Not at my Expense!
:-:-:-:-:-:
(Friday)
*All Might's office*
"And that's all the information we have on right now," All Might said as he closed the notebook and placed it on the table in front of him. "The holders before the fifth didn't have anything publicly available on them, so we will just have to wing it when their quirks finally show up."
Izuku nodded. Then he picked up the book from the table and glanced through the information that his mentor had collected over the last few days.
"Ha! Float and Smokescreen, what a bunch of useless quirks," Bakugo remarked, "I can replicate those with my one quirk alone."
Izuku stopped reading and again took a deep breath to calm himself. Once again Kacchan took something very important information and twisted it to make himself look better than him.
"This was useless," Bakugo stood up from his seat and started walking towards the door, "the only thing I got from this meeting was that Deku is going to get a bunch of useless quirks," then he stopped and pointed at Izuku, "but that doesn't mean shit because I am always going to better than him no matter how many stupid quirks he gets."
"Young Bakugo, calm down," All Might said, "if you kept acting like that it won't help young Midoriya at all."
"Tsk," Bakugo clicked his tongue, "I am not here to help that nerd. I am here to know what to expect when we are going against each other," he said and left the room.
"Young Bakugo gets really worked up over little things," All Might sighed and looked at his successor who was looking at the sunset with a distant look in his eyes, "Young Midroiya-"
"Can we stop including him in these meetings?" Izuku asked while still staring at the sunset.
"What!?" All Might asked with wide eyes, "but I thought it helped you to relax knowing that you have your childhood friend to share your secret with."
"Do you really think having him here is helping me relax?" Izuku asked as started at All Might, who noticed a distant look in his successor's eyes. "him constantly flaunting his superiority. Insulting past users and their quirks. Insulting me on every little thing he could. Telling me I am not worth anything even with your quirk," Izuku frowned, "no All Might, in fact, none of this makes me feel at ease or relaxed," he added the last part with a sarcastic undertone to it.
"I think you should calm down young Midoriya," All Might placed his hand on Izuku's shoulder, "you know young Bakugo didn't mean any of that. He just doesn't know how to express himself without throwing an insult or two around. Which I know is not a good thing but he is trying to improve himself and suddenly stopping him from coming to these meetings will be counterproductive to that."
All Might tried to subdue the situation but unfortunately for him, it immediately backfired when he heard Izuku let out a humorless laugh.
"See, this is what I am talking about," Izuku said as tears started to form in his eyes, "in that entire explanation, not even once you considered how I might be feeling right now. It's all about Kacchan and his development, right?"
"It's not what-"
"Don't worry All Might, I am not blaming you or anything because it's always been like that," Izuku clenched his fist and stared at the ground, "from our pre-school to our middle school to even here at U.A. Everyone always prioritize Bakugo's development over everyone else, especially me because why would they ever care about a useless Deku like me."
The droplets of tears fell onto the carpet. "Aizawa gave us so much shit in the name of being rational and whatnot, but he doesn't give a damn when Bakugo uses his quirk in class or on my desk. He can't even bat an eye when Bakugo harasses me in class, but when I or anyone else steps out of line, we're immediately on the chopping block."
"But not anymore! I'm done, All Might," Izuku stood and picked up his bag. "I hope Bakugo grows out of his egotistical shell... I really do, but not at my expense anymore!" he said and left the room with tears still running down his face.
Meanwhile, All Might sat there with a stunned expression on his face. He didn't know how to respond to his successor's sudden outburst. The worst part was the look of pure betrayal he saw in Izuku's eyes when he tried to justify Bakugo's remarks earlier.
What pained him, even more, was the fact that he still didn't understand what had gone wrong. But one thing was clear: this wasn't just a spur-of-the-moment reaction. It had been building up for a long time, and he had failed his successor by not noticing it earlier.
He knew he needed to have a proper conversation with Izuku, but for now, he decided to give him some time to calm down.
:-:-:-:-:-:
Izuku was taking quick steps towards the dorms as he tried to keep his emotions in check.
He didn't know exactly what had caused him to burst out like that, but if he had to guess, he would say that the pressure of handling his new, wild quirk on top of everything else going on in his life had already pushed him to the edge. Then, when All Might defended Bakugo instead of trying to understand his side, something inside him broke, causing him to lash out at his mentor.
A part of him felt bad for dumping all of that on All Might, but honestly, he was too emotionally shaken right now to think straight about any of it.
