Disclaimer, don't own Log horizon or my hero academia or any other serie used in this fic.
author side note; english isn't my native tongue, and while i do re-read it after it's done to notice errors. I am dyslectic, spelling, typos and so forth happen and the program on my computer can only do so much.
An: au... ooc... Izuku is Shiroe... accidental time-travel and sort off dimension travel.
"talking"
'thinking'
Chapter 1... first year back
Began in the town of Quin Quin China,
With news of the birth of a mysterious luminescent baby
Shortly thereafter similar phenomena popped up all over the world.
The trigger for these new found powers was never determined but as time progressed
What was once extraordinary became ordinary
And dreams became reality
Of the planets population around 80% have developed unique abilities or individualities, called quirks. We have entered a new age
A society of superhumans,
with superpowers came an explosive rise in criminal activity and while the governments where trying to figure out how to reform laws with quirks in mind.
And in this world whirling in chaos a new profession formed
One who people used to aspire to only in daydreams has stepped into the light of day
Courageous people started preforming heroic acts to keep our cities safe.
In the end the streets started looking as if scenes from a comic book
But in this superhuman society one learns that not everyone are made equal.
one can't help but to wonder
is the world truly ready for the monsters who's waking.
beasts of absolute power that should not be trifled with
for good or for bad.
/
green eyes snapped open as instincts roared at him causing Izuku to muffle the startled scream his body wanted to give out.
green eyes shifted looking around very confused at the room "I'm inside?" he asked last time he checked he'd been outside hadn't he?
his instincts calmed slightly at the confusion, but he could still hear the non words to be quite, listen observe then Act.
it was a familiar feeling he knew it intimately after all sometimes it's better to be the silent enchanter and observe then the bright tank calling attention to oneself. it was a familiar instinct one he listened to instead of curling up in a ball and sob at the sheer pressure of this situation.
Izuku kept being hit with the feeling that everything is to large, flexing his hand his fingers smoothly answering and while thin his hand it was small, way smaller then he was used to yet still held a strength in them.
the familiar weight on his back was missing, he noticed and it threw his balance into disaster as he tripped, "ohp" pushing himself up again from the floor. 'I can move my body, but it's uncomfortable the size of my limbs are different' he thought annoyed.
"this place" he murmured somewhat recognizing the room even in the storm and pain his mind was in. it looked like a normal bedroom the sight outside the window thought just caused his head to hurt more.
'why?' he wondered getting to the window.
'I know those roads' eyes scanned the area and no one else seem to be out right now.
'I'
'I know this place very well' he thought staring at the city who was not covered in green moss or giant trees. no this was a modern city, "musutafu?" Izuku asked and could hear the disbelief and nostalgia for a moment.
shaking his head, 'no that's not right' he thought as this being musutafu made no sense for one the city didn't exist for other it was destroyed?!
and yet.
taking a breath before a whine left his throat, 'did I seriously get summoned into another world? my luck isn't that bad is it?' Izuku wondered. Lifting a hand and placed two fingers on his cheekbone, letting them rest there as he used the physical sensation as a mental anchor.
His head hurt and he started to sort out why. He had two separate sets of memories, one from here the reason why his shock at seeing Musutafu existing he saw it destroyed, he remembered it happening.
this was not a subtle shift in ones knowledge, at the sudden merger. that whole window-mirror between theladasia and elder-tale game still gave one a headache.
no here he got everything all at ones, hitting his mind like a storm or earthquake.
one thing sure this is not Theladasia this is earth, a superhuman earth thought where he got no power. that though derailed and died quickly enough, as even thru the storm in his mind Izuku could feel something familiar.
a sensation that wasn't physical, a metaphysical sense that he was so intimately aware and used to.
it was not a shimmer and certainly not a sound, nor a touch, taste or smell either. yet Izuku cold feel it as if a ever present pressure in his bones feeling of touching active speakers minor vibrations of something non-corporeal.
it was like one could hear the difference between blue and green which on it's own made no sense. but in the distance thru the window, bright shades of almost enchantment like technology to the enticing whisper colors in the wind and something deep river like that don't exist under the ground.
something hinting at Old or no something truly Ancient yet Long Forgotten.
'aura sense' Izuku thought. green eyes opened again the color darkened almost to graphite-black. he could feel mana in the surroundings, but also his own.
