Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Everything seemed too bright. Too loud, too busy, and too much for Izuku, whose whole world had come crashing down within ten minutes.

Todoroki had only just left him to think over the story that he’d told Izuku, but Izuku didn’t know what  to think.

He had always looked up to Endeavor, despite his less-than-preferable ways of handling the general public and villains. The number two Pro-Hero was the reason why he hadn’t feared getting a possible fire quirk when he was younger. 

But, with Todoroki Shoto’s confession - could it even be called that? - to Izuku, disgust pooled in his gut. 

Even if he’d never gotten his father’s fire quirk, Izuku hated himself for placing the number two Pro-Hero on such a pedestal that actually allowed little four-year-old him to actually look forward to getting a fire quirk.

Everything was too loud.

Izuku was quick to realize that it was his heavy breathing that was contributing to the noise and had to actively focus on calming himself down, wiping at the tears that had trickled down his cheeks.

Why? Why was life so unfair? Why did every time Izuku manage to find something to lighten up his life, that it got ruined? Why?

He could faintly hear his name being called, and for a moment, Izuku considered not going out to fight. 

Why should he when he just learnt that the world is not what it seems?

The memory of how Todoroki had been looking at him - mismatched eyes cold despite the obvious plea for help hidden within - sunk its claws into him, and Izuku put on a brave face as he moved to the entrance of the tunnel. 

( Everyhtingwastoobright-tooloud-toobusy-tooloud-toobright-! )

He clenched his fist for a short moment before moving down to the fighting area. The spectators cheered when he stopped in the area, facing Todoroki.

His classmate didn’t even seem to be paying attention to him, too busy looking up into the crowd. 

Izuku followed his classmate’s gaze, and stilled when he was who the other was looking at. 

He moved his eyes back to face Todoroki, clenching his fists for a moment as Midnight announced the countdown.

“Eyes on me, Todoroki-kun,” Izuku warned carefully, letting a smile settle on his face as Midnight counted “two”.

Todoroki raised an eyebrow.

Izuku knew he’d probably regret this, but he needed his classmate to focus on him, and only him, “You’re not the only one with an arsehole for a father with a fire quirk.”

“START!”

Chapter Text

This was not happening.

Izuku was tempted to just scream his frustrations out, but then he’d probably get noticed more than he already had been, and that would be bad .

Trudging around the streets in his Yuuei P.E. uniform that had scorch marks, and was slightly wet, kind of brought attention to Izuku, didn’t it? And that’s not even counting the fact that he’d appeared in the middle of the street in a flash of yellow light. 

He may or may not have been screaming in both surprise and fear. 

Now, he was trying to figure out where the hell he’d ended up. The last thing he remembered was Todoroki-kun and he had been fighting, at the Sports Festival, and Izuku had most likely been about to have been knocked out by the explosion that Todoroki’s ice and fire had accidentally been creating, then he appeared here.

Thankfully, he was still in Japan - that much was obvious - but the area he was in was completely unfamiliar. Well, maybe not completely…

The buildings around him looked like he’d seen them before, but every time he thought he recognized something, he moved his eyesight slightly and it was like he’d been teleported to another place. 

Which was a lie, but it seemed that way for him.

All of a sudden, someone - rude - slammed into Izuku’s shoulder, “ Freak ,” was hissed at him. Izuku didn’t even get a chance to see who had spoken.

“Stop mumbling,” someone else snapped at him, and Izuku felt his cheeks burn as he made sure to shut his mouth firmly. 

“Sorry,” Izuku said quietly, ducking his head to watch his - and everyone else’s - feet.

It was concerning how many people didn’t even stop to ask if he was okay. He was walking here in torn clothes covered in scorch marks. Wouldn’t someone see this as odd?

Obviously not. 

Anyway, back to the present problem; Izuku still had no idea where he was. 

“You’re in Musutafu, idiot.”

“Oh,” Izuku blinked in surprise, “Thanks!”

The stranger scoffed before moving on. 

Wait, what?!

Izuku’s eyes widened, and he quickly got out of the crowd of walking people. Already feeling the familiarity of a panic attack piling upon him. 

He was in Musutafu. How was he in central Musutafu? Why did it look so different to normal?

His body shook as he struggled to breathe, tears falling down his cheeks. His chest burnt as he vaguely gasped for air that refused to go into his lungs. His head spun as he tried to force himself to calm down, shivering in his thin uniform as a burst of air entered the alleyway.

Izuku hated that it’d come to this. Just having a panic attack in a random alleyway, on a cold day, in the P.E. uniform that did nothing to protect him from the elements, and just generally freaking out because he was eiter in an alternate universe of sorts, or maybe he’d been put in an illusion, or maybe he’d been sent through time - as unlikely as that was - or maybe-

“What the fuck is wrong with you?”

Izuku’s head flew up in surprise when he heard the gruff voice. Red was the first thing he saw through the burning tears in his eyes, “Sorry,” he choked out, rubbing at his eyes.

The other person crouched in front of him, “Are you seriously having a panic attack?” the redhead's voice was practically spitting with annoyance.

Izuku didn’t answer, just flinching away when the redhead tried to touch his arm.

“No touching?” the redhead asked calmly. 

Izuku nodded, keeping his eyes averted as he focused on trying to relax his breathing.

The redhead muttered something that Izuku couldn’t catch, “Okay, follow my breathing,” he practically ordered Izuku who blinked through his eyelashes.

The boy - because now Izuku had actually gotten a look at him - exaggerated his breathing so the Izuku could mimic him. 

In no time, Izuku was fighting back an embarrassed blush from his cheeks as he averted his eyes from the guy in front of him, “Sorry,” he said quietly again.

The redhead scoffed quietly, “What are you apologizing for?”

“Being a bother?” Izuku offered rather weakly. 

The redhead scoffed again, this time louder, “Panic attacks aren’t a bother,” he said grumpily, “I have a… friend who often has her own panic attacks. I’m used to helping her out of them.”

Izuku nodded, “Thank you.”

The other male just nodded before standing upright. Izuku couldn’t help but wonder why the boy looked familiar, it wasn’t like he’d ever met the redhead before.

The boy stuck his hand out for Izuku, and he hesitantly grasped it, and allowed himself to be yanked to his feet. 

A gust of wind blew through the alleyway, but Izuku didn’t feel cold. If anything he felt rather warm. He wondered why-

“I have a fire quirk,” the boy said and Izuku clamped his mouth shut as red flushed over his cheeks.

“S-s-sorry,” Izuku apologize, ducking his head, “I didn’t mean to-”

The boy snorted, making Izuku blink in surprise, “Just relax, Greenie,” he smirked, “I’m not going to murder you just because your brain goes faster than your body.”

“Greenie?” Izuku squeaked in surprise, eyes wide.

“Your hair is green, and so are your eyes,” the redheaded male pointed out.

Izuku flushed in embarrassment, again , “Oh, right. Sorry.”

The other boy rolled his eyes, “What’s your name, Greenie? Or am I just going to keep calling you “Greenie”?”

Izuku blinked, uncertain for a moment. He had no idea what had happened to him, so maybe it’ll be alright to tell the boy his name?

“Midoriya,” Izuku said, a shy smile on his face, “Midoriya Iz- Isamu.”

He blinked in surprise. He hadn’t meant to say that. Izuku had been going to say his name, but for some reason he didn’t- or rather, couldn’t . What the hell was happening to him today?

The redhead snorted, “Wow, I wasn’t that far off, wasn’t I?” he rolled his eyes, “So what are you doing out here, Greenie?”

Izuku sighed, apparently the redhead was going to keep calling him “Greenie”, “I… don’t actually know,” he admitted, shifting on his feet, “I was... fighting someone, and when I was about to be knocked unconscious I appeared in the street.”

“Wow, what a cliche plot-line,” the boy deadpanned, and Izuku couldn’t help snorting in amusement, agreeing with him. 

“Tell me about it,” Izuku sighed. 

The other male was about to open his mouth, probably to ask another question, or to make another remark, but he was interrupted by a basic ringtone from a phone. 

Izuku went quiet as the redhead answered his phone, reassuring whoever was at the other end of the call that he was fine, he’d just gotten distracted with something, and that yes, he would be there soon.

The redhead pocketed his phone when he hung up, “It was nice meeting you, Greenie.”

“Uh, nice to meet you too…” Izuku trailed off when he realised that he didn’t actually know the other boy’s name. 

The other boy snorted in amusement, “Later, Greenie,” he rolled his eyes as he walked away, taking the warmth with him.

Izuku instantly shivered when the wind blew again.

Was it weird that he wanted the other boy to come back? Even if it was only for the warmth that surrounded the redhead?

Oh, well. Now that he was thinking clearly, Izuku really needed to figure out if this was an alternate universe or something.

☀

Okay. Good news. 

Izuku wasn’t in an alternate universe/dimension.

Bad news?

He was either in an illusion - a really realistic one - or he’d actually gone back in time.

Izuku’s head had slammed against the table that carried the library’s computer. He ignored people who hissed at him to keep quiet, and he honestly didn’t give a fuck.

Aaaaaaaaaaand now he was cursing like Kacchan. Greeeeeat .

A pitiful whine left his lips as he shifted his head to look up at the computer. Yep, the date was still the same. A few weeks before the Yuuei entrance exam, the year 2145. Not 2174, 2145.

If he had really gone back in time - and he really wanted to know how he had - then he was twenty-nine years in the past. What the fuck was wrong with this world?

He rubbed his arm with his right hand, and paused to look at his hand. Scars were darting up his arms like lightning, only stopping at his elbows. 

When did Izuku get the scars? He couldn’t remember if he’d gotten them when he fell onto the street when he first arrived, or if they'd appeared sometime after. 

Ugh, this was doing his head in. 

He switched tabs to the Yuuei website, looking over the old style of the website for a moment, before scrolling to the bottom of the page. A “ Contact Us! ” link was available.

Clicking on it, the link to Izuku to another page where a few numbers were listed beside several different teachers. 

Thankfully Nezu was listed, but there were several people that Izuku had never heard of before. He had been about to look for Aizawa-sensei, then smacked his head when he remembered that his teacher probably didn’t even exist right now. Or if he did, then he’d be way too young to help Izuku out.

Gah, this sucks.

Izuku grabbed a nearby pen and scribbled Nezu’s number onto a space piece of paper, then quickly cleared the search history and logged out.

The librarian gave him a stern look as he gave her back the piece of paper that had the login details for the computer, but gave him a small smile as he thanked her for helping him before he quickly left the library.

It wasn’t that he disliked the library, but it was a little too public for him right now. It was better if he kept his distance from people so that if he really was in the past, that he didn’t muck anything up like the useless Deku that he was. 

Going out onto the street was worse than when he first arrived. It was busier now than it had been earlier, and Izuku dreaded the coming evening that he could feel through the thin fabric of his P.E. uniform. 

It took him way too long to find a payphone, and even then he second-guessed himself. What if Nezu didn’t believe him? Omgwhatiftheythoughthewasavillaintryingtopretendthathewasastudentandtryingtogetintotheirgoodbooks? Howwouldhegethomethen? Nonononononono-

He probably would’ve gone on rambling in a blind panic if a hand wasn’t placed on his shoulder, and Izuku jumped with One for All cackling over his skin-

Oh, it was just… wait! Whatwashisname,didIzukuevengethisnamebefore-

The redhead rolled his eyes at Izuku’s reaction, “I’m not going to kill you, Greenie.”

Izuku chuckled nervously, “Right, sorry,” he tried to hide the flinch when the other boy withdrew his hand from his shoulder, “Um, I don’t think I actually got your name earlier…”

The other boy stiffened in surprise, eyes widening as he blinked at Izuku who shifted on his feet uncomfortably. 

“You mean to say that you don’t know me?” the redhead asked, astonished, “Or my family?”

“Should I?” Izuku asked tentatively, unsure of how much he’d just screwed up. 

Turquoise eyes narrowed on him for a moment, before widening again, “You’re not actually from around here, are you?”

“Not technically ,” Izuku winced, and fiddled with his fingers, avoiding looking at the other boy.

The other boy narrowed his eyes, “Why haven’t you gone to the police yet?” he asked, “If it’s a quirk related reason as to why you’re here, then they can just get your identification from the global quirk register system and then you could move on with life.”

Izuku bit his lip, “About that-”

“Oh, fucking hell,” the other boy gritted his teeth, “Don’t tell me ithat you’ve never gotten yourself registered.”

Izuku didn’t respond, looking away.

“Idiot,” the other boy scoffed, then grabbed Izuku’s wrist and started dragging him along, “Come on, you’re lucky I know a few people in the police who can help.”

“ You know people in the police?” Izuku asked, eyes wide. 

The redhead scowled, “I’m not a delinquent, Greenie,” he turned to see where he was leading Izuku, “I just have connections, thanks to my family.”

“S-sorry,” Izuku mumbled. He hadn’t been thinking that, especially after how the other boy - whatwashisname!??!?! - had been completely surprised at his lack of knowledge on him - Izukustillwantedtoknowwhathisnamewas! - and his family, he’d been more curious as to what type of family had contacts in the police. A Pro-Hero family? Detectives? Private Investigators? Policemen and women themselves? What he wouldn’t give to-

“You mumble a lot,” the other boy’s voice made Izuku snap his jaw shut.

He fought the blush on his cheeks, “S-sorry, it’s a habit I still have to unlearn,” he said quietly.

The other boy didn’t reply to his statement, “And my name’s Enji,” he flashed Izuku a smile that looked more like a smirk.

“Just Enji?” Izuku asked, wondering what the red headed male’s family name was. It must’ve been a famous name if he wasn’t even going to give it to Izuku who had no idea.

Enji raised an eyebrow, “For now,” he answered vaguely. 

Izuku wisely kept his mouth shut until they entered a police station where Enji easily manoeuvred the building’s layout as if he’d been there thousands of times, and they ended up standing outside a door labeled “Quirk Registry Office”.

Enji knocked on the door, and a clear voice called for them to come in, and Enji opened the door, dragging Izuku in before shutting the door behind them.

The voice belonged to a woman with long silver hair, and the most curious purple eyes that blinked at them, “Enji-kun,” she smiled, “Another lost one?”

Enji looked embarrassed, which surprised Izuku. The redhead didn’t seem like someone to get embarrassed over something like this. 

“This one-” he gestured at Izuku, “-wasn’t my fault this time.”

The woman laughed, “Okay, Enji-kun,” she then focused her attention on Izuku, “So, you’ll be needing to register in the system?”

Izuku nodded, not trusting his mouth to work right. 

The woman nodded as if she’d done this more times than one could count, “Alright-” she shuffled through some papers on her desk before finding the one she wanted, “-you’ll just need to fill in some bits for the system, and don’t be afraid to not know anything, sweetie.”

Izuku took the offered paper with a smile, and the pen that followed after it. 

It was a simple form with most basics, name, birthdate, quirk, family, current place of living, any allergies, current schooling, and any previous medical records that the system should know.

Izuku hesitated, then just figured to go on with the name he’d given Enji. It took him a short bit to figure out when he should’ve been born if he actually belonged in this time.

Name: Midoriya Isamu
Birthdate: July 15th 2129
Quirk: 

Izuku paused on quirk. There were several ways he could go. He could claim that it was an enhancer quirk, but there were quite a few inconsistencies with that. He could claim it to be a strength quirk, but that didn’t sit right in his gut. 

It took him a few moments, but he quickly scribbled down what felt right.

Family: Father - Midoriya Hideo (dead). Mother - Unknown, died in childbirth.

He felt guilty for putting his mother as dead, but he didn’t want to trace any of this mess back to her. And besides, his father had apparently been working in America for most of life before he met Izuku’s mother. He figured it was safe enough to put his father - under a false given name - down. 

Current Housing: None

Izuku tried to hide the paper from Enji when the male looked at the paper, and went red when the other boy raised an eyebrow at him.

Allergies: None
Schooling: Homeschooled
Medical(?): Quirk related accident that caused scars on arms. 

“Done,” Izuku said, handing the paper and the pen back to the woman.

“Thank you, Midoriya-san,” she said, looking over the paper with a critical eye before glancing at him, “That’s an interesting quirk, Midoriya-san.”

He squirmed slightly, “Y-yeah,” he half chuckled and half stammed, “I’ve been told that a lot.”

The woman didn’t seem to notice anything strange about the rest of what he’d written. Only a raised eyebrow when she looked at the medical part, and when she briefly glanced at his arms before shrugging it off and going ahead to type into her computer. 

Enji had taken out his phone, and was typing something on it as Izuku sat there awkwardly. 

It was another ten minutes before anything else happened, and that was just the woman getting up to leave the room for a few moments before coming back with some more paper and a small card that Izuku could recognize as an identification card. 

He blinked when he realized that he hadn’t actually, formally, changed his quirk status in his time. He’d written it down on the entrance exam application form to Yuuei as “Superpower”, and had gone and changed it officially, but he’d never received another form of identification with the “Superpower”/One for All quirk on it. 

When he got back to his time, he’d need to fix that. 

“And, done,” the woman said finally, placing the small card down on the desk in front of Izuku who picked it up carefully.

Okay, first, how did she get a photo of him without him knowing about it? Second, this was extremely well done for only fifteen minutes. 

“Oh, it’s my quirk,” the woman explained, and Izuku instantly flushed in embarrassment when he realized that he’d been muttering again , “Photograph; I can transfer any “photo” that I take with my mind to a computer to be printed off. It’s helpful for my job,” she smiled. 

“That’s so cool,” Izuku gushed immediately, “Can you take a photo in the first point of view? Or is it like an actual photo each time? Is it only people you can take a photo of, or is it anything? Is that why your eyes flashed silver when you first saw me? Is the flash in your eyes something that came with your quirk? Or is it something passed down from one of your parents? Is-”

“Isamu,” Enji interrupted with an amused snort, “Chill.”

Izuku froze immedalty, “Oh my kami, I’m so sorry- I just really like learning about different quirks,” he tried to explain, but just ended up a blushing mess when the woman just laughed. 

Izuku vaguely noted that that was the first time Enji had called Izuku by his (false) given name. 

“It’s fine, sweetheart,” the woman smiled, “I haven’t had anyone that excited over my quirk in years. It’s a welcome relief, if only for a short while. Oh, and my apologies, I haven’t introduced myself.”

“Typical,” Enji muttered under his breath and the woman rolled her eyes good naturedly at the redhead. 

"My name is Shinso Ayame," Shinso-san smiled towards Izuku.

Izuku smiled, “Thank you for your time, Shinso-san,” he gave her a quick bow.

“Oh, it’s not a problem,” Shinso-san smiled at him, “Any friend of Enji’s is a friend of ours here.”

Izuku blinked in surprise, snatching a glance at the redhead who didn’t react, “Sweet, it’s done,” he stood up, “Let’s go, Greenie.”

He didn’t even get a chance to protest against it, stammering out another thank you to Shinso-san he made sure to keep a hold of his new I.D. card as he quickly followed after the redhead.

He’d waited for Izuku, but as soon as he’d seen the green-haired teen, he’d quickly taken off again, leaving the police station behind.

Izuku barely managed to catch up to the male with a fire quirk, panting slightly when he did, “Are you alright?” he asked hesitantly.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” was his gruff reply.

Izuku paused, hesitating even more as he highly doubted that he should even be trying to get himself into whatever mess that Enji’s life was. But, it was like he’d told Todoroki-kun during their fight, a Hero always gets into others business.

“You pretty much just ran out of there,” Izuku said, making sure to keep an eye on Enji’s body language if in case he, like Kacchan, attacked when he felt threatened.

He watched as Enji tensed up for a moment there, his fingers twitching as if to form fists, and his feet certainly stepped onto the ground harder than before. Enji had a mask of indifference despite the rest of his body language, “There’s nothing wrong,” he said simply, “I just need to practice at home.”

Izuku blinked, tilting his head slightly, “Practice what?”

He tried to hide the flinch he made when he saw Enji grit his teeth, “Quirk practice.”

Izuku beamed immediately, “Can I watch?” he asked excitedly, “You said your quirk was a fire one, right?”

“Yes,” Enji said, sounding a lot more tired now than he did a moment ago.

Now, was that a yes to the first question, or the second question?

“The second.”

Izuku flushed again, “Sorry,” he dropped his eyes to his feet. 

He heard a scoff from the redhead, and blinked when the other boy stopped walking, making Izuku pause and look back up at the only person who’d helped him so far - other than the librarian and Shinso-san, of course - in this time. 

“You’re so weird,” Enji said after a while, giving Izuku a strange look.

Izuku tried to not let the comment get to him, “Sorry?” he offered again.

“Stop apologizing,” the redhead snapped, sighing when Izuku flinched back away from him, “If I let you watch, will you stop apologizing?”

“No promises?”  Izuku offered weakly, a nervous smile on his face.

Enji groaned and facepalmed, “Come on then,” he sighed, leading the way.

Izuku had to keep the excited squeal quiet to avoid the growing glare on Enji’s face. 

☀

Enji’s house was massive.

Izuku had stood, staring wide eyed at it for a few moments before the redhead rolled his eyes and dragged the greenette along with a grumble of something along the lines of “hurry up” and “it’s just a house”.

The training room that they ended up in was three times the size of Izuku’s apartment that he lived in with his mother in the future, and by the looks of the massive scorch marks all over the room, it was fireproof. 

While Izuku had been busy googling the room with wide eyes, Enji had already changed out of his street clothes and into some more form-fitting training ones. 

“You’ll want to step back,” Enji warned Izuku who blinked at him before nodding and moving back against the wall.

A moment later a giant explosion of fire filled the room. Izuku found his cold body warming up instantly under his trashed P.E. uniform. 

His eyes widened when he actually recognized the move - he was a hero nerd after all - and he froze in both surprise and shock.

“No freaking way,” Izuku muttered under his breath, going pale in both horror and surprise. 

Now that he was surrounded by flames, Izuku could actually recognize the other male. And he hated himself for not seeing it sooner. 

This was the younger version of Endeavor. The past self that had yet to become who Izuku knew he was in the future. 

Ohshitohshitohshitohshitohshitohshitohshitohshitohshitohshitohshitohshitohshitohshitohshitohshitohshitohshitohshitohshitohshitohshitohshitohshitohshit-

“-Isamu?”

Izuku shut his mouth when he realized that he’d been muttering, again , “Sorry!” Izuku squeaked, avoiding looking Enji in the eyes. 

He heard Enji sigh and walk over, Izuku had to fight the urge to flee with every step the young soon-to-be Pro-Hero took towards him, “Relax, Greenie,” Izuku could practically hear the eye-roll in Enji’s voice, “Look, I’m sorry if I surprised you-”

Izuku’s head shot up in an instant, “No, no!” he winced at how loud his voice went, “It’s not your fault, if anything it’s mine!”

He hesitated when he saw Enji’s raised eyebrow before continuing, “I just.. Haven’t had good experiences with that much fire,” he mumbled, avoiding eye contact again as he fumbled with his fingers. Thinking of all the times Kacchan had used his explosive quirk on him, and when he was four - while his dad had still been around - thefireburntagainsthisskin. Comingfromhismouthmadeitallsomuchworse. IthurtIthurtIthurtIthurtIthurtIthurtIthurt-

Izuku flinched when Enji placed his hand on Izuku’s lower arm, his eyes - Izukuhadonlyeverseenthemburningwithsupressedragebeforetoday - worried - completly different to the burning rage that they become - as he looked at Izuku who probably should’ve realized sooner that he was having a panic attack - ohkami hewasn’tevenmeanttobehere - but his mind was too busy trying not to break from the implications that this meant - howdidhegethere? Didanyoneevenknowthathewasgone? - and seriously? His classmate’s father was standing right in front of him - ohkami thisniceboywasgoingtoabusehiswholefamilywhenhegrewup - and oh, kami. Izuku had already screwed up so much-

All of a sudden, Izuku felt cold, and he opened his eyes, frowning when he tried to remember when he’d closed them, and blinked dark spots out of his eyes. His chest felt sore, and he could hear his breathing rasping slightly.

He flinched back when he saw grey-brown eyes that belonged to a girl he’d never seen before in his life. Oddly enough, the colour looked slightly familiar…

“Enji,” The girl called out, turning her head to the left of Izuku, “He’s conscious now.”

The girl withdrew her cold hand from Izuku’s leg, taking the freezing temperature with her as Enji appeared in Izuku’s line of sight with a concerned look, “Are you alright, Isamu?” he asked calmly and keeping his voice at a low level, “You just fell into that panic attack without warning.”

Izuku shivered, and let out a small noise of content when Enji placed his hand on his shoulder, letting his quirk warm Izuku up faster. The girl covered her smile with her hand, but Izuku couldn’t blame her for being amused. 

“S-s-sorry,” Izuku stuttered out, biting his lip afterwards, “I didn’t mean to-”

“I see what you mean, Enji,” the girl giggled.

Enji rolled his eyes at her, withdrawing his hand from Izuku’s shoulder, “He’s a chatterbox when it comes to quirks, just you wait, Rei.”

Izuku smiled sheepishly, “Sorry-”

“Stop with the sorries,” Rei laughed, waving him off, “I swear, all I’ve heard from you is the word “Sorry”.”

He would’ve just gone silent in embarrassment and shame if not for the light, teasing smile that she gave him. 

Enji rolled his eyes as he stood back up, “Whatever, I’m going back to training,” he shot Izuku a narrow eyed look, “ Please , for the love of kami, don’t have another panic attack.”

Izuku nodded, an apologetic look on his face, “Sor-”

Rei was as quick as a snowflake, one moment she was standing toward the middle of the room, and the next she was covering Izuku’s mouth with one of her cold hands - probably a byproduct of her quirk, Izuku assumed - and hushed at him furiously, “Not more apologies!” she hissed, even if there was an amused tinkle in her eyes.

Izuku’s shoulders shook as he chuckled behind her hand, and she smirked when she removed her hand, “Now we’re going to sit here with no apologies, and watch Enji train.”

Izuku nodded before pausing, “What is he training for?” he asked hesitantly.

“Yuuei’s entrance exams of course!” Rei beamed, “He wants to beat last year's high score. It was set by this guy called Yagi Toshinori, and he smashed - literally - the previous entrance exam high score by at least fifty points.”

“Oh,” Izuku blinked, and tried to rack his brain for why that sounded so familiar. 

Rei was more than happy to carry on, “Enji’s trying to beat him, so he’s been trying to create as many attacks as he can for taking down the robots. His parents offered to let him try and get in on recommendations, but he chose to do the public exam,” she smiled as she watched her friend, “He’s so cool.”

“I think he’s more of a sundried tomato than anything,” Izuku shrugged, carrying on as Rei’s mouth dropped open as she stared at him, “A little bad at first - first impressions are always important - but once you get used to him, you find that he’s actually a nice guy.”

“Sundried tomato?” Rei repeated, and Izuku flushed, about to apologize for the comparison, only to blink in surprise when she burst out laughing.

Her uncontrolled laughter even made Enji stop in his training to look over at them. Izuku flushed in embarrassment when the redhead raised an eyebrow curiously. 

“That is brilliant, Greenie-kun!” Rei beamed when she managed to get her laughter under control, “Sundried tomato! I’m going to hold that one over Enji’s head for the rest of our lives!”

Izuku blinked when he realized what she meant, “Are you two going to be a hero duo?” he asked hesitantly, because he’d never heard of an ice-quirk user teaming up with Endeavor.

“Hopefully,” Rei said, her mood dropping slightly, “I’m actually trying for the support department first-” Izuku mouthed “wow” and her cheeks reddened slightly, “-but I’m hoping to transfer to the heroics department in our third or second year.”

“Why wouldn’t you just go to heroics first?” Izuku wondered, “Wouldn’t it be easier for you? Especially with your quirk?”

Rei shook her head, a frown on her face, “It would actually be harder for me. In the first year hero students are more focused on learning to be better heroes on their own powers, which is fine for Enji because he can just “shut off” his quirk, but for me it would be harder. I can’t-”

“-Use your quirk for long periods of time without giving yourself hyperthermia or even freezing yourself as a “condition” of your quick,” Izuku realized, eyes wide as he compared Todoroki-kun’s quirk with Rei’s quirk.

Now Izuku knew who he’d been talking with this whole time. 

“Yeah,” Rei sighed, even if she did give him an odd look, “Enji wasn’t kidding when he said you were a fan of quirks.”

Izuku frowned and shrugged, “Not in this case,” he admitted, “I have a… friend who has a quick similar to yours, but his genetics were lucky, and he got a “Half-Hot, Half-Cold” quirk. Which means that he can regulate his internal and external body temperature, but he refuses to use his “Hot” half in fights, which means-”

“-that he’s severely limiting himself,” Rei understood immediately, “But why would he do that?”

Izuku bit his lip, “He had… issues with the parent who had the “Hot” part that his quirk formed from, and he was- is refusing to use it in fights to… I think, spite? I’m not one hundred percent sure… his parent,” he ended up just shrugging, “I managed to get through to him that it was a bad idea, but a decade isn’t enough to get rid of his habit so soon.”

“That’s good,” Rei smiled, placing a hand on Izuku’s shoulder, “Even if it takes you awhile to get your friend to use both sides of his quirk, make him . I don’t want anyone else to go through what I’ve gone through.”

Izuku nodded, “I will,” he was determined to change the future, but even if he couldn’t then if, by pure chance, he was given another shot at helping Todoroki-kun, then he would.

“I’m just lucky enough to have someone like Enji willing to wait for me,” Rei smiled as she looked over at the firey male.

He found himself following her gaze, and Izuku couldn’t blame her for being so appreciative of Enji. Izuku had only ever known Endeavor, he’d never gotten the chance to learn who Endeavor was behind the Pro-Hero front. But, then Todoroki-kun had given him a sliver of who Todoroki Enji was in the future, and now the Enji who had helped Izuku out of several panic attacks, had helped Izuku get some sort of protection here in the past, and had let Izuku into his home to watch Enji train.

It was hard for Izuku to even try to merge each idea of the person into one. Burning anger, abusive, kind, distant, caring?

Might as well give up now.

“So what do you want to do, Greenie-kun?” Rei asked him, bring him out of his musings. 

Izuku hesitated. On one hand, it would be good to go through the system as a student with a “normal” quirk, on the other, should he really do it? What if he mucked things up even more?

“I’m not sure,” Izuku sighed, fumbling his fingers anxiously, “I would like to become a hero, but I don’t think I would be able to.”

There, half-truths would have to do better than making up an elaborate story. 

“What do you mean?”

Ah, yes. Now, time to bullshit his way out of this.

Izuku sighed dejectedly, “My quirk only appeared a few months ago,” he mumbled nervously, “Apparently there was a hidden trigger that allowed it to appear, but before then I’d been quirkless, so I haven’t learn how to control it properly yet.”

Rei hummed thoughtfully, “Enji said that your quirk was called “Energy Flow”, what does it do exactly?”

Right, now to pull some shit from nowhere - and fuck you Kacchan for rubbing your swearing habits off onto Izuku - and hoping that everything would work out in the end.

“Well, basically,” Izuku fumbled with his fingers, “I can use the energy from my quirk to boost my physical state, like when I go to punch it’ll be superpowered, but the side-effect is that it kind of breaks my bones…”

The ice quirk user nodded her head, “That does sound difficult,” she agreed thoughtfully.

Izuku nodded, “Yeah, I learnt how to adjust the output of my quirk-” he tries so hard not to remember the way that the Nomu had stood there after taking one of One for All’s punches, and realizing that he hadn’t even used the full power of it, how he felt so relieved for a short moment before the Nomu attacked, “-after an accident so that it’s not longer one hundred percent, but I still have trouble using it so that it doesn’t break my bones.”

Rei nodded, “Okay, why don’t you try it out so that I can see?”

He blinked for a moment before shrugging,  “Sure,” he said, moving off the wall and into some of the space in the room.

He focused for a moment, then threw a punch when he felt his arm heat up. Izuku gritted his teeth when a large blast of air lunged out from where he’d punched. His arm wasn’t broken that time, but fuck all those brusies that had suddenly appeared all over his arm hurt.

Rei stood there gaping, and even Enji had stopped, wide eyed as they both stared at him. 

“S-s-sorry,” Izuku stuttered, grabbing his injured right arm with his left arm, cradling it carefully. 

“What the fuck was that?” Enji asked the pair of them, eyes still wide even if Rei had managed to control her own shock and amazement. 

“My quirk,” Izuku said simply, avoiding looking at Enji as he looked over his arm, “I can’t control it.”

“No shit,” Enji shook his head and moved from where he was training to Izuku, Rei following close beside him. He took one look at Izuku’s arm and shook his head, “With that much power at once, you’re better off not using it at all.”

“Enji!” Rei slapped his arm - not that it did much - and scowled at her friend, “Rude!”

Enji rolled his eyes and Izuku smiled - whywashehappybeinghere? Whyweretheybeingsonicetohim? Hefeltnormal - despite the pain in his arm, “It’s fine,” he reassured Rei, “I’ve had worse.”

“That’s not a good thing,” Rei stated firmly, narrowing her grey-brown eyes at him.

Izuku just shrugged as Enji poked his arm. Izuku didn’t even flinch.

Enji made a small noise then narrowed his eyes upon Izuku again, “Power it up,” he ordered, “Don’t let it go, just power it up.”

Izuku gave him an odd look, but did as he was ordered - in his left arm this time, because even if he had extremely high levels of pain tolerance, it would hurt powering up his right arm again - and gritted his teeth as he held One for All tight, not letting it loose. 

Enji was quick to find the issue, “You’re just holding all of your power in your arm, idiot,” he hit Izuku on the head, and the green-haired boy yelped, One for All sinking back to nothingness, “ That’s why you keep breaking your body.”

The green-haired boy rubbed his head, “Okay? So I’m supposed to spread it out throughout my body?”

Rei’s eyes widened, “Exactly,” she said enthusiastically, “Like when Enji wants to melt my ice, he has to keep his entire body warm while he focuses more on melting, because if he just sent his fire to his hand, then we might have an explosion on our hands!”

Izuku nodded thoughtfully, “So that means that both of your quirks are temperature regulating quirks - and because my quirk has so much power it sort of mimics that, which means-” he cut himself off as he called One for All up again. Closing his eyes to help himself.

At first it went directly to his arm, but then Izuku focused on spreading One for All to his chest, then to his legs, and trickling a small bit to his injured arm, keeping the power in his right arm little, as to not pain it more than it already was.

He opened his eyes when he heard Rei gasp and Enji huffed in a proud sort of way.

Aforementioned eyes widened when he looked down at his body to see red lightning cackling irritably around him before swapping to a kinder, more content green.  

“Wow,” Rei murmured, eyes wide as she almost reached out to touch the cackles of energy - huh, gut-feeling had been right when naming “his” quirk - only for Enji to carefully grab her wrist to stop her from doing so.

She blinked up at the redhead who just smiled - well, it was Enji’s version of a smile - at her as Izuku looked down at his hands, eyes wide with wonder as he watched each jet of lightning flicker and move across his skin. 

“I can’t believe I didn’t think of this before,” Izuku slapped himself - with One for All still on - and found himself surprised when the lightning didn’t affect him, “I’ve spent years analysing quirks, how did I not think of this?”

“Sometimes it takes help from a different perspective,” Enji offered, looking thoughtful, “If it wasn’t for Rei here, I probably would've taken longer to realize how to extend the “lifetime” of my flames.”

“Right!” Rei said trumpiantly, smirking at Enji before turning to Izuku with a “can you belive this guy” look on her face, “Did you know that this dumbass didn’t realize that he could keep his fires from dying, since he thought that he could only move them from his body. Melted Brains here-" she grinned when Izuku laughed and Enji spluttered, "-had no idea that he could, a. control them after they left his body, and b. keep the fires from dying.”

“Well, you didn’t know how to control your ice into thin walls!” Enji tried to counter, but he ended up on the end of two “really? That’s all you got” looks from both Rei and Izuku.

“Whatever,” Enji grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.

Rei and Izuku shared an amused smile before they got back onto the topic of Izuku’s quirk, “I recommend that you use your quirk like that,” Rei told the greenette, “It seems much safer - for you, not for us - for you to use it like this.”

Izuku smiled, “No more broken bones,” he joked and Rei laughed.

Enji just rolled his eyes. But the small quirk to the edges of his mouth meant that Rei and Izuku knew that he was laughing along with them. 

A ding went off, and immediately the mood in the training room changed. Rei’s smile flipped into a frown that was almost a scowl, and Enji did scowl, with Izuku frowning in confusion. 

Rei headed over to her bag - Izuku hadn’t noticed it at all. Huh - and pulled out her phone. Her dislike was obvious on her face. Todoroki-kun had been better at concealing his emotions than Rei.

Enji had moved after her, not saying anything until Rei typed back a response, turned off her phone, then turned into his waiting arms.

Izuku averted his gaze, feeling as if he’d just seen something far too intimate. An intimate act that he’d intruded on. 

He turned out the quiet talking of the two, trying to give them a sense of privacy as he moved slightly further away. While the two were busy speaking to each other quietly, his mind was spinning everything that had happened to him a millions miles an hour. 

Holyshit,holyshit.he’djustmetEndeavorandhiswife. Ohkami,hewasscrewingupsomuchalready. HeissosorryTodoroki-kun!

Izuku hoped that he wasn't changing things too much. 

He started paying attention when he glimpsed Rei packing up her stuff, and smiled with a wave when she called out her farewell before she left. 

Enji’s mood had since soured. It was as if Rei was one of the things that he cared about most, Izuku noted, comparing the knowledge to what he knew of the future, it didn’t quite line up. He wondered what had changed. 

“You don’t have a place to stay, do you, Greenie?”

Izuku blinked in surprise for a moment, then guiltily shook his head as he fumbled his fingers anxiously, “Uh, no… not exactly-”

“You’re staying here tonight,” Enji said plainly, as if he hadn’t just dropped a big bombshell on Izuku who gaped in surprise, “Don’t think I didn’t notice the fact that you don’t even have a bag, let alone proper clothing.”

“R-right, s-sorry,” Izuku stammered, “T-t-thank y-you-”

“Don’t mention it, Greenie,” Enji leveled a harsh stare at him, “I mean it, don’t mention it.”

Izuku nodded swiftly, but couldn’t help the smile that blossomed on his face. A smile that Enji rolled his eyes at, but Izuku knew that Enji didn’t mean it. 

In one day, Izuku had traveled back in time(? He thinks), had several panic attacks, gotten some identification for while he was here, made two friends(he hopes), started working on One for All so that he could actually use it, and he had a place to stay (for now).

Hopefully he could go get some clothes tomorrow.

☀

In the future, things changed.

Chapter Text

Waking up the next morning, Izuku just snuggled back down into the blankets, avoiding the sun that darted under the curtains of the room that Enji had let him use the night before-

Izuku sat up in an instant, eyes wide as he looked around the room that wasn’t his bedroom. He then groaned and dropped his head into his waiting hands. 

He’d forgotten in the small moments that he’d just woken up in. Wasn’t that a mood-killer?

Izuku slid out of the bed, and avoided looking at his destroyed P.E. uniform that was still on the floor - Izuku was considering asking Enji to just burn it. It wasn’t as if the pieces of cloth were going to be much use in the state that they were in - and just forced his body to relax as she started doing stretches in the shirt and shorts that Enji had given him to wear to bed. 

Stretching his arms above his head, Izuku quickly ran through the things he knew. 

He was in the year 2145, he had identification that meant that he “belonged” here, he was currently in the house of his classmate’s younger father’s family, he had met aforementioned classmate’s mother and father, he now had some sort of control over his quirk, and he was going to probably be stuck in this time for a while. At least until he figured out how to get back to his own time. 

And Izuku had no idea how to do that, so he was stuck here for an unknown amount of time. Fun!

Izuku wished that he had a notebook and pen right now. Anything to get his thoughts out in front of him.

He shook out his arms and dared to venture out into the rest of the house. 

Enji’s parents hadn’t gotten back home the night before, and redhead didn’t seem care as he showed Izuku where the bathroom was - the one closest to the room he was borrowing to sleep in - where the kitchen was, and then where Enji’s room was in case Izuku needed something from the other boy during the night.

But Enji had been highly sceptical of that, pointing out that he’d be up at around five-thirty for training anyway. 

(But he hadn’t gotten to know how Izuku would stay up into the early mornings, streaming videos of Heroes fights so that he could analyse them, how he’d be up at six am anyway because he had to keep up with the day.)

His feet were quiet as he went into the kitchen barefoot, green eyes looking around the room once before he left to go find the redhead who had given him a place to stay - even if it was only temporary - who would most likely be in the training room.

It was harder for Izuku to find his way in the light - having it been night when Enji had taken him inside the main house - of day, but he managed when he heard massive blasts of air, and could actually feel the temperature rising the closer he got to the training room.

Okay, so Izuku said that it was a room, but it was actually a seperate part of the house that had been altered into a training building/house for Enji to practice in. Izuku assumed that it was because in case Enji accidentally set the whole thing on fire - no matter how fireproof it was - that the main house didn’t get burnt down as well. 

Which, fair enough.

When Izuku opened the door to the training room, a massive flood of heat rushed out into the cool morning air. Izuku barely got a chance to breathe before he had to duck to avoid a stream of flames that had been aimed right at his head. 

When he managed to open his eyes, he spotted a fairly nonchalant Enji - it was only his years of practice of reading Kacchan and rest of his bullies’ body language that let him notice that the fire quirk user was slightly fearful for Izuku - in the middle of the training room.

“Sorry,” Izuku apologized as he got back to his feet, “I should’ve knocked.”

Enji nodded, eyes glancing over Izuku’s appearance for a moment, “Did you get any sleep last night?”

Izuku snorted, “Don’t worry, this is healthy for me. I did actually manage to get plenty of sleep,” he paused, “Thank you.”

The redhead just nodded in response, “There’s food in the cupboards and fridge if you wanted breakfast, or you can train in here,” he turned away to keep practising, “Rei wants to take you out shopping around lunchtime, so if you wanted to train today, doing it now would be best.”

Izuku nodded, “Thanks,” he smiled and Enji nodded before going back to throwing his flames out. The greenette shut the door quickly and moved to the other side of the training room, careful to avoid the fire surrounding Enji.

It took Izuku several moments to call upon One for All and spread it across his body just like the night before. Red lightning appeared just like the time before and quickly eased into calming green.

Izuku hadn’t gotten a chance to test it out the night before, so he wasn’t completely surprised when he tried to take a short step forward and found himself almost buckling under the pain. He managed to get there, and mind whirling away, he knew that it would take time and practice to get better at moving under the strain of One for All.

It took him a while - he completely focused on himself, but made sure to keep an eye out on where Enji was so that he wouldn’t get in the way - but after perhaps half an hour or so later, Izuku could mostly walk around normal while under the pressure of One for All.

Another hour later, and Izuku was confident at running. The power of One for All had boosted his strides as he jogged around.

And then, two hours after he started, Izuku accidentally lost control for a second. One moment he was fine, and the next he was face-planting into the far wall.

Izuku groaned as he removed himself from the wall, turning around in time to see Enji snickering.

