Chapter Text
As time went on, they were slowly learning how to become friends again. Kacchan was still stubborn, loud and hot-headed - that didn’t change. But Izuku was starting to notice the difference between Kacchan as he normally was, and a Kacchan who was genuinely trying to be mean. It had been a very steep learning curve, but Izuku liked to think that he was getting there.
There were still times when Kacchan was mean. When he snapped at Izuku who shrunk back in fear - a reflex from the years of bullying. Still times when Izuku’s muttering or as Kacchan called it, his ‘incessant need to help others’, set Kacchan off and they both reverted back to how they used to be.
But, slowly, surely, they were becoming friends.
They’d do their homework together, actually talk during lunch and walk home together after school. On the weekends, Kacchan even visited him sometimes, when he wasn’t at his physical therapy.
Izuku was delighted. All his life, for as long as he could remember, he’d wanted to be friends with Kacchan - even when he was bullied by the other. And now that dream was finally starting to become a reality.
Even their parents were excited by the news - they’d started up the Bakugou-Midoriya family dinners again, which meant Izuku got to spend even more time with his new friend.
But there was just one thing that bothered Izuku. Deku. Kacchan had stopped saying it, and while Izuku should be happy about it, he wasn’t. Izuku didn’t get it - he should be happy about that. Kacchan had stopped calling him by an insulting nickname. And yeah, he was happy about that, but there was just something about it that put him off, a sludgy feeling building up in his gut. Like dread, or any number of emotions, Izuku couldn’t put his finger on it, but it bothered him. Made him feel sick to his stomach whenever Kacchan called him ‘Izuku’.
But Izuku didn’t know what was bothering him, and so tried not to dwell on it,, as if he didn’t think about it obsessively before going to sleep each night.
Every Wednesday afternoon, the two of them would meet up at Takobah beach, Izuku filling Kacchan in on the details of his quirk. Today was no different.
Izuku was explaining to Kacchan for what had to be the hundredth time, in as much detail as he could remember, the shockwaves that he had let out.
“And then I was pushed by Toyonaga, and it was like a knot of rope untying in my chest,” Izuku said. “But when I summoned metal, it was really cold and kind of like a slithering sensation. Like snakes crawling around on my skin! I wonder why that is… normally quirks have the same feel to them, right? I don’t really know, because I’ve never had a quirk before, obviously, but your explosions don’t feel any different, do they? But maybe it’s because of the different materials the quirk is producing rather than the quirk itself, that would make sense. But what if…”
“Stop muttering,” Kacchan ordered. “Just leave it for now, we’ll figure it out later. Right now, you need to work on making another shockwave.”
Ah right, their current goal. After telling Kacchan about the two shockwaves he had made, Kacchan had been hell bent on making Izuku produce another one. The problem was, Izuku had been trying every day since their fight, and hadn’t been able to do anything. At the very least, Izuku now knew that his visualisation technique worked for it.
“But… Kacchan. It’s not working. Wouldn’t it be better to take a break from this and work on something else for a while?” Izuku suggested nervously.
Kacchan scowled. “Like what? The shitty dreams that have so far led to a dead end or the metal quirk you have no control over?” he spat harshly.
Izuku’s head hung low by the end of Kacchan’s angry tirade, but he internally agreed with the other, that he had no control over his metal quirk. He’d accidentally summoned the metal quirk multiple times since gaining it, and it was always a slow and lengthy process to reign it back in.
The metal quirk had shown up during a lesson, making him have to rush out of the classroom calling, “Bathroom,” hastily behind him. It had also shown up on a walk to school, causing Izuku to trip over it, very glad that the sharp metal couldn’t cut his skin.
“But I could practice with the metal quirk to get better at controlling it!” Izuku protested cautiously. They were friends again, but that didn’t mean that things couldn’t set off Kacchan’s fiery rage.
“Shut up and make a shockwave, loser!” Kacchan yelled, slamming the bottom of his crutch into the sand, but sounding only moderately annoyed. Izuku wasn’t sure why Kacchan bothered trying to use the crutch on the soft, sandy surface. He’d seen the other struggling with it more times than he could count. But, Kacchan was stubborn, he wouldn’t give up so easily.
“Fine,” Izuku said. He rubbed at a bruise on his arm as he got to his feet, focusing on his breathing and steadying himself. He pictured the rope loosening in his chest, but again, nothing happened.
“Again,” Kacchan instructed when Izuku let out a frustrated breath.
Izuku sighed, trying again. He really wanted to be scribbling away in his analysis notebooks right now, but despite that he was so grateful for Kacchan’s help.
