A/N: Happy February!...Or at least, it would be if there wasn't a snowstorm blowing through at the moment. My electricity situation appears tenuous at the moment, so I figured better to get out the meat of the chapter out first and hit myself over the head later in case there's anything missing. Enjoy!

Chapter 10: Six of Swords

Chapter Date: 02/01/21

It wasn't often that Izuku woke up with guests in his home. Even less often when those guests were friends. Almost never when they stayed in his room.

And it was with absolute certainty that Izuku knew that opening his eyes to see a sentient being of darkness hovering in the middle of the room, looking in his direction.

"AAHH-"

"Shhh!" Dark Shadow put a claw? Wing? Finger? To his beak in animated worry. "Sorry for scaring you, but I don't really sleep and it gets uncomfy hanging around in Fumi while he's sleeping so…"

Izuku looked over the side of his bed down at Tokoyami, still contentedly asleep atop the futon on the ground. "It's…okay, Dark Shadow. I was just surprised, that's all. I haven't had a friend stay over in…" Izuku trailed off as he heard muffled conversation through the wall between his room and the guest room where Shouji and Ojiro were staying. Despite Dark Shadow's mute efforts to deter him, Izuku quietly padded out of bed and crept up to the wall.

"-trying, but it's so hard…listening to him talk over the phone without a clue was one thing, but that was nothing compared to seeing him in person…" A deep shuddering breath filtered through as Izuku realized it was Shouji speaking. "I wasn't lying when I said I'm used to looking after Izuku, but I was putting up a front on how much it affected me…how do you manage it?"

"I…I'm not the best one to ask on this particular subject matter. Midoriya…passed, quite early in my timeline, before U.A. even, so I never had the opportunity to meet him." Ojiro's tone was calm, with only an undercurrent of regret. "You would probably get more relevant information from Tokoyami or Mineta, if you can manage to talk before we leave…then again, I'm sure Bakugo has the most experience of any of us dealing with this particular issue, given that he and Midoriya see each other practically every day."

Shouji snorted. "Asking Bakugo Katsuki for advice on how to be considerate of Izuku…that sounds like the punchline of a terrible joke. What strange times we live in."

"Midoriya? I see that you have awoken from your slumber. Did my companion interfere with your rest?" Izuku stiffened and turned to see Tokoyami sitting up, blinking the sleep from his eyes. Behind him, Dark Shadow was pointedly looking away as if he hadn't been present in the room while Izuku had been blatantly overhearing the conversation in the next room.

"N-Not at all, Tokoyami, I just wake up early due to my training schedule," Izuku supplied, making busy as he grabbed his clothes for the day. "A-Anyways, we should get everyone ready for the day. After all, we are switching meeting locations for the day!"

And what bitter irony it was, to be choosing that place as one of the meeting spots. 'At least Kacchan and I are friends with each other again…' As Tokoyami excused himself to the bathroom to get dressed, Izuku checked his phone for status messages.

'Looks like Kacchan is as much an early riser as ever, but that works in our favor. Momo looks really organized on her end, I have to remember to thank her later for handling all the girls. It looks like Iida is ahead of schedule too, though that reminds me to ask if he has an idea of what Shouto and Toshi were talking about last night.' As Izuku exited his room, the guest room door opened as well to reveal Shouji and Ojiro, both already dressed.

"Bo-Midoriya. Good morning to you." Shouji nodded, and Izuku tried very hard not to think about whether Shouji had been using his Dupli-Arms to listen for any eavesdroppers to his conversation with Ojiro. "We should start making some breakfast, I wouldn't want to…"

Izuku blinked as Shouji trailed off, before following his and Ojiro's gazes over towards the kitchen.

"Thank you for helping me with breakfast this morning!" His mom was busy setting the table and putting out extra chairs, head turned towards the kitchen. "I am surprised that you know how to make such wonderful grape pancakes!"

Mineta, standing on a stool over the stove, smiled. "It's more of a brand thing than anything else. Though, I suppose it's the small things that matter."

