Work Text:
Katsuki was four when he got his quirk. It was a random day during class, maybe a week or so after his birthday. It was a fun day. The teacher got little sweets he couldn't recall the name of to celebrate, and it was good.
Katsuki was a bit of a loner; he didn't really have close friends when it came to the other kids, but he did have a small group that liked to follow him around. It was normal for him to mostly keep to himself during celebrations.
Yet.
Something felt off the entire day. Actually, something had felt off his entire life. It was a slightly uncomfortable feeling, like something was itching at him to be noticed, even though there was nothing there.
It felt like there was supposed to be someone right by his side.
That day specifically had felt extra weird, though. When he got older, he was finally able to describe it as an old ache, a longing for...something. He didn't know for what. He was still a kid, though, and at the time he just thought of it as similar to the need to scratch a mosquito bite once it was noticed. It was an insistent reminder that seemingly got worse the longer it got ignored.
Except this feeling wasn't something he could scratch.
It was just that: a feeling. There was no physical manifestation for him to direct his attention to, there was nothing for him to beat up for distracting him on what was supposed to be one of the best days of his life.
Instead, he spent the day melancholic (child him called it "upset and sad but small").
When he mentioned it to his parents and auntie (who had come over for dinner that day), he watched their eyes go slightly wide before telling him he probably just had an off day. He didn't push, because even if he was a brat, he knew when it's too early for certain conversations. He may not know why it's too early for this particular one, but it is.
Maybe he'd ask again in a few years.
(But sometimes, he'd want to ask sooner, because something would happen [like when he fell off the log, or opened a card pack and got the limited edition All Might card, or even went to a park on a random day] and the feeling would get worse. He had to be patient though.)
◇✦◇✦◇
Inko felt as if something had shifted the moment she rejected the white-haired mans offer of a few drinks. It was a fleeting moment, so she had mostly ignored it until around the time her best friend, Mitsuki, had her son, Katsuki.
Something was meant to happen, something important, and she'd missed it completely.
(She had no clue it was because of one action from her time in college, or that she was intended to marry the strange man who offered her a drink on a random Tuesday night. She wasn't aware that she was meant to be the mother of a young quirkless boy whose name would eventually be known across Japan, or anything of the sort. This never happened, so what does it matter? Why would she ever be aware of these events if there was no way for them to even happen?)
When she mentioned it to Mitsuki, the blonde admitted to feeling it as well, and that Masaru had mentioned a persistent feeling of something being forgotten no matter how many times he checked or asked.
Inko thought that was a good way to describe it.
Something important had slipped their minds, and there was no way of knowing what it could've possibly been.
It was pushed away once more, until about four years later, on the day little Katsuki got his quirk.
It was casually mentioned by the small boy over dinner, almost like it was intended as an unimportant anecdote of his day at school he was telling them about.
He had been quiet for a few seconds, before launching into a sudden explanation of the feeling that had been clinging to him all day. A feeling that, even if it wasn't stated as such, seemed to be described as a bone-deep loneliness, of longing, of missing someone so much it almost hurt.
Inko had shared a look with Masaru and Mitsuki, because for some reason their little boy (theirs, because at this point he was as much Inko's as he was Mitsuki's and Masaru's) was sensing exactly what they were.
They pushed it away again, because honestly?
They were starting to become scared.
◇✦◇✦◇
Katsuki was in middle school, and the wrongness had followed him the entire time. Now, though, it didn't seem like it was only him. Even if it wasn't quite as obvious, he could tell everyone in his class felt just as oddly uneasy as him. Even the teacher would glance around, to the door and the (empty- why was it empty?) desk behind the blond, as if expecting someone.
There was always no one.
They never really talked about it, some sort of unnerving fear preventing them from acknowledging it.
So they didn't.
They let it sit, heavy in the tense air, the pressure slowly becoming more and more tangible the more time passed. It almost seemed like it was culminating for some sort of big event.
It suddenly spiked after school one day, and the next morning there was news that All Might had caught a villain made out of sludge that had a nasty habit of trying to hijack people's bodies.
