Chapter Text
Izuku’s teachers were acting weird, and he couldn’t figure out why. He turned his homework in on time, he was attentive in class, he didn’t think he’d done badly on any tests lately, and even if he had, it wouldn’t warranty this sort of behaviour. There really wasn’t any explanation for it. It wasn’t with other students either, just with him. He brought it up with Uraraka and Iida one day and while they didn’t dismiss his doubts, they seemed skeptical about the whole thing.
“I haven’t noticed them acting weird around you, Midoriya,” Iida said.
Uraraka nodded in agreement. “I’m sure it’s probably nothing, but do you want us to keep an eye out?”
Izuku shook his head. “No, it’s okay, thanks guys. It’s probably just my mind playing tricks on me.”
Uraraka frowned at him. “You look tired, have you been sleeping enough?”
They moved on to asking him about his sleeping habits with concern, but the issue remained, nagging, at the back of Izuku’s mind.
Sure enough, he could feel Aizawa’s eyes on him again in their next class as he sparred with Tsuyu. When Izuku turned to him, he stared back with an unreadable expression then turned away. Izuku’s moment of distraction allowed Tsuyu to knock him to the ground, and he congratulated her on getting the best of him, shaking his head as he tried to concentrate on the present. It was honestly driving him insane. He really was certain he hadn’t done anything wrong lately. He didn’t know how to explain it to anyone either without sounding paranoid. The only person he could think about talking to about this was All Might, and that was a little weird given the fact that despite their bond, All Might was technically one of his teachers too.
Even if he didn’t bring this up specifically, he knew talking to All Might today would help lift his mood. Since they’d moved to dorms, Izuku had started having tea with All Might on Fridays afternoons, chatting about his progress or more mundane things like how their week had been. The two of them usually met in the later afternoon, but today Izuku was too troubled to do homework or anything in the meantime, so he found himself heading in the direction of All Might’s office nearly an hour and a half early. He was sure All Might wouldn’t mind.
When he neared the door, he could hear voices talking on the other side. Izuku was on the verge of walking away, feeling a little disappointed but not wanting to interrupt the conversation, when he heard one of the voices say something that sounded suspiciously like his name.
He was back in an instant, pressed against the door in a newfound effort to hear what they were talking about.
The voice that wasn’t All Might, that Izuku now recognized as Mr. Aizawa, spoke again.
“Talk to Tsukauchi. Surely he’ll understand.”
“Are you sure we should be holding him here?”
That second voice was All Might, as expected.
“He’s secure right now, we shouldn’t have anything to worry about. Besides, it’s too risky to move him now. It’ll cause a commotion to get him out, and we don’t know what quirk he has. From what I heard from the officers who apprehended him, he didn’t have the quirk our Midoriya has.”
Our Midoriya? What did that mean? Izuku knew Mr. Aizawas cared for them, and he occasionally showed it in his own way, like with the nickname “problem child” he’d given Izuku, but in general, Mr. Aizawa wasn’t the most affectionate of people. Izuku couldn’t imagine him calling Izuku “our” affectionately. No, he made it sound like there was a Midoriya that...wasn’t theirs.
“Not the quirk we know? I wonder who could be responsible for that.” There was bitterness in All Might’s voice.
“Seeing how different this Midoriya is, it’s entirely possible it’s his own quirk, who knows what his world is like. This is new for all of us. But I agree, it’s really not a good sign. I had them check on All for One after we apprehended Midoriya, he’s still locked up safely in Tartarus.”
There was that “this Midoriya” again. And what did they mean by apprehending him? Izuku was struggling to piece together the bits of information he was receiving, and he did not like the picture they were painting one bit.
“Why does UA have the resources to hold someone like that anyway?”
That was All Might again.
“A lot of people who get sent are heroes, for obvious reasons, many of whom once attended UA. It’s not uncommon for them to seek our school as a point of reference. Usually they’re cooperative, but some panic and need to be held here by force until they disappear in their own time.”
“That makes sense. I don’t like this though.”
“I don’t either. Anyway, I should get going. You said Midoriya will be here in an hour or so.”
“Yes, ah, he simply needed help with his homework-”
“You could at least try to be subtle about your favouritism.”
“...Thank you for keeping me updated Shouta.”
By the time Izuku’s brain had caught up with what they were saying, it was too late to move. He scrambled backwards just as the door opened, falling backwards.
Even if his compromising position on the floor hadn’t betrayed him, the guilty look on his face would have.
Mr. Aizawa’s eyes widened almost imperceptibly. “How much did you hear?”
“Uh.”
Mr. Aizawa grabbed him by the front of his shirt and hauled him into the room.
All Might didn’t look all too surprised when Mr. Aizawa dragged Izuku in, shaking his head at him. “My boy, I didn’t think you’d be this early.”
