Chapter Text
Izuku’s eyes flickered back and forth between Eri and the man in front of him and took a deep breath.
He crouched in front of Eri and whispered, “Get on my back and use your quirk as much as you can as soon as I start moving. We’re doing this, together. It’ll all be okay as long as I am here .”
“I don’t want to hurt you…” she whispered in response.
“You won’t, trust me. Anything that happens is all my fault, okay?” She climbed onto his back. “No matter what happens, none of this is your fault,” he whispered to her as he straightened up.
Izuku readied his battle stance and tuned into the vestiges in his head rambling about how to best win.
From where he hovered next to Izuku, Kaiji spoke up, “You could use Gearshift? He wouldn’t be as mobile if you managed to hit him.”
Izuku nodded to himself, agreeing with Kaiji silently. While he did not like his odds of being able to touch Overhaul, it did seem like his best option. He activated Gearshift, feeling it come to life within him the way all of the quirks gifted to him by the vestiges did, and was as ready for this as he would ever be.
Izuku felt his body spark to life as Full Cowling sparked across his skin. Once he felt himself pushed all the way to one hundred percent he ran at Overhaul, with Eri clinging to him from behind, her quirk creating a glowing aura all around them.
It certainly wasn’t a long fight. Even given Overhaul’s quirk, no one could stand up to the power of One for All’s legacy.
Compared to the fight earlier with Mirio, it was almost pitifully easy to get up close enough to touch Overhaul.
But when he used Gearshift… it didn’t quite happen the way he was expecting.
That much could certainly be seen by the way that the world went dark.
This wasn’t good.
Opening his eyes, Izuku could still hear the screams in his ears as Eri panicked, and Overhaul attacked. He did not have her weight on his back now though, and a quick glance around told him his life was not in immediate peril.
Slowly, he looked around. This definitely wasn’t where he had been before. First of all, this was an alleyway, not a wide street, not to mention far dirtier.
The vestiges were being loud right now, so Izuku took the moment to listen.
“I know it was Gearshift,” he heard Kaiji snap from somewhere behind him, sounding defensive. “But that is not how my quirk works! That girl did something.”
Nana huffed. “Blame the child, sure Kaiji.”
This was less than helpful, Izuku decided as he pushed himself to his feet with a sigh. Then he heard Yoichi’s voice, ever the peacemaker among them.
“A combination of Gearshift and Rewind could have produced this time lapse. So, in theory we could be anywhere in time,” Sanzou said with a thoughtful look.
“Can you be more specific?” Izuku asked aloud, knowing he could be heard by others and not particularly caring at the moment. He certainly could have just responded in his head, but that took effort he was not willing to deal with right now, not when he had zero idea what was going on.
Footsteps came from behind him and he swirled around to see…
Yoichi?
Not his Yoichi, at least not the one standing next to him with a shocked look on his face - this one was flesh and bone. He was tempted to run up to the man, to hug him and be held by him in the way that he’d never really gotten to be held by the Yoichi in his head. But this Yoichi didn’t know him. This Yoichi wasn’t his Yoichi, at least not yet.
The longer Izuku stared at the Yoichi in front of him the more he realized he looked exhausted, covered in sweat and out of breath. It did not change the concern that shone through the eyes he was so used to seeing in spirit.
“Are you alright?”
Izuku turned his head to look at his Yoichi , seeing realization shine through, and turned back. At least one of them understood, he guessed, but it would be preferable if that someone was him. He was in the past, before Yoichi died, without a doubt.
When the living Yoichi asked him again if he was alright, Izuku decided he was better off being honest. “I don’t know.”
A nod, then, “We can’t stay here.”
“This is way too confusing, Izuku, call me Ichi, kay?” Yoichi said in his head.
Izuku nodded just slightly to his Yoichi, now Ichi.
When a hand was held out to him, Izuku did not hesitate to grab it. He may not know this iteration of Yoichi, but he did know Ichi, and he trusted him. Together they ran.