“Okay, I had no idea that would happen,” Izuku admitted getting off his arse, and dusting off the shorts he was wearing. 

“It’s basically a power-up to your body,” Enji raised an eyebrow, no longer snickering, “How would you not know that would happen.”

Izuku huffed, crossing his arms, “I had a handle on it, I just lost concentration for a moment,” he then hummed to himself, “I wonder if such a small amount lets me go that fast, how fast would I go at full power. Obviously not until I’ve trained my body to be used to that much power, but even a little five percent is enough to give me super-speed onlyaslongasIuseitmostlyfocusedinmylegs. MaybeIshouldfocusmoreonattackingwithmylegs, they are strongerthanahuman’sarmsafterall- ”

“Stop mumbling,” Enji called out, “If you’re going to mumble, at least speak louder.”

He flushed immediately, “Sorry,” he said loud enough for the other male to hear.

Enji made a small noise before going back to training, only looking a little too hot - temperature-wise - despite all the work he was putting into his training. 

Carrying on that train of thought, Izuku focused on putting slightly more of One for All into his legs, and he was rewarded with even more lightning forming around his legs.

He took a step forward, and almost fell over again, having not expected the sudden rush of excitement from himself.

Weird.

Izuku focused on controlling himself as he moved into a jog, smiling despite himself when his vision was only slightly disturbed by the cackles of excess lightning that One for All gave off.

He ran around his portion of the training room several times and didn't lose his breath once. Izuku only had to stop when he felt the strain growing too much, and he ended up skidding to a stop, panting heavily as he let One for All sink back under his skin.

The clothes that he had been lent were drenched with sweat, and he winced each time he shifted his bare feet. Izuku would need to get a pair of "speedster" shoes while they went clothes shopping.

"That was brilliant," Izuku said smiling happily to himself. Enjoying the fact that he had even just a bit of control over One for All, and that he would only continue to develop that control as he worked on it.

Now if only All Might could see him no-

The door to the training room slammed open, and within moments the sweltering heat dropped down to almost freezing cold as Rei narrowed her grey-brown eyes at both male teenagers.

"You guys are late," Rei scowled, and both the redhead and greenette offered her apologetic looks, "Why am I surprised that you-" she looked at Izuku, "-would be the same workaholic that Enji is?" 

Izuku chuckled at the white-haired girl's sigh, "Sorry?" He offered sheepishly.

"No more sorries!" Rei demanded, pointing her index finger at him before turning on Enji, "And you!"

Enji actually looked kind of scared in the face of the frightening chaos that Rei was, “Yes?”

Rei opened her mouth, then shut it a moment later, shaking her head with one of the biggest sighs that Izuku had ever heard, “I have no words, Enji. No words.”

“Shocker,” Enji deadpanned and twitched when the white-haired girl narrowed her grey eyes into a glare. 

Izuku snorted, and Enji glared at him while Rei just smiled, “So,” she clapped her hands, “You two, Enji’s credit card, me, shopping. Now.”

Both boys’ shoulders sagged in defeat, “Yes, ma’am,” came the reply from both the redhead and greenette.

“Good!” Rei beamed, already leaving the building, “Make sure you lend him some clean clothes, Enji,” she called over her shoulder before disappearing.

“Your friend is terrifying,” Izuku commented, eyes wide as he kept watching the doorway, half expecting the girl to come back.

Enji just nodded, “One hundred percent.”

☀

Growing up, Izuku didn’t have any friends. Other than Kacchan, no one wanted to be friends with the quirkless kid, so Izuku never really had a need to go to a mall before.

And with him being quirkless back then, the majority of the shops probably wouldn’t have served him regardless if he was with his mom or not. 

So it really was an experience for the boy who had only gone into second-hand “poor” shops when his mom really needed him to go for sizing. There were just so many people, and if it wasn’t for the excited, strong, and cold grip around his wrist, Izuku probably would’ve gotten lost in the crowd. 

Enji was following after Rei who was dragging Izuku with a tired deadpan on his face that kept most strangers away from him, and by extension Rei and Izuku, but Izuku was betting that the rather crazy -excited look on Rei’s face was the main factor that they had gone unbothered.

They went into a clothing shop, Izuku didn’t take care to note the name of, and Rei immediately took them to the males clothing section and started grabbing clothes and holding them up against Izuku. 

 Enji just looked amused from where he was looking at clothes on his own, and Izuku stuck his tongue out childishly at him when Rei wasn’t looking. Quickly going back to a perfect picture of innocence when the girl turned back to look at him.

“We’re definitely going to need to get some green shirts to match your hair and eyes,” Rei said, mostly to herself by this point, but Izuku nodded, not really having the courage to say no even if he wanted to.

“Maybe some white ones,” Rei carried on, more than happy to do all the shopping for Izuku who was glad because he didn’t think he would be able to survive at all. She narrowed her eyes at him, “But you can’t wear the white ones while training, Greenie.”

“Why would I wear white shirts while training?” Izuku asked, confused as he tilted his head.

Rei laughed and patted his cheek, “Oh, keep that innocence, Greenie.”

“What?”

Enji snorted from where he stood checking out a bunch of dark red shirts, and Izuku looked at him in confusion, only making the other male turn to laughter instead of amused snorts.

“I don’t get it,” Izuku sighed, pouting as he crossed his arms, only for Rei to slap his arms apart as she held up a cyan-blue zip-up hoodie, and she grinned as she added that to the metaphorical pile of growing clothes - it was actually a massive rail that apparently had been reserved for her??? - in front of the changing rooms. 

“Why so many?” Izuku asked, avoiding looking at the masses of clothes gathered.

Enji raised an eyebrow from the corner of Izuku’s eyesight, and Rei just shook her head, “Oh, Greenie, Greenie, Greenie-” Izuku had accepted that the nickname was a permanent part of his life now, “-one can never have enough clothes! And we have to make sure that the clothes go together!”

“Right, of course, silly me,” Izuku smiled and Rei just smiled back as Enji snorted in the background. Both of them wisely ignored the redhead.

Soon enough, thankfully for Izuku's poor feet, Rei decided that she'd found enough clothes for Izuku to try out, and shoved him into a changing room with an outfit to try on.

He was quick to strip down to his underwear, then put the clothes on. A pair of deep dark grey jeans, a lime green t-shirt with a picture of the "symbol" of peace that was outlined in dark green to counter the lime green, and a white zip-up hoodie to go with it. 

Rei had given him a black hat with the bill an army camouflage colour to go with the outfit, and he set it on his untamable green locks. He looked in the mirror and had to admit that the ice quirk user actually knew quite a bit about clothes.

He actually looked nice?

Izuku would've thought that she'd had some sort of fashion quirk if he knew that her quirk was ice. After all, who could make such a hopeless Deku look like someone who actually belonged in the "top-dog" crowd?

“You alright in there, Greenie?” Rei’s voice came from behind the changing room door, and she knocked her hand against the wood a moment later, “You’ve been in there awhile. I didn’t pick anything hard out, did I?”

“Uh, no,” Izuku hoped that she didn’t hear how he was on the verge of crying, blinking his eyes furiously to avoid the inevitable, “Sorry, I’ll be right out.”

She seemed to accept that response, as Izuku listened to her walk away, and talk quietly to Enji. Not that he could hear what they were talking about… or could he?

Yeah, nope. Trying to strengthen his ears of all things was going to have to wait until he got into Yuuei, well, if he got into Yuuei. 

Izuku sighed, shutting down those thoughts, and just trying to focus on actually leaving the changing room to model the outfit that Rei had put together.

He steeled his nerves, then opened the door. Izuku watched as Rei and Enji paused in their quiet talking to turn and look at him. There was a moment as each of their eyes widened before a stunned silence settled between the three of them.

The greenette ducked his head as an embarrassed flush coloured his freckled cheeks, “Does it look that bad?” he asked nervously.

He glanced up when he felt Rei place a hand on his arm, Enji was right beside her with his own version of a concerned look on his face. 

“Greenie, seriously,” Rei said, shaking her head with a disbelieving laugh, “Bad doesn’t even get into the top hundred of describing words for you right now.”

Izuku blinked in both surprise and shock as even Enji nodded in agreement, “Really?”

“Let’s just say that I am really glad that we’re going shopping now,” Enji said confidently, “Before, there was a mostly chance that my parents would allow you to stay with us, now? Well, we might as well get the adoption forms ready beforehand.”

“What?!” Izuku spluttered, and his eyes grew even wider when even Rei nodded in agreement with her redheaded friend. 

She smirked, “Well, let’s go wild then.”

“What!?”

Enji handed the credit card over to her, “Accept this great item to assist you on your journey, Madame Fashion-mistress.”

“What?!?”

“Thank you, good sir,” Rei smiled, giving him a mock bow as she continued on the mini-role play.

Izuku gaped, “I really don’t have a choice in this, do I?” he asked at last.

Enji looked at him first, “Not really,” he shrugged, “Rei doesn’t get much fun, this is the least I can do. And it ends up helping you out in the long run, with both my parents and you actually looking like you deserve to.”

“Nope!” Rei sang happily.

Izuku fought the urge to groan.

☀

Izuku had more than ten bags of clothing by the time they left the mall. And that was all the stuff that he was carrying. The rest of his new wardrobe was being carried in the twenty-four other bags that mostly Enji was carrying, but Rei had grabbed a few before the redhead had managed to get to them. 

So Enji ended up carrying about fifteen or sixteen bags while Rei carried the other eight or nine, followed by Izuku who carried ten bags, and a new outfit that Rei had forced upon him. Enji’s old clothes ended up being put into a donation bin for the homeless to use - and of course, they went to the public cleaners to get the clothes washed and dried first - and Izuku had tried to protest until Enji pointed out that there would most likely be plenty more shopping trips in the future, and that he regularly dropped off clothes he didn’t wear there. 

‘If someone else could make better use of them, then why keep them?’ Were his final words in the matter before it was finished as Izuku hadn’t been able to counter that argument. 

Who knew that the future abuser was someone who dropped his unused clothes off at a homeless “shop” collection store?

Not Izuku for sure. But, hey, you learn something new every day.

Now, in present time, Izuku was helping Rei put all the clothes she’d brought for him with Enji’s credit card, into the various drawers and cupboards that had magically appeared in the spare room Enji had given Izuku to use.

“Where should-”

Rei pointed at the upper left, third drawers from the left of the bed, “There, Greenie.”

“Thanks,” Izuku smiled, hiding the pain that he felt each time he had to fold the clothes and place them in a certain drawer.

Enji had left him alone to deal with the wild Rei and clothes alone. What a traitor. But it wasn’t as if Izuku could blame him for that. If their roles had been reversed, Izuku couldn’t promise that he wouldn’t have done the same. 

Rei easily folded various pieces of clothing, while Izuku struggled with some. They easily filled the closest with jackets and hoodies, and the few pairs of shoes that they’d gotten Izuku. He had been surprised when both Rei and Enji had easily agreed to get “Speedster” shoes for him while he would be training in the future. 

(What he hadn’t known was that both of them had sweatdropped at the idea of having to pay for hundreds of shoes that would inevitably get destroyed in the end. Both of them had flashbacks to the electrical energy that surrounded Izuku when he had been practising with his quick.

They didn’t need much help remembering how Izuku’s eyes glowed while reflecting the light that surrounded him, his hair floating slightly with all the energy that his quirk gave off, the proud grin that could turn dark within moments...)

(If Izuku so desired, he could become a villain. And he’d be a powerful one at that)

When they’d finally - (Izuku didn’t cheer in pure happiness and relief at that. Nope, not at all. He doesn’t know what you’re talking about) - finished with the clothes, he and Rei ended out in the kitchen where Enji was already eating a rather full sandwich with mostly vegetables, but with some meat in.

Rei was quick to make her own sandwich with fewer vegetables, but about the same amount of meat as her best friend, and Izuku made three sandwiches with quite a large amount of vegetables, but only put meat in one of his sandwiches. 

Izuku’s diet required that he eat a lot more than “normal” people, because of his quirk, but he didn’t necessarily need to eat a lot of meat; in fact, he and his mother had searched different diets for him when his quirk first “appeared”, and found that there quite a few problems with the “normal” diet of having quite a few meats in with their meals. And, while Izuku and his mother hadn’t been willing to fully give up meat, they had decided to limit their meat intake as much as possible. 

Hence the two sandwiches filled with veggies and only one with the smallest piece of sliced ham ever. 

“That’s a lot of green,” Rei pointed out curiously as she blinked at Izuku’s sandwiches.

Izuku nodded, “Diet requires a lot of food, and I’m a “mostly-vegetarian”,” he shrugged.

“Fair enough,” Enji nodded, “Different people need different diets, or prefer different diets.”

“Like I prefer warmer foods to counter my quirk while you prefer colder foods to counter your quirk,” Rei said, looking at Enji who nodded in agreement. 

Suddenly, their quiet late lunch-time meal was interrupted by the sound of a door opening. Izuku stilled slightly when he heard the door shut, but quickly relaxed his body when he realized that neither Rei nor Enji were worried about whoever had just entered the house.

In fact, as the person walked towards them, Izuku realized that the person was a woman who was speaking in another language that Izuku hadn’t heard before. 

The red-haired women entered the kitchen and didn’t even blink at the sight of the three teenagers - one who she would have never seen before in her life - nor did she pause her conversation, except to press a kiss to Enji’s head after giving him a smile before grabbing a sandwich for herself and leaving the kitchen just as quickly as she entered. 

Not even ten minutes later did a man enter the house in a similar state, only he managed to finish his call when he entered the kitchen.

“Hello, father,” Enji gave the sandy-brown-haired man a greeting between bites of his sandwich.

Rei beamed when she saw the man, “Hi, Todoroki-san!”

“Hello, Enji,” the man greeted the redhead despite the boy's lack of enthusiasm, and he turned to Rei with a rather large smile that made Izuku think of a bonfire, easy to go out of control, but when in control, it was a magnificent thing to see, "And the wondrous Rei!"

Rei stuck her tongue out at the sandy-brown haired man, "Todoroki-san, stop it!"

He laughed heartily, then turned to Izuku, "And this must be a new friend," he stuck his hand out, " I hope my son and his friend have been treating you well-" understatement of the century, Izuku thought, "-I'm Todoroki Senji!"

"It's nice to meet you, Todoroki-san," Izuku carefully shook the man's outstretched hand, "I'm Midoriya Isamu, and Enji and Rei have been more than welcoming. Thank you for allowing me to stay in your home."

"Any friend of Enji's is more than welcome to stay!" Todoroki-san beamed happily.

"Thank you, sir," Izuku smiled again and the man laughed.

"Where did you find this one, Enji?" Todoroki-san asked his son, not even bothering to hide his amusement, "Can he only speak in thank-yous?"

Izuku flushed when Rei jumped in with a gleeful grin, "He also speaks in sorries!"

The greenette glanced over at Enji who didn't look the slightest bit bothered by any of this, and Izuku frowned slightly as he compared this version of Enji to how Todoroki-kun acted towards 1-A in the future.

However, it obviously wasn't because of abuse, so Izuku was at a slight loss at what could've caused Enji to act like this. It was only light familial teasing... wasn't it?

(Well, Izuku hoped so. It wasn't as if he'd had great examples of how a family is supposed to work. From his father to having just his mother who was gone most days, to the Bakugo family that two-thirds of that family just yelled at each other while the other seemed more than resigned to his fate, to not even getting a chance to meet other people's families because by the time he'd tried making friends outside of Kacchan, he'd been diagnosed as Quirkless, so no one wanted to get to know the weakling. The person that they could beat up without any repercussions from the adults.)

"So, Midoriya-san," Todoroki-san started off carefully, "How did you meet my son and his friend?"

Izuku struggled to find a reason at first, then just shoved all caution to the wind, "I have an unhealthy relationship with panic attacks," he shrugged, and Enji snorted at that, surprising the redhead's father enough for him to twist his head to look at the boy, "Luckily for me, Enji was around and ended up helping me out several times."

"I'm glad my son was able to help you," Todoroki-san smiled, a pleased look sprinkling across his face.

Izuku smiled as well, glancing at Enji for a moment, and wondering why the redhead wasn't as excited to see his parents again as Rei was to see them.

The redhead's eyes glanced up to meet Izuku's curious green ones, and the greenette frowned slightly when all Enji did was look away slowly.

What on earth did that mean?

Izuku found himself stuck in a viewer role as Rei and Todoroki-san struck a conversation. Staying quiet as he tried to figure out the mystery of the Todoroki family and Rei.

It wasn't until he noticed how Rei would brush back her hair every so often, and how Todoroki-san always kept the three teenagers in his eyesight, that Izuku realized what Enji had meant.

Izuku finished his third sandwich, then just sat there listening to the entertaining yet confusing conversation.

By the time the conversation finished, the air in the kitchen was quite tense, as if the room itself was preparing for an explosion of sorts.

Rei was looking disappointed, Todoroki-san was unreadable, and Enji just looked tired of everything

Izuku blinked when all three of them turned to him. 

"Did I do something wrong?" He asked cautiously, drawing up enough of One for All to buzz under his skin.

"You didn't figure it out," Rei pouted, only her eyes showing how disappointed she was.

"Figure it out?" Izuku repeated in confusion, before realizing and smiling slightly, "You mean the "masks" that you guys were using. Was I meant to say something about it?"

Todoroki-san was looking at him with interest now, eyes widened the slightest, "When did you figure it out?"

Izuku paused, thinking, "I realized that there was something wrong when Enji's mother came in, he didn't even react to her, but I didn't realize you guys were actively using "masks" until I realized that Rei kept brushing her hair every so often-" her eyes widened in surprise, so she obviously hadn't known about that habit, "-and how you always made sure you kept us three in your eyesight, Todoroki-san, and even if you had to move, you at least kept me in your eyesight."

Enji actually looked surprised and Rei looked impressed. Todoroki-san let out a loud bellow of laughter that surprised Izuku enough to make him jump.

"Where on earth did you find this kid, Enji?" Todoroki-san asked his son with a massive grin. He was behaving differently than before, so Izuku could only guess that this was how he normally behaved.

Enji gave his father a deadpan, "In an alleyway in the middle of a panic attack."

The man laughed again, "You weren't kidding," he smiled, "This is great."

"That's what I said!" Rei beamed happily and smiled, even more, when Todoroki-san grinned at her.

Izuku felt more than a little awkward, not really understanding what was going on. And he guessed it showed on his face, as the other three just looked amused when they looked at him.

Thankfully, Rei was more than willing to provide an answer for him, “The Todoroki family often like to see if their guests can tell if they’re acting or not,” she said simply, “Because of their fame and wealth, Enji’s mother and father like to “put on a play” for any newcomers to see if they’re worth being considered a friend to the family.”

“Really?” Izuku frowned, “Does that happen often?” he asked, turning to the Todoroki’s in the room.

Enji just sighed in resignation while Todoroki-san nodded, “Both myself and Enji have been born into wealthy families - which was how this family is so influential now, because of my own parents’ goals and aims in the business society - and over the years many tried to friend myself or Enji, and most reasons are for the associated fame that would become of them being a friend of one of the famous Todoroki,” he sighed sadly, “So this is an entertaining way for weed out those unworthy. If they notice that we’re using “masks” as you called them, and don’t comment on it, then we kick them out, or even if they don’t notice, we can easily tell if someone is being sincere. Nine times out of ten we end up kicking them out as well.”

“That’s…” Izuku struggled to come up with words to describe what he was feeling. 

“It’s life, I’m afraid,” Todoroki-san sighed yet again, his sandy-brown locks moving as he shook his head, “I honestly don’t understand how people preach fairness and kindness and being true about yourself when we have this social hierarchy.”

Rei sighed as well, leaning into Enji’s side, and the redhead just let her, somehow munching on another sandwich. 

Izuku thought it over, twisting and turning the knowledge in his mind. Yes, he could understand the “game” that the Todoroki family and Rei were pulling, and why they were doing it, but at the same time, they were potentially ruining friendships that could’ve been good. Like, someone might try to befriend someone famous because of reputation and all that, but they could change throughout the friendship to being someone who actually cares for the famous person? However, Izuku couldn’t one hundred percent guarantee that, so he could understand why they did what they did. 

And it helped clear up why Endeavor in the future was so stoic to everyone. Not even his sidekicks or his staff at his agency were spared the suffering of his stoic attitude. 

(Izuku hid the wince that he made as a flash of an image seared into his eyelids when he closed them. Grey-brown eyes smirked behind a white mask as fire surrounded them- )

Izuku ended up nodding, “That makes sense,” he relented, “I don’t fully understand it, but it does make sense.”

“Lower-class citizen,” Rei hissed mockingly, but everyone knew she was joking, and each of the four of them burst into their own versions of laughter.

As he struggled to rein in his laughter, Izuku thought, with a big smile, that he could get used to this.

Chapter Text

Izuku was quick to ease into his new life in the past.

Enji's mother and father had been more than happy to let him stay - there had even been mentions of possible adoption, even if it would only be temporary until he reached eighteen - there for as long as he needed and wanted. They'd even offered to see if they could get him a recommendation to Yuuei if he so wished, but ignoring the fact that it was a little too late for recommendations, Izuku wanted to see if he could, firstly, keep up with Enji, and secondly, he wanted to see if he'd be able to actually do the entrance exam this time around.

With only a few months difference between getting his quirk on the morning of the exam to having it and actually having a way to use it made all the difference in the world to Izuku.

He could actually use One for All this time!

Turned out that the entrance exam had only been a fortnight away from when Izuku first arrived in the past, so he had just under two weeks to work on One for All.

Izuku spent those days figuring out how to use One for All to enhance his body. There may have been a couple of broken bones that were quickly healed by a family friend of the Todoroki family with a healing quirk. 

(Izuku had thanked the man, Shuzenji Asas, for using his fascinating healing quirk that used mutated cells from his own body to heal other people. Shuzenji's quirk also allowed himself to heal at a faster rate so he could easily cut off a small part of his skin to heal others. It was a little gruesome, but it was a quirk that Izuku had never seen before! Oh, and his skin was replaced within moments, so it wasn't that bad.)

Rei had joined both Izuku and Enji for a while each day. She was more focused on getting her support gear working than actually training with her quirk as of yet, but Rei made time to come around to the training building to check up on them. Most of the time she ended up dragging Enji and Izuku out for a break.

His current lifestyle was easy for him to get used to, what was most difficult was learning to respond to his (false) birth name. Anytime his (false) name would be called out by Enji’s parents - he’d asked them to just call him Isamu instead of using his family name, and they’d offered their own names(so it didn’t get so confusing) - he’d be confused for a short moment before remembering the name was actually his now. 

The I.D. card hadn’t left the room Izuku had accidentally taken over - and had eventually been given - but he’d taken to just flipping it over in his fingers when he couldn’t sleep at night.

His green eyes had been curious when Shinso-san had taken the image, obviously when he had been asking about something, and his green curls had been a wild mess. Izuku had been lucky that whatever had sent him back in time had only left him with the jagged lightning-like scars that ran up his arms from his hands. 

Izuku found himself tracing the scars on his arms whenever his mind wandered, an accidental habit that he’d developed alongside the mumbling that he was slowly working on. 

It was something he found oddly comforting, having something - even if it was branded on his skin - to tie him back to the future. 

Izuku had also learnt that the entrance exam was a little different to how it was set up in the future. While in the future there was just the written exam, then the physical - don’tthinkaboutit, don’tthinkaboutit, don’tthinkofherbeingcrushedunderallthatrubble, don’tthinkaboutwhatmight’vehappenedifhehadn’tmadeitintime - but here, in the past, they still had the written exam, and the physical, but both of them were split up into several different parts.

For starters, the written exam was split into “general knowledge” - where the markers figured out where you sat in schooling wise - then “analysis” - where they tested how you would theoretically think or act in a given situation. There would obviously be a section on how you’d go about figuring how a given quirk worked - then there was “Heroics and Those Against” - which was about all the current heroes and villains in the field that people either did or didn’t know about - three topics for the written exam, while there would only be two “topics” for the physical. 

If someone was hoping to go into combat-based Heroics, then the test would be split into “Villains” which was similar to the one Izuku took in the future and “Rescue” which was an exam that was specific in how you could earn rescue points. If someone was hoping to go into more information-based Heroics, then they would have a “Stealth” variation of the “Villains” exam, but instead of robots, they would be tested against underground heroes and various heroes who had quirks that would help them find the stealthy kids and would share the “Rescue” with the combat-based Heroics. 

Izuku had been curious to see if they could still get “hidden” rescue points in the “Villains” part of of the physical test, and it had only taken him five minutes on the internet - Izuku had cried when Senji-san and Kana-san had gifted the laptop to him to use. Enji had displayed his amusement at seeing his parents panic when Izuku had burst out crying with a snort - to check that yes, yes Yuuei did give out rescue points during the “Villain” exam.

He had been torn whether or not to tell Enji about the rescue points, but after all the redhead had done for him, why wouldn’t he tell him?

His friend - “adoptive brothers” Rei would tease them with - had been surprised at the knowledge of such points - he’d given Izuku a suspicious look that Izuku had avoided sheepishly, having to fight the urge to scratch at his scars on his arms - but appreciative all the same. 

Three nights before the exam, Izuku and Enji came up with a plan for the exam. While Rei would be busy taking her support course exam, Izuku and Enji would take down as many villain-bots as possible while keeping their eyes peeled for those who might get caught in trouble. For the rescue part of their exam, as long as the supervisor permitted it - here wasn’t a specific rule in the rulebook that could be found online - then Enji would help Izuku, and vice versa in the extraction of “civilians” that were actually just ‘bots that had been programmed to behave like real people in need of help.

Izuku had been really curious about how the ‘bots would work, and had spent a night - don’t tell Enji or his “big brother” mode (as dubbed by Rei) would appear and he’d be making Izuku go to bed at a reasonable time - researching about it and had found barely anything other than who had created them, what their name was, and small details if someone wanted to get in contact with the young woman. Her name was Date Sakura.

Izuku really wanted to get in contact with her, and ask her how on earth she’d managed to get such a complex amount of code to behave in a “human”-like way- but he figured training for the entrance exam was a better fit. 

Like now. 

Two days before Yuuei’s entrance exam, Izuku and Enji were training like crazy, even getting Rei to shout of questions as they did various things around the training house. 

Izuku had gotten better at holding One for All consistently at a low amount of power - probably about five percent? - throughout his body, as he moved through different stages of training, but he’d need to keep working on it if he wanted to become a Pro-Hero like Endeavor or All Might.

“Who is the third most-liked villain in the current public standings?” Rei called out.

Oh, there was also a points score between the “brothers” - “ Friends ,” Izuku would hiss at a smiling Rei, “Not brothers!” - for every question one of them got right. 

Currently, Izuku was winning, but only barely.

“The Wild Villain: Fern,” Enji called out, panting from where he was consistently setting fire to a fire-proof block of stone that he was determined to at least scorch a little.

Izuku flipped off the top of the climbing wall, green lightning sparking around his body, but going red around his legs when he landed, “Nope, it’s currently Boxtop; the boxing villain, Fern moved up to second last night.”

Enji glanced at Rei and groaned when she nodded with a massive smirk, “It’s hardly fair when you’re consistently checking the rankings,” the redhead glared at Izuku who shrugged.

“They have interesting quirks,” Izuku smiled innocently. 

“Of course,” Enji rolled his eyes, still working on the fire-proof block, “I’m sure you care more about people’s quirks than actual people.”

Rei laughed as Izuku protested, “That’s not true!” he pouted as he climbed back up the climbing wall, “I just think the range of various quirks is so fascinating. And how people use their quirks, villain or Pro-Hero.”

“He’s right, though,” Rei agreed with Izuku as she looked to Enji who rolled his eyes, “Seeing how different people use similar versions of quirks can give others ideas on how to use them.”

Izuku nodded along, “Yeah, for example, I saw someone with a fire quirk manage to develop their fire into turning into different colours. The common colour was blue or red, but they managed to get pink a few times, and even managed to get the fire to go black. It’s was rather amazing to see.”

“Sounds like they’ve got a different type of fire quirk to me,” Enji grunted. 

“True,” Izuku agreed, “But I’m sure if you developed your fire enough, that it would turn blue, as does a normal flame when it reaches over 1250℃, and it would help you better yourself, especially if you get into a situation where you have to melt large amounts of metal or stone, like now.”

Enji flipped his finger up at the greenette who laughed when he saw. Rei just rolled her eyes, “Brothers,” she muttered.

Izuku didn’t even bother arguing against her words, too busy trying to make sure he didn’t fall off the wall again, “Next question, please!” he called out. 

Rei laughed quietly, and flipped through the papers she had - thankfully, not touched by Enji’s flames - then chose one to read out, “In 2129, what was the natural disaster that almost took out the Tokyo Tower during the spring?”

Izuku frowned. He hadn’t actually studied the history part of their exam, knowing that he was rather useless at keeping track of numbers and dates unless it was something he undoubtedly knew was important, but even then, Izuku struggled to remember.

“It wasn’t actually a natural disaster,” Enji answered easily, “The Massive Earthquake that was accompanied by high winds and disastrous rainfall was caused by the world-wide known pro-hero-turned-criminal-turned-villain Élémentaire, who was born in Britain, but grew up in France where he debuted until he started going around the world and started using his quirk in criminal ways until 2129 when he caused the “natural disaster”.”

Izuku hadn’t realized that he was gaping until Enji turned to look at him and laughed. The greenette quickly shut his mouth and glared slightly at the redhead.

“That was the year we were born,” Rei hummed thoughtfully, “I’m surprised you didn’t remember that.”

Izuku climbed to the top of the wall, then sat down on top of it, “I forgot about that,” he shrugged. He really had forgotten about the event. They’d been taught about it in late elementary school years, but he’d honestly left behind the information - Élémentaire was in the super-secret prison that they kept villains now/in the future - when focusing on the current - in the future - Pro-Heroes.

Neither Rei nor Enji stayed on the topic, the redhead calling out for another question.

"If you weren't in a heroics based lifestyle, where would your preferred aspirations be?"

"That's a weird one," Izuku wrinkled his nose as he thought it over.

For questions like this one, it wasn't a competition, it was more of those conversational ones.

"Does it say anything about quirks existing or not?" Enji asked through his gritted teeth as his flames grew in mass.

Rei hummed as she looked over the paper, "It doesn't say," she shrugged.

Izuku thought about it and struggled to come up with a different goal that wasn't Heroics.

"If we had quirks, then probably a firefighter," Enji shrugged, his eyes narrowed as Izuku realized that even his friend - " Brothers! " - was having trouble, "But I guess if we didn't have quirks then I would follow my mother and father into business and politics."

Now that was an image. Izuku bit his lip to keep from laughing at how ridiculous Endeavor would seem going to business meetings without the flaming hair and beard.

He blinked, then Rei and Enji were looking at him for his answer.

"I never really gave it any thought," Izuku admitted, twisting his hands as he glanced down at them, "I guess, maybe a detective? I like-"

"Analyzing things," Rei finished, smirking when all Izuku did was roll his eyes.

It was hard not to see the other two teenagers as sibling-like-figures. Enji acted distantly and always behaved as if he didn't care when really he did care, and he did notice when Izuku would stay up late, which made him force the greenette to sleep earlier the next night. Rei could be excitable, she even "mothered" him slightly at times, but when she stopped fussing over him, Izuku found that she was quite enjoyable to be around. Despite the teasing that he and Enji could soon be adopted brothers.

(Not that Izuku doubted it, he just didn’t want all this good luck to run out. He didn’t want Senji-san and Kana-san to realize how much of a useless deku he was. Izuku didn’t want to be cast out of this small family that he’d grown to love as if he really was apart of it)

Darn, he’d only been in the past for not even two weeks, and he was already not looking forward to going back to the future. 

Not that he had anything against his mom or his classmates, but everything seemed simpler in this time. Even the Yuuei entrance exam was better set out for people with both physical and stealth or mental quirks.

Hell, if there was one thing Izuku really wished to do, it would be to bring poor Shinso Hitoshi into the past so that he could get the treatment he deserved to get into the Heroics course. Even if it wasn’t exactly the idea Shinso-kun would’ve had in mind for his journey to being a Pro-Hero, it certainly sounded a lot better than the exam in the future.

Izuku idly wondered what had caused it to change to what it was.

“-eenie!”

He zoned back in to see Rei’s exasperated look and Enji rolling his eyes with a deep sigh.

“Sorry?” Izuku offered sheepishly, then jumped off the top of the climbing wall.

“You really should stop zoning out,” Enji pointed out tiredly, already too used to the greenette’s habits.

Rei raised her eyebrow, “What were you thinking of so hard?”

Izuku hesitated for a moment before going with a half-truth, “Family,” he shrugged, moving back to start climbing the wall again.

He missed the look the two friends shared when his back was turned. 

“Are you alright, Isamu?” the tone of Rei’s voice made the green-haired boy turn his head so he could look at them, surprise on his face, “It’s just that you never mention your family, so we’ve never asked, but you seem to be getting lost in thought more often.”

He blinked for several moments, even glancing over at Enji who held his own version of concern on his face, then smiled, “I’m fine,” he said, “Promise. I’m just understanding that I might not get to see my family again, and am coming to terms with that. Sorry for worrying you.”

He then carried on climbing, missing the concerned look that passed between the friends again. 

☀

“Looking forward to tomorrow, boys?” Senji-san asked over dinner the next day.

Izuku and Enji had forgone a physical training session that day and had focused on mental training which was mostly studying for the written exams the next morning. 

Enji just shrugged as he ate his dinner quietly, a slightly uncharacteristic quietness coming from him this evening that made everyone aware just how nervous the redheaded teen was, even if he didn’t outright admit it.

Izuku swallowed his mouthful, “Yep,” he nodded, “We’ve practised so much that I feel if we do anymore I’m going to explode.”

Shenji-san and Kana-san laughed, and even Enji cracked a grin. 

“Well, make sure you save the exploding until after the exam,” Kana-san joked as she pointed her chopsticks at him

"No promises," Izuku chirped, more than happy to hide his nerves with the joking, he glanced at Enji, "Right, Enji?"

The redheaded male shrugged, "No promises," he allowed, and Izuku beamed.

( Enji couldn't help himself, a small smile flickering across his face as he watched Isamu easily joke with his parents. 

If he hadn't known better, he would've claimed that Isamu had been a part of this family for years. The green-haired boy just slotted himself in their lives, and filled in all the cracks that the Todoroki family hadn't even known were there. )

Senji-san conversed with Kana-san, and Izuku glanced at Enji who was smiling to himself.

He wondered what his friend was thinking about.

☀

The welcome to the entrance exam was quick and straight to the point. Something that Izuku found was better than the one in the future.

Whereas Midnight had droned on about the opportunities that each course had, in the past Vertigal: The Balancing Hero simply told them of the different locations for each exam. The teenagers were expected to know what exams they had And for them to remember where each test would be taking place.

Enji and Izuku would be split up during the written exams, but Izuku was glad that they wouldn’t be for the physical exams. It was one of the - hidden - rules in the rulebook, anyone could request to be put in the same specific exam as someone else, but that would mean that they would be split up for the other type of exam. 

Which was fine. Izuku was not panicking anytime he accidentally bumped into someone or got in someone’s way. Nope. Not at all. 

“Dude, you alright?”

Izuku blinked at the blue-haired male who had square glasses settled on his nose, and accidentally flinched backwards when he kindly offered a hand to the green-haired anxious wreck. 

“S-s-sorry,” Izuku stuttered, he shook the other male’s hand, “I’m Midoriya Isamu.”

The glasses-wearing teen smiled easily, “Iida Shun,” he introduced himself, and Izuku had to stop himself from jerking away in both surprise and shock. The blue-haired male smirked jokingly, “So what are you in for?”

Izuku blinked, trying to figure out the hidden meaning behind the words, before realizing there were no hidden words , it was just a joke. “Uh, heroics,” He said nervously, “I’m aiming for combat-based heroics.”

“Cool,” Iida-san grinned, “I’m aiming for that as well, but I made sure to apply to General Education just in case I don’t manage to get through.”

“That sounds smart,” Izuku nodded, calming down slightly as fewer people bumped into him with Iida-san by his side, the other teen was taller which made people actually avoid them, “I probably should’ve done that.”

“To each their own,” Iida-san shrugged, “You probably have a stronger quirk than mine, and I’m not that fussed if I don’t get into heroics. Just going to Yuuei is great for job applications.”

“You don’t care if you become a hero or not?” Izuku was confused, and it must’ve been obvious on his face, as Iida-san laughed. 

“Yeah,” he pushed his glasses up his nose slightly, “While it’ll be cool to be a hero, I don’t think it’s really my thing. Too many people go into the field, which leaves nothing for the following generations.”

“I never really thought of it that way,” Izuku mused, his nerves already settling down as he let his mind think, “I’d probably have to think on that later.”

“Say, which classroom is your first exam?” Iida-san asked the greenette.

Izuku paused for a moment to think back to the image that Vertigal had displayed on the screen with various test places that were listed for each exam. 

“I’m pretty sure my first exam is in classroom 2-C,” Izuku bit his lip, and glanced up at Iida-san, "What about you?"

The greenette didn't need to worry, the blue-haired teen just smiled, "Same here!"

Izuku smiled, "Are you doing Analysis in 3-J?" He asked softly, "Or Heroics and Those Against in 1-H?"

"Not doing Analysis," Iida-san admitted, "Because I didn't think I'd be able to pass it, you see, I'm not very good at the more thinking part, but I'll be doing Heroics and Those Against with you in 1-H!"

Izuku shrugged, "I'm doing Analysis because it sounded fun-" Iida-san gave him a horrified look at that, "-and because my friends passive-aggressively told me to do it, and that I would do good in it."

"I stand before a god," Iida-san declared and Izuku rolled his eyes.

"I'm not that good," Izuku declined, shaking his head, "I just like to play around with quirks. I doubt I'll be good at any of it."

"When we meet up for Heroics and Those Against tell me how many kids are taking that exam," Iida-san said seriously, eyes narrowed in determination behind his glasses, "Then I'll prove it to you."

Izuku shrugged as they came to Class 2-C. A few other teens were already inside, but it seemed that the majority were still coming.

Iida-san and Izuku split up to find their papers. Izuku was by the windows, while Iida-san was closer to the middle of the classroom.

Izuku, Iida-san and the three other students waited and a teacher eventually walked in, then huffed in annoyance when he noticed that there were only five teenagers in the room.

"Feel free to start when you like," the male teacher grumbled loud enough for all of them to hear, "You'll get a headstart compared to the rest."

Izuku - thanks to that short two months that he was taught by Aizawa-sensei - easily figured out what the teacher truly meant; that if you were late, then you lost time to do good, or that lives could be lost in that lost time, or in this case, do as much as your peers on an exam.

Izuku managed to get half-way through before the majority of the lost students stumbled into the classroom. All the teacher did was give them all a glare before going back to his book, then the teenagers managed to find their seats. 

At least five didn’t make it at all. 

Izuku had finished the test with plenty of time to spare and spent time checking over his answers until an alarm went off on the teacher’s phone and he told them to leave for their next exam. 

Iida-san gave Izuku a farewell wave, and Izuku responded in kind as they split up, but they both stopped and turned back to the classroom when suddenly a giant foot booted the remaining teenagers out who all had various protests.

“Well, then, next time you’ll learn to be on time!” the teacher snapped before slamming the classroom door shut. 

Izuku smiled in not-so-hidden amusement, and Iida-san smirked before they both headed off. 

Classroom 3-J was further away from the auditorium than 2-C. Izuku actually had to go through two different buildings to get there. Which was another thing he’d noticed. 

Yuuei in the future had their classrooms closer together, while Yuuei in the past had their classrooms further apart. More space for accidents to happen, he noted.

3-J was a rather large classroom, but there were only five papers placed in the room. Izuku found himself placed at the side where the windows were, again. He casually wondered if that was by accident or not. 

( No, it was not an accident. )

He easily settled into his seat, reading the instructions on the whiteboard at the front that instructed them to start as soon as they wanted to and to feel free to leave or give up whenever they wanted. 

Izuku spent a few moments peering at the words curiously, before shrugging and opening the booklet. 

The first question was asking about how you’d go about helping a certain hero out of a certain situation - in this case, it was Jōzu, a Rescue-based Pro-Hero known for his quirk “Wellbeing” which helped him determine weak-points and strengths of another person. He was like Aizawa-sensei in the fact that he fought basically quirkless, but having the advantage of knowing where exactly to hit, which was why he stuck to mostly rescue based missions. Izuku was being asked to “help” Jōzu figure out how to escape with a civilian while a strength-enhanced criminal/villain - a male villain that Izuku hadn’t heard of before - was after them - which Izuku was able to finish off quickly. 

Either he could call for backup and keep evading the criminal, or he could go in for an attack if he let the civilian go for a moment, or he could find somewhere to hide - the sewers were a good place to hide, as well as dumpsters - but, however, if he couldn’t do any of those, his best bet would be to have a piece of support equipment already on hand that could negate someone’s quirk. Such as the quirk-suppressant cuffs that police used. Or, you know, Jōzu could just kick the criminal in the balls

The next question was fun for Izuku, just asking him to have a guess at what someone’s quirk did - a quirk called Jet - and how it might be used in fights. 

The third question - which was supposedly the hardest? As it said on the whiteboard - gave them a picture of a hero costume, and asked them to analyse what the person who requested the costume’s quirk could possibly be. 

Izuku had managed to write a massive list of possible options, each one with eagerly written descriptions of how they worked. 

He then shut his booklet when he was done and was surprised to see that no one else had arrived yet.

It was quiet as Izuku checked over his answers once again - just making sure he didn’t leave any mistakes - then when he stood up, Izuku left his booklet on the teacher’s podium, then left with a pleased smile on his face. 

Izuku decided to head to 1-H while he still had plenty of time. No one was in the classroom when he arrived, so he just found his spot and sat down, not touching the exam booklet until he was told to. He ended up just flicking through some hero-news posts on his phone until people started coming into the classroom. 

He didn’t recognize a single one of the first ten people, but the eleventh person just so happened to be Iida-san who smiled when he saw Izuku. 

Izuku was by the window - again - but this time, Iida-san was sitting next to him. 

“So, how many people showed up?” Iida-san asked before Izuku could even greet the other male. 

Izuku just gave him the most confused look ever, “No one?” he hesitated, before going into a ramble of nerves, “I don’t understand why, though? It was such a fun test, that it didn't even feel like a test? Like, if I had to rate the exams we’ve taken so far, the Analysis one would be a two compared to General Knowledge’s six.”

Iida-san just stared in pure surprise at the greenette who flushed nervously. 

“I will name my first-born after you,” Iida-san declared seriously, which was enough to send Izuku into giggles. 

“Please don’t,” He giggled, shaking his head, “You don’t even know me that well!”

“Well enough to understand how much you downplay your obvious skills,” Iida-san argued, “You had finished before plenty of people in our first exam, and apparently you must’ve finished your Analysis before everyone else in other exams, because I know the person who arrived here first, and they said that you’d been here before them !”

“I ran out of things to write,” Izuku shrugged, “I don’t understand what was so hard about it. There were only three questions.”

