There happens to be many decisions one could make in this world. And every choice decided leads them down a different path; a different outcome.
But what about all the various paths made when a contrasting choice is made instead? How many paths? How many what ifs?
In one world, Izuku Midoriya is the ninth holder of One For All and is destined to fight Tomura Shigaraki and All For One.
But what if, in another world and place in time, he is working alongside them instead.
And in a contrasting universe, Tenko Shimura and his future allies never became villains, taking the place of the heroic students they fought in a different place in time, while those heroes take their place as villains instead.
Every choice made leads to a different outcome.
And now, this is a story, where a single choice, a different set of events, sets off a very, very different story than the one you know.
Rain and clouds; a cool breeze bringing the smell of damp earth and the harsh acidic smell of damp asphalt. A brief moment of calm and peace. An event of nature to be enjoyed.
But for Nana, the seventh holder of One for All, that peace and calm was as brief as the rain clouds running across the sky.
Her life, bright and bold, slowly but surely appeared to be coming to a halt. She knew it, felt it in her bones, as her gaze shifted to the man who would take that away from her.
All for One; the man responsible for this moment, this path she took that led her here.
He was the end goal she had strived to meet for so long, for her predecessor's sake, her protege's sake…and her son's sake as well.
But if this was to be the end…then she would give it everything she had. And if she couldn't bring this bastard down with her, then she'd make damn sure that Sorahiko got Toshinori out of there.
The ground beneath her feet suddenly heaved, making her next steps difficult. Purple flames raged down from the sky and then what appeared to be lighting followed suit. With a jolt of surprise and unease traveling down her spine, she dashed between two cars just as the ground behind her erupted into destructive shards.
The ground moved under her feet once more giving her no choice but to use her quirk. Floating above that same moving ground proved to be a fatal error. A gust of wind and purple flames slammed into her, flinging her hard through the air before painfully slamming her into the ground.
The silence that followed ended when her protege screamed.
"Master!"
And the laughter soon after, it not only brought rage in her heart but fear.
"Thank you for making this such a wonderful comedy."
Words that struck a chord as she rose on her feet. Her eyes rose to the sky then, and then they widened in surprise as she saw the sky turn red; then everything turned red around her. In a matter of seconds, red was all she could see.
Then the sound hit, and she knew it was over.
All Might, I am counting on you! Be the hero you dreamed to be!
"MASTER!"
The sudden flash lit up the battlefield and the surrounding area, causing Gran Torino to halt in his escape with Toshinori. A moment that the 18 year old took advantage of.
"Damn kid!" he exclaimed, turning around. What he saw wasn't something he would have expected in a thousand years.
The city block was in ruins. Flames of a violet hue dotted the ruined landscape. Gray smoke gave the scene a hazy, mirage like appearance, adding on to the desolate view. And everything happened to be washed in a distinctive red hue.
However, that wasn't what caught the experienced hero's attention.
All for One was no longer in the air, showing his power through the height advantage. His feet were on the ground; no, he was on his hands and knees.
Gran Torino didn't hesitate to linger on the implications of All for One and his 'position'. He ran after Toshinori. He knew full well what kind of man All for One happened to be and what he could easily do once he made up his mind. And Toshinori happened to be running to his sudden death.
A death that he promised Nana that would never happen.
"SMASH!"
It wasn't the word that took Gran Torino by surprise but Toshinori's fist connecting and sending the legendary super-villain flying into the nearest pillar of concrete.
What the hell is going on?! There's no way in hell that Toshinori could've landed a hit!
The sudden stillness; a sudden swift breeze. No heartless laughter. No manipulative banter.
A cold, painful chill traveled up the hero's spine.
How?! Why?!
Those questions flashed through his mind as he dashed across the field to grab Nana's student only to change course when All for One slowly rose onto his feet. Gran Torino's feet crashed into the other man's chest, the concrete block groaning in protest as All for One slammed into it once more.
Gran Torino couldn't help but wonder why his foe wasn't using his many quirks until something flickered toward his left.
For a moment, there was nothing there and Gran Torino could've sworn he'd imagined the whole thing. But no, a moment later it happened again. And this time, he saw someone.
A woman.
By all appearances, she was too frail a creature to be walking through the swirling smoke and dust of the battle field. Too soft; too tired, her features were sculpted fine and delicate, contrasted sharply by her shallow skin and dark rimmed eyes.
The air curled around her, highlighted by dust and rubble. He monitored her every move, watched her carefully, cautiously as she walked toward them. He kept his ground, for appearances could be deceiving. While this fine-featured female seemed delicate, even frail by his standards, he got the strongest impression that she could easily destroy him.
And that bothered him. That and the fact that he wasn't sure if she happened to be friend or foe.
"Finish him!" she said, her voice carrying over the wind and across the distance between them. It was deprived of emotion, barely a voice at all.
And that disturbed him.
Gran Torino's gut clenched, and he, for a brief moment, stood rooted in place. The surreal moment lasted only a second before he turned his gaze back to All for One and Toshinori.
Toshinori stood over the prone body of the man that killed his mentor, mother, and friend. His shoulders trembled. It was then that Gran Torino realized that the young man was crying.
"Master! I am….sorry."
"Master?!" the woman asked, a mixture of surprise and disbelief coloring her voice as she turned her attention solely on Toshinori. Her dark green eyes rested on him, seeing his grief, his pain and the way his trembling hands reached out for Nana, so delicate in complete contrast to his giant frame.
"She is…was, my master, my mentor…my mother in all but blood…I'm so sorry, Master!" Toshinori repeated, tears falling from his eyes, making them soulful and luminescent; an open door to a young man lost in the darkness of grief.
