Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Hey, Author-San?” Orakuru called out to the girl sketching fanart in the back. 

“Yeah?” The other girl replied, not looking up.

“Isn’t today the day we were supposed to bring MHA here?” 

“It is? I thought that wasn’t until next week!” Author-San jumped up running back to her computer in the corner. Looking at the date in the bottom corner she smacked her forehead. “Shit!” 

“We can postpone it if you aren’t prepared. There’s no rush.” Orakuru tried calming her friend’s panic. 

“No, I promised I would start this today!” She moved around the room, trying to straighten out the mess. “How could I forget about this?!” 

Orakuru sighed before getting up to help Author-San tidy the room. After an excruciatingly long ten minutes, the room is finally cleaned and both girls sink into the chairs. 

“Who am I supposed to bring Author-San?” Orakuru pulled out a notebook to write down names. 

“If I’m not forgetting anyone, all of Class 1A, Monoma, Kendo, Tetsutetsu, and Hatsume. As well as Eraserhead, Present Mic, Midnight, All Might, Recovery Girl, Hawks, Ingenium, and Nedzu.” 

“Do we really have to bring Nedzu?” Orakuru asked. “He’s scary!”

“Yes. He needs to be here.” Author-San rolled her eyes at her friend’s fear of the bear-mouse-rat. “The League of Villains needs to be here too, but they have to be brought in after the others so no one destroys the theatre trying to kill each other.” She ran her hand down her face, already dreading that interaction. 

“Okay...” Orakuru finished writing down the names. “We should be all set. Do you want to be up front with me when I teleport them in or make an entrance of your own?” 

“Pfft. As if I’m passing up the opportunity to do a dramatic entrance.” Author-San waved her hand dismissively, “I’ll go into my Holo Room. Let me know when I need to come out.” 

“Will do!” Orakuru waited for the Holo Room door to close before clapping her hands three times. Each clap brought a different group of people into the theatre. For a few moments, everyone stood disoriented from the sudden teleportation, trying to make sense of their change in scenery. Aizawa was the first one to come out of the shock and his hand immediately went to his capture weapon. 

“Where are we?!” He shouted, doing a mental headcount to see who all was in the room, his gaze stilling when they landed on the goddess. She wore a pastel purple dress which flowed in the wind even though they were indoors. She had long blonde hair and appeared to have no eyes. “Who are you and why did you bring us here?” 

The other Pro Heroes quickly followed his gaze and dropped into fighting stances. The students, finally coming out of shock due in part to the shouts of their teacher, also moved into defensive positions. 

Orakuru raised her hands, to show she meant no harm. Because of the action, they could see her eyes that, instead of being on her face, were situated on her hands. “There is no need for violence, Shouta Aizawa.” Aizawa paled slightly at the mention of his full name. “I am Orakuru, goddess of prophecy and overseer of the Multiversal Theatre. I was instructed to bring this specific group of people here to react.” 

“The multiverse exists?” Midoriya said, looking at the goddess in awe. “Up until now, the multiverse has only been a theory! This changes everything!” Orakuru smiled at the green haired boy. 

“It does exist, Midoriya. All of you will get the chance to peer into your multiverse.” Murmurs sprung up from around the theatre. 

“You said you were instructed to bring us here.” All Might started, “Who wanted us here?” 

“I did!” Author-San walked out of a door which wasn’t there a moment ago. “It’s nice to meet you all! You can call me Author-San!” 

Everyone looked to Author-San, who was dressed in a bright blue crop top and jean shorts with a purple, pink, and blue flannel tied around her waist. She had dark lipstick and wore blue and gold eyeshadow along with winged eyeliner. Her hair was jet black with one side partially shaved. The other side fading into a rich purple color. Author-San also had freckles that could rival Midoriya’s. 

She walked to the front to stand by the goddess’s side. “Does anyone have any questions? Midoriya.”

“What’s your quirk?” The green bean asked, pulling a notebook out of the ether. 

Author-San smiled brightly, “Good question! I don’t have one, I am a creator!” 

“WHY THE HELL SHOULD WE LISTEN TO YOU? YOU’RE JUST SOME QUIRKLESS NOBODY WHO THINKS THEY’RE BETTER THAN ME!!” Bakugou shouted. 

Author-San seemed unbothered by the screaming, though her eyes took on a dangerous gleam at the insult. “You’re lucky you’re one of my favorites or I would have backhanded you into next week for insulting me! Anyways, I can’t force you to listen to me. If you don’t wanna listen, then don’t, but it won’t be my fault if my hand accidentally slips and puts your baby pictures on the screen.” Bakugou shut up real quick after that, while Mina looked excited. 

“Can you please do that, Author-San??” Mina asked excitedly, already thinking of all the ways she could blackmail her friend. 

“Maybe I will, maybe I won’t. Yaoyorozu?” Author-San gestured to the black haired girl, patiently waiting with her hand raised.

“What did you mean by Creator?” Momo asked politely.

“Creators are special people entrusted with expanding the multiverses. We can create worlds with just our imagination and a pen. Aizawa?” 

“You said we’ll get the chance to look into the multiverse. What does that mean?” Aizawa asked, still in fight or flight mode.

“It’s exactly as it sounds! Myself along with the help of Orakuru will be showing you some of the universes in your branch of the multiverse! Before you ask, yes there are other branches in the multiverse. Those branches have nothing to do with you and you would likely be severely confused were we to show them to you.” Author-San tried to explain as simply as she could, which worked as most people in the audience seemed like they understood. 

“Oh! We almost forgot the League of Villains!” Author-San said to Orakuru. Sensing the growing fear in Class 1A, she turned back to the gathered crowd.

“Don’t worry, their quirks will be disabled here, as will yours. I know they attacked you in the past but no one will be hurt while we are in the theatre, I promise! There will be no fighting of any kind.” They relaxed a little at her words though they were still on edge. 

“Also, there will be several villains you do not recognize at this point in the timeline.” Author-San finished, turning to Orakuru. The goddess clapped and suddenly Shigaraki, Dabi, Toga, Kurogiri, Twice, and Mr. Compress stood in the middle of the room. 

“What the fuck? Kurogiri, what did you do?!” Shigaraki yelled, seemingly not noticing the heroes surrounding him. 

“Tomura, I did not bring us here.” Kurogiri looked confused, before looking eyes with Eraserhead. “Although, I do not think that is the largest of our worries right now.” 

Finally, the rest of the league realized who else was in the room. There was another clap and everyone was seated in chairs similar to those you would find in a movie theatre. 

“Everyone say hi to the League of Villains!” Everyone was quiet. “Or don’t I guess. Anyways, now that everyone is here, we can go over the rules!” Orakuru said, pulling out a piece of paper. They all directed their attention to the goddess as she spoke. 

“Rule number one: All quirk use is prohibited unless explicitly allowed by the overseer. None of you will be able to use your quirks while you are here, though they will return the moment you return to your dimension. 

“Rule number two: If three or more Reactors are looking away from the screen at any time it will pause. It will only resume once all parties have returned their attention. 

“Rule number three: everyone will be required to wear these bracelets.” She held up a bracelet as Author-San started to pass them out. “They will vibrate on the Reactor’s wrist, signaling that that universe may contain something triggering or traumatic for them. In the case they choose not to watch that universe, there are places they can stay until it is over. 

“And last, rule number four, which isn’t really a rule and more just the way the theatre works: the Reactor’s can bring anything they want from their own world into the theatre by wishing for it. Though you should be careful as sometimes things disappear and are never found again. All items will be returned when you depart from the theatre.”

Orakuru finished reading off the list and looked back up at the Reactors. “Any more questions?” 

“Yeah, why the hell are we here?” Dabi asked.

“Right, I forgot the league wasn’t here for the explanation! Hawks, could you please fill them in while I load the first universe?” Author-San looked at the winged hero, who nodded, reluctantly turning around to explain. 

Author-San walked to her corner, sitting in her own chair. She looked over the list of universes at her disposal. “We can ease into the angst later. Let’s start off with something a little lighter.” Author-San muttered to herself as she queued up the first universe.

“Let’s get this show on the road, people!” Author-San yelled from her desk. 

Everyone turned their attention to the screen. 

Searching the Multiverse…

Universe Found…

Loading Universe: Lost

^ Seating Chart 

^ Author-San 

Chapter Text

Loading Universe: Lost

“Lost?” Iida asked. 

“In this universe, Kaminari, Kirishima, and Mina got lost on a journey across the United States.” Author-San said. 

“Why were we in the states?” Kirishima asked curiously. 

Author-San thought for a moment before typing something on her computer. After clicking a few things, she turns back to them. “Sorry, I haven’t watched this universe in a couple years. Basically, the three of you were trying to get to the underworld to prevent a war between the gods.” 

“Why those three? They are not at all cut out for dealing with gods!” Jirou said, then added, “No offence.” 

“None taken. I don’t wanna get between the gods either!” Kaminari said.

“Me neither!” Mina and Kirishima both agreed. 

“They just are.” Author-San shrugged, turning back to her computer. 

The screen shows Kirishima, Kaminari, and Mina in front of a smoldering vehicle. Kirishima looks freaked out. 

[Kirishima]  Guys, we just exploded a bus!

Kirishima is gesticulating widely.

“SHITTY HAIR, WHAT THE FUCK?!” Bakugou yelled.

“Why did we blow up a bus?!” Mina cried. 

Aizawa put his head in his hands, “This is the first universe. We aren’t even five seconds in yet! WHY CAN’T YOU BE NORMAL?!” Author-San walked behind Aizawa and handed him a thermos of his favorite coffee. 

“Figured you might need that.” She smirked. Aizawa took a sip and looked at her wide eyed. 

“You are my new favorite person.” Hizashi feinded offence behind Aizawa and Nemuri started laughing.

“Rude! I thought I was your favorite person!” 

“You were. Now she is. It’s not that hard to figure out, ‘Zashi.” Aizawa smirked, taking another sip of the coffee while Hizashi pouted. 

“Nemuri stop laughing at me!” Hizashi whined. She did, in fact, not stop laughing at him. “Tensei is my only real friend! I don’t know any Aizawa or Kayama.” Hizashi looked at the ceiling dramatically. 

“Oof. You just got last named.” Tensei said, fake wincing. 

Author-San laughed at the group. “Let me know when you run out, Aizawa. I’ll get you some more.” She walked back to her desk. 

[Mina]  Yep

The screen changes to show Mina inspecting a knife.

“How am I so calm about this? We just blew up a bus!” Mina said.

[Kirishima]  –that was being attacked by demon triplet math teachers.

The screen changes back to Kirishima who has his hands in the air. He drags his hands down in face in exasperation. 

“Demons?!” Kaminari gaped. “I didn’t know demons existed!” 

“They don’t, Kaminari.” Momo said. “I’m sure Kirishima just meant the teachers were really cruel. Right, Author-San?” Author-San looked up.

“Hm? No, he was talking about actual demons.” She said nonchalantly. Basically the whole theatre turned to gawk at her.

“W-what??” Momo said. 

“Well she did mention something about a war between the gods. Maybe one of them has demons?” Midoriya said. 

[Mina]  Oh yeah

The screen changes to show Mina looking at Kiri excitedly.

[Kirishima] (Spoken)  Is the whole trip going to be like this?

The screen changes to show all three of them. Kirishima and Mina are looking at each other. Kaminari is crying on Mina’s shoulder.

“Big mood, Kamibro.” Sero said, elbowing him in the arm. 

“I don’t know how Kiri and Mina aren’t crying! That seems scary as hell!” Kaminari exclaimed. 

[Mina]  I hope so!

Kaminari looks at Mina with a ‘what the fuck’ face. Mina puts her arm on Kiri’s shoulder. Kirishima looks like he is questioning all of his life choices. 

Music picks up and Mina starts to sing.

Hades is sending his monsters after us

We're doing something right

The screen changes to the three of them sitting in a forest. Kaminari stands up.

“You have a really good voice Mina!” Jirou commented, sitting up straighter in her chair now that she knows there’s a musical number. 

“Thanks, Jirou!” Mina said. 

“Why is she singing?” Todoroki asked.

“The universe is inspired by a musical!” Author-San said excitedly. 

“Really? That’s so cool!” Jirou exclaimed. 

[Kaminari]  All our food was in there

All our clothes were in there

All our food was in there!

The screen changes to show Kaminari with tears in his eyes. He dramatically puts his arm over his face. 

“We don’t have any food either?!” Kaminari whined. Kirishima patted his shoulder in moral support. 

“It’ll be okay, Kamibro. I’m sure we’ll figure this out in that universe.”

“HAHAHAHA! Figures Class 1A can’t even handle being stranded in the woods! Class 1B woul-” Monoma gets chopped in the neck by Kendo. 

“Sorry about him.” Kendo apologized on behalf of Monoma. 

Dabi leaned into Hawks, “Is this normal?” 

“I have no idea. I’ve only met one of these kids before today.” Hawks shook his head. 

[Kirishima]  Sit tight

Kirishima walks over to Kaminari and puts his hand on his shoulder forcing him to sit back down.

[Mina]  Look, I made an itinerary for any adversary

Drawn from the quests of heroes past

Mina walks to the two boys. 

It's right here in my pocket

[Kirishima]  It's where in your pocket?

Mina’s expression changed to comehting that could only be described as ‘oh fuck.’

“She doesn’t have it, does she?” Sero asked. 

“Your lack of faith in me is astounding.” Mina said sarcastically. 

[Mina]  Oops. It got busted in the blast

Kirishima buries his face in his hands. Mina rubs the back of her neck.

“I was right wasn’t I?” Sero asked, looking at Mina with a smug look.

“OF COURSE YOU LOST IT! YOU FUCKS ARE USELESS WITHOUT ME!” Bakugou yelled. 

“Watch your language, Bakugou! It is unbecoming of future heroes to speak in such a manner!” Iida said, doing the choppy arm thing he does. 

“FUCK OFF FOUR EYES!” 

“Bakugou-” 

“ENOUGH! Both of you sit down and shut up!” Aizawa yelled. 

“I sincerely apologize, Aizawa Sensei! I will do my best to stay quiet from now on!” Iida said bowing at a perfect 90 degree angle. Somehow. 

Tensei smiled, shaking his head at how uptight his little brother is .

“Whatever, just sit down.” Aizawa rolled his eyes. 

[Kirishima]  What did it say?

[Mina]  Take that bus

To Los Angeles

The screen changes to show Mina pointing in a direction.

[Kirishima] We're not on the bus

The screen changes to Kirishima looking entirely done with everything. 

[Mina] (Spoken)  I know.

The screen changes to Mina. Kaminari peeked out from behind her.

[Kaminari]  To Los Angeles

[Kirishima]  We blew up the bus

The screen changes to show the three of them in frame together again. 

[Mina]  I know!

Mina is getting increasingly frustrated. 

[Kaminari]  To Los Angeles

Kaminari hugs Kirishima with tears in his eyes again. 

[Kirishima]  So what are we supposed to do?

Kirishima grabs onto Mina’s shoulders.

[Mina]  Wait for another bus?

Mina looks to the side.

[Kirishima]  What if we blow up that one too?

The screen changes to show Kirishima losing his shit. 

“Revelry in the dark.” Tokoyami deadpanned.

“Tokoyami…  what?” Shoji looked at his friend in confusion. 

Tokoyami made eye contact with him and held it. It was only five seconds but it felt much longer. “Revelry. In. The. Dark.” He turned back to the screen and Shoji was left terrified with no answers and even more questions. 

[All]  We're lost in the woods

Somewhere in New Jersey

The screen changes to an overhead view of the clearing they are standing in. It zooms back in to show them confused. Then it started to rain. 

And we're never gonna make it to LA

We're lost-

“I don’t know much about American geography. How far away is LA from New Jersey?” Uraraka asked Author-San. 

“It’s on the other side of the country, so about 2,700 miles?” Author-San answered, making Kaminari, Kirishima, and Mina gawk. 

“That’s so far!” Mina whined, “I can already feel the calluses and I’m not even there!” 

[Mina]  And it's cold

The wind pulls at Mina’s clothes. 

[Kaminari]  And it won't stop raining

[Kirishima]  Let's just go

The screen changes to show Kirishima beckons his friends in a random direction.

[Kaminari]  No, not that way

The screen changes to show four pairs of glowing red eyes in the dark.

“That’s scary! No it’s not. Yes it is!” Twice shouted, making several people turn to him confused. 

“He’s fine. He just does that sometimes!” Toga said cheerfully. The people looking shrugged and turned away again. 

[Mina]  No backup plan

The screen changes to show Mina looking dejected.

[Kaminari]  No food

Kaminari is holding his stomach in hunger.

[Kirishima]  No phone

Kirishima is pouting with his arms crossed. 

[All]  No adult supervision

The screen changed to show the three of them standing together looking distraught.

“Oh god. Those three without supervision is not something I ever want to think about.” Aizawa said. He can already feel the migraine forming. 

“I’m sure they’ll be fine, Shouta! You worry too much!” Hizashi yelled, wrapping his arm around Aizawa’s shoulder, naturally loud even without his quirk. 

“Too loud.” Aizawa said, covering the ear closest to Hizashi. 

“Sorry!” He whisper yelled, keeping his arm around Aizawa, who has resigned himself to his fate.

We're lost in the woods

And we'll never leave New Jersey

The screen changed to an overview of the clearing again. All three of them are pointing in different directions. 

If none of us are making a decision!

The screen changed to show them looking angry at each other.

“They have, like, zero coordination.” Dabi commented. 

[Kaminari]  It's not safe to stay out here in the open

The screen changes to show Kaminari sitting in front of a fire.

When monsters are hoping to eat us alive

Kaminari is pointing into the forest where there are several pairs of red eyes. He puts his beanie in his mouth.

[Kirishima]  How do they know where we are

The screen showed Kirishima breaking a stick in front of the same fire.

When we don't even know?

Kirishima stomped angrily and looked despondently into the fire.

How are we gonna survive?

[Mina]  It's your smell.

The screen shows Mina pointing at Kirishima.

[Kirishima]  I don't smell.

Kirishima stopped singing and looked offended.

“I don’t smell!” Kirishima said in time with his on screen counterpart. His face turned red from embarrassment as everyone laughed. 

[Kaminari]  Dude, like listen, please

Half-bloods to monsters smell like Mickey D's

Kaminari puts his hand on Kirishima’s shoulder. 

“What’s a half-blood?” Midoriya asked. 

“A halfblood is someone who has one mortal parent and one godly parent. In other words, those three are demigods!” Author-San said, not looking up from her computer. 

“I’m half god?!” Kaminari shouted, disbelievingly.

“Not in your universe.” Author-San pointed out, causing Kaminari to deflate a little. 

“Oh.” 

[Kirishima]  We smell?

Kiri looks grossed out.

[Kaminari]  Like tacos or take-out Vietnamese

[Mina]  So hopefully they just ate

Mina sang cheerfully for someone talking about being eaten.

[Kirishima]  Fantastic gang, well

I don't wanna die in the garden state!

The screen shows Kirishima looking off to the side.
“No one does.” Author-San mumbled under her breath. Shinsou was the only one who heard, giving her an odd look. 

[All]  We're lost in the woods

Somewhere in New Jersey

The screen changed to a wide shot of the three of them in front of the camofire before the wind put the fire out. They look pissed off.

And we're never gonna make it to LA

We're lost and it's dark

And I think that something's moving!

They all hold onto each other looking terrified.

And I think it's coming this way

The screen shows bushes rustling. The screen changes and Kirishima pulls out a sword and Mina pulls out the knife she was looking at earlier.

[Mina]  Is it a monster?

They all stop singing.

[Kaminari]  It's a squirrel

The screen switches to show a cute squirrel. Kaminari puts the squirrel on his shoulder and starts talking to the squirrel and the squirrel is talking back.

“Is he talking to a squirrel?” Jirou asked.

“Is the squirrel TALKING BACK??” Mina out here asking the important questions. 

Kirishima is thinking ‘Is this real or am I just tired?’ Mina looks like this is a perfectly normal occurrence.
[Kirishima]

Dude, are you talking to a squirrel?

[Kaminari]  Satyr powers. Be nice. This squirrel knows every corner of the woods. Maybe he can help us.

The screen shows Kaminari smiling really wide.

[Kirishima]  Really? Cause I think that seems kinda... nuts.

Mina puts her hand over her mouth, looking at Kirishima like he had lost his mind. 

The squirrel stopped chittering. 

“You shouldn’t say that! You’ll hurt his feelings!” Koda said angrily. Or as angry as he can be, which isn’t much because he is a pure bean.

[Kaminari]  You hurt his feelings. Tell the squirrel you're sorry.

Kaminari looks at Kirishima angrily.

[Kirishima]  I am not saying sorry to a squirrel.

[Mina]  He's very sorry. Tell the squirrel you're sorry, Kiri. 

Mina moves next to Kaminari and tries to appease the situation with the angry squirrel. 

“Yeah! Tell the squirrel you’re sorry, Kiri!” Uraraka echoed. 

[Kirishima]  Okay, okay, I am sorry.

The squirrel resumes talking to Kaminari. 

[Kirishima]  What's he saying?

[Kaminari]  He says he knows where we are!

Kirishima looks hopeful. 

“ARE YOU SERIOUSLY GOING TO TAKE DIRECTIONS FROM A FUCKING SQUIRREL??” Bakugou asked calmly. 

“That does seem like the best option, yes.” Kaminari said, nodding sagely and stroking his nonexistent beard.

[Kirishima]  Where are we?

[Kaminari]  He says

Kaminari yeets the squirrel and starts singing again.

We're lost in the woods

Somewhere in New Jersey

And we're never gonna make it to LA

Mina and Kirishima are looking at Kaminari, trying to nonverbally tell him he’s stupid.

Thanks buddy!

Kaminari waves to the squirrel.

“The squirrel didn’t even give them any new information.” Todoroki said. 

The screen changes to show lightning in the sky. 

[Kirishima]  I think the gods are trying to tell me they hate me.

Kirishima looks at the sky angrily with his hand balled into fists.

[Mina]  I'm getting that too.

[Kirishima]  Hungry monsters on the ground

The three of them stand close to one another. There are red eyes in the forest behind them. 

[Mina]  Angry gods are in the sky

The screen shows lightning again. 

[Kaminari]  No safe places to be found

[All]  Wanna run, wanna cry

All three have tears spilling down their faces.

“YOU’RE PATHETIC!” Bakugou yelled. “STOP CRYING AND GET OUT OF THE WOODS!”

“Kacchan, can’t you just be nice to your friends for once?” Midoriya asked, immediately regretting it when Bakugou decided to fly over the back of his chair to try to hit Midoriya. 

Author-San calmly got out of her chair and grabbed Bakugou around the waist in midair, stopping his momentum. 

“WHAT THE FUCK? PUT ME DOWN!” 

“Do not attack Midoriya. I already told you, there will be no fighting in the theatre.” She carried him over her shoulder back to his seat, kicking and screaming. She dropped him roughly into his chair. 

“I’LL KILL YOU!” 

“No you won’t.” Author-San said dismissively. “I’m giving you this one warning, Bakugou. Next time you try to attack someone, I’m showing your baby pictures.” She put her hand on her chin, like she was deep in thought. “Maybe I’ll even invite your mother to react. I’m sure she would love to keep you in line.”

“You wouldn’t dare.” Bakugou growled. 