“You know that the principal writes those questions, right?” Iida-san asked him, voice bordering on the verge of hysterical, “The rat-dog-cat-bear-thing hybrid with a super-intelligence quirk?”

“Nezu wrote the Analysis exam?” Izuku blinked in surprise. 

Iida-san nodded, but before either of them could carry on with their conversation, the teacher entered the classroom.

Iida-san glanced at Izuku to let him know that the conversation wasn’t over - he was pretty easy to read, especially since Kacchan had been much harder than even Enji or Todoroki-kun - and then with an understanding nod from Izuku, they then focused on the exam in front of them. 

It was a little more difficult than the rest of the exams because it focused on villains and heroes that were currently out and about in this time . Izuku had struggled with the practice exams that he and Enji did until the redhead and Rei just started quizzing him on different Pro-Heroes and Villains and their quirks 

The pair of friends had been quick to learn that Izuku learnt better when there were quirks involved, which even surprised Izuku because even he hadn't known that.

(Although, in hindsight, it was a little obvious.)

So while he struggled slightly, it wasn't as hard as the homework his teachers in the present/future gave him-

Izuku dropped his pencil in shock, making several people turn to him. He offered them sheepish smiles as he picked his pencil off the floor.

Offeeakingcourse! He really was a useless deku, wasn't he? If he had been sent back in the past, then obviously things had already changed.

He racked his brain and gritted his teeth when he struggled to remember what sort of homework that had been due after the Sports Festival.

Had it been algebra, or had it been analyses of the top ten Pro-Heroes? Had it been English comprehension or had it been a profile on all that he could find on a villain known as Pinocchio?

Things were already changing.

Because Izuku had chosen to apply to Yuuei now , that meant that Nezu - the future version - had already seen what he could do, and had probably given his teachers harder work for him to do so that it could help him now. 

Grrrrr , Izuku could bash his head in right now, and he wouldn't care that other people would care.

He was such a deku. But, what was more important was that he will need to buy a lot of notebooks and write his memories of the (unchanged) future that he had after the rest of the exams. 

He quickly finished the exam, and rushed out, only stopping when someone grabbed his arm. One for All was called to his skin as he turned, about to growl at the other person and wrench his arm away, only to hesitate when he saw Iida-san’s concerned face. 

“Are you alright?” It was like he'd gone back to when he’d first met Iida Shun- Izuku shut down those thoughts immediately with a shake of his head.

“I just remembered something,” Izuku said honestly, but twisting the truth a little bit, “I’m sorry-” he took his arm back, “-I have to go, but I promise it’s no one’s fault but my own.”

He felt horrible just leaving Iida-san there, but he needed to write down everything before he forgot it. After all, he’d only been here two weeks, but how could he have forgotten that one of his friends - in the present/future - shares the exact same family name as Iida-san?

☀

While Midoriya had disappeared, Iida Shun had no idea what to do when a redheaded teen came up to him later asking where his “ brot- friend ” had gone.

Shun had tried to tell the fiery teen that he had no idea, but the… protective? teen wasn’t listening to a word he was saying. 

It was only when a white-haired girl with grey-brown eyes came up and placed her hand on his shoulder that the redhead managed to reel in his temper. 

“I’m sorry for his behaviour,” the girl apologised, “He doesn’t normally act like this, but he’s just concerned-”

“For his brother?” Shun asked, then paused, “Or is Midoriya his friend? He kind of called Midoriya the both at the same time.”

The girl snorted and shook her head in amusement as the redhead - who had been moved several meters away from Shun - glared at her, “Oh, Enji, you poor, poor, idiot.”

“I’m not an idiot, Rei,” He hissed at her, “I’m worried ! There is a difference!”

“If it helps, Midoriya said that he forgot something and that it was no one’s fault?” Shun offered, “I have no idea what he meant, but that’s what he said.”

Rei and Enji looked at each other, confusion obvious on their faces. 

“Well, he should be back before the physical, right?” Shun asked hopefully, “If he went off, then surely he’d known to come back in time.”

“I’m not too sure,” Rei admitted, wrangling her hands together, “Greenie-” Shun was confused for a moment before the name clicked in reference to Midoriya’s green hair, “-has a tendency to get obsessed when he gets caught in something. So hopefully he comes back.”

“I’m going to kill him,” Enji growled, his fists clenched at his sides, “That brat -”

Rei rolled her eyes and barely gave Shun any warning before she flicked her finger and a stream of frost - obviously her quirk - went flying in the air, and decided to make its home in Enji’s hair. 

The redhead immediately glared at her, but before he could do anything, a jolt of green lightning appeared near them. 

Enji’s murderous rage seemed to dim, and Rei smiled while Shun just stared like a confused puppy. 

Midoriya looked fine, even if he was surrounded by green lightning, with a relieved and happy smile on his face, “Sorry about that!” he said sheepishly, “I’m back now.”

Rei reached out and messed with Midoriya’s hair, something that had Shun staring with wide eyes, “You are an idiot, Greenie.”

Shun had the pleasure of getting to see Midoriya’s own oblivious confused puppy face, “Uh, how?”

All Rei had to do was turn his head in the direction of Enji who glared at him, and the poor greenette gulped. 

Shun just shook his head at the trio, both amused and highly confused at the antics that they did. 

(Midoriya may or may not have had to run to avoid the flames being blasted at him.)

What a peaceful lunch break. Please note Shun’s sarcasm.

Chapter Text

After Izuku managed to tire Enji out - enough that he’d stop chasing Izuku to save energy for the physical parts of the entrance exams - they actually ended up having a nice lunch in Yuuei’s cafeteria. 

Iida-san - who told Izuku and his not-siblings to call him by his given name. Which would actually make it both easier and harder on Izuku. Easier, because he wouldn’t think of Iida Tenya anytime he said Shun’s name, but harder because everytime he went to speak to Shun, he kept seeing Iida Tenya in Iida Shun’s place - fit into the trio’s, which could now be called a quartet, dynamic. 

Where Rei was enthusiastic to the verge of breaking down in hysterical panic attacks, Shun was more of a relaxing enthusiastic which helped bring the enthusiasm down from panic attack levels. Where Enji was distant from the group, Shun was always sure to include him in some part of the conversation, and easing off if he saw that the redhead was likely to snap. Where Izuku was self-less, and lacking in confidence, Shun was sure to encourage his skills - “What do you mean, you didn’t think you did all that well on the last test? I took a glance - no, that’s not cheating - and you had plenty of information down for them to judge!” - and tell him off for putting himself down.

Izuku was happy when Shun didn’t even blink twice when he heard that Rei was actually going to support, and when he glanced at Enji, Izuku knew that Shun had earnt some points with the redhead. 

“So let me get this straight,” Shun pointed his chopsticks at the three of them, “Rei and Enji aren’t dating-” Izuku snickered when each party blushed, “-Isamu isn’t Enji’s brother, yet -” Izuku pouted when Rei snickered this time, “-and somehow I accidentally befriended the son of a powerful family, and his friends?”

“Pretty much,” Enji nodded, moving his food around his plate with his chopsticks. 

Shun slapped his hand to his forehead and groaned from behind his arm as Izuku snickered and Rei laughed when Enji just rolled his eyes. 

“I’ve probably made so many enemies without knowing it,” Shun sighed, lowering his arm and giving a resigned shrug, “Oh, well.”

Izuku smiled, “If it makes you feel better, I had no idea who Enji was until he had to tell me. But by then, I’d accidentally already proved myself to be a good friend,” he shrugged.

He ignored Rei’s teasing, “They’re already like brothers. And only two weeks of knowing each other,” she told Shun who gaped at the pair of not -brothers.

“You’ve only known Isamu for two weeks ?” Shun hissed at Enji who shrugged. 

“So?”

Shun looked over at Rei who had one of the widest grins that Izuku had ever seen before, “Two weeks,” the male deadpanned at her, “They’ve only known each other two weeks, and they already act like brothers.”

“Oh, tell me about it,” Rei agreed easily enough, “They keep denying it as well! They’re hopeless!”

“And sitting right here,” Enji scowled at the pair of them.

Izuku pouted, “And we’re hearing everything you’re talking about, as well as the rest of the cafeteria.”

Shun stiffened when he heard that, glancing around to see that yes indeed, the majority of the cafeteria was staring at the four in mixed versions of amused curiosity. Izuku just shook his head at the glasses-wearing teen. 

Rei just shrugged, “Oh, well,” she said cheerily, “They can deal with it, or piss off before I make them.”

Aaaaaaaand everyone went back to their own conversations. Izuku sighed in relief as the mental pressure of having so many eyes on them eased up. 

He’d never get used to having so many people looking at him. Being quirkless for fifteen years had taught him to never actively seek out attention, so when he’d gone to Yuuei the first time - in his present/in the future - it had been terrifying when people stopped to look at Izuku just because he had the Yuuei Heroics uniform on. 

Even now, being in the spotlight just because he was friends with Enji and Rei, Izuku felt uncomfortable every time he felt other people watching them. He half expected someone to suddenly storm up to them and demand to know why quirkless deku was talking with such a successful family’s heir, but then he’d remember that he had a quirk and that even if someone did do that, Enji and Rei would be quick to his defense. 

And the fact that no one knew he had been quirkless before receiving One for All from All Might also reassured him. 

Izuku felt that the lunch break finished sooner than it should’ve, but he followed his friends as the four of them left the cafeteria. 

The auditorium was slowly being filled up by teenagers, but Izuku Was quick to notice that there were less than before. 

Most likely because there were people who only needed the written exams, which was what Management and some branches of support had. The support course that Rei was trying to join was one that worked closely with the combat-based Heroics course, so she and others aiming for that course would be taken to a seperate area than those aiming for combat-based heroics or stealth-based heroics. 

Vertigal was there again to tell everyone where to go, and they were patient to allow everyone to come in slowly. But as soon as the clock hit one, Vertigal started speaking. Anyone else who came in, were quietly told by those sitting at the sides of the assembled students to find a seat. 

Izuku waved to Rei when she got up to leave with the rest of the support students, and she smiled at him before patting Enji’s shoulder as she left. Izuku noticed that Shun didn’t seem that put-off from not getting a “good luck” from Rei, but he supposed that would only be logical. Afterall, the three of them had only known Shun for a day. Less than that, actually. 

Vertigal explained the Rescue portion of the exam, and they narrowed their eyes on the teenagers as they warned the teenagers that the “actors” were real in all but code. If there were any damages to the expensive ‘bots, then those expenses would be sent to the parents of the teenager who caused it. 

Several people gulped, and that earned some sniggers from others. 

Izuku just glanced over to Enji who rolled his eyes, making Izuku smile in amusement. 

Lists of various Rescue areas were projected onto the wall behind Vertigal. Izuku was quick to find his name in Area C, then grinned when he spotted Enji’s name a bit further down. 

Shun sighed, “Looks like we won’t be doing the physical together,” he frowned and Izuku patted his shoulder. 

“Text me when you finish,” Izuku all but demanded, “I want to know how you go.”

Shun snorted, but nodded, “Sure, Greenie,” he grinned, “Good luck for your exam.”

“You too!” Izuku chirped as Enji grabbed his arm to pull him away.

Izuku was glad that Enji had insisted on loose, but comfortable clothing for today. The horrible sweatsuit that he’d worn for the first time he’d done the Yuuei entrance exam had actually hindered his ability to move, at least in comparison to the polyester grey shorts and red t-shirt. 

He’d been embarrassed at first in the morning before they left for Yuuei, to find that Enji had a grey t-shirt on and shorts that went orange to red at the ends to be Izuku’s “matching” partner. 

Rei had looked them both up and down with a smug grin when she’d seen them leaving the Todoroki house. 

“Are you alright, Enji?” Izuku asked when he noticed the look on his friend’s face. 

Enji grunted irritably, “I’m fine.”

“You sure?”

“Yes.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“ Really? ”

“ Yes .”

“Really?”

“Will you shut-!” Enji froze mid-yell when Izuku flinched backward, tugging Enji’s arm with him accidentally as he pulled away from the redhead.

Izuku didn’t look up as Enji released his grip around Izuku’s arm, the greenette flinching again when the redhead tapped his forearm twice - their signal for an apology - but didn’t look up. Trying to regain control over his panicking emotions.

( The first time Isamu flinched away from Enji was enough to set red flags flying. All Enji had done was pat the greenette on the shoulder, but instead of getting the sheepish, embarrassed grin that Isamu normally got when he got complimented, he’d flinched and moved away from Enji.

Enji had written it off after a few days of no flinching, but he’d been more careful around the strange panic attack ridden boy. 

But, then Enji had seen how Isamu always kept a massive distance between him and Enji when the redhead was working with his fire. He’d just shrugged it off at first, but the greenette always followed the same pattern, and then he’d noticed how Isamu would jolt backward, pure fear in his eyes as he tried to avoid any fire that came near him. That was the second red flag.

The third red flag had been when Enji had been watching, and this time it had been Rei who set Isamu into a freak out. Rei had been yelling excitedly because one of her favourite singers had released a new album - someone called Wakana Mika - and Enji had been looking around when he noticed that Isamu had disappeared.

Enji had told Rei to go on ahead, and he’d find Isamu, then he’d spent more than ten minutes trying to find the boy before managing to get someone to point out where they’d seen a green-haired boy run off to.

The greenette had been hidden in more of the uncommonly used hallways, mostly because all the shops down it had been closed down, already in the middle of a panic attack.

Enji had been able to calm the other boy down, but he’d been both irritated and confused, yet curious as to why every time he reached out to the other boy that he would tense up for a moment before relaxing slightly. 

The fourth and last time - without knowing the reason why -  Enji saw a red flag, he finally broke his promise to himself. He asked Isamu why.

Isamu had been confused at first, but then Enji had just rolled his eyes and summoned a tiny flame in the palm of his hand to which Isamu basically ran away from.

The story Isamu tried to not go into detail with was something that made Enji mad. Not only had someone inflicted pain upon their child, but they’d used fire to do so!?

Isamu’s father used a quick similar to Enji’s on the greenette, so the redhead couldn’t blame Isamu for keeping away from him during training. Or at any time when Enji was openly using his Hellflame quirk. 

But it opened a history Enji hadn’t known about his friend. A history that would pain Enji for undoubtedly forever. He had a fire quirk, a similar one to the one Isamu’s abusive father had, he would almost always be causing his friend pain and suffering. 

Enji vowed to never harm Isamu ever again. )

“Isamu-”

Izuku focused on calming his breathing down, relaxing his tense muscles, and trying to convince himself that he was alright. Hisashi wasn’t here. It was just Enji. Nice, kind, easily irritable, Enji with a fire quirk that wassomuchlikeHisashi’squirk.

Izuku fought the panic that swelled up in his throat, Enji wasn’t Hisashi. Hisashi wasn’t here. Hisashi couldn’t hurt him here.

Izuku finally allowed himself to look up at Enji who had closed his mouth, eyes worried for the greenette. 

“I-” Izuku cut himself off, licking his dry lips. Trying to swallow, but his throat wouldn’t follow his orders. 

Enji seemed to understand, "Take your time," he said, keeping his voice soft.

Izuku nodded and barely swallowed.  Breath in, breath out. Breath in, breath out .

He was lucky that it only took a couple of minutes this time. Last time Izuku had fallen into a panic attack, he'd spent hours locked in his - no,no,itwasn'this. Hewasonlyborrowingit. - room. His friend had been knocking on the door the whole time, but he hadn't known until they told him later. Izuku had been hidden in the closet the whole time.

( Enji was panicking. What could have possibly set Isamu off? Was it something he had done? Was it something else?

Rei seemed confused, but somehow understood that something was wrong as she joined him in waiting outside Ismau’s door. Enji wasn’t more thankful for her in any moment other than this one. She didn’t need words to understand him - and he didn’t have to struggle to explain himself with those troublesome things - and didn’t ask that he try to explain himself to her.

“Isamu, open the door,” Enji almost demanded, but somehow managed to keep his voice void of any anger or frustrations, keeping it soft enough as to not startle or cause unnecessary distress to the greenette, “Please Isamu.”

There was no answer from behind the door. Enji couldn’t even hear the greenette breathing. And if it wasn’t for the redhead already having checked the security cameras in case Isamu had run off in the middle of the night, he would’ve thought that Isamu had left the house.

“Come on, Isamu,” Rei’s voice was much softer than Enji’s had been, “Whatever’s wrong we can help you with it.”

Not even she was rewarded with a response from the green-bean.

They ended up taking the door off its hinges and struggling to find Isamu until Enji saw that the closet had been open slightly. The poor boy looked so many years younger than what he was as he struggled his way through a panic attack, tears streamlining down his cheeks as his green pools of fearful emotion widened through vagueness.) 

Izuku let out a long contented sigh when he felt his chest loosen up. The choking feeling that had trapped itself around his neck had gone, and he let Enji touch him this time. 

The redhead’s hand was warm - thanks to his quirk - and Izuku found himself leaning into the touch. Enji’s hand rubbed up and down his arm comfortingly.

“Better now?” Enji’s voice was soft as he asked. The undertones of his gruff personail;ty was there, but Izuku knew that the redhead was trying. And for his sake. Izuku didn’t ever want to throw the hospitality the fire quirk user was giving him. 

Izuku knew that Enji didn’t need to help him as much as he did, but he had, and Izuku would forever be in the redhead’s debt for that. 

“Yeah,” Izuku swallowed, grimacing at his dry throat, “Sorry.”

Enji’s eyes narrowed on him when Izuku looked up at him, “Stop apologizing,” he said with resignation. Izuku grinned cheekily as the redhead rolled his eyes.

It had become a habit now for Izuku to hear those two words whenever he said “Sorry” or either Enji or Rei. It was amusing yet enduring, but Izuku could understand why the pair always said it. 

“Ready?” Enji asked him, raising an eyebrow as his eyes moved down the path that they were walking on. It was practically empty.

Izuku’s panic attack must’ve taken longer than he’d thought, if there was no one else heading in the direction to Area C.

“Yes,” Izuku nodded, “Sorry again.”

Enji glared at him, and it was only out of practice that Izuku managed not to flinch at the not-angry-glare, “Let’s just go,” Enji sighed, leading the way.

Izuku kept pace with the redhead, until they managed to get to a large wall with the letter C stamped in Yuuei’s navy blue colour. They were quick to find the entrance, and join the crowd of fellow teenagers, all of them eager to get staring. 

“HELLO YOUNG STUDENTS!” A voice shouted over the noise of so many teenagers, and everyone’s attention was drawn to a woman with crazy yellow hair.

She was in an electrician’s outfit, a giant baggy jacket with baggy pants both in yellow and black, while she wore yellow rubber boots. The crazy grin she wore reminded Izuku of someone, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. 

“NOW, I KNOW THAT YOU’RE ALL EXCITED TO GET STARTED!” She yelled, "BUT WE HAVE A FEW THINGS TO GO OVER WITH FIRST!”

Izuku shared a glance with Enji, the redhead looking slightly irritated at all the shouting and yelling, but otherwise held a calm I-don’t-want-to-murder-people-just-yet air to himself. 

The woman was basically going over all the rules about the rescue test. Rules that people should’ve already known if they’d bothered to actually read the terms of agreement that were at the bottom of their application forms. 

It had been something that Izuku hadn’t had to do in the future, but because he’d noticed it when sending in his application, he’d taken a look, and been mystified to find that they had a rulebook, and they didn’t use it in the future?

Izuku had been beginning to think that something serious would happen to Yuuei in the coming years. 

(Which was so confusing, because Nezu was still running the school? So was it something that Nezu sought to change? Or did the school board decide to do it? Or a mixture of two?)

The woman finally introduced herself as the Pro-Hero Zip-Zap, and Izuku wanted to hit his head for how long it took him to recognize her. He’d accidentally come across the mother of his classmate, Kaminari Denki, when studying for past Pro-Heroes - or would it be present? Because this was technically the current time that he was in? - for the entrance exams. 

Zip-Zap was an electric type quirk user who could generate electricity from her body. She usually used her quirk in a human-taser like way, because if she let a massive explosion of electricity she fired her brain for a while until her body could accept the electricity running through it again. 

(Izuku had facepalmed when he read about her quirk, realizing how much it was like her son’s. When- If he got back to the future, he would be sure to help Kaminari Denki with his quirk.

He vaguely remembered something about Zip-Zap going up against a Villain who could eat electricity, and she ended up dying as a new unknown hero managed to take down the villain before he could do any more damage to the city, but the unknown hero had been too late to save the woman)

Anyway, Izuku stuck to Enji’s side as the massive crowd of teenagers were herded out into the training field that was eerie similar to the battleground of the entrance exam in the future. 

From what Izuku had been able to find out about the exam beforehand, the rescue portion was similar to how his entrance exam had been in the future. Basically a giant free-for-all to go ahead and try to rescue as many people as possible as “villains” - Pro-Heroes acting as villains - attacked the city and let the ‘bots act as civilians. 

As like Present Mic in the future, Zip-Zap didn’t even give them a countdown before yelling “START!”

Unlike the other teenagers, Izuku had been prepared for that, and his body cackled with green lightning as he pulled Enji with him. 

They left stunned students behind - Izuku’s lightning bright even in the sunlight, which was only brightened further by Enji’s flames coming out to push them faster through the air - and were able to hear Zip-Zap telling the students a similar thing that Present Mic had said during Izuku’s first entrance exam, and then cackling in a mixture of amusement and glee.

Izuku wasn’t sure if she was laughing at the fact that Izuku had known about the not-countdown, or if she was laughing at the confusion of the rest of the students. 

Either way - Izuku threw Enji toward a ‘bot who unknowingly was walking under a building that was about to fall over - Izuku didn’t have the time to think about it. Izuku zipped forward to grab the ‘bot while Enji dealt with the falling building, burning through it with struggling ease. 

“Are you alright?” Izuku had read enough on what was available online to know that they would have to treat the ‘bots as if they were any other civilian in need of help, “Any injuries, Mx?”

The ‘bot’s voice was surprisingly humane, even if shaken, “N-no, thank you sir. You just saved my life.”

“That’s what a hero is meant to do,” Izuku smiled as he placed the ‘bot down safely on the ground, “But be careful, Mx, it’s only going to get more dangerous.”

“Thank you, sir,” the ’bot said before moving on. 

Izuku sighed as Enji came over to him, “What’s wrong?” the redhead asked him.

“Iwasn’tsurewhattocallthe’botsoIjustcalleditMx,” Izuku squeaked out in embarrassment, and Enji just snorted and rolled his eyes. 

“That’s the thing you’re worried about,” Enji rolled his eyes again, “Why am I surprised?”

“Sorry!” Izuku mumbled nervously. 

“Come on,” Enji said, already moving away from the scene where some of his flames were still eating at the building that had fallen, “There’s still civilians to save, and we don’t have a lot of time to get plenty of points.”

“Right!” Izuku nodded following after the redhead. 

The rest of the rescue portion of the physical portion of the entrance exam passed quickly after that. Enji and Izuku consistently worked together to help save the ‘bot civillains, and even went out of their way to help their peers whenever they saw someone in a tricky situation. 

Izuku and Enji even ended up going against one of the “villains” - a Pro-Hero called Fenceline - when they discovered a hostage situation. Enji had been forced to evacuate ‘bots while Izuku, with his more indoor safe quirk, took on/distracted Fenceline to allow enough time for Enji to help the ‘bots get out of the building. 

Fenceline approached them after the exam to offer congratulations for coming up with such a safe and well-thought out plan, and Izuku had stammered his thanks while Enji just nodded. 

They wouldn’t be shown their results until their letters were sent out to homes in the next fortnight, but Izuku felt that he and Enji had done good on the rescue portion, despite the fact that both of their quirks were more suited for the combat-based heroics. 

When the exam had finished, speakers through the fake-city had announced that all examinees were to head back to the entrance area where they’d wait as the Pro-Heroes reconstructed the city for the “villains” exam. 

Izuku was more relaxed than he had been before the exam, and he knew that Enji had picked up on it. 

“You look happy,” Enji commented lightly. 

“It’s nice,” Izuku admitted, “Being able to help, even if they’re only ‘bots.”

He’d never really gotten this kind of feeling when he was standing up for the kids that Katsuki and his cronies would bully. Sure, it’d been there for splitting moments, but then the kid that he’d stood up for had turned on him after Katsuki had had his “fun”.

Enji didn’t look like he understood, but didn’t question Izuku further on the topic. Something that he was relieved for. It would be hard to explain his past - in the future - to Enji without getting some things mixed up as he would have to try to keep it this time friendly. 

It took a mere ten minutes for the Pro-Heroes to fix up the battle-area, and for Zip-Zap to announce to the teenagers that everything was set up for the next part of the exam. 

Izuku knew that Enji had been looking forward to this part of the exam more than the other parts, and it was a shared sentiment between the redhead and greenette. 

“Ready for this?” Izuku asked his friend as they walked to the “starting line” for the Villains portion of their exam.

Enji smirked, “Born ready,” he declared easily. Both he and Izuku ignored the glares shot at them.

Their fellow teenagers would regret ever trying to get the two excited - to each their own ways of showing it - teenagers to calm down - through the peer pressure of glares - before the exam. 

( In the not-so-distant future, Ikigai would smirk from far behind Endeavor as the flaming Hero took care of the media. Ikigai would help the police with the criminal, then flee the scene, leaving all the public claim of the villain attack to his friend.

Later, Enji would plop down on the couch that was in the Todoroki house living room, Isamu would be munching popcorn as he watched the newscast that was speaking about the villain Endeavor took down single-handedly.

“You deserve the credit,” Enji would tell his friend.

Isamu would just smile and shake his head, green locks of hair had only grown darker green as he had grown older, “Sometimes you need to learn the difference between needing the credit, and wanting it.”

Enji would just roll his eyes at his friend who would laugh and throw popcorn at him. )

This time when Zip-Zap shouted “START!”, all the teenagers knew to run, but of course, Enji and Izuku were at the front of the pack of wild pokemon, erm , teenagers.

Izuku had to duck his head to hide his smile as he heard Enji let out a rare laugh. One that let others know that Enji was actually enjoying himself.

The greenette practically flew into the first robot - thankful that they were actually allowed to destroy these ones - feet first, and was half-surprised to find himself mostly unharmed when he tore through wiring and metal to land on the ground behind the three pointer.

This was so much better than the first time around for Izuku. He couldn't stop the relived smile on his face as he darted after a two pointer that one of his follow examees hadn't noticed.

Tearing through metal plating was easy for Izuku now that he had actually found a way to control One for All for him.

"You alright?" Izuku asked the brown-haired girl - shewasn'tUraraka, stopthinkingofher,Izuku - who gave him a relived smile.

She only looked slightly disapponted, but Izuku could see that it was with herself rather than the fact that he'd "taken" her points, "Thank you so much! I didn't even see that one coming!"

"No problem," Izuku chirped, "Just be careful!"

He waved before darting off again.

Izuku found a pace that fit his rhythm with ease. Darting around in green lightning, he was quick and efficient as he took out the robots. Slowing down slightly every so often to "save" other teenagers who weren't paying attention, but quickly speeding back up to his faster pace.

One- two- One- two- Three! One- two- One- two- Three! Four, four. One- two- One- two- Three! One- two- One- two- Three! Four, four.

The greenette found himself lost in the movements as time sped up around him. 

The lesson with Bell-sensei came to mind as Izuku tore apart robot after robot.

"Each and every person has a rhythm that they move to," Bell -sensei had told Izuku who had been listening digilantly while Enji had been off doing one of Bell-sensei's exercises, "So it's easy to find and counter against. Do you know how, Midoriya-kun?"

Izuku tilted his head as he thought about it, "After finding the other person's rhythm, we can change or alter it to set them off balance to give ourselves an advantage?" He said hesitantly, sounding more like he was questioning his own logic.

"Exactly."

It was excatly like Bell-sensei had said. Izuku flowed on his own rhythm, and if anyone came and disrupted it, he'd undoubtedly fall apart.

In the future, Izuku would have to unlearn relying on this specific flow that urged from within, to become more sparotic against those who might know the rhythm technique.

Izuku was broken out of his therapeutic trance by the sound of a buzzer going off, then Zip-Zap announcing that the villain portion of their exam and the final part of their exam was over.

He quickly found Enji when the teenagers all started heading back to the starting area. Confusion was thick in the air as Izuku heard others whispering their thoughts to their friends.

"Why do you think they didn't let the zero pointer out?"

"Did something go wrong?"

"Did I do something wrong?"

"What's wrong?" Izuku asked Enji who was in a similar confused state as the rest of their fellow examinees.

The redhead gave Izuku a slightly puzzled look, "You didn't notice?" He asked, rasing a curious eyebrow, "They didn't release the famous zero pointer."

Izuku pondered over that, "That's werid," he shrugged, "Maybe they felt that all of us had already proven ourselves? Maybe there were too many powerful quirked teenagers?"

Enji just shrugged, "Either way, you have to admit that it's a little strange," he gave Izuku a werid look that he couldn't decode.

"Yeah," Izuku nodded, already thinking of possible reasons for not releasing the "0P" robot.

Enji just rolled his eyes and guided the musing greenette through the crowd of teenagers. The boy missed the congratulations that Zip-Zap gave the entirety before dismissing them, but, somehow, he didn't miss how the electric type quirk Pro-Hero seemed to glance at Izuku part way through her speech.

Izuku didn't bother telling Enji his observations, keeping quiet as they met up with Rei and headed back to the Todoroki home.

He noticed the curious looks that Rei had given both him and Enji, but neither of them bothered to answer, too tired and confused by their last exam, but thankfully the white-haired girl didn't push, more than happy to chat away about her exam and how she'd met several new people who she would be more than happy to work with in the following year, if they made it into the support course that is.

Izuku ended up falling asleep as soon as his head hit his pillow.

Chapter Text

The day after the entrance exams was spent stretching, but not training.

Izuku was only slightly disappointed to not be working with One for All, but he knew that it would be better to relax after all the work he'd done in the exam yesterday.

He'd woken up with his entire body screaming at him, but that was easily ignored from years of practice, but even now as he did his stretches, he could tell that something was off about the day.

From the way both Enji and Rei kept looking at him, he kind of expected for them to say something, but neither of them ever did. Which was… odd. Different. Strange. Weird.

Neither of his two friends were people who kept his thoughts and options to themselves - unless it harmed people or it just wasn't needed - so it was like they'd challenged Izuku to figure out a puzzle with only a third of the pieces.

Which meant that he's had to go out and find those pieces.

Easier said than done.

Barely anything was spoken during the stretches - Rei had been in the main house at the time - and light workout. Izuku probably would've been fine with that, if he hadn't seen the aforementioned looks from Enji and Rei during breakfast.

Their light workout moved to quiet time for Izuuku while Rei and Enji moved to their own space to just relax. Izuku didn’t feel left out, the other two had a much longer friendship that had many more years of experience than he did with them, and he was easily able to keep his mind busy by himself.

Izuku blinked, and a moment later the post his laptop screen had on view was replaced with something else.

"Verglas and Endeavor-"

He couldn't read the rest before he blinked again, and his screen went back to normal. Izuku grumbled as he dropped his head into his hands, his headache growing.

Of course, other than the fact that the longer he stayed in the past, meant the more he was changing things.

Which meant that Izuku would continue to get headaches often as his memories altered with the timeline.

He fumbled to get an empty notebook out and scrubbed down the hero online post headline that he remembered. Izuku was fairly certain that there had been no Pro-Hero called Verglas in his original timeline - he grabbed his Pro-Hero notebook and scanned through the names quickly just to make sure - so that meant that whoever Verglas was, they were someone that Izuku would change from who they would've been.

Izuku scowled and fought the urge to slam his head against the desk that had been placed in the room when it came apparent that Izuku would be staying with the Todorokis longer than he'd originally thought. He hated how confusing and irritating time travel is.

(He'd deduced that it was time travel that had happened to him when he started getting headaches, struggling to remember certain events that he knew had happened in the original timeline.)

Flicking through his original timeline memories notebook, he was glad to see that whatever affected his memories hadn't affected the physical words inked on the paper.

Izuku would have to find somewhere to hide the notebooks if anything happened to him. He couldn’t let this knowledge get out to anyone -well, maybe he might show his notebooks to Nezu, just to prove that he really was stuck here in time - if he did - accidental or not - then so many bad things could happen. 

(Izuku really, really hoped that he wouldn’t run into the villain that had destroyed hurt All Might in 2169. From what he’d struggled to find in the future/his present, he’d managed to string together vague hints that suggested that the villain that crippled All Might was someone who had been around for centuries and had spent years creating a hidden empire that the general public wouldn’t exactly know about. 

Izuku had only figured out so much from online before All Might had caught onto what he had been doing and basically banned him from doing any more research. Which was very weird and irritating, in Izuku’s honest option.

Sure, Izuku was a kid, but that didn’t mean that he didn’t have a right to know. Especially as Izuku was now a holder of One for All. Surely he had the right to know about a villain who could possibly come after him because he was All Might’s successor?

Adults. Honestly!)

Anyway, he’d been playing around with different ideas for what he wanted to do with his time here in the past.

If he really was to become a hero in this time, he wasn’t sure if he’d be better being an underground hero or a limelight hero. In his time, he’d wanted to be a limelight hero, but he wasn’t sure if he wanted his face plastered everywhere for his younger self to see. 

But he wanted to change things now while he could. Give kids like himself some sort of hope to become what they wanted to be. However, that goal might be better suited for a limelight hero. 

It was all tricky business for Izuku. 

And frustrating. And annoying. And basically, any synonym that falls under the category of being irritated.

A knock on the door to his - it’s not his! He’s only borrowing it! Izuku needs to stop calling the room his because it’s not - room made Izuku glance up from scribbling in his notebooks. His green eyes widened the slightest when he saw Senji-san.

Izuku quickly closed his notebook which caused the man to raise an eyebrow, “May I come in, Isamu-kun?”

“Of course!” Izuku winced at how loud his voice went as he scrambled to tidy up his notebooks, “Sorry about the mess,” he laughed sheepishly as he quickly put them all in a stack. Not-so-subtly shifting them further away down the desk.

Thankfully Senji-san didn’t comment on that as he came into the room and sat down on the bed, facing Izuku who sat on the computer desk chair, who’d spun it around to face the sandy-brown haired man. 

“I know that it’s your relaxation time,” Senji-san started off, making Izuku tilt his head slightly in confusion at where the man was going with all this, “But I just wanted to check on you. You are alright, aren’t you?”

Izuku shrugged, “Never better,” he said honestly, before pausing for a moment, “Is something wrong?”

He twisted his fingers in the end of his shirt and tried to calm his already speeding up heart. Did he do something wrong? Was something else wrong? Were Enji and Rei alright? Why-

“There’s nothing wrong,” Senji-san reassured him, and Izuku let out a relieved breath, “It was just that you’d been rather quiet since you got back yesterday, and Enji doesn’t understand why. He called me earlier to see if I could get some time to check on you.”

Ah, Izuku felt guilty now, Enji only got his parents into a situation if he felt that he actually needed them. Senji-san and Kana-san were understanding of this and respected their son’s decisions. They were often so busy at work that it didn’t really matter at times. 

So this was a big sign from Enji saying that he was worried. 

Izuku didn’t really know how to answer. He hadn’t noticed how quiet that he’d gotten until it had been pointed out to him. 

And he was torn how to handle it. 

He could tell someone, but Izuku had no idea what kind of impact that would have with that person and their life, or Izuku could just keep it locked in his notebooks and pretend that everything was fine, that he wasn't panicking over every single thing he did.

“I-” Izuku hesitated, before bowing his head slightly to look at his hands, “I’ve just been homesick,” he only half-lies, “I miss my friends back home. Sorry for worrying you guys."

Senji-san's concerned look softens into understanding, "Have you tried to make contact with them? Online at least?"

Izuku probably would've snorted if it wasn't the opposite of what he was meant to do. Sure, he'd try to contact them, you know, if their accounts actually existed. Or, you know, if his friends were actually alive this far back in time.

All he did was frown, "I never actually got their online profiles," he half-lied again,  "I had their numbers on my phone, but I lost my phone a while ago."

Senji-san just sighs, shaking his head, "Alright then," he stands up and gives Izuku a look, "Tell us next time," he said kindly but firmly, "You're a part of this family now. We worry about you."

Izuku didn’t know what to say, his mouth opening and closing a couple of times before he simply nodded. Senji-san smiled at that, reached out to ruffle Izuku’s curls before leaving him in the quiet of the room.

Izuku just sat there, half-stunned for several moments. He was a part of the family? The family that he’d only known for two weeks already thought of him as one of their own?

Izuku didn’t exactly believe it, but looking back on all the meals he’d shared with the three Todorokis and Rei made him start to rethink how he saw the lovely family that had taken him in.

He’d been thinking of himself as an imposter, but looking back over his time spent with his - not-family? The people who’d taken him in? The family he’d always wanted(but had never wished for, because he loved his mother too much to dare)? - the Todoroki family, he realized that he had been slowly but surely finding a place within the loving family.

He'd taken up the little brother role to Enji and Rei, which meant by extension that he'd been placed in the youngest son role for Senji-san and Kana-san. And it didn't look like any of them cared that he'd pretty much forced his way into their lives.

(Izuku knows that he didn't force his way, instead they welcomed him with open arms. But he would rather place the blame on himself for even being here in the past. It's his fault that he changed their lives so much. It's his fault that he's screwing up so many people's lives. It's his fault for trying to get Todoroki-kun to use his fire. It's his fault that All Might choose him out of so many good people who would've known how to use One for All better than him.

It's his fault for even existing.)

He hesitated for a moment, before making up his mind. 

Shutting down his laptop, he quickly hid his notebooks in the super-secret hidden place that will not be announced in case Rei gets curious and tries to find it. Izuku managed to make it out of the room and quietly made his way down to the kitchen where he knew the fire quirk user and ice quirk user would be. 

They both looked up when he entered the room, each of them had gotten used to how quietly Izuku moved, and he offered them a shy smile. 

“I’m sorry for worrying you,” Izuku said quickly, “I didn’t mean to, I’ve just had a lot on my mind, and I miss my friends, but can’t get in contact with them, and I’m really, really-”

“Stop apologizing,” Rei sighed, even as her lips curled upward in amusement, as she stood up from the kitchen bench. 

Izuku stiffened for the slightest of moments when she hugged him, but he was quick to relax into it. Oh, kami, how he hated not being able to trust anyone. Rei didn’t deserve the flinches and the tense muscles. Rei didn’t deserve to have him jerk away when she suddenly reached out for him, she didn’t deserve the way he always had to make sure that she wasn’t going to hurt him whenever she tried to touch him.

None of them did.

(If there was something that Izuku could do in the past, it would be helping quirkless people actually get a chance to be people and not the “filth under people’s shoes”.)

“Sorry-” Izuku’s mouth was quickly covered by a cold palm as Rei gave him an irritated look that screamed “seriously?”.

Enji just rolled his eyes as he stood up, coming close to the greenette and white-haired girl, “You do need to stop apologizing,” he said.

Rei removed her hand from Izuku’s mouth with a warning glare that he winced at, “Habit,” he said, biting his tongue when he went to add “sorry” at the end. 

Rei let go of the hug and gave him a concerned look what made the greenette wince, “Tell us next time, Greenie,” she said firmly, but her voice soft, “We-”

“Senji-san said,” Izuku said, glancing from Rei to Enji, “And I’m really sorry-” he ducked under Rei’s almost slap to his face, “-for making you guys worry.”

The greenette caught Enji’s smirk as Rei attempted to hit Izuku again, and he stuck his tongue out at the redhead who rolled his eyes in response, “We’re here if you ever need to speak to someone,” Enji said in a show of unusual empathy - not that he didn’t show empathy, but the red-haired male didn’t tend to show it, even to his family - to Izuku who blinked for a moment, “Or if it comes to it, I’m sure we can always find a therapist to help.”

Izuku smiled, blinking back the tears, “T-t-t-t-thank y-y-you,” he stammered, and his friend just rolled his eyes, but the fond softness remained in those turquoise eyes of his. 

They stood in comfortable silence for a few moments more, then Rei, the always so cheerful girl, broke it easily by asking what Izuku had been up to during his relax-time.

Izuku smiled and started rambling on about the quirks he'd seen being used in various fights. 

Enji was more than happy to listen to the greenette and the white-haired girl talk, offering his own input when it suited the conversation, but the other two took more control over the conversation than him.

☀

They would have to wait a week or two until their letters came, so three days after the entrance exam, Rei offered a solution to the two (slightly, in the case of Izuku) bored boys. 

A two-on-one mock fight between the three of them. 

Rei claimed it was because she was out of practice with her quirk in combat situations, but both boys knew that it was actually her way of getting them to release excess energy before either one of them blew up the not-fire-proof house. 

Which was why Izuku was now dodging both fire and ice - Todoroki-kunisn’there,it’sfine,nothing’swrong - from his two friends with green lightning surrounding his body. 

He’d drawn the short stick and had to go first as the single-person team against the duo-team. Which, wasn’t too bad - he certainly needed the practice - and he found that he was actually having a bit of fun as he tried to multitask between dodging, looking for openings, running an analysis on how his friends used their quirks (and possible weaknesses that they could work on), analysing his own moments and quirk, and keeping an eye on the time as this match-up’s timer slowly counted down. 

(Okay, maybe Izuku was doing too many things at once, but it was one of the few ways to keep his bored mind alert and working. Plus, it was a good mental work-out)

It was easy to tell who had more training in combat between the three of them. Izuku was the worst of them, but he was quickly adapting to keep up, Rei was alright. She wasn’t the best, but she wasn’t bad, she was somewhere in between. While Enji was by far the best out of all three of them. 

But in quirk wise - and in Izuku’s extremely high pain tolerance wise - both he and Rei could keep up with the redhead. 

( Not that Izuku would ever tell his sibling-like-friends just how he happened to get such a high tolerance to pain ) ( He already had enough nightmares about it without bringing it up again to someone who hadn’t known he was quirkless until they’d heard his story )

When the timer eventually went off for this round, Rei was panting slightly, but Izuku knew that he and Enji only looked more eager - Izuku guessed that Rei might be regretting this solution to their problem - to keep going. 

Izuku hadn’t managed to take down either of them, but he figured that it would be the same pattern for each of the three different rounds. 

The second round was Rei against Enji and Izuku, which was fairly simple. Neither of the boys wanted to go full out against Rei who was already struggling to keep up with their hard-earned stamina. 

But even if they kept the quirk fighting down slightly, Rei’s years of ballet practice - Izuku had only been slightly surprised when she first admitted it when he had caught her doing stretches - kept both Enji and Izuku on their toes as she dodged and weaved throughout their - non-lethal - attacks. 

Eventually, Izuku managed to notice a pattern in her moments and altered his own rhythm to throw her off guard, before Enji managed to tackle her to the ground. Enji seemed to blink in surprise down at Rei who blinked in mirrored surprise back up at him. 

Izuku snickered as he watched Enji’s cheeks tint red as he speedily jumped back to his feet, and offered a hand to Rei, “Sorry about that,” his voice had gone slightly quieter with embarrassment. 

“It’s f-fine,” Rei said, stuttering the slightest, and brushing her hair back over her ear.

