Timeloop Trouble

Chapter 47 - A Not-Date Date

"Yeah, well, my record isn't exactly permanent in this world, is it?" Katsuki huffed. "Linear time loops... Still can't believe you were right about that shit. That all of this is just one big illusion, a fake reality."

"Some parts are real," Izuku said quickly. "I mean, they have to be, right? Eri's quirk is working on a part of our world, it's just combined with other manipulation quirks."

"I guess," Kacchan mumbled, using his straw to swirl his drink around. "It's still some fucked up bullshit, though."

Izuku hummed. He couldn't exactly disagree with him on that. It was fucked up, no matter how you looked at it. It was about time they put an end to it, and so they made plans spoken in hushed whispers in the middle of a hero themed café. Just two kids ditching school, scheming amongst one another. They left soon enough though, making their way over to the park where they walked while talking about this and that. It was nice to take his thoughts off everything, to simply be a kid, to have Kacchan by his side- The real Kacchan.

"I needed this," Izuku sighed as they sat down on a bench, enjoying the midday sun.

"I know," Katsuki said, seemingly just as relaxed as he was. "This is nice... Wish we could take days off like this more often. Bet the school has already called our parents by now."

"Oh shit," Izuku said, his eyes widening. "Mom is gonna go insane."

"I bet," Katsuki snorted. "I mean, she would probably go crazy with worry if I hadn't left a voicemail on her phone earlier."

"Wait you- What?" Izuku gasped, his head whipping around to see the smug look on Kachan's face as he held up his phone.

"Got a phone now, dumbass," he said as if that wasn't obvious already. "So yeah, I called our folks before the school could and told them you were feeling really down and I was gonna take you on a playdate to the park today to cheer you up. Our grades are good enough to skip one day of school, don't you think?"

"When? I never saw you call anyone," Izuku asked, still so confused.

"Don't worry bout it," Katsuki said, making Izuku whine, which in turn made Kacchan laugh. Izuku couldn't help but laugh as well.

"I've missed that laugh."

He blinked, looking over at Kacchan, who was still chuckling. That... That was his voice, but his vestige wasn't here. Ghost Kacchan was still inside his mind, asleep for as far as Izuku could tell. Well, what ghosts can call sleeping, at least. He was dormant. But the voice... The voice was Kacchan- Oh. Oh. So that's how the whole mind reading thing worked, huh? It went both ways! That was good to know. Now that he thought about it, All For One had a similar connection to Shigaraki back in the original timeline.

"Guess One For All needed some more time to fully mature, or something like that," Katsuki shrugged. "Or maybe it just needed to sit with one holder for a couple of centuries?"

Centuries.

Izuku forgot how long they'd been here. Stuck within this looping hell. So many lifetimes, so many decades- Enough decades to mount up to centuries. God, it really was no wonder he'd gone insane.

"All those years and you're still the same fucking Deku you were when we were kids," Katsuki continued with a sigh.

"...What's that supposed to mean?" Izuku asked.

"Always worrying about everything and anything and putting your own needs last. That's why you went insane," he clarified. "And it's why I don't trust you to look after yourself or tell me when shit goes wrong. You're a 'the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few' kinda person. Fucking selfless piece of shit."