ABSOLUTELY CUCKOO

[Midoriya/Toga, Parallel Universe, Hero!Toga, 3205 words]

"Did you have any other questions~?"

"I don't understand why my class was selected."

"Unless I am remembering incorrectly, that was covered in the briefing, Eraserhead."

"...you were serious?"

"As a heart attack~!"

"The fact that her counterpart has spent more time with my class than the others isn't a reason to do this. In fact, it's a reason why it could blow up in our faces."

"Do you think they'll attack her?"

"..."

"They're heroes in training under your care. I'm sure they can listen to reason~."

"Why can't she stay with Vlad's class?"

"Because I considered the idea and rejected it~!"

"Why does she have to stay at the school at all?"

"She's still a young hero, regardless of where she's from or who she looks like, and it would be good for her to be able to socialize for as long as she's here."

"..."

"Anything else?"

"I still object."

"Noted~."

It wasn't every evening that Mr. Aizawa called the entirety of Class 1-A down to the first floor of their dorm building for a surprise meeting.

Nonetheless, everyone complied. As usual, Izuku's mind was racing. Was it just him, or did Mr. Aizawa sound more annoyed than usual? After poking in his head to deliver the message, he'd slammed the door so hard that the shelf collecting his Bronze Age All Might action figures almost collapsed.

What would make Aizawa so upset? Was there news regarding the League of Villains? Had something happened to All Might? Were they forcing him to switch to a normal sleep schedule?

No one had actually gone to sleep yet, not even Bakugo, but quite a few students were in their pajamas as they walked through the halls to see what was so important, Izuku included.

The confusion mounted when they reached the common room and found two visitors waiting for them: Principal Nezu, who seemed to be in a good mood, and a teenage girl wearing a dark cloak. The shadows inside the hood made it so no one could see her face, and it covered any other recognizable details they could have used to identify her.

Once they were all assembled, Mr. Aizawa stumbling up to stand near the principal, the explanation began. "My apologies for dragging you out of bed, but the matter was rather urgent~." Despite his words, Principal Nezu sounded as though he was telling them about a fun new activity. Of course, he tended to sound like that most of the time. "You're going to have a guest staying with you in your dormitory for the foreseeable future~."

That got the students whispering, and Izuku thought about what exactly that could mean. A potential transfer into the class, maybe?

A glare from their homeroom teacher shut them up. "There are plenty of available rooms, so she'll be taking one on the second floor." At the moment there weren't any girls staying on that floor, Izuku noted. Was there some reason to keep her away from everyone else?

The girl started tapping one foot, as if impatient.

"Now, before we let you see her, it's important that you understand the context for her being here. Does anyone here know anything about parallel universes~?"

"Some Quirks involve either accessing, creating, or transporting to or from other dimensions!" Iida shouted, raising a hand at a stiff angle. For some reason...the mystery girl flinched, a hand moving under the cloak as though she was going for a weapon.

Luckily, a look for Mr. Aizawa was enough to make her stop whatever she'd been about to do. "That's right." He hooked a thumb to point at the girl. "She is from another universe, one that is pretty different from ours. Please keep that in mind. She might look familiar to some of you, but she isn't-"

"I'm not that mean villain!" The girl spoke up, apparently unable to wait any longer, and Izuku froze. He...he knew that voice. It wasn't easy to forget the voice of someone who'd tried to kill you. "I've never heard of any 'League of Villains'! In my world, I'm..." she pulled back the hood, and sure enough, she really was who Izuku was thinking of, raggedy twin buns of hair and all. "...Himiko Toga, hero name: Mosquito Girl!"

There were suddenly a lot of people talking, all at once. The entire class had something to say about Himiko Toga, of all people, staying with them. Uraraka was among them, visibly shaken, while Asui quietly placed a hand on her shoulder. Whether it was there for comfort, or to hold her back from attacking Toga, Izuku didn't know.

Izuku, however, didn't say anything. His emotions were at war with his mind. Seeing that face, that beaming smile, awoke so much terror in him. Yet, he'd just been told that this wasn't the same Himiko Toga, that she wasn't to blame for the things that had happened, or almost happened, to Izuku. In fact, she claimed to be a hero. Logically, he knew that they should give her a chance.

Once Mr. Aizawa had quieted down the class, which required Kaminari and Mineta being hit with the binding cloth, Izuku held his breath and raised a hand. "A question, Midoriya?"

That got this other Toga to focus her attention on him...but it was so different. He could tell immediately that she couldn't be the same girl. Whenever the Toga of their world saw him, she got...well, more manic. She claimed to be in love with him. But while this Toga was still smiling, there was no aggressive glint to her eye, no glee just from seeing him.

Still, he felt he had to ask. "Are we...can you be sure that having her stay here is safe? Even if she's from another world..." He couldn't bring himself to say it, to voice the fact that she was still some version of Toga.

"As safe as having any of you here~!" the principal exclaimed. "She's a hero student in her world, and we've done quite a bit of checking to make sure she really is as virtuous as any of you!"