“I’m sorry” Izuku yelped, cringing under Mr. Aizawa’s death glare. He was a teacher and his whole quirk kind of depended on staring so it made sense for him to be good at it, if being good at staring was even a thing, but god if it wasn’t downright terrifying.
“I guess we have no choice but to tell him now-” All Might began.
“Yes we do.” Mr. Aizawa cut him off. “Midoriya, how much did you hear?”
“Not much? And I couldn’t understand much of what you were saying anyway. Is there another me? I really didn’t mean to eavesdrop but I heard my name and you’ve all been acting so weird around me lately and I couldn’t understand why.”
Mr. Aizawa seemed to be having a silent conversation with All Might, who just looked confused at the attempt at communicating.
Having given up on that method of communication, Mr. Aizawa started arguing with All Might. Mr. Aizawa desperately did not want to tell Izuku what was going on, while All Might seemed conflicted between “it’s better if he doesn’t know” and “it’s only fair to tell him”. Mr Aizawa seemed to be under the impression that telling him would lead him to go looking for trouble, and All Might pointed out that he’d do that anyway, especially now that he knew he was being kept in the dark about something.
Izuku was starting to wonder if they’d forgotten he was there.
Finally, with a muffled groan, Mr. Aizawa pointed to the couch.
“Problem child. Sit.”
Mr. Aizawa told him he’d give Izuku the basic rundown of the situation.
Oh, so this was a situation. That was an expected but interesting start.
“There are some quirks, rare, but they exist, that can send people back in time.” Mr. Aizawa began.
Izuku frowned. “Like Eri?”
“No. Eri rewinds people. These quirks will send a person’s current state of being a few years into the past, at most. It’s usually harmless, and the person who gets sent back will spend a few hours to a few weeks in the past, before popping back to their original time. These are usually harmless, once the person who got sent back realizes what happened, there are a few places they can stay at until the quirk wears off and they disappear. It’s generally accepted and understood that people who get sent back can’t change the future, but to be sure, they’re usually kept under strict watch to make sure they don’t try anything.”
Izuku’s mind was already two steps ahead. “I got sent back? There’s another me?”
“Not quite,” All Might said. He picked up from where Mr. Aizawa had left off. “There have been theories, yet to be confirmed, formulated from interacting with and observing the people sent back, that these people aren’t from the future. Discrepancies, from slight to extremely jarring, between our world and the one they claim to be from, show that there are chances they come from a different universe.”
Each word felt like a punch in the chest.
“Oh.”
Izuku felt dread building up in his chest slightly. “So there’s another me. From another universe?”
“We believe so, yes.” All Might said.
“We hope so.” Mr Aizawa added. “He looks about the same age as you, so that’s the current hypothesis.”
“Why didn't you just tell me? Or not tell me, I would get that but like. You’ve been acting odd. You said this happens regularly. Or regularly enough for it to be somewhat normal. Why all the secrecy?”
“Well.” All Might said delicately. “The you that was sent here, more than anything else, is proving the multiple universe theory to be true. You see my boy, he’s-”
“He’s a villain.” Mr. Aizawa said bluntly. “He’s a villain, that’s why. Being held right at UA. It was purely by chance that we managed to apprehend him before he caused any trouble. It took a few days before we even figured out who he was. He’s been extremely uncooperative.”
Izuku felt like he’d just been doused in cold water. “Oh.” he said, his voice small. “That’s why you burst into our common room the other day looking for me.”
Mr. Aizawa sighed. “Our first thought was that it was you, so we had to make sure. The alternate universe theory came later. I’m sorry if I’ve been behaving oddly around you. But now that you know, I’m sure you-”
“You’re afraid I'll become him,'' Izuku said. “That's why you didn't want me to know. Right? Now you know- there’s a chance. That I could become a villain.”
All Might winced.
“That’s not why-” Mr. Aizawa began.
“It’s okay.” Izuku stared at his hands. “I get it.”
“We were thinking about telling you actually.” All Might said. “Nezu okayed it, and Tsukauchi and the police officers working with us on this actively encouraged it.”
“Why?”
Izuku couldn’t think of any reason the police would want his teachers to tell him that badly.
“Because Nightmare- that’s the name he gave us, asked to talk to you. He won’t give anything useful to anyone else. But he asked for you.”
Nightmare. Izuku suppressed a shiver.
“Are you sure he’s me?” He asked, a little desperately.
All Might and Mr. Aizawa exchanged a glance.
“I’m afraid so. DNA test confirmed it.”
“I want to see him.”
“Absolutely not,” his two teachers said in unison.
