Chapter Text
Your neighbors are the Bakugous.
As difficult as it is to believe, it’s true. You had your doubts at first. However, several weeks have passed since then, and by now, it’s become impossible to deny.
This is the world of My Hero Academia. It doesn’t make any sense, honestly. You wouldn’t be surprised if you really are dead, and if this is some kind of endless dream, but the fact remains that the world you find yourself in is, truly, the very same fictional one you’ve admired all this time.
Several instances helped affirm your theory, like when your parents were sitting on the couch and holding you in their arms, and you saw the channel was open to the news. A group of robbers was recently apprehended, and the one responsible for it was—surprise, surprise—a hero.
Of course, television alone is nowhere near enough proof. That was only the prelude, though. A little sneak peek as to what was still to come. Not long after, your parents began taking you outside on a regular basis, so that you could get fresh air, sunlight, and also just because new parents tend to be incredibly busy. On the days that they need to go shopping together, you’re right there with them, experiencing the world around you in real time.
You certainly aren’t in modern-day Japan anymore. Instead, you find yourself in an alternate plane of reality, where superpowers known as Quirks are the norm, and police aren’t the only ones responsible for fighting crime. You have yet to actually see a hero in person, but sure enough, they’re everywhere on TV, on the covers of books, merchandise, and some food stalls even sell products that are supposedly based on popular heroes’ favorite meals.
Not to mention that you can just see this isn’t the regular world. Some people hardly look like, well, people. Mutant-based Quirks allow for vastly different appearances, and sure, anyone can dress up in a costume, but these are hyper-realistic, and go beyond the limits of special effects makeup.
Which brings you back to your original point. You’re now more sure than ever that your neighbors are Bakugou Mitsuki and Bakugou Masaru, along with their newly-born son, Bakugou Katsuki. Even the dates align. Katsuki’s birthday is April 20th, and based on the fact that he’s only a few weeks old and you’re entering the summer season right now, there’s virtually no ambiguity left.
Plus, he’s kind of a little brat. And that’s exactly what you would expect from the notorious Bakugou Katsuki.
A wave of violent sobs fills the room, as Mitsuki desperately rocks Katsuki in her arms and tries to get him to quiet down. You’re really not sure what he’s crying about, considering she literally just fed him and changed his diaper. He’s screaming so loud that you’re worried your tiny baby eardrums might pop.
“Oh, please calm down,” Mitsuki sighs, swaying him back and forth while she nuzzles her nose against his cheeks. “Come on, Katsuki. It’s okay. Please just cut me some slack. I’m so tired…”
She sighs for what is probably the hundredth time in less than ten minutes. Meanwhile, your mother watches with an empathetic expression. She must secretly feel both guilty and relieved, because you almost never cry. The only times you actually do cry is when you’re doing it to maintain appearances, otherwise you’d be suspiciously quiet, and you don’t want your parents to worry.
Your parents have it easy, that’s for sure. Poor Mitsuki. It’s no wonder she always yells all the time. Her blood pressure must be through the roof because of her son. And this is supposed to be him at his best. Pre-character development, at least.
Either way, you can’t help but feel bad—and thus, you make a noble attempt to communicate with Katsuki in the only language he knows.
Baby talk.
“Ba,” you say, mimicking the same syllable Katsuki enunciated at you, upon your very first meeting. You honestly doubt he can even hear you because of how loud he’s screaming, but maybe he really does understand you. Somehow. In the same way that babies think they’re able to talk to people, despite only knowing gibberish.
Whatever the case, his eyes drift towards you, just like they did when you first met, and he suddenly falls silent.
Mitsuki blinks. “Oh. Y-You’re done now, right? Please. Please tell me you’re done. Look at how happy and relaxed [Name] is. She must be helping you calm down.”
It’s a nice thought, you have to admit. Just imagine if you could actually appease Bakugou Katsuki of all people. He’s a baby right now—granted, a restless, wailing baby—but all things considered, he’ll be much more of a handful later on. You don’t want to get ahead of yourself by acting like you’ll magically be able to fix all of his flaws and insecurities.
You can be his friend, though. That, at the very least, is something you’d really like to do.
And perhaps it’s just a coincidence, but the second you have that thought, Katsuki’s furrowed brows momentarily uncross, and he flashes you a wide, gummy smile.