Izuku-Shiroe sucked in a shuddered breath and gently tugged at his magic coaxing it back into his body where he kept it coiled tightly under his skin. tugging it back in was no problem at all his control gained from years of dedicated practice to manipulate it to such extent.
It felt no difference, his mana his Magic it felt the same as in Theldasia.
that shouldn't be possible is it?
Izuku's supposed to be human here. At least the reflection in the window showed no marking on his tongue, yet the sensation in his body while to small, it felt so similar to his half-alv one from theladasia, similar enough that Izuku couldn't tell if he was human or not.
no marking on his tongue, and yet he could sense magic with the metaphysical senses and almost feel the peculiar connection to the word thru said senses. A sense that he's honed, refined, sharpened and trained to not only peak-performance for a mage but inhuman-levels as a Archmage Enchanter.
leaning back against the wall at least it seemed like no one noticed the slip.
Izuku did not need to flare out I'm here to everyone especially not with his mind in utter mess. while in battle allowing his magic to flare, stretch outwards and wash over the opponents and allies alike. as if a spiritual pressure striking devastating fear into the opposition while bringing confidence to his allies, as he used it to mark their positions stamina and health.
in Theldasia such a small amount would simply made a lander shudder, but in this world where humans have possible not used mana consciously for centuries.
even merely a tiny amount would have felt as if molten led, or the air suddenly turned to solid rock.
Izuku let out a breath as something flickered in his sight, "this is" he said out feeling incredulous at it's sight. the screen flickered slightly but stabilized quickly enough as he stared at it. "status screen" Izuku said out seeing the hud existence.
Eyes narrowed the familiar green colored of the screens of a mage marking his mana as a Magic type easy enough but the enchanter's tribal-eye like symbol was missing from the screen's background.
"it's different" Izuku murmured at that.
/
the next few days, was bizarre, thought schoolwork frankly pathetically easy, with this situation Izuku decided to simply test out, of middle school preferred before he ended up massacre the whole place.
thought being physically a kid again was weird to say the least. But it sank in that he really had somehow been shunted back in time.
Either by a survivors quirk or possible a mad scientist who messed up. perhaps actually succeeded after all he have his future memories.
but Izuku also had memories of an alternate self from a different world, considering that this world is a hero-vs-villain setting. Not the post-apocalyptic world in a fantasy setting, where adventurers go about living free and slaying monsters while exploring.
something with the time-travel possible resulted in the memories being duplicated, as there's no way his alternate self is dead-dead. theldasia adventurers just revives if killed just like a phoenix reforming from ones ashes, they can't permanently die.
so some form of resonance while he was shunted back?
it still marks him as a incarnation, a person with memories of a different life even if it's not the traditional way.
Izuku did on the other hand go thru his status screen, there was some differences from the theladasian status screen, which marked that it's not simply his magic being too used to the gamer-mechanics. but that this world had that interaction as well, and hopefully the immortality aspect was not part of this worlds adventurer-system. it would get depressing within the first century.
But it's not like hell find out that until someone actually manage to kill him.
thought said status screen.
Izuku's mouth curled into a wry smile as he stared at the stats, or rather the adventurer peak performance stats. They hadn't changed at all, his stats was identical to those levels he raised and trained for in Theladasia.
but the level and class system here differed. for one the level was a lettering counted as S possible this worlds max level if he had to guess.
main class and subclasses that system-classification didn't exist here, it wasn't restricted in that way in this world. And from what he could tell it was more or less a moral choice or possible ones literal job then anything else.
but Izuku's skills remained, every single one of them... from his main-class and subclasses, to the overskills and somehow also the Racial skills. hell even the skills from the temporary main-class by the toy-ring was here thought lower-mastery then the rest.
'do that make me a nightmare classed incarnation?' Izuku wondered.
yes it did.
there was three classes of incarnation, scare who was the first and normal one, who didn't have any powers of ones past life.
the second one being terror incarnation who could use ones quirk as replacement for whatever power you used to have.
Nightmare incarnation on the other hand didn't lose anything, still retaining ones powers due to the nature of said powers. Like his powers coming from mana, a form of metaphysical energy generated by ones spirit and mind.
but how Izuku still got the racial skills of a half-alv here in this world where said species didn't exist? possible, probably, or at least he thought so, a world where Izuku is supposed to be human he didn't understand.
