"I didn't lie to them, Itsumi!" Hizuku replied.
"Omitting information is still lying dad! Don't try to make it sound like you didn't do it on purpose."
"Itsumi, it doesn't change the fact that we can't help them…" Katsumi tried to interject.
"But you can! I can!" She said, "You know what I can do. If I help them…"
"They could go home, yes. But then what happens to you?"
"But… But I'm a Hero! I'm supposed to help people in need, and I'd say being stranded in another universe is the very definition of 'in need'!"
Izuku had stopped in the corridor, listening, but that line shook him enough he started to walk up again. However, someone put a hand around his mouth. He glanced back to see Todoroki, gesturing him to stay quiet. He nodded.
"You are not a Hero yet! You are still a student, and this is too dangerous." Hizuku said "As your father, I can't allow you to do something like this. You would never come back, Itsumi…"
"You don't know that! Even if I don't use Guide to get them to go back home, I can at least use it to try and find Isaac…"
"You won't do anything like that! Is that clear?!" Now Hizuku was shouting "I will not let you just jump in a different universe because you can!"
"You are gonna wake them up!" Katsumi shouted, hitting him in the back of the head "Don't get heated you idiot. She has a right to ask!"
"And I answered." He said, calming down "Itsumi, I'm sorry, but it's for your own good. Isaac said the multiverse is very, very dangerous. You don't know who or what is out there, and the fact alone you have a portion of One for All would put a target on you the moment someone found out. How many All for One are out there?"
Itsumi said nothing, but Deku and Todoroki heard her chair move. They thought quickly and walked down the corridor, hiding in a corner. Not the best hiding spot, but hopefully the whole family was too angry to notice them.
That proved true. Izuku watched as Itsumi basically stormed upstairs, followed by her parents, without even noticing the two. Once they were not coming back, they slipped upstairs, back to the closest room, Todoroki's. The man with dyed hair scratched his neck. Izuku looked at him, deep in thought. "Why were you downstairs?" He asked.
"I'm a light sleeper. I heard them go downstairs and followed them. Then I saw you walk down as well, and stopped you from interfering."
"But… why did you do that?"
"There is something they are not telling us." Todoroki replied "You heard them too. Before you arrived, she said she was feeling sorry for us and that they knew her Quirk could do more than what they had said. That they know she could help."
"I guess, but what does she mean?"
"That's the question, isn't it?" Todoroki asked "That's what we need to find out. Well, you need to find out."
"Wait, me?" Izuku asked, confused.
"Yes, you." Todoroki grinned "I don't know, get friendly, talk to her, something like that. You are more likely than us to make it."
"I mean, I want to be friendly with her, but maybe I should just ask her…"
"And tell her you were listening to their conversation in secret? That will do wonders to form a bond." He huffed, tapping his fingers on the wardrobe of the guest room. Small ice spots appeared on it. "Just don't worry about it too much. If you already want to be friendly with her, do that. She will probably speak anyway, I know people her age well enough, and her parents just told her not to. If she does not, maybe we should tell her flat out we know. But let's keep it as a last attempt."
Izuku nodded, before leaving the room and walking back to bed. He laid there, thinking of a what he should have done the next day.
-x-
As it turned out, what he did the next day was walk out of his room after finally waking up, only to run into Itsumi on the way to the bathroom.
"He-Hello!" He said with what should have passed for a smile, before noticing she had clear signs of having cried. "Are you ok?"
Itsumi smiled back "Of course!" She said "No one can make Princess Explosion Murder sad for long." Despite her reassurance, she still looked somewhat exhausted. Izuku tried to think of something to say, but before he could she entered the bathroom. He chose to stood there and think. He thought some of his friends would have known what to do better. Mirio or Tsu would have probably just offered to be friend, but he had no idea on where to start with that.
Itsumi waved back at him when she left the bathroom and went downstairs, but he just waved back.
Later on, he found out it was, to his surprise, a Saturday, explaining why Itsumi wasn't at school. That did not line with the day he thought it was, since he had only been through two days since he had first teleported from his universe on a Monday, but he assumed it had to do with the fact this was a different universe. The second surprise was what Itsumi asked.