“One chance.” 

“That was so manly, Author-San!” Kirishima and Tetsutetsu said at the same time. 

“Thank you, Kirishima! Thank you, Tetsutetsu!” Author-San smiled.

[Kirishima]  Can't go back to any home

[Mina]  Camp is way too far away

[Kaminari]  Can't protect my only friends

The screen switches between each of them as they say their line.

[All]  No place to go

No place to stay

The screen shows them together.

We're lost in the world

And the world is freaking awful

And we're never gonna make it to LA

They look angrily at the ground. 

We're lost

We're just kids

We're alone

This is impossible

The three of them peek out from behind large leaves looking scared. 

Who put the fate of the world

In the hands of

Three unprepared scared half-bloods

They look up at the sky annoyed.

It's crazy

They let go of the leaves and the leaves cover their faces

“The fate of the world is in their hands? Whelp, goodbye world. It hasn’t been nice knowing ya!” Shinsou deadpanned from the corner. The emos started laughing, while everyone else looked at him with concern. 

“I like this kid.” Dabi said, still laughing. 

“Ah. I see you are a fellow emo.” Tokoyami bowed his head, “Welcome to the club.” 

“Bitch, I invented the club!” Dabi shouted. 

[Mina]  So pick a direction

Mina and Kaminari are looking to Kirishima for instructions. 

[Kaminari]  It's your quest

[Kirishima]  A direction?

[Mina]  We trust you!

[Kaminari]  A direction!

[Kirishima]  A direction?

[Mina]  A direction!

Whatever you decide

[Kirishima]  Whatever I decide

[Kaminari]  Whatever, dude, decide

The screen splits into three sections, each containing one of the three of them.

[Kirishima]  There! I have a good feeling about there.

Kirishima points to a building. The sign on the building says “League of Villains Base”

“Kirishima.” Aizawa sighed and downed the rest of his coffee. “Why in the hell would you have a good feeling about the League of Villains base??!” 

“In my defense, that isn’t me!” Kirishima said. 

“Flawless defense, bro. Good job.” Sero said sarcastically.

“Thanks!” 

“I wasn’t being serious Kiribro.” 

“Oh.”

[Toga]  Children, come inside!

When she finishes talking the screen turns black.

Toga gasped. “It’s me!” 

“Well! That’s the first universe. What did you all think?” Author-San said walking to stand in the front of the room. 

“I thought it was awesome.” Sero said. 

“So manly!” The manly bros cried out. 

“The music was amazing.” Jirou said. “Could we see more of this universe, Author-San?” 

“Maybe later. I have a lot of universes at my disposal and I want to get through a few more of them before I do continuations.”

“Aw man.” Jirou sighed. 

“Are you ready for the next one?” Author-San asked. 

“Yes!” 

“Alright. Would you rather watch a Villain AU or Hero AU?” 

“Hero AU sounds lame.” Shigaraki said from the corner. 

“Great! We’re doing the Hero AU. Thanks for your input Shigaraki!” Author-San said cheerfully. 

“I think the Hero AU sounds fun!” Hawks said. 

Author-San sat down at her computer and the next universe was selected. 

Searching the Multiverse…

Universe Found…

Loading Universe: Scattered Papers and a New Perspective

Chapter Text

Loading Universe: Scattered Papers and a New Perspective

Before the Universe began, All Might approached Author-San, “Umm. Author-San.” 

“Yes?” She didn’t look up from her computer and kept typing. 

“You seem to be aware of many hidden things, yes?” He was fidgeting nervously.

“That is correct. I am in charge of writing parts of the multiverse, I know a lot about everyone in this room.” 

“Are you aware of my… issue?” 

“If you are referring to your time, I am, yes. Is there something you needed?” Author-San finally looked up at him.

“I’m afraid I’m almost out of time, I was wondering if there was somewhere I could recharge.” 

“There is, however, that is not necessary.” She looked back down to her monitor, smiling as she read something and typed a reply. 

“It is necessary. The villains can not know about my other form.” 

“I mean , it’s not necessary because your time limit shouldn’t be an issue here. Orakuru modified your bracelet to have the added function of allowing you to stay in your buff form for as long as you wish while in the theatre.”

“That is very considerate of you both.” 

“Well, while I may not like you, I know how bad it would be for the villains to have information like that at the moment.” 

“Thank you, Author-Sa- Wait, why don’t you like me?” He spluttered, obviously not used to the fact that not everyone looked up to him as an idol.

“That is neither here nor there. I don’t like you as a person but I respect you as a hero. I can’t have your weaknesses published just yet.” 

“Just yet?” All Might questioned, trying not to show his nervousness.

“It is inevitable, however I will try my best to postpone it for a while as well as any information about your quirk.” 

“Even though I am hurt that you do not like me, I appreciate the effort you went through to protect my secrets. Thank you Author-San.” 

“No problem, All Might. Now go sit down so we can start.” Author-San waved him off dismissively. 

While this exchange is going on, the others are speculating what this universe could be about. 

“I’m just saying, it would be really cool to see a universe entirely inspired by me.” Hawks said, lazily reclining in his chair.

“You’re lucky I don’t have my quirk here, or I would have set you on fire by now, Birdy.” Dabi said, spinning one of Toga’s knives between his fingers. 

“Birdy?” Hawks leaned back up. 

“Yeah, it's a nickname, dipshit.” Dabi said

“I know that!” Hawks looked slightly offended, “Despite what you may believe, I’m not stupid. The nickname is just similar to something someone else called me a long time ago. It threw me off.” 

“You make it sound like they died.” Dabi said. 

“They did.”

“Oh.” Dabi looked away guiltily. He felt bad for lying, but it’s not like he could turn back now. Everyone would probably hate him anyways, so it’s better to just stay away. 

“I don’t think that’s what Author-San meant by Hero AU.” Midoriya said, scribbling in his notebook at speeds not even Ingenium could compete with. “AU means alternate universe so I think it means someone who is not a hero in our universe will be a hero in that one.” 

“So a civilian?” Tsu asked. 

“Or a villain.” Midoriya added. “And based on how Author-San responded to Shigaraki’s comment I think it would be him.” Everyone looked to Shigaraki, who seemed to be uncomfortable with the amount of attention directed at him, looking to the side.

“You really figure that out based on one sentence?” Tensei asked Midoriya. “You must be pretty smart.” 

“I’m not that smart! Really! Anyone could do what I can, it’s nothing special!” Midoriya said. 

“Well, that’s just a blatant lie.” Author-San intervened. “You’re one of the smartest in the class and your analysis is better than anyone else's in your universe.” 

“Even myself?” Nedzu asked, intrigued. 

“Even you.” Author-San thought for a moment. “There are actually a few universes where Midoriya becomes even smarter by being tutored by Nedzu.” All of the people who had interacted with the principal shivered at the thought of the two of them together. 

“I may put on one of those universes later. Anywho, we still have this universe queued up. Several things may not make sense in this universe without context, so if you have questions feel free to ask!” Author-San sat back down at her desk, “Oh and Midoriya?”

“Yes?” He looked at her nervously.

“You were right. It is about Shigaraki. Though he is the same age as Tamaki and Mirio here. This part of the universe takes place during their second year at UA.”

“Who?” 

“They’re a part of the Big Three of UA. They’re in their third year in your timeline.” Author-San said, refusing to elaborate any further, forcing their attention to the screen. 

Tenko Shimura walked through the halls of UA like he does everyday. 

“Woah! Shiggy, you look so young!” Toga shouted.

“I told you not to call me that.” Shigaraki grumbled, not at all excited about being at UA. 

“You do though. You also look less crusty.” Dabi pointed out. 

“That would be because he was given a proper skincare routine by one of his classmates.” Author-San said. “You should look into that by the way. Those scars cannot be comfortable to deal with all the time.” 

Shigaraki sank in his seat a little as everyone’s attention was once again directed at him. “I deal with it perfectly fine, thank you!” He spat. 

Just as he’s done for the past year and a half. He smiled at his classmates. He waved at his teachers. It felt different this time though. He felt less free. He felt… 

“Hi Tenko!” 

…guilty. 

“Who’s Tenko?” Uraraka asked. 

“That’s my name.” Shigaraki mumbled. 

“I don’t care. Really?” Twice asked. Shigaraki nodded.

“Tenko Shimura.” All Might coughed blood, startling those around him. 

“All Might?! Are you okay?” Kendo asked, panicked.

“He’s perfectly fine dear, don’t worry.” Recovery Girl said, trying to calm the girl down. Author-San offered All Might a box of tissues, which he gratefully took. 

“Good morning Mirio.” 

Because of him, Hero Society will crumble. That was what he was told. Everyday since he was taken in by Sensei, he had woken up knowing that was his mission. That was his purpose. Destroy all of the heroes. 

“COULD YOU GET ANY LESS ANGSTY, HAND FETISH?” Bakugou yelled. 

“I thought this was supposed to be about Shigaraki as a hero, why does he still want to bring down the heroes? Kero” Tsu asked curiously. 

“It will be revealed soon, Tsu.” Tsu smiled at Author-San for using her nickname when some of her class still hadn’t caught on. 

“Tamaki and I are going to the movies later if you wanna come!” 

“Oh they’re totally going on a date.” Midnight whispered to Aizawa, who shrugged, his focus still on the screen. 

But the heroes at UA weren’t like Sensei had described them to be.  

Shigaraki raised an eyebrow.

“Sorry, I’m busy today. I hope you two enjoy your date though.”

“See he gets it!” Midnight cheered happily.

“Get what?” Hawks asked, ever the gossip. 

“Oh my god! Tamaki and Mirio are so obviously in love with each other it actually hurts to watch!” Midnight said, dramatically casting herself onto Aizawa’s shoulder.

Sensei said all heroes were uncaring, but Present Mic had given him gloves to help him with his quirk after he destroyed another pencil in English saying no one should be at a disadvantage just because of their quirk. 

“That’s true. I don’t believe your quirk should define how many opportunities you get, little listeners!” Present Mic yelled.

Author-San frowned, reaching into a drawer in her desk, pulling something out and handing them to Shigaraki. 

“What are these?” He asked, looking at the partial gloves Author-San had handed him. 

“Seriously, I do not know how you have gone 21 years without figuring out artist gloves would block your quirk.” Author-San said, shaking her head. “Since they only cover two fingers, you can touch whatever you want while wearing them without decaying it.” 

“Really?” The hope in his voice was carefully masked as indifference, though Author-San still saw through it.

“Yes. Those were mine, but I can easily get a new pair. You need them more than I do.” She smiled. 

Sensei said all heroes only cared about fame, but Eraserhead is an underground hero; hardly anyone knows of him yet he still continues to save people. Sensei said all heroes are liars but the only person to lie to Tenko in the past year had been Sensei.

Shigaraki frowned. Sensei wasn’t a liar. Sensei would never lie to him.

“D-date?! It’s not a date!! We’re just hanging out! As friends! Because we’re bros!” 

Sensei was a liar. Sensei never cared about Tenko, only what Tenko could do for him. Tenko was only a means to an end in his eyes.

“Mhm. Sure. The fact that your face is entirely red tells another story.” 

Sensei had been manipulating him from the moment Tenko took his hand in the alley that day. And he hadn’t realized it until last night. 

Shigaraki frowned deeper. 

“I swear! It’s not a date! I don’t even think he likes me like that!” 

“HE DOES!” Midnight yelled. 

“Why are you so invested in the student’s relationships?” Aizawa asked.

“They’re interesting, I don't know.” She shrugged.  

Last night, when he heard Sensei making plans to hire hits on his friends. Last night, when the person who had taken him in, the person Tenko trusted with everything he had, planned to take away the first people to make him happy, to make him smile, since he lost his family. 

“I’ll be the first to admit it. I’m not liking the picture being painted here.” Mr.Compress said, not so subtly glancing at their leader scowling at the screen. 

“You’re not the only one.” Aizawa sighed. Under his breath he said, “Why does this have to be so complicated?”

Last night… 

“So you admit you like him then!” 

...when Tenko ran away. 

Shigaraki’s eyes widened. “I would never run away!” Author-San looked at him sadly. 

“No! Yes? Maybe? I don't know!”

Waiting for Sensei to fall asleep, Tenko busied himself by packing his belongings. He looked around at the room sadly. He had grown up in the hands of a supervillain. He had been raised to take over the world. And he only found people who actually cared about him when he enrolled in a Hero school as a mole. 

“A mole?” Mina looked at Author-San. 

“Okay. So basically, All for One enrolled Shigaraki in UA with the intention of him becoming a spy once he graduated and taking down the heroes from the inside. All for One didn’t, however, account for the fact that Shigaraki had wanted to be a hero when he was a kid, and actually enjoyed being a hero in training.” Author-San explained, trying not to look at the glare Shigaraki was sending her. 

“You wanted to be a hero?” Midoriya asked, looking at Shigaraki innocently. 

“Shut the fuck up!” Shigaraki shouted angrily. 

“Just ask him out, Mirio!” 

Finally, Sensei had gone to bed. Quietly sneaking out of his room,  Tenko made his way down the hall to Sensei’s office. The door was unlocked so all Tenko had to do was open it. Why was opening it so hard? It’s just a door, all he has to do is turn the handle.

“If it’s all he’d ever known, I’d imagine it would be difficult to leave all of that behind.” Dabi said. 

“I can’t! What if he says no?”

But turning the handle meant going against everything he had been taught. Going against everything he knew. It meant going against Sensei. 

“He won't, you just have to man up. Everyone can see how you two look at each other!”

Sensei has done nothing but manipulate and lie and control him. Tenko needs to leave. Tenko needs to get to the heroes. He needs to get to the people who care about him. To the people who never insisted he take over the country. Tenko turns the handle. 

“Yeah! Go, Shigaraki!” Mina yelled, then stopped. “I never thought I’d be saying that.” 

“I don’t think any of us really expected to be in a multidimensional theatre either.” Sero said. 

“Really?! Everyone?” 

Tenko gets to work grabbing as many papers as he can. Nomus, hit requests, and classified information. Missing UA students, falsified documents, and stolen quirks. As much incriminating evidence as he could fit in his bag, he stole. 

“Missing UA students?” Nedzu tilted his head curiously. 

“That will be explained in a different universe, Nedzu.” Author-San said carefully. 

‘So it is something that overlaps our universe? I don’t recall any students going missing. This will be a fun puzzle to solve.’ Nedzu cackled quietly, unintentionally scaring the shit out of all of the teachers. 

“Everyone but Tamaki.” 

Tenko walked out of Sensei’s apartment, bag of papers in hand, with a new purpose: be a hero people can find solace in, a hero they can look up to, and make sure no one else has to feel as he does.

“That’s sweet,” Toga said. “I think Mr. Stainy would like that Shigaraki!” 

“God, will you all shut up about Stain? Goddamn!” Shigaraki yelled hysterically. 

Aizawa eyed him, “You don’t like Stain?”

“No! The man is a lunatic and he tried to kill me!” Shigaraki threw his hands in the air.

“Huh.” 

“You really think I should just ask him out?” 

Tenko is steadily putting more and more distance between him and Sensei. He just needs to get to UA. He needs to get to Principal Nedzu. But… it’s the middle of the night. Tenko stopped. He wouldn’t find anyone at UA. He looked around, spotting an apartment complex left abandoned after a villain attack several years ago. This’ll work.

“Yeah! Just ask if he wants your trip to the movies to be a date. I’m sure he’ll say yes.” 

For the record, sleeping on the floor of an abandoned apartment with no heating is not comfortable. Especially in the winter. 

“Yeah that tends to be the case.” Dabi said, looking oddly reminiscent. 

“You sleep in a lot of abandoned buildings?” Hawks asked jokingly. 

“Yes.” Dabi deadpanned. Hawks deflated. 

“O-oh. Sorry.” 

But it’ll do for one night. One night is all it will take for Tenko to be safe. He trusts the heroes at UA. He trusts that they’ll protect him from Sensei.

Shigaraki scoffed, “As if.” 

“If someone comes to us for help, we’d never turn them away.” Nedzu said. “It’s our job as heroes to protect the public, villains included.” 

“We were already turned away!” Toga replied bitterly. “That’s why we’re here in the first place.”

“There’s nothing we can do about the past, but we can do what we can to make amends.”

“Tch.”

“Thanks for the advice, Tenko!” 

The morning comes without any problems. Well… any more problems. Thankfully Tenko remembered to grab his uniform when he ran, otherwise he’d probably get dress-coded, taking up even more time he didn’t have. Sensei would probably notice soon. Quickly getting changed, Tenko made his way out of the building and to the gate of UA, meeting up with Mirio, who was on his way to class. 

“No problem, Mirio. I should get going though, I need to talk to the principal. It’ll probably take a while, so could you tell our teacher where I am?”

“Sure! See you at lunch?”

“Sounds good! Let me know what Tamaki says.” 

He was just going through the motions. Saying hi to the right people, trying desperately to make his way through the halls as fast as he could without running. 

If he could just get to the principal, everything would be fine. 

Shimura raised his hand, shaking slightly, and knocked on the principal’s office door. Before his hand could hit the door though, Nedzu opened it.

“I’ll have you know it is terrifying every time you do that.” Present Mic glanced at Nedzu, quickly amending his statement after seeing his maniacal grin, “I mean, it’s lovely how you always know how to open the door at the right time!”

“Shimura-kun, I will admit I didn’t expect to see you here this morning. And looking so nervous might I add. Do you have something you would like to discuss?” Nedzu asked, gesturing for him to enter the office.

“Yes sir. It’s a matter of life or death.” Shimura immediately sat down in front of the Principal’s desk. 

“Life or death? What’s going on? Did something happen?” Nedzu was intrigued and offered him a cup of tea. One could always use a good cup of tea when stressed. Shimura took the tea, probably allowing himself to calm down for a moment before returning to the conversation at hand.

“It’s probably best to start from the beginning. You are aware I am staying with my Uncle, correct?” Shimura asked. His phrasing was concerning, at the very least. 

“His uncle?” 

“All for One didn’t want people knowing Shigaraki was a mole, so the cover story they devised is that Shigaraki moved in with his uncle after…” Author-San looked at Shigaraki, “After his quirk came in.” Shigaraki was visibly relieved when she didn’t tell them about his family, not wanting to relive that just yet. 

“That is what your file says, though from your phrasing I assume that is not the case?” Nedzu said, taking a sip of tea.

“That is correct sir. The man I'm living with is… All for One.” Nedzu spit out his tea. 

“Nedzu is shocked by something?!” Midnight screeched.

“He’s not omnipotent, Nemuri. There are things even Nedzu doesn’t know.” Aizawa said, rubbing his ear at the loud noise. 

“Quite true, Aizawa. There are many things that shock me, though I will admit there are very few which have caused me to spit out my tea.” Nedzu looked slightly upset at the loss of such good tea.

“I’m sorry? I think I misheard you, could you repeat that?” Nedzu asked, pulling a cloth and an audio recorder out of his desk and cleaning the spilt tea. 

“I’m living with the villain All for One.” Shimura said, unaware that Nedzu had just started recording the conversation. 

“Could you elaborate please, Shimura-Kun?” Nedzu asked. 

“He took me off the streets after I killed my family. I had nowhere to go and no heroes came to help me, so when he came he convinced me he was my savior. I looked up to him. I wanted to be just like him.” Shimura said sadly, looking at the floor. 

No one spoke. Everyone in the theatre was trying not to look at the blue haired villain, knowing he would probably be angry that they were now privy to such knowledge. Kurogiri placed his hand on Shigaraki’s shoulder in a comforting manner, seeing how tense he looked. 

“Do you still believe this?” Nedzu asked. He figured if Shimura was still loyal to the villain, they wouldn’t be having this conversation, but it never hurts to be 100% positive.

“No. I don’t think I have for awhile, I only realized it last night though.” 

“What triggered this realization, if you don’t mind me asking?” Nedzu needed to get as much information as possible out of him about All for One before sending the recording to All Might. The man needs to be made aware his dead nemesis isn’t quite as dead as they originally thought. 

“I overheard him ordering hits on Mirio and Tamaki.”

“What?!” All the teachers yelled. 

“Mirio and Tamaki are good kids, what could they possibly have done to have ended up on All for One’s radar?!” Midnight turned to Author-San.

“They befriended Shigaraki. All for One believed having connections such as friends would cause him to lose faith in his mission and ordered to have them terminated.” Author-San informed them grimly. 

“...”

“I raided his office last night. Here, I brought what I took with me.” Tenko handed his bag over. “I found a lot of information on something called Nomus, and about some of his quirks. There was also this one file I grabbed that had something to do with a missing UA student from a few years back, but I didn’t read it before I ran away.” 

‘I am still curious as to what that’s about.’ Nedzu thought. 

Nedzu looked over some of the papers on the top of the stack, with every one his face growing more and more grim. He decided to focus on what was easiest to dissect at the moment. He put down the papers and looked back at Tenko, “You said you ran away?” 

“If he found out I was in his office without his permission, let alone stole something from him, it would not have ended well.” 

“Do you have somewhere to stay?” 

“Uhmm. No? Last night I stayed in an abandoned apartment building a few blocks from UA.” 

“Hmm.” Nedzu picked up his phone and dialed a number. “Cementoss, we’re going ahead with the dorms ahead of schedule. Yes, as soon as possible if you could. Thank you.” 

“Dorms?” Momo looked at Nedzu confused. 

“I have had the idea for dorms at UA for quite a while. It appears in that universe I finally have a reason to implement them.” Nedzu said, grinning. 

He hung up the phone, “So Tenko, would you mind staying with Eraserhead until the dorms are built?” 

“What the fuck?” Shigaraki and Aizawa said at the same time. They looked at each other awkwardly before Present Mic coughed loudly, turning their attention back to the screen. 

“Uh. No?” Tenko looked lost.

“Oh good,” The bear-mouse-dog dialed a different number, “Eraserhead, please come to my office. I have delicate matters I would like to discuss with you.”

It was never a good thing when Nedzu had to discuss “delicate matters.” Internally dreading whatever was to come next, Shouta reached out to knock on the door. The moment before his hand was about to make contact the door opened and he was dragged inside by the principal. Only he wasn’t alone, Tenko Shimura was also there. 

“Please have a seat.” Nedzu seemed troubled. Very little can trouble him so this can’t end well.

“What are these ‘delicate matters’? Last time you called me to talk about delicate matters I nearly ended up in the hospital.” Shouta said, trying not to show how bitter he was. 

“I have already apologized for that Aizawa, I do not know why you keep bringing it up.” Nedzu said, sipping tea.

“I’m not the one bringing it up. But I’m not going to forget about that either.” Aizawa narrowed his eyes at the bear-mouse-dog. Nedzu just shrugged, flashing a smile before turning back to the screen. Aizawa felt a shiver go up his spine. 

“We are expediting the dorms project. Tenko needs somewhere to stay until they are finished.” Nedzu said, 

“And you want him to stay with me? Out of all of the others, you chose me?” 

“Yes!” 

“Wait, why does he even need to stay somewhere? Isn’t he living with his uncle? Why is this related to the dorms?”

“The man I am staying with is not my uncle. He is the villain All for One. He ordered hits on my friends and I ran away.” Shouta was stunned speechless, not something that occurred often. Not only was one of the most heroic students Shouta had taught living with a villain, he was living with All for One! A man who many thought was dead. 

