"Midoriya's doll had a note attached to it."
Izuku stares at All Might, "Really? Can I see it?"
"Sure." Eraserhead says producing the doll from his desk drawer.
It's Team Deku and Ground Zero!
Bakugo stares at the note for a long minute. No fucking way.
His hero name was Great Explosion Murder God Dynamite. Or at least that is what he'd been telling everyone but the truth was that he wanted it to be Ground Zero.
The epicenter of an explosion. That's what he was. He had only come up with it recently and he was baffled that someone else knew about it too.
"Who's Ground Zero?" Izuku asks.
"That's what we've been wondering as well." Eraserhead says thoughtfully.
"I figured it had something to do with Bakugo," All Might says, looking between the two of them.
"What makes you think that?" Katsuki asks, startled.
"No reason," All Might shrugs, "It's just an assumption. Your doll was missing and none of the other students at UA goes by the name 'Ground Zero'."
"What is your hero name by the way, Bakugo?" Eraserhead asks, scrutinizing his student.
"It's Great Explosion Murder God Dynamite, of course!" The kid in question answers proudly, standing up even straighter and puffing his chest.
"You can't be serious."
"I am."
"Midnight would never have let you pick that."
The truth is, she hadn't. Bakugo had left that class after everyone else, begrudgingly promising her that he would rethink the name and come up with something else.
"Well this is my hero name and there's not a thing you can do about it!"
Meanwhile All Might had been inspecting Bakugo's doll. There were a couple things that came to his attention. One: Bakugo's doll did not have a name tag, unlike the others, and two: there was a weird pattern on the left hand.
Frowning, he picks up Izuku's doll to see whether it had something similar.
Izuku's doll had a matching pattern on its right hand.
Weird. All Might thinks to himself. He unthinkingly brings the two dolls together and much to his surprise the dolls connect to each other perfectly by their hands. He gasps in astonishment and Eraserhead looks over at him, distracted from his conversation with Bakugo.
"What's going on Toshinori?"
"You wouldn't believe this…" All Might says, still in a bit of a shock.
"Try me." Eraserhead replies, walking over to his colleague.
Just as he is taking a look at the object of All Might's surprise, a holographic video message pops up from between the connected hands of the dolls.
Warning. The words glow in an opal shade.
"What the hell is going on over there?" Bakugo asks, mildly annoyed and Izuku rushes over towards his teachers, followed behind closely by Bakugo.
The words fade into the view of the interior of a hospital building and a man's face pops up on the screen. He looks like Bakugo. No, he is Bakugo. Izuku stares at the man in marvel. He looks like an older and stronger version of his boyfriend. He looks over at Katsuki, who is also entranced by the view in surprise.
There is a lot of hurried movement behind the man. There seems to be an emergency at the hospital. The man's distracted eyes finally look into the lens of the camera and he starts talking.
"So I'm going to have to make this quick." He says, panting lightly. "You know, before anyone realizes there's two of us here and there's chaos."
"What's he talking about?" All Might mutters to himself and nobody answers him, everyone's attention glued to the message.
"Listen, Deku, I hope you get this message." He says in a rushed voice. "You need to be careful. ALWAYS." His eyes search his surroundings frantically and he continues. "You always say that you will, but you never do. Sometimes you need to realize that you can't save everyone, everytime and focus on taking care of yourselves. Damn it!" He curses in annoyance and Izuku just stares at him. Not noticing Katsuki's gaze on himself.
"Maybe this will make you realize how fragile your own life is." The older Bakugo whispers softly and turns the camera towards a room. The next scene is shown barely for a second but it is enough to completely freeze all four of the spectators in shock.
The hospital room holds a severely injured Izuku on a ventilator, surrounded by doctors frantically moving around him, trying to do everything they can to save him.
The man's face pops up again. "Do you see what happens when you're reckless, Deku?" Everyone is too stunned to answer the man.
"One day when you're too careless, you'll injure yourself so badly that you'll never be able to help anyone ever again." He says, almost glaring into the camera. Although this version of Bakugo looks angry, he also seems gravely sad. Someone else comes into view behind Bakugo. From this angle only the person's torso is discernible.
The woman appears to be a doctor, and she seems to be looking over Izuku who is still lying motionless in his bed. Bakugo stands up and takes a few steps closer to the woman, "Doctor…" is the only thing he can mutter in a strained voice.
"I wish I had better news, Bakugo." The woman says kindly, her voice thick with emotion.
She turns away from Izuku's bed so that her front is visible to the camera. Her long blue gray hair and uniform are the only thing visible through the lens, and her voice sounds very familiar.
"There must be something you can do!" He almost yells in desperation. "You have the power to reverse it! Please, do something!"
"I have tried Bakugo…" The doctor sadly whispers, "but even my powers are not able to reverse the damage caused by him…" She takes a few steps closer to Bakugo and sympathetically reaches out to touch his arm. Her name tag is readable up close, it says, 'Dr. Shota'.
