Day One

This was not how this day was supposed to go at all. It was only the third day of school and villains were attacking! Portals, flood zone, decay, a monster, pain, a rapidly approaching wall.

Day Two

"NO!" Izuku screamed as he bolted upright, his heart hammering in his chest. Glancing around in a wild panic, his mind struggled to grasp the shift in surroundings. One second he was in a life-or-death battle, and now… Now he was here, safe and sound, tangled in his bedsheets.

Frantically, he checked himself expecting to see injuries that weren't there. No crushed arm, no broken ribs. No remnants of the fight he could so vividly remember. "What just…" His thoughts trailed off, interrupted by his alarm-clock radio blaring to life.

"Gooooooood morning Musutafu! Rise and shine, folks! It's another glorious Wednesday in our fair city, and you're tuning in to the KCCP crew, here with some great tunes to kick your day off in style!"

Izuku blinked in confusion, fumbling for his phone. Sure enough, the date on the screen confirmed it. Wednesday. 6am.

"And speaking of great!" Another radio host said, "We're not the only ones out there making your mornings brighter!"

"That's right folks! Our number one hero All Might has been spotted all over our fair city! He's already stopped two bank robberies and it doesn't look like he's slowing down! What a guy!"

"Heck of a guy!"

Izuku breathed a heavy sigh of relief, the tension draining out of his body with each breath. Gradually he managed to relax, as he reassured himself of an important truth - All Might was fine. He was fine. Everything was okay. It had to have been a nightmare.

A… Very realistic, very vivid nightmare.

As the last vestiges of panic began to seep away, his mother's concerned voice came through the door of his bedroom.

"Honey, are you okay in there? I heard a scream." she inquired with worry.

With a steady voice, Izuku responded as reassuringly as he could, "Uh, y-yeah mom, I'm fine! Just a bad dream," He insisted.

The concern still lingered in his mother's voice as she answered, "Well… If you're sure you're alright… How about I get breakfast started? How does-"

Sizzling bacon and sunny-side up eggs.

"Sizzling bacon and sunny-side up eggs sound?"

Alright, that was weird, but just a coincidence! Lots of people have bacon and eggs for breakfast. It didn't mean anything… right?

"Are you okay, Deku? You seem really distracted today." The bus jostled and swayed as it followed the road towards the USJ, with Izuku feeling every turn and bump with a startling degree of clarity. The deja vu he'd been experiencing since that morning had only gotten worse with time, like he'd been through all this before. But if everything was going exactly as it had in his dream-

"Deku!" Uraraka said louder, prodding him in the shoulder with her index finger. This did the trick, but maybe a little too well, as Izuku nearly shot out of his seat.

"Agh!" he yelped, "Y-yeah I'm fine, Uraraka. I'm just a little nervous about rescue training, I guess." He tried to sound casual, but his voice betrayed his anxiety.

Uraraka smiled and tilted her head at him, "Nothing wrong with a little nerves, right? That just means you're taking the job seriously!" She punctuated herself with a thumbs up, ignoring the derisive scoff coming from Bakugo's seat behind them. "I'm sure you're gonna do great!"

"Yeah, yeah I hope so…" Izuku muttered unsurely. This was all either a huge coincidence, or the stress of a new school year was getting to him. The likely scenario would be a normal day of activity, with nothing out of the ordinary happening to anyone. Hell, he didn't even know if the USJ would look like it did in his dream yet! It's not like he had ever actually been inside the building before, all he knew was what they showed on the school website!

Okay, maybe the description on the website was just incredibly detailed? That would certainly explain how every aspect of the USJ looked exactly as he knew it would, right down to the brickwork. Right down to the thin crack running vertically down the paving slab directly in front of where he's standing. They definitely wouldn't have mentioned that on the school website, but this paving slab he remembers vividly due to it being the only sign of damage in the entire facility.

At least, the only sign of damage before… No, he couldn't think like that. Nothing bad was going to happen, and if anything did happen there's absolutely no indication it would go exactly the same way it did in his dream. Despite repeating this to himself over and over again, his heart rate refused to slow. This was bad. This was very, very bad.