“MOST HEROIC STUDENT?! THE VILLAIN?!” Bakugou screamed. “I’M WAY MORE HEROIC THAN THAT SHITTY EXTRA!”

“Calm down Bakubro! We hadn’t even entered UA at this time! We aren’t in the running, but I definitely think you’re the most manly student at UA!” Kirishima said. Bakugou scoffed but calmed back down. 

“The Pomeranian Whisperer.” Mina whispers. The only people to hear her were Jirou and Shoji but both had trouble containing their laughter after.

“That’s the jist of it at least. He needs to stay with someone who wouldn’t be easily recognized as a hero.” 

“You know I live with Present Mic right? He’s pretty recognizable.” Shouta questioned. 

“You live with Present Mic, Aizawa-Sensei?” Hagekure asked. Aizawa and Mic froze. None of the students knew of their relationship except Iida and Shinsou, and villains were sitting right behind them. 

Thankfully Midnight came in and saved the day, “Yeah! We’ve all been friends since our own days at UA and more people means less rent, so they decided to move in together!” 

“That makes sense, I guess.” Hagekure pouted, though you couldn’t tell. She really thought her ship was about to sail. 

“Thank you Nemuri.” Aizawa whispered. 

“No problem, Shouta.” 

*“Yes, however with his hair down he looks like a totally different person.” Nedzu said, sipping his tea. Shouta shrugged. 

“That’s fair. I’ll let him know Shimura will be coming home with us then. Is that everything?” 

“It is. I hope we can get this whole matter settled soon. I will be contacting All Might as soon as possible.” Nedzu said, dismissing the both of them. 

“BOOO!” Shigaraki yelled, throwing a can at the back of All Might’s head.

“Ow!”

“Where did you even get that?” Author-San asked, picking up the can. It was an unopened can of Red Bull. Shigaraki shrugged. Author-San walked back to her desk muttering about how the can could have appeared and the screen resumed. 

Shouta grabbed Shimura’s shoulder as they exited, preventing him from leaving just yet. “Shimura?” 

“Yes, Aizawa-Sensei?” Shimura looked up at him, fear obvious in his eyes. 

“Are you okay? This seems like a lot, I just wanna know if you’re handling it properly.” 

“Yes. I- no. I don’t think I am okay.” He shrinks in upon himself, his hands wrapped around his torso. “It’s all I’ve known for so long and suddenly everything is changing! And the one person I trusted with everything I had was just manipulating me for his own goals!” 

Shimura starts to tear up and Shouta doesn’t waste a second wrapping the kid in a hug. He started sobbing, his hands balling into fists on Shouta’s shirt. 

“Well isn’t this a tragedy?” Dabi asked. 

“This isn’t the time for jokes, Dabi! Shiggy’s having a panic attack on screen.” Toga said, looking back at their Shigaraki to make sure he was okay. 

They stood like that for a while, Shouta whispering reassurances, until Shimura calmed down.  

“Come on. Sit down, kid.” Shouta said, guiding the teenager to a couple chairs in the teacher’s lounge. Shimura seemed to be drained, physically and emotionally, and did as he was told. “It’s gonna be okay kid. You’re gonna be just fine.” 

The screen fades to black.

“So, how was that?” Author-San asked cheerfully, already at the front of the room. 

“Well I certainly didn’t expect it to be as dark as it was after the musical universe.” Kaminari said. 

“Oh you haven't seen anything yet, trust me.” Author-San chuckled darkly.

“Well that’s ominous…” 

“I didn’t like the fact that you basically exposed me.” Shigaraki grumbled. 

“But that was barely anything.” Author-San tilted her head to the side, not unlike a confused kitten. “All it explained was your relationship with All for One, though slightly more strained.” 

“There’s more?” Toga asked, turning to Shigaraki. 

Shigaraki glared at her, then back to Author-San, “Don’t. You. Dare.”

“No, you’ve had enough for now.” Author-San said. “We’re moving on to something else, now.” 

“Please don’t be sad. I need funny things!” Mina cried dramatically.

“Well then you’re in luck, Mina.” Author-San smirked making her way back to the corner.

She shoots up, “Really!?” 

“Yep.” Author-San confirmed. “I’ll put on some memes about all of you. Maybe I’ll play some shorter universes at the end too.”

“MEMES!!” The meme squad cheered. 

“Let’s get on with it then!” Author-San cheered along with them.

Searching the Multiverse…

Universe Found…

Loading Universe: Memes

Chapter Text

Loading Universe: Memes

“YEAH!!” Kaminari yelled. 

“You have too much energy.” Jirou said.

“Okay, like you weren’t geeking out over the musical universe earlier! Music is your thing, memes are mine.” Kaminari said, crossing his arms in a way that was supposed to make him look intimidating, but really just made him look like a pouty puppy.

“I’m confused. What is a meme?” All Might said. When every single person turned their disbelieving gazes to him, he only suppressed a shudder because of his countless years of training as a pro hero.

“ALL MIGHT, YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT A MEME IS?!?!” Everyone shouted in unison. 

“Even I know what a meme is, Toshinori.” Recovery Girl said, shaking her head. 

“How do you not know what a meme is!? Memes are a holy art passed from person to person! They bring so much joy! So much light!” Kaminari yelled, seeming genuinely offended. 

“O-okay. Thank you, Young Kaminari.” All Might said, not wanting to mention he still had no idea what a meme was. 

“Okay, first meme!” Author-San announces. 

“Kirishima, did this happen?” Mina said, barely containing her laughter. 

“I- well- maybe?” Kirishima rubbed his neck embarrassed. 

“You are- and I mean this in the nicest way possible- the biggest himbo I’ve ever met!” Mina laughed as Kirishima got even more embarrassed. 

“You clearly haven’t met my brother. I feel Natsuo holds that title.” Todoroki deadpanned. 

“Todoroki, you know what a himbo is?” Midoriya asked, dumbfounded. 

“My sister had often referred to him as such so I looked it up.” 

“That makes sense I guess.”

“Do you not have enough money, Uraraka?” Todoroki asked. “Well, it's not that I don’t have money, it's just-” Todoroki slides Uraraka his father’s credit card. “Todoroki, you are my new favorite friend.” 

“What am I? A roach?” Midoriya said, offended.

“Todoroki, it is not very heroic for you to steal your father’s credit card!” Iida shouted. 

“I didn’t steal my father’s credit card… I stole four.” Todoroki said deadpan. The students and villains started laughing and the teachers only refrained due to being trained Pro Heroes. Dabi was straight up on the floor cackling. 

“Next meme!” Author-San beamed.

“Kurogiri!” Shigaraki yelled, sitting up from where he was still pouting from the last universe. 

“You need to stop scratching or you’ll make your scars worse, Tomura.” Kurogiri said. 

“Seriously, just pick up a skincare routine.” Author-San recommended. 

Shigaraki huffed and slumped down even farther than before. He didn’t need a skin routine. His skin was perfectly healthy, thank you very much. 

“Kirishima looks so offended that Sero didn’t know why he brought a watermelon.” Mina pointed out, laughing.

“Bro…” Kaminari said, genuinely tearing up. “You know me so well!”

“Go course, bro! You’re one of my best bros!” Kirishima said. 

“That’s so manly, Kiribro!” Tetsutetsu cried.

“Thanks, Tetsubro!”

“Why the fuck would you want a watermelon?” Bakugou asked, surprisingly not yelling for once. 

“Watermelons are great! Also, when did you stop yelling?” Kaminari jolts and rounds on Bakugou with a suspicious look, “Who are you and what have you done to Bakugou?!”

“THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN, DUNCE FACE?! I AM BAKUGOU!” Bakugou screamed. 

“Ah nevermind. He’s back guys, no need to worry!” Kaminari said.

“We weren’t worried, Kaminari.” Shinsou said. Kaminari gasps, offended. 

“Do you not care for our loving Bakubro’s safety?!” Kaminari walked over to Bakugou and put his hands on his face, but was pushed off onto the ground. 

“Don’t fucking touch me!”

“You okay bro?” Kirishima asked Kaminari, who is now at Kiri’s feet. Kaminari just holds a thumbs up before dramatically crawling back to his seat. 

Tensei leaned over to Present Mic, “The electric kid kinda reminds me of you, Hizashi.” 

“I’ve been told. Todoroki even tried to ask me if Kaminari was my secret love child!” Mic groans.

“Oh my god!” Tensei started laughing.

“That’s adorable!” Midnight cried. 

“Who’s kid is that?” Aizawa asked, turning to Author-San.

She looked him dead in the eyes, “Yours.” 

Aizawa turned red, opening and closing his mouth but no words would come out.  

“Excuse me?!” Aizawa said once he was finally able to speak again. 

“You’ll meet her in the future. She came from an... unstable household, for lack of a better term.”

“Ahhh! I have a new niece to spoil in the future!” Midnight shrieked, grabbing Aizawa’s shoulder and shaking him in her excitement. 

“Nemuri, please let me go.” Aizawa requested. She reluctantly let go, if only so she could wrap him in a giant hug. 

“I have some more of her if you’d like to see them.” Author-San said. 

“YEAH!!” Present Mic yelled.

“Dadzawa, confirmed.” Mina whispered quietly hoping her teacher didn’t overhear her. 

“What’s her name, Little Listener?” Present Mic asked. 

Author-San smiled warmly, “Eri.” 

“Eri is adorable and I need her in my life now!” Mic yelled.

Mina squeals in cuteness overload. 

“Her costume looks like a mix of mine and Aizawa Sensei’s!” Midoriya pointed out excitedly sketching the costume in his notebook.

“Yeah it does.” Aizawa said, hiding his face in his capture scarf so no one sees the smile creeping onto his face. 

“Is no one gonna talk about Midori with a ponytail?” Mina asked. 

“Wait yeah! You should totally grow your hair out, Midobro!” Kirishima said. “You look totally manly!”

“Thanks, Kirishima!” Midoriya beamed, unintentionally blinding half the audience. Even Monoma was taken aback by the purity in his smile.

“Waaaaaaa~! I don’t wanna wait for her! I need her now!” Present Mic cried. 

“Hold up!” Kaminari yelled. “Is Aizawa smiling?!” 

“That’s so sweet!” Uraraka said. 

Mina leaned forward to inspect the photo, gasping quietly, ‘Is that a wedding ring on Present Mic’s finger?? I am so saving that information for later!’

“I haven’t met her yet, but if anything happened to her, I would kill everybody in this room and then myself.” Shinsou deadpanned. 

“That seems to be the unanimous response upon meeting her.” Author-San said. “We need to move on to the other memes.”

“Nooooo!” 

“I’m sorry, but we have to.”

“Are you good, Tokoyami?” Shoji asked. 

“I’m not okay, I promise.” Tokoyami said, with a single tear in his eye. 

Jirou snorted, “Nice.”

“Finally Class 1B is getting some of the recognition we deserve!” Monoma yelled, cackling. 

“If you stop cackling I’ll put some on about you, Monoma.” Author-San said. Thankfully he calmed down as his laughter was starting .

The people in class 1A rolled their eyes as Monoma started on another tangent about how much better class 1B is, before getting chopped by Kendo once again.

“That actually sounds really good, when does this happen, Author-San?” Kendo asked.

“At the School Festival. All the classes did something different.” Author-San said. 

“I look forward to seeing that!” She said.

“That’s essentially how it is.” Kendo laughed as Monoma pouted beside her. 

“I look like I have rabies and did crack!” Monoma yelled. 

“I stand by my previous statement.” Kendo smirks. Monoma sent her a glare but pouted nonetheless.

“Ah, Young Todoroki, while surprised, I am flattered that you were inspired by me as a child!” All Might said, laughing boisterously. 

“You’re the number one hero. Why does that surprise you?” Author-San asked. 

“I- uh- next question!” All Might said, embarrassed. Everyone laughed. 

“Todoroki, you were so cute as a child!” Uraraka said, turning around to look at her friend.

“I agree. Kero” Tsu said. 

“Thank you, Tsu and Uraraka.” Todoroki said. 

“Next meme!”

“Listen here, you son of bitch-” Shigaraki said. 

“Aye! My mother is a wonderful woman! Don't talk about her like that!” Dabi interrupted. 

“What are you gonna do about it, you reject Gucci bag?” 

“You’re one to talk. Your skin is crustier than sandpaper!” 

“At least I don’t leave dead skin flakes laying around the base all the time!” 

“Yes you do! Yours just aren’t purple.” Toga butted in. 

“What? No I don’t!” Shigaraki denied. 

“Yes you do, Tomura.” Kurogiri said. “I’m the one who has to clean all of them up.” 

The heroes couldn’t hold their laughter this time seeing Shigaraki pout. Even Aizawa was smirking. 

“Who’s the guy with the plague mask?” Midoriya asked.

“That,” Author-San spat, “is the villain Overhaul. You’ll probably see him in a later universe but I don’t wanna spend more time on him than necessary for you to understand the situation.” 

'That can only mean good things.’ Aizawa thought sarcastically.

“Really Bakubro?” Kaminari asked with an amused snort.

“Shut up, Dunce Face!” Bakugou yelled.

Todoroki, Hawks, and Dabi froze. 

“Who is that?” Midoriya asked, confused. 

“My brother.” Todoroki said. “He died when I was a kid.” 

And just like that, the lighthearted atmosphere in the theatre dissipated. 

“Who is he talking to?” Todoroki asked in an attempt to change the subject. 

“He’s talking to Hawks! This is a universe where he became a hero instead of…” Author-San trailed off and coughed awkwardly.

“You knew my brother?” Todoroki asked, turning to Hawks. 

He rubbed the back of his neck, “Yeah, me and Touya were good friends when we were younger.” 

Everyone was silent, not really knowing what to say after all that, until Author-San cleared her throat. “Let’s continue, shall we? I didn’t mean to bring down the mood with that one.”

“Hey, it’s Mustard!” Toga yelled. 

“Who were they trying to shoot at?” Aizawa asked. 

“I believe it was Kendo or Tetsutetsu? Though I’m not entirely sure.” Author-San answered. 

“Why were we being shot at?!” Kendo asked frantically. 

“That’s so not manly!” Tetsutetsu cried. 

“You’ll see in the future, but that’s when most of you meet the other league members for the first time!” She gestures at Dabi, Toga, Twice, and Mr. Compress.  

“What?!” Practically everyone yelled. 

“Don't worry about it.” Author-San said, causing everyone to worry about it. 

“Concerning events aside, they’ve got a point. No one just expects you to pull out a gun. Like what’s Bakugou gonna do about a gun? Explode the bullets? I think not!” Kaminari said. “I’m pretty sure the only two people here who could survive being shot are Kirishima and Tetsutetsu.” 

“Wow you actually said something smart for once? That’s new.” Jirou said, laughing as Kaminari pouted.

“When we get back, I’m going to drill you all on what to do in a situation like this. We can’t leave you unprepared, especially knowing what’s going to happen. Understood?” Aizawa informed the students.

“Yes, Sensei!” 

“Here’s another one about this event.”

“What the fuck, Problem Child?” Aizawa asked, sighing exasperated. “I thought you fixed your breaking bones issue when you came back from your internship?!” 

“I thought I fixed that too,” Midoriya said, rubbing his arms.

“Wait? It’s a regular thing for this kid to break his bones?!” Dabi asked. 

“Yes!” All the students yelled. Midoriya opened his mouth to protest, but couldn’t find a good defense and just pouted.

“Author-San, why are Midoriya’s bones broken again?” Aizawa asked. 

“He got in a fight with a really strong villain to save a kid.” Author-San answered. 

“Goddammit, Problem Child!”

“Midoriya, while I agree with the message, I don’t think the children should wear those shirts.” Nemuri said in between fits of giggles.

“I recognize Eri, but who’s the other kid?” Kaminari asked. 

“That’s Kota. He’s the kid Midoriya broke his arms for!” Author-San said, her cheerful tone completely contrasting what she was saying. 

“Oh fantastic.” Aizawa said sarcastically, running his hand down his face in exasperation.

“Shinsou.” Todoroki turned to Shinsou. “I have a very important question for you.”

“Um, yes?” Shinsou said nervously. 

“Are you Aizawa-Sensei’s secret love child or something?” 

There was silence for a few seconds as everyone processed this then they burst into laughter. 

“Todoroki, not again!” Midoriya yelled, also laughing. 

“They're just too similar not to be related, Midoriya.” Todoroki said, like it was the most obvious thing in the entire world.

“What?” Shinsou asked, confused because… how is he supposed to respond when his friend asks if he’s the illegitimate child of their teacher??

“I’m onto something with this one, I swear. I’ll get my answer one way or another.” Todoroki said, staring down Aizawa and Shinsou. 

“Midoriya, this has happened before?!” Kaminari asked, wheezing. 

“Yes! At the Sports Festival he cornered me and asked if I was All Might’s secret love child!” Midoriya cried, near hysterical. All Might coughed on his blood while everyone else laughed even harder. 

“How did you even get to that conclusion Todoroki?” Uraraka asked, wiping tears out of the corners of her eyes. 

“Well, it all started when-” 

“No, no! We don’t have time to hear all of that right now!” Author-San interjected, still shaking with laughter. “Let’s just move on.”

“Is that really what you look like, Hagakure?” Mina asked. 

“I don’t know. I can’t see myself either.” Hagakure said. 

“That’s kinda sad, not knowing what you look like.” Toga said. 

“Yea, but hey! At least I know now!” Hagakure said, taking a picture of the image with her phone. 

“Is she wearing Todoroki’s hero costume?” Jirou asked. 

“Huh. I didn’t notice that before, but I think she is!” Author-San said.

“Little bitch said WHAT?!” Bakugou shot up from where he had previously been reclining in his seat. “FUCKING DISGUSTING PURPLE BASTARD! IF I EVER SEE THAT GRAPIST AGAIN IT WILL BE TOO FUCKING SOON!!”

“Amen to that!” All the girls (the ones that knew Mineta) cheered.

“Alrighty, this will be the last one.” Author-San said. 

“Aww man! Are you sure??” Kaminari whined. 

“Yes I’m sure. Sorry Kaminari, but there’s always the chance we could do another of these later on.” Author-San said as she turned to her computer, muttering, “This has already taken me way longer than it needed to though."

“Shinsou, you look like a cat!” Uraraka giggled as Shinsou turned red from embarrassment. 

“Shinsou, have you known Aizawa Sensei since you were a kid?” Shinsou didn’t register who asked the question as he froze like a deer in headlights. 

“Uhh… Yes?” Shinsou said, more as a question than anything else.

“I’m telling you: Secret Love Child.” Todoroki said. Ah. There’s who asked. No big surprise there though. 

“I’m not his secret love child, Todoroki.” 

“We’ll see.” 

"Who knew Aizawa was soft for cats?" Mina said. 

Meanwhile, with the Rooftop Squad… 

“So… how long do you think it’ll be before one of them actually figures out that we’re together?” Hizashi asked quietly. 

Shouta looked blankly at Todoroki and Hitoshi, “I'm not sure. I mean Todoroki is close but I don’t think anyone other than himself actually believes his crack theories.” 

“I bet 1500¥ on five universes max.” Nemuri said, leaning into their conversation (re: leaning on top of Aizawa). 

“Are you seriously trying to start a bet right now?” Hizashi looked at her in disbelief (which was completely unfounded. He totally should have seen this coming). 

“Yes! Did you not hear me or are you finally goin deaf?” She swatted at him. 

“1500¥ that it’s 10.” Tensei added, completely unhelpfully. 

“Not you too!” Hizashi whisper-yelled. 

“2500¥ says it’s exactly seven more universes.” Shouta said with a smirk. Hizashi sent his husband a betrayed look before pouting.  

Author-San clapped loudly, drawing everyone’s attention back to her. “Okay so I have the next Universe picked out! This one is made by a different creator so it has some stylistic differences but it’s one of my favorites!” 

Searching the Multiverse…

Universe Found…

Loading Universe: Of Owning a Cat Café and Other Heroic Deeds...

Chapter Text

Loading Universe: Of Cat Cafes and Other Heroic Deeds…

Aizawa definitely did not sit up straighter upon seeing Cat Cafe in the title. Shut up, you cannot prove otherwise. 

“This is a universe where, instead of going to UA, Aizawa went to culinary school and opened up a cafe in Lower Musutafu!” 

“Why?” Mic asked, curious as to what could make Aizawa not want to be a hero.

“He saw a little too much at a young age, and decided his talents would best be spent helping the community directly. I don’t have too much else to say about this one so let’s get this started shall we?” 

Seeing the little imp’s smile shouldn’t have pleased him so much however, despite a strong quirk, an affluent family (Mitsuki had a Prada purse with her that morning; this either meant she was stupid or could punch out any low-life who’d want to snag it) and intelligence (he’d checked the boys work last night; it’d been excellent), he seemed…

Sad.

“Bakubro! Is that what you looked like when you were younger??” You were so adorable!” Kirishima was practically making heart eyes at the screen. (A/N: not a ship, Kiri just think he’s adorable)

“Yeah! What happened?” Mina asked cheekily, knowing full well the danger that brought.

“THE FUCK’D YOU SAY, RACCOON EYES!”

“Sit down, Bakugou.” 

Not necessarily unhappy but, there was something there…

There was something behind those explosive outbursts…

It wasn’t neglect or abuse (from what his child-minding training had taught him, anyway) and sure, his mother could be quite boisterous with him but there was a mutual love and respect there, too…

Hmm…

It was something he’d keep an eye on since the boy had already said he was going to do “alla my stupid homework here from now on; tch! Why can’t you cook that good, you take-away loving hag~?!”

“You talk to your mother like that?!” Sero looked affronted. “If I talked to my mom like that, I’d be six feet under in a heartbeat!”

“They’re both just like that. Auntie Mitsuki is the only person I’ve met other than Present Mic who can scream louder than Kacchan!” Midoriya said offhandedly, not looking up from his notes. 

“That’s impressive.”

Heh…

Kids were so irrational…

“Well, we look forward to seeing you later, Aizawa-kun~ thanks again for the food~ I can hardly wait to pick up my cake this Friday~”

Waving her off (she’d bought even more items this morning; apparently the ‘girls at the office’ had loved everything she’d allowed them to taste) and nodding as Bakugo smiled at him with a “thanks for the All Might bento, old man~! It better taste as good as it looks!” Shouta let out a sigh.

“I want it.” Midoriya said, eyes shining with a deadly determination. 

“Midoriya, there isn’t any way for you to get it. It’s in another universe.” 

“I. Want. It.” 

Author-San shied away from him and reached into her mini fridge. “You're lucky this fridge has literally everything in it.” 

She quietly handed him a replica of Aizawa’s bento and quickly sat back down. 

Just as quickly as the murderous aura appeared it was gone, replaced with him fanboying over the bento. 

“Tch, you know that you have the right to refuse service to annoying blondes, right?”

“I’M NOT ANNOYING YOU FUCKING EXTRA!”

Chuckling, his head inclining at Dabi before he turned around, the older stopped with a blink.

“Dabi?!”

‘Hmm… He looks familiar without the staples.’ Todoroki thought. ‘Maybe he’s my Secret Love Cousin or something like that?’

“Your skin looks so healthy!” Toga said, “I almost didn’t recognize you!”

Dabi scowled. "My skin is perfectly fine, thank you!"

Author-San rolled her eyes in amusement. "You and Shigaraki both said that, but that excuse doesn't work for either of you."

