Chapter Text
Prologue
2151 (The final day)
Aiden stood transfixed staring at the conflict that was happening in the sky above him. Deku was fighting three villains at once, some weird flying creature was attacking from all angles while a man in a black coat was launching blue fire. from the ground a purple gas cloud in a suit was creating portals and jabbing shards of metal through them to reappear close to the hero, cutting him rapidly all over his body.
The hero looked tired, even in the air it was clear to see he was barely keeping upright, he was still putting up a fight but it was draining from him at an increasing rate. If the stories were true then he had been fighting various villains non-stop for days at this point, the ‘League of Villains’ had finally gathered enough supporters to launch an all out attack and it seemed like the heavy hitters were here to take out the successor to the former number one hero. in Aiden’s opinion, the guy deserved the title as the fight had started out with the villains numbering roughly 3 hundred but Deku had left them in various states of capture across the district during the roaming fight that was taking place and had yet to falter. That didn’t seem like it would continue from this point though.
And then it happened, the flying creature pulled back at the last second, flaring its wings to obstruct the hero's vision, Deku faltered for a moment, and that was all it took, the momentary distraction earned him a metal shard through the back and that was the final straw. Coughing up blood the hero dropped, the villains watched from their various vantages as the hero dropped below the building line and into the streets below
Aiden activated his quirk, time stilling as he went in search of the fallen hero. He found him in a trash heap between two buildings, inches above the ground in the frozen time. Aiden moved himself to the ground by the heroes landing zone placing his knees below the hero’s head and neck before deactivating his quirk and time returned to its normal pace
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Izuku was in a haze, the fight had been hell and he was so very tired. He’d expected the fall to kill him and yet somehow after the impact with the ground he’d lost all feeling below his waist and yet somehow was still alive. As he stared up at the strip of sky visible between the rooftops above and the ringing in his ears subsided he became aware that he wasn’t alone, he started at the realisation but the stranger pressed his hands down onto his chest in an effort to stop him from moving
Izuku tried to channel One for All but it didn’t respond, his body was just too tired. His struggle stopped as a bone-weary chill settled over him
He rolled his head back to look up at the stranger and met his eyes as the man looked down at him, a small smirk on his face.
“Well you certainly fucked that up, Hero.” he said, cracking a slight smile.
Izuku coughed once and his vision went white “ ‘M sorry. Should have been better.. Should have been faster..” he tried to justify his failure but was interrupted by a bark of laughter
“Mate, you’ve been rocking their shit for days. I’m surprised you haven’t dropped dead from exhaustion alone at this point. You’ve got to be running on empty by now. Why didn’t you just stop?”
Izuku could barely summon the energy to speak “Couldn’t stop.. Needed to keep everyone safe..” he slurred
Another bark of laughter “Great job champ, you bought everyone else three days of slightly reduced stress and all it cost you was your life.. Well done, I guess?”
The chill lifted slightly as Izuku flushed in embarrassment “They needed time to *cough* set up a defensive line.. To get the civilians away-”
“Get them away to where? Japan is in flames right now, like, literally all of it is on fire.”
Izuku looked at him in bewilderment before replying in a soft broken voice “So I didn’t even help?”
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Aiden stared down at the hero, the guy looked so dejected, and Aiden could not for the life of him realise how the guy expected a different outcome
“Help? Jesus Christ mate, have you never heard of an unwinnable battle? There were thousands of those league of villains nutjobs and you went at them with a handful of fresh faces and a pocket full of dreams. What the fuck did you think would happen?” he asked, voice raising in incredulity
The hero actually fucking flinched at the raised voice, The guy could fight an endless stream of villains for days yet raising your voice was enough to have him practically folding in on himself
“Not just us… The other heroes were fighting too.. The Pro’s..they could have won this..”
“THE PRO’S! Are you fucking kidding me, Half of those assholes didn’t even bother to suit up and most of those who did jumped ship and joined the other side the second things started to turn.. How did you not even notice? I’ve been watching this mess for weeks and you’re the first person I’ve seen actually taking the fight to them.. Seriously, awesome work with that by the way. Awesome to watch you work. Kind of wish i was still in the villain game myself, You and I could have had a proper tussle.” he paused for a moment to imagine it “would have been bloody legendary” he said a genuine smile on his face
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The panic flared again and Izuku managed to choke out “Wait, You’re a villain?!?” before wracking his body with a coughing fit at the sudden movement
The self proclaimed villain raised a placating hand before holding it parallel to the ground before tilting it side to side “Kind of, Did a few odd jobs here and there but that’s how the system works back home, you’re either a hero or a villain, there’s no inbetween. And if you want to be a ‘Hero’ you have to give over every bit of your privacy to the government for ‘oversight’ reasons. So they can make sure you’re on the level, Yeah?” he paused briefly in his explanation, seemingly to check Izuku was still conscious before continuing “Me personally, I was never really one for oversight, and my quirk meant that getting caught doing… Well practically anything actually, is pretty much impossible, so I never signed up. Was much easier to just do as I pleased-”
A screech from the sky drew their attention upwards the black creature was circling above them
“Anywhere safe for you to be, Hero?” the stranger asked, and upon receiving a puzzled look he clarified “Anywhere safe for you to hide away from the beasties out to get you?”