Tokoyami took that chance to walk out of the bathroom, and he and Dark Shadow simultaneously glanced over in mutual bafflement.

"Fumi…what-"

"Don't question anything, Dark Shadow. I fear the universe may collapse upon us if your inquiry is made."

… … …

"First a beach turned junkyard, and now a forest? You were a bit more adventurous than I thought, Midoriya." Ojiro joked as they walked past the dilapidated fence into the familiar foliage.

"I am sure that Midoriya, any version of him, is capable of welcoming us with surprises aplenty." Tokoyami mused.

"Of that, I have no doubt. Was it just you that came up with the idea for a rotation of meeting locations?" Izuku frowned at the way Ojiro worded his question, then at his position at the front of group of five traversing the forest.

"…Ojiro, have you…been here before?"

To his credit, Ojiro didn't so much as flinch or stutter-step, though a sad smile appeared on his face. "Yes, just once, for a friend. He needed some catharsis, and this is where I found him. I found myself wondering if that was part of the reason for this location's selection, but I have to reason that our previous conversation points are unfamiliar to them now."

'With me dead, the only one who would know about this place is…' Izuku swallowed as Ojiro turned back around. Soon, they had arrived at a familiar log, still intact after years. Looking down at the creek as he crossed, Izuku could almost see the two children that had once stood in the water below. After a couple minutes walking into the other side, they arrived at a clearing, where familiar red eyes were waiting.

"Of course it's our two resident locals who arrived first. On the other hand, I'm kind of sad Bakugo's early-ass wakeup time stays constant across timelines." Kaminari joked, and Izuku held his breath instinctively, waiting for Kacchan to launch an explosion in his direction. Judging by the expressions on some of the others' faces, he wasn't the only one. However, Kacchan merely grunted before leaning his head back against the tree he was resting against. Looking around, Kaminari's joke apparently fell flat with multiple people; Sero stared at Izuku with a furrowed brow, Sato was watching Kacchan like a hawk, and Kouda almost seemed to be sleeping, if it weren't for the soft murmurs that Izuku could catching coming from the boy's lips.

An awkward silence, somewhere between comfortable and tense, settled over the group as everyone took their seats against trees, rocks and stumps while waiting for the other Travelers. Soon enough, Momo's group arrived, and Izuku was nearly crushed against his resting spot after receiving hugs of various intensity from most of the girls. Hagakure and Tsuyu mercifully abstained, with Tsuyu giving Izuku a wry grin and Hagakure's literally unreadable expression confounding Izuku once again before the invisible girl took her seat nearby.

Lastly, Iida strode into the clearing, followed by Aoyama, Shouto and Toshi. Izuku waved in response to Aoyama's own cheerful wave, though waving at Shouto garnered him a searching look from the boy. Toshi elected to pass right over him in favor of surveying the other assembled Travelers, before taking his own seat as Momo stood up to join Iida.

"Thank you everyone, for being here and making it here this morning. I hope your rest was comfortable and our departure times relaxing enough." Various thumbs up, grimaces, nods and groans jumbled together as Momo smiled. "Now that we are all here, I would like to begin today's meeting by addressing as a group what our foremost priorities should be. Afterwards, we may begin formulating the various responses required to address these issues. I trust everyone has a general understanding of what matters hold the most weight, so we should reach a consensus swiftly."

… … …

The strength of Murphy's Law appeared to positively correlate with how a situation was, because nothing was getting agreed on.

"I'm telling you all, Shigaraki and the Front need to be stopped first and foremost!"

"But there is no Front at the moment! If anything, the priority should be on Garaki! No doctor, No Nomus!"

"What about Eri then?! Without her, there are no bullets for the Eight Precepts and the Front later to use!"

"Focusing on individuals instead of the bigger picture can have unintended consequences. It's clear that Japan and beyond are at stake in the coming months and years, and certain actions will have ramifications that could potentially accelerate certain developments."

"And we cannot save anyone or anything if we tip our hand too early and get caught, which is why we need to be covert about our movements."

"How exactly do you expect taking on the Commission to be covert?!"