Alongside Izuku’s dream journal, Izuku now had two whole notebooks full of ideas and analysis for his quirk, as well as a notebook tracking everything from his hair colour to his weight.
Izuku had even noticed from the notes in his notebook that when his dreams became more frequent, his hair turned whiter. He now wondered, because he knew that the dreams were actually a part of the quirk, if the hair was tied to quirk use, and he was subconsciously using his quirk to dream of people in his sleep.
Izuku chewed on his lip, a nervous habit that he was desperate to get rid of. The reason being simple - ever since his old teeth fell out and the new, sharper ones started growing in, the biting had become painful. Izuku was already having to adapt to the longer, sharper teeth in his mouth, and just last week he’d spent the whole time with swollen and stinging lips from the constant pricking and biting.
Izuku couldn’t wait till he was at home, nursing his new injuries. Not only did he have the sore lips, but now that he and Kacchan were getting along, the other bullied had decided to take out all their anger on Izuku. He hadn’t told Kacchan anything about it yet, not wanting to be viewed as weak by the other, and the bullies never approached when Kacchan was around, but they always roughed him up good, leaving him with a few bruises dotted around his skin. He knew his mother noticed then, even if Kacchan didn’t, and was getting concerned.
When he and Kaccchan finished up for the day, the sun was starting to sink below the horizon - it was still pretty early, but the sun still set mid afternoon at the very start of spring.
Izuku walked back slowly, and when he got home, he grinned at his mother’s stories as they ate a quiet dinner together. That night, he dreamed.
Tonight, though, it was of someone new.
They walked through a little city of tents, footsteps stomping on the ground with each step.
Approaching a group of people messing about, they reached out and yanked at one person’s arm.
“Come with me,” they gritted out.
The man turned to see who had grabbed them. “Ruka-san! What do you need?”
“You idiot,” Ruka hissed. They whacked the man lightly on the head, more for show than anything. “You absolute idiot!”
“What?” The man looked nervous. “What is it?”
“You know what you did,” Ruka hissed.
“No, don’t know what you're talking about,” the man said, but he couldn’t keep a straight face.
Ruka growled. The man ran for it.
“Get back here!” Ruka yelled, giving chase. Eventually, the man tripped over, and Ruka started to laugh as he got back up and continued to run. They chased after the man, laughing too hard to go any faster. The man slowed too, joining in on the laughter.
“Sorry,” the man laughed. “I won’t do it again!” There was a cheeky grin on his face that said otherwise.
Ruka calmed down, rolling their eyes. “Sure you won’t.”
Izuku clambered out of bed, yawning widely. He raced to get ready, torn between getting dressed, writing in his dream diary and analysing his quirk.
It was extremely difficult to find out how his dreams tied into shockwaves and metal. There was just no way Izuku could think of that dead people’s memories tied into the quirk - his quirk. Kacchan had made the suggestion that Izuku might have spoken through All Might because he was so close to death, which made sense, though neither of them liked to think about it. But that was all they had come up with for quirk analysis.
Izuku hurriedly ran out the door and down the stairs of the apartment, in a rush to get to school. He had to tell Kacchan about the dream and the new person.
Izuku ran all the way to school, arriving earlier than usual and immediately running to Kacchan. “Kacchan! Kacchan!”
Kacchan was sitting beneath a tree, one singular crutch propped up next to him. “What is it?” he asked, sounding his usual level of angry.
Izuku looked around, deciding to pull Kacchan up and to a quiet corner of the school yard. Kacchan barely had time to grab his crutch and stumble after Izuku, violently yanking his arm out of Izuku’s grasp and scowling at him. Begrudgingly, Kacchan followed Izuku over to the quiet spot he’d picked out. “What?” Kacchan said shortly.
“I had another dream,” Izuku whispered, leaning in close to the other’s ear.
“Why the fuck are you whispering. Just talk,” Kacchan said, loudly. It drew the eyes of many of the other students in the courtyard, but as they encountered the glare Kacchan shot them, they all went back to what they were doing.
Izuku shook his head. “Mum said I needed to keep this a secret. We don’t need villains finding out and coming to attack us!”
“I could take them on,” Kacchan said.
Izuku sent him a look.
Kacchan rolled his eyes. “Fine,” he grouched. “Why should I care about another shitty dream?”
“Because,” Izuku started, excited. “It was about another person.”
Kacchan looked intrigued. “Who?”
“Their name is Ruka. I don’t know much about them, but I think they are in the army. A few of the people around them were dressed in uniforms.”