At that point, quite a few more people had started feeling that same uneasiness. They pushed it away.
◇✦◇✦◇
Toshinori was sure something was wrong. Nighteye had him meet with his choice for successor, a bright young man named Togata, but it wasn't right. The entire meeting was tense, but not in the way they thought it would be.
No, they all felt as if something was inherently wrong with the process.
They went through with it anyways, even if Toshinori felt a deep loss that had nothing to do with One for All.
◇✦◇✦◇
Over the ten months before the UA entrance exam, the sense of uneasiness started building again. It was slower this time, but building all the same.
Then it was on the news.
A girl was injured severely during the exam.
The giant zero-pointer had malfunctioned, and nearly crushed her to death. The only thing that saved her was a sudden surge of adrenaline allowing her to use her quirk past its limits.
She almost died, and UA was under fire because of it. For a while, it looked as if there was a chance for UA to close down for the year, but it didn't happen.
The feeling was pushed away, a little more hesitantly this time.
◇✦◇✦◇
Eijirou felt as if he might've done something wrong the moment he decided against being a hero, but he ignored it. It just wouldn't be possible for him, he would freeze up anyways and never be able to save anyone.
That point was driven in even more when he saw the news about the girl who nearly died on UAs watch. He entertained the idea that, maybe, if he had been at the exam, he might've pushed himself and saved the girl before anything could happen.
What a silly thought.
Maybe in another life, but definitely not this one. His quirk was too weak. He was too weak to be a hero.
He focused on his schoolwork.
◇✦◇✦◇
Shouta was aching.
At first, he thought it was just old injuries acting up, or maybe even a wish for Oboro to be by his side again like usual.
But it wasn't.
Something was supposed to happen during his quirk assessment test, and something was supposed to happen during his battle simulations.
Sure, he expelled four kids, and sure, the buildings received plenty of damage, but that was normal.
Something was wrong.
Something was missing.
And he had no idea what it could be.
◇✦◇✦◇
The uneasiness spread through the class, leading to them being tense on the bus. They were tense yesterday too, during lunch. A few of them (like Jirou and Shoji) had flinched harshly in the middle of eating. They didn't know why.
A few tables over, unbeknownst to class 1-A, a third year nearly shouted at them in a panic, almost throwing himself out of his seat, before remembering himself and sitting back down in confusion. His friends seated around him asked why he did so, but he had no answer to offer them.
It was a weird day.
When they arrived at the USJ, everyone was jumpy and paranoid for seemingly no reason. They all kept glancing between the large doors (of which they left wide open, as if making sure there was an exit. Why would they need an easy exit though? It's not as if anything were going to happen. What a weird thing to do...) and the plaza.
They completed their rescue training without any incidents.
They left with an odd sense of disappoint. The kind felt when preparing for something, something big, only for it to get canceled last minute.
However.
Alongside that feeling were phantom scrapes and bruises in places there were none. A feeling of quirk overuse that never happened. A lingering hint of pure and unbridled panic and fear that had no place floating around the class.
Sirens were thought to be heard in the distance.
Thirteen couldn't help hunching slightly throughout training, feeling hindered and a faint whiff of pain wafting from their back.
Eraserhead had a pounding headache, paired with a consistent throbbing along his arms and below his right eye.
But everything was fine.
Better than fine, even.
Just a little weird.
During the training, back at UA, all the teachers were ready to spring into action for no reason. There was no student running with a desperate plea for help (why would there be? UA is safe), no need to get somewhere before they were too late.
It was a normal day.
In Nezu's office, Toshinori fidgeted with his cup. He'd stopped by to check in on young Togata's progress, but the principal was oddly grim, a stark difference from his usual cheerful disposition.
The day passed, and the atmosphere was a little lighter.
◇✦◇✦◇
Tomura spent the day in his room, staring at the ceiling and scratching his neck, rather than playing video games. When he'd gotten up that morning, Kurogiri seemed anxious; he was pretty sure he watched him clean the same glass seven times while he ate his breakfast. He couldn't blame the mist man, though.
It felt like he accidentally skipped an important cutscene.