The teen was wearing the spare apron and the generic, white-cap he kept as a spare.

“You look adorable!” 

“Shut the hell up Toga!” 

And for some, irrational reason, he felt a spark of pride prick at him.

Ridiculous.

“Dadzawa.” 

“Nemuri…” 

“How did you sleep?” he asked; “have you eaten?”

“Yes dad” the other retorted, his eyes rolling; “d’you want me to put out the menus and sauce bottles?”

“That’d be great” he chuckled; “and could you flip the door-sign to open as well?”

“Slave-driver” the other quipped; “next thing I know you’ll be asking me to start doing something crazy like taking orders, or something”.

Laugh snorting (they’d gone over the easy to use till system the previous night and the kid was a natural; God bless the technological revolution, he supposed), Shouta went back to wiping off the service bar and priming the coffee machines and tea-station.

“Was that a laugh? Did I just hear Shouta laugh?! Nemuri, am I still alive? Have I died and gone to heaven??” Hizashi flailed dramatically until Shouta smacked him. 

“Sit down, you overgrown Cockatoo.” The blonde man gasped. 

“I am wounded! Betrayed even! I don’t think I’ll ever recover from this Shouta!” 

“Good.” Hizashi pouted and sank back down into his seat. 

It was… strangely nice to have some company…

~*~

The morning rush had been… interesting.

People from the day before had come and either ordered extra items or dragged their colleagues along with them and Dabi, God bless his sarcastic, little heart, had gone down surprisingly well with the patrons.

Heh.

He’d not exactly ribbed him when some school-girls had clocked him in the window and made their way in, their eyes turning into love-hearts as they shyly placed their orders and fawned over both the food and him but he may have commented on their cooing over.

“I didn’t think you’d get fangirls, Dabi!” Hawks said, laughing.

“You’d be surprised, Hawks.” Author-San lazed in her chair. “In one world, you guys are just a story and the League of Villains has a large number of simps despite most of them being either crusty, crispy, and/or crazy.” 

“Seriously?!” 

“Don’t worry, the heroes have simps too, but the villains are more prevalent.”

“Why? They are legitimately murderers!” 

“Remember: it’s just fiction there. Most people in that world look at your world from a more objective standpoint. We know what the villains have been through.” Several villains winced. 

“The world isn’t as black and white as the labels of hero and villain tend to make things. People exist mostly in shades of gray. That’s what I’m here to show you.” 

The room was silent for a few moments, trying to take all of that in. 

“You’re not so bad, Author-San.” Shigaraki said quietly. 

“Thank you, Shigaraki! Let's get back to this universe shall we? I got a little carried away!”

Just a little…

“Tch, girls are stupid” the sixteen-year-old had muttered when he’d found three phone-numbers scrawled onto the napkins they’d left on the table they’d sat at, his hands screwing them up and binning them without preamble. 

“Rude!” Midnight turned to glare at Dabi. “All women are queens!” 

“If she breathes, she’s a thot.” Shigaraki replied reflexively. Author-San couldn’t stop herself from laughing in her corner. 

“How do you know Gen Z slang??” She asked him. 

“Sensei was a member of Gen Z and made sure I was cultured.”

Hmm…

He’d have to work on the kid’s self-esteem issues, wouldn’t he?

“I don’t have self esteem issues!” 

“…”

“Shut up.”

“How did you get such a great flavour into the onigiri? Aizawa-san! I’ll take three more~!”

Bustling around, taking orders and giving the people what they wanted had also become easier with four hands as opposed to two; there was no reason why he couldn’t pop into the kitchen for more stock when Dabi was fixing the drinks and passing over the pre-packaged foods.

“Eh~! I’ve never had a lemonade like this~! What’s that minty-flavour? It’s so good~!”

“The people are loving your stuff, Shou!” Hizashi said.

“I can see that.” 

The scones were gone before 08:00 (European foods seemed to do quite well in this area; he supposed people were looking for different tastes that didn’t break the bank: he’d seen the prices in Tokyo delicatessens and they’d always confused him), the fresh bread was similarly grabbed and most of his sandwiches were sold, too.

“Maa~ Aizawa-san~ four bento please~! Ah, thank you, Dabi-kun~”

Heh.

He could hardly believe that the teen had kept his name-tag on, either.

However, as 09:30 rolled around, the expected lull came since the majority of their customers were either office workers or school children.

In fact, there was just one custom still sat in a booth (a University student?), her tired eyes glaring at her laptop screen whilst feverish fingers flew over the keyboard.

She’d gotten through three cups of coffee and two cups of miso-soup, her tongue sticking out of her mouth as she worked.

Hmm…

He’d not counted on older students coming here…

“Ugh… how do you keep going like that, are you a robot or something?”

Looking to his new employee, Shouta chuckled; “here” he said whilst pouring him the last of the lemonade he’d made and gesturing to his booth: “good work” he added.

“Tch, you’ll be bankrupt, I’m telling you…”

“And you’ll be happier sat down with a drink” he chuckled; “or you can go on the, what did you call it? Dinosaur-console?” he grinned.

“Well, at least no ones gonna want to steal it, I guess,” the younger admitted, his hands grabbing the drink as he walked towards the gaming area with its (easy to wipe down, reinforced) bean bag chairs, cheap headphones and soft, squidgy flooring.

Heh, he was glad he’d gone to the effort of making it…

*Ding-ding*

Turning to the door (he’d wanted to go wipe down the tables, damn it), Shouta sighed as the two Pro Heroes from Monday evening entered, their costumes just as eye-catching as before.

There was a strangled choking noise and everyone turned around to look at Aizawa who had his hand over his mouth. He was staring at the screen with wide eyes. Nemuri, Hizashi, and Tensei were similarly pale and wide eyed. 

“Oboro??” Aizawa breathed out

“Aizawa Sensei? Are you all okay?” 

“We’re fine listeners, we just need a moment!” Present Mic said, with suspiciously wet eyes. 

“Are you sure?” 

“Yeah! We just weren’t expecting to see him is all! It’s all fine. Everything’s great!” He sounds more like he’s trying to convince himself rather than the students.

“Sorry! I meant to warn you beforehand!” Author-San turned to the students, “They’ll be fine. Just focus on the screen.”

They reluctantly turn away from their teachers and back to the screen.

Wonderful.

“Welcome to the Stray Cat Café” he greeted with his usual deadpan; “what can I get you?”

Blinking at him (he wanted to grin at their startled expressions but managed not to), the men shared a glance, their eyes looking around as they walked up to the service bar.

“Umm… we were just in the neighbourhood and wanted to check in with you… Aizawa-san?” the sun kissed Pro stated, those sky-blue eyes clocking his name-tag.

“So, you’re not going to buy anything?”

“O-oh, ugh, well…”

“We reserve the right not to serve anyone~!”

Coughing into his hand to hide his laugh-snort, Shouta looked to where Dabi was lounging, his head shaking ruefully.

“We haven’t…” the more audaciously dressed man breathed, his jade eyes looking over bright orange shades.

“Especially annoying blondes~!” the teen called whilst flipping them the bird, his head then swivelling back to the game he was playing on the relatively big screen. 

“Again with the annoying blondes thing!” 

“Heh… that’s an interesting employee you have there” Loud Cloud tried to laugh off whilst Present Mic pouted.

“Are you ordering something or not?” he asked, his hands gesturing to the tables and (of course) crumb scattered floor; “I have better things to do than stand here” he added.

“Wow… your customer service is…”

“You aren’t a customer” he quipped; “there’s the door” he gestured, his hands grabbing the cleaning products, the service bar quickly and effectively cleaned; however, as he made to leave the area (to clean the rest of the café, the hot water tap switched on to allow its extendable hose to fill up the mop-bucket) the pair were still stood there.

“Maa… Aizawa-san, sorry” the white-haired staff-wielder called; “umm… I think we’ve got off on the wrong foot, here…” the hero (somewhere around his age) said whilst he busily added the cleaning solution, grabbed the mop and turned off the faucet. “Ano… we were hoping to speak to the owner, possibly?”

“You are” he replied, his hands grabbing the bucket’s handle and tugging it up, his body through the privacy gate and heading down to the end of the eating section (no kids had come by to do homework before school and Dabi hadn’t made a mess, either.

“W-wait… what? You own this place?” the taller, broad man baulked; “dude… that’s incredible, ugh, I mean… you’re in your early twenties, right?”

Checking in with the University student (she was fine but would love another coffee, her yen handed over before she went back to mumbling at the screen), Shouta nodded, told her it’d take a minute but then blinked when his lodger materialised before him to grab the mop; “I got this” he huffed.

“Now who’s working too hard?”

“Shut up and let me do my job already” the teen huffed before, his eyes narrowing at the Pros, a shit-eating grin spread his lips; “I shouldn’t keep you away from your adoring public now, should I?” he snickered before, in a revenge-related move based off of his own mild teasing that morning, he smirked at the men. “He’s single” he told them pointedly; “but don’t get your hopes up” he added whilst the longer haired man rolled and eyes and walked away from him: “I think he’s celibate, or something~!”

“D’you want to get paid this week?”

“Sorry dad~!”

“Their banter is so fun to listen to!” Nemuri cried, still pale but recovering slightly.

Snickering despite himself (because who cared if the stupefied heroes were watching?) Shouta walked straight past them once more, hopped the gate and went to work on fixing the plain (but exception quality; French classic had been pricey but you couldn’t beat the taste and he had a great stockist, to boot) coffee.

“Hey, that smells good, doesn’t it Mic?”

‘Please, just fuck off already…’

“Well aren’t you a ray of sunshine.” Mina said sarcastically. 

“Yeah, sure does… we’ll take two coffees please… ano, what’s a BLT?”

Sighing, his hands moving swiftly and efficiently to grab two more cups, he grunted; “eat in or take away?”

“Oh… ugh… we’ll sit, won’t we?”

“Heh! You bet!”

Marvellous…

“A BLT is a classic, western sandwich which contains bacon, lettuce and tomato” he answered primly; “everything is organic and I baked the rolls this morning…”

“Whoa” the blue-eyed man gushed; “we’ll take two of those as well, please~!”

Nodding, he rang up the order, watched the debit card transactions went through and passed them a tray containing their food before whisking the student’s fourth coffee over to her.

Tch, it was time to check the bathrooms again, wasn’t it?

Joy…

~*~

The rest of the day went by relatively peacefully; the heroes stayed for half an hour, asked him about the café, didn’t clock his attempts at fobbing them off, offered their Agency’s business cards (“just to be safe… that guy could have friends looking for payback, you know?”) and then left with smiles whilst leaving… a very generous tip.

He didn’t like tips or the westernised idea behind them; however, he wasn’t above such things and, if he was going to buy more stock soon, then every yen counted, didn’t it?

“Remember little listeners, always tip your waiters when you get good service! They work hard and they don’t get paid much so they deserve it!” 

Then the lunch rush came and went (he’d checked his phone a few times; Shinsou-san hadn’t been in touch) however, as the end of school approached, a handful of University aged students (with the girl from earlier, her lovely blue face more relaxed as she walked in with a centipede headed man, their chatter excited) entered.

Izuku (in tears) and Katsuki (stubbornly ignoring his friend’s(?) distress) weren’t far behind them.

“Stupid Deku and I aren’t friends!” Bakugou spat. 

“Oh wow. We never could have guessed.” Author-San said monotonously.

“Are you mocking me?!” 

“Obviously.” Author-San smirked when she saw one of his eyes twitching before he turned around again. 

Hmm…

Frowning lightly, he left Dabi with the older students (he’d narrowed his eyes at the sight, too) and approached the boys carefully; Inko had hinted (but she was clearly too nice to say) that the boys had been at odds since the green-haired child’s diagnosis but he’d had a feeling, when he’d watched them yesterday, that there was more to it than that.

“Diagnosis?” Uraraka raised an eyebrow and turned to her friend who looked entirely petrified. 

“O-oh! I-it’s n-n-nothing!” Midoriya stammered out. 

“It’ll come up later.” Author-San said. 

“Hey” he greeted, his eyes watching as the blonde scowled at him and pulled out one of the seats at the repurposed dining table before clamouring on to it, his back-pack roughly shoved onto the scratch-proofed surface whilst the shorter boy sniffled, a hand swiping at his eyes; “what’s happened?”

“K-Kaachan… h-he…”

“Tch, stop being such a baby” the crimson eyed tot snapped. 

“So you’ve always been an asshole then?” Monoma drawled. 

“Listen here you copycat bastard!” 

“Bakugou stop trying to fight the other students!” 

“Fuck off you fucking caterpillar hobo!” 

“Bakugou!” 

“Tch. Whatever.” 

“Bakugo” he said, his tone clipped; “being upset is a part of human nature” he reasoned: “insulting someone for showing their feelings is ignorant at best and cruel at worst” he warned before crouching down to give the emerald eyed child a napkin. “Now then, take a breath, relax your shoulders and try to centre your thoughts” he advised; “there’s nothing wrong with being upset but I can’t help you if you can’t tell me what’s wrong, alright?”

Sucking in a lungful and releasing it shakily, the more-timid of the pair looked at his clasped hands whilst the angrier started to furiously scribble into his doodle-book.

“Kaachan s-said that I… I couldn’… be… be a hero” he murmured quietly.

“And you can’t” the other snipped hotly; “you need to shut up, get over it and—”

“I’m really ‘bout to beat this bitch up.” Uraraka said, eye twitching in irritation. 

“Uraraka, that is a child.”

“And?” 

“I-”

“Izuku” Shouta cut in, his eyes looking to Katsuki (luckily, the boy could take a hint, his mouth snapping shut); “I think what Kaachan is trying to say” he offered slowly: “is that he’s worried about you getting your hopes up…”

“T-tch~! N-no, no I am not, he’s j-just…”

“However, since he struggles to talk about his feelings” he continued as the hothead blushed, his hands balling into sparking fists (heh, fire-proofing everything was going to be worth the time and effort, wasn’t it?). “Instead of consoling and supporting you in a way you might expect, he’s trying to convince you to focus your energies on other career paths” he added.

“That’s not what I was doing!” 

“Y-you don’t… don’t know anything, old man~!”

“You’ve both been friends for a very long time, haven’t you?” he continued as the crimson eyed tot re-grabbed his pencil and scribbled even hardly, his teeth gritting furiously; “I’m pretty sure that he’s just as unhappy about you not having a quirk as you are… you probably made a lot of plans to be heroes together, didn’t you?”

“Wait! He’s Quirkless?!” Shigaraki yelled. If it was even possible, Midoriya sunk further into his seat, attempting to become one with the chair. 

“He is.” Author-San said, with an edge that suggested the first person who said some shit about quirkless people was going to get punched in the face. 

“Even if he is Quirkless in that universe, I think he can do it! Deku-kun is one of the best heroes in our class with or without a quirk!” Uraraka cheered. Many other students nodded in agreement and Midoriya looked like he was about to break down in tears. 

Nodding, his arm now covering his eyes, Izuku struggled to calm himself.

“Would you like a hug?”

Nodding more vigorously, Shouta carefully brought him into his arms and gently rubbed his back.

Tch, poor kid.

He’d had a sneaking suspicion that the little Midoriya was bottling all of his tears up for his mother’s sake too and, with his best friend being so emotionally constipated, where else could he turn? Who else could he talk to?

Hmm…

He hoped that Asui and Uraraka would still be coming by today for his sake; since both of the boys seemed to be at an impasse, widening their friendship groups was the only logical step.

“We’re friends with him there too!” Uraraka said happily. Tsu hummed in agreement with a smile. 

Mitsuki had confided in him that she’d not really liked some of the other, brasher boys that Katsuki was amassing around him based on his quirk, either.

“A-Aizawa-sa-n?”

Blinking, his head tilting to regard the child whilst he allowed him to pull away, the older offered: “hmm?”

“I… I know that you… you don’t… don’t like…” he tried; “h-heroes t-the way I… I do…” he continued, his smile wobbling: “b-but… do… d’you thin-k that… that I… could b-be one?”

Carefully wiping the boy’s eyes, he gave him a true smile; “it won’t be easy” he warned: “and you might not get to be one in the traditional sense but, I don’t see why you couldn’t” he stated firmly, the tot’s eyes growing wider. “You’ve got a brilliant mind and a big heart” he furthered; “who wouldn’t want a hero with those qualities, huh?”

“That’s not—!”

“Katsuki” he cut in bluntly, a hand still resting on Izuku’s shoulder and giving it a squeeze; “with respect, not every hero, popular or otherwise, is someone who crashes around with super strength and flashy powers, are they?”

“W-well, no but…”

“No, they aren’t” he continued whilst standing, that same hand now in the child’s fluffy hair; “you are incredibly fortunate to have what most hero programmes would consider an excellent quirk” he admitted. “And, with training, patience and guidance, I have no doubt that you will become Pro that we’ll all be proud of someday” he stated, his smile returning when the other blinked, his cheeks pinking. “But that doesn’t mean that your friend can’t be, either” he reasoned; “in fact, if he keeps developing his quirk-analysis skills, trains his body and doesn’t give up, I’m willing to bet he can stand shoulder to shoulder with you” he said through a light shrug.

The Midoriya Tears have taken up residence and do not intend to leave anytime soon. Uraraka wrapped her friend in a hug so he could calm down. 

Then, his eyes casting down to the boy who’d grabbed onto his leg to squeeze it, Shouta veered him towards the table.

“Now, you don’t have to see eye to eye but there’s no reason to be cruel…”

“Then tell ‘im to leave me alone and quit bugging me” the sullen blonde grumped, the doddle pad he used to relieve his frustrations now filled with scribbles.

“S-sorry Kaa—”

“And stop apologising to me~! That’s all you ever do~! I’m sick of it, I—”

“Alright” he said calmly; “Izuku? Why don’t you come and do your work in the booth near the door, okay?”

Nodding, a little hand reaching for his, he walked them past the quietly observing University students (the fresh onigiri he’d made after the lunch-rush and slices of strawberry cheesecake (so quick and easy to make and keep) intermingled with their laptops and work books) to sit the boy in Dabi’s booth. “What would you like to eat and drink?”

“A-anything’s f-fine… thank you… Aizawa-san.”

Giving that tuft of hair one more ruffle for good measure, he nodded at his employee (who was wiping down the service bar; heh, what a God send) and nipped into the kitchen to scrounge up another lemonade, a slice of cake and a sandwich with a side of carrot and cucumber batons. Once done, he dropped the order off for the child now quietly getting on with his work before making his way to Katsuki; at his approach, the boy looked away with a huff.

“What would you like to eat and drink?” he asked him, his tone no different to how he’d spoken to Izuku; he could tell that the young blonde was struggling with some inner turmoil and it wouldn’t do to add to that.

“Nothing” the younger snapped.

“Okay, I’ll ask you again later” he stated whilst turning away; “or you can…”

“Aren’t you gonna yell at me?”

Ahh, and there it was.

Slowly turning back to him, his eyes clocking little Asui and Uraraka on the approach with a blonde boy through the windows (good), 

“Hey it’s me!” Denki yelled. 

Shouta walked toward him and leaned a little against the table, his voice quiet to spare the child any further embarrassment; “why would I yell at you?” he asked: “what good would that do?”

“I made the little nerd cry, didn’t I?” he huffed; “shouldn’t I be punished, or something?”

“The fact that you’ve acknowledged what you’ve done is wrong is a very positive step, Katsuki” he mused; “ano… I think you’re punishing yourself enough as it is” he told him, their eyes momentarily locking before the child muttered a curse and glared at his notebook. “Pushing other people away will only do you more harm in the long run, kid” he advised; “but, if I’m reading you right… you think that’ll make you stronger, don’t you?”

“I am strong” the boy virtually hissed.

“And I’m not arguing that” he soothed; “I just think it’s a shame that you’d choose to be strong alone instead of being strong alongside the people who care about you” he admitted: “now, are you sure you’re not hungry?”

“I’ll have a sandwich and a coke… please.”

Nodding, he went to get the order, a hand waving at the brunette, her (admittedly adorable; he remembered how grateful her toad-like father had been to see her smiling and accepted by the other kids) friend and the new boy as they entered with an enthusiastic “Aizawa-san~ good afternoon~!”

“Good afternoon” he returned in kind; “Izuku’s doing his work up here if you’d like to join him or you can go to the study area” he offered, his grin picking when Ochaco instantly shuffled to sit beside the blushing boy (heh, that was irrationally cute), her smile wide whilst the other two filled the opposite bench.

“Neh~ Aizawa-san~ this place is so cool~ I really like cats too, you know~!” the new boy exclaimed.

“Heh, I’m glad” he returned; “and you are?”

“O-oh! Heh, sorry! I space out a lot” the kid grinned; “I’m Kaminari Denki~ nice to meet ya~!”

“Likewise, kid” he replied; “have a look at the menu and tell me what you want when you’re ready, alright?”

The screen fades to black.

“Aw man! I wanted more of that universe!” Hagakure whined.

“We may come back to it again eventually. As I said it is one of my favorites.” 

The reactors talked almost themselves for a few minutes while Author-San chose the next universe. They were drawn back to attention at the sound of Author-San’s voice. 

“You know what? I’m in a mood right now so we’re gonna watch some dark shit!” Author-San called out, sending shivers down the spines of everyone. “Before we start though, let me just say: good luck to All Might and Bakugou. You’ll need it.” 

The two in question froze at her tone and looked at each other, both scared but neither knowing the reason why. 

Author-San pressed play on her computer and started cackling evilly. 

Searching the Multiverse…

Universe Found…

Loading Universe: Villains Aren’t Born; They’re Made

Chapter Text

Loading Universe: Villains Aren’t Born; They’re Made

“Before we start, Midoriya, could you follow me?” Author-San beckoned him out of the room. 

“Is something wrong Author-San?” Midoriya looked around the new room. He could see fluffy bean bags and a small snack bar. He felt himself relaxing almost subconsciously. 

“Not really, it’s just that part of the next universe shows the day you met All Might but, like, slightly worse.” Midoriya winced. “Yeah, I figured you didn’t want to see that. When that day is over I will bring you back in, sound alright?” 

Midoriya nods. “Good. You can make yourself comfortable. Feel free to take however many snacks you want, the snack bar never runs out.” 

“How is that possible?” 

“I’m not really sure. If you’re really dying to know, you can ask Orakuru the next time she pops in.” 

“Thank you Author-San!” He plops himself onto a bean bag with a box of Pocky. 

“No problem, Midoriya. Have fun!” She went back into the main room with the other reactors. 

“What’s this universe about, Author-San?” Mina asked as she saw the woman renter.

“If I told you, it would take away the surprise! Speaking of surprises!” She pulls open a sliding door near the front of the room and a short women walks out. 

“Everybody welcome Midoriya Inko!” 

“You’re Midoriya’s mother, right?” Mina asked. 

“I am. Where is Izuku, if you don’t mind me asking?” 

“He’s in another room. This universe contains some things he doesn’t want to see again.” 

“The damn nerds a coward then!” Bakugou snarled. 

“Katsuki, I don’t think you should be using that tone! Where are you manners?” Inko looked at him disapprovingly. 

“Sorry Auntie Inko.” Mina and Kaminari looked at him in shock. 

“Thank you.”

“I didn’t know Blasty could apologize!” He flipped her off. “That tracks.” 

“You know why you’re here?” Author-San asked. 

Inko smiled, “I do. Where should I sit?” 