Izuku tried to remember where he was exactly, maybe there was a nearby hero agency, he must have mumbled out loud as the stranger replied to the errant thought
“Not much point in that, those are the first spots being raided, and likely the first place they’d look for you.”
The small spark of hope that had ignited at the thought of safety was quickly extinguished, he tried to push himself upright but the stranger's grip held firm “There’s nowhere nearby. If I'm going to die, I’m at least going to try and do it upright”
“Mate, there's an arm length metal spike through your chest and your legs are pretty much paste at this point. I’m surprised you're not dead already. I didn’t ask for close, I asked if there was a place. If there is, I can get you there.” the stranger replied, giving Izuku the opportunity to reconsider.
Izuku thought about it. He was so tired. He just wanted to go home.
“Alright, good enough for me. Where’s home for you then?”
Izuku paused, had he spoken out loud again? He must have.. He looked at the ‘Villain’ and narrowed his eyes, he received a snort in reply
“Mate, I'm sorry to say it but you’re dead already, you're just too bloody stubborn to actually accept it.” and actually, when he thought about it, that made a lot of sense.
“Aldera district.. the apartment blocks near the middle school.. The central block.. Third floor.. Apartment 12”
“Fair enough mate, let's go” and then the stranger made to stand then with a sudden feeling of vertigo Izuku was in his mothers bed in his old apartment, the stranger sitting next to the bed in one of the dining room chairs.
“There’s nobody else here, not sure if your partner took your kid and got away or something, the place is empty so at least nobody is hurt here. Quite the All-Might collection your kid has though. Must be a big fan..” he trailed off as Izuku looked around in amazement
“This is my mom’s room! How are we here?” He looked at the ‘villain’ “Is your quirk teleportation?”
He again raised a palm parallel to the ground tilting it back and forth “something like that..” before leaning forward “So the All-Might collection is yours then? Bit old for action figures aren’t you?? He questioned
Izuku flushed “I’m 18.. I started collecting them when I was a kid-”
“Hold on!, what do you mean ‘When you were a kid’ You’re still a bloody kid. Fuck, you’re a year younger than I am. What the fuck were they thinking sending you out to fight on your own.” the stranger interjected
Izuku was immediately defensive. “Hey, I can fight, I might not be good for much but I can at least do that-”
He was cut off again “I bloody know, I was fucking watching” the stranger interjected before taking a calming breath “But you shouldn't have had to! You're just a kid, why was it your responsibility to drag half the villains in the prefecture on a merry chase while the ‘Adults’ dealt with the civilians and stragglers when..” he trailed off.
Izuku could feel the tears on his cheeks. He knew his overall mission had been a failure but he’d tried his hardest. all he could squeak out past the lump in his throat was “I’m sorry..”
The villain froze “jesus fuck.. You mean that dont you.. You’re genuinely sorry you couldn't do this all alone aren’t you..” he moved forward off the chair and knelt at the side of the bed “Kid, you went above and beyond. Fuck, you’re literally dying right now. You didn’t even get a proper chance to live..” Izuku was surprised to see tears in the man's eyes
“I’m sorry” he repeated “I should have fought harder.. Been stronger.. I should have been less useless-”
“You shut your fucking mouth!.” Izuku flinched at the outburst “Listen, You are not responsible for the world's problems. You are not the sole defender of everything..” the man took another steadying breath before continuing in a lower tone “Can I take off your mask?, I'd like to look at your face if you’d let me.”
Unable to speak, Izuku only nodded slightly
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Leaning up to pull the hood back and was shocked at just how weary the boy looked when his face was in plain view.
“Christ, kid.. You’ve really been through the wringer haven’t you.” he said with a sad shake of his head
The kid just looked at him with such an earnest look of confusion he couldn’t help but chuckle
“You don’t know how to respond to a question like that do you. Or maybe you're just not used to talking to strangers..” Aiden tapped his palm against his forehead “where are my manners, Aiden Cross, Alias name - Gheist, Pleasure to meet you kid.”
At this the kid's eyes went comically wide, he wheezed in a breath “The Gheist?.. U Rank European supervillain Gheist... World renowned master thief and suspected hitman Gheist?” the kid looked briefly panicked, then tired before finally setting on resignation
Aiden felt his mouth pull into a lopsided grin “heard of me then, have you?”
___________________________________________
‘Holy shit! There’s a legitimate supervillain sitting in my bedroom, How do I respond to this, Do I offer him tea? Do I beg for my life? Can I ask for his autograph? Would he go and grab me a notebook and sign it for me? Can I ask about his quirk?’ Izuku’s thoughts were running a mile a minute only stopping as the villi-.. Aiden barked out another laugh before momentarily vanishing and reappearing with a notebook and a pen in his hand.
“Greenie, you’re in no condition to offer me anything and I swear if you move I will tape you down to the mattress. You’re dying too soon as it is, If you end up speeding it along I’ll be pissed” He answered the mumbled diatribe with a stern look “Who should I make this out to? Or should I stick with calling you ‘Kid’ or ‘Greenie’?” he asked, nodding to the notebook indicating with the pen that he was preparing to write with
Izuku felt his heart falter at the reminder of his current situation, looking down at his body he saw that he had been tucked into the bed with the blanket folded below his arms. The metal spike in his chest was much shorter now and the end looked like it had been sawed away a few inches away from where it met flesh; there were also bandages and cold compresses pressed in around the wound. ‘Did I pass out at some point?’