You smile back at him without even realizing it.
“Vroom! Vroom!”
Currently, Katsuki is playing with a toy car. His pudgy little hands grip onto the car to the best of their ability as he drags it across the ground—rather ungraciously, you might add. In fact, you would actually go as far as to call the motions straight-up violent.
…not that you’re all that surprised.
Most kids would probably play with a toy car by making it drive in circles, around a race track or something, but no, not this guy. Both of you are roughly nine months old, and you have to give credit where it’s due. He has pretty amazing spatial awareness for someone his age. Everyone always hails him as a prodigy, but clearly, for good reason. He has his bright eyes affixed on the stack of wooden blocks in front of him, and instead of veering around it, he deliberately drives the toy car into the blocks, causing them to crash down.
Then he starts clapping his hands excitedly and giggling, as if causing destruction was exactly what he wanted to do. It’s kind of giving Stitch, to be honest.
You stare at him for a few good seconds, then resume fidgeting with the most recent batch of puzzles your parents bought you. Considering these are intended for literal babies, it’s safe to say that you have a 100% accuracy rate. The most difficult part is exerting control over your own limbs. Your mind may be advanced, but your body can’t really keep up with it yet. You move much more slowly and clumsily than you’re used to.
Still, practice makes perfect, and you obviously know how to problem-solve way better than an infant. Even your coordination must seem extremely advanced for someone your age. You constantly hear your parents gushing about how smart you are. They compliment you at practically every turn. You honestly haven’t gotten used to it yet, because the difference between your current family, and your old one, is like night and day.
Yeah. You’re definitely not used to it.
However, it makes you happier than you ever imagined you could be.
“Vroom!” Katsuki suddenly exclaims, and he proceeds to drive his toy car in a sharp upward arc, accidentally hitting you in the face with it. Needless to say, your parents and Katsuki’s parents cry out in alarm, immediately fussing over you.
“I’m so sorry,” Mitsuki apologizes, hurriedly pulling Katsuki away. “Is she alright??”
“It’s okay. I’m sure she’ll be fine,” your father reassures, but when he looks at you, there’s no denying the way his bottom lip trembles, as if his heart aches at the thought that you might start crying. Yet another expression that you’ve never seen directed your way before. Someone worrying on your behalf. Someone who actually cares about your pain.
Your reaction clearly catches everyone off guard. Although, of course it does.
Instead of crying, you just smile.
But then Katsuki starts wailing loud enough for the both of you.
“Oh, Katsuki!” Mitsuki cries out in exasperation. “Why are you the one crying, you silly little boy?”
“Maybe he’s upset that he hurt [Name],” Masaru offers.
“Really? Do you think this brat is actually capable of that kind of empathy?”
Masaru sighs, hanging his head tiredly. He probably wanted to correct Mitsuki over her choice of words just then, but decided it probably wasn’t worth the effort. Which, to be fair, it wouldn’t have been.
Anyway, Katsuki keeps crying and crying, with no end in sight. You’re not quite sure what possesses you, but you’re suddenly imbued with a surge of strength, and upon huffing determinedly, you rise to your feet.
“Oh my god,” your mother gasps. “Honey, look! [Name]’s walking! Quick, pull out your phone! We need to film this!”
The process is slow, and rather torturous, if you’re being honest. Your brows are completely scrunched together as you direct one foot in front of the other. It really does feel like you’ve forgotten how to walk, even though you have more than fifteen years’ worth of experience. These squishy little limbs of yours refuse to cooperate most of the time, but despite the fact that it’s much more difficult than it should be, you manage to pull it off somehow.
You’re now standing right in front of Katsuki, and you slowly wrap your arms around him.
He stops crying immediately.
In fact, he actually starts pawing his way out of Mitsuki’s grasp so that he can lean his head against you. He even tries to stand up, but ends up falling onto his butt quite a few times. It’s cute, and kind of funny, although he obviously doesn’t realize you’re resisting the urge to laugh.
Since Katsuki can’t stand alongside you, within a few moments, you plop back down on the ground. You’re still hugging him, though—and by the looks of things, everyone watching is downright amazed.
