Chapter Text

Izuku regretted not accepting Yagi’s bento. 

He just.. Thought he could do it, no. He had to do it. If he had accepted the food he wouldn't have been able to go on alone like he was, but.. Now.. He wasn't sure if he would even be able to go on anymore. 

He was so hungry. 

There was so much he needed to do too, All For One was still out there, Shigaraki was still out there, without him.. he’d just kill everyone, they would lose the war, he had to keep moving, find something to eat, anything .. 

But there were no trees; they had been destroyed. 

There were no food stores; they had been ransacked a long time ago. 

Houses were empty. 

Going back was not an option as he could barely feel his feet anymore. 

How could he have let it all come to this? 

He should’ve been better. 

He should’ve taken the damn bento. 

But instead he was dying, alone, hungry and cold. 

It was so cold, why was it so cold? 

A few moments ago, back when he was in that fight against a jailbreaker, he could feel every part of him trumming with excitement. 

But now, all he had were his regrets. 

Why didn’t he take it? Was it pride? No. What was it? There was a time in his life he would’ve taken anything All Might offered him without a second thought.  

He did take it without second thought. 

What would he have done differently if he knew what he now knows? 

He probably wouldn’t have kept chasing Kacchan for as long as he did.. Maybe tell his mom about the bullying and death threats… Maybe not even go to UA. 

Would he have taken One for All? 

No. 

He wasn’t meant to have it. Just look at him, Japan’s last hope, dying from hunger after a fight that wasn’t even that hard to finish. 

No, it was better if someone else had it… Maybe some other quirkless child with dreams big but with the actual resolve to see them through. 

He never did anything, did he? Kacchan was right, he was nothing, he never worked for what he wanted. 

He just had it handed to him and the second he tried to do things himself, he fucked up. 

He was going to die here wasn’t he? 

His life was flashing behind his eyes and it was so.. shitty. 

What would his grave even say? Izuku Midoriya, dead at sixteen he tried being what he was not and now he’s dead. 

He closed his eyes, for one last time and that was it. 

His body was found days later. 

Cold, alone, looking helpless. 

Next to him a single note along with a hair strand. 

‘You are next’. 

The hopes that a young boy had that his friends would eventually find him, if they were even looking. 

It was that scene that made All For One smile as he looked at everything he ever wanted finally in his hands. 

The story of a hero

Time is a weird thing. 

One second you are dying alone, hungry, cold, with the hope of the world in your hands as you take your last breath hoping that maybe with you gone the world will be better while at the same time grieving for a life wasted. 

And the other you are blinking your eyes in your four year old body. 

It made no sense, Kacchan was blabbering in front of him about how great a hero he would be, just like he remembered him to. 

Was this.. Hell? Or heaven? 

Maybe when someone dies they get to relieve their lives? 

Izuku didn’t really have many memories from this time period. 

But he was pretty sure this was one day before he got the fated news that he didn’t have a quirk. And that day he remembered perfectly. Call it trauma, call it the biggest disappointment of his life. 

Call it what you want. 

He distinctly remembered going to the doctor, entering a weird room, doing weird exams and then poof, no quirk. 

So what if he tried changing that? 

What if circumstances made it so he couldn’t visit the doctor? Would that mean this wasn’t a dream? 

Was reality a dream and this was reality? 

Maybe his quirk was actually to see the future and he was still four years old but with the knowledge of a lifetime. 

What made more sense? 

“OI NERD! Got your quirk yet?” 

“I’m.. Not sure” 

“HEH? WHAT YOU MEAN?” 

He stared at his tiny hands. If it was a quirk, then he probably wouldn’t have the level of comprehension he has. There is knowledge inside his brain that wasn’t previously there, he can write, he can read, he understands words he shouldn’t. 

He knows math, chemistry, physics, a four year old shouldn’t know that. 

“I am burdened by all my sudden knowledge Kacchan” 

The teacher looked at him at that. “Ohh, did little Izuku get his quirk?” 

Little Izuku. Right, he supposed right now he is little. 

“Nothing makes sense” 

“I’ll call your parents right away!” 

If this was reality and all he knew was true, then did that mean he could change things? 

Maybe reach All Might and tell him about Shigaraki before he became that, warn him that All For One will take his stomach. 

Who would even believe a four year old with no quirk? 

Intelligence quirk. 

He could fake it. 

He had the knowledge to fake it. 

“Did you really get your quirk nerd?” 

“I.. believe so Kacchan” 

“FINALLY! WHAT IS IT??” 

It truly wasn’t a dream. 

He never lied in the past before. Kacchan never said that in the past before. Before Kacchan had looked at him with disdain, called him a name that would form his identity. 

But then again the question remained. 

Reincarnation. 

Or quirk? 

Had he truly died there? Had the Gods spared him? Given the world a second chance? But why him? 

He was just a Deku that had died alone and hungry. 

“WELL? WHAT IS IT IZU?” 

But he didn’t need to be a deku anymore. 

“I’m not sure.. Kacchan, but I suddenly have knowledge It wasn’t there before” 

“Inteligence? Maybe like Nedzu?”

He looked at his friend, maybe they would get to stay friends.. 

“Maybe” 

“Cool, still not as cool as mine” He sparkled some explosions to show “But we can work with that hehe, we are really going to be a hero duo nerd!!” 

“The very best Kacchan” He should be more enthusiastic. 

But it was a lie. He was nothing. 

He was just burdened with knowledge that wasn’t previously there. 

As the teacher took his hand to take back to his mom who was waiting at the gates, he tried to look at all through a logical lens. He had no memory of yesterday, but he remembered exactly his teenage years. 

This couldn’t be a quirk. 

He would know what he had for breakfast that day if it was. 

But he had no idea. 

Which meant he truly had died and went back. 

What did this mean for him? Did he have a quirk that sent him back in time when he died all this time? 

Was someone else’s quirk at work? But there was no one. He died alone, and certainly feeding him would have been less trouble than sending him back. 

Were it the Gods? He never really believed in them, but what other options were there? 

Maybe.. One for All? 

…

Maybe a truck passed above him at that time without him noticing and it was the isekai truck. 

He would probably never know. 

But what should he do now? 

“Hey there Inko-San! Your son has some very bright news to share with you, don't you Izu-kun?” 

His mom was so.. thin. 

Had she eaten from the stress that having a quirkless child did to her or were they simply age given natural fat? 

“I got my quirk mama!” He tried sounding like a happy four year old, he really did. 

But it was obvious through the look in her face that he hadn’t managed. 

“What’s wrong baby? Does it hurt you?” 

He shook his head. 

“Maybe we should go to the quirk doctor just in ca-” 

“No mama! I’m fine” 

Fine. Fine. Fine. Fine. Fine. It would all be fine. 

At least he could save the world now. Even if indirectly. 

She strapped him in the car and waved goodbye to the teacher. “But we still need to figure out what it is baby” 

“It’s an intelligence quirk mama. I know a lot of things now. I’m just having a hard time adjusting to this new reality that comes with the burden of knowing so much whereas a few seconds ago I didn’t know anything..” 

That was convincing right? 

“Oh” She started crying “Baby I’m so happy! We are having Katsudon for dinner for sure! And i’ll invite the Bakugou's. We are having a party to celebrate!! Have you thought of a name? Oh I’m sure you’ve thought of one”

“Yeah, I have” 

Her child seemed depressed tho. 

“Baby, are you sure you don’t want to go to the doct-” 

“I know all there is to know about my quirk.. And other people’s quirks.. And physics, and math, and the statistics of probability for future events, It’s just a lot mama” 

“Alright.. Let’s register it then!” 

It would surely pass. Besides! Her baby finally had a quirk! She was so worried that it was taking so long to come in. Imagine him ending up quirkless. Oh it would surely be a nightmare. 

But she worried for naught! 

He had never had the experience of going through the registry before. All Might did it for him with One For All so he had no idea what to expect from it. 

An exam room with a commission officer watching his every move and a bunch of school exams was not it. 

But he supposes it makes sense. He had to prove he had the quirk somehow, even if it was a complete lie. 

It took him hours, and then hours more as the adults discussed what to do with him, he had apparently aced everything grade wise until the first year of his senior years. 

Which made sense really, he still remembered his past exam’s answers. 

There wasn’t really a consensus. Specialists said he should receive special education to improve his brain, while others said it was best to leave him where he was so he could have a normal childhood. 

Upon getting home the choice was put into his own hands. 

It was a lot for a four years old to choose, he’d argue that it was a lot even for a sixteen year old to choose. 

This simple choice could have a butterfly effect that he had no idea what could do. 

But this was his new chance at life wasn’t it? His chance to bury useless old Deku behind and become something new. 

Maybe it was selfish of him. 

But his selflessness had killed him. And in the end he managed nothing with only it. 

This was a chance to improve himself, to in the end, save the world. 

“You are moving schools?” Kacchan had asked him, he looked mad, broken, sad, all at once. He had always worn his feelings on his face hadn’t he? 

“We are still going to be heroes together” He put his pinky out, hoping Kacchan would cross it “We will have more sleepovers and and” 

“Fine.. nerd, but this special school of yours better make you the second best out there” He intertwined their pinkies. 

Izuku had always been a crybaby. 

He couldn’t help but cry at how different Kacchan was with him simply because he ‘had a quirk’. 

Of course, the adults, and even Kacchan thought he was crying because of the move, because they wouldn’t study together anymore. 

Instead he was mourning a life he left behind to live this lie. 

Izuku Midoriya was a liar. 

He lied to keep surrounded with people. 

He lied to keep his loved ones safe and close. 

And yet he was feeling the same kind of loneliness as he felt upon his death. 

There was a singular kind of desperation, knowing what would happen in the future, knowing how you had died. Knowing that no one could relate, no one would understand. 

But he couldn’t focus on that, no, he needed to save the world. 

So, two years later of him trying to focus on his new life until he could walk alone in the streets without his mom’s supervision he went to the police station, hoping Tsukauchi was already an officer and stationary at the same one. 

He wasn’t. 

But they did give him where the detective was when he told the officers he was his secret love child from an affair he had with his mom. 

All a lie of course, but how else was he supposed to make the officers point him in the right direction? 

It took him in total: a month after; between being sent in a wild goose chase by the police officers, having school and an actual social life thanks to ‘his quirk’ and simply not being able to sneak out all that much as a seven year old to reach the detective. 

