Chapter 15: There Will Be Time to Prepare a Face to Meet the Faces that you Meet
Chapter Text
The break goes well. Izuku has a wonderful Christmas that he celebrates with his mother, as well as a nice New Years. (Izuku takes the chance of dropping by Aizawa-sensei's house late on Christmas Eve after his mom has gone to sleep. The house is quiet and no alarms sound, so Izuku feels a bit more confident. He leaves two gifts there to be found in the morning.)
After New Years though, Izuku doesn't sleep well. While he gets the required hours, he wakes feeling restless. School starts soon. He's pretty sure that's what is keeping him up, although he isn't sure why it's bothering him so much. Surely he's endured worse things than middle school? Why is he acting like this- or why is his subconscious so anxious?
It's no surprise to him then, that the night before school starts has him tossing and turning. Eventually he gives up and decides that if he's going to be up, he might as well be productive. Izuku throws on his black attire for the night time and grabs the stack of folders on his desk. Pulling his window open, Izuku slips through it to make his necessary rounds.
He wakes up late, which should've been the first sign that this day was going to go horribly wrong.
He's dead on his feet, that night being used to deliver information about the Eight Precepts to all those who need it. The yakuza group themselves don't display any outward signs that they've lost an important asset, but that's because they moved locations from the place he infiltrated. If he really wants to know how they feel about it, he'd have to track them down again. Except Izuku's not to keen on getting further involved. The heroes can handle it from here. He just hopes they're dealt with quickly, so Eri's safety can be assured.
It probably wasn't his brightest idea to stay up before school though, even if he couldn't sleep. Or at least he should've anticipated that he'd sleep in. Izuku had hoped that his alarm would be enough to rouse him, but obviously that wasn't the case.
So now he's definitely going to be late to school, even if he books it. Which is not how he wanted to start off his first day back.
His mother watches him speed around and laughs at his expense. She makes a quick breakfast for him and a bento, so he forgives her. His uniform is a little tight, courtesy of his muscle mass, and he's wearing a new pair of shoes, which haven't been broken in, because he wanted his red shoes back and has still never found his old ones. Needless to say, he feels out of place. Hopefully his classmates won't notice the difference. At the very least, he's glad for long sleeved uniforms.
Izuku sprints out the door, calling a hasty goodbye to his mother. She informed the school a few weeks ago that Izuku would start attending today, but he doubts that they will let his tardiness slide, even on his first day back.
He rushes through the school gate and not a single person is left in the yard. It's strange to be back at his middle school, especially since he was hoping to leave this place behind for good when he entered UA. Izuku supposes it'd be nostalgic, for most people, but it's a place full of bad memories for him.
Here's to hoping I won't make any more. He thinks a little bitterly.
The door to his classroom enters his sight and he slides to a stop outside. He can hear the low drone of his teacher talking and wonders if it's really worth it to walk in. But, he still needs to finish middle school in this timeline, and Kacchan is on the other side of the door, so maybe it won't be too bad. Izuku takes a deep breath, grabs the handle and slides the door open.
And immediately regrets.
It is bad. What feels like a hundred pairs of eyes turn to look at him. Whispers start as soon as they recognize who it is, and even though Izuku can't hear most of it, he can still catch what they're all talking about. His disappearance. Yeah, this was a terrible idea. He can still walk out and go home, right?
"Ah Midoriya. You're late. Although, it's nice to have you back." The teacher's voice rises above the rest. He flashes Izuku a business smile, like he's actually pleased to see him, and Izuku wonders if the man even knows his first name.
"What the hell?!"
Izuku turns at the shout and the whole classroom goes quiet. His green eyes lock with furious red ones. The teacher mutters out ignored platitudes. It's Kacchan, oh how Izuku has missed seeing his friends. The blonde is angry, and he's past Kacchan, which means Izuku should be afraid of the burning stare directed at him. But, he can't feel scared right now, because it's his childhood friend and the ache of loneliness in his chest is too great to ignore.
And Kacchan is...getting kind of close. He storms over while Izuku is stuck reminiscing. He doesn't have time to react before a hand fists the front of his blazer and he's unceremoniously slammed against the door he just walked through. His head bounces off the door, but it doesn't hurt that much. Izuku's too busy thinking about how much of an idiot he is for not seeing it coming.
"Where-" Kacchan's voice is low and threatening, enough to make Izuku's blood spike, "-the hell have you been?!" He growls and slams Izuku against the door once more.
And that's a little surprising. He didn't expect Kacchan to care that he was gone. Although, studying the blonde's eyes, all he can really see is anger, not worry, so he's not too sure what's going on here. He grabs Kacchan's wrists, one in each hand and stops. It's a contingency 'just-in-case-Kacchan-gets-too-violent'. There's already smoke emitting from the palms closed around his school uniform and Izuku gives a moment to grieve another ruined set.
Kacchan's eyes flick to the hands on his wrists and he seems to grow even angrier. He leans in close, close enough for his teeth to take off Izuku's nose if he really wants. His hot breath ghosts across the latter's freckled cheeks.