“It’s too dangerous Midoriya.” Mr. Aizawa said. “We’re still not sure he really is from another universe. That’s just a hypothesis. It is the most likely one, but we still can’t take the risk. For all we know, he could be a villain trying to get to you for whatever reason. The last thing we’re going to do is put you in a room with him.”
“And even if he is what we think he is,” All Might added. “It’s still really not a good idea.”
“Why not?”
Mr. Aizawa shook his head. “That’s all the information we can give you, Midoriya. I’m sorry.”
“Okay” Izuku answered, disappointed.
“I’ve overstayed my leave long enough.” Mr. Aizawa said. “See you in class tomorrow Midoriya.”
The silence in the room was stifling after he left. All Might was looking at him and Izuku was looking anywhere except at his mentor.
“I think I’ve figured out a way to make Air Force more precise,” he said at last.
All Might smiled, accepting the change in conversation gracefully. “You’ll have to show me tomorrow. How exactly do you make it more precise?”
Even when he was back in his room that night, laying on his bed, Izuku couldn’t sleep. In his mind, he replayed the looks on All Might and Mr. Aizawa’s face when they told him the other him was a villain. What if they were wrong? What if it wasn’t an alternate universe, what if it really was him, a few years in the future? He knew with certainty that he would never become a villain, but something had clearly pushed this Izuku to the point of villainy. That same thing could happen to him too, couldn’t it? He had to talk to him. Or at least see him. He had to know. If the teachers didn’t let him talk to him, well, he’d have to figure out a way to do it himself.
He couldn’t stop thinking about it, even the day after. He must’ve appeared as distracted as he felt, as Mr. Aizawa pulled him aside after class. “Midoriya,” he said quietly. “I can see you’re troubled. Just forget about it. It’s been a week since Nightmare was brought in. He should disappear on his own, back to his own world in another week or so. We’ll wait to see if that happens, and if it doesn’t, we’ll see how to proceed.”
Kacchan shoulder checked him on his way out. “Nerd. What was that about? What did Aizawa want?”
“N-nothing”
Izuku brushed past him.
Kacchan’s eyes narrowed. “You’re acting weird Deku.”
Izuku barely heard him.
Figuring out where they were keeping Nightmare really wasn’t too difficult. Izuku knew the school well after having been here for almost a year, and it wasn’t hard to find the blueprints for a school as famous as UA, which helped narrow his search down. He felt like that was definitely a security risk but right now, he couldn’t bring himself to care.
He made his move four days later. He hadn’t received any information from Mr. Aizawa, so he assumed there were no updates on Nightmare, meaning he hadn’t disappeared back to his own timeline yet. Security was tighter at night, and he’d have to break curfew, so it was safer for him to act in the late afternoon. There were less obstacles than he thought he’d encounter, but then, they probably weren’t planning on anyone breaking in. The final obstacle was a door, locked, but Izuku had spent three lonely lonely years of middle school with no friends picking up every weird hobby imaginable, lock picking being one of the more questionable ones. He was out of practice, but he’d expected this, so he quickly got out his tools and went to work on the lock.
He ignored the growing feeling of guilt that this was wrong, wrong, wrong.
But he had to know. Surely they’d understand that, right? And Nezu and Tsukauchi had okayed it.
They’d okayed him talking to Nightmare, but not like this. Not breaking in.
He ignored the nagging feeling in his stomach pointing out how un hero-like he was acting right now.
The door he picked opened into a small room with a chair and a two way mirror. He already knew what he would see on the other side of the mirror, yet his heart still skipped a beat at the scene in front of him. Nightmare was sitting in a chair, weighed down by cuffs, both normal ones and the quirk suppressing kind. He was slumped forward, green curls covering his face from view. Izuku counted silently to ten, bracing himself, and pushed his way into the room.
Instantly, Nightmare’s head snapped up.
Izuku took a step back.
A face he saw every morning in the mirror stared back at him, eyes glittering with delight. The left one was red. “Oh, hello.”
Oh this was a bad idea.
“You wanted to speak to me,” Izuku said, trying not to let his voice tremble.
“I did. I was curious. I got word that you, or well, this reality’s me, made it into UA. How’d you manage that? Did UA lower their standards enough to let a quirkless kid in? I’m also quite surprised they let you in here to talk to me, especially alone. I thought that pain in the ass, Aizawa is it? Would be here too. He seemed so very concerned about you.”
Nightmare seemed to think he was here with his teacher’s permission. Izuku didn’t correct him. He also didn’t seem to know about One for All, which Izuku was more than happy to keep him in the dark about. This Izuku must not have met All Might. Is that what had made him this way?
“Is that it? You just wanted to see me?” Izuku said.
Nightmare hummed absently. “What about you? I know they wouldn’t have put you here unless you agreed to it. Don’t act like you’re not curious too.”
“I couldn’t believe it. When they told me. I refused to believe that- I would never be a villain. Never.”