"So, do you want to hang out today?"
Izuku looked at her in surprise, and she chuckled "Well, I thought it would be a good idea. You can't really stay in here all day, and I am curious on what differences there are between your world and mine. So, want to hang out a bit?"
"I… S-sure." He said.
"Great. I'll tell Shiro." She blinked "Oh, by the way, I told him you are a cousin of mine. Don't worry about it."
Deku nodded "So, who is Shiro?"
"Oh, he is my best friend since we were little kids, the son of Auntie Shouko and Uncle Ojiro." She chuckled "I think your friends would actually be quite confused meeting him."
"Yeah, we better not let them." He agreed, and she winked.
"Well, I'll tell him we are meeting up at the station and going to Kiyashi Ward Mall." Izuku gulped, remembering his last visit at Wookiees, the great mall in Kiyashi Ward. It had been his last face to face meeting with Shigaraki, so it was hard to forget. Still, in this world he was a lot better. After all, there was no one there that knew who he was.
"Sure."
She nodded, and after a quick call with this Shiro, the two left the house and walked towards the station, where they were supposed to meet him. The walk was silent, with Izuku just trying to see any difference worth noticing. He saw various brand he did not know, though a lot had similar logos to ones he did. The Heroes were different, but to be fair Heroes past their sixties were rare back in his world, so most Heroes he knew had probably retired mostly or entirely.
"So, any favorite Hero of yours?" He asked.
"Well, mom and dad are my two favorites." She said "Then there is All Might, but honestly that might just be mom and dad rubbing on me, it's a pretty weird choice for a younger person. Aside from them… I'm a huge Red Diamond fan. Shiro says she doesn't deserve the first place, but he is just jealous cause his mom is second this year too."
"Do you know her personally?"
"Yep. Though mom and dad are not as close with her and Lemillion since they decided to give me Guide. They don't really talk about it, but I think before I got it, they would meet almost every day, now they only talk once a week, at most."
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." Izuku said. Mirio and Bakugo were not really close, but Kirishima was the closest he had made at UA. He could not help but think it was the same for Katsumi, though maybe he was assuming.
"Don't worry, eventually they will make up. Miss Kirishima and mom were best friends since in high school, I don't think they will remain angry to each other forever." She replied with a smile. Izuku hoped she was right. "But here we are." Itsumi continued rather quickly, looking up at the station. Izuku noticed it was basically the same as the one in his world, but the train numbers were completely different. Itsumi looked around, then scratched her head. "I thought Shiro was going to be here but…"
"I am here." Said a voice from behind them. They turned to see a teenager of about their age, with a long tail that ended in an orb of ice. He had white and blonde hair, and a large smile on his face. "I can't believe you didn't see the guy with a giant tail with ice on the tip."
"Oh my god…" Izuku whispered.
"Uh, so, is this your cousin?" He continued.
"Yep." Katsumi replied, hitting Izuku in the back with a slap "Izuku Midoriya. I know, super creative family, right?"
"H-Hello, Ojiro."
"Please, call me Shiro." He said with an educated bow "Otherwise I'll think dad is behind me."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure, Midoriya. It's my Hero name anyway."
"Pity, you should do it like Tenshi and just follow family tradition. You could start the Tailman Hero family name. Maybe you could become as famous as the Ingenium." Itsumi said. From her expression, Izuku could tell this was a topic she liked to tease Shiro on.
"No thanks. Dad is great, but I don't want to be the Second Tailman." He shivered exaggeratedly, before turning to Izuku "So, what's your Hero name?"
"How did you know I am training to become a Hero too?"
"I didn't, but now I do." Shiro said with a grin, and Deku laughed.
"Well, it's Deku." He replied.
"Oh. That's an odd choice." The ice tailed boy commented with a confused expression. Izuku noticed he looked more like Ojiro than Todoroki in his expressions, despite his hair and the ice on his tail. Of course, not having the scar probably contributed to that.
"It's a long story." He said.
"Well, we'll be on the train for twenty minutes. You could tell us there."
Izuku nodded, and they walked to the rails. Itsumi bought him the ticket as well, ignoring his offer to pay for himself – which in hindsight was for the best – and soon after they were on board.
