AN: I am starting to get a comfy buffer built up for this story, so that means you get an extra chapter this week!

SidRyuu14 - Izuku still has all of his memories and training from canon essentially up until Jaku City. So he already has a pretty solid foundation of training already, and and I have some ideas how to add to it now that he gets to use his arms again.

Lightgiver - I know a lot of stories use time travel as an excuse to speedrun the plot with cheat codes. I'm hoping that I will at least make it interesting with my own twists to the plot.

Christopherprime22 - thanks! I'm trying to take a more methodical approach to lay the groundwork before I really kick things off. Hopefully it works and I keep people's attention long enough for the fun to begin.

After Izuku left, All Might returned to Nezu's office.

"So, what do you think?" the principal asked.

All Might sat down with a heavy sigh. "I think he was telling the truth. And that scares me."

"Indeed. It sounds like Japan doesn't take your retirement well."

"It is why I have been pushing myself these past three-and-a-half years as hard as I have."

"Perhaps that is the problem."

"Oh?"

Nezu hopped out of his chair to stare out the window. "The Symbol of Peace has been a foundation of Japan for several generations. Do you realize that almost every active hero is under the age of forty? And most former heroes have either been killed or have retired by then? Can you imagine the effect that must have on people? To see the Symbol of Peace, just gone after a single evening?"

All Might was driven speechless. "I see."

"Fortunately, knowing what we do, we can hopefully avoid the worst of it. I understand Mr. Midoriya has his own priorities, such as his desire to rescue the little girl, Eri, from the Shie Hassaikai as soon as we can arrange it. However, I believe you have a different priority."

"All For One."

"Precisely! If your old nemesis is still alive, we must find a way to deal with him. Preferably in a way that doesn't leave your current state exposed to the world."

"I agree."

"But first, there is another, more pressing matter we need to attend to."

Nezu returned to his desk to retrieve a pair of folders, handing them to All Might.

All Might looked at the second folder. "Young Uraraka."

"Yes," Nezu stated matter-of-factly. "Mr. Midoriya lives right here in Mustafu. It will be easy for us to protect him, but Miss Uraraka poses a problem currently. Her family lives out in Mie Prefecture in the city of Nabari."

"That is quite the trip, do you have any hero contacts out there?"

"Unfortunately not. But we need to hear her story as well. Mr. Midoriya has alluded to the fact that while they both had commonalities between their timelines, there were differences between them as well."

"Of course, the most obvious being my choice of successor."

"Precisely! I am sure you wish to speak to her about that as well."

All Might opened her file and looked at it. While nothing extraordinary stuck out to him, he was aware that he would have thought the same thing about Izuku before his conversation with him. Given how strong Izuku was as a choice, he can't help but be curious about her.

"I assume you have a plan?"

Nezu laughed. "Of course! You see, Training Grounds Beta and Delta are both due to be upgraded. While I normally would use a local construction company, it just so happens that Uraraka Construction, which operates out in the Mie Prefecture, will be winding down on their current contract in a couple of months, and does not have any work lined up afterward."

All Might laughed. "How clever! If they agree, the family would be forced to spend time here in Mustafu."

"Precisely. Of course, knowing the distance, I would provide a stipend so that they could rent an apartment here in Mustafu, and if it just so happens that their daughter wishes to enroll at UA, I know just the school she could transfer to finish her middle school education."

"And when do you plan on meeting with them?"

"I am having the initial contracts and estimates prepared already. But I am planning on extending them an invitation to visit us this Friday."

All Might coughed in surprise, managing to mostly avoid spraying blood out. "So quickly?"

"Yes. I wish to meet Miss Uraraka as quickly as possible. Aren't you curious about the girl who you had chosen as your successor as well?"

All Might seemed uncomfortable at that idea. "I suppose so."

Nezu gave All Might a hard stare. "All Might. We have been over this. You have been pushing off the idea of choosing a successor for years. And suddenly you have been gifted not one, but two individuals whom you have personally chosen to be your successor."

"You're right. After talking to young Midoriya, I would feel honored to have him as my successor."

"But?"

All Might sighed. He hated how perceptive the principal could be. "But he wished for me to give One For All to young Uraraka instead. I will admit, the selfless reasoning that he gave as to why would have been enough for me to declare him my successor on the spot, but I had agreed to at least speak to young Uraraka before making my decision."

"All the more reason to have you meet with her as soon as possible."

"I suppose so."

Something told All Might that his decision would only become more complicated after he spoke to Ochako.

When Ochako came home from school Wednesday afternoon, she saw her parents talking excitedly in their living room.

