"Passing on a bit of wisdom and knowledge wouldn't hurt, right?"

01.24.19

2400 words

『 His Choice 』

Maybe sometimes, by losing a battle, one may find a new way to win a war. Izuku once believed truly in those set of words, but in his state right now, he won't win anything.

That's why he needs to fight. The world may break everyone, but afterwards, someone can be strong at the broken places. Izuku wanted to be that someone. Though mentally broken, he still has a strong soul that could—that can change the world. His heart and soul is bound to the inheritors of the One for All, and he just can't let those strong-willed soldiers waste away in his ever-breaking mind.

He just needs to look at the bright side of things. A spark of positivity won't bite him back, right? Now that he's here, things would—will definitely change, no matter how small the change is. It will still affect the future, whether it's useful or not.

But... what path should he take to set things right? There are several thousand of paths he could potentially take. Some will change the future either in a good way or will make things worse. But, he only needs to choose one as a starting point.

Taking a calculating glance at Shōta sitting across from him, an idea came to his mind. He perked up, a small smile appearing on his tired face as the idea seemed to be very effective. The Eraser Head could only stare back at the young man uncomfortably, a bit bothered about the fact that the injured young man seems to be analysing him out of many people.

The pro hero coughed, snapping the mysterious lad out of his daze. That's when he noticed that the young man's eyes flicker back into their original state. It was actually wrong of him to cut the moment short when the boy still had hope and a slither of happiness in his eyes. The green eyes of the young boy returned to their dim, sad and lonely eyes that looked so tired and had gone through many losses when he blinked.

"I'm... sorry..." The lad's apologetic tone was soft and hoarse, like he'd been crying over a lost for many, many hours straight, but that look disappeared without a trace after the lad perked up, smiling softly, "I had... lots going on... in my mind..."

Shōta had to admit—it was rather peculiar. He's observant, as a hero, and that change of expression from the lad's face didn't escape his eyes. Ectoplasm had gone out earlier, leaving the Eraser Head to take care of the unknown lad... and the hero's actually thankful that he had been given the opportunity to observe the lad.

After all, the green-haired mysterious young man seemed to be at ease when they were left alone. "The name's Shōta Aizawa," He broke the silence that was developing inside the room, "Hound Dog asked me to come after he picked up my scent from you... I was wondering how that was possible since..." He paused after he saw the young man shift, making him raise a brow.

"I believe that... we haven't met until now." The lad kept his smile. "Hound Dog must've been confused because of all the mixed scents all over my body..." His tone sounded rather superior—like he's been used to commanding everyone at a large-scale battlefield, but Aizawa overlooked it as the young man looked at his arms, "... to be honest with you, I haven't been this clean since ages ago... I've been... rather filthy."

There was a chuckle.

Eraser Head blinked at him. It's strange how his personality could turn 180 after just a short while of screaming and crying. He himself is sure that he can't do such thing. He was about to say something about it, but he was beaten to it by a call from his phone. It looked to be something urgent. Before taking the call, he gave the lad an apologetic gaze, his expression still as lazy. The young man nodded at him.

"Hello?" He answered the call, leaving the room and closing the door behind him.

"Aizawa-san?" It was the principal, "Were you asleep? We need to talk about something."

"Ah," the Eraser Head said in a lazy tone, "surprisingly, no. Someone had asked me to take care of... someone... and somehow, I couldn't refuse. What was it that you need? Still going on about chasing All Might?"

"Yes, but here's another thing." The principal sounded rather serious, "Dimension doors, as witnesses calls them, has been appearing in the school's proximity from time to time, and I need people to—"

The call abruptly ended, Aizawa narrowed his eyes. "Hello? Nezu-san?" He blinked, sighing as he took the phone away his ear. Something probably came up to the other side. The principal has an unhealthy habit to hang up in the middle of a phone conversation, so it wasn't something new.

Another sigh escaped his lips. He turned around, opening the door only to stop dead in his tracks. Wind blew through the open window. Bright, sunny light reflected over the empty white room, with no young lad at sight. He ran to the window, head peeking through it. He stared down below the low ground.

They're in the thirty-second floor! How could the young lad possibly disappear like that? The bed's neatly done as well. What the—

A hero, a real, strong hero, should always look dignified and calm, and Izuku believes that any exposed expression is an expression of weakness—not really, but after a long war, that seems to be the case because a strong person will not be nervous and will not express aggression towards his opponent.

He should remain calm and collected, even if he had to hide his hurt self. He will be confident in his abilities and his training; then he will face the fight calm and balanced. Even then, he wonders, who could save a hero such as him? He felt alone, to be honest... but settling on the thought of getting everyone from this timeline live to see the brightest future is up ahead.

Well, no matter. His goal right now is to reach someone he could trust... in the vicinity anyways. He can't just randomly pick out All Might among the people he knows he could trust in this world because... he doesn't know what exact time Miku had sent him back.

It'd be an absolute disaster if he accidentally tell the current number one hero about him selecting a successor over a suitable one... and maybe accidentally say that he'd going to die soon too—if things go the same way as Izuku's timeline before (or in the future?), that is.

Aizawa is out of the question too. He doesn't want to blow his cover yet since it seems like his once teacher doesn't know about him yet. He'll just let fate decide whether his secret will be revealed to the Eraser Head or not.

Anyways, if he is going to tell someone his identity though, he needs a proof—and he has just the right thing.

Izuku sighed indifferently, using one of the former successors' prowess in order to get to his targeted destination much faster. Well, he could use his quirk, but that'll be saved for later. His footsteps echoed as he stepped into a room. Three beeps reverberated simultaneously after his steps, following a hard object hitting the ground.

