Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Oi, Kurosaki, get out of bed!”

Katsuki pounded loudly on Ichigo’s dorm room door, scowling fiercely. It was already 8:10, and they had 15 minutes to be up, dressed, and in the classroom lest they get scolded by their surprisingly intimidating teacher. And yet Ichigo, like a bear in hibernation, hadn’t had a sighting outside his room since yesterday afternoon.

Of course, the blond then communally got assigned to ‘wake up the temperamental ginger’ duty. Hence the yelling and banging.

“KUROSAKI! GET THE HELL UP!” Katsuki hollered, kicking the door for good measure.

There was silence for a few moments, and then finally, he heard shuffling from the other side of the door. The blond waited, arms crossed huffily and threw them up when the door handle tilted down a bit and the door started to open.

“For god’s sake, finally. Thought you’d never get your lazy… ass…”

Katsuki trailed off as his eyes locked onto the body standing meekly in the doorframe, peeking out with big chestnut eyes that were barely the height of Katsuki’s mid-torso. Small hands clutched the door in a vice-like grip, and the equally as small (and skinny) body was hiding behind the wood. The child with absurdly fluffy bright traffic cone orange hair slunk back a bit, eyeing the much taller boy warily.

“Um…”

“… WHAT THE FUCK?!”

“So… he was like this when he opened the door, right?”

Class 1-A was crowded around their TV area on the first floor, all present 14 eyes locked onto the child in Katsuki’s arms.

“Yes! Exactly like this!” Katsuki repeated.

The now much younger Ichigo just hung there. The large hands of the blond held him in the air by his armpits, at arm’s length from his body and head tilted away as if he were some feral cat about to attack. To be fair, he did bite him when the older picked him up. Ichigo figured it was just an act of self-preservation.

Smart move, Puff. Smart move.

“Well. That’s… interesting,” Shoto deadpanned, narrowed eyes staring at Ichigo’s small frame.

“Really?! That’s it? I thought you’d be more shocked!” Toru exclaimed from where she leant against the back of the couch. “I know the rest of us are!”

Shocked was an understatement. When Katsuki came running in like a bat out of hell with a squirming child in his arms that he’d then proclaimed loudly was Ichigo, they’d all been horrified to the point where their mouths were dropped open far enough to swallow an entire wedding cake whole and some of them had nearly choked on their own saliva. It took them all a good 3 minutes to calm down.

“I am, I’m just choosing not to show it for fear of making things irreparably worse,” Shoto replied simply.

“Or he’s just too shell-shocked to react properly,” Denki murmured to Eijiro. He snickered in return.

“Well, either way, what are we gonna do with him? Because I sure ain’t carrying him all the way to class so Mr Aizawa knows what’s going on,” Katsuki grumbled, glaring at Ichigo.

Ichigo blew a raspberry at him, showing just how child-like he’d become mentally besides physically.

“I’m sure he can walk on his own, Kacchan. Maybe just… put him down and he can walk with us?” Izuku suggested shyly.

“HELL no! He’s gonna attack me the moment I let go! He’s a demon! Just look at my arm – his shark-ass teeth mauled it!”

Sure enough, his arm had a very visible bite mark on it, several small punctures bleeding down the skin.

“But he’s so cute, surely he can’t be that dangerous. He’s just a kid,” Ochaco reasoned. “Besides, it’s only a little bite. You probably scared him with your yelling and snatching.”

“No no no, this little shit has a vendetta against me. I don’t know why, but that was personal, trust me,” Katsuki rebutted, eyes darkening.

Ichigo sent him a devious little smirk, and for a moment he swore his eyes turned gold.

“SEE?!”

“… I think you’re overreacting.”

“I’M FREAKING NOT! DID YOU NOT SEE THAT SMIRK?! THAT’S THE SMIRK OF PURE EVIL!”

As the class turned their gazes to the child, he beamed widely, a toothy grin that wrinkled the skin at the corners of his eyes.

“Yeah, nah. More like smirk of pure innocence. Look at that face!” Denki laughed, walking over to Ichigo and crouching down in front of him.

Denki smiled at the boy, and Ichigo let out a giggle, poking the black stripe in the boy’s hair. Denki chuckled. Katsuki growled under his breath.

“Fine, don’t believe me,” he groused.

Reluctantly, he dropped Ichigo, and for a moment he was still. Then, with another grin, he was off, running for the door with speed no child should ever have.

“Wha- HEY! GET BACK HERE YOU TINY BASTARD!” The blond roared after Ichigo, receiving a gleeful cackle in response as said tiny bastard escaped out the door and started running away.

And that was why he was never having kids.

The class collectively stood up to pursue the mini escapee, all running after him. Despite their best efforts, Ichigo proved to still have the agility of his teenage self, as he slipped through their fingers like jelly every time they got close.

Eventually they got fed up and turned to Izuku. Knowing what to do, Izuku unleashed the power of One For All in a burst of speed to catch up to him. As he skidded in front of the ginger, Izuku quickly grabbed him around the waist, hoisting him up.

“Gotcha!”

“Aw…”

Shoto walked over, a little winded from the sprint they’d just had to do. He held his hands out and Izuku quickly passed Ichigo over, knowing that Shoto would know more about how to handle him better. Ichigo squirmed a bit until he was more comfortably settled, arms around Shoto’s neck and short legs around his torso. The older boy sighed, putting an arm under his legs and another over his back so he wouldn’t fall if he slipped.

“Phew! Crisis averted,” Mina exclaimed, exaggeratedly wiping her brow.

“I’ll say.”

“And what ‘crisis’ would that be?”

The class froze, panicking. That voice could only be from one person.

Lo and behold, standing ominously off to the side was none other than Shota Aizawa, his gaze harder than diamond in thinly veiled anger.

Wind whistled in the distance, the entire class quiet as a mouse and lacking the words to explain what had occurred in the past ten minutes. Then, suddenly, the silence was broken by none other than Ichigo, who wriggled out of Todoroki’s lax arms and ran over to Shota excitedly.

“Daddy!” He yelled, hugging the grumpy man’s legs and smooshing his face in his stomach.

What did he just say?!

1-A sat in their home room, all staring at the front where child Ichigo sat on Shota’s lap, playing with his loosened capture scarf happily. Everyone except Shoto was extensively surprised by the information that not only did their cold, calculating teacher have the capacity to be nurturing towards anyone, but was also Ichigo’s father.

“Um… Mr Aizawa, sir?” Tenya carefully asked from his seat, raising his hand.

“Don’t ask what’s going on, I have no idea either,” the man sighed, eyes not lifting from where he was furiously typing away on his phone, likely texting someone for help.

“It’s not that, sir. It’s just… I didn’t know you and Kurosaki were related.”

“Oh. That. Well, yes, we are. Not by blood, but he is my son and has been for years now,” Shota said with a shrug.

Ichigo looked over at Tenya and then back to his father, frowning unhappily at the tense energy. The pro hero raised a hand and poked the boy’s nose, and his displeasure instantly vanished, instead replaced by happiness as he poked Shota’s nose back and started giggling.

“Ah, right…”

With that, the class descended back into quiet, with the occasional cough or tapping of someone stimming with a pencil on the desk.

They were once again startled when the door slammed open and two figures walked in – the first being Hizashi Yamada, and the second being Principal Nezu. Hizashi dashed over to Shota and Ichigo, squatting beside the chair and taking hold of the latter’s face in his hands.

“Ichi! Oh, it’s true, you’re little again!” He whisper-shouted, trying not to freak out.

“Daddy number two!” Was Ichigo’s only reply, hugging Hizashi’s head with his arms. The man was released after a good few seconds of hugging.

“Wait, so… Mr Yamada is Ichigo’s father too?!” Izuku murmured, eyes comically wide.

“Well, apparently,” Minoru whispered from behind.

“This is insane,” Hanta muttered.

“Tell me about it,” Eijiro scoffed.

While the class began to talk amongst themselves the adults at the front were talking, trying to figure out what the hell had happened.

“Ichigo, can you tell us why you’re… well… a child again?” Hizashi asked, holding Ichigo’s hand.

“Um… well, I don’t exactly know why. I think Zan said that it’s because my uh… ‘spirit energy’ reserves are not filled up enough and I’m using too much? So like… um… a cup. With water. And the water is my ‘spirit energy’. And I’m drinking it when I use my quirk, but it doesn’t refill quick enough so it gets empty and it’s dangerous, so I turned into a kid to help me heal?” Ichigo tried to explain, using vague hand gestures as he spoke.

“Right… spirit energy… wait, who’s ‘Zan’?” Shota asked, bringing Ichigo’s attention to him.

“The voice in my head! He talks to me a lot. He’s a bit weird but he knows a lot about me and he’s kind of funny,” Ichigo said innocently.

The 3 adults’ jaws dropped.

Hizashi was sweating bullets now, and he gave a nervous chuckle, placing a hand on the little ginger’s knee.

“The voice in your head?” He asked to clarify.

“Mhm!”

Holy crap. Their son was officially mentally deranged.

“Sho, I think we need to call a psychologist when this is all over,” he whispered harshly to his husband.

“No kidding!”

“Now, now, hold on a damn second. I think I can explain this all a bit better than lil’ Ichigo here,” said a voice out of nowhere as a person popped up from THIN AIR beside them.

If that wasn’t enough, the person was a carbon copy of their son’s teenage self besides the fact that his colour scheme was completely out of whack – his hair and skin were ghost white, like fresh snow in winter, and his eyes were a haunting golden yellow on black. His garments were inverted colours of what Ichigo’d been wearing as his hero costume recently, with the shitagi and obi being black and the rest being white.

They all flinched back, ready to fight, and the doppelganger raised his hands up with a startled expression.

“Whoah, whoah, chill out! I’m not an enemy here! I’m Zangetsu, or ‘Zan’ as Ichigo referred to me. I’m uh… the manifestation of his… quirk,” the so-called ‘Zangetsu’ explained, his warbly voice further freaking them out.

The class was also staring now, wondering if this day was going to get any weirder.

“Uh-huh, sure,” Shota scoffed.

“Hey, don’t be mean to Zan! I told you, he’s nice!” Ichigo protested, pouting up at Shota.

After an intense minute of staring, the pros finally relaxed, and Shota sat back down, Ichigo held firmly in his lap.

“Fine. We’ll take your word for it. Now, mind explaining… this?” He asked, gesturing to the ginger.

“Well, it’s like he said. He’s exhausted. He’s been using too much energy, so his reserves are fully depleted and if he doesn’t conserve, his body will shut down and likely die. So, he’s reverted to a child-like state – which uses much less energy – in order to heal. If I’m correct, he should be back to normal in a few hours with adequate rest,” Zangetsu explained.

The married couple studied the snowy-haired boy, looking for any signs of deception. Nezu, being able to pick up on the sincerity of his words from the start, smiled and nodded.

“We understand. Thank you for explaining, and apologies for the hasty reaction,” he said with a shallow bow.

“It’s fine. Anything to help little King,” he said with a smirk. “I should really be going now, though, being out here is likely straining Ichigo further. It was a good talk – maybe we can chat again once he’s recovered. Ciao!”

Zangetsu vanished as quick as he’s appeared, and Ichigo got sulky at his disappearance.

“Aw… I wanted to give Zan a hug…” he said sadly. Ichigo’s mouth then opened in a big yawn, confirming that having Zangetsu manifested took a toll on his energy even further.

Shota sighed and patted his mop of fluffy hair, eyes softening as he looked down at his son.

“You look tired. Why don’t you go to sleep, hm?” He said gently.

Ichigo yawned again and curled up against his grumpy father’s chest, clutching a piece of his capture scarf.

“Okay…” he mumbled. “Night night…”

“Night night, Ichi,” Hizashi said, rubbing his head.

Within the next two minutes, Ichigo was asleep, breathing even and soft as he subconsciously snuggled against the warm chest beside him. Shota couldn’t help the squeeze he felt in heart at the sight, the ever so cold organ thawing with happy warmth. He gently wrapped his arms around the sleeping child, one last moment of tenderness before he looked back up to see 19 faces staring at him in utter bamboozlement.

His stern mask was back in place in a flash, and Shota glared at his students.

“What are you all looking at? Don’t you have classes to get to?”

“Mr Aizawa, it’s still home room,” Mashirao pointed out.

As if summoned by his words, the loud ring of the bell filled the halls, announcing the start of first period.

Shota fixed them all with a glare holding all the intensity of a blazing star. “Well, now it’s not. Scram, problem children.”

The class hurriedly got up, gathered their things, and skittered out at seeing the murderous look on their teacher’s face. He smirked and rolled his eyes.

