lay on the street (and which Izuku would avoid to the best of his abilities every time he left the house. He couldn’t look at it. He just couldn’t).

Izuku decided that day that he definitely would rather die like Inasa. 

Chapter Text

UA held for three weeks before falling. The outcome… It wasn’t as bad as Shiketsu since the principal made an evacuation plan… Plans. 

He did account for the possibility of All For One coming personally but if such a terrible thing did come… Well, he could only hope to save at least some of his students and employees. He was ready to go down with his fine establishment; after all, what else was left of this world for him? 

He spent years building his school. He fought so very unlike an animal that he is and chose to give humanity a chance. And they accepted him; he won. But he couldn’t have his not-so-small four walls. Of course, he couldn’t. Still, how could he have seen the outcome when All Might kept so many secrets? For the number one hero’s aids failing so spectacularly at checking if his arch nemesis has truly died? How could he think a plan up when he learned about All For One only after said villain already made all the moves needed to assure victory?

So he left his students under the guidance of the teachers and straightened up, standing before the scrounge of Japan. The Nomus around ignored both their creator and the tiny creature that dared to stand tall before the villain.

“Greetings. I am afraid I cannot offer you any tea after the destruction your little pests have brought me.”

“No need, I have come for business only. You are said to be quite intelligent so I assume you know that your little distraction will have no impact on the outcome?”

“Of course. But I am fairly certain that heroically facing you while my dear students try to do the impossible will lift their morals considerably.”

“Ah, so do you know how meaningless it is? Quite amusing. Now though… What should I do with you? I admit, I had been curious for a while whether you are a deformed human or actually an animal with a quirk… It seems to be a splendid occasion to satiate my curiosity.” 

The man moved in a blink of an eye but Nedzu expected it. He knew it was not a fight he could win but there was still something he wanted and could achieve. The best possible outcome. Depending on the unknown factors he had around ten percent of fooling his enemy and getting the desired result. 

More than enough to try. 

He forced himself to stay still, even as his instincts urged him to scurry away. All For One had a speed comparable to All Might. Nedzu would not be able to outrun it so the best he could do was wait and…

Ah, here it is. The infamous black tentacle-like appendages that cost quite a few heroes their quirks... And by extent lives. 

Quick calculations were, of course, a field where quite a bit of Nedzu’s strength lay in, but well-thought plans carefully prepared as far as years before the situation would arise? That’s what he truly shone at. That’s why his observations from what little footage was available, gave him a fair idea where the tentacle would strike. Finding the exact moment to open his mouth and bite down in just a quarter of a second so as not to give his enemy with higher agility a chance to dodge was harder but not impossibly so.

“Really?” All For One asked, unamused, using the firm grasp Nedzu’s jaw had on his tentacle to throw him into the nearby wall. “I thought you prided yourself in your sophisticated approach to the problems?”

The small body did not move.

One

“Playing dead now, are we?” the villain mused, lazily walking toward the principal, a few tentacles at ready. “How amusing.”

Two

All For One’s quirk moved with a rather impressive speed but…

Three!

The small principal sprung to life, throwing some kind of smoke-like grenade under his tiny feet (quite a nasty substance created specifically with locating quirks in mind; Ragdoll's Search especially) and expertly waving around the incoming tentacles.

“Your attempts at survival would be quite admirable was it not for how frustratingly pointless this little game is.” the villain commented, adding even more tentacles, easily cornering the creature without even needing to reach for his quirks.

His good humor was on the verge of souring when he finally felt his attack connect. Really, it took far more than necessary to finally stab into the pathetic flesh of this rodent. 

“An animal, after all, how interesting. I’m afraid I won’t be able to make use of this quirk myself… But degrading UA principal to a mindless animal sounds like a fair trade-off.” the man mused, taking in the sudden stiffness of the little creature. 

It was amusing. Gone were the calm breaths and the heart that already beat quite fast became more akin to rabid's pace. The tiny squeak that left the once-principal's snout nearly made him chuckle. 

All For One made an exaggerated motion of taking a step forward – an obvious feign that anyone with half a brain cell would realize – and the rat went running, forcing its still mutated body to dive between rumbles that were left of UA’s defense system.

The villain was half-tempted to catch him and show it to one of the students but how long would they even be able to stay alive? An overgrown rat would be killed by one of the bored Nomus in a matter of days if not hours, probably. They would be all dead by the end of this year so why should he bother? He can as well sic Tomura on them and see how well he does.

All For One smiled.

“It’s a shame All Might didn’t get to see his precious society crumble…” he mused before swiftly teleporting back to his base, done playing for the day. 

Nedzu waited a bit longer before taking a short sigh of relief and swiftly taking out bandages hidden in his pocket. His cut tail was bleeding profusely and it was a wonder that he managed to both hold onto the injury and get away before the villain could realize what was going on. It seems the substance in the grenade worked quite splendidly, concluded by how All For One didn’t notice Nedzu cutting off one of his limbs.

The idea had been quite ingenious if risky. Quirks are hidden within DNA and even if All For One accesses them through the quirk factor, his words pointed at him not knowing a lot about animals’ quirks. Was Nedzu a human, the villain would surely see through his plan. But luckily, the principal was no such thing.

Not that it made his loss any less painful. But Nedzu went through a lot before becoming a principal and he perfected the art of manipulating such trivial matters as heartbeat or breath years ago. He could as easily count probabilities as go from his usual persona into an act of a wild beast. He did not escape being an experiment by bravado alone, after all.

Now… He should find his students and regroup. 

~‿‖‿~§~♪~§~⁀‖⁀~

Fucking hell…

It was his first mission in the field all over again but a hundred times worse! Snipe stayed in the school, shooting down enemies from his outpost (the second one of them manages to get up it would be game over for the man… Aizawa wasn’t expecting to see him ever again), Midnight was quick to sacrifice herself too. She waited for them to evacuate before promptly using her quirk to its fullest. The dark-haired male hoped she would be able to escape after putting Nomus to sleep but he knew better than expecting that outcome. 

What chance is there of none of those monsters having some kind of poison immunity quirk? 

Vlad King and Hound Dog were with different group of students since it was easier to move in smaller teams. Similarly, Lunch Rush and Ectoplasm were leading yet another one while Eraserhead was working with Present Mic.

There were others, of course, but Aizawa lost sight of them in the chaos and didn't have a good feeling about their chances. Not like he had time to worry about them when he had his own kids to protect though. 

He swore under his breath, gripping at his capture weapon and ready to jump forward but instead, he opted for activating his quirk on the monster while Present Mic yelled at it. It seems to be effective; Nomu screeched and put its hands to where ears should be but weren’t visible. It didn’t help much against Yamada’s power.

But the loud noise drew more monsters. 

“Mirio, Nejire, Tamaki, take over evacuation. Docking station number four, code 4532,” he ordered and the three of them readily moved the students forward, knowing full well there was no time to argue.

In the corner of his eyes, Aizawa noticed some of his students leaning toward him, obviously wanting to help but luckily their survival instincts were good enough to stop them from making such a stupid decision.

“When the kids are far enough turn off your Speaker System and go all out. I have support’s earmuffs, I will be fine.” Eraserhead instructed, drop-kicking one of the smaller Nomus into a wall. It splattered into a small black pool before promptly coming back to life and trying the attack again. This time the black-haired hero uses his quirk after it tried to reform.

The puddle didn’t come back to life.

“SURE THING ERASER!” 

Aizawa sighed. Good thing his friend learned not to look at him while simultaneously fighting. It was rough back when Yamada was just learning its importance. 

After three more minutes of punching and getting punched, he deemed it safe to take his earmuffs out. Putting them on while keeping an inhuman but, thankfully, rather weak Nomu at bay wasn’t easy but when Aizawa’s life is?

“NOW MIC!” he yelled and didn’t hear his own voice at all. Good. He might be spared bleeding eardrums.

Yamada didn’t have to be told twice.

“IT’S TIME TO ROCK! YEAAAAAAAAAAH!”

Aizawa didn’t feel bad for the Nomus that fell on the ground, holding their bleeding heads. He knew they used to be humans but what was left of those people? He felt bad for what the kidnapped victims of League of Villains went through. But looking at the beasts that were left of them? Seeing them writhe on the ground, in obvious pain? 

The only thing he felt was grim satisfaction. 

~‿‖‿~§~♪~§~⁀‖⁀~

“Oh no…” Tamaki whispered, too quiet for others to catch his words but he knew they felt similarly. Although, maybe, a tad less terrified. After all those two were always the braver ones of their trio.

“There’s no way we can fix it, the three of us can barely exchange a lightbulb!" Nejire hissed, eyes going over the item before them. 

Mirio expected something to go wrong when they found the doors to dock number four broken but he dared to hope it wouldn’t be too bad when they spotted the ship in seemingly perfect condition. But the controller to the main gate had a hole in its side…

“I would be able to turn it on manually but some cogs are missing and without exchanging the broken wire there’s nothing we can realistically do.” a new voice piped in and the trio turned toward a pink-haired girl. 

They didn’t know her and so, they didn’t notice the slight tremble to her fingers nor the slightly slower manner of speech. Her pale face was easily chalked up to the idea of inventors spending most of their time in basements.

In their eyes, Hatsume Mei was not afraid of the situation. At all.

“I… Um… Can help with that, I can create non-living matter but I need to know its molecular structure…” a dark-haired girl said, unsurely approaching.

“Splendid! Pen and paper, please. I’m going to draw blueprints and exact parameters. Also the structure of the needed items!” 

The two of them quickly went to work and in the time Mirio glanced at the rest of his trio, with a small reassuring nod, a purple-haired boy approached. He was now standing by the inventor girl, taking her instructions and helping with whatever he could.

“Tamaki, Nejire, take the rest of the students to the ship. I’ll keep an eye on them.” Togata said, sending a blinding smile toward his friends.

“Aright! But you better join us quickly!” the girl answered merrily, ready to turn around but…

“Hado, Amajiki.” the blond said in a serious tone and the two of them froze. “When the ship starts operating it’s going to get loud. I’ll protect your backs, I will be able to do more here.”

“You don’t… You don’t think about staying behind, do you?!” the girl demanded while Tamaki just opened his eyes wider in shock, his body starting to tremble.

“There might be some students left in the city. I need to help them. And! I will be fine, after all, they can’t kill what they can’t touch, right?” he asked, his steady voice making an impression of someone invincible. A hero who could not be defeated.

“But…” Nejire tried but a hand on her shoulder stopped her.

“He’s right,” Tamaki whispered. “Your quirk will be perfect for protecting the ship and I have some octopus left so I’ll be able to help too.”

“I know…” the girl finally admitted, rubbing her eyes before the tears could even form. “I just… We were supposed to work together. I don’t… I don’t want to leave you behind!”

“You don’t. I’ll be back before you can notice my absence so be sure to do many cool things to tell me about!”

“Um… I don’t want to destroy the moment but… We have a bit of a problem here.” the purple-haired boy mumbled and Mirio quickly forced his friends into a hug before pushing them toward the rest of the students, giving a pointed look toward the ship.

They knew what they had to do.

“What is it?” Togata asked, smiling to ease the students' minds.

“So, it should work but I’ll have to be the one operating it. You made a good point about the noise; they need to be ready to leave immediately, full speed. It would be too dangerous for them to wait for me so… I guess, we’re going to become pals on this side of the sea, huh?” the pink-haired girl remarked.

“I… I’m sure if you explain what to do I can take your place and you can go with the rest!” the blond was quick to assure.

He got an unamused look for his efforts.

“It’s barely holding together. I might need to make some last-second corrections,” she said, glancing at her two helpers. “You two should go.”

“But if you need another part of machinery…” the dark-haired girl started but stopped immediately when the purple-haired boy spoke.

“I’m not leaving you behind, Mei.”

“You can’t do much anyway, dishwasher.” the girl snorted, hiding her fear under humor, and then turned toward the girl. “I’m pretty sure I can work with what you already got me so it’s fine. Go.”

Yaoyorozu Momo wasn’t very confident. USJ was traumatizing. Yes, she realized she had potential when she passed the final exams but the attack at the camp… The kidnapping of her classmate… Having his location and refusing Kirishima to go with him since it would be nothing short of suicide to try fighting a villain that killed All Might with only two of them…

It crushed her. She could not look at her classmates without remembering all of her shortcomings. She was useless at USJ. She was the class rep, yet, she failed to realize the pain Iida was in and he paid the price. Bakugo had been taken by villains not once, but twice (he fought so valiantly and she? She could just watch from the spot on UA’s sofa…).

She would not be able to live with herself if she once more chose the easy… The safe way.

“I will help you to the very end,” she said… No, she promised. 

It was her way of redeeming herself. 

“I doubt the other side of the continent will be any easier to deal with. At least I have you and broccoli left here.” the boy added.

Mei’s smile seemed… Relieved.

“Well, you can’t say I didn’t warn you!” she said merrily before turning toward the ship and yelling to the Nejire that stood on the deck “Are you guys ready to depart?”

She got thumbs up in reply.

“Let’s go then!” 

The gates opened, loud although not rusty. They moved halfway through before they suddenly stopped. 

“What…?” Momo tried but Mei readily yelled over her.

“We need more energy! I’m pretty sure some mechanisms broke and the thing is using double as much initial power supply.” 

“I can make a generator!” Yaoyorozu was quick to offer, her skin already shining.

That’s the moment something heavy and dark tore through doors and barreled inside the dock. 

“Fuck.” Shinso summed up their situation perfectly.

“I’ll take care of it!” Mirio assured, promptly disappearing into the ground and then punching the Nomu back to where it came from.

“I don’t know how much energy it holds but…” Momo said, handing the freshly created item to the pink-haired girl.  

“Let’s pray it’s enough,” Mei answered, her hands confidently taking the generator and- 

The gate opened at most a few feet before stopping yet again. It wasn’t enough. It was far far less than enough.

All three teens turned their heads toward the ship from which a blond-haired boy descended on what seemed to be a tape. He landed on his face but quickly got up and gave them a sheepish smile, meanwhile freeing himself of the aforementioned stripe.

“Jirou heard you talking about needing energy… And I have a bit of experience in charging phones so hopefully I can help.”

“They’ll book it out of here the second there’s enough of an opening. You’d be stuck with us.” Mei warned once more.

A mix of fear and hesitance flashed through his face but only a moment later he gave her thumbs up, forcing a small smile on his face.

“I rather die trying to save everyone than as a coward,” he stated.

“Good. Power this baby then.” Mei wasn’t one to be told things twice, the second he accepted his fate? She was already putting cables into his hands.

As it usually goes, it’s the moment when a few things had happened in quick succession. With the boy’s help, the gate finally opened and as Hatsume predicted, it was a matter of seconds before the boat was outside the gate. Mirio returned just in time to wave to his friends, giving them a smile much brighter than he should be capable of in such circumstances.

“I hoped to get more exp…” 

The five students left in the dock turned to look at the man that stepped through a warp gate. As expected, Mirio was quick to act but… The ground around the villain became a black mist and for the first time since interning with Sir Nighteye, Togata’s technique was his downfall.

He didn’t see when he was in the ground and because of that, he catapulted himself straight into the portal gate. He was quick to realize where he was and he couldn’t bring himself to smile anymore. He knew he should be grateful he was still alive. That he hadn’t been transported to some kind of impossible-to-escape prison, to the deep sea, or maybe even before the face of All For One himself.

But the gate behind him had closed, students he was supposed to protect were left at a mercy of a deranged killer and only the place of All Might's end was there to witness his tears. When did USJ become a place of such sorrow…?

But! Back to the four thoroughly traumatized students that stood before the madman who attacked said USJ and managed to kill the number one hero! The one that was back then accompanied by the creature which brethren were… Well, not slowly but definitely steadily destroying the world!

It’s quite ironic how the two students in training froze. Both of them had seen their symbol crumble and disintegrate. They knew what the man’s quirk was capable of. So it should not come off as a surprise that Kaminari bent over, returning his dinner to the outside world while Momo’s legs gave out from underneath her.

Funnily, how Shinso was the first to act.

“So… You are…?” he inquired but the man didn’t answer, just smiling.

“The sports festival was something else entirely, wasn’t it Kurogiri?” the villain turned to the mist-made man that the teens only now noticed standing hidden by the shadows of the dock's corner, slightly to the back and not more than three feet away from his leader.

Shinso’s heart sank. He felt sick; how could memories of happiness, pride, and victory against what felt like a whole world become so sour in the duration of a single sentence…?

Mei took a step forward, tightly holding onto her wrench with one hand and reaching for her utility belt with the other. She waited for someone to break the impasse to then show that she can do more than just screw a few loose bolts.

And then she noticed green.

If you asked Shinso what happened, he would give you a much different retelling than Hatsume or even Midoriya. Because what he saw was as follows;

Mei took a swing and for whatever reason, threw a wrench. Unlike what anyone expected she didn’t aim at the main villain and that’s exactly why her projectile missed the suddenly opening warp gate by inches and hit its target, a loud metal clang resounding (she didn’t initially realize that she had not only landed her hit but also in the perfect spot). 

What they saw next were neither angry faces nor condescending smirks. What they witnessed was the killer of All Might, laying on the floor spasming, fork lodged between his shoulder blades. Not even a second later their eyes were glued to a spark and what they saw was… Well. 

Since when fork-wielding Midoriya is capable of knocking down two extremely dangerous individuals?! One of them is mist, how the fuck does it even work?!

“What are you waiting for? I have no idea when they’ll wake up!” the boy yelled and his somewhat ridiculous actions paired with rightfully urgent tone made a strange kind of dissociation twirl through Shinso’s mind. But Mei was quick to shake him out of it.

“Help cogs girl, I’m taking battery boy,” she ordered, already forcing the blond to his feet and throwing his arm around her shoulder, leading him forward. She was pretty sure he was having some kind of panic attack or maybe going into shock but she had no time for that.

“Kay,” Shinso answered, too focused on trying to process insanity that just took place before his very eyes to give a more reasonable answer. But he did help Momo to her feet and all four of them quickly moved toward the exit and then outside.

(Meanwhile, Izuku got back the fork stuck in the disintegration villain. It would be a waste of resources to leave it there, not to mention the boy not wanting to be put through "an eye for an eye" but with forks)

“Summer house will be closer…” Midoriya muttered, probably to himself, but Hitoshi did catch it, and well… He didn’t think his words too weird. Even when they stepped down into the land of rubbish. Both his friends expertly waving through mountains of thrash wasn’t shocking either.

A well-kept garden full of healthy growing fruits and beautifully blooming flowers was what took him completely off guard. As if it wasn’t enough, Midoriya led them through a fridge into something that looked like a recycle-friendly room that seemed a lot like Mei’s workplace in UA. And it wasn’t even the end of it! Izuku opened a hatch and led them underground, into a maze of not-that-badly-lit rooms! One of them even had a coffee machine! Not that Shinso was complaining. It just… It was mind-boggling. 

“What the fuck?” he inquired. 

“I… Um… Maybe I should make something to drink first?” Izuku, the ever-perfect host, offered.

“I want coffee.” and Hitoshi knew better than to refuse the magic potion that warded off exhaustion.

“Me too!” Mei added joyfully.

“Any kind of tea, please…” the dark-haired girl said in a small voice.

“Can I have water…?” the blond boy asked, still trembling. 

“Of course!”

Shinso isn’t sure when or even where exactly they ended up sitting on some blankets, near a small table, with some crackers on a gaudy pink (but clean-looking) plate and cups before them. Midoriya made himself coffee too.

“So… What happened?” Izuku had the audacity to ask.

“You tell me!” Shinso said incredulously, throwing his hands up. “You stabbed a villain that was about to kill us with a fork! And it worked!” 

“It was a high-voltage fork!” the boy answered at the same time Mei indignantly yelled, “It’s a 2E 3202 voltage units super-fork!”

“I’m sorry but I’m really lost…” the dark-haired girl murmured.

“Oh! I’m so sorry I didn’t introduce myself yet! I’m Midoriya Izuku, I went to a support course in Shiketsu. Nowadays I just scavenge for supplies for my family, work for yakuza and tinker with local trash.”

“Yakuza?” the blond asked, his face completely blank.

“Long story short, the yakuza leader saved me from Nomu, gave me a job interview, and hired me as a part-time employee. I would never join yakuza under normal circumstances!”

“Ah, makes sense I guess. I’m Kaminari Denki and… Well, sorry, usually I make more of a shocking introduction…” the boy said, forcing a bit of energy into his voice and letting some sparks run around him to emphasize his usual state of being. “But today was really rough.”

“Oh my God you have such an amazing quirk!” Izuku was quick to gush but before he could go into mumbling spree…

“Yes, he generates energy that can power all sorts of devices. No, I don’t know what his limit is. He’s a hero course student from UA.” Mei answered his most dire questions before he could even ask them.

“I… Excuse me for my lack of manners, I’m Yaoyorozu Momo. My quirk is Creation, I can make nonliving things from my body’s fat as long as I know their molecular components. I’m from the hero course too.”

Midoriya made a small gasp.

“Can you create substances? Powdered equivalents of their originals? For example, would you be able to make a dust version of metal? Or create perfect non-consumable versions of…? Ah! Sorry, I get really excited about quirks. I know you're probably really tired and you rather not have me ramble some half-baked theories…” 

Momo blinked, equally as surprised by the sudden wave of questions as by how abruptly they ended.

“Yes, I am indeed quite exhausted after today… But I’d love to answer your inquiries after resting! You bring up valid points and I did at some point try to create water but after failing to do so I gave up. I can make some of non-Newtonian fluids though…”

Izuku opened his mouth and then he closed it, giving her a sheepish smile.

“Anyway! What’s your quirk? Something to do with analyzing?” Kaminari asked, feeling much better after a few sips of water. Or maybe was it because of a quickly forming sense of safety? Those blankets are really comfy… He wonders if Midoriya has more of them, he would love to cocoon himself inside two or three and nap for the next twenty years…

“Well, that’d be pretty cool and useful to have but no. I actually don’t have any.” Izuku answered easily enough, not caring that much about his status after surviving so long in the middle of an apocalypse. 

“Wait… Like… You don’t have a quirk?” the blond asked, his eyes going wide. Some part of Midoriya shuffled uncomfortably but he forced the feeling down. “You took those two down… Electrocuted them with forks… And you, like, did it… Just like… That? Without any superhuman powers? Like? How?”

Well, when put like this… Midoriya guesses it really is shocking that he actually did more than the four of them seemed to be capable of at the moment. Not that he was looking down on them! Shinso’s quirk had been broadcasted at the sports festival, the two hero students suffered massive trauma, and his pink-haired friend… Well, she would probably be able to find a way to escape either way.

“I mean, Mei did help by distracting the misty man,” Midoriya murmured before taking a deep sigh and deciding to be a little more serious. “I have not only forks but some other inventions too. I just happened to hear Present Mic’s scream so I got worried but on the way there I noticed a Nomu barreling into a dock hangar. By the time I got there, I heard the voice of disintegrating villain so I opted for stealth. I think Mei noticed me because she threw a wrench at one of them. By the way, I’m very thankful for it because I didn’t know where the other one was… Anyway, I took the chance, stabbed one villain with a high-voltage fork, and then went for the other one. I was pretty sure it'd fail since he seemed made of mist but it turns out he has some kind of metal underneath. Which was very good conduct, may I add.”

“You heard Present Mic? Did you see him? Is he alright?” Momo was quick to ask, worry evident not only in her voice but also expression.

“I didn’t get to but now that you’re asking… Since I should probably get going before my family starts worrying, I might as well check up on him.” 

“Eraserhead should be with him,” Shinso added quickly.

“Isn’t it… Too dangerous…? I do not wish to in any way undermine your abilities! But even professional heroes with powerful quirks aren’t sure to come back after going outside!”

Worry but without pity. If it wasn’t for the endless slaughter and unspeakable terrors, Midoriya would say this new reality wasn’t that terrible. But the cons far outweighed the pros and the state the world was in is absolutely the worst. 

“I have a lot of experience in sneaking around, I’ll be fine. Mei knows everything around here so just ask her if you need anything. Oh! I’ll be sure to contact you when I’m safely back home!”

“We have communicators made by those crazy lads,” Shinso said, pointing at both his friends before the hero students could even ask.

For someone needing others’ words for his quirk to work, Hitoshi was doing an awfully lot of explaining today. At the very least he could be useful this way… 

“See you soon then!” Midoriya called, leaving them behind.

There was a moment of somewhat heavy silence which was broken by Kaminari

“Can I get another blanket?” 

Chapter Text

Luckily Mei had had their brand of communicator made for Eraserhead too so Izuku could easily track the man down. He was less fortunate with the time of the day seeing as it was starting to get dark but oh well, he’ll probably be fine. And it’s not like he can just leave when there might be something he can do to help!

He was stealthily moving through the backstreets, bypassing the massacre Present Mic seemed to be the cause of (if the stunned Nomus with blood sticking to the sides of their heads was any indicator) when he noticed a movement out of the corner of his eye.

He froze and the shadow did so too. None of them dared to move which was enough of a sign that it wasn’t a Nomu. Or so Izuku hoped, clearing his throat.

“Hello…?”

He took a sigh of relief when the silhouette came into view. Izuku immediately recognized the small white critter in a suit as the principal of UA.

“It is quite a pleasant surprise to see a friendly face, I must say.” the man offered amicably. Midoriya walked closer to him to be able to talk quieter and to bring as little attention to them as possible.

“I, um, sorry if it sounds weird but… What are you doing here, sir?” 

“Ah, no need for formalities. We’re in the middle of an apocalypse after all.” the… Once-principal answered, his whiskers twitching slightly. “As for your question… I’m looking for familiar faces, as I am decently certain Present Mic had been here and some thought processes lead me to believe Eraserhead is still with him.”

“Oh! I’m looking for the two of them too!” Izuku said with a small smile. “My friend from the support course, Mei, made Eraserhead a special communicator I can track with my own.”

“Wonderful! You do not mind me tagging in your search, I take?” 

“Of course!” he answered and suddenly realized that unlike himself, who knew a fair share of facts about the principal, including his name, the creature most likely did not have the same amount of info on him. “And sorry for the late introduction, I’m Midoriya Izuku.”

“I know, I know!” the critter answered, surprising him. “Hatsume Mei is admittedly ingenious when it comes to inventing but she had quite a competent rival in inventing competitions! I was quite curious about such a bright mind as yours, especially so since you accomplished all you did without the aid of a quirk.” 

“Oh… Thanks! It means a lot coming from someone so intelligent!” Midoriya said readily. Keeping in mind that the creature wanted to forgo formalities he didn’t use "sir’"

“Now, now, we can leave pleasantries for later, we should find our dear professionals first. Please lead the way.”

Izuku listened, readily moving forward. Only after a few seconds of traveling with Nedzu did he notice a very visibly missing tail but he wouldn’t ask about what must be a rather sensitive matter even if they weren’t in the middle of sneaking through deserted alleyways. 

Soon they ended under a decrepit-looking building which Midoriya’s device pointed as their destination. Instead of immediately going inside he decided to first write a message to the man he believed to be inside.

I’m right outside, under a window on the south side.

He waited for a bit, getting worried about the lack of answer when a black head poked from the third floor. 

What are you doing here, problem child? 

Is it Nedzu with you?

I’ve been looking for you and yes. 

The principal waved to the man, deceptively joyful.

Is Present Mic with you?

Yes. He has ruptured his eardrums and I have a broken arm. The alleyway is clear?

Yes

We’ll going down.

Since the principal climbed onto his shoulder and read the messages, Izuku didn’t need to tell him how the conversation went. Soon both males left the building on the ground floor, through a window so broken there wasn’t even any glass left in it.

“He can’t hear a word you say so either wait for me to explain to him through sign language or do so yourself.” the man drawled out. 

“I don’t know it,” Midoriya admitted, a bit ashamed before promptly turning in a specific direction. “I met some of UA students and they are in… My and Mei’s base right now. It’s on Dagobah Beach so it isn’t far from here.”

“Oh, so that is the little project she borrowed Cementoss for!” Nedzu chirped in a low volume, soundlessly clapping his hands in what seemed to be content. 

“Yes… Can we get moving? I still need to get home after that.”

“You’re not living in the aforementioned base?” Aizawa asked, raising his eyebrow before turning toward Present Mic to explain the situation. 

The blond gave thumbs up in the answer.

“Nope,” Izuku noted before starting to lead them to his summer house. The way there went… Surprisingly smooth, all things considered. 

“Why am I not surprised?” was Aizawa’s reaction to Izuku’s little garden and quite magical fridge doors. 

Midoriya shrugged. He would explain himself, was it not for the fact that the sun was getting lower and lower. 

“Mei! Come get your teachers and principal!” he yelled when they went inside and then sent his new guests an apologetic smile before booking it out, hoping to make it back home before the sun fully sets. Not that he didn’t go outside at night too at times. 

He had just closed the fridge doors behind himself when Mei’s head popped up.

“Oh! You’re alive!” she said, her eyes lingering on Aizawa’s clearly broken arm. “We have medical supplies and biscuits down here.”

“How about tea?” Nedzu asked, the first one to walk up to the girl.

“Sorry to disappoint, principal, but that cursed kettle of ours only listens to the dear old broccoli that just left! I swear, this thing has a mind of its own!”

Present Mic looked at Aizawa confusedly, but Eraserhead just sighed, motioning at him to get down while the girl moved back to the underground level, waiting for them to follow. When he saw Kaminari, cocooned into blankets and some more laying to the side… Well… 

His broken arm be damned he desperately needs some sleep.

~‿‖‿~§~♪~§~⁀‖⁀~

It’s three days later that it happens; he’s sneaking around the street when someone grabs him from behind, a hand on his mouth as they pull him back. 

“I’m sorry for scaring you but I tend to move through solid objects and I didn’t want you to yell and get Nomus’ attention!” the voice said quickly, whispering yet sounding strangely booming. 

The fact that the two first words were “I’m sorry for scaring” was the only reason why Midoriya’s fork wasn’t embedded in the newcomer’s abdomen. Thanks apocalypse for Izuku’s reflexes which are good enough to both draw a weapon the second something happens but also stop it from actually hitting the danger if it turns out… Well, to actually not be a danger. Probably, he can't be sure yet. 

Anyway, the boy raised his head and gently pried off the hand from his mouth. The owner of the voice was quick to take a step back and so, Midoriya turned around to look at him. He kind of remembered the blond from somewhere but he couldn’t put his finger on where from and he wasn't sure what to say so… 

“I nearly stabbed you with a fork.” he chose to comment with the truth.

“Well… I guess it would be well deserved for scaring you in such circumstances!” the familiar stranger answered, laughing in something that must have been quite boisterous once but right now was very forcibly trying to stay low.

“No, you don’t get it. This thing…” Midoriya said, presenting the somewhat bulky fork. “Is capable of producing enough voltage to render you unconscious in an instant.”

“Good thing you didn’t stab me then!” 

His positive thinking was admirable if anything.

“Anyway… What’s your name? I’m Midoriya Izuku.”

“Ah, right! It would be good to introduce myself! I’m Mirio Togata, I graduated from UA and was helping evacuate other students when we got attacked by villains. I got warped away by one of them and I’m looking for those kids now…” the blond explained, his face instantly going serious.  

“Oh. I electrocuted those villains with a fork similar to the one you nearly got stabbed with. I can lead you to the UA gang.” 

Mirio froze, his eyes going impossibly wide.

“What?” he whispered, blinking a few times as if Midoriya was about to disappear. The boy probably would if he was facing Nomu but that’s a story for another time. 

Izuku was curious whether the new ally was surprised by the act of rendering villains unconscious with a fork or that his quest of looking for his fellow students was about to come to a conclusion so easily. Probably a mix of both.

“I mean, it’s pretty self-explanatory. They’re staying in the base I build with Mei before the whole apocalypse fiasco began. She’s the pink-haired inventor girl.” 

The blond went quiet for a few long seconds and Midoriya is pretty sure that if their life was some kind of movie, there would be tons of "the system has crashed" memes with Mirio’s current expression.

“Would it be big enough for three more people?” 

“Oh! You found survivors?” Izuku asked, pretty surprised. Is he the only one unlucky enough to either stumble upon the yakuza or his friends being accosted by villains? Really? Only him? 

Why doesn’t it surprise him anymore? 

“Yes and although they’re doing pretty well for the situation we are in, I believe they would feel safer in a bigger group. After all, the strength lies in numbers!”

“Sure! Uhm… Would you like me to lead you to the base… It’s on Dagobah Beach by the way, or you rather go to those people you spoke about?” 

“They’re actually staying in this area so if you don’t mind I’d like to go tell them the good news first.” 

But was the news really that great? Like, Midoriya can’t imagine Mitsuki jumping at a chance of joining some random group. But that might be because their area is pretty quiet and comparatively safe, especially after… Kacchan-Nomu fiasco. But she would also hate to relinquish her position; let’s be honest here, she was not made for working under others. She either was the boss or about to seize said position. 

Sometimes he tries to imagine what would happen if his family moved to the Dagobah base and when he imagines Nedzu’s and Mitsuki’s facedown… He can’t help but shudder.

“Sure.” Izuku agreed easily and the two of them moved. It immediately became obvious that Mirio was… How to put it… 

He somehow managed to both suck and excel at stealth. He was big and it was obvious he was more used to fighting head-on rather than dodging yet could easily take everyone by surprise. His quirk truly gave him the versatility to be envious of. 

Still, now that he tried to make sure Izuku wouldn’t lose him and by extent didn’t move through solid objects as often as he usually would, he looked a tad bit like a lost duckling. It was somewhere between endearing and amusing although Midoriya probably shouldn’t feel this way; after all, he was not only younger but also objectively weaker.

But come on! Look at the older guy glancing back ever so often to make sure Izuku is still following! Look at the way, he disappears underground or into a wall only to come back seconds later, oftentimes with a sheepish smile as if he had forgotten that most people can’t keep up with him when he uses his quirk! So precious! 

“I’ll go open doors for you!” Mirio said happily when they arrived, quickly disappearing behind a wall and a few moments later waving at him, the entrance wide open. 

Midoriya didn’t step inside confidently but neither did he with fear. Sometimes he wonders what would need to happen to make him feel afraid (not counting harm to others, that is). He’s pretty sure he already kind of died once and he barely escaped being suffocated by a slime that one time… And the exploding inventions were kind of close to acquainting him with Grim Reaper quite a few times…  

“Oh! You found another survivor, Mirio?” a female with mostly white hair with a few red strands said, smiling at him kindly. He already liked her. 

“Yeah and guess what! He found the kids I’m looking for! And that’s not the end of the good news!” the blond answered happily. 

“Come on, if you want us to guess you should give us a second to think.” a white-haired male, sharing a striking resemblance to the woman, said. He stepped into the room from further inside the house. He lifted his hand in greeting when his eyes met Izuku’s “Yo. How’s the weather outside?”

“Better than my expectations of survival,” Izuku answered readily and the two of them shared a grin, their dark senses of humor finding his answer absolutely wonderful.

“So… What’s the other good news…?” the woman asked, smartly deciding to ignore the joke that she herself found a bit worrying. 

“Midoriya said everyone is at some base and there’s enough space for us too!” Mirio answered happily, throwing a hand around Izuku’s shoulder as if they were friends already. To be honest they probably were. 

“That’s wonderful!” the woman exclaimed, smiling widely. “We should get straight to packing our supplies! I mean, if that’s alright for us to come right away…”

“That’s fine! I’ll just write to one of my friends that you’re coming with me.”

“Huh? You still have reception in the middle of the apocalypse? What kind of miracle provider do you have?”

Midoriya grinned.

“I am my own miracle provider, good sir. Me and Mei, I guess. We created some pretty good communicators before the whole apocalypse fiasco.” the boy answered, already having the aforementioned device in his hands and writing to Shinso. 

Mei was most likely working on some project and wouldn’t notice the message for… Well, it could be anywhere from minutes to hours. 

I’m bringing some more strays

Human ones, don’t get your hopes up

“You’re an inventor? That’s really amazing!” the woman praised. “I’m a bit disappointed with myself since I’m the only one here whose education doesn't give me any kind of advantage in a post-apocalyptic world…”

“Don’t worry! You couldn’t have foreseen it and, anyway, it isn’t that important. Previous occupation, quirk… Well, they don’t matter that much as long as you can survive.” Midoriya was quick to assure, meanwhile glancing at his communicator.

Would it kill you to get me at least one cat?

Possibly

“I would argue with the quirk point but otherwise I agree!” the white-haired man agreed.

“Agree to disagree. I’m quirkless and I’m doing pretty well in staying alive if I say so myself” he answered, not noticing everyone freezing (not literally although two of them could) for a moment since he was typing.

You know what? If you behave well I’ll get you one for your birthday

“I’m sorry, my words probably sounded kind of assholish…” 

Midoriya finally looked up from his communicator.

“Huh? No worries. As long as you don’t call me useless or wrap me in bubble wrap we’re cool.” he answered readily with a shrug.

“I’ll get to the packing if there isn’t anything you need me here for.” the woman stated softly but not unsurely.

“Nah, you can go, Fuyumi. Oh, right!” the man said, turning toward the boy. “I’m Natsuo and this is Fuyumi, we’re both Todoroki so just call us by our given names.”

“I’m Midoriya though in case you ever happen to run into my mom you can call me Izuku,” he answered before promptly looking back at his communicator.

I’m sure you’ll suddenly find a cat just in time for my birthday after not seeing one in literal months.

I’m sure Mei will be happy to help me make one

Like… Genetically modified one or a straight-out robot?

We’ll see

You know… I rather have a nice little barrel of coffee instead

Can do but it’ll get cold by the time you manage to drink it all. Isn’t it better to keep getting small but hot coffees?

You dare doubt me? I will inhale it

“So…” Mirio began and Izuku looked up, showing that he actually is paying attention to his words. “How did you survive all this time? Not that I’m doubting your capabilities! It’s just… Even UA had fallen under those monsters and I barely managed to find two people and I searched half of the city…”

“I’m good at blending in and running, I guess. I was also lucky enough to begin the apocalypse with amazing people, I wouldn’t get as far as I did without them.” Midoriya said with a smile before his wholesome answer took a nose dive. “I kind of did die once but that’s a long story I’m not sure you’d even believe.”

“Try me.” Natsuo was stupid enough to say.

“Well, in short, a yakuza leader kind of reconstructed me at a molecular level after I got pancaked by two Nomus. And then he interviewed me and gave part-time job on the spot.” 

“Well… It does sound surreal but you give a chaotic enough vibe to pull it off.” the white-haired male stated.

Izuku raised an eyebrow.

“Do I really seem this crazy?”

“I mean… You did nearly stab me with the same fork you defeated two villains with.” Mirio said, only slightly baffled by what he just heard. 

The blond didn’t like the sound of it but he was pretty sure the boy had no other option than to do as the yakuza demanded. He had heard a bit about Overhaul from Sir Nighteye before everything went to proverbial shit.

“You what?” Natsuo intoned incredulously. 

“It wasn’t the exact same one! But a very similar one...” Midoriya stated in his defense. 

That was the moment Fuyumi chose to walk into the room, left three backpacks there, and then quickly returned once more this time with some fairly spacious leather bags. 

“We’ll probably need to come back for some items…” she began before noticing her brother’s incredulous expression “Did I miss something important?”

“I’m pretty sure this boy is some kind of deity… Deity of chaos probably. Or maybe a cryptid…”

“I can help carry some bags,” Izuku added before the woman could question her brother any further.

“Oh, that’s quite alright! It would be safer to have someone without ballast to lead the way and check for any dangers!”

“Mirio is best suited for this,” Midoriya answered and just as easily the words left his mouth, he put on one of the backpacks and then took two of the bags.

The girl blinked at him, completely unprepared for the ease he moved around with what surely was no less than twenty pounds. Although, in hindsight, she probably should have expected an inventor boy to be strong, used to carrying around various metals and all. Even if he did look inconspicuous. 

“I told you so!” Natsuo mouthed at her but she just rolled her eyes, taking one of the backpacks and shoving the last one into her brother’s arms. He huffed and took two more bags, while Mirio opened the doors for all of them.

“So… Where exactly is this base you speak of?” the white-haired male inquired outside, after making sure there were no monsters in the vicinity.

“Dagobah Beach. I should probably give you heads-up that the outside is… Well, it’s a good place overall!” 

Fuyumi and Natsuo exchanged worried looks while Mirio happily lead them forward, changing the path whenever he noticed enemies. He was really good at scouting. 

Soon enough they were on the beach and Izuku took the lead, expertly weaving through the piles of garbage. The confusion on the faces of the three people following him had nothing on the shock they felt at seeing Midoriya’s infamous garden.

“I know, I know, but I swear it’s decent inside,” he said, walking through the fridge, leading them… Somewhere.

Mirio was the first one to get inside where Mei greeted them as if 

awaiting them. But Izuku knew her better than that… And the screwdriver in her hand was pretty telling.

“You’re not replacing the doors,” Izuku stated, crossing his arms, while Fuyumi and Natsuo decided to be brave and move inside.

“But Mido! We could be walking into Narnia!” 

“I do not care about your old-fashioned closet world, Mei. You’re not touching my absolutely divine fridge doors,” he stated before immediately turning toward the guests. “There’s a hatch right in this corner… We have everything down, blankets, cushions, coffee machine, kettle… Eraserhead is probably still sleeping though so be ready to face his wrath. Because not waking him up is an impossible feat, he has the most sensiti… Mei step away from my doors right this instant!”

Midoriya put the bags and the backpack on the ground gently before shooting after his friend who was already stepping outside.

Fuyumi was surprised to see how well-made the underground part of the base seemed while Natsuo whispered “Chaos deity. I told you”. Mirio, on the other hand, was quick to catch the first person he saw into a bone-crushing hug. And the unlucky individual turned out to be Present Mic. Which was actually quite fortunate, because he was a good sport about it, even trying to return the embrace (he couldn’t; he ended with his arms pretty much pinned to his sides). 

All in all, it was just another normal day in the apocalyptic world. 

Chapter Text

Aizawa wasn’t sure what was more terrifying. The creatures outside, the pink-haired demon that kept on exploding things, or maybe that very specific second when the problem child and Nezu found common ground. Well, being confined in limited space with Present Mic was pretty worrying too, but the blond was still recovering from both ruptured eardrums and his quirk’s overuse so at the very least there wasn’t too much yelling on that front.

From the good parts, the newcomer – Natsuo – turned out to be a student of medical welfare, and sure, all pro heroes had basic knowledge about first-aid-kit but they didn’t know much beyond what they needed to do in an immediate moment of danger. And recovering was much more than just making sure a broken bone wouldn’t be jostled around.

Anyway, learning that he was pretty much useless for the next month or so because his broken arm needed to heal was… Well, he would like to be happy about having time to rest for once in his life but on the other hand… He wasn’t used to having time off. After USJ he went straight back to work even though he was both mummified and traumatized (try as he might, he can’t stop tragic events from affecting him. He can and will try to hide it, but deep inside… It will stay with him for the rest of his life. Ha. Until he can finally rest, hopefully in peace).

The point is, he wanted to sleep. But just couldn’t. Even the smallest of noise would wake him straight up and even if he – miraculously – managed to actually get into the REM stage, he instantly got forced back to the awake world by nightmares (he dreamed about All Might’s death, about Bakugo’s hopeless fight and his kidnapping, about the graves of his students, about Shirakumo’s death, about all the coworkers he won’t see ever again, about… Why are there so many things to despair over…?).

And then, as if a cherry on top of his already frail mental state, comes the revelation of Midoriya’s (not so new anymore) job. He so happened to overhear something about it and was quick to confront the boy about it. 

The problem teen just sighed and retold the events for the umpteenth time. 

“And I was the one to learn it last because?”

“You’d lecture the shit out of me and it isn’t like I had any other options! I was literally speaking to a man who could make a set of fine toothpicks out of my bones!” 

Aizawa sighed. He really hated it. Because as funny as it might sound when looked at on a surface level, it was a grave serious situation. It didn’t take much probing to learn about Eri and shocking as it might be, Shouta is good at reading people. He doesn’t need too much to know how they function and Midoriya is very obviously a nearly extinct species that would throw everything to save someone.

It’s terrifying to think about the mental strain the kid goes through. It’s quite tragic too. He got into the situation by trying to save someone, survived because he is quirkless (which society more likely than not put him down for) and now he had to watch the girl he kind of actually died for suffering. 

“Are you okay?” leaves his mouth before he can stop himself. He knows it’s a stupid question (no matter how many times some people will repeat that there are no stupid questions. That’s just an example of a stupid sentence to pair it with) but what else can he say? 

“Yeah, I guess.” the boy answers, surprisingly… Maybe not honestly but he’s not going with his usual "are you?" so there’s that, he supposes. “I’ll find a way to stop them, sooner or later. Actually, I’ve been thinking a lot about it lately and I have some… Ideas to consult with Nezu.”

“It can’t end well…” he groaned under his breath. Saying this thought out loud was worth the effort for the small smile it drew from the teen.

“But it probably can’t end worse than the world did.” he quipped, easily. Smartass.

“Why do I feel like you’d sass All For One himself if you had a chance?” Aizawa mused and this time around he didn’t like Midoriya’s widening grin.

“Oh, you bet I would. I’d absolutely love to see him trying to figure out my quirk and be self-assured about how he can disarm me by taking it.” the boy said before suddenly clapping his knee with wheezing laughter. “As if he could take what doesn’t exist! What next would he steal? My mental stability?!”

The answer was worrying in itself, but the cackle that followed? Because of its similarity to Nezu’s own laughter, instantly rose up to one of the top ten fears of Shouta’s. And they live in an apocalyptic world, for fuck’s sake! 

“You are not okay,” Aizawa stated matter-of-factly.

Midoriya ceased any movement at all.

“No shit Sherlock,” he replied in a similar tone to the hero’s which drew a surprised snort from Eraserhead. “Though since we’re at the subject of mental state… How are you holding up?”

Shouta blinked, for some reason not expecting the question to be fired right back at him. He should have. It’s the problem teen he’s speaking with, after all.

“I probably had worse but overall? I feel like shit,” he answered, deciding to set a good example by being honest.

“Relatable.” 

They were silent for a moment.

“Coffee?” Izuku offered with a small but genuine smile. At the reminder of old, much better days, Aizawa’s own lips quirked upward.

“Always.”

His problem child isn’t so bad after all, he supposes. 

~‿‖‿~§~♪~§~⁀‖⁀~

“I have a crazy idea that would probably be banned from even being thought in all states!” Midoriya yelled, running without knocking into what was now Nezu’s room.

Most mortals would be painfully departed from this world after such a transgression.

“Surprise me.” the creature answered readily, his whiskers twitching happily at the entrance – sudden as it might be – of his favorite interlocutor. 

Izuku actually closed the doors behind him; a gesture foretelling a discussion that might actually break their universe.

“You know how the Trigger empowers quirks, right? So, I was thinking, that with all the data I have access to, we can make something of this sort but! Instead of making a quirk stronger, how about… Kind of… How to put it? Making something like a fake quirk? Like, taking someone’s DNA and extracting the residue of the quirk factor to replicate its use! And I know we can’t possibly make it permanent but that’s where my actually crazy idea comes in!” the boy murmured with a speed that only Nezu was capable of keeping up to. 

He used the break that Midoriya took to breathe to make a small comment.

“Sounds promising so far!”

“Okay, so, Overhaul’s quirk is… He named himself after it. I gathered a lot of data about it and he can actually fuse himself with other things and people so! If we made our version of Trigger and I could use his quirk for a bit I would, theoretically, be able to take the original quirk by fusing the quirk factor into myself!”

The room went absolutely silent for a moment. Izuku was starting to get a little worried when Nezu finally burst into a mad cackle. Unknown to the two, it was loud enough to make cold shivers go down Aizawa’s back.

“Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!” the creature stated, hopping down from his seat and getting to the magnetic board they scavenged from underneath at least a dozen of shelves, five chairs, and two microwaves. Nezu was quick to start scribbling. “It would be straight up impossible to do from scratch and only slightly easier with the formula you can access but! I am quite adept at bio-chemistry if I say so myself! With the untied efforts of me and miss Yaoyorozu we might be able to recreate the exact molecules needed to make it work! There, of course, still are problems such as learning what inherent features of Overhaul make his quirk factor but I believe you would be able to get me some of his DNA?”

“Hair or blood?” Izuku asked, easily.

“Blood preferably but I should be able to make anything do,” Nezu answered before jumping right back into his train of thought. “I should be able to pinpoint what you need to fuse with exactly to stay yourself with only his quirk but moving to another issue… I’m afraid the side effects of the formula would be devastating since we have a finite amount of time to work with, which means the first attempt would have to be successful because then you’d be able to cancel the aftereffects with the original quirk. The last problem is the actual use part; you’ll have to dissect that quirk to its very prime factors if you were to have a chance of succeeding with this wonderfully mad plan of yours.”

“So, what you’re saying is… Not only will you not try to stop me but you’re willing to help?” the boy asked and the creatures smiled endearingly.

“It will be highly dangerous and near impossible to do.” 

“I didn’t hear a no…” Izuku pointed out which prompted an extremely rare reaction of a quiet snort from Nezu. 

“Yes, you are correct in your assumption. There was no refusal on my part.”  

Midoriya beamed at his to-be partner in crime (one aimed against yakuza, at that).

~‿‖‿~§~♪~§~⁀‖⁀~

If you told Izuku a few years ago that at some point in his life he not only would find quirklessness far outweighing the value of having some kind of power but also that he would be treated better than the rest due to this curse of his… Well, he wouldn’t have had enough backbone to laugh at you then but he would surely think about calling help for you because something must have clearly hurt your brain to the point of deteriorating.

Yet, here he was. Possibly the most trusted employee of Chisaki, just because he so happened to fit into the man’s vision of a perfect world (the one without quirks, that is). It’s quite amusing, to some extent. People used to treat him as if there was something wrong with him and now, suddenly, a yakuza leader acts as if there’s something wrong with everyone but him. 

He, of course, isn’t going to complain about this weird but helpful phenomenon. It helps a ton with his… Plans.

Which, by the way, are getting more and more convoluted with every step. It looks more and more impossible to accomplish but! At the very least Nezu found out that Overhaul (as the quirk, not the person) must be mostly focused on the brain rather than the hands as one might expect. Because it’s actually skin-contact activated and hands are merely, how to put it, the easiest point of control (something Izuku is pretty sure Chisaki has no idea about).

Anyway, the creature found out the specifics needed for that crazy idea of Midoriya’s to have a chance of working. The quirk factor for this one is actually rather small; it takes part of gray matter positioned a bit above the cerebellum. After studying it with Nezu as much as he did, Izuku is sure he would be able to point its exact location even in his sleep.

The problem is that this part of the brain activates somewhat of a natural mechanism that creates the specific molecules responsible for disassembling and reassembling the matter. Which means that the Quirger (the mix of words ‘quirk’ and ‘Trigger’, Midoriya isn’t the best at making names, okay?) would have to last enough for Overhaul – again, quirk not person – to create those and only then Izuku would be able to proceed with stealing the actual quirk. 

According to the inhumanly intelligent creature, it would take around fifteen minutes. But the possibility of after effects showing later than said period is… Well, abysmal. At the very least if they want to do this in the current year and seeing how quickly Chisaki’s plans are progressing they don’t have any more time to waste. 

The only options they had were giving up on the project (ha! No.), hoping for a breakthrough, or making the unwanted effects of serum bearable. The only realistic option was, of course, the last. If the worst thing that can happen is some kind of excruciating pain, Izuku can probably deal with it. He’s pretty sure he could break both his arms and not shed a single tear (which is ironic with how easily emotions make him cry a river. But what isn’t ironic about his life nowadays?). 

He was about to try focusing on something more positive when he noticed a movement in the corner of an alleyway, scrambling behind a trash bin.

“Meow?” he inquired, not sure if his eyes were deceiving him or if he just saw a ginger tail.

“Mhr…?” it answered in a weirdly rough voice. Midoriya definitely sounded like a much better feline but he guesses since he isn’t a cat he shouldn’t really compete. 

He shuffled closer and the animal hissed. Well, at least it didn’t immediately bolt away. Now that the boy was closer, he noticed that the cat didn’t look too bad. It definitely didn’t feast like a king but its ribs weren’t clearly visible and there didn’t seem to be any injuries on it. At least not obvious ones.

It was doing somewhat fine in those times of trial and it would be enough of a reason for Izuku to leave, especially since it didn’t seem too keen on interacting with him but… He kind of really wanted to see Hitoshi’s face if he brought a cat to the base. It would be great to have this small sense of normalcy for others too. 

So Midoriya sat down and slowly put his hand forward, leaving it a good distance from the cat and waiting.

“I won’t hurt you,” he whispered in what he hoped was a soothing voice. “I'm no novice in head-scratching. I never had a cat before but our neighbor did and Fluffy loved our backyard for some reason…”

After what must have been at least ten minutes the scared animal slowly walked up to him, sniffing at his hand and then grabbing the bandage Hitoshi wrapped for him after a spectacular fail in Izuku’s calculations (how was he supposed to know that an exploding lamp – plastic kind, not a glass one! – has so many sharp parts that will so happen to catapult them straight at him?!). Midoriya let it undo it since he'd have to change it soon anyway. 

Then he ever so slowly tried to pet the cat. As one might expect, he got bitten but it didn’t run away so… It was a good sign he guesses?

After fifteen minutes or so of attempting petting and doing it in earnest, the cat was purring at the boy loudly enough to make him a bit worried about being heard by Nomus. But when Midoriya tried to pick it up, the cat swiftly jumped at his face… Or neck more like, draping itself over his shoulders.

And that’s how he arrived home. Mitsuki didn’t question the addition, just raised an eyebrow in inquiry.

“I will take it to my other base in a month since my friend wanted a cat for his birthday.”

The blonde didn’t question him… And surprisingly, his mom also didn’t seem too confused. Unlike Masaru who just kept glancing at everyone in the house and then ended up holding eye contact with the cat. Unsurprisingly he was the first one to look away.

Izuku could barely hold himself from texting Hitoshi… So he did the second best thing and wrote to Mei, knowing fully well that crazy she might be, secrets were safe with her. 

The two of them were sure to make their friend's birthday unforgettable ~!

~‿‖‿~§~♪~§~⁀‖⁀~

The month went by quickly although not painlessly. But no one died so there’s that at least. And apocalypse is supposed to hurt, isn’t it? It would be weird if they were only having nice time!

Anyway, Hitoshi's birthday was nearing, and funnily enough, it turned out that Natsuo had been born on the same day. Making a cake seemed a tad bit wasteful in these trying times… So everyone decided that from now on July 1st will be everyone’s birthday. And then it’s only fair to splurge a bit with their resources!

So the day came and everyone was having fun. Not that Aizawa would ever admit to it. Mei managed to salvage some old CD recorder with an intact disc inside so they were listening to what felt like prehistoric music, on low enough settings for everyone to be able to talk comfortably.

Natsuo was laughing with Kaminari while Fuyumi and Yaoyorozu seemed immersed in school-related subjects. Aizawa watched them from his favorite spot under the wall, while Present Mic was animatedly retelling some story from when his radio station still operated (it felt as if had been decades ago) to Mirio, while Hitoshi was looking at Mei suspiciously. Nezu stayed at the back, sipping tea and watching them with a happy sparkle in his eyes.

“Izuku is late. What are you two planning?”

The girl gasped.

“How could you suspect your bestest friends of plotting against you! And, anyway, the party doesn’t start until he’s here so he isn’t late!”

The boy rolled his eyes and froze when he heard a loud ‘meow’. His head whipped to the side just in time to see Izuku losing his grip on a cat that shot toward Hitoshi. Midoriya, meanwhile, lost balance, fell from stairs, landed into a roll, and immediately got up, smiling sheepishly at… Well, all the baffled stares he got.

Hitoshi was quick to crouch down and pick up the cat – Midoriya felt betrayed by the fact that the animal let the boy do so; it never really let Izuku hold himself – and scratched it behind the ear with practiced ease. Shinso opened his mouth a few times. Eventually, after taking a deep breath, he spoke.

“Really? Did you really find a cat? And Bread at that?”

“Eh? Bread?” Izuku inquired, happy for the stares to turn to his friend for the time being.

“Yeah. Short from Gingerbread. He’s a stray I used to feed before the apocalypse.”

“Oooooh! That’s such an amazing coincidence!”

“Leave it to our chaos deity to find your cat in the middle of the apocalypse.” Natsuo snorted from the side.

“For the last time, I’m not chaotic nor a deity!” Midoriya huffed indignantly.

“Oh really? Because you’re the most chaotic problem child I know.” Aizawa noted and the boy threw his hands into the air.

“Is everyone here against me?!”

“I mean, they do have a point.” Mei, the traitor, agreed.

The rest of the party went similarly; with quite a bit of good-natured teasing. It was a nice, joyful day. And the cake tasted heavenly.

“Happy birthday to us all!” Natuso yelled at some point, seemingly drunk on the happy atmosphere.

“Ah come on, stop making me feel old!” Mei yelled right back at him.

Aizawa shook his head, hiding a small smile under his scarf.

Chapter Text

Midoriya isn’t sure at what point he ended up sneaking into computer cafés with small energy generator in hand. But he knows that it had happened at some point. His memory isn’t as great as it used to be but that’s fine as long as he remembers the important parts.

Anyway. Nedzu was quick to hack into All For One's systems since it seemed that the man grew overconfident. Not that he didn’t have a reason to. After killing All Might he already became somewhat untouchable and with how world is right now? Well, even miracle would have hard time stopping the man.

And it soon became obvious that it was the case not just for Japan. It seemed that after destroying UA, he went for other countries. So far, he was doing his best tearing through the middle continent but found some resistance in Central Europe (if the reports Nedzu got his paws on where anything go by, those people were wild, good for them). Meanwhile I-Island seemed to be, so far, one of the safest places to be in. Whatever technology they had, All For One didn’t seem to like it.

“Our best bet is to wait until he is back and letting him fight things out with yakuza but seeing how careful they are… It might end up with one tyrant changing for another.” Nedzu said, one day, his paws clicking away even as he was speaking. “That’s why despite the risks I approve like your idea. If you manage to take that quirk, Overhaul, we should be able to take over their base without any casulties. With addition of their resources, we might stand a chance against All For One, miniscule it might be.”

“We’ll still have to take rid of Nomus…” Midoriya murmured, thinking about the best way to approach it.

“That would be the easy part. If we survive that long, that is.” the creature answered cheerfully, turning the computer off and hopping down onto the floor. “In the end there is only one perfect solution but it is unavailable to us.”

“What solution?” the boy asked, following after Nedzu.

“Not letting it happen in the first place, of course!” the creature answered joyfully. “But so far there are no quirks nor technology capable of time travel on such scale.”

Izuku thought about Eri and her Rewind. 

“So far…” he repeated, his mind going over ideas so crazy even he would put them on hold. For now. Nezu merely smiled, recognizing Midoriya’s thinking expression.

Sometimes all you need is a spark, after all. 

~‿‖‿~§~♪~§~⁀‖⁀~

A year went by in the blink of an eye. All For One successfully took over most of the east and south, while west and north were still fighting tooth and nail to stay free from the centuries old monster. I-Island was the only place that was holding on soemwhat stably. Sadly, the new conquers didn’t mean less trouble for Japan; while there was less of Nomus than at the beginning, the ones that were left… Well, good luck surviving those.

The sad, rotted cherry on top was that yakuza was one step away from creating quirk erasing bullets. As much as Izuku still loves heroes, he would be fine with the whole world becoming quirkless if it could stop the current madness. But everything indicated Chisaki’s success bringing even more chaos. 

Midoriya really, really didn't want the only person left with inhuman power be a sociopath who isn’t above torturing a child when he can easily continue his project while treating her humanly... And who more likely than not have put the man he respected the most into coma just to have the things go his way. 

Anyway! The point is! Unfinished as the Phantom was (Mei was sadly but undeniably far better at naming things and was quick to put ‘Quirger’ out of its misery), the time was running out.  

That’s how Midoriya found himself biting a small pill when Hekiji came to tell him that Chisaki wants to see him. The boy wasn’t sure whether his heart was beating so fast because of what he was about to do or due to Phantom already starting to work (there was a slight chance of heart attack so hopefully it was the former). 

His boss’ office was the perfect place for putting the plan into motion; there are cameras everywhere but at Chisaki’s quarters. There are some on the corridor, pointed straight at the doors but all Midoriya needs to do is close them behind him.

If you take all of the complicated things out (like pretty much reassembling the entirety of Overhaul the quirk and learning how to use it on the fly, all the calculations about where it is positioned and the absolutely excruciating pain in the ass that actual process of making the Phantom was), the plan was stupidly easy. Wait to be called by the boss to his office (happens more often than one might imagine), wait for a chance, stab the man with electrocuting fork and take his quirk while he’s unconscious. 

Then gather your composure… And run out wailing like a little girl, explaining through tears that All For One had appeared from nowhere and had stolen Overhaul’s quirk before the boss could react. Cry a river so everyone gets uncomfortable and send you out… And, then, stay the hell away from there because when Chisaki wakes up, he’s going to be pissed. 

 “We’re moving out for field tests.” Chisaki started talking the second Midoriya closed the doors behind him. Izuku was relieved to see the man sitting because that meant that he could take a seat too and his legs felt like jelly. Not something he was completely unused to but he’s pretty sure it had been years since he was nervous enough to feel like this. “You’ll have the honor of witnessing the history.”

Midoriya nodded, trying not to focus too much on the feeling of his insides burning. He felt a bit as if something was about to physically burst from inside him but he wasn’t coughing blood so he’s pretty sure it’s just a ghost sensation. 

“When are we proceeding?” he asked, knowing Chisaki long enough by now to realize that the somewhat long moment of pause was left there for him to comment.

“Tomorrow afternoon, be there in the morning.” the man answered readily before squinting. Oh fuck, did Izuku do something wrong?! “You’re unusually pale.”

Phew… His heart was just about ready to burst. 

“I… Saw a rather gruesome sight on my way here.” he lied, leaving it to imagination whether whatever he witnessed took place in yakuza hideout or outside of it. “Could I get some water before we continue?”

The man nodded, and Midoriya got up. There was a water dispenser behind the couch Chisaki was occupying. It was the best chance the boy was going to get. 

For once in his life, the fate smiled upon Izuku; when he walked by his superior, the man decided to look through some documents instead of glancing at the boy. Good as the man’s reflexes might be, he had nothing on Izuku’s newest model of high voltage fork. 

It was humorous in a sense. Extremely powerful yakuza leader who can reassemble matter as he desires, taken out before he could fully turn around his head. With a fork. By a quirkless teenager. 

‘Karma’s a bitch’ as the ancient wisdom would say.

Midoriya took a shuddering breath and focused on his weapon as a test subject, checking if the Phantom was already fully in effect. Soon enough it was no more. The serum worked splendidly and he was completely right in his assumptions about Overhaul’s inner workings (at least some of them because he made dozens upon hundreds upon thousands of theories, some of them outright denying each other). 

It was a bit like building with lego blocks but instead of lego blocks you had molecules and weren’t using your hands but brain to move them. While still having to touch them. A really weird sensation, but it had nothing on the next thing Midoriya had to do.

(Somewhere at the back of his mind Izuku noted how depending on what he was using the quirk on it seemed to… He wouldn’t call those ‘colors’ but he could somehow perceive that they were from different. Also, the molecules had a tendency of returning to where they belonged, if he didn’t focus on them)

He took a deep breath, not giving himself a chance to start spiraling into panic. First, he checked if he would be able to swap some of his skin with Chisaki’s. He did so successfully and even didn't struggle too hard at putting it back. Then he tested it with muscles and bone but it wasn't long until he started feeling a bit dizzy. He definitely didn’t have much time before the aftereffects really hit.

He went straight for the quirk and oh… If it wasn’t weird to take part of someone’s brain, to shuffle through molecules, grabbing somewhat blindly (because how was he supposed to gain experience in such a… Field… Beforehand?!). He was expecting the process to be absolutely terrible and maybe that he'd become insane or lose control over his own body…

But no such thing happened. It was nearly as if the Overhaul created artificially by the Phantom was calling to the original. And since the rightful owner wasn’t putting up any fight it easily left him. Izuku might have been a bit delirious because it kind of reminded him of an old lady with a martini in hand, yelling ‘bye losers’ to her family, leaving them forever on a luxurious yacht.

And just like that Midoriya Izuku stopped being quirkless. The fact wouldn’t truly settle for a considerable future but for now the boy took a step toward the doors, then few back and rummaged through Chisaki’s drawers. In gloves, of course, as not to leave any fingerprints. He smiled shakily when he found a case of trial quirk-erasing bullets. He took them out and used Overhaul to make them one with his shirt before throwing the case to the ground. He opened the doors and stepped outside.

It was show time.

The tears came easily. He was shaking, both from the strain of the substance in his blood and a newly acquired power. The weight of what he had just done… What he managed to accomplish… It made him giddy in a shivery manner.

“Help!”

Kendo was the first to come and the rest followed shortly after. Midoriya gave them well-prepared tale of how All For One teleported into a room, lunging at Chisaki, stealing Overhaul. He shakily ‘retold’ how the villain completely disregarded Izuku because of his quirklessness, and how the boy went running to get help.

“Fuck!” 

“Go protect the main data! I’m going to check on the boss!”

“We need to hide Eri, if he finds her it’s all over!” 

Suddenly someone grabbed Midoriya by the shoulder.

“Take the girl and go hide, don’t go out for next two to three weeks.” someone ordered. The only reason why Midoriya was able to hide his grin was that he was pretty sure he was going to vomit a lot blood in a next minute or three.

He turned out to be right but, luckily, he did so already outside. At least he didn’t have to answer any unnecessary questions. Except, that is…

“Are you… Okay…?” Eri asked quietly and he raised his thumbs up before raising his head and wiping off the remaining blood.

“It was all part of my plan.” he assured, offering her his hand. Not the bloody one. She readily held onto it, following after him as he lead her through the empty streets and then through alleyways.

“Your plan…?” she inquired, her eyes going wide.

He nodded quickly, smiling brighter than any sane person should be capable of while having internal bleeding. Not to mention his fading vision and how light headed he felt.

He needed to get Eri to his house quickly… No, he 

needs to, somehow, get to the beach base. Because his family has no offical medical training while Natsuo will probably be able to keep him alive long enough for Izuku to get some rest and fix his body with Overhaul. 

“I told you I’m going to save you one day.” he answered eloquently and she froze. He tugged her lightly forward. 

“B-but Overhaul… He will disassemble you and…” she whispered, horrified.

“He won’t! Because I stole his quirk!” Midoriya chirped, high on their success... Before promptly coughing more blood. 

“But… You aren’t cursed, you don’t have… Quirk… Isn’t it impossible?” she asked. 

“Sorry, I don’t tend to listen to some silly excuses like ‘it's impossible’.” 

She gripped his hand with slightly more strength.

“Is… Is it really possible for me to…?” she asked, not sure how to finish her sentence.

“Yes.” but Midoriya sure as hell knew how to answer. “You won’t be disassembled and reassembled anymore. No one will. We can talk all we want, with no fear of a bad person overhearing... And no one will hurt you again. I promise.”

Tears started streaming down her face but the two of them didn't stop, they hardly even slowed down. They had to keep moving and Eri knew that. Because she might be actually safe from her prison but she isn’t in a safe place. But she will be. Because it’s Midoriya and Midoriya is the nicest and strongest person she knows. 

He’s the only person who showed her kindness and didn’t get killed. The only one smart enough to win even against Overhaul. 

In Eri’s eyes, he was invincible. 

That’s probably why Natsuo was so quick to make her a part of his cult.

~‿‖‿~§~♪~§~⁀‖⁀~

Good thing his mom had a communicator because he couldn’t even imagine how worried she would be during the week he was gone.

Yes, he spent the whole seven days having to lie down. Turns out, he had not only internal bleeding but also the serum, for whatever reason, made his bones far more brittle (a side effect he was aware could occur but come on! The chance of it happening was under one point two! Zero point two percent!) and! Add to that his body having a hard time adjusting to the sudden appearance of a quirk. With adrenaline gone, Midoriya felt like a microwaved marshmallow launched into space in a soda bottle.

And, additionally, he had to fix himself. Because he had the quirk capable of reassembling molecules. No one else. 

Of course, he lacked the experience to just… Make himself from scratch but completely healthy (because fusing with someone is the same thing but with remaking two people instead of one and he heard that Chisaki could do that) so he just slowly made his bone sturdy again and took care of the most serious of his internal bleeding. It took a lot of concentration. But he managed! And, thankfully, the rest of the side effects were either heavily weakened by getting the original quirk or could heal naturally.

A week of laying still would probably have been far more uncomfortable was it not for the fact that he had to use a brand new quirk and that was equal measures exhausting, horrifying, and exciting. Plus when he got better and just had to rest, everyone was quick to occupy some of his time. 

Nezu would discuss the little details of what had happened, explaining how the Phantom could be improved (for whatever reason) and the two got into some tangents about quirks, genetics, and stuff like that. At some point, he remarked that Izuku doesn’t have to worry about yakuza since they will finish what he began and the creature absolutely refused to elaborate on that.

Fuyumi and Natsuo usually came together, making small talk and telling some pre-apocalypse stories to him. He isn’t sure when or how exactly he learned all about what massive asshole Endeavour was at home but he did. Also, he hopes he will get to meet their little brother one day. Half Ice Half Fire sounds like such an impressive quirk! Even if the guy refuses to use its full potential…

Hitoshi was a good company too, both he and Bread. Up to the point where he started to sleep more than Izuku himself. On one hand, Midoriya didn’t feel very amused with his friend coming to keep him company and then promptly snoozing on the ground beside him while the cat purred a storm between the two... But on the other Hitoshi must have a lot of trust in Izuku to be able to fall asleep near him so easily. He had terrible problems with getting rest even before this whole apocalypse thing.

Or maybe Izuku just had a quirk after all, with it being some kind of boring people to sleep because at some point Aizawa started coming just to take a nap there too. Like, did the two of them think that if they come here specifically to sleep, Midoriya would fall asleep too? Ha! Not a chance!

Mei was happy to discuss all kinds of inventing topics with him, going as far as starting to plan androids that could possess quirks (since the Phantom proved copying those through DNA possible). She was also very proud to offer him her newest invention; lava generating spoon. 

(Which is truly tragic. He made his voltage fork for fun! He wasn’t supposed to start using it as his main weapon! Though he does admit, it does give one hell of a surprise element)

Yaoyorozu was an amazing company; not only talking with her was a lot of fun but she also brought tea! Sometimes Nedzu would join them and the three of them discussed topics that sometimes made even Midoriya’s mind dizzy.

But, surprisingly, his favorite company turned out to be the blond trio; Kaminari, Mirio, and Present Mic. He greatly appreciates everyone’s care! And he couldn’t imagine not having all of them around! It’s just that… As amazing as talking about the very time continuum was, it could be a little overwhelming at times (and so was Mei and the two sleeping bodies).  

But the three blonds were easy to get along and energetic. They made a lot of stupid jokes, and told him some funny stories about their past (Mirio running around school halls naked, Kaminari ‘wheeing’ at people after overusing his quirk, Present Mic actually breaking some windows after particularly high-pitched shriek of suprise, Mirio overhearing about Sir Nighteye talking about needing ‘a shot of grey goose’ and giving him an actual, living animal… Kaminari stuffing eight doughnuts into his mouth and nearly electrocuting a friend when he choked on them with said companion trying to help him, Present Mic catching a villain because they were such a big fan of his radio program that they were willing to turn themselves in for an autograph). 

Eri visited too but for some reason, she didn’t seem as worried as he expected her to be (not that he wanted her to stress over him!). But everything became clear soon. How exactly? Well, you see, it was on the sixth day of his resting week. She walked to him and whispered in somewhat of a conspiratorial tone…

“Are you really a chaos deity?” 

He felt so done with Natsuo but when he looked at her red, wide eyes with some newfound shine to them… How could he say no to that face?!

“Well, if I was I would certainly not tell anyone about it,” he said, winking at her. 

She was quiet for a moment, processing his words before her face brightened a bit (she still wasn’t smiling but that was alright, she would in her time) and she ran out, probably to talk with the imp that gave her the idea.

Izuku sighed but he was smiling. 

What a wonderfully crazy family he has.

~‿‖‿~§~♪~§~⁀‖⁀~

He told his mom, Mitsuki, and Masaru that he was helping with some important stuff at the other base. He was pretty sure that if he gave them the full, honest story… Well, they would more likely than not lock him somewhere safe and sound spouting some nonsense about how he is a danger to himself.

Come on, everyone is at least a little crazy here! They are living in an apocalyptic world after all! Not even the post-apocalyptic one since there is still some resistance against All For One and his army of Nomus!

Anyway, Midoriya was pretty worried about yakuza (since Nezu still didn’t tell him anything about his plans concerning them) but whatever it was, it hadn’t taken long. Only two weeks after his recovery, he had been told that the situation had been taken care of. Yakuza’s base was now Nezu’s territory and oh, if it wasn’t a tad bit terrifying...

Contrary to everyone’s expectations, not that much had changed after that.

Nomus still rampaged throughout the cities of Japan (and other countries) while survivors scavenged for resources. Midoriya developed his garden to be more self-sustainable and… Well… They just kept on living in general.

Sometimes it felt like a sick joke to Izuku. So many people had died, their friends, their families… Society as they know was forever destroyed… Yet they, in the middle of it all, can sit and joke around a table. In some way, it felt unfair. It’s not that he wanted to be unhappy or something! It’s just…

Sometimes his thoughts drifted to Inasa… To Kacchan… To All Might… And he can’t help but be angry about all the people who had been killed. 

He wonders what the world could have looked like. He imagines himself going out to the arcade with Mei, Hitoshi, and Yoarashi. Laughing freely and shoving each other around, not having to be cautious all the time. Happy and… Carefree like the teens they still are.

Sometimes he imagines meeting Kacchan after finishing high school. He can picture the blond’s angry face perfectly. How the boy would finally be able to manage his fury without blowing up at the closest person because Aizawa would be sure to drill quite a bit of self-control into him. How the two of them would work things out and slowly grow to maybe not being friends but good acquaintances. How his childhood friend would realize how wrong the things he said and done in the past were... Not that he would ever admit to it out loud.

He didn’t talk about it with others but it was obvious they thought about such things too. It was a bit of a taboo subject, now that he thinks about it. It was something everyone held close to their hearts, afraid that if they as much as uttered a word about their pains, it would devour all the fragile happiness they managed to find in this new scary world.

Well, at the very least Eri seemed to be doing well. He guesses she lived in darkness for so long that even the tiniest spark was like a wonderful sunbath to her. Not that it was something to be envious of. After all, unlike him, she would never experience the beauty of lively streets, colorful parades, and ever full shops. Toys, appliances, camping equipment, everything available in dozens upon hundreds of variations.

All this magic… Gone just like that. Would the world ever come back to the way it once was?

Chapter Text

Seven years had passed since Midoriya stole Chisaki’s quirk (and since Mei helped him rename it because Overhaul had… Too much history. Not that its past could be changed, but Izuku felt as if this power was truly his after getting a new alias; Revamp). His control over it became far better and he was someone to be reckoned with. Not that he wasn’t before! But, like, he could quite literally shatter the ground and bury you alive within seconds if he wanted to.