Wisely, both of them were ignoring Izuku’s cheeky snickers from where he stood waiting for his two friends - the lovebirds~ - to get ready back into their sparing. 

( That accident would only be the first of many that would lead to a bright future )

They didn’t bother with a third two-on-one fight, Rei choosing to take a break and letting the two boys duke it out. 

Izuku had fun avoiding the burning flames that Enji made sure to keep at a safe temperature, and flicking his fingers much like how he’d done at the Sports festival, but with only two percent, he could tell that Enji was enjoying having to focus his attention onto either quickly calling the flames back to him to avoid them going everywhere, or powering through by adding more firepower to keep the flames in place. 

They eventually called it quits when both Enji and Izuku started getting too tired to continue. Izuku’s body pretty much screamed at him with each movement and the heat radiating off Enji was enough for Rei to cover the fire-quirk user in ice that was quickly melted each time she replaced it.

“Feeling better?” Rei asked Izuku as she replaced the ice around Enji again.

The greenette smiled, “Heaps,” he said sincerely, “Thank you, Rei.”

Enji managed to give Rei a thumbs up before she froze him again. A moment later, the ice melted into the growing puddle of water at the redhead’s feet, “Whoops.”

Rei scowled, “I’m not cleaning that up,” she said firmly.

Izuku snorted as Enji rolled his eyes at the girl, then was frozen in a block of ice again.

Rei breathed out a cloud of cool air from her mouth, and when Izuku gave her a concerned look she just waved it off, “I’m fine Greenie.”

“Alright,” Izuku knew better than to keep asking the ice-quirk user if she was really okay.

The ice melted slower this time, and Enji shivered when he finally got himself unstuck, “I’m good now,” he said, giving Rei his version of a smile, “Thank you.”

Izuku felt a little third-wheelish as Rei gave Enji a smile - that spoke more than words themself - in return, “Not a problem.”

The greenette just shrugged to himself as he was quickly pulled into a conversation about what they each needed to work on.

Whatever was going on between his friends, it wasn’t his business. 

☀

Their letters came three weeks before the start of the new year’s term. 

Of course, all three of them got in. Rei had cheered when she’d seen a note written from the Support Hero, Resilience, about coming to him to work on some of the ideas that she’d shown at her entrance exam. 

Izuku had been surprised to see that he’d come in first for the physical portions of entrance exams. Enji had huffed at that - being in second for the villain portion, and fifth for the rescue portion - only slightly irritated that he’d been placed lower than Izuku, both of them had easily passed the previous high score for the entrance exam. 

And while the written exams weren’t exactly a competition, Yuuei still had placed them in rankings for their scores. Obviously, if someone did well in all three tests - which was rare - then they’d been at the top of the leaderboard, but even if people did well on just two of the tests - which was more common - then they’d be up there as well.

Rei squealed happily when she got to the second paper where their written exam results were. Izuku could only guess that she’d gotten a score that she was happy about, and he glanced at Enji who scrunched up his nose in slight irritation and distaste, but otherwise, he seemed nonchalant about his results.

Izuku had just shifted the second page to the front of the first page when it was yanked out of his fingers before he could even get a glimpse at it, “Hey!” he lunged after the paper with a pout that made Rei laugh.

“Nope!” she smirked at him, “We get first dibs to see it, knowing how much you’re planning on downplaying it.”

Izuku only scowled, not arguing with her sound logic as he crossed his arms over his chest as he waited for the redhead and white-haired girl to finish looking at his results.

It was quiet the whole time the pair scanned through the words on the paper. Izuku was starting to get worried about how quiet they both were. And their expressions had changed from the “deadpan” mask that they used to hide most of their emotions - a mask that Izuku had yet to get the hang of - behind.

“What’s wrong?” Izuku asked hesitantly, unsure if the silence was a good thing or not.

Rei slowly - scarily so. Like in one of those horror movies - turned her head towards him with narrowed eyes, “Wrong? Oh, there is plenty wrong.”

Izuku gulped nervously as Enji just rolled his eyes at his first friend’s teasing. The greenette had gotten better at reading the pair’s expressions, but sometimes he couldn’t help the way he unconsciously reacted. Heck, most of the time he didn’t even realize how he’d reacted until either Rei or Enji - sometimes both - gave him a concerned look.

“Really?” Izuku asked, wringing his hands anxiously. 

Rei gave him one of the most deadpanned looks ever, “Yes,” she said firmly, then shoved the second half of his letter towards him.

Izuku cautiously took the paper and read over his results. 

He froze.

He barely paid attention to Rei and Enji who were smiling at him now as he just stared at the words and numbers typed out in black ink on the paper.

General Knowledge: 84.7%
Analysis: 99.9%
Heroics and Those Against: 93.4%

His mouth opened and shut several times. 

While his General Knowledge result was much lower than his other two results, he was still proud of it. While Izuku spent more time on Analysis growing up, of course, he’d find it easy to do that exam - he idly wondered what caused him not to get that last 0.1 percentage - and the Heroics and Those Against exam. He’d probably struggled with the different Pro-Heroes and Villains/Criminals that were more well-known in this time.

He wasn’t even going to bother with his General Knowledge exam. Too surprised that he’d even gotten such a high grade on that one.

“What the heck?”

Rei snorted while Enji just sighed, shaking his head. 

Izuku looked at his friends confused, yet looking somewhat as if he was hoping as if someone would jump out from behind nothing to tell him that the results on the paper were just a joke. 

“I think they switched my results with someone else's,” Izuku deadpanned firmly.

Rei just sighed tiredly while Enji rolled his eyes with a quirk to his mouth, “They’re your results, Greenie. Accept it.”

“These can’t be mine,” Izuku insisted, still stuck in the denial stage, “They're too good for starters, I could never get scores like-”

He was glad that they’d moved to the lounge where there was slightly more space for being tackled to the ground by not only Rei but also Enji.

The greenette struggled to breath when he realized that he had a hand over his mouth to shut him up - that was Rei’s hand - and was being held to the ground by Enji.

(Honestly, the two opposites were terrifying when they worked together in something they were passionate about. Which was usually shutting up Izuku’s self-deprecating words and thoughts.)

“Now,” Rei pulled her hand away from his mouth, “Admit it, Greenie. These are your results. ”

Izuku opened his mouth to disagree but shut it when Rei narrowed her eyes at him. He tried again, “They’re my results?” he offered meekly. 

“Louder for those in the back,” Rei only half-joked.

Izuku rolled his eyes, but let her have her fun anyway, “They’re my results,” he said louder, and grinned when both of his friends let him off the floor of the lounge. 

“Freedom!” he cried out cheerfully as he activated One for All so he could quickly rush out the room. 

He heard a snort from Enji as he stuck his head back into the room, and grinned when Rei burst into giggles.

Izuku sat down on the couch and grabbed his results paper off of it, where it had fallen when he’d loosened his grip on it when his friends decided to tackle him to the floor.

His eyes ghosted over the numbers and words again, and he could hardly believe that these were his  scores. 

Izuku had always known he was slightly smarter than the average person, but that was only for his analyses. He’d always been lacking in all other parts of education, and he’d always known it. 

( Ithadalwaysbeenbrokenintohim. WorthlessWeakStupidCreepyDeku. Toodumbtoquithisdream. Tooweaktoevendarebeoneofthesmartest. Toopathetictoevendareaimforhisgoals. Worthless Deku . )

But, if he was going on the results that were shown to him… nope. He couldn’t believe it. It couldn’t be true. There was no way-

Rei’s cold hand was placed on his shoulder and he glanced up to look into her grey-blue eyes, “Congrats, Greenie,” she smiled easily, “I’m pretty sure you got the highest scores in Yuuei history.”

“....what?” Izuku croaked out, eyes widening further.

Enji sighed from behind Rei, “Shouldn’t have told him that,” he grumbled.

Rei turned to glare at him, “He was going to find out eventually,” she insisted, “It was better we told him now, rather than finding out by accident later. You know how it would go.”

Enji scrunched up his face but didn’t argue with her fairly good points that even Izuku knew to be true.

“Anyway,” Rei continued on, turning back to smile at Izuku who was still trying to process the whole “highest scores in Yuuei history” thing, “From just looking at the fact that you took all three exams, got almost perfect on the analysis, and got high marks on the other two - even if your General Knowledge exam was a bit lower than the other two - I’d bet that you either got one of the highest marks in Yuuei history or the highest mark in Yuuei history. And that’s not even including the record-breaking results that you got for the physical!”

Izuku swallowed, hoping to whatever deity there was looking over Earth that he seriously hadn’t just mucked up the timeline more than he already had.

“That’s…” He struggled to find a word that fit.

“Brilliant!” Rei gladly finished for him, a massive smile on her face, “You’ve probably set the record for centuries to come!”

The greenette gulped as he ran a hand over the other arm, over the scars that he’d collected from - the transport back in time? - the future. Oh, Kami. He really hoped that he hadn’t screwed things up. 

Enji just rolled his eyes before tapping Rei’s shoulder and giving her a look. She pouted at him but turned back to Izuku, “It’s not a bad thing, Greenie,” she chirped, “Promise! You’ll get benefits that none of the rest of us will get.”

Izuku nodded slightly, “R-r-right,” he stammered, focusing on the present - past? - in front of him as he cracked a nervous smile, “Hopefully it all goes well, huh?”

She beamed at him, “Of course!” Rei paused for a moment, then her smile grew even wider, “Now all I’ve got to do is transfer to your guys class!”

Izuku blinked for a moment, “Which class are we in?” he asked absentmindedly as he looked down at the other - the first one - piece of paper that he’d gotten.

He didn’t see it, but he could feel Enji rolling his eyes, “1-A,” the redhead answered in his normal way. Gruff and seemingly uncaring, but that hidden fondness in his voice.

“Oh,” Izuku nodded before giving his friend a smile, “Thanks, Enji.”

His friend just sighed before giving the greenette a small smile in return

☀

The next three weeks passed speedily for Izuku who still had trouble accepting that he’d basically scored the best across all the exams - he’d double-checked the Yuuei website for the rankings for the written exams, and guess what? Rei had been right when she declared him as the top scorer - and he’d even gotten a mention on the main page of their website about how a new student had broken the Yuuei record for the Physical exams.

(Izuku had been embarrassed to find that people were talking about this mystery student - himself - on the Hero forms that he had rejoined - was it technically rejoining if he originally joined them in the future? - to get more information on Pro-Heroes and Criminals/Villains.)

When their uniforms had arrived, Kana-san insisted on getting photos of the three of them. There had been light, teenage protests, but the woman eventually got what she wanted.

And if Izuku just happened to have a copy framed and placed on the bedside table in his - the room he was borrowing! - room of Enji and Izuku with Rei in the middle grinning at the camera - Enji’s smile was smaller than his and Rei’s smiles, but it was still there! - then he wasn’t going to admit that to anyone outside of this family.

(Okay, so maybe that would turn out to be a lie. But at least he tried to keep it a secret?)

He couldn’t wait for Yuuei’s school year to start.

And hopefully, he didn’t screw up things for the future even more.

Chapter Text

The classroom for 1-A was almost the exact same as how it looked in the future. 

It kind of scared Izuku at how deja vu it made him feel, half expecting Uraraka to come up behind him and thank him for helping her during the entrance exam. 

Thankfully Enji was there to shove his shoulder - carefully, of course - which jolted his head into thinking in the current time again, “Hurry up, Greenie,” was all the redhead said, the hints of an irritated sigh verging in his voice.

Izuku nodded, giving his friend an apologetic glance that received a roll of turquoise eyes before he opened the door.

They had gotten to Yuuei early - Enji wouldn't dare be late to his first day - so there were only a couple other students inside, but not many. Izuku mentally thanked Enji, because he didn't think that he would be able to handle seeing so many people in the class all at once, first thing. It would be too much like his first day at Yuuei in the future, and if there was one thing that Izuku wanted to avoid, it was having a massive freak out on the first day.

There was a seating plan on the blackboard at the front of the classroom - holyshitwasthatfamiliar - and Izuku was surprised to see that he’d been placed in the seat where he’d sit in the future. 

How odd was that?

Izuku wasn’t sure if it was intentional, but he had to admit that there was something fishy about how all his seats in Yuuei - including the seats during the entrance exams - all ended up by the window. Not that he wasn’t thankful for it.

And funnily enough, Enji had been placed in the same seat that his son in the future would sit in. The redhead had been confused when an amused grin pulled at Isamu’s lips, but then Izuku had to cover his mouth and look away to keep laughing out loud.

The greenette spent most of the time left until school actually started scrolling through Hero Forums and jolting down notes in one of his “public friendly” notebooks. Otherwise known as his “extremely hard to break coded analysis” notebook that hid any and all weaknesses and exploits that not-so-nice people could use on the many Pro-Heroes that Ismau analysed. 

So it didn’t take long - for Izuka at least - for the classroom to get filled up with students. Sometime during his “zoned-out” mode, Shun had made it to the class, but as soon as he’d seen the greenette writing away, he hadn’t even gone up to greet Isamu.

(Which was a smart move for the other, of course, this was only in Izuku’s option)

Eventually, a teacher came into the classroom, and unlike in the future when Izuku had his first day at Yuuei the first time, all his classmate quietened down immediately as the woman turned her sharp red eyes - it was no quirk effect, that was her actual eye colour - critically over them all.

(Izuku hid his phone in his notebook that he quickly closed. Unsure if their teacher would tell him off for having it out or not.)

"Good morning," the red-eyed teacher said (finally), turning away for a slight moment to glance at the blackboard then facing the seated students again, "Welcome to Class 1-A, I hope that you all work hard to maintain your places in my class because I will not tolerate any slackers of any sort, whether it be in your classwork or your training to become heroes. I am known as Quantum in the underground, but you all will call me Sasaki-sensei."

The woman who wore a smart black suit jacket over a white shirt and with black trousers with black heels was obviously expecting a response from them, but when she didn't, all she did was glare, "Yes, Sasaki-sensei," the students were all quick to chorus.

Izuku didn't blame any of his classmates for being frightened of the woman that was their homeroom and heroics teacher for the next three years. 

His mind ran over all the facts he knew about the underground Pro-Hero. Quantum's quirk was to alter things at the atomic level, which means that she could possibly kill every single one of them if she wanted to. The drawbacks on her quirk meant that she needed to focus specifically on what she wanted to change or otherwise she could destroy the world just by a chain reaction.

Not fun, but somehow she'd managed to turn that fault of her quirk into a weapon as one of her famous - to the underground and criminals - moves. The explosive move was her simply setting off a small chain reaction of highly unstable atoms, but controlling the flow of where the particles and atoms went.

Izuku flinched when red eyes strayed on him for a short while, and he made sure not to give his new teacher any reason to either use her quirk on him, or expel him.

"Now, we have fifteen minutes before our resident devil rat-" Izuku bit his lip to keep from laughing, but it didn't seem like a few of his classmates had much luck as a few laughs echoed around the classroom, "-requires us in the assembly hall."

Izuku saw the person in front of him - a girl with hair that made her look as if she was a part of a waterfall, or even a river - raise her hand, and Sasaki-sensei raised an eyebrow, "Yes?" 

"Why do you call-"

"Because it's the truth," Sasaki-sansei said before the girl could finish, "And while it may be the truth to myself and my fellow teachers, none of you students are allowed to call Principal Nezu that-” she narrowed her eyes at them all, “-understood?”

"Yes, Sasaki-sensei," Izuku chirped in with the rest of his classmates.

Not that Izuku would dare call the chimaera Principal that. The chimera quirked mammal was a terrifying creature.

The underground Hero nodded, seemingly (slightly) proud of their quick responses to her questions, “Good. Now, introduce yourselves to your classmates, I don’t care how you do it, just make sure it’s by number order, starting with you,” she pointed at the student closest to the door before sitting down and opening a book that she seemingly grabbed out of her suit.

The poor brown-haired boy sighed, looking more than displeased at being the first one to go, and Izuku couldn’t blame him (more than thankful that he was placed last), “I’m Yamaguchi Daichi,” he said clear enough for everyone to hear him, and didn’t say anything further.

An awkward silence hung over the classroom for a moment, before the second student sighed, someone made of lava and rocks, “Adam Leroux,” he shifted uncomfortably, his chair making a noise as he moved in the metal, “Or Leroux Adam as you Japanese folk say.”

The student behind him, a girl with blue scales all over her arms, and flaring gills, beamed as it was her turn, “I’m Kersey Coral, I’m from the coastline, and it’s nice to meet you all!”

Shun was the fourth student, and Izuku blinked, startled when he realized that Shun was sitting in the same place that Iida Tenya would sit in, “Iida Shun,” the blue-haired boy grinned and waved at them, “I’m from Tokyo, and I’m looking forward to getting to know everyone.”

Izuku quickly wrote down names in his notebook, placing them beside the student numbers as student five shrugged from the corner of the classroom, “I’m Nishiya Birch,” he said, dark eyes looking at them all from behind a pair of square-framed glasses that were settled on birch-wood skin, “Please don’t set me on fire, yes it does hurt, and it takes ages to regrow my skin.”

As a couple of kids snickered, Nishiya rolled his eyes and Izuku made sure to note that down on his soon-to-be page for the living tree person. 

Student number six simply turned in his seat to look at them all, getting a good look at them - and Izuku noticed how he’d look at the edge of someone every so often, the purple-haired male’s fists clenching slightly - with surprisingly dark blue, almost purple, eyes, “Chinen Nikushimi,” was all he said before turning around.

Izuku felt himself stiffening at the boy’s given name, and he heard someone mutter, “Well, someone obviously didn’t have good parents,” from the back. Student six, Chinen Nikushimi, his given name meant hate . If that wasn’t a sign of a horrible family, then Izuku would go throw himself off the highest building he could find. 

He glanced at Enji who had an unreadable expression on his face, well, that was before he looked at Izuku and narrowed his eyes warningly. Izuku didn’t have to guess that the redhead was warning him not do anything stupid. 

(He was going to do something probably stupid) 

Student Seven; a boy with a mop of bright blond hair, smiled at them all, and Izuku had the urge to cover his eyes, “I’m Kaneko Apollo,” he said, “I'm only half Japanese, but I'm half crazy American. Please take care of me!"

Now, this was something curious. In the future, almost all of Izuku's classmates had been Japanese. Having more than one students that were from other countries was strange for Izuku who had gone through schools with the same kids since kindergarten until he went to Yuuei. But even then, Kacchan ended up in the same class as him.

Student eight; another boy, but with midnight blue hair that almost looked black, just made an extremely long sigh, "Kageyama Chand," he said finally.

Student Nine was a person made entirely out of clouds. Nice fluffy grey/white clouds that floated slightly off their seat, “I’m Shirakumo Amaterasu,” their blue eyes softened slightly, “I’m female, if you couldn’t tell, she/her pronouns please.”

She got a few “alright” and a couple of “sure”s from some of their classmates, and Shirakumo’s eyes moved in such a way that people could tell that she was smiling.

Student ten was a female snowwoman. Like, she was literally made out of snow. Her hair was icicles, it looked like she used clothing like a normal person - just fitted to her, and with coolers to keep her from melting on hot days - but she was made entirely out of snow.

“Uehara Yuki,” She said simply, not speaking any longer. 

Student eleven was a male who occasionally flickered in and out of view, which led Izuku to believe that he had some sort of invisibility quirk. “Genji Arakan,” he said with a roll of his eyes. 

Student twelve was a girl with green hair that almost looked like vines. She had a few flowers braided into her hair, and some dirt on her cheek, "Wakabayashi Moriko," she introduced herself kindly.

Izuku had to look directly to his left to look at student thirteen, "I'm Igarashi Satsuka," she introduced herself. Izuku had to admit that she looked rather plain with blond hair, fair skin, and a smallish stature, at first glance - but then again, so did he - but when she turned her head to look at him, he was started to see that instead of "normal" eyes, her eyes seemed to reflect a storm that Izuku knew wasn't there.

It was disconcerting to Izuku who almost missed student fourteen introducing herself, "Kita Ichika," she said, "I look forward to getting to work and train with you all."

Enji was obviously student fifteen, and Izuku cracked a grin when the redhead introduced himself in usual his way, "Todoroki Enji," he narrowed his eyes as a scowl settled on his face, easily warding off curious looks from their classmates who wanted to get a good look at the famous Todoroki heir.

Student sixteen was student eleven's twin sister, and by the way her hair and skin changed colours every so often, Izuku assumed she had a shapeshifting quirk, "I’m Genji Annaisha,” she jabbed a finger towards the male next to her, student eleven, “This idiot’s twin. Feel free to call me by my given name to avoid confusion.”

The girl with waterfall/river-like hair was student seventeen - a better person than Katsuki to be sitting in that seat, in Izuku's option - and easily introduced herself," Aikawa Muzuko," she smiled,  "Please don't ask about my hair. I've already had so many questions about it."

Then it was Isamu's turn.

He swallowed down a nervous gulp before offering his classmates a smile, "I'm Midoriya Isamu," he hesitated for a moment, "I'm looking forward to getting to know everyone."

He quickly shut his jaw. Doodling a small flame in his notebook - thankfully on Enji's page in his "classmates" notebook - as a way to try to get the anxiety to lessen before it festered too much for him to handle.

As if uncertain what to do next, the entire class kept quiet until Sasaki-sensei shut her book with a loud snap and hid it in her jacket again. 

Her red eyes bore into them all as she stood up, "Assembly will be starting shortly," she told them, "Keep in number order; let's go."

Sasaki-sensei walked out of the room. Yamaguchi was quick to get to his feet and follow after her, with Leroux following after him, and the rest of them followed with Izuku bringing up the rear.

Izuku ended up staying quiet the whole time they walked to the assembly hall. A few of his classmates talked amongst themselves, the pair of twins kept whisper-shouting to each other from their different positions in the sort-of-line that was made up of students that ventured after their underground Pro-Hero teacher.

It was a better, more normal , experience for Izuku this time around. Instead of heading out to one of the practice fields for a quirk assessment test, they actually headed to the same assembly as everyone else. Izuku was slightly amazed at the little animosity between 1-B and 1-A in this time. 

(Although, he could probably blame the animosity in the future on Katsuki and Monoma)

The whole school was lined up in alphabetical and numerical order. Class 3-A was at the side closest to the entrance, then class 2-A beside them, then Izuku and his classmates lined up next to Class 3-B, then 2-B was next to them… and I’m sure you get the idea.

Sasaki-sensei gave them a narrow-eyed glare, warning them to stay in order. Izuku ducked his head, avoiding those scorching red eyes. He tried not to breathe in relief when she left them in order to join the rest of the staff on the stage at the front of the hall.

Having teachers’ eyes on him never went well for Izuku.

It only took a few more minutes for the rest of the students to travel in before someone shut the entrance doors and one of the teachers stood up, drawing all attention to him up on the stage.

“Welcome to a new year,” the teacher greeted them all, “I’m sure that you all will be looking forward to your classes-” a few support students let out cheers that had some teachers groaning and rolling their eyes, “-however, we have a-” he hesitated briefly then let out a long sigh, “-speech prepared from our principal.”

Izuku peered around curiously when he heard a large number of upperclassmen groan. He could even see a couple start tearing up.

“What’s so bad about the principal’s speeches?” Kaneko whispered to Kageyama further up the line.

Kageyama shrugged, and probably made a face that Izuku couldn’t see, “Dunno.”

A white being suddenly appeared on the teacher’s shoulder, making a few (Izuku was sure that they were first years) students screech or yelp in surprise. 

“Greetings young students!” Nezu’s voice a lot higher than the teacher whom he was perched on, “Thank you, Adachi-kun-” the teacher whom Nezu was using as a giant stool just sighed, “-for opening the assembly!”

“Sure,” Adachi-sensei sighed. Izuku could tell that he was used to the way that the principal treated him.

“Anyway!” Nezu continued on with that cheerful grin that Izuku had seen in so many photos of the chimaera online, “Am I a mouse? A dog? A bear? What’s important is that I’m the principal of Yuuei!”

“He’s a chimaera, actually,” Izuku (consciously) muttered under his breath, and flushing when a couple of students around him shhh’ed him. 

Nezu carried on into his speech, and Izuku had to bite his lip to keep from laughing as ten minutes in, a good chunk of the first years had to fight to keep themselves from falling asleep.

Fifteen minutes in, Izuku gave up on paying attention himself, getting out his notebook to scribble down the names of all the teachers that the principal dropped throughout his speech. 

Twenty-five minutes in Izuku had every single teacher’s quirks written down in his notebook next to their name. 

It was like Nezu had offered the students a puzzle to figure out. Izuku figured that he couldn’t have been the only one to figure out that the long speech was actually a name-drop, and quirk-drop, and don’t get Izuku started on how it was actually something to show how the teachers reacted hostilely to someone who was their boss, let alone how they would act to a student.  

(Funnily enough, the support staff were the most tolerant when they got spotlighted by the chimaera. Izuku wondered why. Maybe it was because they handled so much with the support students? Or could it be because they got so much shit from the press and public about being support heroes instead of being Pro-Heroes from the hero course?)

Anyway, it gave Izuku a lot to think over.

“-And I’ve gone on too much already,” Nezu’s amused voice changed from the slightly more formal tone than he had previously, alerting Izuku to the closing of the principal’s speech, “I hope you enjoy your time here at Yuuei, learn plenty, develop and grow into the best versions of yourselves.”

‘ Best versions of ourselves, huh ?’ Izuku mused to himself as Nezu disappeared from sight.

Karasuma-sensei( a man with massive raven-black wings that were quite alike to Hawk’s wings(only black instead of red), however, it sounded to Izuku that he could only use them as wings, and isn’t able to detach his feathers like Hawks is able to) stood up, and led his class out - Class 3-A - and the rest of the staff were quick to stand up and make their way to their homeroom classes. 

Sasaki-sensei led them out after Class 2-A, and Izuku managed to slide up next to Enji who simply rolled his eyes at him.

“Nezu is more…” Izuku wrinkled his nose, “...eccentric than I thought he would be.”

Enji snorted, “That’s the rat.”

“He said a lot of interesting things,” Izuku continued, flicking through his notebook, “I’m pretty sure you caught some of them, right?”

Enji held his hand out for the notebook, and Izuku handed it over easily. 

The redhead flicked through the pages, a few different emotions racing over his face. Izuku was startled to see shock and amazement a few times. 

“What’s wrong?” Izuku just had to ask, curiosity spiking. 

Enji shook his head, “Nothing-”

“Ooooh, are those notes on all the teachers?” Genji Annaisha’s eyebrows turned yellow as she peered down at the notebook in Enji’s hands. 

Izuku flinched back at her sudden appearance, and his cheeks warmed as Enji pointed at Izuku, “His notes,” the redhead said, “He put them all together just from Nezu’s speech.”

“Whaaaaaaaaat?” Annaisha gaped at him, making Izuku duck his head sheepishly. 

“It’s not much to go off,” Izuku grabbed his notebook back and ignored the way Enji smirked at him, “Nezu just dropped a lot of hints when he speaking, so most of the notes I have are speculations-”

“Holy shit!” 

Izuku blinked and suddenly his notebook was gone from his hands again.

“How did you guess that I could shed my scales faster than normal?” Kersey Coral’s orange eyes widened against her blue scales, “Not even my parents knew about it until my quirk-counsellor found out about it five years after I started going to him.”

Izuku gulped, ‘Uh, you kept scratching your neck as the introductions were going on,” he mumbled, “I noticed that you were scratching scales that would fall off a few minutes later- then scales regrew slowly, but quicker than a normal scale-based quirk. I wrote the equation down somewhere-”  he flipped through his pages, “-but it was also easy to tell. You have a small pouch in your pocket that you keep loose scales in. I saw you put some of your shedded scales in it when we were leaving class-”

Izuku froze and looked back up when he realized that everyone - including himself - had stopped, but everyone else was staring at him.

“You wouldn’t happen to be the person who got almost perfect on the analysis exam, would you?” Yamaguchi asked, brown eyes wide.

Enji rolled his eyes as Izuku stammered, “Uh-um-maybe-I-can’t-say-”

“Yes, he is,” Enji sighed rolling his eyes at the blushing Izuku who squeaked in embarrassment when the redhead confirmed it. as the rest of the class murmured. Most moved on, but few stayed.

(Thankfully for Izuku’s sanity as an anxiety-filled child of adorableness crazy thoughts) 

"You didn't need to tell them, Enji," Izuku whined, face aflame as mortification flooded through his system.

"Yes I did," the redhead smirked at the greenette, "You would have never taken credit otherwise."

"I didn't want to take credit!" the (technically, chronologically and biologically) older boy - and time traveller - complained. 

Kersey-san snorted as Annaisha-san snickered, "Are you two siblings, or something?" the blue scaled girl asked them.

"Nope," Enji said in the miraculous deadpan.

Izuku shook his head, "Just friends."

The greenette jumped when Shun placed a hand on his shoulder and turned to look up at the taller boy, "But I've been informed that adoption is in the air," he said gravely, despite the grin on his face.

"Where did you hear that from?!" Izuku squeaked.

Enji just sighed, "Don't tell me Rei told you."

"Sure did," Shun gave the redhead a cheeky grin and finger guns.

The subject just groaned and looked like he was going to have a stern talking-to with Rei later. 

"How did you even notice my pouch, Midoriya?" Kersey-san asked, interested, "I was one of the first ones to leave class, I remember that you were too busy writing in your notebook when I put my scales in my pouch?"

Izuku bit his lip, thinking it over. He hesitated for a moment, "I, uh, notice small things?" he said lamely, "I'm used to having to pay attention to my surroundings-" Izuku avoided the way that the girls and Shun's eyes widened in surprise, while Enji just narrowed his own, "-even when I'm doing other things?"

He could tell that they had more questions, but he was glad that Enji glared harshly enough to stop those dangerous sharks from getting more than just the smell of blood. 

Okay, Isamu had to admit that it was a strange metaphor.

Annaisha-san's hair turned green to match Izuku's, "You're too perfect," she claimed, crossing her arms as she added freckles over her face and changed her previously sky-blue eyes to mirror his forest green ones, "You're good at situational awareness, great at analysis, you have this whole "cinnamon bun" theme to you, I haven't seen your quirk yet but it must be impressive, you have good friends slash you can make friends easily, and you can understand the craziness that is Principal Nezu."

Izuku frowned, "He's not crazy, his quirk is High Spec, all it does is allow him to operate on a higher level of intelligence than "normal" people," he paused for a moment, pondering as he looked back down at his notebook, "I wonder if he can read things like a computer? You know, take read them once, then have it memorized, or if his quirk allows his memory to act as a memory of a computer? That would be so cool!"

The greenette stilled when he looked back up,  Annaisha-san and  Kersey-san were slack-jawed as they stared at him, Shun - who had been on the receiving ends of one of Isamu's rambles over video calls with him, Enji, and Rei, or even just calls between him and Isamu - just chuckled and Enji merely rolled his eyes with a simple sigh.

"Sorry?" Izuku said hesitantly, unsure of how to act.

"You need to slow down that mind,"  Kersey-san smiled, startling Izuku at how nice it was, "If we didn't know better, I'd assume that you had an intelligence quirk."

Izuku chuckled sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his neck, “Yeah, a lot of people have thought that, but nope,” he grinned, “Got-” he cut himself off, and flushed in embarrassment.

( Hewasn’tquirklessanymore. Heneededtobecareful. EnergyFlowishisquirknow. He’snotquirklessanymore. )

They - thankfully - managed to get back to the classroom before anything horrible happened, where Sasaki-sensei told them that they were free to leave for lunch since the assembly took so long.

Izuku escaped with a happy smile on his face, and two new friends.

☀

Isamu plopped down beside Enji in the cafeteria, and let out a sigh that had the redhead looking at him curiously from the corner of his eyes. 

"What's wrong?" Enji asked, already starting on his bento, raising an eyebrow at the greenette

Isamu let out a low whine across from him, "There are so many cool quirks in our class," he pouted as Enji rolled his eyes when understanding the greenette's thought process, "I just wanna-"

He was - thankfully, in Enji’s option - interrupted by Rei's tray of her lunch being slammed down next to the two boys, "What's up?" she chirped as she joined Enji’s side of the table.

"Quirks," Enji pointed and Isamu who pouted even further. 

"O ooooooooooooooooooo h," Rei nodded, understanding in an instant. She reached over the table and patted the green-haired boy's arm, "There, there, Greenie."

He pouted at her and Rei laughed.

Enji noticed when Rei spotted Shun making his way to them, only for the speedster to be blocked by multiple people, "Heya, Shun!!!" she waved at the tall blue-haired male, and Isamu turned in time to see the male give Rei a smile - his hands busy carrying his own tray with lunch on it - as he (struggled to) make his way over to them.

"This is chaos," Shun sighed when he (finally) got to them, sitting down beside Rei.

"Agreed," Enji grumbled out, knowing that he already looked irritated with the whole cafeteria. 

Isamu jumped up, startling his all three friends enough to make them all go still as they watched as he rushed over to a boy that Enji recognized as their classmate, student six, Chinen Nikushimi.

Enji honestly didn't know why Isamu had gone after the strange purple haired boy, nor why the greenette was leading a confused Chinen towards their table.

"Who's this, Greenie?" Rei asked, grinning towards him and the purpled haired male.

Isamu beamed at his friends, "This is Chinen Nikushimi, he has one of the coolest quirks ever," he gushed, making the subject of his excitement shift uncomfortable as he sat down next to the greenette.

"I'm Kamishiro Rei," Rei smiled towards the uncomfortable boy, "But feel free to just call me Rei."

"You obviously know Enji and Shun," Isamu pointed at each respective male, the redhead rolled his eyes, and beside Rei, Shun gave the purpled haired male a short mini-wave with his right hand.

"Hi," Chinen didn't smile, but he didn't frown either. Keeping neutral. Enji could appreciate that.

"And why does he have "one of the coolest quirks ever"?" Shun asked curiously, quoting Isamu's wording.

(Not that Enji was going to ask the same question himself.)

Isamu made a face, one that screamed "how can you not understand???", "My quirk is being able to see, alter, and transform emotions," Chinen said in a deadpan.

But any one of the four teenagers at the table could see how he tensed up when he spoke of his quirk. Enji mulled that information over in his mind. While he may not be as smart as Isamu, he did have experience with people. 

"See???" Isamu turned to them with almost stars in his eyes, "Such a cool quirk!"

"It certainly has disadvantages and advantages," Enji agreed but didn't expand further like the coward he was. 

Shun actually looked slightly scared as he spoke, "Wait, so can you always see people's emotions?"

Enji watched as Chinen narrowed his eyes slightly at the speedster, "Yes," he answered simply. 

"You must get so many headaches," Rei sympathized, and Enji hid an amused smirk as the male actually looked surprised for a moment, "I can't imagine how hard life must be for you."

Chinen wrinkled his nose slightly, "Yeah," he kept emotionally distant from each of them. Not that Enji could blame him.

Not one of them there could blame him for keeping to short, clipped answers. Enji knows how people with mental quirks - usually quirks that could change what people did, feel, or do - usually got one bad end of the stick. Not the worst end of the stick, but one of them.

Isamu had his notebook out before any of them could comprehend, "How many people can you affect at once? How do you see emotions? Is there a limit to how far you can see emotions from? Are you able to "imprint" on someone's emotions? Is it easier or harder for you to find someone in a crowd? How bad do your headaches get? Do you have insomnia from your quirk? Or is it something you've always had? Possibly a hand-down from a parent's quirk? Does purple hair run in your family? Did you know that your eyes go silver every once in a while? Is that when you're changing someone's emotions? How-"

His mouth was covered by ice as Rei sighed at him. Isamu gave them all a sheepish look from behind the ice. 

Chinen was still staring at the boy, "What. the. fuck," he said after a short while.

"Yes he does that a lot," Rei answered the question the purpled haired boy was obviously about to ask. 

Enji sighed, “Too much, honestly.”

Isamu pouted at them all, and Enji simply rolled his eyes and pressed his hand on the ice around his friend’s face, letting just enough warmth from his quirk to melt the ice.

Isamu gave him a thankful look then simply turned to Chinen expectantly.

“You’ll want to answer his questions,” Enji said tiredly, picking at his food, “He won’t stop until he gets them, and you’d rather answer before he goes to the extreme.”

Chinen side-eyed Isamu in a way that made Enji snort, “Extreme?” the purple-haired male echoed.

Isamu glared at Enji who glared back before they both relaxed with smiles, “I don’t go that extreme,” the greenette protested. 

Enji joined Rei and Shun in giving Isamu a mass of deadpan looks that made him chuckle sheepishly and rub the back of his neck, “Okay, maybe I do get a little extreme,” Isamu admitted, “But not really!”

“You bugged me for three days straight about a possible mutation that my quirk might’ve been,” Shun pointed out, gesturing with his chopsticks, “You even figured out an equation to figure out how much orange juice I would need to intake for certain distances at certain speeds.”

Enji shared an amused smirk with Rei as Isamu’s cheeks went red, “I was just bored,” he shrugged, “It was actually surprisingly easy to figure it out.”

“See??” Shun gave Chinen a pointed look.

It was quite amusing to see the male torn between looking like he wanted to run away, and looking more and more curious the longer he stayed there with them. Enji inwardly smirked to himself. They were an odd bunch, it worked out in the end, but they must look like a storm of chaos to others. 

Enji snorted quietly to himself at the odd metaphor. 

Chinen eventually answered some of Isamu's questions; Enji wasn't surprised to find that the purpled haired male didn't know the answer to quite a few of Isamu's rambled queries. 

"My eyes flash silver?" Chinen asked the green-haired boy.

Isamu's eyes blinked at Chinen in surprise - something Enji only saw because he was directly in front of him - and he hesitated for a moment, "You didn't know that?" he asked softly, more curious than mean.

Not that Isamu was ever mean. Sure, there were times where he probably came off as mean, but Enji had learnt that the green-haired mystery never meant it; if anything, Isamu was more empathetic than any other person Enji had ever met before.

Isamu was almost too good for this world. Aside from the obvious trust issues, anxiety attacks, mumbling (although the mumbling was sort of a good thing? It helped show how he thought, and how Isamu looked at things.

Which was a complete bamboozlement for anyone who tried to understand the mumbles).

Chinen just shook his head in response to Isamu, “I never knew,” his voice was quiet enough that Enji struggled slightly to hear it under the noise in the cafeteria. 

Isamu looked lost, unsettled, confused as he looked at Enji, Rei and Shun. Not that Enji could blame the greenette, although Enji himself had experienced the shocks of Isamu figuring out something about his quirk in a short period of time when Enji had his quirk for sixteen years without figuring it out. 

Enji rolled his eyes as Rei leant across the table to pat the purple-haired male’s arm, “It’s alright,” his friend said in her best “please-don’t-break-down” soothing voice, “Just let it go.”

Chinen glanced up at her, confused for a moment before his eyes flashed silver for a split second - obviously him using his quirk, now that Isamu had pointed it out to them, Enji found that it was quite obvious - then understanding dawned on his face. 

Enji focused on his food in front of him, avoiding the fact that Chinen had ducked his head downwards to the table to try and hide the fact that everyone at the table could see the glistening droplets of tears coast down his cheeks. 

Well, Enji sighed silently to himself, what an eventful way to make a new associate.

☀

The rest of the day passed mostly uneventful. 

Enji was stuck with Isamu - mostly due to the greenette dragging him along by the wrist every single time - whenever someone started asking him about the notebook.

Surprisingly - in Enji’s perfectly fine option - Chinen kept close to Isamu whenever they were given the chance to move about freely in class 1-A. Not even the fact that Isamu had unintentionally caused the male’s breakdown in the cafeteria kept the “Emote” quirk user from befriending Isamu.

He still found it quite amusing how easily Isamu was able to befriend people. Enji was sure that the greenette had managed to talk - and harass about their quirks - to every single person in their class. 

From the wary Yamaguchi to the cold yet kind Uehara to the skittish could-formation of Shirakumo. No matter who it was, Isamu was able to win them over with ease that Enji had never seen from anyone before. 

After lunch, they’d gone through short lessons to get to know the teacher for each subject, but nothing necessarily momentous or significant happened before they headed back home for the day. 

(Enji was proudly ignoring the greenette skipping happily beside him as they headed to the train station to head home. Aforementioned greenette who kept looking at his phone with all his new contacts in with a face full of awe and felicity.)

Chapter Text

Izuku wouldn't claim that during his time in the past was the best times of his life, but it was rather close.

(The Best time during his life would have to be when All Might told him that Yes, Izuku could be a hero.)

He had people who didn't care where he came from - if only in concern for how he unconsciously reacted to sudden movements, and open flames - people who wanted to actually know him, people who actually cared about his analyses, people who found him "cool" even without his the quirk he was given.

They didn't care about what his quirk was or wasn't. All of these people around cared about who he is as a person 

(Well, to be fair, they didn’t exactly know that he was quirkless, or about One for All.)

But it was just so fun getting to know everyone in their class! Izuku hadn’t bothered showing his notebook to his classmates back in his time, so there had always been a disconnect whenever his friends were surprised at how he managed to tactically take down another team/pairing in Heroics (Physical) class. 

Even All Might had been surprised the first time Izuku didn’t even need to use One for All to take down Hagakure and Ashido with the help of Koda. Which was stupid, because Izuku had learnt that while the girl who was invisible could move quietly, she had nothing on how Izuku had to move silently throughout his entire childhood, lest Katsuki and his minions would’ve found him. 

But everything in the past was great!

Classes - the general education that every teenager needed - were a little boring at first for Izuku who had already gone over them in the future, but with the special quirks - defined as “ a particular aspect of a person's character or behaviour ” instead of a person’s quirk which was a superpower - that each teacher had that differed from who would be teaching the subjects in the future made everything so much more exciting for Izuku.

While most of their classmates fell under “Elemental Quirks” - quirks usually that involved fire, water, earth and air, or subcategories of them - there were plenty of curious quirks outside of those parameters. 

From Petit-sensei’s bubbles that he created from his mouth anytime he coughed, sneezed, or even talked, to Fukidashi-sensei’s ability to bring any cartoon drawing to life/bring into the real world. And don’t even get him started on the quirkless teacher that one of the Management Department classes had for homeroom. Beaufort-sensei actually took the Heroics classes for Media Management. 

Beaufort-sensei was a beautiful African-American woman with long curly hair that had been dyed blonde at the ends. Dark brown eyes that seemed to know everything about you with just one glance, and expensive clothes that screamed her wealth. 

Izuku actually ended up looking forward to these classes, moreso as a way to get to know someone else who was quirkless, but also as a way to learn to build up the skills he needed. Especially if he was going to be a Limelight Hero.

Dealing with the media and press was stressful enough for Izuku without any training or preparation. He was barely able to handle all the stares he got on the train the first few times he headed to Yuuei in the future, he’d ended up just wearing a large hoodie over his uniform while on the train before removing when he’d gotten to Yuuei - Iida had spotted him wearing it to class once, Izuku had been about to take it off when his friend started reprimanding him. So Izuku learnt to change while he walked to school from the train station.