Always worked.

Ichigo shot up, eyes wide, wild and frantic.

He’d just had the weirdest dream ever, so weird in fact that it felt like something a sleep-deprived maniac would write at midnight while riding the high of a burst of intensely invigorating motivation.

Seriously, him turning into a child? Then leading his class on a chase outside, only to get caught and then reveal the fact that Shota was his father? Then, Zangetsu appeared of all things, made everyone freak out, and then disappeared only minutes before he was asleep again? Man, what a ride.

Ichigo realised that he was on the couch on the first floor in their dorms, and most of the class was gathered around him, staring intently.

“Um. Why are you all looking at me like that?” He asked in confusion.

They didn’t answer, just exchanged glances.

“Guys?”

Denki leaned forward, a conspiratory smirk on his lips. “Sooo, when were you gonna tell us that Mr Aizawa and Mr Yamada are your parents?”

“What?”

Ichigo blinked as it hit him.

It wasn’t a dream.

“…Oh. Well, fuck my life.”

Chapter Text

Monday, June 17, 1996.

In one universe, it was the day Ichigo Kurosaki lost his mother to a Hollow.

In another universe, it was the day he also got kidnapped by that same Hollow and was thrown into another universe. He was found by two Pro Heroes by the name of Shota Aizawa and Hizashi Yamada and became their loving son.

In this universe, he did get kidnapped. He was thrown into that new, scary universe, beaten and bloodied and scared out of his mind. But in this universe, he didn’t get found by anyone other than some ants crawling over his shoes. There was nobody to find him, not for at least a few kilometres.

For a while, he roamed, screaming out with a broken voice, hoping, praying that someone would turn up to help.

He got hungry. Dehydrated. Black spots danced merrily in his vision every time he moved too quick, and he felt faint in every moment. His body got weak, his muscles failing to carry his weary body much longer. He collapsed one day after shimmying through a broken door to one of the many warehouses nearby, body littered with deep cuts and scrapes from the various sharp objects he’d fallen into and brushed against in the past days. He curled into a ball in the dark, sobbing and wailing his little heart out until his throat was raw and his head pounded like an earthquake.

He started to feel the tug of unconsciousness, instinctively knowing this would be the last time he’d see light. But then, a voice.

It was soft, and somewhat familiar, nudging at the back of his mind.

Not just yet. You still have a lot to live for. Push through.

He didn’t want to get up. He wanted to sleep forever in the tender embrace of Death, soothed by its simple nothingness. But he heard a shuffle nearby. A tiny chirp, followed by the scraping of plastic against concrete. He felt something nudging at his face, a tiny, cool nose against his cheek. His eyes flitted open, eyes coming in contact with a blurry white blob. He blinked a few times to focus his vision.

It was a lizard. Well, more like a gecko in shape, but it was too large to be one and its snowy white scales too visible. It had little bony spikes down its spine, as well as two oddly shaped black ones on its head that looked kind of like horns. Its eyes were unnatural to say the least – the irises were golden yellow, and its sclerae darker than a void.

The odd lizard made a little chirp and rolled something forward with its tail.

A bottle of water.

Ichigo instantly perked up and reached for the bottle, hands shaking. He fumbled with the cap, struggling to open it, but when he got it open, he instantly started drinking. The water inside tasted like heaven.

He finished nearly all of the water in one massive chug, setting the bottle back down. He could almost feel it sloshing around in his stomach along with the acids, an attest to the sheer amount of liquid he’d just taken in. It was an odd feeling, not pleasant at all, but better than being drier than the Sahara.

He looked back at the lizard.

“Tha-” He coughed, the wheezing kind often heard from the elderly. “Thanks, little lizard… You saved me.”

The lizard simply nibbled at the tip of his nose, emanating a quiet trill.

Ichigo smiled weakly.

Once more, he had hope.

“An unexpected villain attack near Nabu Middle School tonight has left numerous buildings destroyed and damaged, as a villain rampaged through the streets. Heroes in the area struggled to take down the villain without causing further danger to at-risk civilians. However, the situation was quickly ended when the infamous vigilante going by the pseudonym of Eclipse appeared and subdued the villain with one quick blow, disappearing into the night without a trace soon after. People, both Heroes and civilians, are left baffled by this vigilante who has continued to evade capture for over a year, and we all are wondering – just who is Eclipse, and where is he now?”

Ichigo snorted at his phone, scrolling to the next post titled ‘Eclipse – All We Know About The Vigilante Shocking Japan’.

He always had to resist the urge to start laughing like a crazy person when he saw these kinds of posts. The assumptions about him just kept getting wilder every day. Like, seriously, someone said once that he was a Hero who got fired and was continuing his work against the law. Others said he was a Villain who changed his ways but wouldn’t be able to become a Hero now so he just worked as a Vigilante.

In reality, pretty much none of the shit said about him was true. He wasn’t some old Hero. He wasn’t an ex-Villain. He wasn’t even employed. He was just a 15-year-old orphan living on his own in an abandoned warehouse, his only company his oddly intelligent lizard friend, Shiro.

Ichigo shut off his phone and plopped it in his pocket, sitting up on the slightly worn-down couch with a crack of bones. He lifted a hand to his hair, plucking Shiro out of the overgrown orange spikes by his torso. He held him in front of his face, snickering at his annoyed wriggling.

“Well, time for lunch, Shiro.”

Ichigo placed the lizard on his shoulder – his usual perch – and walked over to the minifridge hooked up to a whole bunch of extension cables that ran outside to the powerlines. With a bit of effort, he opened the door, crouching to check out what they had.

“A bottle of near-expired milk, a few apples, some muesli bars… why are those in the fridge?”

The ginger reached in and pulled out two of the home-made bars, shutting the fridge after.

Ichigo looked at Shiro and pulled a bit of muesli off one bar to give to the lizard.

“Here. Eat up, buddy,” he said.

Shiro snatched the piece and scuttled off to curl up under his jacket, absorbing the heat from his shoulder. Ichigo poked a finger under as well, scratching the lizard’s back with his nail (well, technically it was more like a claw given all his nails were rather long, sharp, and tough - and also for some unknown reason, starting to turn black). In response, Shiro nibbled his finger and shifted around, trilling softly in his happy way that reminded Ichigo of a cat purring.

The ginger smiled softly, retracting his hand after a few moments. He took a large bite of his own bar, the simple ingredients a near-delicacy in his life.

Since Ichigo was 8, he’d been living by himself in this warehouse region, surviving off the scattered still-good food and water within the various warehouses around. He was a scavenger, finding anything useful and taking it. And throughout the years, he’d built himself a cozy little place inside the place where Shiro had saved him by the simple act of giving him water. He still hadn’t figured out how that had happened, but he wasn’t gonna complain about it. Especially out loud, that reptile seemed to know exactly what he was saying all the time and would bite him when he was insulted or questioned. Little drama queen.

Ichigo’s life wasn’t glamorous, and sure, his only friend was an animal, but he was happy. Mostly… Okay, sometimes he wished he had some more friends, or a stable home, or maybe even a family.

You do have a family, they’re still alive. Sisters, father, mother.

But he didn’t. Like it or not, he had to fend for himself. Besides, with his new shtick going around fighting Villains despite the fact he didn’t have a licence, trying to pursue a ‘normal’ life would only get him found out and arrested.

He’d come to terms with it long ago.

Shota and Hizashi sat together on their apartment couch, eyes flitting over the documents on the coffee table.

“Well, seems like the Hero Commission knows a lot more about this so-called ‘mysterious’ Vigilante than the public is aware of,” the underground hero said, taking a sip of coffee.

“Mm… Knowing them, they’re interested in his power. Understandable, given the fact that this guy is an absolute powerhouse – I’d say he’s on par with some of the country’s best heroes. We should be glad that he’s not acting as a Villain,” his blond husband said, chin in his palm.

“Yep.”

They sat in silence for another few minutes until Shota pointed something out as he flipped the page on the document he was reading.

“Hey, look. They have a map of all the areas he’s been spotted in since his first appearance.”

He pointed a finger to the map on the paper, showing the Shizuoka, Yamanashi, Saitama, Kanagawa and Tokyo prefectures. There were a significant amount of dots in the area on the intersection of the prefectures, especially in Shizuoka.

Hizashi narrowed his eyes at the paper.

“Huh… going by that, I’d say this guy lives around that general area. Hero Commission probably hasn’t done a thorough search on the area yet because they don’t have enough evidence to know a specific region,” the boisterous man mused.

Shota nodded. That was a reasonable explanation.

“Well, nevertheless, we’ve been tasked to find Eclipse and bring him in, so we’re gonna have to pin down a location. I have an idea that could work.”

The other man looked over, raising an eyebrow. “Yeah?”

“Mm. He usually appears when heroes are struggling to deal with a situation or in areas where there aren’t heroes too close by, so if we can get the patrol schedules for tonight and stay low in a more under-monitored area, we might be able to spot him and do some trailing to wherever he stays,” he suggested, flipping the document closed.

Hizashi grinned and gave Shota a pat on the shoulder. His husband always had a plan ready – it was one of the things he admired about him.

“You got it.”

The pair of Heroes sat atop a building in the north of Shizuoka, close to the outskirts of Yamanashi and Kanagawa. The area that night was projected to have low Hero activity, which made it perfect for trying to catch a glimpse of the elusive Eclipse.

Hizashi, sitting on the edge of the roof, shivered a bit.

“Man, it’s cold out here! Even though I have long sleeves and pants, I wish I had more layers,” he sighed.

Shota hummed, agreeing with the statement. He was perched atop a crate a few metres back, eyes scanning the area for any sign of their quarry. It had been a few hours since they’d come up to the roof, and it was now about 9pm – most people were heading to bed, and the Villain night life was coming out – the true bottom of the barrel. Perfect conditions to catch a Vigilante.

The two sat upon the roof for another 10 minutes or so, until Shota saw a figure leaping across rooftops, the signature vibrant orange hair marking them as Eclipse.

“Zashi. Over there,” he called.

Hizashi looked over and signalled he saw the man too with a thumbs-up.

They stayed where they were as Eclipse jumped down into an alley a block away, vanishing for a few minutes before emerging, clearly having just ended some kind of altercation.

“You gotta admit, the guy’s quick!” Hizashi noted, a hint of admiration in his tone.

“That’s a criminal you’re praising there. But I do agree. If actual Heroes could do things that quickly without the typical flashiness and dragging out of situations, maybe more Villains would get taken down.”

They both stood as Eclipse started jumping over rooves again, heading in the direction of the warehouse district on the edge of Yamanashi – the Yamanashi Ghost Town. The district had been abandoned for decades, and in more recent years people had been avoiding it due to rumours that spirits of the dead had taken up residence there. People had reported hearing clanging echoing in the nearby areas in the middle of the night, loud scraping, crashes and various tones of yelling. Typical spooky ghost stuff.

But maybe it was actually something else.

It’d make sense. A Vigilante living in a place nobody else dares go – the perfect hiding place.

The two Heroes followed Eclipse at a distance as he went around, occasionally ducking into alleys and streets to fight a Villain or typical criminal. He was efficient, wasting no time in getting to his destinations, and before long, they had arrived in the ‘Ghost Town’.

Shota smirked. He was right, Eclipse did live here.

He and Hizashi stayed atop a warehouse roof on the edge of the district, watching as Eclipse made his way to a cleaner-looking one further in that had various cables running from it towards the powerlines going through the area.

“Looks like this is where he lives,” he commented quietly to Hizashi.

The blond hero nodded. The two exchanged a glance, communicating silently that they would now go in and capture the Vigilante, taking him hopefully by surprise. They hopped down from the roof and trekked over to Eclipse’s warehouse, observing the outside. There was a faint yellow light coming from the blurry windows, and they could see a shadow moving around inside alongside the faint hum of an indistinguishable tune.

“He’s probably alone in here but be prepared for the chance that there is someone else inside,” Hizashi murmured, loosening his limbs, gearing up for a fight.

“Right. On three?”

“One…”

“Two…”

“Three!”

The two rushed at the wooden door beside the rolling one, kicking it open and dashing inside in battle stances.

“HANDS WHERE WE CAN SEE ‘EM!” Hizashi shouted, refraining from quirk usage until an actual fight started.

They froze at what they saw inside, because instead of Eclipse being some middle-aged man or an old face from the Hero world, there was… a teenager. A kid, really, standing beside a couch against the left wall with a water bottle in one hand and a half-eaten browning apple in the other, eyes wide in startlement.