Countless pictures are being snapped, several videos are rolling, and there are too many squeals of delight to even keep track of. They all seem to be in unanimous agreement that this is probably the cutest thing they’ve ever seen. More praise is being hurled your way, too. They keep marveling as to how unbelievably clever and emotionally mature you are. Obviously, they don’t know the half of it, but it’s still nice to hear.
You feel so warm and fuzzy. Honestly, you wish this moment would never end. It’s not even the fact that you've been reborn in the world of My Hero Academia that has you so elated. You just can’t get over how happy you are to be surrounded by kind, loving people. And Katsuki might cry and scream a lot, but even by baby standards, he’s unbelievably adorable.
So, so adorable. You just want to pinch his chubby cheeks, and—ah.
Nevermind. He just sneezed all over you, the little bastard.
“Ah, we need tissues!” Masaru says, eyes darting to and fro in a panic. He stands up and starts rummaging through drawers until he finds an unopened tissue box, and meanwhile, you stare down at the layer of mucus that has since collected upon your shirt.
Ew.
You fully let out a sigh just then, but thankfully, nobody notices. Apart from Masaru, who’s now wiping you clean, everyone else is still gushing about how you not only walked on your own earlier, but deliberately hugged Katsuki as well. As far as babies go, those are both fairly impressive feats. Or so their reactions would imply.
“Vroom, vroom,” Katsuki says happily. At some point, he must have placed his hand on your back, and he might not be fully aware of what’s happening around him, like you are, but he definitely seems content in your arms. You’re willing to bet that if you pulled away right now, he’d probably start crying again.
Not that you have any intention of doing that, of course. He’s a little cutie. You still can’t believe you actually get to see him like this, during his formative years, well before the canon part of the series is set to begin.
You really are lucky, huh? It almost feels too good to be true.
Which is probably why, a few seconds later, Katsuki sneezes on you again. Extra snotty this time. Then he even laughs, as if to add insult to injury.
And yet, you continue hugging him regardless.
In this new life of yours, time seems to pass in the blink of an eye. Before, you used to dread every single day, and each minute felt comparable to an eternity. You had nothing to look forward to. Only a multitude of things to avoid. You can’t think of a single moment when you were genuinely happy or at ease. You wish you could say that your former parents weren’t always cruel, but the horrific memories date back as far as you can recall.
Obviously, that’s not the case anymore. Your trauma runs deep, so you doubt you’ll ever be able to forget about all those miserable experiences. Maybe at some point you’ll be able to, but not anytime soon. Still, you know you shouldn’t sour your mood by willingly revisiting those moments. It’s just that sometimes, you can’t help but compare. It makes you all the more grateful for your new life.
You’re two years old now. Actually, a bit older than that, but not quite old enough to proudly call yourself two-and-a-half. Since your birthday and Katsuki’s birthday are so close together, and your families are on such good terms, you’ve celebrated both instances by his side. This time, he deliberately smushed a handful of cake on your face. He really is a little bastard. But since you already know he’s capable of so much worse, it doesn’t faze you all that much.
More importantly, your body finally listens to you now. You can roam around freely, no longer held back by the frustration of baby-ism. Not that your toddler body is much to write home about, but all in all, it’s definitely an improvement.
“Katsuki, my turn with the stick,” one of the neighbor kids whines. Now that you’re a bit older, your parents let you go to the playground and hang with the other children who are around the same age as you. Your parents are here to supervise, of course. Just look. Your mom is sitting on a lawn chair and drinking beer with Mitsuki. They sure seem like they’re having a great time. Although they could probably afford to slow down a little.
“It’s my stick,” Katsuki says, and he makes sure to hold onto the stick firmly, with no intention of letting it go. He even flashes the boy a smug grin. “Find your own stick. This one’s mine!”
“But Katsuki, my mom said you need to share!”
“Nuh-uh.”
“Yeah, she did!”
“Nuh-uh!”
Well. He makes a compelling argument, that’s for sure. Toddlers are notoriously stubborn to begin with, and adding Katsuki’s personality into the mix… there’s really no chance he’ll back down.
“Katsuki, it’s just a stick,” you say, shaking your head disappointedly. “I’m not even sure what’s so amazing about it, but you should give other people a turn too. Sharing is caring. It’s the nice thing to do.”