He also… Well… How to put it…? He kind of… Got more quirks?

It might sound crazy… But it probably should, considering that his last mad idea was one that could as well consist of reshaping the whole universe. 

You see, in the past few years, they managed to help Eri understand that she wasn’t cursed and that her power was something to be proud of. It took quite a lot effort for her to learn how to control it but nowadays she could use Rewind to help with wounds! 

Anyway. Unlike what Izuku expected – hoped – All For One didn’t return to Japan nor did he blindly keep destroying everything. After razing all resistance that could stand up to him, he began remodeling the society. From what Nezu’s hacking supplied, he was taking all quirks. Only him, Nomus and his closest aides were left with powers.

He began with I-Island (it had fallen after three years of resistance) and seemed to be planning on going from West to East. By the time he reaches Japan it probably wouldn't do much if they killed him (even they managed to) because the world would be already shaped into whatever vision he was going for. The ones with quirks would be nothing short of gods… 

The battle between their group and All For One’s underlings would probably take years and, he’s afraid, even less would be left of this already falling world. 

So the only choice at winning this unwinnable war would be to, as Nezu once say, undo it all. Go back in time.

It might sound impossible with conventional methods (if there are ones in the first place) but luckily for everyone, Midoriya is quite brilliant when it comes to getting the most improbable of plans to work. And this specific idea of his consisted of Eri’s quirk and the Phantom.

Her quirk can Rewind organic matter. Revamp can reassemble what the world is made of. By mixing those two… Time travel could prove possible.

They didn’t delve right into that idea, of course. They did a lot of thinking and testing. They started by checking if Midoriya could use Revamp to make the Phantom’s effect permanent (while also taking rid of aftereffects). Mei happily volunteered and… Well.

He realized just how useless Chisaki was at using what he had because here Izuku was, using the same exact power and serum based off Trigger to get fourteen quirks (Revamp not included!).

It was a wild ride, and Izuku would probably be unable to keep all of these powers in check was it not for Nedzu’s High Spec. But with that boost, managing all of these was not only easy but also made learning how to use them much smoother (Permeation was the absolute worst to master. He and Mirio now shared bond only those stuck in vacuum could understand).  

Revamp with a small help of Phantom was, to put simply, a more complicated version of All For One. 

Anyway! The point is; Midoriya now has a whole arsenal of quirks and crazy idea how to use them to turn back the time and fix everything! Okay, maybe he can’t help literally everyone and make absolutely everything better but he can as well try!

His first attempt went… Well…?

He talked to everyone and said his… Not exactly goodbyes but hopefully-we-will-meet-in-past'es. Not that they would remember him.  

He wanted to move to the furthest day he had the best recollection of and, sadly, it was the one where the doctor shattered his dreams forever. But more exactly, the moment when his mother hugged him, starting to apologize. He remembers perfectly his constricted heart, exhausted mind and puffy eyes. He can picture his mother arms around his small body. The river of tears both of them had cried out.

And so, he mixes Permeation and Revamp, making himself one with the very atmosphere. He can’t breathe and his thoughts are fumbled, but he desperately holds onto the memory. He activates Rewind. He remembers that day so clearly… He will be able to go there, right? Right?!

He doesn’t.

He’s still in the apocalyptic world when the power of Rewind runs out, and he starts panicking, because he doesn’t know where… When he is and how to get back to his body, and he still can’t breathe though does it matter if he doesn’t have body? Oh God, he doesn’t have body, hysterics grip at… He doesn’t have heart! Is this the end of him?! Will he stay in this space forever?! Will he just… Disappear…?

Then he remembers Mei. The conversation a month prior he had with her about magnetic chopsticks. It was such a stupid idea he couldn’t help but make some snarky remark which in return made the girl laugh and…

As if lead by invisible thread, he feels his body, its position. The infinitesimal amount of molecules (at least for a human) he is made of right now are quick to gather around and permeate… Reassemble themselves back into the flesh they know so well. His memories settle in and the rest of his future body simply ceases to exist. 

He gasps, grasping at his head.

“Huh? What’s wrong?!” the girl asks, worry and fear creeping into her voice.

“Oh fuck… Mei… Mei! I just time traveled!” he yells when the world stops spinning and he can feel his… Well, everything again.

“What?! How?!” she demands and he's quick to provide answers. Nezu appears half-way through his explanation, as if feeling that some natural laws had been broken.

The mammal stays quiet for a bit.

“I think I might have an idea…” he says, grinning. “Would you care for a walk, dear boy?”

It’s very telling of his lack of survival instincts how he doesn’t shudder or even flinch at these words. Even Aizawa, who isn’t even in the room, gives more of a reaction! Rather...

“Of course!” he answers enthusiastically. 

At the very least it can be blamed on the fact that he shares a quirk with the insane mammal.

~‿‖‿~§~♪~§~⁀‖⁀~

“You see, from what I gathered the only thing stopping you from going back  to the point you desire is the power output of Rewind. And I might have an idea of how to resolve this.” Nezu chattered happily, the two of them walking by the seaside.

If Midoriya knew him less, he would take their stroll as one without any specific destination… But he knew better.

“Really?” he asked excitedly, not one to be scared by anything. Even the highly intelligent mammals.

“You see… There’s a secret that was given to me in great trust. One that might assist you in saving the world.”

“What is it?” Izuku asked when the creature went quiet. Probably to make the young man more jittery with excitement.

“All Might’s quirk, One For All. How the name indicates, it is the power born to oppose All For One. It had been given from hero to hero each generation, All Might himself being the eighth user. It’s a stockpiling quirk that could power up your Rewind to go far enough.”

Midoriya didn’t freeze instead his mind started going even faster than it was humanly possible (thanks to High Spec). 

“More details, please.” he inquired, and Nezu laughed maniacally for a bit.

“It cannot be taken forcibly. It has to be given willingly but! I believe since what we’re planning to do is copying it rather taking it, it might work.”

“But is it be possible to copy the accumulated power rather than the base?”

“That, dear boy, I am not sure of. We do not have a better alternative either way... But first of all we need to somehow make a Phantom out of only bones, since I am afraid not much more is left of our symbol.”

Midoriya shuddered, a spark of endless admiration still present in his heart making him feel rather upset about grave robbing his once-idol.

“We’ll… Have to unbury his body and steal some of his bones…” he whispered, as if waiting for Nezu to laugh and tell him how silly his words were.

“Yep!”

Well… At the very least with Revamp they didn’t need shovels.

~‿‖‿~§~♪~§~⁀‖⁀~

Did Midoriya feel terribly guilty about consuming extract made out of his childhood hero's bones? Of course he did.

Was he hesitant to do so? No. If it could save the world… He would sure as hell try.

But the thing is, he did the usual thing, taking the Phantom, processing the temporary quirk into a permanent one and all that jazz but nothing happened. First hour? Nothing. Second? Same. Three? Four? Haha! Nope.

It felt as if the quirk was… Well, as if it was extinguished. Which, sadly, made sense for more thn one reason. The user was dead, the quirk itself was quite peculiar and it was a stockpiling ability. Well, Eri’s was too to an extent but still, One For All and Rewind were two completely different things.

Which was further proven when Izuku – exhausted and burdened by the failure – went to sleep and… Heard a weridly familiar voice.

“I’m sorry, my boy. I have failed you in so many ways…”

He couldn’t see anything… He couldn’t even move. The whole thing felt weird, neither like a dream nor reality. And the voice… He had a distinct feeling he should be able to recognize it but he just couldn’t put his finger on it.

“I’ve let you down. Broke a promising spirit of a true hero!” 

Suddenly Midoriya knew who was talking to him. And just as the realization hit him, he noticed a dark shadow. Tall, lanky one. 

“And then I lost. I… I’ve gotten myself killed before defeating All For One! Without passing my sacred torch!”

The shadow moved like a glitch, abruptly inches from him but Izuku didn’t flinch. Call him suicidal or stupid, but he still trusted his hero. Sure, his words back then hurt… But after listening to them he found a new path and friends… And he loved that life dearly, short it might have lasted before the apocalypse. Even if there was a tiny smolder of bitterness somewhere deep inside Izuku… It didn’t stop him from feeling grateful for the life he managed to build after letting go of his impossible dreams.

Impossible… 

Ha, as if that word could stop him nowadays…

“I have no right to ask anything of you, my boy but… Let this failure of a man give you a gift at the very least.”

Midoriya had a distinct feeling that the shadow smiled at him, for a second becoming bigger and buffer… Portraying the hero millions – billions even – of people loved dearly.

“I don’t doubt you will use One For All wonderfully. Plus ultra, my boy. Go beyond.”

Midoriya wanted to say something so badly. But he couldn’t. He just watched as the shadow put his hands forward, a shiny ball of light appearing on them. Even though up to this point Izuku couldn’t move, he easily reached for the power that could help him fix the unfixable.

The light engulfed him, powerful, burning and all-encompassing. With this… He felt as if he could do anything. When the brightness subdued, he realized that he had woken up.

And the light was now shining deep within him. 

~‿‖‿~§~♪~§~⁀‖⁀~

He had done it once already but it didn’t make it any less stressful.

“Save the world for us, our little troublemaker!” Mitsuki demanded, clapping him on the back, hard enough to make it sting.

“But don’t put too much strain on yourself. You’re a smart boy, you can think of a plan that doesn’t put you in immediate danger.” Masaru added, knowing Izuku far too well by now.

Inko was quiet for a moment. Then she walked up to him and hugged him, no tears in sight.

“Before you go… There’s a mistake I never fixed…” she said, pulling away slightly to look into his eyes. “You can be a hero, Izuku. You always could, I was too blinded by my worry to notice it so please… Forgive this stupid, old lady and go. Do what you should have done back then.”

Izuku wanted to say something, maybe ‘you’re not old, mom!’ or assure her that it wasn’t her fault that he didn’t try for his dreams in the past.

But instead he embraced her in a hug even he knew was too crushing but he couldn’t help it. He knew that if he managed to get back in time she will still be with him but… It won’t be the same mom as this mom. They went through so much together in this crumbling world… Survived so much… It was heart-breaking to think that she and all the people around would kind of… Disappear.

He let go after what must have been at least five minutes, wiping his tears away.

They wouldn’t disappear. But their fear and trauma would. If he succeeds… When he succeeds they will be able to be happy. To live like they used to, so freely and carelessly…

“I will be the best hero ever.” he said… Stated. It wasn’t a promise; it was a fact.

“Of course you will!” Mitsuki exclaimed, ruffling his hair and then catching him into a quick hug too.

After one more embrace, from Masaru this time, Izuku smiled at everyone once last time before moving toward his precious beach house.

It will soon be gone too…

~‿‖‿~§~♪~§~⁀‖⁀~

“Remember to reach out to me! I’m going to punch you if you don’t! Even if I won’t remember you!” Mei exclaimed, and Izuku snorted.

“Won’t? I mean, I’m going to the past so…” he said, and she laughed too.

“Yeah, true.” she agreed easily before promptly grabbing him into a hug.

“It would be nice if you remembered me too.” Hitoshi drawled, which turned out to be a grave mistake since he was quickly caught into the embrace, now squished against Midoriya in Mei’s worryingly strong arms.

“And include Inasa too.” she whispered, the name being said in their group for the first time in years.

“I will.” he said, immediately grave serious.

They were quiet for a moment.

“What ‘I will’? You’re going to past so you already had done everything we asked of you!” she answered with a wink and a smirk.

“Can you let go? I can’t breathe?” Hitoshi requested, and the girl readily stepped back.

 “Don’t leave us hanging either, our dearest chaos deity!” Natsuo exclaimed, showing his tongue when Izuku squinted at him.

“I know it’s a bit much to ask but… If you happen to run into our brother try to reach out to him, okay? He never got a chance to make friends but under his cold exterior, he’s very kind.” Fuyumi added.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Midoriya answered with a little salute.

“Remember to take care of yourself, little listener! You remember the number I gave you? You need to prank call Past Mic at least once!” Yamada was quick to join the discussion.

“Of course I do! And of course I will!” Izuku answered with a grin that was quick to vanish when he got hit not too gently by Aizawa. “What was that for! I just agreed to his request!”

“That’s for all the grey hair you’ll get me in the past.” Eraserhead was quick to retort.

Midoriya huffed.

“You shouldn’t punish me in the future for the past things I didn’t even do yet.” he exclaimed, crossing his arms.

The dark-haired man rolled his eyes and this time his incoming hand ruffled the green bush of hair.

“Yo dude! Keep me in your heart or something! And remember to talk to me when you meet me, I sure as hell would appreciate your friendship in the past too!” Kaminari was the next to say his words.

“And if it isn’t too much to ask for… Try for a hero course in UA, please? It would be… Well, I lack a word that would wholly deliver my feelings but I would be elated if you were to get into our class.” Yaoyorozu was next.

“And you could always ask your dear upperclassman for help then!” Mirio added joyfully, pointing his thumbs at himself. “Not that you couldn’t ask me for help if you didn’t join UA! I’ll be always happy to lend you a hand!”

Nezu smiled and clapped his paws.

“I presume you know the time travelling password of mine from your previous jump in time?” Nezu inquired.

“I’m the tea that had been drank before being made.” Midoriya answered readily with a grin.

“What about the cup, then?” the creature asked, his whiskers twitching in what Izuku easily recognized as content.

“I made the cup.”

“And the kettle?”

“Well, I’m a time traveler not a mind reader, sir.” Izuku said, and the creature cackled madly before promptly calming down (which not for the first, but possibly for the last time in this timeline, sent shiver down Aizawa’s spine).

“Just don’t spoil the fun so easily for the past me.”

“I wouldn't even dream of it.”

That’s the moment a tall but petite teen barreled into Midoriya.

“Save me there too.” she whispered into his shoulder and Izuku readily embraced her.

“You don’t even need to ask.” he replied easily which drew a startled laugh out of her.

“What else could I expect from our local chaos deity?” she joked, and he groaned.

“It doesn’t make sense to call me that now… But when I go back in time it will be a different story.” he stated as she slowly let go of him.

Her eyes were glassy but she wasn’t crying. She gave him a bright smile that she learned from him. Good because it would be a bit traumatizing if the last he saw of her was her insomnia-grin (he can’t even tell whether she picked it up from Hitoshi or Aizawa).

“Alright… See you back in the past guys.” Izuku said, waving at them. They yelled their goodbyes before going quiet, letting him focus.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He would try to get to one of his most traumatic experiences again. He could try for the slime villain incident but he was afraid it might be too late; after all if he wants to get into UA’s hero course he will need more than just ten months of training.

Well, he will never be more ready than he is right now. Probably.

He activated Permeation and Revamp, once again becoming one with the atmosphere, maybe even world itself. And then he started Rewinding, using One For All to power it up and consequently to go further back.

It… Felt a bit like a deep slumber. Years flashed by in an instant, a bit like some weird movie he couldn’t even see (after all, he had no eyes in this state). More and more and more until… He felt a familiar tug.

What was he here to do, again? He... Ah, yes. He needs to return to his body. But it’s so small, so tiny and fragile… Is it even truly his? Won’t it break from all the power he gained?

He brushed his emotions aside, leaving only data and resources. Feelings hooked to all those memories weren’t as needed as the memories themselves. His past self would know… Or at least learn to know what to do with all this, how to feel about it. Surely.

His subconsciousness slowly, carefully, settled into a time long gone. Into a body that was oh so young. He tucked most of the quirks away, into a safe space deep within his mind. After all, he didn’t want all the powers to clash inside the tiny body of his younger self. It would be… Undesirable, tragic in its consequences.

He left only the Revamp and the smallest, neccessary vestiges of his own, future self.

And with that, the only remains of apocalyptic future faded away.

Chapter Text

It was a long day for the poor little boy. He learned that he was quirkless, his mom apologized when asked if he can be a hero, he cried a river, and his head starting hurting so much… 

He fell asleep in his mother’s arms, not yet aware of the things that had changed. 

He learned about them the very next morning though. And let me tell you; it was not an easy experience. It wasn’t too pleasant either.

It didn’t hurt as much as one might expect (withh al the memories of countless deaths) since it was more like a story read once in a book rather than what he personally went through.

Still, it was a lot of to take in. It was more than he had gathered up to this point of his life, and he was a very curious child.

It didn’t hurt per say. It didn’t even make him cry. It was… It felt like a sudden void but not in the pit of his stomach. It was as if something deep within was sucking out his emotions, leaving him feeling empty and lost. It wasn’t crushing but uncomfortable in a way he couldn’t take rid of.

His first thought was, of course, to go to his mother, to tell her all about it.

But he didn’t. His present mother apologized to him when he asked about his dream. The one from the future, from the wave of data he suddenly had… She told him that he can be a hero. He wanted to believe that one, and talking about it with his mom… It would make him feel like he was breaking the future where she believed in him. 

And she would probably say that it was just a weird dream anyway. 

It took him a while to come to terms with the fact that he had about two decades worth of information about future. But he was very young so he accepted the unthinkable rather easily. What was more important was that now he possessed a quirk. Well, more than one technically but he didn’t really know how to reach the rest yet.  

The ‘useless Deku’ that showed up in the memories of what was both past long gone and future yet to come didn’t apply to him. But… Has it ever? After all the person that had been told all those mean things… Was the one to survive an apocalypse, to find a way to go back in time… Even get a gift, a quirk, from All Might himself!

Little Izuku didn’t think about All Might dying in that future. It was stupid. His hero would never die. From all the tragedies he learned about, this was one he couldn’t believe in. So he decided to think that the hero just hid deep into his quirk, waiting for a right person to find him so they can save the world together! 

The boy wanted to be like the person he learned about from the memories. He wanted it above all else, maybe even above becoming a hero (because wasn’t that person his own brand of a hero?). But he was afraid of failing. What if he can’t do it? There were so many hard, scary, and sad moments in that person’s live! And that Izuku didn’t manage to stop it! How was he of the present supposed to do it?

But his young, overactive mind was quick to lose its track and hop onto another thought. 

He has a quirk now! A lot of them, actually. But right now he can only use Revamp… So he should perfect it! Oh! Maybe he can tell all about it to Kacchan and they can train together?! He got up, ready to run to his friend’s house and tell him the news, his hand inches from his room’s doorknob…

“Take a swan dive off roof and hope for a quirk in your next life.”

He froze. 

Kacchan is his friend. But Kacchan also was a friend of the future Izuku. And the blond hurt him so much… Just because he didn’t have a quirk… Even though he was so strong and amazing, and smart that he managed to give all those future memories to past Izuku!

The boy clenched his fists, tears gathering in his eyes.

He wants to give his friend a chance. He wants to be like his future self he knew about. He doesn’t want to go through what that him did but… If he told everyone that he has a quirk wouldn’t it be a bit like running away? This Izuku isn’t the one who managed to obtain this quirk. He was given it, without having to fight anyone or surviving anything scary. Using it to avoid so little as mean words… It wouldn’t be fair toward his future self!

He needed… He wanted to go through this all. To pull through this, to prove to himself, to his future self, that he was just as strong. No! Even stronger! That he could take all those words with a head held high! Because he knows his true worth! 

Yeah, Izuku decided, he would train Revamp as much as he could but he wouldn’t tell anyone about it. He will accept the quirkless, weak version of himself just to raise above it and become stronger than anyone ever was!

All men are not created equal.

They all had their chances already. It’s time for Izuku to shine.

~⁀‖⁀~§~♪~§~‿‖‿~

Well, it was easy to think all these grand things but the reality was… Less inspirational.

It didn’t take long before everyone knew about his status. At the beginning, when everyone’s quirks were still small and weak, it wasn’t all that important. But then Kacchan read his name as ‘Deku’ and the alias of ‘useless’ would soon stick to his name… And then become it, it seemed.

Izuku knew how future him reacted. He kept on following Kacchan hoping for the friendship they once had to come back… But it never truly did. Did Izuku want a repeat of it all? To keep chasing after a person that gave up on him so easily?

It was painful to even think about not following Kacchan. But…

“Useless Deku! You don’t even have a quirk yet you’re always in my way! Why do you even waste oxygen?!”

“What? You’re absolute mad lass my dude! Like, how cool is that?!"

“Of course you’d go under radar like that, problem child. What else was I expecting?” 

The future him grew up used to cruelty. To being called useless, to his quirkless status rendering him into something worth even less than trash… But he realized that it didn’t define him. It was just one of his features.

Nearly six, Izuku decided that he would make his future self proud by realizing that truth sooner. He, of course, didn’t immediately stop following Kacchan. But whenever his friend and others looked down on him because of his lack of quirk… He gave them a disappointed look (at least he tried to by mimicking his mom’s face whenever he played with his All Might’s figurines instead of going to sleep like he was supposed to) and left.

He then walked up to various kids, asking if he could play with them. Most of them were somewhat confused by his sudden appearance but they agreed easily. Sometimes they would chatter about heroes without a care in the world, quick to invite him for some play-pretend or building fortresses out of branches and leafs. Usually they did ask about his quirk since it was an age most kids knew pretty well what their power was.

“I’m quirkless.” he tended to answer with a small shrug, as if it wasn’t that important before promptly changing subject. “But we can talk about your quirk if you want to! It sounds really cool!”

Surprisingly, unlike knowledge of his future self, the kids always took it well, not lingering on the fact and happily talking about their own power. Izuku was starting to get proud of himself for changing the present but…

“Doesn’t being quirkless make you useless? You don’t have any power!” some kid asked, somewhere after Izuku’s sixth birthday (which quite a lot kids attended, Kacchan included). 

“But I don’t need quirk to do most things. Quirks are usually very specific anyway.” He answered honestly but it was as if some sort of domino had started falling.

Some more kids agreed with the first and a realization of some sort seemed to shine in Kacchan’s eyes.

“Hey! Even your name means useless, Deku!” the boy exclaimed. 

It was most likely a joke but it… Hurt. A lot. Those terrible words left mouth of someone who used be his friend… Wasn’t Kacchan supposed to help him? Once upon a time they wanted to be heroes together. They were supposed to be partners. Partners don’t give up on each other so easily.

Little Izuku clenched his fists but refused to cry. He stayed quiet, not yet smart enough to know what to say but not no longer naïve to the point of hoping things would change for better. While he was going to follow in the footsteps of his future self, he wasn't going to do so blindly. 

After all he was supposed to change the future. 

~⁀‖⁀~§~♪~§~‿‖‿~

By the age of eight, Izuku was alone.

Unlike for his future self, it wasn’t that no one liked him. It was just… Kacchan was the leader of all kids and did whatever he wanted. And he deemed Izuku weak and useless. There were children that enjoyed his company but were too afraid to interact with him.

And they were scared of acting when others picked up on Izuku. But he was never able to stay still when others were being hurt. He didn’t feel bitter about it though. Quite the contrary, in fact. Even if it left him with burns and other injuries… He felt proud. His future self wasn’t amazing because he was powerful like All Might. He was capable of pushing through pain, always ready to help… And that’s how he survived, how he came to the point of being so strong.

Izuku wouldn’t let himself be put down. He wouldn’t fight back since the teachers didn’t take too kindly to that (which irked him, something he’s pretty sure his future self didn’t feel until much later in life) but he wouldn’t let them break him.

He knew what he would be capable of in the future and he was confident in that vision of himself. He would get to be like that him. He would be amazing!

And he was getting better and better at controlling Revamp! He’s pretty sure he’s as good in some aspects as his future self since this time around the quirk ‘appeared’ around five years old and, by extent, felt more natural to the body.

That’s probably why at this  age Izuku managed to learn how to access other quirks. Thanks all stars, the kid was smart enough not to instantly grab all of them. In quite simple process of thought he took High Spec since it would make him smarter.

And oh… What a brilliant idea it was.

~⁀‖⁀~§~♪~§~‿‖‿~

By the age of ten Izuku unlocked most of the quirks his future self had (minus One For All since it seemed… Too intense) and was already growing a rather beautiful garden in the spot his summer house came to be once in a future. The building-like structure he created from various trash was pretty cool too, if he say so himself. Revamp wasn’t yet strong enough to make the boy confident in making underground part but he would in due time. For now he was making the area above cozier.

(Unlike the future him, he already had four rooms, all of them perfectly smooth and stable thanks to Revamp. The doors were missing though since Izuku didn’t yet manage to find the fridge)

He also started learning coding and returned to his awesome role of an inventor. It was frustrating at times since he possessed so much knowledge but it was just in his brain; his hands didn’t move with the same skill he remembered his future self doing. But he would surely get to this point soon.

And! He found Inasa on social media! Was he the same person his future self was at this age, he would be too stressed to reach out to the boy. But he was closer to his time traveler self rather the afraid preteen he used to be… In the past-future timeline. Plus High Spec was helpful in assuring him that he knows how to befriend him without seeming weird. And while also being surprisingly honest!

Hey! You probably don’t remember me but we used to be friends and when I saw your profile I thought it would be nice to talk again!

Ps You’re Yoarashi with Whirlwind quirk, right? I’m so sorry if I had mistaken you for someone!

Okay. He is far more confident than he would be otherwise… But he still was a tad bit (a lot) worried about the answer he would get. What if he had made a mistake? Is he acting too soon?! He probably should have waited year or two to make it sound more natural! But he wanted to already become friends with the boy so much!

I’m so so so sorry!! I don’t remember you at all! 

His heart sank at the answer. Yeah, it was obvious that the boy wouldn’t remember him since they never met in this timeline. Yet, he had a tiny bit of hope…

I’m such a terrible friend to completely forget you!!! But if you forgive me I’ll make you really great cookies! I mean my mom will since I’m not too good at cooking but I promise you they are going to be amazing!!

Izuku calmed down in an instant, taking a deep breath and rolling to the other side of his bed, glancing at his All Might poster and smiling right back at his hero.

That’s completely alright! It had been a pretty long time after all! 

If you don’t mind, do you want to meet up sometime? At a park or something?

Yeah!!!! Which parks are you live the closest to?

Izuku smiled, tearing up despite himself. He knew he wasn’t the future him and this Inasa wasn’t the same as the one he remembered but… 

‘I missed you so much’

~⁀‖⁀~§~♪~§~‿‖‿~

Luckily Izuku didn’t start bawling his eyes out when he saw the boy in person. His hair were much longer than they would be in future and face much rounder but the biggest change was that… Right now Izuku was the taller one between them two.

“Hi!” Izuku greeted, waving happily. He hadn’t been out spending time with friends since… Well, kindergarten basically.

“My long lost friend!” Inasa yelled happily, sprinting toward him and nearly running him over but catching him in a hug just in time.

Looking from side, one might think that Inasa was the one who gave future memories to his past self and was now greeting a long-dead friend.

“I’m happy to be able to talk to you again!” Izuku laughed and the boy returned it with a toothy grin.

“How could I forget you? You’re like, the only person ever who doesn’t tell me I’m too enthusiastic!” the boy was quick to answer, finally letting go of his green-haired friend. “I don’t understand them at all to be honest! Everyone should be passionate after all!”

“Yeah, with enough determination you can do anything!”

“Exactly!” Inasa stated, grinning widely. “We’re going to be best friends, right? Come on, it’s destiny you found me after so long! It’s like the world itself was passionate to see use meet again!”

It felt so surreal Izuku couldn’t help but laugh more. He just couldn’t… He was so happy! He felt as if he was going to float away from all this joy!

“I sure hope we’ll stay friends now!” he agreed easily before blinking since Inasa pushed something into his hands. “Huh?”

“The promised cookies! I hope you like All Might! Actually, I’m sure you do because who doesn’t!”

Izuku was quick to open the little bag and look at the little number one hero shaped cookies.

“So cool!” he gushed,  soon taking a bite of one. “They taste amazing too!”

“They punch tastebuds like All Might himself!” Inasa joked.

Earlier, Izuku was afraid the meeting would somehow go wrong, that it would feel weird and/or awkward… But no such thing had happened. They didn’t even get to play anything since when they started talking they just… Well, couldn’t stop. There were so many topics to discuss!

“So what’s your quirk, Izuku? Cause, I can call you your name since we used to be friends and now we’re going to be best friends, right? You can call me Yora since my name is pretty long! Or give me some funny nickname!”

“Sure, you can give me one too… Nasa.” the boy answered, and the two of them laughed, Inasa’s booming voice much louder than Izuku’s own little snicker. “And I’m quirkless but I’m planning to make my own support gear and get into UA’s hero course.”

“What?! That’s so cool! Oh! Can you, like, go to two courses at the same time? Because I really want you to make some gear for me too! It would be so cool! But I want to go with you to the hero course too! I can’t wait for the exams, why is it so long away? I want to go with you to school already!”

Izuku smiled, his heart at ease.

“Well we should be happy since it gives us a lot of time to train!”

“You’re so right Mizu! Haha! We’re going to ace it!”

“Mizu?” Izuku inquired, somewhere between baffled and amused.

“Yeah! Since I’m Nasa from I-nasa you're Mizu from Mi-doriya and I-zu-ku! I mean, only if you like it since I’m not going to call you something you don’t!”

“I absolutely love it.”

Far too soon it was time to get home.

Chapter Text

The next person he reached out to was Mei (huh, he didn’t arrange it or anything but isn’t it funny how he meets them in the same order?). It wasn’t planned, he just so happened to be in shopping mall with his mom when he spotted a familiar pink head.

“Can I wait for you here, mom? I think I saw someone I know.” he asked and the woman agreed with a smile (she was worried about her little boy not having friends since his last few birthdays were spent with only the two of them but lately a nice energetic boy named Inasa started visiting and Inko felt so relieved). 

“But don’t stray too far and call me immediately if anything happens.” 

“Of course, mom!” he replied before promptly moving toward the… Yep, it’s definitely her.

“Hey, Mei!” he called out and she jumped, turning around with a finger pointed at him accusingly.  

“You, you know my name but I don’t know yours. You’re from future or was I more famous than I thought, Freckles?” she inquired. 

“Wouldn’t you send yourself here if you build a time traveling machine?” he answered, and she shrugged.

“I mean, it’s better to test it on someone first, so?” 

He grinned.

“Well, it’s more of a message from future than the time travel you’re thinking about, I guess. But it’s close enough, right?”

She squeaked and caught his shoulders, shaking him a bit.

“I managed to send a message to the past? Why did I send it to you, not myself? No! Don’t tell me… You’re the one who sent a message back into the past?! Oh no! How could I have been bested?!” she yelled dramatically before suddenly calming down, letting go of him and straightening proudly. It was kind of funny to see her, so much younger and round-faced but with the exact same attitude. “Well, the future message must have mentioned me since I will be such a famous inventor one day, that’s how you knew me.”

“Yeah, you’re the best inventor I know so… What do you say about making ‘babies’ together?” Izuku asked, making an air quotes on a word he would probably burn before saying in that exact sentence before. But it's pretty much the same thing the girl said to future him the first time they met so it felt... Right.

She gasped and then started cackling madly.

“I already like you, Freckles!” she stated, reaching into her pockets. “Shoot, I didn’t print out my business cards yet!”

That’s the moment a pink haired woman walked to them, sighing loudly.

“Mei, what are you doing to this poor boy?” she asked, as if her daughter accosting other kids and then laughing at them maniacally was a normal occurrence. It actually might be. 

“No, no, no, mother! You lack the foresight to understand what is going on here!” the girl exclaimed, throwing her arm around Izuku’s shoulders. “This… What’s your name?”

“Midoriya Izuku.”

“This, dear mother, is Midoriya Izuku! My best friend for life with whom I am going to create babies with!” 

Izuku regretted a lot of decisions he made when some people looked at them. At the very least Mei’s mother seemed to feel the exact same incredulous shame he did.

“And he isn’t going to bolt the second you stop forcibly holding him in place?” the woman asked, crossing her arms.

“Come on, I’m not a tyrant or something! And for your knowledge, he approached me first!” 

“Oh, really?”

“Really! Now, give me some writing utensils because I didn’t print my business cards yet.”

“I can just let you put your number in my phone?” Izuku inquired, surprising the woman with his compliance to her crazy daughter. 

“No! What beginning it would be to our wonderful, galaxy conquering, partnership were I not to give you a business card?!” the girl asked, outraged, taking pen from her mother and then swiftly stealing a piece of paper from her pocket.

“Hey! That’s my business card!” the woman grumbled.

“Not anymore.” the girl replied, making a big bold ‘x’ on the part with her mother’s business information before promptly putting her own info on the other side and giving him the item. “Here! Call me today or I’m going to time travel back to today to laser shave your bush of hair, Freckles!”

“Okay.” Izuku answered readily, waving goodbye to her as he walked back to the shop he was pretty sure his mom was still in.

He was right.

“How was it, sweetie? Did you talk to your friend?” she asked, smiling at him from behind two packages of wet wipes she was trying to choose from.

“Yeah, it was a lot of fun.” he answered with a smile, deciding to forget all about the embarrassing side of it.

When they returned home, he was quick to give Mei a call. He likes his hair and the fact that her future self didn’t invent time-travel doesn’t mean the present her wouldn’t. After all, look at him! He’s a completely different person than his future self’s memories would indicate his ten year old self to be.

Yeah… Izuku changed a lot… For better though. Hopefully. 

~⁀‖⁀~§~♪~§~‿‖‿~

He might be no less crazy than his future self is, Izuku realized when he noticed a familiar homeless looking man. You see, instead of just acknowledging Aizawa’s presence and going home, he went running to the closest café and ordering the darkest coffee they were capable of making.

Sure, there was a high chance that the man would be gone by the time Midoriya gets his order but oh welp. Sometimes you just do something without a second thought and come to regret it. At least this time the worst that could happen was him spilling coffee all over his clothes while trying to catch up to hobo-looking man.

But, shockingly, not only did he not get the dark beverage all over himself but he even managed to find Aizawa. The man kept on walking in the same direction with speed showing exactly how tired he was of simply existing.

Izuku approached, fully aware of the fact that Eraserhead would be quick to realize that someone had come a tad bit too close to him (most people kept at least two feet distance from the man).

“Coffee?” he inquired just as the tradition made by his… Well not ancestor nor predecessor but his future self… Anyway, as the custom dictated.

The man gave him a rather suspicious look before slowly reaching for the plastic cup and subtly sniffing, eventually taking a sip. Midoriya would have disappeared back into the crowd, wasn't it for the fact that the man kept an eye on him this whole time.

“For the record I am not homeless, but thank you.” he stated and Izuku couldn’t help but snort which prompted Aizawa into raising an eyebrow.

“I know.” Midoriya explained his amusement. “Not homeless but really tired.”

And with this little comment of his, Eraserhead raised his second eyebrow too. Well, that’s high time to evacuate before he says something he shouldn’t!

“Good luck with whatever makes you so exhausted!” he threw, already running away.

And as if someone truly planned the whole thing… Midoriya noticed baby version of Gingerbread.

“Bread?” he calls out and the cat perked up, turning toward the boy, meowing at him curiously. Izuku was quick to walk to the creature and start petting it.

That’s how Shinso found him for the first time in this timeline.

~⁀‖⁀~§~♪~§~‿‖‿~

It was a long day. 

He knew it would be bad the second his eyes landed on his classmates standing around his desk. Would you look at that... He barely got to school and he already knew it wasn't going to be a good day. Not that he had much hope for the contrary in the first place...

“Guys! The villain is here!” someone called out, only further souring his mood.

He didn’t let it show on his face though. Even when he finally noticed what was their goal. He walked up to his desk, steps calm and unwavering even as his stomach churned. 

The drawings all over his desk calling him villain were nothing new. What he wasn’t used to were scribbles of dogs and a muzzle lying in the middle, with a small note attached. He took the piece of paper, crumbled it, and threw it in the bin without even reading it (curiosity killed the cat after all). He heard some snickers behind himself but he ignored them.

They wouldn’t say anything to his face anyway.

Then he took out wet wipes knowing fully well that the teacher would make him clean the thing anyway. They would say that he was the one to write all those offenses about himself. Ah, what a wonderful authority figure they were. 

He didn’t touch the muzzle for as long as he could before having no other choice than to move it away. It brought back… A memory he rather forgets. 

It was the only time his peers went so far that the teacher present had to react... That day left usually apathetic Shinso a sobbing mess and still showed up in his nightmares sometimes (how ironic it is? For him to have insomnia and emotional ballast that left him unable to enjoy sleep even when he managed to take a nap?).

But that’s what being forcibly muffled at the age of eight by older kids does to a kid, doesn’t it? Especially after struggling badly enough to bite his own tongue into a bleeding mess. He was lucky it healed. But was he really? He had to be extremely unfortunate to even end in such a situation in the first place…

In the end, he left the muzzle in the corner of his desk by pushing it with his pencil case. He hoped dearly someone needed it for their dog and would take it back soon.

They didn’t, and when the school day ended (with him looking everywhere but at the accursed item), he was ready to bolt. But, of course, how could the world give him at least this relief?

“Shinso. You left something behind.” the teacher said just as the boy was about to leave the classroom.

“It isn’t mine, sir.” he answered readily.

The teacher raised their eyebrow.

“Why is it on your desk then?”

Shinso gritted his teeth but managed to stop himself from saying something that would probably end up staining his record.

“I don’t know, sir. It had been here since I entered the classroom. I hoped that whoever left it would take it by now.”

“But they didn’t. Take it to the lost and found.” the man demanded.

Shinso felt cold terror grasp at his heart at the very thought of touching it. He had half a mind to sprint away, to ignore the man.

But it would be giving in to his bullies. It would be like running away from the one fight that he could actually win. He wanted to be a hero. If he froze every time he saw a muzzle… How could he hope to face real villains?

So he slowly returned to his desk, took a deep breath, and grabbed it. It was smooth and somewhat cold to the touch, leathery. It made him feel sick but he was fine. He was holding it so it's fine because he sure as hell isn’t going to put it on himself. It’s safe. 

He turned around and moved toward the exit, repeating words of encouragement inside his mind. 

“I just remembered it’s mine! My sister must have sneaked it into my backpack, sorry!” someone yelled, in the direction of the teacher rather than the boy. The classmate ran by, wrangling the item from Shinso’s hand and leaving as quickly as they came. 

 It was a bit as if some thread snapped. The world became blurry and Shinso realized that he wasn’t in the classroom anymore only when his lungs burned to the point of him gasping for air. Even his legs ached so badly he felt like falling down and not getting up would be the best thing to happen to him today. 

At least he still had his backpack on. But he didn’t change his shoes so he’s probably going to be in trouble tomorrow. Great. 

He shook his head, not sure what to do with himself. Where did he even…? Oh. Yeah. His usual self-pitying route. The one in which he imagines himself a hero by simply feeding some stray cats. Well, as small as it is… He supposes it is pretty life-changing to the felines around here. And Shinso loves cats (he'd like to be like them: free-spirited and nimble enough to escape whatever danger comes his way).

“Bread?”

He froze just as he was about to step around the corner, right into his usual spot. 

What the…? Were his ears playing a trick on him? No, he heard a familiar ‘meow’ that delivered some of his own confusion at someone calling the cat by his… Well, it was actually a nickname since the actual name was Gingerbread.  

Any other day had Shinso even an inkling of someone already playing with his strays, he would turn around and come back some other time. But today he was done with about everything. In a way, he felt like nothing could hurt him anymore (or, perhaps, he was actually hoping for other bad things to happen. To put him even lower than he already is since he wanted to have a reason for laying down in defeat... To not have to feel so weak about himself because, surely, if he took all this pain he must be strong after all?). 

So, after a minute or two, he did step into the alleyway. He saw a boy who didn’t seem much older than him if at all, petting the cat in the exact spots Shinso knew Bread loved. If the kid didn’t have a wild green bush of curls, he would wonder if it was him from some parallel universe or something. After all who else would know about Bread and his favorite scratching spots?

He took a step forward, not sure what to say but hoping to think something up when the boy suddenly turned around as if noticing him. Which was weird because Shinso was pretty good at staying quiet and Bread didn’t exactly look up at his (hopefully still) favorite human. 

“Hi.” he said, feeling a bit overwhelmed by these narrowed green eyes… That blinked in surprise before suddenly brightening up. 

“Oh, hi!” the kid quickly answered, waving in a greeting with a smile. 

“Uhm… You come here often?” Shinso blurted, regretting the words even before they fully left his mouth. 

Fucking dammit… How bad can a human possibly be in human interaction?! Like, sure, it was a terrible day and all but that doesn’t mean he gets a free pass at saying the most awkward things in the strangest of places! And at a friendly face at that! Something, he doesn’t get all that often outside of his house.

“No, you?” the kid answered with something akin to snicker but not mean-spirited. It was more on a dorky side, not a reaction he was used to getting.

“Would it sound weird if I said yes?” he answered, probably stupefied by something somewhat nice happening after just sprinting away from what was more likely than not a panic attack. Or maybe sprinting right through it?

“Not really.” the boy answered with a shrug. “At least I don’t think I have any right to comment even if it was, since I started gardening tomatoes on Dagobah Beach just yesterday.”

That… Somehow managed to take Shinso even more by surprise.

“Are they growing well?” he asked, having absolutely no idea how to answer but going with the flow. It was as if nothing he said could possibly deter this strange boy. 

“Yeah, surprisingly. And the roses already started blooming.”

“So you have not only tomatoes but also roses planted at the trash beach?” he asked incredulously, pretty sure by this point that he was talking with a figment of his imagination.

“I also have some lilies, tulips, irises, two apple trees, one orange one, and three other citruses that I’m not sure if they are all lemons or one is a grapefruit. There are some grapes too, but they aren’t doing too well right now. I’ll probably buy some other fruit trees but I’ve used all the pocket money I had left for this month on All Might’s limited figurine.”   

Yeah, it definitely is happening in his imagination. This conversation is too smooth yet bizarre for it to be real.

“Huh, cool.” he offered, deciding to stay in this little illusion of his for a bit longer. “My mom has some raspberries and blackberries, she probably would be willing to share.”

The boy gasped.

“Really? It would be really great! I was thinking about asking my neighbor for some plants but I’m pretty sure he only has flowers and I have enough of those. Can you believe that some bees started to come there? It makes no sense! Not only is it in the middle of trash but also near waves! Do they have no fear in their tiny, honey-loving hearts?”

Shinso just shrugged and for a second they were quiet.

“So… What kind of illusion are you?” the purple-haired boy asked after a while, petting Bread who walked up to him.

“Huh?”

“This whole situation is too weird to be happening so… It’s because I’m exhausted? Some new kind of panic attack that includes imagining someone nice to talk to? Am I going crazy?”

“Panic attack? Did something happen?” the boy asked, concerned, which only further proved to Shinso’s tired mind that he was part of his imagination.

Yeah, sure. He just met a teen his age who knew about his stray's name, was gardening at a garbage dump, and cared about random stranger’s problems. Ha. Like that last one would ever happen to someone as unlucky as him.

“So you’re like a therapeutic illusion? You know, I don’t want to talk to my parents and don’t have anyone else so I made you up?” Shinso continued and the illusion of the boy sighed.

“Not exactly. I mean, you did title me the fairy of coffee once... Before you ask no, I can’t materialize you a coffee right now. So? What happened?”

Hitoshi snickered. Yeah, it made sense since a coffee fairy is definitely something his exhausted mind would create. Though he doesn’t remember creating such an entity and he’s pretty sure he would make them more… Well, dark since he likes his coffee bitter but whatever. He isn’t going to argue with his mind’s inner workings.

“So you know, I have this extremely upsetting memory of getting muzzled when I was a kid and I still get terrified when I see muzzles. The dog kind. Because mouthguards, the ones heroes sometimes wear are totally fine! And the thing Present Mic has is alright too, it’s not like I’m scared of everything that covers my face or anything!” Shinso explained, a bit more heatedly than he would have liked, but it was fine. It was pretty much equivalent of talking to himself and no one really gets close to these backstreets. “I mean, if that was the case it would make my dreams of becoming a hero kind of impossible since I will probably need something like this since my quirk works with my voice…”

“Yeah, I know.” his imaginary friend (god, how old is he to have one of those?) noted easily.

“So I walk into class today and there are the usual things on my desk, you know, the ‘get out you villainous scum’ and the sort, nothing too brilliant. And there’s a muzzle in the middle. It felt so…" he trailed off and shook his head but the action didn't enlighten him. "I can’t even put it into words! But I pushed through because I want to be a hero so I'm not going to crumble with just that, you know. So I cleaned the desk since those assholes of teachers would get me in trouble like I’m the one to shit talk myself!”

“Discrimination at its finest…” the coffee fairy remarked dryly.

“My words exactly!” Shinso agreed, happy to share his frustration even if only with a figment of an imagination that looked like a person. Huh, he must admit, his mind truly outdone itself with the details. “So it’s already pretty shitty but finally the lessons are over and I can leave… But! The teacher stops me and asks me about the muzzle. And they tell me to take it. You know, I’m actually pretty proud of myself because I did grab it instead of punching him in the face. But then some asshole runs up to me, wrangles it out of my hand and the next thing I remember is you calling out for Bread. So yeah, here we are.”

The illusion was quiet for a moment. Shinso was scared they would disappear now but thankfully they didn’t.

“Does your school have working cameras?” he asked and Hitoshi chuckled drily.

He thought about it so many times already. Getting evidence and doing something with it… 

“Yes but actually no. I mean, I did try to get footage to maybe get some justice but you know how it goes. No access for students. And with all due respect, my parents are wet noodles when it comes to confrontations. Something really bad would have to happen for them to react.”

(Like putting glue in his drink, as the future proved.)

“Different life, same shit.” the illusion boy remarked and Shinso wasn’t completely sure what the ‘different life’ was supposed to mean – did he get bullied in his past life too or what? – but he was quick to nod in agreement.

“Well, thanks anyway. This mental breakdown was pretty decent, can’t you like, appear every time I’m after or about to have a panic attack?”

The boy smiled lightly at that, which in turn made Shinso’s lips twitch upward.

“Not really, but I’ll be sure to bring coffee next time.”

“A coffee from a coffee fairy himself? I’m not sure a mere mortal such as myself is worthy.” 

“It’s for me to decide.” the therapeutic illusion stated seriously before getting up and starting to walk away. “Now, the trash roses won’t water themselves. See you soon?”

“Definitely, I have mental breakdowns on a weekly basis.” 

The green-haired boy stopped and looked back at him.

“I would feel more reassured if it was more of once a month.”                         

Shinso saluted. 

“I can’t promise anything but I’ll try, fairy king.”

Well, it was worth saying for the beaming smile he was gifted with.

Chapter Text

So… Maybe, but just maybe, Izuku became a vigilante at the ripe age of eleven.

And possibly – not that it’s a sure thing or anything! – he and his extreme lack of good ideas ended up adopting Phantom as his alias. You can’t prove him being the one who sent Tsukauchi an email with a video feed accessed by hacking! And it’s not like he typed;

Dear Detective,

You know, I heard some not-very-good things from a friend of a friend so I decided to put a rather… Delicate matter into your hands. You see, I couldn’t help but notice a rather worrying case of quirk discrimination.

I have attached four files with this message. Bullying1, Bullying2, and Bullying3 contain video evidence of the most severe instances of mental harm being done to one of the students while the last one, Data, lists the details such as the school’s name, past records of such behaviors, and some of the unsavory things their teachers partook in (it would be funny how easy it was to gather solid evidence against them if it wasn’t so tragic). 

I hope you will take my words seriously (and won’t try to track me down since it would be a waste of both your and my time). 

~Phantom 

 The Chaos Deity

Did he need to add a title to his alias? Absolutely! Not. But it was funny and made him feel more like a hero rather than a vigilante. Plus, his future self might have complained all he wanted about it, but Izuku of the present found it extremely flattering. And somewhat accurate. 

Honestly, looking at all the craziness his future self did, it was a logical conclusion to see him as some kind of cryptid. And with this power of foresight, he could easily see himself being no less chaotic. 

But! Enough of that already! His eleventh birthday had passed and it was absolutely amazing! Nasa finally met Mei and the three of them had a lot of fun. It was pretty disappointing that he didn’t get to invite Shinso yet but! Next year he surely will!

And while he’s at it… He didn’t see the boy for three weeks since he dove head first into compiling evidence (and refreshing his future self's memories of Nezu’s lessons about keeping his account untraceable). But today he made Shinso’s favorite coffee (strong and bitter with a pinch of hazelnut syrup) and thus, was a guy on a mission.

Since he knew what school his friend attended at this point in time it wasn’t too hard to stumble upon him (especially after doing some slightly illegal research and learning at which hours his classes end… Well, when Izuku thinks about it, it does feel a tad bit stalkerish). 

“Hey!” he called out waving to the boy that startled before looking up. Soon enough they were walking side by side. “I brought the coffee I promised.”

“Not to sound ungrateful or something but… What are you doing here? I mean, I didn’t have any mental breakdowns lately and I even slept five hours.” Shinso answered, taking the coffee that definitely felt real.

“I’ve been busy so I couldn’t come earlier. But I have time now!” Midoriya was quick to explain.

“Good to know but that doesn’t really answer my question…”

“Hey!”

Shinso froze and then slowly turned around, wondering why his classmate was walking in his direction. He definitely didn’t want to talk so what could he possibly…?

“You probably didn’t know so let me warn you, he has a villainous quirk! He can brainwash you just by talking to you!”

Shinso froze and his mind stopped working for a moment.

What?

“Sounds like a really cool power to me. It could solve hostage situations even better than All Might himself and he’s amazing. And, anyway, we did a lot of talking without any brainwashing so I feel pretty safe.”

Hitoshi would find the face his assholish classmate made hilarious was it not for his really confused brain still not being able to process the situation.

“Are you crazy? No, why am I even asking… I tried to warn you, have fun with this manipulative little bitch.” the kid spat and left.

“Since when is brainwashing paramount to manipulating?” the green-haired boy mused. 

“You…” Shinso managed to force out and the kid turned toward him. “You’re… Real…?”

“That’s what I’d like to believe,” Midoriya answered and readily caught the coffee that Hitoshi let go of in his shock. The purple-haired boy would be impressed was his mind not overheating right now.

“B-but you… Knew Bread’s name! It was… It was too surreal to be real!”

“I saw a ginger cat and called it Gingerbread. Makes sense to me.” the boy answered nonchalantly. 

“You started talking about gardening at Dagobah Beach!”

“Yeah, I like inventing things and there are a lot of materials to work with there. Having a nice garden doesn’t hurt.” 

“You said that I called you the coffee fairy!”

“Didn’t you though?”

Well… Hitoshi is pretty sure he didn’t but he was also certain that this kid was a figment of his imagination so…

“Didn’t you… Just nod when I was talking about my quirk… You know back when I pretty much spilled my guts to you… And you said that you know what it is…?” Shinso tried, in a last-ditched attempt at saving his dignity.

“Well, you seemed like you really needed someone to hear you out…” the boy said and Shinso groaned, hiding his face in his hands.

He felt so stupid. 

“Sorry, I should have told you I’m real.” 

Hitoshi didn’t want to face the world but he was quick to put his arms down and reply to the boy.

“I probably wouldn’t believe you anyway. I was… Really out of it, if you somehow didn’t notice… Sorry. I shouldn’t have thrown my problems at you. I should go.” Shinso quickly apologized, already starting to walk away. The least he could do after making such a mess of himself was to let the stranger get out of this awkward situation as soon as possible.

But the kid was quick to start walking too, right next to him.

“No, it’s alright! It’s mostly my fault for the miscommunication! And, uh, do you still want the coffee?”

“Why?” Shinso asked and the boy blinked, clearly confused. “Why are you so nice? You heard him, I have a villainous quirk. I can brainwash you any moment since you keep talking to me!”

“Yeah, and my mother could theoretically pull my eye out with her Attraction Of Small Objects. It’s a weird comparison now that I think about it... But the point is that any quirk can be dangerous and how it’s used depends on the user, not the power.”

“You look soft but you sure can get graphic.” Shinso mused, deciding on the honest approach. Usually, he felt like walking on eggshells when communicating with others but… Well, after all the history he managed to get with this boy after just one conversation, he’s pretty sure anything goes.

“Thank you, I take great pride in it.” the kid said, shaking the coffee a bit and presenting it to Shinso. “So?”

“Are you sure you’re not a figment of my imagination? Because you sure as hell know how to bribe me,” he noted, taking the cup.

“By the way, I’m Midoriya Izuku.”

“Shinso Hitoshi.” the purple-haired boy answered and took a sip… Just to freeze yet again. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

“Huh? Does it taste weird?” the kid asked worriedly.

“Come on! That’s too many coincidences! You really want to tell me you accidentally made my favorite coffee for me?” Shinso asked, feeling as if he was going crazy.

“Well… It’s just dark coffee with some hazelnut syrup.” the boy, once again, retorted with ease that could come only from being innocent of whatever Hitoshi could possibly accuse him of.

“Does it have to do something with your quirk? You can guess people’s tastes or something?”

“I’m quirkless, actually. So… If you feel unfair about spilling your guts to me I can always share some of my tragic backstory.”

Shinso went quiet for a full minute before softly whispering his answer.

“Deal.”

And that is how their friendship bloomed in this timeline.

~⁀‖⁀~§~♪~§~‿‖‿~

Okay, so maybe Shinso is paranoid or some shit because the world doesn’t revolve around Midoriya, yet, when their school suddenly took strict no-discrimination policy, he couldn’t help but think it was his friend’s doing. 

Sure, a detective had come and told them quite a few things, not just about quirks. Unsuprisingly, it turns out that there was negligence and corruption in the school. One of the teachers even got arrested. It was a throughout purge, not just ‘be nice to each other because we heard of bullying which, you know, is bad.’ (and that’s probably the only reason it actually worked instead of worsening things). 

But as much as he wanted to ask Midoriya if he had anything to do with it, he decided against it. He had a friend for a first time in a very long time, and he ain’t about to start throwing some crazy theories at him. He did tell him about the whole deal with detective and did observe his expression carefully though.

But the only thing he got was Izuku’s beaming smile and a very happy reply, congratulating him on getting justice and hoping for the same for himself. Shinso sighed. Sure, his friend is kind of weird but he wouldn’t get a whole ass investigation done on his school! How crazy would that be?

So he just moved on, mostly forgetting about the detective’s visit.

~⁀‖⁀~§~♪~§~‿‖‿~

Tsukuachi’s quirk isn’t perfect. Like any other power, it has its limitations. For example, if the person he interviews had been fooled, so would he since he knows what’s the truth for his interlocutor, not the universal one. But, he can tell the truth even if he doesn’t understand the language it is spoken in (as long as it’s comprehensible on a certain level).

But it revolves around verbal speech. Which means that when he gets an email, he can’t immediately tell if he’s being lied to or not. He has a hunch most of the time though. It might do with his quirk, it might do with intuition, he isn’t sure.

That’s one of the reasons he decides to look more into the data he gets from… Sigh… ‘Phantom The Chaos Deity’. He really hopes it’s the kind of vigilante that shows up one time and then disappears forever whether because the whole ‘breaking the law to do good’ turns out too stressful or because they are just a stupid teen doing stupid things.

The case turns out to be more than valid. So, he takes action, getting rid of corruption and any illegal activities while fixing discrimination policy as if an afterthought (because he had been on enough of such cases to know how to deal with them).

And to be completely honest? It was one of the smoothest investigations of his life. They just needed to confirm what the vigilante gathered and, sure enough, it all proved true. Within two weeks – fourteen days! – they were done. The case opened and closed.

But then another case appeared from Phantom. And another. And another. And more, more, more, until Tsukauchi started believing no school in this city was suited for shaping young minds. Any minds, to be completely honest.

One of the investigations that especially caught his eye was Aldera Junior High. The obvious discrimination toward a quirkless boy, to be precise. It might be because he knows about… All Might’s past, or maybe because he has a rather discreet quirk himself. Whatever the case might be, it left not an easily forgotten impression on him.

Not that he had time to overthink it when he had a fairly dangerous vigilante on the loose. The first time they hacked into cameras and helped with a case could be ignored (oftentimes such situations turned out to be the bullied kid doing their best to reach out for help) but it was getting too far. It was high time to react, so Tsukauchi tracked them down. Well, tried to.

Because for the life of his, he couldn’t.

He is quite skillful with computers; he’s a detective, after all. But this? Trying to find the vigilante had proven to be a wild goose chase. Even people more skillful than him did their best but came up with the same results.

It was worrying but the vigilante wasn’t doing enough to call for the big guns (namely, Nezu). Still, the amount of skill they possessed was worrying. Good thing that at least they didn't go out, fighting evil at night or something because Tsukauchi has a feeling that it wouldn’t end well. For his mental state, that is.

Yeah, good thing they stay inside...

~⁀‖⁀~§~♪~§~‿‖‿~

Izuku decided to start going out on patrols as a vigilante!

Not that checking feeds of various schools hadn’t been great, he just wanted to be able to help more actively. The reason why he continued hacking schtick in the first place was that if he outed only Shinso’s school someone might have come knocking on his friend’s doors.

Anyway! He spent months readying himself and he felt pretty confident by now. He could easily use Revamp to make his voice deeper and to make his clothes literally part of himself. It, admittedly, wasn’t the best move from a defensive standpoint but he didn’t want to end up naked whenever using Permeation. Plus, it would make it a tad bit too obvious and it would be horrible to accidentally get Mirio in trouble!

He planned to make his image exactly into what his name indicated; a phantom. So, he was planning to use Attraction of Small Objects, Permeation, Zoom (who can prove his far-sight? Crosshairs pupils will be hardly visible at night), and maybe Voice (banshee is a type of phantom, right?).

He had a lot of equipment too! It was a bit funny because fusing it all with his body made him a bit taller (plus made him feel a bit like an android). He also checked if Erasure would have some terrible effect on him in this state but it turned out to be more of a disruption rather than actual erasing (which means the changes he made with Revamp stayed but he couldn’t undo them while under Aizawa’s quirk… Technically, because whenever he used it on himself he turned it off so yeah).

 As for his appearance… He fused his future self’s favorite weapon (electrocuting forks) into his hair, making them silver (they still had an undertone of green to them but you’d need a better light than that of streetlight to notice), straight and somewhat shiny. He made his irises red by taking pigment out of them (the crimson color was the effect of blood vessels showing through) and putting it in his pupils which in return made them dark green. As for his freckles… He fused some of his mom mascara’s (sorry, mom!) into his checks, giving himself what looked like a dark smudge (or extremely thick and misplaced cat eye).

He used some black shirts he bought on a sale to make himself something that looked like a jumpsuit covering him from the top of his neck to his feet. Then he grabbed one of his light grey T-shirts and put it on (he would fuse with it when using Permeation; if because of that Eraserhead managed to take it, so be it). He used black acrylic paint to write "your friendly neighborhood cryptid" on the front of it and "*chaos ensues*" on the back. But because of that, he felt kind of naked in his jumpsuit so he put on shorts. But they still didn’t feel like enough so he additionally made himself pants from bandages; he thought it would look pretty cool plus he would always have some medical supplies at ready. After all, he could easily decontaminate them by taking away all the bad molecules.

He wanted to take his usual red shoes with him but first of all, he didn’t want to lose them and second… It felt too obvious to use them. So! He looked through the old boxes they had in the attic and found a pair of black heavy boots with flowers printed on the sides (once again, sorry mom, but it’s not like they were being put up to much use anyway). Curiously, he needed to make them a bit smaller but after that they turned out to be rather comfortable.

He looked like a wreck and he loved it.

He lowkey wanted a cape and a topper hat but that might be a bit much even for his standards.

Chapter Text

Aizawa saw a lot of things in his life. Believe it or not, but his eternal exhaustion? It actually came from somewhere. And right now he was having one more reason to fall asleep and wake up in the next decade. 

He just finished his patrol when he heard noises of a brawl. The usual stuff; grunts of pain, sounds of something hitting the wall, and…

“He has a fork!”

Okay, this was a new one but the guy would hardly be the only person to be afraid of utensils used in a wrong way. So he readily dropped into the alleyway, ready for a fight. Just in time to see someone fall, while the culprit – with "*chaos ensues*" written in bold, crooked letters printed on what seemed to be a cotton t-shirt – stepped over the guy's body. 

He was quick to assess the situation. Two girls shaking to the side, a small group of grown men lying on the ground, and the victor of the scuffle in an obviously homemade costume. Eraserhead e quietly moved closer, holding onto his capture weapon.

“Hi, no worries! I’m a new vigilante here, Phantom! A friendly neighborhood cryptid, as my T-shirt says!” 

The individual seemed to be after the voice change but even if he sounded chipper, there was an undertone of hesitance to it, as if he wasn’t quite used to the sound he was making. Which likely meant that he was barely after the stage of voice cracks, fourteen years old or so. His silhouette only further confirmed this theory. 

One of the girls made a startled snort.

“Friendly neighborhood cryptid?” she asked incredulously and the kid nodded.

“Yep! That’s me! Some call me a chaos deity though I have no idea why. I make absolute sense to myself.”

“Well, that’s something I can believe…” the girl whispered. 

“Anyway, would you like me to accompany you to a busier street? Don’t worry about the thugs here, my pal Eraserhead is going to take care of them!” the kid continued, pointing a finger at Aizawa’s figure. Perfectly hidden in the shadows.

The girls flinched, only now noticing him, while he froze. The people he actually worked with knew where to look for him and were pretty good at spotting his faint presence. But this random vigilante sure as hell shouldn’t be able to do so.

“I’m not your pal,” he said out loud, not well-versed in human interaction but proficient enough in human psychology to realize that staying quiet would make the two girls feel threatened.

“He’s just like a grumpy cat, I’m telling you!” the vigilante stated, further irritating Aizawa. 

“Alright… We’ll take you up on that offer of taking us to… A safer part of the city.” one of them said and the kid must have made a funny face or something because she smiled a bit. 

“Let’s go then!” or maybe a stupid beaming smile. “See you later, Eraser!”

He grumbled under his breath, knowing that it would be more logical to tie the three thugs and call the police rather than chase after the kid. But the second the criminals were secured, he was already going in the direction his newest headache disappeared to.

“Are you worried about those girls? I left them near the main road, just like I said!” 

He raised his eyes toward the sound. The new vigilante was sitting atop the rooftop, seemingly not afraid of Eraserhead at all. And he should be since he seems to know about the hero. 

“Get down here, kid. We need to talk!” 

He’s pretty sure the problem child had audacity to blink, surprised, at him. It was hard to see in the darkness of the night but the additional body language was telling enough. 

“Kid? I’ll let you know I have the experience of a grown man! Technically.”

And oh, if it wasn’t confusing… 

Aizawa huffed, realizing that this headache would rather be a migraine and stay up. Climbing there wasn’t hard but even if it took less than a minute it was plenty of time for someone capable of scaling this thing up to escape.

But the vigilante stayed in his spot, seemingly not only unafraid of meeting an underground hero head-on but also not caring about being seen. Even though he didn’t wear any mask or even a hoodie. 

“So, you’ll just let yourself get caught?” he inquired, activating his quirk. The kid’s features stayed the same.

“Oh come on, Eraser…” the kid began, getting up and looking straight into his red eyes. The vigilante grinned before continuing. “Why do you think I’m sitting on the edge?”

“You wouldn’t,” despite saying that, Eraserhead bolted forward.

“Say hello to Tsukauchi from Phantom!” the kid yelled, already free-falling.

By the end of five seconds, it took Aizawa to get to the other edge of the building, the vigilante was gone.

“Fuck...” he whispered to himself, not having the energy to deal with a stupid teen thinking he can go around fighting evil without any prior training just because he has a good quirk.

Even less encouraging was the fact that upon reaching Tsukauchi's office, he was met with a reaction not that much different from his own. 

“Shit.” the man said before promptly opening his desk, taking out a file and handing it to him.

Eraserhead flipped through it and groaned.

 ~⁀‖⁀~§~♪~§~‿‖‿~

Midoriya smiled a little devilish grin. Finally... The promise of his future self came to fruition.  

Hey, is your refrigerator running?

He didn’t have to wait long for an answer.

Yeah but no worries! It likes it here so it won’t run away BD

Izuku grinned, adding a photo to his next message.

Great! We need just one more contestant for our yearly fridge marathon!

Meanwhile, Present Mic shook his head, amused by a random number trying to prank him of all people. Come on! They didn’t even call, just sms'ed! 

“So, who pissed in your cereal this time, Eraser?” he quipped, taking a sip of his tea when he heard a ping. He glanced at his phone since his friend didn’t seem eager to talk about his problems.

He readily choked on his tea due to a sudden bout of laughter.  

“What?” Aizawa asked, walking around the table to look at the message that put Present Mic’s life into somewhat of a jeopardy. The blond coughed a few more times before finally managing to catch his breath.

What he saw was a photo of a poorly made obstacle course with five fridges standing on what seemed to be a starting line.

“Really Mic?” he inquired.

“Come on, Sho! You must give it to them, it was creative!”

Aizawa sighed tiredly. As if he hadn’t his hands full with the coffee kid and the problem child.

~⁀‖⁀~§~♪~§~‿‖‿~s

Of course, Midoriya kept the tradition of bringing Aizawa coffee. How could he not? 

“Don't you have anything better to do at five a.m.?” the man asked one day but took the boy’s offering nonetheless.

 “I mean, being out and active sounds like one of the best things to do at this ungodly hour,” Izuku stated with a bright smile that made Eraserhead groan.

“No, seriously kid. How many hours of sleep do you get?”

Midoriya was quiet for a moment, thinking whether he should answer truthfully or not.

“Five.” he finally admitted. 

After school, he did the normal stuff other people his age do (hanging out with friends, homework, gushing over heroes, arguing with people who dared question All Might’s supremacy, writing dozens upon dozens of theories in his notebooks) up to around twenty o’clock. His mom usually goes to sleep around then so he gets into his vigilante outfit. 

He usually wanders around the streets for up to four hours and then returns home. Yeah, sometimes it stretches to one or two a.m. but oh well! Things happen! Then he wakes up fifteen minutes before five a.m., gets ready in five minutes (Revamp is extremely versatile), and makes a coffee.

It’s actually usually ten minutes after five a.m. that he stumbles upon Aizawa (if he manages to; the man isn’t always in the same place at the same time). 

“How old are you?” 

“Eleven!” the kid answered so proudly that Aizawa started wondering if this age had some special meaning to it. Can children start riding bikes on their own or something? He might actually ask Present Mic because he, himself, works only with fourteen and older brats so he isn’t sure how it is with the younger generations.

“I’m pretty sure kids your age need at least eight hours of sleep,” he pointed out, raising an eyebrow.

The coffee kid just shrugged.

“An eleven-year-old got to do what eleven-year-old got to do. World won’t save itself, you know.” 

“So. You’re saving the world by sleeping barely longer than me?”

Izuku gasped at that.

“I’m sleeping more than you? Well, my schedule clearly needs readjusting since you prove that less sleep is enough to function.” the kid stated very seriously and well. Aizawa was reminded why he doesn’t work with younger children. “As for your question… To save anyone you need skills. To get those you need practice. So I’m exploding toasters in hopes of making a plasma gun nowadays.” 

Eraserhead felt fairly threatened and impressed at the same time. It was weird.

“And you need to do so at five a.m.? When normal people are asleep?”

“I do it somewhere it doesn’t disturb anyone.” the kid was quick to assure. “And yes, I actually do. Mei already made a hairpin that can cut through steel and I’m determined to get a draw this time around!”

“Draw?”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure she would move into my workshop to observe me if I won. I love her but she can be a bit much.”

Well, what could Aizawa say to that? He just nodded, finding it relatable. 

“Anyway! If you ever need slightly questionable equipment I’ll let you know I can make other dark things than just coffee!”

It sounded worrying.

“Like?” Eraserhead inquired, somewhat suspiciously.

“Smoke bombs, dark screens, climbing gloves… I didn’t yet manage to make them sticky enough to hold my whole body weight without later having to leave them behind to get down so they need some more work but! I’m sure they won’t take much longer to fix!”

“I might think about it when you get licensed.” 

“But it will take years! Since they put this new law of ‘need at least high school education’ which doesn’t make sense! It is possible, though kind of hard, to become a great inventor without much school education at all! Half of what they teach in school is immediately forgotten and the other half is useless in everyday life!” 

“So there’s nothing useful there at all?” Eraserhead asked, raising an eyebrow at the angry toddler before him that was explaining how schools and the laws suck for inventors nowadays.

It’s amusing, he admits. He likes this kid (not just because of the coffee, he supposes). 

“Yeah, basically. We learn basic, useful, knowledge in elementary school, junior high is just plain old time-wasting.” 

Well… The kid wasn’t completely wrong but it wouldn't do to confirm it.

“Why do you keep bringing me coffee? How do you even know where I am?”

“Trial of error and you’re pretty much the only hero I can interact with easily since you’re underground and stuff. It’s cool to talk with a professional.” 

That… Was actually worrying.

“Working underground means being unknown. How did you recognize me?”

“Your hero persona doesn’t differ much from the daily one, to be honest. The scarf is a pretty good indicator too, especially for someone as interested in tinkering as me. Plus I guess I’m a pretty big hero fan, not to boast but I’m pretty sure I know everything you can possibly know about heroes as a civilian.”

“What’s Present Mic’s fear then?” Aizawa asked, curious. Knowledge is power and lime-light heroes massively miscalculate how dangerous having their preferences given to the public might be.

“Definitely spiders and bees. Probably all inspects or at least the ones that can either fly or swing from high places.” the kid answered without a second thought. “Anyway, my friend is a big fan of yours, how do you feel about giving an autograph sometime?”

Eraserhead isn’t sure what had taken him more off-guard; how quick the kid was to point out Mic’s biggest weakness or that he knew someone who from all possible heroes admired him. 

“Why?” he asked simply.

“I mean, you can’t deny it, it is pretty inspiring how you defeat villains with your skill alone since you don’t have some kind of amazing flashy pew-paw quirk.” Midoriya stated with a straight face and flat tone even as he made finger guns and motions of shooting at the ‘pew-paw’ part. “So? Can you help out a kid in need? Not to sound presumptuous or anything, but I don’t think that I’m asking for that much with all the coffee I provide you.”

Aizawa rolled his eyes and sighed tiredly. It’s an early morning and he’s already exhausted.

“One autograph won’t kill me.” he decided.

“But two would? Because I high-key want one too…”

“Just go do your usual thing, kid.” 

“Well, admittedly I would like to get my coffee too.” the boy was quick to sprint off, waving happily at him…

And promptly running into a streetlight.   

Chapter Text

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!” Inasa half-sang half-screamed and Shinso actually stopped singing since he wouldn’t be heard anyway. 

“Think your wish, birthday boy!” Mei demanded, shooting confetti from what looked like a particularly massive pen and glitter from another, slimmer one. 

“Hopefully it won’t destroy the world as we know it…” Hitoshi murmured, trying to get rid of shiny particles that happened to land on him (he would keep finding some for the next two weeks but he was blissfully unaware of that for now). 

“I’m pretty sure I don’t need a birthday wish for that,” Midoriya remarked before promptly blowing the candles out.

“Yeeeah!” Inasa yelled as if he had just seen a massive fight from which the hero miraculously emerged victorious rather than his bushy-haired friend extinguishing tiny embers placed on a cake.  

“Smile!” Inko yelled, taking a picture not even a second later.

Inasa who was grinning like a madman the whole time didn’t need to be told that, Mei and Izuku had quick enough reflexes to make somewhat presentable expressions while Shinso looked like a scared cat that just inhaled an impressing amount of catnip. But he didn’t know that Inko laughed at his face rather than the overall photo (and he never would). 

Then they ate the cake and Izuku opened gifts from them (he got a set of cool although questionable floating plates from Mei, a box full of cookies, some more sweets plus an All Might figurine from Inasa, and twelve hero-themed notebooks which seemed to be custom made seeing as one of them was made in the image of Erasehead. Midoriya was sure to get said hero’s autograph on it). 

The rest of the day went by quickly with the four of them talking and playing (and admiring Izuku’s massive All Might collection; there always seemed to be something new to see there). At some point they even started discussing ideas of a wonder team they could make since all of them wanted to go UA and three hoped to get into the hero course. 

It was a lot of fun! Sure, at first Shinso was a bit hesitant to tell them about his quirk but when he did, Izuku was quick to give a positive reaction which in turn made Inasa start babbling happily about how he should start training passionately since his quirk won’t help in physical battles. Mei was already planning all the voice-changing functions she could get into his hero gear. 

By the second hour of this fun discussion, they knew rather well what parts of the team they would be. Mei, obviously, was going to provide equipment and be their behind-scenes helper (including not only things concerning their gear but also some intelligence gathering). Shinso would focus on reconnaissance, info gathering (from people rather than files), and other underground-hero activities. Inasa would, of course, be the powerhouse of their team. He could use the wind to tank hits (they didn’t yet know how tall and massive he would grow, everyone but Izuku that is) and with all the passion he put into his training, he surely would be able to stand his ground not only with his quirk but also strictly in close combat.

As for Midoriya… He had been unanimously chosen as leader which he graciously accepted (after a lot of fumbling and looking at his friends with wide-blown eyes and some ‘you shouldn’t say that just because it’s my birthday!’). Apart from that he was a bit… A lot of a wild card. He could help Mei with tinkering and also fix her (and his own) gear on the battlefield. He trained with Inasa and the boy was quick to assure everyone that even without quirk their friend could offer one hell of a punch while also being really good at dodging. Shinso was a bit afraid at the very thought of seeing Midoriya in the underground world but he’s pretty sure villains would be even more terrified so yeah. There's that. He would definitely be their main strategist though.

By the time they were about to start brainstorming the name of their team, it was already pretty late so everyone needed to go home. But it didn’t stop them from coming back to the subject, this time on their group chat. 

 [In Ventor]

Why is there only one vowel in our names?! Why can I only count on Izuku?!

[Im Somnia]

Well, if you had a name starting with A we could be YIHA

[I Zuku]

I mean, Inasa’s surname starts with I too.

[Im Somnia]

His surname starts with you too? How curious

[Imp Act]

MISHYIHM 

MIHYMSH

SHIMYSH

[Im Somnia]

Did you choke or something? Do you need help? 

[Imp Act]

THNK YOU FOR YOUR CONCERN BUT I’M ALRIGHT! I’VE BEEN TRYING TO PUT ALL OUR INITIALS TOGETHER!

[In Ventor]

Let’s just go with something else since we’re going to use codenames anyway. 

Actually do you know what your hero names are going to be? 

[Im Somnia]

No idea

[Imp Act]

GALE FORCE!!!!

[I Zuku]

So cool! 

I don’t know yet though I’m lowkey thinking about being a little gremlin and using Deku.

[Imp Act]

DON’T YOU MEAN DEKIRU??

[Im Somnia]

Oooh I get it. 

But as funnily vindictive as it is I think you should, you know, make your alias something more positive?

[In Ventor]

WAIT

YOU DON’T MEAN,,,?

[Imp Act]

Guys I don’t get it :C 

[I Zuku]

Don’t worry Nasa, you don’t need to. 

And I’m terrible at making names/aliases so…

[In Ventor]

Verte the versatile hero

Btw did you know that centuries ago ‘ver’ was a meme? Cause French smashed, like, five different meanings into one word! Don’t ask what I needed archaic memes for.

 [Im Somnia]

It was written somewhat differently but sounded the same. I know because internet takes you to funny places at three AM. 