-x-
Izuku hadn't really gone back to Wookiees after his last visit had included meeting Shigaraki Tomura. Not that he had any chance to, but even if he had a choice, normally, he would have gone to a different store. However, he needed to know what Itsumi and her parents were hiding, so he had no choice.
Though he had to admit, the idea of seeing a different universe was also part of the reason.
The first thing he noticed was the difference in the Hero merch. He recognized Kamui Woods, Edgeshot and Mirko merch, but almost everything else was fully different. All Might's merch was almost non-existent, which was the biggest difference of course, but he also saw how most were superheroes he had never seen before. Red Jewel, Shouko Todoroki, Lady Bomb, Lemillion… They were the most represented.
"Well, here we are." Itsumi said "So, where do you want to go?"
"I don't really know the place." Izuku said "Not to mention I don't really have the money to buy anything."
"Well, mom left me those." She said, showing him some money "She says I should get… my cousin… something to wear." She said, quickly correcting herself.
"What happened to your clothes?" Shiro asked.
Izuku tried to come up with something, but it was Itsumi that jumped in the way "Ah, it's pretty stupid. He got his luggage stolen at the train station and has been stuck with only his Hero costume and a pair of clothes." She turned to Izuku "Auntie was super angry by the way, you should really pay more attention."
"R-Right. Right, I will do that next time."
Shiro chuckled "Come on, it can happen. At least they just stole normal clothes and not your costume. I've heard that lately it happens a lot." He said.
"Wait, they steal Hero costumes?" Izuku asked.
"Yeah, you didn't hear about it?" Shiro replied, surprised "Lately a lot of Hero schools, and even some lesser known agencies, have reported that support gear is being stolen. UA has raised the security, though I heard someone from 1-B still was robbed during the internship."
"Oh. No, I never heard about it." He said.
"Weird." Shiro commented, before turning to Itsumi "So, which store where you thinking of? And don't give me that look, I know you already had a plan."
Itsumi sighed "You know me too well." She replied with a grin "We are going to Jolly Clothing."
"Of course we are. Is there a clothing store you like more?"
"Nope." She just said with a grin.
Izuku followed them, while looking around. Most of the stores were unfamiliar, though he did recognize the camping equipment store that he had been to for his last visit. He looked inside, looking at the various objects. The fact it had managed to stay open for so long was…
He froze, and jumped back. "A-A Noumu?" He asked in shock. Indeed, behind the counter was standing a creature with an exposed brain, long arms, and a pale body. The creature didn't seem to notice him at first, but Izuku's stare eventually caught his attention. He awkwardly waved his way.
Itsumi grabbed him and dragged him away from the door "Izuku, that's not nice." She whispered.
"Yeah what's your problem?" Shiro asked, and Izuku noticed a flicker of anger in his eyes "You can't just call them Noumu like that."
"B-but…"
"It's not a problem." The Noumu said from inside the store, raising his voice a bit and startling Izuku "After all, they captured the last of us not too long ago. A lot of people still had bad experiences with us."
"I…" Izuku did his best to register the information, before bowing "I'm sorry, really."
"No, no, it's fine kid. You were attacked, right?"
"Y-Yeah." Izuku said, still trying his best to really understand the situation.
"There is no problem then. Go your way kids." He just concluded, with a smile.
"Of course, sir. We are so sorry." Shiro replied, but the glare he launched at Midoriya made it clear he had just lost a lot of points with him. Itsumi on the other hand seemed calm about the situation. At least, she knew Deku had his reasons to be surprised.
"You shouldn't have done that." She whispered after they had made it a few stores away "It's considered very rude to call someone that has recovered their sanity a Noumu."
"So he really was…"
"He is a victim of unwanted experiments. After their final battle against Alien King, the Heroes tried their best to restore them into society. You know, make them recover from All for One's control. It didn't always work, since some were too unhinged and some too far gone, but a decent number made it. I'm sorry, I should have told you sooner. I forget you come from a world where All for One is still around."
Izuku was in disbelief. The idea of a Noumu recovering had always seemed impossible, and yet here was proof of the opposite. 'Could they do it in our universe too?' He wondered. That would have been a complete change. If they could make the Noumu return to their senses, they could save them. "I made a mess…" He murmured.