“Nah kid, It’s my quirk. It gave me a chance to patch you up on the way over here.”
“But I thought your quirk was teleportation?” Izuku queried
“Nah, nothing so fancy as all that. It’s a little esoteric, if I’m honest, and I’ve never made it my business to share what it can do with anyone” Aiden replied cautiously and somewhat bashfully “Never had anyone to share it with, to be honest”
Izuku felt confused ‘So it’s not teleportation, but it allows instantaneous travel..’
His thoughts were cut off “Don’t go trying to puzzle it out with that clever brain of yours, ‘Far as I can tell, It doesn’t strictly make sense, as far as logic is concerned, so it’ll be easier for me to just tell you.” he paused a moment “Tell you what, I’ll tell you my story, and answer your question, if you tell me yours?” he asked, looking Izuku in the eye.
Izuku nodded enthusiastically
“Fair enough.” He paused briefly to arrange his thoughts “So, I got my quirk a little late. I was 9 when it finally came in. Doctors never really understood it, I think it was mostly because I could never properly explain it, but how does a 9 year old explain that they can make and break conceptual bonds? I figured that bit out pretty instinctively as one day I woke up and could suddenly see strings connecting everything. It was when I was written off as ‘not of note’ that things really started to get messy. I’d spent years waiting for it so I was determined to do something… I should have known when I was better off. First thing I bloody did with it was ruin my life.” he finished with a mirthless chuckle “I accidentally cut my self out of time during one of my experiments. I was so desperate to prove that I was special that I went for the thickest line I could find and just… *Chop* Literally froze the passage of time for nearly a year before I decided to find the lines I’d cut and reattach the ends together.. It’s funny, that year I spent alone might have been both the best and worst thing that ever happened to me.. It taught me to be happy alone. I didn’t need to eat, I didn't age, my body was frozen in that moment but my mind was still there.. I read books. Christ, I read a lot of books.. I learned so much. I don’t know if it's part of the quirk but anything I learn when I’m in that frozen time is always fresh.. It’s like I’ve just learned it. And it never loses that crystal clarity.. Never fades away..” he broke off, eyes glazed and looking off into some far off horizon only he could see.
Izuku sat in silence for a moment captivated by the story, he waited a beat and was about to probe for more when Aiden shook his head as if coming back to himself
“That was the problem, see, I’d get lost in my own mind. Even when time was flowing naturally again, my thoughts still ran at that accelerated pace. With everything in crystal clear focus and me able to focus on everything all at once… outside of that frozen space everything started to feel dull. So I'd spend more and more time there.. Too much time.” Aiden trailed off pausing in thought before picking up the story again
“I forgot what it was like to care for people. I spent so long alone that I genuinely began to forget how to feel. I think that was the tradeoff. My mind could work at the accelerated pace but my body went into a form of stasis. You know that's what feelings are right, little chemical reactions happening in your brain all the time. Eventually I just stopped coming out of the frozen time for a while, I’d wander aimlessly, gathering as many memories as I could and then I’d start time up again and just feel the memories. The problem with that though was that eventually I ran out of things to do. You can only get so far in the body of a 9 year old. So I forced myself to stop for a while. I hated every agonising second of it but I finally managed to grow up. Hit that fabled growth spurt I was always told about and after years of work to get myself as strong as I could be, I finally left home. My family were practically strangers to me at that point.. I don’t even know if they looked for me. I certainly never went back to them.. How awful is that?” He asked rhetorically “I’ve been walking ever since. I don’t get tired anymore, I don’t get anything anymore. I just walk. I look for new things. I’ll sometimes spend a while with strangers and see if there's anything I can do to help but for the most part I could never bring myself to actually care. I walked every inch of England, multiple times over before it occurred to me to check if I could even sink in water that was frozen in place. I can’t by the way, it stays as solid as earth, It turns out if the water can’t move out from under you it’s dense enough to walk on. So there I was, the world at my command, I could go anywhere, I could do anything and I still couldn’t bring myself to care.” He trailed off, slowly deflating and lowering himself further onto the chair.
“I’ve walked the entirety of the grand canyon. I’ve counted the bricks in the great wall of China. I’ve explored The Pyramids. I’ve charted the Amazon. I’ve seen things people don’t know exist and I’ve experienced things I didn’t think were possible and I haven’t felt a thing for years” Aiden locked eyes with Izuku again “Until you. Seeing you fight. Seeing you give everything wholeheartedly for a cause you had to know was already lost.. I needed to see this. I had to experience this first hand. If I’m stuck wandering for the rest of my days on this earth, This- You were something worth remembering.”
Izuku was stunned, those things all sounded so incredible and yet He was somehow more important? “Why didn’t you help?” he couldn't help but ask
Aiden thought for a moment “Why would I?”
“Because you could have made a difference?”
“Probably, but it wasn’t my circus, and they weren’t my monkeys.” At Izuku’s bewildered look a clarified “sorry, but it’s true. When all is said and done it wasn’t my fight.”
