Archive of Our Own ^beta

Izuku’s morning was completely unremarkable, if you could consider getting tagged by a cackling girl just as he exited the train “unremarkable”.

Nothing immediately happened, and despite knowing there were many quirks with delayed activation, Izuku was ready to believe (hope) it was nothing important.

He had an essay due from Cementoss-sensei and he was not going to be late because he had to go visit Recovery Girl first thing in the morning again. Whatever the consequences were, he was sure he could handle them.

When he came to it sometime later, and was briefed on the absolute chaos that got unleashed on the UA, Japan and world in general, he would rethink that opinion.

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves: First, there was the quirk use. Izuku almost managed to forget all about it, focused as he was on his schoolwork.

The sudden pain in his abdomen during lunch hour was just a tad harder to ignore.

“Are you alright, Deku?” Uraraka questioned, worried, when he abruptly bent in half, his head nearly hitting the table.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Izuku panted out, clutching at his stomach. “I just… Must have eaten something bad? I don’t know…”

He didn’t get to say anything more. A pulling sensation in his stomach intensified, and with a flash of a bright light-

Izuku was sitting straight on the bench, his hands up as if he’d been interrupted while gesticulating. His hair was swept back slightly, and he was no longer wearing his UA uniform, instead dressed into a standard suit, yet still the dark green tie was tied just as abominably as his usual red one.

His sharp eyes swept across the room, the hands dropping on the table.

“Uhh…” Uraraka’s eyes went almost as wide as the bracelets in her hero costume. “Are you… I know I just asked that, but are you alright, Deku?”

Izuku’s eyes turned to focus on her, cold and without a flash of recognition in them.

“Which one of you warped me here?” He asked. “Make no mistake, I am killing all of you, but those not directly at fault will receive a lesser punishment.”

Everyone at the table went pale.

“You’re not Midoriya,” Todoroki said, deadpan.

Iida stood up, his eyes waving wildly. “Aizawa-sensei!” He bellowed. “There’s something wrong with Midoriya!”

Izuku looked between the two of them, calculations running behind his eyes.

“Now that’s a name I haven’t heard in a while,” he said eventually, a smirk dancing on his lips. “I go by Shigaraki, nowadays.”

“Shigaraki?” Shinsou questioned.

Izuku looked at him, consideringly. “Yes,” he said, and his face went slack.

Shinsou exchanged glances with the rest of the table, just as Aizawa-sensei was approaching.

“He let me Brainwash him,” he said to the teacher. “Let’s get him somewhere safe before he breaks out.”

Somewhere safe ended up being Principal Nedzu’s office.

Izuku was placed on a chair, restrained tightly with the capture tape before Shinsou was allowed to drop his quirk.

The boy did not seem surprised in the slightest at the change of his surroundings, merely focusing on Principal Nedzu with a sharp grin.

“I’ve been wanting to have a talk with you for quite a while now,” he said. “You’re a hard stoat to get an appointment with, Principal Nedzu.”

“I don’t make a habit of speaking with criminals, no,” Principal Nedzu responded, his paws folded on top of his desk. His tea was, uncharacteristically, left untouched.

“You wound me, Principal,” Izuku sneered, a note of fake hurting in his voice. “I am no mere criminal; I am a villain, and you’d do well to remember that.”

The air in the office became stale.

“A villain,” Aizawa-sensei repeated.

Izuku turned his head slightly, just enough to glance at him from the corner of his eyes.

“Eraserhead, right?” He asked. “Such a wonderful quirk you’ve got there…”

Aizawa-sensei glared at him, hard, just like he always did with his class. Shinsou’s startled glance was only the last in a long chain of signs that something was wrong.

The villain - who was not their Izuku, that was for certain - turned a little bit further, as much as his bonds allowed him.

Abruptly, he stopped, glaring at Aizawa-sensei. His hair didn’t change, not when they already defied gravity, but his eyes…

His eyes turned red.

Aizawa-sensei felt a shiver go down his spine.

“Fascinating,” Principal Nedzu said, flatly.

Izuku turned back to him, smiling.

“Don’t worry,” he said, tone saccharine and condescending. “I won’t be taking your quirk anytime soon. I’ve waited far too long for this conversation, and I’m plenty intelligent on my own, thank you very much. Don’t you think so?”

Principal Nedzu remained pointedly silent. It took Shinsou a second to realize the implications.

“Fuck,” he swore. “He’s got my quirk too, hasn’t he?”

Izuku just tilted his head. Not a yes, but not a no, either.

“Go back to class,” Aizawa-sensei said, gently. “Have them check their quirks, especially your Dekusquad.“

Shinsou just nodded, getting out of the office immediately.

Izuku just snorted. Why would he have needed any of their quirks? He’s already got better ones… Or their equivalents from his world.

It was such a pity his Eraserhead got hit with a quirk-erasing bullet before Izuku could get close enough to get his quirk.

“What had the Problem Child got himself into, now,” Aizawa-sensei muttered, his shoulders slumped and hand scrubbing at his face.

“Oh, I can answer that,” Izuku offered cheerfully. “I recognize the quirk!”

“And why, exactly, should we trust you?” Aizawa-sensei dropped his hand, glaring at him. The effect was formidable, but somewhat ruined without his quirk. Hm, Izuku might give it back. He’s effective enough at cancelling out others’ quirks on his own, and the aesthetic was enjoyable.

...Maybe he’d give it back to his Eraserhead though.

“Because I want to go back to my world just as much as you want your Izuku back,” Izuku said. “And I’m going to need your help to do that.”

“We’re listening,” Principal Nedzu finally decided to take a sip of his tea. Izuku was pleased to see he deemed this conversation important enough to warrant the full use of his faculties.

“It’s a fairly straightforward quirk, if annoying,” Izuku scowled slightly. “It caused quite some chaos, back home. I have personally ripped the quirks from both of the twins, and I can assure you, they didn’t enjoy a single second of the process.”

The teachers both flinched, uncomfortable. Ah, yes, they probably didn’t have much experience with that side of Izuku, not if he was enrolled in a hero school as was apparent.

“Anyway,” Izuku would have waved his hand dismissively if he had them free. “The sister marks victims; the brother causes the switch. It’s… Well, it’s not simple, it took ages to properly deal with...”

“What, exactly, does the quirk do,” Aizawa-sensei interrupted, impatient.

“Simply put, it switches versions of the same person across the universes they exist in, until a certain condition is fulfilled to flip it back.” Izuku turned serious. “The twins exist in, as far as I can tell, every universe. Your Izuku got switched with me, because I was tagged when dealing with her - it only requires a single touch. If another version of her tagged another version of me, they’re going to appear after I leave, one by one, until your Izuku returns.”

Aizawa-sensei sighed. “Of course. Nothing can ever be simple with the Problem Child.

Izuku grinned at the nickname. “She doesn’t have a limit to how many people she can tag, but her brother can only switch one person at a time. As long as I - or the other hypothetical Izukus - are here, no one else can have this problem.”

“Thank god for small mercies,” Aizawa-sensei muttered, but it got overloaded by Principal Nedzu’s question.

“What are the switch conditions you’ve mentioned?”

“There’s really one limitation to the girl’s power,” Izuku answered instead. “Whoever she touches must have a living parent or guardian.”

“At least that’s simple,” Principal Nedzu clasped his hands. “We’ll simply call in your mother. Is it just the presence, or-?”

“Physical touch,” Izuku said, before grinning sharply, straightening out as much as the bonds allowed. “But you misunderstand, principal. I must make contact with my primary guardian. And my mother had been dead for years.”

It seemed like both of the men - well, a man and a stoat - were too scared to ask the right question. Izuku answered it, anyway.

“My father is Hisashi Shigaraki,” he declared proudly. “Though you, principal, might know him better as All For One.”

Izuku was pleased to see Principal Nedzu blanch, the teacup slipping out from between his paws.

***

There were… Quite many hoops to jump through to receive the permission for taking Izuku into Tartarus.

Because apparently, this version of his father managed to get caught. Disgraceful.

It took the entire rest of the day to get approved, and Izuku was forced to spend the night in a cell the UA for some reason had just freely available.

He was woken bright and early, transported in an armoured truck with Aizawa as a part of the guard - but only for the journey there. Back, apparently, they’ve either expected him to cause no troubles or to get an Izuku without Transfer.

Or, perhaps, if it didn’t work, they were hoping to just leave him in Tartarus, as if he wasn’t fully capable of leaving whenever he wanted to.

When in Tartarus, Izuku had to wear a restraining jacket on top of the shackles and every single guard assigned to him had a mutation quirk. They either expected him to be unable to steal those, or wanted a visual proof to see when he did.

It’s not like that was all that annoying, Izuku didn’t want any of their quirks either way.

The cell he was led towards was quite reinforced. At least he had the peace of mind to know his father was dangerous enough even in this world to warrant all those security measures. A well lit room, constant restraints and a row of machine guns right there where the ceiling met the wall.

It could have been even considered excessive, if not for the single fact that it really didn’t matter much against all the quirks Izuku knew his father had to have.

Speaking of quirks, he took a moment to prepare defences around his more important ones as the guards paused to argue.

And the argument was very, very important. Izuku hasn't gotten a clue how they hadn’t realized this would have been a problem before dragging him all the way inside.

He and this world’s All For One would have to touch to activate the return condition.

What were they supposed to do, with their arms so thoroughly restrained? Knock their foreheads?

Eventually, a consensus was reached; Izuku, as the one who didn’t even need his hands to steal quirks and the one who would leave, was allowed to have his hands almost free, if not for the single pair of handcuffs.

Finally allowed to step into the room, he strode in confidently, pausing at the sight of his father.

His head- It was practically gone, just the mouth remaining, hidden underneath a clean, plastic mask connected to an oxygen machine.

“What the fuck,” slipped out between Izuku’s mouth. “How the- When?!”

All For One - Izuku couldn’t in good conscience call this man father - grinned sharply.

“Midoriya Izuku,” he cajoled. “Haven’t you seen before, what your precious mentor did to me? You were ther-”

“Shigaraki,” Izuku said firmly, startling All For One into dropping his grin.

“Excuse me?” The villain demanded sharply.

“My name is Shigaraki Izuku,” Izuku repeated firmly. “I have briefly switched places with this universe’s Izuku. Now, if you’ll excuse me-”

He reached towards the nearest exposed bit of All For One, barely brushing his neck. The pull of Transfer tugged at him, but it got overpowered by the pain in his stomach.

There was a brief flash of light and-

Izuku crashed to the floor, confused. He bounced back immediately, taking up a fighting stance immediately, bright eyes scanning his surroundings. He was already wearing his hero costume, a very similar one to his mother’s despite their different quirks (or lack of a quirk, in his case), so he was already ahead. Usually unexpected trouble found him in civilian clothes.

...Usually, unexpected trouble didn’t bring him to Tartarus.

“What’s going on?!” He called, firmly ignoring the presence at his back.

The doors of the cell opened, a gaunt-looking man beckoning him out of the cell. Izuku, relieved, hopped towards him. Even if he was dangerous, at least Izuku would be out of the cell.

That would be an improvement.

“My boy,” the man called, and Izuku recognized his voice from the many, many galas he had to attend (and often ended up crashing). “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine, All Might-san,” he beames. “I’m not sure what I’m doing here, though.”

“There was a quirk mishap,” All Might said, leading him out of the room as the doors to the cell snapped close. “But now that you’re back, we can return to UA. Though your outfit is rather curious.”

Izuku glanced down at his hero outfit, trying to see what was so weird about it. “It’s just my hero costume?”

All Might choked on something, pressing a tissue to his mouth. It came away bloodied.

“Oh, no!” Izuku bounced towards him, worried. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” All Might waved off his concern. “I just got… Startled. Let’s get you to the car; Principal Nedzu will explain this better.”

Izuku complied without question. He wasn’t going to pass up a chance to speak to Nedzu; that was a treat he was allowed far too rarely.

He bounced towards the car All Might indicated, beaming at the passengers already inside of it.

Slipping into the backseat next to Principal Nedzu, he greeted them excitedly.

“Ah, I see you’re yet another Midoriya,” Principal Nedzu tilted his head, a cup of tea and a thermos in his paws.

“Midoriya?” Izuku repeated, copying the motion.

“Is that not your name?” The man at the steering wheel asked, turning to look at Izuku as All Might was entering the car.

“No,” Izuku shook his head. “My name is Usagiyama Izuku; Hero Name: Bunny. It’s nice to meet you!”

Three startled glances were exchanged.

“Right,” the driver sighed. “I suppose we should drive you to your mother, then, Usagiyama?”

“I would appreciate that,” Izuku nodded. “Though I don’t understand the necessity nor the haste? I still have a patrol to finish.”

“It’s the quirk you were affected by,” All Might explained. “You will return to your world only after making physical contact with your mother.”

“Oooh,” Izuku nodded in understanding. “In that case, yes, I’d like to see my mother. I do have things to do back home.”

The only response he’d gotten was the driver turning on the car, reversing out of the parking spot.

The car ride was quite long, and Izuku passed the time by talking to Principal Nedzu. Comparing the differences between the worlds was quite interesting. Apparently, here, Endeavour was still a hero! That didn’t exactly raise Izuku’s opinion of this universe.

And apparently, All Might never retired to take care of his master’s grandson after the terrible accident the boy suffered. Instead, he forced himself to keep going, resulting in his current gaunt appearance.

That particular revelation had All Might cough for a good five minutes, thankfully after his phone call to arrange a quick meeting with Miruko.

The ride didn’t last much longer after that. Miruko was waiting at them at the precinct, having dropped off some villains she had just caught to make good use of the time.

“Hi mom!” Izuku called out, clambering out of the car.

Miruko turned around to look, but less in the my son is calling me way and more in the I wonder who’s that for way.

Her eyes settled on Izuku and his outfit immediately.

“Somebody’s a fan,” Miruko said with a smirk, cocking an eyebrow.

“I sure am!” Izuku admitted with a smile. “You’re the best! Can I shake your hand?”

Before anyone else could stop them - everyone who knows about the quirk effect was still inside the car - the two shook their hands, and-

A brief flash followed.

Now, in place of the previous Izuku stood another one, still holding Miruko’s hand.

He squinted at her and her flabbergasted expression before dropping his hand.

“Hello,” he said. “You should be way higher on the rankings.”

“Thanks?” Miruko said, uncertain. “That was mightily quick change of wardrobe, kid.”