So, yes, Midoriya Izukuneeded these lessons that came from the quirkless teacher, and the quirkless CEO of Beaufort Industries, a company that ranged in its products from support items to help Pro-Heroes to plants and flowers for gardeners to cleaning products. 

Basically, whatever you needed, Beaufort Industries had it.

(Izuku had to google it after his first-class with the quirkless woman, his curiosity winning out against his nerves.

He’d even found out that a young woman who was a rather remarkable look-alike to Hatsume Mei in the future. Wild amounts of crazy pink hair, and manic expression that was mirrored in her green eyes. Her name was Date Sakura, and she ran the support gear area of Beaufort Industries under the close watch of Beaufort-sensei.

All this was easily accessible online, so it wasn’t as if Izuku had to go hacking government servers to find this information… not that he’s ever hacked the government’s servers before, or anything...)

Media Management was with Beaufort-sensei - obviously - and it was actually a class that Izuku learnt to look forward to, even if they ended up having “sessions” where half the class would act as if they were reporters themselves while the other half of the class were responsible for trying to “manage” the chaos.

Sasaki-sensei took them for Chemistry. Which was to be expected with how her quirk worked, she would need a greater understanding of how atoms were broken down so that she didn’t accidentally destroy the world.

Petit-sensei took them for Geography. Which had only made Izuku bash his head against his hand - keeping his pitiful existence quiet from everyone else in his class - while sending Enji a pleading look, only for the redhead to roll his eyes with a smug smirk. 

Karasuma-sensei took them for History - again, Izuku wanted to die when he realised that he would have to take this class - and sometimes covered for Adachi-sensei for Physics while Adachi-sensei also had them for (General) Maths. There was an option to take a more specified track for Maths, but most of his classmates in 1-A seemed more than happy to stick to the general stuff. 

Togata-sensei mostly did classes with the Support and Management Departments for Analysis and Marketing, but he did teach Japanese and optional English and Sign Language classes to the Heroics Department students. 

Fukidashi-sensei took optional classes for different types of arts. Izuku hadn’t signed up for one of those classes, but he’d seen Wakabayashi, Kita and Kaneko come back from one of the art classes with their hands covered in paint, but bright smiles on their faces. 

English was with Yasuno-sensei, a quiet-spoken woman who probably had some sort of ADD or ADHD that may or may not be related to her quirk. Izuku still hadn’t figured that one out yet. 

Tupaarnaq-sensei was a mainly General Education teacher, so Classes A to B, then classes F to K didn’t get to see much of him. But Izuku had heard of the man who would transform… shift?... into a bear just to scare people for a prank. 

And finally, there was principal Nezu. No one heard anything from the Chimera for the first two weeks at Yuuei. Not even Izuku who had taken the Analysis exam, and was still waiting for news on what he was supposed to do with his results from it.

Then, the third week came. 

And all of a sudden Izuku had to struggle to get to class because every time he tried to get through a hallway, it was like every single security system malfunctioned all at once.

(And Izuku wasn’t an idiot. He knows that Nezu is testing him, his skills, his patience and his ability to not go storming to the Chimera’s office and demand that he stop making Izuku late to his lessons)

Enji had been more than amused when Izuku turned up to class - they had left the Todoroki house at the same time and arrived at the school grounds at the same time, but Izuku had gotten separated when they entered the school building! - soaking wet - surprisingly thankfully his bag wasn’t wet - and he knew he looked so done with everything as Nikushimi actually flinched away from him, Igarashi looked more than amused as she tried to hold back her laughter, Shun winced in sympathy, and he noted that Yamaguchi kept jerking slightly - a tell-a-tale sign of him using his quirk - and glared - it was more of a pout - at the boy who ended up giving Izuku a sheepish grin.

Thankfully, Enji allowed some pity and helped Izuku dry slightly as he used the slightest of his quirk to accelerate the room temperature slightly, as he moved to his seat right before Sasaki-sensei walked into the class.

She took one look at him and sighed, “Midoriya-san?”

Izuku looked up from where he had been not-glaring at his desk, “Yes, sensei?” he asked meekly.

“Please go see the rat,” Sasaki-sensei gave him a look that meant that she knew exactly what was going on.

“Yes, sensei,” Izuku sighed, getting out of his chair then leaving the classroom. 

His phone vibrated a moment later, and he checked it as he was walking down the hallways, “ stay safe ” Enji had texted him, and Izuku found himself smiling despite the fact that he had to side-step a wild flamethrower as he texted back his thanks to his bro- friend.

Walking past a waterfall that rained past him, Izuku had to jump over a flaming log - seriously? Were these the most creative traps that Nezu could make? Or was he just referencing a bunch of pre-quirk era movies? - and duck under a cloud of sharp objects flying at his head. 

It took avoiding a few more of these “traps” before he finally got to Nezu’s office where he went to knock on the door, only for the door to open.

Not that Izuku was surprised, merely just lowering his arm before heading into the office where the “rat” himself sat in his chair sipping at a cup of tea. 

“Ah, Midoriya-san,” The smile the Chimera gave him couldn’t have possibly passed for friendly in a “normal” human situation, but Izuku had seen worse smiles before so all he did was give the Principal a small smile in return as he sat down in the chair in front of Nezu’s desk, “Thank you for joining me.”

“Not much of a choice,” Izuku grumbled under his breath, knowing well enough that the Chimera would hear it, “Thanks for having me, sir.”

Nezu’s sharp grin didn’t falter once, “My apologies for taking so long to get to you, Midoriya-san. After all the paperwork was done-” both of them damn well knew that Nezu didn’t need the extra time that he’d “given” Izuku, nor did either of them believe the excuse of Nezu being too busy with paperwork of all things, “-I thought we might have some fun.”

“Fair enough,” Izuku shrugged, keeping his body language and facial expressions neutral, “I can understand that these sorts of things can get tiresome. I’m simply honoured you managed to get back to me after my exam.”

Nezu hummed and the room went quiet for a short while before the Chimera spoke again, “I’ve talked with your teachers, most if not all suggest dropping History and/or Geography in exchange for lessons with me.”

Izuku thought it over - well, actually, he pretended to think it over while he immediately wanted to say yes - letting the quiet drag on a few more seconds than necessary, “Sounds alright,” he shrugged before giving the Chimera a sharp smile for a jiffy, “Not like I had much planned for those classes anyway.”

Ooooooh, Enji was going to be annoyed that his amusement got ruined by the Chimera. Izuku had to cover up his smile with a fake grimace as he rolled his wrist as if phantom pains were aggravating his scars - well, he didn’t really need to fake it.

“Fantastic!” Nezu clapped his hands- er, paws, together excitedly, “I can already tell that this is going to be enjoyable for us both, Midoriya-san!”

Izuku nodded, letting a small smile on his face, “Thank you for the opportunity, Nezu-sensei, I look forward to learning under your tutelage.”

The greenette didn’t flinch once when the Chimera’s animalistic baring of teeth in a smile-like way appeared once again - huh, maybe he could use a similar smile in fights. It would be a great way to throw off his opponents - and while it was hard to read the Principal, Izuku got a vague sense of smugness from him.

“My apologies for the experiments this week, Midoriya-san,” The feral-smile was gone, and an apologetic look was cast across the rat-like face, “I understand that all I had done was cause you to be late to your lessons-”

“It was actually quite fun,” Izuku admitted, and he watched as Nezu’s eyes widened a fraction. It truly, it had been quite fun. None of the traps were there to hurt him - sure, he  could’ve gotten hurt, but he’d spent years getting beaten up, so it was quite easy to dodge most of the traps - intentionally, and there were easy weaknesses so there were simple ways to get away or dodge the traps. 

The one where he had gotten soaked that morning was his own fault for getting stuck in the way. But if he hadn’t gotten in the way of the “attack”, then one of the Gen-Ed students would’ve gotten hit, and there was no way that Izuku would allow that to happen. Especially since all the traps and “attacks” were intended for him.

Izuku glanced down at his fingers as he fidgeted, “Things were calm lately-” too calm in his option, “-so it was nice to get things flowing again.”

He didn’t dare look up, keeping his green orbs on his scarred hands. Izuku knew that Nezu was looking at the scars and that the Chimera had probably noticed the burn scars that just barely stuck out into plain sight on his neck, right where his shirt’s collar ended. 

Izuku carefully met Nezu’s eyes and smiled kindly. Nothing like the feral-smile that the Chimera had before, more of a tired-of-this-world-and-everything-in-it smile.

“So, thank you, Nezu-sensei.”

☀

Their Physical Combat Heroics Lessons were nothing to scoff at. 

Way better than the few that Izuku had with All Might in the future, and surpassing the ones that Aizawa-sensei would spring on them. 

Izuku adored how things worked in this time. Everything flowed nicely, and while things might seem like too much at times, the teachers were more than happy to slow down for students, and if you figured out which teachers were more lenient than others, then sometimes you could get away with having a short nap between, or in class. 

Most of their Physical Combat Heroics Lessons followed a usual trend, working in partners, groups, or even in singles to take down villains or a villain. Izuku’s favourite adaptation of the class was when he got to work with Enji, Shun, or Nikushimi in a pairs fight against their other classmates. 

He and Shun usually got things done quickly, except for when Yamaguchi was in the opposite team. Stupid time-reversal quirk. But other than the slightly slower time it took them to deal with Yamaguchi, his teammate, and his quirk, both he and Shun were normally able to finish it off. Unless Yamaguchi teamed up with Enji then Izuku would be forced to go after his brot- friend while Shun dealt with the objective and Yamaguchi. 

When he worked with Nikushimi, his friend often preferred to scout with his quirk, taking the time to try his best to figure out what the opposite team was planning through their emotions while Izuku was more of the heavy-hitter. Which worked fine for both of them, Izuku didn’t doubt that his friend would be going into Underground Heroics for his Pro-Hero career. 

And as always, partnering up with Enji was great. Izuku knew how much skill his brot- friend had over his quirk, but when they fought together - or even when the redhead was on a different team against Izuku - it was amazing to see just how much control he had over the fire quirk. Sure, Enji had to use his quirk on Izuku - it was training after all - but he never left a single burn on Izuku, whether it be on his skin or his uniform.

And even if he did get burnt a little, the burn was quick to disappear, but Enji would keep distant for a short while before either Rei or Nikushimi - “the purple-haired emotive bastard” - convinced him to hug it out with Izuku - who was always more than happy to share hugs with the redhead - until the guilt (mostly) left Enji.

But those were just his favourite parts about the classes. Izuku also found himself enjoying working with and learning to work with the rest of his classmates.

The best thing was that none of his classmates were like Katsuki.

Not a single one of them.

If anything, Enji was the closest to behaving like his childhood friend, simply because of the attitude and slightly similar quirks - in the heat range, that is - that they both shared. However, while Katsuki was likely to lash out immediately no matter who was speaking to him, Enji was more sealed with his emotions. 

On numerous occasions where Izuku would’ve seen Katsuki explode, Isamu watched as all Enji did was take it in stride, or just clench his jaw slightly as his eyes would narrow with burning rage, but other than that, the only times Enji “exploded” was when one of the “Rainbow-Squad” - Izuku did not name their group that - kept bugging him so much that he snapped. But, thankfully, Enji never got physical unless the other person instigated it. 

(Which, usually was just light roughhousing, so nothing got out of hand. Izuku had been on the endings of Enji’s “snaps” before, and it had been difficult at first to get used to the not-aggressive way the redhead showed his anger, but eventually, he found himself not flinching away every second, and actually leaning into the touch at times.)

Only one of these Physical Combat Heroics Lessons got out of hand before Yasuno-sensei - the teacher taking them for that lesson - could calm everyone down and stop the lesson.

It hadn’t even been Izuku in the exercise, but Kageyama and Kaneko who were pitted against Leroux and Nishiya.

Izuku had always gotten the impression that Kageyama and Kaneko had a relationship that was slightly similar to his and Katsuki’s. 

Except, less abusive - and yes, Izuku knew that his relationship with Katsuki had been abusive. Having people who actually cared about him also made him realise that his relationship with his own mother had been borderline abusive as well, which did not sit with him well… - but it still had that one-sided competitiveness that Izuku recently realised was in his relationship with Katsuki.

Kaneko didn’t seem to see how hateful Kageyama was of him, and Kageyama didn’t seem to see that Kaneko didn’t want to have a competitive relationship with him. Kaneko only wanted his friend, but Kageyama only seemed to act out of bitterness. 

In the exercise, the two “friends” - Izuku didn’t really know what to call their relationship. Just like his classmates in the future hadn’t known what to call his and Katsuki’s relationship - had gotten into an argument, by the looks of things on the cameras and only Yasuno-sensei had an earpiece to hear them, which was mostly fueled by Kageyama’s anger/bitterness but Kaneko’s confusion and irritation helped as well, looking like it was an argument about how they should proceed.

Izuku had been standing next to Enji - Nikushimi had been on his other with Shun standing next to the purple-haired male - when the two boys started shouting at each other. He hadn’t been able to hear it - thankfully - but the wild gesturing on the screens was enough to make him flinch in surprise, which made him end up with Enji wrapping an arm around him softly while Nikushimi moved closer to press their arms together while Shun (not-so) subtly moved behind him and plonked his chin on Isamu’s head while leaning his arms on Enji and Nikushimi’s shoulders.

It ended up being an odd group not-hug.

But, regardless of how he and his friends were behaving, Izuku and his aforementioned group of friends watched as Yasuno-sensei had tried to call through the earpieces to the arguing boys, but she ended up having to rush off when Kageyama threw the first punch that Kaneko only just avoided hitting his face by raising his arms to block the attack.

It only escalated from there until Yasuno-sensei appeared on the cameras and used her quirk to throw both boys into “jars” made of solid shadows. 

That class was cancelled as Sasaki-sensei ended up being called from her Chemistry class with 2-D, and their homeroom teacher took care of both boys' punishments. All the while Leroux and Nishiya took a “win” for that exercise, on the fact that neither of them had fought with each other.

(Izuku was thankful that this particular accident was the only one; although he was fairly certain this was because Enji - and possibly the rest of the “Rainbow Squad” - threatened the two “friends” into making sure that they never did it again.)

☀

The Sports Festival was hyped up almost as much as it ended up being hyped up in the future. 

Sasaki-sensei was just as excited as Aizawa-sensei had been to announce the news; that is to say, not excited at all for the event.

Izuku wasn’t excited per say, but he wasn’t not excited for the Sports Festival. It was hard to not be excited with all the energy that everyone was feeding each other. 

Genji Annaisha and Kersey Coral - the two girls had instantly claimed the other as each other’s best friend shortly after their conversation with Izuku and Enji involving the formers notebook -  were the top two enthusiastic of the class, but they were closely followed by Kita who would accidentally activate her quirk when she was too excited. 

Her quirk, Aurora Borealis, was that she could create various designs of an Aurora Borealis. So they spent the two weeks leading up to the Sports Festival surrounded by colourful lights that came and went.

Then there was the heating problems that class 1-A had the week leading up to the Sports Festival. Izuku felt sympathetic for Enji who had to sit next to a nervous Uehara who accidentally caused snow and frost to fall from her body every time the topic of the Sports Festival was brought up. Enji had to keep using his quirk to warm himself up, which ended up creating a mixture of temperatures throughout the classroom.

Leroux was someone else who struggled to control his quirk, his mutation Heatblast that caused him to need to be hot no matter what - not that once could exactly stop the living lava-made boy from being hot(temperature-wise - but the fact that he’d melted nine chairs in the two days before the Sports festival, proved even the French-Japanese  lava-boy who had probably gone through worse things, was nervous for the event.

Even Nishiya had started growing leaves in his nervousness.

Which had been funny until said leaves started falling off the tree person's limbs and 1-A ended up needing to help Nishiya in cleaning them up.

The day before the Sports Festival, the “Rainbow Squad” took a break from all their preparation after school, and just hung out in one of the many gardens that the school had. 

Rei was resting her head on Enji’s outstretched legs, lying on the grass as she was reading a book that Isamu assumed that had some of her projects planned out in, and the redhead was lying back as well, his face to the sky, eyes shut, and Izuku was fairly certain that he was napping.

Nikushimi was hiding from the sun via leaning against a tree just a short distance away, an earbud in the ear furthest away from the rest of them so that he would be able to hear any conversation. 

Shun was chilling and reading a fictional book, one that Izuku hadn’t read before - and honestly had no interest in reading. No offence, Shun! - as he sat upright, crossed legs and everything. 

And Izuku just found himself glancing at his friends. The people who had welcomed a stranger from nowhere into their lives, someone who didn't technically exist yet, someone who had (slightly) lied to them.

He didn't deserve them.

Nikushimi raised an eyebrow at Izuku as the greenette felt his grim mood lighten for seemingly no reason at all.

Isamu gave his friend a sheepish smile before going back to his coded notebook, flicking through the memories he couldn’t remember any more. 

(He wondered if Enji and Rei would hate him if he told them that he already felt like a third-wheel in their friendship- that he’d probably need to start branching out before they left him behind forever- that he didn’t deserve to be with them- that they didn’t deserve to have this useless deku following them around forever-)

☀

The Sports Festival was surprisingly uneventful.

Other than a student that transferred from Gen-Ed to class 1-B after showing great skill in all of the events, Izuku found himself relaxing at how quiet everything had been.

The first event had been a maze, one that Izuku easily figured out how to navigate, and most of his classmates made it through that round. Those who didn’t just shrugged it off, mainly Yamaguchi and Genji Arakan. 

The latter’s twin had made it through the first event but had “failed” the second event. 

Izuku wasn’t stupid enough to think that the girl had failed, she had chosen to fail the second event, and he was fairly certain that it was because she and her brother wanted to go into Underground Heroics.

The second round was similar to what it had been in the future, a team-up event, but this time it was a capture the flag game, but instead of a flag, you were given “tags” that held your point score from the results of the last event. The top eight teams of four with the highest scores would move onto the third event.

A tournament. 

Each “fight” in the tournament changed from fight to fight. 

One fight would be a mental fight, where every time you got a question right you moved forward in the “game” that had been acquired for the Sports Festival. If you got a question wrong, you had to stay where you were, unless you chose to skip the question where you would then be zapped by electricity. 

Another fight could be physical, against one another personally, or going through a course of some sort before the other.

Izuku had been proud of his fifth place in the entire Festival. 

He’d lost to a Support Department student, Furaito Tori, whose quirk was a mental one, Dreamer, it allows her to see the dreams of any person sleeping but she can’t use it too many times in a row or her nose will start bleeding and she'll’ get a migraine. She managed to catch him by surprise and use her Support gear to get him out of the arena in the classic battle style fight they had. 

Enji had gone into the finals against a boy called Orenji Ao from 1-B, who had a quirk that allowed him to reflect his opponent’s attacks - quirk-wise and physical-wise - back at them.

So Enji had gone up against someone who could, quite literally, throw his attacks back in his face. And he’d accepted his second place, although Izuku and the rest of the “Rainbow Squad” could easily tell it was quite begrudgingly done, and that the redhead was beating himself up for not doing better.

Shun had gotten ninth while Rei had gotten fifteenth while Nikushimi had pretty much “given up” - he was going to be an Underground Pro-Hero, so what did it matter? - right away, only coming thirtieth in the end.

Nikushimi had just smirked and given his opponent, who just so happened to be Igarashi Satsuka, a short bow that made the normally emotionless stormy girl flush slightly. 

(The rest of the Rainbow Squad - minus Isamu who just stepped away wisely - teased him about it later, and Nikushimi got his revenge by using his quirk to make them feel depressed all of a sudden.

“I told you not to,” Isamu shook his head as his and Nikushimi’s friends became moody. )

Izuku had a place where he belonged, even if it wasn’t where he was originally from, he had a home here with his uniquely wonderful friends.

☀

Internships were a strange matter for Izuku who hadn’t managed to make it to that stage when he was in the future. 

Because of his better than most placing, he got quite a few offers - just over three hundred - while Enji got the most regardless of his placing in the Sports Festival, mostly due to his name alone, and he was quick to rid offers that seemed like they were trying to take advantage of him.

Which ended up being most of his offers. 

Shun had gotten just over a hundred offers while Nikushimi got less than thirty, and neither of them seemed upset at the lack of offers compared to Isamu, Enji, and Igarashi, the girl ended up getting third.

It took Izuku a while to sort through his offers and research the people who had offered internships to him. Majority of his offers were from Limelight Pro-Heroes, but he was surprised to find that he had a few offers from Underground Pro-Heroes. 

"Who is Finite?" Nikushimi asked Izuku when he was peeking at Isamu's notes.

The greenette hummed, "I'm surprised you don't know him," Izuku glanced up from his notebook to give his friend a look, "Mr. Underground Hero stan-" the purple-haired flushed slightly and stuck his tongue out at the other, "-anyway, Finite is one of the top ten Underground Pro-Heroes, number five to be exact, his quirk is so cool; He can “Isolate” people with his quirk, it basically traps them in a pocket universe for up to five minutes! It makes him a great Pro-Hero for when he goes to take down a gang or “big baddie” who has plenty of fodder for Finite to go through before he can get to the “big baddie”.”

Izuku grinned when Nikushimi motioned for him to keep going, “He’s actually a pretty cool hero, he doesn’t like the media much, so he tries to keep out of the spotlight-” like a certain future Underground Pro-Hero Izuku knows, “-as much as he can. He’s known for working alone, or if he has to, with the police. So for him to make an offer to not just me, but you as well-” Nikushimi blinked in surprise, obviously not expecting Izuku to have glimpsed at his own offers, “-then that’s almost history-breaking! Well, for the man himself anyway.”

“You’d get great experience from him, Nikushimi,” Izuku finished cheerfully before shrinking back slightly as he remembered himself, “Uh, that is if you pick him.”

Nikushimi just laughed at him, shaking his head, “I might just pick him then,” he smirked at Izuku who blinked dumbly, “If he’s got your approval, Greenie, then he’s got to be good.”

“Um, I can’t promise that,” Izuku mumbled, “ NoonehasactuallybeenonaninternshipwithFinitebefore,sothere’snoclearanswertohowhe’dbehaveandactwithastudent -”

Nikushimi laughed and patted Izuku’s arm, and the greenette flushed, shutting his jaw, “Sorry-”

“There he goes again!” Shun cut in, laughing.

Izuku smiled as Nikushimi laughed.

☀

Izuku pondered over his friend’s choices as he tried to pass time on the train to his internship.

Enji ended up choosing the number five Limelight Pro-hero, Oscillate. She was known for her odd ability to pass unseen by her opponents without the use of a quirk, and her quirk was Magnitude; she could disorientate her opponent by making them think that the world was changing and shifting around them. 

It was a mostly mental quirk, but Enji had said that he wanted to make use of the female Pro-Hero’s quirk; learn how to fight in unsavoury situations - especially since Oscillate seemed to get into plenty - and how Oscillate deals with everything as the top Limelight Pro-Hero without a physical quirk.

Shun was more “natural”, sticking with the Pro-Heroes that he knew better from living in the main city of Tokyo. He chose to go to the Kindle Agency, under the watch of Pro-Hero Scope, a man with a mutant and emitter quirk; his quirk, “Sharp-Shooter” ended up giving Scope the ability to see up to four kilometres away, but it gave him an odd mutation regarding his face, but it was contented in concrete that no one had ever seen what the mutation was, because the Pro-Hero always wore a mask.

Izuku wondered how going to the Kindle Agency would change his friend.

Nikushimi did end up choosing to go to Finite for his internship. Izuku had suggested that his friend do his own research on the Underground Pro-Hero, and the purple-haired male had obviously liked or had been curious about the Pro-hero enough to actually choose to go to him.

And Izuku? Well, he had been torn on where to go.

He’d almost done ine mine miney mo just to choose one, but thankfully Sasaki-sensei stepped in.

She recommended the Pro-Hero he was going to now, and after Izuku had done some research, he’d chosen the Pro-Hero for his internship.

Izuku got off at his station and opened up maps on his phone so he didn’t get lost. He spent the next fifteen minutes getting to the small apartment building where he found the apartment he was looking for, and he pressed the buzzer for apartment 3-2.

It took a short moment, but he eventually heard someone stumbling around in the apartment, and the door opened to reveal a rather messy looking woman who honestly looked like she needed a good night's sleep.

She had sticky, long black hair that looked as if it had been strangled into a plait, she had black make-up running down her cheeks, her grey lipstick was smudged across one cheek and Izuku could see some of the same lipstick on the back of the woman’s left hand - her dominant hand - and her clothes looked as if they were in tatters, but Izuku could see how well-kept they were, despite being filthy and smelly. 

“Who’re you?” The woman’s voice was slurred, her eyes drooping shut before she jerked them back open. 

Izuku smiled awkwardly, reaching up to rub the back of his neck, “I’m Midoriya Isamu, you accepted my request to intern with you?”

In an instant, the woman’s shoulders stiffen for a split second, before slumping down again. She looked at him through lidded dark green eyes that almost looked black. 

Then she moved aside, and Izuku took that as his cue to enter the apartment.

At first glance, it looked horrid, messy, disgusting, but upon second glance, Izuku was able to see how messy piles of clothes covered training mats, magazines on the wall were actually hiding newspaper clippings and springs that were held in place by pins. Dishes and takeaway containers on the bench in the kitchen allowed various of metal weapons to be stashed in between objects, and there was a “stripper” pole in the corner of the room, but Izuku noted the scratch marks that were beside the wall around the pole and assumed that it was movable from it’s “stripper” position. 

The woman shut the door behind him, and Izuku flinched slightly as she brushed past him, berating himself already for letting a little thing like physical contact from a stranger cause him to retreat back to that useless deku mindset. 

“So, what is it that you want to learn from me, Ritorugurīn?” the woman asked, grabbing a cup off the kitchen bench.

Izuku could smell the coffee from where he stood near the couch, “I, uh,” he hesitated under the dark green eyes, he mentally shrugged before letting it all blurt out, “I need to learn to be the best that I can be; to be a better hero for everyone. I don’t know if I want to be Limelight or Underground just yet, but I know no matter where or who I learn from, the skills taught to me will be helpful for either path.”

The woman nodded, “Well then,” she placed her cup down on the bench again, “I knew my cousin said that you had trouble figuring out who to choose, and that she recommended me, however, you’ll have to earn it, Ritorugurīn,” she all but demanded.

“I’m prepared to do whatever you demand, Akaruku-sensei,” Isamu said certainly, shoulders back, chest forward just enough for confidence rather than cockiness, hands unclenched for an open mind, and eyes narrowed slightly to give the impression of gauging the other person.

The woman laughed, “Oh, I’m going to love you.”

Izuku may have felt like he just signed a deal with a devil, but Isamu already had an ongoing contract with another devil, so what was another to add to the list?

☀

Izuku knew that Akaruku was impressed that not once did he break under her week-long training. 

( He’d had worse from his dad and Katsuki before. Cleaning up the beach was harder than this. Fighting - well, sort-of fighting - the Nomu was millions of years harder. Going up against Shinso was so much harder than this, having come from a similar background as the other boy, but he had been lucky where Shinso hadn’t. Hearing that Endeavor had been abusive - his memories kept fogging up at that, so he was thankful for his notes - had been billions of times harder than this.

Izuku has had worse than this.)

So when she gave him a clap on the back when it was his time to head back to school - the internship was over - and all but demanded his phone so she could put her number in it in case he had any questions about anything, he didn’t hesitate to allow her number into his phone. 

Akaruku - “call me Hinata-sensei, you idiot!” - waved him off with a cheerful smile from the main entrance to the apartment building, and Isamu waved back happily, body sore and tired, but overjoyed at having learnt so much under the woman’s tutelage.

☀

Time flew by quicker after the internships.

They had end-of-term exams, then they had a summer training camp where the students spent most of their time trying to survive in the woods with their assigned partners. 

(Isamu got partnered up with Genji Arakan who had gotten frightened of so many things that he basically spent the whole time invisible due to his nerves. 

Enji got partnered up with Igarashi; an emotionally distant duo there.

Shun had gotten partnered up with Kageyama; the later ended up running off on his own and Shun had to chase after the Shadow-porter the whole time to make sure that they wouldn’t get failed, and Nikushimi was partnered up with bright and sunny Kaneko; the sunny boy ended up giving Nikushimi a giant headache for most of the camp, and the purple-haired boy had points docked at the end for using his quirk to make the sunny-boy less sunny.)

They went back to school for a second term, had internships again where Izuku again chose to go to Akaruku, Enji chose another Pro-Hero in the top ten Limelight heroes, Shun ended up choosing another Pro-Hero at the Kindle Agency while Nikushimi surprisingly went back to Finite.

(Izuku was surprised at the fact that nothing bad had happened to the class for over half a year now. 

No villain attacks, no one dropped out, no one was failing, no one had died…)

End-of-term exams popped up again, then they had another break - thankfully the teachers didn’t take them on another camp, letting the teenagers have a break - before jumping right back into things for the third and final term.

Things flowed nicely right until the end of the year. 

Just before school ended for the year, a group of organized villains started appearing in the news, and everyone was reminded to be careful over the holidays until they came back for their second year.

Isamu couldn’t be happier with the family he had found here.

They finished off the year, the Rainbow Squad walking side-by-side, promises made to keep in contact over the holidays, and a few sleepovers were drafted into their calendars. 

All in all, it was a great first year for them all.

Chapter Text

The holidays were fairly quiet for Izuku.

Sure, there was training with Enji and Rei, when she came over to join in with them, but his two friends seemed to gravitate to each other. Izuku knew that they obviously didn’t mean to accidentally make him a third-wheeler, but it did seem like it.

It made sense, honestly. Izuku had only been around for just over a year now, Rei and Enji had known each other for a larger time than that. He was just intruding on their friendship.

So, a large chunk of his time was spent working on his notebooks. 

He revised through his future memories, occasionally getting frustrated at the differences his memory now had compared to when he’d written down his notes back before Yuuei started. There are just so many changes.

For example, there were several villains and gangs that had been on the news when he’d been growing up - at least, according to his former-timeline memories - but when he tried to remember when he’d seen the news, he couldn’t.

He even struggled to remember why Todoroki-kun hadn’t been using his fire before Izuku had been sent back in time. His notes said that Todoroki Enji had been abusive, but in his “now” memories, he couldn’t place anything to do with Endeavor in the future. Like, everything was blank. 

He knew that Enji became Endeavor, he knew that Enji would marry and have four kids - the first kid his friend would have sort of blanked out in his memories, toward the oldest’s late teens - including Todoroki Shoto. Other than those facts, it was all blurry; as if he had the memories, but he just couldn’t access them.

It was annoying at best.

And depressing at worst. 

He was changing things, and Izuku doesn't know if they are good changes or bad changes.

☀

For once in his life, Izuku was actually looking forward to going to the mall.

“Come on, come on,” He said hurriedly to Rei and Enji, both of his friends just shook their heads at him.

“They’ll still be there even if we’re late,” Rei pointed out, a fond smile on her face. 

Isamu wrinkled his nose, “But it’s been so looooooooong ,” he dragged the word out, making Rei laugh as Enji rolled his eyes. 

Izuku giggled slightly when Enji reached out to grab his arm, only for Izuku to dart out of the way with ease, avoid bumping into a woman and her child. 

“Sorry!” Izuku called out, and the woman gave him a filthy glare before leaving.

The greenette shrugged, confidently moving through the sea of people despite the fear that rushed through his veins every time he got too close to a stranger. His friends trailed after him, less energetic than he was, as they headed to the agreed-upon meeting spot.

Which was great, because Isamu managed to see the messy purple hair that belonged to Nikushimi who looked like he’d grown a few centimetres over the holiday period, and the always tall Shun who kept talking to Nikushimi but it looked like the blue-haired male had yet to notice that Nikushimi just kept nodding to him, but had earbuds in the entire time.

“Hey, Shun!” Izuku waved at the tallest of the Rainbow Squad. 

“Isamu!” Shun greeted before giving Nikushimi a filthy look, “You must convince Nikushimi that he isn’t right in agreeing with the-”

Isamu laughed, interrupting a now confused Shun, “He’s not even listening to you,” Izuku pointed out, and giggled when Nikushimi just pulled out one of his earbuds.

“What’s happening?” Nikushimi asked, eyes slightly wide in mock innocence.

Shun gaped at the purple-haired male who couldn’t help the amused grin spreading across his face, “You made me think I was having a conversation with you!”

“Uh, no?” Nikushimi didn’t even bother giving the blue-haired male an apologetic look, “I was nodding, yes, but to the music, not to you. Not my fault if you can’t determine the difference.”

Enji and Rei managed to make it over to them, and Rei burst out laughing as Shun gave Nikushimi his best betrayed look. Izuku joined in with Rei’s laughter, and the glasses-wearing boy turned onto them, “And you two as well! Traitors, all of you!”

Enji snorted, and when Shun turned onto him, the redhead held an air of ignorance, as if he had no idea what was going on.

“I no longer have friends,” Shun fake sobbed into his hands, “They have all betrayed me.”

Izuku patted his shoulder, still giggling, “It’s alright, Shun, you’ll find someone who loves you enough one day.”

He got Shun’s tongue stuck out at him, not helping the explosive giggles from the greenette or the rather loud laughter from Rei who wiped a tear of laughter off her cheek, “Man, if only I was in your guys class, we’d have a riot every day .”

Rei smiled as Enji brushed his arm against hers, “You’ll be with us when you can,” Enji said, ever so wise, “Until then, we’ll happily await you.”

Isamu wrinkled his nose and moved closer to Nikushimi, “Help me,” he stage-whispered, “They’ve been like this all the holidays.”

Nikushimi snorted, “You poor, poor thing,” he teased.

Izuku shrugged, “I don’t get it,” he admitted almost silently as Shun broke into a conversation with the pair. 

The purple-haired male made a confused noise as he turned to face away from their friends slightly, eyes holding concern as he focused on Isamu, “What does that mean?” it wasn’t said harshly - all of Isamu’s friends had learnt not to speak in negative tones towards the greenette - more out of confusion and worry than anything.

“Why are they being so... “ Izuku struggled to come up with the word to describe how his two closest friends were behaving, “.. that ,” he finished upon, just gesturing at them.

Nikushimi glanced at the closeness between the redhead and white-haired girl, then turned to look at Isamu with an expression that he couldn’t quite read. What? Did he say something wrong? Why was Nikushimi looking at him like that?

Izuku watched as Nikushimi’s eyes flashed silver for a moment, waiting for his friend to tell him what the hell was wrong with him, but all his friend did was wrap Isamu into a hug.

Obviously, this hug was noticed by the other three, who paused in their conversation to look at the two, but Isamu couldn’t help but relax into the hug, still confused, but letting himself enjoy the nice physical contact from his friend.

While it seemed like the world around them had gone quiet, in reality, everything around them moved and sounded as normal, it was just a small little world that made up their group of friends that allowed them to feel as if they were separate from everyone else.

Eventually, though, Nikushimi stepped back from the hug - Izuku was surprised it was as long as it was, his friend was never one for much physical contact, friendly or not - and shot their friends a look as Isamu stood there, still confused.

(Can someone explain what the frog-hoppers - no offence, Tsuyu! - is going on!?!?!?!?)

“Where did you guys want to go first?” Shun broke the slightly awkward air between them all.

Rei’s eyes lit up, “Oh! I need to grab some more materials for my project!” she turned to Enji, “What about you? Need any more clothes?”

Enji instantly scowled, but sighed, “No, I should have a sufficient amount of clothing.”

Rei pouted as Shun snorted, “There’s the Cold-Hearted King.”

Izuku snorted at the name that most of their fellow students in their year group, outside of Class 1-A - soon to be 2-A - called the redhead. It was hilarious because it was the opposite of Enji’s quirk, but was completely true in regard to his personality. 

And just like that, they continued on as planned. Isamu grinning as he walked and talked with his friends. 

( He missed the way his four friends kept exchanging looks over the top of his head. 

Worry, confusion, understanding, concern, and uneasiness passing through exchanges.

Enji frowned and kept a careful eye on Isamu while always being alert of their surroundings, gently guiding the greenette anytime he was about to bump into someone or something. 

Rei kept up the chatter, mindful to keep the concern out of her voice so that Isamu didn’t catch on, but from the way he kept glancing at them all, she knew that he had figured that something was different.

Shun made sure to lead the way, a lighthouse tall over a sea of people. Turning every so often to grin at them all, eyes softening upon the shortest of them all.

And Nikushimi subtly kept emotions light and easy-going as he tried his best to hide how uncomfortable he was with this outgoing.

They were all in this together.)

☀

They ended up escaping the mall in the early afternoon, finding one of the closer parks to hang out in.

Having gotten ice creams at one of the small shops that Nikushimi had recommended, they migrated to a spot under a tree to eat their cool treats.

Izuku had gotten banana flavoured ice cream, he’d been amused when Enji had gotten vanilla ice cream - there had been a good laugh about it - while Rei had gotten strawberry ice cream and Nikushimi had jokingly pointed out that the pairs ice creams matched each other.

Nikushimi had gotten blueberry - cue the teasing about how it matched the boy’s hair - with Shun getting cookies and cream ice cream to finish them all off. 

Alike to how they normally sat in what had become their spot in the garden that they normally occupied at Yuuei, Rei relaxed next to Enji, the redhead leaning against a tree as the white-haired girl lent against his shoulder. Nikushimi was slightly further away from the pair than he would normally be, closer to Shun and Izuku who had chosen to go over the maths holiday homework that they had been given at the end of the last year.

Eventually, the ice cream ran out, and other than the quiet murmurs between Rei and Enji, the rest of the area around them was quiet and peaceful.

No drama, no chaos, no worries, no panic attacks.

Just… existing with friends.

Living in the moment, and not letting outside things bring down the mood.

Izuku smiled to himself as he felt the comfort that Nikushimi - seemingly, unconsciously - provided him, the warmth and the slight chill that Rei and Enji’s quirks gave off - protectively around them all - and the gentle rumble that Shun probably didn’t even know that his breathing caused. 

( A rumble that was all too familiar to the sound that Iida Tenya’s engines would make in the future. Something that comforted Izuku. That the trait would pass down through the family.

Maybe he was being a little obsessive, but it was such a curious part of their quirks! Obviously, an additional part that didn’t just come from having the engines that would become the Iida family symbol in the future. )

He honestly couldn’t bring up a feeling of homesickness. Izuku hated that he didn’t want to leave, that he didn’t really want to go back to the future. Even if he had the choice, Izuku would rather stay in the present than go back to the future where everything was so much more different than how things were here. 

In the future, Enji was abusive. In the future, Rei never got the chance to see Shoto grow, she never got to see Shoto’s siblings become the people they will be. In the future, Shun’s quirk fails him and he has to retire from Hero work. In the future, underground Pro-Hero Instinct, better known as Shinso Nikushimi to his friends and adopted family, died trying to take down a slave-trading ring. 

In the future, Izuku doesn’t belong anymore. 

He can honestly say that he would not suit the future anymore. He would’ve changed too much as a person and there was no way that he could possibly fit in with what people thought of him - that is, if he somehow managed to de-age back to how old he was when he left the future, in time to go back to the future. 

There were too many factors that would make it too hard to even try to go back to the future, and Izuku didn’t want to leave his family here.

They were too important to him and-

His wandering mind was interrupted by a sudden explosion of wind that tore through the park. 

Enji had jumped to his feet immediately, Rei slightly stunned, but on her feet beside the redhead. Shun had grabbed Izuku’s arm - making the greenette realise that he had been powering up One for All unconsciously, and quickly letting it simmer down - Nikushimi had been the only one not to panic.

The purple-haired male had probably felt the excitement that whoever shouted left- “ I did it, Nana! ” - and known that it wasn’t an actual attack, but someone practising their quirk… in a public area… which was illegal… technically ...

Izuku frowned but gave Shun a smile when the taller boy relaxed his grip on his arm, “Sorry,” the greenette apologized meekly, rubbing the back of his neck.

Shun just smiled in return, “It’s fine, Isamu.”

“What was that?” Rei’s eyes were wide as she and Enji came over to them, Izuku turning to glance at them, “That felt like…”

She glanced at Enji who Izuku immediately noticed was more moody than normal. Something that usually only happened when he was expected to be somewhere or with someone he disliked.

“It’s Yagi-san,” Enji scowled, his fists clenching slightly at his sides - Izuku did not flinch. Even if his friends' concerned looks said otherwise - before relaxing even if they were still tense with barely controlled rage, “The person who held the highest Physical Examination score before Isamu.”

Izuku flushed at the reminder, and all his friends - minus Enji who just smirked proudly - chuckled at him. 

“Isn’t he a year above us?” Shun asked, tilting his head slightly, his glasses sliding down his nose a bit with his movement, “Class 2-B? Or rather 3-B now?”

Rei nodded, and neither Shun or Nikushimi seemed to be surprised to know that both Enji and Rei knew about Yagi-san. Izuku himself knew it was because they’d both researched the male that Enji really wanted to beat, and they’d shared plenty of information with him.

“Yeah,” Rei said simply, “He was in the class that had that old Pro-Hero come in for their first year, “Gran Torino,” I think his name was.”

“Oh!” Izuku just knew that his eyes had lightened up in excitement, especially when his friends chuckled at him, “He’s the man with the Jet quirk!”

“That’s right,” Enji nodded, “He only taught Yagi-san’s class in their first year, and a lot of our upperclassmen-” the word was said as he scrunched up his face distastefully, “-in other classes complain about the blatant favouritism all the time during lunches.”

Izuku scrunched his nose as Nikushimi let out an annoyed sigh-groan mixture, “Fucking adults,” the Emote quirk user scowled.

“They should have least gotten this “Gran Torino” to train other students,” Shun frowned in disappointment, “Let everyone learn from him.”

“Anyway,” Enji scowled as he looked towards where they could all see a teen and a woman talking together and making the wildest of gestures, “I believe that’s Yagi-san and his trainer over there.”

Izuku narrowed his eyes at the pair, the woman wasn’t wearing any custom, so he couldn’t place where he’d seen her before, but the teenager was slightly familiar to him. He just couldn’t put his finger on it. 

“Should we go over and say hello?” Rei suggested, her hands in her jeans pockets, “Yagi-san is technically our senpai after all.”

Enji scowled in disagreement but the rest of them were a whole other matter.

Izuku wanted to head over and figure out who the woman was, and just who the teenager was. He knew that Shun would probably want to meet the senpai who had Enji’s competitive interest, and he knew that Nikushimi would just want to piss Enji off.  (In all fun and games, that is.)

Enji admitted defeat in a long-drawn-out sigh and hinged on the verge of an irritated groan as they made their way over to the excitable blond senpai and his trainer. 

“Yagi-senpai!” Rei called out, a cheerful note to her voice that made the blonde-haired boy turn around, confusion on his face that was mirrored by his trainer who just had to look at him.

The blond’s eyes were surprisingly blue, “Kamishiro-kohai?” he asked hesitantly, “What are you doing here?”

“We were just hanging out!” Rei said cheerfully, gesturing at the rest of the Rainbow Squad, causing their senpai’s eyes to widen, “Then there was just this giant whoosh! of power, and we just had to say hi to the senpai who caused it!”