Yet staring at the profile on his screen, the name resting there made no sense. Either it's always been like that here and he simply didn't know which might actually make sense, or this travel altered his body more then he first thought.
'well at least I don't need to start over in learning to manipulate my mana' Izuku thought. but was fairly sure this world didn't know how to handle someone like him. nightmare-incarnation existed in theory but he's yet to find any other proof of it other then himself of that it's possible.
'do the freedom with the class mean I'm not as restricted as before?' Izuku wondered. perhaps that was worth looking up, fingers twitched at the possibility of whole new magic, as his eyes flashed.
'but perhaps I should get out of here first?' he thought, a light scowl forming on his face. then the school entered his mind after Izuku got what day it was.
that made him grimace, the thought of returning to a place that kept tormenting him, where teachers ignored or even added on the abuse. oh, he'll most likely end up slathering the whole place and accidently becoming a villain in the process.
no returning there wasn't an option.
he could handle a few days, enough to force his principal and teacher to let him go, to let him test out.
which might have ended up mentally scaring the two for life.
/
Izuku hummed to himself this area was pretty much abounded, but nature was rather strong here it felt more like home than anywhere else so far.
but he choose this place because nobody would bother him here, not that they did in the apartment complex either after all he's quirkless.
it's a forgotten area after all, hell from what he read the last owner dies 300 years ago shortly before the quirk era started. and no new owner before him ever bought or inherited the place nor land area for that matter leaving the cathedral and surrounding area to be left alone and abandoned forgotten.
the price was normal? or rather the former price stated was normal compared to other rent or buyable places in this world. unlike in theladasia where those prices tended to get rather insane.
but due to said price having expired 3 centuries ago he could claim it for a few cents. Much to Izuku's amusement of said fact.
The sudden lawn-ledger who appeared upon him being registered as the zones new owner was a surprise. Well at least the government can't complain.
He'll need to fix the place thought, but couldn't help but to grin as Izuku entered. but sleeping on grass wasn't the strangest or worst he's slept on thought, after all he's a explorer adventurer.
/
some time later
Aizawa's eyebrows rose in surprise, well this was interesting. he had been looking around on various sites for information, and eventually got a hit on a lesser known hero site also used as an analysis website.
The person who made the post hadn't actually ever written anything on the site before and had just simply been a member for the last 5 years give or take.
so that they suddenly decided to write something was a surprise on it's own but the contents.
Aizawa's eyebrows raised higher and higher the more he read.
it was an analysis and impressively done one to. the information was detailed, form several theories on the backstory and origins of said villain to a summary of the villains history and criminal track-records. the analysis also had a few short video footage including several drawings that looked very realistic. But it also included various weakness that could be used to capture said villain.
the content of the post drew ones attention in, and Aizawa couldn't help but to read it all thru. it was expertly and professionally done. no rather it made professional look like a joke. This analysis was so much more comprehensive than anything else he's found.
quirk analysts where for the most part frauds and fakes. but every ones in a while you find the real deal, but Shiro made those real deal look like beginning amateurs with this post.
Calling the information in said post useful was an understatement. Especially considering the fact that said villain had recently escaped.
forwarding the post to the others Aizawa where currently working on said case. before turning back to the account who posted said analysis.
it was not the only one two other analysis had also been done of same quality.
deadtosleep (eraserhead): thank you for the analysis. I saw the post and was very impressed. I wonder do you do commissions?
SHIRO: say what?
Aizawa didn't need to hear it to tell that the response was due to surprise, that the question had been unexpected and possible wondered if he was serious.
deadtosleep (eraserhead): are you willing to take commissions?
Aizawa repeated the question it did take a while before getting a response thought.
/
Izuku leaned against the bench, his fingers twitched as a screen flickered in and out of existence before breaking apart.
Twisting his mana again as fingers moved, and this time the screen didn't flicker it remained somewhat stable, and Izuku couldn't help but to grin. This was a completely experiment, but apparently theory even if said theory came straight out of a fiction. In this case pre-quirk era fiction but fiction none the less could still be proven useful for spell-creation
it wasn't that difficult either and Izuku tiled his head as he noticed a familiar icon on the side. 'was that a internet connection?'
well the fiction this spell was based off on where digital in basis, network was part of it, so perhaps it wasn't that hard to imagine. "well that's useful" Izuku grinned, poking the icon and it opened up a internet connection the design looked slightly different in cosmetics due to what the screen was made up of.
but other then that it looked to work just like normal computer access. seeing new post on his epost, Izuku hummed, well it seems he didn't need to enter a computer-café anymore at the least. and that was possible safer as he doubted the screen got an Ip-adress.
eyes flicked over to his reflection in the nearby window, his hair not as green as before and eyes not as large or round.
