Chapter Text
Chapter 1: Easy Mode
Izuku Midoriya opened his eyes to see… he was surrounded by trees.
Immediately, he jumped up, on guard. What was going on?
The last thing he remembered was being in that white void with Shigaraki, after the two of them destroyed All For One, with the help of One For All's reawakened vestiges. He was asked to deliver Shigaraki's final message to Spinner, but after that… it was a complete blank.
Looking down on himself, he looked to see that… his body was perfectly fine? Sure, he knew his arms would be fine after Aizawa-sensei gave him Eri's horn, but he didn't feel like he had any wounds from his battle with Shigaraki. Even his Hero costume was completely intact!
In fact, it could be argued that it looked even better than before.
The ripped scarf he got from Gran Torino was completely mended, it was even long enough and attached to his costume as if it was a cape once again! He couldn't even see any stitches!
There was even an intact version of his cowl, right behind his head as it usually was!
Trying to remember what happened, he vividly remembered giving Shigaraki piece by piece One For All before everyone arrived to help him take down All For One. He remembered delivering his final attack, too, but…Quickly, he charged up his right arm, to see that… his Quirk was still here. Not just the strength aspect, but every single Quirk within One For All, too!
Blackwhip… Smokescreen… Danger Sense… Fa Jin… Gearshift… Float…
He could sense all of them within his body, but…
Hello? Nana? Yoichi-san? Anyone?!
Nothing. He couldn't hear the vestiges. Any of them.
What in the actual hell was going on?
Was this some sort of hallucination? Maybe some last-minute vision he had before finally succumbing to his wounds? It was nothing short of a miracle he wasn't dead. Actually, it would be nothing short of a miracle if the war ended with only him having the biggest injuries.
Shit! What happened to everyone else?!
Quickly getting up from the grass, Izuku looked around and knew where he was. Noticing a small creek next to him, he recognized this place as the one where Kacchan fell into when the two of them were still little kids. It was right next to his home town of Musutafu…
Running in the right direction, Izuku's mind was going a million miles an hour. Were all of his friends okay? The Pros? All Might? He knew the other All For One rewinded himself to death and both Spinner and Dabi were beaten, so that was good, but what about everything else…?!
Leaving the forest, Izuku prepared himself for the worst, only to see…
…that Musutafu was perfectly fine?
Yeah… Musutafu was perfectly fine.
Which was a problem.
Destroyed buildings, rampaging Villains, scared civilians, dark clouds. The last time Izuku saw his hometown, it was a complete wreck, like something straight out of a war zone.
Izuku had rushed out of the forest as fast as he could without drawing attention to himself, thinking he'd see the same sorry sight as the last time he was here, but… no.
It looked like the war never happened. No rubble, no Villains, no nothing. There were even people walking around, acting as if the Paranormal Liberation War had never happened.
"What the...? What's going on?"
Walking through the streets with caution, Izuku could see that everyone was minding their own business, without even a hint of fear on their faces. In fact, the only emotions he saw were those of happy children playing around, and adults who were giving Izuku strange looks.
What's going on? Why is everything so... normal? Everything looks the same, but...
"Hey, kid!" an old man shouted at him. "Nice cosplay!"
"Huh? Cosplay?" Izuku wondered, Does he mean my Hero Costume?
"Who's he even supposed to be?" a nearby salaryman asked.
"Maybe it's from a manga or comic book," a woman next to him said.
Izuku kept walking along, chewing at what he heard the locals saying, until eventually… he reached his old apartment complex. He wasn't sure if it was force of habit or some kind of instinct, but rather than flying straight to UA, he just… wandered back to his childhood home.
Izuku wasn't sure if his mother was home, but given how everything seemed to be normal, it wouldn't hurt to check. Izuku knocked on the door and waited for his mother to open.
Nothing. Maybe she's still back at UA?
Seeing that there was no response, he checked underneath the rug, and sure enough, the spare key was still hidden there. Good to see some things were still the norm.
Izuku unlocked the door, opened it, and walked in.
It had been a while since he had left home for the UA dorms, but everything appeared the same. Izuku decided to call out to his mother in case she didn't hear him knocking outside.
"Mom? Are you here?"
Still nothing.
Izuku decided not to panic just yet. In fact, given how… normal… everything seemed, it stood to reason that he should probably blend in, pretend nothing was wrong. To look like everyone else.
Just in case.
Removing his Hero gear, he decided to go into his room and change into some normal clothes… for now. But when he got to his room, Izuku immediately noticed something... off.
There was no Hero merch... anywhere. Sure, he took most of it to UA when the dorms became a thing after the Kamino Ward Incident, but there was still some merch he had left behind he planned to come back and take with him when he became a Pro, he couldn't bring it all.