“Just here, in the front row.” 

“Thank you dear.” 

“Let’s get started then shall we?!” 

It was times like these, where he was just walking down the road, where Izuku felt the most calm. It was far removed from the hecticity of his daily life. 

“That hella manly!” 

There were no bullies, no quirkist assholes trying to put him down.

“That’s… not so manly…” 

“Why would anyone bully him? Deku-Kun’s amazing!” Uraraka looked pissed and Bakugou subtly sank down into his seat. 

It was just… peaceful. 

Of course his luck is terrible and that calm facade was shattered not even two seconds after he had that thought. A villain with a gigantification quirk stood in the middle of the street. 

“Of course a villain fight breaks out in front of Problem Child.” Aizawa rubbed his temples. “Why can’t he just go a single day without attracting some kind of chaos?!” 

Backdraft and Kaumi Woods teamed up to take the villain down; Backdraft dealing with civilians and Kaumi attempting to bind him. Though his efforts were for naught as a new hero stole the show. 

“Canyon Cannon!” Huh. Okay then. 

“Today is the day of my debut! My name is Mount Lady. A pleasure to make your ass-quaintance!”

“No way! Midobro got to see Mount Lady’s debut?! That’s so cool!” Kaminari said excitedly.

“Gigantification, huh? She looks like she’ll rise in the ranks pretty easily, though she also seems like an attention whore. She does have a pretty amazing quirk though, but thinking about the damage to the city that’ll go hand in hand with that, it’s use might be limited? No, but whether or not she can control the size…”

“Hey, you’re taking notes? You wanna be a hero? That’s great! You can do it kid!” 

“Ah, thanks!” He beamed at the older man and started making his way back out of the crowd. Wouldn’t want to be late on the first day of the year.

The scene changed to that of Aldera Middle School and Bakugou went pale when he remembered exactly what day this was. 

“Since you’re all third years, it’s time to think about your future. I could pass out career aptitude tests but you’re all aiming for heroics so why bother?” The teacher threw the stack of papers into the air, letting them drift to the floor as Izuku’s classmates went wild. 

“I want this teacher fired.” Aizawa growled. “Heroics is a dangerous business, and those kids clearly are not suited for it. He’s practically sending them to their deaths!” 

“Author-San, do you happen to know this man’s name?” Nedzu asked, his smile was all teeth. 

A voice that was very much not Author-San called out, “Chiba Akihiko. He’s been at Aldera Middle School for seven years.” 

“Thank you Bakugou-Kun!” Nedzu sipped from his cup of tea. “I’ll have this situation resolved the moment we get back to our universe.”

All the students were letting off their quirks as though there were no laws prohibiting public quirk usage. He ducked his head down trying to avoid a stray rock from Oishi Iwao (the guy with boulders for hair) which, to be honest, was probably aimed at his head on purpose.

“I need a notebook. I’m taking names.” Aizawa said, flashing his Cheshire smile when a composition notebook and pen fell into his lap. 

“Aizawa-San, if you would, I would like a copy of those names,” Inko said. “The principal of Aldera steadfastly ignores every complaint I’ve filed against the school, so I’d like to make that simpering woman listen properly.” 

“Midoriya-San, what exactly did you complain about?” Nedzu grinned. Tearing down corrupt education institutions was one of his favorite pastimes. 

“The teachers at the school always blamed the bullying on Izuku, saying he was the one to start the fight, even if he was the only one injured. They lowered his test scores so he wouldn’t rise above their ‘future heroes’. Once they even refused him medical treatment for third degree burns.” 

“Where did Midoriya get third degree burns at a school?!” Hawks yelled. 

“Aldera is known for being discriminatory. None of the teachers cares about what happens to their students so long as their so-called ‘future heroes’ are safe.” 

“Yes yes you’ve all got impressive quirks. You’ll all be very good for heroics, I’m sure, but no quirk usage in school. It’s against the rules, remember?” 

“Teach don’t lump us all in the same group! I’m the real deal but these losers will be lucky to end up as a sidekick to some busted D Lister!”

“Bakubro! I didn’t know you went to school with Midoriya!” Kirishima smiled. “That’s so cool!” 

“Mhm…” Bakugou didn’t move from his white knuckled grip on the edge of his seat, dreading the end of this school day. He didn’t want his friends classmates hearing what he said to Deku. 

Ah yes. Bakugou Katsuki, the self proclaimed ‘future number one hero’. Izuku personally thought that the only thing he’d ever be number one at was being an asshole, but the last time he voiced that thought Izuku went home with third degree burns and a half destroyed uniform. 

“What the hell Bakugou?!” Kaminari looked sick. Bakugou stayed quiet. 

“Oh. If I remember correctly, you wanna go to UA High, right Bakugou?” 

“The national school?!” “The school has a 0.2% acceptance rate!” “I know! It's almost impossible to get into!”

“For good reason.” 

“That’s why you’re all just a bunch of extras!” Bakugou stands on his desk. Why? Izuku couldn’t tell you, but he looked like a self righteous idiot. “I aced the mock test! I’m the only one at this shitty ass school who could possibly get into UA. I’ll definitely surpass All Might and become the top hero of all time!”

“Oh wow. That is a lot of ego.” Monoma said with a wince. “And that’s saying something coming from me.”

“Oh yeah, Midoriya you wanted to go to UA too, right?” That’s it. Izuku officially hated this teacher. 

“Chiba Akihiko is at the top of my hit list.” Uraraka said seriously. 

“You have a hit list?” Toga asked. 

“I do now.”

The class burst out laughing. “Midoriya?! You’re kidding right?!” “You can’t get into the hero course just by studying!” “Why would they accept a Quirkless freak like you?!” 

“He’s Quirkless in this universe?!” 

“But he has a quirk in our universe so why was he bullied here?” Iida asked, confused. 

“He was a late bloomer.” Author-San said, “He lived most of his life Quirkless.”

“How did he get his quirk then?” 

“Um, there were obscure activation requirements? Yeah!” Author-San flashed a smile which showed she was obviously lying out of her ass. “He didn’t meet those requirements until the entrance exam.” 

Aizawa narrowed his eyes, “Are you telling me Midoriya didn’t use his quirk until the goddamn Entrance Exam?! No wonder he broke three of his limbs!” 

“I’ll add quirk counseling in addition to therapy.” Nedzu chirped. 

“I’ll do it my-damn-self if I have to!” Aizawa crossed his arms. 

“Th-they got rid of that rule actually! T-there’s just no precedent. I could be the first one!” He can’t help from stuttering. Izuku hates how weak he sounds but his fear overrides the logical part of his brain. 

Bakugou, being the jerk he is, takes this as a personal threat to his being and explodes his desk. Izuku fell hard onto the floor. 

Kirishima stood up and moved to the other side of the room, sitting next to Monoma. Bakugou could only stare at him. 

“Don’t say anything Monoma or I swear to Kami I will punch you in the face.” 

Monoma pouted. “Rude.” 

“Oi, Deku! You’re even worse than these damn rejects! You’re Quirkless! Why would UA take you when they could have me?!” Bakugou flexes his hand, explosions crackling dangerously. 

“No Kacchan! I’m not trying to compete with you or anything! It’s just that being a hero’s been my goal ever since I was a little kid. I may not have a quirk but I can still try my hardest can’t I?”

That’s another thing; calling Bakugou ‘Kacchan’. Bakugou seems like he hates the nickname but anytime Izuku tries to call him by his actual name he always ends up hurt worse. Maybe in another universe Izuku would still think of Bakugou as a friend, even though all he’s done for the past ten years was bully and berate him, 

He still thinks of me as a friend? Who knew Bakugou could be even paler?

but not this one. 

In this universe he’s just angry. Angry and afraid. 

“Uh oh.” 

“Shinsou? What do you mean ‘uh oh’? Kero” Tsu asked. 

“Have you seen his notebooks? If he weren’t as nice as he is or so determined to be a hero, he could kill any one of us in a matter of minutes.” He states matter-of-factly.

“Surely he couldn’t…” 

“No, trust me. He can. He knows everything about our quirks and weaknesses. If he had just a little less determination, it would be game over. End of story.” 

“Very interesting.” 

“Nedzu you stay away from him.” Aizawa points his finger accusingly at Nedzu, who sipped his tea. “He doesn’t need you to teach him how to end the world.” 

“Hm, we’ll see.” 

“Whaddya mean ‘try’?! You taking the test for fun?! You’ll never be able to hang with the best of the best! You’ll die in the exams! This school’s already shitty. You really wanna embarrass it anymore by failing so hard?!” 

But there isn’t really anything he can do with that anger except push it down, further and further, until he can’t feel it anymore. This is a perfectly healthy way to cope with his trauma. 

“No it’s not, baby.” Inko said, with tears in her eyes. 

“Bakugou, sit back down. You can finish your conversation with Midoriya after class.” Conver- is he fucking kidding him? Conversation?! This is bullshit!

Nedzu chuckled lightly, “I’m going to have fun with this one.” 

When the bell rang, Izuku hurriedly packed his belongings hoping to be done and get out before Bakugou and his lackeys caught up to him. 

However, again because his luck is terrible, Bakugou grabbed his analysis notebook out of his hand. 

“I swear to Kami…” If looks could kill, Uraraka would have atomized Bakugou by now.

“We’re not done talking yet Deku.” Oh joy.

“Katsuki, what’s that? His diary?” One of the lackeys asked. Honestly, Izuku couldn’t have been bothered to remember their names. He reached out for the notebook only for it to be pulled away again. 

“Huh? Hero Analysis for the Future? Don’t tell me you’re taking notes on how to be a hero?!” 

“Seriously? That’s so pathetic!” Lackey #2 said, absentmindedly flexing his quirk. 

“Haha! He’s delusional! You can’t be a hero just by taking notes!” Seems like you could use a few notes but go off. 

“Sassy Midoriya? Iconic. Love to see it.” Mina said, nodding approvingly.

“Real funny guys. Give it back.” Well would you look at that? His notebook just got exploded!

“Violence is wrong Ochako. Violence is wrong. Beating him up would do you more harm than good. Violence is wrong. Violence is wrong.” Uraraka muttered to herself, her grip on the armrests becoming white.

“Hey! That’s so mean!” 

“Ha! Serves you right Deku!” Bakugou tossed it out the open window and laughed. “Most first string heroes show potential early on. People look at them and just know they are destined for greatness. When I’m the only student from this run down school to make it to UA, they’ll realize I’m legit. And that’s not even my ego talking, I’m just that good!” It’s 100% ego.

“Wow, you are an even bigger asshole than I thought.” Shigaraki said. 

Bakugou put his hand on Izuku and half activated his quirk, leaving a scorching handprint on his right shoulder. “Here’s a word of advice for ya Nerd. Don’t even think about applying to UA or else.”

“Is that why he has a hand shaped scar on his shoulder?” Todoroki asked. 

“He has a what?” Bakugou spoke up for the first time, his voice cracking.

“A scar. He has others but that one stood out to me because of the shape and placement. He never would tell me where he got it.” 

Bakugou turned back around, trembling lightly as he started to realize the consequences of his actions. 

Bakugou laughs and he and his friends start heading out the door when he stops and turns around. 

“Ya know? If you want to be a hero that badly, there might just be another way. Just pray you’ll be born with a quirk in your next life and take a swan dive off the roof of the building!” Izuku can only stare, frozen in place. 

“Bakugou we are talking about this.” Aizawa said, “That is not how a hero is supposed to act.” 

“I thought of you as my nephew and you told my son to kill himself?” Inko looked Bakugou directly in the eyes with her teary gaze, “I’m incredibly disappointed in you Katsuki.” 

Bakugou did start crying then, who wouldn’t? Inko’s disappointment is far worse than any punishment he could have faced. 

“Aw, not even gonna say anything back? I thought you at least had a little fight left in you. Oh well.” 

And they left. 

At least his notebook wasn’t too damaged by the explosion. It really only singed the cover, but the water damage it got from landing in the koi pond was another issue. The words blurred together, pages ripped, and his heart broke. 

His analysis had really been one of the only things keeping him afloat but he can’t even do that without someone else fucking it up for him. Tearing up, Izuku started the trek home, opting to take the shortcut home so he could fix his shoulder before his mom got home from work. 

“Oh dear. I just wish he would tell me about these things! I didn’t even know he had a burn that day!” Inko cried.

Bakugou was stupid. What would he do if Izuku actually jumped? Would he even care? Or would he just laugh it off and move on with his life? 

Honestly? Izuku didn’t know which option would hurt more. 

Bakugou continued to cry silently, trying to ignore his friends classmates angry glares boring into his skull.

Crossing under an underpass, he heard a sound. Izuku looked around, but there was no one there. 

He shrugged and kept walking, only for the sewer lid to be blown off half a second later. Viscous green sludge rose from the sewer and loomed over Izuku. 

“Ȧ̵̰ ̶̤̑m̸̲̆e̴̡̿d̵̦̂i̷̤͌û̵͜ṃ̷̚ ̶̳̈s̸̯͆i̷̞̇z̴̼e̸̳d̵̼͠ ̴̖̒i̴̦n̵͖̐v̸̤͠i̸͍̎ṡ̴̻i̸̩b̴̹̽i̶̧̅l̴̛̳i̸͉̚t̷͇͠y̸̪̚ ̷̭̂ć̷̫l̴̝̇ơ̷̗a̶͓͒k̸̗̊…̷̗̌ ̵̦̽Y̷͇͆o̸̺̚ů̵̗’̵̭̋l̶̫͂l̶̪̄ ̷̺͑m̶̬̓a̶̩͝k̴̺̔e̸͇͠ ̴͓͗a̵̧̕ ̴͚̊p̵̫̅ẹ̷̉r̵̘̊f̷̝̽e̷̒͜c̷̲͑t̸̢̿ ̷̧̈s̸͇̽k̷̻͌į̸̈ ̶̧͘s̵̢̆u̷͚͌i̶͍̿t̶̳͐ ̵̑͜f̵͔̕o̶͕͝r̸͉̿ ̶͖͛m̸̔ͅȇ̸̜ ̵͓̐t̶̨͂o̸̞̓ ̴̰͆ḫ̵i̸̟̎d̶͚ȇ̸̖ ̴ͅi̷̻͝n̵̥̆ ̸̿͜k̸̻̿i̴̘̽d̵̺̎!̴̭̽”

(A medium sized invisibility cloak… you’ll make a perfect skin suit for me to hide in kid!)

“What the fuck?! It attacked me, not Deku!” Bakugou yelled, worried. 

“Actually Young Bakugou… this did happen.” All Might said quietly. 

Uraraka’s grip on the chair tightened. 

The sludge lunged at him, forcing its way down his nose and throat. He struggled but his hands did no damage to the liquid encompassing the villain, especially when his vision started to go dark at the edges. 

“No Midoriya!”

There’s no more strength in his arms. Is he… dying? Oh Kami. Somebody… anybody… help!

“Come on Midobro, you can get out!”

His consciousness fades more and more. 

I'm sorry mom. 

“Izuku!” 

“Have no fear, you’re safe! Now that I am here! TEXAS SMAAASH!!!!”

Is that… All Might? Everything goes dark.

“Oh thank fuck!” Uraraka yelled, her grip loosening while All Might’s tightened. He knew this universe wasn’t going to end without him getting yelled at. 

Izuku could feel something hitting his cheek repeatedly. He groggily opened his eyes to see… ALL MIGHT?!

“…ey! …Hey! Ahah! Thought I’d lost you there!”

“Seriously Toshinori?! That is not how you wake up a near drowning victim!” Recovery Girl smacked him in the head with her cane. 

“I was nearly out of time!” He rubbed the bruise that was slowly appearing. “I wasn’t thinking rationally that day. I hope you’ll all keep that in mind when you see the rest of our interaction.” 

“Because that’s not concerning at all…” Aizawa mumbled. 

“UAHHH!” He scoots back against the wall. 

“Well looks like you’re moving around all right! Sorry ‘bout that back there! Didn’t mean to get you caught up in my justicing. I don’t usually make mistakes like this but I was in high spirits on my day off in a new place! HAHAHAHA!!”

What. The. Actual. Fuck.

“It’s so weird hearing Midoriya curse, even if it is another universe.” Jirou said.

He’s talking to All Might. 

HE’S TALKING TO ALL MIGHT!!

“Anyways, you were a big help!” All Might holds up a two liter which appears to have the sludge villain inside of it. “I’ve captured him safely but now I must go!” 

He’s talking to- wait.

“C-can I have your autogra-?” Izuku picks up his waterlogged notebook to see it was already signed. “Oh my Kami! Th-thank you so much! I’ll treasure it forever!”

“He‘s such a fanboy.” Uraraka chuckled. 

“That’s nice, but I really must be going!” All Might stretches and prepares to jump.

“Wait! I need to ask you a question!” If All Might believed in him, he’d be able to make it! He’d have the confidence to get into UA! If he didn’t though… 

He didn’t need to think about that! It’s All Might! Of course he would believe in him. He believes in everybody! But it’s better to make sure! 

…Right?

All Might winced and Recovery Girl narrowed her eyes. 

“No time my boy! See you on the other side of the screen! I’m counting on your continued support!” And away he flew…

…with an extra passenger. Izuku clung to the hero’s leg as they both soared over Musutafu.

“I swear to Kami this kid is gonna give me an aneurysm one day.” Aizawa ran his hand down his face in exasperation. 

“Young man, what are you doing?! Let go this instant!” 

“If I let go right now I’ll die!”

“… Good point.”

They land on a nearby rooftop. Izuku massages his cheeks. Flying apparently hurt when you had your mouth open. 

“I’m sure if you knock someone will let you in. Now I must be going!” 

“You can’t leave children alone on roofs! ” Aizawa complained, exasperated. 

“I need to ask you a question!”

“I'm out of time, I really need to leave!”

“Can I be a hero without a quirk?” 

There was a pause. 

“Without a quirk? No.” His heart sank. All Might… “Heroics is simply too dangerous for a quirkless to survive. So my answer is no. You can’t be a hero without a quirk.” 

“All Might?!” “What the hell?!” “Why would you say that?!” “Midobro is the most heroic student in our class!” Angry questions and indignant shouts rang all over the theatre. 

“Guys it’s another universe! It might not have happened here!” Kaminari yelled over the nose.

“I- uh-“ All Might fidgeted. 

“Okay… thanks All Might…” 

“No problem! Now I’ll be off!”

*!* *!* *!*

All Might launched off the roof once again, leaving Izuku alone. 

Izuku laughed bitterly, head tilting toward the sky in a vain attempt to prevent the tears from falling down his face. “Who’d have thought the number one hero was quirkist…” 

You’re even worse than these damn rejects!

Sorry kid. It’s just not gonna happen.

You’ll never be able to hang with the best of the best! You’d die in the exams!

Heroics is simply too dangerous for a quirkless to survive. 

You can’t be a hero without a quirk.

Just pray you’ll be born with a quirk in your next life and take a swan dive off the roof of the building!

Maybe… he should just take Bakugou’s advice and get it over with. 

Bakugou tensed, and if he started crying again? Well that’s nobody’s business but his own.

He thinks he’s about ten or so stories in the air. It probably wouldn’t hurt for too long… Not like he hasn’t felt worse… 

“I swear, this kid needs so much therapy!” Shigaraki yelled and Aizawa couldn’t help but agree for once. 

“I’ll have Hound Dog arrange mandatory sessions for all students when we return. I don’t doubt other such traumas shall be revealed through this endeavor.” And isn’t that a comforting thought?

No.. He can’t do that. His mother would be heartbroken! 

“Exactly think of the good things!” Iida said, encouragingly, even though that Midoriya could not hear him.

She’d get over it eventually. After all, why would she even care about a useless quirkless loser like you? All you are is a burden. Even if she won’t admit it, you know you’re the reason all of her friends left her. She probably hates you just like everybody else does! Just kill yourself already and let her be free!

Does she hate him?

“Baby, no! I would never think that! I don’t know what I’d do if I lost Izuku!” Inko cried.

No! He can’t think like that! 

But… what if… ?

*!* *!* *!*

Author-San went into the other room. “Alright, all of the triggering stuff is over so you can come in.” 

“How much do they know?” Midoriya fidgeted with his fingers.  

“They know Bakugou bullied you and they know you were Quirkless before the Entrance Exam, but they don’t know about One for All or All Might’s skinny form. I told them you had obscure activation requirements for your quirk to come in. Other you tried to kill himself after he met All Might. Also you should brace yourself for therapy when you leave.” 

“Wha-?” 

“And we’re going back to the Theatre!” She grabbed his hand and led him back out. 

He was immediately swamped in a pile of teary hugs. 

“Um, guys?” 

“Just let it happen Izuku.” Inko said with teary eyes. 

That sat like that for a couple minutes before they finally allowed Midoriya to breathe. 

“Can you all return to your seats please? Thank you.” 

He sank to the ground, back against the chain link fence surrounding the top of the building. He just sat there for hours and cried, releasing years of pent up emotions until there was nothing left.

“Is this directly after I met All Might?” Midoriya asked. 

“Mhm.” 

“Oh that’s not good.” Midoriya looked stricken. 

“What do you mean Deku-Kun?” 

“I didn’t sit and cry on the roof. I had started walking home. I found Kacchan being attacked and ran to help, impressing All Might, who apologized for what he had said. If I waited hours before going home…” 

“You wouldn’t have found Bakugou…” Shinsou finished. 

“And All Might wouldn’t have apologized. I’d have been crushed and given up on my dream to be a hero for good.” 

Class 1A was silent. They couldn’t imagine a world without Midoriya in their class.

“Wait a minute! That means All Might said that to you in this universe!” Toga glared at the hero. 

“Well-” 

“We will be having a very long talk when we get back to UA, All Might.” Nedzu said seriously. He did not take kindly to people hurting his students, mentally or physically, especially staff members. 

All Might gulped. 

When he got control of himself again, Izuku opened his notebook to see the bulky signature of his former hero. 

He flinched hearing his successor denounce him as his favorite hero, even if it’s in another world. 

It was clunky and the ink blurred together on the still damp pages. He stared at it, near apathetic. 

You can’t be a hero without a quirk.

Izuku’s face contorted with anger and he tore out the pages, not caring that he tore his analysis of Mount Lady from that morning. He stood on wobbly legs and made his way to the door leading into the building below him, leaving the crumpled up pages behind him.

“Oh that can only mean good things.” Momo said worriedly. 

Izuku’s head was pounding and his lungs burned. Bits of sludge were embedded in his curls and he felt like taking a shower and sleeping for a year. He unlocked the door to the apartment and his mother immediately gathered him in a teary hug. 

“Izuku! You’re okay! I was so worried that you weren’t home when I got off work and then I saw Katsuki on the news and I-” What? 

“Kacchan was on the news?” Mom still thought they were friends. Of course, he hadn’t told her any different. He didn’t want her to lose Auntie Mitsuki because of him. Mitsuki was the only friend she still had! But still… 

“Izuku, you need to stop worrying so much about me and worry about yourself!” Midoriya winced.

“Sorry, mom. I just don't like seeing you upset.” 

“And I don’t like seeing you in pain!” 

His mom was crying into his shoulder. “He was attacked by a villain with his friends! It nearly killed him! Mitsuki said he might be in a coma!” 

“What? A coma?!” 

Bakugou sat stock still. Did Deku running in really make that much of a difference?

