"Midoriya, what the fuck?"

"I promise I can explain"

"Well you better start or else I am throwing you directly into Tartarus" Aizawa threatened.

Taking a deep breath Izuku looked at his teacher with determination, the time has come, he's finally gonna come clean.

With a steady voice "I know about One For All and All For One" Izuku threw the first stone.

Aizawa's eyes widened at the boy's sudden revelation, only a few knew about those things, they were pretty much a state secret so how did a normal student- suddenly, like a lightbulb turned on inside his mind.

He was right.

This entire time, he had been right.

Midoriya was a traitor.

"You little shit" Aizawa, now burning with anger rushed forward and tried to grab Izuku only for the boy to easily dodge him with surprising speed.

"Aizawa listen to me" Izuku tried to argue but his teacher wasn't listening.

"You bastard, do they mean nothing to you!?" Aizawa went on the offensive as his eyes flashed red and his hair began to float and he took hold of his scarf as he rushed forward again"Is your sister in it too or are you lying to her too?"

The sudden aggressiveness of his teacher startled Izuku as he backed away while dodging a punch or a part of his scarf.

"What are you talking about!? Aizawa please!" Izuku was able to avoid the attacks of his teacher by the skin of his teeth although it would usually be much easier except that he was still holding tightly to Eri who was beginning to wake up.

At the sound of fighting and rough movements Eri acted on instinct and her horn began to shine.

Izuku immediately took notice of her quirk activating so he had to act fast.

Taking another step back Izuku pulled back his leg "Sorry Sensei!" and kicked a large piece of rubble on the floor. With perfect accuracy, the stone flew through the air and hit the teacher on the face with enough force to give Izuku a moment of freedom.

As the energy on Eri's horn grew Izuku remembered how he had managed to survive one of her outbursts in the past, so he focused his all on a single quirk.

One For All Full Cowl 100%

Usually he activated a few body strengthening quirks alongs side OFA so that his body could handle a much higher amount of power but now it was purely OFA that he was using and the backlash was immediate.

He felt as his muscles ripped apart, how his bones began to shatter and his blood boiled but it disappeared again as Eri's quirk took hold of him, rewinding his body back.

Aizawa, who had recovered from the sudden stun, looked back at his student and was shocked.

The grounds and wall around Izuku began to crack, red bolts of electricity jumped off him like he had become a thunderstorm, his body was covered in glowing red lines and his green eyes shone fiercely.

But he noticed something else, a few patches of his hair turned from that snowy white back to its brivant green only to turn white again.

On his arm a long black scar slowly traveled from the back of his arm and although it slowly receded it would also suddenly move forward, going further than before.

A similar dark scar began to travel up from his neck, all the way to right under his eye.

All Izawa could think was that Izuku was breaking like some statue made of marble.

Thankfully, Eri's outburst did not last long as the energy disappeared and she fully woke up, she was startled to see Aizawa but soon her eyes fell on the headless corpse.

She could easily reconize the clothes of the man that tortured her for years and yet, seeing him like that… It didn't make her feel anything.

Carefully Izuku turned her face back to him and gave her a warm smile "Look who's awake, did you sleep well Eri?" he asked her, his tone light.

Eri nodded as she held tightly to Izuku, it was the best nap she had in her life.

"That's good…" Izuku simply said as he returned her hold with a hug.

Aizawa had not made a move as he watched the two children interact. He had been keeping a careful look on Izuku the entire time to see for any break in Midoriya's mask but he couldn't find a single crack.

Either Midoriya was an even better actor than he had imagined or…

Or the boy was being genuine.

His worry and relief for the girl looked real and the child already seemed attached to him, letting out a bone deep sigh, Aizawa spoke.

"One chance"

Izuku looked back at his teacher with wide eyes.

"I am giving you one chance to explain, so if you don't convince me…" The hero left the rest unsaid, but Izuku still smiled with gratitude at his teacher.

"But it would be better to leave, the police must be already on their way here" Aizawa was right! Izuku is still not fully out of it yet. "We'll need somewhere where we can talk quietly, and I have an idea…"

--

Izuku was surprised at AIzawa's idea since the place he had taken them was his own home, he had even let them use Shinsou's empty room as a place for Eri to sleep.

Sitting down on the chair offered to him "Thank you for letting us stay, Eri really needed a better place to rest" he felt grateful that his teacher could trust him enough to invite them in.

"Oh, I'm not doing this for you" Izawa cleared the misunderstanding "If I decide not to believe you I can say that you broke into my home to try kill me and my husband while we slept"

"Ah… That's why…" Izuku tried his best to not sound too hurt.

"But back to the important stuff" Aizawa reclined back on his chair as he looked sharply at Izuku.

Izuku sighed and returned Aizawa's glare with a determined one of his own.

"I'm a time traveler"

"If you wanted to lie then make a more believable one" Aizawa immediately countered as he hardened his glare.

"I'm being honest! It's- It's just a long story" Izuku defended himself.

He wasn't lying, it really was a long and complicated story, how do you even begin to explain to someone a life that never happened? Bonds that will never be? People that never existed?

