Chapter 1
With a soft groan, Izuku woke up but kept his eyes closed. He knew what he would see and as much as waking up sounded like heaven it was not. At the moment he was having lingering pain from the car crash he just died in and right now all he wanted was to die for real. It was never a pleasant experience dieing. No matter how one died even if it was from old age. Mostly because he would still feel any ache and pain from his past life for almost two days after. On top of that, he would then have a fever. It would be bad and he would be sick for almost a week. His mother would sometimes think it was his quirk trying to come in and she would take him to the ER in hopes they could help. However, his quirk well could not or would not allow itself to be seen on tests. Not that Izuku knew any more about it now then he did the first time it happened. Not that understanding it would ever help Izuku do anything with it. It was a passive quirk until he died, then it would send him back in time to his fourth birthday. Over and over no matter if he wanted to or not. The first few times it happened (and by few, he means the first fifty times) Izuku tried to do everything the way it first happened not wanting to change history. After that Izuku stopped really caring because no matter what he did he would always die and be reborn as his four-year-old self. So after that, he would change little things or even some big things. He would warn the pro-Heros about things, anonymously of course (no one would believe a four-year-old about villains). In some lifetimes he would be able to stop All for One before he could really get restarted. In others, the heroes would be more prepared for him when the villain came out.
The times he liked most were the ones he was hailed as the first quirkless hero. That is what he wanted to do this time as well. To do things his way and not have any type of quirk to help him make his dream come true. Izuku loved the challenge of it all and if he started on it when he got better he would even be able to pass the entrance exam with just enough points to get into Aizawa’s class. More so he always loved the look on Bakugo’s face every time he gets in without a quirk. It was the look of someone that thought the world lied to him about everything. It always took all Izuku had in him to not laugh out loud when that happened. Though he did not want people to think he was crazy. Not to say he was not he had plenty of things wrong with him the least of them would be his PTSD that he could not talk to anyone about because they would just call him crazy and lock him up. He knew because he tried that in one lifetime. Telling his mother about what was going on. She locked him up for so long he almost really lost his mind in one such loony bin. So after that and also being killed by one of the patients in said loony bin Izuku resolved not to ever tell his mother about what quirk he had. Though he did tell Aizawa or he really started telling him a few lifetimes ago when he had a PTSD attack in the middle of training camp and he could not keep it to himself.
They had a long conversation about his quirk and what it could do to his mental health. He had explained to Aizawa about what happened when he told his mother. And they agreed to never do that again. They also agreed to tell Aizawa the first day of school before they went to do the quirk assessment he always did. It would take some convincing but Aizawa would always believe him and would do what he could to talk him through the worst of what came with going through what he did. That was until Izuku and Aizawa talked about the quirk All Might gave him and how it could be passed to different people. The last time they thought that All Might’s power could be passed to someone else. Why not Izuku’s maybe if Izuku could pass his power to Aizawa then he could go back with Izuku to help him out a lot better. To be with him before school so he could help. They were not sure if it worked out seeing as this would be the first time they would have tried it. Nor if they would be sent back to the same period or if both of them would go back to the age of four before they could meet up. There were too many questions and unknowns but they were willing to give it a go.
Both of them had agreed to have a meetup point on the off chance that it worked. It would be close to Izuku’s home. Someplace he could get to without having his mother there with him. The park down the street, the same one he would always play with Bakugo at, would be their meet up point. A timeline of three weeks would give him enough time to get everything done and be there just in case. That and it was about how long Izuku’s mother would take to try and convince someone he had a quirk or something was trying to kill him. Before giving up and letting him go back to his life. She always had such a short attention span when it came to Izuku. Because he was quirkless the only time she really saw him is when a teacher wanted to talk to her about him or when it made her look good or got her something.
So here Izuku is sitting at the playground watching the other children playing, not wanting to try and even try and get involved in it this time. Knowing just what would happen and if one thought about it just too much he was way too old to play games like that anyway. They chose this day because it was summer vacation and Izuku could at least pass off an adult walking up to him as being a family member. Seeing as Inko never knew any of his dad’s family it could work. Add to that his dad was dead Inko could not be able to call him to see if it was a lie or not.