The woman was silent as she took this moment in and Gran Torino was frozen, unable to move despite the burning in his chest that told him to protect Toshinori, to protect his boy. But he couldn't move, the aura the woman gave off rooted him entirely where he stood.
His heart raced, terrified for Toshinori more than himself at that moment.
But after what felt like an eternity of silence, the woman simply turned and walked away, her steps as light as the ash settling on the ground. That was all she did, walking away in the silence, and leaving the two of them in a soundless and lonely battlefield.
The two of them and the bodies of Nana and All for One, finally defeated after almost eight holders of One for All. And yet, it didn't feel like the victory Gran Torino, that Sorahiko had always imagined it would be.
Instead, it felt like the closing of one door and the opening of another.
He let the woman walk away, laying a hand on Toshinori's shoulder and supporting his boy in the only way he could, by mourning with him.
For now, that was all they could bring themselves to do.
Yet there was one question that crossed his mind.
How exactly did they come out so easily?
She calmly strolled into an alleyway, brick walls towered over her, and trash brushed against her feet. She continued on, losing herself among the labyrinth of back alleyways and human refuse. Only when she was thoroughly lost among the safe, yet overlooked city corridors did she stop.
"Leave them be," her voice, soft and low, carried over the wind. She slumped against a brick hall, her legs folded under her in exhaustion. But what she saw was enough, enough to be touched.
That woman was cared for. A young man, still a child, called her 'mother'! Regardless of her feelings of the situation, that child earned her leniency. Along with the man at his side.
For the moment.
"Let them continue their grief," she continued, only able to flick her eyes up before her. "We don't have the luxury of time right now." Watching the red light that bathed landscape fade away, her lips thinned in thought. What was years for one person was a short time for another. It was a matter of time.
Two to four years, even less if luck wasn't on her side. Such a short time in any case.
"Yes, milady," a voice spoke from her left, a figure barely concealed in the shadows. "Where do we go from here?"
"For now, we need to prepare. To plan," she declared. "And then the real work begins."
A white moon, luminescent, and ample, shone in the night sky. Its light shone down on her, an old friend that she greeted with wide-open arms. Raising both hands, she stared at the silver light as it formed between them, considering.
Moments before, she had felt the shift as soon as it occurred, their home going from one dimension to another; allowing her to see the moon here for the first time. She couldn't help but wonder if this was how the original populace had felt all those years ago. If her ancestors had borne this same feeling, longing for the home they came from but knowing there might not be a chance of them ever returning. Even if they put in every effort to do so.
Of course, there was no doubt in her mind that they didn't have same weight of guilt as she currently did.
It was a heavy burden, but it was not one she was willing to give to those younger than her. Not until they were ready. No now. Not ever!
A frown pulled at her lips, she slowly began to move her fingers, shifting the moonlight as easily as she breathed. It followed her movements as if it were a lost puppy, yet glowing all the same with the light from the celestial object above her.
When her movements stilled, the symbol of her island, her home, was glowing with moonlight. The butterfly in front of her looked as if it were about to take flight at any moment, a world of possibilities before it. She couldn't help but wonder if it was a metaphor for her own life or where those possibilities would lead.
"Azumi-senpai, are you alright?"
Startled, Azumi turned and her malachite colored eyes landed on the younger girl before her. She forced a smile onto her face, not wanting to worry the girl.
"Of course I am, Niharika-chan. What are you doing out here so late at night?" she questioned, banishing the moonlit emblem as she spoke. Japanese flowed from her lips as easily as any other language she had learned growing up, unable to claim a single one as her first.
"Everyone's out late tonight, Azumi-senpai," Niharika sighed exaggeratedly, in that way only young could so well. Azumi could tell she was nervous, her nails were picking at the bright paint that clung to her dark skin.
"That's true, but you have school tomorrow regardless of us returning and I doubt your parents want you dealing with this when you should be focusing on your studies," Azumi reminded the younger girl.
"That's not fair, you only just graduated!" Niharika argued.
"And I will deal with this for now while you take your studies seriously. I'll be counting on you once you graduate, after all," Azumi smiled, small and encouraging.
Niharika rolled her eyes only in a way that the young could do, but did not argue any further. Azumi didn't push it, as she turned back to the shoreline that hinted at a mainland nearby, which only hours ago had not been there.
The world has irrevocably changed now. Not just for Azumi and Niharika and not just for their small island either. But for the entire world.
There was a lot of work to be done. And they didn't have the luxury of time right now.
Kitsu-Chan: Okay, thanks everyone. WolfieRed23 and I are glad to bring this fanfic to you. We had a lot of fun with this. But both of us want to give you a heads up. This fanfic is a SYOC. Isn't that cool?
In regards to that, there is another thing we would love to bring up.
Wolfie: Hi guys! So, in case you couldn't tell from the beginning scene or the ending scene (or just…this chapter entirely), we're taking the canon universe and flipping it as much on its head as possible! And the island at the end is the beginning of it all! Azumi belongs to Kitsu-chan, Niharika belongs to me and we'd like to welcome some more people as well! Or maybe you'd like to go to Japan instead, we're cool with that too! The point of this is to have fun and see what this change leads to, and boy do we already have plans in mind. So! Here's the OC template for you all to follow if you'd like to join our little fic here, currently there is no deadline! Have fun, be creative, we'd love to hear from you!
Kitsu-Chan: For the OC template, please head to my profile page for all juicy the details. Don't hesitate to ask questions or...maybe requests. We see what we can do. And we'll see you later.