"Were you trying to make a fool out of me?" He seethes, soft as a whisper, a conversation for his ears only. Izuku knows they've got all eyes on them. If he didn't drown it out, he'd still be able to hear the teacher shouting weak protests and the students not so quietly whispering at the whole affair. They've got all eyes on them, but Izuku knows he's the only one that heard what Kacchan said.
"Kacchan," He breathes out, and the blonde twitches at the nickname, gripping Izuku tighter as a small explosion pops off. "I don't-"
And Izuku is slammed against the door again. "Don't lie to me you fucker! You left and tried to pin all the blame on me! And you think you can just walk back in here?!" He looks way angrier than Izuku's ever seen him and he's sure his uniform is trashed now, if it wasn't before.
His hands are still firm around Kacchan's wrists. He clenches a little tighter. Kacchan isn't listening to him. That's not new, but this behavior is. Kacchan is a violent person, but Izuku would have put 'engaging Izuku immediately with bodily harm' lower on the list of expected responses. Actually, maybe this was exactly what would happen and he should've predicted it earlier…? He was expecting Kacchan to look at his time away with disdain, maybe sneer at his weakness or bully him for getting himself kidnapped. Basically like he used too, with more verbal jabs than physical ones and a nice six foot safety bubble between them. Did other Izuku really anger Kacchan that much with his disappearance to warrant this kind of reaction? Did Kacchan maybe care more than he let on, even during the time when he hated him? No...it couldn't be.
"How could you leave, you coward?! Why are you only coming back now?! Trying to make everyone pity you?!" He's no longer trying to be quiet and Izuku is in great danger of an explosion going off and burning a hole through his chest. Although that might be preferable to the guilt that Izuku feels, even if he's not entirely sure why Kacchan's so upset.
He knows what he wants to say. He wants to yell back at Kacchan and tell him that he'd never leave. Not his mom. Or Kacchan. Or anyone else. But he can't prove that, especially if he isn't this timeline's original Izuku. So instead he thinks of the detective's story. Of false memories and kidnapping and torture. He tightens his hold on Kacchan's wrists and pushes.
Kacchan stumbles back, shocked. To his credit though, he manages to rip the fabric of Izuku's uniform with how tightly he was clenching it.
"I don't know." Izuku gasps out. And, oh dear, is he crying? Yep, those are definitely tears. He doesn't want to cry, not anymore, but it's so hard, cause it's Kacchan and Izuku really can't control himself.
It works in his favor though, because his childhood friend still stands shell-shocked, forgotten fabric held in hand, eyes blown wide.
"I don't know where I've been!" Izuku cries out. And it's not untrue. He's frustrated beyond belief that he can't find himself, that he doesn't know if he's okay or even the reason why he disappeared in the first place. He's searched through so many missing persons reports and kidnapping cases in the area and even stopped a few human trafficking rings himself with no such luck. All the guilt he feels, of making his mother smile, of living someone else's life, it eats at him every day. And it's coming out now, in front of the one person who has always seen right through him.
He calms down a bit, swiping at his eyes, Kacchan watching the motion with his own narrow ones. "The police, the police say that I was k-k-kidnapped. And that I have, that I have false m-memories in my head. So I d-don't, I don't know where I was." Izuku stutters out between sniffs and stabilizing breaths. He looks up at Kacchan through heavy-lidded eyes, tears trapped in his eyelashes, to gauge his friend's reaction.
Kacchan recovers from his shock and surprisingly doesn't attack Izuku again. The hands he was holding Izuku with, he returns to his pockets. His brow furrows, like Izuku just told him that a strong quirk doesn't equate a good hero. And of course, the tell-tale signs of anger overcome his features once more.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Kacchan asks, and it almost sounds like he wants to laugh. "You've got amnesia? What kind of bullshit is that?" Smoke billows out from his pockets. The smell of nitroglycerin in the air is suffocating.
"Bakugou-kun." The teacher finally interrupts, placing a hand on Kacchan's shoulder before thinking better of it when he sees the blonde's murderous glare. He's sweating nervously and his voice is sickly sweet. Izuku didn't even register his approach.
"We have confirmed with the police as well as Midoriya-kun's parent that what he says is indeed true. It is very unfortunate, but I'm afraid you'll have to discuss it with him later." He soothes, sounding all too much like a rich father placating his spoiled child with the promise of another pony as long as they stopped making a scene. He doesn't even try to pretend that he actually thought Izuku's disappearance was unfortunate. Not to mention he completely ignores how Kacchan was manhandling him. It wasn't anything new for this timeline, but still. Izuku misses Aizawa-sensei.
Kacchan glares at the teacher, and then at Izuku before he turns away sharply. "Whatever." He hisses out, clearly still pissed, as he stomps back to his desk and slams himself into it.
Izuku takes a deep breath, and let's it out. Crisis averted...for now. Although that took a lot of energy out of him, and it was only the beginning of the beginning of the day.
He makes his way to his seat, cursing himself, as he did often in the past, for always sitting so close to Kacchan. However, the blonde doesn't look at him when he settles and Izuku relaxes a bit.
The hole in his shirt makes for a good distraction and Izuku occupies most of his time fiddling with it rather than paying attention to the lesson. It allows him plenty of time for his mind to wander.
