Chapter Text
"Run through the plan again."
"Fucking hell we've been through this five times already. He knows the fucking plan!"
"I don't doubt that Katsuki, but it's for my own peace of mind-"
Izuku sighed, tuning out Kacchan and Hitoshi's arguing. He turned to Mei and Kyouka - the only ones doing anything productive in the bunker. "How long do you think we have?"
"Anywhere from five minutes to two days; you know how they are," Kyouka answered, "We're lucky to even have that."
The door opened and in an instant everyone was silent and poised to strike. When Neito's head popped in through the cracks everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
"We have security measures for a reason, asshole."
"Of course, of course." Neito entered with his charge: a young teen with long auburn hair and brilliant blue eyes, "But do they really matter when soon they won't even exist?"
Kacchan fumed where he stood seemingly about to jump Neito when the young girl spoke up. "I-it's an honour to w-work with you!" She bowed at almost a perfect 90 degree angle.
"Should be us saying that to you little cutie!" That was Mina. What she was doing in the corner earlier was anyone's guess.
"Chou here will be sending Izuku back so we can fix the garbage fire of our post-graduation lives." Neito continued, "How far are we sending him, again? Surely the start of our first year will be fine."
"Not quite." Everyone's heads snapped to Izuku who stood and shut the door. "By then all of All for One's plans would already be mostly in motion. If we really wanted to nip it in the bud, I would need to be sent back no earlier than 18 years - when we were nine. That's when All for One went into hiding after his fight against All Might. And remember, Chou-chan's Quirk is rather unstable, so we should aim a little before then just in case."
"Aaaaaaand done!" Mei shouted, drawing attention to her as she held up her newest 'baby', "This baby should help stabilize the Quirk and make you much less likely to be lost in the time stream and thus up your chances of success!" She then attached it to Chou's arm and stood back to admire her final work, "It's on automatically so whenever you're all ready to go we can start."
Everyone took a second to collect themselves and huddle into a circle in the center of the safe-house, Izuku and Chou in the middle. "Now remember, don't-"
"-Change too much, get All Might killed, have One for All end, die, be incapacitated, reveal too much to too many, fail the entrance exam, get expelled, get caught doing villain and/or vigilante activities, get Kacchan killed, get Mei killed, get Eri killed, get Aizawa killed, get Nezu killed, prevent Eri from being born, spoil any TV shows/games/movies, or become involved with the yakuza. I get it Hitoshi."
"Just wanted to make sure."
"Izuku," Mei started, "Remeber, if you want me to make something for you with minimal questions, turn in form T2-A."
Izuku nodded and stepped towards Chou. "I guess," He smiled the brightest smile he'd made in years, "I'll see you all on the other side."
Chou and Izuku held hands, skin on skin, Chou's right with Izuku's right. The support gear Mei made hummed to life as Chou started to glow.
The glow slowly spread up his arm to the rest of his body. He closed his eyes and felt the girl's quirk pull him in, backwards. It felt strange - it wasn't as if it was a physical pull, but more a metaphysical pull. Then Izuku felt his metaphysical self fly backwards through the time stream. He watched as his life rewound before him - the Final Battle, the Fall of Kyoto, the Floods, Invasion Day, the Autumn Murders, when he opened his own agency, graduation, his third, second, first years at UA, training with All Might, the Sludge Villain, the first day of middle school, when his dad went on his business trip, when Kacchan turned his back on him, wait too far, too far- when he was proclaimed Quirkless, when Kacchan got his quirk.
Then he saw only black.
I'm in a bed. Was Izuku's first thought when he regained consciousness. I'm in a really soft bed.
He opened his eyes slowly, careful of the light difference between the room and the bunker, and saw All Might's beaming smile on the wall next to him. Recognizing the poster, he shot up and looked around.
It was his room. His childhood room. Not many posters, or figures, or really any merch at all. His bookshelf had mostly comic books and kid's books (as well as that really old novel his Dad bought. What was it again? Something about Musketeers?), and the old computer he used to spend so much time watching hero fights - mostly All Might's debut - on. Yes, Izuku thought, this is definitely my room. Then he remembered what he saw in the jump back and- oh no.
Izuku threw his covers off, launched off the bed (Too low, too short, too-), and in his rush to the calender almost knocked himself out on the edge of his too-large desk.
It was Sunday, December 12th, 22XX. Izuku was three years old. He was sent back too far.
