Speech guide:
'Thinking'
"Talking"
"SHOUTING"
"I AM HERE!"
I own nothing, zilch, nada… except Aiko I guess. Also, this story does contain manga spoilers, you have been warned.
Chapter 5: The Hero, The Mouse, And The Time Traveller.
"Welcome back."
Aiko looked about the void contained within One For All. Standing in the center was none other than the first user himself. The man's white hair standing out against the inky blackness.
Aiko just glared at the man, who started nervously sweating again. "Hey, now I know that you're mad, but it was just a joke, I mean, what else can we do here? It's boring."
'You can create literally anything you want since you're a manifestation of OFA and this isn't a real place bound by the laws of physics, plus you have 9 people who you hang out with at any moment, so I'd say you can do a lot. I still remember that pool tournament you guys had in my head a couple of weeks back,' Aiko's eyes narrowed at the man 'so do you wanna try bull shitting your way out of this again, or just take your punishment?'
The first user laughed nervously as Aiko started stalking towards him, "Now, now, let's not be brash, how about I- Oomph!" He was cut off as Aiko's fully materialized right arm was planted in his stomach.
'Next time tell me how to properly communicate with you assholes, now where's Deku, I changed things in the past already and I need some advice.' Aiko said, taking her fist out of the man's gut.
"He's-wheeze- gone." The first user choked out.
'Yeah, I can see that, where is he, I need to talk to him.'
"No. I mean he's gone. He isn't dead anymore, so his spirit is no longer contained within one-for-all." The first user corrected.
"Wait… what?" Aiko asked
"Yeah, All Might isn't here either." The first user continued but Aiko wasn't listening. Deku, her mentor, the person she looked up to most, was gone forever. Of course, that happened because he was alive again so she should've been happy, but it was a different him, a new him, not the one she knew, to her, it was like watching him die all over again, but this time she truly wouldn't see him again. She knew it would happen to everyone else, but they were still alive, it was different, they accepted Eri's plan and did everything they could to make it happen for a better future, a better past, and she had made peace with that. But Deku, she had always assumed that he would still be there, her eternal confidant, to help her, to remind her why she was here, but now he was gone, and she was alone.
"No, you're not," Aiko looked up at the first, "Deku might not be in here anymore, but he's out there. He might not be the Deku you knew yet, but he's still the same person. The fact that his soul isn't here anymore proves that." He said, walking forward and placing a hand on her shoulder. "He isn't the Deku you know, but he will be. So instead of focusing on what you lost, focus on what you gained. Besides, if you ever need to talk about the future, we are here for you, all 7 of us."
Aiko started crying, which was a weird experience, as instead of tears it was the same white mist as her unformed body parts. This made the first user uncomfortable as he immediately started waving his hands in front of his face. "Ack! No, I'm sorry kid, I didn't mean to make you cry so please stop, if Nana finds out she's gonna yell at me in front of everybody again, and that's super awkward!"
Aiko started giggling at the man's antics, 'Thanks.' she said sincerely
"It's no problem kid."
'Y'know, you're not so bad when you're not messing with me."
"Hey! Those are my best moments!" The first joked. The world around them briefly shimmered, before a portal of white mist appeared next to Aiko "Well looks like it's time to wake up."
'Wait, but what do I do? I messed up already, and I think I might've made Shigaraki hate me more than Deku!' Aiko asked, looking at the first user for advice.
"Kid, relax. You're a pretty smart kid, when you aren't punching me at least, I'm sure you'll figure something out." He said with a relaxed smile.
'Hey! Those are my best moments!' She said with a grin, 'Thanks though, you're right, I got this.' And with that she stepped through the portal, it closed behind her and left the void featureless and dark once more.
The first user stood there for a moment, staring at where Aiko had just left before a dark red portal appeared behind him. Out of it poked the head of a bald man with goggles resting on his forehead, the man was the 5th user, Daigoro Banjo. He looked at the first with an eyebrow raised.
"Hey dude, we ever gonna tell her that she gets to choose which parts of her body form in here and which don't?"