Sensei didn't say anything, so he couldn't have forgotten to do something.
But he could almost hear an off-key soundtrack, one that had half of the notes and lyrics missing in the middle of a lore-important battle.
He zoned out, trying to find his last save point. Maybe he could get a redo and figure out what world building he missed.
◇✦◇✦◇
It was time for the sports festival. Instead of the usual excitement, the 1A locker rooms were silent with unease.
Katsuki realized UA was starting to feel just like Aldera, going through the days with an uncomfortable prickling just under his skin. It seemed that this time, though, everyone felt it just as much as him.
They went out onto the field, Katsuki declared he was going to win. It felt like an empty promise though. It wasn't, of course he was going to win!
But it felt empty, because by this point he was sure.
Someone was missing, someone who was supposed to fill that empty presence by his side.
Fuck.
◇✦◇✦◇
He didn't win.
Instead, this brain fucker made him walk out-of-bounds and he ended up getting second place.
He accepted it, of course, he knew he should've been more wary of the dudes quirk. Didn't mean he wasn't fucking pissed about it. The little shit called him paranoid, which he WASN'T.
He was just cautious, as everyone should be.
...he could grudgingly admit that he deserved to be in the hero course.
◇✦◇✦◇
Internships were over, but with them came grief. Their numbers had dropped one, and not because of an expulsion.
Shouta was mad. One of his kids was missing, and more than that, his nephew in all-but-blood was nowhere to be found.
The Iida's were devastated when they heard the news, especially Tensei who nearly rolled out of the house to search for his little brother.
Unfortunately, there was no evidence for where he could possibly be.
Native went missing too, but not for nearly as long as Tenya. He didn't have any useful information either, just that he was knocked out and suddenly woke up inside the police station days later.
Iida Tenya was declared dead right before the end of term test (because who could survive an encounter with Stain? Pro Heroes couldn't, so why would a student?)
His class still held out hope, though.
◇✦◇✦◇
The students were getting on the bus when Shouta got the call from Tensei.
"Aizawa Shouta speaking," he answered, following the last of his students onto the bus.
"He's home!" He nearly tripped out those words, catching himself on the railing by the door as well as the attention of his students.
"What?!"
"Tenya- he- we don't know where he came from- but Shouta! Shouta- my- he's home. He's alive, Shouta."
Aizawa Shouta was not one to cry. His friends knew this, his family knew this, his students knew this. The one time anyone witnessed him cry was second year, and that was entirely understandable.
In that moment, hearing the man he considered a brother near wailing at the fact his baby brother was alive, he fell to his knees-
And cried.
◇✦◇✦◇
Class 1A was exempt from the first event of trekking through the woods due to most of them crying in pure relief at the news that their classmate was safe at home. Bakugo had shouted over the noise that he 'never doubted four eyes, the fucker'.
When they arrived, they met with the Wild Wild Pussycats and a small child named Kouta. He tried to punch Mirio in the balls, but the blonde activated Permeation before he made contact.
The original location for their training camp was changed due to the recent attacks on the third year hero classes, of whom the Big Three would be joining them to give them an idea of the training they'd eventually go through in a few years time. This was at the recommendation of their heroics teacher, All Might, who also asked for Aizawa's help in training the recent change Mirio's quirk went through.
Everything went well, was going well.
Then the forest set fire.
Birds and woodland creatures scattered from the tall orange flames, aided by Kouda. Shouji helped lead the students away and towards the busses, Ojiro directing them to their seats.
Togata did a headcount, only to find they were missing some people, including Kouta.
"Suneater! Find the rest of the people in the fire! I'm going to look for Kouta!" He knew he could trust Tamaki. While the other boy was socially anxious as all hell, he was able to push that aside when the situation called for it. He barely glanced to see his friend run straight into the fire before he was sprinting for the cliff he found Kouta at after dinner a few nights ago.
When he got there, Kouta was pressed against the far wall within the cave-like overhang, covering his mouth and nose with his hands. He ran to Togata as soon as he saw him, clinging on for dear life.