When he finally did he found out in the worst way possible that he wasn’t alone.

Chapter Text

Shigaraki Tomura only knew one thing. He wanted to destroy it all. He knew that to be true, everything deserved to be destroyed, everything deserved to die, heroes were all fake, society was a lie, the only thing that always made sense was Sensei. 

Sensei took him in. Saved him, gave him purpose, let him grow to do what he wanted to do most. 

Everything he asked was given to him, everything he hated was given to him on a silver platter to destroy. 

Sensei was the only thing that made sense. 

Until he wasn’t. 

“GET OUT OF MY HEAD YOU BASTARD!”

“Your usefulness has outlived it’s purpose. It is time you give up your body to me.” 

“GET OUT, GET OUT, GET OUT!” 

“ENOUGH. How dare you try to use my quirk with this weak mind of yours? Your choices were never yours, you were never a person, so die, as you were always meant to. Nothing.” 

He couldn’t remember much else. 

Sensei had killed him. 

Sensei had promised him the world, sensei had- 

Nothing made sense. 

All that time, he was just a husk? All that time he was being naively manipulated as everyone else? 

It didn’t make sense. 

It wasn’t fair. 

Why him?

Why him? 

Did he piss off the Gods that much that even his good hand in life ended up being a fluke? 

He wanted to kill him. Kill him. Kill him. Kill him. Kill him. Kill him. Kill him. 

And then he was given the chance to do so. 

As he woke up in his six year old body, there was a sense of clarity in his mind that he felt himself lacking for a long time. 

Had sensei been brainwashing him all that time? 

Had he truly meant nothing to the man he viewed as a father? 

“I am your sensei, your master and you’ll refer to me as such” 

Just a husk. 

Just a husk. 

To be used. 

To be tossed aside. 

Yeah.

Fuck that. 

Fuck him. 

“I’m going out.” 

“Shall I accompany you, Shigaraki Tomura?” Kurogiri asked. A husk asking another husk if he wanted to stay in his prison. 

“Fuck that” 

He was out. 

All For One would find another husk, and if he did he’d just kill them. 

He needed to think. He looked to be around six, seven. When had that bastard ripped sensei in half? He was what? Twelve? Thirteen? 

He couldn’t kill sensei now but after he was weakened by All Might? Yeah, he doubted sensei would be able to fight back decay. 

His neck found itself scratching. 

Why was that damn thing so scratchy? 

He had never given it much thought before. Sensei had told him it was just a quir-

There was something inside him. 

He could feel it. 

Without sensei’s brainwashing, the sense of clarity that had been missing suddenly hit him like a spark. It was probably a tracker, maybe a bomb, electricity? it had to be something to control him. 

A glass shard. 

A glass shard probably wasn’t recommended for taking out something from your neck, but it was his choice anyway. 

He stabbed himself until he could feel the thing, until it was decayed flakes on the ground. 

If he stayed there Kurogiri would no doubt come for him. No. 

He had to run. People wouldn’t help. 

No. That’s untrue. There was someone who would, but how old would the brat even be? One? Was he even alive yet? Yeah, that was a big no. 

His mind drifted to All Might and his old name. 

Tenko Shimura. 

Grandson of Nana Shimura. 

He fucking hated her. 

But All Might would keep him alive. 

Luckly for him, he knew exactly where the fucker was thanks to his younger self’s obsession with killing the hero. 

“Why don’t we just break into his house and kill him sensei?” 

“That’s be too easy child, I want to see him break, I want to make him suffer” 

His last strength was used to ring the bastard’s door and, for the first time in his life in a long time, hope that the hero wouldn’t disappoint him again. 

And disappoint him he didn’t. 

He woke up again. 

Which meant he didn’t die from the blood loss. 

It was a miracle if you ask him, plot armor of the biggest types. 

“Young boy, what happened to you?” 

A young All Might stared at him, if one would look at him wouldn’t even imagine he would become such a husk of the man he was. 

“My name is Tenko Shimura” All Might sucked in a big breath “And All For One had me kidnapped since I was four, fucking do your job and end him!!” 

“He’s telling the truth” The other person in the room said, frightened as a little bird, Tomura (ugh, that name disgusted him now) didn’t even notice he was there. 

All Might suddenly hugged him and he had no idea how to react. 

He had never been hugged. 

Never.

“I’m sure you went through a lot my boy, but you need to worry no further, I am here”

Dis. fucking. custing. 

He should have just died from the blood loss, it would be better than this. 

He told All Might where sensei was, he told him how strong he was, he told him his weakness, told him to dodge because he would punch his lungs out. 

He told him everything. 

Then why the fuck was the fucker not immediately attacking? 

“You have to kill him!” 

“I cannot do this alone my boy! Besides, I need to worry about you first!” 

“Why???? Just fucking toss me back in the street when you are done or whatever” 

“I could never” 

All Might put a hand on his shoulder, comforting, in a way Tomura found himself once again glitching from it. 

“My boy, you are like a blessing that came to me, that vile man can wait a little longer. I'm going to take care of you first.” 

Disgusting. 

THIS was the man he dedicated his life to end???? 

What a waste. 

What a fucking waste. 

------

Ice cream was amazing. 

He hadn’t had ice cream before. But it was amazing. 

He could almost forget all the rage inside him as he ate it. 

Also, chocolate! How come Kurogiri had never stolen him some? Actually, he did his research, chocolate made people happy thanks to some substances in it, and knowing sensei he had forbidden anything that made him happy which explains all the games that were stuck in the most difficult settings so he would rage. 

Fucking sensei. 

All Might had this look of amazement on his face as he watched him eat, that honestly annoyed him greatly, he wasn’t a kid. He might look like one, but he was twenty for fucks sake! 

“If you are truly going to keep me here against my will then I want ice cream everyday” Tomura (ugh) declared

All Might chuckled “Is this your first time having it?”

“Shut up old man, and I want games, of all kinds”

His eyes lit up “I have plenty! We can play together!” 

Maybe All Might wasn’t so bad. 

Still a fucking discrace to society. 

But.. as a person.. 

Ugh, disgusting, his own thoughts were betraying him. 

Did he even have his own thoughts or were they all sensei?

Did he even hate All Might? Or had sensei manipulated him into it? 

Fuck. 

Who even was he? 

“You okay, my boy?” 

“I want a new name.”

“Oh! How about-” 

“Shut up old man, I’m picking it!” 

Yagi smiled and nodded “Alright my boy” 

-----

It took him six weeks to gather all the heroes he could to end All For One. All Might had always thought he was going to do this alone, but it had taken a six (now seven) year old child hitting him in the head with no strength at all for him to realize that his secret was less important than the fate of the world

Maybe he could pass the quirk to Tenko someday.. Maintain it in the family… Who knows. 

That day, six weeks after that young boy entered his life to change it forever All For One was finally defeated. 

All Might making sure he was dead. (He wasn’t, but Tenko took care of it with a smug grin and a monologue worthy of ice cream) 

Garaki was arrested and mysteriously disintegrated one day and Kurogiri.. He was never found. 

But that was fine. Had he technically saved the world? 

He would surely say so, he was a better hero than the heroes themselves. And he made sure to toss into All Might’s face everyday, one of the good parts of having been forcefully adopted and having to live with the old man. 

It was horrible. 

The worst thing to ever happen to him. 

BUT. On the bright side, he could curse Toshinori as much as he wanted to his face and the man simply took it, it was awesome. 

And also the ice creams! 

In the end, all was great. 

And he thought all would continue being great! 

Until four years later and that green haired brat showed up at his door looking depressed as shit. 

His eyes widened as he saw him. And that only meant one thing. 

“You remember?” They both asked each other at the same time.

Chapter Text

All For One had been defeated and that was.. That was great but it made no sense. 

Izuku hadn’t done anything to change the timeline THAT bad. Surely changing the future wouldn’t be so easy as lying about a quirk he didn’t have, staying friends with Kacchan or changing schools and such. 

It couldn’t. 

But as he told Tsukauchi everything he knew the man started acting.. strange. 

“Come with me” 

He really shouldn’t go with strangers. His mama had warned him so. And at that time, Tsukauchi was nothing but a stranger, he didn't even know if he was already friends with All Might or not, who knows what dark secret past he had... 

But he trusted the detective, so he entered his car and they drove to All Might’s place.. He had never gone there before in his other life. He was All Might’s disciple, and yet, he had never gone to his place.

He was expecting anything. 

Except Tomura Shigaraki opening the door dressed in All Might merchandise. 

His eyes must have shown his surprise because next thing he knew they were both asking each other if they remembered. 

Things made sense, so he wasn’t the only one messing with things, that’s why everything was different but.. What was he doing here? 

As his angry glare intensified suddenly Shigaraki yelled, literally, as if he had seen his worst nightmare in front of him. 

Izuku didn’t even have the time to get frightened as Yagi rushed to the front door fast as ever looking protective over Shigaraki. 

It was.. Infuriating. 

“Tsukauchi? What are you doing here? Uh, who is this?” 

“We should talk in private.” 

“Oh, this is serious then” 

“It is.”

Tomura Shigaraki suddenly smiled smugly at Izuku and turned to All Might “I don’t want to be alone with him, he’s evil!” 

All Might KISSED TOMURA FUCKING SHIGARAKI’S HEAD. 

Izuku was steaming. 

“It will just be for a moment, my boy” 

No. Izuku was supposed to be All Might’s boy, Toshinori was a second father to him, what was even happening? 

Shigaraki pouted “Fine, but If he’s a psycho killer and I die, it’s on you” 

“You are the psycho killer.” Izuku answered back, as serious as ever. 

Behind closed doors the official adults went. 

Left to be staring at one another the unofficial children stayed. 

“What are you doing here?” Izuku asked, as soon as he got the chance. 

Shigaraki looked bored, he was not at all like Izuku remembered him being (he being a child could have a hand in that, but no he simply was different . “I live here, obviously, Toshinori adopted me” 

“What about All For One?” 

“Dead. I made sure of it” 

Then. 

What was the point of him going back? 

What was the point If he couldn’t even do anything? If in the end Shigaraki fucking Tomura was the one to save the world. 

“Why?” 

“I don’t like when people take what’s mine, he took my body and my life so I gave him back the favor.”