“You’re a fucking kid?!” Shota exclaimed, surprised that the Vigilante police and Heroes alike had been hunting down for over a year, the Vigilante who was better than most modern heroes and had the sheer power to go toe-to-toe with All Might… was a kid probably no older than 16.

The teen instantly looked annoyed. “Who the hell else would I be, some crusty old geezer? Old men ain’t that spry as far as I’m aware.”

Hizashi had to resist the urge to snicker.

For a moment, all was silent, until it seemed to kick into the orange-haired teen’s brain that there were two Heroes in his place of residence.

“…Uh oh.”

In a flash, he was running towards the back window, water and apple dropped on the ground in his rush to get away. Shota reacted instantly, his Quirk activating to make sure the little bugger couldn’t use his own, and his capture scarf shooting out to wrap around Ichigo’s body. The ginger stumbled as his limbs were restrained by durable carbon fibre, straining to escape from it but failing without the help of his Quirk.

“Shit!” He hissed, enraged that he’d managed to get himself caught this easily. “Lemme go!”

“Nice job, Sho! You always manage to get to these things faster than I can register them,” Hizashi laughed, sending his husband a bright grin.

He jogged over to where Ichigo was now tangled up in Shota’s capture scarf on the ground, still wriggling like a worm and trying to manoeuvre himself out of the fabric. Hizashi saw something moving out of his spiky hair and saw an odd albino lizard jumping out, landing on the concrete with a small plop. The lizard looked up at him and released a loud hiss, then jumping over to stand on Ichigo’s back and start clawing at the scarf wrapped around it, slowly but surely tearing the reinforced fabric apart.

“Um…”

Hizashi leaned down and gingerly picked up the lizard, holding it in his palm and being careful not to crush its body. The teen on the floor noticed instantly and glared at him with a hiss oddly similar to the one his tiny companion made.

“HEY! Put Shiro down, you asshole! Leave him alone!” He shouted, sharp teeth bared in a snarl.

Hizashi was honestly shocked by the level of hostility the teen was displaying... and ferality. “Relax, relax, I’m not gonna hurt your little lizard buddy. Just… calm down, alright kid?”

“NO!”

“Suit yourself. Sho!”

“Got it.”

Shota was over with them within the second, and before Ichigo could react, a hand came down on his nape, and he was out.

Ichigo awoke in a cell.

He was still wearing his own clothes – a relief, since he didn’t want to have had someone else changing his clothes while he was asleep. He was lying on a cot in the corner of… well, pretty much just a concrete cube with a door. It took a moment for the reality of his situation to sink in, and when it did, he groaned closed his eyes.

Well, this is just awesome…

After a minute of wallowing in his annoyance and self-disappointment, he tried pushing himself up into a sitting position. Be found it a bit difficult, as he discovered his hands were bound together in front of his body by those weird quirk-resistant cuffs, but he eventually got up. He leant against the wall but flinched away a moment later due to how cold it was, goosebumps rising on his skin.

Why’s it so damn cold?...

He drew his knees up to his chest, hands in his lap to keep them warmer. His chin went to rest on his knees, angled downward and away from the blinding fluorescent lights. Ichigo wondered with worry what had happened to Shiro after he’d went out, hoping with every bit of himself that the Heroes hadn’t left him somewhere outside back home or, even worse, left him somewhere not at home. Ichigo didn’t think he could live without the feisty, dramatic reptile – Shiro wasn’t just his friend, he was a part of himself.

Ichigo jumped as the door to the cell suddenly opened, and the two Heroes that had captured him walked in. His hackles were up in an instant, and he pushed himself to the very corner of the cot against the walls, huddling into as compact a ball as possible. Instinctively, a low rumbling growl rose in his throat, the sound something his vocal cords had gotten used to since the first time he’d accidentally done it when he was 11 and nearly shredded them. The Heroes seemed startled by the reaction as they both stood at the other side of the room, maintaining a respectful (safe) distance.

“Hey, kiddo,” the blond one said, giving a little wave.

Ichigo didn’t say anything, just shrunk in on himself a bit more.

The Hero sighed. “I know you probably don’t trust us, and that’s fine. But my name is Hizashi Yamada, I’m the Voice Hero: Present Mic.”

The grumpier one – the one with the damn scarf – spoke next. “I’m Shota Aizawa, hero name Eraserhead.”

“We’re here to ask you some questions.”

Reluctantly, Ichigo stopped his growling, going quiet. After a minute of consideration, maintaining eye contact with the two Heroes the whole time, he huffed. Might as well just humour them. It wasn’t like he could get away now – his time on the run was over. “Fine. Ask.”

“Awesome,” Hizashi said, smiling. “Now, first question – what’s your name? Actual name.”

“Ichigo Kurosaki,” he answered.

Shota raised an eyebrow. “Your name is Strawberry?”

“It means One Protector, actually,” he groused, nails picking at the fabric of his pants.

“Alright then… Second question. Got any family?”

Sisters, father, mother.

“…No.”

“Really? None? That’s kinda sad.”

Ichigo snorted. “There are plenty of orphans out there.”

“Yeah, but most orphans your age at least have a foster home or something. You don’t seem to have… well, anything, besides your lizard friend. Shiro, you called him,” Hizashi pointed out carefully.

“Speaking of Shiro, what the hell did you guys do to him? If you killed him, or left him somewhere on his own, I swear to whatever god that exists-”

Shota raised a placating hand, taking a step forward. “Hey, it’s fine. We didn’t kill it- him. He’s right here.”

The Hero reached a hand into his jacket pocket and pulled out a somewhat large box with holes in it. He stepped over, eyes constantly scanning his body for any indication of movement or an attack, and set the box on the cot beside Ichigo. He ignored the quiet growl from the teen as he flinched away from the man’s position, wary. Shota quickly stepped back beside Hizashi, waiting to see what Ichigo would do.

Ichigo’s eyes brightened slightly, and he relaxed. Though, he hesitated to uncurl from his protective ball. He looked between the two Heroes and the box. Heroes, box, box, Heroes. His want to know if Shiro really was okay won out in the end, and he reached out with his bound hands to snatch the box and put it in his lap. He opened the cardboard and Shiro – still in one piece and looking healthy – rolled out onto his chest.

The relief was like a dam breaking, virtually all of the tension in his body releasing. He could breathe properly again, taking in deep breaths to calm his heart rate.

Shiro crawled up his shirt to cling to his collarbone, nuzzling the skin of the base of his neck.

“Hey, Shiro. I’m glad you’re okay,” Ichigo whispered, feeling a light prickle in his eyes.

His head tilted back up to look at the Heroes.

“Thank you,” he said, just loud enough for them to hear.

They nodded, and Hizashi said in return, “You’re welcome. From your reaction when I took him, I figured you’d get very sad if I left the little guy there, so I took him with us after you were knocked out.”

Ichigo nodded in understanding. They were right, he would have been immensely sad if they had. But also, angry. Very angry. Good thing that hadn’t happened.

“So, anyway. Next question!” The jovial Hero announced. “What’s your Quirk?”

To be perfectly honest, Ichigo still didn’t really get what a Quirk was. All he knew is that they were powers people had that allowed them to do specific things. For example, make fire, or levitate things. He didn’t really have a defined idea of what he could do, because he could do a lot of things. Moving really fast, insane strength, conjuring this freaky bone mask on his face… he even managed to walk on air once!

Then he promptly fell two stories and nearly broke his back. Never did that again.

Ichigo shrugged, looking down at Shiro as he rubbed the reptile’s head with the pad of his pointer. “Well, to be frank, I don’t really know. Enhanced physical abilities or something like that, I suppose.”

The Heroes gave each other confused looks but shrugged it off.

“We can talk more about that later,” Shota dismissed. “Now, one final question.”

He paused, and Ichigo looked up. Hizashi smiled at him, a glint in his eyes that the teen couldn’t quite decipher.

“How would you feel about attending UA this year?”

Ichigo stared.

“…Excuse me, WHAT?!”

Chapter Text

6:10pm
Saturday, October 31

Ichigo collapsed onto his bed, planting his chin in a palm. The carpet was on the receiving end of an intense squint, the frustrated ginger scrutinising every individual piece of fluff.

“So, Zangetsu. Got any ideas?” He asked with a huff.

For what?

“Don’t play dumb, you know what I’m talking about. We're leaving in like… 20 minutes, and I don’t have a costume of any kind,” he grumbled, tilting back and flopping onto his bed, arms spread out.

Oh, yeah. You’d be the only one apart from maybe Puff – everyone else seemed pretty excited, so obviously they’d all have something prepared, he hummed.

The two mulled over the dire situation for a few minutes, wondering just what they were to do. Out of nowhere, Zangetsu made a triumphant noise.

I just got the best idea I’ve had since breakfast yesterday! He declared confidently.

Ichigo got the notion that said idea wouldn’t turn out well, given breakfast yesterday ended with Zangetsu creating an absolute abomination of random foods mixed together that repulsed even him, the king of weird food combos. "Uh-huh."

Aand, you don’t even need to leave the room for it!

Red flags were fluttering in the back of Ichigo’s mind, but he decided to ignore them. Maybe this would be one of the rare occasions that Zangetsu came up with something actually useful. He pushed himself back up, ticking a brow.

“Alright, shoot. What’s the idea?”

You turn yourself into a Hollow!

Ichigo had to muster up every bit of self-control in his body (admittedly not much) to not choke on his own saliva.

“I what?!” He parroted with a disbelieving sputter.

It’s genius!

“No the hell it ain’t!” He snapped at his idiot of a Zanpakutō.

No, no, hear me out here! You know what I look like, yeah? You’ll pretty much just look like me but a bit different! And you won’t go on a feeding spree or something – worst that’ll happen is you’ll get some weird urges or make some weird noises. Plus, it’s easy to switch in and out of, which is perfect for this! Zangetsu justified.

Ichigo pulled his brows together as he thought about what he’d said. He didn’t really have any other ideas, and he didn’t want to disappoint his classmates… but on the other hand, he didn’t even know how to pull that off. He blew into the air in front of him.

“Alright, fine. But how am I supposed to turn into a Hollow, anyway? All I know how to do from that side of my powers is form my mask. Is it like that?” He asked, pushing off from his bed.

Well, kind of. On technicality, this ‘form’ that I’m intending for you to go into is only supposed to happen when your mind is so clouded by rage or your destructive impulses that it gets taken over by instinct and then boom, Hollow, but, well. It is just another part of you, so if I just help you out a bit…

As Ichigo paced a track into the carpet, he felt something in his soul twisting and pushing past the rest of it in a sensation pretty close to what it felt like when pulling on his mask.

Alright, now do what you do for the mask but this time, but try imagining all that Hollow spirit energy covering the entirety of your body, not just isolating it on the face, Zangetsu instructed.

“’Kay.”

He let his eyelids fall closed, blocking out the rest of the world and focusing only on what he’d been told to do. He reached for the Hollow part of his soul, tugging at it sharply. He felt spirit energy gather around his body, shifting under the surface of his skin. He felt his body begin to change almost instantly. It only took a few moments, and when it was done, he examined himself like a specimen picking apart every new or differing feature in fascination.

He rushed into the bathroom to get a more thorough look, and when he saw himself, he couldn’t help the wide grin that split his face.

“You know, this might actually be one of the best things you’ve made me do, Zan,” he commented. “And I know just what to do now.”

6:29pm
Saturday, October 31

Class 1-A stood in the first floor of their dorm building near the doors, chatting amongst themselves. The atmosphere was light and buzzing with energy, the group of teens pumped to have a night of endless fun.

“Man, I’m hyped! We’re gonna be up ‘till morning doing all kinds of things!” Eijiro cheered, pumping a fist.

He was dressed in a black and white striped shirt and long pants with random tears throughout them, fake blood splattered over his body, mainly his face.

“A whole night of trick-or-treating, goofing around, and absolutely NO work!” Mina – who was dressed as some kind of futuristic race and wearing bright blue clothing that clashed with her skin – gushed, spinning on the spot.

The class whooped, overjoyed at the prospect of getting a day of relaxation. Izuku, who was dressed a ghost and wore a large white torn piece of cloth with a stitched face on the hood, looked a bit confused. His head turned, oscillating between left and right as he searched the group of students.

“Has anybody seen Kurosaki?” He called out, trying to get an idea of where he’d gone.

The noise was quelled, the class replying with variations of ‘I don’t know’.

“I believe the last time anybody saw him was an hour or so ago when he came out to ask when we were intending to leave,” Tenya recalled.

“Maybe he forgot we were leaving now,” Izuku hummed. “I’ll go up and tell him! His room is on the fifth floor, right?”

“It’s next to mine,” Shoto informed.