"Ha, fuck no! I may like the kid but the bitch just punched me in the stomach, she'll figure it out eventually, or maybe she won't. Either way, it's gonna be funny as hell for me."
"...She's gonna beat the shit outta you when she finds out."
"Nah, I'll have Nana deal with her until she calms down, she likes Nana."
Aiko woke up groggily, the first thing she noticed was the ceiling of the USJ 'Still here then… great.'. The second thing she noticed was a wet feeling on her left cheek. Looking to her left she saw an old lady, whose lips were stretching abnormally far to kiss her cheek… which was the wet feeling.
"GAH!" Aiko leaped up "WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU!"
The lady looked at her questioningly, she was holding a cane, and she wore a lab coat and a pink helmet with a purple visor in front of her eyes, her grey hair tied in a bun and her eyes were squinted shut making it impossible to tell what colour they are. "Oh calm down dearie, don't you recognize me? I'm the youthful heroine, Recovery Girl, I'm the school nurse at UA."
'That descriptor might be out of date.' Aiko thought wryly, before getting smacked on the head with a cane.
"That's quite rude young lady, learn to respect your elders, now have some gummies, and head over there with the students." The old lady said, shoving some gummies into her hand and pointing over to a spot just outside the ruined entrance, where class 1A had gathered, "All Might and a detective are there questioning people while we wait for the paramedics." She added, then turned and walked away, heading further into the USJ.
'What the hell is with UA staff and being able to read my goddamn mind?' Aiko wondered, thinking back to Eri.
"Not your mind dearie, just your face." The voice of Recovery Girl came from down the USJ stairs… out of sight… where she couldn't see her face...
"... I'm too tired for this," Aiko mumbled, turning towards 1A and shuffling over. As she approached several of the class noticed her, and she received a variety of stares. Aside from Bakugo and Todoroki, who barely acknowledged her presence, Kirishima and Deku looked welcoming, greeting her with a smile and a wave, though both were noticeably more shaky on Deku's part, the other students looked at her warily.
'I'll have to work on gaining their trust later, for now, Nezu, and then sleep.' Aiko took a deep breath and looked for the detective and All Might.
They were easy to notice as the detective, while looking fairly plain and uninteresting, brown hair and brown eyes coupled with a medium build, was standing next to the symbol of peace who was very much the opposite of both those things.
Upon spotting her All Might waved her over, she complied and walked over to the two, still feeling the wary looks on her back.
All Might cleared his throat "Young Lady, this is my friend Detective Tsukauchi, please cooperate and answer his questions. It is best that you answer honestly as he has a Li-" The symbol of peace was cut off as the detective slapped and a hand over the large man's mouth and fixed him with a glare. The large man looked sheepish for a moment before the detective whispered something in his ear, a brief panic flicked across the symbol's face, quickly replaced with his usual smile.
"HAHAHA RIGHT THANK YOU FOR REMINDING ME MY FRIEND! STUDENTS I MUST LEAVE NOW AND LEAVE YOU IN THE CARE OF THE POLICE AND MY COLLEAGUES, I TRUST YOU WILL ALL BEHAVE IN A MANNER BEFITTING THIS PRESTIGIOUS INSTITUTION, HAHAHAHAHA" The man laughed as he sped away, leaving a cloud of dust and, as those who were aware of his secret noticed, steam in his wake.
"So miss… Aiko was it? That's what the red-haired kid said your name was, is that right?" The detective began.
"Yes, that's right." The detective's eyes flickered up for a split second as she answered his question settling back straight almost immediately.
"Alright, and your last name Miss Aiko?" the detective continued
"Uhhh, don't have one, I'm an orphan." She said, just a little too fast. 'Goddamnit I need to learn to think before I speak, whatever, gotta roll with it now.'
This time the detective's eyes flicked to the side, his eyebrow twitched, as if it was going to raise to look at her questioningly before he thought better of it 'What's that about?' She wondered.
The detective continued his questioning "The red-haired kid also said that you were a hero student, is that also true?"
