Chapter Text
"Eri?" Izuku whispers, his voice cracking over the name.
Tears fill emerald green eyes as he stares down at the only person he had left, the only child he could protect. He had lost everything just a few weeks ago. He lost the final war, and in the process lost his friends. His family.
"Izu-chan! Don't.. Don't cry." Eri murmurs, her voice trembling. "I want to save the world too."
She's so mature. So mature for a 6 year old. It was meant to be Izuku comforting her, damn it! But instead she was the one dragging him out of bed, begging him to continue fighting.
"I can't let you do that, Eri." Izuku croaks, stroking her hair down. "You're all I have left."
Eri's just stares at him, her eyes filling with a determination Izuku knows he once had. Somewhere. Before it was stolen by All For One.
" 'zuku! You can! I promise I can do it!" Eri cries, frustration filling her small voice. "Why won't you let me do it? Why won't you? Why won't you let me bring them back?"
She punches at his chest from where she's tightly gathered in Izukus arms. He wasn't going to let Eri die on a suicide mission.
"Enough Eri. I said no."
Glowering, she wiggles out of his arms and hides in a corner of the small bunker Izuku fashioned.
It hurts, but Izuku would rather her hate him than be dead.
***
Izuku hisses lowly as he crouched behind a bush. It’d been stupid to go into the centre of Musutafu—Izuku knew that.
But he also desperately needed medical supplies and the only hospital that hadn’t been cleared out was in the middle of all the chaos.
The war zone. It was dangerous, sure, but Izuku thought it was worth the risk.
Eri had a dreadful fever. A wound on her hand must have got infected, and now, without antibiotics, she would end up dead.
She's too weak to even rewind herself a few days back to health.
Trust Izuku's luck, right?
Izuku had been understandably nervous as he approached the crumbling buildings; apartments, schools, shopping centres.
Remnants of a life before.
Normally, Izuku would be conscious for other survivors. But no one ever really dared to return to this part of the city. A twig cracks beneath Izukus foot and he winces. Just because there weren't survivors, doesn't mean there wouldn't be other dangers. Villains. Or nomus. The place would be crawling with them. It was practically suicide to do this, especially alone.
But Eri had been sick for days .She really wouldn’t survive without the medicine and without her, Izuku may as well be dead.
Not to mention the promise to Sensei. He couldn't break that.
The city was nothing like he remembered.
Towering buildings were reduced to rubble and old apartment complexes crumbled at the corners. Cars were left haphazardly, either abandoned in the middle of the road or quietly parked on the streets, where they rusted and the tires had practically melted to the pavement.
It was surreal, almost peaceful in a sense. If you managed to ignore the rotten corpses on the floor.
Or the smell of rot and decay.
Izuku just ties his makeshift mask against his head even tighter, and prays he doesn't get into too much trouble.
***
The radio crackles to life whilst Izuku and Eri boil a pot of water. The water was no longer safe to drink. It was polluted with death. Drinking it without distilling would just kill you. And not quickly either.
Izuku tunes most of the radio out. Nowadays, anyone who still had a job would be elsewhere in the world. And if it was the JRS, it would only be fake news sent from All For One.
But still, it was nice to know what was going on anyway. Sighing, Izuku takes the water off boil and waits for it to cool.
It looked about fine. Maybe wouldn't taste nice, with no minerals and whatever, but it was better than nothing. A tug on Izukus sleeve gets his attention. He looks down at his sister and smiles gently, patting her head.
"Nii-chan. They're.. talking about you." Eri says, glaring at the radio.
Izuku just shrugs, before laughing fondly. She grows up so fast. A little concerning, but what could be done. There aren't exactly psychologists around in a postwar world.
Not one where he lost anyway.
"Give me Izuku Midoriya. And I will end this needless suffering." A voice rasps.
Huh, All For One doesn't normally do the talking.
"All these drops of powerfully quirked blood.. wasted." He murmurs. "I could help you. Give me Izuku Midoriya. And you will be rewarded with more than you know."
Wow, obsessed much. Izuku rolls his eyes as the radio announcement goes out without anything else. And dramatic too? Eri let's out a small gasp, before squeezing Izukus hand.
"I can turn back time Izuku! Nii chan! Please!" She begs, tears filling red eyes. "Let me be a hero! Let me save them!
Izuku hates seeing her cry.
"You can't rewind the world, baby." Izuku comforts gently, his hand running through tousled hair. "And even if you could, I wouldn't let you."
In his heart, Izuku knows logically there could be chance she might be able to. If she practiced. It was plausible. But Izuku would never sacrifice Eri for a chance. Never. Not his sister. Not anyone. The world as they knew it was over, and until Izuku found a way to fix it, it was going to stay that way.
