Reset and Rewind

Chapter 31 - Threads of String

And so he opened the door, a little tiny bit, slipping outside before closing the door behind him.

"You had questions?"

"Dude, your clothes are a mess," she pointed out with a frown. "What happened?"

"I fell, it's no big deal," Izuku shrugged, quickly picking off a small piece of string from his sleeve. "It's a mess in my room right now so you wouldn't want to talk in there! I mean, I'm- It's uh, well, I'm- Float is acting up and so it's really hard to, you know, uhm-"

"Are your quirks manifesting already?" Kyoka asked surprised, looking thoughtful for a moment. "Now that I think about it, you did use Blackwhip back at the licensing exam..."

"Yeah, it's been...something," Izuku chuckled. "Knowing how to control them and actually controlling them- It's different."

"I can imagine," she said. "...Are you sure you're okay though?"

"I'm fine!" Izuku said, maybe a little too loudly, too quickly, and that didn't go unnoticed by his friend. "Anyway, questions! What were you going to ask me?"

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He normally didn't wear make-up, but drastic times asked for drastic measures. He'd stolen some from Momo, only because Izuku knew she was rich and she could literally make more on the spot. She wouldn't miss it, and Izuku didn't want anyone to worry. You see, his eye bags were truly starting to rival Shinsou's and his skin was probably a little paler than it should've been. Izuku could admit he had trouble sleeping and maybe he was falling a little behind in class, but it wasn't a big deal! He could handle this much no problem!

He just needed some make-up so his friends wouldn't worry about him, that's all! And it's not like he didn't sleep, no, he wouldn't be having these awful flashbacks if he didn't... Images of the past, memories that weren't his own. The lives of the vestiges that came before him, their biggest regrets, their lowest moments, their deaths. Staying awake was better than sleeping. Yet that left him alone with his thoughts more often than not and, well, let's just say his room had gotten worse over the course of the last few days...

Izuku wasn't going to let this hold him back though! No, he was still going to be the best hero he could be, he was still going to save everyone- had to save everyone. It was his duty, his purpose, and he'd die before giving up on it. He managed a smile when he looked around at everyone else, seeing them dressed in their new winter outfits. Today was one of the first joint training sessions they'd had with 1-B, and he was excited to see Shinsou in action too.

"What are you staring at huh?" Katsuki teased, flashing his boyfriend a grin. Izuku only rolled his eyes.

"I wonder if we'll be on the same team again," Ochako said from Izuku's side, completely ignoring Katsuki's comment. "Maybe we won't even be up against Hitoshi this time around."

Right, chance theory. Even if their teams were miraculously the same, Shinsou still had to pull numbers to see which teams he'd be joining. The chances of everything turning out the same was almost zero... At least Izuku wouldn't lose control over himself this time around, right? So things could be worse, considering.

"You're not looking very excited, Shoto," Momo said. "I thought you were looking forward to this?"

"Endeavor is being a pain in the ass right now," he muttered. "If it wasn't for him almost dying the other day, I wouldn't even be answering his messages."

"He's trying to be better," Izuku told him. "You know that."

"That doesn't make family dinners any less awkward," Shoto sighed. "And I don't really want to talk about it, so can we please drop the subject?"

"Of course, we don't want you to feel uncomfortable around us!" Tenya nodded. It didn't take long for 1-B to arrive after them, and soon the special guest was announced. Of course a lot of them already knew who this special guest was going to be, but Izuku couldn't help but be thrilled and excited once he saw Shinsou walk up to them with that same old bored look on his face. For a moment he compared it to the face Izuku saw in the mirror each morning, and damn, his eye bags really had gotten bad, hadn't they?

"I'm not here to make friends," he stated, ending his little self-introduction. Shoto rolled his eyes at that and Katsuki snorted. Yeah right, friendship was inevitable when facing class 1-A. After that, the teams were announced. They were different from the teams they had last time, which wasn't all that surprising. Izuku found himself in the fourth team with Ochako again, but this time their other teammates were Fumikage and Sato. They weren't facing Shinsou either.

Izuku's team would face Shishida, Tsunotori, Tsuburaba and Kodai from class 1-B, while Shinsou was paired up with team 2. He was in team 3 on 1-A's side, so he'll have back-to-back battles this time around. He was in Shoto's team, so Izuku was sure he'd be okay even if he was tired.

"Alright, first teams make your way to your base!" Vlad king yelled after the teachers explained the rules. Class 1-A's first team consisted of Ojiro, Koda, Sero and Tsu, while class 1-B's team existed of Kendo, Tetsutetsu, Tokage and Bondo. Izuku wasn't sure how this would turn out. Of course he knew his classmates were tough, but Kendo was a strong opponent. She was analytical, observative, and had her fair share of strategies to take down her enemy. But the other team had more mobility overal, and with Koda's quirk they could supervise the area and tell where the enemy was hidden. It all depended on how long the fight would drag on.

Izuku found himself getting excited. Maybe this whole 'everything that's up to chance remains up to chance' thing wasn't so bad? Now he'll get to see different battles, other fighting styles and strategies. It could be really interesting! And since fate had set it up this way, he wouldn't have to worry about consequences or outcomes. No, he could relax, even if it was just a little bit, and let himself get lost in the analytics of it all.

A/N Gonna start uploading twice a week from now on XD