[I Zuku]

Multi the multitasking hero?

[Imp Act]

SOUNDS AMAZING :DDD 

[Im Somnia]

Wow. It doesn’t sound too terrible. You improve. 

[I Zuku]

Improvise. Adapt. Overcome. 

[Im Somnia]

More like 

Izuku. Adapt. Overcome.

[I Zuku]

So I’m a definition of improvisation now?

[In Ventor]

Always have been. 

[I Zuku]

I can live with that.

So? What kind of team name do we want?

[Im Somnia]

A cool one. 

[Imp Act]

YEAH! LIKE TYPHOON WARRIORS! OR WIND WHISPERERS! STORM RIDERS!!! OR OR

[In Ventor]

Wind Breakers

[Im Somnia]

Quiet (before) Storm

[I Zuku]

Four Percepts of Wind

[Im Somnia]

Four Percepts of Heroics

[In Ventor]

Percepts of Justice

[Im Somnia]

Damn that sounds so serious 

I love it.

[I Zuku]

I will get it Erasehead approved by the end of the week.

[Im Somnia]

You’re kidding right?

[Imp Act]

THAT SOUNDS AWESOME! 

GALE FORCE FROM THE PERCEPTS OF JUSTICE IS READY TO FIGHT! 

[Im Somnia]

@I Zuku You’re kidding right? 

Right?

[In Ventor]

So do we all agree to be Percepts of Justice from now on? 

[I Zuku]

Yeah.

[Imp Act]

YEAAAAAAH

[Im Somnia]

MIDORIYA ANSWER ME

[In Ventor]

Great. 

And not to put your ideas down or anything but I don’t think we need approval of someone whose team name could be pencil case. 

[Im Somnia]

HOW DARE YOU

You have a bit of a point though

Now that I think about it…

Can I be Insomniaman? 

[I Zuku]

It looks like Inso mniam mnia.

[In Ventor]

[SH]INSO MNIAM MNIAM

[Im Somnia]

I hate you all

[Imp Act]

But didn’t you say you like being our friend few days ago? :CC

[Im Somnia]

…

It was a joke, I love ya all 

[Imp Act]

:DD

Midoriya snorted, closing the app and getting ready for his nightly outing. 

~⁀‖⁀~§~♪~§~‿‖‿~

He sat on one of the rooftops. He just took care of some blindingly brilliant young men who tried to rob a store. He already called the police and was now watching from the top of a building and just… Well, thinking about the life, he supposes.

He’s so very different from the person his future self was at this point in time. It isn’t wrong, at least it shouldn’t be but… He's starting to develop something akin to impostor syndrome. Is he even the same person? His future self wouldn’t even dare to stand up for himself to Kacchan! And his present self? He put Aldera through the wringer! Sure, he did it mostly because of other kids and because it would be suspicious if the detective realized that he didn’t get a report about this specific educational institution but, somehow, learned about its corruption.

He turned around slightly when he felt a familiar shiver of erasure on his back.

“Hi Eraser,” he offered, waving his hand lightly in greeting. It was their fourth meeting but the last two were more of just noticing each other and then instantly going their own ways. Izuku running away and the man losing, him to be precise.

“You.” the man said accusingly, walking closer. “What's wrong?”

Izuku blinked.

“Like with me? Everything, probably.”

“No,” Aizawa replied and Izuku raised an eyebrow. “You don’t act insufferable. That’s unusual.”

“You’re asking about my well-being? Wow. What a fine miracle we get to witness today!” Midoriya dramatized, getting up and walking to the other side of the rooftop to not get caught in the man’s capture weapon too easily. “I had a pretty amazing day, to be honest. I hung out with my friends, ate some delicious cake and I even caught some criminals, no problem whatsoever.”

“So?” Aizawa asked, hoping to either gather some data about the vigilante or distract him enough to grab him.

“How to put it… Imagine you have this vision of yourself in your head, alright?” well, that was easy enough to follow and made a lot se- “So now… Get this, you turn out to be doing better than that version because of what that version already did.”

What? Aizawa didn’t expect much sense from the vigilante in the first place but that? It was even worse than some of Nezu’s riddles.

“You lost me at the last part.”

Phantom sighed heavily.

“Okay. Different approach. You have this version of yourself in your head and they had a really rough life but turned out to be amazing. So now there’s the present you who’s actually doing really great, even better than them, and is confident and all that but… It feels like cheating.”

“So you’re telling me that you’re doing better than idolized version of yourself and it’s scaring you?” Aizawa asked, hoping to get something comprehensible out of... This. 

“Oh! You summed it up pretty well actually!”

“Is that why you’re a vigilante? Because you feel like you should be doing more?”

Having the motives could prove useful in catching this problem child, so Aizawa decided to just talk for now.

“When you say it like that, it sounds really silly, and believe me or not, I have pretty solid reasons to be doing this.”

“Like?”

“Like helping others! There are some things… I need to fix. And they can’t wait.”

“And you can’t reach out for help because?”

Aizawa was actually taken off guard when the vigilante walked up to him. His intuition – something he learned to trust if he wanted to stay alive – urged him to let the vigilante keep talking. The attempt wasn't worth the possible information he could get, he decided.

The boy stopped inches from Aizawa, his voice becoming a whisper.

“Not all heroes are great people, you know? I imagine people would be quick to notice Todoroki Rei’s sudden mental illness was she not the number two hero’s wife.”

“And that’s why you became a vigilante?” Aizawa demanded, even if his blood did turn colder. No, wait… It wasn’t a feeling; the air around the two of them wasn’t as warm as before. Something worth noting about the kid’s quirk.

“Well, if you need more reasons… Taking care of yakuza is another one.”

Eraserhead felt a sudden spike of adrenaline and was quick to act on it. His quirk immediately activated and his scarves shot toward the kid who jumped back and rolled out of the way, expecting the reaction.

“You’ll get yourself killed!” Aizawa yelled, raising his voice more than he was planning to. He was great at keeping his cool but this? A child that was most likely no older than his students planning to take on yakuza? It was a suicide mission and he wasn't going to idly stand by while a kid gets himself killed!

“But Eraser! How could a Phantom get killed?” the boy answered giving him a grin before turning and sprinting toward the edge of the roof, diving off of it.

Of course, Aizawa gave a chase (though he wouldn’t use his ability when the kid was out of his scarf's reach. He didn’t want him dead, unlike the kid himself, it seems!) but what else was he expecting? The vigilante was already gone.

Some kind of disappearing quirk and cold aura… Well, the kid didn’t seem too creative when making his alias. Although it was curious why Phantom instead of ‘Ghost’ or maybe even ‘Poltergeist’. It might be a coincidence but Aizawa isn’t about to leave a possible clue forgotten, no matter how small.

He turned around, dialing the detective he started to work with quite closely since the appearance of the vigilante.

“Yes?” the man inquired, his voice tired. “It’s about Phantom, isn’t it?”

“I’ve talked with him. I know some of his motives.”

The line was quiet for a moment.

“Something more than ‘wanting to help’ and ‘being extremely chaotic’?” the detective asked, letting some hope bleed into his voice.

“Yeah, but it doesn't make it much better.”

Tsukauchi sighed in a manner Aizawa was well-acquainted with from his own eternal exhaustion.

“When do you want to come to discuss it? I’ll get you extra strong coffee.”

Eraserhead quickly calculated all variables. Not to such extent as Nezu would but who even was capable of that?

“Is half past eight good for you?”

“Perfect, in fact!”

“Good. See you then.”

He didn’t see the hide or hair of the vigilante for the rest of his patrol but that was to be expected. So he did his job, making sure no criminals were roaming around the streets and looking into drug dealers in the area. He had a feeling they were planning something bigger but according to his sources whatever it was, it didn’t get into the pre-alpha stage yet.

By the end of his shift, he was exhausted. That’s why when he was leaving his usual route and noticed green in the distance, he stayed in place with a sigh.

The kid makes good coffee, alright?

“Hi Eraserhead, sir!” he greeted politely and Aizawa just nodded, taking a cup out of the boy’s hands.

Ah, the sweet relief of coffee…

“Rough night?” the kid asked brightly.

“Must be nice to be young,” he noted.

“Aren’t you in your late twenties?” the kid replied, raising an eyebrow and suddenly Aizawa had this feeling, like…

“Do you have an older brother, by chance?”

Chapter Text

After his run-in with Aizawa, Izuku decided to finish his route early today. He felt a bit bad about having six hours of sleep – he can fake-rest with the help of Revamp so it feels wasteful, he probably shouldn't sleep at all and use his time to its fullest potential… – but well… At least he felt full of energy in the morning.

But! Before actually falling asleep he had a lot to think about. Saying all these things to the hero… It was mostly his emotions taking over, truthfully. But with High Spec he was quick to see all dis and advantages to it. 

Since he interacted with him quite often and planned to go to UA’s hero course (and he hoped to get him as his teacher) he needed to differentiate Midoriya Izuku from Phantom as much as possible. And what was better than giving him all the facts that didn’t fit at all with his civilian self? After all, he had been born quirkless.

Midoriya Izuku is a crazy inventor without any superpowers who dreams about becoming a hero. He is confident and chaotic but with some boundaries. He’s a typical mad genius, some would say. Sure, he went through some bullying in his life but at some point, it stopped thanks to the detective’s intervention and now he can happily go forward with his life.

Phantom is, on the other hand, an individual with a powerful quirk who could as well be chaos incarnate. He is haunted by the vision of himself that he once was but can never truly be… Someone with a ballast of apocalyptic memories that doesn’t feel completely his yet he would never dare to forget. 

So it’s fine to share some of his motives and thoughts as Phantom with Aizawa but also to talk to him as Midoriya. Because they are different to the point of it being a bit funny. 

But! There’s one more thing Midoriya realized and needed to give a deeper thought too… 

Erasure doesn't stop all quirks. Pretty obvious, right? It doesn't work on mutations, after all. And it seems that he's somewhat of one due to how he got them by a mix of serum and Revamp. No, more than a mutation... He's an anomaly. Is it because he has artificial quirk factors? Because technically he can move them around at will?

He realized it when the air around him became colder. He keeps Fuyumi’s and Natsuo’s quirks under tight control since they tend to react to his emotions strongly but this time he was sure they would be erased and didn’t give them much mind. Until he felt them working (Fuyumi’s to be precise; Natsuo’s works through the whole body just like Permeation and Revamp but hers has some spots that the body can’t produce ice from). 

Still, it was a good thing to know so he went to sleep without any regrets. He felt a bit bad when he stumbled upon Aizawa since the man seemed even more exhausted than usual but… Well, he brought coffee, it’s enough of an apology, isn't it?

So they talked for a bit when…

“Do you have an older brother, by chance?” 

Izuku barely managed to stop himself from laughing. He should probably be more scared since Aizawa saw some similarities between Midoriya and Phantom but… It just sounded so funny! A younger brother of a vigilante bringing coffee to a hero who’s trying to catch said vigilante! It sounded like a great idea for a sitcom. 

“No, why?” he answered readily.

“I'm worried how much destruction two of you would bring if just one keeps exploding microwaves.” the man replied, obviously lying. Not that Izuku would be able to realize it with the same confidence, was he not actually Phantom.

“First of all I don’t need a brother for that, I have Mei. And second… I do not find my inventions exploding amusing! It’s truly tragic when it happens! Also the gloves I told you about before? I fixed them! Wanna try them out sometime?”

“After you get licensed.”

“Please? I swear they are amazing?”

“License.”

Midoriya crossed his arms and pouted.

“You’ll regret not being the precursor of my babies.”

“Babies?” Aizawa replied flatly, raising his eyebrow and Midoriya froze, his face quickly morphing into one of sheer terror.

“I’m changing into Mei!” he screeched, grabbing his head in great anguish. 

He really looked like he was having an existential crisis.

“Is it that bad?”

The kid gave him such a stink eye that he kind of regretted asking. 

“Imagine yourself becoming Present Mic.” 

Well, now Aizawa definitely regretted asking. 

~⁀‖⁀~§~♪~§~‿‖‿~

“Fucking Deku…”

“Good morning to you too, Kacchan,” Izuku answered readily. The blond kept on calling him that so why should he stop with the childish nickname? 

Bakugo tsked and turned around, pointedly ignoring Midoriya. Good. Dealing with some stupid words from time to time is easy enough. And since the detective’s intervention no one dared to do anything physical.  

Sure, words hurt. Being disliked or hated by all his classmates sucks but he has some great friends and those kids around here know nothing about him (though lately, he feels like he doesn’t know that much about himself either). 

Still, it’s kind of disappointing that even after intervention everyone still found a way to mess with him. Whispers behind his back, mean words that can be chalked up to ‘friendly’ banter, and, most frustratingly, teachers grading his papers far more harshly. If other kid made some misspells in their essay they would still be able to get full marks but Izuku? Ha, his points plummet for the smallest of mistakes!

But it would be counterproductive to involve anyone in that. After all how hard would it be for teachers to say something along the lines of ‘we believe he can do better and we grade him with such conviction in mind!’ or some other bullshit? Sure, Tsukauchi would be able to see right through such obvious lies but he can’t be on every case and there are still many corrupted schools to look into (Midoriya didn't stop that pastime activity and is slowly reaching toward further cities). 

Anyway. School life? Sucks. Which he is sure to point to Eraserhead every time their conversation gets to education. It’s nice to whine to a teacher-underground-hero who gets less sleep than any sane human should about such small things as kids his age being assholes and how useless the material is. 

He can’t wait to get into the UA and hopefully get Aizawa as his teacher. Midoriya is going to write him such a masterpiece of an essay – the subject isn’t important – that the man will cry happy tears. Okay, it would probably be impossible but trying probably won’t hurt anyone. Unless Nezu somehow gets his paws on Izuku’s writings and realizes that they have the same quirk. 

Midoriya might have High Spec but he knows that the little mammal still would wreck him when it comes to planning. 

“Hey Deku! Be careful to not get killed by some random villain on your way home!” some kid yelled at him when the lessons ended and Izuku rolled his eyes.

“You too Hashimi, it would be a shame to lose such a talent!” he was quick to retort. The boy huffed.

Midoriya packed his things and moved toward the exit.

“Hey, don’t think you’re some hot shit since teachers have to take your side now.” Bakugo snarled when Midoriya was about to pass by.

Izuku stopped for a moment and looked at him incredulously.

“They don’t have to take my side. They are our teachers, people that are supposed to shape our minds. It makes sense for them to stop unnecessary violence, you know?” he answered and swiftly left the room, knowing fully well that he could still get hurt outside the school.

After all, what happens outside the building is none of the staff’s business.

Of course, Midoriya could do pretty well against Bakugo and even win since using a quirk in public was illegal and Katsuki wouldn’t risk doing so on the streets but… There are more than enough empty spaces to hide from curious eyes on his way home and he doesn’t want to risk anything.

(Actually, he’s scared. The memories of his future self’s past haunt him in many ways. How could such an amazing person use to be so weak? To just take everything in stride and not even try to fight back? Was… Was everyone but Izuku worth fighting for? In some small way, maybe, he really was useless…)

He was about to sprint through the front gate and find a nice little spot to hide and wait for Bakugo and his lackeys to pass when…

“Mizu!” a familiar voice called out and Izuku blinked. He was quick to walk to the boy while some of his classmates stopped, curious about what was going on.

They probably hoped the unknown factor that Inasa was, would put him down or something. How disappointing, they aren’t going to see what they want.

“Nasa? What are you doing here?” Izuku asked, honestly confused.

The boy smiled widely.

“I was chatting with Shinso the other day and I realized how terrible quirk discrimination actually is! And I know both he and you got your schools checked and all but I thought it wouldn’t hurt to come see you! You know, to make sure no one is giving you a hard time or something! And I thought that maybe we can go get Shinso since he finishes his lessons in half an hour?”

Midoriya… Really didn’t know how to react. For once in this life he was the one who felt bamboozled. 

“But… You live quite a distance from here? Isn’t your mom worried?” he asked although what he really wanted to inquire about was why the boy would do that for him. Sure they are friends but Inasa knows that Izuku can take care of himself. So… Why doesn’t Inasa leave him to fend for himself? 

Yeah, sure, Midoriya is quick to help even when he believes in someone but if he can make something easier for someone he definitely should! But he’s just… This weird kind of person who puts everyone above himself. While Inasa is… He shouldn’t waste his time since coming here won’t give him anything and Midoriya is used to his now much lighter bullying.

“Nope! I told her I was going to meet up with you and she was happy for me to go! She even made cookies!” he answered readily, quickly looking through his backpack and presenting his friend with a small sack of baked goods. “The cat ones were made with Shinso in mind!”

“That’s…” Izuku whispered, tears gathering in his eyes but the beautiful moment had been swiftly broken.

“Oi, fuckhead, how desperate are you to want to hang out with Deku?” 

Midoriya understands why Bakugo hates him in this life so much. In his future self’s timeline, it was just putting a weaker person down but here it had additional fuel to it. One in the shape of said ‘useless’ person actually fighting back. Not in an especially visible way but these days Izuku is always quick to react with words that make Katsuki fume.

And it kind of makes sense, he guesses. Bakugo is full of himself, he had been told by everyone how amazing he is and kept on assuring himself of that by making others ‘his stepping stones’. Which, of course, doesn’t make any of his actions right but at least Midoriya knows what is going on through the boy’s head most of the time.

But this time it did little in stopping his anger. Can’t he have one time? One nice moment in this fucking school?! It’s fine that all his classmates would rather see him dead! Dandy that teachers keep forcing him to either give up on having good grades or work his ass off to make sure everything is perfect! Whispers? He can take them. Mean-spirited comments? He isn’t in a mental kindergarten, unlike them! 

But this?! This is just…! Can he never get a break?! 

His friends are somewhat of a safe place for him. Having this broken by someone who used to mean the world to him (even if it had been both years ago and partly in another timeline) is just too much!

Inasa, bless his soul, didn’t read Midoriya’s shudder as one of anger. But he noted it nonetheless and was sure it wasn’t of happy origin which immediately put him in a defensive mood.

“How did you call my friend?!” he yelled right back, taking Bakugo off guard for an entirety of three seconds.

“Fucking Deku! Have a problem with that?! I’m just stating the facts! He’s quirkless so he’s useless!”

“You are useless!” Inasa, the master of words he is, shot right back.

“Huh?! What did you say you fucking extra?!” and Katsuki, the living bomb he had always been, was quick to have his fuse cut short. Warning sparks shined on the tips of his fingers and Inasa answered in a kind, wind picking up around them.

“Come on, I don’t want you to get in trouble. Also, we don’t want to miss Shinso.” Izuku said, pulling at his friend’s sleeve.

If it was Kacchan, he would slap his hand back, maybe even punch him, yelling not to tell him what to do. And that would happen even if they were still on somewhat friendly terms.

But Inasa isn’t his traitorous childhood friend.

“You’re right, Mizu!” he was quick to answer, turning away from the blond and toward Midoriya. “I’ve checked the buses and we have ten minutes… Now probably six or something… So we should hurry!”

“Hey! Don’t you dare ignore me!” Katsuki yelled, taking a step forward.

Izuku turned to him.

“We’re just before the gates, Kacchan. If you attack us teachers would ‘have to take my side’ how you so kindly have put it earlier.” he stated and started walking away, Inasa quickly following him.

“Well said!” his friend commented smiling before his expression soured. It looked a bit weird on his usually enthusiastic face. “Why do you call him that though? He doesn’t deserve a nickname!”

“I know. But he hates it and keeps calling me Deku so… When he stops, I stop.” Izuku answered readily, shrugging. 

“Oh! I get it! Smart as always, that’s Mizu for you!” Inasa replied, clapping him on the back with a force that was a bit painful. Even though he was both used to it and had a decent pain tolerance (not as good as his future self had at this point; which worries him a bit)

Soon enough they were standing near the gates of a different school.

“Shinso!” Inasa yelled happily the second he noticed a familiar purple head and the boy looked up, eyes blown wide open.

Izuku waved to him smiling and completely ignoring anyone who looked at them weirdly. 

He really didn’t care about what assholes thought about him.  

~⁀‖⁀~§~♪~§~‿‖‿~

Shinso expected this birthday to be different from his previous ones and he wasn't disappointed. Although he’s pretty sure his parents weren’t completely ready for his overactive friends. Ironically it was Izuku who spooked them the most; he was calm and quiet right to the point where Hitoshi’s parents mentioned their quirks. 

Those poor souls were completely overwhelmed by the rapid fire of questions (now that Shinso thinks about it, he’s impressed by how long his friend waited before mumblestorming about Hitoshi’s own ability). 

Anyway, he blew out his candles, they ate cake, and then went to Shinso’s room to open presents. It was… Well, it says a lot about the trust he has in his friends that he actually let them inside his four cat-stickers-covered walls. One might expect Hitoshi to have a kingdom of darkness as his space but it was actually a rather light-colored land.e

Lilac walls (with aforementioned stickers all over them; most of the cats on them were black but some were grey or ginger), white ceiling, galaxy-themed covers on the bed with one equally cosmic cushion. Other pillows were extremely fluffy and grey-colored but not the most eye-catching part of his bed; that honor went to a five-foot-tall panther plush draped over them. Other than that there was a balcony with dark purple covers, a wardrobe, two drawers, and a desk full of… Everything. A laptop, pens, books, papers… And even a small cat keychain. Above it hung a corkboard with notes and photos (one being from Midoriya’s birthday). 

Shinso’s friends were quick to sit down on his round fluffy carpet (it was lilac too but with purple spiraling from the middle and making a full circle around the outer part of it). 

“Me first!” Mei yelled before anyone could beat her to it.

“Second!” Inasa was quick to scream. Hitoshi was pretty sure Midoriya said it at the same moment but his voice had been completely drowned out.

“I guess I’ll go last then…” the boy mumbled, pouting. Seeing him with this expression was hilarious, not that Shinso would admit to it out loud. But come on! This kid is borderline crazy and always ready for a fight so why does he look so fricking innocent?! 

“Here, open!” Mei demanded, handing him a box that he graciously accepted, already seated on the carpet. He did as asked while she started explaining. “So! When you invited us to your birthday I pretty much threw everything I was doing to the wind and focused solely on the voice changer I was planning, so you can already start getting used to it! I can make some adjustments and by the time of UA? You will probably have it mastered! So? Wanna try it out?!”

He took the item out of the box, looking at it with wide eyes. It did look cool and was nice to touch; cold and metallic, in a way that assured him of the material's quality. But even though he didn’t lie to who he back then thought was the creation of his imagination, he still was a tad bit hesitant.

He knew Mei meant well! And he wholeheartedly agreed that he would need something like this as a hero! He was extremely grateful and trusted his friends but… He wanted to get used to it slowly, without curious eyes on him… 

“He can try it out later, we still have other gifts to go through.” his favorite piece-of-imagination-turned-out-to-be-real noted and Inasa was quick to agree.

“Yeah! I’ve put a lot of passion into this gift!” 

Shinso lips turned upwards as he put the voice changer back into the box, pushing it to the side to open what their loudest friend had in store for him.

There was a cushion on top, completely dark but with an outline of a cat with big eyes staring straight into his soul. Under it, there was a grey text saying ‘I’m your worst nightmeow’. Shinso squeezed it, noticing how soft it was before putting it to the side and… Wow, that’s a lot of coffee-themed sweets.

“Sorry! I couldn’t find any Eraserhead-themed merch and I don’t know what other things you like!” 

“No. It’s great as it is.” Shinso was quick to assure, smiling so softly his mom would probably take at least dozens of photos, gushing about this rare expression. “So… What does our residential wild card have in store for me?”

Midoriya grinned widely at that, pushing a small colorfully wrapped… Something toward him.

“Please don’t tell me it’s a framed photo of us or some other extremely sentimental shit…” Shinso whispered, contrary to his harsh words unpacking the item with a lot of care.

“Nope! It’s better! I hope.”

Finally, the paper was gone and… Shinso raised an eyebrow.

“Really? You’re giving me my own gift back?” he asked, lifting the Eraserhead-themed notebook and opening the first page. He made small hum of interest, noticing something scribbled in the corner in an unfamiliar handwriting.

Happy birthday

Quirk doesn’t make a hero. Persistence does.

~Eraserhead

Post Scriptum. Don’t let the coffee kid blow up your microwave.

“DID YOU ACTUALLY GET ERASERHEAD TO SIGN IT?!” Shinso screeched, scaring all of his friends. So badly, in fact, that Inasa fell onto the floor before getting back to a sitting position and laughing boomingly.

Midoriya’s grin just widened.

“Oh? Did I?” he answered while Shinso started looking through the pages. “Anyway! I wrote all kinds of theories and ideas for improving your quirk there! I also put a bit of phrases in other languages since you just need them to answer to your question, you don’t need to understand their answer…”

“Yeah, I can see that...” the boy replied, just as his eyes landed on ‘Did you remember to turn your toaster off?’ in Spanish (or at least that’s what the words meant according to Izuku’s notes).

“Also look at the last page.”

Hitoshi was quick to do so and his eyes widened in shock once more. 

“He actually asked Erasehead to approve our team name!” he exclaimed showing small ‘Percepts of Justice sounds fine’ on the very last page.

Mei cackled while Inasa yelled something about passion.

After a few moments, when the two of them calmed down, Shinso sighed heavily.

“It seems I need to up my birthday gift game,” he stated.

“Please don’t make a war out of it.” Izuku pleaded but it was already too late for that and he knew it.

As one might expect, the next birthdays were a lot of fun. 

~⁀‖⁀~§~♪~§~‿‖‿~

Natsuo was having a pretty good day overall. His mom wished him a happy birthday on the phone, Fuyumi baked him a cake and bought him a new game while Shouto got him a chocolate (which means a lot since the kid doesn't get a lot of pocket money, he’s pretty sure Endeavour thinks he would run away if he had more funds or something). And their scum of a father wasn’t home so yeah. Great. It’s better to not see him at all than hear a half-hearted 'happy birthday' with a glare conveying a silent ‘you’re a year older yet so weak’. 

‘At least he remembers’ his ass.

He was sitting in his room, downloading the game Fuyumi got him when he heard a knock. On his window. He was mostly confused. He didn’t have many friends and definitely none suicidal enough to sneak into Endeavour’s estate. But a villain wouldn’t announce their arrival in such a cordial manner, would they?

So he got up and pushed his blinds to the side to see… 

“Huh?” 

A vigilante waved at him with a dorky smile and Natsuo noticed that there was something colorful in his second hand. Todoroki honestly didn’t know how to feel about it. Phantom was active for at least a few months now and the male read quite a bit about the vigilante. He liked the friendly cryptid image the unlicensed hero had going for him. But to suddenly have him knocking on his window? It was a bit worrying…

The grey-haired criminal pointed at the knob, probably wanting to be let inside and Natsuo knew that it would be extremely stupid to just open his window for a complete stranger. One that was illegally fighting evil in spandex, a corny T-shirt, and shorts. 

But Todoroki found himself doing so because if he’s going down then it’s the best way to do so. On his birthday, on the hands of some unhinged cryptid. 

“Hi!” the vigilante greeted amicably. “I brought you a present! Happy birthday!”

Despite himself, Natsuo took the gift.

“Uh… Thank you?” he more asked than said, too many questions in his head for him to decide which one to start with. “Not that I don’t like getting gifts from cryptids but… Why?”

“We used to be good friends in the past… Well, it’s more of a future timeline actually, but I probably broke it already so yeah.” 

Well… What else was he expecting from a vigilante that forums had unanimously titled chaos incarnate?

“So you come from the future?” Todoroki inquired, raising an eyebrow, still holding the gift without opening it.

“Not exactly. I just remember it.” 

“Alright…” Natsuo mumbled, somewhere between confused and amused. It was actually kind of thrilling to be talking to an extremely chaotic vigilante through the window he had just opened for the cryptid. “Do you want some cake?”

“I really shouldn’t… But Fuyumi made it, didn’t she?” Phantom inquired as if they were good old friends…

“Yep.” …and Natsuo was honestly no better.

“Alright but a small piece. I’ve eaten enough cake today for a whole month.” 

Todoroki saluted with a grin.

“Oh yeah, you don’t mind if I close the window for now?”

“Sure, no problem. I needed you to open it for the present.” the vigilante answered in a conversational tone, putting his hand right through the glass before promptly taking it out. “After all I’m a Phantom, walking through solid objects is kind of my thing.”

“Makes sense.” Natsuo agreed easily, for some reason not scared at all of the crazy stranger on his windowsill who could easily get inside. 

So the white-haired male put the gift he just got on his desk and went to the kitchen. 

“Come on, Natsuo, you’re going to get a stomachache if you eat any more of the cake,” Fuyumi commented amusedly. Concluding by the empty cup standing next to her and the electric kettle’s hum, she was making herself tea or maybe coffee.

“It’s not for me,” he replied, rolling his eye.

“Shoto had enough for today too.”

“Not for him either.”

She raised an eyebrow.

“Who else would you be giving cake to? At this hour?” she inquired and he grinned at her.

“Some stray just walked up to my window.”

Fuyumi raised her eyebrows, her face unamused.

“Animals shouldn’t eat sweet things.” 

He snickered, getting a small slice of the cake and a fork. 

“I know, I know. But he’ll be fine, I swear.”

She sighed.

“Just don’t poison some poor cat again.”

He stopped, turning around and looking at her indignantly.

“I didn’t poison Snowball! I’m telling you, he ate some of mom’s flowers and got sick!” 

“Yeah, sure.”

“That’s how it went! And he was fine the next day anyway!”

Fuyumi shook her head and he huffed, leaving the room. He half-expected the vigilante to disappear or end up in his room, snooping around but surprisingly, Phantom stayed in the exact spot he had been left in.

Natsuo walked up to the window, opened it, and gave the vigilante a plate with cake and a fork. 

“Thank you!” 

For a moment Todoroki just… Watched as the cryptid happily ate.

“So… You mentioned eating a lot of cake today… Which slice it is?”

“Second one.”

Natsuo raised his eyebrows skeptically.  

“You didn’t see the first one! I think they thought I was not eating enough or something because they wouldn’t let me go before I finished it!”

“I mean, you do look pretty skinny,” Natsuo noted off-handedly. Sure, it was pretty usual for normal people to be far less buff than let’s say… All Might for example. But still, after having a good look at the vigilante, Todoroki could understand innate maternal instincts telling people to feed this poor child. Fuck, he himself was a victim of those! 

“I am not skinny! I have a lot of lean muscles!”

“Yes, I’m sure. Actually, how old are you?” 

“Enough to be illegally kicking asses.” 

“How many years is enough to be illegally kicking asses?” Natsuo asked, raising an eyebrow. His expression didn’t betray amusement he was feeling deep, deep inside. 

“Yes.” the vigilante answered oh so eloquently, finishing the cake and giving him back the plate and fork. “Thanks for the food but I probably should keep going. Criminals won’t catch themselves, you know! Probably…”

“Well, it was weird but nice to meet you,” Natsuo replied, waving goodbye and watching Phantom disappear into the darkness before promptly closing the window. He brought the plate and fork back to the kitchen before remembering the gift.

For some reason, he wasn’t surprised to see a full series of magazines that were known for their brutally honest approach and always having at least one page criticizing Endeavour (he always wanted to read these but couldn’t get his hands on them) plus his favorite chocolate at the top. 

‘Best birthday’, he decided as he started to read. 

Chapter Text

Is there a specific moment when you realize something is wrong or does it steadily grow inside until it’s big enough for you to notice?

Izuku would tell you he isn’t sure when his… Worries and doubts began but he wouldn't be completely honest. Sure, he can’t give you a specific date but he knows when it became obvious that he isn’t as fine as he tended to believe.

And it’s weird how suddenly it hit him. 

He was looking through his Tea Notes volume two (because ‘Time Traveling Records’ would be too obvious) and just… 

Who am I?

He wasn’t completely sure where it came from. Sure, he had been having some impostor syndrome since he was, like, eleven (before then he was strangely fine about the whole ‘memories of future’ thing. Is this the power of a child’s adaptability?) but he hadn’t even fully registered how bad it was getting until… Well, today, he guesses.

Do I even deserve it all?

Logically speaking he knew that if there was anyone who should have gotten those memories it was him because it’s his future self that made it possible! But…

Future-me went through so much. He was quirkless and alone… I just act like I don’t have a quirk. I’m a liar. A fraud. 

It’s an impossible situation, really. If he used one of the quirks to be treated equally, he would feel terrible. How dare he try to avoid such a small inconvenience when his future self went through so much? How could he dare to hope to be strong when trying to escape so little? 

(There was also the matter of safety; if, God forbid, All For One learned about a quirkless child spurting a quirk despite biology saying otherwise possible… Well it would not end well)

But! On the other hand… He felt like a fraud by telling everyone that he was quirkless. Sure, he technically was, used tobe, but in practice, he has not one, not two… Not even three! But four extremely overpowered quirks (Revamp, Permeation, One For All, and Rewind. High Spec, and Creation are also nothing to scoff at while Erasure and… Aaaagh! All of them are actually really amazing! And he has over a dozen of them in total)! 

Isn't it pathetic? He acts like a weakling when he might even be able to somewhat stand his ground against All Might himself (since he also knows about his weakened state and all). How is it fair to his future self who had come to be so powerful after endless hardships?! 

Who are you?

His inner demons didn’t want to shut up. They kept on pestering him. And he didn’t know the exact moment it happened but from some point, he couldn’t… He didn’t want to fall asleep for too long. For such a sorry reason too.  

You’re afraid of nightmares. You have EVERYTHING, amazing friends, a loving mother, not one but multiple quirks, and yet! You’re scared of dreams? When you’re supposed to save the whole world from apocalypse?!

Midoriya wasn’t even sure when he grasped at his hair nor when the tears started falling. He belatedly realized that he didn’t know a lot of ‘whens’ nowadays. And High Spec can’t help with emotions; it’s a quirk specializing in planning and thinking. It will tell him ‘You should probably get professional help’ while in the same tone whispering ‘But that could have dire consequences’. 

The tears actually made him feel worse. What is he crying about this time?! Fuck, he’s more of a useless Deku than his future self ever was! Because he’s strong, he’s confident, he has everything his future self didn’t have! Yet that version of him succeeded, did the impossible!

He has such an easy road and what is he doing right now? Crying! He didn’t even… Yakuza is still out there and he's doing nothing! He isn’t Nezu who would be able to easily hack into their systems if he knew where their main base is! No, he's Izuku who can only break into some old-fashioned cameras in schools that don’t care about their monitoring to begin with! 

He started hyperventilating. 

And he couldn’t stop. He… He knew he should! There’s nothing to cry about! Nothing bad had happened to him! What the fuck is wrong with him?! He’s doing so amazingly… Why can’t he give more? Why can’t he be better?! He isn’t someone his future self deserves to be represented by! He’s a weakling who can’t even control his emotions!

At least, at the very least his mom was out so she wouldn’t hear his sobs…

~⁀‖⁀~§~♪~§~‿‖‿~

Phantom started patrolling more often. It was a bit terrifying if Eraserhead was right in his assumption that the kid is fourteen (probably fifteen by now). High school is hell even with a full night's rest. He doesn’t even want to imagine experiencing an education system with not even a full four hours of sleep but he might be biased due to having Nezu as his teacher.

He sighed, dropping onto two criminals who were about to steal a bike chained to a fence. Knocking them out had taken him less time than calling the police (and waiting for them but that’s the part that usually takes the longest).

He couldn’t help but feel tired just thinking about the vigilante. A kid running around without a license, acting like a hero? It wasn’t unheard of, of course. But usually, they were a bit older and… Well, less crazy borderline suicidal. Yet, it wasn’t even the tip of the iceberg.

Sure, the teen's features might have been hidden with someone else's quirk or even make-up. That part was understandable. But who openly uses such a unique quirk yet can't be found? It isn't normal.

The most obvious answer would be that the kid is hiding the full extent of his power or managed to get a different quirk into the registry. Civilians rarely get to use their quirks so if he somehow succeeded in that regard, looking for him would be no better than searching for a single needle in the whole Musutafu.

But there are less obvious possibilities. Like human experimentation. Which Eraserhead probably wouldn’t even consider was it not for the boy’s somewhat unexpected goal of getting rid of yakuza. That sure as hell sounded personal.

Eventually, the cops arrived and after exchanging a few words he was back on the rooftop, looking for criminal activity or the problem child. It was obvious that the kid needed help... And that he would most definitely get himself killed if someone didn’t stop him from putting his stupid plans into action.

Aizawa landed before abruptly turning around. He was confident he glimpsed a familiar shade of silver. He backtracked a step, looked down, and sure enough, there his problem child was. About to get into a fight because what else could he be doing?

But then the kid suddenly froze.

It was… Strange. Phantom was half-step into his usual reckless charge when the other guy's skin became pitch black. For some reason that made the teen stumble and stop dead in his tracks. If Aizawa hadn’t jumped down (using the enemy as a point of the pivot to not strain his body when landing) and forced the man’s fist down with his capture weapon, things wouldn’t have ended well for the frozen vigilante. Concluding from the opponent’s heavy stance and the way he didn’t flinch even when the capture weapon squeezed his fist, he likely had some kind of protective quirk. 

Which was no match for Erasure, it turned out. And the man? After having his power taken, he seemed completely lost. Knocking him out was only a formality followed by another one: a message to the police. It was sent rather than spoken, so as not to further spook the kid. The hero let himself blink once before turning toward the vigilante.

Who still stood in the same spot, breathing heavily.

Aizawa furrowed his brows, trying to make sense of the situation. It certainly wasn't about the strength of the criminal; the teen faced worse. He didn't seem injured and there was a slim chance of a mental component to the criminal's quirk. Even on the off-chance it had some kind of illusionary component, Erasure or knocking the man out would have stopped it... The most likely option is a traumatic reaction but what was the trigger?

It's dangerous. The child is terrified so it wouldn't be strange for his quirk to get out of control. There's a finite time Eraserhead can hold on blinking and police will take at least five minutes to come.

With the way Phantom acts around him, the teen seems to hold some sense of trust toward him. Everything taken into account, it'd be best for him - a familiar face - to try to calm the child before anything else. Capture can wait for later: the vigilante is mostly a danger for himself and in his currently tumultuous state his own quirk might end up backfiring.

"Hey, kid, can you hear me?" he asked as softly as he could and Phantom's eyes snapped toward him. They seemed fazed, as if he was looking at someone else entirely, and yet...

"Eraserhead? What are you doing here…?” he asked, voice strangely even for his tense shoulders. "No, wait... Which Eraserhead are you?"

That question explained things the tiniest bit and confused them all the more. But there was no certain safe answer so he simply raised an eyebrow and let the boy come to his own conclusions.

"Right. Stupid question. There's only one you, what was I expecting?" Phantom asked and laughed but there was none of his usual cheerfulness to be heard. It wasn't nervous persay but it was fragile. A learned motion. "Where... When am I? I'm... Which me I am?"

The vigilante tugged at his hair and while this line of conversation might have proven informative, it wasn't optimal. The intention was to calm the problem child, not to pull him from one episode into another.

"Focus on my breathing," Eraserhead commanded and the teen actually did so but rather than calming down, he only seemed to fidget more. "You're a vigilante. 'Your Friendly Neighborhood Cryptid', Phantom. You helped me take down a group of criminals last week, remember?"

The boy stopped moving.

"Oh." he made a small sound, a bit as if all air left him. "You're not the future Aizawa."

Eraserhead kept his face calm and body perfectly still despite the sudden spike of unease. It was a slip-up that let him know that Phantom knows his civilian identity. Worse yet: what does the 'future' part mean exactly? Surely it can't be time travel but then what? Future sight? What kind of quirk could have not just cold presence, moving through solid objects but also foresight?

No, there will be time to think about it later. For now, the teen still seems out of it and Eraserhead really needs to blink.

"No, I'm not," so he simply confirmed, tone still softer than he tended to use.

"Sorry..." the boy mumbled, taking a step back. The hero followed, slowly. Making the kid feel cornered wouldn't exactly help. "I... I'm useless, really useless, sorry, I shouldn't have..."

"It's okay, kid. You've done more than enough."

"No, you don't understand, I don't even..." the vigilante began but he cut himself off, shaking his head.

The conversation was going somewhere but Eraserhead couldn't keep his eyes open any longer. A blink later, Phantom was already halfway through the wall and the hero wasn't going to risk having the boy cut in half by the solid object.

The police arrived two minutes later. Eraserhead left the criminal with them and moved up, back to the rooftops. He scanned the area but, sure enough, the vigilante was nowhere to be seen.

With a sigh, the hero resigned himself to another long talk with Tsukauchi.

~⁀‖⁀~§~♪~§~‿‖‿~

What was wrong with him?!

Panicking just because someone's quirk made them the same color as Nomu, burdening Aizawa with his nonsense and just running away... How useless can someone who's supposed to save the world be?!

It was going fine! That night's patrol was great, really. He scared off some creeps stalking two girls, fought some small-time robbers, and was about to face off against a to-be car thief when it all just... Crumbled. He could have sworn he wasn't him but his future self, facing a Nomu.

But he froze.

Because what could he possibly do, cornered by a mutated beast with multiple quirks? The way it looked... It was still early in the apocalypse, he hasn't stolen Overhaul's quirk yet. There was no escape, no nothing-

But he wasn't alone. Eraserhead was there. But which one? What point in time it was? Aizawa looked younger. Still, it was a relief. Izuku wasn't alone.

Everything was so blurry, so weird. He realized that right, if he knows that he will get Overhaul's quirk doesn't it mean he already did that? So he has a quirk. Why did he hesitate then? Is he back in the future or is he still in the past? Which past?

But wait, right. Phantom. Friendly cryptid. There's only one past he's living through. The one his future self enabled, the one where he has everything he ever wanted... And yet, he already failed. What if Eraserhead wasn't there? What would have happened to him? Would he have... Destroyed all chances... Who would have stopped...?

Eraserhead's words came in through one ear and left through another. Izuku? Doing enough? No, not even close. If he only knew. All the things given, all the things not yet done... Would he be disappointed? He should be.

He didn't even save Eri yet, even less stop All For One from destroying the world they know.

He needed to get out so that's what he did, diving into the nearest wall the moment he could, barely remembering to make his clothes part of him. He catapulted himself to the top of the roof and hid his face in his hands. His breathing was getting steadily louder and faster, and the sounds were strangely subdued, and he can't- He can't fall apart, he has to keep going, he made too many mistakes already!

"Home. Go home," he whispered to himself, doing his best to ignore his trembling voice. And suddenly, as if to listen, his mind went quiet. Absolutely silent. He liked it this way so he moved, words still on his tongue. "Home. Go home. Home. Go home. Home..."

And home he went, feeling guilty for his inaction all the while.

Chapter Text

Contrary to what one might think, Midoriya doesn’t know when exactly Eraserhead shows up in the alley. Yes, he has some good guesses, and usually, his expectations are right, but Aizawa’s an underground hero: he changes his patrol routes a lot. So Izuku might bring him the dark beverage on Monday and then not meet him until Saturday.

He just drinks the coffee if he doesn’t meet the man. More caffeine for him, you know?

Today he wasn’t expecting to see the man. Nor did he want to. Sure, he could take a different route, go earlier or later or even just stay home and just write in his notebooks before going to school.

But he fucked up enough as it is. The least he can do is not bring any more suspicion to his civilian self. But hopefully, he wasn't even going to see Aizawa toda-

Well, it seems that at least the endless line of misfortunes don't seem to be any different for this Izuku than it was for his future self.

“With all due respect, sir… You look like shit,” he noted with a dry smile, walking up to the man and giving him the coffee that was readily taken.

“As if you are a shining beacon of rest.”

“I’ll let you know I’ve written a week month’s of essays in one night.” The lie rolled off his tongue easily; his future self had undergone a quick but extremely useful course of hiding his intents so he wouldn’t make any terrible mistakes at yakuza. It was prepared by Aizawa and Nezu themselves.

Even if Midoriya had only memories to go off and a mirror to train with, he believed he was pretty decent at it by now (he spent endless hours perfecting it before finally beginning his vigilante career; after all there always was the possibility of his mom randomly checking up on him in the middle of the night. He has five various cover-up stories for his absence by the way).

“And slept for…?” Eraserhead inquired, raising an eyebrow.

“I have a strange feeling you wouldn’t like the answer so… What a wonderful day we have today! The sun is barely up and the sky is so grimly grey! What a morning to be alive!” he exclaimed, fully aware of how insane he sounded. He should, since he was a quirkless (wait, does this Aizawa even know about it yet? He didn’t tell him about it in this timeline, he thinks) teen with possibly no sleep at all. Aizawa doesn’t know he has Revamp with which he can manually make himself instantly awake and completely untired.

“Kid. How much sleep did you get?”

“Enough?”

“How many hours.”

Midoriya looked to the side.

“Probably a bit more than you?”

“I didn’t sleep today yet.”

“And I did! Which means I’m giving you a good example!”

“I’m asking for the last time. How many hours did you sleep?”

Midoriya made a quick math in his head and grinned widely, suddenly realizing that he actually had more rest than he expected.

“Three!” he stated proudly and, most importantly, honestly.

Aizawa didn’t look too happy with the answer though.

“Which part of 'you need at least eight hours of sleep' did you not understand?”

“I understood everything! I just didn’t follow through.” the kid offered with a wide smile not leaving his face.

“Are you so smart with your parents too?”

“I haven’t seen my father in literal years and I’m an angel incarnate as far as my mom is concerned.” he replied readily. “Anyway, as much as I absolutely love to share my home life details with you, I should probably get going. I mean, my shellproof frying pan isn’t going to test itself, you know?”

“I don’t even want to know.” the man decided with a deep sigh and Izuku grinned before sprinting toward his outstanding summer house.

His paranoid mind kept on wondering if he acted well enough (since he seemed to be failing a lot lately) as he moved toward the trash beach and then through its majestic mountains. By the time he got inside he was low-key panicking and the only thing that stopped him from spiraling into hysterics was coffee and armored frying pan he had yet to test out.

Meanwhile, Aizawa, bless his poor soul, was too focused on his vigilante headache to notice that there was something a bit more wrong with the coffee kid than just his usual self-(and kitchen device-)destructive tendencies.

And he wouldn’t notice for a while. 

~⁀‖⁀~§~♪~§~‿‖‿~

“Midoriya Izuku.”

He froze in a way not much different from a deer caught in headlights.

“Yes…?” he asked, honestly terrified.

She called him a lot of things. Mido, Freckles, Mizu, Bush Boy, Calculator, Zuku… You get the gist of it. She was more of ‘I’ll give you an alias depending on mood’ person than someone sticking to a specific one (and she wasn’t above taking others’ nicknames for him) but she didn’t really use his full name. Sure, sometimes she did it for joking purposes but then it was obvious. But currently, she looked extremely serious and sure, he knows that he made some mistakes with the project they are working on but she always laughs those off and fixes them saying how great she is so why is she…?

“What’s wrong?” she asked and if one could freeze for a second time it would be him right now. For a moment he had no idea what to say, what to do (an extremely rare sight). He even opened his mouth and closed it!

Why was it so hard?! It was so much easier to avoid Eraserhead as a Phantom (both physically and when the man tried to talk about his… Outburst) and even as Midoriya Coffee Izuku! But with Mei it felt… Different…? Maybe because she didn’t seem to care all that much about others’ emotions? She tends to act like someone who only thinks about her inventions and other people are more of a side-quest (not that he doesn’t know that she cares! Because he knows that she does! Memories of her interactions with him in the future are enough of confirmation!).

“What… Do you mean…?” he asked trying really hard to make his voice calm, nonchalant.

He failed. Miserably.

She sighed, brushing some of her hair to the side and sitting down. He blinked. When did she let go of her tools?

“You made five miscalculations while you’re usually the better of us two. You broke three wrenches and misplaced six screws. It’s as obvious as you get to show that something is seriously wrong. So?”

“I… I just didn’t sleep well.” he tried to defend and she deadpanned at him.

“Oh, really?” she asked before sighing once again. He felt bad. Terrible even. He was wasting her time just because he couldn’t hide his inadequacies well enough! Why was he letting himself get so distracted?! They were supposed to spend some quality time together, tinkering! And he destroyed it! Because what can he even do right…? “Listen, Inasa might not be the brightest but even he knows something’s up. He thinks it’s about school. Shinso too, though he won’t bring it up, you know how bad he is with emotions. And I’m no better! But I feel like if I don’t say something you will keep just overthinking until…”

She made a motion of her head exploding.

“So? I might be wrong, but I’m pretty sure it isn’t about school. I mean, if it was, you would probably be stressed before intervention or not long after it. Unless they majorly screwed up which doesn’t seem to be the case because it was handled by the same guys as Shinso’s school.”

He probably would be able to salvage the situation by putting the blame on Kacchan. If he just acted somewhat nonchalant and told her how his childhood friend occasionally tries to explode him after school…  Mei would most likely believe him (and try to murder the blond).

But as he opened his mouth, ready to make a believable lie, a tear rolled down his cheek. He closed his mouth and blinked. He willed himself to stop, to not cry… But he couldn’t. He just… After a second he started wiping at his eyes but the dam had already been broken. There was more and more, and more, and oh god why is he so pathetic, he can’t even control his own goddamn tears…!

“Uhm… Do you want some tea? Or hug? Or blanket? I’m good at inventing, not… This.” Mei asked, getting up and gesturing vaguely.

He couldn’t help but snort. It sounded more like a sob but he knew what it was.

“H-hug, please,” he finally gave in, his voice breaking.

She readily obliged. It was uncomfortable, proving just how out of her waters she was. But she tried and because of that, he let himself relax into her stiff arms.

“There’s… There’s a lot…” he whispered. “I don’t… How would I even… Begin…?”

“Well… By crying all your tears out, I guess. Because I’m pretty sure I will hardly understand anything you say right now.” she noted and he laughed and this time it actually sounded like it should rather than a choked sob.

“Kay…” he whispered, closing his eyes and letting more water than should probably leave his eyes into her shoulder. She didn’t complain.

It took him a few minutes to calm down.

“I’m fine…” he said, pulling out of the hug. The girl seemed relieved.

“I’m pretty sure people go through serious conversations with a cup of tea or something, plus I kinda need to change my shirt so… You won’t disappear if I leave you here alone for ten minutes, will you?”

He took a few steps back while looking her straight in the eyes and readily plopped onto her sofa (nearly tripping over the coffee table on his way there).

“I’m too tired to even think about going anywhere,” he noted.

She replied with a shrug, readily exiting the room.

There were a lot of panicked thoughts to be had but after crying out what felt like half of his body fluids, he didn’t have energy for that. He just blankly stared at the ceiling, his thoughts floating around.

There’s a crack there… Huh… Is it from Mei’s rocket boots test going wrong or my plasma microwave exploding? Oh, there’s another one… So maybe both? Yeah, that’s a possibility… Wow, now that I look at it… There are a lot of cracks… I wonder how many… Two, four… Ten… Twenty-two… Thirty-six…

“Alright, so… What am I supposed to say now? ‘Spill it out’? ‘Feel free to throw your emotional ballast over my shoulders’? Also, I brought a blanket.”

He looked up just in time to get hit in the face with soft material.

“Thanks,” he muttered, readily cocooning himself and then glancing at the two cups Mei brought. While they weren't fanatics of tea they did enjoy other things than coffee. “Well… You see… It’s a bit like…”

He actually planned to keep saying vague words until Mei either got fed up with him or he himself did. But the girl was surprisingly patient and that’s probably why after a minute of silence he took a deep shuddering breath and…

“The future message I told you about? Actually, when I was around five years old I suddenly got memories of my future self. And over a dozen of quirks. Fifteen to be exact. And I didn’t lie or anything, I am quirkless technically! It’s just… Time traveler shenanigans you know?”

Well… He might have low-key expected her to take it as a joke and laugh it off.

She didn’t.

“So… Your future self somehow brought back memories through time continuum? And quirks? How did he even get them?”

And that’s all he needed to give her a summary of his future self’s life. He told her all about his mom apologizing when he asked about fulfilling his dreams (also admitting that it was a key memory: the one strong enough for his future self to come back to this point), about bullying for being quirkless, how a childhood friend told that version of him to dive from roof hoping for a quirk next life, how All Might told him to get realistic (he didn’t mention hero’s injury of course!). How future he met Inasa, her, Eraserhead, and Shinso. 

And then about the apocalypse. About Inasa’s death. Yakuza, new members of their future group, of his future self’s ingenious yet insane idea. Of Phantom the serum. How Future h got Overhaul which the future Mei helped to rename Revamp. He told her all about Rewind. He didn’t mention One For All, just saying that his future self transported memories back in time, leaving behind the emotions to... Disappear, he guesses. 

But he didn’t stop there. She was listening and he felt as if it was his one and only chance to tell someone… Anyone about what was going on in his head.

So he continued. Telling her about his vigilante persona (as if it wasn’t obvious by now), his runs-up with Eraserhead, about his… Feeling of inadequacy. Somehow even more tears managed to force themselves out of his eyes when he told her how he felt like a fraud, like he didn’t deserve all those powers his future self had gotten through years of hardships and pain.

And after finally throwing it out into the open he went quiet.

Mei was silent for a very long moment but he was so exhausted from all the crying that he just melted into the sofa, embracing himself tighter with a blanket and kind of wanting to drink tea but not having enough strength to reach for it.

“Okay, so, like… That’s a lot to process… And I’m the one saying it! Aah, I’m terrible at it! How am I supposed to react? What do you need to hear?”

“Just your honest… I don’t know, reaction?” he answered hoping his voice conveyed enough of a shrug.

“So, first of all, I’m obviously going to keep your secret! Though I kind of advise telling it to Shinso and Inasa… Well, to Shinso cause I’m a bit worried about our residential loud boy babbling it on accident… Anyway, to someone more qualified to give you emotional support?”

He snorted quietly.

“I’m not sure if he would have any better of a reaction than you…”

“Anyway! I think, you know, everything you just told me? A huge strain. Like, I wouldn’t take it even if I got some extremely cool powers along the way. And personally, I think you’re doing amazing and I would say so even if I wasn’t biased! But I don’t think even words of an amazingly talented inventor would lift your spirit up instantly so… Let me think…”

It was… Nice. He was used to her energetic babbling, as much as she was to his word vomits. And her reaction made him feel… Well, up to this point, it was like some dark, twisted secret of his. Something ugly he had to hide from the world just to save it from the tragedy it was driving into at full speed.

But with Mei having such a… Calm reaction? Being concerned more about his emotions than the whole apocalypse thing? It… It meant a lot. And it reminded him of times when he, himself, didn’t overthink the whole thing. Small Izuku just moved forward, confident and determined, sure that his future self knew what he was doing even when there were only memories left of him.

“Okay, so… Have you tried separating the mess of the future and your present life? I’m sure, you act a lot differently as a vigilante than you do in everyday life but… Make some kind of obvious line? You know, ‘Phantom is this part of me that got the memories from the future and does whatever he has to do with it’ while your civilian self is just… You. A cool inventor gardening in the middle of a garbage dump. Dude that brings coffee to some underground hero hardly anyone ever heard about.”

Well… He guesses making a bigger distinction between his two lifestyles would be beneficial. But!

“Just to be clear… What for? How do you think it would help?”

“You try to live normally like your future self did at some point. But you demand the impossible from yourself because your future self did the undoable. I feel like at some point you blurred your everyday life with the vigilante one or even the future yourself… Like you try to jump over the time your future self had to grow straight into being someone great and all. Aah! It’s hard to put into words!”

He mulled over her possible intentions.

“Like… I shouldn’t beat myself over the smallest things just because I have knowledge from the future?” he inquired unsurely.

Mei looked at him incredulously.

“It’s like, the most obvious point! I was talking more about how… Wait. Did you seriously just realize that?!”

“I mean… Since I already know so much and have so many powers it’s only fair I ace everything, right? I didn’t go through as much as my future self so it’s only fair I do everything right and fix what future version of me couldn’t…”

The girl facepalmed and then took a big gulp of her tea.

“It all started with All Might's death, didn’t it? Do you know when it happened?”

“A bit after the beginning of our high school year I think.”

She threw her arms up.

“You can literally lie and watch clouds go by until high school! You just need to make sure All Might doesn’t get killed! And you met him before that so you can literally tell him not to die and use some future knowledge to make him take you seriously!”

He actually sat straighter at that.

“It isn’t that easy.” he stated but it sounded more like ‘surely it couldn’t be the case…?’.

“I mean, kudos to you for helping people as a vigilante, I guess but… You can give yourself some leeway, you know? In your civilian life at least. Just make sure All Might doesn’t die and you know what? Even if he does… If I understand correctly you still have the quirks that let you time travel, right?”

He opened his mouth.

And then he closed it.

He’s pretty sure One For All is still a bit too much for his present body but! He might be able to rewind a weak without it. Yeah, technically he knew it from the beginning but up to this point… Well, he was so stressed about making mistakes and not being as good as his future self that it kind of escaped his grasp.

It was hard to wrap his head around the concept of being able to make mistakes. Didn't he have to walk on eggshells? Didn’t he get future memories because his goal was extremely hard and tedious? Could he really make a wave of change so easily…?

Can he really be himself instead of constantly trying to become his future self?

“But what if fail? If I die and the world falls because I was too useless to change the future even with everything I was given?” he asked quietly, not because he wanted but needed to hear the answer. He wanted Mei to tell him what would happen if the worst came to be. If he failed.

“Then I will use everything you just told me to change the future. I’ll probably get Inasa and Shinso to help, cause it feels like a lot of work to do and the end of the world or not, I have babies to make.”

And with that, he was officially feeling better.

Did it make all his doubts and worries melt away? Of course not! Since when do problems fade away so easily?

But did it ease his mind, did it help him realize that the burden he had on his shoulders wasn’t as heavy as he made it to be? Yes, yes it did.

“Thank you…” he whispered, finally reaching for his cup of tea. “I guess it’s just driving me crazy since I can’t… You know, immediately fix it.”

“Yeah, understandable.” the girl agreed easily.

They went quiet for a bit.

“I feel like we aren’t going to do much anyway so… How do you feel about testing out my three-dimensional projector? We can watch some All Might movies but I warn you, some things just aren’t meant to be seen in 3D.”

He was quick to agree, a small smile blooming on his face.

~⁀‖⁀~§~♪~§~‿‖‿~

Eraserhead was careful to approach Phantom. The problem child had an uncanny ability to spot him, so much so that he wondered if the kid had some kind of localizing quirk. Mixed with his usual hauntings taking place in alleyways where there were plenty of spots to hide from Erasure and his disappearing acts, it made it virtually impossible to even talk to the boy when he didn't want to be interacted with. Not even mention actually catching him.

It was one jar of problems after another with this vigilante. How do you restrain someone who can phase through solid objects? How many people would need to be mobilized to grab this headache? More than logical: the kid wasn't a danger to the general population so their resources are better spent on actual criminals. But in meanwhile... Well, the situation has to be dealt with carefully lest they garner the attention of the Hero Public Safety Commission (which sounded like another full-blown disaster).

They like to control people and the problem child doesn't look like someone who can be easily controlled. If at all. And if at any point he butted heads with them, they wouldn't forget it: other than liking to stay on top, they had a name to uphold.

On the other hand police force and underground heroes could afford some leeway and thus, they tended to take circumstances before the law into consideration. Not to be mistaken for ignoring regulations: there's a difference between causing harm and foregoing some rules. It wasn't that rare to see a misguided teen trying to fight evil because they either wanted to prove something or protect their hometown. It was illogical to destroy someone's life over that thus a stern lecture was usually enough.

Not to forget that teens are a different matter than adults entirely. Kids are hormonal and stupid: while they need to understand their actions have consequences, a balance needs to be kept. Branding them criminals simply because they were trying to do 'the right thing' didn't bode well with Aizawa.

Now, back to the matter of the problem child. If things continue on this path, the kid might find himself in trouble that won't fade away so easily. Getting hurt, hurting someone or even getting Hero Commission involved aren't the only things that can go wrong. There's also the yakuza and other less-than-savory characters from underground that might choose to go after the unaffiliated side.

But no way out but forward, no? For now, the best he can do is gather information about the kid's motives and learn as much as he can about his quirk. Every power has its downsides. He can't keep up Erasure forever but most likely neither can Phantom escape through every single known material.

Eh. Why can't Aizawa ever get a break? If not a class full of idiots, then a problem child on the streets... And, of course, speak of the wolf and he shall come.

He turned around, activating his quirk the second he felt the presence behind him. He stared at the pouting vigilante for a moment before deciding it wasn't worth it and letting Erasure drop.

“Come on Eraserhead! I materialized outta nowhere! How is it that you always notice me?”

“I’m a professional. It’s a matter of life and death to notice people appearing from nowhere,” he answered steadily. It was the first time the vigilante talked to him of his own volition since the panic incident. It was good; it was hard to make any progress when the kid was hiding.

“I guess…” Phantom answered with a small shrug followed by a grin. “Though I would bring you back from dead if anything happened so no worries! I have your back!”

“I rather not die in the first place,” Aizawa answered dryly. It was quite worrying how he actually entertained the thought of it not being a joke for a second. While undeniably a mystery, the problem child couldn't possibly have a way of resurrecting people.

“I mean, it isn’t a pleasant experience but I wouldn’t place it in the top ten of worst things that can happen.”

Now Eraserhead raised an eyebrow, masking his concern with skepticism.

“Have you… Died?” it sounded ridiculous, even to his own ears. But it wouldn’t be the first time in history that someone’s quirk had been activated by worrying circumstances.

The kid seemed actually taken off guard by the question before promptly shrugging it off.

"I know from a friend."

Well, it was too late for excuses. A new theory had already formed in the hero's foremind.

“Did you get your quirk by dying?” Aizawa asked bluntly. While he wished he was a bit more gracious with words, he saw no point in beating around the bush. He could either be brutally honest or stay quiet and learn nothing. So far the vigilante seemed to take his way of interacting well so it was a risk he was willing to take.

Phantom was quiet for a moment, his expression one of deep contemplation. On one hand, it was slightly strange since the answer should be clean cut but on the other death is never easy to talk about.

He didn’t like the conflicted look that soon overtook the vigilante’s expression.

“Indirectly, I guess? When I think about it… It kind of, technically, was like death for him…”

The kid was most likely talking about himself from a third perspective but since overall he seemed rather calm… Eraserhead decided to push a little further.

“Him?”

The vigilante visibly froze but all too soon turned toward him with something akin to a grin if a grin changed its meaning into one of misery overnight. For a kid who managed to look genuinely upbeat most of the time, Aizawa expected him to be better at hiding nervousness but it seems that in the end, it's just a teenager. A young, troubled mind.

"Well, I mean myself obviously. A version of me so not completely me but me nonetheless," he said, and perhaps it was something in Eraserhead's expression or maybe the kid realized how fake his smile seemed because he sighed and took a more neutral expression. Without all the cheer he looked tired. "It's fine, really. You've done more than enough and I'm more than capable of doing what needs to be done. Myself."

What was it that this teenager could do that a professional with training and connections wouldn’t be able to accomplish, much easier at that? What was the point of making it harder for himself? Reading between the lines of their repeated encounters, it was clear that the kid trusted him to a certain degree. Yet, he refused his help as if whatever rested on his shoulders he found too heavy to delegate to Eraserhead, to even share a piece of this burden.

Worrying but in a way, it is progress. With every scrap of information, every reaction not tempered in time, and every failure at hiding the truth, Aizawa gets closer to understanding. It might be a long game but at least it's not a losing game.

"Don't you know that heroes who refuse help are destined to fail, problem child?" he asked and didn’t overlook the flinch that followed his words. Good. It seemed that, for whatever reason, these words had an impact.

"I... It's not that I refuse help, I just got enough as it is." the kid offered his excuse. As one might expect, it had little impact on Aizawa's flat gaze.

"How about you help me by answering my questions, then?" he asked and the teenager smiled, more genuinely this time.

"Sure thing, I will just ignore the ones I don't like~!"

Naive. Silence is a type of answer too.

“Have you ever lied to me?” was the first question. Because Aizawa might not have a truth-detecting quirk like Tsukauchi but he’s rather experienced at gauging people’s body language. Yes, he's somewhat sure the kid is usually honest with him but for now, the question was more for gauging the reaction rather than its content in itself.

Start easy, and work your way into more important questions. Get however much you can before the kid inevitably bails.

“Not really.” the problem child answered after a bit of thought. “I try to be honest if confusing with you.”

This only further proved that for some reason the kid has him in high regard. The kind of trust he shows, the way he speaks, and the fact that knows his name... When you add to that how easily he spots his presence compared to others isn't the conclusion somewhat obvious? There aren't many places you can interact with him, even less enough to gain all these attributes.

“Have you been my student at any point?” he asked the question which he should be able to answer for himself. But he couldn’t which frustrated him.

The kid seemed somewhat familiar but Aizawa would be sure to recognize him if they interacted on a weekly basis And who like who but he would be suspicious of any quirk that seemed remotely similar to Phantom’s (like the new student, Mirio Togata, and his Permeation; but he already made sure the loud blond wasn’t his problem child).

For some reason that question made Phantom laugh.

“Somewhat? In a way yes.”

Strange. If he were to assume that he taught someone who the kid learned from, it would explain very little. In fact, it would bring more questions. Why didn't Phantom deem this question one he doesn't like even though now Aizawa technically has a more solid clue? Is the teenager so confident it leads nowhere? And then where does this sense of familiarity come from?

“Why aren’t you in hero school?”

“Bold of you to assume I’m not!”

He raised an eyebrow, not believing this redirection of an answer.

"Then you are reckless enough to put your whole career into jeopardy when you’re only two if not one year away from getting licensed?”

The kid shrunk under the hero’s well-trained teacher glare.

“Okay maybe I’m not in hero school but so what…” he murmured, fidgeting a little. A perfect picture of a student who said something stupid and knew it.

“Your quirk is extremely versatile and you had martial arts training. Hero schools would over you, so why?” he asked, and before the kid could open his ever-smart mouth decided to add “Don’t give me ‘my quirk wasn’t as strong when I was younger’ excuse. I’ve seen enough of you to know you aren’t one to give up so easily.”

The problem child crossed his arms, looking insulted.

“Maybe I was back then?” he quipped.

“And what stops you from trying for the hero course now?”

The kid threw his hands up.

“Some… Stuff!” was the only half-assed excuse he managed to offer. “Lister, Eraserhead, I appreciate your worry over my education but believe it or not, if I get a chance to become a legal hero, I will. For now, it’s out of my reach and that’s all you’re gonna get on this subject.”

There was a moment of silence as Aizawa mulled over the information he already gathered and tried to decide on what to ask next.

“Are you safe in your current environment?” he finally settled on.

“I might be more unkillable than All Might but I realize that’s not what you’re asking so… I’ll let you know that my home life is great and most of my classmates are assholes but you can probably guess by yourself that I’m not one to put up with anyone’s shit.”

“You’re going to school but you can’t go to a hero school,” Eraserhead noted out loud, fully expecting the kid to get either frustrated or angry and take back his questioning rights.

It’s nearly funny how good he was at predicting this chaotic child.

“Anyway!” the kid stated forcefully. “I’ve come to tell you that I’m alright and you don’t have to worry about my… Emotional breakdown. I had another one and cried all over my friend but now I feel much better! To the point of being able to face you again!”

The last part was offered with thumbs-ups.

“Are you really alright?”

“Did I say I was alright? No. I said I was better.” the kid was quick to quip so… Yeah, he’s certainly back to normal. Even if his normal is one of the furthest things from the norm you can find. Even in a superpowered society. 

"Fair enough. Now, I need to know what triggered that reaction."

The kid tensed but it was something that needed to be addressed. It was a liability and liabilities can cost one their life.

“Black creatures…” he murmured so silently that if Aizawa wasn’t an underground hero with great experience in covert missions, he wouldn’t catch it. “I... I should be fine next time. I’ve just been… Taken by surprise.”

And then, before Aizawa could even try to reach out, the boy yelled "I'll get going! See you around!" and sunk under the floor.

For a moment the man just stood there, looking at the spot that the ghost of a child disappeared from. But the living's time is limited and thus, with a sigh, Aizawa contacted the detective who shared his misery of trying to contain the problem child.

“Yes.” he greeted before Tsukauchi could even utter a single sound. “Half past eight is fine.”

And then he hung up, having had spotted a suspicious silhouette with a crowbar.

Chapter Text

It was funny. In a hysterical way.

There was a high chance that she'd be able to overpower the criminal who aimed a blade that protruded from his skin toward her (followed by a demand for her money). She could freeze not only them but also a decent part of the alleyway (taking back streets at ten PM might not sound like a very smart idea but it was a shortcut she had taken many times before albeit usually a bit earlier).

But it isn’t late enough for the nearby streets to not buzz with life. All it would take is one onlooker… One photo to get her a case of illegal quirk usage and usually it wouldn’t be a big deal since she would be doing it in self-defense but she's a daughter of the number two hero and that changes an awful lot. Wrist-blade criminals versus media: it wasn't a hard decision to make.

Still, she doesn't want to get stabbed and she isn't used to this so her voice trembles a little as she answers.

“Okay, okay…”

She reached inside her bag and was just about to hand over her wallet when something lunged from a nearby wall (not the side of it but from inside!) and their fist connected with the offender's cheek.

The criminal landed with a loud thud, groaning. The newcomer kneeled down and karate-chopped them in the neck, rendering them unconscious.

“Do you want to call the police or should I tie him and leave for Eraserhead to find?” the vigilante inquired and Fuyumi blinked.

It took her a few seconds to just... Let the situation truly sink in.

“The second, please,” she answered politely albeit not sure how exactly she was supposed to act. She was pretty sure this was the vigilante she heard her friends talking about a few times; Phantom. He was helping, sure, but illegally. She really rather not be seen with him since it could turn out into an even bigger scandal than her using her quirk to defend herself. Still, he deserved gratitude since he did help. “Thank you.”

She turned around, looking toward the street but… Her father shouldn’t be patrolling around here but she can't be sure where he is and she was supposed to be home three hours ago... On the other hand, she already got jumped while going through her usual shortcut.

“If you need an escort I’m happy to oblige. Of course, I won’t follow you unasked and will leave the moment you start feeling uncomfortable!”

She glanced at the vigilante and weighed her options. The potential rumors if they were glimpsed together didn't sound appealing but safety should come first.

“But what about… Them…?” she inquired already much calmer, more worried about the unconscious criminal that might try to escape rather than the fact of being fully ready to let a vigilante help her get home unnoticed.

He must be pretty good at moving backstreets if he hadn’t been caught yet. And in an unwarranted scenario of someone noticing them… She could always act as if she was with him against her will. If push came to shove, she rather have her father furious at the vigilante rather than her. Going around breaking the law to help others surely means he can hold his own.

“Oh no worries!” the vigilante was quick to reply, taking some of the bandages wrapped around his legs and tying the criminal with them. She watched quietly as he took a pen and yellow sticky note from literal nowhere and wrote something on it before putting it on the offender's forehead. She couldn’t read the hurried scribble due to low lighting but she recognized a smiley face. “He won’t tear those.”

She just nodded, not completely believing that someone with a knife quirk would lose against bandages but…  Whatever he says, he's the vigilante here, not here. And, in a way, she decided to trust him with her life (though she had a feeling that if he wanted to kill her he would have gotten rid of both criminal and her already).

“Where do you need to go?” vigilante asked nonchalantly and she couldn’t help but be reminded of her brothers.

Maybe it was because he seemed younger than her or perhaps due to his pale hair and the easy way he was speaking to her… Either way, she felt at ease with him and she had enough stress in her life not to question it.

Maybe she shouldn’t have given him the name of the street she lives on but he doesn’t know it’s actually where her home is actually located and it's a rather long one so it should be fine.

“Okay, so, it might sound a little creepy but it will be easier if we just get it out of the way… You’re sneaking back home, after visiting your mom right?”

The ease she felt disappeared immediately and she tensed, the air around becoming colder.

“What if that’s the case?” she asked, more like demanded really. She would face death itself with her head held high for her brothers and it was starting to feel like a trap; possibly aimed at her whole family. “Are you targeting Endeavour?”

Should she throw ice at him and make a run for it? He definitely is a bigger threat than the criminal from earlier but she can’t really afford to make rash decisions…

“No, no, no! Please don’t misunderstand! There are things... I know, not from stalking or anything! And I thought it would be less creepy, even if only a little, if I dropped some facts..." he rambled a little, nearly starting mumbling but seemed to catch on and cleared his throat. "The point is, I wanted you to know that I know where you're going instead of just... You know, leading you there."

It was even more suspicious but she found herself relaxing the slightest bit. He looked nervous. Honest. Yes, it could be a scheme but she remembers Natsuo's younger years and the many embarrassments it brought him. She'd like to believe she can read an anxious teenager quite well.

“How do you know that then?”

“Would you believe me if I told you we knew each other in another timeline?”

She thought about it. Another timeline… It could make sense with his so far extremely confusing quirk. Was he going to a different world and that’s how he appeared to be phasing through a wall in this one? Is that where he took the pen and sticky note from?

“You would know few things about me then.”

“Yeah but if I just list it all it would sound even creepier.”

He had a point. What would he know about her if they actually interacted that couldn’t be learned through simply observing her? Or worse, stalking?

“What career am I aiming for?” she inquired finally. Depending on how well she knew someone she gave various answers.

For people she didn't quite trust or like, she tended to act all disappointed, telling them how sad she was that her quirk wasn't strong enough for heroics so she was still considering her options. If Natsuo happened to overhear they had a good laugh about it afterward; her ice was plenty strong, she just wasn't interested in heroics. Those she was on good terms with knew that she actually wanted to help others in a less flashy way. While her actual career choice wasn't a secret, usually only those who were close enough to her were interested enough to ask about details. 

“Elementary teacher!” the vigilante answered cheerfully and she blinked. If it was anyone else she might have still felt doubtful but he had such a happy, proud look on his face… She could easily imagine a different version of herself befriending this crazy but well-meaning boy.

So she smiled.

“Are we good friends in the timeline you mentioned?" she asked instead of questioning the details of his power. She wasn't all that interested in quirks.

"Yeah... You, I mean that you, once lectured version of me for over an hour after he pulled a tad bit too reckless stunt."

She raised an eyebrow, the material instincts she developed early on thanks to her brothers, raising to life.

“More reckless than being a vigilante?”

“Yep! At the very least dozen times! But it worked so I don’t know what you… That version of you was so angry about.” the kid said, leading them toward the backstreet on their right.

She followed him with confident although quiet steps (they were second nature to her).

“Just because something worked out doesn’t mean it wasn’t stupid.”

“But most of my plans are stupid. And they work out splendidly.” he argued back, before falling silent and putting his finger to his mouth in a ‘shush’ motion. She didn’t open her mouth to answer and waited as he looked behind a corner and then motioned for her to follow.

Then he made a hand gesture for her to stop and she did so. She felt a surge of panic when he disappeared and she heard a twang in an alleyway they came from but he returned soon and once again motioned for her to follow.

They walked in silence for the most part of the way to her home.

“Sorry, Eraserhead nearly ran into us,” he explained, as they neared her house, quickly walking through an empty street before facing her backyard.

“But he didn’t… Right?” she asked, a bit worried.