Kacchan frowned. “Think, De - Izuku. Anything else you can remember?” Kacchan said, flicking Izuku on the forehead.
Izuku clutched at his forehead, recollecting the memories of the dream. “They were at a base. There were a lot of tents around. And Ruka was angry at someone.”
“Nothing useful,” Kacchan said.
Izuku nodded in agreement, eyes cast downwards. “Yeah.”
But, wait.
If his dreams were set a hundred years ago, surely he could pinpoint the year based on the uniform the army people were wearing. Izuku didn’t know much about the army, but they had to have changed uniforms at some point since quirks came into existence.
“Kacchan!” Izuku exclaimed. “I just had an idea.”
The library was brightly lit, and Izuku walked through the rows and rows of shelves, fingers trailing along the spines of the books he passed.
It was loud and bustling, as much as a library could be, with the end of the school year coming up, and final exams along with them.
Kacchan was notably absent, which saddened Izuku. He was enjoying spending time with his new… friend? Was that it? Izuku didn’t know if they were that close - yet - but he was hopeful. They were slowly starting to become friends again.
But Kacchan had a physical therapy appointment for his leg, so it was just Izuku at the library.
Izuku turned down a random aisle and began his search for anything remotely related to the army. Maybe it was in the history section, Izuku mused.
Izuku headed over to the history section, weaving through the tables in the center of the space, filled with multitudes of studying students. He looked over the book titles displayed, eyeing the shelves for anything related to the Japanese army. The titles blurred together as he spent more and more time searching. A Pre-Quirk Era, Ancient Egyptians, The Origin of Quirks…
As Izuku was scanning the shelves, something caught his eye. Or, someone. Toyonaga was lurking about the shelves across from him, eyes darting this way and that.
Izuku’s heart beat a little faster in his chest.
Izuku shook his head forcefully. There were plenty of reasons why Toyonaga would be in the school library, he told himself. Toyonaga could be there for studying, or maybe he just needed to borrow a book from the… Izuku looked over. World Languages section. He could be there for any reason, really.
Izuku turned back to the shelves in front of him. He scanned the shelves again, eyes landing on a green covered book about the Japanese army. He found it.
Izuku reached out to grab the book, smiling triumphantly to himself.
“Hey, Deku,” Kakiage said, and Izuku squeaked in fright, jumping backwards and further down the aisle of books.
“U - Um. Hi?” Izuku said nervously.
This was not going to end well, Izuku could feel it. While Kakiage had yet to bully Izuku since he’d become friends with Kacchan, he’d been one of Izuku’s main tormentors in the past.
“Where’s your guard dog, huh?” Kakiage asked with a smirk.
Izuku shook his head wildly. “I. I don’t know what you mean.”
A girl stepped into the aisle behind Kakiage. “Oh, come now. K - K - Kacchan?” Kenmoku mocked Izuku, coming to a stop at Kakiage’s side and crossing her arms across her chest. “God, Kariage, look at him. Pathetic.” She glared at Izuku.
Izuku shrunk under her gaze, feeling his nerves bubble to the surface. His hands were trembling, heart racing, eyes darting this way and that, looking for an escape. Kakiage took a step forward, and Izuku stepped back.
“Come now, we won’t hurt you,” Kakiage said. “Not if you tell us how you tricked Katsuki into hanging around a quirkless loser like yourself.”
A frightened tear escaped Izuku’s watery eyes, slipping down his cheek.
“Oh, look, he’s crying,” Kenmoku said.
“I - I didn’t do anything,” Izuku said to the bullies, fisting his hands in anger.
But as they took another step forward, he took another step back. Stupid, Izuku thought to himself. Why couldn’t he just stand up to these bullies?
“Sure, you didn’t.” Kenmoku scoffed. “Like we’d ever believe that.”
Kakiage glared hard at Izuku, like he was wishing him dead. “I don’t know what you did to Katsuki, but we’ll find out.”
He took one final step forward.
In Izuku’s haste to scramble backwards, he tripped over a book lying forgotten on the ground. Izuku stumbled backwards, landing painfully on his behind, wincing at the pain that shot up his tailbone.
The bullies laughed. Kakiage approached Izuku, and he scrambled backwards until his back was hitting the wall behind him.
“Stupid, quirkless Deku,” Kakiage hissed, swinging his leg back and sending a kick for Izuku’s ribs.
Izuku knew the blow was coming, but could do nothing but shut his eyes lightly as it landed, gasping in pain and hands flying to the point of impact as he curled up on himself.