"I can! Why won't you believe me? Why? Why?" She shouts, sadness quickly turning to anger. "Why won't you let me save them? You're so selfish! Its your fault they died!"
Izuku doesn't talk for weeks after that.
***
Latching onto a rooftop, Izuku swings away from the nomu quickly catching up to him. If he uses his quirk to escape, his new sighting will be reported all over the radio. Searches will be worse. Then Eri would be forced to move out of the bunker. He can't do that to her.
It's better he runs.
A claw settles deep in his shoulder, and Izuku hisses in pain.
"Ouch! Ya great hunk of meat - watch it!" Izuku yells, ripping the claw out of his shoulder.
Now he's going to have to waste bandages too.
The nomu squawks and Izuku winces, knowing every living thing will come running towards him. Because that's what he needs. Stupid Nomu.
Izuku swipes away claws with his katana, grunting with exertion. Its not easy jumping from rooftops and trying to keep good aim. Especially when the rooftops could give in any moment.
Before it could land any other attack, Izuku leapt backwards, trying to close the distance between the Nomu and himself in the hopes of avoiding its barbed tail. He pushed off the ground, dodging to the side to avoid one tail-strike, only to inadvertently leap into the path of another.
He bit back a cry as it bit into his left ankle, drawing a steady stream of blood.
That’d slow him down for sure, but he didn’t think there was any permanent damage done. He’d find out later when the adrenaline wore off.
Hopefully not though. He can't rely on a 7 year old to get all the supplies.
Izuku cursed when one of the tails speared itself into his side. “Fuck you too.” He cursed at it through clenched teeth.
He has to survive. For Eri. He needs to get the brain. He has to. Spotting an opening, Izuku leaps up on its shoulders, holding on tightly as it tries to shake it off.
"Oh quit it, meat head." Izuku grumbles.
It only takes him a few seconds to calculate the right angle, before he digs the Katana in deep.
With a startled cry, the nomu collapses to the ground. Now that's done, Izuku picks up the duffel bag of raided food, and takes of running before he finds anymore trouble.
***
Eri is tucked into her corner again, as Izuku stares blankly at the wall. It's been a year. Since.. since they died. Izuku stares down at the last photo he has of them. Of everyone he loves, all together.
All of his friends, his teachers, his mom. Back before the war. When he was just 14. When his only concern was graduating UA, not fighting wars.
"I miss you everyday." Izuku whispers, clutching the aged photo close to his heart.
If it wasn't for his keen hearing, Izuku would have missed the small sniffles in the corner of the room. Eri. His heart breaks all over again for his sister, trying to suppress her tears. Slowly, Izuku crawls over to the girl, resting a hand on her back.
"I miss them too, Eri." Izuku whispers against the girls hair. "And I swear.. I swear I would bring them back if I could for you."
Shoulders shaking, she turns into Izukus chest and sobs. He comforts her through it, gently rocking her and telling her to breathe where needed.
Secretly, Izuku envies the fact she has time to cry at all.
***
Sitting on the floor, Izuku tinkers with a few old pieces of machinery he got, frequently consulting a few books in computer science he lifted from a once library.
Izuku sticks out his tongue in concentration as Eri tinkers with something by herself. She was really interested in helping, and Izuku couldn't bare denying her anything more.
It wouldn't harm her. It would be like a toy, right? Izuku used to make stuff from electronic junk all the time! In fact, at one point he's pretty sure he disassembled the washing machine and made a robot. Though his mother wasn't too happy about that.
He smiles fondly, longing for her again. But.. ah well. She's gone. And she'll never be back.
Eyeing Eri, he ruffles her hair fondly. If his project isn't working too well, he may as well help his sister on hers.
"Watcha making?" Izuku says playfully, looking over her shoulder.
She giggles and tosses her hair in his face. Izuku huffs, pulling light grey strands out of his mouth. Gross.
"I'm making a robo-bastard!" Eri exclaims happily.
Shocked, Izuku slaps his hand over his sisters mouth gently. Where in the world did she get that from? She shouldn't even know what that is! Izuku tilts his head, squinting at the toy in mild alarm, but it only looked like a cat. A very deformed cat.
"Ew, Eri! That's gross!" Izuku yells, wiping his hand against her shirt.
Eri just licked him. It worked though, his hand was no longer over her mouth so the mini self defense lessons were working. Fighting dirty was always allowed.
"Look! It's Mr. Aizawas kitty!" Eri points again, stroking it's metallic head. "Bastard."
Ah. How could Izuku forget? He dims slightly, as he always does whenever they're mentioned, but does his best to smile and nod anyway.
