Izuku lifted the large log and carried it carefully down the street. The hard work reminded him of Dagoba Beach, of the time he spent trying to pull a fridge or carry around hunks of metal that might have been a car at some points. It was good for him.

He was reminded of where he was now by the sudden gulp of one of the workers that was accompanying him, when they turned a corner to find a Gnoll corpse. The creature had been broken into various pieces that were lying on the ground, showing signs of ice burn. 'Todoroki…' He thought with a sad expression.

After the fight the day before, people had been very quick to change their opinion on the group, thanking them profusely for their help and offering them a reward that Izo had very firmly turned down. That had somewhat confused Ojiro for once, until Izo had explained that as a Knight of Colfire he was already paid to deal with demons and their followers by the king and his officials. Accepting additional rewards would have been unfair of him. Ojiro had nodded, though Deku did manage to hear him say something about giving a stroke to some guy called Geralt. Deku wondered if this was some Hero from his world since he didn't know the name.

Izuku had just spent some time coming to grips with the reality of the situation and what had happened. He had helped tie the captured Gnoll, and then had just... sat there. He remembered vaguely checking his gloves for any damage and realizing with relief that they were fine, but he remembered having done so more to try unsuccessfully to keep his mind occupied, to not confront quite yet what had happened.

Meanwhile, the town chief had also asked them a few extra favors. His first request, for them to stay here, had been immediately refused unilaterally by both Izo and Todoroki. The Knight had assured them that he was going to contact the Royal Army and have them dispatch the closest unit, which had brought some relief to the elderly man's face.

The next request had been to help with the reconstruction. Not the entire work of course, but any help they could give before leaving, especially with removing the ice. Todoroki was going to say no to the proposal as well, but Izo had been faster.

This was why now, in the late morning right after an intense fight, Izuku was helping a couple of townsfolk with carrying the materials to rebuild a house. Not that he minded of course. It was only natural for a Hero to want to help people, and the manual work was giving him time to think.

'Killing your enemies…' He thought with chagrin. The townsfolk had proved to think exactly like Izo on the matter. Not a word against them for it, in fact a few asked him how many he had killed. Izo had closed the captured one in a cage that the mayor had showed them, one strong enough to hold a person – or in this case a strong Gnoll – even at full strength, let alone weakened by the wounds Izuku had given him.

"We should just hang it." One of the folks behind him said, and Izuku frowned. 'Was I talking out loud?' He wondered, before deciding that he wasn't. No, the guy probably just wanted to make some small talk and had picked the wrong argument.

"I agree, but Ser Izo says he needs to ask it some questions."

"Him." Izuku said without thinking.

"What's that kid?" The man behind him asked. Izuku turned. The man had a muscular build, a warm smile on his face for one of the heroes of the night before.

"It's a person, not an animal," Izuku explained, and he noticed both workers frown.

"Well, I suppose you are right, but I can't really see it… him… whatever, that way. Have you seen what they did to the people they killed?"

Izuku had. The corpses had been partially eaten and partially mutilated. The workers on the walls were still finding the body parts that carrion birds hadn't carried away. He frowned again. Was he wrong in thinking that way? "Right but… he's still a person. We can't hold him accountable for what he did if we treat him like a beast, can we?"

"Oh." The two men looked at each other "I suppose you are right. Very wise kid."

Izuku shook his head. He could tell they were just accommodating him. They didn't share his opinion or agree with him. That was fine but… it was odd to think they were thinking of the Gnoll as something that wasn't a person. Maybe it was because he came from a world where your best friend could look like a whale, but the fact they were acting like that was something absurd for him.

'Is that how Izo thinks too? No, he tried to talk with the Flind, and he treated them as people.' He thought. He also killed them as people, a thought in the back of his head added. Izuku shrugged. He wasn't used to this. Back home, when a Hero killed a villain, he had to show some reason for it. Accidents could drop Heroes in their ranking and killing on purpose without reason could end up in losing the Hero License. Here, killing was the norm.

He stopped in front of the house and put down the piece of wood, smiling a bit as the two men thanked him before going back to work.

He looked around. Most of the streets were damp, the result of Todoroki's ice being melted. That was good to prevent the last few fires, small as they were, to start spreading again, but it meant his iron boots were filled with mud. He had to go back and make sure the mechanism didn't get stuck or ruined in the mud.

