"Okay," Izuku muttered breathlessly to himself, digging his fingers into the crumbling concrete wall. "Okay, Izuku. You're back in the future. You need to... do... something, oh god, I don't-"
He raised a hand to tug at his hair, desperately trying to keep his focus. If he was back, then he needed to tell people. Right. That was important.
The building was fairly local, which made his life a whole lot easier, because he wasn't about to trek across Japan with the burning persisting under his skin. He pushed his shoulders back and raised his head, plastering on a smile and hoping to fool his own fear with a facade of confidence. Izuku coolly stepped over his own bloodstain and left the room, his paces clacking loudly in the silence as he made his way down the stairs.
Sunlight glared down at him, burning his retinas until he relented and tugged his goggles back over his eyes before he continued on down the street. Tension rippled across his back as he fought against the rising pain and fear, focusing on the pavement ahead and taking determined steps, even as increasing waves of agony jolted through his muscles and his movements became strained. Since the district he was in was sparsely populated, there was no-one around to watch him struggle along, grabbing onto lampposts to support himself as his body screamed in protest.
He activated his Quirk, visibly flinching as it brought a stronger flood of discomfort, but he needed to tell someone what had happened. His limbs were coiled in green as he lifted off the ground, realising too late he was a little careless with his control as he felt the ground break under his feet. He shot forwards, tears blurring his tinted vision as he darted along, springing off buildings to propel himself further more rapidly.
Ochako's house was too far to travel in his state. Izuku changed course slightly, twisting his body and gritting his teeth against the jolt it brought before bouncing off towards the police station. His vision was starting to fade around the edges like a burning reel of film, but there was his solace, the front doors of Musutafu station, and he was so close, but-
The hero's legs gave out suddenly and he collapsed, tumbling along the road until his momentum wore off and he crashed into the pavement outside the building's doors, hard enough to send cracks spider-webbing out from his impact. He tried to pull himself back up despite the involuntary spasms in his muscles, feeling hot tears spill from his eyes and start to fill his goggles. It seemed as if fate was on his side, because there was a small commotion inside before the doors were shoved open, and he helplessly squinted up at the blurry figures.
One of them leaned over him, a black mask pressed over the upper half of his face and the ash-blond spikes of hair barely moving, even as he dipped his head with a sneer. "The f... Deku?"
Izuku would've cried if he wasn't already. "Kacchan."
"No, okay, what the fuck? You're dead. No. Fuck this. Fuck you." The young man snarled, explosions popping threateningly in his palms until the other person placed a trembling hand on his shoulder.
"Dude, wait. Why would an imposter change 'Zuku's costume? And does anyone really cry as much as him?" It was Eijirou, and although his voice was shaking, his face was filled with a desperate sort of hope.
Kacchan jabbed a finger into his friend's chest. "Shut the fuck up. Don't fall for this shit. Who the fuck is sick enough to pretend to be Deku on the four-month anniversary of his death? I'm gonna beat him up until he-"
"Banisher's Quirk is time travel," Izuku choked out, pavement cracking under his fingers as One for All involuntarily activated. "I was sent to the past, to our first year at UA. I-... I think it's temporary. Or not? I'm not really sure. I-I've been changing things back then – d-do you k-know if anything... has..." His voice began to slur as his eyelids grew heavy and he slumped down onto the pavement. "'m... okay..."
He watched dazedly as his hand gradually became transparent, like he was a ghost. The pain spiked across his form, but not as encompassing as before. He saw Kacchan and Eijirou drop to their knees, desperately reaching out to him despite their uncertainties, but their hands phased through. Izuku tiredly offered what he hoped was a comforting smile before his eyes shut, and-
There were people looming over him. He choked in a panicked breath, reflexively activating his Quirk and automatically leaping to his feet, vanishing in a flash and reappearing across the room before he suddenly dropped onto one knee. His chest was heaving and his body was damp with sweat, while his jaw ached, his cheeks were wet with tears, and his throat felt shredded. Izuku dug his elbow into his knee, pressing his freckled face into his forearm as he tangled his fingers tightly in his hair, keeping his blurry eyes squeezed shut as he tried to regain control of his breathing.
After a little while, he felt calmer again. The ground under him was still concrete, but the room smelt a lot fresher, with a sweet, smoky tinge to it. He could hear voices, presumably belonging to the people he'd just dashed away from, and -
A hand was placed on his shoulder, and he instinctively grabbed onto the wrist, trying to power up his Quirk and fling the threat away but -
His Quirk was gone...? His Quirk... was...
He cautiously blinked open his eyes, faced with the dark and imposing figure of his teacher, who had glowing red irises and long black hair levitating around his face. Izuku sagged with relief, feeling the familiar sting of tears return to his gaze before he shook his head and scrubbed at his cheeks with a glove, firmly wiping away the dampness to try and fake composure. By the time he stood up, his expression was eerily calm in a way that didn't match his ragged appearance.
"Midoriya, are you..." Aizawa faltered for a moment in a way that was entirely unexpected. "Are you back?"
The boy cast his gaze across the room, feeling a faint string of embarrassment as he saw that literally everyone was staring worriedly at him. "Yes," he answered finally, in a tone that was far too even.
"I think we need to talk about what just happened with Nedzu," the teacher said firmly, tightening his hand on his shoulder.
"Right," Izuku agreed faintly, still reeling from apparently getting sling-shotted through time once more.
He was in too much of a daze to really notice anything. Another figure posted up on his other side, and it was comforting to be protectively flanked. When he finally glanced up, he realised they were entering Nedzu's office, and the principal didn't look particularly fazed to suddenly have three visitors. Izuku automatically sat down on one chair, folding his trembling hands in his lap and keeping his back straight while he stared ahead with a stony expression.
"Midoriya-kun, if you're feeling up to it, would you be able to tell us what happened? Yagi-kun seemed quite distressed when he called me." Nedzu's calm tone gave the illusion that nothing was wrong in the world, and the boy allowed his shoulders to loosen marginally.
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.
~
Updates will be on Mondays from now on!! I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and thank you for all the support, friends!! <33