“No, why are you here? Why did you come back too?” 

“Aww, what?” Shigaraki suddenly stood, walking towards him, sitting almost on top of him and placing his hands around Izuku’s neck, as they once had been. Even then, them being seven and eleven, in his opinion, it fitted so perfectly, he could so easily end him. “Jealous?” 

Izuku suddenly pushed him “YOU SHOULDN’T BE HERE!” He died. 

He died alone. 

He died alone. Then he came back to fix things. 

He died so he could fix things. 

Why did he die? 

“You know, it’d be so easy to kill you here and tell them you just left” 

Izuku stared angrily at him. 

“But really I don’t need to, you are already destroyed, aren’t you, little hero? Where is all that life that your eyes had whenever we fought?” He laughed “Where is your mighty quirk?” And continued laughing and laughing. “He’s thinking of giving it to me, you know? Can you imagine? Me? Being the heir of One For All? Being everything you failed to be?” 

Sometimes all it takes is one bad day for people to snap. 

But Izuku just felt hollow. 

“So, it’s all taken care of then.. Alright” 

He turned around to leave. 

Shigaraki held his arm, preventing him from doing so. “That it? No screaming and punching?” 

“It doesn’t make a difference.” Nothing I do makes a difference. 

“How did you die?” 

“I’m.. glad you get your restart Shigaraki, all I ever wanted was to save you and.. You are saved” 

“Brat, how did you die?” 

“Have a good life.” 

He forced his arm back and left. 

What is a hero without a villain? 

What is a villain without a hero? 

Nothing. 

Just as he was about to leave forever the official adults left the room they had entered to talk. They had serious expressions, he made the mistake of looking back. 

It was All Might. 

He.. after everything still felt at peace when looking at him, and to see him in person? 

But All Might wasn’t smiling. “How do you know of everything you told him?” 

Shigaraki circled him “Oh oh, someone’s in troublee˜˜”

“I just knew the statistical probability of events” He said, sticking to his story “Math does not lie” Unlike himself “So I thought it be better to bring it up, but” He looked at Shigaraki “I see I didn’t calculate for anomalies”  

“Is that your quirk?” Tsukauchi asked 

“It is one of the registered aspects” 

Tomura was impressed alright. He was outright lying to their faces without being pinged as a lie because of the technicalities. Had he known he was like this back in the day, he might’ve recruited him instead of that explody brat, not that it mattered in the end. 

“And your quirk predicted Tenko would destroy the world?” All Might asked, in disbelief

“His quirk and his temper mixed together without proper guidance could lead to disaster, yes… But I see he has the proper guidance he did not before.”

“And how did you know of his existence? How did you know of anything?” 

Shigaraki stared intently at him, waiting to see how he would get out of that question. 

“We.. know each other” 

“Is that true, my boy?” All Might asked, to which Tenko shrugged and then gave a wicked smile

“Yeah, I remember he was a constant presence back when I was being held by All For One” 

Oh.

That is why he screamed. 

Izuku was fucked wasn’t he? 

The adults' harsh glares were an answer in itself, for surely it would have picked what Tomura said as the truth. 

What the hell could he say that would ping as the truth and that would clear up the confusion? 

“It’s-” 

“Were you being held by him too?” Tsukauchi asked before he could even defend himself, at which Tomura was quicker than Izuku to answer 

“Nope, in fact, he actively went looking for him, given his previous quirkless status” 

“And now you have a quirk.” Damn the detective detecting things. 

Izuku found himself speechless for a few seconds. 

He made himself look small and frightened as he looked at them and said “Are you going to send me to prison for wanting a better life? I.. I came here to out him, that has to count for something.. I didn’t know he was dead, I didn’t know Tomura had escaped, all i knew was danger” 

All Might sighed “No, my boy” suck it Tomura! “You are seven, you can’t be blamed for desperate actions, but you can rest assured, that monster is dead” 

“All of them? The doctor? Kurogiri? They are all dead?” 

At that it was their turn to ask “Who is Kurogiri?” 

Shigaraki crossed his arms “He’s not a problem” 

“What about the nomus???” 

“Nomus?”

“Without anyone to control them they are useless, besides they only responded to sensei and sensei is dead!” 

“How can you even be sure of that?”

“He had to do some specific shit to pass the command on to me that one time”  

“What?” 

“Still! Someone could find them and cause havoc, did you tell them about the Shissaikai?” 

“They are losers, what they got to do with anything?”

“Eri-” 

“Oh fuck off with your hero complex! She’s probably not even alive yet!! And if you fuck anything she might not even be” 

At that, Yagi and Tsukauchi were growing increasingly confused. 

Izuku suddenly snapped his fingers “The meta liberation army, they are there, acting!! Did you say anything about that??” 

“Ohh fuck offfffffffffffffffffff” 

“Alright children, let’s calm down shall we?” All Might tried intervening. 

All he got for his efforts were his son and this random child glaring at him for trying to help. 

“Or not, that also works…”

“Why are you even mad at me????” Shigaraki yelled “I fucking saved the world! Shouldn’t you be happy?”

“YOU RUINED MY LIFE!” 

“IT’S NOT ALL ABOUT YOU!” 

And.. they were fighting. 

Of course, they truly were children and Tenko, Yagi noticed, was clearly not keen on killing the child otherwise he would already be dead. So instead of a fight, fight it was more of what it indeed was, two children fighting. 

Still… Yagi was a little impressed, despite their obvious lack of motor coordination because of their ages they were technically doing everything right. Fighting like seasoned pros. 

Had they been trained by All For One? 

He stopped their fight by putting one hand in each of their foreheads and preventing them from reaching each other. 

“Alright boys, it’s clear you both have some discomfort with being each other” 

“More like severe trauma” Midoriya snapped at him while Tenko scoffed

“So, let us let bygones be bygones, Tsukauchi, can you please escort young Midoriya back to his home? I’m sure your parents are quite worried young boy”

Izuku looked so defeated, it was honestly a delightful look on him to Tenko. 

He let himself be escorted home. 

So that was it huh? 

It was all handled then by the hands of his mortal enemy. 

Well.. He hadn’t done anything to save Eri.. 

And the meta liberation army was indeed out there.. 

Alright, he could still be useful. He didn’t even hear what Tsukauchi was talking to him about in the car ride, all he could think of was his resolution to prevent future events and not being a useless Deku. 

He needed to do it for himself as much as the world needed him. 

It was weird simply having to go to school after all that, simply playing with Kacchan while pretending to be a kid, but he had wanted to have kacchan as his friend for so long that he didn’t really mind it. 

He didn’t really have a childhood before, it was hard to, when one had no friends there were games he had always wanted to play that now he could, places he could go, that would previously shut him out because of his status. 

And the school he was going was actually challenging, it was a school meant for people with mental quirks that made them smarter than everyone else which meant everyone there was pretty much receiving specialized materials according to their level. 

And it also meant that he had actual classmates that didn’t hate him, although he felt like an impostor nighty percent of the time, he wasn’t an actual genius like the other kids, he was just old he still wouldn’t take it all for granted, no one would ever know. 

Maybe one day, after he was old and a licensed hero with a lot of popularity and a perfect track record he could come out as quirkless. Until then he was just another boy with an intelligence quirk. 

One day, Nedzu visited the school. 

He was still as frightening as he remembered him being even when his face clearly showed disinterest in being there. 

The brightest students were chosen by the school to speak a one on one with Nedzu, to learn from the biggest name with an intelligence quirk out there. 

Izuku was one of them. 

He had no idea what to expect from it, but at all times the only thought in his mind was that somehow he would be found out in his lie. 

Instead he had tea. 

And had to listen to Nedzu probably making the exact same speech he gave all the other students who got an one-on-one with him. 

At some point Izuku just couldn’t stop himself from blurting out: “You really didn’t want to be here today, huh” 

As a result of his big mouth he got to hear Nedzu laughing. It was honestly something even more terrifying than the mammal itself. 

“Tell me child, what do you wish to be when you grow up?” 

“A hero, sir” 

“Then I hope one day I’ll see you at UA”

“.... As long as you change the damn entrance exam that consists of robots” He shouldn’t have said that. 

Nedzu grinned, he definitely shouldn’t have said that. “And what do you propose it be instead?” 

If he actually implemented Izuku’s ideas, it would mean he would have no control of the future, who knows what heroes would come from UA?? Who knows if his classmates will even be his classmates?? 

He sucked a breath, well, Shigaraki had fucked it everything already anyway. “I have some ideas.. Probably nothing you haven’t thought since you are probably THE smartest being on earth” 

“I don’t need the flattering” 

“Right, of course not” He started fidgeting with his hands nervous as hell for what he was about to do “So I always thought that..” 

Their talk lasted longer than any of the other one-on-ones. 

It was nerve wrecking. 

But it was also a chance to get an ally that would believe him about Eri, he couldn’t count on All Might this life, especially not with that devil on his shoulder acting as his son. 

And an ally he got. 

----

[Nedzu takes a personal student after annual visit to the gifted school “We simply clicked” the principal said when asked to comment on the fact that he had never taken one before…] 

That little fucker upped his game. 

Was the first thing Tomura thought upon hearing the news. 

Tsk tsk tsk, that won’t do. 

He wanted to personally make Midoriya’s life a living hell, just like he was slowly turning All Might’s and calling it love. 

Tenko Yagi grinned and called his dad. 

In highsight it was quite simple to make the brat’s life hell. 

The kid wanted to be a savior. 

Then Tenko would simply have to save everyone first.

Chapter Text

December 21’ a year later Eri was born. 

The second she was out in the world, unfortunately her mother had an unprecedented accident which caused her to combust to dust and ashes along with her father and everyone else in the room. 

The child was never found by the authorities and presumed dead along with the rest of the family. 

A freak accident they called it. 

At the same time on the other side of the country Tenko would arrive home to Toshinori holding a newborn baby in his arms and telling him he had found her in the trash. 

The distance between travels was too long for the accident to have been related to Tenko or the baby in any way which is how the news never even reached the number one hero, who simply took that young girl in his arms, and upon seeing his boy’s face regarding her, decided to adopt a new member onto the family. 

Eri Yagi was born that day, Tenko proudly chose her name himself. 