"So what are you saying?"
"Deku will wake up, and he's going to be okay, but… His body is going to be the same anymore…"
"What do you mean?"
"His legs have been severely injured… He won't be able to walk anymore… His arms are injured too... I'm afraid."
"So?" Bakugo asks in a tearful voice.
"So…" The doctor takes a deep breath before answering, "Deku will not be able to save people anymore. I'm sorry."
Three sets of eyes flicker towards Izuku who is staring at the floor in shock.
Bakugo is the first one to speak, "Deku-", but before he can get another word out, Izuku turns on his heel and runs out of the room.
"Bunny!" Bakugo yells and involuntarily chases after Deku, as if attached to Izuku by invisible strings, leaving both teachers to just stare at this newfound development in amazement.
"I know you saw it too." All Might states, looking at Eraserhead.
"It's so obvious…" Eraserhead mutters in a bored tone of voice, though his eyes are intensely glaring at the scene projected on the wall.
"I'm not talking about the students." All Might says, still staring at his colleague. "The doctor, her name was 'Dr. Shota'".
Eraserhead doesn't respond, his mind running a mile a minute. This was a lot of information to take in, in such a small amount of time.
All Might then angrily punches the wall next to him, frustrated.
"Why don't you start talking about what's really bothering you." Eraserhead says coolly, as if with indifference.
"How can I?" All Might says in frustration. "How could this happen? This can't be real."
"It probably isn't." Eraserhead replies, still feigning indifference. "How can we just trust something without having concrete evidence about the accuracy of the source, anyway?"
This seems to relax All Might a little and he takes a deep breath. "You're right, of course… We shouldn't just trust what we saw and heard."
They then direct their attention towards the projection on the wall again. The scene has now changed to the front porch of a modern looking house. A strong hand reaches up to knock on the redwood door. Some shuffling and footsteps are heard from the other side and the door opens to reveal a smiling Ida.
"Hey!" He says in greeting and steps aside to let the visitor in.
"How's it going?" the outsider asks, his voice giving away that it's Bakugo.
"Oh, you know, same old." Ida replies, in a happy voice, following Bakugo into the house.
"How's the old Ball and Chain?" Bakugo questions and earns a snort from Ida.
"She's well, and can hear you!" A woman's voice answers in annoyance, making Bakugo chuckle.
"What brings you by?" Ida asks, leading Bakugo into their living room, then turning around and leaving momentarily to grab a few drinks.
Bakugo sits down, making himself comfortable. The camera offers the spectators a look into Ida and Mei's lives. The living room is a cozy space. The house is not too grand. Just big enough for the couple and their two kids. They have another baby along the way, due in about 6 months.
"Is this about the video you're recording?" Mei asks in a soft voice, coming into view. Her belly swollen with pregnancy.
"Yeah… I thought we could record something from your perspective… Since you're the one who is helping me travel back."
"Sure, why not?" Mei says with a smile, looking in the direction of the kitchen to see her husband emerge with a tray holding three sodas and a big bowl of chips.
"Help yourselves!" Ida says, setting the food down on the table.
Just as he's sitting himself down beside Mei on the sofa, the doorbell rings, making the pair's eyebrows shoot up.
"Are we expecting somebody?" Mei asks, looking at Ida and he shakes his head.
"I don't think so." He replies, getting up to answer the door.
"Actually," Bakugo starts, "I invited someone who wanted to record a short message for Mr. Aizawa, I hope that's alright."
"Of course!" Mei replies. "Who is it though?"
"Hey…" A woman's voice permeates through the living room space. Bakugo focuses the camera upwards to reveal a beautiful young woman.
Her face has developed and morphed into an adult over the years but the small horn on her forehead gives her identity away.
"Do you want to do this right now?" Bakugo asks and the woman nods.
Katsuki walks closer towards her so that the camera can fully capture her face.
"Hey, Dad… I hope you're watching this… It's me-Eri." She says shyly, staring into the lens. "I just wanted to say thank you for everything you've done for me. You gave me a family and no words will ever be enough to describe how grateful I am towards you. I love you and I just wanted you to know that I believe in you… You have the strength and willpower to get through anything. Please take care of yourself. I love you."
"I get it now!" All Might says grinning at Aizawa.
"No, you don't." Eraserhead says stonily, refusing to look at him.
"It makes perfect sense, my friend!"
"No. It doesn't."
"Don't lie. I have seen the way you were looking at that little girl. I know you said that you could never have a family but there is no way you don't long for the warmth that can only come from having a significant other or children."
"Don't be ridiculous… I wouldn't go that far." Aizawa mutters, staring straight ahead.
"Oh, but I think you would." All Might says cheekily, "I know that you're only cold on the outside, on the inside, you're like a big, fluffy marshmallow."
"I am not even going to dignify that with a response."