The air shifted, the shelves themselves swaying backwards and the books being pushed back on the shelves.
Izuku panicked, but he couldn't move from where he was. The way out was blocked by the two bullies, and Izuku knew it would look suspicious if he ran. Frozen where he was, Izuku prayed that they would go away.
“What was that?” Kakiage asked.
Kenmoku had already turned around and was walking away. “Probably just the wind,” she said dismissively.
Kakiage continued to stare down at Izuku, consideringly. “Yeah,” he said absently. “Just the wind.” Then he, too, left.
Izuku groaned tiredly into the carpet, not knowing how long he lay there on the ground, hands clutching at that sore spot. But, the tears that fell down his face eventually dried and the throbbing pain slowly turned into a distant ache.
Izuku sat up, leaning against the wall behind him. He’d used his quirk again, and still had no idea how it worked. That was the third time he’d used it - he should know what it does by now.
Izuku looked up to find Toyonaga staring at him in disgust and pity from the other end of the aisle.
“I don’t know why you don’t just tell someone,” he said, staring Izuku down.
Izuku remembered his mother’s words and tried to offer up some sort of denial. “I - I don’t know what -”
Toyonaga scowled, shaking his head. “Don’t try to deny it,” he cut Izuku off. “I know what I saw. Both times.”
He turned his back on Izuku. “Goodbye, Deku.”
Izuku slumped into the wall behind him, scrubbing the dried tears off of his face.
Eventually, and with a painful jolt, Izuku clambered to his feet, rubbing lightly at the sore spot on his ribs as he went. No doubt, there would be a bruise there tomorrow.
Sighing, Izuku collected his book and sat down at the desk to study it.
As the minutes went on, Izuku found the section on army uniforms and got out his notebook to sketch the designs.
There had been two different times since the start of quirks that they had changed the army uniform, Izuku found out. The first time, in the year 2059, was to differentiate themselves from quirk-using rebels in different countries, all of which wore similar clothing. The second, in the year 2072, was to accommodate people with quirks into the army.
Izuku studied the designs, hunched over in his chair to help his aching ribs.
The uniform that the army used between 2059 and 2072 looked familiar to Izuku. He screwed up his eyes, remembering the details of the uniforms from his dream. Yeah, it was that one.
Izuku thought about it. If the glowing baby had been born in 2034, the first person to develop a quirk, then Yoichi had to be born around that time, too. And he’d seen from his dream about Mizuka that she was a young child in 2051. And then there was Ruka, who had to be an adult to join the army, and was in it from between 2059 and 2970.
Izuku did some quick calculations on his page. They all had to be between ten to twenty years apart in age. And if that pattern continued, Izuku would be able to access the memories of about seven to fourteen people.
Glad that he’d narrowed down the timeline for the new person and made some headway in figuring out his dreams, Izuku finished his sketch of the uniform and copied out any information that he found might be useful from the book.
After, Izuku opened his quirk notebook and entered in all the details of his quirk usage this time. It hadn’t been like the huge shockwave from the two previous times, and Izuku wondered if it meant he would be able to release the blasts without a full stockpile soon. This time, the shockwave had been like a strong breeze released from his body. It also made Izuku wonder if he’d used the quirk before without knowing it. The beach was breezy, and a slight change would be almost impossible to notice - that could be why he was having trouble filling up his stockpile.
Izuku studied the other quirk usage entries for the shockwave. He had been shoved by Toyonaga, had a fight with Kacchan and was… Izuku paused. Thought about it.
Two theories about his quirk came to him at once. But one of them… one of them was impossible. There was just no way, not unless the two quirk expressions were completely unconnected. But… it fit.
Izuku gnawed on his lip, hissing as he broke the skin there.
With no other leads, Izuku had to test his theories.
Izuku jumped out of the chair, hastily putting back the book, packing up his notebooks and pens that had been sprawled out on the table. He all but ran out of the library, getting scolded by a teacher passing by, but he was too excited to care. Izuku ran past his house, all the way over to Takobah beach.
Weaving through the piles of trash, Izuku finally made it to his and Kacchan’s spot, panting heavily.
He collapsed onto the dirty old couch that had been abandoned there.
It fit, Izuku thought. HIs theories fit with the quirk, and if that was true, then his other theory was true too.
But the problem was, the third theory was impossible - or Izuku would have thought the theory was impossible before All For One showed up. Now, though, he wasn’t so sure.