He stares at you for a little while. Up until now, he wasn’t willing to give anyone the time of day, but you’ve since learned that you’re the exception to that rule. You’ve been stuck to each other’s side like glue, ever since you both came into this world. He instinctively feels comforted by your presence, because you’re the closest person to him, apart from his own parents.
At the end of the day, though, he’s definitely still a little brat.
“My stick,” Katsuki repeats, and he grins all the way up to his ears. “It’s okay. I’ll let you play with it later. Just don’t tell anyone else.”
“Katsuki, we can hear you!” another kid fumes.
A full-on brawl ensues. Okay, fine, you’re exaggerating. They’re mostly just yelling at each other, and are now in the process of playing tug-of-war with the stick (you still don’t get what’s so great about it), but you suppose it’s nice that Katsuki was willing to lend it to you. It’s the thought that counts. You just wish he could extend that same generosity to everyone else around him, too.
Actually, now that you stop to think about it… should you be worried? This version of My Hero Academia has clearly been altered to include you in it. It seems far more than coincidental that you ended up being neighbors with the second most important character in the whole series. Already, you’ve ingrained yourself in Katsuki’s life. You’ve forged a connection with him from a young age. However, something’s missing. Or rather, someone.
The protagonist of this world has yet to make his appearance.
A nauseating feeling starts building in the pit of your stomach. You’re really getting nervous now. What if you completely threw off the plot by being reborn here? Naturally, you have no complaints, because you absolutely adore this new life of yours, but you’re worried that a lot won’t go according to plan anymore. Certain things are supposed to unfold a certain way. By becoming so close to Katsuki, what if you’ve accidentally taken the main character’s place?
“...u-um. Sorry. Can I please… play too?”
It seems that your worries were completely unfounded. To think that he’d appear now, right when you were starting to spiral, too. You can’t even begin to describe your relief as you lock eyes with a trembling, curly-haired boy, whose cheeks are dusted with freckles, and who is timidly holding onto his mother’s hand.
Midoriya Izuku. Katsuki’s childhood friend, soon-to-be rival, and of course…
The reason My Hero Academia exists in the first place.
“Go ahead, Izuku,” his mother, Inko, says with a gentle smile. “I’m sure they won’t mind. You were saying you wanted to make some friends, right?”
Izuku nods furiously, and the wobbly smile on his lips is enough to make your heart melt. He comes running over in a hurry, looking as happy as can possibly be—
—and promptly ends up tripping over his own feet and falling flat to the ground.
Oh no.
He’s kneeling in the grass now, tears welling up in his big green eyes. Izuku is well-known for being a crybaby, even as a teenager. You’re afraid that the waterworks are imminent, but also, you’d really hate for him to cry when he was so excited about meeting all of you, just a few moments ago.
That’s why, before his tears spill over, you reach out your hand to him.
“You can play with us,” you say, grasping his fingers in the same breath. He stares at you in bewilderment, but within a few seconds, you’ve already helped pull him to his feet. “I’m [Name]. Your mom said your name is… Izuku, right?”
“R-Right.”
He sniffles a few times, but luckily, it doesn’t seem like he’s about to start crying. Inko didn’t even have to step in, because you took the initiative and rushed to him first. A smile is quick to return to his face, even brighter than before. Kids move on easily, after all. Give them a few minutes and they probably won’t even remember what they were upset about.
So now, here they are. Katsuki and Izuku. Ill-fated childhood friends, who were destined to suffer at each other’s expense, before eventually reconciling later on. Their characters were deliberately set up that way, and you understand why, but the thing is, they’re not just characters anymore.
This is your new life. A real, proper life, and both of them are part of it. Maybe the fact that you’re here actually means something. Maybe you can change a few things along the way, while allowing fate to run its course with others. Wouldn’t it be better if Katsuki and Izuku didn’t hate each other so viscerally? Maybe you can make a difference. Maybe you can help them support each other, at least so they don’t carry so much resentment throughout the years.
It’s probably wishful thinking, and you know that, but it’d be nice. You can’t help but envision a world in which it becomes reality. For all you know, this could be that world. You should at least try. There’s no point in not giving it an honest shot. It either works out for the better, or it stays the same.
How could you possibly make it any worse?