"We have to get out…" he said softly, under his breath, rapidly clenching and unclenching his fist and staring at the floor.

Uraraka noticed something wrong and tried to gently nudge his shoulder, but Izuku continued to breathe heavily, staring at the crack in the floor. His eyes were wide and his face was pale, like he'd seen a ghost. "Deku? Deku what's wrong?" she attempted, but he didn't respond. Instead, he just kept mumbling something under his breath, too fast and too quiet for her to catch. "Mr Aizawa!" She urgently shouted, "I think Midoriya is having a panic attack!"

Aizawa's head snapped toward them, quickly assessing the situation. "Everyone, give us some space," he commanded with authority, making his way toward the pair of students while Thirteen attempted to disperse the concerned classmates. Kneeling in front of him, Aizawa placed a hand on the still muttering boy's shoulder. "Midoriya, try to focus on the sound of my voice," he began.

"We have to get out of here…We have to- We have to get out!" Izuku's head shot up and he grabbed hold of his teacher's arms, his grip tight and desperate. His green eyes met Aizawa's, and the latter could see the terror and urgency in them. "We have to get out, now! Villains are going to attack!" he cried out.

"Midoriya, take a breath. We're safe here, the USJ is secure-" Aizawa tried to reassure him, but right on cue, something caught his attention.

Zwm zwm zwm.

Turning his head toward the mysterious sound, he looked over to the fountain and watched as mysterious purple mist poured forth, swirling and spreading in the air, and bodies began to emerge. Somehow, Midoriya knew…

But that would have to wait. "Everyone, get back! They're villains!"

"W-wait, for real?!" Kaminari shouted in confusion, "Didn't Midoriya just say-"

"Everyone get behind me!" Before the teacher could do anything else, portals started to open beneath the students.

Izuku held his breath and closed his eyes as he fell through, knowing exactly where he was being taken. Maybe, just maybe, with this little bit of extra knowledge he'd be able to do more. A second chance…

He definitely would have been able to do more, if he hadn't landed headfirst on the boat's guardrail.

Day Three

Izuku gasped as he jolted awake in his bed, again.

"Gooooooood morning Musutafu! Rise and shine, folks! It's another glorious Wednesday-" The cheerful voice of the radio host blared from his alarm clock. Izuku knew what was coming next. After all, he'd heard it all before.

With a belaboured groan, Izuku put his hands over his eyes. "Ugggghhhhhhh"

"And speaking of great, we're not the only ones out there making your mornings brighter." The exact same words, once again. "That's right folks. Our number one hero All Might has been spotted all over our fair city. He's already stopped two bank robberies and it doesn't look like he's slowing down. What a guy!"

Alright, so this was happening again. Another Wednesday, another trip to the USJ. The question that remained unanswered however, was why? Why was he stuck in this loop? What was the point of it all?

Opening his eyes, he took a breath, and counted down. "Three, two, one," bracing himself for the inevitable interruption.

Knock knock knock . Right on time, Inko gently pushed the door open and smiled, looking radiant and cheerful, as always. Izuku was glad he hadn't woken up screaming this time, it was a lot nicer to see his mother happy than not. Hopefully, this would be the last time he'd have to worry about a bad morning.

"Good morning sleepyhead, I'm just getting breakfast started." She said, in a sing-song voice. "How does-"

Izuku cut her off, before she could finish her sentence. He knew exactly what she was going to say. "Sizzling bacon and sunny-side up eggs?" He asked, with a fake smile.

His mother's eyes went wide and she gasped, as if he had read her mind. "Yes! Great minds think alike!" She exclaimed, clapping her hands.

"Just a lucky guess."

On his journey to school, Izuku tried his hardest not to focus too heavily on the repeated actions of the people of Musutafu. He had seen it all before, in the exact same sequence and timing. So he ignored the same woman dropping her coffee at 7:45 am, the same man sniffling and wiping his nose at 7:47 am, the same birds chirping in the same way, flying into the same trees that made the same rustling sound at 7:49 am. He didn't need to pay attention to any of this, because this was definitely going to be the last time he'd be repeating this day. He was determined to break the cycle, no matter what it took.