Aiko pondered for a moment, it wasn't untrue, she was a hero student before Shigiraki's attacks in the future, and she was still learning from her mentor. "Yes." she responded, the detective's eyes flicked upwards again.
"Alright, and do you wanna explain how you ended up in the middle of a villain attack on UA campus?"
"I was helping my sister practice her quirk and she portaled me here by accident, the fact that it happened to be here during a villain attack is just pure coincidence." She stuck with her already established story, hoping to keep consistency with her fake background until she met Nezu, however this time the detective's eyes flicked to the side and he frowned, before quickly schooling his features.
'Okay what the hell is up with that, it's gotta be a quirk or something cause normal people's eyes don't do that, what does it do though?' Aiko wondered
"And this 'sister' of yours, her name is?"
"Eri." Aiko responded, technically the truth again, she wasn't actually Eri's sister, but he was asking about her sister as in the person who's quirk sent her here, not her actual blood relation. The detective's eyes flicked up again, this time he looked confused.
'Ok no seriously, the hell is up with that!? It's like he has a lie detector… quirk. . . oh shit.'
"Do you intend to harm anyone here?" The detective asked with his eyes narrowed
"No," Aiko responded. The detective's eyes flicked upwards and he seemed to visibly relax. As he did a bus and at least two dozen police vehicles and ambulances arrived, they began to set up around the scene as all the injured, including Aizawa, were loaded onto the ambulances and driven away.
Tsukauchi was distracted briefly as two more officers walked up to him and were instructed to go interview a couple of the students and any of the uninjured villains, one walked towards the students while another started towards a group of 5 villains Aiko recognized, still tied together by Sero's tape, and dragging along their still unconscious bull-horned leader, they were staring at her in fear. She smirked viciously at them and all four paled and looked in different directions. Tsukauchi noticed this and raised an eyebrow. "Okay kid, we're almost done here, just gotta answer a few more questions, then we will figure out what to do with you."
Seeing her chance Aiko interrupted before he could ask another question. "Actually, if you could take me to Principal Nezu, I could help with that last part, and answer your questions more easily." She said with a grin, her grin grew even wider as the detective's eyes flicked up once more, which was what it did when his quirk registered something as the truth she figured. The detective looked pensive, before nodding his consent.
Outwardly, Aiko's grin grew even wider, inwardly, she was doing a happy dance. Tsukauchi walked over towards a large man in a suit and had a quick conversation with him, pointing at Aiko at one point. The man looked confused, then thoughtful, and finally intrigued, he nodded to Tsukauchi and the detective walked over to a police car and motioned for her to come over.
He opened the back door and turned to her "Get in."
"Do I have to be in the back? That's where the bad guys go." Aiko questioned, only receiving a deadpan stare in response. "Ugh fine," She climbed into the back seat and sat down in a huff, something which seemed to amuse the detective if his small smirk was any indicator. He closed the door on her and she slouched back into her seat grumpily. He opened the driver's seat door and got in.
He turned back to face her, "Put your seatbelt on kid."
This time it was Aiko's turn to deadpan "I can move ten times faster than this car with minimal effort, I could get out long before we hit anything."
"Whether or not that's true kid, I'm responsible for you as you're a minor and in my custody, which means I get in trouble if you don't put it on."
"I fail to see how that's my problem," She said smugly and quite maturely stuck out her tongue at the man.
Tsukauchi pinched between his eyes and sighed, "Look, how about this, if you put on a seatbelt, I'll open the window."
"Do I look five to you?" Aiko asked with a glare
"Do you want me to answer that?"
"... Fine I'll put the stupid seatbelt on," Aiko said, before moving over to the right side seat and buckling herself in muttering about how much she preferred flying. She huffed and leaned against the door, "Hey, this window doesn't look very open to me."
"I thought you said you weren't five."He smirked
"Bite me and open the goddamn window." She demanded. He acquiesced and started driving away from the USJ. Aiko stuck her head out the window letting the wind blow through her hair, the sensation was part of the reason she loved flying, it was calming to her. It was quiet for a while, just herself and the wind.