“Oh, uh…” Yagi-san looked more than a little uncomfortable - not that Izuku could blame him - as he glanced back at the woman who was smiling through the whole exchange. 

“You must be Kamishiro Rei!” The woman grinned, and Yagi-san spluttered slightly, cheeks going red, “Toshinori has told me plenty about you.”

Rei’s eyebrows rose, Izuku got to see Enji glaring his “you’re dead” glare at Yagi-san as he moved closer to Rei, Shun blinked in confusion while Nikushimi snickered away.

“Oh, forgive my lack of manners,” The woman gave them an apologetic smile, “I’m Shimura Nana.”

Izuku paused, confused as to where he’d heard that name before. He racked his brain as his friends continued on the conversation around him.

It couldn’t have been from the internet - Most Pro-Heroes names aren’t published until they’re Limelight Pro-Heroes, and if they put their names out there themselves, so it was unlikely that he’d heard her name from the internet - but he was fairly certain that he had definitely heard her name before. 

“- he’s Midoriya?”

Izuku jolted when he heard his name, eyes widening slightly as Rei nodded, “Yep!”

“What?” Izuku said quietly, dumbfounded as everyone looked at him.

Yagi-san smiled in amusement as Izuku looked at each of his friends, hoping that he didn’t look too anxious. From the looks on their faces, he could assume that he failed.

“You’re the crazy smart Midoriya who helps so many people with their quirks,” Yagi-san said as if this wasn’t news to Izuku who honestly hadn’t known that gossip of his assistance with his classmates and year-mates with helping with their quirks had even been gossiped about, “You apparently know everyone in your year, and even have contacts in my year.”

Izuku shrugged, “If you’re talking about Mori-senpai and Kondo-senpai, then sure, I know people in your year, but other than them, I don’t actually know that many people?” his voice went slightly higher towards the end as he glanced at his friends.

Nikushimi snorted, shaking his head while Shun gaped at him. Enji just rolled his eyes while Rei chuckled.

“I don’t?” Izuku tried again, more hesitant this time.

“You do, Greenie, you do,” Nikushimi nodded, looking like he was trying to keep himself from laughing his pants off. 

Izuku opened his mouth. Then shut it. His eyes wide as he got confirming nods from Rei, Enji and Shun.

Yagi-san and his teacher just seemed amused at the whole exchange. 

“Anyway, we better be going, Toshinori,” Shimura placed her hand on the blond’s shoulder and he nodded to her.

Yagi-san smiled at Rei, “It was nice seeing you again, Kamishiro-kohai,” he then turned to look at the rest of them, “And it was good to meet all of you.”

That smile…

It clicked in an instant, and Izuku could’ve slapped himself like the idiot he was if he hadn’t frozen up.

His friends offered their goodbyes, and the student and trainer/Pro-Hero left them and the park.

No fucking way .

Izuku could distantly hear Nikushimi teasing Enji over Yagi-san and Rei - although he wouldn’t have a clue as to why - but his mind was more focused on the fact that he’d just had an encounter with the seventh and eighth user of One for All.

Three generations of users of One for All standing in the same place for just over twenty minutes. Two that knew each other were users, and one that knew that they all were users.

Izuku felt like he would drop to the grass under their feet at any moment now.

“ -Isamu! ”

Izuku blinked and came back to himself when he felt his shoulders being shaken slightly. Nikushimi looked concerned behind Enji who was the one to have shaken Isamu, with Rei and Shun wearing similar faces of concern.

“Yes?” Izuku asked meekly, hunching back slightly.

“You disappeared inside your head again,” Rei said as a way of explanation. Which, it was.

Enji’s previously angry blue eyes had calmed down in front of Izuku who relaxed despite himself, “Are you alright?”

Izuku bit his lip before nodding, “I just… remembered something,” he said hesitantly before carrying on in a rush, “It’s nothing important, I promise! It just startled me, the thought coming out of nowhere-”

Enji shook his head, a small smile on his face as he patted Izuku’s shoulder, “Don’t change, Isamu.”

Izuku cracked a grin as he got various amused reactions from his friends. 

☀

All too soon, the holidays were over, and they were back at school.

The encounter Izuku (and his friends) had with Yagi-san and Shimura-san kept flicking through his mind throughout the last couple weeks of their holidays. And it didn’t help that almost every single time Izuku went out, he'd see his future mentor and his mentor's deceased mentor.

It wasn’t as if Izuku would be going out of his way to actually go and find them. Most of the time, Yagi-san and Shimura-san would be going about their business when he’d see them out of the corner of his eye, or they’d happen to walk past each other on the footpath.

Thankfully, neither his mentor nor his mentor’s mentor noticed him when Izuku noticed them .

(He really couldn’t say if they had noticed him without him knowing.)

But going back to school was fun.

Isamu managed to catch up with the majority of his classmates. 

He’d gotten to talk with Kersey about the discovery he’d made about her scales - the chemical make-up of her scales was so amazing! Not only did they protect Kersey from supreme heats for a limited amount of time, but they could actually soften and harden upon will, although he assumed that it was currently unconsciously because the scales that Kersey had given him at the end of last year had done it, the scales on her body hadn’t done it (he’d checked!) - and she’d been almost as excited as he was. 

Genji Annaisha had more tips for him on impersonating someone else, and he made sure to thank her a hundred times over. She’d flushed in embarrassment, and he’d sheepishly laughed as she’d turned her skin a dark brown to hide her red face. 

Kaneko Apollo, the boy who was a mix between Uraraka Ochako and Aoyama Yuga, kept talking about his holiday spent with his family, Kageyama Chand and Kageyama’s family that they spent in Spain. 

(The dark-haired male just glared at the bright and sunny boy, “Shut up,” he mumbled, not that Kaneko heard him)

Kita and Uehara had gone on a trip to different countries that were snowing over their holidays. Separately, unlike Kaneko and Kageyama. Kita kept laughing as Uehara retold her holiday that seemed to involve a lot of falling over and her family losing her because she looked too much like the environment. (“Next time we should go together!” Kita smiled, “My quirk can easily get attention, and there’s no way that you’d manage to lose me in the snow!”)

Wakabayashi had brought in a small plant for Isamu, made out of her hair and Izuku beamed as he accepted the gift, muttering quietly as he planned his observation of the small plant that moved every so often. The girl just smiled before heading back to her seat. 

Izuku got to watch as Leroux went up to Enji and asked if the redhead would be willing to do training with him. Enji had seemed irritated, but Izuku could see the tensing of muscles and the slight smirk that meant that the Todoroki heir was actually looking forward to it. 

The bell rang, and everyone was back in their seats before Sasaki-sensei entered the classroom.

She paused, her red eyes scanning over them all, pride and amusement in her piercing gaze, “Welcome back, 2-A.”

☀

(Okay, so maybe Izuku loved the time he was in, and would willing accept the consequences of him being in this time and mucking up everything.)

Chapter Text

Classes progressively got harder compared to the previous year.

Isamu and his classmates were pushed to use their quirks at full power for most of their training - According to Tàillear-sensei, their physical combat teacher, Sasaki-sensei had all but ordered her co-worker to get her homeroom class working to their full potential - this meant that various different ways for them to use their quirks were taken advantage of while doing mostly “quirkless” sparring.

(Which technically didn’t make sense, because they were still using their quirks? Just not in their normal or long-distance ways?)

Izuku managed to corral some of the excess energy of the twenty percent of One for All - the lightning-like light that flickered around him as he used his quirk - into actual electricity. Meaning that he could use the power to make him sort of like a human-taser, much like Zip-Zap could with her own quirk.

But all this “quirkless” training eventually led to one of the biggest surprises in Izuku’s life(lives?).

He’d just been about to be taken down by Yamaguchi when suddenly he felt his arms ich, he only barely managed to miss Yamaguchi when he threw out his arms and black tendrils appeared, stretching out and past his opponent to grab onto the support beams that held up the roof of the Gym they were training in. The tendrils ripped Izuku away from a stunned Yamaguchi, and up into the air.

He would’ve hit the ceiling if he hadn’t had plenty of practice when the strength part of One for All accidentally pushed him too far into the air.

All he had to do was tense his arms a certain way and the tendrils responded, letting go of the support beam to allow Izuku to flip in mid-air before landing on the ground - out of bounds of the area that they were given to fight in, but still. He landed upright on his feet. Surely that accounts for something? - and dizzily get back upright.

His classmates were staring at him.

Oh shit.

☀

So not only did Izuku have One for All’s strength, but he also sprung another quirk out of the middle of nowhere.

(His teachers and classmates were under the impression that he’d learnt how to use the “Energy Flow” that his quirk was called and go from using it as an enhancer, to actively sending out the energy into the black tendrils to use.)

So he was now stuck in the past - for over a year now - and had just figured out how to get a handle on One for All, only for it to spring another quirk for him to learn how to use, and he had no answers as to how or why he had another quirk.

The only people he could probably go to, Izuku wasn’t sure if they’d trust him, or even be able to help him. 

From what he figured from Yagi-san -or rather his older counterpart - was that All Might was only ever able to use super strength. There were never any Black Whips made out of some sort of energy. So there was no chance in hell that he was going to even get the chance to even get any information from Yagi-san or Shimura-san.

Fucking hell.

So Izuku will just have to go with the flow, pretend that everything was alright.

And, again, for the sake of the frustration and pure agony Izuku feels; Fucking hell.

☀

Izuku had been thinking. 

Being in the past allowed him so many chances that he wouldn’t have gotten in the future. For one, because of the villain attacks on his class in the future, Izuku, and the rest of his classmates, would automatically get placed into the Limelight. Sure, a couple of them might be able to verge on the edge of the Underground, but because their names and quirks were already out there in the world, there was almost no chance for any of the future 1-A to head into Underground.

So Izuku might be able to use this whole accident to do something he wouldn’t normally do.

Instead of going into Limelight Heroics, he could go into the Underground Heroics and keep his face out of the media - oh, wouldn’t that be a terrifying thought; younger him seeing his grown-up face on the news. Izuku seriously didn’t want that to happen - and he could help people without the stress of having to deal with people while in civvies.

Thankfully, in the past, they didn’t have to choose their Pro name until second year. If they had to choose their Pro names in their first year, Izuku probably would’ve gone with “Deku”, but while it held meaning to Izuku, it didn’t hold meaning to Isamu.

Isamu was (mostly) confident in himself, Isamu could pick apart quirks within an instant and proudly show off his work to his friends, classmates, and teachers. Izuku was a nervous, stuttering wreck, and he still kept his notebooks hidden from everyone; including his mom.

So it was a struggle for Izuku to come up with a name in the “deciding” class that was held three weeks into their second year. 

His classmates seemed to be finding the whole assignment easy. Enji had gone with Endeavor - Isamu had just grinned at the redhead who shot him a glare - while Shun had gone with Zoomie, and Nikushimi had gone with Instinct. 

All the while, Izuku was stuck with a name for himself. 

“What about “Greenie”?” Moriko asked him, running her hands through her vines-for-hair, “It suits you, and everyone calls you that anyway.”

Izuku shrugged, “I’m thinking that’s more of a Midoriya Isamu nickname,” he admitted, “While I do want something that represents me, I also don’t want a giant “I’m Midoriya Isamu” sign pointing at me.”

“You know that is a more Underground outlook, right?” Annaisha pointed out, giving him a demonstration by changing her skin dark brown and changing her hair to black.

He nodded, “I’m thinking that’s where I want to go,” Izuku admitted, “I’m never going to be a great fan of the press, and as much as I would love to be a Limelight Pro-hero to inspire other people, I think that I can do better as an Underground Pro-Hero.”

He didn’t miss how Sasaki-sensei eyed him and the group of classmates that had circled around his table to try and help him figure out a name.

(Of course, the Underground Pro-Hero homeroom teacher of class 2-A was going to keep an ear and eye on the boy who had only just now voiced his aim to head into the Underground as a Pro-Hero.)

Izuku hummed thoughtfully to himself, tossing up a few ideas in his head, then scribbling a few of them down on paper to see them visually. 

Seikatsu
Futatabi
Ikigai
Fenikkusu

Those were just four of the hundreds he had running through his mind, but he preferred them compared to the rest of the options he had going for him.

Enji glanced down at Izuku’s notebook from over his shoulder, “Only four?”

“The ones I see myself more likely to choose,” Isamu explained simply, tapping his pen on the paper. 

Shun snickered, making everyone look at him for a moment before he got the idea to explain what was so amusing to him, “Ikigai suits you,” he said, “A reason of being; you have more ideas to fix the world than most people in the world. And you always find a way to befriend everyone - even if you don’t admit it, Greenie.”

Izuku flushed as everyone made similar statements of agreement.

But there was someone that hadn’t voiced his option, and Isamu turned to his brother in all but blood, “What do you think?”

Enji eyed the name over, a small smile danced on his face as he looked at Izuku who waited patiently, “It fits you perfectly,” he messed up Isamu’s already wild hair. 

Isamu smiled, “Ikigai it is, then,” he said proudly, looking back down at his notebook and scribbling out the other three options.

Midoriya Isamu a.k.a. Ikigai, Underground Pro-Hero.

☀

Now that Izuku had cemented his path towards Underground Heroics, Sasaki-sensei had pulled Izuku aside to mention that he might want to not do well in the Sports Festival anymore.

Which, he made sure to tell his homeroom teacher that he had already been planning on doing so anyway, and he got a proud smirk from her right before she told him that he would definitely be working with her cousin in the next internships after the Sports Festival. 

Enji was a little disappointed that he wouldn’t get to go against Isamu in the Sports Festival but other than that, everything was fine.

This year the first event was a race, much like the race that had happened in Izuku’s first Sports Festival. Three-four “obstacles” for them to make their way through before finishing back in the stadium. 

Isamu managed to drop down to thirtieth going into the second event which was a two to four (wo)men teams of an odd version of all-out dodgeball. He sacrificed himself to allow his teammates - One support student, and two Gen-Ed students - to pass onto the third event. 

Nikushimi joined him in the stands as their friends competed in the third event - Enji, Shun and Rei had teamed up with a student from 2-B in the second event - which was an odd version of Hide and Seek that pitted everyone against each other. 

“-people with more Stealth-based quirks are more likely to win, mostly due to the fact that it’ll be harder to find them,” Izuku mumbled as he scribbled down in his notebook, “Arakan would’ve been a good fit for this event; if only the invisible boy hadn’t been knocked out in the second round - which, I might as well point out that it was by pure chance that-”

“How did you even notice Arakan getting out?” Nikushimi asked, shaking his head in slight disbelief despite knowing better than to even try to disprove Isamu’s knowledge. 

Izuku shrugged, “Pure chance?” he offered, still scribbling away, only half paying attention to the conversation, “I was trying to get points for my team when I spotted him flickering in and out of sight in surprise right before he turned invisible again - then a ball came flying and knocked him a good five meters. I had to go help him up. Ended up losing my place, but at least my teammates went through; not many Gen-Ed students or Support Students get through to the third round.”

Nikushimi sighed, shaking his head at Isamu who didn’t notice, “Sometimes you’re too good, Greenie.”

Izuku hummed to his friend but didn’t respond otherwise. Eyes flicking from the students on the field and back to his notebook as he wrote more notes.

“Enji’s getting better at using Rei’s ice to hide Shun’s incoming attacks,” Izuku muttered absently, adding a note to get the three to practice the move more. 

The purple-haired teen beside him just rolled his eyes before getting his phone out to record Isamu’s crazy muttering.

( Blackmail~ )

☀

A Gen-Ed student ended up winning the Sports Festival this year.

One Ono Takumi was brought into 2-A. And as per tradition, as soon as introductions were over, Isamu hounded the silver-haired male with bright blue eyes on his quirk. 

Downsize; lets Ono shrink from his normal size and resize back to normal. Unfortunately, it doesn’t allow him to grow larger, only shrinking. However, Izuku is curious as to how small Ono can go, and if the silver-haired former Gen-Ed student knew how locks worked because if he shrunk enough, then he could possibly unlock doors or break open safes belonging to villains-

A few of their classmates laughed when Ono shrunk down so small that Izuku couldn’t see him at first; he was sitting on the edge of his desk.

“Oh,” Izuku chuckled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck, “Sorry, I tend to get a little excited about quirks.”

Ono grew back to his original size, keeping his eyes narrowed on Isamu but offering a smile that screamed how anxious the new student was, “It’s… alright.”

Izuku damn well knew it was not alright, and quickly gave more apologies - “Stop apologizing, Greenie!” - before going back to his seat just in time for Yasuno-sensei coming into their classroom for English.

☀

Izuku may or may not have run out of wearable shoes to use for Heroics training.

Which was why he was ducking under a projectile that exploded a moment later, in the support classrooms. 

“Soz dude!” Someone shouted, and Izuku only had a moment to look at a male the same age as him. The teen had wild - as in Shinso(Hitoshi) floating hair long, wild style - neon green hair that had bright yellow highlights. And Izuku barely got a chance to see the dark grey eyes that belonged to the male before he’d turned away.

Rei pretty much teleported in front of him, and held out her hand to him, “Sorry ‘bout that, Greenie,” she grinned as he took her hand and she hoisted him up onto his feet, “Kai gets a little excited at times.”

“That’s Hatsume Kai?” Izuku’s eyebrows raised as he blinked at his sister in all but blood. 

She grinned, “Yep!”

He smirked, and Rei followed him as he managed to get to Hatsume’s part of the classroom - apparently Rei was one of the few that would actually work with the crazy male in the same room - where the teen was working on one of his crazy projects.

“Kai!” Rei shouted over the noises that the hammer he was using was making, “I’ve got a potential test subject!”

The other green-haired boy spun around to face the first green-haired boy, “Dude, really?!” Hatsume’s grin turned somewhat feral in his excitement.

“Yeah,” Izuku nodded, letting a more calculative smirk ghost his lips, “I plan on heading underground, but my quirk is too flashy, so I’ll be forced to go quirkless most of the time-”

“-and you need some of my minions to help you!” Hatsume finished, looking more excited by the second.

“Whatya say?” Isamu held his hand out to Hatsume, offering a potential partnership that would most likely go on for the years to come.

“Call me Kai,” Hats- Kai smirked as he reached out and shook Izuku’s hand, “We’re going to have so much fun together, Greenie.”

Isamu smirked back, “Agreed.”

(Everyone in Yuuei shuddered at that moment; the feeling of great forewarning upon them as if a deal with the king of all demons had been made.)

(As if two creatures of chaos had just appeared in everyone’s lives, only to wreck disorder and mayhem upon them all.)

(And, let’s just ignore the wild cackling from the Principal’s office.)

☀

Izuku was back with Hinata-sensei for their internships.

This year, their internships would be for two weeks, so Hinata-sensei had given him a short talk about what the plan was - especially since he’d be going into Underground Heroics - before they got started. 

The first three days were combat training. Purely quirkless combat training in the already half-broken lounge that belonged to Hinata-sensei. That mostly involved Izuku getting beat up the whole time. From landing on the floor(on his back), only just dodging the attack from his sensei’s fists, only to get kicked in the nuts…

Well, he managed to quickly learn to go back to his old dirty way of fighting that he’d used while quirkless(he had to make sure he didn’t die from his quirked bullies attacks).

Hinata-sensei was ruthless, even as they went from quirkless combat to quirkless stealth. Something that Izuku had gotten slack in the past year and a bit, and while he was quick to return to those skills, he was still rusty enough that Hinata-sensei had him working on them for three days before she was satisfied. 

(Even then, she demanded that he keep working on his skills, even if his daily situation didn’t exactly need it.)

They moved onto analysis - which he was proud to say that Izuku managed to surprise his sensei with his talent on the subject - which included being able to read a room - which he’d had more than enough practice with being quirkless and for his analyses - and the people in it. 

That meant that they actually left Hinata-sensei’s apartment for the first time since he’d gotten there, and they spent the whole day out where Izuku got to impress his sensei with how easily he could pick apart a person. 

(It was thanks to Nezu that he’d even bothered moving from quirks to people, but either way, it was still extremely fun and exciting!)

And while his ability to properly research things was a bit lacking, he was working on it, and Hinata-sensei gave him tips on different servers that a fair amount of Underground Pros used to get their information about the local fights that civilians talked about, and the slightly darker servers where information about the local gangs’ territories were and which places to avoid.

This led to Hinata-sensei showing Izuku the server that was only made up of Underground Pros who shared information - in code, of course - about certain investigations - nothing too big - and some links that some people might have to certain people.

The first half of the second week was spent “floating” around bars and particular “criminal” places that weren’t technically illegal but were on the verge of being so. Hinata-sensei, or Akaruku on the job and outside of the apartment, pointed out people who were of higher worth to certain criminals than others.

She’d even allowed him to start mixing in with the crowd. Only after he’d changed some features of his face with makeup, and changed into more ratty clothes to fit in and make him seem older than he was. 

It actually seemed to work, and Izuku found himself enjoying getting to know the people in the dingy bars and crappy shops. Most of the people that were considered criminals were mostly misunderstood people. People who had done some shitty things in life to keep on fighting for their right to live.

Izuku found himself agreeing too much about what men and women ranted about; all the shitty things with the government, and the current system. 

Over half of the people there had “villainous” mutant quirks, and of the rest that remained, roughly forty-six percent of them had “villainous” quirks. The others were just people who had “weak” quirks or were people who had just accidentally ended up in this life that they couldn’t escape. 

The bulk of people there were more than happy to chat away with Isamu - who was using Ikigai as his identity at the time; no one bothered to question the name choice, everyone there had a right to keeping their own identity and quirks secret - and “teach” him about all the rules in place for them. All the rules that Izuku would have to learn anyway as a future Underground Pro-Hero.

Hinata-sensei had been so proud of him when they eventually finished their internship.

“You’re going to be a great Underground Hero, Ritorugurīn,” Hinata-sensei smiled at him when he stood with his bags, ready to leave.

He ducked his head, cheeks reddening, “Thank you, sensei.”

“But remember to keep practising your stealth, Ritorugurīn!” she snapped at him, and Izuku grinned at her, “You’re still like a baby! Too loud for the Underground; I expect you to be better for our next internship, Ritorugurīn.”

“Hai, sensei,” Izuku rolled his eyes and only just managed to duck when she threw her fist out to punch him square in the nose.

Hinata-sensei snorted when he didn’t relax for one second, more than ready to jump out of the way of another attack upon his already poor, aching body. 

“Get out of here, Ritorugurīn,” She rolled her eyes, and he gladly grabbed his bags and zipped out of the apartment(without his quirk).

“Thank you again, Hinata-sensei,” Izuku bowed to the woman and beamed before taking off; he really didn’t want to be late for his train!

The woman rolled her eyes again and shut the apartment door as he ran down the stairs and out of the apartment building. A wide grin on his face the whole time.

☀

Despite being back at Yuuei, Isamu kept up his acquaintances in the criminal world. 

Usually heading out just after sunset, and arriving back home at the Todoroki household between two and four am in the morning, he only got about three or four hours of sleep a night. 

But despite this, Izuku kept on moving on with his plans to become a great Underground Pro-Hero. Classes passed, he kept working on his stealth - even managing to surprise Arakan several times - which he’d gotten a slightly smug yet proud smile from Sasaki-sensei when she noticed him sneaking past a bunch of rowdy first years. 

Exams came and went, everyone managing to get through the tough weeks before they were given a week off school as a break. During that time, Isamu made sure to spar quirkless against his siblings in all but blood, and his friends. 

School started back up, and Izuku found the perfect opportunity that he had been waiting for. 

See, Izuku had been trying to figure out a way to get some, if not all, of the departments in Yuuei to have some sort of acquaintance with each other. Sure, they had a student council, but most of the people who got elected for Class Representative and Rep weren’t exactly the people he was looking for. 

Isamu had Kai and Rei in support - the latter was planning on trying to get into Heroics next year, so he might have to change that tally - Takagi Mayumi and Yamashita Yuudai from Gen-Ed, countless students from Heroics, but none from Management.

(Which was very disappointing. Izuku had a fair range of people that he called friends or acquaintances - most of them in Heroics, unfortunately - but none of them were from the great Management Department)

So one lunchtime, he changed direction from grabbing his lunch to where he’d normally head - where Rei, Enji, Shun and Nikushimi were currently sitting - and sat down without an invitation at the “main” Management department table. 

The Management students instantly shut up about whatever they were talking about, even Management kids at other tables around them, and turned to stare at him. 

“Hi, I’m Midoriya Isamu, but most of you already knew that as well as my quirk, basic skill level, family/soon-to-be adopted family, my grades, and the fact that Nezu-sensei teaches me,” He beamed at all  the wary faces, “It’s come to my attention that I don’t actually have ties to the Management Department, and I want to change that; what do you say?”

Now, if Izuku was any ordinary second-year student, then the table full of third and second years would have most definitely tossed him out. 

But, because he wasn’t just another ordinary everyday second-year student; he was a time traveller, a holder of One for All, Nezu’s personal student, known for his analyses that he offered out to Heroic students, Gen-Ed students, and support students. 

He had his own reputation and Izuku had firmly won over most of the Heroics students, a large chunk of the Gen-Ed students, and the vast majority of Support students just by managing to have some sort of “control” over Hatsume Kai.

(And Izuku was firmly ignoring the whole thing where everyone thought he was a “cinnamon roll” or something along those lines.)

The third years at the head of the table - the ones mainly in charge - whispered quietly among themselves as Izuku took the time to eat some of his katsudon.

One of them - a female with light pink skin and light blue hair with light green streaks. Cat-like red eyes watched him carefully - cleared her throat, and Izuku lifted his head to show that he was listening.

“We’re willing to try a partnership with you, Midoriya,” she said simply, confidently, and easily. 

He probably would’ve brought the front that she had, if he hadn’t spent years learning how to read people - mostly to protect himself - and if he hadn’t just spent half a week with Hinata-sensei reading the atmosphere of a more dangerous situation. 

Izuku plastered a sincere-looking smile on his face, “Great!” he made sure to include everyone as he glanced around at them all, “When would you like to set the terms of the agreement?”

A couple of first years were surprised that he knew exactly what to say; how he knew how to work with Management students, and it was great to see that the students in “charge” of the Management department didn’t seem to be underestimating him. The only emotion that he could glance at a surface level was amusement more than anything.

“This afternoon works for us,” A boy with webbed ears and hands said, purple scales over his body and bright yellow eyes that watched Isamu carefully, “In 3-J’s homeroom.”

“I’ll be there,” Izuku said easily, and stood up, “Thank you for taking your time to speak and see me.”

He was given different versions of “okay”, “alright” and “it’s fine” before he left to go back to his normal table - where his friends were sitting, waiting for him - and ignored the curious looks from other students as he joined his friends. 

☀

A medium-sized group was waiting for him in 3-J after school.

There was the girl who had spoken first to him at lunch, the boy with webbed hands and ears(and he was fairly certain that if the boy took off his shoes, that he’d have webbed feet), another third year, two second years, and a first year. 

Introductions were done quickly, the pink-skin girl was Miura Akatsuki, webbed hands and ears was Nishimura Eichi, the last third year - another guy, who had pale yellow hair, murky blue-green eyes and dark skin with fingers that never seemed to stop fidgeting - was Takagi Renjiro, the male second year who had the longest hair that Izuku had ever seen before was Fujimoto Moto, the female second year (who didn’t appear to have any quirked effects to her body, only having blonde hair that had been dyed at the ends with hot pink, and her brown eyes took on a slight golden shine that he assumed was her quirk in use) was Sugiyama Miya, and the only first year was a timid-looking boy - who actually looked a little like Uncle Masaru - was Kinoshita Mitsuo.

He’d greeted each and everyone with the same enthusiasm, and startled the second year female when he guessed her quirk - Status Effect: she can see all “stats” of a person, like a video game mini-screen beside the person she’s looking at - which ended up impressing the third years slightly. 

The terms they went over seemed simple at first glance, but Izuku is Nezu’s personal student; of course, he saw through the various loopholes and possible exploits that the contract gave the Management department. 

But, what they didn’t see was the obvious - at least, to Izuku - loopholes and technically following the contract things that Izuku knew that he could get away with doing.

So, of course, he signed it.

While the Management students would be able to get away with stuff, Izuku would be able to get away with so much more than what they would have expected. 

Each representative for each year of the Management students signed the contract as well - which sealed the contract with every other Management student in all three years - and Izuku beamed at each and every one of them as he felt.

(not knowing the chill he sent down their spines at such a smile that concealed the manipulative, calculating gaze in his green eyes)

☀

Izuku’s business(es) with the Management students was going smoothly as exams came up for the end of the year. 

He, as well as the rest of his classmates, passed them - but not without difficulty - and Amaterasu, Ichika, and Coral were in the process of organizing an event for each department to enjoy. 

(It would later be known as the Cultural Festival; a chance for departments outside of Heroics to show their stuff and get their names out there to people from other places that didn’t focus on Heroics.) 

The three girls had come to him, with back-up from the Aoki cousins from 2-B, Yamashita Yuudai and Takagi Mayumi from 2-C, Rei from 2-F with one of her fellow support students Yamazaki Emiko who was from 2-G, and Fujimoto Moto from 2-K.

The ten students were some of the oddest bunch that Izuku had ever met to have come together. He understood each and every one of the student’s reasoning, but for such different people with different backgrounds to come together… it was only slightly bizarre. 

Of course, he agreed to help them.

This society didn’t need more things focused on flashy Heroics; this was other people’s turn to shine.

☀

The Inter-Course Festival - the name was a work in progress; but Izuku knows what it’ll be called in the future - took them a lot of planning, time, and effort. 

They had to organise an area for the ICF to be held, what the guidelines of the Festival would be, what was and wasn’t allowed, how people would be able to attend, how to get the word out about the festival, they had to spread the news of the ICF to every class from the first years to the third years. 

Then they had to deal with the complaints; especially from the Heroics department. 

(All of those complaints were directed to Isamu who sat them down and showed each and every one of the complainers an hour-long presentation about how stupid they were being, and plenty of data on how Yuuei’s production rate of great students was dropping because the world didn’t actually need more heroes. Sure, the world needed heroes, but they needed great heroes compared to just having more heroes.)

Least to say, there were few complaints after Isamu had gotten through most of them. Anyone else who had complaints were quickly warned of Izuku’s impressive piece of work; the complaints were silenced then.

And thankfully for Izuku’s sanity - hey, going from Heroics to Gen-Ed, then to Support, and finally to Management was a tiresome thing in itself. He had to keep things stable between all four departments, and he had to make sure that everyone mostly got what they wanted. Heroics were put on a back burner compared to the other departments, but they made sure to allow quirk “show-offs” and quirk-use during the festival - the Inter-Course Festival ended up going smoothly, and he only had to solve three fights during the whole thing!

(And he was ignoring the whole Sprouting Another Quirk thing that seemed to be causing chaos in his life - it wasn’t as if he meant to find out that he’d had a calming presence on the fighting teenagers; that a quirk settled in his voice while he was telling the teenagers off - and he was almost certain that One for All was out to destroy his life.)

And if it got him in the good books for every department, well, he wasn’t going to complain.

☀

The final exams of the year were some of the hardest exams Isamu had done so far. 

Because his classmates and homeroom teacher knew that he was going into Underground Heroics, it immediately made all of his classes even harder than before. But he hadn’t been expecting his final exam to be this hard.

He had to be stealthy and pass most of his teachers - the majority of them were already Underground Pro-Heroes, and he was dying before the exam had even started - to get to the target - file of papers with “important” information in it - then manage to pass or escape his teachers while keeping the file safe.

(He was soooo glad that he and Kai had spent hours working on his Underground suit after he’d told the inventor of his plans for the future. There were so many hidden pockets and places that he could keep weapons, items, food, medical supplies, and plenty more.)

And he’d be doing it alone.

(Isamu took a picture with his friends - the “Rainbow Squad” - before the test and uploaded it to his Snapgram; #ifidon’tmakeitoutofthisexamiluvy’all)

Thankfully for his sanity, it was surprisingly easy compared to what Hinata-sensei put him through.

He’d quite easily blended in with the shadows in the building while creeping past his teachers, keeping his feet lighter than a feather, keeping his breathing silent, and his movements smooth and silky as he raced through the building. 

Isamu could unlock the door to the office where the file was with his quirk, but he’d rather show off his talents that he’d worked hard to get to a level that Hinata-sensei was proud of. 

He unlocked the door with a handy picklock that he’d gotten Kai to make, figured out the code for the safe, opened the safe, got the file, and snuck back out into the hall before jumping out of a window. 

A few of his teachers had spotted him then, and raced through the building to get to the ground to chase after him-

Now if only he didn’t start randomly floating in the middle of jumping out of the window, his teachers might have actually managed to get him. But of course, he was floating in the air, slowly drifting towards the “finish line” where his friends were staring at him with various states of shock.

What else was Isamu meant to do? Start screaming in shock and surprise that his quirk had suddenly sprouted another quirk?

Probably. 

“How the fuck did you figure out how to fly?” Nikushimi screeched at him.

Rei shook her head, “Nevermind how,” she frowned, “ When is a better question.”

Isamu chuckled nervously as he scratched the back of his neck, “Uh-”

Enji made a long drawn out sigh, “You didn’t know you could; you just found out.”

Izuku nodded, wincing sheepishly as more startled gasps reached his ears, “Sorry?” he said rather pathetically.

And that was Midoriya Isamu’s end to a chaotic year. Three new quirks under his belt and a whole ton of problems headed his way.

Chapter Text

The day that All Might takes his place in the world is also the day that Isamu almost dies. 

Isamu and his friends had been hanging out in what had become “their” cafe over the holidays when the attack started. Somehow, during the chaos, Isamu was separated from the rest of the “Rainbow Squad”, and accidentally ended up getting to see some of the fight between the new Pro-Hero and a completely unknown Villain.

(Izuku would check the forms later to see so many people discussing who the Villain was, and singing praises for one of the newest Pro-Heroes who was at the scene fighting against the unknown Villain.)

Sure, he’d had to use One for All to get out of the way several times of falling debris, or to help someone else, but other than those few times he was completely free of any possible law-breaking crimes that he could possibly be incriminated with.

He honestly hadn’t seen the massive attack coming his way, too busy trying to see if he could get back to where Isamu assumed his friends were, the attack that came rushing towards him, his back to the attack.

Isamu didn’t even get a chance to move, his eyes widened when he felt the brushes of wind at his back- head-turning too slowly- body going flying with the great power of All Might’s One for All quirk.

(In an alternate universe, Isamu wouldn’t have survived being smashed through five buildings, several cars, and then being slammed into the ground by another attack that happened right as the green-haired male got to his feet from the first one.

He would’ve died young, ruining everything that would’ve happened. Everything that needed to happen.

So it was thankful that he did survive.)

In this universe, Isamu was not taken in surprise by the second attack that would’ve sent him slamming down into the ground, using over half of One for All to bolt out of range before the second attack.

(Not once did he notice the man in a rather tidy suit without a tie, and with light grey hair that almost looked white, watching him leave - before, of course, the man had to go back to dealing blows against All Might)

☀

Isamu had just been doing summer homework when a notification piped up on his phone. 

The vibrating device instantly got a glare from the greenette, who had explicitly told his family and friends not to bother him while he was doing the blasted school work - which they had been more than understanding - that he had definitely not been procrastinating on.

He dropped his pen, and grabbed his phone, fully intent on just shutting it off.

Then he saw the message sent to his Instachat account. Izuku froze.

:Unknown
Are you the eighth?

Isamu narrowed his eyes, glaring at the screen as if he could get his message through to the person on the other side of the chat. 

Greenbean:
No.

Izuku smirked as Unknown instantly deleted the chat, a notification popping up as he was kicked from the now nonexistent chat, telling him that there was an error.

He rolled his eyes, but made a promise to himself - and for his family and friends - to keep an eye out in the following days.

☀

Green lightning flickered around Isamu as he grinned at his friends.

“Oh, shit,” Nikushimi cursed and immediately backed up. Always the one to be the few sane people left in this world.

Enji was more or less sharing the same excitement that Isamu was. Rei was warier than him as she kept behind him but still stuck by the redhead’s side. 

Shun had just gotten into sparring mode immediately; knowing that if he wanted to, Isamu could easily take them all out without them knowing about it. 

Isamu slowly built up the power running through his veins, the last two years had given him plenty of time to get used to his limits, and how far he could push them. 10%, 20%, 30%, 35%, 42%, 45%...

He stopped at forty-five, keeping One for All humming under his skin. 

“I regret everything,” Nikushimi shouted at them from across the training room/house that belonged on the Todoroki property.

“We know!” The other four shouted back at him, laughing as the purple-haired male flipped both hands up to point them a pair of birds.

“Ready?” Isamu called out to his friends and (adopted)brother.

Rei gave him a thumbs-up, Enji’s flames grew wilder, and Shun’s movements became blurred as his quirk got away in his excitement.

It was a fury of blows that each of Isamu’s friends had to block and weave through. The green lightning that had usually been on Enji, Rei, or/and Shun’s sides was now against them. (Even if it was only a sparring practice.)

Isamu had spent countless hours perfecting his analysis skills, spotting weakness and strengths within instants, with help from Nezu. So he was fluidly able to move and adjust in much quicker times than Shun, he was able to enable more power than Enji with a simple light punch or kick, he was able to block and avoid Rei’s attacks with easily aimed flicks of his fingers and cackles of lightning. 

(Nikushimi just kept to the far wall as he just let the other four duke it out with their physical quirks. He valued his life, thank you very much.)

It was all too fun for them.

Rei tagged out first, too drained from using her quirk for much longer periods of time than she was used to, the Shun tagged out- body fuzzy as his quirk tried and stuttered to try and relax. 

Isamu found himself laughing in pure glee and delight as he fought against his brother’s flames. He’d managed to learn to control the horrible fear that filled his lungs and throat whenever fire came too close to his skin. The horrible - oh, so familiar - terror whenever Enji’s quirk would explode when it hit something flammable, or if his quirk interacted with Rei’s quirk.

(He still had nightmares of smokey huffs that turned to bright fire. Of burnt sugar explosions. Of brilliant flames interacting with frozen shards. Of slime sliding down his throat, of skin flaking away, of burns being seared into his skin...)

Enji was in a similar state, a massive grin on his face as he fought and almost always managed to match the greenette with each move they made together.

“They’re a little extreme,” Nikushimi commented from the side where Rei and Shun had moved to, the purple-haired teen rolling his eyes when neither the greenette nor the redhead paid attention to him.

Shun shrugged as he wiped his face with a towel, “Just a bit,” he chuckled.

The only girl there hummed as she watched the two boys. Her white hair that had been in a nice ponytail before they started, had various strands loose, and her slightly flushed cheeks were the only thing that made her look like she had done exercise(other than her crispy clothes). “That’s just how they are,” she smiled.

The pair of boys didn’t finish until another fifteen minutes later. The redhead and greenette laying on the ground tired, but happy.

Isamu giggled when Enji reached out to pat his shoulder, but missed in his exhaustion, hitting the ground and just giving up. 

“Shut up.”

☀

Their third and last year of learning at Yuuei starts off with a bang.

Literally.

Isamu joined the rest of his classmates in an amused smile - a few others groaning, as some laugh excitedly - when famous Hatsume Kai slammed open the door to 3-A, smashed (lightly) his various inventions down on each students’ desks, gave them all a bow, proclaimed, "I am the master-inventor for having to complete all of these-" Isamu no longer flushed in embarrassment when his classmates all turned to look at his desk where there were plenty more of the famous Hatsume inventions than the rest of his classmates, "-requests over the summer for you all, and 3-B, and both 2-A and 2-B. So thank you for this fun summer, and you’re most absolutely fucking welcome. Especially you, Greenbean," he glared at Isamu who shrugged.

"Thanks, Kai," Isamu said simply, smiling when the Hatsume male rolled his eyes at him.

Kai grumbled, "Don't even know how you convinced me to do half the stuff you asked for!" He growled and pointed a finger at the male hero student, "Give me a bigger heads up next time, Greenie! If it wasn't for the blueprints you'd given me, and that helper you convinced to help me, then none of this-" he gestured at the inventions all over Isamu's desk, "-would exist!"

Isamu merely smiled, "Thanks again, Kai."

Kai huffed, glaring at him one more time before storming back out of the classroom.

But not before he wouldn't be able to hear Isamu, "Have fun with your girlfriend, Kai!"

The inventor froze at the doorway and slowly turned to face the green-haired male. A glare on his face made a fair amount of Isamu's classmates - Minus Enji, Shun, and Nikushimi, of course - shudder and shift away from the inventor.

Then the soot-covered male smirked, it was probably the closest most people would see to a smile on his face, "Thanks, Greenbean."

Isamu made sure to hide the amusement that he felt, "Have fun, Kai," he waved to the other male who rolled his eyes and disappeared past Class 3-A's door.

“You’re crazy, Isamu,” Birch shook his head at the greenette.

Isamu snickered as Enji snorted, “When isn’t he?” Nikushimi asked rhetorically, sighing.

“I’m not that bad,” Isamu huffed, crossing his arms. 

Everyone in the classroom turned to give him a look that clearly stated otherwise and Isamu slid down in his seat sheepishly, a chuckle leaving his lips as various classmates rolled their eyes at him.

☀

Classes were just as quick as always to pass by.

Holiday homework was handed in to be marked, students caught up with each other and the teachers and Isamu may or may not have managed to blow up a support classroom with Kai.

Just another day then!

The Heroics classes were focused more on teaching the students what they needed to know; so the class was quite often split up during the Heroics timeslot. Students like Isamu that were going Underground were taught by Sasaki-sensei, Yasuno-sensei or Togata-sensei depending on what the lesson was on, and students like Enji who were going into Limelight, they were mostly taught by Fukidashi-sensei and Petit-sensei but sometimes Tàillear-sensei would help them.

Underground training was one of Isamu’s favourite things to do. It was physically and mentally easier than what Hinata-sensei put him through, but just as challenging because he had to go against the classmates who actually had quirks suited for Underground Heroics as well as the classmates who didn’t but were going into Underground anyway.

Arakan’s invisibility made it harder to notice him, but he hadn’t practised the fine art of remaining silent so Isamu had a slight advantage over him, but his twin was much more of ease at keeping almost silent, Annaisha would change her body colours depending on where she was, and usually kept to dark colours in the shadows, so Isamu just needed to hide better than her. 

Daichi was harder to keep away from. The brown-haired male consistently kept using his quirk, so one moment he’d be standing in one place, and the next he’d be in another. Confusing, but handleable.

The challenge was increased when their teachers realised that none of Isamu’s classmates could even catch him out - unless he purposely let himself be caught - and they joined the training.

Despite the added challenge, Isamu found himself enjoying the classes, even more, something he was sure to gush about to his friends and tease Nikushimi about whenever the purple-haired male got caught out (usually at the start of rounds).

(“You’re rude,” Nikushimi glared at Isamu who smugly ate his lunch.

Isamu smiled, “Not rude,” he pointed out, “Just telling it as it is.”

Shun bit his lip to stop from laughing while Rei just laughed while Enji rolled his eyes.

“Shun, tell Isamu to stop being an arsehole,” Nikushimi complained, turning to the glasses-wearing male.