He was just glad Kouta was okay. The kid was smart, keeping his mouth and nose covered. Hed probably be able to get away with somewhat minor injuries, but that all depended on how long he was up on the cliff.
He returned, carrying Kouta, to see some of the last few students running out the the burning forest. One of them was TetsuTetsu, who he stopped.
"Is Suneater on his way back yet? Did you see him?" Togata was careful not to touch the other boys skin, just in case it would burn him due to his metal quirk.
"I- I told him there were a couple more people further ahead, so he- he ran to get them. They're the last ones though, so he should be out soon!" Togata nodded and walked with him to the busses, where he handed Kouta off to his aunt.
He barely had to wait a few more seconds before two people came barreling out of the fire, sobbing. He rushed to meet them (Ashido and Kendo, if he remembered correctly).
"Are you okay? Where's Suneater?" Nejire popped up behind him with blankets to comfort the two, although she wanted to know too. The first years sobbed.
"He- they- the villains- he was taken!" Ashido cried, her head in her hands as Kendo rubbed circles into her back. Togata helped them up to lead them to the rest of the students and teachers, even as his stomach dropped. Villains, at the training camp? But they moved specifically to avoid that! And they took Tamaki?! Kendo stared at him with wide eyes.
"We- we tried to stay with him, help him fight them off, but he told us to go before they tried to take us too. Mirio-senpai, we're gonna be okay, right?"
Mirio wanted to be a hero like All Might, one who smiles while saving others.
He didn't feel very much like smiling.
◇✦◇✦◇
When the youngest Iida went missing during his internships, UA made it mandatory for all students to have trackers hidden on them somewhere, whether in a button or in their tie.
Amajiki Tamaki had his in his left shoe.
On the device he stole from the teachers lounge, Togata knew Tamaki was somewhere in Kamino Ward.
Unfortunately, the ones who saw him take it (Bakugou Katsuki, Kaminari Denki, Kendo Itsuka, and Nejire) wouldn't let him leave alone.
The Tamaki Rescue Squad was formed.
◇✦◇✦◇
Katsuki was willing to admit, he was fucking terrified.
There was no denying that the ripoff Darth Vader had multiple quirks, and dangerous ones at that. All Might had arrived and started fighting him, with his carbon copy rushing in to help before any of them could stop him.
Katsuki had sent the energy bitch away with sparky and carrot top; they'd already done their jobs.
Despite their protests, he'd stayed behind. It was his role to grab the chimera fucker and get both their asses out, so he was going to do just that.
Finding an opening, he blasted forward and dragged the older boy with him by the waist, narrowly dodging wayward attacks. The two made it outside of the immediate danger zone, meeting up with the other three.
There was a yell, a sickening crunch, and then silence.
◇✦◇✦◇
Togata felt sick.
He- he killed someone.
Sure, it was a villain. But he killed someone. He knew heroes sometimes ended up killing the villains they were fighting, but that wasn't supposed to happen to him until he was out of school!
He stumbled back, his bloodcovered hands shaking and tears blurring his vision. He flinched when someone wrapped their arms around him.
"Togata, my boy, I'm so sorry you had to do this." He relaxed into the arms of his mentor, and allowed himself to sob his heart out.
The rest of the rescue group peeked over the wall they were hiding behind before approaching the two. Tamaki and Nejire ran to join the hug, both blubbering and crying about how worried they were for him. The other three stood off to the side, trying to cheer him up in their own ways.
Then they heard another set of footsteps.
They all turned their heads to see a boy with green hair, carrying a little girl with a horn, running towards them and waving.
"Hey! It worked! You guys did it!"
They all tensed, prepared for another fight, when the boy stopped barely a few feet away from them.
"Sorry I'm a little late, I had to grab her," he gestured to the sleeping girl in his arms, "before things ended up getting worse."
"Who even are you?" Kaminari asked, taking a step back. The boy gave him a weird looking before he realized something.
"Right, sorry, you don't know me here! You guys know how weirdly uneasy you've been feeling?" They nodded hesitantly. "Yeah, that'd be me!" Bakugous eyes widened in recognition.
"Oh you little shit."