Izuku watched as the verbal volleys were lobbed by the Travelers, each argument containing vital information that Izuku knew he should silently file away. Sadly, that seemed to be the limit of the productivity of the meeting, which had already reached the afternoon without anything in the way of progress. Moreover, Izuku had a sinking feeling that these talks were beginning to reveal something sorrowful about the whole affair.

Mina had looked to Kirishima and Kacchan for support on taking the fight to Shigaraki, apparently the head of the League of Villains and later the Paranormal Liberation Front, but both had rebuffed her aggressively proactive stance with sad expressions. On the other hand, Shouto attempting to lend his ideas to Mina had been met with scathing refusal from the acid user.

Hagakure's steel-laced justification for rescuing a girl named Eri was nearly shattered in her disbelief when Ojiro explained the need to view the totality of the timeline before selecting individual actions.

Iida's declaration for a preemptive investigation into the Hero Commission found incredulity by nearly every Traveler except Shouji, Kouda and Mei.

Izuku could have claimed he was shocked at the events unfolding, but the pieces had already sadly been there.

Questions at the events of a certain timeline. Mystification at the expected understanding of certain happenings. Stories about shared occurrences across timelines, and jokes at the constant relevance of personalities.

The Travelers had laughed, cajoled, enjoyed one another's company in the face of unfamiliar histories and traits, only finding relief that the dead had returned…

…But now, they were realizing that perhaps, that wasn't the case. Assumed support was nowhere to be found due to changed circumstances across timelines, and events that one Traveler had no knowledge of were causing another's view of them to sour.

'What a cruel fate; to gaze upon the face of a friend, and fear they are nothing but a stranger, or worse, an enemy.' Izuku winced, before looking around at the Travelers. Strong as they were, they had been leaning on a support that might not have been there, and it was beginning to show on their faces. 'I need to say something before-'

"I think we're actually getting off track from the most important thing here." Everyone glanced over at Sero, and Izuku stomach plunged as the boy met his gaze. "We need to talk about whether Midoriya Izuku should be involved in the first place."

Everyone instinctively turned to Izuku, though there were quite a few faces that were turning to rage, Kacchan chief among them. "Hanta, I fucking swear-"

"Kacchan." Izuku firmly cut Kacchan off, before closing his eyes and taking a breath. Even that sounded shaky. "No one is here to invalidate another's opinions. Sero, likely the same as the rest of you, has experienced some painful events in his timeline that he wants to avoid. If he wants to keep me from being involved in your efforts and plans for the future, he deserves to explain why that is the case, without disregard and derision."

The Travelers fell silent at that, before Kacchan sat back down. Izuku nodded at Sero, who rose to his feet and walked forwards. "I know I'm on the outs with more than a few of you for my position, and that's okay. I get it, Midoriya has been at the front of so many of the pivotal fights that we've all been in…And yet, is there anyone else here that has died in every single timeline that we've come back from? Anyone?"

Uneasy glances were exchanged, before Tsuyu spoke up. "That's not exactly fair to Midoriya though, kero. If the multiverse exists, and considering we are all here right now I choose to believe that's true, then our experiences are only a fraction of the possibilities in the universe. He could have just as easily survived in a greater number of timelines."

"That might be true, but we're talking about the here and now, Tsuyu. Out of our experiences, Midoriya's died in every one, and I refuse to believe that those deaths are just a matter of luck or random chance. That means there's something about Midoriya that has contributed to his deaths, despite whatever power or skill he's gained across timelines." The support for Tsuyu's arguments were snuffed out under Sero's words, as he swept an arm out at Izuku. "And now, you all want to bring him into the fold like he is now? An untrained, quirkless kid that's died time and time again? Who's not even a Traveler?"

"HANTA, shut your fucking mouth." Kacchan was on his feet again, palms out as he glanced over at a pale Izuku. "You shouldn't have brought his quirk status into this. You know it won't matter later."

"And why not? Why should Midoriya be the one to get One For All? Because he has a good heart?" Sero shot back. "What does that mean for the rest of us? What comfort does that give us when he's dead and gone?"