“Nope. He would at least say hi to me if he did. Though even if he somehow did catch a glimpse of us don’t worry, it would be more likely for him to become a lime-light hero than talk to people about this.”

She smiled dryly at that.

“I guess he isn’t a person of reflectors?” she inquired, jumping over the fence with practiced ease. The boy just walked straight through it, probably to continue their conversation.

“God forbid. If paparazzi were holy water he sure as hell would be a demon.”

She snickered at that. It was stupid enough to be endearing.

“Fuyumi!” a worried voice called out and soon enough Natsuo was holding her in embrace tight enough to force all the air out of her. “Oh, hey Phantom.”

She was quick to free herself and give him a disapproving look.

“Shouldn’t you be more worried about a vigilante in our backyard?”

“Nah. Last time he visited I gave him cake.”

She made such an incredulous face that both boys regretted not taking a photo to preserve it.

“He was the stray you were talking about?!” she half-yelled no less indignantly than the aforementioned boy followed her reply with “He called me a stray?!”. 

“Yeah. He’s weird but pretty cool,” Natsuo answered, giving a thumbs up. “But I guess he already managed to convince you that he’s a good kid?”

“What’s going on?” a tired voice asked and everyone turned toward Shoto, in his pajamas, tiredly rubbing his eyes. He looked vaguely startled when he noticed a newcomer but at the same time ice crackled under his foot he noticed his siblings relaxed postures. “Who’s that?”

“Our friendly neighborhood cryptid, of course!” Natsuo offered, throwing his arm around the vigilante’s shoulder.

“Hi.” the aforementioned creature of unknown origin answered, waving.

“You shouldn’t bring any more attention to him, it’s enough he’s in our backyard… For the second time.” Fuyumi said, massaging her forehead.

“I know you won’t tell Endeavour and you know I won’t. Shoto?”

His younger brother looked at him as if he wasn’t even half-witted but had less than a quarter of a functioning brain cell.

“Fuck our old man.”

Fuyumi gasped.

“Shoto! Don’t swear!”

“Sorry.” the boy said flatly, expression unchanging. “So… Are you doing something important or can I go back to sleep?”

“Actually, I’ve been thinking…” Natsuo began and Fuyumi groaned. “Oh come on! At least let me finish!”

“You’re going to say something extremely stupid.” was her (justified by the experience) reply. 

“I have a feeling it’s going to work out splendidly.” the vigilante was quick to retort which prompted her to roll her eyes.

“So… Endeavour is having late-night patrols until the end of the week… Oh, great deity of chaos, would you be able to get me the latest All Might movie? I can’t find it online and an angry bonfire would kill me if I bought one.”

“Yeah, I even have the version with behind-scenes.”

Shoto, instead of returning home, stepped closer to the stranger and his siblings. He was quite curious by now.

“What? Really? Awesome! Have you already watched it? Because we could do a movie night!” Natsuo asked excitedly.

“Two times actually but I’m up to make it into three… And I can literally sink through the floor so I can make a quick exit if needed.”

“I will buy popcorn.” Fuyumi offered with a deep, tired sigh.

“Can we do it before ten pm? I need sleep.” Shoto asked and the vigilante blinked (Izuku is surrounded by so many lack-deprived people that he sometimes forgets that it isn’t normal to sleep three to five hours a day).

“Sure. I can be here by eight but it will be pretty early so I will need to appear already inside to not get noticed.”

“You can materialize in my room.” Natsuo offered readily.

“Good! Then we’re set. If your asshole of a father doesn’t leave for whatever reason just leave a plate on windowsill. I have good eyesight.”

“Alright.” Natsuo agreed immediately, not one to question the chaos incarnate.

“See you tomorrow.” Shoto offered and then turned around, going right back to sleep.

“Have a safe night,” Fuyumi added but waited for… Their somewhat of a guest to leave.

“See you, my dude!” Natsuo said with a huge smile which Phantom returned with the addition of an energetic hand wave.

And then he turned around and disappeared into the ground (he shot out of a nearby rooftop and then quickly made his way to his usual patrol route).

The next day was, unsurprisingly, a lot of fun.

 ~⁀‖⁀~§~♪~§~‿‖‿~

His thirteenth birthday was a wild ride. No, Mei didn’t explode his cake and Inasa didn’t fall down the stairs (both nearly happened keyword being 'nearly'). Big part of the day's greatness was Shinso’s fault: the boy showed just how seriously he took his promise of gift war.

There were some sweets, a nice set of All Might-themed pens, and a notebook to go with them. And then, at the very bottom, a mug stood proudly. It was perfectly white except for…

“No fucking way,” he whispered which made Mei and Inasa perk up while Shinso just grinned. “No. You didn’t.”

“I did. And those two helped.”

Proudly standing there were dark words on a white surface.

‘Happy anniversary of birth, Midoriya!

~Nezu

“How…?” he whispered.

“We tried to get All Might’s autograph but passionate as we were, we just couldn’t!” Inasa was the first to give a reply. “And you dislike Endeavour…”

“We were planning to go after Hawks but then I thought; what less popular hero are you fan of?” Shinso continued, a lazy grin spreading over his face. “Mei helped me choose.”

“And it was pretty easy from there! We just wrote a mail to the principal’s official email and he actually wrote back! I’m not sure if he was impressed with being one of your favorite heroes or just amused.” the girl continued. “Also, for the record, we asked for an autograph. We didn’t expect a mug.”

Midoriya was quick to burst into tears.

“You’re amazing guys!” he stated the obvious but glared at them right after (it wasn’t very effective while he was crying his eyes out). “How am I supposed to beat that!”

“I’m just returning the favor. I still didn’t master everything you put in that Eraserbook, you know?”

Mei howled with laughter since she didn't tend to laugh like a normal person. It's either that or maniacal cackling.

“He went from Eraserhead to Eraserbook!”

“Now we need Erasereraser,” Inasa noted and for a second Shinso and Midoriya managed to stay perfectly calm. 

“I’m going to make him sign my Erasereraser,” Izuku stated, his eyes shining with steely resolve.

And with that, Hitoshi couldn’t hold his laughter in anymore.

That’s the story of how Inko – who just wanted to bring kids some snacks – witnessed four teenagers rolling on the floor laughing. Luckily for the world, she was ready for a day full of good memories and she managed to reach for her phone and make quite a few wonderful photos before they calmed down.

As for the mug… It instantly became Midoriya’s favorite.

Chapter Text

He was doing rather well if he says so himself.

He took Mei’s advice to heart and nowadays he wasn’t thinking about memories of the future in his daily life and agonized over them only when donning the face of his vigilante self. Also! He was growing! Which meant that Phantom was becoming taller too! Which might not be that good of a thing now that he thinks about it since it will be pretty obvious he’s really young…

Anyway! His two lives were… Eventful. But nice.

Sure, his classmates still treated him like air on good days and talked behind his back like no tomorrow on a regular basis but Inasa made a habit of randomly visiting his school. Which was nice but he really rather have his friend telling him whenever he was about to do so because he didn’t want to make Nasa wait for him!

Apart from that, he kept on tinkering, bringing Eraserhead coffee and hanging out with his friends. And he made quite a wonderful garden in his little space at Dagobah Beach! Hopefully, no one ever finds it, because it would probably feel unreal to the point of dissociating.

Phantom, on the other hand, was as chaotic as ever. Running around the city, helping people, diving off of rooftops whenever Aizawa got fed up with him… Oh, and there was also him visiting Todorokis. He didn’t hang out every day with them, of course, but he would usually drop once a week for tea or a movie.

(He also started antagonizing Endeavour but only a tiny bit! After all the man never saw who was throwing those cans of paint and glitter bombs at him. He has no proof it was Phantom)

But. Playing around wasn’t why he became a vigilante. He needed to make some reputation for himself for this exact day.

He isn’t sure why he chose this date to be perfectly honest. He just woke up one day, thinking about Eri and how he has no idea how is she doing. And this is why he decided to not wait any longer and go for yakuza. While they definitely didn’t have quirk-erasing bullets yet, he was worried about trigger gaining traction: another reason to deal with them as soon as possible.

Contrary to what one might expect, he didn’t dive head-first into danger unprepared. He had been thinking about how to save Eri even before becoming a vigilante. He just took one of his plans, made some last-minute corrections, and jumped into action with a prewritten message to Tsukauchi being his only companion.

Calculating the exact spot he would permeate through to show in Overhaul’s office wasn’t easy but with High Spec it was more than possible. And, somewhat unsurprisingly, it seemed that Chisaki held true to his route even before the apocalypse.

So. That’s how Phantom followed in the footsteps of his future self, stabbing an extremely powerful villain with an electric fork and stealing his quirk (he didn’t feel like it was safe to leave the man with such power). But it turned out he couldn’t assimilate it into his body since he had the exact same power but he could… How to put it? Store it? Yeah, that sums it up well enough.

So right now he had Revamp he could use, exactly where it should be in his brain… And another one, hidden right next to One For All that he still didn’t feel confident enough to use.

Then he went to Overhaul’s computer, put all the data he wanted to check later on a pendrive, and promptly left a few-page long essay about quirk erasing bullets on it. Then he created an empty shell (Creation always to the rescue~!) and put it next to unconscious Chisaki. He also used Revamp to make the fork injury on the man into one more akin to a dart. Of course, he made sure to leave no fingerprints on anything.

He considered once more putting blame on All For One but that’s something he would like to bring up personally with All Might. If the mastermind has a spy in the police (and what is the chance of him not having one?) Izuku, or rather Phantom, would be done for. The scrounge of Japan wouldn’t rest until he hunted the one who gave away his alive status.

He sent his prewritten mail to Tsukauchi just as he was about to leave Overhaul’s office. He wondered how long it would take the detective to mobilize heroes while putting his hand on a doorknob.

But he stopped himself from opening it and turned around. He phrased through some doors and soon enough, he was standing in a small room where the previous boss lay, in a quirk-induced coma. Maybe he was too naïve or perhaps he was hoping that the man would be reasonable (after all he disagreed with Chisaki’s way of doing things… It must count for something, right?).

Heroes will gather in half an hour at best and when they do… It will probably be too late to help him. Of course, there is a possibility they would find a way to wake him but… Who or what could undo Overhaul? Maybe Rewind but how long the man had been asleep for? What if Eri brought him too far back by the time she learned to control it?

So he put his hand on the man’s arm, using Revamp to wake him up, and took a quick step back when his eyes fluttered open. Midoriya expected to get immediately attacked (it probably isn’t good that it’s his first expectation) but instead of jumping wide awake, the previous boss of yakuza slowly sat up, looking around.

“Talk about biting hand that feeds you…” he murmured to himself, making Izuku realize that the man knew what had happened to him. But soon enough his sharp eyes turned toward the vigilante. “How long have I been asleep for?”

“What year do you remember?”

After hearing the answer Midoriya blinked.

“A little over two years then.”

The man sighed, dragging his hand over his hair.

“I’m too old for this,” he muttered, moving to the side of the bed and slowly getting up. “Well, at least I had some well-deserved rest.”

Although Izuku liked dark humor, it was a bit much even for him so he stayed quiet.

“Heroes will be here in twenty minutes or so. You’re up so I’ll take my leave.” Phantom offered, moving toward the closest wall.

“Don’t you have a minute to spare for this poor old man?” the previous yakuza boss inquired, his tone not making him sound all that miserable but Midoriya stopped and looked at him. “You helped me. I don’t like having debts. What do you want from me?”

“To be completely honest, I just came here to save Eri.”

His interlocutor’s brows furrowed.

“What did Chisaki do to her? Did he really put his mad plan into motion?”

“He experimented on her, trying to make quirk erasing bullets.”

There was a moment of silence after which the corner of the man's mouth turned slightly upward. It was a sad expression, one that might even convey some desperation; but it was hard to tell on the face hardened through years of criminal hardships.

“I once believed yakuza had some dignity. That people would follow only a boss with code and morals. And here I am… Barely out of coma brought on me by someone I took in… And no one dared to question him as he took over, did they?”

Well, it was a logical conclusion with all the data the man possessed, Izuku guesses.

“Well… I did quite a bit of questioning through actions just now.” Midoriya joked, trying to get back into his Phantom persona but he wasn't sure how to interact with who he expected to be no less mad than Overhaul but turned out to be… A decent person so far.

The man reacted with a dry chuckle.

“You have come to save Eri… Then I can trust you will not let her get hurt anymore, correct?”

“I mean, it isn’t really a challenge to treat her better than Chisaki.”

“Good. I suppose I’ve been living daydreaming far too long, it’s high time to let old ways… To let yakuza… Sink.” The man said, sitting up and leaning against the bed's headboard. He smiled a thin but strangely cruel smile. “If they did not want to do things my way… Then, by all means, let us see how theirs ends.”

“So… You’ll just wait for heroes?” Izuku asked, somewhere between confused and shocked. From all the things he expected from the man, it definitely wasn’t it.

“I’ve been in a coma for two years. I believe they will have some mercy on this frail old man.” the previous leader was quick to answer with a small grin. “Feel free to visit me after this whole fiasco is done with. I might not look like much, but I do possess quite a life experience and not only did I not pay my debt but even asked for yet another favor.”

“I wouldn’t count looking after Eri a favor since it was already in my plans.”

The man waved him away.

“Just go. You, youngsters, don’t get how it was done in my times.”

Izuku shrugged and left without another word.

He aimed for the surveillance room and thankfully, he didn’t miscalculate. The two rooms he just visited didn’t have any cameras (since they were private for Chisaki) in them but if he went straight to Eri he would warn everyone inside of his presence.

So instead of getting the entirety of yakuza after himself before heroes could arrive, he phased through the wall of the room and stabbed both sentries with forks that were barely quick enough to appear in his hands in time (from his hair thanks to Revamp, not Creation; the second one he wasn’t good enough to risk it). Then, he took a look at the screens and let a small smile grace his lips as he moved toward the girl he wanted to save. She was alone right now.

She didn’t scream, even yelp at his arrival. She barely flinched.

“Who…?” she whispered, her eyes wide.

He put the most cheerful smile he could on his face and waved energetically.

“Hi! I’m your friendly neighborhood cryptid! I’ve come to save you!”

He expected her to freeze, too shocked to react. Instead, she rubbed her eyes and blinked a few times before wobbly getting up and walking up to him. She reached out as if to touch him but then immediately took her hand back.

“Are you… Real…?” she asked and after calculating all variables… He quickly bent down and took her into his arms, straightening up with a solid but not too tight embrace around her frail body.

“As real as they get!” he chirped happily.

To his surprise, after a second of shock, she meekly tried to push herself away from him.

“No! I’m cursed! I will make you disappear too!” she wailed.

“No, you won’t,” he answered readily, his tone so firm she stopped struggling and looked up, straight into his eyes. “I promise.”

“But…” she sniffled but let herself relax into his embrace. “What if…”

“You know, some people think I’m a deity of chaos. Do you think I would be bested by a little girl?”

She mulled over his words for a moment.

“But are you really?” she inquired, curiously.

 “Well, if I was I certainly wouldn’t tell anyone about it,” he said, winking at her.

Her face brightened and the corners of her mouth twitched upwards (although it didn’t last long), as if she just had been told an amazing secret.

He was completely taken aback by her reaction but didn’t let it show on his face. He found her earlier in this timeline after all (and that realization hit him so suddenly he couldn’t help but smile. He finally did something right. Better than his future self. Finally, he felt like he deserved all the power he was given).

“Now… Guess which cryptid is going to leave this place untouched,” he said and she blinked, some uncertainty flashing through her face but melting quickly.

“You?”

“Nice! You guessed it in one go!” he readily praised, moving toward the doors. He knew the exact layout of the headquarters of the yakuza (at least if his previous actions didn’t somehow butterfly effected it) and by extent, the best path to take to get noticed the least.

“Hey! Who are you?!” someone called, making Eri tense, and Midoriya just turned toward the man with a smile.

“You didn’t hear about the pizza delivery?”

“The fuck you...?”

Phantom sighed, disappointed he didn’t manage to take control of the man before he had sworn. Kids shouldn’t learn such words! How old is Eri now? Four? Probably five…

“Go tell everyone on the way to exit C4 ‘Overhaul authorized new personnel to take Eri outside’,” he ordered and the man turned around and left.

Ah, Brainwash is such a wonderful quirk. Its rescue potential is immeasurable!

Surprisingly, there were no more problems on the way out. Sure, an especially suspicious person or two had to be brainwashed but soon enough, he was outside. Jumping over the backyard's fence and...

“Problem child.”

He isn’t sure who got more startled; him or Eri.

“Hi Eraser!” he greeted in a pitch he didn’t know himself capable of after modulating his voice to Phantom’s range.

“Explain. Now.”

He opened his mouth to say something but was beaten to it.

“I’m sorry! Don’t be angry! He came to save me!” the girl exclaimed, tears already escaping her eyes and her embrace around Phantom’s neck tightening. “It’s my fault! I’m sorry!”

Well, it might have been a tad bit (extremely) amusing to see Aizawa pause minutely, his mind on overmind on how to interact with such a young child. But a cherry on top was yet to come.

“I’m… Not angry. I was… Worried.”

Vigilante openly gaped at the man’s admittance, which irked Eraserhead to no end but he didn’t want to traumatize a toddler that had most likely just been rescued from yakuza.

“I’m disappointed he went in alone instead of getting help.” the man continued.

“But I called backup! That’s why you’re here, isn’t it? And while we’re at it… I should probably be going before the rest comes.”

It was getting bad. Phantom was planning on leaving Eri under Aizawa’s care sooner or later since the man not only had a quirk that could keep hers under control and was (contrary to how he might look) a responsible adult but also had a hero license. Which meant he could be an emergency foster parent (something the hero himself admitted to never planning on doing. Ever. But he would get roped into it easily if future Eraserhead’s bond with Eri was anything to go by) but! That’s not time for it.

Getting rescued by someone just to be suddenly taken away from said person? It probably wouldn’t bode well. He needed a few days to talk to her, figure things out with Aizawa, and then leave them together. He probably should have gone with a plan that involved that part before raiding but the hero definitely wouldn't just watch him do that. You know what they say: easier to ask for forgiveness than for permission.

Now... Escaping with her from Aizawa would be pretty much impossible without fusing and he isn’t doing that to her. She's traumatized enough as it is.

“Problem child. You went out of your way and attacked yakuza. I’m not letting you off the hook so easily.”

Phantom felt a spike of panic but he took a deep breath. In and out. It might not be the same Aizawa he knows from the future but fundamentally… He has the same set of morals and operates in quite a familiar (if a little less experienced compared to future) way. He isn’t a stickler for rules, he knows when bending them is more beneficial.

Phantom can do it.

“I know, I know and I swear I’m not going to ghost you like back… You know when. But I need to make sure Eri is alright and I promise you that I’ll reach out to you as soon as I can. I can even visit your home later tonight if you want me to!”

“Was it supposed to be reassuring?” Aizawa asked, only a little bit incredulous.

“Eraser, please, you know it won’t end well if other heroes see me…” he said, his tone bordering on begging.

The man sighed and narrowed his eyes, irritated.

“You should have known that when deciding to become a vigilante and going after yakuza.” he stated, actually glaring now. “What are you waiting for? Go, problem child. And don’t break into my house before six pm.”

“Thank you!”

Phantom gave Aizawa such a bright smile that the hero felt slightly blinded, after which the kid promptly ran toward a backstreet.

Eraserhead sighed, feeling even more exhausted than when Tsukauchi called him in the middle of his patrol to tell him that not only did they get info on yakuza but also that his favorite vigilante was asking for backup.

To hell with it all... Yes, previous interactions left him expecting the kid to try fighting yakuza at some point but not so soon. Even worse; with no signs of what he was planning at all. They just stumbled upon each other the day before.

And honestly? By this point, Aizawa was more worried about making sure both kids were fine rather than the fact that a vigilante supposedly knew his home address (that’s why Eraserhead indirectly gave him a go at visiting him; he wanted to make sure if it was actually the case).

Ugh... Why does he always end up dealing with such messes?

~⁀‖⁀~§~♪~§~‿‖‿~

Aizawa made two cups of coffee fully expecting the vigilante to either not show up or say that they prefer tea. Then he could drink both.

“I’m not too early?” the biggest migraine of his life inquired, for whatever reason, phasing inside his apartment through the fridge. “Oh, you actually have food? Color me surprised.”

Eraserhead didn’t honor him with an answer, instead pointing at the table. Phantom seemed more than happy to take a seat and sip contents from one of the cups. And here goes his hope of having both for himself. Oh well.

“Explain yourself,” Aizawa demanded, taking a seat opposite the problem child.

“I mean, I already told you I was aiming for yakuza. Is it so surprising that I got a kid while I was at it?”

“I’ll let you know that you’ve run my patience thin and I have Tsukauchi on speed dial. Choose your next words carefully.”

The vigilante seemed to sweat under his glare. Good.

“Okay, so… I went for them, yakuza I mean, because of Eri. The little girl you saw. They… Well, she has a really strong quirk they wanted to use. So I went and rescued her.” the vigilante explained, obviously not as ready for the discussion as one might have expected him to be.

“You should have left us information about yakuza and stayed out of it,” Aizawa pointed out, crossing his arms in a way not much different from a disappointed parent. Or so his previous students whispered among themselves when they thought he wasn't in hearing range.

Phantom smiled dryly.

“But it would be illogical,” he said, taking the mug into his hands, holding onto it but not drinking. “You caught and identified them already, didn’t you? You know as well as I do that if I didn’t go for them, more people would get hurt in the rescue effort.”

“We are professionals. We can take care of ourselves and even if we get hurt… We chose this career path knowing we might die.” Aizawa shot right back. “And you... You're a kid. What makes you think it would be fine for you to go and get yourself killed?”

Despite himself, he found his voice raising in volume. Yes, he was used to keeping a cool head, and even in class, he rather glare until the students go quiet. But this is going too far. Strong quirk doesn't make one indestructible; his own power great statement to this. What if someone in yakuza had an ability similar to Erasure?

"No point in getting mad over it, I just did the logical thing! Even if I did get hurt then what? I’m just a vigilante! Better me than you since you’re professionals able to save more people!”

(Well, Phantom... No, Midoriya didn’t intend to get so heated either. But here he was, getting angry although he wasn’t completely sure why.) ("Try as you might, you’re still an impostor, future you earned Aizawa’s trust, you on the other hand… You just kept using what the future gave you to trick him into somehow growing to care for you" his spiteful thoughts whispered somewhere at the back of his mind).

“But you’re one of the people I’m trying to save.” Aizawa hissed.

He would feel disappointed in himself for an outburst that was so unlike him but perhaps it was the thing that the vigilante needed to hear. As if the words had physical weight, he seemed to tense, his eyes widening slightly.

“Oh.” The boy whispered as if the idea just crossed his mind. But the kid was quick to shake his head and argue back. “You don’t even know who exactly I am in this… This disguise!”

“What hero would I be if I needed to know you to save you?” the reply was near instinctive and the vigilante seemed even more confused. As if the thought of anyone wanting to keep him safe was outrageous. Which was worrying in itself.

Because it meant that no one ever cared enough to stand on his side or the kid was the suicidal kind of hero who would rather lose their own life than let someone get hurt. The first option he could work with, even if it meant being the first ever person in his corner (emotions aren’t Aizawa’s strong suit but if need must be he can... He will try). The other was far more complicated. It would be a long, arduous process that he would need far more cooperation from the kid to work.

The vigilante cleared his throat.

“So…” he started, suddenly strangely subdued. “I want to leave Eri in your care. You can work something out with UA since Nezu definitely wouldn’t let someone who had been experimented on and has an extremely powerful quirk to fend for themselves.”

Huh. Phantom was speaking as if he knew the rat himself.

Aizawa sighed, gathering his cool back. Arguing isn’t going to solve anything even if the kid is extremely infuriating.

“What do you have in mind, exactly?”

Vigilante perked up at the question.

“Well, on my end, I’m going to talk Eri into staying with you… By the way, I’ve spent an hour explaining that you aren’t scary, just grumpy. You really could have waited with lecturing until she was gone.”

Aizawa crossed his arms and didn't need to utter a word: the message was clear enough for the boy to continue explaining himself. 

“For the last time, I had everything under control! Did I get hurt? No. Did I save Eri? Yes.”

“So you’re saying it wasn’t a big deal?” Eraserhead inquired, making sure to keep his voice perfectly even. This kid truly made him angry like none other. 

“I mean, they were torturing a kid so it was…” the vigilante began but Aizawa leaned forward and Phantom was quick to shut up.

“Do you know what we found on Overhaul’s computer?” he asked, forced calmness making him far scarier than yelling ever could hope to be (with, maybe, the exception of Present Mic without his regulator. He was a beast… More like a banshee, actually).

Phantom gulped.

“Trigger…?”

“So you looked through it,” Aizawa voiced, leaning back but his face didn’t relax at all. He still was staring, his features forced into a carefully blank expression. “And you know about quirk-erasing serum, don’t you?”

(Well, yeah, he actually was the one to write the file about it so of course he knows. And his future self worked on it so… But, of course, that isn’t something he can say. As bad as he might feel about lying to Eraser… Though is it really a lie if he just omits some… Most facts?)

“Yeah…”

“It would be expected with how we found Overhaul unable to use his quirk and an empty capsule not far from him. Now, let me ask you… What would you do if you lost your quirk?”

(And for some reason, that’s when some of his carefully built walls started to chip away. Izuku couldn’t help a burst of hysterical laughter that, thankfully, didn’t sound like sobs. Nonetheless, it was unnerving.)

"Did you really not get hurt?" Aizawa asked, brows furrowing in would scare lesser men into confessing all their sins but people close to him knew to interpret as worry.

"I didn't." (Mido- Phantom was quick to assure, trying to force his voice from shaking and mostly succeeding. The earlier question was going round and round in his mind). "I would be fine quirkless. It'd be hard but I'd be fine."

Aizawa raised an eyebrow. He didn’t like the way this conversation was going. At all.

“I’m afraid you're underestimating the pressure society puts on quirks.”

“Oh trust me Eraser… I know about it very well.”

They both went quiet after that.

“Are you okay, problem child? And don’t you ‘I’m fine’ me.”

Phantom didn't speak for seconds long enough to morph into a full minute and then some.

“All things considered, I’m feeling pretty good. I’m happy I saved Eri and now I just need to make sure she’s fine in the future but I know you will take good care of her…”

“I didn’t agree to anything.”

“…So yeah, my mind is mostly at ease. Though I feel like it went too smoothly, you know? I can’t help but think I did something wrong or I forgot something important and it’s going to blow in my face spectacularly. So I guess I’m very fine. For now.”

Aizawa sighed and then downed the rest of his coffee (more than three-fourths of it).

“Can you just let someone help you? It doesn’t have to be me, I just want you to stop recklessly putting yourself in danger.” the man asked, praying to the gods he didn't believe in for a pleasant surprise.

“I’m letting you help with Eri.” the kid pointed out and you know what?

Eraserhead is going to take it. It’s more than nothing so yeah, there’s that. He can work with that. Small steps and all.

(Contrary to what his students and colleagues might believe, Aizawa Shouta is actually a man of angelic patience. Or maybe is it a hellish persistence? Either way, he can and will wait for a perfect moment to strike. Be it literally or metaphorically)

“Fine. But if you do something as reckless as raiding yakuza ever again, I will put sleeping pills in your coffee and leave you right at the police’s doorstep.”

“And what if I drink yours instead?”

“Then I will put them in both and have Present Mic deliver you to Tsukauchi.”

“It would mean you getting some sleep for once so… Huh, it sounds somewhat tempting.”

Aizawa took a long-suffering sigh of complete and utter exhaustion. Really, what else was he expecting from someone with ‘Your Friendly Neighborhood Cryptid’ written on the front of his vigilante costume (which consisted of, one should add, an extremely plain t-shirt and shorts. Even he has the right to complain about that choice of costume).

“When and how are you bringing the girl here?”

“Through front doors, of course, and… Well, talk things out on your end and I will on mine. Then we’ll see.”

Aizawa nodded, finding the arrangement sensible (or as much as it could be with this specific vigilante). Now he just needs to talk to Nezu… Ugh. It’s going to be painful. And Tsukauchi could use an update about their favorite migraine.

“So… Do you want to watch a movie together while I’m here or something?” Phantom asked, back to his cheerfully infuriating persona.

“Get out before I spike your coffee.”

The vigilante didn’t have to be told twice, disappearing into a floor with a salute.

Chapter Text

Shinso was honest-to-god terrified. He was already done with Mei’s and Inasa’s gifts (invisibility cloak and twelve different brands of coffee plus some sweets) and was about to open what Midoriya had brought him.

The smile on the boy’s face didn’t make him any less afraid.

“It can’t be that life-changing, can it?” Shinso inquired unsurely and his friend just shrugged.

The top part of the contents was normal enough. Dark chocolate, coffee-themed jellies (wow, Hitoshi didn’t even know they were produced with this flavor), and…

He couldn’t help a snicker.

“You really did it, you madman.” he murmured, looking at a dark eraser with stark white ‘Eraserhead’ scribbled on it in somewhat familiar handwriting.

“Oh, but it isn’t the end. I mean, it’s a bit of your next birthday gift too but it would be too late to give you by then.” Midoriya remarked just as Shinso’s eyes noticed a white envelope at the very bottom of the box.

“You didn’t hack universe or something, did you?” the boy questioned, lifting the item.

“Wait! Open it before the UA entrance exam!”

Well… If it wasn’t weird.

“Okay, did you like… Get some highly sensitive data for me? Should I be worried?”

“Me? Never. It’s just a nice little advice you might want to heed to.” Izuku answered with a pleasant smile.

“Now I’m even more curious.”

“If you open it before the week of the exams I’m not going to answer any of your questions,” Midoriya said quickly, just as Hitoshi was about to rip the envelope open.

Shinso was this close to pouting.

“And you expect me to survive my curiosity for literal months?” 

“A challenge worthy of the best of heroes!” Inasa offered, although he had no more idea what was going on than Shinso did.

Mei just smiled, creeping the birthday boy out.

“Okay, okay, I’ll wait. But it better be worth it.”

“Oh, it will,” Izuku replied in what could only be taken as ominous.

Welp. Whatever Midoriya wrote in that envelope can’t be too shocking, can it?

(Meanwhile a mostly empty piece of paper with a small ‘there’s a hidden rescue point system, put it to good use ;)’ scribbled on the very top awaited its moment to shine)

Yeah. Definitely nothing too bad. Izuku is crazy but he’s a good kid.

~⁀‖⁀~§~♪~§~‿‖‿~

“Are you sure…?” the girl asked for… Was it the ninth or tenth time?

“Yes, absolutely. He looks scary but he's a big softie, I promise,” he assured once again.

“But what if he doesn’t like me? If he hates me and tells me to leave…” she kept on stressing, hiding her face in the crook of his neck.

Instead of his usual vigilante gear (as lacking as it might be) he was clad in jeans, a shirt with rolled-up sleeves, a cap, and his usual red shoes. With the difference of them being deep blue right now. He doesn’t want to get recognized because of them and… He's admittedly lacking in variety when it comes to shoes (and he can't exactly use his school pair, can he?). These are the most comfortable and fully enough, alright?! Also, very stylish! Even Nezu wears ones of a similar kind! Hm… He should have made them yellow just to mess with Aizawa.

“Only half-wits would dislike you and he isn’t the kind of person that would tell you to leave just because you don’t get along. He’s a good person.”

She was quiet for a moment.

“But don’t kind people have their limits too…?”

“Well, you would have to go beyond my level of chaos to reach his.”

Surprisingly, it turned out to be the argument that made her go silent, which meant her worried mind had been somewhat placated.

After a bit of weaving through crowds and some dark alleyway shortcuts, he was calling Aizawa to please let him in (through the block phone, although he had a burner one just in case). He didn’t have to wait long and…

He did half-expect Nezu to show up but actually seeing him, half-hidden in Aizawa’s scarf? He froze for a second.

“What are you waiting for, problem child? Get inside.” Eraserhead said, hiding his smirk behind his capture weapon and letting both kids in, closing the door behind them (and locking them, since he rather not have a sudden raid, be it from Present Mic, Midnight, or even random villains. You can't never be too careful).

“I must admit myself quite excited to finally meet you, Phantom.” Nezu chattered, jumping down from Aizawa’s shoulder with practiced ease and readily taking a seat on the sofa. Four steaming cups stood on the table, two with tea and two with coffee.

“Who is this…?” Eri whispered.

“Ah, my apologies for the late introduction, young lady! My name is Nezu, I am the principal of UA!”

Aizawa was about to assure the girl that it was alright if she didn’t know him but…

“Oh. The smart not-bear not-mice not-dog?” she inquired and everyone blinked in surprise. “I tried to remember very hard because Sir Chaos said you’re nice and smart!”

Aizawa hid his surprised snicker behind his scarf. Sir Chaos?

“Just call me Phantom, Eri!” the vigilante was quick to speak.

“But isn’t it like a secret name?” she asked, sounding a bit confused.o

“I mean, most heroes don’t know much about me but that’s how the ones that heard about me refer to me. It isn’t really a secret.”

“But they have no idea who Sir Chaos is so I can help you stay mysterious and secretive!” she exclaimed.

Aizawa didn’t doubt that Phantom had no bad intentions but he was still worried; leaving a traumatized child in the hands of only a tad bit saner kid didn’t sound too reassuring. Thankfully, it seemed to haven't turned out too badly. One look at Nezu told him that for once they were on the same page.

“Anyway!” Nezu said, clapping his hands and then motioning them to the sofa.

Eraserhead took place on his armchair, leaving the vigilante to sit next to the principal. Unsurprisingly, Phantom didn’t seem too bothered by that. Insane minds like to flock together, he supposes.

“I have already been informed about the situation at hand and, of course, I fully support the idea of helping Eri outgrow her past. And do not worry about my presence here! I realize bringing more heroes could be seen as a breach of trust but I assure you, I am here merely out of curiosity.”

“Yeah, I know.” the vigilante commented with a tired sigh. He didn’t seem surprised or even worried, mostly exhausted. “You want to ensure I don't pull anything on Eri or even Eraser, to gauge me. My reactions, thought process, maybe even to find my civilian self…”

Well, it wasn’t too hard to figure out but still… Pointing it all out within a few moments and with such calmness could mean a deeper understanding of Nezu. Did the kid look into the principal? Did he expect to see the principal here?

“Don’t go after Sir Chaos! He’s a nice deity! He saved me!” Eri shouted, understanding bits and pieces of what he had just said, thus embracing him even tighter.

“Ah, don’t worry. They don’t mean any harm,” he assured her, patting her head.

“But they want to find out more about you and you don’t want them to! It’s mean!” she pointed out, reluctantly letting go of him and melting into the sofa.

(The furniture was surprisingly comfortable)

“Because they are worried I will get myself hurt if I continue doing things like I'm doing them right now,” he explained and she tilted her head, her expression somewhere between pout and confused.

“Can you even get hurt?”

He shrugged.

“Well… Even if I ever do, if you train hard enough you’ll be able to immediately make me feel better.”

Taking information from the yakuza into consideration, it wasn't ‘your presence brightens my day’ kind of sentiment but rather ‘your quirk would be able to help me’. An interesting choice of thing to sneak into conversation; it seems, thankfully, that the girl is doing better than expected, otherwise the words would have very likely triggered her.

“But…” she said quietly before suddenly relaxing. “I wouldn’t make you disappear because you’re a deity, right?”

“A deity would never admit to being one,” he said with a wink.

“I will work hard then!” she promised readily, her red eyes shining in determination.

Now that Aizawa's looking at them… Pale hair, crimson eyes… Powerful quirks… Is it possible that they are related? It would explain how the boy knew about her. Huh. It’s worth looking into.

“Wonderful!” Nezu intercepted cheerfully, clasping his paws and turning toward the girl. “I apologize if I seemed… Mean in your eyes. As Phantom has kindly explained, I am simply worried about him since I do not believe in deities or gods!”

The girl nodded with a very serious expression.

“Sometimes it’s hard to tell truths from lies.”

Well. It was worryingly deep for a kid that couldn’t possibly be older than six.

“Back to the subject. For now, you’ll stay with me. I have a lot of work to do so I won’t be able to spend the whole day with you but my colleagues will help keep you company when I'm out.” Aizawa explained.

The girl gave a determined nod.

“I can stay home alone! I won’t misbehave and I won’t break anything!” she assured quickly and well, it's a far better response than he was expecting. After what yakuza put her through, it would make sense for her to be much more subdued and cautious so they're already off to a good start.

“I can’t leave you alone because you’re too young for that. And it’s fine if you accidentally break something. Mistakes happen.”

She blinked, seemingly taken off-guard but right after whipped her head toward the vigilante.

“I told you he’s a big softy inside,” Phantom whispered making Aizawa’s brow twitch. The fact that Nezu was muffling his cackles with his paw didn’t make him any happier.

“Well, I'm certain our friendly neighborhood cryptid will make sure to keep you company.” Eraserhead grits out in a forcedly friendly tone.

Phantom opened his mouth to try refuting but…

“Really? You’ll be visiting a lot?” the girl asked, her wide sparkly eyes looking straight into the kid’s soul.

“I… Sure. I’ll drop by from time to time.” he reluctantly promised, glancing at Aizawa and his slightly unhinged grin.

Phantom had a sudden flashback to their ‘if you do something reckless again I’ll spike your drink’ conversation. He probably shouldn’t drink anything Eraserhead offers him in the future. After all, their concepts of ‘reckless’ are vastly different.

“I admit, my worries had been dispersed thanks to this conversation. Thank you for your time, Phantom!” Nezu added cheerfully after an appropriately uncomfortable moment of silence.

“No problem. I should get going then.” the vigilante noted, getting up but then knelt before Eri instead of immediately disappearing. “Remember, if you need anything or have any questions you can go to Eraserhead. If you do something wrong you just need to apologize and it will be alright. Try to listen to him but don’t worry if you make mistakes, he said himself that they happen. And you can always share absolutely anything with me!”

She was quick to slip off the sofa and hug him, nodding into his shoulder.

“I will,” she promised quietly and he squeezed her reassuringly before putting her back on the sofa and straightening up.

“I’m leaving her in your capable hands Eraserhead. I know you’ll be a great father,” he offered his farewell and moved toward the closest wall while Aizawa groaned.

But half body already in the wall, he stopped and turned, looking straight into Nezu’s eyes.

“Actually, I have a riddle for you.”

“Oh? Do tell, please.”

Phantom grinned.

“I’m the tea that had been drank before being made.”

And then he swiftly left, having a strange feeling that he just put some huge domino into motion. Though he wasn’t entirely sure whether it would eventually kick or save his ass.

Oh well. Only the future can tell.

Chapter Text

He didn’t realize it was this day immediately. After all, instead of sleeping like a normal human being would, he got around two hours of rest before making coffee, giving it to Aizawa, and going to his summer house.

So he didn't get to witness Mt. Lady's debut. He learned about it only after he made it to the class and started scrolling through his phone (High Spec makes it easy to keep up with material even when his attention is mostly somewhere else).

It was probably unhealthy how curious he was whether Kacchan would explode his notebook and suicide bait him or not. He low-key wanted the blond to do so. Because then Izuku could get some payback for the wrongs done to his future self.

Not too soon the last lesson rolled in and sure enough, the teacher off-handedly commented that ‘Midoriya wants to try for UA too’. Unlike in what he remembered from his future self’s timeline, the class didn’t erupt into laughter and Kacchan didn’t start yelling. Of course, the blond glared at him, everyone suddenly had a fit of giggles and there were whispers all around but they didn’t bully him as openly.

Well. He'll take what he can get.

So, the lesson ended and that’s it. The moment of truth. How much had Izuku truly changed?

“Oh, Midoriya…” someone said in a sad tone, walking to him with attempted friendly body language but the sneer was still there, not all that well hidden. Wrinkling your forehead in fake worry won’t mask your contempt, classmate number six. “You didn’t think it through, did you? I’m sad to say… But you should probably live on a little more than just dreams.”

“Yeah! That’s good advice!” someone else added.

Midoriya actually rolled his eyes at them, getting up. They quickly realized they wouldn’t draw a reaction out of him so they left, scoffing. Most of his classmates did by this point.

“Any more of the lovely advice, Kacchan?” Izuku inquired, fully aware that if the boy tried exploding him or his possessions, he risked getting his spotless record stained.

The blond gritted his teeth and walked up to him, his face inches from Midoriya’s.

“Yes. How about praying for a quirk in the next life? Maybe then you’d actually be useful.” he offered before turning. “Though if I was in your place I would have already moved on! Jumped from a rooftop or something.”

Blond was going to walk out, coolly.

“Oof! Wasn’t it a bit much, Bakugo?”

“Yeah, you…!”

“You know what? You’re right! A quirk would be lovely.” Midoriya noted, his belongings already packed, and all three boys froze.

“What…?” one of them breathed out while Izuku gave them a brilliant smile.

“But the rooftop is pretty far and the window is already open so…” he continued, unbothered, going as far as swinging his backpack and throwing it out of the window (he hoped his admittedly blurry memories of today weren't about to disappoint him and no one was down right now because he didn’t want to hit anyone… Though maybe it would be better if he did? At least they would look up and don’t get the yet-to-come projectile barreling into them…).

“You wouldn’t,” the blond growled out, crossing his arm.

He seemed confident.

And that’s why Izuku grinned, a sharp expression he didn’t show in the classroom often… Or ever to be honest.

“Try me, bitch.” slipped out even though he wanted to say something more eloquent. Oh well.

Bakugo would probably literally explode but Midoriya already took a running start and jumped out of the window in one smooth motion. From the other boys’ perspective, it looked like he actually went all the way down in one go.

In reality few inches below the window frame, he caught a protruding part of the building, bounced off the wall’s surface, and moved around to face the lawn rather than the wall. The drop was no more than thirty feet so he could technically make it down without catching himself on the way down but better safe than sorry.

Sure, Phantom doesn’t really need parkour skills since he can easily phase through things and get catapulted from them. But quirkless Midoriya Izuku hoping to be a hero? He needs such skills.

He safety rolled and grabbed his backpack, starting to walk toward the gate as if nothing had happened. Some students that were about to leave froze, looking at him wide-eyed. He didn’t pay them any mind, instead showing his middle finger in the direction of the window he just jumped out of, not really caring whether Kacchan and his goons looked through it or not.

He had a slime villain to catch up to.

On the way to the underpass, he couldn’t help but smile. Oh boy, how freeing it was to cuss Kacchan out and then jump out of a window! And it’s not like the school is going to do anything about it; if they did their golden egg could get in trouble. Evidence of him getting picked up on and escaping through a window is right there. And! If Aldera deletes the footage? Even better for him, it would be so suspicious they would be straight out admitting to not having amended their ways.

He stopped a few feet away from the manhole. How does he want to approach this mess? Seeing how this day progresses mostly as his future self’s did so far… He just needs to buy time. The butterfly effect probably didn't change this event at all.

He ran to the other side of the underpass and turned his back to it, pulling his phone out. He actually was checking on his camera if the sludge was already here but he would look completely helpless and unsuspecting to the villain.

“Middle-sized invisibility suit… Perfect!” the sludge asshole exclaimed happily, seemingly not only having fluid for the body but for the brain too.

Even so, Midoriya didn’t turn around and when the creature lunged…

He jumped to the side and exactly as he expected; the villain flew right by him.

“Pretty good reflexes kid but I don’t have time to play!” the criminal commented, gathering himself back into one piece and getting ready for another lunge.

Midoriya gave him an extremely unamused look.

“Is trying to kidnap, possibly suffocating, a kid a game to you?” he asked and, surprisingly, the villain paused.

“You won’t die!”

“’Wouldn’t’ be the right form to use,” Izuku said, pointing at the manhole with his thumb. All Might didn’t seem to get his cue so the boy decided to talk some more. “You know what's down there?”

There was a second of confused silence.

“Sewage?”

“That too but you don’t have to worry about that one. Take another guess.”

“I told you I don’t have time for…!” the villain exclaimed but just as he was about to attack, the manhole shot up.

“DO NOT FEAR! FOR I AM HERE!”

Midoriya had enough time to blink a few times before the slime villain was put in a soda bottle. Nice, he thought he would see his hero as nothing more than a blur.

“Are you alright, young man?” his hero asked, standing before him in his full glory.

Yeah… In a form that was slowly withering…

Izuku expected himself to stay completely calm but well… He managed to show his thumbs up and not say anything stupid so there’s that right? Ah, come on! He’s supposed to change the future, to warn All Might! He can’t just stay quiet!

“All Might… I…” he started but the man laughed his booming laugh and-

“I do not have much time but I would be more than happy to give you an autograph!”

If Midoriya told you that he disconnected it wouldn’t be too much of a lie because it’s as if his body suddenly went on autopilot. Instead of getting to the serious matters, he shook his backpack off his shoulders and gave his analysis notebook and pen to his hero.

His clarity returned to him just as he was zipping his backpack, with the blond about to leave.

“I’ll get going now, take care, young man!”

“Wait I need to…!”

And that’s how Midoriya went on a merry ride on All Might themed rocket. He once upon a time believed this memory of his future self to be extremely cool, amazing even. He was taking it back right now. Sure, he could use permeation to survive the fall but it didn’t make it any less terrifying to be hundreds of feet in the air, traveling faster than most vehicles underneath them!

“Psycho fans are a bit too much!”

It’s good that the wind made Izuku’s words indiscernible since he was far less eloquent than his future self and his words were as follows:

“Fucking hell!”

When they landed he felt like kissing the ground. But first, his vision needs to stop swimming. Why is everything so blurry?! He should be used to high speeds thanks to Permeation!

“Come on kid, how can you be so reckless… Knock on the doors I’m sure someone will let you in. Now, I really need to go…”

No, no, no! Izuku didn’t fly all the way here on an extreme ride with no safety belts for the hero to just leave him behind without hearing a word of his!

“Wait!” he yelled, the genius he is.

“No! I don’t have time for this!”

For some reason, he felt a sudden rush of frustration. His future self was like a completely different person than him and because of that… Midoriya felt like he needed to get justice for him. And the words that amazing version of him was given on this very rooftop…

It wasn’t right.

“Good. It’s not like I don’t know your answer already.” he sneered and the hero actually stopped. “’Can I become a hero even without a quirk?’ I know what you’ll say. That it’s unrealistic and if I really want to help people I can become a doctor or a police officer or something. What can a quirkless weakling do, am I right? Someone like that could never compare to you.”

The hero turned around and their eyes met. Izuku didn’t break their staring contest even when steam started coming from the hero. All Might curled slightly, his gaze cast downright, and soon enough he wasn’t even half of himself.

“Okay, honestly, how did you keep this secret for so long? You should at least try to act surprised, like you have just teleported here in place of All Might or something.” Midoriya commented, reaching for tissue even before the…

“Why are you so calm…?” the blond asked, ending his statement with what could be called a blood vomit. The man took the offered item with small thanks.

“I have very strict criteria for when I can let myself panic. I try to stick to it.” he answered with a shrug. Yeah, he’s never again losing his composure like back with that villain. Never.

“Alright…” All Might said, taking the information without any unnecessary or necessary questions. “This state you see… It’s an effect of a terrible wound given to me five years ago by a villain. It destroyed half of my respiratory system.”

It was… Completely different to witness, to hear this from the symbol of peace himself rather than just know from somewhat faded future memories. It hit harder. So much in fact, Midoriya had to put a lot of effort into not crying. Damn it! His future self was panicked enough to not be a step away from bawling his eyes out!

“Five years ago… A fight that didn’t make it to the public,” Izuku noted easily, hoping to put forward some pieces that would make the hero take the fact that Midoriya knows the future easier.

“Yes, you’re very bright, my boy…” fucking hell… All Might, it wasn’t a theory! It was stated as a fact! And why does this compliment feel so nice?! Aaaaaa! “Anyway, I still save people with a smile on my face… After all, it shows society the power of heroes and helps me fool the fear that even I can’t escape. Professionals are ready to die and even those with power as amazing as myself aren’t indestructible. That’s why you’re right in thinking I don’t approve of your pursuit of heroics. I’m sorry my boy, it would just be too dangerous for you.”

Huh. Izuku was sure All Might, this situation in general… How to put it…? This current reply felt far less crushing than it did for his future self.

So why? Why Midoriya couldn’t put his emotions aside and talk about what he came here for? But… Does he really have to speak to the hero right now? The man will start teaching in UA so Izuku just needs to get there, even a general course will suffice (after all, the boy knows of the man’s smaller form so finding him and getting to talk to him shouldn’t be too hard).

Yeah. There’s still time for that so… He can as well make his future self proud.

“You’re still my idol All Might… But I guess that doesn’t mean I have to agree with you on everything. I’ll become a hero whether you approve or not. I hope you won’t be angry at being proved wrong.” Izuku stated and before the man could rebuke him somehow, he quickly moved toward the exit that, luckily, wasn’t locked. “See you.”

And then he went running. He didn’t loiter around in near hysterics so he probably had enough time to buy a shit ton of salt (or at least as much as he could lift… Which still was a lot). There weren’t any explosions resounding around when he got to the right street so he walked into the right shop, buying fifty pounds of salt and leaving just in time to hear an explosion resounding from around the corner.

Perfect. Sure, he could try his luck getting to Kacchan before the villain but then he was risking the possibility of the criminal catching them both by surprise. And that wouldn’t do.

So Izuku went running, getting to the scene just as onlookers started gathering. He shook his backpack off his shoulders and ripped one of two salt packs open with his favorite screwdriver. He was quick to walk up to the Death Arms who was trying to make sure no one got too close to the villain.

“You can…” he began but was near-immediately interrupted.

Rude.

“I don’t have time for autographs, kid.”

Midoriya expression was completely deadpan as he looked at the hero, the villain, salt in his hands and another pack lying on the ground, right next to his backpack.

He walked back to his belongings, ripped the other package open, and then threw one at the criminal – not all of it made it yet the guy screeched in pain, confirming Izuku’s theory that the sludge didn’t interact well with salt – before swiftly taking a running start, the other package resting snuggly in his arms.

“What are you doing, kid?!” Death Arms demanded but wasn’t fast enough to stop Izuku from sending the other pack flying and then sliding right under the hero’s outstretched arms.

Nah. Leave the hugs for later, dude. There’s an asshole to save.

“It burns! Burns!” the criminal whimpered and Izuku quickly caught Kacchan’s wrist, pulling him toward himself. The blond used his explosion to propel himself with his other hand and the two of them stumbled toward the crowd.

Wonderful.

“I don’t have any more salt so you better move!” he yelled at his once-friend, still holding his wrist and dragging him toward safety (the blond would not admit to it but he was afraid to be let go of. His insides were burning and he was terrified. He didn’t want to die. He didn’t-).

That’s the moment All Might chose to step in, saving the situation and attracting media (just like the first quirk user – light radiating baby – did to moths). The situation was over so Izuku readily let go of Kacchan’s hand, went for his backpack, and actually listened to some lecturing before apologizing (just so they would leave him alone) to heroes and moving home.

It was a long day and he was honestly exhausted. He was definitely going straight home. He was half-tempted to take a break from his nightly patrol but it would be better not to give Eraserhead any ideas about his identity.

He was so tired that when Kacchan caught up to him and yelled something about not needing help, he just nodded and watched the blond leave. What a brat.

So, he was no more than two minutes from his house when…

“I am here!”

“All Might? Weren’t you accosted by the media? And I don’t think you should be using your… Here we go.” Izuku tried but before he could even warn the blond of his own limits, the man was already spilling blood all over the pavement.

Midoriya offered him a tissue with a sigh and once again, his idol took it with small thanks.

“My boy, I’ve come to you with gratitude and an offer. If it wasn’t for you… For your words at that rooftop… I don’t think I would have been able to act.”

“Well… It was kind of my fault, to be fair.”

“Still. You didn’t leave the situation just because someone else would take care of it. Not only had you faced it straight on, you also stepped in, even if you don’t have any kind of special power!”

Yeah… No quirks at all, haha!

“You inspired me to act. The best of heroes show their potential long before actually beginning their career and they all share a trait… They move to help before they can give it a second thought. That’s what happened to you, didn’t it?”

Izuku chuckled, even as he felt tears starting to stream down his cheeks. Oh, come on! What are you getting so emotional over?!

“You got me here, I can be a bit reckless when someone needs help…” he admitted, trying to sound lightly, jokingly.

“You can be a hero.”

Shit! He was doing so well in trying to stop his tears! And now they are back with doubled vigor!

“You’re worthy of inheriting my power!”

Wait. Wait a fucking second…

“Of course, it’s only a suggestion. A true challenge is yet to begin. Listen, my boy. It’s up to you whether you agree to inherit my quirk or not! Media call it either super strength or some kind of amplifier. I always found a way to wriggle out of that specific subject. After all, the symbol of peace, All Might has to be a naturally born hero. But, the truth is, my boy… My power is like a sacred torch, passed from generation to generation!”

By the time blond finished his explanation Midoriya managed to get his emotions under somewhat of a control. Still, a lot was happening in his mind. Actually, scratch that, 'a lot' didn't even begin to describe it.

“What if you didn’t catch up to me?” he asked, a memory of his future self hiding in the park to cry his eyes out appearing in his mind.

“I would look for you at the UA entrance exam, of course!”

It was… Heartbreaking. To think that his future self might have gotten this exact same chance… Had he only gone straight home. Could this small change truly make such a huge domino? Of course, it would. The butterfly effect exists for a reason! But still… It’s just... So unfair.

No. It isn’t time to overthink this. What he should really focus on right now is…

“And did you really give your secret so easily to a random junior high schooler?!” he exclaimed a bit louder than he expected himself to. But maybe that’s good because All Might seemed caught off guard, even startled. “It’s most likely national secret what we’re talking about… Dear God, how did you survive so long?! First I see your true form and now you let me in on the quirk you kept secret from pretty much everyone?! Do you have any idea how dangerous it could be if you chose to trust the wrong person?!”

“Do you always begin from such a negative perspective?” the hero inquired and readily shrunk under Midoriya’s glare.

“With all due respect… Did the fight five years ago hurt your brain too?”

All Might seemed genuinely taken aback by his question.

“No! I might not be the brightest but I’m not stupid!”

“You just told a random student two of your biggest secrets! You have known me for less than a day!”

“My hero instinct saved me plenty of times! I know I can trust it!”

“Which doesn’t change the fact that you should be more careful! I would be more than happy to get to know you better with you being my hero and all! I even have a business card with my phone number on it!” Izuku exclaimed, pulling the aforementioned item from his pocket and handing it to the hero.

The blond blinked at the nice cursive green font in which ‘Midoriya Izuku, best coffee maker and a tinkerer of kinds yet untold’ was written together with contact info. Toshinori was quick to put it in his own pocket. He decided not to question it. For now.

“But it is quite telling of what kind of a person you are to chew me out so thoroughly, fearing for my safety after I told you my secrets, isn’t it?”

Izuku opened his mouth and then closed it. You win this round, skelly.

He sighed.

“By now I’m half-convicted you’re safer with me knowing and having your back. You know what? I’m certain you wouldn’t have kept those secrets if trusted people didn’t keep you in check.”

“I’m not that bad!” All Might stated indignantly.

“No offense, but you absolutely are. I admire how you punch things and bring hope to people but you aren’t one to think things through, are you?”

The long moment of silence that followed was enough of an answer for Izuku.

“Anyway! What’s your answer, my boy? Of course, I understand if you need more time to think this through…”

“All Might.” the boy said, his face showing a complete deadpan. “You’re the one who needs more time to think this through. You can’t just see a teen throwing salt at a villain and go ‘this one, I like this one, let’s give him power capable of pretty much taking over the world’.”

“I… It isn’t how my process of thought went!”

“If we simplify it yes, that’s exactly how it went.”

(The man sighed deeply, giving up on trying to argue with the teen. The kids these days sure were a force to be reckoned with. And the kid has a point…)

“Call me Yagi when I’m this form, please,” he said instead. “And as I already said I wouldn’t give you this power instantly! You would have to forgo extensive training!”

“What exactly did you have in mind?” Izuku asked, raising his eyebrow.

“Cleaning Dagobah Beach!”

Midoriya gave it a thought. Sure, he definitely doesn’t want to lose his summer house but that beach is massive.

“I guess I can take care of the north side but I rather leave south as it is. It might look like a garbage dump but it’s actually full of useful parts. I would also like to recycle the items so it’ll take a while…”

(Toshinori blinked. He probably should have expected the kid’s reaction to be different from what he thought it would be but surely, there must be some limit to this child’s unique reactions.)

“I’ll bring my truck to take trash to an actual garbage dump! As for recycling… Would I be correct in assuming you already have something in mind?”

“Yep. I’ll take some parts for myself and Mei still has a lot of space for materials. Huh. I can make a birthday present out of it, now that I think about it. I’ll just have to talk with her mom about how to hide it from her until the party… Anyway, I have this part covered.”

“Great!” the hero said enthusiastically (deciding against inquiring further about this Mei girl). “Now, if you could tell me about your usual daily routine I could create a training schedule for you…”

“You have my email on the business card. Contact me and I will send you any details you need. Now, I’m beaten, can I go home?”

“Of course! I can’t imagine how exhausting of a day it must have been for you!”

And with that Midoriya returned home, let his mom fuss over him, meanwhile reassuring her he had everything under control, and then went to his room. He had half a thought to take a nap but in the end, he just Revamped his body to full rest and wrote down his schedule to show it to All Might.

5.00 Am – getting up, breakfast

5.30 Am – workshop (a little over a mile, I jog there), tinkering

8.00 Am – school

Around 14.00 PM – returning home (sometimes my friends come to see me and we hang out, then I return around 15-16 PM)

Dinner with mom, homework

16.00 – 18.00 (approximately) – back to the workshop, some more tinkering

Returning home, supper

Up to 20 – school, research, analyzing, drafting ideas, brainstorming in general

Up to 22 – usually, I make blueprints, look through forums, and experiment with inventing ideas that aren’t very likely to explode

Night time

Rinse and repeat

Fantastic. It doesn’t look suspicious, right? Anyone would take ‘night time’ as sleeping not going out and vigilanting so he didn’t even lie to All Might! And talking about the hero, when is he going to…?

Midoriya was quick to open the new email the second he heard a ping.

[email protected]

Hello, my boy! It is I, Toshinori! Asking for your schedule!

(Meanwhile All Might sent a message with a small smile, wondering when the boy would answer. Probably in a few hours, maybe tomorrow but seeing how this kid likes to defy expectations… Would it be weird to get an answer insta-?

All Might blinked but rather than rubbing his eyes in disbelief, decided that he shouldn't even be surprised. While he'd rather have the boy rest after such an eventful day, it was good to get a reply so soon. He can look through the kid's schedule, see where some training can be put, and…

Oh. Oh my. Is this kid really up and moving at five AM? It’s good, of course, to wake up early and make the most of the day but isn't it a bit too early even for adults? It's worrying, Toshinori hoped to put Dagobah Beach training around six am… Dear God, he expected a lot from the kid but why does his day look so packed already?!

He gulped, a bit afraid of his message getting dissected and questioned but! He shall show no fear for he is here! Typing! Very carefully, a well-thought-through message!

I see you’re quite a hard worker! But it presents a problem of when you’d find a free minute for training! Is there a chance you would agree to halve your morning tinkering?

He fully expected to be lectured. Which was… Honestly kind of worrying in itself.

[email protected]

Sure! It would work out splendidly because my workshop is very close to Dagobah Beach. And I can always get up earlier so as not to lose any of my tinkering time.

There were a lot of thoughts and emotions in Toshinori. First, he sighed in relief, happy to have come to an agreement so quickly. Then he got afraid of the boy’s overworking himself; he seemed to be getting just enough sleep with his current schedule! And then, finally… His eyes strayed to the email's name.

And he readily coughed out blood, both in surprise and some strange kind of pride. There was something endearing about the boy who thoroughly chewed him out, having ‘SmallMight’ as his internet nickname. Sure, he probably made it when he was much younger but it only made it so much cuter.

Toshinori has a strange feeling it wouldn’t end well if he said it to the boy out loud though.

But the kid can’t read minds so Toshinori can be melting inside all he wants.

~⁀‖⁀~§~♪~§~‿‖‿~

Aizawa was not having a good day. One of his students got stuck in an air vent and they had to get Power Loader to get him out, then some moron tried to cheat on the written exams. Add to that spider in the teacher lounge while Present Mic was present and you have a very unhappy Eraserhead. Not only was he exhausted but also extremely irritated.

He was, in fact, in such a foul mood that he slept through the free three hours he had before his patrol (which was usually used for grading papers and checking news). He barely got up after the third clock alarm and went out ready to use more force than strictly necessary...

...Which he readily showed the robber who tried stealing an old lady’s purse. Her eyesight must have been terrible because she not only referred to him as a "boy" but also gave him candy for helping. He didn’t have enough energy to explain that he actually was a hero, not some nice neighborhood kid.

And that, of course, wasn’t the end of that disastrous day. He ran into Phantom who kept laughing like a madman. He just waved to Aizawa before disappearing underneath the roof of a building he was standing on.

Minutes later Eraserhead witnessed extremely angry Endeavour tearing through alleyways, his beard – unlike the rest of his flames – neon pink. Aizawa just hoped that whatever the kid did was done with enough subtlety to not get the whole hero commission after himself. Though, Shouta supposes, maybe then the kid would leave the life of vigilantism behind and go into hiding (not that Aizawa wouldn’t get extremely worried if Phantom disappeared without a word).

But! The cherry on top was yet to come.

So, he comes back home even more tired than he left and decides to check the news. He doesn’t care about Mt. Lady (although he is a bit worried about her control; how well she can help without causing damage, to be exact) but his attention readily gets caught by something else.

Not by All Might’s appearance but by a familiar green head that rushes straight into danger. He rewatches the clip of the coffee kid trying to get the hero’s attention and then promptly give up. He rewinds to the timeframe of salt being chucked at the villain again, and again.

He feels so many emotions he actually glares at the screen of his phone with his quirk activated. It’s a good thing Eri is having a sleepover at Midnight’s house.

Aizawa’s angry that Death Arms didn’t take a minute to hear the kid out and instantly brushed him off (although he can understand; the hero's focus should stay on people's safety foremost). He’s furious at the kid for acting so carelessly but he’s also frustrated with himself because part of him feels proud. And there’s irritation at All Might for showing up only after the villain is mostly rendered harmless (the salt did a trick on his sludge body).

He wasn’t planning on bypassing the alleyway he meets the coffee kid tomorrow… Technically today (is this why it feels like an eternity? Because it’s actually another day and yet, his mood only keeps going down?). But after witnessing this video?  Well. Skip forward a few hours and here he goes, waiting for his caffeine-gifting headache.

“Eraserhead! You won’t believe the day I had yesterday!” the kid greeted happily, stopping by him to hand him coffee. Aizawa took the cup, deciding to listen to whatever the child wanted to say before lecturing the ever-living shit out of him. “I meet All Might, told him I’m going to be a hero no matter what he says after he kind of admitted that it’s too dangerous for me, then I saved an asshole I know and All Might told me I can be a hero after all! What a madness, am I right?”

“What were you thinking throwing yourself head first into danger? Worse, into a villain with a hostage?” Aizawa answered readily, brows furrowed.

“How said villain is a complete moron. I ran into him earlier that day but he didn’t even manage to touch me. A hero had come, though the sludge had managed to escape. Anyway, believe it or not, I thought things through. I mean, I even bought salt before trying anything! And I won. And, anyway, the heroes at the spot could just listen to me and we wouldn’t even be having this conversation.”

Aizawa sighed.

“Kid, do you realize how stupid it was? Actual danger aside, the whole scene had been recorded. If anyone noticed you using your quirk, you would have problems getting into whatever school you have your eyes on.”

“Well, I would like to see someone not letting a quirkless kid into school because they used a quirk publicly.” the boy answered, ever the smart ass.

(Izuku knew fully well that it was possible. After all, he has more than a dozen powers and he had been born with none of them.)

Instead of paying mind to his quirkless status, Eraserhead pinched the bridge of his nose. But then he suddenly straightened up, glaring.

“Did All Might tell you that you can’t be a hero because you’re quirkless?” he asked and wow. One wrong word and Izuku would be throwing his idol under Eraser-shaped bus.

“Technically no. I said something along the lines ‘you think I should give up on being a hero since I don’t have a quirk’ and he agreed. But then he saw me in action and was instantly swooning over my salt-throwing prowess.”

Midoriya didn’t add that they were on a rooftop and that he kind of got suicide baited earlier that day after which he jumped out of the window so, hopefully, Aizawa won’t go for All Might’s throat.

“If you need to ask someone whether you can be a hero, please do so to someone with an actual functioning brain.”

“No worries, I know what I'm capable of. Though, now I’m curious… Who would be this someone with an actual functioning brain?”

“Nezu, Power Loader, me.”

“Huh. It seems we both think highly of you.” Izuku noted and the man rolled his eyes.

“I’m just stating facts.”

“Anyway! You don’t have to worry at all, Eraserhead! Even if I didn’t mesmerize All Might with my salt-throwing skills, I would still go and ace the hero entrance exam.”

“Which one?” Aizawa asked, actually a bit curious. The thought of having this gremlin in his class was migraine-inducing but was anyone else capable of reining this child-shaped madness in?

“UA, of course! I’m confident I'll get in but if I don’t make it into the hero course I’m sure they will happily welcome me into the support and then I can beat everyone’s asses at the sports festival.”

To be completely honest? Eraserhead would love to see a quirkless kid passing the hero entrance exam; defeating those who in the eyes of society were so far stronger and better. Or ending on the very top during the sports festival. It would be a great lesson for all overconfident kids who relied on their quirk only.

“I’m sure you will, coffee kid. I’m sure.”

(Izuku snickered at his new nickname.)

“How could you not when it’s only logical?” he remarked before turning around and waving. “I’ve begun a new kind of training so I should keep going. Bye!”

Aizawa raised his hand in farewell.

He definitely wanted this kid in his class, no matter how much he’d, inevitably, come to regret it.

~⁀‖⁀~§~♪~§~‿‖‿~

“Um… What were you doing there, my boy?” Toshinori inquired as Midoriya moved toward him, walking from deep within trash mountains.

“Gardening.”

By this point he had long learned not to question the kid too much.

“Well, taking care of plants demands quite a lot of work but I believe it is worth it!” so he commented instead of asking.

“Fully agree!” the boy answered readily, with a beaming smile.

And just like that they went right back to training… Or more like recycling by this point. It didn’t take Toshinori long to realize that the boy was far more muscular than he expected (though, he guesses, he should have realized it after seeing a sac of salt being thrown by the kid without much trouble). So instead of the hardcore training montage their meetings were supposed to be, they were more of an idle chatter while the boy looked through things he wanted to throw away and which to keep.

It was amusing, Toshinori admits, to walk next to the boy as he animatedly told him about his various projects while barely seeing anything from behind the microwave he was holding.

Good times.

Chapter Text

“So, let me make sure I understood you correctly… You refused the recommendation because you wanted to show your passion?” Shinso drawled out, his face so empty the void was probably taking notes.

“Yeah! You’re both going through this process so I want to do so too! It wouldn’t feel right to get an easier start than you two!”

Midoriya’s deadpan wasn’t far behind Hitoshi’s. When the purple-haired boy glanced at his green friend with an incredulous look in his eyes, the mad lad was quick to nod in understanding.

“You do realize it would be better for everyone involved if you took the recommended test, right? You would face people with equally powerful quirks as yours and you wouldn’t make it harder for us to pass,” he explained, not even irritated. He knew their friend meant well.

Mei snickered but when they glanced at her she was looking at her phone with a focused expression.

Inasa froze for a moment, his smile fading away in a rather comical way. Before anyone could add anything he was bowing so hard, he hit the floor with his forehead.

“I’M SO SORRY I DIDN’T THINK IT THROUGH I WANTED TO FOLLOW YOU GUYS AND YOUR PASSION I DIDN’T MEAN TO MAKE IT HARDER FOR YOU I’M SO SORRY!” he rapid-fire yelled and Shinso whipped his head toward Izuku, quietly begging for help. Yoarashi looked like he was about to cry.

“That’s alright, don’t worry! If it was enough to stop us from becoming heroes we wouldn’t even be trying in the first place!” Midoriya was quick to assure, raising his hands in surrender (pointing out mistakes to Inasa is always hard. Not because he doesn’t want to take their criticism into consideration but because he takes it to heart too much).

“Really?” the boy asked, his eyes glassy.

Izuku really hoped Inasa didn’t get a concussion or something but who knows with him? The thud when his head hit the floor was pretty loud…

“Of course! If anything, we can make a competition out of it! Who out of us three places higher! You know, plus ultra and let’s go beyond!”

Shinso looked like his soul was about to leave his body but when Inasa glanced at him with his hopeful yet apologetic eyes he took a deep sigh and resigned himself to his fate.

“Yeah. Plus ultra,” he said.

He really hoped that whatever was in the mysterious envelope Izuku gave him would help.

~⁀‖⁀~§~♪~§~‿‖‿~

He pointedly ignored Bakugo who was walking a few paces to the side, as he talked animatedly with his friends.

“We’re going to nail it!” Inasa exclaimed happily.

“I’m going to question you about the contents of that envelope after we’re done here,” Shinso promised ominously but it had little effect on him.

“We’ll talk after you check out whether it was true or not. Now! Guess who got his favorite screwdriver and grappling hook accepted for the practical part of the exam!”

“You?” Inasa asked, so honest and eager that Shinso snorted.

“Exactly! I wanted to take my hover boots but they told me it’s a bit much… I mean, theoretically, I could but I would have to come and show them that I could build those to prove it wasn’t someone else’s work and I can do just fine with grappling hook so... Yeah.”

“You just want to pass this with as little as possible to spite people,” Shinso noted dryly, rolling his eyes.

“True,” Izuku confirmed easily, shrugging. “You might have quirks but how much power do they truly possess against my screwdriver?”

“Well, I wouldn’t want to get stabbed!” Inasa stated cheerfully before promptly tripping over a stone and comedically falling down, flat on his face… Or he would if he didn’t start levitating inches above it.

“Sorry for using my quirk on you! I just thought it would be bad luck to fall right before the exam!” a soft-looking girl said with a smile, while Shinso put the boy back on the ground. Izuku watched with stars in his eyes as the girl touched her fingertips together and Inasa was once again tied by the laws of gravity.

“No! Don’t apologize for helping! I should be the one saying sorry for distracting you when it's such an important day! And thank you!” 

“No problem.” the girl replied with a smile, surprisingly not looking offput by the boy’s boisterous way of… Existing. “Hopefully we’ll be classmates and it’s good to help your peers!”

“Yes! You’re absolutely right!”

“As much as I’d love to leave you to your conversation, I think we all should keep going.” Shinso drawled out and Izuku nodded.

“The orientation starts in a few minutes and we need to find our seats!” Midoriya added.

“Oh, you’re right! I’m so sorry! Um… Do you mind if I join your group? I’m not sure where exactly to go…”

“Of course! Together we’ll be sure to find the right place!” Inasa answered readily while Izuku gave the girl a bright smile and Shinso just showed thumbs up. “I’m Inasa Yoarashi by the way! Those are my friends! Shinso Hitoshi and Midoriya Izuku! I call him Mizu though!”

“Mizu?” the girl inquired with a small laugh. “It sounds like a fun nickname! I’m Ochaco Uraraka! Nice to meet you all!”

Sadly, their conversation came to a sudden end when they entered the auditorium, checking the closest seats' numbers. 

“Everyone please get to your seats! We’re starting in a moment!” a voice came from speakers and the girl waved to them with an apologetic look, running to the other side of the building. 

“I need to go too,” Shinso noted with a sigh and raised his hand in farewell, going for his seat.

“See you after the exam!” Inasa said joyfully, starting to climb stairs while Izuku rolled his eyes and smiled at his friends’ antics. He doesn’t even want to imagine what kind of disaster their group would bring if Mei was trying for the hero course too.

Soon he took his seat, not even glancing toward Kacchan who in return huffed and pinned his eyes on the stage, where Present Mic stepped onto a podium and began explaining how the exam would go.

Midoriya listened intently even though he knew it all already. His future self had spent quite some time going over forums, both finding comfort (how could he destroy robots? Of course he would have failed!) and despair (rescue points… Could he have gotten some…?) in what others said about current year’s exam. 

Then everyone filled out of the auditorium and he quickly went to a room stationed next to it to take his ‘weapons’ (they needed to be checked by UA's staff). Luckily it didn’t take long and not even ten minutes later he was standing before the gates to his future.

“Hey! You! Is it right for you to bring these items here?!” a rather loud boy with blue eyes inquired. Well, Izuku understands where he’s coming from but… Couldn’t he ask a tad bit quieter? Now everyone is looking at them!

“Yes, I got permission,” he answered a tad bit louder than he usually would, to make sure everyone who was curiously listening in could hear.

“Ah, I did bring an object too, mes amies!” someone joined the conversation with a brilliant smile. “It is quite normal for students to bring some devices for health reasons, for example!” 

The boy that started this mess opened his mouth, ready to comment but…

“START!” 

Izuku blinked and turned toward the gate, moving forward a bit unsurely.

“You don’t get countdown in the real battle!”

And that’s all Midoriya needed to go from jogging to sprinting. He took a swing with his grappling hook and swung right on top of a stray three-pointer. He didn’t have time for subtlety so he just stabbed its head with his favorite screwdriver, barely managing to swing off of it with his second weapon as sparks flew. 

Nice. Three points.

Now… Wow. Everyone is fast. Especially the loud square-glassed boy. And the blond that also has an item is literally blasting through enemies… No matter though.

Izuku was quick to go flying around the area, killing any robots he could get his screwdriver on (and slamming this one robot into a wall hard enough for it to not get up again… It was an honest mistake! That one pointer came out of nowhere!). He, of course, helped any students he saw in trouble on his way around the area. There was an invisible person that nearly got hit with debris since other participants seemed to not notice them (which is fair, he guesses, you could only see their uniform). And another boy nearly got impaled with a broken lamp after being punched by a two-pointer. And don’t even get Izuku started on all the kids that panicked when a robot got too close thus him having to save their asses. If they can't fight up close they should have strategies for keeping their distance!

“Two minutes left!”

Good. Because even with his stamina trained through years of running around with microwaves and other heavy items, Izuku was exhausted. He felt a bit as if he was the only thing keeping all the kids around alive! Which was only further cemented when he barely managed to catch some girl by the elbow and pull back before she could get run over by the boy with square glasses. 

It was funny how in one second her face went from irritated ‘don’t mess around with my chances!’ to immense relief and mute ‘thank you’. 

And not even two blinks after that, the ground started shaking and he heard someone calling for help. He didn’t spare a look for the zero pointer. Yeah, he knows it’s a beast of a robot. That’s a reason to run and swing as fast as possible.

He blinked, noticing Uraraka under rubble but there was no time for suprise. He slid under the bigger chunk of stone that made her unable to escape and pushed. It moved off easier than expected.

“It’s… So close!” the girl gasped, her expression equal measures pained and green. She must have sprained her ankle...

Izuku took a glance at the robot and then at her. Too little space. He sighed. 

“Can you make it lighter?” he asked showing her his screwdriver and she nodded. She looked confused but did as asked without any unnecessary questions. “Thanks. Give me a moment.” 