That however did not seem to be needed as a child that looked to be dressed like Aizawa in his hero great was walking over to Izuku looking rather upset. Izuku for his part could not help but giggle at that as he watched a child form of his teacher walk over to him and all but drape himself over Izuku’s lap.
Izuku knew Aizawa could be dramatic when he wanted to be but he thought this was warranted this time. So despite the women who looked to be Aizawa’s mom looking at them strangely Izuku put his hand on his former teacher’s head and said “So it looks like some of our questions are answered. Also, I am sorry it turned out like this but we both knew that was possible when we did this.” It felt nice to speak at an adult level of speech for the first time in weeks. Having had to dumb himself down for his mother. Most of the time he could get away with being just really smart but it would take a few more years to even pass like that. Izuku could not have been sick and then turned into a genius overnight.
Aizawa grumbled but nodded and said “Yea I know but I was hoping not to have to be a child again. It was not fun the first time it will not be fun this time. More so when I do not have anyone like Mic to be with.” Looking up at Izuku he said “I have no idea how you even put up with it. . . Do not give me that look. You know for a fact with or without a quirk you are a lot to deal with.” Aizawa leveled him with an unimpressed look when Izuku tried to huff indignity.
“Ok I get what you are saying but it is not my fault I just wanted to see what it was like on the other side for a change. It is not my fault it was way too easy to take over the world. Nor was it my fault that I then made it punishable by death to bully anyone with a weak quirk or no quirk at all.” Izuku looked away as he spoke bright red with embarrassment.” It is also not my fault that no one tried to stop me at all.” The last part was spoken so softly that if Aizawa was not right on top of Izuku like he was, he would not have heard it.
Sitting up and facing Izuku Aizawa crossed his arms and said “Oh yea no one tried to stop you. Did you or did you not tell me that you killed more than half of the top ten pro hero’s just to show the world just how much power you had. ANd at the same time as well.” Putting up a hand to stop Izuku’s protests just as the boy opened his mouth to speak. Aizawa continued “On top of that you were what fifteen when you did that and you also took out the top three hundred villains as well. Putting the underworld in just a mess that it never recovered at least in your lifetime. And to top it off you somehow adopted all of the Todoroki children and turned them to follow you to leave them in charge after you moved on to a new lifetime.” Taking a deep breath he chuckled “All of that before you somehow died in a drunk driving accident at the age of fifty-five?”
Izuku giggled and waved his hand in the air between them. “Yea well to be fair I was in life thirteen I do believe and I wanted to spice things up a bit. And you know thirteen is an unlucky number.” Aizawa just glared harder at him and Izuku looked down at his lap and scratched the back of his head. “Ok well moving on from the things I did in my past lives. W#hast is it you think we should do with this one. It is your first time and I think that it is only fair seeing as we are now the same age and it is kinda my fault that happened to you. Sorry about that by the way. To choose what we do this lifetime. Though I do not want to have a quirk this time. It has been a while and I think it would be a fun challenge to do this one without a quirk.”
Aizawa nodded while looking thoughtful. He knew what he wanted to do but was not sure if it would be boring to Izuku who seems to have done everything. Though the boy/man did say he could do anything he wanted and he always really wanted to know what it would be like to get in the hero course right off the bat and not have to earn it at the sports festival. He still wanted to be an underground hero but not having to be in the gen ed classes would be a bonus this time.
Looking back up at Izuku he said “I think going to U.A and seeing if we both can get into the hero course would be a good idea. Though first we indeed establish being friends. That means I need to talk my mom into going to your house and meeting your mother and arranging times we can hang our.” Aizawa refuses to call them to play dates even though he knows his mother would call them that. “That and see about going to the same schools so we can be closer together. It just so happens we live not too far from here and maybe even from what I remember from last time I was at your place, maybe even the same building. Which would come in handy.”
Izuku nodded and said “That would mean my mom asking a lot of odd questions and I would have to come up with a cute nickname for you seeing as I have had a hard time with speech at this age. That is why Bakugo was always Kaa-chan because I could not say his name when we first met.” Izuku huffed again and said, “I hate talking like a toddler it makes me feel so dumb to do this.” Aizawa nodded and said, “Yeah well at least you talk I remember being mute so I never said a word till I was almost fifteen. Thinking back I just think it was because I had nothing I wanted to say.”