“How can you say that!? People out there are dying and you could have saved them. How can you not care about that?” Izuku practically screamed tears at the edges of his vision
Aiden started at the agony in the boy's tone, a look of confusion crossing his features before passing just as quickly “Kid, How old do you think I am?” he asked quietly
Izuku faltered at the non-sequitur “19, you told me yourself.” he replied confidently
Aiden replied with a smile “Objectively yes. But subjectively, from my own perspective, how long do you think I’ve been alive?” he asked earnestly before continuing “You don’t need to answer it was rhetorical. I’ve told you that I have walked across the oceans, I have walked around the globe multiple times, I’ve spent months at a time studying a single moment in every minute detail” He paused and leaned back in his chair before continuing “If I had to estimate, I’d say I’ve been around for the better part of a millennium. Probably upwards of 700 years. I’m old, Kid, I may not get tired but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to just curl up somewhere and sleep. I’ve seen so much fighting and you can only see so many people die in graphic, unforgettable clarity before it just stops registering anymore.”
Izuku couldn’t help letting out a slightly petulant “But we might not have lost. I Might not have lost.. I could have won with your help..”
“Kid, do you really think that would have helped? So we win the day, you’ll just have to fight tomorrow instead. There’s always another fight. You’ve already given your life for this shit.. Aren’t you tired?”
Izuku thought about it, and maybe it was the blood loss speaking but he was tired. Still so very tired. He shook himself,he couldn’t just give up
Seeing the look of determination settle across the boy’s face, Aiden spoke again “Why does this mean so much to you kid? You’re not old enough to have a stake in any of this yourself so whose fight are you fighting? What kind of asshole has wound you up and set you loose to fight their battles for them?”
“Hey! It’s not like that! All-Might couldn’t face them alone!”
A crack of bitter laughter cut the air “All-Might couldn’t face them at all apparently! You’ve been fighting them non-stop for days and that Giant blonde jackass hasn’t been out once! So you’re telling me that it’s you helping him when you’re the only one still fighting?”
“He lost his power..” Izuku mumbled
Aiden’s rant stopped mid-flow and he stared at Izuku in bewilderment “He lost his quirk? Is that even possible?”
Izuku nodded slightly before deciding he might as well elaborate “His quirk ‘One for All’ is special.”
Aiden waited in silence, expecting more. When it became clear we wouldn’t get it he spoke up “Kid, I’m going to need more than that..”
Izuku looked up at him before he let out a defeated sigh “It’s not my secret.. But I’ll tell you if you promise to help them all, you have to-”
“Kid, if you were expected to die for this secret then consider that debt paid.” Aiden interrupted, pointing at Izuku's injuries “Right now I’m here to make sure, you don’t die thinking nobody cares but I’m about one bad thought away from going out their and finding that giant bastard and dragging him here by his danglies and make that fucker apologise to you for treating you this way.”
Izuku stared in horror before he quickly began to defend his idol. He didn’t hold back. He told the whole story starting from the first time he'd been told he couldn’t be a hero. He needed to prove how much All-Might had done for him. “My name is Izuku Midoriya and when I was 4 years old I was classified as quirkless…”
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Aiden was internally fuming.
This kid was incredible.
He was the purest, most unflinchingly ‘Good’ person Aiden had ever met and the entirety of his life had been a continuous string of the universe kicking him while he was down.
As he sat there listening to the boy talk, and as he heard about the bullying and the failures of every authority the boy had ever known, he swore then that he would do anything to make sure the world remembered this boy and realised just how much they had lost by squandering his potential.
Even as the boy gushed about the good things that had happened, it was clear to Aiden that these ‘Ups’ in the rollercoaster that was this boy's life were just wind-ups to make the next smack down to earth hurt him even more.
The boy gushed over All-Might when the time came, glossing over all of the man's obvious flaws and singing his praises at every opportunity.
And what made it truly awful was that, from the sounds of things, The former number one hadn’t even been malicious when he’d been ruining the kids life. The man was just a fucking idiot.
‘Sure I’ll destroy this kid's dreams then leave him on a rooftop. What’s the worst that can happen… Oh wait, this child whose life I’ve just ruined is showing near suicidal levels of low self preservation. Maybe I should stuff him full of a quirk that might kill him and embroil him in a war against a megalomaniacal supervillain who will not hesitate to squish him like a bug on a whim.’ Aiden was drawn out of his internal musings by Izuku letting out a massive yawn
“Tired kid?” at Izuku’s nod he continued “If you sleep, you’re not likely to wake up again, you realise that, right?”
Izuku nodded again “Yeah, I know. I think I’m ready though.. I’m so tired right now-” he was cut off as another yawn tore free from him
“Ok kid.” Aiden said, placing his own hand over the boy’s and giving a gentle squeeze “You rest easy, I’ll make sure nobody bothers you..”
The boy nodded, shimmying down into the pillows to get more comfortable a moment passed before he spoke again “Mr Gheist?” he asked quietly
“It’s Aiden, kid, to you I’m just Aiden.” he interrupted softly
Izuku paused a moment as if parsing that scrap of information before he reasserted his line of thought “Mr Aiden..” Aiden couldn’t help but snort softly a soft smile stealing its way onto his face “I’m glad I met you.. Thank you for saving me.. I think you could have been a good hero.. If things had been different. If people could have been a bit nicer. I think you would have been one of the best” he finished slurring his words towards the end
“Of course kid, you’re right.. I could have been… I should have been..” Aiden replied around the lump that had suddenly formed in his throat.