Surely his mother didn't move it… right?
Quickly changing into some normal clothes he found in his drawer, Izuku went back out to the hallway, towards the landline. He didn't have his cellphone on him, so his options were limited. There was one more place he could think of his mom being at, aside from UA… her office.
And thankfully, he knew the number. Izuku dialed in the number, and waited for an answer…
"Hello? Who is this?"
"Hey, Mom, it's Izuku," he said into the phone, "I was just calling to ma–"
"IZUKU?! Baby, is it really you?!"
Izuku wasn't expecting that reaction, and especially at such a high volume. Although, he was just fighting the successor of All for One a few hours ago, so it's understandable...
"Uh, yeah. It's me, Mom. I'm fine."
"Stay right where you are, honey! I'm coming home right this instant!"
"Okay...?"
As he hung up the phone, he was still as confused as ever, if not even more so.
Twenty minutes of just waiting around later, Izuku heard a knock on the door.
About time.
Opening the door, Izuku saw… his mother? Except… her hair was black?
Something was seriously off. Aside from her hair being black, she was also... thin? After they found out he was Quirkless, his mother began stress eating and it unfortunately caused her to gain a bit of weight. But now? She looked similar to her old self when he was a little kid.
What was going on?!
The Inko-but-not-really-Inko approached her son. "Izuku…?"
"Yeah, it's me. I'm fine, Mom."
"Fine?!" the black-haired woman shouted, looking at her son. "Izuku, honey, at yourself! You're taller than me now, you have scars on your arms, and… why the heck is your hair green?!"
That threw Izuku for a loop. "Huh? What are you talking about? I've had these scars for months and my hair's always been green. Speaking of which, why the heck is your hair black?"
Izuku could see the moment the tears leaked out of his mom's eyes when he said that, as she quickly embraced him, and began to cry. All he could do was hold the crying woman.
"Mom…"
"Izuku Midoriya?"
Looking up from his mother, Izuku noticed All Might's friend of all people standing by the doorway of his apartment. "Detective Tsukauchi? What are you doing here?"
The detective's eyebrow raised at that. "You know me, kid?"
"Yeah? We met after the USJ Incident," Izuku said, mildly confused.
"Met after what?" Tsukauchi asked.
The green-haired teen's face twisted in confusion upon hearing that. How does he not remember that?! He was literally asking everyone questions about the Villains that day!
The detective, on the other hand, was now wearing a serious face. "Midoriya, I do not want to alarm you, but we're gonna have to ask you to accompany us to the hospital right away."
"Okay...?" Izuku said, as he tried to rationalize the reason behind this. Well, I was just in a fight for the fate of the world… I guess it wouldn't hurt to get a check-up after… that…
Tsukauchi, alongside a few more officers that arrived, accompanied the Midoriyas to the nearby hospital, with the doctors there giving Izuku the works, from X-rays to CAT scans.
Their scans showed the places where Izuku had damaged his hands and torn his ligaments, and the X-rays showed where he broke his bones going all-out with One For All.
He could hear from outside the doctors office, the police tossing words around like "serious injuries" and "possibly tortured," which didn't help his mother's nerves one bit.
But aside from that, there was something else going through his head right now. Shouldn't there be a copy of my medical records? None of the doctors should be surprised by what they saw…
"Midoriya? Would it be alright if we asked you some questions?" Tsukauchi asked.
"Uhh... sure," the green-haired teenager said.
"Alright, could you tell us how you reached your family's apartment?"
Weird question, but okay. "I... walked there?"
"Where were you before then?" the detective asked.
"I'm not sure how, but… I found myself in the forest outside the city," the freckled teen answered honestly. "I made my way back to my apartment and called my mother upon walking in."
"Do you remember anything from before you woke up in the forest?"
"I was fighting Shigaraki when everything went white."
Tsukauchi gave Izuku a funny look at that. "Shigaraki?"
"Yeah, I was trying to stop him when I woke up in the forest."
"Could you describe him for me?"
Now that really struck Izuku as weird. When they were fighting, Shigaraki was the number one most dangerous Villain in the world! How could Tsukauchi possibly need a description of him?!
"We can move on to another question, if you're uncomfortable…"
Izuku snapped out of his thoughts, as he quickly said, "No, it's not that... just... Why do you need a description of him? Everyone in Japan should already know what Shigaraki looks like."
"Is he famous?" Tsukauchi asked.
"Considering he decimated half of Jaku, broke into and destroyed Tartarus, and attacked UA, that would be an understatement," the green-haired teen said, his tone completely serious.