'am I imagining things or am I looking more and more like my other self?' Izuku wondered but also wondered how this happened in the first place. the only explanation he had was a possible resonance when he was sent back in time, caused his memories of the other world to be duplicated into him due to some strange resonance between words.
Izuku knew perfectly well that his other self isn't dead, he's an adventurer and adventurers in Theladasia can't stay dead even if one wanted to.
perhaps the two worlds mirrored each other more then he first thought.
In Theladasia half-alvs as they where dominantly called is a throwback race, due to the species tended to surface seemingly at random and you didn't even need to have a half alv in ones bloodline for it to surface. As the race itself was very magical in nature and birth.
Perhaps ancient stories and myths actually held some form of truth here if the race on his profile was anything to go by.
but if the data-screen worked. "perhaps" Izuku's lips curled, that was worth trying. If it worked he'd get his gear back.
at least the building was taking form nicely even if it was more or less him completely messing with the zone's parameters and wards altering the reality to some degrees repairing the place of sorts. Izuku gotten to the point where the cathedral is rain and winter prof at the least even if it was well rather empty.
if this worked Izuku would get some actual and much needed furniture just as much as getting his gear back, but perhaps he should try and find a possible part time job... well at the moment salvaging material form the beach will have to do, selling that gives way more than the tiny allowance at the least.
/
an eye twitched, it seem like his luck with problems was as strong as ever. it's not like Izuku intended for it, it just sort of happened?
the first incident was a thief cornering an older lady, she blinked rather startled when a seeming light touch hit the thief who simply crumbled to the ground knocked out cold. before Izuku helped the lady up.
Thankfully he had the hood up on his hoodie at the time, but seriously, something similar happened again the next day, a purse snatcher who crashed right into a wall after Izuku simply tilted his walking-stick to the side. the purse returned to the older teen who looked relieved.
then again, and two more times.
Izuku's eye twitched, as he barely held back a growl in his throat. This was frankly ridiculous. five times, and it was Thursday!
looking down at the basket where his groceries currently resided. "The money now!" the robber shouted holding a gun. now that's rare nowadays a gun wielding villain.
he didn't get a chance to react as the walking staff came down and everyone there heard the crack "wha-argh!" pain flared thru his arm as the gun fell to the floor, before the end of Izuku's walking stick crashed down on it, bending the gun into uselessness on the spot at the force.
"you lit-!" the robber didn't get to react as he crumbled to the floor knocked out cold as he was struck with extreme precision.
the clerk blinked looking at him then the downed robber, and then to the groceries Izuku held in his other hand and the rather no very basic walking stick no walking staff, one made up of a roughly straight piece of wooden branch. Currently resting against Izuku's shoulder as he muttered some cursed.
"aren't you going to be in trouble for using your quirk" the clerk asked and Izuku outright snorted "never used one" was the blunt response, before Izuku paid for his groceries and then left. leaving a knocked out villain and very confused store-clerk.
getting back to the cathedral, Izuku let out a huff, "this is getting ridiculous" he muttered, a screen formed as he decided to do some research on what vigilantism actually was.
Izuku blinked and stared before blinking again, 'no way' he thought but the text didn't change.
According to the Japanese government and several others, Vigilantism is defined as using one's quirk in an unauthorized act of heroism.
using ones quirk for heroics without license...
quirk...
without license...
"uh" Izuku said out, that's rather interesting.
Varying forms, all said the same thing. a vigilante is simply someone using a quirk without license and frankly there was no laws against doing heroics without license if you ignored using a quirk.
but quirkless don't mean powerless.
slowly a grin formed as his eyes flashed blue with his magic as it bleed out shrouding his form in an apparent darkness.
Well if Izuku were going to keep doing this on accident he might as well do it properly. there's allot more people that needed help than the heroes or police could reach.
but first he needed his gear back and in a state he can use it that is.
/
almost 10 days was added to the 1 month of work Izuku put down in order to change it from temporary into something more permanent.
but his project worked!