Izuku sighed, there's nothing he could do about it now, and it's not like he wasn't sent back far enough. He just had extra time to plan things out and act. Nothing to worry about. Deep breath in, and out. In, and out. There, better. Run through the positives and hard facts: Him having more time is the most obvious; seeing Mum alive, seeing Dad at all; no Noumu - they didn't exist yet (thank any and all deities out there); Kacchan didn't yet have his Quirk, so he wasn't too much of an asshole yet; All Might wasn't injured; he's still Quirkless, but that was easily manageable; no bullies; hardly any of his peers had manifested their quirk at all, actually; Shigaraki was still a kid and should be eight? Nine? Something like that; he knew the current location of Dr. Tsubasa, also known as Ujiko Daruma; most importantly: it worked. It worked and he's in the past. He can change things, save people, stop Shigaraki.
"Izuku! Honey, it's time to wake up!"
He turned toward the voice and saw his mother opening the door. He stared at her, even when he felt tears building, and accidentally let out a sob. Inko rushed to him and engulfed him in a warm, comforting hug. Gods, he missed this. "Izuku, honey, what's wrong?"
He melted into the embrace and let it all out. It took nearly ten minutes of hugs and soft reassurances from Inko before he managed to collect himself. He sniffed and - reluctantly - pulled back. "S-sorry. I h-had a ni-nightmare."
Inko's face softened at this, "Oh Izu, it's ok. Why? I'm here!"
Izuku giggled at this and spoke a childish "Yeah!" Inko's face brightened and gave him another brief hug. "Why don't you freshen up and get dressed? Breakfast will be ready soon and your father should be back with some groceries afterwards. I have to go to work after that, so you two can have a boys day!"
Smiling, Izuku powered through his emotions, bid farewell to his mother, and flicked on the TV. Instead of the cartoons and anime Inko put on before she left, Izuku had the morning news playing. After two stories (both hero fights; the latest All Might fight and the 'new' hero Present Mic), Izuku heard the door open.
"I'm home!" Izuku felt unsettled by the voice. It was his father, he knew, but something seemed a little more familiar about it. Like he had heard it in more recent years - and never in a good way.
"Welcome ba-" As soon and he laid eyes on Hisashi, he went as pale as a ghost. He knew that face. He knew it, and knew it wasn't good. He had kicked that face in, felt relieved when all life left it. Saw that face on too many battlefields, causing too many deaths - of civilians, of friends, of family. He knew that face and stared wide-eyed at it's owner, colour still absent from his own.
"Oh shit."
Oh shit was right. The man that stood in front of Izuku, his father, Midoriya Hisashi, was also the 200 year old supervillain All for One. Not the humble, fire-breathing salaryman he thought his father was.
But he has slightly more pressing issues right now, the expression on his Dad's face told that he had said that aloud.
"Izuku, where did you learn that?" Hisashi - All for One, apparently - said with a stern expression.
"I- uh- er- All for- you- Dad- wha-" Ok deep breath, calm. Fix this. "A-Aunt Mitsuki." Hisashi raised an eyebrow.
"Mitsuki." He deadpanned. Izuku nodded so fast you'd think he'd get whiplash. "Right. Well, how about you help me put all of this away? There might be a suprise in it for you."
Izuku all but leapt off the couch, eager to get away from his embarrassment with almost revealing himself not even an hour after he jumped back - to All for One of all people!
It didn't take long for the groceries to be put away; there weren't many of them to begin with. With a quick "C'mere", Izuku was lifted and seated on Hisashi's hip. "So, little man," Hisashi started, "Want to tell me the reason 'Aunt Missy' is suddenly 'Mitsuki'?"
Izuku froze, looking like a deer in headlights, "Uh. I practiced?" Damn Izuku's luck. And poor lying skills.
One of Hisashi's eyebrows lifted almost to his hairline. "And the reason why you know my alias? Or perhaps the reason why when you saw me you looked as though you were staring death in the face?"
"I- um- er-" Izuku stammered. He knew, in this moment, he fucked up. He knew from the beginning suddenly being a 27 year old in a 3 year old body would be jarring, and that it'd take some time to adjust. He knew he'd act strange and different to how he was supposed to have acted yesterday to everyone else. He also knew that he'd have to reveal at least something sooner or later to his parents. But he didn't think it'd be to All for One, ever.
Izuku took a deep breath to calm himself, as well as to prepare himself for everything.
"I-" He started, feeling not at all prepared for this. "Not really, no."