"Jaku? Tartarus? Attacked UA? Kid, what are you talking about?"
"What am I talking about? You should already know all of this stuff! After everything he's done, after all the people he's killed, he should be at the top of Japan's most wanted list!"
Seeing both his mother's and Tsukauchi's faces, Izuku knew that something was up. They were looking at him like he was crazy. This… this had to be some sort of sick joke, right? Right?!
Gulping, he asked, "Do you... really not know?"
"Know what, Izuku?" his mother asked.
Izuku was quiet for a moment, before asking, "What did you think happened to me?"
Tsukauchi sighed, before saying, "Midoriya… our current theory is that you were kidnapped, and right now… your mind is creating some sort of… fantasy… in order to protect yourself."
Kidnapped? I was never kidnapped! Did Shigaraki do some kind of final backstab by creating some sort of illusion? But that wouldn't explain why I don't sense any danger right now…
There was only one thing Izuku could think of doing now.
He needed to check on something.
He needed to use the internet.
"Mr. Tsukauchi, may I please borrow a phone?" Izuku asked.
The detective nodded, handing Izuku his phone, as the boy opened up Google.
Search: Quirk
noun 1. A peculiar behavioral habit…
Search: All For One
All For One (From "High School Musical 2") — YouTube
Search: All Might
All Might (Ōru Maito in Rōmanji) is the main protagonist of the shonen manga of the same name, created by Toshinori Yagi. His appearance is that of a massive blond man…
What... the... fuck... ? Izuku Midoriya couldn't believe it… but all evidence pointed to one thung… He somehow stumbled into a universe without Heroes, one without Villains…
He was now in a universe without… Quirks.
How? How was this physically possible? How could he have ended up in a universe where everything was... normal? He had read plenty of isekai stories before, but this...?
"Kid, are you all right?" Tsukauchi asked.
Izuku was silent for a few minutes, before saying, "Yeah... I'm fine…"
That would be one of the biggest lies Izuku Midoriya would ever tell in his life.
Izuku didn't imagine he would ever feel weird at seeing the front gates of UA.
It had been a few days since he was sent to this Quirkless reality, and most of it was spent on medical exams and psych evaluations. But right now, none of that really mattered anymore.
Because he was ready to be "re-enrolled" in the non-Hero Class 2-A of UA High.
It was... ironic when Izuku thought about it. He was Quirkless for most of his life, and he never met another Quirkless person before Melissa. Though, he wasn't sure if he could count All Might or Aoyama. Then, he gained the Quirk of said Number 1 Hero, and gained the Quirks of the past users of One For All. Now, he was in a world where he was the only person with a Quirk...
This doesn't feel real...
"Midoriya?"
Izuku got his head out of the clouds, and turned around to see Iida.
He couldn't help but quickly check the taller ( and now with black hair instead of blue) boy's calves, and sure enough, there was no evidence his signature engines were there.
Quickly putting on a soft smile, he said, "Oh, hey Iida. It's been a while."
"Indeed. As class representative, I've come alongside Aizawa-sensei to escort you to class, and make sure you're comfortable," Iida said, as the aforementioned teacher trailed behind him.
"Oh, uh, thanks Iida."
"Good to have you back, kid," Aizawa said.
"Thanks, Aizawa-sensei."
It's weird seeing him without his Capture Scarf...
Inside Class 2-A, everyone could only talk about one thing.
"Did you guys hear?" a black-haired Eijiro Kirishima asked the rest of his classmates. "Apparently, Iida learned that Midoriya was found and he's coming back today."
"Really?! That's amazing!" Ochako Uraraka exclaimed.
"I heard he has scars all over his body, mostly on his arms," Momo Yaoyorozu said.
"Who would wanna do that to Midori?" Mina Ashido asked, her short blonde hair waving around her head as she shook around on her desk. "He's one of the sweetest guys I've ever met."
"It also implies that someone knew of his existence and would go out of their way to kidnap him," Shoto Todoroki said, as he moved a bit of his black hair out of the direction of his eyes.
"Well, yeah, it was done intentionally," Mezo Shoji said. "Why else would he just disappear?"
"Uhh, I think that Todoroki meant that there must have been a motive for them to kidnap Midoriya," a curly brown-haired Koji Koda said. "But what would they want with him?"
"Yeah, that doesn't make any sense," Denki Kaminari said, scratching his all-blond hair "If it was Yaomomo or Todoroki, that would be one thing, 'cause of ransom and shit, but Midoriya?"
Everyone quieted down, as they saw Aizawa-sensei walking into the class.