Then he shot his grappling hook toward a lamp and easily scrambled atop it. He glanced sadly at one of his closest friends before taking aim and chucking it through the air. He didn’t wait to see if it hit its mark because he knew it would (please don’t ask him how he learned to throw screwdrivers with pinpoint accuracy; it consists of Mei, him, and no-sleep marathons that would make even Aizawa jealous… And slightly unnerved).  

He jumped down with a roll and not losing his speed he swept Uraraka off her feet (she was standing on her own although barely). He was right to do so as his attack seemed to do enough damage for the robot to lose its sense of direction and walk straight into a nearby building (KO-ing both itself and the building that seemed to be modeled after a four-floor apartment). Debris went flying everywhere and he did his best to not get hit by any.

At one point he was very close to having windowsill becoming closely acquainted with his head. But Uraraka raised herself in his arms and touched the item, managing to reduce impact enough that it felt like getting a ball thrown at him by a five-year-old kid. Still painful but not dangerous. 

“AAAAND THAT’S THE END OF THE EXAM!” Present Mic screamed but contrary to his words Izuku had to run a few more feet before he deemed his surroundings safe. He then gently put the girl on the ground.

“Tha-” she started but then he plopped on the pavement, face first. “Are you okay?!”

He raised his thumbs up and then rolled to look at her.

“Do you think they will give me my screwdriver back if I ask them nicely enough? I like it.” 

It was one of the very first ones he had bought somewhat on his own (he was seven, alright? His mom had to be with him… And coo all the way from him choosing to going to the cashier). It’s old but sturdy (only partly thanks to some Revamp renovations…). He grew attached to it. 

His words brought a startled laugh out of Uraraka though laughing didn’t seem to be the right decision as her face suddenly became even greener and she turned around to… Well, say farewell to her dinner.

“Are you alright, sweeties?” Recovery Girl asked, nearing them.

Izuku would probably ask her a lot of questions about her quirk if he wasn't drained (since his future self didn’t get to interact with her, he didn’t know too much about her).

“Just tired, madam,” he said before glancing at Ochaco. “But she seems to have a twisted ankle.”

“Here, here, a smooch and you’re as good as new.” the woman said, giving the girl a kiss and some gummy bears before turning toward Izuku and gifting him some too. “Here, you too.”

“Thank you!” 

“Now, get going dears,” she noted, already turning to leave.

“Um… I’m sorry but… I left my grappling hook on a lamp over there while making a run for our life… Can I go get it?” he asked, slightly embarrassed.

“No need, dearie. We’ll get it when cleaning the area and send it to you. 

“Then… Is there a hope of me seeing my screwdriver again? It’s stuck in zero pointer’s face.” 

The woman blinked, surprised but she smiled kindly nonetheless.

“I will be sure to mention it to the staff. Now go, I’m sure both of you would like to rest after a job well done.”

“Thanks!” Izuku beamed, feeling much better about his prospects of seeing his possessions. He then turned toward Ochaco. “Do you need help? You can use me for support if you still don’t feel well.”

“No, no… I’m alright, just a bit dizzy. Though it would be nice to walk to the main gate together!” 

“Sure! I would like to ask some questions about your quirk if you don’t mind… It seems really cool!” he said, walking slowly toward the exit so the girl wouldn’t have a problem keeping with his pace. 

“Ask away! It’s called Zero Gravity. I can make anything weigh nothing when I touch it with five fingers and I can make it go back to normal by putting my hands together and saying ‘release’. I can use it on things and people… Though it makes me feel really sick if I use it too much or on myself.”

“That’s so cool! Can you use it on a few things at the same time? Can you release one thing after another or does everything get released at the same time? If you threw something up after taking its gravity away would it be able to travel all the way to the cosmos or-?” 

“Woah! Slow down! I can’t keep up!” the girl cut in, overwhelmed by his questions that were quickly spiraling out of control. She would like to answer all of them! Both because she was curious what kind of other things he could think up (brainstorming about her quirk's uses is always welcomed) and! She wants to have a good relationship with him. He seems like a nice person and saved her ass!

“Sorry, I tend to mumble a lot…”

“No worries! I'll probably get used to it, though catching up to your thoughts might be kinda hard... Right, what’s your quirk? Something with reflexes, thinking?” she inquired just as they turned a corner and noticed two faces familiar faces. She waved happily to Shinso and Inasa.

“Oh, I’m quirkless,” Izuku answered easily and she froze, turning toward him with wide-open eyes.

“W-what?” she stuttered out before realizing how rude it must have sounded. “I didn’t mean it in a bad way! You were just so amazing back there! I was so sure it was some kind of agility or speed-up-thinking quirk! It’s really impressive!” 

Well… Technically, High Spec was working in the background so he guesses she wasn’t wrong.

“It's alright, I’m actually kind of proud you're so surprised! It means I did a pretty good job on the exam.”

“Yeah! You did amazing! You were swinging around the field, bashing robots and all! And you have no idea how scared I was when the zero-pointer came! If it wasn’t for you I would be a pancake by now!”

“I don’t think UA would let that happen…”

"I heard your passionate conversation all the way from here! You did great right?!" Inasa asked the moment they were close enough to not have to yell (not that he didn't), stars in his eyes. One of his hands was in cast but Midoriya decided against questioning it. For now.

“Yeah! Midoriya… Can I call you Mizu too?” she turned toward Izuku and after getting a nod she brightened and went back to her story. “Mizu was amazing! When the zero-pointer showed up and everyone went running I got stuck under rubble but he came to help me without a second thought! And then he climbed on a lamp and threw a screwdriver at the zero pointer, making it walk into a building! And bam! Robot destroyed!” 

Shinso seemed to choke on his spit.

“He what?!”

Meanwhile, Inasa laughed loudly, clapping his friend on his back hard enough to be more dangerous than most of the robots were to Izuku.

“That’s our leader alright!”

“Your leader?” Ochaco inquired curiously.

“Yeah! We plan to make a hero group, us three and our friend Mei... Oh, you don't know Mei! She’s trying for a support course! We call ourselves Percepts of Justice!” Inasa was quick to answer.

Izuku could see stars in the girl’s eyes.

“Can I join? I plan to work super hard to become a hero!". 

“Well… He’s a leader so I guess it’s his decision…” Shinso drawled out glancing at Izuku.

“I want your opinion on this but personally, I think it's a great idea. Uraraka’s quirk has a lot of potential in rescue and less obviously in infiltration…” 

“I’m all for her joining! I’ll call you Rara! What do you think? I can call you Uraraka if you don’t like it!”

“Rara it is! I love the sound of it,” she replied with a beaming smile.  

“I don’t mind her joining. If you think she’s capable enough she probably is. I’ll trust your judgment.” Shinso offered.

“Shoshi agreed too! Welcome to the team!”

“But what about your friend, Mei…?”

“She definitely won’t have anything against it.” Izuku was quick to assure. 

Uraraka fist-pumped in celebration.  

“What are you called on Headmovie? I’ll add you to our team group chat.” he asked, taking his phone out.  

They actually had a specific chat for ‘Percepts of Justice’, to learn from the beginning how to separate work from idle conversations. Not that they didn’t do plenty of the second but they at least tried to talk mostly about their team and ideas for it.

Anyway, they added each other to friends and on the way home, Midoriya added her to the chat. He didn’t have to wait long for others’ reactions.

Momriya had added Uraraka Ochaco 

 [Momei]

Who dis? 

 Inasa changed Ochaco Uraraka to Rara

[Aybags]

New team member. We recruited her at the exam. 

[Momriya]

Actually, she asked to join. She has a really cool quirk though! You’ll definitely want her help with moving your babies someday.

[Momei]

Oooh! Does she have some kind of make-it-tiny quirk?

[Rara]

Her what?

[Aybags]

I will be merciful and give you a quick tour around here. 

Momei is Mei, she calls her inventions her babies, hence her name. 

Momriya is Izuku. Since he’s team leader he’s also team mom. 

Passon is the loud one. He likes to talk about passion but he misspelled it once and it was funny at the time so now he’s Passon. 

He also misunderstood ‘eye bags’ so badly I got inspired. 

[Momriya]

You keep on calling me reckless and yet you’re making team mom out of me. I don’t understand you guys.

[Aybags]

You’re just the most reckless team mom we could ever hope for.

[Momei]

Yeah. 

We still love you though.

[Passon]

YEAAAAH!!!!

MIZU IS BEST TEAM MOM!!

[Rara]

I just got an idea.

Rara changed Rara to uRAWRaka

Momei changed uRAWRaka to UwUraka

Aybags changed UwUraka to UwU aka

Momriya changed UwU aka to aUwUa

[aUwUa]

Yaay!

Now that everyone changed my nickname I feel like part of the team ( •̀ ω •́ )✧

[Passon] 

YEAAAAH!! 

WELCOME TO THE TEAM!! :DDD

[Aybags]

More like welcome to the family…

[Momei]

So what’s your quirk and how can it help with my babies?

[aUwUa]

It’s called Zero Gravity and I can basically make anything weight nothing!

[Momei]

I like you already

[Momriya]

[Questions.tx]

[Aybags]

Oho. It begins anew.

[aUwUa]

?

[Momriya]

You know how I questioned you earlier but I was too fast (sorry for that)? I wrote my questions down! 

[aUwUa]

Oh! I see! I’ll answer them in a bit!

[Aybags]

It will take you a while.

[aUwUa]

Come on! How many could he possibly write? It hasn't even been an hour!

[Aybags]

Open the file. 

[aUwUa]

Sure, sure

How? 

[Passon]

Mizu is really passionate about quirks!! He can analyze them in like, seconds!! His minds is so fast!!!

[Aybags]

You forgot caps

[Passon]

But I never use caps?

[Momei]

But don’t you write LIKE THIS usually?

[Passon]

Yeah! When I get really excited!! But I always use shift

[aUwUa]

Guys

This thing has five pages

[Momriya]

There are some more questions I wanted to ask but I didn’t want to overwhelm you! ^^

[aUwUa]

…

Thanks (✿◡‿◡)

I don’t have to do it, like, today right?

[Momriya]

Of course not! Take your time!

With that Midoriya put his phone down, smiling. 

He couldn’t wait for the results of the exam!

Chapter Text

This batch of future heroes was quite interesting. The ones that stood out the most were Bakugo Katsuki with his highly offensive quirk and Inasa Yoarashi whose power was equally destructive although in a much different way. If he was to compare them to weapons he would use blunt and sharp types respectively for them. Those two were, of course, the obvious to-be top rankers with the speed they were gathering points and unknowingly facing off against each other for the first place.

The less obvious one that caught Nezu’s attention was Shinsho Hitoshi. It was quite easy to realize he did not possess a combat-oriented quirk and had not even tried his luck with robots bare-handed. But he did find some long piece of wood… And used it to help other participants. Even though he didn’t look like a fan of human interaction, he readily went around the field, helping whoever he could.

As if he knew about the secret system.

Nezu’s lips twitched upward but the one who brought a mad cackle out of him was Midoriya Izuku. A quirkless boy who asked permission to bring a screwdriver and grappling hook with him. There was something about the way he seemed to be thinking two steps ahead (except that time he barreled into one of the robots; his body language betrayed just how accidental it was). He was gathering villain and rescue points in equal measure; not a big but a steady income.

The thing about him that stood out the most was that he acted as if he was in the actual field; taking down enemies but keeping an eye out for his fellow peers. He was not as obvious as Shinso Hitoshi but Nezu had a feeling he knew about the rescue point system as well.

But the cheery on top was yet to come. You see, he noticed both Aizawa and All Might paying more attention to what the green-haired boy was doing than to the rest of the participants. Inasa Yoarashi and Bakugo Katsuki included. But it proved a good idea when the zero pointer made its appearance.

Nezu could barely hold his joy in. The child acted with such practical ease! Getting the stone off the girl, calculating distance, using her quirk on his weapon of choice (when did he learn about it? He made sure no one from the same school was in the same field, after all), losing a few seconds to get to a higher vantage point and raise the probability of hitting his mark… And the aim he had! What a wonderful future hero, indeed!

Nezu would not let this one go. How absolutely dull would it be of him to just watch such an interesting human leave for another school? That would be a loss he rather avoid.

“I want him in my class.” Aizawa noted matter of factly while everything in All Might’s (Yagi’s, in this form) body language screamed ‘I want him as my successor!’.

“I would not dream of sending him under anyone else’s guidance,” Nezu assured, his eyes not leaving the boy as he and the girl made a timely escape from falling debris. Try as he might, he would not be able to write a better course of action himself (simply because it would look too improbable). 

And it was not the end of fun for the day. After exams ended, surprisingly, Recovery Girl came to visit him.

“I’m sure you already know all about the green-haired student and his screwdriver.” she began, making his humor rise from good to giddy. “He asked me if he could get it back. He seems attached to it so I just wanted to let you know to not throw it away if you find it.”

“Of course, of course! I would not dream of throwing someone's precious weapon of choice!” the principal said joyfully and the woman sighed with a small smile.

“Good. Then I'm going be back to my duties.”

He waved at her before promptly jumping down from his sofa and skipping toward his desk. He opened one of the drawers and took the slightly bent screwdriver out.

He will act as if it had not been picked yet and will ‘find’ it sometime during the second week. Just enough time to let Midoriya Izuku get accustomed to the school and observe how he fares. Then Nezu will have a nice little tea talk with him under the pretext of giving the miraculously recovered screwdriver back~!

It is the best course of action for everyone involved. Being called without a seeming reason to the principal’s office could be quite stressful (especially if the aforementioned head of the school is Nezu himself) and the super-intelligent mammal rather use what he already has instead of waiting for the opening in the future. And! Someone catching Nezu’s interest to this extent is quite a rare occurrence (the other one being Phantom and his little riddle). It would be such a waste to miss this chance to have some well-natured fun.

What a wonderful feeling; as if a particularly good match of chess was awaiting him!

~⁀‖⁀~§~♪~§~‿‖‿~

“Boo,” something whispered in his ear, and Present Mic screamed bloody murder though for some reason he didn’t activate his quirk. Was it because he was in Eraser's apartment? A sort of Pavlovian reaction?

(He wasn’t that wrong. It had been momentarily erased just by another person than usual).

He turned around with mixed feelings. He didn’t like to get scared like this! No one does! And by a vigilante who randomly appeared from behind the sofa in your friend’s apartment at that! But Eri was standing right behind an uninvited guest, a small grin gracing her face. She should be smiling rather than smirking but between Eraserhead and Phantom, he’s grateful it’s at least a cute little grin instead of an abomination that sometimes graces Shouta’s face.

“What? Have you seen a ghost or something?” Phantom asked, looking around in exaggerated motion. Which made Eri giggle and that was everything Present Mic needed for any anger he might have felt to wash away.

“Exactly! You didn't see it?” he answered instead getting a shrug with "nope" in return. 

Of course, as a pro hero, he was obliged to catch this teen who not only kind of broke in but also was a vigilante but… Well. He learned the first time around that it wasn’t that great of an idea. Yamada’s voice did more damage to his friend’s house than the teen ever thought of doing. Even with his impeccable control. 

“Anyway! How have you been, my little time Undoer?” the boy asked, bending down and the girl was quick to run into his arms (it kind of hurt Yamada’s pride; yes, she reacted with happiness at his visits nowadays but never with this much enthusiasm). She beamed at her title and embraced the vigilante around his neck.

“I’ve been to UA with Head and Present!” she boasted happily.

Those nicknames were indirectly Phantom’s fault. He was chaotic and the girl saw him as her authority figure so of course when she heard everyone calling those two ‘Eraser’ and ‘Mic’ for short, she adopted other parts of their hero names as nicknames.

(It was absolutely adorable so no one held Phantom accountable. But god forbid he ends up influencing Eri into swearing; the vigilante’s pretty sure it would invoke the kind of rage even he wouldn’t be able to escape. To be honest, he might have ended up being angry enough to get himself caught on purpose.)

“Oh? And how was it?”

“We trained in this huuuuuge city! But it was very empty! I tried to Rewind things but it didn’t work, like you said! But it did on grass and flowers! And Nezu asked me about you but I just said that you’re very nice and no one can defeat you! Even bad birdmen!”

“Good, I’m proud of you,” the vigilante replied readily, patting her on the head. She looked very proud of herself.

(It was so strange to see her that happy so early on… In his future self’s timeline, it took them months until she gave them the tiniest of smiles. Only after years did she learn to express her happiness and even then it wasn’t easy to get a laugh out of her. But those were different times and she went through so much more then…)

“Does Eraser know you’re here?” Yamada asked, deciding to take a seat on the sofa. He called out for Blacky – Aizawa’s cat – but he was completely ignored. How sad… Neither the child nor the feline was going to choose him…

“Of course! Not. Don’t you think he would warn you if he knew?”

“Only because neighbors would be complaining about the noise,” Yamada answered readily. “How long are you staying? I wanted to show Eri one of my favorite movies.”

“If it’s the one with the lions then just enough to join you for an all-night marathon.”

Present Mic couldn’t help a snicker.

“Is there anything you don’t know, oh all mighty deity of chaos?”

“Yes. Whether you have popcorn or not.”

“He does!” Eri piped in, jumping from his arms and running toward the kitchen. “He taught me how to make it too! Come look! I’ll show you!”

Present Mic readily got up and made a few photos of Eri happily explaining to a vigilante capable of taking on yakuza how to put popcorn in the microwave and for how long to leave it there. When she assured him that pops were fine and meant no harm to them, he couldn’t hold his laughter in anymore.

And then Phantom glanced at him, requiring assistance with his eyes alone, making Yamada fall to the floor holding his sides in laughter.

“Huh? Did you do something?” the girl asked, looking at her favorite vigilante curiously.

“I think he’s just really happy to watch movies with us.”

Eri’s eyes shone happily and she ran up to Yamada and laid next to him, smiling at him.

“I’m really, really happy to watch movies with you too!” she said, and when he pulled her into a hug she readily reciprocated it.

Phantom was quick to take a photo of the two children – one much bigger than the other – lying on the ground and smiling like idiots. He will send it to Aizawa tomorrow… No! Better yet! He will show it to him in person!

(He did so two days later and Eraserhead tried to glare and grumbled something about not breaking into his house but! The fond look in his eyes was unmistakable)

Soon after, the microwave pinged, telling everyone that their food was ready.

~⁀‖⁀~§~♪~§~‿‖‿~

“I GOT FIRST PLACE!” Inasa yelled and tackled all his friends into a hug.

“Yes, yes, we heard it from the project-Might too…” Shinso drawled out in a quiet voice. “I’m choking… Let me breathe…”

Yoarashi let go of them and jumped around the room before suddenly getting down, sitting on the floor cross-legged and perfectly still.

“How about you two?! Open your letters! Open them!”

“I’ll go next then,” Shinso offered, already ripping his own envelope. “I might not seem like it but I feel like my heart is going to burst out of my chest any second now…”

Unlike Inasa who not only was in the first ten but was first in general (with whooping ninety-eight points) he wasn’t greeted with All Might’s projection but Midnight’s.

“Hello, hello! I know it’s hard to take my eyes off me so I’ll be quick; before you fall for me!” she exclaimed and the boy rolled his eyes. “You gained six villain points which isn’t enough at all but! Fighting isn’t all there is to a hero and thanks to your effort in making sure your fellow participants didn’t get injured you gained twenty-eight rescue points which leaves you with a score of thirty-four! And that is enough to guarantee you a place in the hero course! Congratulations and remember to go beyond! Plus ultra!”

Even if anyone said anything it was muffled by Inasa.

“YEAAAH! I KNEW YOU’D GET IN! YOU DID IT!” the boy screamed and readily caught Shinso in his arms, giving him yet another choking hug.

But Hitoshi was too shocked to react. His eyes became glassy but he quickly blinked, taking rid of the happy tears before they could roll down his face. Instead, he wriggled out of the embrace and smiled at everyone.

“I lack words so I’ll just let you continue the unboxing,” Shinso said, nodding at Midoriya. “Not that I don’t have some questions for later.”

“They can wait,” Izuku replied, readily tearing his envelope. When All Might appeared, Mei had to put her hand on Inasa’s mouth so he wouldn’t drown out the hero’s words with his excited screaming.

“I am here to deliver your score! And what a score it is, my boy! You gathered twenty-three villain points, barely enough to get into the hero course... But! How could UA look only at fighting prowess when there is so much more to a hero? As you might have guessed by now… Yes! There is another system of points! Rescue ones!” the hero went quiet for a moment, glancing at what seemed to be a camera person or something behind them. “What do you mean I need to get to the point? Don’t we have three minutes of space on the disk? Alright, alright!”

Then the man turned to look at the camera.

“You gained a whooping seventy rescue points and with a score of ninety three had placed second! Congratulations and welcome to your hero academia! Plus ultra and keep on going beyond!”

Midoriya blinked once. Then twice… He would do so for the third time was he given enough time but Inasa’s strong arms weren’t very patient.

“OF COURSE YOU PLACED RIGHT BEHIND IF NOT BEFORE ME!”

He couldn’t utter a word. Was this really happening? No. It isn’t possible. It’s… Could he really get such a high score? Surely there was some kind of mistake. Yes, he knew about rescue points beforehand but so did Shinso.

“I think he overheated.”

Did… Was it thanks to High Spec? No… Smarts alone wouldn’t give him so many points, it was pretty obvious. Of course, it helped a lot but he needed skill too. But could he really do enough to be worth the second place? To place higher than… Than…

“You should probably let go of him, I think you might have cut off his air supply.”

He placed higher than Kacchan. Since Inasa was first and he was second, the highest blond could have gotten was third. Third place. Bakugo. 

“Um… Are you alright?”

Part of him felt terrified. He deceived everyone. He didn’t use any other quirks but he couldn’t really turn High Spec off (he could try to shove it somewhere deep, deep into his subconsciousness but it would still work to some extent; he already tested it. Plus keeping the rest of the powers in check without it would have been a nightmare).

He fooled them. They think he’s quirkless and he had done the impossible with his own strength… He’s such a liar…

“I BROKE HIM! I’M SO SORRY!”

But why? Why does it feel so… Good…?

“Stop bowing. You’ll break your head and we don’t need to worry about that too.”

Bakugo isn’t on top for once. Everyone that looked down on Izuku, the current and future one… They were so very wrong. Midoriya was second and maybe it isn’t completely his own strength but didn’t he work hard to get here? Isn’t this score something that his future self deserves?

“How much do you want to bet his team mom instincts are strong enough to shake him out of whatever this weird state is?”

But he isn’t his future self. He wasn’t the one to do the impossible and gain not one but multiple quirks.

“We lack counterweight to bet on. We all know his team mom instincts are indestructible and undefeatable.”

But… Didn’t others help his future self to come to what he had obtained? Of course, he himself did a lot too. It was his idea and his impossible plan, after all. But it wouldn’t work without Nezu, Yaoyorozu, and Mei. He wouldn’t have been able to turn back time without Mirio and Eri. He got so much help from everyone! They all trusted him enough to let their DNA be made into a serum that would give him their quirks! And then they readily helped him master them!

“Okay, so… What’s your plan Shoshi?”

Didn’t his future self help him in a somewhat similar way? No… How could Izuku compare? He just got all those amazing quirks and memories worth years of experience handed over to him as if on a silver platter!

“Just watch and learn… Oh no! Yoarashi is bleeding!”

“I’m no-” the boy tried to deny the claim but Midoriya’s head already snapped toward him.

“Are you alright?” he asked and then furrowed his brows. “You seem fine to me.”

“It worked so well it’s actually scary…” Shinso murmured and he blinked.

“What?” Izuku inquired, not completely sure where (or when) he was.

“Mizu! You just… I don’t know! I hugged you and then you turned off! And just stared blankly at the air! Did I hurt you? I didn’t mean to!” Inasa was quick to explain.

“No, no, I’m alright… I just got lost in thoughts…”

“Weird, usually you start muttering… And it’s much easier to bring you back to the world of living.” Shinso pointed out and Midoriya shrugged, trying to hide his unease.

“That’s what fame does to people…” Mei stated dramatically with a sigh so deep it couldn’t be anything but fake. She shook her head for a good measure too. “I still remember when he just wanted to pass… And now look at him, getting the second place!”

“I guess I would lose my mind for a moment too, if it happened to me…” Shinso mused.

“Yeah! It was pretty shocking! In a really amazing way!”

Izuku smiled at them.

He wasn’t sure if he deserved them but… He wanted to believe that he did. And he will work hard to make sure they stay happy and safe. He might not be worthy of everything he has been given… But it would be stupid not to appreciate it.

All those memories of the future long gone, the quirks and his friends… He’s grateful for them all. It hurts that he doesn’t deserve so much but no matter how it burns… He wouldn’t be able to let go of them. He wants to hold onto all those good things in his life and protect them.

He wants to one day be worth everything he had been gifted with.

Chapter Text

Shinso let Midoriya be for now.

But he knew that his green-haired friend didn’t have any better sleeping schedule than he himself did. That’s why he offered to get coffee together at around seven AM and then go to UA (they had their first lesson at eight).

And with that, he ended up sipping his dark beverage, already fully awake only because this day was one in a kind; he got into hero course. He was going to prove everyone who called him a villain wrong and become a hero!

“So.” he drawled out while Izuku put his cup down. Did he… Just downed the whole thing in one go? “Spill.”

He realized that it was the wrong way to put it from the twinkle in his friend’s eyes.

“I can’t. I drank it all, there’s nothing left to spill.”

Hitoshi groaned, hiding his amusement behind the irritated reaction.

“You know what I mean. How did you know about rescue points?”

“Well… Would you be surprised if I told you I know a thing or two about the future?” 

Honestly? Shinso wouldn’t. At all.

“So… You invented time travel?” he inquired, fully expecting confirmation.

“I mean, technically I did, I guess… But not yet. It’s more… Like my future self sent me a message.”

“Cool,” Hitoshi accepted easily, taking another sip of his beverage. “What did you learn? What’s the future like?”

“Well, the one I learned about is gone since I’ve changed a few things. In that timeline, I gave up on being a hero because everyone told me I couldn’t be one. I went to a support course in Shiketsu, met Nasa, and then faced off against Mei in some inventing competition. I accidentally stumbled upon you in a park and offered you coffee. That’s actually when you dubbed me a coffee fairy.”

“That… Explains a lot actually. That’s how you knew Gingerbread too, isn’t it?”

“Yep.”

(Wow. It was so weird… To tell his friend about this dark secret but while omitting enough detail for it to sound so… Normal. Maybe a bit depressing since he gave up on his dream of being a hero but overall it didn’t sound all that bad.)

“And you couldn’t explain it in the beginning instead of making me feel like I’m going crazy because?”

“Would you believe me?”

“I thought you were a fragment of my imagination. I would believe anything at that point.” Hitoshi pointed out and Izuku rolled his eyes before twitching a bit.

“Are you… Angry…?”

“Not really. I’m relieved that I wasn’t actually going crazy though I admit, you made me a bit paranoid. Get this, I thought you were the one responsible for getting the police involved with my school.”

(At that Izuku's minet went: Quick, act natural!)

“Anyway, Mei knows too. That’s actually how I approached her in this timeline. I just walked to her and told her I want to partner up with her since I know her from future.”

“Well, now I am deeply hurt. How could you tell Mei before me?” Shinso asked, crossing his arms but he quickly forgot about his fake-anger, realizing something. “Nasa doesn’t know?”

“No… Though I might have kind of reached out to him by saying we used to be friends… I mean, we were in the future but I made it sound like it was the past…”

Hitoshi snickered.

“I’m absolutely sure that if you ever tell him about it he’ll just go ‘oh, cool! I didn’t notice!’ or something.”

Izuku tried to keep a serious face but couldn’t help a snicker that escaped him.

“That’s worryingly possible.”

They spent another twenty minutes talking and then they took their leave.

It wouldn’t do to be late on the very first day of their dream school!

~⁀‖⁀~§~♪~§~‿‖‿~

“Wow! We were first!” Ochaco said happily, waving at them.

“We grabbed coffee on our way here,” Izuku explained with a smile.

“Oooh! That makes sense! I was really excited and couldn’t sleep either! I went running in the morning!” Inasa added.

“Yo!” Mei yelled running toward them. “I would love to talk but I need to check UA equipment ASAP!”

And just like that she was gone.

“Well… We should probably get going too…” Shinso drawled out. “I can’t believe we’re all in the same class… You didn’t break the universe to make it happen, did you?”

Izuku looked at him incredulously, knowing well who the words were addressing.

“I didn’t! This time,” he huffed, the four of them walking toward the main building. “By the way… Does any of you know where exactly we should head to?”

“Yeaah! I wrote to upperclassmen yesterday to ask for directions! I wanted to be sure we won’t get lost!” Inasa was quick to confirm.

“Smart I thought I'd just figure directions already here.” Ochaco complimented enthusiastically.

“You’re the best, Nasa” Izuku added, already in high spirits.

“No, no! That’s the least I could do to show my passion! I can’t let you leave me behind so I need to try my best and do as much as I can!”

“You’re doing just fine, I assure you.” Shinso drawled out and Inasa’s eyes became suspiciously glassy.

“It means especially lot coming from you, Shoshi!”

“Please don’t call me that in class or others might pick it up too…”

“But Shoshi sounds great!” Izuku was quick to say.

“Yeah! It’s so cute!” Ochaco added.

“Do you want me to start addressing you two Momriya and UwU?”

Midoriya couldn’t help but laugh at his friend saying ‘UwU’ with complete deadpan. Ochaco’s reaction wasn’t much better.

“Yes, please! I want to hear you saying ‘UwU’ until the end of my days!”

Shinso looked away, his checks tinged pink but luckily for him, others didn’t get a chance to point it out.

“I can see our classroom! Come on guys! Let’s get inside!” Inasa yelled, slamming the doors open and confidently striding in. “Hello, fellow future heroes! I’m extremely happy to be able to be in this school with you! Plus ultra!”

The three of them, still in the corridor, exchanged looks and with a sigh, Izuku stepped through the doorstep after his friend, waving shyly at everyone. Bakugo’s eyes widened upon seeing him but before he could react the blue-haired boy – who likely was lecturing the blond up to this point – zeroed in on Midoriya and wow. He sure is quick. Even when simply walking.

“I wish to apologize for my words at the exam! In my worry about staying true to the rules, I might have distracted you at such an important moment! I should have realized that such a prestigious school would not let you come in with weapons they had not approved!”

“Um… That’s quite alright. You were just worried about the fairness, that’s admirable.”

“Thank you for your understanding! My name is Iida Tenya and I am honored to make your acquaintance!” 

“I’m Midoriya Izuku, nice to meet you too!”

Before they could continue the conversation, Bakugo pushed the boy to the side and glowered at his once again classmate.

“How the fuck did you get here, Deku?” he sneered.

“Don’t call my friend that!” Inasa was quick to step in.

“Can’t even stand up for yourself?” the blond huffed.

“Huh... But what is there to stand up for? Didn’t you call him ‘Deku’? Like, ‘I can do this’?” Ochaco asked, smiling so sweetly it actually took the angry kid aback for a second.

“The fuck?! Who would think that when talking about this useless piece of…?!” Kacchan began but that was the moment Izuku decided to glance back and…

“Good morning, sir!” he chirped, and suddenly everyone went deadly silent. They were too terrified to even scream as something yellow wriggled a bit before showing the face of someone who must have certifiable experience in living on the streets.

The black-haired man got up and looked around the classroom.

“The lesson hasn’t even begun and you’re already too loud. Your awareness is terrible too, it took you twenty seconds to notice me,” he stated before promptly throwing a PE uniform forward. Midoriya was quick to catch it. “Field beta in five minutes. If I hear a word about commotion, there will be consequences.”

Bakugo knew the last words were pointed at him. He hated it. Was UA going to take that fucking useless nerd's side too?! So stupid… But he won’t let something like this stop him!

He clenched his fists and was the first one to exit the room. The rest were quick to follow, terrified of their teacher.

“Hey, guess which hero he is,” Izuku murmured, as his group kept to the back of the crowd.

“No fucking way,” Shinso murmured, his mind not needing any more info to connect the dots.

“Yes,” Midoriya answered readily with a happy twinkle in his eyes.

“Um… You lost me.” Ochaco murmured.

Inasa patted her on the back – strangely lightly for his standards – in understanding.

“You’ll get used to it. But they probably mean Eraserhead since it’s Shoshi’s favorite hero and hardly anyone knows about him. Except those two, I guess.”

Both Hitoshi and Izuku blinked, taken off-guard by their friend's especially astute deduction.

“They grow so fast…” Midoriya whispered, wiping away a fake…

Wait.

Is it an actual tear?

~⁀‖⁀~§~♪~§~‿‖‿~

Ah yes, a new year with new classes… And Aizawa already hates it.

He isn’t one to delude himself. He knows how hard it is having a weak or so-called ‘villainous’ quirk (after all people don’t like suddenly not having access to their power) but not having one at all? Yeah. He could guess reactions.

But for it to follow the coffee kid right to UA? Aizawa knew things wouldn’t go well the second Nezu wrote Bakugo Katsuki onto his class roaster. At first glance, it was obvious that the kid had a character no less explosive than his quirk. The fact that he went to the same school as Midoriya? Shouta expected some hardships.

At least the coffee kid seemed to have good friends. Though it’s kind of confusing; when did Ochaco Uraraka join his little group? She lived far from here (he knows because UA gave her a scholarship for accommodation when she got in).

Whatever, at least for now things seemed relatively calm…

“The person from first place, come throw the ball without and with the use of your quirk.”

Inasa Yoarashi seemed to have a lot of potential… But was also very loud.

“HERE I GO!” he yelled, throwing the ball that went… Well, even without his quirk his throw was solid.

Aizawa readily handed him another ball and of course… The second attempt was even louder. 

“I’LL SHOW YOU ALL MY PASSION!”

Yeah… This kid would get along with idiots like Present Mic and All Might splendidly.

“723.4 meters.”

“YEEEAAAH! MIZU DID YOU SEE THAT?!”

Ah. Aizawa is hating this year already.

“It’s going to be so exciting! I'm going to have so much fun here!” some poor soul exclaimed and Shouta whipped his head toward a pink-haired girl (Mina Ashido, quirk Acid).

“Fun? You’ve come here to have fun?” he inquired following with his usual lecture about the unfairness of the hero world and telling them the person from last place would be deemed hopeless and expelled.

Some students got scared, some seemed confident… Coffee kid, of course, was part of the latter group. His friends – except Shinso Hitoshi – seemed fairly confident too.

Soon enough everything was moving forward nicely. He watched all the students carefully, readily noticing that Inasa’s level was comparable to the two students who had gotten through the recommendation exam. He was actually ahead of them points-wise until the long run in which Yaoyorozu made herself a scooter.

For herself and for the purple-haired boy (after he talked to her and she went blank for a moment). He didn’t miss how the boy talked to the coffee kid before doing so. Aizawa had a strong feeling those two elements were connected even if he didn’t have evidence. But he knows better than to ignore his gut feeling.

It was actually rather surprising how uneventfully the tests went. He half expected Midoriya to bring out some kind of invention (or even just a screwdriver) and do… Something. He isn’t quite sure what he should expect from the boy.

“I will show the final results now,” he stated at last, not letting his need to roll his eyes win over him.

Of course, the coffee kid managed to get an eleventh place even without pulling something weird.

“Oh no…” a dark-haired girl whispered, terror evident in her eyes. Kyoka Jiro.

“It was a logical ruse. I wouldn’t expel someone who has potential,” he explained. The girl wasn’t bad; she could actually go very far. Her quirk would be excellent for underground work and she would do great as a daylight one too. The action in the field (like the entrance exam) was far better for showing her skills than strictly physical tests like the ones they just went through.

“It doesn’t make sense!” Bakugo yelled but thankfully for his spot in the hero course, he didn’t explode. The kids around whispered about his words in confusion or, still scared of the expulsion threat, simply watched. “This… He shouldn’t be here!”

Midoriya blinked at the finger pointed at him.

“And why is that Kacchan?” the boy asked, raising an eyebrow.

For now, Aizawa decided to watch the situation unfold. The teacher needs to know when to step in. For now, it’s more important to observe and learn the patterns of behavior the two of his students present. Acting without understanding the root of the problem would be pointless.

“Why? Why?!” the blond demanded taking a step forward but one glance at the teacher made him pause, at least in his approach. “Because you’re fucking quirkless!”

Then Bakugo glanced at Aizawa. As if that statement would spark some kind of realization in the teacher.

“UA does not discriminate any kind of quirks and lack thereof,” he offered his input calmly.

“But it doesn’t make sense! He’s weak and useless! He doesn’t have any power!” the blond continued.

“Hey, dude… Chill out… People can do plenty without quirks…” a red-haired boy said, clearly trying to diffuse the situation (Kirishima Ejirou, quirk Hardening).

“Right, right! Have you ever seen pre-quirk era people do parkour? You wouldn’t believe they don’t have some kind of agility quirk!” Ashido added.

“UA is fair. If he was useless he wouldn’t be here.” another girl added (Tsuyu Asui, quirk Frog).

“How can you not get it?!” Bakugo's voice got even louder. “How can someone become a hero without a quirk?! That's a joke!”

“Hey, Kacchan.” the coffee kid said calmly, and uh… Aizawa isn’t going to like what is about to happen, is he?

“What, you fucking nerd?!”

“How did you like your third place?” Midoriya inquired, tilting his head innocently.

Most of the class had no idea what he was talking about (after all Bakugo placed fourth in the quirk apprehension test) but Aizawa did. And that’s why the blond didn’t get even one spark out as Aizawa’s quirk flashed to life.

“Midoriya don’t antagonize him, Bakugo keep your emotions in check. If I see any unauthorized quirk usage there will be consequences.”

Thankfully his words seemed to have enough impact. The blond angrily kicked the grass but turned around and stomped away. Some of the children gathered around the coffee kid but they didn’t seem to have bad intentions in mind so the hero took his leave too.

Of fucking course, he bumped into All Might on his way back. Ugh…

Chapter Text

“Greetings. May I join your group or would my presence be unwarranted?” the square glassed- Iida, it’s Iida, asked as they walked toward the gate.

“Of course, you can join us! The more the merrier!” Inasa exclaimed, one to always be happy.

“Is he joining our team too?” Mei asked glancing at Izuku.

“Your team?” the boy inquired.

“Yeah! We’re planning to make our own hero team! We call it Percepts of Justice!” Inasa was quick to explain.

“Oh! It sounds wonderful! But I’m afraid, I can’t join you for I hope to work with my brother after graduation!”

In this exact second Midoriya’s mind went into an override. If he thinks about it, Iida’s quirk seems familiar. There is a hero with a similar speed-related power. One that – according to his future self’s memories – got targeted by hero killer Stain and couldn’t continue his career after that encounter... His name was…

“Sounds super cool! What’s his name?” 

“Ingenium,” Izuku whispered and everyone’s eyes instantly focused on him.

“How did you know?” Iida asked but luckily he seemed more impressed than creeped out.

“He’s a very popular hero and he has a quirk very similar to yours!” Midoriya was quick to explain.

“Mizu has a knack for analyzing quirks!” Uraraka added happily.

“Yeah! He’s like super mega smart! And he’s really good at fighting too! We spar together sometimes and he’s super passionate about everything he does!”

“He’s our team’s leader,” Shinso added seeing how Izuku’s face was slowly gaining more color.

“Come on guys! I’m not that good!” he tried but…

“You are!” Mei was quick to say, throwing her arm around his shoulder. “You can strategize, you know how to make things and you can fight too! How do you find time to practice all of it? Teach me your ways!”

It was an extremely eventful but nice walk to the station nonetheless. By the end of it, Iida could confidently be called part of their group and had requested to join Inasa’s and Izuku’s sparring sessions (Shinso frequents them too whenever he can… They could probably start dojo or something).

“Oh, I know!” Uraraka exclaimed just as they were about to go their separate ways. “When we start our team we should make an alliance or whatever that's called, with your brother’s agency! Then we could work together!”

“Ah, yes! It is a wonderful idea! I will be sure to talk about it with him!” Iida answered, happy in his own somewhat mechanic way.

“Maybe wait until we legally establish our team?” Izuku asked although their enthusiasm made him smile.

“We’ll definitely make it! So let's start making connections early on!” Inasa was quick to assure.

“Yeah, with a team leader like you, it’s just a matter of time.” Shinso agreed easily.

Izuku rolled his eyes.

“Alright, alright. You’re right, early connections wouldn’t hurt.”

For some reason, it made everyone around him extremely happy.

“Yeaaah! He agreed!”

“We can work on our first alliance!”

“Nice.”

“Oooh! I’m going to research Ingenium! I’ll make some special babies! He’s going to love them, I tell you!”

He shook his head with a smile joining them with a “Plus ultra!” that they readily yelled right back at him (accompanied by Ida's half-confused half-outraged "babies?!").

~⁀‖⁀~§~♪~§~‿‖‿~

He was about to go to his workshop when he got an SMS from All Might himself.

Can we talk, my boy?

Was what it said, and of course, Midoriya agreed. He already expected what the man would say but it would be rude to refuse. Especially since he doesn’t have anything planned (not that the man would know… But lying to the symbol of peace for such a mundane matter felt silly).

Sure. Dagobah Beach?

Yes, it'd be perfect. I can be there in ten minutes if that’s alright with you.

And the man is being so considerate of Izuku’s time!

Yeah, I was about to go to that area anyway.

It didn’t take him long to get to their usual spot and even less to spot the hero, in his smaller form. Izuku readily ran up to him, waving.

“What did you want to talk about?” he inquired.

“I wanted to ask whether you thought about my offer, my boy.”

Izuku sighed. He expected that. Was he the same person his future self was at this point in time, he would have said yes at least three times by now but he isn’t. He has a lot of quirks, One for All included.

“And have you looked at other students?” Midoriya asked, crossing his arms.

“Well… I watched the entrance exam and I admit that there are plenty of amazing future heroes there but once again, you’re the one who caught my eye the most. It was rather impressive how you took that zero pointer down!”

“I was lucky that girl had a quirk that worked well in that situation,” he answered with a shrug.

All Might put his hands on the boy’s shoulders.

“You have proven me wrong, my boy. I know now that even without a quirk you will make a wonderful hero and even if you refuse my offer I will whole-heartedly await your success. I just want you to know that my decision to offer you a quirk wasn’t a whim or an accident! I truly believe you have what it takes to be a future symbol!”

Aaaaah! Why does he have to make it so hard for Izuku to refuse?! Maybe he should tell the truth…? At least about the quirk… But what if the hero hates him then?! If he thinks Midoriya is a liar, a fraud?!

Maybe that’s what he deserves? Instead of this kindness…

“You joined UA as a member of its staff,” Izuku said, trying to force a tremor out of his voice. Somehow he managed to do so. “Please, take a better look at others. I can help you look for the best successor but I think there are far better choices than me.”

The man sighed, his hands falling to his sides.

“Alright, my boy. Abd I will gladly take your offer, two heads are always better than one, after all! I know it has been only a day but can I hear your opinion on other students so far?”

Midoriya readily took out his phone to check on his notes. He was nothing if not ready to talk about quirks in any given situation.

“Let’s start with Todoroki and Yaoyorozu. They both have extremely powerful quirks but I’m worried about the finer control if they got One For All. Todoroki can already create icebergs while Yaoyorozu creates things from her body fats which means that strengthening her quirk could be potentially dangerous to her.”

All Might blinked. He really thought he was ready for anything the boy would throw at him and yet… Here he was, once again taken off guard.

“Kaminari is a similar case since his quirk’s overuse damages his brain, not permanently, thankfully, but it still is worrying. From what I glimpsed Aoyama needs a special belt for health reasons so I wouldn’t risk giving him One For All in case it made his quirk too hard to control. Iida might seem like a good choice but I’m afraid that OFA mixed with his own power would make him too fast for himself and he already seems to have problems with quick turns.”

All Might raised his hand and after finishing his sentence, the boy nodded at him, letting him speak.

“Um… Would you mind sending me your notes later on?”

“I have them written very loosely but I will compile what I just said into written form today and send it to you.” the boy assured. “Continuing… I’m sure Shinso would do great with that quirk but he isn’t a very social person so I don’t think asking him to be the next symbol would be a great idea. As for Ojiro… Has any user of OFA had a mutation-type quirk?”

“Not that I know of…”

“Then that’s something to think about. If One for All strengthened his tail more than the rest of his body or vice versa it wouldn’t be good. Tokoyami… His quirk gets out of control when it’s too dark, giving him OFA could end in a catastrophe. I don’t know much about Kouda apart from the fact that he can talk to animals. Mina’s quirk is Acid so it could grow into dangerous proportions if it was suddenly strengthened by OFA while Shouji might look too scary for the general audience to become the next symbol. Sero would be a pretty good option since he can use his tape for mobility and there isn't much that could go wrong with strengthening it.”

“Okay. So far Sero is the best option, noted.” All Might said, trying to note down the sudden influx of data in his brain.

“Another good option would be Satou since he has a strengthening quirk so he should be pretty compatible with OFA, assuming from your case…”

“Wait.” the man interjected and Izuku readily stopped, raising his eyebrow in question. “You think I had strength quirk before One For All?”

“Yeah, it seems only logical,” he answered readily before furrowing his brows. “You didn’t? Then what was it? Was it something passive? Probably not regeneration unless it’s the thing holding you alive right now…”

“No, no, my boy. I didn’t have a quirk before One for All.”

It made sense. In a crashing kind of way that had him stopping breathing for a second, too focused on connecting the dots, thinking. All the little things that escaped his grasp before were back to fill up the holes of his previous missed theories.

All Might wasn’t in any way condescending when he said what he did to his future self. His words didn’t come from looking down on him but from the man’s own feeling of weakness. The hero probably saw himself in the boy but it would be stupid to just instantly hand his quirk over (not that he didn’t need only one more push in the form of the boy running head-first into the villain). So All Might probably repeated what he always heard, what he knew from before meeting the previous user of One for All. From what he might have believed true for himself too, did he not get the chance he did.

But what if he didn’t? What if All Might didn’t get this quirk? Would he still be a hero, even if a less-known one? Or would he… Would he end up giving up and finding a different path? Just like future Izuku did…?

“Oh,” Midoriya said softly. “It… Explains quite a bit.”

“Well...” the man mumbled shuffling his feet and then he cleared his throat. “Would you like to mention any other classmate of yours?”

Izuku blinked once and stored his other thoughts for later, readily picking up from where he had left.

“Jirou would be a bit risky choice since her earphones seem to be pretty sensitive already but they have a lot of uses and seem to possess an equal amount if not more strength than her arms. Overall she would be a pretty good choice but I don’t know if she would rather be a daylight hero or an underground one. And, additionally, she presents a similar problem as Ojiro. The top three choices I would recommend are Kirishima, Ochaco, and Tsuyu.”

“What about…?”

“Oh! Right! I completely forgot about Inasa! Sorry. I’d rather leave his evaluation for you since I don’t want to just recommend my friends. He has a strong quirk, he’s just like Todoroki in this aspect. He’s very passionate and enthusiastic and I'm sure that he would make a wonderful symbol. But he can be a little much at times and I’m afraid he would need a lot of media training.”

“Thanks for mentioning him but I also wanted to ask about young Bakugo…”

“Nope,” Midoriya answered readily, making a cross with his hands.

“May I ask why…?” All Might asked, sweat-dropping.

“I don’t like him, for starters,” Izuku said nonchalantly and the hero fell in a comedic-relief manner from surprise but was quick to get up. “He’s a massive asshole. I’m pretty sure UA, especially Aizawa sensei, will be able to fix his attitude but I don’t feel like he needs any more power than he already has. Plus, I don’t think upgrading him from a ticking bomb into a dynamite with a lighted fuse would be a good idea. He has fine control over his explosions, I admit, but he also has no qualms about going all out on others. It hurts. Even without equipment and three years of training in UA. I don’t even want to think about how much destruction he would be capable of with One for All.”

All Might went strangely quiet, his face more serious than Midoriya’s had seen since the rooftop.

“Did he… Use his quirk on you, my boy?”

“Yeah, plenty of times. But there was already intervention at Aldera High so my last two years or so there were fine, no worries.”

“Midoriya, my boy… You do realize that if he hurt you with his quirk he shouldn’t be in UA in the first place, right…?”

Izuku looked at him with sharp eyes.

“Yes, I do, even better than you. But as much as it pains me to admit it, the fault doesn’t lie entirely within him. Teachers never cared to step in, before police intervention that is, so he grew up thinking he was above everyone and everything. He shouldn’t lose his chance just because people around us were idiots.” he was quick to explain but for some reason, his eyes moved toward the sky. “And it wouldn’t feel right to take his dream away from him…”

Even if the asshole did try to do that exact thing to Midoriya. But Izuku isn’t him. He would never hurt anyone like that. Even if it was a friend that nothing short of stabbed him in the back.

All Might smiled lightly at that.

“So… Who are the three people I was supposed to keep an eye on?”

Izuku quickly perked up at that.

“Kirishima's quirk, hardening, mixed with One For All would probably make him close to invincible and I think it would help with controlling the sheer destructive strength of OFA. Tsuyu is very agile and her quirk seems pretty versatile though I’m not sure if her physique wouldn’t make it hard to withhold One For All’s power. As for Uraraka… I don’t know her long but she looks like someone who would easily capture hearts and her quirk, Zero Gravity, is already at… How to put it? Since it makes things weigh nothing, there’s no way for One For All to make it stronger in that sense which means it would probably make her able to use it on more things without getting effects of overuse.”

“Noted! I will keep an eye on them! And… Would it be weird if I asked you about your thoughts on students from other classes? Of course, I will tell you why I thought about choosing them and their quirks! I feel like you could provide a great insight!”

“Of course but… Why can’t you ask Nezu?”

Yagi fumbled with his hands, looking to the side like a nervous teenager. It might look cool when he’s in his bigger form but in this one, it was a bit creepy… And plenty funny. Though it might be just Izuku and his weird sense of humor.

“I’m a bit scared of him…”

“Good. You have some rationality left after all.” Izuku huffed, crossing his arms.

All Might blinked.

“Huh? You’re agreeing with me?”

“I mean, I’m sure Nezu would help you greatly especially since it’s his school and his students but I can see why you’d find him intimidating. After all, it isn’t someone who can be taken down with brute force so he’s out of your comfort zone.”

“Right in the point, as always… Your deductions are amazing, my boy!”

Midoriya tried to keep his tough persona act but he couldn’t help the blush that grew on his face at the compliment.

“I’m just pointing out facts!” he quickly said, turning around. “If it’s everything I’ll keep going…”

(Toshinori smiled to himself. It was nice to see this kid acting like… Well a kid.)

“Of course! Thank you for your time!”

And… Midoriya went straight into the heart of the garbage dump. All Might didn’t question that, just went home to think about his successor choices…

Maybe he should give Sir Nighteye a call after all?

~⁀‖⁀~§~♪~§~‿‖‿~

“Hey, Sir! How are you doing?” Mirio asked joyfully, walking inside right after knocking.

“Present is a hell we are locked in forever until the day we die.”

“Good thing you can glance at the future then!” the blond stated, not deterred at all by his teacher’s rough appearance.

Sir Nighteye had a lot on his mind. All Might? One For All? Ha! It wasn’t even the beginning of this migraine he calls life! First, he took in a student who had a lot of potential but no idea what his quirk truly let him do (and then All Might refused to come meet the boy who was obviously the best choice for a successor… But he sure as hell isn’t opening this jar or irritation right now), then there was his case on yakuza. They were a quiet group so it was hard to gather information on them. One might even think they were harmless (at least compared to other criminal groups).

But then something changed. They didn’t have much info to begin with but everything they gathered about them contradicted the operandus modi they suddenly donned. It looked like a change in higher-ups. And Sir Nighteye had a bad feeling about it.

But just as he was starting to learn their routes and even start planning some reconnaissance he got an urgent call from Detective Tsukauchi (they hadn’t talked in a while so he knew it had to be something important).

And just like that, years of observing turned out useless because some small-time vigilante not only found the yakuza’s headquarters but was inside it right as the hero was talking with the detective. Sounds infuriating enough? Because that’s still not even the upper part of the iceberg!

By the time Sir Nighteye came with his team (it took him under forty minutes to get everyone ready and get to the scene) the vigilante was gone. Hawks was already present, making sure no civilians had gotten or would get hurt but he hadn’t seen the so-called Phantom either.

Fine. That’s alright. It’s not like Sir Nighteye needs to catch that crazy vigilante. It’s good enough that the menace didn’t make the yakuza fully aware of the sudden raid that was upon them. The fight wasn’t easy but soon, the heroes were deep within their headquarters.

They found the leader, Overhaul (which they had not much info about but enough to know how devastatingly strong his quirk is) unconscious. Near him was a strange capsule and on his computer? A lot of data. Terrible data. Things that if put into life could destroy their society as they know it.

It quickly turned out that the previous leader was a victim of the present one. He had been found, on bed, freshly awoken from a coma if diagrams on the machine stationed next to him were to be believed (they were, they would soon learn).

It wasn’t even just crazy anymore. It was madness.

Still, it wasn’t the tip of the iceberg yet. No, what was cheery on top, the icing on the cake was… Yakuza was experimenting on a little girl (granddaughter of the previous leader). And she was nowhere to be found. She was with the vigilante, according to the previous yakuza boss.

Madness. Pure, non-diluted, madness.

And a bit over a week later aforementioned girl was under Eraserhead’s protection (thank god, if a less qualified hero became her foster family, Sir Nighteye would most likely throw hands… Onto a paper to file some papers needed to adopt the poor child). He wasn’t even questioning it anymore. What was on his mind right now was Phantom.

He asked Tsukauchi for some info and he learned that the vigilante had a quirk somewhat similar to his student’s Permeation. The well-meaning criminal could phase through objects too, although it seemed to extend to his clothes (unless they were made from special material like Lemillion’s which was highly improbable).

“Hey! Sir! What’s on your mind? You look like you’re thinking really hard about something!”

The man sighed.

“The vigilante, Phantom. I don’t like how similar his quirk is to yours. I don’t even want to think about the problems it could bring if the media became aware of his activity. Yet, I’m even more worried about what he is truly capable of. We know how strong and hard to control your quirk is… I can only imagine the potential he has.”

“But he’s a vigilante, not a villain, right? That must mean he has a good heart! And he helped Eri too!”

Mirio was, so far, one of the very few people Eri seemed to genuinely like. It might be a bit ironic but her sympathy came mostly from how similar his quirk was to the vigilante’s.

“He might have helped this time but what if he made things worse both for her and us? He could have gotten killed! It’s more than stupid to call for backup when you're already deep into the enemy's lair! What if something went wrong and we didn’t come in time to save him? What if we didn’t come at all thinking it was a prank and later on yakuza found him and took revenge?”

Mirio raised his hands placatingly.

“But maybe he became a vigilante exactly for that? So his call would be taken seriously? And… Sometimes it’s hard not to act when you know someone is being hurt…”

Sir Nighteye sighed. His student has such a bleeding heart… He would make such an amazing symbol… No, he is going to become a symbol. Even without One For All he has the potential to bring hope to everyone!

“Even then he could have contacted heroes first. For such an important raid, I’m sure everyone would be willing to turn a blind eye to him not having a license. In fact, underground heroes work with vigilantes quite often. The problem I have with this vigilante is how reckless he acted. Just because he might be immune to attacks due to his quirk doesn’t mean he’s indestructible!”

Mirio smiled at that.

“Oh, I see! You’re just worried!” the boy said and then his grin widened. “One could say… You would feel phantom pain if he got hurt!”

Sir Nighteye couldn’t help it, the corners of his mouth twitched upward.

“Of course, I would. How could I ghost such a talented individual?” the man answered, bringing a booming laugh out of his student. “But, back to the topic… According to Tsukauchi, it is most likely that Phantom isn’t much older than you, possibly even is your age.”

Mirio blinked at that.

“Do I have a twin brother I don’t know about?”

“I’m sure were you to have a twin they wouldn’t be even half as insufferable as this vigilante. From what I’ve gathered from Tsukauchi, he and Eraserhead became speed dial buddies because of him.”

“And yet their worry don't seem to phase him!”

Sir Nighteye smiled. Mirio always knows how to lift his spirits.

Chapter Text

Midoriya Izuku once had an idea for a hero costume. It was… Awkwardly cute, for the lack of a better word. Two antennas on his hood inspired by All Might? More like rabbit ears. His mouth guard which was supposed to be a hope-bringing smile but instead looked like a wicked grin? On paper, it looked adorable but that might be the fault of his seven-year-old style.

Anyway. It was green and soft and cute. And you know what?

He absolutely loved it.

His mom wanted to sew it for him when she learned that he got into UA (it was obvious how guilty she felt about not believing in him, not that he blames her… Well, mostly he doesn’t) but he tactfully refused. He had a chance to get a costume made by professionals and oh boy was he going to take it.

That’s why when All Might showed up and told them they would be putting them on, he couldn’t help but smile. He kept grinning the whole way to the training field.

“I’m afraid for my life,” Shinso murmured and Midoriya rolled his eyes.

“What could poor quirkless me do to you? Swear you into oblivion?” he said it loud enough for Bakugo walking in the very front would hear.

The blond tched and walked faster.

“Actually, if you did that I don’t think my heart could take it…” Hitoshi said, holding his hand to his chest in a dramatic manner.

“Guys! We need to change into our costumes! Move faster!” Ochaco hurried them, physically pushing them forward.

“Yes! Let’s show our passion! We’re going to ace it! Plus ultra!” Inasa yelled happily, already a few paced ahead of them.

“Sure, sure…” Shinso drawled out and soon enough they all went to their changing rooms.

Shinso was the first one to get into his costume while the very last to come was no other than Izuku.

“Really?” Hitoshi asked with a small grin.

“I look absolutely fabulous.”  Izuku was quick to answer, putting a hand on his hip.

His costume was dark green and absolutely perfect because who wouldn’t want to look like an overgrown radioactive bunny whenever they have their hood up? And a hero should look friendly for the civilians! What was important lay within details anyway! His mouthguard had a gas-filtering function in it, his gloves had magnetic properties (he could stick to the metal walls and both pull and push some materials, depending on which function he wanted to use; they were activated by specific finger movements) and his wonderful red boots were… Well, they had pretty much the same properties as the gloves but were additionally extremely sturdy and heavy enough to effectively break bones. Not that he was planning on doing the second part (or so he thought right to the moment of learning he would be fighting his bully of a childhood friend).

But the most important was the red toolbox on his hips. Protectors on his elbows and lower legs? Meh, not that important. Who cares about those when he has a whole set of tools with him? Give him ten minutes and he will be able to make electricity boxes explode in the three nearby buildings! And not even get him started on actual inventions of his he had put in the pockets… He also had a first aid kit but making bombs out of salves is more of Nezu’s thing.

“You both look great! Though I think you could put a tad bit more work into your costume, not that I don’t like it!” Inasa said, his own hero gear not much different than when he was in Shiketsu. In this timeline, he had the addition of some additional pockets and goggles.

Even though he was clad from eye to toe, it kind of felt as if he was naked without a hat.

Shinso’s own costume was… Well, he changed into a PE costume and put his voice changer on. He also had scarves that looked exactly like Aizawa’s.

“Ah, I’m kind of jealous guys! You all look so comfortable while my costume came out so skin-tight!” Ochaco said with a sigh.

“Just say a word to Mei, she’ll be sure to fix it for you,” Shinso noted. “But otherwise… You don’t look bad. Astronaut vibes suit you.”

“Yeah! You totally rock it! It’s straight out of this world!” Inasa joined, happily and the girl readily laughed at the pun.

“You definitely need to get it fixed if it’s too tight. It could worsen your nausea.” Izuku pointed out and the girl gasped.

“You’re right! I didn’t even think about how bad I would feel with the material squeezing my stomach!"

“Do not worry! We will go with you to the support course to ask about your adjustment if you would like us to!”

“Iida? I nearly didn’t recognize you with the suit on! It’s amazing! You’re the best at hiding your identity!” Inasa said happily while Shinso rolled his eyes.

“Isn’t it hard to move around in it?” Hitoshi asked.

“Thank you for your concern but it is quite alright!”

That’s when the conversation ended, as All Might called for their attention. He complimented their costumes and explained the exercise. After he finished and people started to pull lots, Izuku leaned toward Shinso.

“Do you have any idea how to use them?” he asked, pointing at the scarves.

“I just got them,” Hitoshi answered and Midoriya made a sour face.

“Good luck,” he said, and before Shinso could question his reaction, the green-haired boy was already talking to Ochaco about their plan.

Well, future Izuku asked Aizawa about his scarves and got a free speed-up course on using them. Midoriya perfected the art of not tangling himself in before promptly deciding that he rather go permeating through waves with Mirio again. Yeah, it sounds fun in theory but practice proves one very wrong.

But Shinso was, for now, blissfully unaware of the hell that learning how to use a capture weapon was.

 ~⁀‖⁀~§~♪~§~‿‖‿~

Fucking finally!

It was absolutely infuriating that the nerd didn’t know his damn place! First, the whole mess with the police in their school, and suddenly teachers tell him to stop picking on that fucker, then getting third place, and then - like a cherry on a shit cake - learning that useless Deku got into UA too (and somehow knew about his third place! That fucking creep…)!

But now he finally had the perfect chance to beat some sense into that moron. Of course, the world would eventually find a way to let Katsuki show his superiority! To not only prove how much better he is than everyone else but also to show useless Deku his place at that!

Yeah, now it all makes sense again. The third place was some kind of cosmic mistake. But it’s fine because for that fuck up it decided to give them All Might as a teacher. All Might himself!

And sure, Deku got in too but that’s probably just so Katsuki can beat the crap out of him while everyone is watching so they can see how useless that idiot truly is. Of course, there are some ups before he can go sliding right onto his well-deserved first place!

If only this fucking extra would shut the fuck up…

“I don’t care! Just keep the bomb safe!” Katsuki snapped but instead of doing as told, Square Face kept on whining about cooperation.

Boo-fucking-hoo! If he can’t do anything on his own why did he even try for UA in the first place?! No one is going to hold his damn hand and play with him! They are here to become fucking heroes not friends! Even the stupid homeless-looking man said so on the first day of school!

“Start!”

He didn’t need anything more to go barreling down the stairs. He fully expected that useless coward to come through the window (he has experience with those, doesn’t he? Looking down on Katsuki, how dare this piece of shit think he’s better?!) but gravity girl most likely wouldn’t be able to do so (if she could she would have gotten a much better score at quirk apprehension test, psh, such a useless extra…).

And, ultimately, that stupid nerd wasn’t one to leave someone behind, not when they would end up facing enraged Katsuki. That fucking nerd is too damn predictable!

“I’ll distract him, go for the stairs…”

He rolled his eyes, a huge sharp grin spreading over his face. Did that idiot think Katsuki wouldn’t hear him? Ha! He can’t whisper for shit!

“Come out you fucking nerd!” he yelled, kicking the doors open and raising his hand to aim at the ugly green…

Where the fuck is that weakling?!

Katsuki looked around, his brows furrowing. He swore loudly and stomped toward a communicator that lay on the ground. Really? Right, what was he expecting from the fucker... Was it gravity’s girl? What kind of cheap trick is this?!

“COME AND FIGHT ME!” he roared, turning around and sprinting through the corridor. He wasn’t about to play psychological games with that fucking creep (did someone really go upstairs? Did they not and were waiting for the blond to do so?) so he moved toward the main entrance; the point closest to the hero’s starting position. Obviously there were no traces to follow but logically no one would risk putting bomb on the first floor so if the idiots thought at least this well, they’d go up. So that’s where Katsuki went.

“To the right!” he heard and took sharp turn, barreling into… Another empty room. Brows furrowed he stomped inside, ending life of another earpiece. The fucker had more than the ones they have gotten on the beginning, of course he fucking does. How else could the useless extra even think about fighting him?

He cursed the nerd loudly and took few more loud steps before softening them, moving slowly toward the floor with the bomb. If he fucking has to trace the idiot before he’ll be able to put him in his place then so be it. One of them is bound to do something dumb, fall on their face or something, and the ruckus-

“Uraraka is in the room!” his useless teammate’s filtered through the receiver and fine. If they want to take it there, they can fight there.

“Then fucking protect the bomb, that’s the goal!” he sneered, his steps picking up in speed now that he knew exactly where to go.

He ignored the extra’s “diabolical” laugh. Is Katsuki surrounded by idiots or is he simply too good?

He was on the right corridor, using his explosions to go faster now that he was in the straight line when someone stepped out of room behind, forcing him to stop and turn around. The fucker finally showed himself.

“Long time no see, huh, Kacchan?”

“Finally stopped hiding?” Katsuki sneered, lunging forward for a good punch but his hand has been grabbed and his center of gravity went off center before returning with vengeance as his body had been acquainted with the cement floor. The fucker took a moment to grin at him before bolting to the other side of the corridor.

The tin hat extra better keep his own against gravity girl.

Katsuki raised his weapon and brushed off All Might’s warning. This fucker is very good at dodging. Just like running and jumping out of windows, isn’t he just great in that bullshit? So, of course, the blond pulled the trigger and moved right after his projectile, ready to grab the pest and show him his place.

He expected the smoke. What he didn’t expect was that the other party expecting it more (of course the fucker came prepared with protective wear, what else could the useless extra do against him?), rendering his advantage into disadvantage. Only a moment after diving into dust, he found his target… No, rather, he had been found by his target, capture tape wrapped around his hands with uncanny accuracy.

The dust didn’t even fully settle before the result of the match was out.

“Hero team wins!”

And so he was left in the dirty corridor next to a half crumbled wall, hands bound and bitter taste of failure on his tongue. It didn’t taste much different from the plaster which particles were still floating through the air. He could hear his extra and gravity girl talking, the fucker that just defeated him quickly walking by him to join.

He’s the best. But he just lost.

If he isn’t the best, who is he?

~⁀‖⁀~§~♪~§~‿‖‿~

Midoriya’s patience has its limits, contrary to what some might believe...

“No,” Izuku stated even before Bakugo could open his mouth. “I swear if you as much as singe my clothes I’m going to call the police. I’m confident it would count under assault charges.”

..And noticing an extremely angry blond standing a few feet from his fence was cutting it very close. For once the fuse that had been put on fire wasn’t Katsuki’s.

“I’m not stupid, you fucker. I just want to talk.” the boy grumbled out through gritted teeth.

Izuku blinked in surprise but was quick to cross his arms.

“Oh? Really?”

“You have no idea how much willpower it takes not to punch you…”

“So sad we can’t connect over the needless urge for violence.”

Honestly? Midoriya was actually impressed that his once friend didn’t explode at that. Though some sparks did fly from his hands.

“How?” the blond finally asked. “How did a weak useless fucker like you get into UA? How did you know I placed third?! How to the ever-loving fucking hell did they let in someone who can only run?!”

Izuku readily raised one finger after another, answering the questions.

“With a screwdriver, grappling hook, a lot of determination, and probably some spite. Through the process of elimination, I know who got first and second. I run toward danger more often than I run away from it, actually.” After he finished, he let his arms fall to his sides. “Is the truth enough for you? Are you done being angry at me for god knows what?”

Bakugo actually turned around and exploded in a controlled manner at the air before looking at Midoriya again.

“It doesn’t make any damn sense! Getting in UA with a screwdriver and grappling hook?! When other participants could nearly compare to me?! You’re weak! You don’t have power! So why?! Why can’t you just see where your place is?! Why is it so damn hard for you to understand facts?! Are you so stupid or so blind that you can't even see the fucking reality?!”

Izuku stepped closer at that, his eye twitching.

“Well, I’m sorry I’ve been born with an additional toe joint for all that it’s worth! But guess what! I don’t want to give up on my dreams just because I wasn’t born perfect like you! You can call me a coward all you want but I spent my whole life fighting against everyone to prove that I can achieve something too!” Izuku said, his voice progressively getting more and more angry until it was more of a scream.

“You don’t-!” the blond tried but Izuku was too furious to let him finish.

For once, the bomb that was about to explode didn't have "Bakugo" written all over it.

“Shut up for five fucking seconds and listen, will you?!” Midoriya yelled and the other boy actually stayed quiet for once. It was more likely due to surprise rather than any kind of respect but Izuku would take what he could. “I knew you would hate my guts for being quirkless so I stopped following you! I left you alone but you just can’t let go! You think I’m the thorn in your side?! Look at yourself for one goddamn second! You’re smart, smart enough to think objectively! What did I ever do to you to deserve the things you put me through?! And look at all this shit you made me go through! I have never gone to the police or made an official statement against you! Do you know why?! Because I would never let my anger destroy someone’s lifelong dream!”

It was weird, it was as if roles had turned around. So strange... No, wrong even, when for once it was Bakugo’s eyes that became glassy.

“But it’s funny to you, isn’t it?! Fuckign hilarious! You always look down on me! All those damn extras knew who has the power! All of them knew to follow and listen to me! But you! You acted all high and mighty! As if you’re better than me even though you don’t have a fucking quirk!”

Izuku wanted to keep his cool. To maybe... Not talk things out but at least make their relationship something a little less hateful. But he’s just a human. He might have over a dozen quirks, memories of the future, he might train and try twenty-one out of twenty-four hours but it doesn’t change one very important fact.

He’s a teen. Hormonal kid with a doubled amount of memories that scream for justice. Who’s stressed out not only by mundane things but also by the weight of having to save the world from a centuries-old supervillain. Of making sure his favorite hero doesn’t die and that the guy chooses a successor. A right successor.

“Is that why you tried your damndest to make my life a living hell? Because your pride couldn’t take someone quirkless putting his feet down when you acted like a total asshole?! I’m so sorry that I’m a person and I have feelings that you put through the wringer more times than I can count! Being alienated from the age of what? Five? Was fucking wonderful, thank you and all our idiot teachers for that!” Izuku barreled on before suddenly calming down. It was uncanny, the way he went from fuming to freezing just as he stopped talking. But a crazy theory had suddenly wormed its way into his brain. One that had a lot of merit to it, according to High Spec. One that he couldn't help but speak out loud. “You... You see me as a danger but you can’t bear the thought of me being your rival. Because I don’t have a quirk. And everything that involves you must be perfect.”

The blond took a step back and he would most definitely say it was because of the sudden change in Midoriya’s tone but for Izuku it was already plenty obvious that he hit a spot Katsuki didn’t feel like ever touching.

“What the hell?! That’s the dumbest idea I ever heard! How could a useless nerd like you ever hope to be my rival?!”

“You’re repeating yourself. Didn’t you call me ‘fucking useless’ enough times over the past decade?”

Bakugo quickly wiped at his eyes (angrily yelling in his mind that there was a lot of dust in the area) and glowered at the shorter boy.

“Are you fucking serious right now?! You can't be idiotic enough not to notice it! Even now you’re talking down to me!”

“And what else am I supposed to do?! Whatever I do you’re always trying to get me! If I kneeled down and apologized for existing you would hate me! If I fought back with everything I have you would hate me! Ignoring you wouldn’t be any good according to you either! And you sure as hell know what you feel right now when I’m just saying what I think!”

“You should have just kept your head low like all those other extras!”

Izuku snickered. His future self did that and where did it lead him?

“Would it really help?” he asked darkly.

Bakugo didn’t give him an answer to that; he just tched and turned around, for once in his life opting to walk away from the confrontation.

“Let’s talk again when you know what the fuck you actually want from me.” Izuku huffed, doing the same.

Good thing his mom was returning home later than him this week. Otherwise, he probably would have to talk to her about what just happened and he really didn’t feel like opening this can of worms. His relationship with Katsuki was…

It was confusing.

Izuku was mostly over their friendship. After all, it had been years since it ended and he logically knew that by now all those sweet memories were more of a mishmash of photoshopped images rather than the real deal. As long as he didn't look at photos the two of them shared he was fine. He had real friends now. Ones that wouldn’t betray him (at the very least not over something he has no control over).

Sure. Some deep part of him would love to reconnect, to become great heroes together. He still thinks Katsuki’s determination is admirable and his control over his quirk is nothing short of amazing. But Izuku had been hurt by those two elements far too many times to not feel at least a little bitter.

Contrary to what he knows would be the best for him… He actually didn't want Kacchan out of his life. He actually liked to anger him and get small paybacks for all the things blond did to him... And he would never stay idle if the other boy was in danger.

(Some may say that Midoriya Izuku doesn’t have one mean bone in his body but it isn’t completely true; after all, what he did to Overhaul – taking his quirk when he could simply tie the man up and leave him to heroes – wasn’t exactly kind. Yes, it was a good example of ‘karma’s a bitch’ but that action could be called cruel by some)

Izuku sighed, walking up to his room to make some additional notes to the file he sent to All Might yesterday. He much rather focus his mind on it than despair over how much his first friendship truly meant to him.

It’s fine. If Kacchan doesn’t need him why would he need Kacchan?

Chapter Text

“We shall choose our representatives by voting, then!” Iida stated before zeroing in on a raised hand. “Yes, Midoriya? Do you have any suggestions?”

“I just wanted to say that I don’t want to be president or vice president.”

The whole class erupted into ‘what?!’s from which Inasa’s and Uraraka’s were especially loud.

Iida looked like he was rebooting before finally gathering his wits back.

“But why?! It’s a wonderful way of gathering experience and making connections as our representatives will have many chances to talk with authority, who are all heroes in our fine establishment!”

“Yes, it is a wonderful occasion… But it’s rather time-consuming and stressful. Plus, it isn’t the only way to make connections. There will be a Sports Festival, and internships and we can talk to our teachers even without fulfilling any special role in the class.”

“Oh… You’re arguments are quite reasonable! Would anyone else like to withdraw from the position of power before we begin voting?”

Shinso and Todoroki glanced at each other since they were the first ones to raise their hands. Uraraka was quick to follow with Kouda, Sato, Jiro, Seto, and Tokoyami joining after a moment of thought.

“Um… Can I try only for vice president?” red red-haired boy asked somewhat shyly.

“Of course!”

“Me too!” a blond boy with a lightning bolt in his hair added.

And with that Yaoyorozu had been chosen as the president with Iida as her right hand. Surprisingly, instead of looking disappointed the boy tearfully thanked everyone who had voted for him (which for some reason made Kaminari feel really guilty about voting for himself).

Izuku, meanwhile, smiled to himself… To Aizawa, actually, because when he looked down his eyes met with black ones that were barely visible since their teacher was mostly hidden in his yellow sleeping bag.

They shared a moment of understanding before Izuku promptly turned toward his friends.

“How did you expect me to put up not just with you all but also a whole class? I have my limits, guys,” he said, crossing his arms.

“Do you actually?” Shinso asked skeptically, raising an eyebrow. “And while we’re at it… Can you get me Eraserhead’s sleeping bag dealer? I need this thing. Preferably in black…”

“Sure, I’ll get you it in neon pink,” Izuku promised readily, giving him thumbs up.

Suddenly Shinso knew exactly why their teacher’s sleeping bag was so brightly colored.

~⁀‖⁀~§~♪~§~‿‖‿~

He looked through the window and froze. He didn’t hear the yells and the scrambling students could do nothing to move him from his place; even as his mind swam with a sudden surge of panic, his stance was stable (so much in fact, that when the invisible girl ran into him she bounced off of him with a small ‘ouch’).