Memories of a little sister flooded his mind but they were long past him, that was when he was a Shimura, he cared when he was a Shigaraki. Now, he was a Yagi and his little sister was a petty vengeance against a boy that in Tenko’s mind, deserved it. 

Only one person would find out the relation between those two things in the entire world. 

And that was Izuku Midoriya, who would have to deal with the fact that his little sister had been stolen from him and put in the hands of the one person in the world he couldn’t steal back from, All Might. 

She was going to grow up happy.. at least, he doubted even Shigaraki would be able to mistreat her in the presence of All Might, she’d be happy… even if it would mean Izuku wouldn’t mean anything to her. 

His heart broke. 

But he forced himself to be happy that she wouldn’t have to deal with Overhaul’s torturing her.

It was for the better, her father was destined to die by her hands, her mother would have delivered her to Overhaul, they deserved what Tomura did to them. 

But.. 

Then.. 

Who would die when her quirk manifested? 

----

They were the longest four years of Izuku’s life. 

First because they were four years of barely having a minute to himself, someone (and he had a feeling who) had leaked that he was Nedzu’s student to the media which meant every time he went out he was bombarded with reporters, stalkers, vultures (as Aizawa would call them) swarming him in every direction to know what Nedzu was teaching him. 

He thought they would stop after a while. 

But apparently once you are one of the biggest hero in existence’s apprentice the entire world wants your opinion on whatever bullcrap. 

And then there was the dread of thinking everyone you met was a MLA spy, he started seeing them everywhere, his teachers, his friend’s parents, heroes that Nedzu had him meet. 

For him they were all spies (and only half the time he was actually wrong) 

To make it all better was the dread of not knowing when Eri would get her quirk. The only solace he had in that department was that he had told Nedzu one day in hysterics that All Might would die and he did not know how to stop it. 

And after that Yagi had been promptly warned what Eri’s quirk would end up being, but even if he was warned. He was still a parent. 

Every time he was out with her and Tenko in the streets he could see how closely he would hold her and all he could think of was that at any moment her quirk could go off and they’d lose the greatest hero ever. 

His only saving grace those years had been Shoto and Katsuki. As unlikely as that sounds for the latter one. 

Katsuki because he would always ground him, tell him he was just a stupid loser ass nerd that only by a miracle had caught Nedzu’s attention, and Izuku, honestly he needed to hear that, he needed to remember that he was a farce every once and a while (even if Katsuki himself didn’t know and never would know the truth) because sometimes even he forgot that he wasn’t all that. 

And Todoroki because.. He smiled. 

It might be stupid, maybe a bit corny but he one day in one of those hero galas Nedzu decided to take him (as an assignment, so he could break apart each and everyone’s quirk in there in seconds, come up with a plan to end them and flee… as an exercise of course, he didn’t put it in practise) when he saw Endeavor and Shoto. 

And well, call him stupid because with his mind in everything else he had completely forgotten about Shoto until now. 

Tomura might have gotten Eri. 

But that meant he could get Dabi. 

A maniac grin formed in his face when he saw his former friend from another life. “Figured out the answers already?” Nedzu had asked. 

“I think I’m going to put into practice one of them” He answered and marched towards Endeavor as the man retreated to the bathroom. 

As soon as they were alone Izuku locked the doors and stared the man down. “You know I’m Nedzu’s student.”

Endeavour found himself shivering involuntarily. 

“I’m going to tell you why he chose me. My quirk allows me to know things, sometimes things I shouldn’t, sometimes simple predictions, but it does make me incredibly smart, you, did not cover up Touya’s death enough, which is how I know what I am about to tell you is true.” 

He said, lying like a lying liar. But what was one more lie? 

“Touya is still alive.” 

Endeavour sucked in a big breath. 

“He is still alive, and out there in the streets currently igniting his hatred for you, he wants to kill Shoto in front of you to make you suffer, so If I were you, hero . I’d worry less about turning your youngest into a weapon against All Might and more about finding your Eldest before he turns into a weapon against yourself.”

Endeavour was completely frozen in his tracks. Unable to speak, unable to breathe. 

“Oh, and one more thing. He has both ice and fire. All this time, he’s had it, but you were so blinded with using his flames to make them grow hotter, that you didn’t realize that he could make them go colder than ice. You almost killed your eldest and traumatized your youngest for naught.” 

Endeavour found himself falling after that. This couldn’t be a prank. No one should know this information, no one except Nedzu’s student himself who just could not be wrong. 

He had already proved time and time again to the media that most of his predictions always came true. 

Before he could completely leave the flaming piece of trash alone to think about his life, the man asked one last hopeful question “How sure are you?” 

“90%” 

It was the highest he had ever said a prediction of his could be right. 

Endeavour cried. 

The fire alarm had to be activated. 

That hero gala ended earlier than most there would have liked. 

But after that the flaming piece of trash stopped mistreating Shoto…

It wouldn’t compensate for the years Izuku had forgotten about him but at least.. He’d have a chance to heal while still being a child.  

And Izuku got to see him smiling from afar as the years progressed. 

The last and final reason for those hellish four years having been hellish ironically was Dabi himself. 

What the hell was he thinking when he thought he could steal him from Shigaraki???????

First of all he would like to say that it wasn’t that hard to find him, he caught him stealing from a hot topic’s one day through security cameras. 

Secondly, he had completely forgotten how old exactly Shoto’s brother was, which meant that instead of finding someone near his age like Tomura as he hoped, he found a 17 year old gremlin that somehow was even worse than he was the last time Izuku was alive. 

But Izuku was anything if not persistent. Which meant that even though the gremlin of a man refused any gesture coming from the nine year old, he used his big boy guns to get him to submit. 

He called his mom. 

No one said no to Inko Midoriya. 

Especially not a love deprived teen who obviously hadn’t had a mother acting like one to him in a long time. 

So Touya Todoroki soon became Dabi Midoriya. 

Izuku made sure that the name wasn’t stupid at all and that he should totally register it when they were turning him into a legal Midoriya by law. 

And you might think, ohh but it all worked out in the end, didn’t it? He managed to out-do Tomura, he stole his right hand man and legalized him, made him a better person, stopped his genocidal tendencies. 

BUT NO. 

Because after that for three years not only Izuku had to be followed everywhere by the media, worry about Eri exploding All Might and everyone around him being in the MLA but he also had to deal with the fact that he had an older brother. 

An older brother with a lot of older brotherly instincts such as making his life a living hell. 

It was almost like he was torturing Izuku for making his life better, he would be certain of that alternative, had it not been for the fact that he had once cried himself to sleep while hugging Izuku and Inko and thanking them for taking him in. 

And then, Izuku realized, he could take this whole thing a step further. 

Toga Himiko was out there somewhere. And if he remembered it right, and he did , she was very redeemable. 

So after two years of having Dabi as an insufferable older brother it was like he had turned into a masochist who thought: why not one more? I surely can handle another one! 

WHICH MEANT HE HAD GONE AND FOUND HIMIKO AND MAMAINKO, bless her, UPON SEEING HER, OF COURSE ADOPTED HER, BECAUSE OF COURSE, WHAT ELSE WAS SHE GOING TO DO AFTER SEEING AN ELEVEN YEAR OLD CHILD NEEDING LOVE????? 

But that last year until he turned twelve and Eri four was truly one filled with hell. 

It was like Dabi’s and Himiko’s instincts from their last lives had passed onto this one, they had joined forces! 

Yeah anyway. Izuku was not okay. 

But then by his calculations Eri turned four, All Might didn’t explode, and he had turned Dabi’s hair pink. 

All was right in the world again. 

At least that’s what he thought. 

Until the MLA’s leader had been discovered missing. Only dust and freaking ashes found in the last place he had been seen. 

It had taken him and Nedzu years to figure out all their members and slowly plan a way to arrest them all in one go. 

It had taken one day for Shigaraki to kill one man and ruin years of planning. 

“FUCKING ANOMALY! I HATE HIM!” Izuku found himself yelling at a pillow as Nedzu graded papers one day. 

“Yes.. You have mentioned this anomaly quite some times already, why is this one person an anomaly whereas the rest of the world is not?”

“I don’t know how to explain it in a way that makes sense sensei” 

“Try me” 

---

Tenko Yagi was living the best days of his life. He had a little sister to bug (in fact, he called her bug), he got to watch Midoriya’s suffering through the news (and he had himself to pat on the back for that), he had found Kurogiri-

And honestly he didn’t think the nomu would obey him after All For One had died but he did, it was awesome, he got away with so much shit thanks to Kurogiri being in his life again. -

He got to kill whoever he wanted because his dad was All Might! Who would ever believe All Might’s son was actually the one responsible for all the dust problems in Japan? Especially when he had alibis to all of them (Yep, you thought it right, he found Twice!!! Being rich was great, his colleague from another life would never have to suffer and get crazy thanks to him, see how he was good? Midoriya should be thanking him for saving all these lives)

He even got to kill that one MLA dude that irritated him greatly (his mistake, honestly for thinking a child wasn’t deadly) 

But there was one thing. 

One thing above all that made him incredibly happy. 

He had noticed, that probably as a way to get back at him, Midoriya had taken Dabi and Toga to his side. 

And HAH. 

HAHAHHAHAHA. 

HAHAHHAHAHAHAHAH THEY SUCKED SO MUCH!

MIDORIYA WAS SO FUCKED! 

It was cathartic in a way he never thought it’d be possible to feel. 

His life was truly heaven. 

Everything he had done, everything he had suffered, he was surely being paid back for all of it in this life. 

Everything was perfect. 

:D

Chapter Text

They say that the sins of your past life are paid in the one you are living now. 

So how does an arrogant bastard, orphan, son of a madman somehow become a hero alongside All Might? HIS ENEMY. The man he despised since the beginning, just to keep him from winning? 

And Izuku is slow to anger, but he can’t help but tow the line as he reckons the effects of their lives side by side. 

He looks back on his failures and every place he checks the most common threat has been his existence. 

How is it that there, on TV, standing alongside All Might is Tomura Shigaraki in a big hero costume? With a flashy smile looking every bit the hero he was NOT. 

“Do they let anyone be a hero these days?” Dabi says absentmindedly. 

“That means we have an actual chance!!” Himiko says in response. 

Dabi scoffs, as if he would ever get anywhere near that cursed industry. 

“Excuse youuu, I was talking to Zuchan!” 