What exactly methods were used went unsaid, so they'd have to take Nezu as his word.

While he was saying that, the girl took off the cloak entirely, revealing that she was wearing ill-fitting professional clothes, stuff that looked like it belonged to an adult. They weren't hers, that was obvious, and she looked uncomfortable in them.

"Any other questions?" Mr. Aizawa asked, and suddenly the room was as silent as a tomb. He waited, then nodded his lead, leaving the building after Principal Nezu had climbed up on his shoulder.

That just left the class with...the newcomer. Feeling strange looking at her, Izuku turned his attention to his classmates and saw...oh.

It looked like he wasn't the only one who was hesitant to accept her presence. Suspicion, uncertainty, and a fair amount of hatred was being laid on her with their looks, and not a single person went up to her. Instead, they all turned around and went back to her rooms. Even those who had been hanging out in the common room beforehand, like Jiro and Yayaorozu, departed.

But Izuku didn't. He still...had questions, ones he thought would be better asked of Toga directly, than going through Mr. Aizawa. His knees knocked a little as he approached her, but Izuku did his best to put a smile on his face when he asked, "Um...would you...like any help?"

Toga grinned, and for a second Izuku had the impulse to turn and dart away before she could stab him. But he made himself focus. There was no bloodlust in her eyes, just...something. Some emotion he was having trouble placing. "That would be a~may~zing~!" She extended a hand, and said, "Like I said before, Himiko Toga!"

It took Izuku a second to realize she was looking for an introduction and a handshake, which he then gave. She had a firm grip, and looked interested as he told her, "I'm Izuku Midoriya, and my hero name is Deku." After withdrawing his hand, Izuku started to feel a little more calm, enough to ask, "Would a tour be good?"

"Yep!"

Skipping behind him, she followed Izuku through the first floor of the dorms, as he showed her where the kitchen and bathrooms were. Then, he went up the opposite staircase from the one he usually used, showing her to the second floor of the girls' wing. "Did they tell you which room to use specifically?" She shook her head vigorously, so Izuku mumbled, "Oh, well, I guess you can just pick one you think you'll like?"

Looking at the four identical doors, Toga counted them out with a finger, calling out, "Ini, Mini, Miney, you!" before walking over and opening the door on the far end. It was as empty and undecorated as Izuku's room had been when he first moved in, and Toga had no restraint stopping her from running in and flopping on the bed.

Unsure what to do, Izuku tentatively followed her, anxiety rising in him. He was in a girl's room, kind of, and this particular girl...yeah, there was a lot to be anxious about. But he pushed past it. There were still things he wanted to know. "Would it be okay if I asked you some questions?"

Toga giggled, before flipping on her back to look at him upside down, her blonde bangs lying flat on the bed. "You just did! But yeah, fire away! It's not like I have anything better to do."

Unable to help himself, Izuku laughed a little too, but it was a nervous laughter. "Um...why don't you have clothes that fit? Did the transportation process across dimensions dissolve your clothing, like some time travel Quirks do? Or was there some problem with how the material your clothes were made of interacted with things in our universe, leading to them fitting poorly?"

The questions came out in his usual mumble, which he didn't notice until after they'd all emerged, and he realized she was staring at him, no longer smiling. "You're a nerd, aren't you?" The reply made him start stammering out words that refused to coalesce into a real sentence, which only made Toga grin at him again. "Ooh, a cute nerd!"

That got him blushing, which only seemed to make her even more happy. "Oh, well, um, I wouldn't, actually, uh, there is, I'm not sure, only my mother really..." It was more coherent than whatever he'd been saying before, but it was still far from a statement.

She laughed again, before turning rightside up to meet his eyes more properly. "It's none of those things! I showed up in my hero costume, but after the police took me in, they had me change out of it, since it had weapons and stuff on it."

That made sense, but something else didn't. "And they...didn't find you clothes that fit?"

"It was kind of a rush," Toga explained. "I showed up here like...two hours ago? Maybe three? I didn't have a watch or my phone or anything, so I can't be totally sure. Anyway, they wanted to interview me quickly, and all they had was stuff some of the girl detectives wore."

Izuku blinked, and tried to process that. "That explains that part I suppose, but couldn't they have given you a UA uniform?" After all, they had to carry a surplus for when Quirks ended up ruining someone's clothes.

She flinched at that question. "Oh, yeah, they did offer me one, but..." She lowered her voice to a whisper, and explained, "Don't take this the wrong way, but where I'm from, UA High is like...for villains and stuff. It's bad. And the uniform looks the same."

"A high school for villains?" How would anyone allow something like that to exist?

"They don't really call themselves villains, but they totally are. In my world, for most of the last twenty years or so, villains have basically taken control of Japan. Hero students like me are the ones who have to hide, otherwise..." She let the sentence hang there, and Izuku felt like he had a good idea of the consequences of being caught as a hero in a world like that.

He had more questions, but she yawned suddenly before asking, "Could we call it a night, Izuku? I'm exhauuuuuusted."