The kid looked up at her, curiously glancing back at himself. “Those are the same clothes I have put on this morning. I do not know what are you referring to.”

“Still not our Midoriya, are you?” All Might appeared behind the boy, slightly out of breath, followed by Detective Tsukauchi and Principal Nedzu.

“Midoriya?” The boy repeated, looking vaguely confused. “No, Yagi-san.”

“If we may know,” Principal Nedzu was looking at him sharply, no doubt trying to figure out who he was. “Who’s your primary guardian?”

The wording of that question was… peculiar, but Izuku decided it was an acceptable risk to answer it without asking for elaboration first. “Hakanada Tsunagu, better known as the Fiber Hero: Best Jeanist.”

Looks were exchanged at that.

“I see,” Principal Nedzu said, but Izuku did not ignore the fact All Might was already calling someone on his phone.

“Why is that significant information?” He asked, his tone unyielding, standing his ground as if his father was right there, helping him along with his quirk. “I would like to know why I have found myself at the precinct in your company, as well.”

Detective Tsukauchi chucked at that.

“You - or, rather, a version of you, - was hit with an inter-dimensional quirk,” Principal Nedzu explained, his lips quirking slightly. “The condition for your safe return is making physical contact with your primary guardian, which, in your case, would be Best Jeanist.”

All Might snapped his phone closed, putting it back inside of his pocket. “He can’t come to us,” he said. “But we’re free to visit his agency.”

“Right!” Principal Nedzu clasped his hands. “Let us go, then!”

They all piled inside of the car, the Detective driving and Yagi-san at the shotgun, while Principal Nedzu invited Izuku into the back.

As long as they brought him to father - and he had no reason to suspect otherwise - he didn’t mind a little discomfort.

Two minutes into the ride, clutching the edge of the seat so tight his knuckles went white, he was rethinking that.

Principal Nedzu jostled him slightly as he clambered over Izuku to reach the window, cracking it open quickly.

The breeze helped calm him down somewhat, but still, the second he saw his father’s agency, he was out of the car. It didn’t matter that it was moving, or that he would be left in the middle of the street - he had to get out.

Running across the traffic in a well-practiced motion, Izuku ignored the distressed sounds the passengers of the car he had just vacated were making.

He only stopped at the doors to the agency, content enough to wait there.

The three… Chaperones, he supposed? Joined him at the entrance.

“Please, don’t do that again, Young Mi- Young Hakanada,” Yagi-san panted.

“I won’t,” Izuku offers, keeping the as long as I’m not forced to ride any more cars part to himself. “Let’s go.”

He already tried to input his personal code while they were waiting, but it didn’t work. A sure sign Principal Nedzu wasn’t lying and father really wasn’t his father in this world.

But the override code should have been the same, and after putting in the digits, Izuku found that to be true.

They crossed past the lobby as if they had every right to be there - well, Izuku was definitely of an opinion he had, and the rest were there as his guests - filling into the elevator.

Izuku took great care to conceal his movements from everyone present as he input the override code to take them straight to his father’s study.

The elevator was a familiar space, and if it was possible, Izuku would exclusively use it for transportation. No buttons he wasn’t allowed to touch, no uncomfortable seats he had to spend his days sitting and nights sleeping on, no cramped space for his legs-

Elevators were objectively better than any car could ever hope to be.

With a ping announcing they’ve arrived, the doors started sliding open. Izuku wasn’t in a hurry to leave, but he was in a hurry to see his father, stepping off before the doors fully opened.

He only managed to take two steps before his own clothes stopped him in his tracks.

“Hi, father!” He smiled at the man, even if he was currently in the intruders mode and didn’t know Izuku was his son. “Oh, uh, I’m the Youngest Jeanist from the Denim Land?”

The strands relaxed, and while Izuku appreciated the lack of restraint, he missed the active presence of his father’s quirk.

“I see,” Best Jeanist said, glancing back towards Izuku’s entourage, still entangled. “And I take it you know why the boy who broke his bones during the Sports Festival is suddenly claiming to be my son?”

“That’s because he is!” Principal Nedzu chirped, seemingly unconcerned with his lack of mobility. “This is a version of Midoriya Izuku from another world, and to return home, he must make physical contact with his primary guardian.”

“Ah,” letting go of the rest of them, Best Jeanist turned his full attention to Izuku. Or, rather, his outfit. “Yes, that’s quite a stylish outfit you’ve got there.”

Izuku preened. “You like it?” He asked, turning around to show off the full of it. “It’s my newest design! I was just on my way to show it to you- My version of you, I mean. Do you have any comments?”

“Hm,” Best Jeanist rummaged in one of his drawers before walking towards Izuku, a scarf in hand.

Carefully, to avoid touching Izuku’s skin, he tied it around his neck loosely. “Now this compliments your look nicely.”

“Yeah, despite your best efforts, I’ve never learned how to tie anything around my neck properly, so I just skipped the ascot,” Izuku chuckled, rubbing at his neck sheepishly. “Thank you!”

“It was my pleasure,” Best Jeanist’s eyes crinkled softly, the only sign he was smiling.

Hesitating over Izuku’s head, he dropped his hand on the untameable curls, offering him a head pat which was enough to send him home.

Another Izuku appeared in his place.

Best Jeanist removed his hand from his curls immediately, helped along by the fact the boy was already halfway toward the nearest space devoid of heroes.

“Why am I here?” He questioned, his gaze never resting on one of the people present for long. How did they manage to get him all the way into a hero’s office without him noticing?

And where was his mother?

The heroes - because Izuku had no doubt they were either heroes, law enforcement (that one guy was definitely a detective) or hero-aligned - exchanged looks.

The skeleton-looking guy outstretched his hands towards Izuku placatingly, but stopped when Izuku flinched back.

“Young Midoriya-” the man started.

“That’s not me,” Izuku protested immediately. “You have the wrong guy. Let me go! Where’s my mother? What did you do to her?”

“Worry not, young one!” The… What was it, a rat? The rat said, his smile sharp. “Due to a quirk, you have switched places with our version of you. If you tell us who your mother is, we’ll be able to take you straight to her, as that is the condition to getting our Izuku back.”

Izuku took a moment to think about it. There was… Not that many options he’s got. If he was really from another universe, none of his support network would still be in place.

Worse, even, his mother probably didn’t know him, either. Convincing her… Might take a while.

“What are the exact return conditions?” Izuku asked, making not a single move to get closer to the heroes.

“Just a simple physical touch,” Best Jeanist said, having already returned behind his desk. “The previous Izuku only needed a single pat on the top of his head.”

That was a risk Izuku would have to accept.

“Alright,” he said. “I know how to find her. But you can’t come with me.”

“We will have to join you,” the skeleton-man said, choking slightly. “After you return to your own world, it will be our Izuku - or yet another one - left in your place. He will need someone to explain what’s going on.”

Izuku took a moment to think about it. “One of you,” he decided. “And not the cop. Mom… Well, we don’t much like heroes and the like.”

Another set of meaningful looks was exchanged between the group.

“Alright,” the detective said eventually. “I’m afraid both Principal Nedzu and All Might are too high profile-”

Izuku startled, taking another step back. “All Might? Where’s he?”

“Uh,” the skeleton-man said awkwardly. “That’d be me?”

Blinking, Izuku stared at him for a moment.

“In any case,” the detective continued. “Between the three of us, I’m the least known. If I change, I should be able to chaperone you without raising any red flags.”

Izuku… Really didn’t want to do that. Even if this wasn’t his universe, even if it wasn’t his family… He didn’t want to lead the cops straight to them.

The detective seemed to have picked up on his worries. “I promise I won’t arrest any of them. This is just to get our Izuku back, I’ll pretend I see and hear nothing, I swear.”

Taking a deep breath, Izuku nodded, just a barely-there movement of his head.

Best Jeanist pressed a button on his desk, and the doors to the elevator opened silently.

“I have a disguise department,” he said, motioning towards the small, enclosed space Izuku would have to share with three hero-aligned people. “I’ll let them know to expect you, but I believe we should let our… Guest decide on your final outfit, as he’s the most likely to know exactly how not to bring attention to you.”

“Actually,” The rat said, “Toshinori and I had something to discuss with you, if you wouldn’t mind? Detective Tsukauchi, I believe you can handle Young Izuku yourself?”

Izuku could see straight through that ruse, but… He appreciated it.

Riding in an elevator with just a cop was… It wasn’t easy, and Izuku’s hands were still sweating far too much than he would have liked them to, but it was easier than if there were two heroes in there with them.

Navigating through a floor full of hero-aligned sidekicks and other workers as they scrambled to get detective Tsukauchi a proper outfit was also quite nerve-wracking.

But in the end, the result was somewhat bearable and Izuku even managed to steal a scarf for his mother. Well… He was pretty sure at least three people saw him take it, but none of them said anything.

If only the people who occasionally caught him stealing food could be as understanding about it.

The detective led Izuku out of the agency, moving straight towards a car parked haphazardly just barely in the closest available space.

“Nope,” Izuku said immediately. “Not getting into a car with you. We’re taking the train. Mom shouldn’t be far, anyway.”

The detective acquiesced, not even questioning if Izuku was leading him into a trap. That was a level of trust Izuku wasn’t quite used to, especially not from the hero-aligned part of the society. Well, even less so from the non-hero-aligned part, but that’s neither here nor there.

They took the train on the detective’s dime, a concept Izuku enjoyed rather much. If only he could always have the police pay for everything he needed…

That would have been a way better use of their resources than what they spent their budget on nowadays, Izuku was certain.

It wasn’t long until the train got towards the… less savoury parts of the town, which is precisely where Izuku had them get off.

The detective seemed a little bit jumpy at their surroundings, but he didn’t complain nor did he comment. His hands kept reaching towards his belt, where he would have had his gun if Izuku allowed him to take it.

All he had was a taser, because it was pretty much useless against his mother thanks to the way those things were constructed.

Now… There was pretty much no way to know where his mother was now. They’ve been floating around ever since the Kamino Raid, but they always kept close around here, desperately trying to settle down somewhere.

Izuku just needed a little stroke of luck, and- There!

“Himiko-chan!” He called, his hands cupped towards his face. “Himiko-chan, here!”

The girl - well, he knew she was a girl, even though she was wearing a disguise right now, a middle-aged man she must’ve eaten recently - turned around, startled.

Then, her eyes falling on Izuku, she grinned sharply, moving towards him.

It took Izuku a second to realize that this version of him was most likely - judging by the company he found himself in immediately after appearing - hero-aligned.

And as such… Himiko-chan would have had no reason to trust him, and probably had already attacked him at some point before.

“LUCA!” He yelled out, hands covering his head as well as he could while still having an easy way to switch to his abdomen - because those were Himiko-chan’s two favourite targets, and you never knew which one she would go for this time. “ALBERTO! Uh, MOBIUS! LOKI!”

The girl stopped dead in her tracks, still disguised in the old man form.

“How do you know that?” She questioned, even despite her surprise, a knife was still pressed against Izuku’s throat.

The detective stood next to them, unsure of what to do, his hands halfway raised, but neither of the teens paid him any attention.

“You taught me,” he said.

“Nonsense,” The girl - in the skin of an old man - scrunched her face. Izuku could superimpose the image of his Toga having done that thousands of times with her own face with what he was seeing right now. “I know you, Izu-kun. You’re one of these heroic brats. I would have never taught you those names!”

“That’s Mobius you’re holding to my neck,” Izuku said, in lieu of an answer. “Though my favourite is Loki, it’s so sparkly. And I am no hero brat, thank you very much. My loyalty belongs to the League, and League only.”

Well, that wasn’t exactly accurate. “Unless they cross my mother,” he added. Now, that was accurate.

“If I may?” The detective took barely a step closer, immediately having Alberto pointed at him, appearing in Himiko’s free hand out of nowhere. “There was a quirk accident. Our version of Midoriya got switched with another universe’s version of him. He needs to make physical contact with his primary guardian - whoever his mother is, in this case - to return to his world.”

Himiko seemed to consider those words briefly. “And that will bring our Izu-kun back?”

“...Yes,” the detective seemed hesitant to admit that. There was definitely a history between the heroic Izuku and the league, and it probably wasn’t good at all. “Quick handshake is all we need, and then we’ll be out of your hair.”

Himiko tilted her head.

“Fine,” she said eventually. “I’ll show you where Big Sis is. Cuz it’s Big Sis you’re looking for, right?”

She turned towards Izuku for that last part, waiting till he nodded at that.

“But we’re gonna have to be quick,” she warned, her knives disappearing somewhere. “Jin is supposed to bring some new recruits today, we don’t want them to see you.”

“Oooh, neat,” Izuku said, falling in step with her, leaving the detective to tril awkwardly after them. “Do they have good digs? Gosh, I hope they do. I miss our game room so much.”

Himiko scoffed at that, literally turning her nose up at Izuku. “Game room? Seriously? I miss the running water, that’s far more important.”

“Would have thought you would have liked everyone having no choice but to leave their blood on,” Izuku teased, elbowing her lightly.

Himiko scoffed again, skipping a little faster forward. It was pretty funny seeing her do that in her current disguise, though to be fair Izuku had seen her do that in a grandma disguise before.

You get desensitized to stuff like those after a while.

It brought funny implications though, considering Himiko never really felt the age of whoever she was wearing. It was some really solid illusions, as far as Izuku could tell.

“Hey, what’s this guy’s quirk?” He asked as Himiko led them down the abandoned alleyways and dirty underpasses. “Is it anything useful?”

Himiko glanced back at him, confusion painted plainly on her face. “What do you mean, what’s his quirk? I’ve no clue. I wouldn’t be able to use it, anyway.”

“Huh,” Izuku just said. On one hand, he would be helping Himiko, but on the other… This isn’t his Himiko. He had no idea what she would use this newfound skill for. “You can, though. It’s only for people you really love, last we’ve tried it, but I think you could get it to work with everyone’s quirk.”

What did he care about Himiko’s actions? If she inconvenienced the heroes with that aspect of her quirk even more than she managed to do without, all the better.

She looked back at him, shocked, but they'd already reached the warehouse where the league was currently staying.

Izuku could tell by the Dabi standing next to the doors, smoking away without a care.

He quickly started caring once he spotted who, exactly, Himiko dragged in to their place.

“What the fuck,” he said, stubbing the cigarette with his shoe and moving into his usual stance. “Toga, you… You are being followed. Very obviously followed.”