He didn’t move even when Iida took control of the situation. He just… Stared at the disintegrated gate, media forgotten. He didn’t realize how long he had been looking at it, thinking through theories upon theories (he already figured that Shigaraki used those curious people doing their job to make a distraction but he was still counting probabilities of Kurogiri stealing USJ plan against a traitor being a student or even member of staff. So far the latter seemed the most probable).

“Hey… Izuku, are you alright…?”

By the time Hitoshi’s hand lightly touched his shoulder, he had a firm grip around his elbow, ready to judo flip him into the ground. But he was as quick in letting go of his friend as he would be to kick his ass if he turned out to be a danger.

“I’m sorry! I… Don’t think it was just media…” he murmured, opting for partial honesty.

“That’s fine, school will take care of it anyway. There’s nothing to worry about, alright? So… Yeah, just breathe. In and out.”

Even though Shinso didn’t use his quirk, Izuku followed his commands mindlessly. He felt so shaken, and he wasn’t even sure why. It’s still the first week of school! USJ probably won’t happen until the second or even third one… If not the second month!

“I’m fine, I’m fine…” he murmured, turning around with a sharp inhale. “We still have time.”

Shinso decided against commenting on how ominous it sounded.

~⁀‖⁀~§~♪~§~‿‖‿~

Izuku was out of it for the next half an hour. At the very least. So much in fact, that it took him a full three minutes to realize that the UA bus had pretty comfy seats. But what else to expect? Of course, the number one hero school was on a different level than public transport…

Wait. Bus?

He blinked, trying to piece together the situation.

Ah! Yes! He followed after Hitoshi without a word… Or a thought. Aizawa told them something about rescue training and ordered them to get changed. It wasn’t long until they were getting onto the bus, probably to get to a field that was placed further away. His future self heard from Kaminari and Yaoyorozu that they had to take such to get to their exam locations.

Something uneasy bubbled in his stomach but he ignored it, instead focusing on the conversation. He couldn’t help but smile when his fellow classmates took jabs at Bakugo’s terrible character.

“Back to the land of living?” Hitoshi asked dryly but even if most people would find it hard to notice, it was obvious to Midoriya that there was worry showing through his blank expression.

“Yeah,” Izuku confirmed, forcing his paranoia down and smiling.

“Aaaah! I’m so excited for the rescue training!” Ochaco interjected, throwing her fist up. “I know we’re going to do great!”

“Yeah! We’re gonna show them what we’re made of!” Inasa was quick to agree and as one might expect, his booming voice grabbed everyone’s attention.

“That’s plus ultra if I saw one!” Kaminari yelled, immediately overtaken by the energetic atmosphere.

“He does everything plus ultra.” Shinso drawled out.

“That’s super manly!” Kirishima complimented and suddenly Izuku had this overwhelming feeling that this boy would at some point in time become best buddies with Yoarashi. And it would most likely not take long nor end well for the rest of the universe.

The conversation continued, happily and lightly. Midoriya was having a great time which made the time pass faster but even then he realized that they had been on the bus for longer than five or even ten minutes.

“Um… Do you know where we’re going? Does UA have a training field so far away from the main campus?” Izuku inquired.

“Oh! We’re going off-campus! Didn’t you hear Aizawa sensei when he said that?” Ochaco answered happily but quickly became worried. “I mean, you did seem pretty out of it… Are you alright?”

His heart started thumping like crazy but he took a few deep breaths.

“I’m alright. I’m just still worried after the situation at the cafeteria,” he explained.

“It was pretty crazy!” Inasa was quick to reassure. “I totally get why you’d get overwhelmed!”

Oh if it only was that easy…

But there’s nothing to stress over. There’s no way USJ would happen so soon! After all in his future self’s world, the information about it came out months into his second year at Shiketsu and surely even UA wouldn’t be able to to hide the disappearance of All Might for so long! Plus he can only see the driver and Aizawa on the bus so it seems the number one hero won’t be part of this lesson.

Or so he kept telling himself to stop a panic attack from coming (it was too soon! Far too soon for this disaster to happen! Would Izuku be even able to stop it?!) right until he entered the building and Thirteen greeted them.

The building looked more like a coliseum rather than an Unforeseen Simulation Joint and both its appearance and location were kept secret (to stop media from pestering future heroes while they’re training). Sure, when Thirteen introduced themselves and explained where they were, blood completely drained from his face but he managed to stay calm. It can’t be this day! After all, All Might isn’t here!

But then the rescue hero inquired about another teacher who was supposed to be present and Aizawa showed up three fingers. All Izuku’s hopes were broken, crushed into smithereens.

“Alright, then we should begin! As you might know, some quirks are especially…”

“We need to go,” Midoriya said loudly in an authoritative tone, gathering everyone’s attention on himself. He didn’t care. They need to leave now.

“Did something happen?” Thirteen asked, clearly confused.

Thankfully everyone seemed more worried than angry about his interjection. It was an easier emotion to deal with and he needed to make them move out quick.

“I… There’s no time to explain, we need to get outside,” he said and Aizawa nodded toward the hero. It looked like they would make it just fine, maybe it would turn out to be a false alarm but before they could even take a step toward the exit, a portal opened in the middle of the plaza. Shit. “Fuck, move, move, move!”

He grabbed the closest two people to him – Yoarashi and Hitoshi – and pulled them toward the doors.

“How rude, we didn’t even introduce ourselves yet!”

Fuck you Shigaraki.

“I am afraid we cannot simply let you leave.”

Fuck you ou too, Kurogiri.

Midoriya wouldn’t love anything more than to stab the misty man with a fork but it was too much of a risk. So he pulled his friends toward their group instead so they wouldn’t do something stupid like attacking the attackers. All the while he kept his eyes on the warping villain, listening to the other freak talk.

“Now that we finally have your attention! I’m Tomura Shigaraki from League of Villains! I’ve come here to murder your precious symbol of peace since I heard he was supposed to be here today!”

“Take care of the students,” Eraserhead ordered Thirteen, jumping down the stairs. Midoriya swore in his mind, only now noticing the sheer number of criminals that left the portal while he focused on his friends.

“How, do you ask? You see this thing here is Nomu! A weapon that can kill even the main boss himself! But… Since he didn’t come… Do you think he would show up if I killed off a few of his students?”

Fuck, fuck, fuck! Fucking dammit! He isn’t ready for this shit! He isn’t prepared at all! He should have expected this! He should have… There’s no time for that! He needs to act!

“My communicator is jammed! I can’t call for help!” Kaminari yelled panicked and Izuku finally did the smart thing, nearly dropping his own device in his rush to take it out.

It could be called the invention of the future since it was made according to how his future self and Mei created it. If it worked in the middle of the apocalypse surely it would…?

Villains USJ Nezu Help

He nearly sighed in relief out loud when it went through.

“Everyone stay back!” Thirteen yelled and he immediately looked up just to see that Bakugo, Kirishima, and Inasa (whose arm he let go in his rush to take the communicator out) had lunged at Kurogiri. For fuck's god-forsaken hell-

Before he could end a very colorful string of curses in his mind, he found himself surrounded by water. And villains. But, surprisingly, instead of panic he felt rage. That’s exactly why he used Permeation to make his punch count when some shark-brained villain tried to take a bite out of him.

He needs to check if anyone got transported here with him…!

He nearly stabbed the thing that wrapped around his waist with his screwdriver but thankfully he realized just in time that it was Tsuyu’s tongue. With that, he accepted the help and soon ended up on a ship.

He barely wasted a second catching his breath, before getting up and taking the situation in.

“Are you both alright?” he asked and the girl nodded while Hitoshi heaved some water to the side. It seemed he had been taken by surprise the most out of their trio. But after a short moment, he caught his breath and showed Midoriya a wobbly thumbs up. “Good.”

Izuku then walked to the fence to look down. Of course, they are in the middle of a lake, surrounded by villains because where else would they be? He readily turned around toward his fellow classmates.

“Tsuyu. Abilities of a frog, right?” he asked.

“Yes. Call me Tsu.”

“Shinso. Brainwashing. People need to answer him first though.” he stated and the boy just nodded.

“Midoriya. I have a screwdriver and at least five ideas on how to get us out of here but all of them are crazier than you’d like.” he continued. He just couldn’t put himself to saying ‘quirkless’. He just… Couldn’t.

“What’s the safest one?”

“For us or them?” Izuku asked, pointing at the villains.

“For us,” Hitoshi answered without hesitation, looking at him incredulously.

“I’m fairly confident I can bluff our way out of here but I’ll probably have to electrocute a few villains to make it believable. It shouldn’t kill them, just leave them unconscious or dazed, and with their water-affiliated quirks they should be fine.”

“What is your plan exactly, ribbit?” Tsuyu asked, putting a finger to her mouth.

“I have a gadget with enough energy to electrocute some villains around the ship. I will tell them I have an electricity quirk and force them to let us through.”

“And if they don’t listen?” Shinso asked.

“You brainwash someone, anyone, and get them to scream bloody murder. Most villains rather not die a tragic death at the hands of a couple of scared teens.”

“I can hold you both with my tongue and swim, we’ll get faster to the other side like that.” Tsuyu offered.

“Take Shinso, I’m good at swimming and my costume is better equipped to deal with electricity if push comes to shove and I have to do more… Persuading,” he said quickly.

The boat wavered dangerously.

“Hey, kids! Get down!”

They didn’t have time.

“Will you be alright?” Tsuyu asked, looking straight into his eyes.

He steadily held her gaze.

“Yes, no doubt,” he answered with as much confidence as if he were telling her that the sun is hotter than Earth.

“When do we move?” she asked.

“W-what?! You’re just going to agree to it?!” Shinso asked her before turning toward his friend. “I know you’re great and all but that’s too much even for you! What if they surround you?!”

Izuku put a hand on his friend’s shoulder.

“I will be fine,” he repeated no less confidently than before and then turned around. “Wait a bit with jumping after I do and swim as fast as you can. Don’t look back. I promise I will join you soon. I just might need to take a detour.”

“You better keep your word, ribbit,” Tsuyu demanded, and wow… It sounded strangely like a threat even despite her usual tone.

He turned toward her and gave both of them a smile with a small salute before promptly jumping onto the fence. Now… What to act like? His Phantom persona might be too obvious… And there’s not really time to be picky so… Well, little shit Midoriya Izuku it is!

“Yo fuckers!” he called out and let a spark through his fingers. His two classmates were standing behind him so they didn’t notice it but the villains under him definitely did. “Do you like your lives? Because I like ours and if you don’t let us through I’ll electrocute all of you!”

“You’re bluffing!” someone yelled but he could glimpse hesitance. Most of the bunch backed away a bit as if expecting what was about to happen.

“Better not bet on it!” he yelled, jumping down without any fear in his eyes.

As long as he could protect others… He was in his element.

He actually used his fork instead of quirk (he always has two hidden in his body for such occasions; more would make them noticeable) since he couldn’t risk Kaminari’s overuse effects. The incoming surge of power hurt like hell but with immunity, he had both thanks to tinkering setbacks and having an electric quirk he not only didn’t lose control over his body but even managed to swim forward.

The villains in dozens of feet of radius on the other hand... They either lost consciousness, screamed in pain, started trembling, or did a mix of those. Izuku instantly used Rewind since the liquid counted as a living matter (it was harder to use on it though) to make sure his classmate wouldn’t get hurt and then waved at them. The light accompanying the quirk’s use would be taken as the after-light of the earlier electricity. 

Shinso hesitated but with some words of what probably was encouragement from Tsuyu, they both came down into the water.

“You’re crazy!” Hitoshi yelled at him, the second his head was back above water.

“I know!” Izuku answered readily.

“They seem scared, let’s go,” Tsuyu added and looked at Midoriya. He was quick to understand and nod so she put her tongue around both of her classmates and went swimming toward the land with speed that would be admirable even without two additional passengers. 

And, surprisingly, Hitoshi didn’t have to brainwash anyone and there was no need for Midoriya to electrocute more people. It seemed the criminals in the water weren’t even half as fearless as the students. Well, good for them, Izuku supposes.

“We should head back to the exit, ribbit,” Tsuyu commented when they reached the mostly dry land.

“But Eraserhead… He relies heavily on the element of surprise and they have all seen his quirk by now… Not even mentioning how much of them there is…” Izuku said worriedly. He knows that the man can take care of himself and so far he has been going through enemies like a knife through butter but…

“But is there anything we can do…?” Shinso asked, torn between fear and need to do something (he couldn’t help at the ship but would he be of any more use here…?).

“I th-” Midoriya began but froze midword when Shigaraki went after their teacher.

He didn’t move as they fought. He barely even flinched when the villain disintegrated part of Eraserhead’s elbow. It was all new, it was nothing like the future. But when the Nomu stepped in… It was happening, the future was bleeding into the present. What "will be" became "what is" and memories overlapped with visage.

It pulled Izuku's emotions even more than the villains' appearance, pulling from fear to helplessness. The sudden surge of blind panic didn’t even truly settle in until his teacher’s head hit the ground and in hysterics, the terror changed into rage.

He rushed forward and when Shinso reached for him, actually managing to grab him with his capture weapon… Izuku permeated straight through it and since the cat was out of the bag already… He let himself fall under the ground, rocketing toward the Nomu.

(Most of his equipment stayed with the two students; it was a second instinct by now to fuse clothes with himself when using Permeation, unlike with his newly acquired utility belt and mouth guard)

He didn’t care about his identity being exposed anymore. All For One made his move so, surely, it was time for Izuku to make his. Sure it would have been better if he managed to hide his identities and keep everyone safe from behind the scenes… But it was too late for that.

Now he needs to act, no matter the price he will end up paying. His classmates, his heroes, his friends… They all might call him out on his lies, never trust him again, hate him even… But he can’t let Eraserhead die just because his presence changed the timeline. He can’t let anyone get hurt by this vile monster… By the harbinger of apocalypse Izuku was given so much to stop.

His fist connected but the monster didn’t seem affected, it didn’t even let go of Aizawa!

“What… You doing… Problem child…” the man gritted out and Izuku felt the sting of angry tears in his eyes.

“Ha! As if you could ever hurt it! Nomu had been specifically modified to-!” Shigaraki began but he didn’t get to finish.

“I know.” Izuku… Phantom… The boy with memories of a future that could not be repeated interrupted.

As if forced by some unknown force… The doors opened just in time for All Might to see Nomu explode into even less than ribbons of flesh.

“What… What did you do to my weapon?!”

All Might was quick to take care of smaller criminals and bring Aizawa to the stairs.

Despite the gruesome death, Nomu started regenerating.

“Ha! As if you could take down a creature made specifically to kill All Might!”

Izuku reached for the forming body and was quick to find a messy web of tangled quirks; different quirk factors were forced into one specific spot so it wasn’t hard to grab them all. He ripped it out and as if a time bomb, he rushed it outwards; right into the ground he was standing on, taking rid of whatever powers the creature possessed. The monster instantly stopped regenerating and fell to the ground. It didn’t even twitch.

“Midoriya, my boy…?” All Might inquired and a new surge of panic enveloped the boy. He whipped his head to see his hero looking from him to the main villains, and then to the horrifying mess of a partly formed body on the floor.

“You destroyed it!” Shigaraki screeched, lunging at the boy but…

A wall of ice made a half dome around Izuku, separating him from both All Might and the villains. He turned around and when his eyes met Todoroki’s, the boy gave him a nod.

Midoriya didn’t need any more persuading to run and Permeate through the ground to angle himself, to go back up already outside the USJ. There, he leaned heavily against the building, sliding down it. He hugged his legs as his whole body trembled and tears refused to stop streaming down his face.

How did he look like to All Might? Like a villain? He did so many things wrong…! In the man’s eyes, he straight out lied to him! What… What if the hero won’t listen to his explanation?! What if no one wants to listen to him now?! If they refuse to let him speak to Tsukauchi then no one believes his words… The truth… And the world… Will it be fine since the Nomu that had most likely killed the symbol of pace in the future was gone? Will All For One try again and succeed?

But isn’t Izuku’s life done for? He’ll have to go into hiding now… It’s so obvious that he’s Phantom! Even Todoroki realized it and helped him escape!

His hero career is done for, isn’t it? How many people did see him? Not only using vigilante’s quirk but not even one at that! What if they think he’s working for All For One?! No, surely, that wouldn’t make sense, surely they would think this through and listen…

But still, the situation is bad. Even if he goes to heroes or police himself it is too intricate to end well! The best outcome would be them hearing him out and taking care of the situation themselves and completely forgetting that vigilante of the name Phantom ever existed. They wouldn’t let him stay as deep as he was in this situation so far, with him being a kid and them professionals, and all…

And it’s his responsibility. He’s the one who had gotten quirks and so much support he was even able to reshape the past. He needs to do it with as little help as possible! Protect everyone- Yes. First and all, he needs to protect them.

It's not that they are weak: his friends are the strongest people he knows and they will be even stronger. If he told them everything they would be more likely to help him rather than to hate him. They wouldn't be afraid to help. But… They would also feel bad about it all, wouldn’t they? And it wouldn’t be fair. Sure, he has quite a heavy burden on his shoulders, he’s objective enough to admit it…

But he had gotten a lot of good things with it too.

His confidence, his friends… Even his tinkering wouldn’t be the same had he not gotten memories of the future. He doesn’t have to take everything on himself, he can let others take some of his burden... But he doesn’t want to.

He… He wants to do it alone. He doesn’t need recognition for it. He just wants to fix things, to let everyone live on as if nothing ever happened… Because it didn’t yet, did it? He is the only one with those memories and it’s better this way.

Yes. It's better this way so that's how he's going to keep it. But to do that he needs to solve the situation at hand. Is there any way to fix it? What can he realistically do when too much has been done and seen...?

His eyes widened in realization. The best way to fix something is to not let it happen in the first place. The reason why his future self sent just memories instead of coming back as a whole person isn’t exactly because he couldn’t but because it would be too risky. An older version of a quirkless kid appearing out of nowhere just after said kid learned he had no power? It would be a quick and sure recipe for a tragedy.

But if he went back in time to earlier that day…

He smiled with a slightly crazed glint in his eyes. 

Chapter Text

Phantom gathered his body back from the molecules lost in the time continuum back in his room just after his… Unaware self left it.

He could, of course, warn his past self of USJ but how would it actually help? It would be better from a strategic point to tell him after everything had already happened. After all none of them would want to risk Midoriya looking suspicious as he could intervene before he does anything weird looking. All Phantom needs to do is…

Right. What would be the best course of action? Hm… His future knowledge is something he wants to keep a secret and the incoming world apocalypse is something he wants to prevent on his own but… USJ is a bit of a different situation and UA is already under someone’s protection.

He got inside his school together with the paparazzi but unlike them instead of getting stopped a few more feet in, he ducked underground, and after a bit of calculating, sightseeing, and visiting two bathrooms so as not to get noticed too soon, he appeared in Nezu’s office.

“I see you went from unexpected visits at Eraserhead’s apartment to surprising UA with your presence. It is quite a progress, I must admit.” the mammal said, outwardly not bothered all that much but if Phantom’s memories of the future were anything to go by, the infinitesimal twitch to his whiskers meant he had been actually taken off-guard. Which he didn’t like.

Still, the creature got up and went toward the kettle.

“I know it would be more polite to warn you of my arrival but I’m afraid we don’t have much time.”

Nezu didn’t say anything until he put two steaming cups on the table and pointed at the empty seat. Only when both the principal and Phantom sat down, did the creature decide to continue the conversation.

“If I understood your riddle correctly… I believe time isn’t of much bother to you.”

Of course, it didn’t take him long to figure it out. Why should it?

“Villains will attack USJ today. They are aiming for All Might, they have a genetically modified creature capable of killing him. I know for a fact that it has unbelievably strong regeneration and both its speed and strength are comparable to All Might’s. It might also have some other defensive quirk.”

Nezu was quiet for a long while, sipping his tea with a fake calmness. The principal didn’t like the situation any more than Phantom did.

“How and when will they get there?”

“One of them, Kurogiri, has a powerful warping quirk. They will appear approximately three minutes after the students. The ringleader’s name is Shigaraki Tomura. His quirk is called Decay and he can disintegrate anything he touches with five fingers but it takes a bit of time to fully destroy something... Or someone. They will take dozens of other criminals with them but weak ones.”

Phantom raised his teacup, trusting that Nezu wouldn’t poison him since there wouldn’t be anything to gain from such a course of action.

“How high is the possibility of you being wrong?” the principal finally asked.

“Less than one point two percent, I’m afraid.”

“I see…” the mammal said, putting his paws together. “Since you’re the one with most data on the situation let me ask… How do you think we should go about it?”

“It wouldn't do to completely avoid it. Shigaraki Tomura isn’t the mastermind behind the attack and the one we’re truly against… He’s a terrifying foe. We don’t want to alert him this early in the game.” Phantom was quick to explain, putting his mug down and intertwining his fingers. “The police is used to me giving them info and acting on my own… So I thought about pulling another yakuza on Tsukauchi but this time the backup will have a bit more time to prepare.”

Nezu looked worryingly serious; Phantom expected him to crack a mad grin by now.

“Before we continue let me ask you… Would you be able to make another tea today?”

The reference to the riddle made the vigilante smile.

“Yes. As many as we’ll need to make it drinkable,” he said, realizing just how powerful the technique created by his future self was. Even without One For All in the equation. And while he’s thinking about it… Would his body be ready for its power by now?

“Wonderful. Then I’ll get my forces ready while you move toward the rendezvous location. When should I send the backup to make it believable?”

“When Tsukauchi calls you,” Phantom answered readily, getting up. “I’ll help Eraser keep everyone safe so no worries.”

He phased through the wall just as Toshinori walked in.

 ~⁀‖⁀~§~♪~§~‿‖‿~

Yo, there’s a big attack on UA (USJ to be precise). I can count on some backup this time around too, right? (´ ▽ `ʃ ♡ ƪ )

~ Your favorite deity

Sent. Now back to barreling through the ground and forward. This means of transport is surprisingly fast, Phantom nearly managed to catch up to the bus even though it left before him!

He got to the location just as the doors closed behind the group and pushed them open with a force that probably wasn’t necessary.

“Eraser get your kids out 'cause villains are going to show up here any second now!” he yelled, waving energetically toward all the surprised faces.

Aizawa, who nothing short of teleported himself to the front of his students when he heard doors suddenly opening, furrowed his brows but nodded toward Thirteen.

“Get them outside,” he ordered the rescue hero while the vigilante walked past the kids and to the pro hero’s side. “What’s the situation?”

“The main villain has a decaying quirk, the other one’s Warp Gate. They will bring a lot of fodder cannon and a biologically modified beast. They plan to kill All Might and they will be here, like, around now.”

“Did you call backup?” Aizawa asked just as the last of his students walked through the doors. Phantom didn’t move and neither did Eraserhead.

“Yep. Oh. Here they come.” Phantom noted, his voice carefully blank as a dark gate opened.

“Huh? Where is everyone?!” the man at the front, the man villain asked, looking angrily at the only two people in the building. Wow, the get-up was getting old already and it wasn’t even his third go at this situation… “Not only isn’t All Might here but the brats are gone too! What did you do, cheaters?!”

“If they leave now they might come back to try again soon so…” Phantom whispered to his partner in anticrime before taking a few confident steps forward. “Oho! Wouldn’t you like to know, handsy man?”

Kurogiri disappeared and Phantom swore. The villain will go outside and scatter everyone around USJ again, won’t he? At least this time around Aizawa isn’t alone.

“I’ll take care of the main asshole and biological weapon, you think you can kick three or four dozen butts meanwhile?” Phantom asked, pointing at the sea of criminals with his thumb.

“Don’t get yourself killed, problem child,” Aizawa said as he pulled his goggles on and jumped down.

Phantom was quick to shake unwanted thoughts out of his head (What… You doing… Problem child…) and dived under the ground, jumping out of it just in time to hear Shigaraki mumbling the same nonsense about ‘killing some of All Might’s students to make him appear…’.

“How ya doing on this fine morning?” Phantom inquired cheerfully, his mind going over hundreds of plans. The safest – for his identity that is – would be to use someone else’s quirk to destroy or at the very least weaken the beast.

Decay seemed like the perfect choice.

“How did you know about the raid?!” Shigaraki demanded angrily but didn’t attack yet. No, no, it won’t do…

“Did you seriously expect no one to learn about it? Sure, no one would say a word about it to a hero but oh look! I’m not one!”

“You’ll regret destroying this event, you cheater…” Shigaraki whispered, scratching at his neck but soon he stopped, a wicked grin appearing on his chapstick forsaken face. “Nomu! Get him!”

Perfect.

Phantom phased through the monster but soon after let the creature grab him, to give Tomura an illusion of Permeation having some kind of limitation. Now just to wait for the perfect moment…

“Now break his arms!”

Vigilante immediately activated Rewind, using just enough that the monster would forget the last command (or the last two… Eri’s power is amazing but very hard to use precisely) and meanwhile dropping a flash grenade he grabbed from behind his bandages. It shouldn't fit there, realistically. And that's exactly because it didn't: he just made it with Creation.

“What are you…?!” the man tried, his hands stopping halfway through to scratch at his neck and instead shielding his eyes. Phantom used Permeation and lunged at the enemy. Shigaraki had good enough reflexes to catch the incoming attack even when partly blinded but thanks to the vigilante’s red eyes he had no way of realizing who really was at fault for making his quirk fail to work. And it made him distracted.

The moment the villain made the mistake of glancing at Eraserhead, he lost consciousness, not expecting to get stabbed with high high-voltage fork. Phantom then dragged the man toward Nomu and put Decaying hands on the creature.

It just stood there, being destroyed and regenerating at the same time.

“Do not fear! For I am here!”

He immediately took his hands off Shigaraki, letting the man’s body fall to the ground, his head whipping toward the doors. He’s pretty sure his eyes crossed with All Might’s but not even a second later the man was gone, villains around falling to the ground.

Phantom decided to check on Eraserhead before taking his leave but quickly realized there was no need to. The man seemed alright; the two of them met halfway through to see if the other was fine.

“Good to see you doing just fine, Eraser.” he said with a grin.

“What did you do and how long will they be unconscious?” Aizawa was quick to answer, glancing at the monster that just stood in place and Shigaraki who laid on the ground.

“I stabbed him with my favorite fork so you answer that for yourself and that thing, Nomu, listens to this dude’s commands,” he answered, glancing at the entrance. All Might was gathering students with admirable speed but not his full one; after all, it could jostle any possible wounds the students had acquired.

“Of course you did…” Eraserhead said with a heavy sigh. “Where’s the warping villain?”

Izuku pointed at the fading cloud of dust particles and behold, just as expected Katsuki was there, a dozen or so feet away from them, threatening the mist man. See? The angry boy can be pretty useful sometimes! 

“He has a tangible part of his body, I guess blondie over there noticed and since the villains are taken care of I guess my job here is done,” Phantom stated just as All Might returned to the main plaza, standing to the side of Aizawa. Well, a few steps away from him.

Hm… What are the chances of the symbol of peace being afraid of getting hit by the underground hero? Very high, actually. Although lecturing wouldn’t happen until later.

“I presume you’re the vigilante that warned us about the attack?” the man inquired, with his booming smile.

“Sure am, mighty man.” Phantom answered readily, walking by him and giving him ‘a good job’ pat on the shoulder. The spot he could reach. “I’m going to get some rest, day isn’t my preferred haunting time. Good luck with tying loose ends.”

And with that he left, disappearing under the ground and emerging outside USJ. He could, of course, say something like ‘you could definitely use some rest too’ but leaving breadcrumbs of ‘I know your secret’ to a hero that could probably punch him out of existence doesn’t sound very tempting.

Now! What is he supposed to do with himself? Would having two of him running around be a good idea? Yeah, they could do a lot of useful things but they would be two separate beings and that could lead to problems…

The easiest way to both give his past self information and take care of his own presence was quite easy; he waited a bit before once again using Permeation and Rewind to go back in time but only a few minutes. Then he located his past self – watching Phantom stab Shigaraki from the side of the plaza, freshly out of water – and did the same thing his future self once did. He left the memories with himself and faded out of existence.

Thus Izuku suddenly flinched, memories of this day appearing without a warning in his head, from a different yet not completely foreign perspective.

“Are you okay?” Shinso asked worriedly, instantly noticing his friend's out-of-sorts reaction.

“Yeah, I’m alright,” Midoriya answered quickly, with a small smile.

“Do not fear! For I am here!” All Might’s booming voice yelled and Izuku just watched himself whip his head toward the exit. It was so weird to be in two places at the same time!

He blinked the symbol of peace suddenly near him and his friends, instantly transporting them toward the exit where some students were already gathered. Thirteen was nowhere to be found so he asked Uraraka about them.

“They got hurt while protecting us from the warping villain but other heroes already took them to get medical treatment!” she explained readily while he looked around, taking the situation in.

He made binoculars with his hands to use Zoom (it wouldn’t be good if anyone noticed his pupils changing shape) and sure enough, he noticed Kacchan on the warp villain and Phantom talking with Aizawa. He knew how it went so he turned to look at his immediate surroundings. He took Zoom out of his eyes, bringing them to their original shape, and glanced around.

Midnight, Present Mic and Hound Dog were down the plaza, already tying and taking criminals out of the USJ. Ectoplasm and Cementoss went deeper, probably to make sure All Might’s identity didn't get found out by students and to help with Kurogiri. Snipe and Vlad King stayed near students, making sure no other surprise attack happened today and also checking for any injuries.

Power Loader and a few other heroes went to the side of USJ, probably to look for the damage to the structure, check how the communicators had been jammed, and find any leftover villains. But the one he was most worried about was Nezu, standing close to the exit with a content smile.

“I am quite relieved you all seem alright!” the mammal said, gathering everyone’s attention on himself when the last of the students had joined the group (Bakugo, Kirishima, Todoroki, and Inasa). “I am deeply sorry for the scare you had been given but I assure you that the second I learned about the attack, I gathered all heroes I could and came to assist you.”

Izuku managed to keep a straight face at that.

“Now, I realize that you have been through a rather traumatic experience and I understand it is hard to talk about such. In a moment an investigator, Naomasa Tsukauchi, will join us with some police officers. We would like you all to give your statement of what happened here to him but it is fully alright if you need time to process the events of today.  I just want you to keep in mind that your accounts will be crucial in making sure nothing like this will occur again.”

“Who cares about trauma? We’re training to be heroes, we’re going to face villains anyway! It’s our job to make sure those fuckers get what they deserve!”

Ah, yes. Typical Kacchan. But even if his words are wrong on a certain level (they are only students after all. They barely began their training) they held some truth to them. 

“Yeah! We’re going to help however we can!” Kirishima joined, pumping his fists up.

“I mean… It was scary… But we pulled through!” Uraraka said, smiling even though her face looked a bit green.

“Yes! We showed those villains our passion! They can’t stop us!” Inasa was quick to yell.

“I’m happy to hear that! Now, everyone please follow me, we’re going to wait for Naomasa here. Meanwhile, feel free to chat with each other and ask teachers for anything you might need or want to inquire about!”

“I’m sorry…” Hitoshi whispered while they followed after Nezu, using the moment when Ochaco and Inasa were on the other side of the group.

“For what?” Tsuyu asked, having stayed by their side ever since they got transported to the ship.

“I wasn’t helpful at all… I was a burden to you both.”

Izuku was quick to put a hand on his shoulder and give him a warm smile.

“You weren’t. If my plan didn’t go as well as it did, I assure you, your Brainwash would be crucial to our survival. It helped a lot to know someone has my back. And you can’t win in every situation. No offense Tsuyu…”

“Call me Tsu.”

“…But if we got teleported to the fire section of USJ it would be Shinso and me doing the most.”

“True, ribbit. I could help as much as I did because the field we got warped to was my element.” the girl admitted easily.

Hitoshi laughed under his nose.

“What about you, then? Because I feel like you would do great no matter of surroundings.” he pointed out and Izuku shrugged.

“I’m just as good as that,” he answered with a smirk before getting serious. “If I got swapped with Aizawa sensei I would be done for. You both could use your quirks to either jump away or make criminals fight each other but I would have a rough time. I am pretty good at running but being surrounded from all sides seems like a tad bit too much. Even for me.”

They stopped to the side.

“You really would make a good leader, ribbit,” Tsuyu stated.

“Yeah! That’s why he’s the boss of our future team!” Inasa stated, finally joining them. “We call ourselves Percepts of Justice!”

“You’re already planning on forming a team?” the frog girl asked curiously.

“Yhm!” Uraraka confirmed, nodding her head enthusiastically. “I joined them recently too! I’ve stumbled upon them on the day of the exam and I’ve been part of their team ever since!”

“Can I get more details? I’m curious.” Tsuyu said in a tone that didn’t show her interest at all. But she didn’t seem very emotional, to begin with.

“Boss, do the honors,” Shinso said, elbowing Izuku who rolled his eyes but did as asked.

“Us three…” Midoriya said pointing at himself, the purple-haired boy and Inasa. “Have been friends for a while now and all of us want to be heroes while our other friend, Mei, is an inventor. She’s in the support course by the way. We decided to make a team and... That’s pretty much it. As Uraraka said, we met on the day of the entrance exam and she wanted to join. Since no one in the team had anything against it we let her so now there’s five of us.”

“We have our roles thought out too!” Inasa added, immediately in high spirits now that they were talking about something he was rather… Passionate about. “Mizu is our leader and strategist, Mei makes equipment, Shoshi is this cool infiltration-focused person, Rara is more of a rescue hero and I’m our main fighter! Not that the rest can’t fight really well too!”

“Can I join too, ribbit?” Tsuyu asked.

“No objections from me.” Shinso was the first to say.

“Yeah! The more the merrier!” Inasa was quick to follow, nearly drowning out Ochaco's “It would be nice to have another girl on the team!”.

“Well… I know Mei well enough to be confident about her answer so I guess as a leader I hereby announce you the newest member of Percepts of Justice.” 

“Yay!” Ochaco and Inasa yelled, in tandem.

“You’re Tsuyu Asui, right? Can I call you Tsusu?” the boy inquired.

“Sure. And you all can call me Tsu.”

“That’s such a cute nickname! You can give me some nickname or call me Rara like Nasa if you want!”

Shinso sighed.

“I don’t know how they can be so… Happy and nonchalant after what just happened…” he murmured.

“Overthinking it won’t help, you know. And rather than agonizing over what could have gone wrong, it’s better to be proud that we survived… That we won.”

“I guess…” Hitoshi drawled out and for a moment they all were quiet. “Hey.”

“Hm?”

“Do you think they would let me train with the capture weapon after school?”

“On the school grounds? Probably. I’m pretty sure Aizawa sensei would help you master it if you asked him.”

“I don’t know… He probably has a lot on his shoulders…”

“Then just ask for pointers,” Izuku answered readily, shrugging.

“Sounds like a plan,” Shinso answered and went quiet yet again. Not for as long as before though. “Hey.”

“Yeah, I will help you train or be your guinea pig or whatever you need me to do.” Midoriya was quick to answer.

Hitoshi snickered at that.

“I wanted to offer to go for a coffee after we’re done with this shitstorm but whatever floats your boat, I guess.”

“Ah yes, helping my friend, the only joy I have in this abominable state called living,” Izuku remarked. “But coffee doesn’t sound too bad either.”

And with that, the terror of USJ was gone.

Chapter Text

Tired wasn’t even beginning to describe what Aizawa felt. Exhausted was a little better but still underwhelming compared to what the man’s actual state was.

Don’t get him wrong; he’s grateful that his migraine decided to come and help at USJ. Shouta doesn’t even want to imagine how things would go without him there. By the time backup came, how much damage would have been done? How many of his students get hurt? He himself ended only with bruises, a twisted ankle, and a minor concussion. Nothing Recovery Girl couldn’t easily take care of.

But good things, unlike trouble, don't tend to stay. Thus, he wasn't surprised when the very next day both the warping villain and the ringleader were gone (and the cameras "so happened" to blur exactly at the minute they had disappeared). At the very least the monster didn’t get taken with them… Which most likely means that it was no less of a pawn than all the minor criminals who joined the attack.

This, of course, wasn’t the end of Aizawa’s pain. Sure, he got a day off to rest but ha. He would come back even if he broke all his bones. If his untrained students could face villains he sure as hell could fight off his exhaustion and teach as if nothing had happened.

Though he wouldn’t mind if Nezu didn’t call him to his office first thing in the morning.

“Come in, come in! I have been awaiting you! I already prepared a coffee!”

Wow. It seems that the mammal has some mercy after all; normally he would give Shouta tea.

“What is it?” the man grumbled, readily taking a seat on the principal’s sofa and reaching for the dark beverage.

“I wanted to talk about your favorite vigilante.” the mammal began and immediately, Aizawa knew he wasn’t going to like what he was about to hear. “He warned me about the USJ attack thus confirming my answer to the riddle he gave me.”

“And what does it have to do with me?”

“Well, I think you’d like to know that our dear Phantom seems to be a time traveler.”

Aizawa nearly choked on his coffee but he was quick to put it down and gather his cool.

“Time traveler?”

“I was quite surprised myself but all facts point to it! He even admitted to being able to repeat the day of USJ attack although, of course, I cannot say for sure whether he was honest or not.”

Aizawa’s head hurt. As if having an overgrown baby running around fighting yakuza and learning about a huge attack on UA wasn’t enough of a migraine, it turns out that the problem child probably can play with time too.

“That would explain a few things.” he finally noted with a sigh. “But it makes his quirk even stranger. Cold aura, phasing through objects, and time travel to boot.”

“I believe it might be more of timeline hopping rather than straight-out time travel.” the mammal offered, jumping off his seat and walking to his interactive board, scribbling on it. “Phasing ability can be explained by his body leaving for another timeline where the object we perceive as solid in this world does not yet or anymore exist. Likewise, the time travel aspect can be him jumping from a timeline that happened later to one that has a slower passing of time. The cold factor has a few potential explanations; perhaps it’s an effect of quirk overuse or Phantom came from the timeline that is colder than ours. It could even be done by a gadget, to throw you off about his real quirk. But if we believe it is part of his power, it might have to do with the molecules. It is hard to tell whether he hops into another timeline only himself or if particles around him are affected or even transported with him.”

Aizawa watched the mammal’s unreadable scribbles bloom across the board.

“And he knew both my name, place of living, and Eri from another timeline,” Shouta added when the principal stopped his monologue to take a breath.

“Exactly~! The thing that intrigues me the most is whether he truly is a resident of our timeline or not. If he is not, it would explain why we cannot find him. He might not even exist here, has yet to be born, or not have learned about his quirk yet. Who knows! He might even be a completely different person in our timeline.”

For some reason, Aizawa's thoughts immediately jumped to the coffee kid. Yeah, that boy seems chaotic enough to be an alternate version of Phantom.

“It might explain why he doesn’t want to give us his full story. If he’s a stranger to this world he might be trying to not intervene any more than he already does…” Aizawa wondered out loud, his mind going back to his conversations with the problem child.

“Yes. Everything taken into account, it might be part of his reasoning."

A sudden realization hit Aizawa.

“Is it possible that his alternate self dies every time he jumps into another timeline?”

Nezu was quick to come back to scribbling.

“Well, throughout the history of quirks we had yet to observe the power of such kind so it is hard to say with certainty but! If we that only one Phantom can exist at a given time, or rather given timeline, then by jumping into ours, the Phantom we know might have inadvertently killed the original of our world.”

Aizawa felt a shudder go down his spine. What kind of feeling would it be to learn that by using your quirk you killed another version of yourself?

“It would explain why the kid cannot get a license; he isn’t part of this world and the original is dead. And that might be why he tries so hard to help others. It might be his way of redeeming himself.”

“Yes, that would make perfect sense,” Nezu said, clapping his paws together, his whiskers twitching. “But I believe that we’re still missing something. It seems too obvious, the puzzle pieces are clicking too easily. That’s a sure sign that we got something wrong.”

Aizawa didn’t question this logic. Not because it sounded crazy but rather because he actually thought the same. Nothing can be easy in his life, after all.

“We’ll have to wait and observe then,” he noted, reaching for his coffee once again.

“Indeed… And in due time we’ll make our move.” Nezu agreed, making everything sound so much more ominous than it had to.

Eh… Honestly, what else did Aizawa expect from him?

~⁀‖⁀~§~♪~§~‿‖‿~

They had the rest of the day off so they decided to hang out. Curiously, Tsuyu decided to join them. The six of them were a sight to behold but as expected from a group made mostly of hero students, they didn’t get in any trouble.

Izuku came back home happy although a bit tired. Since it was still around an hour until his usual patrol hours as Phantom, he decided to look through forums. But after fifteen minutes or so it was obvious that he wouldn’t find anything not USJ-related. 

So, he decided to see if there was anything interesting written about I-Island, and oh boy was that a great idea. It turns out today was the results day of some invention contest! He couldn’t help but smile, noticing that Melissa took first place; in the apocalyptic future, she was the last protector of I-Island as she took the spot of her father after he had died (sadly even Nezu wasn’t able to find out how exactly) and if it wasn’t for her, the island surely wouldn’t have survived as long as it did. Even after it fell under All For One’s reign, there were signs of rebels operating in earnest.

That’s why he could hardly keep still when he noticed someone bad-mouthing her in the comment section of the article just because she was quirkless (it was, sadly, common knowledge since her father had a lot of eyes on him and on his family by the extent). And it wasn’t the only example of extreme rudeness toward her! Someone even accused her of using her father’s connections to win!

He was quick to start typing his own comment, fingers flying over the keyboard with lightning speed.

It’s one of the biggest competitions for young investors in the world. With all the eyes on it and taking into account a jury that's made of members of various countries, there must be many precautions set in place. If anyone did try to cheat, it would get immediately noticed and the person disqualified. 

Either way, it’s absurd to accuse someone only based on their quirk or lack thereof. Wow, I guess, obviously things like retractable eyeballs or sweating with deodorant give someone an unspeakable edge against other participants. Especially in the inventing contest. You're a smart cookie, aren't you? Weird that you didn't end up the victor yourself.

Happy with the appropriate amount of spite he wrote another comment, this time in the general section instead of replying to someone specific. Just in case the interested party glances through articles and people's reactions. 

Congratulations, Melissa! As a fellow inventor, I can’t help but marvel at your project. I can tell how in-depth you had to go with calculations and how many test runs it would take to tear a molecule in half. It might not sound revolutionary as an end product but it opens up a way for so many new possibilities it's making me dizzy just thinking about it! I can't wait for your next projects!

Sorry for the long comment, never give up, and remember that you’re great! 

Well. At least it wasn't as bad as his usual word vomit. Either way, it’s not like people are forced to read his comments. But if someone does, he hopes it's Melissa and he makes her day a little better. 

Since he still had a bit of time, he looked over his blueprints and fixed some mistakes. Twenty minutes in he realized that he probably should get into his Phantom gear and going. If Eraserhead is resting for once, someone needs to take care of criminals on the streets (if there are any left after USJ…), and if the man’s back in action already… Then it’d be probably best to keep an eye on him. After all, he fought a lot of enemies.

He decided to check how many people he angered with his comment before he left and wasn't very surprised to find a private message forwarded to him. But. He nearly dropped his phone when he noticed it was from Melissa herself.

Hi! I feel like other people would butt into conversation so I decided to write to you privately. I hope you don't mind. I just wanted to say thank you and maybe talk a bit since you mentioned that you're an inventor too. 

He was quick to reply.

It’s quite alright! I’m actually really happy you wrote to me since I really respect you and your work! I mean, you aren't well-known yet but I know it's just a matter of time!

Then he fused his phone with himself and went out. He was quick to arrive at his usual route but the whole way there he kept wondering whether she already answered or not. After half an hour and getting one stray cat off a tree, he made sure no one was around before promptly unfusing with his phone from himself to check his messages.

Thanks! And do you mind if I ask about some of your projects? I understand if you don’t want to talk about them! I’m just curious. I usually work with my father and sometimes with my classmates. I think it would be nice to broaden my horizons!

Tap tap tap.

I’ve been thinking about making a thing that would make gravity around it much heavier since my friend has a gravity-related quirk and I want to test a few things out. I’ve already started working on blueprints and I can show them to you tomorrow if you want to! 

After that, he once again fused with his phone and went onto his merry patrol. This time he managed to go an hour before taking a glimpse at his messages again.

If you don’t mind I can try to help look for any miscalculations you might have made or give some advice. And I can show you my project of heat-reflecting socks. They are a fun little thing I’ve been thinking about for a while now… Discussing them with someone would give me the determination to actually make them!

Sounds like a lot of fun! Count me in! I’ve thought about making a cooling sweater once, to wear in summer but then magnetic spoons took all of my attention and I totally forgot about that idea… I might come back to it though.

And then it took only twenty minutes and stopping a fight between four drunkards for his excitement to win over, thus forcing him to check his phone yet again.

I’ll happily help you with anything I'll be able to! I’d love to see this sweater in action! It would fit well with my socks. While we’re at it… What do you think about pants that are cool inside and hot outside? 

YESSSS! I mean. Yes it sounds like a wonderful idea, let’s try our best at creating the most mind-boggling clothes in the history of 

“What are you smiling at?”

Phantom screeched like a banshee, hugging his phone to his chest to both hide its contents and make sure it wouldn’t fall from his hands. He whipped his head around, glaring at Eraserhead for scaring the living daylights out of him.

“You could have knocked first,” he stated with an expression akin to a pout.

“On a rooftop?” Aizawa asked, raising an eyebrow.

“There’s a lovely antenna right next to you.” Phantom pointed out, still grumpy about being taken off guard. It doesn’t happen often and it shouldn’t happen at all! 

“Whatever you say, problem child.” the man huffed, taking a few steps closer… And actually sitting next to him. “I have a lot of questions.”

“Yeah, and Nezu probably has a lot of theories,” Phantom replied easily, although he was a bit nervous. 

“He always has a lot of theories,” Eraserhead agreed with a deep sigh. “What exactly is your quirk?”

“Pass. Next question.” 

“What do you call it?”

Well… Revamp isn’t the most self-explanatory name to ever exist but it doesn’t sound like something that has to do with time travel which could seem pretty suspicious so…

“Pass.”

“Is it so telling?”

“Maybe, maybe not,” Phantom offered with a shrug. “You know what? You had enough questions. My turn. How are you feeling? You had a lot of goons to beat at USJ.”

“We have Recovery Girl at UA. I’ll live. You?”

The vigilante snickered at that.

“You know me, I’m untouchable! Yakuza couldn’t get me, do you really think handyman and his mindless beast would?”

“It was created to rival All Might, according to you. Are you this confident in your abilities?”

“Yeah, it was created to defeat All Might. Do I look like the symbol of peace to you?” 

Aizawa sighed. He did expect an answer along these lines.

“Answer the question, problem child. Did you get hurt or not?”

“Nope.”

“Good.”

And with that, they fell into silence that was neither uncomfortable nor pleasant. It just… Was.

“Hey, Eraser..”

“What?”

“Where did you buy your sleeping bag? I’m asking for a friend.”

The question was so random that Aizawa was to hide the small upturn of his lips behind his capture weapon. Not that it was enough to fool his companion.

“Come on! It’s not like it’s a top secret or something!” 

“If you tell me your birthday I might actually get you one.” 

“I told you it’s for a friend! Psh… I’ll just ask Present Mic.” Phantom decided, crossing his arms. But after a few seconds, he opted to actually answer. “July fifteenth.”

“And I presume you already know mine.” 

“Of course, I do!” the boy chirped happily (it wasn't an easy find. All hail almighty future Present Mic for disclosing this precious information! Getting the date from the man himself would be nothing short of impossible). “November eighth!”

“Then you should know that I hate surprise parties too.”

“Yeah but since you know that I know your birthday it won’t be a surprise anymore, will it?”

“Just don’t bring confetti or anything else hard to clean.” the man said, resigning to his fate.

“Yeah, yeah, I know. The cake should be coffee or dark chocolate flavored since you hate sweet flavors. No candles because you find them to be an unnecessary fire hazard. Gift paper gets a huge no too since, according to you, it’s just free trash and you hate most patterns since they are so gaudy.” 

Aizawa blinked slowly.

“You realize how creepy having this much information on my birthday is when I hate celebrating anything, don’t you?”

“Why do you think I listed it all?”

Eraserhead shook his head.

“And I presume you will say ‘pass’ if I ask where do you know it all from?”

“Actually, I will answer with something else. With your biggest nightmare, in fact. Namely, Present Mic.”

“Should I kill the present or future him?” Aizawa inquired and didn’t miss how Phantom tensed before forcibly making himself relax.

“Well… Technically he has present in his name… And it would be hard to kill the future one so… Anyway! Your line of thought seems to be getting pretty dangerous so it’s high time for me to tail it out of here! Bye!”

Phantom hid his phone from the line of Eraserhead’s sight and fused it into himself, readily disappearing under the rooftop and reappearing in the nearby alleyway before promptly booking it from there. Through a wall.

He didn’t know whether he should be relieved or stressed by the fact that Aizawa didn’t even try using his quirk to stop him. Maybe he should have probed for some more information concerning Nezu’s theories about his quirk? Though from information provided he can more or less guess where the mammal’s reasoning would go; time travel with a twist or something like parallel universe.

Eh, no point in overthinking it. As long as his identity is safe, everything’s dandy.

Chapter Text

The Sports Festival… Well. It's fine that it was going to happen. Sure, it was a way for villains to learn about their quirks but it was such an important part of UA that the cons of canceling it would outweigh the pros (although it’s hard to deduce by how much).

Everyone was excited but surprisingly the one that seemed the most passionate for once wasn’t Inasa (not that he wasn’t all over the place) but Ochaco. 

“They are creeping me out…” Shinso murmured at one point and Izuku couldn’t help but quietly agree. 

“By the way why do you want to be a hero, Rara?” Inasa asked as they entered the lunch area. “I was inspired by heroes! They are so full of passion and energy! Especially All Might! I know that other professions are all full of people who put their all into what they do too but it just doesn’t feel the same! I want to fight and help others!”

“Um…” the girl murmured, looking to the side and suddenly losing the terrifying aura that was bordeline putting the fear of god into Shinso's heart. “I actually want to be a hero for money… My family’s construction company isn’t doing too great and I’d like to help them…”

“Would it not be quicker and easier to get a job-related license and sell some of the equipment your parents are using for lifting materials?” Iida inquired.

“Yeah, it would be far more effective!” the girl agreed readily. “But my father encouraged me to follow my dream and I guess I kind of admired heroes, especially the rescue ones a lot… Anyway! What about you guys?”

“I think your reason is very admirable!” Izuku said and the rest was quick to agree. “As for me… Well, it’s no secret All Might is my lifelong idol… I always wanted to be a hero, I guess… And I can’t help my impulse to run headfirst into danger when someone needs saving so… Yeah.”

“You were born to be a hero!” Ochaco exclaimed enthusiastically, pumping her fist up. 

“I’m not sure about that…” Midoriya said with a small shrug. There was also the whole apocalypse thingy but he wasn’t about to tell them about that! 

“I mean, at least your reason isn’t spite. The more people kept on calling my quirk villainous, the more I wanted to prove them wrong… So I’ll become a hero no matter what. Just to prove everyone who called me a villain wrong.” Hitoshi went next, shrugging.

“I like your reasoning, ribbit,” Tsuyu stated calmly. “They treated you badly yet you chose the right path. You didn’t give up under pressure and used their hate as fuel for kindness. I think that’s truly heroic. Honestly, I think all reasons are good as long as you don’t use your position as a hero to hide illegal activities.” 

Everyone went quiet for a moment.

“Thank you…” Hitoshi murmured, ending the silence. 

“What about you, Tsu? What’s your reason for becoming a hero?” Ochaco asked as they stood in line for food

“I thought my quirk would be good for rescue and since I can do good things I think I should do them. I very strongly dislike breaking rules so a job meant for keeping justice seemed right for me, ribbit.”

“I highly admire your reason, Tsuyu!” Iida stated, energetically chopping the air.

“Call me Tsu, ribbit.”

“To follow this path just because you know you can help is highly heroic in my opinion! I, myself, decided to follow in my brother’s footsteps since he is the authority figure I look up to the most!” Iida stated as they all moved toward an empty table after having gotten their food.

“Hey guys! I got kicked up from labs to get some food!” Mei yelled, appearing next to them suddenly. Most of them jumped or at least flinched while she slid next to Izuku, putting her tray down. “Whatcha talking about?”

“Why we chose to be heroes, ribbit,” Tsuyu answered readily. 

“Oh! Cool, cool! But honestly! Isn’t it the kind of choice you’re born with already made? Like, I know I’m in support rather than hero course but it was so obvious that I would be an amazing inventor! It was so clear from the second I took wrench into my hand!”

“I mean, I saw All Might and I knew that I wanted to be a hero no matter what,” Izuku noted with a thoughtful expression.

“I guess it’s kind of curious how I’ve immediately decided I’ll be a hero when others started calling me names rather than just continuing my life as a fine citizen.” Shinso drawled out, opening his apple juice. 

“Yeah! You’re totally right! We all get this passion inside us that just waits to be used!” 

“I guess… It does feel like something I was meant to do…” Ochaco mused.

“Something has led us here, ribbit,” Tsuyu noted, deciding to finally start eating and let them do the talking.

“Ha! I always know what I’m talking about when it’s concerning my wonderful career!” Mei stated proudly. 

Izuku felt a vibration in his pocket and was quick to check the new message. Huh. It was from All Might.

Would it be a bad time to ask you for a talk over tea?

Well. It was to be expected. Yesterday the hero probably wanted to give him time to rest but the man must be really worried about the successor thing… And for some reason, he seems hell-bent on having Izuku confirm that whatever choice the symbol made was the right one.

I’ll finish my lunch and come. Which teacher lounge are you in?

He quickly ate his food, listened to his friend talk, and then got up.

“I have something to do, I’ll see you in class,” he informed, starting to walk away.

“Alright, don’t light anything on fire!” Mei yelled after him.

He rolled his eyes but didn’t promise anything. 

 ~⁀‖⁀~§~♪~§~‿‖‿~

All Might wasn’t entirely sure why he kept reaching out to young Midoriya.

Yes, he felt rather disappointed that the boy didn’t want to be his successor (and a bit… Lot guilty. Would have the boy accepted his power were he to answer differently back at the rooftop?) but it wasn’t a reason to cling to him so much. And the training (recycling, more like) they gone through together didn’t mean that All Might should keep on trying to talk to the kid so often. Young Midoriya is a very busy individual after all!

Sure, the boy is smart and reminds the hero of Nezu but is that really a reason to keep on asking him for pointers in choosing a successor? After all, it’s All Might’s decision! And no matter how much the symbol of peace wanted to give his quirk to the boy (because with every passing event young Midoriya proved himself more and more deserving of inheriting this sacred torch) he can’t do so if the kid doesn’t want it! The boy had made his choice and the hero isn’t going to force the student into anything.

Well, all the logical things aside… There’s one more reason why All Might keeps on trying to talk to young Midoriya. There’s this… Strange kind of connection he can feel. It’s hard to put in words but it’s a bit as if a spark of One For All, muffled and somewhat far away, is residing within the kid. It doesn’t make sense. It is so very different yet so close to what the man felt like when he already inherited the power yet Nana had the embers still residing within herself.

It confused him to no end. Was he becoming delusional with age? Did he get some strange fixation on the idea of giving One For All to young Midoriya? Or was he, perhaps, seeing his own reflection in that boy (even though the kid seemed far stronger than Toshinori could ever hope to be without Nana’s guidance)?

He hoped to find the answer to those questions by spending time with the boy. And he kind of, low-key, hoped that young Midoriya would change his mind and accept One For All after all.

“Alright, I realize that after what happened at USJ you’re kind of desperate to find a successor but I think you should wait until the Sports Festival with your decision.” was what greeted Toshinori when the boy walked into the room and glanced around, making sure they were the only people there.

Well. Here goes All Might’s feeble hope about the boy changing his mind.

“Yes, I too believe that it would be a wonderful occasion to observe future heroes in action.” Toshinori agreed easily and then lifted the kettle. “Would you like green, white, or black tea?”

“Black, please.” the boy answered easily, taking a seat on the sofa “Now, do you have anyone in mind or was there no progress?”

“Well… I finally agreed to meet the boy my old sidekick wanted to introduce to me. His name is Mirio Togata, and he’s your upperclassman. He has a Permeation quirk and I admit that his control over it is quite admirable. He also reminds me quite a bit of myself but… I feel like choosing him would put too much burden on him. There’s no doubt that he’ll be an amazing hero but I’m afraid that with all the resemblance he bears to me, he might never leave my shadow… And when I pass on, I fear that people will put me on an unreachable pedestal and by extension dwarf his achievements.”

He turned around with teas ready, putting them on the table, and then sat down. He looked up at the young Midoriya who was looking at him with wide eyes.

“Did I say something weird?” he inquired, not expecting such a reaction.

“No, no. I’m just surprised how well you thought it through.” the kid was quick to answer and Toshinori couldn’t help but huff indignantly.

“I might not be the smartest hero out there but I’m not made only of muscles!”

“Sorry.” the boy said with a sheepish smile. “But addressing your worries…  I happen to know a bit about Mirio and I believe you’re right in your assessment of the situation. I don’t doubt that he would make an amazing next symbol… But he could do so even without One For All, with his own strength and on his own terms. Even then some might compare him to you but your quirks are different enough to make people fond of him by association rather sour that he isn’t you.”

“I’m relieved you agree with me on this matter… I was afraid I was overacting. I will contact Sir Nighteye and talk to him later today.” All Might said. “As for others… I’m thinking about Uraraka Ochaco or Kirishima Eijiro. I hope that the Sports Festival will help me make the final decision.”

“Alright, good luck then,” Izuku said, lifting his cup and drinking his tea in one go just to get up and move toward the exit. “Lessons are about to start so it’s high time I go.”

“Can I ask one more thing?” All Might inquired and the boy stopped with a hand on the doorknob, turning his head toward the hero.

“Sure.”

“Do you think choosing a vigilante would be a bad idea? After seeing Phantom at USJ I thought that with some guidance he could make a wonderful hero.”

“I’m fairly confident you’d have more luck trying to make Aizawa sensei into your successor.” the boy said with a complete deadpan, taking all wind out of Toshinori’s sails.

“Duly noted,” he said, leaning back into the sofa.

“Don’t look so down. Finding a chance to talk to him would probably take as much if not more time than actually choosing a successor out of UA students.” the boy remarked and then left.

Well… Let’s hope Sports Festival brings the man a revelation.

~⁀‖⁀~§~♪~§~‿‖‿~

“Ha! Look at them! They think so highly of themselves just because…!” Monoma began, walking to the very front of the mob that crowded around the exit, making students inside unable to leave. He wanted to taunt the class A but his plans were thwarted by a loud, excited gasp.

He took a step back when a green-haired kid skipped toward him with what seemed to be stars in his eyes.

“Your quirk is Copy, right? It’s so cool! Can you copy more than one quirk? Can you use a few at the same time or do you need to switch between them? If the latter how exactly does it work, do you need to restart your quirk somehow? Oh! I always wanted to ask! Can you copy mutation quirks? If yes to what extent? And what about quirks with stockpiling properties, like Fatgum? How does it feel to copy and use someone’s quirk? Can you feel what it is? Where it’s located? It’s touch-activated, right? Do you need to touch a specific part of someone’s body or it doesn’t matter? If it doesn’t could you take a strand of hair from someone and then copy their quirk from it? If you could then does it give you an endless amount of uses or does it get drained of DNA material you use to copy the quirk or something? Would you be able to copy Nezu’s…?”

The incoming storm of mumbling was stopped by Hitoshi putting his hand on his friend’s mouth.

“Calm down. They were supposed to try intimidating us, not the other way around,” he said quietly and then let Izuku speak again.

“Sorry!” the boy apologized to him before turning toward stupefied Monoma. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable and I probably shouldn’t ask so many questions about your quirk right before the Sports Festival, I’m so sorry! But would you mind answering some questions after it, pretty please? I’m so curious about your quirk! I know most powers are one in a kind and all of them can be used in hundreds of ways but yours have so much potential I just can’t help my curiosity!”

“Do we… Know each other…?” Neito asked, feeling lost for the first time in what felt like forever.

Fuck. Right. Izuku knows about his quirk mostly from his future self’s memories of Sports Festival. How to explain it without making himself look creepy? Let’s think… Well. Worst case scenario he can go back ten minutes or so in time...

“I saw you on the entrance exam.” he blurted out. He’s pretty sure there was another blond than Aoyama on the field but the other one ran in a completely different direction than Midoriya so…

Neito’s eyes widened in realization.

“You’re that crazy green dot that ran into Zero Pointer?!” Neito yelled before quickly gathering his composure back. “I mean… Of course, someone that crazy could only end in class A! You bunch can’t help but attract trouble!”

“Hey! I would get pancaked if he didn’t come to save me! And where were you when someone was under the rubble, unable to run?!” Uraraka was quick to step in.

“Dude… Not cool.” someone at the back murmured at Neito who turned around and yelled “Am I wrong though?!” at them.

“Hey, listen, I get it, sorry that I made you uncomfortable. I’m just really enthusiastic about quirks and I get how it can seem weird or even creepy to others… But don’t bring others in because of me when I’m clearly the crazy one here.”

Monoma, once again, seemed taken off-guard by it but before he could think of a way to answer…

“Fuck off extras, I don’t have time to watch you argue over meaningless shit,” Bakugo said, pushing through to get out.

“Asshole.” Neito spat under breath at the same time Izuku rolled his eyes with a quiet “Fucker”.

Then the two of them looked at each other, with weird sense of camaraderie.

“Isn’t he your classmate?” the boy asked, seemingly letting go of his taunting way of treating the other hero class for now.

“Yeah and had been for decades. He hates my guts since I was, like, six because he got an amazing heroic quirk and I didn’t.”

There was a moment of silence. Some of the students started leaving, not all that interested in the conversation between the two students at the front.

“As class B we are obliged to not let you get overconfident even if you, class A, faced off against villains!” the boy exclaimed in a loud, extremely irritating voice. But just as Izuku was about to write him off, the blond’s voice went down in volume and one might even call it shy. “But personally, I guess, I would kind of… Not mind answering some questions about my quirk… After Sports Festival of course! Because if you think you can gather info on me so easily you are sorely mistaken!”

And just like that Neito had gathered back all the points he had lost.

“Thank you so much! Do you mind adding me on Headmovie? I have so many questions! Would you mind if I wrote them down and sent them to you? Of course, you can ignore them for now, since you should focus on training for Sports Festival!”

“Ah, um…” the boy looked torn inside but in the end he lost a fight against himself. “Sure.”

And just like that Neito’s need to triumph over class A had been defeated by a well-meaning bush-haired teen. Thankfully instead of making fun of him, Kendo seemed proud.

“He did it again,” Hitoshi whispered in terror to Inasa.

“I did what?” Izuku asked, turning toward him with a raised eyebrow.

“Questioned someone into submission.”

Midoriya wasn’t completely sure what it was supposed to mean so he just shrugged, turning toward the exit and skipping toward the next lesson, taking out his phone to start writing down his questions and theories. The second part he would share with Neito only if the boy didn’t get scared off by all of Izuku’s inquiries.

Behind him, Uraraka and Shinso shuddered.

Beware of the power of analyzing. It’s a force to be reckoned with, in the most unexpected way possible.

Chapter Text

It was the ninth day of school that Midoriya got called into Nezu’s office. Was he nervous? Abso-fucking-lutely. Did he realize that it was most likely about his screwdriver (he got his grappling hook sent to his house already) rather than the principal realizing that he is Phantom? Yes. But had logic ever stopped him from stressing? No! And it won’t this time either! Plus ultra!

“Welcome, please do not feel nervous, and take a seat!” Nezu greeted in rapid succession, looking at him from the top of his chair. “I assure you that you are in no trouble! I merely found your possession and would like to give it back to the rightful owner! I apologize for the delay but it has been quite a busy time for UA! Let me offer you tea as an apology!”

As expected.

“Well… It would be rude to refuse a cup of tea.” Izuku said, part of him terrified at the prospect of getting found out but the other…

The principal can be a nightmare come true but he isn’t a bad person… Creature? His future self held him in high regard and was very fond of their discussions. His present self was a huge fan of him.

“Wonderful!” Nezu said, swiftly taking the screwdriver out of the drawer and jumping down from his chair, handing the item to the boy. Then he walked to the table with a kettle and cups to the side and… Of course, he had the tea already ready. What else was Midoriya expecting?

“While I am here I guess it is a good occasion to ask about support items concerning Sports Festival. If I got permission for them on the entrance exam do I need to fill out papers again or do I just need to report that I would like to use it?”

“You can simply take your screwdriver and grappling hook with you!” Nezu confirmed readily, taking a sip of his tea. It was obvious he was excited to see what kind of madness the boy would get into this time around. “Informing me is enough.”

“Thank you, sir,” Izuku answered, deciding to drink his tea as well.

“I’m quite curious… Please do tell, why did you chose these two items for the entrance exam?”

Ah, yes. Questions. Nezu wouldn’t invite him here without any inquiries in mind. It just wouldn’t be like him, no matter the timeline.

“Grappling hook for mobility and screwdriver for possible in-field action. If the exam turned out to be some kind of tournament I trained quite a bit in hand-to-hand combat with my friend. I wanted to have all possible bases covered as much as possible with as little as possible.”

“I see! Quite an effective line of thought.” Nezu complemented making Izuku both worried and bashful. 

“Well… It is UA, I should be ready for anything… But relying on items rather than my own strength would feel wrong…” he mused, scratching his neck nervously.

“I see, I see!” the principal commented joyfully. “I have also noticed that another class had visited your own a few days ago. I am quite curious as to how you managed to talk things out with the main… Let us say aggressor although I am sure he merely wanted to give you all a friendly challenge.”

Yeah… The creature definitely knows exactly what had been said there. But a student wouldn’t dare question whether the principal had his way of observing the situation and even the words were put in a way that made you think he just heard about the situation. Typical Nezu.  

“I so happened to glance his quirk at the entrance exam and it made an impression on me… I might have gotten a bit overexcited and… Well, ‘questioned him into submission’ how my friend had so eloquently put it.”

And here goes the principal’s famous cackle.

“I see! You have an interest in quirk analyzing!” he noted. “A truly fascinating hobby which I share with you, dear student! If you ever find a quirk topic you are curious about feel free to come discuss it with me! I am always open to new conversation subjects!”

Izuku was quiet for a bit. Should he or should he not…? Oh, whatever! It’s a perfect occasion for a nice little chat!

“Alright, so, I’ve been wondering… Your quirk, sir, is called High Spec, right?” he began because it would be safer to act as if he wasn’t completely sure about it even if he knew more than he should. The principal was quick to nod, a happy spark shining in his eyes and whiskers twitching in anticipation. “Does it indicate that humans and their level of intelligence is high or that your intelligence is high compared to them? How would it compare to human intelligence quirks? What if a human had been born with power extremely similar if not identical to High Spec? And since humans are rather emotional, could feelings restrain the true potential of such quirk?”

Yes. His future self had a similar conversation with Nezu but even with the High Spec at work, Izuku doesn’t remember everything. He has a general idea of how that talk went but… You know what? There’s no reason to make excuses.

He just wants to have something of his own instead of just going based on his memories of the future. Those discussions weren’t fully his but this one? This one will be truly his (and hopefully many more to come).

Nezu cackled once more, putting his tea down and scrambling toward… Wow, he has a whiteboard here! Well… That’s to be expected, actually.

“High Spec insinuates a higher level of understanding which humans are usually capable of but! Just between the two of us, most of them are not even close to such a level be it either because their strengths lie in a different field or they simply are too lazy to use their minds’ strength to its fullest potential. Intelligence quirks come in many shapes and forms so it is more than possible for a person with comparable comprehension to mine to appear. But as of now, I believe my general experience would let me best most opponents in a game of wits although there are some discussions about a rather intelligent young man in the southern continent... Ah, apologies, I got a bit sidetracked. To answer your marvelous question about emotions obscuring intelligence, I have given such notion a thought before but I haven’t thought how High Spec would work when bombarded with those. Not to say that I do not feel, for I know all emotions from fury to joy but throughout the years I have recognized just how different their frequency is compared to humans'. For some reason evolution didn’t make people any less likely to lose their, as to put it simply, cool and one might even say they grew to be fueled by them even stronger throughout centuries! Which makes your inquiry a wonderful topic for a discussion. No matter how smart an individual might be, it is worth nothing if they choose to use their heart instead of brain!”

There was something really amusing in seeing someone go as fast – if not faster – as Izuku’s own muttering. Yes, from an objective point, it was kind of creepy but from a subjective one, it was absolutely amazing. So much information was put in such a small frame of time!

He answered in kind but, sadly, the bell rang in the middle of his monologue and they had to leave their discussion for another day. None of them would let go of it though; they had too many fun word-vomiting theories at each other. Even if today they didn’t even get to talk all that much.

Thankfully for Aizawa’s heart, he wouldn’t learn about this highly dangerous mix of mad minds until later. How much later is an arguable matter since even months would be too soon for the underground hero and his already exhausted existence.

("Well. At least it's a coffee kid theorrizing with Nezu instead of the problem child." would go a rare optimistic thought, leisurely crossing his mind.)

~⁀‖⁀~§~♪~§~‿‖‿~

Inasa’s speech was… Passionate. And it actually made the audience roar in excitement for the incoming battles so kudos for him, Izuku supposes.

So. The first stage was the same as in the future timeline. So now too it would most certainly put a target on the person who finishes first. That’s why Midoriya decided that he’s fine with getting anything in the range of the top twenty, maybe twelfth or something.

But then his eyes landed on the parts that were left out of defeated robots right outside the tunnel and he just… He couldn’t win against the temptation! Such a wonderful amount of high-quality metals! And mines at the end of the race! How could he say no to all that?!

Just taking a sheet of metal wasn’t enough. Since had official permission to take his precious screwdriver and his grappling hook (it starts to look like some kind of tradition…)… Hopefully having fun with the robot’s system won’t take too much time since Izuku really wants to get to the second stage!

Thankfully it wasn’t too hard to navigate from a manual point and just like that Midoriya ended in an improvised mecha suit. Mei looked a bit disgruntled with the fact that she didn’t think about it but he passed her so fast it’s hard to say for sure.

By the time he got to minefields he was at the front, only three students before him (Inasa, Todoroki, and surprise, surprise, Bakugo). Well. If he ends up winning through this madness then so be it.

He tried digging some mines and fascinatingly, he managed to. He was afraid the force of the robot would be too much and they would explode but within two minutes he had a considerably sized pile of those placed on the ground.

So he wrangled a sheet of metal out of the robot and jumped down, holding onto the item for dear life (huh. It reminds him of that one time he held onto All Might’s leg so as not to plummet to the ground from over hundred feet or so. Good times).

“Look at that, listeners! Hero student, Midoriya Izuku, rockets forward with terrifying speed!” Present Mic yelled.

“He’s going to fly right through the finish line…” Aizawa noted and just as he said…

Midoriya flew above the whole minefield and landed behind it, his means of transport skidding along the ground for dozens of feet. Izuku actually had to lean his body to a side to make the thing turn slightly to the left to go through the finish line instead of slamming with a still rather impressive speed into a wall.

The stadium erupted into cheers and suddenly Izuku felt extremely self-conscious. So he smiled sheepishly toward the audience and showed a peace sign. But it lasted only for a second or two because sure enough Inasa came barreling through the finish lines and with only slightly lost speed caught his friend into a hug.

“THAT WAS SO AWESOME!” he yelled, the two of them falling to the ground because of his acceleration.

Izuku laughed and patted his friend on the back.

“You did great too!” he assured. “Now get off me please, you’re crushing me.”

“Sorry!”

Bakugo and Todoroki came soon after, their mood so very different from the two who had finished the race only seconds before them it was somewhat funny. But Izuku ignored them for now, waiting for his friends. The second he noticed Mei he took her to the side.

“The next stage will probably be something to do with groups. Team up with Shinso and stay quiet, in the final stage there are one-on-one fights so you’ll have all eyes on you and your babies.”

She didn’t ask questions, instead saluting with a huge grin.

“Ayay, captain!” she saluted, turning around and standing to the side of the finishing line, waiting for Shinso.

Now, let’s think… Inasa and Ochaco probably won’t have anything against teaming up with him even if he’ll have everyone after him and his points. Three people should be enough right? And maybe Iida will want to join …

He was sure to give his most unamused look to the camera when Midnight said that his headband would be worth ten million points. And as one would expect, most people strayed as far from him as possible.

“Hey, Mizu! Wanna team up?” Ochaco walked up to him with a smile he readily returned.

“Me too! Me too! Since we’re a future team we should stay together! Where’s Mei and Shoshi?!” Inasa joined them happily.

Good. Midoriya didn’t even have to talk them into being part of his team.

“It will be better for them to stay low for now but we’ll do just fine together,” he said glancing around. Tsuyu was talking to Mezou and Iida… Joined Todoroki? Huh. Weird but it’s fine, he supposes. Their team is pretty well-balanced and they should be able to do just fine but…

His eyes landed on Tokoyami and he couldn’t help but grin.

“Nasa, could you get me that metal sheet from earlier?” he asked and the boy was quick to agree, running for the aforementioned item while Uraraka looked at him curiously as he walked up to their classmate.

“Tokoyami, right?” he asked and the boy nodded. “I know everyone is going to aim at my team for the ten million headband, but I’m fairly confident in my ability to move to the next stage so… Would you like to join?”

He expected more reluctance but after a moment of silence, he got a positive answer.

“Being a hero is not an easy path. Backing away from a hand outstretched just because of some hardships  would be paramount to giving in to my dark side.”

“Great!” Izuku beamed at him, turning around and walking to Midnight to both tell her who’d be part of his team and ask if he could use his trusty sheet of metal.

“Well… You’ll probably prove me wrong but I don’t think it’s game-changing enough to refuse your request!” she replied and was she not a bit of a sadist she would regret her words when he grinned sharply, swiftly walking back toward his team.

 “Alright! I’ll tell you plan A now…” Izuku said, hoping debriefing wouldn’t take too long because he wanted to discuss plans B and C too…

In the end, he managed, although barely, to share everything he was planning. They were all on board with various amounts of enthusiasm.

They were going to rock it.

~⁀‖⁀~§~♪~§~‿‖‿~

Todoroki wasn’t mad per se. He was frustrated, maybe a bit irritated. But everything could be blamed on luck. That crazy Midoriya kid was lucky that one of the robots was left in good shape, lucky that he didn’t fall off of that sheet of metal, and lucky to have flown straight through the finish line.

Bakugo and Inasa had the advantage of flight in the last part of the obstacle course. That’s all. Even with that, he was cold on their heels. It’s alright. Victory achieved by his ice only will be his. After all the first two rounds aren’t even that important.

Not that he didn’t want to win them too…

For the first half, he let everyone else go after the first-place headband. Getting himself in the middle of that fight from the very start would be plain stupid. It was far better to wait it out, especially so since Kaminari’s quirk overuse would render the blond useless.

And then the time finally came. He did everything perfectly. He used his ice to surround the enemy team while also blocking others and Kaminari used his quirk to render Tokoyami’s Dark Shadow so weak it could be as well completely gone. Sure, they still had Inasa but how much could the boy do with his wind without putting his allies in crossfire?