Izuku nodded and said “Well I guess we should get this over with. Please do not laugh because when I say I had problems with speech I had a problem. My mother never talked to me other than to tell me to eat, go to bed or leave her alone. All up till I got to U.A so I also had no exposure to how someone was supposed to put words together till I went to school for the first time in the first grade.” The look Aizawa gave him was the look of someone who wanted to comet murder though it did lose some effect because he was a very cute four-year-old. Though he nodded and grabbed his hand pulling him over to his mom.
She was not a tall lady standing at just five feet tall. With long straight black hair and purple iridescent eyes. Her smile though could light up a room as she looked down at the two kids in front of her. “Oh, my little Kitten who is this cute one you got with you?”
The nickname made Aizawa blush a little but he did not say anything just pulled Izuku forward to remind him to say something himself.
“Izu be Izu and izu hap. .py to. . to kn. . .knows you.” As Izuku spoke it sounded more like a child just learning words then a four-year-old who should be able to at least say his name. Though his face made it look like he thought he did well in getting what words out he did. Aizawa did shoot him a concerned glance when his mother’s attention was all on trying to put together what Izuku had said. Izuku just shook his head as if to say not now. Aizawa looked over to his mother again. As if expecting her to understand just what his new friend had said.
She smiled at him and said “Oh little on my little kitty I am so happy you found a new friend. I am going to assume you did not tell this new little bird your name. Always a quiet one, you are Aizawa Shouta.” She looked around and let out a soft sigh as she looked back to the small boy who had yet to let go of her son's hand. “It is getting late, where is your mother?”
Izuku smiled brightly up at her and stuttered out “Izu big izu come by Izu self.” As if it was the best thing in the world and he was so very proud of how much of a big boy he was. Inside Izuku was cringing with just how bad he had to make his speech to match what he was growing up.
Aizawa’s mom modded and got up saying “Well it is getting dark I am sure that your mom is worried about you. I am going to walk you home.” Izuku could tell she had something on her mind as if she was going to do something about his lack of supervision. Though that would be a first in all his lifetimes he has never had an adult ever look at him as if he was in a bad situation. Izuku looked over at Aizawa just to get the other to shrug at him.
Izuku looked back up at the woman and nodded and said “K Izu show lady Izu live.” And promptly toddled off dragging Aizawa with him knowing that the mother would follow. He just wanted to gain some distance so he could speak properly. Thankfully the woman seemed to be either lost in thought or giving them some space because she was just far enough back that he could whisper to Aizawa.
“Oh my god if my mom is drunk right now what is your mother going to do? It has not been too long after my dad was reported dead and she went into a massive binge for two years. When I left she was looking as if the beer in the fridge was on the top of her list of to-dos today.” Izuku kept looking forward to keeping his body language to that of a child who thought nothing was wrong.
Aizawa struggled not to react to what Izuku was saying in any way. To know his former student grew up in such a house was disturbing. “She might insist that you come to have a sleepover or something. She is quite good at talking people into doing something. More so when she knows it would be good for the person she is representing. And no that is not her quirk she would not be allowed to use it as it would affect her job”
All talk stopped as they made it to the apartment complex. Izuku looked back at the women and pointed “Izu home.” and smiled brightly again. The woman nodded and followed them inside. “Oh well, that makes this much easier. We live here as well. Though I do not remember seeing you around. I would love to have a talk with your mother dear. Let's see if she is home.”
Izuku just nodded and as they made their way to his door he could tell his mom was drunk again. If the sound of bottles hitting the wall was anything to go by. Squeezing Aizawa’s hand for the first time a look of fear crossed his face as he looked back at Aizawa’s mom. He said, “Izu ok Izu home now lady go home to now yes?” He really did not want Aizawa to see just how bad it was though he was not sure why it just now hit him just what was about to happen. Without him noticing his breathing picked up and he started to tremble. In all his lifetimes it has been a long time since he felt afraid like this.