Izuku wasn’t even listening, all he could think of was something Nedzu had told him once he had come clean about actually being quirkless and a time traveler (too many questions that he had no answer for, in the end he had no choice). 

First the mammal had laughed. Izuku had thought there and then that he was done for, that he had made a mistake trusting the chimera that treated him better than anyone else in his life (except for his mother, his mom was the best). 

But instead of being asked to leave he had said that the news was marvelous. “You and me are truly the same then, my pup, despised by society for simply existing and having to put on a mask to please all those around us so they’ll let us be” 

He hadn’t realized but.. He had always worn a mask, hadn’t he? 

Why did he want to be a hero? Nedzu had asked him later after a long conversation that truthfully Izuku thought it would be their last one. 

It was simple, the answer had always been, to help people. 

“To help people like no one helped you in this other life of yours, I presume?” 

He couldn’t deny it. “Yeah” 

“In truth, you wanted to be saved.” 

“I wanted.. No.. Needed to hear that I was human too” 

Nedzu smiled upon hearing that. “So, do you still wish to be a hero? You know your seat at UA is already guaranteed.” 

“I never had a chance, Himichan, besides.. I don't want to be one. ” He answered. “Not in a life where he is” 

“See” Dabi side hugged him and ruffled his hair “He’s one of mine, stop trying to win this battle, I’ve won it years ago” 

“Well, I’m still going to be one! I might have not won last year’s sports festival and got any official internships but this year it’s going to be it for sure!” 

“I thought you liked working with Vlad King” 

“He’s amazing.” She immediately said “But my goal this year is Hawks!”

Ironically, Izuku’s goal was also Hawks. 

Or rather, the entire commission. It was Nedzu’s plan, he will admit it. He didn’t think they were corrupted. But once Nedzu showed him the truth, it all made so much sense. 

So many things in his past life that he just didn’t understand. That he had asked why, suddenly he had the answers for. 

It wasn’t just the way the world was. 

It was the way it was fabricated to be by those in power. 

But they would change that. Nedzu had a plan. 

-----

“I’m worried about him, dad” Tenko said, as soon as they arrived home from another gala. 

Their eyes were immediately drawn to each other. 

On one side of the hero gala, nineteen year old Tenko Yagi alongside his father, looking like he’d rather be anywhere but there while at the same time, looking thrilled to be there, it was like he was invading somewhere that never in a million years he should have been while being welcomed with open arms at that. 

There was truth in saying the golden rule took you places.. (No. Not the help others' bullshit rule, the actual golden rule, the money one, which dictated that whoever had the gold made the rules) All Might had the money, All Might was the rules, so if he said his son was worthy of a hero gala, then he sure as hell was. 

And on the other side, there was fifteen year old Izuku Midoriya alongside his mentor, Nedzu. Looking like he wanted to desperately fit in that world. 

Izuku Midoriya, Tenko realized, had seen better days. Maybe it was having Dabi and Toga living with him that had caused his entire demeanor to change, maybe it was spending time with Nedzu who, according to Toshinori and everyone else in his life, was a menace. 

The commission actively kept eyes on the two of them. Any move they did was recorded, every step they took there was someone to analyze it. 

It was like the entirety of society was simply waiting for Nedzu to blow them up, and now the predator among them had taken a student whose passing day resembled more and more his teacher in the way he thought. 

Tenko moved first, as he usually did, stopping right in front of the kid as soon as they were alone. 

They now looked almost exactly as they did in their last lives. Tenko remembered that was the exact ages they both had when they had first met. 

It was almost poetic. 

If not entirely ironic. 

“Did you know this is almost the exact day we met in our past lives?” 

Izuku’s brow creased but he said nothing as to not give him the satisfaction. 

“But last time, I was the one feared by everyone, not you.. How does it feel?”

Once again, he answered nothing and simply grabbed a cup of water while looking around past the vile man in front of him to search for Todoroki. Maybe he’d get to see him smiling again today… 

“Huh, not a word huh, not even going to ask how Eri is?” 

Izuku’s grip on the cup tightened 

“I thought you cared more about her, oh well, I heard you are not joining the hero course this time, it’s a shame, I was going to send you an internship offer when the time came, I’m sure you’d have lots to learn from me” He grinned 

At that Izuku finally broke his silence. “One For All kills any user with a quirk before they are thirty” He looks right into Tomura’s eyes “Of course, anyone who is quirkless is free from that curse. But.. Well, too bad you aren’t” 

“You are kidding.” 

“Believe what you want, Tomura” 

“It’s Tenko now, Yagi for you” 

“Bye Tomura.” 

Having finally found his target the brat moved towards Todoroki. 

And Tenko was left in wonder. 

The brat had threatened him, hadn’t he? 

It was thrilling. In a way. 

Never in a million years he thought he’d see that look in Midoriya’s eyes, it left him once again wondering how the brat had died that made him come back so cold. 

Either way, he was really glad that he didn’t take that self-destructing bone quirk. It was already bad enough that it destroyed every bone in one’s body. 

To learn that it killed them too? 

Yeesh. 

But back to the present. 

“Worried?” Toshinori asked, as he served them some chocolate milk, Eri was desperate for it saying that she deserved it after having been abandoned and forced to go to school. 

“Yeah, he.. I don’t know, he looked like he was one second from killing someone.. And he’s Nedzu’s student ya know.. I worry” 

The effect was immediate. All Might’s brow creased and he asked “Should we invite them to dinner? Check if they are alright? I worry about that boy too” 

“Probably for the best, the first thing he did in life was find AFO and beg him for a quirk and that was without an intelligence one, who knows what he’ll do now that he HAS one and is working with Nedzu of all people” 

“I’m making the call.” 

Tenko sipped his chocolate and let Eri climb his lap “whu are u talkin about Tenii?” 

“It’s this guy I know, he’s dangerous bug, could destroy our lives if he wanted to”

She looked afronted at that “Why dontchu kill him?” 

“Pff shhhh, don't let dad hear you sayin that bug” 

She made a zip it motion. 

“But yeah, death would be too easy on him ya know” 

She nodded “letis destroy his physiqueeeee!!!!” 

“Yeahhhh!!”  

----

“Nedzu! Thank you for joining us for dinner tonight!” All Might said as he opened the door for student and master to come in. 

“I have to say, it was quite the sudden invitation” 

“Sorry about that sensei!” All Might looked away sheepishly, focussing his gaze on Midoriya “Ah! I’m glad you made it too! Tenko will be thrilled”

“I sincerely doubt that” 

“Midoriya!” 

Speak of the devil and he shall appear. Tenko Yagi with his stupid smile appeared with open arms and the face of someone who had stolen Izuku’s life from him.

“Have you ever met my lil sister? This is Eri”

Eri was hiding behind his leg and upon seeing her Izuku almost burst into immediate tears. She looked so different, so much healthier. Her eyes didn’t have that sad look in them, her childhood innocence had been retained. 

She waved at him shyly and he could die. “Hi, Eri”

Nedzu put a paw on his back, grounding him as he crouched to talk with her. This wasn’t his sister, this wasn’t his past life. 

He had to repeat that like a mantra in his mind. “Hi” she answered, without the usual excitement and the Izu-nii that usually followed. And at that moment Izuku considered killing Tomura. 

But no, she was happy. 

She was saved. 

He had to keep that in mind. 

As he stood up from saying hi to her Tenko grabbed him in an embrace. It took everything in Izuku for him not to flinch at the sudden hug. 

“Little guy! Are you thinner than last time we met? Nedzu, have you been feeding him?” Tenko said, letting go of the full hug to side hug him. 

“I cannot say that I have since that is not my job but his mother’s” 

“How are your mother and siblings Young Midoriya?” 

“Himiko wants to work with Hawks this year” Izuku said, and saw the tiniest twitch in Tenko’s eyes. That alone made it worth it. “And my oldest is still the loser he always was” 

“Must be hard having two siblings since you’ve always been an only child” Tenko said with fake sympathy. 

“At first maybe, but they are family ya know” He said, looking right into Tenko’s eyes and smiling “at the end of the day it’s like having an unwavering loyal right and left hand man” 

This time even All Might noticed the twitch in Tenko’s eyes

“I’m hungryyyyyyy where is the foood papa!!” Eri suddenly said, bringing everyone’s attention to her and saving her brother from exploding. 

And that was when a dinner full of fake pleasantries disguised as control begun, each question was like a minefield ready to explode, each word a hidden trap meant to exploit any possible weakness from them. 

At the end of it, Izuku was more exhausted than ever. 

It was only when they were at Nedzu’s limo that he allowed himself to breathe and relax again. “It amazes me how he stayed the number one hero for so long” Nedzu sing said, it could have been read as an absent minded thought had it not come from Nedzu. 

“What do you mean?” 

“Oh please, he is a complete buffon, I know you have your attachments from your previous life pup, but you yourself saw what happened when he was in complete control of his decisions instead of having young Tenko there whispering poison in his ears, All For One never died, he let you destroy yourself with his quirk instead of training you in a effective way, and in the end, as he fell from his spot, Japan fell with him” 

“I guess” 

“Hold the entire weight of the world in your shoulders, and when you let go the world is bound to crash and burn” 

“... Are you saying.. He is more detrimental as the number one hero than not?” 

“Precisely.” 

Izuku looked out the car’s window at that. 

There was truth in Nedzu’s words, but still..

“But his retirement would also be detrimental as society is now” 

Nedzu smiled “Don’t worry, pup, that won’t be the case for long” 

---

When we are kids, we always hear the same ol’ song, follow the golden rule, do good to others and they’ll do good to you. 

In his previous life, Izuku had lived by this rule, and yet no good had been done to him, he thought that All Might giving him his quirk was that good, he thought getting into UA was repayment for his shitty life. 

The good deeds he had accumulated had finally been cashed in. 

But.. Kacchan had never followed it and had good things happen to him constantly. 

Tomura Shigaraki followed the opposite and ended up winning. 

What good was the golden rule then? What good was being good at all? 

“ Why did you want to be a hero?” 

“The truth is, you actually wanted to be saved. And nobody did, so instead you thought saving others was the answer” 

“Nedzu-sensei.. Why are you a hero?” 

“I didn’t get a choice, pup, the second the commission learned of my existence, I either became a hero or they would make me vanish, at the time I had no power but my knowledge so I had to comply”

“Is that why you hate them?” 