This was his chance. He could maybe even fix things. Maybe Ichi, his father figure who’d been beside him throughout everything since getting One for All, didn’t have to die. Maybe he could save them all before any of this happened.
After a moment, Izuku heard a voice from beside him.
“Oh.” Ichi hesitated a moment, “I do believe we are farther back in time than expected.”
Kaiji scoffed, “If seeing your alive body isn’t enough, no wonder.”
“I haven’t seen you around here before,” the actual Yoichi said to him.
“I think my q-“ he started
“Metapower,” Ichi corrected in his head.
“metapower misfired. I actually don’t know where here is.”
“We’re on the outskirts of Nomazu.”
“Modern day Mufastu,” Sanzou corrected helpfully, “The original city was destroyed in 2073 when the quirk wars were at its peak.”
“I think we’re in July of 2036,” Ichi said after a moment of thought.
Izuku skidded to a halt at that, the concept shocking him. "2036?" He hissed aloud, looking at Ichi.
"Hey, focus!" Banjo snapped at him, gesturing at the Yoichi that stopped a few feet away to look back at him curiously, if not slightly panicked.
"Just tell him-"
"I hit my head back there," Izuku confessed in unison to the voice giving instructions in his mind. He rubbed the back of his skull as if to prove his point.
Yoichi winced, but seemed to accept his answer. "We can look at it later, alright? Right now we have to keep moving."
Ichi shook his head unhappily. "If it is July of 2036, he's not going to slow down much. That was not a good month for me."
Izuku wanted to beg him to stop being cryptic for just a moment, and he did mentally, but aloud he just picked up his pace again to follow.
"Hisashi was a busy man during this time. I need to know the date to offer you more, Izuku."
Mission accepted. Izuku did the best he could as they ran to look for a newspaper, a wall sign, a billboard announcing an upcoming festival, anything to get a more accurate date. Finally, when they stopped just for a moment under an awning for a restaurant, he saw a daily menu sign at a cafe. July 17, 2036. Ichi had been correct.
"Are we being followed?" he asked, looking at the man next to him while the vestiges processed the current date. His companion froze, and looked at him warily.
"Why do you ask?" Yoichi asked.
“You’re clearly running from someone. Are we trying to lose them or just get somewhere safe quickly? My metapower could help,” Izuku offered.
“You have control of it?” Yoichi asked suspiciously, “Isn’t that what got you into this in the first place?”
“I have control of some of the aspects, others not so much. It’s pretty general and there’s a lot I can do with it,” Izuku recited from memory the lie he had so often told to explain “Superpower”.
It was easy to see the unease written all over Yoichi's face, bordering on mistrust. "That's vague," was all he said, though.
That was the point, Izuku thought, a sentiment echoed by the voices around him.
When no response was forthcoming Yoichi spoke again. "What part can help?"
"You need to keep moving," Ichi told him quickly. "Today is not a good day, if memory serves."
“If you give me directions, I can move faster than a normal person and carry you. Plus, it gives off a little smoke that’ll help conceal us.”
Yoichi squinted his eyes but eventually nodded, “Alright then, but do exactly what I say.”
“I don’t remember being this trusting,” Ichi piped up from within his head.
“You also were very innocent when we met. Do you know how many times I had to drag you away from what was clearly a trap just because you saw a person in danger? Too many times that's how,” Kaiji said without hesitation.
Yoichi waited for Izuku to move, letting the teen take the lead for just a moment until he was able to get a better grasp of what he could do. That was all Izuku needed as he picked the man up, his short stature looking slightly comical holding a much taller adult bridal style. There had to be a better way to do this.
Izuku shook his head, “This isn’t going to work. Get on my back, I’ll give you a piggyback ride.”
He set Yoichi down, who then clambered onto his back.
The moment Yoichi was secure, he set off in a run using One for All at 10%.
Despite the wind rushing past them Izuku shouted back to his companion, "Which way?"
"Turn left up ahead," was yelled back, just loud enough to be heard.