“Oh, no, I meant to bring them here,” Himiko waved off the concern, the disguise dripping off of her as she dived behind a couple boxes, redressing quickly. “This Izu-kun has business with Big Sis.”

“I’ll be quick, I promise,” Izuku interjected quickly. “Just need her to get rid of a pesky quirk effect real quick. Nothing to worry about, Natsu.”

Dabi furrowed his brows, squinting at Izuku suspiciously, the beginnings of a fire already showing up on his arms. “That’s not my name.”

“No,” Izuku admitted, pointing his chin towards the detective who was just now catching up to them. “But I didn’t really want to take any chances, you know?”

The fire died down.

“Whatever it is you wanna do,” he said, adopting his blase, I-care-about-notingh attitude once more. “Do it quickly and scram.”

“I’ll be gone in a flash.”

With absolutely no drama whatsover - which was pretty unlike the Dabi Izuku knew, but maybe he was saving up that drama for something more important later down the line - Dabi nudged the doors open, motioning at Izuku to enter.

Izuku took a moment to breathe before going inside, the detective firmly attached to his side.

“Mom?” Izuku called out quietly. “Oh, uh, Magne? Magne, are you here?”

The people inside the warehouse startled, looking towards Izuku. Oh, bad timing. It looked like his mom was just about to attack that annoying-looking man in a bird mask.

“Uh,” Izuku said again, frozen like a deer in headlights at the weight of several stares all focused on him. “Sorry to interrupt your, uh, meeting, but I really need to borrow mo- Magne for a second?”

Everyone’s gazes moved towards his mom now, staring at her incredulously.

“Don’t look at me like that!” Magne protested immediately, putting her hands up and away from her enormous magnet. “I don’t know that kid!”

“Yes, admittedly, I am from another dimension,” Izuku rolled his eyes. “Here, I got you a scarf. Can you high five me so I can go back home?”

Magne startled, reaching towards the delicate muslin fabric, carefully avoiding touching Izuku himself.

“That’s,” she said, treading through the fabric, “That’s impossible to put a tracker into.”

“Well,” Izuku blinked. “I mean, if you really needed to, you could probably find a way, but, no, it would be very hard-”

He got cut off by a tight hug. He barely had the brief second to hug back before there was a blinding flash of light and…

Izuku immediately wiggled out of the ambrace he was trapped in. Whoever was hugging him, did not smell the way his family did.

“Very touching,” a familiar voice drawled. “Can we get back to our negotiations now?”

Izuku turned around, his eyes lighting up as he spotted Kai.

“Nii-san!” He called, skipping to his side. Obviously, he wouldn’t even try to hug him - his brother was very particular about those things. The mask clearly showed he was on the job, and they were in one of the dirtiest warehouses Izuku has had the displeasure of being inside. He shivered at that realization, barely avoiding stepping on something he really didn’t want to clean off his sole. “Gosh, but this place is filthy. Why are you doing business with people who live like this?

Kai startled, glancing back at Izuku from where he had been staring at the guy, who - wait, were those hands attached to his face? Holy shit, that’s disgusting.

“Who are you?” Kai questioned. “Your clothes are different. You were wearing something different before you hugged that… woman.”

Izuku looked down on himself, seeing nothing different than his usual attire.

“Are you complaining about my tie again?” Izuku asked, looking back up to his brother. “Cuz if you say one more time that it looks like Eri tied it, I am so putting pink dye in your shampoo, don’t try me.”

Kai startled, taking a step back.

“How do you- Are you a spy?” Anger filling his (visible) features, Kai focused back on the handsy guy. “You’ve been planning to betray us from the start.”

“I don’t know that guy either!” The handsy guy protested immediately.

“He just hugged your member!”

“Well clearly, this guy is different than the one who hugged Magne!”

“If I may-” Another person entered the warehouse, dressed up in streetwear they were quite obviously not used to wearing. “I have an explanation.”

“What is this, the mall?” Kai scoffed, exasperated. “Any more people you’re hiding out in the back?”

“Just us!” A girl with twin buns on her head called out from the direction of the back doors, a scared man offering the laziest wave Izuku had ever seen from behind her.

“This is Izuku from another universe,” the new guy said, not waiting for anyone to acknowledge him. “I have been chaperoning him to find his parental figures. If he makes physical contact with them, he returns to his original world, and a new Izuku appears in his place, until the original Izuku returns.”

Everybody groaned.

“I hate quirks like that,” the handsy man groaned, scratching at his already bloodied neck. “Overhaul, we’ll talk another time.”

“We won’t,” Kai nearly growled. “I don’t think you have the level of professionalism we require from our partners.”

Izuku couldn’t help but snort at that. “Suuure,” he said, emboldened by the curious gazes sent his way. “Tell that to Toya when he’s on Eri duty. The things he does with Larceny to amuse the little princess are so ridiculous, and so entertaining, too.”

The stranger - Izuku really didn’t know how to refer to all those people, the one in the streetwear, - came closer to him, hands outstretched to lead him out by the shoulders.

Izuku just barely avoided getting grabbed.

“Hands off if you want to keep them!” He warned. “I don’t even want to know what you’ve touched up to this point.”

The stranger raised his hands in clear surrender, but Izuku still didn’t let him out of his sight as he moved just a little bit closer to Kai.

“Can we go now, nii-san?”

Kai looked briefly between Izuku and the stranger.

“I’m here just to watch over Izuku,” the stranger said, finally dropping his hands. “Nothing more, I promise. He just needs to make contact with whoever his primary guardian is.”

“That would be the Boss!” Izuku chirped cheerfully. “But I’m kind of looking forward to seeing Eri again. I’ve been away doing business with the MLA - a complete waste of time, by the way, nii-san, they’re all about using their quirks to their fullest extent - and I haven’t seen her in so long!”

Kai looked pretty much how he would have if someone just fed him a slice of lemon first dropped on the floor and rolled around in all the dirt.

“...Eri’s okay, right?” Izuku asked, a warning in his voice. “I swear, if you actually did that bullshit idea of experimenting on her-”

Kai turned around on his heel, powerwalking out of the warehouse.

“KAI!” Izuku yelled, running after him. Faintly, he could hear the stranger following them, too, but no one else. “Get back here you coward!”

Sadly for Kai, Izuku had a lot of experience both with running away and with chasing, and he had the added advantage of knowing Kai very, very well.

“You can run, but you can’t hide!” Izuku yelled after him. “I know where you live, idiot! I’m literally your brother!”

That, finally, gave Kai a pause.

“...What?”

Izuku used that pause to catch up to his brother leisurely, hands in the pockets of his suit pants. “Brothers. You convinced Boss to adopt me just like he adopted you when you took over the Aldera schools and found out just how badly they treated the useless, quirkless kid.”

Kai actually startled at that. “...You’re quirkless?”

Well, it’s not like Izuku hadn’t been expecting him to get caught up on that detail.

“Yep,” he chirped happily, a bit of his attention taken by the newly-arrived stranger. “Quirkless and proud! Can we go now? And if Eri is anything other than a pampered little princess, I am cutting off your fingers with the rusties knife I can find.”

Kai shuddered at that, his eyes wandering over towards the stranger. “You’re going to want to come along, aren’t you?”

“...Yes,” the stranger panted out. “I promise, I’m only coming to grab the next Izuku and take him where he needs to go.”

Kai just rolled his eyes, snapping his fingers towards the limuzine Izuku could recognize as a part of their fleet.

The ride didn’t last long at all, even though Izuku couldn’t track its progress through the darkened windows. He suspected that was to make it harder for the stranger to figure out where the complex was.

Though, if he was really with the police as Izuku suspected, that would have been a moot point; They already were well-informed about the whereabouts of their Yakuza and even most of their dealings.

They were only allowed to leave the care when they were deep within the underground parking lot.

The doors were barely opened before Izuku was out of the car, halfway through the lot before anyone else left the vehicle.

He stuck his tongue out at the shocked men through the closing doors of the elevator.

His first stop: Eri’s quarters.

Well, he thought, staring at the rooms which clearly did not belong to a little girl. The real first stop: Find out where Eri was being kept.

“Hari-chan!” Izuku called, spotting just the man he needed moving down the corridor. “Hari-chan, am I glad to see you!”

Izuku skidded to a stop, staring straight into the barrel of a handgun Kurono was now pointing straight at him.

“Rude,” Izuku frowned, casually knocking the gun away from his face. “Is that any way to greet your brother-in-law? I get that you don’t know me, being from another universe and all, but still.”

Kurono hesitated. “Brother-in-law?”

Now it was Izuku’s turn to be surprised. “What, are you saying you and Nii-san aren’t, you know. Obnoxiously in love?”

“Nii-san.”

“Kai, obviously,” Izuku rolled his eyes, quite satisfied with the shade of red Kurono was quickly turning as the realization sunk into his mind. “Let me guess, he’s being an idiot about everything.”

The pause spoke more than a thousand words. “...Well, not everything…”

“You don’t like the way he’s treating Eri, do you?” Kurono’s face answered better than anything he could've said. “Good. Where is she now?”

“In the underground labs,” Kurono said, his eyes averted. As if the fact he wasn’t looking at Izuku while doing what equaled a betrayal would change anything about it. “Room 307, can’t miss it. She should be… She should be resting right now.”

Izuku took a deep breath. “I have a feeling I really won’t like what I find.”

“No,” Kurono shook his head. “You really won’t.”

“You!” Kai called, appearing at the end of the corridor, the badly disguised policeman running after him. “Come back here!”

“Thanks, Hari-chan,” Izuku said quickly, already starting to run in the opposite direction. Fortunately, that was the exact direction he was supposed to be running towards. “You’ve been really helpful. Calm down your fiance for me, would you?”

He was gone long before Kurono could even think of an answer.

Eri wasn’t hard to find. The state she was in was hard to stomach.

“Eri-chan,” Izuku whispered, his heart breaking at the way she flinched at his voice. “Eri-chan, darling, I am going to help you, I promise…”

It took longer than he really had to get her to come with him, but it was worth it. Not to mention, absolutely necessary.

But eventually, she let Izuku take her into his arms, taking her all the way back to the over-ground area of the house.

Now it was the time to find the Boss.

It was easier than expected, but unfortunately for Izuku, he turned out to be in a coma.

“Right,” Izuku sighed as they sat in the armchair right next to the Boss’ bed. “Eri-chan, I hate to ask this, but would you be able to Rewind the Boss a little? We kind of need him awake.”

The shiver that went down Eri-chan’s spine was all the answer he needed.

“...He didn’t teach you how to use it, did he?”

Eri looked up at him, her eyes wide. “How could I use my curse?”

Izuku barely stopped himself from swearing.

“Alright, Princess,” he said, reaching for the paper he knew would be stored in the nearby desk. “Let’s go through the basics, first. Do you know how to tell time?”

Kai, somehow, only managed to find them about an hour later. For Izuku, that was more than enough time to not only teach Eri all about how time passed, but also to fire up her self-confidence and have her Rewind the Boss safely to a point before the coma.

He might have ended up a few years younger than he was supposed to be, but Izuku doubted he would complain.

Kai entered the room pretty much the very second Izuku finished explaining the situation, and he was immediately subjected to a strongly disappointed glare from the Boss.

He froze in the doorway, Kurono and the police stranger visible behind his shoulders.

“Uh…” Kai fidgeted with his gloves, but one glare from Izuku stopped that right away.

“So this is how you treated my granddaughter,” the Boss said, his voice deceptively calm. “While I was… indisposed. Thanks to you.”

Kai hunched his shoulders, his head hanging low in shame.

“I think that requires some serious apologies,” Izuku said from his seat on the armchair, Eri happily drawing on the desk. “Both to the Boss, and to Eri-chan, and, oh, while we’re at it, I’ll take one, too.”

His head snapping up, Kei glared at Izuku. But it had no effect: Izuku was far too used to his brother’s attempts at intimidation to actually feel, y’know, intimidated.

He saw this guy freak out when a single cereal fell out of his bowl. How could he possibly take him seriously after that?

“You won’t be experimenting on her again,” Izuku warned.

“Oh, more than that,” the Boss said. “Izuku, if you would... I feel she would be much safer with the heroes, if this is how my own son treats her.”

Kai startled at that, his eyes going wide behind the mask.

Oh, right. He probably was far more insecure in this world, if he felt forced to make all those choices. Hopefully, Izuku’s intervention would improve the situation for everyone in the compound.

“Don’t throw away the things you have in chase of a mirage,” Izuku advised, wisely, before reaching to touch the back of the Boss’s hand.

A bright flash of light blinded them for a second, before Izuku was sitting in an armchair, confused.

There was a girl in his lap, cheerfully showing off a stick-figure drawing to Izuku.

She blinked when she finally noticed this wasn’t the Izuku who brought her there.

“It’s alright,” Izuku assured quickly as he recognized the signs of a child who was about to cry. A Pussycat Grade smile later, the tears were successfully averted. “I’m here to help you!”

The girl looked between Izuku and her drawing before turning back towards the desk, quickly drawing a corrected version.

Izuku chuckled, now free to properly take in the rest of the room and its occupants.

An old man in a bed, surrounded by apparently useless apertures usually needed by coma patients. A man in a bird mask, man in a long, white coat and a man in streetwear - clearly not related in any way to the others.

“I can explain what happened,” the man in the streetwear was the first one to speak. “There was a quirk accident; you are a version of Izuku from another universe. To return to your world, you must make physical contact with your main parental figure. If you tell me who that is, I’ll lead you straight to them.”

Izuku looked closer at the man, finally recognizing why he seemed so familiar. “You’re that truth quirk guy!”

“...Yes,” The man admitted, but did not follow it with his name. Izuku could take a hint; probably not safe to do that around this bunch.

“I take it you do not remember our conversation?” The old man asked, looking at him with steel in his gaze.

“No,” Izuku said, carefully, his arms tightening ever-so-slightly around the girl’s frame, ready to run if the situation turned dangerous. “Would you be so kind as to repeat yourself?”

The old man sighed. “I would like you to take Eri,” he nodded towards the girl. “And take good care of my granddaughter. I’m afraid I can’t trust my son with her wellbeing.”

“Oh,” well, that would be easy. Izuku was already planning on taking that girl with her - no child, no matter how clumsy, could have her arms this banged up - but having her family’s blessing would be useful.

“No!” The man in the bird mask yelled, taking a step closer.