"No, don't worry. I'll talk to Shiro, you'll see he is a surprisingly understanding guy. You just touched a problematic button for his family."
Izuku nodded, though he wasn't really sure. The other teenager seemed extremely pissed with him, something Izuku could understand. He had clearly said something offensive. Itsumi was whispering to him, and he was returning in kind, before sighing and turning to Izuku "Sorry. I didn't know your circumstances. It's not an excuse, but at least you are not one of those people. Don't do it again."
"Of course! I'm really, really sorry." Izuku replied, deciding not to ask who 'those people' were.
Shiro nodded, his tail flicking slightly from one side to the other, though Izuku was not sure if that meant anything. Clearly, whatever sympathy point he had gained with the teenager in the time they had known each other had evaporated. Itsumi seemed to understand it as well, because she started pacing faster through the mall, stopping in front of a large clothing store. The shop window was filled with oddly specific clothing on the right side, mostly reminding Izuku of stereotypical British clothing from the early 1900s, that he had usually only seen in movies. On the other side were more common clothes, mostly t-shirts, pants and shoes themed after this or that Hero.
"Well, hello there." A voice said as they entered, and Izuku saw a man in what Izuku estimated to be in his sixties behind the counter, with grey hair and mustache to match. He looked familiar, but Izuku couldn't quite place him. "I'm glad to see some young visitors in my store. Although I do believe this jolly event is mostly thanks to you, Itsumi."
"Good morning mister Danjuro." The girl replied, "My cousin here needs some new clothes." She said, pointing at Midoriya.
"Of course, young lady, of course. So, what can I do for you young man? I believe we have a number of good, elegant clothes fitting for the best of gentlemen." He said, and that was what made it click for Izuku.
'This is… Gentle Criminal?' He asked himself. This time he kept it in his mind, but his look of surprise was clear to see.
"Oh, you look pale." The store owner said with a worried look in his eyes "Would you like some tea?"
"N-no, it's nothing. Uhm. I'd like to see just some shirts and pants. I don't have a lot of money."
"Oh, I see. Well, I'll call my daughter for that. She is more attuned with your generation's fairly lacking fashion sense. What about you Itsumi? I have some new clothes you would like. I even managed to get my hand on original Liverpool-tailored Top Hats."
The girl's eyes sparkled "Uh, those would fit so well in my costume! Can I see them?"
"But of course, young miss. You truly have a better fashion sense than your entire generation combined!" He said with a laugh.
"That's not really nice to say dad." A girl with grey hair said emerging from the backroom "That's way I said you should leave the counter to me."
"And I said if I do that you'll bring this store to become nothing more than a copy of all other clothing stores."
"You mean one that brings home decent money instead of trying to sell top hats?" She asked, and Danjuro sighed.
"What have I done to deserve such an uncouth daughter?" He asked. Izuku was finding the situation so surreal he could hardly put it into words.
Suddenly, the girl just shook her head and turned his way "So, you need some shirts and pants, uh? I have something from the Lemillion and Suneater lines." She said, showing him a table where various t-shirts were exposed. Izuku saw white ones with the number 1.000.000 on them, and a blue shirt with a yellow 'Power!' art that almost made him die of laughter. Suneater's shirts were more simple, showing a silhouette of Suneater in various forms, either with claws on his hands and feet and wings, with tentacles or with horns and hooves. Under each was a different name, from Chimera Harpy to Chimera Kraken to Chimera Minotaur, each in different colors and fonts.
He picked up a few of his size and the girl just pointed him towards the fitting rooms. Izuku nodded with a thank and walked over there. He overheard Itsumi discussing with Gentle about the best way to fit a top hat in her costume and he found himself wondering what it looked like. He quickly changed and noticed that the clothes fit him well, sighing in relief. At least now he was going to have something to wear. He snickered noticing that the best fitting was the 'Power!' shirt, wondering what Mirio would think of it.
"By the way, who are you really?" A voice asked behind him, and he almost shouted before slowly turning around. Shiro was looking at him from an opening in the curtain's side.
"Uh, what do you mean?"