Izuku nodded. “Oh, yeah! Thanks, Todoroki.”

He turned and began to jog towards the elevators at the other end of the building, costume fluttering behind him. He only got a few steps when the lights overhead began to flicker, their ambient hum breaking off periodically. Izuku stopped in his tracks. The class questioned the sudden malfunction, a few yelping, startled, when the lights switched off entirely, leaving them in the dark.

Kyoka nudged Denki, about to tell him to see if he could fix the lights but stopped with her mouth half-open at hearing an ominous, rumbling growl from what seemed like everywhere at once. The class instantly went into fight or flight mode, ready to attack if there was someone, or something, nearby.

Then, a pair of glowing yellow eyes appeared in the dark above their heads. The silhouette of a humanoid figure appeared on the roof, emanating the low sound that sent shivers down their spines.

Katsuki responded with his own, much more human-sounding growl, glaring up at the figure on the roof. He raised a hand, small explosions popping in his palm like mini fireworks, sending a dim orange glow into the darkness and illuminating the figure. Just as they were about to get a good look at whatever it was, it jumped down from the roof with the speed of a bullet, barrelling into the blond’s body and pinning him to the ground, an ear-shattering mix of a roar and a screech drilling right into the class’s brain.

The class prepared their Quirks to gang up on the unknown figure that was trapping their classmate, and nearly half of then rushed forward to attack. However, it vanished into thin air before anyone could reach it, and the lights flicked back on a moment later.

“Wha- Where the hell did it go!” Katsuki yelled, springing back up with an infuriated expression.

The class huddled together, guards raised, searching for the figure. Then, in the midst of the tense silence…

“OOGLY BOOGLY!”

The class yelped and flinched back as the figure popped up right in front of them, arms raised. They got a good look at its appearance – the sickly pale alabaster skin, the deathly sharp black claws, the hole in its freaking chest, the intimidating bone mask, the demonic-looking horns, and its waist-length wild orange hair.

Wait. Orange?

The terrifying creature before them started laughing like a madman, lowering its arms as it struggled to get enough air into its lungs.

“Pff- you guys- hahaha! Your FACES! Holy crap, I wish I had a camera right about now,” it cackled, doubling over and clutching its ribs like a lifeline.

The class just stared, mouths agape.

“Kurosaki?” Hanta exclaimed, arms stilled defensively in front of his chest. “Is that you?!”

Ichigo, as he was now discovered to be, nodded, managing to tamp down his laughs to occasional snorts.

“Sup, guys,” he snickered.

There was dead quiet for a few seconds as they all absorbed the information. Then, Katsuki pushed through his classmates, positively fuming.

“What the hell was that?!” Katsuki bellowed, stomping up to the orange-haired nuisance.

Ichigo raised an eyebrow below the mask. “Me scaring the shit out of you guys.”

“I think we got that part perfectly well,” Denki murmured shakily.

“And what the hell is this?! Why do you look like that? Because there is no fucking way this is a costume, you have a hole in you!” Katsuki snapped.

He went to grab the ginger’s shirt to pull him closer, realising just before he went to grab that there was no shirt there. He instead snatched a tuft of the long red fur on his collarbone, pulling the ginger down to his eye level with it. Ichigo hissed and batted his hand away, stepping back.

“Just add this to the pile of random shit I can do like everything else you guys have seen,” he said with a wave of his hand.

“That pile is gonna be bigger than this building soon,” Shoto commented wryly.

“At this point, I think we should just stop asking questions about the things Kurosaki does,” Eijiro added, shaking his head.

“Probably,” the subject of the conversation agreed.

Ichigo raised a hand to grasp his mask, thankful that it wasn’t the helmet-type thing that covered most of his head like Zangetsu’s and was instead just his usual mask with the horns coming directly out of his skull. He lifted it from his face, hooking his finger into one of the eye sockets and spinning it around absently.

“Well, we’ve stuck around here long enough. We heading out now?” He asked, cocking his head.

The class all looked at each other, one last moment of uncertainty before they communally decided that this was just another part of Ichigo Kurosaki’s weirdness and dwelling on it wouldn’t do much good for their sanity. With that thought in mind, 1-A exited the building, prepared for a night of freaky, frightful Halloween fun.

Chapter Text

6:50pm
Saturday, October 31

The streets of Musutafu were bustling. People of all shapes, sizes and colours roamed around, decked out in elaborate or minimalistic costumes to join in on the Halloween tradition. Storefronts were adorned with themed posters advertising special sales and products, and large decorations with spiders and ghosts and demons covered buildings everywhere one looked.

1-A was having a blast already, despite only being out for 15 or so minutes, running around jubilantly and laughing light-heartedly. The oddity of Ichigo’s new appearance was of no concern to them now, the only thing on their minds being what they were currently looking at or talking about. They explored the main city for a little while, occasionally ducking into stores to buy random gimmicks or a snack before they were off again. Eventually they reached the outskirts of the main city where office buildings and large stores were replaced with housing and apartments.

“Who’s ready to get loaded up on candy!”

The class squealed and shouted their excited anticipation, the bubblier members of the class bouncing on their feet as they ran ahead, initiating a challenge for who could get to the most houses within 5 minutes. Those who lagged behind, consisting mostly of the male population, looked at each other, laughing at their unrestrained happiness.

“Hey, those guys are doing a contest, so why don’t we as well? Whoever manages to actually scare someone – as in make them jump and stuff like that – the best gets some of everybody else’s sweets,” Mashirao suggested.

Denki pouted, crossing his arms. “Hey, no fair. We all know Kurosaki would win that!”

Ichigo’s golden eyes gained a smug sparkle, brandishing the mask in his hand. “Hell yeah I would.”

Katsuki narrowed his eyes at the ginger. He bared his teeth with a growl of, “You sure about that, carotene?”

Ichigo leaned down, face splitting in a toothy grin. “You sayin’ you can beat me, Puff? Don’t forget who had the whole class on their toes not that long ago.”

“I can beat you with my eyes glued shut!”

“Wanna bet?”

Hanta chuckled nervously. He leaned close to Eijiro to whisper beside his ear, “Those two are freakishly similar sometimes.”

“I know, right? I’d say they’re long-lost twins, what with their spiky hair and volatile attitudes. But then I remember that Kurosaki, most of the time, is actually pleasant,” replied the redhead.

They shared a stifled laugh, desperately trying to avoid their amusement from reaching the bickering pair. Katsuki picked up on it, though, and butted into their personal space, shaking them by their shirts.

“The hell are you two laughing at?!”

Hanta’s cheeks puffed out against the hand over his mouth, a noise akin to a dying balloon escaping him.

“Nothing!” Eijiro said quickly, waving his hands.

“I think they’re laughing at your stupid face,” Ichigo snarked, his voice expressing boundless levels of mirth even with his flat tone.

Katsuki looked back so fast they could hear his neck cracking.

“Hah?! My stupid face? Don’t project on me, Kurosaki!” He fumed, flicking up a middle finger.

Ichigo replied with both of his. Katsuki’s palms burst with light, teeth grinding so hard it was nearly audible.

“Alright, that’s it! You, me! Whoever gets someone to scream first gets all of the other’s candy and bragging rights!” He challenged.

He’d shoved his face so close to Ichigo’s he could smell his heated puffs of breath. He had to go up on his toes slightly due to Ichigo’s taller frame, and that only encouraged Ichigo’s amusement. He noted just how close their heads were, and he suddenly there was an intense itch in his teeth that felt oddly like little worms wriggling around under the surface of the shiny white enamel. There was something in his brain urging him to lean forward and just bite whatever he could get to, no matter the consequences.

Normally, Ichigo would vehemently ignore those thoughts, shove them in a mental box and metaphorically set them alight, never to be looked upon again, but his mind had been acting weird ever since he’d gone into this form and he didn’t have the capacity to care anymore. So, before Katsuki could flinch away, he leant forward and chomped down on his nose with enough force to hear a satisfying crunch of cartilage.

“WHAT THE FUCK?! GET OFFA ME, YOU FREAK!” Katsuki screeched indignantly, shoving the ginger back roughly.

Ichigo quickly let go and stepped back, not feeling a single bit of remorse or embarrassment.

“Game on, Dandelion.”

He placed his mask on his face, then turned away and started sprinting in the direction the rest of the class had gone while laughing wildly. Katsuki trembled like an overused muscle and was flying after him the next moment, his roar of “GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE, CAROTENE!” drawing stares from people an entire street away.

The small remainder of the group stared at their retreating forms, bewildered.

“…Did Kurosaki just bite him?” Denki asked.

“Yep. Right on the nose,” Eijiro confirmed, blinking dumbly.

There were no words for a tick and then Mashirao blurted out a deadpan, “What the hell.”

“What the hell,” the other teens agreed.

7:35pm
Saturday, October 31

“So, how much candy do you guys have?” Izuku questioned, chewing on a piece of Hubba Bubba he’d been given by Shoto.

“About the same as you, I expect!” Ochaco stated after looking into her bag.

Tenya aggressively swept an arm through the air. “Hahaha! I believe I have you all beat! My haul is significantly larger than yours.”

“That would be because you’re using your Quirk to get to more houses quicker than us,” Shoto said, glancing over at the bespectacled teen.

“BOO!”

The group of four jumped. They turned to face Ichigo, who stood behind them with his hands on his hips, his mask covering his smile. He deflated quickly, going from ball of energy to soggy bread in an instant.

“Aw, man. You guys didn’t get scared enough,” he huffed.

Izuku stepped forward, giving him a confused look. “What do you mean?”

The ginger waved a hand in a vague gesture. “I have a bet going with Bakugou. Whichever of us scares someone the best gets the other’s candy and bragging rights. I was hoping to get you guys again, but I guess I ruined that opportunity earlier.”

Shoto hummed understandingly. He pitched a question, asking, “Have you tried scaring random people instead of those you know?”

Ichigo stared at him like he had a second head. Then, he facepalmed.

“I didn’t even think of that! I’m such a dumbass,” he berated himself, “Terrorising the locals is much easier than terrorising people who already know me.”

He leaped forward and wrapped his arms around Shoto firmly. He rubbed his masked cheek against the other boy’s mop of dual-coloured hair, and in the next moment, he was jumping away into the trees and into the night to find his next victim.

Shoto stood stock-still with his mouth slightly ajar and his hair a ruffled mess, struggling for words. Ochaco had gasped and covered her mouth with both hands. Izuku’s mouth was opening and closing like a fish. Tenya’s ever ceaseless arm-chopping had completely halted, a testament to how abrupt and unforeseen the actions from their orange-haired friend were.

“Uh…” Shoto finally managed to say, “…That was weird.”

“Indeed,” Tenya affirmed.

8:22pm
Saturday, October 31

Fumikage tilted his head back, watching the scant few clouds drift lazily across the sky overhead. He released a short sigh, finding the cool breeze against his feathers comforting. Alone in the small park on the side of the street, he found peace in the solitude and in the quiet atmosphere.

That peace was disrupted as a familiar frame came bounding into view like an excited puppy.

Ichigo plopped onto the bench beside Fumikage, giving off a restless sort of energy like he’d ingested 10 cups of coffee’s worth of caffeine.

“Hey, Tokoyami,” he drawled, abruptly dumping his head on the bird-headed boy’s shoulder, careful not to impale him on his horns.

“Hello,” he responded slowly, “Are you feeling alright?”

Ichigo sat up with the speed of someone who’d been told there was a fire in their hair. He nodded, then went right back to leaning against his friend.

Fumikage had no clue what to do. Ichigo was acting weird, even by his standards, and it was a very new situation for the bird-headed boy. What he did take into thought, though, was how his attention was getting dragged away by every new piece of sensory information, whether it be visual, physical or auditory. An idea popped up in his brain and he opted to try it out – after all, it was better than sitting here wondering what to do.

He summoned Dark Shadow and nodded his head towards the teen plastered to his side. Dark Shadow nodded in understanding. He shifted over to Ichigo and lightly pecked at his mask, prompting the ginger to spring up to see what was going on. He made a joyful noise somewhat like a chirp from a lizard and extended a hand, placing it upon Dark Shadow’s head and running it through the energy that made him.

Fumikage watched as the two then tumbled to the ground and started rolling and jumping around, playing with each other for lack of a better term.

Well, at least Ichigo had something to do now.

They wrestled and grappled for a good few minutes until Ichigo appeared to begin running out of energy and flopped onto his back on the grass.

Fumikage noticed him calming down and decided to attempt interaction again. He slid off the bench, kneeling beside Ichigo with his head inclined.