Another part of him wondered what would have happened if he had said all of those things in front of everyone in the class. But then he realized that it wouldn't change anything at all. After all, he was ranting about Bakugo, and aside from his friends, no one would even bat an eye at him. Aizawa would likely shut him down with a threat of expulsion hanging over his head.
This reminded him of the words he had said to All Might: 'I'm done, All Might... but not at my expense anymore!' Honestly, he wanted to laugh at himself and his words, because he knew that the only way that was going to happen was if he withdrew from the school, effectively giving up on his dream of becoming a hero.
As he was lost in his thoughts he bumped into someone and fell to the ground.
He panicked and looked up only to see Kayama sensei smirking at him, "hey kid, are you alright?"
Izuku quickly got up and apologized, "I...I'm sorry," but unfortunately for him his voice cracked which didn't go unnoticed by Nemuri at all. Then she looked closely and realized that even his eyes looked red and his face showed signs that he was crying just now.
"Midoriya, what happened? Everything alright?" Nemuri asked, but this time she had a motherly feel to her voice, which didn't help him as he was already on the verge of breaking down.
"No, I am totally fine," he said, wanting to get to his room as soon as he could.
"It's okay if you don't want to talk about it, you know," she said softly, "but as your teacher, tell me if I can help you in any way."
Izuku knew he couldn't trust teachers. Every time he had put his faith in them, they had managed to betray him in some way or another. However, he remembered All Might. Apart from today's incident, All Might had always been there to support him, trying his best to help him as much as possible. All Might had even bowed his head in front of Izuku's mom to allow him to attend U.A. after the summer camp incident. Most importantly, All Might had never abandoned him, no matter how many mistakes he had made.
That's why he decided to trust Kayama sensei and asked, "can you drive me to my home?" he asked as tears started leaking from his eyes.
However, this seemingly absurd request only confirmed Nemuri's suspicion that something was seriously wrong. "May I ask why?" she didn't know if she had the authority to drive him to his home but she decided she could figure out the logistics later. For now, understanding Izuku's situation took priority for her.
"I... I..." Izuku struggled to find the right words to explain. "I just don't want to be here right now," he finally managed to say.
Nemuri nodded understandingly, but then her phone buzzed, revealing a message from the principal.
[Nezu: Kayama, I'm allowing you to drive Midoriya home.]
'Ok, now this suddenly became more concerning than before,' she thought.
[Nemuri: Is it something I should be worried about?]
[Nezu: You don't need to worry about that. I am looking into it.]
[Nezu: You just make sure he safely reaches his home.]
[Nemuri: Sure, I am on it.]
"Well then, kiddo, go grab whatever you'll need for the weekend and I'll get my keys," Nemuri said, ruffling his hair.
"Wait, you're really doing this for me?" Izuku asked, surprised.
"Of course," she replied with a warm smile. "Now hurry up, we'll drop you off before dinnertime."
:-:-:-:-:-:
(Nezu's Office)
"You don't have to worry anymore Yagi. Kayama will take him to his home safely," Nezu said as he watched Nemuri going towards the teacher's dorms to get her car keys.
"Thank you for helping me Nezu," All Might sighed in relief. After Izuku left, All Might could help but keep worrying about him so he came to Nezu's office and asked him to check if Izuku reached his dorms safely. Nezu agreed to his request and pulled up the security cam feeds where they saw Izuku asking Kayama to drive him home.
All Might thought for a moment and decided that will be best for Izuku right now but before he could say anything Nezu had already permitted Kayama to drive him home.
"Now that that's settled, why don't you tell me what happened in your office?" Nezu asked, pouring himself a cup of tea.
:-:-:-:-:-:
(Class 1-A Dorms)
Everyone from Class 1-A was gathered in the common room, except for Bakugo, each doing their own thing. That was until Izuku walked in.
Ochako's face lit up when she saw Izuku walk through the door. She got up to greet him but stopped short when she noticed his red eyes. It was clear that he had been crying before coming here, but there was something else. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but Izuku seemed to be in pain right now.
On the flip side, Izuku glanced at her for a moment and went straight to his room, not wanting anyone else to take note of his horrible mood.
In the common room, everyone fell silent as Ochako wasn't the only one who noticed Izuku's odd behavior.
"What was that?" Kamanari asked, clearly not used to seeing Izuku feeling down.
"I think something is troubling Midoriya's mind right now," Tokoyami suggested. "It would be best to give him some space and not bother him with questions."
"Tokoyami is right," Iida agreed. "Let's give him some time alone. I'll check on him during dinner."