“No.. In the end, they ended up helping me, even if their goal was simply to control me” 

“If you could’ve been anything else, what would you have been?” 

“Rocket scientist. I would leave this earth behind and explore the galaxy beyond” 

Izuku smiled at his mentor. “That sounds nice”

Chapter Text

[UA hires All Might as a teacher! Is this the end of his career?] 

[Commission pressures Nedzu so that his student gets licensed, why is his apprentice not a hero student? What is he planning?] 

[New CEO of detnerat? What happened to the company after the former CEO was discovered missing? Find out here]

[Hearts and Mind president makes bold statement, read now] 

[All Might seen less and less now that he started teaching, villains celebrating] 

[Villain party broken off by underground hero and his student that shan’t be named for privacy reasons] 

[World not lost? Nedzu makes bold statement regarding All Might and his time as number one hero] 

[Commission removes funding from UA until Nedzu’s student is registered under them] 

[Heroes or villains? Check out ten hero students that could easily become villains if they wanted] 

[Are heroes getting more aggressive?] 

[Nedzu’s student is finally registered as a hero student, what next? And why hasn’t he till now?] 

Kacchan wouldn’t look at him. He could understand why. He had broken their promise. 

They promised they’d be a hero duo. 

But in the end Izuku decided he wanted nothing to do with the hero industry. 

It was an old song and dance of theirs: 

“Why did you suddenly give up??? Was it that rat’s fault???” 

“No, Kacchan, I just.. don’t see a point, don’t you see how flawed the system is? How the commission creates the villains that it sends heroes to fight over and over again for the money? Heroes are no longer heroes, villains are no longer villains, everything is just money and interest” 

“We wouldn’t be like that” 

“We would have to answer to their rules, and they are like that” 

“Fuck Izuku, you sound like you want to destroy them” 

“It’d be the heroic thing to do if someone did, I assure you” 

“That’s what a villain would say” 

“So it seems.” 

it was safe to say they were at an impasse. Especially with them being in the same classroom because Nedzu thought that it would do him good to be with old friends, in Izuku’s opinion of knowing the rat, he was just being sadistic. 

“Class, we have a new student today” Aizawa said, as Izuku stood in front of everyone, it was.. weird seeing the effect of his influence so directly. 

A few of his classmates weren’t actually there. Would he ever get a chance to meet them in this life? 

“This is Izuku Midoriya, I’m sure you will all treat him nice and show him the ropes” 

Iida raised his hand to ask, as Izuku was sure he would “Sir, why is he entering so late in the year?” 

“Come on man, you can’t live under a rock” Mina said “Haven’t you seen all the buzz around the commission forcing Nedzu’s hand to make him a hero student?” 

“And now here I am” Izuku nodded at her words, immediately whispers started going around, friends from his past life gossiping about him. 

Hitoshi looked at him with disdain, Shoto with morbid curiosity, Kacchan wouldn’t look at him. Momo seemed scared, so did a few of them…

He’d rather focus on the new faces.. That were also.. Scared… regardless there was Inasa. He remembered Inasa, Monoma was also in here and not 1B thanks to the way the exam was graded.. There was also this girl which he had no idea who it was as she seemed completely normal..

Aoyama wasn’t there. 

All For One had died before they had the chance to not manifest a quirk, he was quirkless. He was like Izuku. 

Shit, how could have he forgotten him? He was so caught up in the MLA and the commission that he forgot why he was doing everything he did in the first place. 

He wanted to help people. 

“Why” Nedzu’s voice was in his head “What have they done for you besides beating you down until there was nothing of you left?”

It wasn’t fair.. to other quirkless people, it wasn’t fair that he forgot his dream of helping them. 

“You can’t stop a disease by treating the symptoms. Unless you remove the root of the problem nothing will change. Who created the narrative? Who made us inferior to them?” 

Right.. He was doing them right. What he was doing with Nedzu mattered. It mattered more than anything else. 

“It’s a pleasure to meet all of you” He bowed in front of them “Please take care of me” 

“How is it being Nedzu’s student?” Mina asked, he wondered for a second if the bakusquad had formed in this life too.. Kirishima wasn’t there. 

“Eventful” Once again everyone started whispering but Izuku couldn’t even focus on how he was the center of gossip

Kirishima hadn’t.. He hadn’t made it.. 

He was Kacchan’s best friend, only friend, no. no no no no why? 

Why didn’t he pass????

“Midoriya, your seat is behind Bakugou’s” Aizawa said, he moved almost mechanically, his head too absorbed in his own thoughts.  

“Finally fucking got over yourself?” Kacchan whispered to him, it was so wrong, he would never have Kiri in his life. 

He was pretty sure they loved each other. He took the person who mattered the most from Kacchan

“Yeah” he said, absentmindedly “I guess we’ll be a duo after all Kacchan” 

“Asshole, didn’t even ask me if i still wanted that after you ditched me” 

Finally, Izuku focused on Kacchan. He couldn’t think of the past. He had already ruined it, there was no going back, he couldn’t fix it. 

“I’m sorry.. I never stopped wanting be a hero with you.. you know that, it’s just Nedzu-” 

“Got into your head, I could fucking tell” 

“Are we good?” 

“After class, let’s have a fight, then we’ll see” 

“Alright Kacchan” 

He couldn’t fix it but he could be there for Kacchan. Izuku Midoriya was a liar. A liar and a thief. 

But he could at least do good like this.. Being there for him. 

He was never there for you in your past life. Shut up. 

He almost died for me last time. We weren’t friends, but we weren’t nothing either. 

He can be there for him. They can be there for each other. 

Izuku raised his fist, so Kacchan would fist bump it. And his friend did, without hesitation. 

Maybe the commission having control over him wouldn’t be so bad.. 

Besides.. Who knows how long the commission will last. 

[Interview with Midoriya Izuku (Nedzu’s apprentice) about his first day at UA] 

[Hawks seen with Nedzu’s apprentice] 

[Duster saves the day once again] 

[All Might talks about how teaching Nedzu’s student feels] 

[Commission pushes for first years students at UA to take the provisional hero exam, Nedzu fights back] 

[Hawks does it again! Another record broken of villains taken in one hour] 

[Endeavor gives his opinion on All Might’s possible retirement] 

[Nedzu takes concerning stance about the future] 

“Alright! Spill!” Mina said as she put her tray next to Izuku’s. 

He had been at peace for the last few weeks at school, Kacchan and him were good, most of the class left him alone, it wasn’t lonely per say, as he had Kacchan but, like him, Kacchan would much rather spend lunch actually eating instead of talking, it was peaceful. 

Until now. 

“Fuck off racoon eyes”

“It’s been weeks! Weeks that you gave us NOTHING to work with!” She said, ignoring Kacchan and focusing on him “I want the beans, I want the hot goss, I want to know everything there is to know”

Izuku couldn’t help the mirth that filled his eyes, she was exactly the same as last time. Kacchan and her started fighting verbally, well, it was more him telling her to fuck off and she not caring and just shooting question after question onto him. 

He didn't even know where to start answering them, so it was pretty obvious how relieved he got when All Might appeared asking them to have lunch together. 

It almost made him forget that he wasn’t in his last life. 

But it was sort of hard to forget when All Might’s face didn’t have the usual softness that it had for him. 

“How are you adapting to UA, young Midoriya?” 

“There is nothing much to adapt to, sensei, the only different part is how athletic the hero course is, but I’ve always taken care of myself in that regard so I’m having no trouble at all” 

“Good, I’ve seen you in the hero class-” 

Izuku would surely hope so, since the man was it’s teacher. 

“-And I’ve been thinking how unfair it was to you that you didn’t manage to have an internship along with the rest of your classmates”

“Oh, no no it’s fine” He waved his hand off, hoping to show how undisturbed he was with that fact “There is always next year, besides, studying under Nedzu-sensei is sort of like being in a constant internship.. Especially thanks to the kind of hero I’ll end up being” 

“Still, It would be unwise to not experience all kinds of heroics, and with that in mind I have a proposal for you! Would you like interning under Tenko?” 

Izuku couldn’t help his visceral reaction at the thought, which caused for the man to laugh

“No no, hear me out, I think you’ve got loads to learn from him!” 

“No thank you!” 

“He’s a rescue hero, you know! It’s one of the best fields to be in, I think it would fit you a lot! Just imagine, your brain and his ability, you two could help so many people” 

It was true, but Izuku would rather die again than work alongside him. 

“All Might, I’m fine, truly, you don’t have to worry about me falling behind or anything, I’m happy where I am” 

“I’m not sure of that, my boy-” 

Izuku couldn’t help the tears in his eyes that threatened to form over being called that. Damnit. 

“-It’s not that I don’t value intelligence heroes, hell, my own hero partner is one, you know that. But you are someone with so much potential to be a symbol of hope! I see the markings of a great hero in you, Midoriya, and I would hate to see such potential go to waste just because you were only given one choice since childhood, each day I see you smile less and less, throughout the years I’ve seen how Nedzu’s influence has been causing you harm and I can’t help but worry”

“As you said, you had years, so why worry now? Why not before If you’ve noticed so much?” His reasoning sounded weak minded even to himself. 

“Now I am your teacher, I have a responsibility to help you grow towards the best path possible and I want you to shine, my boy, I want the world to be inspired by you and not to fear you”

“They only fear because they don’t like what’s different” 

“Yes, and you can change that, no? Show that there was nothing for them to worry” 

“But why Tenko? There are plenty of rescue heroes and I’m sure you know most of them” 

“Well my boy, I trust my son, and he worries about you too. I can’t think of anyone better to help you grow than him”

He wanted to say no. 

He really really wanted to say no. 

But this was All Might. 

This was All Might calling him his boy, telling him to shine, saying that he could be a symbol. 

He couldn’t say no. 

[Duster takes on Nedzu’s apprentice as an intern]  

[Check out this new footage of Duster and Midoriya Izuku rescuing people from a burning building] 

[Speculation: What could Midoriya’s hero name be now that he is in the industry?] 

[Interview with Midoriya Izuku :EXCLUSIVE:] 

Izuku wanted to die. 

He should have never let himself get carried away by All Might calling him that, now that he stops to think about it, it must have been Shigaraki’s idea, to tell All Might to call Izuku ‘my boy’. 