…hearing that Bakugou might be in a coma? It made him kind of giddy. Logically he should have been worried, and normally he would have been. 

But after the day he’s had? 

He honestly couldn't care less. 

Bakugou winced.

“Damn, he really said fuck Bakugou lives.”

Izuku excused himself to his room and his mom started making dinner. Unbidden, he lost himself to a fit of giggles. He slapped his hand over his mouth to muffle the sound lest he worry his mother. 

“Kami, he’s gone insane!” Kaminari yelled.

“He’s not insane.” Midoriya said. “He’s in shock. While that version of me may not care for Kacchan’s well-being, he still never expected him to be taken care of so easily.” 

Looking around his room, his giddiness is immediately forgotten as he stared at his walls, plastered in the face of the man who crushed his dreams into dust. Anger bubbled up.

“That is a lot of merch…” Shigaraki stared at the screen in disgust. 

It took every ounce of self control to carefully roll up the posters instead of just ripping them up and setting them on fire. Even if Izuku was conflicted with how he felt about the hero now, his merch was worth its weight in gold. Even a single crease would drastically decrease its value. 

“That looks weird. Midoriya shouldn’t be taking down his All Might posters. That’s just wrong!” 

It took less time than he thought it would and he was left staring at a blank room in just over half an hour. The only thing he had left were a couple of commissioned posters of Eraserhead and Present Mic and one of Ingenium. 

“The listener still likes me!” Hizashi excitedly shoved against his husband’s shoulder. 

“You haven’t given him a reason not to Hizashi.” 

“I know but still!” 

“I’m still stuck on the fact that he not only knew about Shouta before UA but liked him enough to commission posters.” Tensei said, loudly enough for Midoriya to hear him. 

“Of course! Aizawa Sensei has been my second favorite hero for years!”

“Why?”

“I saw one of your fights after you first debuted. You fought mostly quirkless so I was clinging onto hope that I could still be a hero without a quirk. Plus you’re super cool!” 

“Thanks Problem Child.” Aizawa hid his grin in his scarf. 

What was even left for him to do now? 

He couldn’t be a hero- All Might had made that much clear- but what else was there? He didn’t exactly have any hobbies he could pursue a career in aside from his analysis, but even then who would want to hire a quirkless person to tell them how to use their own quirks? 

Maybe… Maybe his dad would know? He needed to be on breathing machines 24/7 since he got into that accident a few years ago while he was in America, so they hadn’t seen each other in a while. His dad had always supported Izuku’s dream to become a hero even if he wasn’t the biggest fan of them himself. Maybe he’d help him find a new path? 

“Is that why you don’t talk about your dad very often, Deku-Kun?” 

“Yeah.” 

With his mind made up, Izuku pulled out his phone, only then realizing it had gotten waterlogged when he was attacked by the sludge villain. “Goddammit! Why can’t anything go my way today?!”

“Again, it’s so weird hearing him curse!” Jirou said.

Trying to distract himself, Izuku pulled up the news on his computer. If what his mom said was true, he wanted to see how Bakugou landed himself in a coma. 

“I’m not too sure I wanna see that…” Mina said. 

The screen in front of him showed Bakugou caught in what appeared to be the sludge villain All Might had saved him from earlier. Which means it somehow escaped. No matter how it happened, none of the heroes on site were doing anything. They were just standing there, watching as his bully choked on sewage. 

“Holy shit!” 

“Why aren’t the heroes doing anything?!” 

He may not like Bakugou, but he could think of at least three different ways each of those heroes could help him get away. 

The sludge forced itself down his nose and throat. His ruby red eyes made contact with the news camera trained on him. Izuku could see the raw fear creeping into his gaze, see the realization washing over him like a tidal wave that he very well could die there, alone and afraid, with no one helping him.

“Kami…” 

“That must be terrifying!” 

It didn’t take long after that for the explosions coming from Bakugou’s hands to start becoming smaller and smaller. Only after he’d lost consciousness did the heroes do anything, but at that point Bakugou had been without oxygen for over five minutes. 

“Oh dear. That’s not good.” Recovery Girl said. 

He stared at his screen with a feeling of sick glee. He recalled one of the lessons in a basic first aid course he had taken several years ago to treat his burns without worrying his mother. If someone lacks oxygen for more than four minutes, their chances for permanent brain damage drastically increase. After six minutes, the person would likely be dead. He let out a low chuckle. However you're feeling in your coma right now KaCcHaN, 

I hope it's painful .

“I’m starting to see how the title fits with this universe…” Momo says. 

“Wait, what was the title again?” Kaminari asked, his face scrunched up in confusion.

“‘Villains Aren’t Born; They’re Made.’” 

“Oh. Yea, that’s not good.” 

“To be honest, I’d have become a villain just from that one day. I can’t imagine having to go through this for ten years!” Mr. Compress said. 

“You’re already a villain. Isn’t that biased or something?” Hawks asked. 

“Well maybe slightly, but you’ll never find a truly nonpartisan opinion. Everything is steered in one way or another.” 

“Good point.” 

“Izuku? Dinner’s ready!” His mom called from the kitchen, startling him. Izuku hadn't realized how much time had passed. He grabbed his broken phone and made his way to the kitchen. 

“I made Katsudon. Figured it would cheer us up about Katsuki.” She smiled. He returned the smile, though his was much more strained. 

“Thanks Mom.” His mom looked him over, brows furrowing. 

“What’s that in your hair?” Izuku reached up to run his hand through his hair, fingers catching on the goop from earlier. He had completely forgotten to wash it out when he came home.

“It’s nothing. One of Kacchan’s friends decided to pull a stupid prank on one of the teachers and I got caught in the middle of it. Fried my phone too.” Her face softened.

“Izuku, you should know I never believed you when you said those things.” Inko said quietly. “I just hoped that one day you’d actually tell me what was going on.” 

Midoriya held his head down, “Sorry mom. I didn’t want you to worry about me.” 

“I’m your mother. It’s in the job description honey.” She smiled sweetly to which Midoriya returned. 

“They have got to learn to be more careful! Now, eat up so you can take a shower. We’ll get you a new phone this weekend!” He smiled, more sincerely this time, and started eating. 

“Thanks mom… I love you.” 

“I love you too Izuku.”

Izuku had decided he wasn’t going to school today. 

He didn’t want to see his classmates, Bakugou’s words from the day before still ringing in his brain. He still got dressed for school, but once he was out of range of the apartment he changed into street clothes and started walking to the train station. 

The view on the way was nice. He hardly ever got to enjoy it, as he was usually running late to avoid catching the same train as Bakugou. Now he didn’t have to worry about that and walked at a leisurely pace. He stopped for a moment to stare at a homeless man trying to lure a stray cat out of an alley. Shrugging his shoulders, Izuku kept walking. That man’s business wasn’t any of his business anyway. 

Aizawa crossed his arms, “Why do people keep assuming I’m homeless?” 

“Because you dress like you woke up behind a trash can, Shouta.” Aizawa glared at his husband. 

He didn’t even register which train he boarded, his only thought was that he needed to get away from Musutafu for the day. He used to love exploring the nearby cities on his days off, even if today wasn’t technically a day off. Though he doubted his teachers would even notice he wasn’t there. 

“Hey, Eraserhead! Would you arrest me if I burnt down this school?” Dabi asked nonchalantly. 

“… don’t do it in front of me.” 

“Cool.”

“Aizawa-Sensei! Condoning this illegal behavior is shameful of a pro hero!” Iida said, chopping his arms aggressively.

“Attempted murder.” Author-San murmured, just loud enough for Iida to hear. His jaw dropped and he quickly retook his seat, turning bright red.

Shinsou, who sat closest to Author-San, also heard this and is now looking between his class President and Author-San incredulously. She winked at him and the universe continued playing. 

Not like it mattered. They never called on him in class, even though he could probably test out of middle school if really wanted to. The only reason he hadn’t already was because he wouldn’t know what to do with all of his free time.

Izuku got off on a random stop and looked around the station. “Huh, guess I’m hanging out in Kamino Ward for the day.”

Shigaraki sucked in a breath. 

“You good, Crusty?” Dabi asked quietly. 

“Are you forgetting where the bar is?!”

“…oh.” 

Shigaraki scratched at his neck in anticipation. 

He stopped at a small family owned café to order himself some breakfast and a coffee. He pulled out his notebook. This one was specifically for analyzing random people on the street. This is the only one Bakugou had seen, hence the phrase “creepy stalker analysis”. And he will admit, it is a bit creepy however he’s unlikely to see these people ever again so it doesn’t hold much real weight. 

“What the fuck?” 

“You know maybe he wouldn’t be so bad to have on our team, Tomura.” Kurogiri said. “He certainly seems more moldable than that blonde boy.” 

“Maybe so.” Shigaraki looked intrigued. 

Izuku looked around at the other customers in the café, theorizing not just their quirks, but their backgrounds, what they do for a living, the most likely place that came from, and their favorite heroes. You can honestly tell a lot about a person by which hero is their favorite. 

For example, people who like Best Jeanist are usually a bit more mature than others and tend to have at least a small appreciation for the fashion industry. Hawks fans are the more outgoing, loud mouthed, funny people in a group. Endeavor fans are… a lot and he would honestly just recommend running away from those types of people. 

“Midoriya, you are my new favorite person.” Dabi said. 

“Can we form the Fuck Endeavor Club?” Todoroki asked, looking at Aizawa.

“Do whatever you want, just don't get yourselves killed.” 

“I’d like to join that club!” Hawks chirped excitedly. 

"Me too." Midoriya said, recalling the events of the Sports Festival.

“Great. That’s four members, anyone else?” Dabi asked. No one spoke up. “Pussies.”

“Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll get more members by the time you leave my company.” Author-San chuckled darkly. “We are far from done with the Multiverse.”

Finally finishing his food, Izuku left though he was still analyzing the people he passed. He mostly just walked, but occasionally a store or two would catch his eye and he’d have a peek inside. He had taken all of his school books out of his backpack the night before so he’d have more room for today and now he’s glad he did. The little nick knacks have started to pile up. 

He had avoided any hero stores so he could keep his anger in check. It’s odd. He’s never been one to hold a grudge, so he doesn’t understand why he’s so upset about All Might. Sure All Might told him to give up on being a hero, but he was just trying to keep him safe. Hadn’t everyone else told him to give up too? What’s so different about All Might?

He was your all time favorite person and he crushed your dreams. He’s an influential figure; he should have realized the effect his words have on people. After all, you nearly killed yourself because of it, remember?  

They all winced at the reminder. 

But it had been partially because of Bakugou, right?

“It wasn’t entirely his fault for how he treated me.” Midoriya said. 

“I swear to Kami if you say it’s because you deserved it, I will smack you with so much self-love you won’t know what to do!” Uraraka pointed her finger at him. He put his hands up in surrender. 

“I wasn’t! I know now that I didn’t deserve that, but neither of us were told what was going on was wrong. Sure, Kacchan should have realized using his quirk on another person wasn’t right, but how would he have known if our teachers actively ignored it? I’m not saying he deserves no punishment, I’m just saying it wasn’t all his fault.” 

“Excellent reasoning Midoriya-Kun!” Nedzu grinned. “You do make a good point however. We will take this into account when we talk about this later.”

“Thank you, Principal Nedzu!” 

Why can’t it be the fault of both? Your rage has been building, simmering, just below the surface, for years because of how your peers treated you. How far of a stretch is it that All Might’s words were the final straw?

But… but it’s All Might! He was the coolest hero ever!

Things change. People change. Other people move on. If you try to focus on the past, you’ll stumble through the future, proving everyone right. You’ll never move past being a useless, worthless, Deku. 

Move on.

Move… on. He could do that. He had already started by taking his posters down, all he needed to do is to keep going forward. Yeah! Keep moving forward! 

In the midst of his inner dialogue, Izuku hadn’t realized it was well past noon. 

“I should probably get food…” He looks around the street, eyes scanning over the different restaurants within a block of him. “There!”

“Oh no.” Shigaraki muttered. 

“What is it this time?” 

“That’s my favorite restaurant.” 

He walked to an American style diner. It was one his father had taken him to when he was really young, maybe three or four years old, so he couldn’t remember what their food tasted like but he remembered feeling happy while he was there. Kami knows he could stand to brighten up a bit. 

“Yeah! You deserve all the happiness in the world Deku-Kun!” Uraraka cheered. 

In his rush, he accidentally bumped into someone walking out of the diner with a takeout bag. The other person dropped their bag, the contents spilling out onto the floor. 

“You’re joking. You’re fucking joking!” Shigaraki yelled. “Why me?!” 

“Ah! I’m so sorry! Are you okay?”

“Stupid NPC! You made me spill my food!” The other boy scowled at him. He couldn’t have been more than 20, and had scars ringing his bloodshot eyes.  Light blue hair framed his face as he bent down to clean up his spilt food. 

“Goddamnit!” Shigaraki scowled.

Izuku bent down to help, “I’m so sorry! I wasn’t watching where I was going! I’ll get you more food! I’m really sorry!” The other boy rolled his eyes.

“Whatever. Just replace it and go away. My day was going so well too…” The last sentence was said quieter but Izuku still caught it. 

“Sorry. I always ruin things.” The two threw away the remains of the other boy’s lunch. 

“You good brat?” 

“Yeah! Yeah, I’m fine!” The other boy stared at him for a minute. 

“Real fucking convincing nerd.” Bakugou said. It was the first time he had spoken in a while, surprising those still seated around him. 

“You don’t look like the type to skip school, what are you doing out right now?” 

“W-well, this is my first time skipping school, but one of my classmates told me to kill myself yesterday, then got put into a coma, and I finally met All Might but he crushed my dreams to be a hero and left me on a rooftop, so I guess I’m… coping?” The other boy looked at him incredulously. 

“Well that’s one word for it.” 

“Sorry! I basically just met you and you probably don’t care. I shouldn’t have said all of that. I’ll just get your food and leave you alone.” Izuku started walking toward the counter, but the other boy put his hand on his shoulder, keeping one finger lifted. Odd. Does that have something to do with his quirk? Probably five point contact. What does it do though? 

“Brat, I may not be a hero, ” The other boy spat the word like it would burn him if he let it sit in his throat for too long. “But I’ll be damned if I’m letting you fuck off by yourself after spilling all that.” 

“I’m surprised you care, Shigaraki.” Midnight turned to him. 

He scowled, “I may be a villain but I still have morals!” 

“But-” 

“Listen, you obviously have issues. Having someone to talk to about shit like that is good for you. I’m not saying it has to be me because I just met you, but talk to a teacher or something.”

“Teachers didn’t help, they made everything worse.” 

“Then a parent. Look, it doesn’t matter who, just talk to someone. Now come on, my food isn’t gonna order itself, so let’s go get that and then I’m gonna walk you home.” The other boy guided him forward again. 

After Izuku paid for both of their food, they left the diner, walking in the direction of the train station. 

“What do I call you, brat?” 

“You’re a stranger. Why would I tell you my name?” 

“Smart choice.” Aizawa noted.

“Doesn’t have to be your name, just something I can call you. I’m not telling you my name either.” 

“Hm, you could call me Midori!” 

“Fitting. Call me Tenko.” 

“Tenko? I think I used to have a cousin with that name. He and his family died in a villain attack shortly after I was born but my mom said he was quirkless like me so it would have been really cool to meet him.” Tenko looked at him weirdly, but Izuku ignored it and he shook it off. 

“Wait a minute. Wait a goddamn minute!” Midoriya yelled, drawing all eyes to him in surprise. He stood and turned to Shigaraki, “Your name is Shimura Tenko, correct?” 

“Yes?”

“Is your father’s name Kotaro?!” 

“Yes?? How the fuck do you know that?!” 

Midoriya turned to Author-San, bewildered. “Are we fucking cousins?!” 

She laughed, “Congratulations on figuring it out, Midoriya!” He looked pale. 

“I’m related to Shigaraki. I’m related to Shigaraki. I’m related to- hold up! I specifically remember being told you were Quirkless!”

“That was what Kotaro had said.” Inko said, still reeling from the revelation. 

“Yeah, well, he didn’t exactly get to talk to anybody else after my quirk finally came in.” Shigaraki said bitterly. 

“Can I ask you questions about your quirk? I like to analyze quirks! Picking apart how they work and how to counteract them has always been fascinating to me! So can I?” Izuku was bouncing on the balls of his feet in excitement. 

“I guess? It’s pretty simple but what do you wanna know?” 

“I already theorized that it was five finger contact but what does it do?”

“Turns shit to ash. Basically disintegration.” 

“How long does it take you to disintegrate something? Is it dependent on size or density? Does it work better on living or non-living objects? Have you ever tried to disintegrate something without touching it? Are there any drawbacks? Or do you-?” 

“Brat! Chill out! I couldn’t understand you towards the end.” 

“Sorry! Just got excited!” Izuku could have sworn he heard the teen mutter something about ‘damn NPCs knowing too much for their own good’ but he couldn’t be sure. 

“You talk a lot of gamer talk.” Kaminari said, “Do you play games often?” 

“I mean, yea? There’s not much to do in Kamino that I haven’t done already.” 

“We should play together sometime.” Shigaraki stared at him. 

“You do realize I tried to kill you right?” 

“Yeah, but what can you realistically do from across the computer screen?” 

“Hack your IP address. Find your location. Leak your files. The list goes on.” 

“…I’m starting to see how this was a bad idea.” 

“Yea. Yea it was.” 

“How long depends on the density. It works better on living objects and I have tried disintegrating things without touching them. Didn’t go well.” 

“That's so cool! Do you wear gloves so you don’t disintegrate everything you touch?” 

“...No.” He looked up at the other teen in disbelief.

“…No? Are you kidding?” 

“The gloves would just crumble into dust!” 

“Wear artist gloves! They only cover two fingers so it would block your quirk!” 

“...” 

“You do know what artist gloves are, don't you?” 

“...” 

“Oh boy.”

The screen fades to black.

“Again with the slander! Why am I being shit on so much?!” Shigaraki yelled. 

“Because you’re one of my favorites.” Author-San started scrolling through her computer but paused and looked up. “I know several of you would like to talk to certain people. You can use the room I brought Midoriya into earlier while I’m looking for the next universe.” 

“Bakugou.” Aizawa stood up, Nedzu on his shoulder, and walked to the door without a second glance. Bakugou stuffed his hands into his pockets and followed. 

Once the door was shut, Aizawa crossed his arms. 

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t expel you right now.” 

“…I can’t.” 

Aizawa raised an eyebrow, he was expecting Bakugou to fight harder for this. Nedzu sat quietly, thinking. 

“I was and am a shitty person.” Bakugou looked up and met Aizawa’s gaze. “I thought that if I was doing something wrong, our teachers would have said something, but I should have figured it out on my own. When I told Deku to kill himself, I didn’t really think of how it could have affected him. I didn't think he was fazed by any of it.” 

“Clearly he was, but it’s a good sign that you recognize your behavior was wrong. If you had tried saying you were in the right, I would have expelled you on the spot.” Nedzu frowned at the explosive teen. Don’t think that means you’re getting away without punishment, Bakugou-Kun.”  

“I will be speaking with both of your parents about this after we return,” Neither Aizawa nor Nedzu missed the minute flinch. “and I am setting you up for mandatory anger management and therapy with Hound Dog and you will have at least a month's detention. Am I understood?” 

“Yes, sir.” Bakugou dropped his gaze to the floor. 

“Good. Now come on, kid.” Aizawa led him back to the theatre but before they could get back to the door Kirishima stopped them. 

“Um, Bakugou, could I talk to you too?” Bakugou nodded and went back to the room with Kirishima. 

“I just want to know why. Why would you bully Midoriya?” 

“All of our teachers put me on a pedestal as soon as my quirk came in, and pushed Deku down when his didn’t. I didn’t know any better. I know that isn’t an excuse but I didn’t. I figured, ‘Hey, if what I’m doing is really wrong, why is no one stopping me? So I must be right!’ I just realized today how fucked I was.”

Kirishima was silent for a second, “You know, I was bullied in middle school for having a weak quirk.”

“Fuck those extras, you’re one of the strongest in our class!”

“Heh, thanks Bakubro. I just hate when people push others down for things they can’t control, but I can see you’ve kind of started to change. You’re definitely a far cry from the boy on screen earlier. I was just upset that you would do something like that.” 

“I’ll- I guess I’ll try to work on it? The Rat said I have mandatory anger management and therapy from now on.” Bakugou scowled. Though he felt he might benefit from it, he wasn’t going to say that out loud. He had a reputation to keep after all.

“As long as you’re working on it!” Kirishima grinned. “I think I’m gonna sit next to you again. He hasn’t even done anything yet but being next to Monoma is gonna make me go crazy after a while.” 

Bakugou snorted, “Come on dumbass, we should get back to the theatre.” 

The two exited the room, returning to their seats as Inko stood near the front of the room. She looked at him. 

“Katsuki, I trust you won’t waste this opportunity to be better?”

“I won’t Auntie.” He mumbled. 

“Good. I have to get going now but I will be having a word with Mitsuki.” Bakugou sank into his chair. 

“It was nice having you here Midoriya-San, though it may not be the last. Good bye!” Author-San led the green haired woman back out of the theatre. 

“Alrighty, I haven’t quite gotten off the angst train yet so I apologize but here we go.” Author-San loaded the next world. 

Searching the Multiverse…

Universe Found…

Loading Universe: Rät

Chapter Text

Loading Universe: The Tragedy of Hawks and Inferno

“Wait, why did the title change?” Midoriya asked. 

“Um, yeah it’s weird. In the two seconds that have passed since I clicked the button, that universe no longer exists.” Author-San chuckled nervously. “In any case, we have this now!” 

“Is this about what I think it is?” Hawks said, rubbing his neck nervously.

“You’ll just have to wait and see, but there will be explicit mentions of child abuse and excessive force used on children so anyone who is uncomfortable is allowed to go into the backroom at any point. Though there is one scene at the very end that will be required to see no matter how uncomfortable you are and I’m sorry in advance. Mostly for Hawks, Dabi, and Todoroki.” 

“Well that’s concerning.” Hawks said.  Dabi and Todoroki couldn’t help but agree.

“This is where you’ll be staying from now on. Behave and you won’t have any issues.” Keigo looked up from the textbook he was reading and saw a boy in the doorway with the president of the commission. “Your father paid us good money to train your quirk here so you’d better not disappoint him or us.” 

Dabi sank into his seat, not looking forward to this trip down memory lane. 

“I understand the warning now…” Todoroki said sullenly. “Is this where Touya went when he was sent away?” 

“Yeah,” Hawks responded. “This was his first day there.” 

The boy nodded and the president left the two boys alone in the room. Keigo watched him put his stuff on the second bed in the room. He had bandages on both of his forearms and his neck and his white hair was slightly red at the tips. 

“I wonder what’s up with those bandages.” Midoriya wondered aloud. 

“Maybe he has a rash or something?” 

“Are you just going to keep staring or are you gonna say something?” Keigo jumped. 

“Sorry! I’m Takami Keigo! Or- I guess they don’t want me going by that anymore. Call me Hawks!” 

“Who is they? And why don’t they want you going by your name?” Aizawa asked. 

“Um, I think that’s classified?” Hawks shrugged noncommittally, but he was freaking out internally.  

“Todoroki Touya.” 

“This is the same brother from earlier, right Todoroki?” Momo asked hesitantly. 

