Ticked Off [Boku No Hero Academia]

19: BACK TO THE FUTURE

He robotically reached forwards and clasped the glass of water that was offered to him, taking a large sip to soothe his sore throat and trying to keep his tense hands from growing too tight, lest he shatter the glass. "The time-travel Quirk might be temporary," he informed slowly in a small voice. "I woke up back in my time, in the place I'd been attacked. It... wasn't particularly painful, to start with, but the more I moved the worse it got, until I couldn't move any further because it was... it was terrible..."

"Take your time, my boy," Toshinori said softly, shifting his chair closer so he could wrap an arm around the shaking kid.

Izuku relaxed a little more under the gentle touch, making a conscious effort to unclench his jaw and slow his breathing. "Um, I... I happened to see some... people I knew. From what they said, it doesn't seem like the changes I'm making here are currently affecting that timeline. They... they thought I was dead. I- I mean, I knew that was likely, since that's what we presumed about the other people who were attacked, b-but... hearing it, and knowing that they've been grieving for four months... I just want to help them. I want to find a way to... I don't know, fix this somehow – I don't know how any of this works and-" He stopped himself, realising he was dissolving into frantic rambling, and raised the glass to his mouth once more as he regained his composure. "I've got a lot to think about. What happened to me while I was... absent?"

At some point, Aizawa had also moved his chair closer in secret, eyeing the student with an indecipherable expression. "You went back to your sixteen-year-old self... and you were more worried about All Might being in his true form in front of people than where you were or what had happened."

"Yeah, that..." Izuku choked out a laugh. "That sounds about right."

"I'd forgotten how averse you were to close contact. You were very alarmed by all your friends crowding you and asking if you were okay. I think Aizawa-kun was a little upset you didn't seem fond of him anymore." Toshinori's smile was a little forced, but his uncertain jest successfully eased off the remaining tension in the room.

"I was relieved," Aizawa grumbled with an exaggerated glare. "Finally, the Problem Child wouldn't try to hug me or tease me in front of the students or faculty. It's almost a shame you came back."

"Almost," Izuku echoed with a cheeky grin, his green eyes practically glowing with affection.

"Well, it seems we've got quite the mystery on our hands," Nedzu piped up, beady gaze flicking between the humans. "There is every possibility that something like this will happen again, so we need to make sure we're better prepared for it. Midoriya-kun, you mentioned that there were other victims – would it be possible to track them down and see if we can glean some information from them?"

The boy blinked in surprise before raising a hand to his chin, muttering thoughtfully to himself with his thumb by his mouth. Due to the chaos of his own life, he hadn't even considered finding the other victims of Banisher's Quirk, and while the idea seemed good in theory, there was no way of knowing the details of the Quirk's effects. Since the other timeline didn't seem to be affected by his changes, that implied he might've been sent to some kind of alternate dimension – who's to say that every victim went to the same dimension? On top of that, there might be varying lengths of time that the people were sent back in – and what if it wasn't just back in time, but also forwards? Of course, they could always try to find Banisher and get information from him, but it didn't seem as if even he knew how his own Quirk worked – not to mention if they meddled now, what would that mean for the future?

"An answer sometime today would be good, Problem Child," Aizawa said drily, lightly flicking the kid's forehead to break him out of his stupor.

"There are, um... lots of variables to consider," Izuku began hesitantly, placing the empty glass back on the principal's desk before slouching back in his seat. "We'll need to be cautious about revealing too much information, just in case they don't know anything. It would be good to involve Tsukauchi-san to make sure they're not withholding information. I'd also like to take part in the investigation, if that's okay?"

"We'll make some allowances to ensure you can be available when the victims will be interviewed." Nedzu nodded in agreement, gesturing smoothly with his white paws. "If it does turn out to be a fruitful endeavour, I'd imagine it would be more pleasant for them to be able to speak with someone who knows what they've gone through. And, of course, the face of a trustworthy hero from their time would likely be rather reassuring."

"I'll call Tsukauchi-kun and see if he's able to take up another investigation." Toshinori grabbed his mobile phone from his pocket before hesitating. "Ah, Young Izuku... It'll be easier if-"

"You can tell him everything," the boy cut in with a shrug, flashing a smile. "I trust him."

"Thank you, my boy," he beamed warmly, ruffling the kid's curls before standing up and excusing himself.

"I'll sort out everything else, Midoriya-kun. If you're feeling well enough, you and Aizawa-kun can go back to your lesson." Nedzu tilted his head, dismissing them.

When outside of the room, Izuku cringed, an embarrassed flush rising to his freckled cheeks. "Oh no, everyone saw me freak out, didn't they?"

"They did."

He sighed heavily. "And they're probably all going to have questions about it..."

"They will."

"I could use some words of comfort, you know," Izuku huffed bitterly, deliberately bumping his shoulder against his teacher as they walked.

Aizawa merely offered a sinister grin. "Yeah, you could."

Luckily for the boy, Class 1-B were taking their turn in the training grounds by the time they returned. Aizawa exchanged a few words with his fellow teacher before turning and guiding the student back towards the main building, telling him to go change into his school uniform and then return to class.

It seemed someone had said something as an explanation, because none of his friends questioned him about the incident, which was a relief: he didn't need anything else to worry about.

~

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