The girl stiffened and Izuku was on his feet within seconds, the armchair now an additional layer between the Bird Mask and them.

“I need her!” the man continued.

“No, you do not,” the Old Man was the one to speak. “You’ve already hurt her enough.”

“But…” Bird Mask tried, but he clearly already knew arguing would be useless. The man in a white coat stepped closer to Bird Mask, hesitating just before placing his hand on Bird Mask’s shoulder.

The Bird Mask did not react, beyond leaning back straight into that touch.

“No buts,” the Old Man straightened up on the bed. “Kurono, would you be so kind as to take him to his rooms? And send someone my way, I need to start fixing this mess.

Kurono - the man in white coat - merely nodded, before murmuring something to the Bird Mask, leading him out of the room.

“Now,” the man turned towards Izuku. “I would see you off, but I’m afraid I’m not able to, at the moment.”

“That’s not a problem,” the police guy said, politely. “I know the way back to the parking lot. If you could call someone ahead to let them know we’re supposed to be let out, that would be enough.”

“Would you like to arrange visitations?” Izuku butted in before they could finalize their conversation. “Between Eri and you, I mean. I don’t think she would be up for meeting with Bird Mask anytime soon.”

The Old Man snorted for some reason. “In the future, I would love to. But I’ll need to tidy up my house a little first, and she could use some therapy and understanding.”

“Well, in the future, then…” Izuku trailed off, unsure as to how to finish the sentence. He wasn’t from this universe, it’s not like he could just give out the number to the Wild Wild Pussycats and expect them to know what it was about.

“I’ve got it,” the policeman said, reaching for something inside of his pocket before pausing.

“I know you, Detective Tsukauchi,” the Old Man said, amused. “It’s fine; I’ll send someone to the precinct if I feel like too long a time has passed, but I trust you to contact me before that point. You know where I live.”

Tsukauchi smiled at that, too.

Making sure Eri was alright with being held - a little late, considering his kneejerk reaction to Bird Mask, but better late than never - and had all of her pictures clenched tightly in her hands, Izuku made his way towards the detective.

The farewells were brief, and soon enough, they were walking down the spacious corridors.

Nobody stopped them until they were down in the parking lot, where someone looking very confused informed them he was tasked with chauffeuring them wherever they needed to go.

The detective looked back at Izuku. “Your guardians are the Wild Wild Pussycats, I take it?”

“Yep,” Izuku nodded with a smile. Considering he was wearing his hero outfit, that was a question with a very obvious answer.

“Let me make some calls, first,” the detective said, turning back to their designated driver. “I think they should be somewhere in the city now, but… Well, I’ll need to check.”

The detective didn’t even wait for the man to acknowledge him before getting his phone out, dialling a number from his speed dial.

The following was a very short conversation, resulting in an address of a hero hospital.

Izuku didn’t like that one bit.

“They’re all okay,” the detective assured him once he noticed the look Izuku had to have on his face. “Well. They’re all alive.”

That didn’t really make Izuku feel all that better.

Instead of thinking on which of his parents was hurt - or, Kami forbid, his little brother - Izuku decided to focus on Eri as they piled into the back of the limousine.

Eri, who quite obviously had a question.

“Yes?” Izuku asked, gently, because he knew a traumatized kid when he saw one.

“Um,” Eri hesitated for a long moment.

“I love questions,” Izuku informed her happily, his Pussycat Smile firmly on his face. “Usually, I’m the one asking them. I can’t help it, I see a quirk and they just all pop into my head! It’d be quite fun to be the one being asked, this time. Like an interview!”

Based on the girl’s reaction, she didn’t really know what an interview was, but the encouragement worked, regardless.

“I was thinking about your dress,” she said, timidly fiddling with the fabric of her own dress, her drawings now safely behind the safety belt fastened over the empty seat. “It’s very pretty.”

“Thank you!” Izuku beamed at her. “I’m glad you like it! It’s my hero uniform - my moms and dad have the same one, just in different colours!”

The girl looked at him with stars in her eyes, and Izuku knew just the topic to make the time go faster.

They spent the rest of the ride talking about the Wild Wild Pussycats and all the fun adventures Izuku had with Izumi.

He couldn’t take Eri with him when he went back to his world, could he? Pity. His parents would have loved to take her in.

“...That was the Yakuza we just left, right?” Izuku asked the detective.

“Yes,” the man looked up from his phone. “The Shie Hassaikai.”

Izuku just nodded. He’d convince the Wild Wild Pussycats to check the Shie Hassaikai out once he was back. Just in case that version of Eri was also in need of saving.

The car eventually slowed down to a stop, and Izuku… Izuku dreaded leaving the car.

Whatever happened to force the Pussycats to come to the Musutafu Hero Hospital, if he left the car… It would become real.

“It already happened,” the detective said, already halfway out of the car, helping Eri retrieve her drawings. “There’s nothing that can change that.”

Taking a deep breath, Izuku left the car.

But before they could have found the Wild Wild Pussycats, they’ve stumbled upon an unexpected hero.

“Eraserhead!” Izuku called out, excitedly, as soon as his eyes found the man encased within a bright yellow sleeping bag.

The man opened his eyes, glancing at Izuku.

“Still not our Midoriya, I see,” he drawled.

“Shiretoko, technically,” Izuku corrected absently. “Your quirk is so amazing! It’s one of my favourites! After my parents’ quirks, of course, they’re the best.”

Eraserhead smiled at that, though the smile was small and tainted with sadness. Izuku really didn’t like the implications that had for his parents’ well-being.

“I’m afraid I don’t have that quirk anymore,” Eraserhead said and, wait, what? “Another version of you stole it earlier today.”

Izuku blinked. “I can do that?!”

Eri wriggled out of his hold. On one hand, he could understand - if he was held by someone who could potentially steal quirks… His telekinesis was the last bit of his mother he had left, beyond the hair and eyes. He would do anything to keep it.

On another hand… It still hurt.

But then, it appeared she was not escaping from him, she was just getting to Eraserhead.

“I can help!” She declared, happily, before her horn started glowing.

Before anyone could react, golden sparkles appeared all around her, enveloping Eraserhead as well.

It lasted mere seconds before Ereaserhead’s hair rose in the air, his eyes glowing red, and the sparkles dancing all over Eri’s skin disappeared.

Her horn, also, grew slightly smaller.

She beamed at Eraserhead. “See? Your quirk is back now! My curse is not bad at all!”

The man stared at her like she was the eight wonder of the world. Izuku suspected he might have just found the perfect guardian for Eri once he was gone.

“Well,” the detective said, clearly at a loss for words.

“Let’s get to my parents,” Izuku reminded. “Eraserhead, since you don’t really have a reason to be busy… Would you like to join us?”

Eri, still held tightly within Eraserhead’s arms, turned to look at the man. Izuku could see the exact second Eraserhead realized he would do anything to keep that girl happy.

“Fine,” he said with a sigh. “Wild Wild Pussycats, yes? I know which room they should be in.”

Izuku fiddled with the edge of his skirt pretty much the entire way up.

Positive thoughts, he had decided. As long as he was thinking positively, everything would turn out alright.

Finally, they reached the right room. Izuku hesitated shortly before, ending up the last person to cross the threshold.

The gazes of his - not really his, not in this world - parents were almost too much to handle. Only Tomoko was in hospital attire, lying in bed, all the rest in casual clothes, but that didn’t really make the entire situation that much better.

“Hi,” Izuku raised his hand awkwardly.

“Hello, kitten!” Tomoko was the first one to answer, the Pussycat Smile on her lips, even though Izuku could see the effort it takes her to hold it here. “Lovely outfit you’ve got there!”

Izuku couldn’t help the nervous giggle that escaped him. He took a step closer, but hesitated.

Could he really… Especially with the way Izumi was glaring at him…

“There was a quirk accident,” the detective informs them, and Izuku is so grateful he can’t even describe it. “This Izuku is from another universe, in which one of you-”

“All of them,” Izuku interrupted quietly.

“-All of you are his primary guardians,” the detective corrected himself easily. “And the condition for him to return to his world is to make physical contact with you.”

“Oh, kitten,” Ryuuko smiles at him sadly. “Have you been here long?”

Izuku shook his head. “No longer than an hour.”

He took the open arms as an invitation.

Falling into Tomoko’s ready embrace, Izuku had been expecting to disappear, straight back to his own world.

But it seemed he had been right - it’s not just one primary guardian if he couldn’t decide between the four of them.

“Hi, Kouchan,” Izuku offered to Kouta, sitting in the bed on the other side of Tomoko, a book on dinosaurs open on his knees.

“Don’t call me that,” the boy grumbled.

“Sorry, Kouta-kun.”

Somehow, that didn’t seem to be considered an improvement in Izuki’s eyes.

“You still with us, kid?” Eraserhead asked, seemingly surprised.

“I’ll need a group hug to switch back, I think,” Izuku informed, a soft smile on his lips. “How could I possibly pick a favourite parent? That’s just impossible.”

Kouta scoffed at that, crossing his arms. Eri wriggled out of Eraserhead’s grasp, coming closer.

“Hi,” she offered, her eyes wide and curious. “I’m Eri!”

Kouta seemed torn for a moment, eventually giving in to the manners Shino always tried her best to drill into him. “Kouta.”

“Is your mommy sick?” Eri turned towards Tomoko, inspecting her with her head tilted.

“Ah, I’m alright!” Tomoko assured quickly, her smile almost slipping. “It’s just… A very bad man took my quirk, but I’m okay now…”

“Oh,” Eri was so tiny and cute, Izuku couldn’t quite get over it. She could barely see over the edge of the bed! “You have your quirk back now?”

“Oh, um,” Tomoko hesitated. “No…”

Izuku figured out what Eri was trying to do a brief second before her horn started glowing.

Wow, she sure was very confident to use her powers on absolutely anyone around.

Eraserhead hesitated in using his own quirk to cancel Eri’s, all the way until Tomoko gasped, clutching at her head. Only then did Erasure flare up to life, cutting off the sparkles immediately.

Eri’s horn was so small it was almost unnoticeable now.

“Tomoko?” Yawara was the first one to speak, though all of them got just a step closer to the bed - there was not much distance between them in the first place.

“What…” Tomoko gasped, and Izuku could recognize the migraine coming. Untying the scarf around his neck, he used it as a makeshift blindfold, cutting off the light. Tomoko’s shoulders relaxed minutely. “What happened?”

“It’s my curs- No, it’s my quirk!” Eri corrected herself. “Izu-nii- The other Izu-nii - he taught me how to use it safely! And he told me about so many things I could use it for… I could be a hero, too, you know? I could save people just like Izu-nii saved me!”

The adults - and, alright, Izuku could admit he would count within that group - couldn’t help but to coo at her adorableness.

But, accidentally, in the tangle of limbs, all four of them had made contact with Izuku at the same time, and in a flash of light-

Another Izuku caught himself on the bed. But then, detecting something soft underneath himself, his arms gave out and he crashed into the mattress, the dark jumpsuit and capture scarf and all.

“Uh, Eraserhead?” One of the women around him said, giggling softly. “I think this one’s yours.”

“Hm, what gave me away?” Izuku mumbled. “Was it the eyebags? Pops keeps saying we match.”

Steeling himself - he might have been around heroes, but that still hadn’t explained why there were heroes in what he had been believing to be his bedroom - Izuku raised his head.

Only to come face-to-face with a little girl.

“Hot popsicles!” Izuku exclaimed, scrambling off the bed he was rapidly realizing was not his. “And who may you be, young lady?”

The girl giggled. “You’re a funny Izuku!”

That was… Not even remotely what he had expected to receive in an answer.

“That’s Eri,” the familiar voice of his dad said, dragging Izuku’s attention over to where he stood next to Detective Tsukauchi. “You- Well, two other versions of you had just saved her from, if I understand correctly, genetic experimentation at the hands of Shie Hassaikai.”

Izuku scowled. “Thanks for that name drop. I’ll be following up on it. Now, how did I get here, exactly?”

“That’d be my cue,” Detective Tsukauchi sighed. “Kami, but I should write a note or something. I’ve explained this far too often today.”

“I could wait until tomorrow if that’d be more convenient for you,” Izuku rolled his eyes, looking towards the windows. “It seems to be late enough for that, you know. Damn, are my patrol hours starting again? Do I have to-”

“Considering you are not currently in your own world,” Eraserhead cut in. “I don’t see why you should patrol.”

Izuku glanced at his father, and then immediately looked back at him, eyes taking in all the details.

“What the heck happened to you?” He asked, taking a step closer. “When’s the last time you slept, dad?”

Detective Tsukauchi looked rather amused at that, but Izuku barely paid any attention to him.

“That’s none of your concern,” his dad -well, not really, just an Eraserhead- bristled.

“Mh, I think it is,” Izuku argued. “Even if you hadn’t adopted me in this world - which, rude, by the way - I’m sure I’ve wriggled my way into your class somehow. I could never not be a Problem Child, and you know it.”

Eraserhead massaged his forehead, and the gesture was so familiar, Izuku almost felt homesick.

Even though he had just finished a patrol alongside his dad, and they had some of Pop’s famous pancakes before dropping into their respective beds.

Well, Izuku accidentally dropped into a hospital bed in another universe - and it wasn’t even his hospital bed! - but that was pretty much expected considering his history.

Straightening up, Eraserhead outstretched his hand, flopping it on top of Izuku’s head.

And he kept it there for a long moment where nothing happened.

“I appreciate the pat,” Izuku said eventually, grabbing Eraserhead by his wrist to get some more actual pats in. “But what brought this on?”

“You must make contact with your primary guardian to return back to your world,” Detective Tsukauchi explained, mirth clearly audible in his voice.

Izuku gasped in mock outrage. “You were just trying to get rid of me!” He accused, finger pointed at Eraserhead sharply. “You’d rather yeet your favourite son than deal with your terrible sleeping schedule? Oh! Oh! Nap for dad, nap for one thousand years!”

Eraserhead actually chuckled at that and Izuku beamed, feeling accomplished.

“Come on, then,” Eraserhead shifted, placing his arm around Izuku’s shoulders. “Let’s find Mic and send you home. Eri, you coming?”

The girl - Eri, apparently - nodded her head sharply. “Bye, Kouta! Bye, everyone!”

The grumpy child sitting on the bed even waved back at her. Izuku felt like that was a big improvement. Thinking back to it, they did seem rather familiar…

“Thank you for getting back my quirk, darling!” The woman laying in the bed called, and Izuku recognized the voice.