"Can you believe it?" Ochako's father, Katashi Uraraka, exclaimed.

"No, it seems too good to be true! Are you sure it's real?" replied Ochako's mother, Miu.

Katashi nodded vigorously. "Sure do! I contacted the school myself to verify it, and it's true!"

"Umm, what's going on?" Ochako asked, confused.

Her father turned towards her, a huge smile on his face. "We just got the opportunity of a lifetime! UA is undergoing some renovations, and they want to talk to our company about handling them!"

Ochako stood there, stunned. Nezu is going all out, isn't he?

"We've been invited to go to the school on Friday to go over the initial details."

"Can I come?" Ochako excitedly asked.

Her mom gave her a skeptical look. "Honey, we will be staying there overnight. Will you be ok missing two whole days of school?"

Ochako eagerly bobbed her head. "If you're going overnight, that's just more reason for me to go! Plus it's the top hero school in the country! I can make up the work after we get back."

"That's true. You've been talking about going there next year if you can pass their entrance exam."

Ochako felt her cheeks heat up as she decided to risk the next part. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision, but she hoped to take advantage of her parents' good mood. "Besides…"

"Besides what?"

Ochako blushed. "Uhm, I have a friend in Mustafu that I'd really like to meet!"

"A friend?"

"Yeah! So there's a boy I've met who is kind of a hero nerd? And we've been talking online for about six months now! He lives in Mustafu with his mom and is actually really sweet. We um, happened to trade phone numbers and have been talking that way, and we're thinking about meeting up sometime soon! I was wondering maybe - if we'll be there anyway, could we meet up with them so I can meet him in person?"

Ochako saw her parents look at each other and silently deliberate the decision, while she felt like she was under the effects of her quirk. After what felt like an eternity, her parents turned to her.

"You said he lives with his mom right? Would we be able to talk to her?

Ochako nodded enthusiastically, a grin on her face. "Y-yeah! We've been talking for a few weeks over the phone. I'm sure I can arrange that!"

"Well, if there are no red flags when we talk to her, we can meet up with the two of them before we come home."

Ochako wanted to cheer but simply smiled instead. "Thanks! Just let me know when you want to talk? I can let him know and the three of you can talk!"

After getting her parents to agree, Ochako excused herself and escaped to her room. Once there, she slammed the door closed and sent an exciting message to Izuku. Now she just had to hope that he made a good impression on her parents. She had met Inko a few times and she was the sweetest woman ever. However, due to the nature of her parents' jobs and living so far away from Mustafu, Analyst never met her parents, and from their discussion, neither had Izuku.

Well, that would change soon.

That evening, Izuku gave Ochako his mom's phone number, and her parents called Inko. Ochako sat there in the living room, listening to her parents, and once again, felt her stomach rolling. So many of their plans hinged on this going well, and while she knew they would get along, she couldn't exactly tell her parents that without having to answer even more complicated questions.

"Alright, Friday at 7 then?" Miu said into the phone.

Ochako couldn't hear Inko's reply, but her mom seemed satisfied. "That just sounds perfect! We will see you then!"

After her mom hung up the phone, Ochako couldn't wait any longer.

"So, how'd it go?"

Ochako's dad gave her a stern look, but he cracked immediately. "She sounds like a lovely person!"

"I am a little concerned about what she said though. She seemed excited that her son made a friend."

"Oh." Ochako's face fell. She didn't like where this was going.

"I'm just worried that something may be wrong with him."

"There's nothing wrong with being quirkless!" Ochako blurted out, before covering her mouth, her face turning red.

"He's quirkless?" Her dad asked.

Not trusting herself, Ochako simply nodded. "He-He has been bullied a lot in school because of it."

"Well, that explains it. How long have you known?"

"He told me a few weeks ago, r-right before our first phone call," Ochako lied. "He wanted to be sure I was ok talking to someone like… him."

Her dad put his hand on her head. "Well, it sounds like we raised you right if you're willing to defend him like that."

Ochako couldn't help but smile. Hopefully, their actual meeting would go just as smoothly.

As Ochako approached the entrance of UA with her parents, she understood what Izuku meant when he said it was strange being back. The act felt both familiar like it was a lifetime ago, and she felt disconnected. As if this wasn't real.

She wished Izuku was here. Over the past week, every time one of them felt this way, they would support each other and keep each other grounded. But for the next several hours, she had to face this alone.

But she refused to let that stop her. After everything she had been through, she refused to be brought down by the act of visiting her former, and hopefully future, school.