“Kurosaki?” He said in a hushed voice.

Ichigo’s only answer was a quiet chuff.

Fumikage frowned. He was getting a bit concerned now – his sudden drop in energy surely couldn’t be a good thing. Dark Shadow hovered by his shoulder, shifting every few moments with the same worry. Fumikage lowered a hand to his friend’s torso, laying the back of it against his skin. He snatched it back like he was made of fire, but for the exact opposite reason. Ichigo felt ice-cold, his skin chillier than the crisp Autumn air.

Ah, I know why he’s so tired now. It’s that thing he has with being cold where he gets all sluggish and lethargic. He must’ve gotten this cold because he doesn’t have anything on apart from that kind of worn hakama, he thought, I don’t think I should leave him like this for too long, I don’t know what happens if he gets too cold.

“Tokoyami!”

Fumikage looked up to see Eijiro jogging over with Shoto. They stopped in front of the 3 on the floor, puffing slightly.

“Is Kurosaki okay? Did he get hit in the head or something?” Eijiro questioned worriedly, crouching beside the ginger.

He shook his head. “No. He’s just gotten too cold.”

Shoto lowered himself to the grass as well, laying his left hand on Ichigo’s shoulder. The fatigued boy shifted his body to turn towards him, pressing his mask to Shoto’s leg and nuzzling it faintly. The youngest Todoroki looked a bit flustered but was quick to brush it off before anybody could point it out.

“We should probably call Mr Aizawa,” Fumikage pointed out. “Or Kurosaki’s parents. Probably his parents.”

“I’ll see if he has his phone on him,” Eijiro stated.

He reached for Ichigo’s hakama, relieved when he received no negative response for it. He quickly dug into the visible pocket – who knew hakamas even had those? – and fished out Ichigo’s phone, flashing it for the other two to see. He settled more comfortably on the grass and clicked it on. The prompt for Face ID appeared, denying access to the phone when it registered Eijiro’s face instead of the owner of it. He instead brought the phone to Ichigo’s hand and manoeuvred the fingers carefully to press against the button on the side to unlock it while avoiding scratching any of it – or himself – on his claws. It worked, giving Eijiro access to the phone.

He released the hand and patted it lightly before pulling Ichigo’s phone back to himself. He opened the favourites section in contacts to search for anything along the lines of ‘Mother’ and ‘Father’ or ‘Mum’ and ‘Dad’. He found no contacts for a mother, but he did find two different fathers. Huh, he was probably adopted. He took a moment to think about that before selecting one of the two contacts at random and bringing the phone to his ear while the line rang.

After a few rings, Ichigo’s father picked up.

“Ichigo? What’s up, you need something?”

Eijiro’s jaw dropped at the voice he heard through the phone. “Mr Aizawa?!”

Fumikage’s head snapped to him.

“Kirishima?” There was a moment of silence on the other end of the call. “Why do you have Ichigo’s phone? Is he okay?”

Ichigo, not Kurosaki. He really is his Dad! This is crazy!

“Oh, right! I just had to tell you that he’s uh… well, you know how he gets all tired and drowsy when he’s cold?”

“Is he outside with not enough layers on again? Oh, for god’s…” He muttered an exasperated curse. “Okay, okay, just tell me where you two are, I’ll come get him.”

Eijiro checked the street sign nearby for where they were and relayed the information to Shota.

“I’ll be there in ten minutes,” the grouchy Hero said gratefully.

“No problem. But while you’re on, what do I do until you get here? Is Kurosaki in danger if he stays like this for too long?” He asked, glancing at his classmate.

“No, he’ll be fine. Just stay with him until I get there.”

“Alright. Bye, Mr Aizawa.”

“Goodbye, Kirishima.”

The call ended and Eijiro placed the phone on the grass beside him. Fumikage gave him a curious look.

“Is he coming over here?” He inquired.

“Yeah. He said he’ll be here in ten minutes,” the red-haired boy confirmed.

They sat in relative quiet for the next minute, the sounds of yelling children in the background. Then, Eijiro spoke.

“So. Mr Aizawa is Kurosaki’s Dad,” he muttered in disbelief.

“So is Mr Yamada,” Shoto added.

“Huh!? Him too!? …Wait, you knew about this?”

Shoto nodded. “Yeah. Have since the entrance exam.”

“Really? Damn.”

They waited on the grass for roughly ten minutes, waiting for Shota to turn up. They chatted about the night and their weekend plans, and eventually a car painted with red flames pulled up beside the park and they saw Shota and Hizashi hopping out of it.

“Mr Aizawa! Mr Yamada!” Eijiro called, waving them over.

They quickly jogged to where the four teens sat (and laid, in Ichigo’s case), and they stopped dead when they got over, staring in complete shock at Ichigo.

“What in the hell?!” Hizashi exclaimed, eyebrows raised to the clouds.

Shoto quickly crouched beside Ichigo, turning his body onto his back to get a look at him. He struggled more than he had in a while to hold the shocked yell from bursting out of his throat.

“The fuck?” He mouthed, hand hovering above the hole in his sternum.

“Oh my god, call an ambulance!” Hizashi panicked, crouching down as well with his eyes wide, already grabbing out his phone.

Ichigo managed to bring himself out of his drowsy state enough to speak, “I’m fine, Dad, don’t call anybody…”

“Ichigo, there is a hole in your body. There is something very wrong here,” Shota said, fixing his idiot of a son with a steely glare.

“I’m fine. Still breathing, ain’t I?”

“To be fair, he has been like this since we left,” Eijiro informed with a nervous smile.

“…Okay, we can deal with this later,” Shota sighed with a shake of his head. “Come on, Ichigo.”

He and Hizashi helped Ichigo to his feet, the latter allowing the ginger to lean most of his weight against him.

“Don’t stay out too late, problem children,” the grumpy man warned as they began to walk away.

The two Heroes and their son were gone within the minute, Ichigo tossing his classmates a droopy wave out the window before the car drove away. The three boys stood in the middle of the park for a few moments before Shoto jabbed a thumb behind him, towards the street.

“We should get back to everybody else,” he suggested.

“Probably,” Eijiro said.

11:49pm
Saturday, October 31

1-A entered the dorm building with the energy of a group of kids on a sugar high – rowdy, loud and bursting with energy that wouldn’t be running out for hours yet. They were proudly presenting their hauls to each other, some trading candies to get ones they liked and get rid of ones they didn’t.

Izuku and his group were heading to the lounge area to the left of the door when they heard a faint noise coming from one of the couches. They stopped to listen, trying to identify it. It sounded somewhat like the purr of a cat, but louder and deeper so it was closer to the rumble of an engine. Ochaco was the first to peek over the couch to see where the noise was coming from.

Her eyes widened and then she made a soft ‘aww’, gesturing for Izuku, Tenya and Shoto to look over with her. They did so and were met with something they’d never expected to see – Ichigo, wrapped snugly in a thick fluffy blanket like a burrito, purring away like there was no tomorrow.

Kyoka noticed them peeking over the couch and walked over, asking loudly, “You guys okay?”

All four turned around and shushed her. She held her arms up with a raised eyebrow.

“What?” She said, much quieter this time.

She walked around to the other side and looked upon the snoozing ginger, snorting softly as she saw him.

“Damn. Never thought I’d see something like this,” she commented bluntly.

She whipped out her phone, snapped a few pictures and a video, then shrugged and walked away. She got back to the rest of the class and first alerted them to be quiet because Ichigo was sleeping over there, then showed them the photo with a mischievous grin.

They stared at it for a few seconds, then Denki snickered.

“We are so not letting him forget this.”

oOo

The next morning, Ichigo woke up to his classmates hounding him about the fact that he could purr. He simply snarled at them to go away and let him sleep, then rolled over to face the back of the couch and ignored their incessant questions.

They are never letting me forget this, he lamented.

Yep. Never, Zangetsu agreed.

Chapter Text

Ichigo had a bad feeling about today.

He’d woken up with his gut screaming at him that something in the air wasn’t right. He’d done a quick check of Karakura, looking for anything amiss, seeing if maybe there was a surviving Quincy lurking in the shadows or a particularly malicious Hollow waiting to attack, but… nothing. The town was as peaceful as it had been ever since the end of the war against Yhwach. And yet, there was still a little voice within him telling him that something was going to go wrong.

He’d ignored it for the most part and had gone about his day as usual – work at Ikumi’s from 9am to 3pm, return home and switch into Soul Reaper form, then go to Urahara’s for his near-daily sparring/training session. But as he was practicing his abilities and techniques in his newly dubbed Half-Hollow form, his instincts went haywire.

The world around him seemed to distort in a way unfamiliar to him, nothing like anything he’d experienced or seen before. He tried to call for Kisuke to come down from the shop above, however before he could, he was sucked into a void of nothingness. He sent a Getsuga into the void, but it was simply absorbed into the space like it was nothing. Again, he tried, and the same thing happened. Instead, he attempted to form a Garganta. Didn’t work. Neither did trying to make a Senkaimon (though he hadn’t been able to do that ever).

He yelled his frustration into the void, baring his teeth at nothing as if it would scare off the dark.

“Kisuke, I swear to Yhwach’s corpse, I will smite you if this is your doing!” He shouted, scowling.

No response. That tracked.

Then, he had a purely genius idea. A few weeks back, while testing some things in Hueco Mundo with Grimmjow, he’d discovered that a Gran Rey Getsuga from him had enough sheer power to cause irregularities in the fabric of space itself. Now, maybe if he used one in here, it could open up a passage to someplace other than… wherever he was stuck. Genius, he was.

So, he sliced his finger on his horn to get the blood required for a Gran Rey Cero. He raised Zangetsu’s longer blade as well and formed the Gran Rey Getsuga between the tips of his horn and Zangetsu. After gathering a significant amount of spirit energy into it, he fired it into the empty space, a beam of scorching bright purple disappearing into the void. Then, he spotted it. Off to the side of the direction he’d fired it was a sliver of light opening like a split seam in a piece of clothing.

He quickly propelled himself through the space using some shoddily-made platforms (the reishi in that place was weird), and after a few moments he was being sucked through the seam into the light.

There was a sensation of falling, and once Ichigo’s vision cleared from the sudden light, he noted that he was, in fact, falling. From a significant height, actually, given he was above cloud level. He also noted that the reishi in where he’d just arrived was… weird. Not like in the weird void, where it was unstable and shaky. In this place, it was normal. It was stable. But it felt different – alien, almost. It wasn’t as rich as it was in Karakura or any other place he’d been to. Additionally, the spirit energy signatures he was picking up from below also felt rather small apart from one, which stood out from the others like a blazing fire in a snowstorm.

It certainly wasn’t nearly as high as his own, or enough to rival any of the stronger people he knew. What caught his attention was the fact that the person’s spirit energy was exactly the same as his own. Exactly. Not similar. Not close, like his family members’. Exactly the same.

He was broken out of his shock when he actually looked down at his surroundings to see that he was falling towards what looked to be a school. The school’s campus was insanely massive, WAY bigger than any school he’d seen before. There were numerous large buildings spread across it, some of them obscured partially by the fluffy clouds dotted around the sky, but they were soon gone as Ichigo fell below cloud height. He quickly pinpointed exactly where he was falling – a large flat building with a tin roof.

He then realised with a small hint of dread that he was about to cause some pretty grievous property damage.

Well, good thing nobody could see him.

Ichigo braced himself for impact, turning his body so he wouldn’t land face-down. He put up a thick layer of Hierro and activated Blut Vene for maximum protection. He smashed into the roof with a deafening crash and a mighty groan of metal and a second or so later he hit the ground inside the building. He took a moment to adjust, coughing from the cloud of dust formed by his impact. He was up quickly, hopping out of the crater he’d formed. He could hear shocked yells and footfalls approaching his location, and he could sense his spirit energy doppelganger amongst the crowd. Ichigo sighed and with a swipe of his hand, the cloud around him was being blown away so he could see what was happening.

Around him was what appeared to be a rocky terrain, somewhat similar to what Kisuke’s basement looked like but with greyer, taller and larger rock formations and a lack of fake sky or dead shrubs. The people he’d heard and sensed turned up all at once in a large group, coming from around a large piece of rock. They appeared to all be teenagers, around the age of 15 and 16, and they were wearing some pretty wacky-looking outfits of all colours and shapes. There was also an adult among them, who looked very unamused and grouchy.

What Ichigo didn’t expect was for the group to exclaim loudly at seeing him. Seeing. He could be seen by these guys who didn’t even have enough spirit energy to see a common Whole. The second shock came as someone came to the front of the group, looking at him with wide eyes and a slack jaw.

