"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Izuku asked as they watched the house from a distance. They were twelve now, eight years had passed since Izuku got back, two for Katsuki, and now they were standing in the bushes spying on the number two hero. One might wonder how they could do this without their parents noticing, but Izuku had long accepted the fact their parents didn't care where they ran off to, as long as they stuck together and were home by dinner. Something he was both grateful and worried about. Izuku didn't think he could ever give his own child such freedom, it wouldn't be good for his mental health, and that was already horrible.
"The sooner we get everyone together, the more leverage we've got, consequences be damned," Katsuki said, glaring at the gate from across the street. "Just be ready to ambush him when he gets home."
Ambush, pfft- This was barely an ambush. They were just waiting for Shoto to get home from cram school so Izuku could yell in his face about his quirk. It wasn't the most perfect or flawless plan, but it should do the job. That and they had no idea where Shoto's old school was, but they did know where he lived despite Endeavor keeping his address out of the media. And yeah, he might not have been the easiest to get a hold of and they did know the addresses of their other future classmates, too, but none had such an influential family as Shoto. Well, aside from Momo, but her mansion was basically a fortress. There was no way two kids would be able to sneak inside.
"He's here! Get ready!" Katsuki hissed, slapping his arm. Izuku nodded, his eyes instantly locking on to the fancy black car as it pulled up in front of the Todoroki residence. Once it came to a stop, they quickly crossed the street. Luckily Shoto lived in a quiet neighborhood so there weren't any other cars around at the time.
"Shoto!" Izuku called out as the boy stepped out of the car, immediately catching his attention. "It's your power! Your quirk! You decide how you wanna use it, not your dad!"
He could tell it was working by the way his emotionless facade melted off his face, twisting into something akin to happiness and concern. He tensed up again when Endeavor left the car, though. Shit, they hadn't taken his presence into account... Izuku quickly skidded to a halt, Kacchan running into him, making him stumble forward. Endeavor looked pissed. What was he even doing here in the first place? He didn't normally involve himself in Shoto's life if it wasn't for training, not in this phase of his life, so what was the occasion..? Was Izuku overlooking something?
"This is no place for brats to-" he started, threatening, glaring at them. Izuku was sure that if he was actually 12 years old, he'd piss his pants.
"Izuku-kun, Katsuki-kun," Shoto greeted them, ignoring his father as he stepped towards them, being stopped by Endeavor before he could get too far. "What are you doing here?"
"Do you know these kids, Shoto?"
"They're my classmates," Shoto simply answered.
"We wanted to know whether Shoto-kun was free to come and play football with us," Katsuki said, going along with Shoto's lie.
"Shoto is busy, he doesn't have time to play around," Endeavor simply huffed, grabbing his son's arm and dragging him off inside. Izuku could hear him yell about how he shouldn't mingle with those below him, with people not worth his time or effort, and that he should focus on training instead. It made his blood boil in the worst possible way, even if he knew what sort of circumstances led to this.
"It worked," Katsuki grinned. "We did it!"
"Shoto is still suffering," Izuku frowned. "And we can't do anything about it..."
"That guy can take Endeavor," Katsuki stated. "He won't let himself be pushed around, he's stronger than he looks."
Izuku knew Kacchan wasn't only saying those things to make Izuku feel better, no, he truly believed Shoto could handle this. He'd gone through this hell before, after all, so maybe this time it would be a little more bearable? Maybe this time, because he had his memories, he could change his own fate? Would he make Endeavor remember? Izuku wasn't even sure which moment counted as his core memory... Probably their first real confrontation with All For One, when Toya exposed himself and the country fell to shambles, abandoning heroes as a whole.
"...If you say so," Izuku said, still a little unsure about it all. "We don't really have a way to contact him right now, though."
It's true. They didn't have a phone yet, but Izuku knew they would get one soon. That didn't mean Shoto had their number, and he was forbidden from using social media because it was only a cause for distraction, so contacting him that way would be hard, too. Maybe they could try to visit him again? Find a way to sneak into the Todoroki residence without being caught?
"We'll figure it out Deku, don't worry too much," Katsuki told him. Oh, he was probably muttering, wasn't he? "Come on, we should get moving if we wanna catch our train. The old hag is gonna kill me if she finds out we've been here."
Ah yes, one of the reasons they didn't do this sooner was because they only had limited pocket money and train rides were so much more expensive than Izuku ever remembered them being. They also needed to time it right since the ride would take a long time, so they couldn't just do so after school without being home way too late. That and they would have the chance of missing Shoto and it would've all been for nothing. Yeah, maybe visiting Shoto again wouldn't be the best solution, either.
Turns out, Izuku had nothing to worry about, just like Kacchan said. Because Shoto did have the money to travel anywhere he liked, even if he didn't have the freedom to. That didn't stop him from standing at his door a week later, though.