"I mean that I know Itsumi doesn't have a cousin." He replied, "Both her parents are both only children."
Izuku froze "Uhm, I…"
"Look, if you are her boyfriend I don't mind." He said, but Izuku was fairly sure he looked… worried?
"N-No, It's not like that!" He quickly answered, and saw a look of relief flashing in Shiro's eyes before he went back to a more neutral expression. "I'm a distant relative, that's all. Calling me cousin is easier."
"Mh. But then why did she lie in the first place?"
"I… I honestly have no idea." Deku replied "Maybe…"
Whatever he was about to say was cut off by a crash and a shout from the store front. They both jumped out of the fitting rooms to see a scene that Deku had not expected: there, among broken glass and fallen mannequins, stood a tall, black nomu, with both eyes fixed on the three people he was staring at. It reminded Izuku of the Noumu he had seen at the USJ, since he was similarly tall and muscular, but instead of the beak, his face featured a long trunk extending to the floor and large fangs similar to those of a sabretooth tiger. It was currently bumping it's large fists against what seemed to be a barrier of air, that Izuku realized was the result of Gentle… no, Danjuro's Quirk.
"Fujiko, run to the back door!" He shouted, as another fist bounced back. "I can't create that many barriers."
"Dad, you have to run too?"
"Why, that would be ungentlemanly of me, now wouldn't it?" He asked "I can't really let three kids in danger against the criminal that just attacked them."
"Give… The Girl…" The Noumu shouted.
"I'm afraid, my good fellow, that that will be impossible. Most unfortunate."
"For… You…" The Noumu said, and Izuku jumped forward, extending his Black Whip at the same time to get Danjuro out of the way. A moment later, a long blade emerged from the Noumu's mouth and hit the point where the elderly man was a moment before, cutting through the barrier like it wasn't there. Izuku rushed in and kicked.
"SMASH!" He shouted as his foot sent the Noumu fly back out of the store front and fall in the middle of the corridor, smashing in a bench. Izuku quickly run outside and started shouting "Run, everyone!" He called. Most civilians had obliged already, but a few that had straggled behind listened to him the moment the Noumu stood back up and opened his mouth, unleashing a series of razor-sharp blade. Izuku jumped out of the way, before seeing Shiro and Itsumi run ahead.
"Shiro, stop the blades!" Itsumi shouted. The young man nodded and turned around, slamming his tail on the ground. A pillar of ice emerged, quickly rushing forward and enveloping the blades. The Noumu in response punched the blade themselves, freeing its mouth from the ice as they broke and turning to hit with a left hook the incoming Itsumi. The girl smiled as she opened her mouth and a translucent gas emerged, similar to a cloud in at first, before starting to spin faster and faster in mid air, flying toward the punch.
"Howitzer Arrow!" She shouted as the liquid exploded, leaving the incoming arm broken in various points. "Enough now! Stop it!"
"Itsumi Midoriya… The Girl…" The Noumu said, before Izuku literally appeared in midair above him.
"Saint Louis Smash!" He shouted as his kick impacted the Noumu's head. The creature, however, did not seem in pain. Izuku felt his neck crack under the blow, but reacted barely in time to the incoming left hand, already healed.
"This is bad…" He said, landing next to Itsumi, Shiro run forward and Izuku noticed his clenched teeth.
"We need to get some Pros." He said.
"Good idea." Izuku replied "Think you can call some while I keep him busy?"
"I will help you." Itsumi said.
"You shouldn't…"
"I should." She said, as they jumped out of the way just in time to dodge another rush of blade from the enemy's mouth.
"Why is he even attacking us?" The tailed teenager asked before unleashing a new wave of ice and freezing the blade solid.
"I don't know!" Itsumi shouted before opening her mouth and launching another blow. This time the rotating cloud hit the opponent's head and exploded.
"So that's your Quirk?" Izuku asked.
"I call it Explosiomancy." She said with a grin. "What do we do?"
"Guys, less talking, more kicking!" Shiro shouted, stopping another wave of blades. Izuku suddenly noticed the blocks of ice had almost completely blocked off their ability to see the villain, and suddenly had a realization.