“You’re the Wild Wild Pussycats!” He gasped, twisting in his father’s hold. “I’m a big fan! We were supposed to go to a training camp with you over summer, but, well… You were needed elsewhere.”

“I’m sorry our counterparts couldn’t assist in your training,” the man - oh, that had to be Tiger! - offered.

“Nah, it’s alright,” Izuku shrugged. “We met while working in the ruins, it was very educational! I’m glad that didn’t happen in this world, though, I wouldn’t wish what happened to Daiki on anyone.”

The adults fell quiet as Izuku exited the room with Eraserhead and Eri, Detective Tsukauchi trailing behind them.

Eraserhead’s car - well, technically, it was Pop’s, but dad used it occasionally when the need arose - was easy to see in the half-empty lot. Though the others seemed pretty surprised when he moved straight towards it, arms outstretched and already anticipating the coffee-flavoured jelly pouches dad kept sneaking under the seats.

The car pinged open the moment he came in range, being keyed to the nob he was carrying and not himself personally. He dived inside immediately, only resurfacing once he had a bunch of jelly packs in his hands, rooting through them all in search of treasure.

“Aha!” He exclaimed as he found what he was looking for, holding the coffee-flavoured pouch up like it was the new lion king. He had the straw in his mouth within seconds, sucking at the juice cheerfully, only now noticing the looks the rest of his entourage was sending him. “What?”

Detective Tsukauchi just shook his head with a small smile, moving to the driver’s side. Which was fair, Izuku supposed; he would rather not be subjected to his dad’s driving either, if he had a choice.

“Want one?” Izuku asked the girl currently clambering inside the back seat. “You’ll like this one, it’s apple flavoured.”

She seemed excited at that prospect, even though Izuku had to help her prepare the pouch for drinking.

Getting into the passenger’s seat, Eraserhead said nothing about the pilferage of his secret stash.

Izuku, as a thanks for turning the blind eye, passed him a cherry pouch as if it was a pouch of drugs and he was the most shifty dealer.

Eraserhead seemed amused at the sight, at least, digging in happily.

They drove to UA. Izuku supposed that wasn’t all that surprising. Of course Principal Nedzu would get involved with something as interesting as universe shifting. Multiple cases of universe shifting, if the blase reactions he had received so far were anything to go by.

And, of course, there was the matter of Eri to consider. Though Izuku was pretty sure dad was already having raccoon thoughts about his emergency fostering license, rubbing his tiny hands together at the thought of adopting another kid.

Like he hadn’t already gotten enough of them.

There were quite a fair bit less security measures than Izuku remembered there being. Still, he wasn’t complaining. He’d never quite enjoyed the anti-Twice and anti-Toga measures.

Principal Nedzu was already waiting for them outside of the main entrance, along with the Mini-Might version of All Might and-

Izuku, having a peculiar feeling of deja vu, jumped out of the car before it rolled to a stop, already running.

“POPS!” He yelled, throwing himself into pops’ arms.

What? He hadn’t seen the man in a while. He missed him, okay?

“Whoah, you alright there, Little Listener?” There was concern in Popss voice, his hand hesitating over the top of Izuku’s head, and Izuku couldn’t help but borrow in closer, breathing in the familiar smell of leather.

“I missed you,” Izuku whispered.

“Still not our Midoriya, I see,” Principal Nedzu said, eyes firmly towards the direction the car parked. “And who would that young lady be?”

“That’s Eri,” Izuku finally steeled himself to push away from his Pops, but he hadn’t gone far; Just enough to have his face unobstructed. “I - or, well the two previous versions of me - apparently rescued her from the Yakuza.”

Izuku ignored Mini-Might’s bloody cough, focusing more on Principal Nedzu’s cackling.

“Prolific, I see,” the rodent said.

“He certainly didn’t waste a second,” Detective Tsukauchi assured.

“You’re still in your disguise?” All Might sounded surprised, taking in the sight of the detective.

“Haven’t exactly had a moment to change, you know?” The detective said dryly. “Anyway, if we’re lucky, this will be it. Midoriya just needs to make physical contact with both Present Mic and Eraserhead at the same time, as they’re jointly his primary guardians.”

“I am ready to go now!” Izuku assured. “Bye, Eri!”

“Bye, Izu-nii!” Eri waved back at him from her spot in Eraserhead’s arms.

Izuku outstretched his hands towards both of his fathers. The last thing he felt was the gentle touch of leather and calloused skin as they each took hold of one of his hands, and-

There was a blinding flash of light and both of the heroes cut off their curses, letting go of Izuku’s hands like they had shocked them.

Which, admittedly, they did! The shock buzzers - Izuku’s absolute favourite trick! Though it was rather sad how rarely he managed to catch Uncle Shou with it; Uncle Zashi was way easier.

Izuku bent halfway with laughter, clutching at his stomach. The evening breeze made him feel a little chilly in just Ketsubutsu's grey polo shirt, but it wasn’t that bad, yet.

“Still not our Midoriya,” someone sighed from behind him.

“If you mean me, then nope!” Izuku said cheerfully, straightening up quickly. “I’m Fukukado Izuku, pleasure to meet you all!”

Uncle Shou groaned at that, hiding his face behind the little girl he was holding.

“Oooh, did you finally adopt a little critter?” Izuku skipped towards the girl, smiling at her widely. “Hi, little one! I’m your cousin, now, you can call me Izuchan!”

“Okie!” The girl agreed happily. “I’m Eri, Izuchan!”

“Erichan! Such a wonderful name for such a wonderful young lady,” Izuku pinched her cheek lightly to the girl’s apparent delight.

“Let’s take this inside,” Uncle Zashi said, taking Izuku by his arms. Izuku had no doubt he noticed the goosebumps. So considerate, his uncle!

“Midoriya!” A kid Izuku could only tangentially connect to Tensei the Ingenium called out and, oh, that’s supposedly Izuku’s name in this world, wasn’t it? Well, let’s have some fun…

“Hi, Iida!” Izuku called back, waving wildly.

Ingenium 2.0 seemed to hesitate for a moment before continuing onwards. “We’ve been worried about you! You hadn’t attended a single class the entire day… What happened to your uniform?”

Izuku looked down at himself. “Huh? What do you mean? I don’t see anything wrong with it.”

“That’s… That’s Ketsubutsu’s uniform, isn’t it?” A girl with very round cheeks popped out from behind the corner, clearly having heard the last few lines at least. Izuku couldn’t recognize her; not a legacy then.

Oh, wait!

“You’re the one who kicked Kacchan’s ass on national TV!” Izuku couldn’t help but exclaim.

The girl blushed at that, but did not deny.

“Right, Iida, Uraraka,” Uncle Shou stared at them, considering. “Take him to the dorms, show him around. There’s been a quirk accident that switched our Midoriya with another version of him, and we won’t be able to reverse it until tomorrow. Inform your classmates.”

“Yes, sensei!” Iida said immediately, nearly saluting.

“A different version?” Uraraka gasped. “It’s a bit weird to consider you could have gone to Ketsubutsu, even in another world.”

Izuku blinked. “Well, I did try out for UA, but their entrance exam isn’t really all that suited to-!”

Mini-Might’s hand was suddenly covering his mouth, an apologetic smile on his face. “Change of plans; if you could return to grab young, uh, Fukukado in about an hour or so, that would be perfect.”

The students glanced at the man weirdly at that, but they didn’t argue, walking off towards the exit.

“What was that all about?” Izuku questioned, his brows scrunched as he pushed Mini-Might’s hand away. The buzzer shocked him with that motion; good.

“You were about to say “quirkless”, weren’t you?” Mini-Might said, his expression hard. “You mustn’t reveal that fact; you posses a quirk in this world, and it would be suspicious-”

“When,” Izuku interrupted, but he didn’t really care about being rude right now. “When did I get that quirk?”

Mini-Might hesitated.

“Tell me!” Izuku demanded, his voice cracking. “My entire life… I don’t need it! I don’t! But I still… I want to know. How did it activate?”

Mini-Might glanced towards Izuku’s uncles. Just a barely-there movement of his eyes Izuku would have missed if he hadn’t been staring at him that intently.

And only his uncles. Not the detective nor the principal. Which could only mean…

“It’s not even my quirk, is it?” Izuku whispered, his shoulders slumping.

“No,” the principal was the first to speak. “It is yours, now.”

Izuku just laughed at that, a bitter sound which would have sent his mom running if she heard it, tears streaming down his face.

“I want to go home,” he choked out.

“I’ll take you to the dorms,” Uncle Zashi said, glaring at Mini-Might. “We can call Emi together and tell her what’s going on, alright? We’ll go to Ketsubutsu first thing in the morning, promise.”

Izuku let himself be led straight out of the building again, his uncle’s leather jacket protecting him from the cold as they walked.

Both Iida and Uraraka were quite surprised to see them when they caught up to the pair, but they didn’t question it at all. Taking one look at Izuku’s distressed face, they immediately moved in to comfort him.

They didn’t see anyone in the common room, which Izuku found to be rather peculiar, but he didn’t mind if it meant he had one of the enormous sofas all to himself.

According to Uraraka, his room was a bit… Covered in All Might’s merchandise, and she thought he might appreciate not having to go up there just yet.

Izuku was really lucky to have such considerate friends.

They stayed with him for the call to his mom - well, this world’s version of his mom - but only after he had explicitly said it was okay.

Emi took to the idea of having a son surprisingly well, somehow managing to crack some of the exact same mom jokes his version of her was always using.

More proof to support Izuku’s theory that she’d been always coming up with those jokes just in case she ever acquired a child.

None of that “born brilliance” as she had been always claiming.

Or, well, perhaps she really was this brilliant and came up with all of these just now.

It wasn’t long after the call finished - in fact, Uncle Zashi had just pressed the “finish call” button - when Kacchan entered the room.

Izuku was on his feet in a second, backing away from the other teen as quickly as he could manage, eyeing the windows consideringly. It’d take quite a lot to break them, but it should not be impossible-

“What the hell are you wearing, Shitty Nerd?” Kacchan grumbled and Izuku-

Izuku flinched.

The other three people present in the room kept looking between him and Kacchan, Uraraka already off of the sofa to stand right in the way.

“You should be more considerate of your classmates’ feelings, Bakugou!” Iida chastised.
“It’s not my fault the Nerd’s all freaked out-!”

“Not your fault?” Izuku cut straight through Kacchan’s tirade, his voice glaciar. “Not your fault! It’s all your fault, you self-entitled asshole!”

The entire room - plus a few more of whom Izuku believed to be their other classmates, having just entered - stared at him in dead silence.

Izuku, for his part, did not care. He’s already gotten used to being stared at; First at Aldera, being the quirkless freak everyone loved focusing their attention on, if only to bully him relentlessly.

Then, as Emi’s son, being the center of positive attention for the first time in his life. Ms. Joke commanded respect and demanded all eyes on her. And Izuku, even when he was still hiding in her shadow, was noticed by proxy, cooed over.

The comments - finally nothing derogative, finally focusing on the things he was actually proud of, like his analysis or keen intellect - did wonders to his self-esteem.

And yet, look at him: One brief stumble into Kacchan and he was straight back to the quivering mess he used to be before… Before.

But no. No more. Izuku would take no more of Kac- of Bakugou’s bullshit.

“It was all your fault,” Izuku hissed, just to stress that point.

“How the hell-!” Bakugou tried to argue, but Izuku didn’t give him an opportunity to.

“You were the one who provided the testimony,” Izuku’s voice was grave, unyielding. He gave his all to Bakugou when they were younger, still hoping they could go back to being close friends.

Now? Now, Izuku wouldn’t give him a single inch.

“Testimony?” Uraraka blinked, looking between Bakugou and Izuku. “What… What do you mean, Izuku?”

“The testimony that landed my mother in prison,” Izuku elaborated, his eyes never leaving Bakugou’s. He could see the boy grow uncomfortable, but, unfortunately for him, Izuku was fresh out of fucks to give. “The burns, the torn clothes, the lost bentos… You blamed it all on her, you absolute wanker!”

Bakugou stumbled back, as if physically struck, his expression shocked.

“Auntie Inko…?” He repeated, his voice smaller than Izuku ever remembered it being. “But… I’d never do that!”

“Well, you did,” Izuku growled. “Don’t get me wrong, I love mama and I’m glad to have found her… But I loved mom, too. And you took her away from me.”

Without another word, Izuku moved forward, deliberately knocking his shoulder into Bakugou’s as he passed by him.

“Please don’t follow me,” he addressed the room at large. “I would like to be alone now.”

Nobody seemed to dare follow him, which is precisely why Izuku decided to stay behind for a little longer, wanting to listen in on what was going to happen next.

“Bakugou?” Uncle Zashi was saying, his voice a little choked up. “Do you know what he meant?”

“I see no reason why he should!” Iida interrupted, and despite knowing him for all of a half an hour, Izuku could clearly imagine the chopping motions which undoubtedly accompanied the words. “As we have been told, this Midoriya is from another world, which means-”

“I know what De- the nerd meant,” Bakugou interrupted, all the heat gone from his voice. “There was that time in primary school when one of the new teachers started snooping a little too close.”

“Snooping too close?” Someone - a girl’s voice, but Izuku hadn’t met her yet, not in an official capacity at least, so he had no name, not even a face to put to the voice - said. “What do you mean by that, Baku?”

Bakugou scoffed, but it was a fake sound. He was feeling cornered, and Izuku was happy to hear that.

“I.. The nerd’s quirk manifested late, right? Like, the entrance exam kind of late.”

That… Izuku was pretty sure he wasn’t supposed to share this kind of information with anyone, but clearly, it only mattered when he was the one saying it. Of course.

Then again, that’s probably how it looked from the outside, wasn’t it? If he was… Given the quirk this version of him had…

The room pretty much exploded, surprise and shock and outrage all mixed together into one very loud amalgamation.

“Quiet down, idiots!” Bakugou barked out. The room, hesitantly, did. They probably remembered there was another point to that revelation. “So, since it didn’t show up until that late, everyone assumed he was quirkless.”

Some gasps sounded, but it didn’t seem like quite anyone had any idea what to do with that bit of information. Like they hadn’t even connected the dots of “late manifestation” and “assumed (rightfully) quirkless”.

“Quirkless?” Iida repeated, and Izuku held his breath at the tone. “I wasn’t aware those existed anymore.”

