Midoriya Izuku was having a bad day.
Actually, scratch that, he was having a bad life.
Ever since he'd gained over thirty years of memories from another life, things had just gone from bad to worse.
And now here he was, nine years old and running away from home. Nothing but the clothes on his back, his battered yellow backpack, and a head full of memories that shouldn't be there.
Pathetic.
He'd thought he could handle it, could handle the bullying, the loneliness. He used to be a formidable pro hero after all, the elusive Eraserhead. Aizawa Shouta. Hero, teacher, husband. Surely he could survive something as simple as elementary school, he'd already gone through it once before.
Kids were cruel, he already knew this, but it was disheartening to see it first hand. For some reason he still hadn't been able to figure out, Inko had registered him as quirkless. Izuku wasn't exactly one to go around showcasing his quirk, but he still had one.
He knows that the original Midoriya Izuku, his student, had loved his mother. He only hopes Inko had been a better mother before than she was now.
Izuku tried to be 'good'—as good as a traumatized pro hero that had died and was reborn as a completely different person can be. Despite being denied his quirk, his freedom, and his emotions. Denied the right to be himself. But eventually his patience wore thin, and he rebelled. He refused to act like a child, he shied away from too tight hugs, didn't wear the childish clothing she bought.
She wanted him to act like the child she didn't know she'd already lost.
But the more he rebelled, the harsher the punishments seemed to get. Eventually, he'd had to admit defeat. As much as doing so had disagreed with his pride, it was much easier to survive when Inko wasn't breathing down his neck.
He stopped trying to be 'good', stopped trying to fix things... stopped talking.
Nothing he did mattered in the end, Izuku couldn't be what she wanted. The punishments didn't stop like he'd hoped.
He was tired.
Over the years he had transferred schools often, but a few days ago he'd overheard her talking on the phone. Homeschooling, he wouldn't even be able to leave the house anymore. That scared him more than it should have.
And so he ran away.
It was better this way, better for him to just disappear until the time was right.
He could survive just fine on the streets by himself. A small part of him briefly considers going to the Bakugou's house, remembering the promise they had made to him. 'You'll always have a place here with us, Izu-kun,' they had said. But... he hadn't seen any of them in years, not since Inko had taken him and moved away without warning shortly after he got his memories back.
He didn't even remember where they lived.
Izuku knew that time was against him, that he needed to get as far away from his house as possible. He'd been walking for a few hours now, fatigue slowing his steps the further he went. But he couldn't stop.
It was too late to go back now.
In the morning when Inko discovered he was gone, it was probable that she would report him missing. Her 'weak, defenseless baby' wouldn't stand a chance on the streets without her to protect him. Poor, quirkless Izuku.
What she didn't know was that he was far from defenseless. He'd been training in secret for years, mostly in terms of acrobatics and flexibility, and less so in terms of strength like most of his peers assumed were helpful for heroics. Muscle memory was a powerful thing, it had taken him a while to reteach his new body everything he had learned as Aizawa Shouta. Things like quieting his footsteps, being ready to take off at a moment's notice, looking as unassuming as possible.
Now, it was as natural as breathing.
Izuku keeps walking despite the pain shooting up his legs with every step. There's not many people out and about this late at night, but regardless, he sticks to the shadows and stays absolutely silent. He didn't need for some good Samaritan to see him and call the police, only for them to bring him right back 'home' to his mother.
That, or ship him off into the system. Izuku scoffs at the thought, as if any foster family in their right might would take in some 'quirkless' kid, not with the way society thought about quirkless individuals.
He didn't need them anyways, he could take care of himself.
...This should be far enough for now.
Sitting down on the curb, Izuku takes a moment to look over everything he'd managed to grab.
He'd taken as much as he could physically fit into his backpack and pockets—mostly food, but also his journals and trinkets. Maybe bringing along the nonessentials was foolish, but he couldn't just leave them, the thought had been... too painful to bear.
There was also a pocket knife, a lighter, a thin blanket, and a small metal pan. And, well, he'd taken all the money that had been in Inko's purse.
Theft wasn't really his style, but he needed the money.
Inko would certainly be upset when she saw how much stuff was missing though, yet another reason to get as far away as possible. The food he'd taken was all nonperishables, he needed it to last as long as possible.