Everyone nodded in agreement, except Ochako. She knew it wasn't as simple as that. Having seen Izuku on his bad days, she knew he would never show his emotions on his face. She knew something was wrong, and it was serious.
And well...Ochako's intuition proved right when Izuku returned downstairs with a bag on his shoulder.
"Midoriya, where are you going at this hour?" Iida asked.
"Home," Izuku replied curtly, clearly not wanting to elaborate.
"Are you going alone?" Momo asked, concern in her voice.
Izuku looked at her. "No, I'm not alone. Kayama-sensei is driving me home."
"But—" Iida began to ask another question, but before he could finish, Bakugo entered the room and noticed Izuku with a bag on his shoulder.
"Deku, where the hell are you going?" Bakugo demanded. Izuku ignored him, which only angered Bakugo more. "What the hell, nerd? I asked you a fucking question!"
"I don't want to answer you, Bakugo," Izuku shot back, glaring at him. This surprised everyone, as Izuku not only talked back to Bakugo but also used his full name instead of his childhood nickname.
Of all of them, Bakugo was the most surprised. He was feeling a whirlwind of emotions, but he decided to focus on the one he knew best: anger.
"How dare you," Bakugo growled as he started walking towards Izuku, small explosions popping into his hands.
But then Kirishima grabbed Bakugo's hand. "Chill, bro. Midoriya's having a bad day."
"I don't give a shit about him or his mood swings," Bakugo pushed Kirishima away.
"Then why do you even care where he's going?" Shoto asked as he stood in front of Izuku in a protective manner.
"Half and Half, stay out of this," Bakugo said, glaring at Izuku who stood behind Shoto. "And you, Deku, stop acting like a little bitch and answer my question or—"
"Or what, Bakugo? Are you going to attack me?" Izuku asked. "Go ahead, do it. It's not like you'll be punished for it."
"Midoriya, you're overdoing it," Kirishima said. "Bakugo will never attack anyone unprovoked."
Izuku looked at Kirishima with tired eyes. "You're right, Kirishima. This is my fault," he said in a resigned voice. "Now that I think about it, coming to U.A. was my biggest mistake," he added heavily.
At that moment, Nemuri entered the class wearing a brown leather jacket, black pants, and white shoes. Her hair was styled completely different than usual, making her look so different that anyone who didn't interact with her on a daily basis wouldn't be able to recognize her.
"Midoriya, are you ready?" she asked. In response, Izuku nodded and started walking towards the door when suddenly someone grabbed his arm.
He turned around and saw Ochako looking at him with worry-filled eyes. "You are coming back, right?" she asked.
Izuku couldn't answer her because he himself was not sure if he wanted to continue at U.A. or not. So he flashed a sad smile at her and gently removed her hand from his arm, then left the building with Nemuri.
:-:-:-:-:-:
"Tsk," Bakugo clicked his tongue, "fucking drama queen," he said as he went up to his room.
"This asshole," Jiro frowned, "he clearly knew that Midoriya is in a bad mood and he still tried to harass him."
"I mean, Midoriya started acting differently all of a sudden, Bakugo had no way of knowing how he would react," Kirishima defended.
"Kirishima, are you serious?" Jiro asked in an exasperated manner. "You literally told him that Midoriya is having a bad day, and he still persisted in harassing him."
"I mean, Midoriya is also partly responsible for that, you know," Mina said but immediately regretted it when the entire Deku Squad, aside from Ochako, glared at her.
"Ashido, can you please elaborate on how any of this is Midoriya's fault when he clearly told Bakugo that he is not interested in talking to him?" Iida asked sternly.
"Don't get me wrong, I am not saying Bakugo should have acted the way he did, but we all know how Bakugo is. So if Midoriya had just answered his question, things might not have escalated to the degree they did," Mina responded.
"So you're saying that Midoriya should have kept his own problems aside just to cater to Bakugo's nonsensical ego, ribbit?" Tsu asked with anger evident in her voice.
"Hey, I never-" Mina tried to defend herself again, but this time Momo cut her off.
"That's enough," Momo said in a sharp authoritative voice. "Everyone go back to your rooms. It's my turn to make dinner today, so I will call you once it's done."
None of them could bring themselves to argue with her, so they went back to their rooms.
Momo let out a tired sigh. She knew that Midoriya was in the right this time... well, he was almost always in the right whenever Bakugo was involved. But especially this time, when it was clearly written on his face that he was going through something terrible, Bakugo didn't care and started harassing him as usual.
What impacted her the most was how resigned he looked when he pointed out that Bakugo wouldn't be punished, even if he had attacked him at that time. Momo couldn't help but agree that Midoriya had a very solid reason to believe that.