"Who's there—" Nezu had unintentionally dropped his phone when he sensed an intruder step into his office.

The new comer raised his hands in a surrendering manner as the principal took on an aggressive stance. It was evident that even the principal was alarmed because of the intruder's presence, but he didn't show it, gritting his teeth instead. No intruder had ever stepped inside his office unscathed or half dead—and this particular intruder, a young man, at least, had stepped in like it was just a peaceful walk in the park, if you don't mind the bruises and bandages around his body—but they doesn't seem to be fresh.

Is he the one opening the dimension doors around the campus? The lad kinda just appeared without a warning so it shouldn't be him... is he?

"Nezu-san," the lad's smooth tone startled him, but his stance didn't falter, "this lad doesn't mean any harm. The only reason I've rudely strode in is because of an urgent matter." His tone was grander, commanding too. It was as though he's been always in front, leading everyone to a great goal. "If you want a proof of my intentions, I'll gladly show them."

Nezu was tempted to see whatever's the lad was talking about, but he was more than convinced when the young man had spoken in a great tone. He could tell that the young man went through a tough life, and that tough life had made him stronger. He may look rather harmless, but his strong gaze says otherwise.

His gaze hides a strong poison.

The principal wouldn't dare to get near that said venom. It'd be very risky and besides, he's rather curious of what's going to happen if he let the young lad roam freely in these part of land. He refrained a smile to hide his sadistic side, a rather scary thing but trust him on this one, he's not a bad person.

"State your name, please." Was all the words that he let go before seemingly going at ease, picking up his dropped phone as he went over behind his desk.

Izuku blinked, not really expecting that from someone he knew back in... in the future? The term is confusing and it might lead him to mumble more than needed. After years into the war, he thought, his habit of mumbling about something still hasn't left him. Without really bothering to think about it, he quickly worded out 'his' name, seeing that the principal is not that really interested to him at the moment. "Izō."

Nezu blinked at him.

"I'll settle with Izō for now, Nezu-san." 'Izō' smiled, taking a quick walk towards the sofa lined neatly in the middle of the room. He knew he's placing a rather big bet on the first path he had taken, but it seems like he's diving in head first, calculating new plans behind his current ones for back up and efficiency. He then sat down, eyeing the rodent-like features the principal has.

Nezu coughed, eyes glinting in a sort of excited way. "Izō it is then." His smile didn't falter, but it grew rather wider. "Now what must Izō-san discuss with me?" His tone was casual, and thelad recognised this.

Izō smiled. A~h, he's going to get himself used to that name again. He had used it before to complete a small quest to take out a nest of villains. He had to use a fake name in order to get into the growing villain group to slowly end them off from inside, and the name he used is definitely an ice-cold Izō.

It definitely brings back good memories when the war hadn't started yet.

For a split moment, his eyes flickered emptily, but it returned to their once, tired yet neutral gaze after perking up and giving a small smile at the man behind the desk. "Passing on a bit of wisdom and knowledge wouldn't hurt, right, Nezu-san?"

It was something he had in mind for quite some time after snapping out of his early breakdown. Making his, well, making a certain class a tad bit stronger surely won't bite him back. "Though having travelled from a probably different world will cause me... a lot of problems." He looked at his wrapped hands, eyeing it without fail, "It would definitely hinder me in my... teaching career..." He emphasised his last two words.

The principal blinked, a confused expression appearing on his rodent face. The lad's hinting of himself coming from another timeline in the same world is quite... alarming. "I can see where you're going here... but you didn't just come here to teach." It wasn't a question, Izō figured out that much. It seems like Nezu had already sniffed out something. "Whatever reason that might be," The principal straightened his back, "I can tell that you've got no bad intentions, for now."

Nezu doesn't want to doubt himself for trusting this Izō guy. The lad's just too convincing and too much of a commander, like he was born to make everyone follow his commands, and it doesn't matter whom. The principal knew the guy has a good heart.

How, you say?

Izō's eyes says it all. Though his pair of green eyes hide a great deal of emotions, he, too, had cherished many people and would do anything to secure them. It was vague, but it was there.

Besides, Nezu didn't sense any evil intentions behind the lad's superior tone.

Well, if he's committing a fatal mistake of letting someone who's actually trying to destroy the world by stepping into the school, he'd take the blame for himself since, starting today, Izō is his responsibility... if that's even his real name.

"So," He coughed, gaining the attention of the young man, "what kind of problems are we talking about here?" He inquired, referring to the words of the young man earlier. "If it's about your documents and how they'd settle, it's not going to be that hard. For other problems? Let's just see."

Izō was actually glad the rodent-principal had picked up rather quickly. He stood up, stretching his arms and cracking his neck gently before smiling, "Documents first, I guess. I need them in order to teach, right?"

His smile didn't falter as he settled into the path he had chosen in order to fix his world's first mistake because, after all, it is easier to build strong children than to repair a broken man. Teaching future heroes will definitely guaranty that. He had many things to do before he could help himself, too, so if he's lucky, he'd have someone help him... but... yeah, no... that's not gonna happen soon, he supposed.

A/N

idk if peeps read my notes but here we go-

We're gonna go and dip a bit to the cliche plot but don't worry, we'll definitely ditch it once everything *cough* connects.

I'm excited with the plans I have in mind and you peeps should be too uwu

It'll definitely be a great adventure and a fresh new take on these kinds of fan-fic.

I might not be the first one to come of this particular idea BUT... things will definitely go interesting (once we get past through character progressions and the like QwQ)

Thank you for reading uwu