He walked back through the side roads he had come from. Aside from the few scattered Gnoll corpses that had yet to be found, like the one they had stumbled into, the streets had been cleaned from debris. That was mostly thanks to Izo, who had been using some sort of magic item to store the debris and carry them away. Izuku was still wondering what were the limitation of this world. He had seen Izo using powers – well, magic – to see far away, see in the dark, protect himself and others, emit fire, electricity and even understand another language. If a single person could do all that, what was the society in this world like in the great cities. "Do they apply the same system we have, where only Knights or at least licensed people can use magic? No, they already made it clear that they cannot control their territory as efficiently as we do, which is obvious given the technology they have. But there must be some way to regulate the use of magic, otherwise people would freely abuse it. Even if they are less strict than us, like in Itsumi's times where Quirk are used in sports and stuff, they still need to make sure unlawful magic is punished otherwise…"

"Izuku."

"The abuse of magic would soon crumble the economy, or cause the rise of…"

"Izuku."

"A massive number of the equivalent of our villains, who would…"

"Izuku!" The boy jumped suddenly at the sound of the voice, turning around to see Itsumi. He looked up and realized he had walked almost all the way back to the tavern while thinking.

"Oh, sorry Itsumi. Are you ok?"

"Yeah, it's fine." She smiled, but Izuku noticed it didn't look genuine. "Tough work?"

"Well, we have to help where we can, don't I? And it's not like carrying around wood will exhaust me."

"Oh, I agree, helping in cleaning up their mess is something a Hero should always try to do. Mom always said..." Itsumi froze, and Izuku immediately put a hand on her shoulder.

"We are going to find a way back Itsumi. We are on Isaac's trail, he can help us." Deku tried to sound confident, but to be honest, he wasn't, far from it."

After a moment, Itsumi nodded, gently taking a step away and Izuku letting go of her shoulder. She nodded "You are right, it's just… What is even going on? Did Alien King escape from Tartarus, or is this just an attack from his followers?"

Izuku sighed "I have the same questions about my universe. Shigaraki and the League of Villain are still out there. But we can't do anything rash Itsumi."

"Right." She sighed "Is just… Izo said we should try, didn't he?"

"He said that taking risks is worth it, but he didn't say you should take them when there are better ways. And right now, we might have one."

Itsumi sighed again. "You are right. You are right, I know you are. But… My mom and dad are out there. What if he wins. What if Alien King k… kills them?"

"Itsumi…" He opened the door of the tavern absentmindedly and helped her sit down. She was crying now. He had to admit, he understood why. At least Izuku had left his world when the situation was relatively calm. Sure, the League was out there, but there was no reason to think they were going to act yet. On the other hand, Itsumi's last contact with her world was her dead plea to run and a Noumu attack.

"Sorry." She said "Is just… The last time we talked…"

Izuku flinched. 'Right, there was that too.'

"I… I don't want the last thing we said to each other to be an argument." The girl said, tears in her eyes "What if I go back and they are dead? Or my friends at UA, or…"

"They won't." Izuku replied, holding her hand in a gentle grip, and doing his best to smile. It was what All Might would have done to someone afraid. Smile, sound confident, and do his absolute best. "They will make it."

Itsumi nodded, but Izuku could tell she wasn't completely convinced. Of course. After all, Heroes died on the job. The face of Sir Nighteye and Kota, whose parents had been killed fighting Muscular, came back to mind, as did Stain's face. But he couldn't say that. He had to smile. He had to get her to smile again. That was what a Hero would have done.

So, when the silence continued for a while, he changed argument. Not something about her life in her home universe. Not something about his universe. So there was only one choice. "We… We are in a pretty crazy situation, aren't we?" He asked.

Itsumi looked at him, puzzled "What?"

"I mean, look around. Ojiro is right when he says this is a fantasy world. There are Knights, monsters, chosen ones, magic… It's absolutely unbelievable, and yet it's real. Don't you think?"

"Oh." She chuckled "I guess you are right. Think we should grab a sword then?"

"Well, I'm not sure I could use one to be honest. Maybe One for All…"

"The heir of One for All wielding One for All? That sounds redundant." Itsumi smiled. Izuku really hoped that was genuine. The girl needed some breather. "But it's true, this world is pretty interesting. I wonder if Giants exist."

"You should ask Izo, he would know."

"Oh, he definitely would. The Knight of Colfire, Izo of Greenvalley, wielder of the Blade of Heroes and all that… He'd definitely know." She frowned.

"Something wrong?"

"I don't know. Maybe it's odd, but there is something that rubs me wrong about Izo. He is too ready to kill for my taste maybe." She sighed "Not that the others are any better in that sense."