"I hate my life," was all he said to greet him before Inko noticed there was someone at the door. Izuku told her he was someone from school and that Izuku had promised to help him with studying this weekend. Not that Shoto seemed to have any books on him, now that Izuku had a proper look at his friend.
"I totally forgot to tell you, sorry mom," Izuku said, but Inko had waved it off, glad her son had more than one friend. Not that she had anything against Katsuki, but, you know, it's always better to have a bigger support network. Izuku just wanted to get away before she questioned why Shoto didn't bring anything with him and his lie became evident. "We'll be in my room, then."
With that, Izuku guided Shoto to his room, closing the door to make sure his mom wouldn't be able to hear what they talked about. They should probably lay some books out, in case she walked in.
"Endeavor is a pain in the ass," Shoto said as he sat down on his bed. "I almost forgot how strict he used to be."
"I'm surprised he let you go out on your own," Izuku said, making Shoto smile. Oh no. "He does know you're here, right?"
"What he doesn't know can't hurt him," Shoto shrugged.
"...You ran away."
"I'm going to return, so it's not really running away."
"You know what I mean!" Izuku exclaimed. "If your father finds out about this-"
"He won't find out," Shoto assured him. "I have Natsuo covering for me. Besides, I needed to see you. I mean, you can't truly expect me to stay away after you yelled in my face and triggered my lost memories to return, can you? So how many loops does this make it?"
"The fifth," Izuku frowned, sitting down on the bed next to him. "It's only you, me and Kacchan right now."
"That's what I gathered," Shoto hummed. "Did he... Did Katsuki tell you what happened after All For One got away with Shigaraki? You...weren't around to see that."
"He didn't," Izuku sighed. "I only know it was bad, and I'm not sure I want to know the details."
"Ah," Shoto nodded. What ah? Did something happen? Something important Kacchan wasn't telling him? They promised each other no more secrets! Then again, he'd also lied about having died, back when they were turned to Nomu, so maybe-
"What? Is there something I need to know about?" Izuku asked.
"It's not my place to tell," Shoto answered, and oh, that didn't sit well with him at all. Kacchan was hiding something from him, even after Izuku shared everything with him! After he gave him that notebook, after he promised to communicate better, to let him know what he was thinking, when he was spiraling- "So what's the plan?"
"Huh?"
"What is the plan?" Shoto repeated. "I'm assuming you and Katsuki thought of something new to try because otherwise you wouldn't have gone through the trouble of bringing me back before UA."
"We want to get everyone back before we go to high school," Izuku told him, momentarily shoving his thoughts about Kacchan aside. "Maybe some pro heroes, too. That way we can start interfering with Jikan sooner and stop them from building the machine before they can even start on it."
"We as in the adult pro heroes, then? Since we can't really do much as we are right now," Shoto asked and Izuku nodded. "You're still quirkless right now, aren't you?"
"All Might will give me One For All soon enough," Izuku told him. "Or he won't. Maybe he'll find someone better this time. Maybe he'll give it to Mirio. It's not really my place to decide for him or to claim his quirk as my own when it's not mine at all... But I don't mind being quirkless, so even if he decides I'm not worthy, I'll survive. I just want to get the timeline going again."
"He'll give it to you, I'm sure of it," Shoto said. "He'll always choose you, Izuku."
"You don't know that," Izuku said. "But thanks, I guess... God, Kacchan would hit me right now. I need to stop overthinking everything!"
"I'm glad you finally realized that," Shoto chuckled. "Speaking of, where is Katsuki right now? I thought the two of you would be inseparable."
"We are, kinda," Izuku smiled. "He's helping his parents with a modeling job this weekend. They're releasing training wear for all ages."
"Right, hero fashion, I remember," Shoto said, picking up one of the books Izuku had placed on the bed to pretend they were studying. "So who's next in your grand scheme? I'm assuming you have plans to track everyone down and make them remember."
"Right! Uhm, you are kinda part of that plan," Izuku told him. "Your family has more reach, after all. I mean, I couldn't dream of coming close to Momo right now, and some of the others live so far away... Kacchan and I can only handle about half of our class with our current uhm financial restraints."
"I see," Shoto said.
"It would help if we have a way to contact you," Izuku added. "Sneaking away from home isn't the answer, and it's not very efficient either."
"That's true... Endeavor wouldn't allow me to have a phone at this age, but I could ask Natsuo to buy me one using dad's credit card," Shoto offered.
"I don't have a phone yet, but I will soon," Izuku nodded along. "I can give you the number of my house phone so you can call to give me your number once you have it and I'll text you once I have mine. Kacchan's, too."
"We'll make a group chat," Shoto smiled. "Like last time."
"Sounds like a plan!" Izuku laughed, happy to continue chatting with Shoto for the rest of the afternoon, listening to his complaining about Endeavor as he listened to Izuku's endless rambling about everything and nothing at once. He'd tell Kacchan all about it later, and the ash blonde would tell him he was right, rubbing it in while doing so.