It was the spirit energy doppelganger. But he wasn’t just him in energy; he was a full-on copy of himself from 2 or so years ago, complete with his spiky orange hair, angular features, skinny frame, and Zangetsu’s first Shikai form secured on his back.

The two stared at each other in silence for a second, until they both shouted, in near-perfect unison, “WHAT THE FUCK?!”

Ichigo had a bad feeling about today.

He’d woken up feeling that something was off and that something big was going to happen. Zangetsu had confirmed nothing was wrong with his body or soul, but the feeling didn’t go away. He simply pushed it away after a few more minutes of fretting and went into his usual routine. He had breakfast with his dads, arrived at school early and talked to Shoto for a bit, then went about his classes as normal.

Then, it hit fifth period. 1-A was in Ground Beta, training for their upcoming final exams in a week. Ichigo was in the middle of practising his techniques with Zangetsu when the hairs at the back of his neck raised at the same time as something in the air shifted. From above, a heavy presence appeared with a level of spirit energy he’d never felt before. That in itself was a red flag, but what really caught his attention was the fact that the spirit energy of this person was exactly the same as his own. Not similar. Exact.

He paused mid-swing with Zangetsu and placed him on his back, frowning up at the roof as the spirit energy drew closer. Then, a loud crash as a figure went barrelling through the roof and made impact with the ground. The rest of the class stopped as well, yelling things along the lines of ‘What the hell was that?’. They all gathered and went to investigate, watching as the cloud of dust around where the figure landed was swept away and the culprit of the hole in the roof emerged from the crater in the ground. Ichigo’s jaw dropped and his eyes boggled at what he saw. He pushed his way to the front of the group, and he stared at the near perfect duplicate of himself staring right back at him.

“…WHAT THE FUCK?!”

Ichigo looked over his doppelgänger’s appearance, taking in the horn jutting out of his left temple, the yellow and black eye, the jagged black stripe running down his face to his chest and his more mature, taller frame.

“Kurosaki, is that… you?!” Eijiro exclaimed, tapping his shoulder rapidly.

“I mean, it looks like it…” He replied, still in shock.

The other Ichigo looked around at the students now slowly approaching, and his eyes settled on Ichigo’s. He frowned and took a step forward, telegraphing his movements as to not incite a hostile response from anyone.

“Okay, this is seriously freaky, and I’ve seen some freaky shit,” he murmured, eyes narrowed.

He was quiet for a few moments until he deadpanned and looked around unamusedly.

“Okay, random Quincy! You got me, haha, congratulations. Now get your stupid ass out here so I can beat you up, I ain’t got time for manipulation games,” he hollered into the surrounding area, sounding thoroughly irritated. He growled annoyedly as nothing happened. He waited another few moments and then sighed, relaxing with a murmur of, “Oh, man. Starting to think this isn’t a trick.”

Ichigo blinked. Random Quincy? What did this other him have against Quincies? Also, did he really think this was some kind of hallucination? Well, whatever he thought, it was taking up enough of his mind that he didn’t notice Shota walking up behind him until he was right behind him. Shota reached up and tapped Other Ichigo on the shoulder. Almost instantly, too fast for anyone to see, he had whirled around and was swinging his shorter, black sword in the direction of Shota’s neck until he realised what he was doing and abruptly stopped with his blade barely a centimetre from slicing him open.

He immediately looked guilty and retracted the sword, giving Shota an apologetic look.

“Oh, shoot, I’m sorry,” he apologised, placing his swords on his back and hip. “Reflexes.”

Shota nodded slowly, eyes wide. “I… understand. It’s alright. Though, you mind explaining who you are and why you look almost exactly like him?”

He gestured to Ichigo, who gave a nervous wave. Other Ichigo looked between Shota, the students and Ichigo, appearing to mull over the situation.

“Alright. I’ll try and explain, given I did just break your roof. My name’s Ichigo Kurosaki, first off. I honestly have no idea how I got here - some kind of rip in space-time, I suppose. And as for why me and second me look the same, I have no fuckin’ clue,” Other Ichigo said, placing his hands on his hips.

“A rip in space-time?” Shota repeated incredulously. “That makes zero sense.”

“Eh.”

“Well, I suppose introductions on our end are in order. I am Shota Aizawa. These are my students,” Shota introduced, gesturing to himself and then 1-A.

“Wait, you even have the same name as me! This is so weird,” Ichigo called, jogging over to his double curiously.

“Huh,” Other Ichigo said, observing the shorter ginger.

Ichigo thought about what the other had said and came up with a theory. “Hey, you said you came through a rip in space time. Could it be you came from another dimension? Another universe, maybe?”

Other Ichigo raised an eyebrow at the theory. “Honestly, that wouldn’t be the craziest thing to ever happen to me. Dimension hopping is already something on my repertoire, universe hopping isn’t that far of a stretch.”

“So you really are me, but from another universe,” Ichigo murmured in awe.

“Whoa!” Eijiro exclaimed, running over with a few others. “This guy doesn’t recognise us, though. Maybe he grew up in a different part of the world in his universe? Hey, Kurosaki number 2, where’d you grow up?”

Other Ichigo was a bit startled at the group of teens that suddenly surrounded him but replied anyway. “Oh, uh… Karakura Town, Japan. Why, where is this?”

Ichigo’s jaw dropped again. Karakura Town? But that was… that was where he grew up until he got sent here. Did that mean that his memories of that time really were real?

“Karakura?” He whispered.

Other Ichigo raised an eyebrow at him. “Uh. Yeah? What about it?”

“I grew up there, too. At least until… my mother was killed, and I got taken here through some kind of portal. Karakura doesn’t exist here. I thought those memories were just made up or something, but…”

Other Ichigo’s eyes widened. “Wait, what?”

“Yeah.”

“That…” He scowled in thought. “It sounds like we have the same childhood up until… Mum’s death. And while you got sent to wherever this is, I stayed. Must be the difference between our universes.”

“It sounds like it,” Ichigo mused.

“Wait. Kurosaki, does that mean you’re from another dimension?” Izuku asked, baffled.

“Apparently, yeah,” he said.

“And you, older Kurosaki, you’re from another universe?” Izuku then directed at Other Ichigo. “That’s… wow. I have so many questions.”

“I only have one! How powerful are you, new Kurosaki!” Katsuki roared, stomping over with a feral grin.

Other Ichigo raised an eyebrow at the attitude of the blond. “Oh, so you have your own Grimmjow. Joyous,” he muttered with a snort. “Well, Dandelion Puff, I’m certainly more powerful than your Ichigo.”

Katsuki bristled at the nickname. “Dandelion Puff?! I’m gonna blow you into next week, you-”

“Cool it, Bakugou,” Shota warned, defusing the situation. “Nobody’s fighting.”

The blond flexed his hands but stepped back after a moment with an irritated noise. The Hero sighed and looked to Other Ichigo.

“You wouldn’t know how to get back to your universe, would you?” He enquired.

Other Ichigo pursed his lips. “Let me try something.”

He looked to the side and extended a hand. He tapped the air in front of him, and nothing happened. He tried it again and that time, there was a slight ripple in the air in front of him, and he looked hopeful. The ripple turned to a tear with a noise reminiscent of a zipper opening. Other Ichigo grinned, but his expression went to disappointment and then panic as it started to close and then distorted like oil on water.

“Uh… That doesn’t look good.”

He quickly grabbed the students and adult around him, dragging them away from the tear’s vicinity as it began to swirl, looking like it might explode at any moment. He set them down back with the other students, looking back over to it just as another person was spat out, the tear shutting right after they were out. The new person crashed into a rock formation about 5 metres away, dust being thrown up once more. Soon, the person was walking out of the dust, looking thoroughly pissed.

“ICHIGO!” The man roared.

Other Ichigo whined. “Fuck, I made it worse.”

The blue-haired man vanished with a small buzz, appearing the next moment above Other Ichigo. The ginger was tackled to the ground by the man, and they engaged in a fierce wrestling match on the floor.

“What the hell did you do!” The blue-haired man yelled, trapping Other Ichigo in a headlock.

Other Ichigo growled and punched him in the nose, loosening his grip and then reversing their positions. “I didn’t do shit, jackass! I got sucked here like, a few minutes ago, and I tried opening a Garganta home, but it didn’t work and now you’re here!”

“SO, YOU DID DO SOMETHING!”

“DID NOT!”

“YOU OPENED A PORTAL AND GOT ME STUCK WHEREVER THIS IS AS WELL! YOU SO DID!”

Other Ichigo was thrown off by the blue-haired man, and he hopped up with a loud snarl which caused the students around him to flinch back, eyes wide and worried.

“Grimmjow, just- chill out for a sec, okay? There are kids here,” Other Ichigo puffed as he landed in a crouch a short distance away.

The man, Grimmjow, looked behind him at 1-A and Shota, taking in the defensive positions of some of them. He snorted and looked back at Other Ichigo with a deadpan expression.

“You’re a kid,” he retorted as if it would excuse his actions.

“I’m 18, dickhead. Not a kid anymore,” Other Ichigo snapped, flipping him off.

“And I’m nearly 200. You’re a fuckin’ infant,” Grimmjow snorted, also flipping him off.

Ichigo watched in bewilderment, wondering what exactly the relationship between the two was. They used first names which indicated a close friendship but argued and fought like mortal enemies. Also, did that guy who acted a lot like Puff just say he was 200? What?

“Hey,” Shota abruptly said with a snap of his fingers, bringing the two’s attention towards him. “Can we refocus here? We have an issue at hand. The issue being you two are invading my class and you’re in the wrong universe.”

Other Ichigo put his hands up in an ‘I’m innocent’ gesture. Grimmjow just rolled his eyes and pivoted to glare at the Pro Hero.

“Alright then. If we’re so annoying here, we’ll just-” Grimmjow suddenly stopped speaking as he finally noticed Ichigo, blinking in slight surprise.

A feral grin came across his face, replacing the irritated sneer. “Hey, Ichigo, there’s another you! Tiny you, though.”

Ichigo bristled at the insinuation that he was short. He was above average, thank you. “Who you calling tiny?”

“You, tiny Berry.”

Other Ichigo quickly rushed over and stood between the two to stave off a possible argument. “Okay, Grimmjow, please don’t fight alternate universe me. You’ll kill him.”

Ichigo squinted at Grimmjow. “I could take him.”

“You really couldn’t…” Other Ichigo said desperately.

Grimmjow leaned closer to the younger ginger, looming over him. “Nah, let him try.”

“What, so you can experience what it’s like to win for the first time in years? Yeah, no.”

“What was that?!”

Shota sighed and pinched his nose, then muttered barely loud enough for them to hear, “Of course another universe’s Ichigo starts fights as well.”

Ichigo looked over at him and protested, “Hey, I don’t start fights.”

“I don’t… anymore,” Other Ichigo grumbled.

“What am I, a roach? You fight me all the time,” Grimmjow scoffed, gesturing to the scar on his chest peeking out from his jumpsuit, “Whaddya think this is from?”

“That is not relevant to this conversation. I’m talking about now, not two years ago.”

Izuku gaped at the scar, a bit concerned. He looked up at Other Ichigo, eyes comically wide. “You did that?”

Other Ichigo smirked and nodded. “Yep, when I beat this guy’s ass into the sand. Guess he never healed it fully because he wanted a memoir of his total defeat.”

Grimmjow snarled in his direction, enraged by his statement. “Total defeat?! Don’t think you got outta that unscathed, Kurosaki! I saw you shaking, and you were bleeding all over the place!”

“Nah, I was in peak condition,” he grinned.

“I’ll show you ‘peak condition’!”

“HEY!” Shota hollered.

Grimmjow and Other Ichigo paused, the former’s hand halfway to grabbing the latter’s face. Shota glared at them, pulling on his years of experience dealing with Ichigo’s stubbornness to get them to back down through his no-nonsense expression. Reluctantly, they returned to neutral positions, not after Other Ichigo flicked Grimmjow on the head and they growled at each other until the blue-haired man stepped away with an irritated huff.

Shota inhaled and exhaled heavily now that he had space to speak. “It’s evident that you two don’t know how to get back to your universe, so you’ll likely need a place to stay until you do.”

Ichigo noticed his father’s contemplative expression. Surely he wasn’t…

“So, I will extend the offer of a room at my apartment until you can get home,” the grouchy man finished.

Holy crap.

Other Ichigo looked a bit surprised at the offer. Grimmjow raised an eyebrow.

“I don’t need a house. I’ll go find somewhere on my own,” he sniffed as if the very idea was insulting.

