Chapter 6

After being mostly alone in the hospital for the past three days, Izuku had been excited to finally leave and try to make sense of things. Not only that, but when he heard he would be staying at U.A. with the other students in the hero class, he thought his brain would overheat with all of his thoughts.

He hadn't expected to run into Kacchan like this.

Despite all of the things Izuku wanted to say, it was as if his mouth had ceased to work when he watched his back, much broader and stronger than he last saw it, turn away from him. It felt strange to think that the Kacchan he had just spoken to a few days ago in his memory was a different one from the Kacchan he knew. Maybe that was why Kacchan didn't want to speak to him; he felt just as confused as Izuku did.

Even so, they were fighting like this just as they always were. Unable to really speak to each other, it seemed.

"So we are like this in the future too, huh?" He had expected to be comforted by the fact that some things were the same as always, but… "I guess neither of us really changed." He wanted to. He wanted to believe that there might be something for him to hope for in his own future, but maybe his relationship with Kacchan was proof that he couldn't change after all.

Kacchan didn't say anything. Instead, Kirishima began running down the stairs at that moment, saying something about clothes, and Kacchan took the opportunity to take off, leaving Izuku feeling alone once more.

"Did Bakugo say something to you?"

Kirishima. He was still standing on the stairs. He, too, watched as Kacchan left with some uncertainty. Not too long before, Kirishima had been looking at Izuku that way at the hospital when he first showed up. When someone told him that a student was coming to escort him to the school, he didn't know what to expect. Would Katsuki come? Or maybe that nice girl?

"Sorry," Kirishima had said upon his arrival, "I thought Uraraka was going to come, but she, ah," he rubbed the back of his head and forced a smile, "couldn't make it." He stuck out a firm hand to shake. "You haven't met me before, but you can call me Kirishima."

Izuku had definitely been confused at first when he mentioned that girl, but he seemed like a good guy. Now, as he noticed Kirishima holding clothes in his hands just as he had at the hospital for him to change into something, he instantly felt warmer at the act of kindness.

"Nothing really," Izuku moved his eyes around the room, determined not to cry. Everything felt foreign to him at this point. Even Kacchan was somewhere he couldn't reach.

Izuku reached for his backpack straps which only contained a few items belonging to his older self. He pulled on them just to have something to hold onto.

The red headed boy in front of him took the rest of the steps down the stairs and put a strong hand on his shoulder. Izuku couldn't look him in the eye and instead swallowed sharply.

"Hey," Kirishima said firmly, "I don't know what that crazy guy said to you, but I want you to know that everyone is here for you, okay?" Two hands rested on his shoulders now, and the warmth of them seemed to seep into Izuku's small shoulders. "You know better than anyone that Bakugo has a lot of issues, but so does everyone! Don't let him get you down."

Izuku sniffed and nodded, still staring at his shoes. Even if Kirishima misunderstood the situation somewhat, it was easy to see that he was a good guy. To Izuku, Kirishima seemed to embody some of the best hero characteristics: determination, kindness, strength, straightforwardness. From what Izuku had seen, Kirishima was much more of a hero than he could ever even hope to be. The thought that he was actually enrolled here at U.A. in the future was both encouraging and...discouraging and the same time.

"Oh!" Kirishima clapped his shoulder with the sudden thought. "Here are the clothes by the way." He held out the dark clothes to Izuku who took them. "I never handed them to you. Tokoyami is the closest boy to your size right now, so the clothes you're wearing now and these ones are his."

Izuku held the soft clothes in his hands respectfully. For some reason, he hadn't been allowed internet access in the hospital where he could research U.A. and its students-they'd even taken his phone away-but just knowing that one of the students of his dream school was lending him clothes and that another had even come to personally get him from the hospital was amazing.

Uraraka had been right, he thought. Everyone here really was friendly towards him.

"What, Midoriya's already here?"

"Wait-"

"Midoriya!"

"Shut up! Kirishima literally just picked him up from the hospital!"

All at once, it seemed, students were bounding out into the living room space where Izuku and Kirishima were still standing. As a bunch of them made their way towards him, rather excitedly, Izuku reflexively clutched the borrowed clothes to his chest and stepped backwards, a smile freezing on his face in slight fear.

"Sorry," a girl with strange ears Izuku couldn't quite see sighed in defeat, "I was listening for you guys and everyone found out." She stayed towards the back of the small group of students, but she gave Izuku a genuine smile when she caught him staring.

Despite all the initial enthusiasm, he was relieved to see that no one was crazy enough to try and attack him. One with a stern face and even more constricted hands smiled stiffly at him and stepped closer than everyone else who kept some distance. However, even though the student didn't seem like the warmest, it was clear from his eyes that he was looking at Izuku as a friend he knew.

But Izuku didn't know him.