"Oh! He's very pretty, sweetheart." Izuku says, trying to keep the hurt out of his voice.
Eri goes quiet for a moment, before snuggling closer, looking up at Izuku with wide eyes.
"Are you okay, Izuku-nii?" Eri whispers, slipping her hand into his.
Izuku nods, looking up at the ceiling to stop the tears from falling. No point anyway, he'd just dehydrate faster.
"Course I am, Eri." Izuku mutters, squeezing her hand.
Still, she comes closer before pushing the toy cat away, vowing to never touch it again.
He feels like the worst brother ever.
***
Izuku toys with the 2 metal bracelets on his wrist, taking a deep breath. This might be it. This could be it. The beginning of the end. If they worked.. if they worked it might be enough to destroy All For One. If he could just make these stupid iron things work.
"Eri, stay away now, kay?" Izuku requests, not waiting for a response.
She knows this is important, and quickly scampers away. With a deep breath, Izuku stares down at the metal bands again. For all he knows, this just might go wrong and he could lose his hands. Infront of Eri. And probably traumatise her for the rest of her life if she manages to survive without him.
But still, the blueprints looked fine. And Izukus checked over them about a million times, so they'll have go to work.
He brings his wrists together and snaps the two bands together with a clang. For a moment, nothing happens.
Then he activates his quirk and he feels it. One For All feels 100x stronger, and he's only at 1%. It's almost like a supercharge. The energy rebounds in him, before Izuku let's his quirk fall. This is it! It's perfect! If he has these on when fighting All For One, then he really will be able to stop him.
"Nii-chan! Nii chan! You did it!" Eri squeals, jumping from foot to foot. "Now we can save the world."
Izuku nods happily, excitement filling him. This was really it. This was it. Finally, he could save them. He could save the world!
He carefully takes off the bands, before scooping Eri in his arms and kissing her forehead gently. They were going to survive this war. He would make sure of it.
For Eri.
***
His head pounds as danger sense alerts him of something. He's been feeling mildly ill all day, but he didn't know it was because something bad was going to happen. Shit. Shit! What was be going to do? Eri. Eri needs protecting.
"Eri, baby, I need you to hide okay?" Izuku grunts, gearing up to fight.
Eri nods with wide eyes, stopping at a table before crawling into a crack between the wall. A crack he carved just in case anything would happen.
He must have got too complacent. Izuku was so scared of moving Eri from a safehouse that she might end up dead because of him. Great. He gears himself up, loosely standing in what feels like a fighting stance as he prepares. It might just be a nomu.
Somehow, he knows it's not.
A figure jumps down into the bunker, grinning.
"Found you, Izuku Midoriya." All For One snarls.
Izuku doesn't even have time to say anything back before he's grappling for his life, whilst trying to keep his little sister safe.
"Look, I found a new quirk." All For One laughs. "Wanna try it?"
Izuku backs away, alternating between fighting with fists and his katana. He had become somewhat proficient with them during his time on the run, so it would be stupid not to use them.
"Come on, hero. Better than that, aren't you?" He taunts.
Gritting his teeth, Izuku pushes harder, desperately trying to search for the 2 metal bands. The 2 bands. He needs them. Then this can all end. One finger lands on his head, and that's all he needs before he's screaming in agony, unable to fight any longer.
His vision was overtaken with white, his sound overtaken by static. This was hell. It felt like all his nerves were overloaded with pain. So much pain. Izuku Midoriya had died and he was in hell.
It felt like hours till he could even see and hear again. Izuku didn't want to move. He was dead. At the sound of Eris voice, however, he forces himself up.
What was she doing?
"L-leave niichan alone!" She screams.
Terror fills him. No. No.
Not his sister. Anyone but his sister.
"All you have is a child to aid you?" All For One spits. "Pathetic."
He looks up into her eyes, only then noticing the metal bands on her wrist. What was she going to do? What would she do?
"Save the world! Save them! Save Class 1A!" Eri cries bravely. "Izuku-nii! I- I love you!"
No. No, no, no, no, no! He promised to protect her. He swore. Izuku lied. Izuku's useless. Izuku couldn't even protect himself, never mind a kid. Oh god. Oh god. No.
"Eri! Eri no!" Izuku yells, desperately trying to wrestle his way to her.
But she's not even listening. She's not listening to him as she clangs the bracelet together, a determined fire in her eyes.
"Special Move: Rewind Time!" She shouts, all of her being glowing.
Izuku stares in horror. This might not even work. He might just lose Eri.
"No! Stupid child! No!" All For One screams, but it's too late.
The world turns a beautiful golden, and Izuku knows as he stares in her eyes that this would be the last time he sees his sister.
***
He didn't even say I love you back.