But no. He let himself get emocional. He let himself get carried away by the man’s words, that was not his father figure, All Might did not have his best interest at heart this time (maybe not even last time) 

Nedzu was right, emotions always got in the way of decision making, in the end it was best to leave them aside when making big life choices. 

Not that he thought this was something that would change his life greatly, Nedzu certainly didn’t think so, instead his teacher chose to make fun of him for letting himself get carried away. 

He wasn’t even aware that Nedzu was capable of making fun of something, it was interesting to find out, even if he had found out the hard way. 

But Nedzu was right in all of his remarks, he was always right. “You should take this as an opportunity to understand his motives. In your last life, he wanted change, so why is it that now he seems to love the system? I believe that If you push him enough, you may end up manipulating him into being a formidable ally”

But Izuku didn’t want him as an ally, he honestly wanted Tomura dead. 

… He shouldn't say that, he shouldn’t wish for people’s death. 

There was a time he wished for nothing more than to save Tomura. 

What happened to him? Now that his thoughts became twisted? Is he even deserving of having a hero title in this life? 

“Wow, you look like shit” Tomura’s voice in his ear almost gave him an heart attack. 

He understood Kacchan much more in this life. If he had explosions, he would use it without care too. 

“Says the person who invented the look” 

“I made it work, on you it’s just pathetic.” 

“Fuck you” 

They were off to a great start.

Chapter Text

Nedzu made it sound easier to manipulate someone than it actually is. 

Shigaraki was completely insane, he couldn’t reason with him. Couldn’t talk with him. He tried to understand him, coming from a place of solidarity “Must have been hard been betrayed by AFO in the end” 

BUT THE FUCKER WAS IMPOSSIBLE!

“Oooooh? What is thissss???? Are you worrieeed? Izuku Midoriya showing compassion for lil ol’ me in this life, didn’t thought i’d live to see that” 

“Nevermind” 

“What suddenly spurred this? Did you suddenly realize it’s not my fault i’m amazing?”

Izuku scoffed, out of all people to end up getting rewinded in time, why him????? Why did he get stuck with Tomura???? 

“Don’t make that face” Shigaraki poked him “Oooh you know what I have noticed? This is almost about the time I kidnapped that friend of yours, it’s almost ironic how we keep meeting each other almost following that timeline” 

At that Izuku actually paused and asked “Why did you kidnap Kacchan of all people? Were you possessed?” 

“You call him Kacchan? Pff are you two dating or something? Doesn’t that make you a pedofile? Is that why you are so edgy? Are you in love with a kid when your mental age is old as fuck?” 

“Don’t change the subject, I asked you a question” 

“He was villain material.” 

“Pff, he’s an asshole, I get that but villain material???” 

“UA had him chained up like an animal for all the world to see, that kind of humiliation sticks with you, makes you angry, makes you want to destroy everything” 

“Were you humiliated in some way?” 

“Pff of course not, I’m too awesome for that” 

Infuriating. 

“Why did you have All Might ask me to intern with you?” 

Shigaraki smiled crooked “It was his idea believe it or not” 

“I don’t” 

“That’s your problem” 

“Was it also his idea that you become a hero?” 

Shigaraki scoffed “As if I’d listen to him if it were.” In the middle of his taunt he suddenly paused and got serious “I’m getting a radio earthquake happened bunch of people trapped, you gonna stay there or are you comin?” 

“See. This. This is weird” 

“I’m a changed man” 

“No one changes that much” 

“You might want to look into a mirror” 

Izuku couldn’t take Shigaraki’s.. maybe he really was Tenko now? words from his head. Had he truly changed that much? 

No, no, Tomura just knew how to get into his head. He always had. That time at the mall.. Izuku found his hand going towards his neck without really realizing. “I haven’t changed” He looked at the bathroom mirror as he said so (And by doing so he ended up ironically doing exactly as Shigaraki had instructed him to do). His hands now gripping the sink. “I haven’t changed” 

Tho.. Was it really bad to change? In his case it would mean he evolved, nobody liked him in his past life, he had no friends before his quirk and he wasn’t sure if the ones he had would have been his friends if he had remained quirkless.. History dictated that they wouldn’t have been friends, that they would judge him, shun him out. Iida could barely look at his face in class and his only crime this time was being Nedzu’s apprentice. Maybe they could all sense he was actually quirkless, maybe they all knew he had been lying all this time and he was just making a fool of himself by pretending… No no, he can’t let himself fall into that rabbit hole, he was just different in their eyes because he was Nedzu’s student. 

And his mentor was right, as always, anything different gets prosecuted by those who deem themselves as normal. 

It wasn’t that he changed, it was just that now he saw the truth for what it was, the system they lived in had to go for everyone to be saved, not just those deemed as normal. 

What he couldn’t understand was why Shigaraki was suddenly okay with the world. 

Even if All Might raising him had any kind of effect in his mind, he still knew of the cracks, he could see it before Izuku could even dream of reaching the conclusion for himself. Is it only to spite All For One’s memory that he became a hero? Is it to spite Izuku? There was no way Shigaraki was the kind of person who’d make himself live through something that he didn’t deem fun just to spite people. 

Did he… Actually enjoy saving people? At some point did his lies become true?

“Are you done over there?” Think of the devil and he shall appear, Shigaraki stood in the doorway to the bathroom, arms crossed and face with a bored expression. Izuku needed to understand. 

“I was taking your advice” Izuku said, pointing at the mirror with all the sarcasm he could muster (even tho he had been doing technically exactly as Shigaraki had told him to) 

“Nice so you’ve finally seen reason, I knew you’d come around and realize I'm the best eventually, by the way If you are still open to advices, tell Himiko to accept my internship offers, will ya?” 

Aaand he was back at hating him. What made him think he had any right over Himiko in this life when he stole Eri from him? “Why did you become a hero this time around?” He asked instead of punching him like he honestly wanted. 

See, he still had self control, if he truly had changed he would have simply punched him. 

The bastard grinned, as if he knew that his answer - whatever that may be - would sooth Izuku’s mind. And as the bastard he was he didn’t give one. 

Shigaraki simply shrugged as if he himself didn’t know the answer, but his eyes. His eyes made it clear that his refusal to answer really was just to spite Izuku. 

“Himiko hates you.” Shigaraki instantly flinched as he said those words “Dabi too, the two believe that you are the representation of everything wrong with society” 

The man in front of him frowned, he had hit a nerve. 

“I think it’s strange how you became everything you vouged to destroy. I remember the Tomura Shigaraki who hated how society worked, hated how people were shunned because of their origins, how no one was truly free. And now.. Now you are just one more hero , you became a part of the problem, Tenko Yagi the hero who is no different from any other, the spotlight hero who smiles at cameras and talks about how great being a hero is in every interview. Duster-”

“Shut up” 

“The hero who makes no difference in the world whatsoever, the hero who screams nepotism where he walks, who only made it thanks to All Might, where is the man with a passion for change? Where is the man who vouged to make a society where his league could be free?” 

“SHUT UP” 

The sink turned to dust behind him and Izuku found himself smiling sharply. “Once upon a time, you would have aimed that at me. I’m starting to think your whole hero thing is not an act.. What the hell happened to you?”

“You rather me a villain that destroys everything senseless than a hero?” 

“I’d rather a you who doesn’t turn a blind eye at society’s problems” Izuku pushed past him gunning for the bathroom door “Being aware and wanting change doesn’t make you a villain, Tenko, it never did and being a hero isn’t just about saving people from landslides and such” He hoped his words didn’t fall to deaf ears because he still had two days and Shigaraki would be insufferable, the torture he would surely live through had to be worth it. “Back then, I wanted to save you, I wanted to save all of you… I’m not sure you are saved yet.” 

He didn’t wait for an answer, he just left the bathroom, the building, everything. 

Tomorrow he’d deal with an answer, If Tomu- Tenko, he truly wasn’t Tomura anymore. If Tenko gives any of what he said a thought then he wins, if not well.. Maybe he should skip the next two days? He’s gone through five already, no one would be able to give him shit if he skipped. 

Well.. We’ll see. For now, he’s earned a relaxing donut. “Hey there” 

“GAH” Maybe we won’t see given that Hawks just decided to give him a heart attack. 

“Pff” 

“Yes yes, laugh all you want you winged bastard. Why are you here?” 

“Saw you sulking decided to say hello” 

“I wasn’t sul-” 

“So, why is the great Nedzu student sulking?” 

Izuku crossed his arms, scoffed, looked everywhere minus Hawk’s face. “I’m not. But since you are here anyway pay me a donut”

“Damn, Extortion” 

“Not extortion, just an opportunity that arose” They walked to the donut shop, both immediately being followed by cameras and watchful eyes that was soon followed by people asking Hawks for autographs and Izuku frowning knowing they would make the news again. 

Took them thirty minutes for them to actually be able to sit down and eat, and even then it wasn’t without their every move being gossiped about. 

“Alright so, why the long face?” Hawks asked as he poked the crease between Izuku’s eyebrows, that movement was surely going to become the front picture of some article. 

“I’m interning with Duster” 

“Oh oh yes I heard! I didn’t know you were open to internships, If I knew I’d snatch you up to myself” 

“I wasn’t, All Might basically emotionally manipulated me into accepting, anyway, he’s infuriating” 

“All Might?”

“Duster. Just another hero that doesn't get what being a hero is all about” Now that he thinks about it, Stain would probably target him, heh… Wait… Stain should have already shown… Ugh Shigaraki probably killed him too, didn't he? 

“There are loads of those nowadays” 

“Speaking of that.. Any new movies for me?” 

Hawks put a hand over the table and Izuku held it, another picture that would surely turn into some baseless gossip, he felt the pendrive on his hand as the hero pretended to caress his hand

“Yeah I found this one really cool about the french revolution, it’s a musical.. You’ll want popcorn for this one.” 

“Thanks, on 1 to 10, how sad is it?” 

“Oh you’ll better get tissues, it’s a 10 all the way” 

They let go of each other’s hands, Izuku putting the pen drive safely in a hidden pocket of his as he pretended to scratch that place. 

“I better go” Hawks said, winking at the fans and ruffling his hair “I think we gave the people gossip enough” 

“Wait” He held Hawks blouse to prevent him to go “How is Himi doing?”