Grabbing a can at random and a bottle of water, Izuku zips his bag back up and puts it to the side with a sigh. Cracking the can open—some simple tuna in water—Izuku eats quickly, anxious to get back on the move. He barely even registers the taste as he eats, taking frequent sips of water between bites.
He's almost done with the can when a piece of paper flies into him, nearly causing him to choke on the cold tuna.
Pulling the paper free, Izuku glances over it for a moment. It's just an advertisement for a nearby circus, nothing important. He's just about to let go of the paper when something clicks in his mind.
...Wait, he remembers this.
Izuku looks at the poster again, focusing on the name of the circus. Seiiki Circus, right, he'd been on this case as Eraserhead years ago.
The circus hadn't done anything bad, per se, but they had broken several laws and had been subsequently shut down. Identity fraud, illegal quirk use, forged paperwork...
Seiiki Circus, Sanctuary, they harbored runaway minors.
...Izuku was a runaway minor.
It would be several more years before the circus was due to be shut down. That was plenty of time, he just had to survive until he was old enough to get a job. Plus, if the dorm system was implemented at UA like it was last time, he could bunk there when the time came.
He had nothing to lose by checking the place out, it was worth a shot. Besides, if it turned out the place wasn't as good as he remembered, he could just leave. Izuku didn't really care about the laws being broken so long as they didn't hurt anyone, though he refused to break any himself. Other than the theft, but he wasn't counting that.
And if the circus did turn out to be a safe haven, he would have a place to hide out. If he was lucky, Inko wouldn't even think to look for him there.
Mind made up, Izuku finishes eating the tuna and stands up, pushing his bangs back with a sigh. His hair was shorter than he would prefer, though it was longer than he'd ever seen it on the original Midoriya. This is about the length where Inko would usually drag him to the barbers shop.
Maybe now that he was free he could grow it out? ...Yeah, that sounded nice.
Tossing the empty can into a nearby dumpster, Izuku tucks the half empty water bottle back in his bag. Rolling his sore shoulders, Izuku bears the weight of the backpack as he scales the nearest building's fire escape.
Just because the poster had the circus's address on it didn't mean he knew which way to head, and a better vantage point was always an advantage. Plus, he was less likely to be spotted up here. As soon as he's oriented and figures out where to go, he takes off in a steady sprint.
Izuku lets himself fall into his old patrol mindset as he jumps between rooftops.
If only Hizashi and Oboro could see him now, they had always loved the energy and chaos of circuses and carnivals. He sort of wishes Seiiki Circus had been busted later, it would have been nice to visit with both his husbands.
Nemuri would probably have made some joke about him being a clown fucker, despite her being one herself, the hypocrite. Emi would have found it hilarious, the humorless Shouta wouldn't have gone anywhere near a circus, let alone consider living at one. Even the person he used to be would have scoffed at the idea. Him? Willingly visit a circus? Not in a million years.
His students would have similarly found the idea laughable, they never would have let him live it down.
...Izuku wishes they were here.
Well, no, he would never want them to die like he had, to be brought back in the wrong body, but... he missed them. It had been nearly five years now since he'd regained his memories, yet not once had he seen anyone that might be like him.
Maybe it was time for Izuku to admit the hard truth, that him coming back was nothing but a one-off fluke, and that he would never see his friends and family again. Maybe this was some sort of punishment from the universe itself, torturing with the knowledge that the people he loved were somewhere in the world with absolutely no idea he even existed. No idea that he loved them.
Or maybe they were out there, and he just had to keep looking. Izuku didn't even care who he found first, or at all, because at least it would mean that he wasn't alone.
Truthfully, he could find out Endeavor was reborn as some random student and he wouldn't even care. Well, maybe he would care a bit, the thought of being stuck with Todoroki Enji was pretty mortifying. Izuku would be quite happy if that never became a reality, thank you very much.
Come to think of it, the number of people Izuku would be happy to be reunited with was pretty small. He'd never been much of a people person.
Worrying over such improbable things would get him nowhere. No, it was best to stop while he was still ahead.
He still had a long way to walk before he made to the circus, and Izuku would really like to avoid sleeping in an alley once the sun came up. Of course, he could keep going, but his chances of being spotted in the daylight were much higher compared to at night.
He would just have to tough it out.