A loud smack resounded through the room, and next Izuku could hear were soft clanking sounds coming from the direction of the ceiling, as if something crashed into it lightly, merely bumping it.

“Thank you, Uraraka,” Uncle Zashi said coldly. “Iida, you’ll be serving detention with me tomorrow and every day after.”

Izuku was… Well. This was, to say the least, unexpected. No one… Until his mama, no one really defended him against any of the comments regarding his quirklessness.

“For how long?” Iida questioned, and Izuku thought he could hear a little bit of shame in his voice, just the faintest whisper. Though, that might have been just the fact that his voice in general was faint, coming from all the way over from the ceiling.

“Until you learn precisely why what you just said was unacceptable,” Uncle Zashi said. “Bakugou, continue.”

“Not much to say,” Bakugou grumbled. “The school was hell on earth for him. I… Played a part in it.”

A pause.

“A rather big part,” Bakugou amended. “We… It would be easier to say what we didn’t do to him.”

The silence that permeated the room had a specific tint of horror to it; Izuku was well versed in reading into different types of silences.

Most of his life, a lot depended on what kind of silence he was surrounded by.

“And what is it, that you haven’t done?” Uncle Zashi asked, his voice quiet even as there was steel underneath the honey.

“Nothing sexual,” Bakugou said immediately. “We were assholes, and cruel, but we were still kids. That was not something we would have dared to do.”

“That’s it?” Uraraka questioned, her voice loud and angry. Izuku leaned on the wall just a little bit harder. She didn’t know him, not really… And yet here she was, all ready to protect him against something that happened years ago.

“We… Didn’t push him off the roof,” Bakugou added hesitantly, falling silent once more.

That silence spoke loudly.

“But you did tell him to do it himself,” the girl from before spoke again. “Didn’t you?”

“...Yes.”

“And about his mother landing in prison?” Uncle Zashi asked. He was barely holding on to his temper, Izuku knew that tone. “What was that about?”

“The new teacher caused an investigation to start,” Bakugou continued, his voice weirdly hesitant, halting in places. He was almost, would Izuku dare to say it, stuttering. “The cops came by, asked uncomfortable questions. I was… considering. That maybe if I said he came to school like that, it would blow right over. I didn’t even consider the fault would fall on Auntie Inko- I was ten! I wasn’t thinking about stuff like that!”

“Then…” The other girl started. “How did it end? Here, in our world?”

“The cops heard he was quirkless and immediately dropped it,” Izuku could almost see the shrug Bakugou would have added to that sentence. “Called it roughhousing, and boys being boys. That.. That was the first time I’ve learned there would be no consequences to anything we did to him.”

“But not the last time,” Uncle Zashi said.

“No,” Bakugou laughed, an ugly, bitter sound. “Not by a long fucking shot.”

Izuku didn’t need to hear any more; he left.

The room was fairly easy to find - there were plaques on each of the doors, and it took no time at all to locate the correct doors.

Stepping through the threshold was far, far more difficult.

Uraraka wasn’t joking when she said it was covered in All Might merchandise - his obnoxiously smiling face was staring down at Izuku from every corner.

How could this version of him ever get any sleep in this room?

First thing he did was to take off all - or at least most - of the posters, carefully. He might not have appreciated the decor, but he was sure this world’s version of him did. It would have been rude to damage any of them, even by an accident.

He stuffed them all under the bed, hoping that putting them somewhere out of sight would put them out of his mind, as well.

Laying down on the bed, he tried his best to relax.

Tomorrow, he would see his mother - or at least, this world’s version of her - and then, he would be able to go home.

He just had to last twelve hours or so.

Izuku lasted three before getting up.

Sticking his head out of the room, he inspected the corridor closely. It wouldn’t do to stumble upon anyone on his way down.

And yet that’s exactly what happened, his footsteps too loud by the time he noticed the lights in the kitchen to back out.

Uncle Shou was inside when he entered, Eri with him.

He looked up at Izuku just for a moment before returning to whatever it was he was cooking in that saucepan. “Can’t sleep?”

“Not really, no,” Izuku sighed. “Mom always said I got that from her. We would always build a pillow fort and crack jokes until we drifted out.”

“What’s a pillow fort?” Eri raised her head up from the papers she had been scribbling on, her eyes wide and not sleepy at all.

Izuku gasped. “You don’t know? A tragedy! We must remedy that immediately!”

He outstretched his arms to her, and she climbed on without hesitation, clinging to him tightly along with her drawings, which were digging into Izuku’s collarbone and jaw.

“Oh, that is,” he fumbled, realizing he’s not back home. “Is that alright, Uncle Shou?”

“Yeah,” the man grunted, not turning away from the stove.

Beaming, Izuku made his way over to the deserted common room, setting Eri down on one of the armchairs.

“Now,” he said, his thumb on his chin, thinking. “We have some cushions from the sofas, but we’re going to need lots of blankets and pillows. Where could we possibly get those from?”

“The closet!” Eri bounced in her seat, excited. “There’s closets in the hallway!”

“That’s right!” Izuku snapped his fingers, pointing towards the corridor. “Let’s go search the closet!”

The first two brought nothing more than cobwebs and cleaning supplies, but the third one… The third one was a goldmine.

Two girls descended the stairs just as they gathered all the necessary materials. They froze, all four of them, staring at each other.

“I’ve heard you talk,” The girl with short hair explained, her pyjamas a simple leggings and a band shirt, pointing to her elongated earlobes.

“Oh,” Izuku’s smile wobblingly came back. “Sorry, we didn’t mean to wake you.”

“What Kyouka meant,” the other girl, wearing a headscarf and elegant pajamas, put her arm around the first’s shoulders. “Is if we could join you?”

“Oh,” Izuku blinked. “Oh! Let me just… Eri, would you be okay if they helped us build a fort?”

Eri took a moment to think about it, her face scrunched adorable.

“Yeah!” She said eventually, a smile blooming once more. “More help means bigger, better fort!”

They had the fort up and ready within barely half an hour - quite an achievement, if Izuku said so himself.

And to top it off…

“You know what this really needs?” Yaomomo (as Izuku had learned during the building process) said, staring at their masterpiece consideringly.

“What?” Eri asked, looking up at her curiously from her perch on Izuku’s shoulders (Yaomomo was so. tall.)

In lieu of an answer, Yaomomo hitched her shirt slightly, pulling something out of her side.

A long string of fairy lights emerged.

Kyouka and Izuku moved to help hang them around as they were produced, and Yaomomo extended the cable all the way over to the nearest electric socket.

When the lights were plugged in and the overhead lights switched off, Eri gasped at the magical sight. Izuku couldn’t blame her - he was quite enamoured with the view, as well.

“Good job,” Uncle Shou grumbled from the entrance to the kitchen. “Now, settle in, I have your hot chocolate.”

Everyone stared at him for a long, long time.

Uncle Shou just stared right back, a tray with five mugs in his hands.

Kyouka raised her hand slowly. “I’m lactose intolerant.”

“It’s almond milk.”

With no more objections to be had, they’ve all clambered inside the cozy space, settling in comfortably. Uncle Shou waited by the entrance for them to be ready before passing over the mugs.

He stopped at four, getting up from his crouch.

“Aren’t you going to get in, Sensei?” Yaomomo called. Uncle Shou made the mistake of glancing inside the fort, where he immediately encountered four pairs of the best puppy eyes they could all manage.

With a sigh, he crawled inside, sitting next to Eri and across from Izuku.

They spent a few moments in silence, before Uncle Shou cleared his throat.

“Why did the chicken cross the road?” He asked the fort at large.

Everyone turned to him, startled.

“A joke!” Izuku was the first one to speak, overjoyed. “Oh, mama would never believe it! Why? Tell me why did the chicken cross the road?”

Uncle Shou dipped his face in his capture weapon, hiding whatever his hair failed to. “There was a discount on lay mash on the other side.”

Izuku had never laughed harder.

***

In retrospect, it came as no surprise that they had all fallen asleep right there. The fort didn’t survive the night, having fallen apart sometime during the night. Thankfully, they’ve expected something like that, having built it to fall towards the outside, so the cushions didn’t crush them.

Instead of the falling pillows, it was the cooing and soft clicks of a camera shutter which woke them up.

Izuku opened his eyes slowly, carefully assessing the situation. And then he threw all of the caution out in the wind, jumping into his mama’s arms straight away.

She caught him, even while having no recollection of having done that thousands of times in the past.

“Mama!” Izuku exclaimed, his voice heavy with sleep still. “I didn’t think- We were meant to go to Ketsubutsu today, but I’m so happy to see you earlier!”

His mama just laughed at that, hugging him a little tighter. “I just couldn’t wait that long to see you!”

She extended her hand to ruffle his hair, and only then did Izuku realize that, oh no, they were going to touch skin-to-skin-

A flash, like the one of a camera, flickered through the room.

And Izuku was being held.

He kicked and scratched immediately, pushing himself off of the offender who dared to put their hand in his hair.

His knife was in hand before his feet touched the ground, his back pressing to the closest wall he could find.

“Still not our Midoriya,” someone grumbled, and Izuku flinched.

That was a name he hadn’t used in a long time. To have them know it… And what was that about being theirs?

He looked in the direction of the speaker, and moved to pinch himself, certain he was dreaming.

There, in a pile of pillows and blankets, laid Eraserhead in full hero outfit. And next to him, a little girl with long silvery hair and a horn, just waking up, and two other teenage girls, already mostly awake.

“Calm down, little listener,” another person said, and Izuku turned towards the direction he had just escaped from. There stood Present Mic, almost completely composed, phone in hand. And Ms Joke, who seemed just as confused as Izuku felt.

Izuku slashed before they could react, taking Present Mic’s phone for himself, only to find it was still locked, even though the camera was open.

Still, it could come in hand later, and as such, Izuku stuffed it in one of his pouches.

“Problem Child,” Eraserhead called and somehow, Izuku knew this was supposed to be him. “There’s been a quirk accident. You’re in another world. To get back, you need to make physical contact with your primary guardian.”

Well that was certainly informative and quick.

“This is precisely why you’re a true hero,” Izuku said, without thinking.

The adults stiffened.

The little girl finally woke up fully. Clambering to her feet, she blinked at Izuku, before walking towards him.

She looked no older than seven. Surely she couldn’t be dangerous… But then, La Brava looked similar with the right makeup on.

He compromised by keeping his knife out, but loose at his side.

“Izu-nii!” She called, hands outstretched. “Up!”

Izuku, falling victim to her innocent face, acquiesced, the knife disappearing in its proper holster.

“...Stain.” Eraserhead said.

Izuku… Well, he’s already gotten himself into this mess. And his father could handle himself, surely, even if he didn’t manage to shake them off before going out to find him. “Yes.”

The hero dropped down on the pillows with a groan, his hands pressed to his eyes.

“Not again,” he groaned.

“We’ve got the sprout from Stain before?” Present Mic questioned.

“No,” Eraserhead mumbled. “But we’ve got a kid from a Tartarus convict before. The first one, even.”

Izuku flinched. “Tartarus?” He whispered. “Since when?”

“Will be…” Ms Joke spoke. “Half a year now, I think? The internships were in early may. Midoriya - this world’s Midoriya, I mean - was involved, I’m sure, though the police tried to cover it up.”

“He, Todoroki and Iida,” Eraserhead offered. “Iida went off on a revenge quest for his brother, Problem Child somehow figured that out and went to the rescue, Todoroki responded to the SOS signal.”

“...Three students took Stain down?” Izuku asked, befuddled.

“To be fair, Hosu was in flames at the time,” Present Mic mused. “Nomu’s were attacking, and heroes were all around.”

“But yes, it was you kids who took him down.”

Izuku considered that for a moment. Todoroki - that had to be Endeavour’s kid. And Iida was probably part of the IdaTen legacy. If they teamed up with Izuku-

But then again, where would have Izuku gotten the skills to fight? He was nothing before he met Chizome.

And also-

“We’re at UA,” he said, because he couldn’t not connect those dots. “I’m at UA?”

Eraserhead sighed again, his head thumping against the pillows.

“You, your tendency to attract problems and your bone-breaking quirk.”

Wait up, rewind-

“Bone-breaking quirk?” He repeated, incredulous. “What, did I just try to punch the robots, broke my hands and convinced y’all it’s a quirk?”

“Do you normally create shockwaves when you punch things?” Present Mic said, sounding genuinely curious.

Izuku blinked.

So, somehow… In this universe he managed to get a quirk. A powerful, even All Might-esque from the sounds of it, quirk. And if it just had an obscure activation sequence...

This would have been so useful to know back when he was ten and first considering taking Kacchan’s advice.

He doesn’t regret joining Stain; the man was right and a better father than Izuku’s deadbeat sperm donor could ever wish to be. But having a quirk would have greatly helped them out…

“So you’re going to take me to Tartarus?” Izuku asked, plans already swirling all around his head. “Or are you going to bring Stain out?”

“We’re bringing you in,” Eraserhead says immediately. “Hopefully. You’ve been there already two days ago. Hopefully, we won’t get another Midoriya with a parent incarcerated in Tartarus after this.”

Well, that would make things a little bit harder, but… Izuku had always wanted to break out of Tartarus. And this will be a nice practice run. Entry provided, no consequences, and if he failed… Well, it wasn’t his father inside.

A win-win situation and a nice vacation, that’s exactly what Izuku needed right then.

“Right,” he bounced the girl in his arms. “When are we moving out?”

Eraserhead clambered to his feet, stretching out his bones for a moment. “As soon as we sic Nedzu on the prison to allow your entry.”

The girl was, apparently, joining them.

“You have so many clothes, Izu-nii!” She complained on the way over. “I have to keep drawing new pictures.”

“Do you like drawing?”

The girl - Eri was her name, as Izuku had learned - took a moment to ponder that question.

“Yes,” she declared in the end, confidently.

“Then it’s all good, isn’t it?” Izuku was very firmly avoiding thinking about the weird looks Eraserhead and Ms Joke kept shooting at them, Present Mic having stayed behind to manage Eraserhead’s class.

Eri was left with Ms Joke in the cafeteria to grab some breakfast. Izuku and Eraserhead also received bentos, but apparently they had no time to eat. That didn’t stop Izuku from cracking the box open and maneuvering the chopsticks as they walked.

He’s done something similar with Stain many times when the heroes were getting a little too close for their liking.