“I’m gonna steal her from you is how she is doing” 

Izuku smiled “Good..” 

Later that day Nedzu and Izuku watched a movie that really was like music to their ears. 

Especially the part where the president of the commission herself spoke of death, manipulation and destruction. 

A copy of the same movie was then given to Duster the next day along with several other heroes . 

The next to watch the movies were the media, the vultures, the press, they had a field day with it. 

Only then the population of Japan watched. 

And a few hours later several assassins were sent to kill Midoriya Izuku and the Principal Nedzu.

Chapter Text

Izuku never thought that he would ever end up as someone wanted. 

But somehow, despite all the evidence, the commission had managed to twist the story and turn him and Nedzu into villains, terrorists. 

One second everything was fine the other his home was surrounded, Tenko was on his window offering his helping hand and Izuku found out he had no choice. 

Nedzu wasn’t going to come for him. He knew that, it was illogical to think he was. And the commission was so, so stupid declaring him a villain, the last thing they wanted would be him as a villain. 

But they were dumb, and desperate. 

And Izuku was not. So he just stared up and down at Tenko wondering if he was stupid “I’m not going to touch your hand” 

“If I wanted to kill you, I would’ve done it a long time ago” 

“Why do you suddenly want to help me?” 

“Well, I know a thing or two about being a villain, ‘sides, it’s either me or jail” 

“You are dumb. No wonder you were such a crappy villain in our past lives” 

“I destroyed Japan, how was that being crappy?” 

“What good did destroying Japan do? Anyway, It’s not either you or jail”

“Your house is surrounded” 

“So?” 

“Fine, die I don’t fucking care” 

“You obviously do otherwise you wouldn’t be here, but the question is, why do you?” 

“Are you going to fucking come with me or not? We still have two more days of your internship to go” 

“I’m sorta due to dying by the commissions hands” 

“Just take my damn hand fucker” 

“I really don’t understand you, Tenko.” 

And the bastard just wriggled his hand. 

He had really dry hands. 

So, apparently being the son of All Might really had it’s advantages, like for example instead of the assassins wanting to kill Izuku they wanted to get Tenko’s autograph. 

And also the killing, yeah, “WHAT THE FUCK, YOU KILLED THEM!”

“They were going to kill you, remember?”

“So you restrain them, arrest them, you don’t fucking kill them!”  

“Ohhhh is that what you do?” 

The fucker was messing with him. 

He was. 

He could see in Tenko’s eyes that he was messing with him.

“Can’t believe this” 

“Look, I’m making a statement here!” 

“What?”

He suddenly grabbed Izuku and took a selfie with him. 

“No smile? I thought you were smarter than this mister Nedzu apprentice” 

He was, he should be, but he found out it was really hard to think anywhere near Tenko. 

“Go on, give me a smile, this serves to show the world that despite the commission’s wanted alarms, All Might stands with you” 

Okay… It was a good plan, he smiled albeit begrudgingly. 

In no time news stations, instead of wanting Nedzu and his head, were saying how the commission had betrayed the interest of the people. 

How quick they were, to change sides simply based on one picture. 

But that was the power of All Might. The commission was foolish to not consider it. 

Several hours later and Nedzu was seen entering the commission building with Hawks and Izuku knew they had won the battle, maybe even the war. 

“I’ve been thinking, about what you said about me” Tenko started.. The two were in a dedicated position there, alone amidst an ideological fire that was spreading everywhere. “You were right, I’ve been complacent” 

“More than complacent” 

“Which is why, I decided to do things again” 

“Did you realize that killing everything is not the solution or are you going that path again?” 

“No no, killing everything really isn’t, I know that now.” 

Izuku sighed relieved

“Killing someones tho..” 

And immediately groaned in desperation. “That’s literally going the stain path, are you going to be the new Stain? Killing people you deem did society wrong?” 

Luckly that made Tenko physically recoil in disgust. 

“Look, Tenko.. Nedzu and I worked very hard on a plan to make society better, we are handling it” 

“So you don’t need me is what you are saying” 

“Well.. If you are that desperate to help, I guess you could be our voice to the public… You and All Might I mean” 

“... I feel used” 

“So don’t, nobody is making you” 

“But that means not doing anything” 

“You’ve already been doing that, so what’s the difference?”

“... You are a dirty manipulator” 

“Let’s make it very clear that you were the one who used All Might to manipulate me into being here with you at the moment in the first place” 

“Horrible, horrible manipulator” 

“I never asked for this” 

“Awful” 

“And we don’t even need you, really” 

“Fine, I’ll do it” 

“ehh, do you really have to?” 

“I SAID I’LL DO IT DAMMIT! SO I’LL DO IT!” 

…

So, he and Tenko were kind of… friends now. 

The thought of that was terrifying. 

It was everything he ever wished for. 

It was the source of his nightmares. 

It was why he was happy these days. 

It was why he was always angry all the time. 

The commission fell to their hands. All Might support in their proposed changes meant that they had truly done the impossible, society was healing, it was slow, but it was healing. Soon being a hero would not be a paying job, better yet, not even a job at all. 

The first thing they did was to clean up the house, Endeavor along with several other so called heroes were arrested for corruption and abuse of power (along with several disturbing charges depending on the person).

There was some public outcry for some of the arrests, public outcry against the commission for  allowing them to keep being heroes for so long without consequences, but even that eventually was forgotten/resolved. 

Then quirk use was liberated everywhere, hero school’s became specialized universities and the curriculum for all schools were updated to include quirk training

Their plan was that in ten years heroes as a paying job would be extinct. 

They were ten years of a lot of changes, those training to be heroes (like Kacchan) were given the choice to join the police (where they would actually help people) or become celebrities (which would have nothing to do with heroes) 

Ten years of a lot of struggles and adaptation but eventually, peace. 

Ironically this was what made him get close to Eri, and in return Tenko got close to Dabi and Himiko.. 

Things were great. 

UA was just a really good school which helped people get better using their quirks, just like every other school, which now were required to help kids control and understand their quirks. No more hero schools. 

No more child soldiers. 

No war. 

Japan was saved. Their world was saved. 

So why did he feel so empty? 

The reason he came to this world, the reason why he and Tenko were brought there. They did it. 

Now what? 

“What? You thought there were going to be flashing lights and like the Gods were something were going to appear in front of us pat us in the back and say good job?” 

“I don’t know Tenko.. I just thought.. I thought… I don’t know” 

“Maybe ours reward is just to live at peace” 

“I don’t know how to do that”

“Me neither, but we can learn” 

They saw each other less and less, after that.. Deciding to actually take a shot at this whole living thing. 

Kacchan did actually become a cop, along with a few of their classmates like Iida… Ironically, he ended up finding Kirishima in this life too as a cop. Izuku was no longer needed. 

He was obsolete. 

He did his part to society and then began to fade and fade to the background. 

Vigilantes were still a thing… The will to help people and the rush of not having to follow laws was too much of a thing to be ignored. But they were mostly ghosts, helping from the shadows, even their arrests (the occasional times one or two went too far) was quiet. All in name of ending all kinds of idols. 

All Might was the only Idol that lasted. But.. Even he, was no longer seen as a hero and more as a influencer to people, he’d get called in talk shows, explained his vision to things, he was even head of the commission for a while (the commission by the way became a whole other thing, instead of regulating heroes, they regulated Laws) 

And Izuku, just a memory for other people. 

He was Bakugou’s friend that sometimes showed up to their things, Nedzu’s previous student who had no media presence, they thought him just another.. 

Not himself. 

He doesn’t know when or how exactly he distanced himself from people, maybe it was because he would cry from seeing everyone so happy instead of dead like his last life. Maybe it was because of the things he said that nobody understood. 

Maybe it was when his mother died, a stupid car accident that he should have somehow prevented. 

Maybe it was when Dabi decided to chase his old family back and he felt alone for losing a brother. 

Maybe it was when Himiko partnered up with Tenko and Keigo on the police force and got her own house, got her own life, when she was so happy, and he was so sad. 

“ HOW COULD YOU LEAVE AFTER DABI DID?!” 

“I LOVE YOU BUT COME ON IZUKU, I FINALLY GET TO LIVE LIKE I’VE ALWAYS WANTED TO, GIVE ME A BREAK” 

“MOM JUST DIED!” 

“YOU THINK I HAVEN’T GRIEVED TOO? BUT LIFE GOES ON! IT’S BEEN THREE YEARS ALREADY! I CAN’T JUST SIT HERE AND CRY ALL DAY LIKE YOU!” 

Maybe it was when All Might died. 

And he was reminded that eventually everyone does. Even the saviors of the world. Even the reborned freaks that knew too much. 

“Do you miss him?” The underline question was If Tenko actually ended up loving him in the end

“I thought I wouldn’t ya know… But.. It’s eating me alive how much I do” 

“... Despite everything.. I’m glad you got to experience him as a dad Tenko” 

“Me too” 

And then there was Eri. She grew up happy. 

She had a life full. 

He was supposed to be happy by all that he accomplished. He did everything right. 

So why wasn’t he happy? 

“You need to stop vanishing like that nerd” 

“... Kacchan, are you happy?” 

“The fuck kind of question is that idiot? Of course I’m fucking happy” 

“I’m glad” 

“What the fuck nerd?” 

It was the small things, he realized. 

That started making him happy. 

People flying in the skies to get to work and he’d think: I did that. 

It was seeing people smile, seeing people glad with this world that made his won smile surface. 

After all those years, it took seeing a kid getting bullied just like he had once been in a playground for him to realize what he really wanted to do with his life after saving the world. 

“Nedzu sensei.. Can you help me become a teacher?” 

“Of course” 

He was happy. 

“Why do you think we were brought back?” Tenko asked him once over coffee. 

And Izuku had thought of that for a long time. Why them? Why did it have to be the two of them? Why not just one or the other? 

“It had to be us” It was the conclusion he arrived 

“Why?” 

“I alone.. Wouldn’t be able to do what was necessary-” 

“Like killing a bunch of people” 

“I- Yeah, and you alone wouldn’t have been able to change the system from inside.. Also we both died because of a war that was never meant to be ours, one coin, two sides, we were connected” 

“Makes sense I guess, do you have any idea how we were brought back?” 

“Honestly Tenko, I have no fucking clue”