"Alright, I know you're all eager to see Midoriya and ask him what happened, but I would like to remind you that he's likely been through a traumatizing experience, so if he does not want to answer, you will not force or coerce an answer out of him. Do I make myself absolutely clear?"
Everyone in the classroom slowly nodded at that.
Aizawa nodded in approval. "Good. Iida, he's clear to enter."
Looking over the door, everyone watched silently as Iida entered the room, followed by the now slightly taller, way more buff-looking, and most shocking of all, green-haired, Midoriya.
Izuku, on the other side, looked at all of his "classmates" in quiet horror.
Tokoyami no longer had a bird head, but instead, had a human head with black hair.
Mina was no longer a pink-skinned alien with black eyes and horns, but instead, a tan blonde girl, kinda like a gyaru. Jiro had black hair, and no longer had jacks on her earlobes.
Shoji, Mineta, Asui, and Koda all now had normal, human-looking appearances. All of their hair and their heteromorphic features were gone, as they now looked like normal humans.
In fact, anyone who didn't have what would be considered a non-standard hair color before the Dawn of Quirks now had only blonde, brown, or black hair, and absolutely nothing else.
Everyone now looked so… ordinary.
Even certain characteristics were changed. Kaminari no longer had a black lightning bolt in his hair, Todoroki's scar on his left eye was non-existent, and Kirishima's hair was black and laid down. Well, at least he finally knew what Hagakure looked like without any kind of Quirk.
Huh. Blonde hair and teal eyes… Who would have guessed?
"Midoriya?" Iida called out to him. "Is everything alright?"
"Uhh, I'm sorry… my memories of all of you are a bit foggy… and messed up…" the green-haired teen said, using part of the cover story Tsukauchi came up with.
"Do you at least remember where your seat is?" Aizawa asked.
"Seat 18, right?"
"That's right."
Izuku quickly made his way to his original seat. Once he sat down, he felt a tap on his shoulder, and turned around to see this universe's Kacchan. "Glad to have ya back, nerd."
That... caused Izuku to stop and stare at the blond in complete shock. Did... did Katsuki Bakugou just say he was... glad... to see him...? Izuku could feel himself tear up…
"The hell?" Kacchan jumped at the sight of tears. "I just said I was –"
"I know!" Izuku quickly said. "It's just… it made me so happy… These are tears of joy…"
"Okay...?" the blond said, before scooting away.
Wiping the tears off of his face, Midoriya took a deep breath and looked around at his new classmates before saying, "So… does anyone have any questions about me?"
"Yeah, I do," Ashido said. "Like, what happened to you?"
"Well, according to the police, whatever happened to me while I was missing was bad enough to cause my mind to create a bunch of "false memories" in order to suppress what actually happened and keep me sane," Midoriya said, even if he didn't like the idea of lying like this.
"False memories?" Todoroki asked.
"Yeah, like, for example, I remember all of you but… differently," Izuku said, using a bit of the truth in his fabrications. "Different hair colors, personalities, even personal histories."
"Oh! Did I have a badass scar?" Kaminari asked excitedly.
Izuku chuckled at that. "You had a bit of black in your hair."
"What about me?" Ashido asked.
"You, um… had pink hair."
The tan blonde frowned. "Aww…"
"Alright, that's enough out of all of you. You can ask him more questions after class. We still have classes to do," Aizawa said, as he sat down on his desk, with everyone following suit
"""Yes, Aizawa-sensei."""
A few days later, Izuku was now sitting in his room, staring at his Hero costume.
No one had seen it while they were in the apartment, thankfully. But Izuku himself wondered if he should even be keeping it around, despite it all. This was a world at peace. There were no Villains roaming the streets… there was no place for Heroes, for Dekum in such a world.
…Right?
But... what would I even do anymore? All my life, I've wanted to be just like All Might, but now...
Suddenly, Izuku felt a sharp pain in his head. Danger Sense had gone off. It wasn't the kind of pain that indicated he himself was in any imminent danger. It was the kind of pain which was warning him that somewhere far away… something very bad was about to happen.
Is someone in trouble? But there are no Villains in this world... why would…?
Quickly grabbing the bag with his costume in it, Izuku sneaked out of the window, and headed towards the middle of Musutafu. Using One for All and Float to stay on the rooftops and avoid unnecessary attention, Deku patrolled to see what could be causing a disturbance.
What caught his attention was something bad: A bridge had partially collapsed, concrete falling on the road beneath them, and the bullet train above was teetering on the edge.
They're in trouble! Izuku realized. I've gotta save them!
Even if Villains didn't exist in this world, there were still people that needed saving.
Instantly, Izuku changed into his costume, pulling the new cowl over his face.