“And thank you for staying with me.. At the end. I don’t think I’m sad to be dying.. But I’m happy I’m not alone”
The dam that had been holding back his tears broke and Aiden could feel them stinging on his cheeks as he watched Izuku’s breathing begin to shallow out
“Hey Izuku?” He all but whispered, voice cracking slightly, Izuku turned his head towards him but didn’t open his eyes “I’m so, so proud of you kid. You’re so incredibly brave and I wish the world had more heroes like you.. I just wanted you to know that. I’m so so proud to have met you..”
Izuku’s brows drew together in confusion for a moment before a joyous smile settled on his face as he finally fell into unconsciousness.
Izuku Midoriya was smiling as he took his final breaths.
It was the most heartbreaking thing Aiden would ever remember.
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Toshinori Yagi stood in the middle of the crowd at the the entrance to the USJ, the enclosed space had been their last bastion against the villainous horde and as they had gathered behind the makeshift ramparts to make their final stand they had all been prepared to go down fighting.
And then the fighting had stopped
It hadn’t petered out, or slowed to a halt. It had just stopped in a single instant.
The sudden silence was deafening.
As they looked out through the hazy entrance they were surprised when two objects came bouncing in through the doorway. One, the larger of the two, clattered to a stop with a metallic clanking and the other rolled to a stop with a soft thumping
It took Toshinori a moment to realise that they were heads.
A voice called out from the dust cloud outside “The villains have been stopped. Those that were taking advantage of the chaos have been detained. Those who were actively attacking have been disabled. Those that were leading the attacks have been decapitated.” the stranger announced as he walked through the doorway with hands raised.
A murmur passed through the crowd at the statement. When no surprise attack came a few pro heroes stepped out from behind the barricade to approach their strange saviour.
“Thank you kind stranger” Endeavour spoke up “To whom do we owe thanks for such a swift and decisive victory?” he asked trying to take control of the situation
“Izuku Midoriya.” was the response which received a gasp from a few observers
Toshinori stepped forward “With all due respect, you are not Izuku Midoriya.” he stated calmly, steel leaking into his voice.
“I never claimed to be but I did it for him. I did it in his honour.” the stranger replied flintily as his attention turned to toshinori and a look of recognition passed over his face
“You expect us to believe that we owe our lives to that impudent whelp? That we should all be bowing down to that worthless little-” Endeavour’s outburst was cut off with a thud as the stranger was suddenly standing behind him, a foot pressed into the back of his knee and a knife at his throat.
“You will mind your tongue or I will separate it from the rest of you.” He hissed into the number one hero’s ear “That is kerosene you’re now soaked in asshole, you ignite yourself, you go up in smoke. Simple as that.” he threatened before his voice returned to its previous level “Izuku Midoriya, The boy formerly known as the hero ‘Deku’, died tonight. He fought tirelessly for three straight days without resting to ensure you had time to locate this shelter and fortify it.” he stated loudly, a few muffled cries came from the gathered crowd
“I am here because his final wish was that all of you would survive what he could not. He died so that you could have your peace. I, personally, hope you all choke on it.” He said as he kicked Endeavour forward to sprawl across the floor, he seemingly disappeared the knife from his hand with a roll of his wrist.
“I despise all of you. That you would let a child fight your battles for you whilst you all cowered in fear… The villains chased Midoriya around the city like a pack of wolves. They started the chase 300 to 1 and he still managed to defeat nearly all of them. And none of you were there to help. If I hadn’t been there, he would have died alone in an alley surrounded by trash.” the man paused for a breath “He deserved better than that. You all should have allowed him to have better than that. But no. Instead you wound him up like a clockwork soldier and set him loose to save yourselves. You all sicken me.” he finished with a dismissive sneer.
“The heads on the ground in front of you belong to Tomura Shigaraki, the head of the league of villains, and his mentor, the villain known as “All for One”. the fated enemy of your beloved All-Might. And a blight on the world since the dawn of quirks.” he said, smirking as Toshinori stared slack jawed at the disembodied head in shock. “I did this to ensure that the battle would end. The war is over. And so that the war that killed one of the bravest, most heroic, people I have ever met wouldn’t take anyone else who shouldn’t have even been a part of it in the first place.” he stated with a cold glare, locking eyes with Toshinori.
Taking a cleansing breath “Enjoy your peace. Remember his name and try to live up to the good he for some bizarre reason chose to see in all of you.” the stranger stated before turning and walking towards the exit
“Wait! Where are you going? Will you not help us rebuild? It’s what the boy would have wanted!” Toshinori didn’t know why he said it but he needed to keep this man here, he needed to be sure that it was truly all over.
The stranger spun quickly “Don’t you dare! Don’t you fucking dare. You have no right to say what he would have wanted. You stole his dreams, you crushed his ideals, you made him into little more than a child soldier in a war that you were too pathetic to win alone.” the stranger yelled. Eyes wild and spittle flying from his mouth.