Kacchan. His reaction was odd, wasn't it? Izuku plays through the scene over and over again in his mind. Kacchan had said that Izuku was...pinning the blame on him? For Izuku disappearing? That didn't make sense. Izuku would never blame Kacchan for anything, even if it was his fault. It's a persistent bad habit, but that's how things have always been between them and Izuku never bothered to change it.
And making a fool out of him? Izuku never had the courage. And still doesn't. Even before he came to this dimension, teasing Kacchan was not something that came easily for him. He could do it, and others would laugh, but not often. Because no matter how long Izuku and Kacchan spent together, their relationship was always convoluted. Izuku still waited for everything to go up in flames despite them coming to an understanding that he'd like to consider a friendship.
Maybe things will change, especially if this timeline is different from his own. As the school day continues, Izuku takes stock of many things that aren't like how he remembers them being before.
He seems to be the talk of the whole school. He has to put up with everyone talking about his disappearance. Normally, Izuku's entire existence was one no one spoke about, unless in mockery. But now he hears theories about his five months away ranging from a severe sickness to alien abduction. It's all nonsense of course, especially because no one even bothers to ask him.
The bullies seem to have backed down too. Some people did try to say snide remarks to him, but it didn't seem that bad? Once you come from a future where villains have threatened to murder you and your friends, insults from middle schoolers don't seem to hold as much weight. So Izuku simply shrugs them off.
There was one notable incident where someone tried to shove Izuku while he was holding his bento, and the guy ended up being the one falling to the ground. The cafeteria had erupted in laughter and Izuku felt kind of sorry for the guy. He offered the boy a hand up, but the kid took one look at his hand, and the smile on his face, and a weird look crossed his eyes. He had accepted Izuku's hand, but fled the cafeteria immediately after, so Izuku wasn't really sure what to make of it.
Needless to say, nothing along that line happens for the rest of the day. Even if he continues to get strange looks.
It's not like Izuku really cares about how his classmates view him though, so he doesn't bother to find out the reason behind it. The one he does want to make amends with is the problem.
Whatever plans Izuku had to repair Kacchan's and his crumbled relationship prematurely goes out the window in the days that follow. After the first instance when he was manhandled, Kacchan doesn't engage him again. He doesn't even glance his way. He just continues through school, making every effort to completely ignore Izuku's existence. He doesn't even bother to degrade him or knock him around as he used to.
And that's something else that diverges from the original timeline. Of course, Izuku never went missing originally so he had no base for reference to how Kacchan would react, but his behavior still seems all wrong .
At this time, Kacchan didn't care about Izuku. He was proud and callous, all hard edges and harsh words. He hadn't yet been softened by the friends he gained in UA or humbled by the fights and tragedies they all suffered together.
Despite knowing all this though, the Kacchan before Izuku seems smaller. He might attribute that to the fact that Kacchan's behavior appears more childish and immature than past Izuku was able to recognize. Or maybe it's because Izuku's taller now, because he's a bit older and even though Kacchan still has a few inches on him, he no longer feels as big. But neither of those explanations feel right. It's something else, there's something in the way Kacchan walks now, alone, a little slower, a little more hunched, in the way his words lose some of their bite that has Izuku feeling nervous. He sees the dark bags of lost sleep under his friend's eyes and he knows there's something else. There's something Izuku's missing, another deviant from the expected timeline, and Izuku doesn't know what it is. Kacchan won't tell him either, and he's tried on multiple occasions to get the blonde to talk to him, but he stubbornly continues giving him the cold shoulder.
It's beyond frustrating, but Izuku has never had the power to convince Kacchan to do anything, especially if he's so adamant on not doing it. That doesn't mean he stops trying. Izuku can be extraordinarily stubborn as well when he wants to be. He doesn't give up even after his first failure, or the next one. Or the one after that. Or the one after that. Izuku will whittle him down eventually. The two of them need to talk, whether Kacchan wants to or not.
UA's entrance exam is coming up though, quickly, and therefore the USJ. Izuku needs to focus. He needs to finish his plans.
He wants to worry about the entrance exam, decide how to address it, but he knows that's not the priority. The priority is the USJ. He's slacked in his patrols for a while, school and increased surveillance by the police and heroes among the reasons why. Izuku just messed with the Eight Precepts, during the time in which he was messing with the League of Villains. And while neither of them know his true identity, they could still try to catch him while he's effectively 'in costume'. Which isn't an option. He didn't have much of a choice in lying low.
But now it's time for Izuku to see this through. The only thing is, how? How can he know anything for sure outside of completely annihilating the League or asking them himself? Both of which are not options. If he goes to the bar, all he will do is reveal himself to the enemy, and if he attacks Shigaraki, much less All for One, he's going to lose.
He just needs to keep with what he's been doing. There are still villains out there that could be part of the USJ. Izuku hasn't tracked all of them down yet. When he starts UA, he can start tipping off the police and even the principal. He doesn't know how serious they'll take the threat, but it's better to have that extra security just in case.
But besides his vigilante activities, Izuku has another problem staring him in the face. Maybe even more formidable than facing down a hundred villains.
He needs to talk to Kacchan.