"Right… To be honest, it was a shock." He thought back at the crunch of the Gnoll's windpipe as Ojiro's fist impacted with it, or at the sword beheading another. Or the charred corpse of the Flind… "I've been thinking about it all day. I should have expected you'd be the same."

"I guess we are a bit pampered compared to them. We at least have the luxury of a functioning, modern world."

"I guess. But I can't think of my way of doing things as pampered, and you shouldn't either. I think the way we do it is the right one." Izuku stopped "N-not that Ojiro, Todoroki or Izo are wrong either. Is just that their way of doing things is a necessity, and we can't really compare it to our own…"

"I get it, I get it." Itsumi chuckled again, and Izuku subconsciously sighed in relief. Apparently, even changing the argument to the killing of Villains made her feel better. That should probably have worried him, but he decided that for once it was fine. "What was All for Deku's world like?"

"Ojiro and Todoroki's?" Izuku frowned "Well, scary. Weird too, but mostly scary. It was like watching a twisted mirror, except that twisted mirror was real." Deku shivered "All for Deku looks exactly like me, just a bit older. I'd say like Izo, but he doesn't have the same muscular build."

"Not that you are skinny either." Itsumi commented "But I get the point. Which is what interests me. Why would they want to go back there?"

"They?"

"Ojiro and Todoroki. Why? They have gone through two better worlds, and yours exist too."

"Is that weird? You want to go home too, don't you?" Izuku replied, before kicking himself mentally. Of course, he had to say that.

"Well, yes, but the difference is that my world is... well, safe. From what they told me, the situation is hopeless in their world. Sure, One for All users might turn the tide, but even if we both agreed to go there, would we be enough?"

Izuku remembered his fight with All for Deku. Well, calling it a fight was a bit exaggerated. He had just run away with Todoroki and Ojiro, something he still felt guilty about. "Well, Todoroki is married and Ojiro has friends. They probably want to do all they can to save them. I wouldn't call that weird."

"Right… I don't know, there is something that to me doesn't add up. I spoke with Todoroki before, and he says he wants to go home. But he doesn't seem worried, far from it. When he came to ask me to take you three home, he never spoke about himself and mentioned Ojiro once. It was mostly about helping you."

"Wait, he asked you?" Izuku asked, surprised, and Itsumi instantly covered her mouth. "He did!"

"No, no, look… I was going to do it anyway when dad ran from home. Is not like he convinced me or anything, and anyway it was the right thing to do, since we got to run like dad asked."

"I suppose, but…" 'But Todoroki still tried to convince a teenager to run from home against the parents' wishes, whether she wanted or not doesn't matter. It's not like she would say no to a plea of help, and he knew it. That's not good. What if something had happened to her? What if…'

His thoughts were interrupted when Izo, Todoroki and Ojiro entered the room and quickly walked towards them, sitting down. "Hello." Izo saluted immediately "How are you two?"

"Good enough." Itsumi replied first "Are we leaving now?"

"Yes, just a quick lunch and we are going. The work we did for the town has already helped them massively, though I think the mayor was hoping this would keep us busy for the whole day." He grinned "We will push it a bit, but we should make it to the Capital without any big delay if we camp out tonight. I know a place, old friend of mine showed it to me some times ago. We will be safe there."

"That's good. Did you find out what the Gnoll were doing here?"

"Yes, the prisoner did speak." He sighed "Unfortunately, it seems they were planning to search for something in the forest. I'll need to look into it. The Greywoods aren't really hospitable, but there are ruins in them. Castles, towers… even a city. I'll need to make sure there is nothing dangerous."

Izuku nodded. Ojiro, on the other hand, was mumbling something about a 'side quest', while Todoroki was cursing under his breath. If Izuku had to guess, the blonde man had spent the whole day talking about the situations he was expecting to develop from this. If he wasn't unsure on how he felt about Todoroki after Itsumi's revelation, he might have been sorry for him.

"You didn't torture him, did you?" Itsumi asked, and Izuku froze. He hadn't even thought about it, but it was true that there was the possibility, if this world was like the real life Middle Ages.

"No, no, nothing like that. We just asked him questions in exchange of his life. Colfire stopped using torture decades ago, thanks to my predecessor as One for All wielder and her people." Izo's eyes lit up "The Enemy of Greed was a wise woman that brought us much knowledge."

"I'm sorry, brought us?" Ojiro asked suddenly.