"If you mean to take Izuku's right to One For All away from him, I will burn you where you stand," Shouto swore, joining Kacchan on his feet.

"Sero, Todoroki, Bakugo, stand down." Iida ground out as everyone held their breath. After a moment, all three boys stepped back, but even Izuku could tell they were all a split second away from throwing themselves at one another. Iida pinched his brow. "Okay. Clearly, the topic of One For All is an important aspect of our discussions and considerations. To expedite the process, is there anyone here who does not know what One For All is?"

Izuku looked around the circle, and realized a stunning number of faces held the glint of recognition. It appeared that only Sato and Mineta were among those unaware of the secret.

"We will likely return to this topic at a later point, but for now, know this; One For All is a stockpiling quirk that is capable of being passed from one individual to another, and is thought of as the counterpart to All For One. Midoriya, is the intended recipient of One For All and will receive the quirk from All Might, the Eighth holder. I trust this is information known to most of you." Nods came from a majority of the Travelers, and even Mineta and Sato looked as if they'd just been given the puzzle pieces to complete the set. "The current discussion does not focus on whether Midoriya should or should not receive One For All, nor do I support taking away what I believe he has rightfully earned. If this is a debate that truly must be entertained, that will happen at a later time. Regardless, Midoriya's quirk status should not be a factor of consideration in his involvement, as he remains competent with or without a quirk, as I am sure others can attest to."

"Izu can kick plenty of ass with his quirk countermeasures and tech alone. He did it in my timeline, and he did it in Hitoshi's. All he needs is training, which the rest of us can and will give him. One your next point, Tape Face, I'll defer to Yaomomo." Mei supplied, smile absent from her face, while Toshi looked as impassive as usual. Meanwhile, Momo stood up and walked forward, taking a moment to glare at Sero.

"Sero, you have claimed as support for your argument that Izuku should not be involved in our planning and operations due to the fact that he is not a Traveler." Momo glanced at Mei, then Kacchan, and finally her eyes rested on Izuku. "I have reason to believe that Izuku is in fact a Traveler."

"…What?" Izuku croaked out. He didn't care how he sounded at the moment, but Momo did, as the girl gave a soft smile at him.

"Since meeting Izuku in this time, I have also been in contact with Hatsume and Bakugo to aid Izuku in his search for the Travelers. As we know, the Travelers appear to be based and selected on their relation to one of the Major Arcana of the Tarot. As we can see, we have twenty-one confirmed Travelers here at this moment. And which Arcana is missing?" Momo's eyes glanced around the circle as some of them began to piece it together. "The Fool. Typically categorized as unnumbered, number zero, or number twenty-two. And what is the symbolism behind The Fool, Izuku?"

"…The Fool's Journey…being unaware of the path ahead…intersection and interaction with the Major Arcana…" Izuku whispered, his words somehow carrying through the clearing as everyone's eyes widened. "B-But I don't have-didn't come from the future like the rest of you!"

Momo nodded. "That was something we considered in our suspicions, but ultimately Mei and I realized your existence as more fundamental than a time traveler. Normally, one's conceptions of time travel involve an individual or group traveling from the same time period to another. Whether that comes about through quirks, science, magic or other, one constant is that those affected originate from the same time. So how can there be twenty-one Travelers from undoubtedly different periods, different timelines?"

Everyone stared at the enormous mental pit trap of an answer before them: you can't.

"And yet, we have. And the answer lies in you, Izuku. Everyone has noticed that we traveled back to April 6th at 12:21 AM, an utterly remarkable time and day. If whatever person or force placed us here on that day, what event or events could have triggered the divergence of timelines that have led to such distinctions between us?" Izuku's eyes couldn't possibly get any wider, and his mouth was dry as sandpaper. "Yes, you understand. The trigger, is you. The earliest divergence began in Bakugo's timeline with…your death, and such divergences have continued and line up with your subsequent passing in other timelines. Your being native to this timeline made you some sort of cosmic turning fork that brought us all back to the same timeline. You are the Focal Point, The Fool who is meant to interact with all of us on your journey."