Walking into the gate, she saw Nezu standing there, as well as Midnight and Cementoss, both dressed in business suits rather than their usual hero costumes.

"Am I a dog, a mouse, or a bear? It doesn't matter. More importantly, I am the principal! Welcome to my illustrious school!" Nezu proudly announced.

"The pleasure's all ours! Uraraka Construction, at your service," Katashi said. "I still can't believe you're looking to hire us if I'm being honest."

Nezu merely laughed. "Oh, that is understandable! But you see, when we upgrade the training grounds, we wish to add some additional features that I would prefer not to be common knowledge. Because of that, we began seeking a company outside of our traditional contractors."

"I see, so that means we can't tell our little 'Chako what we would be doing?" Katashi joked.

Nezu shook his head. "No, I am afraid not. Not if you want your daughter to attend here at least."

Ochako paled at the warning. Nezu had to be bluffing, didn't he?

Thankfully her father laughed. "I think we can keep her out of the loop, for her sake."

"Splendid! Now then, I have arranged for Ms. Kayama to take your daughter on a tour around the school while we go over the specifics. I suspect that will be a much more interesting way for her to spend her afternoon."

"My, how nice of you!"

"Sure, I bet little 'Chako would be more interested in seeing the school than listening to our stuffy old meeting anyways."

Midnight smiled at the parents. "I promise, your daughter will be in good hands until you are done. Now then, if you could follow me?"

Ochako gave the teacher a large smile and nodded. "Sure!"

Ochako's assumption about what was going on was proven right as soon as they had turned the corner into an empty hallway when Midnight stopped and turned towards Ochako.

"That's some good acting skills you have. Now then, we have heard some very interesting things about you from a certain someone."

Ochako dropped the act as well, giving her old teacher a serious look. "Izuku already warned me. Yes, I am just like him."

"Oh, you two are on a first-name basis? How exciting!"

Ochako couldn't help but blush. "I-it's not like that! After what we went through, it just made sense for us to drop the formality!"

"I can imagine. Well, we have several people who are very interested in meeting you. Nezu would have liked to join us but he is tied up in other matters."

"H-he didn't have to go this far to see me!" she protested.

"Nonsense. If what you claim is true, we will need to protect you, after all."

Ochako tried to protest but stopped herself. She had to remember that right now, she wasn't an up-and-coming hero with a provisional license and the ninth holder of One For All. She was still a 13-year-old girl who was at the beginning of her physical and quirk training.

"You're right," she accepted.

"Something tells me the two of you aren't planning on sitting still and letting things play out like they did last time." Midnight smiled mischievously. "We want to make sure nobody puts everything together and goes after you."

Ochako nodded. It made sense, even if she didn't like it.

Seemingly satisfied, Midnight resumed walking, escorting Ochako to Nezu's office. When they stepped inside, Ochako saw Aizawa, All Might, and Detective Tsukauchi already seated.

"You know, this is your last chance to escape," Aizawa told Midnight as she took a seat.

"Oh please," she replied. "Do you think even if I walked out Nezu would let me off the hook? I want to know what I'm getting into."

Aizawa shrugged before examining Ochako as she entered the room.

Ochako, meanwhile, was focused completely on the skeletal form of All Might, sitting there, alive and well. She carefully sat down, never taking her eyes off of him.

"Greetings, young Uraraka!" All Might said awkwardly.

Ochako was at a loss for words.

"H-hi All Might."

All Might sensed her distress. "Is something the matter?"

Ochako cursed her emotions, wishing she could have hidden them better. "I guess Izuku didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"In-in my timeline." Ochako took a deep breath and steeled herself, looking at All Might. "From my perspective, you died eight months ago."

The room was silent, and the three heroes all looked at the detective, whose horrified expression confirmed that she was telling the truth.

"Wha- what happened to me?"

She saw Tsukauchi pull out a pen and a notebook, preparing to take notes. Closing her eyes, she mentally prepared herself, before looking at All Might again. "It was when the Heroes moved against the League of Villains at Kamino Ward. During my summer camp, the League of Villains attacked us and captured Fumikage Tokoyami, one of our classmates. Part of my class organized a rescue operation. Taking your advice, I decided not to participate."

She paused, steeling herself for the next part. "Nobody knew All For One was there. You were forced to protect my classmates, which kept you from using your full strength. By the time the other heroes managed to get everyone safely out of the area, you were too badly hurt. You - as your final act, you killed All For One, ending the cycle of violence the two of you were locked into. They rushed you to the hospital, but it was too late."