Todoroki had the high ground. It was obvious. And yet…

Midoriya smirked.

As if warned by some strange force Todoroki looked up and realized that the accursed sheet of metal Midoriya used to win the first stage was in the air but his eyes were quick to return to the battlefield, to his enemy.

“I will leave it to you, hold on!” Iida yelled just as the item above had been pushed by the wind slightly to the right.

As Todoroki reached for the headband, a shadow fell over two teams, enabling Tokoyami’s quirk to double its original size and lunge at its enemies. Kaminari tried to use his electricity to deter the creature but he was already at his limit so it didn’t do much more than put him into ‘whee’ state.

Todoroki panicked, throwing his left arm forward, flames licking at the beast of darkness that thankfully retreated.

“C!”

He didn’t waste time stressing over the promise he had just broken. He was so close, he just needed to use his forward momentum and…

Midoriya was gone.

“ELEVEN SECONDS LEFT!”

Todoroki looked up and sure enough, he was greeted with that infuriating smirk and peace sign. At the very least the expression turned into ‘shit’ the very next second.

“Fucking Deku!” Bakugo yelled, exploding himself toward the boy.

Midoriya took out his grappling hook… And threw it at the blond’s face. Which, admittedly, hit its mark… Both buying a little bit of time for the boy and making the living explosion… Well, angry, even livid wouldn’t even begin to explain that murderous aura.

“TIME’S UP!”

Bakugo fell down in surprise while Midoriya kept on going higher.

“Mizu!” the gravity girl yelled, putting her hands together. “Release!”

And Inasa went running, catching his teammate (which didn’t make much sense considering he could simply use his wind currents to slow down the boy’s descent) and putting him down.

“We did it!”

“In the first place, team Midoriya!”

“YEAAH!” Ochaco yelled, for once being the loudest in their friend group. Also, her terrifying aura of determination was back in full swing.

“Second… Team Todoroki!”

And yet again… He failed to become first.

“Good job everyone! We might not have gotten first but our spot is still very admirable!” Yaoyorozu assured. “And your technique was very impressive Iida!”

“Thank you! I admit I am a bit disappointed that we didn’t manage to win but! I am sure that next time we will come out on top!”

“Team Bakugo is third!”

“Fucking hell, I was so close!” Bakugo screeched like a banshee, his eyes zeroing in on Midoriya’s grappling hook. Kirishima must have foreseen what the blond was thinking because he snatched the item off the ground and hid it in his hardened hands while the explosion boy lunged, his quirk activated.

“And the fourth… Team Mei!”

“Quirks are overrated! Good equipment is the best!” the crazy inventor girl screamed at the top of her lungs while Shinso rolled his eyes. The last two members of their team – Aoyama and grey grey-haired boy he didn’t recognize because he was from another class – seemed slightly dazed but happy. Todoroki wasn’t sure whether his classmate was at fault for that with his quirk or whether the pink-haired demon was the culprit.

But he honestly couldn’t care less. He walked up to Midoriya.

“Let’s talk,” he demanded and then moved toward the corridor. Thankfully he didn’t have to repeat himself; the boy said a few words to his friends and then followed after him.

Finding empty space wasn’t as easy as he hoped but he was determined.

He had some questions to ask.

(And a tragic backstory to share)

~⁀‖⁀~§~♪~§~‿‖‿~

Was the grin and peace sigg too much? Is Todoroki taking me into an empty corridor to murder me? No, he wouldn’t… Or would he? 

This was Midoriya’s main line of thought as he followed after… Well, could he call him a friend if they’re on good terms when he’s a vigilante? Though that probably doesn’t actually count as a friendship since he’s pretty sure the three of Todorokis had kind of adopted Phantom into their family.

Finally, the boy stopped and turned toward Izuku.

“You confuse me.”

“Thanks. I get it a lot.”

“It wasn’t a complement,” Todoroki stated, furrowing his brows slightly. 

“I know,” Midoriya answered readily and the two of them went quiet for a moment.

“You took first place two times already… Even though you don’t have a quirk.” the candy-cane-colored boy finally spoke and did Izuku not know him as well as he did, he would probably take some offense at these words. Like, different people same shit. Yeah. He had been born quirkless so what? “Have you heard about quirk marriages?”

Todoroki wouldn’t tell a classmate who’s pretty much a stranger to him about his life situation, would he?

“Yeah…” 

There’s no way. No way.

“My scum of a father, Endeavour, forced my mother into marriage. He could never defeat All Might so he decided to create an offspring that could.” 

What the hell!? Yeah, Izuku knows about it but it doesn’t make this situation any less awkward! How is he supposed to react?! What is he supposed to say to that?! Thankfully, or maybe not, Todoroki decided to continue.

“In all my memories of my mother… She is crying. And this scar… She saw Endeavour in me… Called my left side unbearable and poured boiling hot water on my face. I have sworn to never use his cursed flames and to win with my ice only. So why? How does someone who doesn’t even have a quirk best someone who had been born with the sole reason of being strong?”

How does one answer that? 

A belittled boy born with no power kept dreaming throughout the years. He fought and fought and fought… Yet, in the end, was told by his childhood friend to end himself and then by his hero that his hopes were for naught. So he finally gave up and it actually worked out for him. For a bit. He found friends and something he loved (even if it never would be quite the same as his true dream). He pulled through an apocalypse. He stole a quirk. Then he got even more powers and finally, he found a way to bring all those memories to the past. To the version of himself that has yet to go through all of those hardships. Who is he truly? 

And before him stands a boy who was born with all the power he could ever ask for but which he had never wished for. He can’t choose to simply give up; he has to keep fighting because there is no escape from the scrutinizing eyes of the number two hero and society. He rebels in the small childish way he can… Possibly the only way he can; by trying to succeed with only the part of himself that reminds him of his mother. Because he doesn’t want to be like the monster of the household. Even the spot in the school is offered to him: he gets recommended by the person he hates the most. And he gets in. He feels like he can’t escape so he moves forward, doing what little he can to deny his torturer any satisfaction. What can he even do?

“I’ll be honest with you, Todoroki.” Izuku decides to say, taking a step closer and lowering his voice. “My secret is that I survived. That's how you do anything. Achieve anything. As long as you’re alive and you keep going forward you have a chance of changing everything. And while we’re at that… I kind of get your reasoning for not using the fire side of your power but… You’re just hurting yourself in the end. This power isn’t his, it’s yours and by ignoring it you ignore part of yourself, not him.”

Todoroki clenched his hands into fists.

“Fire is fire. Endeavor taught me that it can only burn.”

“Then burn him with it,” Izuku answered readily, steely determination seeping into his voice. “Do whatever you have to do to free yourself from him. Don’t let him control you into being only half of what you can be. I get it! It’s hard to break free from the influence that has been haunting you for your whole life... But quietly doing as told while rebelling by limiting your own growth… It isn’t a way to go. How will it change your future from the past you already know and hate?”

He expected Todoroki to point out how Izuku had no idea what he was talking about. Maybe to raise his voice or even tell Izuku to fuck off. But nothing of this sort happened. 

Instead, the boy just turned around and left without another word.

~⁀‖⁀~§~♪~§~‿‖‿~

“Shucks, it’s going to hurt like hell, ain’t it?” 

Izuku just smiled, motioning for his friend to start the battle. They don’t have the whole day after all, do they? 

Shinso sighed and lunged forward.

“You know the ins and outs of my quirk so I feel like you should give me a head start!” 

Izuku shrugged a quarter of a second before blocking his friend’s attack and then sent him a beaming smile. Hitoshi neither spent as much time in training hand-to-hand combat (not that he didn’t train at all; Izuku’s just a madman who somehow has enough time in the day to do anything and everything) nor had as much muscle advantage from lugging around heavy inventions (he sometimes helps crazy inventor duo so he knows for a fact not only Midoriya but Mei too could easily bench press him).

“At least don’t stab me with the screwdriver, kay?” he kept on giving his best shot at small talk. 

He knew Izuku well enough to realize that there would be no answer coming (even if he stooped down to insulting anyone from their friend group – himself included and possibly the most effective – he would either get a glare or ‘I know you don’t mean it’ look) but even if he kept quiet his chances at victory wouldn’t be any higher. 

So the last thing he could do was hope that small talk would somehow make Izuku forget where they were for long enough to answer him.

But, of course, instead of doing as expected from him, Midoriya decided to roll back, show a thumbs up, and then get right back to the fight. 

Unsurprisingly it wasn’t long before Shinso had been bested and landed behind bonds. Well, at least he managed to get a few hits on his friend.  

“If you could bring your capture weapon I’m sure you’d kick my butt,” Izuku said with a sheepish smile, offering his friend a hand to get up.

Hitoshi wasn’t enough of a sore loser not to take it so he let himself get helped to his feet and rolled his eyes.

“If I knew how to use it… And even then I have a strange feeling you’d find a way to best it with your screwdriver.” 

“Never underestimate the power of a screwdriver.” 

“Can we get a ‘yeah’ for this wonderful example of sportsmanship?!” Present Mic yelled from his booth and the audience readily showered the two boys with love before promptly moving their focus to the next participants.

“I want to go underground anyway so whatever. It would probably be pretty bad for me to get the first place.”

“Aiming high, aren’t we?”

“And what place are you planning to get, huh?” Shinso inquired as the two of them walked toward Recovery Girl’s office. None of them had gotten badly hurt but Izuku had a bloody nose (which he didn’t seem to notice at all…) and Hitoshi had hit the ground hard not once not twice but at least thrice. But on their way there they were stopped by the redhead from their class.

“Hey! Midobro!” 

Izuku turned around, curious about the new nickname. Kirishima hissed in sympathy after taking a glimpse of his face.

“Sorry for bothering you right after your fight but I couldn’t find you earlier and I thought you may need it!” the boy said, presenting Midoriya with his grappling hook.

“Oh! Thank you! I was sure Kacchan had exploded it into oblivion by now!” 

The redhead laughed, showing his razor-sharp teeth. 

“Yeah, Bakugobro tried to blow it into smithers but I thought it wouldn’t be cool to destroy something of yours especially when it isn’t even the end of Sports Festival yet! You may still need it!” 

“Aren’t you afraid he’ll use it against you later on?” Shinso drawled out, raising his eyebrow.

“It wouldn’t be manly at all to let someone’s property get destroyed just because I’m afraid of losing! Anyway, I’m really curious about the matches so I’ll leave you! Good luck and see you later, dudes!” 

“See you…” 

“Bye!” 

Soon after that they arrived at Recovery Girl’s office, got themselves patched up, and returned to the stadium… That seemed to have gone through an ice age in the span of the last ten minutes. So Kaminari and Inasa had to wait for the area to get cleaned up (ekhem, thawed out) before getting to battle. The latter was quick to win (the blond began with a huge attack and Yoarashi just used his wind current to get into the air and miss most of the electricity; after that throwing Kaminari out of the bonds wasn’t exactly hard).

Then they watched Iida go against Mei and well… At least he won. 

“Hey, Mizu…” Uraraka said after Ashido’s match. “I’ve been thinking about my match and… I really want to win with my own strength but it would still be my victory if you gave me feedback on my strategy, right…?”

“Of course!” he answered readily. “So what do you have in mind?”

The girl beamed before promptly diving into her plan that was… Far more brutal than Izuku expected. 

“The idea of using smoke and jacket is great…I wonder if Midnight would let you take more than one… Then you could grab mine and use this part of the strategy more than once! Three times would probably be too much and Kacchan would be expecting it though…”

“I didn’t think about it! Leave it to you to think outside the box!” the girl said happily, already getting up. “I’ll ask Midnight if I can use your jacket!”

“You can take mine too if you want.” Shinso was quick to offer. 

“Me too!”

“Yours would be too big and then it would be easy to notice that she’s wearing more than one which would take the element of surprise out of her plan.” Izuku pointed out before turning toward the girl. “Also! You should think about the last part of your plan. The idea of using debris is marvelous but rather than immediately going after Kacchan you should wait and see. I’m pretty sure that by that point of the match, he would start feeling strained, and clearing out your meteor shower would take a lot out of him. You can use that time to catch a breath too.”

“Oh… That makes sense… Now that I think about it, I should use the distance to my advantage! I’m pretty sure that my quirk has a higher limit of use before making me exhausted than his does! Thank you, Mizu! I knew you would be able to patch any holes I made in my plan!”

“No, no! Your strategy was already solid! You’d have a great chance at winning even without my feedback!” Izuku was quick to assure before looking to the side and scratching his neck nervously. “I’m honestly really impressed… You didn’t even see that much of Kacchan’s fighting style yet you thought about using smoke from his explosions and the debris to your advantage… And you aren’t afraid of getting hurt… That’s really admirable…”

“T-thank you! I should go ask Midnight about the jacket thingy! Haha!” the girl answered, no less nervous than him, and then promptly ran away.

“What?!” Izuku asked indignantly noticing that Shinso was looking at him with his eyes wide open.

“You can be shy?” Hitoshi asked, still looking extremely shocked.

“I’m just a teen, alright?! Give me a break!” Midoriya answered, throwing his arms up and then crossing them, with a pout.

“Yeah! Don’t make fun of Mizu! He’s very sensitive!” Inasa was quick to say, putting an arm around his green-haired friend which drew a snort out of Shinso. The difference between the two was so huge that they looked more like son and father rather than classmates… Or maybe a mother hen and her hatchling would be a better description.

A few minutes later Ochaco came back, happily telling them that taking more jackets would be fine as long as they were usual ones, not some kind of equipment. With that Izuku and Shinso were quick to gift her theirs, wishing her good luck and encouraging her to kick Bakugo’s ass. Inasa assured her that he would be cheering the loudest of the audience. 

She left them when Kirishima started his battle with Tetsutetsu to get ready for her fight and soon enough Yoarashi was screaming his lungs out, motivating her to fight, with Izuku yelling right alongside him (Hitoshi just stood next to them quietly wishing her victory).

They watched in anticipation as she emerged from the smoke time after time. Izuku actually made binoculars with his hands to hide his pupils and zoom in on the fight (though the bright explosions hurt his eyes quite a bit). He could pinpoint the exact moment Ochaco used the jacket trick and he couldn’t help but grin when she used another jacket in one go, throwing the third one to the side and getting it a bit later in the fight.

“Thanks for not letting your guard down!” she yelled at one point, jumping back as she released a rain of debris on him. She let herself fall to the ground in a sitting position, staying low to be harder to notice and to catch her breath. She reached for the third jacket and put it around her waist, ready to keep on fighting since her enemy didn’t seem ready to go down yet (or ever for that matter…).

“I knew you were up to something,” he stated after exploding all the debris with one shot. “That was close…”

She was honestly a bit terrified. She hoped her attack would do some damage, maybe even render him unable to continue fighting…

But it wasn’t the end. He was tired, probably even more so than she was. She could… She would win this match. She will prove her strength and determination. If her friend was ready to face zero pointer for a person he just met, running head first into danger with no more than a screwdriver and grappling hook… How could she lose now?! She was a nuisance at the entrance exam! She barely got through the first stage and was of little actual help in Cavalry Battle!

It’s her time to shine. To prove that she can be as powerful as her friends. That she can not only stand on equal footing as them but is strong enough to protect them too! 

Bakugo lunged for her and she took a shaky breath. Her muscles were burning and her vision was a bit blurry but she could continue. She could still fight… And she sure as hell could win!

When I get big I’ll help you and mommy!

When he was no more than three feet away she sprung up. 

I appreciate the thought, Ochaco. But as your dad, I’d be even happier if you could achieve your dreams. 

“I’ll become a hero!” she yelled, ripping the jacket from her waist and using it like kitchen gloves to grasp Bakugo’s hands (she was afraid of exploding without any protection but it turned out to be a good idea for another reason too; his arms were hot!). He was quick to realize what was going on but after the huge explosion he just let out, his muscles refused to cooperate with him. 

He was used to fighting with his fists but since these were out of the question… He opted for a high kick. 

Uraraka ducked just in time. On the ground, she caught his other leg and before he could react she used her quirk and threw him toward the bounds. He tore the jacket the girl managed to loop around his hands and turned them to the side, trying to blast himself away from defeat but the girl was quick to release him.

A sudden return of gravity mixed with the strain of the last explosion he used made sure there was nothing he could do. 

“URARAKA OCHACO WINS!” Present Mic yelled into the microphone and the audience went mad.

The girl smiled wobbly, taking a step forward before promptly falling to the ground, losing consciousness.

Bakugo got up slowly, not completely sure how to feel. So, of course, he readily latched onto the ever-growing ember of anger that was quickly morphing into white-hot fury. He quickly went toward Recovery Girl’s room fully expecting to find that fucking nerd there waiting for Round Face.

He stumbled upon him just as Deku was walking down the stands, his idiots of friends not around for once.

“Must have been nice to use her strength to defeat me, huh?!” he was quick to accuse.

“I’m sorry to disappoint but it was her strategy. It was her idea to use a jacket though I admit, one of the additional ones was mine. I’m also not the one who told her to use the smoke from your explosions nor to use the debris you made. It was all her. You aren’t the only person here determined to win, you know.”

The confusing emotions were back. He didn’t like them. He was angry but not furious anymore. There was something bitter and sour inside him, something that made him want to sit down his ass and… He wasn’t sure! Who the fuck is he to just go sulking?!

He tch'ed at that pathetic nerd and quickly returned to his seat where he, of course, was greeted by idiots from his class.

“You really went all out on that fragile lady!” the reason for the average of blonds’ IQ all around the world being so low said and Katsuki felt his eyebrows raising higher than they had ever gone.

“What fucking part of her was fragile?!” he asked incredulously and the ‘whee’ idiot was quick to shut his mouth.

“Well… I guess she went pretty plus ultra herself…” he finally noted.

You see? Katsuki’s surrounded by blind idiots. That’s not an opinion, that’s a fact.

Chapter Text

Izuku was a bit disappointed not to have been able to see Uraraka on his way to the waiting rooms but oh well. He will congratulate her later. 

Soon enough he arrived at his destination and took a seat. He put both his weapons on the table and sighed. In all honesty, he wasn’t that worried about the match; contrary to what his friends might believe he wasn’t hell-bent on winning. And the biggest thing on his mind is actually Stain. 

He can only wait for now. He knows that his other self is already in the Hosu in his Phantom get-up (he found a small note with ‘good luck to both of us ;D’ on his desk at home this morning) but he still can’t help but worry. What if he doesn’t find Stain in time? What if he doesn’t manage to reach out to Ingenium before things go south? Sure, he could go back in time again but what if Phantom already did so? Shouldn’t then Izuku remember it?

Why is time so complex?! 

Okay, alright, everything’s dandy… Phantom will be fine and Iida’s brother will be too. The one he should be worrying about is present himself. The one that is about to face off against a maker of glaciers (and that’s at his half-power). Yikes.

Ah, whatever. No matter what happens it will be just as well. He already placed first in two stages, that’s enough for one Sports Festival. 

With that positive thought, he left the room but… His somewhat good mood was soon obliterated by no one else than the number two hero himself. Izuku tried to bypass Endeavor but nope. His life can never be easy enough to just ignore his problems.

“You’re fighting my perfect masterpiece… I know you won’t be any challenge to him but at least try to not lose immediately.”

Izuku rolled his eyes.

“Je suis désolé. Je ne parle pas aux idiots.” he answered readily, happy that one of his confusion tactics could be used on the number two hero himself. Although "I’m sorry. I don’t talk to idiots" probably wasn't the greatest comeback ever, it would do just fine because it wasn't meant to be understood.  

As expected Endeavor’s flame grew hotter. But what Izuku didn’t account for was…

“Je parle français.” ...the hero speaking French. 

Midoriya calculated all his options and well…

“Oui, oui, bonjour, au revoir!” he yelled the first few words that came to his mind, and after the beautiful "yes, yes, hello, bye" turned around, promptly sprinting away. He had enough time to choose another corridor leading to the stadium. 

“I am not done talking with you!” 

“But I am!”

Thankfully Endeavour was above chasing a student around the corridors because otherwise things would get… Somewhat amusing but really weird and kind of uncomfortable. And knowing Izuku’s luck (or lack thereof) they would stumble upon Aizawa. 

A few minutes later he finally arrived at the stadium, a bit disarrayed and trying very hard to catch his breath.

“What happened to you?” Todoroki asked. Huh. Midoriya didn’t expect him to care though maybe it’s just curiosity? Not gonna lie, even Izuku would want to know what he was up to (or rather his vigilante self was as of now). 

“I didn’t expect your father to speak French. I might have called him an idiot and run for dear life.”

There was a moment of silence.

“You did what?”

“I called him an idiot in French. I mean, that’s what he gets for accosting me on my way here. I didn’t even throw a grappling hook at his face so, like, what’s the big deal?”

Todoroki seemed completely at a loss for words and honestly, Izuku couldn’t blame him. He tends to have this effect on people. 

“Anyway! So have you given the idea of using your flames a thought?”

The candy cane-colored boy raised his eyebrow (the red one, funnily enough).

“Let’s say I did. Do you truly want me to use… This fire against you?”

“Yeah, why not. I’m used to getting burned.” Izuku answered, giving him a thumbs up. 

“The match will begin in a minute! Everyone get ready!” Midnight yelled and the audience roared in excitement.

“Are you… Okay?” Todoroki asked and wow. If Izuku focused hard enough he could say that there was a tiny little undertone of worry in the boy’s voice.

“I mean, I had been in the same school as Kacchan aka Bakugo from kindergarten.”

“It doesn’t sound very reassuring.”

Izuku just shrugged.

“Anyway, personally I think it would be a nice fuck you to your father to use your full strength against a kid that called him an idiot in French. I’m pretty sure it would be like rubbing salt in the wound. Especially with me being born without a quirk and all.”

“Are you ready, everyone?! We’re starting in three… Two… Go!” Midnight yelled and Izuku immediately lunged forward, not wanting to get glaciered and hoping that his opponent wouldn’t risk getting himself encased in ice too.

To his surprise instead of a cold shoulder he had been greeted with flames. 

“You’re right, Midoriya. It’s high time to forget about my old man and do what I want…” Todoroki said with a smile that was honestly really terrifying and it meant especially lot coming from Midoriya. “And I want to be a hero with all of my power!”

“Cool,” Izuku answered with a mischievous grin. Who is he to back away from a challenge? Ha! He doesn’t shy away from anything, no matter how dangerous or impossible it might seem!

Todoroki reached for his enemy with his flaming arm but Midoriya was faster. He punched the boy in the stomach and jumped away just in time; he could smell the horrid scent of burnt hair. Well… He won’t need trimming anytime soon he guesses. 

The fight was hard. It would have been even if the boy hadn’t decided to use his full power but now? Close-quarter fighting meant flames (experienced as he might be with burns, he rather not become a bacon, thank you very much) and the distance… Well, first of all, he didn’t really have any attacks of this sort (unless you count throwing his grappling hook at someone’s face… He can chuck his screwdriver too, he guesses) while his opponent can make literal glaciers.

Though it seemed highly unlikely that Todoroki would use that same move from before since back then he seemed to be really angry and now he’s happy (although his joyful expression looks like one of an unhinged murderer on a killing spree). 

Well then!

Izuku rolled to the side, making some distance between himself and Todoroki who reacted exactly like the boy wanted him to; he made a tiny ice mountain. Midoriya noticed that his ice had a tendency to start low and get the highest at its final destination. What's more, it grew more in height rather than width (possibly because it had already been spread horizontally by traveling to its target) so avoiding it wasn’t as hard as one might expect. 

Sure, it still traveled with amazing speed and a second of hesitance would mean getting your shoes – or whole body – frozen to the icy ground but focused Izuku is a capable Izuku! Especially so with High Spec helping him to calculate the optimal time to dodge (it’s kind of disappointing that Midoriya can’t do this truly quirkless but since he can’t exactly turn it off, he can as well, you know, think things through). 

“I thought you wanted to fight my fire,” Todoroki said but wow, even with his eternally cool voice it still sounded an awful lot like taunting. 

“Let’s not go to extremes, from only ice to just fire. Both are a great way to go down.” Izuku was quick to answer, meanwhile jumping yet again to the side. 

They had quite a nice ice forest around. Perfect.

“What are you planning this time around?” the candy-cane boy asked, sending another wave of ice, this time bigger than the last one. It seemed that he was starting to get tired of this game of cat and mouse.

Izuku shot his grappling hook, using one of the ice structures to swing above the incoming one.

“This!” he replied, sliding down yet another overgrown icicle and landing not too far away from Todoroki. The boy was quick to summon his fire and go for a punch but Izuku smacked his screwdriver into one of the fun-sized glaciers and its fragment to block the heat. 

It melted in an instant, creating a smoke screen made out of vapor. Izuku dropped to the ground and Todoroki swung at the air but soon he lost ground, his legs kicked by his opponent. 

“Sorry, not sorry!” Midoriya yelled in a sing-songy tone and grapple hooked to the other side of the arena just as flames burst around the other boy. It made the ice around melt and create even more vapor.

Izuku whistled.

“You look smoking hot!” he commented both because he couldn’t let the occasion go and because he wanted to point his location to his foe. Sue him, he was having a lot of fun with this impossible fight against this powerhouse with a two-in-one quirk. 

Maybe it’s because Midoriya’s good mood got to him or perhaps Todoroki got angry at such a stupid joke but his flames seemed to grow even hotter and bigger as he moved toward the boy. And, well… Izuku did account for the explosion to happen sooner or later but it was a tad bit bigger than he expected (he forgot to account for Todoroki actually using his full potential, he guesses. But it was a logical conclusion to think the boy would be a bit hesitant when using his flames after god knows how long of ignoring them!).

“What was that?!” Present Mic yelled, getting up from his seat in excitement and waiting for the fog to clear up. “Would you look at that! They are both still in bounds!”

Izuku – who shot his grappling hook into the ground (it’s very powerful; that’s why he threw it at Kacchan instead of shooting at him) finally let go of his death grip on the weapon – looked up at Todoroki with wide eyes.

“I get it that you’re strong and all but… How to the ever-loving fuck did you stay in your spot after that big of an explosion?!” Izuku demanded, shakily taking a step forward. Wow. He felt a bit like jelly, not that it would be enough to stop him from fighting. 

“I torn my shirt though…” Todoroki answered, his voice a bit shaky from exertion. Good to know he isn’t some kind of machine and gets tired too. 

“As if that explains anything…” Izuku mumbled and his opponent snorted at that, shuffling into a defensive position. “Well, here goes nothing… BATTLE CRY!”

(Hitoshi facepalmed and watched the end of the battle from behind his hand. Did his friend really just use the word ‘battle cry’ as his battle cry? Yes. Yes, he did.)

And then Izuku… The mad lad, the legend, the chaos incarnate… Tripped over one of the many cracks that were left as an aftermath of Todoroki’s explosion and promptly fell straight onto his face, a few feet away from his opponent.

“Fuck.” he whispered trying to will his body into getting up.

“It was unexpected. Yet, why doesn’t it surprise me?” Todoroki commented, literally looking down on Izuku who was still laying.

“Fuck you,” Midoriya murmured, and finally, with the sheer power of determination he got up… To sitting position. “It’s so anticlimactic.”

“Are you able to continue?” Midnight inquired and after a second of thought Izuku forced all the strength he actually didn’t have to get up. And he succeeded!

“Not really but it ain’t over until it’s over.” 

Since Izuku already used more than he had left in himself to get to his feet, the next attack he threw was more of a very calm fist pump rather than an actual punch. And that’s why Todoroki easily caught his wrist and judo flipped him.

“Todoroki wins!” Midnight yelled and the candy cane colored boy leaned over his opponent. 

“Are you okay?” he asked in a complete deadpan.

“Not gonna lie, you kind of took my breath away for a sec there... And I think I fractured one of my ribs, help.” 

“Recovery Girl’s robots are on their way so I don’t think my assistance is necessary,” Todoroki noted, yet didn’t leave even as aforementioned came and took the boy onto a stretcher.

“Well, you were a wonderful emotional support… See ya around…” Izuku said, trying really hard to wave but all he managed to do was lift his hand up.

Aaah, he’s beat and his muscles hurt like crazy. Hopefully, he’ll get a nice little nap in Recovery Girl’s office and wake up to learn that Uraraka wiped the floor with everyone, placing unquestionable first. What? It would be really funny to see her beating two-times-her-size Inasa!

Though, admittedly, it would have looked better for him to have been bested by the winner of Sports Festival… Though did he really care about his image? Like, everyone already thinks that he’s insane anyway.

Huh. He’s curious what Melissa thinks about his performance.

~⁀‖⁀~§~♪~§~‿‖‿~

Izuku blinked.

That was… Unexpected.

“What?” he inquired just to make sure he wasn’t hearing things after having half an hour more sleep than usual.

“Nasa lost to Iida,” Uraraka repeated readily. “And I won against Kirishima.”

Inasa looked to the side, somewhere between ashamed and ‘I did my best but I had been bested, sorry not sorry’. 

“Well… I guess if Iida used his recipro burst at the very beginning of the combat Nasa wouldn’t have had time to gather his wind currents and would have been taken off guard enough to get pushed out of the bounds but… Would Iida really end the fight that fast?” Izuku wondered out loud.

“He did.” Hitoshi, Uraraka, and Yoarashi said at the same time while Iida made sure his glasses weren’t askew and added “I did.”

“Congratulations then! I’m a bit surprised you took such a risky strategy but it was the best one against someone with a quirk as versatile as Nasa’s! Speed is your strong suit so it’s logical it was your best bet to finish the match before it could truly begin!” Midoriya praised and the blue-haired boy straightened up, smiling in such a pure way that Uraraka cooed. “And don’t worry Nasa! It’s understandable that you had been taken off guard! You can't win all your battles and it’s admittedly better to lose in one that is meant for us to show off rather than a fight with lives at stake.”

And just like that Yoarashi immediately got back all his enthusiasm, his sulking forgotten in an instant. He saluted with a beaming smile.

“Yes, boss, you’re right! Now I can take this loss to convert it into passion and train even harder!”

“Now,” Izuku said turning around toward Uraraka, a notebook appearing in his hands. “I know I will be able to watch your fight later on the internet but… Details, please?”

Uraraka laughed and readily told him all about Kirishima borrowing her idea with a jacket (and Izuku’s to use more than one) to try to defend himself from her quirk. It was pretty effective and he nearly won but Uraraka went for a literal low blow and while the boy was shielding the top parts of his skin (some shrapnel had his pants slightly torn), she touched his shin and then threw him out of bounds much like Bakugo. 

“I so need to watch it,” Midoriya noted, nodding solemnly.

“Yeah, you do. Kirishima made a crater in the ground where he fell. He’s fine though, so don’t worry.” Hitoshi added. 

“Okay, so the semi-finals… Had Iida fought against Todoroki yet?” Izuku continued the interrogation since he had no idea what point the Sports Festival was at.

“They will start in a few minutes, we got a short break to rest and get ready,” Uraraka explained.

“I should go and get myself ready! See you afterward, fellow participants!” Iida said before promptly leaving.

“What do you think, who will win?” Ochaco inquired.

“Todoroki, probably. But we will see! Maybe the results will surprise us!” 

He turned out to be right. Sadly, the ice seemed to be above speed. 

And try as she might against Tokoyami's Dark Shadow, Uraraka turned out to be unable to do anything against an opponent that was somewhat of a ghost and completely unmoved by the power of gravity. At least after that fight Ochaco was determined to get some light source implemented into her costume and she was hell-bent on learning martial arts. Izuku was excited at the thought of having a new sparring partner.

All in all, Todoroki ended with first place (though, admittedly, he didn’t really use his fire again after the fight with Midoriya), Tokoyami in second, and Uraraka and Iida in third. 

Even though no one from their squad won they still decided to go out for milkshakes to celebrate their achievements. After all, nearly every one of their little team advanced to the tournament part of the Sports Festival and that’s already plenty impressive! 

They waited for Uraraka and Iida to get their medals and gave them a moment to call their families to talk about their results (meanwhile Izuku noticed that only Present Mic could be seen from the commenting booth but oh well, Aizawa probably was quick to evacuate after the event was over). In the time they spent waiting for their friends, Izuku noticed a candy cane-colored head and well…

“Yo! Todoroki! Want to join us for milkshakes?”

The boy stopped and turned to look at the green madness. 

“Why?” he inquired.

“Why not?” Midoriya's comeback was as quick as it was brilliant.

Hitoshi facepalmed, knowing fully well that this reasoning wouldn’t convince anyone but… Todoroki actually walked up to them.

“I need to be home in an hour,” he said. 

“There’s a cat café five minutes from here, right Hitoshi? We can go there.”

Ten minutes later a group consisting of Midoriya, Inasa, Shinso, Uraraka, Iida, Mei, Tsuyu, and Todoroki walked into a nice little local full of cats. To be honest, Izuku wasn’t sure when exactly the frog girl joined them but he greeted her enthusiastically. It was always nice to hang out with friends. 

“You’re part of our team now, Todoroki?” Tsuyu inquired, after taking a bite of her jelly dessert. 

“Your team?” the boy inquired, looking at her from behind his iced latte. 

“Yeah! We plan on having our own hero team! We call ourselves Percepts of Justice!” Inasa was quick to explain. He, admittedly, had some mixed feelings toward the boy since he had a bit of a bad memory with Endeavour and Todoroki reminded him of the man but! Even if he seemed rather cold he showed that he’s full of his own kind of passion through USJ and Sports Festival! His fight against his friend was truly a sight to behold! “Mizu’s our leader!”

“I’m Mizu. It’s a nickname he gave me years ago.” Midoriya was quick to answer the not-yet-asked question.  

There was a moment of silence as Todoroki seemed to ponder the matter.

“How do I join?” he finally asked and Uraraka clapped her hands together happily.

“You just need to want to! And if no one has anything against it, you’re one of us! I don’t have any buts what about you guys?” 

“Another powerhouse? Cool.” Hitoshi readily gave his blessing.

Mei just showed a thumbs up from behind her ice cream dessert. 

Unsurprisingly no one was against it so Izuku leaned toward Todoroki and got his Headmovie to add the boy to their group.

“Can I call you Toto?” Inasa was quick to question and the boy blinked, looking confused even without changing his expression. “Because you’re Todoroki Shouto right? The first and the last sounds are ‘to’!” 

“Okay.” was the only thing the boy said. He still seemed unsure of what the fuck was going on. 

Soon after that he finished his latte and left, having to return home. He talked with his siblings, got congratulated by them, and then left for his room. Usually, he would surf the internet or go to sleep but today he decided to check the group conversation he had been added to. 

Momzuku had added Todoroki Shoto 

Passout changed Todoroki Shoto name to Toto

[OHSHIToshi]

 So who’s gonna explain our nicks?

[Froggy]

That’s a job for the boss.

[Momzuku]

Can’t do 

Watching Rara’s match 

[MurderUwU]

I can! So, I’m Uraraka, hi Todoroki! UwU came from UwUraka and I got ‘Murder’ after Sports Festival. No idea why!

Momzuku is Midoriya since as a leader he’s also our team mom. He was Momriya before but now his mom is Momriya (whenever we happen to mention her)

Froggy is Tsuyu, it’s pretty self-explanatory

[Froggy]

Call me Tsu.

[MurderUwU]

OHSHIToshi is Shinso. The most emotions we heard from him last week was him going ‘oh shit’ after Midoriya talked with the principal (they became quirk-analyzing buddies, I think) and his nick spiraled out of there

Passout is Inasa. He was Passon earlier (it came from pun related to the word ‘passion’ since he really likes it) but after he actually passed out when sparring with Midoriya he got a new nick

[Passout]

Sorry I was too excited about Sports Festival and did pushups for the half of night DD:

[OHSHIToshi]

Also @Momzuku punched you, like, with power of thousand suns.

[Momzuku]

I did no such thing. 

[OHSHIToshi]

Well since you made him unconscious I’m the only witness who can say 

Yes. You did

[Momzuku]

Do you want me to make the number of witnesses into zero?

[OHSHIToshi]

…

Yes, you did no such thing

Now go back to watching Uraraka kick asses

[MurderUwU]

UwU

[May]

Hey, you didn’t mentioned me yet!

[MurderUwU]

Oh right, May is Mei. It sounds similar and we joked that she spends the whole May hibernating after which she doesn’t sleep at all, inventing whole year round

[May]

I DO NOT SLEEP THROUGH MAY 

IT’S PERFECT FOR INVINTING TOO

[Passout]

Being passionate about something is the best! But you should rest too!

[Momzuku]

Are you okay Todoroki?

[Toto]

I’m confused. 

[Froggy]

You’ll get used to it. No worries.

OHSHIToshi changed Toto name to Confused

[Momzuku]

Did you just…?

[OHSHIToshi]

Hi Confused, I’m OHSHIToshi.

Momzuku changed OHSHIToshi to Dadso

[Confused]

?

[MurderUwU]

Now we’re truly a family! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

[Confused]

I really don’t understand.

I’m going to ask my brother what you are talking about.

[Momzuku]

That’s gonna be good.

[Confused]

My brother started laughing and didn’t explain anything. 

[Froggy]

There’s a popular way of joking using humor perceived as low called ‘dad jokes’. When someone says ‘I’m [something]’ and another person answers ‘Hi [something], I’m [name]!’ it’s taken as a dad joke. That’s why @Momzuku changed his nick to Dadso, I believe. 

[Momzuku]

Your belief in me has not been wasted. 

[Dadso]

Yeah. That’s exactly what went down here

[Confused]

Well. At least I have one fully functional family (I know you’re looking at the screen from behind my shoulder, Natsuo)

[Passout]

Are you okay?

[Confused]

No.

[Momzuku]

…

I can send some Endeavour-deprecating memes if you’d like

 [Confused]

Please do.

[Passout]

OH! OH! I WILL TOO!

Five minutes later both the youngest Todoroki and his brother had a lot of fun.

“Hey, Fuyumi come here! Shoto found himself some really dope friends!”

The girl was quick to join them.

~⁀‖⁀~§~♪~§~‿‖‿~

Izuku was getting really worried. It was already ten PM and there was no info from Phantom. There had been news of the Hero Killer being spotted in Hosu but none about Ingenium’s injury so… He probably succeeded. Hopefully.

The boy sighed and opened the forum he had been writing with Melissa on, hoping to take his mind off of his worries. 

I just watched UA’s Sports Festival! It was really cool!

I know right! And guess who had taken part in it <proud_chimpanzee_emoji>

He was a bit surprised to get an answer only a few minutes later; he thought the girl would be working on something since it was seven or eight PM where she was.

YOU’RE IN UA?! WHY HAVE YOU NEVER TOLD ME?!

That’s so cool!

He snorted.

To see you writing in all caps, of course. How else could I surprise you to such an extent otherwise?

Which course are you in? Oh let me try to guess who are you! 

I was just about to ask who you think I was! Also, a small hint, I got to the third stage!

You’re the pink-haired girl, right? 

He nearly choked on his own laughter and actually had to reach for his cushion so as not to wake up his mom. She liked to get up early and he didn’t want her to be tired because of him and his mad cackling.

Nope! <lauhing_hyena_emoji>

Though I’m friends with her! 

Oh shoot! I was sure you were her! No offense but you seem like the type to use one of the most popular events in Japan to promote your inventions. 

I totally would if I were in the support course

You aren’t in the support course? Then where are you?! I’m so confused! <lemur_in_crisis_emoji>

Keep on guessing, you can do it!

Okay, okay… The purple-haired boy? 

He, once again, hid his face into his cushion, laughing like a madman. Who next? Yoarashi? 

No, where did you get this idea from though? 

You are awake at ungodly hours both in mine and your time zones and he looks like he doesn’t get much sleep. 

Makes sense, I guess but sadly you’re wrong. Though I’m friends with him too! Keep guessing!

Okay so I kind of want to point at the crazy green boy but I also can picture the gravity girl or half and half boy being you. 

He blinked. Well, that’s quite an interesting assortment of choices!

You’re right, I’m one of them! But guess which one!

I don’t want to think you reckless enough to use landmines to go flying dozens of feet above ground on a sheet of metal you acquired only minutes prior and have very little information about but… I feel like it’s something you would do

Before I tell you if you’re right or not can I ask why you thought I might be one of the other two?

Sure. Gravity girl looked really determined but cheerful. It reminds me of you, you’re really nice, strangely energetic (for all the ungodly times you’re up at), and resolute

As for the half-and-half boy, I feel like you would be dramatic enough to go blank-faced through the whole Sports Festival and use your full power only against someone whose quirk isn’t even known. Though if it was you I would expect him to crack a silly smile at the very end or something. Oh and… I guess that my subjective opinion of you makes me feel like you have some kind of really strong, amazing quirk. 

He smiled softly, typing his answer.

I’m the crazy green kid and I actually have been diagnosed quirkless. You probably know oh so lovely tale of an additional toe joint

It took a moment for him to get a reply. 

You have rendered me completely speechless. I typed and deleted three variations of ‘what’ (from the capital to lowercase through various mixes of both) and I don’t… What do I say after finally meeting someone who’s in the same predicament as me (not that I’m assuming things about you! I just feel like society is the same for people like us everywhere… Sorry if I’m wrong or if I sound insensitive or stupid!) and determined enough not to let it stop them from achieving success!

He felt really bad because even if he lived with most hardships of being quirkless he actually wasn’t. He not only had a quirk but more than one at that. But he couldn’t tell her that. So he decided to change the subject!

No worries, you’re right. People are assholes everywhere. 

Oh! It reminds me of this one time I met All Might and I asked him if someone could be a hero even without a quirk but then I immediately said that he most likely thought that I couldn’t and he kind of agreed! But then I told him I was going to prove him wrong and I left! And then I kind of ran into a villain attack, helped my past bully not get suffocated by a slime villain that accosted me earlier that day (that’s how I met All Might <unicorn_shrug_emoji>) and All Might found me and told me I can be a hero. 

I mean, it was a pretty eventful day but I got All Might’s autograph so I guess it was well worth it. You know what? Seeing my bullies' faces when I parkoured my way out of a window after they suicide-baited me was pretty fun too, so it was totally worth it. All in all, it was actually a really great day.

He realizes that he might have over-shared in his attempt to cleanse his guilty conscience. Because yes, it was something along the lines ‘I’m sorry I lied to you by omitting the truth so here, have some other facts about my life I hardly told anyone about’.

The answer came sooner than he expected; only seconds after he sent his message. 

All Might did what?! 

YOU GOT SUICIDE BAITED?! AND JUMPED OUT OF A WINDOW?! 

*Agreed that someone without a quirk can’t be a hero and then took it back when I literally threw salt at a villain, doing more than all the heroes on the scene combined. 

Yeah and hell yeah. Like what better answer could I have given them? Like, imagine their faces when after their ‘if I were you I would have already jumped from a rooftop praying for a quirk in my next life’ I went ‘sure but the window is closer’ and yeeted myself out. 

Ps. I found the clip of me throwing salt at the villain on the internet (it’s crazy popular since All Might shows up later on)

I really shouldn’t say that… But I’m kind of proud. Is it bad that I feel a strange kind of vindictive satisfaction at you making them rethink their stupid decisions by kind of listening to their jeers?

Ps. I can’t believe it… My dad had been a huge fan of yours since that clip went online. He actually uses the phrase ‘salt kid’ on a daily basis.

Finally, someone who understands! Thank you! I have one friend that I’m pretty sure would actually throw my bullies out of the window if I told him about that situation so for his own good (he wants to be a hero, you know… He’s the boisterous wind boy from Sports Festival, actually) I didn’t tell him about that.

Ps. Whaaaaaat?! <shocked_hedgehog_emoji> How did he even find it?! What does that phrase mean? I can’t believe that David Shield knows about my existence!

Are you friends with everyone from the Sports Festival or just everyone who got to the tournament stage?

Ps. He found it because he likes to browse for information about All Might though it’s the first time he got so focused on another part than him. As for the phrase… Dad uses it when he finds a way to fix something (usually by thinking outside the box or by surprisingly simple methods or when there’s something no one else can fix and they are starting to think there is no way to do it when he finds a solution). He usually randomly goes ‘I’m a salt kid!’ and runs off to check out if his idea works. According to his coworkers, he does it during his usual work hours too. He also uses phrases along the lines of ‘I’m going to throw some salt’ and ‘I guess I will salt it until All Might comes to the rescue’. I love it when he does it, it’s really funny. 

Actually, the explodo-kid is one of the bullies mentioned earlier. I guess I’m friends with mostly everyone else though. Gravity girl, the speed boy… The rock boy actually gave me back my grappling hook though otherwise, we didn’t talk all that much… I’m on my way to befriending a half-and-half boy… And I don’t know Bird Boy all that well but we worked together in the second stage so it has to count for something, right? I don’t really know the steel boy though. Pink-skinned girl, creation girl, electricity boy, laser boy, and tape boy are in my class, though I didn’t get to talk with them much yet. 

Ps. Congratulations, now you have rendered me speechless <lemur_in_crisis_emoji> Like, David Shield using my poor life choices to make not even one but few sayings? I’m so touched I actually think I’m gonna cry! <crying_penguin_emoji>

How did he even get into UA?! And why am I not surprised you have so many amazing friends and acquaintances? 

Ps. I’m inviting you to I-Expo for sure. I mean, I was planning to anyway since, not to sound weird or anything, you’re one of the coolest friends I have ever made and I would be really happy to show you my inventions and workshop personally… But now I feel like it would additionally make an amazing gift for my dad. Oh yeah! Now that I think about it I need to show him the Sports Festival, I’m pretty sure he’s going to make a new saying out of you riding that sheet of metal… And grapple hooking around icebergs. 

Because he might be a piece of shit but I’m pretty sure UA can make him into a decent human being and a pretty good hero. And I like my society like I like my waffles; villain-less. And you should actually be surprised that I have so many friends! I am. 

Ps. I mean, I would like to come… If it isn’t a problem for you and you really want me there… And I really like writing with you too and it would be like a dream come true to see all your amazing inventions in person… But if you change your mind or anything it’s no problem! I would totally understand!

I’m sure he’s already over me and my madness, he just probably got used to all those salty sayings. 

Izuku got a little worried when he didn’t get any answer for the next ten minutes.

Why would villains be in your waffles in the first place??? Should I be worried? And you absolutely deserve all those amazing friends and even more! You’re a great person!

Ps. Please do come! There’s no way I would change my mind! Oh dear, I’m so excited! We can make our crazy summer clothing line together when you come! I can even get you the kind of invitation that lets you take a companion with you! Sadly I’m afraid I can’t let you take all your friends since there seems to be a lot of them but one would be alright! And I feel like the pink-haired girl would be a great new friend to make too! If you want to take her with you, of course, I’m not telling you who to take with you! Especially since it might feel a little weird to take her to a faraway island to meet your online friend!

He wasn’t. Personally, I wouldn’t have recognized that the crazy sports festival kid and salt thrower are the same person since, no offense, you look pretty plain… But when I told dad I wanted to show him a clip from the Sports Festival he immediately pointed at you and asked if it’s the salt kid. I barely stopped myself from telling him I know you! It’s going to be such a cool surprise for him when you visit I-Expo!

Why wouldn’t they? Some villains are sneaky bastards that don’t care even for the most basic of human needs such as eating waffles unperturbed. I think. And… You deserve great friends even more than I do! You’re so nice and talented! You’re one of the coolest people I know! And I know quite a few people as you were so nice to point out <smug_panda_emoji>

Ps. It would be absolutely amazing! And I’m sure Mei would be more than ecstatic to come! And I would love to introduce her to you too! She’s… How to put… She’s so passionate I would call her interest in inventing an actual love story. Ooh! The three of us are going to have so much fun! <happy_gorilla_emoji>

Oh come on, stop it! You’re making me shy! And I’m sure you’re exaggerating! Didn’t your dad work with All Might for a few years? With such connections, I can’t imagine him finding an old crazy fella like myself all that interesting…

 Well… I’m pretty sure the half-and-half boy is much cooler than me. The tape boy would definitely vouch for that. Though it’s a bit unfair how he can be much cooler and hotter than most people at the same time <silly_alpaca_emoji>

Ps. Great! I’ll send you an invitation as soon as I get my hands on it! Is there something I should know about her beforehand? I don’t want to say something stupid and make things awkward the second I met her!

I’m just stating the facts! You don’t have to imagine him being curious about you, because he really is! You’re a special kind of crazy, you know... It would be hard to not find you interesting.

They kept on writing for so long that at some point Izuku finally got to see a message from Phantom. It was kind of weird but also funny to write with himself. He kind of can’t wait to get the memories of what had happened with Ingenium and all!

Though… Will those memories truly be his?  

Chapter Text

It was a  long  day. 

On his way to Hosu (he had to take a bus because he wasn’t completely sure how to get there on foot and he was afraid of being too late if he got lost or chased by some hero) some kids asked him if he was a cosplayer of Phantom (and not just one or two people but  five  different youngsters). They insisted on getting a selfie with him too. He, of course, agreed. After all, he’s the friendly neighborhood cryptid! 

Then he also had to take a train since he was a bit far from the prefecture Ingenium usually patrols in… And he had been roped into even more photos. Since when is he so popular?! Come on! He’s a vigilante most heroes have no idea about! So why is he so popular with teenagers?! 

After getting some more compliments on his ‘cosplay’ he finally managed to get to some dark alleyway. Ugh. Even this much fame is pretty tiring… Good luck to his daily persona who will become an actual hero. 

It didn’t take him long to find the hero he was trying to protect but he was a bit worried about getting punched in the face if he suddenly came with an ominous message (random "hey, hero killer had chosen you as his killing next target" wouldn’t end well, would it?) so… He decided to follow from afar. Like a creep. But he has only good intentions!

But it so happens that Ingenium patroled those streets for a reason and not even half an hour into following the hero he noticed someone needing help. And then there was another person and yet another… Why are dark alleyways so full of violence these days?! No matter if it is day or night there is always someone trying their damndest to be an asshole!

He might or might have not spent nearly two hours running around the darker side of the city stopping violence. But you can’t prove him anything (unlike those two pedestrians who have noticed the commotion and either took photos or filmed him). 

If it wasn’t for Permeation letting him get onto rooftops in a matter of seconds and Zoom letting him look far away he would probably be too late in noticing something dark moving at impressive speed toward Ingenium. But he had those and had arrived just in time to learn two things;:

Stain’s quirk needs his victim’s (Ingenium's, in this case) blood to work. 

And the guy is insanely fast. 

Like, listen, Midoriya of this universe might have gone through less running away than the future one but he was still pretty dang fast. He did jogging, running with microwaves, sprinting toward danger… You know, the usual stuff. His eyes could even keep up with All Might’s speed (mostly)! 

Yet here was Stain, managing to not only dodge Phantom’s attack but  also  counterattack. And the vigilante used Permeation to be faster! That’s crazy!

And just like that the fight became an impasse. Try as he might, the vigilante couldn’t get a good hit on the hero killer since the man seemed to have a knife ready to stab him the second he became tangible again. And Phantom was hell-bent on not becoming a cheddar, thank you very much.

Thankfully after a bit of bouncing around the alleyway (from wall to the ground and then to another wall), Ingenium got up and with the two of them, even Stain’s demonic speed had problems in keeping up. But… Now he had a target that didn’t literally phase through all his attacks.

So the man was finally getting punched but… Well… One could say that he was starting to get a tad bit desperate too.  oAnd  desperate people are dangerous even when they aren’t serial killers with paralyzing quirk activated by drinking (licking?) someone’s blood and who move at  speed  that doesn’t seem entirely human. 

What happened was as follows; Stain lunged forward, seemingly not caring about getting injured anymore. Ingenium went for a punch and his momentum forward would not let him dodge a stab to the chest, risking having his lungs punctured, so of course Phantom’s body moved without a second thought (nothing new here).

So he got stabbed. But it wasn’t the problem. The thing is… He permeated through Ingenium so as not to stand in his way and that was a job well done: the hero managed to punch Stain... Just as the man licked his blade. Thus Phantom lost control over his body and luckily – or not – Permeation had deactivated. He went barreling through Ingenium and straight into a wall, head first. It hurt. A lot. And he’s pretty sure he lost consciousness for, like, a minute or two because after what felt like a blink he could actually turn his head around.

And Stain was gone.

“Hey, can you hear me?” 

Phantom blinked. Oh. Ingenium is leaning over him, he’s probably checking for damage. Yeah, he’ll probably find, like, a shit ton. No wait, people can’t check your mental state that easily. So there’s only a stab wound and concussion. Whew. 

 Wait. He had been asked a question.

“Yeah,” he said, taking a moment to think about some good response. “You sound nice.”

“Thanks, I guess,” Ingenium answered easily, reaching for his communicator.

“Can you… Not  call  other people here?” Phantom asked, trying very hard to move. He felt extremely heavy but he was pretty sure Stain’s quirk had already worn off and now his body was just… You know, losing a lot of blood and his brain kind of went splash! Against his skull. Like a nice jam-packed pancake. Huh. Phantom would eat a pancake right about now. 

“Kid, you’re bleeding out.” 

“Yeah, and?” 

Ingenium sighed. 

“I will contact my sidekicks to be on the lookout for Stain and check the perimeter instead of coming here but you still need an ambulance, you know.”

“No, I don’t.” 

He got a very unamused look for his gracious response. Not that it was easy to tell since Ingenium had armor on. Huh. Why does it look so familiar…? Oh yeah, cause he’s a professional hero! And because Iida seemed to take quite a lot of inspiration from him. 

“I’m grateful for your help but I need to call someone for you.”

Phantom groaned. If the man just left him alone he could disappear! Quite literally; go back a few minutes back when Stain was most likely already gone and leave his memories with his present self, letting the consciousness he possesses right now… Kind of die, he guesses. 

Die… That’s what happened to future him too, isn’t it? By leaving his memories of the future with past him… He had died… 

“Hey, kid, stay with me,” Ingenium said, and oh, had the hero been holding this white (well, now red) material to his stab wound this whole time?

“I ain’t moving anywhere just yet, chief.” 

“That’s it, kid, I’m calling an ambulance,” Ingenium stated pulling his communicator out yet again but it slipped from his hand (he’s  sure  he held it rather firmly, yet it moved down, toward the vigilante. Weird). He was quick to catch it though. 

“If you have to call someone, call Eraser.” Phantom finally groaned, trying to get up and failing miserably. Well, just sitting didn’t seem like that terrible of an idea to be completely honest.

The hero raised an eyebrow but agreed, knowing that if he called for the ambulance the vigilante might try to run, and with those injuries… Well, it definitely wouldn’t end well. 

“Alright, alright.” he gave in with a sigh, replying that he was fine to one of his sidekicks who was worried about him since he mentioned the Hero Killer, and then promptly called Aizawa’s number. 

“What? I’ve just finished announcing at the Sports Festival, let me sleep.”

“Your kid got stabbed and most likely has a concussion.” 

Eraserhead groaned.

“Which one?”

Well… It makes sense coming from a teacher, Tensei supposes. Even if said teacher did expel his whole class once… Still, there were many grades he left mostly… Somewhat intact! 

“Yo, Eraser!” the vigilante yelled but cringed immediately after, noticing how loud his voice was to his own ears.

“This one.” 

There was a moment of silence… Or more like running because Ingenium could hear the wind.

“Send me the location. How bad are his injuries? What happened?”

Phantom tried to focus on what was being said but it was kind of hard. But what he could piece together sounded about right. Hosu, Hero Killer, getting stabbed, his head leaving a dent in a wall… Wait. He actually  did  that? Well, he guesses it happened because he’s one with his forks so he’s a bit less fleshy and more metal than your average person…  

“…He refused an ambulance and told me to call you.” 

“Of course, he did, fucking problem child…” 

 “If I’m a child you shouldn’t swear, damn it…” Phantom murmured, having learned his lesson about yelling. 

“I didn’t call anyone else because I’m worried he'd try to use his quirk in his current state.” Ingenium continued, feeling a need to explain himself to his colleague. Eraserhead is a scary man, okay?

“I totally would be fine…” Phantom reassured but was promptly ignored.

“Good decision.” Aizawa said after which he lowered his voice so much vigilante couldn’t hear him anymore (“And it would be better for hero commission to not hear about him. At all.”). 

“Okay, I’ll wait for you then.”

“What about your injuries?”

“Regretfully, the kid took the stab for me so I’m fine.”  

“I don’t regret anything!” Phantom was quick to say, whisper-yelling. 

“Yeah, yeah, I’m sure you don’t,” Ingenium said with a sigh. “How do you keep on finding those kinds of kids, Eraser?”

“They find me.” the underground hero grunted.

“I just got a brilliant idea.” the vigilante said and the hero turned toward him, hoping that it didn’t entail anything extremely stupid, dangerous, or a mix of both. 

“And what would that be?” he inquired.

“Gimme autograph on my shirt. I’m going to start collecting them… Eraser you’re next!” 

If the kid didn’t bleed a puddle Ingenium would smile at his silliness. True everything he had ever heard about this vigilante (mostly from Eraser and Mic); he is chaos incarnate.   

“Sure, I even have a pen with me somewhere in my armor.” 

“Cool…” the kid said, his eyes dropping a bit but before Ingenium could tell him to stay awake, he opened them wide. “Eraser is going to kill me for this…”

“For getting stabbed?” the hero asked, finally finding his trusty pen and crouching next to the kid to scribble his hero name on the boy’s shirt.

“Exactly. And thanks. I’m going to treasure it. Though the time continuum might devour it… Yeah, it probably will…”

Ingenium turned toward his communicator, with Aizawa still on the other side.

“Okay, can you help me asses how badly he got hurt? Or is it a normal kind of nonsense for him?”

“He seems to hold well for the wounds you described.” Eraserhead answered at the same time vigilante said “No worries, it’s my usual nonsense.”

Well… If anything it was admirable how little the vigilante slurred his words after this head wound. He has an extremely tough skull, Ingenium supposes. 

“Okay, kid, it will take Eraser a bit to get here and I would rather not have you losing consciousness so… Any subject you’d like to talk about?” 

“I’m always ready to talk about everything…” Phantom said readily, shuffling to a tad more comfortable position. Not that one existed; getting stabbed and concussed hurt, like, a shit ton. Oh no! Is his pain tolerance that bad?! Well, good he gets to strengthen it! “Oh, I know. When’s your birthday?”

Ingenium decided to sit next to the vigilante.

“July twenty-two, you?”

Phantom gasped.

“July fifteen!” he whisper-yelled. “That’s like, so cool! And Present Mic is July 7 so we can make like one party every week! Oh god, even more! Two of my friends have a birthday on the first of July and my mom has a birthday on July fourth! I need to learn all of my classmates' birthdays, there might be even more parties incoming…”

Ingenium whistled quietly.

“Seems like a very festive month to me. Remember to invite me to your party.”

“Only if you invite me to yours.” Phantom was quick to answer after which he blinked slowly a few times, his eyelids falling shut but opening right after. “Oh yeah, you totally need to attend the birthday I’m making for Eraser. I mean, we still have a lot of time but it’s always better to start planning earlier rather than earlier… Wait… What did I just say? Fuck, my head is killing me… You don’t happen to have any painkillers, do you?”

“Sadly, no. But ambulance would have them.”

“Well… I guess that after  herokillers  fiasco I don’t even want painkillers anymore.” the vigilante said with a huge grin. The joke was so terrible that Ingenium couldn’t help but snort.

“You’re a great kid.”

“Why, thank you! You’re a wonderful company too!” 

“So… You’ve been a vigilante for a while, huh?” Ingenium continued the conversation.

“Yeah, it’s been like… Three years, I think? It’s hard to count when my brain feels like it’s splitting open…” 

Yeah. ‘Kind of’… High Spec and its habit of overthinking and analyzing everything isn’t much help either. It’s like pouring more water into a cracked glass; the whole floor is already a wet mess yet the glass isn’t full so someone keeps on adding more liquid. 

“You were probably pretty young when you started then, huh?”

“I guess… But is it that important in the world where people can technically burn people to death at age four?”

“Yes, it is. Even more so since the younger you are the less control you have over your quirk which, as you have pointed out, can be really dangerous.”

“Yeah, yeah… Don’t worry, I have years of experience with mine. Over a dozen if we count the theory…”

Ingenium raised his eyebrow at that.

“If we count the theory?” he repeated, rather curious about the weird way the boy had formulated his words. 

“I mean, it was theory consisting of practice but for me, it’s theory nonetheless since I wasn’t exactly the one who did it though it was another version of me so I guess it kind of was me… But not completely me that is here right now, I guess?” 

“Is this part of your usual nonsense too or should I get worried?”

“I ain’t entirely sure, to be honest… It might be one of those things I was supposed to keep quiet about but come on… This conversation is so nice and you’re not going to understand anything anyway…”

“True that. Anything else you want to share? Preferably one that I might understand?”

“Sports Festival. We should definitely watch it. I’m kind of curious how did I do…” 

And now the kid is definitely starting to lose clarity of his mind. But it still doesn’t seem too bad compared to how normal people would do with head trauma. Maybe the vigilante has some protective element to his strange quirk? 

“I’m curious about it too. My little brother is participating this year.” 

“He’ll get to the podium, third place,” Phantom said, strangely confident. Ingenium snorted.

“Well, it would be amazing for him to get one of the main spots. The best I did was the fourth but I had people like Eraser to fight so you know, I’m still very proud of myself for getting that far.” 

“Huh… He never talked about his own Sports Festivals… What was the best he placed?” 

Ingenium laughed at that, remembering the good old days.

“In the first year, he was in the general course but he kicked everyone’s asses in the tournament and got transferred to the hero course… After which he didn’t really participate in those. It makes sense, I guess, since he’s an underground hero nowadays. His fights from all those years ago are really hard to find, I’m half convinced he took them all down so villains can’t access them.”

“Yeah, they must be all gone, otherwise I would have already seen them.” Phantom agreed, nodding solemnly. “The best I could find of his UA years was camera catching him in the first round of the second year when he punched someone in the face in an item collecting event. The other kid made a hilarious face.”

“Oh, I remember that! It was Power Loader.” Ingenium answered, careful to keep his voice somewhat quiet even when excited about those old memories.

“What? No way!” the kid whisper-yelled yet again. 

“I’m pretty sure that’s the very first interaction between the two. They were quick to get over that and become maybe not friends but good acquaintances.” 

“Getting allies by punching them in the face… I wouldn’t say it’s something I’d imagine Eraserhead doing but it isn’t too shocking either…”

“Be thankful it wasn’t your fate too.” a gruff voice said and Ingenium immediately got to his feet while Phantom tried to do the same but failed miserably yet again. 

Eraserhead stepped into their line of vision, his face as unamused as ever. 

“Eraser!” Phantom groaned happily. A very strange mix indeed. 

“You’re here sooner than I expected,” Ingenium noted with a sheepish smile. 

“I took Mic’s car.” the man explained. 

“But… Doesn’t he need it to get home?” the speed hero inquired.  

“Yes. He does.” Aizawa answered readily, crouching next to his problem child to check the severity of his injuries. 

The stab wound definitely wasn’t shallow but it had missed all vital points (Yes, Phantom - or rather High Spec - was smart enough to not get his lungs or anything as important impaled while running into a knife without a second thought) so it was a rather nasty injury but not a life-threatening one. Head trauma, on the other hand, was a fickle thing but if the kid could throw birthday dates around he definitely wasn’t as hurt as one might expect from the indent on a nearby wall.

“What were you thinking, problem child?” he asked with a sigh, crouching next to the kid. First things first, he needs to make sure that he won’t do anything that will make the boy panic and try to run away. 

Seeing how his own quirk ended up being at fault for the head trauma (well, it  turning  off to be precise) he didn’t want to imagine what would happen if this migraine of a human being tried escaping in his current state. 

“Contrary to what you might believe I was thinking. Quite a lot.” the vigilante answered and tried to continue but he made a few intangible sounds before taking a deep breath and continuing. It seemed his mouth had a hard time keeping up with his thoughts. “If I randomly approached Ingenium with ‘hey hero killer want to murder you’ I’m pretty sure he’d see me more of a danger than the actual one so I kind of, decided to, you know… Follow him a bit and help when he actually gets attacked… And here we are now. I’m fine though.”

“How did you know about the Hero Killer targeting me in the first place?” Ingenium asked and Phantom shrugged to the best of his ability.

“I know a lot of things I shouldn’t.” 

Aizawa sighed. 

“Listen, kid, I get that why you don’t want to go to the hospital and according to Nezu’s theory it wouldn't end well anyway so here’s what we’re going to do: you’ll stay with me to recuperate. I won’t call authorities on you but you have to promise that you won’t try to use your quirk until you're healed up.” 

Phantom mulled over the man’s words and then turned toward Ingenium.

“Does it technically count as a kidnapping?”

Eraserhead sighed so deeply that even the people around him could feel a tad bit more tired just by hearing it. 

“If you don’t agree to it and he takes you with him anyway, then I guess it kind of does …” the speed hero said with a small shrug.

“No worries, Eraser, I definitely won’t get better terms so I gracefully accept to get kidnapped by you.” 

“It isn’t kidnapping anymore then.” Ingenium pointed out while Aizawa rolled his eyes and cautiously lifted the vigilante.

“Wow, getting carried by Eraser bridal style. Christmas miracle happened early this year.” Phantom noted while the underground hero moved slowly but steadily toward Present Mic’s car, his colleague following him  as  to help open the doors once they  get  there. “I feel so light… Do I feel that light to you too, Eraser?”

“No. You’re heavier than you look.” 

Phantom made a small indignant gasp.

“You should tell me that I’m as light as a feather! No surprise you’re forever single.”  

“I’ll let you know I’m in a very stable relationship with caffeine. That’s the only emotional baggage I need.” 

Both Phantom and Ingenium laughed at that although one was quiet because their head was killing them while the other muffled it because he didn’t want to get murdered by the underground hero. 

When they arrived at the car Ingenium took keys from Aizawa and opened the doors. Eraser put the vigilante in the front seat, in the sitting position (it would have been harder to keep an eye on him and act if needed if he was left  on  the back seat). He buckled him in, said a quick farewell to Ingenium, and sat behind the wheel.

Phantom tried to wave to the speed hero but barely managed to lift his hand. Huh. He feels a bit as if he’s existing through some kind of fog. 

“Why didn’t you call me or Tsukauchi?” Aizawa asked, driving in a  far  calmer way than he did before. 

“You had Sports Festival to worry about and it isn’t Tsukauchi’s district… Anyway, it’s just hero killer, I was enough to help.” 

“Yeah, I see how enough you were.” 

“Did I die? No. Did I get critically injured? No. Can I still shit-talk people? Absolutely. Seems like my complete victory yet again.” Phantom answered readily. “So anyway… Who’s staying with Eri right now?”

He wanted to mention how Midnight and Present Mic were probably still at Spots Festival to wrap things up so it couldn’t have been either of them but he didn’t really feel like speaking any more than he already did. Instead, he started wondering; all of the UA staff would be busy with this and the girl wasn’t present at the booth so… A hero that doesn’t teach there, maybe? Like Miss Joke? 

“UA student who’s interning under a hero from the yakuza case. The one cracked wide open.” Aizawa answered and to be honest? Was vigilante’s mind in a better state he might have connected a few dots and guessed who he was about to stumble upon but…

“Didn’t he want to watch first years duke it out?” he mused instead.

“He can do so on TV. With Eri. At least that was his reasoning. He said something about saving her heart since he couldn’t save her physically.” Eraserhead offered.

“Cool,” Phantom commented. “Hey, who was your favorite this year?”

“I don’t have favorites.”

“But I do! And plenty of them at that.” 

Aizawa sighed tiredly but to be honest? He was curious. No wait, he can bet his left brow on one of the kids the mad vigilante had taken a liking to.

“One of them is the crazy green kid, isn’t he?” 

“Yeah. He did a pretty good job getting all those first places.” he mused making Aizawa a tad bit confused about the timeline but he nodded nonetheless. It seemed that the vigilante saw enough of the future to know who had won the two first stages. “Okay, guess the other favorite of mine.”

Aizawa wondered a bit.

“The kid with explosions?” he inquired. Such a chaotic problem child would definitely love the idea of bombing villains to make a living.  

“First of all, hell no, second of my wonderful points… You can address them by names, I know the Pomeranian with issues is Bakugo and the coffee kid is Midoriya.” the vigilante said and Aizawa's hand on the steering wheel twitched. Where had the vigilante heard this nickname? He’s fairly certain he’s the only one who uses it and that he hadn’t ever addressed the boy in such a way to anyone but the kid himself.

But it would be better to not let the vigilante know that he slipped. No matter if he hops through various time points of different universes or can go back in time in a more straightforward manner, it’s better he stays blissfully unaware of Aizawa’s newly acquired information.

“Uraraka, then?” he asked instead.

“Bingo! I hoped Shinso would go further too but oh well… What can you do when fate tells you no?” 

Curious. All three of them are in one friend group.

“What about Inasa?” 

“Well, his loss was kind of funny. Points to Iida for choosing the right plan.”

“Yes. Todoroki’s match against Midoriya was quite interesting, don’t you think?” Aizawa asked while fishing for information when the vigilante wasn’t thinking certainly wasn’t the nicest, Eraserhead was in the underground for more than one reason. Also, the problem child began the conversation himself.

“Yeah, though it’s kind of disappointing he didn’t use his flames… He would have probably won if he did.” 

(In his timeline he was too stressed checking news, awaiting info on Hosu since he didn't know when exactly Ingenium’s injury would happen so he ended up ignoring Todoroki when the boy said that he wanted to talk. But he was busy! And then, against just ice, it wasn’t all that hard to win… As for the match for the first place; he might have fought a tad bit fiercer than he usually would as his daily persona since Iida had disappeared somewhere with a rather distraught expression. His friends wanted to celebrate his victory and he agreed but in the café he finally got information about Ingenium and readily went back in time, leaving himself a note and going to the train after changing into his vigilante costume)

“Yes, it was wasted potential… What do you think about the first place?” 

“You already know Midoriya’s one of my favorites. But I guess it’s both surprising and nice for the underdog to not only get to the top but on every stage at that. Pretty cool right?” 

Strange. It's a rather big difference between their timeline and Phantom’s. Where did the change come from? 

“Sure.” he agreed easily, hoping the vigilante wouldn’t remember it and wouldn’t try to somehow change the timeline after Aizawa had learned this possibly important tidbit of information. Coffee  kid  seems to be the biggest variable between the worlds and the vigilante also knows about the boy’s nickname. “I’m going to call Mirio to… Do you know him?”

Aizawa stopped his initial sentence, noticing the vigilante’s sudden widening of eyes. 

“I… Not really, he has a similar quirk to mine from an outside perspective though!” Phantom said, his voice obviously raising a bit louder than he wanted it to since he flinched immediately after.

Suspicious. 

“I see. I’ll call him to take Eri to her room since I don’t want her to panic seeing you like this. I’ll bandage your wound and then give her some excuse.”

“Just say I’m sick… Of living. Ba dum tss.”

“The one who’s going to be sick of living  is  me by the end of your first day in my  aparment ,” Aizawa said with a deep sigh.

“Hey, I just realized, won’t Mirio sell me out to authorities? Since he’s training to be a hero and all?”

“I’m an actual hero and I don’t plan on, as you put it, selling you out. Mirio works with Sir Nighteye so he knows that not everything should be shared with the public and Hero Commission.”

“Oh yeah, you’re probably right…” Phantom mused, his eyes closing for a moment. 

“Don’t fall asleep yet, problem child,” Aizawa said, readying himself to lightly shake the vigilante but the kid did open his eyelids of his own accord.

“I know, I know… Though Ingenium already made sure I’m not in… My life isn’t in life danger… Wait, words, what are those…? I’m tired.”

Well, it seems even the chaos incarnate has its limit. Good. Aizawa isn’t sure he’d survive if the problem child was not only as insane as he is but also capable of doing his stunts 24/7. 

“What we’re doing is already breaking every single rule of medical rationality but if we don’t do so you’d become even more of a hazard to yourself than you already are. You can at least wait until we get there and I check your injuries in a safe environment.”

“Wow… How the tables had turned… Now you’re the one talking more than me…” Phantom mused.

“Yes, because my head hadn’t been put in close contact with a stone wall after a worrying acceleration.”

“And it shouldn’t be.” the vigilante stated, nodding to himself sagely. “Hey, Eraser…”

“What?”

“Do you like me? Like… I’m not actually just a problem to you, right?” Phantom asked and Aizawa swears that when he glanced at him, the kid’s eyes were glossy.

“If you were I would have found a way to hand you over to Tsukauchi a long time ago.” 

“So… The problem child title is endearing, right?”

Aizawa sighed, really not wanting to answer that question but logically knowing it was best to do so.

“Yes, problem child. It isn’t an insult even if you  are  a nuisance most of the time.” 

“Good…” the vigilante said and actually sniffled. What is going on in his head right now? “I know I’m pretty irritating and you don’t know me that well so you’re probably done with me most of the time but I’m trying really hard to make everything right… I’ll save this world, I promise…”

To address the first or the second part… If he tries both the kid might hyper-focus on only one but both are pretty important. The first is clearly weighing down on his problem child and the second for the obvious reasons: if their world is in danger he would rather know about it.

Fine. Both it is.

“At least you aren’t as loud as Present  Mic. ” he said and continued before the vigilante could answer. “But what was that about saving the world?”

“From… Wait. I wasn’t supposed to tell you, I think… You keep on protecting everyone from shadows and I’m going to do so too… Yeah, it’s my job… So don’t worry, I’m going to fix it. Everything’s going to be fine this time around…”

Aizawa knew him. Pushing the subject would do no good so he decided to call Mirio and tell him to get Eri to her room and leave the front door unlocked since he was on his way with an injured vigilante and the sight could scare her. He planned to explain the situation in more detail after taking care of the most pressing matters and he guesses he might let Sir Nighteye in onto the case. He’s a capable man, he might be even able to help them. After all, Sasaki’s the only hero close who has some sort of connection with the future.

“We’re nearly there,” he said after he finished his call, glancing at the vigilante who had seemed to find Present Mic’s dancing figurine of Midnight placed above the glovebox extremely fascinating. 

“Huh?” the kid hummed, blinking owlishly at the man. Then he glanced from the toy to the driver and then back at the item. “I’m surprised Mic doesn’t have a special-order version of you, Eraser.”

“He did. But it was either seeing it burn or not letting me see it ever again.” 

“Did it have a hula skirt on?”

“I fail to see how this information concerns you.”

“So it did… I’m going to focus extra hard to remember it so I can ask Present Mic about it when my head isn’t hurting like hell.” 

“You seem to be holding pretty well for someone who’s in that much pain.” Eraserhead pointed out, parking the car. 

“What doesn’t kill you makes the pain less painful,” Phantom said sagely, as Aizawa opened his doors to take him out, once again carrying him bridal style as to jostle his injuries as little as possible. 

“That’s not how the saying goes.” he pointed out, closing the car door with his capture weapon and opening the ones to his block with it. 

“Why is your scarf so damn cool…?” Phantom whispered in amazement, reaching to touch it and actually managing to put his hand on it. “Why is it so rough when it looks so soft.”

“It’s not for comfort it’s for survival,” Aizawa said with a sigh, walking at as fast of a pace as he could let himself without risking further hurting the kid in his arms. 