Nightmare laughed, mocking and cruel. “I said that once too.”
Fear coursed through Izuku’s heart suddenly at that. Green light flickered around him as his body instinctively activated One for All, sensing danger.
For the first time since he’d come in, Nightmare looked surprised. The look of surprise was quickly replaced by a calculating one.
“You’re All Might’s successor here.” he marvelled. “How wonderful.”
Shit. Well, now all he could do was own it.
“I am,” Izuku said.
Nightmare looked almost disgusted at his pride at the statement.
“If I weren’t tied up right now, I’d love to fight you. I think that’d be an interesting match, don’t you? Nobody is a challenge anymore. Everyone is so predictable. You would be fun to beat though.”
He eyed Izuku.
“You’d be less of a pain than Togata, that asshole loves permeating all over the damn place. So exhausting. I can’t kill him yet unfortunately, Sensei wants to get his hands on his quirks. I have to say, he does have some invaluable ones. Blackwhip is completely wasted on Togata. Not particularly heroic either. I hope when we capture him, that Sensei will give me blackwhip. That old man is good for one thing at least, before I finally get rid of him.”
So, Mirio had gotten One for All. The part of Izuku’s brain that wasn’t panicking filed that information away.
Izuku found his voice again, interrupting Nightmare’s musings. “What would- what would mom think about this? How could you do this to her?”
Nightmare’s eyes grew dangerously cold. “Don’t you dare mention my mother.”
“What the fuck.”
A third voice spoke up, and Izuku jumped.
Kacchan stood in the doorway. He was staring at Nightmare, hands clenching and unclenching, producing small bursts.
“Kacchan! What are you doing here?” Izuku hissed, panic rising.
“You were acting fucking suspicious, like you were getting one of your shitty ideas in your head. So I followed you. What the fuck.”
After it became clear that Izuku wasn’t getting Kacchan to leave unless he dragged him out personally, Izuku rapidly explained the situation, stumbling over his words. When he would falter, Nightmare would pleasantly chime in to help him.
Oh god, now another person who shouldn’t know about this knew. Mr. Aizawa was going to kill him. This was such a bad idea.
Kacchan took the news with remarkable grace, especially for his usual temper. He’d stopped producing small explosions from his palms, his hands clenched in fists, and glared daggers at Nightmare
“Kacchan.” Nightmare repeated mockingly.
Kacchan bristled.
“You have a fucking problem with me?”
Nightmare ignored him, addressing Izuku. “You let him call you that demeaning nickname?”
Izuku lifted his head. “I reclaimed it. It’s my hero name.”
Nightmare stared at him with fascination.
“God, you’re pathetic. It’s kind of cute though”
Nightmare tilted his head at Kacchan. “So. You made it into UA. Very impressive.”
Kacchan stiffened. “What, are you saying I didn’t make it in your universe or wherever the fuck you come from?”
“No. I framed you for murder,” he said casually. “I thought about killing you, but that’s not as fun, you know? More entertaining to ruin your life than to end it. Maybe one day, though.”
Izuku could count on one hand the amount of times in his life he’d seen Kacchan caught off guard, and half of those moments had been in the last five minutes. Izuku had never seen anything startle him as much as Nightmare’s words had just now. Izuku himself was fighting revulsion in his chest.
“I’m not you. I’m nothing like you.” Izuku blurted out.
“Are you sure? We are the same person, after all. Oh hey, since your dear friend Kacchan is here, let me ask you this. Did you think about jumping off the roof that day? I know I thought about it. Did you?”
“N-no.”
All the pleasantries in Nightmare’s voice died. “That’s a lie.”
Izuku’s silence spoke for him.
He could feel Kacchan’s stare burning into him.
“We were both only one really bad day from jumping off that roof. And I’m guessing, you were only one really bad day from snapping. From becoming like me.”
“No.” Izuku whispered.
badideabadideabadideathiswasabadidea
“I might understand your teachers letting you in, Izuku. But Bakugou? There’s no reason for him to be here. And from what he said when he came in...your teachers don’t know you’re here, do they?”
Kacchan grabbed his arm. “Deku. We need to go.”
Nightmare looked sickeningly delighted. “Sneaking here to see me, against your teachers’ wishes? Tsk tsk, not very heroic of you, is it? You know, maybe there still is a chance of you becoming me after all.”
Kacchan’s grip on his arm tightened. “Shitty Deku, are you fucking listening to me?”
Nightmare was talking to him Kacchan was talking to him and Izuku felt like he was drowning.
Finally, Kacchan shoved him towards the door, and Izuku’s feet numbly started moving on their own again.
“It was nice talking to you, Izuku.” Nightmare called out as they left. “I’d love to do it again.”
The door slammed closed.