"Oh, of course, you wouldn't know." Izo said, "I don't think I ever explained it, but my predecessor wasn't from the Kingdom. According to the legend, she brought with her hundreds of people, and asked only for help. The king of the time was wise enough to see her for the Hero she was and agreed, allowing her people to settle on an island off the coast. A year or so later, One for All chose her, and she became the nineth wielder."

"What magic did she use?"

"A few of utility ones, like Tongues. But mostly she was just a good knight, a great fighter both with her fist and with the sword. If you were to summon the power of the nineth, her physical strength would come to you, more important than any other spell you might obtain from her. Still, I managed to defeat many enemies simply by overpowering them with it." Izuku smiled "I'm sure she looks over me."

"I'm sorry, Izo, but… What was her actual name?" Izuku suddenly asked.

The swordsman expression changed very suddenly. Izuku wouldn't have described it as fear, but more as a sudden realization. He stuttered a couple times before finally answering "O-oh, well it was quite weird, so I might not pronounce it well. You know, coming from another part of the world and all." He explained. "Also, Isaac asked me not to…" The Knight sighed "Well I just convinced you even more that I need to answer, didn't I."

"Please," Izuku replied, and Izo laughed.

"Gods, I'm terrible at keeping a secret. Well, I already almost told you at the farm, and you could have found out anyway, is not like she is unknown, though maybe you'd have to dig a bit to find it spelled correctly. Her name was Nana Shimura."

Izuku and Itsumi's jaw dropped. Izo chuckled awkwardly, scratching the back of his head. "Yeah… Isaac did say I shouldn't bring her up if I meet another like him. Sadly, seems I can't really follow the advice."

"I feel like I'm out of the loop, so I'm just going to ask. Who is Nana Shimura?" Ojiro asked.

"In my world, she was the predecessor of All Might as One for All's eighth holder," Izuku explained, without removing his eyes from Izo. "She died decades ago."

"And the same in mine." Itsumi added, as interested as he was "Well, one of the three. She was a skilled fighter with the ability to fly."

"Float." Izuku corrected almost mechanically.

"Fly. She even had wings."

"Oh. That's an interesting difference." He turned to the knight, who now looked concerned "So, your predecessor was Nana Shimura? That's… odd. What about All Might?"

"She called herself that. The All-Mighty Knight, the Enemy of Greed, the Kraken Slayer… there were a lot of names for my predecessor, but when people asked her which she preferred, she always said to just call her All Might."

"Wait, wait, wait, All Might in this world was Nana Shimura?" Izuku's brain was starting to go into override. Nana Shimura. A name that was odd according to Izo, meaning it was not common in this world. And Izo was describing her as extremely strong…

"I'm not sure I follow." Todoroki replied "We have already seen that things change. In two worlds you weren't One for All's chosen successor, after all. Why does it matter?"

"Because this is the first time that pattern changes in this way." Izuku responded, his brain still processing and grasping what this meant "All Might in your world, my world, and Itsumi's world was always a man named Toshinori Yagi. Then here that changes. Now it's Nana Shimura, who in every other world was All Might's predecessor. What changed then?"

"That's true…" Todoroki frowned, but then he just shrugged it off, his back relaxing "Well, no reason to overthink it."

Deku blinked, stopping his thoughts "What?"

"Izu, listen. I understand that you are overwhelmed right now. I would be too if my Quirk was half as weird as yours is. It's dragging you through a multiverse you don't know, so of course anything you run into is going to rise your interest. But look, this doesn't matter to us. Even if All Might had a different name, even if he was a different person, that doesn't matter to us. We are not here for that."

"That's not entirely true though." Izo suddenly replied, and everyone turned back to him. "I told you Isaac was coming to our world often. And while I do think part of it is that he likes us, it's also because he believed that Nana Shimura-"

"Came from another universe." Itsumi slapped her hand on the table, a moment after Izuku had had the same realization and just as he was about to voice it "Of course. That explains her sudden appearance and the fact she had a number of people that came out of nowhere. And also why she was exceptionally strong.. Not for some odd reason, but because she had One for All! A One for All with Teleport!"

"Yes, that was Isaac's opinion as well." The Knight explained with a nod "I don't know the details, but this investigation of his is why he comes to our world so often. He wants to find out what happened one hundred years ago to make Nana Shimura bring so many people here from another world."

"Did he tell you anything else?"

"Yes. He said that there was only one reason he could think of." Izo's eyes locked with Izuku "She was running from something."