Chapter Text
The gaming had finished once they were called for dinner, Izuku's stomach still feeling uncomfortable as he sat at the table. It was like he had eaten a heavy meal only an hour before, and the thought of eating any more made nausea rise up his throat.
It was strange, and hopefully a dying feeling.
Izuku suspected it had something to do with the Rewind. He'd hardly eaten over the weekend, the cramping in his stomach quickly becoming this feeling. So, that conclusion was possible - had the sudden use of a Quirk that altered his body and mind forced him to regress by four years effected him in other functions?
Or the stress and shock of the situation had caused him to lose his appetite.
That in itself was plausible, and had happened before. Years back, when Izuku first discovered he was never going to have a Quirk. At the tender age of six, the shock and stress had been so much he'd simply stopped eating. (He'd ended up in hospital, one far from home, one of few who accepted Quirkless patients).
He stared at the food on his plate, biting the end of his tongue and slumping slightly in his chair, lost in thought. Hizashi had piled the meal on, an English meal, one Izuku hadn't tried. He'd had bits and pieces before, at stalls in towns, but never this specific combination.
Sausage and mash with thick, English gravy (he could have sworn he'd heard the blonde shout out 'bangers and mash', which would have caught his attention under different conditions).
Izuku wished he was hungry. He tried to take a bite, but the mash he'd put in his mouth had made his gut twist when he swallowed, and it had been all he could manage without the bile rising up his throat.
"Midoriya."
Izuku flinched, blinking out of his haze and looking up at Shouta, whose eyebrows were pinched and mouth twitching into a frown. In fact, all three were looking at him, their own meaks half finished, and Izuku flushed red.
Izuku shook his head lightly. "Iz-Izuku, please. Please call me Izuku." It was strange to hear the name Midoriya - no one called him it. He was an assortment of names, many not too pleaseant, a few understandable, but never Midoriya.
Shouta nodded, but his expression didn't change. "Okay, Izuku. You need to eat." Izuku nodded, rubbing his arm and looking away. "I k-know, it's just," he licked his lips, "I'm not, uh, I'm not hungry."
Hizashi frowned then, putting down his fork. "Oh Listener, is it the food? Do you not like it?" Izuku shook his head quickly, straightening slightly. "No! I mean - I mean yes! The foods fi-fine! I just don't feel well!" His mouth moved quicker than he could think of the words, stumbling over them and speaking faster than he could hear what he was saying.
Shouta sighed, rubbing his eyes. "We'll head to Recovery Girl's after dinner, eat what you can for now. We need to see Nezu anyway." Izuku startled again, eyes wide. He'd heard a lot about the principle of UA, but meeting him was ridiculous.
Insane.
"Wh-Why?" Hitoshi rolled his eyes, leaning back in his seat. "Don't be stupid. The answer is obvious." With another thought it was, but Izuku couldn't be blamed. There was a lot on his mind, and it was causing him to react without thinking.
And that was stupid, because Izuku was clever.
He nodded, reaching to curl his finger around his longer hair, biting his tongue for a minute. He didn't try for another bite, and let himself once again sink into his mind. He ran over what he could remember from the walls, eyes widening slightly when he realised the pencil was still in his pocket and his bag still on the desk.
He should probably try to write down everything, make sure nothing else slipped his mind. He should write down everything that happens now too, in case he forgot when he turned back to normal. Fear bloomed at that, gnawing at him, making his heart beat just a little faster.
Whose to say it will be him when he gets turned back? This version of him shouldn't exist, but to him the version that was supposed to be there wasn't real, was dead. What if he died and that version came back?
A part of him, a deep selfish part, realised he didn't want to be changed back.
But he also knew that wasn't fair. The World knew an Izuku that wasn't him, someone who had and would save them. If he had had All Might's Quirk, then Izuku was nothing compared to the Quirkless Deku he was now.
There were people waiting for him to come back, not him.
Another thought bit down on hard Izukju, eyes widening wider as an excitement burst through him. He looked up, meeting the suddenly aware Shouta's, lips quirking up in a smile. There was no doubt to the answer to his question.
"Is Kacchan at UA?"
Shouta's eyes twitched, Hizashi roaring into a laugh and Hitoshi looking at his phone, before holding his hand out. "Four hours, hand it over." Izuku's shoulders slumped, confusion evident on his face as Shouta grabbed something from his pocket, before dropping a clump of yen into the waiting hand.
A few seconds passed and Shouta sighed louder, Hizashi's laughs dropping into the occasional snigger behind his hand as Hitoshi counted out the yen. "Yes, Bakugou is in UA. You and Bakugou are both in class 2A. No, you cannot see him."
Izuku frowned, licking his lips and biting the end of his tongue for a second. "Wh-Why?" Rolling his eyes minimally, Shouta ran a hand down his face. "You and Bakugou have a rivalry, and although I have no doubt he wouldn't take the matter seriously, I fear something might trigger between you."
Hizashi nodded, suddenly serious.