Other Ichigo, on the other hand, replied with a dismissive, “Oh, you don’t need to do that. Really.”

“I have the space,” Shota reasoned.

Other Ichigo pursed his lips, thinking over the offer. Eventually, he deflated like a balloon and accepted, “If you’re 100% fine with that, then I’d be happy to accept.”

“Great.”

The conversation seemed done and the situation settled until Shota smirked evilly.

“You have to help out here now, though. You evidently have fighting skill; you could be a big aid to my students. Welcome to UA, Ichigo.”

Other Ichigo stared at him, pure terror in his eyes as if dealing with a bunch of 15-16 year olds was the worst thing on Planet Earth.

“…Oh, man,” he grumbled.

Grimmjow simply laughed at his misery.

Chapter Text

“DIE!”

“You missed, Puff!”

“Like hell I missed, you just move like a snake!”

“So, you missed!”

“Shut the hell up, carotene!”

Shoto and Izuku observed as Ichigo and Katsuki went at it like a pair of rabid animals. Dust and chunks of rock flew every which way, deafening explosions aggressively rattled the building’s windows and a blur of black and orange whirled around Katsuki like a tornado.

“You know, watching these two fight is kind of intense. They never seem to hold anything back – not that Kacchan does anyway,” Izuku commented, trying to keep up with Ichigo’s pace with his eyes but always lagging behind.

Shoto nodded his agreement. “They do fight rather violently with each other. Perhaps they just match each other’s intensity, so they end up like this.”

“Yeah, probably…”

Ichigo dodged yet another explosion headed his way, the heat evaporating the sweat dripping from his face. His facial muscles ached from how wide he’d been grinning – he probably looked like a madman at this point – and adrenaline pumped through every fibre of his body like pure electricity. Fighting Katsuki was always a blast (pun intended), even though the other boy seemed to have the intention of blowing his head right off his body. If anything, it made the fights better.

As he whizzed past Katsuki, landing a solid hit to his ribs as he went, something prickled at the back of his mind, curled in his stomach as if he’d ingested something foul. He stuttered for a moment, wondering what the feeling was. He didn’t have the time to dwell on it for long, though, because Katsuki was coming after him and he did not, actually, want to get a faceful of searing, explosive heat. Shocker.

Ichigo Flash Stepped above Katsuki when he approached, dashing back down with the goal of crashing into his spine and pinning him to the floor. Then, something changed around him and he froze. His instincts were screaming at him that something was wrong, that he needed to run as fast as he possibly could. He could feel it in his bones, in his soul.

“What the hell?” He murmured.

“Oi, Kurosaki, don’t you dare zone out on me!” Katsuki hollered as he raised his arm to send an explosion at him.

“Wait!” Ichigo shouted urgently. “Something’s up!”

The blond snorted. “What, the clouds?”

Ichigo growled. “I’m being serious! It feels like something’s gonna happen!”

Katsuki lowered his hand slightly. He didn’t like listening to other people, especially not Ichigo, but he knew as well as everybody else in 1-A did that his instincts were, 99% of the time, on point. If he said shit was gonna happen, it did. So, reluctantly, he posed the question, “Okay, so what is it?”

“I don’t know,” Ichigo replied honestly.

He dropped to the ground beside Katsuki, glancing around nervously. Shoto and Izuku made their way over from their safe viewing spot at the wall, wondering what was going on.

“Are you alright, Kurosaki?” Izuku asked, looking around to find whatever he thought Ichigo was looking for.

“I dunno, it just feels like there’s something going on.”

Almost immediately after, the air in front of the four boys distorted and twisted, opening with a loud rip into a swirling black void. They all jumped back, instantly wary of whatever it was. Ichigo observed the weird portal thing and realised with a sense of panic that it looked uncomfortably similar to the one that took him into this world.

Zangetsu, what the hell is that? And why did it just appear there? He directed at his Zanpakutō.

It looks and feels a lot like a Garganta, but it’s weird in a way. I don’t really know apart from it feels like the place we were in before being spat out here, he answered frankly.

“Great,” he muttered.

Before he or the other 3 boys could do anything, something was pulling them into the portal like a vacuum cleaner sucking up dust. They were helpless to stop it and before long, they were trapped in the void, floating in darkness.

“What just happened?! Where are we? This better not be some Villain!” Katsuki yelled, with effort turning his body to look at his classmates.

“I don’t think it is – UA’s security has been much better since the USJ,” Izuku reasoned, his mind churning away trying to figure out what was going on.

“It could be a Villain though,” Shoto shrugged.

“It’s not, trust me,” Ichigo denied, trying not to freak out.

Katsuki gave him a weird look. “The hell’s wrong with you?”

Memories of blank eyes, claws dragging him through a Garganta, falling into the void.

Instead of engaging in banter like he usually would, Ichigo answered a blunt, “This is really fucking bad.”

“Why?” Shoto prodded.

“Because-”

Ichigo cut himself off. He couldn’t explain what had happened to him in a place much like this back when he was 8, they wouldn’t understand. They’d think him crazy. The more rational part of his mind told him that they deserved an explanation, they were in this with him, but he ignored it stubbornly. He’d explain if they actually got sent to another world like he had. If they didn’t, there was no use in dredging up painful memories and making them think he’d lost every last one of his marbles.

He was saved the effort of deflecting any hard questions when some kind of light appeared near them, slowly growing wider and approaching their location in the void.

“That’d better an exit,” Katsuki grunted.

“I really hope it is one,” Izuku hoped.

The light soon engulfed them, turning everything into blinding white. For a few moments, they couldn’t see anything, couldn’t feel anything, couldn’t hear anything. Then, there was the painful sensation of being tossed through air and making harsh contact with wooden floorboards. They sat up after taking a moment to adjust to the pain and almost immediately had numerous pillows launching at them at high speed.

“Who the hell are you?!” A very, very familiar voice shouted.

Standing in a tense, defensive stance, clad in pyjamas and grasping a wooden pentagon in his hand just above his chest was Ichigo. It was a tad hard to see him in the moonlight, but he was clear enough to know who it was.

“Carotene?” Katsuki said, a bit surprised.

“The heck?” Ichigo whispered as he stared at the other him.

The other Ichigo’s eyes flicked between them all for a moment until he recognised the other ginger that had fallen into his room. Hs eyes nearly boggled out of his head.

“What… the… fu-”

The door burst open, nearly throwing it off its hinges as a man burst into the room brandishing a broom like a sword.

“Ichigo, my son, do not worry! Dad is here to protect you!” The man declared.

He noticed the four boys staring at them on the floor and he pointed the broom at them.

“Ah, intruders! Some juvenile delinquents deciding to break into our house in the middle of the night!” He exclaimed, waving the broom.

He paused his boisterous antics as he also appeared to recognise Ichigo, his eyebrows pulling together just a tad.

“…Another Ichigo?” He murmured.

Ichigo, after getting over his startlement, realised who the man was. It was his father – his biological one.

Holy shit.

“…Dad?” He whispered, eyes as wide as dinner plates.

Katsuki finally decided he’d had enough of sitting on the floor and jumped up, explosions crackling in his palms.

“Alright, I don’t know what’s going on here, but I’m not dealing with it. Move outta the way, old man!” He decided, taking a step towards Isshin. Both Ichigos quickly rushed to stop him, through Other Ichigo moved faster and put himself between his father and Katsuki.

“Hey, back off!” He warned, glowering down at the shorter male.

“Bakugou, wait!” Ichigo frantically said, popping up to stand beside his fiery classmate.

He looked between Other Ichigo and Isshin. “I think we got off on the wrong foot here.”

“Yeah, no kidding,” Other Ichigo huffed.

Izuku stood from the floor, anxiously speaking up, “We’re really sorry, we didn’t mean to get spat out… here. It wasn’t intentional. I think Kacchan just wants to get out of here. And back where we came from.”

Other Ichigo looked sceptical, though that was replaced by weary resignment after a few seconds of careful consideration.

“Fucking hell…” He murmured, running a hand down his face. “I don’t have the energy to figure this out.”

He looked to Isshin and shooed him away like a fly, closing the door behind him when he was shoved out. He flicked the light on as well, both him and Ichigo squinting and wincing at the sudden bright light. Other Ichigo sighed and crossed his arms once recovered, fixing the younger teens with a stare that conveyed immense exasperation.

“Alright, who are you four? Apart from you, because it’s obvious you’re like… another me, or something,” Other Ichigo inquired, gesturing vaguely to Ichigo. “Also, why are you in my room?”

“It’s not like we wanted to be in your shitty-ass room,” Katsuki growled.

“We got sent here through some weird portal,” Shoto explained, “It appeared out of nowhere, sucked us in, and then spat us out here.”

“It kind of looked like a Garganta,” Ichigo tacked on, hoping the other him knew what that was.

Other Ichigo obviously did, because he raised an eyebrow. “A Garganta? Huh. Weird.”

Katsuki looked between them with vague anger, not liking being left in the dark.

“The hell’s a Garganta?” He questioned, scowling just as fiercely as Other Ichigo.

“A pathway between dimensions, essentially,” Ichigo explained, “I believe we may have been transported to another, alternate dimension. Or universe.”

“Whoa. That doesn’t make much sense, though, how is that even possible? I thought other dimensions and alternate realities were just a theory. If it is true, though, that would really change how we think of our reality, and that would open up so many possibilities… would there be a way to travel between them at will, instead of accidentally like we did?” Izuku began to ramble, muttering into his hand.

“Shut the hell up, Deku! Nobody wants to hear your nerd talk,” Katsuki cut in, glaring at the green-haired boy.

He quickly slapped his other hand over his mouth and stopped talking. “Oh, sorry!”

“Hey, don’t be an asshole, he’s got something going there,” Other Ichigo scolded.

“We might need those kinds of thoughts if we wanna get home,” Ichigo agreed.

Katsuki scowled fiercely at the two gingers. He could already tell he was going to hate this – one Ichigo was bad enough, but two? One of them was getting blown up within the day.

“Now, before we go any further, I don’t know your names,” Other Ichigo said.

Ah, that was right. They hadn’t introduced themselves since being spat out here.

“I’m Shoto Todoroki,” Shoto said first.

“Izuku Midoriya!” Izuku followed.

“Katsuki Bakugou, don’t forget it,” Katsuki grumbled.

“And you already know who I am. Ichigo Kurosaki,” Ichigo finished.

“Great. Now that we’ve been introduced, I’m getting you out of my house and to somebody who can actually help you out,” Other Ichigo huffed, “Can you four run quick?”

Shoto replied with a so-so gesture. He had athletic skill, but his quirk didn’t help much with speed in an urban environment. Izuku and Ichigo nodded, being the speedsters of the group and Katsuki rolled his eyes but flicked up a thumb.

“Right, so three of you yes, one of you not really.” He pointed abruptly at Shoto. “You, Todo-rigatoni or whatever your name was.”

“Todoroki,” he corrected.

“That. Anyway, you. I’ll carry you since you seem to not be able to run as fast as the rest of us and I don’t fancy taking my sweet time getting you all to where you need to be. I need my sleep,” Other Ichigo stated, leaving no room for protest.

Shoto looked a bit wary at the suggestion. “Are you sure?”

“Very sure.”

“I can just go myself, it’s not that big of a deal.”

Shoto caved at the intense stare he was receiving. It seemed both versions of Ichigo were incredibly stubborn.

“Alright,” Shoto sighed.

“Great.”

Other Ichigo turned his attention away from the boys, shifting towards his closet. He opened the door and swiftly yanked out what looked to be a lion plushie. It looked normal at first, but then it started to twitch and emitted a loud yawn. The plushie straightened in Other Ichigo’s hand, blinking wearily at him.

“Ichigo? What is it?” It asked.

The boys stared in shock. They’d seen some funky things before, but a plushie that was alive was a first.

“Kon, I have to go to Kisuke’s. Take care of my body while I’m gone,” Other Ichigo informed.

“Got it. But uh… why this late at night?” The plushie, Kon, asked.

“Cuz of those guys.”

Kon looked behind him at the four teens, yelling loudly in surprise. Other Ichigo hissed at him to be quieter.

“Whoa, it’s another you, Ichigo! Young you! How’d that happen?” Kon asked in rapid-fire, squirming out of Other Ichigo’s grip and padding over to the boys.

“No idea. That’s why we’re going to Kisuke’s, to find out what happened and get them all home.”

“Oh.”

Other Ichigo walked forward and snatched Kon from the floor, ignoring his protest. He tapped the wooden pentagon he’d been holding to Kon’s back, and he fell limp like a puppet released from its strings, a small green pill popping from the lion’s mouth. Other Ichigo caught it quickly with the same hand he’d tapped to his back, then placed Kon’s body on the desk beside his bed.