“Yes.” He responded. She gave him a sad look. 

“Sooo, do you have any hobbies?” 

“No.”

“Favorite food?”

“Anything is fine.”

Keigo frowned. 

“This guy is so boring!” Kaminari whined. Dabi nearly said something in his own defense but he caught himself and settled for sulking in his chair.

“Who’s your favorite hero?” 

“I don’t have one.” 

“Why not?” 

“None of them have bothered to save me so why should I like any of them?” Todoroki glared at his mattress and a small lick of flame nipped at his hair before it went away. 

“Why would he need saving? His dad is the number two hero.” Monoma asked. 

“And? Endeavor can barely be classified as a hero.” To the surprise of everyone, it was Midoriya who said this. Iida gasped indignantly. 

“That is shameful behavior Midoriya! You should not speak of a Pro in such a disrespectful way!” Iida chopped his hands viciously. 

“Iida, you are my friend and I love you but I do not take criticism on this particular opinion.” Midoriya said firmly. 

“The Endeavor Hate Club out here doing Kami’s work I swear!” Dabi said reverentially. 

“What’s your quirk?” 

Todoroki raised his hand and lit it on fire. He winced and shut it off again, rubbing at the skin on his wrist. “What’s yours?” 

“Does his quirk hurt him?” Midoriya asked in sympathy. Even though he had found a way to work around his quirk’s drawbacks, they were still a persistent memory. 

“Fierce Wings! I can control my feathers and sharpen them and stuff!” 

“So you can fly?”

“Yes?”

“Then why haven’t you gotten out of here yet?”

“What do you mean?” Keigo tilted his head, confused.

“This place is obviously a military camp where the commission can train kids to be their own personal puppets. Why would you want to stay here?” Keigo shook his head.

“Excuse me?” Aizawa asked darkly.

“It’s nothing!” Hawks denied quickly.

“It is too something.” Dabi said, ignoring Hawks’ glare. 

“How do you even know that?” Hawks asked.

“I have my ways birdy.” He smirked.

“What? That’s ridiculous! Sure the training can be a bit much sometimes, but it’s not a military camp.” 

“Oh, so you’re just blind then.” Todoroki said, turning back to his unpacking. Keigo squawked in offence. 

“I’m not blind!” 

“You might as well be. I’ve been here for less than a day and I could tell almost immediately. You’ve been here for how long?” 

“Since I was six, so five years.”

Aizawa flipped to a new page in his notebook and started writing down all of the information he could about the training facility. 

“You’ve been here for five years and you just believe what they tell you?”

“Why wouldn’t I? The Hero Commission knows better than I do!”

“The Hero Commission is corrupt! If they weren’t corrupt they never would have allowed Endeavor to stay in the top ten knowing what he’s done!” 

“Amen to that.” Dabi mock worshipped his younger, on screen self. 

He tensed after the words left his mouth almost like he hadn’t meant to say that.

“What could he possibly have done that he should have been removed from the hero ranks for?” 

“Nevermind. Just drop it.” 

“What-? No! What did he do?”

“Nothing! Leave me alone!” Todoroki glared at him and Keigo backed off. 

— — — 

Keigo had started growing closer to Touya (he had insisted that he not be called by his last name ever) over the next few years. They were practically inseparable outside of training. They ate lunch together, they studied together, they had a set of matching necklaces, they talked to each other until the early hours of morning. 

“You guys have matching necklaces?! That's so cute!” Mina squealed. 

So Keigo could tell that Touya was feeling more bitter today than normal. 

It was mid afternoon and they had already finished their training and classes for the day. Touya sat on the window sill, glaring at some far off force outside and picking at his bandages.

“Touya, are you okay?” Touya didn’t turn his head, he just kept picking at the edge of his bandages. 

“I got a letter from my dad this morning.” He sighed and looked at Keigo with the most scared look he had ever seen from him. “He said that if I don’t improve by the next test, he’s going to pull me out and continue my training at home.” 

Todoroki’s knuckles were white with how hard he was gripping the edge of his shirt. 

“Isn’t that a good thing though? You always complain about how difficult the training here is.” Keigo sat down across from Touya. 

“No! It’s not a good thing! I hate the training here but it’s so much worse at home!” Touya started to tear up. “It’s abuse, Keigo!”

“What?!” That was the single word that could be heard before the reactors dissolved into indistinct shouting. 

“Everyone be quiet!” Author-San shouted. It took another half a minute for everyone to settle back down and Author-San continued. “If you want an explanation, you have to pay attention.”

Sullenly they turned back to the screen. 

Keigo could only stare, slack jawed, as Touya continued his tale.

“My father married my mom for her ice quirk so he could have children with strong quirks to surpass All Might when he never could. 

“That’s horrible!” All Might shouted. He felt guilty.M that this had happened because of him.

But he never thought about how two polarizing temperature quirks would combine. I have a stronger fire quirk than him but I have my mom's resistance to fire which is to say none at all.” Touya gestured at his bandaged arms. “My sister is the opposite; a strong resistance to fire but an ice quirk. Natsuo just has a temperature regulation quirk, but Shouto… Shouto can create ice and fire. He had the exact quirk our father was looking for and father started training him immediately. 

Todoroki looked at the ground to avoid the pitying glances from his classmates. 

I- I saw one of the training sessions from the hallway. Shouto was on the ground and he was throwing up from quirk exhaustion. Father called him weak for not being able to continue and… when our mom tried to stop him he hit her. I was sent here when I yelled at him for it.” 

“I was the reason Touya was sent away?” Todoroki asked quietly. Dabi winced. He hadn’t ever wanted Shouto to blame himself.

Touya took a shuddering breath, eyes glistening with unshed tears. “I’m scared of what will happen if I fail Birdy. I don’t know if I’ll be able to take his training again.” 

Keigo wasn’t able to offer reassurance that everything would be fine because what did he know? Keigo scooted closer to Touya and pulled him closer with his wing. Keigo wrapped his arms around the sobbing boy’s shoulders and as Touya cried into Keigo’s chest Keigo was sure of one thing. If he ever met Touya’s father, it would not end well. 

Dabi’s lips curved upward a bit and his chest felt warm. He liked seeing Hawks be protective.

— — — 

With the end of the month came the progress test. Keigo could hear Touya’s screaming from the end of the hall and already knew the outcome of his test. He sat in their room for another hour, waiting for Touya to come back from the test when he realized something wasn’t right. 

“His screams were so commonplace in the facility that I didn’t even realize what had happened…” Hawks said quietly. 

Aizawa fumed. He is willing to try his damnedest to shut this program down even if it costs him his hero license. 

Keigo ran out into the hall and ran to the infirmary. When he got there, he could see Touya’s blistering and burnt back as the nurses wrapped his torso in gauze. 

“Oh my Kami!” 

“What happened?!” “

“Touya!” Keigo tried to run to his side but the president put her arm in front of him.

Dabi growled upon seeing her. 

“Hawks, you are not allowed inside right now. You know that. And call Inferno by the right name! Kami, the number of times I’ve had to tell you both that is ridiculous.” 

“Sorry Madam President.” Keigo forced his features to be blank and bowed to the woman before walking sullenly back to his and Touya’s shared room. 

“What is her name?” Uraraka asked sweetly with a demonic grin on her face that promised pain.

“Um, I’m actually not sure…” Author-San said, tuning to her computer. After about thirty seconds she turned back. “Well, she doesn’t have a name. So far as the multiversal archives go, her name is Public Safety Commission President.” 

“Because that’s not suspicious at all.” Aizawa responded sarcastically.

He worriedly paced to and fro for hours, wondering if Touya was going to be alright until Touya finally reentered the room half an hour before lights out. 

“You’re gonna leave a rut in the carpet if you keep pacing like that, Keigo.” 

“Touya!” Keigo almost threw himself at his friend before he remembered what his back had looked like earlier. Touya smiled (ie. grimaced but it’s the thought that counts) at Keigo and painstakingly sat on his bed. He let out a shaky breath.

“Touya, are you okay? Should I take you back to the infirmary?” 

“Keigo,” Touya’s voice held a gravity that immediately made Keigo straighten up. “I failed my test.” 

“Yeah but it's not…” Keigo trailed off as he remembered their conversation the week before. “Oh. You’re being transferred out…” 

“Noo! My ship is being torn apart!” Hagakure wailed, anguished. Dabi snorted under his breath, earning a fierce glare from the bird quirked man sitting next to him. 

“Mhm…” 

Touya dragged Keigo to lay with him and curled up against his chest. 

“Promise you’ll write?” Keigo ran his hand through Touya’s hair. 

“I promise. I’ll write to you every week if I can.” Touya said seriously.

— — —

Touya’s father came the next day to take Touya home. Keigo had been helping Touya finish packing when the president told him his father was in the lobby waiting. 

“I don't wanna go home, Kei.” Touya wrapped Keigo in a tight hug. He had his face buried in between Keigo’s neck and shoulder.

“No wait, this is so sad!” 

“I don’t want you to leave either, Touya. You’re my best friend and probably the only one I’ve ever really had.” 

“You are the only person I’ve ever felt comfortable enough around to be open about my life at home. I don’t know where I would be if you weren’t in my life Keigo and I’m so sorry that I have to leave you. I-” Touya took a deep breath. “I love you Keigo.” 

“AHHHH!!!” Mina, Hagakure, and Midnight screamed in delight. 

Both Hawks and Dabi paused however. 

“He- he what?” Hawks stuttered out, his eyes starting to fill with tears. 

Dabi screamed internally. 

Keigo froze. His mind was racing with a million thoughts at once but none of them could process the words Touya had just spoken. 

“It’s okay if you don’t feel the same, but I couldn’t leave without telling you.” 

“Touya I-”

“Todoroki, your father is getting impatient.”

“Sorry. I’m coming.” Touya picked up his bags and walked out of the room. Keigo stared at Touya’s empty bed for a minute in silence before he saw that Touya forgot the necklace Keigo had given him on his bed. 

Keigo grabbed it and ran to the lobby to try and catch him before he left. Keigo could see Touya’s back at the door and called out to him. 

“Touya, you forgot this!” Keigo handed Touya the necklace.

“Thanks Kei. Goodbye Birdy.” Touya smiled sadly. 

Keigo took a deep breath trying in vain to stop the wave of emotions rolling over him. 

“Touya, hurry up!” A familiar voice called from outside. Touya flinched and walked out the door. Keigo looked through the window to confirm that the voice he heard was real. 

If he had never met Touya he probably would have been freaking out because his favorite hero was outside, but now Keigo was just pissed. He finally understood what Touya had meant that first night he moved in. Keigo couldn’t look up to that man anymore, not after knowing what he did to his family.

— — — 

“Endeavor’s oldest son, Todoroki Touya, tragically passed away last night when Sekoto Peak caught aflame. The cause of the fire is currently unknown but…” The rest of the news broadcast faded to static in Keigo’s ears. 

“Wait what?!” Mina cried, “He died?! No!” 

“Mina I said that he had died earlier when we were reacting to the memes.” Todoroki said, his voice wavering from its usual indifference. 

He could feel the tears streaming down his face as he stared at the screen. It hadn’t even been a week since Touya left. 

“Not even a week…”

Keigo could hear someone snapping at him, telling him to pay attention, but he paid them no mind. He ran out of the room and back to his and Touya’s room. Once the door was locked, Keigo allowed himself to break down. 

Keigo jumped onto Touya’s bed and curled into himself. His loud sobs echoed in the mostly empty room. He ran his fingers over the edges of his necklace. 

Keigo never even got to tell Touya that he loved him too. 

Dabi’s breath hitched. He snuck a glance at Hawks and cursed his poor decision making.

— — —

It was almost three years before Keigo  got approved to leave the facility on his own. 

He had never really been a huge flower person. His mother was allergic to them and his father hated the sight of them for reasons still unknown to Keigo. So Keigo had never bothered to learn the different meanings, but now he wished he had.

“Okay this was like a complete 180 tone shift.” 

He entered the flower shop and was completely confused with which flowers were appropriate for the situation. Thankfully one of the workers seemed to sense his confusion. 

“Can I help you with something?” 

“Yes please…” Keigo looked at her name tag. “Kouda-San.” 

“Is that your mom Kouda?” Ojiro asked. Kouda smiled shyly and nodded. 

“What are you looking for?” 

“A friend of mine passed away. I wanted to know which flowers would be best to leave at his grave.” Keigo blinked away the tears he could feel forming. Kouda looked sympathetic and handed him a tissue. “Thank you.” 

“What is the general message you’d like to convey?” 

“I’m not sure. We were really close but I loved him. And I never got to tell him that.” 

“Give me one moment.” Kouda disappeared down one of the rows of flowers and emerged a minute later carrying several flowers. 

She pointed at the different flowers, “These are red spider lilies. They’re used to convey a final goodbye. These are all carnations. The pink ones stand for remembrance and the white ones mean pure love and innocence. White lilies represent the restored innocence of the soul departed. Do these sound like what you wanted?” 

Discreetly, Dabi brought out a journal from his coat pocket and distracted himself running his fingers over the pressed flowers inside. 

“They’re perfect. Thank you so much Kouda-San.” Keigo picked up the bouquet she put together and handed her the money. 

“It’s no problem. Stay safe out there.” Kouda waved at him as he left the shop. 

“She’s so sweet!” Hagakure said. Kouda nodded. 

Keigo slowly walked to the cemetery where Touya’s grave was. He wasn’t buried there since his body had been reduced to nothing but ash and a fragmented jawbone, but there was a memorial regardless. Keigo wandered the grounds for a few minutes before he actually found Touya’s grave. 

Keigo placed the flowers beneath the headstone and kneeled next to it. 

“This seems like a private moment, should we really be watching this?” Momo asked, not so subtly looking at Hawks who had tears in his eyes.

Author-San nodded, “It’s context for the last scene.” 

“I’m sorry it took me so long to come here. You know how hard it is to get time away from the commission. I miss you Touya. You said you loved me before you left but I... I never got to say that… I loved you too.” Keigo wiped the tears from his eyes. “I know you said you didn’t like any heroes, but I’m going to try to be a hero you would be proud of. I promise.” He sat in silence for another minute before he left and went back to the commission. 

-- -- -- 

Two minutes after Keigo leaves, a boy jumped off of the branch of a maple tree that hung over Todoroki Touya’s grave. He was wearing a long sleeved jacket with the hood pulled up, a face mask, and dark sunglasses. 

“Someone was watching me?” Hawks asked.

The boy bent down and picked up the flowers Keigo had left behind.

“What the hell?! Who just picks up bouquets left in the cemetery?” Hawks asked indignantly.  

He took his sunglasses off and his piercing blue eyes stood out against his dark burn scars as he wiped his eyes. “Thanks Birdy.”

The screen fades to black.

Hawks stared at the screen dumbly, unable to process what he had just seen. It wasn’t until Todoroki spoke that he was shaken out of his trance. 

“My brother is still alive?” Todoroki asked Author-San. 

Author-San nodded and tried her hardest not to look at Dabi. She didn’t want the reveal to happen too soon.

“He's still alive... Is that— Does Touya actually love me?” Hawks asked, fidgeting with his hands in his lap.

“He does. He had just never gotten the chance to tell you.” 

A few tears slipped from Hawks’ eyes. 

“I feel like you need a break from the angst.” Author-San said. 

“Yes please! My shipper heart got so much whiplash with that universe!” Mina said. Hagakure and Midnight nodded in agreement. 

“You’re in luck then! I’ve gotten the permission of another creator to react to their work and theirs is much more lighthearted!” Author-San cheered.

“I do have a few more people to bring here though…” 

Searching the Multiverse…

Universe Found…

Loading Universe: My Mentor is a Gen Z

Chapter Text

Loading Universe: My Mentor is a Gen Z

Author-San gave everybody a few minutes to talk amongst themselves while she was preparing to bring the new people. 

Shinsou hadn’t intended to eavesdrop originally however… 

“Orakuru, how do I bring a dead person here?” 

...there was no way in hell he could go about his day normally after hearing that. 

“No! That’s so weird! What the fuck?! I don’t want their body, I want them to be here to react! … I want a few of the OFA users.” 

What is OFA? 

“Oh yeah! I forgot they were inside Midoriya!”

What?? The fuck?? Does that?? Even MEAN??

“Can you tell me the ritual?... Thanks. Love you, bye!” Author-San put her phone down and asked Midoriya to follow her to the front of the room. 

“What’s going on?” Midoriya asked. 

Author-San winked. “Don’t worry about it. Just stand still.” 

Midoriya did as he was told and Author-San removed her necklace and started drawing in the air. Only Midoriya could hear what she was muttering but it was in a language he didn’t understand. After a minute, the lines she had been tracing in the air started to shimmer in an emerald green color before splitting off into three parts and shifted into gray, red, and silver. The three different colors flowed around Midoriya for another moment before they started to expand into the shapes of people. Snippets of muffled conversation were audible to the people closest to the front. As the shapes became more defined, they could start to make out words. 

“...ut the fuck up Second! I know you were an iPad kid but that’s no excuse!” A man with shaggy white hair gestured wildly at a blonde haired man who looked like he could honestly be an older version of Bakugou. A black haired woman rubbed her temples, sighing. 

“Stop saying that! I wasn’t an iPad kid! You’re just pissed I haven’t seen the original Blues Clues!” While the men were arguing, the woman looked around at their change of scenery. 

“Boys-” She tried to get their attention but they didn’t seem to register her presence.

“Rightfully so! The ‘We just got a letter’ song was the most iconic bop to ever be played in a tv show and you said it was ‘wE jUsT gOt An EmAiL’!” 

“Can you please just-”

“They had already recasted Steve by the time I was born! They had recasted him by the time you were born!” 

“And?! Hisashi may have been a mass murderer but at least he made sure I was cultured!” 

“BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP!” The boys looked at her as did everyone else in the theatre. Shigaraki froze while All Might choked on his blood. 

“Sorry Nana.”

“Sorry Nana.”

“Thank you. Will you two please look around?” She asked exasperatedly. They did as she said, their eyes widening. 

The white haired man leaned into the Bakugou lookalike and stage whispered, “Second, I don’t think we’re in the void anymore.” 

“Yeah, no shit.” 

“Welcome!“ Author-San greeted cheerfully as though nothing had happened. “You can call me Author-San. You’re going to be reacting to another universe so if you could just take a seat that would be great.”

“How are we here, Author-San? We are… you know...” 

“Dead? I’m aware. However your spirits lay dormant within One for All so since Midoriya was here, I was able to bring you out for a short amount of time. Don’t worry, you’ll go back to the void as soon as we’re done here.” 

Author-San directed them to their seats. She was almost back to her seat when she turned around again suddenly. “Oh! You need to introduce yourselves!” 

The white haired man immediately cringed and tried to hide behind Bakugou’s doppelgänger. 

“Yoichi, get off of me.” The blonde man said, glaring at the other.

“I’m just gonna start before they start arguing again.” The black haired woman stood and faced the rest of the theatre. “My name is Shimura Nana. I was a pro hero and All Might’s mentor. Speaking of which, you look good, Toshinori. Congrats on making number one.” 

“Thank you Master.” All Might bowed his head, still barely coming to terms with the fact that Nana was in front of him. If his current situation were any less bizarre he might have had a more emotional reaction, but he was in a theatre that exists outside of time and space reacting to other worlds so… anything was possible at this point.

The Bakugou clone stood up next, “I’m not telling you my name, call me Second. I was technically a vigilante.”

The white haired man stood up after Second nudged him off the chair, obviously very anxious. “Uh, hi my name’s Micheal with a B and I’ve been afraid of insects my whole life.” 

Shigaraki grinned, “hold up where?” 

“Hm?” 

“Where’s the B?” 

“ThErE’s A bEe?” 

“I like you.” Shigaraki said. “What’s your actual name though?” 

“Shigaraki Yoichi.” 

The villain’s face flashed through multiple emotions before the realization set in. “You’re--” 

Author-San interrupted him. “Alright, you can talk after if you want but I really want to get on with this universe and y’all are kinda dragging it out. Please take your seats.”

Once everyone was settled and comfortable, the screen started playing. 

Izuku found himself waking up in a dark abyss. 

It was the night after the entrance exam. He had gone to bed fully believing that he had failed. After all, he didn’t manage to get a single point. 

“You didn’t get any other points aside from the rescue points?” Uraraka asked. 

“Nope. I really thought I had failed.” 

‘Stupid, worthless deku’ he thought. Cursing himself for failing. For letting All Might down. How could he be a hero if he couldn’t get into UA? It was his dream school! It’s where all the greatest heroes went. And he’d screwed it up.

‘I am going to hit you with so much self love.’ Uraraka thought fiercely. 

“Y’know, Kacchan’s idea to take a swan dive is looking pretty appealing right about now” he mumbled to himself, beginning to walk aimlessly around the void. “Why see the disappointed looks from everyone who believed in me when I can just face death and save myself the embarrassment”

“Ha, mood.” Yoichi muttered. 

He was about to continue his pitiful sulking when he heard a voice yell out. “OH MY GOD ISN’T THAT A MOOD!”

“You are so predictable, Yoichi.” Second said. 

Shocked, he began to frantically look around him. Trying to find out where the voice had come from. All he was met with was black.

He began to walk backwards, not entirely sure what to expect, when he tripped over something. Landing in the ground with an ‘oof’ he looked up and saw a giant chair that looked like one you’d see in a throne room. 

Turning his head, he came face to face with a group of seven people and one figure made of mist. Six of them were staring at him while two stood with their faces against a wall that definitely wasn’t there before. Sucking in a deep breath, Izuku pushed himself to his feet before facing them head on.

“The past users…” All Might whispered reverently. 

For a moment it was silent before a man with shoulder-length white hair stood up and walked over to him. 

“Welcome to bible studies, we’re all children of Jesus” they said, with a wide smile on their face. Before Izuku could even reply, they started singing “kuuuuumbaya my lord”

The other figures began to groan, some rolling their eyes while one of them told the man to ‘shut up’. Still taken by surprise, Izuku let out a small giggle. This instantly caught the man’s attention as he grabbed Izuku by the shoulders and began to shake him violently.

“Toshinori! You beautiful beast, you have picked the best successor anyone could ask for!” He yelled at the ceiling(?) it was more like the roof of the void. 

“Um, you’re welcome?” 

“What’s- what’s going on?” Izuku questioned, stumbling to catch himself when the white haired man let go. “Who are you? Why am I here?”

“Oh right, introduction time!” The white haired man began. He opened his mouth to speak before a look of panic appeared on his eyes. “I’ve changed my mind, Second! Can you please introduce everyone? I don’t like doing it”

The man, second(?) he was guessing. Let out a sigh as he turned around from the wall and stalked towards the greenette. He stood tall in front of the boy, easily casting a shadow over him. “Him over there” he jabbed his thumb in the direction of the white haired man. “Is first. He does have a real name, but it’s easier to go by numbers for now. He’s the first user of this quirk that you’ve got. I’m second. You can probably guess why. The other one over by the wall is third. I’m sure the others will want to introduce themselves so I’ll leave that to them. You, Midoriya Izuku. Are nine. The void you are in now is pretty much the subconscious of the quirk. It’s where the user’s souls reside after their death. For some reason, you are able to enter here. Normally contacting the current user is difficult and can only be done under certain circumstances. You however, don’t fit into that.” He finished, turning around and walking back to the wall.