He had concocted a new theory, you see. This was all a part of mastering One For All. It had to be! Maybe this was a hidden feature of the quirk, giving him the chance to rewrite history, save his classmates from the attack, and to stop All Might from getting hurt! But… then again, if that were true, wouldn't All Might have mentioned the quirk could do that? Maybe his mentor's mastery of One For All at 100% meant he just never needed to use it? Or maybe he did use it, but he kept it a secret from everyone, even Izuku?

Admittedly, the theory had holes, but it still beat the alternatives. At first he thought he might be suffering from year long amnesia, and this was actually the first visit to the USJ in the second year of highschool, but thinking about it for more than a second put him off that idea. Additionally, the idea of everyone banding together for an elaborate prank seemed implausible, and he was fairly certain he wasn't in a bizarre drug-induced haze.

Nope, the only logical explanation was a quirk. With that conviction firmly in mind, Izuku's goal this Wednesday was a simple one: Tell a teacher. If he can get the trip to the USJ postponed entirely, there'd be no villain attack, nobody would get injured, everything will be fine and the week will continue on as it should. There was absolutely no way this plan could fail.

"No."

Okay, maybe there was one way this plan could fail, and that was the infuriatingly logical mind of Shota Aizawa.

"I'm not going to postpone the trip just because you had a bad dream."

"It wasn't a-" Izuku paused as he tried to force his way through a gaggle of students in the hallway, they'd parted without a word for his teacher but they hadn't paid him the same courtesy. "It wasn't a dream! I swear, I saw it happen!"

Aizawa took a moment to lightly sigh under his breath, hand poised to open the classroom door, before he turned and crossed his arms. "Prove it."

"I- what? P-prove it?" Izuku stammered.

"Sure, you've seen how this day goes, right? Prove it. Tell me something that is going to happen."

The question blindsided Izuku, for some reason he had just assumed the teacher would take him at his word. "Something that is going to happen… Oh! I know! When you go inside the classroom, Kaminari will be sitting on Sero's desk, Ashido bumps into him and he falls off! Then you threaten to expel him! That's what's going to happen!"

Without saying a word of acknowledgement, Aizawa pushed open the door to the classroom to see every member of 1A sitting properly at their desks, not a hair out of place. He gave Izuku a sideways glance.

"Crap!" Izuku thought to himself, a look of utter panic on his face, "We stood outside for too long! It gave them a chance to be seated!" His head hung low, he returned to his seat as Aizawa addressed the class.

"Everyone be quiet," He ordered, even though nobody was talking. His voice was cold and authoritative, leaving no room for disobedience. "Today we'll be preparing you for disaster relief, from fires to floods." he began, as Izuku sank further into his chair, dread setting in. They weren't prepared for the real disaster that was coming.

"We'd usually be visiting a training site. But, considering your performance at battle training yesterday, I think some more in-class work would be appropriate."

A chorus of disappointed groans filled the air, but Izuku couldn't help but grin. He'd done it! He'd prevented the trip, and now the teachers knew someone would be attacking the USJ! He was a real hero!

Morning classes were a breeze, naturally, considering he'd already lived through this same day twice already. He already knew the answers to most of the maths test, and he even managed to get the best slice of cake at lunch. Damn it, he deserved that slice of cake. He'd done something incredible, heroic! Not that anyone would ever know, which was a little disappointing, but at least everyone was safe. Disaster averted, all that was left to do now was wait out the rest of the day.

He sat at his desk, smiling to himself, enjoying the sense of relief, when he heard an enormous crashing sound in the distance. Loud and violent, strong enough to rattle the windows and make the ground quake. Izuku looked up with worry and locked eyes with his homeroom teacher, who despite his earlier skepticisms, could now understand the portent of doom from earlier.

Pro hero that he is, Aizawa managed to maintain a calm persona as he walked towards the window. He had barely enough time to activate erasure before it struck.