“Isamu,” Shun deepened his voice (his “dad” voice) and gave him a “disappointed” look, “Nikushimi wishes for you to stop being an arsehole.”

Isamu covered his snickers with his hand as Nikushimi gave Shun a betrayed look, “Why?” the purple-haired male moaned pathetically, “Why must you all hate me?”

“Luv yu tu,” Isamu winked, and Nikushimi groaned as Shun and Rei burst into laughter(Rei’s were more of cackles than laughter) while Enji just rolled his eyes(yet again).)

It felt like the Sports Festival came up all too quickly to Isamu who had been busy working on a police case that Nezu had let him work on, busy with classes, busy with helping his year-mates and kohai with their quirks and other things to do with them, busy in the support labs with Kai, busy making sure trade deals between departments were going smoothly, busy going over his now-future memories compared to his before-future memories…

Okay, so Isamu may have a lot on his plate. 

Which was why he was thankful that students that were going Underground didn’t have to participate in the Sports Festival.

Other than being in the crowd to support his friends who were going Limelight, he spent his time going around the stadium - talking with various Gen-Ed student who complained and mentioned how they couldn’t wait for the Inter-Couse Festival later on in the year, chatting with the Management students about calculations and rankings of the students still in the Sports Festival, hanging out with support students who got kicked out by Kai and Rei, and sharing tips for the future with Heroics students.

Isamu got to see Rei come in second overall, just after Enji, and Shun proudly took sixth place overall when the Sports Festival ended. 

Third and fourth went to a couple of 3-B students and fifth went to Kai who kept smugly proudly grinning at people whenever he passed them in the stands during the awards ceremony.

“Nice one, Kai,” Isamu made sure to congratulate the Support student. 

Kai smirked, “Thanks, Greenie,” he wrinkled his nose, “I suppose that I wouldn’t have been able to do it without some of your input.”

Isamu just laughed at the bright green-haired male before going to find his other friends.

Shun and Nikushimi were sitting in 3-A’s seating area when he found them, sitting beside the purple-haired male, Isamu got to see Rei and Enji accept their second and first place medals in front of everyone.

It was nice to see the genuine smiles on each of his friend’s face; but what truly dumbfounded him was when the applause was still going on, Enji pulled Rei up to the first place platform and kissed her.

(On live TV, nevertheless.)

Isamu’s jaw dropped, but Nikushimi and Shun seemed to have already seen it coming, and cheered on their friends. 

Nikushimi snorted when he glanced at Isamu who spotted him in the corner of his eyesight, but Isamu couldn’t bring himself to be bothered. 

He’d known that there was something different about his relationship with Enji and Rei compared to their relationship, but he hadn’t seen this coming at all.

“Relax, Greenie,” Nikushimi placed a hand on his shoulder and the greenette turned to him, eyes still wide, “Being this confused isn’t good for you.”

“B-b-but,” Isamu stuttered, then cursed himself because he’d managed to get out of that habit in his second year, “I don’t understand-”

Nikushimi seemed to understand this, and sighed, “It’s alright Greenie. They love each other; have so since I first met them together. Probably before then as well.”

Shun looked over from the other side of Nikushimi, eyes concerned behind his glasses, “You didn’t know?” his voice was soft, kind, not mean.

Izuku shook his head, turning back to look at his friends in the middle of the Sports Festival Stadium, both were beaming at each other happily; he didn’t know how he felt. Confused? Most likely. Upset? Why would he have the right to be upset?

He didn’t understand.

☀

Rei and Enji seemed to understand that Isamu wanted time to himself after the Sports Festival; they left him alone for him to process things over the Saturday after their Sports Festival.

The time alone, Izuku just hid in his room. Finishing up homework, running through his past future-memories and through in now future-memories.

It was just… difficult for him to work through. Izuku’s father had never been good for him and his mother; Hisashi had just hidden it until Izuku’s quirklessness was diagnosed. That’s when his true colours had come out.

But, despite this, Isamu knows that his (adopted) brother and their friend would never be like Hisashi.

( Never )

But it’s just so… frightening? Yeah, he’ll go with that. It’s frightening to have his two closest friends - slash adopted brother - in something that he’d only seen the negatives of. While Kana-san and Senji-san’s marriage was a positive look on what he’d always come to associate with negative feelings, his adoptive parents weren’t around much, and when they were around, there was a distinct lack of any romance stuff. 

And sure, Shun had dated a couple of other people over their school years, it wasn’t as if he brought them over to hang out with Isamu, Rei, Enji and Nikushimi. 

( Which, now that he thought about it, each one of his friends seemed to know that anything involving romance was something that made him tense up and avoid joining in on the conversation. )

It’s frightening because he doesn’t know if it’ll work out in the end - it certainly didn’t in the past future memories that had been written down - as his now-future memories were still foggy as if the future was still being changed.

Izuku just wanted to hide in the closet forever, but Isamu knew that it wouldn’t be wise. Izuku was someone who wasn’t affected by anything in the past - Izuku was Isamu’s past/future - so Isamu had to step up and take his place here. 

Isamu had to figure out how to keep living, living happily, and to leave Izuku’s past behind. 

A knock on the door to his room made Iz- Isamu left his head from where he’d tucked it into his knees. The closet was dark, so he could easily peek through the crack in the door and see Enji step into the room.

Confusion was on the redhead’s face as he looked around the room before his eyes landed on the closet door. The crack probably let some light in and lit Isamu’s face slightly. 

His adopted brother opened the door, and Izuku flinched back for a moment before Enji was wrapping his arms around Isamu.

“I’m sorry,” Izuku murmured, “It’s just…”

Enji nodded his head, understanding solemn on his face, “It’s fine, Isamu, we figured out that you’d be hesitant to all of this back when you first joined our family.”

“It doesn’t make it right,” Isamu shook his head, then pressed his forehead into his brother’s shoulder, shutting his eyes as the comforting warmth that came from Enji gently smoothed across his body, “It isn’t fair. You guys shouldn’t need to be careful around me because of my fucked up childhood-”’

Enji pulled him closer, and Izuku sobbed. The redhead’s hand rubbing his back as the greenette tightened his grip on his brother. As if he would let go would mean that Enji would disappear from him.

☀

(Isamu found out later that Rei had been busy at Yuuei, transferring papers and whatnot so that she could join them in 3-A. Just in time for their internships.

He apologized over and over to her for overreacting, but she just waved it off and gave him a hug.)

☀

Isamu was at a familiar door, raising his hand to knock, only for the door to open before he could get the chance.

Hinata-sensei glared at him from under her wild hair, dark eyes seemingly glaring right into his soul.

“Hi, sensei,” Isamu smiled, avoiding the tense atmosphere around them.

Her eyes narrowed even more, “Ritorugurīn… it’s five-thirty in the morning. What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“Everything and anything,” Isamu deadpanned then giggled even though his teacher’s glare was still fixated on him. He sighed, letting the cheerful mood drop from his body, “Moyasu contacted me.”

Hinata-sensei’s body straightened up right away, alert as she motioned for him to go on.

“He said “The Yoru fly at dusk”,” Isamu said, letting his lips downturn, showing how displeased the message made him, something that was mirrored similarity by his teacher who placed a hand on her chin as her eyes narrowed irritably, “He managed to catch me on my run last night - I figured it would be better to get it to you as soon as possible."

“In,” Hinata-sensei jabbed her thumb over her shoulder, “Now.”

Isamu did as ordered, grabbing his bag from where it sat next to his feet, and making haste for the kitchen table covered in loose papers that he managed to get sprinkles of words from - all assignments and cases for Hinata-sensei - before Hinata-sensei slammed the apartment door shut and stormed over to him.

“Tell me everything,” She demanded as she half-heartedly attempted to clear the mess from the table before she plonked down in the other chair.

And Isamu did, telling his teacher how he’d just been doing his run around the neighbourhood when he’d noticed someone following him - barely managing to keep up with Isamu’s fast pace that he always ran - until another ten minutes when Isamu took pity on the person and stopped long enough for the person who ended up being Moyasu to catch up to him. Then the man had given Isamu the message before leaving.

He waited for his teacher to say something, she ran her hand down her face and let out a long sigh.

“Look, you cannot go spreading this to anyone else,” Hinata-sensei told him firmly, but tiredly, looking done with the world, “I don’t fucking know why they’d get you involved, but you cannot go telling anyone that you’re involved now.”

Isamu nodded hesitantly, curiosity burning to be fed and his teacher just sighed again.

“Moyasu is undercover in one of the biggest underground gangs that exist today,” Hinata-sensei started, “He has been for the last five years, and we’re so close to finally taking the Yoru down. The Yoru specialize in Quirk selling - selling people of any age to others who are willing to pay high bucks - but they also range from drugs, gambling, and debts. I’ve been on the case since it first started, but several other Underground Pros have been added over the years.”

Isamu nodded, keeping his lips firmly together to keep from muttering excitedly.

“It’s been hard for Moyasu, he has a kid and husband who’ve been placed in protection for the duration of him being undercover. But we’ve gotten further in the last five years than the last time a bunch of Pros and Cops tried to take down the gang-” Hinata-sensei sighed tiredly, “-and we’re so close, so hearing this from him now, it’s not good.”

Isamu nodded, frowning thoughtfully, “Is there a reason he came to me?” he asked his teacher, “Instead of you or someone else on the case? Or he could’ve just used a phone or something to send a message - he didn’t need to come in person… unless…”

“He was giving us a hidden message as well,” Hinata-sensei released, eyes widening as she stared at Isamu, “You’re a genius, Ritorugurīn!”

She darted off for a moment, Isamu wisely staying where he was, and Hinata-sensei came back with a stack of papers in her hands, shoving the papers onto the table and making more mess as she looked through them frantically.

His teacher made a short noise of victory when she tugged out a single paper from the rest. Her eyes quickly scanned over the paper before her entire expression fell.

“What is it?” Isamu asked, worried for the woman who now looked like she’d be sick.

She looked up from the paper to look at her student, “Look at this,” she shoved the paper into his hands, “Tell me if the locations are familiar.”

Isamu nodded, reading the various addresses that had been written out in black ink in messy handwriting - as if the writer had been in a hurry - and stiffened slightly, “I’ve been to all of these places,” he glanced at his teacher who looked grim, “Have they been following me? Why? How do they know of me? Did I do something-”

“It’s not your fault, Ritorugurīn,” Hinata-sensei was quick to reassure him, placing a hand on his shoulder, “If anything it’s ours as your teacher. We should’ve been keeping better track of where the Yoru has been going.”

Isamu hesitated, but when his teacher shot him a glare he wisely shut his mouth.

“We’re going to have to get someone to be with you at all times,” Hinata-sensei ran a hand through her loose hair wearily, “I’ll talk to your headmaster.”

Isamu nodded, “Nezu-sensei will be happy to listen,” he then sighed, “I had hoped for everything to go smoothly this year. Apparently not.”

“Oh?” Hinata-sensei was curious, evident by the way her eyebrow raised ever so slightly and her body stilled for a moment, “What’s been wrong with your previous years?”

“Well…” Isamu grimaced, thinking back to his first first-year at Yuuei, then just completely ignoring that one, and skipping to his second first year at Yuuei, “My first year, I became Nezu’s student - but he set up traps and various other obstacles for me before I was his student - so that was fun. Last year, I developed different ways to use my quirk; managed to help my classmates create an entire festival so that other departments outside of Heroics could show off to the world, and I managed to terrify my adopted family when I almost got killed in the fight that All Might had against that unknown this summer.”

Hinata-sensei stared at him for a moment, then shook her head, “Honestly, kid, I don’t have a clue how you manage to get into so much shit.”

“And you’re telling me!” Isamu threw his hands up a little hysterically and they both cracked up laughing.

☀

The rest of his internship passed rather quietly after their initial conversion; Hinata-sensei was unwilling to let him out her sights for too long, but when she did have to leave she left him in the care of Sasaki-sensei.

Neither woman let him get away with slacking during those times. In fact, if Isamu had to say so, he’d say that Sasaki-sensei was a lot harder on him than Hinata-sensei was. But that could’ve been because Hinata-sensei was teaching him Underground Heroics essentially quirkless while Sasaki-sensei tested the limits of his quirk(s) while keeping the side-effects of his quirk(s) discrete enough that if he needed to use them that he would be able to.

Every night before he headed to sleep - usually tired, worn out, and exhausted in a way that Izuku had never managed to get to - he chatted with his friends and brother (and soon to be adopted sister-in-law) in the “Rainbow Squad” group chat on Instachat. 

Nothing drastic happened, but Sasaki-sensei promised her cousin that she’d keep an eye on Isamu during school hours. Then Hinata-sensei made Ismau swear on his life to not go anywhere without at least one other person with him. 

And like hell was he going to break his promise to his teacher.

☀

Isamu’s business with the rest of the departments at Yuuei was going smoothly. 

Too smoothly in his book. Everything was boring now; Nezu had definitely rubbed off on him slightly.

The only good exciting thing in his life right now aside from the fact that someone might be trying to kill him or torture him for an investigation he wasn’t even a part of was the fact that they were going to get their Provisional Licences - hopefully, that is. There’s never a certainty that they could get them - today!

“Hey, are you alright?”

Isamu jumped when he heard someone’s voice, eyes wide as he turned to see a nervous-looking boy with pink and yellow hair.

“Sorry!” Isamu spluttered quickly, “I just got lost in my thoughts, ohmykami,didIgetleftbehindagain !??!?! Gahaaaaahhh, I’msuchanidiot. Enji’sgonnabedisappoinets, and Rei’sgonnalaugh, and-”

The pink and yellow-haired boy laughed, whatever nerves that he had when he asked his question to Isamu was quickly gone in replacement of the amusement the yellow and pinked haired boy’s body.

“I’m Midoriya Isamu,” Isamu offered his hand out to the other male.

The other male shook it, a crooked grin settling on his face, “I’m Monoma Kazuhiko.”

Isamu tilted his head slightly, a tingling feeling spreading across his skin, “Your quirk wouldn’t happen to be a mimic one, would it? Either that or some sort of quirk that allows you to gauge what my quirk is.”

Monoma laughed, letting go of Isamu’s hand, “Close,” he winked, “A mix between them, actually, I can only mimic emitters, even then it’s a weak aspect. I’m better at figuring out other people’s quirks-” his face scrunched up for a moment, “-even if it doesn’t seem to work on yours. Some sort of stockpiling?”

Isamu shrugged, “I call it Energy Flow,” he said easily, “I can divert the energy that I get through my limbs, or I can project it into other ways.”

“That’s an extremely diverse quirk,” Monoma complimented.

Isamu beamed, “Thanks! Oh, are you doing the Provisional Licence Exam too?”

Monama scoffed, “Of course! I’m from Isamu Academy High School.”

Isamu paused, Monoma paused, “Wait-”

Isamu burst into giggles as Monoma realised what he’d done (by accident).

“I didn’t mean it like that,” Monoma said shyly.

“It’s fine,” Isamu managed to get his giggles under control, “It’s just really funny.”

“Fair,” Monoma shrugged, his own grin growing wider across his face, “So what school are you from?”

Isamu opened his mouth to answer but paused when he heard his name being called out. 

Enji looked slightly pissed from the entrance to the changing rooms for Yuuei, “Isamu, you’re running late.”

“Oh,” Isamu frowned apologetically, “Sorry, Enji. I’ll be there in a moment.”

Enji narrowed his eyes onto Monoma before heading back inside the changing room and shutting the door behind him. 

Isamu turned back to Monoma only to see an unfortunately familiar expression on the yellow and pink-haired male’s face, “Sorry about my brother,” Isamu apologised, “I often get stuck in my head, so he usually has to be the one to-”

“You’re brothers?!” Monoma stuttered, eyes wide.

Isamu nodded slowly. 

“But you don’t look-” 

“I’m adopted,” Isamu cut the Isamu student off, watching the other cautiously. If he had to, Isamu was more than capable of letting this potential asset go. 

(Yes, Isamu was networking. Shut up.)

“Holy shit,” Monoma blinked, eyes wide, “I’d heard that the Todorokis had adopted, but I didn’t think that was true.”

Isamu shrugged, “Anyway, we better get going.”

Monoma smiled, “Good luck, Midoriya. It was a pleasure meeting you.”

The greenette smiled in return, “Likewise.”

(Almost everyone in Class 3-A passed the exam that day; only Chand and Apollo came close to failing, only because they got into an argument half-way through the exam. 

Isamu grinned at the little plastic card that held a picture of his “Hero-Face” - his mask hiding most of his face - and his Pro-Hero name stamped on the bottom of it.

Ikigai would rock the world.)

☀

When the same students as last year came up to him with hopeful smiles, Isamu just sighed and said yes before they could even ask him.

Rei squealed before hugging him, Amaterasu, Ichika, and Coral ended up giving him a massive group hug, Yamashita Yuudai and Takagi Mayumi were already away planning with Yamazaki Emiko, and Fujimoto Moto smirked at him before handing him a slip of paper that he’d read after the others had gone. 

Then they were moving into the flow of getting it all set up again. This time around, it was much easier for Isamu and his “committee” - a.k.a. The people who trapped him in the role of helping them organise the festival - to get everything sorted. 

Apparently, the few people that they had needed to get into contact with to actually run the festival last year had all seen the second year of the Inter-Course Festival happening and had gotten prepared for Isamu and the committee - that now had a couple of seconds years, and a few brave first years on it - to call to make it happen again.

So, it was definitely much easier. Especially since the first-years were warned by the second-years and third-years about what would happen to all the complaints.

(Isamu gave the other students a grin worthy of Nezu whenever they looked like they were about to argue about the Inter-Course Festival. Easily warding them away and keeping the complaints far, far, far, away.)

It ran smoothly again this year. And Isamu enjoyed the fun in-between moments where he had to make sure that everything was running nicely. 

He only had to stop three fights this year! Bonus!

☀

"You know, I never took you for someone who would play Pokemon Go," Nikushimi said, side-eyeing Satsuka who was focused on her phone.

"There's a lot that you guys don't know about me," she answered back easily, her lips quirking at the edges when she caught the Shiny Pikachu.

Isamu, who had never played the game before this day, was only slightly struggling to get the Perfect throws. 

Shun and Rei were watching him, their own games forgotten in their hands as they watched the Newbie easily play the game.

And Enji was refusing to catch anything but fire types. So he ignored half the pokemon available and he was just waiting for more fire types to pop up; glaring at his phone the longer it took.

"I'm a little scared of the Greenbean now…" Shun said hesitantly.

Rei shuddered, "Are you sure that this is your first time playing Pokemon Go, Greenie?"

Isamu glanced at his friends for a moment, taking in their stunned expressions, “Yes?” he said hesitantly, then dropped his gaze back down to his phone, “I’ve only ever played the emulators before.”

Satsuka gasped in horror, her attention going from her phone to Isamu, “Tell me that’s not true.”

Isamu caught the Weepinbell then shifted uncomfortably on the park bench they were using, “I didn’t much money,” he shrugged, avoiding looking at his friends and sibling, “I had a friend-” he didn’t mention how his “friend” was actually the internet, “-who showed me how to get them. They were a nice pass time.”

He didn’t mention how he’d spent hours pouring over the code of the programs, figuring out how the game was designed, and changing the code just for his own enjoyment. Changing the entire game to shinys, making it so that no matter what pokemon it was, they would always be a certain type…

It had actually been one of his favourite things to do in between the explosions and bullying at Aldera. 

He blinked when he realised that his friends and brother had gone almost silent, “Uh…?”

“I am so glad that your parents adopted him, Enji,” Shun turned to the redhead, “Because if they didn’t I would’ve gotten my parents to do so.”

“What!?”

“Fair,” Enji tilted his head, ignoring Isamu’s outburst, “But I got him first. Bugger off.”

Nikushimi snickered, “How touching,” he rolled his eyes.

Rei smiled “innocently” at Shun, “I also claimed him through Enji, so no stealing, Iida-san.”

Isamu groaned, running a hand down his face as Shun narrowed his eyes at Rei before playfully attacking her.

Enji dropped his phone and went to her aid when she called out for him to join in the fun, Nikushimi just shook his head and Satsuka sighed, “Are you guys always this chaotic?”

Isamu whined pathetically, hiding his red face in his hands as Nikushimi snorted.

“When are we not?” He asked rhetorically.

Satsuka tilted her head slightly before nodding, “Fair,” she said, then went back to her Pokemon Go.

Isamu peeked through his fingers, “Kill me.”

“Only if you do the same in return,” Nikushimi smirked back at him.

“Deal.”

☀

This particular week will forever be known as the Chaotic Mess of Quirks week.

It started when one first-year student bumped into a second-year student and accidentally set off their quirk that affected everyone at Yuuei. Surprisingly the teachers weren’t included in the chaos, so it was mostly students.

(Thankfully; but it was still chaos.)

The first-year’s quirk was a simple, yet highly dangerous one that would need to be monitored for future accidents. 

The first year’s quirk was simple, in a certain radius, anyone who is in that radius will randomly switch bodies with another person for a period of time. 

Isamu ended up in Enji’s body and had a panic attack when he tried to call One for All only to get fire in the palms of his- Enji’s body’s hands.

Enji - in Daichi’s body - had found him and quickly calmed the not-currently-greenette down. 

It was strange seeing his classmate act so much like his brother - ‘cause his brother was in Daichi’s body, duh - just as it was weird to see everyone acting like someone else when he managed to get to class with Enji.

Rei was obviously in Moriko’s body, easy to tell by the massive grin on her face despite the slight nerves and fear that Isamu could see in her eyes. Whoever was in Shun’s body looked like they were having troubles with Shun’s quirk, and looked nervous just standing around, Shun’s body going fuzzy slightly. 

Whoever was in Nikushimi’s body had passed out and was snoring lightly on the ground by the door to the classroom. And Isamu could tell that Nikushimi was in Birch’s body by the way he crossed his arms (and the fact that Birch’s body was sitting in Nikushimi’s seat). 

And he could guess that the moping Takumi was Shun, mostly because of the unnatural pout on the former Gen-Ed student’s face. 

Sasaki-sensei walked in, and everyone was in their seats before she could even turn her red eyes onto them. 

Isamu had to bite his- Enji’s body’s- lip to keep from laughing when their teacher took one look at them all and made one of the longest, most tired sighs he’d ever heard; that was saying something, especially as he had Aizawa-sensei for the first part of his first, first year. 

“This is going to be a long week,” their teacher muttered loud enough for everyone to hear.

(It did end up being one of the most chaotic weeks in Yuuei history. But thankfully no one was seriously hurt at the end, and everyone found themselves in their own bodies by the end of it.)

(Isamu managed to avoid Arakan’s questions as to why he couldn't use Isamu’s quirk for the whole week; honestly, Isamu had no idea .)

☀

Their final Internships came around; one of the last steps that they needed before getting their official licenses to become proper Pro-Heroes.

Isamu was buzzing with excitement as he got his Ikigai outfit on, weapons and essentials ready in pockets and the utility belt that Hinata-sensei had practically forced him to use as a part of his costume. 

The dark colours - reddish-black flames stuck out slightly against the forest green and darker shades of green that almost looked black. The utility belt was a deep dark grey, matching his commissioned (two-jointed pinky-toe Quirkless friendly) boots. His mask was a simple mask that covered his mouth and nose that matched the green of his outfit and he was happy with the hood he could pull up if need be - were perfect for him and his aim and was both stylish (which would make Rei all too happy) and breathable/moveable for all the stupid stunts he was going to have to do.

“Ready, Ritorugurīn?” Hinata-sensei, or, rather Underground Pro-Hero Akaruku, asked him.

She stood in her normal outfit - something both she and Aizawa-sensei did; keeping their day clothes as their Pro-Hero uniform - but with more items stashed than normal.

Isamu nodded, “All good to go,” he said, grabbing his gun - with quirk-suppressant Frangible bullets - and his bo-staff and the zip-ties that he stuffed into his belt. 

“Good,” Akaruku said, then she sighed, “I know that this is your first time actually out in the field-” Isamu didn’t bother to tell her that he’d already gone up against Villains before, mostly because of timeline stuff, but still, “-but be careful. I don’t need your family or Nezu fining me because I accidentally got you killed.”

“Aye, aye, cap'n,” Isamu saluted his teacher and she rolled her eyes at him.

“We leave in fice,” she told him, leaving the room and heading back into the main area.

Isamu let the grin drop from his face and he sighed, grabbing his phone to read over his brother and friend’s good wishes for the mission he was joining Akaruku on.

He then dropped his phone into his costume’s case - the same case that Izuku would have in the future - and got onto his feet before leaving the room behind. 

Akaruku smiled slightly, her “mask” was merely a pair of black goggles - something that reminded Isamu of Eraserhead far too often, despite the different colours - that were designed to make sure nothing went into her eyes and had a retractable mask that she could pull down in case of a gas attack of sorts, or if there was an air-based substance quirk that could hinder Akaruku.

“Ready?”

Isamu nodded, “Hai, sensei.”

---

The plan for the mission was simple. 

Moyasu would send out a simple communication to the head of the whole organization - a man with a quirk that allowed him to teleport within five meters of where he stood before teleporting, he was a fellow Underground Pro-Hero called Neʻe (Fun fact from Hinata-sensei; Neʻe means “move” in Samoan, or at least something along those lines) - then depending on what the message said, they’d either move in or wait for the all-clear.

Thankfully, Isamu didn’t have to wait long - he’d been itching to grab out one of the notebooks he’d insisted that he get to carry with him at all times and start asking questions about everyone’s quirks; especially those with quirks that weren’t obvious - and they were given the all go.

Most of the Pros there were Underground and the rest were Limelight Pros who had quirks that were better suited in case things got too much for those without traditional Limelight quirks. 

(Also one of the reasons Isamu was allowed to tag along with the mission. Other than the fact that he could fight with and without his quirk on par with several of the best Underground Pro-Heroes, and that he’d been trained taught by Nezu himself.)

The whole mission went quite smoothly, Isamu had to stay with Hinata-sensei, and both of them would knock anyone that they came across unconscious and tie them up so that the police could collect them when the whole thing was over.

When Neʻe called to everyone through the comms to say that they’d managed to subdue the leader of the criminal organization, Isamu chuckled when he and Hinata-sensei could hear various cheers throughout the building they were in.

“Good work, Ritorugurīn,” Hinata-sensei said when they headed back to her apartment after everything had been done.

Isamu smiled.

☀

Their graduation was a joyous, yet sad time for all of 3-A.

Most of the students - soon to be Pro-Heroes - would keep in contact with each other, but it was evident that eventually, even that promise of contact would wither under the world that they lived in.

Isamu disliked the fact that because he was going Underground that it would actually be harder for him to meet up with his soon-to-be former-classmates that were going the Limelight path in Heroics. 

But, it was something he was going to have to live with.

His name was called out, and he accepted his diploma from Nezu who gave him a smile that was considered soft in the Chimera’s range of smiles.

When they left the stage, Sasaki-sensei almost looked like she was going to cry as she gave them their Official Licenses.

Nikushimi was the first of the Rainbow Squad to get his. He gave their homeroom teacher a massive smile and patted her shoulder comfortingly. 

Shun was after him, being one of the few so far to give the woman a hug. 

Isamu was more than happy to also give their homeroom teacher a hug - careful not to crush her body with the muscles he had only gained more of over the years - 

Rei was next after Shun, pressing a soft kiss to their teacher’s cheek - nothing romantic; that was saved for Enji - and smiling at the Underground Pro-Hero.

Enji was the last of the five of them, and merely shook Sasaki-sensei’s hand when she offered it to him.

After the ceremony, Isamu found himself in a group hug with his friends and brother.

“We made it,” Nikushimi said, a grin on his face as the hug was banished. 

Rei laughed, “Of course we did!” she said joyously, “There was no way that we wouldn’t!”

“Rei,” Enji gave her a look, and the woman shrugged with a smirk.

“Just because you guys got two more years of formal Heroics training does not mean that I’m gonna let you guys get ahead of me!” Rei said confidently.

Isamu laughed, “We never doubted that you would,” he promised her, smiling when she bumped their shoulders together.  

“We’re going to be great Heroes.”

Chapter Text

In the following months after leaving Yuuei, both Enji and Rei made their debuts as Limelight Pro-Heroes.

Isamu had seen it on the news from his apartment and had instantly stopped what he was doing - going over notes for the Monsutā case - to watch as the two opposite elemental quirk users work together to rescue the hundreds of workers out of a giant office building.

It was terrifying for Isamu to be sitting there watching them, when, in the past, he would have been out there with his friends. His friends who were only eighteen, risking their lives to save people from the falling building. 

One of the reasons of how he managed to stay in his apartment instead of sprinting off to go help his brother and friend was the fact that Enji had made him swear not to come out and help unless it was an Earth-ending threat, and that Nikushimi had called him as soon as the broadcast had started, and was now on the phone with Isamu.

“That show-off,” Nikushimi grumbled, and Isamu snorted, watching carefully as Enji melted a giant piece of concrete before it could hit him, and the civilians he was carrying.

Isamu snickered as Nikushimi kept calling the redhead names under his breath, “Sounds like someone’s jealous,” the greenette sang playfully.

“Hey, look, there’s Mr. Sonic,” Nikushimi easily diverted the conversation, and Isamu paused to try and spot Shun.

And… there! Shun zipped through debris and civilians, his costume had gotten a slight update from just before they left Yuuei; it was more silver and grey rather than the deep red that he’d originally wanted.

(Shun was a big fan of one of those pre-quirk comic book heroes, The Flash.)

Isamu chuckled as Nikushimi grumbled something he couldn’t quite catch right when Shun glanced up at the camera that the news outlet was using to record the event and gave them - and consequently, everyone watching - a salute before running off again.

“The joys of being Limelight Heroes,” Isamu chuckled, and Nikushimi kept grumbling.

It seemed to take far too long for everything to finish moving.

Isamu wasn’t proud to admit it, but he wasn’t a fool as to not admit that he let more than a few relieved tears escape his eyes when Enji and Rei finally managed to get everyone with Shun helping, and another Pro-Hero who helped to keep the building as stable as possible with their quirk to assist Enji and Rei.

Nikushimi snorted when the camera-people rushed forward and the reporters stuffed their microphones towards Enji and Rei.

Their white-haired friend didn’t show much of her displeasure, letting a warm smile on her face as she answered the question all the while Enji was scowling at them all; gruffly answering questions when they were directed at him, but otherwise, he just kept his distance from the nosey people.

The next day, the newspapers would all have various headlines that followed the same description; (New Pro-Hero Duo) Endeavor and Verglas save the day!

☀

Nikushimi and Isamu’s career debuts were a little more on the down-low compared to their Limelight friends.

Nikushimi wasn’t on the majority of cases that Isamu managed to get put onto - by sheer dumb luck, his glowing recommendation from Nezu, Hinata-sensei and, from all the Pro’s he worked with during his last internship, and his amazing tendencies to annoy the fuck out of the police captain to allow him onto cases, oh, and his analytic mind that helped solve cases faster than an entire mass of people - but the purple-haired male didn’t let that discourage him from aiming to catch up with Isamu.

(Something that made Isamu beam whenever he thought of it; he was glad to have an actual rival rather than a Bakugo Katsuki.)

What most Limelight Pros didn’t know was that there was a ranking for Underground Pros as well. 

The rankings were kept secret from the public, and only Limelight Pros who knew about the rankings would be able to access and find the Underground rankings. It was something that the Hero Commission was forced into doing about fifty years ago when the rankings were still available to the public, where an Underground Pro was killed in her own home. She’d been at the top of the rankings, and after her death, several other Underground Pros were almost killed; all of them had been in the top rankings. 

Turned out that displaying information about Pros who did the dirty work to the public often led to criminals and villains killing them. Who knew?

(Yes, that was sarcasm)

When their first year of joining the ranking came around Nikushimi was placed in the high four hundred - a brilliant start to his career considering how many Underground Pros there were in the world - Isamu was startled to find himself placed in the low hundreds. Ranked at number 121 to be exact.

Nikushimi had laughed, shaking his head as he took the placement of their rankings in good-nature. 

Isamu had still been in shock when Enji patted his shoulder and congratulated him. Rei and Shun had already started planning a mini-party when Isamu finally snapped out of it.

He scrolled through the rest of the rankings, noting that Nezu had been excluded from them; either because Nezu was biologically an animal or the fact that Nezu had been in the Limelight when news first came of the first animal to have an intelligence quirk or because he was a principal first and foremost before a Pro-Hero. 

Isamu spotted Hinata-sensei at the ranking number 25 and was only a little bit surprised to see her in a lower-ranking that he’d originally thought she’d be in.

“Come on, Isamu!” Rei called out to him.

Isamu jolted, then smiled, closing the laptop down, “Coming,” he called back, joining his friends and brother.

☀

Some of the most common cases Isamu would find himself working on were child-abuse, quirk-trafficking - which usually had something to do with kids - kidnappings, and runaways.

(He didn’t want to think of all the times he’d managed to convince kids away from the edges of bridges, the edges of buildings-) 

Honestly, Isamu should’ve just become a police officer/detective/social worker with the number of cases he got pulled onto. 

Criminals and not-villains were usually helpful in child cases. While there were the masses that used kids for their quirks - All for One was just one of them - the majority of the underworld hated people who used kids to further their plans. 

It made it both easier and harder for Isamu to get information on where kids who might’ve been taken for their quirks had gone, because, in the underworld, those who take kids interact with people who do the same thing, and those who don’t take kids refuse to interact with those who do.

It’s a simple, yet complex system that Isamu had been forced to get used to when an offhand comment that he’d overheard lead him to a warehouse full of skinny, starving children who had more scars and wounds on them than they deserved to get. 

Partnering up with Enji and Rei, Isamu got assistance from the Limelight side of Heroics while still going through Underground connections and networks that he’d made. And while he couldn’t publicly take credit for helping to create the Moeru Mori (燃える森) Association, Enji and Rei could.

(Named that because after a criminal had set fire to Isamu’s hair and it looked like a burnt bush mess for a while afterwards until Rei took him out to get it fixed.) 

(It had been a joke at the time, but it suited the association; burning down one life to replace it for another. And it was a little ironic for Isamu, but he didn’t mention that to his friends or brother.)

Most of the kids that ended up being taken in by the Moeru Mori Association had “villainous” quirks, and Isamu always made time to visit the poor kids. And sure, his quirk made them hate him at first until they got to know him, and they listened to how he’d changed to fight back against his own enemies of his childhood.

(The kids asked to see his quirk, and each time he’d show a different one; confusing the fuck out of the younger and newer ones while the older ones just laughed when they were asked about Isamu’s quirk)

The Underground Pro offered lessons in self-defence and physical combat to those who wanted to learn - if any of the kids misused the skills they were given, Isamu would stop them from joining lessons - and helped train the kids who wanted to become Pro-Heroes. 

(Therapy was offered to kids for anything, and for those who the Pros knew that needed it, and quirk-counselling was offered to every new kid as well being required for kids who had grown up in the Association before they had even gotten their quirks.)

While Enji and Rei were usually too busy to come to join in, whenever either of the two Limelight Pros could, they’d teach a few lessons as well. Nikushimi didn’t come in as often as Isamu did, but he was there more than the three Limelight Pros, even if Shun came in more than Enji and Rei.

Isamu got to watch as the older kids - teenagers, really - grew confidant in themselves, their quirks, and their skills. 

Iguchi Shuichi, one of the younger boys in the Association, had a mutation quirk that made him look like a reptile - accurately named Geko after they’d figured out that he could stick to surfaces - was one of the least-trusting of the kids, and Isamu made sure to try to get to know him; uncaring of the blood that the kid would draw if Isamu got too close.

(Iguchi-kun would always apologize in his own way, later on, so Isamu figured that he was progressing with the boy)

As time progressed, and the Moeru Mori Association grew in size and occupation, Isamu, Enji and Rei were more than happy for other Pro-Heroes and other public figures to join the funding and creating more facilities across Japan.

(Each and every staff member was vetted thoroughly by Isamu, Enji and Nikushimi. There was no way in hell that they would let the children get harmed, or lose the trust of the children because they had hired the wrong person.

And Isamu encouraged each of the kids - from the youngest ones to the teenagers - to come forward if they didn’t like something or someone. And he’d been rewarded as several kids - usually in groups or pairs because of nerves - came forward to tell him about certain people who ended up getting fired almost immediately.)

Isamu hoped that by the time he caught up with the future - his past/present - that the Moeru Mori Association could reach kids everywhere around the world. 

☀

Rei and Enji had their wedding a few months after they found out that Rei was pregnant; Isamu was a groomsman along with Shun and Nikushimi while Rei had gotten Annaisha, Coral and Date Sakura (Hatsume Kai’s wife) to be her bridesmaid.

Six months later, January 18th, Todoroki Toya was born, and when his brother and sister-in-law named Isamu Toya’s godfather he cried.

☀

Meeting Shimizu Kazuko and her wife Shibata Mana was both a regret and a blessing for Isamu.

On one hand, after saving the former woman from a rapist, she’d sworn that she would owe him until he needed that favour - something he tried to deny until the latter appeared to hug her wife.

(Isamu hadn’t known they were married at the time, but the shine of rings on their ring fingers kinda gave it away after a moment)

Shibata-san then thanked him and introduced herself and Shimizu-san before making a comment about how she was glad he was changing things before taking off.

Isamu had been stunned and had gone to the detective that he worked closest with on cases to get information on the women.

When Detective Tsukauchi - the father of the Detective Tsukauchi Izuku had been questioned by after the U.S.J. accident - showed Isamu what Shibata-san’s quirk was, then he understood. 

A Distant-Future Seer quirk was rare to come by, and just as tricky to use. The future changes in instants, so whatever Isamu was doing now must have some sort of good impact in the future for it to still be there despite the limitless futures that are out there.

(He may or may not have panicked later on, before calming down with the knowledge that he was doing something right.)

☀

It was a whimper that drew Isamu to the alleyway.

His footsteps echoed down the alley and he heard shuffling, before a light thud. It took him a moment to get used to the lower levels of lighting, spotting the kid and crouching down a careful distance away.

Isamu reached out and froze when the kid flinched back.

“Don’t!” the boy shrieked but he quickly calmed down when Isamu paused and took a short movement backwards. The kid’s voice was quieter this time, softer, more scared, “I’ll hurt you,” he whispered.

Isamu hummed thoughtfully, looking over the kid curiously. It had to be something with his hands. The way the dark-haired boy held them to his bare chest was unnatural. The kid looked up at him, and Isamu found himself pausing for a moment, wondering where he’d seen those ruby red eyes before. 

The kid glanced at his costume, then at his red shoes that he’d forgotten to take off. Isamu glanced at the dust that was on the boy’s pants - pyjama pants! - and came to a realization, “It’s your quirk, isn’t it?”

The kid’s red eyes widened when he glanced at Isamu’s face, but he didn’t say anything, he just nodded.

( A pale hand reaching out.

His eyes widened as time seemed to go all too slow, unable to do anything as Tsuyu-chan’s eyes widened as her skin paled in horror.

The villain’s hand touched her cheek, but nothing happened.

The villain laughed and looked at their teacher, “...so cool, Eraserhead.”

Izuku clenched his fists- )

Isamu hid his flinch from the kid - ohgod, thiswasbabyShigaraki - by bringing out some of his bandages that he kept on him at all times. He didn’t even need to use his quirk to rip a few ribbons from the bandages, “Here, hold out your hands.”

The kid shook his head frantically and Isamu smiled sadly, “I promise that you won’t hurt me,” he made sure to keep his voice level, claiming and patient, “I just would like to give you confidence that you won’t.”

The kid hesitated for a moment, then held out his hands for Isamu. The kid’s fingers were shaking as Isamu carefully started wrapping some of the bandage ribbons around a couple of his fingers.

One went on his pinkie, and another went on his index finger; on both hands. 

“There,” Isamu smiled softly as the kid took his hands back to inspect the fabric on the edges of his fingers. 

Isamu offered his hand to the kid, “Ready?”

He let his hand hover in mid-air as the kid hesitated, he then reluctantly, carefully, warily, let his own hand settle in Isamu’s much larger hand.

The kid’s eyes widened in both surprise and joy when nothing happened to Isamu, and the man let out a small chuckle that had the kid looking up at him.

“See?” Isamu smiled, “I wasn’t a hundred percent sure that it would work-” red eyes widened even further, shocked at the boldness, “-’cause a lot of touch-based quirks are a five-finger requirement, but there are some that only need one or two fingers.”

“I could’ve killed you,” the kid squeaked out, shaking slightly. 

Isamu felt his smile dim slightly as he crouched down to the kid’s height, and making sure that his movements were in eyesight at all times, “But you didn’t,” he said calmly, “And that’s what matters. Not that you could have killed me, but that you didn’t kill me.”

The boy gulped, “What’s gonna happen?” he asked nervously. 

Isamu hesitated. The boy most likely didn’t have a family to go back to, and if Isamu was reading the situation right, the boy’s quirk was the reason why.

( A hand stuck over the villain’s face was knocked away as Izuku kicked it.

“FATHER!” the villain glared at Izuku, “You’ll pay for that, brat!” )

“Well, I’m going to do everything I can to get you into a good home,” Isamu said firmly as he led the way out of the alley, into the city, under the streetlights, “As much as I’d love to take you in myself, I don’t think either of us would be able to handle my lifestyle together in the same apartment.”

The kid’s mouth had dropped slightly in surprise as his bright red eyes widened, a glistening shine coming across the orbs.

Isamu smiled sadly, “I’m an Underground Pro, kid,” he sighed, “As much as I dislike the system, it’s actually your best bet compared to me; I have too many enemies.”

He didn’t see, much as sense the kid’s nod as Isamu checked the road they were crossing. The path to the police station was a familiar one that he’d walked thousands of times by now. 

Isamu ignored most of the officers that were still at the station, half-sleep and half-glaring at the Underground Pro who dared to interrupt their peace. He guided the kid straight to a man closer to the back of the main floor of the station.

It took the man a moment to realise that Isamu and the kid were there, “Ikigai,” the man’s eyes widened as he jumped to his feet.

Isamu chuckled, “Sorry to bother you this late, detective.”

“No, no, it’s fine,” the detective reassured him, “What’s wrong this fine evening?”

“Tsukauchi,” Isamu sighed, amusement in his voice, “It’s early morning, you idiot.”

“Oh,” Detective Tsukauchi said dumbly before he chucked, “Oh, well. My wife’s gonna kill me when I get home.”

Isamu snickered, before glancing down at the kid who had relaxed slightly while Isamu had conversed with Tsukauchi, “Kid, this is Detective Tsukauchi, he helps me with plenty cases, and he’ll be more than happy to help you.”

The detective did a double-take when seeing the kid, and the poor boy shifted on his bare feet.

Isamu let the kid shrink into himself and cling to his outfit, feeling the trembles coming from the dark-haired boy. 

The green-haired male raised a warning eyebrow when Tsukauchi glanced at the kid’s hands before looking at him. The detective sighed, “How the hell do you find so many kids, Ikigai?”

Isamu felt the kid breath out in relief, and he chuckled sheepishly as the kid looked up at him, “Coincidence,” was all Isamu was willing to say. He gave the detective a small shrug.