“But isn’t comfort important for survival? Long-term one, I mean…”

“Having a weapon can count as sort of a comfort,” Aizawa replied, opening the doors to his apartment and using his back to shut them. Then he went to his couch and put the vigilante on it. “Don’t do anything stupid, I’m going to get a med kit.”

He quickly walked for said item, the sound of “I don’t do stupid things” following him to the bathroom. He made more than one route there, to get water and rags too. The wound won’t clean itself and let’s hope Ingenium’s attempt at stopping bleeding was enough to deter any possible infection. 

Aizawa sent a quick text to Mirio to let him know to not let Eri get out of the room until he came to them and then he got to dressing the wound.

Upon closer inspection, the stab counted as deep but thankfully could do without stitches. Eraserhead might know how to do those but it’s always better when he doesn’t have to. Used as he might be to it, it’s never a pleasant experience. 

The boy flinched at disinfection of his wound but didn’t make a sound which didn’t even surprise Aizawa. The vigilante was probably tougher than half of the current heroes which was as impressive as it was worrying. Again, how old is actually this kid? 

But there was one more thing that was concerning. The t-shirt stuck to the boy’s body as if it was part of it. It wouldn’t be  that  weird with everything Aizawa had already seen from his problem child was it not for the fact that at some point Phantom murmured ‘sorry’ and the piece of clothing became just that; a usual shirt. 

But instead of questioning he got to wrapping the wound (and gave the kid one of his shirts since the boy’s current one was quite bloody) and then he got a better look at the head injury. It was on the forehead so thankfully the hair didn’t make it harder to access. Aizawa was pretty sure the skull had a simple linear fracture since even though the vigilante hit the wall hard, he was in surprisingly good condition. Possibly the wound was even less serious but it was impossible to check without going to the hospital or at the very least Recovery Girl. Aizawa will go with the latter if, after a day of observation, he notices anything worrying. But if the kid’s high comprehension is anything to go by, a few days of rest should be enough to get him back on his feet.

“Can I sleep now?” the kid whined right after Aizawa finished wrapping the bandage around his head.

“Yes, you can.” 

“Hurray…” Phantom said with no energy left and closed his eyes but opened them right after. “Tell Eri I’m having a sleepover or something, I don’t want to worry her…”

“I know. Sleep, problem child.”

“G’night…” 

Aizawa sighed and quickly cleaned up the salon of anything that could make Eri agitated and then moved to her room.

“Did something happen?” she immediately asked, barreling into his legs and tugging at his shirt. “I heard you talking and Mirio wouldn’t let me go out…”

“Everything’s fine now. But your favorite nuisance will be staying here for a few days,” he said patting her head but as expected there was one thing stronger than his rare affection; her worry about the vigilante.

She slipped by him and ran straight to the salon. He and Mirio were quick to follow her. She sat on the floor next to the couch, looking at the vigilante with a confused expression. 

“Why is Phantom bandaged? He doesn’t get hurt…” she murmured. 

“It’s probably like with band-aids! We usually don’t really need them but we feel better after putting them on!” Mirio was quick to come to the rescue glancing at Aizawa who gave him an appreciative nod.

“Oh! I get it!” Eri said, getting up and hitting her fist into her open palm. “Sir Aizawa is worried since he doesn’t believe that Phantom is a chaos deity! So he bandaged him even though he didn’t need bandages! But why is he asleep?”

“Because even chaos incarnate needs sleep. Sometimes.” the underground hero grumbled, wondering why his day ended like this. He still needs to give Present Mic his car back… But it can wait for tomorrow.

“Does he really?” Eri pondered, crossing her arms and putting them on the couch, peering at the sleeping vigilante. After a moment of silence, she leaned toward him and whispered in a conspiratorial tone. “You have them all fooled…”

She smiled and lay on the ground, facing the ceiling. 

“Whatcha doing, Eri?” Mirio asked, leaning over her so he could see her face.

“Waiting,” she answered readily. “When he gets up I’ll be ready!”

“But what if he lays for another few hours?” the blond asked.

“I’m very patient.” 

“Don’t you want to go play with me meanwhile?” Mirio asked, donning a disappointed face.

“No. I like Phantom more,” she replied without a shred of remorse and his hurt expression actually wasn’t an act anymore. But putting a hand to his heart and falling back was.

“Oh no… How could I have lost against him?” he whined, hoping for the girl to feel at least a tad bit bad and try to comfort him.

“You can’t win every battle,” she said, shrugging on the ground.

Aizawa watched it, somewhere between amused and terrified. She was learning far too much from the problem child. 

“Do you want a juice pouch?” the man asked and she immediately got up. 

“I want one for Phantom too!” she said happily, running to Aizawa and raising her hands, wanting to be picked up. He obliged, glancing at the blond who seemed to be going through the biggest betrayal of his life. Until the girl opened her mouth again. “Do you want one too, Mirio?”

He immediately got up from the floor and came running to her side with a huge smile.

“Since you offer so kindly of course I shall accept!” he stated and the girl giggled at his antics.

“You’re silly,” she stated.

“Well, I’d like to think I’m Mirio but I guess my name changed when I wasn’t looking.”

Aizawa groaned quietly into his scarf while the boy gave a booming laughter which Eri joined after a second of processing the joke. 

After finishing the juice, the girl caught another one and ran back to her spot next to the couch, while Aizawa nodded at Mirio to take a seat at the table. He gave him the most basic run-down of the situation (Phantom got stabbed then a wall to his head for his trouble of saving Ingenium from the hero killer. The situation should be kept secret because if Hero Commission got wind of the vigilante it could be troublesome. Sir Nighteye will get an update on the situation later). Then the teen went home and Aizawa was left to watch over his two kids.

Good thing Nemuri and Yamada weren’t here because they would take a shit ton of photos. The dark-haired male was above such actions. 

So he took only two or three since it was only logical to get the vigilante on a photo for later reference. And if the shot included Eri who fell asleep waiting for the problem child to wake up it was because she so happened to be in the frame at the time. 

He was quick to transfer it to his computer because if Nemuri or Yamada were to find it on his phone, they wouldn’t let go of the subject for another few weeks… Months… Hell, probably even years. They already make enough ‘Dadzawa’ jokes, he doesn’t need to add fuel to that trashfire. 

Now… The spot under the table actually looks rather comfortable and since everyone is asleep anyway… He can take a nap too and he’s a light sleeper so if any of the children get up he will be quick to notice it.

So he took two blankets out, put them on the children, and then went to sleep himself.

Chapter Text

Is this how a hangover feels like? Because he's never drinking in the first place if that's the case.

His eyelids fluttered open to only a somewhat familiar ceiling. But before he could panic, his eyes landed on the floor… White and black splashes of color on it, to be exact.

Well, if the killer headache was a price he had to pay to see Eri cocooned in a Present Mic-themed blanket snuggling to Aizawa, whose cat was draped over its owner's head, then so be it. It's definitely worth it. Now he just needs to take his phone out of atoms, making his body and… Ah yes, a perfect shot! He's going to print this photo and leave it in his favorite underground hero's room at some point.

Now, he should probably contact his present self since he's most likely worried sick by now.

Yo I'm alive

Wow, writing it took, like, forever… Alright, it's high time to fix the brunt of the damage dealt to his head from the inside with Revamp. He'll leave the stab wound and the outer part of the injury on his forehead so Aizawa doesn't get too suspicious though.

I got stabbed and then kind of defeated by a wall but Ingenium is fine so whateva

I'm staying with Eraser for next few days since he got kind of really worried about, you know, me getting stabbed and braining myself with a building

He shouldn't have been surprised at all when he got an answer three minutes later, even though it was three a.m.

Couldn't you go back in time and not get stabbed with a wall?

I did not get stabbed with a wall! I got stabbed with a knife and brained with the wall! Psh. Get your facts straight.

I could but what if it happens again? Or if I fail? Or if I slowly descend into madness while trying to do everything perfectly?

And the actual reason is…?

You'll know in few days if you're patient enough

Which memory you don't want to lose?

 Ah, yes. He's talking to himself, so of course, he would know what it's truly about.

I got to talk to Ingenium and learned his birthday (it's a week after us though, it's kind of fuzzy after my rendezvous with the wall) and have a nice chat with Aizawa and he doesn't hate me which is pretty cool

I mean I reacted kind of suspiciously when he mentioned Mirio, I think, but otherwise I didn't say anything weird so… This situation doesn't look bad enough for me to need to go bad in time

And you know that we have enough of memories that hadn't actually taken place yet and never will

I probably would be able to do this better but… Look at this

[photo sent]

LOOK AT THIS

IS THIS ERI AND ERASER AND PRESENT MIC-THEMED BLANKET?!

IS THIS A MEOW MOEW ON ERASER'S HEAD?!

YES

Alright, you couldn't have fucked things too badly anyway

As long as they don't learn who we are it's fine, I guess

I knew of all people you'd understand! :D

Wait. But what am I supposed to be doing at night since Phantom is supposed to be sleeping on Eraser's couch for the next x days?

SLEEP IS FOR NORMAL MORTALS

I'm sure you'll find something to do

And you can always make alternate vigilante persona

Ya, I'm gonna call him Wraith

Now we just need Ghost and Poltergeist

A whole family of undead!

Yeah… No

We ain't doing that

Fine. I don't want Eraser to take back not thinking of me only as a problem

Wait

Is it my imagination or did he admit to 'problem child' being an endearing nickname?

He would never

I know! But what if he actually did and I just don't remember it clearly because of that fucking head trauma?

Ah yes, getting brained is a minor inconvenience. The true problem is that it makes one unsure whether Eraser agreed to actually caring or not

True that

Anyway I'm going to put my communicator down and actually try to sleep through the night for once as to not make him suspicious

See ya in a week or so

Don't get too comfortable there

I will.

…

I hope Nezu visits you for some tea chit chat

Me too, honestly

That was supposed to be a threat

You misspelled 'treat'

You're terrible. I love this part of myself.

We all do

Weren't you supposed to go to sleep or something?

Zzzzzzz

Good now that he's asleep I can take over the world >:3

ZzZzZZzZzzZzz

Phantom hid his communicator from Aizawa's line of sight – just in case the hero suddenly woke up  – and then fused with it. Now that he thinks about it… The hero will probably get up sometime soon to get to his usual patrol route.

The man did exactly that, but not before carrying Eri away (probably to her bed) and leaving a sticky note on the table. Phantom was too curious not to read it immediately after the man left, even if he had to materialize his phone yet again since he needed a flashlight to make out letters.

Delete whatever photos you had taken. Eri left a juice pouch for you on the table. Sleep, problem child.

He snorted, deciding to listen to the man for once.

But only about one thing and only this one time.

~⁀‖⁀~§~♪~§~‿‖‿~

"Don't tell Aizawa, but I'm already healed. He can't know my secret," he said to Eri with a wink after both of them had woken up. She jumped in place for a few seconds and then climbed onto the couch, sitting on the edge near his stomach.

The stab wound was actually left as it was, so he was a tad bit afraid she would do something sudden and reopen it, but he believed in her. She wouldn't try checking the truthfulness of his words by hitting him, right? Right?!

"I knew it!" she exclaimed, puffing her chest proudly, and then suddenly jumped down from the couch and nearly tripped, running to the table even though it was only two or three feet away. "I have a juice pouch for you! Though… Do deities even eat?"

She tilted her head curiously but offered him the item anyway. Phantom took it gratefully.

"Mortals have good food," he said, putting the straw in and quickly emptying the thing. It tasted better than he expected… Or maybe he was just hungry? Who knows.

The girl clapped her hands together.

"I will make you my favorite cereals!" she exclaimed, running happily toward the kitchen. "Come here! You can go back to pretending that you're injured when Sir Aizawa is back!"

Eri was clearly on cloud seven. And it should come as no surprise: she liked staying with Present Mic, Nemuri, or anyone from UA, really (since the underground hero couldn't always find someone to come to take care of her here, he took her to his workplace since they already talked details out with Nezu. She often spent time with the principal too, which kind of terrified the dark-haired male) but! None of them was as high on the list of her favorite people (beings?) as Phantom! So the possibility of spending a few days with him made her positively giddy!

(Aizawa knew that the vigilante wouldn't suddenly disappear, leaving the girl alone and unhinged as the vigilante might sometimes seem, he takes good care of her. The two of them would be completely fine on their own, and even if something did happen, there's no doubt in Aizawa's mind that Phantom would be quick to give him a call… Since the boy has his communicator with him although the hero isn't sure where exactly he hid it. In some pocket dimension, possibly?)

"I'm coming, I'm coming…" the vigilante murmured, quickly fixing his stab wound enough to be able to move around safely. Reopening it would do no good, and the idea of cereals seemed...Well, kind of really appealing…  Kids' cereal brands always taste great!

They ate breakfast and played a bit (Phantom could not miss the chance to teach Eri the game of 'help me' and 'do not fear for I am here!'. Of course, he let her be All Might even though she didn't seem convinced at first. But soon enough, she found the idea of saving him very funny) and then he helped her with her homework from Nezu. He low-key expected the principal to leave her a ton of impossible work, but the principal actually seemed to have mercy on her. The exercises were suitable for her level but also seemed much more fun than his own ever were.

Then they decided to watch TV, the Sports Festival rerun, to be precise. Phantom was surprised to see how much of a difference his note left; Todoroki actually used his flames! What did his present self do to him?! And did the vigilante say anything indiscriminating to Eraser? He talked to him about the festival… But he's pretty sure he just mentioned his favorite participants and that he was careful to use their last names instead of nicknames and not to say 'me', 'myself' or 'I' about his daylight persona. He doesn't remember the man reacting suspiciously to his words, so he probably didn't say anything too weird.

Yeah, it should be fine.

He was in the middle of getting his nails painted by Eri while they talked about the quirks of UA students when the doors opened.

"Where did you get it?" Aizawa asked, raising his eyebrow and looking at the neon pink nail polisher.

"Nowhere?" Phantom answered and he would have shrugged was it not for the fact that the girl was focusing very hard on not making his whole thumb pink.

"I hope you didn't get any of it on my couch." the man said with a tired sigh, giving up on trying to get some actual answers.

"We're very careful! And we used paper towels!" Eri was quick to reassure and then promptly went back to her work. "Do you want Present Mic or All Might sticker?"

"Both."

"How?" the man whispered to himself before shaking his head and going to the kitchen. He might live on juice pouches and Lunch Rush's food but the kids needed to eat. So he decided to make them sandwiches and was generous enough to bring those to the living room.

"Oh no! My nails are painted what am I to do?" the vigilante whined, and Aizawa is pretty sure that he shouldn't be sitting already but there wasn't blood on anything so it seemed that the wound hadn't opened. Good.

"I will feed you!" Eri was quick to offer.

"First eat yourself," Aizawa said with a sigh, taking a seat on the armchair and practically melting into it.

This strange domestic atmosphere was making his skin crawl. He would never admit that it wasn't all that terrible. No way. He's a lone underground hero, not a single parent of two, for fuck's sake. He's taking care of Eri because it's only logical, and someone needs to keep an eye on the vigilante, who is quite possibly literally out of this world.

Anyway, after his comment the girl took two sandwiches and attempted to both eat and feed the problem child at the same time. The very first bite ended with salad from her piece of bread falling onto the floor and tomato from Phantom's onto his shirt. Aizawa's shirt to be precise.

The man sighed deeply.

"Eat first, and after you finish, feed him. If you must."

The girl pouted but put one sandwich down. She quickly grabbed the abandoned pieces of food that fell down and put them on the side of the plate. Then she scarfed down her food faster than Aizawa had ever seen her eat. Just so she could feed her favorite vigilante.

A few minutes later, the sandwiches were gone, and Eri gasped, clapping her hands together.

"Let's make coffee tea party!" she exclaimed, jumping down from the couch and went running to Aizawa, tugging at his shirt to force him up. He raised to his feet with a groan, letting himself get dragged toward the kitchen.

"Do you need help there?" Phantom chirped cheerfully.

"I'll manage. Rest, problem child."

Phantom's not gonna lie, it was nice. Not the part where he had to sit in one place for hours. But this situation, in general, felt a bit like a sleepover at his favorite uncle's house. The one that most kids in the neighborhood are scared of shitless and the one that threatens you with someone going to kidnap you if you misbehave but! The one that you like nonetheless, because grumpy as he might be, he's actually kind of funny to be around.

"Can we call sir Yamada for the coffee tea part, please?" he heard from the kitchen.

"Yeaah! Let's invite Mic over!" he readily yelled from his spot on the couch.

"Don't you have a headache, problem child?" Aizawa remarked, and the boy shrugged, even though the hero wouldn't see it.

"My whole existence is a headache."

"Can we call sir Yamada then? Pretty please?"

In the end, Eraser agreed, and Present Mic came… With few tiaras at that. He was rather surprised to see Phantom in Aizawa's t-shirt chilling on the couch but quickly learned about the whole hero killer fiasco and how the vigilante got stabbed and brained with a wall (yes, Shouta took his car without any explanation at all, knowing fully well that the blond would get the full version of what had happened sooner or later). The blond was considerate enough not to use his quirk even once throughout his visit, which was a miracle in itself.

And sure, Phantom had already fixed most of the damage, but it was the thought that counted, and he was extremely moved by Present Mic staying somewhat quiet for him. And bringing tiaras. They looked fabulous on their heads. Eri was a beautiful little angel, Mic looked a bit like some princess with his hair down, Aizawa made a wonderful impression of a grumpy cat forced into play-pretend (which he kind was) and the vigilante is sure he absolutely rocked his own little crown (and his little angel said he looks great in it too!).

"Next time, let's invite Mirio too." The girl remarked with a sweet smile, nibbling on a cookie (who would have thought Aizawa was the type to buy the nice chocolate chip brand? Or buy any treats at all? Well… Phantom did since future Eraser brought some sweets from his lootings for them all, saying something about their high energy value and near-non-existent expiration date. Yeah, sure).

All in all, it was a wonderful day and Phantom decided that he rather not overstay his welcome so after another night he was planning to leave right after Aizawa returns. But what he didn't account for… Was Mirio and Sir Nighteye coming with the hero.

"So you are the vigilante who helped take down yakuza by recklessly getting inside and calling for backup only after already being in the middle of the danger." the man greeted, fixing his glasses and standing over the couch like some sort of angry god.

Phantom and his little deity-but-not-really heart were terrified. This man looked like someone who could kick your ass while finishing his paperwork and also leisurely drinking his coffee at the same time. Like, he's Aizawa's level of scary, but the vigilante has experience dealing with the latter.

"Yeah, that's me, alright." Phantom answered, chuckling his 'haha, I'm in danger' laugh.

"Don't be mean to him! He saved me!" Eri was quick to come to the rescue, awkwardly hugging the boy who was half-laying, half-sitting on the couch. He was starting to get tired with all this resting.

"Oh don't worry! Sir Nighteye is impressed with him though he was worried too! After all, we wouldn't want Phantom to get hurt, right?" the blond was quick to intervene. The girl pouted.

"He wouldn't get hurt because he's super strong. The strongest," she stated.

"I do not doubt that; after all, his quirk seems quite similar to Mirio's, and he's a rather powerful hero in training." the man said, glancing at the vigilante, who sent him a small smile. "But. No matter how strong one is, they cannot escape their future."

Phantom had a lot of mixed feelings at that but in the end he just laughed hysterically, surprising everyone and worrying most of them.

"What's so funny?" Eri asked, tilting her head curiously, seemingly not noticing the desperate undertone of his laughter. But the vigilante was quick to ruffle her hair, forcing a smile onto his face.

"Agree to disagree. Anything can be changed as long as we survive long enough to find a solution," he said, careful not to look into the man's eyes. He had absolutely no idea what Sir Nighteye would be able to glimpse from his future, and he would rather keep his secret identity… Well, secret.

"Oh? Does your quirk give you insight into the future for you to be so sure of that?" the man asked, raising an eyebrow.

Maybe… Just maybe! Letting the man use his quirk on him would be fine… He'd just need to go back in time and not let him do it in the newer timeline. He could then learn something new about Foresight. But what if someone here noticed something weird with him after he returned? Would it even work when he's already somewhat of a copy of the original that's in a completely different place?

It's probably better not to risk it.

"Not really per se, but… I'm pretty sure I've destroyed, like, three different kinds of future by now," he said. He changed USJ and Sports Festival for sure… And Ingenium's life, he guesses. He hopes the risk of the Nomu apocalypse was gone by now, but, sadly, he can't be fully sure of that.

"And how could you change the future if you don't know it?" the man continued his questioning, and Phantom decided to make finger guns at him.

"I don't necessarily need future-seeing quirk to change things, you know."

"Come on, Eri, let's make some tea and coffee for everyone," Aizawa said, feeling that it would be better to give the strict-looking hero some privacy in the current conversation.

The girl furrowed her brows and hugged Phantom's arm.

"But he looks like he wants to say something mean," she said, looking at the man who seemed slightly taken off-guard by that. It was obvious he wasn't very good with children.

"Don't worry, he means well. He's a bit like Aizawa, I guess. Scary-looking but nice," the boy assured, ruffling her hair. "After all he's a hero! And heroes do good, right?"

She crossed her arms.

"But you're a vigilante," she pointed out. He blinked and then snorted.

"You're getting smarter every day," he complimented making her smile brightly. "You're right… But! Aizawa is a hero and he's a really great person right? And Mirio's training to be a hero. I mean, being a vigilante is a bit like being a hero but without permission."

She rolled her eyes (she learned it from him, that's for sure).

"Being a hero is a profession. If you don't have permission, you can't be a hero," she stated, and suddenly, he realized why Eraser was so scared to leave her under Nezu's tutelage.

"Well, I like to believe that being a hero isn't just about your education but also about what's here," he said, putting his hand on his chest. "And before you say anything about my lungs, I mean heart and spirit. Why do you think hero students tried so hard at the Sports Festival? Just for cameras?"

"Maybe?" the girl said, trying to keep a straight face but looking at him curiously, waiting for him to elaborate.

"Then why Todoroki didn't use his flames from the very beginning?"

She initially brainstormed for some ideas.

"Because earlier he could win without them…?" she asked.

Phantom was fully aware of all the people around listening to his conversation but whatever. He'll let them all know how good of an influence he is! Even though he's technically a criminal.

"Nope. Didn't he seem worried? I think he might have disliked his fire side for some reason, but in the end, he realized that you can't be a hero using only half of your power. You need to give it your all otherwise you may fail to save people!"

"So… Being a vigilante is fine?" she asked in the end and he felt a glare at the back of his head. From where Aizawa stood to be precise.

"Well… Not always… Some villains started as vigilantes… And it's always better to become a hero through the usual route!" he was quick to assure.

She threw her arms up.

"Why are you a vigilante then?!" she asked, and he bowed his head to be closer to her ear.

"I'm a chaos incarnate. How do you know I'm not training to be a hero right as we speak?" he whispered and then leaned back. The girl made a face of absolute understanding as if all secrets of the world had been given to her.

"I get it. Don't worry, I'll keep your secret," she said solemnly and then gasped. "Had you… I mean… Sports Festival?!"

He probably should have denied it, but she looked at him with such wide, excited eyes that he couldn't help but nod.

"I'll find out everything!" she yelled and if she wasn't so cute and innocent it would sound a bit concerning… Ominous even.

"Good luck, just remember to keep our little secret," he said and she saluted running toward Aizawa and dragging him to the kitchen, happily talking about which tiara they should give to Sir Nighteye and which to Mirio (Present Mic left all of them here and there was a total of six so they had quite a variety to choose from).

"What was that about?" Mirio asked curiously.

"A kid with an overpowered imagination thinking I'm a deity of chaos who has absolute power over this realm," he answered easily. So... You probably wanted to ask me some questions, right?"

Sir Nighteye sat down on the armchair, and Mirio promptly plopped onto the ground next to the couch in the spot usually (for the last two days) reserved for Eri.

"Can you breathe when you use your quirk to phase through things? Can you see through them? How long did it take for you to perfect it? Did you do it alone, or did someone help you? Because my Permeation is super complicated, and I would never have gotten to the level I'm at without Sir Nighteye!" Mirio said, unknowingly activating trap card' quirk conversation'. It was super effective against Phantom, aka Midoriya Izuku, the quirk nerd.

"Not really, no again, but I kind of have a way of feeling what I'm inside at the specific moment, I had an amazing mentor. Now, my turn! Have you ever knocked yourself out because you got thrown out of an object with more force than you expected? Or did Eraser ever use his quirk on you and get you catapulted into something? Oh! How did Sir Nighteye know how to instruct you? Did he look into the future, and that's where he took pointers for you from?"

Mirio blinked, processing the information, but he was quick to board this sudden Permeation-discussing train.

"Yeah! Plenty of times, actually! Yes, to the question with Eraserhead, too! During my second year of training camp, I got stuck on top of a tree because of that! I was so tired after using my quirk that Nejiro needed to get me! And the last… Actually, I'm not sure. Sir Nighteye is a futuristic teacher even without looking into the future!"

"He has the power of hindsight on his side, I guess."

"Exactly! He's master of anticipation!"

"He's probably always one step ahead of others."

"Yeah! Surprise parties are off the table since he knows so much about fu-rni-ture!"

Phantom cackled at that but stopped immediately when Sir Nighteye cleared his throat.

"I don't think this conversation will survive the trial of time," he said in spite of himself, and Mirio burst out laughing which prompted the same reaction from the vigilante.

"Back to the serious matters." Sir Nighteye said after the two of them (and his own smile) toned down. "I've already talked to Nezu about you, but I find some of his theories hard to believe."

"I mean, sometimes I find my existence hard to believe…" Phantom murmured making the man raise an eyebrow but the vigilante didn't elaborate.

"What exactly is your quirk?"

"Well… If I was going to tell anyone, Eraser there would already have the answer, like, months ago."

"And why won't you tell us?"

Let's think… How to put it?

"Because you wouldn't like it without further explanation. Actually, you wouldn't like it even with further explanation. One I'm not willing to give. I carry some emotional ballast that I would rather resolve on my own."

Sir Nighteye scoffed.

"I'm so tired of this approach… Why try to hold the whole world on your shoulders when you can simply get others to help?"

Phantom blinked. Huh. Mirio wasn't the type to do things alone when he could work with someone, so who could have the man referred to? Surely not All Might, right? Who would compare a vigilante who is chaotic enough to make people question whether he's some kind of deity to the symbol of peace?

"To be perfectly honest with you… I have this burden because I got other things with it, good… Amazing things. It wouldn't feel right to bring others into it when they didn't get as much as I did… Does it make sense?"

Guessing from Sir Nighteye's surprised blink, it doesn't. At all.

"It does. Too much, in fact," he said, rendering Phantom, for once in his chaotic existence, unable to find any words. The man leaned back in the armchair.

Thankfully, before they could fall into uncomfortable silence, Eri walked into the room, holding her silver cup with a red rim.

"You look like you saw a ghost," she said, unable to stop her snorting before she could finish. "Or… More like… Phantom!"

It wasn't as funny as the vigilante's reaction might have indicated, but the boy was so proud of that pun that he couldn't help but laugh so hard it actually made his stomach hurt. Doubly so since the stab wound wasn't completely healed (it wasn't at risk of reopening though, so there's that). Mirio laughed too, but for once, he wasn't the one with the most booming voice.

"Why." Aizawa said, shuffling his feet as he walked toward the table, putting other cups down.

Both Mirio and Sir Nighteye were smart enough to not point out the tiara positioned on the top of his head. And soon, Eri run to grab little crowns for all of them, showing some hesitance when approaching the newcomer but quick to confidently shove the thing on his head when he leaned down for her to do so (she also got thumbs up from both Phantom and Aizawa as an encouragement).

"I heard laughing earlier! So you are all friends now, right?" she asked.

"Of course! Why wouldn't we be?" Mirio asked.

"I don't know… You look so good in that tiara I feel my best princess spot at risk… And how can I befriend my rival!" Phantom exclaimed dramatically, getting up to a fully sitting position. Good heavens, how can lying be so tiring?!

Eri was quick to climb up onto the sofa and pat him on the back.

"You'll always be the prettiest princess," she reassured him.

"But what about me?" Mirio asked with a sad face and Eri pondered for a moment before pointing at everyone in the room, giving them titles.

"You'll be the prettiest prince, sir colorful-hair will be the prettiest sir princess, and sir Aizawa will be… Um…”

"Dadzawa…" Phantom whispered, but not quietly enough, as the aforementioned had sent him a nasty glare.

"Yes! The prettiest Dadzawa!" the girl exclaimed so proudly that Eraser didn't have a way to refute her claim.

"And Mic?" the vigilante inquired.

"He gave us tiaras, so he deserves a nice title…" the girl mused, furrowing her brows deep in concentration before brightening up considerably. "The prettiest queen! Yes!"

Deep inside, Phantom howled with laughter.

"What about our most beautiful little angel?" he asked, pointing at her.

"I already gave you title," She quipped. Aizawa snorted so suddenly, he didn't manage to hide it into his scarf while Mirio fell to the ground, cackling.

"I can't even put in words how proud I am…" Phantom whispered, and he couldn't help but embrace her. She was quick to melt into his hug with a small giggle. "But you know who I meant."

"Do I?" she asked smoothly, but instead of continuing that little game, she decided to spare him. "Well, you said I'm an angel, so obviously, I'm the prettiest angel here."

"True that! The prettiest, smartest little angel I know!"

Mirio quietly decided that he can take defeat to Phantom after seeing them interact. But even if he can't be her favorite big brother figure, he can aim to be the funny uncle! Or maybe that one cousin you can't help but be impressed with because he's so cool! Yeah! He's going to be that to her! And then he's going to introduce her to his friends too, and she's going to be impressed with them too! And she's going to have a lot of friends!

Yes, her future is going to be bright… The future of them all already is!

Chapter Text

“You’re the crazy kid from the Sports Festival!” someone asked, and Izuku felt his face burn. Why was he feeling so nervous?! He should have been ready for people to notice me!

“That’s me, alright,” he replied readily, but playing it cool seemed to be the wrong answer since it made more curious faces gather around him.

“Hey! Can I take a photo with you?”

“Um… Sure, why not.”

“What’s your quirk, kid? Is it some kind of super luck?”

“No, not really…”

“Are you a fan of Phantom?” some teenager suddenly piped in and he blinked.

“Sure?”

“I knew it!”

Izuku tried to find Hitoshi in the crowd since the boy tactfully retreated when he realized his friend would be ambushed by questions but no such luck. Shino wasn’t going to save him, and because of that, Midoriya had spent his whole way to the school surrounded by various people, being asked questions and for photos, even autographs! It was super weird. But he guesses it made sense since he took two first places and lost against the festival’s winner.

“Traitor,” Izuku whispered to Hitoshi when they finally left the clutches of curious people. The purple-haired teen simply shrugged.

“Hey!” Uraraka yelled, waving at them from behind the school gates. Inasa was standing next to her, grinning. “Have you gotten recognized by people too? Because I couldn’t get a break from them the whole way here!”

“Same.” Midoriya was quick to say. All four of them started to walk toward their class.

“I let everyone focus on him,” Hitoshi remarked, pointing at the green-haired boy. “All fame for our leader or something.”

“Yeah! Now everyone knows how great you are!” Inasa yelled enthusiastically, throwing an arm around his favorite broccoli-colored friend’s shoulder.

With that, they arrived at their class, and soon enough, the lesson started. Or more like drafting began. Todoroki, of course, got the most offers but Inasa and Uraraka got quite a few too. Bakugo, Tokoyami, and Iida were another three quite popular with heroes.

Shinso didn’t get any offers, but it was fine by him; since he wanted to be an underground hero, it was better not to draw too much attention to himself, and he hoped to intern under Eraserhead anyway. The man would probably take him in since no one offered him a spot.

Izuku, on the other hand, got a handful of offers. But there was one that immediately grabbed his attention.

It was from Nezu. Try as he might explain to himself that it was a bad idea… He just couldn’t give up on this chance! He has enough experience in hand-to-hand combat, from sparring with his friends to being the Phantom. But a chance to talk with someone who, like him, has High Spec and whose mind is going miles over a minute? Sign him right up!

And then Midnight burst through doors, and the choosing of their hero names began. Izuku didn’t have any idea what to choose since the best one he had went to Phantom so… He chose spite. He didn’t know he would opt for violence when waking up this morning, but here he is, standing before his class and looking straight into Kacchan’s eyes.

“Deku. The hero who can do the impossible.” he stated, writing the word like the word ‘dekiru’ rather than the ‘useless’ the blond gave him.

“I like it! It’s easy to remember and has a lovely ring to it!” Midnight accepted readily, and then her eyes zeroed on Shinso. “Have you thought up a name yet?”

“I’m planning on going the underground route, so I don’t think it’s that important. I don’t need to make my brand or anything…” the boy said.

“Insovoice.” Izuku stated, going back to his seat and crossing his arms. Midnight looked at him curiously. “From insomnia and voice.”

The woman laughed.

“It reminds me of how your homeroom teacher, Eraserhead got his hero name! I like it, you should call him Insovoice from now on!”

“It sounds like an invoice.” Shinso groaned, but the class seemed already sold on the idea. In fact, Hitoshi’s remark just sealed his fate.

“Invoice, my dude!” Kaminari said, grinning toward his classmate, who rolled his eyes and put his face on his desk, deciding to ignore the world around him.

“Any nicknames for me?” Todoroki inquired toward Izuku, and the boy, bless his ever-helpful soul, dived right into brainstorming.

“Snowfire. Like snowflake but with fire!” 

“Sounds pretty dope! Oh! I know, I know! Let me give an idea, too! Fire Blizzard!” Inasa decided to join.

Iida cleaned ‘The Speed Hero: Turbium’ from his blackboard, wanting to give it back to Midnight in perfect condition since he had already shown his idea to the class. He wished for a name similar to his brother’s, but he also didn’t want it to be too similar. Turbium might sound a bit funny, but it would probably make it better perceived by kids, and he’d love to put others’ minds at ease with his name alone. He didn’t need to sound “cool” or “epic”. He just wants to be a good hero like his brother, and a friendly name was the first step toward building trust with the society he would be protecting!

“How about Firestorm?” he offered his own idea.

Uraraka gasped.

“Blaze Glaze! Since ice is a bit like glass, transparent and all!” she said, clapping her hands. “Or Iceire! A bit like icicle but with ire from fire!”

“I like Blizzard.” the boy murmured, making Inasa throw his arms up in happiness.

“Yeah! Gale Force and Blizzard! Uravity and Froppy! Insvoice and Deku! We’re going to be the most awesome team in the whole world with such cool names and so much passion!”

Not long after his words, the bell rang, and students happily left to get lunch.

“So, do you know who you want to intern with?” Uraraka inquired.

“I haven’t decided yet! There are so many offers!” Inasa hollered.

“I’m tempted to choose Endeavor just to have occasion to put salt in his coffee,” Todoroki said. “Learning how to use flames would be useful too, I guess…”

“I’m going to choose Nezu,” Izuku said before glancing at the candy can boy. “I wonder if I’d be able to convince him to go to Hosu… I would stab someone with a spoon to see Endeavor drink coffee that’s as salty as he is.”

“This is not something heroes in training should be planning! Stabbing with a blunt object sounds very dangerous!” Iida was quick to say, chopping the air. “As for your question! I will intern under my brother’s ever-watchful eye!”

“I will ask Eraserhead to take me in,” Shinso added.

“I’m choosing Selkie. Their environment of work seems the most optimal for me, ribbit.” Tsuyu added. “How about you, Rara?”

“Well… I’ve been thinking about Gunhead since I’d really like to learn some nice new moves. I love sparring with you guys! But I’d like to grow ever stronger! The strongest of all of us!” the girl said, clenching her hands into fists, to further convey her determination.

“Good luck! Can’t wait to see you kick our collective ass.” Izuku said with a beaming smile, projecting ‘you go sweetie!’ aura onto all of them.

“Typical Momzuku.” Shinso snorted.

“Stop calling me that, Dadso.” Midoriya was quick to quip back.

They’ve spent the rest of lunch in a similar manner, talking and joking. The rest of the lessons went by quickly, and soon enough, it was time to go home. Iida left first, too excited to talk to his brother about internships to wait for the rest. Inasa had been moved by Uraraka’s earlier words and ran straight home to train more, and Shinso had something to do (feeding Bread, to be exact), so he left with a quick goodbye. Tsuyu and Todoroki had to go back to their respective homes while Mei still had one lesson, so Izuku was left alone with the gravity girl.

“Young Uraraka! Could I talk to you for a moment?” All Might asked, and welp, Izuku’s left to himself, he guesses.

“Uh? Of course! Um… Will it take long?”

“It shouldn’t be more than twenty minutes!” the hero was quick to assure, and the girl glanced at her friend unsurely.

“I was planning on looking through the internet anyway, so it doesn’t matter whether I do it here or at home… So take your time, I’ll wait!” he was quick to assure her, taking his phone out to prove the sincerity of his words.

“Alright! I’ll be back as soon as I can!” she said and quickly followed All Might.

Izuku sighed to himself, realizing that he should probably think about his own One For All. He should be safe to use it by now… And as much as he doesn’t feel like he needs this much more power, he would rather not run into All For One and learn that since OFA is dormant, it doesn’t protect him from quirk stealing. Better safe than sorry.

Alright, he’ll do something with it. After Phantom is back, that is.

~⁀‖⁀~§~♪~§~‿‖‿~

“First of all, I would like to ask you to keep everything I’m about to tell you secret.”

Uraraka was quick to nod, even though she was kind of really confused. What was it all about? She didn’t feel like she was in any trouble, but why else would the hero want to talk to her alone?

“You see, five years ago I have been hurt in a fight that hadn’t been made public. From that time, I can use my quirk and my hero form only for a few hours, a time which is steadily reclining. For the rest of the day, I look like this.”

She blinked when the hero everyone – herself included – looked up to… Deflated into a sad excuse of himself. She hid her mouth behind her hand, feeling a shudder wrack her back. What kind of enemy could have hurt the symbol of peace to such an extent?!

“I’m telling you this because my quirk, One For All, is like a sacred torch. It can be passed down and after seeing your performance at Sports Festival… I believe you would make a great successor. Would you like to inherit my power, young Uraraka?”

Time out! Time out! How is she supposed to answer?! She didn’t even do that much! She just tried her best as not to be left behind! After all, she’s surrounded by so many amazing people! And sure, she kind of always wanted to be a hero to help, but her main reason was to earn money for her family! Protecting the whole society like All Might does… Would she even be able to do it?

No. That’s not the way to think about it. She should get through this with logic and facts! Let’s think… What would Mizu say?

Right!

She took a deep breath and looked into the Hero’s sunken yet oh-so-blue eyes. They still held the strength of experience, of all the years he had spent fighting for her, her family, and for everyone to live safely!

“I don’t think I’m the right person,” she stated, her voice unwavering. “Mizu… Midoriya is a far better option! He’s amazing, even without a quirk! He’s stronger and smarter than me, even without one! And I believe that with one… He could do literally anything! Not that he can’t now, but he would become even more amazing and help even more people!”

The hero chuckled.

“I fully agree, young Uraraka. I actually met young Midoriya before UA, at the time of the sludge villain accident. In fact, I offered him One For All… But he refused. He wanted to prove everyone, me included, wrong in thinking that one cannot be a hero without a quirk.”

Uraraka blinked. Did she hear him right?

“Prove you wrong? You… Didn’t think someone can become a hero without quirk…?” she asked, shocked.

The man sighed and sat down.

“Yes, and I regret it deeply, but my process of thought back then didn’t come from any kind of malice. I just learned the hard way that even with power which might seem undefeatable… You still can get hurt beyond repair.” the hero said, taking a seat on the sofa.

“I guess…” she murmured. “I mean, if it was anyone else, I would probably think becoming a hero without a quirk is impossible… But Mizu, Midoriya I mean, is… He’s truly something else!”

The man chuckled, and although it wasn’t even a quarter as boisterous as his usual laughter, it still made her smile. She felt as if the two of them shared some deeper kind of understanding, which was kind of funny considering it was about someone who refused the power she was now offered.

“Actually… Young Midoriya said that you’re a good choice for a successor.”

“What?! Really?!” she asked, her voice going far higher than she wanted it to.

“Yes. There are many amazing heroes in this school, even in your class… But your determination, your strength and resolve… I saw a true hero’s spirit in you back at the Sports Festival!”

Uraraka looked to the side, cheeks reddening at being complimented by All Might himself!

“I just wanted to do my best to not fall back… After all, I have some really impressive friends!” she said with a small nervous laugh.

“Yes… One could even say you had already surpassed me in that matter.” the man said with a deep sigh she was about to somehow refute him, but he continued, and she wasn’t about to cut off the symbol of peace (unlike Izuku who would be happy to do so if the man dared to start pity parade in the boy’s company). “Thanks to young Midoriya, I finally reached out to my old sidekick, and I keep in contact with a good friend while also talking fairly often with my friend from the police department… But when you think about it, it feels a bit underwhelming. There seems to be an impassable chasm between me and other top heroes. After years, I do realize that I might have taken too much on my shoulders… That’s why you, who so readily reaches out to others, would no doubt do far better than me.”

Uraraka fumbled with her hands in her panic to deny it.

“N-no! I could never hope to be as amazing of a hero as you are, All Might!”

“Even with all those great people around you?”

She froze. Well, he got her there. He was amazing! A pillar of justice, a symbol of peace, a hero that could make everything better! But he isn’t indestructible and… When her mind comes to Mizu, she can’t help but feel like he is. He isn’t a huge boulder that most find to be unmovable like it is with the number one hero.

No. He’s more like… Well, water is a pretty good example, she guesses. He seems able to adapt to anything, just like water can go from liquid to solid and vapor. He’s always moving, always thinking. He never seems to stop, he just slows down at most. And then picks up his pace right back.

It’s kind of funny now that she thinks about it. After all, isn’t erosion all about boulders being slowly but steadily defeated by water?

“I guess with them on my side I could go really far…” she mused and then clenched her fists. “No, I shouldn’t think like this… I want to be able to make them go far because I am on their side! I don’t want to only follow, to chase in hopes of catching up! I want to proudly walk by them and be strong enough to lead them, too!”

“That’s the spirit!” All Might said, for a second, going into his hero form but shrinking down right after, coughing a handful of blood. Uraraka panicked, looking around for tissues or maybe bandages, or maybe she needs to call an ambulance or something?! “Don’t worry, young Uraraka. That’s normal.”

It probably shouldn’t be, but she isn’t well-versed in the medical field, so…

“If you say so…” she murmured unsurely.

“Anyway! What do you say? Do you want to become my successor?” he asked, and she nodded before she could truly think about it.

“I mean… If you really think I can do it… If I can truly wield this power correctly and help others with it, I want to do so!”

The hero smiled.

“I’m happy to hear it, but before that, I’d like to tell you more about the origins of One For All… Because with it comes All For One, its enemy. He’s the one who gave me this terrible injury, and I was sure I had defeated him, but recent events made me hesitant about it being truth…” the hero said, vaguely pointing at the sofa, and Uraraka decided to take a seat.

Good thing she did because when she heard the full story, her legs nearly gave up from underneath her.

A quirk capable of stealing other quirks.

Against power given from generation to generation, hoping to stop what seemed like an indestructible enemy…

“I know it’s a lot to take in, and I fully understand if you’d rather not accept my offer until All For One is truly defeated. I promise that as long as embers of One For All still reside within myself… No, even if they burn out, I will finish this battle.”

Uraraka closed her eyes and took a shuddery breath. When she opened them, she was ready to give her answer even though this whole thing felt so much bigger than herself.

“I accept,” she said, her voice trembling despite her attempts to keep it steady. “Even if I have to face All For One… I’m sure after his fight with you he isn’t as strong as he used to be! With all those amazing people around me… I’m sure we can defeat him!”

The man blinked, surprised by the quick but determined answer, and then smiled. He could feel in his bones that he had made the correct choice.

“I’m happy to hear that! Now… Eat this!”

Wait. What?!

Chapter Text

“So… Um…” Uraraka said, shuffling her feet. She wasn’t sure if she was feeling sick with nerves or because of the hair she just ate.

All Might told her to keep One For All secret from everyone, even her family, with one exception being Izuku who already knew about the quirk. She’s immensely relieved and thankful for that. Sure, it would be nice to talk with her parents about it but… If she had to choose between sharing the info with them and him, she's afraid he would be the winner since she’s confident he would be of more help.

But. How should she say it?

“Which secret did he share with you?” Izuku asked with a heavy sigh as if fed up with the symbol of peace sharing information that could end the world as they know it with teens he hadn't known for longer than a few months.

It might as well be the case for all Uraraka knows.

“His form and One For All with its full backstory?” she answered, fumbling with her hands nervously. “I, uh, kinda agreed and already got it? And I hope you’ll help me with it?”

She was a little bit scared by Mizu’s frustrated, borderline angry expression.

“He did what?!” he yelled before lowering his volume and looking around to make sure no one was listening in on their conversation. “He gave you eight generations worth of power without any prior training?!”

“Well… We talked a bit about my strength training including the one before UA and he said it’s enough, and I already agreed so…” Uraraka admitted, feeling a bit stupid. But it wasn’t her idea to immediately inherit the quirk! She would have waited as long as the number one hero asked her to!

Izuku sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Do you need to go back home early today?” he asked.

“Um… No, why?”

“Good. I’m calling All Might to get us a private training gym and we’ll check how much effect OFA will have on your quirk since it would be a disaster if you went straight into battle without knowing at least this much. We can eat in the café Hitoshi showed us, it’s my treat.”

“Y-you don’t have to! I have enough money for a sandwich!” she tried to refuse although the thought of a free meal was making a valiant effort at wrangling her into shutting up. She was so focused on that inner fight that the fact of Izuku having All Might’s phone number flew right over her head.

“No, no, I need to buy you at least one full dinner for kicking Kacchan’s ass. You have no idea how satisfying it was to watch,” he stated, already dialing Toshinori’s number. The girl was about to answer when the man picked up. “What were you thinking? No, wait, you’ll answer in person. Now, please get us a training gym. Yes, by now I mean now… Okay, more like in twenty minutes since we’re going to eat first. Good. We’ll see you there.”

Uraraka gulped.

“Was it… Did you just…?” she tried to say something, anything, looking at him with wide eyes. She knew he was amazing and could probably be really scary if he wanted to be but surely, he wouldn’t just order All Might around, right? Right?!

“No, I didn’t lecture All Might. I will do it after we eat because I’m paranoid enough not to talk about top secrets through phones.” the boy was quick to answer . “I think I’ll get some salad, do you feel like eating anything specific?”

The change of subject was so natural yet so sudden she felt a bit dizzy.

“Um… Not really, I’d like to take a look at the menu first.”

“Sure!”

The whole café ordeal went, shockingly, uneventfully. They ordered, Izuku paid, they ate, and then went back to UA. All Might was already waiting for them at the front, looking somewhat anxious.

“Greetings again, young Uraraka, young Midoriya,” he said and Ochaco swears she saw him sweat nervously.

“We’ll talk about how irresponsible you are after we get to the gym , lead the way,” Izuku said in a firm tone and well… Uraraka would hate to be the symbol of peace right now.

“I believed that the sooner I give her my quirk the better since young Uraraka will have more time to adjust to it…” the man tried as he walked, the two following after him.

“Without any prior training? Days before internships? Did you even give her any pointers?”

There was a long, long moment of silence.

“Well… I’m sure young Uraraka will be natural just like I was!”

Izuku’s facepalm was loud enough to sound like a well-timed high five. The one of the kind that leaves your hand burning. Then he turned toward the girl.

“For now please try using only your quirk and check if anything has changed. Don’t try to tap into One For All since your body isn’t used to it and you might end up hurting yourself. I’ll do some theorizing and you can try actively using OFA after internships , does it sound alright to you?”

She nodded quickly . Partly because she was happy to have his help, partly because she was excited, and partly because she didn’t want to get lectured like All Might was about to.

So she went to work, taking gravity from anything she could get her hands on with a background ambiance of her friend chewing out the number one hero. She tried not to think about it too much since after the initial shock it was pretty amusing and she was afraid she would start laughing. She didn’t want All Might to think she was having fun at his expense!

Soon enough she realized that her limit was higher than it was before. She could use her quirk roughly on two times the amount she usually would before starting to feel dizzy and even then her usual sickness was… How to put it? It felt a bit as if was reaching her through some kind of protective barrier instead of directly affecting her as it did before. She was pretty sure she could hold from vomiting for much longer than she usually would after hitting her limit.

Soon she shared her observations with All Might and Midoriya after which they decided to go home since it was starting to get late. The hero offered to escort them back but they assured him that they would be fine. It wasn’t even five PM yet so they surely would be alright.

With that Uraraka returned home, not truly believing this day had happened. Had she really become the symbol of peace’s successor? It sounded so crazy! From the quirk itself to the fact that Izuku declined the offer and decided to be a hero on his own accord! It all was like a fever dream!

Thankfully gravity of the situation can’t crush her since she can make it weightless~!

~⁀‖⁀~§~♪~§~‿‖‿~

Phantom planned to leave the house immediately after Aizawa got home ( as not to leave Eri alone) but the doors opened earlier than expected and instead of a tired homeless-looking man, the person that stepped inside was far more well-kept… And nearly three times shorter.

 “Hello Eri, Phantom! It is indeed quite a pleasant afternoon to be able to see both of you!” he stated and well… The vigilante could, of course, make a brave escape but… “Would you two care to join me for a cup of tea?”

“Yes!” the girl yelled readily but then glanced at her favorite lawbreaker. “But don’t you prefer coffee like sir Aizawa?”

“I like tea too!” he was quick to assure.

“Wonderful! I’ll prepare it then!” the principal said, clapping his paws lightly and then swiftly closing the doors behind himself. He then moved toward the kitchen and a few minutes later the three of them were sitting in the living room, with a steaming cup left for each of them. “I’ve brought a few new exercises for you, Eri!”

“Oh! Alright!” the girl said, strangely happy to get more work. “Phantom helped me with my earlier homework!!”

“That’s good to hear. Now… I’d like to talk with him privately so how about I give you those exercises and you try to go through some of them while we discuss important matters?” Nezu asked, already opening his small briefcase and sliding a small stack of papers to the girl.

She was quick to grab them, nodding.

“But call me before my tea gets cold!” she said and ran away.

Well… She must have put quite a bit of trust in the principal because usually, she would be more protective of her favorite chaos incarnate.

“Should I be afraid?” Phantom asked, trying hard not to fidget. He isn’t in any danger, right? The mammal definitely has a lot of theories but he wouldn’t have figured him all out by now, there’s no way! The principal doesn’t have enough data for that!

“What a silly question! I imagine there is very little that would scare you so how could little old me be one of those scarce instances? What more! I actually came with a request rather than anything potentially harmful!”

“A request?” the vigilante inquired, his interest immediately piqued. He had quite a few ideas of what it could be about. “Color me intrigued.”

Their eyes met and the two smiled in a way that would make Aizawa not need coffee to stay awake for his next patrol. Or sleep peacefully for the rest of the month for that matter. 

“Correct me if I’m wrong but it seems you are capable of glimpsing the future and have a way of interacting with events already gone.” the principal said and needed only the slightest of nods to continue. “I believe you have good of my dear students in mind and as such I decided to come with an offer. You will be privately informed of our out-of-campus trips so as to easier react if the need arises. I understand your circumstances demand privacy and I greatly appreciate the help you provide my humble school with… That is why I promise that in times of crisis, my subordinates will not try to restrain you in any way and will treat you like an ally. I request you do not take this too far since we need to keep up appearances for it is hard to predict how Hero Commission would react toward such collaboration.”

Phantom raised his teacup with a small smile.

“A subtle attempt at getting closer to me in hopes of figuring my quirk, I see.” the vigilante pointed out and the principal laughed.

“You seem to know me quite well. The ones who can so easily see through how I operate are very far and between.” Nezu asked, taking a sip of his beverage. “It’d be only fair for me to learn more about you, don’t you think?”

“Well… I’m afraid from the two of us you’d be the one far more dangerous with additional data.”

“Knowledge is a power of itself and as we stand, I do feel you have an unfair advantage.” Nezu pointed out although he didn’t seem all that upset.

“I’ll be a harder puzzle to solve then.” Phantom decided to say with a small shrug. “But back to the subject… I’ll gladly accept your too-good-to-be-true offer.”

“Wonderful! Since you seem to hold quite a lot of trust toward Eraserhead I will leave the matter of informing you to him. Now, I find it important we call the dear young lady here before her tea gets any colder.”

The vigilante nodded and called for the girl who readily came running into the room. They spent the next few minutes talking about her school progress and admiring how hard-working she was. She was determined to become both very strong and very smart.

“And then I’ll become a hero like Eraser. ” she said at one point, putting down her teacup with a grace she learned from Nezu. “Because Phantom is one in a kind so I can’t be like him…”

That’s the moment Aizawa chose to enter his home, walking into the living room with a sigh.

Chapter Text

It was actually pretty funny. Iida, Todoroki and Uraraka ended up in Hosu (All Might got a call from Gran Torino about whether the hero had finally found a successor, and upon learning that yes, he had, he was quick to send an internship offer). As for Midoriya… Nezu (and Aizawa) had plans to visit that city since it wasn’t sure whether Hero Killer had given up on going after Ingenium just yet.

His first day went splendidly. The entirety of it had been spent analyzing heroes and villains; their fighting styles, quirks, weaknesses, and strengths. It was nice to look through everything and check how each aspect could be used for a certain type of advantage. What's more, the principal agreed to impart some hacking wisdom onto his student!

By the end of the day, his brain was kinda hurting but in a good way!

[Momzuku]

How are you doing guys? Because I absolutely love working with Nezu ヾ(≧▽≦*)o

[MurderUwU]

I regret every single decision in my life that led me to this point

[Confused]

?

[MurderUwU]

So first of all the hero I’m interning with lives in a place that looks like a haunted house

Second of all he used sausages and ketchup to make me think he died and gave me a MASSIVE scare

Third of all his kicks are painful

Fourth of all HE LOOKS AS OLD AS RECOVERY GIRL AND IS FASTER THAN IIDA HOW IS IT EVEN POSSIBLE

[Dadso]

Tough luck.

I’ve spent the whole day walking around the city with Eraserhead learning where most crimes occur when to react immediately when to wait… All that good stuff

And we’re going to patrol it at night

What is sleep even?

[Passout]

Ryuku is amazing! She’s super cool! And she tries really hard to teach me how to be a bit quieter since some people might get scared by how loud and obnoxious I am! Though she’s very nice about it! I admire her passion so much!

[Froggy]

I’m doing well too.

[May]

Shaadwda

[Dadso]

?

[May]

Sorry, tried to write with a toaster

Good luck guys and make sure to get more ideas for amazing babies I can build for you while you’re having your interns!

[Confused]

Why did you try to write with a toaster?

[May]

My goals are above your understanding

[Momzuku]

YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO WAIT FOR ME WITH THAT PROJECT

[May]

I’m just doing some beta tests, chill out

[MurderUwU]

I’m not even going to ask

Anyway! Todoroki, how are you doing? From what I understood you don’t really like your dad, right? So… I hope it isn’t too hard for you right now!

[Confused]

I singed his chair when he wasn’t looking and acted as if he was the one who did it

He looked genuinely worried about slipping up with his control

It was very amusing

[Momzuku]

So… When are you adding salt to his coffee? Cause I convinced Nezu to go to Hosu sometime in the next two days and I really want to see that

 [Confused]

Tell me when you’ll be there and I’ll do my utmost to serve him salty coffee

[Dadso]

I feel bad for the coffee

[May]

We all do

[Froggy]

Coffee doesn’t have feelings.

[Dadso]

( ˘︹˘ )

[Mei]

┗|｀O′|┛

Momzuku changed Dadso to Coffee

[Momzuku]

Now it does.

[Coffee]

Thank you. Finally I am what I have always aspired to be

A hero above all heroes

And the power holding this world together

[Momzuku]

You’re welcome.

@Confused After you put salt in Endeavor’s coffee I’ll give you a new nickname to celebrate it

[Confused]

I’ll finally stop being confused. Amazing.

[May]

I love how I have absolutely no idea whether you’re using sarcasm or not

[Coffee]

I’m kind of jealous to be honest

People usually assume I use sarcasm even when I don’t

While he gets the benefit of the doubt

[Momzuku]

SarcastiCoffee

[MurderUwU]

Caffeine + Sarcasm = Caf + Sar = Scarf

You’re a Scarf.

[Coffee]

What a great day to be ascarf

[Froggy]

You left feine and cam out.

Which gives you ‘cafe in me’

[May]

*LE GASP*

Caffeine + Sarcasm = Scarf + coffee in me

Everything @Coffee needs for happiness!

  [Coffee]

Oh and didn’t you forget about something?

[Momzuku]

About us? (✿◡‿◡)

[Coffee]

…

[Momzuku]

WAIT YOU ACTUALLY REALLY MEANT US?!

[Passout]

DON’T WORRY WE WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU!

MurderUwU

Haven (Because we're like safe haven!) + Caffeine + Sarcasm = Scarf + coffee in me + have ‘n

Okay now I need word with ‘us’ and something to add after ‘n

[Froggy]

USA

MurderUwU

USA + haven + caffeine + Sarcasm = Scarf + coffee in me + have us ‘n A

[Momzuku]

He has us na

Nanana

[Coffee]

I hate you

[Confused]

Do you truly?

[May]

HA!

Denial!

[Momzuku]

Guys.

GUYS

[Coffee]

What?

[Momzuku]

You need to go to sleep. It’s already ten PM and you’ll probably have to wake up super early to continue your internships

You too @Coffee, take a nap before your patrol with Eraserhead

[Passout]

YEAH! WE NEED REST!

[May]

YOU CAN’T TELL ME WHAT TO DO

MurderUwU

Okay mom

[Confused]

Good.

[Coffee]

Good like good that we’re going to sleep or goodnight?

[Confused]

Yes.

[Coffee]

Well. Good to you too then

~⁀‖⁀~§~♪~§~‿‖‿~

Since Nezu was residing mostly in UA, Midoriya didn’t need new accommodation and could sleep at home. Which was good because he really wanted to go out as Phantom tonight and hopefully not get stuck in a loop.

He was so excited at the prospect of stumbling into Aizawa and Shinso that he went patrolling earlier than usual. He low-key wanted to take care of any usually dangerous criminals since he didn’t want his friend to be in any real danger. Sure, Eraser is fully capable of keeping the student safe but it’s better to be safe than sorry!

It was around his second hour of stopping petty crime that he noticed his favorite underground hero (and his future favorite one) with Meu's Zoom. He was positively giddy as he phased through some things and finally emerged few feet away from his targets.

“Hi Eraser! You adopted yet another kid when I wasn’t looking?” he inquired with a wide grin.

“Who are you?” Shinso immediately asked.

What to do, what to do… He doesn’t want to get brainwashed! But it would be kinda rude not to answer… So he made an overly dramatic pose, proudly presenting the ‘Your Friendly Neighborhood’ written at the front of his shirt.

Aizawa sighed, deciding to help him out this one time.

“He’s the vigilante that gets in trouble around this area.”

“Excuse me? I’m helping with resolving trouble around this area!”

“Should I remind you who got stabbed last week?” Eraser asked, raising an eyebrow and the vigilante threw his arms up.

“A little stab wound would have been fine! It’s the wall that had done me in!” he stated before turning to Shinso. “I fought Hero Killer when the Sports Festival was happening. But look at this! I got some autographs!”

“Cool?” Hitoshi inquired raising an eyebrow.

It kinda counted as a question but…

“Oh come on! You won’t see it from that far away! And I got Eraser’s autograph too!” he said and the boy glanced at his teacher who gave a small nod so his student took the unknown factor as safe and walked closer.

“Who’s Eri?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“A little girl I saved from yakuza who’s determined to be an amazing hero when she grows up. Now that I think about it… Can I get your autograph too? I’m sure you gonna go far with Eraser as your mentor!”

“I don’t have a pen or anything.” Shinso tried to refuse, feeling extremely confused.

“But I do!” Phantom exclaimed merrily, putting a hand in his wild hair (it reminded Hitoshi of the bush that Izuku’s head was) and taking out a purple marker. Huh. “So? Will you be so kind as to give me an autograph, pretty please?”

“I don’t have an alias yet…” Shinso tried but he still got pen shoved into his hands.

“You can always write ‘Eraser Junior’.”

The boy sighed.

“Whatever, don’t complain later.” he said and grabbed the material, writing ‘Insovoice’ next to Eraserhead’s name. “Here. Happy?”

“Absolutely ecstatic!” he answered but was quick to add. “But please don’t brainwash me, there’s not much to wash anyway.”

Shinso froze.

“How did you know what my quirk is…?” he asked, too shocked and stressed to use his power. And, anyway, more so than a brainwashed vigilante he rather have some answers, thank you very much.

“Don’t look so terrified! I know a lot of lot of much more damning things! Like, I knew where the yakuza’s base was and infiltrated it on my own before informing heroes about it… And I knew that Hero Killer was going to target Ingenium… Did you know that the electricity boy from Sports Festival can make toasts with his quirk? They always end up burnt though.”

Well. In Shinso's book, the last one was, surprisingly, the creepiest. How do you even get this kind of knowledge?

“You haven’t been stalking UA students, have you?” Eraserhead asked with a raised eyebrow although he didn’t seem too worried so Shinso guessed his teacher had decent trust in the vigilante.

“Oh come on, Eraser. Who do you take me for? I do not impose on anyone’s privacy. Except yours, I guess. Right! I bought you the jellies I promised! Give me a second!” Phantom said and put a hand in the pocket of his shorts. It didn’t seem big enough even for a phone, yet the vigilante took out…

Huh. This brand of coffee jellies looks familiar.

“I told you I don’t want it.” Eraser scoffed.

“Then give them to Eri! Or your new kid over there. He looks like the coffee kind of person.” the vigilante said, throwing the package at the hero who readily caught it and put it in his own pocket with a deep sigh.

“What are you even doing here? Don’t you have someone else to bother?” the man asked.

“I can go if you don’t want me here but… I thought it would be nice to pop outta wall and say hi.” the vigilante said, pouting.

“You already said hi so you can leave,” Eraser answered, crossing his arms. “I don’t want you distracting us. It’s especially important to stay focused in the underground.”

“But I can help! I mean, you gotta admit that I have some experience.”

“And what exactly do you have in mind?”

Phantom thought about it for a moment and then snapped his fingers.

“I’m extremely good at drawing replies from people! I can impart the wisdom of being a little shit to our dear Insovoice here!”

Aizawa sighed.

“If you don’t have anything of value to say we’ll be on our way.” the man said, already turning around.

“Okay, fine, but you didn’t have to be so mean about it! I’ll see ya around! And remember to give me a call if you run into trouble! Wait, you don’t have my phone number… Yell really loud and I will be sure to come if anything happens! Actually, even if you don’t I’ll come so no worries, I have your back!”

“You do realize how creepy you sound, right?” Shinso inquired, following his teacher but glancing at the vigilante.

He had a feeling the guy would get along splendidly with Izuku. Though the world might not survive such a duo.

“Yes, I am self-aware. Also! I didn’t see anyone complaining when I helped at USJ!” Phantom yelled back before promptly disappearing through the closest wall.

The student and teacher duo were quiet for a bit.

“So… Should I try to brainwash him when we meet him again?” he inquired and his mentor shook his head.

“It’s better not to. We, and by we I mean myself and Nezu, are trying to build trust with him to get some answers since he seems to have a sort of insight into the future.  His quirk is far more complicated than simply phasing through solid objects.”

“Oh.” Shinso breathed out. Suddenly the vigilante felt far more imposing than before.

“Don’t overthink it, he’s mostly harmless. The most danger he is, is to himself; he tends to act even more recklessly than that oaf, All Might.”

Hitoshi blinked. Well, there were a lot of things he didn’t expect today. Meeting a vigilante whose power sounded as if he could bend the reality as they know was one of them. Eraserhead calling symbol of peace oaf was the other. Giving an autograph was the third, he guesses.

“So I guess I should try to stay in his good graces?”

“Probably. It’s good to have allies, even the unlikely ones. You never know who might save your life.”

“Noted.”

The rest of the night went by smoothly enough. They kicked only, like, seven butts. Not that Shinso was counting or anything. They did stumble into a clue about a drug trafficking circle but it was something Eraserhead would need to contact some of his colleagues for.

All in all his first night was pretty neat.

Chapter Text

It was three AM when Midoriya – or, rather, Phantom since he was still out on a patrol – decided to finally do something about One For All. You know, the super powerful quirk that had been lying dormant all this time. So. He went to his summer house. It seemed like the best place for some testing (and he needed to water his plants; he keeps forgetting to do it in the mornings, too focused on his projects).

So he went straight toward the beach and just in case unfused with all the items he was holding in… Well, his very atoms. He doesn’t want something going wrong just because he had forks in his hair and more than a few million molecules displaced from where they usually are.

What else to do with his mind made up? He did the paramount of poking One For All awake, and for an entirety of five seconds, he didn’t feel any different. At all.

And then… He felt a little different. Contrary to his expectations, it wasn't like going through a sudden spike of energy nor getting a completely new quirk. Maybe because it was inside him all this time, even if dormant. Either way, rather than some sort of sudden explosion, he just felt relieved. As if some part of him was finally back, or maybe as if he wasn’t alone anymore. Which is weird because he didn’t feel lonely at all! He has a lot of amazing friends and allies!

It was nice nonetheless. And completely different from how it felt for his future self who, admittedly, met a visage of All Might when inheriting this power.

Wait.

If his future self had met the past holder in it… Assuming it wasn’t a weird dream or hallucination, could it mean that some part of the holder's consciousness stayed in the quirk? If so… Where are they? Do they remember the future too? Is there any way for him to contact them?

Fuck. At the surface, the structure of both body and mind is simple enough, especially so with High Spec. But there is a reason why so many believe in the existence of a soul. There is something more to the mind than just all the neurons and the gray matter that make it. Within its depth, in space even smaller than molecules, might reside not one or two but eight different minds, one belonging to someone who’s still alive. But… Since this quirk traveled here from the future and was sorta passed to past Izuku, does it mean that his future self is in there too? Or at the very least, part of him?

But he had traveled back in time a few more times since then. What does it mean for One For All? Did it stockpile even more power? Or did it do nothing since it had been dormant?  What would awakening it mean for him from now on? There’s no way it would stay the same as it had been after this crazy ride through the timelines, is there? If it had already been an anomaly before, would it be right to still simply call it a quirk?

Now, another question is how it will affect Uraraka since she also…

Wait. How many One For All are there now? There’s All Might with the leftover power, his new successor, and a time traveler. A time traveler who can be at two places at a time! What would happen if one of Midoriya’s selves decided to offer someone OFA?

Izuku froze for a few long seconds before slowly putting a hand to his head, hysterical laughter bubbling out in an ever-growing volume until he sounded like he had lost his mind. Fuck, maybe he really did? Because come on! What’s even this situation?! It’s just not possible!

But since when is impossible in his dictionary?

Oh god. He just realized how much power he truly holds. No matter how he looks at it, he’s far more dangerous than All For One (and that’s saying something). The villain can take quirks, has lived for a couple of centuries, and has an army of mutated beasts, but impressive as it might sound, it pales considerably when compared to a boy who can… Well, also grab others’ powers, travel back in time, and possibly make endless copies of One For Alls, the quirk that might be the most powerful in history.

And let’s not forget that among his overpowered assets, there's Revamp that, arguably, can stand up to AFO and OFA.

What if one day he loses his mind and becomes a villain?! Who would possibly be able to stop him?! What if he had been twisted by all those time travels, and he is All For One, but he just didn’t become him yet?!

Okay, slow down, Izuku. That’s impossible. Right? Definitely. There’s no way something like that would ever happen. Obviously. If that was the case, you would definitely see it coming. Even though you can exist as two people and you have no idea what the other you is doing at the moment, so it wouldn’t be that far-fetched...

No, no. He would never go that far. But. How far could he truly go and actually went? Didn’t he steal Overhaul’s quirk in this timeline too, even though he didn’t need to? Sure, it was a logical thing to do, the safe option, but… If he took someone’s power, is he really that different from All For One?

What’s the line between necessary good and becoming like All For One or Overhaul?

No, he needs to calm down. Surely, if he started becoming evil, Eraser would react somehow. Like, even when he got stabbed, the man had the perfect opportunity to drug him or something and be done with his vigilante ass… But he didn’t! Which means Phantom is doing things right, even if technically he should be doing none of that!

But what if he deceived the man? What if he deceived everyone?! What if he’s slowly becoming evil and right now he’s simply justifying all his terrible actions, becoming blind to the terrible person he has become?!

He needs strength to protect everyone! But what will become of him when he’s too strong to be stopped? He doesn’t want to become a tyrant who forces everyone to do what he wants them to! While telling them he’s doing it for their own good!

He plopped onto the ground and hugged his knees.

His future self had a humble beginning and came to all this power through endless hardships. And the present him? Fuck, Kacchan might have been onto something. Maybe Izuku kept on looking down on him? On everyone? Since he got all those quirks and knowledge of the future… Is this the reason he kept quiet about his time-traveling ability? Because he wanted to stay above everyone? To know that none of them has any idea how strong he truly is?

When exactly did he become such an arrogant bastard?!

He didn’t notice that he started crying at first. Only after his vision became blurry did he realize the waterfall coming out of him. It made him feel better and worse at the same time. Such a crybaby couldn’t be a heartless monster, could they? But on the other hand… When was the last time that he had cried? Wasn’t this an important part of him? Wasn’t he known for tearing up at the smallest of things? Was it even him or his future self?

Who am I?

He should know by now. He should have known the last time he asked himself this question. But somehow… He has no idea. Which makes no sense! It’s obvious he isn’t the same person his future self was! But he doesn’t feel like the present himself even though that’s exactly who he is! It’s as if he’s a picture made out of the torn-off parts of different timelines, trying so hard to become a seamless whole but just… Just… Not capable of that.

He has no idea which parts of him are true. Is he what the future made him to be? How much had his current past changed him? Is the present time even real? After all, if he can easily return to the beginning… If he can render this exact moment into a far-away future at any point… How much is time actually worth?

A crazy thought appeared in his mind. What if he got up and went to Eraser or Nezu? If he told one of them everything… How would they react? Would they hate him for deceiving them for so long? Try to help him change the future he knew of? Or maybe act as if they were still on his side while planning how to put him down, since he has far too much power? Would they send him to Tartarus? Or maybe even kill? After all, someone who can bend time needs only a second of opportunity to change everything…

No. It’s… It would be counterproductive to go to them in this state, wouldn’t it? They would think he’s crazy (but isn’t he? How sane can he be after it all?). So what should he do? He needs someone. But who would hear him and be honest with him and not send him to Tartarus?

There was someone who came to mind.  

 ~⁀‖⁀~§~♪~§~‿‖‿~

Initially, Mei thought that Izuku was a creation of her imagination. After all, he suddenly materialized in the middle of her workshop (phased through the floor, but she hadn’t noticed that) and, admittedly, she probably should have gone to sleep, like, five hours ago. But why would she care about resting when she can be inventing?

Still. Even if she was half-convinced he was nothing more than an illusion of her genius, although tired brain, she was quick to get worried. He looked… Well, like a puppy convinced that its favorite human hates it. Really, that’s the only kind of desperation and sadness she could compare this very specific crestfallen vibe to.

“Mei, what if I become a bad person?” he asked, his voice breaking twice in this one, short sentence.

She put her things down and walked up to him at that.

“What kind of fuckery made you think about that?” she inquired, her words even more eloquent than she usually was. That's what a mix of concern and exhaustion does to social skills.

And with that, the dam had been opened. He wailed, explaining his worries through sobs. It wasn’t easy to understand, but she had some experience in that. Plus, it reminded her of their last panic-induced conversation, so she could piece things together.

After a few minutes of him babbling about things she had no qualification to help with whatsoever, he finally went quiet. Well, silent not counting the occasional sniffle.

“So… Basically you’re scared of yourself?” she tried to sum up in as few words as possible.

“I have abilities and knowledge to take over the world!” he wailed, and was the situation not so serious she would have laughed her ass off.

He just worked himself into hysterics over the fact that he could, maybe, possibly become a bad person. Someday.

“I’m fairly confident the same could be said about me, though admittedly it would need to put in a bit more effort,” she pointed out, having no idea whatsoever how to make her friend feel better.

“But you can be stopped!”

“Huh? Me? Stopped? Fat chance. But sure, let's say that's true. Then: pfft, please, as if you couldn’t be stopped.”

“Did you even hear me?! I have not one but three overpowered quirks and I can literally time travel! I know at least two national secre,ts and I can exist in two places at the same time!”

“Yeah, you’re pretty good at inventing too, so a robot army is another option for world domination. But you’re not going to do that. Like, seriously, all you ever wanted was to be a hero, no matter the timeline. Why do you think you’d suddenly go through a complete one-eighty?”

Her smart-yet-dumb friend was quiet for a moment.

“There’s a saying that hell is paved with good intentions… What if I become evil while trying to do good?”

Mei sighed and threw an arm around his shoulder, pulling him into a side-hug. She fully expected to get the side of her t-shirt completely soaked within the next few minutes… And that’s exactly what she got, but that’s totally fine. Friendships are weird like that.

“Just keep doing what you’re doing and you’ll be fine. Yeah, you keep a lot of stuff to yourself, but you shared all those things with me, didn’t you? So I can plan for that! And if you were going down a wrong path, I would be sure to tell you that.”

“But what if I deceived you too?”

Mei sighed.

“You’re really stupid for someone so smart, you know? If you wanted to do bad things, there would be nothing stopping you, since, how you so kindly pointed out again and again, you’re pretty dang overpowered. But you’re thoughtful, and you even came to share your worries with me. Isn’t trying to be a good person half of the success?”

For a moment, he didn’t say anything, and even his sniffles became quieter.

“You promise that's really what you think?” he asked, raising his head from where he had been crying all his fluids into her shoulder.

“How dare you accuse me of not saying exactly what’s on my mind! I thought you knew me better than that!” she said as dramatically as she could, and was happy to have done so since it drew a startled chuckle out of her friend.

 “So… I can count on you to tell me if I ever go down the wrong path, right?”

“Oh, trust me, you have plenty of people to do that. But so far, the only complaint about you is your extreme recklessness.”

After another prolonged moment of silence, his sniffles ceased completely, and he took a step back. He gave her a wobbly smile that made her realize just how fragile her strong friend was.

“Thank you,” he whispered and then scratched his neck nervously. “I should probably go and let you get some sleep…”

“Sleep is for the weak, and I’m pretty overpowered too. Do you want coffee or tea?”

“Whatever is fine.”

They ended up talking about sand-powered weapons until six AM, when Izuku realized he was meeting Nezu in an hour. And he left his vigilante costume in his summer house, and while he believes no one would venture so far into his little trash kingdom, he would rather not risk getting all his forks stolen.

So he thanked Mei once more before promptly leaving. Good for her because, unlike him, she needed sleep. Not that she hadn’t stayed awake for longer periods of time, but still, after the rollercoaster of this night, she deserved a nap. Good thing she doesn’t have internships!

Wait.

She still has school. Dang it.