At the beginning, he started slowly, he began with the detailed past of the two brothers and their quirks.

Then he began to talk about his life. The life of a lonely quirkless boy and one big dream.

For some reason, his tongue stumbled and it was hard for him to say some of the facts, it wasn't like he couldn't remember them.

It just… it just didn't feel real anymore.

From the moment he beat All For One and came back, he hasn't stopped moving, always training, planning, lying. Waiting for the moment he would be caught.

Without even noticing it, he had already built walls around himself which completely distanced him from the ones he was trying to save.

He held it all inside for years, with the small spark of dread, that maybe he would wake up one day and find himself in that horrible battlefield once more.

But now, as the memories began to flood his mind and his lips moved faster, a crack appeared on those walls.

The more he spoke, the more detail he added, the memories of those days playing fresh in his mind as a trembling smile formed on his lips, these memories felt more like those of a past vacation.

He talked about the hours he spent training with his classmates, how he became more used to people thanks to them, how they pushed each other to greater heights.

But nothing ever lasts forever.

As he slowly approached the fall of UA, his tone turned more bitter, the way his heart ached as he watched the world turn on the heroes, how the city he loved and vowed to protect became nothing but rubble.

The only reason that Midoriya could even keep fighting wasn't because of his moral code or even OFA, it was his friends.

After falling so low they still held out a hand for him to hold, his teachers did their best to plan and protect them while his friends stuck by his side were ready to pick him up if he fell down again.

So they fought.

They fought for an entire year, praying every day that this would be the last time they would have to wake up to that burning city, wake up and just take a nice walk around the mall like they used to.

But with war, came sacrifices.

He choked on the words, How do you tell someone about the faces of his fallen comrades that gave their life to give him a chance to move forward? About the dreams and hopes that were placed on his shoulders.

How do you tell a man about his own death?

"They died because I lived. Their blood- it's on my hands. And I don't know how to live with that" He had begun to spiral, the nights that were filled with nightmares, the heart wrenching pain as his friends gave them a last smile as they jumped into a fight they could never win or the mind breaking guilt as he put down the twisted forms of his companions.

After taking deep breaths, forcing his beating heart to calm down, he moves on to this life.

It isn't as hard as before and, honestly, he was quite happy to boast a little here.

The days he lost planning and digging up information after he woke up in that alley twice as smaller than normal.

How he did his best to plant the seeds that would one day grow to be magnificent crops.

The small and cozy moments that he spent with his mom.

His planned but still enjoyable meeting with Toga.

The mysterious reunion between Remnant and Shinsou.

The day he obtained a new sister and later obtained his fire quirk.

Midoriya pushed through whatever challenges were placed in front of him, until his own quirks became those problems.

Years of experimenting and growth until finally walking through the golden gates of UA for the second time.

Things only became tougher after that.

The disparity between his own memories and the reality he was facing scared him a lot.

Keeping every one of his beloved classmates at an arm's length because of his secrets tore his heart out.

The way the leash he held tightly slipped from his fingers at the sight of the man that had robbed him of everything.

Becoming the reason his classmates couldn't sleep well.

It was too much for him to bear.

And he cracked .

He fell silent not long after since Aizawa already knew most of the story. After that, his eyes fell onto his hands, they were shaking.

Not once in his two lives had he felt this vulnerable.

Not after he was killed for the first time.

Not when he saw his friends fade one by one.

Not when the blood in his hands mixed with that of his friends and family.

Not when he stole his first quirk.

Not when he became a monster.

Only now, after finally talking to someone about the ghosts over his shoulders, did he feel like glass.

Izuku only snapped out of it as he watched the large hands of the hero before him gently grab his own.

Aizawa had gotten out of his seat and knelt next to Midoriya, neither of them looked at each other but at their hands.

Aizawa was an expert at reading people and right now, watching as Midoriya almost crumbled from the pain of his own memories, he knew without a shadow of a doubt that he was telling the truth.

The hero couldn't help but be disappointed in himself for not being able to stop his student from experiencing all of this at such a young age.

Midoriya's hand trembled in his gentle hold and Aizawa wondered if Atlas quivered so from the weight of the world.

They don't talk. Izuku doesn't offer to, and Aizawa won't make him.

Izuku's face was covered in dirt and grime, no wounds thanks to his own healing quirks but even then, he still looks like a kid. In the midst of his own war, he still looks like a teenage boy with the weight of the world in his shoulder, and Aizawa pulled him into his arms.

Izuku stiffens in his grasp for a few seconds before completely melting. He doesn't start crying, doesn't even sniffle, and Aizawa isn't surprised. He wishes he would, of course- He wishes he would let out whatever he's feeling, but he can't afford to do it .

Instead, his fingers gripped his clothes so tight they almost tear. His head is buried in his shoulder, his arms around him just as tight as his. He's been through war, and he's still a bit raw from it, but he can still indulge in intimate moments like this.

The people had seen a symbol, a physical manifestation of freedom, a hero who would break through any challenge and free them from hell. His friends saw a pillar, an unyielding strength, a reminder of hope.

Aizawa sees a little boy. A very tired little boy.

And Aizawa makes a quiet promise to himself to never forget.