Toshinori was taken aback at the pure animalistic rage directed at him he couldn’t fathom that level of anger from a stranger
“Oh-ho-hoo… He told me all about you ‘All-Might’.”the name was said with such disdain that Toshinori actually flinched “He told me all about how ‘The Symbol of Peace’ destroyed a young boy’s dreams, I know all about how you abused his adoration of you to trick him into fighting your war. How you fulfilled his only wish as a way to indebt him to your cause. A boy who only ever wanted to do good and it killed him. You stole his potential. You stole his dreams and you just forced him to take on your mantle.. Your path. He could have been so much more. All you had to do was listen to him” Toshinori was surprised to see tears running down the strangers face “He just wanted to be a hero..” he continued brokenly “He died thinking he was a failure. He died thinking that he was useless because he couldn’t get out of your shadow. Because he couldn’t be you.” he said, falling to his knees
A heavy silenced followed the statement
“He didn’t need to be me, Young Midoriya was a hero in his own right..” Toshinori was suddenly choked by a tightness in his throat. “He was better. He was destined for greatness..”
“No. He was already great, you were just too blind to see it. Until his dying breath he cared about others. He valued his life so little that he wasn’t even sad to die. He just didn’t want to be alone. He told me his story, you know? As he lay dying he told it all, start to finish. He was amazing, and all I could think to do as he drew his final breaths was tell him how proud I was of him, and those simple words, those few words that were all I could offer him… They were enough to make him smile again. He died smiling, the most contented little smile as if that small bit of praise had made everything worth it…” the stranger stood, rubbing his eyes to clear the tears from his face.
“A great hero once told me that if the world had been different.. If people could have been nicer.. I could have been a hero.” the strange man said quietly before straightening and rolling his shoulders “He was a bloody smart kid so I reckon he might have been right.. What d’ya say we give it a crack, eh?”
Toshinori stared in bewilderment, and the stranger laughed at the puzzled look
“My quirk, it’s time related. I’ve only ever used it to stop but I reckon I’m ready to see if I can do more”
Toshinori panicked, the idea was ludicrous “Are you insane? That will kill you at the very least, if it doesn’t tear at the seams of reality itself and take the rest of us with you!”
The stranger laughed at this “but All-might” he said with a sickly sweet voice “Isn’t that what heroes do? Give their lives for the chance at a better world?” he said with a bitter smile, all teeth and predatory glee “Besides” He continued “I don’t care. I hope you all survive so you can rot away in this world of your own making but I’m hoping this works so that I can give the boy a chance at that world he wanted to see.” and with that he spread his arms to his sides in a welcoming pose and promptly vanished
_________________________________________________
Aiden gripped with all of his might, trying to hold on to the line he had pulled, as he was pulled through a tunnel of blinding light he felt himself slipping as he careened through the tunnel, memories peeling away as he went. As things became blurrier and blurrier he tried to hold on to the important things, like the image of a child with dark green hair and bright green eyes.
When he couldn’t hold on any longer he finally let go and slammed down onto a busy street, dazed and confused he sat for a moment observing his surroundings before realising he had no idea where he was.. Or who he was for that matter.
The world around him was cast in and ethereal haze as he looked around, nothing seemed quite tangible and the people on the street seemed to walk through and around him without noticing him a voice called out from behind him
“Kacchan! Give it back!” Turning at the sound Aiden saw him, the small green haired boy was jumping up into the air reaching for a backpack that a slightly taller boy was holding out of reach
“Shut up, Deku, Don’t call me that you worthless idiot” the tormentor replied
The green boy stopped jumping then practically folded in on himself as tears formed in the corners of his eyes “Kacchan.. Please?” he replied, in a very small voice
The tormentor growled in annoyance “I told you not to call me that! You want your shitty backpack? Go get it!” he said before hurling it over the top of the car they were stood beside and into the street
The green boy didn’t hesitate he darted around the parked car and out into the road heedless of the car that was travelling towards the group
Aiden didn’t think, time froze as he strode forward and scooped up the bag and the boy before stepping out of the street and letting things proceed again. The car slammed on its breaks as the driver had noticed the small boy but hadn’t expected him to disappear
The green boy looked around in wonder before looking up into Aiden’s face “Wow, Mister, You saved me! You’re a hero! That is so cool!”
Warmth blossomed in Aiden’s chest at that, he took two large steps backwards to place them both on the pavement before he bent to place the boy down helping him put his backpack on again “Kacchan look! A hero saved me!” the boy said, spinning to look for the group, they had obviously run away at the sound of the commotion because they were nowhere in sight “Oh.. i guess he must have left already” the green boy muttered a trace of hurt leaking into his tone before turning to Aiden again.
“Hey mister, what’s your name?” he asked looking up with big doe eyes
Aiden made to reply but he could not get his mouth to cooperate with his brain, it was like they were running at different speeds so all that came out was gibberish
They both looked at eachother confused before Aiden tried again to much the same effect
He took a deep breath before he put as much effort as he could into enunciating his name “Ai…Den” he replied before realising that that was all he could remember
“Aiden?” the boy asked “Oh man, that’s such a cool name! My name’s Izuku!” he replied exuberantly before turning bashful “Would you mind walking me home? My mom says I’m not supposed to walk by myself and Kacchan and his friends left already..”