Once ready, he flew towards the teetering train, and ripped open the door.
CRUNCH!
The passengers were understandably shocked that a masked person casually ripped open a metal door, but Izuku didn't waver. In a calming voice, he asked, "Is everyone alright?"
"All right?! We're about to fall to our deaths?! How can we be all right?!"
"Understood." Despite the shouting of the panicking civilian, Izuku kept his tone consistent, just like he was trained. "I need everyone to hold onto the handrails as tight as you can, please."
The civilians reluctantly did as ordered, while Izuku got on the top of the train and used Blackwhip to grab onto the train car hanging on the edge, and the ground behind him for leverage. Powering up One for All to 45%, Deku pulled the train car back onto the tracks.
"Okay, that should keep it stable for now, but you all need to get off," Izuki said, as he looked towards the civilians. "Everyone, please form a line. I'll carry you down one at a time."
The passengers did so, and Deku quickly began to carry them out one by one. He didn't want to use Blackwhip to carry multiple out as it could scare them and cause them to panic.
"Oh my gosh, you're flying…" the lady he was holding whispered.
Setting her down, Izuku nodded as he carried the last passenger.
All the civilians had been rescued. Excellent.
Looking at the people, Izuku asked, "Was anyone injured?"
"AIIIEEEEE!!!!!"
Before anyone could answer, a scream pierced the air, with Deku turning around to see the bridge collapsing, about to drop the train car on… a very familiar-looking brown-haired girl.
OCHAKO!!!
Izuku immediately rushed towards her and –
BOOM!
...caught the massive train car with his two hands, Ochako behind him, staring.
"Ho… How are you... How is...?" the brown-haired girl gasped.
"Are you all right, miss?" Izkuku asked, making sure not to use her name.
"Y-Y-Yeah…" Ochako said, as she stood up.
Izuku nodded, as he gently put the train car down, and began to float upwards.
"Wait!" Ochako called out to him. "Who... who are you?"
Izuku was quiet for a moment, as a memory from his old life surfaced.
"But you know, I think Deku would make a great Hero name! It sounds like "You can do it!"
"Call me… Deku."
Before anyone could ask anything else, emergency sirens sounded off in the distance, causing Deku to immediately fly off into the sky like a rocket, leaving civilians staring in awe.
Ochako still kept looking at the sky as the emergency services arrived.
"Did he just... fly off?" one of the firefighters asked.
"Dude, did you record all that?" a teenager asked his friend.
The second one asked himself, "Am I still high?"
One woman asked, "What did he say his name was?"
"I think he said Deku?"
"Deku…" Ochako repeated the name, as she kept looking up.
As civilians got smaller and smaller, Izuku removed his cowl.
His heart was beating a mile a minute, but his mind was clear.
He had come to a decision.
This may not have been his universe. These may not be the family and neighbors he grew up with, the friends he shared experiences with… or the people he loved.
But they were still people.
And he was going to be their Hero.
Author's Note: I know people wanted more Re: Zero, but this was easier to publish first.
Apologies aside, just like with a lot of other recent stories I've published, I'm basically dumping what I've already written for this concept I had into a sort of "season one." If I ever manage to get my life together, I'll continue with more "seasons," but just in case I don't, I'll also probably be explaining some of the out-of-universe stuff regarding this series and what would have happened in the Author's Notes, so if you don't wanna spoil yourself in the event that I do end up writing more chapters for this series, just skip the large paragraph and head straight to the comments for all of the future chapters.
Speaking of trivia, what basically happened to Midoriya at the start of this first chapter was the same thing that happened to Midoriya in the fic A Spanner in the Clockworks by All_five_pieces_of_Exodia, where he just… woke up in the middle of the woods in this universe where his other self had already disappeared for a while. But it also has the elements of the fic Quirked by armroyofstars, where everyone is Quirkless… except for our recently-isekai'd Midorya, along with some My Adventures with Superman vibes.
So! You all know I have created my own website where I've posted a bunch of my art, so, if you're interested in seeing that, visit https://eowen5.myportfolio.com/! And I'm pretty sure as you all know now, I have also made a Twitter account to post my art, so if anyone is interested in checking it out, https://twitter.com/ErnaloreProf is the link.
If you want more content, visit my Discord, the link is https://discord.gg/3PFYSt8Dqz. You can chat with others, post memes, fanfic recommendations and prompts, role play, fan art, and we even have a writer's corner now! I'll also drop by with announcements and chat with you all every now and then! Also, if you want to add me as a friend, my username is Ernalore#8663! Just please make sure to follow the rules.
Thanks for reading, and once again, see you next time!
- Ernalore