"No, keep going straight," Ichi instructed in his head.
Turning his head towards the voice in his head, a natural reaction he'd become accustomed to doing without any thought, he shouted, "Why?"
In his ear, he heard, "I don't think he'll go that way, it's closer to the beach!"
In his mind he heard, "He found me at the beach. Trust me, him not finding us is better."
Good enough for me, Izuku decided, running right past the left turn he was supposed to make.
"That was where you were supposed to turn!" Yoichi told him, sounding concerned and suddenly rather unsure.
"For what it's worth," En said calmly, "at least you sound less trusting now?"
Ichi sighed.
“Just trust me on this one,” Izuku said in a harsh whisper. “The beach isn’t a good idea today.”
Ichi directed him from within his head, allowing him to seamlessly weave through the streets towards the safehouse.
Yoichi didn’t complain, only saying, “How do you know the way?”
Izuku hesitated before just deciding that ominous was the best route, “This isn’t my first rodeo, Yoichi.”
He felt Yoichi stiffen up, “How… how do you know my name?” he asked threateningly.
“This isn’t my first time doing this,” he replied, opting for a more ominous option that implied he had precognition.
Yoichi hummed in confusion in his ear, evidently not sure how to respond to that as Izuku kept moving. He felt the tension building, but ignored it as they traveled.
The safehouse was far more normal than Izuku had expected it to be. It was just an apartment in the middle of a seemingly random neighborhood, as plain and generic as one could get. And, he supposed, that was sort of the point. An abandoned warehouse or a big center would stand out and make it obvious where they were hiding. The smaller and the more discreet the better, especially given that it was just the two of them.
Once they were securely inside and he had set the man down on his own two feet, however, Yoichi turned on him.
"How, exactly, have you done this before?" He snapped the question.
Izuku considered that for a moment, glancing around at the vestiges silently asking for advice. At least, hoping for something to say that wouldn't get Yoichi even more suspicious of him. Nobody said a word, and he glared around himself.
"I'm just going to be straight with you," he finally went with.
"Maybe don't?" Kaiji cut in before Izuku could say more. "Nothing you say right now is going to help you."
Without thinking Izuku snapped, "Where were you a minute ago?"
"Right here," Yoichi responded, and there were more emotions crossing the man's face than Izuku could keep up with. "Be straight with me how?"
Groaning, Izuku shook his head hard. Did this need to be this difficult? "I'm ninety- nine percent sure I sound crazy right now, so just hear me out?"
Yoichi hummed noncommittally.
“I have ghosts in my quirk, about seven and a half. They travel separately from me and relay information when they’re not giving me their quirks to use or boosting my strength.”
“And that’s the actual truth?”
“It is.”
“Interesting. And you didn’t obtain those ghosts from All for One?” Yoichi accused.
“Who’s that?” Izuku replied, playing dumb.
The look Yoichi shot him was intense, and might have been intimidating if a different white haired man wasn't grumbling in the background of his mind.
"The person I'm running from, who I'm starting to think you might be leading me towards."
Shrugging, Izuku decided to deny any further knowledge. "You said you were running from someone, one of my ghosts told me where to go, I listened. That's really all it was."
"How do you get such a diverse metapower? And what is a quirk?"
“Quirk, metapower, same thing. I’m from a pretty small town and we adopted the term before metapower was widely used. Dumb luck I suppose for how diverse it is,” Izuku shrugged as he began sweating slightly.
“Tell me,” Yoichi said, “If there was someone in danger what would you do?”
“Just be honest,” Ichi butted in.
“I’d save them, no matter the cost. If there is any chance to save someone, even at the cost of my own life, I’ll take it. Pretty much everyone has a greater life to look forward to than me.”
"That took a dark turn, Izuku," Nana scolded lightly, wrapping her arms around his shoulders.
"It's true, though," he told her, ignoring the look Yoichi was giving him, or maybe responding to it at the same time. Turning to him Izuku realized it was not going to be dropped easily.