The detective only rolled his eyes at him before he grabbed a stack of paperwork that Isamu knew that he’d kept on his desk for situations like this. 

Isamu settled into filling it out, he and Tsukauchi asking the kid, Shimura Tenko, for details. But even then Shimura-kun was hesitant to answer them, picking at the bandages on his fingers.

(And wasn’t that a kicker? Shigaraki Tomura was the grandson of Shimura Nana, All Might’s predecessor, and All for One’s successor.)

(Hopefully Isamu could stop it from happening this time-)

Tsukauchi was fine to leave the poor boy to his own devices as he and Isamu went over potential families to take care of Shimura-kun.

Shimura-kun didn’t protest once, keeping to himself, and Isamu made sure to check on the boy every ten minutes until the red-eyed boy started nodding off. 

When it got to - barely - acceptable hours for a phone call, Isamu jerked away from the phone when he was yelled at, but he grinned and gave Tsukauchi a thumbs up when the woman on the other end finally gave in.

(She did say that she owed him, afterall. Wasn’t his fault that she claimed that.)

Shimizu Kazuko glared at him when she arrived at the police station, but her left green eye and right yellow eye softened when she noticed the half-asleep boy. 

Isamu felt the nerves in his chest settle down when she agreed to take in the young boy, her quirk being more than a great counter for Shimura-kun’s quirk. A quirk that disintegrated everything as soon as five fingers made contact, and a quirk that healed instantaneously as long as Shimizu-san got more than five hours of sleep at night. 

“Thank you, Shimizu-san,” Isamu said to the woman as he carried the young boy out to her car.

The woman rolled her eyes, her shoulder-length silvery-grey hair moving as she shook her head, “I did say that I’d owe you one,” she said, unlocking her car, and opening the back door for the Underground Pro.

“You know I didn’t need it,” Isamu sighed, settling Shimura-kun into the back seat of the woman’s car.

“Too late now,” Shimizu-san smirked at him, “All used up.”

He rolled his eyes at her as he buckled the seatbelt around Shimura-kun. The boy grabbed his sleeve when Isamu went to step back.

Sleepy red eyes blinked at him, and Shimura-kun mumbled a quiet thank you to Isamu. 

“Take care, Shimura-kun,” Isamu told him, “Shimizu-san will take care of you, but try to keep yourself safe as well.”

The woman gave him a weird look, but Isamu ignored her in favour of getting a slow nod from the boy, “I will, Ikigai-sama.”

Isamu smiled, concealing his shock at the honorific given to him. He patted Shimura-kun’s shoulder softly before stepping back and shutting the door. 

Shimizu-san narrowed her heterochromia eyes at him, “What was that? Do I need to worry?”

Isamu sighed, running a hand through his curls, “I hope not,” he allowed himself to say only a tad of his concern for the boy, “Just keep a look-out. I have a feeling that someone’s after him.”

“A feeling… or you know ?” Shimizu-san raised an eyebrow.

“I’m guessing,” He told her, shaking his head, “I can’t know, but your wife might know .”

The woman huffed, “Sure, whatever, Ikigai.”

They stood there for a moment, the grey-haired woman watching him and he sighed (again).

“Thank you, Shimizu-san,” Isamu said, breaking the air between them first.

She nodded, “If I find out you were lying-”

Isamu nodded, “I’m not, but thanks for the warning.”

She gave him a look before climbing into her car then driving away.

He stood there, watching until the car turned around the corner and he could no longer see it.

☀

He couldn’t help it, Isamu had to check that Shimura-kun was alright. 

He knew that Shimizu-san and her wife Shibata-san would be more than capable of taking care of the boy and holding off possible threats against their family. But this was All for One they were talking about. All for One in his prime. 

Every couple of nights he’d deviate his patrols to take him past the apartment where Shimura-kun was settling in nicely with the two women and Shibata-san’s young teenager niece(whose parents had died in a gang fight).

He couldn’t see much, but the small bits and pieces that he did get to see made him happy with his decision to leave Shimura-kun with others rather than taking him in himself. 

Isamu got updates from Shimizu-san - and didn’t ask how she’d gotten his phone number - about Shimura-kun’s progress with his quirk and confidence. 

It was after the third month had passed by with nothing serious happening that Isamu started easing up on how many times he passed by the family’s house.

☀

A month later, Isamu woke up in the hospital with his worried family and friends around him.

“What happened?” Isamu groaned, reaching up to his head and pausing on the bandages wrapped around his curls. 

“What do you remember?” Rei asked him softly. 

Isamu scrunched up his nose, trying to recall what he’d been doing… “I can’t remember,” he sighed, frustrated with himself. 

“You and I were tracking down a corrupt businessman,” Nikushimi explained, “In the middle of the fight, a man with a strengthening quirk managed to get behind you and knock you out with a piece of metal-” Isamu grimaced and avoided rubbing the back of his head, “-and I was only able to call for backup after the fight was pretty much over.”

“They said you might have lost some memories,” Shun added on, “So we weren’t sure how much you still remember.”

Isamu frowned, thinking back, “I went to the police station for something… I remember Toya-” Enji and Rei sighed in relief, “-and pretty much everything up to getting a message from Nezu about a possible case.”

“That would’ve been the one we just finished,” Nikushimi relaxed in his relief. 

“So I’m good?” Isamu asked hopefully.

Shun patted his shoulder sympathetically, “They’re just gonna need to do some tests on you, but you should be free to go within the next few days.”

“Thank fuck,” Isamu sighed, and his friends and family laughed.

☀

While Isamu mostly stuck to the Underground Pros to socialize, usually on patrols with others, he did try and keep up with news on his former classmates who had gone into the Limelight. 

Some, like Apollo, were easy to keep track of, but others like Adam and Yuki - both had gone to different countries to future their skills as Rescue-based Pros - were much harder to keep track of, especially if you didn’t know the language that the other countries used.

(Thankfully, google translate was a thing, and Isamu spoke and read English fluently enough that he was able to catch news through those channels. However, he had no clue of what happened in the Indonesian language; sorry Adam, but you probably shouldn’t have gone there if you wanted people to keep up with what you’ve been doing there over the years.)

Rei might’ve joined Class A late, but she easily kept social with most of their classmates, especially the female ones.

Isamu had been amused when Enji had been kicked out of his and Rei’s house several times when it came to Girl-Night, and Isamu would usually end up inviting Shun over to his apartment (and Nikushimi if the purple-haired man wanted to join in or if he and Isamu happened to do a patrol together) and letting them take over Isamu’s lounge as he went out for his patrol for the night. 

☀

Todoroki Fuyumi was born two years after her older brother on the 6th of December.

Enji and Rei were overjoyed with the little girl and named Shun her godfather and Coral her godmother.

Isamu was looking after Toya while his parents were at the hospital with little Fuyumi, and as such, was the first one to see the boy’s blue flames of his early quirk.

(Isamu was just glad that they always had a fire extinguisher on hand at anyone’s house - his apartment, Enji and Rei’s house, Shun’s penthouse, and Nikushimi’s flat - because of cases where Enji would get just a little out of hand. 

Looks like his son would take after him.)

Chapter Text

Todoroki Natsu was born on the first of July, three years after his older sister, and five years after his older brother. 

Isamu got to keep watch over Toya and Fuyumi in the waiting room - now that both children were old enough to not throw a massive fuss while waiting for their parents - of the hospital and were more than capable enough to control any accidental fires or ice accidents.

The redheaded five-year-old boy had gotten better control over his quirk while his sister had only just started being able to actively use and stop her own quirk.

Isamu chuckled when Fuyumi frosted over Toya’s hair and the boy grumbled at her. The girl giggled as she played with the frosted red locks, and turquoise eyes softened slightly when Toya’s eyes met his sister’s blue-grey ones.

“Silly ‘Yumi,” Toya poked his tongue out at her.

Fuyumi poked her tongue back at him, “S’eanie!”

Isamu chuckled again, “Be nice you two.”

They both turned to him with matching expressions, “No!”

Isamu laughed, and he could hear a few other people laughing at them as well. Ah, to be young and happy.

(Isamu could only wish that his childhood had been the same)

☀

Isamu often found himself going through old motions, drifting through Hero Forums and mingling with others on the various servers he had to create a new account for. 

All Might was a hot topic between various users, discussing what his quirk was, and talking about the recently appointed Number One Pro’s latest villain takedowns.

He chucked in his own input here and there, but mostly kept to himself; especially when it came to talking about All Might- Yagi-san’s quirk. Firstly, because it was not his right to expose a secret that Yagi-san hadn’t told Isamu , and secondly, One for All and All for One was a complicated history that the public didn’t need to know. 

It was only when he noticed his name - His actual name rather than his Pro name - pop up that he got curious.

Apparently, one of the users had gone through old Sports Festival recordings and made the comparison of Isamu quirk being all too similar to All Might’s quirk. Minus the lightning and stuff that Isamu let off.

(Isamu was extremely glad that he’d managed to hide his extra quirks under things that Energy Flow could legally do)

He choked when someone mentioned ship names . 

What. The. Fuck.

PowerPair, Green-Might, All-Lightning, Superduo, Mysterious-two(because no one knew where Isamu had gone after Yuuei, and no one knew All Might’s name), and Isamu wanted to die .

He knew that his face had probably gone bright red. Isamu made a noise that he wasn’t sure could pass for a human noise, and had to turn off his phone to avoid looking at it.

What the fuck was wrong with people?! Sure, they didn’t know how Isamu viewed the man - as a teacher/mentor/older figure to look up to, especially since Isamu had come from the future where All Might was even more respected and revered than in the current time - but would the general public take his own options into thought?

Hell, Isamu is Enji’s (adopted) brother! The brother to the Number Two Pro, who just so happened to have such a big rivalry against All Might - not that Isamu thought that Yagi-san knew it - and hadn’t really interacted with the Number One Pro other than in a group with the rest of his friends. 

Isamu firmly decided not to let Enji know of this. Let alone Shun, Rei and Nikushimi.

(Oh, kami, if they found out-

Isamu turned off his phone again as he shuddered in horror.)

☀

Isamu had been going through the motions of one of his “normal” days when the email appeared in his inbox.

He’d opened it, eyes widening when he recognized the code, his mind instantly switching out numbers and symbols for the words that they were; his body tensed up as realised what his teacher was saying. 

Nezu-sensei was still one of the smartest creatures on this earth; it was no surprise that his teacher would be able to figure out what, or rather, who Isamu was.

(Honestly, he was surprised that his adoptive family members hadn’t tried to hunt down his “father” in this time. Or hadn’t even tried to find out more about his past.

He was going to blame the whole time-travel thing.)

But, anyway, back to the information that his teacher had sent him - applicants for the coming year at Yuuei - and there were several faces that Isamu had to take a moment to stop himself from falling into a panic attack.

Present Mic, Midnight, Aizawa-sensei… oh, shit, is that Iida Tensei?

It was startling for Isamu to see his teachers’ youthful faces next to their application forms. And Isamu was forced to give himself a few moments to settle and organize his thoughts. Breaking down would not be helpful as of this moment. 

He got another email a moment later, an invite to watch the entrance exams from the Yuuei school board; most likely because Nezu made them send him one, as he’d never been invited before.

(The Hero Commission, and subsequently, the school board didn’t exactly like how much Isamu was affecting people in “their” system. In fact, he’d been basically called a vigilante by a couple of members of the commission - that was something Enji had gotten to hear and had gotten very pissed off at.)

Isamu shrugged, emailing back a quick message to let the board know that he’d be attending, then gave his thanks to his teacher, making sure to let the chimaera know of his attendance before he raced off to his notebooks to see if what he wanted to do would change things too much.

☀

Isamu tightened his hands into his shirt as he gritted his teeth.

Too much had changed for the entrance exam since his own exam almost twelve years ago. Gone was the ability for kids that had quirks that weren’t flashy to get into Yuuei’s Heroics, now the entrance exam was like the one Izuku took in the future.

In the viewing room, Isamu was left alone from the current teachers of Yuuei - something he was extremely thankful for (it wouldn’t be good for him to lose his temper) - except for Nezu who kept sipping his tea leisurely in the seat next to him.

“See anyone you might be interested in, Isamu-kun?”

Isamu had to force his body not to stiffen up when his teacher spoke, the chimaera had easily picked up on Isamu’s wandering eyes, glancing from screen to screen. He sighed, “There’s someone I know-” in the future , went unspoken, but defiantly not unheard by the chimaera, “-who doesn’t have the most flashy quirk, but he’s a good-” teacher , “-kid,” Isamu finished, eyes still moving between screens.

Nezu hummed thoughtfully, “A non-combative quirk, then.”

Isamu didn’t need to look at his teacher to know that he was running through all the applicants and their quirks. 

“He’s good,” Isamu promised, eyes narrowing on a dark-haired male on screen thirty-eight. The teenager had panic written all over his face as he swung around a pole he’d managed to pick up from somewhere.

The greenette felt rather than saw Nezu look at the very same screen he was looking at. A couple of teachers that were close to him and the principal flinched and moved away from them.

Isamu just shook his head as Nezu bared his eager animalistic smirk at the technology in front of them. Nezu took another sip of tea, “I see what you mean, Isamu-kun.”

“Don’t kill him, Nezu-sensei.”

☀

Aizawa Shota inevitably ended up failing the entrance exam.

Isamu sighed as he got the news from his teacher, via email of course, and leant back in his desk chair to glare at the ceiling. 

Sure, he knew that this had to happen, but it would make it both harder and easier for Isamu to do what he wanted to do. Damn the fucking Commission; changing things so that they could control the masses easier with flashier quirks. 

(Letting Quirkless people fade into the background and get ostracized for something they couldn’t control. Letting people with “villainous” quirks get destroyed by the society they created.)

Isamu would make Aizawa Shota be a hero. No matter what.

☀

Isamu knew that something important was happening on this day; he just couldn’t remember what was so important.

(Stupid time-travel affecting his memories. Whenever something important or essential to the time-line he was currently on was happening, a large number of his memories of the future would get foggy, so he was essentially doing everything he could to keep everything stable and happy blind .)

So when he switched on his TV when he woke up after a long night - most of the night he spent chasing down criminals, and stopping by the police station to get his hands on any case that they were willing to give him - of Underground Pro work, and saw the chaos that was being filmed on the news, Isamu froze.

Eyes widening in horror, he shoved on his costume quickly, grabbing a face mask, and bolted out of the door.

There were people running away from the catastrophe, and Isamu raced past them, the lightning that his quirk gave off easily made people avoid his near proximity.

The wind blew his hair back as he raced through the chaos, green eyes narrowing on the dust storm surrounding the fight - and that was too kind of a word to describe it - that was being recorded by a helicopter circling around it in the sky.

(Why the fuck didn’t he get his mask before he left the house-)

The villain - he’d gone too far to be called a criminal - was monologuing to the cameras, but Isamu didn’t let that stop him. Bolting through the air with handcuffs he easily knocked the distracted villain out.

His eyes widened when he noticed the Pro-Hero, and he raced to Zip-Zap’s side. 

Isamu tried and failed to hold back his tears when he noticed the state the woman was in; unfortunately, he knew that she was too far gone for anyone to safe.

(Maybe if Isamu had a healing quirk then maybe he could’ve saved her, but he didn’t-)

He apologized to her over and over again, “ I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry- ”

Zip-Zap’s eyes widened slightly, and she reached up to pat his cheek, “S’rite,” her words were slurred, and blood dribbled out of the corner of her mouth.

Isamu sobbed, “I’m so, so sorry. Your son. You never got to see him grow up. He chooses to go to Yuuei, just because he wanted to find something to know about you. He’ll try to become a hero; I promise that he’ll be a great hero one day, one that you’ll be proud of, Zip-Zap.”

Zip-Zap looked confused as if registering his words was a challenge for her, but he knew that he’d gotten through when she choked on the blood in her mouth, letting silent tears dribble down her cheeks, “T-tank-”

“It’s alright,” Isamu reassured her, his green eyes only shedding more tears as he grabbed her hand, “I promise. I’ll look after Denki. I promise you that.”

And Zip-Zap smiled, tightening her hand around his once more as his chest heaved with sobs. He felt it the moment her hand weakened around his, her eyes dulling and Isamu could feel it when she passed on.

Isamu sobbed as Kaminari Hikari passed away without knowing a world where her family would thrive and change.

☀

Todoroki Shoto was born a couple of days after Zip-Zap’s death, and while Enji and Rei were more than understanding that Isamu didn’t have to be there, he still made sure he was there to give his support to his brother and sister-in-law.

Toya might’ve been a bit clingy the whole time that Isamu was with him and the boy’s siblings. The nine-year-old and his seven-year-old sister seemed to know that something was wrong with their “Uncle Isamu”, which four-year-old Natsu seemed to pick up on.

The three siblings spent the whole time while their parents were in the hospital - they were in the waiting room - cheering up a slightly down-crested Isamu.

Most of the cheering up was spent setting their quirks on each other, Toya and Natsu, while Fuyumi told off her brothers for “fighting”.

Isamu ended up using Black Whip to surround each of the boys in small cocoons that had Fuyumi giggling as Toya and Natsu complained of unfairness.

“Well maybe you brats -” Isamu smiled as the kids giggled, “-should learn to behave.”

“You’re so mean, 'ncle!” Natsu pouted.

Isamu just chuckled. 

☀

Isamu grunted as the criminal’s hand slammed into his shoulder. A disgusting feeling of slime coating his left arm for a moment before sinking into his skin.

“What did you do!?” Isamu snarled at the smirking criminal who had been going by “Ink”.

Ink coughed, “Nothing too deadly ,” he sneered at Ikigai, and Isamu figured that he deserved the punch to the gut with five percent of One for All.

Ink muttered something about Ikigai being Quirkless from the on the ground as the Underground Pro snapped quirk-suppressant handcuffs onto the criminal’s wrists. 

“I don’t need a quirk to fight idiots like you,” Ikigai snapped at Ink who grumbled, “What I need is for you to tell me what the fuck you did to me.”

Ink laughed from his place on the ground, “You’re screwed!” he cackled as Ikigai pulled him off the ground, and made him stand upright, “You’re screwed Ikigai! This is what you get for ruining everything!”

Ikigai stiffened. 

“You destroyed our lives, tossed us in jail, ruined everything ,” Ink carried on manically, “This is what you deserve !”

Ikigia knocked Ink out with a hit to the back of his head. 

☀

“Are you sure you’re feeling alright?” Rei asked Isamu after the family get-together dinner that night.

Enji had already taken Toya, Fuyumi and Natsu out to the car to get them ready to take home, and Rei was holding onto baby Shoto

Isamu chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck, “I’m fine, Rei, I promise ,” he said reassuringly. 

Her grey-brown eyes narrowed on him, and even baby Shoto opened his bi-coloured eyes to stare at him.

Isamu rolled his eyes, “Fine,” he relented, “I’ll go get checked out tomorrow, that sound alright?”

Rei beamed, “Thank you, Isamu.”

(Isamu hid his shiver when Baby Shoto merely closed his eyes, as if pleased with his mother. Kami, that was terrifying.)

“Alright, alright,” Isamu shook his head, “Go home, Rei. Enji won’t be able to keep up with those trouble-makers by himself.”

Rei snorted and Isamu laughed as she (finally) left his apartment. Isamu shook his head in amusement as he shut the door and turned to go clean up the kitchen.

He paused and looked down at his hands, specifically his left hand and arm.

He was fine. There wasn’t anything wrong with him.

(Lies, lies, lies, lies, lies-)

Isamu moved throughout his apartment, cleaning and tidying it - trying to keep his mind off that .

The next morning, he did do as he said, getting an appointment with a nurse at the local hospital to check out his arm.

“Oh,” the nurse - a man with pale blond hair, and grey eyes - said hesitantly, looking at Isamu nervously. 

“What’s “oh”?” Isamu asked, his body tensing up as the nurse dropped his hold on Isamu’s arm.

The nurse headed to his computer, typing something and bringing pictures up as well as several written logs. 

“I’m afraid that I’m not qualified to quite give you an answer,” the nurse apologized, standing up and giving Isamu a short bow, “If you’ll excuse me for one moment, I can go get someone who is?”

Isamu sighed but nodded, and the nurse raced off as soon as he could. 

He was beginning to get a bad feeling about this.

☀

Isamu sighed from the Sports Festival Stadium’s stands.

His wrapped left arm was crossed over his chest with his right, a scowl on his face despite the person who he was here for’s ability to take down most of his opponent’s.

Aizawa Shota merely needed to glare at some of the best students that the Heroics department had to offer, to defeat them. Because all of those “Best Heroic Students” relied on their quirks. 

He checked his phone, and rolled his eyes when he saw the already filled out internship offer form for one Aizawa Shota. All Isamu had to do was sign and put the “Agency” that he worked at down.

(Spoiler alert; Isamu was his own Agency, which just happened to be a “branch” in the Moeru Mori Association. Because legally the Agency had to come from somewhere .)

“Smart-ass rat,” Isamu grumbled fondly to himself, glancing up for a moment to see Aizawa get slammed into the ground harshly between blinks and wincing.

He looked back at his phone, and sighed for a moment before finishing the form and sending it to Nezu.

He then pocketed the device, crossing his arms again and watching grimly as Aizawa was eventually placed eighth overall in the festival.

Not bad for a teenager who didn’t get formal fighting training until he was twelve. 

☀

If there was one thing that Aizawa Shota knew about the mystery that was Ikigai, was that the person behind the mask was just as mysterious as the person that wore the mask was.

Shota hadn't been expecting an internship after his horrible failure in the sports festival. He had been expecting pitying glares - what else would he expect from the people he removed quirks from? - and to be shunned by the heroics department for even daring to claim his goals in front of them.

So the internship was completely out of the blue.

As the first ever general education student to get an internship offer - and for both his teacher and the principal to allow it - Shota found himself stuck with one of the weirdest people he'd ever had the chance to meet.

(His mother had been all too willing to let him do the internship, giving him a massive smile as she'd signed the paperwork needed - the paperwork that Heroic students' parents normally signed at the start of the school year - and they both ignored the absence where Shota's father should have been with them)

Midoriya Isamu was just too different to normal people, Shota found himself scowling whenever the man gave him this blindingly innocent smile every time the Pro-Hero complimented the quirk that had caused many of his peers to isolate from him.

What good was Erasure? As much as he wanted to be a Pro-Hero, Shota knew that he wouldn't survive a day as one of those blinding people.

Heck, he'd never even heard of the man interning him! And you'd think otherwise, with that mop of curly bush-like hair on his head, the bandaged left arm, and the crazy freckles scattered across his cheeks and nose that screamed about how much sun the green-haired male had gotten growing up.

Which meant that this Midoriya Isamu had either a poor wealth childhood with hardly any chances to get away from the sun - but didn't explain as to how he'd managed to get an internship for Shota - or he'd grown up in a wealthy home with plenty of chances to run around like a spoilt child.

(He really didn't know better back then. Fourteen years in the future Shota would be shaking his head in disbelief and not-surprise as one of his students that year looked exactly like a younger version of his mentor from fourteen years ago. Those green eyes that had smirked at him with knowledge of something he wouldn't know until the future, no longer did, only merely fanboying deep inside as Midoriya Izuku was the only one in a class of twenty students to recognize Aizawa Shota as the Pro-Hero, Eraserhead)

So what he hadn't been expecting was a man who fought mostly quirkless and consistently kept Shota on his toes while they sparred during the week of internship. Midoriya Isamu didn’t once show his quirk while he danced around Shota in a mock fight. 

“Why don’t you use your quirk?” Shota had to ask on the third day, both of them taking a break from training the teenager to drink some water. 

Isamu - Shota had been forced to use the man’s given name within an hour of Shota getting his arse destroyed in a mock fight. And the fact that if Shota tried to call him “Midoriya” or “Midoriya-sensei” then the green-haired man wouldn’t even respond to those - hummed as he tapped his fingers against the plastic bottle that he was holding, “Why should I?” he asked softly, green eyes intense as he glanced at Shota, “If I was to use my quirk, then there’s no point when you use yours.”

“But it would give you an advantage, even if it was only for a short while,” Shota argued. 

The soft smile that the man gave him made Shota glare at him. Wondering what the fuck was wrong with the unknown Pro-Hero.

Isamu just grew grim suddenly, confusing the living fuck out of Shota, “Sometimes you can’t rely on a quirk to fight,” the man said simply.

“Wouldn’t it be better if you used your quirk against me so I can get used to fighting others with quirks?” Shota countered, rolling his eyes. 

“Oh, that’s the plan for tonight,” Isamu chuckled as he waved a dismissive hand and ignoring Shota’s gaping mouth, “I’m getting you used to fighting larger-” Shota scowled at the dig towards his lithe body in comparison to Isamu’s more muscular one, “-opponents who don’t have physical quirks.”

“Rude,” Shota scowled, and crossed his arms over his chest.

The man just smiled that weird smile at Shota, “Anyway, have you put any thought into what type of Hero you want to be?” he asked.

Shota rolled his eyes, “It’s not like I have any choice, Underground Heroics is my best bet.”

Ismau didn’t seem surprised, “Anyone has a choice,” he said simply, “Sometimes, some choices are much more suited to people than any other choices that they’re given.”

Shota had the chance to see a brief solemn look cross the normally care-free man’s face, and frowned in both curiosity and confusion. The green-haired man shook his head, and placed a smile on his face, “Anyway, we should get back to sparring,” he winked teasingly, “Don’t want you to die tonight.”

“I’m going to die before we go anywhere else,” Shota grumbled under his breath as he joined the Pro-Hero on the sparring mat. 

Surprisingly, Isamu laughed at his words, and Shota found himself freezing for a moment as he felt the back of his neck warm in embarrassment. He hadn't meant for the man to hear that.

He pretended nothing happened as they got back into sparring.

☀

Isamu watched from the stands as Aizawa thrashed the comeption in his second Sports Festival.

A smug smirk graced his lips as the Heroics Students looked terrified of Aizawa Shota, who looked proud and if not as smug as Isamu as he took his place at the first place podium.

Isamu clapped along with the rest of the (shocked) audience, and offered a massive smile to Aizawa when the teenager noticed him; eyes widening in shock, then happiness, then a calm mask of aloofness.

A ping from his phone got Isamu to glance at the thing, and he grinned when he opened up the email for a continued internship with Aizawa Shota of class 2-B.

(Of course, he later filled out the form - damn Commision and their need for paperwork - but for now he was going to enjoy the moemnt for his future-teacher and present-student.)

☀

Honestly, if Isamu hadn’t almost gotten killed by one of All for One’s multi-quired minions - he was caught by surprise when the man displayed a second quirk, sue him(please don’t) - he would’ve kept hiding the after-effects of Ink’s quirk.

His left arm had to be unbandgaed, and of course, while he was unconscious he didn’t get a cchance to tell the nurses not to. Which inevitably meant that his family got to see the inky black shit that was his arm, and was slowly creeping to the rest of his body.

It wasn’t nice to get yelled at for hiding an injury from his family when he woke up.

Rei sobbed, Enji had to leave to room to avoid setting off the fire alarms, Shun had gone still, and had to sit down in one of the chairs while Nikushimi just shook his head at Isamu before leaving the hospital. 

“Why didn’t you tell me/us,” was a common question from his family for weeks after he was discharged.

He didn’t have an answer to give them.

☀

Isamu regretted telling Aizawa that he wouldn’t be able to take on the now third-year for his final internship at the end of the year. 

The ink had taken over his entire left side, and was making its way to his right side of his body. He could still move, as long as he had a small percentage of One for All running through him at all times, but without the quirk Isamu would’ve been bedridden a long time ago.

The dark-haired male narrowed his eyes at Isamu, reminding the green-haired man of how Aizawa glared at students in the future.

“And you didn’t tell anyone about this life-threating thing you have?” Aizawa scoffed from where he sat on the floor, “No wonder they’re pissed at you.”

“What was I going to do?” Isamu sighed, resting his back against the wall, sitting on one of the benches that resided on the sides of the gym, “Hey, guys, I got hit with a quirk that kills people within a year, but because of my quirk I can extend that by three or so years, nice knowing ya’ll?”

Aizawa rolled his eyes at that, “You know that’s not what I mean, Isamu.”

Isamu sighed again, “I know, I’m sorry,” he leant back to look at the celing, “I just didn’t know how to tell them that I’m dying . There’s nothing we can do to stop it; I just needed to live a few more years then I was more than happy to go.”

The teenager just stared at him, eyes calculative, “A few more years?”

The green-haired man sighed at his error, “It doesn’t matter now,” he looked back at Aizawa who raised an eyebrow, “What’s done is done; if my family hates me because of it, then so be it.”

He didn’t mention how heart-breaking it would be for him to loose some of the only people who had gotten to know the real Izuku/Isamu. Gotten to know how terrified Isamu really was of the world. How Isamu would tear himself into pieces for quirk analyses, how hisquirk came late, how they helped him become the person he is today.

Losing them would be like losing a part of himself. 

But he wouldn’t say that. They didn’t deserve to know how much just losing them would tear him apart. 

They didn’t deserve his selfishness.

☀

Time seemed to fly by then. 

Isamu had to keep booking appointments with the hospital for check ups for his body, and he kept going with normal patrols and take-downs for as long as he could, until his body finally started shutting down.

It had started in the shower, Isamu wouldn’t be able to move his fingers or toes, later his entire left arm wouldn’t respond to him, and the next day he wouldn’t be able to get out of bed until he powered up seven percent of One for All.

It took him until he was using fifteen percent of One for All to finally admit that he needed to retire before he did something stupid in the field. 

His colleagues in the Underground took it well - minus his family members who hadn’t spoken to him since the day they’d found out - and quite a few people were excited to get to know the student that Isamu had taken on.

(It sounded so weird Aizawa being his student rather than the other way around. And Isamu had been given three years to get used to it; spoiler, he hadn’t yet.)

Isamu ended up storing away most of his stuff in a long-term storage facility that was more than glad to add various security measures to his stuff - three passcodes, a DNA scan, a puzzle that needed to be worked out, and various other things that needed to be unlocked via a code that only he(and Nezu, but honestly, the rat knew everything, so was it such a surprise?) knew - so that Isamu knew his stuff was safe.

He ended up going into a hospital long-term care ward where he spent most of this time struggling to keep his body from failing him, having to use twenty percent of One for All to keep himself able to move as his brain spun from boredom.

Aizawa came and visited when he could, but as his career took off, the recent graduate came in less and less.

Isamu loved it when Nezu came in for visits, playing games of chess with his teacher that often ended up in draws rather than wins or losses as they chatted over a large variety of subjects. 

(He probably would’ve died alone if it wasn’t for his teacher’s meddling after hearing that Isamu was having to use forty percent of One for All/Energy Flow to keep moving around.)

When he reached having to use fifty percent of One for All, he was surprised to see Enji awkwardly standing in the doorway one day.

The redhead had grown a small beard in the time that Isamu had last seen him, and his hair had gotten longer. His brother had a few more scars than the last time, the short sleeved shirt showed them off proudly. 

“Enji?” Isamu winced as his voice cracked, “What are you doing here?”

His brother looked nervous, a sight Isamu had almost never seen on the redhead’s face before, “I, uh-” his brother bit his lip as he cut himself off.

Isamu sighed, “Nezu told you.”

Enji nodded, still staying quiet, and Isamu knew that he looked stupidly sickly, but that was nothing to get all silent about.

(The ink had covered almost all of his body, and was creeping up his neck. Making his skin all blackish-grey. And he knew that he looked exhausted; dark eyebags from sleepless nights where he has been spending time trying to get as many cases done as possible and dull green eyes that radiated how tired and hopeless he was with the situation he was in.)

“Sorry you have to see me like this,” Isamu shrugged, “I didn’t want you guys here for this exact-”

He didn’t get a chance to finish what he was saying because his brother had taken the three strides needed to get to the side of Isamu’s bed and wrapped the greenette in a hug. A type of hug that Isamu missed the most; getting to feel his brother’s protective warmth wrapping around him, and just making everything seem alright. 

“I’m sorry,” Isamu whimpered, eyes shutting as he managed to hug his brother back, trying to keep the redhead as close as he could for as long as he could. 

His brother’s body took in a shaky breath, and it took Isamu a moment to realise that Enji was crying .

Enji pulled back slightly to look Isamu in the eyes, watery turquoise meeting dull forest green, “You shouldn’t be the one aplogizing, Isamu-” he took in a shaky breath, “-if anything it should be us. We left you with…”

Isamu didn’t need the other man to finish, just shrugging in response, “It was my fault for not telling you guys-”

“We should’ve known that there was no way in Hellflame-” Isamu beamed at the quirk-pun which made Enji chuckle lightly, “-that you’d tell us about any injury. Myself especially.”

Isamu winced, “Sorry, Enji.”

His brother shook his head, letting go of the hug to sit on the side of Isamu’s bed, “Stop apologi-”

“-apologizing, I know,” Isamu rolled his eyes and his brother laughed. The old joke made both of them smile for a short time.

“How’s the kids?” Isamu asked eagerly, he’d missed them since the silence from his family.

Enji stilled for a moment, his shoulders tensing before relaxing, “They miss you,” Enji smiled softly at Isamu whose smile dropped and twisted into something more guilty, “Toya and Fuyumi understand but Natsu keeps asking why you haven’t come for a visit-” Isamu flinched and lowered his gaze, and his brother placed a warm hand over his scarred one, bringing the greenette’s attention back to the redhead, “-and while Shoto doesn’t remember you, he’s seen pictures and despite not having a range of words, seems to have the same questions as Natsu.”

Isamu sighed, “I’m sorr-”

Enji gave him a pointed look, and Isamu chuckled, “Sorry.”

Enji rolled his eyes, “How long do you have?”

Isamu sighed and looked at his black-grey hands, “We’re not a hundred precent sure. I’m able to keep increasing the power of my quirk to keep my body going, so any estimates are canceled out by that, but based on my own guesses, and the fact that I’ve been having to increase a lot quickier recently, I would guess about another month or so? At the max, that is.”

His brother stiffened, “You really weren’t going to tell us,” he said quietly.

“I didn’t want to make things worse,” Isamu admitted, “I already accidentally pushed all of you away when I hid it, I figured that I’d just leave you guys alone; send a couple letters that you’d get after I died.”

The redhead’s hand tightened around Isamu’s and the greenette looked up at him.

“I’m telling Rei,” Enji said, and Isamu froze.

“Don’t!” Isamu yelped, “She’s gonna kill me!”

His brother smirked, “Payback for almost dying without telling any of us.”

Isamu pouted.

☀

Rei did end up coming (without the kids the first time) to yell at him for daring to not tell them that he was about to die.

The second time she came, she brought the kids with Enji and Isamu got to see his (adopted) niece and nephews again. 

Toya had grown a lot since Isamu had last seen him. The now twelve-year-old was more than happy to see Isamu again, even if he waited until Natsu and Fuyumi got to hug their uncle and for Shoto to be introduced to the greenette.

Isamu hated that Shoto was getting to know him when he was still alive while he looked like this. He could barely move, even with fifty-five percent of One for All and the blackish-grey skin that his clothes didn't hide made him look all the more sickly.

Shoto, like his siblings, had given the blackish-grey skin a look, but otherwise didn't ask. The three-year-old didn't have the scar that the sixteen-year-old Shoto had, and Isamu hoped that this Shoto wouldn't get it.

Toya was the more excited one of the four siblings, having known Isamu the longest compared to his siblings, and was almost jumping as he showed Isamu the latest trick he'd figured out with his quirk.

"I'm gonna be a hero like you one day," Toya said firmly when Isamu asked what Toya wanted to do after junior high.

Isamu had only smiled and patted his godson's red hair as Enji gave a mock sound of offense that had his four kids giggling.

Rei eventually managed to drag Shun and Nikushimi in to see him, an act that surprised Isamu while he was using sixty percent of One for All.

His friends had paled at the sight of sickly him, but Isamu hadn't been this happy since Enji and Rei came in with their children.

Isamu had apologized time after time to his friends for hiding the injury  but neither of them would have it, even apologizing themselves for not being there for him.

(Isamu made sure to email his thanks to Nezu who sent back a congratulation on fixing his relationship with his family.)

So Isamu's last month was spent happily with his family coming in to visit every few days to spend what little time Isamu had left with them.

He was using seventy-eight percent by the time the month was up, and was quickly getting closer and closer to one hundred every day.

Once he got to one hundred percent, Isamu was going to let himself go. If he went any further than that, he could destroy everything; which wasn't good.

Was it selfish to want to stay living in this life just a little bit more? To stay with his family?

Enji, Rei, Shun, Nikushimi, Nezu, Aizawa, Toya, Fuyumi, Natsu, Shoto…

It was ironic, he ended up thinking during one of his last interactions with his family, he finally had something, some-people he wanted to live for, and now he was dying.

Shun eagerly told Isamu about his nephews, Tensei and Tenya and about his kid that was on the way with his wife that he's married while the silence with Isamu was going on.

Nikushimi had even had a kid, by accident the purple-haired man swore on his life, but wouldn't give up Hitoshi for the world.

Isamu made sure his friends weren't guilty over leaving him out of their lives for such large moments of their lives. It was his fault after all, no matter what they tried to tell him.

But as he reached ninety percent one day, Isamu knew that it was his time to go. Making sure to tell everyone in case they wanted to visit before Isamu died.

Toya ended up coming shortly after his school had let out for the day - Isamu had made sure that Enji and Rei had given the boy permission to come - and they spent time going over the boy's quirk, and maybe possible names for his goal of being a Pro-Hero.

Everyone else trickled in afterward. Rei brought the other three children, Shun came in after his patrol, Nikushimi managed to get up early so that he could come visit before heading onto patrol and Enji ended up being the last after Aizawa had popped by and Nezu had offered tea to the rest of them.

And when visiting hours ended, Toya, Fuyumi, Natsu and Shoto begged for more time before unfortunately being told no and they had to say their goodbyes.

Nikushimi and Aizawa left first, having to head to their patrols. Then Shun had to head home to his wife. Eventually Rei managed to take the kids out - but not without giving Isamu plenty of hugs before they did leave. Toya being the one to stay the longest, tears falling down his cheeks as he did leave - and Enji eventually followed his family out.

And Isamu was left with Nezu.

"Please take care of them, sensei," Isamu all but begged his teacher, his face growing blackish-greyer by the second.

Nezu gave him a soft smile as he ran his paw through Isamu's dark green curly locks, "Of course, Isamu-kun. Your family will always have my support."

Isamu breathed out in relief, despite finding it harder to move his body, "Thank you, sensei."

"Thank you , Isamu-kun," Nezu patted his arm as he hopped off Isamu's bed, "We both know that if you hadn't entered their lives that things would be much different."

Isamu barely managed a chuckle like he wanted to, "Hai, sensei," he looked towards the ceiling, "If I see you in another life, maybe I can tell you how it feels to die; expand your knowledge a bit."

His teacher chuckled, "I'll look forward to it, Isamu-kun."

"Goodnight, sensei," Isamu managed to turn his head to watch the Chimera leave his room.

Nezu turned in the doorway, his eyes soft as he looked at the greenette, "Farewell my student."

Isamu smiled and watched as Nezu shut the door, and turned his head back towards the ceiling.

He took a moment to breath, and finally let One for All calm down under his skin.

100…

99…

86…

72…

59…

45..

32…

19…

10…

5…

4...

3...

2...

1….

...and Todoroki-Midoriya Isamu was gone.

Chapter Text

Izuku was disorientated. 

It only seemed like a moment ago he’d closed his eyes, accepting of death, only to wake up in the Sports Festival Stadium infirmary. Curtains were closed around him as he sat up.

A groan left his lips as a massive headache fought at him, sending his vision swimming as he blinked furiously. 

“Careful dear,” Recovery Girl’s familiar voice said, undertones of worry in her irritated voice, “You’ve been out for a while. I don’t know what Nezu is thinking every year he holds these things!”

Izuku just stared at his hands. Why were they so small? Why did everything around him seem much bigger than normal?

“Where- when am I?” Izuku asked desperately, furrowing his eyebrows as he looked pleadingly at the woman.

If his question surprised her, Recovery Girl didn’t show it, “It’s currently the twenty-fifth of  May, 2174.”

Izuku choked, coughing as tears welled in his eyes. Recovery Girl didn’t ask any questions - despite the confusion he could feel radiating off of her - merely gently rubbing his back to help him get some sort of control back. 

It took him a while, but eventually, Izuku was able to breathe properly again. 

“Sorry,” Izuku whispered, his throat too sore for him to even think about lifting his voice to a louder level.

“It’s quite alright,” Recovery Girl smiled kindly, “But now that you’ve calmed down, I had to do surgery on your hands-” he blinked when he saw the familiar scars, a small part of Izuku was relieved to see a few other nicks and scrapes that hadn’t been from his fight with Todoroki Shoto, “-I won’t be able to heal them again, and you’ll most likely have chronic pains now and again-”

“Thank you,” Izuku smiled at her, stopping her from going on.

“Your welcome, dearie,” Recovery Girl said, “But you’ll be wanting rest now, especially after your surgery.”

Izuku nodded and lay back down. 

He was out like a light within moments. 

☀

The Sports Festival was pretty much over when Izuku left the infirmary, standing in one of the secluded hallways that let him see Katsuki tied to a post, muzzled in the first place position. Shoto was keeping his head downward in the second place position, with Tokoyami in the third-place position. 

Vaguely, he remembered something about Iida being someone who could’ve taken third-place but couldn’t remember why the boy wasn’t there now. He had a better chance of winning against Tokoyami, if only because of his speed. 

Izuku snapped back to attention when he felt familiar flames. He didn’t look at the man who walked up behind him, not even when he stopped to stand beside Izuku to watch the awards ceremony. 

All Might handed out the medals and despite himself, flushed and averted his eyes remembering the ship names , something that Endeavor picked up on. He raised a flaming eyebrow.

Izuku didn’t answer the silent question, ignoring the number two Pro-Hero to watch as Katsuki thrashed at his restraints.

There was a sadness to the scene in front of them. “Fucking hell," he muttered before sighing to himself. The Commission really wasn't being as subtle as they thought they were.

Endeavor looked directly at him this time, “You remind me of someone…”

Izuku hesitated, looking down at his scarred hands. He shook his head, "You must be thinking of my father," he lied, "He's overseas now-" fireburninghothelp "-in America. The Pro-Hero Dracon."

Endeavor nodded, his eyes moving away from Izuku, "That would… explain."

Izuku gritted his teeth but didn't comment further.

He and Endeavor watched as Katsuki tried to deny his first placing, but All Might ended up just throwing it around the chained boy's neck.

"If you'll excuse me, sir," Izuku gave the Limelight Pro a short bow, "I need to leave."

Endeavor gave him another once over before turning back to the scene in front of them. Taking the obvious dismissal, Izuku escaped while he could.

Izuku couldn't help glancing at his arms as he walked, relieved - despite the strangeness of being in a younger body - to see them ink free, scattered with freckles under scars.

He glanced over his shoulder to look at Enji. A sad sigh leaving his chest as he forced himself to keep moving onwards towards the future.