"You and Bakugou have put a lot of work into developing your relationship, and you have both come so far. But it wasn't easy. If Bakugou saw you as the current you, we worry he might revert, regress in the progress."
Izuku shook his head, biting his lip. "But - But that's not fair! Kacchan-"
"'Kacchan doesn't know any different, he is just meeting me the way he was taught', yeah, we've heard it before Izuku." Hitoshi's voice was bitter, as if he had a personal vendetta against those specific words. Izuku sunk in his seat slightly, feeling like a kicked puppy.
He knew he meant nothing to Katsuki Bakugou, but he was a constant in Izuku's life. He was always there, and Izuku looked up to him with an admiration he didn't even have for Heroes. He had promised they were going to be Heroes when they were little, and he had been determined to keep that promise.
If it wasn't for it, he would have given up a long time ago.
Shouta sighed, eye closed and pinching the bridge of his nose. Izuku perked up when the two heroes shared a glance, the blonde nodding, and Hitoshi rolled his eyes with a groan. (It dawned on him suddenly that he was still a stranger in this house).
"In a few days, if everything goes smoothly until then, we will consider letting you two meet. Under one condition," Izuku nodded frantically, a smile on his face, splitting his face in half, "there is an adult present at all times. And by that, I mean me or Hizashi."
Izuku nodded, hunching into a quick bobbed bow. "Thank you!"
They settled back into an idle conversation and Izuku tried to keep out of it, laughing and stuttering out his answers, dodging questions about his hobbies. He understood their intentions, but he didn't know how to answer.
Most people skipped over him when they found out he was Quirkless.
It wasn't too long before Shouta stood with a glance at his phone, nodding to Izuku. "Come on then Problem Child, it's a good few minutes walk to UA. Your shoes are by the door." Izuku nodded, bititng the tip of his tongue.
He could do this.
Shouta led him to the front door, slipping on his own shoes and swiping Izuku's hand away as she went for the beat up red ones he knew were his (the laces had green markings on). "They're too big on you. We've got some old pairs of Hitoshi's for now, ones in your size. Sorry."
Izuku bit his li, nodding and took the black trainers handed to him, dropping to the floor and pulling them on. Shouta was doing something on his phone, tip toeing back into the kitchen to speak to Hizashi, and Izuku rushed to drag them on.
He pulled the laces as loose as he could before pushing his toes in, wincing at the side of his small toe rubbed harshly against the side, squeezing uncomfortably against his other toe, and pressed his heel in quickly, trying not to think of the way his foot contortted, skin pulling to fit.
He cut off the blood supply successfully when he tied to laces, wiggling his toes the little they could and standing, taking a step to get his bearings. It was okay, he could do it. He'd done it before.
He just needed to make sure to shift his weight often.
He suppressed the slight annoyance, knowing it wasn't Shouta's fault. There wasn't much information about Quirkless anatomy anymore, much less on their feet. Shouta couldn't have known about the crooked shape of Izuku's pinky toe, nor the bigger heel and fatter shape of his foot overall.
Izuku had looked for years to find shoes that fit him, ones built for him, and the ones he did were exotic and underground. Mostly brought my Quirked individuals trying to pass as Quirkless to efficiently sell and smuggle drugs in the extra foot space.
Shouta can't have known.
The man reappeared, nodding to Izuku and pocketing his phone. "Let's go." The air was cold when they stepped out into it, and Izuku realised suddenly he was still in the fluffy trousers, not leaving the door when Shouta did.
The man raised an eyebrow, dropping his gaze to the pyjamas, and huffed a laugh. "It's fine, many walk throughout the building in their pyjamas after hours. Now come." Having only Shouta's word to trust, he nodded and followed.
It was colder outside, the sky darkening and the sounds of the road a comforting background noise. Izuku looked around, furrowed his eyebrows when the next house was a good fifty yards away, two cars parked besides the house.
The house opposite was different, only the width of the road away, and backed onto a wall. Similarly, the back of Shouta's house was connected to a wall, the garden going around the side.
He didn't have time to wonder what type of prison street they were on, Shouta leading him to one of the cars. "If you sit shotgun, there's seat warmers. If you sit in the back, there's a blanket. It's your choice."
Izuku opted for the back, pulling the blanket over himself at Shouta's glance, wiggling slightly. He yawned as they started moving, eyes heavy for a few blinks. "Try not to sleep yet, it's only a few minutes."
Izuku nodded, sitting up and watching out the window as they turned a corner on the road, towards a large gate. It was metal, a small wallway on either side, and a barrier in front. Shouta didn't stop as he approached it, a small light on the barrier flashing from red to green and it opening, along with the gate, in time for him to drive through.
Izuku looked behind them, eyes widening when he only saw the steep gradients of a hill, cutting off at the walls. Shouta huffed a laugh. "Hero communities are gated, heavily. Nezu built that street through the middle of a large hill that cut off the side of the schools property. Keep us close and safe."
Izuku furrowed his eyebrows, turning slowly. "School?" His question was answered quickly when Shouta indicated, headed towards the gates of a large building, the structure ingrained in his mind.
UA.