"So kid?" Tsukauchi's voice came from the front pulling her back to reality, he was looking at her using the rearview mirror with an interested expression on his face. "From what the others told me, your quirk's pretty powerful if you could keep up with the monster that gave All Might trouble, mind telling me what it is?"
"It's a power accumulation type quirk." She answered vaguely, hoping he wouldn't push for more information. His eyes flicked up.
"That's a pretty powerful quirk there, what's it called?"
'Damnit, well, there's no way he knows about One For All so there's no point in lying and getting him all suspicious again.'
Aiko looked at the man "It's called One For All." As she said those words Danger Sense flared in her mind 'Or maybe he does know… oh shi-'. She lurched forwards as Tsukauchi slammed the breaks on the car, slamming her head into the seat in front of her.
"OW, WHAT THE HELL MAN!" She yelled, any further comment was cut off as she heard a sharp click from in front of her. Looking up she found Tsukauchi facing her, pistol in hand pointed at her forehead.
"You have to the count of 5 to explain how you have that quirk before I make the inside of your head the outside. 5."
"Ok maybe calm down a little, I already told you I wasn't going to hurt anyone."
"No, you told me that you weren't going to hurt anyone here, as in at the USJ, are you trying to assassinate the principal? Is that what this is!? 4."
"What? No! I need to see the principal because he's the only one who can know the truth!"
"Really? Because from where I'm standing, I have a gun to your head and am demanding to know the truth, seems like I should know too. 3."
"C'mon, you know I'm telling the truth, Mr. Lie Detector quirk."
His eyes narrowed "-And how the hell do you know what my quirk is? Did your master tell you? Tell me right now or I'm skipping this countdown." Tsukauchi said, squeezing the trigger lightly
"Eep, I figured it out cause your eyes twitch in different directions depending on whether it's a lie or truth! She rambled out quickly as she waved her arms back and forth in front of her
"... what?" He asked, his finger coming off the trigger.
"Uhhhh, yeah, didn't you know? Your eyes twitch up if you detect truth, and to the side, if you detect a lie."
"... back on topic. Who are you?"
"Can't tell you that."
Tsukauchi's eyebrow twitched "How did you get One For All."
"It was given to me."
"By who?" He glared at her
"Can't tell you that either."
"Well what CAN you tell me?!" Tsukauchi angrily questioned
"I'm not evil, I'm not your enemy, and I might be able to tell you more once you take me to Nezu." Aiko answered
Tsukauchi glowered at her, and she stared back defiantly. Reholstering the gun, he turned away and pulled the car out of park, before looking back at her through the mirror again. "Fine, but I WILL get an explanation from somebody."
"Fine by me." She said and went back to staring out the window as they drove back along, it wasn't much longer until the main UA building came into sight. It was strange to see it in one piece again, just as it was strange to see the city beyond the UA campus walls not in the ruins she had left it… or the ruins of ruins Bakugo had left it.
They pulled into a parking space nearby the school with a handicapped sign on it. Aiko smirked "I didn't know you had a handicap detective."
"I don't, but you will if you don't shut up and move." He retorted
"Pushy-pushy." She jokingly admonished as she stepped out of the car.
Tsukauchi just growled
'Well, he doesn't trust me anymore… goddamnit."
They walked through the front doors of UA, both walking to the nearest elevator, Aiko pushing the button for the top floor, Nezu's office. She looked back at Tsukauchi and saw him looking at her strangely again. "What?"
"You seem to know your way around."
'FUCK' "Uhhh yeah, Eri used to go here, and she gave me a tour." Tsukauchi's eyes flicked upwards again and he looked surprised. 'HaHA, technical truths for the win again… also thank god Eri didn't take after her dad and actually took us on a tour. Seriously, how did Deku and the others find their way around, this place is a maze.'