The stiff boy held out a stiff hand to Izuku who was trying not to hide behind Kirishima at this point but was sort of leaning towards doing so. "My name is Tenya Iida." Izuku slowly put out his hand and took the other boy's, remembering that Uraraka had told him that someone named Iida was one of his close friends. The smile he got in return made it worthwhile.

"I'm Izuku Midoriya," Izuku said automatically in return, then he felt heat burn his cheeks immediately in embarrassment. "Ah! S-sorry, you don't need to know that. You all already know-"

His mouth seemed to stop working as he lifted his head and noticed everyone around smiling at him with encouragement. Were they laughing at him? No...the sincerity in those eyes was real. He could tell the difference.

"It's nice to meet you, Midoriya."

Izuku's attention turned back to Iida who said his name as if they were meeting for the first time when they clearly weren't. Even though he couldn't remember any of them, these people were all still….Tears stung behind his eyes.

A chorus of "welcome home" and "nice to meet you" erupted from everyone then, and Izuku finally met everyone for his very first time.

00000

As all good things do, however, the happiness of that first evening came to an end as they all headed to bed. Though he didn't want to admit it, the last few days since he'd first woken up like this, his body felt tired and achy all the time. It was more uncomfortable than painful, but not much was done to help. In fact, most everyone stayed pretty much away from him. As far as he knew, no one had even tried touching him with a Quirk to "fix" any of his strange problems.

Which was why he hadn't told anyone about the dreams. Now that was something he was almost certain no Quirk could cure.

So when Izuku finally went to bed for much needed sleep, it shouldn't have surprised him when he woke abruptly once more, a scream ripping from his throat. It shouldn't have, anyway. Tears were pouring down his cheeks as a reaction to the pain in his heart, mind, and body. His head was pounding (or was that his heart?) and the achiness had increased into a more painful burning in his sleep. And then there was the dream.

He couldn't stop himself from throwing up over the side of the bed in the dark room that he had been told was his in the future anyway. The surrounding darkness reminded him of those same feelings which had nearly overwhelmed him in that dream, and he felt his breathing pick up even more with the onslaught of fear that he was dreaming even now-

Footsteps. Voices. And then light seeping in from the outside as someone opened his door.

He lifted his head from where it had lowered in exhaustion just in time to see Tokoyami and Aoyama burst in.

Aoyama froze as he took in the situation, and Tokoyami moved to his side in an instant. Even though Izuku had only just met him, he clung to the stranger in a desperate attempt to get a hold of his senses again. This person was real, his mind told him. He wasn't going to hurt him, his mind told him.

Izuku could sense the two boys sending each other concerned looks; he knew he should say something to calm them down, but he couldn't even calm himself. His jaw was clenched so tightly as he shook against the other student that he was afraid to even open his mouth.

"Midoriya," Tokoyami finally said, his eyes on Izuku's trembling hands and the pool of vomit, "are you feeling sick? Or maybe...did you have a bad dream?"

Back at the hospital, when Izuku had begun noticing the achiness that didn't seem to leave as well as the more intense pain that attacked at night, he was seen by a doctor straight away. They told him that it was just a side effect of what had happened to him. That, basically, his body didn't like being so small all of a sudden. Until he could get fixed, he had some mild painkillers to take at night for the worst of it. He had yet to take any though.

Now, staring at his arms, small compared to Tokoyami's, he felt weak that he was trembling because of something as simple as a nightmare and a little bit of pain. He unlatched himself from the other boy and wiped his eyes and mouth.

"It was just a nightmare I had. I'm fine!" He gave a thumbs up as they both stared at how it was still shaking. He put it away, embarrassed at his weak attempt to appear tough.

Tokoyami seemed to understand well enough, though. Although it was slight, Izuku could tell he was smiling.

"Still, it was strange…" Izuku frowned, subconsciously putting his hands to his head in contemplation-as if he could drag his thoughts out of his brain. It was strange, what had come over him. Like the nightmare was trying to force its way into his very mind….

A hand wrapping around his throat and a voice in his ear that sent shivers down his spine.

"Let's get some tea and chat, Izuku Midoriya."

Why did the thought of those images make his heart beat so much?"

"Midoriya." Aoyama spoke up, jolting Izuku out of his jumbled mind. His train of thought was quickly lost. "Do you...want to talk about it?" Taking a closer look at Aoyama, he could see that the student was shivering where he stood. His smile which seemed to be permanently plastered onto his face was pinched like he was forcing it and not really smiling at all. Still, he was trying his best to offer some form of comfort.

Izuku's breathing had slowed since the older kids had come in, and his mind had cleared more, allowing him to think. Did he want to talk about it? His dream, his theory? The feeling of that hand on his throat and the fear that came with it was enough to find his answer.

"I think I'll be okay."

Extra:

Mineta walked into Izuku's room about a minute later, rubbing his eyes. "Did I hear someone scream…?"

Multiple emotions formed amongst the other three in that room.

"You're just in time, Mineta," Tokoyami said. "You can go get a mop and cleaning supplies."