The staff materialized in pixels just as if he'd merely summoned it from his inventory and Izuku couldn't stop the smirk from forming.
Fingers curled around fine wood of a familiar staff.
Bright shades of power flowed thru his senses... enchantments that had begun as ancient magic but flared to new and joyous life with care and use. Enticing whisper colors of faint magic tickled his senses, as the staff had come back to life in this World. with the presence of said staff was also as if reformed from the point where his other-selves memories ended rather than the point where he first gotten the staff.
His status screen read the item like normal, it was no different from his memories. This time, there was no timer counting down to zero.
Izuku mentally counted how many days this took. 10 days of which was simply to get it from temporary to permanent conjuration.
But he had more items then a sole staff to re-craft, and within a day, several other items laid scattered about around him. from robes to cloaks, staffs, books, from production items and furniture to crafting material even his magic-bag.
Izuku paused as he got to the glasses. Looking at the screen's image, Izuku shook his head, no that won't do at all.
He needed a way to prove the crime when catching the villains... a form of report per say and something that made sure the villains stayed caught, as at the moment, villain may walk loose because of lack of prof.
Recording perhaps, integrating an invisible recorder in the glasses.
Izuku wasn't sure of the form. sure in theladasia the round glasses that gave the impression of a young-scholar worked fine. But that style is a little off for a hero-vs-villain setting.
Flipping thru several forms before coming to a visor like one. Even with the recorder he'll need a way to transmit the footage to a disk of some sort too.
/
7 months ago Katsuki had entered school and the classroom like normal... teachers praising him the extras tried to talk or hang out with him but something was wrong. Deku didn't come to class, which was confusing, even if there was a villain attack or bad weather the nerd never missed class. at the moment Katuski decided to ignore it.
then the next day Deku was still not there, the day after that, and the following one was the same thing. Deku was not in class, not in school nowhere seen.
It made the following month weird but also made him twitchy and that caused others to keep away from him, as Katsuki still even months later after the disappearance, racking his mind for anything he might have done caused.
jarring back as if struck.
Katsuki cursed himself, he didn't know if he should refer himself to a idiot or not. why did it take so long for him to see just how messed up Aldera is?
Are their teachers secretly villains or something? because that was the only explanation Katsuki could think off that would explain this...
teachers should not ignore bullying no abuse, this was straight down physical and mental abuse. and the teachers where not doing anything to stop it, they didn't even attempt hell at times they Joined IN, creating opportunities for students to make fun of the less popular students, joining into the mockery of the tiniest should that even considered offenses?
But it wasn't only mental it was physical as well. Allowing students to be cruel in ways only the most ignorant can be, using ones quirks with intent to harm, to hurt, to do damage in ways that marks one as a budding villain.
it was messed up and Katsuki didn't know how to stop it. he was supposed to be the best, but he wasn't going to pretend he had some form of moral authority here, he's 14, not an adult pro-hero or anything of the likes they wouldn't listen to him.
Katsuki admitted to himself that he's a shitty person a jerk. That he caused allot of harm, pain by bullying de-Izuku.
Frankly it's too late to say sorry or rather it's may not be to late to say it but Katsuki didn't expect to be forgiven. didn't feel like he deserved to be forgiven either. not that he can do anything about it when Izuku is nowhere in sight.
well at the least he an do is stop acting like a villain. it's not like anyone at Aldera would tell him when he do something wrong, considering he somehow had a clean record something that technically shouldn't be possible.
but Katsuki wasn't about to ruin his chances at becoming a pro just because the idiot for teachers at Aldera don't bother doing their fucking jobs.
thought his mother reaction when Katsuki came home two months ago with paperwork for volunteer work at a community center run by a hero-office was hilarious. she still have problem believing it his dad is really proud of him thought.
But Katsuki admitted to himself that right now he's about as approachable as Endeavor, which means not at all. and of the top 10 pro heroes Endeavor had one of the lowest approval ratings even if he was number two.
"how the hell am I supposed to become the Number one, if other's freaking scared to even get close to me?" Katuski huffed.
Well the volunteer work at least looks good at his resume for hero course. pausing mid step as something caught his eye.
'alcohol addiction support group?' Katuski read to himself. "support group? maybe?" he mused,
Katsuki is perfectly aware he's explosive, figural and very much literal.