The elevator doors closed and they started up, the same elevator music they still had in the future started playing, the music which, in Aiko's timeline, had annoyed her so greatly that all the elevator speakers were mysteriously found broken one day, and had more heavy-duty replacements built the next. That had started an event known as the Great Elevator War between her and Nezu, but that's another story. 'Note-to-self, start Great Elevator War II.' She thought
As if in response to her threat the elevator doors opened, and they entered a well-furnished waiting room with windows overlooking the school grounds, another door on the far side. Behind a large desk was a blonde woman that Aiko recognized. Shina Kumi, the same secretary during her time here… the same secretary who didn't seem to age a day during those 30 odd years… she had always assumed the woman was 20-something, but if that's how old she was now then that means she was at least 50 in Aiko's time, or maybe even older. She was currently going through paperwork at a speed that made Aiko convinced she had just downed a gallon of espresso, while talking on the phone with at least 3 separate people, switching them on and off hold. Tsukauchi waited until the secretarial tornado slowed down a bit before approaching.
"Hello, Miss Kumi." He began. The blonde woman looked up at him, not even taking a pause as she filled out paperwork with one hand and typed on her computer with another, all while holding a phone between her shoulder and head. "I need to speak with Nezu about the incident earlier today."
"You and the rest of the world detective, did you know I just got a call from the US president about it? THE PRESIDENT! THIS ISN'T EVEN AMERICA WHY DOES HE CARE!" She took a deep breath as Tsukauchi reeled "I'm sorry about that, but I'm a little bit stressed at the moment, Nezu's currently meeting with Mr. Toshinori, All Might's assistant or something. I can let you in when they're done." She finished, immediately going back to what she was doing before.
"Well, guess we're waiting a bit kid, take a seat," Tsukauchi said, moving to a comfy-looking chair as Aiko remained rooted to the spot. "Uh, kid?"
"Just give it a minute."
"What"
Aiko stuck up 3 fingers. "3… 2… 1." As she finished her count the intercom flared to life.
"Miss Kumi, could you please send the detective and his guest in." A squeaky voice said.
"There it is." Aiko declared, striding towards the door on the far end of the room, as the secretary pressed a button on her desk, a click echoing out as the door unlocked. Tsukauchi scrambled up to follow her.
She pushed open the door into a well-lit office with two individuals already inside, separated by a large desk. The first was a bone-thin blonde man wearing a suit far too big for his body, his hair strangely shaped with two large bangs hanging over his face. The other was the principal of UA, a strange mouse, bear, mink hybrid wearing a suit and tie. Aiko recognized both the principal and All Might's deflated form, and the three stared at each other, All Might with confusion, and Nezu with amusement.
The staring contest was broken up as Tsukauchi scrambled in behind her, the door closing and locking on its own as he entered. "Sorry for interrupting, Nezu, but she insisted on meeting you for some reason."
"So I see." The principal commented, "She also seems to know that I always watch the security feeds throughout the school and was aware the moment you entered the building." The principal paused and turned to her. "So Miss Aiko, what can I do for you today."
Aiko grinned "Well I believe I was supposed to say, Time And Relative Dimensions In Space?"
Nezu paused, registering what she just said looking at the girl before unleashing a feral smile. "Well my day just got significantly more interesting, Tsukauchi, Toshinori, if you could wait outside, I need to have a discussion with this young lady."
Both the men in the room turned to the hybrid "B-but Principal Nezu sh-"
Whatever they were going to say next was cut off as Kumi burst through the door, grabbed both men by their ears, and dragged them out. Aiko watched with a vicious grin. 'That's what you get for sticking a gun in my face.' She thought with a mental razzberry at the detective.
Nezu turned back to her, he placed his elbows on the desk and his paws together, giving her an inquisitive look as he leaned forward. "Now Miss Aiko, you have me at a disadvantage. You seem to know who I am if I told you my codeword for time travel, so may I ask, who are you?" Nezu asked.
"I'm from 30 years in the future, and I'm the tenth wielder of One For All."
Nezu's grin stretched even wider. "And your name?"
"My full name is Aiko-"
Sooooo I'm back… took me like a month… sorry not sorry? I'll try to post more consistently now since I have more time on my hands. Anyway as always, any comments, questions, reviews, or challenges to duel to the death at sundown are welcome, I'll try to respond to all of them.
Review Responses
ShelteredSiren: Thanks, I'm glad you like the story so far.