Then her train of thought stopped when she heard a sniffling sound from behind her.
Momo turned around and saw Ochako sitting there, her face twisted in terror. Without hesitation, Momo rushed to her side and pulled her into a side hug.
"What's wrong, Ochako?" Momo asked in a soft voice.
"He...he...he's not coming back," Ochako sobbed, "Deku isn't returning to U.A."
"Don't be silly, Ochako," Momo reassured her, "Midoriya will definitely come back. He's just having a bad day, but he'll bounce back like he always does."
Ochako shook her head and looked at Momo with pain-filled eyes. "He looked so done with all of this... so resigned," Ochako said. "It didn't seem like he wanted to come back."
"How about this? If he doesn't come back by Sunday, I'll go with you to his house and drag him back," Momo said with a smile.
"Do you think it will work?" Ochako asked.
"As far as I know Midoriya, he won't be able to resist two beautiful girls dragging him at the same time," Momo joked, and it worked - a small smile appeared on Ochako's face. "Now, do you want to help me with dinner? It'll help take your mind off things."
Ochako nodded, and they both started preparing dinner for everyone.
:-:-:-:-:-:
*Saturday*
(All Might's Dorm room.)
The next morning, when All Might woke up, his thoughts immediately went back to yesterday's events, and the memory of Izuku's betrayal-filled eyes came to mind. He wanted to make things right with his successor, but he decided to give Midoriya some time to rest at his house today. Tomorrow, he would personally go to Izuku's house to bring him back with him.
Then once he finished his morning routine, All Might returned to his room and noticed a letter and disk case sitting on his table. He approached the table cautiously, and as he got closer, his eyes widened in surprise at the picture on the case.
(The Image on the poster of this fic.)
As he tried to comprehend what was going on, he realized that he was also holding a letter in his other hand. He quickly opened it and started reading.
[Dear Toshinori Yagi, aka All Might,
I am writing this letter and sending this disc to you because I know you care about Izuku and truly want to understand what happened yesterday.
This disc contains events from another timeline, one that almost resembles yours. Of course, there are a few changes here and there, but mostly the history mirrors yours until the events of yesterday, where the divergence occurred.
Now it's up to you, All Might. You can throw this disc and letter in the garbage, thinking that this is some kind of prank, or you can watch it and gain a better understanding of your successor, his struggles, and his relationships with those around him.
Also, the case is enchanted and will only open when you, Class 1A, Nezu, Aizawa, Nemuri, and Mic are present in the room.
Anyway, that's all I have to say for now.
Yours truly,
Grey, The Overseer of the Multiverse.]
All Might wasn't sure what to make out of this letter. A logical part of his brain was denying to believe in any of this multiversal bullshit but another part of him was begging him to watch it, for Izuku's sake.
In the end, he decided to do the most logical thing he could think of: he picked up the letter and disc and went to Nezu's office.
It took him a few minutes to reach Nezu's office, but when he got there, he didn't even need to knock on the door because the door opened on its own revealing Nezu and Kayama sitting in his office.
"Come in Yagi, take a seat," Nezu said, "I was just asking Kayama what are her opinions on Izuku's situation after yesterday's little trip of theirs."
"Well, if I am being honest with you, there is a slim chance that Midoriya won't be coming back," Nemuri said in a solemn tone and All Might felt a pang of worry in his heart, "I don't know what is going on with him but he looked too distant...unlike the usual bright sunshine child we knew of."
"I see," Nezu nodded with a serious expression on his face. "Now, Yagi, what did you want to talk about?"
"About this," All Might handed the letter and the disc to Nezu. "I found this on my table a few minutes ago."
Nezu looked through the contents of the letter and appeared shocked for a second before regaining his composure. He then attempted to open the case, but as stated in the letter, it remained sealed.
"Yagi, do you believe the contents of this letter?" Nezu asked, passing the letter to Nemuri, who looked equally surprised as she read it and examined the case.
"I have no choice, Nezu. Not after what Kayama just told us," All Might replied. "Izuku is my responsibility, both as his mentor and as an adult who dragged him into this mess. So, if watching this can help me be better at that, then I'm going to take the opportunity with open arms."
"Very well, Yagi. In that case, we will meet exactly half an hour later in the 1A dorms," Nezu said. "I will inform the others who are mentioned in the letter to do the same."
Yagi and Nemuri nodded, then left the principal's office.