"Let me rephrase then. Tell me. Now. You have ten seconds to start explaining." Izuku contemplated telling a lie, then scrapped that plan almost as soon as he thought of it. He was never a good liar, and never really had the need to learn how to be. All for One would see through it instantly, if he didn't already have a Quirk for that. No, Izuku's only option was the truth. It would be forced out of him one way or another, but at least this way he could control what the supervillain learned.
"Would you believe me if I said time travel?"
"Time travel?" All for One stared at him in mild disbelief, but whether that was from what Izuku said or how easily he caved, Izuku didn't know.
Izuku nodded, "Yes. Time travel."
Hisashi walked the two of them to the dining table and sat Izuku down across from where he then sat. "Go on," he prompted.
"Well, to uh, to put it simply, everything went to shit. Noumu were everywhere and what was left of civilization was being hunted by them as well as an overpowered Shigaraki Tomura hellbent on revenge. We were incredibly lucky that Chou-chan was still alive and willing to help us - she hasn't been born yet so don't even think of looking for her - and it was a majority decision for me to be the one to go back. But Chou-chan can't exactly practice her quirk so it's unstable and the further back someone is sent then the less accurate it'll be. I was meant to arrive about the time when I was nine, but, uh, here we are I guess. Though I wonder if it's possible for her to use it on herself? And if so would that allow her to get more practice that will carry over after the jump? What would happen to someone if they're sent back to before they technically existed-"
"Izuku, you're mumbling." He jolted out of his mumbling session and looked back up.
"Right. Sorry, I um, never really broke the habit. Anyway, in the end there was maybe a thousand or two people left, with six of us being heroes and one being our support technician. It's unknown how many Noumu there were - do you know what a Noumu is? Wait you shouldn't because when they first appeared they were still in the experimental stage, nevermind - but there was an estimate of at least 3500 when they were at their peak and approximately 500 in the end, but there could've been more." Thank god that Hitoshi couldn't see him right now. He could imagine the disapppointed stare his friend learned from Aizawa-sensei.
All for One just stared at Izuku, contemplating what he was just told. He took a breath and exhaled. "As ridiculous as this all sounds, I have no reason to doubt you - I have a lie detecting quirk," Hah, called it. "But since you told me so very willingly, I won't tell Inko," Izuku sighed in relief, "yet. She will have to know eventually. Now." Hisashi reached into his pocket and took out an All Might themed cookie. Izuku brightened up immediately when he saw it.
"Is- is that an All Might Chocolate SMASH™ cookie?!"
"Perhaps. And it's all yours." Izuku reached for it and immediately began tearing up as he stared at it in his hands.
"These haven't been in production since the factory blew up back when I was 8 and the recipe was lost! Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" Hisashi grunted as he was tackled by his 3(27) year old son, but a smile quickly found its way onto his face.
"I could always get the recipe for you so we can make them at home if you want-"
"Really?! Oh but please try and keep the illegality of it down."
"I'll certainly try." Hisashi said, huffing a laugh.
Soon the two of them had settled onto the couch and were watching TV, basking in a familiar warmth.
"Hey, Dad?"
"Yes, Izuku?"
"Do you have a spare notebook I could use?"
Notes of Future-Past
Volume 1
Page 1: Introduction
If you somehow found and worked out the code to this, congratulations. That must have taken quite a lot of work you probably should have spent on something else.
I am Midoriya Izuku, hero name Deku, and this will be the first of a (potential) series of notebooks, seperate to my analysis ones. It will contain all I can remember of major events and people leading up to the day I traveled back in time.
When I woke up after the time travel quirk was used, it was the morning of the 12th of December 22XX - exactly 24 years, give or take a few hours. That's 24 years of people and events to observe, remember, and potentially recreate or change.
Each entry will have a double spread, with the page on the left what originally happened during that event/that individual's profile for the previous timeline, and the page on the right will be reserved for the changes in this new timeline. If the right page is blank, that means the event has yet to happen, or I have yet to meet the individual to document any changes. As I will also (re)create my analysis series (albeit, neater than last time and in a different code to this series), some profiles will double up. However, the profiles in this series will focus more on the person as a whole and the differences between them in the two timelines, rather than strictly analysis of their quirk and battle prowess.
Please note, I cannot be certain what theory time follows, and what effect my actions will ultimately have. For now I will assume and act as if it is the butterfly effect, but again, I'm not certain.
I'll end this introduction here, but it should also be noted that I'll add entries of people when I remember to or if I meet the person again, and entries of events in the order they happened in the previous timeline. If there are events that didn't happen last time, I'll add them as they occur.