But it was fruitless. An enormous hulking figure of a purple monster leapt directly at the building, a grotesque creature with a massive body and an elongated mouth full of sharp teeth. Like something out of a nightmare, it roared as it flew through the air, and smashed directly through the wall of the classroom.

Izuku sighed. "You have got to be kidding m-"

Day Four

"-e."

Calmly, Izuku picked up a pillow, placed it over his face, and screamed into it.

Day Twelve

"I generally say what's on my mind, Midoriya,"

"I know, Tsu, you've told me 11 times already," "Oh? What is it?"

It had been twelve gruelling days of repetition, and Izuku was still no closer to figuring out the cause or solution to his predicament. Every single day a grim echo of the last, and by this point it felt like he was running out of options, running out of new directions to take the day. It always seemed to end in tragedy, as though the attack was destined to happen and destined to go badly. When he really sat down and thought about it, on the rare chance he got to just sit down and think, it felt like that first day was the best case scenario. At least that time, Tsuyu never got…

"Midoriya!" Tsuyu's urgent nudge snapped him back.

"Huh? Sorry, what were you saying?" Izuku tried to clear his head from the fog. He knew exactly what she'd said, but it's true that he wasn't quite listening.

Tsuyu repeated herself, "I said your quirk is a lot like All Might's."

"Oh, yeah, I guess they're pretty similar." Izuku replied, almost on auto-pilot. He had, after all, heard her say this eleven times by now. He could already predict the next line, too: Kirishima is going to say All Might doesn't get hurt, and that strength enhancement is cool.

Right on time, "Hold up, Tsuyu. All Might doesn't get hurt though! They're already different in that way."

Izuku frowned, and thought for a second. …If he could relive the same day, tweak his actions, explore new outcomes, why shouldn't he see where this conversation takes him? What, really, would be the harm?

Before Kirishima could continue, Izuku interrupted, "Actually, my quirk is exactly the same as All Might's."

The entire bus stopped, all eyes on Izuku.

"It's true," he continued. "We have the same quirk. It's called One for All, a power stockpiler passed down through generations since the dawn of quirks. I'm the 9th person to have it, All Might was the 8th."

The silence on the bus was heavy, hanging thick in the air. But for Izuku, this was a blessing. After days of repetition, any change was something to be savoured - at least just this once. He honestly didn't even feel bad about revealing the secret, it felt cathartic if anything.

Mina was the first to speak up, which was somewhat interesting. She was always the next to say something in the original conversation, so maybe there really was some natural order of things… Or she only spoke up first because she's the most talkative.

"Wait, wait wait, you're saying you got your quirk from All Might?! How does that even work?!"

"That's right, yeah," Izuku began to explain, the smallest hint of a smile on his face. "He passed it on to me, I had to eat some of his hair on the day of the exam."

Before he could say anymore, Bakugo exploded from his seat, his eyes blazing with fury. "You damn nerd!" he shouted. "You lied to me!"

In for a penny in for a pound, Izuku thought. "Yeah, I did. What are you gonna do about it?"

With a roar, Bakugo lunged at Izuku, his hands crackling. "I'll show you what happens when you lie to me!"

Wow, this is going in a really new direction! Okay, maybe not that new, Bakugo attacking Izuku wasn't exactly a rare occurrence. But still, it was the first time it had happened on the bus.

The bus lurched to the side as Bakugo leapt, only to be entangled in Eraser Head's capture weapon in mid-air. "That's enough. I was trying to get some sleep, and your loud voice had to go and wake me up…"

As Bakugo struggled against the bindings, the other students scattered to other seats away from the commotion. "You don't get it! I knew he was lying about having a quirk, I was right!"

"I technically wasn't lying, I do have a quirk now. I did just tell you, All Might gave it to me." Izuku shrugged.

The words made Aizawa pause. "...What do you mean, you have one now?" Suddenly, everything made too much sense, while also making absolutely no sense at all. He rubbed his temples, then shouted, "Driver, stop the bus!"

The bus came to a halt on the side of the road. Aizawa stood, expression stern. "We're not going any further until we've gotten this sorted. Midoriya, you and I are going to talk to All Might. The rest of you, calm down."