He blinked at the use of his first name, not wanting to connect it to the way her counterpart in his world would do the same. Shaking himself out of it, he said his farewell and left for the night. Though not before going up a few floors to see Uraraka. Maybe she had some clothes that would fit Toga...

It was a week later, and they were still trying to find the person with the right Quirk to send Toga back to her universe.

Not that Izuku was interested in speeding that process up, necessarily.

They were going to spend the afternoon in his room, but after he remembered what she'd said about All Might's equivalent in her world being one of the worst villains in history, he realized that was a bad idea, so they went to the common room instead.

There were a few students using it already, but like any other time Toga had been out among them, no one besides Izuku seemed interested in spending time with her. Hell, getting her clothes that fit had been difficult. Uraraka had made it clear she wasn't interested, and even Asui had been firm in her refusal. Toga was lucky that Momo seemed willing, though reluctant, to make something for her.

Izuku couldn't help pointing out how the others treated her, but when he did, Toga just laughed. "What's so funny?" he asked.

She leaned back on the couch, eyes raising to the ceiling, and it took her a while to say anything back. "I mean, you told me what the me here is like. I can understand if I creep them out." The unspoken question of why Izuku wasn't the same way lingered in the air. "But like...I'm not gonna cry about it. Honestly, I'm kind of glad they're staying away from me."

"Why?"

Toga bit her lip. "Well...they're all villains." The statement hung in the air, and he didn't expect her posture to shift, her arms crossing in front of her as she bent down a little, as if trying to hide and protect herself. "That loud guy with the glasses broke my friend's arm two months ago, and that girl with the gravity Quirk..."

Shivering, Toga didn't say anything else about Uraraka, but continued. "Amp, The Trapper, Freezerburn, King Explosion Murder, Soundwave...it took me a while, but everyone else in your class is definitely a villain in my world."

That...that was hard for Izuku to internalize. His classmates, his friends, were heroes. They were good people. But Toga seemed scared even talking about them, and looking back, he was better able to contextualize the way she seemed to tiptoe around them. "What about me?" he had to ask.

"Nope." She finished the sound with a pop, and looked up to meet his eyes, a small smile on her face. "Unless you're, like, a really lame villain no one has heard of, you're not a villain on my world."

Happy to hear that, Izuku still had to wonder. "Why is that the case..."

"As far as I can tell, it doesn't seem like a one-to-one thing." She pulled her legs up to her chin. "Like, your teacher, the sleepy guy? No villains or heroes on my world that look like him. Plus, I did some digging, and there are some people who are bad guys on both our worlds, like Overhaul. We probably share a few heroes too. But yeah...for whatever reason, I've never met the other Izuku."

Her expression turned thoughtful, and she added, "Maybe when I get back, I'll look for him."

That got Izuku thinking. It was likely the Izuku in her world was born Quirkless too. Had he never been given that equivalent of One for All? Or was he training in secret to be the next great villain?

Something encroached on his peripheral vision, and he was dragged out of his mental inertia by realizing it was Toga, who was smiling widely while scooching closer and leaning her face up to his. "Izukuuuuu~," she said, "You're spacing out again!"

A few days of spending time with this Toga had gotten Izuku to the point where he didn't recoil in fear when she came into his personal bubble anymore. Instead, it made him...nervous. As it turned out, Himiko Toga was very, very cute when she wasn't trying to murder him. The fact she seemed to have no problem getting so up close and personal to him didn't make it any better.

"Oh!" he stammered, "Sorry! I didn't..." Getting his mind back on track, Izuku told her, "I...get why you're nervous about my classmates. But I still think you should get to know them. They're really nice people, and if you would just talk..."

Shrugging her shoulders, Toga just said, "Mmm...maybe. But I'm not the only one doing the avoiding. If one of them wants to come over and talk to me, they can."

"That's all I can really ask," Izuku admitted, watching as Toga sat on crossed legs, then slumped onto him. That was a lot of personal contact, but Izuku didn't complain. He just...didn't really know how to react.

It didn't make it easier to process when he considered how her proximity made him feel. His chest was tight, his heart rate elevated, and there was this weird feeling in his stomach, like when a car goes over a small hill too quickly.

If he was being honest with himself, he knew what those feelings were, they were just...inconvenient. After all, she wasn't from the same universe, and she had to go home eventually. What was the point in pursuing something that was going to end like that?

What he was feeling must have been written on his face, because he suddenly felt her hand approach his, hesitant at first, before grabbing it. After a moment's hesitation, he opened his fingers, and they interlaced them together, a silent acknowledgement that something had just changed.

"Y'know..." Toga whispered, voice quiet. He could hear hope and fear warring in her. "...once they figure out how to send me back, you could probably come visit too. I already know who has the Quirk to send you here, so returning wouldn't be hard."

It was obvious to him what she wasn't saying, what the invitation really meant. 'We could make this into a thing. Something real.'

Mouth dry, Izuku nodded, feeling warmed by the weight of her leaning on his shoulder. "Yeah. That could...I think that would be nice."

Her world sounded terrifying, if he was being honest, but if it was a good way to see her...well, it would be worth it.