See, his theory was based on the events that led up to him releasing the quirk. Firstly, it was Toyonaga pushing him in the hallway. Then, it was Kacchan fighting him. And just then it had been Kakiage kicking him in the ribs. All things stressful or scary, and all things that exerted a force on Izuku’s body.
And if it was a stockpiling quirk, then the stockpile could be built up by force exerted on his body and released with fear as a shockwave!
If that was the case, Izuku could think of so many uses for it - the quirk was obviously meant to be a last defense mechanism, but Izuku could channel the energy to different body parts to punch like All Might did!
Izuku’s enthusiasm dimmed a bit at the mention of All Might.
Izuku breathed slowly, sinking into the soft couch as he caught his breath.
There was one problem with his theory, but Izuku would face that once it was proven true - if it was proved to be true.
Izuku got up off of the couch, fiddling with the button on his uniform as he thought. In order to test his theory, he needed to exert a force upon his body in a high stress situation.
Izuku considered it for a moment. He could… get into a fight? No, that was too dangerous.
But…
Izuku turned around, eyeing the top of the tallest pile of trash in his vicinity, considering.
It could work.
With a deep breath and a determined look etched into his face, Izuku began to climb. Over junk and forgotten machines, he climbed up the tower of rubbish. When he finally reached the top, Izuku was covered in a layer of sweat.
Izuku could see the whole trash filled beach from his vantage point. Looking down, he felt almost nauseous from the height. It was nowhere near as tall as some of the places he’d been to, but knowing that he’d have to jump off of it was scary.
Izuku took a deep breath in, steadying himself. It was for the quirk, he told himself.
“Deku!” Kacchan yelled.
Izuku startled, wobbling on the unsteady pile of trash but managing to regain his balance.
“What the fuck are you doing, idiot?” Kacchan rounded the corner, coming to a stop at the base of the trash pile, looking furious. He had his crutch on him, but he wasn’t using it, in order to make himself faster. Izuku didn’t think that was good for his leg.
Izuku grinned down at him. “I think I figured out my quirk!” he declared.
Kacchan just scowled. “Get down from there,” he demanded.
Izuku pouted. “But, Kacchan. This will tell me if my theory is true or not.”
Kacchan stomped his foot in the sand, and Izuku flinched at the action. “Just get down from there, you idiot.”
Izuku bit his lip, wincing at the ache in his bottom lip. He didn’t really want to jump from this height, not since he’d climbed up and seen how high it really was.
Izuku crouched, beginning the climb down.
The trash under his foot shifted.
With a yelp, Izuku fell to the floor, body thudding against the trash heap in multiple spots.
He landed on the sand, dazed, an explosive force rigging out of his body and into the air around him, knocking the trash backwards. Kacchan landed on his behind in the sand, spluttering at the grains of sand that blew up into his face.
Izuku blinked, groaning in pain and looking over at the fallen Kacchan who was glared fiercely at him. His body hurt, but not terribly so, which meant Izuku didn’t have any broken bones. Though, his mother would be asking questions about the bruises she found on his body.
But… it worked! Izuku’s theory was proved true!
Kacchan stood, brushing the sand off of his clothes and turning to Izuku.
“What the hell were you thinking?” Kacchan raged.
Izuku flinched back, falling into the sand he had only just lifted his torso out of, and Kacchan took a step back, beginning to angrily pace back and forth across the uneven sand.
“I - I told you, Kacchan,” Izuku said excitedly, sitting up. “I figured out my quirk!”
Kacchan sent him a glare. “Well, unless it’s flight, then you’re a fucking idiot.”
Izuku ignored him. “I was kicked by Kakiage today at the library and let out another shockwave!” he announced.
“What?!” Kacchan yelled.
“Yeah,” Izuku agreed. “And then I figured it out. The first time, I was pushed by Toyonaga, the second was after the fight with you, and earlier I was kicked. And then right now, I fell off the trash heap!” Izuku listed them off, watching as Kacchan’s eyes grew wide.
“All are physical forces,” Kacchan said.
“And all are high stress situations,” Izuku added. “So, I decided to jump off of the trash head to store up enough energy to make another blast, which worked, meaning my theory is true.”
“That’s not a good reason, you damned nerd.”
Kacchan fell silent, and when Izuku looked over to him, he wasn’t smiling in the slightest. “That - that can’t be right,” he muttered. “D - Izuku. If this quirk is stockpiling kinetic energy to release in high stress situations, how does your metal quirk tie into it? Unless…”
Izuku looked at his hands in his lap, finishing Kacchan’s sentence for him. “I have two quirks.”