Less than an hour later, Izuku sat in a conference room with Principal Nezu, a pacing Aizawa, and a very restless leg. At some point during his revelations, it had completely slipped his mind that there are a full 24 hours in a day. Granted, he had only managed to exist in 18 of them, but it still turned out to be a long time to have to live with the consequences of one's actions.

"All Might will be joining us, shortly." Nezu confirmed.

The door to the conference room creaked open, and in strode All Might - in his skeletal form. Gone was the jovial, theatrical entrance. In its place was a very sombre man. "Young Midoriya," he started, looking around the room, "I…I understand you have…Revealed aspects of your quirk to your class."

Izuku nodded, his heart pounding. This was uncharted territory.

Finally, Aizawa stopped pacing, but didn't take a seat. Instead, he fixed his eyes on the veteran hero. "What were you thinking? Giving it to a child?"

All Might sighed and rubbed his head. "I still believe I made the right choice, but," he looked directly at Izuku. "This was a grave breach of my trust in you. I'm… Disappointed."

Ah. There it was. There was the reason he shouldn't have done this. No matter how many loops, there was no way Izuku ever wanted to hear those words again. He never wanted to hear that tone again. It was just too much.

"I'm…Sorry." Izuku said, head hung low.

He was never going to do this again.

Ever.

Day Eighty-Seven

"I guess I just feel like I'm going in circles, you know?"

Izuku lay sprawled on the couch, his feet propped up casually as he gazed at the ceiling of the small room, hands clasped behind his head. He turned towards the dog-like school counsellor, who was diligently taking notes on a yellow pad of paper.

Hound Dog looked up from his pad, a look of concern on his canine features. "And how long have you been feeling this way?"

Izuku half-heartedly shrugged. "About… 3 months? It's getting to the point I can't even remember, which kind of sucks, honestly."

"It's not expected of you to remember the exact length of time you've felt a certain way."

"Oh yeah, yeah, of course. It's just, it would definitely make things easier for me to keep track of. I tried a mental tally, but then I couldn't remember if it was day 17 or 18, and then it just completely went out of my head." Izuku sighed. "It's only been that long, so maybe I could just restart the count from today? That could work, right?"

"I'm not entirely sure I understand what you mean?"

"Don't worry about it." Izuku waved a dismissive hand. "So do you have any ideas on how to uh, get out of a rut, so to speak?"

"Hm," Hound Dog grunted thoughtfully, tapping a clawed finger against the notepad. "Spending time with friends and family can be beneficial when you're feeling stagnant. Or trying to see things from a fresh perspective."

That made Izuku laugh, "Yeah, a fresh perspective would be great right about now. Oh, you're going to want to take that."

"Take wha-" Hound Dog's question was cut short as his phone rang, the emergency tone blaring around the office. As Izuku expected, his counsellor bolted from the office and sprinted away.

"See you next week, doc." Izuku sighed, closed his eyes, and leaned back on the couch. It was unlikely he would ever not feel bad about skipping the field trip, but sometimes, he just needed a break. He'll make up for it tomorrow, he promised.

Day Two-Hundred and Four

"Enter the USJ like normal, stand by Kirishima. Kirishima always runs forward, block his path. 30ft to where the first portal opens, 5 seconds to reach it. Take out Kurogiri first, Shigaraki after. Aizawa can deal with the others, just stop Nomu from entering."

Izuku mentally reviewed the plan again, positioning himself perfectly. He had to stand precisely, not too far forward to cause others to shift. Everything needed to unfold naturally - let everyone ask Thirteen their questions, stay completely inconspicuous, then act.

It had taken dozens of loops for Izuku to realise one of the most critical parts of the day was being in control of everyone's position. The portals always opened in precisely the same spots, and the destination was fixed. It didn't matter who was standing there at the time. It was all about figuring out who performed best in which zone. A subtle nudge, a question, or a casual trip-up while exiting the bus could make all the difference in deciding which order the students entered the building, and where they stood. Granted, with there being 20 students that was easier said than done, but Izuku was starting to learn the intricacies

He glanced over, feeling a pang of guilt, knowing Mineta was headed for the inferno zone. Sorry, buddy.