An unnatural silence pervaded the clearing, as Izuku couldn't even hear the soft rustle of the trees or running of the creek or his harsh breathing or his…oh…

A weight on his shoulder jolted him out of his own head, though Izuku saw no hand as he turned before he found the floating clothes. Hagakure remained silent, but gave a reassuring squeeze as the inevitable noise began to return in the fallout of that bombshell.

As Momo left the center, Sero returned, and Izuku could tell the boy? Teenager? Man? was looking weary. Despite that, his eyes remained sharp. "Thanks for that Yaomomo. So, everyone's determined to ignore Midoriya's quirk or lack thereof and hand One For All to him without a fuss? Fine. Arguments about a proven history of him dying and objective fact that he is the weakest person in this clearing being disregarded? Great. Wanting Midoriya involved for the basis that we're here now in part because of him, despite the fact that he has no memories of the future? Sure, why not." Izuku could feel Kacchan looking at him at Sero's last statement. Then again, he likely wasn't the only one. "So consider this then: what is Midoriya Izuku?"

Everyone looked around, confused by what Sero was asking. No one could deny the foundation of something was being built though as Sero smiled grimly. "It's a simple enough question, but I'll help everyone out. Is Midoriya a fighter, a warrior, a striker who will scrap with the best of them till their last? Is he a mastermind, a planner, a strategist who can see the board and plays without most others even aware that a game is happening? Is Midoriya Izuku a protector, a rescuer, a savior to free and inspire people with a smile on his face?"

Izuku watched as the Travelers, those with knowledge of the future and knowledge of him, debated amongst themselves, bricks in support of his apparent heroic qualities being built and added higher and higher. True to Sero's own words though, he was beginning to see where Sero was leading them towards, as the tape user continued. "It's tough to decide, isn't it? So let's take stock. Physically, we have someone without a quirk and literally years of training behind most of us, and that was before we came back to this time. But let's put that aside for now if you want. Mentally, he's currently unaware of the board, the pieces or the plays in the game that he finds himself in, being a 'Traveler' without memories of the future. But hey, he can learn. How about the last one then? His 'heroic spirit'?"

And with a soft intangible rumbling, Izuku remembered what Sero's Arcana was.

"Deku the hero wants to save everyone with a smile, doesn't he? Midoriya Izuku, the boy who never gives up, even when all convention tells him otherwise. It's admirable. His moral code is perhaps the most unassailable out of everyone assembled here…but there's a reason for that, isn't there? And with cause, comes effect." The Tower turned back to Izuku. "Tell me, Midoriya, how did you die in my timeline again?"

"…I…I saved Bakugo during a fight…and died…without One For All being passed on…" Izuku replied in horror, and now the other Travelers were realizing what was happening.

"That's right. You saved a life, the life of your childhood friend no less, and then died. Hey guys, what was it that Aizawa said during the Quirk Apprehension test? 'Even if you have the same reckless valor, you'll just be decked and turn into a useless doll after saving one person.'" Sero looked back from the other Travelers. "Your body moved before your mind did, but even with all your training, neither were enough to save you. And even with your intentions, your 'valor', where did your spirit leave you? Show of hands here, how many Travelers in a timeline where Midoriya had One For All know that he passed the quirk on before he died?"

There was a pause, before Mina shakily raised her hand. Then Tsuyu, then Iida. Ochako. Kirishima. Shouto. Hagakure. Momo. Kyouka. Kaminari. Shouji.

Half the Travelers. Izuku didn't know enough to know whether that was a good showing, but his gut was giving him a hint.

"And how many of those successors came about purely because they were the closest or one of the closest people by Midoriya while he was dying?"

All eleven that had raised their hands earlier kept them up. Which meant…

"And now how many Travelers experienced a timeline where Midoriya couldn't pass on One For All before he died?" Sero raised his own hand, followed by Sato, Mineta, Aoyama and Kouda.