:-:-:-:-:-:
*Half an hour later*
(1A dorms)
Half an hour ago when they received a personalized message from Nezu all of them freaked out and quickly wrapped up their morning tasks and gathered in the common room for some unknown reason that only their principal knows.
Then their eyes turned towards the door when Mic and Aizawa entered through the door.
"What the hell is wrong with that rodent!?" Aizawa groaned in annoyance. "Why did he call us here so early on a Saturday morning?"
"Calm down, Shota," Mic grimaced. "And please stop insulting your boss in front of the kids."
Then his attention was drawn to the students, and he immediately noticed something absurd. Izuku Midoriya was not present, which was strange since he knew that he was one of the few people who woke up early, even on weekends. So when he didn't see him among the students, warning bells went off in his head.
"Where is the problem child?" he asked, and he noticed a visible change in the room's energy. He saw various expressions on the students' faces, but Bakugo looked unconcerned about the situation.
Aizawa sighed. He didn't like doing this, but he needed an answer. "Where is Midoriya?" he asked, this time raising his voice a little.
Then Yaoyorozu stood up and answered, "He went home last night."
"What!?" Aizawa's eyes widened in surprise. "How is that possible? I didn't give him permission to leave the dorms."
"That's because I gave him permission," Aizawa heard a familiar voice and turned around to see Nezu, the principal of U.A., arriving with Yagi and Nemuri.
"Why did you do that?" Aizawa asked, his expression annoyed. "He's my student. He should come to me for this kind of request."
"Actually, he asked Kayama to drop him off at his home," Nezu explained. "I just allowed her to do so."
"That doesn't-" Aizawa tried to argue, but Nezu interrupted him.
"That's not important right now," Nezu said, gesturing to Kayama to set up the device in her hand. "The reason I asked you to join me here is to watch something interesting... something that you haven't seen before and may not see in the future."
Then he noticed the confused expressions on everyone's faces and proceeded to explain about the disc and the letter. And once he was done explaining everyone sat there with shocked expressions on their faces.
Momo started, "Sir, are you really saying..." but lost her train of thought as she again pondered the implications of what their principal had just explained to them.
As everyone was still processing the news, Aizawa and Bakugo stood up from their seats.
"I don't care who sent it or what that thing is. I'm not interested in watching Deku on the screen," grumbled Bakugo.
"I don't believe in this multiverse nonsense. I'm going to sleep," Aizawa said.
As they started to walk away, they felt a chill run down their spines. They turned around and saw Nezu glaring at them with sharp eyes. "I don't care what your reasons are. Just go back to your seats... now!" he commanded.
Even though they weren't interested in watching, they knew better than to go against an angry Nezu.
"Sir, it's done," Nemuri said and sat down on one of the chairs.
"Thank you for your work," Nezu said and walked towards the disc player with the enchanted case in his hand. This time when he tried to open it, it opened without any effort at all. So he carefully placed the disc in the player and started the first episode...
:-:-:-:-:-:
(Midoriya House)
"Izuku stop playing with your breakfast, it will get cold," Inko said as she stood in the kitchen and saw her son staring into the distance thinking about something while stirring the food on his plate with his spoon.
In all honesty, Inko was surprised when Izuku showed up unannounced last night, as he usually informed her beforehand. Her concerns heightened even more when Kayama-san, one of Izuku's teachers, personally dropped him off at their doorstep and said, 'Take care of him,' before leaving.
Then after cleaning himself, he just shut himself in the room for the rest of the night. He did come out for stuff like water and food but aside from that he was stuffed up in his room all night without saying a single word until now.
It broke her heart to know that she couldn't help him no matter how much she wished she could. In truth, she wasn't oblivious to the huge rift between her and her son. They both knew it existed, but neither was willing to address it because they knew that attempting to fix it would only cause more pain for both of them.
But right now, Izuku was in pain and needed to take action to help himself. Otherwise, he would continue to bottle up his problems, storing them in some dark corner of his heart until one day they exploded in the worst way possible.
That's why she made a decision last night to make a call to that person and asked him to 'I don't care how busy you are or important your employer is. Izuku needs you right now so get the next flight you can get and get your ass here.'
"Izuku, I forgot to tell you something important last night," she said, "your father is coming home."
"Hmm..." Izuku absentmindedly nodded but then a few seconds later his mind caught up and he looked at his mom with wide eyes, "what!? Whe-"
And before he could complete his sentence their doorbell rang.
To be continued...
:-:-:-:-:-:
Inspired by We're Not Friends Kacchan by WindsCarryFar. (Ao3 tag.)