“I didn’t understand a word of that.” Kaminari mumbled. 

“Previous holders… does that mean Midoriya got his quirk from someone else? How is that even possible?” Yaoyorozu wondered aloud. 

Izuku stood still for a moment, processing the information he was just given. ‘He didn’t fit into the normal circumstances? Why was that?’

“Anyway” a voice interrupted. He was shaken out of his thoughts by first who was now bouncing on the balls of his feet. “Let’s get you introduced to the others, then I can teach you all about the ways of the best generation that ever walked the earth!”

“No one wants to hear that first” a voice called out. Izuku turned his head to see a man with hair a similar length to first’s with three crack looking scars over his left eye. “I am Shinomori Hikage, or four. My quirk is called danger detection. It’s a pleasure to meet you nine”

“It’s nice to meet you too!” Izuku relied, giving the man a smile. 

“Sup little dude, I’m Banjo Daigoro or five!” Yelled a bald man as he ran up to the three of them. Activating what Izuku believed to be his quirk. He then proceeded to try and get hold of four. “The quirks name is black whip if you’re interested.”

Izuku took note of the name before turning to see a man with short black hair. “That’s En, or six!” Five called out. “He ain’t really one for talking much. But he’ll come round to it eventually” he informed. 

Izuku nodded his head and gave six a smile, before turning to the final person. She was a woman with onyx black hair that was tied into a half up half down style.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Izuku. I’m Shimura Nana or seven. Although I’d prefer if you call me Nana. I’m not as big with the numbers as our names as the others are” she gave a warm, welcoming smile. “The one beside me is Toshi, or All Might as you know him. Since he isn’t dead, it’s more like his soul is here but also not. He can’t talk but can still express things”

“All might is there?” Yaoyorozu’s eyes widened. ‘Did Midoriya obtain his quirk from All Might somehow?’  

“It’s nice to meet you all!” Izuku said, a grin on his face.

“Now nine!” First called, grabbing Izuku’s hand and pulling him away from the rest of the users. “I have so much to teach you.”

“Oh Kami… I’m already dreading that headache.” Second muttered. 

__________

The next day, Izuku awoke in his room. 

He lay there for a second contemplating if the hours of ‘gen Z education’ he had received really happened. He definitely knew more about the topic. But maybe that was just some weird ideas he had made up. There was no way that a gorilla dying ‘fucked up the timeline’ as first had put it.

“I swear It did! Rip Harambe! He will be missed!” Yoichi fake wiped a tear from his eye, saluting the screen. 

The students got the distinct idea that he was just weird and decided to move on without commenting.

‘What a weird dream’ he thought as he pushed himself out of bed and went toward the bathroom. ‘Did I really speak to the past users or did I just make that up? I’ll have to ask All Might about it’ he continued his internal monologue. Jumping into the shower, he turned the heat up as hot as he could handle before he began washing his hair. He was about halfway done with washing the conditioner out when the shower curtain was pulled open.

“Hey Nine-“

“AAAAAAAAAA” he began to scream

“What the heck?! Don’t sneak up on people in the shower!” Midoriya yelled, face flushing from embarrassment.

“Stop screaming it’s just me- why do you have so much-”

Izuku grabbed the curtain, tugging it back to cover himself. He then grabbed the bottle of conditioner that was on the products rack and threw it at first. To no one's surprise it went right through him.

“Sir, this is a Wendy's” first said in a deadpan voice. To which Izuku would have laughed if it wasn’t for the fact that first was in his bathroom.

“GET OUT” he screamed from behind the curtain. 

“Fine, I’m going” he heard first complain. A second later it was complete silence other than the running shower.

__________

Izuku had gotten out of the shower about two minutes later, getting changed into his clothes and brushing his teeth. Thank god his mother wasn’t home due to work. He wasn’t really in the mood to explain ‘oh I was yelling at a ghost’ without looking insane. 

Entering his bedroom once again, he saw first moving around and staring at all of his stuff.

“You have a lot of All Might stuff” he said once noticing the greenette had entered. “My room used to look similar, but with anime posters and my life sized Danny DeVito cardboard cutout” he added nonchalantly. “It wasn’t as bad as my brother's room though. Any trend he saw on TikTok was instantly added to his room. LED lights, vines - and no, not the vines I told you about yesterday - at one point he even had toilet paper hanging from his fan. It made a vortex when it turned on. There was this one time we took a family trip to America when an election was coming up. My brother ended up stealing the signs from people’s gardens and proudly displaying them on his wall when we got home” first laughed at the memories. “It’s a shame what ended up happening though” he sighed.

“I refuse to believe Sensei was that big of a trend follower.” Shigaraki mumbled. “Absolutely not.” 

“What happened?” Izuku prompted, walking over towards first who seemed to be disheartened.

“Eight didn’t tell you?” He asked, sadness turned to shock. Seeing the confused look he got, first began to seem angry. “The whole point of the quirk is related to that asshole I call brother and All Might didn’t tell you a thing?!” He began to pace over Izuku’s floor. “Okay then, didn’t think I’d be having to say this but now I am... My brother is the reason this whole quirk exists! His quirk is the ability to take and transfer quirks. When he was younger my family made him hide it because at the time those with quirks weren’t treated well. However, as he got older he became more aware of what he could do. He used to take quirks all the time and give them out to others. He thought himself to be a god. They thought I was quirkless, but it turns out I had a hidden quirk. The ability to pass on a quirk. Only found that out after the dickhead forced a stockpile quirk onto me. I was really ill at the time, so he thought I was weak and needed protecting. He even locked me in a vault for ‘the greater good’. Believed that him giving me a quirk would make him see his ways, be stronger and completely give into his will. But nope bitch! It gave me more reason to fight against him. I passed the quirk onto second not long before I was killed in the fight. And the quirk is meant to be passed down until one of the users kills him. He had a longevity quirk that keeps him from aging y’see. Sorry you had to be dragged into this not knowing, I thought you knew” he told the boy, dragging his hand down his face and groaning. “You’d think eight would have told you this before giving you a quirk that puts are target on your back, but I guess not”

“You got your quirk from All Might?!”

All Might and Midoriya both winced at the question. 

“I- I did.” 

“When?” Aizawa asked. When Midoriya looked at him confused, he continued, “When did you get the quirk?” 

“The day of the Entrance Exam. Why?” 

Aizawa’s eyes widened minutely. “You’ve only had your quirk for a few months? No wonder you had such issues with it at the beginning of the year!” 

“Hey Midoriya?” Kaminari got the green haired boy’s attention. “Were you quirkless before?” 

Midoriya froze up and squeezed his eyes shut. “I- I was.” He tensed, preparing himself for every outcome. Realistically he knew Author-San wouldn’t allow anyone to attack him here but there was no accounting for what happened when they returned back to their universe. 

“It doesn’t matter if you were quirkless before.” Midoriya’s head shot up because what?! “You’re still the same Deku-Kun we all know and love!” 

He could feel the tears building up in his eyes and hugged Uraraka tightly. “Thank you.” 

“Of course! You're my best friend! None of us are gonna turn against you just because you got your quirk from someone else.” Uraraka said firmly. 

“I-“ Izuku couldn’t speak. Why wasn’t he told any of this before? It could have had a major effect on his answer. But at the same time, he didn’t regret taking the quirk. Especially if he could help people.

“Ugh, this sucks. But hey, at least you’ve got me and the other users to help you. Even though second and third are acting like dicks and not wanting to be involved in this. But it’s chill”

“So it’s too late to just curl up in a hole and die?” Izuku asked, slumping against the wall. He could feel anxiety clawing at his chest.

“Sadly yes” first nodded. “By the way, I can feel your emotions. I know you’re anxious but I’ve got a little something that will help you feel better”

“What is it?” Izuku asked, hands grabbing at his arms.

“Any time you feel anxious, this is what you’ve gotta say - my anxiety is chronic but this ass is iconic” 

“Wait, that’s such a good line!” Mina said, laughing. “I’m totally gonna steal that!” 

This prompted Izuku to full on snort with laughter. First also began laughing, to which Izuku pointed out he sounded like a windex bottle. 

__________

For the rest of the day Izuku and first ended up talking about what life was like before quirks were everything. 

With every reference and joke first made, Izuku could practically feel the other users sigh within him. 

At one point first even talked about a game at the time called minecraft. Going on about youtubers at the time like Skydoesminecrft, DanTDM, Stampy and more. Soon explaining how it became popular again five years after everything had died down when something called the dream smp surfaced, which resulted in first demanding Izuku watch videos of the main events that occurred. 

Within the week that Izuku had to wait for his exam results, he had ended up becoming extremely familiar with all the references first made. Soon enough he also began quoting them at random times. To the confusion of his mother, the annoyance of the OFA users and the utter joy of first.

Maybe having first as a mentor wasn’t too bad.

The screen fades to black.

“Nine, when you finally get into the void, I’m totally giving you the same lessons.” Yoichi said seriously. 

“Do I get a say in this?” Midoriya asked wearily. 

“No.” 

Midoriya sighed. 

“Are you all ready to go back to the void?” Author-san asked. 

“It’s weird being around people again. I don’t like it.” Yoichi said. 

Second rolled his eyes and nodded. 

Nana smiled. “Please.” 

Author-San did another ritual, shorter this time, and the three vestiges returned to Midoriya. 

“So you just have a bunch of people inside of you like all of the time?” Kaminari asked.

“I guess so.” 

Searching the Multiverse…

Universe Found…

Loading Universe: The Other Side

Chapter Text

Loading Universe: The Other Side

“Alrighty guys! We’re back into stuff that’s a bit more serious, but I don’t have any warnings for you this time, so we can just get right on into it if you don’t have any questions,” Author-San said cheerfully. 

“What is this universe about?” Yaoyorozu asked. 

“It’s based on an old superstition and is mostly focused on Aizawa,” she explained succinctly. 

“Oh joy,” Aizawa muttered sarcastically.

Uraraka tilted her head curiously. “What superstition is it based off?” 

Author-San winked. “I can't give out too many spoilers, now can I? Any other questions?” No one spoke up. “Cool! Everybody direct your attention back to the screen!”

The afterlife had always been an odd concept to Shouta. 

He hadn’t grown up religiously and he was never one to believe in anything without proof, so the concepts of heaven and hell always struck him as strange. 

The idea of living eternally, even after you die… Why would you want that? 

Life was miserable as is. Shouta found no pleasure in the thought of having to do that shit for the rest of his un-life. 

“Emo-zawa,” Nemuri teased. Aizawa jabbed his elbow in her ribs. 

So when Shouta’s head smashed against the concrete at the USJ, he accepted it was the end for him. —

Shigaraki grinned. 

— He’d even gone as far as to whisper his goodbyes to Hizashi as the light started to fade from his eyes.

“Shou…” Hizashi whispered fearfully. 

“I’m fine Hizashi,” Aizawa reassured quietly, reaching out to take his hand discreetly. “I’m right here.”

But he didn’t die, somehow.

He had teetered the line, swaying heavily to one side, body leaning far over the edge of the cliff, gazing fearfully into the expansive void below, but he was pulled back. Barely.

“That’s terrifying,” Jirou commented, twisting her earjacks nervously. 

Shouta made it out alive, but there was a moment he almost didn’t. 

He saw the other side, however briefly. The suffocating nothingness of the supposed afterlife was burned into his memory no matter how hard he tried to shake it. He told Hizashi he was fine.

He wasn’t.

Hizashi gripped his hand harder. 

He felt Hizashi’s hand wrap around his own, the only thing keeping him from a panic attack at the darkness. 

It wasn’t until the bandages over his eyes were removed that Shouta felt he could breathe easy again. Hizashi's hand stayed in his. A small comfort he allowed himself to indulge in.

His breathing halted again when the spectral figure in the corner disappeared through the wall. 

“What the fuck?!” 

“Was that a ghost?!”

“Ghosts are real?!” 

“Why is Aizawa Sensei seeing ghosts?!” 

No one noticed. No one reacted. Shouta couldn’t ignore it. 

It happened more and more often throughout his stay at the hospital. A figure would float through, stare for a moment or two, and move on. They were in various states of injury and decay. Some dripping blood from lethal wounds, others coughing bile and mucus onto themselves. —

Kirishima grimaced. “Gross.” 

— There was the occasional elderly person who floated through with a kind smile and a reassuring pat on the head. 

No one else said a thing about it. 

Hizashi hardly questioned when Shouta demanded to return home. It was rare to see him in a hospital for more than a day or two and his friends had long since stopped fighting him over it, so Hizashi returned half an hour later with the discharge paperwork and they left. 

His apartment was better. No weird spectres. No darkness. Plenty of cats.

“Aizawa Sensei, you have cats?!” Uraraka asked excitedly. 

“Yes.”

“How many?! What are their names?! Are they cute?!”

Aizawa frowned. “Of course they’re cute. All cats are cute.”

“Do you have any pictures? I wanna see!” Ashido bounced energetically in her seat. 

“No.” 

“Aw man!”

What more could a guy ask for in life?

Shouta was able to relax, if only minutely, and by the time the next school day came, he had chalked the spectres up to his near death experience and concussive imagination and had all but locked it in the back of his mind as he stood outside of his classroom. 

Recovery Girl had taken care of the last of his concussion, but there was little she could do for the rest of his injuries unless he was willing to take a day off to rest—which he wasn’t.

Recovery Girl tutted disapprovingly, but accepted that argument was a losing battle. It happened the same way in their universe after all. 

He could already hear his students inside, speculating who would be substituting for him. Fools. 

Shouta made his way into the classroom and went straight to his sleeping bag, disregarding the shouts of concern thrown at him. 

“Aizawa-Sensei! You’re still injured! Why are you here?!” 

Shouta scoffed. “Knowing you kids, you would end up destroying half the school if I let you out of my sight. —

“Hey, just because it’s true doesn’t mean you have to say it out loud!” 

— I’m still going to be teaching and classes will proceed like normal. No, this is not up for debate.” He curled himself into his warm, atrocious, yellow sleeping bag and shut his eyes. “Use the rest of homeroom as a study period, but keep your voices down.”

As expected, no one in the class used this as an opportunity to study, instead turning to their neighbors to gossip softly. 

Aizawa rolled his eyes fondly. ’Typical.’

Huffing in amusement, he turned over and tried to doze off. 

“Y’know, even with the bandages, I’d tap that.”

Half his class gagged while Aizawa himself stared at the screen in horrified shock. Hizashi coughed as he choked back his laughter.

Nemuri giggled at Aizawa’s expression and subtly snapped a photo. 

What.

Shouta’s eyes flew open at the unfamiliar voice, scanning the classroom until his eyes landed on Problem Child, or more accurately, the seven translucent figures floating around Problem Child in varying positions. 

“Oh no,” Midoriya groaned. ‘What else could this possibly reveal about me? They already know about One for All!’

The one floating upside down shot a weird look at the one who’d spoken. “Dude, what the hell? This is weird even for you, Banjo.”  

‘Banjo’ shrugged. “I call ‘em like I see ‘em. The guy’s hot, you can’t deny that.”

“No you cannot,” Hizashi agreed with a grin. Shouta glared at him. 

The only women of the group tilted her head consideringly and the other stared at her in shock. 

“Nana, please not you too!” The upside down one said. “You were married!”  

She smirked. “Just because I’ve already ordered doesn’t mean I can’t look at the menu.”  

Shigaraki gagged that time, glaring at the back of Eraserhead’s head and wishing he had something to throw. A medium sized wad of paper fell into his lap and a moment later he cackled as it went soaring across the rows of chairs. 

Aizawa let go of Hizashi’s hand to rub the back of his head and turned around to glare at the villain. 

The others snickered at Upside Down’s dismay. Shouta felt his face rapidly heating up in embarrassment. 

Banjo grinned. “Come on Yoichi, you can’t say you haven’t at least thought about it.”

“No! I haven’t!” Upside Down—Yoichi—yelled. “The dude is my nephew’s teacher for gods sake!”  

“Wait what?” Midoriya sat up straighter in his seat. “Isn’t his brother All for One? Does that mean one of us is All for One’s son in that universe?!” 

All Might blanched at the idea of that monster reproducing. 

Shouta frowned as he scanned his students. None of them really look similar to Yoichi from what he can see. As his gaze caught on Midoriya, the kid whispered something under his breath and Banjo cursed in response. —

“It is curious that Midoriya has been able to speak with the past users in two consecutive universes. I wonder if he will eventually talk to them in our universe and that causes the others to have a higher chance of having that ability,” Yoaoyorozu theorized. 

“It’s definitely possible,” Midoriya agreed. “I did see outlines of the vestiges during the Sport’s Festival, so if I can see them why shouldnt I be able to talk to them too eventually?”

— Is Midoriya talking to them? Can he see them too?

Good. He must not be crazy then. Sharing visual and auditory hallucinations with another person was near impossible.

“Damn, I didn’t know the dude was married!” Banjo pouted. 

Hagakure squealed in excitement and Ashido stood up from her seat incredulously. 

“What?!” Ashido screeched. “Aizawa Sensei is married?! To who?! Is it another pro hero? Have we met them?!” 

Aizawa froze in his seat, right hand unconsciously moving to cover his wedding band. 

“Ashido, sit down,” Nemuri commanded in a rare moment of seriousness. “Your teachers’ personal lives are private for a reason.”

“Right…” she deflated. “I’m sorry, Aizawa Sensei.” 

Aizawa squeezed Nemuri’s hand in silent thanks, and she nodded with a small smile as they turned back to the screen. 

Shouta blinked in confusion. How the hell did Midoriya know he was married? He never wore his ring at UA for that exact reason. 

Yoichi stared at him. “You’re dead, Banjo. You never had a chance with him to begin with.”  

At that, Midoriya winced and murmured quietly again, confirming Shouta’s theory. Immediately, the strangers’ faces softened and Nana brushed a piece of hair from his face gently. 

“Izuku, it’s not your fault we died honey,” she said as softly as she could. 

“Yeah, it’s not your fault your dad just so happens to be a mass murdering piece of shit,” Yoichi added, completely unhelpful. — 

“Huh?!” Midoriya yelled, nearly falling out of his chair with how badly he startled. 

“What the hell nerd?! Since when was Uncle Hisashi a fucking villain?!” Bakugou asked incredulously. 

“I—He’s not! At least, I don’t think so!” Midoriya wrapped his arms around his torso in distress. “He’s supposed to be crippled and overseas!”

Todoroki frowned. “Yoichi seems to be implying that your father was the one who killed him, but didn’t the last universe say he was killed by All for One?”

Midoriya’s face fell. “Oh no…” 

“There’s no fucking way…” Shigaraki muttered disbelievingly. 

“I hate to agree with Shigaraki, but I must this once. There is no way All for One is your father,” All Might reiterated. “You’re simply too kind hearted to be related to that monster.” 

“it would make sense though…” Midoriya said quietly. “I-I mean, my dad had his accident around the same time as your fight with All for One…”

”Yes, but I killed All for One in that fight, young Midoriya. You said you still talk to your father on the phone, right?”

”What if you didn’t though?!”

Angry tears pricked the corners of Midoriya’s eyes, but thankfully Toga chimed in, “Guys! Alternate universe, remember? It’s probably not like that with us!” 

Midoriya let out a shaky breath and tried to slow his heart rate back to normal. He was actively choosing to believe Toga for now, even if the dread in his gut refused to unseat itself. 

— Nana glared at him as Shouta’s eyes blew wide. 

Mass murderer… Midoriya’s dad is a mass fucking murderer…

What the hell Problem Child?

“Yoichi, shut up,” Nana ordered firmly. “You aren’t helping.”

The man pouted but relented as he did slow flips in the air.

“Your dad’s issues aren’t your issues, kid,” Banjo comforted nonchalantly. “Don’t worry about us, worry about your schoolwork. I took a peek at your hot ass teacher’s plans earlier. You might wanna start thinking of your hero name.”

“This is literally the worst,” Aizawa muttered. 

Shouta’s eye twitched. He was gonna have to start hiding his answer keys better—not that he was expecting Midoriya to use the ghosts(?) to cheat, but it’s better safe than sorry. 

“You know,” Yoichi started after a minute or so of silence, “I think you should name yourself All for One just to see All Might’s reaction. Consider it reparations since he didn’t tell you about him before handing over One for All.” 

All Might grimaced. He really had meant to mention All for One sooner; he just forgot, honestly. The villain was dead anyway, it shouldn’t matter anymore. 

Midoriya snorted loudly and ducked his head in embarrassment when his classmates looked at him strangely. He shook his head at Yoichi fondly. 

“Darn,” he cursed. “Deku it is then, I guess. Name yourself a slur because a cute girl said it suited you.” 

“Wait, Deku is a slur?!” Uraraka asked, horrified. 

“Well, I mean, yeah kinda,” Midoriya responded, slightly embarrassed at being called out like that in the other universe. “But I don’t mind when you say it.”

“Still, why didn’t you tell me I’ve been calling you a slur all this time? I’m so sorry!” 

“Uraraka, it’s fine,” Midoriya reassured. “Besides, it's my hero name now! It doesn’t mean the same things to me as it did in middle school.”

Uraraka still looked unsure, but she didn’t press the issue further.

Midoriya’s face turned red and he opened his mouth, probably to splutter denials about his very obvious crush, but he was cut off by the bell signaling the end of homeroom.

Shouta debated whether it would be worth it to actually take a day off so he doesn’t have to hear these—what even are they? Ghosts? Proof that he finally lost his mind? Whatever the fuck—talk about him behind his back. 

Unfortunately, he did still have a job to do and he knew Nedzu would get pissy if he caught Shouta slacking off so he slowly rose to his feet and let the sleeping bag fall away, wincing at the aching of his joints as he did so.

“You really should take a day off, Aizawa-kun.” Nedzu shook his head. “I don’t think you’ve used a single vacation day in the entire time you’ve been employed at UA.” 

“I don’t need a vacation,” Aizawa grumbled, crossing his arms. 

“We’re going on vacation when we get out of here,” Hizashi declared. Aizawa opened his mouth to protest, but Hizashi covered it with his hand stubbornly. “No complaints! We’re gonna go somewhere nice and you’re gonna have a good time. End of story.” 

Aizawa licked Hizashi’s hand and he pulled away with a disgusted squeal. “I’m not going on vacation.”

Hizashi shook his head fondly and wiped his hand off. “We’re going! It’s just a matter of whether Nemuri has to knock you out for the ride!” 

Aizawa glared. “Hizashi, that’s kidnapping.”

“Never said it wasn’t! We’re going!” 

One of the ghost assholes snickered at him and it took everything inside of Shouta not to glare at him. 

Shouta sighed. It was going to be a long day. 

The screen fades to black.

“That one wasn’t so bad, all things considered,” Jirou commented. 

“Speak for yourself,” Midoriya muttered. “I just found out there’s a chance my dad is a supervillain.” 

“There’s no way that’s true,” Shigaraki denied with a scowl. “Sensei would have told me if he had a kid, especially one who wanted to be a hero.”  

“I don’t know. It doesn’t sound like All for One has a history of being an upstanding, honest guy,” Midnight countered. 

“I’d rather it not be true, obviously, but if the only argument we can find against the theory is that it’s from another universe, I’m not optimistic,” Midoriya said gravely. 

Searching the Multiverse…

Universe Found…

Loading Universe: [honestly who even knows at this point lmao]