Izuku could’ve, of course, waited until it was safe enough to stop, but for some reason Stain was really hung up on Izuku getting his three meals a day. He suspected it was because Izuku was really short, but then again, it often helped him in fights.

His reach was just the slightest bit different than what the heroes typically expected, not to mention the heroes also didn’t usually aim that low.

He was done with the bento by the time they reached the principal’s enormous doors.

Of course, Izuku had heard about the principal before. He knew Principal Nedzu was a rodent, but- Judging by the size of the doors, could he happen to be an enormous rodent?

It turned out that no, he wasn’t unnaturally big; he was even smaller than Izuku. The doors were just, he supposed, an accommodation for others.

“Still not our Midoriya, are you?” Was the first thing the principal said, having laid his beady eyes on Izuku for merely a flat second.

“I’d prefer Akaguro if that’s at all agreeable with you,” Izuku said, not really liking his tone. “Or Disciple, if you’d rather keep to hero names, Megamind? Loved that movie, by the way. Early 2000’s, wasn’t it?”

The principal paused, putting his cup very, very slowly down.

“I see,” he said, turning to look at Eraserhead. “I’ll have to ask for another visit to Tartarus, won’t I?”

“Hopefully the last one,” the hero grumbled, having already dropped down onto the nearest chair, head thrown back. “It’s been only, what, three days? But I am so ready for this to be over.”

“Believe me, I might have only appeared here less than an hour ago, but I am not happy with the situation either.”

Nedzu already had his phone out. “Don’t worry, Akaguro, we’ll have this mess straightened out soon,” he assured. “There’s already precedent for this, so it should be easier. And this time neither you nor the person you’re meeting with can steal quirks, so the administration of Tartarus shouldn’t have as many reservations.”

Izuku was not going to comment on it.

...Ah, screw it.

“You had to bring the previous me to All For One???”

“Yes, that was the general reaction,” Nedzu said before raising one of his paws in the general gestore of wait a second please, speaking into the telephone.

Izuku used that time to look around the office. There wasn’t anything obvious laying around, of course - Nedzu was far too smarter for such a stupid mistake - but it could still become usaful for some analysis using the smallest of details.

Like the fact that Nedzu apparently really liked tea, but that wasn’t much of a surprise. The brands of teas he’s got on display, however…

Every little detail counts, as Stain always said.

Izuku still couldn’t believe he actually asked to be referred to by that name. It wasn’t official or anything back in his world. He was just… He was just Stain’s son. Everyone knew that, even the heroes who only knew him as the masked Disciple who was always by Stain’s side. And if he wasn’t, they would get a head up on a nasty surprise which was going to befall them soon.

“Right,” Nedzu slammed the phone on the receiver, sighing heavily. “They’ve agreed to let you in once more, but you’re going to have to be on your best behaviour. They’re not going to let us have any more visitations, though. Let’s hope the next Izuku will be our own.”

“Fantastic,” Eraserhead groaned, getting up from the chair. “I guess All Might has to go with us, in case the guards change their minds as they see us?”

Principal Nedzu looked genuinely apologetic. “I’m afraid so.”

Izuku, for his part, was nearly vibrating from excitement.

Stain would never believe he had not only gotten to meet All Might, but spent a several hours long ride being chaperoned by the man!

Eraserehead and him made their way down, going toward the faculty office if Izuku had the right idea of the school’s outlay.

When they entered… There was a fair number of teachers inside, what’s with it being still before homeroom, but none of them looked quite like All Might should. Izuku supposed Vlad King had sort of the right physique, but he knew the man couldn’t be the Symbol of Peace…

“All Might,” Eraserhead stomped forwards, slamming his bento box on the desk in front of a skeletal-looking man, who startled hard enough to spit out blood. “Coming with us. Tartarus again.”

...Who was that?

Oh, right, Izuku remembered now: He saved that guy from a mugging once. His dad scoffed at first, but changed his tune pretty quickly when he had found out they had just rescued All Might’s secretary.

Eraserhead was probably just very rudely asking Yagi to convey the message to All Might, so that he could come to them.

Yagi sighed, getting up and grabbing his coat from the hanger behind his chair. HE grabbed the bento box on his way, circling around his desk to join Eraserhead.

“Hello, Young-”

“Akaguro,” Eraserhead interrupted, and Yagi startled again.

“Young Akaguro,” he finished, visibly less excited. “That name rings a bell… I believe I’ve received quite a number of fanmail from someone called that.”

“Probably my father,” Izuku confirmed with a nod. “Akaguro Chizome.”

“...He’s killed quite a number of heroes.”

Izuku scoffed. “Those… scum could hardly be called heroes,” he said. “They were all corrupted assholes, only in it for the money or fame or the ability to use their quirks freely- or all of the above.”

Yagi flinched at that last one, but Izuku was sure it was nothing important.

Speaking of important things- “When’s All Might going to join us?”

Yagi chuckled at that. “I suppose in your world, the Kamino battle hadn’t happened in the same way.”

Izuku had no idea what a battle in Kamino could have possibly had to do with All Might’s absence, but he was good at keeping quiet. It was a very good way to get people talking, he’d found out a while ago.

It didn’t really work on Stain, the man was too used to doing it himself. More often than not, Izuku ended up the one to reveal something he didn’t mean to.

So many gifts, spoiled by a tiny bit of silence.

“I am All Might,” Yagi said, and Izuku walked a couple steps further, the comprehension avoiding him.

But then it slammed into him full force, bringing him to a stop.

“You’re who.” He said, flatly, staring at the amused man.

“We don’t have the time for this,” Eraserhead groaned, dragging Izuku by his elbow, having his heels slide across the floor. “He’s been looking increasingly like this since his fight against All For One like a decade ago. He’s been pretty much permanently looking like this since the round two at Kamino.”

“Huh,” Izuku’s plans were shifting somewhat. Not his world’s All Might, and not his world’s All For one, but if he got a chance, he would still murder the man gladly. “And he’s also in Tartarus, you said…”

“No murdering All For One,” Yagi - well, All Might - said sternly, immediately looking shocked. “I’ve never expected to have to say that.”

“Father always wanted to do something about the guy, but he was a little too hard to access,” Izuku confessed. “If he hears about this injury, I’m sure he’ll figure something out.”

“I’m flattered, really,” All Might did not sound flattered. “But there’s no need for that. All For One is in a secure location, and he has a very long sentence to serve out.”

Izuku didn’t acknowledge that, making both the heroes sigh. Their fault for letting him know about this little tidbit. They should have expected this or a similar reaction based on what they already knew about Izuku and Stain.

The car they piled into didn’t look special at all. There was a brief argument over who was going to drive - neither of the men wanted to - but in the end, Yagi lost.

The Symbol of Peace lost to a scruffy-looking Underground Hero. At Paper-Rock-Scissors. What was the world coming to?

But clearly, that wasn’t the end of All Might; Instead of driving them towards Tartarus, as he was supposed to do, he drove them to a nearby police precinct.

“Naomasa was quite interested in the follow up of your situation,” he explained, pulling into the nearest free parking spot. “I’m sure he would be delighted to meet you.”

“Do you both hate driving this much?”

The heroes both stayed silent for a moment.

“I am not technically allowed to drive, considering my tendency to doze off,” Eraserhead volunteered first.

“...I don’t have a driving license,” All Might said, quietly.

“WHAT?!”

All Might flailed his hands around. “I never had enough free time to get one!” He tried to explain. “And it’s not like I’ve ever needed it, I could get everywhere with my quirk! And even if I had to drive… What kind of a cop would have pulled over the Symbol of Peace?”

“A not-fake one,” Izuku grumbled. “Just because you’re the Number One hero doesn’t mean you get to break the law! Dad’s going to be so disappointed.”

All Might - or perhaps Izuku should just call him Yagi - gulped at that.

Good.

Tsukauchi - whom All Might apparently contacted via text message before they had even started driving - walked out of the precinct doors. Switching with All Might was a matter of seconds, the thin man squeezing himself into the backseat. Even without all of his muscles, his limbs were too long to fold comfortably.

On one hand, Izuku wanted to ask so many questions. On the other… Yagi was just human, exactly like all the other heroes, wasn’t he?

Well, he could at least learn a little more before passing judgement, Izuku decided, opening his mouth to ask the first dozen questions.

The ride to Tartarus was not short in any meaning of the word, but it felt like a surprisingly short period of time if you had a good enough way of passing it.

With the stop for a meal around noon and the multiple stops to let All Might spit blood to his heart’s desire, it was already dusk by the time they’ve arrived.

The Tartarus’ search was surprisingly thorough - they confiscated twenty of Izuku’s knives - but not thorough enough.

It wouldn’t be ideal, but he could manage with only three knives.

His hands weren’t bound, the prison guards having deemed him not a danger without his weapon or any sort of a quirk.

For ease of passing the security, Eraserhead and Detective Tsukauchi were left outside in a car, only All Might and Izuku allowed to enter, which was very good for Izuku’s plans.

All Might decided not to go anywhere near Stain’s cell however, citing a “conflict of interest”. Izuku did not argue. As much as he knew Stain would have loved to meet the hero, they would have plenty of time to do that once he was out of the prison.

He was getting really lucky so far, and he was about to get even luckier - considering both him and Stain in his current low-level threat, they only assigned two guards to chaperone him.

The cell they arrived at was one in a long row of filled cells, everyone looking at the visitors curiously.

“Be quick,” one of the guards grumbled, hitting his baton on Stain’s bars. “Get over here, inmate!”

Stain didn’t even flinch, one of his hands thrown over his eyes as he laid on his bedding.

The guard sighed, reaching for his keys. The second he had the cell open, the doors pushed just the slightest bit, Izuku attacked first the other guard and then him.

As their bodies dropped to the floor, Stain pushed himself up on an elbow, staring at Izuku in shock.

“Come on,” Izuku called, taking the keys out of the lock. “Quirk accident, I’m from another world, if you touch me, another me will appear in my place and there’s no telling what that one’s going to be. If you want to be free, this is your chance.”

Stain didn’t hesitate another second, jumping off of his bed and pilfering the unconscious bodies of the guards from all of their weapons.

Izuku didn’t hand him the keys, since Stain took the other guard’s copies. He was transported to this world with his outfit and all of the knives; it would be useful if he could bring back the keys to Tartarus’ cells.

“This way,” Stain called, running back in the direction Izuku had just come from. He could’ve told him that, but whatever. Izuku was already used to following Stain’s lead.

They stumbled onto a couple of guards on their way, but the alarms hadn’t been sounded yet. Kind of fishy if you asked Izuku; for Tartarus, he would have expected some better security.

He almost immediately found out he had jinxed himself, coming face-to-face with a row of armed guards.

Stain and Izuku exchanged a glance, sharing a sharp, feral smile.

The guards… They didn’t expect the two of them to jump straight at them, forcing them not to shoot unless they wanted to hit some of their co-workers.

It wasn’t easy, but it wasn’t the hardest fight Izuku had ever had.

He really ought to stop thinking stuff like that. He noticed the knife flying at Stain a brief second after it was thrown, and the man had no chance of noticing it. Not at that angle, not with how busy he was with the last few guards.

So Izuku did the only thing he could think of and tackled him to the ground.

The knife missed, but their skin touched. A brief flash followed and-

Izuku was on his feet immediately.

Those walls… He could have recognized them anywhere. He was back in Tartarus…

But not for long. Not this time.

“Where is Lady Nagant,” he asked the first person he saw - was this Stain? - pressing a knife to his throat.

Stain did not move. “I don’t know where she is, or who she is,” he said, mumbling that last part. “But I bet one of those assholes would know.”

Izuku turned his head slightly, the pressure of the blade not letting up; he wasn’t stupid.

And there, shaking in his boots, hand still outstretched from a throw, stood a newbie.

“He won’t know anything,” Izuku pushed off of Stain, figuring the villain would not attack him just now. He had to be with Izuku for some reason. Could be a distraction for when the guards descend on them again, could be backup for fights. “Let’s find someone more senior.”

He slit the guy’s throat on his way past him. Honestly, it was a mercy.

Izuku took the lead, guiding Stain through the corridors with ease. He spent practically his entire life in between those walls, and back when he was still a kid, the guards were far more lenient about letting him run around mostly unsupervised.

The lack of sufficiently small handcuffs or other restrictive measures certainly played a role, he was certain.

He would go and check Lady Nagant’s old cell, first. It was unlikely they would put her in the same place she had already managed to escape from once, but Tartarus was notorious for their misplaced confidence bordering on arrogance.

And the security room with all the cameras was near the old cell.

Surprisingly - or perhaps not so surprisingly, the Tartarus’ administration’s arrogance seemed to have no limit - his mother was in exactly the same cage they had already broken out of all those years ago.

Seemed the prison kept it all nice and warm for her.

“Mom!” Izuku gasped out, falling to his knees in front of the bars. Lady Nagant was curled up in the far corner of the cell, head between her knees, not even looking up when he called.

What have they done to her?

“Kid,” Stain said, and Izuku swore, if he told him they had no time and had to leave, he’d cut the man’s- “You’re under the influence of a quirk. Apparently, if you touch your primary guardian, you get swapped back.”

Izuku blinked. “This isn’t my world?”

“No.”

That meant… That meant the guards didn’t know him. The new safety measures they created special for him were not yet implemented.

“That’ll make this so much easier,” Izuku sighed, getting to his feet. He’d have to find a way to open the cell first-

Stain thrust a ring of keys into his face.

“...Thanks,” Izuku wasted no time, slipping the key into the lock.

His mother did not even twitch at the sound of the doors.

...Well, no, that wasn’t quite accurate. She flinched.

“Mom?” Izuku called. “Or, I guess, you wouldn’t be, not in this world. Lady Nagant? I’m here to get you out.”

That got her to look up, even if it was just to glare at him.

“You’re new,” she scoffed. “Won’t fucking trick me anymore.”

Izuku glanced back at Stain. “Plug your ears,” he instructed.

Stain rolled his eyes, but obliged. Izuku offered a couple insults to test how well his hearing was blocked before turning back to Lady Nagant.

It took seven facts she never told anyone to convince her he might be telling the truth, and three things about herself she didn’t realize before to get her moving.

“Let’s get out of here,” Izuku beamed once she limped out of her cell, his heart aching when he couldn’t help her. For some reason though, Stain did. “And then we can go hunt some corrupt heroes.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Stain grinned, and even Lady Nagant had a small smile on her face.