His quirk caused nitroglycerin like sweat for cry out loud. Katsuki needed to get rid off excess regularly or he would harm himself or others and the best way to do that was by simply burning it off by tiny sparks a few times a day.
well it didn't harm to look it up at least.
/
private chat;
silentshadow(edgeshot): while no analysis of either cases or private ones can be found in the wrong hands do anyone knows who our online analyst actually is?
laughs (Ms Joke): we're online and even when not most of us aren't really known
seetomuch (sir Nighteye): while you have a point, the question is valid, he came out of nowhere how do we know he's not a villain giving us false information in order to defeat us?
laughs (Ms Joke): how do you know it's a he?
deadtosleep (Eraserhead): as said, the information given is both accurate and no private analysis have been found in villain hands. Besides if he was a villain we, no most of the top hundred would already been eliminated, considering the quality of the analysis that he sends us. And as strange as the situation is he's both the Real deal as well as trustworthy.
oceanpredator (gang orca): maybe a new pro on the scene perhaps
laughs (Ms Joke): could it be Nezu?
deadtosleep (Eraserhead): it's not Nezu I've asked.
silentshadow(edgeshot): with that level of analysis? He makes the one hired form I-Island look like an amateur. I'm leaning more towards a retired pro who decided to share their experience.
oceanpredator (gang orca): what are we supposed to call him? If he's a hero what's his alias?
laughs (Ms Joke): so true! Typing mystery or master analyst every time is getting old.
well there was one way to find out Eraserhead thought sending of another message to another private chat.
...
Izuku stared at the question for a while, that was not what he expected to find
deadtosleep (Eraserhead): what is your alias?
that, he should really have expected that question to come sooner or later. but for it to take 6 almost 7 months for the question to surface was a surprise. Izuku for a moment wondered if he'd been asked earlier and simply forgot it.
he already knew which pro who was which on the site mostly just to avoid sending a analysis to a villain, as that's a headache he didn't want to deal with.
at this point it was common for him to get messengers thanking him for the analysis to others who heard of him from friends or allies possible even stumbled on one of his earlier put online ones on a villain. deciding to contact Izuku asking for a analysis on themselves or every ones in a while a case.
"Alias uh" Izuku murmured, wings ruffling as he leaned back. Fingers hovering over the screen, his mind flashing back to his reflection.
The letters came easy, as Izuku sent his response, before dismissing the screen.
heading towards the door and with nearly a thought equipped his gear wings slipping under the cloak fully hidden as he headed out.
...
Eraserhead had gotten a response and was rather curious about the name choice.
A hero's name is considered very important to a professional career, as it can cement a image closer to what they want and reflect their true character. It's what other heroes and civilian refer and calls the hero so they need to identify with it... while most can chose a tentative name in high school most pro heroes are often known by the name they first picked.
If one where to pick a similar name to one that already exists and is well known even if no longer active. It can come with pressure and responsibility to uphold the name legacy.
Thought names often connect to the hero's power or abilities.
So the name he got as response was interesting to say the least. At first he thought it was a wordplay of some sort on white... but it also loosely meant Fortress of wisdom. Which when Eraserhead is thinking of it is very fitting a master analyst like this.
Private chat;
deadtosleep (Eraserhead): apparently the online handle was more or less literal. He said his name is Shiroe.
silentshadow(edgeshot): Shiroe? I don't believe I've heard that name before
oceanpredator (gang orca): he might have decided to change alias upon returning to the field in this manner.
/
AN, first chapter over...
as for how Izuku got Shiroe's memories... some temporal accident, intentional or otherwise he don't actually remember how he got shunted back. but the time-travel who caused an resonance with Theladasia and the result was that Izuku's memories from his counterpart or alternate self in Theladasia got duplicated into him.
This technically marks Izuku as an incarnation, even if not the normal way considering his other self is still Alive.
as for Shiroe's magic, of course he still have it. This is because of what Mp or Mana is formed out of. in log horizon mp is described as spirit or psyche this means that Mana is a metaphysical energy formed from mind and spirit, split into four different types that the 12 classes uses.
as said in chapter, the gamer-mechanics mana tend to cause when interaction with reality still exist but they differ from theladasia's aka no main class or subclasses. and the number-level change to a letter-ranking instead being the two primary changes.
And yes Katuski Bakugo started to change earlier, simply because of Izuku's disappearance act shocked him into realizing that something was seriously wrong with his middle school and his behavior.