Aiden looked down at the boy, he tried to respond with words but his mouth still wasn’t cooperating so he simply gave the boy a thumbs up.
Izuku jumped for joy at that. Pumping a fist in the air “Oh wow, I got saved by an actual hero and now I get to take him home to meet my mom. She’s not going to believe this”
Aiden reached a hand out to the boy who immediately reached up and grasped it firmly earning a nod from Aiden before they set off, the energetic boy leading the way
__________________________________________
Inko Midoriya was suspicious to say the least, she was grateful that this man had saved her son but his silence was unsettling and he seemed to be a bit too focused on her son. As she watched her son talk animatedly towards the stranger she had the sudden realisation that this was the happiest she had seen him for a while
Izuku was in the middle of telling the story of his favourite All-Might video “And then All-Might was just like Whapow! ‘Stop Villain, For I am here!’ and then he arrested them and the whole thing was so awesome it was just, like, so cool and then he was just lik-”
“Izuku, baby, why don't you go wash your hands and get ready for dinner?” she interrupted lightly
“Ok Mom” was his instant reply before he rushed out of the room
The two older people sat in silence before the strange man leant forward onto the table and made a mime motion of writing on a piece of paper with a questioning raise of his eyebrow
Inko quickly understood and reached over the counter to grab a scrap and a pen before passing them over
The stranger wrote for a moment before sliding it back
‘Not Crazy. Not stupid either. Understand everything. Just having trouble getting my mouth to keep up with my brain. Think it might be quirk related. Don’t remember anything before I appeared on the street when I saved Izuku’
Inko read it carefully before she looked up at the man “Do you know where you live?” he shook his head “Do you have anywhere to go” another shake “do you have any ill intentions towards my son?” at this the man looked genuinely offended vehemently shaking his head
Inko thought for a moment before continuing “With Izuku being quirkless, I’m a bit overprotective sometimes, the world can be unkind to boys like him and I just don't want him to get hurt” she explained
The man, Aiden she corrected in her mind, reached across the table again and wrote some more.
‘I Can leave if you want. Quirk means I won't be in any danger and I understand your worries. Can I say goodbye to Izuku before I go? He’s a good kid and I like him”
Inko read over the note before looking up at him, she could see the genuine warmth in his eyes and relaxed slightly “How about this, You can sleep on the couch tonight, and then I’ll take you to the police station tomorrow and we can see if there is anybody looking for you, then we can decide what to do after that?” she offered
Aiden offered her a quick thumbs up as Izuku came charging back into the room and Aiden’s attention was immediately back on her son but now that she was not quite as suspicious she noticed that he was simply fully engrossed in what Izuku had been talking about, as if everything that was being explained was brand new to him which, if he was being honest about the amnesia, made sense.
As they sat down to dinner and Izuku got further and further into his stories Inko realised that Izuku might have been genuinely desperate for an opportunity like this, to have someone genuinely share an interest with him that allowed him to discuss it in such fine detail, it also made her realise just how important it must have been to her son that he had dont so much research to be so knowledgeable about the subject of heroes.
When it came time for bed Izuku fought it tooth and nail initially, “But Moooooooom..” he started before listing off a chain of reasons he should be allowed to stay up ‘just a little longer’ Aiden however grabbed a scrap of paper and wrote on it before handing it over to Izuku who read it and immediately got a pensive look on his face before giving a sharp nod . He then put the paper down, walked around the table and wrapped Inko in a hug and said goodnight before going into his room
Inko looked to Aiden with a questioning gaze, a merely gestured towards the paper so she leant forward to grab it
‘A hero should always be well rested and take good advice from smarter people’
She chuckled to herself before standing from her chair, leaving the room she turned to mouth the words ‘Thank you’ to Aiden and he replied with another thumbs up, a small pleased smile on his own face.
Once she'd finally managed to get Izuku settled she came back out into the living room to find Aiden sat staring out of the window at the stars she passed him a small throw blanket and helped him gather a few cushions to make himself comfortable on the couch to which he gave her a grateful smile, she left him then and went to her own bed.
_____________________________________________
When morning came, Inko was surprised to find Aiden sitting in exactly the same spot as the night before, staring out of the window again she cleared her throat quietly to grab his attention before asking “Did you sleep ok?”
Aiden turned to her before shrugging and then shaking his head
“Oh dear, was it nerves or were you uncomfortable?”
Aiden reached into the pile of papers beside him looking for a fresh piece and writing
‘Don’t know how. Could not stop my brain from thinking so I just sat and watched outside hoping I’d get tired. No luck though, sorry”
“Oh no, you poor thing, maybe you’ll have better luck tonight then?” she said before realising she wasn’t positive he would still be here
Aiden shrugged again before a thought occurred to him and he reached back into his pile of papers and pulled out a drawing before showing it to her
It was a detailed sketch of a man and black clothing with a large scarf trailing behind him as he ran across the rooftops
She looked at Aiden with a question in her eyes
On the back of the sketch he wrote ‘Saw him last night. Safe?’