'Oh god…'

"And how many were Travelers were in a timeline where Midoriya never even had the quirk?" Ojiro. Tokoyami. Kacchan. Mei. Toshi. That was every other Traveler…

"Midoriya, you had One For All in sixteen of these twenty-one timelines. And in every one of those timelines, you died without passing on the one quirk that mattered most in the centuries-old battle against All For One, without a single contingency beyond hoping you could pass a hair to someone before you died, or being confident enough that you would always win. And it's not even just about the quirk; the number of fights you dove into on blind faith alone would make most pros bust a rib in laughter. Do you know what continuously going into a fight without backup plans is called? Arrogance." Sero rubbed his face, and despite something in Izuku being on the verge of fracturing, or maybe because of it, he saw the absolute exhaustion on Sero's face. "I know I'm the bad guy here, but I don't want to be. I really don't. I just want everyone to make it out alive, and safe, and happy. And I legitimately don't know if that's possible with you in the picture. For all that I admired you, and still do…"

"Your moral code is distorted, and at odds with other parts of yourself. And with your very being in dissonance, how can you be expected to save everyone?"

"…I…I don't…I wouldn't…" Izuku couldn't think, couldn't speak past the pounding. Was it his head? His heart? He could hear himself panting this time, could see his hands fisting into his shirt, but felt no weight against his chest to soothe that pain, that…

"-reathe Izuku, just focus on my voice…in through your nose, count to five breathing in, then out through your mouth counting to five…"

Izuku couldn't tell who was speaking, but grasped onto the words like a lifeline.

In. Five. Out. Five. In. Five. Out. Five.

The dark tinge that had encompassed his vision slowly receded, and Izuku weakly raised his head to see Toshi in front of him, Kacchan and a few others as close as they could be without crowding him. At a look from Toshi, everyone backed up, and Izuku looked around the circle again. A few of the Travelers looked similarly nauseous, some looked ready to tear Sero to shreds, others deep in thought. Sero himself was leaning against a tree at the edge, looking every bit as worn out as Izuku felt.

Momo, one of the ones who had been around Izuku, stepped back into the center. "I think…it would be best, if we reconvene tomorrow. We…we have much to consider, I believe…"

There was scarce conversation as everyone split into their groups and began exiting the clearing. Izuku shakily rose to his feet with the help of Shouji.

"You don't need to take what Sero said to heart, Boss." Shouji gently began shuffling Izuku along. "Consider his words, maybe, but his reasoning has as many flaws as he claims yours does."

"But…does that mean that he is wrong?" Shouji fell silent at Izuku's inquiry, and he couldn't blame his friend for that.

'It can't be true…can it?'

… … …

Six of Swords: Leaving an especially challenging and painful situation. Experiencing fear or regret is necessary at times to move forward in life, and it may feel as though something is left behind. Personal growth and hardship often go hand in hand.

A/N: …Yeahhh, this one did not end with the best of feels. But, it is a necessary aspect of consideration for Izuku and the other Travelers. Sero's position as the Tower should likely be well-earned at this point, though I will remark that I hold nothing against either Sero in this story or Izuku in canon for their actions and beliefs. Hopefully, that staves off the pitchfork mob that's likely headed for me in this snow. Until next week then!

-SE

Next Chapter Date: 02/08/21

Travelers and Titles

Midoriya Izuku: The Fool

Bakugo Katsuki: The Magician

Jiro Kyoka: The High Priestess

Yaoyorozu Momo: The Empress

Todoroki Shouto: The Emperor

Hagakure Toru: The Hierophant

Uraraka Ochako: The Lovers

Kirishima Eijirou: The Chariot

Iida Tenya: Justice

Kouda Kouji: The Hermit

Sato Rikido: The Wheel of Fortune

Asui Tsuyu: Strength

Shouji Mezou: The Hanged man

Ashido Mina: Death

Kaminari Denki: Temperance

Mineta Minoru: The Devil

Sero Hanta: The Tower

Aoyama Yuga: The Star

Shinsou Hitoshi: The Moon

Hatsume Mei: The Sun

Tokoyami Fumikage: Judgement

Ojiro Mashirao: The World