ZWM ZWM ZWM

Alright, here goes…

Izuku burst forward before anyone could react, preempting Kurogiri's speech. Timing was everything , he had to strike before the villain finished talking, disrupting the enemy's plan before it could even begin. He'd managed it once before, but a second too late. Shigaraki made it through the portal and killed him without a moment's hesitation. Not fun. It was always a gamble, but Izuku's reflexes were improving - now it all came down to timing.

As he charged, he immediately collided with Bakugo's gauntlets, their bodies crashing to the ground. His positioning was off by inches. The sudden commotion threw Kurogiri off his focus, cutting his monologue short. Portals began to open prematurely, scattering everyone across the USJ too soon.

"Alright, note to self," Izuku thought, rolling to his feet as he found himself in the landslide zone. "Bakugo's gauntlets are huge; don't stand too close to him."

"Oh great." Izuku muttered out loud. "I hate the landslide zone…" He let out a heavy sigh and swung a punch behind him, connecting with a villain's face. The thug crumpled, clutching a now-broken nose, as Izuku stood with his hands on his hips. "Look, I'm sorry Gary, but I really do not have time for you today."

"H-how do you dow by dame?" The villain cried.

"Man, shut the hell up. Get out of here, go on." Izuku retorted, shooing him away. Gary complied, disappearing deeper into the USJ.

Collapsing to a seated position, Izuku exhaled a bored breath. "I hope I get the ruins zone next time…"

D a y Eig ht-Hun dr ed a nd S i x

Izuku felt bad. He felt very very bad. It couldn't be helped, there was nothing that could be done. It was… Hopeless. For 637 straight days he never took a day off, and he tried everything. Every combination he could think of, every student in every zone of the USJ in every possible configuration and still, still, the loops persisted. There was nothing he could do but try to minimise damage, prevent the worst case scenario and wait for All Might to save the day. But after that, it was a case of waiting for the day to end and inevitably restart again.

In that time, Izuku had felt no sense of satisfaction for a victory (or anything that could be considered close to a victory), he felt none of the sense of pride that came with heroics. All he felt was a numb emptiness, a feeling of constant monotony. What was he supposed to do now? Every failure chipped at his resolve, leaving him to feel like a ghost haunting the same day over and over and over and over and over and-

Izuku trudged through the day, mechanically performing the same tasks he always did. Directing his classmates, positioning them in the safest spots he could, and preparing for the arrival of the villains. Pointless actions, hollow words, and yet… He couldn't stop. Even through the flood of helplessness he felt, he couldn't stop helping. He knew too much not to. Besides, what if this was his last day? What if tomorrow actually came?

Everyone was waiting to get on the bus to the USJ now, apart from Izuku. The bus was slower than he was. After hundreds of days of using and getting accustomed to One for All, he estimated he was capable of using 35% or so throughout his entire body. That was one good thing to come from this, he supposed. Training. Training that he may never be able to put to any real use. Leaning forward in a bench on the outskirts of campus, Izuku closed his eyes and tried to enjoy the small respite of silence the universe was allowing him…

Enjoying it was impossible. The tranquillity of the moment almost felt like it was mocking him. As if to say, this peace will never last. Izuku clenched his fist and felt his nails dig into his 27 minutes the attacks would begin.

"Why can't I find a way out?" he muttered into the open air.

The question remained unanswered, as always. There was never going to be a response, and he knew that. It had been a long time since he realised there was no higher power or divine intervention that was getting him out of this nightmare. This was all on him.

"Deku, are you alright?" Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice behind him.

Izuku turned to see Uraraka, concern plastered all over her face. An expression he was too used to seeing, from everyone. For a moment he just looked at her, before forcing a smile. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just… Thinking, I guess."

In the grand scheme of things, he hadn't had this conversation that many times. A few dozen, perhaps. Uraraka always came to see where he was, which was something Izuku deeply appreciated. Like Hound Dog always told him, it's good to spend time with friends.