QAizawa’s mom shook her head and said “Oh little bird it is going to be ok just let me worry about this. In the meantime, why don’t we go to my apartment and I can make you a nice warm dinner and you can play with Aizawa just a little longer.” As she said that she herded the two children away from the loud apartment that sounded like there was a one-way fight going on in there. The woman is now screaming for someone called Izuku to come out of his room. She just assumed that was the little boy's name.
When they made it to the Aizawa apartment she said: “Ok why don't you show the little bird your room while I make dinner.” Aizawa nodded and pulled Izuku with him to his room. Happy that it had been him and his mother this time to bring Izuku back to their place and not some person who could have really hurt the boy. Seeing how Izuku lived really shed some light on why he acted the way he did.
When they made it to the room it was pretty much bare save for some bookshelves and a dresser and a twin bed. Aizawa pulled Izuku to said bed and helped him sit down before turning to him and crossing his arms. Doing his best to give him his stern teacher look despite being so young himself. “Tell me you would not just go off with an adult that showed any amount of concern about you and do not lie to me.” Izuku was about to speak but Aizawa spoke again before he could “And I do mean your first lifetime not anything after that.” That made Izuku snap his mouth closed his teeth making a soft clicking sound at the action.
Rubbing the back of his neck he attempted a smile but it came out more of a wince then anything “Well I can not say that and not lie at the same time.” Taking a deep breath Izuku looked at his lap and sighed heavily saying “Ok I had a bad childhood the first few times.” Muttering a little lower “well more like the first five or six times.” Wringing his hands together a nervous habit he could never break, he did not see Aizawa’s eyes widen at the statement. “I had a lot of not so very nice things happen to me before I was able to understand that one it was not a good thing what was going on and two it was in no way my fault what was going on and three I could have told someone and it would have stopped.” Izuku paused for a moment unsure if he should say the next thing, a look of utter fear crossing his face before he just let it slip out. “More so when I got into U.A and it kept going on.” Looking away from Aizawa to look at the wall as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. He misused the looks passing over Aizawa’s face. “I inj my first life craved any type of attention I could get from anyone that was older than me and that was not a good thing. It was something that unfortunately stuck with me for a very long time. At least until my mother sent me off to the loony bin. The one good thing that happened there. It helped me work out a lot of issues that I had been unable to move past myself. Well until I got stabbed to death by my roommate.”
Aizawa sighed and put his hand on Izuku’s shoulder as he spoke. “I wish I could have been there for you from the start. I would have liked to be someone you could have felt safe enough around to tell me what was going on. I am sorry I was not but I am here now and I am sure... oh fuck I just remembered my mother's quirk... “
A giggle was heard from the door “Oh now you remember kitten I was sure it was going to take you a lot longer.” At the astounding look on Izuku’s face she smiled softly at him and said “My quirk al;ow3s me to see a person's true self. It took me a while to figure out why I saw a grown man standing behind my son when he turned four, not the kitten it was before then. Then I saw you and heard you two talking and saw the grown man behind you as well. The dots came together and I figured I would make some calls before I talked to you. Also, I was hoping you two would come to me but hearing what you said was going on. I am sorry but I can not let you go back to her house. Even if you are a grown man in a boy's body. It is not right and I am sure you would feel a lot better if you did not have to as well.”
Izuku was the first to shake out of his daze. He smiled at the woman and said “Oh you have no idea how much leaving that place would help. I mean I love my mother. I love her with everything I have. I just can not do it again. Watch her drown herself and brush me off like that it hurts every time no matter how long I have been at this and I have yet to find a way to stop being reborn. I would love to live just one life and be done this time but I know I will live over and over with no end.”
Aizawa put a hand on Izuku’s shoulder and said: “Well now I am here for you and we both know what is going on so hopefully, we can find a way to negate your quirk so you have a rest this time.” Though the thought of letting Izuku die did make his chest hurt. Aizawa knew that living so many lifetimes was not something someone would want to do. So being forced to do so because of one's own quirk was harder when you grew up like Izuku seemed to have in each lifetime.
The smile Izuku gave him could rival the sun with how bright it was. It also could blind a person if they were not careful. Aizawa felt the need to shield his eyes from just how bright it was. His mother just giggled off to the side like she knew something neither of the two boys did.