“Did you just kill the plushie?” Katsuki asked bluntly.

Other Ichigo looked at him like he’d grown a second head.

“No? I just extracted his soul to put it in my body so I can take you guys to Kisuke,” he explained like it was common knowledge.

“That sounded like a whole buncha gibberish. Mind not speaking in tongues?” The blond snapped, eyes narrowed.

“I second that – what are you talking about?” Ichigo agreed.

“Wha- you too?” Other Ichigo said incredulously. “Okay, hang on.”

He popped the green pill that was supposedly Kon’s ‘soul’ into his mouth. Right after it was swallowed, his body appeared to separate into two beings – one, the other Ichigo they’d been talking to, who fell onto the mattress but then quickly righted himself and stood beside it, and another, who wore some pretty weird clothing that Ichigo recognised as a Shihakusho with some additional parts added onto it.

The four boys stared, wide-eyed.

“What the heck did you just do?!” Katsuki shouted, jabbing a finger at the two older teens.

“I put Kon’s soul into my body so my soul was separated from it?” Other Ichigo, the one wearing the shihakusho, informed. “You guys seriously haven’t seen anything like this?”

“No!” They all chorused.

The Other Ichigo who was apparently Kon rubbed his neck, very baffled. “I think these guys come from a bit of a different universe than ours, Ichigo. Obviously they have no idea how spirits and stuff work.”

Kon’s voice coming from the body confirmed that it was him.

“I mean, I kind of know, but this is new even for me,” Ichigo muttered, “I’ve never separated my soul from my body before.”

Shoto, Katsuki and Izuku sent him varying looks – Izuku was just curious, Shoto confused and Katsuki a bit annoyed.

“You knew this kind of thing could happen? Since when?! What else are you hiding, Kurosaki?” Katsuki interrogated, getting up in Ichigo’s face.

The ginger shoved him back, not appreciating the sudden close proximity. “I’m not hiding anything, back off!”

“We’ll see about that,” Katsuki growled, reluctantly taking a step back.

Other Ichigo cleared his throat. Their attention was drawn to him, and he gestured to the window which was now open, the gentle night breeze blowing in.

“Can we go now? Like I said earlier, I want to go back to sleep,” he said.

“Oh, yeah. Sorry,” Ichigo apologised.

Izuku looked a tad confused. “Why is the window open?”

“Easiest way outside,” Other Ichigo explained with a shrug. “Anyway! Todo…roki? Todoroki. How good are you with flying?”

Ichigo touched down in the dusty courtyard in front of Kisuke’s shop, helping the boy he’d been carrying off his back. The guy was a bit shaky on his feet and looked slightly pale – understandable for someone who wasn’t used to high speeds being rocketed across a town at a speed comparable to a jet. He should be glad he wasn’t throwing up.

“Oops. Sorry about that… You good?” He asked, feeling a bit guilty now.

Shoto gave him a weak thumbs-up. “I’m fine…”

Ichigo winced. Yeah this guy looked on the verge of passing out. He wasn’t fine. Not much he could do now, though, but stand by and catch him if he did pass out.

The faint sound of Flash Step approached their location, and a few seconds later, the younger him touched down beside them, eyeing him with a hint of admiration.

“You’re fast,” he noted.

Ichigo shrugged. “I wasn’t going that fast, I had to hold back so your friend here wouldn’t straight-up die.”

“…Damn.”

Young Ichigo looked to Shoto and patted him on the back awkwardly.

“You okay, Todoroki?” He asked.

“Fine,” replied the dual-haired boy, gradually adjusting his posture to stand normally as the nausea faded. “Where’s Midoriya and Bakugou?”

“On their way. They can’t go that fast compared to me and other me,” he answered.

That was confirmed as they had to wait another minute for the two to arrive, the green-haired kid arriving a bit faster. The blond arrived with much more of a bang, though. Literally. He could make explosions from his hands and used it to propel himself through the air – cool as hell, in Ichigo’s opinion, but also confusing as hell because what? He’d seen his fair share of abilities in his time as a Substitute Soul Reaper, but these kids (minus younger him) had barely any spiritual pressure. Their levels were barely enough to see spirits, yet they could see him just fine and could use these weird abilities with no visible drain. It hurt his brain.

He really hoped Kisuke could explain all this.

“Come on,” he huffed, heading for the door to the shop.

The teens followed behind him. Izuku, who appeared to be the most logical and curious of the group, piped up.

“Hey, it doesn’t look like anybody’s up. We aren’t going to wake anybody, right?” He asked, concerned for the sleep of the people inside the shop.

“You guys already woke me up, why’re you worrying about that now? Plus, if I have to be awake for this headache, then Kisuke has to be too,” Ichigo replied frankly.

He walked up to the door and tested it, finding that it wasn’t going to open. Bummer. Looked like Kisuke would have to replace the locks again. His hand went to the section of the door where he knew the locks were from his many past occasions of breaking in and yanked the door to the side, hearing the satisfying crunch and creak of metal and wood breaking.

“What are you doing, why are you breaking in?!” Izuku whisper-yelled, eyes wide. “Isn’t this your friend’s house?!”

“Friend? Nah, he’s more more of an annoying mentor. Besides, I do this all the time,” he dismissed.

“Wouldn’t a mentor get annoyed if you keep breaking his locks?” Shoto questioned.

 “If he really had that much of a problem with me breaking into his house, he’d have put a better lock by now or he’d have given me a key. It’s really his fault he keeps having to replace them. Anyway, let’s go. Less talking, more solving of the problem.”

Ichigo strolled inside, not realising just how weird his actions must seem to the four boys. They slowly followed him, a bit more quiet with their steps to try and avoid being too loud. No use, though, Kisuke would have woken up the moment he walked inside. He somehow had a sixth sense for when Ichigo was in the shop – or maybe his spirit energy was just so obvious that the man automatically knew he was there. Sure enough, the distinctive clack of geta progressed down the hall nearby, and soon Kisuke was poking his head into the front room, rubbing his eyes free of the crust in the edges.

“Ichigo? Why are you here so la- oh. Never mind. I see why,” he man asked, eyes roaming over the boys.

“As you can see, I have a bit of a problem. These guys appeared in my room like… a short while ago. Including another me,” Ichigo explained, gesturing behind him.

“Hello,” Izuku said awkwardly, “Sorry if we woke you.”

Kisuke waved if off, stepping into the room fully. “It’s no problem at all. Would you all like to come into the back room, I’ll fix us some tea and you can explain your situation there.”

Katsuki looked like he wanted to protest, obviously not trusting the random guy offering them tea, but Ichigo replied before he could say anything.

“Yeah, sure,” he agreed. “Thanks, Kisuke.”

Kisuke simply nodded and began to walk into the back rooms of the shop, heading for the room where he, Ichigo and his friends gathered to talk. Ichigo followed, the boys not far behind. When he entered the room, he told the four to take a seat while he helped with the tea to make sure Kisuke didn’t burn it (the man couldn’t cook or make anything edible to save his life). A few minutes later and he was carrying in a platter with 6 cups of steaming tea, placing it on the table. He took a seat on the free cushion beside Shoto, taking a cup from the platter. Kisuke sat down and did the same, and the boys soon took some for themselves after seeing that it was safe.

Ichigo wondered in the back of his mind why they were so wary of the tea. It was just food, it’s not like it was poisoned. Maybe they thought it was. It was a bit of a red flag, but he pushed it to the corner of his thoughts for later.

“So, before you start with your story, would you mind giving me your names?” Kisuke began, placing his cup on the table.

The boys introduced themselves one after the other, including the younger Ichigo.

“Thank you. If Ichigo here hasn’t already told you, I’m Kisuke Urahara. Now, please, tell us what happened. In detail, preferably.”

Katsuki, Izuku and Shoto simultaneously looked to Young Ichigo. He spluttered in protest, but groaned and reluctantly started to explain after muttering a quick, “Why me?”

He sighed. “Well, we were just training at UA – the school we go to – when I felt something off. I didn’t think much of it, but then it got worse and the reishi in the air started to feel weird. Soon after, some kind of portal that looked like a Garganta opened up, and we were sucked in. We were just floating in the dark for a bit, but then a bright light appeared and covered us, and the next thing we knew, we were in other me’s room,” Young Ichigo explained. “We have a suspicion we’ve been sent to another universe.”

“Do you believe it?” Kisuke asked, eyebrows pulled together slightly.

“I mean… maybe?”

He thought for a second, lips pursed, then corrected his answer with a more honest, “Yeah. Whatever happened, it’s…”

He looked around at the other 3 boys, hesitant to continue with their presence. Ichigo wondered why.

“It’s very similar to something that happened to me in the past. It’s not that far of a stretch,” he finally said.

“What do you mean? Something like this happened-” Shoto began.

He was cut off by Young Ichigo, who said a sharp, “Leave it… please. I’ll explain later, promise. It’s just a pretty painful memory.”

“I see. Sorry,” Shoto apologised.

“It’s okay, really.”

Kisuke noted the end of their short conversation and spoke again. “So, as I understand it, you were involuntarily taken here through a portal similar to a Garganta.”

“Yeah,” Young Ichigo confirmed.

“And you really had no part in creating or modifying this portal?” Kisuke continued.

“I don’t even know how to make a Garganta!” Young Ichigo said defensively.

Kisuke held his hands up placatingly. “I was just checking. Our world’s Ichigo can make Garganta, so it would have made sense if you could too and somehow played a role in this portal coming into being and where you ended up.”

“Well, I didn’t,” he huffed.

“As I can tell now.”

The silence that followed was a bit awkward, Kisuke thinking hard about the information he’d been provided. Then, it was broken as Izuku blurted out a question.

“Wait, Ichigo. The older one. You can make those Garganta things? In that case, do you think you could perhaps be able to send us back where we came from?” He asked hopefully.

Ichigo shook his head rapidly.

“Oh, no no no. I can barely even form one that’ll take me through dimensions properly, let alone make one that could take people through universes. I didn’t even know other universes existed until now, so that’d be virtually impossible, even with my learning curve,” he answered, making sure to cut that train of thought right in the bud.

“Oh.”

“But,” Kisuke said, “I’m sure we can figure out a way to get you back, don’t worry. It might take a bit of time, but we’ll figure out a way.”

“Kisuke’s one of the smartest, if not the smartest, people I know. He’ll find a way, trust me,” Ichigo reassured, giving them a small smile.

“For now, you four will need a place to stay,” Kisuke diverted.

Ichigo immediately scowled. “They are not staying at my place. I’ve had enough of people living in my house rent-free for one lifetime.”

Kisuke chuckled. “Why, I would never suggest that! Four people is too much for one person to handle, especially yourself after all the recent events.”

“Oookay, stop right there. It’s not that I can’t handle people, I just don’t want to,” Ichigo growled, sending the shopkeeper a venomous glare.

Really, was the guy trying to annoy him?

Kisuke smirked. “Uh-huh.”

“I will murder you, Kis-”

“Anyway!” The man said abruptly, halting Ichigo’s rage-filled threat, “You can all stay at my humble abode for now. And, since it seems you’ll need something to do until you can return home…”

Ichigo realised what he was getting at and glared at him. “No.”

“I’ll see about getting you enrolled in the local high school.”

“No!”

“Why, yes, my dear student. What else are they supposed to do, let their academic skill crumble away? We can’t have that!” Kisuke justified, his tone endlessly amused.

“Do you know how annoying it’s gonna be to explain this to everyone?!” Ichigo hissed, barely resisting the urge to strangle Kisuke.

“Who cares about that, Kurosaki 2,” Katsuki snorted, “What I wanna know is what this high school of yours is like. Does it have a good hero program? It better!”

Ichigo gave him a dubious look. “Hero program? What’re you going on about?”

Katsuki was silent, and then he looked annoyed. “Don’t tell me this universe doesn’t have heroes!”

“It wouldn’t,” Young Ichigo said quietly, deep in thought.

“What’re you on about, Carotene?” Katsuki insisted.

“Bakugou, this place is completely different from our world. There aren’t Quirks here. Heroes and Villains don’t exist. Most people are just normal, mundane people going about their life. We aren’t even in the 22^nd Century anymore,” he informed, looking vaguely dazed.

“What?” Shoto said. “Kurosaki, that’s…”

“Crazy? Insane? I know, but…”

His hand clenched against the table.

“I know where we are. This is my universe. This is where I came from,” he murmured, processing the revelation. “And you…”

He looked directly at Ichigo. “You’re who I would be if I never left.”