The silence hung heavily in the air as all eyes were on All Might, who struggled to accept what he just heard.

"It seems that there were more differences than who I chose as my successor," All Might awkwardly remarked.

Ochako pulled out a notebook. "Yeah. Izuku and I have been writing notes to compare."

Tsukauchi looked impressed. "I guess that will make my job easier. I would like to get a copy of both of your notes so that we can begin our work."

"Sure," Ochako agreed. "We were talking about things we wanted to do differently this time, already!"

"Well, you can't do too much on your own," the detective warned. "You're just kids. You don't even have the defense of a provisional license, and Midoriya doesn't even have a quirk."

"Just because Izuku doesn't have a quirk doesn't mean he's useless!"

The detective seemed surprised by the outburst. "My apologies. I know it can be difficult for someone without a quirk nowadays."

"Well, I've seen what Analyst can do firsthand! With the right support gear and his brain, Izuku could do the same!"

"Analyst?" All Might asked.

"Oh. We um, it was weird when we talked about the other Izuku and Ochako from our respective timelines, so we decided to refer to them by their hero names?"

"I see. That sounds like a wise decision."

"Anyways," Aizawa interrupted, attempting to steer the conversation back on track. "We know you want to help but leave the actual work to the pros. Right now, the best way to help us is by telling us your version of events so that we have a starting point to work with."

Nodding, Ochako flipped her notebook to the first page. "Let's go back to the beginning. My story starts in what will be eight months from now…"

Ochako started with All Might finding her and offering her the chance to be his successor. He then began her training, which had the benefit of helping her family. As All Might, he funneled money into renovating the town of Nabari, demolishing old abandoned buildings in the town, and hiring Uraraka Construction to rebuild houses and storefronts.

And Ochako was responsible for the cleanup. After the controlled demolition of a building, Ochako trained her body and her quirk to help remove the rubble before her parents' company came in to begin their work. That way he was able to train her, help her parents, and bring new life to her hometown.

The day before the entrance exam, he passed One For All onto her. She broke her arm the first time she used it because she was used to her quirk being more binary. But it didn't matter for the exam, because One For All had also begun working on her quirk, giving her a new power - heavy gravity. Instead of simply removing an object's gravity, with a touch she could massively increase its gravity, causing inanimate objects to collapse in on themselves.

With her new power, she tore through the entrance exam, almost tying All Might's old record for villain points in the exam with 85 villain points. She could have done more, but she passed out from quirk exhaustion before the ten minutes were up.

Interest picked up as she described her school year with frequent interruptions as they went over events that were different from how Izuku described them. She tried to remember everything she could, relying on her notebook to help her out.

When they were finally done, Midnight looked overwhelmed as she turned to Aizawa. "Now I understand why you have been disappearing after school."

"And you know the worst part? I can't tell Emi we're probably going to be taking care of a traumatized kid."

Ochako blushed at that. "S-sorry. Eri was really important to both of us."

Aizawa looked at her. "Don't be. I've talked to Midoriya. If half of what he said is true, I'll gladly take her in again."

"Really?"

"Yes." Aizawa stood up. "Although if you excuse me, I need to find an excuse to not be here when Nezu is done."

"I'm going to join you." Midnight stood up. "Maybe we can call Fukukado and have her meet us and Hizashi somewhere?"

Aizawa just stared at Midnight, before relenting. "Fine, at least you can bother her and leave me in peace."

As the two teachers departed, Ochako felt All Might put his hand on her shoulder.

"Young Uraraka, could you come with me for a bit?"

Ochako looked at All Might and nodded in assent. He guided her to the familiar teacher's lounge, where the two sat down across from each other.

"I am sure young Midoriya mentioned this to you, but I wanted to talk to you about being my successor."

"It should be Izuku." Ochako looked down at the table. "I didn't do a very good job."

All Might merely smiled. "I have heard that before. Why don't you think you were a good successor?"

Ochako continued to stare at the table, finding it more captivating than this conversation, but nevertheless, she continued on. "Well, you heard what happened at Kamino Ward. I could have gone with my classmates like Izuku did! He managed to get everyone out and let you fight unhindered. While I - you - the you from my timeline - told me that everything would be ok and to trust you. So I did."

"Before young Midoriya told you his story, did you blame yourself?"

Ochako let out a sigh. "A little bit. I always wondered what would have happened if I did something. And then - to hear it from Izuku."

She fought back tears of frustration until All Might placed a hand on her shoulder. "I am sorry. You did not fail me, if anything, I failed you. I told you to trust me, and I betrayed your trust. And for eight months, I forced you to bear a burden alone."