Inko shrugged, she didn’t recognise him personally “Maybe ask Izuku? He might know.” she placated with a shrug of her own before changing the subject “these sketches are very good. Perhaps you were an artist before?” she asked to which Aiden shrugged before he reached into the pile again handing her another sheet
She flipped it over and was nearly brought to tears by the image and the other side, it was a sketch of a moment from the night before, when Izuku had stopped to hug her before going to bed, the linework was sharp and the shading was done crosshatch but the detail was incredible down to a loose strand of hair that had kept coming loose from behind her ear throughout the night, she looked at the image of her and her son hugging and was struck by the simplistic beauty of the scene, she could almost feel the emotions again just be looking at the expression on the drawings face, she raised a hand to her mouth and tears sprang to her eyes
When she finally tore her eyes away to look back at Aiden, he was shifting restlessly from foot to foot, he had written ‘Sorry’ on one hand and was rapidly flashing it at her by opening and closing his fingers.
She let out a small laugh before darting forward and drawing the strange man into a hug, this close she realised that he must have only been in his late teens as his face was still smooth and unblemished by facial hair “Why are you apologising?” she asked with a chuckle in her tone “That drawing is incredible, I'd love to keep it, if you’d let me?” she asked to which he nodded enthusiastically before raising a finger to indicate she wait before he span back around to the pile before fishing out a few more sheets to hand to her.
She looked through them and couldn’t help but laugh the first was a sketch of Izuku with puffy cheeks as he’d just stuffed his mouth with katsudon and had been rapidly trying to finish as fast as possible so he could get back to talking about heroes, The next was a sketch of Izuku looking directly out of the picture, a look of pure joy on his face, the third was of Inko herself, with her knees up under herself on her chair with her tea in one hand as she had been listening to one of Izuku’s stories
The final picture was a detailed drawing of Izuku and a group of other boys, they were all gathered in a semi circle around Izuku and one of them was holding Izuku’s All-Might backpack above his head. Inko looked up, puzzled.
Aiden took it back and wrote on the back
‘before I saved izuku yesterday, these boys were bullying him. The middle boy, Kacchan, is the one who threw the bag into the street and nearly got Izuku hit by the car. They are not good friends. If you need me to leave, I understand but please watch out for them as they are not good’
Inko looked back down at the sketch as if committing it to memory before nodding. “Thank you.” she said earnestly “They used to be such good friends but i had noticed they’ve been growing apart somewhat. I’ll keep an eye on them.”
There was a thump from the other room as Izuku jumped out of bed and rushed out of the door swinging it open wildly and looking around “Oh wow! You’re real! I thought I must have dreamed about you ‘cause I don’t have any friends as cool as you so I was worried when I woke up you’d be gone but you’re here! You’re here, you’re here!” he yelled as he sprinted across the room and latched himself onto Aiden’s leg
“Oh hey! I was thinking last night about how you can't talk right?, but you can walk and do all that other stuff so maybe if you can't talk you could learn sign language or something? I know a bit from when one of my old friends from school didn’t have a mouth but I could learn it too, if you want, that way you and me can talk and have real conversations about heroes and stuff, It would be so awesome!”
Aiden raised both hands in surrender before he gently indicated Izuku should calm down before he spared a glance at Inko and crouched down, peeling Izuku off of his leg as we went. He reached for a scrap of paper and began to write
‘While you are at school, your mom has said she’s going to take me to the police station to see if there is anybody looking for me. I don’t remember anything before yesterday so I might have to go somewhere if they find something”
Izuku read over the note before looking up, tears in his eyes, “you’re leaving?”
Aiden looked panicked and quickly turned to Inko with a pleading look
She graciously decided to help him out “Honey, we don’t know if Aiden has his own family out there, maybe they’re looking for him and need him back themselves? And..” she cut herself off with a guilty glance towards Aiden before he shrugged and grabbed another sheet of paper
‘Plus you guys don’t know me. I could be a bad guy, it’s not safe to have strangers staying with you long term.’ he wrote passing the note to a grateful Inko to check before she handed it to Izuku
He stopped crying long enough to read it before wailing again “but you’re not a stranger! You’re a hero! You’re my very own hero just like I always wanted!”
Aiden reeled back as if struck before giving Inko an apologetic look, he then swept forward and bundled Izuku up into his arms and hugged him tightly, muffling the boys cries against his chest as tears leaked from his own eyes, he looked over Izuku’s head and repeatedly mouthed ‘I’m sorry’ to her over and over as he rubbed the boys back and attempted to soothe him he eventually started to hum quietly, He didn’t recognise the tune but it came to him almost immediately as if he had repeated it many times before and he simply sat there cross-legged on the floor with Izuku in his lap as Inko watched on
__________________________
Izuku didn’t go to school that day, when he inevitably fell asleep in Aidens arms after crying himself ragged, Inko simply decided to call the school and inform them that due to his near death experience yesterday, Izuku was taking a day off for health reasons ‘A little white lie never hurt anybody’ she thought to herself
They did end up going to the police station and unfortunately there had been no leads towards Aiden’s identity, the police had offered to find him suitable accommodations and he had simply shrugged before looking to Inko
She had thought for barely a moment before confidently saying “No thank you officer, we’ve grown quite attached. Can we just leave our contact information and you can get in touch if anything does turn up?” she tried not to smile too wide as Aiden visibly sagged in relief.
And that is how the Midoriya family gained its first new honorary member.