"Wait-!" Izuku shouted, before a punch smashed through the ice and right into the young man's gut, sending him fly back and disappear into the now destroyed Jolly Clothing.
"Shiro!" Itsumi shouted, before Blackwhip grabbed her and pulled her narrowly out of a new wave of blades.
"Give me… The Girl…" The Noumu said, his voice almost unintelligible as the blades retreated back inside his mouth. No, Deku realized. The blades were all of his teeth. 'Moonfish' Quirk…'
"Die!" Itsumi shouted, opening her mouth as she ran forward. Izuku watched in surprise as this time the cloud of explosive liquid, instead of spinning away, split in two and started rotating around both arms, faster and faster.
"Yorkshire Smash!" She shouted, as her punch exploded in a copy of the Howitzer arrow. Izuku recognized the familiar glow of One for All coming from her arm as well, and watched as the combined strength of the punch and the explosion sent the Noumu flying backwards. As more liquid poured out of her mouth, forming a new rotating vortex around her arm, Izuku finally understood what she was doing as he rushed forward to help her. 'She uses Guide to control the explosive smoke she emits and to protect herself from the recoil. That's smart.' She thought, before using both legs to kick into the Noumu's stomach and sending him smash through a decorative palm tree and into the wall behind.
Izuku extended Blackwhip, grabbing the Noumu and throwing it up in the sky. The creature laughed maniacally now, and then opened his mouth. "Give me the Girl!" It shouted, then a rush of dark purple gas started pouring towards them.
"Watch out!" Itsumi shouted, and then something happened. The gas surrounding them broke apart, like an invisible knife had cut through it, and dispersed itself upward, entering the Noumu's lungs. The creature coughed, and both Izuku and Itsumi did not miss their chance. Moving at the same time they jumped upward, Deku releasing Blackwhip at the right time.
"Northumbria…" Itsumi said, propelling herself with the explosions around her leg while preparing both fists.
"Charleston…" Izuku said, arching his leg backward.
"SMASH!" They shouted, as Izuku's upward kick and Itsumi's explosive double punches impacted at the same time the Noumu's gut, sending it fly high in the sky. They both prepared for it to come down, but before it even came close to the ground, they suddenly felt the cold. Then, a giant wall of ice, bigger than the one Todoroki had used during the sport festival, emerged from the corridor they had just left and enveloped completely the Noumu, encasing it in solid ice like some prehistoric creature in a kid show. A battered and bloody Shiro stepped from behind them, his tail entirely covered in ice from top to bottom.
"Got you." He said with a grin. Then he collapsed.
They both rushed to him, but Deku wondered what had happened to the gas. It had parted like something had moved it, but what could… Then he froze, and turned to Itsumi, as they both kneeled toward Shiro. He had figured out what she had meant the night before. Before he could say anything, however, a woman ran towards them. Deku recognized the white hair and her clothes.
"You kids have a lot to explain, don't move from here." Shoko Todoroki said, before lifting her son. "Good job out there, Shiro." She murmured while carrying him toward other incoming police officers and emergency personnel.
Deku and Itsumi looked at each other, and Izuku spoke reflexively "You can use Guide on other people's Quirk, right?" He asked.
Itsumi looked at him in surprise, then nodded. "Yes." She said, more like a whisper.
"So if you used it on my Teleport…"
"We could take you home. Yes, that's true." She said, with a sad expression on her face "I'm sorry for lying about it."
"But then why..." Izuku tried to say something else, but in that moment three Heroes walked towards them, and Izuku froze once more, as the words Shoto had said days before rang in his head. "I need to go Itsumi."
"What? Why?"
"I am not even from this world. What happens if they ask me about my parents, my school, or anything else? How do I explain the fact I have no documents or don't even exist?"
"Right." She said, pulling out some banknotes from her wallet "Here, take those." She said "Run to the station and jump on the first train to Kamino. We'll meet back home." She paused a second "I'll tell you everything there."
Izuku nodded and ran, ignoring the Heroes calling him. Itsumi stepped between them, but he quickly made it out of Wookies and disappeared in the crowd. 'I am not coming to this mall ever again.' He decided, looking up at the giant ice block towering over the mall.