Hearing those words felt like a weight lifted from Ochako's heart. Until that very moment, she didn't realize how much she needed to hear him say those words to her. That he didn't blame her for staying away.

Ochako smiled back at All Might. "I wasn't alone. Shortly afterward, I told Ryukyu everything. And I had my classmates. Analyst, in particular, helped me a lot."

All Might reciprocated the smile. "I am glad then. But it was still a burden you shouldn't have had to bear."

"Thanks."

"Now then, I know you didn't explain everything in our last meeting. Start from the beginning - how did I choose you to be my successor?"

Ochako took a deep breath. "For some background history, you should probably know my family's situation. They own a construction company, but due to where we live, work isn't steady. That means sometimes we struggle to get by when we don't have a major contract to work on. I offered to give up my career as a hero for my parents because if I could use my quirk to help move materials, that would save a ton of money on labor and equipment!"

"But they insisted I follow my dreams. Ever since I was six, I wanted to be a hero. And my parents - they always tried to support me in that. And so I vowed to become the best hero I could be! I know the top heroes make enough money, I could support my parents so they would never have to worry about the inconsistent nature of their work ever again."

Ochako paused, seeing if All Might had any questions before continuing. "When I met you, we were going through one of the rough patches. The contract my parents have now, in fact, was their last big contract. After this, they were unable to secure anything long-term. They tried to hide it from me, to keep up appearances because they knew that it was an important year for me. I couldn't do anything to help, so instead, I tried to make their life at home as easy as I could, while starting to prepare for the entrance exams of UA and Shiketsu."

"And then, the incident with Blastwave happened. He had fled to Nabari in an attempt to hide from authorities, while you personally came to try and arrest him because the local heroes were no match for him."

All Might nodded in affirmative. "Where you helped rescue a small child."

"Yes! Blastwave was desperate, so he unleashed his quirk on an apartment complex. Thanks to the fighting, most people had already evacuated, but there was a little boy who didn't. I was able to stay out of the way of the attack when he used his quirk, but then I heard him crying."

"And you used your quirk to save him."

Ochako nodded fervently. "I floated myself up to the second floor and used my quirk on as much of the room we were in as I could, trying to keep us safe. It wasn't much, but it gave you the time you needed to save both of us. After I finished vomiting, the heroes on the scene reprimanded me for using my quirk and told me that I was lucky they overlooked my quirk usage. But before I could make it home, you found me. You told me how impressed you were by my actions, and you asked me to be your successor."

Looking back at All Might, Ochako was taken back to All Might's crying.

"Did I say something wrong?"

"No, young Uraraka. In fact just the opposite. I have been negligent in my duties of finding a successor, and then in the span of a week, I have been gifted with not just one, but two people who are worthy to carry on my legacy."

Ochako was stunned. "But what about Kamino?"

All Might shook his head. "That was not your fault. Just like the two of you are seeking ways to find a better future, both of you have shown me that I need to do better this time. To be worthy of the two of you."

All Might stood up. "Thank you, young Uraraka. I need to think about this."

"I can't imagine it's an easy decision."

"Let me ask you. If I were to name you my successor, would you do it again?"

"Of course! I want to help as many people as I can. Even before I was given One For All I planned on becoming a rescue hero. You- you gave me an opportunity to go beyond that."

"And yet, you think I should give it to young Midoriya instead?"

Ochako held up her hand, revealing the five pads on her fingers. "I already have a quirk, while Izuku doesn't. And Izuku - I don't think he has ever accepted his quirklessness the same way he did in my timeline. If I can help him by letting him have a quirk-"

All Might cut her off by placing a hand on her shoulder. "Say no more. I understand. Like young Midoriya, you have done more than enough to prove you are worthy of carrying on my legacy, with or without One For All."

"Thank you."

All Might breathed a heavy sigh. "Unfortunately now I am left with a tough decision."

Ochako gave All Might a reassuring smile. "I think, whomever you choose, we both are going to try and make you proud."

All Might smiled back. "Of that, I have no doubt."

AN:

UA's Head of Finances: So, for our renovations, instead of using one of our regular companies, you want to use a construction company from a completely different province?
Nezu: Yes.

HoF: And you are aware of the additional logistical costs we will have to add for travel and lodging?
Nezu: Yes. I also know that UA's budget can afford the additional costs.

HoF: …On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is it that we use this specific company?

Nezu: 100.

HoF: …can I at least know the reason why?
Nezu: No.

HoF: *Resigned sigh* I'll prepare the paperwork.