They let Izuku lead them through the corridors.

The alarm was undeniably on. They wouldn’t storm them in the corridors, and now that Stain and Izuku proved their usual blockade wouldn’t work, they won’t try that either.

They would organize themselves on the bridge, believing that to be the only way of safely traversing the ocean back to mainland.

Well, they weren’t wrong, but… There was more than one way of passing through the bridge.

And the service areas underneath the pavement were big enough to walk through.

The only problem was getting there, but… Well, what were the sewers for?

Izuku kept them in the corridors as long as he could, guiding them vaguely towards the entrance. They’ve only entered the underground level once it was their last chance to do so. Now, even if someone noticed, they’d have an advantage.

It wasn’t a pleasant escape, not by a long shot; but it was much simpler than what one might expect from Tartarus.

The bridge was long enough to take them half an hour to pass through.

But they did it! They made it! All the way to the mainland. And the darkness of the quickly-falling night would help them remain hidden for as long as was necessary.

And from the looks of it - where they glanced back from the beach, a fair distance away from the last checkpoint they’ve sneaked past - everyone involved in barricading the bridge still believed them to be inside.

They made it deep into the mainland, nearly to the first village, when Lady Nagant first confronted the issue.

“So you’re from another world,” she said as they laid in the grass, observing the houses to figure out a good place to clean up and steal something to eat. “And you’ll disappear, leaving a version of you - which might be heroically inclined - behind, the very second I touch you?”

“Don’t look at me,” Izuku shrugged, glancing at her over Stain’s body. “I just popped in here, I have no idea what’s happening.”

“That’s what the version of Midoriya parented by me from another world said,” Stain confirmed. “And this little fella appeared right after we accidentally brushed against each other.”

“In that case,” Lady Nagant outstretched her hand, but Izuku was already rolling away, falling into a crouch easily.

“What are you doing?!”

“You’re a liability,” she shrugged, also climbing to her feet. Stain, apparently feeling left out, followed. “And the me from another world is probably worried sick about you disappearing on her.”

Izuku’s face fell. “I understand,” he said. “I hope you’ll carry out the good work in this world, then. And… If that’s an option, can you hug me to send me off?”

Lady Nagant rolled her eyes but stepped closer, pulling Izuku into her arms.

There was a flash and a pinprick of pain and-

Izuku pulled himself up from the ground, groaning at the dull pain in his head.

His thoughts were cloudy, unusually so, even more than that one time when Father drugged him and Shouchan both to train them to withstand that.

But he couldn’t lay back down and hope whatever it was would just pass on his own; he was laying on grass, wet, there was a breeze blowing over his face, pushing the smell of salt into his nose… That was not normal.

Getting to his feet, he looked across the landscape he couldn’t recognize.
This wasn’t Musutafu. From the looks of it, the sun was barely rising.

This was nowhere near Musutafu, or any other place Father took them to train.

Izuku was alone, left on a hill overlooking a small village and he was very, very confused.

Having no other choice to make, he started walking down to the tiny village. It hardly looked like a place where a cult or a trafficking ring would settle. That meant Izuku was probably not running away from it.

Besides, he had been laying with his back in the opposite direction, facing towards the sea, where-

Oh. That was Tartarus.

...Was he running away from Tartarus? What happened?

Changing his mind, he pivoted on his heel, marching towards Tartarus instead. Tartarus meant heroes, meant access to information and easier time locating his Father.

And then… Suffering whatever punishment was deemed necessary to teach him better than letting someone or something just drop him, unconscious, in the middle of nowhere.

Izuku wasn’t really looking forward to that part, but, ah well. He couldn’t really do much about it, could he? It was hard enough when Endeavour was the Number Two hero; no one would believe a word of two teenagers - even if they were the man’s sons! - against the Number One hero’s.

He stumbled upon a small team of two guards and one skeletal looking man on his way towards the bridge.

“Young Midoriya!” The man called, furiously waving off the guards as he slammed into Izuku, hugging the stuffing out of him.

“My name’s actually Todoroki,” Izuku couldn’t help but correct. It would have been pretty amusing if he was named Midoriya, considering his hair.

The man pulled him at arm’s length, staring down at him. He then sighed, pulling away.

“My apologies,” he said, rubbing his face. “You are currently under the effects of a quirk. To return to your world, you must make physical contact with your primary guardian.”

Izuku stayed quiet for a moment. “Just one?”

“However many are important to you.” The man assured, the phone already out. “I’ll call Endeavour to try and organize a meeting at his earliest convenience.”

Izuku did not say what he thought about that. They would probably have to catch father somewhere when he was out on a patrol, or after he came back home.

But, wait, the man said this was another universe. Which meant… Izuku couldn’t even go back home. His room wouldn’t exist, his siblings would have no clue who he was.

His mother wouldn’t recognize him.

At the very least it wasn’t his fault.

The guards - who were still looking a bit twitchy, staring at Izuku as discreetly as they could manage, which was pretty obvious - led them towards the bridge, a small car parked off to the side.

Inside were Detective Tsukauchi and Eraserhead, staring at Izuku with some level of exasperation and… Was that fear?

What exactly happened before Izuku appeared in this world?

“Problem Child,” Eraserhead greeted when Izuku clambered into the back seat, the man following after him.

The guards tried to say something about it, but clearly the man held some weight, considering they had all backed out when he glared at them.

Detective Tsukauchi barely waited for them to fasten their seatbelts before driving away, the car accelerating quickly.

“Still not ours?” Eraserhead asked, his tired eyes reflecting in the overhead mirror.

“No,” the man shook his head, tissue pressed to his mouth. “Said his name’s Todoroki.”

Eraserhead twisted in his seat abruptly, staring at Izuku more awake than he had ever seen the man before. “Todoroki?”

“Yep, Todoroki Izuku,” Izuku nodded. “You might recognize the name, Touya went to UA before. Father decided it wasn’t worth the money to send me and Shouchan there as well though, so we had a specially-crafted HPSC course.”

“Had?” the skeletal man repeated.

In lieu of an answer, Izuku rummaged through his pockets, producing his license, showing it off proudly. “We’ve started during middle school instead of high school, so it was a little accelerated. Shouchan’s still trying to pass the exam, but at this point I think he’s just doing it to spite father.”

The men did not respond, but Izuku could read the lines of shock and surprise in the lines of their muscles. Was this… Not what happened in this world?

The rest of the ride passed in uncomfortable silence.

They arrived in Musutafu - having gone straight to UA for whatever reason - shortly before noon.

Izuku could recognize his father’s car anywhere, even if it was inexplicably parked in the UA’s faculty parking lot.

The man himself stood off to the side, no flames anywhere near him, as he leaned down to talk to Shochan.

The second Izuku’s eyes settled on Shouchan, he was out of the car, not even caring it was still moving.

He could barely make out someone saying “not again!” as he sprinted towards his brother, hugging him tightly.

“Shouchan!” He yelled perhaps a little too loudly, pushing himself away to take a closer look. The scar around his eye... “What happened? Who did this to you? Have you been to a doctor yet? This looks old.”

“What are you talking about, Midoriya?” Shouchan asked, his tone flat and monotonous, nothing like the brother he knew. “Are you feeling alright?”

Izuku, his face stony, turned around to face Enji.

“You get yourself together, you flaming trashcan,” he hissed. “You’re a shit father; Number One Worst One, even! Congrats, you’re number one at that!”

His father recoiled, and kami, it felt good to say that. It’s been gathering in his mind for ages, but he had never been brave enough to say any of that.

He still wasn’t; he was only saying it because there would be no consequences whatsoever.

“You hurt us all so much,” Izuku continued, tears welling up in his eyes despite the rigorous conditioning to make sure that wouldn’t happen. “You destroyed all of our childhoods! Me and Shouchan, being forced to train every second of the day. Natsuchan, being completely ignored his entire life. Fuyuchan, forced to pick up the household chores and parenting of all of us when you sent your second wife to the hospital. And Touya-nii…”

Izuku whimpered, thinking back to his brother.

“He was so desperate to make you proud,” he whispered. “So desperate to earn the approval you never intended to give him. Both his and Keigo-nii’s lives rest on your fucking flaming shoulders!”

Endeavour was looking like his life was flashing before his very eyes, which was precisely what Izuku wanted.

One more huzzah before he had to leave.

“Do. Better.” He snarled, climbing on top of Shouchan to slap his father’s face.

A flash of bright light followed and Izuku lost balance, having been for some reason perched on somebody’s shoulders.

Rolling to absorb the impact, he jumped up, looking around curiously.

“What’s going on?” He asked. Why was he outside of UA at such a time? He was missing lunch.

“You just slapped Endeavour,” Todoroki - oh, it was him Izuku was climbing for whatever reason - said, stars in his eyes.

“Ah,” Izuku turned to look at the man, a tiny, violently red imprint of a hand appearing on his cheek. “Good. I’m sure he deserved that. I just regret that I don’t remember doing that.”

“I’ll be going now,” Endeavour announced, fumbling to get back inside his car.

“Good,” Izuku said, again. “I’m sure I said something while I was slapping you; you think on that, young man!”

Endeavour didn’t respond, but then again, he was always rather short on manners.

“Right,” Izuku turned around to the other men he vaguely saw but hadn’t paid much attention to. They turned out to be Aizawa-sensei, Detective Tsukauschi and-

“What the hell are you doing outside in such flimsy outfit, Toshichan?” Izuku demanded to know from the fast-blanching All Might. “You know you should wear more layers! You can’t afford a lung infection, you don’t have enough of them!”

“Still not ours,” Aizawa-sensei groaned, sucking on a jelly pouch.

“Oh, absolutely not,” Izuku snatched it from his hand, throwing it into the nearest bin. “You will eat a proper lunch, young man, or so help me I will lace every single pouch I find with laxatives. And don’t think I don’t know about your secret stashes!”

Aizawa-sensei just watched him, his eyes wider than Izuku knew they could go.

“I think that’s Recovery Girl’s influence,” Detective Tsukauchi said in the ensuing silence.

“You think?!” All Might and Aizawa-sensei chorused.

“Just… Go shake her hand or something,” Aizawa-sensei said, rubbing his face with both hands. “You’re under a quirk, that’ll switch you back to your world.”

He wasn’t in his world? That meant…

“Absolutely not,” Izuku went as far as to stomp his leg. “Not until you eat a proper meal for once.”

All Might had the gall to laugh at that.

Izuku turned to look at him. “That includes you, Toshichan!”

Despite their grumbling, the two of them allowed themselves to be led all the way to the cafeteria, along with Todoroki. Apparently Detective Tsukauchi had things to do that he had been neglecting for a while now.

The cafeteria was empty, save for Lunch Rush. Thankfully, he wasn’t too inconvenienced by their request for food, having given them the free reign of all the leftovers.

Izuku watched the other two - and Todoroki, for good measure - like a hawk, making sure they didn’t cheat but dropping the food under the table or into their pockets.

Under his sharp gaze, they finished their food in record time.

Only then did Izuku allow himself to be dragged to the infirmary.

Shaking hands with his mother took barely a second.

With a flash of the light, Izuku was sitting on one of the infirmary beds, glancing around curiously.

“Is this our Izuku?” All Might asked, his tone hopeful.

Izuku tilted his head. “Who else would I be?”

The man sighed with relief, patting him on the shoulder before turning his attention back to the other two, discussing something or another about other versions of Izuku having accrued quite a number of crimes over the past few days and how to deal with those, exactly.

Izuku used the lack of attention to slip into the nearest vent.

If he was a version of Izuku, all alone in a new world… Well. Now was the time to try out everything he wouldn’t dare to do back in his own world.

“He’s gone,” he heard Eraserhead say from beneath, and he could barely restrain his cackling. “FUCK!”

Izuku supposed he could be nice and not torment this world too much. But then again, when would he ever get another chance like that?

Restraining himself to a single hour of meddling, he decided to erase this world’s Izuku’s crimes as a parting gift before making his way back.

Accessing the secret computer his father hid in one of the larger areas of the vents was child’s play. The password was exactly the one Izuku had expected it to be, and before half a minute passed, he had access to all of the data and recordings.

And, boy, his predecessors were up to no good. Kidnapping a girl from Yakuza? Breaking two villains out of Tartarus? Orchestrating the returning of quirks to two pro heroes? They were busy.

Izuku spent his self-restricted hour testing out the defences on some of the world’s most interesting places - Pentagon, Luvr, MI6 and the like - using the chance to prepare for when he would go properly snooping around back in his world.

He also modified the recordings of his own body committing various crimes, changing the witnesses’ statements and other records.

It would get noticed, of course, but they would have no way of tracing what happened, exactly. It would give just the slightest bit of leverage his father would need to press their advantage.

After a moment of thought, he stuffed the files full of blackmail on whoever would be most likely to access them, just to hammer the point home.

He made his way over to his father’s office once he was done with that.

And what a perfect timing he had - Eraserhead and All Might were already inside, discussing his disappearance after they had apparently spent the last hour or so looking all around for him.

He wondered briefly why father didn’t tell them Izuku spent the entire time inside the vents, but in the long run, it didn’t matter.

Dropping the vent crate down on the floor, he noisily clambered out, grabbing everyone’s attention.

“...Vents…” Eraserhead said, as if mentally slapping himself for missing something so obvious.

“Indeed!” Izuku and Nedzu said at the same time. Izuku turned to exchange a wide grin with his father.

“Let us proceed,” Izuku said, walking towards the large desk. “I have quite a number of responsibilities waiting for me back home.”

“I’m sure you do,” Nedzu nodded politely, fully aware of where Izuku had wandered over during his brief disappearance.

They clasped hands, and with a soft flash of light-

Izuku looked down at his hand holding the Principal’s hand before all the blood escaped from his head.

“What happened?” He asked, turning around, facing weirdly hopeful faces of All Might and Aizawa-sensei. Why were they all in the principal’s office? Was he being expelled?

“What’s the last thing you remember?” All Might asked, scooching a little forward on his chair.

“I was in the cafeteria,” Izuku recalled, his memories weirdly fuzzy. “My stomach hurt, and I thought I was coming down with something and Uraraka asked if I was feeling alright… And then I was just, here.”

Three sighs of relief sounded from all directions.

“Why?” Izuku asked, not sure if he wanted to know the answer. “What happened.”

“That cafeteria scene? That was three days ago,” Eraserhead said, starting his explanation. “You were affected by a quirk…”