She didn't look convinced by Izuku's words, but she didn't press further. "I'm fine." always resulted in her staying at arms length, "I'm okay," always drew her slightly closer.

"Well, if you need to talk," Uraraka continued, "We're all here for you, you know?"

"Thanks, Uraraka." Izuku smiled another hollow smile, and returned to his thoughts.

He appreciated Uraraka's consistent (at least, to him) attempts at making him feel better. Conversations were good, getting to know people was a fantastic way of making him feel like he was standing on solid ground. The people around him were a way to know that despite how futile it felt, everything was still real and still happening. Izuku furrowed his brow in a moment of contemplation.

Izuku never had many friends at school. A perfect storm of quirk diagnosis mixed with unfriendly staff and students meant he never really stood a chance. But this was UA, he had a quirk, he knew people.

And he had all the time in the world.

"Wait," Izuku called out, stopping Uraraka at the end of the path. "Do you want to walk to the bus together?"

Other people may not remember everything Izuku does today, but he will. So he made a decision - he'd make it worth remembering.

Izuku Midoriya was going to make some friends.

Day Twelve-Hundred and Thirty-Five

"Hey Tsu, great to see you! How are Satsuki and Samidare?" Izuku cheerfully asked as he turned in his seat, greeting his frog-like classmate with genuine enjoyment.

Tsuyu, as always, looked at him a little surprised, a finger on her chin. "They're good, ribbit. I didn't remember telling you about my siblings, though."

"Oh yeah, you mentioned it on the first day of classes!" Izuku lied. "You said how Samidare is joining a new class at school and he was nervous about making friends."

"He is, ribbit. That was really nice of you to remember, Midoriya."

"You can call me Izuku. In fact, anyone who wants to can call me Izuku!"

One person who seemed to enjoy that answer was Kirishima, who clapped Izuku on the back, "Woah, life of the party! You seemed pretty shy yesterday bro, what gives?"

"Tch," Bakuygo scoffed derisively, "The nerd's just trying to make himself seem better than he is."

To Bakugo's annoyance, Izuku laughed. "Hey man, I've got a lot of catching up to do! It's not like I made a lot of friends at our old school, right Kacchan?"

Bakugo tutted again and turned away.

"Beside, Kirishima, I wanted to let you know - if you ever need help with math you can come to me whenever, okay? But hey, only if you help me with some gains." He jokingly flexed an arm at the end.

Kirishima smiled a sharp-toothy smile, "You got it, bro!"

The conversation flowed like clockwork, it had been an absolute godsend for Izuku to realise that spending all this time with people was far more enjoyable when he actually spent time with them. When it came to time, well, he was the richest person in the world.

From the day he decided to change tactics and over the course of more than a year, Izuku got to know his classmates. He talked to Jiro about her favourite bands, he talked to Momo about brands of tea, he got Koda to open up about animal conservation, Kaminari taught him about warhammer, he learned what Todoroki's favourite food was and the ideal way in which to make it, all about Uraraka's family business, which racing games Iida liked best, and even managed to find a common interest in drawing with Mineta.

He talked and learned and got to know his class, and every new loop he felt better. Hopeful. Maybe he couldn't break the loop just yet, but there was no reason he couldn't make these days matter, make them count for something. Even if it was just for himself.

The rest of the day always proceeded as it did. Kurogiri would appear through a portal, Izuku would wait exactly 4 seconds before punching Kurogiri's collar off, (he was early too many times and had to see some villains get torn in half by closing portals. Not something he would like to see again), Shigaraki would look incensed and call him a cheater, Izuku would defeat the villains in around 14 seconds.

It had taken a lot of trial and error to get it to a fine art, and he thanked the new interactions with his classmates. There were small but significant impacts, a trust that he could feel blossoming between everyone. In the early days, someone would have interfered and confused the rhythm of the fight, but now, everything felt cohesive.

That night, as Izuku lay in bed, he reflected. The numbness was still there, maybe it always would be. But this time, it wasn't suffocating. If the loop was unbreakable, he had a new goal: make each day a little better. A little brighter.

It wouldn't be easy. But he wasn't alone.