"And what is that supposed to mean?"
"What did it sound like?"
"Is someone forcing you to use your, you said quirk, I think, in a way you don't want to use it?"
Let it be known that the truth isn’t the reason that Izuku freezes at this question, but he does nonetheless. There is a lot riding on this, “No…” he started slowly, “No. I’m doing as I please.”
That might not have been what Yoichi had wanted to hear if the look on his face after Izuku answered meant anything.
"I see."
Those words made Izuku feel a need to defend himself, though he didn't. He had been honest.
Ichi touched his shoulder next to him. "This is not going to be easy. Just keep going."
Yoichi took a deep breath, “Very well. Welcome to resistance, I suppose. May I have your name?”
“Oh, sorry I thought I introduced myself earlier, I’m Izuku, Izuku Midoriya. I know your first name from the others,” he gestured broadly around him at the vestiges, “but what’s your last?”
“Shigaraki, but please just call me Yoichi. I’m not a fan of my family.”
'Makes sense,' Izuku thought but didn't say. Instead, he asked, "So, how can I help?"
"Tell me a bit about yourself, maybe?"
A younger, less experienced Izuku would have just started talking about himself without any qualms. Izuku now thought about his answer first. "Maybe a question for a question? So we can get to know each other?"
"Don't you know enough about me from your ghosts?"
Shrugging, he said, "I know a bit, but it's rude to ask ghosts for personal information if you're not willing to share it yourself, isn't it?"
Ichi nodded, proud of the response.
"My name?"
"Given to me without me asking."
"Agreed, then," Yoichi sighed. "But I'm going first. How old are you?"
"Fifteen, about to turn Sixteen. How about you?"
"Is that your question?" A nod. "Thirty-six. Who are your parents?"
"Inko and Hisashi, though I don't know my dad very well. He left when I was young and my mom raised me."
Yoichi froze. “Hisashi? What’s his last name?”
Izuku skrunckled up his brow, “I actually don’t know, Mom never told me. I just kinda figured it wasn’t important.”
“You never told us your father’s name before, Izuku,” Nana said gently and glanced over at a frozen Ichi.
“My brother’s name is Hisashi,” Ichi whispered quietly.
In his head, away from the vestiges, Izuku quietly laughed at the similar reactions between both of the Yoichis.
In an effort to not break Yoichi's trust about his ghosts, Izuku asked aloud, "Why?"
It broke through Yoichi's distant stare, but the man took a moment to size Izuku up for what felt like the third time that afternoon. Finally the man responded, "The person I was running away from, his name is Hisashi."
"I don't know if alive you trusts Izuku or is just so caught off guard he blurted out the truth," En muttered, glancing between the two Yoichi's.
Ichi had not seemingly recovered as quickly as his counterpart, and stared blankly at En, then looked at Izuku again. "Are you sure your father is not the same Hisashi?"
In fact, Izuku wasn't. How should he know? All he could really do was shrug and shake his head, but it was hardly a fitting response either way.
“By chance…” Yoichi started slowly, “do you know what your father looked like?”
“Tall, short and fluffy white hair, red eyes. Mom showed me the pictures of him from my birth once or twice, but I don’t have any copies.”
Yoichi opened his mouth once and then closed it again, staring at Izuku with a horrified look on his face.
Next to him, Ichi silently pulled out his phone and opened the camera roll to show Izuku a picture of him in his youth next to his brother. The very same brother who Izuku had seen pictures in his mother’s photo album of.
In front of him, Yoichi did the same action, passing his phone to Izuku.
“By any chance, is this your father?” both Yoichi’s asked simultaneously.
All it took was the shocked and disturbed look on Izuku’s face for his answer to become apparent.
“You didn’t know,” Yoichi breathed out, tears gathering in the corners of his eyes.
“No,” gently pleading with tragedy spilling into his tone was all it took and both Yoichis pulled him into a tight hug.
It would all be fine, because his actual father figures were here.